Baked Stuffed French Toast

I got up a little early this morning, for a Sunday.  Iris was also awake.  So the two of us headed down stairs, made some coffee, and played for a little while.  I was hankering for something yummy for breakfast so I started looking up baked french toast recipes.  Most required that the mixture be made the night before, but I finally found one that I modified a bit to fit the ingredients I had in my home.  It turned out great so I thought I would share it.

Ingredients:
8 slices bread of your choice (I used light wheat - it was what I had on hand)
8 oz of Cream Cheese (I used Neufchatel)
1 cup of fresh or frozen fruit of your choice (We had frozen mixed berries)
6 eggs
1 cup of milk (I used 2 percent)
Ground Cinnamon
Confectionary Sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Cube all slices of bread
Layer 1/2 of the bread cubes in the bottom of a baking dish
Cube cream cheese and layer on top of bread cubes
Layer fruit over the cream cheese
Top with the remaining cubes of bread

In a separate bowl, beat the 6 eggs and 1 cup of milk together, pour evenly over the bread layers.
Top with ground cinamon to taste.

Bake for approximately 45 minutes until the egg mixture is completely baked into the bread and the top has begun to brown.

Sprinkle with confectionary sugar and serve with maple syrup!

This dish is easy to assemble and is delicious!

Happy Halloween

 Eddie, Eli, Sage

Halloween has never really been one of my favorite holidays.  Many of my friends like to get all dressed up and have Halloween parties.  I have participated in a number of these over the years.  Generally, I throw a costume together at the last minute.  Halloween has been more fun since I had children.  It is fun to get the kids dressed up and go trick-or-treating.  But still, as a general rule, I much prefer Christmas and Thanksgiving.

But this year was different.  This year, I SO looked forward to Halloween.  Last year, I spent Halloween in a hospital.  I did not get to take my son trick-or-treating.  Eli and I were able to participate in the Halloween parade that the staff put on for the kids at the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital and I remain thankful to this day that we were invited to participate, but it just wasn't the same.  Eli had to be brought to me by a friend and I had to be pushed in a wheelchair by a nurse while my friend helped Eli through the parade.

This year, I volunteered to organize the Halloween Party for the Mothers of Multiples Club, I had all of my kids' costumes picked out by the last week in September, and I arranged our trick-or-treating plans weeks in advance of the actual day.  The party was a hit, and gave us an opportunity to get the girls dressed up in costume, as that was a morning event.  Trick-or-treating was fun!  The girls didn't quite make it, so Jesse brought them home, but Eli and I walked around our friends' neighborhood with their kids and another family.  I still threw together a very last minute costume (literally, Amanda gave me some devil ears, a devil tail, and that pitchfork thing that the devil carries just before we walked out the door...thanks Amanda!)  But how fun it was to take Eli door to door.  To see his excitement as he ran up each driveway screaming "Trick or Treat!"  It was a very cold night, but I couldn't have cared less.

So much I am thankful this year.  My experiences last fall make me appreciate every second of my life and my children's lives.  I still think of my time in the hospital almost daily.  The worry, the discomfort, the fear.  It was such a profound experience.  I thank God every day for the way things turned out and I appreciate the smallest things, like trick-or-treating with my son, in a way that I took for granted before.  

 Esme (Flower) & Iris (Butterfly)

 Iris

 Esme

Eli & Sage

 Eli, Eddie, & Sage

 Eddie, Eli, & Sage

Dori

Come On Eli, Its Time to Potty...Update

Just over a week ago, Eli finally gave up Pull-Ups at night.  Night times were our last bastion of potty training.  The first morning he woke up wet and cold, but there has been only one more night accident since then.  Potty training has been hard and a long road, but we finally made it.  That's not to say we don't have an accident here and there, but, Eli is three, its to be expected. 

Way to go Eli!  I am so proud of you!!!  Now only two more kids to go...