Welcome to our Crazy Blessed Life

{FFWD} Broth Braised Potatoes

2012-01-28T20:55:00.000-08:00

Well, today is Saturday, not Friday. But that is OK. I am at least getting my post up before the weekend is over. I actually made these potatoes a couple of weeks ago while hubs and I were on the Daniel Fast. It is basically a vegan diet with even more restrictions. By changing out the chicken broth in these for vegetable broth they were able to fit the bill.

Have you ever eaten at Boston Market? That is what these tasty potatoes made me think of...mmmm Boston Market....

These were very simple to make and turned out perfectly. Both of my kiddos went back for seconds and my hubs like them as well. They will definitely go in the recipe rotation!

Make sure to check out how all the other cooks did with this recipe and make sure to pick up a copy of Around My French Table and join in the cooking fun! :)

Quinoa and Black Beans

2012-01-24T21:47:00.000-08:00

Over the last few weeks Bobby and I have been sticking to a vegan diet plus more restrictions. I got a set of new pans for Christmas and they have been getting a workout! We have tried all kinds of new recipes and this was one that I really liked. Before the last few weeks I had never made quinoa and in the last few weeks I have eaten it three times. This recipe was fairly simple to make and everyone ate it. Munchkin ate hers quickly and went back for seconds. Little Man wrapped his in a flour tortilla and graced the dog with his crumbs that came hurtling out of the bottom of the wrap. Bobby wrapped his in corn tortillas and added his homemade pico. I just ate mine straight.

At my cooking club the other night one of the girls brought quinoa since she is on weight watchers. It was different than this recipe but it was delicious! It is nice to find a grain that has so many options and is so versatile. I can see making this with fruit instead of corn and black beans.

You can find the recipe I used here. Try it out! I think you will like it as much as I did!

Spam and Anchovies - 2012 Edition

2012-01-22T20:36:00.000-08:00

Near the end of the year our little Spam and Anchovies group had a some trouble getting together on a regular basis. We did have a soup swap...where I didn't take soup because I am lame...but I did take cake. I brought home a delicious butternut squash soup and a delicious minestrone soup.
We also had a cookie swap where all 5 of us made it. The cookies were fantastic and we had a sweet little time together right before Christmas.

We are now onto the 2012 version of Spam and Anchovies and we are changing things up a bit. Each of us (Melissa, Vanessa, Kenna, Anne and me) invited a friend to join us. We set a regular night to meet and we decided to have the host prepare the main course. Everyone else will bring sides, drinks and dessert. Cooking together was fun but we were sitting down to eat pretty late and then we were tired. We are hoping this will work out even better than last year did.

Friday was our first 2012 get together. Melissa hosted and made chicken chili. We were missing Kenna due to a sick kiddo (we missed ya Kenna) but the rest of us were there with our guests. It was a wonderful beginning to a year of dining together!

I am looking forward to the conversation, the new recipes we are bound to try, and the fun memories with my Spam and Anchovies group! :)

{FFWD} Quarter Quarts

2012-01-20T06:58:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite Dorie Greenspan recipes is Swedish Visiting Cake. Since making it with Tuesdays with Dorie I have probably made it 50 times. In fact, I made it again yesterday for a class. It is fast, easy and delicious. This cake is made using a similar technique to the Swedish Visiting cake but adds a step with whipping the egg whites. It was not difficult but I did have a moment of doubt when I thought the egg whites would deflate and make my cake come out flat. Not to fear though, they did not deflate and the cake came out perfect.

Quarter Quarts means four fourths. It is basically using the same amount of certain ingredients. Dorie did some adjusting to the recipe though to convert the measurements and to make it perfect for those of baking in the US. The brown sugar sprinkled on the top gave this cake just the right amount of sweetness. My kiddos and my hubs really liked it. Unfortunately we each only got one small piece because the darn dog...who I swear is extending her reach every day...got up on the counter and ate the rest during the night. The dog eating the cake aside, this is a recipe I would definitely make again.

Don't forget to go to the French Fridays with Dorie site and check out the Leave your Link to see how other cooks from around the world fared with this sweet cake. You can also purchase Around My French Table and join in the cooking fun!

Creative Discovery Museum

2012-01-18T19:09:00.000-08:00

On Saturday I sent a message to my friend Angela to see if she could meet me in Chattanooga on MLK Day so we could hang out for the day. We ended up at the Creative Discovery Museum which was perfect for us and the kids. Munchkin and The Sports Star have been buddies since they were babies so we love to get together when we can. One of my first memories of Angela is her coming to visit me in the hospital when I had Munchkin. So, she has been a part of my life for over nine year. I am blessed to call her friend! :)

The Big Kahuna looks like a little wizard in this photo. :) This museum was completely hands on and the kids loved it. I loved the layout because Ang and I could sit in one area and talk and could see the kids from where we were. It is so weird to be able to go to a place like that and not have to be on top of my babies every single second. They are big enough that as long as I could see them I felt like they were fine.

One of the great things about this museum was that you could leave and come back. This means that we were able to go out to lunch and come back. It was a little less busy when we came back from lunch, I am sure partially because all the little kids went home for naptime. Another great thing was that parking was $5 for the entire day. Since everything was close by we were able to leave the cars and walk to lunch.

It was difficult to leave our sweet friends at the end of the day. We do not get to see them nearly enough so it is days like these with them that I treasure. :)

Moon

2012-01-03T18:47:00.000-08:00

Back before Christmas, when it was slightly warm the moon was fantastic! These are a couple of different nights when I had a few minutes to be outside taking pictures.

This last one is one of my favorites.

Do you ever hang out and watch the stars and the moon? Munchkin has been pointing out Orion and The Big Dipper the last few nights. It is fun to share that with our kiddos.

{FFWD} - Chard Stuffed Pork and Cauliflower Gratin

2012-01-02T12:26:00.000-08:00

So, I realize that this is French Fridays with Dorie and that this is Monday. However, since I am trying to get back on track these are 2 recipes from December that I made, took photos of and did not post. I will keep this post short and sweet so you can just enjoy the recipes. To see how other cooks around the world did with these two recipes check out French Fridays with Dorie. You can pick up the cookbook (Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan) to try out the recipes!

I made the Cauliflower Bacon Gratin last week and it was met with favorable reviews. My hubs and the kids said it was like Mac and Cheese with cauliflower and went back for seconds. That is always a sign of a yummy recipe in my house!

The pork loin I made for New Years Eve dinner. We had some friends come over and everyone ate it up. Melissa said she really like the flavor of the filling in it. My sweet husband, when I told him about it, thought I said "Charred", stuffed pork loin. When I explained that it was "Chard" stuffed pork loin he wasn't as thrilled but ended up liking the finished product anyway. :)

Both recipes were delicious and I can see making both of them again sometime. Now on to the January recipes. They include Bubble Topped Brioche Rolls, Jacques Armagnac Chicken, Quarter Quarts and Broth Braised Potatoes. I am hoping to complete all of them so make sure to check in on Fridays!

Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-01T11:05:00.000-08:00

Well, 2011 has come and gone and here we are in 2012. Of course it will be May before I actually write 2012 on anything. With the dawning of a new year there are always resolutions to think of. Are you a resolution person or a "resolutions are lame" person?

The new year to me always feels like a fresh start. I know it is silly but the changing of the year is a big deal in my mind! So, even though I don't necessarily make resolutions I do think about things I would like to do better or more of in the year to come. Some of my friends focus on a word for the year and I think that is a great idea. One friend (Sarah) is focusing on the word "Friendship". We just had a conversation about how so many of us have just let our friendships fall away because we are so busy raising our kids and focusing on really important things that we use busyness as an excuse not to call up a friend for coffee. However, we have to be intentional about friendships in this time in our lives so that our friendships can be cultivated and stay strong. Several other words that friends shared for the year are Freedom, Calm, and Love. I think if I was to choose a word for the year it would have to be Self Discipline. It is something I am lacking and hope to focus on this year.

One of the areas I would like to have self discipline in this year is cooking for my family. We eat out far too often and really need to eat at home. I also want to be disciplined in posting a photo each day on my crazyblessedlife365 blog and in keeping up with French Fridays with Dorie and with Baking with Julia. For those people that cook for their families on a very regular basis this might seem silly but it is an area where I struggle. Yes, I bake lots of goodies but I need to actually cook too. :) I suppose if I keep up on the blogging you will be able to tell if I have kept up with Self Discipline this year.

If you were to choose a word what would it be? If you don't choose a word, have you set some goals or resolutions for the year? I would love to hear what you are planning for 2012...at least until the end of the world in December. ;)

{TWD} Kids Thumbprints and The End

2011-12-27T12:05:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon! It is Tuesday and you know what that means....Tuesdays with Dorie and a delicious recipe. This weeks recipe was chosen by none other than Dorie Greenspan herself. You should check out her post because if you have been following along for almost the last four years it just might make you cry...plus she has the recipe for these delicious cookies in her post.

I am writing this post with mixed emotions. On one hand I am slightly melancholy because this is the last recipe in the book. On the other hand I have learned so much about baking over the last few years and have tackled things I may have never tried. I feel like I have had far more success than failures and my darn dog has had her share of goodies she swiped from the counter. As good things come to an end though there are new good things on the horizon. In 1996 Dorie published Baking with Julia, the cookbook that accompanies Julia Child's PBS series. This is the book the TWD crew will start baking through starting in February of 2012. If you would like to tackle this cookbook and join an amazing community of bakers I would love to see you there!

This all started with Laurie Woodward and a few friends almost 4 years ago. I thank her now for starting this group and creating a fun, informative community of bakers. Thanks for sticking with this all of this time and for inspiring so many!

Now, on to the cookies!

In the tradition of not looking terribly closely at the recipe before going to the grocery store I didn't realize I needed peanuts....not to fear! It is Christmas and I can obviously just coat these babies in sprinkles, because who doesn't love sprinkles...right? I did end up having a red sprinkle emergency and had to run to Dollar General for more red sprinkles but it all worked out.

Little Man lent me his thumb to press the centers of these...he was not really a fan and ran to rewash his hands as soon as we finished. After the raspberry jam was (almost) set I packaged these up and sent them to school with the kids as teach gifts. I also sent a plate to each class for the "holiday" party. Honestly, I am glad I sent them because I really could have eaten the entire plate of these myself. I love cookies that have jam like this in them. Bobby is not a fan but even he liked them. These will definitely go in the Christmas Cookie line up next year.

I hope you have enjoyed baking along with TWD or living vicariously through the posts and the other bakers in TWD. I know I have and hope that the next four years will be as sweet and tasty as these last four!

Aug/Sept/Oct/Nov/Dec Wrap Up

2011-12-18T12:02:00.000-08:00

This is one of those posts that is here to remind me what happened in the last few months. Since my last few posts have all been baking related this is just a list of things we did.
August:

Disney World Extravaganza
Kids started 1st grade and 4th grade
Little Man bought a skateboard
Trophy Ceremony for baseball for Little Man
Went to Throwback Thursday Sounds game
Munchkin had strep that we initially thought was a spider bite
got Munchkins TCAP scores..they rocked!
Took the kids to Cedar Creek Batting Cages and Go Karts

September

Kids learned how to make armpit farts
I turned 37
Took Munchkin to the Perch for Crepes
Huge limb fell off of our tree during a mild rainstorm. Thankfully no cars were under it
Kids played Upward Soccer. Lady Owls and the Lightning
Little Man told us about a little girl trying to kiss him on the playground
Went to the Encore picnic
My grandpa had heart surgery and came through with flying colors
Went to a preseason Predators game for free at the Bridgestone Arena

October:

Salient played at Meridee's Bread Basket in Franklin
We tried a new Thai place and the kids loved it!
Munchkin attempted to pull her tooth with a remote control airplane (it didn't work)
Salient played at "The Stand" in our neighborhood
I busted the screen on my 2 month old phone (it still works though)
Kids put on a "Crazy Kids Concert" on our porch to raise money for church.
Did a sweet family photo shoot at a park.
Introduced the kids to Edamame
Worked on the banners for both kids classes for the school fitness day
Went to Atlanta to hang out with the Jacksons
Salient played at the Madison Folk Fest
Did some letterboxing
Munchkin made chocolate almond topped shortbread all by herself
Saw Wicked at TPAC
Went to Pumpkin Hill for Pumpkins. Little Man won a 75 pound pumpkin for guessing the closest weight
Halloween: Bobby was Thor, I was Glinda the Good Witch, Munchkin was Elphaba: the Wicked Witch of the West, and Little Man was a cop with a radar gun

November:

Munchkin read Because of Winn Dixie
We went to the Hobby Lobby family day where we all shot airsoft guns and drove remote control cars
Kids were attacked by the leaf monster that appears in our yard every fall
Won first place in photography and baking at neighborhood village fair
Munchkin won first place for kids baking and second for drawing
Little Man sang his rendition of Taylor Swift's "You Belong to Me": You wear short pants, I wear long pants...na na na na na....I wear short sleeves, you wear long sleeves...na na na na na.... :)
Little Man and I spent several hours at the children's hospital getting a piece of glass removed from his foot.
Saw Breaking Dawn
Spent Thanksgiving at Mark and Melissa's house
Saw the Muppet movie
Saw Santa at Bass Pro Shop
Munchkin had "Nature Club" at our house

December:

Built a snowman out of pumpkins that I spray painted white
Dinner 8 at our house with Lindsay and Andrew and Sarah and Travis
Got our Christmas Tree at Lowe's
Went to Bobby's work party
Celebrated our 14th anniversary by going out to dinner at Outback the actual night and then to see Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol on Saturday
Took the kids Christmas caroling in the neighborhood.
Obviously it is not the end of December yet and there is so much more that will happen in the next couple of weeks. I am looking forward to 2012 and hope that I will be a better blogger in the future. :) *sigh* I suppose it takes the discipline that I lack....

Marry Christmas and Happy New Year! :)

{TWD} Earl Grey Madelines

2011-12-06T14:36:00.000-08:00

Way back when I was a freshman in college, my grandparents sent me a tea set for my birthday. It included 2 large green mugs, which I still have, and several types of tea in a white basket. Earl Grey was by far my favorite.

For some reason I do not recall there being a microwave in the girls dorm and we were not allowed to have hot plates. For this reason I spent a considerable amount of time microwaving water for tea in the lobby of the boys dorm. Perhaps having to go there made drinking tea even more fun. :)

When I saw this week's recipe I was reminded of my grandparents and that sweet tea set that in turn created many memories.
These cookies were not difficult to put together but they did require some time in the fridge before baking. One new technique I learned from this was infusing butter with tea. I did not have a cheesecloth so I used a coffee filter in my sieve to separate the butter from the tea leaves. Of course, that was not terribly effective either so we had some tea leaves in the cookies. One other reminder to myself....do not set the timer and leave the house...my madelines passed golden and springy and went straight to dark brown and slightly burned. The characteristic hump on the other side looked great though and both of my kiddos ate the madelines without a peep about them being burned.

Once again there were two recipes chosen. Nichi of Bakeologie chose Earl Grey Madelines and Kayte of Grandma's Kitchen Table chose Honey Almond Fig Tart. I have every intention of making the tart as well however I could not find fresh figs. Perhaps next week. :)

Like I said last week, I am sad to see TWD coming to an end soon. We are gear up to start a new book though (Baking with Julia) and I am hoping to see my copy under the tree in a couple of weeks. If you want to join in check out this link for the details. I am looking forward to baking with my old TWD friends but would love to see some new faces too! Especially some of my local peeps! ;)
Make sure to check out how the other bakers did with each of these recipes this week!

{TWD} Normandy Apple Tart and Sour Cream Pumpkin Pie

2011-11-29T13:52:00.000-08:00

Last week was kind of crazy around these parts. It was a rewind week so I made a Swedish Visiting Cake...actually I have made that cake probably 50 times since we posted about it before. It is fast and easy and my students love it!

This summer we did a ton of travelling so we ended up staying in town and going over to Mark and Melissa's house for Thanksgiving dinner. I was in charge of the pies and cranberry sauce. As luck would have it Judy of Judy's Gross Eats chose Sour Cream Pumpkin Pie and Tracey of Tracey's Culinary Adventures chose Normandy Apple Tart. Perfect recipes for Thanksgiving dinner. If you have not seen these ladies blogs (and I meant to say this about Leslie and Jessica's as well) make sure to stop by and drool over the recipes and photos on their pages!

The apple tart had a couple of steps. One was making apple sauce that you were supposed to put through a food mill...I do not have a food mill so I tried to press it through a strainer that was too fine and then ended up pressing it through my plastic colander. It all worked out and turned out just right. I didn't add extra sugar to it because Dorie said traditionally this tart is not all that sweet. I was a bit disconcerted when I pulled the tart out of the oven and it looked charred to me. I was heartened to go back and read that it was supposed to look like that...maybe not quite as dark as mine turned out but still kind of burnt.

My poor Sour Cream Pumpkin Pie obviously had issues. My crust cracked....maybe from not baking with pie weights (I am hoping Santa will bring me some), maybe it wasn't cold enough... I don't know. It seemed to shrink a bit. Then the inside cracked....did I bake it too long? I don't know and I actually don't even know how this tasted because I really don't like pumpkin pie. Everyone else did though and now there is none left.

My husband LOVES Marie Callendars Chocolate Satin Pie and I try to buy it when it is on sale. However, a few months ago I decided to try the Betty Crocker version. He said he like it better than the Chocolate Satin. Win!! :) So, I decided to add this pie to the mix for Thanksgiving. I did make two alterations to it though. I made an Oreo crust for it instead of a regular crust and I poured a thin layer of peanut butter on the crust before adding the chocolate. Bobby thought it turned out great!

Overall I think the pies were a success and I was thrilled to see them eaten and enjoyed. The best part though was spending time with our friends! :)

{TWD} Bittersweet Brownies and Alastian Apple Tart

2011-11-29T08:55:00.000-08:00

I have been baking with Tuesdays with Dorie since August of 2008. This year I have not been the most consistent and I am pretty sad about that. I have learned tons of tips and techniques in baking over the past few years and have found baking friends around the world. As of December we will have baked through the entire book. Little Man's pumpkin looks kind of scared that it is going to meet the same fate as the apples in this Alastian Apple Tart. This recipe was chosen by Jessica of Cookbook Habit. I took it to my cooking club to go along with minestrone soup and salad.

The second recipe for the week was chosen by Leslie of Lethally Delicious. My kids were quite excited that I left a few behind for them as most of these went to my class. They were easy to whip up, rich and delicious! I can see adding all kids of variations to these but they are also perfect the way they are. Thanks ladies for choosing fun recipes! :)

Fall Break is Wicked!

2011-10-21T19:22:00.000-07:00

Like I said in my last post it is fall break and that means finding things to do. Monday we played outside and hung out at home. Munchkin and Little Man had no desire to go anywhere after being in the car on Sunday. I had a meeting at work so we did go out for that.

Tuesday included grading papers, Munchkin writing a report on kudzu bugs and baking Almond Fudge topped Shortbread, Little Man playing with action figures, a freak hailstorm, and me and Bobby watching 4 episodes of the Walking Dead.

Wednesday I taught in the morning and at night so Munchkin and Little Man went to a friends house in the morning. Bobby was home in the afternoon so we didn't have to have a sitter for the evening.

Thursday was Wicked. I left for work at 8:30 in the morning. I warned my students ahead of time that we would only take a very short break because I needed to leave early. I hopped in the car and made it to my seat at TPAC with 5 minutes to spare. Bobby got there just before I did. Way back in July we surprised Munchkin with these tickets for her birthday so the anticipation has been building for this show for quite some time. Both kids know all the words to all of the songs on the soundtrack. We made sure to talk to them ahead of time and remind them that they could sing along in their heads but could not sing out loud. I could just see one or the other of them bursting into song and drowning out the actors on stage.

The joy on Munchkins face was apparent throughout the entire show. You could see her making the connections with the story and the soundtrack and understanding it so much better. Little Man stayed awake the entire time and was transfixed! At the end of the show both of my kiddos faces were so excited. They both proclaimed the show "AWESOME!" and Munchkin said "I want to be in Wicked!".

So, all in all Wicked was a hit for our family. If you get a chance to see it you should. It is really really really great!

Once I got out of the parking garage I managed to make it back to work at 5:45 in time to teach my 6:00 class. Needless to say I pretty much fell into bed last night when I got home.

This morning we started off not really having a plan for the day. Bobby asked if we would come have lunch with him so we worked in the possibility of finding a couple of letterboxes along the way. Construction made getting around town a bit tricky but not impossible. After a delicious lunch we managed to find 2 letterboxes! We had to be sneaky though as there were tons of people out enjoying the beautiful day.
One funny thing, today has been a constant musical. Munchkin wants to write her own musical and got a good start on it this morning. In the car both kids sang everything they needed to communicate. It as very funny and very sweet. :)

Tonight we are watching the Wizard of Oz. Outside of soccer I have no idea what else we are going to do for the last 2 days of fall break. I just know I have enjoyed having my kiddos home with me this week. We have had a really fun time together.

Alas, Monday will come and it will be back to reality...until Thanksgiving. :)

Stone Mountain Georgia

2011-10-21T18:45:00.000-07:00

Well, it is fall break around these parts and that means finding fun things to do. Munchkin and the Basketball Star have been friends since Munchkin was born and Little Man and the Big Kahuna have been friends since they were born. Unfortunately for us they moved 5 hours away. But what is 5 hours when you have a car? The Basketball Star's birthday fell last weekend so I packed the kids in the car, loaded up on a large amount of caffeine and hit the road. A few things I learned on the way: traffic outside of Atlanta = Office Space, JuJuBe's are disgusting and the Stacker2 Energy shot does not make me flush and shake like the 5 Hour Energy shots do.

We pulled into town on Friday night and my children immediately disappeared. They reappeared around dinner and then went upstairs to watch Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer. I graded some papers and watched Thor with Ron and Angela. At 1 am I was still wide awake. The next morning I slept until 9:30. I never sleep that late! The Big Kahuna had a soccer game so we got to see him play. His team rocked it and they won!

We decided a trip to Stone Mountain was in order but thought we should eat ahead of time so we didn't have to buy overpriced food. Munchkin and I shared a salad at Zaxby's and we headed out to Stone Mountain. Once of the benefits of going after 3 was the price was drastically reduced. However, there was a pumpkin festival and Highland Games happening so it was pretty busy.

I have been reading the Outlander Series by Diana Galbaldan so it was fun to see all of the men in their kilts. It made me want to dig back into my book and visit Scotland!

We managed to find a decent parking place right by some restrooms. That was perfect since everyone needed the facilities at that moment. We took the blankets, camping chairs, the rolling cooler and jackets and staked out a spot on the lawn for the laser show. We were a bit worried that people would mess with our stuff while we were gone but it was all for naught. No one messed with our stuff and we could see it from the SkyRide tram.

The first thing we did was head over to the station to get to the top of the mountain. It was so fun to be up there and reminded me of being on top of Half Dome...only a lot easier to get to. You could see Atlanta and Midtown from up there. We thought we would look for a letterbox up there but I think it would have been easier to find had we hiked up. We did not find it but I did get some fun pictures. There were tons of people up there and it was really really windy. Little Man was a little worried at first because he thought he might blow away.

We stayed on top of the mountain until just after 6. By the time we made it through the line and back down the mountain it was about 6:40. All of the attractions were set to close at 7pm. Now, in hindsight we probably should have done one of the kid events first but we really wanted to get to the top of the mountain before dark. When we got to the SkyHike at 6:45 they had already closed it. That was very disappointing for both Munchkin and The Basketball Star. However, they had a rock climbing wall and Munchkin made it higher than she ever has! That was so exciting to see because she has always been nervous about any kind of heights.

This picture above was one of my favorites from the day. :)

This make me think of the TV show Roswell. :)

The last activity the kids got to do was the zip line. It was technically closed but the guy running it was really nice and let the kids do it. Little Man had tried some of the low course but some of the motor skill issues still make him a little afraid. So, when he wanted to to the zip line I was willing to do anything to get him on it. Both Munchkin and Little Man had a blast flying down to the end and halfway back.

Once everything was closed it was time to head back to our chairs and wait for the laser show to start. I was so glad we had a cooler filled with drinks and bags of snacks. The kids acted like they had never eaten and pretty much ate all of the snacks. I introduced Ang to Caramel Bugles and we discovered the joy of Chocolate Chip Kettle Corn.

Angela warned me that the laser show was a really southern laser show. It was really fun! The kids loved the music and all of the different parts of the show. Munchkins favorite parts were the Devil Goes Down to Georgia music and show and the 3D mushrooms and flowers. Little Man liked all of the lasers and loved the fireworks as well.

It turned out that our parking spot was even better than we thought. We managed to get back to the car and get out to the interstate with hardly any traffic! The kids were exhausted and so were the grown ups. I pretty much slept like a log that day!

On Sunday Angela and I went and tried to find another letterbox and once again had no luck! I was bummed because she didn't get to have the joy of finding a box and I was also bummed because I still didn't have a box from Georgia!

The Basketball Star had another birthday party to go to that day so we headed for home just before she headed out to the party. Poor Munchkin was very sad to be leaving The Basketball Star and I was just as sad. We miss this sweet friends very much all the time.
I didn't need quite as much caffeine that day for some reason and our trip home was quite easy. I did see on atlasquest.com that there was a new plant in Georgia and that it was right on our way home so we did stop once and actually found a box.

As we were trying to find the letterbox in Georgia we kept smelling a horrible smell and we were being attacked by bugs. I figured they were some kind of stink bug and it turns out I was right! When we got home I researched the little buggers and found out they were Kudzu Stink Bugs. I can only hope we didn't bring any home with us!

We had a fantastic weekend with our sweet friends and can only hope we will see them again very soon!

Little Baker

2011-10-19T14:08:00.000-07:00

It is fall break around these parts and you know what that means.... dun dun dun.....finding stuff for my kiddos to do. Unfortunately I had papers to grade (fortunately that I have a job) so I could not spend every second keeping my kiddos engaged. Little Man played outside for awhile and played with his action figures. Munchkin (my 9 year old) came to me and said "I want to bake something". So, I told her to find a cookbook and pick a recipe and she could bake it. She was kind of surprised by that but then got really excited. The first recipe she chose had ingredients that we don't have on hand at the moment. The second recipe called for Sweetened Condensed Milk. After a quick search of the cabinets we found a can...and it doesn't even expire until December!

My sweet daughter did everything from turning on the oven to mixing the butter and sugar with a hand mixer, to patting everything into the pan. I did go observe as she put the pan in oven since it was her first time doing that and I took it out of the oven but otherwise I didn't do much. She melted the chocolate chips and condensed milk over low heat, added the almond extract and started to pour it over the shortbread base. She needed a tiny bit of help getting all of the chocolate out of the pan but really not much.

This was the result:

Almond Fudge Topped Shortbread. I think this was an excellent first attempt at baking for her. She did a fantastic job and may even enter these in a baking contest next month! :)

Sweet Moments

2011-10-08T18:23:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of sweet moments from my kids this week.

Munchkin "Mommy, you have magic kisses, when you kiss one of the spots where we have hurt ourselves, it doesn't hurt quite as much anymore."

Little Man is making progress in speech. His pronunciation of his sisters name has gone from 2 syllables to 3.

This afternoon the kids made signs and set up on the front porch for the "Crazy Kids Concert". Little Man played drums and Munchkin sat in the chair and sang into the mic from the Star Station. They made up songs and performed for us. I think they are going to perform again tomorrow after passing out brochures about the show. I love that they worked on the band together, wrote songs together, and played so well together!

I am helping out at my kiddos school making banners for their big fitness day so I was in Little Man's class on Friday. I was so happy to see him raise his hand and tell the teacher something they could find out with the graph they were working with. I was glad to see that math seems to be working for him.

I love these moments and want to hold onto them!

Disney Day 5: Epcot

2011-09-30T07:08:00.000-07:00

Day 5 of our family vacation took us to Epcot. We told the kids that we would get them ears there so one of our first stops was at Mouse Gear. Little did we know, we would be back in that store at the end of the night. I picked up a Disney cookbook at that store as well and had it shipped back to the hotel.

Disney Tip: You can ship any of your purchases back to a resort hotel free of charge.

While I took Munchkin over to the Test Track, Bobby took Little Man to get fast passes for Soarin. Bobby and I had ridden Soarin after it opened in California so we were excited to ride it again at Epcot. While waiting for Bobby and Little Man, Munchkin and I found a good spot to wait with a giant fan blowing on us. After running through the park it was nice to stand in the breeze and hope the large amounts of perspiration would evaporate.

The kids loved the test track, especially that part where we accelerated to 60 miles an hour. We made our way back to Soarin in "The Land". While in line for Soarin (even with a fast pass we had to wait just a little bit) we had a conversation with the family behind us about hidden mickey's.

Disney Tip: Get to book about finding hidden mickeys and try to find them in each ride. We found a few that we knew about but it would have been good to have a hint book.

While we were at lunch I realized I had made reservation for the following night at Magic Kingdom but we were planning on being at Hollywood Studios all day. So, while Bobby took the kids to meet Alice in Wonderland and to play Mickey hopscotch I called the reservation desk and was able to change our dinner at the Crystal Palace to lunch at Five and Diner. The reservation person was fantastic to work with and very helpful.

We really wanted to have Fish and Chips in England so at lunch time that is where we headed. When we got up to the patio area there were no tables available. However, there was a very sweet family from Wales that invited us to sit with them. I remember my mom talking about how when we lived in Scotland people would just sit down with you in a restaurant. Even if you were in a booth they could come scoot in with you. Anyway, this family invited us to sit with them and their sweet kiddos. They thought it was funny that they were eating in England and having fish and chips. It was a little like us going to Scotland and going to McDonald's. We were so thankful to have a place to sit and have a fun family to talk to. The fish and chips were delicious!

After lunch we decided to visit each of the countries in Epcot. We started in Canada where we visited the KidCot spot. The kids got to decorate Duffy the bear there. In each country we found the Kidcot spot and they got got a stamp. In several of the countries the stamper also wrote the kids names in the language of the country. I think they each had their names written in Arabic, Japanese and Chinese. They each also got the stamp for the year they were born. Bobby and I are both year of the Tiger. One of the funniest parts of the kids getting the stamps was that for each stamp on the handle their bear got a new power. One of them included poop power. I don't know...I'm just the mom. :)

Another fun kids activity was a KimPossible mission. The kids got a cell phone that gave instructions on where to go next. Their mission was in France. It was really a neat experience. They had to stand in certain spot and got their photo taken by a camera on the top of the Eiffel Tower. The only issue with this was the cell phone was really loud. There was one spot that was really quiet and they got a few "looks" when they listened to the message.

While in France, we saw this street performer. I cannot tell you how impressed my kiddos were with this man balancing way up on top of the chairs! Munchkin made sure she was up close so if they needed volunteers she could offer her services. :)

We just happened to see a line start forming in Morocco and discovered it was for Aladdin and Jasmine. Since Jasmine was not one of the princesses we met at The Royal Table we decided to stand in line and wait. It was not a terribly long wait but during that time I discovered what Bobby really thought of Epcot...He called it Shopcot. :) I have to admit, even though it was fun to go to the different countries it really was mostly shopping back in that area.

One of our favorite countries was Norway. Bobby is half Swedish but the Norwegian people painted on the walls in the line for the Viking ship ride could have been directly related to him. The ride was not super exciting but the kids really liked it..even if they were a little scared of the trolls. Even scared though, Munchkin slaughtered this friendly looking guy...

Once we finally got through all of the countries we headed back to Spaceship earth and took the ride. I am fairly certain I may have slept for a little bit on that ride. I remember going on it when I was very little but it is a very faded memory. There were all kinds of games and fun things to do when you got off the rides. One of the kids favorites was Power City. They got to play virtual hockey and save the cities.

Finally, it was time for dinner. We had a reservation at The Garden Grill in "The Land". We got to meet Chip and Dale, Harvest Mickey and Harvest Goofy. There are several fun aspects to this restaurant. 1) It revolves, by the time you are done eating you have made it almost all the way around the circle. 2) It is a buffet but you don't have to get up to go get your food. The servers bring you more of anything you want. 3) You get to meet more characters...once again though we had already met Mickey and Goofy at least twice. 4) The food is delicious! The menu is set and and it is served family style. The kids ate off the grownup platters and we ate off the kid platters. We were so stuffed by the time we were done I wasn't sure we could walk to the fireworks!

While Bobby was watching fireworks with Munchkin, I was back at MouseGear picking up an extra clothing item that we needed. Let's just say there was an extra run to the restroom after Little Man left Duffy the bear in the stall after having a clothing change. We managed to get back to the bus and get on it fairly quickly. When we got back to the hotel Bobby took one of the kids swimming while I tried to log on to the computer to get some work done. The connection was not working so I gave up and figured I could do what I needed to when we got home. We all collapsed that night happy that it had been such a fun day! :)

{TWD} Classic Brownies and Retroactive Recipes

2011-09-12T18:28:00.000-07:00

Here it is Tuesday and miracle of miracles I am actually posting! I have been baking but if you have been keeping up with my Disney posts I am obviously a slacker of a blogger. A big thank you to Anne of Anne Strawberry for choosing Classic Brownies, Gaye from Laws of the Kitchen for choosing Tropical Crumble, Margie from Tea and Scones for choosing Golden Brioche Loaves, and Jessica of My Baking Heart for choosing Chocolate Spice Quickies.

First of all the brownies. You just have to love Dorie's recipes. These were very straight forward. They took one bowl and I was able to adapt them to my own taste. I do not like nuts in brownies. I think they are an abomination! So there. I was also out of vanilla. My sweet husband and kiddos baked me a cake and I knew I was low on vanilla but forgot until I was already melting the chocolate for the brownies. A quick search for a vanilla substitute led me to add some almond extract. It was a very different taste but it was really good. I know it looks like there are nuts in these but looks are deceiving.... those are peanut butter chips. My kids ate four while they were still warm and I sent some with my husband this morning. He said he really liked the almond flavor in them. So yay! Win! I will definitely make these again and will probably double the recipe the next time.

The tropical crumble was a delicious recipe. What isn't with that much butter in it? I was planning on trying to pawn this off on the teachers so I lined a muffin tin. stuffed from phyllo dough in the liners and spooned the mango/lime mixture into each one. I topped them with the crumble and popped them in the oven.

I knew my husband would not have anything to do with a tropical crumble. First of all it has mango and second you cook the fruit. So, I gave them to my kids and their friends that came home from school with them. My daughter kind of liked this, the other little girl really liked it. My son was not a fan and the other little boy seemed to be scared of it. When their mom got to my house I gave a tropical crumble cupcake thing to her. She loved it and said it was so gourmet! She caters so I thought that was fun to hear from her!

This tropical crumble doesn't look that great but it was really tasty.

I actually made these Golden Brioche Loaves the same day as the crumble. I was hoping my hubs would eat them up but he has started a health challenge at work so he didn't eat as much of them as I thought he would. We all really liked these loaves a lot. I am glad I looked ahead because they took a long time to make. They were worth it though.

Last but definitely not least were the Chocolate Spice Quickies. Outside of the resting time in the fridge they were certainly quick. I made a double batch as I planned on taking them to my students. My sweet son said the dough looked like poo. I did not share that with my students. :) One student said these tasty little cookies tasted like Christmas and I have to agree. One suggestion was to serve them with raspberry jam. I didn't but it did make a fun picture. :)

I am really hoping to get back in the swing of things. If you haven't already you should check out Dorie's Baking From My Home to Yours. It is a fantastic cookbook with delicious recipes!

I'm Thir-ee seven! I'm Thir-ee Seven! I'm No' Old!

2011-09-12T08:11:00.000-07:00

So, I did turn thirty seven a week or so ago but my name is not Dennis and I am a woman. :) Those of you that get all that can be my friend.

Thirty seven...I guess that is on the downhill slide to 40. My mom likes to call and tease me about it but then she is 22 years older than me... She asks me sometimes how old I feel because she still feels much younger in her head than she is in the mirror. I do feel younger than thirty seven.

You'd think by now I would have some things figured out..like what I want to be when I grow up, how to get in shape, how to get my kids to mind all the time and how to keep my house clean. But I don't. I would like to have a bakery or be a photographer but I struggle with the time away from my family. I would love to get in shape but I would like to have a bakery. ;) And I just try to pray and ask advice from others that have gone before me in the trenches of motherhood. As far as keeping my house clean...well if I invite people over that motivates me to at lease keep the downstairs in some semblance of order.

As a 37 year old woman I am apparently not supposed to wear cartoon characters like Tinkerbell on my chest or behind. I am supposed to have a perfect house, clean and perfectly behaved children, the laundry done, a career and dinner on the table. I think my musical tastes are supposed to be more refined and after that I have no idea what is really expected of a 37 year old woman.

I have a Tinkerbell shirt and a Micky Mouse shirt, my house is far from perfect, my kids are bathed on a regular basis and while not perfectly behaved are sweet and loving and the good far outweighs the bad. The laundry often has to be rerun because I forget about it (a dash of white vinegar helps the mildew smell go away), I am teaching (which I love) and sometimes have dinner ready. Since our dining room table is usually covered in mail, projects, and other various flotsam we often eat in the living room. I like the cheeseball pop music on the radio. It makes me think of going dancing in my college years.

Anyway. Here I am, 37. I am a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a teacher, a baker, an aspiring photographer, an organizer, a girl still afraid of what others will think of her, a Christian who know it doesn't matter what others think, and someone with seriously conflicting emotions. :)

Here is to 37!

Disney Day 4 : Not Disney, Universal

2011-09-03T21:05:00.000-07:00

Day 4 of our fabuloso vacation started on a bit of a sleepy note. This child is very much like her daddy, and is not really a morning person. We were able to finally drag everyone out of bed though for a quick breakfast at the All Star Music Resort food court. It was fine but not someplace we wanted to eat every meal.

One last surprise I managed to keep (Bobby is a fortress, but it is hard for me to keep stuff from the kids) was that we were going to Universal Islands of Adventure and Harry Potter World. Once our Mickey shaped waffles were consumed we were able to head out to our car. Universal is only about 14 miles from Disney so it was no problem to jump in the car and head up there. We did have to make a brief stop at Walgreens for Bandaids though as we were really suffering from the blisters on our feet.

I took a quick video of the kids on the way and revealed that we were headed to Harry Potter World. Little Man could care less about Harry Potter but was thrilled to find out he was going to get to see Spiderman!

I knew ahead of time that parking was going to cost $15 (at Disney we could park for free at the parks but we used the buses so this was the only time we moved our car all week). As we got in line for parking though Bobby spied a sign for preferred parking. It was $5 more but it was supposedly closer and all on the same level. We decided that since out feet were already feeling like they were going to fall off less walking was a good idea. Now, we intended to head straight for Harry Potter World but Little Man saw the Dr. Seuss tram and really wanted to ride it. The line wasn't too bad so we acquiesced. The kids wanted to ride together in the front row so we sat behind them and enjoyed watching them enjoy the ride. It was pretty slow so no one freaked out. We got to meet The Grinch in Seuss Island, rode the carousel (which we discovered each of our Seussical animals did different things besides going up and down), and walked through the Seuss maze.

Then, we finally made it to Harry Potter World.....with everyone else in Florida.... You might remember that Harry Potter 7 was just released.

Munchkin has read the first 3 Harry Potter books and has seen the first 4 movies. She was Hermione for Halloween last year and was absolutely excited to go to Hogsmeade. I don't know how I managed to get a photo of my kids by the train without anyone else because it was packed!

After seeing the train our first stop was to ride The Forbidden Journey. You are not to take anything on the ride which was kind of a bummer. I wish I had had my camera with me because the line wound through the castle. You got to go through Dumbledores office, through an area where the paintings were talking and moving, and saw Harry, Ron and Hermione in a classroom where it "snowed". To encourage people not to take anything they provided lockers for free while you were on the ride. The time was a bit daunting (120 minute wait) but it ended up being about an hour. They hid the line well but had big sprayers and fans to keep people cool. When we finally got to the ride Little Man was out of sorts. They made him get measured and then seated us and then made us get up and move to another car...Little Man and transition, especially in a dark area was not really happening. He was already upset when the ride started and he was not happy at the end. Munchkin insisted that she did not want to go on any roller coasters that went upside down but this was went pretty close. I did have to close my eyes in some sections (motion sickness) but thought the ride was fun. It was pretty scary for little kids though. I would go on it again and Munchkin was thrilled with the ride. If we had time she would have gone again for sure!

Our next ride was Flight of the Hippogriff. It was a small wooden roller coaster that Little Man loved and terrified Munchkin. She screamed her head off the entire time! Hogsmeade was like a scene from the movies. The stores, the forced perspective, the snow. If there were fewer people we would have spent much more time there. We could not leave Harry Potter world without getting Butterbeer. I made Bobby stand in line for a few minutes while I checked out Honeydukes. We purchased 1 frozen butterbeer for the four of us to share. When it is almost the same amount for a drink as it is to park you only get 1. However, 1 was plenty for us and it hit the spot. And, Munchkin got to keep the cup as a souvenir.

After Harry Potter World we needed a break from walking around so our next event was Matt Hoffman's Aggro Circus. When we walked in my sweet hubby asked if there were certain places we needed to sit. Because he was just being polite the guy took us over to sit in the reserved seating area. Which means we were front and center for all of the action. It was a really entertaining show and the kids were completely impressed (heck, I was impressed) with all of the stunts. Once all of the death defying events were over the same worker came over and asked if we would like to meet a couple of the guys. Both the guys that came out (the BMX stunt guy and the skateboarder) were very nice to the kids and gave them autographs and stickers.

Munchkin had Harry Potter World, Little Man was elated that our next stop was the Spiderman ride. We waited about 30 minutes to get on the 3D ride. We tried to get a smashed penny in line but the machine stole our money. If we ever needed Spiderman fighting for justice it was right then! ;) This was another ride where I needed to close my eyes for a few minutes but it was really fun. Both kids thought it was AWESOME!!!! As luck would have it Spiderman was signing autographs right across the street when we got off the ride. My picture of the kids with Spidey may not be awesome but the one taken by the park was terrible. The kids eyes were closed and they were making weird faces.

We had been walking and exploring the park for hours and we were starting to think about lunch. Bobby mentioned the Mithros restaurant. There was a sign on it that said it was the number one theme park restaurant so we thought we would try it. However, before we could get to it we saw another restaurant that advertised fajitas, wood fired pizza and buffalo wings. All food items we like so we stopped at Confisco instead of Mithros. It. was. so. good! The prices were reasonable, think Chili's, and the best part was free refills! I probably downed 5 diet cokes and I know I was not even close to keeping up with Bobby and his cokes! Just think Florida, in August, in 100 degree heat and 95% humidity. Then you get to a restaurant with free refills on sodas...AHHHHHHHH!

Feeling refreshed we made our way to a stunt show called The Eighth Voyage of Sinbad. It was pretty entertaining. Next up though was the Jurassic Park area. At this point it has started to rain so we spent some time hanging with the dinos. There was a great exploring area for the kids to play in. Not only did they get to take care of dinosaur eggs they got to combine their dna with that of a dino. A puff of air stood in for a needle to take a skin sample and they put their face on the screen (I was wishing for antibacterial gel at this moment in time) so they could see what a dino mixed with them would look like.

Munchkin managed to get soaked by the Jurassic ride without even riding it. Little Man didn't want to ride and it shut down during the rain storm anyway. We may have gone on it but we were getting kind of tired. As soon as it opened up we went on Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges. Once again we were completely soaked. We tried to dry off a little bit on the Me Ship, The Olive but it was futile. I had an extra plastic bag from Disney so I put my backpack inside and pulled the straps through the plastic bag handles. This enabled me to wear the back pack without getting it soaked. You can say it...ingenious! :)

Apparently my kids didn't think they were soaked enough so they convinced Bobby to take them on Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls. I waited on the bridge so I could get a picture of them. It was possible...they got even more soaked than they were before.

Little Man really wanted to get a smashed Spiderman penny so we made out way back to the city. He is actually showing his penny in this next picture. Around this area was also Dr. Doom's Fearfall. Bobby really wanted to ride so I stayed with the kids while he went. He got back to us and convinced Munchkin to go with him a second time. They got to the point where she was strapped in and then freaked. They had to get her off the ride. She was a little bummed that she didn't do it but was also a little relieved.

Our last ride for the night was The Cat in the Hat and we took another quick run through the Seuss maze. We stopped in City Walk at Cinnabon and then headed back to our hotel. Dinner was late that night in the food court at the hotel. I had to do some work that week but was not able to get access to anything. While I tried to do that Bobby took Little Man swimming while Munchkin and I hung out in the room. Once they got back we all passed out in anticipation of Day 5 of our vacation.

Universal Tip #1 You can purchase a fast pass for almost the price of your ticket. If you are willing to pay you get to walk on to any ride at the front of the line. It was too much for us but it looked like it would have been worth it.

Universal Tip #2 This is also a Disney tip. This was the night I got the advice to wrap my feet in duct tape. If I had any I would have. My feet hurt!

Universal tip #3 Find a restaurant to sit down in for a meal in the heat of the day. It is quite refreshing.

I am really glad that we did the 4 day park hopper with Disney and took the time to go to Universal as well. I am also glad we did NOT do a park hopper for Universal and only did the one park ticket. It would have been too much for one day. All in all a great day at Universal!! :)

Next Up: Day 6, Epcot.

Disney Day 3: Animal Kingdom

2011-08-25T10:45:00.000-07:00

Our third day at the Magic Kingdom started off with this facebook update:
"It appears I will be starting my day with a diet coke and Tylenol cocktail. I hope the kids don't hurt as much as we grownups do..."
That was followed by a video of the kids waking up and saying they were excited about heading to Animal Kingdom and promptly crawling back under the blankets. That could have been an indication of the kind of day we were going to have. Bobby was not thrilled because he didn't want to go to the zoo. I was not thrilled because I had heard it was hotter than the other parks which was later confirmed by a cast member. But, we tried to make the best of it.

We had a reservation at the Tusker House restaurant in Africa for breakfast and it was so hot we thought we really were in Africa. Thank goodness for air conditioning! We got to meet Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Mickey (safari themed) at this meal. Even though we liked this meal one thing I would do differently would be to make sure I knew which characters are typically at the meal. Because we met Mickey, Goofy and Donald at Chef Mickeys the kids were still happy to see them but not as excited as they were the day before. There are so many different character meals it would be nice to meet other characters. Munchkin loved the juice they gave us and I admit I really liked it too and I am not a juice drinker.

After breakfast we headed straight for the safari. It was close by and there was not a wait so we basically walked right on. I took my telephoto lens with me and left it in the hotel room safe...yep brought it specifically for the safari....Oh well. We did see quite a few animals on the safari and many of them were pretty close to the jeep we were riding in. This lion was not this close.

The kids loved the safari though. Little Man said his favorite animal to see was the hippo. Munchkin liked the flamingo babies. :)
After the safari we were in kind of a quandary. Both of us are very familiar with Disneyland and Magic Kingdom was easy to navigate. Having never been to Animal Kingdom we were at a bit of a loss as to what to do. We knew we wanted to go on Expedition Everest and on the Kali Rapids but we were not really sure what else was fun.
While wandering the kids got to beat on a bunch of drums and meet Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore.
We did know that we wanted to go on Dinosaur so we went to Dinoworld and I hung out with the kids while Bobby ran to get the fast passes. While in Dinoworld the kids found a couple of nifty things to do. One was to check out this awesome Alligator skull and the other was to put a bunch of dino bones in the right places. They had a passport that could be stamped in each of the lands at the kids activity booths.

The big dizzy roller coaster was closed but I can't say I was disappointed. I used to be able to ride anything but now ugh....Even without the roller coaster there was still plenty to do. The dino area is like a big carnival including the carny games that you have to pay extra for. That didn't happen but we did ride the dino ride that was like Dumbo. All four of us were able to ride one dinosaur and there were controls for the front and back seats. Munchkin....the child who loved Splash Mountain and Big Thunder...screamed her head off because we were up high. There was also a great big kids play area that had water flowing down a wall and a great big fan that if you stood in just the right spot was a giant relief from the heat. The kids probably would have stayed in that play area much longer if we had let them.

Finally it was time for Dinosaur: the ride. This picture is right before scarring our children for life once again. My poor son was terrified...I was kind of scared too so I don't blame him one bit! I think he still likes dinosaurs...maybe...

Next up was the trip to get the fast pass for Expedition Everest. While waiting on the time to pass we walked through another area to see more animals. This is a child that is hot and hungry and cares nothing about the Komodo Dragon behind her:

In this area they had giant bats, tigers and antelope. There was also a lot of people making it even hotter. I have to admit at this point it was time for lunch. We tried to find one place but no one really wanted to eat there but me and when I realized there was no indoor seating I didn't want to eat there either. We found a pizza place with air and good food. Once we had all eaten and had cold drinks (we had water but it was not icy cold) we were all a bit happier. We still had time to kill before Expedition Everest so we managed to even make it to the Birds of Flight show. I was very impressed with the Bald Eagle. Of course I am not sure about some of the show because I am fairly sure I slept through some of it...feeling old... The kids loved it though and really wanted to go up to the front at the end. We could see them and had no problem with that. Munchkin took good care of Little Man and made sure he stayed right with her.

Little Man did NOT want to go on Expedition Everest. Since we had 4 fast passes Bobby was able to take Munchkin and then I was able to take her again. Crazy girl. She LOVED it! She did freak a little when we were stuck on the section going up for a few minutes. It was a good thing we were stuck though since Bobby was able to get a picture of us on our way down the big hill.


Munchkin and Bobby on Expedition Everest

Our last fast pass of the day was for Kali River Rapids. And honestly I can't remember what we did while we were waiting to go on that ride. There was a little lizard in the bushes that I took a picture of, we may have looked at the Gibbons again and I think we just stayed out of the way. We went to the line 5 minutes before our time and the cast member let us through. Now typically I think she would have asked us to wait but there had been a threat of rain so it had been closed and they were trying to get people through.

This is a ride that had the disclaimer at the beginning that you will get wet. Possibly soaked. We got soaked. Somehow Munchkin and I were on the side that went under the waterfall.

We were done. Once soaked we had done everything we wanted to do at the Animal Kingdom and went back to the hotel. I didn't know if we would go anywhere else that night and posted again on facebook:

We are still getting our moneys worth if we just spend the rest of tonight at the pool....right?

I got a lot of responses that all said yes! and enjoy the resort. We spent a good long time in the All Star Music Resort guitar shaped pool and then decided we were hungry. Since Epcot had extra magic hours we decided to go to China for dinner. We all felt refreshed and ready to head back out.

Once in Epcot we realized we were going to have to walk. I wore flip flops hoping that would help me and my poor blistered feet. We tried to check out Soaring but the fast passes were sold out for the night and we didn't want to wait and hour and half to get on. So we headed for China. When we got there Little Man said he wanted a cheeseburger. Now, I have not been to Epcot in a very long time and I didn't really look at the map before going in so Bobby said that America was just a couple of countries over. I didn't realize how very far it was so I sent him and Little Man to get the cheeseburger while we ordered our food. Munchkin and I ate our food and waited for them to come back...and waited...and waited. I got a to go box and we went out to the front of China hoping to see some of the fireworks....and then it started to sprinkle...and then it proceeded to pour. Oh, did I mention my cell phone was charging at the hotel? We went back to the restaurant to wait and I was just on the verge of asking someone for their cell when Bobby and Little Man made it back to where we were.

When the rain started they stayed put and Little Man ate his dinner at a table with an umbrella where they could see some of the fireworks.I was really afraid that my sweet husband was getting madder and madder but he had a really good attitude about the whole situation.

We called Bobby's parents from Germany (because we thought that was funny) and finally made it back to the bus around midnight.

Our last adventure for the night was on Mission Space. We did the less challenging mission. You know it is going to be bad when they have barf bags in the seat pocket in front of you. I closed my eyes for awhile. Munchkin screamed her head off and Little Man absolutely LOVED it! He did a great job navigating everything and pushing the buttons he was supposed to. I was glad we ended the night on a good note for him after Dinosaur. :)

I think reading back through it sounds like we did not have a good day but we really did. It was hot and crowded at Animal Kingdom but we did get to do some fun things there. I do think that we may skip that park though if we ever get to do a trip like this again.

Tips for Animal Kingdom: Bring water and snacks and have a lot of patience. Also, use fast passes.

Next: Universal Islands of Adventure

Disney Day 2: Magic Kingdom

2011-08-18T08:05:00.000-07:00

Disney Travel Tip #1: If you have a "smart" phone that has all of your appointments make sure to take a printed copy of your reservations with you. My "smart" phone moved all of my reservations one hour later than I made them.

Our first day was one of getting up early and going to bed late, plenty of sweating and many many blisters in the mean time but also lots of magic!. The kids had been talking about Space Mountain for days so we were prepared to let them ride that as their first ride at Magic Kingdom. But first, we had breakfast.

Disney Travel Tip #2 If you are going with kids and want to see characters without standing in ginormous lines get the dining plan and get reservations for character dining. The characters come right up to your table instead of waiting in the heat (or cold) to see them.

We got to breakfast at Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Hotel early (or did we?) so we checked out the gift shops and went out on the observation deck for a bit. The anticipation was building for the kids since they could see Space Mountain! I was not really sure they could get more excited until they spotted Mickey Mouse at Chef Mickey's. One of the surprises I managed to keep was that there would be characters at some of our meals. Both Munchkin and Little Man were so excited when each of the characters came to our table, kissed them on the heads and hugged them. They had their autograph books out and ready and even danced around when it was time to dance with the characters. They got to see Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto that morning. When I checked our dinner reservation time on my phone I did a double take. I knew that I did not schedule dinner for 9 pm. That was when I discovered my phone had moved all of my appointments upon changing time zones. I must commend Chef Mickey's here because I had no idea we were there at the wrong time. When we walked up to the counter and told them our name they gave me a pager. We waited about 10 minutes and were seated. They didn't cancel us or even say we would have to come back at another time, they just seated us. It later occurred to me that our reservation had been earlier and that was why we had to leave so early to get there.

After our exciting breakfast and a video of the kids telling us how awesome Chef Mickey's was we jumped on the monorail and headed for the Magic Kingdom. My backpack was searched along with everyone else carrying a bag and I, of course, picked the wrong line to be admitted. A new thing..or maybe it has just been awhile, they took a fingerprint so no one else could use your card to get into the park. The kids got maps and we were on our way to Tomorrowland. But, before we could reach Tomorrowland we hit Main Street. Munchkin recently saw Mary Poppins and has been randomly singing supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and to her delight there was a band singing that song. She boldly popped over and sang along while taking part in a chorus line!

The kids saw the Buzz Lightyear ride so we got fast passes for that ride and headed for Space Mountain. The line for Space Mountain was only about 15 minutes long. It may have taken us longer to walk to the line than we actually had to wait. Now, being a kid from Cali I am used to Space Mountain being two people next to each other. It is different at Magic Kingdom though. The chair is more like a captains chair and you are lined up behind each other. We get on Space Mountain..me in the front, Munchkin behind me, Little Man and then Bobby. By the time we start heading up the hill Munchkin is yelling "This is freaking me out!! This is freaking me OUT!!! THIS IS FREAKING ME OUT!!! By the midpoint of the ride she is just screaming and Little Man is crying his eyes out. I was screaming because it's fun and I am pretty sure Bobby was back there yelling too. We got off the ride and had to stop before we left the building to console our poor freaked out, scarred for life children. That was really not the best possible start to the day however it really did get better.

While waiting for our turn on Buzz Lightyear we went on the race cars. Little Man did not want to drive until halfway around the track and then leaned over to "help" me. Let's just say there was quite a bit of riding the rail around the track on that pass. Munchkin drove her car around though and did a "smash-up" job of it. ;)

Disney Tip #3 Utilize the fast pass system. It will be your best timesaver.

Once we finished the race cars it was time to head back to Buzz Lightyear. Because we had our fast passes we waited about 5 minutes to get on the ride. Not too shabby! As an added bonus when we came out Buzz was signing autographs. Since this was one of the characters the kids would not get to see at a meal we waited in line for them to meet him. When there were about 5 kids ahead of us he had to go take a break. It was a short one thank goodness because we were hot and sweaty and a little grumpy to be standing in line.

Our adventure continued in Fantasyland where we were headed to get fast passes for Peter Pan. We got sidetracked though when we saw the line for the teacups was walk on. I went once and then stayed off to the side and took pictures while Bobby took the kids on a second time. Bobby spun the kids so fast and they loved it!

The fast pass for Peter Pan gave us two hours to go find something else to do. So, we rode It's a Small World and looked for Hidden Mickeys, rode the Haunted Mansion (score two for scarring our children for life) and looked for the Hidden Mickey, rode the Jungle Cruise and finally went back to Peter Pan. Munchkin and Little Man really wanted to ride together so we let them. I was a little worried about Little Man but he did just fine. Once again, with our fast pass we did not wait long however the guy in front of us was doing this:

Disney Tip #4 Do not try to conduct business on a cell phone in line with 800 screaming children.

While in line for Peter Pan we were hoping the impending storm would hit and be over by the time we were out of the line...no such luck. We ran over to Frontierland and tried to get a fast pass for Splash Mountain which was closed due to the impending storm. We tried Big Thunder Mountain...closed. Tom Sawyer Island...closed. It was time for a snack. So we used one of dining plan snack credits to get ice cream. It hit the spot and we were ready to find some other rides. We checked out the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse and the went on Pirates. I can't help but compare the ride with the one at Disneyland. The line at Magic Kingdom is all covered which is wonderful. I do miss the meandering of the boat through the Blue Bayou though and the drop has much to be desired. Yes, I realize the water table is higher in Florida than California. Little Man was a bit freaked out but not too bad.

We were finally by the castle and I thought I would check in to make sure on our reservation time for The Royal Table dinner. They actually had a spot open right then and we were able to stop what we were doing and get some dinner. The only problem with going right then was that Cinderella had gone on a quick break so we had to go back down and see her during the meal. To be able to have dinner 2 hours earlier than expected that was a minor inconvenience. I think this was one of my favorite meals of the entire trip. We got to eat in the castle, meet the princesses and have a delicious dinner. I had beef tenderloin and chocolate mousse. Bobby had fish...mahi mahi, maybe? Munchkin had Mac and Cheese and Little Man had chicken nuggets. They also got a build your own dessert which was ice cream or a cupcake. Bobby told me later that he knew it was an expensive dinner (it takes two dining credits per person) when they brought the kids swag. Munchkin got a wand, Little Man got a sword and they both got wishing stars.

At this point in the night I was already starting to walk funny. Remember way back in October I injured my leg so I have not done much walking since then. The leg was fine but by the end of the week Bobby and I both had blisters upon blisters all over our feet.

We did manage to get Big Thunder and Splash Mountain in, which the kids absolutely loved! We got to see a bit of the Electric Lights Parade and finally headed to the front of the park to leave. Getting out of the park was tricky.

Bobby cracked that this would be what the Zombie Apocalypse would look like. Once we finally got to our stop we didn't wait too long for a bus. Munchkin and I got a seat (she sat on my lap) while Bobby stood. Little Man stood for a bit and then sat down on Bobby's feet for the rest of the ride. Both kids zonked out on the way to the All Star Resort and went straight to sleep when we got back to our room. We were exhausted as well and knew that it was going to be an early morning for Day 3.

Next up...Animal Kingdom

Disney Vacation Travel and Day 1

2011-08-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

Months ago we decided to take the kids on a trip to Disney World. One of my favorite memories as a kid was driving down to SoCal to our friends house, loading up in their camper and heading to Disneyland. Even when I was in college I got to go a few times on tickets earned though performing with the APU choir.

When we finally saved up enough to take the trip we called and booked everything. We decided to stay on property so that we could take the buses to the parks and did the dining plan so the kids could meet the characters without having to stand in a ton of lines. There were a few surprises along the way that we managed to keep from the kiddos but I had a hard time containing myself!

We left on Saturday and drove to Atlanta to stay overnight with our sweet friends. We told our kiddos they could yell out the window to their friends while we were passing through so when we actually pulled into the driveway Munchkin said "Where are we? I thought we were staying in a hotel!" She was quite shocked when her best friends daddy opened the door! That was that and we didn't see our children again until dinner time. We let them stay up and watch a movie while we grown ups watched one of the Bourne movies and ate caramel popcorn. :)

Sunday morning the kids jumped some rope and played some basketball before we hopped in the car and headed for the Magic Kingdom. A quick shout out goes out to Google for teaching me all about Spanish Moss on our way down. I was intrigued by the way it hung from the trees. Not only was I on the lookout for Spanish Moss but also for gators. I really thought I might see one but alas I did not.

After what felt like a very long drive we finally arrived at the All Star Music Resort in Buena Vista Florida. Check in was a breeze and we found our room without a problem. Well...kind of. We ended up at the Movie resort before turning around and finding our building at the Music Resort. After the frantic excitement of finding Micky made out of towels on our bed and getting settled we decided to get on the bus and head to Downtown Disney.

I personally was quickly overwhelmed because there were so many people. The kids did fine though. The Lego store was a big hit as was the Disney store with the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique. There was a giant Stitch on top that spit water and Bobby managed to get Little Man right in the water path.

There we so many souvenirs to choose from but we finally decided on autograph books and a pen to take to each of the parks. We finally made our way to Planet Hollywood (we had a $15 voucher for dinner) and put our name in for dinner. It took about an hour to get seated but it was worth the wait. There was plenty of memorabilia to check out and that made the wait a bit more bearable. Our table was right next to the DJ so Munchkin went up all by herself to request a song. What did she pick? Party in the USA. Earworm of the year. ;) We thought it was really funny to look around the restaurant and see so many people dancing along to the song. And, we were so proud of Munchkin going up there all by herself to request the song.

Our day was coming to an end and it was finally time to go back to the hotel. We caught the shuttle and it was packed. We had to stand the whole way back to the hotel and the people on the bus were kind of grumpy and sweaty and someone had gas. What can you do? You pay a lot of money and go all day long. I cut most people some slack that night except for the lady that shoved back at my kid who had never had to stand on a packed shuttle bus before and kind of lost her balance. That lady got a dirty look but it didn't dampen my spirit at all for the upcoming adventure we were about to have.

I am still editing pictures from the trip so hopefully I will have a day by day account with some tips and tricks we learned along the way. :)

Back to School

2011-08-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

It is that time of year again. Back to school, back to school. Munchkin and Little Man are very excited about their new teachers and the start of another school year! It will be a big transition for me not having them home and I am going to miss them! But I will go eat lunch with them and volunteer as well. There are lots of transitions going on at school but we are praying for everything to go smoothly.

Summer Time is Travel Time

2011-08-08T06:39:00.000-07:00

Well hello blogland! It is good to see you again! I have looked out over the vast expanse of my non summer blogginess and felt shame...well not really..we were really busy all summer. I think there are over 1000 posts unread in my google reader but I was busy making memories with my kiddos. Now if I can get them down on paper that would be fabuloso! :)

We took a road trip and hit 11 states in 15 days. We were home for a week and hit another 2 states in our quest for the perfect family vacation to the "Happiest Place on Earth". I have a whole series planned out on that trip that I am sure the grandparents and family will appreciate. :)

Today I am baking cookies to give to our neighbor that watched our dog and doing a mountain of laundry. Somewhere in there I have to take my daughter to buy school shoes and get each of my kiddos at least one new pair of pants or school shorts. At least I got their school supplies before we left for Florida. Now, where is my label maker........

Cheeseburger Cake

2011-07-13T07:11:00.000-07:00

Last year my mom got me a subscription to Food Network Magazine. It has been a fun mag to have in the house. This month one of the main recipes was a Cheeseburger cake. Munchkin saw it and had to have it for her birthday. Now, I have to admit I have become a bit of a snob when it comes to using box mixes and the recipe called for 2. Instead of following the recipe (which can be found here)

I made 2 round chocolate cakes from my Hershey cookbook and this strawberry cake. Munchkin requested the top be strawberry and the meat patty and bottom bun be chocolate. The most time consuming part of this cake was the baking of the cakes.

My friend Angela came over and rolled out the fondant for the cheese. The one other change I made was that I got green apple licorice for the lettuce leaves. It was flat rectangles so it alleviated the need for rolling.

When I got to the point where I was actually decorating the cake it was starting to get kind of late. Ang and I needed to go because we were headed out the door to play bunco. I whipped up some cream cheese frosting and some chocolate frosting. I dipped the beaters in the chocolate and then back into the cream cheese and added some yellow and red food coloring to get the bun color.

Doesn't the cheese look fantastic! This was Angela's first time working with it and she did a fabulous job!!

Looking at the photos I know I could have done a bit better on the decorating. However, once the frosting was made it took about 15 minutes to get everything together. I was slapping things together so I could get out the door. My sweet husband even ran back in the house to grab a different shirt for me to wear. As I got in the car I looked down and realized I had frosting and powdered sugar all over me.

The inside is not terribly realistic but that is ok. The birthday girl loved it and that was what was important.

One little detail...If the top bun wasn't pink it would be more obvious. You might notice in the first photo the cookie cutter in the middle of the batter. The whole point of that was that when we cut into the cake you would be able to see the burger was medium well. :) One of my hubbys brilliant ideas. Loved that idea!! :)
The meat patty was left bigger than the bottom bun on purpose as we all like big burgers!

This was a fun cake to put together and I am looking forward to the next one! :)

Squinkies

2011-07-12T18:42:00.000-07:00

Have you seen these little squinkies? They are pretty cute but man they are hard to find. Here are 3 of the 4 that came in Little Man's set because #4 was probably under the couch. At least they don't make me want to scream obscenities when I step on them.

Happy Birthday Munchkin!

2011-07-09T22:26:00.000-07:00

Wow!!! My sweet baby girl you are 9! Where on earth has the time gone? I remember grandma saying "Where did my 6 pound 2 oz baby go" and I would kind of roll my eyes. But now I get it! The time is flying. It was only yesterday you were a tiny baby.
You, my sweet girl, are passionate! You are very vocal in things you find offensive (like smoking in non smoking areas). You are constantly on the move...unless you are reading a book and then we can't get your nose out of it. You love to help out in the kitchen and even have come up with your own secret ingredient white sauce for spaghetti. We made that today for your party and all the kids that ate it loved it!

I am so proud of how well you did in school this year, straight A's all year! You excel at anything you try at and I hope that you will continue trying hard at all you do. You are so creative! You come up with all kinds of ideas for you and Little Man to do. The two of you play a game called J&K where you make up songs and put on plays. You are also in a band together in which you sing and Little Man plays guitar or drums.

For the most part you are so very sweet but you have your moments of crazy as well. Mostly when things do not go your way.
I love that when you see something you go for it. Right now you are saving money for a DS. You are so close and your attitude about helping out around the house to raise extra money has been amazing.

I am so proud of your decision to get baptized last month. It shows you are growing in the knowledge of Christ.
This years cake you chose after seeing it in Food Network Magazine. Only, you requested strawberry cake for part of it. You were pretty excited that you got to eat the extra licorice. :)
I love seeing you change and grow each and every year. You are so independent but still love for me to come to school for lunches. I will do that as long as you want me too.
My prayer for you over this next year is that you will continue to seek God, that you will be kind to your brother and try in any situation you are faced with. Daddy, Little Man and I love you so much and I am so blessed to be your mom! I love you Munchkin! Happy birthday!

{TWD} Chocolate Biscotti

2011-06-27T06:29:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Tuesdays with Dorie....what? It's Monday? Oh well I must be ahead of the game! What? This was the recipe for June 14th and Jacque of Daisy Lane Cakes has had the recipe up that long? Please check out her site with the recipe and see how other bakers fared making these!

Well, that can only mean one thing...I am way behind on my baking! Or it is summer time and we are on the go...or that I am just a slacker! However I should not have been a slacker on these because they are fabulous! Back in October of 2008 we made Lenox Almond Biscotti. Mine tasted fine but it didn't look that great. Not so this time. This time they looked like biscotti and tasted delicious!

Do you have random mugs? I do. I think I have 4 green mugs that match and 4 red mugs that match. The rest are a random hodge podge. A friend gave this one to me many years ago. I think it was my friend Cyndi but it could have been Kristin. Help me out here ladies! Even though I have not been single in 17 years I think it is funny and have kept it in the collection. I thought this mug did a nice job of showing off my chocolate peanut butter biscotti. The biscotti was supposed to have espresso powder and almonds but I had neither. So in went peanut butter chips instead. I handed them out at the ball park and came home with an almost completely empty bag! Yay for biscotti in a funny cup. :)

If I Got to Choose....

2011-06-24T06:13:00.000-07:00

There will come a day when my daughter is going to want to get married. Of course I don't get to choose but if I did I know several families with boys that I wouldn't mind arranging a marriage with. ;) We get along with the parents and know that the boys are being raised to be gentlemen and to know Jesus.
One of those families came to see Little Mans last baseball game a couple of weeks ago. Munchkin and their son get along really well and I got a photo that someone said will be in their wedding slideshow:

A couple of months ago Munchkin wanted to call her friend on the phone so they could discuss Lemony Snicket. We had gone to lunch after church a few days prior and they had talked about where they were in the Series of Unfortunate Events. Their phone call was so cute! It wasn't an "I am boy crazy and want to talk to a boy" conversation. It was a "we are reading the same thing and we can have an intelligent discussion about it" conversation. Obviously, I could only hear one end but my friend and I talked about it later and were amazed that the two of them had such an in depth conversation on the phone!

Anyway, I know I don't get to arrange a marriage or even a date but I hope that my sweet daughter will choose a well mannered, intelligent, creative, Jesus follower to marry some day! :)

Zoo Fun with my New Lens

2011-06-23T06:59:00.000-07:00

We love going to the Nashville Zoo! This week was fun because I got to use my new lens when we went. That gave me a chance to get up close and personal with some of the animals. This is only a small sampling of the photos that I got that day!

Meerkat, dominant male. He was on lookout!

Hello says the goat.

Love the clouded leopards. We also got the see the cubs in the Critter Encounter.

If you do not have a membership to the zoo, it is definitely worth it. My kiddos love it and we love that they are consistently adding new animals.

NKOTBSB

2011-06-22T13:36:00.000-07:00

In 1988 I was 13 years old, in Jr. High and I was the target audience for New Kids on the Block. My friend Sharolyn mentioned that she slow danced to Please Don't Girl and I am sure that I did as well!

My friend Alli is 5 years younger than me. She and I met in our Newly and Nearly Wed Sunday school class at church and ht it off. We both play flute and we both sang in the choir. Her being 5 years younger is not really significant except that she really enjoyed Back Street Boys more than New Kids and I enjoyed New Kids more than Back Street Boys. BSB debut album came out in 1996...the year before I graduated from college. I was more into No Doubt, Sublime, Something Meaningless Under the Sun, Smashing Pumpkins, Oasis, etc.... In full disclosure..I thought Nick Carter was Nick Lachay until about halfway through the concert.

The best part of this is that she and I have been friends for around 9 years now. When she called several months ago to see if I wanted to go with her I jumped at the chance. Not just to see the concert but to hang out with my friend as well.

Ashlyne Huff opened the show last night. She was pretty good. It is always hard to be the opening act. The good sound and lights are saved for the band you came to see. Alli posted a status update that Ashlyne forgot her pants. The girl can dance and it was fun to see her in Nashville as she is from here.

The next opener was Jordin Sparks. I really liked seeing her live last night! I loved her on American Idol and I am glad she has done so well. She debuted her new single "I Am Woman" and of course the crowd seemed to love it.

When the lights went out in anticipation of NKOTBSB the crowd went wild! I am not sure I have ever heard that much screaming in one place. New Kids and Backstreet Boys took turns singing their songs. My favorites, of course, were Right Stuff, Please Don't Go Girl, and Hangin' Tough.

One of the most exciting moments was when Jordan Knight headed into the crowd near us.

Once the New Kids were back on stage the Back Street Boys came down the same staircases NKOTB had just been on. One lady jumped past security and grabbed one of the guys in a big hug...and wouldn't let go!

My little sister Ally asked me to get a picture of AJ for her so I was excited when he was this close to where we were sitting and I could get a good photo! :)

The finale included Hangin' Tough and Backstreets Back in kind of a West Side Story, Jets vs Sharks, faceoff. It was really well done!

This was such a fun night and I am so glad that I go to go with Alli! Now parking was a little crazy, although I think we only sat in the parking garage for about 20 minutes before hitting the street. Not terrible for a sold out show at the Bridgestone Arena! I wonder if my daughter will have fond memories of Justin Beiber when she is in her 30's and go to a reunion tour....hm...

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Ball Field

2011-06-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

Tonight we had 2 couples over for dinner. These are some sweet friends that we have known for at least the last 7 years who we do not get to see nearly enough. Little Man's last ball game was rescheduled for tonight because we have had so many rainouts. Our friends graciously said they would come for dinner anyway and then go to the ball game with us.

In the past we were part of a Dinner 8 group. 4 couples would get together and whoever was hosting would provide the main course. Everyone else brings the sides and dessert. Since we were hosting this time Baked Ziti was the main dish. Our sides were salad and garlic bread and dessert was chocolate oatmeal cookies with lemon glaze (yum!!). We ate a very speedy dinner and headed over to the ball park.

Now I have to say my one friend is not a fan of baseball anyway but is really not a fan of little league. You have heard my rants about parents who are insane and I totally get where she is coming from. So, I was really glad she agreed to come anyway.

Here is the funny part....our other friends that came brought their sweet baby girl. She just turned one on Sunday and is just so very very sweet. She was all smiley and happy and then all of a sudden she puked all over the bleachers, her mama and our friend that does not like baseball! Baby cried because all of us went "Oh Nooo!!!!" or "EEEWWWWW"! Apparently it was her first time throwing up and it was a doozie! It was also her first baseball game. Hopefully those two memories won't go hand in hand for the future. Munchkin and our friends son ran off to get paper towels to help clean the bleachers while mama and our other friend wiped the puke onto the ground.

Everyone took everything in stride and got everything cleaned up. Gotta love being a parent. You never know what will happen! It was definitely memorable! And to make the evening complete, Little Man's team won their game!! :)

Cooking Club: Arrington Vineyard Edition

2011-06-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

This last week was week 1 out of school for the summer. By the end of day one I was convinced I was going to send my daughter to sleepaway camp for the rest of the summer. We have worked things out though and she is going to try to choose to have a good attitude or spend a very large chunk of time alone in her room.

At Arrington Vineyard missing Kenna

I love nothing more than having my kiddos home for the summer but obviously it is an adjustment for all of us as I am the main one they get to spend time with. It is not teachers that they have to listen to and obey and me...just me and daddy when he gets home from work. I have several things I have been doing lately. One is Bunco (which I split the big win with my friend Amy last time) and the other is Cooking club. Now that may not seem like a lot but when I am teaching a couple of classes I feel kind of guilty for going off to do these extra activities. Not this week though.... :)

This month was Anne's month to host. Instead of heading to her house, and because it is summer, we decided to head to Arrington Vineyard for dinner. Anne brought the most delicious ingredients for sandwiches and even assembled them for us. They had Brie cheese, Black Forest Ham, Granny Smith apples and Apricot Preserves. She also brought a Greek salad. Knowing that I do not eat black olives she told me to pick them out :) so I did. More for Vanessa.

Vanessa brought some delicious Dubliner Irish Cheddar cheese, crackers and some bread.

Melissa brought a gorgeous fruit salad. Vanessa got a great photo so you will have to go see it on her site.

I made Blueberry Brown Sugar Plain cake. This was actually my Tuesdays with Dorie recipe for last week. Cindy at Everyday Insanity chose this and has the recipe on her site. I did finally get it made and everyone really liked it. My kiddos got the leftovers and raved about it!

I know I have mentioned before that I am not much of a drinker. Alcohol gives me heart burn so for the most part I don't really drink. However, we were at a winery and they had a free wine tasting AND they had chocolate truffles to taste with the dessert wine! How could I say no to that. My favorite wine was the raspberry dessert wine. The last wine tasting I went to was at the Biltmore in Ashville, NC with my mom and dad.

Not only did we get to have some lovely adult conversation we also were able to enjoy beautiful scenery and some mellow live music. We also go to to be a bit silly. :) I highly recommend finding some girlfriends with whom to have dinner and fun conversation. I feel blessed to know these ladies!

Happy Birthday Little Man!

2011-06-06T07:36:00.000-07:00

How is it possible that you were born 7 years ago? I cannot believe how fast the time is flying by! You have accomplished so much in this last year and I am so proud of you! You pulled 1 stick the entire time you were in Kindergarten and that was for talking in PE. You ended Kindergarten reading on level 6. Level 4 is the end of Kindergarten. You love to add and to sing. You were so sweet in your end of the year program singing "I want to be a part of it! First Grade, First Grade!".

You are playing baseball and even though it is hard and you tell us often that you don't want to go you try hard. In your last game you hit the ball and got all the way to third base!
You love to go to church, love to play with your cars and love to bring your little Bible in for us to read to you. You love to pick out books at the library and read them to yourself. You love Star Wars and Blues Clues. One of your favorite songs is Lead Me to the Water Now by Salient. You also love Justin "Beaver" and insist that we are saying his name wrong. You have lost 8 teeth (four of those since the beginning of the school year).

You are starting to exert your independence and that irritates your big sister to no end! She does not like it when you do not want to play a game by her rules. You are becoming more and more independent. For instance, we were out at Qdoba (which you despise, or did, up until last week) and you just got up to go refill your drink. We have never had to tell you to ask before because you have never had any inclination to go refill your drink alone. So we are learning right along with you in where your boundaries are.

You still fall asleep in the car every time we drive anywhere farther than 10 minutes away. At least you are not too cranky when you wake up again. You are still my sweet mellow child and all you have to do to melt my heart is look up at me with those big blue eyes and say "I love you mommy!".

I pray that you continue to be the sweet loving boy that you are, that you will continue to grow into an even more independent boy and that you will love God and your family. I pray for your first grade year that you will grow in leaps and bounds in all that you will be learning and that you will love to learn. I love you little one!

Death(Egg) Star Pinata

2011-06-05T07:12:00.000-07:00

I am trying to remember if my kids have had piñatas at all of their birthday parties. I don't think they have but we always like them. I know yesterday I was wondering if I was a geek but this might confirm it. Since I couldn't find a Death Star piñata I had to make one. Good thing Munchkin's girl scout troop made one a few weeks ago so I had a starting point in my mind.

I used a punch balloon as a base and covered it in strips of newspaper. I mixed plain white glue with water, ran the newspaper strips through the glue and then wiped off all of the excess. (As a kid did you ever cover your hands in glue, wait for it to dry and then peel it off? This is an excellent opportunity for that little pass-time. :) )I did one layer of newspaper, let it dry and then did a second layer. I wanted it to be strong so each of the kids at the party will get at least one whack at it.

I have a very specific memory of my mother making a piñata when I was in elementary school. I don't remember what the piñata was or even what color it turned out to be. I just remember it hanging in the laundry room in the basement of the house in Illinois and her covering it in newspaper. Help me out mom! Was that one for girl scouts too?

Once the newspapers dried I used a CD to mark the Superlaser Focus Lens, cut it out, flipped it over and reattached it with masking tape. I then took it outside for a coat of primer gray paint.

At this point I realized the Death Star looked more like the Death Egg. Apparently the balloon shrunk or stretched or something.

The next step was applying a strip of black duct tape for the Equatorial Trench. That was actually easier than I though it would be. I measured with a piece of string, placed the string along the duct tape and cut the tape to size.

Remember I mentioned yesterday my hubs and his attention to detail. I was worried that the Death(Egg) Star looked too much like the moon so he added some detailing with sidewalk chalk. :) Gotta love using supplies you have on hand.

To fill the Death Star I cut a small hole in the back near the top, filled and then closed the hole up with more masking tape. Little Man was pretty excited about the piñata and I can't wait for the kids to bust it open. I think we are going to use one of the light sabers we have on hand.

Storm Trooper Cake

2011-06-04T19:10:00.000-07:00

So, my baby is going to be 7 on Monday. SEVEN!!! I cannot even understand where the time has gone. Several months ago we started thinking about party themes and Star Wars was at the top of the list. Two days ago he said he wanted Power Rangers....um no.

I am trying to decide if throwing him a Star Wars party qualifies me as a geek.....or if some of the preparations make me a geek. Last night I came home after winning some cash at Bunco to Return of the Jedi. Little Man was jumping up and down and was so excited with the battles happening on screen.

For any birthday party I think the cake is a big deal. Little Man and I went online to see what kind of Star Wars cakes we could find. He was very excited about the Storm Trooper cakes. So, I decided to make him a Storm Trooper cake. It was my first experience with carving pieces of the cake.

I made a 9 inch cake, an 8 inch cake, and a cake in the Pampered Chef Classic Batter Bowl. I used a recipe from the Hershey cookbook and made 1 and 1/2 of the recipe. I also made the Hershey chocolate frosting but forgot the vanilla. It tasted fine to me without it though so I think it will be OK. I also made Marshmallow Fondant. I used the same recipe last Halloween for some ghost cupcakes so I knew that would come together easily and would be tasty.

I am not sure if I have mentioned this before or not but I am what you might call a frustrated perfectionist. My husband on the other hand has an incredible eye for detail. I get to the point in a project where I think "eh, that is good enough" but he wants the details to be perfect. More than once this week I have said to him that I appreciate his eye for detail and how hard he works to make things perfect. The detailing on the Storm Trooper Cake is done in Black Sugar Paper from Joann's. He helped me get each of the pieces right and made sure they were in the correct places. He also helped me figure out the nose piece. I could see the cakes and the frosting in my head but I am so thankful for a partner that can help the project come to fruition!!

Once we got all of the pieces on we stepped back and were thrilled! For our very first carved/fondant covered cake I think it turned out pretty darn good!

Schools Out For Summer!

2011-06-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

As I type I am listening to Alice Cooper sing about no more teachers dirty looks. :) I for one can't believe in just a couple of hours I will have a first grader and a fourth grader! The end of the year has dragged a bit mostly because of the extra snow makeup days. Munchkin mentioned she was a little nervous about 4th grade. She was trying to reassure Little Man. He really wants to stay in Kindergarten and I think it is because he is afraid that first grade will be too hard. I think Munchkin telling him that she gets a little nervous at the end of every year helped calm him a little bit.

I love these comparison pictures to see how the kids have changed through the year. Both of my babies have gotten taller. Munchkin got a new backpack halfway through the year because the blue one couldn't handle 3rd grade books. Little Man is reading at level 4 which is end of Kindergarten. Munchkin is reading past 5th grade level. If I could I would have her tested to see where she actually is on the reading scale. We did an Internet test that said she is reading at a 10th grade level.

Little Man got several new teeth this year and has gotten so much more independent.
I love these two kids so much and feel so blessed to be their mom!! :) Here is to an amazing summer!

Can I Please Have a Do-Over?

2011-05-24T19:38:00.000-07:00

My day in bullet format:

Woke up at 5 am to the worst storm our house has weathered over the last 10 years. We have had wind before and hail before but not like this. (Please know that I understand there are people out there with much bigger problems than us today this just happens to be my day)

While grabbing the kids out of bed I heard a thump. I discovered after looking out the window that an extremely large branch had fallen on my 2 year old car.

To make things even better we had no power.

Neither did the kids school but it was awards day and they powered though with battery powered audio equipment.

The kindergartners did an adorable song about going to first grade. Little Man got a Special Recognition award. We were thrilled for him as he has worked really hard this year.

First - Third grade awards were in the gym and I was glad to move from the cafeteria. With all of the parents it got quite stuffy.

Munchkin got 6 awards: Music, Art, Reading, Math, Poetry (her poem will be published so if you would like to order a book let me know soon) and Principals list (all A's, all year). Since the power was still out we checked the kids out of school early.

This allowed me to take Munchkin to the doctor to check on her ankle that has been hurting since Sunday night when she ran down the sidewalk in flip flops. It appears to be sprained and our doc suggested an ace bandage.

After the little piece of good news on the ankle we walked out to the car and my car was screwed. No really! There was a giant screw in the back right tire. I called Firestone and immediately drove my car over to get a patch.

While we waited for the car we decided to get some GiGi's cupcakes. We walked over to the mall and found out that GiGi's no longer has a kiosk during the week. Boo!

At least the guy at Auntie Anne's was nice. He split a cup of pretzel bites for the kids and even gave each of them a cup for their icee.

Apparently, the tread was too low to patch the tire (there are 30,000 miles on them) so I purchased a new one.

Target was next on the list. From the parking lot I called to file a claim on the car. I haven't had to do something like that in 13 years. The last time was when I backed out of my driveway and a huge station wagon plowed into the side of my car. I had been waiting all day for the guy that has our policy to call me back. I finally called again and the receptionist told me who I actually needed to call.

The claims person was very helpful and got me all set up with everything I need to get my car fixed.

While in Target I checked my schedule on my phone and discovered that every date on my calendar had been erased. I am hoping it is just a sync issue otherwise I could have a bit of trouble keeping my dates straight.

I then checked my email and discovered that the Girl Scout Hobby Lobby paint class was at 5pm. Not 6pm. 15 miles away. I discovered this at 4:50pm. We made it by 5:15. Rush hour you know.

I am fairly certain at least 15 cicadas kamikazeed themselves on my windshield on the way to Hobby Lobby.

The paint class was fun and Munchkin painted a very colorful abstract guitar. I was very frustrated to see a girl grab the purple paint pen before Munchkin could get it. Munchkin had been waiting in line for it so I was pretty ticked. I was extremely tired and made sure to tell the girl to give it to Munchkin when she was done as she had cut in line. Yep, I told off an 8 year old. So proud of myself. I wasn't mean I just made sure she understood it was not ok to cut in line.

She is happy, her mouth is just full of granola bar.

Munchkin and I ended the night with a trip to goodwill to pick up a couple of books. She found 2 that she was interested in.
Here is a question for you if you made it this far. Those copper bundt pans that you see as decoration, can you bake in those? I saw one at Goodwill for $1. It said 3 1/2 cups on the side but also had the hook for hanging. I didn't buy it as I didn't know if I could actually use it or not.
I am home and will be crashing in my bed very soon.
Say a prayer for those hit hardest by all of these crazy storms!

Harry Potter Dinner

2011-05-18T08:18:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking a lot lately about my kiddos and cooking. I don't remember ever cooking when I was a kid. I remember baking cookies with my mom and remembering that she was a really good cook but not the process of actually learning to cook. When I was in college, living with girlfriends in an apartment I pretty much lived on baked potatoes and canned pineapple.

The Thanksgiving before Hubs and I got married we attempted a mini thanksgiving at our little house. The turkey cooked for 6 hours and still wasn't cooked through and my apple pie was heaped so high the crumb topping didn't cook like it was supposed to. We put that turkey in the trash and when we came back from our honeymoon it's carcass had been stripped clean and laid out on the patio by a raccoon. At least someone enjoyed it! After we were married I could make a great box of hamburger helper. We ate a lot of rice and cereal.

My mom and I just talked about this the other day. She said she doesn't think she was a great cook when I was growing up. She made a lot of hamburger helper and convenience foods that we could afford. I remember my sister opening noodles after school and cooking. I had zero desire to do that. I started working at Burger King at 14 so that could have something to do with it.

I have had the privilege of learning to bake over the last couple of years and I am trying to become a more creative cook. I am getting pretty good at following a recipe and can improvise a bit if I need to. I know there are people out there that think you are only a good cook if you can just go in the kitchen and throw stuff together. Personally, I think that is kind of snobby. I feel very accomplished when I can get an entire meal on the table after following a recipe!

I may have mentioned before, Munchkin is quite the little foodie. I had a can of chicken noodle soup as an option for dinner one night. She said it was just so bland so we jazzed it up with a little heavy cream and some spices. Then she was quite happy to eat it.

For Christmas, Uncle Sports Information Director and Aunt Accountant got Munchkin the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook! I had her choose a main dish and a side dish to help me make a couple of weeks ago. She chose Molly's Meatballs with Onion Sauce and Roasted Red Potatoes with Rosemary and Garlic. I threw all of the ingredients into a bowl and had her mix them by hand. At first she was a bit leery. She didn't want to touch the raw meat. However, when I reminded her how much she likes to play in the dirt, and that it would wash off she was happy to stick her hands in the bowl. Munchkin even formed the meatballs. All I had to do was cook them on the stovetop. I could get used to that! :)

We also put together some Butter Beer. We used the recipe over on Prudence Pennywise's site. Out of all the food in the Harry Potter movies Butter Beer stands out to me but it is not actually a recipe in the book. The kids loved the food but they were not really fans of the Butter Beer. Oh well. At least we tried. I think I will have the kids pick more recipes this summer. Maybe by summers end Munchkin will be able to create an entire meal by herself!

{TWD} Butter Pecan Cornmeal Biscuits

2011-05-17T20:07:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make. I often feed my kids processed, sugar filled cereal or store bought waffles. Pop Tarts even make an appearance on occasion. But not today! Today they were fed homemade biscuits and cantaloupe. They are supposed to be maple but the only syrup on hand was butter pecan. They came together quickly and easily. Of course, I was in too much of a hurry to dig out my pastry blender so I just mixed everything together by hand. That was a first and not nearly as messy as I thought it would be.

The kids scarfed these down and thought they were delicious. My husband thought they were ok, he liked them but thought they were a bit dry. They were definitely an easy morning treat and will go into the breakfast rotation!

Thank you to Lindsay from A Little Something...Sweet for choosing this weeks delicious Tuesdays with Dorie Recipe. Make sure to check out how the other bakers did with this recipe this week! :)

A few more photos of Cicadas

2011-05-11T21:43:00.000-07:00

I did not think this would be a brood of epic proportions but apparently I was wrong!

Emerging

2011-05-11T21:32:00.000-07:00

Just starting to emerge

Just testing out the wings a bit.

Out of the shell a bit more.

Streeettttccccchhhh

We had to run in for a few minutes to get school clothes on. By the time we got back the cicada had completely emerged and was hanging off of the husk.

We didn't see it after school so I am sure it turned dark and had flown off to pursue other options.The lacy wings seem kind of pretty to me.

Entomology Class

2011-05-11T21:24:00.000-07:00

This morning Munchkin and I jumped out of bed to see if we could see some cicadas molting. I wasn't sure what we would find but her enthusiasm for actually being out of bed to hunt cicadas was contagious.

This child loves dirt and mud, so I was not surprised that she wanted to hold the cicadas. She was so excited to see the three red dots on the newly hatched cicadas face. She learned about it in PE and can't wait to take a picture in to show her PE teacher.

We finally found a cicada to watch come out of its hull. Munchkin really wanted to help it get out but I explained that it needed to do it itself because it needed to make its wings strong. She understood and was content to watch.

Sweet girl! I hope you are always curious and want to learn about new things!

Attack of the Cicadas

2011-05-10T14:44:00.000-07:00

Every year since we moved to Tennessee we have been marking the summers by the arrival of Cicadas. We used to have 2 silver maples and the sound of the cicadas was something we really had to get used to.

A few years ago someone said "Oh no! It is the 7 year plague of the cicadas". It didn't really seem like there were that many more than normal. This year is the 13 year brood of cicadas. Anderson Design Group has come up with some merchandise to commemorate the attack of the cicadas. Go check them out, I'll wait...Ok, you are back! :)

Not only can you get merchandise you can go on Facebook and find a group that tells you how to find the cicadas for eating. If you really want a recipe you can click here.

Little Man captured one the other day when my neighbors we all out helping us with some bushes. He was intent on seeing it emerge from it's shell however I had to tell him today that it died. :( He wasn't too broken up about it though. We went out to look for some of the other shells.

After school we went on a hunt in our backyard. There are quite a few shells on our foundation, a few on the play structure and a bunch on the willow tree. The thing that surprised me though was how many were attached to the willow leaves. Every year there are quite a few attached to the underside of our deck but there don't seem to be any under there this year. Munchkin was thrilled to find several holes that she is convinced the cicadas climbed out of. She stuck a stick way down in one to see how far it went. I think it was about 12 inches deep.

I am wondering if we will have a bunch more over the next few days. I guess we will see. :) Ugh and the mosquitoes are back. *sigh* my poor sweet daughter and my poor husband will be eaten alive by the end of the summer.

If I can snap some photos of the actual cicadas I will post those too! :)

I heart my New Lens!!

2011-05-07T13:00:00.001-07:00

My neighbor has been digging up worms for the robins on her porch. This morning was a perfect opportunity. Several neighbors came over to pull out three large bushes and found plenty of worms for the baby birds.

Cute baby birds!

Worms.

I love that I can take these photos without having to be on top of the subject! I was on the other end of the porch for these. Next week I will get to practice taking pictures of Little Man's baseball team. :)

New Lens Day 2

2011-05-05T14:27:00.000-07:00

Here is it day 2 with my new lens! Pretty exciting stuff huh? I went out this afternoon and snapped a few shots. I am going to have to practice getting things in focus from that far away. This top one was on manual focus though and manual settings! Yeah me! :) That cute little face peeking over the gutter is really a little pest. He and his brothers are living in the soffit at my neighbors house. Cute little rat with a good PR rep!

I thought we had squirrels living in our soffit as well but now I am not so sure. I think maybe we have several bird nests resting on top of our gutter guard. This little bird must be hungry!

Here is mama bird from yesterday actually sitting on the nest. I was trying to sneak up and see if I could get a shot of the babies. Not luck today though.

New Photos

2011-05-04T20:13:00.000-07:00

These are some of my first photos with my new lens! :)

Guarding the baby birds

Mama and Daddy making sure I didn't get too close to the nest.

Look at that form!

What?

My Hubby Loves Me!

2011-05-04T20:10:00.000-07:00

I got my Mother's Day gift early so I can take it to Little Mans baseball game Saturday and to the Airshow on Sunday! :) My hubster loves me!

{TWD} Chocolate Orange Marbled Bundt Cake

2011-05-03T12:05:00.000-07:00

Swirly, chocolaty, orangy, goodness. More! That is the word from my kiddos and my hubs. They simply want more of this cake. It is moist and delicious and chocolate orange is one of my favorite flavor combinations.

Thank you to Carol of The Bake More for choosing this weeks easy and delicious Tuesdays with Dorie Recipe. Make sure to check out the LYL to see how the other bakers played around with this Basic Marbled Bundt Cake.

Funny Things My Son Says

2011-05-01T14:38:00.000-07:00

Today my little guy is talking up a storm. He loves singing along to songs in the car. He likes playing baseball but does not love it. And, he comes up with funny things to say. We are still working hard on speech. He has a significant delay and it is still quite difficult to understand him. I do want to remember a couple of funny things he says.

He calls mushrooms marshmallows. He likes both mushrooms and marshmallows but we keep trying to correct him and he keeps mixing them up.
He says he is freezing if it is hot or if the wind is blowing.
He still mixes up breakfast, lunch and dinner. He will ask what we are having for dinner in the morning and what we are having for breakfast in the evening.
He all of a sudden has saying "A little help here?"
He also has just started saying "DUH!!" to any very obvious statement. I am pretty sure he picked that one up from a girl at school.

Obviously we have some things to work on but he is getting there. I personally am hoping his speech comes together in the next year. Kindergarten was hard enough for him, not being understood by his classmates. I am hoping for first grade his classmates will understand him. And, I am hoping he will keep coming up with funny things for me to blog about.

It Was A Dark and Stormy....

2011-04-27T11:43:00.000-07:00

Month? The rain just keeps coming! Spring is always rainy in Tennessee but this season has been worse than normal. There have been many beautiful days but it seems that we are having more than our fair share of severe storms this year.

Of course, I wonder if it seems like there are more storms because of the news coverage. I appreciate the Tornado warnings and such. However, the constant coverage seems to perpetuate fear. At this point every time I hear thunder I jump...and we have not been that affected by the storms. I used to love a good thunderstorm.

The year my son was born I remember diving to Sams club (I wasn't supposed to be as it was not long after an emergency C-section) in pouring rain. Not only was it pouring there were lightening strikes every few minutes. There were tons of people out running around and it didn't stop anyone. Today I had to get dog food so I ran out with my kids to Target. It was a break in the storm and it was raining. We were practically the only people in the store.

It was nice to get in and out very quickly but a little creepy. We have had the TV on all day watching the coverage. I really think I just need to turn it off. But, with morbid curiosity I keep it turned on to see the trees and fences that have been knocked down and to see what has flooded so far. I am praying there are no homes or businesses flooded this year. That was terrible last year.

This is the thing that bugs me about the coverage "Lots of colorful radar left to see but no warnings to speak of." If there are no warnings please stop with the coverage. I shouldn't complain, I know the coverage is helpful I am just tired of hearing it.

How about you? Do you think the coverage of storms (unless giving specific information about storms that could kill you) is a bit excessive?

Nashville Speedway

2011-04-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, the day before Easter the Nascar Nationwide Series race was at the Nashville Speedway. They had an Easter egg hunt on the pavilion several hours before the race began. I had to walk away and let hubs make sure the kids got out to hunt eggs ok. When things are a little unorganized it makes my stomach hurt.

They got the 0-5 year old kids out on the field and made them stand there for another 10 minutes before letting them actually pick up eggs. I am not sure if you have met any 0-5 year old children lately but they are not the most patient little humans on the planet. They did surprisingly well for how long they had to wait. The guy that had the mic told us to wave at the camera and shout. He counted to 3 and the kids were off. It took him a good 10 more seconds before he realized the 0-5 year olds were almost done picking up eggs. :)

Once they managed to get all of the little little kids off the field our age group was ready to go. Munchkin is an expert egg hunter at this point and Little Man is starting to be able to hold his own. Munchkin got quite a few more eggs than Little Man but was happy to share extras with her brother. She did it so selflessly it made me proud!

Hubs took the eggs back to the car and picked up our cooler, sunscreen and all of our hats. He met us back by all of the vendors where we were having a good time picking up swag. The Buzz radio station was on hand with a Plinko like game. Munchkin won a coupon to Hardees. Little Man won a Buzz sticker and I won a CD. One of our favorite activities was shooting in the Army tent. Munchkin helped out by holding the curtain closed while one of the guys went over for a push up contest. Because she was such a good helper he gave Munchkin an Army water bottle. After shooting she was awarded a notebook and pen that she later used to "live blog" the race.

Little Man was thrilled to see race cars up close and personal. By the time we got to the actual race though he was exhausted. I am pretty sure he slept though the first 14 laps of the race. We were in the family section which means there was not drinking or smoking. Of course a bunch of college students came up and sat next to us. I don't know if someone complained or if the employees at the track just have good radar but they came up and asked them to move. They weer very nice but I am glad my kids, hubs and I didn't have to breather their second hand smoke.

The race was pretty close....Kyle Busch is a really good, if somewhat controversial, driver. Karl Edwards was driving the 60 car. That car was just fast all day long. It was exciting to see Karl Edwards do his signature backflip off the car.

The race was fun, the kids had a great time, the parking was free and the kids got to hunt for Easter eggs. What more could we ask for?

{TWD} Cornmeal Shortbread Cookies

2011-04-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we took our kiddos to the Scottish festival at the Nashville Library. Munchkin was super excited to participate in a scavenger hunt around the children's department. The prize? A package of Scottish shortbread. She did the scavenger hunt with minimal help from me and my hubs. Little Man helped her though and was rewarded with his very own package of shortbread.

Now, I like shortbread but it is not my very favorite thing in the world (I will always choose chocolate first ;) ). These though are really tasty! I used a Meyer lemon for the zest which to me tastes a little bit peppery. Maybe my taste buds are off this morning though. The cornmeal definitely gives these otherwise tender shortbread cookies a crunch factor.

These were a snap to put together. My daughter found the dough in the fridge yesterday after school and gave it a few hearty punches. No damage was done though and I was able to bake these after bedtime. This morning I brought them to my students who all said that they were really really good! They were right next to a plate of large, fluffy homemade chocolate chip cookies though so they kind of got the short end of the stick. However, I left the rest at the front desk and they disappeared!

A big thank you to Valerie of Une Gamine dans la Cuisine for choosing this weeks recipe. She is one of my very favorite TWD bakers so make sure to check out her site and give her some comment love! :) Make sure to check out the other bakers as well!

Happy Easter

2011-04-25T08:10:00.000-07:00

We did our annual Easter photos outside this morning. I have to say, with Easter being so late at least my kiddos were not freezing while I took their pictures!

Some years it is like pulling teeth to get these two hams to smile. Today though they did great and did everything I asked. Sweet kids! They are getting so big!

Easter Eggs 2011

2011-04-24T06:30:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite traditions each year is decorating Easter eggs. The kids love it as well. For some reason we ended up with quite a few cracked ones this time. Oh, well. I guess we will just have colorful deviled eggs and egg salad! :) After attending a funeral earlier in the day is was nice to have an activity to distract us.

Little Man liked decorating the eggs but didn't really want to be in pictures today.

Munchkin was quite intent on drawing a a rabbit jumping rope. :)

We had 10 eggs without cracks but I am pretty sure there were more by the end of the dying process. :)

Oh yeah, so my daughter was telling my son that she thought they would get Webkinz in their Easter baskets since they always get one (they don't). I said don't be so sure you are going to get one. To which she replied "Why? are you the Easter Bunny?" I asked why she asked that and she said "Well you said not to be so sure about the Webkinz". So I avoided the question a little more...mostly because Little Man was sitting right there. We'll see how that all pans out soon. :)

Bumble Bee

2011-04-23T06:27:00.000-07:00

This bumble bee was on our back deck attached to the screen. I thought it was pretty and not aggressive so I had to snap a couple of shots. :)

{FFwD} Mustard Batons

2011-04-22T18:01:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for an extremely simple but very delicious savory recipe, I have found it! This recipe took less than 5 minutes to put together and only 15 minutes to bake. I only had 1 sheet of puff pastry in the freezer, I did not roll it out, used stone ground mustard and a pizza cutter. Hubs is a bread eater. He saw these and was more than happy to be my tester. He REALLY liked them. Of course we went outside and it turns out the dog also liked them. At least I only made 8. I could have probably made them thinner and will probably do that the next time....and make a sweet version.

Make sure to check out French Fridays with Dorie's LYL to see how other cooks around the world adapted this recipe this week! :)

Good Friday

2011-04-22T10:29:00.000-07:00

First and foremost Good Friday is a day that our family remembers the sacrifice God made by sending his Son to die on the cross. For that I am thankful and believe that I will be with Christ when I die.

I am also thankful for the day off to spend with my family though much of our time has not been spent reflecting on the blood of Jesus. However, this afternoon we will be reflecting much more. Our neighbor passed away this week and today is his funeral. It has given us a chance to talk to our children about eternity and what we believe happens when we die. Our neighbor was 82. He lived a very full life but has been pretty sick for the last few years. We have lived here 10 years and he has kind of been a surrogate grandfather to our kiddos. He loved to have them come over and climb on his wall and just talk to him. He has been a fixture in our lives since we had children and he will be missed.

Munchkin made brownies this morning to take over to the family. I think it made her feel a little bit better to be able to do something. She, especially, took our neighbors death very hard. He is the first person she has really known that passed away so she is dealing with it in her own way. She cried immediately, and she is not one to cry very often unless she is angry or frustrated. I am glad that she could cry though and let out some of the anguish I know she was feeling.

Little Man does not quite understand yet. While we were at the visitation he was looking a a group of elderly people and asked which one of them died. We tried to get out of there as quick as we could. He then asked if the statue was the one who died. He cried later in the evening and said his heart hurt. I think he is starting to understand and I am glad he could cry as well.

Facing the death of a neighbor and friend reminds me of our own frailty as humans and that we are only here for a moment. It makes me glad that I am sure of what I believe and why and that I am sure of the blood of Jesus and his forgiveness.

I hope you will take this Good Friday and spend some time reflecting on Jesus and the sacrifice that was made for us so we could spend eternity with God.

Southern Women's Show

2011-04-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

On Friday I went to the Southern Women's Show at the Nashville Convention Center. I didn't know anyone who wanted to go on Friday so I went by myself. By the time I got there it was pouring down rain and I parked a couple of blocks away. Thankfully I have a big umbrella and stayed fairly dry. I thought I was early enough that I wouldn't be in a big line but I was wrong. The line was ridiculously long and there was a lot of big hair. I am not just talking body, I am talking big hair!

I started off spinning a wheel and getting a coupon for something from Firestone. I missed the Nashville Ballet Flash Mob as it was on the other side of the convention center from me. Of course, I have to wonder, if a flash mob is on the schedule does that actually make it a flash mob or just a performance?

As I roamed the aisles of the show I remembered why I hadn't been in awhile. I don't really care about monogrammed anything, I don't really care about purses, timeshares or even expensive shoes. Much of the stuff in the center just did not apply to me. However, I did love the cooking demo given by Stuart Mayo for waterless cookware. I realize it was a presentation to sell the cookware but I liked it anyway. I did get to see Holly Thompson from channel 4 and Kix Brooks who was signing autographs. I also got to have a lovely lunch with my hubs downtown. :)

The Southern Women's Show was pretty fun but probably would have been more fun with a friend. The last time I went I took my kiddos, one of whom was in a stroller. I was thankful not to be pushing a stroller this time.

I may go back next year. I guess time will tell. :)

{TWD} Tourtely Apple Tart

2011-04-18T19:49:00.000-07:00

Is it a tart or is it a pie? That was the leading question for this weeks Tuesdays with Dorie recipe. I actually kind of baked along with some other members of TWD on twitter today including Jeanette of The Whimsical Cupcake who chose this weeks recipe. It was fun to keep up with what others were doing and good to know I was in the same part of the process as others.

I made the dough yesterday and popped it in the fridge. My tart pan is 11 inches so I found another plate (one that I got for free from some food magazine years ago) that was 9 inches and patted in half of the dough. While the base was in the oven I made the filling. Since the recipe said applesauce I was surprised that it stayed so chunky. Of course, once I check out the other posts I may find that it was too chunky. Oh well, it was tasty anyway. :)

One twitter comment was that this tart tasted like McDonald's Apple Pie. I can see why they would think that but my Little Man said it did not taste the same and he is, of course, a McDonald's Apple Pie connoisseur. ;)
My daughter wouldn't even try the tart because, in her words, "I am not a cooked fruit person". Hubs tried it and really liked it, but he likes my apple pie so it makes sense that he would like it.

I loved this! Despite the top crust being my enemy, I thought it was pretty tasty. Honestly, I could eat the dough all by itself. It was flaky and delicious! Make sure to check out the LYL to see how other bakers did this week. Also, make sure to check out the cookbook Baking from My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan!

Spam and Anchovies - Thai Night

2011-04-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

This months Spam and Anchovies cooking club was hosted by Kenna. We actually had it at Melissa's house as Kenna is in the process of closing on a house! :) She told us some fun stories about picking up the ingredients for dinner. She actually went to a Thai market to pick everything up and was very impressed by the customer service and how helpful the store owners were in getting her the right ingredients. Kenna even brought each of us a bottle of fish sauce (one of the ingredients is anchovies so it fits out title!) that was recommended at the market.

The first dish we made was Tom Kha Kai Soup. I was a little nervous about this as I made a coconut milk based soup a little while back and it was too rich. However, this was fantastic!

The two different types of mangoes were cut up for dessert. There was a big difference in taste. I preferred the yellow mangoes. :)

This is the lovely centerpiece that includes the Kaffir Lime Leaves that were picked especially for Kenna!

I had never had Pad Thai before and was again a little nervous about it. I love to go out and eat Thai food but always get the same thing. This was so good! I am not a big fan of spaghetti or pasta in general but the rice noodles were a different story. The lime and cilantro just gave the dish the most delicious finishing touch.

Last but not least we had this fantastic mango and sticky rice dessert. As a former Pampered Chef pusher I have a rice microcooker. My rice usually turns out perfectly. We didn't have a rice cooker on hand though so I was afraid I was going to really screw up the rice. It turned out really good though. The sauce was supposed to be white but we used brown sugar instead of white. The texture, the taste, the sweet and the sauciness of this dessert was a perfect end to our meal!

Once thing I love about the cooking club is trying things I would never try on my own. I also love the time I get to spend with other women just having a delicious dinner and having good conversation! If you don't have a group like this you should definitely start one or join one! :)

{FFwD} Chocolate Eclairs

2011-04-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

If this adorable little face was offering you an eclair you would be sure to take it, wouldn't you? :) He was so excited to be my taster for this weeks French Fridays with Dorie recipe. The recipe was actually for vanilla eclairs but why do vanilla when you can always to chocolate. Plus, the photo in the book had chocolate eclairs.

The thing that surprised me about these was how small they were. That is my husbands hand and they were not much bigger than his fingers. It doesn't matter how small they were, they were delicious! Instead of ganache for the frosting I used the same pastry cream that I used inside. I realized I can almost make pastry cream in my sleep. Last but not least, if you take these out on a plate to the neighbors who are working on their lawns they will eat them up, enjoy them and be very impressed! :) Definitely a recipe to go on the repeat file! :)

Make sure to check out the Leave your Link to see how other bakers did with this recipe this week! :)

{TWD} Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

2011-04-12T21:07:00.000-07:00

mmmmmm strawberries! This is one of those foods, when juicy and ripe, makes me sound like Homer Simpson when he is talking about donuts. I am completely excited to go strawberry picking this summer with my kiddos and try my hand at canning.

Now you may notice that the title includes rhubarb. Well, several trips to stores to search for rhubarb left me empty handed. So I did what any normal uninsane woman would do and added dark chocolate! I will definitely try this again later this summer when I have access to the rhubarb.

This recipe was pretty easy to put together. It involved a base of crisp, sprinkled chocolate chips, cooking the strawberries into a jam, covering with more crisp and baking for an hour.

My husband has yet to try it. He is not a fan of cooked fruit. My son loved the crisp part but insisted he didn't like the strawberries. My daughter, who is also a cooked fruit hater, loved it! She has eaten more of it than the rest of this. I really thought I would love this with the chocolate and strawberries, etc. I was actually kind of eh about this. Don't get me wrong I like it but I think I will like it more the next time I make it with rhubarb.

Check out Tuesdays with Dorie Leave your Link to see how bakers around the country did with this recipe. Also, thank you to Sarah of Teapots and Cakestands for choosing this weeks recipe. Make sure to check out her blog for the recipe! :)

Crazy Weather

2011-04-05T20:45:00.000-07:00

You can always tell it is spring when the weather gets crazy and the brown recluse spiders come out. Yesterday was a doozy of a weather day. About the time I was supposed to go pick the kids up from school the tornado sirens started going off. I figured I had enough time to get to the school and get inside before the storm actually hit. I was right. About 5 minutes after I got in the building I could see the rain going sideways out one of the windows. Outside another door water was just pouring off of the roof.

The kids were all in their duck and cover position and were so quiet. Later Munchkin told me that they held that for awhile and then were able to sit up but still face the wall so they could be prepared if they needed to get back down. She said at this point she started to get a little worried...mostly because they had said it was a drill but she knew it was the real thing. When they let the kids turn around and whisper to their friends she relaxed a bit.

When we got home my neighbor called me over to her porch so I could see the willow limb that had attached itself to our roof. I managed to climb out the window and release the vines which dropped the limb onto the play structure. It is still attached to the tree and it is not a huge limb but it could have caused some damage had it actually fallen from the tree.

A store not too far from us lost its roof and there were several very large trees down in the neighborhood. This is the second major storm in our area in the last month. I am wondering what the rest of tornado season holds in store for us.

Random Updates in Bullet Form

2011-04-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

It is raining in our neck of the woods today. It makes me kind of antsy when big storms roll through. The dog seems nervous too and that never seems to be a good thing.
I am teaching one class right now but will be adding two more in the near future. Good for the pocketbook and the experience. Most students are fantastic to work with. :) I also just added a certification so I can teach a different modality of classes.
I got to go on a fabulous girls trip to Vegas (this deserves its own post and will have one soon). The girls and I had not all been together in 18 years. Hopefully it will not be 18 more before we are all together again.
Munchkin is reading like crazy. I actually had to take her books away as a punishment yesterday. It was quite effective in her choosing her attitude later. She also called a boy for the first time...to talk about books. :) I <3 that she can hold an intelligent conversation with a friend!
Little Man is playing baseball. He is a super slow runner but I am sure that has to do with the motor skills issues than anything else. He really seems to like playing as long as he has had a rest and a snack before he heads to practice.
Hubs is working hard and playing music. While I was gone he sent me the sweetest text: "I realized how hard you work in the morning getting the kids ready for school, and I should probably help more." He is a fantastic hubster! :)
I have been lacking in the baking and cooking department lately and need some new recipes. I am hoping April bring more time to bake and cook. :)
Stay tuned, I hope to be back on the blogging bandwagon soon!
And there go the tornado sirens....fun stuff.

Prayers Appreciated

2011-03-20T11:52:00.000-07:00

I know, I know I have been a terrible blogger lately. I did make Salted Butter Break Ups, took pictures of the moon, discovered some local chocolate, and have several fun kid stories but it has been a busy and crazy time.

Please keep my family in prayer. My dad is in the hospital today with blood clots in both lungs and in his right leg. My mom took him last night and I am glad she did. Hubs aunt is in the hospital with a tumor in her throat. She has started radiation and we are praying for a miracle healing. There has been a job loss (neither of us) and we are praying for direction and where the next step will be.

Soon I hope to be back with fun posts but we just need prayer at the moment.

FIRE!!

2011-03-02T20:32:00.000-08:00

Munchkin has been showing some interest in cooking and asked for a cookbook for Christmas. She actually got two, one from each uncle. She has been looking through them trying to plan some meals. Tonight she chose a meal from the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook. We made lightly seasoned chicken drumsticks.

The drumsticks needed to be cooked under the broiler for 10 minutes a side. Hubs was in the kitchen with me when I realized I could hardly see him. My glasses weren't fogging up there was smoke coming out of the oven. When I opened the oven there were large flames that went out fairly quickly. Thinking (stupidly) that the oil wouldn't relight I flipped the drumsticks and stuck them back in the oven. I did not realize what a low smoke point olive oil had, but believe me I do now!

The fire was even bigger the second time I opened the oven. I calmly got the baking soda down and poured it on the flames. (Thank goodness they were in the corner and not on the chicken) The flames went out and I just baked the chicken instead of broiling it for the rest of the time.

We opened all of the windows that we could and tried to clear out the smoke. Here it is 4 hours later and my eyes are still itchy.

My kiddos though have listened well to all of the fire safety tips they have been taught. Little Man came and told me I needed to Stop Drop and Roll. Munchkin told me I needed to crawl on the floor to stay beneath the smoke. If it was a really serious fire we would have gotten out safely.

Now, off to clean up the cookie sheet that is covered in black soot.

{TWD} Chocolate Pots de Creme

2011-03-01T00:04:00.000-08:00

One of my very favorite desserts is Creme Brulee. I love the crunchy top, I love the creamy custard and I especially love when there is fruit baked in it as well. I do not really like pudding. This recipe sounded like it would be close to the custard in Creme Brulee rather that pudding but it was easier to tell the kids it was pudding. A big thank you to Christine at Black Cat Cooking for choosing this weeks Tuesdays with Dorie Recipe. Now the results of my Pots de Creme:

8 little pot de creme sitting on the counter
1 was eaten by the dog and then there were seven
7 little pots de creme sitting on the counter
1 got its picture taken and then there were 6
6 little pots de creme sitting on the counter
1 was gobbled by a sweet little boy and the there were 5
5 little pots de creme sitting on the counter
1 was torched and sprinkled with raspberry syrup and then there were 4
4 little pots de creme sitting on the counter
1 was eaten by a hubby and then there were 3
3 little pots de creme sitting in the refrigerator
those three pots were saved for later
8 little pots de creme sitting on the counter
each and every one enjoyed one more than the others

Go make this recipe now! You can check out Christine's blog for the recipe or go buy Baking from My Home to Yours! :)

Springish...and Tornados are in the Air

2011-02-28T05:30:00.000-08:00

It is springish here in the south. And with fluctuating temps come severe weather. Every year there are straightline winds and tornados and crazy things like that happening. Thursday night I was teaching and let my class go a few minutes early (we had only taken 1 short 10 minute break). As soon as I got in my car I heard there was a tornado warning. As soon as I got home there was a huge lightening flash and it started to pour. Had I let class out on time I would have been driving at the same time as the storm was making a path near my house.

As I drove the kids to school on Friday we were amazed by some of the trees down and some of the destruction. We are so thankful that no one was injured. I had my camera on me and stopped for just a couple of photos.

Hubs went and helped out a friend who had a tree on his house on Friday morning.
We have more storms tonight and tomorrow. I love a good storm but I am not a fan of the severe ones.

Birthdays, Birthdays

2011-02-27T07:28:00.000-08:00

Are you a big birthday party planner? I love birthdays and everything about them. Each year we have tried to do something special for the kids. This post is just basically a list so I can remember what we did each year. I do not see posts on each of them in my archives and I want to remember them.
Munchkin:
1: Duck party at our house. We had lots of friends from church and their little ones. Made a duck cake.
2: Small party with Grandma and Papa at Chuck E Cheese. Little Man had just been born so we kept it small. Got the cake at Chuck E Cheese
3: Princess party at the Pampered Palace. Made a My Little Pony Cake.
4: Got her ears pierced/ Combined party with Little Man at The Bounce Factory. Got a Madagascar Cupcake Cake from Publix.
5: Build a Bear Workshop. Got a Build A Bear cake from Publix.
6: Come as your favorite character. Made 3 different kinds of cupcakes.
7: Chuck E Cheese. Made a checkerboard Webkinz Wheel of Wow Cake.
8: WipeOut/Sleepover. Made a 3 layer obstacle Course Cake.

Little Man
1: Spiderman. Got a Spiderman Cake from Publix.
2: Combined party with Munchkin at The Bounce Factory (Madagascar theme) Cupcake Cake
3: Shrek the Third. Shrek the Third Cake from Publix.
4: ChickFilA. Speed Racer Cake from Publix.
5: Spiderman at the park. Cake from Publix.
6: Minute to Win It. Made a clock cake.

A few I made cakes for and a few I got cakes from Publix. Each one has been special though. :)

{TWD} Chocolate Oatmeal Drops

2011-02-26T07:20:00.000-08:00

Well, it is about time! I have been sick or injured for the last few months, or have had a sick kiddo and have not felt like baking or cooking. But, I feel like I may be getting my baking mojo back!

Thursday I had a week 5 class to teach. I always take something in that I have baked and needed something quick. So, I baked another Swedish Visiting Cake.

Once my class was over though I ran and picked up my kiddos from school, ran home and whipped up these chocolate Oatmeal Drops and ran back to work to teach another class. Hubs walked in not long after these came out of the oven and asked if they were "corn poop cookies". Yes sometimes he is a 12 year old. And I love him even more for it. Because, if you can't be silly with your hubs of 13 years who can you be silly with?

These were super easy to throw together and they didn't require vanilla, which I was still out of. My students loved these and so did my kiddos. The are rich and chocolaty and have a hint of cinnamon in them. If you would like the recipe make sure to visit Caroline and Clair at Bake with Us. Check back next week for Chocolate Pots De Creme! :)

{FFWD} Short Ribs is Red Wine and Port

2011-02-25T17:06:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time there was a girl who was not a drinker. The girl did not even own a corkscrew because really, there was no reason. She also lived in the south where it was a sin to drink and wine was not even sold in grocery stores.

The girl went on a trip to another state that had wine in grocery stores. She saw a corkscrew on clearance and bought it. She knew that since she had started cooking French food there would come a time when she would have to open a bottle of wine. (The first time she tried to use a corn cob knob and while a good effort was not successful)

The girl was so excited when the recipe for Short Ribs in Red Wine and Port was chosen because she was finally able to break open the cozy plastic package that held the corkscrew hostage. The bottle of Crane Lake sat innocently enough on the counter but turned out to be a silent foe for the girl.

No matter how she tried all the girl managed to do with the corkscrew was shred the cork. She finally decided that she just needed to push the cork down into the bottle of wine. All was going well until the seal broke and fragrant red wine exploded all over her kitchen. It would not be an exaggeration to say that there was wine everywhere. Even though she knew she had an intensive cleanup job ahead she was proud of herself for successfully opening a bottle of wine...even if the cork went in and even if she did smell like a wino when she went to pick up her kids from school

The girl was also thanking her lucky stars that the port did not have a cork. She had discovered that the recipe she was making took quite a long time to make. However, the results were fantastic. Her children both ate every bite on their plates with a minimum of whining and her husband commented on how delicious the house smelled when he came home from work.

Her husband also really liked the Gremata that adorned the top of the short ribs. It was made out of Clementine zest, garlic and cilantro. It gave the recipe a nice citrus taste. He also commented on how the ribs were so soft but had the nice tasty crust on the outside from the broiler. It made the girl feel good that a recipe of that caliber had been enjoyed by her entire family.

Once she finished wiping her mouth and then washing the wine out of her hair she went to check on how all of her other friends at French Fridays with Dorie had done with the short ribs. She decided that she would make this again sometime in the future and hoped that her friends liked it as much as she did.

{TWD} Toasted Almond Scones

2011-02-22T06:33:00.000-08:00

So, this morning I discovered I am out of vanilla...again. My counters have been covered with Girl Scout cookies the last couple of weeks and I am teaching 4 classes this month. Excuses, excuses you say, I am sure these scones are absolutely fantastic and you should have moved the girl scout cookies for clear counters for baking!

Instead of Scones this morning, Swedish Visiting Cake was on the agenda. It is week 5 of my class and I told my students I would bring a dessert. This cake is so fast and easy, my other 2 classes ending this week may be getting it as well. Like I said, out of vanilla. There is a bit of a difference in flavor but not much. It is still delicious. I made an extra this morning for my family for breakfast.

Anyway, have a fabulous day and check out how the actual scones turned out on the LYL.

What is on Your Nightstand?

2011-02-19T13:20:00.000-08:00

About a month ago I ran across a Jennifer's blog Cooking for Comfort. She is part of Tuesdays with Dorie and has a segment on her blog called 52 in 52. She is reading 52 books in the year. A book a week? That does not seem too difficult. However, I need some suggestions. Since January 1st I have read:

Uglies by Scott Westerfield (Yes, I realize half of these are in the teen section...don't judge.. ;) )
I Was Told There's Be Cake by Sloane Crosley
The Tenth Circle by Jodi Piccoult
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Vanishing Acts by Jodi Piccoult
Lemony Snicket: The Reptile Room (previewing for Munchkin)
Bobby Flay Throwdown Cookbook

I am in the middle of:
Lost in NashVegas by Rachel Hauck

Checked out from the library:
Fallen by Lauren Kate (actually I have to replace this one as my dog ate it)
Torment by Lauren Kate
The Fallen 1 and The Fallen 2 by Tom Sniegoski
Pretties and Specials by Scott Westerfield
The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Requested from the library:
Awakened by P.C. Cast (the newest book in the House of Night series. I read the first 7 books in the series in 2 weeks in December)
Choosing to See by Mary Beth Chapman
Radical by David Platt

What else should I add to my list? What is something that you have read that you just could not put down? I am considering the Outlander series and several other but would like your input. Fire away!

Diagnose Me

2011-02-19T10:47:00.000-08:00

Symptoms:

Dizziness
Migraine (behind right eye, diagnosed with cluster migraines at age 7, they came back last spring but have been gone for months)
Shaky hands
Slight nausea
99.5 temp
Sore neck (possibly sore from sleeping in the recliner the other night when I gave in to crispy onion strings on my burger too late at night and had terrible acid reflux)

Before Christmas I had strep twice, in January I had a mild case of the flu and some sinus stuff. These are the most recent symptoms from the last few days. Your turn. What do you think I have?

Donut Man

2011-02-17T06:39:00.000-08:00

Hubs and I went to Azusa Pacific University in California. My freshman year I lived in Adams Hall and I remember vividly my first trip to Donut Man. My resident advisor piled me and my roommates and our neighbors into her car and hauled us out in the middle of the night. You would think a tiny donut shop on the side the road might be insignificant but it became the source of many fun memories. When I was a Student Orientation Leader hubs (boyfriend at the time) and I piled my little group into the back of his blue Volvo station wagon and dragged them to Donut Man in the middle of the night. When I saw a blurb about Donut Man in Food Network magazine I was so excited. My little donut shop seemed to have hit the big time. (It is kind of the same feeling I get when I see Ryan Seacrest on American Idol. We used to listen to him on Star 98.7 in SoCal and it's like a little piece of him belongs to me. That might seem weird but I wonder how many others in SoCal feel the same way. He was ours before he was America's.)

One of the donuts they are famous for (aside from the Tiger Tails that hubs loves) are Strawberry Donuts. Just think about sinking your teeth into sweet, fresh, ripe California strawberries along with a delicious Donut Man donut. It is one of my favorite desserts ever!

In that vein, you have to understand that I have been seeing updates on Facebook for a couple of weeks about Strawberry Donuts!

On Friday hubs said there might be a package at the house but he wanted me to wait to open it until he got home. The package was from my brother in law and I thought maybe it was Sees candy. How surprised do you think I was when I opened that box and there was a container with several Strawberry Donuts and a couple of Tiger Tails!!!!! I was beside myself! That was the sweetest, most thoughtful gift my sweet hubby could have gotten me. Not only did he understand that I love the donuts and had been seeing updates about them, but that they hold sentimental memories for me as well. It has been really cold here the last few weeks so these donuts were a taste of California sunshine in the midst of winter.

Thank you to my hubby for making my Valentine's weekend very special. And, thank you to my brother in law and sister in law who shipped them to me. :) I appreciate your part in making my weekend special! :)

Cone Head

2011-02-16T18:32:00.000-08:00

This is Bean. Bean is almost 13 years old. Hubs and I got her when we got permission from our landlord to be able to have a cat. She was the runt of the litter and I got her for free in front of Vons grocery store. She was so tiny she fit in my extra tiny purse. When we moved across the country, she moved with us. I am not sure how neurotic she was before the move but she got a little crazier after the move.

Bean is an indoor only cat and has had an allergy that has popped up over the last few years. Every fall she gets really itchy and scratches out her hair around her tail. We take her in and get a steroid shot and she gets better. A couple of days ago I noticed a red spot on her leg. I had to figure out when I could get her to the vet and today was the winner. The hot spot had gotten a lot worse and another one appeared on her other front leg.

When we left the vet poor Bean was hooked up with shaved legs, 2 shots, an antibiotic powder covering her legs, a flea med to put on tonight, a medicated shampoo and a lotion to put on each day. She is not happy right now. She tried to climb the stairs but got stuck. She can't get in any of her normal hiding spots and will have to get used to eating and drinking with the cone. It is pretty much the saddest thing I have seen in my house in quite awhile. Even with all of the stuff we had to bring home I am thankful that it is a hot spot and that there is a treatment for it. I am glad we were bringing her home tonight and not with news of something dreadfully wrong with her. The vet said you could tell she is an older kitty because she has some plaque on her teeth but her heart and lungs sound great and she is otherwise healthy. I was glad to hear that. I am not ready for life without Bean yet.

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow

2011-02-09T19:16:00.000-08:00

Feb 2003 there was a snow storm predicted. In the morning there was no snow and there were kids at schools in the area stuck at school until 7 or 8pm because of the onset of snow. This year they heeded the warning and let school out 2 hours early. The snow started around 3 pm and is still coming down. We got about 3 inches at our house.

The dog escaped, the kid chased the dog, the dog made yellow snow and then came back home.

Tonight we had a friend of a friend get stuck about 10 minutes from our house. Bobby put the chains on our car (that we have had since before we got married 13 years ago) that we have used only one other time, and rescued said friend of a friend. He is a really nice guy and gets to sleep in the bed with the Star Wars comforter. :) He is from across the pond and my daughter immediately made fun of him. She wasn't intending to but I didn't tell her he had an accent so she thought he said his name was pizza. Kill me now....

We are now just hanging out watching the news and staying warm. :) Stay safe out there!

Big Football Game XLV - Cupcakes

2011-02-05T22:03:00.000-08:00

As you very well know (unless you live under a rock) tomorrow is the biggest NFL game of the year. I am conflicted about who to root for as I have good friends who are serious fans of each team. I lived just outside of Wisconsin when I was a little girl (which by the way, the photos I am seeing on the news of snow in Chicago is how I remember Zion, Ill.) and I am not sure if our friends that live there would forgive me for cheering for the Steelers.

Of course, our drummer recently moved back to Pittsburgh so I may have to cheer for them. But who knows, I am not a huge football fan so I really don't care which team wins. My children want Green Bay to win because their logo is the same shape as Georgia. They even cut out several Green Bay logos and taped them on the wall above the TV (for those of you that are Steelers fans, coming to our house tomorrow my kids might make make fun of you).

Silly kids. My favorite part of the Superbowl is seeing all of the commercials. I typically hate commercials but I love how creative companies can get. It irritates me though when a company pays that amount of money to run their lame commercial that has been playing for months. The other part of the Superbowl I love is the part where we get to hang out with friends.

Since we are having friends over tomorrow I have been a basket case trying to get things cleaned up. I am in a constant state of CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) so I get to about 11 PM the night before people come over and wonder why I am doing this to myself again but it is all worth it when we get to open our home and share it with others.

In preparation for tomorrows big day I made the cupcakes above. I just used a basic Chocolate Cupcake recipe and a basic Vanilla Cupcake recipe. The frosting is a basic buttercream tinted with yellow food coloring. My sweet husband make a stencil for me for the Green Bay cupcakes. I think they turned out pretty well. He has been a busy guy today too! He installed a bathroom door, installed curtain rods and drew a picture of Chris Johnson (yes I realize he is on the Titans but he is Little Mans favorite player) for the kids to play pin the football on the player. I will post a photo of that gem when it is completely finished. :)

After church tomorrow I am making Pigs in a Blanket and 2 kinds of chili. I think it will be a really fun day and can't wait to spend it with my family and friends. :) Have a great day!

{TWD} Great Grains Muffins

2011-02-02T06:57:00.000-08:00

Today is Tuesday and I feel Terrific....oh wait, it is actually Wednesday and I have a head cold. I am not trying to be a whiner, and I don't feel that bad so at least I can get my post up today. :) I did make these yesterday I just didn't get my post up due to teaching and sick kiddos.

This is what happens when you are in a hurry to get your muffins in the oven.

A big thank you to Christine of Happy Tummy for choosing Great Grains Muffins for this weeks Tuesdays with Dorie. She made a few changes to make them a bit healthier and hers look fantastic.

These muffins were very quick and easy to throw together. I had everything from maple syrup and oats, to yellow cornmeal and buttermilk on hand so I didn't even have to head to the store. They were pretty versatile too. I think the recipe called for raisins but I had dried apples and put those in instead.
As far as a grade for these:
Little Man gave them a thumbs up and ate 4.
Munchkin gave them a thumbs down just because she doesn't like cooked apples, otherwise I think she would have liked them.

Hubs didn't give a grade but said he liked them and would eat them again.
I really liked them but the butter in them gave me serious heartburn. A stop at Walgreen's for some Tums helped with that though. :)
There are a few left over and Little Man thinks he is going to polish them off. If you get a chance check out the LYL to see how all of the other TWD bakers did with these this week!

Spam and Anchovies Cooking Club

2011-01-31T06:30:00.000-08:00

A few months ago my friend Melissa (Purpose and Perfection) asked a few ladies to get together to form a cooking club. This weekend was the third meeting of Spam and Anchovies. We thought about naming the club Truffles and Tidbits but one of the girls thought it sounded dirty. Spam and Anchovies was born. :)

This month we were hosted by the lovely Vanessa (Crayons in my coffee). She is hilarious and such a good friend. She has a daughter that says and does the funniest things. Make sure to check out her blog to keep up with the happenings in her neck of the woods.
When a person hosts it is their responsibility to select a menu. Everyone brings ingredients and we prepare the meal together, drink some wine and have some good conversation. This months menu was an Asian inspired affair.

While I prepped the egg drop soup, Melissa shredded cabbage for the egg rolls, and Kenna moistened the spring roll wrappers for the egg rolls.

The recipes came from several different websites so it was really handy to have the laptop open to see them. We were even able to look up a tutorial on the spring roll wrappers to see exactly what we needed to do.

Erin (One Particular Kitchen) prepped the chicken by cutting it into bite size pieces and then shaking it up with some cornstarch. This was then coated in egg and then browned before being put in the oven with sweet chili sauce.

So far, this has been such a fun cooking club. Everyone cooperates so well in the kitchen and everything comes out fantastically. These were the good looking egg rolls. There were a few others that stuck a bit. We did leave out mushrooms and I was glad. I would have eaten them anyway. :)

The egg drop soup turned out perfectly. I did discover that I am not a huge fan of egg drop soup but it was tasty. The texture was just off a bit for me. Melissa finished up the soup and managed to make it look like it came from a restaurant.

On the stove we have Sweet and Spicy and Sour chicken, rice and egg drop soup. I am pretty sure everyone went back for seconds on everything.

Last but not least, Vanessa whipped up some green tea ice cream for all of us earlier in the day. It was very refreshing but one of the ladies said she couldn't get past it looking like Wasabi. :) Another comment was that it looked like pistachio ice cream.

It is so fun to hang out with a bunch of other ladies, make a delicious meal and have some stimulating adult conversation. I get to host next time and I think we will have a southern meal. Now off to look for some recipes. :)

Mark Wills - Looking for America.

2011-01-30T22:04:00.001-08:00

Look for me in the video. :) You might get a very brief glimpse. I am wearing a black hoodie.

Snow Day #....um something

2011-01-30T01:19:00.000-08:00

I do not know what # this snow day was but it was Wednesday. The roads were clear and we were still home. My poor husband had the flu and we needed a few groceries. I ran to the store and on the way home I couldn't help but stop and take a few photos. This was also the day I felt like I was trapped in the Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds" There are several clips on IMDB if you want to be terrified! Enjoy! :)

{FFwD} Chicken B'stilla and Micheal Rostang's Double Chocolate Mousse Cake

2011-01-29T11:42:00.000-08:00

So here is it Saturday and I am just getting my recipe posted for French Fridays with Dorie. I have been a bad blogger. :( I am catching up from last week as well and have included Double Chocolate Mousse Cake.

I actually made this on Wednesday, another snow day. I was really glad that I had all day to make it because it took all day to make it. The first hour was spent cutting onions and garlic, measuring spices and popping the chicken in the fridge with all of the cut and measured ingredients to marinate. Once the marinating was done the next hour was spent simmering so that the chicken was fall off the bone tender.

I should mention at this point that I realized that the chicken thighs I used were boneless...after they were cooked. I am not sure that it mattered. It did make it easier to shred once it was cool enough to handle.

Several other cooks mentioned that they do not like working with phyllo dough but I found it wasn't too difficult for this recipe. I may or may not have had issues with that in the past.

Once the 40 minutes in the oven were up my house smelled delicious and we couldn't wait to dive in. My son took one look and said he didn't like it. My daughter, the foodie in training, was optimistic but then she didn't like it. We told her it tasted like food from Morocco and she said she doesn't ever want to go there.

Hubs really liked it and went back for seconds. He said it tasted complicated...in a good way. :)

I really liked this as well and thought it was worth the time I spent in the kitchen on it. I may make this again if I need a fancy, impressive recipe. :)

Another recipe I was really looking forward to was this chocolate mousse cake. It was not difficult to put together but it was kind of fussy to make. It required baking and chilling and baking and chilling. It was a pretty short cake and it actually tasted a lot like the fudge pie I make that takes about 15 minutes to put together. Believe me it was really tasty but I am not sure it will go in the repertoire when the easy pie tastes just as good. I am glad I got to try this process though.

Make sure to check out the LYL to see how other cooks around the world did with Chicken B'stilla this week! :)

{TWD} Nutty Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake

2011-01-24T19:20:00.000-08:00

A big thank you to Jennifer of Cooking for Comfort for choosing this weeks Tuesdays with Dorie recipe. Not only is she a fabulous cook she is taking on the challenge of 52 books in 52 weeks. Add her to your reader to see her reviews each week. The cake in the kitchen smells delicious. I am wrapping up 21 days of fasting with my church and my actual fast ends at midnight tomorrow. So when I say this smells delicious I am not kidding.

What is not to love about this lovely cake? The swirl is chock full of walnuts, mini chocolate chips, mini white chocolate chips, sugar infused with orange zest and cinnamon.
Hubs is my taster tonight and said that he can really taste the orange and the walnuts. I left out currants because my family would pick them out anyway. Hubs said he needed a second piece to make sure it was good. I am glad he approves because the rest is going to my new students tomorrow. :)

Check out the LYL to see how the other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers did this week. Better yet pick up Dorie's Baking From My Home to Yours.

Check back next week for Great Grains Muffins. :)

Adoption Rocks, Clothes and Cooks

2011-01-22T14:25:00.000-08:00

Every where I turn I have friends adopting. Some are adopting internationally and some domestically and all have amazing stories to share. It is very expensive and an extensive process to go through. Check out some of the stories on these blogs and some of the ways they are raising money :

Sarah and Jason: They have t shirts for sale on their site and are so close to bringing their twin baby girls home.

Brea and Jonathan: They adopted domestically and she is a great resource if that is where your heart is. :)

Toni and Scott: They have had their babies home from Ethiopia for 3 months. They have a Penny Jar project and T-shirts.

Jesse and Marisa: They are also adopting from Ethiopia. They have Adoption Rocks T-shirts and had tote bags as well. In the midst of the process they are also planting a church in Seattle!

Brandon and Leslie: They are adopting from Korea. They have 1lessorphan t-shirts and they also have cookbooks. They are drawing at 10 pm tonight for a cookbook. Go check out their site and give some comment love!

It is amazing to me the selfless love each of these families is showing by going through the adoption process and bringing home these sweet babies. Go check each one out to follow their stories!

The Sickies Have Hit Our House

2011-01-19T17:27:00.000-08:00

I see it all over facebook. People are sick all around the country. It is our turn now. Munchkin started coughing yesterday, a stuffy nose last night. A trip to the ped today confirmed she has the Flu Type A. I am coughing as well and probably have it as well. So far I don't feel terrible. I have a low grade fever and a cough.

Munchkin is a very active child. She has never been a great sleeper and is in constant motion....well not always, she can sit for an hour and read a book but she is tapping or pacing or jumping. From the time she was under a year we could tell when she was getting sick. She got quiet and cuddly. It is the same now as it was then. If a fever is coming on she gets clingy and sweet and sleepy. She never falls asleep early. Tonight we are watching American Idol, one of her favorite shows, and she is crashed out next to me on the couch. So sweet. I am praying that she feels better very quickly. She is supposed to go on a field trip Friday but it looks like she will miss it. I am hoping for one more snow day so it can be rescheduled.

I am also praying the hubs and Little Man stay away from the sickness...I may be sleeping on the couch. I hope you and yours stay healthy as well!

{TWD} Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

2011-01-17T20:12:00.000-08:00

Have you ever heard that eating poppy seeds will make you test positive on a drug test? I have no idea if that is true or not but I think about it every time I eat poppy seed muffins. :)

Todays recipe was chosen by Betsy of A Cup of Sweetness. You will be able to find the recipe on her blog. Although, I don't know where she has the time because she has the sweetest new little baby that has been recently featured! :)

These were well loved in our house. Hubs said the texture was more biscuity though than muffiny and I agreed with him. They were delicious even if they did taste more biscuity. The entire batch was gone as soon as they were out of the oven.

Thanks Betsy, for choosing such a delicious recipe this week! Make sure to check out the LYL to see how bakers around the world did with this recipe this week. :)

Sledder

2011-01-17T09:18:00.000-08:00

Munchkin loves to sled. On day one of our snow days she was up and dressed and ready to go before the rest of us. This photo just captures how much she loves it!

Whole Wheat Pasta and Squash

2011-01-16T09:14:00.000-08:00

The other day I asked for some suggestions on what to do with my whole wheat pasta. The common theme was olive oil and some kind of vegetable. This is what I came up with, with what I had on hand.

4 oz whole wheat pasta, cooked according to package directions
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 white onion
olive oil
2 small yellow squash

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil, add squash and cook until soft. Add pasta and enjoy.

This was very filling and very tasty!

Hidden Mickey in my kitchen. :)

2011-01-15T09:13:00.000-08:00

{FFwD} gnocchi a la parisienne

2011-01-13T21:11:00.000-08:00

Have you seen those prepackaged packages of gnocchi at the grocery store? They are perfectly formed little balls of dumpling glory.

Mine were not perfect but my family loved them. Hubs said it was really good but the sauce could use a little more flavor and he was having a bit of difficulty with the texture. Knowing that they were dumplings though, made it a little easier to swallow. hehe

Munchkin really liked it and said she would eat this dish again.

Little Man asked how much he had to eat and proceeded to choke on a piece of gnocchi. Did I mention this one has some sensory issues? Peanut butter is his best friend.

I did not get to try it as I am only eating fruit, vegetables and whole grains this month, It looked delicious though.

I did make a couple of subs. I used 1% milk instead of whole, because that is what I had on hand. I also used mozzarella cheese rather than Gruyère again, because that is what I had on hand. The other cheese probably would have helped with the extra flavor though.

This was an interesting recipe for me to make. It came together fairly quickly but used a lot of dishes. The fam liked it and I think it is one that I will for sure make again. :) If you would like to see how many other bakers around the world did with the gnocchi make sure to check out the LYL over at French Friday's with Dorie.

Snowpocalypse 2011 Day 3 ;)

2011-01-12T10:08:00.000-08:00

So, you might have heard there is some snow in Tennessee these days. It cracks me up every year when it is the end of the world that we got snow. It seems like this is not even as much as we got last year as the kids were able to sled down our street. They couldn't do that this year. However, it is the third day in a row that we have had the fluffy stuff falling out of the sky and sticking to the ground.

Because here in Tennessee the snow accumulates and then melts and then refreezes we tend to have an icy mess on our hands the second day of snow. This means that we are on day three of snow days. Day one was spent sledding, sipping hot chocolate and playing games at home.

I teach at a local college and school for me was not called off on day 2. So, day 2 was spent with me driving 30 miles to work while the kids went to work with hubs. They spent their day reading books and playing quietly with the toys they took with them. The highlight though was eating in the company cafeteria. They LOVED that! Once we got home there was more playing outside and building snowmen and more hot chocolate. I made the hot chocolate with milk and leftover hershey kisses from Christmas. Munchkin drank hers and then Little Mans as well. :)

This is not our dog by the way. It was a random dog at the sledding hill we go to. Today is day three of snow days and I had grand plans. We were going to go to the library, watch a movie, clean the office and do some laundry. That may all still get done....if I get out of my PJ's....

The kids have already skyped with our friends in Georgia, Munchkin went out and built another snowman and now they are playing Star Wars on the computer. It could be worse. :) It has been funny reading status updates on Facebook this morning. There are quite a few people who are ready for a padded room. I suppose not being able to get out will do that to you. I have really enjoyed these three days but there are moments when I want to pull my hair out....fighting amongst siblings comes to mind. For the most part though the kids have been really good and haven't needed me to entertain them every second.

I suppose I should get dressed and take the kids to the library. I don't think any of my books that I requested at the library have come in yet. Hopefully they will come in soon so I can pick them up. Both kids do need more books though so off we go....really..I'm moving.....

Wordless Wednesday - 4th Quarter - Oregon/ Auburn Game

2011-01-12T08:42:00.000-08:00

{TWD} Chocolate Fluff Filled Madelines

2011-01-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had these cute little cookies? This weeks Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Margot of Effort to Deliciousness. She will have the recipe up at her site. The only special item you need for this is a Madeline pan. I didn't have one but s luck would have it, I got a gift card to Bed, Bath and Beyond for Christmas and was able to pick one up.

I think I am going to need some practice with it though as I over filled several of the molds and those had to bake an extra amount of time. I know you can't see the fluff in these but I promise it is there.

I made a giant mess trying to fill these. Since, for some reason I don't have a pastry bag or dedicated tips, I found a random tip and used a snack sized ziplok bag...which would have been fine had the bag not exploded. Have you ever gotten marshmallow fluff of your hands? It is sticky.

These were really tasty little cookies. My kiddos LOVED them and even took some in their lunches. I really liked trying out the new pan and it will definitely get use in my kitchen. I may not fill them the next time but it was worth it this time. :) Check out the LYL to see what creative ways other TWD came up with to bake these.

Salient and Investigation Discovery

2011-01-10T07:20:00.000-08:00

If you get the channel Investigation Discovery you can watch the brand new show Stolen Voices, Buried Secrets. Salient's song "I Remember" will be used on the show tonight. It will air TONIGHT (Monday 1/10) at 10pm Eastern and re-airs at 1am Eastern on Tuesday 1/11.

Stolen Voices, Buried Secrets is a true crime show where the murder is told in first person by the victim. The victim is all knowing but never reveals the killer. Instead, viewers must piece together the who-dunnit based on clues from investigators and family/friends.

Daddy's Princess Air Date: Monday, January 10th
Ali Kemp, a beautiful 19-year-old college student with a bright future, returns home for the summer to work at the local swimming pool. But one afternoon when Ali is nowhere to be found, her father makes a gruesome discovery; Ali's body in the pool pump room — she'd been brutally beaten to death. With her killer on the loose, investigators launch an intense investigation. But despite DNA evidence and a reliable witness, police search without success for three years. Then refusing to give up, Ali's father comes up with an idea that leads to her killer's arrest.

Snowpocalypse 2011

2011-01-10T06:22:00.000-08:00

Last night my kiddos waited expectantly for the news to call off school for them. It didn't happen. Sure, a few counties called off but those were some that have hollers and icy backroads.

This morning I got the phone call at 5:30 AM. I always love to wake up at 5:30 am.... I did manage to turn off my alarm and go back to sleep.

About an hour later my little ones started to stir. They came in a told us they were going to check the news to see if they had school. A few minutes later we heard a whoop from downstairs and two very excited voices.

Hubs and I went back to sleep for a bit and then I went out to snap these before there were a ton of tracks in the snow.

It looks like a day of sledding, hot chocolate, and movies is in the works at our house.

How about you? What is on your agenda for this nippy Monday?

{FFwD} Mushroom Soup and Mark Wills

2011-01-07T14:34:00.000-08:00

Well, the title may be a bit misleading. One of the nice things about French Fridays with Dorie is that there are no posting requirements to stay in the group. This weeks recipe was for Mushroom soup. I don't eat mushrooms and hubby doesn't eat soup so there was no sense in making it. Actually, hubs probably would have liked it. So, sorry my FFWD amis, I will be back with you next week. :)

Today I got the chance to be an extra in a music video. Mark Wills was filming in my neighborhood for his video "Looking for America"in conjunction with Operation Troop Aid. It was fun but it was really really cold. When we were just about done this guy showed up with fluorescent clothing and jumped in as an extra as well. He was eccentric and I am not sure if he was just trying to stand out on film or didn't get it that he needed to be quiet at the end. They filmed a second section later in the afternoon but I wasn't able to go back for that. I also must say that I am quite short so you may not be able to see me in the video at all. Oh well, it was fun anyway. :)