Coffee Mugs That Make Me SMILE:)

Well, they say smiling is an important way to start the day.

I agree...after I've had my morning coffee:)

Maybe using one of these cute mugs would make me smile a little bit earlier in the day!

Worth a try, right?

Love em all.

Makes me smile!

How about you?

xoxo

Suzanne

Comfort and Joy on a Rainy Day. . . .

we've had a few really rainy days around here. . .

but i'm not complaining.

that's what happens when you live in the sunshine state.

a rainy day once in awhile is like a snow day:)

so what does that mean?

see. . . .just like a snowy day,

only in Florida,

and in the rain:)

rainy days mean comfort food.

and what is more comforting than a 

teddy bear egg and rice breakfast:)

awwwww. . . .almost too cute to eat:)

and when it rains,

out come the colorful boots and umbrellas.

okay, now for lunch.

i LOVE a good grilled cheese.

and i also love caramels, apples and brie cheese.

so how about a Grilled Caramel Apple with Brie Cheese Sandwich?

Y.U.M!

Caramel Apple Grilled Cheese

Yield: serves 2

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

4 slices multigrain bread

2 tablespoons butter

4 ounces brie cheese

1 honeycrisp apple, thinly sliced

3-4 tablespoons of your favorite caramel

Directions:

Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium-low heat.

Butter the outside slice of each piece of bread, placing two of the buttered-sides down once the skillet is hot. Spread a bit of caramel sauce on the bread, then top with an ounce of brie cheese on both sandwiches. Add a bit more caramel, add the apple slices, and then more caramel and remaining ounce of brie for each. Spread the top piece of bread (sandwich-side down) with caramel too.

Grill or cook on each side until bread is golden brown and the cheese is melted.

source; howsweeteats.com

sigh. . . .i love a rainy day:)

did i say that already?

almost done.

dinner on a rainy day should be soup, don't ya think?

like Lasagna Soup!

You can get Bobby Deens healthier soup recipe HERE.

before i go,

look at these cute, precious kitties:)

gotta run through a puddle!

xoxo

Suzanne

Maybe This World Needs Prayer, a Group Hug, and a Milk and Cookies Party!

photo:www.adoreevents.biz

and you think i'm kidding, right?

nope!

really, after this week. . .

year. . .

decade. . .

there's a whole lot of sense to this.

to me anyways:)

prayer is a given.

number one on the list.

because nothings really gonna change without it.

prayer and love. . . . .and Faith in God.

and a moral wake up call.

and some good ol' simple, Christian values.

but at least, let's start with prayer.

a group hug. . . .

you know what i mean by this, right?

there's so much hate floating around out there,

and while we can't "hug" everyone,

we can care.

and love.

and pray for them.

which is kind of like a group hug:)

and when all else fails,

we can throw an awesome party for those we care about.

a comforting, reassuring, 

remind you of innocent days kind of party.

like maybe a 

milk and cookies party!

i told you i wasn't kidding:)

actually, Robert Fulghum said it best in his book

All I Really Need to Know

 I Learned in Kindergarten

(one of my favorite books EVER)

“Think what a better world it would be if we all. . . .the whole world. . . .had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.
And it is still true, no matter how old you are. . . .when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.” Robert Fulghum

LOVE THAT QUOTE!

some of the pictures i'm gonna show you are

from a child's birthday,

which, in my opinion, is genius!

i mean, what else does a 1 or 2 year old even need for their party?

it's brilliant and adorable...what more is there?

other pictures are from weddings.

oh yes, some people know how to do it.

a rustic wedding, with great decorations and themed dessert tables,

like a milk and cookies table, a cupcake and ice cream cone table. . . .

and instead of confetti or rice, they throw sprinkles.

(are you listening girls?  because i know one of you

will let me plan a wedding reception like this someday:)

anyway, i hope you like these ideas.

and what am i trying to say here. . . .

oh heck, how could you not like them:)

alrighty then, let's get started!

photo: www.occasionsonline.com

i mean, these babies in their rustic chic setting should convince you,

but if not. . . .

this bride and groom have milk and cookies for the ride home.

cute:)

and some awesome party favors. . . . .

photos: www.swankypear.com, 

am i convincing you yet that this is a great idea?

photo:www.greenweddingplannerblog.com

photos: www.libbyjamesblog.com, party-wagon.com
 no one says you can't have other stuff at your party,
personally i think whoopie pies would be a fabulous idea too:)
photo below:shop.andersruff.com

 photo: glitterweddings.com

and because i'm kinda nice,

most of the time(;)

i'll share a few recipes with you.

one is mine, and it is a repost from a few years back,

but it's been pinned a lot of times so i'll make it simple and share with you.

These are so good, so white and sugary and look pretty wrapped in a

clear cellophane bag and tied with a ribbon.

Oh my gosh, I'm making myself hungry for sugar cookies at 9:30 in the morning!

*note. . . .these are not cut-out sugar cookies to decorate, but more like a classic

sugar cookie you would buy in a bakery.

you know, back in the day:)

AMISH SUGAR COOKIES:

Beat Well:

1 C Sugar

1 C Powder Sugar

1 C Butter

1 C Corn Oil (We used Canola Oil)

~~~ Beat the above ingredients, then add in:

2 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla

1 tsp Cream of Tarter

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Salt

4 1/2 C Flour

mix thoroughly

Baking Directions:

Drop a heaping tsp on greased or parchment lined cookie sheet.

Flatten with a glass bottom dipped in sugar.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 min. or till edges are golden.

(we add a sprinkle of sugar when they come out too. . . what can i say:)

not in the mood for sugar cookies?

how about some big, soft, ginger cookies!

 go to allrecipes for the yummy recipe:)

 that's it for today.

i hope you have a milk and cookies kind of day:)

xoxo

Suzanne

Jelly Beans, Jelly Bean Cookies and Magic Jelly Beans. . . .

ahhhh. . . . .i love me some bright, colorful jelly beans.

they're just plain fun!

i have a board on pinterest called "fun food". . . .

and for sure, jelly beans qualify!

so i was just tickled as could be to find some

 cute jelly bean ideas out there.

read on for a few great ideas.

but first, check out this jelly bean cake, costume and my favorites. . . .

jellybean happy pills:)

oh gosh, i almost passed out when i saw these jelly bean sugar cookies.

sign me up for a double batch. . .please!

the recipe for this is at :sallysbakingaddiction

or here's another one from

  simplyklassichome.

magic jelly beans anyone?

this next idea is seriously too cute!

full instructions can be found at nothingbutcountry.com but in a nutshell,

in a pail with some wheatgrass or even easter grass,

have your child "plant" a few jelly beans.

the next morning,

you have replaced the jelly beans with a giant rainbow lollipop.

get it?

the jelly beans turned into a lollipop.

soooo cute!

and the lovely lady behind this at nothing but country provides you with a printable 

magic jelly beans seed packet to make it oh. so. real!

when i taught Sunday School for the little ones years back,

i just had to find a way to give out jelly beans.

so we used something like this attached to a cute bag of jelly beans:)

meaningful, clever and YUMMY:)

wait. . . .

we need more jelly bean cookies, don't you think?

 here are simple, colorful cut-out sugar cookies.

Thank you to Partiologist for the idea!

No jelly bean cookie cutter?

well. . . .buy a tin of jelly bellys and use that!

works awesome!!!

these look super good. . . .

and i think will be made in this house tomorrow!

Jelly Bean Blondies

Jelly Bean Blondies

Ingredients

1 Stick Butter or margarine Melted (1/4 cup)

1 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract Pinch salt

1 cup all­purpose flour ( or Gluten Free Flour Mix) 1/4­1/2 cup jelly beans

Instructions

1. Butter an 8×8 pan

2. Mix melted butter with brown sugar – beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla. 3. Add salt, stir in flour.

4. Pour into prepared pan, and sprinkle top with Jelly Beans.

5. Bake at 350°F 20­25 minutes, or until set in the middle.

6. Cool on rack before cutting them.

Recipe by A Few Short Cuts at http://afewshortcuts.com/2012/04/jelly­bean­blondies/

have a beautiful Easter weekend!

be back tomorrow:)

Suzanne

Marvelous Monday. . . . .How to Have a HAPPY week. . . .

okay, i admit it.

for most of my life, i felt that we should just sleep through Monday

and jump straight to Tuesday.

(which, when you think of it, 

would just make tuesday kinda crappy, right?)

maybe it's cause i'm getting older,

and that empty nest is flying right straight at my face,

that i feel we need to embrace every day as a special day,

because memories will be made today.

and tomorrow.

some more memorable than others.

some good, some not so good.

but we can at least try to make them happy,

 and try to make this a happy week, right?

so let's figure this out. . . . .

1.  if you're reading this, you're alive.  

that's good news, right?

you have your vision, your intelligence, and at least one connection

to the internet world if you are reading this blog.

and you're alive, breathing, and happy about that, right?:)

so maybe try telling yourself that you can handle today,

that it is a good day, a day to be happy!

2.  regardless of last week,

today is monday, the start of a new one.

even if you had a blah weekend,

it's behind you now.

take a deep breath, say a prayer, look in the mirror,

and have at it.

you can do this.

you survived last week. . . .this week is going to be better.

i'm not a self help guru,

but it only makes sense that if we cave in to bad thoughts,

it's too easy to cave in to other things.

so think good thoughts...and smile:)

even if it gives you laugh lines!

3. we need to use what God's given us. . . . .

we all have gifts.

some more obvious than others.

but we have them.

maybe your gift is to make someone smile,

brighten a day, 

maybe it's a case of using your talent for good,

caring for our family,

being a trustworthy employee,

or a reliable friend.

sharing what we have with the world is proven to be a

wonderful way to be happy in our own life.

well, it's a start,

three little suggestions that i need to be reminded of,

 and thought maybe you do too.

we have a lot to offer the world,

we have gifts to share,

we have the ability to have a happy week.

let's go for it:)

here is a picture of "oh henry" (like the candy bar:),

 a blind westie dog.

i believe some wonderful family is trying to adopt him,

and i'm pretty sure there will be a lot of happy weeks with

this cute little guy:)

wishing you a very happy week!

Suzanne

Meet Ray. . . . .he will MELT your Heart

maybe you've seen this little guy, named Ray, around the internet.

he is a cutie.

a real, sweet, cutie pie.

and he was recently adopted by a guy named Andrew.

bless you Andrew!

it's easy to hold out for our definition of "perfect" in this world.

whatever that is.

but you didn't. . . .and i bet you will get years of pure joy from your 

sweet little guy.

are you ready to meet Ray?

well, scroll down to see this

C

U

T

I

E

Ray. . . . .

you see, Ray is 9 weeks old and was born completely blind.

from everything i've read, especially because that is all he's known,

he will live a happy, frisky joyful life,

thanks to a kind soul who adopted him.

***note to Andrew, wherever you are.  Thank you.  And be glad you saw him first

because if I had, he would've been mine:)

Happy Friday everyone!

xoxo

Suzanne

P.S.  LOVE the jammies, Ray!

Yummy Apple Dew Dessert, Sharks Teeth, and Smiles. . . .

it seems everyone i know is on a diet.

oh, i know some say "it's a lifestyle, not a diet".

ya, okay.

if you have to cut out every. single. good-sweet-satisfying

 thing you ever loved to eat, that is a diet. . . . . . . . .if you ask me.

and that's okay too.

because i'm supposed to be losing weight myself.

and as we all know, it's one day at a time.

but does that mean every once in awhile, we don't come across a

super easy delicious recipe to try?

nope!

and this one is SO easy and YUMMY,

i have to share it with you!

it's one of those that takes only a few ingredients.

comes together real quick.

is so good, everyone will be lickin their plates and asking for the recipe.

the SECRET recipe.

with the SECRET ingredient!

(not so secret now I guess:)

here's what you do. . . . . .

Apple Dew Dessert

2 packages crescent rolls, separated

4 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and quartered

2 sticks butter

1 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

12 0z. mountain dew (SECRET ingredient:)

~ ~ wrap apple quarters in sections of crescent rolls and place side by side in

a 9x13 pan.  Make sure apples pieces are totally covered with dough.

~ ~ bring butter, sugar and cinnamon to a boil and pour over apple roll ups.

pour the mountain dew over the apple roll up mixture.

bake at 350 for 45 min. till golden brown.

~ ~ serve warm with ice cream, whipped cream or both:)

*****even better with cinnamon ice cream. just soften a quart of vanilla ice cream,

stir in cinnamon to taste and refreeze.

DOUBLE YUM!!!

~ ~ apple dessert can be made ahead and reheated before serving.

well, enough about food, right?

SO, you know you live in Florida when you're walking. . . . .

in FLIP-FLOPS. . . . . . 

and you feel/hear something on the tile floor.

you reach down, thinking there is a staple or a nail in the sole of your flip flops,

you pull out the staple/nail thing and you see that it is neither.

as you bring it closer you realize,

there is a

SHARK"S TOOTH

 in the bottom of your shoe.

seriously...is that cool, or what???

i mean, how often does that happen?

a perfect shark's tooth!

my new lucky shark's tooth:)

yep, this is when you know you're not in kansas anymore:)

okay, now i just have a few more smile worthy things to share today.

like this. . . . . .

how can you not wake up with a smile to this big nose in your face?

gotta love my big boy Maui:)

so happy i had my phone by the bed to snap this pic!

and on the same subject, i love these guys!

they will curl up with me wherever and whenever.

my girls woke up to this picture...sweet, huh?

i made a facebook cover on smilebox the other day.

fun and very easy. . . .check it out and make one of your own someday. . . . .

well, that's it for now!

hope you smile today. . . .more than once if possible:)

xoxoxoxox

Suzanne

The Reason Why I Blog. . . . . . .

 if you have a blog,

this is a really good question to ask once in awhile.

i mean, there are definitely some who know 

why they blog.

usually, it means they're really good at something. . . . . .

cooking, crafting, writing, photography, parenting, couponing, organizing.

something!

and they are kind enough to share it with the rest of us.

thank you for that!

but for a few of us, we are just as clueless as to why we blog

as you are when you look at our blog.

take mine for instance.

it's all over the place!

sometimes in the same post...now that's crazy.

but that's me.

and i think it's really important,

if you like to blog,

to take a look at the why's of it every once in awhile.

so that's what i'm doing today.

and guess what conclusion i'm coming to.

my reasons are pretty much the same,

i just get off track every so often.

but basically, i blog for me.

yep, you read that right.

for me.

every now and then i start writing for others,

and that's when i go off track.

that's when i get stuck.

and that is when i think " this is stupid...i'm done with this silly 'ol blog".

but within a few weeks, i miss it.

then i'm back:)

lucky you!  

hahahaha. . . . .just kidding:)

well, maybe i don't just blog for me.

i also blog for you!

i just meant i blog about the things i would like to read if i were you.

hmmmmm. . . . .i have a feeling that didn't come out quite right,

 but my intentions are good:)

because i have not taken the time to master

any one particular thing 

(i can do a lot of things but am master of pretty much none:)

i  steer away from trying to teach others my

half-baked way of doing something.

unless i am totally confident i did it right the first time:)

which is why you rarely see tutorials on my blog.

a teacher i am not.

(i do find great photos though, don't ya think? :)

but what/who  i am, is this;

~ ~ a friend, mother, wife, daughter, sister

~ ~ whose faith is important to her

~ ~ who is extremely forgetful and downright flaky

~ ~ who still hasn't totally grown up. . . and never will

~ ~ who has somehow, so far, managed to raise 2 pretty incredible young ladies

~ ~ who loves to laugh and cry. . . .sometimes in the same conversation

~ ~ who is still a dreamer. . . .and who encourages that in others

~ ~ who would rather stay home with her family, 

watch reruns on tv and eat caramel corn way more than a fancy dinner out 

~ ~ who is very nice. . . .until you mess with her children. 

 or dogs. who are not pets but boys. my precious boys.

so don't mess with them;)

~ ~ who is grossly unorganized but tries to fix this every day.  not successful but i try.

~ ~ who was once told she was a "simpleton" by a somewhat confused patient. . . and didn't know it was a compliment, until now. i'll take simple every day of the week:)

~ ~ who has everything and nothing in this crazy world figured out.

~who has her own struggles and flaws

~ ~ who believes that if nothing else, sharing a smile with someone is a fabulous achievement.

 which brings me to this blog.

why i blog. . . . .

not because i do or say anything brilliant.

but because i try, most days, to be happy about something.

to smile about something.

at least once.

because that is important.

and if i can make someone else smile at my blog,

i did something fabulous.

so that's it.

that's why i blog.

i don't say the words "smile" or "be happy" casually.

i don't always feel like smiling, and i am not always happy.

and i know the same goes for you too.

but i do believe if we look around us, there has to be something worth smiling about.

so with that, i hope that today, you smile. . . .at someone or something.

and feel a teeny tiny bit of happiness.

and if not today, i hope tomorrow is a better day.

i may not be the best at blog comments,

but if you need a friendly shoulder to lean on,

i'm right here, willing and able:)

because besides blogging for me, i really do blog for you. (there, i said it:)

i just don't keep track of visits, comments or followers closely.

don't get me wrong, i LOVE them.

i simply hope that the person who needs something i have to give will

somehow stumble on my lowly blog.

and be happy:)

Suzanne