Amazing..

Something about a red, red grapefruit inspires my creativity. I will paint this.

And this too...
It's January 11th in this photo...January 11!! Stay please. If there are no mountains I'd prefer no snow. Though, I have to confess, I do love winter once it's here in full force. These teaser days are confusing.
And, why not make some homemade donuts. These actually turned out really good and they look pretty good.
I halved the recipe, thank goodness. Brad is out of town and we did our fair share of eating donuts. Here is the recipe if you want to give 'em a try:

Here is the full recipe:

4 1/2 cup to 5 cup flour

1 1/4 cups sugar

4 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp salt

3 eggs beaten

Combine all of the above

In another bowl:

1 cup milk

1/4 cup canola oil

2 Tbsp. Orange Juice (I used a fresh orange)

4 tsp. grated orange peel (I thought it would be better with maple so I just used 1 tsp. maple flavor and 1 tsp vanilla flavor. If you were doing the full recipe you would need to double that)

Mix the wet into the dry and add just enough of the remaining 1/2 cup flour to make a soft dough. Sit in fridge for 1 hour covered.

Take out and roll on a very floured surface. Use a donut cutter or, if you're like me, just cut a circle out and then a littler circle out to make a no brainer donut shape.

Oil for deep frying. I used a combo of peanut oil and smart balance canola oil. Cause if you're having donuts why not fry them in something partially "healthy". Yeah right.

We topped with a maple glaze, powdered sugar, and a chocolate ganache type deliciousness. Next time I am certain the sprinkles will make their appearance.

Give these a try. Easy and delicious.

Happy 8 years.

We were married 8 years ago!

Tonight we celebrated with the kids. Brad and I ate by candlelight while the kids ate at their little table. They were eating at "steak and shake" and Brad and I at a much better "pretend" restaurant. I made romantic red velvet cupcakes with this amazing cooked cinnamon buttercream frosting which was delicious. We just talked and talked and acted like we were on a real date. It was awesome. Afterward, we all sat down and watched our wedding video which we hadn't done, really, for about 6 years. Chloe was mesmorized. This was a very special anniversary. One to remember.

The best part of the anniversary, though, is probably that Brad is upstairs getting them ready for bed. Finally, 31 days of nightfloat December are OVER!!! Man, I have not liked night float and am very grateful that he won't ever have a job where he'll be there nights. Thank you internal medicine clinic:)

It's been a terrific 8 years with lots and lots of UPs!

Love you My Brad.

Santa

An unknown fact about Brad: He's really really good at those claw games where you play for 50 cents and try and catch a prize in the bin below. When we were at Steak and Shake he won this little guy for the kids. The prizes are usually ugly in those bins but this was the cutest one in there and he got it. He cheered, outloud, for himself and said, "I just won." Well, this little guy has been in EZ's bed ever since. One night I heard EZ saying "santa diaper" as clear as day. So I went upstairs to see what he needed. Sure enough, he was holding his santa while hanging over the edge of his crib and pointing to the diapers. So, I had to lay Santa down and proceed to put a diaper on him. EZ was satisfied though I'm not sure Santa was:)

Dreams come true for one 4 year old

Okay, the title of the post is a little dramatic. But she has been wanting to go iceskating for quite sometime and I may or may not have been "promising" her we would go. So finally, Brad had the day off and she and I went on a little date iceskating.

She loved every.single.second. of the time there. After every fall she'd just get right back up and laugh and keep going. She really only fell those first couple of times around. She was quite a natural. I went with the anticipation of making it maybe 1 or 2 times around. We made it around about 10 times and with each time she got better and more confident. I taught her "if you're gonna fall grab the wall". And that the wall is "stinky and not your friend" when you're trying to skate around. Kind of contradictory but once she let go of the wall and just held my hand she dominated.

I did get plenty of stares. Who's the way pregnant lady out there on the ice with that cute 4 year old??
Hockey? Figure skating? Recreational activity? who knows but it gives me hope that she will like skiing one day!

A happy Christmas

Brad decided that we should have a new tradition of going out to breakfast Christmas Eve. No complaints here. It was fun to be together as a family just relaxing.

This skillet was delicious and huge. Look at the cake (pancakes!) next to Brad. My meal was equally as large and delicious.

Bowling with some friends. A Nelson tradition continues.

Our delicious meal. To heck with the ham. This is our second year of meatballs, bacon wrapped goodness, jello salad and eating by candlelight.

We made time for the gingerbread house. Have you ever just left the gingerbread house on your table while you play games or eat your next meals and then start picking away at it? Is that what gingerbread houses were originally designed for. Well, this one came with actual tasty candy and by day 3 it only had a few colors left on it.

Christmas morning. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the excitement and magic of Christmas and with 2 little ones it's even better. We started our morning at 6:15. We tried to get Chloe to just snuggle with us and she did till she jumped out of bed and barely made it to the toilet to throw up. She was kind of sick all day, but it got us out of bed and going:)

The pregnant mama and Bluie after church.

The doll house. It turned out really cute.
Ezra running straight for his Thomas train. He rode it around the kitchen while we opened presents.
Big D with his new shirt.
I think they're gonna like these beanbags.

Do we really have to wait 363 more days??

My loves.

How lucky I am to wake up and start each day with these smiles. After breakfast they go upstairs and play play play together. This is how I found them the other day. My heart just happily dances at these little faces.

And this is what is growing in my tummy. 29 weeks. The doctor said we're on the (Chloe) 8lb12oz track rather than the (Ezra) 7lb9oz track. When we had one of these 3D ultrasounds with Chloe the image was slightly (I can say it now cause she is sooo cute) horrifying. The tech was going on and on about how "cute" the baby looked and Brad and I were just trying not to laugh and we just wanted to look away. So technology has come a long way-this baby looks like a chunk of love.
And these....Oh man. They were sitting in the kitchen and I had to really will-power myself to not go in and eat. This is what i've been missing everytime I snub mirainge? (how to you spell that word?) They were so easy to make and so good. Try them out.

Chocolate Covered snowpeaks

4 egg whites

1 and 1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. cream of tarter

Put all but the sugar in a blender and start it mixing.

Slowly add the sugar.

Let the mixer just blend, blend, blend until it looks thick and white. When you lift the blender attachment it should create a pick.

I put the mix into a ziploc bag, cut off a tip, and made the rounds.

Heat in an over for 1 hour at 225.

Let cool then dip in chocolate. (the kids loved helping with the dipping)

Next time I will definitely dip in graham crackers (i'm such a sucker for smores) or dip in nuts. I love texture.

Enjoy these little treats.

Lots!

Here I am blogging...finally. I always have so much to blog and then just don't and then I finally do. So here I am:)

This Brad of mine. Here is in his purest joyful form-hanging christmas lights. This is our first time hanging lights. He loved his little project. I like seeing him do stuff that is "normal", that most guys do and just take for granted cause they actually have time.

He just started his month of nights. That means no Brad from 630pm till 930am. Boo, but we have Friday nights and Saturdays to look forward too. And church with me every sunday! And...christmas!!

His little helper. She loved every minute of it too.
Our Thanksgiving. Things I love about Thanksgiving: family togetherness, the anticipation, the baking and planning, cooking and decorating. Things I don't love: Turkey. I really don't.
Cute Holli and Jeff came from Missouri to visit us for the weekend. We love them. And Holli and I dominated the Feast.

This little guy loves our Friday night movie night just like his big sister.
They love their uncle.
Decorating cookies. A regular occurence at our house.
Oh I am so hot. Really, I had to include this because it's just pathetic. Nice angle, nice outfit (what the heck am I wearing:) But, that little baby is cooking away. My little side bar says 90 days. Wow! Chambers 4 becomes Chamber 5 soon.
This site:)
On to Christmas. Here are some Christmas ornaments. We collect an ornament from every big vacation we go on. I have started to buy the kids ornaments each year to represent them. I love eclectic Christmas trees like my mom's tree (she has so many pretty classic looking ornaments on her tree handed from her mom) Christmas is magical at my mom's house and I want Chloe to love the magic of Christmas, too. Actually, she already does.

More Christmas magic to be posted, either here or just in my head.