I Need Sleep

      I have thoroughly enjoyed the past few days.  I've been able to sit around the house with Monkey, playing games, dressing up, painting, coloring and overall just having fun with my little girl.  Because J's gone off training again, we've had a bunch of much needed Mommy-daughter time.  I have to share a few pictures I took this weekend of my little Monkey dressed up in my wedding dress.  These are a few of my favorites:

And my personal favorite:

   She told me that she was a princess and that the headband in her hair was, in fact, her crown.  She makes me smile :-)  I got this idea from Pinterest (of course).  The original "pinner" suggested displaying these photos at your daughter's wedding.  Let's just say that when I mentioned the idea to my husband, he didn't have the same heartwarming reaction I did.

J:  "She's not getting married!"
Me:  "So you want her to be alone for the rest of her life?  What if she finds someone who makes her happy?"
J:  *sigh* "Okay fine, but no military guys."
Me:  "You know little girls grow up wanting to marry their daddys, right?"
J:   "Crap."

   I considered telling him to get out while he still could, but I decided to let sleeping dogs lie.  Anywho, because we've been so crafty lately I decided it's time I take a minute to showcase what my MOnkey's been up to.  So get ready for some really lame pictures that I will probably pin to my own board and then stalk to see if they get any "re-pins".  (Don't judge me, I become an insomniac when J leaves, so I have time on my hands.)  So here are Monkey's Valentine's Day crafts, better late than never:

Valentine Butterfly

Kitty made from hearts.

Evil bunny made from four big hearts, and one small heart for the tail.

Happy Heart People

Flower made from nine "petal" hearts and two "leaf" hearts.

   I've also seen a ton of these cute paintings made from footprints and/or handprints floating around Pinterest, so here are a couple of ours:

Footprint fireman. Monkey had fun painting the "fire" around him.

Hand and feet tulips.

     So enough about what Monkey's been up to, it's my turn :-D  I recently discovered that I love Nutella, which of course, is a little late in being discovered, but never the less, I've been looking at different recipes I've seen with Nutella involved.  I've yet to make any of them, but I will.  Today I woke up energize, so I decided (in the spirit of Mardi Gras) to make a King Cake filled with Nutella.  Then the moment passed.  I got busy cleaning and playing with Monkey, so when she asked for cookies, I was no longer feeling the whole pulling out the flour and sugar and butter and eggs.  Luckily, my mother-in-law always brings me little things that I can use around the house like paper towels, laundry detergent, or Betty Crocker's sugar cookie mix, so I got a little creative and made these:

     What started out as a kind of Nutella sugar cookie, ended up as more of a Nutella Thumbprint cookie.  Whatever you call it, it was yummy, and easy!  All I did was follow the instructions for the sugar cookie mix, then added enough Nutella to make it that pretty shade of brown, or until it was sweet enough for my sweet tooth.  After scooping the batter out onto a greased baking pan, I made a well in the center with my thumb and added a scoop of Nutella to the middle before baking for about 10 minutes.  Monkey was eating them before they even had time to cool.  I finally had to move her little step stool to the opposite side of the kitchen.

  I'm sorry I've been a bit obnoxious with the pictures tonight.  I know it's a bit off my normal bit where I complain about my clueless, lovable husband and our misadventures together with Monkey, but what can I say?  My muse is out in the wilderness, preparing for battle.   Well, one thing's for certain, if he doesn't come home soon, I may end up doing something insomnia-induced that I may later regret.  Like adopting a new pet, or making a life-size model of Buzz Lightyear out of cardboard for Monkey's upcoming birthday party.  You know, whatever pops into my sleep-deprived mind.  Now I'm heading over to Pinterest to pin away ;-)