Another Blog-Worthy Recipe!

This cake recipe from Better Homes and Gardens is FANTASTIC!! I made it once for a Visiting Teaching Luncheon we had at the beginning of the month and twice in Florida while visiting my sister and her family. I doubled the recipe for my party that my niece had...but everybody ate the fruit pizza instead. The only exceptions were me and my sister, Mindy, who didn't get any fruit pizza and my nieces friend, Zach (but he'll eat just about anything). Crazy kids! They'll never know what they missed! Unless they read this blog, in which case, here's the recipe! It's incredibly easy to make! Just have a glass of milk on had when you eat it! Enjoy!

Chocolate Harvest Cake

One-Bowl Cake:

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup water

2/3 cup cooking oil

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Pumpkin Cream Filling:

1 8-oz pkg. cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup canned pumpkin

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Chocolate Glaze:

1/2 cup whipping cream

4 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped

Cake Toppers:

Seedless red grapes, whole blackberries or raspberries, toasted hazelnuts, or shredded orange peel.

Directions:

1. Prepare Oven and Pans: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9x1-1/2 inch round baking pans; set aside.
2. Combine Ingredients: In an extra large bowl combine buttermilk, water oil, sugar, eggs, baking soda and salt. Using a large wire whisk, whisk until well combine3d. Add flour and cocoa powder; which vigorously until smooth. Divide batter between prepared pans.
3. Dot the Touch Test: Bake for 30-35 minutes until top springs back when lightly touched in center. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely.
4. Prepare Pumpkin Cream Filling: In a medium bowl, whisk together cream cheese, pumpkin, sugar and cinnamon until thickened. Place one cake layer on plate. Spread filling over top. Top with second cake layer.
5. Make Chocolate Glaze: In a saucepan bring whipping cream just to boiling over medium-high heat. Remove from heat. Add chocolate (do not stir). Let stand 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Cool 15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Pour over cake allowing glaze to drip down sides. Chill until set, about 30 minutes. Top with desired toppers.

Catching Up!

My goodness it's been a crazy month! Most of this month was spent in Tampa, FL with my sister. Kamden and I went down on the 11th while Drew was at a conference in Orlando, he joined up with Kami and myself later on for Christmas. We just got back a couple days ago! So, here's some pictures I thought I'd share while on our trip!

Kamden is doing GREAT eating solid foods! Among her favorites are carrots (displayed here), peas, applesauce, sweet potatoes and bananas mixed with rice cereal!

Here is Christmas morning playing with the toys she got in her stocking!

This picture is out of order, this is Christmas Eve opening her Christmas PJ's! Just as she was opening this, her two little 5-year old cousins showed up and she got a little overwhelmed!

Again, the pictures are out of order here, too! Just some of her opening her presents! She LOVES paper!

I can't believe how big Kami is getting! She's really mastered sitting up by herself and developing quite the little personality of her own! Somedays I just look at her and I can't believe she's really here and she's really mine.

December already???

Oh my goodness! I can hardly believe that it's December already! I leave for my sister's house in Tampa next week for Christmas. Christmas! Can you believe it? Didn't we just have Halloween??? Okay, anyway! So, it's been a little busy, as you can probably tell! We went to Colorado for Thanksgiving and had a great time with Drew's family! We went to the Denver Aquarium where Kami had a fantastic time looking at all the fish. Coming back was a little crazy. Long story short, we were on the tarmac in Denver for a while before we took off and Kami got overheated and sick....all over me! Which didn't bother me that much since that's not the first time I've been thrown up on by Kami; but I did feel bad for the people on the plane with us. She was crying so much!

We had a pretty bad winter storm here this last week. It was so cold and the roads were covered in ice and snow! Drew didn't even go into work it was so bad. And of course Kami and I have been pretty much homebound.

Alright, so here's some pictures of our trip in Colorado I thought you all might enjoy!

My New Toy

Hey Everyone! Just thought I'd share a couple pictures I took today just messin' around with my new toy that Drew got me for and early Christmas present! I got the new Cannon Rebel (XTi) Digital camera!! Now I can get pictures of Kamden without the delay of our other digital and not have to worry about the graininess of the 35mm! I thought the pictures turned out great! It took the picture so quick I was even able to capture a smile on Kami!

Grandma & Kami

Just thought I'd post a quick picture this morning. This is my Mom reading to Kami a couple days ago! We're doing much better here! And since we have one more day before my mom leaves, today we're going to try to go up to Gutherie, OK and go see the Memorial later this afternoon! Oklahoma City in a day! Let's see if we succeed!

Sick Again!

Ugh! Can you believe it? Our second cold this season! Poor Kami, too! And this one, I swear is the worst one I've had in a long time. So, hence the reason I haven't updated the blog lately....been very busy caring for a very sick baby and trying to keep myself afloat! My mom came in the night we all got sick, so although I feel so bad that we really haven't left the apartment much, I'm so grateful for her help with Kami! I ended up calling Kami's doctor yesterday to see what medications she could take and what ones I could take that wouldn't effect my breatmilk. I had been taking some cold medicine and noticed that Kami wasn't eating very well. Ends up I was taking the one thing that effects the milk, which would explain why Kamden wasn't eating. So, I ended up pumping and dumping about 8oz of milk. Today Kami's doing a lot better with eating. And she's doing a really good job sleeping at night. ALSO, she finally learned how to roll from her tummy to her back today! I was so proud of her! I just wish I had the energy to be more enthusiastic! Poor baby!

I Stand Corrected!

A few posts ago, I refered to the St. Louis Cardinal's scoring another "point". I have since been informed that they did not score another "point", but rather another "run". I apologize and stand corrected. Must've been my upbringing! ;^) Thanks, Sheri! LOL!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Here's some fun pictures of Kamden that I took this morning!

Enjoy! And may everybody's "treats" be as good as mine!

4 Months and Counting.....

Kami had her 4 month doctors appointment yesterday! All went well and I survived the shots. Oh yeah, so did Kamden! ;^) No, really. The doctor said Kami looks great! And she said we could try and start her on solid food if we wanted to. I did this morning and she did okay. I think she was trying to just figure out what I had put in her mouth! But, I think she'll get the hang of it quickly enough. I've also been trying to give her a sippy cup with formula in it. She's figured out how to hold it and put it in her mouth - she's still working on sucking and tiping the cup up so that she can get the drink out. I've got some pictures in my camera that I've got to get developed of that. As soon as I do, I'll post them. And she got 4 shots yesterday. She did okay; at least she didn't throw up all over me, which is an improvement from the last time! She was very mad at the nurse who gave her the shots, though! It was really funny. As soon as she was done giving her the shots, I picked Kami up and she settled down a little, then looked at the nurse and got this really mad look on her face and started crying. So sad. Kami was a little sore yesterday, but I think more so today. She hasn't rolled over as much today and will cry for no reason and especially when you move her legs too much. Poor baby. She's so helpless. Riding around in the car today was the only thing that really seemed to calm her down.

I'm leaving Kamden with a sitter for the first time next week. Our Stake here in Oklahoma has a tradition here called "The Days of Thanksgiving", where members go to the temple in shifts doing various work and the temple has special hours where the open early and close late for the two days of this event. So, during RS a couple of weeks ago they passed around the time sheet for people to plan what they want to do and when, and I didn't even look at it before I passed it on to the next person because I figured with Kami, there'd be no way I could participate. Well, my Visiting Teaching companion saw me pass the time sheet on and offered to watch Kamden while I went to the temple! So, I'm going next thursday at 7:30 AM! I'm excited to go, but nervous with how Kami's going to be for Liz. I guess I shouldn't be. I won't be gone for that long and Liz is a very capable person. I'm sure they'll do fine.

That's about it from here! Things are going great and we're having fun here!

The Calling, The Photos and The Award Winning Chili!

Hey Everybody! I can hardly believe this week has gone by so quickly! Crazy how time can fly you by! Anyway, first and foremost......GO CARDS!!! Wahoo! They won the World Series last night beating Detroit 4 to 2! Too bad I fell asleep! Ooops! Yep, I'll admit it, I fell asleep at about the 7th inning. I told Drew to come and wake me up when the Cardinals got closer to winning, and I did recall him coming into our bedroom at one point in time telling me that they had scored another point, and I mumbled something like, "yeah! go cards!" Zzzzzzzzzzzzz! Oh well, what can ya do?

On another note, Drew and I got callings in our ward this week. Drew is the assistant Cub Master to the 2 Cubs we have in our ward (I guess they are combining with another ward) and I've been called to the Relief Society Board as....LOL...I can't even think about this without laughing.....The Birthday Card/Birthday Specialist! Ahahaha! Isn't that funny??? Of course I accepted the calling with a laugh and a "of course I'll do that!". To back up about a month ago, the Relief Society had asked the sisters at church if anybody would be willing to make birthday cards, to make them up and bring them in. So, I though that would be fun to make some up and it would be an easy, creative thing to do while tending to Kami. So, I did up about 25 or so and brought them to the RS President. Fast forward to this week and I've been called to to do that as an official calling!

ANYWAY, here are some pictures of Kami that I just got developed from my camera. Sorry it's pretty grainy. I think the film is bad. But, I thought they turned out pretty cute despite that. The first and third picture she's playing on her play mat. The middle picture is her in the bath. She's got a pretty bad case of "Cradle Cap", so I had put some Baby Oil on her head and we had fun playing with her hair in the bath!




So, our ward also had their Halloween Party last night and Drew and I (ahem, I) entered the White Chicken Chili in the Chili Contest and won 3rd Place! Not bad, considering there were about 15 pots of Chili on the table! Here's or ribbon to prove it:

Want the recipe? Here you go! It's actually originally derived from a Pampered Chef recipe, but I've made it so many times I put my own twists in now and then.

White Chicken Chili

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 3-4 pieces)
• 2 cans chicken broth
• 2 cans Northern White Beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 bottle Salsa Verde (I usually buy medium)
• 1 can green chilis (a small can will do), chopped
• 1/2 green pepper, chopped
• 4 corn tortillas (I like the "Mission" White Corn Tortillas), grated or broken into small pieces
• 1-2 cloves of garlic or 1-2 teaspoons of the bottled garlic
• ground cumin
• 1/2 onion (optional), chopped
• 1 bunch cilantro

Cut chicken into bite size pieces and mix with ground cumin, just until chicken is coated. Cook chicken in a pot. Add garlic, green pepper and green chilis (and optional onion). Saute with chicken. Next add beans and chicken broth. Mix well. Then add your grated tortillas, this will thicken the chili. Carefully add the greater part of your Salsa Verde (depending on how big the bottle is and how hot you want it, you can potentially add the whole bottle). Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the green pepper/onion are tender. Add in sniped cilantro to taste. Serve with tortilla chips! See? Very easy and award winning! ;^)

Copy Cat

So funny! Kamden is already starting to copy Drew and I! Her favorite thing to copy? Sticking her tongue out and spitting! In fact, she thinks it's so funny, that when we go to get her out of her cirb in the morning, she smiles at us and spits! What have we done? LOL!

Last night was a little rough. I'm not sure why. Kami had a hard time taking a nap yesterday and then had a little bit of a tough time getting to sleep last night. Then she woke up about midnight and I couldn't get her back to sleep until about 2AM. Then she woke up again about 6AM. At that time Drew was getting up to get ready for work, so I just brought her into bed with me. A couple times I found that she had rolled onto her tummy. So, we're going to work on getting our naps in today. I wonder if that had anything to do with the sleeping at night.

Not much else happening here. It's been getting pretty cold here in OKC. But, Kami and I did make it to the park by the lake last week. She absolutly LOVES being outside. And I think she really liked watching the older kids play. Speaking of, we went to our first play group last week, which was pretty fun. I think it was much more for me than it was for her though. It gave me a chance to get to know some of the other ladies in our ward here. And from that I was also invited to a girls night out the next night. So, it worked out well.

Working Out, Rolling Over and a Sunday Story!

Yesterday I went to the gym and took an aerobics class! Oh my! I haven't worked out in such a long time and felt like the biggest goof with my eyes glued to the instructor trying to do the moves! Not even half way through the class my face was bright red and I was exhausted! Thank goodness I'm resilient! But, I must say I was striped of pride and brought to total humility seeing old men twice my age in much better shape then me! Oh well, ya gotta start somewhere, right? It felt good to work out and have some time to myself without Kamden. Drew droped me off at the gym and took Kami grocery shopping. When class was over and I got back in the car, Drew told me that there were other husbands waiting in the parking lot for their wives. I laughed and said, "Yeah, it's all the other husbands who have to drop their wives at the gym to make sure they actually make it to the gym!" Were I to drive myself, the mall would have been a tempting deture!

Also, some fun news! Kami started rolling over from her back to her tummy last night! She'd been working on it for about a week now! We're so proud! Only problem is, she hasn't quite figured out how to go from tummy to back. So, she gets frustrated when she realizes she just gave herself tummy time. Then she gives you the look like, "What did you do that for, mom??"! Oh well, I'm sure she'll figure it out soon enough.

And as for my Sunday Story, this is par for the course for our ward here in OKC! The RS President announced during Relief Society that there was a new sister that just moved into the ward, who just had a baby and her husband is gone alot with the military. So, the RS President asked people to sign up to bring meals to this sister for the next couple of weeks. Knowing what it's like to be in her shoes, I waited for the sign up sheet to get around to me. By the end of RS it never made it my way. So, I approched the RS President after our meeting and inquired about the sign up sheet. She said she wasn't sure what happened to it and she'd ask the Compasionate Service person about it and get back to me. That night I got an email from our RS President. Apparently, the sign up sheet didn't even make it past the first row before it was full!! Crazy, huh? I've never been in a ward where you have to be the first one to sign up to provide service! I thought that was pretty great.

In other news, I listed my first item for sale on ebay! I've never done this before so I'm a little nervous. Which is why I've only listed ONE item. I'll see how things go with this one before I add more to ebay.

And here are some random pictures of Kami the last couple of days. The first one Drew was giving her "rides" around the apartment in a box. The second is the best of the attempted photo shoot I did for Kami's first halloween. She didn't cooperate very well yesterday, so I figure I'd try again another day and see if I can get any better!

Overdue Pictures

OK, here they are! FINALLY! We got the camera out from Drew's car, so here's some pictures of everyone while Rachel and Robert were in town.

It was a hot day in downtown OKC and Kami was tired.

Again, it was a hot day in downtown OKC and Kami was tired! LOL!

Charlotte lent Kami her ducky for the day at the Zoo.

Me and Kamden at the pool in our apartment complex.

Rachel, Charlotte, Kamden and me!

Kamden chillin' out with her Uncle Robert!

The Answer

Wow! Thanks Rachel! Here's what nationalgeographic.com has to say about Friday the 13th. Very interesting!

So how did Friday the 13th become such an unlucky day?

Dossey, also a folklore historian and author of Holiday Folklore, Phobias and Fun, said fear of Friday the 13th is rooted in ancient, separate bad-luck associations with the number 13 and the day Friday. The two unlucky entities ultimately combined to make one super unlucky day.
Dossey traces the fear of 13 to a Norse myth about 12 gods having a dinner party at Valhalla, their heaven. In walked the uninvited 13th guest, the mischievous Loki. Once there, Loki arranged for Hoder, the blind god of darkness, to shoot Balder the Beautiful, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow.

"Balder died and the whole Earth got dark. The whole Earth mourned. It was a bad, unlucky day," said Dossey. From that moment on, the number 13 has been considered ominous and foreboding.

There is also a biblical reference to the unlucky number 13. Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th guest to the Last Supper.

Meanwhile, in ancient Rome, witches reportedly gathered in groups of 12. The 13th was believed to be the devil.

Thomas Fernsler, an associate policy scientist in the Mathematics and Science Education Resource Center at the University of Delaware in Newark, said the number 13 suffers because of its position after 12.

According to Fernsler, numerologists consider 12 a "complete" number. There are 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, and 12 apostles of Jesus.

In exceeding 12 by 1, Fernsler said 13's association with bad luck "has to do with just being a little beyond completeness. The number becomes restless or squirmy."

[I found this the most interesting!] This fear of 13 is strong in today's world. According to Dossey, more than 80 percent of high-rises lack a 13th floor. Many airports skip the 13th gate. Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13.

On streets in Florence, Italy, the house between number 12 and 14 is addressed as 12 and a half. In France socialites known as the quatorziens (fourteeners) once made themselves available as 14th guests to keep a dinner party from an unlucky fate.

Many triskaidekaphobes, as those who fear the unlucky integer are known, point to the ill-fated mission to the moon, Apollo 13.

As for Friday, it is well known among Christians as the day Jesus was crucified. Some biblical scholars believe Eve tempted Adam with the forbidden fruit on Friday. Perhaps most significant is a belief that Abel was slain by Cain on Friday the 13th.

Freaky Friday

Ooooooh! I just realized what date it is! Spookey! I hope everyone has a lucky day, despite the unlucky date.

Hmmm, which makes me think, who made Friday the 13th a scary day anyway?

Las Vegas

Whew! Well, Kami and I just got back yesterday from Memory Trends in Las Vegas! We met up with my friend, Ann, who I used to work for at the Scrapbook Factory to see all the new scrapbook stuff coming out in the next months. It ended up being a fun and exciting show, but the trip began, well, interestingly.....

Kami and I were scheduled on a flight to Las Vegas from Monday to Thursday. So, naturally, Sunday I began to pack. After I was all packed and ready to go, I still had this feeling that something was missing or something (you know that feeling you get when you just know that you forgot to pack something, like your toothbrush or make-up or something). So, I went through my suitcase only to find everything there. So, still having this feeling I sat down on the couch with a concerned look on my face and voiced my concern to Drew. I just couldn't shake that feeling! So, I decided to call Ann, to see how packing was going for her. We had arranged our flights so that we would come into Las Vegas around the same time. I soon found out what the unsettling feeling feeling was.....Ann wasn't leaving until Tuesday!!! Somehow, when Drew and I booked the flight, we booked it for Monday! To change our flight to the Tuesday flight, it would cost us $300, so I had to put my "brave suit" on as Drew booked Kami and I a room at the Luxor to stay the day and night by ourselves in Las Vegas. My thought at this point was "what the heck am I going to do all day in Las Vegas with an infant!?!"

Fortunatly, there were a lot of really helpful people in Las Vegas, from the Taxi driver to the hotel employees to people just walking around. So, Kamden and I spend the day, resting, and taking a walk on the strip to look for CVS Pharmacy to pick up some teething gel and a camera!

The next morning we met up with Ann and went over to the Sands Convention Center to the show. It was so fun and exciting to see all the new products coming out. Lots of cute themed paper! It all made me want to go home and scrapbook right then!

So, it's good to be home. Even with the piles of laundry than I need to do! Yikes! I have nothing to wear! I do have some pictures to post on this blog, but the camera's in Drew's car. So, photos will have to wait. Sorry! I'll get them up soon!

Yummy!

Since I've been nursing Kami, I've been discovering the foods that do and do not upset her stomach. Chocolate and Ice-cream are among the few that make her mad. So, I've been looking for other alternatives to satisfy my sweet tooth and found this really good recipe in a BHG:Eat Magazine. I've made them a couple times and are among my favorite! Enjoy!

Spiced Apple Drops:
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 egg
1/4 cup apple juice or apple cider
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup finely chopped apple, peeled if desired
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheets. In a bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer for 30 seconds
2. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and cloves. Bean until combined. Beat in the egg and apple juice until combined. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour, apple and walnuts.
3. Drop dough by the rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on cookie sheet for about 1 minute. Transfer cookies to wire racks; cool completely. Spread with Apple Frosting.

Apple Frosting

In a medium mixing bowl, beat 4 cups powered sugar, 1/4 cup softened butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 4 to 5 tablespoons apple juice to make a frosting of spreading consistency.

Cold Season

Kamden caught her first cold this last week! Poor thing; I'm afraid that she's going to end up like me and catch every cold of the season! No fun. I haven't called the doctor yet. She seems to be handling it pretty well and I haven't detected any fever. Just a little sniffle and cough, mostly at night.

On a much happier note, we've been enjoying Rachel, Robert and Charlotte visiting us this week! We've been lots of places, including the National Cowboy Museum, Penn Square Mall, and Lake Hefner. We're heading to Guthrie tomorrow and downtown OK-City Friday! I can't believe how big Charlotte is getting! So cute! We're going to try and get pictures of Lotte and Kamden together! I'll post as soon as I get them.

New Beginnings

Welcome to my new blog! I've been wanting to create a personal family blog for a while now and now that I've figured out how to make a blog private, I thought I'd get this up and running!

So, if you are reading this, I welcome you! Here I'd like to post the latest and greatest happenings in our little family, so I hope you all check back often. Not too long ago I was explaining to one of my brothers that the internet is a great way for busy families and friends to keep connected. I rely heavily on it. So, this is yet another attempt to keep in touch with you all!

I hope you enjoy!

Jessica