Saturday Sweetness.

This recipe I posted last year when I first started this blog and thought I would share it again since it's one of our favorites. My Grandma makes this only once a year around the holidays. On New Years Day her and my Grandma have the family over to celebrate the New Year and EAT. My family loves to eat {Italians....what can I say?!}.

My Grandma makes some salads....pasta, potato, and a bean salad. She has meat and cheese trays to make your own little deli roll sandwiches. My Aunt usually makes the lil smokies in the crockpot and of course we have the usually chips and dip. It's a huge feast and everyone always looks forward to it. We just hang out all day eat and watch college football {Grandma is obsessed with college football}.
A few years ago I made this cake for the first time and now I have the recipe so every once in awhile Ryan puts in a request for it. It's really easy and hecka good!

Better Than Sex Cake

Ingredients:

1 box of german chocolate cake mix

14 oz. can Eagle sweetened condensed milk

14 oz. bag Kraft caramels (these are hard to find. This year I used an 11 oz. bag of melting caramels and they worked just fine. Anywhere between 10-14 oz of caramels should work fine)

3/4 cup butter
1 cup walnuts
12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350

I line the cake pan with parchment paper, make it a little easier to get out. Make cake mix according to directions on box and pour half into cake pan.

Let cake cool.

As cake is cooling make caramel sauce.

Pour caramel sauce over cake. 

 Then add walnuts.

Then add chocolate chips. 

Then add the other half of cake batter. As you can tell I misjudged the first half that was poured on the bottom and didn't have enough to cover the top.....oh well it tasted just as good.  And bake for another 20 minutes or so.

 Of course we had to have a piece fresh out of the oven so it was nice and gooey.

 Cut into squares after it has cooled.

YUM!!!!

Directions:

Make cake mix according to directions on box.
Line 9x13 pan with parchment paper. It doesn't have to be perfect. Usually one long piece will work, just makes it easier to remove when all done cooking.
Pour half cake batter into pan and bake at 350.
Melt caramel w/milk and butter.
After cake cools pour caramel mixture on top of cake then add the nuts and chocolate chips then pour remaining cake batter on top, bake for about 20 minutes.

Cut into small or large squares to serve.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Vacation for us starts today probably around 4:00 or so when Ryan gets home from work....WHOOOOHOOOO. I love having him home on vacation. He is always so rested and much happier;) plus this time we are getting away and have lots of other stuff planned for the week as well. We will be busy busy all week long but it's all good.

Oh Pinterest.

I am so in love with Pinterest. Before I had an iPhone I had never gone to their website or really even knew exactly what it was. I had seen other bloggers post about it but never really paid attention until I got an iPhone. Now I am so obsessed with it. I could look at pictures for hours. I just started making some boards and repining pictures. It is such a great idea!

I have seen so many cool ideas for organization, activities to do with the boys, DIY home decor, and lets not forget all the yummy food. I have been obsessing over getting some boots and have seen a ton of different pairs paired up with super cute outfits.

Source: twotwenty-one.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

I love wine corks so much. We save our corks and I just love this idea. I created a board named "Ideas for Wine Corks", I have found a couple other great ideas as well.



One day I wish to have a little craft corner. So this picture is posted on my "Craft Corner Inspiration" board. I love all the pink but doubt I would do it in pink since my little corner will be out in our living space.

Source: madebylova.wordpress.com via Jessica on Pinterest

This little creation I just absolutely LOVE. I so wish I could pull off wearing this. Isn't it so pretty?! I am really thinking about getting one. I just have no idea where I would ever it....date night maybe?

Source: etsy.com via Lauren on Pinterest

This picture is just AWESOME.....I LOVE IT! I am waiting for my BFF's boyfriend to pop the big question. Hopefully it's any freaking day now and when she finally does get married this is what we will be doing.

Source: momentjunkie.com via Sarah on Pinterest



I have "liked" so many pictures and just started to create boards and I am having so much fun. And I love that I can do it from my phone. I wish I could post all the pictures I have liked. Such great ideas. I can't get over how much I love Pinterest!
Anyone else obsessed?!

One Week Away.

One week from today I will be enjoying a nice relaxing day in Mendocino. I will be well rested and ready to enjoy a round of golf, hopefully a massage, a little shopping, a few cocktails and glasses of wine, nice and quiet meals, and most important some QUALITY time with the hubby.

Sunday My husband starts vacation and we are going on a little getaway without the boys. It has been one year exactly since our last getaway to Mendocino. We were there the same week last year {kinda weird how he picked the same week without even knowing it}.


Of course as you can tell this map was provided by Google.  I have never tried inserting a map in a post before, so that's probably why it looks funny. I have no idea what I am doing half the time. I hope I was allowed to use it on my page. Please forgive if not;)

Mendocino is about a 4.5 hour drive from where we live {Sacramento area}. The first hour is all freeway but then after that it goes down to a 2 lane road all the way there. And about 2.5 hours into the trip we start going through redwoods, which is so awesome and beautiful, especially when the sun is shining through.

I am so looking forward to this little trip but I am already thinking of how much I will miss the boys. We will only be gone 2 nights and 3 days but the boys will be going to Grandma's a day early because we made plans with some friends. We are meeting them for breakfast and a day of golf to celebrate our friends birthday. So we will be dropping the boys off bright and early at Grandma's Sunday. We will probably go back over there later that day because that's like 4 full days without seeing them, I have never been away from them that long. It may not seem long to some but it is for me when I am with them ALL the time. And yes I do need a break {a major one} and they do drive me insane most days but that doesn't mean I won't miss their crazy butts.

Here are a few pictures from last year's Mendo trip.

 Playing a little golf {gotta love those pictures you have to take yourself}

 Another self took picture:) The damp foggy weather is NOT good for my hair. It makes for a very bad hair day. Anyone have any hair product recommendations for curly frizzy hair that gets flat ironed?

 This was the view from our hotel room balcony.

This is at an awesome winery, I would have so had my wedding here if we lived anywhere near here.

 A view from the winery.

And another view from the winery. We are hoping to maybe have a little picnic here or at least a little snack;)

Keeping our fingers crossed the sun decides to shine this trip:)
I am so excited. This time I will have my new camera. And I can't wait to take pictures. I am going to have so much fun taking all sorts of pictures. I am so going to look like a tourist walking everywhere with my camera around my neck but I so do not care at all. I think it's so neat to take pictures of random things so you can tell your story through your pictures.

Saturday Sweetness.

I have seen several recipes for Monkey Bread and always wanted to try it. One day I was at the grocery store and saw this recipe on the back of a Pillsbury biscuit package and thought I would give it try. It seemed easy enough and we had all the ingredients already at home.
The night I gave it a try we were having a fairly easy dinner {can't remember what it was but I made the bread as dinner was cooking so it must have been something easy}.

INGREDIENTS

3/4 granulated sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

4 cans(7.5 oz each) Pillsbury refrigerated biscuits

1/2 cup butter or margarine melted

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. GREASE or SPRAY 12-cup bundt cake pan.

2. MIX granulated sugar and Cinnamon in 1 gallon bag. Cut each biscuit into quarters. Shake quarters in bag to coat; place in pan. Mix butter and brown sugar;pour over biscuit pieces

3. BAKE at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Cool  minutes. Turn upside down. SERVE WARM

Don't you just love the 50 year old angel food cake pan?! I used to have a bundt cake pan but it ended up the donation pile a couple years because I just never used {we are limited on cabinet space}. Now just within the last year I have went to go look for it several times forgetting I tossed it. The angel food cake pan is my Grandma's.

And yes folks that is a paper plate, I don't need anymore dirty dishes.

The only part that took awhile was cutting the biscuits into quarters and tossing in the cinnamon and sugar mixture. And this was the night Easton took off his poopy diaper and started playing with it {he was poking a toy screw in it} Anyway so it was bath time right before dinner that night.
It turned out pretty good and even Ryan liked it. We both thought a little icing would have perfect drizzled on the top. So next time I think I am going to make some icing to go with it.

What's your version of Monkey Bread? I would love to try another recipe. 

The Blankets.

When Cameron was born Ryan's co-worker got us a baby gift. It was a HUGE receiving blanket {the best receiving blanket ever} and a soft knitted blue blanket. Both were from Nordstrom's and I have since bought these for gifts for others because I love them so much.



At 4 months old Cameron starting sleeping in his crib and loved to snuggle with his blanket but when he moved him to sleeping in his crib I was a little hesitant to let him sleep with a blanket because of SIDS and everyone {doctors} really frown upon babies sleeping with anything in their crib. I didn't see any other option. He loved that blanket so much, it comforted him and he slept so much better with it. He was a terrible sleeper to begin with so this helped a little.

Thank goodness for video baby monitors. I was constantly checking on him and he was always fine. If he put it over his head I would go in there and pull it off. We never had any problems with him sleeping with it. As a new mom with a new baby you never sleep good anyway, your up a million times a night checking on them to make sure they are still breathing.

I know some of you might think I am a terrible mom and how could I let my baby sleep with a blanket, well I really don't care what anyone thinks. This wasn't just any blanket. It is super soft and knitted,  it's not like a thick fleece blanket with no room for him to breath. It was the only blanket I felt safe letting him sleep with. And he has slept with it everyday since then. He is on his 4th one, thanks goodness Nordstrom's still carries them and I am pretty sure they always will.

Cameron at 6 months playing in his crib with the blankie.

Cameron at about 5 months with his sweet blankie.

So when Easton was making the transition from bassinet to crib {which was much earlier than Cameron because Easton exceeded the weight limit for the bassinet} he started sleeping with the same blanket. I looked and looked for a different one that was kinda similar but couldn't find anything. I wish they had a green one but only have blue, pink, and white {and there was no way in hell I was getting white} so matching blankets for brothers it was.
I put there initials on tag so we could tell them apart at first. But then after awhile we could tell them apart by the different holes each blanket had. And Cameron knew the difference between the two just by the smell. He would pick it up smell it and throw it back down and say "This isn't my blanket". Even after they had been freshly washed and dried he could still tell the difference, it's so funny.

Kicked back in his chair with his blankie eating a morning snack.

A couple weeks ago I had to run to the mall and get Easton a new one because the little hole turned into a ginormous hole and well just wasn't safe for him to sleep with it anymore.

 This one has seen better days.

Can you see the difference?! Look at the color.....can you tell which one is new?!

Easton's giant hole....Cameron made even bigger by pulling on it and trying to "jump rope".

So now they both sleep with their blankies every single night. They love those damn things. It's so crazy how attached they can get to something. Cameron is almost 4 and I don't see him outgrowing the blankie thing for awhile. I am sure he will need a new one before he outgrows it.


{Side note}
Sometimes I hate blogger. I had some other pictures of their "blankets"  uploading but stupid blogger was taking forever and the rest wouldn't upload. And most of those pictures are on our external hard drive. And our computer is on it's last leg and runs slow sometimes when I have too many things open. Whatever blogger!!!! But you get the point. These boys love those darn blankets and take them everywhere.
Does anyone else's kids have a security blanket or stuff animal that they are obsessed with and super attached to?!

Wednesday's Wine.

Oh how I love wine! This is a new {well a new one to me} Cupcake Vineyards wine Ryan picked up at the store one day. I haven't tried the Pinot Noir before and it tasted just as good as all the other Cupcake wines. I love when Ryan comes home from the grocery store and surprises me with a new bottle.

Can you see I am having fun taking pictures with the new camera?!  I think I am going to like taking the pictures more than drinking it {yeah right......I doubt it} but it was fun to play around with the camera.

My Newest Toy.

Well I finally got that new camera I have been dreaming about. I guess Ryan got tired of listening to me talk about it all the time. It's been about 3 weeks now and I am still trying to figure it out. I can already see the difference in the pictures between the big girl and the little point and shoot we have. I did get a book so I can self teach myself how to operate it. I am having lots of fun taking pictures and learning how to work everything, however I still have a ways to go.

Meet Ms. Dorothea {Thanks Beth for helping name her;)} After the famous Dorothea Lange.
This picture was taken with the new phone {iphone} I am so impressed with the pictures it can take....they turn out so good for a phone camera.



Here are some pictures take by Ms. Dorothea.............

They are so crisp and clear.....I LOVE my new camera so much, now if I could only learn how to use it.
If anyone has any tips or websites you could recommend that would be awesome.
Thank you to my WONDERFUL husband { I will try and not ask for anything anytime soon}.

Recipe Binder.

I have had this idea forever but always forgot to look whenever I was at the store. I have had all my recipes in a big Ziploc bag forever. It always took forever to find anything and it was just so messy. So I had this idea to put all my recipes in a binder using page protectors to file them in. I originally wanted to get a 5x7 binder but after actually seeing it I decided the on the bigger one. I figure I will always be adding to it so it's only going to get bigger.

I guess this picture didn't come out very well, but this is the bag of recipes before.

My shiny new binder and page protectors.

The unorganized mess. 



 Now nice and neat.

So pretty all organized.

I have noticed some people are using binders to store their coupons. Maybe I will go back and get the little binder for the coupons. I don't have that many so the little binder would be perfect for that, plus the little binder is so cute.