Water Balloon Bullseye

Would you believe that my (almost) 5 year old has never seen or thrown a water balloon before? I realise that I'm pretty much a failure as a mother!

So imagine his delight when he found that they explode AND get you wet!

We drew a simple target on the driveway and had a blast trying to hit the center (and actually get them to pop. Those suckers were surprisingly bouncy!)

 Thanks to Motherhood On A Dime for sharing this idea and to whoever originally pinned it. We'll definitely be playing again! If only they filled themselves...

Linking up with No Time for Flashcards and  I Can Teach My Child

Black Magic Chocolate Cake

My husband and I agree that this is the

best

chocolate cake

EVER!

I find this cake to be very easy to make and incredibly moist. It's even better the second day! 

It also fits into the back of a dump truck nicely



Try it out and let us know what you think!

I found the original recipe on Allrecipes and have since tweaked it a little to better suit our grocery buying habits

Black Magic Chocolate Cake

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup strong brewed coffee
1 cup milk

 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

~ Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two 9 inch round cake pans or one 9x13 pan

~ In your mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt

~ Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and add eggs, coffee, milk, oil and vanilla

~ Mix for 2 minutes on medium speed until well combined. Batter will be thin. Pour into your prepared pans

~ Bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes (roughly 33min for me using two round pans) or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before turning onto a wire rack 

~ Cool completely before frosting with your favorite chocolate frosting

Linking up with Tater Tots & Jello

Organizing Lego

I'm sitting on the couch resting my poor pregnant feet and the boys, that is, my husband and 4 year old are on the floor playing with Lego. Again. They LOVE Lego! And because it's so open ended and encourages them both to use their imagination I really don't mind that it is starting to take over the house! We do need to organize it a bit better though.

Right now we have various plastic tubs sitting under our Lego table. They work OK but it's a bit of a pain to dig through them to find the smaller pieces and it kinda hurts my fingers! 

 Nail/screw organizers work perfectly for all our small, weird pieces and they stack nicely on shelves or against the wall under the Lego table

Now my issue is mainly the blocks, wheels and larger pieces

I was going to buy one of these organizers from Amazon but after reading the reviews I fear we have already outgrown its capacity! I do love that it sorts the pieces by size though!

Those big plastic drawer systems are another option but not a particularly attractive one in my opinion

After browsing Pinterest I think this is what I am going to go with for general Lego organization. A huge thanks to IHeart Organizing for the inspiration! I think it's perfect for the pieces we have right now with lots of room to expand our collection

I haven't decided yet if we will build another Trofast system like we made last year or if we'll grab one from IKEA. A Trofast wall unit is actually the same price as the first Lego organizer I linked, so not too bad either way!

How do you organize your Lego or building toys? Do you use one method for all pieces or separate them out? Do your kiddos keep it organized or do you find yourself (still) cleaning it all up?

Double Chocolate Pie with Chocolate Crust

Before I moved to the US I didn't even know you COULD make pie out of CHOCOLATE! The only pie I have ever had is a mince or steak pie... occasionally apple. Out of all the American pies; sweet potato, pumpkin... chocolate... chocolate is definitely my favorite! But when my husband asked this foreigner to make one I said, are you kidding? Unfortunately he wasn't...

I searched for a good chocolate pie recipe and found this one on Allrecipes.com; Double Chocolate Pie and it was definitely rich and chocolatey! Very different from the pie at Luby's that my husband was looking for me to recreate (that man loves Luby's - it's shameful!) but absolutely delicious nonetheless.

But then I faced a bit of a dilemma.

What to do about the crust?

I was trying to be lazy since I had other food to make for this company BBQ but the store had no premade chocolate crusts and we didn't want a crushed cookie crust - that would have been too easy! But I couldn't find a good, simple chocolate crust recipe! A friend on Facebook sent me a link to a chocolate pie crust on Love and Olive Oil and it was perfect!

So I attempted to make my first ever pie crust. It didn't go so well at first; the dough kept sticking to everything, getting holes in it, not rolling evenly... making a giant mess everywhere. I popped the ball of dough AND the rolling pin in the freezer, dusted the counter with an unimaginable amount of flour and finally got it rolled out and into the pie pan. I was so proud of myself! (I know, everyone but me already knew these pie crust tricks didn't they?)

The crust ended up being perfect for the filling; rich but not too sweet or overpowering so it was all about the pie, not the crust.

My husband was beyond happy with his pie. And I am the best wife ever ;)

Linking up with It's Overflowing

Meal Plan Monday

This week we're working on using up all the farm and garden produce taking over our fridge! It has gotten a little out of hand...

Tonight we're having yellow chicken curry with green beans and sauteed zucchini, onion, bell pepper

Meals for the rest of the week:
Leftover brisket sandwiches with homemade BBQ sauce and hamburger buns
Spaghetti bolagnaise and salad
Homemade pizza with zucchini, pepperoni, onion and cheese
Cottage pie using leftover bolagnaise sauce and salad
Grilled pork chop, rice, sauteed zucchini, onion and bell pepper
Leftovers or something easy like sandwiches


All of the above will be eaten with additional veggies or fruit, depending on what's going to go bad soonest! 

This week we'll also be making a few loaves of zucchini carrot bread to use up all these zucchini before they go bad! We'll eat one now and pop the rest in the freezer for after the baby is born

Linking up with Org Junkie

Lego Math!

Using your child's toys as part of your learning activities is a great way to hold their interest; P and I spent the morning doing math using his lego blocks and he LOVED it. He was engaged the entire time, finished every sheet I had and then asked for more!

You can find these printables at The Toddler House - Math Centers and if you find anymore please share, P is demanding more!

Linking up with Homeschool Creations, I Can Teach My Child, Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas, No Time for Flashcards