chickpea blondies

*Last Monday my dad and I took the kids to Mecca. We had done the Ladder Canyon Trail last year with Chris. The kids were excited to show my dad how beautiful it was. :)

 

*This weekend we had our nieces stay with us for a night. The kids were soooo excited for this and they had such a fun time together. Chris took them all to the new Lego movie yesterday afternoon. When they got home they had, "make your own waffles" for dinner. They were able to put as many  toppings as they wanted. They were surprisingly moderate in their amounts! :)

*The past several times I've attempted coffee, be it at a hotel or with my own maker, it gets gunked up and barely any comes out. Ugh.

*I made these last week (used white chocolate chips) for the kids' school snacks. Cam is so-so about them, but Kendall really likes them. I made the mistake of telling Cam they were brownies right off the bat. I should have lead with, "They are healthy"...so his expecations weren't too high. :) I think they taste super yummy, considering what they are made out of!!

Flourless Chocolate Chip Chickpea Blondies

10 questions

1. Would you bungee jump? Never

2. Last time you cried? Hmmm...lately the only time I really cry is either when it's work related (feeling overwhelmed) or when I watch This is Us.

3. What is your favorite kind of cereal? I don't really have a favorite. I will say that Chris' favorite is Cinnamon Toast Crunch and it has made recent appearances crushed up on my Skinny Cow's. :)

4. What is the first thing you notice about a person? Umm...nothing physically. If we have an actual conversation, I notice if they do all the talking or ask questions.

5. Last movie you saw? In its entirety? I honestly don't remember. We ALWAYS break our movies into two nights. The last one we watched was Woman in Gold. Very interesting.

6. Favorite smell? Hmm...might seem weird, but I love the smell of Kendall when I go to wake her up in the morning. She's all sleepy and wonderful. :)

7. Beer or wine? Neither. Blek. Beer smells nasty and wine tastes like Nyquil.

8. Last clothing purchase? I actually bought a shirt from Walgreens the other day. I went to pick up some pictures and I saw a shirt that I really liked.

9. Do you think you are strong? Not in the least. I've really been trying to figure out how to muster motivation to work out again. I sit ALL day long and I know that, "Sitting is the new smoking". When I think about getting up at 5:00 am, like I used to, to do a Jillian DVD, I just know it won't happen. And the LAST thing I want to do after work is anything active. Ugh. Something has got to give. Maybe this summer, with warmer weather and no work, I'll get interested again.

10. Last time you laughed? Not sure, but this always makes me laugh. The kids (especially Kendall) love it when Chris sprays whipped cream into their mouths. He likes to overflow them, which kind of grosses me out...but they love it and we all get a good laugh!

two weeks notice

*Lately I've been watching Two Weeks Notice on Netflix. I forgot how much I like Hugh Grant. His characters have the most witty sense of humor and there are so many great lines. I loved Nottinghill also.

Sidenote: Donald Trump makes a cameo in this movie. Weird!!!

*Kendall eats burritos in the most interesting way. Apparently the inside is the only thing of interest.

*While we were up north last weekend, somehow Cameron finagled his grandparents into buying him a Ukulele. He takes music at school and has taken an interest in owning his own so he can practice more. He probably asked about 50 times where the package was en route. :)

 

*Valentines night included a special dinner of Little Caesar's and a kid requested dessert of a donut. :) Kendall helped me decorate the table.

*A screenshot of some recent texts to Chris. 

1. I was excited to be leaving earlier than I had thought and without bringing home work (sadly this has been rare lately). 

2. A couple weeks ago I stopped by Starbucks on my way to work. They were swamped and I ended up needing to leave before I got my drink. I was hoping they would remember me the following week...and I was happy that they did! 

3. A few more items for the grocery list.

up north

I took a half day on Friday and Chris and I headed over to the kids' school for Cameron's annual IEP. It's always neat to hear from other adults that work with him and get their insight/input on our little guy. 

After the meeting we headed up north for the weekend to visit Chris' parents. We had a really nice weekend.

On Saturday, our good friends, Matt and Jana, came over for a few hours. It was the last time we would see them for a long time as they are moving away. We talked, had a yummy lunch, and the kids had a blast together.

The ditch down the road from their house was a big highlight for the kids. They are now able to ride their bikes there by themselves, which is a big deal. :)

On Sunday I stayed back to work while Chris and his mom took the kids to visit his grandmother. I was able to get a lot done and I must admit, working on reports with a Hallmark movie on in the background isn't too shabby. :) Later that afternoon, his mom treated me to a pedicure, which was soo relaxing.

One of the great things about these trips is the food we come back with. Debbie always sends us with leftovers from the weekend, however she will also frequently make extra food for me to put in our freezer. This time we came back with homemade rolls, homemade pizza, lemon-blueberry bread, and a bunch of random food from the weekend. Quite exciting!

Speaking of food, Debbie made the tastiest cookies. I'm not a huge coconut fan, but these were sooo good!!

Almond Joy Cookies 

 

truffle pie

*Yesterday I dropped Cam off at a church event and headed to Starbucks to work for a couple hours. The Starbucks I went to was really warm inside. I HATE drinking hot drinks when I'm stuffy/warm. I therefore could not finish my drink and brought it home for later. :)

*Cam was experimenting with landscape pictures the other morning. This is pretty much what our mornings are like. Cam and I are always the first ones up. I make breakfast and he usually does something like read his Peanuts book or work on his family tree on the computer.

*Today my parents came over to celebrate my dad's birthday. After lunch, he and Cam went for a long bike ride.

 

 

For the birthday dessert, I made a pie I had made a long time ago. The recipe card read, "Dad gave this a 10!!". I figured that would be a good choice for his birthday today. 

Chocolate Truffle Pie

 

 *Today was also chicken bake day. We barbecued about 30 pounds. It was a lot of work, but it's now so nice to know these are all cut up and bagged in my freezer. :)