Reena saying her own prayer

Reena has been saying her own prayers this week. We knew she was getting very close to being able to say her own prayers when I would take her to the nursery at the gym and she would put out the toy plates and food, then folds her arms and pray before she pretends to eat it. But this week has been most wonderful to have her say her own prayers. Every time that I try to help she tells me "No mama no, I've got it" and then moves on and today, she said a complete prayer without stopping to think of words and afterward we just embraced her with kisses. How wonderful it is to see your little one grow up and learn so much. It's exciting to see my little girl becoming the person that we hope she would become. It's wonderful!

Coconut Creme Cake - The cake that gets me in trouble.

INGREDIENTS

* 1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
* 3 eggs
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 1 cup water
* 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
* 1 (14 ounce) can coconut cream
* 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
* 1 cup heavy whipping cream
* 1 tablespoon white sugar
* 1 cup flaked coconut


DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, eggs, oil, water and coconut flavoring. Beat for 2 minutes and pour into 9x13 inch pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
3. In a medium bowl, combine coconut cream with sweetened condensed milk and stir until smooth. When cake comes out of the oven, poke holes into it in even rows using a large fork or chopsticks. Pour milk mixture over, allowing it to soak into the cake. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
4. In a large bowl, whisk cream until soft peaks form. Add sugar and continue whipping until stiff. Spread over cooled cake. Sprinkle top with flaked coconut.

Travelogue #2

These pictures are from the hike we did on the trail/board walk to the bottom of Snoqualmie Falls. It was so beautiful!


















What you see here is a place called "The Locks" Around 1400 boats are housed here. The locks separate Puget Sound from the fresh waters of Salmon Bay and give the ships a way to cross from Lake Washington to the Puget Sound.

My cook and shopping companion

So my little 2 1/2 year old is a cutee as you all know. But she's so super cool and just the girl I want for the first child. I used to worry about being an at home mom but I totally love it. We have so much fun cooking and baking together. She's always right by my side whenever I'm in the kitchen baking or cooking and always around 1 or 2 o'clock in the afternoon she would ask me "shopping mommy, shopping?" and so we go shopping and try on new clothes because there are so many fun shops around here. We shop and shop usually not buying anything but window shopping until my legs don't feel like walking anymore so we get in the car and she goes "more shopping mommy?" Ok, what mom doesn't love that. I love it!