So cute--Twin baby boys have a conversation - OFFICIAL VIDEO

Beauty in the backseat

 

Our house has been taken over by RSV, pneumonia, and ear infections and we finally ventured out to refill the supply of Motrin, popsicles,  my favorite chocolate and a swigger, more commonly known as a 32 ounce Coke with lots of ice for me.  We all need survival food, right?!?  After several days and nights, eleven to be exact of having one, two, or three sick kiddos at a time and none of them sleeping at the same time I am sure all of you fellow mama's out there can imagine the joy as I saw this in my rear view mirror.  I very carefully brought them in the house, tucked them into their beds and am now sitting here with my chocolate and my swigger.  Now the dilemma...do I attempt to catch up on all of the laundry, cleaning and germ removal while they are asleep or give in to the comfy couch that is calling my name???

Bountiful Baskets

If you live in Arizona, Wyoming, Texas, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oregon, or Washington you have to give this a try.  I have loved it and with produce prices increasing I love it even more.  I got everything in the basket for $15 and it's super easy.  The quality & variety are also great.  Ordering begins Monday at noon and ends Tuesday evening.  You just go online, select your pickup site, place your order and pick it up at the designated time on Saturday.  Some of the sites do go quickly.  I have discovered that if I don't place my order by 12:30 on Monday I am either out of luck or have to pick up at a different site.

www.bountifulbaskets.org

Sugar Cookie Bars

This is from one of my favorite recipe blogs.  I love sugar cookies and these are a lot easier than rolling, cutting out and all the clean up of sugar cookies and YUMMY!  You just can't go wrong with cream cheese and almond extract, at least that's my opinion!  If you aren't familiar with this blog I highly reccomend it.  Most of her recipes/ideas are simple, inexpensive, and fantastic!

www.jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com

When you hear the words

“Sugar Cookies”

do you get a little overwhelmed?

Do you feel a little whoozie thinking of an all

day project in the kitchen?

You know how a sugar cookie project goes.

You can see it in your minds eye…. flour and dough flying everywhere with candy sprinkles and frosting stuck from here to Timbuktu. If you have the patience of a mighty she-ra and want to participate in that kind of activity (I have to admit, I do love a good sugar cookie project! Twice a year does me up just fine) you can click here to find my fabuloussugar cookie recipe. If you are in the mood to save your patience for filling Easter eggs, and shopping for cute Easter dresses then I have the recipe for you ladies and gents! These Sugar Cookie Bars will have you whistling Dixie in no time. Your kids will love them just as much as the cut out kind…and you will have your sanity intact and ready to take on the world. That is something to be grateful for.

Sugar Cookie Bars

Yield: about 60 bars (depending on how big you cut them)
Time: about 40 minutes + time to cool and frost
Recipe from MyDearMother 
PRINT RECIPE 

Cookies:1 1/2 C sugar
1 C butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 t almond extract
1 t vanilla
1/2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
2 1/2 C flour


Frosting:
1/2 C butter softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
3 1/2 C powdered sugar
3-5 T milk
1 t vanilla
food coloring

1. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer beat the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and egg until nice and frothy. About 4 minutes.
2. Add the vanilla and almond extract and beat for 1 minute more.
3. In a small bowl combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix them around so that all ingredients are well incorporated.
4. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat for about 2 minutes.
5. Press the dough into a large jelly roll (cookie sheet) pan.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
7. Let the pan cool completely.
8. Time to make the frosting! In a medium sized bowl (or your stand mixer) combine the butter and cream cheese. Beat for about 2 minutes.
9. Add the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and food coloring. Mix for 1-2 minutes or until smooth.
10. Frost your pan of cookies. Cut the cookies into bars and serve!

 As a fun decorative option, you could pipe a bit of white frosting onto the bars. Just take about 1/4 of the frosting out of the mixer before you add the food coloring. Put the white frosting into to sandwich sized zip loc bag. Carefully snip the tip and pipe some fun decorations onto the bars.

Sick, Sick, Sick

A lot more coughing than sleeping going on around here.  Hudson started out with RSV and an ear infection. He is now starting to perk up a little.  How couldn't he with the constant care he is getting from these two?  I have attempted to peel them off him several times, offering threats and every other form of manipulation to keep them from getting sick.   I lost and now I keep hearing coughs echo from one sibling to the next.  I am not sure there is enough chocolate or Coke to get us through this one.

Kids safest in rear-facing car seats until age 2

March 21st, 2011 @ 8:42am

By CARLA K. JOHNSON
AP Medical Writer

CHICAGO (AP) - Children should ride in rear-facing car seats longer, until they are 2 years old instead of 1, according to updated advice from a medical group and a federal agency.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued separate but consistent new recommendations Monday.
Both organizations say older children who've outgrown front-facing car seats should ride in booster seats until the lap-shoulder belt fits them. Booster seats help position adult seat belts properly on children's smaller frames. Children usually can graduate from a booster seat when their height reaches 4 feet 9 inches.
Children younger than 13 should ride in the back seat, the guidelines from both groups say.
The advice may seem extreme to some parents, who may imagine trouble convincing older elementary school kids _ as old as 12 _ to use booster seats.
But it's based on evidence from crashes. For older children, poorly fitting seat belts can cause abdominal and spine injuries in a crash.
One-year-olds are five times less likely to be injured in a crash if they are in a rear-facing car seat than a forward-facing seat, according to a 2007 analysis of five years of U.S. crash data.
Put another way, an estimated 1,000 children injured in forward-facing seats over 15 years might not have been hurt if they had been in a car seat facing the back, said Dr. Dennis Durbin, lead author of the recommendations and a pediatric emergency physician at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Toddlers have relatively large heads and small necks. In a front-facing car seat, the force of a crash can jerk the child's head causing spinal cord injuries.
Car seats have recommended weights printed on them. If a 1-year-old outweighs the recommendation of an infant seat, parents should switch to a different rear-facing car seat that accommodates the heavier weight until they turn 2, the pediatricians group says.
Luckily for parents, most car seat makers have increased the amount of weight the seats can hold. This year, about half of infant rear-facing seats accommodate up to 30 pounds, Durbin said. Ten years ago, rear-facing car seats topped out at children weighing 22 pounds.
"The good news is it's likely parents currently have a car seat that will accommodate the change," Durbin said.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations appear Monday in the journal Pediatrics.
___
Online:
American Academy of Pediatrics: http://www.aap.org

Art?

My second grader was very offended when she handed me this lovely piece of artwork and I asked her if it was finished.  I thought maybe she was going to take it back to school to add a little splash of color or something.  Not only is this finished, but she was very pleased to tell me that the teacher said hers was one of the best of the entire grade.  Is it just my imagination or is this a piece of cardboard with a bunch of junk glued to it covered with aluminum foil?  If this is as hard as my tax$$$ are working I think I am going to ask for a refund.