Day 365 - Nursery Reveal!

Tonight Quinn installed the curtain pull backs in the babes room, which is the final thing so the room is finally all ready!!! Just in time to be my last blog post for my year of something new - So wonderful and appropriate . . . the perfect transition from this blog to one that is sure to follow and be all about our new adventure as parents and to capture the lives of our sweet baby boys :)







New Years Eve 2010! We are off to Quinn's brothers to ring in the new year! Its sure to be out best yet :) CHEERS!

Day 364 - Town Topic

We have driven by probably a hundred times and many of those times had joked about going . . . and today we made that dream a reality. Lunch from Town Topic in KC - MO, yes please :)

The inside was a tight squeeze, luckily we were planning to order ours togo

The menu was much more extensive than I imagined and we have big plans to head back some day to try the biscuits & gravy, but today we had our hearts & stomachs set on cheese burgers (and because I can, since I am a very pregnant lady, and the sign said
'fresh pies' . . . a slice of blueberry pie too)

All-in-all it was a place worth checking out and the burger was great too


Other than the guy who asked is I was carrying 3 babies (luckily I was able to respond that there were indeed 2 little babes cooking), it was great and actually, I honestly thought that guy was the perfect touch to the experience :)

Day 363 - Yellow Melon

Please help identify this mystery melon . . .

I picked it up at Costco for a something new to try and figured I could do my research later to figure out what exactly it was since at Costco it was only labeled 'Yellow Melon'. Well, once home I found about 4 or 5 possibilities . . . but think it may actually just be called 'Yellow Melon' - clever.

Any who, it is actually a very refreshing tasty fruit. I sliced it into quarters

Removed the seeds

and cut pieces, just like you would do for a cantaloupe or honey dew

It was a great snack and I have to say if you ever run across a Yellow Melon and are unsure of what it really is - give it a try anyway :)

Day 362 - Coconut Water

Last time we were at the grocery store I picked up some coconut water to try it out.

I am not sure if people actually drink this on its own or if it is primarily used for cooking . . . either way today I tried some straight up and it was not bad, not something I will drink on a regular basis, but it actually was refreshing and had a very mild flavor.

Day 361 - A new movie treat, Reeces Whoppers

Quinn and I both had the day off today and decided to take full advantage and get out and go to a movie (we have been told many times this will not happen for quit some time after the boys arrive). We saw The Fighter, but the new thing for the day comes in the form of sugar. Before the show we stopped at Walgreen's for some treats and one of the candies we got were Reece's Whoppers

Quinn picked these out (he loves anything Reece's) but he was nice enough to share with me.

There are so many types and varieties of candy on the shelf today that I bet it's pretty difficult for a new one to 'make it' but these Reeces Whoppers have a good chance :) They are pretty good! and if you like Reeces & Whoppes already - you won't be disappointed.

Day 360 - Christmas with all my family - Lots of nice new things :)

Today really felt like Christmas! - All of my immediate family came to town and everyone being together and making the trip meant so much to me. This was the first time I had my entire family (Mom, Dad, Janelle, Nate, Michelle, Nick and little baby Liam too) to our house all at once. Our house is pretty small so we were all nice and cozy for the celebration and I wouldn't of wanted it any other way

Everyone made it into town around lunch time so we picked up some pizzas and got situated. We had our skype Christmas, on Christmas morning so most of the gift had already been opened, but Quinn and I got to open all our presents which was lots of fun!!

After presents and hanging out a bit we headed to church (also, so nice to have the family all together) and then dinner at Bristol on the Plaza and we wrapped up our day of fun with yogurt from Yogurtini - perfection!

This Christmas season was such a special one with our babies on the way and both Quinn and my families made many special arrangements to accommodate us. We are so very blessed and thankful!

Day 359 - Merry Christmas & Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Our first and only Christmas we will probably ever have where it's just me & Quinn, so I had to do something special - what can be more special than homemade cinnamon rolls!?!

Ingredients: (Makes about 20)

1/2 cup water
2 packages active dry yeast, (105-F To 115-F)
2 tbl spoons sugar
1, 3.5 oz. vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup butter or margarine, (melted)
2 eggs, (large or jumbo)
1 tsp. salt
7-8 cups flour, (8 cups with jumbo eggs)
1/2 cup butter or margarine, (softened)
2 cups brown sugar
4 tsp.cinnamon

Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon milk


Directions:

ROLLS:
In a bowl combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved. Set aside.

In large bowl, take pudding mix and prepare according to package directions

Add margarine, eggs and salt. Mix well

Then add yeast mixture. Blend

Gradually add flour; knead until smooth. Place in a greased bowl

Cover and let rise until doubled.

Punch down dough

and let rise again

(This is the first time I made real, serious dough and was so excited it worked!) *tip: I warmed the oven and ten turned off the heat and placed the bowl & dough there to rise. (about 85 degrees)

Then roll out on floured board to 34 x 21" size (I had to use our kitchen table since normal people don't just have huge boards to roll dough on)

Take 1/2 cup soft margarine and spread over surface

In bowl, mix 2 cups brown sugar and 4 teaspoons cinnamon. Sprinkle over top.

Roll up very tightly. With knife, put a notch every 2". Cut with thread or knife (I used a knife and it worked great)

Place on lightly greased cookie sheet 2" apart.

Take hand and lightly press down on each roll

Cover and let rise until double again

Bake at 350F 15-20 minutes. Remove when they start to turn golden.


Cream Cheese Frosting:
To make frosting, mix all ingredients until smooth and frost warm rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

Merry Christmas to me!!! These are so worth the effort (but be warned - it is a large effort!)

Yummy :)