Leila-isms

Leila is a precocious, outspoken, silly little girl! There is really never a dull moment with her. That makes life both exciting . . .and exhausting! But I do love the element of fun she adds to our lives! Here are six of the cute/silly things she's said lately:


1) "I'm gonna eat my HAIR!. . .I'm gonna eat my SHOES!. . .I'm gonna eat HEIDI! . . .No. . .I'm not gonna eat Heidi, cuz then I wouldn't see her anymore! . . .I'm going to eat the scriptures! . . .No. . .I'm not gonna eat the scriptures. . .cuz then God would be so sad!"

2) "No. . .I don't wanna go to bed! How about YOU lie in MY bed and I'll sing YOU songs! . . .Is that a plan?"

3) "Mama, can you buckle her in too?" (The dolly also sat beside her in the cart at Costco, as per Leila's request)

4) During her prayers lately:

"Heavenly Father, thank you for God, thank you for Jesus, thank you for Santa Claus . . ."

5) Leila: Where are we going?
Me: To Smiths
Leila: What are we going to get there?
Me: Mommy's going to get some pills
Leila: Pills? . . .or pillows? The things you eat?. . . Or the things you put on the bed?

That reminds me of something I said as a kid:

Little Courtney: Mom, where are you going?
Mom: Downstairs
Little Courtney: Why?
Mom: I'm going to get some flour
Little Courtney: What kind of flour? The pretty kind? or . . .the lump?

6) Here are a few on the words Leila has for things that I think are cute

Restaurant= Restronk
Quesadilla= Quesa-tortilla
Who else?= Whobody else?

Those last two have started sounding so normal to me. . .I might just start using them by mistake :)

BIG Powder

This week I went in to get Leila after her "nap". A lot of the time now she just has "quiet time" and doesn't sleep at all. This was one of those days. I say "quiet time" because it's not really quiet at all. It usually consists of her singing songs like "I am a Child of God" or "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" at the top of her lungs. She has a way of making us crack a smile even when she's not in our direct presence. So I guess her quiet times are really quiet times for me. And I'm glad she's content to play and be by herself in her room. 

Except, this time she was content playing with the wrong thing. It was time to get the little girl out of her room. I opened the door and she look a little pale and her hat, dress, tights, face, blanket, and the floor were covered in powder! Not just a mere sprinkling either! I shook her blanket out, thinking that would do the trick and that I could just throw it back onto her bed. Doing do sent a flurry of smelly powder all over my black shirt and fuzzy corduroy pants. The strong perfumey smell shot up my nose and attacked my eyes. It was so strong that my eyes started to water as though I had just cut open a nice juicy onion. She looked at me with the uh-oh-I've-just-been-caught-red-handed stare. Following with her expectation, I said "Leila! What did you do!?!" She responded "I can't clean it up, but you can if you want to!" My response? "Um. . .no. Time to learn how to use the vacuum!" She helped vacuum and seemed to even have fund doing it! . . .Apparently too much fun! I opened the door to a similar scene the following day after nap! Stinker! 

This is the collection container of the vacuum after cleaning up both days! I'd say there's at least a cup's worth of powder!

**update**

Lately Leila has been having this thing about not wanting to be a baby anymore, and wanting to be a big girl. I tell her that she's getting bigger, but that she will be a big girl when she wears panties and not diapers. A few days after this incident I was changing Leila's diaper. I told her to wait there while I went and found some baby powder. She said "Nooooo! Not baby powder!" (In her "silly mama!" tone). "I'm not a baaaaby! I'm a biiiiig girl! . . .Go get the BIG powder!

Nana's Birthday

Every year, Nana's birthday party is a memorable occasion. But this time was the first time it became memorable for Leila. It took place in late December (so almost two months ago) and she still can't stop talking about it! She talks about the cookies we decorated there, she talks about going ice skating, but most of all she talks about her family. In response to her question of who would be at the party, we must have said "our family" cuz now, she often says "My family were the people at the ice skating party". At that point we have to chime in and tell her that she has other family members (like the ones in Canada) who weren't there.

Leila talks about the ice skating party to herself when she is in her room after we have put her to bed. We kept water bottles in the car that we had gotten from the party. She would point to them weeks after and say where we got them. My favorite reference was after we had watched the movie "The Letter Factory". It has really simple songs for each letter of the alphabet (too simple to the point of boring if you ask me). They'll sing "the A says a, the A says a, every letter makes a sound, the A says a!" So we were in the car and singing the letter I. So we sang "the I says i (soft sound) the I says i, every letter makes a sound, the I says i!" Then I told her that even though the song says that the I says i (soft sound), it also makes another sound! The I also says 'I'(hard sound). Then Leila said "the I says 'I'. . .like ICE SKATING PARTY! Yep! Good call Leila!

Double Chocolate Chip/Mint Cazookie with Courtney's "Famous" Hot Fudge Sauce

A few years ago, my sister-in-law introduced me to the beautiful hot/cold paradox of a cazookie. I love to freeze cookie dough and make these when people come over for dinner/games/family night. That way I always have something yummy and more impressive than rice crispy squares. I made these the other night and one friend asked for the cookie recipe, so I thought, why not blog about it?

Ice cream and hot fudge? Mmm. . .yes! But there's more! This is a cazookie! Underneath that creamy/fudgey,
melty goodness is a double chocolate cookie with a chocolate mint filling. What makes a cazookie?
Cookie dough baked in a ramekin, with ice cream overtop! It's a simple principle, but the fact that you
eat it hot makes it a delightfully indulgent dessert :)

And the hot fudge. . .it might not be famous past my friends and family, but that's enough for me!

The truth is, you're pretty lucky to be getting this cookie recipe! (The original doesn't include the mints and has 1 cup of regular chocolate chips). I had lost if for several years (maybe seven). Then I found it hidden away in some of my stuff in my Mom's basement just a year before the fateful flooding that all but washed away my hometown. There were many casualties among my stuff.

For the Double Chocolate Chip/Mint Cookie

1 1/4 cups butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
3/4 cups cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
About 24 mint chocolates

Nana brought these for Heidi's baby blessing dinner, which inspired putting them in cookies. Thanks Nana!

Preparation

1) Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
2) Add eggs and vanilla and beat well
3) In separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt
4) Blend into creamed mixture
5) Stir in chocolate chips
6) Roll into 1" balls, then squish the ball in your hand to form a cookie dough pancake. place the mint in the middle of the circle. fold the cookie dough around the mint until it is covered. Squeeze the ball lightly in your hand to seal the edges
7) Place in greased ramekin dishes
Cook in oven at 350 for 12 minutes. remove from oven, place ramekin onto a hot pad. Immediately spoon ice cream and hot fudge over cookie.


For The Hot Fudge

1 1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 12oz. can of evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

*This recipe makes a TON, like 4 cups which I would say is about 30 servings. It does keep in the fridge for about a month (I couldn't tell you past that--it hasn't survived longer than that before); so you've got time to use it up. But if you want, you can halve the recipe and use a mini 5 fl. oz can of evaporated milk (I get Kroger brand from Smiths). Don't worry that it's slightly less than half the size of a regular can. Just halve all of the other ingredients and it'll turn out great!

Preparation

Melt chocolate chips and butter over medium heat. Add sugar, salt, and evaporated milk. Bring to a slow boil and cook for 5-10 minutes, until thick. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

This recipe can be refrigerated and reheated. In fact, it seems to be thicker this way (which I like!)