I so love doing this

My cousin, who was the flower girl in my wedding, is having her first baby next month. I am helping with the shower and knew after my Christmas cake pops I wanted to make them for the shower. I am also making cupcakes and will attempt my first ever marshmellow fondant...another post about that this weekend. Anyway, I had to get an early start on these beauties because I am making so many.

The baby's room is red with some pink and a touch of blue...think cherry blossoms. I made three of these tin can arrangements more for decoration but they are to eat too!! I have about 50 more to make of the individual ones as well as cupcakes...it's a BIG shower!! I sure love doing this sort of thing...can't wait to see it all put together this weekend!!

Easy and delicious

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons salt for cooking, place a sprinkle for the sauce
2 tablespoons butter
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian)
1 lb asparagus, upper half only
1 small zucchini or yellow squash
1/2 cup thinly sliced carrot
1/2 red or yellow bell pepper
3/4 cup heavy cream (replace half with regular milk for a lighter sauce)
1 package of fettuccine
chopped parsley
1 cup graded Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Bring water to boil, cook pasta according to directions on package. Add olive oil and salt to water before it boils

2. In a large skillet, melt butter and garlic. Add veggies and chicken broth and simmer covered for 3-5 minutes.

3. Add cream and simmer until pasta is cooked.

4. Drain pasta and return to large pot, pour sauce and veggies and toss on low heat adding 3/4 cup of Parmesan.

5. Plate and sprinkle with remaining cheese and parsley...ENJOY!

Haz-Mat team needed!!!

I do not pride myself in this post, but it is part of my life with five kiddos. I remember in a our itty bitty Gilbert house, the one with only two bathrooms, and I have to laugh at my current situation. When your only other bathroom in the house is the kid bathroom and guest bathroom, like our old house, it tends to be cleaned multiple times a day. I have a friend with only one bathroom for six people and it is always so clean and smells great. My downstairs bathroom is the same way. The kids use and abuse it, but since anyone who comes over uses it also I clean it nearly every day. (Gotta love Clorox wipes!!) But the sad truth to the kids upstairs bathroom is it is neglected 10x over. I finally went in there today and pulled out my bio-hazard hat and got down and dirty!! It is amazing to me how five little darlings can make such a huge mess. Seriously, while I was scrubbing God knows what off the floor and what seemed like a whole tube of toothpaste off the counter I thought about running an experiment. I wondered if I only let one kid per week use the bathroom and then clean it each week would I discover who the worst offender was??? Goodness...I hope so! The mirror was a pokadot mess and I wonder how in the world water spots can get so high? I also can't help but wonder if every single parent out there asks the same questions at one point or another? It does sort of make me chuckle.

One thing for sure is somewhere out there is my dream house and it may or may not have a bathroom per room and then I could teach each child to clean up their one dang mess!!! Ahhhhh, dreams are so lovely!!!

Now that was remarkable

Arizona just celebrated it's 100th birthday on Feb 14th. There were all kinds of events through out the city in the weekend prior. On Feb 11th we watched an hours worth of non-stop motorcycles ride from Mesa Riverview to the Capital. We have never seen so many motorcycles. Seriously, it was a steady stream for almost an hour leaving the parking lot. It was incredible!! The kids were mesmerized as was Shane as these bikes rode past. And to make it even more interesting the bikes were all unique!!!

SO worth the time to see this amazing event!!!

Dinner for the king

I love to make him a special meal to celebrate and serve him...and he enjoys it too.

Twice Baked Potatoes, T-bone steak and Asparagus!!!

Happy Birthday Shane...we love you!!!

Cake bites

Shane requested red velvet cake for his birthday and I needed to practice more cake pops for a baby shower in a few weeks so I killed two birds with one stone. They are red velvet cake with vanilla almond bark coating and blue sprinkles...

Had some difficulty with the coating melting smooth and making a nice shell as you can see which ones I started first so I am glad to practice! Good thing looks don't affect the taste.

Happy 36th!!

We sure love this guy!! Happy Birthday to the best husband and father I know!

Showing God's love is the best way...

We all know what 'Valentine's Day' is because the media/tv tell us it is about jewelry, candy and flowers. I feel bad for most men as woman can really get the fantasy built up in their minds of what they want this holiday to be like and then may find themselves very disappointed. I have an amazing hubby...but I would not say he is the most die-hard romantic, and actually until recently this holiday we never did much. This year I spoiled my family with things for their stomach. I can make them feel just as loved by making fun, holiday themed food all day...and it didn't really cost my anything extra than my normal grocery budget.

First up...heart shaped french toast, eggs, bacon and strawberries!!

The kids had special plates...

Then a few decorated cookies for after school...(the picture is in a previous post)

I also made strawberry jello jigglers that I cut into heart shapes!! (Didn't take a pic, but used the idea from their preschool class the day before)

I made this treat for Shane and I during our movie.

And finally to my total surprise...these beauties when Shane came home!!

I have to say...it was a fun, fun day for me to spoil my family. I loved on them as much as I could, treasured memories for sure!

It's all about love today

"For God so loved the world that He gave his only son so that you may have eternal life in Christ Jesus!" AMEN!!!

Happy 100th Birthday Arizona!

Desert Classic 2012

These boys played their hearts out this weekend and came up just short of the championship win. They are still un-defeated in the regular season and actually this was their first loss since Oct. Several of the boys took it pretty hard which just makes me so proud of their desire to win and play with heart! Congrats MSC on a great tournament and weekend of soccer!

XOXOXO

Love it in the air...

...and on my blog it seems!! (Heeeheeeeheee) I made this centerpiece in with a few things I had around the house already.

Love Mater and Lighting McQueen!

Baked Goat Cheese with Tomato Basil Salsa

We enjoyed this appetizer at The Keg when we went for my birthday back in December. I loved it! I had a mom2mom's night out this past Friday and I knew I wanted to bring this. Thank you internet as there was a copycat recipe out there and it is just as good. I think it is oddly simple to make and the rewards are a very satisfied tummy!!

Recipe:

1 package of goat cheese. (I got mine from Costco)

I package of sliced almonds 

4 roma tomatoes

1 pkg of basil

half of a red onion

2 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoon red wine vinegar

minced garlic

1 egg white

Steps:

Form goat cheese into ball with hands

Crush almonds and toast in pan until golden brown

Coat cheese ball in egg white then cover in toasted almonds

Bake at 325 for 15 minutes

Cut tomatoes in too small bits

Chop Basil

Chop red onion

Mix with olive oil, red wine vinegar and garlic

I also sliced and toasted my own bread but I think you could use pita bread or melba toast if you want. So at your next party, try this and it is sure to be a hit!

The little things...

It is the little things sometimes that make us feel so loved by our husbands. I would not say that I need him to bring me home flowers on a regular basis, but when it does happen it makes me all happy inside. These babies made their way to my counter on Tues afternoon before I got home along with a sweet card. He does more than his share to make me happy and feel so loved. I would say I am one of the luckiest woman in the world to have the husband I have. I am proud of the man and father he is...I love him more each day if that is at all possible.

It is "LOVE" Month

Why not start February off with Valentine hair!! I didn't do hearts like last year but instead did colorful beads to be festive! I have never done the beads random but I felt like it was worth a try and I actually love it! I adore all the colors and how it looks like love...hahaha, ok getting a little cheesy I know! Anyway, She was a trooper as always since it took us two days to actually complete it. The hair is sectioned and then each section is divided in half on a diagonal and each half is then mirrored. One thing I love about cornrows this small is how long it will last. As long as I keep it moisturized I should be able to get 4 wks out of it...perfect for Feb.

And one of the mini love-bug! I am still working on getting better at cornrow shorter hair.