Weekend Trip to Utah

Quick trip to Salt Lake to visit the brothers. Lot's of eating, shopping and very little sleep. Lukie and Anna had so much fun with Aaron and Ryan.

Having dinner with the family at Stone Ground. This was the first time we meet Emily, Aaron's girlfriend. It's been along time since Aaron's called someone his 'girlfriend.' This could be serious.

Lunch at The Soup Kitchen. Excellent tomato soup.

Shopping at my favorite store with my favorite girl. Can't get any better.

Aaron had enough shopping so he and Anna headed home on TRAX. Anna was thrilled to be spending time with Uncle Aarie and riding a train.

Did I mention very little sleep! Check it...hard as a rock queen size bed with me, Anna and Lukie. Not a good combo when these little ones wiggle around all night long waking me up and each other.
Time to say good-bye. While I was packing up Anna colored several pictures for Aaron and Ryan. She is such a sweet girl. As we walked out the door she said to me " Uncle Aarie and Uncle Ryan are going to love the special surprises I left them." She was right they LOVED them!

30 Weeks

Self Portrait

Only 10 more to go. YEAH! Not because I want the pregnancy to be over but because

I don't think she'll have a name until she's born

I can't stand not knowing who she's going to look like

I'm ready to dress up a baby girl

I want to kiss her tiny toes

I love the smell of newborn, even when it is a bit sour

I'm thrilled and nervous to hear her first cry

I want the c-section to be over with

I want to hold her

I can't wait for Anna and Lukie to see her

I want Anna and I to0 out number Lukie and Chris. Go Team Girls!

I'm excited to have a baby in the house again. Although we are not too far off with Lukie. I think he thinks he still only weighs 10 pounds!

I want the crazy cravings to stop. Never had them with Anna and Lukie but this girly is making me crazy. Let's start with the turkey sandwich that has to have mayo, Dijon mustard, cranberry sauce, pickles and lots of sharp cheddar cheese. How about a Hostess cherry pie. That's right the ones that taste kinda like wax on the outside and bad jam on the inside. Ice cream can't get enough and any flavor will do. Orange juice, one morning I drank a whole pitcher in about 3 hours. Hamburgers with lot's of pickles, I mean lot's! Cottage cheese with that nasty canned fruit mix. I couldn't believe I was eating that last night. A bowl of cereal every night around 10pm. Oh the weight I am gaining. It just makes me sick but I just want to eat!

But most of all I just want to hold this sweet baby in my arms knowing she's just so close to heaven!

She LOVES Rainbows!

If you ask Anna what her favorite color is she will tell you "rainbow." Not sure it's really a color but she thinks so. I think it's her creative colorful mind that can't choose a color. Every time she colors a picture it's in rainbows. Then last night while checking out blogs I found this:

This is a cake I have to SURPRISE Anna with. I know it will make her smile. Just looking at it makes me smile. Check out this link for full instructions http://www.omnomicon.com/rainbowcake

So LUCKY!

I am so LUCKY! This past weekend two of my aunties went to Disneyland and made a special trip to SPRINKLES. They LOVE me so much that they brought me home this:

Thank You for thinking of me. It was so so so so so good!

Crazy Day

Today at preschool it was "Crazy Day." I just can't wrap my head around "crazy!" The best I could come up with was a handmade shirt, tu-tu and crazy hair. I mean it is crazy to wear a tu-tu to school, right? Point is Anna loved her outfit and thought it was so funny to have so many bows in her hair. My favorite part was the shirt. I can't believe I made it. I even sewed the buttons on. Sometime I surprise myself.

Look'in "crazy"

Of course we had to make a shirt for Leah.'A' for Anna!

Just "ROLL" Me Over...

That's how I felt after eating a whole batch of Cinnamon Rolls that I made yesterday. OK, well I didn't eat the whole batch but I did give several away so that I couldn't eat anymore! This 'not stopping at one' thing is becoming a problem. I really have to work on myself control. Back to the rolls. I have always wanted to try and bake homemade cinnamon rolls but I've always shied away from any recipe that calls for yeast and rising time. I decided it was time and so I just did it. Ahhh and to my surprise it worked and I have to give myself credit they were awesome and gooey and sweet and HUGE! OK not all the credit can go to me...it wasn't my recipe I just found it surfing through food blogs. But I did make them and that counts for alot. So here it is. Remember these are not fat free. Just don't think of the three sticks of butter as your stuffing your face.

Vanilla Pudding Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

from A. Marilyn

"Will it rise?" It did, it did!

Remember I said these are NOT fat-free.

Rolls:

½ cup warm water

2 tablespoons active dry yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

3 ½ ounce package instant vanilla pudding

½ cup butter, melted

2 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

6+ cups flour

These actually double in size. They were touching.

Filling:

1 cup butter, softened to room temperature

2 cups brown sugar

4 teaspoons cinnamon

Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese

½ cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups confectioner’s sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk
In a small bowl combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside. In large bowl, take pudding mix and prepare according to package directions. Add butter, eggs and salt. Mix well. Then add yeast mixture. Blend. Gradually add flour; knead until smooth. Do not over flour the dough! It should be very soft but not sticky. Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled. Then roll out on floured board to 34 X 21 inches in size. Take 1 cup soft butter and spread over surface. In bowl, mix 2 cups brown sugar and 4 teaspoons cinnamon. Sprinkle over the top. Roll up very tightly. With knife put a notch every 1 1/2 inches. Cut with thread or serrated knife. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet 1 inch apart. Cover and let rise until double again. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Remove when they start to turn golden (don’t overbake). Frost warm rolls with cream cheese frosting (combine butter and cream cheese and mix well, then add vanilla and sugar and mix again, then add milk for desired consistency). Makes about 24 very large rolls

ENJOY with a tall glass of whole milk!

Lukie turned TWO!

I really, really, really can't believe my sweet baby boy is two years old. How time goes by so fast. Really it does. It seems like just last week he started sleeping through the night. Oh wait it was just last week! It's seems as though he's grown up overnight. I can remember thinking "will this boy ever walk and talk?" and now he's doing it all. He runs around and wants to play with his dad and Andrew all the time. He is such a boy. Wanting to play baseball and kung-fu, thanks to Kung-Fu Panda. He is obsessed with Cars and Kung-Fu Panda. He caries around a pink bag with all the cars and and a panda. He usually won't leave it home when we go out. It's the funniest thing. I think he's a bit OCD. He has to wear socks and a sweatshirt to bed. Cries if you don't put both of those on him. He hates to be pooped. As soon as he's done he goes to Chris and says "dadda poop." Very rarely does he come and ask me to change his poop. LOVE my boy for that! He love (and I mean loves) waffles. I think it's the first thing he asks for each morning. He would eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner if we let him. He loves his sister. He follows her around and always plays whatever it is she is playing. Even if it's dress up and barbies. He giver her kisses and hugs every night before bed. That's one thing about Lukie that I love most. It's his sensitivity. He is a lover. He loves everyone and always will give you a hug and kiss when you ask him. He never turns away the opportunity to give some affection. Sometimes it's a bit much, like when he wants to sleep in our bed and expects me to face him so that he can have one hand on my cheek while he sleeps. But whatever I guess I should take the love while he's still willing to give it. Oh I could go on and on about my handsome fella, but I will stop with one last thought. Lukie has taught me to slow down and enjoy the simple moments. The "I Love You" moments.

Happy LOVE Day!

Wishing everyone a Happy LOVE Day from us. We've been busy this week with lot's of PINK and RED projects and we thought we'd share. Hope you like them!

First Anna and I made these cute rice crispy treat cones for her STAR-student treats for preschool.

Dip and..

wait patiently.

Add the rice crispy that were done with pink marshmallow's and an M&M. Voila! Instant cuteness!

Don't forget about the packaging. Presentation goes along way.

Next we made PINK, RED and WHITE popcorn for Anna's Valentine's Party. Really we just covered popcorn with chocolate. BIG hit with the kids and Miss Shelby. I love creating projects that Anna can help with. It makes it fun for both of us. Well fun until she decides she's tired of helping and leaves me to finish. But what can I expect from a three year old.
We started with the boxes...

then moved onto making the popcorn. This step is so easy. I purchased pink, red and white chocolate at Michael's, melted it down and pored it over the popcorn. Toss and toss and toss and toss some more and your done.

and finally she filled the boxes!

Finished Valentine's. I'm glad I took the time to do this because Anna was so proud of what she had done and couldn't wait to take her Valentine boxes to school.

These were jars that we made for her teachers.

Mom came over one night and made these super yummy and easy caramels. The hardest part was cutting and wrapping each individual one. Good thing she gave most of them away or I'd still be eating them. Why can't I just stop at one?!

Caramels

1 Cube/stick (or 1/2 cup) Butter
1 Cube/stick (or 1/2 cup) Margarine
1 lb Brown Sugar
1 cup light Corn Syrup
1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
Combine in sauce pan and bring to boil over medium heat. Boil until the temperature reaches 240 degrees on the candy thermometer then pour into a buttered 9"x13" pan.

Sometimes I think "Why do I start so many projects?" But the I look back at the pictures and remember how much fun we had and how we spent time together and I realize all the late nights and crazy days are worth it. Again I have to give credit to my mom and aunt Lupe who always come over and help me out. Without them I KNOW most of my wild ideas and crazy long projects wouldn't get done.

This Morning...

I could hear the water running in the kids bathroom and wondered who was in there. I walked in and found Anna like this...She had a headband in her hair, a wash cloth out and two toothbrushes with toothpaste. Casually I asked her what she was doing and her reply was "just making myself ready for the day." My baby is growing up. She even picked out her own clothes and they match! Hooray for me...at least I'm doing something right. I'm happy this morning that she needed my help to button and zip up her pants. She still needs me.

High School Friends Reunite

Chris and I recently joined Facebook and have been able to reunite with some old friends. We really enjoy catching up with friends who we normally wouldn't keep in contact with. Anyway last night Chris invited a buddy from high school over for dinner. So we had Lance, his wife Brandy and their daughter Hulia over for dinner. Chris had a great time catching up with Lance and Anna and Lukie had fun playing with Hulia their 8 month old. Lukie was gently really gave me piece of mind that he will be a great big brother to the baby.

They were so nice they brought over the cutest gift for the baby. Our first baby gift! So fun!

For dinner I tried out two new recipes and they were a BIG hit. So I just had to share.

This bread was so YUMMY and so EASY! Definitely not low fat but it shows in the taste.

Olive Cheese Bread
1 regular can whole black (ripe) olives
1 6-oz jar pimiento-stuffed olives
2 green onions
¾ pound Monterey Jack cheese
½ cup real mayonnaise
1 stick butter, softened
1 loaf French bread
Roughly chop black and green olives. Slice green onions and give them a rough chop. Combine
green onions and olives with the softened butter, ½ cup mayonnaise, and grated Monterey jack
cheese. Mix thoroughly. Slice French bread in half lengthwise, then spread mixture evenly over
the halves.
Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes, or until thoroughly melted and starting to turn light brown
and bubbly.

This is to die for...I can't stop eating it. Really, I can't!

Chocolate Sheet Cake
Combine in a mixing bowl:2 cups flour2 cups sugar1/4 teaspoon salt
In a saucepan, melt: 2 sticks butter. Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa. Stir together. Add 1 cup boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.
In measuring cup, pour 1/2 cup buttermilk.Add:2 beaten eggs1 teaspoon baking soda1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.
While cake is baking, make icing:Chop 1/2 cup pecans finely.Melt 1 3/4 sticks butter in a saucepan.Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add:6 tablespoons milk1 teaspoon vanilla1 lb minus 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Stir together.Add pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.