Family Celebrating!

Friday, the four of us celebrated David's birthday together. We started the day by going to Build A Bear. I received a coupon for a free animal since it was David's birthday. He picked out a puppy.

We then headed to Chuck E Cheese. The kids had a blast! They played games, climbed the maze & danced with Chuck E Cheese!

Playing Basketball with Daddy!

This Barney ride was Grace's favorite!

Dancing with Chuck E Cheese!

We then went to Barnes & Noble. We received a coupon for a free cookie since it was David's birthday. I had no idea it was SO BIG!!


We then went to the Birmingham Zoo. They have been building a new exhibit called The Trails of Africa. Friday they had a preview for members. We got to walk around the new exhibit & see one of the three new elephants. The elephant was the only animal they had out so we didn't stay but 30 minutes.

We had a very busy day but all of us had a blast!!

David's Birthday Dinner

Whenever I ask David what he wants for dinner, his answer is always PIZZA! So, I wasn't surprised when that was the answer I got for his birthday dinner. :) Luckily, I had all the ingredients in the house.

We made homemade pizzas & for a special treat, ate dinner in the living room watching a movie (we watched Bambi, his birthday present from Daddy & Mommy).

Pizza Dough
**This recipe is from a Gordon Ramsay cookbook. We gave this cookbook to my brother for Christmas & he made the pizza dough & loved it. This was my first time making the dough & I thought it was very easy to make & turned out to be a hit!**

3 c bread flour
1 T olive oil
1 tsp yeast
1 c warm water

Dissolve yeast in water & let sit while mixing other ingredients. Mix flour & oil with dough hook in mixer on medium. Add in yeast mixture. Mix until it form a ball. In bowl put in olive oil & cover dough with oil. Put towel over dough & let rise until double in size (about 1 hour). This recipe makes 2 large pizzas!

Note: We used store bought pizza sauce (I always keep it in my refrigerator). I used a 8 oz bag of shredded mozzarella cheese from my freezer.

David Turns 3!

David turned 3 March 10th!

We celebrated by having a birthday party the Saturday before his birthday. The party plan was to play baseball at the Moody City Ball Park. The weather had a different plan (rain) so we moved the party to our house. We had about 10 kids come to the party & their parents. We had a very full house but it was fun. The kids all enjoyed playing in David & Grace's room with all their toys. We had a pinata which we still managed to do in the living room. It was a little scary but luckily all the kids at the party were young enough, they couldn't do any damage. :) It was a fun party & David was very happy!

The Pinata!

The Presents!

The Baseball Cupcakes

Happy Birthday to David!

Grace in her baseball jumper made by Nanny!

Thanks to everyone who came & made David's birthday so special. I can't believe David is now 3! He is truely a gift from God & he has made our lives so much better!

Thanks Melissa for the great pictures!

Sick Mommy

I was sick today & my sweet husband stayed home to take care of the kids. Luckily, I was only sick for 24 hours, so Justin only had to stay home from work 1 day.

I had Chicken N Dumpling Soup in the freezer, so Justin made that for me. A few weeks ago, Winn Dixie had Bone-In Chicken Breasts BOGO Free. I put one in the freezer & made soup out of the other one. My intention is to make soup with the other also.

Chicken N Dumpling Soup
**This is a soup my Mom has made for as long as I can remember. I have always loved it (the dumplings being the favorite part)!! :)**

3 bone-in chicken breasts
Chicken broth or chicken bouillon (to taste)
Cabbage (desired amount)
Carrots (desired amount)

Put chicken breasts in large pot & cover with water. Bring water to a boil & then simmer. Once chicken is cooked, take chicken out of water & take off the bone; shred chicken. Put chicken in broth in pot. Add cabbage & carrots; cook. Add more water, broth or bouillon to taste.

Dumplings for Soup

1 large or 2 regular eggs
salt sprinkle
1/2 c milk
Flour to make stiff dough

Beat eggs. Add other ingredients. Drop from spoon into soup.

New Recipe

I tried a new recipe today. I found it in the Gooseberry Patch Meals in Minutes cookbook. It sounded interesting & more importantly I had everything in the house to make it. It came out good...tasted like BBQ chicken. I would make it again.

Soda-Pop Chicken

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 T oil
12 oz can cola
18 oz bottle barbecue sauce

Brown chicken in oil in a 12" skillet until juices run clear when pierced with a fork; pour cola & barbecue sauce on top. Reduce heat; simmer 30-40 minutes. Serves 6.

Note: I cut this recipe in half (there is no way we could eat that much).

New Quilt!

David received a new quilt today from Nana for his birthday! It is a baseball quilt & he LOVES it! She also made him a pillow to match the quilt.

Here is David with his quilt & pillow ont he couch watching T.V.

Candy Making

David will be turning 3 on the 10th. We are having his birthday party this Saturday. We are doing a baseball theme. A few weeks ago my Mom & I found a Wilton candy mold shaped like a baseball. I used to make Justin chocolate candies with the Wilton stuff back when we were in high school. My Mom & I got the supplies & I was so excited to make the candies again.

Well, it didn't go very well. 3 of the 4 bottles exploded. One of the bottles exploded while I was filling the mold and my two index fingers were burned pretty bad. Luckily I was able to get all the candies made for his party but at the expense of my red & blistered fingers!

I sent Wilton an email this morning telling them about my experience. I told them this was not my first time using their candy products but it was my first time having their bottles explode. I explained to them that after getting burn, I would probably not be using their product again. I received a very nice email from a very nice Wilton employee (Stephanie) only a couple hours later. I actually was surprised to get a response! Wilton is sending me 3 bottle replacements and 3 bags of their chocolates!! Wow!! I was not expecting to get any free products but I'll take them!!

Needless to say, I will be giving Wilton & candy making another try!!