Alligator Skin

For the last few weeks, Madison has been going in one afternoon a week to read to Jocelyn's preschool class. All of the kids LOVE it! Madison reads them a story related to the "letter of the week." This week the letter is A, so she is reading them The Adventures of Abby Alligator. Madison also made a special Alligator Skin snack to take in for the kids to eat after she reads them the book.

Alligator Skin:

(Green Cornflake Crispy Treats)

6 cups of Cornflakes

1 bag of Marshmallows

3 tablespoons of butter

Green food coloring

Heat marshmallows and butter in the microwave for 3 minutes. Stir it after 2 minutes. Add the green food coloring and cornflakes. Then mix well.

Valentine Gifts from Nana and Pop

The girls were excited when they discovered a Valentine package in the mail from Nana and Pop. They each got some new books and a $5 bill in their Valentine's Day card.

Thank you Nana and Pop for our new books and money! We love you!

Lollipop Lily and Butterfly Valentines!

The girls and I have been looking for cute Valentines to make for their friends and classmates. We feel in love with these adorable Lollipop Lily and Butterfly Valentines from Skip to My Lou.

Click the link to print your own Butterfly Valentines.

Click the link to print your own Lollipop Lily.

The girls can't wait to give out their Valentines this year.

Pretzel Snacks

The girls really enjoyed helping me make these pretzel snacks for a Super Bowl Party tomorrow night. These are the perfect combination of salty and sweet. What fun finger foods to snack on during the BIG GAME!

Turtle Pretzels

Ingredients:

• 50 pretzels from a bag of waffle type pretzels
• 1 (11 oz) bag of Rolos, unwrapped (around 50 in a bag)
• 50 Reese's Pieces (M & M's or Pecans)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place pretzels on a baking sheet. Top each pretzel with 1 Rolo candy, place it right in the center of each pretzel.
3. Place in the oven and bake for 3 minutes. You want the candies to soften but not completely melt.
4. Remove from oven and immediately place a Reese's candy on top of each Rolo and lightly press. You want to flatten the candy to cover all of the pretzel except the outer outline and secure the candy on top.
5. Allow to cool. Makes 50 pretzel turtle candies.

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels

• 1 (16 oz) bag of pretzels
• ⅔ cup of melted butter
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place pretzels in a large bowl. In a small bowl, stir together melted butter, cinnamon and sugar.
2. Pour over pretzels and stir to coat. Place pretzels on a baking sheet.
3. Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and stir. Return to oven for 10 more minutes and stir again.
4. Place in oven one more time for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Store in a sealed container.

We also made a pineapple upside down cake and peanut butter cup brownie bites.

Happy Chinese New Year!

We celebrated the Chinese New Year by making paper lanterns and dancing dragons today.

Madison decorated her paper lantern with Chinese characters.

Click the link to learn how to make your own Dancing Dragon. Hope you all have a Happy Chinese New Year. Daddy is bringing us home Chinese food for dinner tonight. YUMMY!

Happy Groundhog's Day!

The girls want to wish everyone a Happy Groundhog's Day!

We celebrated Groundhog's Day by making these cute pop-up puppet groundhogs today!

Jocelyn and her toilet paper roll groundhog.

Holly the hamster got to meet her new friend Gloria the groundhog.

Madison and I did a shared writing today about groundhogs. She wanted to read it for everyone. Hope you enjoy it and have a Happy Groundhog's Day!

Valentine Gifts from Grandma and Granddaddy!

The girls were excited to discover that Grandma and Granddaddy sent them early Valentine's Day gifts. Madison was even more surprised when she realized that the bag it was in matched the pajamas she was wearing.

They each got two cute little cloth ponies.

They also each got these adorable Valentine dresses.

Madison got a new Barbie dress-up and...

Jocelyn got a new Barbie and couch for the dollhouse.

Thank you Grandma and Granddaddy for all of the cool Valentine gifts. It cheered the girls up after days of laying around with strep throat. Hopefully we are all on the mend now.