Cabinet Door Cleaning (Melanie)

You know that black stuff on your cabinet doors? It gets on the corners where you touch it to open it. When you go to clean it, it's all sticky and you're just rubbing it around. My Father-in-law swears by Dawn soap. It's got that anti-grease stuff in it. (They used it to clean up that giant oil spill off of the coast of Alaska, to save the animals) So, after thinking about it a bit, I decided to try Dawn + a washcloth to get the black stuff off of the cabinet doors.

I just got the washcloth wet, rung it out, put some Dawn on it (not too much) and rubbed it in, and then voila, instant cleaning agent!

This hardly takes any elbow grease. You have to put a little bit of pressure on it as you scrub, but it only takes 2-3 swipes over one spot to see a huge difference. On the really tough spots, I would rub the washcloth over it, and let the Dawn and water sit for just a minute and then scrub. The stuff came off almost instantly!

My four-year-old nephew, Troy, wanted to help me clean, so I told him to scrub on a part of it, and the stuff started coming off. Ladies and gentleman, you can do it! :)

This, my friends, is why I love cleaning!

On a side-note, my Father-in-law found two fruit roll-ups in one package!

Have a wonderful day!

The Fam in Cali (Melanie)

So update on the family! Chad and I are living in Southern California now. We love spending time together and with our family! After we got married I inherited 11 nieces and nephews! Holy cow! That's a lot. Needless to say, when everyone comes over, it's a grand ol' party!

Here's at the beginning of the summer: The boys' t-ball games!

One nephew waiting to bat.

Batting.

Another nephew waiting.

Another nephew batting. Daddy/Bro-in-law as the umpire. 

IHOP for dinner! Julie & Johnny, Nick, Chad and Karsen

Grandpa Bill, Auntie Diana and Grandma Lila.

Kaylie! How adorable! 

Chad and I went to visit Jennette and the kids before he

had to leave for Europe. This is baby Rachel. She's so cute!!!

Here are Troy and Lexie! They're so proud of the train track

they made. They played with that for a while.

Baby Rachel smiling up at Chad (who never holds babies).

I helped him put his arms right so he'd be comfortable holding her. 

Kaylie and baby Karly! Love the bows!

Karsen holding a basket above his head. They thought it looked

like horns, so Kaylie wanted to try it too. 

And here are a bunch of Kaylie making silly faces. (In the first

one she's looking at my blog and saying that she wants me to take

more pictures because that one isn't very good and she's making a

silly face. So we made silly faces.)

Well, that's it for now. Picture overload much? Haha. Hope you enjoyed!

Nicholas! (Melanie)

Nicholas came to visit me in Southern California for a week. It was so fun! We went to Raging Waters, Disneyland, and The Getty Museum in Los Angeles. We had a blast! I don't have any pictures from Raging Waters, because I didn't want to ruin my camera, but I do have pictures from Disneyland, the Getty and the cousins' sleepover (it was only the older kids. The 6 younger ones didn't come).

Here's overlooking LA

Chad and I under an arch of roses (I wasn't feeling good

at all, so if I don't look happy, that's why)

The gorgeous garden!

Nicholas smelling the roses.

This part is really cool! There's a waterfall. It comes from 

a river/stream from another line of water that comes from way

up the stairs. Kinda crazy.

After the Getty, we were all pretty hungry, so we hit up The Habit.

Such good burgers, and their fries. Are. Amazing. 

Nicholas posing for the camera. 

Here's at Disneyland. Not sure where. I guess that's

why Nicholas is checking the map.

Waiting for Indiana Jones. Oh man, that ride made me so 

sick! Last time it was cool. This time I just wanted it to be

over!

There's Chad checking the map!

Waiting for Pirates. I love this one! 

I don't remember which ride this is...Thunder Mountain maybe?

Oh! That's right...Splash Mountain. They got all wet. 

Chad looks so upset. : (

Here we are, waiting for the train.

The cool boys after we got on the train.

Buzz Lightyear to the rescue! Except that he was covered

with a sheet and undergoing maintenance...

Autopia. Woot! Chad said it was worse than being in traffic.

Nicholas loved it. He was so excited he was yelling, "That was 

so awesome!" after for about 5 minutes.

Star Tours maybe? I don't remember. 

This is Darth Vader, from Jedi Training.

The other guys...(Star Wars people, don't shoot me!) Storm Troopers! 

The Disney Castle!

The Disney Castle! (echo)

And here is the sleepover/campout in the backyard! Everyone's favorite person: Johnny!

5 of the cousins, Nicholas, and Johnny. They fell asleep

at 11 and got up at 5:20...darn wild parrots.

We had a blast with Nicholas here! We did a lot and it was tiring, but it was a ton of fun!

Island Cupcakes--Pinterest! (Melanie)

So my brother-in-law's wife was throwing a luau graduation party for him, and asked me to make these Island Cupcakes! They were so fun! My little brother Nicholas helped me make them too. (He put the umbrellas on)

Island Cupcakes:
1 cake mix (and according ingredients)
24 cupcake liners
Blue Icing (I used Betty Crocker's blue in the tube)
White Icing (I used Betty Crocker white frosting in the can)
Graham cracker crumbs
24 Cocktail umbrellas

Make the cupcakes. While they are baking, crush up about a cup of graham crackers. You won't even need quite that much. I put a bunch of graham crackers in a gallon Zip-Lock bag and used a rolling pin to crush them. It's a lot faster than using your hands and it doesn't dirty your food processor. When the cupcakes are done, and completely cooled, spread a thin layer of white frosting over the whole top. Grab a plate and put the cupcake on it. This will save you from having to clean up a bunch of stray graham cracker crumbs and it will save you graham cracker crumbs. Sprinkle just over half the frosted cupcake top with graham cracker crumbs. Gently push on them so they stick. Tip the cupcake over and shake gently to remove any excess crumbs.

On these Betty Crocker tubes, it was impossible for me to cut the tip off, 

so I cut the corner off instead, and I cut little triangles to make it more like 

a frosting tip. 

Here's Nick, sticking the umbrella in. Final touches and....

Beautiful. :) 

You have Island Cupcakes!