Cookie Basics

I have this passion right now for cooking. I m not sure it is a fad or a true passion but I love it. I am learning new things all the time. A friend ran across an article with cookie basics and said she would get it for me but life happens, it gets lost, you know the drill. So I got on he internet, which is always there in time of need! I came across two articles and thought I would pass them on. It is how to make great cookies...cookie Chemistry. Now that is a subject I can sink my teeth into! (I know Queen of Corny here!)

Cookie Basics
Cookie Chemistry 101

If you have a great sugar cookie recipe I am in need of one. The best sugar cookie I have had included sour cream in the ingredients. I like a soft cake-like cookie, no so much crispy. I hope this helps you. Enjoy your holiday baking and please pass on those great sweet recipes!

G-R-Attitude!

I don't know why I spelled it that way but it reminded me of Bruce Almighty when he was talking about his life B-E-A-Utiful. I am a little late in this attitude of gratitude post. I have shared this thought so frequently lately that it may be boring. Too bad this is my blog and I can do what I want with it, HAH! In talking more with parents and grandarents I find them saying "I don't remember that." Of course I know why now. I used to be of the opinion that I would never forget this or that moment. There are so many moments that I am watching the kids play around or doing something sweet, like show genuine concern for each other. I think to myself this is a moment I want to remember forever. Sure enough I forget. I think having Miranda in all day school is hardest on Logan. The playmate he has had since birth is not around as much. He always runs to her after school and will even share how much he will miss her while she is at school. Since Logan has been running to hug Miranda, who laughs and pretends she doesn't enjoy it and tries to dodge him, the twins have followed suit. I find Logan and Miranda in her room playing games like Charades or Go Fish. They will play pretend really well, and even wrestle. These are the moments I want to remember. I try to imagine what is going on in other people's minds as I see their lips move as they silently count how many kids we have. I would not have it any other way. Just imagine the laughter you have in your home and multiply it by the number of kids we have. I would say more nights then not there is at least two girls and a little boy dancing, a couple singing, Lauren talking, Jeremy being crazy-goofy, and me trying to soak it all in to remember that moment, but we are all laughing and having a good time.

I know our family is bigger than what the general public would like to see, but I couldn't imagine our family being anything less. With each child we add, it is a puzzle to figure out who he or she is (mostly she though) but the rewards of happiness is so worth it!

Oh that Logan!

I had to share this moment. I am not sure whether I should be proud or embarrassed. We had some friends over and the kids were playing in the backyard. As I was watching I saw Logan throw a rock. You could see the thought process, "Oh, Mom can see from where she is sitting. Did she see me?" Unlucky for him I did. I walked up to the slider as he got this look of Oops on his face. I opened the door, not saying a word he walked into the house and went straight to his bed for a time out. The part that I am proud of is that he knew what he did wrong and what his punishment was (one of my faults is inconsistency so this shows I am somewhat consistent). He also was "man" enough to accept the blame for his wrong doing. I was embarrassed as my son was "cowed" before me. I couldn't help but wonder if the "Hill" look was smothered across my face. You know "the look" that says you better just do what you are supposed to before the lid blows off this CAN! It was a funny moment. I think my face actually showed one of shock as he walked past me with his head down.

Just a quick note before I forget...

We all take turns saying the prayers as I am sure most families who don't have demanding 3 year olds who need to say it exclusively... sorry I got a little sidetracked. I love to hear Logan say prayers. I don't think there has been one yet that I haven't been laughing when Amen was said! Tonight he said...thank you for our family except for the mean ones." I am not sure where that came from, I am assuming I had been mean to him earlier.

The kids say and do funny things all the time. I think to myself I don't want to forget this moment. I wish my memory could take pictures and file them to when I need a reminder or just to recall a special cherished moment. Alas, I forget and the memory is gone. With little notes on a blog I can at least remember the story. So I have made an executive decision to even blog the one liners! SO THERE! ; )

Lauren is 6 Months old!

As of Saturday Lauren is officially halfway through her first year of life. It has gone fast. In honor of her 6 month milestone she got to go shopping with mom and got her first pair of shoes! In Lauren World she is no longer sleeping through the night as of about 6 weeks ago. I am hoping that it is because she is teething. She has the two teeth as mentioned earlier. Now she is growing a third tooth in an unlikely, yet normal place. She is getting her upper left eye tooth. Weird, I know. She rolls over, and still loves to suck her thumb. She is an amazing baby even if I have to wake up in the night to feed her THREE times. Now for the lastest stats! We visited her doctor yesterday. Lauren is growing, but my little chunk is underweight! Lauren has grown another 2 inches and is still in the 96th percentile, her length is 28". She has gained 1 lb 6 oz she is in the 26th percentile for her weight which is down from the 49th last month. She weighs in at 14 lbs 14.6 ounces.

She also has croup. My children may have had it before but I had no idea. I thought croup was a very juicy cough associated with congestion, and also not common. When it is actually a barking kind of cough with no congestion. I can't believe some of the things I am learning. Lauren gets to go back in about a week and get her shots since she wasn't feeling well.

Laughter makes everything worth it.

As I was madly cooking a million things yesterday I turned around to this:

Lauren thought it as hilarious everytime Haylie drank out of the water bottle. I love that our kids are so easily entertained.

Just wanted to share...

Miranda and her cousin are 3 months apart. They have a lot in common except their looks. One of the funny things about them is they are missing all the same teeth. Look at this cute picture:
You can see Gwen's tooth growing back. Miranda's is too but it is the opposite top tooth.

Grandparent's Day

In Miranda's Class she is learning about her heritage. It is kind of fun, we got to look up flags and see what they looked like and also dress a doll. Miranda has ancestry from: England, Scotland, Czech Republic, Portugal, Finland amongst others. Today in class they got to have a grandparent come to visit the classroom. Since her most of her grandparents work or are out of the area we moved onto great grandparents. Jeremy's Grandma lives right around the corner so Miranda invited her. She wrote a very nice letter and they mailed it. So today I went and picked up Grandma June to take her to the classroom to meet Miranda, by the way she is 90 years old. As she was getting into the car she was dressed so nice and her hair done. Although she said her hair was acting weird, I thought it looked great. Then she turned to me and said "I haven't been this excited since my first date." It was super cute. I walked her to the classroom and then had to get a few things ready at home. All the kids had their turkey masks on when the grandparents came in (as in picture above). Grandma said Miranda was the perfect hostess. She stayed right with Grandma, they read stories, played games and shared their grandparents. Then an hour later the parents and families were able to join them for a potluck lunch. So Lauren Jeremy and I went to meet her (Dani & Ben watched the rest of the crew THANKS SO MUCH for doing this while you are on vacation!!!). Here are a few pictures of the day. As always I made a treat and here are the pictures of my "Pilgrim Hats" made of fudge striped cookies topped with chocolate covered marshmallows. The buckle is piped in yellow frosting.

Just a Reminder...

FYI. Does life slow down?

A Day Trip

I love this time of year...and dislike it because we are so busy (yuk) doing fun things (yeah)! This past Saturday we went to Apple Hill with our friends the Cooks. They were experienced so we tagged along. We had lots of fun. I can't help but love chilly fall pictures. We visited High Hill Ranch, Fudge Factory Farm, and Kids Inc. Apple Hill is a plae where there are about 35 growers of produce, mostly apples of course but some wine and other fruits too. If you know us at all our favorite place that cost us the most money was the Fudge Factory Farm. Jeremy got what they called Bear Crunch, it is caramel corn and peanuts covered in chocolate. If you are lucky I might be able to duplicate it before Christmas. Anyways here is a little video of our day. We had blast, and are talking of making it a family tradition!

Lauren has two teeth!

Just a little note that our happy girl...
...has another tooth

Ratatouille

We bought the movie Ratatouille and decided to have a family movie night and watch it together. To keep with the chef theme I decided to cook omeletes. Then a friend suggested crepes. So we had omelets, fried potatoes and crepes. It was a fun evening. Here are a few pictures of our event.

Feeling Toothy?

After all these months of blaming teething for the runny nose, no longer sleeping through the night, fussy spells, constipation, diarrhea, clingy-ness, not wanting to nurse, only wanting to nurse and anything else that is unbecoming of an infant, Lauren's first tooth has broken through. Here is a picture so the untrained eye can see it too! It is her front right tooth for all recording purposes. Needless to say she is still a dream baby. She only woke up one time last night and is still smiling. Well as much as can be expected. (You can double click on the picture to make it bigger.)

One WICKED Trip.

OK I have waited to post this because I want it to represent the awesome-ness of the trip. We drove down with the intention of driving at our leisure. We stopped by the Jer's work and it turned out to be For Good! (Wink, wink) The drive went perfect. We got down to LA at about 7:00. All the kids were so glad to see each other. Especially the toothless duo, Miranda and Gwen. On Saturday we lounged around in the morning and then we took all the kids to see Bee Movie. Super cute. We came back and relaxed. Then Jeremy and I went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. It was a first for Jer. The food was great but the company was better! We came home and got dressed up in a fancy clothes (not recommended on a full stomach!) Then headed to Hollywood to see Wicked at the Pantages Theater.

We had a great time. The cast was awesome. I am probably partial because I was in the audience, but in comparison I loved Eden Espinosa and Megan Hilty. They did an amazing job, all notes on key, and the humor was great too. I can't say how good it was, it would never do it justice. I have been lucky enough to see a few musicals but this one takes the cake, I would see it again in a heartbeat! For those of you who have not seen it here are a couple performances here are a few of my favorite songs: Popular, Defying Gravity, and a short trailer to tell the basis for the story. Youtube has tons of clips mostly illegal copies... anyways, it was a fabulous trip. I would turn thirty again anyday to be treated this well....wait I am treated this good everyday! (That's for you Jer XOXO!)

Here is a little slideshow of our trip. (Note: Click pause on the music player on the right column towards the bottom)

Lauren's Blanket

We got home Monday from our trip to LA to see Wicked (A Wicked cool slide show will be posted soon!) and there was a large box on our porch. It was Lauren's blamket and bumper pad made by my mom. It is gorgeous. Here are a couple of pictures.

That was Wednesday this was Thursday!

Thursday we went to the Hannah Montana concert in Oakland. I think rumor has it some insane person spent over $1000 to see this concert. I kind of hoped they would call that person on stage so I can say you are CRAZY! Anyways it was fun. Miranda and I went with our super amazing friend Teri and her family. It was so fun watching Miranda dance and "rock out" to the music. I think she only hit her neighbor once while dancing. Here are two pictures taken from my cell phone.


You can't tell but that is the Jonas Brothers at the end of the catwalk.


This is the bus of Miley Cyrus in the background.

It was hilarious when we got home. Miranda ran in to her daddy and said: "Daddy I met Miley Cyrus." That alone was worth the price of a ticket. She was so thrilled. We are very blessed!