Playing in the snow

We had about 10 inches of snow here on Wednesday. The schools in our area were closed but our normal activities were still on so we ventured out. Part of me wanted to just stay home snuggled up in our PJ's all day but once we got out I was glad we did.

After naps we went out to shovel a bit and play in the snow. Maya had a blast!

 Jumping into snow piles was so much fun!

Attempting her first snow angel

And just for fun here are a few pictures from two years ago during Maya's first snow storm. This was February 2011 when we got about 14 inches of snow. Getting her all ready to head outside. 

What a little peanut!

I think Maya wore this snow suite only twice.

Ohio Visit

Last week Gigi had some surgery done on her arm so we made a trip to Ohio to visit her and Snazzy. Maya brought her doctor kit with her so that she could check up on Gigi.

Dr. Maya is giving Gigi a shot in her arm to help it feel better

 Here she is checking her heart 

Maya also had plenty of time to read with Snazzy while we were there

 We sure wished we lived closer so that we could see them more often!

It was a good weekend and we are glad we could make the trip to visit them. We are also glad that Gigi is feeling pretty good and that her surgery went well!

Recipe InSeitz- chocolate caramel cake

I'm not a huge cake person but for some reason the last few weeks I've made several different ones. I made this one last weekend to share with some friends and I forgot how delicious it is. I haven't made it in probably 14 years. I originally got the recipe from a friend in college. This was one of those cakes/desserts we'd make and eat for study breaks. My senior year I lived in a house with 9 girls (2 bathrooms) and I have no idea how we did it. But it was a blast and we certainly enjoyed our study breaks and sweet treats together. Anyway this one is pretty easy to make and if you like chocolate and caramel you'll love it!

Chocolate CaramelCake

1 German chocolate cake mix (with oil, eggs, water)

1 14oz. bag of Kraft caramels

¼ cup milk

1/3 cup butter

1 – 2 cups chocolate chips

Mix together the cake mix on the box (with oil, eggs, water)

Pour half of the batter into a greased 9x13 pan. Bakeat 350 for 20 minutes.

While it bakes unwrap all the caramels. Put the caramels,milk, and butter in a sauce pan and melt over low heat. Stir often and stiruntil smooth.

Pour the caramel on top of the cake as soon as it comes outof the oven. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top of the caramel. Then spreadremaining half of the prepared cake mix on top. Bake for another 20 moreminutes at 350.

Where's Maya?

Maya loves to play hide and seek. I normally let her wait until daddy gets home from work and they play it together. That is kind of their special thing they do together. She looks forward to it every night. Anyway the other day she wanted me to play with her when she work up from her nap. And this was one of her little hiding places. She was pretty proud of herself and thought it was a great place to hide!

Recipe InSeitz - Deluxe Sugar Cookies

Here is the recipe for the Valentine's sugar cookies we made. It's a little bit different than your normal sugar cut out cookie recipe. It doesn't call for sugar but for powdered sugar. They are so tasty and pretty much melt in your mouth. And we just frosted them with a standard vanilla icing and then the girls added the sprinkles. So yummy! We brought some home with us and they are already all gone.

Deluxe Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar

Mix butter, powered sugar, egg, & extracts. Blend in the flour, soda, and cream of tartar.
Cover and chill 2 to 3 hours.
Heat oven to 375. Divide dough in half and roll out on lightly floured surface. Cut out into shapes. Bake 7 to 8 minutes until lightly brown.

Valentine's Cookies

On Sunday we spent the afternoon making Valentine's cookies. This was the first time Maya has really helped decorate cookies. She's helped me make the dough a few times but I've never had the patience to let her help me decorate. But we gave her a job of helping with sprinkles and she loved it. Well I think she loved eating the sprinkles more than putting them on the cookies. See picture below. See those fingers in her mouth.

Here are a few cookies that actually got some sprinkles on them

Enjoying the finished product. So yummy!

Hope you are enjoying something sweet today what ever your favorite treat may be! Happy Valentine's Day!

Winter Pedicures

After we got Maya on meds for her ears last week we headed to Michigan on Friday to spend a long weekend in Michigan with my parents and nieces. (My sister and bro-in-law were gone enjoying the nice beaches of Costa Rica.) Maya always has a blast with her cousins and this time was no different.

Saturday morning Maya was treated to a winter pedicure. Juliana painted her toes last summer and Maya has seriously been talking about it since. She asked me on the drive there if Juliana could paint her toes for her. During the summer she picked purple but for winter she picked hot pink.

My sister had also left gift certificates for Juliana, Emma, Grandma and I to go get ourselves winter pedicures. How nice was that? So Grandpa stayed with Maya while we went and had our toes done too. It was very fun and a nice treat even though we won't really be able to show off our fancy toes. Here's a pic of Juliana and Emma getting the royal treatment.

Big hugs and kisses with Juliana

The three girlies 

So Much Fun!

Recipe InSeitz - Almond cake

Last week one of my friends had a birthday and I asked her if she was a white cake person or a chocolate cake person. She mentioned she preferred white and so I thought this recipe would be a good one to make for the special occasion. I topped it with strawberries and ice cream and it was a fun treat to be able to share with friends. 


Almond Cake

1 cup butter
1 cup water
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. almond extract

Preheat oven to 375.
In a small sauce pan add the water and butter and bring to a boil. In a mixing bowl, add flour and sugar. Once the water and butter are boiling pour into the mixing bowl over the flour and sugar. Beat well. Add the baking soda, mix. Add the almond extract, mix. Add the sour cream, mix. Add the eggs and mix everything together until well blended. Pour into 9x13 pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the middle is set. Let cool for about 30 minutes before icing.

Icing
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. almond extract

In a small sauce pan bring butter and milk to a boil. Add remaining ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Once milk and butter are boiling pour into the mixing bowl. Stir until well mixed. Add more powdered sugar if you need it to be thicker but it should be pourable.  Pour onto cake and let it sit for at least 20 minutes.  Top with any type of berries and ice cream.

Ears

So we've been having a horrible week of sleepless nights this week. Monday night we were up with Maya from 11pm-3am. Then she finally slept from 3am-6am. Tuesday night was a little better but she cried several times through out the night and was up at 6am. And last night was the worst. She never really went to bed at all until 4am! Yes that is right. We put her to bed around 8pm and about 15 minutes later she was crying. We let her cry for about an hour and then we went up to her room and the craziness started. She did not want to go to bed. We would take turns rocking with her, put her in her crib, then 15 minutes later she'd start crying all over again. At one point we even brought her into bed with us which we have never done. She slept for a little while but was very restless and finally I just said she needed to sleep in her own bed. So finally at 4am we put her back in her bed and poor Joel slept on the floor in her room with her. And she was up by 7am.  I decided this morning I would just take her into the doctor because there had to be something wrong.  The hard part was that she was acting totally fine during the day. And she went down for her naps the last few days ok. She has been sleeping a little less than normal for her naps but she was at least sleeping. But in the past when she's acted like this (not wanting to sleep at night) it's usually been an ear infection. And of course I usually wait way too long before taking her in. I never want to go in and have it be nothing. But after last night I just couldn't take another sleepless night. So we headed to the doctor this morning and sure enough Maya has a double ear infection. Poor thing! The doctor said she was one tough cookie for having to deal with her "sick" ears the last couple of days. No wonder she hasn't wanted to sleep at night. Does this look like a little lady with a double ear infection? I think you can see something isn't quite right in her eyes.

Lets hope the antibiotic starts working soon and here's to getting more than 3 hours of sleep tonight! 

Clothes

Maya is really into picking out her own clothes these days. And she is very determined to dress herself too. If I come near her to try and help oh boy watch out she will have a complete meltdown. So I'm trying to be patient and just go with it. She does ok with it although the other day we got home and I realized her sweater and pants was on backwards. Oh well. And there are plenty of days I'm sure glad we don't have to go out anywhere because that's when a real battle would happen if I made her change something. So today while I was getting ready I realized it was pretty quiet. And when it's quiet that usually means someone is up to something they probably shouldn't be. I called out to Maya and she said she was in her room picking out her clothes for the day. I go into her room and this is what I found. I have no idea how she can get her dresser open. It's super old and rickety and I can barely get the drawers open. But if there is a will there is a way and this girl has a will that is for sure! And the outfit she picked out today ended up being pretty decent...jeans and a black sweater which was good because she had Little Lambs this morning. You can probably guess who put all the clothes away.