We had such a happy day! Ty was home and the weather was great! We went to the park in Hendersonville and had a picnic. While we were gone my friend Liz dropped off the best brownies I have ever had in my life! It was very fun to come home to. The kids had a great time playing outside. They were testing out the dirt. Max had a 3 hour long nap and Mia entertained herself with a Baby Einstein movie. Ty and I watched American Idol. We all ate tacos for dinner and the Office is on tonight! Hurray :)
Today is free pancake day at IHOP! Max and Mia were both up early, again...so I decided we should just head out and get our pancakes. Since the pancakes were free I treated us to hot chocolates. Max and Mia ate the whipped cream off the top with their spoons.
Mia made a huge mess and was completely covered in pancake and hot chocolate. Max said that it was the best breakfast ever. It was his first trip to IHOP. I am sure he will look forward to free pancake day next year!
We went to Sam's Club today for laundry detergent. Mia was sad so I thought she needed a treat. I got her a cherry slurpee and she loved it! The cup was so huge and she is so little. By the time she was finished she was covered in cherry mess and needed a bath, but she was much happier.
Max and Mia have loved Elder Mayes! They love playing with him when he comes for dinner and Max has spent many sundays sitting with his favorite missionary before church. Elder Mayes is being transferred. He came by last night to say goodbye to Max. We will miss you Elder Mayes!
Ty's family is in town for a visit. We spent a day at Opry Mills where the kids were spoiled by their Uncle Seth. He kept putting quarters in the little rides they never get to try!
We went back to the Parthenon, because we think it is something not to be missed. Max loved the lion heads that were on the big doors.
I love this picture of Mia falling behind the group!
Max wanted to buy this puzzle. I told him we could not buy it so instead he wanted a picture taken with it!
Ty's parents have been visiting us this week. They gave us a very big treat! they put Ty and I up for a night at the Opryland hotel while they stayed at our place and watched the kids! We had such a great time! It was so relaxing to get away from dirty dishes and laundry. The hotel is beautiful. Ty and I had dinner at Paisano's (the pizza restaurant at the hotel) We ate overlooking the water show. I slept the whole night and didn't get out of bed once. It was amazing! This morning Ty and I went to the Bob Evan's for breakfast, because it is just the best! It was such a great little getaway!
I walked out of Kroger's yesterday and found myself face to face with a table piled high with girl scout cookies. It has been years since I have had them. I bought a box of thin mints for Ty, a box of tagalongs for myself, and a box of samoas in case one of us ran out. We have had so much fun eating them. Max and Mia can't seem to get enough. It's a good thing I only bought 3 boxes.
Winnie the Pooh made a special guest appearance at Barnes and Noble this weekend. Max is a big fan so we had to go. Max wanted to know if Pooh Bear came in a car or an airplane? He really thought he was the real deal.
Ty brought home flowers for me for Valentine's Day. I was so excited that he had thought of me. He always writes a cute note on the little card in the flowers. I liked that it was a mixed bouquet and not just roses. I had to clean my table so that my flowers had a nice place to sit and look pretty!
Some of my friends from our building decided that we should throw a little Valentine's Party for our kids. We had a little lunch party today and I think it was a great success. Esther hosted and she had her table set with the cutest decorations. Each of the kids got a little heart cup to hold their valentines. For lunch there were heart shaped jello jigglers, heart shaped cheese, and fruit kebob skewers with strawberry yogurt for dipping.
For dessert we let the kids decorate cookies. I had to decorate some and taste them myself just to make sure they were safe :)
The kids had a great time. I was so glad that we did it. I love getting together with friends and sharing fun times. It is great to get closer and learn more about each of our lives.
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day! I remember the first Valentine's Day I spent with Ty. I took him to the BYU Preference dance at the Utah state capitol building. The first valentine's after we were married we returned to the place where Ty proposed, Las Vegas. We were really poor so we spent the day wandering the strip and taking pictures. In the afternoon we snuck into one of the hotel pools! Since then we have spent February 14th at fancy restaurants and enjoying quiet dinners at home. There are usually cheesy love letters and flowers involved. (I love that stuff!) This year will be our 7th Valentine's Day together. I am very much in love with Ty. I think he is the best. He still makes me melt! This year will be the first that I have gotten the kids involved. Max helped me make valentines and heart shaped cookies. I always loved Valentine's day in elementary school when we got to decorate our own little mail boxes. I just think Valentine's Day is a great thing! Happy Valentine's Day!
We went to Publix today. Max loves going to Publix because he gets to see the "monsters". No matter how many times I tell him they are indeed, lobsters, he continues to call them monsters. He picked out some spaghettios in the shape of lobsters. I thought it was weird but he thought it was great!
Max had so much fun playing with his little paddle ball. They make those things so darn cheap, because it broke within the first few hours we had it. He still wanted to play with his ball and paddle so Ty came up with this solution.
This morning we packed a picnic and headed for our favorite park in Hendersonville. Mia, as usual, spent the entire time on the swings. Max ran all over the place. It was great to be outside. After the park we went to Barnes and Noble for storytime. Max's friend, Connor, was there so it made for extra fun. On our way home we stopped at Mcdonalds for chicken nuggets. Who doesn't love a chicken nugget? We love our little field trips. We are looking forward to another great week!
We have been inside for days! We have made cupcakes, painted egg cartons, raced cars across the kitchen floor, folded piles of laundry, and watched plenty of Disney movies. It is supposed to warm up to about 60 degrees this weekend. I am planning a trip to the park for the kids. Today was still too cold to play outside so I took the kids to Opry Mills. I let them each pick out a treat at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. They both picked out dipped pretzel sticks, they love those! I got myself some of those dark chocolate covered almonds, which turned out to be dark chocolate covered espresso beans. It took me a few before I figured out what they were. I have felt so lively all day :) j/k. We watched the big catfish swim through the tank at the Bass Pro Shop. We visited the fountain, played at the train table in Barnes and Noble, and almost bought lots of fun things. Being on a budget is hard, but I am always so pleased with myself when I leave a mall or store with nothing. Way to go me! The whole morning was way fun. It was great to get out for a few hours.
As per the request of certain persons (Dustin) it has been asked that I post more pictures of Ty and myself. So here is the ever amazing, oh so good looking, Ty Newman. This is in downtown Nashville just outside of the Hall of Fame.
The Levain bakery chocolate chip cookies were part of the chocolate chip cookie throwdown with Bobby Flay. They looked amazing and I looked everywhere for a recipe. I finally found a copycat version at picky palate.com. I made these this morning and I think they are better than my recipe for chocolate chip cookies. They are way good!
8 ounces (two sticks) unsalted butter, room temp 3/4 cup granulated sugar 3/4 cup brown sugar 2 eggs, beaten 3 cups BREAD flour (13 1/2 oz) 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 1/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 to 1 1/3 cups coarsely chopped, untoasted walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat butter and both sugars just until they come together. Don’t overbeat. Add the egg and beat just until incorporated. Mix together the flour, salt and baking soda. When thoroughly mixed, add to batter and stir just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. The dough should be neither sticky nor dry.
Divide dough into mounds, but keep the mounds kind of raggedy. That is, don’t smash them into compact balls. Bake on ungreased insulated cookie sheet or an upside down rimmed cookie sheet for 20 minutes at 350.
We just got back from the store and it is 24 degrees outside! We are trying to keep ourselves busy indoors. Max and Mia love to play with their instruments. They should start a band because they are so talented!
We had so much fun watching the super bowl this year! We had some friends over and ate tons of food and enjoyed some great commercials. I actually really enjoyed the game. I thought it was so exciting. I kept going back and forth between who would win! I hope everyone had a great super bowl sunday!
Sugar Dusted Brioche French Toast with Peanut Butter Maple Syrup
I got this recipe from a fab. foodie site called picky palate. It is so amazingly delicious. It is worth every caloric bite!
2 Tablespoons butter
½ Cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 eggs, beaten
3 Tablespoons light brown sugar
6 slices Brioche bread, cut into rounds with donut cutter if desired
6 Tablespoons powdered sugar
½ Cup pure maple syrup (or normal pancake syrup if you don’t have the pure)
1 heaping Tablespoon peanut butter
1.Place butter into a large skillet over medium heat to melt.Place cream, vanilla, eggs and brown sugar into a mixing bowl.Whisk until well combined.Dip bread rounds into egg mixture until both sides are well coated and place into hot skillet.Cook for 1-2 minutes per side or until golden brown.Transfer to bowl of sugar and coat both sides in sugar.Place onto serving plate.
2.Warm maple syrup in microwave until warmed, about 30 seconds then stir in peanut butter until smooth.Pour over French toast and enjoy!
We had such a happy day! Ty was home and the weather was great! We went to the park in Hendersonville and had a picnic. While we were gone my friend Liz dropped off the best brownies I have ever had in my life! It was very fun to come home to. The kids had a great time playing outside. They were testing out the dirt. Max had a 3 hour long nap and Mia entertained herself with a Baby Einstein movie. Ty and I watched American Idol. We all ate tacos for dinner and the Office is on tonight! Hurray :)
