Spring colors

Happy Spring to you all.

We didn't know our front tree had lavender flowers in the spring. The picture doesn't do it justice. It is a beautiful little tree and our lawn is bright green (with a few spots needing extra care). This area is beautiful in the spring.

We just had a visit from Memom and Papa, celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary, ended the 3rd quarter grading period at school and are planning a big home renovation project.

The best part of Memom and Papa's visit for me is watching the girls with them. Sarah was so excited when they pulled in, she ran out the front door yelling to them as they were getting out of the truck. I think that kicked off a great visit. The big girls still had school, but we enjoyed our afternoons and the weekend with them.

Mom and Dad were able to see the big girls in gymnastics and listen to them read. Meghan and Memom talked about good books to read too.

Rob and I got a date in on friday to celebrate our anniversary.

We had beautiful weather up until friday, so we played outside and grilled out.

Rainbow cupcakes

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

I decided to celebrate by baking rainbow cupcakes.

I split up the batter to make all the colors.

I filled the holders too full, but no one will complain about the extra large cupcakes.

Not too bad for my first try. They are moist and delicious.

My taste testers loved them!

Sunshine and fun

We had a beautiful sunny Sunday.

The girls spent most of the afternoon outside playing and having fun.

Meghan and Jenna had to break out shorts in the afternoon because they said they were hot. They were "shorty shorts"....so it looks like I will be going through summer clothes soon.

Meghan worked on her weekend homework outside before she played.

Spring is in the air

Sissy is really enjoying the warmer weather and sunshine.

Sweet Potato muffins

I have always enjoyed cooking. Recently I have become more interested in it and LOVE to try new recipes.

I have a very large bucket of sweet potatoes and I have tried a few recipes with them, but I'm the only fan of them.

The girls will get sweet potato bread but I wanted something lighter and more like a snack food for them.

Yesterday I found a sweet potato muffin recipe and decided to give it a try.

I found the recipe on allrecipes.com and changed a few things with it.

I have to say grating sweet potatoes is a pretty good workout.

I was hoping the girls would like them but I could have eaten them all if they didn't!

They were a huge hit and I love that there is some healthy about them too!

Ingredients

• 1 1/8 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups peeled, shredded sweet potato
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 cup walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease muffin tins to hold 12 muffins.
2. Whisk together brown sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs in a small bowl.
3. Mix together the flour, baking powder, spices, salt, and grated sweet potatoes in a large bowl. Make a well in the center, and pour in the egg mixture. Stir the egg mixture, gradually incorporating it with the flour mixture. Stir in the raisins and walnuts
4. Spoon the batter into the tins. I like to fill each tin to the rim to make a large cap. Bake the muffins for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Take the muffins out of the oven and run a paring knife carefully around each muffin, then invert the pan, and knock one edge against your work surface to release the muffins. Serve the muffins right away.

** I increased the cook time to 40 minutes. I omitted the nuts and included semi-sweet chocolate chips and used Kosher salt (not regular salt). I should have squeezed some of the liquid out of the grated sweet potato, and that could have kept the bake time around 30 minutes.

These will be made again and again!

Terrible Twos

We have not had to experience the "terrible twos" with the two big girls...and boy am I thankful for that.

Sarah is showing us what the terrible twos is about.

I have cherished all the milestones with all my girls and I love that all three are so different. Sarah is the most curious and that causes some problems for her...and us. She is like a spring storm...beautiful to watch and I know that some of the things she is trying to do is preparing her to grow up...but if you are not careful a little tornado will pop up and she leaves a path of destruction.

Just this morning she broke a DVD and used half a tube of lotion on her hands and the floor. I don't leave her alone but sometimes it happens. I try to have her in the same room with me, but sometimes she takes off and it takes me a few minutes to find her and catch her getting into something.

She is a super smart little girls and is so fun to hang out with.

She loves to go to see Missy at "durch and have nonuts"!

For those needing translation....she loves eating donuts at church!haha

She has started asking "Hey Mom, whatcha doing?"....or will say.."Hey Dad, what is Mom doing?"

She asks lot's of questions and is a girl who knows what she wants!

She is Jenna and Meghan's biggest fan.

We get this cute little frown from time to time.

I think being two is just as hard on the parents as it is for the child!

Birthday

Happy Birthday to my babies' Daddy!

The love of my life.

My best friend.

My babies' Daddy with our youngest baby.