This has become one of my staples recently.

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It's instant coffee that comes in serving size packets (I know dad, how could I?! But at least it's better than decaf, right???). To make it taste a little less 'instant' I mix it in a cup of hot milk instead of water & add sugar to taste. Yum!

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And here is a recipe for quick tortillas.

(You can use yeast instead of baking powder if you want to let your dough rest longer.)

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2 cups of white flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
generous pinch of salt
3-4 tsp. vegetable oil
3/4 cup warm water

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Combine wet ingredients in bowl and dry ingredients in a bowl then mix together by adding a small amount of the liquid to the dry at a time. Kneed the dough a little bit to make sure everything is well combined.

If you like thicker tortillas you can kneed the dough for about a minute, I like to make my tortillas thinner so I kneed the dough closer to 5 min. to really activate the gluten so they don't tear as easily.

Separate the dough into balls a little bit larger than a golf ball size and let it rest for a couple minutes

Have a hot skillet ready, on my stove the dial is set at just below medium heat. Roll out dough to desired thickness and place directly in the pan, no oil or cooking spray is needed. It will only take about 30 seconds for each side to cook. After removing them from the heat place them under a warm, moist towel to keep them soft until you're ready to eat. It may sound a bit tedious but it only took approximately 15min. from start to finish.

7 Months Old

My baby girl is 7 months old today!

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I can't believe we're over half way through her first year already!

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She's already developed so much personality and spunk! While part of me is somewhat sad as I watch her baby side fade away (I know you other mommy's know what I'm talking about) I'm excited to continue watching her grow and become her own little person.

I love you little girl! Don't grow up too fast!

Here she is playing with her favorite toy, it's a ladybug that Uncle Tom and Aunt Netta gave her.

A Creature in My Kitchen

I walked into my kitchen late last night after I had been up with Elee to get a drink. I didn't have my glasses on so I couldn't see very well, not to mention that it was dark. As I looked down to walk across the floor I noticed that the corner of my rug bumped up funny. I almost smoothed it out with my foot but as I was opening the refrigerator the light from inside revealed this-

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Ewe! Gross!

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You know, its one thing when they are a normal size and live outside, it's another story when they reach monstrous proportions and show up in my house!

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I am soooo glad my foot never made it to the bump!

Tackling Tortillas

This morning I made filling for breakfast burritos only to find that we did not have any tortillas left in the house.

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I decided to improvise and try making our own, of course Ardon thought that was great idea.

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I've seen Bronze's grandma make tortillas before but have never attempted them myself, it didn't take very long to get them whipped out.

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We had a nice stack by the time we were done.

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Yum! Bronze said he really liked them and that they tasted just like tortillas were supposed to taste, he also made the comment that now we'd never have to buy tortillas again.

Hmm, what have I gotten myself into...

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Between meals and snacks they had disappeared by the end of the day. We all enjoyed them.

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Yep, all of us!

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Results?

After 5 days of waiting and many calls to the doctors office we finally found out this girl has a UTI, now we are finally on antibiotics to get it cleared up.

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At least being sick didn't have much affect on her appetite.

Where Did Everyone Go?

Arms and legs flailing because we managed to get our face covered up.

Superhero brother to the rescue!

103

That's the temperature this little girl has been running. We're waiting on some test results to find out what is going on.

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We've had some long days and even longer nights, hopefully we'll feel better soon!

Summer Fashion

His favorite outfit at the moment.

He must get his sense of style from his father!

Flowers & Soda Fizz

Bronze was off today and once in a while when he's home and Ardon wakes up early they will get out for breakfast, go in someplace inexpensive and sit down to eat together. This is something Ardon loves to do. After they went to breakfast today they made a stop on the way home to get me some flowers. I really enjoy having fresh flowers around the house!

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When they got home Bronze poured himself some soda and put a little bit in a cup for Ardon.

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Ardon thought Elee would enjoy the drips at the bottom of the cup so he slipped it to her when we weren't watching.
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Of course she enjoyed them and wanted more when they were gone, sorry Elee, you're going to have to get a little bigger before mommy concedes to that request!

Say What?!

I am usually Ardon's interpreter on the occasion that he needs one, which is very seldom anymore. Tonight, however, I needed help myself.

We were riding in the car and I hear Ardon say,

"Mom, I've got my brown yucky."

Hmm, I know he has a vivid imagination so I say "Oh really?" wondering what this could possibly be. He then proceeds to tell me "Mom, I'm riding my brown yucky." Now I am really confused! He goes on to exclaim, "And you have a white yucky and Elee has a black yucky!" Me- think, think, think. Ardon- "And we are all riding them!" Ahh, I realise, as the light bulb goes on over my head, I say "Is LUCKY the name of our horses?" Ardon, "Yes, and we are all riding them, say yee haw." I sigh, a bit relieved and glad to have one more mystery solved for today.

And this is why you should never leave a small child unattended in a room with objects that have strings.

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She was not left 'alone' but Bronze had put her down for a minute to help Ardon with something, when he looked back up she had managed to find her way to this balloon, get it tied, yes tied, on her arm, wrapped around her leg and back up to her hand again. Wasn't ready to start baby proofing again yet but I guess she isn't going to leave me much choice!

Just Hanging Out

Enjoying the beautiful weather.

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Ardon practically lives outside, especially when the climate is this mild.

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We got a lot of fresh air and had the house opened up all day.
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Later Elee got a fun ride and played with daddy's hair.
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Then Ardon was creative with some painting while Elee took a nap.
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After going back outside for a while Ardon came running back in to tell me he picked a flower for me and one for Elee. Elee really liked hers and was disappointed when I wouldn't let her eat it.

A Nasty Virus

No, it wasn't one of us, thankfully. Unfortunately though, it was our computer. But again, thankfully, we had someone who was able to fix it for us.

It's funny, we just got Internet for the first time in our married lives a couple months ago. I wasn't really wanting to get it but Bronze had been talking about it for some time so I finally said okay. Who do you think missed being able to access the Internet the most? ;) I've really enjoyed blogging, blog browsing, checking email at my leisure and looking up recipes or what ever I need info on at the moment. True, it didn't take that long (thanks Mike) to get the situation remedied but you know how it is.

So finally, here are a couple things from our week.

Eyelashes like daddy's.

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Fun with a fort.

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After playing in it for a while he insisted we tear it down and build a different one because he wanted a tent instead! Silly boy.

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And precious piggy toes!

(I know, it's one of those mommy things!)

Eggs, Eggs and More Eggs

Easter morning at home





Looking in all the nooks.





No way did I let him eat candy from the eggs first thing in the morning without having eaten breakfast first ;)





Elee thinks eggs are pretty neat too, especially when there's something rattling inside.




And here we are at our church hunt after service.




Elee got in on some of the action too!





But but we found out this is what she was really excited about, grass and weeds! Boy, is exploring going to be fun this summer or what!





Between all of our hunts we ended up with quite a collection!





There was even a special golden egg.






And at the end of the day we were reminded what happens to babies when they inherit their mommy's pale complexion instead of daddy's dark one and spend the day out egg hunting!

His Job

Ardon often pretends to have a job or go to work just like daddy. I decided that this was a great opportunity to give him a real job to do around the house. He now is in charge of unloading and putting away the clean silverware.

He usually does pretty good at getting them in the correct compartment, although it can be kind of confusing with two different sized spoons and forks.

Ardon quote in this picture, "You have to be careful with these knives mom because they're kind of sharp and knifey".

Thanks Ardon, I will be!

The ninja turtle shirt you see Ardon wearing is one of two that Bronze owned when he was little. Ardon loves this shirt and has asked to wear it for the last couple days so I will have to sneak it to the wash tonight!

And here is Bronze with his brother Breeze who helped him model the shirts not too many years ago.

(Believe it or not, my husband saw the posting of Ardon in this shirt and requested that these pictures be a part of it. Sorry Breeze if your not as thrilled with this very public display as your brother is!)