[ Pizza Pops & Play Dates ]

So, today was the last day of winter break for the kids. Or should I say some of the kids. My kiddos go to two different schools and one had to go back today and one goes tomorrow. Plus, it's still subzero temperatures outside so being the mom-of-the-year that I am....decided I wouldn't make them go back today. Seriously. Before winter break they were calling school off due to freezing temperatures (and I'm talking in the teens and 20's folks) because they said if a school bus stalled it would be dangerous to have children stranded in the freezing cold. Okay, I can buy that.... but why, today when it is a whopping 2 degrees outside.... yes, 2...T-W-O did they decide to go back? I have frozen water pipes so we haven't been able to do laundry for about 4 days (at least) and as the wood pile dwindles because it takes LOTS more wood than a normal winter day we have closed off extra rooms in the house to conserve heat. So.... sue me. I didn't make my boys go to school today. They were never up for a perfect attendance award anyway. ;o) Just for fun, you can leave a comment and let me know what you would have done. It won't make me love you any less if you would have done the responsible thing, honest.

Well, it wasn't 5 minutes after school started and I get a call from our favorite teacher. Which ended up being a guilt trip for the 14 yr old who decided to get up and go. So dedicated.... NOT! lol My sister (a.k.a. best friend Diane) was bringing her kids to stay with us today so she could work and volunteered to take my oldest son to school on her way back home. Which works out great all the way around. It's awesome having a friend who loves sharing in random acts of kindness. I love it!

So, my 'niece and nephew' came to play today with Tanner. I swapped babysitting service for school bus and laundry service. I think it was a good trade. Kristi and Brian thought it was going to be so great to stay at our house today. What they realized is, it's just as boring at my house as it is at home. lol I think they both professed their boredom on at least two or three occasions each.

I've done my usual surfing and found a recipe for "pizza pops" that Pineapple Princess had shared (see my sidebar). Seemed simple enough, a cross between homemade pizza and cinammon rolls (only in appearance here). This would be so much better if my uploader was working and you could see pictures. Because if you check out her blog you get these pretty pictures that are cookbook material. Here in the real world.... rural Missouri where the rednecks live.... it was sloppy and crooked, but yummy. =) Since the temperature here has been in the single digits not only have my pipes frozen and I can't do laundry, I've decided not to get out of my house unless absolutely necessary due to winning the lottery or in case of fire...whichever comes first. (which means I ain't goin' nowhere baby!) So I made pizza pops with what we had on hand. Improvise...yeah, that's it.

I made homemade pizza dough (simple enough, always do), rolled the dough out in a rectangle (okay, it was a bit odd shaped but it worked). I'm out of pizza sauce so I used Hunt's spaghetti sauce in a can, which worked well, no delicious pepperoni in the freezer so resorted to using some of the ground beef I was frying up for chilli. Covered it with mozzarella cheese and began to roll. This is where it's important not to just skim blogs but read them thoroughly... lol.... there are reasons to roll the dough toward you, not away from you. Now, these were looking good until I went to cut them apart like cinammon rolls and realized they were more like the 'grands biscuit size rolls' rather than 'pop'sicle size... So, they weren't the prettiest things and I had to cut them into fourths, but the kids raved over how delicious they thought they were. "You're the best cook ever!" Of course I didn't share my secret that it was a copied recipe or that I just managed to fake it and make it with what I had on hand. I rolled out another dough, sauced it, sprinkled with cheese and just made a normal pizza.... which didn't go over nearly as well as the pizza pops. They were awesome and cool and a really neat-oh invention mom! LOL =) Yes, that's me.... Mom of the Year.... a.k.a....Betty Crocker 2.

So, our day was pretty uneventful but I just had to share with everyone that my kids think I'm a genius and I took credit for another woman's recipe. Thank you Pineapple Princess.... my kids love me again and no longer wish for you to be their real mother. xoxo ;o)

I've enjoyed my evening of peace and quiet, watched a movie (which I could care less to ever see again...not worth putting on the Must See Movie list), and have settled in with my sweats to do my daily bible reading. Much love to all, and I hope you are staying warmer than me! Maybe tomorrow I can load pics of my famous pizza pops! =)