BIRTHDAY BOY!

My baby is TWO today! I cannot believe that 2 years ago today I was in the hospital giving birth to my little man; those 2 years FLEW by! wow!My precious little baby; born 4 weeks premature, spending 9 long days in NICU is now our happy, healthy, hyper toddler!With Judah's birthday being so close to Christmas (hello, 2 days after!) we had a low key day and are planning his 'parties' for later this month.

He opened his presents this morning...I made a mental note to get birthday wrapping paper but I lost the note; I don't think Judah minded though:)
Joe and Ethan went to Target yesterday to get Judah's birthday presents (don't judge - there's LOTS of great clearance day after Christmas!)

For Judah's special birthday dinner we had chocolate chip pancakes, sausage and oranges...hmmm:) Judah loves breakfast food!
Happy birthday my baby! I LOVE YOU!

p.s. there will totally be more birthday posts after he has the 'eat all the cake and get messy' parties*

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas blog-sphere! We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and are looking forward to another great day tomorrow on Christmas Day!

10 on Tuesday - Wednesday Edition

1. I have a really really good excuse for not posting yesterday......3 letters for you: F. L. U.

2. Yeah, I got a wonderful 24 hour flu bug; at first I thought it was food poisoning but then it continued after I 'emptied' my stomach (euphonious way of saying puked) with a fever so good ole flu it was!

3. I started feeling weird Monday night and was 'emptying my stomach' all day yesterday and woke up today feeling MUCH better! By mid afternoon I felt about 85% and now in the evening I'm getting closer to 95%!

4. I BETTER be 100% by Christmas Eve!

5. We have a fun-filled Christmas Eve and Christmas Day schedule with no time for sickness. no time.

6. Our trash can disappeared while I was sick - it was at the curb for trash day Monday, then I got sick, then I went down to get it today (Wed) and it was gone! You can see where it was sitting in the snow but it's not there....weird.

7. I called our Association property manager and left a message; I'm worried she's gone for the holidays and we won't hear back for a while!

8. Judah will be TWO on Monday. TWO. ummm weren't you just born?

9. Judah is talking up a storm lately! TOO CUTE.

10. I have a few last minute things to finish before the Christmas weekend; I better feel better and feel productive tomorrow!!

Easy Cookies

That's what this recipe is: easy. Really easy:) And that's why I love it! Sometimes I like to spend time measuring and mixing and taking my sweet ole time with baking. And other times I want to eat the cookies now! This recipe is for those occasions when you want instant gratification OR don't have a lot of time to bake.

I made these for a cookie exchange last week - at first I felt a tad guilty that I wasn't slaving in the kitchen for hours but then I realized who I was exchanging with: fellow MOMS. Most moms I have met don't have an over abundance of TIME so an easy cookie recipe it was:)

I call them my 'Cake Mix Cookies' and I just so happened to take pics while making them last week - how convenient :)

Start by combining cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl and set aside.

Pick your favorite cake mix - I used Classic Yellow to make a snickerdoodle and German Chocolate to make a delish chocolate treat! (I made 2 different cookies) Combine cake mix, eggs and oil together....Roll into little balls and shake around in cinnamon/sugar mixture...and put on cookie sheet....Smoosh the balls a glass (my fave part!)...and bake for a mere 8-9 minutes! Then you get these beauties...I LOVE these made with Yellow cake mix - they taste just like snickerdoodles! I packaged 3 chocolate and 4 snickerdoodles in a bag and attached the recipe for the cookie exchange. Yummy.

Here's the actual recipe:

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 pkg cake mix (I’ve used Pillsbury and Duncan Hines brand before)

2 eggs

¼ cup vegetable oil

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees; line cookie sheet with parchment paper

2. Combine sugar and cinnamon in small bowl; set aside.

3. Combine cake mix, eggs and oil in large bowl. Stir until well blended. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place balls 2-inches apart on cookie sheet. Flatten balls with bottom of glass.

4. Bake at 375 8-9 minutes or until set. Cool one minute on cookie sheet then move to cooling rack and cool completely.

I LOVE trying out these cookies with different flavor mixes - I haven't found a bad one yet! Happy Cookie Making!

10 on Tuesday - Cookies!

1. We made sugar cookie cutouts the other day as a family....way fun! 2. I set up our table with cutting boards, lots of flour, cookie cutters and we got on our aprons (minus Joe...)

3. The boys LOVED cutting out all the shapes! This was Judah's first year doing cookies and he caught right on.
4. Joe's mom passed on a bunch of cookie cutter that she had been given; I think they're 5th generation now!

5. Ethan enjoyed rolling the dough out and using plenty of flour:)
6. Joe would roll out Judah's dough and then Judah would 'push' the cutter in - he (Judah) would get so excited when the shape would come out of the cutter! We filled up many pans with beautifully (although not all the same thickness) cookies!

7. Aren't my boys cute? I think so:)
8. We cut them, baked them and cooled them.

9. We never got around to frosting them....I'm fine with that though - less sugar for the boys and less cleanup for me! It was QUITE the mess to clean up as is!

10. ALL the cookies are gone. You read right. We ate them all:) hmmmm.

SNOW!

WOW. That's all I have to say about the AMOUNT of snow we got (and continue to get) today! It started late last night and hasn't let up since! It is beautiful:) We just saw on the tv that we've gotten 16-18inch so far! WOW.

Of course, the boys wanted to go out in it (and I did too) so we got ready to play around 10 am this morning. This is what we were greeted by:
SNOW! We could barely open the door - you can see my blue snow-panted leg pushing the door:)

Judah and I ventured to check out the new fluff...there was a lot of it!
Judah still isn't too sure of it; he wants to be outside with us but doesn't want to be IN the snow. He's a trooper though:)

Ethan had a BLAST!
Lots of snow castles! He doesn't realize when he's cold because he's having so FUN!

Gotta love the rosy red cheeks:)
Later that day (lunch-ish) my brother Tyler came over to play - the boys loved playing with their uncle outside! His car got stuck on the street after the plow came by so we got to dig him out...30 minutes later he was on his way:) Only to be met by a 4 foot snowplow drift in front of his driveway! Thankfully, he dug himself in:) I'm glad that we didn't have to drive anywhere today!

Snow, snow, snow. We have an abundance:) They are comparing this to the Halloween blizzard of 1991..now that makes me feel old because I remember that! Good Ole Minnesota for YA!

p.s. I noticed today's date: December 11, 2010...12-11-10! SWEET. Yep, I'm a numbers geek. Deal with it:)

Muddy Buddies....Puppy Chow!

Remember last Tuesday when I said I was so excited to make 'puppy chow'? Well, I made it and it didn't disappoint! It brought me back to my high school days for some reason; I must not have had it since then! With the Christmas season upon us I thought this would (and will be!) and great appetizer to bring to those Holiday parties! I'm all about easy and saving money - this one especially helps with the $$ for us - we get the cereal and peanut butter on WIC! Double score:)

Go ahead and try it - I made a half batch yesterday (simply because I had 1 gallon bags not 2 gallon) and it is wonderful!

Image from Betty Crocker

Chex Muddy Buddies
*from back of Rice Chex Box*

9 cups Corn Chex®, Rice Chex®, Wheat Chex® or Chocolate Chex® cereal (or combination) *I like Rice Chex, nice and light*
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar


1. Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.

2. In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.

3. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Could it get any easier for a delicious chocolate-peanut-butter snack? You don't even need the oven or stove - Oh yeah:)

I'm joining in the Holly Jolly Blog Hop from Natalie over at Extraordinary Love! Have fun hopping around and finding lots of great recipes for this time of year!

10 on Tuesday

1. Judah LOVES his rain boots. He wants to live in them, sleep in them, everything in them.

2. Judah cries when I have to take off his rain boots.

3. These rain boots are blue with red firetrucks on them - absolutely adorable! THANKS Theresa for the great boots!

4. Today at lunch Ethan came over to me and gave me a kiss on the check and followed it up with: "Mommy, I do that because I love you"

5. Doesn't that melt your heart? Mine's mush thinking about it:)

6. The other night Ethan asked me "Mommy, why are you soooo beautiful?" (insert: awwwwhhh:)

7. How do you respond to that? I did the same way I do to most of his 'why' questions: because God made it (me in this case) that way. He seemed satisfied with that and I felt pretty the rest of the night:)

8. We got our Christmas cards from Shutterfly! They look AWESOME but our text is really small - that's what we get for trying to cram a bunch of words in a small space...ah well. That's what reading glasses are for right?

9. Our next 3 weekends are BOOKED! It should be fun though; lots of family fun!

10. I picked up some rice Chex on WIC the other day and am SO excited to make some puppy chow from it! Remember that from back in the day? They call it Muddy Buddies now though - sounds a little more appealing:)

Denial? Or blond?

I'm going with denial because my hair is clearly not blond right now (I'm actually really dark right now...I love it...but I regress....)

This morning I was signing Ethan up for more swimming lessons at the Y and filled out the registration form; no biggie. Name, birthday, class number I got it covered. Sign and date the bottom and we're golden.

Later this afternoon I stopped by the bank. I went inside, filled out my deposit form, waited in an unusually slow line and got to my turn. Handed my papers to the teller and did my transactions. I'm outta there.

This evening I met my great friend, Heather, for a dinner date and was a few minutes early. I tinkered around on my phone (don't we all do that to waste time?) and something caught my eye.

THE DATE.

Today is December 6th.

I've been writing...

November 6th

...all day. NOVEMBER? really? I guess I missed that month! I find it hilarious that I did it not once, but TWICE today! And nobody corrected me either:)

Ah Well. Hello December:)

BRRRR

I have a perma-chill. brrrrrrrr. It's cold here. real cold. I just head the weather man said it will feel more like mid-January this week than early December...I wonder if that means mid-January will feel like early March? A girl can dream...

I think I need some hot-chocolate and a blanket:)

brrrrrr.

My little Puppies

Ethan and Judah were given home made winter hats last year from my Grandma; they are adorable little puppy hats!

They love wearing them and I love that they keep them on!

TOO CUTE!

10 on Tuesday

1. Brrrr baby it's cold outside! Breakin' out the hats, scarves and mittens!

2. There's lots of beautiful snow to go with the chilly cold! At least the scenery looks pretty:)

3. Joe taught Ethan how to paint 'stories' and Ethan went crazy with it! In a good way of course...he drew some very elaborate pictures with equally elaborate stories to go with them.
4. The recurring story line was that there was a 'pirate ship in the deep blue sea with a sea gull that flew to the perch...'5. Then he added 'a comet came and got the sea gull!' LOVE IT.

6. He wanted to display ALL of his artwork so our breezeway door is now covered with beautiful paintings!
7. Mr. Judah is talking up a storm now! Most people could interpret 60% of it but Joe and myself can get about 99%! Hooray for being fluent in 'judah-nese!' (Judah's own little language; we're trying to convince him to convert to English)

8. THREE weeks left for Joe's schooling! Then he's done! Graduated! Hip Hip Hooray!

9. I've been filling in my December calendar (I use one of those ginormous paper ones on the fridge; call me old fashioned but I like it!) and my month is filling up sooooo fast! It's going to be 2011 before I know it!

10. Speaking on months and years - I cannot believe that tomorrow is December 1st. Seriously? Oh man. Maybe that means summer will come faster because winter sure did!

Thankful

I have so much to be thankful for! An awesome husband, two adorable kids, wonderful extended family and great friends!

For 'preschool' this week, Ethan made some super-cute turkeys to hand out at our Thanksgiving gatherings.I cut out the parts and Ethan glued everything in place, drew in the eyes, glued on the 'fuzzies' and colored the feathers! He really got into it:) He's my little artist!I got the idea from the YMCA - they did a similar craft the week before Thanksgiving; I just tweeked it a little to fit the materials we had at home. We went to both sides (mine and Joe's) for Thanksgiving this year so Ethan got to hand out his projects to both sets of grandparents! He was very proud of his creations.

In other creative news: Ethan discovered that he loves to paint!He created quite the painting with those watercolors!Look at that concentration - I love it!

We pulled out our garage sale kitchen from the sunroom for the boys to play with recently....hours of fun!p.s. I LOVE the red sweat-suit Judah's wearing here - it's a hand-me-down from Travis (who's now 7!!!!); Ethan wore it and now it's Judah's turn:) 3 boys and still looking mighty cute!

The other day, Judah thought it would be cool to take his drink and layer a few more cups around it! I thought it looked funny:) It reminded me of the book "Caps for Sale" for some reason...maybe all the cups stacked up like all the hats? who knows. Judah is a funny kid:) I love it. Ethan saw it and of course had to do it too!

I am so thankful for my happy, healthy family!

10 on Tuesday

1. Thanksgiving is this week! Wow that came fast!

2. We get two thanksgiving meals this year - lucky us! Good thing Joe and I LOVE thanksgiving food!

3. I'm making a new sweet potato casserole with gingersnap crumble on top...hmmmm. Along with my delish Cranberry-Orange Relish!

4. We have all of our Christmas shopping done!!

5. I finished ALL of our Christmas wrapping last weekend! Now to sit back and enjoy the holidays:)

6. My boys are in a mood....I really hope they'll snap out of it soon! Ethan mainly and then Judah just follows suit. We've been talking a lot about our 'happy voices' and 'kind words' around here.

7. I heard a rumor we are to get more snow tomorrow - I say rumor because I can't remember the last time I watched the weather so I really don't know what's happening...

8. I DO know last weekend was ICY! I'm glad I didn't have to drive in it much!

9. I can't believe 2010 is almost done! Here we come 2011 whether we like it or not!

10. Ethan painted with watercolors tonight and I think he was a hidden talent....it's beautiful!

What a MESS!

Yesterday morning I was doing some normal cleaning around the house (clean up after breakfast, laundry, etc...) and the boys were hanging in the living room playing nicely. It was kinda quiet so I went in to check on them....

...this is what my sweet Judah was into:
He had successfully taken EVERYTHING off the shelf under the coffee table (which was unfortunately jammed packed with stuff....) and then proceeded to play with a puzzle on top of all of it.

I asked him: Judah what are you doing??
Judah: Puzzle! Judah puzzle!

Well, he was doing a puzzle. I guess that puzzle must've been on the very bottom of the shelf...or something.

I finished my original cleaning and let Judah play in his mess for a while. Then he 'helped' me put it away:)

This, my friends, is why my house is never completely cleaned all at once. I clean one part of it while the boys (mainly Judah) is messing up a different part. It's a phase...I keep telling myself that....soon enough they will clean too! *Ethan is an awesome 'picker-upper'! He will actually pick up his toys; now to teach Judah that....

10 on Tuesday

1. Snow and cold are here. boo.

2. At least Ethan l.o.v.e.s. to play in the snow - that makes it a little more bearable:)

3. Judah is warming up to the snow...he will now sit in the snow (vs. on the front step) and watch us play! That face plant really did him in...

4. I made a pumpkin-spice-cheesecake for Christie's 30th birthday party on Saturday...YUMMY!

5. I made pumkpin-chocolate-chip bars fro ECFE today...YUMMY again!

6. Can you tell I like pumpkin? I love baking with it around Thanksgiving (which is next week mind you)

7. I did ALL of the laundry in our house the other day....all the forgotten towels or random red shirts and all! FIVE loads. Oy. Then I folded them all - Joe should've taken a picture of me sitting on the floor surrounded by all 5 loads!

8. I washed/dried/folded all 5 loads...how is it possible that I have another load to do now??? It's never ending!

9. Judah slept till 7:45 this morning! WOW! Too bad Ethan was up and running at 6:30... now if I can get both to sleep in we'd be in business!

10. Joe and I did most of our Christmas shopping online this year and I'm expecting a large package of goodies this week! Hooray for wrapping presents and having them DONE by Thanksgiving!!

Snow is here!

Today it SNOWED! A lot! My boys were so excited for it:) After a lot of anticipation we finally made it outside...at 9am. You have to understand that we get up early around here so they had to 'wait' till 9! Ethan was SO pumped! Out we went! (me and the boys...Joe had to get new tires pronto!) Ethan ran out into the snow with a squeal of delight! Judah followed suite and ran out into the fresh snow - and then landed FLAT ON HIS FACE! Poor kid...didn't know what hit him! He spent the rest of the time outside sitting on the front step watching us - he was very happy though! He loved watching all the snow fall and talking to Ethan and myself:) I pulled out our summer sand castle molds and Ethan and I made 'snow castles'! It was the perfect sticky snow for it - we also made a snowman:) *our snow castles are in front of him*Ethan was my snow buddy! So fun! We went in after an hour and had a snack of hot cider and brownies (at 10am....ah well) Then we did a winter-y craft; we drew on black paper with white crayon a picture and then used a glue stick to show where the 'snow' would be in the picture. I got out some old (really old) baby oatmeal and we sprinkled it on our glue and shook off the access! They loved it!
We hung out inside for the rest of the morning; ate lunch; had our rest time and then went back out in the afternoon! I taught Ethan how to make snow angels - he's a pro now!
I normally strongly dislike winter (I hate the word hate) but I feel like this winter may be different - my kids are old enough to 'enjoy' the outdoors and I get to as well! It truly was fun to make snowman and snow angels outside! Now, if only I can keep that attitude in the middle of February....I'm sure Ethan will help me:)

Tortellini Soup with Spinach and Tomatoes

I was given the "SOS! Six O'Clock Scramble" cookbook a few months ago and I love it! I made one of our favorites tonight and actually remembered to take some pictures to share. We love the Tortellini Soup for many reasons: #1 it's tasty. really tasty. #2 (for me) it's easy and quick! #3 my kids like it!

Without further rambling here it is (my modifications in RED)
Tortellini Soup with Spinach and Tomatoes
SOS! Six O'Clock Scramble

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic (about 2 cloves) *I use my micro-plane to finely shred it*
1 box (32 oz) reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable broth *I use chicken broth*
1 package (9 oz) whole wheat or regular cheese tortellini (sold refrigerated) *I use the dried, shelf variety -Spinach/Cheese, 8oz*
1 can (15 oz) no-salt-added diced tomatoes, with their liquid *I use Ro'Tel diced tomatoes with chilis for an added kick - 10oz*
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano *I use Mexican Oregano - a little bolder*
3 cups fresh baby spinach *I use about 4 cups...I like my greens!*

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Saute the garlic for 1 minute, then stir in the broth. Bring it to a boil, then add the tortellini, tomatoes, pepper, basil and oregano.

Reduce the heat to keep it at a low boil for 7 minutes, then add the spinach. Simmer it for 2 more minutes, *if using dried tortellini - use cook time on package adding the spinach in for the last 2 minutes* Remove soup from heat and serve immediately.

*Scramble Flavor Booster: Stir in crushed red pepper flakes at the table for an extra spice!
I serve this to my kids minus the broth - I use a slotted spoon to get out the tortellini and spinach and they gobble it up (well, they gobble the tortellini...the cooked spinach takes some convincing; I don't care though - there's spinach hiding in the tortellini!)

One thing I always forget to do is to DOUBLE IT! We eat up the whole pot at one meal and always want leftovers....I won't forget next time!

10 on Tuesday

1. I can't believe it's already November. November 9th the be exact. This year is flying by so fast! I know I say that all the time but it's so true:)

2. My boys loving getting new library books and DVD's - it's a great way (and free) to rotate new stuff through!

3. I am LOVING this weather! I mentioned it last time and it's still true - close to 70 today - mid-November I remind you:) Tomorrow it starts to drop though...

4. I ordered some new clothes from OldNavy.com the other day with a discount code (25% off) and can't wait for them to arrive! I hope they fit:)

5. I was doing good folding laundry right when it was dry for a while. opps. not anymore - I have a load sitting in the dryer from like 3 days ago!
6. How cute are my boys? I love Ethan's arm over Judah:) sweetness. They were watching the big boys make a bon-fire the other day.

7. Ethan and Judah love to pick out new toys from the ECFE resource center (aka: toy library from ECFE) I love that they get new toys to play with and they don't stay in our house (aka: clutter)

8. Daylight savings has been kicking my butt this year - my kids haven't caught on to the time change in the morning so they are waking up at 5:30am!! ouch!

9. Joe colored my hair the other night: I love it! Just a little darker and more uniformed:)

10. I am counting down to Joe being down with school! I'm so excited to have more time with him (he's been putting in a lot of hours for studying) YEAH!