September Happenings

Daddy happened to work late on Talk Like a Pirate Day, so we headed over to Krispy Kreme for some FREE donuts!  (After waiting in line 45 minutes, I was lucky to get this picture!)

Grammy Tammy sent the kids home with a Spooky Box.  The kids loved playing with their masks and the game!  Thanks!

I learned that Carson can now open the refrigerator, and, have relocated the milk.  :)

I FINALLY made it to the 21st century!  Brian promised (5+ years ago) when he passed his FINAL actuarial exam (results came in July!), I could get a smart phone.  Then, rumors started to spread that the new iPhone would be released in September.  So, I (im)patiently waited for its release!  I LOVE the 5s!  The finger touch feature is awesome!  (right: the evolution of cell phones in our family)

  Papa Dale loaned us his little BBQ.  On Sunday afternoons, Brian enjoys cooking a nice dinner on the grill.  We started a new tradition and, when Daddy BBQ's, we have s'mores!

Carson hasn't quite perfected the art of dressing himself, but, he's trying!

Good Breakfast Food

A few months ago, while Brian and I celebrated our 10th Anniversary with a Stay-cation, we discovered a couple of delicious breakfast joints here in OC.  I'm a BIG lover of breakfast food.  I could eat it every meal of the day.  And, then again, for dessert.

Anyway, I forgot to get pictures when we went to Stacks in Dana Point.  But, let me tell you. It was good.  Even when Brian made me go for a morning run up-hill from our hotel to get there.  It was worth the run!  They have coconut syrup.  Need I say more?

The second place we discovered is Cinnamon Productions.  They have fresh-squeezed orange juice.  Fresh-squeezed!  Of course I didn't get any pictures the first time here, but, we had to take the Jones' when they were in town, so I have a few pics to share from that trip.  

And, then, there was our most recent trip with a few of Sadie's friends from school.  Only in Southern California, will you find children playing in the splash pad in November!

Spring Break...the Rest of the Week

Once upon a time, I had time.  Now, I have 3 kids, one of which, happens to be a very, very, active toddler!  Add that to school schedules, extracurricular activities, and I'm lucky to even remember to blog!  But, this is the best way I have to journal right now, so, I guess it's better late than never!

Adventure Ten:

After our cousins left on Tuesday, we helped put Grammy's house back together (i.e. finished folding blankets, washed towels, etc.).  By the afternoon, the events of the crazy weekend had really caught up to the girls.  They each took 3+ hour naps!  I remember begging them to wake up for dinner and they refused!  

Adventure Eleven:

Once they did wake up, they quickly reminded me that I had promised to bake the Amelia Bedelia cake with them over spring break.  So, we found all the ingredients in Grandma's cupboards and went to work!  Grandpa Dale said the cake was delicious!  When Grammy tasted it, she said it was Crazy Cake.  Apparently during the depression, this cake was popular, as it doesn't use eggs or butter, but oil and vinegar instead.

Adventure Twelve:

Every time we go to Target, Morgan asks me if we can make the pancakes in the pictures on the wall in the kitchenware department.  Guess what I always told her?  "Over Spring Break."  So, guess what we HAD to do during Spring Break?

Morgan's pancake creation:

Carson's Pancake Creation:

Sadie's Pancake Creation:

Sadie's actually looks the most like the picture at Target, but everyone's was delicious, and that's what matters!  (Grandma even made a pancake face, but, I forgot to snap a picture!)

And that, my friends, is how we spent our spring break.  We missed Daddy, but, he got lots of work and study time!

Feeding the Missionaries

When asked about her favorite Christmas tradition, Morgan responded simply, "Feeding the Missionaries."

Last year (2011), my parents were asked by the Carlsbad Mission President if they would help provide a nice Christmas Dinner for ALL of the missionaries in the mission.  So, on Christmas Eve, we helped serve Lunch/Dinner to about 200 missionaries.  The girls absolutely loved it!  

So, when Papa Dale was asked again for 2012, the girls were ecstatic!  

Despite our preceding weekend (Poinsettia Bowl, Great Park Balloon, Boat Parade), we felt rested enough to come help out.  The truth?  The girls wouldn't have it any other way.  

The girls love setting out drinks (water bottles) for the missionaries.  They have the missionaries collect all the empty water bottles for recycling and donate the money to the mission fund.  This year's donation: $7.00!  (random fact: CRV is 5 cents per bottle...)

And, per tradition, the missionaries sang Called to Serve just before we served the meal.  There aren't really any words to describe the power behind missionaries singing this, other than awesome. Such an incredible feeling!

Since Brian was at home (my parents live about 2 minutes away) working while Carson napped, I was nominated as the second meat carver.  A more appropriate term would be "meat hacker", because I do NOT carve meat!  Nonetheless, the new elder in our ward politely said to me on Sunday, "I recognize you--you sliced my meat at the Christmas Dinner."  

And, although I don't have any pictures, we loved watching the mission talent show afterward.  The girls just can't get enough of the singing, (appropriate) dancing, and musical instruments!  They can't wait to serve missions of their own! 

We sure hope this tradition continues for many years to come!

The Pioneer Woman

Today, I love her.  The blueberry muffins were awesome!  Tomorrow, as I'm running to burn off the blueberry muffins...well, we'll stick to the fact that they were awesome.

Until about a year ago, I didn't even know she existed.  Then, I stumbled upon her book one day, and fell in love!  If you haven't read her book yet, you are welcome to borrow my copy!  Or, if you live far away, here's a link to buy it on Amazon: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels.

Anyway, let's start at the beginning.  About a year ago, I read her book, and then shared it with all my book club groupies back in Denver.  Our tradition in book club was to make a delectable treat to share. Even better if it came from the book we had just read (remember the potato peel pie, ladies?).

This gave me an opportunity to browse through all of the Pioneer Woman's tasty recipes on her website, The Pioneer Woman.  I remember, in particular, making her Knock You Naked Brownies, that were quite scrumptious!  And, ever since then, if I've had a inkling to make a new treat, I've turned to this fabulous site!  

Jump forward to this morning.  I have a tub of blueberries in my fridge.  It looked something like this: 

I also have a 6 year old that's been asking me for days (okay, just yesterday) what I'm going to do with the second tub of blueberries.  I told her we could make blueberry muffins.  But, we've kind of been stuck in a little heat wave, and I have been trying to avoid the oven like the plague.  But, today, I decided I would break the "save the planet, don't run the ac full blast" rule and make blueberry muffins for breakfast.   Which, turned out to be at 8:33, not 7:00, but, hey, it was worth the wait!  

So, here's what the final product looked like, complete with the tasty sauce over the top! Mine were slightly darker because I used whole wheat flour and sucanat, but they still tasted delicious!  Slightly crispy on the outside, and soft and moist on the inside!  Yummy!  Here's the link to the recipe, The Awesome-est Blueberry Muffins.  The girls loved them so much, they requested them for a morning snack, about 5 minutes after breakfast.

(photos courtesy of thepioneerwoman.com)

Inside Out Strawberries

That's their new name at our house. Most people would probably call them Chocolate Filled Strawberries, though.

I saw a post on Pinterest for Chocolate Filled Strawberries, and thought, "I've got to try that! Chocolate Dipped Strawberries are so messy (to make and eat)!"

So, along with my trusty 6-year old photographer, here's how we made our delectable treats.  Oh, and there aren't any pictures of us enjoying them because they were gone before I grabbed the camera!

You'll need:

*fresh strawberries
*empty, clean egg carton
*chocolate chips
*plastic 1-gallon food bag (doesn't need to be zip top)

First clean out the insides of the strawberries (I think it's called "hulling").  No need to clean them out more than usual.  There's plenty of room for chocolate.  Trust me.

Measure out about 1/2-3/4 cup of chocolate chips.  3/4 cup was plenty for 18 medium strawberries.  But, in my experience from melting chocolate, it's far easier to melt too much and have extra than to melt more later.

While you are melting the chocolate chips (50% power in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.  Be sure to stir every 30-45 seconds), cut the tip of a bag.  I used a decorating bag because I have a ton, but a ziploc would be just fine.  I also used a tip, but it took longer to wash the chocolate out than it did to fill the strawberries, so I'll skip the tip next time around.  Just make sure your hole is pretty small (a pencil-sized hole is about right).

Pour your melted chocolate into the bag.  Sorry, no picture here.  My photographer doubled as my sous-chef.

Squirt the chocolate into the strawberries.  I filled mine to just overflowing and it was perfect!

Refrigerate to harden the chocolate and enjoy!  Delicious!  And, the kids stayed much cleaner eating them, too!

More Good Times!

Oh, how I love babies that can actually do things!  Carson is becoming more fun every day!  Despite this last week, where he's had a HORRIBLE cold, he's turning into a mostly happy kid!  (I say mostly because he's also starting to figure out when we leave him alone, and he's not a fan.)

Carson loves to jump.  Grandpa has been very willing to bounce him in his lap, on occasion, but, Carson's needs for bouncing just weren't being met.  Enter Craigslist.  I found a practically brand new bouncer (the lady even steam cleaned it for me!) for a fraction of the cost, and, it was the closest one to our house!  Super bonus!  

Tonight, we ate pancakes for dinner.  It's been one of those days.  Little by little, I've been putting food on Carson's tray at mealtime.  Until tonight, crackers ended up mostly on the floor.  While there was still quite a bit of pancake destined to meet its fate due to the law of gravity, a greater portion actually made it into this little guy's stomach.  I don't know if it was the stickiness of the pancakes (he usually just crumbles bread) that helped, or their delectable taste, but he gobbled them up!  Yum!

We Finally Made It!

So, my Dad has been BBQing for a few years now (I think at least 3 or 4), and we've been the only kids/grandkids that haven't participated.  I mean at all.  We've been the recipients of many fabulous meals, but never experienced the whole competition/catering thing until last weekend.  And, lucky for us, it was just around the corner from our house, so we didn't even have to "travel" to get there!  We all had lots of fun, but it sure is a lot of work!

Brian took the kids for a ride in the wagon:

Carson took a LONG nap on Grandma's bed in the trailer. I kept checking on him, since we didn't have a baby monitor, but he just slept and slept!  I think he was out for close to 3 hours!

Here's the whole setup, complete with flying pigs and awards from previous competitions.  Their team name is When Pigs Fly  (www.whenpigsflycatering.com)

Even though the judges didn't agree, we (the family) all thought Dad's ribs were AMAZING!  I mean, like, we all wanted to eat several! Here's Brian, snacking on another rib!

Grandpa got a turn to take all the kids for a ride in the wagon, too.  When we put Jack in, he was screaming/crying, but just a quick ride in the wagon and he was happy as can be!

Here's Alie and Tyler with Jack and Carson.  I think it's so funny how when I got the camera out, Jack immediately turned and smiled.  Like he knew what to do or something?

What a fun day!

Knock You Naked Brownies

I'm not one for posting recipes (mostly because I haven't been adventurous with cooking for the last SEVERAL months), but this one is very delicious, and I thought I'd share it!  It's from Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman.  She's got lots of tempting recipes on her website, which I'll now have to steer clear of, if any of her other recipes are as good as these!

Knock You Naked Brownies

Ingredients

• 1 box (18.5 Ounce) German Chocolate Cake Mix (I Used Duncan Hines)
• 1 cup Finely Chopped Pecans
• ⅓ cups Evaporated Milk
• ½ cups Evaporated Milk (additional)
• ½ cups Butter, Melted
• 60 whole Caramels, Unwrapped
• ⅓ cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• ¼ cups Powdered Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, chopped pecans, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and melted butter. Stir together until totally combined. Mixture will be very thick.

Press half the mixture into a well-greased 9 x 9 inch square baking pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.

In a double boiler (or a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of boiling water) melt caramels with additional 1/2 cup evaporated milk. When melted and combined, pour over brownie base. Sprinkle chocolate chips as evenly as you can over the caramel.

Turn out remaining brownie dough on work surface. Use your hands to press it into a large square a little smaller than the pan. Use a spatula to remove it from the surface, then set it on top of the caramel and chocolate chips.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for several hours. When ready to serve, generously sift powdered sugar over the surface of the brownies. Cut into either nine or twelve helpings, and carefully remove from the pan.

*Adapted from the standard/classic “Knock You Naked Brownies” recipe. These brownies don’t really knock you naked…but almost.

"Hick-Amucks"

That's Sadie's pronunciation of Jicama.  And that's about how much our baby weighs this week (32 weeks).  Morgan wanted to know what a jicama was, so I showed her at the grocery store.  And, because it would cost under $2 to buy one, we decided to get one and try it out.

Here's Morgan taking her first bite.  She wasn't a fan.  In fact, she refused to even give it an unbiased critique and simply ate her three small bites we asked her to try.

Sadie, on the other hand, like it.  She especially liked it dipped in ranch dressing, along with every other food she eats.

Brian and Mackenzie's take on jicama:  Brian actually tried it and ate several sticks (think like carrot stick size)!  He thought it was okay, and says it tastes just like he would expect a weed to taste (it is a root vegetable).  Mackenzie thought it was okay, but couldn't get past the "it tastes like a dandelion smells", unless it was dipped in ranch.

Final Consensus:  The baby should be the size of a pineapple next week (I peeked ahead on the calendar).  I think we'll enjoying that sampling much better!

Quote of the Day

I get a quote emailed to me everyday from RealSimple magazine.  This one describes our house exactly!!  PB & J everyday for lunch!  (On occasion, Morgan requests PB & H) “Man cannot live by bread alone; he must have peanut butter.”

― James A. Garfield

Red Robin

Brian took an exam on Friday. To celebrate having our husband/daddy back we went to Red Robin. Brian loves the fries. I love the freckled lemonade (the only place I will spend money to get a drink when we're out). The girls love the balloons.

I had the camera with me because I needed to print some pictures at Costco, so I snapped a few fun ones in the restaurant!

Brian took this one--such a precious face!

Morgan wanted to make a "silly" face for the camera!

Yes, that's ketchup all over her face with a ranch dressing goatee. Unfortunately, Sadie hasn't yet learned to eat WITHOUT making a huge mess! (We're improving, but slowly)

Here are the girls, dancing with their balloons. Check out Sadie's leg. She wanted her balloon tied to her leg. Brian tried to convince her to put it on her wrist, but she wouldn't have it. She wanted it on her leg. So, when we went to Costco, Morgan followed suit and we had two silly girls running around with balloons tied to their legs!

Thanksgiving 2009

So, the new camera did, in fact, break, so we're onto another new camera. I compared a lot of cameras and really like what I ended up with. So, now that the camera is back, I've got a few pictures from the last couple of days.

Here's "big girl" Sadie in her new bed. She loves it!

And, this really is exactly what she does EVERY NIGHT when we put her in bed. She hasn't tried to get out for bedtime at all. However, naptime is a different story...

Morgan requested oatmeal for breakfast the other day and asked if she could put blueberries in it. Then, she posed for this cute picture at the table.
And, as we had told everyone, since we didn't have Thanksgiving plans, we totally cheated and ordered Boston Market, complete with the plates and plasticware so there was NO CLEANUP!!! I highly recommend it!

The only drawback was the cornbread. As you can see, Sadie needs a little bit more practice actually eating it. I wonder if she got any in her mouth...

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!