The weatherman was finally right...

It's snowing today! They have predicted snow many times this year and we never get it but today not long after we woke up it started looking like this

Asher was not really into it and preferred to watch like this...from inside.

Not long after the little flurries started it quickly turned into this

So we headed back outside, this time with jackets, hats and shoes with Emily and Alexi (who stopped by to play in the snow with us)

With no gloves or heavy jackets the kids and I got cold really fast! So Emily and Alexi left and the boys and I headed inside for a hot chocolate date :)

After hot chocolate we headed up to the playroom and ate some of my yummy homemade coffee cake

We weren't up there long when I looked outside and could not believe in such a short amount of time how much it was snowing!

That's some serious snow for central Texas!

So I figured what the heck...it NEVER snows down here. So I bundled the boys us really good, with socks on our hands and all, and headed back outside for some serious snow fun!

Here is Aiden's very first snow angel! He was very proud of it.

Mine and Asher's snowman. About 2 seconds after this picture he kicked it down proudly ;)

Aiden's very own snowman he built all by himself!

After all the snowman and snow angel fun we chased each other around and had an hour long snowball fight! It was soooo much fun :) I just wish Cameron could have been here to play with us. When he left for work there was hardly any snow and at that point we had no idea it was going to end up like this!

I had to add this picture because I loved it! It's Aiden's bare feet prints on our back patio.

After all that fun outside we came in and my poor little boys had frozen fingers. So I plopped them into a warm bath.

Now they are resting peacefully in their beds and excited to wake up and see more snow!

So I guess my super busy week is having to deal with the plans of Mother Nature, but that's alright with me :) Today I missed a morning playdate and seeing Mandy and Gage but I spent the morning having one of the best times I have ever had with the boys. The thing I love most about having children is seeing the world through their eyes. I will never forget their laughter this morning as I pegged them with a snowball or the excitement in their eyes when they looked out the window and saw snow. Moments like those almost take my breath away. How lucky can a person be? :)

Recipe of the Week!

Coffee Cake
Batter
Nonstick cooking spray
1 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons margarine
1 1/4 cup lowfat buttermilk or nonfat milk
1 cup sour cream
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butternut squash puree
1/2 cup mini-marshmellows

Topping
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1/4 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

1. Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Coat 9 inch cake pan or 8x8 baking pan with cooking spray.

2. In a large mixing bowl beat the sugar and margarine until creamy. Beat in 1 cup of the buttermilk or milk, the sour cream, egg and vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and mix until completely incorporated.

3. Pour half of the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Spread the squash puree over the batter and sprinkle with marshmellows. Stir the remaining 1/4 cup of milk into the rest of the batter and spread evenly over the squash filling.

4. Mix together the topping ingredients and sprinkle evenly over the batter. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake, 55 to 60 minutes. Let cool 5 miutes on a rack before cutting into wedges or squares.

*If you don't want to use the butternut squash this recipe still works without it. The squash just adds a healthy ingredient to something not meant to be healthy :)

Non Stop!

That's how I've been running today and it doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon. This week we have 3 playdates, dinner with friends, lunch with my mother in law, my brother's baseball game, painting the boy's new room, and visiting one of my best friend's and her sweet new little baby boy! I'm tired from just reading it all back! I am most excited about seeing Mandy and Gage. She texted (is that word?) me today that she was on her way to her mom's house who just happens to live very close to me. I am beyond excited!!! Her sweet baby Gage is only a month old and I am just dying to hold him.
I am also really excited about painting the boy's new room. We have a bedroom upstairs next to the playroom that I have wanted to make their room for so long. Hopefully by this weekend we can go and buy the furniture and put it all together! Yay! I love changes in the house...so exciting :)
Oh and I forgot to add on top of all that we are suppose to get snow in the morning! I am really hoping if we do, it only stays around for a short while so I can head off to our first playdate of the week and then to see Mandy after that. For the playdate tomorrow I am making a super yummy homemade coffee cake that I will post the recipe for tomorrow.

So that's all for today. Happy Monday bloggers and blog followers ;)

I am raising a future frat boy ;P

Yesterday while we were all sitting on the couch enjoying a relaxing evening and watching some UT basketball, Asher stands up on the couch and says "I want pizza and doughuts!" Ha! Cameron and I almost fell off the couch we were laughing so hard. He just kept looking at us with an I'm not joking look on his face. It was priceless! Along with his interesting diet choices he has learned the Bud Light slogan and walks around all the time saying "Bud Light...Drinkablility!" I think we are going to have our hands full with this little mister in the coming years :)

Dear John

Last night I finished it and it was so good. I was shocked at how much I liked it considering I am not a huge Nicholas Sparks fan. Now I really want to go and see the movie :)
I also finished about a week ago The Time Traveler's Wife.

That book was crazy strange but I really loved it. The movie, however leaving me wanting more. I was so disappointed. It was so different from the book and they didn't even tell the whole story. I am hoping that the Dear John movie is not like that. I have heard really great reviews about it but are those reviews from people that read the book?
So now I need a new book to read. Any suggestions?

I love the Olympics!

Yes I do :) The summer Olympics are my favorite but the winter ones have a special meaning to me. Aiden was born weeks before the 2006 Olympics. I remember so well those sleepless nights I would lay in the living room with him while watching the Olympics on TV. This year I have been a devout watcher. I have stayed up till almost midnight every night this week catching up on them while everyone else in the house is asleep. My favorite part so far was the men's snowboarding and Shaun White winning the gold.


I also loved watching Lindsey Vonn do her thing.


I cannot wait for Apollo Ono to do a little more racing this weekend.


And my favorite event is the women's figure skating...oh so exciting! I remember watching this event with my mom for as far back as I can remember. We loved figure skating :)

I hope once my boys get older and stay up later we can watch them together and I can pass down my love for the Olympics like my mom did to me.

Thankful Thursday

So to keep the bliggity blog interesting I am saying good bye to 5 thing that made me smile and hello to Thankful Thursday! Every Thursday I will post about something I am thankful for that week. So here we go...

My Mom

Yes the pic is old but it's the best one I had :)

Yesterday was one of those days. A day where you want you kids to leave you alone and just crawl in a hole and be alone. The boys had alot of extra energy yesterday and honestly I was not at all in the mood to deal with it. We went to my church mom's playgroup in the morning at the library and Asher was nuts! He was running around, pulling books of the shelf, yelling, I mean totally out of control. We came home and I put the boys down and was exhausted. My house was a mess and I really had things I had to get done. So I called my mom and asked if she would watch the boys for me. She agreed and not a moment too soon. Right after I got off the phone with her I found Asher in the fridge eating yogurt (he learned how to open it) and Aiden had found some art paint and had it all over my floors. So off they went to Papa's house. It was so nice to be home and getting the house cleaned in peace. Then while cleaning I decided to just have the boys stay there while Cam and I went to church. I forgot how nice and peaceful mass can be without kids ;) And on top of all that, the best mom in the world made dinner for my family. Shrimp Creole for the adults and fish sticks and mac and cheese for the kids. I feel so blessed to be so close with my mom and that she is willing to help me at any moment. When I picked up the kids I felt renewed! Just a few hours alone made a world of a difference :) Thanks Mom for always being there for me...especially the times I need you the most!

"Remember, Man is dust, and unto dust you shall return."

Today is Ash Wednesday and for every Catholic (and Christians of other religions)around the world it's a very important day marking the beginning of the Season of Lent. It is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption.

For anyone who isn't sure about Ash Wednesday or what it means here is a little explanation:

Why we receive ashes?
Following the example of the Nine vites, who did penance in sackcloth and ashes, our foreheads are marked with ashes to humble our hearts and reminds us that life passes away on Earth. We remember this when we are told

"Remember, Man is dust, and unto dust you shall return."

Ashes are a symbol of penance made sacramental by the blessing of the Church, and they help us develop a spirit of humility and sacrifice.

The Ashes
The ashes are made from the blessed palms used in the Palm Sunday celebration of the previous year. The ashes are christened with Holy Water and are scented by exposure to incense. While the ashes symbolize penance and contrition, they are also a reminder that God is gracious and merciful to those who call on Him with repentant hearts. His Divine mercy is of utmost importance during the season of Lent, and the Church calls on us to seek that mercy during the entire Lenten season with reflection, prayer and penance.

Recipe of the Week!

So this is one of my go to meals and I just realized I have never posted the recipe! Shame on me :) It's super easy and yummy. Everyone in the house loves it! Paired with a salad it's the perfect meal to fix when you are short on time.

Bruschetta Chicken Bake
1 can (14.5oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkg (6oz) Stove Top stuffing mix for chicken
1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tsp dried basil leaves
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place tomatoes with liquid in a medium bowl. Add garlic and stuffing mix and 1/2 cup water; stir until stuffing mix i moistened. Set aside.

Place chicken in 13x9 in baking dish; sprinkle with basil and cheese. Top with stuffing mix.

Bake 30 min or until chicken is cooked through.

Makes 6 servings

I started running

I have always wanted to be a runner. I just never could actually do it. I would try and run for a few weeks but then give up. So I am trying again. My parents have a treadmill and I have made a commitment to go over there 3 days a week and run. I am using a program called "Couch to 5k" and so far so good. Yesterday running seemed so easy and fun. I loved it! So I am beyond excited about this new hobby of mine ;)

On another note we started going to our chiropractor again yesterday. I use to go to him when I was pregnant with Asher and it felt so good to be back. I just love the office and how friendly everyone is to us. I got adjusted which felt amazing, and the boys did also. Aiden did really good and let Dr. Rock do his thing. Asher was a little resistant but ended up agreeing after I bribed him with a frosty afterwards! Ha! The boys just loved Dr. Rock and I think he felt the same way about them. So back we go on Thursday for me, not them.

So that's all thats new on the home front. Hopefully I will be back with something a little more interesting later in the week ;)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today is Valentine's Day and I hope everyone has a very special one spent with the people they love the most!
As for our Valentine's Day we always do something together as a family. We were going to see a movie but there are no kid's movies at the theatre. I was so bummed. My mom called me yesterday and invited us to come over for an early dinner. Ribeyes, lobster tail, asparagus, salad and baked potatoes. Yummo!!!! I am so excited. So that's our plans for the day after church.

Oh and I had to add my little cuties from last year :)


Happy Valentine's Day!

A Change in Perspective

Yesterday evening I had an epiphany! Cameron came home from work and my boys ran up to him and begged him to wrestle. So they all went into their room and started wrestling, playing football and just being crazy! I laid in Aiden's bed watching them with a huge smile on my face. I just felt so happy and content. Then it hit me, I think I want another boy. Cameron and I have decided to start trying for baby #3 sometime at the end of summer, or early fall this year. For a long time I felt like we needed to have a little girl to make our family complete so we were going to try for a girl. Now I am not so sure that's what we need. I am starting to believe that we might be a family meant for all boys and honestly for the first time in my life I am okay with that. I could just picture our next little boy down there wrestling with his brothers and Daddy and it just seemed right. I told Cameron this and he kind of agreed. After having the boys he really wants a little girl, more so then me. So who knows how our family will expand. For now I know that we will have at least one more baby and as for the gender I don't care what it is. We aren't going to try for a girl anymore because I am not sure that's what I want. I want what we are meant to have.
My grandmother raised 4 boys and I remember asking her before I had kids if she was ever sad she didn't have a little girl. Her response was "a little girl would not have worked with our family." Now I finally get what she meant :)
I wonder if other families feel this way. Families with all girls probably feel like a boy might have been out of place so they accept that they have all girls, and vice versa.
Don't get me wrong, I know if we have a girl we will be thrilled. But I have no idea what she will wear because I hate the color pink ;)

5 things that made me smile :)

1. Valentine's Day!
I love Valentine's Day and enjoy the fact that it's a holiday we spend as a family. No more are the days Cameron and I get dressed up in our best and head out to a fancy dinner where we would spend a small fortune on an overpriced dinner. Now we wake up to the kisses and hugs from out little bubbas. Last year was so sweet and I look forward to this year. We are planning on going to see a movie (all 4 of us) and then stopping by La Madeleine for some dessert to go. I hope that by making this day a very special one for the family the boys will grow up to love the holiday and one day make a wonderful husband for some lucky ladies.

2. Friends!
We got to hang out this week with some of our best friends...me and the boys :) Wednesday we played at Laurie's house with our church mom's group. Then Thursday we headed over to Eve's house for some chit chat for the mommas and play time for the boys. Julie and her kids were there and I feel so thankful that I have met these amazing women and their sweet children! I never imagined how fufilling it would be to have such wonderful women for friends.

3. Change of plans!
The change itself made me sad but it ended in a day of just chilling at the house with the boys. We were suppose to go to Arlington on Monday to visit one of my bff's who just had a sweet little baby. Unfortunately she had other company so she thought another time would be better. Oh well. I was bummed but sometimes some of the best memeories are made sitting back and doing nothing but watching your children. It was a great day :)

4. Purging!
Because in the next weeks and months we will be doing a big switcharoo with 3 of the rooms in the house I finally got down and dirty and really started going through things I no longer need. I made a HUGE stack of just stuff to send off to Goodwill. Then I finally decided to part with some of my nice purses. I have 2 LV purses I put on Craiglist to sell and let's just say they sold immediately! I was shocked and happy. So today I will be getting a little extra cash in my pocket. Wahoo!!! Goes into the "new boy's room" fund :)

5. A sweet, sleeping baby on my lap!Well not exactly a baby but my sweet Asher. While we were at Eve's house I noticed that Asher looked really tired. He didn't feel warm so I was unsure what the deal was. Then he came over to me, crawled in my lap and fell asleep. This is unheard of from my Ash!!!! It was so sweet and holding his sweet little body while he slept was so nice :) The bad news was once he woke up he had a terrible fever and was really upset. We headed home where he proceeded to sleep for 2 more hours. So after almost 3 1/2 hours of sleep he woke up, not as hot and acting much better. By the end of the day his fever had gone away he was looked fine. I have no idea what the deal was but seriously I thought we would be spending the afternoon in the doctors office. Crazy Ash ;)

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and a very Happy Valentine's Day!

An Award :)

An Award!
A very sweet friend of mine gave me this award! Thank you Lindsay!! Lindsay's blog is Logan Laughs and is so much fun to read. Her sweet little boy Logan is adorable and I love seeing new pictures of him.

By getting this award, I'm supposed to share 7 things about myself, and share the award with 7 of my Beautiful Blogger friends. So, here's my list of things you may or may not already know about me!

1. I love being Stay at home mom/housewife! I really know this is where I am meant to be in my life. I love cleaning, cooking, keeping my family schedule's in check, spending all my time with the boys, ironing...all housewife things. I take alot of pride in my job as a housewife and hope one day when my children are grown they will respect me for my decision to stay home and devote my life to them.

2. My guilty pleasure is soap operas! LOL! I love watching the Young and the Restless. I have been watching this show since I was in grade school. My mom and I would watch it over the summer together and whenever I was sick from school we would curl up on the couch and watch it. I don't know if it's the actual show I like or the fact that it's something special between my mom and I. We still call each other everyday and talk about what's going on. Cameron always laughs at us and when I'm talking to her about he asks "are you talking about real people or soap opera people!" LOL!

3. I love reading! I have always had a love for reading and after the boys were born put it on the back burner for awhile. Lately though I have gotten back into it and love it! I just got done reading The Time Traveler's Wife and just started Dear John.

4. I am a coffee addict! Every morning I have to have at least 2 to 3 cups of coffee before I can function. Mmmm!

5. I am constantly rearranging furniture or redecorating my house! I wish that I could be that person that always keeps things the same but that's just not me! I am ALWAYS changing things. My mom was the same way so I think I got it from her. It keeps Cam on his toes though. He hates when I call him at work and say "I have a surprise for you when you get home..." LOL!

6. I have vowed not to cut my hair for 2 years! I made that vow last June and am holding strong! I want to see how long my hair can get so I have been taking vitamins, straightening it only when we are going somewhere and trying to keep it as healthy as I can.

7. I'm pretty simple :) I am probably one of the most "un" fancy people you will ever meet. My fav store is Target...I get all my clothes there, accessories, almost all my kids clothes, all the stuff for my house...pretty much everything! I always shop on sale racks. Why buy something whole price when it will eventually be on sale! We don't eat out and when we do it's usually at a drop in and eat type of place. No sit down restaurants for this family :) I don't need fancy expensive things to make me happy. All I need is my family and friends.

And now to pass this award on to 7 of my Beautiful Blogger Friends! (In no particular order):

1. Amy at Our Growing Family
2. Tina at The Flohr's are Bloggin
3. Jessica at The Molepske Family
4. Jessica at The Bailey Bunch
5. Cathy at Oliver & Company
6. Shana at The Robertson Family
7. Ana at Princess Leanna and Princess Kayla


I can't wait to read all about your 7 favorite things!

Recipe of the Week!

I got the idea to post this after talking to my sister last night about how to eat a healthy lunch. I remembered what I use to do last summer and was thinking how I needed to do it again. I would make this chicken as directed and once they were cooked put them individually in ziploc bags and freeze. All you have to do is reheat and add a side of veggies. I would either make a salad or buy the Green Giant individual servings size of mixed veggies. They are super yummy!

Marinated Chicken on The Grill
2 chicken breast
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Marinade
juice from 1/2 of lemon
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 small garlic clove, peeled and sliced
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (optional)

(Alter the above ingredients to make how ever many you want)

Score the chicken breasts 2 or 3 times with a sharp knife. Mix together all the ingredients for the marinade and marinate the chicken for at least 2 hours. Heat the grill of griddle, brush with oil, then remove the chicken from the marinade and cook for 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through.

Basketball Game!

One of the things my boys love to do is go and watch Uncle Elliot play basketball!

Did a little shopping :)

Saturday morning I let Cameron sleep in till 9:00 am because I wanted to get out and do some shopping all by myself. I knew if he was well rested he wouldn't fight me onn this one! LOL! I think it's so funny how easy men can be at times with the right manipulation ;) Anyways off I headed to Target to look at new bedding for the boys big boy room and all their cute new spring clothes for the kids. I actually didn't buy any clothes for them at this time but I did fine a really cute Easter outfit I might have to go back and get. I looked online and my fav outfit they didnt have but it was khacki pants with pirate things embroidered on them, a bright short sleeve green polo and then a dark blue cardigan with a little green whale embroidered on it. It was adorable and would work if it was warm or cool. Decisions, Decisions...

Then it was off to shop for the boys new bedding. I knew we were going with a sports theme because it's so cute and something they can grow into. It was between these 2 sets.
http://www.target.com/Circo-Sports-Bed-Bag-Twin/dp/B002ARPC72/ref=sc_ri_2
http://www.target.com/Sports-Quilt-Twin/dp/B000VHW12W/ref=sc_ri_1
After deliberating for what felt like forever I went with the second one. Even though for the same price I only got the quilt and sham it seemed like a much better quality. It was so soft and in person it's precious :) I am so excited about getting the room together! We are taking our time though since I am not for sure ready to get Ash out of his crib and into a twin bed quite yet. I went ahead and bought the bedding so I can start painting their room and accesozing. We will probably get the beds in March and move them in there at the end of March or beginning of April. Oh and they are moving into our upstairs bedroom :)

Here is the beds they will be getting from IKEA.

They are an unfinished pine so I think we we are going to stain them a light wood color but we haven't decided for sure.

On another note I finished The Traveler's Wife last night and it was soooo good! I recommend it to anyone who needs a good book to read. I am also thrilled the movie comes out this week! Yay!!!!

5 things that made me smile :)

It's been a long time since I've done this but I'm back!

1. Dr. Rock!
Dr. Rock was my chiropractor when I was pregnant with Asher. Cameron and I went to him every week and we even started getting Aiden adjusted. We really loved it and really liked Dr. Rock. After Asher was born we kind of stopped going mostly due to how hectic life got. Cameron hurt his neck a few months ago and this week decide to go back to Dr. Rock to see if he could help. While he was there Dr. Rock convinced him to have all us come back in. He saw Cam wasn't budging so he told him that he would only charge us for 1 person and the whole family could come in! I am beyond excited!!!! I can't wait to start going back :)

2. Valentine's picture!
I took the boys to Portrait Innovations this morning for their Valentine's pictures...plus I had bought these really cute vests and wanted to get pics in them! LOL! We had an awful experience there and I didn't get the "valentine's" pictures I wanted but I did get 2 really cute shots. So that made me smile even though I was so furious when we left I swear I will never go back! I mean seriously who takes a smoke break 2 times while photographing 2 small boys.
Here they are...pictures of a picture



3. Great week!
We had such a fun week this week! Monday was Aiden's birthday, Tuesday was cleaning day, Wednesday we had our Church moms play group and then went over to my parents for the afternoon, Thursday we had Aiden's doctor appointment and today we had the boys picture appointment, Eve and her boys came to play and we are going over to my parents later to visit with my grandparents who are in town. Whew...busy but fun week!

4. Seventh Generation laundry detergent!
I bought this brand this week because I had a coupon and I love it! My clothes have ever been so soft and smelled so good! It's the only brand I will buy from now on!

5. LOST!
My favorite show of all time is back for the final season and I am so excited!!!! Cameron and I will be glued to the TV every week watching and waiting for some answers!!