Excited!

Because...I found out that my blog website is not blocked at work. I just thought I would give it a try. I'm tired of being sucked into reading ABCnews all day. That is pretty much the only website that works. But I'm glad I gave this one a shot. Now I can catch up on my sister's (April) blog and others. She's so faithful to blogging. It's just craziness.

New updates: Brent is doing better in school. He's learning how to manage his time. He was getting discouraged at the beginning of this semester because it was so difficult. He starts talking to me about his Engineering class and it sounds like Chinese to me. He starts talking about binary numbers and I'm just totally lost. He does cool things with voltages and stuff I don't understand. He works on a switch board, makes a light turn on and he is just so excited. I get happy for him too. But I don't exactly understand...

Autumn is doing pretty good. The little booger army crawls and rolls all over the place. She loves cheerios, pizza, mac n' cheese, and chicken nuggets. Yes...she is a normal kiddo. haha...ever since I changed her diet from baby food to adult food, she won't eat any fruits or veggies. Well, I did get some banana in her mouth the other day. But only because I ate half of it. I also made my own yogurt for her. (Thanks for the homemade baby food making book, Denny and Mom!) It was an apple and plum yogurt. So all I had to do was steam the apples and plums, mush them up and add plain yogurt. It was easy and she actually ate a little of it! My other attempt was a butternut squash pasta. That was a no go. One taste and her little nose scrunched up. I didn't think it was too bad though. Lacked a little flavor...

Autumn has two teeth on the bottom. But I can't stick my finger in her mouth to check on her other teeth anymore. She bites! And I mean hard! But I think she might look like a baby vampire because for some reason, those teeth look to be coming in first. Can't really tell though. Her first birthday is this Saturday and I'm so excited for all the family and friends coming to celebrate! My mommy and step-dad are driving in to town to help celebrate. This will be the first time since her birth that they will be able to hold her and play with her.

As for me...my life is pretty boring, but I love it! I work, go home and make dinner, play with my little lovey, and paint/watch TV once she goes to bed. My weekends are packed with the normal working mom stuff: grocery shopping, cleaning and playing some more with my little lovey. This is why I love my life. To keep it simple: my days are packed with work (not always fun), but my nights and weekends are packed with love (always fun)!

Wow...Long Time, No Post...

Well, time for an update! Not that many people pay attention to this blog, but I figured I should update those family members of ours that do.
After living in Calven's house (my brother-in-law) for 7 months, rent free...we're blessed...we found the place God wanted us. We are now living in a nice little mobile, better than an apartment. Brent's parents bought us this temporary home (for which we are forever grateful). We pay our lot rent and other such bills monthly. We love it! It has just the right amount of space. It's a 3 bedroom 2 bath. It has a laundry room and a nice kitchen. We are all moved in. Now we are in the process of sprucing it up a bit. It is 15 years old. And if you know anything about mobile homes, you know that they depreciate with time. So...we're taking this on! With modern funiture and bold paint/curtain colors this place is looking better all the time.
Our work so far (besides cleaning): ripped up carpet in laundry room/back door entry. It smelled like cat. Also ripped up the carpet in the master's closet because this is where the cat's litter box must have been. It smelled horrible. Put some stuff on the floor called Killz and it completely fixed the smell. New curtains hung in living room and bedrooms. Master bathroom is painted and beautiful bright blue! Now getting to work on our bedroom (Japanese theme) with the colors tan and orange. Excited!
That's our life for now...will post more later...hopefully!

Cupcake Pops/Bites and Cake Bites

This is the long awaited simple recipe for the lovely little things. Lol! Pictures!!! And here is how they work:

Ingredients:

1 boxed cake mix (chocolate or red velvet are best)

1 can cream cheese frosting
chocolate bark

vanilla chocolate bark

decorations (m&ms, chocolate chips, sprinkles, or whatever you please!)

Directions:

1. Bake cake according to directions on box. Allow to cool. Crumble the cake up. Add can of cream cheese frosting to the cake crumbles. Roll into balls (about a tablespoon big). I cooled the mixture before trying to roll it...made it easier. And rinse your hands often. That makes it easier too.

2. Chill in freezer or refrigerator (freezer if in a hurry). If making the cupcake shape there is an extra step. After chilling, roll into log shape and chill again for awhile. Take the log shape and push it into a small flower or star shaped cookie cutter. This gives it that muffin top/ridged look for the "cupcake liner."

3. Melt the chocolate bark according to directions on the bag. If making the cake bites, just roll it around in the chocolate. You can use your hand or a spoon. A spoon is a little less messy =) If doing the cupcake bites, dip the bottom half ("liner") into the chocolate bark. And chill before dipping the top into the vanilla chocolate bark.

4. For either the cake or cupcake bites, make sure to decorate as you go, before the chocolate/vanilla bark has time to set. If making pops, did one lollipop stick end into chocolate bark and poke the bite.

5. Serve chilled =)

Cinnamon Rolls

Thanks to a friend I've never met, http://lindsayelaineadams.blogspot.com/, I have an EXTREMELY tasty cinnamon roll recipe for you all. Unfortunately no picture...these guys are huge though! Bigger than cinnabon! Amazing for the tongue too =)

Ingredients:
4 1/2 tsp dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups warm water
1 tbsp salt
6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1/3 cup veggie oil

1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
4 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp cinnamon
(I didn't have enough cinnamon for both this and the delish cinnamon vanilla frosting so I subbed in some nutmeg. So awesome! I'm a sucker for nutmeg. I put in almost a full tsp. Took out a tsp of cinnamon to put towards my frosting.)

Butter

Directions:
1. Dissolve yeast and 1/3 cup sugar in warm water. Stir in salt and 2 cups flour. Beat mixture for 2 minutes. Beat in eggs and oil. Stir in the remaining flour a 1/2 cups at a time, beating while after each addition.
2. When dough has pulled together, turn out onto floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes.
Cover and let rise in warm place until about double in size (40 minutes). In another bowl mix 1/2 cup sugar with brown sugar and cinnamon (and possibly nutmeg).
3. Roll out dough into large rectangle. Somewhat melt a little butter (use your own descretion as to how much). Use your hands to spread the butter over all the dough. Sprinkle cinnamon mixture all over dough. Roll into a large log. Cut into inch thick slices. Place into greased baking dish.
4. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes, until golden.

Glaze:
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
2 1/2 to 3 tbsp milk

Directions:
1. Mix together powdered sugar and cinnamon. Add in vanilla. Add milk in a tbsp at a time. Be careful with how much you add! Too much will make the frosting super runny.
Frost these fresh out of the oven...so tasty! Enjoy peeps!

Too Cute Tuesday

Haven't done it in awhile and I should...cuz my daughter is just TOO CUTE!!! =)

School and Such

Brent found, what we believe, is the perfect school. It's online. He can earn his Associate's in Computer Science in about 2 1/2 years. It's called Devry University. It is pretty awesome. It is also pretty expensive. Well...not in comparison to some schools. But in comparison to what my education cost me...expensive. He applied to the school and tomorrow he finds out what the next steps are: financial assistance and signing up for classes. We are praying that somehow he gets some grants or scholarships. We already have the FAFSA ready to go. But it wouldn't be enough. Things will be tight. Thank the Lord that for now we are living in Calvin's (brother-in-law) house for free. But that's only until December, at the latest. A student loan may be necessary. It's awesome that I work at a credit union where I can get an oh-so-awesome deal on a loan, but...Oh!...all donations from parents are greatly appreciated. lol! Thought I would throw that out since almost all my parents read this blog. Just keep in mind: this is to better our lives and it's only for a season. =)
Anywho...my new job is going great! I've never had a job where I worked with so many other Christians. It is so encouraging! It will definately "keep me on my toes" when it comes to living out my faith. It seems easier to me to live out my faith when I'm the only Christian around. You just naturally stand out. But when other Christians are living their faith too...hard. I now have accountability to shine as bright as they do. Do ya'll understand what I'm saying? Maybe it's the opposite for you? Brent said it's the opposite for him. What do you guys think?

Angel Face

The new job is going great! It has definately been hard to be away from my sweet baby though. It was hard on her too. Last week she went 4 whole days without giving me a smile...just a grumpy face. Talk about hard on the heart! It broke mine. For the first couple of weeks, I cried every day I left. But how could I not? Have you seen that face?! Look up...adorable! So yes, I am a mother...I am hormonal...I cried. I still sometimes get teary. It's way easier now to leave her because I know she'll be with daddy all day. It really relieves stress. Not that I don't trust my sister or my father-in-law (babysitters for 2 weeks), but ya know...

So my little princess is growing! Although to a ton of people she still looks newborn. Nope! She is just long and thin...a model in the making. =) She also has such a little attitude sometimes! And she knows it...but it is totally cute at the same time. Here's a picture painted for you: she's mad, doesn't want to smile, but we tickle her...so she squeals a little and stuffs her smiling face into her washcloth (which is her fav toy, btw) so we can't see her smile. What a stinker!

She's also a blabber mouth, which comes from both Brent and me for sure...no hope there.

So Brent is currently in search of the best school he can find. If he can't find it this semester, CNM is it. But he's hoping to find an online school. Pray with us on this one. We really don't want to send Autumn to daycare. It really well...it's not an option. I don't want it to be anyways. I really don't like daycares. And for those of you who think it's my germaphobia talking...no. It's the fact that I think a baby needs to be held by her parents more than just a hour a day. I think that the ratio of sitter to baby is horrible in daycares...not enough people to give enough love to the little guys. Anywho...so we need prayer that he'll find the right school so he can stay home with Autumn and do school at the same time. =)

Well...that's my update! Enjoy all! haha!