Getting in The Christmas Mood

We have all been fighting this cold virus...one at a time...here at our house.  So, I did not get to do any of the baking and crafting that I wanted to do early in the season.  I was all over Pinterest pinning away all of the fabulous things I was going to make to give to friends and neighbors.  But when I finally felt well enough to do anything it was already the 19th and there really wasn't much time.  Then, Hubs came home sick from work and that blew any plans I had, right out of the water.  I am very much a germ-phobe and will not bake something in a "sick house" to give away to someone else.  But my desire to bake was so strong!!!!  I gave in and searched out the simplest recipes I could find and whipped those up...only after I Cloroxed the entire house!
I wanted to share the links for these ideas, they are so simple that you could whip them up today! Just in time for Christmas and run them over to the neighbors and impress them with your creativity!!! Or...keep them for yourself and eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner like me!

First up were the most delish chocolatey-minty cookies!!!  And they are made with only 4 ingredients!

Andes Mint Cookies

These Holiday Pretzel Treats are so addicting and so easy to make!

Holiday Pretzel Treats

These Candy Cane Marshmallow Treats were super easy to make.  I just copied the picture as there were no directions to go with the picture.  *Note, the link may not always go back to this picture.*  But, as you can see it is a mini candy cane, stuck into a large marshmallow, dipped in melted chocolate (I just melted semisweet chocolate chips in my mini crock pot) and rolled in crushed candy canes.  I ran out of crushed candy canes and rolled some in sanding sugar and it looked pretty too!  I thought these would be fun for stirring hot cocoa.

Candy Cane Marshmallow Treats

Well, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas...and are all healthy!

Busy as a Bee

I am sure at this point nobody even stops by my doorstep anymore.  There is dust on the knick knacks and cobwebs in the corners.  I have been away for far too long.  I said in my last post that I would have so much more  free time once the kids went off to school.  Well, I had no idea how wrong I was.  With Diva in kindergarten and Professor in second grade I now have two pick up times.  I am the room mom in both classes with teachers to love.  I volunteer in each class for a few hours once a week.  I don't even have time to go thrifting or to yard sales!  It is a fun and busy time for me.
Among this busy life I have decided that I want to start a business.  I have loved photography since I was a kid.  It took me over two years with my Nikon D90 to actually take it off of the AUTO setting.  WOWZA! Once I did that it was like a whole new world opened up right in front of me!  I have been soaking up as much information as I can.  I have been taking as many pictures as I can.  My journey toward being a professional photographer is taken in baby steps.  This makes me more comfortable and there is nothing pushing me to go any faster. I want to figure out who I am in terms of what I like to shoot, how I shoot and where my comfort zone is.
I hope that I will have more to share here in the near future but that all depends on how crazy busy things get!  When I do get that photography website up and running I will post it here...if I still have any devoted readers.
Merry Christmas to you! Hope you are healthy and happy this holiday season!