Super hero cupcakes

Yesterday was a special day in our home.

The light of our lives turned 4 years old!

I just have to take a moment to brag here, bare with me :)

My little man is the sweetest, most caring, considerate, helpful, imaginative, playful, happy, handsome little guy.

I am so thankful that we were blessed to have him in our lives.

He is our everything!

We did not have a birthday party though, if you remember, we had a BIG Avengers themed party back at the end of August before we moved so he could celebrate with family and friends one last time.

(For that party we had a 

Captain America shield pinata
Avengers birthday cake
DIY Avengers masks)

Check those posts out as well if you haven't before, they're freaking awesome :)
Ok, so since we did that huge party, we decided when it was his 'real' birthday we would just celebrate with the 3 of us.
We had a busy day full of activities and play.
Even though it was just us, I HAD to have some sort of cake so he could blow out his candles.

Since my son's 'birthday' party back in August he has been learning more about other super heroes.

His obsession has grown to now include members of the Justice League (Batman, Superman, Aquaman, the Flash, Green Lantern, etc), as well.

I first started out with just the Captain America shield cupcakes, but my husband challenged me and pushed me to try something more difficult.

I'm glad he did, because this is what I came up with.

I was really pleased with the outcome.

The Justice League themed cupcakes.

Mini Coconut Cream Pies

Good morning all!
It's no secret that I love mini desserts.

Maybe I feel less guilty if I'm eating smaller portions...but I don't think it counts if I pop multiple ones in my mouth in one sitting...hmmm, oh well~
On to the recipe!
I feel like pies just come with territory when you're talking about Thanksgiving and Christmas, so lucky for you this post comes right before Thanksgiving, yay!

Guests at your holiday get-together will definitely appreciate the individual serving size :)

I first made these last year for Thanksgiving, and they were DELICIOUS!

Since then, I've actually made these a couple of times, and I've tweaked the recipe to save a little time here and there. Even with that help, they are a little involved, but SOOOO worth it, I promise!

You can do this a day in advance and refrigerate the dough and cream filling if that helps!

Here we go!

Pie Crust

1/3 c. cold water with an ice cube or two to keep it cold

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

2/3 c. shortening

Pour flour, salt, and brown sugar into a bowl. Using a pastry blender or fork cut the shortening into the dry ingredients until it starts to resemble pea-sized clumps.

Pour in a small amount of water and press the dough together, keep adding small dashes of water until you can form the dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour. 

(If you want to you can also leave it overnight)

When you are ready, break the dough ball in half and roll it out on a sheet of wax paper sprinkled lightly with flour. Cut out circles and place in a greased muffin tin. Gently push it down so it makes a little cup.

Poke a few tiny holes in the bottom so it doesn't puff up.

Fine motor activity

Hello everyone!

Hope you are all having a great week :)

Thanksgiving is just 1 week away! Can you believe it??

I am very excited to be able to see family for the holiday, nothing beats that!

Today I've got an awesome activity for the littles.

I actually made this for my son probably a year or so ago, but with our big move 2 months ago, it got thrown away.

The other day my son asked to do this activity again, and it was great because it didn't cost me anything to make it again, I already had everything on hand! 

Yay!

I love this activity because it promotes fine motor skills, and counting.

(Just a side note, I tried to find the blog I got the idea from, but to no avail. If you are out there, sorry I can't link back to you, but thanks for the idea!)

Thankful turkey craft

Since it's the beginning of November, and Thanksgiving is on it's way, last Monday night for Family night I wanted to talk to my son about being thankful.

We have so much to be thankful for, and I want him to understand that everything should not be expected or taken for granted.

I know you have seen turkey crafts ALL over Pinterest, well, here's another one :)

I had taken down our Halloween paper plate crafts and again had our big, empty, white wall.
I decided a new craft should take their place.

This is the 'thankful turkey craft' my son made, that is now hanging on our wall. 

Pipe cleaner activity

A couple of weeks ago I purchased a pack of pipe cleaners, I was going to do an activity with my son I had seen on Pinterest. 

It was the one where you cut up the pipe cleaners, place them in a bottle, and use a magnet to move them around.

It looked really fun, but I couldn't find a magnet anywhere.

So, this is what I came up with instead.

Supplies

pipe cleaners

empty bottle (I just used an orange juice bottle)

a sharp knife

a push pin

a nail