I love Banana Bread!

I love Streusel!

I don't know why I didn't think of combining the two before, but now that I have, I can't go back!



This recipe is so moist and delicious with a flavorful crunch topping.  My family always gets excited when they come home and smell this in the oven.   I want another piece right now!

Banana Bread

How do you show your thanks?  This week I will be sharing an idea everyday to help you and your family share your gratitude.

You may remember from a few years ago, my Gratitude Garland.


The kids and I cut out a bunch of leaves out of pretty scrapbook paper.  We then glued the leaf cutouts to a piece of ribbon and attached it to the mantel.

Then every night before we went to bed, we would gather up together and pick something we were thankful for.  We would pick things from our toys (my kids were little at the time) to the Temples.  It was such a great thing to do to discuss everything we were thankful, and for the kids to recognize our many blessings!

What do you do to celebrate your blessings?

We love Halloween around here!

We love Disneyland too!

What could be better than the two TOGETHER!

We just got back from our annual Disneyland and Halloween trip and I am wishing I was back there right now!  Here are my 10 reasons why!


1.  The weather is PERFECT this time of year.  We didn't even need a sweater for the mornings or the nights.  We got a little warm the first day we were there, so we went on Splash Mountain a few times and that took care of that!

2.  The Decor!  I am a sucker for all things pumpkin, and there is no shortage of fun fall decor everywhere you look!



3.   Haunted Mansion Holiday.  Disneyland really out-did themselves on this ride.  They have re-created the Movie with Jack the Skeleton King down to the Gingerbread house with the real gingerbread smell! mmmmmm!


4.  Ghost Galaxy!  Space Mountain gets a very spooky makeover!!

5.  Crowd level!  This time of year is perfect for low crowds.  We were there on a level 4 day and a level 3 day.  They rate the crowds from 1-10, 1 being low, 10 being high.  We had no problem going on any ride we wanted, several times.  No wait times were longer than 15 minutes!

6.  Big Thunder Ranch Halloween Carnival!  This is like something right out of the movies.  No detail was spared.  A petting Zoo, Carnival games, crafts for the kids, treats, carved pumpkins and characters walking around with no wait to take pictures with.  I could have spent a whole day there just sitting and soaking in all the fun!



7.  The Mickey and Minnie dress up for Halloween!  And the
guests dress up too!  It was so fun walking around seeing everyone getting into the Halloween spirit!

8.  The Villains come out to play!  It's so fun to see some of the characters that they save for this time of year.



9.  The FOOD!  Disneyland already has the best food, but add the Halloween treats, and I'm in heaven!


10.  Family Fun at the Happiest place on earth.  I love starting off the Holiday season at Disneyland.


For more information on visiting Disneyland at Halloween time, go to
 https://disneyland.disney.go.com/events-tours/halloween-time-at-the-disneyland-resort/

Last week we did our Back to School dinner.  I showed you all the preparation, the theme, and the setting. Now on to the FOOD!!!








Hollie and I thought, what is more back to school than Mac-n-Cheese?   But with our fancy table we needed to fancy up the food a bit too, so we decided on a Mac-n-Cheese bar.

We took our favorite Mac-n-Cheese recipe, or you could even just buy a box of it if you are stretched for time, then we came up with a bunch of toppings to pile on.

We had bacon bits, chopped jalapeno, fried onions, Dorritos, sliced Apple Chicken Sausage, crab lumps, mixed veggies, and black beans.  We found that you can really add anything to macaroni and cheese to gourmet it up!

Our favorites were:
Hubby- Dorritos
Me - black beans, jalapeno, and bacon bits
B - Apple Chicken Sausage and fired onions
C - Crab
A - mixed veggies


So yummy!  We each had a few small bowls with different combos and tried to come up with the best concoction.   After our bellies were more than full, we decided that this was definitely a make again dinner!!

What is your favorite combo?

It's that time of year again.  Back to School.

I always have mixed feelings about my children going back to school.  On the one hand, I love having them home with me.  We love staying up late, playing games, going on bike rides and hanging out.  We spend our summers at water parks, soccer tournaments and family activities.  I hate to see our fun come to an end.

On the other hand, I crave order and routine.  I enjoy letting go of it during the summer, but I do get a little excited about the thought of schedules again.

Every year I like to plan a little Back to School dinner.  I make it a special occasion, one that we look forward to and each of the kids can participate in.  I use it as a night of planning and goal setting for the upcoming school year.   I pick a theme I want to focus on and then go from there.

This year my sister, Hollie, and I were talking and we really liked THIS TALK by President Gordon B. Hinckley.   It's the B's talk.  We were trying to find a way to focus on the the "Be Smart" part of his talk.  After all, it's Back to School.

Then we found a follow up talk he gave,  and I really liked this part.

"For you, my dear friends, the sky is the limit. You can be excellent in every way. You can be first class. There is no need for you to be a scrub. Respect yourself. Do not feel sorry for yourself. Do not dwell on unkind things others may say about you. ........... Polish and refine whatever talents the Lord has given you. Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, but with great and strong purpose in your heart. Love life and look for its opportunities." 

I knew that this was what I wanted our focus to be on.   I want my children to know that they need to not just go through life.   They can't just let life happen, and go with whatever way the wind blows.  They can not become idle in their dreams, and they can do and be anything that they work to be.  They must live their life with PURPOSE!  Anything can be accomplished when they go forward with a positive attitude.

So I put together these bookmarks for each one of my children with excerpts from that talk.









Once everything was set I made a yummy dinner, (post to come) and my Husband I talked to our kids about our Back To School theme.  Then my Husband gave our kids their annual Back to School Blessings.   I always look so forward to this tradition.  I am a bit of a nervous Nelly, and hearing him give each child a blessing always eases my mama bear heart.  He even gives me one, so that I can embrace the new School year, instead of being anxious and feeling sad about the kids leaving.

We then had each child write down 3 goals in their journal that they wanted to focus on for this upcoming school year.  We encourage them to think about this before our dinner, that way they are inspired and can take this process seriously.  We encourage them to think beyond passing tests, and reading a set number of books.   We want them to remember that back to school is about relationships with friends, choosing the right paths, and making the right decisions with their time as well as good grades. They need to seek out knowledge and truth, and to build on their relationship with their Heavenly Father.

I am now looking forward to this upcoming School year with so much excitement!!  I am excited to see what my kids can accomplish now that they have a clear understanding of our expectations and with their goals they set for themselves.   We are ready to Go Forward with Purpose!!!

I admit that "living" life has always been a bit scary to me.  I have been comfortable with just going with the flow.  I even convinced myself that I am not settling, but instead I'm being content with my life.  I believed that since I was happy and my life was going well, that I was doing okay.

It wasn't until a few months ago that I realized that I wasn't doing myself any favors with this plan of action.
Because in reality, I wasn't TAKING action.  I was just letting life happen.  I would rejoice in the good, and work through the bad, but I wasn't embracing life! I wasn't learning, progressing, experiencing!

I made a deliberate choice to take a plan of action this year!  To try new things, to challenge myself.  I was not going to talk myself out of living just because I am already content with my life.  I need my kids to see that they can do and be whatever they want.  I have not been a good example of that.  True, I want them to be content and not have to always have something new and exciting going on in life to make them happy.  But I don't want that complacency to keep them from experiencing all that life has to offer, like I have done.

So one day I was talking with my sister, discussing my upcoming birthday, and I expressed to her how I really wanted to do something different for my day this year.  She told me about a  Women's only 5k race she heard of, The Skirt in the Dirt race put on by the GOAL Foundation.  It was perfect!!!  I have never done a race, and it was on my Birthday weekend.  And beyond that, GOAL stands for "GET OUT AND LIVE!"  If this race wasn't designed for me, then no other race would be!!  It was meant to be.



 I was so super excited about it the day we planned it.  I knew this was just what I needed.  It was over the river and through the woods, and mud, and sand, and climbing trees, and it sounded AWESOME!  I told my family about it and they all agreed I HAD to do it.  Even when I started to talk myself out of it, they were there to remind me of how excited I first was about it!


Hollie and I ran the race.  Well, I ran as much as I could, but it didn't even matter.  We did it.  The course was so fun, the women were amazing, and they had cupcakes at the end!  It wasn't a "win the race" sort of thing, it was just a bunch of women, motivating each other, helping each other, and out living and loving life!


I can honestly say I loved every second of it.  I feel proud of myself!  How often do we really feel a deep sense of pride in something that we did?   My family was there at the end to see Hollie and I finish and it was just what I needed.  I needed to see them support me, so that I wouldn't be afraid to keep trying new things, and they needed to see me living!  I know to some, running a 5K may be no big deal, but to me, this race was pivotal for my progression in proving to myself that I can and will LIVE my life!


We decided it's a new Birthday tradition.  Who's with me next year?

I don't know about you, but for me, back to school means time to get organized.  I have a busy family, just like you do, and the only way for me to keep track of everything is to write it down.  I have tried and tried to keep organized on apps for my phone, but truth be told, I am a paper and pen gal.  Even when I'm writing my book, Sweet Me: The Workbook, I would rather use pen and paper than my computer.  I love pretty pens and pretty stationary.  I have a weakness for pretty paper.  I haven't scrap-booked in YEARS, yet, I still cannot resist buying new scrapbook paper!  It's a problem.  I should probably seek help.

And speaking of help!  I need help choosing which planner to get.  Leave me a comment and tell me which one YOU would choose.  I have an exciting year coming up, and I want to live life to the fullest, and I know with one of these fancy planners, I can keep everyone and everything running it's course.  Well, that's the plan anyways!




And while your at it, check out these totally stylish desk calendars.  I think I may have found my new obsession.  How cute would these be set up on an easel on your desk?  I am totally going to have to add one of these cuties to my new office re-do.  Which one do you love?

I say I'm not a romantic.  But I think I kind of am!  I love my guy with all my heart, and I get so giddy when he shows me how much he adores me.  But, the last few Valentines Days it's been so hard to spend our day as a "couple."  We usually have soccer practice to get to, a dance class to teach, and homework to help with.  So we have started a new tradition.

We started a Family Valentines Date night.  We get a pizza for the kids, and they eat it watching TV, in the other room.  Jason will make him and I a nice romantic dinner of steak and lobster cakes!  (He knows the way to my heart!)  And then after dinner, we have Family Fondue Night!


We make Chocolate Fondue with all the fixings!  Shortbread, Pound cake, Pretzels, Heart-shaped Marshmallows, Raspberries, Strawberries, and Bananas.  We sit around candles and we share a yummy treat, and we take turns telling everyone why we love each other.  It's one of my favorite traditions.

We feel it's important to show our children how much my Hubby and I love each other.  We make sure we do date nights, and that we hold hands and cuddle in front of our children.  We want them to know what a loving healthy relationship looks like.  We also want them to know how much we love them.  How our family only works because of the love and respect we each have for one another.  I love taking this night and focusing it on how much our family loves each other and how important it is to show it.  Not just on this one day, but everyday.

I love that we turned our Valentine's Day into a family day of love.