Mother’s Day 2012

Me with the sweetest 2 kids in the world!!

What a great weekend it’s been! Tim surprised me with chocolate covered strawberries on Friday. They were so delicious. He knows I love chocolate covered fruit so this was an extra special gift. It was followed by BVGARI Jasmin Noir Eau de Parfum….in other words some really-good-smelling perfume! Man I haven’t used perfume in years because it usually gives me headaches but this one doesn’t. I remember several months ago I was flipping through a magazine while visiting Annabel and April. I came across a sample of this perfume tucked away within a page. I handed the sample card over to Tim and said, "Rmember this. It smells so good." Well evidently he kept the card in his wallet until it was time to get me a Mother’s Day gift. So sweet hon!

Later, as we usually do, we went over to see my Mom and celebrate the day with her. Then later we stopped by my mother-in-laws house to surprise her with a few special things I’d picked out at Kirklands. I love that store btw.

The day ended with some wonderful snuggles from my 2 awesome kids. I will have to say that being a mom myself is the best gift I could ever have. Makayla and Jackson are a handful for sure. This season of my life is filled with cat and mouse games, puzzles, books, play dough, diaper changes, potty training(1 kid down, 1 to go), late night comforting, fixing booboos, sweeping after every meal, load after load of laundry, a definite lack of sleep, dishes galore, ABC’s and 123’s (in English & Spanish), bike riding, and early morning strolls around the neighborhood. These are the things I dreamt of for so long and I thank my Lord Jesus Christ for allowing me to be a mom. I also thank God for my mom, a great woman whom I’ve learned a lot from and still learning from especially when I watch her cook. 

Me, Mom, Summer, and April

Sweetest little guy ever!

Cute Tootie

My mom with 2 of her granddaughters, MG and Annabel

My Little Kitchen Helper

Makayla loves to help me in the kitchen so I let her help cook and bake as often as possible. Here’s a few pics from our latest homemade pizzas. We made cheese and pepperoni with onions and a spinach with ricotta chunks.

Egg Free Chocolate Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies

Okay so I really need to blog more…between playing with the kids, laundry, devotional time, work, spending time with Tim, laundry, cleaning dishes, sweeping, cooking, exercising, laundry, and showering (haha! Gotta fit that in right!) I’ve been slacking on the blogging department. I will have to admit that I miss it. I just LOVE writing/blogging-it’s an awesome way to remember our sweet times that become memories too soon. Time is flying by!! Plus it’s just the way I sort my emotions. :-)

Well, I just made the best Egg Free Chocolate Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies with whole wheat flour! So I thought I would post the recipe real quick. Makayla rarely  gets special treats like this because they have to be egg free and because I like foods that are pretty healthy for my kids. Today, she was so excited cause I decided to splurge! Right now I'm watching MG & Jack eat their little cookie, and let me tell you it's so sweet to watch! Hopefully this will help all of us feel better cause we're feeling kinda yucky at our house...ugh. Oh, Oh did I mention that this dough is awesome when frozen (it's safe to eat raw because it's EGG FREE) :-) Enjoy…seriously, mix it, bake it, and sit for 5 minutes and indulge. You won’t regret it.

Much Love,

Shawna

Egg Free Chocolate Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies

You can skip the ‘adding the cocoa’ and they’ll be regular chocolate chip cookies. I’ve made them both ways and it’s so good. If I want a batch half and half (like the picture above) then I will just split the cookie batter and add half the cocoa to the one half.

1/2 C Butter (1 stick)
1/3 C Sugar
1/2 C Brown Sugar
1 1/2 C Flour (Whole wheat flour is great too)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

3-4 tsp of real cocoa
2 ½  tsp Vanilla (better if you use real vanilla)
3 TBSP Vegetable Oil

1/3 C of whipped cream cheese
Chocolate Chips

Cream together the butter and sugars (usually around 2 to 3 minutes)
Slowly add in Flour, cocoa and baking soda (mix will be dry after this step)
Add in Vanilla and Oil and cream together for another 2 to 3 minutes or until dough consistency. I pat it wil my hands to get it formed into a big ball.

Add cream cheese and cream together for about 15 seconds.
Add Chocolate chips

Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 min max. Leave them on baking sheet for about 5 more minutes then transfer to cooling racks.

icecream topped with cookie dough balls.

Approval from the kiddos!! :-)