Lego minifigs--edible edition

If you've got one of these:

and that one is having a birthday, you need to get yourself to one of these:

Or, the website will do.  Whichever you choose, you should definitely purchase this:

As always, please excuse the pink countertops-I promise we are working on replacing them.  Anyway, after purchasing this, which is actually an ice cube tray, you should also buy some of these:

Next, melt the chocolate and fill the trays-the yellow faces and hands really make the minifigs convincing. 

Then, you should pop them in the freezer, especially if you don't have air conditioning and it's summer.  In just a few minutes, you will have edible minifigs!!!

Again, ignore the countertop, I know it's hard.  Next, you should definitely have your chocolate minifigs line up for professional portraits:

You should also introduce them to the real minifigs, but it might confuse them:

Then, you should put them on cupcakes and serve them to a boy (or girl) who is celebrating a birthday!

Because, trust me they will love it! 

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mid summer morning- a few things

I have no energy left-between the hot days  (thankfully spent mostly in the pool) and the window-unit a/c frozen nights, I am tired.  This has been one long, hot summer so far and we still have about 1/2 of it left.  So, here are my 10 summer things (because paragraphs seem like too much of a challenge today)

1.  My legs are tan for the first time in years!  Thanks to my children for getting older and being good swimmers, I am working on sitting by the pool and reading and I think I have perfected it! 

2.  We have not done one improvement/painting/updating project in weeks-honestly we barely have the energy for lawn maintanence in this heat!

3.  I finally finished the Life of Pi and have rarely been so happy to see the last page of a book.  Sorry to anyone who liked it-I detested it from beginning to end.

4.  I have read, since finishing that book, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, Firefly Lane and The Reliable Wife, all of which I liked infinitely more than that other book that two me almost 2 weeks to read. 

5.  I am now the mother of a teenager!

The next few weeks are jam-packed.  First up, is our Facacation (note my clever combination of "fake" and "vacation") and then Vacation Bible School, and then we have family visiting from California.  After all that is over, there will only be 2 weeks left of summer break-not sure how that happened. 

The kitchen is finished!

It was tough work, but my kitchen is finally finished-here it is:

Wait, what?  That's not my kitchen.  What?  Oh, right, it's summer vacation and I have three kids-I nearly forgot.  Now, I remember-that is a photo from a magazine...ohh.... it's all coming back to me now. 

In real, wide awake life, we are all about summer break with the wet towels, wet bathing suits and coolers full of all kinds of sticky messes that trips to the pool inevitably bring.  We survived the crazy hot weather of last week, my oldest child turned 13 over the weekend (!!!!!!) and we are getting ready for camp this week. 

We have done several things on our summer list and I have read a few books already-some I loved, others I barely dragged myself through just so they wouldn't beat me (I am talking to you, Life of Pi).   I guess the kitchen, my actual kitchen, can wait till fall-but I do love the one in that photo. 

good gravy, it's hot

We had a record breaking winter, full of snow that measured in feet rather than inches.  I even had one unfortunate day when I decided to go for A WALK (I know, crazy) in the snow.  I had this theory that if I didn't get out of the house and away from the company of my working at home husband and my 3 bored children, that I might, just might turn my home into a remake of The Shining.  Anyway, with all good intentions, I took my ipod and myself out to walk to Wawa (in case you don't live in the mid-atlantic, it's a convenience store but nice).  I managed to make my way through the snow-I even took a photo to document my walk, after all there were a few brave robins looking for food and the sun was shining. 

Yup, that's all snow.  Anyway after stopping for provisions and enjoying the fresh, though cold, air.  I was making my way home.  Looking at my ipod, I didn't see the car that was coming around the corner nor did I see the GIANT PUDDLE OF FREEZING COLD WATER AND SLUSH that the car was about to careen through on its way past me.  Needless to say (or maybe I still haven't come to terms with it) I was drenched from head to toe in the coldest water I have ever felt in my life.  And, I still had to walk 3 blocks home.  I looked at the car as it sped away and may or may not have thrown a few choice expletives in their general direction.  I dragged my cold, wet, humiliated self home and got into my pajamas (at 3 pm in fact). 

All that is to say that I will not complain about this heat-though I am getting close.  Hope wherever you are, you are staying cool. 

oreo truffles, chores and... yuck!

A little over a year ago, I found this recipe for oreo truffles.  I figured that they would be a great dessert to make because I really don't like oreos that much-so I thought it wouldn't be bad having them around.  I could not have been more wrong.  They are beautiful and delicious, so if you continue reading, be forewarned. 

Oreo truffles:
1 package oreos, crushed
1 8oz stick of cream cheese, room temperature

melting chocolate
tsp of crisco
sprinkles or other decorative toppings

Crush the oreos, the finer the better, and blend in the cream cheese.  Chill mixture until it's firm.  Form small balls with oreo mixture.  I use the small scoop from Pampered chef to keep the size pretty uniform.  Once they are shaped, chill again until firm. You could even freeze them for a bit. 

Melt whatever color chocolate you are using.  I love to use the golden oreos with semisweet baking chocolate (again-you have been warned).  Add a teaspoon or so of vegetable shortening to the chocolate (thanks to my friend, Kathi, for that tip) to make it look prettier and more smooth.  Dip truffle balls into chocolate and then place on waxed paper to cool-make sure you add the sprinkles while the chocolate is still wet.  You could also use more chocolate to decorate the tops of the truffles by putting it into a ziploc or pastry bag. 

Keep the truffles refrigerated until serving.  You should also stay away from the refrigerator during that time! 

In other news, we are in full swing with daily chores, and the flower pot system is working really well.  I love that I am a little removed from the whole process and don't have to actually tell my kids what they have to do each day.  My youngest actually told me that his job (that day- cleaning up the porch) wasn't so bad because he had just done it a few days earlier and the porch wasn't that messy!  Love it. 

A few people have asked me what kind of chores my kids have and how I decide who does what.  To answer that, I will first tell you that my kids are (almost) 13, 9 and (almost) 6 so their abilities and attention span vary greatly.  I try to match up their personalities and interests, if you can call it that, to the task I am asking them to do.  Here are just some of the chores they have:

dusting each room (separate chore stick for each room)
collecting trash from bedrooms and bathrooms
taking out recycling
cleaning front and back doors (both are glass)
bringing down the laundry and sorting for washing
putting laundry away
cleaning their own rooms
putting dishes away
dusting baseboards
vaccuuming basement (our only room with carpet)

There are more and I have some more ideas about chores for kids, but that's a sampling of what they are doing.  My youngest usually gets either the porch, or cleaning up our "shoe basket" where we all leave our shoes when we come home. 

In YUCK news, I came downstairs the other morning to find that I had left a wine glass on the table with just the tiniest bit of wine in it.  The gross part was that there were fruit flies all over it-blech!!!  So, I decided to use wine as my "bait" for this old school fruit fly trap (Andi, you were close on your guess). 

It actually worked and served as a bit of a science project for my kids on the habits and life cycle of fruit flies.  Of course, the best way to get rid of those pesky pests is to put all the fruit away, but I wanted to make sure there weren't any stray bugs anywhere.  The flies go toward the bait (in this case the wine, but jelly works, too) and then can't fly back up the cone.