Cookies & Cream Oreo Cupcakes

We had a great weekend! We went to the wedding reception of some friends (Heath and Stacey) and were able to catch up with some good friends and have a great time! On Sunday I wanted to do some baking so I decided to try the recipe I found for Cookies and Cream Oreo cupcakes...they are really good! They taste just like cookies 'n cream ice cream! Yummo!


For the Cupcakes:
1 box white cake mix
1 pkg Doubles Stuff Oreos
*Make cake batter according to package; Set aside.
Twist apart 24 Oreos
Place the wafer with filling on it, (filling side up) in the bottom of each cupcake paper liner (set aside the other halves of the Oreos...you will use them later for the frosting). Then, with the remaining FULL Oreos in the package, put them in a ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to crush them up.
Fold the Oreos into the cake batter
Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake according to cake mix directions.
Once cooked, let fully cool before frosting!

For the Frosting:
1 pkg Cream cheese (room temp)
1 stick of butter (room temp)
4 cups Powdered Sugar
1/4 cup Whipping Cream (milk will work fine too)
1 TBSP vanilla
24 Oreo halves (that you set aside)
Mix together the cream cheese and butter...then add in the powdered sugar, whipping cream and vanilla. Frost each cupcake and then crush up remaining Oreo halves and sprinkel on top. Enjoy!

Big Boy Bed!

This was an exciting weekend for Brady. He got to sleep in his big-boy bed for the first time! We had bought a trundle bed for him a few months back but knew he just wasn't quite ready at that time and I'm not about to push him into something he isn't ready for. But we felt the time was right this weekend. We went with a trundle bed because our 2nd and 3rd bedrooms are kind of small and the trundle will give us the option to store stuff in it until it's time to put a mattress in there (for friends sleeping over, etc). He was a little indifferent about it at first but once he saw his new bedding had cars and 'big trucks' on there, he was pretty excited. I, on the other hand am somewhat sad as my little boy is growing up way too fast!

Future Blackmail

Someone has developed a less-than-appetizing habit...



Aghh!!! I have no idea how many times we have to get after him a day to stop picking his nose!!!

Family Vacation!

We headed up to the Wisconsin Dells early Sunday morning for a family-fun vacation! We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge and had an amazing time! The resort has 4 indoor and 4 outdoor water parks. They also had tons other things you could do there, golfing, restaurants, we walked around the Dells area and hit up some shopping, etc. We were so lucky and had picture perfect weather...in the 90s and sunny! So we spent 3 full days taking in the sun, playing in the water, taking walks and enjoying family time together. Brady loved the water and going downt he slides, etc. He preferred the outdoor parks to the indoor ones which was just fine with me since we could get some good sun! Bed time was a little interesting since he goes to bed around 8 but we had a suite that had a partition so it wasn't so bad. Andy had a ton of fun going down some of the big slides (which there were a lot of). We had a great time and are already discussing when we could go back! Now here is an overload of pictures!



















This is how we were able to get Brady calmed down and relaxed befor bed...watching Caillou (which neither Andy nor I can stand!!) Ha ha!

Fun in the Water

On Monday we got the sprinkler out and Brady and Luke had a blast running through it and then thought it would be fun to point the sprinkler to the slide and then go down it. They loved it! Summer is going to be so much fun!

Fun at the Zoo

On Monday morning we headed to the zoo and Brady loved it! I think everyone else in the Des Moines area thought of the same thing as it was pretty busy but luckily we were done going through before it got too busy! Brady's favorite part was the train ride. He kept saying 'Choo Choo All Aboard'. It was so cute!

Memorial Fun

We had a great Memorial weekend. On Saturday morning I took a group from Grand View on a 10 mile run to get ready for Dam to Dam and then we headed up to Gowrie. We went to the park and Brady was able to play, we enjoyed a picnic and they also have a petting zoo and Brady loved looking at the animals. That night we grilled out and had a bonfire. It was a nice and relaxing day. Then on Sunday we hung around and headed back to Ankeny. I'll post more on our Monday later...it was a great time in Gowrie and Brady had so much fun!





Double Trouble

Driving Papa's boat

Helping Papa get the fire going

Riding the Big Wheel