Valentine Recap

Valentine's Day in Blogland has inspired me to do some fun projects with the Pnut.  I saw this blog with the "Love Blossom Tree" and I thought... I can do that!  You can see the blog here.  So, at the first free moment, the Pnut and I headed for the craft room.  She was clearly thrilled to get to play with paint and hang out with her mom!

 Look at the joy on this kids face!

 Brown paint on the hand and arm.

 Pink and red thumbprints for the leaves.  So cute!  We made one that I framed for my mantel, gave one to Nana Jo and sent one to Aunt Connie.  Why not share the joy, right?!?

I also saw several different versions of personalized Valentine's for the kids to exchange at school.  So, we pulled out the camera and had a little photo shoot.

 Cheese!!

 My personal fave...

 And since this kid has never met a camera that she didn't like... she started coming up with her own poses and jumps.  Please disregard the basket of laundry between her legs!

 The final products.

 So cute!

And this is my personal favorite.  It definitely shows her personality!

We did her cards at the end of January, on a day that I had some extra free time (trust me, that doesn't happen often!)  She was so excited about taking them to school, it just about killed her to wait two weeks till Valentine's Day.

Now, you might ask the question... isn't there another child in this household??  Why, yes there is, but she is 13.  For those of you with teenagers, that explains everything.  She is far too cool to be involved in crafting or cooking with her mom.  That would mean that she would have to leave her bedroom, put down her phone or take her earbuds out of her ears.  She did, however, have a Valentine's dance last Thursday.  Mom was cool enough to be in charge of curling hair and driving to the dance.

Isn't she beautiful??

Of course, her best friend came over to get ready with her.

Let me tell you about the deal I got on this dress!!  I'll forgo the details, but tell you that I bought it at Macy's and it cost $8.25 including tax!!  Yep, I am a bargain shopper!

Well, Valentine's day is over.  The stuff is put away and I am working on some cute decorations for St. Pat's!  This is fun!

Until next time,

Frances

Our Valentine's Day Treat

I have been having such a good time in blogland.  I follow so many blogs and am getting so many great ideas.  I'll show you some of the projects soon.  The Pnut and I are having a good time doing things together. 

I found this blog about a Guilt Free Valentine's Cupcake.  You can see it here.  Very simply, you take a strawberry cake mix and mix it with 12 oz. of diet lemon/lime soda.  Sounds good and easy, right?  Well, off to the grocery store that I go, ready to get my cake on.  When I got there, I realized that I would much rather make it with a sugar free cake mix, because hubby is diabetic.  So I grabbed a sugar free Devils Food cake mix.  Now, somehow mixing that with a lemon/lime soda didn't sound too appealing....


So what do do??  Being from the South, I've heard about Coca Cola cake all my life, so the logical choice was....


It was as easy as that.  Mix the cake mix with 12 oz. of diet coke!  Yum!!

We mixed it up and but the batter on a cookie sheet... I had a plan, you see!  Once the cake cooled, The Pnut and her sleepover buddy used heart shaped cookie cutters to cut out the cake.

  We cut out two different sizes of hearts. 

 Yum!!  The crumbs were the reward for cutting out the hearts!

 On Valentine's Day, we added a little red food coloring to some Fat Free Cool whip.

 Then we assembled our chocolatey goodness!

 The Pnut looks delirious with Valentine's delight!

The final product... with pink Cool Whip, some red sugar sprinkles and a Conversation Heart. 

It was delicious, sugar free, and low calorie.  By my best estimation, each helping was about 100 yummy calories.  Definitely something we will do again.

I'm looking for more low calorie, sugar free, tasty treats... do you know of any??  Please share if you do.

Valentine's recap coming soon...

Until next time,

Frances

25 Things

1.  I love sweet tea, but I am trying to give it up!  I haven't had one since Thursday!
2.  I am more committed than I have ever been to losing this weight.  I WILL do it this time!
3.  I have the greatest friends in the world.  They love me for who I am.
4.  I have a sad addiction to reality TV.  Dance Moms, Real Housewives, The Voice, you name it, I love it.  NO Survivor though, that is where I draw the line!
5.  Swamp People makes me laugh out loud.  "Shoot em Lizabeth!"
6.  I have a great job that I really enjoy.
7.  I have been to all but 13 states. 
8.  I was in an airplane in the air on 9/11/01 when the planes were crashing into buildings.  I refer to it as my "near death experience."
9.  I live in my dream house but can't keep it clean!
10.  I miss my mom and dad more than I can put into words.  Every day. 
11.  My biggest fear is losing one of my children.
12.  Everyone thinks that "Pnut" acts just like me, but the reality is that "the Big One" is far more like I was at her age.
13.  Nothing makes me happier than seeing things through the Pnut's eyes.  She finds joy in the little things.
14.  I am adopted.  I wonder about my birth parents, but I am too afraid to look for them.
15.  I love to spend time in my craft room... even if it is just a few minutes.
16.  My husband is my best friend.  I hope that never changes.
17.  I want to learn how to quilt.
18.  I love living in the South.  I love the culture, the people, the food (in moderation :-))  I can't imagine living anywhere else.
19.  The best thing that I have ever done was to become a mom.  I love my girls more than anything.  I would love to have another, but I guess that is not in the cards for me.
20.  I love my church.
21.  I really don't like to work out, but I try to do it several times a week anyway.
22.  My aunt has become one of my closest friends.  I don't think I could have gotten through my mom's death without her.
23.  I love to read.  I especially love books that are set in the South.
24.  I have done two mission trips to Mexico.  They changed my life.
25.  Most important, me and Jesus are tight.  I am blessed beyond belief and feel so fortunate to know the Grace of God!

I have seen several of these on other blogs and thought it was a great way to share some blurbs about myself.  Plus, my hubs isn't feeling well and went to bed early.  My camera cord is in the bedroom and I don't want to wake him to get it!

Until next time,

Frances