Making A Man Happy

It really does just revolve around their stomachs, doesn't it?  I think MM would be happy receiving nothing from me for his birthdays for the rest of his life so long as I prepare one of his favorite meals to eat.  This year's birthday selection was providential.  He's been fighting off a nasty cold since Tuesday but, fortunately for him, had asked me to make my Crock-Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup when I was doing the menu planning last week.  A steaming hot bowl of chicken soup, no matter what regional spin you put on it, just reeks of comfort.  I hope he enjoyed it.

For dessert, I pulled out the big guns and made that most difficult of desserts, Three-Ingredient Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins.  They're such a chore that I don't know why I spoil him with them.

Step 1:  Gather ingredients.

Step 2:  Dump Spice Cake Mix, all of it, into a big bowl.

Step 3:  Dump entire can of Pumpkin on top of cake mix.

Step 4: Start mixing.  I do it by hand.  I'd rather wash a spatula than my hand mixer beaters.

Step 5:  Keep mixing.  Shake arm out as it starts to burn.

Step 6:  Begin to seriously doubt your sanity at about the 3-minute mark.  Believe that this mixture will NEVER come together and know that these will not be worth all the effort.

Step 7:  Continue shaking arms, maybe cry a bit.  (But be sure not to cry INTO the batter...this recipe does not call for salt.)  Finally persevere and recognize the silky batter of success!

Step 8:  Dump ENTIRE bag of whatever chocolate chips you have on top of batter.  Someone prudent might opt for half a bag.  Defend actions via deflection (it was his birthday, I had to give him extra chocolate love!)  Steal a nice, big handful.  Fold into batter until evenly distributed.

Step 9:  Grab your paper lined muffin pan and start filling.  I use a serving spoon and try to fill evenly.

Step 10:  Stop mid-muffin-filling and realize that you only put out 9 muffin papers.  Blame that on mom-brain.  Reach into drawers with batter-covered fingers and finally get out 3 more muffin papers.  Finish filling.  Voila!

Step 11:  Pop into 350*F oven for 25-ish minutes.

Step 12:  Consume remaining batter.  Hey, it's raw egg free!

Step 13:  Have another "mom-brain" moment and forget to check on muffins.  Stop mid-bottle-washing to rush to the oven only to deflate your not-quite-baked muffin tops.

Step 14:  Pull fully-baked muffins out of oven and enjoy the sweet, chocolatey smell of success!

I'm sure you're all well aware that I stretched out what is basically a 4-step process into a monstrosity of an ordeal, but that's how I roll.  Makes it taste that much sweeter at the end!



P.S. How not to make your man happy:  find "oven-dried strawberry" recipe on Pinterest.  Promise candy-like sweetness.  Fail miserably:

They were halved or quartered, laid out on a baking sheet, and placed in a 210*F oven.  The instructions said 3 hours, but I figured our arid climate would reduce that time.  PSHAW!  Wrong!  As of this moment, they they are still in the cold oven, almost 24 hours later, in a half dried, half mushy mass of nastiness.  The skin is rubbery in some spots and crunchy in others, all the seeds are huge and too tough to eat, and the insides are mushy.  Gross.  They will be in the trash tonight.  (The reason they're STILL in the oven is that I had to go to bed after the 3 hours was up, and, seeing as they were still mushy, reasoned that I could just leave them in the cooling oven overnight and awaken to delicious candied strawberry bites.  Not only did that NOT happen, but I woke up late and was unable to address the issue before rushing the kid to daycare and my butt to work.)  This is one for Pinstrosity for sure!

Happy Birthday, MM!!

You, MM, are the love of my life!  I know that God intended you for me and I am so thankful for that.  You are such a strong man, the head of our household in all matters, especially spiritually, and you are so in love with your "two ladies" and we greatly appreciate it.  Every day I am with you brings joy and laughter to my life.  There is never a dull moment and I'm so grateful that we aren't one of those boring couples.  I am honored to be your wife and thank you for truly loving me for who I am at any given moment.  We have been through our ups and downs, but you just hold out your hand and we always walk through the fire together, with God as our guide.

Bunny and I wish you the happiest, happiest birthday ever!  We love you the world!!

Who do you think you are?!?!?

I AM!!

Love, P.B. and Bunny

More Shmirfday Fun

MM KNOWS how to please a pregnant lady on her Shmirfday. He made the yummiest, ooey-gooiest brownies ever. They are delicious. He has honestly never baked for me before, so I was pleasantly surprised when he told me what his plans were.

Here he is getting the pan ready for the oven.

I'm SO not happy about this picture being taken...I just wanted to eat my brownies!!

Doesn't it look like that huge baby bump is about to jump on the counter and devour the whole lot? If it could, it probably would have!

Finally, a shot of the brownies after I had already taken out my portion. See, I just couldn't wait. Could you have waited?!

That was how my Saturday night ended up; eating my brownies, enjoying my Shmirfday and the nice weather outside thinking, "Life is just PERFECT". It doesn't get any better than a Shmirfday weekend with MM. Next year it'll be a Shmirfday weekend with MM AND Bunny. I can't wait!!

Birthday - Shmirfday

On August 8, I turn 30. MM is SURE that I'm going to be miserable and go into labor the night of my 30th birthday and won't be able to enjoy the milestone. (He's probably right about my misery, but I still think I'm going to deliver on Aug. 18th. Anyone want to put some money on it?!)

So, to make absolutely SURE that I got the birthday celebration he deems me worthy of, he set aside this weekend as my Shmirfday weekend. When I got home from work on Thursday evening, there was a sign on our front door cordially inviting me to celebrate my birthday from Friday at 5 pm until Sunday when I went to bed. I was very excited! The invitation made note of the fact that we were going to do whatever I wanted, eat whatever I wanted for our meals, and just have fun together all weekend. It was a lot to look forward to.

Oh, and the cards! I have been wanting an IPod for a while, especially to use while I was laboring, but it just wasn't going to work out financially. Baby-buying and the anticipation of medical bills to come was keeping us from being able to budget for one. MM presented me with two cards Thursday night. One was from Bunny and was a sweet little card about being a perfect mom. On the inside, MM had taped a picture of an IPod. I was intrigued, but not sure what it meant. After that, I opened a card from MM himself, and inside the first flap was a receipt for The Three Muskateers, one of my favorite movies that he had ordered for me. Inside the second flap, was just the amount of money I needed to order my IPod and several accessories. I was SHOCKED! Where did the money come from?! I am three weeks away from starting unpaid maternity leave!! Well, as it turns out, MM had finally sold his saddle and wanted me to use the money for whatever I wanted. Needless to say, after Bunny's card and "suggestion", my IPod was ordered and is on its way.

There's much more to say about this wonderful weekend, but it'll keep for another post. Here's some pics of us enjoying Friday night after a nice dinner out. It FINALLY started raining and we sat on the back porch, talking and enjoying the smell, sight and sound of that blessed precipitation!

Oh, and just a side note. We had an U/S on Friday to check Bunny's position, size, and etc. Every time I have an U/S or lab done, we have to register at the hospital. The registrar noted that my birthday was close to my due date, and we ended up discussing MM's Shmirfday plans for the weekend. She was impressed with his forethought and asked if he had other children. We told her he was just that smart. He really is Captain Amazing, isn't he? I guess I may have to consider an official name change from "MM" to "CA".