Baby Girl's Room

While Mike was on his last business trip, my dad came over and helped me paint the nursery to surprise him! We decided on Bird's Nest 618 by Benjamin Moore in an eggshell finish. (I'm a huge fan of Benjamin Moore paint - esp premium. This took one coat! Every time I've tried something else I pay for it in time by having to do multiple coats.)

Now for the crib, window, walls, dresser, etc... phew ... lots to go!

Baking Buddy

This little guy is just super sweet! He's become quite the helper - I can't start any project in the kitchen without him bringing a chair over. This has had disastrous results - when he pours in his water to the batter or dumps the flour on the floor - but it's definitely worth it.

He frequently comes running up, gives pats, then a hug, and says, "I love you" before running off to keep on playing.

My favorite time was while Mike was on his last business trip; Asa came up to me while I was folding laundry, put both hands on my cheeks and said, "I love you."

Love you too bud!

(We're making cake pops for the Oscars on Sunday!)

Unfortunately this is out of focus (I'm working on shooting in manual) - but still too cute!

Happy Birthday Naphtali!

We celebrated Naphtali's bday yesterday with brunch!  (Recipes over here.)

Some of the kiddos all tired out and watching Toy Story.

Cinnamon Roll Testing: Alton Brown's Overnight Cinnamon Rolls

After searching the blog archives I realized it's been nearly a year since we started our perfect cinnamon roll recipe search! We kinda got cinnamon roll overdosed for awhile but I didn't mean for the break to be THIS long! This also means that I haven't made cinnamon rolls for over 10 months - at least! Anyway - some kids and moms were coming over for a playdate yesterday morning so it seemed like the perfect time to try an overnight recipe.

I decided to give Alton Brown's recipe a whirl - we love his recipes!  This was good, good flavor, not too complex but the bread turned out slightly dry (a problem with a lot of the recipes we've tried).  Just not quite the ideal recipe.
I substituted a maple glaze because I really don't care for cream cheese frosting.  And I think I'll try the cinnamon roll recipe that it came with next.  Here's the recipe from Pink of Perfection. I'm hoping it will be the perfect soft bread with just the right amount of sweetness and gooeyness - keep you posted!
*(So my friend, Laura, tried the Pink of Perfection rolls out and told me they were fabulous!! Now I'm dying to try them!)*

Happy Birthday Uncle Bray!!

Asa REALLY enjoyed watching himself on camera ....  he got sidetracked from singing happy birthday to singing about Woody and his hat to waving to singing the Lord's Prayer... I had to edit... but here you go!  Happy Birthday Bray - we miss you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!! Asa and I've had a fun day of Toy Story, flower arranging, and a surprise box of Reeses from Mike! I can't stand Reese -- but it wasn't really Reeses - instead there were some gorgeous earrings stuck inside! Thanks babe!!

Making Valentines

Amara (and Naphtali) came over today to make Valentines for all the fam. Amara went nuts with Disney princess stickers and Asa was busy stamping random letters on things. So fun and sooo messy doing crafts with kids! Love it!

Much of the kids conversation was:

Amara: "Wow! look Mommy! AYYSA - stickers! Kafryn look pretty!"

Asa: "A, S, T, V. Letters!"

Amara was quite thrilled to be using Mike's duck call.

Some of the finished product. On their way to you soon!

Amara's Paris Party

Naphtali threw a Paris Cafe dinner party for Amara - featuring mac and cheese for the kids and fantastic french onion soup for the adults. (Naphtali and I made up the cookies with the Paris cookie cutter I got her for Christmas. It's nice and large! We dipped them in frosting, dusted with crystal sugar, and she painted.  She put these in favor bags for the kids - cute cute.)

"Ring around the rosy..."

"ashes ashes we all fall down"

Walking the Beach