Measurements of Merriment: January 2016

Friday, January 29, 2016

January's Funny Friday

So here's the deal and how it works....Funny Friday, is a regular feature published on the last Friday of every month. Funny Friday is a collaborative project. Each month one of the participants submits a picture, then we all write 5 captions or thoughts inspired by that month's picture. Links to the other blogger's posts are below, click on them and see what they've come up with. We hope to bring a smile to your face as you start your weekend!

Here's today's picture:

Submitted by Dino Hero Mommy

1. We said where we come from it's 7 Up and chicken,
Where we come from a lotta front porch sittin',
Where we come from tryin' to do some sippin',
And workin' hard when we're shovelin',
Where we come from...

2. Chocolate mustache lickin' good!

3. "No Trespassing" must be French for "Welcome, please come sit down and make yourself comfortable on my porch and enjoy a warm cup of hot chocolate."

4. Mom: "Smile honey, I wanna take a picture of you."
Child smiles.
Takes picture...
Mom: "Honey, you blinked. Let's do it again."
Child smiles again.
Takes picture...
Mom: "Oh, wait, the flash was on. Ok ready?"
Child smiles once again, but not showing teeth.
Takes picture...
Mom: "No, a bigger smile. You know like this." (Smiles really wide, showing all her teeth)
Child smiles one last time, sort of, mouth closed.
Takes picture...
Mom: "Have you had that chocolate mustache this whole time? Let's wash it off and take another!"
Dad thinking... Oh no, Momarazzi strikes again!

5. Little Tommy decided to participate in Mustache March with daddy.

Click on the links below and let some other blogger make you smile:

Baking in a Tornado

Someone Else's Genius

Spatulas on Parade

The Bergham's Life Chronicles

Dino Hero Mommy

Not That Sarah Michelle

Southern Belle Charm

My Brain on Kids

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Gingerbread Houses

A while back, yep before Christmas, I hosted a Gingerbread House Building party for Kinley and some of her new friends. The kiddos had a lot of fun creating their gingerbread house masterpieces! Since it was a gingerbread house party, I tried to play on that theme for the food as well. I tried some new recipes from Pinterest that turned out great!

I made this Gingerbread Man/Woman & Candy Cane garland by tracing cookie cutters and cutting them out. Then I taped them to some twine and hung them up.

My mom found this felt Gingerbread Man activity at the dollar spot at

Target and mailed it to us for the party. Thanks mom :)

Our elves, Zippy & ZuZu decided to party with us too!

Setting the table was quite easy. I just put out all sorts of yummy candy and colorful sprinkles for decorating, made some royal frosting for the glue, and purchased two of the Wilton Christmas Gingerbread Village (since it had four small gingerbread houses included in each package).

Now on to the food......

I found these cute gingerbread plates, cups, and napkins on Amazon

and got the utensils in the party section of a local store.

I know it's a party, but you still gotta have something healthy for the kiddos.

Simple veggies & Ranch dip

I made some PB & J and Turkey Cheese sandwiches, then used a gingerbread man cookie cutter.

This turned very yummy..that's if you really like gingerbread.

The recipe actually made a lot, so I packaged some of the extra up and gave it to my neighbors.

I found the gingerbread men/house shaped pasta on Amazon also.

To make the salad, I added some tomatoes, cucumbers, feta,

onions and drizzled on a homemade Greek dressing I made.

For those with a sweet tooth, but wanted to keep it sort of on the healthier side.

I made a platter of some fresh fruit and paired with a very simple cookie dip made from

gingerbread cake mix and cool whip.

I found these cute gingerbread lollipops on Amazon as well, they were great party gifts.

Oooooo, a gingerbread party wouldn't be complete without some Gingerbread Cupcakes

topped with a Cream Cheese Frosting now would it?!

For the kiddos, a friend brought over some juice boxes.

But for the mommas, we enjoyed a warm cup of Gingerbread Latte.

Kinley was ready to decorate!

Liam has his serious face going on there!

Look at those masterpieces! They look good enough to eat!

Before everyone left, I gave out these little goodie bags with some Gingerbread Peeps, Gingerbread Dum Dum lollipops, Christmas Haribo Gummis, and some homemade Gingerbread Play dough.

The party was a big hit and it was nice to hang out with some great kids and their wonderful mommas. Can't wait to host another fun party!

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Winter Poems

With the arrival of Winter, some of my blogger friends and I decided to put together a Winter Poetry link up for this month. Check out some other creative Winter poems by clicking on the links below.

Winter
The warm turns into cold and the sun goes down by four. You must bundle up tight before stepping out the door.

The season brings an unwelcome chill one that goes up your spine. Winds that whip your scarf around and your hair that intertwines.

Fingers cringe with icy joints making it hard to say "Hello." Toes almost frozen in the knee deep cotton snow.

"Winter is a here!" we all hear them speak. But, I wish it were summer again with the sun upon my cheek.

~ C.M.

Snow Clouds
Rain turns into snowflakes, they sprinkle all around. Whiteness covers the city and blankets the frozen ground.

Snowflakes turn into snow, piled up so high. Streets dusted with salt from the plows that rumble by.

Snow turns into snowmen, big spheres of frozen fun. Decorated to the max until they melt from the glowing sun.

Snowmen turn into slush, a puddle of imagination. When it warms up again, He'll turn into evaporation.

~ C.M.

Click on the links to see some more Winter Poetry!

Baking in a Tornado Spatulas on Parade Someone Else's Genius The Angrivated Mom The Bergham Chronicles

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Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Good Bye 2015....Hello 2016!

So, since we moved here we have been told the Germans really go out for New Year's Eve. Ok, ya ya, sure...well come to find out, it's TRUE! During the day we didn't do much, kind of just hung out. Around 7ish we headed over to our German friend's house for their traditional German Raclette dinner. It was a lot of fun coming up with different combinations to grill and roast. Very tasty too! After dinner, they showed us how to play the game Bleigießen, which pretty much is melting down a piece of metal (usually lead or tin) in a spoon above a burning candle. Then, once melted, drop the liquid metal into a bowl of ice water. Next, you decide on what shape the metal has taken. On the back of the package there is a huge list of predictions for the new year depending on what shape the metal is.
When we had all had our turn, we filled our flutes with champagne, grabbed the packages of fireworks (and I mean the REAL kind, with rockets, not just firecrackers!) and headed out to the street where the rest of our neighborhood was already celebrating.
It wasn't even midnight yet and fireworks were lighting up the night sky everywhere we looked.
BOOM.....Blue! BANG......Red! POP......Green!
Everyone was setting them off, I was surprised even some of the kiddos were too. They hubby even showed Liam how to light a few. Kinley got to wave around some pretty sparklers. We were all having a great time! When midnight finally came around, we all toasted each other with a "Happy New Year!" We, and I mean, the hubby, Kinley and I stayed up to almost 2:00AM, while Liam headed to bed around 1:00AM-ish. It was an A-MAZ-ING New Year's Eve, definitely one to remember! We can't wait till next year to do it all again!