hodgepodge

I just can't seem to concentrate AT ALL today....I am talking like serious A.D.D. here. I guess I can blame it on a number of things....

1. An adorable sweet baby boy who likes to play dr. jekyll and mr. hyde with me at night as he screams for me every couple hours then coos softly while smiling at the sound of my voice (seriously, we are going on 8 months of no sleep now)

2. A willy nilly weekend that set the mode for this week. Tim and I jumped around from uprooting bushes and planting flower beds, to driving 2 hours south to visit family, to entertaining a book club, to chasing Jonas in the rain.

3. That brings me to 3...which is the rain. I actually love gloomy weather every now and again, but it definitely puts me in a sleepy, dreamy, not wanting to pay attention kinda mood.

4. A Monday work day that was actually extremely productive and a Tuesday that was filled with the same...leaving me with little to follow up on today. We all know that Mondays tend to be a catch up from the weekend, and gearing up for the week day...but in a strange occurrence of cosmic alliance  I somehow had one of the most productive days of the week. So much so, that I have almost reached white space in my inbox! (Ask anyone in my office...this is an amazing feat of gigantic proportions)

5. Lack of coffee. The caffeine levels in my blood stream are no where near their normal dosage. I think I have only half finished at least 3 cups of coffee each day so far this week. 

I can pinpoint a number of other things...like the insanely distracting photobooth pics I took with my gal pal that I just have to glance at every so often to get a good laugh...and the obsessive rant I am on with my current wardrobe (which is causing me to search high and low for deals all over planet earth). Hopefully my brain pieces back together by tomorrow so I can go five minutes without switching focus.

while the hubby's away the wifey will...mop floors, clean poop, cook dinner, go insane...

Lucky duck Tim just got back from an incredible work trip to New York City. I was pretty much jealous the entire time he was up there. He has announced his distaste for NY many times to me (he says it is dirty). How unfair that someone who doesn't even appreciate the Big Apple gets to spend a week there and stay right in the heart of Downtown Manhattan?! (I mean, he literally had to send me a picture and ask me if a building was the empire state building) NY is MY favorite city damn it!

Of course, the entire time he was there he continually sent me awe-inspiring pictures of the view from his room on wall street, from the top of the empire state building, from the street of bustling times square...you get the picture. He even managed to squeeze in a late night phone call from the empire state building and threw in a "Sorry!...I can't really hear you!...It's just so windy on top of the empire state building!" Ha Ha...very funny Koerper.

In his state of absence, I managed to wrangle both kids in the morning to get them to day care on time, keep the house especially spotless and tidy, mop the floors numerous times (which is usually Tim's duty...I HATE mopping), and even remembered to feed the dog. I am so used to not sleeping anymore that the extra non-sleep barely even phased me.

I did, although, get to live vicariously through his photos...and will be finding some way to get a NYC trip in me soon.

Here is a brief look at NY through Tim's iphone eyes:

Tim is now a changed man...a man who loves NY. 

cupcakes for my cupcakes

Each holiday I try to outdo myself in true super mom fashion. I have this intense desire to be the coolest mom for my kids and in my kids daycare....I am not joking...I want those kids to think, "Man! Jonas and Dylan have the best mom in the whole world!"

So this week I of course stayed up all hours of the night making special yummy marshmallow surprise cupcakes. I would be lying if I said it wasn't a struggle, because all I could think of as soon as I got home from work was putting on some sweats and snuggling up in bed. Silly me thought it would be a good idea to go out with some gal pals the night before, and of course, a few drinks knocked me on my ass and had me hurting all day (I have become somewhat of a light-weight in recent years). But, what kind of mom would I be if I didn't make my kids cupcakes just because I had a hangover? 

I cheated a little with the main cupcake base, but made up for it by putting a ton of effort into the frosting (which was amazing...AND I made it from scratch!).

The cupcake base was simply a box of Pillsbury Funfetti cake mix. I whipped that up and poured about 1/3 of the baking cups full. I let it set and then places 2-3 small mini marshmallows on the batter. (I put 1 on some and they seemed to just disappear once baked).

Then I poured the remainder of the batter on top and shoved the cupcake pans into the oven.

While that baked, I went right to work on my amazingly delicious marshmallow fluff frosting. The recipe is below.

Be super careful when you add the powdered sugar because every time I did it was like a container of baby powder exploded in my kitchen. On another note, homemade frosting looks a MILLION times better on cupcakes than store bought.

The cupcakes were incredible and I will be bragging about them for a while. I'll make sure to save one for you next time.

Marshmallow Fluff Frosting

what you need

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) margarine or butter, softened

1 jar  (7 oz.) JET-PUFFED Marshmallow Creme

1 tsp. vanilla

1 pkg.  (16 oz.) powdered sugar

1 to 2 Tbsp. milk, divided

make it

PLACE margarine, marshmallow creme and vanilla in small bowl; beat on medium speed until well blended. Gradually add sugar, beating after each addition until well blended.

BLEND in 1 Tbsp. of the milk. Add remaining 1 Tbsp. milk if necessary for desired spreading consistency.