I’ve Got My Eyes on You!

Long time readers know that eyeballs are an inside joke around here. As such, when I see something eyeball themed, I just have to give it a try! This particular eyeball is a mini cookie cup which was originally made of a peanut butter cookie with a white chocolate mini peanut butter cup and an M&M. Pretty much all those things will kill 50% of my children, so I definitely tweaked the recipe to make it my own. I made a dairy and egg free almond butter cookie base. Mini sunbutter cups made a great filling but they don’t come in white, so I smoothed a thin layer of dairy free melted white chocolate on top of each before adding a Skittle. A food coloring marker provided the last details, and they were ready to eat. They turned out fantastic! Seriously, I ate way too many eyeballs…

I’ve Got My Eye on You

Today was round three of our Halloween themed FHE treats. Daniel came home this weekend, so we had our treat a day early so he could partake of the spooky goodness. Giant eyeballs are kind of a running gag over here, so it seemed fitting to add some eyeballs to our diet. Rice Krispy treats with some tasty add-ons meant they were simple to make, tasty, and as an added bonus, they made great photo props!

Going Bug-Eyed

For the next school dance, Nathan has opted to avoid a myriad of social drama. Originally, he planned just to skip the dance, but a change in plans came along in the form of a cousins’-organized blind date. He and Ella, who both go the same school, and Jacob, who goes to a different school, are planning on going to Sweethearts at Nathan and Ella’s school. Jacob arranged with two friends to come as dates for Nathan and Ella and those two provided a date for Jacob. Even though the plans were already in place and agreed upon by all parties, all the kids wanted to do the official asking to the dance in the traditional, fun way. Nathan went with an eyeball themed ask, using as many puns using the words “I” and “eye” as he could come up with. So of course there needed to be a plethora of googly eyes. Not only were there tons (my sister Rachael was still finding eyeballs on her driveway days later) but he found some crazy big googly eyes at Hobby Lobby and just couldn’t resist. I can’t say that I blame him. The things are freaking hilarious. AND they glow in the dark. Best googly eyes ever!

His date joined the fun and answered as she was asked…using a bunch of eyeballs. It sounds like these kids are going to have a good time!

Sweet Success #2

My RS taster’s table yielded more than one delightful recipe. A neighbor and all-around family favorite (a wonderful lady and Nathan’s very first piano teacher) brought a recipe for bon bon cookies. Matthew is a fan of maraschino cherries, so I had a feeling he would like these particular confectionary delights since there is a cherry hidden in the middle of each one. Today we tested them out and all my kiddos loved them. Ours may not look quite as perfect as the ones I sampled at relief society, but Matthew and Malia had a wonderful time decorating them. And (of course) the giant eyeball made its appearance. I guess the shape of these cookies lends itself easily to eyeballs and since I happen to have an assortment of candy eyes on hand because I think they are fun, it was bound to happen. 😉 I suspect these cookies will be making many more appearances in the future!

Seasonal Eats-Part II (Plus a Bonus)

I love fun food. Halloween always has some themed food fun, and I also really enjoy tossing some festive eats into our Christmas activity advent. Todays’ activity was making Grinch kabobs. Malia was the only one who was interested in assembling the kabobs, but everyone enjoyed eating them.

My other activity for today was crafting a Christmas present for Daniel. He is currently a senior in high school which means that this Christmas is the last one where we can know with any certainty exactly where he will be. I wanted to give him a little something that he can take wherever he goes, something that will remind him of home. Being the total spaz that I am, I decided on something a bit less conventional, something that is a reflection of our family traditions. I made him a Christmas tree ornament…shaped like an eyeball. A giant eyeball is one of those random family funnies that has been around since Nathan was tiny. I made multiple eyeballs so that each of my children can have a somewhat gruesome reminder of who they are and where they came from when they leave our humble home. Hopefully whomever they choose to marry will have a slightly twisted sense of humor so they don’t freak out about having an eyeball on the Christmas tree!

I can’t wait for the big reveal!