Cupcake of the Month!

Well, it is that time of the month again. Joe and Nathan have their monthly fly club meeting and raffle. I have been making 3 batches of cupcakes to help raise money for the club. This month I went with Chocolate Cupcakes with a Mint Oreo Frosting. They are terrible adorable. I used mini Oreo's and placed 1 on top of each of the cakes!Last month my cupcakes raised the most money and had the most bids so I hope this month is just as amazing! Ill post the recipe tomorrow when I have more time! They were really fun to make and I am sure more fun to eat. I hope everyone is having a great week so far. Happy Monday!

Photo catch up.

Yesterday we attended a little get together at our friend Miller's house. We don't get a chance to hang out much so yesterday was definitely something we all needed.I take a lot of photos and the guys hate it but they let me get away with it!My Grandma brought Audrey's birthday present up early seeing as it is designed to help her start walking but tonight she wanted to sit and push herself around instead.It was so cute!I think Audrey knows when I am taking pictures of her or at least about to because she always has her mouth wide open. Now that Audrey has her first tooth I have been taking advantage of her picture taking technique to catch a glimpse of her new tooth but im not quick enough! So here are some cute photos of her as a consolation prize!

Lions,Tigers and Bears O my!

March 30th was Hayley's 7th birthday so we packed up the girls and had an African Safari themed weekend.We started the day off by taking the girls to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. It was the first time for everyone besides me! There were several animals that you just don't see everyday. After the zoo, we took the girls to the Rain Forest Cafe for a surf and turf meal and a one of a kind in door rain storm! After we were all thoroughly stuffed we decided to do a little shopping and bought the girls a few new items. I found this cute little dress for Audrey's 1st birthday party, it matches the jungle theme perfectly! She is going to look so cute! We then hit up the children boutique, Children's Place and bought Hayley a new bathing suit, her choice of style! Overall it was an amazing day!

Diet

Tis the season to finally lose some weight. I started a weight loss regiment about 2 weeks ago and so far so good. I am down about 6 pounds so far. This regiment consists of water, and lots of it, I bought some fitness powder that flavors my water and makes it yummy. No fast food, I still eat out at restaurants but I am more conscious now, ordering my salads with the dressing on the side and grilled chicken instead of fried. I also work out a few times a week alternating between my Wii and exercise TV.This is pretty much what most of my meals look like, I cant complain it is working and I am happy that I am down even 1 pound! I am also making this a life long regiment eating smarter all around. I still have what I want but I just have tiny portions, just enough to ease my craving!

Update

Now that school is finally in full swing I find myself doing nothing but reading, playing with Audrey and doing little chores here and there.So here are a few things that our family are currently working on.

• I am currently on a weight loss regiment that I created for myself that consists of smaller meals, healthier meals made of mostly vegetables and fruit and chicken, intense workouts for about 10-45 minutes depending on how I feel and lots and lots of water!
  

• I spoke with the owner of That Kitchen Store at the South Center Mall and she said that once my cookbook is published and out, that she will sell them in her store!

• I have also decided to add community service to my plate since I am not working right now, it will be anywhere between 12 and 20 hours a week. I have my orientation with the company on Monday and will know more about when and where I will be working!

• Audrey is finally making progress on crawling and has been able to stand on her own for a few seconds at a time. We are hoping she will be walking by the time she turns 1, that leaves about a month to go!

• Nathan is growing his Rat business day by day! It is a fun way to make money and we are looking into getting his business license and opening up an adoption store. It will be a big step but since his customers are growing by the day we need to upgrade and quick!

• I have not been baking or cooking much, but I have been asked by my best friend Joe to bake cupcakes for his Fly Club to raise money for the club! The first batch of cupcakes sold pretty quick and were a favorite, this month I am baking Chocolate cupcakes with Mint Oreo Frosting!

I promise this weekend I will post something interesting for you all the read!

Cupcakes and homework

Since starting school I have not had the chance to make something delicious in the kitchen, so after finishing a paper and a free write for my English class, I made these beauties. Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with a Gingerbread Frosting!Here is the recipe

Cupcakes

1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Bean Extract
1-1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup cold milk

Preheat oven to 350
Bake Time 18-24 minutes
Yields: 12 cupcakes

Cream butter and sugar.Add eggs 1 at a time, beating after each addition.Stir in vanilla.

In a separate bowl, stir together all dry ingredients.Add to butter mixture; stir in milk

Gingerbread Frosting

2 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
6 smashed gingerbread cookies, finely crumbled

Beat together butter and confectioners sugar. Add vanilla extract and cookies.

Once cupcakes are cooled, pipe on frosting and top with a gingerbread cookie piece!

Easter Photos

Sorry these are days late. I have been so consumed with school and now that I am on this new diet and work out regime I have lost a lot of time. Easter Sunday was amazing. We went down to Centralia to my Grandparents house for an Easter egg hunt and great food and family!

College, Daycare and Hair?

Yes, I said it, hair. Audrey has a lot of it, if you could not already tell by the previous photos. Well, lately she has been letting my style it, and what better hair style then the cute pig tails little girls all over wear! I am sure one day she will hate me for putting her hair like this, but I could not help myself, I think she looks beyond adorable. Now no one can mistake her as a boy!This week I started classes at Clover Park Technical College in the Culinary program, which means Audrey started daycare. For the first week or so she will be staying with my Aunt for a few hours a day while I am on campus and then she will start going to Helena's Daycare which is only a block from our house. When I got home today from school, Audrey was sleeping, it was sweet!I only have some reading and some tutorials to do for homework this weekend. So Nathan and I are going out tonight for date night to celebrate me going back to school and being able to spend time together since the weekend will be the only really good quality time we will get together.O, I almost forgot, we might be getting a new car this weekend, well not new, but new to us. We are pretty excited and will know for sure hopefully tomorrow!