Baking on a hot day!

     We had the privilege to have my mom here from Florida for 10  11 days.(she missed her flight and we got a whole extra day with her lol) We had lots of fun visiting the zoo, playing outside, going to our church BBQ, the state fair, and just hanging out. Wednesday, it was super hot out which unfortunately kept us indoors for most of the day. We found a couple fun recipes off of Pinterest and decided to give them a try. They both turned out really well and were super fun to make with kids. They were easy recipes with common ingredients. Of course, we had to sample them!

 

The first one we made was:

 

Cake Batter Rice Krispies Recipe

 

 Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 1 (10 oz.) bag of mini-marshmallows
• 1/3 cup yellow cake mix (the dry cake mix, not prepared into a batter!)
• 5 cups crispy rice cereal
• 1 (1.75 oz.) container of sprinkles

Method:

Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat and add marshmallows. Stir until they begin to melt, adding in (dry) cake mix one spoonful at a time so its combined. Stir in cereal so it is completely coated with marshmallow mixture. Sprinkle in half of the sprinkles and mix. Press into a baking dish (any size will do) and top with remaining sprinkles. Let sit for about 30 minutes before cutting. I find spraying a knife with nonstick spray helps to cut them.

 

 

Nana and Brody with the finished product

 

We also made 'Peanut butter pretzel bites'

 

Ingredients:

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 tablespoons softened butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

Pretzels

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with wax paper and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat peanut butter and butter until combined. Scrape down bowl, add sugars and beat until combined. You should be able to roll the mixture into balls without sticking to your hands. If needed, add more powdered sugar until you reach a consistency that is easy to roll.
3. Roll the mixture into small balls, about 1 teaspoon of mixture for each ball, and place on prepared baking sheet. Sandwich the balls between two pretzels and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
4. Melt the chocolate in a metal bowl over a pan of lightly simmering water. Stir occasionally until smooth, and remove from heat. Dip each pretzel bite halfway into the melted chocolate and place on the prepared baking sheet. Chill in refrigerator until chocolate is set.

 Helping Auntie Mellie Mix.

 Don't forget to have a taste tester!

 Enjoy!

Clean floors

I don't know about you but, having two kids, two dogs, and a husband my floors can be filthy at the end of the day. I feel like I am washing my floors almost everyday to keep them clean. I've tried almost everything on them from Pine sol to natural products from Melaleuca. I have to say I've been pretty satisfied with everything, but nothing was above and beyond was I was hoping for. So, I went to my good friend pinterest and looked up different ways to clean your floors.

I found out that if you combine Dawn Dish Soap, Vinegar, and Baking Soda apparently it's supposed to work well. Yup! They were right! It has to be by far my favorite and most fun floor cleaner. (I say fun because when you mix the vinegar and baking soda it fizzes up.Whoo hoo... floor cleaner and a science project!!) Anyways, I just wanted to share with everyone else who has to clean there floors as often as I do! Here's the recipe!

Heavy duty floor cleaner recipe:

* 1 cup white vinegar

*  1 tablespoon liquid dish soap

*  1 cup baking soda

*  2 gallons tap water - hot

I first filled up my bucket with the hot water, then added the vinegar, baking soda, and dawn dish soap. I felt like when I added the stuff when the water was running that the dish soap created to many bubbles and then I had a bubble mess on my floor.

Hope this works as good for you as it did for me.. Enjoy!

Here's to 2 years and many more to come....

     Today marks the day that I have been married to my wonderful husband for two years! Our wedding day is still fresh in my mind like it was yesterday It was a beautiful august afternoon at Bethany Lutheran Church in Minneapolis and then we had our reception at the Fort Snelling Ballroom. We were surrounded by about 250+ of our closest friends and family. It was the perfect day to celebrate the first day of the rest of our lives as a married couple.

     I remember it being very hot in the church because there wasn't any air conditioning,  but when I was saying " I Andrea take you Ted.." I remember looking deep into my husbands eyes and knowing that there was a reason that God had placed us in each others paths and it was simply meant to be. I look back and thought I couldn't possibly love him any more at that very moment we were standing before the Lord and all the people we love dearly... my heart was pouring with love, but now that two years have passed I know I will continue to love him more and more as each day passes. A few years ago Ted gave me a bracelet that said 'I love you today, more then yesterday, less then tomorrow - Love Ted' Probably one of my favorite things he has ever given me as a gift because it describes exactly how I feel about him too. Everyday he seems to amaze me with his caring, kind, and loving heart.

     Ted, I remember the very first day I met you like it was yesterday. I remember you working night shifts and you would call me on your breaks at like 3 in the morning and I'd lay there half awake on the phone just to hear your voice for a couple minutes. I still remember our first official date was Go-carting and I beat you in the race ( I know you say you let me win but lets be honest I won that race fair and square!) I remember staying up late to watch the hockey games, I remember when we were standing in the kitchen and I turned around to find you on one knee saying how you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me, I remember finding out I was pregnant and you held me and promised to be the best dad to this little baby, I remember giving birth to Brody and you were so supportive and loving, I remember saying "I do" and marrying my best friend.. all these memories will never fade you have kept all your promises (except the melting pot.. its been 4 years since you said you would take me there) now we can keep looking forward to making many more great memories together as a family. I love when I catch you playing with boys and you don't know I'm watching, I love when we laugh together, I love that you work your butt off to support our family of 4, I love that you make sure I know how much you love me, I love your sense of humor, I love that you can laugh at my clumsy self instead of getting mad at all the things I drop, break, and ruin, I love that you have overcome 7 years of being sober, I love that you have love for the Lord, I love that you are always yourself and never put on an act.. I love so many things about you those were just a few. Thanks for being the man I dreamed about when I was younger, a constant support system, a best friend, a loving father, and thanks for being my husband. I can't wait to keep spending the rest of our lives together, and I am so thankful for you everyday. I will never stop loving you.

Love always,

Your wife xoxo



My not so little baby...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BIG BOY BRODY!!!!

Brody is 3 years old today.. yes, that's right 3! Jeez, I cant even believe how time flys.. I remember when I first laid eyes on him three years ago.

When I first found out I was pregnant with Brody I was so nervous I was only 19 years old and engaged to my now husband. We were not planning on getting pregnant before we were married, but I have to say Brody was the best surprise of my life. I have my husband to thank for being a constant support system through that pregnancy. I have grown so much as a person because of Brody. God sure blessed us with a beautiful son!

Brody is my strong willed, wild, crazy, silly, funny, stubborn, and loving little child. He has a heart for god at 3 years old. Being able to witness him 'growing up' is one of the best rewards. I love watching him interact with his brother and he recently started this thing were he wants to do and say EVERYTHING Devin does. It's cute for me and probably super annoying for Devin! Brody is always making us laugh at all the silly things he does.

Note for Brody:

Brody, I can remember the feeling I had in my heart the first time I saw you. You were so little and I knew at that moment that I would do everything in my power to raise you as a healthy, kind, god loving child. Everyday you seem to amaze me... From the first time you smiled, walked, and said 'mama.' Today you are 3 years old and I cant believe it. You have changed my life in a way that I can't even find the right words to describe it.. all I know is you made me a better person. My heart will never stop loving you and I hope you never change who are. I hope that you continue to love god, keep wanting to learn, and being the silly little guy you are.  I love when you come up and randomly kiss me and say "wuv you mommy"... I love that you can't say your 'L's' quite yet... and you sing the alphabet and twinkle twinkle combined in one song. You are truly amazing and I am so lucky to call you my son. I promise to love and support you in life. I love you my blue eyed little boy -never ever forget that. Love always..Mommy. xoxo

Out Numbered

I have to say I love my kids and husband so much, but quite frankly I am outnumbered by boys! There are days that I love it and days that I wish at least someone understood a woman thinking's.

Here is the Biggest problem that I have. I constantly think bright and pink and honestly that doesn't fly here. I once bought a pink polka dot comforter and put in our bed.. Devin laughed so hard that "Dad was sleeping with a pink blanket"eventually I lost the battle and Ted replaced it. Also, every time were all getting ready to go I'm the last one getting ready and there all sitting on the couch nagging me to hurry up. Not only don't they understand that it takes ladies a little longer to get ready they also have no idea about half the things I own. Brody had some bath crayons that were sitting on the counter in the bathroom and I heard ted yell out "Don't touch those Brody they are Mommy's hair curlers and you don't want to ruin them." What the heck? I don't even own hair curlers..

They best things about being out numbered is I get lots of hugs and cuddles from the boys. I get to be the one who holds them when they are hurt or sad. I get to teach the boys so many things that I hope one day a women will be proud to have them as her husband because they can do the laundry and even know moms special secret to getting the grass stains out, they can also cook, and clean. Don't get me wrong here they have PLENTY of time do to boy things such as playing in the dirt, bringing bugs home, throwing balls at the wall, and roughhousing.. these are all things that I have to get used to being a women, but I try to enjoy as much of it as possible!

All together It sounds awful but we have more turned it into a joke then anything they kindly tease me about silly things that we can all giggle at, but at the end of the day I am also very thankful for each and everyone of them, and its also very nice to be appreciated for my 'unboyish' qualities that I feel stick out a little more because I am the only Female in the house.  The other day Devin said "your new purse is so fancy I like it." I didn't tell him that it was Eden's Diaper bag I just enjoyed the fact that he noticed.

 I guess they kind of look like hair curlers..

Love them.