Tuesday, December 29, 2009

MONKEY BREAD


My Hunny actually calls these Monkey Balls because it comes out in the form of balls when you take apart while eating. We have made these for several years in our little family as a tradition on Christmas morning. I remember having it as a kid. My neighbor, Lovie (yes, that is her name) made them for my family one Christmas Season, and we loved them. We grabbed the recipe from her and made them several times growing up. I have fond memories of the house filling up with the smell of cinnamon -- eating a sticky treat with your fingers makes the delicious Monkey Bread a certified comfort food. Sooo Delicious!

Here is my recipe for Monkey Bread (Balls)

INGREDIENTS
1/2cup granulated sugar
1teaspoon cinnamon
2cans (16.3 oz each) Homestyle refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1/2cup chopped walnuts, if desired
1/2cup raisins, if desired
1cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4cup butter or margarine, melted

DIRECTIONS
1.Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 12-cup fluted tube pan with shortening or cooking spray. In large -storage plastic food bag, mix granulated sugar and cinnamon.
2.Separate dough into 16 biscuits; cut each into quarters. Shake in bag to coat. Arrange in pan, adding walnuts and raisins among the biscuit pieces, if desired. (I usually make mine without)
3.In small bowl, mix brown sugar and butter; pour over biscuit pieces.
4.Bake 28 to 32 minutes or until golden brown and no longer doughy in center. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Turn upside down onto serving plate; pull apart to serve. Serve warm

Monday, December 28, 2009

A MERRY DAY...

Hope you had a Merry Christmas! At the Lil' Daisies household....it was a nice Christmas at home. I had a nice day at home with our family:

OUR MERRY DAY----

***Breakfast:
Hashbrown Casserole, Monkey Bread, Egg Scramble, Orange Juice, and Mimosas!

***FINALLY started opening presents around 10:30am --

and finished around 2pm!


THE BEST PRESENT was watching the girls opening a package wrapped and wrapped a thousand times to announce the gender of our next baby due in May 2010!!

GIRL

***Afternoon of Snacks, Naps, Walks, Face Painting....


***Dinner:
Homemade Pasta w/ shrimp, Homemade Polenta w/ sausage & roasted red pepper sauce, asparagus w/ parmesean, veggie meatballs, Ric's homemade bread, and a green salad with figs! Can we say DELICIOUS!!

***Evening spent watching a movie and relaxing..... Besides my feet hurting because I was standing up all day cooking, I have to say it was a blessed day.

Memorable Moments:

SOPHIA was able to adapt at not being afraid of a little dog. She did really well with Auntie Suzy's Dog "Mollie"
Favorite Christmas Present: MP3 player and homemade matching Madame Alexander doll clothes.
Created a homemade "book" story for her Grandma.

LYDIA "Did I want this? I don't remember it being on my list?"
Lydia cries buckets of tears when she finds out that baby is going to be another girl. She had been praying for a baby brother.
Lydia sick with flu during Christmas Eve....

ROSI
goes potty!!!
wanted to unwrap ALL the gifts and made many attempts to do so...

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

FARTHEEWELL

So, I can't believe I am really sharing this with you....but, I just found it too hilarious not too.

I seriously have no idea where this book came from, but it appeared in our home several years ago. I just recently found it again amidst our many books and had put it in the bathroom, as I thought it to be good reading material for there ( I have a quirky sense of humor sometimes).

Well, apparently the book came out of its hiding place in the bathroom into our family room over the course of the weekend. I was making dinner and heard Sophia reading out loud to her sister. Sophia loves to read to her sister Lydia and of course Lydia is a great listener (when it comes to story time). However, the words I was hearing Sophia say was quite interesting and I was taken back....the words FART, SMELL, etc. I turned around thinking, "What in the world are you reading?" I looked over and found her reading this book!


All I could do was laugh...because she was so serious in concentrating on her words while reading. Lydia was just mesmerized and sat listening to her read. So, of course, I had to take pictures and record a video of this situation! It was too funny (at least to me) to pass!!

The book is pretty informative and interesting...though, I am not sure it is the most appropriate book to listen to while cooking dinner!



The movie is a little hard to hear because I should have got a little bit closer to Sophia when recording. Oh well. Notice Lydia playing with the balloon while she is reading...LOL!
UPDATE: I am having difficulty loading the video. I will try to load it up another time.

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Potty Training Season



For those with weak stomachs...just a warning to ya!

My dear little Rosi has turned two and showing signs of really wanting to use the potty. I find it very interesting that each child is different in the way that they go about potty training. I have found that our approach to potty training was different for each one....

Sophia was so far the easiest of all the girls. Not saying it was plain easy, just easier in comparison -- we started her at 22 months of age --spending two days at home feeding her water, juice, etc. to make her go the bathroom. We bought her cute panties--she loved this part. But, when she found herself going potty and pee running down her legs and onto the floor, she was moritified. She would cry and cry. She did not like that at all. I moved her potty into the living room and she didn't want it happening again...so, she held it in and ended up with an infection. So,I gave up and decided to just let her do it on her own. Well, one month later she said that she was ready and she did it. At 23 months of age, she was potty trained. At nighttime we cut water off at 6pm and Ric would take her potty at 11PM before we went to bed --she would be asleep and going pee on the pot! She didn't wear pull-ups at all.

Lydia is whole different story. We tried to train her at 2 years of age...and she would have nothing to do with it. We were pregnant with Rosi and hoping to have her potty trained before Rosi came along. NOPE! We thought if she peed on her leg and onto the floor she would be mortified like Sophia and want to go to the potty instead of on the floor. NOPE! She peed on the floor, danced in it, and moved on! She could care less if it ran down her legs and onto the floor. Seriously, we had a little stubborn one on our hands. Nothing would deter her. She was 2 1/2 years old when Rosi was born and yet to be potty trained. Ric decided: IT WAS TIME! So, he took over and made sure she went every 20 minutes. We would set the timer and drag her to the bathroom. We tried stickers, motivational treats (m&m's) and that seemed to work part of the time. She was smart and realizing that if she did what we wanted she could get something out of it like a treat. I have many stories of her playing with her poop in the backyard, peeing all over the chair and floors, and so on...
Currently, she is potty trained for the "day" time, though we have to remind her to go potty from time to time, because she gets so wrapped up in what she is doing that she will not go in the potty but in her panties. And, she goes in changes it like it is no big deal. Sigh. She wears pull-ups at night still...and we would really like to have her out of them soon. But, she is a hard sleeper like her dad and won't wake for anything at night to go potty. She is 4 years old and still learning.

Rosi -- well, she just turned 2 years old in November. I can't figure her out yet. She tells me every once in awhile that she wants to go potty. We have sat her on the potty and she will sit there for a long time and then finally poops. She has done this three times. SHE LOVES IT! My next step is to get her a little potty that she can climb up onto easier (we used to have one of these, but Lydia destroyed it). Honestly, I am just not sure if I AM ready to do this? Get out all the panties, plastic bubble pants, potty, wipes....I guess it makes me exhausted to think about it all. HOWEVER, I suppose I just need to put on my training cap and do it. I am hoping that she will be able to be easier than Lydia....because I deserve it, right?? Ha ha. We will see how it goes. But, for now my life is involved with "POTTY TRAINING" season again. It will be like bootcamp for potty! Oh, the joys of Motherhood.

Oh, And do you think it is silly to give her "potty training" equipment as a Christmas present?

Merry Christmas Treat from Our Family!

We are having SNOW much fun.....

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Monday, December 07, 2009

Menu Plan For December 7-12

Here is what I have scheduled for our meal plan this week!

MONDAY:

Broccoli Rice Bake
Black Beans
Avocado Salsa: Corn, Avocado, Cilantro, Tomatoes, Red Onion, Lime
Corn Tortillas






TUESDAY:

Spaghetti w/ Marinara
Rolls
Green Beans









WEDNESDAY:

Potato Cheese Soup
Corn Bread (Marie Calendar Mix)
Honey Butter
Carrot Raisin Salad









THURSDAY:

Black Eyed Peas over Brown Rice
Bisquits -- Homemade
Green Salad







FRIDAY:

Tofu Veggie Stir-fry over Jasmine Rice
Gyoza (from Trader Joes)
Peanut Dipping Sauce









SATURDAY:

Mac-N-Cheese/ Hot Dogs for the Kiddos
Gourmet Dinner for the Mama & Papa (we are going to a Christmas Party)

Back in Service....


Okay. You can pray for me if you think about it. I have really been wanting to write in my blog for sometime now and have not been able to muster up the energy or rather the time to do it. I think my blog sabbatical has gone on long enough....yes?
So, I am starting up again and praying that I can be more consistent about writing in it. For those of you that would be delighted to do so, please pray with me and begin to start reading Lil' Daisy adventures again!
I have not quite got my pictures back into order yet...but, that will come soon.

Are you with me?
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