Happy Birthday to my Honey!

Pete's birthday was yesterday. He is 29! We had a fun day yesterday. I "slaved" all day on his fancy birthday dinner. (Going out was not an option) I made homemade chicken noodle soup with homemade broth and homemade noodles! Plus we had homemade french bread too! And caramello cookies. So yes my day was filled with baking. But this is one of Pete's favorite meals, so I was glad to do it. We were going have movie night after the kids went to bed but there just arent' any good flicks worth renting lately! So we ended up staying up and watching pieces of the olympics on NBC's website. All in all it was a good day! Happy Birthday Petey...I love ya lots!

Valentine's Day

We had a fun filled Valentine's Day, if not a little crazy. My little sister and her friends decided to pay us a visit the night before, meaning I stayed up way too late! So when I woke up late Sunday morning, I was still determined to start some traditions that I had planned during the week. So my morning was rushed with heart shaped pancake and red syrup making. I also made heart shaped jigglers to have with dinner later. They were supposed to be purple but they turned out almost black. They were sure yummy though.

I've never really done any valentine traditions. I remember my mom doing fun food for every holiday and decided I better start making some memories.

Also Pete always gives me a funny card for Valentines. The last few years due to lack of money Pete has made homemade cards. I actually prefer these. They mean so much more when they are handmade. He cracks me up. He even made me a pipe cleaner flower! What a stud! He's not afraid to be a little crafty. I love that about him.

On Tuesday we had a play date with my friends and their kiddos. The kids made a great mess decorating cookies and cupcakes! Then they wore themselves out running around the church for about an hour. It was a lot of fun.

The Name Game

So for those of you who don't know this already, I put Pete on name duty this time around. I figured he ought to name at least one kid right? So he surprised me by not waiting till the week before (or after) the baby is here to come up with a list. Here are his picks. I've weeded out the ones that just can't happen (like Trinity ugh). But feel free to give thoughts on this list. This is a first draft, definitely not the final list to choose from, but still I need input:

Layla

Jade

Aislin

Sierra

(my additions)

Charlie

Brin

Claire

Tell us what you think!

Valentine's for Family Night

Since both my oldest kiddos have Valentine's Day Parties at school this week, we decided to make family night a valentine making party! I decided to save money and make our own, plus homemade is way cuter than store bought, and we already had all the stuff! I think we all had fun. Dallin didn't do much crafting just a lot of m&m eating. We had some left over from Christmas, so we used the red for the valentines and we ate the green for family night treat!

More Fun With Food!

I've been feeling rather domestic the last week or so. Not so much cleaning and laundry, but cooking and food aren't so revolting anymore! This is what we did today for an after school snack. It's called a Banana Bug-apillar and my kids could not wait to make it when we found it on a cooking website! It was quite the tasty little treat!

I also had another food adventure today, which I probably won't be repeating. On one of the recipe blogs I was browsing it suggested buying a rotisserie chicken once a week and using the meat for one of your chicken meals during the week and using the bones and skin to make your own chicken broth to freeze for future use. I thought that sounded like a fabulous idea until I actually started pulling apart the chicken. There is a reason I don't like to eat meat from the bone!!! I especially don't like hearing the bones crackle while pulling off the drumsticks and wings! VOMIT! Not a good plan for me. Pete's lucky if he can get me to touch raw chicken or cut off the fat, but I do believe this might have been worse! Yuck. So in the future we will still be buying the rotisserie chicken, but the pulling it apart will definitely be a Honey Do Lister!!!
(I did enjoy making the broth and it made my house smell fantastic!)

Another Duesy and a Bedrail!

Yes, again we are terrible parents. You'd think we'd learn the first time right. We meant to put up the rail then, but you know how these things get put off. So when he fell off last night again for the second time in a matter of weeks, I told Pete, there will be a rail on that bed tomorrow, even if it's a two by four...and guess what...it is a two by four. Don't worry we have plans to paint the bed next week. Hopefully it happens!!!

Easy and Yummy Entertainment for the Kids

I guess I must be feeling better lately or I am just going through a restless need to do something phase. Plus my kiddos are so over exposed to the TV it's quite pathetic! (yes I am a terrible mother when I'm pregnant, I'll admit it) I have been in the mood to bake and cook again. I think Pete is probably relieved. He's been the sole cook for months now. I guess I'm sick of being on dish duty too, so if I cook I get out of that. Anyway, I have been baking a lot, great for the kids and my entertainment, not so great for the waistline! But oh well! It's fun.

Ragan and Dal and I made homemade soft pretzels today. I found the idea on Sister's Cafe blog. We had a ton of fun and they turned out delicious! I'll share the pics and the recipe. I hope you guys can try it too! Totally kid friendly!

kneading was a new concept for Ragan, she thought it was pretty cool!

Both kids had a little trouble rolling the snakes out, but I just helped by taking their little hands and helping them get the right pressure and motion. Ragan was a pro by the time we were done.

She was also a pro at twisting them into pretzel shape

She thought beating the egg wash was the best part until...

they got to paint the dough with the egg wash. Dal wasn't real interested until we started painting. The snake rolling only lasted a second for him, he just played with his dough like play dough unti it was time to paint.

And last but not least our beautiful and yummy finished product. We made them just in time for an after school snack when James came home!

Okay here's the recipe for all who want to try it out:

Soft Pretzels

1 1/2 C warm water

1 pkg yeast (or 1 T)

1 T sugar

1 tsp salt

4 C flour

Add sugar to warm water then sprinkle yeast on top. let it float for a min. then stir to dissolve the yeast. Let sit for 10 min. as yeast activates and starts to foam. Add salt and flour and knead 5-10 min; adding more flour as needed to reduce stickiness. Divide dough into 12 pieces and roll into snakes. Twist into pretzel shape and place on nonstick baking sheet. make an egg wash with one egg and 1T water, lightly beaten together. Brush pretzels with egg wash then sprinkle liberally with kosher salt. Bake @ 425 for 15 min. or until lightly browned

*For left over pretzels, brush with butter and sprinkle with parmesan and broil one minute. It makes a yummy treat.

Downsizing!

We cancelled our home phone today, so if anyone needs to get ahold of us call our cells. If you don't have our cell number call our home number and it should give you a forwarding number! Just thought you'd want to know!