The Schulers: May 2011

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Tuesday Homestudy Day

Today was too nice to be stuck inside working. Braysen was pointing out the back door all morning long. So after lunchtime, I took my work outside and this is how we spent the afternoon. It's hard to tell in the sunlight, but my laptop was on and I was working! :)

We REALLY need to get our backyard done. Braysen really wanted to play in his slide, but with no patio cover, that thing gets super hot.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

I posted that I wanted to try these Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls, I decided this weekend was as good as any. They were super easy, super yummy, and they don't include any egg, so the raw dough is completely safe to eat!

I did a Google search and found this recipe.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1(14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup semi-sweet choc. chips
1 1/2 lb choc. bark

*The original recipe called for pecans, but omitted them*

In a large bowl cream butter and brown sugar with a mixer on med speed.

Add vanilla. Gradually beat in flour and add milk. Add choc. chips and pecans. Shape into tiny balls. Place on wax paper and chill 2 hours.

Melt choc. bark in microwave. Dip balls into the choc. to coat. Chill to set.

Yes

I ~~ran out of chocolate~~ thought it would be fun to do some with white chocolate.

Red, White & Blue Red Velvet & Cream Cheese Brownies

I have seen brownies made from cake mix before, but never tried it myself. I saw a recipe for red velvet brownies online, but I didn't have all the ingredients I needed. I saw that Bakerella made brownies from a chocolate cake mix, so I tweaked that recipe a little for the red velvet box of cake mix I had in my pantry.

Brownies:

1 pkg Red Velvet Cake Mix
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
8 tbsp water

Cream Cheese Topping (Bakerella's Recipe):
1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese (softened)

2 eggs
1 lb confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

I dyed some of the cream cheese topping blue before I swirled it on top. It kind of baked into the brownie in some places, so there are parts where the cream cheese is sandwiched between the brownie. The verdict? YUM!

No Babies Here!

We don't push babies in strollers in this house. No sir, we push balls in cars.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

I'm On A Boat!

My brother has been working on getting his boat ready for Memorial weekend. Braysen found it necessary to be all up in the business.

My mom and my brother dug and found these pictures of me all up in the business when my dad was working on his boat. I guess some things will never change. :) By the way, check out my dad's SAH-WEEET shorts!

I think it's quite comical that the kaka face I have in these pictures looks a lot like the kaka face in a majority of the pictures I have of Braysen.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Wipes Cases

For my baby shower, Tony's cousin made a wipes case. I love it! It's thrashed because it seriously went into the diaper bag the day I got it and has been used every day since! I gave it a shot and made one for Carolyn and one for Rana.

Whiney Motorcycle Boy

Tony's parents got Braysen this for Easter. He LOVES it. He had been playing on it all day, but I guess he was tired by the time I got it on video.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Look ma...

no hands!!!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Rough Nights, Tough Mornings!

I know I've said before that the nights are hard because I'm home by myself. But mornings are tough too. Tony doesn't usually get home until late and Braysen's an early riser. Usually 5:30am to be exact. Because he wakes up so early, Tony is still asleep. So during the morning, I try to keep Braysen occupied and quiet while I try to get ready. Most of the time I still have semi-wet hair and no makeup when I leave the house.
When I decided I wanted to not only have a little more time to myself to get ready in the morning, along with maybe a little time to work out, I decided I needed to get up earlier. So Wednesday morning, my alarm went off at 4:15. I worked out, showered and got almost completely ready before Braysen woke up at 5:45. He slept in that day :)

Thursday I didn't bother because it was my work from home day so I don't do makeup and hair those days.

For Friday, I totally thought I was set. My alarm went off at 4:15, and I shut it off immediately. I heard Braysen on the monitor. What the heck?! This incident certainly proved I had been thinking this for a long time. My dang alarm clock is waking him up every morning. I think Wednesday may have just been a fluke that he slept in. So needless to say, we were both up way too early, were both very tired and grumpy, and I still didn't get the opportunity to work out or get ready!

I'm not really sure where to go from here, because as it looks, I will never get a chance to get up and get ready before Braysen is awake.

My favorite thing about our hectic mornings, though, is kisses through the shower door!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Balls?

Yesterday somebody brought chocolate chip cookie balls to Jonathan and Carolyn's. They were so yummy! Along with the frosting bombs (that I never got to), these are next on my list of things to make!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Cupcakes in a Jar

I've seen these cupcakes-in-a-jar on a few websites, but when I saw these ones a while back I completely fell in love with the idea and planned to make them for my fellow teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week. As it turns out, I didn't end up having enough time to make them.

So I made them this week instead! Jonathan and Carolyn had a "Meet the Baby" party for their little Kaleia, so I made some cupcakes-in-a-jar to take with me! I think they look much cuter in the taller jars from my inspiration, but I would need to put two cupcakes in each jar, and that just seemed like a lot of cake for somebody to eat in one sitting. So I opted for shorter jars. I think my favorite thing about these were how well they traveled, so much easier to transport than actual cupcakes!