Not as skillful as a Warrior...

But what the heck is one level down?

Hmph... I will give you some time to ponder on that - because this post is just a teaser!

I will be back again tonight or tomorrow to show you just what we did around here...

File This Under: Yum!

The husband has had a hankerin’ for Pineapple Upside Down cake for a while now.

Too bad someone ate the can of pineapple rings. All we had were chunks.
He enlisted the kids to make a cake with whatever we had on hand.
And then he said – “hey, make them cupcakes!”

My mind can only imagine the mess. I mean, you know how hard it is to flip a real, full sized cake right-side-up.

Now imagine cupcakes. I could feel my anxiety rising.

The kids were insistent.

So – Alex took the pineapple cake mix and followed the directions. And as advised by me, they add a little pineapple juice to the mix (prolly two tablespoons full).

We then took cupcake liners (all we had on hand were pirate ones) – and filled our muffin tins. We first sprayed the liners with baking PAM – a good dose. We were replacing the butter. Then we took a tablespoon (or so) of brown sugar and made that the first layer. Then Isabel added two pineapple chunks.

And then I added one cherry. And then we poured the batter over the brown sugar, pineapples and cherries.

We baked them at 325* (because of our darker coated pan) for 22 minutes.

We took them out to cool. And then watched the CMT Music Awards – which was the only decent thing on our DVR. Meanwhile, the kids were outside having a water balloon fight.

After they cooled, mostly – I asked the husband if he wanted his ‘as is’ or if he wanted me to take off the liner and right-side up his cupcake. He opted for the latter.

Let me tell you... This is the BEST cupcake I have EVER tasted. Not just because it was Pineapple Upside Down... but because the cake was PERFECT.

I wish I could share them all with you – because they are THAT good! And they were sooo easy to make!

Off to have another one!!

:)

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Hockey Pucks

Today was a rough day... well, it started yesterday, really.

My stupid back is acting up again. Thankfully this time I had the medicine I needed, so I stayed in bed ALL DAY. Alex and Isabel and Nic all took care of me; they made sure I had everything I needed!

But I already had plans for dinner - and I didn't want to disappoint. With the help of my peeps, we got dinner on the table at our new normal time. Our meal was made up of nothing but deliciousness. 

There is something on that above plate that made me grin from ear to ear.

The biscuits.

I've been trying to make homemade biscuits for a LONG time.

After a quick recipe look up (one that was SUPER easy)... look what I did....



They were GOOOOD!! And so soft on the inside. Every other time I've tried to make homemade biscuits, we've ended up with hockey pucks. Not so good.

I cannot wait to make these again - next time for breakfast: biscuits and gravy! Yum!

So proud to myself. - Just wanted to share!

Horseplay

I am inspired by many people. I love to read blogs and see what's going on in other people's brains (and homes).

When Sherry from YoungHouseLove.com posted this post about ponies - I was in love.

I don't mean to be a biter - but when someone shares something so fantastic - I listen (AND LOVE).

The artwork is exactly what I was looking for to put in my family room.

A few months ago I found this artwork for the space:

The colors are nice - but the scale is way off.

I knew that from the moment we hung them up.

And then YHL does a post on pretty ponies.

And I ordered me some pretty cool artwork from Art.com.

Below, to show you what they might look like in the space, I took a before picture.

Do you see Nic's head?

And the cup of milk that ISN'T supposed to be in the living room?!

It was only when I started editing these pictures did I realize it was there - and I yelled out to Nic

to get it back in the kitchen! lol...

You will notice the gold valance is not up yet...

Soon.

Anyway - here's what it might look like with the pictures...

(nothing fancy - no photoshop today)

The pictures are 40x30 - and are perfect in color. I think IRL they are supposed to be a bit softer.

Excited for that. 

I think the room was looking a little too brown. I think the valance and the new artwork will help.

I am also on the lookout for some new over sized pillows in a variety of prints and colors. To bring in more creams, rusts, and aloe/mint/teals.

For now, I am just happy with my (err, Sherry's) latest find!  The artwork is coming from San Fran... I cannot wait until it arrives!

How's it hanging?!

It's supposed to be a beautiful 103 today... and I am INSIDE doing INSIDE things.

Truth be told, Isabel isn't feeling well, so that's really what's keeping us locked up in this dungeon beautiful and cool house. 

Since the husband won't help me hang some stuff, I took it upon myself to yell and order my kids around to get these things marked off my To-Do list.

I'm not kidding. I think they are mad at me. [In all fairness, I wouldn't have yelled if I wasn't given wimpy screws to do the job. Not that that's my kids' fault. They didn't manufacturer the product. Oh, I'll give them each a cupcake later and maybe let them play the Wii. Maybe. Just keeping it real.]

I have a lot of HANGING things on my list... I've had the curtain rods for the kitchen and family room since we MOVED IN. And we've just been shuffling them around every so often to move out clutter. 

I bought the valances a few months back during a trip to Lowes.

It's about time we actually allowed to the two to meet.

They are pretty much gold. I had bigger dreams - of browns and greens (ok, not really green, green - but that aloe/mint color - but greens rhymed with dreams).

I was afraid that the brown would be just toooo dark. So I settled on the gold for now - to get something (anything!) up there.

I found my original vision of the kitchen has been changed slightly. I am not only a traditional girl. I also like ranch, country farm, Spanish, etc.

I am afraid I've gone and mixed it all up. I figured as long as I am staying in a color scheme (right now it's brown, cream, rust, aloe/mint) then I will be alright. 

Without further adu adoo ado procrastination on my part, 1 of 4 valances in gold. 

I think they work for now. It's gonna be tricky doing the other three windows... I have to ensure the curtain rods are straight all the way across - throughout the two rooms. One inch off and the world will know. And my mom will NOT be happy.

So... it's still coming right along.

P.S. Let me know if you see a cheap large-ish rooster lying around anywhere (ceramic, please - not a live one). I want to spray paint it cream and put it on top of my cabinets.

Same Diff

Last Wednesday (of last week, hence last and not this past) - before Isabel was out for summer, Marcos took Alex and Nic out to the mountains for a hike.

I was excited for them; male bonding time! Marcos took the day off of work specifically for this hike.

They had a great time.

Nic was so excited about going on his first real hike.

I think they did a nice job of posing for the husband's camera phone.

The pictures came out quite alright.

My main squeeze sent these to me as he was taking them, so while I was at home working, it felt like I was experiencing the hike with them. Minus the heat, of course! =)

Nic couldn't wait to tell me all about it! 

He went on and on about the cactus, and the snakes (they didn't see any) and about how much he LOVED Funny Mountain. 

From the pictures, I couldn't quite place where they were. But for sure, I'd never heard of Funny Mountain.

Ohhhhhh!!!



He meant Silly Mountain.

Same diff.

Special Day!