Halloween 2010

Emerson

Cupcakes

Me (please excuse the drugged up expression, lol)

Halloween night is one of our favorite holidays. I decided to host a large party before the kiddos went trick-or-treating but it didn't go as smoothly as I anticipated. I had no idea when I set the party in stone that I would be having surgery just 2 days before. When I found out my surgery date, I figured it would be okay because my last one went so easily. It was back at Easter and I ended up grocery shopping right after I woke up from the anesthesia. It was crazy. I didn't even need to take much pain medicine. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case this time. I hurt. The morning of the party is a total haze to me. I don't even remember making the food at all. My guess is that the pain meds made me stupid and so I can't remember jack. That night was kind of weird too because I wasn't up to speed. I didn't really enjoy the party but at least the kids did (which is what really matters).

Hayden (he's some kind of Bakugan creature)

Silly Boys

Roller Skating-My Favorite Childhood Activity (10/2/10)

Emerson, 5

Hayden, 7

Hayden got an invite to a skating party back in October and I had no idea what was going to happen. My kids had never been on skates and all I could think was that my kids were going to break a limb. Clayton had to work so I was on my own to watch out for the two of them. They were really unsteady at first but then they just took off, much to my surprise. I was so relieved. See, it wasn't all about the relief that I didn't have to worry so much about them falling as it was for me to be able to skate on my own, lol. I love to skate! I skate better backward than forward and I can do spins. My abilities come from spending all my weekends at the rink as a middle schooler. I worked there too when I was a teenager so I have been on skates quite a bit during my younger years.

We all had a blast so I believe that Hayden is going to have a skating party for his next birthday. I am so glad that the kiddos love skating as much as I do. :)

My First Client Cake

I had an absolute blast making this Star Wars cake for my friend Shannon. It is hard to see, but the edging of the words are sprayed with silver graffiti spray (it's edible and made by Duff). The white stars are painted over with white shimmer powder but you can't see that at all in the photo.

Overall, I am pleased with how the cake turned out. I got the design idea from someone else on the web so I can't take full credit for it.

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day

Challah

Basic Boule

Have any of you tried this method to bake homemade bread? I borrowed the book from the library and it was an amazing way to bring homemade bread to the table every night without a lot of fuss. I can't believe how professional my breads turned out. It blows my mind how simple they were to make. If you do a google search on it, you can find tons of information on it. Try it out. You will amaze your family with your awesome baking skills. ;)

Here's the basic boule recipe and info: http://www.seattlepi.com/food/386357_bread05.html

So you want some Carolina BBQ?

(this pic is of the real deal Lexington BBQ from theeatenpath.com)

I miss Lexington-style BBQ so much since I moved away from NC.  Luckily for me, I just found a good recipe that is pretty close.  I fully warn you that your house will smell like vinegar while it cooks as that is the base for NC BBQ in the Lexington region.  The recipe calls for cayenne but I think it should be left out.  The meat was hotter than the real stuff so next time I will only do the small amount of hot sauce.  Chop it up after shredding to make it even more like the real deal.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Slow-Cooker-Carolina-BBQ/Detail.aspx

Sorry and an explanation

It's all confusing, lol.  I couldn't password protect my site like I have in the past.  Blogger only lets me choose to do authorized readers if I want my blog to be private.  If you are reading this, then you are authorized. :)

Under the advice of a friend, we decided to temporarily deactivate Clayton's Facebook account and make my blog private.  It would be unfortunate for a potential employer to see too much about our lives.  We aren't bad people or anything but we don't want to be judged based on a previous blog post or something else of that nature.  In this day and age, people are too easy to research.  You can find too much information on someone.  I have no qualms with unknown people reading about me and my family (heck, I read about others' lives all the time and I am not a stalker, lol) but I don't want anything I have posted to sway opinions on my husband.  That would be unfair to him.  He is a wonderful engineer and he has worked hard to climb the ladder.  Heck if I want to be the reason he doesn't land a job.

BTW, keep your fingers crossed.  NC might not be too far away!!

Will have to go incognito for a little while--email me for password

I need to password-protect my blog for a little while. My husband could be talking to potential employers and my boobs being on the net probably isn't a good thing (unless his future boss is a perve, lol). If you are subscribed to my blog, just stay that way and eventually my blog will go public again. It will likely be public again next year just when I may be starting my 3rd surrogacy journey. If you want to keep up with me during the privacy shutdown, email me for the password. It's really not a big deal. I don't care who reads my blog as long as it isn't Clayton's employers or future employers. ;)

BTW-The blog will go private sometime late tonight or early tomorrow.

Boom Boom Pow-Take 3

Before pic 7/2/09 & after pic 11/12/10

I feel a little bit weird posting pics of my girls online but oh well. I hope that anyone considering having their girls "enhanced" learn a little bit from me before making the decision. I had my first surgery 7/3/09 and ended up having 2 revision surgeries afterward (4/2/10 & 10/29/10). It's weird but I managed to have each surgery the weekend of a major holiday (July 4th, Easter and Halloween). Anyway, I want others to know that one surgery can result in additional surgeries. Do not go into cosmetic surgery thinking that it will definitely end up being a one-time deal. That may not be the case and you need to be sure that you can afford any additional surgeries. I have done extensive research on the Internet and a lot of girls have more than one surgery for the same procedure. It is unfortunate but common. I was hopeful that it would be a one-shot deal but it didn't turn out that way. My first surgery went great but one of my girls fell below the crease line, causing the scar to move up and be seen. It wasn't that bad but it needed to be fixed before it got worse. Surgery #2 resulted in beautifully perfect cleavage for a few months and then both girls fell below the crease line. It was annoying. It turns out that my pectoral muscles are too tight. I opted for the implants to be placed under the muscle and that ended up being my problem. Whenever my muscles flexed, they would push my implants down and that is why they would fall. Surgery #3 fixed this problem and I don't anticipate any more issues now. I can flex my muscles and nothing happens to my girls because they are now on top of the muscles (body builders opt for this for that reason). I was so against this procedure initially because the people that chose this placement on the Internet tended to look completely fake thanks to the implants only being held in place by tissue. You could actually see the implants sitting on top of the body in some patients. It looked horrible. Anyway, my doctor placed them on top of the muscle but below the tissue. On top of the muscle is a thick tissue called the fascia. He put the implants under the fascia so that they would be supported by that and so you cannot see them through my skin. This procedure is referred to as being"subfascial" placement. It's a great compromise between over or under the muscle.

***Sorry for the grainy "after" pic. I had to take it myself in a mirror and I used my little camera rather than my good one.***

All I Want for Christmas (is his 2 front teeth, lol)

Hayden has now lost both of his front upper teeth. He talks kinda funny and has a harder time biting into food but isn't he cute?!

My Final Cake-Wilton Fondant & Gumpaste Class

This was a super simple but fun cake to do. I should have added a twisted rope border on the bottom but I ran out of time in class. Each of the yellow centers have yellow sugar sprinkes to make them extra pretty. I meant for the centers to be a little bit smaller but I think that it still looks cute. The cake is strawberry with a new buttercream icing recipe that I found (made with real butter instead of all Crisco like Wilton's recipe).

On A Sad Note....

I took a bunch of awesome pics of the butterfly after he dried his wings. The kids both held him and then I got some great pics of him up-close. At least I *thought* I did. The problem is that stupid me didn't have the card in my camera. Ughhhhhhhh! By the time I realized that it was sadly too late. The butterfly took off high into the sky just as I was running back outside from retrieving the card. I was devastated. He was so gorgeous! His wings were remarkably perfect and I was in awe of his beauty. The pics I took this morning did him no justice. Oh well, at least we got to witness the miracle of a butterfly's life cycle. It was very cool and I look forward to doing it again in the future. Maybe next time I will manage to get pics of the release. :P

Transformation

I woke up to the shriek of my children this morning. They were excited to find a butterfly in the caterpillar jar. I ran downstairs because I was afraid that he would fly out and get lost up in the vaulted ceilings where I would not be able to retrieve him. Thankfully his wings were still wet so he didn't leave his home (it probably helped that he got stuck on the electrical tape that I used to tie the sticks together, lol). We plan to release him early this afternoon. How cool is he?!

BTW-He is known as a black swallowtail. :)

In this photo, you can see the leftover shell from his chrysalis. I don't think that he had been out of it for very long at this point.

Menu Plan Monday (with recipe links)

MONDAY---TNT Garlic Chicken, risotto, peas

TUESDAY---TNT Quick and Easy Chicken, rice, green beans, TNT The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake

WEDNESDAY---Girl's Night Out (hubby will take care of dinner for himself and the kiddos)

THURSDAY---TNT Famous Pork Chops, mashed potatoes, sautéed squash

FRIDAY---Queso Fundido Burgers, TNT Baked Oven Fries

SATURDAY---Out (Hayden has a skating birthday party to go to that is far away and just before dinner time)

SUNDAY---Greekin' Up Spaghetti, The Bread

***I will be adding reviews as I make each recipe, so be sure to look back to this post if you want an opinion. If the recipe has TNT before it then it is a proven tried-n-true recipe for us that we have had in the past.***

Gumpaste Daisy and Mum

I made these last night at my gumpaste & fondant class. They were a lot of fun to do and were very easy. The center of the daisy has yellow sprinkles to make it even prettier though it is hard to see in the photo.

Gumpaste flowers

Please excuse the poor photo quality. I made these flowers for the first time in last week's fondant & gum paste class. They were a lot of fun to do. The Calla Lily flowers have yellow spinkles in the center but the photos don't depict it well.

Menu Plan Monday (with recipe links)

MONDAY---TNT cream cheese, garlic and chive stuffed chicken, buttered egg noodles, broccoli, TNT honey wheat rolls

TUESDAY---cola pork chops, rice, fruit salad, biscuits

These were just okay. They weren't good enough to make again though. I thought that they were blah.

WEDNESDAY---Mexican chicken casserole, fiesta rice, refried beans

THURSDAY---leftovers

FRIDAY---melt-in-your-mouth meatloaf, green beans, hash brown casserole

Both of these recipes were fabulous! I ended up doubling the sauce for the meatloaf and it was magnificent. I can't believe that it cooked so well in my crockpot. The hash brown casserole was yummy. I haven't had it in years and this was close to the recipe that I used to make. It could stand to have more cheese added but is still great as written.

SATURDAY---sausage & pineapple pizza (using this new crust recipe)

Let me just say, blech.... The crust was horrible. I have made lots of good pizzas in the past so I will stick to my regular recipe for crust.

SUNDAY---TNT slow cooker chicken stroganoff, buttered egg noodles, green beans

***I will be adding reviews as I make each recipe, so be sure to look back to this post if you want an opinion. If the recipe has TNT before it then it is a proven tried-n-true recipe for us that we have had in the past.***

Our Resident (Transformed)

Yesterday, I checked in on our caterpillar and noticed that he looked like he was up to something. Sure enough, he was! I found him today in the chrysalis phase of life. How cool is that? This guy happens to be a black swallowtail and it may be next spring (April-May) before he emerges.

Our Newest Resident

Isn't this little guy pretty? I found him and 2 of his friends on my parsley plant. We looked him up and discovered that he is a black swallowtail. He is common in CO and likes to eat parsley (obviously). We originally had all 3 in a jar so that we could watch them change to butterflies but then I felt bad for them. I released them all back into my garden. Unfortunately, 2 of them disappeared and we think that the birds got them. I took this guy back in after the fiasco so that he wouldn't be bird food. Hopefully we will get to see him change. :)

Cruise News-A Totally Unexpected Surprise!!

Well, it isn't set in stone yet but the Barnes' family may join us again on our Disney cruise coming in January. We are thrilled!! I got a message from Natascha over the weekend telling me that they were thinking about going (I am giddy, to say the least). We had so much fun together last time that I just don't think that it would be the same going without them. She messaged me today that they have a reservation on hold barring Jason's approval. Hopefully he will say yes! How can he say no? It's 6 against 1 so he is the odd man out. We may just have to kidnap Natascha and Jasmine if he refuses, lol.

Menu Plan Monday (with recipe links)

MONDAY---cream cheese chicken enchiladas, Mexican rice, refried beans

These turned out really good. I still prefer restaurant Mexican food but these were the best enchiladas that I have ever made. True enchiladas are made with corn tortillas rather than flour so next time I will make them with corn instead.

TUESDAY---TNT chili dogs, TNT baked oven fries (total repeat from last week because it was sooo good!)

WEDNESDAY---meatballs, mashed potatoes and gravy, peas, TNT biscuits

The meatballs & gravy were blah in my opinion but the mashed potatoes were very good. I had to add a little bit of milk to them even though the recipe didn't call for it. The biscuit recipe is my go-to recipe so it was good as always.

THURSDAY---green chili chicken burgers, TNT honey wheat sandwich rolls, chips

These burgers were pretty good but they weren't good enough for me to make again. I can definitely see where other people would love them so if you are interested, you should definitely try them.

FRIDAY---hot dogs at the Back 2 School Bash

SATURDAY---leftovers

SUNDAY---grilled cheese paninis, grapes, chips

***I will be adding reviews as I make each recipe, so be sure to look back to this post if you want an opinion.***

Party Ideas, Cake Decorating, Surrogacy, Etc.

This past week was spent freaking out over making my first wedding cake. I obsessed and was scared that it wouldn't turn out well. I prayed for God to guide me and to help me complete my task. I was happy with it when all was said and done, thank the Lord! Clayton and I delivered it a couple of hours before the ceremony. He drove like a snail while I sat in the very back of the 4-Runner holding it in a round sled, lol. Clayton put cushioning in the sled and then placed the cake (which was on a thick board) in it. I held the sled in my lap and gripped the sides of the sled so that I could control the cake when we hit bumps and made turns. The edges of the sled were easy to grip and made it so that I didn't have to touch the cake board. All I could think about was how the cake would slam into my face if he had to brake suddenly, lol. I now have some other people interested in wedding cakes but I don't know if I can handle all that stress. We'll see.

{EDITED TO ADD}I forgot to mention that a little girl ran her finger through the front of the cake before anyone even saw it. Ugh. I was luckily able to repair the gashes before it was put on display. But guess what? She managed to do it again before the bride and groom saw it. I can't believe that everyone thought that it was funny as I went to repair the cake again in front of the wedding party. She managed to mess the front of the cake up twice before pictures were taken. I was able to smooth it out both times but that was ridiculous.

Emerson has a birthday coming up in November. I want to throw him a big party but I can't quite figure out what I want to do. We originally were going to hire a magician that Clayton personally knows but he doesn't want to do it. I don't know if I should look for another one or just scrap that idea all together. Any cool ideas that aren't hokey? I really want a cool party but not a cheesy theme like we have done in the past (Transformers, Thomas, Cars, etc.). Basically, I want his stuff to be homemade and not pre-printed character stuff. He kind of wants Spongebob and though that makes me cringe, I could work with it if I have to.

I finally broke down and signed up for the Wilton fondant/gum paste class a couple of weeks ago. I have been putting it off because of how expensive it is. The class kit plus the class fee isn't even the half of it. It's all the other crap I had to buy to go along with it. I got most of my tools 50% or 40% off so it wasn't too bad. Poor Clayton had to be dragged into Michael's and Hobby Lobby several times so that I could get him to buy an item for me with a coupon. If he went, I was able to buy 2 items with coupons rather than one since we each did our own transactions. I wish that they would let you use more than one coupon at a time so that I wouldn't have to drag him with me. Anyway, I have all my stuff ready to go and my first class is on Thursday night. I can't wait!

I had someone recently say to me that they couldn't give a baby up. I have heard that same statement many times before and I cringe whenever I hear it. I have never "gave a baby up". I would never give my own baby up. The babies that I have carried via surrogacy were never mine to begin with. They weren't genetic to me AT ALL. In fact, they were very different from me. #1 was a cute blonde boy with blue eyes and Jewish heritage. #2 was a beautiful girl with dark eyes, skin and hair because her parents are from India. I never felt connected to those kids after their births. They weren't my babies and I knew that from the start. I get how some people think that carrying the babies would make them feel close maternally but I barely felt maternal with my own kids when they were in the womb, lol. I guess that is why I am a good surrogate carrier. I just don't get attached. It's funny, after the births of my surrobabies, I felt completely detached. I can't even wrap my mind around the idea that I carried them in my womb once I see them. It's like I forget the whole gestation period because I immediately see them as their parent's children after the births. I don't know if what I am saying makes sense but I get it and that's what really matters.

Menu Plan Monday (with recipe links)

MONDAY---grilled bratwurst, corn-on-the-cob, fresh fruit

TUESDAY---chili dogs, baked oven fries

Do yourself a favor and make both of these recipes...tonight!! I have now found the best chili for hot dogs ever. Even my kids loved it. The fries were awesome too. :)

WEDNESDAY---zippy summer shrimp, rice, zucchini cakes

The shrimp was okay, nothing special. The zucchini cakes rock! It's an old recipe for us as I discovered it a long time ago.

THURSDAY---soft cheese and pepperoni bread, fruit

I made these into large individual rolls and served them with marinara to dip them in (E chose Ranch). The consensus was that these are really good. I about burned my motor out of my KitchenAid though so beware of that. The dough is *really* heavy. Next time I will make them with Italian sausage and add a lot of cheese in them.

FRIDAY---Italian sausage, red pepper and mushroom risotto, onion rolls (made from the other half of yesterday's bread recipe)

This dish was heavenly! It was a pain in the butt because I had to stand at the stove for 30 straight minutes but it was sooo worth it. Beware-the rice is ridiculously expensive (arborio rice). A small container of it was priced at $7.99 at our local King Soopers.

SATURDAY---leftovers

SUNDAY---leftovers

***I will be adding reviews as I make each recipe, so be sure to look back to this post if you want an opinion.***

The Boys' Camping Trip-August 7, 2010

Emerson (5) & Hayden (7)

Hubby and his Dad took the kiddos up to the mountains for a fun night of camping in the woods. Sandy and I didn't go so that the boys could spend some time male bonding together. While they were out enjoying the wilderness, we got manicures, pedicures and massages. Needless to say, it was a great time had by all that weekend. I just didn't take any photos of our girly fun.

Clayton forgot to take a camera last time they went so I made sure he had one this time around. He got some good pics but they sat on my camera card forever. Sorry I am just now getting around to posting these!

Grandpa Steve (Clayton's Dad) and Hayden

Hayden was trying to use a stick as a gun to shoot his Dad, lol.

More Camping Pics

Ack! I can't believe my boys climbed trees so high. My husband didn't mention this activity until I saw it on the camera card. There's no way I could have allowed that if I had been there. My kiddos are klutzy (like their mama) and I would have had a heart attack watching them. Oh well, I guess boys will be boys. :P

2 Silly Goons

My First Wedding Cake

A sweet gal from my church is getting married tomorrow and I had the honor of making the cake. I sure hope she likes it!

Please excuse the poor photo. I didn't have good lighting since it is after 9pm here so I will try to take a better pic tomorrow. :)