7 years

My love and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary yesterday.  We actually got to celebrate on Saturday night and went out on a date.  But yesterday, the girls and I met Adam downtown for lunch at Puckett's Grocery and then Adam came home a little early from work and we hung out as a family.

the girls walking downtown together

I had to laugh, because on our way to our date, we were tired from working that day and I looked over to say something to Adam and there was bird pooh that dripped down the side of his window.  He never was one to clean out his car (or the outside) for a date.  His comeback was, "I don't need a bright shiny package to drive you around in...I AM the bright shining package."  I had to snicker, but it is true.  He never fails to make me laugh, meet our family's needs, and show us his love.  And it never comes in a fancy package.  It's perfect just the way it is. 

In the past 7 years, we have...
bought a house, sold the house
bought a bigger house
Andrew gave us our oldest child, Petey (the dog)
had 2 beautiful daughters
have 1 more baby on the way
gone on vacations
watched our Belmont Bruins play in several NCAA tournaments
remained loyal Notre Dame football fans
tried to do many home projects
hired people to fix our home projects
bought our first new car

and I'm sure I'm leaving a bunch off, but the best part is that every year gets better and each year we rely on God to continue to guide our family.  I have enjoyed the last 7 years and I can't wait to see what is in store for the next 7!  I'll leave you with some wedding memories.




Some of my favorite pictures are of when the wedding was over.  We both look so much more relaxed and relieved!




Here is Adam dancing with Gigi.  Our dj had Adam do all kinds of things that are out of his comfort zone and he was a hoot!  Don't believe me?  Scroll down...



Look at everybody's faces!  All the women had to line up and he had to try to dance with everybody down the line by the end of the song.  The song was, "I'm too sexy."  It was funny because some women wouldn't let go and wanted to dance longer.  :)




Then all the guys had to stand around me and they had to sing "She lost that loving feeling."  For those of you who know Adam, you'll know he loves to sing.  He sings to all the songs on the radio and will say, "I sound JUST like them."  Right.  He sounds JUST like Lady Gaga and Cee Lo.  I love Uncle Kevin's face in the background getting an AMEN in!




Here's another after photo.  Don't we look happy?




Here are my girls, Sheila, Josie C., Josie H., and Amanda (Tia)




I love this picture of me holding on to Dad.  My flowers were so pretty.





Here are the boys.



The mamas and the papas.



And this is my favorite.  We are standing on the front steps at church that we still climb every Sunday, but now with 2 1/2 kids in tow. 

 Thanks again to all the family and friends who came to celebrate our wedding that day.  We had so many family members travel from so far away and it meant so much to us.  We're thankful for all our supportive friends who were part of the wedding and the friends who helped with the wedding.  We're so lucky to have such great friends. 

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Happy Memorial Day!


Happy Memorial Day everyone!  I would like to give a special shout out to Grandpa Huhnke and Grandpa Mark who both served our country as well as all the other men and women who have served and are currently serving our country.  My family is so thankful for your sacrifice and I cannot say enough about the wives, children, and husbands who also sacrifice while their loved one is away.  Thank you for making our country wonderful!

We were supposed to have Adam's parents in town for this weekend because it is Adam's dad's birthday.  (Happy Birthday!) but Lana got sick and they couldn't make the trip.  Luckily, Tia came through and brought over some cupcakes for the girls who couldn't quite understand why we weren't having a birthday party anymore.  Thanks Tia!  We've got to enjoy her a lot this weekend since she had the weekend off.  We all went swimming on Saturday and were joined by the Sundstrom family.  I played volleyball with Katie in college and she is due in 2 weeks.  We've been doing water aerobics together and she's ready for this little boy to get here!  Her husband, Sunny, brought over sausages, corn, and onions and grilled a fantastic lunch for us all.  It was a wonderful treat!

Sunday we were blessed with another visit from another great friend AND Tia got to join us again.  Our friend Josie came over to hang with the family and enjoy some BBQ chicken.  I had some chipotle mango bbq sauce leftover from the other day's Chipotle Mango BBQ Salad and so I threw it on some chicken and we enjoyed more corn on the cob.  Josie also helped us peel apples and we slapped together a pie real quick for dessert. 

The other day I tried out these corn cakes and they were a delicious treat.  Not hard to make.  I only made one adjustment to the salsa.  I smashed up the tomatoes a little more and added a whole lime instead of a half.  You'll have to try it and see what you would like to add.  They were fabulous!

 

Summer Corn Cakes with Tomato and Avocado Salsa

from ezrapoundcake.com

Makes about 12 large cakes; serves 6 to 8

• 3 ears corn, shucked
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal (If you can only find cornmeal mix, skip the baking powder.)
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons well-shaken buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• Canola oil, for frying
• Chopped Tomato and Avocado Salsa (recipe follows)

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a brown paper bag.
2. Cut the corn from the cobs into a large bowl, and scrape the stripped cobs with the back of the knife (or a spoon) to release the juices into the bowl.
3. Place 2 cups of the corn kernels into a food processor, and pulse several times, until the corn is slightly pureed but still chunky. Scrape into the bowl with the remaining corn kernels.
4. Add flour, cornmeal, onion, basil, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pepper to the corn. Stir to mix.
5. Add the eggs, buttermilk and butter, and stir just to combine. (Do not overmix.)
6. Place a large skillet over medium heat. Add just enough canola oil to barely cover the bottom, and heat until sizzling hot.
7. One heaping tablespoon at a time, scoop the batter into the skillet. Cooking in batches of 4 to 5 to avoid overcrowding, fry the cakes 1 to 2 minutes per side, until golden brown.
8. Drain on the lined baking sheet, and place in the oven to keep warm while cooking the remaining corn cakes. Serve warm topped with a heap of Chopped Tomato and Avocado Salsa.

Chopped Tomato and Avocado Salsa

Makes about 2 cups

• 1 large tomato, cored and chopped
• 1 scallion, trimmed and minced
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper, cored, seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced

1. Place all of the ingredients (except the avocado) in a bowl, and stir to mix. Refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to serve, for up to 2 days.
2. Just before serving, add the avocado, and mix gently.

The girls and I have LOVED having Adam here all weekend.  It is always a treat to have him around for an extra day.  On the weekends, I always make breakfast for the fam.  I bought fresh strawberries with this muffin recipe below in mind.  They were SOOOO good.  And they were easy and bake quickly.  The crowd didn't have to wait too long before they were ready.  They have cinnamon and sugar on top.  Please try this recipe out.  You'll love it!  The only disclaimer is that you'll have to try to eat them or give them away within a day.  If you store them in a container in the fridge, they get too moist.  We didn't eat them all, so I just left them sitting out on the counter on a plate and they were still good the next day, but wouldn't have lasted any longer than that.  So try half a recipe if you don't have a crowd or take some into work.

Fresh Strawberry Muffins

from realmomkitchen.com

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries
3 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and mix well.

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to butter mixture. Add vanilla. Gently stir in strawberries.

Spoon batter into muffin pans.

Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over muffins.

Bake at 400º for 20-25 minutes.

Adam said that on the first day of summer vacation, his family would go pick strawberries in Mishawaka.  They would pick about three bushels and give some to grandparents and eat the rest.  Adam loves strawberries.  I love summer.  Everybody has things that remind them of summer.  I can't wait to see what my girls' memories will be of summer, but I hope they can remember some good ones.  They've been ready to go and have some fun!

Emilie never fails to wear her glasses upside down.  I love summer dresses and taking the girls wherever the wind blows us...

This is one of my favorites.  I took it with my phone and sent it to Adam while he was at work and asked, "Do you think anybody got hurt in this photo?"  He called immediately to ask if everyone was ok.  I know it looks like Emilie is just standing there and about to get a heel to the head, but she was actually walking towards me and Aubrie just missed her AND landed on her feet.  Wild times.  We went to the mall to get some sun hats and play.

Here's Josie showing the girls how to go all out and get wet.  Sometimes I hate having a kiddie pool because no matter what, they are going to get in it every time you go outside.  Aubrie got in first and Josie got in to show them how to splash and coax Emilie in.  It worked.  :)

I hope everyone else had a good Memorial Day weekend.  We were going to go swimming after dinner tonight.  We even told Aubrie we were going to go, but then all of the sudden it started pouring at our house and ruined our plans.  There were tears and promises made for a swim day tomorrow.  Cross your fingers a random cloud doesn't show up at our house again!
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Tantrum Dining

I promise I have been busy in the kitchen.  I made this wonderful sweet potato pancakes a couple of weekends ago.  My only problem is that you have to make the batter the night before and it is quite detailed.  You have to make the peach butter, then the candied nuts, and you have to bake a sweet potato.  All is too lengthy just for some pancakes, but you have to try it once.  They are pretty delicious.  I'm going to go ahead and hang on to the recipe as one of my favorites but I am going to make it without the candied nuts and special butter.  They are pretty tasty by themselves.  Also, it makes a lot of batter, so you can use it two days in a row.  And to be honest, it was kind of nice to get out of bed and just pull a bowl of pancake batter out of the fridge and just start frying pancakes!  Give it a try!



 Sweet Potato Pancakes with Peach Butter
by ezrapoundcake.com
http://www.ezrapoundcake.com/archives/15698

The recipe is way too long to put on here!


Another delicious thing I have made as of lately is a chocolate cheesecake.  This baby has three different layers of chocolate on top of Oreo cookie crust.  Then you top it off with a chocolate glaze.  It is delicious and rich.  It's taken us forever to eat it.  I'm not posting the recipe with a picture on here either because mine came out looking ugly.  Tasty, but ugly.  It's supposed to have three layers and a glossy glaze over the top.  I used a bigger pan, so my cheesecake was thin and didn't really show off the three different layers.  I recommend using the pan they tell you to (if you have it, if not do what I did, but don't expect to show it off).  Also, I recommend doubling the glaze recipe so you can make it pretty like their picture.

http://www.yumsugar.com/Chocolate-Cheesecake-Recipe-12944819

I really do enjoy cooking and baking.  I'm glad my dear sweet husband eats just about anything and enjoys that I like trying new things.  He'll tell me if something is a keeper or if we just ate a fun adventure never to be tried again.  :)  I wish I had the talent to come up with my own original recipes, but that is ok.  Some people can't even follow a recipe, so I'll still consider myself lucky.  And hungry.  :)

Speaking of hungry, I mentioned the other day that our dear sweet Emilie hasn't been cooperating at meal time.  Well, she's actually not cooperating much at all.  She's 19 months.  And for some reason, at about 18 months or so, each child is different, children start to test boundaries and have what they call tantrums.  I recall Aubrie going through the same thing.  There was one lunch time that I had her in timeout about 5 times.  She just wouldn't give up.  We stood our ground, she spent some time in timeout, and she learned that there are consequences and you can't get your way.  She'll still get one here or there, and when she does, it's still end-of-the-world-crying, but she's pretty familiar with consequences and it doesn't take much to snap her back to reality.

Emilie is a little different.  When you put her in timeout, she doesn't cry.  She just waits patiently for you to come get her.  She'll tell Aubrie "sowwy" if it was a hitting offense and she won't repeat the same offense.  She'll move on to a new one.  I've had her in timeout at a lot of public places lately.  It's not so bad because she doesn't cry.  I was horrified when I would have to timeout Aubrie in public.  She would cry as if someone were pinching her and people would just stare.  With Emilie, they do a double take and keep walking.  She just looks like a sweet child whose feet got tired so she peacefully sat down to rest.  She actually seems fascinated with it.  She'll come out of a timeout and go get one of her baby dolls and put THEM in timeout.  Then she'll bring the doll to us and say "baby timeout."  And we will ask, "was your baby in trouble?" and she'll smile and say "Yeah!" and go look for someone else to timeout. 

It's exhausting.  The biggest problem has been at the kitchen table.  Never at breakfast because the girl lives for breakfast.  It's lunch or dinner.  She used to be the best eater ever.  Now she decides she doesn't want something and she'll say, "don't want it!" and push her plate across the table.  We respond with, "That's fine, you don't have to eat it.  But you have to sit at the table until everyone is through."  Well, as you can guess, she can't sit until we are all done.  Because the ex-world's best eater is related to the current world's SLOWEST eater.  Aubrie will eat just about everything on her plate but it takes FOREVER!  (She likes to visit.)  Emilie loses her patience and will either,

A.  Scream the entire dinner
B.  Hang off the side of the chair, boneless (screaming)
C.  Or get put in timeout for screaming and putting her feet on the table

I've been giving her classics, too.  Chicken and Apple sausages with peas was an all time go-to meal for her.  Not this time.  She shoved that plate away from her and looked at me and said, "yoyurk???" (yogurt) 

She's gone without lunch one day and without dinner another day.  Hopefully this won't last long.  I can already see that she is getting a little better.  She's eaten what she wanted off her plate and shoved it away, but still sat at the table until Adam and I were done.  (We no longer make her wait for turtle eater).  Hopefully she'll come back around and be a good eater again.  It worked with Aubrie.  You can get her to try ANYTHING now.  I've taught her to try something and if she doesn't like it, quickly chase it with a drink of water.  She's pretty dramatic when she does it, but she tries everything.

I hope your meal times have been peaceful and full of rich conversations and hardy laughs.  :)
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Asian Salmon Burgers

Hello!  I'm still alive.  Don't worry.  The heat hasn't gotten to me yet.  This weekend will be testing me though.  It's supposed to be lower 90s.  We don't have a key to our neighborhood pool yet so we are patiently waiting for the key to arrive today so that we can cool off.  We have good alternatives with the Y pool and the kiddie pool in our backyard, but the girls have started jumping into the pool and I would ruin their fun by taking up most of the space.  Either that, or I'm going to get a foot to the face on one of their jumps because they aren't that graceful. 

This week has been busy with errands, last week of school, and the dentist appointment.  We usually go every 6 months, but I let more than a year slip by since our last visit.  What usually happens is that I make an appointment for Adam and I (a month in advance) and then something comes up and he can't go.  Last time I re-scheduled 2 times because of him and finally I went by myself while the girls were in school and made him find time for his own appointment.  This time was different, though.  We wanted Aubrie to go and watch us get our teeth cleaned so that she'll be up for it next time we all go.  She did enjoy watching me get my teeth cleaned.  The straw that sucks up your spit was fascinating to her.  At the end, she let the hygienist look in her mouth in exchange for a princess toothbrush.  I think it went well and hope she'll be game when we go back in November.  I've had her brush with an electric toothbrush lately so she is used to a buzzing noise and that part won't scare her.  We'll see if it worked.

I've been making all kinds of new recipes lately.  I tried these Asian Salmon Burgers because Adam felt like eating fish.  I really wish this recipe came with a sauce, so you can actually eat it as a burger.  It wouldn't taste right on a bun with mayo and ketchup.  So I just made the patties and paired it with some rice.  It was pretty good.  Aubrie even ate it!  Emilie...well, we're having problems with our Emilie.  I'll save that for another day.  (sigh)

Asian Salmon Burgers

from biggirlssmallkitchen.com

1 lb skinless salmon fllet
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, pushed through a press
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp cilantro
salt
dash cayenne
1 bunch scallions, trimmed
olive oil

Directions
Whisk together the mustard, mayonnaise, ginger, garlic, lemon juice, and cilantro. Season with salt and a pinch of cayenne. Taste for seasoning, and add more heat if necessary.
Finely chop the salmon filet. Toss together with the mustard mixture and form into four even patties, making sure to pack the rounds together as tight as possible.
Place burgers on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour, and up to six.
NOTE: you can make the sauce the night before, but don’t add the fish until the day of. The acid in the lemon juice will cure the salmon like a ceviche if combined for a long period of time.

Heat a nonstick skillet over a high flame and coat the bottom with a thin layer of olive oil. When the pan is very hot, add the salmon burgers. Cook the burgers until brown and crispy on both sides. Make sure not to flip the burgers too early—they are fragile and need to be nearly cooked through on the first side in order to turn without breaking.
In the meantime, heat a grill pan over high heat. Drizzle a little olive oil on a large plate and roll the scallions around until they are coated with oil. When the pan is hot, add the scallions. Rotate as necessary until the green stalks have wilted and the white stems have beautiful dark brown grill marks.  You can serve burgers on buns, or alone with scallions on top.  Enjoy!

 The girls had their end of the year program at school.  Emilie survived her first year of Mother's Day Out.  I didn't really tell Aubrie it was the last day of school.  I'm going to let her firgure it out on her own.  If I would have told her, it would have been the end of the world.  That girl loves going to school and playing with her friends.  Lucky for her, I have a busy schedule planned for her this summer and I love getting together with all of her friends' moms.  :)



Dad had the camera (this is why she is so far away).  She makes totally different expressions and acts way different for her dad when he takes pictures.  Too funny.




This was the best pose he could get from her...our little lady.





Emilie wouldn't sit with Aubrie, so I had to sit with them. 



This is how you get Emilie to stay for a picture.  Headlocks.

Emilie performing her song on stage.  Her dancing is all upper body like her dad.



Here is Aubrie on stage between two of her favorite buddies, Mahaley and Holden.

It was a wonderful program and we're so blessed to have a great school so close to our house.  We are looking forward to next year.  Especially me!  :)

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Chipotle Mango BBQ Salad

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile.  I've been busy freaking out because I only have one more mother's day out day this week, a baby to get ready for, and I have recently realized that Emilie is getting big.  I'll get to that in a minute.

I went to my good ol' pal Pinterest again to help plan for this week's meals.  I've got other meals that we've tried to post on here, but I haven't gotten around to it.  But I'll share tonight's dinner and hopefully get around to the others.  For those of you who do Pinterest, you've seen the bananas with chocolate chips and marshmallows in them that were then wrapped in foil and put on the grill.  Well, we decided to go bananas and give it a try.  Here's my advice.  Don't.  It was even too gross for Adam to eat.  I didn't try it because I'm not really a banana person.   

But on a good note, our main dish was fantastic.  The recipe looks long, but it really isn't that bad.  Once you make the BBQ sauce, the rest is pretty easy.  I made some potato pancakes to go on the side.  I didn't think the girls would like it (the sauce is a little spicy) so they had hotdogs.

Chipotle Mango BBQ Salad

from iowagirleats.com

For the Chipotle-Mango BBQ Sauce (makes 2 1/4 cups):
1 mango, chopped
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, plus 2 teaspoons adobo sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup apple juice
1/4 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
Juice from 1/2 lemon
2 Tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon canola oil
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
For the dressing:
2 Tablespoons prepared Chipotle-Mango BBQ Sauce
2 Tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
1-2 teaspoons lime juice (maybe more, maybe less)
salt & pepper
For the salad:
2 chicken breasts
2 ears sweet corn, shucked
1 vine-ripened tomato, cut into wedges
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 bag Dole Romaine Salad mix
Directions:
1. For the Chipotle-Mango BBQ Sauce: Combine all ingredients for Chipotle-Mango BBQ Sauce into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring often. Let cool then transfer to a food processor or blender, and process until smooth.
2. For the dressing: Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl. Taste, then add more lime juice, salt and/or pepper if necessary.
3. For the salad: Marinate chicken breasts in some of the prepared Chipotle-Mango BBQ Sauce for at least 15 minutes, or up to 3 hours. Grill over medium-high heat for 5-6 minutes per side until no longer pink in the middle. Allow to rest for 5 minutes off the grill before slicing. Grill corn alongside the chicken, rotating every few minutes until charred on all sides. Let cool for a few minutes, then cut kernels off the cob.
4. Divide lettuce between two plates, then top with grilled corn, tomatoes, cilantro, and grilled chicken. Drizzle with prepared dressing.

After dinner, the girls got bowls of yogurt with blueberries and then we gave them the bananas.  They enjoyed licking the chocolate out.  Emilie thought it would be funny to use her bowl as a hat. 

She pretty much got a bath in the kitchen sink.

Silly girls.

So as most of you know, we are expecting child number three.  Apparantly some people don't.  As a matter of fact, today at church, someone said to me, "Oh, it looks like you're expecting another one!!"  I mean, this is someone I saw a couple of weeks ago and said hello to.  So does that mean all this time he thought I was just putting on a little extra weight?! (sigh)

I also made the mistake of going to Lowes twice last week.  One man walked past me and said, "You're due anytime!  Good luck!"  I didn't acknowledge him.  Then I walked past another man and he asked, "Wow.  You're due in a couple weeks, right?" 

"No, not until August." I replied.

"Wow!" he said. 

I just walked away.  Only three more months, only three more months...

Well, as I mentioned above.  Emilie is getting bigger and I'm not handling it well.  She's 19 months next week.  That means that she moves into the bigger kid room at the Y.  It also means big girl teeth are coming in and she's a fire breathing dragon.  And finally, it means it is time to move her to a big girl bed.  We moved Aubrie at 18 months to prepare for Emilie's arrival.  And now it's time for Emilie to move on to her big girl room so we can prepare the nursery for the baby. 

I have to give huge props to Katie who told me about the store, Modern Nash.  They have an Ikea showroom and you can go there to order things from Ikea and you save on shipping.  They then go to the Atlanta Ikea store every week to pick up a truck load of merchandise.  We saved BIG TIME using them instead of ordering through Ikea.  We went in on Saturday to order Emilie's big girl bed and dresser and it turns out they had her bed in stock, so we were able to take it home on Saturday and didn't have to pay for shipping!  WEEEE!!  Thanks Katie!

So last night we put together her bed and moved a couple of things around and it was ready for business.  It all happened so fast.  After bath, book, and prayers, we just took her in there and laid her down, tucked her in, and she just went right to sleep.  Big girl bed?  No problem guys!  I couldn't believe it.  I didn't think she was ready.  Fine.  It went smooth but let's see how nap time goes.  But she proves to us again that she is ready for a big girl bed and took a 3 hour nap.  Let's just say I have cried a lot over it.  My mood has been sour.   I can't believe my days of holding her in the rocking chair and then laying her down in a crib are over.  I don't like it one bit!  Good thing we are having one more.  Brace yourselves when Baby 3 grows out of the crib.  It will be ugly. 




Don't you think I should keep this girl in a crib for at least 6 more years?

Waking up big sister.

Love to all!

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Viva Shellie!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!!!!  This by far has become my favorite holiday.  I like it more than my birthday.  Everyone can celebrate their birthday.  But after the sacrifices and hard work you go through, it's really something to be a mom and get celebrated.  Therefore, celebrating my mom is more meaningful now than it was before becoming a mom. 



This is one of mom's favorite pictures of her and I.  She took the camera in to get film developed and had one picture left and so the man behind the counter took this picture of us.  Isn't my mom gorgeous?!  Doesn't it look like she was well rested for having a baby that young...



Robbie was so cute when he was little.  This doesn't even look like me.  It looks like she picked up the wrong kid at the church nursery.  One of her favortie stories to tell is about the time she took me into the pediatrician for a check-up and he told her it was time for me to get rid of the pacifier.  So on the way home, my window was down and I threw it out of the window as we were driving down the interstate.  Took care of that problem! 



Here is where she had me spend most of my days.  Occasionally she would let visitors in, like my brother, but I was mostly confined to these bars. 




My mom found out a couple of years ago that my brother and I used to eat dog food.  She always thought this was a cute picture of me feeding the dog, but really, that smile says, "busted!"  What did you expect when you have your 2 year old doing chores?  I didn't have enough self-control.  She was devastated when she found out AND in complete denial.  I'm glad Robbie was there with me to back me up.




Mom was/is a good mom.  She hauled me everywhere and took me to see everything.  Her and dad provided me with a lot of love and encouragement to grow up and turn into a successful adult.



AND THEN I had the opportunity to turn mom into a Grandma.  Look at her face.  She was so smitten with Aubrie.  It took her days to get that smile off her face when we had Aubrie.  She was crazy in love and so helpful to me as I transitioned into becoming a mother. Finally by the 5th day of her helping us, she admitted that she didn't remember what she did with us kids, she was just making stuff up.  But it was good.  She got us through day 5 and then helped us realize that we could make stuff up, too, and we were going to survive anyways.  :)

Happy Mother's Day, Shellie.  I love you so much and I'm looking forward to having you here one last time to help welcome home the newest member of our family and to help me adjust, again, to becoming a mom.  You're such a good example and loving mom who still sacrifices for me even though I'm old and I'm supposed to be taking care of myself.  I love you!

As for me, I had a wonderful Mother's Day.  Adam took the girls shopping on Saturday for my gifts.  He was brave and showed their faces at Costco again.  They got me flowers and a new home phone.  I'm also very proud to announce that the balloons that my children mauled seemed to have been mauled by other vicious children and they were sad and deflated.  :)  They also got me a laundry hamper/sorter that is on wheels.  I love it.  After church we ate at Taco Mamacitas and had a delicious lunch.  Overall, it was a wonderful Mother's Day.

But as you know, all good things must come to an end...like our photo session.

Thanks for all the Mother's Day love and wishes.  Love to all!!!
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Tears in Isle 5

It was a rough day.  I had a doctor's appointment for the baby.  I had to drink that awful sugar water stuff so they could draw my blood.  Adam and I planned to have a lunch date afterwards and enjoy the day, but since Emilie has HF&M and can't go to school (neither can siblings), the whole gang went to my appointment.  I'm glad they did because the sugar water makes me so sick, I wanted to throw up the whole way there.  Adam and the girls stayed in the car and I had a successful appointment and everything is going well with the baby.

Here's where it gets rough.  We really needed diapers and Costco has a diaper coupon that started today, so we decided to go get some lunch and then go to Costco.  Because my children are germ carriers, we didn't get out of the car for lunch.  We had Adam's beloved Taco Bell and ate in the car.  Emilie is in the miserable stage and isn't eating very well.  But Aubrie and her dad enjoyed it.  After Taco Bell, we headed to Costco.  We decided to let the girls get out and Adam would go get the diapers while the girls and I go order frozen yogurt.  (We thought Emilie would enjoy something cool and soft in her mouth)  No grocery carts are involved to prevent germ spreading. 

We get to the counter to order the frozen yogurt and right next to the counter they have balloons at toddler eye level that the girls started batting around.  A man from behind the counter walked over and yelled, "hey hey!  Don't play with those, they might come loose!" And then the woman taking my money rolled her eyes and said, "Yeah, kids shouldn't play with those.  If they go loose, they'll float to the ceiling."  And then they both looked at each other with disgust in me and my children.

Question for you.  Would you grill steaks and then set them down low next to the dog dish and expect your dog to leave them alone?  Would you put bowls of candy in a room full of kids and expect them not to help themselves?  WOULD YOU HANG SHINY BALLOONS AT A 3 YEAR OLD'S EYE LEVEL AND EXPECT KIDS TO LEAVE THEM ALONE?!?!?!??

Goodness gracious!  Hang your stupid balloons higher and good luck when Friday, Saturday, and Sunday come and all the kids are here shopping with their parents.  I'm sure you won't have a problem with other children.  Mine are just awfully behaved.  The nerve!  So I peel my children off the balloons and Emilie starts crying because of it. 

I get the yogurt and we are sitting down and the girls are sharing the yogurt nicely.  Emilie starts using her hand and wiping yogurt all over my dress.  Then Aubrie announces that she has to go potty and I look over and thankfully Adam is in line.  I tell her to wait until daddy comes and then we'll go to the restroom.  So when Adam comes up with the cart, I ask him to meet me and Aubrie at the car and take Emilie and the yogurt with him.  Well, Emilie flips out.  She wants to go with me and Aubrie.  So I take her with me.  I pick her up and she's got yogurt all over her face and she's crying and Aubrie is doing a skip hop walk in front of us as we head towards the bathroom.  We pass a couple who looks at me and I hear the husband say to his wife, "Oh wow.  They are going to have THREE children."

That did it. 
It wasn't the yogurt all over me and my dress. 
It wasn't Emilie opening the stall door when it was my turn to use the restroom and strangers watching me pee.
It wasn't the balloon incident (anymore.)
It wasn't my child being miserable because she's sick.

It was Mr. Man who made that comment to his wife.  And let me tell you something.  He'll get his.  One day Mr. Man and his wife will have their ONE child (since 3 is so appalling) and I predict one of the following to happen: 

1.  She's going to be a spoiled brat because they only have one kid.  (Not saying all only children are spoiled, but as snobby as he was, his kid will be.)
2.  One day his child is not going to feel well and will act like a holy terror in public and embarrass Mr. Man.
3.  OR  One day his daughter will get dominated under the basket or will get spiked on during a volleyball match by MY PRINCESSES.

I'll be honest.  I may sound confident now, but his comment and other people's harsh words are hard to take.  I do not regret having three children.  Neither do I regret having them so close.  Sure, days like this are hard, but the good ones out number the bad.  I encourage people to think before they judge and please think before you speak.  Your opinions or comments are probably not wanted or needed.  Think about it.  I'm sure YOU weren't a perfect angel for your parents.  Give moms a break.  Especially pregnant moms.  Next time you see a mom struggling...help her.  Encourage her.  Don't give advice or opinions.  Smile warmly.  It's only mother's day weekend, for goodness sake.

Also, we will be making another public appearance tomorrow.  We will be taking Emilie to her doctor's appointment.  If you want to come gawk at us, we'll be at Green Hills Pediatrics and Adam decided to sell tickets since we have to send THREE kids to college.

Lucky for me, a sweet friend sent me an edible arrangement bouquet and thanked me for being a good mom and giving her encouragement.  THAT act of kindness saved my day.  Thank goodness.  :)  Love to all!

YAY! Brianne and Eliza!

The whole gang enjoyed the fruit!

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Hand, Foot, and Mouth

No, folks.  This isn't the second verse to head, shoulders, knees and toes.  This is a virus that is spreading like wildfire in Emilie's class at MDO.  When she went to school on Tuesday, they told us one kid had it on Thursday.  Then they sent two kids home that day because they had the symptoms.  They were dropping like flies.  Emilie, on the other hand, felt fine and was her normal wild self. 

UNTIL....

This afternoon.  The sores on her tongue appeared and it's official.  My girl has HF&M.  I'll be honest, I'm kind of relieved.  It seems to go around in day cares, churches, and at the Y during the summer months and I'm glad she has it now instead of coming home with it at the same we were bringing a newborn home. 

Aubrie had it before.  It was July, two years ago, and she and I were on an airplane to go see my new baby niece, Lindsey.  We flew all the way to Amarillo.  On the last leg of our flight, I noticed she started running a fever, so I gave her some Tylenol.  She fell asleep in my arms and when her pacifier fell out, I noticed she had white bumps all over her tongue.  So when I got there and met my mom, I called the doctor and they said it was HF&M and that there is nothing I can do.  They told me it was highly contagious and that she needed to be kept quarantined from other children.  WHAT?!  I flew all the way to Amarillo, TX to sit in a hotel room?!  I was so upset.  I was so looking forward to seeing my niece and spending time with my brother and instead my mom and I took turns hanging out with Aubrie at the hotel and visiting my brother.  Luckily Aubrie didn't get it that bad.  She just had blisters in her mouth, ran a steady fever, and lost her appetite.  There is nothing you can do, either.  You can just take something for the fever.  I vote we start doing research on creating a vaccine for this!!  Also, Aubrie can get it again.  I always thought that once you have it, you can't get it again, but because there are different strains of this virus, Aubrie is at risk of getting it again.  Lovely.  

Ironically, this week my niece Lindsey has HF&M as well!  She got it on Monday and she has it pretty bad.  She's got blisters on her hands and feet as well as her mouth and has a rash.  Poor girl.  Robbie said she is doing better today and I hope she's on the final stretch.  I am also praying that Emilie doesn't get it that bad and it just sticks to mouth sores.  (Even though that is pretty awful.)  She also has an 18 month check up on Friday and the doctor's office said to go ahead and bring her in for her shot.  She is going to be SO mad at us...

Meanwhile, on a lighter note....

These two are best buds.  Emilie sure doesn't look sick.

This has been my view lately.  Emilie gets tangled under my feet and is yelling "UP!" (Yes, you can't see my feet due to the baby bump.)

Look at that face.  Do you think that toy belongs to him???  GUILTY!

Sisters.  LOVE!

Stay healthy and germ free!  Love to all! Pin It Now!

Coffee-Crusted Beef Tenderloin

When the girls go down for a nap, I get the urge to eat something awful.  It's never grapes, dried fruit, nuts.  It's bad stuff.  Today...Doritos.  A tall glass of water and some Doritos.  I'm trying to keep my keys from turning orange as I blog today.  :)  I'm also hungry because I went to water aerobics and was starving afterwards and ate an early lunch.  I go to a different class now, so I no longer have excellent stories from the senior citizens class I used to be in.  I do get to run into them, though.  I think my class moves outside once the pool opens up and if things get too heated, I'm going to have to switch to the senior time slot and keep working out inside.  Nobody likes heat stroke while we exercise.

Last week seemed to be new recipe week.  I did the Carl's Jr. chicken sandwich, zucchini fries, and I also took a stab at cracked/smashed potatoes.  Next I moved on to a coffee-crusted beef tenderloin.  They don't really make a cut called beef tenderloin, so I went with a tip roast.  Adam and I love to eat at Stoneyriver and they have a melt-in-your-mouth coffee cured steak.  While this isn't really like it, it's still delicious.  Aubrie even liked it.  As you can see in the picture, I had plenty of zucchini fries left over so I just re-heated them at 350 for about 12 minutes and they were still crunchy and delicious like they were the other night.

Coffee-Crusted Beef Tenderloin

from myrecipes.com

1 tablespoon freshly ground dark roast coffee

1 teaspoon kosher salt or

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, divided

1 (2-pound) beef tenderloin, trimmed

Cooking spray

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 (14-ounce) can less-sodium beef broth

2 cups brewed dark roast coffee

1 tablespoon olive oil

3/4 cup chopped shallots

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt or

1/8 teaspoon table salt

Thyme sprigs (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 500°.  Combine ground coffee, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 1/4 teaspoons pepper; gently press onto beef. Place tenderloin on a rack coated with cooking spray in a shallow roasting pan. Bake at 500° for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300°; bake tenderloin for 20 minutes or until a thermometer registers 145° (medium-rare) or desired degree of doneness. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

While beef cooks, place flour in a small bowl; gradually add broth and brewed coffee, stirring with a whisk until well blended.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add shallots; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add broth mixture, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Cook until sauce is reduced to 1 cup (about 20 to 25 minutes). Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Serve sauce with sliced beef. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.  Enjoy!


The other thing I've been wanting to try is a custard.  For some reason a lemon custard sounded good and I thought it would pair good with blackberries, which have been on sale.  So I found a recipe and gave it a try.  I didn't have custard cups to cook it in, so I used ramekins instead.  It still turned out pretty good.  It was a little nerve-wracking getting the cups into the dish and then pouring hot boiling water into the pan and getting it into the oven, but I got it done.  :)

Lemon Custard Cakes

from Martha Stewart Living

• 1/2 cup(s) granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoon(s) all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup(s) fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup(s) milk
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
• Unsalted butter, room temperature, for custard cups
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 2 teaspoon(s) grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon), or up to 3 teaspoons, if desired
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Set a kettle of water to boil. Butter six 6-ounce custard cups and place in a dish towel-lined baking dish or roasting pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until light; whisk in flour. Gradually whisk in lemon juice, then milk and zest.
3. With an electric mixer, beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. Add to lemon batter and fold in gently with a whisk (batter will be quite liquid).
4. Divide batter among prepared custard cups; place baking dish in oven and fill with boiling water to reach halfway up sides of cups. Bake until puffed and lightly browned (but pudding is still visible in bottom), 20 to 25 minutes. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature, dusted with confectioners' sugar.
   
   Enjoy!

I don't have anything wild planned for this week.  I did want to make sweet potato pancakes with peach butter this weekend, but luckily I checked the recipe the night before and it said to mix the batter and let it set for an hour or more.  I'm glad I didn't read that in the morning while I had everything out and ready to go with hungry children bouncing down the stairs!  I'll try it later this week.  Maybe even for dinner!  Although, we did have biscuits, hash brown casserole, and eggs for dinner last night.  Adam and I made breakfast for dinner while the girls were watching Frosty the Snowman and Petey was hiding from the lightening storm.  It was definitely an unusual night. 

I've also been busy getting Emilie's big girl room ready.  This is one of the advantages of not finding out the sex of the baby.  I get to use the same nursery for all three kids, and then spend money and decorate for each child when they are ready to have a big kid room.  We got her bedding at Pottery Barn and then I painted the owl and letters to match.  I got the two birds at Kirklands and then hung some pictures of Emilie with her dad and big sister up on the wall.  I hope to put up some more in the bigger frame that works like a pinboard.  We still have work to do.  We have to get her some furniture and then get another rail so she doesn't fall out.  Aubrie's bed was pushed against the wall when she made the transition at 18 months.  But Emilie's room has a weird placement of windows and closet doors that we can't push it against the wall, so she'll be double railed.  We've also done some new things to Aubrie's room to make her feel special, too, but I'll share those photos after we finish Emilie's room. 

I hope everyone had a good weekend!  OH!  I almost forgot!  Check the bottom of the blog!  I put a pinterest button for those of you who like to pin things.  Now you can pin a recipe or picture from my blog!  YAY!  I am also trying something new with my photos.  I hope you like it.   Love to all!

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