Five for Friday 6/20/2014

Hooray it is Five for Friday with Doodlebugs Teaching! Time to share 5 random things that I have been doing this week.

This week, I spent some time with my oldest and youngest sons at two of our local parks. Our county really has some amazing parks, it is fabulous to have time to enjoy them. 

So where was my middle son, and why did I leave him out of our fun at the parks? 

He was at a math class at school. He did not want to go, but I knew it would be good for him. 

It was a tough "Mom-Moment" for me, where I had to use the big "D" word to get his little rear in gear. 

Yep, I told him I was disappointed in his attempts to quit the class after day 1. That word worked wonders in getting him to think about his decision. So even though he missed part of day 2, he ended up going every day helping a bunch of teachers strengthen their math teaching skills all while learning some new math. 

He is a lot like me, and very shy about doing new things. This time, his shyness was not going to win and I pushed him out of his comfort zone. Even though he won't admit it to me, he had fun and is a little more math savvy.

Aside from loving popcorn, I really love a great pastry/doughnut/sweet treat. Yes, my name is Laura, and I like junk-food! 

These actually made it home for my husband and middle son to enjoy.

There is a doughnut place far enough away from my house to keep me from overindulging. Yet it is close enough that once in a while I make the trip to indulge. 

Everything is made in house, from scratch, and with as many organic ingredients as possible. One thing it is not short on, deliciousness! 

The shop is closer to the school, so one of the mornings we took a quick trip and picked up some sweets.  

We enjoyed every last bite. 

I LOVE Pinterest. I tried out one of my recent cooking pins. Sometimes they are total failures, but not this time! Wowza! 

I read the blog post on Capturing Joy about these Andes Mint chocolate cookies and I knew I needed to try them. After all, she said they were simple, required just a few ingredients, and they are a crowd pleaser. Wow, she was right! 

The dog and my boys begged to sample them for me. The boys gave them a thumbs up, even my non-chocolate eater.

I made a bunch for my teacher meeting the other night and refused to take them home since they are delightful and I knew I would eat all of them! If you are looking for a new sweet baked goodie, they are worth a try! 

Last week, I talked about what I was planning to make my husband for Father's Day breakfast. Well, Father's Day did not play out as planned.

My husband learned a very good life lesson and luckily he is feeling better. Instead of eating a lovely breakfast together or celebrating with his Dad, he spent the day laying in bed. I will spare you the details, but I bet he never takes the maximum dosage of a certain stomach medicine without consulting someone!

Once he was back to himself, I surprised him with his Beer and Bacon Mancakes meal. They turned out pretty darn good. The pancakes were light and had just enough extra flavor to make them unique. {The alcohol burned off while cooking, we were not drunk at the table!}

My youngest son kept saying, "Make these again Momma!" He was my assistant chef, so they tasted particularly good to him. 

Since the boys and my husband gave it a thumbs up, I think I just might!   

Sorry if my post made you hungry. When I reread it, I thought maybe I overdid it on my food pictures. But hey, it is summer, and it is the time of year that I do get to splurge a little. Since I did indulge, I think it is time to head to the walking park to burn some calories.
Have a wonderful Friday friends!