My Favorite FREE iPad Apps

 

"Goodnight Safari" is absolutely adorable! The trees in the Savannah shake when you touch them, and the mama giraffe twist her neck and lifts her legs, while you help the baby giraffe feed on the leaves of a too tall tree. You give a baby rhino a bath and help a baby zebra find his mother. Our 3yr old LOVES this book. You can choose to Read Alone, or Read to Me. You can purchase more Learning Activities...but I'm good with free. ;)

The "Endless Alphabet" is my FAVORITE! It is so educational. You choose a letter and the monsters run through the word and all your letters get scrambled! Then you must fill the word back in. I love that when you touch the letters they make the letter sound. So as they add them back, not only are they spelling the word, but they are learning the sounds to read. Once the letters have been replaced to their original places, they cheer and take you to the next page where they read the word, and act out the meaning of the word, then give the kids the definition. Super cute! All of our kids love this app, and beg to play it.

The letter wiggle, stretch, and make the silly sounds.

New words are added weekly! 

 

Such a FUN, & EDUCATIONAL App! 

 This "LEGO" app is cute. Best for a young audience, but our older kids still play it. You build a lego truck and as you speed down the road, you pick up lego pieces, and earn new vehicle pieces...like a helicopter, or new pieces to your truck. Very simple, but the kids seemed entertained by it. So I guess that is the most important factor when picking an app for your kiddos {after your approval of the app, of course!}. :) 

Hoping that these come in handy during our flights in the next week! We have the blessing of heading to Hawaii for 3 weeks on Monday! So very excited to have the homeschooling trip we've always wanted to take our children on. We will be hiking to waterfalls, volcanoes, and to the beach! Many memories will be made on this trip...one that will not soon be forgotten. {And I'm so thankful my work travels with me! Another reason I love my job...I can do it as needed while I'm gone.} We will get to tour coffee plantations, wildlife zoo, and even get to volunteer with a non-profit org, helping people with disabilities and their families enjoy a day at the beach, for a snorkel day! It will be neat to see our children serve others and see the change in their hearts because of it {and Bob & I as well}. 

So that is what we will be up to in the rest of this month! 

Blessings ~ Heather

Lookin' Good!

Source: toostinkincute.blogspot.com via Heather Messner- on Pinterest

   These looking so amazing to me! I cannot wait to make and try them out. A bunch of good for you veggies, wrapped into a delicious package with peanut dipping sauce.

Yummo~
Heather

Sugar Cookies

Thursday night after our family watched another Hallmark Christmas movie...I decided to bake some sugar cookies for a "midnight" snack! Not the wisest of choices when you start them at 8pm...they really did turn into a "midnight" snack. ;) But, they are ever so worth it. Simple, quick, and they turn out almost perfect every time. 

Here is the recipe:

SUGAR COOKIES

3/4 cup Butter, at room temperature
1 cup Sugar
2 Eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
2 1/2 cups Flour 
1 tsp Baking Powder 
1/2 tsp Salt 

*Whip butter until creamy. Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla; mix well. 
*Add flour, baking powder, and salt. 
*Form into a ball.

*Wrap in lightly floured plastic wrap.
*Chill at least 1hr (this is the secret to perfect sugar cookies).
*Roll dough on floured surface, cut, and bake at 400° for 7-8 min.

Makes about 2 dozen...depending on how thick you make your cookies. 


I double my recipe! (And since no one ever has a big recipe and I have to do the calculations myself while baking, I'm adding the double recipe for big families) :)

Sugar Cookies-Doubled

1 1/2 cups Butter, at room temperature
2 cups Sugar
4 Eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
5 cups Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt

*Whip butter until creamy. Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla; mix well. 
*Add flour, baking powder, and salt. 
*Form into a ball.
*Wrap in lightly floured plastic wrap.
*Chill at least 1hr (this is the secret to perfect sugar cookies).
*Roll dough on floured surface, cut, and bake at 400° for 7-8 min.

Makes about 4 dozen...depending on how thick you make your cookies. 

Buttercream Frosting  

12 oz Butter, at room temperature
1 lb Powedered Sugar, sifted
1 - 1 1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

*Cream butter with the paddle attachment in your mixer. 

*Add the sifted powdered sugar ... once the mixture has come together, stop and scrape the bowl and paddle attachment. 

*Turn your mixer up to medium speed and paddle for about 5 min to make the mixture light and fluffy. 

*Turn mixer to low and vanilla and if you want to add any other flavorings; once incorporated return mixer to med speed and continue to paddle for 2 more minutes.

~I use little plastic containers to divide up the frosting and add the food coloring. If you're like me and want a lot of colors to choose from, be wise in your coloring choices. By that I mean...you don't want to have to make a ton of frosting just to have color options. So for me, I frosted all the Christmas trees first with the green, and a few mittens. Used up as much green as I was going to, then added a few yellow and red drops, to get brown for the tree trunks & gingerbread men. Make sense? Any other time I would have just made brown to begin with, but then you're left with a lot of wasted frosting...that adds to the expense, and the waste...not good. So make a plan! :)

Here are a few pics:

Don't mind the white ones...those were the "midnight snack" ones. ;)

Hope you enjoy these as much as our family does~ 
Heather 


 

The TomKat Studio Party Shop

This morning as I was doing an online search for gumballs in tubes...for Christmas...I stumbled upon The TomKat Studio Party Shop. I think I'm in love...with the party favors that is! This is the cutest shop ever.  I made my order and cannot wait for it to arrive. 

These are the items I ordered:

Christmas Adhesive Tags:

Source: shoptomkat.com via Heather Messner- on Pinterest

Shimmer Gumballs in Tubes: {Yes, shimmer!!} {For the Girls}

Source: shoptomkat.com via Heather Messner- on Pinterest

Gumballs in Tubes: {For the Boys}

Source: shoptomkat.com via Heather Messner- on Pinterest

Striped Party Straws: {For Peppermint Hot Chocolate}

Source: shoptomkat.com via Heather Messner- on Pinterest

And check out this Mermaid Birthday Party:
{Absolutely Adorable...I want one...but I'm 31yrs old..and my hubby would make fun of me!}

Source: thetomkatstudio.com via Heather Messner- on Pinterest

Her Blog here. Check it out and tell me you don't love it as much as I do! ;) Don't forget to follow her on Pinterest: The TomKat Studio

My thought was to give the gumballs to all the kiddos on Christmas Eve, but I might just keep them for New Year's Eve...since my brother and his family {making 11 kids in our home for the holiday} will be here from Christmas Eve through New Year's...it might be a bit more holiday cheer stretched over the season, instead of just one day...Oh, I Can't WAIT!

Blessings~Heather

Thankful November Day 29

Day 29- I am thankful I chose to take a leap of faith in June, and Change the Game for my family. It was the absolute worst year financially for our family. Normally Bob is slow during winter months with work, and it always picks up in March/April. Well this year...it was June, and there was still not much work...that's 6 months of no work. Can you say we were all but freaking out. You can't run a family with 13 hrs a week of work. You start drowning...and it just continues to set you farther and farther into debt. I hate debt...period. What were we to do? 

I looked into going to Nail Tech school. I figured I could sacrifice 3-6 months of my life with my kids to go to school and it would be something that I could do out of my home, while still being with my kids most of the day. {Plus, I really love having my nails done, and I have always wanted to know how to do "what they do!"} I had my school all picked out. Their website had all the costs listed. Bob had ok'd my crazy idea. My mom offered to watch the kids while I went to school. I had prayed long and hard about this decision. I specifically prayed that if it was not the Lord will that He would slam the door on this idea. {I need a slam, not a light closure to really know it's HIM} Well...I sent an email requesting information on enrollment...and a few days later a sweet girl called me back. To my utter shock...there was no Nail Tech classes being offered! What?!?! Their website had everything on there, including the times classes were offered! She said they put all of that up for when the GET a teacher. Really?! I was sad and disappointed that God had slammed the door. He answered my prayer, but not in the way that I had wanted. What now?! 

Waiting another month, trying to figure out a way to work, yet stay home with my kids, homeschool, and be mom.  Bob and I prayed continually about what to do. Work was still a joke. Debt was still piling up. I was still without a hope for a job. One day I asked a gal I know what it was she was doing {I knew she worked from home, homeschooled, and had a big family. And let me tell you, that took so much courage (or desperation) on my end} That day changed our life forever. I leaped in faith. Blind faith. I worked hard, and worked around my kids nap time, and in the evenings, from home, with no day care expenses. I very quickly matched Bob's income. And Bob and I are now focused on changing the game for our family. Since then I have helped many moms reach their goals, and continuing to help more. All while helping pay off debt from those terrible 6 months, and medical bills we acquired over the last 3 months. Every good gift comes from above and we pause daily to thank God for bringing my friend Janice into our life to not only give us hope...but to completely change the game for our family.

That is something to be forever thankful for...

Thankful November Day 26

Day 26- I am thankful that Starbucks finally offers a punch card! The day before while Bob and I were waiting in the drive thru line for our Peppermint White Chocolate Frappuccinos, I said, "I really wish Starbucks would offer a punch card like the other coffee shops!" and Voila...the next day he brought in this beauty! 

Oh lookie lookie...my nails look cute! lol

 

 

Buy 5 holiday get 1 free...don't mind if I do! ;)

 We just can't seem to figure out...why now...and not forever ago!  hehe

Thankful November Day 25

Day 25- Today I am thankful that my husband, after 13 yrs of marriage or 13 Christmases, finally put Christmas lights on our house! Ahh...pure bliss! Such a beautiful sight. I don't think he even understands how much this means to me. Every year I have begged and begged for him to put lights on the house, then it turned into the kids begging along with me {pathetic, I know}...always to be disappointed. One year I had my dad come over and put them up with me...and that was the one and only year we have ever had them..because it was cold and yucky, and too much work! lol. A lot of the reason for his veto to the lights was probably was due to the fact that lights are not a big deal to my hubby. It's more of a chore than a treat. And thankfully when he was done, he thought it was very much worth the effort! 

{Which translates to: "We'll be getting them next year too!" insert happy dance!}

 Icicle lights are my fave! Warm white icicles...are just beautiful...classic...and will warm your heart. I know, they're just Christmas lights, but don't they evoke inside of you something so pure, so innocent, so joyful?! Ahh, well they do in me. They just give a pretty glow to an ordinary structure. They turn a play house into a fairytale cottage. The kids were so thrilled to have colored icicles in their play house. They go out as soon as it's dark, with their blankets and mittens and read books out there, or draw up their Christmas lists while snuggling in blankets dreaming about Christmas morning. 

 

I would so go sleep out in that play house...if it weren't so cold! ;) 

Blessings~Heather