Weekend Review: Sept. 16-18

The weekend started off with us visiting our local park, The Blueberry Patch, but only once it warmed up--it was only 41 degrees on Friday morning (looks like summer is officially over).  It's really a great little park and they have toddler sized swings & slides that Jessica just loves.  She's had a pretty rough few weeks with the teething, but I think the park took her mind off of the pain at least for a little while!  She continues to love the swings, so much so that I could hardly pry her out of them--these toddlers are stronger than what you imagine!

There's a little smile in her

More content than happy, but I'll take it

After she rode in the swings for a while--she soon discovered the sandbox.  She has never really liked playing in the sandbox before, but Friday she loved all the "cars" and "trains" that are in the sandbox.  Although, her favorite thing to do while there was to place the buckets by color into neat little stacks.  I know some of you are thinking, well, she may look more like Michael, but she certainly acts like me...hehe!

Here are a couple bonus pics of the girls at the park....as you can probably tell Jessica is still fearless and wants to do everything all by herself!  The little sister went also, although she stayed in her carseat or the baby carrier.

For whatever reason, this weekend I did a lot of cooking/baking.  I think most reading know that I do love to cook & bake, but especially when fall arrives.  I treated my husband to some of his favorite things.  On Friday night, I made him homemade toffee dipped in chocolate & coated with nuts....yummy!  I used to think this was difficult to cook, but it really just takes practice.

Then on Saturday, I really got the craving for my homemade cinnamon rolls.  They take all day to make, but they are so worth it.  I didn't take an after picture....mostly b/c we had gobbled them up pretty quickly on Sunday morning.  But here's an action shot of the dough in the making!

Needless to say the toffee & the cinnamon rolls are not low cal in any sense of the word and I ended up using more than a pound of butter to make both.  On Sunday, we got the girls ready for church and headed out.  I tried to get some pics, but these are the best of the bunch.  Jessica was so adorable yesterday morning, she looked precious in this little blue jumper.  I am happy to report that eventhough they were both kicked out of the nursery last weekend, this weekend they both got great reports.  Apparently, Ella was the best baby of the bunch!

On Sunday evening we have bible study with our friends and we all bring a snack.  This week I decided to try a new recipe...S'mores Crumb Bars.  It's actually very simple to make & they do indeed taste like S'mores. 

S'mores Crumb Bars

3 Cups graham cracker crumbs (I bought graham crackers & make crumbs in the food processor)

3/4 Cup melted butter

1/3 Cup sugar

3 Cups minature marshmallows

2 Cups or 12 oz bag semisweet chocolate chips

Combine the crumbs, butter, and sugar; press 1/2 into a greased 13 X 9 X 2 in. baking pan.  Sprinkle with marshmallows and chocolate chips.  Top with remaining crumb mixture & press firmly.  Bake @ 375 for 10 min.  Remove from the oven and immediately press top firmly with spatula.  Cool completely (I actually put mine in the refrigerator for 2 hrs. before I cut them).  Cut into bars.

The small group liked these...they are crumbly, but worth it!

I hope everyone had a great weekend and that you all enjoy your Monday.  My chores and errands await, as do my 2 hungry little girls :)