Oh Megan...

After doing Megan's hair to her specifications, she looked in the bathroom mirror and smiled and said, "Wow, I look so cute.  It's like I don't even belong in this family!"

Eureka! I found it!

This recipe is every bit as good as its name and I couldn't be happier!!!  As another case in point of what a blog hopping stalker I am, I found THE best cookie recipe while reading the blog of the sister of a friend from college.  Almost said an "old college friend" but then that would imply that I too am old, and hey, let's not jump the gun, the big 3-0 is still a few months away--sigh...  So, while I have a raspy-voiced toddler running around and a 7 yr old with a 104 degree fever sacked out on the couch, I find myself cooped up inside and well, bored.

 Sooo, I decided to try this recipe and though I am always skeptical of recipes claiming to be "the best one ever" or "the last you'll try" or "good enough you'd trade your firstborn for" I thought, why not?  Heck, this week I may just trade my third-born for these cookies--yes, they are THAT good and she has been trying me THAT much.  :)

   Soooo, here you go!  When you try these tonight and your pants don't fit tomorrow, you can thank me.  Yes, you need to use real butter, suck it up and pay the extra buck for the butter, they're worth it.  Follow this recipe to a 'T' (whatever the heck that means) and take these suckers out of the oven when the edges are slightly brownish-tan, they'll continue baking as they cool to a gooey-chipped, slightly chewy, yumminess.    You're welcome.

The Last Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe You'll Ever TryFrom America's Test Kitchen

2 cups plus 2 T. flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
12 T. (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted and cooled
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 egg yolk (when I double the recipe I do 3 eggs instead of 2 and 2 yolks... it's up to you)
2 t. vanilla
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, beat the melted butter and sugars together with an electric mixer (or stand mixer) on medium speed until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined.

Reduce the speed to low and slowly add half the flour, the salt and baking soda.  Mix in the chips until incorporated. Working with 2 tablespoons of dough at a time, roll them into a ball and place them on a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies until the edges are set and beginning to brown but the middles are still soft and puffy, around 15 minutes.(don't go by this, just watch them closely and as the edges start to turn tan, pull those puppies out!)

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to let cool completely.  I dare you not to eat one before they're cooled completely!  Impossible.

Oh my.

Overheard a conversation the big girls were having while brushing their hair in the bathroom.  It went like this...

Mikayla:  You know, Megan, I didn't start caring about how I dressed or how my hair looked until I was about 6 or 7.  So, you probably will too in a few years.

Megan: Yeah, I know.  It just hurts to brush my hair.

Mikayla:  I know, Megan, but sometimes it hurts to look beautiful.  You'll see, just wait till you grow up.

...insert raised eyebrows and stifled laughter from Mom here...

Mamacita?

I dropped Megan off at preschool in my sweats and then ran home and showered, straightened my hair, makeup, heels, the whole works.

 Came back to pick her up and she says, "Wowee!  lookin' good Mamacita!  Oh baby!  You should look like this everyday!" 

Haha, I was cracking up and so was her preschool teacher.

Pump It!

So, I've been teaching Body Pump for over a month now, 21 classes to be exact.  I LOVE it!  I love feeling strong, I love lifting weights and fatiguing my muscles and I love getting to know so many more names and faces and people at the gym.

I read recently that less than 13% of US women regularly lift weights.  What the what?!  Why the heck not?!  This has got to change!  Strength lifting is one of THE best things you can do for your body.  It's all about lean muscle mass gains which help you burn more calories at rest meaning you can EAT MORE food!  So why don't more women lift?  Many women feel they will bulk up and get big muscles.  Not so my friend.  We can easily burn fat and build lean muscle without actually bulking up and getting "bigger."

Strength training has given me definition in my shoulders and arms that I am in love with.  Shoulders, who woulda thought huh?  Weird thing to like on your body, but it's true.  I have increased how much weight I can lift in the past couple of months and shh, don't tell anyone, but I lift as much or more as all the guys in my classes.  Yeah baby.

Mostly, I strength train because it is fun.  We have fabulous upbeat music that I get to sing to, shake my hips to and lift to and it drives the workout.  Teaching Body Pump has challenged my body and mind like never before.  I get nearly breathless and sweat a ton as I push my body to eke out just a few more reps.  We're talking squatting for almost 6 minutes and lunging for 5 minutes so yeah, sometimes those last few reps are a  doozy!  I have to know my technique, form, number of reps, tempo of move, and range of motion of the barbell.  It's a LOT to learn and remember, but so fun!

If you have a chance to attend a Body Pump class at a gym near you, do it!  Then let me know how you liked it!  Don't be afraid to lift heavy!

Sassy Silly Sweetie

Kendra talks so much now, I am really loving spending time with her.  She cracks me up everyday!

For instance:
We pull into a parking lot and I helped Megan out of the van and immdiately Kendra throws her arms in the air and says, "Hey, what about me?!"

We were driving and I said, "I have to go potty really bad!"  Kendra says, "Jus hode it Mommy, you be ok, we ah-mos der!"  Wonder where she's heard that before?

She is my only 2 yr old that always wants her hair done.  She doesn't like it to be in her face and constantly asks for a "bow."  Sometimes she even wakes up out of her sleep at night asking for a bow, ridiculous!

At Christmastime I heard her singing, "Jingo Bells, Bamman mells, yobin yays a egg...Jingo Bells..."  Thank you to the older siblings for that one.  She would sing it and I would say, "Hey!" and she'd laugh and laugh and laugh!  She is one funny kid.

Okay, how cute are these shoes?  Adorable, right?  You can't tell but the gems on the toes really sparkle, so fun!

Disclaimer: she picked this outfit head to toe!

Rockin a Nike sweatsuit.

 She throws her head back to say "Nay!" while rides around the house.

Her newest thing is to mismatch her shoes.  She insists on them being different and it makes everyone laugh when we go out, but she loves it.

Ah Kendra, you're a keeper!

Girls' Fashion Show

 I love that Kendra is now starting to enjoy playing dress-up with her sisters, but her shoes never match!  haha

Okay Missy...

that's enough growing up for one 7 year old to do.  Slow down, I'm not ready!

The Elder-ly

Mikayla watching the news about the cruise ship wreck, thinking that finding bodies meant they found people alive:

Mikayla: Wow, did you hear the news?  They found 2 elderly today!

Papa: Do you know what elderly means Mikayla?

Mikayla: Yeah, they found 2 missionaries.

MLKJ

Mikayla:  Mom, we need to do something special to celebrate the birth of Martin Luther King.

Me: Ok, why's that?

Mikayla: Because, without him, we wouldn't have black people.

Messy Missy

 I made sweet pork burritos with the works.  Lettuce, lime cilantro rice, black beans, cheese, salsa, shredded sweet pork...  Megan chose to only have lettuce and rice.  Bad decision!  Nothing helped it stick together and thus it all fell out on the table!  after she was done eating, we let Max have at it!

Unfortunately, we found out he doesn't like lime cilantro rice!  Megan got to use the vacuum cleaner and a rag instead and loved it.  She wants to be messy all the time now so she can have fun cleaning it up she said. Welp, having her be responsible for her own mess...that plan backfired...

Before Church

Trent has early morning meetings before church which leaves me to get all 4 of us ladies ready for church.  Showers, curled hair, breakfast, nylons and all.  the girls wanted to get a pic of us before church all dolled up.  Love my girls!

Megan loves to dance!

Livin' the Country Life

Ya know, I had a hard time imagining myself living in and liking Gridley.  I was worried about having friends, living in such a small town, what we would do for fun, where we would go out to eat, etc. etc.  We instantly fell in love with our new city and friends and are loving the country life.

Don't get me wrong, we don't live in the country. 

We live in a newer housing development with safe cul-de-sacs where the girls can ride bikes and play with friends while the moms chat and watch from the sidewalks. 

We live in a ward where a few wear cowboy boots to church, but not the majority as I previously had worried.  Most are in high-heels that I envy and I've even learned to embrace wearing chiffon flowers in my hair as I've seen others do here.

We live in a town where our friends sell kiwis at a roadside stand and it sits there unmanned all day.  People drive by, pick up a bag of 10 kiwis, and leave a dollar in its place.

We live in a town that is so safe that just driving the girls to school in the morning I might see 6 different cops driving around looking for ANYthing that might give them something to do!

We live in a town where our friends invite us over for a hot dog roast and some s'more making in a bonfire in their backyard.

We live in a town where I can go to a neighbor's house and buy 20 lbs. of peaches for under $4. 

One day, I danced around barefoot in the kitchen, peeling all my peaches with my little paring knife to make a homemade peach cobbler, singing aloud to Luke Bryan's "Country Girl Shake It For Me" on the radio, listening to my children's laughter in the backyard as they picked fresh mint from our yard to put into their lemonade--and it hit me.  This really couldn't get any better...

On to Texas

 Kendra and Bryson playing on a HUGE horse that a friend gave us.

 Bryson and Bailey are 15 months apart, but get mistaken for twins quite often!  It's easy to see why!

 We had a lot of fun with them while they were visiting for 5 weeks.  Tim has started a job in Texas and Michelle and the kids came out to pass the time without him until they make their big move to Midland, Texas.

 I taught Michelle how to make this cute little skirt and a couple jumpers, a dress, and some hairbows.  She did a great job and loved being able to make some cute things for Bailey.

Too cute for words!