Food, glorious FOOD!!!

This entry is going to be dedicated to FOOD! Just in case you didn't guess that from the title!! ;)

I tried a new recipe last night for dinner, broccoli manicotti. I really like trying new recipes with my family because I feel like I get in a rut SO often with my cooking! I enjoy cooking (and baking for that matter), as long as it's nothing too complicated. I was a bit worried that the kids might not like it, but my worrying was for naught! All three kids gobbled it right up, even Gavin, who won't touch regular steamed broccoli! Matt and I thought it was pretty tasty as well. So it gets a thumbs up from our family!! :)

Broccoli Manicotti

1 (8 ounce) package manicotti shells
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 eggs
2 tablespoons dried basil
1 jar of pasta sauce (or more if you like it saucy)
2-3 cups of broccoli

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add manicotti and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
In a bowl, mix 3 cups mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, garlic, egg, and basil. Steam broccoli then drain and cool. Chop up into bite sizes and add to cheese mixture.
Stuff cooked manicotti with the mixture.
Spread enough pasta sauce to cover the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Arrange stuffed manicotti in the dish, and cover with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese.
Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan, and continue baking 10 minutes, until mozzarella is melted and bubbly.

I'm thinking about adding a recipe every week to my blog. Yes? No?

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This time of the year, aside from Christmas, is the WORST for me in regards to food! And I mean eating JUNK!!!! I'm a baked goods-lovin', candy-gobbling fool! These are the two culprits currently trying to sabotage my weight loss efforts-


Remember Matt's mint M&M craze??? (BTW, he has 11 bags left out of those 20!) Well, this *could* be mine; tropical Starburst jellybeans!!!! I tried SOOOOOO hard to resist these babies, but they just JUMPED right into my cart at Target!!! I love them because they still have the original tropical Starburst flavors (I was so ticked when they changed them!!!) and they are just so yummy! The problem is, one handful turns into another handful and before I know it, the bag is gone!!! I am allowing myself TWO bags this Easter season (one is already gone) and that's IT! Thank goodness Easter is so early this year and they'll be off the shelves before I know it!

Girl Scout Cookies - tis the season! Samoas are my favorite and Matt's are the Thin Mints, preferably frozen. My loving sister didn't even have to ask before she ordered these for us (two boxes of each) and that's also all I'm allowing to come into this house! I WILL not be bad!

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Snacks that we love at the moment:

1. Trader Joe's Cinnamon Schoolbook Cookies ~ These taste like snickerdoodles! When Brooklyn and Blake have these, I make them tell me a word that starts with the letter they are about to eat. See, you CAN play with your food! ;)

2. Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Honey Pretzel Sticks ~ Ooooh, these are delightful, for mommy and kid alike! My fave! Very few brands of pretzels Blake can have, but these are a go!

3. Fresh Blueberries ~ Blake could eat a whole container of these in one sitting! He grabs them by the handful and pops them into his mouth! I have to ration these, otherwise we might end up with our very own Violet Beauregarde! Sprouts (same as Henrys for you California folk) has been having them on sale for 99 cents, who can resist?!?!

4. FruitaBu Fruit Flats - Gavin can down one of these in just a couple seconds! Brooklyn will only eat certain flavors and she much prefers the roll version of these.

Caged Animal

Gavin's new crib accessory! :)

Bedtime was getting ridiculous with Gavin climbing out of his crib, and we're not ready to have him out of his crib, so I finally bit the bullet and bought one of these beauties!!! This ranks up there with one of the best baby items ever purchased for me!! Surprisingly, Gavin didn't have any issues with the new "tent" on his crib and he even tells me to "zip it up" now after he lays down!!! I'm seriously loving this thing! Whoever invented it was genius!

While the cat's away, the mice will play!!!! Days 3 and 4

I know you all just couldn't WAIT to read about what we did!!!! LOL!

WEDNESDAY

That morning, we were invited to a brunch for one of the girls in the ward. It was her birthday so a bunch of mommies got together and chatted it up while the kids ran rampant and got every toy out imaginable! Good times! :)

After we left, we ran some more errands. First stop was Old Navy. Me and Old Navy are like *this!* I love shopping there for myself and my kids, even more so when they have AWESOME clearance sales and baby & kid sales, which is going on right now. Who can pass up deals at 40% off?!??!? Not me! ;) Then it was on to Target for some boring essentials- body wash, aluminum foil, batteries, blah, blah, blah. I love Target too! If I'm not careful, I could spend hundreds of $$$$ every time I step into that store!!!! I told Matt that if we had a dollar for every time I stepped foot into Old Navy or Target, we'd be rich!!! Haha!

Back home now. Gavin goes down for his nap, twinners playing quietly, mom on the computer. Blake hurts his bum and needs some consoling, so he hops up onto my lap. Five minutes later, he's sleeping, so I lay him down on the couch.

While the boys were doing THIS

and THIS,

Brooklyn and I did THIS.

She wanted to play with ALL the Memory cards. We normally just do half at a time to make it a little easier. So we did! She's an excellent Memory game player!

Becky (my sis) called while we were playing our game and invited us to come over and hang out for a bit, so we headed over there for dinner and to let the kids play. That brought us to about 7:30pm when we headed back for home for baths, etc., etc., etc. I warned Brooklyn and Blake that they needed to be good and stay in bed if they wanted some fun surprises the next morning. They did really well, but Gav-meister was up to his usual crib-climbing antics again. I had him come lay down on the couch and watch American Idol with me until the other two fell asleep, then I deposited him in his crib where he stayed, thank goodness!

For some reason, I didn't get to bed until after midnight!!!! I just get on these little tidying up stints and I had to load the dishwasher and get everything arranged for the next morning. By the way, I sleep horribly while Matt is away (did I already say that in my last entry?). I wake up several times a night, convinced that someone is in the house and that if I open my eyes, I'm going to see someone standing over me with a knife or something. Silly, I know, but I can't help it!!!! I had to make sure to be extra diligent with my bedtime prayers when my man isn't home to save me from my outlandish, irrational fears! I know Heavenly Father is listening because I was able to sleep more peacefully the last two nights.

THURSDAY

VALENTINES DAY!!!!

I really enjoy celebrating holidays with my children. So my "preparations" last night included hanging up these homemade, construction paper conversation hearts throughout the living areas of our apartment. Of course the kids were THRILLED when they woke up and found that our walls had been heart attacked! :) Also, waiting for them at the table was a little V-day gift. Spoiled, I know! ;)

Breakfast was pink, heart-shaped pancakes. Yum!

We all hurried up and got dressed and headed out for two hours of bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy, fun, fun, fun, fun, FUN at BOUNCE U! There were only three other kids there, so we were able to play to our hearts' content! My kids love these places! If they offered season passes, we'd be the first to sign up!When we returned home, it was lunchtime so I got that all prepared and of course, the kids were thrilled to see their plates! I swear, making meals into fun shapes, faces, whatever, dramatically improves the chances that their plates will be 100% clean when all is said and done!!! My kids ATE this up (pun intended) - heart shaped PB&J for the boys, ham & cheese for Brooklyn, heart shaped sugar-free strawberry banana jello and a handful of grapes.

It was apparent that Gavin was worn out from his morning of sliding, climbing and bouncing, so he went down for his nap, again, without a peep! Brooklyn, Blake and I had an afternoon filled with Valentine's fun.

We made Valentine cards for loved ones,And these little yummy treats, which are now all gone!

Then, we turn on a movie for quiet time (Brother Bear 2, so cute!) and I sit down for a sec at the computer and there is a knock at the door. Hmmmmm..... who could it be??? I look out the peephole and see some flowers. Awhhhhhh, how sweet! Matt had flowers delivered for Valentine's Day!!!! So I open the door and this delivery man looks awfully familiar..............

LOOK WHO'S HOME!!!!!!! Sneaky little devil! I guess they were able to leave earlier than expected and he wanted to surprise me! Mmmmmm! :)
So, I know you are all a little disappointed that the saga is over. I'm happy to say that we're all alive and well and my sanity is still intact! I'm glad that I don't have to face another night of dinnertime and the bedtime routine without my honey! He's been an especially good helper lately. I missed Matt so much and am glad that he's back home! We're not doing anything special tonight for V-day, but we have a date scheduled for this weekend! I can't wait!

While the cat's away, the mice will play!!!! Days 1 and 2

Matt is back in California for part of this week (left Sunday, will be back late Thursday night) for school stuff and I've been pretty anxious about being by myself with the kids for 5 days. I don't think I've ever had to do that before! Not that I can't handle it, just not having any relief walking in the door at 6:00pm each day! ;)

Soooooooo, my gameplan: stay as BUSY as possible = getting out of the house!!!! I have had something planned every morning thus far, just to keep us (me) sane.

MONDAY

Monday is lunch-at-the-park day for our ward. We were pretty regular at going for awhile, but the rainy weather and sick kids have kept us from going for the past couple weeks. I decided that today, even though my kids are hacking up a lung, we'd be going to park day. And boy am I glad we did! Usually it had been just two or three mommies and their kids, but this time, there were seven or eight mommies! It was so nice to be able to talk with some of the ladies I never get to see/talk to because they are in Young Women's or Primary! The kids had a great time playing with friends from Primary, too! Gavin slept like a rock after we got home!!!!

While at the park, we got a dinner invitation from one of the ladies, which I was grateful for #1, because I had no idea what I was going to make for dinner and #2, because it gave us something to do to beat that infamous bewitching hour. It was just three of us girls, sans hubbies, and our kids! It was hard to leave because we were having such a good time chatting (why do these conversations always end up about childbirth?!??!?) and I knew what lie ahead- the bedtime routine!!! We got home, went straight to baths, jammies, teeth brushing, storytime and prayers. Amazingly, the kids were in bed just before 8pm and I was feeling pretty good!!! Gavin turned it into a bit of a circus, but we survived!

TUESDAY

This morning, I had my visiting teacher scheduled to come at 10am. I had the kids all ready, so after she left, we headed out the door. Off to visit grandma (my mom) at "her" flower shop!! It's not really "her's," she just works there. Everyone loves seeing the kids and grandma gives them a free balloon! :)Afterward, we ran a few errands; Trader Joes, Michaels and WalMart. The kids' lunch was super nutritious and well rounded today, cinnamon alphabet crackers and a few squirts from my water bottle! LOL! I guess our little game is working because for the second day in a row, Gavin didn't make a peep when I put him down at naptime!

Brittney (my sis) came over for dinner. It's always nice to have an extra set of hands! One Blake funny during dinner- for the time being, we have the twins sitting by each other at the table again. We've had to separate them because they just don't do well that close. So tonight, Blake whips Brooklyn's hair into her face and says, "You are a hairy woman!!!" What a riot! I was dying laughing!!

After dinner, we played a round of Disney DVD Bingo and then Clue Jr. Once again, it's time for the dreaded bedtime routine! Things went smoothly, but it took over an hour of putting Gavin BACK into his crib, threatening the twins within and inch of their life if they got out of their beds again and eventually removing Blake from the room entirely before they settled down for good. Thank goodness for Britt, otherwise I probably would have lost it!!!! I had ordered No Reservations on pay-per-view so we watched while we munched on popcorn and candy. It was a very cute movie, but just a renter. I'm glad I didn't buy it.

I'm finding out that I'm coping much better than I expected I would. Could I do this full time? No way! I've had a teeny, tiny glimpse at what single moms deal with every day and I have much sympathy for them! I don't know how they do it and I'm glad I have a husband that won't have to travel often for work! I realized if I keep myself even-tempered, take the time to get involved with what the kids are doing throughout the day and make sure we stay busy, I do fine. We're all obviously missing Daddy (especially Brooklyn!) and want him back home ASAP!

Stay tuned! We have more fun planned for days 3 and 4!!!!

Party Time and 'Memory Lane' pics of the twinners

Princesses VS Transformers

That was the theme for Brooklyn and Blake's birthday party! :) We had their party on Saturday at a nearby park. It was just a family affair this time around. We're sorry we missed so many of you that weren't feeling well!!! Brooklyn and Blake were super excited that they got to have their own party with a pinata! We had a great time!

Josh and Blake in their Transformers shirts.

Brooklyn and Emily, the only two girl cousins (out of 9!) on the Palmer side, representing the princesses!

Gavin takes a whack at the pinata!Blake's turn!Then Brooklyn!A baseball glove fit for a princess! (the twins start t-ball next month)Yay for Littlest Pet Shop!Blake's favorite, of course, a gun!Excited for Cranky the Crane to join the ranks of the other Lego trains!And a bonus picture of my sweet niece, Lexi!

Ok, now a few pics from Brooklyn and Blake's first five years of life! I love looking back at pictures and remembering certain things from back in the day.

Straight from the womb! Brooklyn on top (look at those breech baby legs!) and Blake on bottomI love this picture!! 8 days oldLOL!! 6 months old1 year oldalmost 18 months old2 years old2.5 years old3 years old4 years old5 YEARS OLD!!!!

Brooklyn & Blake are 5 years old!!!

(my wall signage that took entirely too long to do!)

Five years ago today, I became a mother for the first time! And times two at that!!! My sweet bundles of joy, born 3 1/2 weeks early at 6 lbs 6oz (Brooklyn) and 5 lbs 11.5 oz (Blake) - I'll never forget that day!!!

I always get questions about whether or not it was hard having twins. Honestly, I think Matt and I were very, VERY blessed with Brooklyn and Blake! They were such good babies, pretty good toddlers and growing into great little kids! Good eaters, good sleepers, happy babes! I'll admit, the early days are a complete blur. I'm sure it was rough at the time, but we're still alive, five years later! ;)

Today, we spent the day celebrating our twinners. They woke up to find a mylar balloon tied to their chair at the table, which has become a little tradition the past couple years. That alone would have made their day! I made a nice, homemade pancake breakfast, which everyone devoured! We got numerous phone calls from friends and family - thank you all! Each call brightened MY day! Then Grandma and Grandpa LeBaron paid a visit bearing gifts. Such a special treat!

Next, I took the kids to McDonalds for Happy Meals and some running around in the Playplace. The nicest older gentleman chatted up with Brooklyn and Blake and his brother offered to take our tray to our table for us, since I was running short on hands at the moment! Thank you, kind sir!!After McDs, we ran over to WalMart to pick up something for tonight's dinner and a little surprise for the kids. We bought Snow Buddies, a super cute Disney movie, for the twins to watch during quiet time. Brooklyn and Blake love the original Air Buddies, so it was no surprise this one was a hit too!

When Daddy got home, he made these cool, funky balloon hats for the kids. Brooklyn's was a flower bouquet and Blake's is a monkey in a palm tree. :)Dinner tonight was spaghetti, Brooklyn's #1 favorite!! Every bite was gobbled up!!!This cute face by Gavin was pretty much all we saw after dinner. He wasn't happy that Brooklyn and Blake were receiving all the attention with their balloons and candles and presents!A unique birthday dessert- chocolate pudding! I'm making two cakes for their birthday party on Saturday so I decided to do something a little different. They still knew exactly what to do!!!

Make a wish!

Time for gifts!! I had stashed their wrapped loot in the laundry room last night. Blake came to me while I was getting dressed and said, "Mom, I found something." I instantly knew what he was talking about (heard the door close) and he just couldn't contain his excitement once he saw that Spiderman wrapping paper!!!

Blake loves these little dudes! Thanks for turning us onto them, Grandma Palmer!

Since Christmas, Brooklyn has been telling me she wanted slippers
"just like Mommy's." Imagine my giddiness when I found these
babies on clearance for like $1 at Target!!! She was overjoyed!More games! B&B are game-a-holics!!! I love it, though! Yay, an Island Princess Barbie! I think she was
most excited about this one!Blake couldn't even contain his excitement while opening this one! Can't wait to try it out!In order to keep "everyone" happy, I had to pull from the

stash of goodies and give Gavin a gift to open too. My cute 5 year olds!!!

I'll try to add some more pictures for this walk down memory lane tomorrow.