choooo! chhhoooooo!!

Why trains?  Why?  We have never ridden on a train, we have never exposed our little guy to the fascinating world of trains, but in true Cooper fashion, he has locked on to trains with his laser focus and attention.  So we borrowed an insane set from our good neighbors The Postis and Cooper is having a blast. 

First thing in the morning...trains, after lunch....trains, before dinner...trains, and he is even taking a few engines with him to bed at night.  As you can see, this little set even comes with remotes, something that all men have ingrained into our DNA and require no training to master.  Indeed..."All Aboard!"

popcorn eatin' pin monkeys

We had a weekend packed full of family fun.  I love to do stuff together as a family on the weekend probably because our weekends are often busy with Pampered Chef, church, family night, chores, grocery shopping, to do lists, etc.  So when we have a weekend to just hang and play it is great.  So this weekend we did just that. 

We had a fun night in on Friday with “movie night”. We spread out our big blanket, put out the huge pillow and ate ice cream and popcorn while enjoying “Ice Ages 2”.  

 

Then on Saturday we had fun going bowling with just the four of us.  It was great and the kids loved it. Colby won by a few points, which is so unusual.  I think the pictures are so cute look at Coopers big, cute eyes, are they not adorable.  It was funny because when Cooper would do well he would look up at us and say "Yes".  That lasted about 45 minutes until Cooper decided he was done being happy and having fun and he decided to have a melt down and be Mr. Stubborn and not play anymore.  Brielle was a good girl the whole time.   

  Finally, on Sunday Colby and Nate (our neighbor) took the kids swimming at the froggy pool, which they absolutely love to do. Our kids could go swimming everyday if we let them. 

So all in all, it was just a nice weekend filled with family fun.  Oh and I forgot to mention it only cost us $15.00 and that included dinner at Café Rio on Saturday.  Not too shabby; I had coupons for everything.  I couldn’t have ask for a better weekend with the family. 

hair today, gone tomorrow

Brielle had long hair this morning and by 5:30 this afternoon we decided to have about 6 inch cut off her long locks.  I was very  nervous about doing this because I love her long hair, but after the summer and the many long hours of the harsh sun and chlorine her hair was not such a beautiful, flowing, golden blonde she was blessed with. Instead it had become a mineral-green, chlorinated mess.  It just was so damaged and yucky that she hated having it brushed. It was a battle in the bathroom between mom and daughter each morning just doing her hair, so we went ahead and took the plunge and chopped it off.  She really wanted it done and I think it just looks so darn adorable.  She has nice thick hair so it is perfect for this cute stacked haircut.  If I must say so myself, my cute neighbor Jackie that cuts all of our hair, did a wonderful job.  Thanks Jackie you are the best.  

 

shake it (like a polaroid)!

Brielle has been dabbling in photography a bit and now she thinks she is a professional. Today she decided to take a picture of Cooper doing a dance she taught him called the “bum”.  She named it that because he grabs his bum and shakes, shakes, shakes.  It’s quite cute and entertaining.  Don’t everyone call at once to have Brielle take your wedding pictures.  

carrot cake glory

Okay, so this is one recipe you might want to give a try if you ever want to have the best carrot cake on the planet.  If not, go ahead and keep thinking some carrot cake from your favorate restraurant is best.  But if you want to really have some good cake, give this a shot.  It's not for faint of heart, or cooking.

Best Carrot Cake (Jami Platt)

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. Baking soda
½ tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
¾ cup vegetable oil
¾ cup Buttermilk
2 tsp. Vanilla extract
2 cups grated carrot
1 (8 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 (3 ½ oz.) can flaked coconut (almost ½ Cup)
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Buttermilk Glaze (see below)
Cream Cheese frosting (see Below)

• Line three 9-in. round cake pans with wax paper; grease well and flour wax paper.  Set pans aside.  (Can also us a 9X13 pan for sheet cake style)
• Cream together sugar and oil
• Beat in eggs
• Stir buttermilk and vanilla
• Stir flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon
• Fold in carrot, pineapple, coconut and nuts. 
  Pour batter into prepared cake pans and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
• Drizzle buttermilk Gaze evenly over layer; cool in pans on wire racks 15 minutes.  Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.  Might need to use wax paper this cake is very sticky!!! (You don’t have to do the glaze it just makes it more moist)
• Spread cream cheese frosting between layer and on top and sides of cake.
• Refrigerate until ready to eat
• Yield: 1 (3 layer) cake or 1- 9X13 cake

Buttermilk Glaze

1 cup sugar
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
½ cup buttermilk
½  cup butter or margarine
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Bring the first 5 ingredients to a boil in a large pan over medium-high heat.  Boil, stirring often, 4 minutes.  Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla. Yields 1 ½ Cups

Cream Cheese Frosting

¾ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 (8 oz.) pak. cream cheese, softened
1 (3 oz.) pak. cream cheese, softened
3 cups sifted powder sugar
1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract

Beat first 3 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add powder sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth.  Yields:  4 cups