*A random pet peeve of mine is to have a full coat rack.  I HATE having layers of coats on our rack by the front door.  I don't know why because it's not like they are all messy around the room.  I like to only have one coat for each kid.  If there is already one there, I march the one they just wore up to their closet. :)

*So Cameron LOOOOVED the hamburgers we had this week!  I'm sure he didn't figure the reason he liked it so much was that 1/3 of it was mashed black beans!!!  Luckily he didn't inspect the patty before digging in, otherwise it would have been quite obvious what mom pulled. :) And no, I did not try to trick Chris...his was "normal". :)

(sorry it's blurry)

 *Bachelorette tidbits:

 Leslie:  I like her, but I think she is more a "guys' best friend" type of gal and I don't see a ton of sparks between her and Sean.

Ashlee:  Stunningly beautiful!  I'm 50/50 on whether Sean sees something here.

Desiree:  My favorite.  Super cute and down to earth. :)

*I like to have a drama on TV to watch with Chris each week.  We don't have one we both like yet.  We started to watch The Following.  I could NOT stomach it.  Way too dark/bloody for me.  We tried The Americans last night and so far we both really like it. We'll see! :)

latest design

Chris just posted a new girls t-shirt design for Lastraw.  They are super cute and honestly, very comfortable. I live in fitted t-shirts in the summer and these colors are super cute.  And remember, you pick from their list of charities and they'll donate $5 of your purchase price go to whichever one you choose.  

Check them out here :)

 

p.s. I actually equally love this new guy design he made...

success and partial success

Success
I had the yummiest lunch the other day.  My mom was a tad grossed out when I told her but I stand by the fact that it was quite tasty. :)  I topped a baked potato with black beans and a mixture of sour cream and pureed pumpkin.  Wonderful!!

My partial success comes with my attempt at homemade Cheez-it crackers.  So why the attempt?

Store bought Cheez-it ingredients:

Homemade Cheez-it ingredients:

*Cheese

*Flour

*Butter

*Salt

Makes sense I would want to try my own, right?  

Well, first off, I thought my creation was fantastic!!!  I think using sharp cheese was key.  The mistake I made was in telling Cameron (not Kendall, she liked them) that they were homemade "Cheez-it crackers".  I should have just called them some new cute name and then he wouldn't compare them.  They are more biscuit like and less hard, but I think the flavor is awesome.  And despite asking for the "regular ones", he will eat them.  

So my conclusion is that I will continue to make them and at least feed them to him more often than the regular ones.  Maybe he'll eventually learn to LOVE them as much as I do!!  So I would try them, but just call them something different. :)

some good and some bad

BAD:
*Yesterday I let the kids walk with Zoe in front of our house with strict instructions to stay between two houses and not go in the street.  I checked on them every few minutes.  The last time I went out, they were across the street.  Mom was NOT happy...at all.  Kids were not happy due to mom not being happy.

*Later as I was rushing around getting dinner ready because I had to leave, I dropped an entire ceramic bowl of spaghetti sauce on the kitchen floor.  There went dinner.  Mom was NOT happy again.

*The rain we are experiencing makes mom not happy.

*Battles with Kendall daily on what she will wear make mom not happy.  Skirts must "twirl like a princess".  She "must wear a tank top under her dress" (who knows why!).  She only will wear leggings (as opposed to jeans).

GOOD:
*I was trying to convey to Cameron how serious it was that he/Kendall disobeyed and went into the street when I wasn't with them.  I had to chuckle when, after my heartfelt words of how I wouldn't know what to do if something happened to them (I actually had tears in my eyes), he simply replied, "Do I still not get my cookie tonight as consequence?"  Ahhh...oh, well.  I tried. :)

*Let's be honest, breakfast breads are simply desserts with "breakfast" slapped in front.  Muffins have just as much sugar as cupcakes.  Donuts are simply fried cake with frosting!  So with that mindset, I didn't think the girls at my moms' group would mind if, for brunch, I brought Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies.  I don't think they minded as the cookies were all gone by the time we were done.  These little things are incredible! :)

*Cam has been a little more attached to dad recently and so we both felt he needed a "daddy/Cameron afternoon".  So on Tuesday, Chris surprised him and they spent the afternoon at Disneyland.  They had a neat time, just the two of them. :)

*Since Cameron didn't have school yesterday, I decided to take them for a hike.  The weather was amazing and we had such a fun time.  Zoe came along, which upped the "fun level" immensely for Cam. :)

What a view...

*Last night the girls from my moms' group table got together for dinner.  We had such a nice evening.  I have a great table this year and look forward to each time we get together.  Some years tables are a little more work to get conversations going, but this year we always have things to talk about. :)

*Cam HATES beans and so I rarely serve them in their regular state, only hidden in his muffins/waffles.  I'm so glad I finally took the time to learn how to make them myself. They are so easy and I basically saved $3.50 for this amount vs. what they would have cost canned.  Plus I don't get the added salt and whatever else is hidden in those cans. :)

our saturday

Yesterday screamed for a trip to the desert.  With 76 as the temperature, it was a WONDERFUL change.  After our normal trip to the mall and Barns and Noble, we veered from our usual routine and brought along the kids' bikes to the park.  I think we will definitely do this again as they both liked it (Kendall in particular).

Costco followed, as usual, for lunch and samples.  The favorite sample for all of us were these super yummy Skinny Cow Dreamy Clusters.  They are a tad pricey, otherwise we would have bought some since they are so low in calories but incredibly good. :)

We've learned that cart riding is the way to go at Costco, to prevent excessive hyper'ness and running around. :)

They always get to share a churro for the ride home.  Not sure how smart this is considering how incredibly messy they are. :)

Last night for dinner the kids had "hamburger dippers", a.k.a veggie burgers dipped in ketchup.  I simply cut them into strips with a plop of ketchup on the side. :)  They seem to really like them, which is great!  I'd like to not have meat at EVERY single dinner, so this is a nice alternative.

remedy for dense

This morning I made the most delicious cinnamon rolls...and they were healthy!!  I wanted to make them a little more light in texture so I used half whole wheat flour and half oats (ground in the blender). Now, it's not like they were like Cinnabon or anything (they are still more biscuit like than chewy dough), but they were definitely less dense and the oats gave them SUCH a good flavor!!  I think part oats is the way to go from now on!  

Here is Cam the helper.  He liked to spread the applesauce (instead of melted butter) on top before the sugar/cinnamon went on.

Yes, even Chris liked them!  Don't let his face fool you...he had just woken up. :)