Ring of Fire - Taco Ring

“I fell into a burning ring of fire
I went down, down, down and the flames went hirer
And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire
The ring of fire”

Why does my husband sing this song every time I make the Taco Ring? I have no idea. Your guess is as good as mine. I know it is one of his favorite meals that I make {might have to do with the fact when I first started making it we were newlyweds and he was finally being fed real meals again since he didn't live in that dump of a house in college}. Back then he would see that I was making it and get so excited about this meal that he would dance around the kitchen singing Ring of Fire. {I'm sure he would be very happy to hear me tell this to everyone}
Now it is also one of my kids favorite meals as well! And of course, they all sing the ring of fire when I make it.
That was waaayyy back in 1999 when I started making the Taco Ring {wow that dates me}. I honestly can't remember if I found the recipe in a cookbook I received for our wedding {you know, one of the ones your grandma gives you from her church – still one of my most cherished cookbooks} or if I got it from going to a Pampered Chef party?
Lately, I’ve had to increase the amount I make since the kids are older now and The Boy {at only age 9 mind you} seems to be eating more than me these days!

It is a super easy meal. 

What you’ll need:
1.5 lbs Ground Beef {I use the extra lean stuff} *before when my kids didn't eat as much I used 1 lb
2 tubes of crescent rolls {I use the low fat ones} *again, when my kids didn’t eat as much I used 1 tube
1 package taco seasoning – *this didn’t change
Approximately ¼ cup water
1 bag shredded cheese {I usually use whatever kind I have in the fridge, but Cheddar or Monetary Jack work the best – I put in a couple big handfuls, not really sure on the measurement here – depends on how much cheese your family likes}
Toppings:
Whatever your little heart desires! We like lettuce, black olives, tomatoes, sour cream, salsa, taco sauce.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. In a large pan, brown the hamburger. Drain off the fat. Then add the packet of taco seasoning to the ground beef. Add about ¼ cup of water to this mixture. Mix it all together.  If you think you need a little more water you can add more. You do not want it runny though, just enough water to blend the seasoning mix with the hamburger. Once that is all mixed together, turn the burner off and add a couple handfuls of cheese {remember you can add as little or as much as you're family likes}. Mix well. 

Set this aside while you prepare the crescent rolls.
To prepare the crescent rolls, get a large cookie sheet or baking stone. Place the crescent rolls in the shape of a sun – with the wide ends of the triangle overlapping the next and the points facing out. {Ohhhh.Kayyyy. This is really hard for me to explain. So here, just look at the picture}

Then press down on the center of the crescent rolls to flatten them out a little and mush {technical cooking term} them together so you have more room for the meat mixture.
Next spoon the meat mixture on the crescent rolls.
Then take the outer point of the triangle and fold it up over the meat mixture. Tuck it in under the inner part of the crescent roll.

Now you have your ring! Yipee!
Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Slice and serve with your favorite toppings! 

Yummy!

Warning: Side Note Experimental Recipe!

We had leftover steak that I didn’t want to just throw away {cause it was heaven on a plate}. So I decided to make a mini Taco Ring with the steak! Genius, I know!
I took the steak and ground it up in my food processor.

Added a little bit of taco seasoning & water and warmed it up in a small pan. I added some cheese

and placed it over the crescent rolls. 

   

Isn’t it cute?

This baked for almost the same amount of time as the larger one. I did take it out of the oven about 3 minutes earlier, though.
It turned out soooooo good. I just love me some good steak! And put that good steak in a Taco Ring? PER.FECT.TION!

We served it with a side of corn that we sauteed {I'm not quite sure how to get the little apostrophe over the first e and I'm pretty sure there is another name for it than apostrophe but you know what I mean} with butter and ground cumin in the pan we made browned the hamburger so there was still some taco seasoning in it.

Over the years, I have heard some different variations of the Taco Ring. Some make it in a 9x9 baking dish and add Doritos or some add refried beans to the ring. So what about you, have you tried a Taco Ring before or a variation of it? And if you have, does your husband sing his praises to you?

~Amy

P.S.

The Hunger Games movies was A!MAZ!ING! LOVED IT! It didn't have a couple of the parts from the book that I was hoping for, but none-the-less it was awesome!

It's Almost Time...The Hunger Games

Ah, the Hunger Games…{sigh}. I don't even know where to begin. First of all, my husband thinks I have issues, that I'm a tween or some form of one. I get sucked into these books then the movies, then I get obsessed with them and it becomes a big problem production. {deep, calming breath}

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If you've been reading any entertainment magazines or websites {which of course I have} this movie is hard to miss. It comes out to theaters this Friday and I'm about ready to pee myself I'M SO EXCITED! I think, no I know, I'm more excited about this movie than I was about any of the Twilight movies. It is such a weird, twisted, sick story that I just can't seem to put down. It's one of those books where you completely neglect all other responsibilities…cleaning, cooking, kids, husband, dog, sleeping, eating. 

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I had to read it again this week before I see the movie just to refresh my memory of everything that happens. And even though I've read it before and I know the ending, it still grabs me from page one to the end and I'm biting my nails in anticipation for what is going to happen next. 

There are so many parts of the book that I can't wait to see in the movie. The clips and trailers that have been shown look so close to how it is portrayed in the book and what I saw in my mind while reading said book. I mean isn't that what people always want to know, how close to the book are they sticking? {Are they checking with me to make sure it is what I was picturing in my mind?} With a book like this that has so many psycho obsessed dedicated followers it is always a bit risky.

Anyway, since you've asked, here is a list of what I'm looking forward to seeing:

• The 3 costumes for Katniss in her big introduction to the Capitol as the ‘girl on fire’ and her final scene. They sound almost impossible to pull off so it will be so fun to see if they can actually make them look as cool as the book describes. The few shots I've seen from the trailers don't have my hopes very high that they can do this. 

• I think it will also be fun to see all the people of the Capitol. They are so outrageous in the books.

• Any scene with Liam Hemsworth…ah Liam, I do think I love you… {here is my teenage girl sigh, then a giggle} Wouldn't my husband kill me if I put a poster up of him on the inside of my closet door! {evil chuckle}

Oh that smoldering look!

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Oooookayyyyy, moving on....

• I think it will be really funny if they show the scenes of Haymitch all drunk, falling off the stage, puking all over himself. Gross I know, but funny none the less. I have a strange slapstick sense of humor sometimes.

• Then there's the scene where Peeta is camouflaged in the mud. Very tricky and smart.

• Oh and the scene with Katniss sleeping high in the trees. Is that even possible?

• Oh, oh, and the scene with Katniss shooting the apple out of the pig's mouth. I can't wait to see the expressions of the Gamemakers!

Oh, who am I kidding? I just can't wait for the entire movie! I would be retyping the entire book if I kept going. I'll let you know what I think of the movie.

So what about you, are you guilty of being a tween wannabe and just as excited about this movie as I am? Do you admit it out loud?

~Amy

Dancing With the Stars

Dancing With the Stars

I LOVE Dancing With The Stars!  I have been watching since Season 1.  It just makes me happy!  My kids laugh at me when I’m watching because I usually have a goofy grin on my face and I am wearing my DWTS shoes—yes, I have DWTS shoes.  A few years ago one of my best girlfriends gave them to me for my birthday.  Some people don’t watch if they don’t like the “stars”—not me, it’s all about the dancing.  Someday I will take dance lessons and hopefully I will convince my husband to join me.  For now, I will live through DWTS.
~Sue

Are you a Cat Person or a Dog Person?

The age old question – Do you like Cats or Dogs?

Well, honestly, I’ve always been a cat person…a cat lover. 
When I was a little girl I wanted to have a pet soooo bad and my parents kept telling me NO. Finally, an opportunity arose! {A-HA!} When I was in fourth grade one of my little friends had a cat that had kittens. {YIPEE!} His parents were desperately trying to get rid of these kittens. {OPPORTUNITY KNOCK.ING!} The wheels in my little fourth grade mind really started turning. How, oh how, can I bring one of these kittens home? Luckily for me, it was in October and my parents wedding anniversary was right around the corner. Perfect! I would get my parents a kitten for their anniversary because we all know that you can’t give presents back and that way I would get a cat! {The way my mind worked back then really scares me...is it foreshadowing how my children are going to think and act?} 

I might be in some trouble!
I brought the kitten home, she was a white and orange kitten...I have no idea what kind of cat...does it really matter? She was so adorable! I just loved her so much. It was love at first sight! They just absolutely, positively had to let me keep her.

And to my surprise, they DID! We named her Kitty…I know, very creative. We had her until I was in about 8th grade, I think, those Jr. High/High School years all kind of run together for me. I had another cat after her, Toby. Toby was my partner in crime until I went to college and my parents moved to Arizona, so Toby had to find a new home. I'm still very bitter about this! I really can't talk about it much...to this day, I don't understand why he couldn't move with my parents or into the dorm with me? But he moved to a farm in northern Iowa, so I know he was happy...it took many years of therapy to be able to say that! :) JK
After marrying my husband, I found out he was a dog person. What, why did we not discuss this before the wedding? Aren't we supposed to discuss important stuff like that? What were we to do, he wanted a dog, I wanted a cat? He said, "my dad and my sister are allergic to cats so they would never be able to visit if we had them." Damn, good argument. {light bulb} Or I could just reply, "if we have a cat the In-Laws could never visit us!" {wink}
So for about 11 years I fought us getting a dog. They honestly scare me. Why is it when you don't like dogs they always come to you for a good back rub?  Or are always sniffing around your feet just waiting for you to touch them?
Fast forward to about 2 and a half years ago…On one warm, summer day, Mini-Me brought home a homeless kitten – I think it was probably just under a year old so not a new kitty. {I see history repeating itself here} She made a little bed for it on our front step, got it a little bowl of milk and some broken bread crumbs. She wanted to keep it so bad. But we stuck to our guns and said no. That night after the kids were in bed, I found my hubby on the computer searching for, yep, you guessed it….PUPPIES! Are you kidding me? Our kids are finally {kind of} taking care of themselves. You want to bring a new baby into the family? Ahhhh, but then I looked at the pictures...

Who could resist this face?

Within two weeks we were on our way to adopting our newest family member. The 3 hour car ride was filled with brainstorming ideas for her name. Butterscotch, Blueberry, Fluffy, Daisy…we decided on Daisy! I still wasn't sure about her and if I wanted her. It seemed like an awful lot of extra work to me. But when they brought her out to us, it was once again love at first sight!

  

She wasn't too sure about the car ride home, but the kids cuddled her {look at how young the kids are!}

And Mini-Me even sang her a song!
Ahhhhh, that still gets me every time! She barely weighed a pound!

My husband, who I must point out, is the one who wanted her in the first place, had a fishing trip with our son lined up that weekend after we brought Daisy home. Great! She's cute and all, but I've never had a dog before, I don't know how to take care of them! So I did what I knew best and that was how to raise babies! Oh yes, I had Daisy on a schedule. I knew when she needed to go potty...when she needed to eat...when she needed to sleep. My friends would call to come visit her and I would inform them, "oh I'm so sorry, she's taking a nap right now, you'll have to come back in an hour when she wakes up." My hubby still can't believe I did this. Well, what did you expect?
I will admit, it was a little rough at first. There were many shoe casualties. Mainly my shoes. {Good excuse to buy more} I don't know why she liked my shoes so much more than everyone elses. She ate up rugs, ate a couple holes in the walls. She just liked to basically eat anything that wasn't a toy for her!

We are in Minnesota and she really did not like that first winter. I obviously had her potty trained until that winter. We would open the door when she went to it, she would run outside, look at us like “are you crazy” run back in and in about 2 minutes find a nice spot on the carpet and do her duty! She ain't no dummy!
But really, she is a smart dog. We taught her to sit, lay down, roll over, high five and play dead dog! The kids are now trying to teach her to dance!
She fits in perfectly and now thinks she is one of the kids. If they step on her or do something she doesn't like, she comes running to me to tattle on them. When they leave for school in the morning she barks and howls at the bus as if crying, "don't take my kids, bring them back or at least take me to school with you!" She waits patiently on the bench by the front door for them to come home from school and then plays outside with them.  

She is now 2 and a half years old and very much one of the family.  

So if you asked me today if I was a dog person or cat person, I would definitely say with pride,

“I’m a DOG PERSON!”

How about you, are you a Dog Person or Cat Person?
~Amy

Happy St. Patty's Day ~ Crazy Hair and Green Food Anyone?!

I'm definitely not Irish, more like Swedish and Danish and {as my Dad says} some Heinz 57 {not sure what that means, so maybe I do have a little Irish in me!}
That's OK, I don't need to be Irish to enjoy St. Patrick's Day. Any excuse to have some crazy hair, make something green and just have fun!

{This is kind of a two sectioned blog-in-one, if there is such a thing. I seemed to get a little wordy today, but I just have so much to share and it is all regarding St. Patty's Day and well, that's today so I'm just going to put it all out there! [deep breath] Sorry!}
Even though St. Patrick's Day is on Saturday this year, the kids still wanted to wear their green and have crazy hair on Friday for school. So thanks again to the Cute Girls Hairstyles website that my 7 year-old daughter {I like to call her Mini-Me} has been surfing around on, we decided to try a new four leaf clover style on her. The Boy didn't want to be left out and he had all sorts of ideas to try. First he wanted me to take green pipe cleaners and wind them around his hair to stand straight up, kind of like a mo-hawk! WOW – OK? So I tried this and it just wasn't working. He had just gotten out of the shower and we were getting ready for bed, so I thought, you want a mo-hawk, we'll make you a mo-hawk. We took some of Mini-Me's pony holders and put them in his wet hair.

This way when he wakes up in the morning it will be dry and hopefully standing straight up on end. I figure his hair is usually crazy in the morning anyway so this should work great!
And, of course {wink} I was right, it did stand straight up! Throughout the night a couple of the pony holders fell out and Mini-Me pipes in that this is because the leprechauns were being naughty again and took them out while he was sleeping. They thought this was great...I don't know about you, but having little, possibly green men, running around in my room in the middle of the night really freaks me out!!!
Anyway, I took some green hairspray and a comb and ratted his hair straight down the middle, then sprayed it with the green hairspray.  I find with this stuff, if you dry it with a hair dryer right after you spray it, it stays in longer and with a mo-hawk keeps its shape better.

Then on to Mini-Me. We are in a hurry now since we have 15 minutes {THAT'S 15 MINUTES - AHHHHHH!!} until the bus gets here to take them to school. And why oh why didn't I practice this hairstyle at least once before the actual day we needed to do it, but that would take a lot of organization and time management on my part, not gonna happen!
I had opened up the  Cute Girls Hairstyles website and got the picture and instructions on my kitchen computer the night before {that was a bit organized, right?}, then got all the green pony holders, and we decided to wind green pipe cleaners in the clover. Again, the instructions on this site are a.maz.ing! I had to have The Boy, to his horror, hold the hair pieces for me while I twisted them with the green pipe cleaners. We held each pair of twists with little clips while we got the others twisted. Yikes, that is a lot of twisting!
Here is the final product of Mini-Me's hair!

Sorry, my photography skills are a little lacking.

Here are the munchkins - LOVE THE SOCKS!

OK - here is the second section:

This morning we I wanted to try and make something a little special for St. Patty's day so I found an Irish Soda Bread recipe on an awesome blog - Plain Chicken – her website is here! I didn't have any buttermilk so I googled substitutions for buttermilk and found an easy recipe here! All you need is milk and lemon juice – oh yea, I have that! We also wanted it to be, of course, you guessed it, green so we added some food coloring.
We got all of our ingredients together – Mini-Me decided to help out! We started by making our buttermilk, I used skim milk since that is what I had in the house, buttermilk sounds so fattening so I'm guessing this makes the recipe a little healthier for us! Bonus! After setting the timer for 5 minutes so the lemon juice and milk could do whatever it is they magically do to make our buttermilk, Mini-
Me measured out the flour, baking soda and salt.

When the 5 minutes was up she added in the green food coloring.

Poured the green buttermilk into the flour mixture and we have our dough. 

How easy is that?!

I should mention at this point in case you would like to know what exactly the dough looks like, my adorable, sweet Mini-Me says, "it looks like someone sneezed out a big ol' green snotty thing!" NICE!

It didn't stop her from trying out that snotty dough, though...

Gotta love her for that!

Next, pour it into the greased bread pan and bake for 35 minutes. Plain Chicken suggested serving it with honey butter, but I used up all my honey last week so we improvised and made cinnamon sugar butter instead {just added my cinnamon/sugar mixture to some softened butter} and why not make it green cinnamon sugar butter! Perfect! 
Nows the real test to see if the fake buttermilk works...sliced it up, buttered it up and does it pass the taste test of the munchkins {and Mom}? 

   

YEAH – it does! IT WORKED! I CAN DO THIS!

That's two weekends in a row now that I've baked?! What is happening to me?! Starting easy and small must be the trick!
So, what special things are you doing for St. Patty's Day? Anything fun with the kids or for you adults? The adults in our house are going to a St. Patty's Day Party tonight – Green Beer Anyone?!!

~Amy

Go-To Recipe Party!

I’ve always told my friends that I should have a party. Not just any party, but a Go-To Recipe Party. Now this isn’t a peer pressure party to sell jewelry or Pampered Chef or skin care products or even food products or cookbooks.

No, this is a party for us girls to just hang out, have a few cocktails {maybe even some new fancy cocktail recipes} or wine, have some fun appetizers {because who doesn’t love appetizers, or maybe we’ll call them hor d’oeuvres so we sound fancy} and share our Go-To meals. 

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Who doesn’t have Go-To meals? I know I do. When I don’t know what to make for supper or I’m planning my next week’s meals out, I have a list of those meals that I know my munchkins and my hubby will always eat. These are the meals that when my kids grow up and go to college and come home to visit they will say, “Mom, will you please make this! I’ve missed it sooooo much, I just need my Mommy Meals!”  

Ah yes, I can hear it now! 

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You know though, everyone says they grow up so fast, I just don’t believe it, not that I want them to grow up faster, but I just don’t feel like my little ones will ever be old enough to go to college. I'm sure my oldest sister, Sue, will disagree with me here. But that’s another post about how needed I seem to be by everyone in the house…back to my Go-To Party!

I think it would be fun to share ideas with my friends and other moms what our Go To meals are. It could be a monthly get together of us girls. Each taking turns hosting the party. Or maybe not even monthly, maybe every other month. We are, after all, super busy super moms and it is hard to get out of the house. But we can do this, right? It doesn’t even have to be a big ordeal. Even though, bigger is always better. We could each bring our own drinks, hell, even beer. We could each bring an appetizer or just let Schwan’s be our friend. Or we could make it super easy and order a pizza. I’m so good at making things easy! Who cares? 

It would Just. Be.Fun!

Then we could each bring in one or two of our Go To recipes each time we meet. Actually, we could call these get-togethers meetings to make it sound official so we have to get together! Then we make copies of our Go To recipes so each girlfriend attending can bring them home. I know a lot of my Go To meals aren’t really recipes though, so they would have to be guestimates {is that even a word} of how much of each ingredient I really put in the dish.

I think this would be so much fun! But getting it started is another story, maybe now with this blog I’ll be more motivated to start something. I figure I can at least share some of my Go To recipes here as I make them at home. Then I will have a list already made up for when I finally decide to start having these parties, um I mean official meetings.

Some of my Go To meals:

• Meatloaf – I love meatloaf! It is one of my favorite Mommy Meals. I have changed it up a little since I like more garlic and basil then my mother, but it will always be one of my favorite meals my mom makes!
• Chili – my hubby likes this to be Frito Chilio – I guess when he was in school they served Chili over Fritos. They still do as my kids are now coming home from the same school their Daddy went to and are saying they had Frito Chilio for lunch. I prefer my chili in a bowl with all my toppings, not including Fritos. But, to quote one of my hubbies favorite sayings that irritate me, “I guess that is why they make different colors of paint.”
• Taco Ring – my hubby always sings ‘Ring of Fire’ when I make this, even though it isn’t spicy??? {I'm not sure either, but whatever, he's having fun and the kids think it's funny}
• Sloppy Joe's – or as they call them in Minnesota, Barbeque's – I’m still an Iowa girl at heart so this always confuses me since I think Barbeque's are those little wieners in BBQ sauce!
• Tator Tot Hot Dish – another Minnesota thing – hot dishes – in Iowa they are casseroles!
• Homemade Pizza – we each make our own – fun, messy time with the whole fam.
• Spaghetti – sometimes with homemade meatballs, when I’m feeling creative!
• Meatball Subs – usually with frozen meatballs so it is a quick meal!

I’m finding a theme here that my Go To meals are all beef based.

Let’s see anything else without beef?

I’m thinking, thinking, thinking…

• Oh, homemade chicken nuggets! YUMMY!
• Brats or when we have leftover Chili – Chili Dogs {still has beef, I guess}
• Hot Ham & Cheese Subs – new favorite adaptation of a sub from a dive from our college days!

I think I need to come up with some more non-beef ideas. See why this party would be a good idea?! I’m still new at this blogging thing, but I’ll try and remember the next time I make one of these meals to take pictures so I can include my recipes in more posts!

So what are your Go To meals? Do you and your friends ever get together for a party like this?

~Amy

Cinnamon Mini-Bites Monkey Bread

Sometimes I get a wild hair up my butt and think I should be Becky Homemecky, well maybe a mock version of her...don't get me wrong, I love to cook, from scratch, but baking is just not up my alley and I'm honestly not that good at it. I try, but my cookies always seem to turn out flat or hollow. When I cook, there is no recipe, I just seem to know what to add, however, baking is kind of like science, you really have to know what your doing. Even when I follow the instructions to a T, I get it wrong. So usually I just buy Schwan's frozen cookie dough and that is how I bake, except when I have them in the freezer, I eat them...raw...a lot of them...

I just can't help myself!

Aaannyyway, to get to my point here, the other night my kids had a couple friends stay over night. I was actually prepared and bought the Pillsbury Cinnamon Mini-Bites for breakfast since my kids think that is my best recipe ever. Plus, they think it is super cool that they can eat so many cinnamon rolls each. However, while I was sleeping I had a wonderful dream about making monkey bread out of the mini-bites. I know, who dreams about baking, especially when they don't really enjoy baking? Me, I guess. 

When I woke up to the giggles of the children, I headed down to my computer and Googled 'Cinnamon Mini-Bites Monkey Bread', I got nothing. Then I went to the Pillsbury website and searched recipes there. Again, nothing. So I went to some random website and found a generic monkey bread recipe and decided we would just try it out using the mini-bites rather than regular homemade cinnamon rolls. Like I said, I'm mock Betty Homemecky. 

Love short cuts! 

I need to think of a name for myself when I get in one of these moods...

So I enlisted my daughter and her friend and we started away.

First we started with 2 packages of the Pillsbury Mini-Bites. 

Then we used our already on-hand cinnamon and sugar mixture. I gave each of the girls their own paper plate with the raw mini-bites and their own bowl of cinnamon sugar to avoid conflict. Then the girls rolled each mini-bite in the cinnamon and sugar mixture. 

Getting it coated nice and good.

Then we layered them in a no-stick sprayed bread pan.

Then we poured about half a stick of butter over the top! Yikes, lets not talk about this step, I'm not even going to put the naughty picture of this step! 

OK, OK, I'll put the picture. 

I mean, I took the picture so I couldn't let it go to waste! 

  I love butter, it makes me think of air popped popcorn and I soooo love that! But that is another post all together.

Sorry, again back to this post, then we baked them in a preheated oven at 375 degrees. 

Since I couldn't find a recipe I had no idea how long it would take. I think the original recipe said 40 – 45 minutes, but like I said, I don't bake so I had no clue. I set the timer for 20 minutes. Checked it and they were still gooey. Set it for another 10 minutes...still gooey. Set it for another 10 minutes...still a little gooey, but very close. Set it for 3 minutes and they were perfect. I don't know why I thought because I used mini-bites, that it would take less time, I mean I think the original recipe said to quarter the cinnamon rolls, so wouldn't that essentially make them mini-bites???? Really????? Sometimes I wonder about myself!

I took them out and drizzled them with the frosting that came with the mini-bites. 

They turned out sooo nummy! The kids all loved them, the hubby loved them. Everyone wanted more! 

I did serve them with my famous ham/Swiss/cream cheese scrambled eggs! 

See I told you I love to cook and make fun creations that everyone hopefully loves! So, do you enjoy baking or creating new recipes? What have you created lately?

~Amy

Hairstyle Experimentation

I find in life, I can go from one subject to another very quickly. I can hear someone say one little thing and that will spark a memory for me on another subject, that will sometimes spark an idea on another subject all together. So then when I decide to talk out loud to my friends, sometimes I get that look from them and it seems a little random. 

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I’m finding this in the blog world as well. I will be reading one of my regular favorite blogs, they will cite another blog, so I click on that link and that blog will cite another blog! Ugh! I think you see where I’m going … but why am I telling you this? Well, I wanted to give you an idea of how I got to this section that I’m starting on this blog.

Here’s the road map…I went to the 6 Sisters Stuff blog one day and they had a guest blogger on their site, see here.

This guest blogger was Stephanie from Hair and Make-Up by Steph. She…is…awesome! I loved the post so much that I went to her blog to check out what else she has to say. As you may know, I have a daughter who is always wanting her hair braided in a French braid. I have such an issue with French braids. I’m not quite sure why, but Stephanie has a link on this blog to her post on braids. See here.

This Braid Breakdown was magnificent! She has some videos out there that show step by step instructions on how to braid in different ways that even I can follow!!!! 

LOVE IT!!!!! I’m so excited! <Do a little dance>  

Well, on Stephanie’s blog she has a link to a YouTube video by a mother who has her own blog called….wait for it….Cute Girls Hairstyles!!! JACKPOT!

See her site here:  Cute Girls Hairstyles! 

See, I told you how I get to a topic in my head or in the blog world always has a great road map!

So, back to my whole point of this post…my daughter and I have decided that we are going to start trying these different styles. I’m going to try them on myself and see how hard it is to do them by myself and also try them on my daughter. We’ll take pictures when we try a new one and post them on here for you to see.

My first time reading this blog I was so excited to try the fish tail braid I couldn’t wait for my daughter to get home from school. So I blindly tried it on myself. I didn’t take a picture of that one...I tried...but holding a phone camera to the back of your own head just wasn’t working. So the next morning, after showing the very cool website to my daughter, I tried the fishtail braid! It worked on the first try and was soooo easy. See the instructions here. 

I definitely recommend checking out her YouTube videos. She does such an excellent job of explaining step by step how to do the braid. 

 Isn't it cute!  I can't believe I did that!

I'll have to try another one on myself and have the munch-kin take a picture of it. 

Thanks so much Mindy!!! You are a life saver! OK, not really a life saver, but we are going to be super cool at school now with our new braids!!!

Now I can’t wait for a crazy hair day at school so we can try them out. Even my son, who seems to think he needs to have shaggy hair these days, wants a crazy hair day and wants me to find something for him online so if he has a crazy hair day I can do something wild and different to him. So what do you think? Do you have any ideas for fun braids or crazy hair days? Even for boys? 

~Amy

It's Started!

Wow--you two are really making me do this!  As I was reading the "About Us" section I must admit I was getting a little emotional.  Really made me miss you both.  I love the profile pictures you picked for us, Amy.  I think it is so hilarious that we each have a glass of wine and Deb has a cup of tea!!  Love it.
Well--Here we go.  I will do my best.
~Sue