Daddy's Girl

Tis the season for giving

This year for Anna's preschool friends we decided to make play dough. Perfect idea! Anna love helping me make it, I loved how affordable it was and the kids at school loved receiving it. Super easy. Try it!

Here’s the super easy recipe:

2 C Flour

1 C Salt

4 tsp. Cream of Tartar

2 C Water

2 TBSP Vegetable Oil

Food Coloring (the more the better!)

2 TBSP Peppermint extract

Combine all dry ingredients in a large pot. Stir together. Mix all the wet ingredients together & add to the pot. Stir on low heat until mixture starts forming a ball and will pull away from the sides. Let cool.

Usually I bake cookies for our friends and neighbors. This year I decided to do something different and I was very pleased with the result. Spiced Hot Chocolate. Again, so EASY!
first layer
1 cup powdered sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons vanilla powder and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
second layer
1 cup cocoa powder
third layer
1 cup powdered sugar mixed with ground cardamom

Directions should read: Sift ingredients together and add a 1/4 cup of cocoa mix to one cup milk.

Let it Snow!

It was another great winter vacation. Each year we look forward to our Sun Valley trip and this year was no different. We did decide to add a slight detour to our trip. We headed to Salt Lake for a few days to spend time with family and then off to Sun Valley. There are so many pictures so I'm just going to post a couple of the highlights.

Hot Chocolate at Hatch's in Salt Lake. More like drinking pure melted chocolate. So, so, so, so good! I found out later this shops owners have a TLC program, Little Chocolatiers. If your ever in Salt Lake its a must try.

Temple Square. Beautiful lights and perfect winter weather! I hope this trip becomes a tradition for us. Sun Valley was awesome as usual. Too bad for us we got snowed in and had to stay two extra days. Anna skied again and Luke enjoyed few runs down the bunny hill. We enjoyed a week of eating out, skiing, swimming, snow man building, sledding, movie watching, shopping and being together as a family.We always look forward to the Sunday Brunch. Silver spoons is what it's all about!Doesn't get any better than pizza dinner at Smoky Mountains.Next year we'll make more memories. Until next year Sun Valley, I will miss you!

Let's give Thanks!

It was another great Thanksgiving spent with the fam! I Love having everyone over and enjoying a yummy dinner made by everyone but me. This year I only had to clean my house and make a cake and some sweet potatoes. SWEET! Not much work at all.

My peeps.

Mom and Lupe always smiling.

Me always looking way too tired.

Livie getting some love from Andrew.

Chris and Anna workin the Iphone.Aaron and Emily made the long drive from Utah.

Seriously how much meat does one family need? I am definitely not a food stylist because this picture makes our feast look YUCK! Along with all the meat we had an awesome sweet potato casserole. That's because I made it! This year we also did some thing a bit different. In stead of the traditional pumpkin pie we went with the most amazing Hot Chocolate Cake with home made marshmallows ever! Oh ya I made that too! and a super moist Red Velvet Cake.I am thankful for so many things in my life. One of which is living close to my family and being able to spend time with them.

Remember when...

He used to look like thisand like thisBut after a impulsive decision he now looks like thisShort hair or Long hair he's still the most handsome toddler EVER! I have to say the morning after I was alittle sad and second guessed my decision but when Luke woke up and asked about his "spikes" I knew it was the right choice. He LOVES his "spikes!"

Dizzy

Well we avoided stitches but got the glue. Poor Lukie was spinning in circles and got to dizzy and fell and hit the fireplace. As a result he had a gash in his chin. I knew the minute I heard the cry something was wrong. Poor little guy was in so much pain. As soon as I saw the blood and his crying face I had a pit in my stomach. I was hurting just as much as he was. Even without cleaning up the cut I knew he was going to need stitches. Just thought of taking him to the urgent care and sitting there for hours for some random doctor to look at it horrified me. Even taking him to his regular pediatrician was daunting only because he never goes to the doctor and it was 4:30 pm on Monday. Probably the worst time and day of the week. Luckily for us I remembered my friend Joy has a doctor friend. So I asked her to call him up. He invited over to his home and glued my boys chin back together! Luke was so brave not a tear shed.Lot's of blood.

Sound asleep with his favorite Buzz Light year toy. He didn't even cry when I woke him up to give him Tylenol. Kids are amazingly resilient!

Is it over yet?

The week has only began and so far...

She's sick. Yes that is snot running down her nose. It's all day long. How can one little baby produce so much snot??!!

So now this is my new best friend and Livie's worst nightmare.

He's also sick. Same thing as Livie. Maybe I should have thought twice about taking them to Chuck-E-Cheese.She's out of school for the next two weeks. How will I keep her busy?Only one thing could make me feel better. Chocolate Cake! I decided to make this
Unfortunately it tuned out like thisGuess that's what happens when you forget to add eggs. What a perfect ending to an already imperfect week! Notice in the pictures above Luke and Anna eating cake. Add some melted ganache to really dry double chocolate cake and it's still super yummy!

For the fans!

Finally! Everyone run out to your local Target and pick these up!!!! They won't last long. I thought I would have to wait until Easter. Anna, Luke and I ate the whole bag on the drive home from Target. Great 9am treat!

Hoo! Hoo!

Life at the Evans house has been crazy-fun! Lot's decorating, baking and just hanging out. I have been so bad about taking pictures lately. Not sure what my problem is but I need to snap out of it. I'm missing capturing so many memories. Good thing I got my act together for Anna's preschool program. Well sort of. I had the camera but for some reason I didn't notice that I wasn't focusing the pictures. Lame ME!

We signed up to take treat bags for the feast. Here's what we came up with after seeing a cute card my aunt had made. Here she is the night before cutting, punching and gluing her little heart out. She loves crafting just as much as I do.Anna was so proud to take her OWL to class.

And here are the very in-focus pictures.For the program the children sang a few songs and then said what they were thankful for. Anna said she is thankful for her family.
And so we are now out of school for Thanksgiving break. Can't believe we are just short of two weeks away from Thanksgiving. Looking forward to good food and lot's of family.

Trick or Treat

Once again I was able to convince Anna to dress in a costume to match her brother. Really it wasn't that hard, she actually likes matching costumes with Luke.

Best Friends Jessie and Woody hanging out before Trunk or Treat. I am so grateful for my mom who helped me make these costumes. Each year I wonder why I spend so many hours and late night on costumes. But then when they are all done I realize that the time spent was so worth it. No one piece polyester jump suits for us this year. It's all about the sewing, glue, markers, duct tape and rit die.Jessie, Ham, Woody and Spider.Luke spent the first part of the evening asleep in the wagon. Poor guy missed out on candy.Oh my little Ham!Luke was fascinated by this monster guy. He just kept staring. Tonight we enjoyed a yummy dinner with lot's of family and a great night of trick or treating. Tomorrow it's time to get ready for Thanksgiving.

All things Pumkins

Fall=Visits to the Pumpkin Patch.

Last week we visited a pumpkin patch with Anna's preschool.

Always happy to have my mom along to help me out. Plus the kids love having her around.Which one to pick...this one...or maybe this one?

Where's my mummy?Last weekend we meet Charo and Sarah at the Pumpkin Patch. So much fun for the kids because they had a petting zoo, (A germaphobes worst nightmare and I forgot the hand sanitizer!) a giant slide,and lot's of great places to take pictures.She thinks she can lift it.

Honestly, could this kid be any cuter? (I know that coming from his mother but if I saw this kid on the street I'd think the same thing.)