Apple Hill.

Every year about this time we take a trip to Apple Hill, so a couple weeks ago we took the short hour drive with some friends. We have been going with the same friends for I think 4 or 5 years now. Apple Hill is a little community in the mountains full of Apple Orchards. There are lots of different things to do and eat. I am not sure exactly how many stops there are along the way. We only go to two. The first stop is always to the big one, High Hill Ranch,  they have a pond, pony rides, hay rides, craft vendors, and lots of sweet treats to eat. And they have the best Apple Fritters. I did a real crappy job of taking pictures. Just got pictures of the boys, no extras....sorry folks.

 The boys and Ryan trying to feed the ducks. I guess they didn't like bread or they were full because they weren't eating.

 Cameron had to wear this hat. It's been awhile since he has worn it and once he put it on we realized its getting a little small.

 Easton getting excited about something.

 Waiting in line to ride the pony. Oh the poor ponies:( They just go in circles all day long.

He wasn't too sure about it at first.  

 Easton's ride got cut a little short and we received a refund. After a couple laps he wanted out but before that he was smiling and laughing, he just can't sit still for longer than a minute. Maybe next year dude.

 YUM......caramel apples.

 So happy to be finally running around like a crazy animal. This was our next stop.  It's a brewery. Of course we come here for the beer but we also pack a picnic. They have lots of room for the kids to run around. This year it was really cold and windy and it even started sprinkling a couple times. Oh and of course I was not able to drink beer this year. It seems I have a pattern going. Every other year I get left out of the beer tasting. I can assure you this will be last year that happens:)

 Cameron having a conversation with Jerry, so serious.

 Easton made a friend.

And a family picture. As you can see it was windy, my hair is all over the place.

The best caramel I have ever tasted......so good. 

The huge box of apples we brought home with us. I will be making some apple pies tomorrow with these. 



Saturday Sweetness + Random.

I made these cookies a couple weeks ago. Of course I got the recipe from Pinterest. I just can't get enough Pinterest or Foodgawker. A pregnant lady like myself {if you missed that post click here} should not be looking at food on Pinterest or Foodgawker, everything looks so good and makes me super hungry.  That's just like watching the Food Network. I love Diners, Drive-in, &  Dives, everything looks amazingly good.

Ok so back to the cookies. This is my new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. By far the best I have ever tried baking. They are SO soft. You will have a hard time not eating them all.

The pictures really do not do justice. These taste just as good when they are a couple days old. In fact I just made some the other day and we only have a like 4 or 5 left.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened 

3/4 cup brown sugar 

1/4 cup granulated sugar 

1 egg 

2 tsp. vanilla extract 

2 cup all purpose flour 

2 tsp. cornstarch 

1 tsp. baking soda 

1/2 tsp. salt 

1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips {I used a bag of the chocolate chunks}

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Cream together butter and sugars until fluffy and light in color. Add egg and vanilla and blend in.

3.  Mix in flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chunks.

4.  Drop dough onto a prepared baking sheet {I just used a regular old tablespoon} Bake for 8-10 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges. The tops will not brown, but do NOT cook longer than ten minutes {When it says do not cook longer than 8-10 minutes DO NOT cook any longer. I had to throw out a few because I had to tend to my crazies and they got a little brown....not good}

5.  Let cool, on the sheet, on a wire rack for five minutes.  Remove from baking sheet and let cool completely

Recipe courtesy of Kelsey @ Apple a Day

Ok time for some Random Notes.

I finally picked up my first couple Christmas presents this last week and a couple more today. Feels good to get a couple things scratched off the list.  We {Ryan and I} usually go shopping on Black Friday and I am sure we will this year too but some of the stores are opening at 10pm on Thanksgiving and Midnight....that is just crazy! I can assure you we will not be out at that time.  

Next Wednesday is Pie Day. It's a tradition my Best Friend's Mother started a few years ago.....Click here for the first post about Pie Day. A bunch of us get together the day before Thanksgiving and bake pies for Thanksgiving. Cynthia and her mom usually bake some extra and drop them off at a Loaves and Fishes. And Joe {Cynthia's BF} will be there again this year....YAY Joe, he will be in charge of the crazies so I can get some baking done.  There will be a post about this years Pie Day for sure;) For last years Pie Day click here.

This is what I am tackling today. I have mail and shit piled everywhere. I sit down for a couple minutes and don't know where to start so I just get up and walk away. I also walk away because Easton's little nosey ass is always trying to climb up and touch everything. In fact as I am typing this he is on the chair with me screwing with the damn printer. But today I have to clear it off. We get so much junk mail, more than half of this crap is going straight to shred box.

Ok off to eat, shower, and clean this desk. 

I want to thank everyone for all the well wishes and kind words about Baby Mink #3.....so very sweet of you all.

Oh and go make those cookies, you won't be disappointed!

A Must Read.....Repost from Lora at Fever.

This is such a great post, Repost from Lora at Fever.....you must read it!!!!!!

One of my favorite blogs So Wonderful, So Marvelous posted the link last week on her Facebook page and then reposted the link again today on her blog.

Chicken and Dumpling Soup.

The other night I finally made my Mother-in-law's Chicken and Dumpling Soup. This has been one of my favorites for years and I just now got around to asking her the recipe. I am not sure why I didn't ask her sooner. The last time I had it was after Easton was born, so almost 2 years ago. It's super easy and super yummy.

Chicken and Dumpling Soup

1 whole young chicken
2-4 cans of refrigerated Pillsbury biscuits
3-4 chicken bouillon cubes

First boil the chicken, about an hour. Strain your chicken broth and bring back to a boil. Add some water and chicken bouillon cubes, this just depends how much your making and how much liquid you want. Cut up biscuits, you can cut them into quarters or smaller depending how big you like them. They will expand when cooking. After the chicken has cooled a little started ripping it apart. take off all the chicken. Let the biscuits cook for awhile and then add your chicken and let cook for about 10 minutes or so. Salt and pepper to taste.

This is really simple and easy to make. You cannot really mess it up.

Saturday Surprise!

Say hello to Baby Mink coming in May 2012.

Thankful.

Today I am thankful that Ryan has a job. No job is secure especially in this economy and these trying times.

WTF?!

What's up with my permanent crown falling out? I guess that's what I get for eating a jelly bean. I really hope they just cement back in because I do not have the patience to deal with the dentist. Nothing is usually that easy for me.....we will find out later today.

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At least both the boys' bedrooms stayed cleaned for approximately 3 hours yesterday.

                   

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is going on with the all the Housewives shows?! I seriously can't take it anymore. All those bitches act like they are still in high school. But I have to admit I started watching some of the Atlanta one last night only because there was nothing else on TV and can I just say WTF........Kim is pregnant and the baby daddy is a 25 year old Atlanta Falcon football player....oh LORD.

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is up with this damn weather?! It's freezing. Ok I know all you will just laugh at me but here is northern California it's usually not this chilly here this time of year. I feel like I am live in Iowa again.

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What's up with freaking Easton taking off his diaper ALL the time?! So annoying.

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Why can't my damn kids keep their freaking clothes on?! They will strip down anywhere.

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What's Easton obsession with putting everything in the toilet?! Seriously child!

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Why can't our damn neighbor blow his leaves and shit on his yard then mow it?! Every time 2 of our neighbors do yard work they blow their shit in the street and makes the neighborhood look like crap.

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What's up with Easton spitting out his gosh darn juice/water into toys?! And if it's apple juice it ends up sticky if I don't catch him right away.

Ok folks sorry about all the ranting and raving over here today. Hope everyone has a Happy Monday:)

Here is a little something that is sure to make you laugh. This is what happens when Easton doesn't nap during the day.

Halloween.

Cameron was so excited to trick-or-treat this year. He asked everyday for like a week if it was Halloween yet. This year we let him pick his own costume. He picked Woody, which worked out great because last year he was Buzz so guess who was Buzz this year.........Easton. 
Easton had no idea what was going on. The first house we went to was our little old neighbors across the street and he was putting the candy back into their bucket. He got the hang of it fairly quickly. And Cameron wanted to keep going until his bucket was filled to the top with treats. Of course that didn't happen. We walked around for awhile then headed home. Both Grandma's came with us so it was nice to have some extra hands around.

 And this was the best picture I got of the boys all night:)

 The photographer chopped off the boys' bodies....lol.

 Trick-or-Treat.

 This was right after we got the costume on. He did NOT want it on but once we got outside and walking around he was fine.

And Cameron was being a turd here.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween.

Pumpkin Farm.

Of course every time this year every one take the kiddos to the pumpkin farm. We are very lucky and have an awesome one by us. It's about a 30 minute drive from where we live in a small town called Wheatland. Ryan's dad grew up in this little town. This is the pumpkin farm Ryan went to as a kid. It has so many different things to do, its a great place to take the family for some fun.

Walking out to the pumpkins. They also have a hay ride that takes you further out. We have never done the hay ride but I think next year we will.

The pumpkin picking this year took awhile. The late rain we had was all bad for those poor little pumpkins. It took Ryan awhile to find some good ones.

Easton was a trooper.

For some reason they always have to take off their shirts. At one point they both had their shirts off. They will take their clothes off anywhere.....crazy kids!

In his defense it was a warm afternoon. I even broke a sweat.

 

The boys and I took a train ride. Ryan sat this one out and took some pictures.

They loved this little jailhouse. I wish we had one of these at home....hehehehe.

Playtime on the jumbo tires.

They have this little marble mining mountain where the kids can pan for marbles. Easton kept throwing them back in, it was so funny. They have a couple slides on top of the mountain that the kids just loved.

Easton did so good. He went down all by himself. And neither of them wanted to leave.

And then we made our way to the animals. They have pigs, chickens, goats, a donkey, and a llama. The little petting zoo they have with the goats is always fun. Of course these goats are like freaking vulchers. The minute you walk through the gate with your little cone filled with food they attack you. Cameron didn't stand a chance with his cone. Ryan went back and got another one and let Easton try and of course he loved it. 

And of course we made our way back to this little trampoline hay thingy. This thing can get pretty wild. Hay being thrown all over the place but its all good, the kids love it.

I am hoping next year we can a picture of the boys together standing still in one place. It is such a hassle trying to get a picture of these damn kids. Every once in awhile they will stand and pose for me but most of the time they are wild and crazy so I just take what I can get.

Potty Training HELL Continues.......

OK.........so Cameron is almost 4 and we are still in potty training hell. It has gotten much better. He wears underwear everyday and goes pee all by himself in the toilet and hasn't had an accident in awhile but it's the other one we are having trouble with....going #2. He does go in the toilet sometimes but most of the time he ends up going in his pants. And when he does it's a huge ordeal and sometimes takes him a couple days. Sometimes it hurts him so bad he is yelling and screaming and won't even try to sit on the toilet. I feel so bad for him, it's so sad. He holds it because it hurts but then when he eventually does go it hurts him even more. Then I think the times that it doesn't hurt he is just scared to go. I don't know what to do anymore. It's so frustrating.

I thought he was going to be so easy at potty training. When he was 2 he started showing interest and peeing in the toilet. I had no idea it was going to be like this. Thanks goodness we finally almost mastered the peeing;) I guess after we master #2 we move onto the night time training. He still wears a pull-up to bed. That should a ton of fun also....oh joy.

Does anyone have any helpful tips on this matter?

Sweet Pinterest Love.

Oh my how I love Pinterest. I cannot get enough. I know this is like the third food post in a row but I have such a sweet tooth right now and I love to bake and make sweet treats. Pinterest is so good for finding some new recipes.

Source: bakersroyale.com via Jessica on Pinterest

These rolo brownie bites look so freaking good. As a kid Rolos were my favorite and I haven't had them in so long. I am going to have to try this real soon.

Source: eatmedelicious.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Snickerdoodle muffins....REALLY?! Something else that is making my mouth water. These look hecka good. I see lots of baking in my future.

Source: None via Jessica on Pinterest

And don't these just look amazing?! I need some cookies now!

Source: None via Jessica on Pinterest

Reese's cheesecake brownies.....OH MY!

Ok I think that's all I can handle sharing today. Who else loves Pinterest for finding new recipes?
I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!!!