Heart-Shaped Raspberry Shortbread Cookies Valentine’s Day this year was followed by the notorious Texas Ice Storm of 2021.  We kept it pretty low key because we spent a lot of time outside in the snow before the weather became extremely treacherous and residents began to lose power and utilities.  I was glad we had a little celebration with a heart-shaped pizza the night before (from Pizza Hut) and these shortbread cookies which were a lot easier to make than I thought!  The following recipe was adapted from this one that includes a white chocolate layer (which I skipped ..read more

Orange Pecan Delights for New Year’s Eve Another 2020/2021 holiday with just the Fab Five but it was actually a lot of fun!  I wasn’t sure how to do New Year’s Eve with kids and no help (we usually spend NYE with my in-laws….lots of helping hands), but we had a blast!  I made these Orange Pecan Delights that my mom bakes up every holiday season and they were pretty darn good, if I say so myself.  And I hung up little grab bags the kids could open every hour until midnight.  I purchased the little gift bags from Target and hung them in place of the stockings.  Then fill ..read more

Overnight Blueberry Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole for Christmas Brunch! Last holiday season I did an Instagram poll to find out who preferred Christmas dinner vs. Christmas brunch and it was exactly 50/50.  Normally we wouldn’t have to choose (my parents do brunch, my grandparents do dinner) but this year (2020 when large holiday gatherings were discouraged) it was all on us!  It’s a good thing we chose to keep it small because I busted out of the quarantine clink (I tested positive for Covid-19 a couple of weeks before Christmas), just in time for us to celebrate as a family o ..read more

Apple, Pear, Cranberry Crisp for Thanksgiving Thanksgiving 2020 was interesting – we’d never spent this holiday as just the fab five.  But this was the first of many to come (2020 didn’t let up until well…2021) and we definitely made the best of it!  We cooked up a lot of family favorites including some from my Texas background (cheese grits) and one of my husband’s favorite Panamanian recipes (rice & peas), but the biggest recipe hit was undoubtedly my Apple, Pear, Cranberry Crisp.  I chose to bake a crisp instead of a traditional pie for very good reason.  I always sc ..read more

Halloween 2020 – A Drive-by Trick-or-Treat Scavenger Hunt Halloween 2020 was tricky, but not in your standard Halloween trick-or-treat kind of way.  Covid-19 cases were on the rise across the US and scientists and medical specialists predicted it would mark the beginning of a sharp holiday spike in case numbers.  And they were right.  We chose to listen and play it safe last Halloween, which meant yet another holiday celebration fell on my shoulders to organize.  Throughout every event of 2020 I was determined to create socially distanced celebrations for my children that a ..read more

10 Tips to Survive Virtual Learning I’m going to cut to the chase here.  We had two virtual learners this semester and I was amazed at what their teachers were doing to connect with and teach our children.  Simply put, not only are our kiddos’ teachers essential to all of us, but they are heroes.  Period.  Having said that, virtual learning isn’t exactly ideal for a kindergartener and a first grader who is enrolled in all the things (general education, special education, specials, speech therapy, occupational therapy).  They both required a great deal of assistance fro ..read more

We recently took a little beach trip where we planned to vacay “quarantine style” – avoiding large gatherings and public spaces such as grocery stores, restaurants, and the usual tourist traps (and we were mask-wearing, frequent hand-washing, etc.).  We were very successful in our endeavor and even though our annual beach vacation didn’t include the usual stops at our favorite restaurants, shops, and souvenir storefronts…we quite enjoyed the VRBO I selected (because it had so many everyday conveniences we have at home + fun games and a pool table!) and we really enjoyed some new outdoor a ..read more

      Did you know that July is National Ice Cream Month?  Well I did – and I’m so glad there’s an entire month dedicated to one of my favorite treats.  As a native Texan, I take pride in consuming my fair share of our beloved Blue Bell ice cream AND making my own homemade version – a tried and true family tradition!  So, in honor of National Ice Cream Month and true to my roots, I’m sharing my top 4 favorite homemade ice cream recipes!  I’m not going to bore you with this long lead-up like a lot of food bloggers do, but I do want to add a little co ..read more

In a former life, I used to love crafts.  One of my FAVORITE things to do as a kid was visit either of my grandmothers and raid their sewing rooms.  Both my dad’s mom (Nana) and my mom’s mom (Memaw) had sewing/craft rooms filled with anything and everything I wanted to innovate a spectacular sock bunny, an embroidered pillow, baby doll quilts, chalk drawings, wooden paintings of koala bears holding a “no smoking please” sign (this is still hanging on my Nana’s front door…apparently she had a lot of smoking visitors back in the day LOL), etc.  But alas, I grew up and adulting bea ..read more

And a fun family activity… So my kiddos are getting bigger, and subsequently, a lot faster.  And I don’t see them slowing down anytime soon.  So last fall I purchased my first DSLR because my trusty iPhone camera just didn’t have the shutter speed capability I needed to capture my quick boys in action (which is 24/7, 365 days a year…nonstop).  Nothing too fancy, just this basic package from Costco.  And thus far I’ve learned a couple of things:  a). Don’t ever let anyone convince you an iPhone camera is just as good as a DSLR.  Just…no.  If you have even an i ..read more