Not Such a Failure Afterall...

OK...if anyone knows my little Allie, they know she is a little firecracker sometimes...OK, a lot of the time. I sometimes feel like I am failing as a mom because I can't get her to go to Sunbeams or share her toys or help clean her room or be fully potty trained. Don't get me wrong she has some great attributes...she loves to help cook dinner, she eats really well, and she loves to watch TV...lol. Well, she did two things this last week that made me think maybe I am not such a failure after all.

I AM NOT SUCH A FAILURE AFTER ALL EPISODE 1:
Allie usually doesn't take a nap unless she went to bed late one night or got up extra early one morning. One day, when we both desperately needed her to take a nap I put her in her bed, read her a story, sang her a song, shut off her light and mostly closed her door. She seemed to roll over and go right to sleep. After about 20 min. I went up to check on her and peaked my head in the door to see her sitting at her little table with her head down on it. I thought maybe she fell asleep at the table but then I heard, "AMEN!" And she began to pretend eat the pretend food in front of her. Maybe I AM doing something right.

I AM NOT SUCH A FAILURE AFTER ALL EPISODE 2:
This morning I was catching up on some filing and Allie kept bringing me random things like an empty cup, some pieces of trash, some dirty clothes. By the time she got to the clothes I started wondering what she was doing. I thought to myself, "Is she cleaning her room...?" "No...she couldn't be!" So I asked her and she said "Yep!" OH, the joys of motherhood!

Historical Holiday Week

They say that this week was historical because St. Patricks Day and Easter will never be this close together again (at least not in our lifetime). On St. Patricks Day we had green eggs, ham and green toast for breakfast, decorated green sugar cookies, and had Shepherds Pie for dinner. We talked about where Ireland was on the globe and the kids asked if they could visit because they wanted to see real leprechauns. The Easter Bunny visited the kids on Saturday at their grandparents house. They got their baskets and had an Easter egg hunt. This is the perfect age for kids and holidays. We always have so much fun watching our kids reactions to all their surprises.







Maddy, Allie and Emma hiding in Grandma's bed


This is what a mentos does in a bottle of Diet Coke...(Chris saw it on Myth Busters and wanted to try it...the kids (and adults) thought it was pretty kool!)
Click on picture to get full effect.

**If you try this at home, demilledigest and any affiliate thereof makes no representations or warranties of any kind, either express or implied as to the operation of this experiment. DeMilledigest disclaims, to the full extent permissible by law that DD will not be liable for any damages of any kind arising from said experiment including but not limited to direct (sticky hands, possible loss of vision, messy clothes), indirect (ants or other pests attracted to soda),incidental punitive and consequential damages, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. :)

In the Motherhood

So if any of you are in need of a little motherly pick-me-up then you have to visit In the Motherhood. I found it last year in their first season. They now are in their second season. It is a website where real moms write the scripts and then actresses act them out. They are usually pretty hilarious.

Austin Gets Second Place

Austin entered the science fair this year. I know he is just a kindergartener but Chris and I both love science so I couldn't wait for him to get started. He has already shown interest in science himself so I thought it would be a good father-son project. He did all the work himself. I gave him the idea and we talked about the different steps but he really did a lot of the work himself. The day of the science fair I went in the morning to drop off his science project and found out that he had to be at the school all day...he usually goes to afternoon kindergarten. The judging was in the morning and he needed to be there to answer questions about his project. So by the time I got back to the school he was miserable and said that he wished he had never done a science project. He just wanted to go home. The award ceremony came and his name was called for second place out of 10 other Kindergarten projects. He finally got a smile on his face. I asked him later if he was glad he did it and, of course, he answered yes. He is already talking about what he is going to do next year.

You've Gotta Listen to This!

One of my really good friends, Crystal, from Las Vegas has just recorded her first CD! Julie Baird, one of Crystal's friends, wrote all the songs on this CD. I have never actually met Julie but she always played for Crystal when she would sing in sacrament or Enrichment or ward activities. Crystal was originally going to sing all the songs on the CD but being the humble person she is told Julie to have some more popular LDS singers sing some of them including, David Osborn, Jenny Jordan Frogley, etc. so that the CD would be more successful. I had a sneakpeak of one of the songs awhile ago and it is absolutely amazing, as I knew it would be. I couldn't wait for its official release. I finally bought the digital CD yesterday. It is amazing! And I know how much hard work went into it. You can access her site at juliebairdmusic.com.

The CD should soon be available for purchase at Deseret Book as well. Julie and Crystal would also love to know what you think so leave a comment on her website.

Abigail Turns ONE!

I can't believe it was a year ago that my sweet Abigail was born. She has been such a joy to our family. In the morning Chris spent much of the time working on my parents roof and doing some maintenance on our "little beater" and I spent about 6 or more hours on Abigail's cake! I am not sure why I do this to myself every birthday. I can't pick a normal cake to bake or buy one like most people...Noooo, I have to choose a 7 layer cake from $%@#. Even after 6+ hours the cake was not exactly like the pictures BUT we decided that it looked a little "Dr. Suessish" so that is what we will call it...the Dr. Seuss cake. Here are the pics of her birthday and of the "Dr. Seuss cake!"

Dee-lish!

Here are some more recipes! There is a lovely Valentine dessert (I know it is a little late for Valentines but maybe next year)! It looks a little hard but there are just a lot of steps...its not hard. I also made another dessert that was awesome...but usually if it has an Oreo crust it is pretty good in my book. I also made another Chicken dinner that my whole family liked. Chris said I should definitly make it again. I have made other stuffed chicken recipes before and this is the only one that he wanted again. Enjoy!

Chocolate Rhapsody
(courtesy of verybestbaking.com)

CAKE LAYER
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk

CHOCOLATE LAYER
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

RASPBERRY MOUSSE LAYER
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen raspberries in syrup, thawed, pureed and strained
3 bars (6-oz. box) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Premier White Baking Bars, broken into pieces
1 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Sweetened whipped cream (optional)
Fresh raspberries (optional)

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease 9-inch springform pan.

FOR CAKE LAYER:
COMBINE flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl. Beat sugar and butter in small mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Alternately beat in flour mixture and milk. Spread into prepared springform pan.

BAKE for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.

FOR CHOCOLATE LAYER:
MICROWAVE morsels and 3/4 cup cream in medium, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on HIGH (100%) power for 1 minute; STIR. The morsels may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring just until morsels are melted. Cool completely.

FOR RASPBERRY MOUSSE LAYER:
COMBINE sugar, water and cornstarch in medium saucepan; stir in raspberries. Bring mixture to a boil. Boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Cool completely.

MICROWAVE baking bars and 1/2 cup cream in medium, uncovered, microwave-safe bowl on MEDIUM-HIGH (70%) power for 1 minute; STIR. The bars may retain some of their original shape. If necessary, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals, stirring just until bars are melted. Cool completely. Stir into raspberry mixture.

BEAT remaining cream and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold raspberry mixture into whipped cream.

TO ASSEMBLE:
REMOVE side of springform pan; dust off crumbs. Grease inside of pan; reattach side. Spread 1/2 cup chocolate mixture over cake layer; freeze for 5 minutes. Spoon raspberry mousse over chocolate; freeze for 10 minutes. Carefully spread remaining chocolate mixture over raspberry mousse. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until firm. Carefully remove side of springform pan. Garnish with whipped cream and raspberries.



No-Melt Sundae Pie
(courtesy of kraftfoods.com)

15 OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, crushed (about 1-1/2 cups crumbs)
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
1 cup cold milk
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
2 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted
1/3 cup canned sweetened condensed milk

MIX cookie crumbs and butter; press firmly onto bottom and up side of 9-inch pie plate. Reserve 1/2 cup of the whipped topping. Refrigerate until ready to use.

POUR milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. Gently stir in remaining whipped topping. Spoon into crust. Mix melted chocolate and condensed milk until well blended. Spoon over pie. Cut through chocolate mixture several times with knife for marble effect.

FREEZE 6 hours or until firm. Remove pie from freezer 15 min. before serving. Let stand at room temperature to soften slightly. Top with the reserved whipped topping.

Mozzerella Chicken Roll-ups
(courtesy of kraftfoods.com)

1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Reduced Fat Mozzarella Cheese, divided (I doubled this)
2 oz. (1/4 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, softened (I doubled this)
1/4 cup finely chopped green peppers (I didn't have any green peppers so I used crushed red peppers...it was a little spicy but the kids ate it)
1/2 tsp. dried oregano leaves (I doubled this)
1/4 tsp. garlic salt (I doubled this)
4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.), pounded to 1/4-inch thickness
1 cup spaghetti sauce (I used Prego Garlic and Herb and I used more than a cup)

PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Mix 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese, the Neufchatel cheese, green peppers, oregano and garlic salt until well blended. Shape into 4 logs. Place 1 log on one of the short ends of each chicken breast; press into chicken lightly. Roll up each chicken breast tightly, tucking in ends of chicken around filling to completely enclose filling.

PLACE, seam-sides down, in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Spoon spaghetti sauce evenly over chicken; cover with foil.

BAKE 30 min. or until chicken is cooked through (170°F). Remove foil; sprinkle chicken with remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Bake an additional 3 to 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

I AM a Homemaker!

I read this article recently and just had to write this post. Sometimes I feel myself, when being asked if I work, being a little intimidated and saying "I'm JUST a homemaker..." I sometimes find myself wondering if I should be working (utilizing my degree) or working from home like so many moms do now. But deep down, I am irritated by it because I LOVE being home. Some moms out there might kill me for saying that, but I do. I love waking up with my children, feeding them breakfast, doing little projects, helping them learn how to work around the house, helping with homework, running them around to their activities, cooking dinner and even cleaning up after them. Don't get me wrong...it is not without its moments!! But, I love being home and when I think of all the things that I would miss if I had to work I am very saddened. I am grateful that my husband has a good enough job that allows me to have my greatest desire. I am also grateful for a husband who appreciates all that "just staying home" entails. Although we do go without a lot of extra "toys," we have what we need and a lot of what we want too! So, I AM a homemaker and I love it and am proud of it!

With that being said...we had a very fun week last week. It finally reached temperatures that were good enough to go outside. The kids rode their bikes outside everyday last week. On Friday, the girls and I went to the park and even got sunburned! I forgot the altitude change makes you burn easier here... Here are some pictures of the week! I am glad we enjoyed it while it lasted because it snowed again yesterday...

Dancing in the Sunshine



Resting after playing hard


Playing at the park with cousins