Happy Birthday Kiddo!

Wow! Nine years old today. I remember the night you where born, when I rushed your birth mother to the hospital at midnight. You where in a hurry to be born and see the world. So much so, that you were 3 weeks early and dad was out of the country in Singapore. It was a hectic and joyous night as we welcomed you into our family. You are a fun loving, curious, daredevil of a nine year old. I have never met a kid that likes to help out as much as you do. Happy 9th Birthday.

Daring Bakers Challenge

I am excited to say that last month I joined the Daring Bakers. Each month they have a baking challenge where everyone on the blogroll gets the same recipe to bake. There are now over 1000 participants. This months challenge was cheesecake pops. This challenge had me doing some new techniques. The cheesecake was baked in a water bath, something I had not done before.

They turned out great, but I think they were on the too big side. The recipe called for 2 ounce balls, which I measured out. I didn't have a scoop big enough, so they kind of turned out lope sided. After I dipped them in the dark chocolate I covered them in sprinkles and toasted coconut. These would be great at a kids party at school. They make a lot. I think I would make them smaller next time. The recipe said it yielded 30 to 40 pops, but I only was able to get 24. Of course, I waited until the last day to make the pops. I had planned on making them last week and taking them to the kids school. I didn't want 30 cheesecake pops hanging around my house. So, my neighbors are getting a treat. Give the recipe a try, its at Deborah's blog Taste and Tell or Elle's blog, Feeding My Enthusiasms . Your family will enjoy.

Our Day!

Today is our 19th wedding anniversary! Hubby took me to lunch at the always fabulous Biba's restaurant. We had an absolutely wonderful lunch. I had their roasted vegetable soup and mushroom gnocchi. The gnocchi melts in your mouth. Hubby had a Gorgonzola and walnut salad and saltimbocca di maiale, a wonderful pork scaloppine topped with prosciutto. Delicious! We ended the lunch by splitting a dessert, the Zuppa A Due Colori. It was a chocolaty mousse like dessert with a Grand Mariner soaked sponge cake. YUM!

Nineteen years of "for better or worse, for richer or poorer". Marriage is not for the weak of heart. Like parenting, it is a career that you get your hands into the "soil" and toil, weed, water and cultivate. It is a lot of hard work but the reward is grand. Happy Anniversary Sweetheart!

Give It a Try!

My friend, Maria, had a fun geography game on her blog. I gave it a try and got 62 countries in 5 minutes. Now I won't tell you how many tries it took me to get that. There were some countries I had never heard of, like Queen Maud Land. Very fun! Give it a go, it's kind of addicting.

Ah Paris!

I was perusing my favorite blogs last week and came across Orangette's musing on her recent trip to Paris. Ah! Paris. What a beautiful city. I have only been once and I wasn't able to see much of the city. We were on our honeymoon (now I know what your thinking, shameful!) and spent our first seven days in London. On route to Paris I came down with the chickenpox. Yep! On my honeymoon in April in Paris!. My fond memories of Paris are a whirlwind day of seeing the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Le Deux Magots Cafe, Luxembourg gardens and Notre Dame. I wasn't able to go into any of them other than the cafe. I was in such bad shape that I only had the day before we left to try to fit in some of Paris. So there goes my Parisian adventure, even with one day to see the city, I could feel the energy and life that is Paris. I hope to go back some day.

I do love everything French and when I read Orangette's blog about her trip I was thrilled. She talked about her love of food, especially the glorious french macaroon (check out my earlier post as I wax poetic about that wonderful cookie). She has a recipe for French Chocolate Granola. Wow! It's terrific! J has practically eaten all of it. I will definitely add this to my recipes.

I Have Survived!

Whew! I can honestly say that three weeks off for spring break is toooo much. Our kids have a modified year round schedule, so we get three weeks off at Christmas and in spring. It's too long! I am exhausted. They go back to school on Monday and boy, I have never been happier for a Monday to come. Don't get me wrong, I love my boys and enjoy having them home with me, but I am soooo tired. The first week off was great because it was Holy week and we had a lot to do. The second week was okay, but they started to get restless and I was running out of ideas to keep them busy. The third week, we decided to take a vacation to San Diego and Legoland. Nine hours in the car with three very active boys. Not a pretty picture. We did have a wonderful time down south. San Diego was beautiful and the weather was great. We occupied ourselves by spending time at the beach and hunting for beach glass and sea shells. Legoland was fun as always and we spent two full days riding rides and having a blast. I even went on the baby roller coaster ( I abhor roller coasters, boy what parents will do for their kids) and screamed my head off. My 11 year old was sitting next to me looking very embarrassed.

On the way home we decided to drive to Merced and stay there the night, and go into Yosemite the next day. The boys and I have never been to Yosemite and Hubbo thought it would be a great chance for all of us to see it. I can honestly say that all the pictures I have seen do not do Yosemite justice. It is truly breathtaking! We had a great day doing mini hikes, I would like to go back and spend more time there. I don't think I would want to camp there, it can get quite crazy in the summer time and the bears are a problem. I am glad we made the stop.