Hoffman Hoopla

Insta-Friday

2012-01-27T22:23:00.005-06:00

Saturday

We put on the boys bathing suits to go wash the cars then it started to rain. Then they started "fighting on our bed.

Crazy Boys

Saturday Night

My mom watched the boys while we went out for my friends Ashley's 30th Birthday

Monday

Playing outside on the nice warm day in January

Tuesday

Playing Pictionary after supper

Thursday

"Coffee" after school

My House Party Box came.... Potty Party Time!!

Friday

Mexican for supper with Papa Andy

Then Menchie's... YUM!!

Chicken Fried Rice

2012-01-24T20:50:00.003-06:00

This recipe is from my sisters cookbook club.... This months cookbook is Easy Chinese Recipes by Bee Yinn Low. I could not find a good deal on shrimp so I decided to make chicken fried rice instead. I cooked the chicken before I made the fried rice and just added it when the recipe called for shrimp.

It was a quick and easy recipe but did dirty a lot of dishes. This definitely a recipe we will be making again the whole family loved it.

If you have time give it a try before the end of February and post your review on your blog (link it to the cookbook clubs review).

Moving to Maryland

In the ingredients is something called "overnight steamed white rice." To make it, you'll need to make a batch of steamed rice the day before and keep it in the refrigerator overnight to dry out the moisture. "That's the key to a great fried rice so it's not wet and sticky," Bee tells me. "Fresh steamed rice has too much moisture, so it's not great for fried rice."

Classic Shrimp Fried Rice

Serves 2 as a main dish or 4 as part of a multicourse meal

3 cups overnight steamed white rice
2½ tablespoons oil
3 large eggs, beaten and seasoned with a pinch of salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
One ½-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
4 ounces shelled and deveined medium-sized raw shrimp
1 cup (160 g) store-bought frozen peas and carrots
Salt, to taste

Seasonings
1½ tablespoons soy sauce
½ tablespoon fish sauce
¼ teaspoon sesame oil
3 dashes white pepper

Gently break up the lumpy overnight rice with the back of a spoon or fork. Mix all the ingredients for the seasonings in a small bowl. Set aside.

Heat ½ tablespoon of the oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Gently pour in the beaten eggs and fry until it just starts to set, about 1 minute. Flip the egg over and continue to fry until set. Use the spatula to break the eggs into small pieces. Dish out and set aside.

Reheat the wok or skillet over high heat and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the minced garlic and ginger, stir-fry until they become light brown in color or aromatic.

Add the shrimp and stir-fry until they are half-cooked or the surface turns opaque; then add the frozen peas and carrots. Stir quickly to combine the ingredients, about 10 seconds. Spoon the rice into the wok or skillet and combine everything evenly with a spatula.

Stir in the seasonings, blending them well with the rice. Return the cooked eggs to the wok or skillet, stir to combine and then cook the rice. Keep stirring the fried rice until slightly toasted, about 3 minutes. Add salt to taste, dish out and serve immediately.

"Easy Chinese Recipes by Bee Yinn Low" (www2.tbo.com)

Free Valentine’s Day Card from Tiny Prints

2012-01-24T16:04:00.003-06:00

Free Valentine’s Day Card from Tiny Prints

Tiny Prints is offering a FREE Valentine’s Day card when you use coupon code TPGFREE17A at the checkout. Ship the card to yourself for free, or have it sent to someone else for just $.44. (copied from mommysavers.com)

ONLY Valid until 1/25

I paid NOTHING for the card :) AWESOME!!!

Insta-friday

2012-01-20T22:30:00.001-06:00

Tuesday

Morning Races

Great Job Bro!!

Homemade King Cake right out of the oven... Oh My Gosh the house smelled so good.

Wednesday

Storytime at the library... doing a right hand, left hand poem.

Thursday

Thanks to Road Ninja app & CC's for 50% off Grande drinks. YEAH for $2.20 coffee :)

I used to store books in the car on the back of the seats and hand them to the boys when they wanted one. Lately Reece has been very demanding about want a certain book.

This week I decided to buy a basket to store in between them. This way they could pick the book they wanted and put them back when they are done. (yes I did put the seat belt on the basket so it would not fall during a quick stop)

It is working wonderfully they are "reading" a ton more books then normal since they don't have to wait for me to pass them one.

Friday

We went to the LASM with our friend

Reece and McHugh working on the ABC puzzle together

My 1st Homemade King Cake

2012-01-17T22:10:00.000-06:00

Last year after my sister made her second homemade King Cake, I searched online for the perfect recipe (for me that means one with NO filling), but never got around to making one. We have already enjoyed two store bought King Cakes this year one from Gambino's in Baton Rouge and one from Mandeville Bake Shop (my all time favorite, thanks MOM). Then my friend Liz posted about a King Cake she made Sunday, so I decided this was the week to do it.

I decided to try John Besh's recipe first... 3 of the 4 recipes I saved were similar to this one. It was really easier then I thought it was going to be. The cake is super soft and has great texture. Keith LOVED it, but I think it has to much nutmeg (I put 1tsp) or maybe I just need to omit the nutmeg because I think I used to just cinnamon. I just LOVE Mardi Gras time :)

JOHN BESH'S KING CAKE (Serves 10–12)

As you knead the dough for this Mardi Gras cake, watch for it to begin to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl. If that doesn’t happen (because the moisture content in flour fluctuates with the humidity), add a spoonful or two more flour.

For the cake:

1 cup lukewarm milk, about 110°

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons dry yeast

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup melted butter

5 egg yolks, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon zest

3 teaspoons cinnamon

Several gratings of fresh nutmeg (I used 1tsp)

For the icing:

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup condensed milk

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Purple, green, and gold decorative sugars

1 fève (fava bean) or plastic baby to hide in the cake after baking

1. For the cake, pour the warm milk into a large bowl. Whisk in the granulated sugar, yeast, and a heaping tablespoon of the flour, mixing until both the sugar and the yeast have dissolved.

2. Once bubbles have developed on the surface of the milk and it begins to foam, whisk in the butter, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add the remaining flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg and fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a large rubber spatula.

3. After the dough comes together, pulling away from the sides of the bowl, shape it into a large ball. Knead the dough on a floured surface until it is smooth and elastic, about 15 minutes.

4. Put the dough back into the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside in a draft-free place to let it proof, or rise, for 1 1/2 hours or until the dough has doubled in volume.

5. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Once the dough has risen, punch it down and divide the dough into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough between your palms into a long strip, making 3 ropes of equal length. Braid the 3 ropes around one another and then form the braided loaf into a circle, pinching ends together to seal. Gently lay the braided dough on a nonstick cookie sheet and let it rise until it doubles in size, about 30 minutes.

6. Once it's doubled in size, place the cookie sheet in the oven and bake until the braid is golden brown, about 30 minutes (I checked mine at 15mins and it was done). Remove the cake from the oven, place on a wire rack, and allow to cool for 30 minutes.

7. For the icing, while the cake is cooling, whisk together the powdered sugar, condensed milk, and lemon juice in a bowl until the icing is smooth and very spreadable. If the icing is too thick, add a bit more condensed milk; if it’s a touch too loose, add a little more powdered sugar.

8. Once the cake has cooled, spread the icing over the top of the cake and sprinkle with purple, green, and gold decorative sugars while the icing is still wet. Tuck the fève or plastic baby into the underside of the cake and, using a spatula, slide the cake onto a platter.

—From "My New Orleans" by John Besh/Andrews McMeel Publishing

Spaghetti With Sausage and Peppers

2012-01-14T22:08:00.004-06:00

I got this recipe from my friend Mischa a couple years ago. It is one I make a lot because it is quick, easy and tastes great (now if I could just get Grady to start eating it again).

Spaghetti With Sausage and Peppers

Prep Time: 20 minutes 
Cook Time: 20 minutes 
Yield: Makes 4 servings

Ingredients
8 ounces uncooked spaghetti
1 (1-lb.) package mild Italian sausage, casings removed
1 medium onion, cut into eighths
1 medium-size green bell pepper, cut into strips
1 medium-size red or yellow bell pepper, cut into strips
2 to 3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (28-oz.) can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation
1. Prepare pasta according to package directions.

2. Meanwhile, cook sausage in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat 8 to 10 minutes or until meat is no longer pink, breaking sausage into pieces while cooking. Remove sausage and drippings from Dutch oven, and drain well on paper towels.

3. Sauté onion and next 3 ingredients in hot oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat 5 to 6 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir in tomatoes, salt, and pepper; cook 4 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Stir in sausage, pasta, and cheese. Transfer mixture to serving platter, and serve immediately.

To freeze: Prepare recipe as directed. Cool 30 minutes. Place pasta mixture in a 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Freeze up to 2 months. Thaw in refrigerator 24 hours. Preheat oven to 350°. Remove and discard plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Cover with aluminum foil, and bake at 350° for 40 to 45 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Turkey Spaghetti With Sausage and Peppers: Substitute 1 (1-lb.) package Italian turkey sausage for mild Italian sausage. Remove and discard casings from sausage. Increase olive oil to 2 Tbsp. Cook sausage in 1 Tbsp. hot oil as directed in Step 2. Discard any drippings in Dutch oven. Proceed with recipe as directed, sauteing onion and next 3 ingredients in remaining 1 Tbsp. oil.

Rudette Gelish, Playa del Rey, California, Southern Living, FEBRUARY 2008

LEGO organization

2012-01-11T22:28:00.001-06:00

Sometime after Grady turned 4yrs old we took home a set of LEGOs from my parents house that was my siblings and mine when we were little. It was a great starting point but we really needed more pieces and parts. Grady asked Santa to bring him "little" LEGOs for Christmas this year. Then both the Grandparents got him sets and he also got a couple small creator sets (which I really like b/c you can make 3 different things with 1 set). Once we got all the pieces together we quickly realized we needed to organized them.

I started to look up ways to organize LEGOs online. Some people sort them by color, which looks nice but does not really help find a 2x2 piece or a long flat piece. We decided we need to sort my types of pieces. Grady and Keith started to sort the pieces into containers we had. Once we had idea of the size containers we would need I made a couple trips to Wal-mart to get these containers and then found the really small ones at Hobby Lobby today.

This is what happens when you have two HIGHLY organized parents one who is an engineer and one who is a little bit OCD. Grady had a lot of fun sorting with us... I think he is a little OCD also and two years in a Montessori classroom helps.

We still store a couple big & flat pieces at the bottom of the basket. I also got Grady a binder and sheet protectors to store the instructions and idea booklets that come with the LEGOs.

We used to have all the LEGOs in one of these baskets but now they are all organized in two basket. It is now much easier to build something and just takes a couple seconds more to sort when taking apart a creation.

All cleaned up and hidden away :)

Ornament Wreath

2012-01-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

I finally made the Ornament Wreath I found on Pinterest months ago, I waited till after Christmas so I could get 50% off ornaments.

It was really quick and easy. I did not reread the how-to until I was about to start, I was really surprised when I read that it would take 80 ornaments. I lucked out because that I thought I had bought enough to make 2 wreaths. I used about 20 big and 20 little ornaments.

Now I hope they still have some ornaments left at the store so I can finish my second wreath. I also need to find some big beautiful ribbon to hang the wreaths from.

Hoffman Indoor Olympics

2012-01-07T22:40:00.000-06:00

The boys were FULL of energy at supper so Keith came up with idea of having Indoor Olympics to wear the boys out. Keith thought of most the events and we also used some ideas from some indoor game books I have.

Event 1
Speed: Go to every room in the house as a team (timed)

Event 2
Stamina: total team laps while walking on all fours (this was REALLY hard I could only do 4)

Event 3

Balance: total team laps while balancing an eraser on your head (the boys used the rough side, Keith and I used the smooth side)

Event 4
Hand Eye: team total of how many balls out of 10 can you make in basket

Events 5
Smarts: Scavenger Hunt for the boys... they each were looking for a different items and Reece had easier clues

Grady and I won after the tiebreaker (another Scavenger Hunt).

Grady woke up this morning wanting to play Olympics again so I guess it was a hit. We will have to start thinking of new games for the next Olympics :)

Handy Dad... Rope swing

2012-01-06T17:41:00.002-06:00

My parents got Keith a Handy Dad book so as soon as we got home from Mandeville Keith was ready to build something. The rope swing did not look that hard and they only thing we needed to buy was the nylon rope since we had the hose and board.

The scary part for me was how the book told him to hang the rope.... which is to climb the tree. I was getting really nervous about now and had a talk with Grady about going to get the phone inside if I told him to. Can you find Keith in the tree?

going higher...

tying the knot

then he had to go to lower branch to saw off a branch. This part took the longest.

We all had to try it out.

It is a lot of fun.

Reece did a really good job holding on.

Grady LOVES it. He woke up the next morning ready to go outside and swing.

GoodBye and Hello!!

2012-01-01T23:58:00.002-06:00

Goodbye 2011,

got rid of the High Chair

1st time Grady drew a person

Grady started Elite gymnastics

Reece went to Little Gym

nephew Kyle was born

Grady hates wearing pants so as soon as we get home he takes them off

Grady started drawing firetrucks and fireboats

We SOLD our House

Race for the Cure

I cut Keith's hair for the 1st time

Keith got a kindey stone

"ball" "ball" "ball" I hear this all day long. Reece loves balls, trucks & books (and can say them all)

Covington Mardi Gras Parade

packing while Keith was on turnaround

Reece got tubes

Grady turned 4

MOVED to Central

YMCA soccer team

Went to see Steff in New Orleans

Egg Hunt at St James place

Planted 9 trees in our backyard & Painted WHOLE house

Reece is drinking from a cup

Grady is reading

Candlelight Ceremony at LaPrint

More Swimming lessons for Grady

Blueberry picking

Housewarming Party

Keith 32nd Birthday

Our 7th Wedding Anniversary

Vacation Bible School

Kenilworth INDEPENDENCE DAY PARADE

Grady went to BRSA Soccer Camp Tiny Tots

Grand Isle

Coed Summer Soccer

Playing spiderman

My Grandma O'Meara Passed away

Winston got sick and had to put him sleep

My cousins baby Ronan was born

Grady's 1st day of School! Pre-K year at La Printaniere Montessori

Reece loves to sit in your lap a read books

Grady started building with little legos

Katherines 31st Birthday

went to see Blue Dog paintings

Grady can put together 100 piece puzzles

ROCE Awards Dinner for Keith

Blue Bayou ExxonMobil Family Day

Zachary soccer league

Destin

watched Kyle for 4 days

Reece had his 1st hot chocolate

we converted Reece crib/cage (what Grady calls it) to a toddler bed

made Natural playground and update the tree house.

Robots for Halloween

Reece's 2nd Birthday

Grady "helped" fry the turkeys for Thanksgiving

Got to see Kelley and her family :)

Grady listened to the 1st Harry Potter book

Grady learned how to tie his shoes

Grady listened to the first book in The Narnia Series (The Magician's Nephew)

Had a Wonderful Christmas!

made a rope swing

HELLO 2012!!

Link to all my GoodBye and Hello posts

Christmas Round: 4 & 5

2011-12-30T23:24:00.000-06:00

Round 4: O'Meara Christmas

Monday morning we Skyped with Stephaine, Bogdan and his parents. Then the O'Meara's (my moms bothers and sisters and there families) came to my parents house to celebrate. We were also able to skype with the Marsolan since they could not come either.

Grady enjoying dessert after he ate a fried turkey leg.

Round 5 (Final Round): Marino Christmas

Tuesday we went to Morgan City to have lunch with the Marino Family. We had a wonderful time hanging out with my Grandma Marino, my Aunt and her family and my cousin and her family. We also Skyped with my Uncle in Colorado. The boys LOVED playing with my cousins kids.

This is when we were playing Disney Scene It? game.

We had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed seeing all our family. We are so blessed to have two wonderful sons and such a fantastic family.

Christmas Round 1, 2, & 3

2011-12-30T07:00:00.000-06:00

Round 1: Christmas Morning at Home

Reece woke up first this year, lucky us, he did not wake up till 7am. As soon as we started talking downstairs Grady came down. Santa brought Grady a big box of "little" legos and Reece a set of Wedgits building blocks.

Reece was really excited about the apple.

Grady was more excited about the candy Santa put in his stocking but after Reece started eating his apple Grady wanted to eat his too.

Grady got Car2 and Start the Party video games.

Reece loves his tag pen.

The boys got Keith a bike so he can ride with them. We made a Breakfast casserole we substituted the sausage for bacon and did not put any bell peppers or onions to try to be nice to Grady since he is being a REALLY picky eater right now (only a Christmas time treat next time we will not leave them out).

After we packed up the car for Mandeville the boys took a quick ride on there bikes.

Round 2: The Hoffmans

We had a wonderful time at Shay & Andy's. Since we were having a late lunch the cousins had a lot of time to play with each other and Shay-Shay & Papa Andy.

Lunch (not sure what you call a meal at 3:40pm) was wonderful as alway when Shay cooks. We did leave really soon after we ate so we could open gifts with my parents before the boys started to melt down from a long day with NO naps.

Round 3: The Marinos

It was a fun surprise to find out my family had waited to open gifts till we got there that night. So everyone open gifts even Aunt Sharon, Uncle Karl, Aunt Lucy, Sean, Kevin and Amber. We missed yall Stephanie & Bogdan hopefully we will see you soon.

My Parents got the boys a tent, that we saw at Bass Pro when then they came with us last week for Santa pictures.

Good Night Sleep Tight, we have 2 more rounds of Christmas to go.

Gumbo & Gingerbread

2011-12-29T21:36:00.001-06:00

This was our 2nd time having Christmas Eve at our house. We used have my family and Keith family at my parents house in Mandeville and my dad would cook gumbo. But last year we decided it was time to start having Christmas Morning at our house, which means we have to have Christmas Eve at our house also.

We went to 4pm mass at church. Then had our friends Kevin & Andrea over for Gumbo & Gingerbread.

Reece and McHugh mostly ate the candy, together they probably did not put 10 pieces on the houses.

Grady did a great job on his house.

Keith & Reece's is first (on the left), then Grady's and then Kevin & McHugh's

We had a wonderful night visiting and hanging out.

We sprinkled some reindeer food outside before baths.

Then put out chocolate milk and cookies for Santa before bed. Sweet Dreams!!!

The Many Sweets of Christmas

2011-12-23T15:27:00.000-06:00

White Chocolate topped Gingerbread Cookies

Homemade Marshmallows & Homemade Instant Hot Chocolate

Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie

Johnny's Pralines

Chocolate Covered Pretzels & Chocolate Covered Candy Canes

Chocolate Covered Homemade Marshmallows

Chocolate Hazelnut Crinkle Cookies

Tiger Bark

Almond Cookies (a new recipe I tried from a cookbook I have, not one we will make again)

Two more cookies are coming before Christmas, I hope :)

Tiger Bark

2011-12-23T15:19:00.000-06:00

My mom started making this for Christmas a couple years ago. It is so GOOD and quick and easy to make. Grady told us today it is the best cookie ever, before we made these he was saying that the Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie were the best.

Tiger Bark
(Alysia Fortier, The Tent Man)

12 double graham crackers
7 squares white almond bark
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 squares chocolate almond bark

Directions:
Line a 10”x 15” pan with wax paper. Lay graham crackers top side down into the pan, butting up to each other.

Melt 6 squares of white almond bark with peanut butter in microwave until smooth. Pour and spread over cracker.

Melt 2 squares chocolate and drizzle over crackers. Melt 1 square white almond bark and drizzle on top. Using toothpick, swirl into marble pattern. Chill for 10 minutes until firm. Break into irregular pieces.

Chocolate Hazelnut Crinkle Cookies

2011-12-23T15:05:00.000-06:00

In 2008 Keith and I were trying to find a Christmas Cookies that Grady could really help us make. We found these Chocolate Hazelnut Crinkle Cookies and they have become a Christmas favorite for us.

Chocolate Hazelnut Crinkle Cookies

Gourmet | December 2006

Yield: Makes about 7 dozen cookies

Active Time: 30 min

Total Time: 4 hr

2/3 cup hazelnuts

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

6 oz fine-quality bittersweet

chocolate (no more than 60% cacao if marked), finely chopped

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/4 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup confectioners sugar

Special equipment: parchment paper

Make dough:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

Toast hazelnuts in a shallow baking pan in oven until skins split and nuts are pale golden, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven (turn oven off), then wrap hazelnuts in a kitchen towel and rub to remove any loose skins. Cool nuts completely. Pulse nuts with granulated sugar in a food processor until finely chopped.

Melt chocolate in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water or in top of a double boiler, stirring until smooth. Remove bowl from heat and set aside.

Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

Beat together butter and brown sugar in another bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in melted chocolate until combined. Add milk and vanilla, beating to incorporate. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Stir in nut mixture. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill dough until firm, 2 to 3 hours.

Form and bake cookies:

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Sift confectioners sugar into a bowl. Halve dough and chill 1 half, wrapped in plastic wrap. Roll remaining half into 1-inch balls, placing them on a sheet of wax paper as rolled. Roll balls, 3 or 4 at a time, in confectioners sugar to coat generously and arrange 2 inches apart on lined baking sheets.

Bake, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are puffed and cracked and edges feel dry (but centers are still slightly soft), 12 to 18 minutes total. Transfer cookies (still on parchment) to racks to cool completely.

While first batch is baking, roll remaining dough into balls. Line cooled cookie sheets with fresh parchment, then coat balls with confectioners sugar and bake in same manner.

Cooks' note:

Cookies keep, layered between sheets of parchment or wax paper, in an airtight container at room temperature 5 days.

Johnny's Pralines

2011-12-23T15:00:00.000-06:00

My parents went to cooking class once and learned how to make pralines. Since then my dad makes pralines every Christmas. One year Keith got a lesson from my dad and now Keith also likes to make pralines each Christmas.

Here are the boys helping us taste test them.

Johnny’s Pralines

USE A CANDY THERMOMETER

Ingredients
1 ½ C sugar
6 TBSP butter (3/4 stick)
¾ C light brown sugar
1 ½ C pecans
½ C milk
1 Tsp vanilla

• Use stainless steel pot not aluminum.

• Combine all ingredients and bring to a “softball stage”* 238-240 degrees (about 3 min on med. heat after rolling boil)

• Remove from heat and stir constantly (A WOODEN SPOON)

• Stir until mixture thickens, becomes creamy and cloudy, and pecans stay suspended in mixture.

• Spoon out on buttered waxed paper (on newspaper), aluminum foil, or parchment paper.

• If starts hardening too fast to drop correctly. You should then stir in about 1 - 2 tablespoons of hot water to thin the mixture

Softball stage: drop mixture in glass of cold water, push to side forms softball- see a soft ball form when it hits the water. Replace water to try again.

Playing the Natural way

2011-12-21T07:30:00.000-06:00

It was suppose to rain all day today so we went outside to play right after breakfast. The boys had a wonderful time.

Reece playing with his wheelbarrow he got for his birthday.

working on Fine Motor Skills... picking up

Carrying

dropping

Reece wanted to try

it took two hands but he got it

"hot chocolate Mom?"

blowing hot air on the thermometer to watch the temperature rise

Stairway Photo Gallery

2011-12-20T14:22:00.001-06:00

As soon as we bought this house I know I want to a create Stairway Photo Gallery. It took me a long time to get all the frames because I was be thrifty/cheap and did not want to buy a lot of new frames. I collected old frames around the house, bought a couple from goodwill and got 5-10 frames from my Grandmothers house after she passed away. I got all different color frames, then just spray painted them all black.

We still have a ton of space to add more fames. I can not wait to see the Photo Gallery grow though the years.

I just printed our new family picture from this year.

I also just got our family picture from last year printed.

DIY: Christmas Gifts

2011-12-16T22:39:00.000-06:00

This was Grady's last week of school before Christmas I had planned to give his teachers a small gift everyday.

Monday we gave the teachers a apple with a thank you note.

Tuesday we had a jar of Homemade Cinnamon Pancake Mix but Grady went to the doctor

Wednesday Grady had to stay home so we had to put all the gifts into two days...

Thursday we gave the teachers the jar of Cinnamon Pancake Mix and the bird seed ornaments

Friday we gave them the Monogram Mugs, Homemade Instant Hot Chocolate Mix, Homemade Marshmallows & CC's coffee gift card (I was planning on making chocolate dipped candy canes but was running out of room in the mugs)

Design mom has a wonderful tutorial on making the Monogram Mugs (I found on pinterest). I could only find one white mug at goodwill so bought these at Dollar Tree for $1.00 :) I used Rockwell Extra Bold font, taped it to the mug with the transfer paper and traced over the letter.

Then used the Porcelaine pen and trace over the lines of the initial. I let that dry for 15 to 20min then had Grady fill in the inside of the letter. This way I was able to easily wipe away Grady's marks to have him try again.

Let them sit for 24 hours.

Bake them at 300 degrees for 35 minutes.

I forgot to take a picture so I took this in the car on our way to school.

Homemade Instant Hot Chocolate Mix is easy makes a ton and is delicious.

Alton Brown's Instant Hot Cocoa Recipe

(Home-Made Instant Hot Chocolate Mix)

2 1/2 cups powdered milk (I used Nido milk; which I found in the Mexican food section)
2 cups powdered or confectioner's sugar
1 cup cocoa powder (dutch process)
2 tsp cornstarch (to thicken & stabilize)
1 tsp salt (finer salt like popcorn or even pickling salt; i.e. not kosher salt)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (Cayenne optional. Alton loves it in chocolate, and put 20 shakes from a wide-mouth shaker, saying the ancient Aztecs did it and 'they knew chocolate'.)

Put in 1TB mix for every 2OZ of water
Cover powder with boiling water
Mix to a paste
Fill rest of cup with the hot water, then whisk or stir

Mix can keep for 2 years. Higher-quality cocoa will last less-long due to its higher fat content.

My sister posted about making Homemade Marshmallows last year. They were really easy, taste great and melted beautifully in my hot chocolate (by the way it is 75 degrees here but i had to try the hot chocolate). One more hint is after you cut them .... Place confectioners' sugar in a large bowl. Working in batches, add marshmallows to bowl and toss to coat.

Sick Day & Playdough

2011-12-14T15:18:00.001-06:00

Grady just had a hoarse voice and woke up Tuesday saying his belly hurt. I remembered when he had that stomach bug at the beginning of this school year they checked him for strep throat. So we went to the doctor and she said his throat was just a little red but checked him for strep and he had it. I am so glad we caught it early but that means we have been HIGH energy at the house for past two days. He can go back to school tomorrow.

So today at 9:30 we were all dressed, had eaten breakfast, cleaned the bathrooms, watched a show, watched home movies, colored, folded towels, and colored so more.

So then I decided to make Candy Cane Playdough my friend Kristy posted on Pinterest the other day. The recipe in the link is the same kind I love to use when I make playdough... but I made two single "servings" one white and one red.

single "servings" Playclay Recipe

1 cups water

1/2 cups salt

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1/2 to 2 teaspoons food coloring

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cups flour

Mix water, salt, cream of tartar, and food coloring. Cook on low heat, stirring regularly. As the mixture heats up, stir in oil, then flour. Stir until playdough pulls away from pan and is no longer sticky. Dump dough on counter, let cool a bit, then knead.

Reece kept cutting off pieces and offering "cookies" to me. (His hand is red from marker not the playdough)

"Look Mom papa"... he was trying to say pasta.

At lunch we talked about gift ideas the boys could buy Dad, then after lunch went to buy it. Now we just have to see if Grady can keep a secret from Dad till Christmas. :)

DIY: bird seed ornaments

2011-12-14T14:33:00.000-06:00

I found this on Pinterest ... surprise surprise

Grady, Keith and I made these this weekend using the tutorial on Saltwater Kids blog. It was really easy and quick. I hope Grady's teachers like them.

You'll Need:

3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup water
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
3 tbsp. corn syrup
4 cups birdseed
molds (muffin tin, cookie cutters, etc.)
nonstick spray
drinking straw
waxed paper
ribbon/twin

1: Combine the flour, water, gelatin and corn syrup in a large mixing bowl. Stir until well-combined.

2: Add the birdseed to the mixture, stir until well coated.

3: Spray your mold(s) with cooking spray, and spoon birdseed mixture into each mold. Use the bottom of a measuring cup to pack it down, and make the top smooth. Poke a hole through top of each birdseed mold using a drinking straw, making sure it goes all the way through.

4: Leave the birdseed mixture in the molds for two to three hours. Then, remove the straws and lay out a sheet of waxed paper. Gently remove the hardened ornaments from the mold, and place them on the wax paper upside down. Allow them to dry for at least two to three more hours, or overnight.

5: Cut your ribbon and carefully put it through the hole.

6: Package them up!

Here is one that lost his arm so we hung him up in our tree.

I also used her tutorial to make the gift boxes. It was pretty easy once you got the hang of it. I stacked two pieces of paper so I could make two tops or bottoms at the same time.

Drive-In Movie night

2011-12-13T23:03:00.000-06:00

This is another idea I got from Pinterest....

Here are the boys designing and working on cars for the drive-in movie.

Grady had to be 100 so he would be the BIGGEST number.

Then driving the cars before supper.

Ready for the drive in movie after supper

They had to "buy" treat bags to enjoy in the car. They watched the whole movie in the "cars" which is the first time Reece sat still for a whole movie, I think the treats helped.

21 questions to ask your kids

2011-12-11T19:24:00.000-06:00

21 questions to ask your kids

I found this on Pinterest and knew I wanted to do it.

1. What is something Mommy always says to you?
Grady: yes

2. What makes Mommy happy?
Grady: eating supper

3. What makes Mommy sad?
Grady: pushing

4. How does Mommy make you laugh?
Grady: tickles

5. What was Mommy like as a child?
Grady: baby

6. How old is Mommy?
Grady: 31

7. How tall is Mommy?
Grady: 100ft... i dont know

8. What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?
Grady: play on the computer

9. What does Mommy do when you're not around?
Grady: play video games (I do not really play video games at all only sometimes when Grady and Keith are playing)

10. If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
Grady: for a baby, for twin babies

11. What is Mommy really good at?
Grady: playing on the computer

12. What is Mommy not very good at?
Grady: playing video games (again I dont play, maybe for 5min when they play)

13. What does Mommy do for her job?
Grady: play on the computer

14. What is Mommy's favorite food?
Grady: maybe pizza

15. What makes you proud of Mommy?
Grady: getting candy

16. If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Grady: the girl race car in the cars 2 movie

17. What do you and Mommy do together?
Grady: stamps

18. How are you and Mommy the same?
Grady:

19. How are you and Mommy different?
Grady: mom is tall, I am little

20. How do you know Mommy loves you?
Grady: because she did when i was a baby

21. Where is Mommy's favorite place to go?
Grady: store and friends

I also video taped the whole thing but to was to big to upload so here is a clip of it :)

Thanksgiving Leftovers Day 4, 5, 6 & 7

2011-12-09T19:19:00.000-06:00

Day 4: Pastalaya
I just used a Pastalaya Mix with leftover turkey and added sausage. No pictures but it was quick easy dinner.

Day 5: Pioneer Woman Chicken Spaghetti but we made Turkey Spaghetti
It was good but not something we will make again.

Day 6: Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells we used turkey.
These are REALLY good I had made them once before with Chicken.

Day 7: Cream Cheese Chicken Enchiladas with the turkey.
This is a recipe we make a lot but the first time I used turkey.

We have used all the turkey. It was nice to not have to buy any meat for 2 weeks.

RACK'ed

2011-12-09T19:02:00.000-06:00

Random Acts of Christmas Kindness!! RACK

After looking online to find a christmas countdown I came across t s j photography's blog about Random Acts of Christmas Kindness on Pinterest. I loved the idea of teaching/reminding the boys that Christmas is about Jesus and Gods LOVE for everyone.

I continued to search online for other random acts of kindness I found this post on Katherine Marie Photography with some great ideas and then I found this awesome post on Lil Light o mine she has a printable list of ideas.

After going though all the great ideas. This is what I came up with for our Christmas countdown.

I just hung it on our laundry room door.

I printed out the RACK activities with bible verses on 3x5 blank index cards.

Then printed the numbers 1 - 25 on the paper I wanted to use for the envelopes. And made 25 envelopes one night using this tutorial on Stamping The Fun Times Guide.

I printed out Tracie's you’ve been RACK’ed cards to attach so some of the things we hand out.

Around the house

2011-12-06T19:27:00.001-06:00

Grady playing UNO with the card holder from Aunt Sharon... He loved using it

The boys helping me cook

My mom bought us the willow tree nativity. It looks awesome. Thanks mom!

PROUD Grady

2011-12-03T22:26:00.001-06:00

I saw a post on reading non-illustrated books to your children on one of the montessori blogs I read. We have been reading magic tree house series books to Grady for about a year now and he loves them. When I read that she was reading her 5 and 2yr old Harry Potter I thought that Grady would love the story and since Keith & I had never read the story we were excited also.

Grady did a great job listening to the story and remembering what happened. Since Keith and I alternate which child we read to and put to sleep every night, if it was not our night to read to Grady we would read the chapter we missed after we put the boys to bed. We started the book in October and finished the week before Thanksgiving. He did have a couple days or weeks that he would not choose Harry Potter for his bed-time story. Then we told him that his reward for listening to the whole book was that he would be able to watch the movie and then he got really motivated to read it. Now we just to find the next chapter book to read to him, any ideas???

I also wanted to say that Grady (4.5yrs old) learned how to tie his shoes last week.

At the beginning of school this year Grady kept asking me to get him strap (Velcro) shoes because a lot of kids at school had them. He has never owned a pair of velcro shoes and now it just make so happy to see him tying him shoe because if he had velcro shoes we would have not started working with him. Grady and Keith have been working on it for a while now and he was tying the first knot, but the rest of it had not clicked yet. Thanksgiving week Keith (took the week off from work) and Grady worked on it every morning, which is something I don't have time to do everyday. We can now say that we have proud Shoe-Tier. He tied his shoe on his own everyday this week. He is still working on the double knot and really wants to be able to do it.

Thanksgiving Leftovers Day 3: Mixed Bean Soup

2011-12-01T17:00:00.000-06:00

Day 3 we used the left over ham and ham bone from the O'Meara Thanksgiving we went to on Saturday. We had Mixed Bean Soup & Parmesan Garlic Toast from Deep South Dish.com

I let Grady choose which noodle we used in hopes he would at least try the soup, it did not work so no dinner for Grady. The rest of use loved it and the bread was wonderful but next time I will not put the oven temp so high because I would have like the bread to not be so toasted.

Thanksgiving Leftovers Day 2: Turkey Gumbo

2011-12-01T16:23:00.001-06:00

Day 2 we had Turkey Gumbo. Don't worry the rest of the turkey leftovers are in the freezer so they will not go bad before we use them.

The gumbo was GREAT but I was cooking all day. We will definitely make it again when we have turkey leftovers. Grady tried this and ate most of it till we gave him a piece of bread then he would not take another bite, oh well more for us :)

The recipe is adapted from Serious Eats

Turkey Gumbo

yield: 8servings of Gumbo

Ingredients

1 cupvegetable oil

1 1/4 cupsflour

1 1/2 cupschopped yellow onion

1 cupchopped green pepper

1 cupchopped celery

1 teaspoonsalt

1/4 teaspooncayenne

1 poundandouille or other smoked sausage, diced into ¼-inch cubes

6 cupsturkey stock

2 to 3 cupschopped leftover turkey meat

Freshlyground black pepper to taste

¼ cupchopped parsley

1/4 cupchopped green onion tops

Procedures

Heat oilover medium-high heat in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Whisk in flour andcontinue to stir constantly—either with a whisk or a wooden spoon—until rouxturns a deep, dark chocolate brown (or another shade of your liking). Thisshould take around 30 minutes. If you sense that your roux is in danger ofburning, reduce heat immediately and continue to stir. (you can alsomake a microwave roux)

Once rouxhas reached desired shade, carefully stir in onions, bell pepper, and celery,and continue to stir about 5 minutes, until vegetables begin to wilt. Beprepared: when cold vegetables hit hot roux, they emit a cloud of steam and aloud hissing.

Add stock, salt,cayenne, and sausage, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat andsimmer, uncovered, for 2 hours. With about 30mins left add turkey, black pepperand taste; adjust seasoning. Thin out with more stock or water if necessary.

Just beforeserving, add parsley and green onions.

Note: can addKitchen Bouquet & Seasoning sauce to darken roux (as my dad says “cheatingbut effective”)

Serve withwhite rice, and potato salad if desired.

Thanksgiving Leftovers Day 1: Leftover Turkey Pot Pie

2011-11-30T22:28:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Every year Keith's work gives us a free turkey and luckily every year my dad fries the turkey for us. So this year I wanted to try some new recipes to use the turkey. I cut up all of the turkey meat and found out we had 14cups of meat that is after we had a couple turkey sandwiches. We also have ham and a ham bone from the O'Meara Thanksgiving on Saturday.

Our first dinner was The Pioneer Woman's Leftover Turkey Pot Pie! (I just used a refrigerated pie crust) It was great but next time I want to try it will biscuits on top instead of crust. Grady would not even try this but Reece ate as much as Keith and I did.

Family Photos

2011-11-29T20:30:00.001-06:00

Here are some of the photos my friend from high school Melissa Breedlove took of us a couple weekends ago.

We had a wonderful mini session and got 15-20 high res images & rights. You can check out the rest of our pictures here.

Reece's 2nd Birthday

2011-11-21T22:11:00.000-06:00

On Reece's birthday I had planned to put the balloons in Reece room in the morning but after I got out of the shower I heard Reece in Grady's room. Grady told me he was trying to be helpful so he went and woke reece up at 6:30am, I dont normally get Reece up till 7am. After pancakes for breakfast Reece opened the gift Grady got him.

The balloons have been a HUGE hit everyone has enjoyed kicking them around the house. They are still out today.

Cupcakes after supper.

Sunday we had Reece's Dirt Party!! (my sister designed and made the invitations)

I used pictures of Reece to make a 2 (I found this on pinterest).

Working with the pulley.

Cloud Dough (flour & baby oil). I got the idea from my friend Kate. Reece LOVED playing in this.

Dirt cupcakes with worms.

Making a tunnel.

I set up a photo booth for the party with some dress up props.

Reece had a wonderful time. Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate his special day.

Big Boy Bed

2011-11-20T21:40:00.001-06:00

This post is almost a month late but on October 22 we converted Reece crib/cage (what Grady calls it) to a toddler bed. Reece has done amazing. He did wake up us one morning by standing by our bed, that means he opened his door and walked down the steps alone in the dark. So we installed a child proof door knob locks.

"Kidscape" your backyard

2011-11-20T21:14:00.000-06:00

After looking around on this Montessori website I found information about Natural Playgrounds. They say Natural Playgrounds allow for open-ended, multi-age, sensorial play. It allows for children to explore nature (watch birds and bugs build homes), as well as plant, nurture and harvest living things (flowers and vegetable gardens).

I fell in LOVE with the idea and knew it would be prefect for the clubhouse that the previous owners built in the back yard.

all images found on Pinterest

After researching it more and finding more inspiration on Pinterest I came up with this photo college of things I want in our Natural Playground.

Here is the clubhouse before we started with some of the logs and table I asked Keith pick up on the side of the road. The logs are going to be our border for our dirt pit.

These are the stumps I picked up from the side of the road. I did this alone one day I filled my SUV with as much as would fit and then the next day I drove Keith's truck for the day so I could get another load.

Then I asked friends and family for Loose parts like buckets, baskets, crates, stones, dishes, pots, and pans & kitchen utensils. I also started looking at antique shops for baskets, wire baskets and other loose parts.

Then we made a HUGE trip to HomeDepot to buy supplies, just FYI lumber is pricy. We maded a wall to hang tools.

Here are the boys starting to explore the logs and stumps while we were working.

Wall is up and the border for our dirt pit.

While we were working on clubhouse we decided it would be a good idea to extend the steps to the wall so they would not have the big space that we were worried the boys would fall from.

Here are the updated steps.

Dirty boys after "helping" us all day and this was before we even got the dirt for the dirt pit.

Then we started to put up a wall inside of the clubhouse so we could paint it. Here is the before.

After we primed the wall. Then the boys and I painted the wall on day when Grady was off school.

These colors are some the colors our house was painted when we bought it. We left Grady choose which colors to paint each wall.

The completed natural playground and mudpie kitchen.

We picked up two loads of dirt in Keith's truck.

Always Safety First!! Before we added the slide.

The slide Reece got for his 2nd Birthday from my parents!! The boys are LOVING it and it goes fast.

We added a pulley yesterday... will post picture soon.

DIY Magnet Board

2011-11-13T18:55:00.001-06:00

This summer after we moved into the new house I found this blog post about making your own Magnet Board and knew it would be prefect for the playroom.

I did a couple things different.... First off I found a 24x36 open frame at hobby lobby that was on clearance from $70 to $7. Then the first time we looked for the sheet metal at the hardware store we could not find it. Then we were there getting the dryer ducts for the boys robot costumes we found the sheet metal by the ac and heaters pipes. It was $10 for a 24x36 sheet. We also got a sheet of thin plywood and Liquid Nail.

We cut the plywood to 24x36 and applied the Liquid Nail to the plywood then put the sheet metal on top. After the Liquid Nail dried for a little bit we put Liquid Nail on the lip of the open frame and then placed the sheet metal with plywood attached into the frame and let it dry over night.

I love the way the magnet board turned out and the boys have enjoyed playing on it. As soon as Grady got home he had to sort all the letters by color.

Thanksgiving Tree

2011-11-13T18:33:00.001-06:00

This is another idea I found on Pinterest...

The boys and I picked sticks from the yard.

I got five sheets of felt in fall colors at Michaels Craft store for $1. Then traced leaves that I picked up from our yard and cut them out.

Then we wrote things we are thankful for on index cards.

Well Reece colored over the words we wrote.

I put tape of the front of the words and cut them out. Then used double sided tape to attach to felt leaves.

Grady helped me collect acorns from the backyard... I think we need to get a few more.

Halloween!!

2011-11-01T17:03:00.002-05:00

Saturday, Keith and I went to our friends annual Halloween Costume Party. We decided late Wednesday night we were going to dress up as Mario Kart, after looking up things that go together.

My mom came in to watch the boys Saturday night. This is the boys driving our cars Sunday morning.

At the beginning of Halloween we received a Halloween Costume Catalog and Grady decided he wanted to be a robot, here the the costume he cut out as his inspiration. It was prefect because he has been drawing a lot of robots since the summer and I told him he could design and make the consume himself.

Each of the boys painted the front of their boxes.

I started saving lids and tops a couple weeks ago. Grady picked and place all the knobs while I hot glued them.

We tried a couple different robot head ideas but Grady liked just the googles the best. Keith came up with the idea to put the light up balls on the top.

Monday night we went back to our old neighborhood and went trick or treating with our friends who have two kids the same age as Grady and Reece. All the kids had so much fun. We even pick up McHugh on the way since Kevin was stuck at work and Andrea was home with the new baby Lucy.

We made the robot names from the boys first and middle name and their age.

Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-31T16:30:00.000-05:00

Grady and Reece both helped us clean out the pumpkin guts this year. Grady started gagging when he touched it last year.

I got the idea to use cookie cutters and a rubber mallet from pinterest. It was prefect for Reece this year and Grady enjoyed it too.

Then I found the idea to drill holes in a pumpkin at the blog play at home mom. I knew Grady would love this.

Reece did a good job also!! We really had a wonderful time carving pumpkins this year and the boys really got to help. Not like other years where they mostly got to watch.

We also enjoyed eating the roasted pumpkin seeds after we finished. This year I followed this recipe, with butter, salt and tonys. They were really good and had a lot more favor.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-30T22:50:00.002-05:00

Grady

2011-10-28T19:30:00.001-05:00

Grady told me that he does not like hard pants he only likes soft pants because hard pants trap him when he is running

Reece

2011-10-27T21:32:00.001-05:00

As you can see this boy loves to eat.

He was walking around saying "I mommy!!"

Reece reading thermodynamics, calculus & physics

Beach Vacation!!

2011-10-14T17:07:00.001-05:00

Tuesday we spent the morning at the beach

The boys dug a huge hole. My Parents drove in Tuesday night after work.

It rained Wednesday morning... so we put the boys down for an early nap and enjoyed the afternoon at the beach.

Today Keith buried the boys!!

Thursday Keith wanted to make a castle as tall as Grady.

All the boys worked on it.

Even Papa!!

Then Grady & Reece got bored. Grady started using the Boogie Board.

And they both dug with Grandma and Me.

While Keith and Papa finished the castle.

And the first thing Grady and Reece wanted to do was destroy it.

Friday

Papa building alone

Keith building alone

While Grandma played with all the kids even the friend Grady made at the beach, Madeline.

Once it was dark out we came back to the beach with flashlights, the boys LOVED it.

Saturday Grady played with his friend Madeline the whole time.

Uncle Kevin drove to Destin Friday night after work.

Watching the LSU game. We went out to dinner for pizza as Grady requested. We went to Jordanos Pizza it was awesome and so filling. Once it was dark we went back to the beach with the flashlights.

By the end of the week Keith and I were really sick. So it was a long drive home...

but the boys did GREAT!!

We had a wonderful trip, Grady wanted to stay forever.

1st Day of our Vacation

2011-10-06T22:10:00.001-05:00

We went on to Destin, FL last week for the whole week.

But before we left we had to bring both the boys to the Dr for green runny noses and coughs.

The boys did GREAT on the drive... Grady watching a movie on the iphone.

This is Reece after playing with stickers.

Grady playing yahtzee while Reece took a nap at the condo.

Then we got to see the sunset on the beach.

....

Family Dinner Questions

2011-09-25T21:47:00.001-05:00

I found these Family Dinner Questions on Pinterest. Everyone pulls one question at dinner. A couple of the questions are too old for Grady so I want to make some simpler questions, but a fun and easy idea.

The blog post is from howdoesshe.com they have 5 different posts with questions.

from light-sabers to learning

2011-09-21T20:15:00.001-05:00

Reece helped me clean all the bathrooms today, I love the he can really help because I use Method's cleanwell cleaner :)

After lunch Reece played with the blocks and dinosaurs. He carefully put down one block at a time then placed a dinosaur on top.

After he put this block down he started sliding the dinosaurs down the block. Saying "SLIDE."

After nap Grady wanted to play with pattern blocks... we used all the blocks to make a bunch of different patterns.

He worked very hard trying to make all different type of patterns.

Then afterwards we had to connect them all to make a LONG train.

pool noodle light-sabers

2011-09-20T13:30:00.001-05:00

First of all I have to say that I am in LOVE with pinterest. My sister posted about it a couple weeks ago and now I am addicted. You can follow me at http://pinterest.com/khoffman8/.

Photo from: muddybootsblog.blogspot.com
I found these pool noodle light-sabers on pinterest and know I had to make them.

The pool noodles are one sale right now for $.48. Then I used the tape we had around the house. Once I should Keith the light-sabers I made he decided we needed to take it one step farther... it needed to LIGHT UP!!

So we found a flash light that fit inside in the noodle and the fun was on. Then I went to the store to buy a couple more small flashlights, so everyones light-sabers would light up.

THANKS Pinterest for all the AWESOME ideas... more ideas coming soon :)

LEGO fun!!

2011-09-19T22:25:00.001-05:00

A couple months ago we took home little legos from my parents that were mine & my siblings. Since then Grady has been busy making all sort of things like cars, houses, patterns, letters and many other things. Tonight Grady & Keith were each making castles. I asked Grady why he was building it all the sane color he told me because it has style.

Winners of Baby M guessing game!

2011-09-18T17:32:00.000-05:00

We had a baby shower for my cousin in April and had all the guests guess the gender, birth weight, length, and birth date and time of the new baby!

Ronan James!

Born: August 15 at 8:02 am
Weight: 6 lbs 5 ozs
Length: 18.5 inches

I know it is about a month late but here are the winners!!!

Winners are

1st. Johnny

2nd. Michael

3rd. Mo

Click here to see how you did!!

Dinner

2011-09-17T19:03:00.001-05:00

Cheese, margaritas and family!!

Insta-friday

2011-09-16T23:31:00.001-05:00

blue bayou exxonmobil family day

Blue mass at church. A great way to start sept 11, 11

Had a yummy PW Chicken Spaghetti... to bad the boys would not really try it (September 12)

Reece looking at "ant bite"s (ants)!! He combined the words since we always tell him Ants bite. (September 14)

Reece running at the LSU lakes after Mommy's Run/Walk (September 15)

Grady helping Reece pee pee on the potty.
I walk in to Grady telling Reece you have to take your diaper off to potty.

Sleeping on the way home from school...

insta-friday

2011-09-09T21:31:00.001-05:00

A fun and quirky way to share the little moments from your week using only cell phone pictures!

Saturday - Tropical Storm Lee passed over this weekend. We made purple and gold Giant Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies for the LSU game :)

Saturday - Watching the LSU game

Sunday - Power out... boys in bed... playing cards and drinking margaritas by candle light

Monday - The rain had stopped and it was breezy and cool. We needed to get outside so we went to the BR Zoo!!

Tuesday - Playing football after dinner

Thursday - Went to the park with friends after bringing Grady to school. Then Reece and I hung out on the porch after lunch

Giant Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies

2011-09-03T22:21:00.001-05:00

When I looking at the recipes for Augusts cookbook club... on the post with the Mini Ginger Chicken Meatball Subs with Masala Sauce they were talking about these cookies. Once I looked at Giant Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies I knew I was going to HAVE to try them.

I decided to dye the sugar purple for the LSU game. I had the boys help me roll the dough in the sugar... they were great helpers but did eat a little purple sugar :)

I used an ice cream scoop to get scoop the dough ( I do the same for the NM Chocolate Chip Cookies).

These cookies are AMAZING!! I will be making them a LOT :) ENJOY!!

Giant Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies
Makes about 20 cookies

Ingredients
2 ¼ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1 egg
1/3 cup coarse sugar (plain, granulated sugar works if it’s all you have)

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Sift the flour, salt and baking soda together.

3. Cream the butter, 1 cup of sugar and lemon zest until very smooth. Add the egg and continue to beat until fluffy. Pour in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined — you don’t want to overmix.

4. Spread the remaining 1/3 cup sugar onto a shallow plate. Form balls out of the cookie dough 2 inches in diameter and roll them through the sugar. Arrange on a cookie sheet 4 inches apart — these spread!

5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until just the edges are golden. The tops of the cookies should remain pale. Cool completely on the cookie sheets before removing to a plate.

insta-friday

2011-09-03T21:23:00.000-05:00

A fun and quirky way to share the little moments from your week using only cell phone pictures!

I know this is a day late... sorry :)

Sweet Grady (August 27)

Crazy Grady

Reece "reading" with Grady's tag pin (August 28)

Enjoying a coffee with Reece on my birthday before we pick up Grady from school (August 30)

Coffee can wall (August 31)

Grady has two days off of school, so the new kids can meet the teacher. So today we went to the State Capital, Blue Dog exhibit, then to the fire station (our friend was working and showed us around). (September 1)

Grady cleaning up after we made a mess at snack

We went to the LASM and Grady's two BEST freinds from school happend to be at the Museum. This is us eating lunch outside. After playing some more we went to the boys appt to get their haircut. (September 2)

31st Birthday

2011-09-03T21:01:00.000-05:00

I had a wonderful birthday. My mom came last Saturday to watch the boys while Keith and I went to a parent meeting at Grady's School. After the meeting she brought us out to lunch and then we came home to eat carrot cake she made for me.

Sunday we had donuts for breakfast that my mom brought from Mandeville Bakery.

Tuesday (my Birthday)... Reece and I went to get a coffee at CC's before we picked up Grady at school. Keith grilled steak for Supper. Then we enjoyed Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake.

After cake we video chatted with my parents, Kevin and Stephanie. It was crazy and fun.

I had a wonderful day!! I am so lucky to have such a wonderful family.

August Cookbook Club

2011-09-03T20:46:00.002-05:00

The Alternate Recipe this month was Spinach Pie Quesadilla. The original recipe was only for a single serving, it was easy to make it for 4 servings. (I have the 4 serving recipe below). It was really easy and had a ton of flavor. It was a hit for our whole family, we will definitely be making this again.

Spinach Pie Quesadilla

from Cara Eisenpress and Phoebe Lapine's In the Small Kitchen.

active time 10 minutes | total time 10 minutes | serves 4

ingredients

4 teaspoon olive oil

1 small onion, finely diced

8 scallions, sliced (white and light green parts)

4 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

Pinch each of thyme, oregano, and cayenne

6 cups fresh spinach

4 small wrap or flour tortilla, 8-inch in diameter

4 large egg white

4 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt

8 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese, divided

preparation

In a small nonstick pan, heat the oil. Add the onion and scallions and cook until soft, 3-4 minutes. Stir in the garlic, cooking a minute or two more until soft. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and the spices.  

Mix in the spinach and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove to a bowl and cool slightly. Use a wooden spoon to press out some of the liquid from the cooked spinach and drain.  

In another small bowl, whisk together the egg white, yogurt, and 4 tablespoon of feta. Add to the cooled spinach and mix until combined.  

Wipe out the pan, then brush it with about 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon olive oil or cooking spray. Over low heat, put the wrap or tortilla in the pan and sprinkle the remaining feta over one side of the wrap and get it to soften slightly. Turn the heat to medium and pour the egg-spinach mixture over the same half of the wrap, fold the other half over and cook on one side until the egg begins to firm up, 3-4 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side for 2-3 minutes, then cut into wedges and serve immediately.

When I looking at the recipes for Augusts cookbook club... on the post with the Mini Ginger Chicken Meatball Subs with Masala Sauce they were talking about these Giant Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies... Check out my review!!

Sautéed Chicken with Corn and Edamame

2011-08-29T21:08:00.001-05:00

hands-on time: 30 minutes | total time: 30 minutes | serves 4

ingredients

4 ounces sliced bacon

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts

¾ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

1large red onion, thinly sliced

2 cups frozen shelled edamame, thawed

2 cups corn kernels, fresh (from 2 ears) or frozen

preparation

Heat oven to 400° F. In a large skillet, over medium heat, fry the bacon until crisp, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Discard the drippings. Wipe out the skillet and heat the oil over medium-high heat.

Season the chicken with ½ teaspoon of the salt and ¼ teaspoon of the pepper. Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a baking dish and roast until cooked through, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the onion to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 8 minutes. Add the edamame and corn and cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Break the bacon into pieces and add them to the skillet. Stir in the remaining salt and pepper. Spoon onto individual plates and serve with the chicken.

Shortcut: Omit the bacon to save time and cut fat.

From: Real Simple

insta-friday

2011-08-26T21:16:00.000-05:00

A fun and quirky way to share the little moments from your week using only cell phone pictures!

Tuesday night after dinner Keith and I were cleaning up and we find the boys reading together on the couch.

Playing gone fishin... Reece thought it was really funny.

Wednesday was Grady's first full day back at school... Reece was running races alone, READY, SET, GO!!

Thursday morning at the doctor with Grady.

I have no iphone picture for today, but Grady was feeling great. We just had a lazing day at home.

1st sickness from School

2011-08-25T21:01:00.001-05:00

Grady started school Monday, he had two half days and then yesterday was his first full day.

During bath last night he was telling us he was really tired and he had a headache. We just thought he was really tired from the 1st full day, but woke this morning with 101.8 fever and then threw up. It is crazy that he got sick that fast from starting school.

This is Grady at the doctors office, we walked in and it was really cold in the office so we checked in and went to the car to a blanket. Poor baby was really not feeling well.

We went to the doctor he thought Grady might have strep but the test was negative. So it looks like he just has stomach virus. We were having a little trouble keeping his temperature down because he keep throwing up the tylenol. But once we gave him the Zofran he kept the motrin down, his fever broke and he got a good nap. He woke up ready to eat and was really upset that we only let him have a little bit.

The doctor said the fever could last for 3days, but I am hoping it was just a 24hour bug. :)

1st Day of School

2011-08-22T21:34:00.000-05:00

Grady's 1st day of School! Pre-K year at La Printaniere Montessori

August 22, 2011

Grady was ready to go back to school and see all his friends. They are only going for a half-day today and tomorrow and then start full day on Wednesday. It sounded like he had a great day, but he did tell me Mrs Erin had to move him once because he was talking to much. I am really not surprised Grady LOVES to talk and gets easily distracted.

It is hard to believe it has been a year since he first started school.

While Grady was at school Reece and I went to get food for the hummingbird feeder I got from my Grandma O'Meara house. I filled up the feeder around 1pm and at 4pm we saw 3 hummingbirds fighting over the food. Two of them stayed around till it got dark fighting over the food, they did not even care that we were on the porch with them. It was a lot of fun watching them and then knowing my Grandparents watched hummingbird on the same feeder made it even nicer.

Grilled Redfish

2011-08-21T22:09:00.000-05:00

When we went to Grand Isle in July Mr Sunny's boat was in the shop. So the guys did not get to do their normal Saturday fishing trip. Keith was able to go fishing with his friend Marty, but they did not catch anything. But they did fish on the dock day and night. I am not sure who caught the red fish but Mr Sunny cleaned it and we took it home. We froze it in a plastic bag filled with water.

We were BBQing tonight and decided to grill the redfish using this recipe I found.

1. Cajun Seasoning
2. Two fresh lemons.
3. Four fresh limes. Get the big ones.
4. Fresh Cilantro.
5. Butter. I dont mean margarine, I mean BUTTER. 1 or 2 sticks will do.
6. teaspoon of garlic salt.
7. Salt (I use sea salt when I can)
8. Coarse ground black pepper.
9. One bunch of fresh green onions with chives.
10. Two fresh, ripe and juicy tomatoes.

Melt one stick of butter in your microwave. Dont BURN IT !
Squeeze the juice of one lemon in it after it's melted.
Add the juice of Two limes.
Add a teaspoon ( I use 3 ) of cajun seasoning...to taste.
Add 1/2 the garlic salt to taste...add the rest if needed, later.
Add a tablespoon of minced Cilantro.
Add some diced green onions....maybe 2 to start with (save some for later)
Add salt and pepper to taste.

Mix it all up and taste it. If it "bites" too much, add more butter.
Once you're satisfied...set it aside.
Now, take the other lemon and cut it in half. Squeeze ONE half all over the redfish. Slice up the other 1/2 of the lemon and set the slices aside.
Cut the 2 remaining LIMES and squeeze them on the filets.
Sprinkle some cajun seasoning on the filets too. Not much....just a little.
Reheat your melted butter concoction a little in the microwave and pour ONLY HALF of it all over the fish.
Chop the rest of your green onions and lay them on top too. Cover it if you want.
Take the tomatoes and cut them into 1/4 inch thick ( or more) slices and lay them on a plate.
Pour 1/2 of what's left of your butter concoction over them to soak a while.

Go back out to your grill...and turn the fire down low.
Place the fish directly on the grill...scale side down.
Let it cook for about 5-7 minutes, then place the thick tomato slices all over the top of the fish.
Then add the lemon slices on top of the tomato slices.
Make sure the heat is low and close the lid for 5 minutes.

Come back to the grill and check the tomatoes. If they are not soggy yet, close the lid and check it again in 5 more minutes. Once the tomatoes are soggy and nearly falling apart....you can check the fish. Take a little piece of meat from the THICK end and try it.

If it's not done, let it cook some more. When it's all done, pour the remaining butter concoction over all of it and serve it HOT with a slice of lemon or lime to squeeze over it.

The grilled redfish was wonderful!! We will definitely be making this again when we get more fresh redfish.

insta-friday

2011-08-19T21:53:00.001-05:00

A fun and quirky way to share the little moments from your week using only cell phone pictures!

Sunday it was starting to rain and Grady told us we all needed to put up our hand umbrellas.

Race Car driving @ Home Depot

Monday was the last grocery trip with both boys this summer Grady goes back to school next week

Tuesday just me and the boys went to the BR Zoo

Do we really need MORE poison ivy in Louisiana?!?!? or anywhere?!?

Wednesday me and the boys went to the Louisiana Children's Museum and then to my parents house. We swam, had supper then I bathed the boys before we drove home. It was a GREAT day.

Thursday we met friends at a jumpy place. Thursday night during supper we had a severe storm with a lot of hail and very strong wind.

Friday ... playing PS3 move

Winston

2011-08-18T15:30:00.001-05:00

Last week was a really hard week with my grandmother passing away and then this Saturday we had to put Winston to sleep.

He had started to look better but would not eat. So Saturday we forced him to eat and then he started to get sick again and would not stop. Keith brought him to the LSU emergency vet at 11pm they told us it was an intestinal obstruction. Well we had already decided after Winston second surgery to open him up to check for an obstruction that we could just not do that again financially and the principle of natural selection. The first time he was puppy they did not find anything and the 2nd time was in 2009 they removed a corn cob (that must have been dropped at our Easter crawfish boil). Then in June 2010 I dropped a corn cob while putting it in the trash and Winston snatched it up and ate it, we gave him hydrogen peroxide and he threw it up. LSU Vet called today with the autopsy report and he had a corn cob stuck again. We can not think of when he could have got another corn cob since we the first corn cob he has not been allowed out at crawfish/crab boils.

We are very sad and upset that we had to put him to sleep. We miss him so much, Grady is ok with the fact that Winston is in heaven. We had been talking about Winston getting old and might be going to heaven for a while now (not sure why but we were). Grady has asked us that when we get another dog can he have the same brown and white spots and can we name him Winston.

insta-friday

2011-08-12T21:02:00.000-05:00

A fun and quirky way to share the little moments from your week using only cell phone pictures!

Keith and I had a Date Night Saturday. We went shopping and then ate sushi.

Then we got some coffee!

My Grandma O'Meara passed away on Sunday.

Winston started throwing up EARLY sunday morning and did not stop. So Monday night we took him to the vet, they gave him anti nausea.

He is still not eating well... We are praying he gets better.

Reece playing on the porch while waiting for Keith to get home.

Friday the boys and i meet my cousin colleen, chris and my uncle at coffee call for benigets. Then we meet a friend at a jumpy place

Grady loves to do puzzles... he has a done and redone a lot of puzzles this week.

insta-friday

2011-08-05T22:11:00.002-05:00

A fun and quirky way to share the little moments from your week using only cell phone pictures!

It has been so hot here but the boys have had some much energy... so we had the boys ride their bikes down the street after dinner. And no Reece does not have any shorts on :)

We packed the truck with chairs, snacks, frozen water and then picked up dinner on the way to the Hot Air Balloon Festival. Unloaded everything and everyone, while watching the Balloon Mass Ascension we walked to find the prefect place to sit... only to hear the announcer say that they might not be having the balloon glow because of the pending rain. RAIN what RAIN, I did everything I could think of to be prepared to go today but look at the weather. So we look at the radar on our phone and see a HUGE storm coming our way.

So we went back to the truck to eat supper and then the RAIN came and HUGE lighting.

We enjoyed the cheesebugers in the truck and then we got Menchie's Frozen Yogurt by our house.

Its sad that we did not get to enjoy the Hot Air Balloons but we had a fun night :)

Soccer... Soccer ... soccer

2011-07-28T21:23:00.000-05:00

Keith and I are both playing coed soccer this summer. It has been a lot of fun.

My mom has been able to come to a couple games to help us watch the boys while we play. When she can not come Keith and I just make sure to not both be on the field at the same time.

But these last couple weeks we have had two games a week which are on week nights at 6:30pm at the soccer field near our old house (45min away). So we have had a LOT of late nights this summer, the games end around 8:15 then the drive home and then bathing the boys and putting them to bed ends up being 9:30pm (their normal bedtime is 8pm).

The boys have been REALLY well-behaved and love playing with their friends and Keith and I get a workout in and get to hangout with our friends as well.

Playroom ABC Wall

2011-07-19T22:36:00.003-05:00

At the end of February when we knew we were getting the new house, I started looking for room ideas and paint colors for the house. I quickly found these images and loved the gray wall color for the office and the playroom/guest room. It was a clean classic color but could easy add punch of color to make it fun.

Then I found these ABC wall ideas and knew that would be a great punch of color and fun in the playroom. So I asked friends and family for any letters they were no longer using. I started to look at Hobby Lobby and other stores for letters on clearance. My mom really got into she has had new letters for me every time we saw her.

These are the letters I had at the end of June. I started painting and mod podging a couple letters. Then got my final letters and scrapbook paper Friday.

We were able to hang up most the letter with Command Medium Picture Hanging Strips and just had to use a couple nails.

The R was mod podged with Reece's monogramed polo. I plan on doing the same with the G when Grady outgrows his polo.

This is a vinyl 45 record from my siblings and my record "collection."

The S is mod podged with fabric from a pair of PJ both the boys wore as babies.

A couple of the letter are letters from the boys names that were hanging in their bedroom at the old house.

Grand Isle

2011-07-17T22:09:00.000-05:00

We left for Grand Isle Friday after Grady's last day of soccer camp. Hoping the boys would nap on the drive down. Reece went right to sleep, then about 30min into the drive Grady had to go to the bathroom. After that both boys were wide awake for to while ride.

We stopped my Mr. Sunny and Mrs. Margo's to unload the truck then went to see Marty and Melissa for supper and chocolate for the boys.

Playing on Marty's boat after supper (we were on land). When we got back to Sunny & Margo's camp the boys went right to sleep. Then Keith and I got to hang out and talk with everyone.

Mr. Sunny's boat was in the shop so Keith went fishing with Marty Saturday morning. Rachel, Papa Andy and I took the kids to the beach. The boys LOVED the beach. Grady was REALLY worried about sharks getting him at first, but Papa Andy helped him get over that fear. The beach looks awesome, since the oil spill they are cleaning the sand everyday.

Grady fishing on the dock at the camp when Keith got back from fishing (they only caught 1 fish).

Grady helping Mrs. Margo put the pregnant crabs back in the water.

We went back to the beach with the dads, Aunt Katie and Dylan before supper.

We had boiled crabs, flank steak, and hotdogs for supper. Then Keith and Grady fished again on the dock. The boys went right to sleep again Saturday night :)

Sunday we went back to the beach before lunch.

This is what we did most of the time in Grand Isle, hanging out under the camp while the boys played. We had some wonderful fried fish for lunch. Grady ate a TON of fish.

Here is everyone that was at the camp for this fun weekend.

4th of July Weekend

2011-07-05T20:58:00.001-05:00

Peyton's 2nd Birthday Party! July 2

With a swimming, water slide, pizza and cake!

Then we went to visit my grandmother in the hospital.

2nd try at making a sky lantern

Had fun playing in the backyard after the boys woke up from a long nap.

The boys watched Keith run... the down the street and back is about a mile. The boys have enjoyed watching him and/or Grady likes to ride his bike while we run. (July 3)

We had a BBQ with Rachel & Adam before...

the Kenilworth INDEPENDENCE DAY PARADE

Grady started half day Soccer Camp (July 4)

Reece reading the paper waiting for Grady to come home.

We had hamburgers, grilled zucchini, onions, tomatoes, baked macaroni, and oriental cabbage salad for a wonderful supper at home.

Grilled Chicken Bruschetta

2011-06-28T21:35:00.001-05:00

I found this Grilled Chicken Bruschetta recipe on skinnytaste.com the other day. We had it for supper tonight and it was wonderful.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-22T16:15:00.000-05:00

Vacation Bible School

2011-06-14T21:51:00.002-05:00

7 YEARS!!

2011-06-13T15:30:00.000-05:00

It is hard to believe Keith and I have been together for 11years and married for 7years. I am so lucky to be married to such a wonderful man.

My mom spent the night Thursday to watch the boys so Keith and I could go out to dinner for our anniversary. We had a fun dinner at Little Village and then went to look at books at Barnes & Noble kid free :)

Our 7th Wedding Anniversary was Sunday. We had a wonderful day hanging out at home.

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

2011-06-13T14:00:00.001-05:00

We have been blueberry picking EVERY week since the blueberry farm near our house opened for the season. So I have been trying recipes with blueberries. This one was good, but I don't think I used enough lemon rind because I would have liked a stronger lemon flavor.

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 (8-ounce) container lemon yogurt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

1 1/4 cups fresh blueberries or 1 (6-ounce) package frozen blueberries unthawed*

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon cold butter or margarine

Preparation

Combine 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.

Stir together yogurt and next 3 ingredients; add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened.

Toss together 2 tablespoons flour and raspberries; fold into batter. Spoon into lightly greased muffin pans, filling two-thirds full.

Combine remaining 2 tablespoons flour and 3 tablespoons sugar; cut butter into mixture with a pastry blender or fork until crumbly. Spoon evenly over batter in muffin pans.

Bake at 375° for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. Remove muffins from pans immediately, and cool on wire racks.

* Raspberries may be substituted for blueberries.

Southern Living DECEMBER 2003

Chocolate White Chocolate Cupcakes

2011-06-12T21:51:00.003-05:00

I LOVE to bake and make cupcakes.

A couple months ago I won a facebook contest for 2 cupcakes at Sweet Wishes a gourmet cupcake shop in Baton Rouge. I had there cupcakes once before when they gave away a free cupcake to anyone who said GEAUX TIGERS (or something like that) for an LSU football victory and was not that impressed. The cupcakes were ok but not moist at all. But this last time Keith and I split the Chocolate White Chocolate and it was GREAT.

So I decided to make them for Keith's 32nd Birthday.

I found the Chocolate cupcake recipe from Cupcake Project blog when looking for moist Chocolate cupcakes. I added Godiva white chocolate chucks from 3 Godiva candy bars I cut up. I just put my favorite cream cheese icing and they turned out AMAZING.

Chocolate White Chocolate

Makes 12 regular cupcakes.

Cupcakes

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

1-1/4 cups sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoons vanilla

2/3 cup white chocolate chucks (I added almost a cup)

1. Beat butter until softened.

2. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined.

4. Measure the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder into a small sized bowl and whisk to combine.

5. Measure out the milk and vanilla and stir to combine.

6. Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine.

7. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.

8. Stir in white chocolate chucks.

9. Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 2/3 full.

10. Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Icing

6 oz. cream cheese, softened   

1 stick butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla

Add powdered sugar until the right consistency