Omie Love

I am partially posting this to bribe my mom to come visit again soon and because I love these sweet pics of her and the boys! She is such a good Omie and they LOVE her :)

My mom is in a crazy stage of life with her family spread over the country and all pulling on her heartstrings begging for her attention. She lives in Arizona, we are here, my sis and her baby are in Texas and her aging parents are in Michigan! She is such a servant and does so much to help out wherever she visits that we all just can't wait till she returns! So mom it is all your fault that we all need you at the same time, you are too good to us so that now we just can't live without you! Love you

5 minute Blueberry Apricot Oatmeal

I just bought a giant bag of "Coach's Oats" from Costco and am in love with them. The texture is wonderfully satisfying- not mushy like the instant. I have made this twice this week and Weston and I have gobbled it up!

1 cup steel cut oats

3 cups water

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

2 T. apricot preserves

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 cup maple syrup or honey

dash of cinnamon

Bring water to boil then add oats and remaining ingredients. Cook at medium boil for 5 min.

This makes enough for about 4 people or for leftovers later.

( I must confess that I ate a bowl in the afternoon slightly heated w/ a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top! Yum! Like oatmeal cobbler)

Pass the peas please!

A little home with a lotta Love

Andrew and I have been saying lately just how much we LOVE our little family! We have just so enjoyed being together lately and really don't ever want to be apart from eachother or the boys- it's kinda pathetic but a testimony of God's goodness to us! We can't get enough of each other around here :)

I love Valentine's Day- my mom always made a big deal about it as kids, so I grew up thinking of it first as a holiday to celebrate the love of the family. It was fun to do a few little things here and to continue the tradition. I made some yummy heart sandwich cookies with chocolate ganache in the middle, strawberry waffles with whipped cream for breakfast and then for dinner- roasted salmon, asparagus, roasted potato wedges and sparkling cider. We watched Roman Holiday after dessert and went to bed early! It was lovely and we loved just hanging out here. My dear friend Lindsey came over during the day while our hubbies were at work with her little guy Brayden who was born in Decemeber. So fun!

Also thought I would share a few things that I LOVE about my guys :

Andrew- He is the BEST daddy! He comes home from a long day with tons of love to give his boys and me! He never complains and jumps right in giving baths and changing diapers like those are his favorite hobbies :) What a guy!

Weston- His little laugh and happy screech fill our house with lots of joy and he now will affectionately yell out our names at random times- "MAma" Daaaa da" and say " Uv ooo"

( Love you)

Gabriel- Oh what a little dear! He is soooo happy all the time and gives you a gummy grin almost constantly. He loves to "talk" to his swing and tries to "talk" to me while he is nursing which just melts my heart.

Silly guy loved sticking these heart gummies in his hair and cracking himself up

Gabe and Brayden

A poem about True Love

True Love is found on a tree,

It once stood on a lonely mountain called Calvary.

Not in a box wrapped with a pretty bow,

True Love's gift was a bloody crimson flow.

Gently and willingly True Love kissed death's face,

Embraced the pain and suffering that was our place.

True Love's sacrifice was True Love's gain,

Death- then resurrection purchased a whole world in pain.

True Love triumphed by loving us first,

Healing the broken hearted and wetting the lips of those who thirst.

The Lord Jesus Christ is True Love's name,

And truly loving Him will leave your life forever changed.

Happy Valentine's Day!

On Saturday night, Andrew and I went to see Steve Tyrell at the Catalina Jazz Club and had so much fun! We enjoyed a yummy dinner and some jazzy tunes sung in a croony old fashioned voice. We had our dear friends babysit, so it was a rare night out just the two of us- we didn't even care that we were half the age of mostly everyone else there :) Thanks love for a fantastic evening with the most handsome man I know!

Weston is in LOVE!

With his new toy from Omie & Gramps :) he's so domestic these days.
Thank you for the fun Valentine gifts! We love you guys. Xoxo

Melissa's Fudgy Flourless Chocolate Cake

This cake is heavenly! My friend Melissa gave me this recipe a few years ago and I have to share it as well- it is SOOOOOO good! I made it over Christmas and then again for my mom's bday. You can eat it plain or with any topping you like. Melissa served it with a strawberry sauce, I did it with a butterscotch and then above pictured with blackberries and sprinkled cocoa powder.

6 T. unsalted butter

9 oz. semi sweet chocolate

7 large eggs separated

pinch of salt

1/3 cup sugar

Spray the bottom of a 8x3- inch round springform pan.

Put chocolate and butter into top of a double boiler set over simmering water. cook and stir until melted. ( I do it in the microwave , but be careful not to overheat it or the chocolate will burn)

Mix egg yolks in a small bowl, add a little warm chocolate, stir well. Pour mixture into remaining chocolate and stir well- set aside.

Beat egg whites and salt in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Beat in sugar 1 teaspoon at a time until stiff and glossy. Pour chocolate mixture over egg whites and fold together carefully but thoroughly.

Spoon batter into pan.

Bake at 250 F until center is set but still wriggles- about 50-60 minutes. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes. As it begins to cool, the cake will pull away from the side of the pan.

Cool completely and refrigerate until ready to serve.

This cake is pretty sticky to cut, so have a wet paper towel with you to wipe the knife each time you cut, or the cake will get pretty torn up :) And be sure to eat all the crumbs that fall while doing this! Seriously this cake is like the inside of a chocolate truffle- Amazing!

Boys and Girls

Over Christmas and New Years we were with Andrew's family and had a blast with the kids! The cousins played and played together and basically had a ball. Each year we are going to try and take pics of them for the relatives- this year Nanni got them coordinating sweaters for the event. Marci and I worked up a sweat trying to get smiles and chasing Weston back into the shot :) As you can see from the above pic, he is having fun with the whole thing!

During our time together I really got to see how different boys and girls are in their play and pretty much everything. Boys like to throw and destroy, girls like to put things together and play with toys as they were intended. Girls eat in small bites, boys shove as much in as they can. Girls sing sweetly and boys holler as loud as possible :) ...etc. It was great to see that even in childhood how differently God made us and how male and female were meant to compliment each other.

Under the cousins photo shoot are some Christmas pics that I am finally posting as well.

We had such a wonderful time!

Christmas morning

Think we had enough presents?

Almost 3 months & so Kissable!