Classic Chocolate Chip

February 14th is really just another day around these parts. I've never been real big on the day. Loads of money spent on flowers and chocolates doesn't make sense to me. Flowers last all of four days in my house (I have no green thumb), and chocolates promptly find a permanent resting place on my hips and thighs (not to mention I'm not a chocolate fan). If exorbitant amounts of money are going to be spent I'd rather have a pair of shoes. Scott, if you're reading, I'm a size 8.5.

Unbeknownst to me Scott arranged a baby-sitter and surprised me with a Valentine's dinner.  Seriously, so sweet. For the first time in ages neither of us had to worry about pieces of hot dog spontaneously flying out of Marcus' hands, or playing the "pick up game" for the duration of dinner. And, we didn't have to pay the insanely inflated dinner prices that Valentine's Day ushers in.

This year I did manage to snag a great deal for Scott through Living Social. He's got a round of golf at this lovely golf course (see below). I'd go with him, but I don't golf. Scott gets to golf and I get to pass this off as a Valentine's gift. Score for us both.
Scott's known of his gift for a couple weeks now. I can't keep a secret to save my soul.

Top photo source, bottom left photo source, bottom right photo source

To get to the actual point of this post... For Valentine's Day I also whipped up a batch of Scott's favorite chocolate chip cookies. If any of you long time followers were wondering, I still hate that word (the baked good that starts with the letter *c*). I made the baked goods a little early, but I made them with love and with V-Day in mind.

Let's get to it. These are Scott's all-time favorite. In fact, he hardly ever eats anything I bake. Except for these.

Classic Chocolate Chip

3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 stick butter flavor Crisco (make sure you're using the butter flavor!)
1 tsp bakin soda
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla (I always use 2 Tbsp)
1 package milk chocolate chips
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat ove to 375.
Blend brown sugar, granulated sugar, and Crisco until creamy.
Add baking soda, salt, cinnamon, eggs and vanilla. Mix until throughly incorporated.
Add flour 1/2 cup at a time.
Fold chocolate chips into dough.
Drop about 1 Tbsp of dough onto a cookie sheet. I use a small ice cream scoop.
Bake for 7-8 minutes, or until edges just begin to brown.
Remove cookies from oven.
Allow cookies to finish baking on cookie sheet for 5-8 minutes before placing on a cooling rack.

Make a batch of these for your sweetheart this Valentine's Day. They're a million times better than boxed chocolates!

For those of you who have been with the Monologues since the beginning these may look familiar. They are. I posted about them waaaaay back when. I figured this recipe needed a serious update.

Enjoy!

Source: My mother-in-law's recipe

Monkey Trouble

After yesterday's confession I concluded I need a little more help (this parenting business can be tough stuff). We have a few little dilemmas and I'm at a loss. These little issues aren't earth shattering, but they're still issues that Scott and I have addressed, but a 10 month old has his own agenda.

In our living room we have two end tables. On those end tables sit lamps. Everything else has been cleared from said tables, for obvious reasons. We can't clear off the lamps, they are our only sources of light. Apparently houses built c. 1980 didn't have overhead lighting.

I have told/asked Marcus SEVERAL times not to touch the lamps. He's heard "no" probably 3,686,411 times when it comes to those darn lamps. He thinks its funny. Kid you not, the boy laughs at me when I tell him/ask him/explain to him why we don't pull on the lamps. The little toad.

He thinks it's funny. Me? Not so much.

The last time Marcus really got his hands on something it ended very badly. Not for Marcus, but for some favorite items of ours.

Marcus walked away unscathed. Our ISU, KSU and Kansas City wine glasses weren't so lucky.

On to another little problem... The monkey has gotten into the very bad habit of sneaking his food under his high chair tray, making it seem as if he's been eating.

Don't let that little face fool you.

Often, Marcus will pitch his food overboard, and Drake will gladly clean up any castaway vittles. I'll turn away for a half second, look back at Marcus and think what a great job he's doing on his breakfast/lunch/dinner. Then I'll see food being chucked to the floor.

Mommy caught Marcus red-handed, stuffing his food under his tray and into the sides of his seat.
That food didn't just accidentally fall into his seat. The little turkey thinks he's sneaky.

Or, Marcus will put his food in his mouth, chew it, then take it back out. The chewed food either ends up "hidden," or Drake is treated to yet another Marcus meal. GAH!!

Drake is no dummy. He patiently waits for Marcus to toss his lunch to the floor.
Anyone else grossed out by those strings of drool? 

What to I do?! I can't live in the dark, and Marcus needs to eat his food, not waste it!

Help! Suggestions are more than welcome.

I Confess...

Often I sit here and write of all the wonderful things my little monkey brings into our lives. The smiles, the giggles, the play, the fun.
It's not all rainbows, and roses, and sunshine-y goodness.

Head to Memoris of Megan and Cookies for Breakfast for more confessions.

I have to tell you something... And please don't nominate me for Worst Mother of the Year.

I'm fortunate to be a full-time mommy. It's a true blessing. I haven't missed a single milestone that Marcus has hit. Every day we get to play, go for jogs, snuggle whenever he wants/needs to... It's everything a full-time mommy could ever want.

Then, 4:00 p.m. hits, and we are both d.o.n.e. You see, after Marcus' afternoon nap he is nothing short of a pill. He's whiny, and clingy, grumpy, and fussy. There's rarely anything I can do to get the cranky out of him. Any and all patience I have is long gone. It drives me bonkers. And, we usually have to wait a good hour or two before Daddy gets home. Daddy is usually the only person, by this point in the day, that can make that baby happy. It frustrates me to the point I think I may seriously pull my hair out.

I count down the minutes until Scott gets home. The second Scott walks in the door I usually dump Marcus with Scott and proceed to breath.

Please, please, please tell me I'm not the only mommy who faces this.

Head over to Our Journey to see Sarah's confession. Also, make sure you check out her 28 Day of Love (her RAKs are awesome)!

Happy Marcus Monday!

By far my favorite photo of Marcus (this past week).

A boy's best friend.
Happy Monday!

Treats... Of the K-9 Variety

A few days ago a friend from back home asked if I'd ever made dog treats; her Cub Scout group was working on a pet unit and she needed a recipe. I didn't have one. 

The idea of dog treats sounded intimidating.

I quickly took to my Four-legged Children Pinterest page to see if I could find something appropriate for a bunch of eager youngsters.

I was fortunate to have pictures sent to me of the kiddos back home making their treats!

To my pleasant surprise I found a dog biscuit recipe that was crazy easy. After shooting off the recipe I set out to make my own batch right away.

The boys were so much more creative with their shapes than I was.

Homemade Dog Treats

2 cups 100% whole wheat, organic flour (wheat germ, spelt, rolled oats, or a combination of any/all)
2 - 4oz jars pureed baby food (any flavor will work, just make sure there is no onion, onion powder, or preservatives)
1/4 cup peanut butter (optional)
1 tsp parsley (optional, this is supposed to aid in bad doggie breath)

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix together all ingredients to form a stiff dough.
If necessary, add extra flour or water to create desired consistency.
On a lightly floured surface roll dough out to 1/4 inch thick.
Use cookie cutters, biscuit cutters, pizza cutter, whatever, to create desired shapes.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Place biscuits about 1/2 inches apart.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Allow to completely cool before serving and storing.

Tip: If you store the treats in a paper bag the treats will stay hard. You can store them in an air-tight container, however, the treats will soften (which is totally ok).

SO EASY!

I'm kicking myself, however. I knew I was going to go for a banana-peanut butter biscuit. So, I bought banana baby food. I could have MADE my own pureed bananas and simply added about 1/2 cup water to the dough. I pureed food for months for Marcus! What the heck was I thinking? Next time.

Pretty safe bet that Drake LOVED his treats.

Source: Curbly

Sea Animal Hospital

In keeping with exploring our area this past weekend we heard about a seal hospital.

Our coast has tons of seals, sea lions and the like. (Which also means sharks - YIKES! Not too long ago a few "adolescent" Great White Sharks were caught by fishermen off a pier we frequent. WHAT?!) Those seals and sea lions are often subject to boat propellers, shark bites, and other injuries.

When sea mammals are found wounded they come to this hospital.

The hospital cares for pinnipeds (seals and sea lions, no dolphins) from as far south as San Diego to as far north as Santa Barbara (I think). That's a big stretch of coast to cover!

1. Sea lions swimming laps. They kept going back and forth, back and forth in their pool.
2. Who knew how HUGE sea lions are? That guy was a beast!
3. Such a distinguished looking fella.
4. The seal I pointed out kept sliding around his cage on his belly. It was hilarious.
All are such cute animals, too bad they smell so fishy.

Marcus gobbled it all up. The animals really captivated him, especially when the animals would "talk" to us. The boy couldn't take his eyes off the creatures.

This dude was kind enough to wave good-bye as we left.

We will be going back for more visits. And, after a little research I discovered the hospital is always in need of volunteers Wouldn't it be awesome to hang out, up close and personal, with these guys?

What's In a Name?

Yesterday I missed the boat in the "What's in a Name" link up over at My Very Own Modern Family. I said skip it and decided to jump in on the fun today!

The topic at hand (yesterday) was how did you pick your bebe's name? The name game isn't wasn't restricted to your chubby-cheeked bundles of joy, it included fur-babies, too.

For the sake of time and typing, I'll keep the fur-babies short...
Seala, the cat, came with a name. I adopted Pan Face from a shelter and that's the name (Seala) she already had. No need to confuse the little smushy face anymore than she already was.
Drake was Scott's dog before I'd ever met Scott. So, I had no say in the naming of him.

On to my Chunky Monkey...

I kid that the hardest part of pregnancy was agreeing on a name.

Before Scott and I had any idea if we were having a boy or girl we agreed on a few things:
1) We wanted a name that wasn't necessarily "popular" or "in."
2) No crazy, off the wall names.
3) We wanted something that would be easy to spell, and easy to pronounce when read (do you know how many times in my life people have totally botched my name? UGH!).
4) There was no way we could name a child after a former boy/girlfriend. Too weird.
5) If it was a boy, the middle name would be Scott's middle name.
6) If we were having a boy we wanted his name to be strong, something that carried a little weight behind it.

Many evenings were spent rattling off boy and girl names. I would throw out a handful, Scott would shoot them down. Scott would ramble off a few, I would hate them all.
We found out we were having a boy, and for the longest time I didn't think our baby would ever have a name. We couldn't seem to agree on anything.

All of a sudden the name "Marcus" was there. Scott will say he suggested it. I totally disagree. I know I suggested it. Whatever the case, we both liked it. We quickly agreed Marcus would go by Marcus, no shortening or nicknaming.

There are a couple of meanings behind Marcus:
The American meaning - hammer.
The Biblical meaning - Mars, Roman god of war.
Both seem fitting. Marcus is a little whirl wind, and it's not unusual for him to leave a little path of destruction wherever he goes...

And that's how we settled up Marcus.
How did you decide what you would name your baby?

Korean Friendship Bell

It's Friday night, the little monkey is nuzzled safely in his crib, and Scott and I are at our kitchen table playing a game of Farkle, or trying to catch up on our DVR list that grows faster than we can keep up. Here's how our conversations usually go:

S: What are the plans for the weekend?
Me: I don't know. I don't care. What do you want to do?
S: It's supposed to be nice, I don't want to be stuck inside all weekend.
Me: Me either.

Then we go about trying to find places in the city that we need to explore. Often, these places are relatively far from us. But this weekend was different. We FINALLY did some exploring of our little corner of the city.

Our area has some really awesome parks. So much open space, so much green. So different from when we were living in the heart of the city.

We'd heard of the Korean Friendship Bell. We'd even driven by it. This weekend we decided we really needed to see it.

The Friendship Bell.

The bronze bell was so much larger than anticipated.

Such beautiful, intricate details.
The actual bell is 7½ feet wide, 12 feet tall, and a thickness of 8 inches.
The bell is rung by the wooden log (to the left of the bell). 

My guys.

Cheesin' it up next to the bell.

For me, it's still crazy to see all sorts of flora in February (Iowa and Kansas are grey and barren during the frigid winter months). I had to snap some photos.

What's better than wide open green spaces and a pretty bell? Gorgeous views of the Pacific.

This park has some of the best views!

How did we wait this long to explore such a gem? We'll be heading back often. I foresee games of catch, picnics, and lazy Sundays spent watching the sailboats bob off the coast.

Korean Friendship Bell facts: The bell was presented by the Republic of Korea to the American people to celebrate the bicentennial of the United States and to symbolize friendship between the two nations.  It was dedicated on October 3, 1976. Beginning in 2010, the bell is struck five times a year: on New Year's Eve, Korean American Day (January 13), the national Independence Day of the United States (Fourth of July), Korean Liberation Day (August 15), and every September in celebration of Constitution Week. It was also rung on September 11, 2002 to commemorate the first anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. *
*Source: Wikipedia

Happy Marcus Monday! And, The Winner IS...

First things first,

Someone thinking he's big time!

HAPPY MONDAY!!

A big, big, BIG thank you to everyone who stopped by and entered for the knit sock monkey hat! The hat was pretty popular. I will have to chat with my amazing mother-in-law, who is the creator of these adorable little hats, and see if we can't do another giveaway soon.
It's time to reveal the winner...

Drum roll please.... *standard drumroll while nervously waiting for winner to be announced*

The winner of the custom knit sock monkey hat goes to...

Jordan Rowland!

CONGRATULATIONS! *Cue streamers, balloons and confetti*

Jordan, I will be in contact with you regarding hat size and other important winner stuff.

Last Day To Enter

This is it. Your last shot. Be sure to enter for a chance to win the custom knit sock monkey hat!

A huge thank you to my mother-in-law, whose talents are behind creating this adorable little hat for the lucky winner!

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A Different Run

Usually the monkey and I just run in and around our neighborhood. But, that gets boring. The other day we went to the cliffs for a nice run, and yesterday we headed to one of our favorite beaches.

The temps were in the mid-60s, and just a tad overcast. Perfect for good long pavement pounding.

The big guy seemed enjoyed the change in scenery as much as me.

Awhile back I biked along this particular stretch of strand and spotted in dolphins in the ocean. Perhaps if we keep going back we'll catch another sighting.

There is just something so beautiful about a sailboat floating along the shore.

The cool, salty air was very much welcomed. By the end of our run I was feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. I think we need to run at the beach more often!

Loving the outdoors.

In other news... Don't forget to enter (up to 15 times!) to win the custom knit sock monkey hat today and tomorrow!

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Fun in the Sun

First things first, Happy Friday - finally! Why do the "short" weeks always feel the longest? 

Second, the Dear 16-Year Old Self post was read by quiet a few. So, I'm asking you to join in the fun. If you wrote a letter to your 16-year old self, what would you tell you? "If only I knew then what I know now," couldn't ring truer. And, who knew your mother/father really did know what they were talking about?! Go on, write a letter to you, and be sure to add photos of you from 'back in the day.' I think that's mainly why that post was so popular...

Third... The weather here has been beyond amazing. Marcus and I have taken full advantage of the parks, costal cliffs, and simply being outside. 

Heading to the park. The shades remained on for about .2 seconds.

Roaming freely.

Found a leaf!
Had to do a little taste testing. You saw that coming, didn't you?

Our run along the coast. We were treated to views of the ocean and a beautiful golf course.
If you're an InstaGram follower these are repeat photos. Apologies. If you don't follow (and want to), search desireemacke.

Quick stop on our run.
Representing Iowa State on the West Coast. :)

Now, this is going to sound crazy. In fact, I'm blown away at my own thoughts... Friends and family from back home are talking of snow days, wind chills, and the like. I kind of miss all that. *GASP* I do. Just a little bit... We don't really have seasons. We have "winter" (think 50s and partly cloud skies), June Gloom (think cloudy skies), and summer (think sunny and anywhere from 75-100 degrees).

I haven't completely gone off my rocker. We're loving this weather. It's just some days I wish there was a little variation.  

Lastly, don't forget to enter in the custom knit sock hat giveaway (enter below)! Even if you've already entered you can do so again (and again Saturday and Sunday)! Once you "follow the Monologues" you have 10 other potential entries. The winner will be drawn at random on Monday.

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