Now tell me what you really think...

A couple of weeks ago, I had to run to MCC to take care of some school stuff. When we finished, we needed to go to my in-laws' house to drop something off. It was lunchtime so I promised the kids we'd stop and get some lunch. I was adamant about Burger King because they have chicken nuggets on their $1 menu and because I'm a huge fan of the Whopper Jr. I knew exactly where I could find a BK on my way there so I was headed that way. Well, I made a turn down a residential street (not in my original plan, but Alma School didn't go as far north as I expected). Anyways, I'm driving down the street for almost a mile when Madlyn pipes up from the back, "Mom. I think. you might. be losing. control." Haha. Of course I knew exactly what I was doing so I proceeded to tell Madlyn that, "I promise you, I will drive straight to a Burger King. You'll see." We get to the intersection where BK is and whaddya know? Burger King has been changed into a Carl's Jr. I felt a little sheepish trying to explain to Maddie that "Burger King wasn't where Mommy thought it was and we'll have to go to another one." Thankfully she was very forgiving. I'm sure if it had been Jeff with me instead, he wouldn't have let it go so easily!

Recipes...mmm, mmm good!

I had a request a couple of weeks ago to post my recipe for cinnamon rolls, so here it is:

CINNAMON ROLLS
from the kitchen of Tressa LeCheminant
1. Mix the following ingredients together:
4 cups flour
1 ½ TBL yeast
2. Mix the following ingredients together, and then add to the flour mixture:
2 ½ cups hot water
2 tsp. salt
¼ - ½ cup sugar
¼ cup oil
3. Add 2 eggs and beat for 3 minutes.
4. Add approximately 3 more cups of flour and stir to form a sticky but stiff dough. Let rise in warm spot for 30-45 minutes.
5. Roll out into large rectangle and spread with melted butter and cinnamon sugar mixture. 6. Roll into log and cut into 1 ½ inch pieces. Place on cookie sheet and let rise until double. 7. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.
8. Spread cream cheese frosting over top of cinnamon rolls while they are still warm from the oven. Enjoy!

Cinnamon/Sugar Mixture
1. Mix the following ingredients together:
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
3 TBL cinnamon

Cream Cheese Frosting
1. Beat the following ingredients in medium bowl with electric mixer until smooth:
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
¼ cup stick margarine or butter, softened
2 tsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2. Gradually beat in 4 cups powdered sugar on low speed, 1 cup at a time, until smooth and spreadable.

Here is the recipe for a pasta salad that I made for the music recital...of course I didn't take a picture, although it is definitely yummy! I will first post the original recipe and then tell you the little adjustments that I made for that salad that night.

Pasta Pesto Salad

1 lb. penne pasta (cooked al dente)

1 cup homemade buttermilk ranch dressing

8 ounces pesto sauce

1/2 cup feta cheese

1 small basket grape tomatoes

1 small pkg. baby spinach

3 grilled and cubed chicken breasts

OK, so I obviously didn't use the chicken for that night and it was still delicious. If you were using this salad as more of a main dish instead of a side, the chicken would be good. I also used the Kraft Meditteranean Crumbles cheese instead of the feta...it is cheaper and it is what I had on hand. It does have feta cheese in it, along with some other kinds of cheese. I've had it both ways and don't think it makes any difference. I accidentally used about 1 1/2-2 cups of ranch dressing instead of 1 and it didn't seem to be too overpowering in the end, although 1 cup would probably be just fine! I always thought this salad would be hard to make but it was actually very very easy to put together since you don't have to cut anything, unless you do the chicken. Enjoy!

What a Day...This is Going to be a Long One

OK, so let me start at the beginning. My big brother Houston is in dental school at the Arizona School of Dentistry in Mesa and he graduates in about a month. So he asked me to get some X-rays to see if I had any good cavities he could fill for his boards or mock boards. I have never had a cavity filled and to be completely honest, I haven't been to the dentist in about 8 years. So we thought I might have just the perfect one. Well, I had a perfect cavity but it was on a hard tooth (#15 - which is way back on the left hand side on the top) so he didn't want to use me for his real boards but he asked if I would come in for his mock boards, which are going on today and tomorrow. I agreed, although I admit, I was pretty nervous. For someone who has never had a cavity, it was a scary thing. I got to the school at 7:45 this morning and we got started. Man, it was intense! Almost every little thing he did I had to go to a different floor and 3 dentists had to examine it and grade it. I had a number assigned to me so that the graders could be completely impartial, not knowing who my dentist was. His assistant (who turned out to be his brother-in-law Trevor, who isn't a dental assistant at all) had to hang out with me all morning while I waited in line and got graded and all that good stuff. Quick side note: Trevor is married to Houston's wife Danielle's sister Sarah. And Trevor's sister Ariann is married to my other brother Buchanan. Family get-togethers are pretty fun with all of us! Back to the cavity: the worst part about it was when I had to go upstairs with my mouth pried open with a rubber dam and clamp and I couldn't swallow. By the time it was my turn to be examined, it was pretty bad. They were calling in the professional suction people because it was gross. Actually, it was more like, "She's drooling over here. Can we get some suction? Hey, can we get some suction? She's drooling." Anyways, I finally got out of there at noon and I think everything turned out just fine. Houston did a great job, even under all the pressure, and I felt very confident in his abilities as a dentist. I am so proud of him and his family for what they've accomplished. When I drove into the parking lot this morning, I saw a cute little sports car with Indiana plates (probably some rich kid whose dad is footing the bill), and it made me realize how difficult this road has been for Houston. He is married with 3 children and I know it hasn't been easy on any of them, but I am so excited for their future (out of school) and know he will do great!

On to the next part of my day: I had my appointment at 1:30 for my ultrasound for the baby. Ever since we found out we were pregnant, I have been debating whether or not I wanted to find out the gender before it was born. Apparently, it wasn't such a debate for Jeff because he informed me a few weeks ago, "The only way we're not finding out is if the baby doesn't cooperate." OK then. Actually, we have been surprised for the past 2 so I was willing to give him a turn. I was a little disappointed at first but as the day approached, I got more excited. WELL, we have a healthy little baby and I am so thankful for that. And, 'he' was all cooperation so I guess we'll be adding another beautiful boy to our family! I was a little surprised, I thought it would be a girl, but I immediately felt so much love for this little boy and we are so excited. The only problem: what in the world will we name him? I was hoping for a girl because I really don't have a clue what we will name another boy. As I was lying there on the table, I couldn't help but picture my 3 handsome missionaries and I feel it such a privilege to be mother to these wonderful boys.

Part 3 of my day: shopping with coupons. My mother-in-law went with me to a couple of stores and we got some smokin' deals: 4 packages of bacon for FREE, replacement blades for my Schick Quattro razors for $2 (yes - they normally cost about $9), Gogurts for $1/box, and some more cereal. Yesterday I got cereal for 25 cents a box and 4 packages of sausage for FREE. It gives me such a rush to save money like this and get my pantry stocked.

All right, if you made it this far, thanks for reading. I wish I had a good picture of my little 'boy' but I guess the umbilical cord was all wrapped in between his legs so it didn't turn out very well. It was a good day and I feel very blessed.

Girls' Night Out

Last week was the Fathers & Sons Campout for our ward and Jeff took Cole with him. I tried to convince him that Cade needed some daddy time too, but it didn't quite work. So...Cade got to hang out with Madlyn & me while we did some fun girl stuff. We ran to San Tan Village Mall (I had never been there before) and did a little shopping, nothing too exciting. We met Kim Skinner, Bri Weir, and Tresure Goates & all their girls so we joined them for some yummy dinner at SomeBurros. I guess we cut Madlyn's play time at the mall short because she opted to go back to the mall to play & have ice cream instead of having gelato with everyone else. I was sad that I missed it 'cause I've heard such ravings of how good it is but oh well...I had to settle for a DQ blizzard. OK, I really love DQ (maybe because I'm attached so sentimentally) so I didn't feel too bad. Then we came home and put Cade to bed and relaxed in my bed and watched Swan Princess. Watching a movie is about as good as it gets for Madlyn, she is related to her daddy in that way. I let Madlyn sleep in my bed with me, which is quite the stretch for me since I feel quite strongly about co-sleeping with children. (I am quite proud of the fact that I have 3 very young children and they all go to sleep on their own and stay in their very own beds all night long, but that is a different story). Here is a shot of Madlyn & me as we started the movie.

We had a really fun time together, although we did miss our daddy and brother and were excited to welcome them home the next day!

Music Recital

I finished up my music class for the semester last week and I'm kind of sad. I absolutely LOVED getting to have these children in my home and it was so much fun watching them learn and enjoy music so much. I have decided that I will not be doing the classes again in the fall :( I feel that with my new schedule as a college student and mother of 4 may make it a little hard to be a good music teacher. Maybe another year...

We had our recital to finish off the semester last Thursday and it was adorable! The kids did so well in practice but I was a little worried about how well they would perform when there were other people watching...but they did great! I thought I would burst with pride at how well they did, especially when they sang Tingalayo and Tomorrow. Here is the whole group together - I will miss those Wednesday mornings!

Birthday Pictures

Madlyn's birthday was a few weeks ago and we got some cute pictures but hadn't been able to upload them...but the problem has been solved!!! So here are some of the highlights:

the birthday girl

we did a polka-dot theme and here are the cupcakes
the whole gang...the girls really did have fun, despite the looks of things!
we did some fun activities outside
We had such a fun time & Maddie was so spoiled by all her friends - good times!