How much snow did you get?

All this snow fell yesterday. This is from our driveway... 9" with another storm in the works for today.

Snow Day Cinnamon Rolls

Here's another recipe for you. These are some of the best cinnamon rolls I've had (the rest of the crew loves them as well) AND they are super easy. I stole the recipe from one of my sister-in-law's in Florida, but since she never reads my blog, I can claim it as my own... :)

Super Soft Cinnamon Rolls

2 cups warm water
3 packets yeast (or 2T + 3/4tsp yeast)
1 white cake mix
3 1/2 - 4 cups flour
1 stick melted butter
sugar
cinnamon

Mix warm water and yeast. Let sit for 10-15 minutes. Combine yeast mixture and cake mix. Slowly add flour until dough no longer sticks to sides of bowl. Transfer dough to greased bowl, cover with towel and let rise for 1 hour.

Lightly sprinkle counter top with flour. Roll out dough into large rectangle. Spread melted butter over dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar (I like to use brown sugar). You can add raisins, chocolate chips, cranraisins, etc... if you like. Roll up length wise and cut into rolls. I make mine about 1" thick. Cover with towel and let rise 1 hour.

Heat oven to 350. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly brown on edges.

Don't forget the frosting!!! Here's a good cream cheese frosting recipe if you are partial to all things cream cheese like me:

Beat 8 oz. cold cream cheese (not rock solid, but it means you can use it straight out of the refrigerator) with 5 Tbsp. softened butter and 2 tsp. vanilla until combined. Gradually add 2 c. powdered sugar that has been sifted after measuring. Continue to add more sifted powdered sugar until you reach a consistency and sweetness that fits your taste.

Happy Eating!

Our Karate Kid

#1 has been taking Taekwondo for a few months now. A couple weeks ago he had his first advancement. No longer just a white belt, he is now a "senior" white belt. Apparently it's a big difference... what do I know?? He LOVES taking Taekwondo and enjoys coming home and using his newly mastered moves on Dad - and anyone else within a two room vicinity.

But, let's get real for a minute. Did our kids really ever have a chance? Anyone who knows Bryan knows he's a black belt and supposedly a legend in his day (that's what I hear at least, the stories get better every time). These poor boys have been brainwashed since birth with Kung Fu movies, swords, nunchuks... Daddy/Son playtime looks more like mock karate scenes. Even #3 can throw a punch and grapple with the best of them.

Being the only member of this household who does not have testosterone pumping through their veins, it's hard to relate sometimes (I've mastered the "duck and cover" technique quite well). I just hope I (and my house) live through it.

Thanksgiving Feast and Stuff

Thanks to my sister-in-law, Stephanie for the snazzy picture collages (and the awful pictures of me I might add)...I stole them straight from her blog...that's what you get when you have someone else take all of your pictures for you. :)

Our Thanksgiving was great. We had Bryan's brother Paul and his family over, along with our good friends the Hardmans, and oh yeah, my brother Mike was there too. Lots of rowdy children, plenty of food and tons of fun. What more could you want?

Enjoy the stolen pics!

Back in Business

Check it out!

mariecarmel.blogspot.com

Bryan is working on getting my website up and running again. In the mean time, I have posted every piece of jewelry I have on this new blog.

Prices are SLASHED, quantities are VERY limited.

Take a look. There are quite a few new pieces. If you see something you want, shoot me an email:

[email protected]

Jewelry makes a great Christmas gift. (Hint Hint Hubbies!!)

And The Mom of the Day Award Goes To...

ME!! ME!! and ME!!

I am taking this honor from my friend Sarah to whom it was awarded for making her kids spaghetti for breakfast one morning...read about it here. What did I do to deserve this recognition?

Well, thanks to the lovely time change, instead of my kids getting up at 6:30am they were ALL bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at, you guessed it:

5:30am

I have already been awake for 3.25 hours this morning, served breakfast, cleaned up play dough and laid Roman back down for his "afternoon" nap.

Bring it on.

Happy All Hallows Eve!

2(Link) + A Witch + Karate Guy + 1 Gooey Marshmellow =
Way Too Much Candy and 5 Extra Pounds

The kids had a blast. #1 and #2 both wanted to be Link from the Legend of Zelda. Where do you find a Link costume you ask? You don't find, you make. Yes, I actually made them, 6th grade Home Ec class finally paid off. Good thing the pictures are small, you don't want to look too close.

Between school parties, trunk-or-treats and the actual Halloween night, these kids were loaded! Anyone ever heard of overkill?? We spent Trick-or-Treating time with Bryan's family down in Springville - always fun and fattening... We all finally hit the sack around 10:30pm (VERY late for my kids - who of course still got up at 6:30 Saturday morning, does this ever change??)

Family Pictures

Two sets of family pictures in one year is definitely a record for us - living through two sets is an even bigger achievement! My gracious, extremely talented sister-in-law, Andrea, offered to take some photos of us. We couldn't pass that up! It's a good thing pictures don't have audio attached because even though everyone looks so blissfully happy, there might have been some "#1, put those sticks down, get over here and stand still!" and maybe even a little, "#2 if you even think about touching that dirt, you're gonna be sorry!" and then there was #3 who just blatantly refused to smile in all but one photo. Oh, the joys of boys. :)

New Template

Check out my new template. Made it myself...I'm a genius (as long as Bryan is sitting next to me) - I know.

Here's A Recipe For You

For you carb watchers out there, this recipe is a treat! Now, don't start groaning, these really are yummy (even my kids like them). We prefer these pancakes over the normal ones now. So here goes:

Protein Pancakes
4 eggs
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup slow cooking oats
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
2 packets stevia (or other sweetener)

Put all ingredients in blender and mix until smooth. Cook just like regular pancakes. I've found if you lower the temperature and cover they turn out better.

We like to top with "I Can't Believe it's Not Butter" Spray, sugar-free syrup (regular butter and syrup for the kids) and cut up strawberries. My mouth is watering just writing this! Let me know what you think.

What a Circus!

First, let me tell you the boys' favorite parts:

#1 - "Swinging in the parking garage"


#2 - "Buying my sword"


What were we doing you ask? We went to the CIRCUS! You think they would at least mention the elephants, tigers, motorcycles or mind-dazzling tricks. Oh no! I would have killed to go to the circus as a kid and they had more fun while parking the car!


They really enjoyed the first half, but part of the problem was they had brought their allowance money and I had promised they could buy a toy at the end. Intermission threw them for a loop. Thinking it was over they bolted for the exit only to figure out it was only half time - bummer. But, the show did eventually come to an end and after much deliberation #1 and #2 both settled on the same thing - swords, of course.

The excitement didn't end there though. We strolled through Temple Square were #3 walked right up to the reflection pool, bent down and took a drink (I wasn't fast enough to stop him). Maybe he will live forever now or something. Then on the ride home, Bryan got a flat tire. We had both cars because Bryan works up in Salt Lake and I had brought the kids and met him there. Luckily it wasn't a huge blow, we were close to an off-ramp and were able to drive, very slowly, to a gas station.

What a stud! What a night!

Yes, that's my son

We have a tradition of having ice-cream every Monday for our family night treat. The kids look forward to this every week. Their favorite is this awful "Superman" flavor which they have taken upon themselves to re-name "Rainbow Mario". Well the ice-cream was almost gone and I had let #1 and #2 lick the lid - yes,I know, one of those things we said we'd NEVER let our own kids do. I ran to the restroom really quick and came back to find this:

Not to be left out and seeing the clean, licked lid, #3 went for the mother load - the tub.

I think he looks rather pleased with himself. The other boys thought this was hilarious but I think were rather bummed they hadn't thought of it themselves.

Time to Start Blogging

Okay, so I am getting in gear. Everyone else I know has and actually posts to a blog. I was starting to feel a little left out. Kind of like this big "cellphone texting" thing. I've missed that boat as well. But, not one to be outdone, left behind or forgotten I am officially starting my own personal blog! I figure where better to vent my rantings and ravings that typically go in my journal. I'm much faster at typing, my hands don't get tired after a few sentences and this comes with spell checker! Blog away...

I've been thinking a lot about allergies and allergy medications lately. What is the deal? From spring to fall I am tormented by them, are they supposed to last that long? You know, you make it through another snow filled, stuck-in-the-house-kids-going-nuts winter just to be mowed over by the watery-can't-wear-mascara-for-6-months eyes, runny nose and roof of your mouth uncontrollably itching season. Someone decides to report that the pollen count is high or ragweed has sprouted (does ragweed sprout?) or sagebrush is knocking down your door and WHAM your body goes into fits. A week of having Kleenex stuffed into every crevice of your clothes gets old really fast.

Not a big pill popper, I inevitably start to entertain thoughts of chugging an entire bottle of Zyrtec just to feel some relief. Heading to the medicine cabinet, experiencing the internal conflict of struggling to control my willpower, I reach for last years bottle. Ignoring the expiration date (do these things really expire?) I swallow only one tiny, white pill and wait for the relief to surge through me. A few hours later later I'm feeling pretty good. Practically symptom free with only one Kleenex stuffed into one pocket - just in case.

But, these miracle pills only last for 24 hours. At about 18 hours I'm starting to feel the familiar tingly sensations in my nose and throat. At 20 hours I'm looking at the clock, trying to remember when I took that first pill so I can take another at exactly the 24 hour mark. By 24 hours I'm back to wanting to chug the bottle again.

After a couple weeks of this I start thinking, "Am I becoming addicted to this stuff?" My symptoms become so intensified when these pills start wearing off that I'm wondering if they are starting to actually contribute to my misery. Is this the whole plan? They take away your allergy pains for awhile only to enhance the symptoms at the end so you can hardly stand having to wait to take another pill. What a way to guarantee sales! Thinking I've discovered a new conspiracy theory I decide to quit, cold turkey. No switching to every-other-day or cutting the pills in half, oh no, I'm stronger than that. I'm stopping now...

Wow, talk about detoxing. Three days of shear...well, you know, about took me out. Allergy symptoms so intense that I wanted to scratch my eyes, throat and even lungs out! It took all I had not to succumb to the craving for yet another allergy pill - just one more and then I'll quit. But, what do you know. After the three torturous days my symptoms mysteriously eased up. I am now proud to say that I am operating Zyrtec free and feeling quite stable. Although not completely allergy free, it is livable and worlds better than what I was experiencing when "hooked". So, back to the shelf for my Zyrtec bottle (this one new and not yet expired) where I am sure I will repeat this whole process next spring...