New Favorite

I love muffins and doughnuts. Any pastry or baked good in general actually. I love blueberry muffins, pumpkin muffins, chocolate muffins, banana chocolate chip muffins, muffins with jam swirls and crumbly toppings and I've even tried a "healthy" low cal muffin or two that weren't too shabby. I also love all types of doughnuts (how can you NOT like doughnuts) but usually I come back to one of my simple favorites, the cinnamon/sugar covered doughnut. So putting a muffin and a doughnut together in one recipe is like the best of both worlds to me.

I was so excited when I ran across a recipe for Cinnamon Doughnut Muffins. They are so good it is hard to eat just one. I love that the recipe is so simple and easy to whip up in a few minutes. No weird ingredients or extended prep time. They bake up quickly like a muffin, but have a nice dense texture like a cake doughnut. They are yummy for a special breakfast or an after dinner treat, or an after school snack or..................really anytime. They are just extremely tasty.

Cinnamon Doughnut Muffins

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg, lightly beaten

3/4 cup milk

Topping:

1/4 cup, butter melted

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a large bowl sift flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Stir to combine. In another bowl combine sugar, oil, egg, and milk. Add to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Fill paper lined or greased muffin cups half-way and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Melt butter in a small dish. Combine cinnamon and sugar in another small dish. Immediately after removing the muffins from the oven, dip the tops in the melted butter and then roll in the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Serve while warm for best taste.

Sunday's

It's finally quiet in our house and I have a moment of peace to myself. The kitchen's clean, the toys are picked up, and all the little ones are tucked snugly into their beds for the night. I'm letting out a big sigh and shaking off the weight of another day conquered. Sunday's are usually really hard days for me. They start really early (as most days do around here unfortunately, but on Sundays there's no chance of catching a few more winks after the babies early morning feedings.) Church is at 8:30 and if I'm being honest, it takes everything in me to have a good attitude while I'm racing around trying to get everyone ready and out the door and we usually still have to end up sitting in the back overflow seats once we arrive - 1.) because we usually get there 1 minute before church starts, and 2.) because if I'm being practical, it just isn't easy to fit two car seats and baby stuff into the bench seats. The kids fight on the way to church, my diaper bag weighs 20 pounds, I never have time to eat breakfast.....yada, yada the list goes on. I always start getting as much as I can ready the night before so I am prepared (you know Saturday is a special day it's the day we get ready for Sunday) everyone is bathed and clothes are laid out for the morning, diaper bag packed, I even do my hair (yes people, for all those wondering, that is the only way I have time to style my hair for Sunday mornings) - yet it is still so crazy and chaotic and I feel exhausted before we even leave the house. I am always so tired after church and just want to come home and sleep if I am lucky enough to catch a nap.

This morning however, I wanted to prove myself wrong that I could enjoy my day. I did not want to stress about the little things and make myself miserable. I told myself the night before as I was going to bed that today was going to be a good day and I would embrace the early church time. [ To be fair, I really have a love hate relationship with the 8:30 time. It's horrible getting there, but I LOVE that we are home before noon. It is a wonderful schedule during the warm summer months especially. I'll just say it has been mighty hard to get going that early some days when we've been up all night with the babies and not gotten any sleep.] Thankfully the babies slept good all night and woke up at 6:00 to be fed. That worked out great as I needed to be up and start getting ready by 6:30 anyways. By 6:30 they were back asleep and I had time to start getting ready and get everyone up and going. Everyone had a good attitude and we were ready in good time. The babies were great during church. They hardly fussed at all. I didn't let Morgan's rolling around on the floor or 20 bathroom breaks get to me. During relief society a good friend held and fed Kale for me so I could listen to the wonderful lesson (everyone needs a friend like Natallie, she's a gem). I felt spiritually fed. I was able to feel so much happiness for a friend who recently adopted a beautiful baby boy and see the joy in her eyes. I didn't feel exhausted when I gathered up all my children and exited the building to head home. It was good. I had all the energy I required to do the things I needed to do the whole day.

The ironic thing? We found out today that we will be changing to a new building and church time of 11:00 (even if temporarily) starting next week. I guess the jokes on me. Just when I was starting to embrace the early time (and it only took me seven months). I don't know why, but I keep thinking of the movie "Holes", a family favorite of ours, when they keep telling the boys that digging all those holes builds character, and they won't learn their lesson if someone else digs their holes for them.

I feel like I've been digging lots of holes lately..................

4th of July Weekend.......Surprise!

Last Thursday I happened to see a lady on craigslist that was trying to sell her reservations in Seaside Oregon for the 4th of July weekend. I decided to go way out of my comfort zone and plan something spontaneous to surprise the kids. She ended up taking our offer and it was a great hotel right on the beach. We were going to be in Portland until Sunday anyways and I thought why not just drive another hour or so to the beach, spend the night watching the most amazing fireworks show ever, and then spend Monday having fun too? We went for it.

Riley and Kendle headed to Portland on Friday for Riley's soccer tournament and I headed down the following morning with my mom and the three younger kiddies. We spent the day at Jer and Molly's house along with the rest of our family. Once again the kids had a blast all day long and Jer and Molly were wonderful hosts supplying us with yummy food and their lovely backyard to lounge in. That night we sat around the fire and watched the guys light off some fireworks. It was a perfect day and our kids were completely tuckered out. {Earlier, before my mom got ready to head back home, she offered to just take the twins with her to make the rest of our weekend trip easier and I'm so glad she did because I don't know if we could have made it otherwise. It helped SO much.}

Sunday Riley's team played in the championship for the Portland Cup (one of the biggest tournaments in the north west). Although they lost in a close, close game and Morgan was all over the place and I was up chasing him more than I got to watch, it was still fun to be there to support the girls and their hard work. After that we headed out of town but didn't tell the kids where we were going, only that it was a surprise. As we got closer to the coast I thought for sure Kendle would start picking up on where we were because of all the signs and billboards for the beach attractions. Finally we got into Seaside and had to tell them where we were and the kids started freaking out they were so excited. They love the beach!

That evening after dinner we let the kids swim and play for a while in the pool, then headed up to our room to change and pack our stuff to head to the beach for the big fireworks show. I don't think anything could have prepared us for the craziness that ensued that night. There were people as far as the eye could see up and down the beach lighting off fireworks and making bonfires. The fireworks never stopped, in fact we weren't sure we would be able to tell when the city fireworks show started because of all the other ones going on. Kendle loved it, Morgan hated it. He made us cover his ears the whole time. It was SO loud I don't really blame him! It was an endless barrage of whistles, cracks, booms, and explosions for a good two or three hours. I think our ears are still ringing but it was the coolest thing ever to see millions of fireworks all over the place. It was definitely an experience to remember. After the fireworks we went back to our room, had treats and snacks and then passed out.

We all slept like the dead until 9:00 the next morning. Even Kendle, who has never slept past 8:00 in her life. I had to wake everyone so we could get up and going. Our check out time was at 11:00 so we had to hurry to pack some fun in. Riley took the kids to the beach for an hour or so while I tried to pack up a bit and get myself ready. Then they went swimming one last time in the pool. After that we headed over to the main drag and had some lunch and then walked around and let the kids ride the tilt a whirl and bumper cars. One last walk on the beach, then some ice cream and a stop in the candy shop. We really know how to pack it all in! The traffic out of Seaside was horrible, but we still made really good time on the drive home. We stopped at my parents to get the twins and rest for a bit and then it was home again home again jiggety jig.

So glad to be home, but so glad we went out on a limb and made some amazing memories for our family that we will always remember! How many times can you say you packed in that much stuff into one weekend? Not always the way to do it, but this time it all worked out and we're glad it did.

Pictures:

(Kendle and her cousins at Jer and Molly's)

(Getting ready for the fireworks)

(The kids being very patriotic as they stood up to salute the firework called the "American" about to be lit)
(The three amigos)

(On the beach in Seaside watching the fireworks. Can you tell Morgan is enjoying himself?)

4th of July Desserts

I loved this roundup from the kitchn on making some patriotic inspired desserts for your 4th of July celebrations.

This blueberry star cake is beautiful:

And you can't go wrong with Ina Garten's flag cake:

Or if you're trying to take a healthier route, this fruit platter makes a

pretty display:

In the past we've also done simple things for the kids like patriotic colored star shaped sugar cookies and those red/white/and blue rocket popsicles are always a hit as well.

I wish I could be baking up some sweet treats for the 4th, but I'm busy packing for our weekend away in Portland. Riley's team is playing in the Portland Cup and we are making a family trip out of it. We'll be hanging out at my brother Jeremy's on Saturday - barbecuing it up in their gorgeous backyard, visiting, playing, doing some fireworks, and having a good old time. The kids are excited to play with their cousins and swim in the hotel pool. And we may just have a few surprises up our sleeve.......