One Fabulous Weekend

Guess who decided this weekend that she was done wearing diapers?

She went two days with underpants all day long and only had two accidents, both of which were on the bathroom floor as she was trying to get herself undressed to go potty.  I'm so proud of her!

True story - this is what I saw when I opened the bathroom door on Friday morning.

Saturday morning we went to the Discovery Center.  It was Katie's first trip, and she loved it.  We renewed our membership, and Chris is going to start taking Jack and Katie to the classes during the week on the days they don't have school.

I love to see how exciting everything is for Katie as she tries it for the first time.  The smallest things, that we totally take for granted, are so interesting and new for her.  

And she wore her big girl underpants here without an accident and used the big potty.  

She did so, so great!

David was o.b.s.e.s.s.e.d. with this snake.

It was a ball python and I wanted to puke.

The boy who volunteers there (and somehow ended up as the freaking snake whisperer?!) was so great and patient with David.  

To say that David loved the thing would be a gross understatement.  We spent more time with Billie the snake than anything else.

And, of course, the first thing he said in the car was, "I want a SNAKE for Christmas!"  

Uh, no.

And the snake boy who works there later found out he wasn't supposed to let anyone else hold the snake....I hope he didn't get in trouble, because he was fantastic with the kids and very careful, and David will seriously talk about this experience for years.  And that is not an exaggeration.

Yes, he seriously did this.  

And loved it.

I even held it....I wanted to show David that even if something makes you nervous you should try.  

I hated every.second. of it.

After the Discovery Center, we went to Toots for lunch.  The boys love it there, and have been asking for months to go.  We introduced Katie to fried pickles and she loved them.  

After Toots, we went to WalMart.  Where we seriously saw this woman.  Yes, those are rollers in her hair.  And yes, I blurred her face.  Because I don't want her to sue me if she reads my blog.... Although she doesn't strike me as a blogger.

Here's a funny thing that happened in WalMart. . . Chris was waiting in the car with the boys while I ran in.  And by running in, I mean I was in there for probably 45 minutes.  So I was checking out in the vision center (buying Katie a Hello Kitty glasses case and a strap for her glasses) and my phone rang.  It was Chris, but I didn't answer because I was talking to the cashier.  Who, by the way, was so unfriendly and acted like she hated her life working at WalMart on a Saturday afternoon having to deal with my question about whether the strap they had was the only option for children.  Then Chris sent me a text message that said, "Hey".  That was it.  Uh, hey yourself.  So I called him back, knowing he was in the parking lot.  I figured he wanted a Sprite or something.  Yes, that is seriously our life.  Oh no, not a Sprite.  He said, "Hey, while you're in there will you get a little gas can?"  I said, "Sure, but don't you have one of those at home for the lawnmower?"  His reply was, "Yes, but I need it now.  We just ran out of gas.  In the parking lot."  I'd like to note, I'm literally cracking up laughing as I type this. It's still hilarious to me!  You see, Chris got a notice to renew his license (ahem, in August) that he has put on the instrument panel of the car.  You know, as a reminder.  Well, it seems that little paper covers the gas gauge.  And we ran out of gas in the WalMart parking lot.  Which, I have to say, I find the WalMart parking lot to the the ideal place to run out of gas.  There's a gas station there!  Because I promise you, had that happened on the road somewhere, Mama would not be laughing about it.  At all. Ever.

Our weather this weekend was ideal.  And is clearly supposed to be for the next week.  We've had our windows open downstairs for the whole weekend and have slept with them open, which I LOVE.  (I don't love it when I hear my trashy neighbor revving the engine on his car constantly, but there are tradeoffs to everything people.)  We went for a bike ride yesterday, and Katie rode in the trailer for the first time.  She loved it!  We're going to take advantage of the weather this week and go on more rides.  We don't have a great neighborhood for riding, so I may take the boys to the park to ride there.

We did some baking.  And yes, my children are most often found running around our house in their undies.  What?  You don't do that at your house?  Saturday we made apple crisp.  Jack and Katie are quite the helpers in the kitchen.

This was Jack's reaction when he realized it had no chocolate. 

Sunday we made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, which were more like blobs than cookies.  We'll have to revisit that recipe and try again.  Henry said, "These smell disgusting, but taste great!"  Um, thanks?  

I hope your weekend was as great as our's!

Wordless Wednesday {the self portrait edition}

Rich Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake

I am the designated birthday cake maker around these parts.  

When it's your birthday, you get to choose whatever kind of cake you want.  I do it for our family and for the people at my office.  (And someone told me yesterday she knows what kind of cupcakes she wants next. . . for her birthday in May.)  

My sister's birthday celebration was last weekend, and she chose chocolate peanut butter cheesecake.  Yes, please.

This is not a complicated recipe, although it does have several steps.  It is a very rich cheesecake, and definitely is a recipe I will use again!

Cheesecake Ingredients:

16 Oreos

1/2 stick of melted butter

2 pounds cream cheese at room temperature

5 eggs at room temperature

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup peanut butter (Real peanut butter - not low fat.  Trust me.)

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 T vanilla

1 bag of mini peanut butter cups

Topping Ingredients:

1/4 cup peanut butter

6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (pieces or chocolate chips - either is fine)

3/4 cup, plus one tablespoon heavy cream

15-20 mini peanut butter cups

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put your 15-20 mini peanut butter cups for the topping in the refrigerator or freezer.  (This will help later when you have to peel the wrappers off.)  Grease a 9" spring-form pan.  

2. Crush Oreos and mix with 1/2 stick of melted butter.  Press this into the bottom and slightly up the sides of your pan; this will be your crust.  Bake crust for 15 minutes.  While it's baking, roughly chop and set aside the mini peanut butter cups that you did not refrigerate.

3. Beat cream cheese with a stand mixer or electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs one at a time to cream cheese mixture. Beat well, then add sugar, peanut butter and cream until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour half of the cheesecake mixture into the pan. Layer with chopped up peanut butter cups, then top with the remaining cheesecake mixture.

4. Turn oven down to 325. Bake for 1-1/2 hours in oven. (If you are able, place your spring-form pan inside a larger pan and fill the larger pan halfway with water to create a water bath for your cheesecake.  This will allow your cheesecake to cook more slowly and evenly.  If you can't do that, it's still OK!)  When done, the sides of your cheesecake should be firm, but the center may wiggle slightly.  It should not look like liquid.  The top and/or center may have cracked a bit. The center is the last part to finish, so sort of jiggle your pan to see if it's pretty solid.  If you use a tester in your cheesecake, it should come out with solid pieces of cake, not runny liquid.  Once done, let your cheesecake cool for about 15 minutes, then refrigerate for several hours.

5.  Remove the wrapping from your refrigerated mini peanut butter cups and set the unwrapped cups aside.  Melt your chocolate pieces in the microwave or double boiler.  Once melted, cool for five minutes, then mix with 3/4 cup of cream to make a homemade hot fudge sauce.  Pour this mixture over the top of your cheesecake, while it is still in the pan.  Gently press the peanut butter cups into the topping around the edges of your cake.  Refrigerate for about 30 minutes to chill the chocolate and set the cups.

6. Place peanut butter and 1 T of whipping cream in microwave for 1-2 minutes, enough to create a runny consistency. Place in piping bag and swirl onto top of chocolate topping on cheesecake or use a spoon to drizzle it across the top of the cheesecake.

7.  Refrigerate until about 1 hour before you are ready to serve.  To remove it from the pan, run a large knife under some hot water and carefully slide it around the inside of the pan.  Release the spring-form, and the cheesecake should come right out.  ENJOY!!

The 30th Birthday Surprise

My sister Vanessa turned thirty last week.  

A few months ago I started thinking about what I could do for her 30th birthday to make it special.  

One part of it involved me bringing these four monkeys to the Nashville airport at 9:00 at night on Saturday while Chris was out with his friend watching football.  You know if these children are out at the airport two hours past their bedtime, it's for a good reason!

We waited for a little while, and then Ms. Abby arrived!  Vanessa's absolute best friend, since she was about four years old, flew down for the weekend to surprise her.  And we actually pulled it off!  She was surprised!

But there were more surprises to come.

Katie worked hard on a painting for Auntie Nessa.

My mini-me and I worked on another part of Vanessa's surprise, along with the help of several other people.  Like, 28 other people.

I made a chocolate peanut butter cheesecake that, if I say so myself, was divine.  

We got our last swim of the year in.  Katie did FANTASTIC with just a lifejacket.  She was a bit apprehensive at first, but she was kicking those sticks (as Chris calls them) in no time, "racing" Henry across the pool.  (As Henry pointed out, "I'm just doing a light jog and she is kicking as fast as she can! She's trying so hard.  I'm so proud of her, I'll let her win.  This time.")

Finally, it was present time!

Katie wondered what everyone was so excited about.

Vanessa did too.  I completely thought she knew about our surprise.

For her 30th birthday, I had thirty of Vanessa's friends and family members write notes, cards, or letters to her to wish her a happy birthday and share their favorite memories of Vanessa.  I put them all in envelopes, numbered them from one through thirty and wrapped them up.  I put my letter first, and in that I explained the gift.  She was totally surprised!

The notes were sweet, funny, thoughtful, and perfect.  I am so thankful to everyone who participated and helped me do it, because she seemed to really like it!

Happy 30th Birthday Vanessa!

Cleveland Trip, Day 3 and 4

After our trip to the zoo on Sunday, we headed to Fairport Harbor Lakefront Park Beach.

The kids have been asking all summer to go to the beach.  We don't have a "beach" near us, and a trip to the ocean was not in our budget or in my vacation time budget at work (which I have clearly exhausted with three trips to Russia in 90 days).  

This beach on Lake Erie was fabulous!!  It was $3 to park, and that was it.  The beach was really clean, and it was so much fun.  

Katie absolutely loved it.  The water was very shallow in the swimming area, so she was able to splash around and play in a huge area without us worrying about her.  

All of the kids absolutely loved it.  Jack really didn't need his lifejacket, but it made me feel better for him to have it on.

The water was a bit chilly, but that didn't slow the kids down at all.  There were several people at the beach, but it is large enough that it didn't feel crowded.

This little girl is a beach girl!

I'd never been to any of the great lakes before - Lake Erie is enormous.  I know that sounds ridiculous, but it was seriously huge.

My tiniest fish was in heaven.

Chris was a little nervous with the kids in the water, but they did so great.

David was so happy there, and he has told everyone since we came home, "We went to the beach and I liked it very, very much."

Katie was very interested in the lifeguard kayak.  All of the kids were, and Jack asked me to ask if "we can borrow the lifeguard boat."  

David led this group of kids in making some huge sandcastle business.  He was clearly the bossiest child there leader of the group, and they all played together for quite a while.

Little Lady K was pooped after the zoo and the beach!  She promptly fell asleep in her seat.

We had room service for dinner on our last night, and the kids loved that "the man" brought the food!  To our room!  They were completely amazed by that.  

We got up early the next morning and had breakfast and headed out to come home.  We stopped just outside of Columbus for lunch.  

Do you recognize where this lunch might be from?  IKEA!!  The boys were thrilled to go play in the kids' play area for a little while, and Chris, Katie and I all walked around the store.  It was our least expensive trip to IKEA ever, and I bought two candles, a doll for Katie, and a set of white dishes.

Katie's favorite part of the store was the hand dryer in the bathroom.

She also really enjoyed the ginger snaps (which I swear were the same exact cookies we had at her orphanage in Russia) and the chocolate we got.  She was in a little European food heaven.

Our ride home was not as relaxed and well behaved as our ride there.  The kids were, overall, really great in the car though.

When it got dark we busted out some glow sticks!

The kids l.o.v.e.d. using them in the car.  I can only imagine what people driving by us thought.  I felt like I was at a rave.  (Not, PS. that I've ever been to a rave....)

We had a fantastic weekend away, but we were happy to come home and see the Nashville lights too!