Cinnamon Roll Goodness

Quick confession..... I am obsessed with The Pioneer Woman. She is everything I wish I could be... and I would kill for her kitchen. It is beautiful. I honestly don't know if I personally could make it as a ranchers wife, but if I could trade lives with her, I would sure try. Sigh.

Anyway, the point of my little obsession confession is because Ree is an amazing cook and has great stuff on her site all the time. I have tried variations of her stuff, but there are always things that I want to try that I never get around to. Well, last week, I got around to it and made her super amazing, to die for cinnamon rolls. Oh my goodness they are soooo good.

Of course nothing I do is as easy as it should be, but I have to put a Nicky spin on all things I do right. I started out trying this Friday afternoon. It didn't seem that hard. I can make bread, and a lot of this is doing just that, but as the first attempts lump of dough just sat there with no action at all I knew something was up. I started over. I was talking to my Grandma this time who I often call for cooking advice. Neither of us could figure out what was wrong. I told her it appeared the dough seemed to dry, not as sticky as it should be and I kept adding more milk. Well, I didn't want to add too much more because I didn't want to kill the recipe. The second one turned out much like the first, a dud. So I gave up for the night and thought I would try again tomorrow. It was really bugging me all day why I couldn't get it right. At about 10:30 Friday night I jumped online again and studied the recipe over and over.
• Dough
1 cup whole milk
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 packages (4 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
9 cups all-purpose flour
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1 scant teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon salt
Yep, everything looked right. Wait a min.... read that first line one more time. OHHHHH. Not one cup of milk like I thought it said, it was one QUART of milk. That would explain A LOT. (and reaffirm that I am a true blonde.)

So Saturday morning I started again with a Quart of milk and all the other right stuff. A few hours later the most wonderful smell filled my home as 8 pans of the best tasting cinnamon rolls filled my kitchen. (Yes, I said 8, another part of the recipe I forgot to notice. Next time I'll freeze half the dough).
You should totally check out her site and try the cinnamon rolls. www.thepioneerwoman.com Oh oh, I just looked at her site and she had homemade glazed doughnuts right now. YUMMMMMY. But first I'll read the recipe 6 times to make sure I get it right.

Batter Up!

Monday night was Ty's first t-ball game. He was super excited! I am so glad he was feeling well enough to play. There are lots of pictures, but I put a few in a slideshow to show ya. There are 21 games total this season, so be ready for lots of game recaps :)

The best part was getting him all suited up. I made Eric do it for a few reasons but mainly because it is mandatory league rules that all boys wear an athletic cup and I really thought that first experience should be something between a father and a son. He wasn't a fan as most almost 6 year-olds probably aren't. You'll see him in one of the shots adjusting it. :) I thought it was hilarious and I just know in a few years those things will be all over my house and the boys will be wearing them around on their heads. I love sports!

The Highs and the Lows

We did it again. This winter has not been nice to our family in the way of health. I am not sure how it keeps happening. I am pretty sure I have taught my kids not to lick the ground or chew the gum you find under tables, but somehow it keeps happening. Last week Ty had to stay home due to the typical cough and asthma cold he gets, but this one lasted about 5 days which is much longer than usual. That just prepped us for Monday night when both little ones cried and cried with ear pain. Actually Austin just cried and cried and we couldn't figure out why. Then when Tanner woke up at 2 am with ear pain we clued in that maybe that was what was bothering Austin too. Sure enough, the next morning the doctor diagnosed them both with double ear infections and they both had their right ear drum rupture. Austin also had a 102.5 fever and was so out of it. Tanner was a quick fix but Austin's cold seemed to linger. Thursday morning I woke up with a horrible cold, and I don't get sick, so that really threw me off. Friday morning my cold had gotten worse and by mid morning I got a call from the school asking me to come pick up Ty because he had pink eye. We have never had pink eye before but the thought of that running it's course threw our family was overwhelming that day. I begged Eric to come home but he couldn't. Yesterday Ty's other eye got infected and he stayed in quarantine all day while Austin and I coughed all over the house. This morning Tanner is 100%, Ty's eyes are 95% clear but Austin and I are still coughing, and Eric, probably not wanting to feel left out, is claiming he is feeling something coming on. Whew, can you tell I am just sick of being sick!! Yuck!!

But there is a huge highlight to this week. It is kind of silly, but to me, it seriously made my whole month! Okay, so there is

this photographer from Colorado that I love love love. Her name is Sandy Puc and she has a tour that she does yearly and I have been to each year she has been to Sacramento. She comes and gives other photographers ideas and suggestions about the business. Her story is truly inspiring. She started photography 17 years ago out of her home. She turned her master bedroom into a studio and she tells the story of how she would have to stand in her bathroom sink to get the shot if she was shooting more than 4 people at a time. She is LDS and has 4 beautiful children. Over the years she grew her business and she is now the most high end photography studio in her area of Colorado. I always come away from her lectures feeling inspired and empowered. Anyway, last month I had the opportunity to see her again. When the night was over I wrote a quick thank you note to her expressing my appreciation for her and the knowledge she shares and gave it to her. I thought nothing more of it. I just wanted to let her know how much I enjoyed the programs she had given us the last few years. WELL...... last night I got AN EMAIL FROM HER. She wrote me an email just thanking me for my note and a few other little things. It was seriously nothing big, but the fact that she took the time to go find my website and then my email address to write ME a word of thanks, well, it just really made my day, obviously. Just that she would take time to thank me, so cool.

So there are my last 10 days in a glance. Really not much going on except trying to make it. Last piece of good news.... it is going to be a beautiful, sunshine filled week. I only hope we are all up and going so we can enjoy it. Then again, maybe a little sun is just what the doctor ordered.

Taking Advantage of the Sun

The weather has been so hit and miss here that I couldn't help but capture this sunny moment. The older two still in their beds for an afternoon nap, Austin was playing joyfully outside and loving every moment of it. You can't help but notice the pleasure in his eyes as he soaks in the beauties of the outdoors.