Bed before 2am

Tonight is the night. I will finally be in bed before 2am. Why have I been up so late? Chatterbox Designs. Joy and I have been working to get our {spring} kits posted. I am so excited about what we have come up with. oops, I know I misspelled a word.

Princess for a day

Check out Anna, all dressed up with her finger up her nose. The only picture to Missy and Anna and she's picking her nose! SO embarassing, I promise we do teach her manners.

What a fun day for Anna. Missy took her to see Disney Princesses on ice. She had so much fun. Her favorite part was the BIG dragon from Sleeping Beauty. She also loved Cinderella. Lately every time I call her Anna her response is "I'm not Anna, I'm Cinderella!"

Things I love

At the top of my list CUPCAKES. There is something about the making, decorating and eating them that I LOVE! I think it's probably more the eating. Probably shouldn't admit that, but oh well. I love making cupcakes because there are so many flavors to choose from chocolate, strawberry, lemon, vanilla, maple, bananna, carrot, coconut, pumpkin, mocha, peanut butter and my favorite red velvet. I know I didn't name them all but those are the ones that came to mind. Now onto the decorating all of the thousands and thousands and thousands of different sprinkles that you can use. I love shopping around at cake stores, specialty stores and craft stores for all types of sprinkles. I like just plain white frosting since it's all about the SPRINKLES. The ending to a perfectly made and decorated cupcake is the first bite...MMMMMMMM!!!!!

Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles

Tonight Luke finally opened his very special present from Auntie Lupe. Lupe is always thinking of Anna and Luke. Sometimes she bring them special cups, fun bubble bath, cookies just right for Lukie to eat, lollipops that blink, princess lipstick, sprinkles that they can use to decorate cupcakes, homemade soup and shakes and countless other things. I so appreciate her thoughfulness and love for Anna and Luke.

OK so back to the birthday present. I always look forward to my baby showers and the children's first birthday because I know Lupe will suprise them and me with something very special. Well she came through again. She gave Luke a sterling silver bubble blower. At first he did not know what it was but when we started blowing bubbles he began laughing and smiling. He LOVED it. Thank You Tia Lupe.

Lot's of LOVE.

It's all in the details, we put alot of LOVE into all the little things.
Everyone had so much fun at the party. We made Valentine cards, decorated Valentine cookies, ate heart shaped pasta, bounced in the cake shaped bounce house ( I can't believe I forgot to get a picture), and Tim the Piano man came and sang songs with the kids.

Luke loved the music.

Of all the clothes and all the stores, Anna and Leah show up to the party in the same dress. True Friends.

Date Night and U2

OK so these guys can seriously ROCK. It's been about 5 years since I've been to a live concert and the last one I went to ironically was U2. Well tonight Chris and I went out with our friends the Cottrell's to a 3D U2 concert at the IMAX Theatre. It wasn't as good as the real thing but we had fun. It reminds me of how much I love to listen to U2 and the lyrics of their songs. Oh and they played my all time FAV song, With or Without You. There is something about that song that just makes me want to SING. But really I won't becuase I'm totally tone deaf. The only down fall to watching the concert on the BIG screen is you can't get up and dance and jump. With a couple of the songs I just wanted to raise my hands and scream. Oh well I guess I'll have to wait until COLDPLAY tours.

Happy Birthday Luke!

I can't believe our BABY BOY had his first birthday. It's been a wonderful year of FIRSTS for Luke.

First babyfood. He loves to eat.


First Softball Season.

First Halloween.

Finally slept through the night. 1 WHOLE year of SLEEPLESS nights. Love the hair! Anna thought it looked like Uncle Aaron's hair cut.

First tooth. Now he has six. He is a horrible teether. Like most babies I'm sure. Lot's of crying and whinning. Thank goodness for Tylenol!

First Christmas.

It had been an amazing year. In the first year Luke has also learned to crawl (10 months), he can say ball, mama, dad, and nan for Anna. He can crawl up the stairs but has not quite figured out how to get down. His loves to play ball with his big sister and loves any toy that makes music. He loves to listen as Anna reads books to him. They play so well together, I just love to watch as they respond to eachother and how gentle and patient Anna is with him. She is so nurturing and caring and always reminds me to "ssshhhh, quite mom lukie is sleeping".

It's been such a joy to watch Luke as he grows. He is gentle, sweet, stubburn, quiet, beautiful, mild mannered, happy, shy and loving. We are blessed to have such beautiful and loving children.

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Let It Snow

I love this time of year and I will look forward to it all next year.

Cafe Rio Pork Burritos

These are so YUMMY and easy!!!

Meat:
1 Pork roast (2lbs)
1 c salsa
1 1/3 c brown sugar
Put in crock pot and let it cook for 6 hours on high.

Lemon Cilantro rice:
2 c water
1 T butter
1/3 c lemon juice
1 t chicken bouillon
pinch of garlic powder
desired amount of cilantro
Bring ingredients to a boil, then add rice. Stir and turn down to med-high, bring to a boil again and steam.

Cilantro Ranch Dressing:
1 pkg ranch dressing
2 c salsa verde (green sauce)
1/8 t Tabasco
1/2 bunch cilantro with stems
2 med garlic cloves
3/4 c mayo
3/4 c sour cream
juice and rind from 1 lime
Mix all together in blender--thin to desired thickness with milk if necessary.

Beans:
1 can of drained black beans heated. Add salsa, garlic powder, cilantro and lime juice to taste and warm up.

Pico de Gallo:
3 Roma tomatoes, diced
3 green onions, diced
juice from 1/2 lime
1 jalapeno, seeded and sliced (optional)
1 T fresh cilantro
Combine all ingredients, cover and refrigerate to let flavors blend.

Combine meat, rice, dressing, beans, and pico into flour tortillas. ENJOY!