Me and the Kid Bake Fancy....or At Least Look Like We Do.

Ugh. Can we say cabin fever? In the midst of winter and maternity leave with a newborn and a six year old is enough to make anyone go stir crazy. As much as I'd like to get out of the house, the blizzards and record low temperatures don't bode well for taking out a new baby. That, and slippery roads make me flinchy.

Since I am trying to channel my inner Suzy Homemaker, I have taken to doing more cooking and baking. Although I love to cook from scratch, sometimes you aren't that ambitious and sometimes your six year-old wants to help. So I made a very kid-friendly recipe that makes it is not only easy and fun, but they are so tasty.

Grab a tube of Pilsbury Crescent Rolls, a tub of Nutella (who doesn't like Nutella?) and some coarse grain sugar.

Spread the Nutella evenly on each triangle of dough.

If you have other goodies, try sprinkling nuts, Skor bits or butterscotch chips over the Nutella.

Roll them up and dip the tops in coarse grain sugar.

Bake according to the crescent roll directions which is 375 for about 13 to 15 minutes.

A nice little decadent little treat, isn't it? Enjoy.

Where In the World?

I have to admit, I am a crappy blogger. But, but, but......yeah, no excuses.

So I guess the operative thing to talk about is what I have been up to. I haven't been scrapbooking too much lately, but I have had a lot going on.

I do have another reason to start back up again.

Hubby and I had been trying for a couple years and we finally succeeded! Much to our surprise he came a little earlier than we expected. Our little one showed up on the scene at 33 weeks which resulted in 2 weeks in special care nursery. Despite the drama, both me and our new family addition are healthy and thriving.

And now for me, I have am shifting gears. Between the cold winter weather and a premie in the house, I've been cooped up. With a different change of pace come different things to do.

In my after baby bit of organization, I found a bunch of papers in an envelope that had a message on it that I have heeded for a number of years - "DO NOT HTROW AWAY".

And of course with its contents, I certainly would never.

What was in it?

Family records. Old family history and completely unorganized, but completely intriguing and sitting there collecting dust and the history me thought that was a shame. Besides, if you read my last and very old blog post, I love a good treasure hunt and this is one treasure hunt that is not only interesting, but important. Maybe not to the many, but it is important to my family.

And so I begin.

We Are But Pirates on A High-Tech Treasure Hunt!

Sabbaticals from one thing are always a chance for you to try the new and different. It gives you a chance to maybe expand your horizons and enhance what you enjoy doing.

I guess in this time I certainly have.

If you have read this blog for any amount of time in the past, you can tell I love getting out and about. I love being taken to places that tend to get overlooked on any other given day, but no longer.

My friends, I found geocaching.

For those who don't know what this is, I implore you to check it out. Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunt where you use your GPS to find a hidden item, or cache. You find the cache, sign the log book and then log it on the website www.geocaching.com.

The great thing about this hobby is that it takes you anywhere and everywhere. From sprawling urban jungles, to snowy mountain tops, to lush scenic trails, to abandoned relic forgotten by time, to your favorite places in the world, to places in your own backyard that you never even realized exsisted.

Alright, this doesn't look that exciting, but trust me the pictures get better and that was interesting hide.

I also think that it is the thrill of finding something hidden. I get a kick out of watching my five-year old's eyes brighten and show a sense of accomplishment finding something hidden and only meant for a few to find. Heck, I get a little rush myself.

It also gets you out and moving. Don't know what to do? Load up some caches and take a drive. Going somewhere and don't know what is interesting in the area? Load up some caches.

On top of the world, thanks to caching.

Did I not tell you it leads you to cool places? There is a cache to get on top of Sulphur Mountain in Banff National Park. And my engagement ring. And a ton of wicked photo ops! Uh, can we say lots of awesome pictures to scrapbook? Told you, I haven't forgotten!

A cache to learn about the world around us.

One thing that I am happy to say is that as a geocacher, you even become a little bit greener. The geocaching community is committed to an initiative called "Cache in, Trash Out". As we go out to search for a cache, we also take the time to clean up trash in our communities and the world around us. It's a great way to give back as well as take back our surroundings from litter.

And that is my little bit of fun and exploration. I urge you to give it a try just once. It's fun, it's easy and can get a little bit addicting! If you do, keep me posted, I'd love to hear about your adventures too!