Friday, March 16, 2012
Welcome back!
As for our family a LOT has happened since the last post. We added a new little nugget to our family. Ella Teresa was born on April 20th and will be turning ONE next month. I'm in a small bit of denial but coping. lol I love the amount of girliness she has brought out in me. I find myself making bows for her headbands, playing dress up with a little human doll and figuring out that hair product isn't just for the big girls. It's so much fun to see part of me in her. I look at my baby pictures and it's slightly startling to see such a resemblance. LOVE IT!
We bought our first home after James' promotion out in Wolf Point, MT. It's a ity bity town of 3500 people. I know, I know, everyone who really knows me is wondering "WHAT THE...?" Well life has it's twists and turns and here we are in this curve ball...hahahaha.. bad analogy but still you get the point. I am happy to have a home for our family and to have the ability and means to work from home doing graphic design and still get time with my kiddos. I like that I don't miss out on any of their accomplishments and we have a great time together.
Jayden will be turning 4 in June and well the denial continues... lol He is LOVING all the room in the new house and definitely utilizing the backyard. He has a great ambition to learn about anything and everything including his Dad's job. He already wants to learn to "push all those buttons for the trucks" and is constantly asking me when we can go visit Dad at work. He's beginning to read small words and sounding out more and more letters. His time at Little Miracles definitely gave him a great jump on his education.
There is a lot of unpacking yet to be done as well as painting and rearranging. But we are enjoying opening each box like a christmas present. Who knows what's in it. lol
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
HELP STEVE & NIKKI
They need your help now more than ever! If anyone has ever been in the hospital for even a day or two you know that those bills aren't cheap. We are giving our every effort to help them out as much as we can!
Here are a few ways YOU can help too!
- Send an email to others in your address book. Feel free to copy and paste this sample email text to help you craft the email you send.
- If you received an email from us inviting you to donate, simply forward that email to others in your address book.
- Send an email and include this Website address: http://HelpSteveAndNikki.com.
- Include a link to this website on your Facebook page: http://HelpSteveAndNikki.com.
- Send a "Tweet" via Twitter about this Website.
- Include this Website in any blogs or forums you participate in.
- Go to http://www.aizadesigns.com/HS&N_shirts.htm and purchase a shirt or bracelet
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Just a fabulous trip down memory lane
MARINARA RECIPE!!!
BUCA'S MARINARA SAUCE
1/4 C olive oil
1 medium red onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 28oz cans crushed tomatoes
salt to taste
3 T fresh chopped basil
Directions:
Heat olive oil over medium heat inside LARGE saucepan...or even a smallish stockpot (if you need to know how large of a saucepan you will need, pay close attention to the 52oz of crushed tomatoes that you will be adding!!!!!). Saute the garlic and onion in olive oil for 8-10 minutes. Add tomatoes and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to low and cook for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and add fresh basil before serving.
Note: If you like sweeter sauce you can add 1-2 teaspoons of white sugar.
I am making this for dinner and I can't hardly wait. I am trying a new dough recipe to make killer garlic cheese breadsticks so we shall see how that goes, there may be a post later.
Cooking Fiend
so far I have made 3 successful items: Raspberry Torte, Belgian Waffles, & Key Lime Pie.
The recipes were fairly easy and I was able to use what I had in our pantry to accomplish all three of them!
Here is the end result:
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3 cups Bisquick Mix
1 box (3oz) Cook and Serve Vanilla Pudding
2 TBsp Olive Oil
1 Egg
Combine bisquick and dry vanilla pudding mix. Add oil and egg. Stir until well blended. Cook in your favorite waffle maker! I added craisins and grapes for the topping and used Agave for the syrup to make them a little healthier.
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 9-inch round cake pan; line bottom with wax paper. Microwave 4 squares of the chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1-1/2 to 2 min. or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring after 1 min. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Stir dry gelatin mix and sugar into chocolate until well blended. Mix in eggs. Stir in flour and pecans/coconut until well blended. Pour into prepared pan.
BAKE 40 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. (Do not overbake.) Cool in pan 5 min. Run small knife around side of pan to loosen edge. Invert onto serving platter; remove wax paper. Cool cake completely.
MELT 4 squares of the remaining chocolate in microwave on HIGH 1-1/2 min. or until melted, stirring after 1 min. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Spread on wax paper-covered baking sheet; refrigerate 30 min.(I combined some coconut in this to give it a little more texture)
MEANWHILE, melt remaining 4 squares chocolate in microwavable bowl on HIGH 1-1/2 min. or until melted, stirring after 1 min. Stir until chocolate is completely melted; stir in whipped topping until smooth. Frost cake with whipped chocolate mixture.
REMOVE chocolate on baking sheet from refrigerator; using sharp knife, cut into 1-1/2- to 2-inch irregular-shaped pieces. Remove chocolate pieces from wax paper; arrange on top of cake. Store cake in refrigerator.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggeIR8G1_fkBxk2FHn9xxYeFW7WsF-t2Z0duSkv8gNMUm69-Lwvmw0ii0j2n3HATOhYpNYTaCPxa0635rXlBB5FGHf-NuJqMH9SQ1Bcz41lY_wvcN-h623902WIBZP6M_6YBgXL01YiDc/s320/DSCN0798.jpg)
Graham Crust (you can also buy this premade)
1 1/2 cups Fine Graham Crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
6 TBsp Butter
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
Combine all ingredients until well blended. Press into 9" pie tin. Cook at 375 for 7 min or until slightly browned. Cool completely.
Whipped Topping (you can also use an 8oz tub of thawed Cool Whip)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
6 TBsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
Place whipped topping in freezer for about 10 min before starting. Beat until desired fluffyness then add sugar one TBsp at a time along with vanilla.
Pie Filling
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 cup lime juice (fresh is best, about 4 medium limes, I used the Real Lime Juice)
2 cups whipped topping (or thawed Cool Whip)
Combine sweetened condensed milk and lime juice and beat for 5 minutes in high. Pour into pie tin with cooked crust. Add whipped topping on top of pie filling and refrigerate for 2 hours. I broke up graham crackers in odd shapes and made them as decorations. I also sprinkled some graham crumbs on top.
So far both Jayden and James have enjoyed these items :) Good luck and happy cooking!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
reversed everything!
I have been lucky enough to not have full blown nausea but on occasion I have a pretty sickening feeling and have to lay down for a bit to recover. I've noticed that It's not a hard thing to keep things down, it's being able to eat in the first place without wanting to hurl. Which makes things really hard. I try to eat at much as I can to be able to work my full shift but most the time it hasn't been working so well. I'm usually incredibly hungry once I get home. One thing's for sure, I've had full blown headaches every day starting at around 2pm till I go to bed. It's hard cause normally I've not been fond of taking any type of medicine unless it's absolutely necessary. So now I really won't take any medication even thought the doctor gave me a list of safe medicines. I figure if I can stand it and be ok I'd rather not take anything and stay as healthy as possible!
Other than that so far things have been amazing! Not really showing at all yer since we're only 6 weeks in... But on October 7th we will be able to hear the heartbeat for the first time and we're both uber excited!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
I know I know!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5xBrw7tdeIv7l6cs0TwYsVNE6EOBDibvLT8agqzhxESDi0kItIFJTVRtrjYvbs9DmoXBbQBv1GbPTG4JzazWxuZUe2mStW2Ztsete1qzCnmoucWta6UYIuh3k4fnGsCKNRAHYU4gjLSM/s320/DSCN0588.jpg)
SO there is a lot to update since my last post so I'll try my best to capture it all in this post. First of all we have just moved to Grand Forks, ND. James is ina manager training program with Cenex Harvest States for the next year.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCJhGE25tI0HlLxBaEEjXVD-aZHVUL8xbGhJzUUsXuXyDbxwpQMqyMClAENsVOMalvOl8a2YLrp7uNYzqYvYsT8raCOXVuzurkGhCGNtgeRXPL0Gl6ZnWCVmfHCd8UUNdQXYIf8Rvulwo/s320/DSCN0607.jpg)
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As for me I just got hired at Starbucks and start on Wednesday with my training. It will be nice to have a second income for our family. Especially since we will be a family of 4 soon. That's pretty much all I will say on that one. Let's just say April will be a very happy month!
Jayden is loving his daycare. We call is school because it pretty much is. He is learning all his colors, letters, and comes home with more and more amazing vocabulary. The 2 and 3 year olds are being prepared for kindergarten which makes me very happy! Jayden loves his friends and all his teachers. He is super excited to go every day which makes it so much easier to leave him there.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCRBpAWEjEH2qvaDOHhaZ1zL-CeZxorZlR1yDcuVytzgcaZYatXc_TZf8xPeWDQFXe-tjx7ULg2ulo45UFlK9eq5REX7HEvxlMHiLyj1xKBOLblT7NWRSmwr3KmxNuDDtZOrDO99-Nj7g/s320/little+miracels+school.jpg)
Other than that we are just sitting pretty for the next year. James will be done with his training program, I will have my bachelors and we will be married around this time next year. So that's the update for now!
Monday, August 23, 2010
The things my son says...
Today the question was "Jayden do you want a brother or a sister?"
Jayden's answer "uh.. .I want a brother, a sister in a minute."
Then the next day I asked him the same question.
Jayden's answer this time "uh, I think I want a sister first."
So I asked him what his sister's name should be
Jayden's answer "name her Oddie"
my conclusion: He watches too much Garfield and he doesn't understand he can't just get a sibling "in a minute"