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Archive for the ‘family time’ Category

Yesterday, Amelia and I made Valentine’s Day cookies for Daddy.  I used a quick, simple recipe and not only did we make super yummy cookies, but we made one of my favorite mommy memories to date.  My little baking baby was right next to me every step of the way, even though a time or two I had to persuade her that baking cookies was far more fun than her beckoning toys.  Luckily she bought it.  She helped me crack the eggs, turn on the mixer, roll out the dough and cut out the cookies.  Amelia’s favorite shape is a heart, which, I think (as her not- biased- at- all mom) says a lot about her sweeter than buttercream personality.  She was soooo excited that the cookies were heart shaped and kept exclaiming, “HEART! COOKIE!”  I narrated every step in a rather ridiculous sing song voice, which she seemed to think was hilarious. Can you tell I’m trying my darndest to spark her interest in baking (not to mention shopping, which I know will eventually lead to trouble, but oh well!)

Decorating was even more fun.  I pre-iced the cookies after they had cooled, and set up a decoration buffet.  I sat her at the table and set bowls of various sprinkles and sparkling sugar in front of her and let her go to town.  Naturally, she sampled as much as she decorated and kept looking up at me saying, “mummmy!” (yummy) with her eyes lit up like the Fourth of July.  Love, love, LOVE my girl.  She’s my best little friend and my silly little partner in crime.

Easy Cream Cheesy Sugary Cookie

1 (17.5 oz) dry sugar cookie mix

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

1 Tbls. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. almond extract (if you don’t like almond flavoring, leave it out.  If you love it, add a little more!)

1 c. all purpose flour

flour for dusting.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.  In a bowl of electric mixer, mix the cookie mix with the cream cheese until its crumbly.  Mix in eggs, vanilla and almond flavoring and mix until combined.  Add flour and mix just until the dough is unsticky enough to remove from the bowl.  Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until it is firm enough to roll out.  (I had to add a little more flour)  Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into any shape you want!  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet (I still lined mine with parchment paper) and bake for 8 minutes until edges are lightly golden.  Cool completely on cooling rack before decorating.

Get Creative!

This simple, basic recipe can be molded into all sorts of different cookies!  Add lemon flavoring and a little lemon zest and dust with powdered sugar after baking!  Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top for a simple treat!  Press dough into mini muffin tins and fill with buttercream after baking and cooling!  Have fun with it!

My little Betty Crocker

The most beautiful cookies in the world

A better look at the most beautiful cookies in the world

Last week Clint (the hubs), Amelia (the babe), and myself packed up and headed to Pensacola, Florida for our first official family vacation. Nobody told me that once you become a mom, “vacations” are a thing of the past. Well, actually, they did, but I refused to listen. We had a great time… I just wasn’t prepared to need a vacation from my vacation! It was a whirlwind of a week, and it flew by faster than did the month of June. Our girl was a one (tiny) woman comedy show. She went from barely walking to almost running. She adopted a new love… her Cabbage Patch baby, and with that came her new ability to say “baby!” in that high pitched excited tone that only a newbie can reach (pronounced Bah-bee!) Speaking of speaking, I’d guess she added no less than 4 words to her budding vocabulary. Bird (bir), PawPaw!, SpongeBob (Spo-Bah), and NO! (accompanied by a vigorous head shake) are the ones that come to mind, and there are several others she’s working on. When asked where someone was, she’d look around the room and either make eye contact or point them out. Keep in mind that there were 15 or so other family members on this trip with us. My big girl also went on her first boat ride was fascinated by the dolphins diving around us. I, however, was in mom panic mode at the thought of having my baby on a boat in the middle of the ocean. Once the initial panic started to subside, it was amazing to watch her discover everything around her. She was so excited to watch the birds and other boats buzz by. She even got to be the Captain and drive the boat for a few minutes!
The greatest surprise of the trip was that my girl was scared and completely freaked out by the beach! The first morning we were there, Clint and I spent nearly an hour laboring over her and ourselves, covering her from head to toe with sunblock, dressing her in SPF an onsie swimsuit, locating all the possible necessary supplies (rum and diet coke being one of them) and heading down to the Texas Flag tent, aka, the family’s staked-out section of the beach. We were so excited to see her reaction. Amelia, however, had other thoughts. She wanted nothing to do with the sand. We tried to stand her in it and she’d lift up her legs and refuse to be put down. A fuss unlike any other warned us of further punishment should we try to proceed with the sand shenanigans. We tried sitting her down on her bottom and it was even worse. She’d sit and pick her feet up and just hold them in the air. The fuss would return. This pose is no easy feat to pull off. I attempt a similar one in pilates each week and it nearly kills me. She must have REALLY hated the sand to sit there like that. Back to the condo Millie and I head. The vacation is over for the afternoon. Day after day, we go through the same circus of getting ready and promptly heading back to the safety of the condo. I’d be lying if I said I was more than bummed that my little darling didn’t immediately love the beach the way I passionately do.
Finally, on Friday (our last day on the beach) we decide to give it one last shot. Initially, the outlook wasn’t so good. We started with the same sand sitting ordeal. Clint decides to try and walk her out into the surf. A little fuss ensues, but nothing we can’t deal with. We ease her along, and then, suddenly, something clicks! She starts laughing as the tiny waves crash around her tiny feet. We hold her in her knee high water and she “jumps” the waves with our hands firmly around her. More giggling! She couldn’t get enough. We then take one last stab at the whole sand thing, and low and behold, she loves it also! She’s practically running up and down the beach, in and out of the surf. I cried a little. I was so proud of her overcoming her fear. She’s so brave. My only regret is that we didn’t have a few more days on the beach to let her play.
Everyone tells you that babies grow up way to fast, and that you should cherish every minute. That is the understatement of the year. Just in the span of a week, my angel baby went from my loving little baby to my brave, fearless biiiiiiiig girrrrrrl! I have such mixed feelings about all of this. I am thrilled and amazed that my daughter is growing up to be such a “Fun Fearless Female,” as Cosmo would say (just don’t tell her dad I said that!). I am also close to tears at every milestone she reaches, big or small. I guess its just part of the joys of motherhood. The mixed emotions are another thing no one tells you about (or another thing I chose not to listen to).
Relaxing, rejuvenating beach vacation? Not so much. Eye opening, thrilling, life changing week? Absolutely.