Monkey Bread!

We love monkey bread, but since we found out about Aaron Joseph's egg and nut allergies, I've been limited on my recipes. Here's a new one I found and it's SO easy to make!

Ingredients:
4 pack of Pillsbury Country Style Biscuits (they come bundled together and I buy mine at Wal-Mart)
1 c sugar
4 t cinnamon
stick of butter
non-stick spray

Icing:
powdered sugar
fresh squeezed orange (or water, or milk, or apple juice - any kind of liquid)
(I think I do 2 cups of powdered sugar and squeeze 2 very small oranges... we buy them in the bags, so they are smaller)
Mix right before you drizzle over finished monkey bread.

You will use all 4 tubes of biscuits. Mix sugar and cinnamon into a bowl. Tear each biscuit into four portions and roll them into a ball in your hand. Roll them in sugar mixture and throw into a greased bunt pan. Do not overthink it, literally toss them into it. After all biscuits are divided, rolled, sugared and in the pan... melt your butter and drizzle overtop of them. Pop it in the oven at 350 and cook until top is brown (if I remember right it's about 30 minutes - but don't take my word for it) Immediately transfer to large plate and mix icing. Drizzle icing over HOT monkey bread - it will soak it up better. AND EAT! YUMMY! ;)

Santa got run over by a firetruck...

Our favorite firefighter...


So tickled to see Santa!


They look SO precious here.

Long day! Poor Sarah fell and hit her front tooth (again, she also hit the same one when she has 1 1/2). So tonight we have to keep her on a regiment of tylenol/motrin every 4 hours. We go to the dentist in the morning to have it X-Rayed. I pray that the tooth is alright. And then, 45 minutes after it happened we decided to go to the Columbiana Fire Department's annual Christmas party. We had to go pick up a shake for Sarah to drink because she's not allowed to bite any food. But, she had a wonderful time getting to see Santa. She ran right up to him smiling and giggling. He gave her a candy cane shaped tube with Hershey's kisses in them and she said, "thanks"! And then, "what is it?". "OH! It has candy in it!" She had everyone rolling at that comment. Her facial expressions were priceless. Aaron Joseph did well not to scream at Santa. He even waved bye-bye to him when he left.

Pantaloons

Look how cute these turned out! It's the first time I've tried this pattern. These are for a friend's 3 year old daughter.

Rainy ~ cold ~ sick day project

Since I have a sick baby and am trying to get some sewing projects done today, I decided to do a quick and fun little project inbetween wiping a nose and feeding my munchkins.


Pocket Tissue Holder

I found this on a cute sewing blog the other day and I think it turned out great! It's made from some of Aunt Ruth's scrap fabric she gave me. It's a travel size kleenex holder. I'm thinking about making some for presents this year. It honestly took about 5 minutes to whip up. That's my favorite kind of project - quick and without a lot of steps.

Here's the link to the blog:
http://www.skiptomylou.org/2008/09/02/3383/

And here's the reason for the tissues! Tis the season for colds and flu... :(

No name...

I am not feeling very creative about a "cool" blog title today, so "no name" it is. It gives my brain a little rest. ;)

So much to talk about. I feel guilty about not blogging for such a long time, but hopefully (cross my fingers) I will get better at it. I love to write down little memories and post pictures and since I type faster than I write (and I'm a perfectionist about penmanship), blogging is better for me. A couple of quick topics today...

I've started crocheting. I'm so excited by all the neat things I can make! I've posted a lot of my recent projects on my facebook account. Which, by the way, if you don't have facebook - you need it. It's so nice to be able to keep in touch with family and friends and do it quickly. I can leave a little note, post a picture or write you an email - all on facebook. (I sound like a commercial, don't I?) Anyway - back to crochet. I've also recently started selling my baby and toddler beanies, headbands and flower clips. I sent out my first order in the mail already! I feel frightened that my things aren't good enough, but have had A LOT of encouragement from friends and family.

I'm also making hairbows again. I've done this before, but stopped for one reason or the other. They go great with my crocheted beanies and headbands! ;)

I got a "new" sewing machine... it's new to me, but it was from a thrift shop. A great deal at $20! I'm so glad that I'm able to sew things again.

I GOT A NEW CAMERA!!!! It's been so long since I've had a good camera and I was given one by my wonderful husband on my birthday. You can really tell it's a good camera by my pictures. Now I can capture every moment in time to look at later.

That's probably enough for today... my brain hurts already from all the things I need to catch up on here. It's a daunting task. Tomorrow I'm going to try to blog about my babies. (Like things I want to remember about them at their current ages.) I saw someone do this on their blog the other day and thought it was a great idea!

Coupons, freebies and stacking

Hey all! I'm so tickled about learning some of the coupon games that stores play. Recently I've been receiving LOTS of samples and coupons in the mail. I've even gotten some things ABSOLUTELY FREE from CVS. I love their extra bucks program. I'm going to a seminar the 28th to try to learn a few more tips. It only seems fair to me that during these hard economic times that I try my best to save my family money. Did you know that most restaurants have freebie days? Arby's, for example, has freebie Wednesday. If you buy a drink you most likely will get a sandwhich for free! What a steal! It's a lot of fun researching and trying to "trick" the companies... The kids and I went to a free movie Wednesday at the Rave Theatres. It was a lot of fun! Of course the theatre wants you to buy popcorn and drinks for an outrageous amount, but we snuck in some m&m's and brought their own drinks in the sippy cups. I kind of have an excuse for that because of AJ's allergies. I never know what are going to be in foods that he might react to. Anyway - just thought I would spill a little bit about my new found success! ;)

Where has the time gone?

Today as I was cooking some yummies for the kiddos and me I began to reflect back on the last five years of my life. (Wow... this entry sound very thought provocing, doesn't it?) I am 25 years old and have lived such a wonderful life! Especially since my husband and my little babies came into it. Five years ago this time I was frantically trying to get the last little things together for our August wedding. I loved our wedding, it was so personal and down-key. I had so much wonderful help from my family, especially my mother-in-law. My Mom lives kinda far away - so we did as much together as was possible. Our honeymoon was wonderful! I liked that we got away from everybody and went to a little bed and breakfast in the country. Part of the time we came back home to our apartment, but no one knew about it!! Then we bought our house... and found out we were pregnant with Sarah Ruth. She's been such a joy. I get a little teary-eyed thinking about how quickly she has gotten out of the baby stage. She will be 3 in a couple of months. And then, a year later we got pregnant with AJ. His timing was perfect. Sarah Ruth adores her brother and so do we! The stage he is in is SO much fun! There are so many memories these last 5 years, too many to list. I'm so thankful we are all healthy and happy. I'm so content in my life. We have things we need to work on (but who doesn't?). Life is a journey, not a straight course throught life. Sometimes you get into valleys and sometimes you peak on a mountain. God has been good to us!

A death in the family...

Today is so sad for me! I know I probably am scaring some of you with this entry, but it's serious to me!!! My camera died!!!! And not just that, everytime I tried to use it - IT SHOCKED ME! I think it was trying to tell me "enough is enough". I can just hear the poor little thing now, "I am NOT an SLR, I am only intended for quick pictures - not your picture taking frenzy that happens WAY too often. Give it a rest lady! If you wanted such priceless pictures you should have bought the expensive one with all the gadgets! Now I've decided I will do NO MORE! Just lay me to rest in the garbage atop of some nice cooshey trash (preferrably not a diaper, or snot-rag). Goodbye cruel world!". Haha! Maybe now I can get my present from Aaron that I've been hinting at for quite a while. If anyone wants to contribute to my cause - nocameralitis - you can contact me at spitfire_tracie@yahoo.com.

A day at the farm

Last Tuesday we got to go to our friends farm to see all the animals. We had such a blast! Sarah Ruth was very excited and showed no fear with anything. Even when 4 HUGE horses came running in front of us, guess who started running towards them? And guess who's Mommie started to have visions of a trampled little girl? Haha! I thought I would post some pics for all to enjoy.

Look at her sweet little smile here, she's very excited to hold it but a little embarassed.

Ok, now I'll smile!

Denise teaching the kids how to lasso the "steel bull", they ALL wanted to do this!

Sarah Ruth's turn... she got it!

Bebo was so excited the whole day it was tough to get a pic of him. His hair is really growing!

Sarah Ruth brushing the horse. She was the only one who walked up to it and did it without an adult holding her. She also petted Socks on the nose.

Bebo sitting in the Vinsant's pretty lawn right before our yummy lunch.

Feeding the pretty chicken leaves, they all loved this too!

Busy, busy, BUSY!

Wow! I feel a little embarrassed because of how long it has been since my last post. I'm going to be better at this now. Everything finally has begun to settle down, FINALLY! Nobody is sick, our dog is finally potty trained and I feel like I'm getting a grips on my life again. Today is a beautiful day and I've decided to finish up some projects and play with my beautiful babies. I will post some pictures in a day or so to show you how much they have changed since I last posted any pics. Congratulations are long overdue to some of my family. Congrats to my Dad for his retirement! I think he should move down here and take us all fishing! Congrats to my brother, Barry, and his beautiful wife Kristine on their GORGEOUS baby Colby. And Congrats to my brother, Scott, and his family on their new house! So many things change in a short period of time. But this is life. More writing to come soon! ;)

He's too big, Momma!

While I was feeding and changing Bebo today Sarah kept asking me to hold him. She has been asking this a lot recently, which is surprising because she has rarely wanted to hold him since he was born. I asked her to sit on the couch and I would let her hold him. She directed how she would hold him and as you can tell by the above picture, that did not work out too well. She grabbed on to him and said, "I gots him!". Then about 2 seconds later exclaimed, "he's too big, Momma!" Haha! That's how I feel holding him sometimes too! So, we readjusted and he laid on her lap. He loved this and started talking to Sarah. She paid no attention and continued watching the little mermaid while she stroked his hair. (It's her FAVORITE movie. She asks to watch it constantly, if I hear Under the Sea one more time I might just scream!) They are too cute, my little babies.

I love my sissy!

Random Silliness

What you lookin' at?

Haha! Found this picture and thought it was too cute... it was taken at the Vinsant's campout 2 years ago. Look how little Sarah is! Bebo was just a twinkle in his Daddy's eye. You know - I always thought that phrase was kinda goofy.

Babies are like sleeping pills...

Squished cheeks...

I know it's a funny title, but as I was going through my pictures today I came across all these pictures of people sleeping while holding my babies. Technically Pop-pops is not sleeping in the above pic, but he has been known to fade off into dreamland while holding a baby. There's something about a squishy baby - especially fat ones, that makes you get drowsy. I find myself nodding off quite often while rocking one to sleep or nursing. I know we won't have them little for long, so I hold on to every sleepy moment I get.

Uncle Ry-Ry holding Bebo at the Oliver Christmas.

Daddy sneaking snuggling time in on the couch. Notice Sarah is already thinking about something else. You don't get much snuggling time out of that one!

Flour, Sugar and a pinch of Love...

Memories....

Anita is such a great cook and one of her specialties is sugar cookies. Family up North was asking us over Thanksgiving if she had made any of her cookies yet. Well, Sarah was her big helper this year. Anita is a great teacher and very patient. Anita and Sarah kept saying - "ready for the next phase?". It was adorable. It made me think about my Grandmas and how I would have liked to get to know them better. I wish I had more memories of Grandma Brown. Grandma Miller passed away before I was born. Of course, now I have Grandma Lou, Aaron's Grandmother, to step in. She is very special to all of us. I tried to put myself in Sarah's position while she baked with Anita. Wondered how it felt to have such a sweet Mammie. My Grandma Brown was very sweet, but I didn't get to see her very often. I hope all the Grandma's know how much we love them.

Thanks Anita, for taking time with Sarah to make her feel special. She learns so much from you. I learn a lot from you too. Patience, love and get on the ground- roll around- silliness. We love you!

Next phase... FROSTING!

The girls posing with their matching aprons!

Snowflakes and Sleds

While in Iowa over the holidays, we had a chance to get outside and play in the snow. This was Sarah's first sledding experience. I didn't know how she would do, but she surprised me! She had such a blast that she didn't come in for a long time. By the time she came inside, she was freezing! Her hands were like ice. I really enjoyed getting to go outside with the family. My oldest brother, Scott, and his wife and kids were there with us. They played football in the snow. I got some cool action shots of my nephew, Payton, catching the ball. My greatest surprise that day was the amazing pictures I got of the fam. I'm pretty proud of them. As you can tell, everyone had a pretty good time. I'm especially proud of the picture of my Dad and Bebo. I love his smile. Mom's shots in the snow are pretty cool too. She has a beautiful smile. Enjoy the pics!

Mom and Bebo out in the snow... snuggling.

Sarah laying in the snow. I did some effects to this picture. I made everything black and white except for her face. Cool, huh?

Cassie and Sarah. Cassie was Sarah's pull around friend. They had a blast together and she still is singing "Happy Birthday, Cassie" at home daily.

My favorite picture of my Dad.

Daredevil! Head first!

My nephew, Payton, catching the ball.