Food/Cooking blog url

I suppose I should give you the address to my other blog if I want you to check it out.

cook-aholic.blogspot.com

Enjoy! I will post my first recipe tomorrow.

Soooooo behind!!!

So I haven't posted on our blog for a very long time! In fact...I have gone through two hair colors since my last post!!! Now that's pretty bad!!



I find myself looking at the pictures I haven't posted and thinking "Man, I am sooo behind!" Then I look at my house and think, "Man, I am SOOO behind!" Then I realize that Christmas is next week and I think, "Oh my heck!!!! I am SOOO BEHIND!!" Life just seems to keep going no matter how much I get done or in most cases don't get done!



One thing I can now check off my list is posting on our blog! YAY!


Here is the latest news in the Tim Denney (there are lots of Denney's) household.


Tim is still on the same job that was supposed to be completed in May. He is definitely ready to get started on something new. Tim has also just recently completed all of his scout leadership training. Whoohoo Tim!!



I (Anna) have been sewing like CRAZY!!! I have probably spent more time at a sewing machine this last month than I have spent sleeping! Lately I have stayed up until 2 am just to get some more sewing done! I made a quilt from start to finish for our stake humanitarian project and that took a long time!! It was definitely a learning process. I am also making three quilts for the kids for Christmas (this is what I am thinking of when I say I'm behind on Christmas). I am also committing to start posting on my cooking blog. I have been taking pictures and writing down recipes for over a year now and have a lot of recipes to post!! Hopefully I will be able to keep it up.



Abram is starting to say more words now that I actually understand so that is a good thing. He had a hearing test a couple weeks ago and is doing just fine. So he went to the speech therapist and nothing is wrong and he went to the audiologist and nothing is wrong. I guess that means that just have one stubborn kid. The other day I was looking at Abram's legs and thought "Wow, his legs are so skinny!" Now you are probably wondering why I mention this. The reason is because he doesn't have chunky baby legs anymore. My little baby boy is really no longer a baby boy [sniffle, sniffle]. Now he is turning into a big boy. He has gone to the bathroom on the toilet a few times and I could probably potty train him now, but I have had much luck when it comes to me being consistent. So we will see what happens.



Mollie is my smiley girl...as long as she is being held. She likes to talk and she has gotten pretty good at putting her pacifier in her mouth. She hates being on her stomach and still spits up a lot (I wonder when that will go away). Mollie has been trying really hard to get into a sitting position when she is laying down so I figure she will have rock hard abs soon. : ) She has yet to start rolling over. Really Mollie just loves to cuddle and lay her head on your chest and for now I am definitely okay with that.


Mariah is very talkative. Its kind of funny because sometimes she yells at me when I'm getting on her nerves. I think its pretty cute but I'm sure I won't think that forever. Mariah is more sensitive that Mollie and she gets her feelings hurt pretty easily. Mariah has started rolling over now and and think she will be crawling pretty soon. She is always on her stomach. I have noticed that Mariah has flirty eyes and she knows how to use 'em!! : )


Well, that is probably enough for now so here are some pictures.

This is the birthday cake that I made for Abram this year.

First Grocery Store Adventure

When I was pregnant I would walk to the store with Abram quite a bit, but since the girls were born I haven't been at all. That is until last week. I decided to go to the store because we didn't have any milk and hadn't had any for a couple days so we went on our adventure. Of course it took forever to get everybody ready and happy enough to last for at least an hour and then when I got outside the tire on the stroller was flat!!! I could have just given up but we NEEDED milk and I had already put Abram and Mariah in the stroller and Mollie was in my carrier so WE WERE GOING!! So... we went with a flat tire. Of course when we got to the grocery store I needed a few more things and when I got to the checkout stand I had to stuff groceries in all sorts of places. The cashier didn't think it would work, but it did. You know why? Its because I'm Super Mom! j/k. But I decided to document with a few pictures. So, here they are.

Abram was eating a donut.

Mariah was VERY angry and wanted to be held and fed.

Somehow Mollie found some food to spit-up all over me even though she hadn't eat in a couple hours.

This is Mollie in her bundle.

Me...after a long, hot walk with three babies and a cashier that had little faith in my abilities.

Abram and Mariah in their stroller.

Abram's Dance

Abram loves to dance so I decided to get a video of him. This is pretty funny.

So I have done a terrible job of keeping you posted. The babies are here and have been for a little over a month!!! Time flies by quickly! They were born on July 19th via c-section at 4:45 and 4:47 am. Mariah Diane was first and weighed in at 6 lb 5 oz. Mollie Elizabeth was second and weighed in at 6 lb. 1 oz. I am VERY glad they weren't born too much later than they were because I can't imagine carrying any more baby weight than I already was!!! Good news is that I lost 28 pounds when they were born!!! Woohoo!! My water broke at 1:55 am on the 19th so I went into the hospital and everything went super quickly from there. I actually went started feeling contractions as soon as my water broke which is a change from when I was pregnant with Abram so I guess it takes two babies before my body will start doing what its supposed to. The contractions were 2 minutes apart so I imagine if I would have been allowed I would have gone pretty quickly without the c-section. But I am thankful to have had a c-section because the thought of pushing is too scary! : )

Well...here are some pictures of the babies for the last month. Hopefully I can do all of them on one post. I've never tried to put so many on before. Enjoy!

This is the longest post in the history of posts so be patient you will get to the end soon. : )

Mariah in her cute flower headband that Heather gave us.

Mariah in the sweater Grandma Nehring made.

Mollie wearing one of the booties Grandma Nehring made.

Mollie in the other cute headband Heather gave us.

Mollie in the other sweater Grandma Nehring made.

Mariah holding her own bottle.

Abram and his big blue eyes.

Mollie coming home from the hospital.

Daddy loves his girls.

Mariah dressed to come home from the hospital.

Mariah sleeping in the hat Grandma Nehring made.

Mollie sleeping in the hat Grandma Nehring made.

Our three kids. WOW!! When did we grow-up enough to have three kids???!!!???

Sisters.

Abram playing with Mariah.

I just love this picture that Grandma Denney took of Abram.

In their carseats. Mariah in the pink one, Mollie in blue.

New Ultrasound Pictures

Well...I am finally putting the latest ultrasound pictures on here. It has been a long couple of weeks. I was having some breathing problems for a while there and had to be monitored for a few hours and tomorrow I have an appointment with a cardiologist just to make sure my heart is working the way it is supposed to. I think that the babies are just causing these problems, but just in case it is good to get tested. : ) So I wil keep you all posted.

I decided to change the due date on my side bar count down because I was getting frustrated with trying to figure out when I was really going to be having these babies vs. their actual due date. So I am actually on 30 weeks along, but I will be having a c-section on July 3rd if not earlier (depending on what happens in the next 7 1/2 weeks).

The side profile is twin a. The other two pictures are twin b. I think its cute how you can kind of see her chubby cheeks...just like Abram. : )

Easter Package

Here are the Easter pictures I have been promising for a week. I have to take a picture of Abram in his "big boy" pajamas still, but I figured I would post these for the benefit of the grandparents. : )

Here he is taking everything out of the box.

He wants us to open his marshmallow bunny. By the way, he still hasn't eaten it.

Abram is saying please so we will give him an m&m.

And now the fruit of his labors. Those labors being that he said/signed "please". A delicious green m&m! YUMMY!

After he opened the package and he had all the candy we would let him have (he could have eaten it all I'm sure) he decided it would be fun to jump on the bed. He doesn't have very good balance so he always fell after on jump. It was fun until he fell off the bed. He kind of did a flip off the bed and bit his tongue. : ( He was okay though and still wanted to jump, but his paranoid mommy decided that it was time for him to do something a little less dangerous.

Last but not least is another belly picture. I look very happy in this picture except for where I look really UN-happy, but I was neither happy or unhappy... I was exhausted. Tim was on the couch so it is a weird angle, but I still look pretty big.

Cute, but sad.

So, it was as cute as it was sad...Anna was in a cleaning mode and vacuuming the room Abram and I were in. Abram is deathly afraid of the vacuum (even though he went down the slide at the playground all by himself after only once going down with me). So, he retreated to underneath the computer desk (where I was at) and sat staring at the vacuum. Cute, but sad.

As promised, here are the pictures of the girls and "the belly".




This is the bottom baby. They only got two pictures of her and 12 of her sister. : ( So I will only post one of each baby to make it fair. : ) She has her arm next to her face because she is waving at us. : )



This is the top baby. She really likes to kick me in in the ribs. But, even if it hurts sometimes I really like it when she kicks and moves around. If you look closely you can see the other babies' leg at the top of the picture just above the head.




And here are both babies in the same photo. One of the babies is on her side so you can see her body.

Well...here is my belly picture. I am definitely getting big but I will be getting a lot bigger so you ain't seen nothing yet. A lot of people think that I look small when they find out I am having twins.

Well that's all for now.

So I know that I promised pictures of the twins and my belly last week but time has just gotten away from me. I'm still not going to post a picture of my belly or the twins until tonight though because I need to have Tim take a picture of me. We are going to the temple tonight so I will be doing my hair and will have that "spiritual" glow when we get back. That will hopefully make for a good picture. : )

So I actually did finish my apron when I said I would (last Wednesday), but I didn't finish my other project to go with it until today. My one and only sewing machine needle snapped in three different places (how does that happen?). So I went to the store to get more on Saturday and then I left the needles in my wallet and left my wallet in the car which then went to work with Tim. It was all very frustrating, but I was able to pull my project together last night. This is a VERY good thing because I had to ship this by today for the wonderful apron swap that am in. I hope that my partner will like the apron and table topper I made (crossing-fingers). I picked the fabric and then the more I looked at it the more I didn't like it so I was worried. But...now that it is finished I really like it and wish that I didn't have to give it away!! : ( I always learn so much when I make a new project so if I keep doing new sewing projects maybe I will be a pro like my mom and pretty much her whole entire family!! But that will probably take a few years. : )

I had to pin my apron and table topper to the back of my couch because this apron is not flattering on me due to "the belly" and I didn't think having Tim wear it would be very flattering either.

The Apron

The Table Topper

The Treats

Well...thats it for now but I will have more pictures tonight or tomorrow morning.

Well, today I decided that we would have dinner in the park because I found this recipe on a friends blog for cod sandwitches. The sandwitches were very good and I made some homemade hoagies and macaroni salad to go with the sandwitches. Here are the recipes.

Sailor Sandwiches with Caesar Mayo

Courtesy of “Put a Lyd on it” by Lydia Stewart

1/4 c milk

1/4 cup cornmeal

2 T flour

4T grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 cod or haddock fillets (6 oz each)

2 T butter

Place milk in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, cheese, and seasonings. Dip fish in milk, then cornmeal mixture. Place butter in a frying pan over medium heat and add the fish when the butter is melted. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Caesar Mayo
4 tsp grated Parmesan cheese

4 tsp mayo

4 tsp olive oil

1 T lemon juice

1 T Worcestershire sauce

3/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ground mustard

1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce

Combine the ingredients. Spread over the rolls.

On the bottom bun, layer the fish, lettuce, and tomato and onion slices.

Sandwiches:

2 kaiser rolls, split

2 lettuce leaves

2 small tomatoes, thinly sliced

2 slices of sweet onion

We really liked these sandwitches although next time I think I will put more sauce on. I changed the recipe a bit from Lydia's blog because she cooked the fish under the broiler but suggested to do it in a frying pan instead. I also added more salt and pepper to dredge.

Here is the recipe for the bread:

Burger or Hot Dog Buns

1 cup milk

1 T. yeast
½ cup water

2 T. white sugar
¼ cup butter

1 ½ tsp. salt
4 ½ cups flour

1 egg

In a small saucepan, heat milk, water, and butter until very warm, approx. 120 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together 1 ¾ cups flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Mix milk mixture with flour mixture and then mix in the egg. Stir in the remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.

Burger Buns: Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Shape into smooth balls, and place on a greased baking sheet. Flatten slightly. Cover, and let rise for 30 to 35 minutes.

For Hot Dog Buns: Shape each piece into a 6x4 inch rectangle. Starting with the longer side, roll up tightly, and pinch edges and ends to seal. Let rise about 20-25 minutes.

Bake at 400 ° for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.

And finally the recipe for the macaroni salad:

Macaroni Salad

1 lb. cooked elbow macaroni

1 carrot

1 stalk of celery

4 large dill pickles

8 radishes

6 green onions

6 oz. cheddar cheese

1 tsp. paprika

3/4 cup mayo

2 T. mustard

Salt and pepper

Chop the carrot, celery, pickles, radishes, green onions, and cheese to the same size. It doesn't really matter what size as long as everything is pretty close to the same (I usually make them a little smaller than the pasta). Put all the ingredients into a large bowl and add the paprika, mayo, and mustard. Toss everything together until well blended. Add as much salt and pepper as you like. Serve at room temperature.

Now for the picture.

The other day Tim and I put Abram in his room to play so that we could get a few things done. A few minutes later this is what we found...

Abram has only done this one time before so we had to take some pictures because it doesn't happen very often.

The twins are doing well and moving like crazy!!! Think that I have finally figured out how to tell which one is moving. They hardly ever move at the same time so it is hard to tell. They both weigh in at 1.3 lbs and are still a little bigger than average. They are about 5 oz. bigger than the average baby at 22 1/2 weeks. I am okay with that as long as they don't end up as big as Abram!!! Can you imagine two 9 lb. babies!?!?!?! I don't even want to think about it. My belly button is getting closer and closer to popping out so I'm sure that will be happening soon. When I was pregnant with Abram my belly button didn't stick out at all so this will be a new thing for me ( I have a VERY inny belly button). I promise to post some new ultrasound and belly pictures by the end of the week!

I am working on another apron right now and will have that done by Wednesday so I will put a picture of that too.

Twins

So I have been reading a book on twins that my mother-in-law let me borrow and I have found out some interesting facts. Basically no matter what kind of twins I have (fraternal or identical) it really had nothing to do with Tim (the getting pregnant part did). So now I really don't know how I am having twins instead of one. I just thought that it was Tim's grandpa but come to find out identical twins are random and fraternal twins are hereditary but only on the mom's side. So I guess we were just lucky! We are very excited to be having twins, but I hope that Abram will take the change well. I just don't know how I am going to be able to give Abram all the attention he needs/deserves along with the two girls. I hope he won't think that we don't love him anymore!

Thanks for the book Diane!!! I love it so far. I got it yesterday in the mail and I am already in chapter three!

Last week was a fun and busy week! We had our friends David and Anna Sibbett come visit us from Wyoming! Their little girl Jamie is soo cute! And she is so light!!! Of course I am comparing her to our hefty 25 pound boy! She only weighed 13 pounds and I felt like I could hold her all the time!!! The sad thing is that even though I took our camera with us everywhere I didn't take one picture! What was I thinking?!?!?! We went to see Old Sacramento which was pretty cool and we went to the zoo. I had to be pushed around in a wheel chair at the zoo because it is hard for me to walk for very long so it was kind of weird. I think that the parents enjoyed the zoo more than the babies! : ) Abram was very upset most of the time and I am sure it was because we made him sit in his stroller when all he wanted to do was run around. I think we will have to make another trip to the zoo when he is a little older. On Saturday we went to San Francisco and walked around a lot!! I wouldn't have been able to do it if I had walked around the zoo. It was a BEAUTIFUL day!! The skies were never that clear when we lived there! There wasn't even one spot of fog...it was amazing!

Because we had guests come over last week I decided to plan the whole weeks menus to make myself more organized and it was the best thing ever! I typed out the the meal, shopping list, and prep work needed for each meal and I saved over a 100 dollars on groceries! That and I went to WinCo instead! I will never go back to my old ways! We expected to spend more last week with the extra mouths to feed but that was not the case! I will keep you posted on this weeks savings!!! Tim told me a couple weeks ago that I needed to cut back on the grocery bill and I was feeling like it would be impossible but after last weeks experience I just want to see how low I can get the bill. Luckily we don't have sales tax on groceries because that would add a lot. Our sales tax is 7.75% and I think they will be raising it!! CRAZY!!!!

I have just entered an apron swap with a tea party theme and I am so excited! Through out the swaps duration there will be givaways and this weeks giveaway is a tea cup apron.

Isn't this a cute apron? Who knows...maybe I will be the winner. This apron was created by Jan Carrell and her Web site is http://www.jcarrelloriginals.com/ . She has a lot of cute aprons that she custom makes and she also makes tea cozies. She is also planning to add Burp Cloths, Baby Bibs, Pony Tail Holders, Sippee Cups, Baby Bloomers, Kitchen Towels, and Tote Bags. I am excited to keep visiting her Web site and see what's new. You should check it out.

Now to my latest creations. These are definitely not sell worthy, but I think they are pretty good.

I have made this particular apron pattern a few times and I think I am finally getting the hang of it. I have learned a lot doing this pattern and now know the quickest way to complete these. I am not knowedgable enough to create my own patterns so for now I will be using other people's patterns. I don't really like how this apron hangs on my pregnant body but I figured it would look better on me than on Tim and we were the only ones around to try them on. Tim made me suck my tummy in the for the side shot photos and as you can see it didn't help much. Maybe someday I will have one of those mannequins like Jan Carrell has.

I have started two other aprons from this pattern in different fabric but I haven't finished them enough to take a picture. I also made one for Bethany when she got married and I don't have any pictures of that one either. Making 5 aprons from the same pattern is definitely enough so the next aprons you see will be very different and maybe I will be learning some new skills too!