Vacation home

Thanks to Wm Rowe

My husband and I recently bought a vacation home on the lake a couple hours from where we live. We wanted to make sure it had all the conveniences of our everyday home so when we went there for the weekend or even for a month or two in the summer we would still feel at home. We set up our internet through http://www.wildbluedeals.com/ so that my husband could still work from the lake house. That way we could stay longer each time and not have to worry about rushing home so he could get to work. Most of the time when we are there, I spend a lot of time reading out on the dock in the sun. I love to be outdoors, and the second story of the dock is the perfect place since we furnished it with nice lounge chairs to hang out on. There is a covered area that we put in a stereo system so we can have music when we entertain. And there is even an area that has a great grill. It is almost like an outdoor kitchen. I would absolutely love to retire here one day.

Quick Cinnamon Rolls {from scratch}

Yesterday morning I got up early and made cinnamon rolls for my family for breakfast. Normally cinnamon rolls in our house come from a can. However, I found this great recipe HERE that is super easy, delicious and takes less than an hour! The recipe doesn't have any yeast so you don't have to let the dough rise.I've included the recipe below but I made a few changes to the glaze. The original recipe was extremely thin so it just soaked into the rolls. I like mine to be frosted. Next time I think I'll even try a cream cheese frosting for them. Yum!

 Above is what they looked like when they were finished.
And below is what they looked like after my family got ahold of them.

I'm telling you. They are yummy!

Quick Cinnamon Rolls

Dough

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup milk

Filling

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon

Glaze

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup milk (I would only add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you get the desired consistency)

Directions:

1. For the filling, in a small bowl combine softened butter, brown sugar and cinnamon to form a crumbly mixture
2. Sprinkle 1/2 of the mixture over the bottom of a 9x9 pan.
3. In a large bowl mix together the dry ingreidants (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt).
4. Cut in softened butter (I used my hands).
5. Stir in milk to form a soft dough.
6. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.
7. Spread the remaining filling on the rolled out dough.
8. Roll up the rectangle going across the short side so that you have a long log. With a sharp knife slice into 18 small rolls (12 if you want them a little bigger which is what I did).
9.  Bake for 20-25 min at 400°F.
10. For glaze, combine powdered sugar and milk in a small bowl and stir until smooth

   11. Once rolls are finished, drizzle on glaze and serve warm.

Enjoy!

30 Day Photography Challenge {day 8-11}

Day 8: A bad habit

My almost 3 year old tends to throw fits whenever he doesn't get his way. It's pretty pathetic.

Day 9: Someone you love

My incredible husband. He doesn't like having his picture taken and said "Why don't you just take one of the boys?" My response? "Because I take pictures of them all the time." Geesh.

Day 10: Childhood Memory

I kind of posted about this earlier, but this is my necklace that I wear pretty much all the time. When I was 4 years old I had a brain tumor and while I was in the hospital my dad called Bishop Gerber to come see me. The Bishop brought me this miraculous medal that had been blessed by the Pope. When I was little I was only allowed to wear it to church on Sundays. By 7th grade it was a daily accessory.

Day 11: Something Blue

Collin's car he got from the treasure box at school. He was very proud of himself for putting the stickers on all by himself.

Next up a sunset. Too bad you can't see it from our house because of the trees and other houses. That one might have to wait...

30 Day Photography Challenge {day 2-7}

Day 2: What you wore today

It was a lazy Friday (the 13th) so I wore sweats and my long sleeved WSU shirt. I always wear socks because my feet are always cold, and my necklace is an every day accessory. It was given to me by Bishop Gerber after I had a brain tumor removed when I was 4 and has been blessed by Pope John Paul II.

Day 3: Clouds

This challenge was difficult for me. From our house there isn't a lot of open sky, lots of trees in the way, and I don't have fancy camera lenses. I'll have to work on my cloud pictures in the future.

Day 4: Something Green

 a laundry basket





a wash rag

I had a hard time finding something green.

Day 5: From a high angle

little man all dressed for church

Day 6: From a low angle

 Like the drool all over his face? That is what a child who just enjoyed a cinnamon roll looks like.

This one doesn't show the angle as much, but I adore this picture. He had to have 2 puppies to snuggle with.

Day 7: Fruit

Tomorrow's challenge is to photograph a bad habit. I'm not sure wha I'll be taking a picture of yet.



edited

I submitted a phot of my boys to a blog for photo editing. You can view it here. She does link up parties every month to give people a chance to have a photo edited by her. Someday I'll be able to do it all by myself, but for now it was fun to see what someone else did with it.

photo editing

I've been having fun attempting to edit photos. All I have right now is Picasa and Picnik (and Gimp which I can't figure out). So here is a before and after picture of Dylan at about 6 months old.

Isn't he sweet?

30 day photography challenge

I got the idea to do the 30 day photography challenge from my friend Marie, over at The "Linc Between Us.
I got a new camera a few months ago and love taking pictures of my boys, but this challenge will help me to broaden my photographic horizons. It's about time I learn how to really use my camera.


So here is day 1: self-portrait

Like Marie, I probably won't post every day, but may post a few days in one.
Who else would like to join us on this journey?

new hair

Okay so this was just before Christmas, but I'm a little behind.
Dylan got another hair cut, and I must say, he looks adorable.

before

 after

with a little gel

Now I just have to figure out the scissor cut on my own. I'm not ready to buzz cut his hair yet. It's still so baby soft.

I adore

I adore these munchkins.

I am amazed every day at just ho much I love them. Who knew one person could be filled with so much love?

New Year's Party Berry Style

So I posted the other day about my goals for the new year, but I forgot to tell you what we actually did to celelbrate the coming of the new year.

Most years we attend a party at some friends' house. It's always good to see everyone and hang out, but this year we decided we wanted something low key with just our family (we did a lot of running around over break).

A couple days before Ronan and I went through my appetizer cook book to pick out some delicous snacks for our evening. We decided that instead of having an actual dinner we would just snack all evening. Healthy I know, but it's one a year.

For our menu Ronan chose:

Chickan Kabobs - chicken with mushrooms and onion and a soy sauce mixture 

Crackers, cheese and sausage (we got a delicious box of the Hickory Farms stuff from some good friends for Christmas, and when they were 50% off we bought another)

 Cracker spread (this is so addictive!)

 And in the crockpot I made BBQ smokies with a pepperoni and a meatball. Delicous!

 The boys enjoyed having a picnic on the floor while watching Smurfs

Then they snuggled in their sleeping bags and watched Kung Fu Panda 2.

 (We used left over pirate plates from Collin's 4th Birthday.)

It was nice to stay at home and have fun with the boys. After they went to bed Dan and I watched a couple more movies and come midnight I was half asleep and didn't even care to open the champagne! Oh well.



Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from my family to yours!

It is hard to believe that yet another year has passed by us so quickly. If it had been like any other year we would have another baby on the way already (or actually here already) but hooray for us! We finally figured this NFP thing out! We would love to have another beautiful baby to add to our berry bunch, but for right now, our 3 beautiful boys are just enough for us.
I have always found in the past the New Year's resolutions are a waste of time. Mostly because I know in from the start that I'm not going to follow through with it. Just like every year this year I swear I'm actually going to esablish and maintain a workout routine (I'm not getting any younger and my metabolism won't last forever). But this year I'm also going to work really hard on finding a better balance between family and "work". And by work I mean all the crafting that I do and love that makes me little to no money.
There are days I feel I have absolutely no time to work on the many project piled up on my desk, and other days when I feel like I spend too much time on my projects, and not enough time with my children. This year I am going to create a schedule for myself to make sure that first and formost my children are getting all the love and attention that they deserve, but also that I have time to sew and crochet and keep the house somewhat organized. I know that creating an effective schedule will take some time, but to be the kind of mommy I want to be, and the kind of mommy that my boys deserve, I know that a balance must be obtained.
What resoutions do you have for the new year?