Mommy tip #629

Dont let the baby get too close to the chocolate cake...

29 years

When I was growing up, on your birthday the day was yours! Meaning, you didnt have to do anything! What you wanted you got (within reason of course). You got to choose the place to eat dinner, you got your way. I have always assumed this is how everyone operated so have kept the tradition going strong with Jeff. Well let me tell you that things dont stay the same when you have kids! They don't get it! All day long this was going on:

"Mom, I had an accident in my bed"
(in my head)
Its my birthday, let someone else deal with it!
"Mom, im hungry"
Its my birthday, let someone else prepare the three meals of the day!
--crying--
its my birthday, I don't want to have anyone crying today!
--diapers--
not fair! I am not changing diapers today!
--tantrums--
again! Its my birthday!
This is how it went for most of the day! Life getting in the way of what I wanted to do and not do! Funny how life changes and your birthdays really aren't about you anymore. I had a great day though even if I did have to be domestic! Happy 29 years to me!

Mommy tip #1,462

Dont give the kids banana splits right before bed!

Cute girl

We went to Sunset Station to eat the buffet tonight and I got my Banana cream pie a little too close to those fast hands! She dug a huge chunk of whip cream out with her hands and went to town sucking it all off! Jeff wanted me to wipe it off, but I said to let her get most of it off first, make my job easier! Plus, she was so fast she deserved the prize she won!


My pie after she attacked it!

Sick of being sick!

So we have been super sick at our house! Im going to talk about it this one last time, then I swear I am DONE COMPLAINING about it! Last Monday (one long, long week ago) Hunter, Allie and I started coming down with something and by the wee hours of Tuesday, we were all three full-blown sick! I made an appt. for the kids (not me, of course) and they diagnosed Hunter with Bronchitis and Aliie with a viral infec. (cold) and a double ear infection and sent them home with anit-biotics. By Thursday the only one feeling better was Hunter. Allie was still crying and pulling at her ears. So, back to the Dr she went (after I had finally broken down and went to quick care myself only to be told that I should just try some robotussin). Then, Saturday my wonderful mom watched them while I worked (although I had been up since 1:30 a.m. with Allie cause she was still not getting better) and as soon as I finished my 12hr. (yes, 12!) shift I came home and got her and off to the E.R. we went. This time they did something and she got stronger anti-biotics and ear drops. Seems after 5 days on the other stuff, she really wasnt improving! My mom still had Hunter at her house, but Allie and I slept at mine that night. Ear;y Sunday I go get Hunter and about 11:30 had to call my mom and tell her to get to me fast! I was so dizzy and light-headed I thought I was going to pass out! So, she rushed over and dropped me back at the same E.R I had been at not more than 14 hrs. ago! After evaluating me and lab work, the (H-O-T) E.R. Dr. told me I was really de-hydrated and emptied 2 large saline bags into me and sent me on my way! Really though, I told a friend that he was so hot he made me want to dig down deep in my purse and find my mascara! Ahhh...anyways! Thankfully the new meds are working wonders on the baby (one dose and I could tell the differance!) and I am properly hydrated and more importantly, Jeff is back in town to help! Thank GOD for my mom though! I dont know what I would've done without her!

Homemade authentic salsa

A friend gave me this family recipe and its so yummy, and fool-proof! So, next time your at the store trade in that jarred salsa for simple, fresh ingredients!

1/2 of medium-large onion (white or yellow)
1-2 Serrano peppers, stem cut off top only, don't de-seed!
1 garlic clove
handful of cilantro (stems cut off bottoms, do a general chop to get most of leafy part)
1 20 oz. can of whole stewed tomatoes

*Put all ingreadiants in blender and blend/puree until desired texture texture. Enjoy!

**Note** This is not a chunky salsa, it is meant to be blended to a fine texture. For added/different flavor, fresh lime juice can be added!**

What I am doing now:

Its nap time and I thought I would post a few things while I had the chance!

-The kids have been super super sick this past week and they are not alone! I got it too, but somehow Jeff managed to bypass it all, probably from taking an un-healthy dose of vitamins! Hunter has bronchitis and Allie has a double ear infection and a cold. I have the cold and according to the urgent care Dr. "fluid behind my ears" that isn't infected yet...I guess that would explain the aching I have in that region!
-I made some wonderful chocolate chip cookies for Jeff and my Dad, they are off to CA. this weekend to watch the NASCAR races. I think it's turned into their "thing", this is their second year going. Hope they have fun. All I have to say is pretty soon Jeff is going to owe me big! First ice fishing all weekend in Jan. and now Nascar right before my birthday...I think I will go to Seattle this summer with no husband and no kids for AT LEAST 3 days! Enjoy your trip honey...
-I'm trying to understand my health insurance policy, with little luck. It's really confusing and I feel like I need a degree...
-I am trying to get motivated to sell more and be more pro-active about my Etsy shop, but I haven't had a sale in 3 months and its a little depressing!
-Thinking of planning a trip to UT to see my grandparents and cousins! I miss them and so does Hunter!
-Posting yummy recipes on here, so check them out, print them and use them!

Sugar Cookies

These are my Aunt Judy's sugar cookies and I absolutely LOVE them! They bake up like cake cookies are incredibly soft and are easy on the wallet, as they have Crisco, not butter! Hope you all enjoy them!

Sugar Cookies

1C. shortening (preferably butter flavor)
1C. sour cream
2 eggs
1 1/2tsp baking soda
1 1/2tsp baking powder
2C sugar
1 1/2tsp vanilla
5-6C. flour

-Combine and mix shortening, sour cream, eggs, vanilla and sugar. Slowly add in remaining dry ingredients. Chill for at least 1 hr. Roll out to approx 1/4 in. and cut into desired shapes. Bake at 350* for 10-12 min. Enjoy!

The only good thing about being sick:

POPSICLE 'S!!

Valentines Day

Way long before I signed Hunter up for pre-school or rec center activities, I planned this Valentines Day party for the girls and our kids. I just decided that we should do something simple, yet fun so I made sugar cookies, and the kids exchanged valentines and played! It was a lot of fun. Here are a a few group pictures we got.





Jeff and I never really do anything special for V-day, we are like most people who think its a fun holiday, but why spend a lot of money just to say I love you?? But, this year I did make a fabulous meal for the two of us! Its something I have always wanted to do ever since we have been married and never have. So, this year I put the kids to bed early (thanks to the v-day party with friends and no nap for Hunter, he went willingly) and we had a romantic candle-light dinner in our sweat pants! What more could a girl ask for?! It was great, I even made chocolate dipped strawberries, and they were super easy thanks to the chocolate dipping "machine" Brandi bought this summer and graciously left! (I recommend them for everyone!) Here is a pic of the table with my beautiful silver candle stick holders I never get a chance to use! The hearts hanging from the ceiling are left over from the kids' party and left a special kind of 'ambiance" if I do say so myself! Want the recipe for the date-night dinner? Look in my previous post's or go under labels, then recipes. It really was wonderful, and fast!

Coconut chocolate chip cookies

Best cookies I have made in a long time!

Ok, thats a lie! I always make good cookies! But, this recipe is a little different but super yummy so I thought I would share it! Better yet, come over and I will share the actual cookie! (For a limited time only!)

Coconut Crunch Cookies
1C butter
3/4C sugar
3/4C packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1tsp almond extract
2C flour
1tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2C flaked coconut
1pkg milk choc chips
1 1/2C finely chopped almonds

Cream butter and sugar until light, fluffy. Beat in eggs, extract. Combine flour, soda, salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in coconut, chips, almonds. Drop by tsp-fulls onto baking sheet. Bake at 375* for 9-11 min. Yield 4 1/2 doz!

Good date night dinner

I got this from food network under Rachel Ray's 30 min. meals. This was what I made for Jeff for Valentines day and it was absolutely fabulous! I recommend this for any romantic night "in" for your man! Enjoy!

Ingredients

Fiery Shrimp Cocktail:

• 1/4 cup hot pepper sauce, eyeball it (recommended: Tabasco)
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 lemon zested and 1/2 lemon juiced
• 2 ribs celery, from the heart, finely chopped
• 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves
• 1 pound small to medium peeled, deveined and cooked shrimp, tails removed
• 4 pieces leaf lettuce

Creamy Parmesan Spinach:

• 3 boxes frozen spinach, defrosted
• 2 (3-ounce) bricks cream cheese
• 1/2 small white onion, finely chopped
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan, 2 rounded handfuls
• 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper

Steak:

• 2 large T-bone steaks, about 3 pounds, 1 3/4-inch thick each
• Vegetable oil, for drizzling
• 3 to 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and pepper
• 4 slices white toast, buttered and cut from corner to corner

Green Onion Fritters:

• Vegetable oil, for frying
• 1 cup all-in-one pancake mix
• 1/2 cup water
• 7 to 8 scallions, cleaned, dried and trimmed of roots, chopped
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat a large griddle pan or 14-inch skillet over high heat.

Combine hot pepper sauce, ketchup, lemon zest and juice, celery and parsley in a small bowl. Add shrimp and coat evenly. Chill 20 minutes, then line 4 cocktail glasses or small dishes with leaf lettuce and top each with 1/4 of chilled shrimp.

Place spinach in microwave to defrost. Place boxes on a dish to defrost the spinach because it will leek. While spinach defrosts, place cream cheese and onions in a medium sauce pot over low heat. While cream cheese is melting and spinach is defrosting, continue forward with meal prep then return to spinach. When the cream cheese melts, add Parmesan and black pepper to the cheese. Drain spinach in clean kitchen towel, wringing it out until dry. Stir spinach into sauce, season with a pinch of salt, to taste, if necessary and let the spinach sit over lowest heat possible 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Drizzle the steaks with oil and add to screaming hot pan. Cook 8 minutes on each side for medium doneness. After you flip the steak, baste it with Worcestershire sauce and season with salt and pepper. When you remove steak to cutting board or serving platter, baste opposite side and season it up. Let meat rest a few minutes before you cut into it to let the juices redistribute. Cut meat from bones and portion into 4 servings. Push toast down in toaster, butter it and cut from corner to corner.

Fill a medium saucepan with 2 to 3 inches of vegetable oil and heat to medium-high heat. Arrange a paper towel lined plate on the counter to place the fritters on when they come out of the hot oil.

In a bowl, make the batter by combining the all-in-one pancake mix with the water (the batter will be on the thick side). Add the chopped green onions and season with the cayenne, salt, and pepper. When the oil is ready for frying, drop spoonfuls of the batter into the oil and fry on all sides until golden brown and puffy. This should take no more than 3 to 4 minutes. Remove and drain on the paper towel lined plate. Season with salt while they are still hot.

Serve steaks on toast with green onion fritters and spinach alongside.

Cake!

For my Mom's birthday we had a nice, quite night in, at her house and we brought the cake. This was Allison's first chance to really dig into something and she attacked it! I cant wait until her 1st birthday party! I am sure she will have no qualms about getting her hands dirty! I thought these were extra cute pictures of her, so I had to show them off. Look at that face; pure delight I tell you! Grandma letting Allie have 1st dibs! She looks like she is on frosting over-load here!

All gone! Look at all the sprinkle's on her fingers!

Just like Dad

Hunter doesn't miss a beat! Jeff hurt his leg Monday at work and had a HUGE goose egg, so he put a bag of frozen peas on it when he got home. So, later that night when it was just Hunter and I downstairs he says to me out of nowhere "I just need something cold from the 'fridgerater' to put on me so I feel better". And this is what he came back to the couch with: my bread! So funny! He is defiantly one of a kind!

Hunter's 1st day of Pre-School!

Hunter started pre-school this week and I only have one word: Hallelujah! He was soooo ready! It is amazing! I wish I would've signed him up earlier for this! He is learning so much already. Plus it gives us that break from each other that I think we need. On the first day I noticed the change in him and myself! I am so glad he is in pre-school, its so much fun for him, he is having a blast! He calls it the "fun school". He asks me every morning, "Mom, are we going to the 'fun school' today"? I love it!

CappuccinoChocolateMilk, Please

Hunter and I were in the car driving home from Melody's house and I hear this from the backseat:
Hunter: Mom, I'm thirsty, I just want a cappuccinochocolatemilk.
Me: What?
Hunter: A cappuccinochocolatemilk!
Me: WHAT??
Hunter: A Cappuccino Chocolate Milk
Me: (Laughing at this point) Did you just say you wanted a cappuccino chocolate milk?!
Hunter: Yes...
Me: Hysterical laughing
Hunter: So can I just have one?!
Me: I need to stop ordering so much coffee!
**Just so you know, that is my order when I go to a coffee shop: 1 cappuccino and 1 child's chocolate milk**
This is one of those moments when you wonder to yourself "how much is this going to damage them when they are adults...?

I'm thankful for:

I'm thankful for:

-A great husband that provides for his family
-Wonderful kids
-Great friends
-Venting!
-My job, even though I really don't want to work at all!
-Good recipes
-Good recipes that involve sweets (even though I don't need them!)
-The word of GOD
-Play dates, cause mommies need them just as much as our kids do
-My parents
-My MOM! No one beats Mom!
-My bed, even though I want a new one
-The house I RENT, even though I want to OWN again!
-Comfy sweats
-Taco night 'cause it's so easy to make :)
-Pictures of my kids, although who will I give them too one day when I am old??? (Right Melody?!)
-Teeth that don't hurt (BTW: mine still do!)
-Anything, and I mean anything, Coffee :)
-My Blackberry
-DATE NIGHT!!!!!
-Books
-Quiet time
-Reading in bed with my flashlight
-My couches
-My time in Washington! Great learning experience in every part of our lives!
-Tylenol
-People who have patience!
-Wine

I am grateful for so much, its hard to list it all!

Toilet

Hunter has been closing the door to the bathroom when he goes in lately, no big deal I thought to myself. He probably sees me and Jeff doing it, and is just imitating what we are doing right? Wrong. The other night I noticed he was in there for a long time, so sent Jeff in to check on him and he had just set the plunger down and had flushed the toilet. Jeff came out chuckling saying he had plunged the toilet and it had worked. But it just didn't sound right to me...what was he up to I thought to myself??? Well, tonight I caught him red-handed! He has been filling the toilet up with an insane amount of toilet paper then plunging it after it clogs on him! We took him in the bathroom and explained (OK, Jeff did the explaining and it went like this) that he had a small butt (picture Jeff's hands about a foot apart!) and that was enough toilet paper for a dinosaurs butt, no, better yet, an elephants butt...who wants to bet this doesn't solve our problem??!!

Feel my Muscles!

Hunter has entered that stage where little boys start wrestling and karate chopping everyone and everything! So, someone must have taught him how to flex his muscles, cause that's all he has been doing! He walks up to someone and flex's his little arm and says in a real exaggerated voice "feel my muscles"! It's usually after he has taken a big drink of milk or eaten a lot of food, I guess that's when he feels extra strong or something! The other day he was showing them so much I thought I better snap a few pictures of him while he (and I) was in the mood to parade around the way he was! He even started showing them to the baby...I guess I wasn't giving him the reaction he wanted, so he went somewhere else for it! She just looked at him and smiled, and that seemed good enough for him...at least from her!

Hofbrauhaus

So, Grandma and Papa Mike started taking Hunter to the Hofbrauhaus when he was around 2yrs old, and it has become his most favorite spot to eat at! For those of you who have not ever ventured there, you should check it out, especially if you have kids! But word to the wise...go for an early dinner or be prepared to deal with drunk college kids! They have a live band and everyone screams and shouts and jumps around, the perfect environment for kids...they can be as loud as they want and no one even minds! The food is great too!

Hunter was mad this night because he thinks this place is only for him and his grandparents, no mommies or daddies allowed! Seriously, he told us to go home! Little stinker! Here is a cute picture of Hunter with Grandma and Papa Mike