Our little man is one month old...

I can't believe our little man is one month old today.  Man, this month has FLOWN by!  I need to go to bed, but I wanted to post this on his one month birthday.  I am going to try to take a picture of John with Mickey every month to see how he has grown.
Justin and I were talking tonight about how we can't believe we have a girl and a boy.  We truly are so blessed!

Dear John - it has only been a month, but I love you more than you know!  I am so lucky to have you as my little man!  I love how you cuddle and don't mind when I give you a million kisses!  I hope you always stay that way! I love you, Mommy!

Easter weekend...

Justin's family came to visit us last weekend (Easter weekend).  I wish I could think of a great story to tell while they were here, but my brain is so tired and not functioning.. I can't think of one.  I am making myself write and wondering.. how do mother's do it with more than two kids?  I have a friend who has five kids.. seriously.. I don't know how she does it!!

Anyway..we mainly hung out at the house and ate ALOT!  Thank goodness.. the weather was perfect so the kids played outside.  Kate absolutely loves her cousin Sara Beth and aunt Beth.  We did go see Disney Live! while they were here.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

John with his cousins.

Aunt Beth and John - this is not a great picture of her, she is beautiful!  I wanted to show the mohawk Daddy (Justin) gave John.  It stuck we couldn't get it down until we gave him a bath the next day.

Justin and Brandon with the kids at Disney Live.  This is after they picked out their souvenirs.  Of course, out of all the items Kate could pick - she picked a cell phone.  She is obsessed with cell phones and purses. 

A highlight for Kate - she had cotton candy for the first time.

Easter Morning

Yes, she started eating candy at about 7:30 that morning.

Ready for church...

John and Maw-Maw (Justin's mom)

Easter Egg Hunt

Justin with his mom and Kate..

All things new...

It has been way too long since I have placed a post on here. Since we have a new addition to our family - our blog got a makeover and I changed our url to http://arbucklefamilyblog.blogspot.com/.

During the past 6 weeks ALOT has happened. We welcomed John to our family on March 11, 2010. He was 7 lbs 10 oz and 21 inches long. With this new little one - the past month has flown by!! I am going to try to be better about posting pictures and stories. I don't want to forget this amazing time in my life. I am barely getting any sleep so it is all a blur anyway - hopefully this blog will help me remember.

Here are a couple pictures from the hospital. I will be posting more. Enjoy!

Here is our little man. He scratched his face up.. but he is still so sweet!

Kate loves her little brother!

John is on his way home from the hospital. It looks like he is waving...

Stay tuned.. more to come...

Need to make some last minute Valentine's?

Ok, so my clock says it is 4:18am. I have been up since 2am. I mainly think it is because I was put in a frustrating situation today and I can't get it off my mind... but in the midst of replaying what happened, I remembered that tomorrow is Kate's Valentine's Day Party at her school.

Since I can't sleep, I thought I would make some Valentines for Kate to take to school and post it on my blog for those of you parents who might want to make these easy Valentines. Trust me, they are so cute and I had everything here at home to make them. I also have to think they will be a big hit.. because most kids would rather have a lolly pop, than a piece of paper that says, "Be my valentine".

Dum Dum Posies for Valentine's Day

Supplies:

Tissue paper in a variety of colors (I used white, pink and red)

Dum Dum lollipops

Scotch tape

Scissors

Paper

Directions:

You'll need circles of tissue paper measuring 4-5 inches in diameter (doesn't have to be exact). I did this by cutting squares first, then rounding the corners to make circles.

I used a layer of 3 tissues per flower, you could use a couple more if you would like.

To find the center of the circles, fold the set of three lightly in half first, then fold again to quarters. When you open it up, there will be a little creased X in the middle.

Poke the Dum Dum lollipop through the creased X.

Gently gather the tissue at the top of the lolly, going slowly so as not to tear the tissue paper. Squeezing the paper at the top makes more wrinkles in the paper and looks more "petal-ish" when finished.

I made tags to place in the center of the flower. I crimped the paper first, then removed the Dum Dum and slid the tag through the dum dum stick and pushed it back through the tissue paper.


Pinch the base of the lolly really well and tight, so the scotch tape can go on snugly. Place a small piece of scotch tape around bottom of flower to secure.

Here was the end result:

You can see here.. they are pretty with different colors...

I hope you are getting more sleep than me tonight.. and have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Recipe Wednesday - EASY Pot Roast & Apple Dumplings w/ Cinnamon Ice Cream

I have family coming in town on Friday, so besides cleaning... I always try to find a new recipe to cook for them. It has been so cold here... and when I think of cold, I think of comfort food. (Did I mention they are from Florida? Trust me, they are going to freeze and need comforting.) Does there get any more comforting than Pot Roast and for dessert - Apple Dumplings with Cinnamon Ice Cream? Oh, and did I mention that cinnamon ice cream is my aunt's favorite ice cream. I will certainly get brownie points for this meal!!

We will be working on the baby's nursery and getting Kate's "big girl" bedroom ready. These are a couple of delicious and EASY recipes.. here they are.. enjoy!

Marie's Easy Slow Cooker Pot Roast (from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
4 pounds chuck roast
salt and pepper to taste
1 packet dry onion soup mix

1 can cream of mushroom soup (I added this to the recipe)
1 cup water
3 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 stalk celery, chopped

Directions:
-Take the chuck roast and season with salt and pepper to taste. Brown on all sides in a large skillet over high heat.
-Place in the slow cooker and add the soup mix, cream of mushroom soup, water, carrots, onion, potatoes and celery.
-Cover and cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours.

- Serve with Rolls (crescent rolls are always a fan favorite)

Apple Dumplings (from the Pioneer Woman)

She (the Pioneer Woman) is awesome at taking step by step photos with each recipe-which I am too lazy to post. If you want to see the step by step process.. click here.. but trust me - these are so easy, I think you can handle making them without the pictures.

Ingredients:
2 whole Granny Smith Apples
2 cans (8 Oz. Cans) Crescent Rolls
2 sticks Butter
1-½ cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Cinnamon, To Taste
1 can (12 Oz.) Mountain Dew Soda (I used less than 1 can )

Directions:
-Peel and core apples. Cut each apple into 8 slices each. Roll each apple slice in a crescent roll.

-Place in a 9 x 13 buttered pan. Melt butter, then add sugar and barely stir. Add vanilla, stir, and pour entire mixture over apples. Pour Mountain Dew around the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

-Serve with cinnamon ice cream, and spoon some of the sweet sauces from the pan over the top.

WARNING: Prepare this dish at your own risk. It is beyond imaginable.

Cinnamon Ice Cream

*Please note I have Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker, which is what this recipe is for, and I highly recommend investing in one because seriously... who has time to mess with Ice and Rock Salt? Oh.. and you can make homemade ice cream in 30 min.. with little mess or fuss and all the deliciousness!

Ingredients:

1 cup whole milk, well chilled

3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 2 tablespoons sugar

2 cups heavy cream, well chilled

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons Cinnamon

Directions:

-In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer or a whisk to combine the milk and 3/4 cups granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1-2 minutes on low speed. Stir in the heavy cream, vanilla extract, cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar.

- Turn machine on, pour mixture into freezer bowl through ingredient spout and let mix until thickened, about 25 - 30 minutes.

PS - If you insist on using your old ice cream maker.. you can tweak your favorite vanilla recipe by adding two tablespoons of cinnamon and two tablespoons of granulated sugar to your mix.