In the Kitchen ~ Candy Buttons

I've mentioned that I am teaching my kids to cook........QUIT LAUGHING!

It's actually fun when they are helping out in the kitchen.  I love that they are so ready to learn and jump right in to help. 

I saw a recipe a few months ago for candy buttons, do you remember them?  They looked super easy to make, so I thought we could give it a try. 

Here is a picture of the real thing:

I think we nailed it.

It is a really simple and fun recipe for kids to make!

Here is what you will need -

1 egg

1 1/2 c. powdered sugar

food coloring

wax paper

Mix the egg white & powdered sugar together in a bowl for roughly 5 minutes, until your mixture can form stiff peaks.  Separate into little bowls and add food coloring, mix well.  Put mixture into a sandwich bag and cut a small corner to pipe the mixture onto wax paper, into little dots. Let dry overnight.  Ta-da!  You have made your own candy buttons.  I gave a bag to each of my kids and let them go at it. We had fun......they even drew pictures on wax paper with the left overs we had.

Hog wrasslin' anyone?

See this lil guy? I guess it could be a lil gal, well, my kiddos and a few others, got up close and personal with s/he and a few of it's buddies last night at the 2011 Orange County Hog Wrestling...event :)
These little guys weren't just muddy, they were greasy too! More fun for everyone involved. The night started out with the minis first and finished with the older kiddos wrapping it up. This was the first year my kids have ever tried it, but definitely won't be the last. They got hooked....those little piglets stole their hearts! They will be going back for more & more & more (and I'm so glad!!!!! I had just as much fun as they did!). My two year old wore his rubber boots hoping to get in on some muddin' (or is it?) himself.  He can't wait!  He kept saying "next year, I go get me a hog!"

Introducing the "TOUGH BUDDIES"   this is a BEFORE picture..........

and this is the "TOUGH BUDDIES" after picture ;)......

Yes.....they had fun!  Anyone wanna guess brought most of the mud out with him on his clothes :).... lovely...and our Pastor's son, Joe, is the one with the mud speckled all over his sweet little face.  Mav is the little "Dirt Magnet" and Benjamin is the "Beatles" fan. They all did such a great job!! Got the pig, grabbed it and took him/her through the gate within 2 minutes! Doubt I could have got the job done :) Here are a few more of the pig wranglers :)

I couldn't get Hunter to change his clothes afterwards, he wanted to walk around the fairgrounds in his muddy clothes and proudly display them :) It's the little things in life...they are only little once.

            Getting their names for the paper.....they are gonna be local celebrities! ;)

              Benjamin got pretty lucky! Only his boots.....how is that possible???

           LOL.....he's making a face.....wonder what he's smelling?

                                   Just a lil mud on his face ;)

Had to get little brother in here too.....since he did wear his boots ;)

We can't forget the girls.  Last but not least are the beautiful 'Dogwood Divas'.

Aren't they soooo cute? :) Anna, Addie, Tinsley & Ashley, they have their "war paint" on, ready to tackle those piggies!

My beautiful Tinsley & the beautiful Walerczak girls, Allison, Natalie and Anna. Natalie (in yellow) participated with another team and they won the mini 4-H Hog Wrestling for their age division.

                  Getting their final instructions before the start.....the excitement is building! :)

Oh it's on.....like Donkey Kong!!!!! This is the AFTER pic of our lil Princesses "Dogwood Divas"....I think my lil darling got a mouthful of piggy poo :x.........:( So....not.....cool......I mean, I know it was dirt + water = mud, but those little piggies were being chased and they were scared and that might = ?????........you never know...........Just sayin'

                                                     
 Check us out world!

          Uh oh......Tinsley doesn't look so well on the end :( Luckily, it was a false alarm. Whew!

             Country clean-up........with the water hose, of course. ;)




We had such a great time......and the fair is just beginning!  :) Can't wait to see what is in store for the rest of the week!  A special thanks to the staff at the Orange County Extension Office, the board for the Orange County 4-H Fair, the Volunteers who helped throw this Hog Wrestling together, the people who let our kiddos 'wrestle' their piggies, the FANS who supported our kids, and the wonderful kids who got out there, jumped in that stinky mud and wrasseled those hogs! :) It was a huge success!



Christmas card 2010

Remember here awhile back, I posted about Shutterfly giving away 50 FREE photo Christmas Cards just for blogging about them?  True to their word, they sent me 50 precious cards, complete with the loves of my lives perched right on the front! 

Hoping this comes through big enough to see (the mischevious looks ;) )!

My baby girl is 7!

It absolutely blows my mind that my little baby girl is now 7 years old.  Someone please tell me where the time goes?  She blew out 7 candles this year....she specifically asked for seven candles, not the big #7 candle. :) Momma knows her baby, I already had the fun ones picked out.  My kids LOVE blowing out candles.  I remember last summer sticking candles in hot dogs for the kids, they really wanted to make a wish.  No, wasn't anyones birthday or anniversary, just having fun & playing along. 

Getting ready for the big moment!

 

How sweet is this?  She is sharing with her little brother.....(what the camera doesn't show is that she was upset once the "lights" were out.  Apparently Bubby blew out more than she did.)  Considering how he was leaning half way over the cake, ummm, yeah, I can see that happening.