The best cookies ever (no joke)

These cookies are the prettiest, softest, most delicious cookies that I have tasted in quite some time... you HAVE to try them, trust me you won't regret it! The name says it all:

Mini Cinnamon Roll Cookies
(I apologize for my icing skills,
obviously I have no icing skills
judging from the pic I took)

Mini Cinnamon Roll Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 ¾ cups sugar, divided

3 egg yolks

1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. honey, divided

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. cream of tartar

1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon

8 oz. white baking chocolate, chopped

In a large bowl, cream butter and 1 ¼ cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, 1 Tbsp. honey and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cream of tartar; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.

Shape a heaping tablespoonful of dough into a 6-in. log. In a shallow bowl, combine cinnamon and remaining sugar; roll log in cinnamon-sugar. Loosely coil log into a spiral shape; place on a greased baking sheet. Repeat placing cookies 1 in. apart. Sprinkle with remaining cinnamon-sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. In a small bowl, melt baking chocolate with remaining honey; stir until smooth. Drizzle over cookies. Let stand until set. Store in an airtight container.

**I put the melted chocolate honey mix in a small plastic bag and cut a tiny hole in one of the corners, it was an easy way to distribute the icing

ENJOY!

Dirt and blocks... a boys favorite things!

This is my life... dirt and more dirt! I figured the other day that I could quickly do up the dishes while my boys went outside. I got their jackets on and shoes, we headed outside to check out the muddiness factor, and I was pleasantly to surprised to find slightly damp earth... no mud. I thought "Awesome, the boys can't get dirty." I was wrong.

Brandon's dirtiness far exceeded Kimballs, but that is because Kimball was the one making Brandon dirty. When the dishes were done, I headed out to check on them, and found Kimball spreading dirt all over Brandon's hair and face...

We proceeded to the washer and threw everything in there, and then to the bathroom where they were hosed down (but not before a few good pics right?).

While I was in Idaho Falls this past Saturday, the boys received a special gift from their Great-Grandparents. My grandpa has been quite busy cutting and sanding home-made blocks for all his great grand kiddos! Isn't he amazing, I love him to pieces, and so do my boys. They have had so much fun with this gift, they have asked every day this week to play with them, and so we put them in a special place in the living room.

Kimball's creation

Brandon's road for his tractor

Come listen to a Prophets voice

Conference Sunday was amazing! I received so many "personal epistles" through the talks that were given. I particularly enjoyed Elder Scott's talk about True love in marriage, and enjoyed everything that he shared so tenderly in regards to his late wife. I also loved hearing Elder Carl Pratt's talk about tithing. Mike and I both enjoyed President Monson's address about temples. To hear the him speak about the Rome Italy temple was poignant, more so for Mike who served in Italy than myself.
To prepare my little one's for Conference, I printed off a conference packet for each of the boys. It was complete with coloring pages, activities, cut-out activities, and other stuff. This was our life line of sanity for the first session (they were both asleep for the second session.) I found it on sugardoodle.net, so check it out next conference if you have young ones. They have a nursery version, a JR primary version and a SR primary version.

The boys coloring their cut-out activities
before conference started

Kimball in front of the TV, with what he called
his "Prophet puppets" and the podium

This is the activity that kept Brandon's attention for
about an hour... cutting paper

We also had posted on the glass right next to the TV a picture of each of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve apostles, with a space under each picture to write briefly about their message. Kimball really got into this idea, he would say stuff like "Mom, he is talking about Christ, we need to write that down."
And what would General Conference be without homemade cinnamon rolls? That is our conference tradition, what are your conference traditions?

Baby talk

After working all day Conference Saturday, I came home to some anxious kids who wanted to see their momma. When I walked in the door, Brandon started feeling my tummy and talking to Zach... what a sweet heart right? And yes, I chopped my hair off, although this isn't the best shot of my new do.

Box Play

So with all the baby stuff we ordered last month, we had some pretty good sized boxes just sitting around. I have fond memories of making forts out of boxes, so what better way to make use of these boxes than to make them little forts? By the end of 2 weeks with the boxes, they were well worn out:)

Box neighbors

Brandon trying to crawl through the window

Kimball being a cheese

Aspiring Jedi

Brandon and Kimball... what can I say about these two? My little "bedlamites" are aspiring to be Jedi knights. One of their favorite activities is to run around the house playing "Star Wars". One morning Kimball asked if he could listen to Star Wars music, so I went on a hunt through all of my husbands music to see if he had an album. Indeed, my hubby does, and he also owns a DVD called "Star Wars: A Musical Journey." I popped that into the computer, the boys both ran and got their light sabre, and Kimball grabbed his storm trooper gun and they sat through the whole DVD. I got a few good laughs that morning!

What happens when it rains?

Boys will be boys... right?

Family Pics 2011

The day before Mia and Nate left, she was able to use her talent in Photography in taking our Family Pictures. They turned out AMAZING! I love each picture she took and edited... enjoy:)

Kimball's B-day party (i.e. picture mania)

Well, don't tell me I didn't warn you. My sister in-law Mia was awesome and she took tons of pictures at the party. So my last post left off with Mia and Nate decorating the cake, it turned out so well! The Star Wars storm trooper looks great... and it was delicious, just ask my mom:)

We took the star wars theme to the extreme! He wore a star wars shirt, complete with a star wars badge. The balloons were star wars, along with the cake and all the decorations. He even had a star wars game... fun times!

When all of Kimball's friends started to arrive, we played "Don't eat Pete", and the kids of course had a ball because they got to eat lots of M&Ms.
We moved on to other games, Kimball's favorite being the Star Wars game. He had never been blindfolded for a game though, and he wasn't quite sure if he liked that part! He kept trying to peek.
I tried to pick non-competitive games, I really didn't want to send any kids home in tears because they didn't win. Which is why this next game was perfect! I wrapped lots of individual candy and put a big bow around them. Mike made "fishing poles" out of dowel rods, fishing line, and a paperclip. Each kid got to "fish" for a candy. This game was the most popular. They wanted to keep fishing, even though they knew they only got to keep one.


Next up, the Birthday cake! The cake was made up of individual cupcakes, and it was easy to just pull one off. I loved seeing Kimball's excitement when he got to blow out the candles... you only turn 4 once!
For simple cleanup, a sheet under all the kids:) And another simple solution... Capri Sun to drink!
Brandon sure enjoyed the frosting... he never eats the cake portion.
The birthday boy... too funny!
We opened presents next, and Mor-Mor gave him his favorite gift, Star Wars toys!
After the Star Wars toys, our gift was a little anti-climatic. Luckily we didn't pay full price for the scooter, just $10 at Goodwill.
Last, but not least, all the kids got to whack the Pinata that Daddy and Uncle Nate set up.
Here is Brandon taking a go at the Pinata...
Kimball was geared up for a big swing!
But after all the kids had 2 turns, we called in the big guns... needless to say we had all the kids stand far back to prevent any unnecessary injury.
After all the fun had ended, and Kimball's friends had left, it was time to do something useful with those balloons! Thats right, a balloon fight! These two boys had a blast!

After the party and a fun-filled afternoon at the Outer Limits fun zone in Pocatello, what better way to spend a birthday evening than at Mor-Mor's house with cousins? Oh, and who could forget caramel popcorn... delicious!
I asked him a few days later how he enjoyed his birthday, and he told me that he didn't want another birthday! Too much fun in one day I suppose, I'm sure he'll feel different next February.

We love you so much Kimball, and hope that your fourth birthday was everything you wanted it to be.

Mia and Nate visit

Now my boys have learned this one fact: When Mia and Nate are around, there is bound to be lots of fun times ahead! Mia and Nate Matusek, Mike's brother and his wife, came out to Idaho from Florida to visit our family. They stayed from the 15th of February to the 21st. We enjoyed a light snow fall on Wednesday night and on Thursday we geared up and headed to the back yard where we have a mini hill. Mia had never been sledding before, so she was in for a little adventure. The boys had so much fun going sledding with Mia and Nate.





I think Mia enjoyed herself... even if she was a little chilled!
Nate got worn out pulling the boys up the hill over and over.
Mike and Nate went out on Friday and played racquetball together, and later that night he was downright tired... he kinda crashed on the couch.
Meanwhile, Mia and Nate were busy creating a fabulous cake for Kimball's birthday. Nate piped the storm trooper on the cake, and Mia did all the frosting work. I can be credited for making the cupcakes (from a box mix...haha!) I made the buttercream, so delicious.
The next day we enjoyed Kimball's birthday party... that awesome post is to follow soon!