Twiggie Makes by Candace Grahl

Easter was two weeks ago and I’m just now getting to post some pics! We have been very busy, but also someone in our home (not me), who shall remain nameless (not Conner) accidentally dropped my laptop (not Max) and now it’s moving at a snails pace, quite literally. Good news is I get a computer upgrade (woot! woot!); bad news is posting or general surfing on the interweb has become very annoying and virtually impossible. But that’s okay, focus on the positive: New computer! And it wasn’t me who dropped it! (but I still love the person who did)

Okay, Easter. My family gets together for the major holidays - Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. Every now and then other holidays will be sprinkled into the mix but those are the constant and while that means a lot of people that also means it’s pretty fun. And because our family is big and because our family is southern, that means if you have no where to be or no where to go on said holiday then you are invited! This is a good thing, makes everyone behave since we have “visitors”. Here are some of my favorites of the day (warning : lots of pictures!)

Max practicing his skillz

When they get older I’m totally going to make them hold hands just like this when they fight

Easter Egg Hunting Time

This boys cheeks kill me!

Handsome big brother

Me and Max

Checkin’ out the goods - his expressions are priceless

Conner’s a hand-talker like his mama

Melting - love these guys

My dad

My brother and his new baby girl, Addison

Time for the four-wheelers - it wouldn’t be a holiday without them

My dad and Max, who wasn’t so sure about the four-wheeler at first but loved just sitting on it

Aunt Gwen’s turn - this is completely hysterical if you know her. She’s a cross between Truvy and Ouiser in Steel Magnolias. Love her!

Nana and Papa on the four-wheeler

Melting, again

It was definitely a long day, so Papa had the right idea!

Hope your Easter was sweet and filled with fun!

I’ve been looking around for some Easter crafts that both my four year old and my not-quite two year old could do together. Conner, my older son, does great with crafts, stays focused until the job is done. Max, my baby….eh…doesn’t. Even when I found this easy craft of tracing an egg shape onto construction paper and “decorating” the egg with colored marshmallows dipped in elmers glue, he did about two, then thought the bowl of glue was waaaayyyy more fun than I had made it out to be. So he proceeded to submerge the same two marshmallows over and over (for 15 minutes) in the glue. Conner, on the other hand, did a beautiful job decorating his egg.

He follows instruction so well. Normally. Nine times out of ten. On a good day. Anyways, I over anticipated just how many bags of marshmallows I would need for this craft and had two packages sitting in our pantry. We’re not a family that loves our marshmallows but I also hate throwing perfectly good food away so I thought I would whip up some rice krispie treats for the holiday weekend (altho no where near as cool or as fun as Amanda’s krispie treat challenge).

And I had gotten the super-fun fruity and colorful marshmallows so how pretty would they be? Perfect for Easter right? I’ve never really enjoyed making rice krispie treats because mine always got so dry and hard. And you know I love my rice krispie treats (Kellogg’s did me a solid by making them for me). So I scoured the interwebz to figure out why mine come out so dry and I think I have it figured out. Actually, I know I have it figured out now since they are so soft and so chewy. Well, according to my fingers and the fact that Max devoured his and he’s not normally a fan of chewy stuff. Oh, and it’s only three ingredients so another reason that I will love this recipe forever and ever. Amen.

Rice Krispie Treats

(1) stick of butter
(1) 16oz bag mini marshmallows
(11.5) cups rice krispies cereal (a 12oz box is enough with maybe a cup leftover)

Okay, first you’re going to melt your butter in a large sauce pan SLOWLY. By slowly I mean kick your burner back on low (2 or 3) and let it melt without it turning brown at all. Apparently this is what makes your treats hard and dry. Who knew? I surely did not.

When your butter is melted take your marshmallows…(so pretty)

…and dump them in, stirring to coat them in butter. Keep burner on low and continue to slowly melt them, stirring occasionally. This will take about 10-15 minutes.

Remember when I got so excited that my treats would be springy and pretty since the marshmallows were? Yeah, I didn’t factor in the melting process would turn from the above to the below. Oh well. Oh, and while your marshmallows are melting, line a 9×13-inch baking dish in wax paper (read: easy cleanup) and coat paper with cooking spray.

Once your marshmallows are about 80-85% melted (I like a few chunks of marshmallows in my treats), pour half of your rice krispies into the saucepan and combine. Then add the other half and combine the mixture until all the rice krispies are coated.

Pour entire mixture into your baking dish lined with wax paper and spread it around evenly and then pressing it down firmly into your dish, either with your spoon or with your hands (I wait until it’s cooled and set-up a little bit before I roll up my sleeves and pack it down with my hands).

Once cooled (about 30-45 minutes), cut into squares, set on plates and remind your children why you are the best. mom. ever.

Max, my official taste-tester. What’d'ya think?

Thumbs up!!

Enjoy!