Had to share these videos! ♥
These boys are talented!  

A 7 year old boy diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder sings Hallelujah!

A 6 year old boy with autism plays Piano Man!

Don't let an autism diagnosis hold you back.  Always set high expectations.  Your child is capable of anything he or she wants to do! Don't put limits on children. Be positive and positive things will happen!

Ten Amazing individuals with Autism who shined in 2013

Check out the link above

Simple holiday gift wrap ideas!

 This is a quick post with some last minute holiday gift wrap ideas. I finally got a chance last night to wrap the majority of the kid's presents! I refuse to be up on Christmas eve wrapping anything this year lol.(Which I unfortunately happen to be known for!)  I like to label a few from us and the rest from Santa. For the presents from Santa I use Christmas wrapping paper, bows, etc.  For the presents from us, I wrap them in butcher paper and embellish them with different ribbons and other items.  I love to save Christmas cards from the previous year to re purpose as cute gift tags.  This is something my mom always does.  She also used to sign Santa's gift tags in printing and presents from she and my dad in cursive, so I do that also!  I used this tutorial. How to create fake calligraphy 

   

I  like the way it came out.  It isn't perfect...but let's consider the fact that I do happen to be deliriously tired most nights after I get the kids to bed!

 

 

For Emily's gift I wrapped it with a combination of ribbon and lace.  I punched the polka dots(using a one inch circle punch) out of label sheets that I painted with mod podge and gold glitter.  I finished it off with pink peacock feather.  

Anything that will add a little sparkle or interest would make a great gift embellishment such as a small ornament, a glittery initial, candy canes, faux florals, homemade gift tags, garland, confetti, polka dots punched out of colored crepe paper, stick on fake gems or pearls, even a small toy.  You could also use a gold pen to draw polka dots directly onto the paper!

Feel free to share any of your ideas below! Have a wonderful Holiday! 

 

Panera Bread inspired broccoli & cheddar soup!

 I was so excited when I found this recipe on foodnetwork.com!  When my husband and I were dating we often went to Panera Bread for their broccoli and cheddar soup. Not only do I love it, but I also associate it with good memories.  Which makes it a true comfort food.  This recipe is very simple.  It is one of my go to recipes for the Fall/Winter months.
 It is slightly modified from the original recipe linked above

Ingredients

6 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sweet onion chopped
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half and half
3 cups chicken broth 

1 pinch of  nutmeg (I think the original recipe calls for too much)
Salt and pepper 

4 cups petite broccoli
1 large carrot chopped
2 1/2 cups Cracker Barrel marbled cheese

This recipe calls for a bay leaf but I leave it out 

I refuse to buy a whole pack of bay leaves to only use one lol.

Melt butter in a pan over med heat.

Add your chopped onion cook until slightly golden(5 minutes).

Add 1/4 cup flour.

Stir continuously

Whisk in your half and half.

Add in your chicken broth, and pinch of nutmeg(The Panera Bread secret ingredient!).

Season with sea salt and black pepper.

Simmer on low 20 minutes

Add your vegetables.

Simmer 20 more minutes.

Add in your cheddar cheese. 

Place in your blender and blend in batches

Enjoy!

I top mine with more shredded cheddar and typically serve with garlic cheddar biscuits.(We love the Red Lobster mix!)

What are your favorite comfort food recipes? Feel free to link them below!

Pretty Holiday makeup!

These are my two favorite looks for the holidays! A red lip with bold lashes, and a smoky eye with a light pink/neutral lip. I am drawn to more classic makeup looks, as opposed to heavy foundation, highlighting, and the use of lots of color.  I like to keep things simple but pretty.   I love a glam smoky eye, a bright lip, and a well applied blush though. I can appreciate a neutral toned glittery shadow.  I do not ever wear foundation.  It seems to cause my skin to break out.  I prefer a light sweep of bronzer and sometimes blush. Then I apply concealer where needed. I don't feel like myself without curled eyelashes mascara and my favorite eyeliner.(Or without perfume)  I just discovered a new favorite.  Versace's bright crystal.  I love it and definitely recommend it.  It is a very fresh, girly scent and not at all overpowering. I'm obsessed!  Normally for lips I wear a light pink gloss, Clinique's sweet honey lipstick(A medium pink),or for a bright lip Covergirl's outlast lipstain in teasing blush(Which isn't remarkable quality but the color is pretty).  

Here are a few more inspirational pictures

Beautiful bright lip color.

Love Miranda Kerr!

 

 A bright coral lip and I would die for that hair!

This is a pic of the gorgeous Cara Loren.  She has an incredible fashion blog.

I love every aspect of her style!

I normally steer clear of eyeshadow most of the time, but this bronze looks so beautiful on Katy Perry!

Love it paired with the pink lip!

What are some of your favorite beauty staples? Share in a comment ♥!

Red velvet birthday cake with the best ever cream cheese frosting!

                                  My fabulous mother's birthday just passed this weekend.  We celebrated with pizza and red velvet cake.  She is truly a beautiful person inside and out.  She often goes out of her way for others and has a very positive outlook on life.  I strive to be the same type of mom to my own children.  We typically do a birthday dinner in her honor at my house ,but schedules have been so busy that we opted for something more simple this year. 

 I made this rose out of fondant.  I used this great tutorial.
I was surprised it was much easier than I thought it would be.

Here are the boys blowing out her candles!

 How cute are these Holiday dessert plates?

I used Duncan Hines red velvet cake mix.  I usually choose to go with a box cake mix because I am not the world's best scratch baker.(Which is really an understatement). Cake baking is my biggest downfall in particular.  I'm much better with cupcakes though!  My biggest issue is that my cakes tend to stick in the pan, for whatever reason.  I find this problem less with box mix so I like to stick with what works.    

I used one of my favorite icing recipes that I found on Annies-eats.com
 The icing recipe goes along with an oreo cupcake recipe that is linked above.
The first time I made this icing I made her cupcake recipe also. They are amazing but a little more involved than I anticipated.  They are beautiful cupcakes though. I'd even consider them cupcake wars worthy! I made them for my son's birthday a couple years ago and luckily was doing well on time because my kitchen kind of resembled a cupcake wars set after they were done! lol
Here is the icing recipe!

Best ever cream cheese frosting!
8oz cream cheese
6 TBS butter
1TBS vanilla extract
4 Cups confectioners sugar
2 TBS heavy cream

Combine your cream cheese and butter using an electric mixer.  Add in your vanilla extract.  Whip in your powdered sugar a little at a time.  Last add in your heavy cream.

I doubled this recipe to have enough to ice the cake.

Enjoy, this icing is so good!

Motivational Monday!

                                                                      Make them count!

Christmas Cloud dough!

 If you have kids they will love this!  Cloud dough is a homemade play dough that has a similar texture to sand but is very light and mold-able.  It is a wonderful sensory activity.  I found the idea here on LearnPlayImagine  Her site is amazing and filled with super fun sensory activities.  I definitely recommend you check it out! She used Duncan Hines peppermint frosting creations in her dough recipe.  I planned to do the same but the store I checked was sold out, so I had to improvise.  If your child loves to play in the sand(Like mine!) I think they will especially enjoy playing with this.  Here's my recipe:

8 cups of Flour
1 cup of canola oil(Any oil should work)
Wilton red gel food coloring
Peppermint essential oil

Mix your flour and oil together until a dough is formed.  If it seems dry add a bit more oil. 

Note this dough should not be greasy

Next add a good amount of peppermint oil to give it a Christmas/candy cane scent.

I divided mine in half and used the food coloring to dye one portion of it.

 We used plastic snap apart ornaments to mold balls out of the dough. 

 

 These boys love Cloud dough! ♥

You can store the remaining cloud dough in an airtight container, and expect to be cleaning a lot off the floor! lol  I set a plastic table cloth over the play table to make the clean up a little easier.