Pinetop Weekend

I failed in the picture taking department this weekend. This is the only picture I took and it's sort of blurry...

Despite the lack of pictures, we had a great weekend up in Pinetop. George's sister Marie was at a week-long camp near Pinetop that ended on Friday. Since Paul and Anna had to pick up Marie on Friday, we all decided to escape the heat for the weekend. We picked a great weekend to do that because it was our first weekend of brutal heat in Phoenix. Pinetop, on the other hand, didn't even hit 80. It was perfect. 

Madeline drove up with Paul and Anna on Friday morning and George and I enjoyed a peaceful drive on Friday afternoon :) We took several walks around the neighborhood and just relaxed the rest of the time.

Some other exciting news....I got a promotion at work! I am now a Business Category Manager for the Albertson's/Safeway and Winco team. My new role will still be based out of our Western Business Center in Scottsdale. I feel so fortunate to work for General Mills -- it's truly a wonderful place to work! For the next couple of months, I will be busy learning new things....they like to keep us on our toes :)

If you aren't following along to Hannah and Jeremiah's blog, click on this link RIGHT NOW --> http://thejandhblog.blogspot.com. I am loving every single post. It's obvious that they're having the time of their lives!  

ABCs

I hope everyone had a nice weekend! I don't have much of an update because we haven't been up to too much....which is fine with me :) This weekend, we just relaxed and slept a lot. George, Madeline, and I took a four hour nap on Sunday afternoon. We are lucky that Madeline takes such great naps (usually more of a 2.5-3 hour nap). It was nice starting the work week so well rested. 

In the evenings, we have been trying to walk 2 miles. We go about 30 minutes after dinner (usually 6:45-7:00PM). It's starting to get super hot so we will see how much longer we can do it. 

Madeline has been talking so much lately. I tried to capture her "in action" tonight. Here she is singing her ABCs and then starting to sing "clean up, clean up".  She's also started spinning in circles and she thinks it's the best thing ever. I will try to capture that next! :)

The Zoo

I have been looking forward to a three day weekend for weeks and it didn't disappoint. The difference between a two day weekend and a three day weekend is ridiculous (in a good way). The fact that Madeline slept in until 8AM or later all three mornings probably helped too. I haven't felt that rested in a long time. Needless to say, it was hard to be "back to reality" this week. Good thing I like my job...it makes it much easier :) We also just switched to our 1/2 day Friday summer schedule at work. It's a wonderful perk. 

We started out the weekend with Shangyi's graduation on Friday evening. Shangyi is the Lucases' foreign exchange student from China. She has been with them for 2 years. Shangyi went to Redeemer Christian School in Mesa for her senior year. The graduating class was........4 STUDENTS!!!

 

On Saturday George and I took the three kids to the zoo while Brian and Terrisa celebrated their 7th anniversary. Paisley and Madeline danced the entire way there and Parker took a quick little nap.

Once we got to the zoo, we put the three of them in the wagon. When we got to each animal exhibit they all got out and admired the animals before we went on our way to the next stop. They really enjoyed themselves, especially Parker! He was growling at the animals and got as close as possible. It was so funny! :) 

Here are some videos from the recent weeks. We have been teaching Madeline different songs. It's a great way to entertain her while we drive places. Here she is learning "Hot Peas and Barely-O". It's a Scottish song that my Grandma Clark would sing to us when we were little. She only has the "barely-o" part down so far :)

Here are the kids at the zoo. I think this is the most attention the warthog has ever received. 

Madeline has started practicing her ABCs and numbers. Here she is counting to 10 with me! 

Mother's Day and Fashion Show

I am updating my blog from Sacramento tonight. I've been here for a few days for work. I head home tomorrow afternoon. Hannah just finished up the semester so she is staying with us for now. Brian and Terrisa and the kids are at my parents house for the next 6 months while their new house is being built. It's nice to have Hannah around and I know that she has been very helpful with Madeline while I'm gone this week. Hannah and Jeremiah leave for Europe in a couple of weeks. If you haven't checked their blog recently, Jeremiah wrote a new post: http://thejandhblog.blogspot.com/

We had a really nice Mother's Day weekend. On Saturday, we hired a babysitter and all of us kids took my parents to a Teppanyaki (Japanese restaurant where they cook in front of you). On Sunday, I slept in (that's a gift itself!) and George and Madeline surprised me with flowers, a puppy card (that Madeline picked out), and a donut! Madeline woke me up with hugs and kisses....it was adorable. George took his mom to breakfast while Madeline and I hung out.

Here's a picture of Madeline with her surprise for mommy! 

On Saturday, we attended Marie's "You Look Marvelous" fashion show. It is a really wonderful event that Marie has participated in for several years. Marie and other individuals with special needs spend several weeks preparing to walk the runway. Marie was quite the star...she looked beautiful and really strutted down the runway like a pro! I wish I had that kind of confidence!! 

Here is a VERY tired Madeline with her beautiful aunt after the show...

Marie also had a fabulous head shot in the program!!! Haha, love her! (she's in the middle in a yellow shirt)

 Madeline, George, and "Nana" before the show :) 

Here are a few pictures of Madeline from last week. I thought she looked so cute...and SO grown up! Stop so fast growing, please!! 

 

Madeline Videos

Here are some recent Madeline videos. She is starting to talk more and more these days. She is starting to string words together. If you listen closely, you can hear some sentences here and there :) Mostly stuff like "I wanna watch Barney" and "more please, mommy!" 

Madeline absolutely loves bath time. When we say "Want to take a bath?" she runs to the stairs and starts climbing up them. She loves pouring herself tea :)

A few weeks ago I took Madeline to the mall with me to pick up Easter candies for our brunch. She spotted this little carousel so I put the $1 in and she took a ride. 

We love her!!!! 

Easter Recipes

Hi All! As promised, here are a couple of the recipes that I used for Easter Brunch.

Biscuits: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chef-johns-buttermilk-biscuits/detail.aspx

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

7 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled in freezer and cut into thin slices 3/4 cup cold buttermilk 2 tablespoons buttermilk for brushing

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2.	Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
3.	Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together in a large bowl.
4.	Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about 5 minutes.
5.	Make a well in the center of butter and flour mixture. Pour in 3/4 cup buttermilk; stir until just combined.
6.	Turn dough onto a floured work surface, pat together into a rectangle.
7.	Fold the rectangle in thirds. Turn dough a half turn, gather any crumbs, and flatten back into a rectangle. Repeat twice more, folding and pressing dough a total of three times.
8.	Roll dough on a floured surface to about 1/2 inch thick.
9.	Cut out 12 biscuits using a 2 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter.
10.	Transfer biscuits to the prepared baking sheet. Press an indent into the top of each biscuit with your thumb.
11.	Brush the tops of biscuits with 2 tablespoons buttermilk.
12.	Bake in the preheated oven until browned, about 15 minutes.

Sausage Gravy: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/bills-sausage-gravy/detail.aspx

INGREDIENTS:

1 (12 ounce) package maple flavored sausage 3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour 3 cups whole milk salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1.

Place sausage in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon, leaving the drippings in the pan. Stir in the butter until melted. Add flour, and stir until smooth. Reduce heat to medium, and cook until light brown. Gradually whisk in milk, and cook until thickened. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in cooked sausage. Reduce heat, and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes. If gravy becomes too thick, stir in a little more milk.

Easter Brunch

I have been wanting to share these pictures since Easter, but with a busy travel schedule for work I haven't had the chance. I have been wanting to host a holiday for my family and I decided that Easter would be a good one to start with. We hosted Christmas dinner for George's family this past year and I really enjoyed it. 

I decided that brunch would be fun to prepare since there's a ton of different options for food. I did a lot of Pinteresting for ideas. A lot of the fun for me is the prep work like decorations, menu, shopping, etc.  I really wanted to go all out :) I decided on the following menu: 

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice 

Mimosas

Vanilla Nut Coffee (iced and hot)

Waffle Bar

Yogurt Bar with Granola and Berries

Caprese Quiche

Cinnamon Rolls

Southern Style Biscuits and Gravy

Breakfast Ring

Antipasto with Meats, Cheeses, Bread, Crackers, and Olives

Shrimp Cocktail

Sugar Cookies with M&Ms 

My mom, Terrisa, and Emily helped with the food items and I had the chance to try some new recipes. My parents, Grandma Clark, and I made a trip to the Pork Shop in Queen Creek where I picked the sausage for the gravy and the bacon for the breakfast ring. I even squeezed over 20lbs of oranges!! I will share the breakfast ring, the buttermilk biscuit, and the southern gravy recipes with you in a separate post. 

The drink area: 

The dessert table. If I haven't mentioned it before on this blog, my mom's cinnamon rolls are to die for!!! They are seriously the best cinnamons rolls I've ever had!

Here's the food spread!

Here's some pictures of Breakfast Ring. I found this idea on Pinterest and I thought that it was so clever. It's just Pillsbury crescent rolls stuffed with bacon (pre-cooked), scrambled eggs (pre-cooked), and cheese. It was so easy, but looked so fancy and tasted really good!  

After church and before everyone came over, we tried to take some Easter pictures of Madeline. My Grandma Clark got her an adorable little outfit and she looked so cute! The second pictures cracks me up!!! 

After brunch, the kids did an Easter egg hunt. The little girl next to Paisley is her bestie from church, Tatum. Tatum and her parents, Liz and Troy, joined us for brunch. They're awesome people. The little guy is Landon, Paisley and Parker's cousin on the Card side. He is such a cutie pie. Parker was a little under the weather so he was down for a nap. I think Paisley scooped up a few eggs for him though :) 

The brunch was a success! I'm already looking forward to hosting another holiday :)