Happy Turkey Day!

It's so easy this Thanksgiving to find things to be thankful for:

TURKEY

 FAMILY

MY BABIES

AND DEAR FRIENDS,

who are sacrificing time with their families this Thanksgiving,

so that I may enjoy mine.

Miss you Erin!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving

and celebrated how truly blessed we are.

Pumpkin Fluff

 Just in time for Thanksgiving,

here is a delicious and easy dip that is always a crowd pleaser -

and you only need 4 ingredients!

Mix together the vanilla pudding and can of pumpkin -

 and stir in a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.

 Then all that is left to do,

 is fold in the thawed whipped topping -

mix well and chill before serving.

 I like eating pumpkin fluff on Nilla Wafers,

but I recently came across these Gingerbread Pita chips.

and I'll never go back!

It's a dangerously delicious combo.

 I'm trying to save some for my guests,

but I can't make any promises.

PUMPKIN FLUFF DIP

1 (16 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

In a large bowl, mix together instant vanilla pudding mix, pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. Fold in the thawed frozen whipped topping. Chill in the refrigerator until serving.

Big Happenings

It's been awhile since I've written -
a lot has been going on.

Grandma Tami came to town -

 and had a great time with the kids!

 Two of my dear nieces had birthdays -

turning 12 and 5 respectively.

 Ruby busted out her party dress for the occasion.

  And speaking of busting out -

Miss Ruby has a tooth!

She's very happy about it.

  She's also army crawling all over the place -

 and getting up on all fours.

You can set her down in the kitchen and turn around

and she's in the living room.

It's craziness.

What happened to my little baby?

She's 7 months old and growing up way too fast!

Crispy Peanut Butter Cups

Watch out world - I've joined Pinterest.
I kept hearing about it and finally caved.

I found it crazy that one of the first recipes I pinned 

was from a blog I'm already familiar with Iowa Girl Eats.

This Pinterest photo of
no-bake Crispy Peanut Butter Cups 

made me want to lick my screen.

I decided to make them instead.

So I gathered my ingredients to give these babies a shot.

While I was preparing-

 

this little wanna-be firefighter 

snuck in to get some chocolate chips.

But I got to work mixing together the butter and peanut butter

and then the vanilla, powdered sugar, and crispy cereal.

Walt stuck around to help me 

line the mini muffin pan with chocolate chips.

 It was good to have him,

since my other little helper was already in bed.

He's been working on his "cheese" face.

While I shoved the pan in the oven 

for a few minutes to melt the chocolate,

Walt took the opportunity to steal more chocolate chips.

This part of the recipe took the longest - 

smashing the melted chocolate chips with a spoon

to make the bottom of the cups.

But I love the rustic look of these crispy peanut butter cups,

so it's a necessary step.

Then I spooned crispy peanut butter filling

onto each chocolate base -

and placed the pan in the fridge.

While we waited for the peanut butter cups to chill,

Walter and I high-fived,

bumped knuckles,

and licked the spoons.

After a few minutes in the fridge,

I simply popped each cup out with a spoon -

and it was time to eat!

Okay this isn't the best picture 

(refer to first photo in post)

but I couldn't wait until they were chilled solid 

so the peanut butter is hanging off all over

and this particular cup 

could've used more chocolate on the bottom -

but it didn't matter.

These crispy peanut butter cups went so fast

I never got a chance to take a better photo.

They are quick, easy, and hard to stop eating.

You've been warned.

CRISPY PEANUT BUTTER CUPS

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups smooth peanut butter

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal

1 3/4 cups milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease mini muffin cups with non-stick spray and add about a Tablespoon of chocolate chips into each cup. Melt in the oven for 5 minutes. With the back of a spoon, smooth out the top of the chocolate chips while they’re still warm. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream together peanut butter and butter until smooth. Add in powdered sugar and vanilla, then mix until combined. Pour in crispy rice cereal and mix again until combined. 

3. Drop heaping Tablespoons of the peanut butter mixture into each mini muffin cup. Smooth with the back of a spoon and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes before eating. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Trick-or-Treat

On Halloween,Walter became Elmo -

 and he was pretty happy about it.

Miss Ruby rocked a "my 1st Halloween" pumpkin onesie,

 

and came out for awhile when we hit up the 

trunk-or-treat at a neighborhood church,

but after that she stayed inside 

with Grandma and Grandpa where it was warm.

 Elmo, however, went out to hit the neighborhood.

 He brought along his pretty little candy corn cousin, Kaitlyn -

 

 and off they went to meet up with his neighborhood pals

 and go trick or treating door-to-door.

At the start of the night, Walter was unsure and scared -

He kept clinging to Adam's neck at the trunk-or-treat.

These are the clowns that did him in -

He was rightfully frightened.

But it didn't take him long to get the hang of trick or treating.

He loved running through the yards with the kids 

and getting candy at every door.

Even the scary houses didn't bother him.

They'd take turns ringing the doorbells and Walt chimed in

yelling "trick or treat" "thank you" and "bye" at each house.

It was adorable.

Our house was the final stop of the night -

where Grandma provided all kinds of treats, 

because once again,

we had about 2 trick-or-treaters come to our door.

Here he is enjoying the fruits of his labor.

 It was such a fun night.
I already got costumes for Walter and 

Ruby for next year on clearance.

It will be so fun seeing them out running around together.

I can hardly wait!