Baking Day

My daughter and I decided to do a bit of baking this weekend.  It is always nice to have an assistant, specially when we are doing 2 things.  I have a chocoholic family and I like banana muffins so we decided to do both.  Here she is getting started!

She was so excited about her brownies (those are not from scratch).  We bought a box of Ghirardelli Chocolate.  It was really good.

The Banana Pecan Muffins were from scratch.  I had made so many in the past and I have to say the ones from Foodnetwork - Tyler Florence are my favorite and so easy to make!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/banana-nut-muffins-recipe/index.html

The end results!

Yummy!  There are only 3 muffins left now!

Play Date!

Ari loves school and she also loves Ceci.  She loves to have play dates and here are some pictures of the date:

 She always wants to have her tables set for Tea Time with lots of goodies for her friends.

Ceci is preparing the Tea :)

 She did not want to wear her Easter's dress until she saw Ceci and Lili.  She then asked me if I could change her to her cute dress.

I love Lili.  She is so cute.  She has a good appetite just like me. 

 I wish the tree was not quite in the way.  But, that was the best picture while they were sitting together in the backyard.

 Running around...

Playing!

Easter 2012!

We have not planned an Easter Party this year.  I guess we were so tired from Mike's on call week that we did not give it too much thought.  But, by Thursday night my mom called me and asked what were we doing? That is when things started.  Check the cute pictures :)

Here is my baby with her cousins.  They were playing, running, dancing, and waiting for the Easter bunny!

I asked them to go "crazy" and jump or do whatever they wanted.

Then, they thought of the swing set and how they can go silly!

I see a bunny at work :)

The kids get so excited when they see the eggs in the yard.

Ari did really well this year collecting eggs (all on her own).

After finding all the eggs.  Some where in the grass, others were hidden in things :)

The bunny did not make baskets (It knew they will need them for the eggs) but left a little gift for each of the kids.

Eating chocolate...

 My sister and her family + the bunny got my daughter an Easter bunny!

Happy Birthday to my Abue!

This past weekend we celebrated my mom's birthday.  It was very low key, but we were almost all together (my brother had to work ) :< but he is doing ok so we are happy and thankful that we are healthy ( even though sometimes I feel like a jalopy).  The kids were all smiles.

Those enchiladas were delicious, but boy they were so spicy.  I could only eat two and I needed a ton of soda afterwards, but it was so good... My sister was on fire!

Fried Rice that Tony made.  It was good.  I almost did not have space for dessert for eating rice, but it was well worth it :>

My niece made this beautiful Eeyore for my mom... I think it was really nice.

Wow!  It seemed my mom was thinking that (time flies)... but I told her she looked lovely and young. :>

I love this picture.  We were singing.  She was about to blow the candles :)

We love you mom.  May you always get peace of mind, health, and happiness... plus more :)

Happy Valentines!

My daughter made this drawing... It is my husband giving me a flower...I know there is a heart, but I forgot what she meant by it.  :>  Happy Valentines!

My little one is not so little anymore...

I love this picture that my husband took of my daughter and Jack (our beautiful kitty) :)

It is too much to put... I may go back and add some pictures of some really cool events, but most likely I just will take it from here. :)

It's been a long time...indeed.

I cannot believe that October was the last time that I posted something here.  I am not quite sure why I just did not feel like posting.  Ari has been growing and given us tons to see, to laugh, to pull our hairs, to enjoy, to love. So, I guess it was just me not wanting to post.  2010 closed the year with many emotions and I guess all in the family felt exhausted.  But we look up to 2011 with hope that this year will be better than the last one.
I am looking forward to the spring.  Ari said that she will help me plant tons of flowers.  I think this year we will see our backyard differently and we will enjoy having the game (baseball) on the radio, some cold drinks, nice weather, and a beautiful and colorful backyard.  Maybe we will play ball, or just play with the hose.  All my nieces and nephews will be here and we will all get wet.  That sounds like fun.
She also said that she wanted to bake cookies with me.  I bought one of those frozen cookies that I just need to put in the oven.  We will do the real deal soon enough.  I am just trying to get myself out of the non-bake feeling for now.  Those chocolate chips cookies look great and we can still do it together.
And I think all of these hits close to my heart.  You see, I did not know I was pregnant until about 3 months, but I kept having dreams of this little girl that was helping me in the backyard, that was baking with me quite often, and that was playing tea parties with me.  After the nth dream, I thought this is too weird.  I remembered telling my friend Tiffiney that this "little girl" was pretty persistent. At that time, my brother's girlfriend was pregnant so I figure she was having the little girl (She had a boy).  So, I guess she was trying to tell me that she was here.  She was sending a HUGE HELLO! and I just could not hear it.  Now, all those dreams are starting to become a reality.  She has a voice now, and God knows we can hear her :)
(In this video, she had an itchy nose, but love her smile)