Frustration

Oh how I love my girls! I do, I do! But this week they've thrown some challenges my way...

Our darling of an angel Laney won't have any part of potty training. I don't want to force the issue because I know when she's ready, she'll be ready. I hear a, "Mommy! I need to go POTTY!" Just as I sprint to get her on the potty, I find that she's already gone in her diaper. Oh well, "It will happen", I keep telling myself. Sigh. I just hope it happens for July, before we head out on our big Fackrell Family cruise. Fingers crossed!

And, this same little angel has decided to cease all napping, unless it's in the car, or at 4 pm when she's so tired she can't take it anymore. Neither is a great scenario.

Now on to our sweetheart of an Addyson. I wouldn't say I'm frustrated with this little one, more sad for her. She's been having nightmares at night, and she is VERY convinced that there are "guys" hiding out in her room. They wait for her to be tucked in at night, then they come out and scare her. Lots more to it, but I'll leave it at that. She seems really tired during the day most days because she stays up late with her vivid imagination.

Also, I've gotten a call two days in a row from Addy's school just after lunch asking me to come pick her up because her tummy hurts. We've been dealing with tummy issues for a while now, so I take her to the Dr. It turns out the Reflux that she suffered from as an infant has come back. Poor kid. Evidently this stuff is pretty painful.

I suppose things could be much worse. I count my blessings everyday that I have some happy and healthy little ladies. Some weeks are just tougher than others!

Yum-O

So when I find something really good, I want to share it(just ask my sisters, and sisters-in-laws).

I read a few recipe blogs to try and find new things to make for the family. I came across these cookies yesterday, they are so, so good! Ask Ryan and he'll tell you the dough is the best part, but I wouldn't listen to him;)

I found the recipe here.

Creamsicle Cookies-

2 1/2 C all purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 C(2 sticks) butter, softened

1/2 C sugar

1/2 C firmly packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp orange zest(I used 1 tbsp and it was good)

2 C white chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture until combined. Stir in orange zest and chips.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Do not flatten cookies; it will make them dry. Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown around edges. Do not overcook! Cookies will be plump. Cool for several minutes on cookie sheet before transferring to rack to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Enjoy!

Easter Festivities

Love, love me some Easter. I mean really, do you not agree that Easter candy is the best of any holiday? I think it is!

The bunny himself brought our girls some fun baskets to wake up to Easter morning, we had some yummy Resurrection bread for breakfast(the recipe will follow in another post), and enjoyed the rest of the day with the Pope and Lopez families.

The kids, all 9 of them, watched Alvin and the Chipmunks, we ate lunch, hunted for eggs, then dyed eggs. My kids are plum worn out tonight. Laney Lou was having way too much fun for a nap so she crashed before 7:00.

Love those days where the kids run and play to where they're so exhausted they can barely eat dinner, it's good for em'! And an early bedtime for them isn't too bad for Mom and Dad either, ha!

Ryan took a ton of pics today, but the ones in this post were my faves...Enjoy the leftover Easter candy, I know we will!

The Best Banana Pudding You'll Lay a Lip To

Yes, I can just hear Pappy Gran, my grandmother, saying this. She was a riot! Had the best sense of humor and could always make me laugh with her dry wit. Mix this humor in with a heavy East TX accent and it's all over. Oh, I miss her so much!

Ok, back to the point at hand. Her best in the world banana pudding. I woke up one morning a few weeks back and starting thinking of the stuff. Waking up and thinking about food? Kind of odd. Normally I think about how I wish I could sleep one more hour, how the laundry is piling up, etc. So, I get on the phone with Mom who says she'll email the recipe for the pudding. Mom says PG gave her the recipe when she got married waaaaaay back in August of 1966. It's an old recipe, which makes it all the more special.

And with out further ado, here's the Banana Pudding recipe, yum-o!

Banana Pudding-

1 cup sugar
1/4 c flour
2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 heaping tsp margarine(I used about 2 tsp of real butter)
1 egg, beaten well
3 bananas
Nilla Wafers
8 ounce tub Cool Whip

Mix sugar and flour together. Add milk, vanilla, margarine and egg to sugar mixture and mix well. Cook over medium-high heat, and stir constantly. When mixture begins to bubble and pudding begins to thicken, it's done.

In a medium sized bowl add Nilla Wafers to the bottom of the bowl, sliced bananas, then the pudding(you don't need to let the pudding cool). Do this twice then spread Cool Whip over the top.

Instant happy family!

Hope you enjoy this as much as I have enjoyed it for almost 35 years, oops, did I just say that? Nevermind....

Fun With Mom's Make Up

As I rushed through cleaning dishes and picking up toys this morning, I don't hear Laney. It's quiet and I don't hear her so that can only mean one thing. Trouble. I go on a hunt to find her. Our bathroom is usually the first place I check, BINGO! She crawled up on the dog's cage, got a hold of my make up bag, and very subtly applied some mascara and eyeliner. Looks lovely, don't you think?

Our First Baby

Our sweet Hammer Johnson turned 10 years old today. Such a sweetheart of a cat. I was never a cat person growing up, only liked dogs. It was only when Ryan adopted Hammer from his sister did I tolerate cats, haha I'm still not a huge cat fan, but I love, love Hammer.

She's a great pet and we've enjoyed every moment with her. I hope we have her for many more years. Happy Birthday Miss Hammer Johnson!

Escape Artist

It finally happened.....

As I was cleaning up the dinner dishes last night I hear a , "Hi Mama!". I see Laney standing next to me in the kitchen and she seemed pretty proud of herself. She figured out how to climb out of her crib, sigh. From start to finish it took over an hour to get her back in the bed, get her to stay there, and fall asleep. Needless to say, I'm one tired Mom today. I was up most of the night wondering if our little escapee was going to roll up on me as I was sleeping.

Next thing on our to-do list; move Laney to a big bed ASAP before she hurts herself!