my people

I'm so used to saying 'my boys' when talking about B and R I catch myself saying 'my…' then switch it up to people instead.

These are my people.

'tis the season…. for basketball

Top two signs that basketball season is in full swing (and that B is already missing daddy)…..

1. As we're walking into the high school B says, "My daddy lives here!" 

2. B managed to sneak into the huddle tonight. (At least he was nodding in agreement to everything Coach Daddy was saying and not protesting his play ideas..)

obligatory family pic at Easter

When you have about 3.2 seconds to get a family picture between church and lunch, you take what you can get. ;)

Happy Easter!

Date With A Purpose

Do you have Gloo?

It's a handy little app with all kinds of little apps within. Or something like that.

We are just finishing the Date With A Purpose Challenge.

The challenge was to do one date a week for four weeks. Each week the app offers conversation topics. Many of the topics weren't things we would normally talk about and it was great for us to learn even more about each other.

Most of our weekly dates for the challenge were on the couch after B went to bed (hello, Yahtzee tournament) but we ended the challenge with an actual night out (thanks to B's grandma who came to hang out with him!).

Our favorite date night activity? Progressive dinner.

Since we don't get out much we love hitting up as many places as we can while we're out. For progressive dinner we do appetizers, dinner, desserts and often drinks all at different locations.

This date night included High Life bacon wrapped tots, Waterfront Sushi (and double cheeseburger for the mister), and Scratch cupcakes. We had plans of drinks at Chilis but the butter incident took priority and we ran out of time.

What is your favorite date night activity?

Do you have a date coming up? (like oh I don't know... For Valentines Day!)

If you do, check out Gloo for some date ideas and conversation topics.

appy errtday!

That's 'Happy Birthday' in case you don't speak B talk.

We spent Thursday making 'errtday cake' and Friday making 'errtday frosting' and B was pretty excited to say 'APPY ERRTDAY!!!' all week long.  Of course by the time grandpa got here to celebrate on Saturday, he got shy and wouldn't say it in front of everyone. You'll have to take my word for it though- the kid is cute.

Just a couple party pics.... All the decorations found or made from something found around the house. The set up is really similar to B's Mustache Bash. (Which apparently I never blogged- I'll get on that.)

Menu:

-Birthday Cake! (I get asked for the recipe a lot... it's from a box. The trick is the frosting. I make Wilton buttercream for the big cake and Wilton cream cheese frosting for the cake jars. (Follow the links for recipes.)
-Egg bake casserole
-French toast casserole (I thought it was yummy! And super easy. We'll definitely make it again.)
-Marshmallow pops (just dip them in almond bark and decorate with sprinkles or whatever else sounds good- got this super easy recipe from my cousin several years ago but you can find it all over Pinterest these days).
-Mom's cinnamon rolls
-Bananas, muffins, donuts

'Appy errtday', grandpa! We hope you had a great day!

date night + a cupcake review

Saturday night was date night. Like having a babysitter, leaving the house kind of date night. That's kind of a big deal because it's happened... oh about one other time since B was born.  I know, I know. That's a LOT less than our once a month goal (which we thought we were setting the bar low for since we previously did once a week.. yikes). But we don't have family in town and by the time you pay a babysitter date night becomes ex.pens.ive. I tried sending out a mass email to local moms in an attempt to set up a babysitting co-op but so far that's as far as it got. (Side note- local moms, let's trade babysitting. Puh-lease.)


But back to the point (sorry, I'm easily distracted).


Saturday night was date night. B's aunt and cousins came to hang out with him (okay so it wasn't a paid babysitter...but still) and he had an AWESOME time.

Mama and dada did too!

While B was basking in the glow of being Colson's sidekick, we were ice skating (which for the record- even though R is the more athletic of the two of us, I totally kick his butt at all things skating and snow or cold related), enjoying dinner, and grabbing dessert.



Dessert was kinda the whole point of the date night. Well, you know, besides that whole connecting with the hubby part. ;) Unfortunately, on the way to dessert I got hit hard with a migraine and we almost aborted the mission. Thankfully R knew I would totally regret it in the morning so we muddled through and were able to snag not one but four treats (for the road).


The dessert worth suffering through a migraine for?


Scratch Cupcakery!!


For those of you in Eastern Iowa, this is old (but delicious) news to you. For all my Central Iowa friends, this is something we've been anxiously awaiting. I had heard the hype for months and when West Des Moines finally opened their store this week, we knew we had to go!

A little backstory (as if the backstory above wasn't enough)- I do not like cake. Or cupcakes. At least I didn't used to. Seriously, we didn't even have a 'real' official wedding cake. We opted for cheesecake instead. So some of you may be wondering what in the world I'm doing reviewing a cupcake place.

Well.. I didn't used to like cake. But B has a major sweet-tooth and while I was feeding him in utero, I got a major sweet-tooth.

So now I like cake.


Ahem.




So off to Scratch Cupcakery we go.

Here's what I thought.

Marketing- Cute design. Easy to access through Facebook and web. I especially appreciated the cupcake description online (since I take a LONG time to decide what I want). The description for Sully (a common favorite on the employees page) was missing though. I was dying to know what (or who?) Sully was. Grade: A

Location- not exactly ideal but not so far out of the way it's not worth the trip. Mapquest showed us that it was a ways off Jordan Creek Parkway but it's actually right by it so while we don't normally take that route to the mall, we might start. Grade: B+

Storefront- It was dark and I had a migraine coming on big-time so I wasn't paying attention as I should have been but one thing that stood out to me- it's right next to a fitness center. It's RIGHT next to a fitness center! I mean come on, who does that?! I felt guilty about eating the cupcakes before I was even in the front door.  Grade: F (Okay... so I didn't feel THAT guilty, I'll give it a C+.)  ;)
The inside was simple, clean and cute. Not cluttered with too much 'ta-da' and the focus was definitely on the cupcakes. Grade: A

Service- We got there at approximately 6:52 pm. They close at 7. The gal that got our cupcakes for us was patient while we decided what we wanted and even kind when I changed my mind and had her put one back and switch it for another one. She wasn't annoyed that we were walking in the door close to closing time (at least she didn't show it if she was) and was helpful in the decision making process (choosing cupcakes is serious business). I give her an A+. The workers in the back also seemed friendly and professional (I've had a lot of experiences lately where employees have been sitting around using inappropriate language or complaining- while it doesn't necessarily affect me directly it does annoy me so I'm grading the guys in the back too...). They get an A.
The guy taking our money...... Might have been having a bad day. Might have been new (um, it was the second day they were open so he was very likely new if not from the other location). Might have just been ready to go home. Or Maybe had a migraine coming on himself. He wasn't rude but when I'm purchasing a cupcake called 'Oh Happy Day!' I like it to come with a smile. Or at least eye contact. I give him a B.


CUPCAKES: Great selection (especially since we were there so close to closing). In fact, if we would have been there earlier in the day with more options I may have been overwhelmed. They do rotate through the cupcake menu though and offer different flavors on different days. I am anxiously awaiting an available Wednesday so I can make it to Raspberry Lemon day!

We chose four- Sully, Mint Cookies n' Cream, Maple Bacon, and Oh Happy Day! Then we put Oh Happy Day! back and opted for Prince.

Descriptions from web: 

Prince: blue vanilla cake | blue vanilla buttercream | blue & white sprinkles

Mint Cookies n' Cream: chocolate cake | mint chocolate cookie buttercream | crushed chocolate cookies

Maple Bacon: vanilla bacon cake | maple cinnamon buttercream | crumbled maple bacon

Sully: description missing from web


I chose Sully because it was a common favorite listed on their website. (It was topped with m&ms and oatmeal and had peanut butter frosting so it would have been an easy sell anyway). It was delicious! Not too peanut buttery and while the oatmeal doesn't seem like enough to make a big difference, it did! I'm going to start topping everything with it. :) Grade: A+



Prince: Didn't try it but Colson told me it was REALLY good so I'm taking his word for it. A+

Mint Cookies n' Cream: I'll be honest, I chose it because mint is my current favorite color. I know that's a terrible reason to choose a cupcake but it seemed more logical than doing eeny meeny miney mo in front of the sweet cupcakeista. The mint frosting: Seriously YUM. I would be in big trouble (but very happy) if I had a tub just of that stuff. The chocolate cake was good but not great. I was hoping for it to be a little more moist but in fairness to the cupcake- it was the last one of the bunch I tasted and it had big shoes cupcake liners to fill. Grade: A



Maple Bacon: I know bacon is 'in' right now but I haven't jumped on that (super bad for us) trend. Yet. I chose the Maple Bacon cupcake because I thought it'd be the one my big brother would choose and I felt bad about ditching him for the day. So while I hadn't jumped on that 'bacon on everything' trend yet, I might just start driving the bandwagon today. Um. YUM. Seriously. To die for! I ate the whole cupcake for breakfast (other than the few bites I snuck at midnight because it was beaconing me from the other room!) and I didn't feel one bit bad about it. It was good enough to make me forget all about that gym conveniently located next door to Scratch and if I had a tub of the maple cinnamon buttercream I'd be in HUGE trouble. Emphasis on the huge. I'm gonna give this one an A++ but only because I think anymore plus signs might be annoying. It was that good. (Yes- it was so good I ate it all before there was enough daylight to get a decent picture so I present this not so lovely iPhone picture instead:)



So overall, I think you MUST go check out Scratch. Like right now. Stop what you are doing and get there immediately. Well maybe not immediately because they aren't open on Sundays and would probably frown upon you breaking in for cupcakes. But get there soon. Like maybe tomorrow.

And if you need someone to tag along for moral support, please invite me. I still have 50+ flavors to try.

P.S. Yes I did all my cupcake tasting behind B's back. Poor kid doesn't know what he's missing out on. :)

Have you been yet? What are your favorite flavors?

the hicks'

Hicks⋅tion⋅ar⋅y -[hik-shuh-ner-ee]:
-noun 1. a little corner of the web where the Hicks family records this [blessed] life. we record thoughts, feelings, and memories. especially about our awesome kids (B&A), families (read: nieces and nephews), friends, faith, and our furry child, Dakota.

rusty (aka 'dah')- my best friend. probably the funniest guy i know (besides b). we shared a classroom our first year of dating. he's the best teacher i know. he's a basketball coach that loves his team. a daddy that loves his littles. he's fun loving and full of life. he loves God and he leads his family well.

heidi (aka mama)- child of the king, wife of my beloved, mama to my little guy and sweet girl. a teacher by trade, a work from home photographer by grace. always in the middle of a project. i love getting to spend my days with my littles. i'm so blessed.

beckett (aka B)- born in november '11. loves trains, planes, trucks, animals of all kinds and dance parties. leaves everyone he meets with a smile on their face. frequent nap skipper. best at giving hugs, telling jokes, and making everyone he knows feel loved.

arley (aka A)- our newest addition, born in march '15. came out smiling. loves her people but especially her big brother. coos, smiles, plays, sleeps and eats like a champ. the sweetest little girl we've ever known.

dakota- our furry child clearance puppy. takes his job as big brother seriously. loves the attention from b (except for the chasingthedogwithatruck and the clobberingthedoginadogpile kind of attention). enjoys long walks and running wild.

I started the Hickstionary (way back in 2008- was blogging even cool then?) after loving my cousin's blog. I started it as a memory keeper. A scrapbook of sorts. Then it became a great way to keep family and friends updated on our life. Soon it transformed into my outlet. It fueled my creative component. It gave me a place to organize my thoughts. To talk to God. To connect with friends. To laugh and celebrate. To cry and praise God anyway.
The transformation into 'mommy blogger' was a hard one for me but the blog is back and I hope to keep my basic blogging style the same.

Sometimes it's deep. Sometimes it's not. And sometimes it talks about really really really important stuff (you know, like clothes and the such... ha). Sometimes you'll be shocked that I posted 'that.' Sometimes you'll agree with me. A lot of times you probably wont. But all the time I'm writing it for us. For R. For me. And our life together. 

Thanks for hanging in there with us, friends!

[Photos from 7/21/7]