You Were Right Mom!

Home grown Broccoli is AMAZING! When we were little, we lived here in Arizona. So ever since we've moved back and done a garden, my mom keeps telling us to add Broccoli- that it's easy to grow and super yummy. And she was right! It started out small- the kids loved checking it to see how big it was getting...

Are the heads supposed to be bigger? I wasn't sure... But we finally couldn't wait any longer and let the kids go for it. They LOVED pulling the broccoli out of the dirt, washing it, cutting it and eating it! Colby ate almost 3 heads all by himself!

We will definitely grow it again. It was one of the easiest things we've grown- right up there with lettuce...

and cilantro!

EDITORS NOTE: My mom emailed frantically, "Don't pull up the whole plant! You just clip the broccoli off the top and the stalk with grow more!" Luckily we did that with 3 plants so hopefully they will grow more broccoli!

Valentine Decor!~

Many of you have asked :-) so here are some vday decorations we have... This Be Mine sign was made as part of an Enrichment group- my friend Mary has a cricut and does AMAZING things with it. She actually sells super cute signs that she makes but was nice enough to cut out all the stuff for us to assemble these. LOTS of ribbon gives it attitude! Scrapbook stores often have pre-cut shapes like this available to buy or you can even die-cut them out there... If you have a light over your dining table it's fun to hang things off it. Snowflakes in the winter... hearts for vday!
Susie got me these adorable jars for Christmas. With every season you can just switch out what you put in them. She got them at Sam's Club. They can be called "Apothecary jars." Sometimes even Ross and TJ Maxx have them. I went a little too crazy with the ribbon but oh well!

My little secret! I put a canning jar in the middle of my candy jar so I wouldn't have to buy so many dang M&Ms! I had to buy 6 bags as it was! ;-) Oh- the Heart Marshmellows are from Dollar Tree. I bought 6 bags of those too. Mary hair sprays her candy in front of her girlies before she puts them in the jar- so they don't all get eaten- but I just couldn't do that!

Fun stuff... I'm always looking out for new ideas so let me know if you post your decor!

The Pioneer Woman Cooks!

Have you guys ever checked out the Pioneer Woman Cooks? She's up for a foodie award so I had to check her website out and it's pretty cool! She has step by step pics of her making all the recipes and she has a wide variety of yummy sounding ones. Her website is set up super nice and organized- go check it out!
This week I tried the Cheese Muffins with our Pecan Crusted Salmon and YUM! We ALL loved them. They are super easy and don't make too big of a mess.

Fig’s Cheese Muffins
1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups shredded colby-jack cheese

1 cup milk

1 egg

1/4 cup

(1/2 stick) melted butter (I used salted)

Whisk together dry ingredients, then stir in cheese. In a separate bowl, whisk egg, milk, and butter together. Pour milk mixture into dry ingredients and stir with a spoon to combine. Bake in greased muffin tins at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Makes 12.

If you like Red Lobsters biscuits you can add the butter/garlic recipe to the tops of the muffins right when you pull them out of the oven- I didn't add this but it would add nice flavor...

Red Lobster Biscuit Butter

1/4 C. butter

1 tsp. parsley flakes

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning- optional

Melt butter and add spices. Brush butter over muffins!

Spread the V-Day Love!

Valentine is in full swing here at our house! I've been asked to teach a little class for our ward's Enrichment on Valentine's Sweets & Treats. (Next Thursday night at 6:30 PM at my house!!) I'm having my cute friend Kay Lynne help and we are going to do all sorts of amazingly cute and EASY ideas to make your Valentines day special. I will be posting ALL the ideas & recipes online for them to reference, so look forward to that coming up soon... I will also be posting some Valentine Day Decor ideas... FUN!

Spend some money for a good cause!

I'm sure everyone reading my blog has heard about Stephanie and Christian Nielson... If not, they are parents of 4 beautiful children and were in a small plane crash last summer. Both were burned severely and Stephanie (Nie Nie) was burned over 80% of her body. She still has possibly up to a 100 surgery's left and their medical costs are in the millions with no end in sight. Check out her website here or her sisters website (she has 3 of Stephanie's children) here.Today I was talking to my friend Angie, who told me about a silent auction online right now here with all proceeds benifitting the Nielson family. She will be mad at me because she hasn't even posted it on her own blog, but she made the ADORABLE apron that is item #99 for the auction. I'm totally bidding. I LOVE IT!!! It is just the pattern of a Anthropologie apron I splurged on and I love the prints she used. Babes, how much can i spend?!?
When you consider this amazing family in need and ALL the blessings that most of us have... I think we all have some mula to donate towards a good cause, right?!? The auction has everything from jewlery to Mac Cosmetics to adorable stationary- go check it out! Just don't bid against me for the apron- ha ha! (Read the info at the top- the auction goes live at a benefit concert so if someone outbids you at that you don't win the item!)

My "hot" date this weekend!

I neglected to find a babysitter in time for our date night Saturday... We had worked around the house ALL day and were ancy to get out... So we took the whole fam along!

We told them to dress their best and made them PROMISE to behave. They were so excited to get to come out to the Macaroni Grill with us. They love that place and we just don't take them that often...We had a great time and the kiddos behaved as promised!
Such a cute pic of Colby and Ger, but I had to show everyone the sad news! Colby was running away from Ger (who was Dr. Octopus) last week and he fell and hit his mouth on the travertine. It was bleeding like crazy and he got a big bump on his lip, but we thought it was fine... until his front left tooth kept getting darker and darker! AGHH!!! We took him into the Dentist and it looks like the tooth has no damage to the nerve or his adult tooth, but he will have this purply ugly brown tooth until it falls out. BAH! How sad! His perfectly cute smile is a little marred by it and it makes me so sad. But boys will be boys and I'm just glad it doesn't bother him. The funny thing is, his cousin JJ was riding his bike a few weeks before and fell and hit his tooth and his RIGHT front tooth is brown now too! I will have to get a pic of them together with their poor brown front teeth!

Hope you've all had a great weekend!

Getting Crafty with Martha...

ha ha! I saw this little heating pad project on MarthaStewart.com and was excited to try it because my Grandma just had her knee replaced and it would be the perfect thing to send! It is the easiest project because you just have to sew straight lines. ;-) After a little research I decided to fill mine with Golden Flaxseed, which I bought from Sprouts. I used Heather Bailey's Bijoix fabric line which is adorable. The heart was pretty easy to add, but I need to practice my sewing skills because sewing around the curves on that baby on was a little tricky.

But you just have to heat it in the microwave 1-2 minutes and it is supposed to stay warm for quite a while... you can put it around your neck while you watch a movie, on your tummy if you are having cramps, or on whatever is sore or achey! You can also stick it in a gallon Ziploc and throw it in the freezer and it can be a cold pack too. They just say DON'T get it wet and DON'T burn it in the microwave. It would make a great Valentine gift too! Happy Crafting!

Hail to Hobby Lobby!

I forgot how much I LOVE that store! It is AMAZING! Seroiusly. I always shopped there in Texas since we had one close and now we have one just down the street from us. Jenny gave me a gift card for my birthday and I spent all of it and more yesterday. (THANKS JENNY!!! SUCH A FABULOUS GIFT!!!) I was there with the kiddos in tow for almost 1 1/2 hours! They have everything from home decor to crafts to picture frames to super cute fabric (way better than Joanns) to seasonal items etc. AND the best thing about them is they are always having huge sales where half the store is 50% off- I really don't buy anything if it's not on sale. They had all their ribbon spools half off, and they have really cute ribbon... Their tulle rolls were half off and I use that for everything these days... Their scrapbook paper was half off... And their valentine Decor was only 30% off but we still picked out some stuff that still was a great deal and the kiddos even got some v-day crafts that will be a lot of fun. ALSO you can always go online and print off one of these coupons for 40% off anything. FABULOUS! Anyways! Go to Hobby Lobby! I will be posting pics soon of my V-day decor!

Up for a race?

It's sooo hard to find races around here that aren't on a Sunday. I had the same problem in Texas. Well there are two races coming up for GREAT causes that are on Saturdays- hurray! Here's the info! (I'm hoping to do one or the other but I'm getting an MRI for my poor ankle next week so I'll see what the doc says!)

London's Run is Jan. 31st at Schnepfs farm. The running events are 1/2 marathon, 10 K, 2 mile fun/walk and toddler races. It is a large charity fund raiser for children with cancer- named London after the organizer's 7-year-old daughter who died of leukemia. It is a great thing to do as a family though- they have many scheduled events from face painting, bounce zones to pancake breakfast. Hurry and sign up for early registration! Go to www.londonsrun.org.

On February 14th there are some races to fundraise for a pair of sisters in Queens Creek who are conjoined- sharing one heart and one liver. Brooke is friends with them- I believe they are in her ward- so she has given me the info about them. You can check out their website with info at http://www.twosisters-oneheart.blogspot.com/. They have 3K, 5K & 10K races followed by post run celebration with food, activities & fun, Bouncy Houses, Rock Wall, Crafts & Activities, Vendor Booths, Music & Entertainment, Raffle Drawing for AWESOME Prizes etc. A fun family event and a great cause to support.

Chance to Win a Wii!

Head over to http://www.bakerella.blogspot.com/! She has outdone herself again making these adorable "mii's" from the Wii! And since she loves the Wii so much she is giving one away if she randomly selects you and you have guessed correctly which mii she picks to play on the wii. I don't think I've ever played the Wii- though I have seen people play- but it looks fun so here's to hoping I win. ;-)

You have nothing to lose by going to Bakerellas site either, because she has so many fabulous ideas and recipes that I love. She has a sprite cake recipe that I always make my cupcakes with... her cupcake pops are so yummy and fun to make... her truffles are so fancy and yummy and not too hard... she has great fondant ideas... she just has so many cute ideas so go check her out!

Saturday at the Lake!

Wow. I'm not kidding when I say the weather here is AMAZING this time of year. It's been in the high 70's this past week and hit 78 on Saturday. We couldn't resist heading up to the lake with George and Susie and their kiddos. We had a blast! Ger wakeboarded (top pic is him doing a grab and the bottom pic is called what Babe?!?), Susie skiied, and George and I surfed. It was the first time I had been back on the water since my surgery. YAY! So fun. The water temp was 66 and we have dry suits, thanks to George, which are fantastic. I didn't even wear my swimsuit (my ankle is still so poopy I didn't think I would get out there) but I stayed totally dry thanks to wearing a dry suit!

We played and played on the beach- the kiddos built all sorts of sand sculptures and we threw around frisbees and a football and hung out...

The kiddos LOVED the tube rides! Seriously, it was that warm. They didn't get chilly at all out there! Ger was a sport to go out there with them for the slow rides...

and the fast ones!

Super fun! Lovin the AZ sun!

my little helper

Colby is at that stage where if he doesn't get a nap, he is either asleep for the night at 6, or has a nap from 4-6 and is up until 11! BAH! So hard to figure out how to remedy this. But in any case, he is usually up until late being my little helper... and with all his late nights he has become quite good at folding laundry! He stacked all my socks so cute (as you can see) and folded all of his shirts and pants to boot! Luckily it wore him right out and he conked out on the couch while I finished up. I usually fold laundry while watching Ace of Cakes off the FoodNetwork. It is the coolest reality show about this bakery called Charm City Cakes who seriously can make any kind of cake people dream up. And it's funny. You'll have to give it a try if you haven't seen it. It's not like I get baking ideas from it really, it's more for just entertainment purposes. ;-)

NOTE: Colby is all boy! He's fallen asleep clutching tightly his hat and spiderman action figure. Lately he just can't go anywhere unless he's got toys clutched in his hand! I remember when Remington (our friends son) did that when he was about Colby's age and I thought it was so funny and now I think it's just a boy thing!

Thank Heavens for Canned Chicken :-)

Costco canned chicken really pulled through for me this week- ha ha! It was a busy week and I just didn't have time to cook my own chicken or run to Costco for one ... and the meals still turned out fabulous! I made Central Market Tortilla Soup with 2 cans of chicken and it was still super yummy (I added it when I added the spices so it got plenty seasoned). And I added it to Capellini Caprese (recipe is on my blog) and it was great! I marinated the chicken in the Tuscan Italian Salad Dressing for an hour before cooking up the recipe and it was delicious. So if you need to add a little protein to a meal or don't have time for the real thing, go for the canned chicken!

ALSO! Speaking of Costco and Chicken, the Cattle Drive Chicken Chili from Costco is SOOO YUMMY. I'm not a big chili eater but LOVE this stuff. We had them on Baked Potatoes (a fast and yummy meal idea!) this week.

COOKIES!

Mmm... Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies. We love this recipe. A family favorite from Grandma Hallows! We gobbled them up so fast I didn't even get a pic of the cooked up cookie. The girlies love baking with me... and eating the dough with me! Here's the recipe- Ger loves these cookies fresh out of the oven with vanilla ice cream. Yum.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 small package chocolate pudding mix (3.9 oz)
1 tsp. baking soda
2 1/4 cups flour
1 bag chocolate chips (Guittard Maxi are my fav)
1 cup nuts (optional)

Heat oven to 375. Cream sugar and butter well. Add vanilla and eggs and beat well. Add dry pudding mix and beat well. Add flour and baking soda and chocolate chips until well combined. Make balls and bake for 6-8 minutes. Don't overbake- you want a nice soft cookie. (I scoop with a TBS size measuring spoon, scrape it on the top of the bowl, and dump it on the trays and the girls form the dough into a nice shaped ball!)

GirLs NiGhT OuT!

Friday night we had dinner together as a family and then me and the girlies took a before pic...and headed out to our hair appointment with Candi. She is fabulous- I have been using her ever since we moved to AZ- and she had room in her busy schedule to fit the girls in. They have been SOOO excited about getting a hair cut. They love short hair and both wanted a few inches off. I ALWAYS wanted long hair growing up and never have cut mine short EVER (sad I know!) but they look adorable with short and sassy hair! It makes their hair look so thick and full and doesn't tangle as easily which is great. Mia was the first to have her's done so her hair had lost it's flip by the time we got home... but she looks just like her American girl doll look alike and LOVES her new do.

With her bangs and bob, Sydney looks so much older! She is so beautiful and loved when Kaylynn and Susie and some others noticed her hair right off and told her how cute she looked. It's so cute when they are so pleased with themselves and how they look! It was worth every penny. Thanks Candi!

OLD NAVY Ok, don't panic, but Old Navy's Clearance Section is going ANOTHER 50% off tomorrow. I've already stocked up for my kids for next year, our cousins, and our neighbors- ha ha- but the girl today said if I bring my receipt in tomorrow, they will price adjust ALL of it! Wahoo! (It has to be within the last 2 weeks of original purchase.) So I don't know if that is also going to happen online, but if you need some winter clothes for next year, go stock up. You could even go tonight if you are panicky and just get it price adjusted tomorrow. Our store here still has a good selection... I got boys polos for 97 cents, cute ruffly vnecks for Syd for $3.49, adorable "last year model" swimsuits for the girlies for $3.49, etc. So I can't believe I'll get more money back once I get the receipt price adjusted for the new sale. Anyways, happy shopping!


ALSO: If you live by the Superstition Springs mall the KB Toys is going out of business. Everything is 60-70% off- I got a bunch of Crayola Wonder and Crayola Art items for car trips this summer for super cheap and also got games for birthdays/vacations, playdough, pool toys (great for vacas too), etc for amazingly good prices. I felt like I was stealing. ;-) So write up your list for birthdays this year and go get all of the gifts 60-70% off! (I always like to have extra birthday gifts on hand for friends in my closet since sometimes life is crazy and I don't have time to run out and get a gift. PLUS it's great to give a FABULOUS gift and not have them know it was just a portion of the price. ;-) ) They still had a great selection too...

Any other deals I should know about!?!

Valentine Day Idea...

How cute would this...only with a heart shape instead of butterfly... be for Valentines day! I am not a big sewer but it's as easy as it gets- if you can cut out fabric, spray on some material adhesive, and sew around the edges you are good to go. It is cute for girlies of all ages and a cheap little Valentine gift for your girlys. It's a great baby shower gift as well- everyone loves something unique and handmade. You can buy a shirt or onsie at Walmart or Target for a few bucks- I just bought some on sale at DownEast for my girls that I am going to use.

Instructions are here: http://portabellopixie.typepad.com/. On the right hand under Free Patterns click on Mariposa.

There are so many fun fabrics out there- I love Heather Bailey's line and Sandi Hendersons line and may use one or two of these... I will post them once I do them to show how they turn out!

More Valentine Ideas will be coming because I have been asked to do a little class on v-day ideas for my ward's Enrichment in a few weeks! If you have some for me, PLEASE feel free to leave them.

Carpe Diem!

Seize the day!

And have a great weekend too. ;-)

(The kids often want to jump out of the car at the end of our street and "race" us home!)

My Word for 2009

My friend Michelle has the fabulous idea of picking out a word for each year... her theme to live by for the year! I'm totally copying her. She has picked Peace for this year... there are so many great words out there ;-) but I finally settled on:

1. A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.
2. An intense emotional attachment, as for a treasured object.
3. A person who is the object of deep or intense affection or attraction; beloved. Often used as a term of endearment.
4. An expression of one's affection: Send him my love.

I want to do EVERYTHING in life this year because I want do it out of total LOVE- not because I have to. This came from a quote Richard G. Scott gave in this month's Ensign, "Try reading the Book of Mormon because you want to, not because you have to." What a great reminder is that?!?

Love for things comes and goes it seems- sometimes it's easier to LOVE things better than others, but I really want to EVERY DAY, have more appreciation and love for all the beauty's of life... love for my ornery kids instead of frustration, love for cleaning toilets because I have a healthy and strong body that is capable of doing hard things, love for all aspects of motherhood- even the not so fun parts of it...

As Gordon B. Hinckley said, "Life is like an old time journey...delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas, and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride." I want to LOVE the ride I'm on every single day, whether it be a great day or a not so great day. So maybe gratitude goes with love... Charity as well? Anyways, I will let you know how I do! ;-)

Photography by: www.janellejoyphotography.com

Happy New Year!

Our New Years Eve consisted of going to Urgent Care with ALL 3 kiddos (we got a lovely rash from the hot tub that needed antibiotics, Walgreens for the prescriptions, and then straight to Cheesecake Factory to start our celebrating! After a fabulously yummy dinner we headed home for sparklers, Mrs. Cavanaughs chocolates (thanks mom!), party hats and blowers, and an early bed time! FUN! Wishing each and every one of you a very happy new Year! We are SO incredibly blessed to have an amazing group of friends and family- you help make our life oh so Fabulous and we are totally grateful for each of you. Hoping this year will be the best yet for you and your fam!

Christmas Holiday Wrap Up

Ok, hopefully this won't be too lengthy, but here goes! (Ger's at the Fiesta Bowl right now so I've got some blogging time. Go TEXAS!)

Christmas morning started early for me (6:15) with a family conference call to Zach on his mission in ENGLAND! Wow. He is doing so fabulous- it was so great to hear his voice. He is opptomistic, happy, busy, has had a few baptisms lately, and his scriptural knowledge is incredible. I'm so jealous. ;-) Missions are amazing! We feel so blessed to have him out there- he inspires us every week to be better and be more grateful for the fullness of the gospel!The kiddos got up around 7ish and we had a magical Christmas morning! They were so excited with everything they got and grateful as always yelling, "THANK YOU SANTA!!!" They got a lot of snow stuff- pants, gloves, boots, etc.- and some fun games and toys and treats. YUMMY! We went over to our friends the LeSueurs for breakfast and it was sooo yummy. I made Sticky Buns and a our traditional berry platter and Ashlee had an amazingly yummy sausage casserole. I need the recipe! Then the the kiddos played, colored on rocks (Ashlee is such a great Mom because she encourages her kiddos to be creative and make messes- I love it!), went on a bike ride, and did lovely fashion make-overs as you can see! Thanks Aunt Heids for the fabulous make up. They were looking good. ;-)

Then we got home and just PLAYED! Colby LOVED his very first race car set- it was even cooler since it was the Batmobile!
George and Susie had us over that night for a yummy dinner and Smores! Kind of an unusual dessert for Christmas but the weather here is great, so why not!?!
Well, the day after Christmas we left the nice weather for the SNOW! Showlow AZ is about 3 1/2 hours north east of us and they had just been dumped on. We went up with our good friends the Breinholts and had a FABULOUS time.

Every time I turned around, Colby was eating more snow!

It was GORGEOUS up there- their cabin backs up to the Forest Service so the view is amazing.We played in the snow, hot tubbed, rode the Rangers around, sledded, rode snowmobiles (they even had a little one for the kids!), ate yummy food, drank cocoa and hot cider, watched movies, you name it!

Brigham had a lot of firsts, including his first time sledding! He looked so cute all bundled up for the snow. Mia LOVED playing with him.We found a great sledding hill and I was surprised that the kiddos weren't scared at all to just fly down it. Even Sydney was loving it! Don't you love their sassy snowpants?!? Abby played Santa and picked those up for us in Flagstaff! It's impossible to shop for snow stuff here- it just doesn't exist. I splurged on Landsend gloves for them and they were AWESOME! The kids played and played in the snow and their fingers never got cold.

Good times. Great friends. It was a great holiday season this year for the Dovers. :-) And this is definitely a novel of a post, but if you still want to see more, check out these 2 short slideshows!