cinnamon rolls

I might have posted this recipe before, but I've tweaked it again to make them even healthier.  The kids love them!!  I will say they are very heavy/dense.  So if your family is used to light and fluffy cinnamon rolls, it might take some getting used to. :)  But they are just so darn quick to make since they don't have yeast and you don't have to prep them the night before.

Quick and Healthy Cinnamon rolls (makes 8)

2 tbls. butter
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup milk
2 tbls. flaxseed
applesauce
brown sugar
cinnamon

Combine first 6 ingredients.  Mix with your hands and roll out onto a floured surface.  Spread a thin layer of applesauce.  Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon (I'll admit I do a hefty amount of sugar).  Roll up.  Cut into rolls and bake at 350 for approximately 15 minutes.

*We went to a friend's house for a playdate the other day.  She had baby chicks which were quite cute. :)

*A few months ago Cam requested a "momma/Cameron weekend", which we had done a couple years ago.  So this weekend Chris will take Kendall up to his parents and leave Cam and I behind.  I'm so excited to spend the weekend with just him.  I have some fun things planned.

*I LOVE meatloaf.  I used to order the meatloaf sandwich at Claim Jumpers and was sad when they took it off the menu. Tonight I tried this recipe I saw on a cooking show over the weekend.  It was good, but the sauce is what made it great (basically just add brown sugar to ketchup)!

*Yesterday I took the kids to the 99 cent store so Cam could pick out something with his toothfairy money.  He chose water balloons and they have been a big hit. I knew they would quickly go through the small stockpile I made (those little knots do a number on your fingers!).  So I turned it into a just a water activity time and Kendall was in heaven.  Cam isn't the biggest fan of getting wet, so he just farted around. :)

*Chris and I rented "Man on a Ledge" tonight.  Hope it's good!!

running

Chris and I have talked about doing a 5K sometime together.  We always talk about how nice it would be to work out together, but that is just hard with kids.

I've trained for two marathons in my life.  "Trained" is the operative word. :)  I never made it past 10 miles and gave up the training.  While I'm not thinking I want to tackle long runs again, I will definitely keep this up because I LOVED running this morning.  It's so nice to be outside in the morning when the roads are empty and it's just me and my music. :)  And while I think my normal workout (which I've grown to love) is a better workout overall, I'll enjoy switching it up with running.  It will also put me in a little better "runner's shape" for when Chris and I want to to do an official run. :)

Sorry the pic is a little blurry.  I love using Chris' tiny little iPod.  I remember the days when I would actually run holding a Discman!!! :)

palm springs

We escaped the cool weather to Palm Springs today.  We mixed up our normal routine a bit and hit the street fair.  I was hoping to find some knock off Crocs for the kids, but no luck.  We left with two frozen lemonades and two tiny bobble head animal toys for the kids.

Afterward we went to the park for a while.  The kids were VERY excited to find some turtles in the little pond.

After playing we hit up Costco on the way home for lunch and...

*Frozen veggies
*Eggs
*Peanut Butter
*Granola Bars (for Chris, since he's not a big fan of the ones I make for the kids)
*Meat

The kids didn't have much of an appetite for dinner as there were tons of samples today.   Favorites?

Me:  Pound cake with whipped cream
Chris: Guy Fieri seasoned chicken
Kids:  Healthy Choice Chocolate Ice Cream Bars

Fun day :)

food stuff

*I LOVE egg salad sandwiches (feel free to gag now, Susan).  I remember I used to get them daily for lunch in college on really soft squaw bread.  Mmmm...  It's very expensive to buy in the deli so I rarely eat it.  I make my own every now and then and always wonder why I don't do it more often.  Today's lunch included an egg salad wrap. Very yummy.

*I made some goodies for Cam's speech teachers for their last session.  I made these sugar cookie bars but instead topped them with Biscoff frosting from this recipe.  I can't believe they are so good, yet aren't chocolate. :)

*Tonight's dinner is Poor Man's Stroganoff.  We used to have this a lot growing up and I have not had it in ages.

Quote of the day:

This morning on our walk we saw a snail slurping across the street.  The kids were excited.  They were even more excited when I suggested we take him home and put him on our sidewalk so we could keep an eye on him (I was given strict instructions before Cam left for school to make sure he was kept safe).  Kendall commented:

"When I was a little girl, I touched a snail.  I touched the sticky part and I was all snail'd." :)

no more speech

Today was a bittersweet day for us.  It was Cam's last day of both his speech class through the school district as well as his sessions at the University of Redlands.  Next year he'll receive speech at school, eliminating the need for me to take him to a separate location.  We also have decided not to do his sessions again at the university.  On one hand both have been wonderful and fun experiences for him, but I must admit it will be very nice to not have something three times a week to add to our schedule.

This morning he participated in a cute performance in his district class.  This afternoon Kendall was invited to take part in his last session at the university, which was a joint one with other children and filled with water activiies.  They both had a great time!

Here they are before the water works began.  We were singing the "hello song" to each child. :)

Cameron has to warm up to the idea of getting wet.  Kendall likes to dive right in. 

 It's been a good year here. :)

staycation

This weekend Chris and I had a mini vacation here at home.  My parents had the kids from Saturday-Monday.  On Saturday our friends Jeremy and Ana drove out to hang out and spend the night (w/o kids as well).  The guys golfed, we got pedicures, watched a movie (The Vow...we both enjoyed), went out to dinner, etc.  It was so fun to have them here. :)

One of our goals for the weekend was to get Kendall's bed up.  I think my wall decor turned out nicely and Kendall has been over the moon about her bed.  In fact, she currently has been down for her "nap" (meaning singing, talking, and climbing around) for about an hour.  I'm sure bedtime will be much of the same. :)

Another goal was to paint a small portion of our kitchen wall.  We had a leak problem and the dry wall had to be torn out.  Well, after realizing we used the wrong paint color, we ended up having to paint the entire wall again.  Not really what we had in mind for our vacation, but at least it's done. :)

The kids had a GREAT time with my parents.  One highlight was going on a neighborhood scavenger hunt where they would go door to door asking for different objects (rubberband, pen, etc.).  One of their neighbors gave them each a dollar.  Later my dad took them to the 99 cent store and let them each pick out something fun.

We are sooo thankful to my parents for taking the kids and giving us such a nice weekend.  Thank you!! :)

*I'm sure most people are creatures of habit with their meals, especially breakfast.  When I stumble upon something I like, I tend to have it EVERY day.  I mentioned before that I've been mixing yogurt with Cheerios.  I've recently starting adding a handful of raw oats to the concoction and it is soooo good!  You can really tastes the oat'y flavor.  Yum!

*A few days ago Cam started asking all sorts of questions about heaven and God.  Here are a couple cute ones:
Cam:  Is heaven as high as the buildings in Las Vegas?
Me:  Umm...much, much higher.
Cam:  Why don't we learn about God in school?
Me:  Well, schools are run by the state of California and since many people don't believe in God, they don't want others to learn about him either.
Cam:  Yes, that's true.  That's why we just learn about insects.
Me:  Umm...well, I think you learn a little more than about insects. :)

*Last night we had Cam's last T-ball game and party afterward.  The kids had a blast.  Kendall adores watermelon and this was the first time she ate it like a big girl :)

*Last week Cameron's class had "Moms and Muffins", where all the moms came and they served us muffins, sang a few songs, and did a craft with us.  It was sooo cute and fun for me and Cam loved it as well.

visit up north

We had another very fun weekend at my in-laws. Both kids had a wonderful time and I'll admit it was hard to get back to the reality of no longer having someone else make my meals for me (luckily we were sent home with plenty of leftovers so tonight is pretty much done). Here are a few highlights:

While we didn't do nature hikes this time, they still loved riding their bikes and playing with the dog.   Here we are taking a little break as it was a rather warm weekend. :)

Debbie and Wayne had a few boxes of old picture frames they let me sort through.  I found plenty to use for Kendall's new room and even got to paint them all!!

We don't find too many frogs around our neighborhood, so finding one was a treat.  They named him "Vainey" (I have no idea where that name came from). Here they are trying to lure him out of his hiding spot.

On Mother's Day Chris and his dad took the kids for a while so Debbie and I could relax (soooo nice to sit in their recliner reading the cooking magazines she had bought for me while watching a made for TV movie).  They took the kids to a tourist spot right off the 99 called Bravo Cheese Factory.

It's always fun for the kids to play Wii when we are up there.  I've seen the kids dance to one before and thought it was cute.  I tried it for the first time and felt very uncoordinated having never done it before. I guess my dancing skills have dwindled since my high school days of cheer. :)   But I still gave it a good try...

*I can't believe I wrote about the free patio umbrella my parents got for us a few weeks ago and last night was the first time we used it as a family.  Pathetic, Kelly.  Anyway, unfortunately I picked a night that was pretty windy, but the kids loved it which motivated me to do it again.  We had pulled pork sandwiches with homemade BBQ sauce.  Chris: 9  Kelly: 9 (sidenote:  I added 1/2 cup honey to the sauce as we like more of a sweet sauce).

*We are almost ready to convert Kendall's room into a big girl room.  This morning we went to the thrift store to pick up some frames to paint.  Thanks to Jessica's Pinterest wall, I found this idea.  I just need to figure out how to find the little butterflies or at least something similar.

*We are heading up north this weekend to my in-laws.  The kids are VERY excited.  I think I've convinced Cameron that having a bonfire (which has become a little tradition) probably wouldn't be quite as fun in 90 degree weather. :)

*Got some birthday money I'm going to spend on getting my hair done tonight.  

*Cam went to the dentist last week.  I was SO proud of my little guy who didn't bat an eye despite three separate people prying and peeking into his mouth.  What a champ. :)

*Both kids love their new fish Petey.  They loved watching me clean his bowl this morning.  Here is Kendall the day we brought him home.

                                            

she's 3!!

We celebrated Kendall's birthday today (it's actually Monday). I can't even begin to say how thankful I am for her and how much fun she has brought to our lives. She is the easiest and most happy thing. I couldn't ask for a better little partner to accompany me on school drop offs/pick ups, speech classes, killing time at grocery stores waiting for Cam, etc. I could just watch her all day as most anything she does is too adorable. :)

 Last night we snuck in and filled her room with balloons which were a huge it the next morning.

Next we took the kids for donuts and then to Walmart to pick out Kendall's first pet, a fish she named Petey.

Here she is trying to get the Beta fish to get excited by putting a mirror up to him. :)

Next we met my parents at the park for a picnic lunch.  The weather was perfect. My princess cake didn't turn out completely as I had imagined.  Long story short, I had to make the top of her dress out of paper...but I don't think Kendall minded one bit. :)

It was the perfect birthday and I think our little girl felt very special and loved. :)

p.s. Thanks so much for all your helpful comments about the incident with Cameron.  Boy do I hate having to deal with this type of thing!

Well, I guess I spoke too soon when I said that Kendall's constipation troubles were over.  I started weaning her off the Miralax thinking she didn't need it.  I learned after a few days that she still does need it. :(  Bummer.

Yesterday she sat on the potty twice, with the second time being for 20 minutes.  Unfortunately she had very little to show for it other than a few tense moments of screaming and "Mama!  Cuddle!!"  I guess we'll will conquer this some day...

Usually when I know Kendall is going to get upset, I give Cam a heads up so he can make his escape plan.   Last night he chose to wait it out in the driveway. :)