Easter Egg Oreo Truffles

John works with a bunch of ladies who love sweet things, so we have a lot in common. When Friday rolls around and they still haven't received some sort of goodies from my kitchen, they start to make requests with my husband. Before that could happen this week, I decided to surprise them with some Easter Egg Oreo Truffles.

If you look at them from a distance, they are really cute. Obviously I need to find a better way of decorating next time, since the toothpick and too-large paintbrushes created more of a disaster zone than anything remotely edible-looking. I risked keeping my eyes open during my Official Taste Test, and I have to admit that they were still incredibly yummy despite being rather unattractive and frumpy. They kind of remind me of a bad sweater from 1983! But not in a good way. I have a feeling the ladies at the bank won't even notice the pastel attempts at decoration and will simply dig in. Once inside the mouth, these slightly minty wonders melt and ooze away. Of course, the only way to eat them is when they are almost freezing cold, so the almond bark shell crunches when you sink your teeth into it. I am just guessing on all of this, mind you, since I would never try a few myself to make sure all venues of enjoying an Easter Egg Oreo Truffle are met. Quality Assurance can be a tough job, but luckily there is always someone in my kitchen who is up for the challenge. And she is usually wearing my apron.

Six Weeks? Already?

It's never a compliment when someone asks, "Did I wake you up?" Even if it is 8:00 AM. Just for the record, I am up (at least) at 7:00 AM with John when he gets ready for his job as a professional nerd. I love that he works just six blocks away and doesn't have much of a commute. I occasionally go back to bed for an attempted additional hour, but this is never successful and attempted rarely indeed (usually only when I'm on my death bed with the latest fashionably-cool sickness, which hasn't been in almost a year. Knock on wood). It's impossible for me to sleep once I'm awake and almost impossible for me to sleep during daylight hours (I'm talking to you, Allusive Nap)! Once I'm awake for the day, it's GO GO GO until I crash that evening. And I don't even care if people make fun of me for wanting to go to bed at 9:30 at night. It's normal. It's completely justifiable now that I am old, so I don't lose too much sleep over it.

Every time my sister (T'liese) calls me, she always asks if she has awakened me. I giggle, simply because I apparently don't talk to myself enough in the morning to sound wide awake! I will have to work on my mid-morning self-social skills. But I am awake. And it was a treat to get her call this morning, because she invited me up for a day at her home in Phoenix.

Which meant I got to spend some time with my favorite newborn nephew, Evan. T'liese is my best friend, and I love the conversations we have about everything and nothing. It doesn't hurt that her adorable little baby has stolen my heart. Even just since last Friday when I saw him last (stalker alert!), Evan has changed so much. He focuses on faces and really thinks hard about trying to possibly maybe smile. It's fun to watch him attempt it, and we are laying bets on when he will begin the heart-melting process of smiling at people when they meet him. He's a keeper for sure. Depsite him having a difficult sleeping day, he was such a good boy. I keep thinking I can slip out of the house without her noticing I have kidnapped Evan, but so many kidnappers are arrested in Mesa these days...I don't want to join those ranks!

She fed me a delicious bagel turkey sandwich with sliced peppercini peppers on it. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised at the crunch and taste added to the sandwich. I know John loves peppers...maybe he has been onto something all along?

T'liese was being so nice to me by feeding me and letting me rock her baby boy to sleep. She had ulterior motives to allow me into her home, as she wanted me to help her design a baby announcement using my wonderful photo editing software, ACDSee, which I love passionately. We had some fun all day and still managed to get an announcement complete. Now, this might kill me, and I really will try my darndest not to email it to thirty people before I remember, but I will honor her request of not letting anyone see our work until she has mailed them. Everyone likes surprises! But, because I can't contain ALL of my gushing over this baby, here is a sneak peek...

Sisters, Cousins, Rosa's, and The Crowded House

I was lonesome for some babies, and I am certain you can see why. I am in love with these two little precious souls. Mayla is almost ten weeks old, and Evan is almost six weeks. It has been so fun to watch the progress of their personalities as they grow. For instance, Evan perfectly personifies an old man as he sports his new bald-on-top look. T'liese thinks he is starting to grow some fuzz back on top to fill everything in, but it's coming out blond! So he will still have dark sides and a light top and still look like an old man! It didn't stop him from getting lots of loving during our visit.

T'liese and Evan arrived at my house to pick me up for lunch. We headed to a yummy Mexican place not too far from my house, Rosa's. While waiting outside for Megan and Mayla to arrive, we enjoyed the aromas of some good Mexican cookin' while oohing and aahing over everything Evan did. What a cutie! Once the Phoenix girls arrived, we headed in to get a table. The main attraction was certainly these two good-looking babies. Mayla was wearing brown with pink polka dots, and she is sure a pretty girl! She has started to smile and even gave a tiny one for the camera. Evan knows he looks good and doesn't bother smiling yet. For lunch, I had a pork taco with rice and beans, T'liese got some chicken enchiladas, and Megan enjoyed a chicken tosdada with an authentic Mexican strawberry soda. The chips and salsa were delicious, too. You can't go wrong with Mexican food in Mesa! But certainly most of our attention was paid to these beautiful babies, and rightly so.

After our grown-up meal, two hungry babies insisted we head back to my house for some lunch of their own. We chatted while they ate. The moms came up with the idea to lay them side-by-side to compare their sizes. It won't be long before they will look the same age, but for now Mayla has some advantage over her younger cousin. Once she spotted Evan, she started talking to him in "coos." It was so sweet! Can you tell these kids are slightly liked?

Megan had to head home for some errands, so we parted ways upstairs. T'liese and I headed north to a store she has been wanting to show me, and I completely understand why! It's an eclectic furniture store called The Crowded House on Gilbert Road and McKellips, and it is amazing! I certainly wouldn't want to decorate my entire house in this style (weathered, went-through-a-hurricane look), but it would be fun to grab a few pieces here and there. Is it wrong to already be furniturizing my future home? It doesn't even exist yet! I DID manage to find a dining set that I fell in love with. I hope when we are ready to get a dining set, this one will still be available. I love walking through stores like this. It was so packed with beautiful furniture that T'liese's stroller wouldn't fit through the aisles! I am sure she didn't mind getting to hold him while he slept. Babies really do have the life!

It was such a fun day with family and sweet tiny people. As soon as they leave, I start planning the next time I will get to see them. They just keep getting better and better! I am so blessed to live so close to family as to be able to enjoy them whenever I want.