Candy Corn Cupcakes

Candy Corn Cupcakes (Recipe From Our Best Bites)

1 18.25-oz. white cake mix

1 c. sour cream

1/2 c. vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 tsp. almond extract

Yellow and Orange Wilton Food Gel (I LOVE these!! You can find them at a Craft Store or Wal-Mart)

A double batch of Perfect Cupcake Frosting and Filling, or if you mess that up like I did, just use your favorite white icing.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pans with 24 white paper liners, although you may not make it to 24 cupcakes. Combine all ingredients, except for food coloring gel, in a large bowl and beat on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then beat on medium for 2 additional minutes.

Divide batter equally into two bowls. Mix less than 1/2 tsp. of yellow coloring gel into one bowl of batter and less than 1/2 tsp. of orange coloring gel into the other bowl.

Divide the yellow batter evenly among the muffin tins. Holding the edges of the pan firmly, bang the pan a few times on the counter to level out the batter, or smooth with the back of a spoon. Repeat the process with the orange batter on top of the yellow batter.

Bake for 20-22 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool about 5 minutes in the pan and then allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.

Frost and Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

Love, Jackson and Garrett

Why does Rigley continue to love them so much?

The other morning, the boys and I had a few errands to run.  Since we didn’t have to get out of the car for any of them, I decided to let Rigley come along for the ride. 

When we arrived back home, Rigley jumped out of the backseat, and this is what I saw….

I guess Jackson and Garrett had some fun with stickers!     Luckily they were just cheap stickers from the back of a coloring book, so they were easy to remove.

House For Sale.

As you all know, our house is on the market. Having your house on the market can be exciting, yet the majority of time it is emotionally draining. I remember when my parent’s house (the house I grew up in) was on the market. My parents had already moved to the house they live in now and I lived in the house for sale while I commuted to Texas A&M Commerce my junior year in college. It was just my dog Barney and I that lived there. Aaron was there a lot, however he didn’t live there. It was easy to keep clean. If I got a call that the house was going to be shown, no biggie. I would run the vacuum, grab my purse, and out the door I went. Sometimes I would sit in my car a few houses down, watch for them to arrive, wait for them the leave, and go back home. It was pretty simple. The house was shown a lot, but it wasn’t bad because it was so easy to maintain.

My oh my, how things are different today. To be honest with you, we have had very few lookers. Our first open house, a few couples came. With an open house, you hope to have serious lookers, but normally they are just browsers. There was a couple that was interested, but I don’t think their house was on the market yet or something like that. I don’t really remember now….

We got our first call from the call service requesting a showing on October 1st. October 1st…..the day we left for Florida. We planned to leave our house at 3:00. Bags were 95% packed. We only had to add our shower stuff, etc. You know, the last minute things. I stepped out of the shower at 1:30, the phone rang saying our house would be shown from 2:15 to 3:15. There was absolutely NO way. The boys were sleeping, my hair was wet….long story short, I couldn’t have everything and everyone ready in 45 minutes to leave for a 5 day vacation. No way! Can’t happen! Come to find out, this buyer wouldn’t have worked out anyways because we can’t have horses on our lot. We only have a little over 1 acre, and in our neighborhood you must have more than that…..Aaron knows the number.

Then, 2 weeks ago, Aaron was out of town with work and the boys and I went to Wal-Mart. We were heading home and my cell phone rang at 5:58pm for a 6:30pm showing. Our house wasn’t dirty, it was just a MESS. Toys everywhere…..unmade beds…..how you would probably picture a house looking that has a 18 month old and a 3 year old who have been playing at home all day. (and a lazy mom who drank a few margaritas at her sister in law’s birthday party the night before!:)

I drove home fast. It was one of those moments where I was shaking because I knew the short time line I had. We got home, I sat the boys on the couch, turned on Barney, and QUICKLY cleaned. We were out the door at 6:28pm. A few minutes later I realized I didn’t grab an extra diaper for Garrett, so I just hoped he didn’t have some kind of explosion in his diaper.

Come to find out, this was just a realtor looking. She loved the house and brought her clients back a few days later. This time I got an hour notice instead of 30 minutes. Wow. Thanks.

Her clients loved the house as well. Their only questions were if we ever get water on our back porch (which we never have) and what internet service is offered in our area. We were expecting to get an offer the following Monday. However, Monday the question was asked – How well can we hear the races from our house? Yep, the lovely races that opened this summer. We hear them, but probably twice a month. They are not a big deal. Since that question was asked, we didn’t hear anymore from them.

I hate that. They were really the first people that looked at our house and they loved it, but I feel they walked away because of the races which really isn’t even an issue. Will everyone be this way?

When our house wasn’t being shown, it was easy to have our house on the market. I would sometimes forget it was on the market. We were actually at peace with staying here. But, then when that whole thing happened it made me more on the edge. I could only have 30 minutes (or less) to make our house perfect. Yes, we LIVE here therefore it shouldn’t have to be PERFECT….but it does!!! It does because we don’t have a lot of interested buyers where we live, therefore it has to be perfect for the FEW we get. It only takes ONE person to like our house and it could be sold.

Even though just a few weeks ago we were at peace with staying here, with the thought of getting an offer, Aaron and I REALLY wanted to move. We were excited and thinking about our options. But then….nothing. It’s not that I hate our house, I like our house….it’s the unknown. Will we live here 2 months from now? Will we live here 5 years from now? Maybe it would be less stressful if we were going to move near the community we live in now, but we’re not.

Last night I was watching House Hunters Guide on HGTV. (Yes, these shows probably make me more crazy) It was 25 tips for purchasing a new home. One of the tips for buyers was to house hunt in the winter. There are not as many buyers to compete with because nobody wants to move in the winter. It also said sellers are motivated because chances are their house has been sitting on the market since summer time and if their house is on the market in the winter chances are it is because they HAVE to move due to relocating, etc. Well……great for a buyer……not so great for a seller. The thing is when we put our house on the market it wasn’t because we had to do it. We should have waited until March or April when more people are house hunting. We probably would have had more lookers. Now when March rolls around people will see how long our house has been sitting. It just has me thinking, is it better to let it stay on the market considering it does only take ONE looker to have it SOLD…..or are we better off taking it off the market and relisting it in March so it will be “fresh” and newly listed. Who knows. I have to remember that in a short amount of time, we could go from being a seller to being a buyer and maybe we would want to take advantage of the slow winter.

Until then, we wait…and play….and clean…wait….and play….and clean….

I just want a HOME again. Preferably a new home, but if not, I want to be able to LIVE in our HOME again…..

He’s a Wild One!

Take a look at these pictures….

Can you tell which child is becoming more calm and laid back…..

And which child is keeping Aaron and I on our toes!

He’s Dancing……He’s Happy…….but this little 19 month old is a wild little guy!

Harleigh’s Birthday Party!

We celebrated Harleigh’s 8th birthday Saturday at my sister and Ricky’s house. Here are a few pictures from the party….

The cupcakes made by me!

Garrett and Harleigh playing in Harleigh’s room….

I can’t decided if I want my sister to have a boy or girl (not that my opinion determines the gender, which by the way she will find out next month!….and the heart rate was in the 150s at this weeks appointment) but I do think it would be nice if they had a boy so that Jackson and Garrett could play with Tonka trucks instead of Harleigh’s Barbie cars. When Aaron sees the things the boys are playing with from Harleigh’s room, his face looks something like this - Cake and Ice Cream time!

Garrett with Ricky’s dad, Kelly. Garrett was trying to help Harleigh blow out her candles. Too bad he was about 6 feet away! ;) Garrett is good at showing my sister what all she will have to baby proof when the baby gets here!

Jackson just adores Harleigh! I love that she doesn’t think she is “too cool” for him……..yet! She even asked for Jackson to share a chair with her while they ate cake and opened presents. I never knew if she would forgive him for when Jackson was about 3 months old and YANKED her long hair…..or for all the times that both Jackson and Garrett would loudly cry when they were babies and Harleigh would cover her ears. I think she is starting to like them….

Make Your Blog into a Book.

Blurp.com is a website where you can make your blog into a book. Since I record more stories and post more pictures on my blog than I actually do in my children’s baby books, my plan is to make my blog into a book at the end of every year. This way I will have a book for each year. I think the boys will enjoy having these one day.

If you are interested in doing this with your own blog, I recieved an e-mail from Blurp for 20% off and free shipping. The promo code is BLURBTREAT. This offer is good through November 24, 2009.

Let me warn you, this does take time. However, for what it is, I think it is worth every minute.

Garrett’s List of Things.

Garrett has always had a security item. First it was only his blankie. I read here that studies of children’s attachments to blankets have shown that their habit is most intense between 18 and 24 months of age. Garrett just turned 19 months. I wish I would have read that before going to Florida and before putting his blanket in my bag in order to go through the security screening at the airport. Garrett did not like seeing his blankie go on the belt one bit!

Although his blankie is THE MUST HAVE item, he has decided to spice things up a bit.

The first item to add, was his Bla Bla Monkey that he got when he turned one. Since March, his “items” have been blankie and monkey.

After visiting his new baby cousin Brooks at the hospital, he had a new love for this baby doll. Since the end of July, his “items” have been blankie, monkey, and baby.

As if three things were not PLENTY and even though Aaron thought I was crazy for saying he needed all three things on the airplane and I thought Aaron was crazy for wanting to risk not taking them…..we couldn’t resist buying Garrett this Mickey Mouse at Disney World after seeing how happy it made him. He was so excited about “Mickey Clubhouse,” as he calls him. This only meant on the plane ride home, he had an additional buddy along for the ride.

(For the record, let me just take a moment to add that I am not a fan of stuffed animals. Teddy bears, stuffed whatever kind of animal….nope….. not a fan!)

So….since the beginning of October, his “items” have been blankie, monkey, baby, and “Mickey Clubhouse.”

Now to the newest addition…..Amigo Bear! Melvin bought Amigo Bear for Jackson when he turned one. For those that knew Melvin, picture him saying “I thought Amigo Bear could teach Jackson a little Spanish!” while he let me hear all the things Amigo Bear could say. Melvin was thrilled about good ole’ Amigo Bear, however it usually ended up being the toy in bottom of Jackson’s toy box that scared me every time I threw toys in the toy box. Out of nowhere, I would hear, “Hello! My name is Amigo Bear!! Hola! Me llamo Amigo Bear!” Darn Amigo Bear! Hush!!

Grandpa Jordan (Melvin) would be thrilled if he knew what Garrett’s new attachment is……Amigo Bear. Garrett found it yesterday and loves it! He took it to bed with him for the first time last night. Garrett has finally realized that he has the option of getting out of his bed. Luckily he either gets up to shut his door (he is picky about that!) or comes to our room, which I just walk him back to his bed and he is fine. Anyways, at 3am I woke up to “Hello! My name is Amigo Bear!! Hola! Me llamo Amigo Bear!” I had to walk Garrett and Amigo Bear back to bed.

Garrett’s new collect: Blankie, Monkey, Baby, Mickey Mouse, and Amigo Bear.

Garrett will often call roll before going to bed….

• ”Ba-kie”
• “Mo-key”
• “Baby”
• “Mickey Cub-house”
• “Ber”I think it is time to put my foot down. No more!

A Day at the Park!

The boys and I met Kristin & Payton and Marla & Parker at the park today for a picnic and playtime! A great time was had by all…..

Back at home, Jackson heard the garage open so he knew Aaron was home from work.

Jackson said “Mommy! Daddy is home! Let’s hide from Daddy!!!”

Clearly he is still in the “If I don’t see you, you don’t see me” stage! :)

“Here I am Daddy!!!!!!!!!!”