Max and Mia...

....Shakin' it up :)

Easter Package

A package arrived today!
From my parents in California.
As usual, the box is the best part! Zackary was very entertained :)

Inside the package was lots of Easter candy! Perfect for our envelope bunnies we were making. I put a little bit in each bunny and told Max and Mia that they were allowed to eat what was in their own bunny. Mia finished hers in a matter of minutes.

Max's envelope bunny stayed full a bit longer.

We also made easter candy jars for the kids friends.
I think that Easter M&M's come in the very best colors, don't you?

Fairy Princess

Mia spent her afternoon exploring in the sunshine.
I thought she looked just like a little fairy child.

She came home with handfuls of rocks. She is very pleased with her treasure.

Mr. Zackary

Zackary has had a busy day.
He spent much time bouncing.
He pulled weeds while sitting on a blanket outside.
He helped make deviled eggs.
It's hard work being a baby.

He fell asleep while I was holding him.
If I could I would just sit and stare at him for hours.

Fun Easter Crafts!

Heather, at Multiply Delicious posted some great kid-friendly craft ideas for Easter. You can find the link here : http://www.multiplydelicious.com/thekids/

I printed out some of my favorite ideas. Looks like pom poms and glue are in our future!

Grilled Cheese

I love grilled cheese sandwiches. They are one of my favorite meals. I found this awesome site : http://www.grilledcheeseacademy.com/
They have amazingly creative recipes and ideas.
If you are a grilled cheese lover you must check it out!

Coloring Eggs

Last night, for FHE, we dyed Easter eggs.
The kids really enjoyed it. Mia covered her eggs in stickers.

Max waited patiently for his eggs to soak up the colors. (FYI: there were only 3 colors in the box to begin with and one of them did not work very well so we have lots of blue and yellow, and a few green eggs!)

There is a Max egg, a Mia egg, a Zac egg, and Ty made himself a daddy egg :)
Max is excited to eat his egg for breakfast today.

Happy Monday!

(This is just a cute picture of Mia it has nothing to do with my happy monday themed post, except that it was taken on Monday)

The weekend was a blast! It flew by and it was full of successful recipe testing.
I roasted potatoes in hot bacon grease - amazing!
Made homemade alfredo sauce for a chicken alfredo pizza - best pizza ever!
Baked brownies using dark chocolate cocoa and then using regular cocoa, and I think using a mixture of both kinds will yield the best results.
Cooked up some copycat Cafe Rio burritos - awesome!

We had our usual "Lost" party, Met a new family in our complex, flew kites, made it to church on time, had a dinner party with friends, and watched "Life" on the discovery channel with the kiddos!

It was a great weekend! A very much needed weekend :)
This week I will be busy filling plastic eggs, dying chicken eggs, hiding easter eggs, and eating chocolate eggs.
I hope everyone is having an "egg"cellent Monday :)

Maybe no one will notice....

I am a chocolate girl. I always have been.
In college I worked at the BYU Creamery.
I remember arriving at work one day, feeling very happy, and having just eaten chocolate.
One of my male co-workers told me I looked happy. I told him that I was because I had just had some chocolate.
He replied that he could tell.
It was all over my face and I was horrified.

Priorities

I have been reading a lot about priorities.
Different people, different lives, different priorities.
Here are some of mine:

Spirituality (this includes; prayer, scripture study, church callings, church attendance, etc.)

Children ( 3 little people that fill my day with love, laughter, and craziness)

Exercise (Whether it's a run on the treadmill or some one on one training with Jillian Michaels, this is my me time)

Ty (I start to miss him when life gets busy)

Sleep (this is necessary, but I wish it weren't. I could get so much more done if I did not need to sleep. )

Fun/Creativity (this includes all of my kitchen messes and successes, and the daily challenge to entertain us all)

An ideal day would include enough time for each of my priorities. Some days the kids take up all of the time, and some days sleep gets hardly any time. Some mornings I run 3-4 miles, and other mornings are spent making waffles.
I look forward to waking up each day and working to balance all of the priorities in my life right now. They are always changing.

The Bunnies in Belle Meade

Today we saw the bunnies! We drove down to Phillip's Toy Mart so that the kids could play and so that I could do a little Easter shopping!

Max's favorite was a little black bunny with floppy ears.

Mia liked a tiny white bunny with perky gray ears.

After a lengthy visit with the rabbits we went to Trader Joe's. We sampled yummy mango juice and bought lots of goodies. Next we hit up Baja Fresh for some tacos! If you are trying not to overeat at a mexican restaurant, take 3 kids in with you. It was a lot of work trying to get everyone fed and I had very little time to stuff myself!
A very happy Wednesday :)

Paper Tree

Max and Mia were spending the afternoon outside with their friend Ava. They came running inside to tell me that they had found a "paper" tree. I was busy in the kitchen so I sent them outside with my camera so that they could document said tree.

These are all pictures taken by Max and Ava of the "paper tree".
I am always so amazed by what a 4 year old can do.

A very glam shot of Ava and tree.

A close-up of Max :)

The Keyboard

We have a little keyboard.

It stays in Mia's room.
I occasionally pull it out and play a little diddy, or two.
Today Zac had his first lesson.

Max helped Zac play a pretty tune.

Mia joined in. It was like a symphony :) well not really, but I love that they were all interested and playing together.

Maybe one day we will all sit down as a family and play chopsticks, because we are just that talented!

Sunday Evening

We are on the verge of a new week!
The weekend has been wonderful and refreshing, and it has gone by so fast!
It was great to have Ty home. The weather was great yesterday and we were able to get outside. Today it was raining cats and dogs, but Sundays are great inside days. We made chicken enchiladas and taught the kids to play "Mary had a little Lamb" on the keyboard. We traced our hands and cut out paper hearts. We read some scriptures and said some prayers. A perfect Sunday!
Tomorrow it is back to the Grind! Ty will be back at Vanderbilt, but I have some fun things planned for this week.

Monday: Kindergarten Registration
Tuesday: Free Pastry Day and pedicures with Mia
Wednesday: visiting the bunnies at Phillip's Toy Mart, some Easter shopping, and lunch at Baja Fresh

I will be experimenting with some great new recipes and planning a dinner party for next Sunday.

Hoping for the best!

I made something...

Just a little something....

I cut the recipe in half....

I just had one tiny piece....

This is one of those that is just worth it.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte
Recipe found here:
http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2009/04/15/chocolate-peanut-butter-torte/

(I made a few changes. I cut out the espresso powder, used honey roasted peanuts, and I cut the entire recipe in half and used an 8 inch cake pan)

Zac's got talent

Look at my teeny tiny baby boy!
He is standing up! (with the help of a toy chest)
He is so amazing!

Perfect Patient

This coming Monday is Kindergarten Registration!
I have been busy getting ready.

This morning Max had his Pre-K physical exam and his booster shots. He did great! He was super brave!

Mia kept herself busy during Max's appointment with a bag of caramel corn, her very favorite treat.
When we finished at the doctor's office I took Max to Target to pick out a special treat for being such a good little patient. He picked M&M's and was very happy! He is super excited to start Kindergarten in the fall.
The rest of the day has been wonderful! The weather has been gorgeous and we took a walk to the playground. I set up the little table and chairs outside so that Max and Mia could have a picnic. Tonight we are grilling some steaks. It will be our first dinner together as a family since last Sunday! Ty's schedule has been crazy. I am so glad we are spending today together!

Check this out!

photo found here : http://www.foodbuzz.com/blogs/2069608-ipod-touch-birthday-cake

If only I had known such things were possible!
An I-Pod Touch cake!
Happy Saturday to Ty! :)

Free Pastry Day!

This Tuesday, March 23rd is free pastry day at Starbucks!
You get your free pastry with the purchase of a beverage.
I am dropping Max off at school and then it will be off to Starbucks!
Soy hot chocolate for me and a pastry for Mia. Happiness all around.
For the coupon go here: http://starbucks.com/FreePastryDay

Tootsies!

We have opened the windows!
The sun is shining, so we loaded up the stroller and walked over to Old Navy for some 2/$5 flip flops.
Max got this blue pair with a shark design.

Mia picked out this pair with the rainbow stripes.

Cute little tootsies :)
Gotta love summer footwear!

Cute little faces
One with brown eyes and one with blue

Babies!

This morning we went to see the babies.
Baby chicks and baby ducks at Tractor Supply Co.These fluffy little ducks were adorable.
Mia was in love.

She spent a long while looking at the fluffy little guys.

I finally got Zackary to notice all of the commotion and he was entranced.

We did not buy any ducks or chicks (can you imagine the mess!)
But, we did leave with a giant bag of caramel corn!
Just another springtime celebration!

six months

Zackary is 6 months old!
He currently weighs 18 1/2 pounds.
He enjoys baby food, laughing at balloons, trying to eat handfuls of grass, and cuddles :)

Sneak Peak and Happy Thoughts!

I haven't done much cooking or baking this week, but I did manage to make a bunch of spring-y sugar cookies for Relief Society on Sunday....nudge nudge, wink wink, come to class and make lots of comments :)
Speaking of spring, I think it may finally be here! While driving Max to school this morning I saw a little tree completely covered in little pink flowers and the kids were able to spend the afternoon playing outside!
Hurray!

Fry Sauce

I was raised an all American ketchup eating girl.
Then I moved to Utah and discovered fry sauce. At first I thought it was ridiculous and I would have nothing to do with it.
Then I tried it, and it grew on me. I was soon completely converted. Then we moved to Tennessee. There is no fry sauce in Tennessee :(
I have to make my own experimental fry sauces. Today I made oven fries with the kids. I mixed together ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, honey, and a little sea salt. This was our "fry sauce".
It wasn't perfect, but it was close enough.

Hoping For....

A moment with Mia

Mia is 2 1/2.
She loves going to nursery every Sunday at church. She loves her friends and her teachers. She is a great protector of baby Zac. She has her daddy wrapped around each and every one of her fingers :)
Mia is a budding artist and uses the world as her canvas ( quite literally )
When we are at a store looking at clothes Mia heads straight for the "Cinderella" dresses.
Mia loves all things chocolate. She is excited to learn new things and is very jealous that Max goes to school without her.
I am so glad to have Mia.

Momofuku strikes again

This time not with cookies, but with "crack" pie.
That is really what this pie is called. Named for it's addictive qualities, this pie is awesome late at night with a glass of milk, which is exactly how Ty and I enjoyed it last night :)

This pie takes a little bit of planning because the crust is made from cookies that need to be made ahead of time.

Momofuku's Crack Pie

Oatmeal Cookie for Crust:
2/3 cup flour
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 egg
1 cup oats

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees and prepare a 9x13 inch pan.
2. Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Cream the butter with the sugars.
4. Add the egg to the butter and incorporate the dry ingredients.
5. Press into pan and bake 20 minutes. Allow to cool.

Crust:
(this recipe makes enough for 2 pie crusts. I used 1/2 to make 1 pie and froze the rest to use later for another pie or to top a crumble)
crumbled cookie for crust
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse until combined.
Press mixture into a pie pan.(along the bottom and up the sides)
Set aside while preparing the filling.

Filling:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup dry milk powder
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 egg yolks
prepared pie crust

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, salt, and milk powder. Whisk in the melted butter, then the cream and vanilla.
3. Whisk in the egg yolks.
4. Pour filling into prepared crust.
5. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake until filling is still slightly jiggly and golden brown, about 12 minutes.
6. Cool pies on a rack and then refrigerate until well chilled.

Serve with cold milk :)