Make A Treat Monday.

I'm not doing so hot the with the Make A Meal thing lately. Don't know why. Just not doing it. Today is Sam's turn for FHE treat and he wanted something exotic. Or something. So I found this recipe to mock the Hostess brand. Stay with me...it's worth it!

First, put 2 cups of flour, 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt into a bowl. Whisk it all together...

So it looks like this...So pretty!

In a measuring cup, you're gonna want to put 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk and 1 tsp vanilla.
And in a mixing bowl put a stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar.

Get your aggression out now and beat it up.

It will start to look like this and then you can add 3 large eggs, one at a time, beating well with each egg.

Then add the powder and buttermilk mixtures alternately starting and ending with the powder.

It will look like this...Beautiful!!

Then pour that magical chocolaty goodness into 24 muffin cups with paper liners. We are only just beginning!

Bake them at 350...please tell me you preheated your oven! Bake them for 18-20 minutes. Let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn them out to finish cooling.

Meanwhile!! While they are baking...

Beat 4 Tbsp unsalted butter until light and fluffy.

Then add 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and 2-3 Tbsp milk. If it's too dry, add a bit more milk. You want this stuff to be a pretty almost white fluffy yumminess.

Then put that frosting into a pastry bag with a medium sized round tip and insert the tip about 1/2 inch into the cake. Squeeze some goodness into the cake and repeat with each cake. I really like the word cake!

We're almost there. Are you excited? Can you tell which treat we are mocking?

In a saucepan, on medium heat, put a/2 cup heavy cream and 1 Tbsp light corn syrup. Stir it over the heat until it just starts to boil. Then remove it from the heat and add...

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips and stir until they are melted and it looks like...

This! Oh! Pinch me please! Doesn't it look divine?!

Dip the top of each filled cake into the glaze and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes.

Put some of the white frosting into a pastry bag with a small round tip and pipe the squiggles on top of each cake.

And before you know it, you'll have empty paper liners!

I'll stop there and not tell you how much fat, how many calories and how much sodium. I will tell you that my kids loved them. They are rich and delicious.

And, yes, maybe I'm nesting! Or maybe I just can't stand the griminess anymore! I'm going to start on the laundry room tomorrow. HELP!

GIVEAWAY!!!

You must go HERE and see the cute Spring giveaway. Really!! Go Here now!! Did you do it?? You better. All you will need to do is see This and you will want it! Seriously! Go Here Now!!

THANK YOU!!

A Picture A Day.

As you can see, I am changing the name of this weekly post. I get bored. I change things. What can I say? I figure I am using a picture a day to represent what happens at our house. It fits. So there you go.

Monday...No school. We rented Bolt from the Red Box and LOVED it!! So much that we now own it and my kids are watching it as I type.

Tuesday...Wind. Cold. Red. Nose. Cheeks. Brrrr.
Wednesday...I cleaned the pantry closet. Aahhhh.

Thursday...Ruthie had her friend over to play. I had them clean up as much as they could before taking the friend home. This is how they made Ruthie's bed. I just thought it was cute with the two puppies.Friday...Thursday I got the kitchen cleaned and on Friday I just enjoyed having clean cabinet doors. Aahhh. (the girls played with the camera on Thursday and the lens was blurry.)

Saturday...A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Chocolate drips.

Sunday...I completely forgot to take a picture of myself and my sister Katie on our date night. Sisters can have a date, right? We had dinner at Cafe Rio then saw Dial M For Murder. It's one of my favorite Hitchcock movies. We enjoyed it immensely and this lousy ticket stub is all I have to show for it.

HAPPY SUNDAY!

Dirt+Chopsticks+Rag=CLEAN!

I am ever working off another's OCD tendencies and cleaning my house. I just finished the kitchen and it looks AWESOME!!! But there were some areas that exceeded my tolerance. This is part of my stove. You know, where the outside handle to the oven is? The man who thought of this put gaps there. I know, probably for venting. Whatever. But you see that dirt?? You can't just clean it with a rag. You need....a chopstick and a rag!

Soak the rag in soapy water and then stick the pointed end of the chopstick into it. As shown.
Then stick that puppy in there and scrape the scum out! Oh yeah! There was scum. It was disgusting!
And when you're done, this is what you have...A sparkling clean stove vent thingy.
But I just deleted that picture! Duh!! So you can come over and see it if you don't believe me. I also used it for the dishwasher and sink and various other spots of scum. If you would like to have a handy dandy pair of chopsticks to help in your grimy cleaning repertoire, let me know in the comments. I buy them in bulk. They are so handy!!


I'm so done cleaning for the day. I get to go see a play with my sister tonight. I'm so excited!

Have a continuously happy weekend!

Found:Funny Newspaper Clipping.

I am in the process of letting another's OCD tendencies help me deep clean my house. With baby steps of course. I have been working on the kitchen cupboards and drawers today. I never thought I'd be grateful for limited cupboard space! While cleaning out the "junk cupboard" I came across a newspaper clipping Daniel brought home a while back. Okay, a really really long time ago. It's been a while since I've cleaned it out. I thought you might enjoy the read (click on it to make it bigger)...

Happy Thursday!

Funny of the Day.

"Mom! Do you know what Tuna and Oranges taste like together?"

"No, what do Tuna and Oranges taste like together?"

"Orangey Tuna!"

Happy Tuesday!

The Picture Project.

Monday...FHE treat-Green Ice Cream. Yummm.

Tuesday...The important papers went out in the mail to begin our adoption! The pink is the mailbox doggie's tongue. If you get the mail, he'll lick your hand.
Wednesday...Wheat. It's loverly! I love homemade wheat bread.
Thursday...2 kiddos playing with each other on the tramp.

Friday...Date night! We went to Cafe Rio for dinner then went to see Race To Witch Mountain.

Saturday...After the kids made up the tramp game (Poisonous ball) they had a picnic in the wind.

Sunday...Daniel and Isaac went to the Temple Dedication.

Happy Sunday!

Watch Out For The Poisonous Ball!

I love Spring Time!! My kids go outside to play and don't come in for quite a while. It might have something to do with the fact that they know I will put them back to work if they are in the house, but I like to think they just like to be outside.

So the fun begins when they are all on the tramp and make up a game. The game is called Watch Out For The Poisonous Ball.

They all jump around the tramp and can't stop. They all start with 3 lives.
If the ball touches them, they lose a life. When all their lives are gone. They die.

So sad. But it's keeping them busy. And off my clean floor!

Oh Darn!! Here they come!

A Baby Will Be Born.

Daniel, Isaac, Samuel, Ruthann and I are excited to announce.....

We have begun the process to adopt a baby domestically!!!

Don't worry, we are still going to China. We figure we have enough time until that actually happens that we can add another baby to our family in the meantime. If you know me at all, you know that I have always said that we wouldn't go to another country or do a domestic adoption. Our baby is in China. Well, she will be. But after a series of events in January and February, Daniel and I feel it is the right time to actually do this.


A baby will be born. And we will be ready.

A Leprechaun Letter.

I love getting school papers back from my kids that are personal. Every once in a while they will bring something home from school that just makes me laugh. This is one I got yesterday...

"Dear Mom and Dad,

I love you so much.

So can you by me a toy.

"Plees"! Love, Sam"

I guess since he loves us sooo much, he deserves a toy. His birthday is coming. That should take care of it!

I'm A Little Whine Pot

Short and Stout... Yesterday, towards the end of Sacrament Meeting, I could feel my blood sugar dropping. I ate a couple of glucose tablets and headed back to Primary right as the closing hymn started. I thought I was doing okay and then as Primary started, I realized I wasn't okay. I think it was completely missing the opening prayer even though the Sunbeam's mom was right there to help her. I kept giving wrong information and I didn't know how to correct it all. So I left the room right as our dear chorister started Singing Time. I saw Daniel in the hall, who knew I needed help, and started to cry. Sheesh. So with more glucose tablets and a granola bar and an offer from Daniel to go get me a cheeseburger (can I also get a diet coke with that?) I pulled it together and was feeling mostly better by my Sharing Time. Senior Primary went much better, thank you!!

The kicker is I get a stinking headache after my blood sugar comes back up. So with some Excedrin and a diet pepper I got through the day. Then last night I got up to check my blood sugar (not feeling great) and it was really low again. So this morning, to ensure I don't have this problem, I had this for breakfast...
Diet pepper and leftover cake. Oh Yeah! Don't tell me you're not jealous! I know you are. I did have a sensible breakfast before this one. Well, if you can call honey nut scooters sensible. I have a horrendous headache and lots of dirty dishes. Can I stay in my jammies all day? Please? I need some ambition. Maybe another bite of chocolate cake will do it for me!

Have A Marvelous Monday!

The Picture Project.

Monday...FHE. It was Ruthie's night for the lesson and she chose an activity...Sorry. This was the most maturely played game we have ever had in our house! I was so impressed!

Tuesday...Mom needed a nap and Ruthie made sure she got one. She gave me her own pillow and quilt to use.
Wednesday...I don't have a picture for Wednesday. So I put Ruthie in!
Thursday...My kids earn money. Every once in a while we go to a store with their money and they can buy what they want. Toy prices have gone up. These were $17-$22.00 toys. I love that it wasn't my money and they've been kept busy for days! And that's static causing Ruthie's hair to be like that!

Friday...I went to pick Ruthie up from preschool and brought a Leprechaun home instead!

Saturday...This deserves more than one picture! Daniel's brother called Saturday morning and said he had 8 tickets for Disney On Ice. Do we want them? Yes! Can we also take his 2 daughters with us! Yes! So we go and I get just a couple of shots and my camera memory gets full and then the battery dies. But we had a blast. Here's Pumba.

And here is a group shot after the lights went out. You can see our nieces well, and everyone else is in the dark. We had tons of fun watching the show. Thanks Uncle Stephen!

Sunday...This one gets 4 pictures. Today we celebrated March and April birthdays which means I had 2 cakes to make. First is Sam's. King Kong vs Godzilla! Do you like the volcano?

Sam loved the volcano and that he got to celebrate his birthday a month early!

Isaac got a Chewbacca cake. Please tell me you can see it's Chewie!

It actually looks like a dead muppet. But Isaac loved it and loved that he got a second cake!

Good Night and I hope you had a Super Sunday!