OK, so who else has been loving these sunshine-filled days and temps reaching into the 40s!? It has been amazing!

Yesterday, I greeted my kids after school on the front porch with their afternoon snacky snack. Pizza goldfish and Oreo cookies were in the spotlight. I could get away with serving my daughter fruit and maybe a veggie with hummus, but she would still ask where the cookies are. My son would look at me and say, “An apple won’t fill me up, Mom.” I mean, my mom always had something baked at our house. We typically had cookies and milk for an after-school snack too, and I remember the days of coming home to warm cookies right out of the oven! Oh, baby. Those were the days! Nothin like momma’s homemade cookies. Especially Oatmeal Chocolate Chip. But yesterday was so nice out. My daughter, Kenzy, was like, “Oh Momma, the snow will be gone tomorrow, and it will be spring!” God bless her. When we say it’s going to be spring, she thinks that it will be instantly warm forever.

As she sat there munchin’ on her Oreos, with chocolate on the corner of her lips, I sat just enjoying the feeling of the sun on my face, my kids asked if they could play outside. I told them to go for it! We had over an hour till dinner was ready, and homework could wait till after dinner. I got to be with them outside for a little bit until I came inside to start dinner. I was glad the kids were outside playing. One, because I got to make them sticky buns and surprise them for dinner with their favorite dessert. Secondly, I love cooking and looking out my back window watching them play.

My son was tearing it up riding on his dirt bike, hitting this jump right before he entered our woods.

My daughter was sled riding and bossing our dog Bear around to come with her. “BEARRRRR! Come on, BEAR. Let’s go, buddy. Come on!” Off Bear would trot with her, following her wherever she went. (This dog is seriously a saint. Next week I will have to share a story about him that happened this week. We were cracking up!)

Anyway, so off Kenzy went down to our garage where her daddy was working on a car. She asked him if she could walk down and see Pappy. See, my dad and brother live close to us. We are in the middle. Like a beautiful rose in between two thorns. (Haha!) But they aren’t thorns, of course. My husband came in and told me that Kenzy asked to go down and see Dad. I get excited this time of year because you know the weather is getting nicer when you drive by and see Dad’s garage door up. Dad had the door up, and Kenzy knew it was nice enough to walk down even though my husband didn’t let her that night.

That got me thinking if I had grown up with my grandparents right down the road from us! Man, I would have had a lot of good snacks!! Both of my grandparents always had the best darn snacks. I would have wanted to play cards and Candy Cane Lane with my Grammy Perry. We were together so much, and being with her always made me so happy. I would have wanted my Gram Liddick to take me for a walk to see the geese about ½ mile from her house. I loved walks with Gram. Can you believe that house with the geese is the house my parents bought when I first started high school?

Now, my brother and his wife own that house. Who would’ve ever thought!? I would have wanted my Pap Liddick to teach me how to garden. I would have watched him, learned, and helped him pick those green beans. I would have wanted my Pap Perry to drive me to the mall ALL THE TIME! He took Grammy and me wherever we wanted back in the day since my gram never learned to drive. He loved sitting and watching people walk by at the mall on those benches. He never knew how long Gram and I would take shopping. I love that my kids not only have their Aunt and Uncle and sweet little baby cousins right up the road but also have grandparents so close by. My momma and stepdad only live 3 miles away from us too.

It’s so bittersweet. Having family close and keeping them close is so important. My in-laws are so amazing to their grandbabies, too, even though they live about 10 miles or so from us. My kids think the world of all their grandparents. I thought I was lucky to have two sets of wonderful grandparents, and they have three. And I have to say, they all have pretty good snacky snacks too, and our kids know it! Grandparents and good snacky snacks just go together!

Funfetti Blondies Bars

Ingredients:
• 1 box vanilla cake mix
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 cup sprinkles

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 and spray non-stick cooking spray into a 11×7 pan. Combine everything except the sprinkles by hand with a wooden spoon. You want the batter to be thick. Add in sprinkles. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.