Time to breath...

I feel like we have been running crazy lately. Not sure exactly what we have been doing, but we seem to always have something going on. Here are some pictures of things we have been doing.


Cyra and Jace reading...

Gage doing homework...
Kaysha doing homework...


Where a kid can be a KID... (also known as Chuck E Cheese)Zane showing off all his tickets.
Gage soooooo excited to be there...Who is that masked girl ?

Cyra and Jace helping make "pinkalicious" cupcakes.Jace wanted to see a picture of him pretending to "eat" play-doh.Coloring easter eggs...I'm not sure if anyone knows this but.... the best way to see if you colored your eggs just right is to SMELL it. lol I am not sure what he was doing here.okay, for this picture you must imagine the most annoying whiney voice ( i know anyone with kids has heard it)in the world and hear him saying " PLEEEEASSSSSE!!!!!" He does this so much lately.So, saturday the 22nd was one of our craziest days ever.

It started out at the Easter Egg hunt in Cedar Hills...Then we went to Fat Cats to go bowling with the kids cousins...From there we went over to a park...

Then ran over to Chelys, for Xanders birthday party...We ended the evening at our Ward party!!By the end of that day I was beat! Of course the kids were ready to keep going but alteast the Easter Bunny was coming that night, so they had to get to bed so he didn't pass up our house.

Well that is our last couple of weeks! Enjoy!

St. "Patrick" Day???

On Monday Cyra came to me with a very good questions... Why do we wear green on St. Patricks Day if Patrick (from spongebob) is PINK? It was a few hours later, while walking though Walmart, she came up with an answer to her own question (since obviously mom couldn't give a good enough answer). She suddenly turned to me and said, " I know why we wear green, because Partick wears green pants!" Why couldn't I think of that answer?

Baking

My passion lately has been baking. I love finding new recipes and find myself always looking for new ones. It is awesome when I find that "one" recipe that turns out perfect. I find myself trying out one of my new recipes at least 2-3 times a week. The kids take a vote after each time I cook and tell me if its a "keeper" or "not a keeper". If the kids don't like it it doesn't make it into my rapidly expanding recipe book. The latest "keeper" was a chocolate chip pumpkin cookie. I can tell when James REALLY likes something because he makes sure they are put away "just right" before we go to bed. I was informed last night, as he was gently putting these pumpkin cookies into a ziplock bag, that I was not to move them from their spot so they wouldn't all stick together.

Here is the recipe for the cookies. I found this recipe here: http://white-bean.blogspot.com/2007/10/pumpkin-spiced-iced-cookies.html. It really is a good recipe and I will be making it a lot more. The key to making these just right is to NOT over cook them! (this side note is for Chely)

Pumpkin Spiced & Iced Cookies

(I didn't take this picture)

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 large eggs15 oz. Libby 100% pure pumpkin

2 cups (12 oz. package) Nestle Tollhouse semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Vanilla Glaze: Combine 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 to 1 1/2 Tblsp milk and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract in a small bowl. Mix well.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2. Combine flour, pumpkin spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl

3.Beat butter and sugar in a large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in pumpkin, eggs and vanilla extract.

4. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by the rounded tablespoons onto foiled covered baking sheets

5. Bake for 15-20 minutes ( i baked mine 16 minutes) or until edges are slightly browned. Let stand for 5 minutes; ( i immediately removed them from the cookie sheet)remove to wire rack to cool completely.

6. Drizzle or spread the vanilla glaze on top of cookies.(Makes about 4 dozen cookies)

Well time is up for me, Jace is up from his nap and is not feeling well today so I need to go help him.