Counting down the days...

...until our Girl Scout cookies arrive. I seriously cannot wait to get my hands on those Thin Mints. Until then, let's recap.

Valentine's Day was a sweet day for us. The sun was shining, Addie and I made cupcakes together, we went on a picnic and enjoyed being outside for a while. I'd also planned ahead and was trying a new recipe in the crock pot. I love crock pot recipes and I love those days when I'm actually on top of things enough to throw something together in the crock pot. The house smells great all day and by dinnertime, there's nothing to do except get it on the table and eat. If you're interested, I'll pass along the cream cheese chicken recipe. I'll be making it again.

Don't mind the Easter bunny on the top of the cupcake stand. It was a feat getting it all screwed together and I had to resort to using a finial that would work in the top. At the end of it, we still had the leaning tower of cupcakes. Oh, and there were more cupcakes than are pictured :)

Our weekend previous to Valentine's Day was a busy one. We took nine kids from our youth group and an extra leader, besides us Chaneys, to Tallahassee for youth convention. It's just an overnight stay, but it is a nonstop trip. We were taking all middle schoolers except for one student who was in high school, so at first I was a little nervous - middle schoolers can do that to you. But, we had a great weekend, everyone stayed out of trouble and Addie did really well. She and I skipped out on the late night roller skating on Friday night but other than that we were able to be a part of everything else.

Disclaimer: we do not allow Addie to ride in her car seat without the shoulder restraints, but I noticed in the photos above that she'd slipped out of them. We rectified the situation shortly after.

Sunday night our church had a Valentine's banquet. Addie got started on her candy game as soon as we sat down.

This girl, she likes her some candy or, "ditsy" as it comes out when she says it. It's hard to say no to her, when it is so easy to give it to her to get the asking to stop, but I'm having to be disciplined and resist her smile and sweet asking.


So, those cupcakes I made, let me tell you about them. 


For family gatherings my sister used to make cupcakes. They weren't gourmet cupcakes, no secret recipe, simply a yellow cake mix topped with cream cheese icing. However, for some reason, these cupcakes were like potato chips - you couldn't eat just one. I would often find myself going for seconds...and thirds. There was just something about them that made them so good. Of course, top anything with anything made with cream cheese and I have no problem helping myself, but these were great cupcakes.


I had a hankering for them and decided we'd try our hand at them. I've made cupcakes in the past but I've never felt like they have turned out that great. The novelty was more in thought than in execution. But, I wanted cupcakes for Valentine's Day, so cupcakes we would make.


I checked with my sister and she uses a butter recipe yellow cake mix, the kind that uses three eggs and a stick of butter - not oil. I Googled a cream cheese icing recipe and with a little help from an almost two year old, we had our cupcakes. I have to say, these brought back some good tastebud memories. I filled the pan a little more than I usually do, so that the cupcakes were a little fluffier and not so flat in the cup. They stayed really spongy and were really good. And yes, I went back for thirds. I'm hoping this go around taught me more of what I need to do when making a successful batch of cupcakes, rather than the flat, dry cupcakes of my past.


Today I am thankful for mine and Sabian's date tonight. I am grateful for friends who have offered to watch Addie so that we can go out.