Cupcake Cones a Childhood Favorite

Cupcake cones
are a favorite treat from my childhood.
I think there is nothing more delightful,
than sharing a childhood favorite with your child.

 

I love the soft and crunchy textures combined.

I love that there is less crumbs and mess than with typical papered cupcakes.
I love seeing the smile on my son's face when he enjoys a bite.

 

Won't you join us and enjoy Mamma's favorite childhood treat?

How to make Cupcake Cones:
Make your favorite cake recipe, and instead of dropping the batter into paper cups, drop it into premade ice cream cones. Carefully balance them in a cupcake pan, and bake as you would plain ole' cupcakes. Baking time might need to be increased. Check the center by poking with a toothpick to see if it is cooked through.
Top with cake frosting. Or try topping with a scoop of ice-cream.
ENJOY!

Presents and Play Dates

Remember Christmas?

I know, it was ages ago -

but really it was just 4 months ago.

This past one,

Lil' Monster received an odd gift from Santa

(a white elephant re-gift in fact)

Can you see what it is.

He were not that impressed.

He preferred the Christmas treats, Legos, and other assorted gifts.

This particular gift was put to the side and quickly forgotten

(as are all too many gifts).

 

Here it is 4 months later and

Lil' Monster had a play date.

He and his friend were 'bored'

(as kids tend to become with whatever they are allowed to do)

When a light bulb struck -

here was the perfect time to pull out something that didn't really mean anything special -

but it was something messy and edible (which most young ones love).

There was

frosting and decorating...

and assessing

and posing

and silly faces

and gnawing on old chewy candy

 and being grossed out

and lots of fun.

At the end I was asked 

"Can we do this again NEXT time?"

PS. Don't throw out those old gifts, they might just come in handy, and then you can send half of it home with a friend.

Where the Wind Blows Us

Yesterday, we just had to get away.

We had to leave it all behind...

And let the wind blow us wherever.

It blew us to one of the many nearby

lakes.

It was freezing cold.

It was only 49 degrees.

But with that wind it felt

much

much

much

Colder!

It was an unplanned trip.

We didn't bring anything but ourselves...

and a camera.

Lil' Monster stayed entertained with his toy of choice:

sticks!

Here, he is showing off his horns.

(Remember this post?)

Then the idea of fishing came:
He throws a stick,

the waves bring it in,

and with other sticks,

 he fishes the first stick out.

Clever.

Lil' Monster's catch.

It was great to just go and be blown around.

A day of the simple joys to be found in life.

Turkey Tails

I borrowed this cute idea from Laura at My Montessori Journey.

She has the greatest ideas and many are seasonally inspired, which is right up my alley.
It was easy to make with some felt and buttons I had already on hand.
Whipped it up in a night.
And he can play with it year after year.

 This is a great way to build skills
and
have fun at the same time.

This was also good practice in dealing with frustration.

Lil' Monster doesn't have much patience and quickly jumps into fits or avoidance.

But he persevered and look at him!

Proud as a Peacock....

I mean Turkey!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jack-O-Lantern's Many Faces

This is actually a project I did last year with the Lil' Monster. 

I borrowed the idea from Laura at My Montessori Journey.

This is a great way for children to make their own Jack-o-Lanterns without knives or mess.

It is easy to make and provides hours of fun.

I took orange felt and cut out a pumpkin pattern, then drew some crease lines.

Took black and yellow felt and cut out different shapes for mouths, eye, eyebrows, and nose.

Made a little stem and a couple of leaves.

 (Mamma Sass's example)

Enjoying the fun.
He can't remember the fun from last year,
so it feels new and exciting this year.

Creating his own Jack-o-Lantern.

With so many pieces,

there are so many possibilities

'Tis the Season.

Happy Autumn!

Happy Halloween!

Fall Foliage Frisking

Every year we go on a
hunt
in the
Autumn.

A hunt for
COLORS
hand-painted by
God.

The key elements of this hunt are:

*We eat delicious pastries and drink hot chocolate.

*We play a special music play list for the season.

*We make a day (or two or three...) of it.

*We take a bazillions pictures...

most of which are never as good as what our eyes can see.

*We don't care about the weather...though it usually is nippy.

*We usually find new jaunts

and revisit ones we have loved from years past.

We have done it for years.

Years ago, we dreamed of times when we would hunt with our kids.

Now

We actually do it with our child.

It's tradition!

This year we had to find a path

and

new types of pastries

having moved across country.

The pastries we settled on Pumpkin-licious donuts and muffins from the local

"The Moose is Loose."

The path was Skilak Loop up to Cooper Landing and back home.

The weather was grey and rainy.

The sun only peeked out about the time we got home.

Our favorite playlist (including Johnny Mathis, John Denver, Karen Carpenter, Tony Bennett, etc) is still waiting to be brought up from the lower 48...

so we had to settle on substitutes or 2nd favorites.

But we still had a blast!

And so it began:

 

Dancing and singing while waiting
for Pabbi to get some bear spray (a must for Alaskan Adventures).
Lil' Monster had his rain-boots and coats
and some warm chocolate milk
to go with our delicious pumpkin treats!

Lil' Monster showing his "afraid of bears" face
while holding the bear spray!

 Alaska's famous Fireweed

 The tree colors are mostly yellow which turns to brown.

 Skilak Lake

 Lil' Monster has to pick up sticks and leaves to throw in the water.

 Pabbi is mostly worried about bears.
Gotta protect his own cub.

 Mr Elskan always knows how to make me weak in the knees.
I could photograph him all day long.

A great thing about rain boots:
you can play in the water and not worry about wet feet afterwards

 Mrs. Elskan peeking through the leaves.

 Mamma tempted everyone to get their feet wet - just for the fun of it.

 Another favorite shot.

Lil' Monster leading Pabbi into the cold waters.

Running on water is only possible when a strong father lends support.

 Our journey not only lent itself to beautiful plants
but also to wildlife:
(Bears not included)

Bald Eagle takes flight.

Red Salmon take a swim


What Fall Traditions do you have?

Home(r) of the Brave...



Lil' Monster enjoying his Independence Dinner

Being newcomers to the area, holiday traditions are having to be reinvented and remade based on our surroundings. When Mamma was looking to plan something special she found lots of options to be explored. The cities and towns here all had something planned, it we just figuring out what to do, and what the weather would allow us to do.

So, the decision was made, Pabbi would take Lil' Monster to an early parade in the neighboring city of Kenai - while mamma prepared at home. That afternoon the American Legion Post # 18 in Ninilchik was hosting activities and an Independence lunch/dinner. After that we would drive to the farthest town south on the Kenai Peninsula, Homer, for their late afternoon parade.

When the Fourth arrived, we were astounded by the beautiful weather and couldn't wait to get out in it. The "Guys" went to the parade and collected some sweets. Then we all headed south. Instead of going straight to our destination in Homer, we stopped several times along the way marveling at the beauty of the Kenai Peninsula.

Homer Parade

Don't eat it, darling!

Trying to figure how these work.

Yeah! He did it!

Look, Mamma! Candy!!

Vehicles and candy were the favorites.

Who's coming?

 What parade is any good unless without a special guest appearance?

Santa was a highlight of the Parade.

What a wonderful day it was.

We took so many photos.

It makes living here feel just a little more like home.