Sweet week

Last week I made dessert four out of seven days. That is over 50%, that is terrible. It started off with peanut butter cookies for Bob. Then monkey bread for me. Then praline muffins for the elders quorum. Then a gooey cake for the Pages. All were very good. Two were new recipes, the last two, and I am going to share one with you tonight.

St Louis gooey butter cake

Yellow cake mix
4 eggs
1 stick butter, melted
1 lb powdered sugar
8 oz cream cheese
1 T orange zest
2 t vanilla

Last two are optional, I used both and it was fabulous

Mix cake mix, 2 eggs, butter and spread in 9x13 in pan.
Mix 2 eggs, sugar, cheese, zest, and vanilla until smooth and pour over the top. Bake 350 for 30-35 minutes, until center is set. It took 35 for my oven. Serve when cooled.

It was so yummy. Way better than regular cake, but that isn't hard to beat since I am not a cake eater. You really must try it. It is pretty easy too, it hardly takes much more time than a regular cake. I have to give the credit to my mom, she pulled it out of the paper years ago. I snagged it from her table and I haven't made it until now. What a disappointment, I could have been eating this for years.

We love Asian

Tonight I made asian food. You know, the real authintic kind. I made a salad with napa cabbage, spring rolls with two kinds of bean sprouts, and dumplings. I took the kidos to the store to get the dumplings, which at that time I called them pot stickers. So I had them each carry a bag in the store and we were on our way out and almost in the car when Kit asked where her stickers were. I told her I did not know what she was talking about and to get in the car because it was raining. Then Sinclaire started in on the stickers and wondering where they were. I thought they had gone crazy. We didn't have stickers and we weren't getting any at the Asian Mart. So finally after an almost break down about stickers I figured it out. They were wondering where their stickers were when I had just gotten 4 bags of them in the store. I guess we will start calling them dumplings from now on instead of pot stickers. Sam called them wontons, so maybe we could just call them what ever we want because we all think they have a different name anyway.

I love treats and my kidos

We made monkey bread for treats tonight and when I turned them upside down on a plate Sinclaire's eyes got really big and she said, "Oooooooooooooo, that is sooooooo big." To be a kid again and to get excited about treats. I mean I still get excited about the treats, but in the back of my mind I hear a tiny little voice saying, "Fatty, fatty, fat, fat." Does anyone else hear that voice, or is it just me?

I did something new today. I hired a babysitter. I know, I know I have three little kids and my oldest is four and a half. You are probably saying it is about time. So I will report on how it goes, I am sure it will be great. The girls will love it because they will pretty much get to do what ever they want. And they wont have to beg someone to play with them. And I don't have to put them to bed. I get all this for just a small fee. I am not sure what the fee is yet, do you have any suggestions? What is the going rate for a babysitter these days?

Breakfast

I must confess. I gave my daughter chips for breakfast. Yes, the greasy, fried kind.

The return

After a bit of a break I am back to the everyday grind of things. I finally got the Internet and the floor is done! When the other computer is set up I can put some pictures on here and get back into the swing of things. We have all been sick for what seems like months. I think it has only been 2 weeks, but it seems like forever.
We had a great Christmas. Sam was off for 10 days and it was so fun to have him with us. We went to grandma's house a lot and played games, games, and more games. The girls love being at grandmas. We also got to see Oma and everyone else. We played games there too. Maybe we should get a new hobby it seems that is all we did. We did do a puzzle that had 3 colors; blue, orange, and white. It wasn't too bad. I really like puzzles, but with 3 little kiddos it is hard to do them. I did however find a miniature 1000 piece puzzle that is only about12x18 inches. It is great, we can just put it on the shelf when we are done.

Way too much stress

Ever had that time in your life when you thought things couldn't get any worse? I think that is this time. But hopefully it will soon be over, because as I write he is sanding. And then tomorrow night he will be staining. And then Saturday he will be sealing it. Oh I just can't wait. I am not sure I can handle anything else right now. So we get to stay at grandmas and help her decorate for Christmas the next few days and then we are going to see my mom. Yesterday we went to the children's museum. We had a great time. Not very many people were there and the girls just sort of walked around and played with the food mostly. Unfortunately they would not go down the slide. I wanted to really bad, but no go. Maybe next time.

Oh yes, tiny got a tooth.

This stupid floor.

Ok, Sam unloaded all my pictures onto the computer.......and then he erased them all. I was so sad. Now I don't even have anything to show for the last four months that I haven't been on here very much. Oh well, what can I do. We sanded the floor and then we stained it, and then we realized that we did a cruddy sand job, so we have a guy coming tomorrow to fix our problem. Then maybe we can stain again and it will look beautiful. Who knows. I just want it to be over. This is the point where everyday I want to say to Sam, "I told you we should have gotten pre-finished wood." What a pain.