Flashback to ???

Remember these???


Yep...I still have mine. Now Ava plays with it.

Nora's Proud Moment

I was happy because I could hear Nora having a great time in the playroom. Next thing I know, she is crawling with a mesh bag of m&m's that Ava had gotten at the wedding. There was a trail of dye behind her. She giggled and stuck her hand out to me when I got this picture. She was so proud of herself. Of course, Ava was crying in the background b/c she "was so sad" that Nora ate her special m&m's.

I have quite a mess to clean up but it is worth it after seeing such a smile on her face.

German Chocolate Cake

This is the cake that Kevin requests on his birthday every year. Bless his heart...he only gets it once a year because it has two of the things I just can't handle in it, coconut and pecans. It is not hard to make.


German Chocolate Cake (Hershey's Best Loved Recipes cookbook)

1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup plus 3 tbsp softened butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk (to sour milk: use 1 tbs white vinegar plus milk to equal 1 cup)
Coconut Pecan Frosting (recipe below)
Pecan halves (optional)

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour three round baking pans. Combine cocoa and water in small bowl; stir until smooth. Set aside to cool.

2. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in large bowl until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir together flour baking soda and salt; add alternately with chocolate mixture and buttermilk to butter mixture. Mix only until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 25-30 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pans. Cool completely. Prepare coconut pecan frosting, spread between layers and over top. Garnish with pecan halves if desired.

COCONUT PECAN FROSTING
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)
1/2 cup butter
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups sweetened coconut flakes (one 6oz frozen is exactly enough and frozen (thawed out of course) is better in my opinion)
1 cup chopped pecans

Place sweetened condensed milk, butter and egg yolks in saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla, coconut and pecans. Cool to room temperature.

Christmas final post - part 4

I told you it would take me until the end of January to post all of Christmas! Here are a few from Christmas with the Jackson's. We went the weekend before Christmas which turned out to be a wonderful time to go. Kevin was very anxious and excited to see his brother and we were happy he could meet Nora. Ava was given such fun gifts. The big hit was a microphone stand. She sings on it all of the time.

Christmas - part 3

Finally!!! Here are just a few of the pictures from Christmas day! We took our time opening gifts so that the girls could play with their new toys. My parents and Meme came over just for a short while to have lunch and see what Santa brought. We really enjoyed being home and having a quiet but exciting day to ourselves to just play and soak in every moment of the day.

Chicken Teriyaki

As promised, here is the first recipe I have made out of my new Paula Deen....I'll just post the picture again.


Chicken Teriyaki
serves 4-6

2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
3 cups broccoli florets
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup teriyaki sauce with sesame and garlic ( I could only find just plain ol' Teriyaki sauce) - 1 cup was too much to me and I ended up draining some off. 1/2 to 3/4 cup would be enough for us. We like more rice than sauce though.
Hot cooked rice
Garnish: Sesame seeds (we used chow mein noodles)

In a large skillet, heat oil over med-high heat. Add chicken, and cook for 5-6 minutes, or until golden brown. Add broccoli and carrots; cover, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir in teriyaki sauce; cook, uncovered, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until heated through. Serve over rice, if desired. Garnish with sesame seeds, if desired.

If you want it spicy, pick this bad boy up. I found it at Target. I had read that it is what Chinese restaurants use in my Bon Appetit magazine. I put too much though and my mouth was on fire! If you like Chinese and you like spicy, it is a must have.

Saving for Disney World

I have been wanting to go to Disney World since Ava was born. Kevin and I had an unforgettable time when just the two of us went so I just can't imagine what it will be like with children! I'm glad we waited because Ava is just now into the Disney characters. Snow White is still our favorite but Ariel is right at her heels. So...2010 is the year! We will be planning our October trip soon. We will be doing everything we can to maximize the trip but minimize the cost. That's a catchy little phrase isn't it! Now that we are celebrating being debt free (except the house), there is no stinkin' way we are charging a dime of the trip. We have been saving but to teach Ava a little bit about saving, I have made a special place for our Disney money to go. I explained the concept to her and now she tells people, "We are going to Disney World but it takes a lot of quarters!" We have even found her emptying out her piggy bank and putting it in the Disney can. Do you think she is excited and wants to go? Btw, we did put the money back in her piggy bank. Any change we get from breaking a dollar, Ava gets to put in the can. Who knows....maybe it will end up being our spending money because goodness...you know we are all coming back with tshirts galore. Here are a few close up pictures of our Saving for Disney can.



I purchased a plain paint can from Lowe's, used some card stock I already had along with some from Hobby Lobby, double sided tape, a big Mickey sticker from Hobby Lobby and my cricut cutter for the letters (in Mickey font of course).

We really like what it is teaching Ava and that it is a tangible reminder of something so great to look forward to.

The apple doesn't fall far...

We were blessed to spend a few hours with priceless, life long friends after New Year's. The kids played so hard! This video is short but I can't help but smile when I see Ella at the piano. Makes me wonder where she got the music bug from. Hmm....? We love us some Lockwood's.

Baby laughs

We had a fun play date with special friends, Bre, Haley and Averie Thursday. Rarely does Nora laugh this hard so I had to post. The first 30 seconds is the best.


I know that nothing happens by accident. I am so grateful that God orchestrated Bre and I to have our cubicle's by each other when we worked together. I gained a very valuable friend.

Nora had a big week. We moved her to Ava's car seat and went ahead and turned her around. She may not be 1yr old but she definitely qualifies in weight! :) She loved it and would clap. It's so rewarding to watch the girls grow up one step at a time. I tear up every time I think about how I am planning Nora's 1st birthday party. It isn't supposed to be that time yet.

I can see the world!

I splurged!

I may embarrass myself with how excited I am over my splurge today but I'm going to share anyway. Every time I check out at a store where they have this, it has had a huge "BUY ME" written all across it. Today, I couldn't help myself any longer. I am not ashamed.

TA DA! Drum roll....


I love to cook. I truly enjoy it (hence the "doughnut" that has called my waist "home" for a few years now). If you do too and are a Paula Deen fan, I'll do you a favor. When I make something out of it, if it is worth making again, I will post the recipe. That way, it will save you the money of buying one for yourself...that is if you were pining after it like I was. I'm not promising any kind of timeline here...just the favor.

Alright, I must admit that I also picked up a copy of Bon Appetit because of the picture and recipe for meatballs on it. Kevin and Ava love meatballs and I'm sure they are supposed to be easy but I can't seem to find one I like that much other than a turkey meatball recipe I have. Anyway, their marketing people did their job because the picture of them on the front made me forget that Dave Ramsey exists for a few minutes. I hope I can find coupons for all the goodies I will need to make all of this yummy food! I better get to cookin'.

Christmas - part 2

We spent Christmas Eve playing and getting a good nap in before going to Nana and Papa's to open gifts. We were so happy Meme was with us for Christmas. The girls love having her with us as well. We went over right after their nap so they had time to play with everyone. Then Mom, who would give Paula Deen a run for her money, made a feast of gumbo, steamed shrimp, fried shrimp, crab claws and oysters. Not to mention chocolate pie...always a staple. After eating ourselves silly, we began the hours of opening gifts. Kevin and I love how we do it at our house, one at a time, giving everyone a chance to enjoy and see the gifts. Heck...we all spent so much time and money shopping for them! We should spend time enjoying them and the reactions they receive. Mom does an amazing job on stockings...all 15 of them. They are always exciting. The girls all got these rings that would light up when pressed in a strobe light type of way. They must have been super duper LED because we were all seeing stars. It was a wonderful time because everyone was happy, genuinely happy with each other and their gifts. We were amazed that Nora stayed up and was HAPPY! She didn't open the presents but would play with everything and didn't get fussy. Our favorite moment was when she saw the Madam Alexander Huggums doll from Nana and Papa. She squeeled and started having a conversation with the doll. It was really a priceless moment. Ava never cared about dolls. Nora is a different story. We didn't get home until late but we still had to get Ava to sprinkle the magic reinedeer dust over the yard (thanks Aunt Janna). She took the job very seriously and we covered both the front, back and side yard. Here is a slideshow of our Christmas Eve. Christmas day will be posted soon. Christmas is such a magical time isn't it? It's just perfect.

Christmas - part 1

I have so many Christmas pictures to weed through that I'm going to have to give them to you in small stages. So, you may be seeing Christmas pictures well into January. :) I'm actually proud of myself. I only took 197 pictures over the course of the week. That is way less than normal.
One is of Ava making Santa cookies and the others are of my Meme holding Nora. Meme is 87! She looks great! No matter how much green baby food Nora gets, her nose stays orange. Drives me crazy.





Now for a little preaching...

The word less brings me to our families New Year's resolution (Ava and Nora don't have much say in this). Kevin and I are always discussing how we can improve ourselves, our marriage, our parenting, each other, etc... And for the record, we don't try to "change" each other but provide "improvements." Ha! 2008 was the year for strengthening our marriage. We both came to this place where we finally felt that we had fully trusted God and each other to "leave and cleave." "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." Genesis 2:24. Sounds silly but we were both relying on our parents for various things and during the course of the year, we both just stopped and surrendered to each other in our marriage...trusting each other and relying on each other unconditionally. Then we spent 2009 continuing that commitment to each other and our children. During the course of the year, we woke up so to speak about our bad habits and financial pitfalls. Again, we were both on the same page. It's a God thing. So, we have spent the last few months discussing monthly budgets, cutting back on "stuff", and searching for ways to make a difference in our finances. I was led one day at the bookstore to pick up Dave Ramsey's book and that was by no accident. That book has changed our lives! I'm so thrilled to be able to say that as of yesterday, we have paid off our car and all but one credit card balance! We thought it would be so hard and impossible because even though the debt wasn't big, our one income was already all assigned out to various things. But....it can be done!

That synopsis of the last 2 years leads me to 2010. All of the changes we have made over the last few years has made us want to focus even more on needs vs. wants and pay CASH for everything. If we don't have it, we don't get it. Groceries = cash. Emergencies = cash. Vacations = cash. I want my girls to see me pay with cash and not plastic because if we think they aren't paying attention...then we are sorely mistaken. I may not have furniture in our foyer after living here 4 years but who cares! I'd rather be debt free! Those things will come. It's tough, but we thrive on tough. That is when we rely on each other and God's provision even more! I can't wait to see what else 2010 will bring!

Shoo - all that blabbing made me tired.