Life outside the city limits...

My little guy.

2009-12-30T17:42:00.000-08:00

He likes to eat Avacado, Rice Cereal and Bananas... (that is all I have introduced him too and he is starting to get pushy while the rest of us are eating)... Like I said he likes to eat!
He likes to roll over in his crib and talk to himself.
He likes to kick on the changing pad while I change his diaper.
He is passionate about his toys.
Pretty much anything that Miss D does makes him laugh or at least smile.
He got a few of his hairs trimmed by me cause he had some crazy long ones left over from birth.
He is almost sitting up on his own.
He is a pro at rolling over and over and over.
He as one teeny bit of the bottom right tooth in.
He is a drooling machine.
He nurses in under 7 minutes.
He is a bundle of smiles and joy!

Look who is 6 months!

2009-12-30T17:35:00.000-08:00

Cake Bites Gone WILD!

2009-12-21T18:44:00.000-08:00

Chocolate Cake Bites

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LEMON SUPREME CAKE BITES

Christmas Dessert Recipe

Delicious Cake Bites
Makes 40-50
Cake Bites

Recipe by Kathy Oaks and adapted by ME into LEMON SUPREME CAKE BITES

1 devil's food cake mix (substitute Lemon Supreme Cake Mix)

3 eggs

1 1/4 cups water

1/2 cup oil

1/4 cup butter(softened)

6 ounces cream cheese (softened)

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Milk, enough to make a good frosting (Substitute with a little bit of Lemon Juice and milk)

Dipping Chocolate
6 Cups Semi Sweet Chips
3T Shortening.

Melt together in a double boiler then remove from heat but keep the melted chocolate over the warm water to keep it warm while dipping.

Once dipped put the Chocolate cake balls on wax paper and let harden over night. They are DELISH! They taste like Hostess Chocolate doughnuts but more moist!

Make cake according to directions on box and bake as directed. While baking mix together butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk to make a frosting. When cake is done dump immediately into a large bowl with the cream cheese frosting (or store bought frosting) and mix it all together while still hot (it will be a little mushy). Refrigerate overnight. Roll into balls and dip in melted dipping chocolate. If balls are sticky I put them in freezer bags and flash freeze them until I'm ready to dip. They will freeze beautifully for months before they are dipped, just let them thaw for about 5 minutes before dipping to prevent cracking. Once cake bites are dipped do not refrigerate or freeze, just eat them!

*You can also use cream cheese frosting that you buy at the store.

**German chocolate cake mix mixed with German chocolate frosting and dipped in milk chocolate is also very tasty.

I didn't dip the lemon cake bites in chocolate ( but I'm betting that they would be crazy good dipped in White Chocolate)....as you may have noticed in the picture above. I made a glaze and put it into a ziplock bag and cut a tiny hole in the corner of the bag and piped the glaze over the cake bites.

GLAZE

powdered sugar

teeny tiny amount of milk

teeny tiny amount of lemon juice

keep adding the powdered sugar and the teeny amounts of milk and lemon juice until you get the desired consistency. It needs to be really thick or it will run down the sides and not be firm enough to set up and be pretty.

Also another hint to shaping the balls.... wash your hands numerous times through out the process because I found that clean hands made better balls.

ENJOY!

SIlly Angie

2009-12-21T18:29:00.000-08:00

Angie decided to get into one of Miss D's presents... Silly Angie. Truth is I actually wanted to get this game open and play it. I didn't beat it the 1st time but I had it the second time by 1 second. We I mean Miss D should have fun with this game.

Here is the next part of the story of Jesus…
The wise men kept following the star and at last they stopped over Bethlehem. The wise men found Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. They knelt down in front of Jesus and gave him presents that they had brought him.

Naughty Miss D

2009-12-19T12:22:00.000-08:00

.........and yes I scolded her for dissappearing on me. This is how I found her in the backyard.

and grab.

2009-12-19T12:20:00.000-08:00

The New Smash

2009-12-19T12:19:00.000-08:00

Snow in the SOUTH!

2009-12-18T18:28:00.000-08:00

Maybe we brought it with us?

Awe yeah....

2009-12-18T08:13:00.001-08:00

Check this one out...!!!

Check it out here too!

Fantabulous GIVEAWAY!

Angie day 4

2009-12-14T18:32:00.000-08:00

Good Morning Miss D, I have a special craft planned for us today! I’m hidden somewhere so you have to come and find me. I’ve got all of the supplies ready! Let’s hear some more of our story and then after BSF and your nap we will do our craft!

Let’s continue on with the story. Of the birth of Jesus...

Mary and Joseph are in Bethlehem and it is very crowded. All the rooms were taken. At last they found a stable and Joseph made a bed out of hay for Mary. There was animals all around them. I bet it was stinky in there. Mary and Joseph started preparing for baby Jesus to be born.

Angie Day 6

2009-12-17T20:45:00.000-08:00

Thank you for teaching me how to play Candyland! Can you believe that I won! You are a really good teacher. I be you are wondering what kind of fun we are going to have today? Well I know that you are going over to a friends house to play today right? Why don’t you bring me along and introduce me to your friends. I think that you are going to make Cinnamon Dough Ornaments and I would love if I could come and we could make one together. I’m so excited!

Ok I am going to tell you a little bit more of the story of baby Jesus…..

After baby Jesus was born there was some shepherds looking after their sheep on the hills near Bethlehem. Suddenly the sky shone bright with light. Don’t be scared, said an angel, “Go to Bethlehem, there you will a baby who is Christ the Lord.”

Angelcapades day 5

2009-12-15T20:50:00.001-08:00

Good Morning Miss D,

I loved the painting that you did last night! It was also neat that your daddy helped with one of the ornaments. You did such a great job! I think we should hang them on the tree today? Don’t you? Will you teach me how to play candy land today? I saw it in your closet yesterday while we were napping and I think that I would like to learn how to play it. After breakfast can we play? I also heard that you may be going to the post office today to send a package…..can I come with you? Thank you for taking me to BSF with you today. I had fun! I want to tell you some more of our story about Jesus… are you getting excited for Christmas?

Remember where we left off….

That night Mary's baby was born. She washed him and put him in the clothes she had brought. Joseph made a bed for him in a manger, full of hay. Mary laid him gently in it. He was a beautiful perfect baby boy and she named him Jesus. Just like the angel had told her to.

Angie the Angel day 2

2009-12-12T17:54:00.000-08:00

Good Morning Miss D. I hope you had wonderful dreams last night. Did you dream of your sister like you often do. I've seen her in Heaven and she can't wait until you get here so she can play with you. Ohhhh... and God told me to tell you He loves you SO VERY MUCH and he is so excited that you asked Jesus to be in your heart the other night at church.

Last night I peeked out of my pretty red box and saw that you had a bag of candy that you got from a birthday party that you went to yesterday. I was having a hard time deciding if I wanted to have some of your candy but I thought that I should ask you first. I thought that I would pick a piece of candy out for you and let's share it after your nap today. I'm hiding right now and I need you to come and find me... and I’m holding the treat and I kept it safe for you all night. I wanted to eat it so bad but I was PATIENT and waited for you to wake up. Here is a clue about where I'm hiding. Your Grammy bought you some new cereal last night and so where does your mommy keep the cereal? Did you guess... you better go and find me.....but wait....Before you come to find me let me continue with our story...

Mary was nervous about being a mom but she trusted in God. She was going to get married to a man named Joseph. He was a carpenter, that means he built tables and chairs out of wood. She told him about seeing the angel Gabriel and what he told her about the baby in her belly. Joseph was confused. Then he had a dream when he was sleeping one night. In his dream God told him that what Mary was saying was the truth. So Joseph trusted God that he should have Mary be his wife and be Jesus' daddy here on earth.

Now I'm going to go and hide Angie in her cute red box in the pantry next to the Oh's (She likes this cereal cause it doesn't get mushy... this girl LOVES herself a crunch)

I'm also going to pick out a piece of candy and put it in the box too.....

Angelcapades day 3

2009-12-13T19:17:00.000-08:00

I'm backing up my pictures right now and I think that I would screw it up if I tried loading pictures at the same time so pictures of our "Angelcapades" will have to wait... but here is the letter that Angie wrote to Miss D for tomorrow.

Good Morning Miss D,

I sure slept good last night. You were so cute when you got all sad cause you wanted to snuggle with me instead of put me to bed in my red box. But I'm glad you let me sleep in my box. I needed my sleep and since you were going to have a slumber party with your Grammy I would have woke up and maybe I would have been a grumpy angel....? Do you think Angel's are ever grumpy? Naw... we are always happy. That reminds me of a song that you sing...

I'm....

In right

Out right

Up right

Down right

Happy all the time.

Since Jesus Christ came in and cleansed my heart from sin...

I'm....

In right

Out right

Up right

Down right

Happy all the time.

I love to hear you sing. Now on to our fun for today. Do you like pink? I thought you did. Well I got you special present for your room that is pink. They usually hang on people's front door or on the window's outside for decoration at Christmas time. I dropped it off at the doorstep... run and see if you can find it.

But wait. Before you find me. I have to tell you more of the story...Do you remember what part of the story we left off at from yesterday?

So Mary and Joseph became husband and wife. They had to go register for their taxes. Back then they did not have cars. So Mary and Joseph loaded all their stuff up and rode a donkey into town. They took food with them and clothes for the baby. The long journey lasted days and they walked most of the way. When they reached Bethlehem it was full of people and Mary and Joseph could not find anywhere to sleep.

Christmas Tour of Homes

2009-12-13T19:19:00.000-08:00

( hey Nester... recognize those Callas...? I got them at your garage sale.)

Looks are deceptive!

2009-12-12T17:53:00.000-08:00

Baby D is just the happiest guy in the morning.... to bad the rest of his day looked NOTHING like this.

Teething much??!!!!!

Meet Angie the Angel

2009-12-12T17:30:00.000-08:00

I'm tweeking it a bit. We are going with an Angel that I named Angie....this is where her story begins.

Hi Miss D my name is Angie. My name means messenger of God. I wanted to come and visit you to help prepare you for Jesus' Birthday! He loves you and knows that you have been a good girl this year and he can't wait to celebrate with you with presents on Christmas Day. The reason I came was to remind you the true meaning of Christmas – the birth of Jesus. So everyday I am going to tell you a little bit more of the story of Jesus. You get to play with me all day long and then at night you have to put me in my little red box. At night I get a little silly and I will do fun things all over your house. I might even leave you some gifts or candy. It will be such fun for you to find me every morning. It is kind of like hide-n-seek. And I KNOW YOU LOVE hide-n-seek.

Oh I almost forgot...let's begin the story...Once upon a time, a long, long time ago there was a girl named Mary. God loved her very much. He sent an angel to visit her. The angels name was Gabriel. She was unsure at first but then Gabriel said not to be afraid because He was sent from God. Then he told her she had a baby in her belly that she was supposed to name Jesus.

I used bits and pieces of Infarrantly Creative's awesome letter to her son. Like I said above..... I just tweeked it a little.

Miss D was super excited this morning and had a great time with Angie today.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

Bake It Forward part 2

2009-12-11T06:14:00.000-08:00

I made another one of these... cause I've got goodies a plenty to make and I can't keep them here at the house for me to eat!!!

wanna win this...???

2009-12-09T21:27:00.000-08:00

Wanna win one of these......?????? then click here!

Picture Link

2009-12-07T09:38:00.000-08:00

Click here for pics.

here is a link to some fun Decemeber pics. I will keep this updated as new pictures are taken and loaded.

Merry Christmas all!

I got crafty.

2009-12-03T19:14:00.000-08:00

I had to go to Michaels to buy more Mod Podge and some of the resin and also some paper and some foam brushes.I also didn't have a circle cutter... so I was hoping that I could work that one out later. I ended up finding a bowl that matched the circle of the plate and using that as my guide. I didn't have any way to make sure if was centered so I just eyeballed it. Then I went out to the garage and found an exacto-knife of the hubby's and tracing around the bowl tuned upside down on his work bench. It was nice and sharp and cut greatly! But hey if I would have had that all on hand this wouldn't have been such a big start up cost. I think that I'm into the thing about $15.00. But there is SO much resin and glue left that over the next say 10 plates I do my cost will be hugely reduced! But it was a super easy project. I got a little crazy with the Mod Podge and it dried a little up on the plate so I'm hoping that I can go back and clean that up a little. I'm a novice you know! Also I could have used a little more resin. But I have NEVER used the stuff before and she wasn't super detailed about the amount of resin to use. I just went for it. Cause that's the kinda girl I am. I gotta do it so I can do it better the next time. I'm for sure going to head to Goodwill and try and find some more plates to do this with. Thanks Infarrantly Creative.... you rock!

1st's

2009-12-03T16:59:00.000-08:00

1st time actually paying for a Christmas Tree.

1st teething "poopcicle" (as put by miss d)

mmmmmmmmmmm feeties.

2009-12-03T16:50:00.000-08:00

Laughing Baby D

2009-12-03T16:31:00.000-08:00

Summer Family Wedding

2009-11-29T20:31:00.000-08:00