Sneak Peek

Here's a peek at the projects I've been working on lately for our upcoming family vacation!

Not totally frugal, because I needed to buy all of the supplies, but my friend and I made these for our girls after seeing similar ones on Etsy!

Didn't want to leave Jackson out - it was a little bit of a challenge coming up with something cute that would still be for a big boy!

This was because I was too cheap to buy an autograph book - don't know what they are at Disney, but on eBay they were going for more than I wanted to pay!

Can't wait for vacation!!!

**For those interested, the tutu is no-sew and there are MANY tutorials out there in blogland.  The shirts were simple:  I made appliques, ironed them on, and sewed around the edges to make sure they'd last.  I bought the bows already made and sewed one on the Minnie Mouse face and one on a plain headband to make the set coordinate!**

50 FREE Shutterfly Cards

Let me just begin by saying how EXCITED I am for this time of year!  I just LOVE the holiday season!  Starting with my birthday (yes, I am now 30....) and then the months of November and December are just PACKED with hectic holiday fun.  I love all the preparations - right now I have my fall decorations up, but as soon as I awake from my Thanksgiving coma, the first thing I do is to start decorating for Christmas!  One of my FAVORITE things about the Christmas season is CHRISTMAS CARDS!!!  **I am not exaggerating this for the purpose of this post.**  Beginning the day after Thanksgiving, I practically sprint to the mailbox each day in hopes of receiving a Christmas card.  I do love any card, and immediately tape it up on a wall somewhere, but the ones I especially love are photo cards!  I love seeing how kids have grown or people have changed in the past year.  Love it so much that I keep all my photo cards in a special album that comes out only at Christmas.  Seriously people, I know most of you just throw out your cards, but they bring me much joy :)
Which brings me to the actual point of this post...right now, Shutterfly has a special deal where bloggers can receive 50 FREE photo cards!  Photo cards can be expensive sometimes, but you just can't beat FREE!  (and since they are free, how about sending me one, eh?)
 

I can speak from experience and say that creating cards on Shutterfly is very simple!  The hardest part by far is picking out your favorite design....and this year they have some super cute ones!  Here are a few of my favorites:





Love the 5x7 size!

So cute, but folded cards are a lot more expensive!

Might be "the one" for this year....we'll see what kind of cute pics we get!

Here's our card from last year ~ the little lump is Carly who was only about a month old in this picture :)

So check out Shutterfly's selection of cards and stationary!  They have Thanksgiving cards too!  Don't forget, if you are a blogger, you can get 50 free cards too, just follow the link here!

Mountain O' Pancakes

Here at Casa de Mohr, we LOOOOOVE brinner (aka breakfast-for-dinner); I usually make it once a week or so.  The other day while browsing blogs, I found a recipe for Cinnamon Bun Pancakes with Maple Icing Syrup and knew immediately that those pancakes & I.... simply meant to be!  Especially with a side of bacon.  Mmmm...bacon.  Noticing that the recipe made 10 or 12 medium pancakes, and reading the suggestion to double the recipe, I figured we would definitely eat the leftovers for breakfast the next day.  So I happily stirred up my batter, cooked them up, and here was the end result:

That's a rather large stack for a family of 4.  Pretty sure I'll be force-feeding encouraging leftover pancakes for breakfast for the rest of the week.

Reason #263 Why I Heart Google Reader

Let me just start by saying I think Google Reader is seriously one of the best inventions EVER for those of us who love to read blogs.  I have a lot of blogs that I like to keep track of (friends, couponing, crafts) and it's so nice and simple to have them all in one place.  The only drawback is that it is much less convenient to leave a comment (and lots of those blogs I love have contests that I keep trying to win where you have to leave a comment!)  Very randomly a few days ago I came across a blog that solved this little problem for me - you can actually add Google Reader to your toolbar, so each time you click "next," it will take you directly to your next unread blog.  I am not too good at explaining this, so I am sharing this link that will help you out (or maybe you have all known this for years, that could easily be the case!), courtesy of "Oops, I Craft My Pants."  Yes, I confess, I just saw the title on another blog and it peaked my interest, so I had to go check it out!

Date Day

Ahhh.....time with my hubby and NO kids!  Yesterday we had not just a date night, but a whole date day, as an early birthday present!  It was such a great day - relaxed, no stopping for nursing breaks, diaper changes, etc.  We ended up staying local, but had a great time together - thanks to all who made it possible :)
We first went to Miller's Smorgasboard, thinking it would be comparable to Shady Maple.  Hmm.  Not the case.  It was fine, but really, how can you beat Shady Maple?  We did a little Christmas shopping and then headed to Lancaster's Central Market and browsed some shops around the city.

(I purposely brought my camera to take pictures of the 2 of us on our date day, but I kind of forgot, and this is the only one I took the entire day!)

We love to go look through random little antique/flea market type stores and hit the jackpot when we went to Burning Bridge Antiques.  So much to look at!  My house is a mish-mash of styles, and my biggest "treasures" are the things with "character," or a story behind them.  Our best find yesterday was an old bathtub filled with marquee letters from a local movie theater that had recently closed.  We bought some of the letters for an upcoming project in our brand new laundry room - to be revealed in a few weeks!  :)
We ate dinner at El Serrano - so exciting because I have always wanted to go there.  It was worth the wait and I'm still enjoying the leftovers today.  We came back to pick up the kids, and since they had just started their dinner with Nana & Peeps, we went to Folklore.  Love that place (speaking of character!) ~ and loved my pumpkin spice iced latte!
We had a great day together ~ isn't it amazing how some time with your spouse can recharge your batteries and make you ready for face the world again?!

Melted Crayons & Falling Leaves

Ok, so probably everyone has done this craft.  It certainly isn't original but it came out of the recesses of my brain today when I was trying to think of a simple fun activity to do with Jackson while Carly took her nap.  It's easy, cheap, already had all the supplies on hand, and it can double as some fall decoration - so that makes it a win-win-win-win in my book!

Materials needed:  crayons (preferably old or broken ones), crayon or pencil sharpener (or old cheese grater), wax paper, newspaper, scissors, iron, marker.

Layer newspaper, one sheet wax paper, crayon shavings, wax paper, newspaper.  I used an old tea towel on top of it all, too. 

Iron on low setting just until the crayon is melted.  Draw your leaves (don't be jealous of my sweet leaf drawing skills!) and cut them out.  (For the pumpkins, we drew them first so we knew where to put the orange & green). 

Tape or hang them on a window and admire your new cute suncatchers!



(Yep, it's definitely afternoon & he's definitely still wearing pajamas).



A Good Deal Kind of Day

I loooove these kinds of days!  The good deals just seemed to be falling from the sky!  When Jon came home from work, Jackson and I had a little date, which kept getting longer and longer....thankfully I have a patient little shopper! First we headed to Dunkin' Donuts for a free pumpkin iced coffee from the Free Coffee Monday punch cards that were in the paper a few weeks ago.  Of course we each got a donut too!
The next stop was Koser's Jewelers since I had gotten a $25 gift card from becoming a fan on facebook.  Normally $25 wouldn't make much of a difference in jewelry, but they have these fun Gummi watches....

so I bought a white one for just a few dollars!
I was super excited to head down to Gap at the mall, since I found out they were having 40% off your purchase today.  I bought the Gap Groupon a few weeks ago ($50 for Gap for $25) and they combined the deals, taking what would have been a bill of $187.50 down to just $2.96 out of pocket!  Even adding the $25 I had originally paid for the Groupon, $27.96 is still a great deal for all the stuff I got, don't you think??

This was my first experience using Groupon, and it worked perfectly!  I will definitely be watching for more Groupon deals.  If you aren't familiar with it, check it out here!  You can search for the city closest to you, but many of their deals (like my Gap deal) are nationwide.
I also just ordered my 40th (yes *40th*) $5 Amazon giftcard, courtesy of Swagbucks.  If you haven't joined Swagbucks yet, trust me, it will be worth your while!  $200 of Amazon credit is definitely going to be coming in handy as I work on Christmas shopping the next few months!
We are planning to finish out the night with one more deal - a free rental from Blockbuster Express!  If you are interested, just use code MBBX2, but this is a one day code and expires at midnight.

Cure for the Mid-afternoon Slump

Technically I guess it isn't mid-afternoon yet - I actually just ate lunch.  Nevertheless, I am in need of a little caffeine/sugar/something, and just happened to have some of this in my refrigerator ~ Layered Mocha Cheesecake.  I love to make cheesecakes and made this one earlier this week for a friend's birthday.  Yum!

Recipe and photo (mine wasn't quite that pretty!) courtesy of Taste of Home.



Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 
  FILLING:
• 2 tablespoons plus 1-1/2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
• 1 tablespoon boiling water
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled
• 
  GLAZE:
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons butter
• Chocolate-covered coffee beans, optional

Directions

• Place pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 16 in. square). Securely wrap foil around pan.
• Combine cookie crumbs and butter; press onto the bottom of a greased 9-in. springform pan. In a small bowl, combine the coffee granules, water and cinnamon; set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, flour and vanilla until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined.
• Divide batter in half. Stir melted chocolate into one portion; pour over crust. Stir coffee mixture into the remaining batter; spoon over chocolate layer. Place springform pan in a large baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan.
• Bake at 325° for 55-60 minutes or until center is just set and top appears dull (**I had to bake for an additional 10-15 minutes). Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight.
• In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate chips and butter; stir until smooth. Spread over cheesecake. Garnish with coffee beans if desired. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 16 servings.

This dessert is sooo rich, so serve with some coffee to cut down on the sweetness!  I think the next time I make it I will use chocolate graham cracker crumbs instead of the oreo crumbs for the crust - maybe that will help cut down on the sweetness too.

Why Blog?

Been there, done that.  It's true, I used to blog....and then I stopped during the Facebook craze.  Now it seems that as Facebook becomes more and more popular, It's also getting less and less personal.  What was once a great way to keep up with friends and family has turned into an overwhelming list of status updates!  I decided to start blogging again to share more of the day to day life of our family, and even if no one reads this, it can be a record for us to look back on.  Thanks for visiting!