Zucchini Bread

It's been a while since I've posted any recipes but I've been having a craving for zucchini bread : ) And just had to make some so I figured I would share it with you. It's really moist and delicious the boys just gobble it up and so do I probably more than I should.  It never seems to last very long in our house.

Zucchini Bread

• 3 cups of flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup of oil (can substitute applesauce if you like or do half of each)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups shredded zucchini
• (Optional) 1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325° degrees. Spray two loaf pans with nonstick spray or grease and flour them.

Sift flour, salt, baking powder,  baking soda and cinnamon in a bowl. 

Beat eggs, oil, vanilla and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients and beat well. Stir in zucchini and (nuts if desired) until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 50-60 minutes or until tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes then remove from pans and cool completely. 

Enjoy!  If you try it out let me know what you think : ) What's your favorite kind of bread to bake?

8 week pregnancy update baby #4

Sorry I'm late at getting this up. I'm actually 8 weeks 5 or 6 days today. Not much has changed since last week. I'm still really nauseous all the time, bloated and gassy that's always fun. I'm still really tired.

As far as new symptoms go I've been getting some headaches here and there. I'm not one to get headaches rarely ever so that kinda sucks. I don't really take medicine barely ever I just don't like to so I've just been sucking it up. Last night I woke up extremely dizzy the room felt like it was spinning and I just felt really nauseous.

That's the first time that's happened but I'll be bringing that up to my doctor at my appointment this Saturday. I'm thinking that my irons low. I always get low iron so hopefully it's nothing and just normal symptoms. Also I don't think I mentioned this last week but smells are really getting to me some I just can't stand. From foods, fragrances, cleaning products, garbage seem to be just overpowering at times and make me sick.

This Saturday is my first doctors appointment so that's exciting. I'm not sure if I'll be having to go more often than normal like my last pregnancy (with little man) but I guess I'll find out soon enough. Baby is the size of a large raspberry this week so growing like crazy : )

That's about it and I'll let you know how the appointment goes in my 9 weeks update. The picture isn't that great it was early morning and the lighting wasn't the best. My 2nd son was actually my photographer for me which was really sweet : ) and he just used my phone.

Winter Breaks Over

Winter break is officially over for us. We'll actually it was supposed to be over one Monday but we've been getting hit hard with winter weather. We got well over a foot of snow and have had arctic cold. Monday was -22° and with the wind chill felt like -40°. Tuesday was -15° and today the low was -11°. It's getting better but still so darn cold. So due to it being so crappie they cancelled school on Monday and Tuesday, not that I would have sent the boys anyway if they hadn't.

Let me just say it's tough getting back on track with the school schedule when you've been off for a while not only for the boys but for me as well. This morning they had a little bit of a hard time staying on track with getting ready. Of course they would rather play and watch cartoons so a few reminders were needed : ) Hopefully they don't come home bombarded with a ton of homework but we'll see.

How has the weather been for you?

7 Weeks Pregnancy Update Baby #4

This is gonna be my first pregnancy update for baby #4. According to a online pregnancy calculator (it goes by the first day of your last period) I'm in my 7th week. Unfortunately I'm not one of those lucky people that barely has any symptoms : ( Apparently blueberry size baby's have the ability to suck every last ounce of energy from me : )

Pretty much since I first got pregnant I've felt like carp of course I didn't know that was the reason at the time though. I have terrible "morning sickness" which for me means all day and night. I haven't actually thrown up yet but I constantly feel like I'm going to.

I'm always tired and low on energy. I'm hungry all the time but can't eat much due to feeling nauseous all the time. There are some things I just can't eat they make me sick even thinking about it. Garlic bread and apples are some to name a few. The apple one is really weird but hopefully that will end up going away.

These next symptoms I'm going to share with you might be to TMI but I'm just trying to keep it real with you : ) I've been so bloated and gassy it's awful there's times it's so bad I look like I'm at least 4-5 months pregnant or at a few to many tacos ; ) Another lovely symptom has been constipation. I'm having to pee all the time and waking up multiple times threw out the night feeling like my bladder is going to explode lol.

Just a FYI that might help someone else out. I've been taking these gummy prenatal vitamins instead of the regular pills since I was prego with little man. The doctor recommend them to me since the other ones would make me so sick.

7 weeks baby facts
• hands and feet are starting to emerge from developing arms & legs.
• baby has doubled in size since last week.
• 1/2 a inch long and the size of a blueberry
• mouth and tongue are forming

That's it for this week. I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone for there well wishes and kind words : ) I really do appreciate it and love reading your comments so thank you so much!

BIG NEWS!!!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and got to spend quality time with family. I actually got a little surprise my self right before Christmas. Looks like baby #4 is on the way!

 I was quite shocked to say the least. Even though this was not planned nor were any of my boys. It is still a welcome blessing. You might have read an older post here that kinda explains everything.

I'll probably be posting weekly or monthly pregnancy updates to document everything. I know they say you should wait until 12 weeks before you announce it but I feel anything could possibly happen at anytime not just within the first trimester.

I haven't had my first ob appointment yet due to him being on vacation but according to a pregnancy calculator I'm 7 weeks. The boys took the news good and are actually excited to have another baby join the family. Little man is to little to even understand but hopefully he'll do good with everything : )

Soft Pumpkin Cookies With Icing

These are one of my favorite pumpkin recipes. They are so good you can't have just one ; ) They make the house smell amazing when there baking. The boys love them! They taste great plain or with icing.

Soft Pumpkin Cookies

•  2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•  1 tsp baking soda
•  1 tsp baking powder
•  1 tsp cinnamon
•  1/2 tsp nutmeg
•  1/2 tsp salt
•  1 1/2 cups sugar
•  1/2 butter or (1 stick) softened
•  1 cup of Pure Pumpkin
•  1 egg
•  1 tsp vanilla extract

Glaze

•  2 cups sifted powder sugar
•  3 tbls milk
•  1 tbls melted butter
•  1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350° and line baking sheet with parchment paper or grease.

Combined flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a bowl. Beat butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add in flour mixture and blend until well combined.

Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes. Cool completely before icing.

Do you have a favorite pumpkin recipe?

Sick Kiddos :(

The boys have been sick AGAIN since this past weekend. They just can't catch a break.  I swear since school started I've had either a sickie or recovering sickie. And then poor little man is teething like CRAZY. It's like all of a sudden all his molars decided they were ready to pop out.

This time it started with my middle boy on Saturday. We were out shopping and he was shivering with goosebumps saying he was freezing. I thought it was just cause the store was a little chilly but of course that wasn't the case. Later that day he was burning up with a 103 temp and that's pretty much how the whole weekend went.

By Monday he was still running a 103 fever and just miserable. He ended up missing school Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday we went to the doctor and found out he has a double ear infection. So know he's on antibiotics for that. He said he was feeling better Wednesday and wanted to go to school.

Then on Wednesday my oldest came home looking terrible and threw him self on the couch saying he didn't feel good. He fell asleep almost immediately and started with the same exact symptoms his brother had. So he ended up staying home today.

Little man has been miserable to I'm not sure if it's just teething or he's not feeling good either or a lovely combo of both. Either way he's not sleeping good, his brothers aren't sleeping good and I'm lucky if I get 3-4 hours. Lately it's been about 2 1/2-3(that's not straight sleep either it broken up threw out the night).

So I'm pretty much a zombie and my brain isn't functioning very much anymore lol. I'm not even kidding it's getting pretty bad. There are so many stories I could tell but that would take forever :) The dentist called today  and asked if I was my middle boys mom and I answered this is (my middle boys name) not this is his mom but that I was him.

 As I was driving to drop my son off at school there's a 4 way street and only the 2 sides have to stop. I didn't have to but for some reason I thought I did and none of the other cars were going.  I'm thinking to my self what are you doing why the heck aren't you going. Then I realized DUH there not going cause my ding bat butt is just stopped in the middle of traffic!

I can't even speak correctly or remember simply words. I'll be like that you know you know what I mean. I've called my kids the wrong names multiple times :) Hopefully everyone will feel better soon and start to get at least a little more sleep before I loose what little bit of sense I still have.

Poor things :(

Raspberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

Happy Friday! I'm so glad the weekend is here. I love baking anytime but especially in the fall/winter. There's just something about your house filled with the smell of baking I don't know I just love it : ) Any who I wanted to share a yummy raspberry white chocolate oatmeal bar recipe with you. There really easy to make and are just full of buttery chewy flaky goodness.

Raspberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Bars

•  1 3/4 sticks of salted butter, cut into pieces
•  1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•  1 1/2 cups oats
•  1 cup packed brown sugar
•  1 tsp baking powder
•  1/2 tsp salt
•  10-12 oz jar of jam or pastry filling (what ever you prefer)
•  White chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350° degrees. Grease a 9×13 baking pan. Mix together the butter, flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Press half the mixture into the prepared pan. Spread with jam or pastry filling ( I don't like to much so I just did a thin layer but put as much or little as you like). Sprinkle the remaining half of the oat mixture over the top and pat lightly. Bake until light brown 30-40 minutes (30 was perfect for me). Top with white chocolate chips pressing them in lightly to stick ( you can also just add them before you bake but they will get browned slightly). You could also melt the chips and drizzle it over the top so it looks prettier :)  Cool completely before cutting.

Enjoy :)

Lovely Things Kids Learn At School

When the boys get home from school I always ask them how there day was. My boys can be chatty and like to tell me about all the awesome and not so awesome things they did or learned that day. Now sometimes the things they are most chatty about don't necessarily have to do with school. Sometimes it's something they heard from a friend.

If you have a school age kiddo I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about : ) My middle boy came home from school the other day having learned a new song. It goes a little something like this.

Scooby dooby doo took a poo and Shaggy thought it was chocolate (insert giggling and laughing). Shaggy took a bite and then he turned white and that was the end of Shaggy!

Awesome right? So that's what I've gotten to hear over and over and over again. Because of course the boys find it hilarious and gross all at the same time : )

My oldest boy told me about the "devil worshipers woods". Yeah I wasn't expecting to hear that. Apparently because Halloween is right around the corner if you go in to the woods the "devil worshipers" will try and eat you. But if you make it threw without them "getting" you they will give you a ton of full size candy. Lol the stuff kids come up with!

So so far this week I learned that you should make sure it's really chocolate before you decide to eat it. And if I ever happen to accidentally find my self in the "devil woods" to run like crazy or break out some ninja moves and I'll end up with more full size candy than I know what to do with. But then I guess that brings me back to the first lesson I learned : )

What We've Been Up To

It seems like forever since I've posted anything. Even though I think it's only been maybe 2 weeks I don't know : ) Life has just been super busy and just plain chaos even more so than normal (if that's even possible).

School stuff with the boys and drama. I'll just save that for another post. I've also had poor little sickies from throwing up, tummy aches to runny noses you get the idea. That's been spread around since the second week school started. That is one thing I really don't look forward to when school starts. Cause it seems like from the time school starts till it ends someone is sick : ( Allergies have been just terrible this year to!

I also ended up participating in a local moms fall consignment sale on Saturday. I've never done anything like that before but I have been wanting to go threw and declutter the hundreds of bins of clothes and stuff I've been hoarding of the boys stuff in the basement.

When it comes to my boys I'm such a hoarder of there stuff! I save everything clothing, toys I mean everything. We'll I guess I can't say everything cause I have donated slot to but I still have some how ended up with tons of bins of stuff stacked up to the ceiling in the basement.

I don't know why but I just get so attached to the memories that I associate to the stuff I just want to save everything. I will say though that with my older two boys being exactly 2 yrs apart in the same exact season alot of stuff got passed down. There's even toys from my older boys that little man plays with now so that's nice.

But I figured I should go threw some of it and get ride of some stuff. I've never done a garage sale or Craigslist or anything like that but after looking into it decided I'd try selling some stuff at a local fall consignment event. I did find out about it last minute and only had a few days to get stuff together but I did what I could.

It was $10 to register to be a seller and you had to enter each item in the computer and print an electric tag and pin it to each item. I will say that was a little stressful. Then I had to drop off my stuff on Friday at the church they were holding the sale at. Drop off was between 11:00 & 1:00. I had to cut little mans nap short so I would make it there in time. Then you had to check in and put your items up were they belong yourself.

I wasn't aware of that till I got there. So I had to hurry up to make it home in time before the boys got off of school. The sale was Saturday from 8 to 12 so it wasn't very long and I did volunteer so I could get a higher percent of sales back. After volunteering I ended up getting 70% of my sales back. Little man did come with me while I worked my shift he was so good and patient we were there for 2 1/2 hrs.

I ended up selling $274.00 worth of stuff and after they took there 30% I ended up making $191.80. I'll be getting a check with in a week so not to bad for a 4 hr sale. I'm just gonna put that towards new clothes for the boys. Anyways that's what's been going on with us : ) Hope you all had a good weekend : )

Get It Get It!!!

My middle boy yells "MOM there's a spider!" Me "where is it!" On the wall hurry get it get it! Uh get me something to smash it with (I'm holding the baby).

My middle boy brings me a super small piece of toilet paper. Um no sweet heart mommy isn't about to have a nasty spider climb up her arm and bite it. I'm pretty sure It wouldn't turn mommy into spiderman sorry bud. So I grab a shoe : )

I go to smush the nasty little sucker and it's gone. I ask the boys were did it go!? My oldest replies oh just leave it. Oh no I'm not about to have it crawling on someone at some point.

My middle one tells me he thinks it went in the closet. Great so I open the door and it jumps off the door onto the floor right towards me. Shit know I pissed it off and it's gonna attack.

I go to smush it with the shoe and it gets away. I go after it again. Yes I got it!

I know what your probably thinking what a baby all that fuss over a spider!

But in my defense I hate them and to me I see this

Watermelon Rice Krispie Treats

I've been making these cuties for a few years now. I've made them for different occasions and just to put in the boys lunch boxes for a treat. I think rice krispie treats are so much more cuter when you 'dress' them up (maybe I'm just a weirdo lol). It's really easy and pretty quick to make them look like watermelon slices.

Watermelon Rice Krispie Treats

•  6 tbls butter (divided in 2)
•  6 cups mini marshmallows (divided in 2)
•  8 cups rice krispies (divided in 2)
•  red & green food coloring
•  Chocolate chips (seeds)

* If you like you could use flavored kool-Aid in the mixtures to add flavor. I did try it once but prefer the regular rice krispie flavor : )*

1. Melt 3 tbls of butter in a medium/large saucepan over medium heat. Add 3 cups of marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from heat & add in green food coloring until you get your desired color. Stir in Rice Krispies until completely coated. 

2. Scoop the green rice krispies into a *greased* 9 inch round cake pan. Press it around the outer edges of the cake pan to form a ring. (You may need to butter your hands if it's to sticky)

3. Repeat step 1 but with red food coloring. 

4. Scoop the red krispie mixture into the center of the cake pan. Press it so that it's level with the green ring.

5. Let it cool completely and then add the chocolate chips for seeds.

Enjoy your oh so cute rice krispies : )