This week's dating at home idea...Chocolate Tasting!This is going to be a delicious date! What's better than being with your spouse and chocolate?Today I'm going to Trader Joe's and a few other places to pick up some assorted chocolates. I'd really like to try some new chocolates rather than Hershey's and Dove (which I...

This week...DELIGHTFUL DINING: More moon pebbles, please!Use silly names for the foods you eat. Corn isn't "corn" but rather "moon pebbles." Spaghetti is "monkey brains," and salad is "the chewsen one." Make up funny and even some gross names. Kids will love naming and eating their "exotic" foods.TABLE TOPICS: Never A...

What do you do with the over ripe bananas at your house? Toss them in a smoothie? Make banana bread (great recipe to come)? Throw them away?Here's another option: Make Ice Cream!I would prefer making homemade ice cream with my bananas but it takes forever! This recipe is easy and done in minutes. What you're going to do:Freeze...

At church on Sundays I get to be in the nursery where all the little kids (ages 18 months to 3 years) play while their parents have a chance to learn. During that time we play, sing, have a little lesson, and have a snack.Instead of using napkins or paper plates or bowls for snack time, we use coffee filters. It's like...

So, you've seen those cute, fancy chocolate bowls made with the balloons? I tried it. They turned out okay. A couple suggestions: *Don't use water balloons. They stuck to the chocolate after popping them. (Yes, I used cooking spray before dipping the balloons in chocolate) Use thicker balloons, but still small enough...

DELIGHTFUL DINING: Table ReadingChoose a book of interest to kids of varied ages or maybe a book that a child is required to read for school. Read for just 10 minutes as children are finishing eating. Pick up where you left off tomorrow night.TABLE TOPICS: If you could re-do your own bedroom (or house) what would it MUST...

It was my husband's birthday last week. He requested this cake. (This was the last piece.) I have made it once before and now it's one of our favorites. It's a white cake made with buttermilk and layered with old-fashioned chocolate frosting. It's so good that I'm sharing the recipe!White CakeIngredients:4 egg whites at...

What do you do with that leftover heavy cream in your refrigerator? Make butter!It's easy, quick, and fun!You will need:Heavy creamA smallish jar (baby food jar, jam jar, etc.)Salt1. For best results, make sure your cream and jar are cold. I put my jar in the freezer for 5 minutes. 2. Fill your jar about half-way full.3....

Yes, I forgot one of my favorite parts of Family Night... DESSERT!These Oatmeal Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies are my new favorite PB cookies. Simply amazing!! Moist, nice texture, and SO GOOD!You can find the recipe HERE on Let's Dish!- a new favorite blog of mine (you can see why). The blog has better pics of these cookies....

picture taken from villageknight.comTonight for Family Night we are hitting up Barnes and Noble bookstore. We love books! We love to visit the library or any kind of bookstore. For date nights, my husband and I love going to the bookstore before a movie, when we have a little time to kill. We flip through the travel magazines...

You and your spouse will have fun with this date night idea tonight...or sometime when ice cream is on sale:Sculpt whole blocks of ice cream. Add toppings to make it more detailed and make sure the ice cream is well frozen. Get an off brand so it's not soft of smooth. It's messy and sticky but tasty and fun. This is a...

Click HERE to find out why I put an emphasis on family dinner.DELIGHTFUL DINING: Two Truths and One LieEach family member reports on three things about his or her day. Two of those things are true and the other is a lie. The others try to guess which thing is the lie. Kids love to see the reaction of their parents and...

I was at an educational store a couple weeks ago and saw this cute alphabet game. I thought, "that would be fun for MJ!"How much did they want me to pay for it? $36.95!! For that piece of plastic? No thank you! So, I made my own version, a sturdy one that won't rip, for about 11 bucks.Supplies:One painter's drop cloth...

MJ is 3 years old and doesn't like any kind of green salad. However, she will eat tomatoes and cheese. I've come up with an easy kid's caprese salad that MJ loves. VICTORY! I WIN!Kid's Caprese Salad9 Grape Tomatoes, halved or quartered1 Stick of String Cheese, cut in coin-like piecessalt and pepper to tasteToss together.I...

My three-year old is very artistic. She loves to color, paint, cut, draw, etc. She is also very imaginative. We created our own little paper books to illustrate. Here's an easy way to turn a piece of paper into a little book.I used a large piece of construction paper here. You can use a regular piece of printer paper,...