I never really watch award shows. I mainly enjoy seeing the beautiful dresses on the red carpet. The Academy Awards had some amazing ones. Here are my three favorites. :)

I thought this was absolutely one of the most beautiful dresses I've ever seen. It's so simple and elegant and I just love her simple hair to go along with it.



I guess I like this off-white color, because I loved this one too, especially offset with the black belt.



This one was just fun with the little skirt around the middle and I love red.



*We had a lot of snow last night and it was quite a treat for Kendall this morning. Cam wasn't too into it.


*Spinach Pattie update from yesterday: Verdict? Very tasty. :) I ate mine plain, but I think it would be great as "burger" or dipped in some sort of sauce.

snapshots of our weekend

Saturday:

*Breakfast with daddy.

*Built a train track including mountains (a.k.a. books).



*Failed nap attempt with Kendall, despite being sick.

*Walked to the park with daddy. Cam found a friend to play with.



*That night my parents watched the kids while we went out. Had a gift card to Olive Garden, which was great because that place has gotten expensive! Found a more decently priced meal on the appetizer menu, Grilled Chicken Flatbread. Very tasty.

Sunday:

*In the morning Kendall was still feeling bad. Snuggled on the couch watching golf with dad.



*In the afternoon, thanks to Motrin, we had our Kendall back. Headed to Palm Springs. First stop, park.




*Second stop, Costco for groceries and dinner. Dinner for 4? $4.84 :) I bought some Mediterranean Chickpea Patties. Chris said he would literally rather skip an entire meal than eat one. :) Hehehe.

*Last time you laughed out loud: Listening to Cam and Kendall's conversation after Bible Study today in which Cam grilled her on if she fussed, when she fussed, and how long she fussed during childcare.

*What you last ate: lunch which consisted of a big bowl of broccoli, red peppers, garbonzo beans, feta, and flaxseed.

*3 things you wish you had: a pot that could be transferred from the stove to the oven, Tori Spelling colored hair, sewing needles (I have thread but I have two Awana patches waiting for me to sew on Cam's vest and I always forget to buy needles when I'm out)

*Recent picture taken:



*$100...what would you spend it on? Tickets to this. We've heard it's incredible and both kids are into pirates and would probably LOVE it!

*Highlight of the week: We decided to pull Cam out of T-ball only to have him want, "a second chance with the Dodgers". So we put him back in and he did GREAT at practice on Monday.

*Low of the week: we decided to cancel our family trip to Vegas over Cam's spring break because it just isn't a wise use of money right now. But I'll sneak in a high here and say we replaced it with a trip up to my in-laws, which was a great consolation trip for Cam to learn about.

*Last thing watched on TV: 20/20 I tivo'd about Whitney Houston. It is all so sad.

*One thing that annoys you: Since I do the same Jillian workout each time, I've memorized most of what she says and I HATE when she says, "5 more!" because it's always at a time I want to die. :)

*One thing you love: Chris. Couldn't ask for a better husband.

*I bought some Fiber 1 the other day to make muffins to help Kendall's never ending tummy/poop issues. I have discovered my new favorite snack, yogurt mixed with Fiber 1 (almost equal parts as I like lots of texture) and a little whipped cream on top. Soooo good!

*We are heading out in a few minutes for another hike with friends. It may seem like we hike A LOT. And actually we do. Besides the obvious that it's great for kids to be out in nature, Cam adores it. We have been struggling the past couple weeks on deciding whether to keep him in t-ball. He loses focus a lot and while he enjoys aspects of it, it definitely isn't his "thing". What is his "thing"? Hiking!!! Chris and I have commented how much we can see a difference in him when he is on the trails. It is simply his element. :) And while its a bummer that hiking clubs aren't that easy to come by (as opposed to sports teams), it is nice that we have so many great trails around. Maybe I'll start my own hiking club. :)

*OK, are these cupcake push-pops not the cutest little things ever??? How great would they be for a kid birthday?? Wow.




*Chris and I are really enjoying "The Firm" right now on TV.

*Bathtime in the mornings have become a nice little break for me. :) The kids stay/play in there for about 30 minutes. After I get a few things done, I lay in our bed watching TV while listening for, "Moooooooommmm!!!!! I'm ready to get out!!!!!" :)

saturday

Yesterday our friends, Jeremy and Ana, came out for the day with their kids. While Jeremy and Chris went golfing, we took the kids to the park and hung out at home.

The kids were excited to see a little snow left on the ground at the park in Oak Glen.



After the kids had rested/napped, we made these. They were pretty good, but I'm only going to give them a 7. While the cakey donut matched the cakey brownie, it wasn't my cup of tea because it wasn't dense enough, nor rich enough. But they were still fun to make and would definitely be a conversation piece if you brought them somewhere!

Looks like something Paula Dean would make, huh?


After the guys returned, we got our traditional Carne Asada Fries for dinner before they left for home. Overall a VERY fun day!

sister banter

Emails as of late (disclaimer: we are totally not being serious/mean spirited with anything we say!):

EMAIL #1 FROM SUSAN

No message, just a link to this website

MY EMAIL BACK:

**"Removing the environmental stresses of the day gives your skin the beauty rest it needs to recuperate from possible irritants."**

Hogwash

**"But when it comes time to hit the hay, that makeup wears on and on, unless you cleanse your face before bed."**

I don't wear makeup on my face, just eye liner that I take off each 24 hours (just in the morning, not at night) with a cotton ball and lotion

**"Even if you don't wear makeup, it's important to wash your face at night because the dead skin cells can build up, causing your face to feel rough, blotchy or uncomfortable."**

Never in my life felt rough, blotchy, nor uncomfortable. Again, hogwash.

That the best you got??? :)

SUSAN'S RESPONSE:

Well “hogwash” doesn’t discount these FACTS. =) I do think there might be something to the environmental stuff when you think about all the smog out there, etc.

We’ll just see – we’ll compare our faces in 50 years.

Unfortunately though, it will be too late for you at that point.

snow and eggs

Today is absolutely gorgeous!! It snowed a tiny bit last night, which made our mountains stunning this morning. We had to bundle up for our walk, but it was worth it. :)



Last night I was supposed to make quiche for dinner. I never ended up finding a good recipe. I want one that uses egg whites (not Egg Beaters) since I have a lot of eggs to use. Regular quiche is so bad for you, but I know if I loaded up a lower fat one with turkey bacon and a little cheese, it would be great. If anyone has a low fat recipe, let me know! Anyway, I ended up just making scrambled eggs. The picture below would lead you to believe Kendall loved them. Don't be fooled. She gagged her way through the assigned number of bites. I know many people don't like the texture of eggs, but I'm determined to push through and keep placing them in front of her. :)

*This morning I had heart shaped muffins waiting for the kids when they woke up. I placed them on a piece of paper that I had written a simple message, "Happy Valentines Day! We love you, Kendall/Cameron!" Cameron proceeded to say:

"I'm so impressed of you for writing this. I'm so impressed that I'm going to love you infinity! I'm going to give you an award for this treat."

*Chris has a protein shake 1-2 times a week for breakfast. I have not been able to master a REALLY good one...until this morning. All it took was a 1/2 carton of peach yogurt added to the blender (along with the protein mix, ice/water) to get a, "This is the best smoothie ever!" from him. :)

*Every day when we drive home from dropping Cam off at school, Kendall points to a Bob's Big Boy and asks if we can go. I think she is intrigued by the Big Boy statue out front. Well, tonight she might get her wish granted. Chris and I are toying with the idea of doing "dessert for dinner" in honor of Valentines day. We thought that restaurant might be a winner for Kendall. :)

*I think it's funny when people say, "I hate Valentines Day!! It's so over-commercialized and dumb." My response is, "Isn't EVERY holiday over-commercialized???" :) We by no means go all out for the day, but I do think it's kind of fun, especially when you have kids. Chris and I will probably go out to dinner in a week or two to celebrate. :)

*I'll be honest and say my grocery budget project isn't going that great. I don't think I'm necessarily spending more than I should, but my keeping track stinks. Basically I have not been keeping track. :( I have no good excuse.

escaping the weather

Another reason we are Palm Springs fans? When the weather is yucky here, it's almost always great there. We headed out for a hike to celebrate my dad's birthday today. It was beautiful and we regretted even wearing long sleeves. Mid-way through we stopped for a picnic lunch and special birthday cookies for my dad.

Chris played photographer so wasn't in any of the pictures :)




Want to know one of the best parts of the hike? The fact that my mom made all of our lunches!! It was SOO nice not to have to prepare anything. Sometimes I feel like my life consists of prepping snacks/meals/clothes for our next outing. :) Thanks mom!!

freezer

Chris often makes fun of me for how much and what kind of things I freeze. Right now you are likely to find a few of the following:

*cupcakes including the frosting
*chips, crackers, cookies (like if we bought a bag specifically for a recipe and I don't know when I'll use the rest)
*cereal (same reason as above)
*one serving of something left from dinner (great to pop out for someone to have for a leftovers-we all have different things- night)
*homemade tortillas (because they are a pain to make so I like to have them easy to thaw and use)

I have always just HATED to waste food. And in all honesty, I use most everything I freeze eventually. Case in point? I blogged a while back about what has become one of my favorite cakes of all time. The part that was the tastiest was the crumb layer. I didn't use all of it, so I decided to freeze the remainder. I'm so glad I did because I topped these delicious banana muffins with cream cheese frosting I made for my moms' group this morning. They were quite a hit. :)

hiking buddies

My mom recently bought us a great hiking book since we have really gotten into hiking with the kids. There are several that I have flagged for us to try.

My friend Jessica and I have taken the kids on a couple fun ones in the past week. All four kids really enjoy them and it's fun to have some hiking buddies. I'm not sure either of us would do them by ourselves as they can be a bit isolated, so it's great to have company for the safety aspect too. Amidst a few falls, waiting for the kids to pick up sticks, and taking little water breaks, us moms are able to squeeze in a little conversation in short bursts. :) Next on our trail list is Forest Falls.

Hike #1


Hike #2

look...the 91 freeway up ahead!!!!!!!

If someone were to ask me what Cam is really into right now, I would say the weather and maps/directions. Each morning he races to his phone (an old iPhone that we don't pay for service to, but that picks up our house's wireless) and looks at the weather. He talks about all the temperatures in various cities that we know (grandparents' town, Palm Springs, etc.). Here he is studying his phone. Quite a lot of commotion around here when rain (he does NOT like the rain) is in the forecast, like today. :)



Secondly and even more so than the weather is his interest in directions, freeways, streets, how long it will take to get to our destinations, etc. Our car rides pretty much consist of him announcing when he sees exits he is familiar with, asking us what street we are on, excitedly telling Kendall that, "We are now on the 215 freeway!!!". :) It is quite funny to listen to. Without expanding too much on this, I will say that it can get a little hard/sad for me to talk about directions ALL the time (literally it can be the entire ride). I do secretly long for conversations with him about a more variety of things. But he is our wonderful little man, whose interests probably won't ever follow most kids...and that's okay. :)

*Had a great hike with my mom on Saturday morning. It was a new one we had never been to so we all really enjoyed it. Poor Kendall is still having poop/tummy trouble so Chris and I had to alternate carrying her most of the way, but she still had fun.



*Here we are making Chris' favorite cookie of all time for Sunday's Super Bowl party (sidenote: I use store bought German Chocolate frosting inside the cookies and it makes them much less labor intensive).



*Saturday night we met Chris' brother and his family for dinner. The kids enjoyed seeing their cousins and did remarkably well at the restaurant despite our food taking an abnormally long time. :)

*Kendall wasn't back to normal by party time so my parents watched her while Chris, Cameron and I made the trek out to OC. We had a nice time seeing friends from college we hadn't seen in a couple years. Cam did great as they had a large playroom where he disappeared to as soon as we arrived.

*The M&M's and I did battle at the party. I've decided the perfect combo is one peanut and one plain eaten at the same time. One peanut alone does not have enough chocolate to counteract the peanut....therefore a plain one is necessary. :)

*If all goes well, the four of us will be heading to Vegas over Cam's spring break. We found rooms for $28 a night. I'm SUPER excited for this as there are SOOO many things the kids will love (Bellagio fountains, Mirage volcanoes, talking statues at Caesar's, etc.). Sleeping will be rough as we have never slept in the same room as both kids, but as long as we know going in we won't get much sleep, I think we can handle it.

*In my quest to expand Cam's nut butter consumption I tried Sunflower Seed butter. As long as I mix it with a little peanut butter, he's good. It has more fiber than peanut butter and I actually LOVE it!! I like it much better than almond butter.

recipe update

Earlier this week I shared a few recipes I wanted to try. I tried two, with good success. :)

The first were the Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Cookies. I will say that to call them cookies, I think, is a little misleading. I LOVE desserts and am not very liberal in what I label a dessert (for instance, fruit is NOT and never will be one). So these are more peanut butter patties. They are VERY tasty, seem to pretty addicting, plus healthy which is great. But cookies? Nope. I think they'll be great little additions to Cam's lunch box. Check out how easy they are...

1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup plus 3 tbls. raisins
2 tbls. peanuts (I used sunflower seeds)
1/8 tsp. vanilla

Combine using a food processor and form into patties!



Mini Chicken Pot Pies were last night's dinner. I halved the butter (and upped the chicken stock to make up for it) but they still came out really creamy. They were VERY yummy. However both Chris and I felt like they needed a little more texture/crunch. I think next time I might omit the crust all together and top with a few French's French Fried Onions.

30-day shred...30 days in...

So I posted a while back that exercising was one of my goals for this year. Well I'm done with my initial goal, which was to complete Jillian Michael's 30-day Shred DVD (meaning doing it for 30 days n a row). I'm obviously going to keep it up, but not EVERY single day like I have been doing. :) So far...

What I like:
*$8 for the DVD and $20 total for the weights. Not too bad as opposed to a gym membership.
*I LOVE that I can do it in 25 minutes. Granted it's intense, but I like being done, showered, and dressed all by the time the kids get up each morning.
*I like not having to look presentable since I'm doing it at home. You should see the ratty clothes I work out in! :)
*My mom asked if I feel stronger and my initial response was no. I really can't tell a difference in my daily life. But it is neat to see how far I've come with the DVD, meaning exercises I couldn't do at the beginning which I now have no problem doing.
*I can tell a difference in how my clothes fit.
*The feeling of accomplishment I have after each workout.
*Weight maintenance aside, I feel good knowing I'm doing something that is good for my heart, bones, muscles, etc.

What I don't like:
*Getting up at 5:15 is rough sometimes when I'm all cozy in my bed.
*The feeling of wanting to die during the workout. :)
*I had about 5 pounds to lose from the Christmas eating days and only lost 3. But I imagine I gained muscle instead?? Not sure.
*Sometimes I think I will get tired of working out by myself. There is something more fun/motivating in doing it around other people.

So overall I'm glad I did it and would like to continue maybe 3 days a week as opposed to 7 :)