White Chocolate Candy Corn Fudge

As I sit and try to catch up on my blogs since I have not done one in over two months, I realized that I like white chocolate. So forgive me for the abundance of posts that include them, but it is just so delicious and easy!!

This one turned out much cuter than I had planned, and it is so yummy! Very rich, though, so cut it in small pieces.

Candy corns are a big hit at my house this time of the year, so it just felt right to make a dessert based around it!!

Ingredients -

12 oz of white chocolate
1 container of vanilla frosting
orange and yellow food coloring
a handful of candy corns

Line an 8x8 glass pan with foil and spray with nonstick spray

Take a microwave safe bowl and melt 1/3 of the white chocolate. Once melted add in 1/3 of the frosting container and yellow food coloring. Mix well and add yellow coloring until it is the desired shade. Pour into the pan, spread until even and place in refrigerator until that layer is hard.

Repeat steps, replacing yellow food coloring with orange. Spread on top of hardened yellow layer and put back in the fridge to let that layer harden. 

Repeat with remaining ingredients and leave this layer white. Spread evenly over top of other layers and place candy corn on top of white layer whole still soft. 

Let all three layers harden and then remove from pan, cut, and serve. 

Store in the refrigerator! 

Rock-A-Bye baby shower for the future Miss Payslee

My brother is going to have a baby. Well, not him physically, Kaila will be doing all the pushing and laboring. He IS going to be a daddy soon, though.

We all know how much I love throwing baby showers. The more I do, the more I learn about doing them.

This one was special. It was for my soon to be niece, so it meant I had to go all out. Plus, I had my mom to do this one with me, which proved to be more fun!!

Because my brother is our rock star, I could not think of a better theme than something to do with rock and roll.

We thrift store shopped and scored a milk crate full of records for $5. They even threw some old cassettes in for free.

It was not a large turnout, but we had a great time anyway.

Sorry that the pictures are subpar. I REALLY need to invest in a good camera so I don't have to just rely on my iPhone.

I cut black circles out of card stock. I wish I had a circle cutter, and that will be my next purchase after a project like this. But, I didn't have one so I just used a bowl for a pattern. Then I created a circle shaped inside with all the wording that I wanted! I just used paint to create a circle and then filled it with text and text art until I had what I liked. You could do it any way you like, this was just what fit the best on this project. (The mustache was not on the invites originally, it's to keep my phone number from circulating the web)

Punch a hole in the middle and you have a record invitation.

I made cupcakes instead of having a cake, it is just easier to serve and my cupcake decorating skills are slightly better than my cake decorating.

I used a new frosting recipe that you can find here.
The P's are just white chocolate in an alphabet mold and the other cupcakes have guitar pics with a P painted on with puff paint. I really need to invest in a few more of the alphabet molds because it was time-consuming to do one at a time.

In all my pinteresting time, I have come across these bowls and such made from old records. I have always wanted to try it but never had a good enough reason. This baby shower was that reason.

In Tonya fashion, I just did it myself without reading all the articles posted on it.

I preheated the over to 200 degrees and put the record over an upside down bowl in the oven. Apparently the bowl was too short and all I had was a weird looking melted album. Next try I hung it over a big glass jar. It worked perfectly. After 10 minutes, the record was nice and soft and pliable. I took it out with a potholder and started to mold it the way I needed it. I wasn't fast enough and ended up putting it on the inside of a bowl and putting it back in for a few minutes to get a good form to it. Then next few I didn't require the extra steps!!

Then I realized I was light headed and thought I should research a little into melting these things. Apparently, you need to do it in a well-ventilated area. The fumes can make you light headed and nauseous. Good to know...

But they turned out so cute!!!

We also needed trophies for the winners of the baby shower games. We glued baby bottles to small records and spray painted them gold!! it turned out much cooler than I had ever imagined.

We made small holders out of the cassette tapes. We just glued them together and had perfect little decorations!

We made some wall decor by just gluing a bunch of records together. You could make it as big or small as you wanted!!

The games were "Match the star to their baby picture" and guess how much money is in the piggy bank.

The guest signed in on an album. They put their gifts in and around a guitar case.

The centerpieces were mason jars with foil stuffed in them and stars and music notes stuck on dal-rods and stuffed inside. I added some curly ribbon and they were complete. Stick them on white tablecloths lined with records and you have the perfect cheap and easy table for a music themed party. The parents to be table had pink and black table cloths and the cassette tape holders with chocolate dipped pretzels.

We glued records to random vases for trays and stuck records in any blank space we could find!

Complete the decor with a Payslee banner and a "baby you rock our world" picture and I was in love with the room!

Mummy-Dogs

My kid loves hot dogs. Actually, we all do! 

I'm a mom that restricts how much food my child can have that has dye in it, doesn't allow her much sugar, and convinced her, at 2, that quinoa was the best thing since sliced bread... So, you would think I would ban things like hot dogs... But they are just too delicious!! (And cheap... And easy) 

So, here we are in Halloween season!! And there is nothing more fun than making food for holidays!! 

And that is how we wound up with these cute little creatures! 

All you do is carefully cut arms and legs into the hot dog wiener, then wrap it in slices of crescent dough. (Be careful and don't cut yourself)

I bought the crescent roll sheet and it made it so much easier!! 

Bake them at 350 degrees until the crescent rolls are nice and brown!!

 

White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

I am always on the hunt for an EASY but delicious homemade frosting recipe. I came across this and it was a big hit!

1 c. white chocolate (chips or block)
2 sticks butter (not margerine)

Melt together over low heat in small pan. Once completely melted put in bowl and place in fridge. Let harden completely (about 30 minutes) and then remove from refrigerator. Beat on low to medium speed until creamy and smooth.

That's it!! That is all it takes!!

Grilled Cheese Rolls

Autumn seems to be giving us a sneak peak of my favorite season. Today it was below 80 and all I could think of was cool weather, bonfires, Halloween, and the takeover of pumpkin flavoring. The cooler weather makes me want that great comfort food that we all love. One of the best, in my opinion, is soup and grilled cheese sandwiches! So in celebration of fall being just around the corner, I bring you.....


Grilled Cheese Rolls

These were a huge hit in my house and will be a favorite through the next two seasons of cooler temps!! And they are so easy!!

I just took pieces of bread and rolled them out flat with my trusty rolling pin!! Once they were flat, I buttered one side, then laid the cheese on the other side. (this can get messy, sorry)

Roll them up like a burrito, then toss in the skillet on medium to medium high!!

After just a few minutes they will be brown and delicious!!!

Soccer Camp - A week long adventure with the British

I love getting Gracie involved in things. With the idea of homeschooling hanging over our heads and the fact that I cannot bring myself to put my daughter in daycare, I am always looking for ways to have her socialize!!

I found a British soccer camp and thought that it would be a great summer adventure for us! 

We even adopted a coach! You can read about that here. 

We had so much fun picking out shin guards, a soccer ball, and new tennis shoes!! I'm not sure how that took us on an all day shopping adventure, but that could make a whole new post!

Monday morning, day 1 of camp.... We may have not thought this through so well. Camp starts at 9 a.m. and Gracie sleeps until 10 a.m. We somehow managed to get it all together and get to camp. It was only an hour class for her age and day one had us spending most the time handing out t-shirts and soccer balls. By 9:40 we were ready to learn... And by 9:55 we were in tears and ready to go home. This group of kids were 3-5 and I had the only one there that was 3. She just needed a hug and she was back on the field. They played a few small learning games with Coach Paul where they learned BASIC soccer rules and skills. He had them stay in one small area by telling them they were on an island and their were sharks and piranhas all around and so you had to stay on your own island. Gracie learned a few things that day, such as the proper way to kick the ball and the "no-hands" rule. 

Everyone else got a few lessons also. Gracie informed them all that not all sharks were mean, piranhas and sharks do not live together, it's rude to say "yeah" instead of yes, and that SpongeBob SquarePants is bad and that her mommy doesn't want them watching it. 

I'm sure the parents were ready for us to leave. So much for me getting some socialization also!

Day two came and seemed that it would be a little less eventful. She made it most of the day without crying, we only had to make the hike to the potty twice, and she didn't make a fuss about how lions and bears were in the same pretend jungle.

THEN came the wonderful game of "kick the ball to get away from the evil doctor trying to give you shots" (British people, I swear.) Gracie was having none of this. After hands up begging "no, stop, I'm not sick, you aren't a doctor, don't give me a shot" she had a COMPLETE meltdown of "I want mommy" and we just sat that game out! 

Day three went off without a hitch. She did not cry at all. She did come over a few times and want to sit with me, but after I hugged her and told her to keep playing she would be right back at it! She even played the chicken game of catching someone's feathers. The only Gracie-ism that they learned that day was this "if you pull your pants down, people will see your booty and that's not nice at all." 

Day 4... Well, here is how it went... It didn't. After a horrible night of nightmares and no sleep, I wasn't taking her up there. So we stayed home. She never even mentioned it. 

Day five was the last day! She loved it, played hard and never stopped. At the end of that day the coach told them how amazing they were and gave them rah a certificate. We took some semblance of a group picture and we were done. 

We even made a quick run through the splash pad to celebrate! 

Gracie still talks about playing soccer and I can't wait to get her in the next camp I find!! 

Offending someone.... Or everyone....

In the light of all the recent events that have taken place over the past month, I have so much to say. Every single time I start to post something on Facebook I have to consider who I am about to offend or who is going to have some snotty thing to reply. Someone telling me how I "hate" someone.

So, lets start this entry by saying this... I hate no one. If you are nice to me, no matter what choices you make, what color you are, or what person you love and want to marry, I will be nice to you. I just want to get this off on that foot so that I wont get the expected rude comments after.

That being said... It is so hard to get my point across sometimes because no one wants to see how certain things can go hand in hand, but they do.

I just read an article that a woman wrote to Donald Trump about his speech on illegals. She was stating that her father was one of the men sent to the US from Mexico. That he came here to make money to send home to his family. He came over illegally and once he was here, they had a child. He worked to make sure that she did good in school, was an upstanding member of society, and now she has a masters degree and wants to defend her father against what people are saying about people who come here from Mexico.
I am sure that he is an amazing man, just as she says. There are many people here from Mexico, and I am aware that many of them are wonderful people who come to America and work very hard. The point of it is... They are still here illegally. If you break into someones home and clean it, you still broke in. So, do I think that it is a rough situation, yes. Do I know that at some point we were all here as immigrants, yes. Since then we have established rules. There used to be no speed limit, does that mean I should say "Our forefathers all drove whatever speed that they wanted so why do people have to obey speed restrictions now" or "we previously did not have to use car seats, so why should we force people to put their children in them now."
So, no matter what, it is ILLEGAL to come into this country as an undocumented immigrant. No matter how great of a person you are, it is still against the law. When I make a remark about an illegal immigrant, I am not "hating" them. I am simply stating that they are breaking a law, and that we are allowing it, and now we can't say anything about it without fear of someone saying that I don't like Hispanics.

Recently a ban on the Confederate Battle flag in certain places and on certain things was implemented. I spoke out against it, to have someone comment on my post using foul language, with a picture of a murderer holding that same flag. So, here it is. I don't care what you think of that flag. Maybe you may think that it means hate, to me it doesn't. To that demented idiot that went into a church and shot those black people as they worshiped, it meant hate. You could have given him a pool noodle as his symbol and still we would have the same outcome. HE would still have hated black people because of his misguided ideas about life. He had hate in his heart and a flag did not put it there.
No one alive today was a slave. No one alive today was a slave owner. No one was alive when that flag was designed. Not everyone who fought for the confederate states was fighting for slavery. They fought and many of their lives were lost. You may see that flag and think it represents slavery, but to some here it is a memory of a past. Ancestors who fought and died. To families of soldiers from long ago that flag represents other things. If you remove that flag and there is never another one in this country, do you think people will just stop having hate in their heart? Do you think that we will remove the flag and then suddenly racist people will say "Well, I am so glad that flag is gone and is no longer brainwashing me to hate people of color, what a relief!" That is not going to happen. They will come up with another symbol of hate, or they will need no symbol at all. A flag DOES NOT have the power to hate. When you are offended by a flag, you are giving it and the people who use it for terrible reasons, that power. People say that racist stereotype all black people into one category and that is exactly what people are doing to this flag. Because a few uneducated idiots used it for a hate symbol, now we are saying that is all it means and now a part of our history must be torn down. Museums must take them down. Have you not heard that people who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it. Museums that have American History, need to include the history of slavery and they way that very courageous people fought against it and won. It needs to include the history of the Civil War. Taking down parts and pieces of that is not right and it is a disservice to our children and future generations.
But... it seems that I cannot say anything about this or my feelings without someone claiming I am a racist or that I am just uncaring to the population of blacks. WRONG. I am all for us loving each other as we should, as equals. Love everyone. Even people who think the Confederate flag should stay right where it is because it is a part of our national history. And please don't tell me that I don't know what it is like to be black. No, I have no idea what it is like to have darker skin, try as I may to get a little tan, I will never be a black person. I do know what it is like to have two lungs, a brain, a heart, two legs, two arms, a couple eyes, nose, mouth, blood, kidneys, a really annoying gallbladder, and a few other vital organs, just like almost everyone else. I do not know what it is like to be worried about being treated differently because you are a person of color, but I know what it is like to be treated differently because of other things. There are always going to be people who do not like anything different.
Last night I watched my daughter play with a next door neighbor. They were beautiful playing together. They had so much fun and cannot wait until today when they have already made plans to go swimming together. They did see color. No, they noticed no difference. And you know what would have happened if I had pulled out a confederate flag? They would have just played with it like it was any other flag. They would have waved it and wrapped up in and laid on it and used it for tug of war. They would built a fort out of it. You know what they would not have done? Seen it as a symbol of hate. So as much as we should teach our children not to hate, lets teach them that the Confederate flag is nothing more than a flag used long ago during a war. Don't tell your child that people flying that flag hate them. Do not tell them that it is a symbol of slavery. This generation is guilty on both sides of not stopping the hatred.

Now for the most touchy of the subjects. Yesterday a law was passed making gay marriage legal. As of now all courts must issue marriages license to any couple wanting to get married regardless of gender.
I have a lot of people that I care very deeply for who are so happy to see this law passed. This is such a hard one for me, because their happiness means a lot. I love them and I see this as a way for their life to become better. They can share health benefits and they can call themselves married couples. Congratulations. It is a victory for you all.
I do not care what you do in your household. What choices you make are what you will be answering for when Jesus comes back and I have enough to worry about it my own life. 
BUT (you knew this was coming right) I have another side of feelings also. I do not believe as a Christian that it is right. (yes I agree divorce is also wrong, thank you, I know, and I will ask for forgiveness for my sins and because I am saved I will be forgiven) I know that we should not judge, and I am not judging you. Go, marry, please... I want nothing in this world but your happiness, but I don't agree that it is right. I have lots of friends and family that I disagree with many of the choices that they make, so please do not think I am just picking you all out of the line up as sinners. I see sin daily in my life and everyone that is around me.
And the problem will come, and I am not saying that whoever is reading this will be the person to do this, when this happens... A couple will go to a church and ask to use the church to be married. They will deny them the right to use the church and then the couple will sue them for loss and pain and all those other things that people sue for when they are asking for outlandish amounts of money. The same goes for bakeries, dress shops, wedding chapels.. etc. The people may not support gay marriage and they will feel that they are going against what they believe in to perform said services and so they will be sued and subsequently shut down. We just saw this same scenario with a bakery. So why? Why do you fight so hard to believe and live the way you want, while anyone who does not agree with you is not allowed to have their own beliefs. I know that a court has to give you a marriage license and that is a wonderful thing. I have stated more than once that I am so happy at this turning point in your life, and in many of your posts you have made the very good point that your marriage wont affect my life at all. And it most likely wont for me. But what about the small mom and pop stores that feel that because of their values they cannot make a wedding cake or perform DJ services at your wedding. Will they all be closed because they cannot pay the 16 million dollars that someone feels that they deserve for pain and suffering for being turned away?
I know that we should all get freedom to live how we want to live. Freedom to believe what we want. Lets just make sure as you celebrate this victory, that we remember that freedom needs to go both ways.

I am sure at this point a few of you have decided that you will never read this blog again, or that you hate me (which its okay for you to hate someone as long as no one is hating you). Some of you think I am sharing hatred for everyone, but I am not. And please remember how you decided not to read my blog because you are against discrimination the next time that you make fun of someone for being overweight, ugly, saying something stupid. None of us are perfect, we can only try our best to have our views and still be respectful of others. THAT GOES BOTH WAYS....