My girl

This is Ella.  She is 2.  I've raised 2 other 2 year old prior to her, but she takes 2 to a whole new level. 

She's beautiful, happy, funny, and likes to play in the toilet.  And color on walls.

She sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Jesus Loves Me at the top of her lungs.  She also spits her chocolate milk out down her white shirt.  She no longer gets chocolate milk.

She laughs a lot and she loves, loves, loves her brothers.  She also bites, smacks and kicks her brothers, all out of love, I'm sure.

She loves to play dress up, loves the color pink and loves to smear pudding, jello, ice cream or yogurt in her hair, the moment mommy gets up from the table.

She is tough as nails, and can fall down, fall off of things, and get right back up.  She also screams bloody murder if you tell her no.

She wants to be a "Big" girl, but still isn't ready to give up her beloved binky.

She is fearless, and scares her mommy to death on many, many, many, many occasions.  Many.

This is Ella, she is 2, she STILL does not sleep through the night.

I love you Ella Boo, you are the light of my life, and even though make me question my parenting skills, every single day, I wouldn't trade this time in your life for anything.  Tomorrow I will be teaching you how to scrub ink pen off the dining room walls.  :)

Krispy Kreme

A few weeks ago, we took the kids to Kansas City to spend the day at the zoo.  Since the little two had never been, we decided to take them to a Krispy Kreme for breakfast.  To be honest, it was mostly for me, although I am sure the children enjoyed it, I was to busy stuffing my face with hot yummy fresh donuts to notice.  

 

 

Deliciousness in a box.

 

 

You gotta love a donut that is half the size of your face.

 

Noah's donut up close and personal.

  

I need a moment here.

 

Totally unrelated, but isn't my new Vera pretty?  My husband is a rockstar and bought me one for my birthday!

 

One happy family.

 

Oh. My. Word.

 

Happy little circles of joy.

 

Getting their bath.

 

Pretty.

 

Who knew conveyor belts were so interesting?

Krispy Kreme, thanks for making my day my kids' day!

Ariel's Birthday

I am finally posting pictures of Ariel's birthday!  It was only a month ago, I am an awesome mom.  

She is a totally laid back kid and when I asked her what kind of cake she wanted, her only request was something pretty.  So, I have been wanting to try the rainbow cake that I've seen on various blogs, specifically Meg from Whatever.  Love her blog!

Here's the cake, I didn't tell her anything about it, I wanted her to be surprised when we cut it!

Daddy and his girl.

It turned out so pretty!  It was the heaviest cake ever, 2 cake mixes and 3 tubs of frosting!

Make a wish!

All the grand kids attacking grandpa with balloon swords.

Heaven in a meatball

Last night I made the most amazing dinner.  Spaghetti with mozzarella stuffed meatballs.  Oh. My. Word.   They were so good, I just had to share!  The recipe is from The Picky Palate, great blog, great recipes!

 

Mozzarella Stuffed Homemade Meatballs

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 pound lean ground beef
1 large egg
1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon hot sauce, like Tabasco
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
Ten 1-inch Mozzarella balls
1.  Preheat oven to 35o degrees F. and grease 9×13-inch baking dish with oil.
2.  Place beef, egg, onion, bread crumbs, Parmesan, milk, garlic, Worcestershire, mustard, hot sauce, salt, pepper and garlic salt into a large mixing bowl, stirring until just combined.  Take 1/4 cup beef mixture and press into center with your thumb to make room for cheese ball.  Place cheese in middle then with hands enclose the cheese with the beef, making sure the cheese is completely covered.  Place meatballs into prepared baking dish and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until cooked through.
3.  Serve over top your favorite pasta or inside a warm roll for delicious meatball sandwich.

I left out the onions, and used onion powder, I used regular bread crumbs and I used fresh mozzarella pearls, and just broke them apart and put about 3 or 4 pearls in each meatball.  The kids loved them, yummy!