Why I'm Glad My Husband Watches the Food Network

Occasionally Vince gets inspired in the kitchen. Even though he doesn't do the majority of the cooking, he's certainly not incapable of it. He's actually quite good! I enjoy it when he works in the kitchen with me.

He has his own *special sandwich*, has made pickles and decorates cupcakes with more patience than I do.

Sometimes he even watches the Food Network and makes me a special meal or two.

Well, he's done it again.

Two of his fave shows to watch on the Food Network are *Cupcake Wars* and *Unwrapped*. Apparently there were a couple of episodes lately that brought about this wonderfully inspired cupcake that he made for me last night. And supposedly it's just a prelude to what he's making for Valentine's Day....I can hardly wait!!

Dark Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes with Maple Syrup Frosting

1 box of chocolate cake mix
(can be double chocolate, devil's food, etc.)
*****
Make cake mix according to box instructions, but add one extra egg to the batter. Set batter aside.
*****
Cook 8 strips of bacon, crispy but not burned, trimming off any "chewy" parts. Drain well and set aside.
*****
Take a package of Dove dark chocolates and cut about 12 of them into fourths. Set aside.
*****
Prepare your cupcake pan and begin to fill the cups 2/3 full with the cake batter. Next drop 2 pieces of the chopped Dove dark chocolate into the cups of batter. Finally drop about 2 oz. of cooked, crumbled bacon bits into the cups of batter. Bake as directed on box.
*****
When cupcakes have cooled frost them with this frosting:
1 can of vanilla frosting
Maple syrup
remaining crumbled bacon
*****
Mix just a bit of maple syrup into the frosting. Frost cupcakes. When you are ready to serve them drizzle just a bit more maple syrup over the frosted cupcake and put just a few bacon bits on top for a crowning touch.

AMAZING!!

It's official: I love anything with bacon!!

One Way I Refresh During the Summer as a Homeschool Mom

As our homeschool takes some time off this summer, my mind almost never stops thinking of and planning ahead for the upcoming school year. This is probably because I'm Type A and an obsessive planner...lol Whatever the reason, I do enjoy this season of planning. But I also need to be refreshed as a homeschool mom. Homeschooling can be incredibly exhausting and all-consuming. It's not easy and it's a lot of responsibility. And I take that very seriously when I am researching curriculum and planning toward the next school year. So also taking some time to rejuvenate and refocus myself is very important. How do I do this? Each summer I take some time to read something inspiring and motivating that speaks to me as a homeschool mom. Some of my fave reads from past years--that I have nearby on my shelf and refer to often--are Educating the Wholehearted Child, The Well-Trained Mind, The Charlotte Mason Companion, A T...

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

We are learning all about the ancient world this year with Story of the World I and loving it! We've been learning a lot about Egypt, of course, which is completely fascinating. Most recently we have studied the New Kingdom of Egypt, which includes the story of King Tut. So we decided making an Egyptian death mask in the style of King Tut's would be a fun project. First since it was too cold at the time to paper mache in the garage (it probably would have frozen instead of dried-ha) and it was too messy to do it in the house, we decided to pick up a couple of cheap craft masks at Hobby Lobby. Next we cut out cardboard shapes to complete the shape of the death mask, attaching them with hot glue. Vince even put a little detail on the *beard* with the hot glue per The Princess' request. Then the kiddos started to paint them with this metallic gold tempera paint. It worked okay for the cardboard, but would not coat the plastic of the mask. We thought maybe a second coat ...

Door Hanger Chore Charts

My kids have had a chore chart for a while. It's one of those magnetic boards and they share it. However, it's not by their rooms and often they (and I) forget to update it. Plus it's a little bulky. When I saw the concept of a door hanger chore chart on Pinterest, I loved it! It was compact, right there were the kiddos could see it coming out and going into their rooms, and it costs almost nothing to make. I headed over to one of my favorite stores: Hobby Lobby, of course. They have these little wooden door hangers for .79. I also grabbed a couple of packets of decorative buttons for $1.99 each. I already had the clothes pins and the paint so those cost me nothing. I began by painting the door hangers (I used tempera paints because that's what I had). Then I grabbed a fine point Sharpie and the clothes pins and started writing chores on them, making sure to write them correctly so they will ...

my blessed life

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