The Madness Has Begun!

We're to the point of paths...

It's fuller than it looks, I'm standing in the dining room.

So, I'm trying to not let my anxiety get the best of me in the next few days. It has definitely increased, but I am trying really hard to manage it well. A huge thank you to Heather and Jimmy for keeping Wilson and Luke for a few hours tonight! We got soo much packing done! Another big thank you to my mom for coming and helping me pack. We got a lot of the kitchen packed, the pictures off the walls, and the linen and hall closet done. I'm feeling some success and trying not to panic at how much there is left. Hopefully I'll get to sleep Thursday night!! Andy knows how I am without sleep so I'm sure he'll make me go to bed. 3 more days...

We're stressed around here...

So we move in 5 days. Here was a conversation between Andy and I after he got home from work tonight.

Andy: So what did you do tonight?
Me: unloaded/loaded dishwasher
washed dishes
gave Ty a bath
made hamburgers and homemade fries for dinner
Wilson's t-ball game
Got boys ready for bed
Andy: Is that all? (referring to the lack of packing)
Me: Yes, that's ALL.

We're stressed. So much to do for the move while life keeps marching on...still all of the everyday stuff and I'm finding it really hard to make time for packing. Thankfully Tuesday night the big boys are going over to Heather and Jimmy's so we can do some packing without them around to get in the way! Hopefully we'll still be talking to each other then. Just kidding!

Master Bedroom

Yea! We went to BBB tonight since t-ball was cancelled...again and bought some things for our new house. I went last week and looked at comforters and shower curtains. Tonight we bought a bedding set, shower curtain, toothbrush holder, shower rings, trashcan, and bath mat for the master bed/bathroom. I'm so excited! Thank goodness for BBB coupons! There were many other things I wanted to buy to decorate the new house but we'll have to do a little at a time! The walls are khaki and we're leaving it whatever shade of khaki it is for now. The other thing we're hoping to buy is a new couch for the living room. We haven't started looking for that yet. That will wait until after we've moved. 11 more days...

Last night Luke had a bad dream. This morning I asked him what he dreamed about and he said bugs. So cute! I told him to remember that he is much bigger than bugs so he didn't need to worry about them. Then tonight at bedtime he wanted the bug book moved over to Wilson's bookshelf. The bug book they read last night caused the bad dream. He is such a sweetheart. He's not feeling well today- sore throat and fever this afternoon.

Cinnamon Chip Scones

I finally made the scones with the new cinnamon chips I talked about in this post. They were very yummy. The boys loved them and are already asking me to make them again.

Cinnamon Chip Scones

2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
8 tablespoons butter
1 - 1 1/2 cups cinnamon chips


1 cup buttermilk
1 beaten egg
1t vanilla

Preheat your oven to 500°F. In a large mixing bowl, blend the dry ingredients together thoroughly. With a pastry blender, two knives, or, most easily, your fingertips, cut or rub in the butter until the mixture looks like bread crumbs. Stir in cinnamon chips.


Take about 20 seconds to stir in the liquid. The dough will be rough and shaggy but that's the way it should look. Turn it out onto a well-floured board. Flour your hands and the surface of the dough well. Knead it very gently about 10 times, just enough to bring it together. It is not supposed to be smooth and springy like bread dough. Sprinkle on more flour as you need it to keep the dough from sticking. Cut the circle into 8 wedge-shaped pieces pressing down firmly without sawing. You'll find it easier if you dip your cutter in flour after each cut. Make sure you press it into the dough quickly, without twisting or sawing. This shears the dough cleanly rather than pressing it together, which allows the scones to rise higher. Using the scraper or spatula as a "shovel," transfer each piece gently to a flour-sprinkled pizza pan, leaving a half inch or so between them.


Put them in the oven, turn the temperature down to 450°F and bake for about 15 minutes. This makes 8 huge scones. Next time I think I'd cute the dough in 1/2 before shaping into a circle and cutting into wedges to make 16 small scones.


Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Learning to eat a biter biscuit!

He needed help knowing how to hold his first biter biscuit.

Here he is with his first sippy cup (which I don't think he got any water out of) holding the biscuit on his own.

Look at the drool! I think he likes it!

Here is a picture of him after his second biter biscuit. He's definitely got this down now!

Tiramasu

I made Tiramasu for Easter lunch. It was really good! Recipe below- I left out the brandy and noted my other changes.

Tiramasu

Espresso Syrup
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup strong brewed espresso coffee (I bought 5 shots at McDonald's and had plenty)
1/4 cup italian or domestic brandy, optional

Mascarpone Filling
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 pound mascarpone cheese, softened to room temperature

2 pkgs lady fingers (I found these in the refrigerated section at Meijer)
cocoa powder for dusting the surface

For the espresso syrup, combine water and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat, cool, add coffee and brandy if using. (I just poured the sugar into my hot espresso, stirred until it dissolved, then added the water).

For the filling, whip cream with sugar and vanilla in stand mixer until soft peaks form. Fold softened mascarpone into whipped cream.

To assemble, place a layer of lady fingers in the bottom of a shallow 2-quart baking dish. Spoon half of the syrup over ladyfingers. Spread with half of mascarpone filling. Repeat lady fingers, syrup, filling.

Cover with plastic wrap and refridgerate up to 24 hours before serving. Right before serving lightly shake cocoa powder on surface.

It's really going to happen!

We're really going to move! I've been skeptical after all that happened last spring with the house we almost bought. I was afraid that with inspections etc something might not work out with selling/buying of the homes. But, after today's termite inspection everything is signed off on and done! Our current home appraised higher than it sold for and the inspection is complete. We have nothing we need to "fix" from the inspection. All they wanted was a structural engineer to come out and inspect the foundation. We had to pay for 1/2 of that inspection but everything is good and we're moving forward. I was nervous about that one because if they found out something they didn't like they wanted us to pay to fix it or they wanted out of the contract. Whew! I was nervous. That inspection was yesterday and everything is good. So, 15 days until closing (April 30) and 16 days before moving day! I am so excited. Better get packing...

7 months

I can't believe Tyler is already 7 months old! He is really enjoying his stage 1 baby foods- he has enjoyed everything he has tried. Squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, pears, applesauce, prunes (we had to!), we have a couple more fruits to try and then we'll move on to green veggies. He loves

to eat! This picture is from last week. I fed him his cereal mixed with fruit. He had been super constipated (grunting and everything) so Andy had run out to buy some prunes. In the meantime he fell asleep in the highchair waiting for them. Too cute! Ty had a great Easter. In his basket he got biter biscuits and a sippy cup for water with a really soft spout. We haven't tried either yet. He is starting to sit up on his own. Still topples over but getting better at it! We go back to CCH in about 3 weeks for another gluacoma test. Ty is doing great!

Easter Egg Hunt

Action shots from the Egg hunt! Notice how differently they collected eggs...!!
My Easter Bunny!

This weekend has worked out nicely! Tball activities were cancelled Friday night and Saturday morning allowing our Easter weekend plans to work out much easier. We attended Good Friday service Friday night after dyeing eggs and eating pizza at Danny and Stephanie's. Saturday we went to Panera for breakfast, egg hunt at church, and then showed Dan and Carol our new house. It's been a great weekend!

Too much to handle

I'm stressed. Too much going on. Too many things to juggle. I just have to get it all out. Here are my stressors this week:
Tball (why does Wilson fight it still? He WANTED to play again)
poetry cafe tomorrow - it is a BIG deal! (making muffins right now)
core content monitoring form (done at last minute before it was due this afternoon!)
report cards (done and sent home today)
Easter plans (excited for them but a lot going on this weekend!)
Figure out dessert to make for Easter (excited to try a new recipe!)
Whining children - why oh why? when will it stop?
moving
packing
Easter egg hunt and Tball game overlap on Saturday- hmm...
Luke's dead tooth
PWS- my worries about this come in waves (what to do about May appointment at CCH since I don't have any days off work)
Andy's strep and my trying not to get sick because I have no sick days (Jason, I've been positve thinking today- I will not get sick!)
MOVING - which I will work at school while they move us, need to nail down who's keeping the boys that day
packing
Trying to iron out all the details from inspections etc
finding spring clothes to wear that fit
PACKING (find boxes, boxes, and more boxes)

Easy Cheesy Beer Bread

I've been up since 4:20am (Ty) so I thought I'd post this super quick before school. We had this last night with Pasta e Fagioli. It was a delicious meal for our 'winter weather' in April!

Easy Cheesy Beer Bread
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
4 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
12 oz. beer
2 tbsp. butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 9×5” loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine flours, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and garlic powder. Whisk to combine well. Add cheese and whisk to combine. Slowly add beer to dry ingredients and stir lightly until just combined, and all ingredients are completely moistened. Place into a prepared loaf pan and pour melted butter over the top. Place in the oven and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Source: Annie's Eats

Luke's Tooth

Two weeks ago Luke was being "Super Luke" at church and fell down, busting his lip. He was wearing a superman cape that had some big plastic front on it like a chest plate or something. When he fell he hit his mouth on that, bumping his front tooth. It became really loose and Andy had to shift it back in place. We did ice etc and thought it was ok because the tooth tightened back up. It bled for a while but we thought we'd done everything we knew to do. About a week later I started noticing that it was changing colors. I mentioned it to Andy and he said that he had noticed too. Now it is a light shade of gray. Don't know if you can tell from this picture but it is on his left, the front tooth. He went to the dentist today to have x-rays and we found out that the tooth is dead. We have 3 options:

1. Do nothing now, wait for it to fall out and take action then. But watch it closely to make sure an abcess doesn't form.

2. Have it extracted. Then have something put back in it's place- a spacer or a fake tooth? Not sure.

3. Root canal. Why? what is the difference in doing this and pulling it?

Andy took him to the dentist today so this is the info he gave me. Anyone else had to deal with this or have any advice?

Can't Wait!

I'm getting so excited about our new house! I dread the packing and moving but it will be so worth it! I can't wait to be able to have people over again. I have really missed this- we just ran out of room and our house was so small that we basically had to stop having people over. We still had family over some but that's about it. I keep thinking of all the get togethers I want to have when we're settled into our new house. One of the things I think would be fun is to have a cake pop making party. It would be SO fun. I'm envisioning everyone bring different colored candy melts, lollipop sticks, sprinkles, and a baked cake...I think this could be really fun. I've spent my spare time reading all about cake pops on Bakerella's website. So cool. I've read the whole thing. She just started making cake balls, then they turned into cake pops. She is so creative! You've got to check out her blog! There are so many variations and cute ideas on her blog. She made some very cute ones for different holidays - easter, halloween, christmas etc. Fun! This picture is from Bakerella's blog.Wanna come to a cake pop party? When I told Andy about my plan he just smiled. I'm glad he loves me so!

Pics and Links! (Didn't have a title for this post).

Meijer has started carrying these cinnamon chips! I'm thrilled because I've been wanting to make cinnamon chip scones for a while using the recipe on King Arthur Flour's website here. I just hadn't wanted to pay to order KAF's cinnamon chips online. I knew Hershey's made this chip but no one locally carried them until now! Anyway, I haven't made them yet but plan to soon.

Yesterday I went to BRU and bought this stroller. My friend, Heather, had a Chicco stroller. I checked it out and asked her how she liked it. I've been wanting a smaller stroller for a while and this one was nice and affordable. It weighs 11lbs and folds up so easily. It has a 5 point harness and 2 seat positions so Ty can lay back when he's sleepy. It's handles are great for my height! I officially got rid of our infant seat, base, and stroller travel system! Yea! It is just so big and bulky. Andy is putting it in the upcoming youth yard sale.

I'm getting ready to make some dessert to take over to a friend's house for dinner. We're heading over to play Friends Trivia and let the kids play. I saw this as an opportunity to try a new recipe so it took me a while to decide what to make! Here is what I've chosen: and a link to the recipe. These are butterscotch brownies with a butterscotch ganache and then a chocolate ganache drizzled on top! Hope they are tasty! This picture and recipe are from Bakerella's website. I really want to try making cake pops sometime in the near future. Maybe over the summer... off to bake some brownies.

Wow, friendly neighbors already!

So tonight we drove Poppy over to see our new house - just the outside. We walked around the yard and were there probably 15 minutes. As we were loading up in the van the across the street neighbor walked up and introduced herself. She said so you must be moving in? She'd already heard about us and was very friendly. Told us about all the neighbors who had kids and how they play kickball in the court. Sounded great! There are plenty of kids in our secluded little area. The boys are going to love living there! It was a great feeling to have already met our new neighbors and I'm looking forward to the friendliness of the area. Our current situation isn't like that. We've met our neighbors on either side enough to say hello but not much else!

I'm making saltine toffee right now. My mom used to make these and I found the recipe on a blog a while back. I used to love eating these when my mom made them. Here is the recipe, it is super easy!

Saltine Toffee
Source: Joelen's Culinary Adventures

Ingredients:
1 stick butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
saltines - enough to line your baking sheet
1 ½ - 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400. Line your baking sheet with foil.
2. Neatly place saltines on the foil lined baking sheet.
3. In a sauce pan, melt butter. Add brown sugar. Allow butter and sugar to caramelize and boil for 2-3 minutes. Pour mixture over the saltines and spread it around to cover evenly.
4. Bake saltines in the preheated oven for 5 minutes.
5. Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the saltines. Allow it to rest for 2 minutes - enough for chocolate chips to melt. Using a rubber spatula, spread the melted chocolate over the saltines to evenly coat.
6.Refrigerate to harden the chocolate. Break into random pieces.

Spring Break

We're having a great Spring Break, it's just passing too quickly! We spent Monday-Wednesday at The Glades in Tn. It was fun! We got home last night. We did a lot of relaxing, swimming in the huge jacuzzi tub, playing at the playgrounds, and hiking on the walking trails. It was nice. Today I took Ty to the doctor - he has an ear infection. He's had a bad cold and cough that wasn't getting better. Then I met my sister and her kids and my mom and the boys at Bounce U. It was fun! I was late from the dr appt but they had been having a blast. Almost two hours of jumping and bouncing will wear little guys out! They are eating peanut butter bananas right now. When I told Luke they were going to Bounce U he asked "who will bounce me?" I kept trying to explain that that is just the name of the place, Bounce U, not bounce you...too funny! I can't believe it's already Thursday, I had so much stuff I wanted to do this week! I'll get to what I can!