YUM!

Look what I made today. They are so yummy!! I got the recipe off of another blog when I was stalking the other day. (ya, I stalk blogs, so what?!) If it's not private I'm reading it! Anyway, these cookies are really good so I thought I'd share the recipe. :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat oven to 350

Bake 15-20 min.

Ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup canned pumpkin (or 1 cup of pumpkin puree)

3 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

2 cups chocolate chips

In a mixer, beat butter until smooth. Beat in white & brown sugar, adding a little at a time until mixture is fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla & pumpkin. In a separate bowl, sift flour,baking soda, & spices. Slowly beat flour mixture in pumpkin batter. Stir in chocolate chips.

Scoop on well greased or parchment paper covered cookie sheet . Bake until cookies are brown around edges. (15-20 min.) Let rest 2 min. before removing & place on cooling rack.

We also went to Carlsbad downtown today. We met up with mom, dad, Kristen, & her family. There were lots of activities going on & some merchants were handing out candy. The kids dressed up minus Gavin (could it be he's finally growing up & totally too cool for Halloween?) My guess is a no cause he still wanted the candy. After that we went back to mom's for yummy potato cheese soup & homemade rolls & of course dessert. Has it ever been known to be at mom's house for dinner & not have dessert?! It has been a fun filled day had by all! I'm tired & headed for bed. Night All!!!!

Emma, my little mermaid, & Landon, my monkey.

Update Update Update....

Well you all know I lag & I've probably lost all of my 2 readers but per request of a friend she has asked me to update so here I am & thanks Michelle for kicking my butt in gear :)

So you might wonder what the heck I've been up to lately... I am on the PTA board this year & it's been fun so far. I'm in charge of the assemblies & any after school parties & refilling the teachers soda machine. Not just anyone can have the soda machine job! Oh ya, that's a huge responsibility. That's not what keeps me really busy though.

My kids keep me the busiest. Landon is 15 months & so much fun. It's cute to watch him recognize certain objects, such as, the yellow school bus that he waves to everyday & the trash truck & he loves dogs & throwing balls down the stairs. He tires me out & when he naps I am in heaven cause I can catch my breath for round 2. Emma is doing well in school. I think she could do better if she didn't talk so much but oddly enough in between all that talking she's finishing her work just hope she's understanding it. Gavin is so big. I can't believe my first born is almost as tall as I am. He's totally digging his teacher this year. She's all about Science & he loves it. Next week he's going on a field trip to the GIA (Gemological Institute of America) He'll get an education of diamond grading & learn about gemology research. I am a chaperon so I get to go with. I'm so excited. I love diamonds! Gavin keeps me busy with his homework. Did you all know that 4th grade math is like high school math! UNBELIEVABLE! It's like I'm in 9th grade all over again & it's sad when Gavin says to me "Mom it's ok, you don't need to help me, I understand it, besides it's too hard for you." Yep, I suck at math! I'm glad Andrew is smart enough to understand it.

So, that about wraps it. I don't like blogging cause I feel like I don't have anything worthy to say... I'm not creative as most people I know but it's funny cause after I blog I feel good about it.. Go figure. I'll have to blog & tell you all about the field trip. (I hope they pass out free diamonds) LOL!!! (LOL= laugh out loud) (that's for my mom)

Until next time! ADIOS!!!

I Love Japanese Candy!

My friend Emily rocks! I love you Em & thanks for the treats. Send more candy. It was gone in 2.5 seconds. Gavin says to send a case of it. I love my necklace, purse, & card. Emma has claimed the tooth box for when she loses her first tooth & all the rest to come. I can officially say that I have genuine gifts from Japan. I will treasure them forever. Love you Em. Can't wait to see you again! P.S. Love the magnets too! :) I love surprises & this certainly was a happy, wonderful surprise!

PICTURES!!!

You got to love this face! No way can you resist it!

The birthday girl waiting at the front door for her guests to arrive...

Trying to earn money by rubbing grandpa's back....... CHILD LABOR!!!

Gavin had an awesome year playing baseball. It was so fun to watch him learn & play the sport! GOOOOOOOOO ASTROS!!!!

Landon had a food fight & lost......

Changes.....

I will start this tonight & finish it manana! I am frustrated because I have worked hard on this post for some time now & for some reason it kicked me off. ERASED EVERYTHING!!! So I will quit tonight & return tomorrow.... Night all!!!

Okay so here I am... It's July 1st & I started this some time last week I think. I lag! Whatcha gonna do about it? I'm here now & I will finish this post tonight! So hold on to your hats & glasses boys & girls this might be a wild ride.

As I was saying, changes can be frustrating especially when you have your heart set on one particular thing. I will take this blog background as an example. The other night I started blogging. Got totally excited that the kids were finally asleep & that I actually had energy to stay up to blog. Well, I shortly discovered after I logged in that I can no longer use "Cutest Blog On The Block" backgrounds. I was kinda okay with it but then I realized I had to see the blogger templates. This did not humor me. I tried to work around it & then finally gave up & settled on this background. Thanks Em & Jenny for liking it so much cause I wasn't so sure I did. It's hard to be used to something for so long & then have it taken away from you. I love "Cutest Blog On The Block" & if ANYONE knows how I can incorporate it back in my blog I would truly honor you! I'll send you a treat or something.

Most changes in life are very hard to adapt to. This blog background is nothing! I'm used to it already but it took time to get used to it. I just hope they add more options for backgrounds & templates. I must admit that I am a little sad that I can't control & manipulate my blog as I used to, but I'll live.

Okay kids I am outie! I am going to post pics of my darling children now. Gute Nacht. Farewell. Adios. See ya!!!! (sorry it's not interesting but my brain fell asleep like an hour ago so I must go & I need to be a better blogger person)

The Sky Is Falling (& other weird news)

I'm not Chicken Little but I am pretty certain that the sky is falling..... or something like that. Over the last week we have had earthquakes & aftershocks & for all those that are wondering, we have survived them all thus far. No damage on our end but I'm embracing for the worse. Good thing we are prepared food, & water wise oh & shelter too if we should have to leave our cute little home. I shall keep you all posted if the sky falls on me or rather my home....

Moving onto other news. Gavin celebrated his 10th birthday on the 8th. I can't believe he's in the double digits now. He went ice skating with 2 of his friends from the neighborhood & then had pizza, cake & ice cream at my mom's house. He begged to sleep downstairs & that topped off his birthday. Emma keeps talking about hers which is 2 months away. Emma's birthday is sounding very expensive. Does she think money grows on trees & has she forgotten that she's sharing that day with her little brother? Speaking of trees, do you know what I wish grew on tress? DIAMONDS! Think how beautiful & sparkly the world would be if they did. And not just diamonds but emeralds & rubies, & sapphires, & pearls. Oh my! I guarantee this country wouldn't be hurting as much as it is if this were possible. On the second thought we have some pretty selfish politicians running this state & country so they'd probably hoard the goods & leave us poor folk nothing! Oh wait, what I am I thinking, that's happening now!

Well I have nothing left to say which is probably a good thing cause this post is kinda weird. It's what you get when I'm tired & when the house is unusually quiet. Until next time...

To Blog Or Not To Blog........

To my faithful readers: I am thinking of calling quits & no this is not an April Fools joke. I know this is a huge disappointment to some of you (do you feel the sarcasm?) but I feel as if I don't have anything exciting to write about. I read other blogs & they are so much more exciting than mine. And plus I update on facebook all the time & most of you are friends on there so I just figure you can get the latest & greatest on facebook ( also facebook is so much faster than actually sitting my butt down to update my blog that I do once a year) I suck at blogging my apologies to you all. I lag bad! Give me some ideas that I can blog about. The only thing really exciting going on is Gavin's baseball which is a loooong story but kinda a funny one that I will have to blog about one day when I am feeling very bloggy & also that it's Easter. I can't decide which holiday I like best. The kids are home for 2 weeks & that's always fun. Did you feel the sarcasm on that one too?

Okay, so maybe I do have a little more to blog about than I thought. Andy & I got away recently & went to Disneyland for a few days with NO KIDS! It was so nice to not have to take care of anyone for a few days & to stay up late & eat whatever we wanted without kids yelling or screaming at us for something. We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel & that place is AWESOME! Loved it! I want to live there. My mom rules for taking our kids for us oh & my dad too. We are now back to reality & listening to kids quarrel & a baby crying. Where can you get muzzles & cages for kids? Two days just doesn't cut it but all in all it was fun to be gone but it's good to be home with all 3 monsters :).

Hope you all have a Happy Easter... And I won't quit my blog but you all better give me some ideas to blog about. WAIT, before I go I have a question that Gavin brought up the other day... Why is it that the Easter Bunny delivers the eggs? Eggs come from a chicken not a bunny!!! How do these 2 things go together?