Aiden taught himself to ride a two wheeler bike, on his sister’s princess bike. Once he showed me what he could do he said “Can I please have a boy bike now?”

Aiden lost two teeth this past week. His first visit from the tooth fairy ended up with 3 Gold dollar coins under his pillow. Running down the stairs the next morning he exclaimed “Mom, MOM! The tooth fairy left me 3 GOLD DUBLOONS!”

Much like the Tivo beeps now mean it’s time for his beloved Bubble Guppies, Jason has associated cake pops with Starbucks, he sees the inside of a Starbucks and he says, “Pop Pop? Pop Pop!!”

Jason is always the best behaved for haircuts, cringes less than Aiden.

Charlotte is a fashionista, no less than 2 outfits a day for this thing. At least she has all of Katie’s adorable hand me downs. Sad for my laundry piles though.

Whenever Char gets a kiss, she shrugs her shoulders while saying “Awwww Shucks!”
Jason calls her Lola now, and I often over hear them babbling to each other. Even if it isn’t a language I recognize, at least they aren’t screaming at that moment!

Recipe:

Makes approx. 24 cupcakes. Need a crème brulee torche for this one.

Phase 1 make ahead.

Lemon Curd (Makes 1 ½ to 2 cups, needed for filling and cake)

8 egg yolks (reserve the whites for later!)
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
Juice of 3 lemons
1 cup of sugar
? teaspoon of salt
1 and ¼ sticks of butter, cold cut into pieces.

Combine yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar in a heavy-bottom saucepan; whisk to combine. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon (be sure to scrape the sides of the pan), until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, 8 to 10 minutes, and registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.
Remove saucepan from heat. Add salt and butter, one piece at a time, stirring until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve into a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled and set, at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.
Lemon Filling

1 packet of Jello lemon instant pudding, and whatever it requires.
½ of the lemon curd above.
½ of a lemon juiced and zest.

Mix Jello lemon instant pudding according to directions. Add the zest, Juice, and curd. Cover with saran wrap so that it is touch the jello surface, avoiding forming a skin.

Phase 2.
Graham cracker Crust

10 honey grahams
¼ cup of sugar
? cup of melted butter
Pulse together Grahams and sugar in a food processer, until grahams are completely broken down.
Slowly add melted butter to food processor, while running. Keep running until it begins to come together.

Place 1 tablespoon of mixture in bottom of cupcake liners. Use bottom of tablespoon to pat crust firmly into place and shape.
Bake in 350 degree oven for 5-6 mins. Let cool for 5 minutes.

Phase 3.
Lemon Pound cake

Favorite pound cake recipe (or box mix in my case)
Rest of lemon curd
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1.5 lemons zested and juiced.
½ cup of sour cream

Make pound cake according to directions. Once finished, mix in remainder of ingredients from above list, combine well. Scoop mixture into cupcake liners, on top of graham cracker crust, should fill at least to ¾ of the way full. I use a measuring cup or a ladle. Bake in oven at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Check at 20 mins.
Remove and let cool completely.

Phase 4.
Meringue Marshmallow frosting.

8 egg whites (left over from curd recipe!)
2 cups of sugar
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon extract.

Bring a pot of water, ¼ full, large enough to fit your metal electric mixer bowl (like a kitchen aid) to a simmer. Place egg whites, cream of tartar, and sugar in bowl. Place bowl in pot. Whisk slowly to combine, then continue until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is warm to the touch (body temp or so) about 4 minutes.
Remove from pot, place on electric mixer stand, and with whisk attachment, mix on low, then medium, then high until soft glossy peaks form. Add vanilla and lemon extract. Continue to beat until stiff glossy peaks form.

Phase 5, putting it all together.

Take cooled cupcakes, and remove center (about a finger width, I use a veg peeler to core them ). Once all have been removed, place lemon filling in a Ziploc bag, and cut tip (runny so use finger to stop flow between cupcakes). Fill center of each cupcake completely. Any leftovers are lovely with the leftover cake from the cores, and frosting – fun Parfaits! Place frosting in a piping bag with a star type tip, and pipe to completely cover cupcake. (Should look like a Soft serve cone style swirl) Then once all have been completely frosted, carefully take crème brulee torch, and while constantly moving toast the marshmallow frosting on each cupcake until no longer glossy, and some spots turn a nice light brown color. Looks like meringue

Then I got to making cupcakes for the girls classes, a dry run for the baptism and beehive bash. Lemon Meringue Cupcakes, inspired by Trophy’s delicious cupcake of the same name.

Then came the baptism…

on fast sunday…

The same day Bex received her faith in god award, officially graduating from primary to young women’s program.

I finished Katie’s baptism shawl just in time, 8 repeats…

Hard to believe that I am the mother of a 12 year old now. Yikes. I remember when …

And this little thing is already 8?

So the the foyer…



A powder room, off the foyer, is a lavender color.

And the entry hall continues past the playroom…

The stairs are across the hall from the playroom…

The playroom was intended to be a den or formal dining, but with double doors and a prime location it became…

Continuing into the house past the playroom, off to the left is the kitchen and dining areas.

Off to the right side, across from the kitchen, is the living room.

The open great area has a glass door to the back deck, and yard area which has virtually no maintenance thanks to paver stones. It is as wide as the house and deep enough to be quite fun!

Going upstairs is a landing area where we read stories and scriptures at bed time.

To the left, is the laundry.

Just past it is Bekah’s room.

Next was intended to be a bonus room, but the owners had it serve as a bedroom and added a walk in closet. It is now Charlotte and Katie’s room

Next in the circle of the upstairs, is the boys garage.

Then the Tropical mango colored Bathroom.

And last, but not least, the master suite.

Balcony

Master Closet

and Master Bath

I can also tell you I have officially lost 42 lbs!
It has been crazy with moving, and the girls birthdays, and I have gone off a little. I am about pounds behind where I wanted to be by this week. I still think that is pretty awesome.

And now for some more news… We are moving! We found a great place right next to the kids school. Here are some of the staged pics from the real estate website. Soon to have our pics up (:

And these really don’t do it justice. It is bright, colorful, and perfect. I can’t wait to get moved in. We get the keys Sunday!

I am still plugging away at weight loss too. Being sick helped me to drop below 240, and I reached my 30# mark, for a few days anyway! I have another lb to get back down now that I am healthy again. I have been rewarding myself ever 10# I lose, and on some 5# marks as well.

When I lost 5, I got my Bodymedia, and some cute covers.

When I lost 10, I ordered some cool water bottles (not pictured).
When I lost 15, I went and got pedis with Maura.
When I lost 20, I got a new scale (one that worked), its more special than it looks!

When I lost 25, I got my nails done (pictures is my pretties from last nights trip which included a fill and a pedi).

When I lost 30, I got new work out shoes!

Conference weekend just passed, and I spent it knitting on a shawl for a very special event coming up. Isn’t it so pretty?

I have continued to make progress, I weighed in yesterday at 243. That is 25# down from the start, 6 weeks ago. I also took measurements. They are now at:
37 Rib, 15 neck, 15 arm, 39 belly, 49 hips, 26.5 thigh
I have been juicing, and working out daily. Watching my calories closely while I am out. It feels like it has slowed down a bit, but it was probably just stress talking, because I am still averaging over 3#s a week lost. I am rewarding myself for my current weight loss with a new pair of shoes, and a new scale (as mine got tossed out the window a week ago – due to the inaccuracy).

I feel like these are such boring posts, because I really can’t stand taking my own picture, and that seems to be what would go best wit these posts. I have some before pics, but they’re too hideous, and I can’t find the swimsuit to take more, so it will just have to be a while. I tried to find some pics from christmas time, and it is scary how few pictures I appear in, especially full shots. Shows how much I don’t like the way I look I guess. I have received tons of compliments saying how much thinner I look (and I know I do), but I feel like I have a long ways to go. I know its a long haul.

School starts again next week, and I am just looking forward to the fun spring brings. The girls birthdays next month, and graduation for me and Bex (from 6th grade).

Today:
Arm = 16, Neck = 15, Ribs=37.5, Waist = 40, Thigh = 27.5, Hips=50

This week, I burnt the most calories in my Zumba class. Need to up the intensity level on my spinning class.

I have been working out 4 days a week, an hour at a time. Thanks to my Body media (a Costco steal at 130, including a 6 month subscription), I know exactly how many calories I burn a day, and can alter my diet accordingly. I also am able to track how much sleep I am getting, which is crucial to this process. I donated a trash bag of too big stuff this morning, and refuse to replace anything non crucial. I have gone thru my too small jeans, and have them in order of size. I know I won’t get below a 14 without removing some post babies skin, but I am already into my 18s and I am getting close to my 16s. I have taken really great before pics, which I can’t bear to share just yet. But I will share my measurements.

Before: 17.5 arm, 30 thigh, 52 hips, 40 ribs, 42.5 belly, 16 neck

Today: 16.25 arm, 28 thigh, 50 hips, 38.25 ribs, 41 belly, 15.5 neck

Since Tuesday I have replaced breakfast, morning snack, and evening snack with Homemade juice! I got a Breville Juice Fountain, and am loving it.

My first foray into juicing was a lovely beet root, apple, celery, cucumber, Kale. Earthy and sweet (don’t worry it taste nothing like it sounds).

Later that day I tried a greener beauty, with apple, cucumber, cabbage, celery, parsley & cilantro.

The possibilities are endless, and I couldn’t be happier with the results.

Managed to eat out on Tuesday for Valentines day with my Hubby, and parents (yay 36 years guys~) at my fav upscale restaraunt. Also enjoyed exploring classes at the YMCA. Tuesday I did rotations between cycling, treadmill, and elliptical. Wednesday I took a super fun Zumba class. Thursday I took off (to let the muscles recoup), and Friday I did an hour on the Treadmill at 3.5 an hour. Saturday morning I took a step aerobics class that was way out of my league (as I almost had an asthma attack and had to leave), but I hit the cardio room and finished out my hour. Sunday I went for a nice walk. Today I took the spinning class, AGAIN!

I had a blast going out with a few of my High school girlfriends on Saturday night. Melting pot, Gasworks, The Troll, Beth’s Cafe, and hanging out in Everett for a bit. Some pics below.