comfort food

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UPDATES:  

Coffee Cake -- wonderful.  D says it's one of his favorites!

Enchiladas -- good.  I think I prefer my other recipe for Chicken Enchiladas, but this was a nice change and will probably make again.

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Comfort Food -- not good for the pregnancy pounds  :)

I love baking and cooking for my family, but lately it seems I am baking and cooking all.the.time.

I'm not sure if it's because it's winter, or because of all the snowy days we've had or if it's because I'm preggo...   but whatever is the reason --- my family is very well-fed.  :)

The Pioneer Woman's Coffee Cake

This is in the oven this morning and smells amazing (link for the recipe is below the pic)

Audrey has been asking the past 3 days to make coffee cake so with a change of plans this morning because of school being cancelled, I found this recipe to try.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/06/the-best-coffee-cake-ever/

Ranch Chicken Enchiladas

The chicken for these is in the crockpot right now..   Should be ready for assembly later this afternoon.  (link for this recipe is below the pic)  Thank you, Pinterest, for this recipe!

http://www.therecipecritic.com/2012/12/ranch-chicken-enchiladas.html

I'll update later to let y'all know how they turned out.  :)

sun

a beautiful sunrise about a week ago

one more...

Okay...  one more Vday post  :)

This was Audrey's Vday outfit she wore for her Preschool Valentine's Day Party, the day before Vday.

 And check out her interlocked hearts hairdo.  It didn't turn out quite like I had hoped, but her teachers could tell they were hearts so it must not have been too bad.

If I did this hairstyle again on her, I would definitely take it down the side of her head about 3 inches, but I didn't have time to take it out and start over by the time I finished up.  :)

Happy Hearts Day!

--heart day--

On Valentine's Day, Mom Audrey and I went out for lunch and did a little shopping.  Mom took us to Buffalo Wild Wings.  I had never been, but let me tell you, definitely a new fav!  It was so good!

Here is Audrey's outfit from our Vday outing. 

Silly Girl

These photos don't do her shirt justice..  It is the most adorable and bright pink lace shirt!  I love it!

Pretty Girl

Happy Girl

Love Day

I love love love spoiling my family..  especially on holidays.  Valentine's Day is always so much fun!

This was our breakfast for Vday.

The boys weren't up for a photo op so early in the am.  :)

Audrey had dance that evening and when her and I came home, this was waiting for me on the counter...   his version of "flowers" or "flours"...   :)  To me this is waaaay better than a big bouquet of actual flowers!

We had lots of fun Vday themed items for supper, but I didn't get any pics of that meal.  

double digits

Wyatt is officially double digits today!  Happy 10th Birthday to Wyatt!

It wasn't a surprise that he wanted a Duck Commander birthday as this is his favorite show!

He had a great birthday party with family...

Duck Commander 'Holly' cake --- yum!   And a few pics down are pictures of Wyatt and his great grandma, who share the same exact birthday --- so we always get Grandma her own 'Holly' cake.

Wyatt's Birthday Morning --- breakfast choice of donuts and chocolate milk.

Happy Birthday, Wyatt!  We love you bunches!

weekend away

Last week, we had a fun weekend away together.

First stop was the ISU Women's game.  When the boys were little bitty, we got to a bunch of games every season while Abby played.  Now we get to 1 a year usually, but love going!

Giant Cy-Cream -- YUM!

Blurry, but had to add!

And it's always a treat to get to spend time with this sweet girlie and her family!

These boys love love love to entertain Mary.

After the WIN!

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Next stop was a hotel in Des Moines...  it was an interesting stay, but fun together.  I don't have any photos of the kids swimming or the 1/2 dozen plates of fruit the kids got at the breakfast buffet  :)

Before heading home, we hit up Bass Pro where the boys had a little shooting competition...  the biggest boy won!  :)

Audrey and I relaxed on the camo furniture while the boys talked guns and ammo.

Next stop ---  Hickory Park for Sunday lunch.  Yum!

Fun weekend with the best people!

lunch date

This is from a few weeks ago, but I just had to share a pic of my goofy lunch date!

fun-due

For this family, New Year's Eve = fondue party!

While we really enjoy spending time with friends, we ultimately decide to stay home on New Year's Eve and party with our kiddies.

And every. single. year we've had fondue  :)  It's something the kids look forward to for weeks and weeks ---  okay I do, too!  After doing the math and looking back at pictures, we figured this was year #7 for this tradition.

Cheese Fondue - this was the first time I've added broccoli to the spread..   all the kids like broccoli, but weren't too keen on eating it on this fun night.

The kids' favorite --  Chocolate Fondue with bananas strawberries and pound cake -- Yum!

Fun-due Fondue

friday favs

Today's collection of favs is a little here and there  :)

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Mainstays, 18-pack, white washcloths from WalMart

I use these to wash my face.  They are SUPER cheap and a great "natural" exfoliator!  

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Krusteaz Belgian Waffle Mix

I have a belgian waffle iron but rarely use it, because frankly, I just don't like taking the time to do all the steps to prepare belgian waffles.  This mix is sooo goooood!

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DiGiorno Parmesan Cheese Wedge

I started buying this instead of the "shaker" kind and it's amazing the difference in taste!

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De Cecco Orecchiette Pasta

This particular pasta (orecchiette) is so hard to find in stores around here so I have to buy it online.  And I buy it 5 boxes at a time!  LOVE this stuff!

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 Sephora

A little obsessed lately.  :)

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Reach Flosser

Makes flossing so easy and doable!

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Lorac Blush

found at Sephora.com -- Highly pigmented so a little goes a long way, but very pretty and stays put!