Whats Up With This?

Lately we have all been sick with one thing or another. From Josh puking to Kieran's pink eye, to having colds, them going away, then getting the same one again and now a whole new one! Man, we are all tired of being sick. Poor Kieran has been so stuffy. He still wakes to nurse at night and the poor guy can't because his nose is all stuffed up. He hasn't slept well at all the last couple of weeks, which makes for one tired, grouchy baby and one tired and grouchy Momma! I'm amazed though, it seems like kids handle being sick much better than adults. We just whine and complain and kids still keep on truckin' and still play...maybe they are a bit more grumpy and sluggish...but much better than us big babies...at least its the truth with me...I'm a big baby when I'm sick...hahaha!

Sesame Street Live!

We are going to see Sesame Street Live on February 7th! Woohoo! Kieran just loves Elmo and I think he'll get a kick out it! I gave Nevin the choice to either go with us or not and after much contemplation..he decided to go. He acted like it was such a bother though "Fine...I guess I'll go...big sigh" , is what he said hahaha! He's so funny. See...he really wants to go, just won't admit it. I bet he'll tell all of his friends we MADE him go though...if they find out. I myself am so excited and can't wait! I ALWAYS wanted to go when I was little and never was able to...same with Josh. This is why having kids is so fun! We get to do things we've always wanted to do as kids and have a good excuse to do them. :)

One Of Those Days

So today has just been a bad day. Kieran has been sick an has pink eye(a severe case of it). I feel so bad for him. He hasn't been sleeping well, he's been super clingy...so much so that I can barely eat and he cries and tries to pull up on me while I'm trying to pee! It's been like this for days and today was the worst by far. The breaking point was when I needed to change his poopy diaper. He hates getting his diaper changed lately. So I tried everything...and even bribed him with a sucker. Well, I eventually(after I tried everything)had to literally hold him down with one arm and do my best to change him while he screamed :(. We both ended up in tears. He's sleeping right now and I'm trying to relax. Hopefully he'll be feeling better soon. I hate when my kids are sick. I wish I could just make it all away...I'd gladly trade and take the sickness if I could. Poor baby.

Valetines Day Card

I made this for a friend of mine for Valentines Day! I based it off of a sketch during the New Years Crop at Scrap Garden.

Vegan Cup Cake Recipe

This is the recipe that I used for Kieran's birthday cupcakes and Nevin's birthday cake.

1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 scant cups soy milk(plain or vanilla)
2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (I used sea salt)
1 1/8 cups sugar (I used Sugar in the Raw)
1/2 cup oil (they suggest canola but I used olive oil and it was fine)
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray 22 muffin cups with non-stick spray or line with paper cupcake liners and spray the liners with non-stick spray(I just rubbed olive oil on the inside of paper liners..worked fine!). Set aside.

Place the apple cider vinegar in the bottom of a liquid measuring cup and fill the cup with soy milk to equal 1/12 cups. Stir well and set aside( the mixture will curdle).

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another mixing bowl whisk together the soy milk mixture, canola oil, vanilla, and coconut extract. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and beat until smooth using a hand held mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl. -- ( I did not use a mixer...only a spoon ...worked just fine!)

Fill each muffin cup with 1/4 cup of batter. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until a cake tester (or in my case a fork lol) inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean.

Let cool in pan for 15 min., then remove cupcakes from pan and place on a wire rack (we don't have one so we didn't do this). Let the cupcakes cool before frosting.

Chocolate Vegan Butter cream Frosting:

3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup non hydrogenated margarine (we used Earth Balance brand)
3 1/2 - 4 tablespoons rice milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Stir together the powdered sugar and cocoa powder into a medium mixing bowl. Add margarine, rice milk, and vanilla, and beat well using a hand held mixer (again I just used a spoon ) until the frosting is smooth.

This frosting is the best stuff ever! I could have had this alone by the spoonful! Yum!

Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Makes 22 cupcakes.

Oh, and I also have a recipe for pineapple frosting. I'll post that later if anyone wants it. It's so good! Josh made me the cake with this frosting for my birthday. :)

Backwards

I am so backwards! For some reason, since I can remember, I've always had a really hard time waking up in the morning and I'm really fatigued all day...since I was a child. I finally start to get energy and feel alive again at around 4 or 5pm! Then I'm wired and wide awake and once bed time falls around I'm not tired and I can't sleep. I have all this energy inside. Before I had Kieran I would take something to help me sleep but now I can't. Even the herbal Skull Cap say's not to take while breastfeeding. So why am I like this? I hate being this way...makes for a difficult day...everyday. When I was 18 I would stay up all night and sleep all day...that worked for me..haha. Can't do that with children though. Is there something wrong with me? I use to think I had chronic fatigue syndrome and saw Dr.s about it when I was younger. If this is fixable, I'd like to fix it. I really wish I I was a morning person...or at least have my energy during the day and be sleepy at night...not the other way around. I mean, right now, I'm ready to go...tons of energy and I think clearer than I did this morning. Is there a way to fix this? Anyone know? I'm sick of being tired all day and being an insomniac all night.

Christmas Cards

Just wanted to share the Christmas cards I made this year. I had a lot of fun making them. I used the Whale Of A Punch for the circles and a Fastenator for the metal part of the ornaments.

Crazy Weather

It was in the 60's yesterday! Unheard of in January in Michigan. The boys and I played outside a lot and just enjoyed it. I took some pictures and thought this one was just so cute!!!

Birthday Party Extraordinaire

We finally had Nevin's birthday party...a month late. But it was well worth the wait! We had it at our local recreation center that has an awesome pool! It was soo fun! The water slide was a blast. Nevin and his friends had such a great time! Kieran wasn't sure what to think of so much water but he warmed up to it. We can't wait to go back! So without further adieu...here are the pictures. Notice the cool, made from scratch cake? It's totally vegan...shhh! :)







P.S. I got the recipe for the cake from The Vegan Lunch Box cook book. I love that book!

Holly Jolly Christmas

We had such a wonderful Christmas! I think everyone got what they wanted and the kids have been having so much fun with their new toys! This year we made a conscious effort to get Kieran natural toys that were NOT made in China. He got a lot of Plan Toys, Haba, Holztiger and more. Nevin was a little more tricky. Since he's older, he knows exactly what he wants...so he got some Dragon Ball Z action figures(too bad they are made in China though), Guitar Hero 3 and some games. We are all having a blast with Guitar Hero! Although I pretty much suck at it...it's still a lot of fun!!! Here are some pics from our Christmas. It's so hard to narrow down all of the hundreds of pictures we took. I wish I could share them all! Hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas!!!! Happy New year!!!







I love Kieran's eyes. They remind me of my Mom's eyes...big, beautiful, brown eyes.