you be the judge

I just dropped off Bailee for a camp out with her Venturing Crew. It is for one night. She asked me if I thought she packed too much. Good question...it looks like a body bag BAILEE! That might mean it's too much.

In her defense, she has a 2 man tent, her sleeping bag and her pillow in her bag plus her personal items. I suppose carrying one item (that is as big as you are) is easier than three reasonable sizes. :0)

It's amazing...

we all don't weigh over 300 lbs!! It's even more amazing that Brian has lost over 100 lbs and is still losing weight. All we do around here is make goodies. This is the most recent treat that we all love and I'm sure will make again. Bailee loves to cook. She has even found new recipes for us to try.

Thursday night is a Relief Society Meeting that I won't be able to attend, so I will share my chocolate treat here...

Cake Truffles

1 package chocolate cake mix (plus all the ingredients to make it)

1/2 cup margarine softened

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup flavoring (seedless jam, peanut butter, caramel, etc.)

2 pkg. milk chocolate squares or chips for dipping

Prepare cake as package directs; cool then crumble. In medium saucepan melt butter; add cocoa and sugar. Stir until smooth. Add vanilla and flavoring. Stir until smooth and glossy. Remove from heat. Add mixture to cake mix, stir until well blended and moist. Melt chocolate and dip chocolate cake balls into chocolate. Place on wax paper and let set. Enjoy!! Makes anywhere from45 to 70 truffles depending on the size of the balls.

Bailee divided the cake in half and made two different flavored truffles. Peanut butter and caramel. She added more flavoring than in the recipe to have more flavor. We loved them all!

Bailee is making donuts. We got a cool donut pan and mixes for Christmas from my sister Terri. We love it!

Karlee wasn't able to attend an activity day, so the ingredients were delivered to our house and she made a pie. YUM!!

You need to realize that these treats are among our weekly chocolate chip cookies that Bailee, Karlee or I might make. We can never have too many cookies around here.

When we were in line at Walmart Bailee started browsing through a recipe book, we're finding out she's a lot like me. She found a yummy recipe in Taste of Home. I told her I use them online all the time. That she needed to go online and find it. So she did. Within a couple of days we had Penne Gorgonzola with Chicken. We've never had gorgonzola, WOW it has a lot of flavor. Luckily I read the reviews and had Bailee only put in half the amount and it was perfect.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Penne-Gorgonzola--with-Chicken

With a busy schedule after school running kids around, Bailee has become our personal chef. She would rather follow a recipe than warm something up out of a can. She is willing to try anything. Thanks Bailee for all your help. You are a great cook!

Finally...a purpose!

Over the years I have kept all the mismatched socks. I don't know why, I just can't seem to through them away. What if I find the match and I have thrown out the first one? Then I have another lost sock.

It was very satisfying when Karlee needed a sock to make a sock puppet for class. I brought out 4 or 5 for her to choose from. White, colored, ankle, or crew. The selection was amazing. She also asked for cotton balls and yarn. She had an earring that she lost the match too, that she wanted to use. Here is her amazing creations. I love it!!

Isn't he cute?!? Karlee had to put on a play with two other students today with their puppets. I can't wait to hear how it went.

boys

We got their team pictures back today and they both turned out great. I did one with the boys together, which I love!

My scanner is having issues so I couldn't scan in the picture from the photographer. I guess mine will have to do. The picture of them together turned out great from the photographer, mine...so so.

During Mason's game today, he made two baskets! I know that's not a lot, but it's huge for him. He was so excited. He's not an aggressive player, or kid for that matter. His coach has taught their team actual plays. These kids are doing great. It is so fun to watch. Anytime he handles the ball or makes a basket, he has the biggest grin. I had another mom ask if he every stops smiling. If he's having fun he'll grin the entire time. I'm soo glad he's loving basketball.

Meet...

Handsome Prince.

Really, that's what he told me his name was. Out of the blue he told me he needed a crown to be a prince to rescue people, so we made a crown. He has such a great imagination.

He has already informed me that he wants to be Prince Phillip for Halloween.

Valentines Party...finally

OK, so I had to start with Adam! This was taken Tuesday morning before the party. Too cute!!

Our school still allows homemade treats to be brought in, WE are very lucky. I hope it will continue until my boys finish elementary...that's still 7 years to go. :0)

Here's Mason's valentine box. Simple, to the point.

Here are some others in his class...

This crocodile took first place.

This guitar was second place.

And this turtle won!! What a great imagination these kids have, or is it their parents?

Adam slept through the entire party. Noise doesn't bother him much.

In this picture he looks exactly like my kids. From the shape of his head down to his lips.

The kids played bingo and Mason won this spy kit. Now he can eavesdrop on others. He was way excited.

Mason gave this to me for Valentines Day with a poem I've received many times. Usually for Christmas or Mother's Day.

There are always so many of my fingerprints to see.

On the furniture and walls from sticky, grubby me,

But if you stop and think awhile,

You'll see I'm growing fast,

Those little hand prints will disappear,

You can't bring back the past.

So here's a small reminder,

To keep not throw away,

Of how those tiny hands once looked,

To make you smile one day.

sweet treats

McKinzie gave me a cupcake cake mold for Christmas. Mason has been asking me for weeks, literally, to make it. So I did, for Valentines Day. I bought some fondant...kind of fun. Bailee made all the cutouts of the fondant.

We had a strawberry filling in the cake. It was yummy. Happy Valentines Day!!
Thanks for your help Bailee.

my valentine

Thank you Brian for always being "my valentine" everyday for the rest of my life, and for eternity. I love you more than words can express. My love always!

It's official!

Yesterday, the DFW area received the most snowfall in one calendar day. Wahoo!!

Our official snow recorder measured 10 1/2 inches. We figured the diving board would be accurate, since it's not being used. :0)

These poor trees aren't doing very well with the weight of the snow. I shook them off late yesterday morning, a branch had already snapped. Then Brian shook them off last night. We still received enough snow during the night that he went out again this morning in hopes we don't lose another branch.

All the kids are outside playing in the snow. Brian is trying to work with all the noise and distraction of the weather. It's going to be a great day off!

school closing

I just got a phone call and school is closing early. It is still snowing huge flakes and we are supposed to received 6-8 inches total, I bet we get more. As I sit in the house and watch it come down, I'm a little giddy. It's beautiful! I feel like I'm back in Colorado.

Now the dilemma... Karlee has piano lessons tonight. If we don't go her teacher doesn't offer make up lessons. Not that I have a free night for a make up lesson anyway. I know Karlee would love to have a night off. What to do, what to do.

Another thought, I am about to start making sugar cookies to take to Mason's Valentine Party tomorrow. If school is cancelled I will have dozens of yummy sugar cookies to give away. I might become the cookie lady as I drop them off around the neighborhood, I just can't keep that many around here...I will eat them. Not to mention that Brian doesn't need the temptation either.

Confused...

I thought we lived in Texas! It is amazing the snow we have had this winter. It snowed at least three times in December and here we are again...more snow. After the girls headed to their bus stop, Carson and I went out to play. We had to get our playing in before Adam arrived. If you look really close, you can see Bailee way down the street at her bus stop too. I didn't know I got her in the picture until I downloaded.

These poor flowers sure got a bad name...they are the only ones that can handle this crazy weather we are having.

We brought Peanut out to play and he went crazy! He loved the snow and playing fetch. There were a few times he would lose his toy in the snow, but he kept looking and would always find it.

We had to use celery for our snowman's nose. The kids will be glad I'm using it this way. They are tired of me putting it in stew and soup and whatever else I can think of so it won't go to waste.

Of course when we came in we had hot chocolate, YUM! You would think we have "tea parties" around here, the boys are insistent on using saucers when we have hot chocolate these days.

Here's the kind of fun we have indoors. He is soo ticklish. Just yesterday Kinzie was holding him and bouncing him on her knee while I was talking to her and he was grinning and giggling. She wasn't even tickling him, just holding her hand around his body. He getting more and more fun, maybe next year Adam will help make our snowman.

Mom

Today is my Moms birthday. This picture was taken last July at a family reunion. The most recent picture I have of her is in the ICU. I think one picture of her not herself is enough. :0)

She is doing much better. She is in a rehabilitation center doing physical therapy. She is not connected to a single tube! Her trach is healing well and she is walking more and more, with the use of a walker. She won't be able to go home until she can stand from a sitting position and walk a certain distance.

I'm so grateful that she is my mom. She, and my Dad, have raised 10 kids to be hard working, independent, educated adults. My Mom stayed home with her kids until I was a Jr or Sr in high school, I'm not for sure how old I was. But she still had summers off when we were out of school. She always cooked from scratch and her house was always spotless, even with kids everywhere. (She tells us now that it was important to her that her kids weren't embarrassed to bring friends over.) I remember her making meals for other families, putting on a dress in the middle of the week to go visiting teaching, and pressing her temple clothes as she was preparing to attend the temple. She was always a good example of doing what's right.

Growing up we rarely talked about our worries. The more I talk to my Mom now, the more I realize that we are alike. We have the same worries, habits and desires. Some not so good...others I'm glad to be just like her. She is an amazing woman. I love you Mom. I hope you have a great birthday even if your not spending it at home.

two of my favs

I love buying a gift from a registry. Not only is it the correct color and style, but it's exactly what they want. What is better than that? Well, I found something by accident that is just as good.

When we lived in California, we were on our way home from the LA Temple after attending a wedding and I had not bought the gift to take to the reception. I remembered that they were registered at Bed Bath & Beyond. So on our way home we found one and picked up the gift. To my surprise, they offered to wrap it while we wait, FREE! I had no idea they offered such a service.

So here I am 8+ years later. When we have a wedding to attend, I always check Bed Bath & Beyond to see if they are registered. It is a great feeling to buy the gift and have it wrapped in advance, or same day if I forget, by someone else. Another bonus, I have stacks of coupons. ;0)

You be the judge...

I think Karlee might be just a little obsessive. She received this assignment Wednesday. Started working on it Thursday evening. Then had it finished Friday by 4th period! She showed it to her teacher before she brought it home to show us. She turned it in to her teacher today but...it's not due until the 22nd of February.

I love that she is very driven. Is there a downside to this?

Way to go Karlee! You are a smartie!!