Moving, Baby, Deployment

We found out we're moving to Mississippi in a couple months. Then we'll be receiving a new special bundle of joy in February! That's right, we're PREGNANT. 17 weeks to be exact. We don't know what we're having yet and might keep it a surprise. ;) After we have baby #3 we will sadly have to say goodbye to daddy in March as he deploys to Japan for 9 months. We are sad to see him go but very excited it is to Japan and not Afghanistan! We love the military and believe in supporting our troops in defending and building up our country. ;) We know the Lord will take care of us as we begin these big new adventures over the next year. Wish us luck!

The BEST Recipes

My friend Shayna gave me the BEST BEST BEST recipe for pizza dough (or rolls). I've tried a lot out over the past year since we have homemade pizza almost every Friday night. THIS one is by far the BEST! It swells up so thick even though it only is allowed 15 min to rise. AND it tastes so incredibly good. Matt loved it as well and voted it the best too. So there you have it.

Pizza Dough (2: Lg. pizza crusts) or Rolls

1 1/2 Cups pretty warm water 2 eggs
1 1/2 Tbsp. dry active yeast 1/2 Tbsp salt
1/4 Cup white sugar (1/2 cup if rolls) 5 Cups flour
1/4 Cup olive oil (1/2 cup if rolls)

Stir: water and yeast. Let sit for 5 min. Add sugar and oil. Add eggs. Add 2 cups flour. Add salt (and basil, oregano, and garlic salt if wanted). Add rest of flour. Might need more or less flour depending on texture. Should not really be sticky. Knead for 5 min. Let rest for 15 min.

After knead then it differs for rolls and dough:

Dough: Let rest for 15 min with towel covering. Separate into 2 equal parts. Roll out and top.
Cook at 350 degrees for 15-20 min.

Rolls: After kneading roll out into 2 " balls and set on cooking sheet, cover for 45-50 min. Can make croussant (sp?) rolls by rolling out into pizza shape and cutting with pizza roller into triangles. Roll largest side into point.
Cook at 375 degrees for 12-15 min.

Another EXTREMELY GOOD recipe I have found lately is one for Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins. They are TO DIE FOR! I was skeptical about using the whole wheat but that's all I had yesterday and I'm so glad for it. Try these! Seriously.

"Healthified" Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins

85% less sat fat • 66% less fat • 38% fewer calories than the original recipe. More banana for natural sweetness and whole wheat flour makes muffins better than ever!

Prep Time: 15 min
Total Time: 40 min
Makes: 12 muffins

15 Ratings
3 Reviews

Muffins
1 2/3	cups Gold Medal® whole wheat flour
2/3	cup sugar
1	teaspoon baking powder
1/2	teaspoon baking soda
1/2	teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4	teaspoon salt
1	cup mashed very ripe bananas (2 to 3 medium)
3	egg whites
1/4	cup canola oil
1/4	cup fat-free (skim) milk
1	teaspoon vanilla
1/3	cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
Topping
1	tablespoon sugar
1/8	teaspoon ground cinnamon

1.	Heat oven to 375°F. Spray bottoms only of 12 regular-size muffin cups with cooking spray, or line with paper baking cups.
2.	In large bowl, mix flour, 2/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and salt.
3.	In medium bowl, beat bananas, egg whites, oil, milk and vanilla with fork until smooth. Stir into flour mixture just until flour is moistened. Gently stir in chocolate chips. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.
4.	In small bowl, mix topping ingredients. Sprinkle evenly over batter in cups.
5.	Bake 20 to 24 minutes or until light golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately remove muffins from pan to cooling rack.

Make the Most of This Recipe With Tips From The Betty Crocker^® Kitchens

What is "Healthified"?

We've replaced ingredients with great-tasting alternatives to create better-for-you recipes that are just as yummy as the originals.

Success

One of the secrets to tender muffins is to not overmix the batter. Stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Did You Know?

Bananas that are too ripe for eating are perfect for baking. If you can't use them right away, just freeze. They'll turn dark brown on the outside, but be soft and ready for baking (when thawed) under the peel.

Time-Saver

Wrap cooled muffins individually and freeze. You can grab just one for breakfast on the go.

Nutrition Information:

1 Muffin: Calories 210 (Calories from Fat 60); Total Fat 6g (Saturated Fat 1g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 160mg; Total Carbohydrate 33g (Dietary Fiber 3g, Sugars 18g); Protein 3g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 0%; Vitamin C 0%; Calcium 4%; Iron 6% Exchanges: 1 Starch; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 1 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 2
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Blurb Picture Books Discount Code

My friend told me about a HUGE discount for blurb picture books going on until Aug. 31st, 2010. It's $39.95 off your product total! The discount code is BLOG2010. This information was posted on Leelou Blogs and you can check out the info here. Happy scrapbooking!

Girl's Trip 2010

DISCLOSURE: Documented mostly for my benefit. Contains lots of inside jokes and pointless information. ;)

My good friends, Shayna and her sister Vanna, and I decided we needed to start a new tradition: a GIRL'S TRIP every year! When Vanna and I were 16 and Shayna was 18 we took a week long trip to Utah and Idaho to visit family. It was the BEST trip I can remember in High School. So this time we decided to go to San Francisco. We got a hotel off of priceline and lucked out. It was right smack dab in the middle of downtown San Fran which is sometimes scary. However, our hotel was great. Very nice and we felt special. It was called the Hotel Whitcomb. We got there, checked in and went shopping. We ended our shopping and tried to get some food at the food court in the mall. We took too long to decide what we wanted that all the places ended up closing before we decided. lol. So we went to the food market and took over an hour to try to figure something out there. Oh and figure out what to put on our air popped popcorn later that night in the hotel. We bought some salt but couldn't find butter. We seriously are SO dysfunctional that we took an hour trying to figure it out. We still couldn't find a solution and we still hadn't had dinner and it was 8:30pm.

We began to walk to the hotel in the dark. Shayna was on the phone trying to find a pizza place that would deliver. Vanna and I saw a pizza place just a block off the main street and started walking to it. Seriously, like 20 feet in we realized we had made a huge mistake. It was like we entered a different world. Scary, dirty, swearing, smoking, drug doing, drunk people were EVERYWHERE! Shay was distracted on the phone until she realized where we were and then said in a very loud voice "I'm about to be mugged!" Of course she did it right when a scary guy was walking right past us! AHHHH. So we quickly did an about face and booked it to our hotel. We saw a Burger King right across our hotel and had to get those chocolate pies they sell (we got one almost everyday while in high school). When we crossed the street we realized it was also a little scarier with questionable people all around the outside. Shayna saw a picture on the outside of the store and started walking around the wall. Vanna quickly stated, "I like to be inside, Shay". haha. She was trying to be discreet and that's why she stated it that way. lol. Inside a bum tried to get money from us. *Sigh

We got back to the hotel safe and sound and laughed at our stupidity. Shortly after getting there Shayna comes out of the bathroom and says, "I don't want to alarm anyone, but I just dropped $40 in the toilet!" HAHA. She ended up washing the bills with soap and then stuck them in our AC unit until they dried. lol. We ate pizza and watched 2 hours of "Pride and Prejudice". We watched it for the first time on our teenage trip, so its tradition from now on. ;) The next morning we had breakfast in the fancy hotel restaurant. I think we all got yummy french toast and fruit. It was delicious. We then got trolley passes and hopped the trolley to the Ghiradelli chocolate factory where we got the famous chocolate sodas. Can you say YUMMY?! It was cool to see all the original machinery and read how they made the chocolate. We then walked along Fisherman's Wharf and went to Pier 39 to catch a bay cruise. However, we got there last minute for our cruise and due to our dysfunctional-ism we missed. Although, we blame it on the weird guy taking the money....Anyways, we caught the shorter cruise for later. Glad we did cause it was plenty. They waves were ridiculous for the first part of the cruise out to the Golden Gate bridge. Alcatraz was cool to hear about. Very fun ride.

We packed up and checked out of the hotel after the bay cruise. Drove partway home and stopped in a Target parking lot to finish our last 3 hours of "Pride and Prejudice" on the car dvd player. HaHa. It was so fun! I'm glad we went. Love you girls!!! Oh and thank you Gwynn and mom and dad for watching the kids while I was gone! Even while they were still sick. You are the BEST! ;)'

2010 Girl Trip Quote Book:

Shayna: "I'm about to get mugged!"
Vanna: "I like to be inside Shay."
Nicole: "Where's my water?!"
Shay: "I don't want to alarm anyone, bu I just dropped $40 in the toilet!"
Vanna: "Here's a cute picture of THEM on the cable car"
Vanna: "Oh yeah, that does make sense"

It was SO windy on the bay cruise...but don't we look HOTT?! ;)

YeaH baby, our awesome trolley ride. Vanna and Shay loved hanging out the sides and coming within inches of cars passing by. Carazay!

We ate breakfast at the fancy hotel restaurant. YUMM!

The curtains and wallpaper made us feel all uppity uppity. lol.

You think I could take a picture of the hotel room BEFORE we made a mess....

Shay dropped her $40 in the toilet.

Washing it

And then drying it. haha

Shayna, Vanna, and moi

View of San Francisco from the cruise.

Vanna, Shay, & the Golden Gate bridge

Vanna, me & Golden Gate bridge

Alcatraz

California Trip Part 2

After all the previous fun mentioned, Matt went home and the kids and I went and spent some time with my family. However, it didn't begin as I would have hoped. The day before Matt left Lydia got a 103 degree fever. It stayed for 3 days and then she got a horrible rash on the inside of her arms and backs of her legs. We didn't know what it was. I took her to an urgent care. They said it could be strep throat since she had some spots on the back of her throat, which I guess can be accompanied with a rash. They tested for that and we waited. Negative. Could be chicken pox. Tested for that but the results wouldn't come back for 5 days. Went home and took care of her as best as possible. One night she screamed in pain for 4 hours! It was awful! Poor thing. After like 6 or 7 days of this she got sores on her tongue, around her mouth, and huge blisters all over her feet. So I believe she really had hand foot and mouth disease. Then why did she have sores on the insides of her arms and legs you might ask. I think its because she has bad, itchy eczema on the inside of her arms and behind her knees. She always has her hands in her mouth and then itches her eczema. Voila! Hand foot and mouth disease sores in places they wouldn't normally be. Anyways, it took a long time for the sores to go away but they finally did.

A little less than a week after Lydia had her health fiasco, Lukas decided he couldn't be left out. We went to a wedding reception for one of my friends on Sat night. It was outside in high grassy fields. Luke got 2 bug bites on the back of one leg. Within a day one had just swollen and got hard and VERY painful. He couldn't sleep. He kept waking up crying every hour. By Monday night he was acting strange and it had gotten a red dot in the middle of it. I took him to the urgent care. Diagnosis: Staph infection. Got antibiotics and antibiotic cream. Worked magic within a day. Thank goodness. Its funny how this stuff happens AFTER Matt goes home and leaves me alone to deal with it. lol. Luckily, I had lots of family support and the kids are nice and healthy now.

My youngest brother Josh graduated High School one of the last days we were there. I was very impressed with him. He's the youngest of us kids and I've always thought of him as being a little kid. He bore his testimony at seminary graduation and he was just SO grown up! He has the heart of a bear and wouldn't hurt a fly. He was always offering to help with the kids and always very concerned about how everyone felt. I'm VERY proud of him and wish him luck in life!

We had lots of fun playing with family for almost a month. It was so nice. Thank you parents for everything! Love you!

Lukas rocking out.

Is this face HILARIOUS or what?! I wish it were in focus...

My bro Gilbert has always had a special bond with Lukas. Why am I not surprised that he now does with Lydia? If Lydia was crying or upset all I had to do was send Gil to fix it. And it got fixed instantly. lol.

Luke's spider bites that led to a staph infection :(

And Lydia's HORRID hand foot and mouth disease that got in places it shouldn't have! Darn eczema! Oh and this was a couple days after the worst of it was over.....ugh..