Jealous Little Elf

Coozie the Elf wasn't hard to see,
he was trying to steal
the boys' Elf DVD

I guess Coozie didn't like the competition that Buddy the Elf (Will Ferrell) was giving him!!!

Hangin' Onto the Holidays

Coozie the Elf is a STRONG 'lil man,

all night last night, he held onto the fan.

I love this second picture...I caught Connor picking his undie wedgie! HAHAHA

Stray from Danger, Away in a Manger

Coozie surprised the boys by sitting on their potty yesterday! I was lucky enough to get to sleep in, so I didn't get a picture. I'm sure you can imagine a little stuffed Elf sitting on a baby potty.

Lately, Coozie has been getting into trouble, so he decided to mellow out a little. The boys' clue this morning was...

Lately, Coozie has been getting into too much danger, look for him today..."Away in a Manger."

The search for Coozie, subsequently beheaded a wiseman, but Daddy fixed it with a little super glue!


There's only a few days left of Coozie's time here in the Danko house. He'll be heading back to the North Pole with Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. We'll miss him, but I bet he'll show up throughout the year!

Here in my car...

Coozie the Elf didn't go far,
but I heard him, last night, playing in a car!

The boys LOVE Coozie...and so does Rena!

SUPER BOWL SNACK THROW DOWN WEEK 14

TURNOVER TURKEY RING

You're looking at recipe number 14 of this season's Super Bowl Snack Throw Down. We are given an ingredient each week and have to come up with a recipe worthy of a football gathering! Head on over to HIGHLOWAHA to cast your vote...click on the red oval to enter the blog and look for the voting polls on the right hand side of the screen. The voting starts on Friday Dec 18th and continues through Sunday Dec 20th at 8 CST.

Turkey was our ingredient this week! All I could think of were recipes I whip up with left over turkey from either Thanksgiving or Christmas. I immediately thought of one of the Pampered Chef "rings." These rings are very simple to create. All you need is 2 packages of crescent rolls and a filling. Some of the filling flavors include Reuben, Beef Taco, Spinach Artichoke, Chicken Club, Chicken Broccoli, Garden Vegetable Omlet, and finally Turkey & Cranberry.

INGREDIENTS

• Two 8 oz pkg crescent rolls
• 2 cups chopped cooked turkey
• 1 1/4 cups shredded swiss cheese
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
• 3 tbsp snipped fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp honey dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING THE RING

• Unroll 2 pkgs of crescent rolls and separate into 16 triangles.
• Arrange those triangles, slighly overlapping, in a circle around the stoneware (or pizza pan) with the wide end 4 inches from the edge of the stone. The points will be hanging off the edge.
• Roll the edges into the center to create a 5 inch opening. I decided to scan the picture of how to make the ring from the cookbook. It's a little hard to visualize through words only, but a picture brings it all together.
  

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING THE FILLING

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• In a large bowl, combine turkey, 1 cup of the cheese, celery, cranberries, parsley, mayonnaise, mustard and black pepper; mix well.
• Scoop the filling on the crescent roll ring. Take the pointed end of each crescent roll and pull it up and over the filling. Tuck the end under the center of the ring. Some of the filling will show!!!!
• Brush with egg white.
• Sprinkle with remaining cheese
• Bake 25 -30 minutes or until golden brown

I made the basic ring, but there's a wreath and a braid! The fillings are all very delicious and can be found in the Pampered Chef All The Best Cookbook. If you ever go to a Pampered Chef party, and aren't sure which recipe book to buy...get that one!

Coozie Got Thirsty

Coozie got thirsty last night! Brandon found him before I could give them their clue...

Coozie is in the kitchen, but not in the sink. I think he got thirsty and needed a drink!

Brandon looks kinda mad in this picture, but he's saying
"Coozie is thirsty" in a very serious voice!

At least he didn't get into trouble this morning...naughty little Elf

Ceremonial GOOD BYE

Today was a HUGE day in the Danko household...we said good bye to diapers! They are dry 100% of the time...including through the night. I told the boys to put them in a baby shower bag to give to another baby, but I really I put them up in their closet....just in case! The changing pad is under their bed, and their changing table is a basic dresser!!! This was the best Christmas present ever!

Coozie's Wednesday Antics

Coozie was a naughty little elf again last night. The boys thought he was hilarious again today...they were jumping up and down laughing at him. This was their clue

One day Coozie the Elf was in our tree, but today he in the room where we brush our teeth.

I had a hard time coming up with a cute clue...without using the word "pee" HAHAHAHA

Coozie the Elf

I recently learned about the whole "Elf on the Shelf" concept from a friend. This little elf sits on your shelf, or anywhere in your house, and reports back to Santa as to who is naughty and who is nice. The boys named their Elf COOZIE!!!! Coozie moves around every night, and normally he's a good boy, but last night he got in some trouble!!! I give the boys clues each morning to help them find him.

Saturday morning was....

Little Elf is watching you...look up by your Choo Choo.

Sunday morning...

Little Elf just sneezed...he needs to wipe his nose with one of these. (On the tissue box)

Monday morning...

Coozie the Elf, oh where can he be...why don't you look on top of the tree?

Finally, Tuesday morning...

Last night, Coozie the Elf was out and about...I think he's in the kitchen...go check it out!

THIS IS WHAT THAT SILLY COOZIE DID....

BAD COOZIE....
YOU GOT INTO THE CORN FLAKES...
After the boys put him in time out, they ate the evidence!

One of the rules of the Elf on the Shelf is that you can't touch him or he will lose his magical powers. The boys can't resist touching him, so I told them that they can touch him each morning and he'll get his powers back when he leaves with Santa on Christmas Eve night. Stay tuned for more antics that Coozie the Elf gets into.

SUPER BOWL SNACK THROW DOWN WEEK 13

UPSHOT BROWNIES
(Two Ways)


Shot glass version for a bite sized dessert, and wine glass version for a more sophisticated look.

I knew I wanted to do another dessert when pineapple was chosen as our ingredient. Once again, I went to the cabinet for inspiration. A box of chocolate cake mix made me think of a brownie, a box of cheesecake pudding sounded like a good topping, and a can of crushed pineapple mixed into the pudding made me lick my lips! All I needed to get were some fresh strawberries for some color and a slice of banana for good measure. These ended up tasting a lot like a banana split, but the pineapple flavor was definitely stronger than the banana. After being taste-tested by my husband, neighbor, and good friend they were referred to as a "party in the mouth!"

Once I figured out WHAT I wanted to make, I needed to decide HOW to make it. Then I remembered seeing some desserts in shot glasses at a restaurant recently. I think that restaurant was Applebees...if my memory serves me correctly. Thus, the UPSHOT BROWNIES came to life.

Head on over to HIGHLOWAHA to cast your vote in this weekly contest. Click the red oval to enter the site, look for the voting polls on the right, and click to vote. Be sure to vote on the ingredient for the following week too!!!

INGREDIENTS

1. 1 envelope brownie mix, prepared according to directions
2. 1 box sugar free fat free Cheesecake Pudding
3. 1 small can of crush pineapple, lightly drained
4. 1 cup milk
5. 1 16 oz container of Cool Whip, separated
   
6. 1 cup of sliced strawberries (TIP Use your egg slicer to slice perfect strawberries!!)
   
7. 1 banana sliced in 1/4 inch thick pieces
8. mint leaves for garnish
   

DIRECTIONS

1. After the brownies have been baked, set them aside to cool
2. Take the dry pudding mix and whisk in 1 cup milk. Let it set up for a few minutes and fold in 1 cup of the cool whip and lightly drained pineapple.
   
3. Turn your shot glass or wine glass upside down and press down into the brownie while turning at the same time. You need 1 brownie cut out per shot glass and two cut outs per wine glass.
4. Now it's time to layer your cups. For the shot glasses I layered one banana slice, a few slices of strawberry, a spoonful of the pineapple cheesecake pudding, cap off the shot glass with one of the cut outs, top with a dollop of cool whip and finally garnish with the mint leaf.
   
5. For the wine glasses I layered a large spoonful of the pineapple cheesecake pudding, one brownie cutout, 6 slices of banana, 6 slices of strawberries, another spoonful of pudding, a second brownie cutout, and top with cool whip and mint leaf.
6. Put in the freezer to set for 10 minutes or just place in the refrigerator. If you freeze it, be sure to pull it out about 15 minutes before serving it.

This is a cute way to give your guests a party gift. Eat the dessert and keep the glass! You can change this recipe up very easily too. You could use cake instead of brownie, a different flavor pudding and fruits. I enjoyed creating this dessert, hope you enjoyed reading about it, and hope you didn't lick your computer screen too much!

I would like to say THANK YOU to my friend Edie for allowing me to come to her house to take these pictures. I have ZERO natural light in my house, and she has a lot in her beautiful new home. I think it was worth the trip!

Playin' in the Rain

The boys wanted to run in the rain after we got home from running errands. I figured...why not?

SUPER BOWL SNACK THROW DOWN WEEK 12

KICKIN' BUFFALO
CHICKEN PIZZA

This week is the 12th week of the Super Bowl Snack Throw Down. Visit HIGHLOWAHA to read all about this weekly competition. Click the red oval to enter the blog and look for the voting polls on the right hand side of the screen. Voting starts every Friday morning and continues through Sunday at 8 CST.

Onion as an ingredient...wow...where to start? I had this same dilemma with cheese. I had family and friends email me recipes, I had a few family ones I was thinking about, but decided on this KICKIN' BUFFALO CHICKEN PIZZA. I watched Sandra Lee make this on an episode of Semi-Homemade and decided to try it. The hubby and I both loved it. I wrapped some up, took it to my neighbor's house, rang the doorbell and RAN! Her husband came home today from Iraq for a 2 week R & R. I didn't want to bother them, but everyone needs to eat!

INGREDIENTS

• Pillsbury refrigerated pizza crust
• 2 pkgs of Tyson pre-cooked grilled chicken strips
• 1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce of your choice (I used Texas Pete)
• 1 cup ranch dressing or bleu cheese dressing (I used Ranch)
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup thinly sliced celery, about 2 stalks
• 1/4 red onion sliced into really thin rings and then cut in half

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees
• Roll out pizza dough on greased baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes
• While that's cooking, mix the chicken with the buffalo sauce and heat in the microwave for 1 minute
  
• After the dough cooks for 5 minutes, spread ranch/bleu cheese dressing on the dough
• Next, sprinkle on the mozzarella
• Top with the celery, onions, and chicken
• Put it back in the oven for about 10 more minutes or longer depending on how crispy you like the crust

Here are all of the ingredients. I had to make Ranch dressing from sour cream due to food allergies...that's not plain sour cream!
Here's what it looks like before I put it back in the oven.

Look at that cheesy, chickeny, spicy, kickin' pizza!!!

Silly Boys

We spend most of our family time together, laughing at the boys. They come up with the funniest things! We pulled in the neighborhood the other night and Brandon says,

"Whoa mommy...lots of houses!"
"Yeah buddy..we see these houses every single day."
" They all have front doors too Mommy"

They were waking up from their naps the other afternoon...and I was sneaking one myself. I heard Brandon yelling at me over the baby monitor..."I LOVE YOU MOMMY...I LOVE YOU MOMMY" he said it over and over! What a nice way to wake up!

Eric came into the boys' room with us after I finished reading their bedtime stories. He picked up Brandon to give him a hug and a kiss and Brandon said to him, "I smell cookies...did you eat one" Eric had just eaten an oreo...so funny! The funniest part is that Brandon got RIGHT UP to Eric's mouth and started sniffing. What a goof!

I asked "Guys what do you want for dinner" B said, "I already ate a star" Me, "You did...I thought they were too far away...what did it taste like." B said, "Squitos" As in mosquitos. Then he told me that lizards eat squitos!

Connor asked me one night, "Mommy, are you happy when you look at my poop?" He was DEAD serious too!

Eric gave them each a hat as a potty prize the other night. We have been DIAPER FREE for one whole week now. No more pull-ups or diapers with the exception of Brandon wearing a diaper at night still. He stays dry during his nap, but it still a little wet at night. Today, they put their hats on, starting singing itsy bitsy spider, in their underwear all while dancing around one of their toys. Don't believe me...

Remembering...

The boys love to watch themselves on youtube. I'm SO glad I took the time to video all the funny things they did...especially while Eric was deployed. Here are a few of their favorites...brings back some awesome memories!

Some funny videos

I'm a little upset with myself about the lack of picture taking lately. I haven't pulled pictures for the boys' scrapbooks for the months of September and October yet, and I'm afraid I won't have much to chose from. I'm hoping to get caught up on my scrapbooking while my mom is here over Christmas!

Even though I don't have a lot of pictures, I still have some pretty funny videos...enjoy!

Here's a video of Brandon having a little meltdown!



Here's Connor at his finest

How To Make the Flock of Turkeys

I've had a lot of people ask me "how to" make the turkey cookies...so here ya go!

You need...

2 dozen sugar cookies (I purchased them from the bakery at the grocery store!)
1 package of Nabisco Pinwheels (I've never heard of these, but they are in the cookie aisle)
1 can chocolate frosting
1 can vanilla frosting
yellow and red food coloring

Color half of the vanilla frosting yellow and the other half red. Prepare an icing bag filled with red, one with yellow, and one with chocolate. If you don't have icing bags, no big deal! Use ziploc bags instead. Put #3 tip on the yellow and red and a #12 on the chocolate. If you're using ziploc bags, snip a small hole on the red and yellow and one about the size of a pencil eraser on the chocolate.

Cut the rounded edge off of 1/2 of the sugar cookies,and cut the Pinwheel cookies in half.


Spread a small amount of chocolate icing on the bottom of the Pinwheel and attach to the flat edged sugar cookie

Make "feathers" with the red icing around the edge of the Pinwheel


Spread more chocolate icing on the cut edge of the Pinwheel and attach to a whole sugar cookie


Pipe a neck and head out of chocolate icing


Use the yellow icing to draw in the legs, feet, eyes, and nose


Finally, use the red icing to make his snood!!!

You can make these on a smaller scale with Ritz crackers and oreos cut in half. I used brown sugar cinnamon Ritz...didn't know they made them, but they are DELICIOUS!!!

So I typed this all up only to find a link to it online...oh well! Their directions are probably a little better than mine!

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/A-Flock-of-Turkeys

SUPER BOWL SNACK THROW DOWN WEEK 9

TRIPLE "S" SNACK SACKS

Let me first say, thanks to all of my friends and family who took part in last week's challenges! My aunt dressed up her kangaroo and had him hold a spatula, my optician donned face paint, and my husband made his coworker pose with a plastic spoon. I have some pretty awesome friends and family!!! I was fortunate enough to be able to pick the ingredient for this week as the prize for winning. I went back and forth between cayenne and artichokes, but ended up settling on cayenne. Hopefully, artichokes will come up again because I already have a recipe in mind...HINT HINT everyone!

Head on over to HIGHLOWAHA to vote, starting Friday the 13th. Click on the red oval to enter the site and look for the voting boxes on the right hand side. You all get to vote for the ingredients for the next 2 weeks as well. The voting goes from Friday through Sunday at 9 CST.

I named this recipe Triple "S" Snack Sack because it has 3 different flavor profiles.

Sweet, Salty and Spicy!

INGREDIENTS

1. 1/2 lb butter, melted (2 whole sticks)
2. 4 Tbsp brown sugar
3. 1 tsp chili powder
4. 1 tsp worchestershire sauce
5. 2 tsp garlic powder
6. 1 tsp onion powder
7. 1/2 tsp tobasco
8. 1/2 tsp cayenne
9. 8 cups rice cereal (I used Crispix)
10. 6 oz cheddar crackers (I used goldfish)
11. 11 oz pretzels
12. 6 oz mini ritz (I used the cheddar filled ones)
13. 12 oz can cocktail peanuts
14. 11oz Fritos

I know it looks like a lot of ingredients, but the directions are very easy.

1. Combine the first 8 ingredients in a sauce pan over low hear and stir until all combined.
2. Put the last 6 ingredients in a large pan. I used my turkey roaster
3. Pour the butter and spice mixture over the dry ingredients in 2 batches and toss to coat
4. Place on lipped cookie sheets in a nice thin layer. (I used my broiler pan bottom, my stoneware bar pan, and a 9 x 13 pan. Use whatever you have!)
5. Bake at 250 degrees for 1 1/2 hours. Stir it every 15-20 minutes to ensure even cooking.
   

Look at that YUMMY plethora of crunchy goodness!

I wrapped them up in little homemade sacks. I made them out of large triangular shaped pieces of freezer paper. If you wrap them up with the waxed side on the INSIDE then you won't have grease spots on the outside! I used my boys' crayons and put footballs, helmets, field goals, and pom poms on the outside for a little festive kick. You can also use wax paper, parchment paper, or even scrapbook paper, but beware of grease spots! Pack these to a weekend soccer game, set out at a birthday party, and definitely take them to next weekend's football gathering!

Recent Happenings

Wow...I don't even know where to start. We've been extremely busy, as usual, but it's not been anything crazy or super interesting.

I made a "shoe box cake" for Cakes for the Cure which was a breast cancer fundraiser put on by the Officers' Spouses' Club. I had a blast making the cake and LOVED the outcome. It brought in the most money of the 12 or so cakes there. Plus, I got to meet the author of army Wives, Tanya Biank. PLUS, I got a few cake orders! Great night.




Last week was a very busy week with the HIGHLOWAHA website I follow. We took a week off from making a recipe and had daily challenges. I have to say a BIG THANKS to my awesome friends and family who participated. The DANKO DEFENDERS won the week!!! Here are a few pics...


The boys are growing and changing so much. Brandon is making some AWESOME strides in the potty training area. I've revamped our schedule and stay home more often now. I try to cram all of my errands during Mother's Day Out so the boys and I can stay home more, stay healthy, and pee on the potty. Although, the boys love to pee in their potties in the back of the Yukon. So funny! Connor has been diaper free for about 2 months now even during nap and bed time. Brandon is staying dry 80% of the time, INCLUDING NAPS!! He has about a 50% rate of getting #2 in the potty. I can tell when his #2 moment is approaching and I'm on him like WHITE ON RICE! I follow him around, and if he's quiet, I have to jump up, follow him, and convince him to go on the potty. He'll sit down and say, "I making a caterpillar" He thinks that #2 looks like caterpillars...so cute! I see the end of the tunnel on diapers! I started training them both in about June, and it's now November. If I can get them totally potty trained by the time they are 3, I will feel accomplished and SO proud of them. I know I say they are smart little boogers all the time...and they definitely are. I'd rather take this moment to show a few funny pictures...

This was from today. They were being quiet and I immediately thought they were getting into trouble. Nope...they were sitting in their recliner, sharing their Cheerios! So sweet...how DARE I think they are getting into trouble? Sorry for the blurry picture...I'm a horrible photographer.
They LOVE LOVE LOVE Rena, and Rena is so patient with them. We ate lunch outside the other day and Rena joined them.
Connor...oh Connor. I don't know what to say about this picture, but it's a great depiction of his personality. That is one of my athletic headbands. They take them and play "rambo" with them, but putting it on the nose was new. He walked around snorting like a pig. Gotta love it.

Once again, they LOVE Rena!

I joined a group called Operation Baking GALS. We make home baked goods and send them to the troops overseas. I'll be sending out my first donation tomorrow. The boys helped me!!




Did I post any pictures of them from Halloween????? I can't remember! I made them their Thing 1 and Thing 2 costumes. I took them to about 5 houses, but then had to pick through their candy since they can't have most of it due to allergies. No problem...we just handed that candy back out to the kids who came to our door.