I am alive!

Last post on my blog- April 10. PATHETIC! I think about posting but I get overwhelmed as to where to start. Catch up from the last post? That task seems daunting. So I will start with today... and go from there.

I have actually been accomplishing things today, and it feels fantastic! It is a beautiful day outside which is a big motivator. When the sun is shining, Kate has more energy- simple as that. And that energy needed to be used on the basement. Our house has a huge storage area. That is good. Since we moved in in October, all of the junk we have has been piled in that huge storage area- untouched. Until today. I tackled one room. Still a long way to go, but my holiday decorations are organized. I also did several loads of laundry and cleaned bathrooms.

I wanted to share a recipe I got off of Pinterest. For those of you who don't know what Pinterest is, it's a virtual bulletin board. You can create the boards you want and pin things you like to your boards. It can be a huge timewaster, of course, but I have found so many wonderful ideas on it along with lots of recipes- a few of which I've actually made. So I'll leave today with a recipe I tried tonight. We all gave it a thumbs up. But I think the only way to eat it is by piling lots of vanilla ice cream on top!

CROCKPOT CHOCOLATE LAVA CAKE

 For the cake:

*2 cups brown sugar

*2 cups flour

*6 T unsweetened cocoa powder

*4 tsp baking powder

*1 tsp salt

*1 cup milk

*4 T butter, melted

*1 tsp vanilla

For the fudge topping:

*1 1/2 cups brown sugar

* 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

*3 cups boiling water

For the cake- Mix together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Stir in milk, melted butter, and vanilla until combined. Spread the batter over the bottom of a large greased crockpot.

For the fudge topping- Mix together the brown sugar and cocoa. Sprinkle mixture over the cake batter. Pour the boiling water over the top. DO NOT STIR!!!!!! Cover and cook on high for 2-2 1/2 hours. Cake will be very hot! Turn off heat and remove lid. Let sit 20-30 min. before serving, so it's still warm but won't burn your mouth. Enjoy!

Goodness

Wow! Sometimes I look on here and see how long it's been since I've posted that I feel like giving up : (
Where do I even start? It's been so long since I've posted, and it makes me sad...sad that I don't make time for it...don't feel like I have time... whatever the excuse may be. Life has been a roller coaster lately, and I want to get off. It feels like I just run from one thing to the next and there's no down time. My brain is on overload. I read someone's Facebook post the other day. It said, "I'm bored." This was an adult with children. Really? Bored??? I can't remember the last time I was bored. 
I would love to attach a picture with this post but I currently have appr. 800 pics on my camera and most of those haven't even been downloaded on my computer yet.
So where do I start? I guess with the present. And we'll go from there.
* Bradley's first spring league game was today. The wind was ridiculous-even with that my boy came close to a home run over the fence! Gary is helping to coach the team. Spring league lasts 6 weeks and freshman baseball is the entire month of June.
*Gary is coaching Brennan's ball team as well. We are the Pirates (in honor of Uncle Dan). First game is April 26.
*I just booked our hotel in Arlington Virginia for our vacation to Washington DC this summer!!!!! We will head out on Friday July 8, arrive in Pittsburgh on Saturday to visit my brother- unfortunately the girls will be gone on a family reunion so we probably won't see them- go to a couple of Pirates/Cubs games, and head to DC on Monday morning. We will stay there for the week and drive home on Saturday and Sunday. I am so thankful to be able to do this trip. The boys are at great ages for remembering, and I hope they will enjoy all of the history involved! My family took a vacation there when I was about 9, and I still remember quite a bit from that trip.
*I hate subbing in kindergarten.
*I am exhausted. And another busy week begins. No promises, but I hope to be back sooner this next time. Lots of pictures need to be shared- lots of life needs to be documented before I forget it all... because after all, as my husband just recently told me, "I won't know when you get Alzheimers because it will be no different than what it is now."  Thanks honey, sad but it's true.

I'm in love...

with this woman's website

This is Bakerella- she's amazing- I believe I've shared her blog before, but if you've never checked it out, you must.
Anyway, in my Valentine spirit, I was looking for more red and pink goodies I could make. And just in the nick of time, she posts this...  Valentine's treat ideas   Now which one to start with is the question?

Brennan's valentines this year

I'm working on Brennan's valentines for next week. I saw this idea and thought it was absolutely adorable, and Brennan liked it too, so we gave it a try. Here's our take on it. His only stipulation was no cutesy sayings- just "Happy Valentine's Day from Brennan" so that's what we did.  I love how they came out!

If you want to give them a try, just take a photo with their arm outstretched in a grip. Make sure the arm is off to the side a little so the sucker doesn't hide their face. Then add your text. I printed 4 per page- about 3x5 size. Then just use an exacto knife to cut a slit at the top of the fist and the bottom and slip the sucker in the slits!

This and That

Ahh... February already- a little closer to spring! I say that after one of the biggest snowstorms in decades just blew through the Midwest. Thankfully for us here in Des Moines we didn't get it nearly as bad as many around us. We ended up with about 7 inches of snow and only missed 1 day of school for the kids. It's supposed to be in the 30's this weekend, so we're headed into a heat wave!

Illness won't seem to stay away from us! I got a call from school around noon today (the third one this year!) that Brennan was running a slight fever and wasn't feeling well. He ran a low grade fever all day, but felt OK the rest of the day. Tonight, however, I heard the coughing increase. I'm not sure if that's a sign of something or not. He was quite sick a month ago with a high fever for 3 days- he was tested for flu, mono, and strep but all came back negative. I had Bradley at the Dr. on Monday. He has been fighting a cold for a few weeks now, but over the weekend, the cough got really bad. Sure enough, Mom's suspicions were correct, and he was diagnosed with bronchitus. Azithromyacin was prescribed, however by Tuesday night he had developed a horrible red itchy rash. We stopped that and now he's on another antibiotic. He was perking up and feeling better, however today, was feeling kindof crummy again. Germs, germs, go away!!!!

After a whole lot of research, I bought one of these with my Christmas money...

and I absolutely love it! Now this was definitely a big purchase for me for a couple of reasons. 1) It was pretty expensive and 2) I love paper- I wasn't sure I would want to give up "real" books for the e version. That's kind of how I feel about scrapbooking. I am intrigued with digital scrapping but I like to fondle paper too much! So I wasn't sure if I would use this enough.
I chose a Nook over a Kindle for a couple of reasons.
I liked the Color aspect.
I like the fact that many libraries have books you can "check out"- I still haven't looked into this, but I know it's an option.
I can buy magazines and newspapers as well as books. I'm not really a newspaper gal, but I do like a good magazine!
I was told by the rep at Barnes and Noble that they will have an app store coming out later in the year for the Nook! Yeah!!

I love being able to read in bed at night without having to turn on my lamp.
I love being able to stick it in my purse and take it with me.
I love being able to access the internet when there is Wi Fi since I don't have a web enabled phone.
I have enjoyed being able to be reading several books at a time, and normally I DO NOT do that.
I love surfing the store and putting books on my wish list. It is very difficult sometimes to exercise self control, however when you simply have to just push the "buy" button without ever having to get out your checkbook (of course, your credit card is on file!)

I have made a goal to read 20 books this year. I should have no problem meeting this goal- in fact I probably do that in any given year, however I don't think I've ever kept track before. This year I hope to keep track. I just finished this one last night, and it was a great read- so here is book number 1-

I am definitely a biography/autobiography kind of girl. I am hoping, however, to expand my horizons a bit this year, so my 20 will include some different genres- hold me to it!
In summary, Mary Beth Chapman is the wife of Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman. I would have to say he has been my all time favorite Christian singer- what an amazing testimony that has stood for decades. I remember seeing him in concert in my first year of college, and have been enamored with him ever since. Anyway, the Chapmans have adopted 3 little girls from China, but in May of 2008, their 5 year old daughter Maria, was hit by a car...driven by their 17 year old son Will Franklin. Will Franklin did not see his sister run into the path of his SUV. The book is powerful and gripping as Mary Beth is so transparent about how their family has dealt with the tragedy, and continue to give God the glory during this storm in their lives. I spent a couple nights staying up too late reading, not wanting to put it down!

I'm slowly trying to start decorating around here. I had Gary hang some things up on the wall the other night. That definitely helps the place to look more cozy. Window treatments are definitely on the list! And paint... builders grade paint doesn't do the job for long, so I'm getting ready to paint (UGH!!) I HATE to paint. I'm starting with the tutoring room first, then planning to tackle the main bathroom. We'll see how long those two tasks take me!

I'm back to Snap working out again. I stopped completely in Nov. and Dec. and it took me a couple of weeks into January to get back on the bandwagon. It's hard to drag myself out on cold nights (and cold mornings don't happen!!!), but I'm trying. I'm trying to log 10 miles per week on the treadmill. I'm hoping to up that as the weeks go on, but that's enough of a stretch for now since 4 times per week is about the max I get down there.

Well I've blabbered enough for now. I need to get to bed since I've been up late reading the last few nights. Now if only I can leave my fully charged Nook off so I can get a good night's sleep...

It's almost Valentine's Day!

I love Valentine's Day! It ranks up there as a favorite holiday along with the 4th of July. I love decorating for Valentine's Day and baking things for Valentine's Day- that's why I signed up for small group treats on the 13th of this month and I always try to sign up for bringing treats for Bren's Valentine's parties. I saw a cute idea on someone's blog to do a Valentine countdown using $ store materials. So here was my  take on the project- using all items from the $ Tree or things I had on hand!
Brennan saw me working on it and was so excited! He kept asking me when it was going to be done, and when the hearts would be filled. I actually had to put a couple of pieces of tape on each of the hearts to keep him from opening them up early!

 The stand, the round pizza pan, the hearts, and ribbon at the bottom are all from the $ Tree. I covered the pan with some scrapbooking paper I had. I used my scrapbooking stuff to put the numbers on each of the hearts, andd then used an acrylic sealer over them. I hot glued the bottom of the hearts to the pan, and then used some stickers, etc. to decorate.

 The title is made out of some acrylic letters I had and they are also hot glued to the edge of the pan.

Each of these hearts open up. I filled them with candy, change, and dollar bills. As I said, I had to tape the sides of each one to keep him out of them before the day they are to be opened!  It was so fun to get crafty again! It has been on hold for several months while I have been in moving chaos.

is this how you feel about New Year's resolutions?

Delicious snack

We are trying to eat a little healthier around here. Gary is in a weight loss competition at work, and is working diligently to take off pounds that accumulated during his CPA study months. I let my Snap Fitness membership at the end of last year as things got crazy with moving, Christmas, etc. but as of Sat. I've renewed it and back at working out.
Anyway, Gary brought this recipe home from one of his nutrition classes. It is really good!! It stays nice and moist and quick to put together- both of the kids like it so that's an added plus!

Six Layer Nutrition Bar

2 cups oats
1 cup honey
1 cup milled flaxseed
1 cup 100% healthy Whey Protein (chocolate)
1 cup Skippy Natural peanut butter
1 cup chocolate chips

Spray a 9x13 pan with PAM. Combine oats, honey, flaxseed, protein powder, peanut butter, and chocolate chips together in a large bowl. Mix with spoon or mixer until all ingredients are mixed well. Press mixture into prepared pan. Bars will remain soft and slightly gooey.

the newest member of our family

Although I'd love to tell you that we got another cat, that, unfortunately is not the case- and there will be no more Hydorn babies unless God chooses to play a little joke on us : ) , but I am very happy to welcome this one into the fam- an Oldsmobile 88 for Bradley!

For those of you who don't live in Iowa, our state allows 14 year olds to get school permits- yes, drive to school ALONE!! Now, that never seemed like a big deal to me... until MY BABY turned 14. And he certainly didn't seem old enough to drive, let alone drive ALONE somewhere. Thankfully, he turned 14 last January, and we were having an awful winter. There was no way this anxiety-ridden mother was going to let my baby drive for the first time on icy snowy roads. So he had to wait until spring break to get his permit. His dad is much more relaxed and at ease when Bradley's behind the wheel than I am. He encouraged him to drive whenever the opportunity allowed it (which is good- I just can't take credit for having the same attitude!).

Any of you parents know that being an on-call taxi service takes a lot of time. Between all of his sports practices, school activities, early morning agilities, student council meetings, etc, etc, etc, I was soon looking forward to him having his school permit. And I was feeling more comfortable with his driving abilities.

Having just built a house, extra money is not exactly rolling in at the moment. And we had a limit for what we wanted to spend... which was not a whole lot. I don't feel a brand new teenage driver needs an expensive car that could likely be dented up in the Indianapolis Speedway  school parking lot. 

He finished drivers ed at the beginning of Dec. and we got the school permit over Christmas break. It was nice for him to be able to drive the van to his 7 AM practices during Christmas break so that I didn't have to get up!!!

He turned 15 on January 7. And on January 8, we got lucky and found this guy. We have a trusted used car place that we bought our Buick at. Several of our friends have purchased from him, and trust him. We drove through the lot to see what he had. We spotted an older Buick and took it for a test drive. It was OK and would have been perfectly acceptable for his needs. After we brought that one back, the salesman pointed this one out to us. It was only $500 more, much cleaner, only 78,000 miles, and drove wonderfully. We were sold.

Bradley was thrilled and shocked when we drove up with it. Not a chick magnet by any means, but it's a nice solid, decent sized, well priced vehicle that hopefully will last into his college years!!!

My 2010 project

If you were around a year ago, I shared a project I intended to complete during the year. See blog post here Well, today I finished the last month!! It is pretty simplified. I did the base of the album the first of the year, and then put pictures from each month in its own folder on my computer. I created the collages in Picassa when I had some free time, and there it is! But I love the results. The right side has a folder for each month and I stuck in movie stubs, programs, school projects, etc. that were applicable. This past year I did less scrapbooking than I have since I started this hobby 14 years ago. I'm happy I at least kept up with this project. 2011 I plan to make up for my lack of scrapbooking during the past year. I have been done in my room these past couple of days getting 2009 (yes, you heard that right) pictures in order. A couple of days ago, I uploaded 1600 2010 pictures to Shutterfly and ordered almost 400. I am determined to get caught up with the last 2 years of pictures during this next year. I'll update you on that goal next January!

And here it is- all 12 months...





January

 



February





March





April





May



June








July





August




September




October




November






December

 

Another good banana recipe

Bananas have always been my favorite fruit from the time I was little. But I am a finicky banana eater- as soon as any brown spots begin appearing, I don't like them anymore. That means I have a lot of bananas that don't get eaten in time... hence the need for a lot of good banana recipes.

I made a double batch of these things a few days ago... and they're gone. Granted everyone likes them especially Bradley and I. They are very filling- a dense muffin, but fairly healthy, unless you put in twice the amount of chocolate chips like I do : )

Banana Chip Oat Muffins

1 cup quick cooking oats
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg
2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

In large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. In a small bowl, beat butter and brown sugar until crumbly. Beat in the bananas, egg, applesauce, and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips.
Coat muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray or use cupcake liners. Fill 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

1 muffin equals 218 calories.

Having total fun with this site!

I have been looking through all of the favorites on my computer- cleaning things up a bit, and came across this site in my "photography" folder- fun and easy! Easy Photo Collages! I've only made one so far- a collage of Bradley and Madi for his room, but there will be definitely more to come... especially if I have a snow day tomorrow!

kitties make everything better

I got a call from school yesterday to come and pick Brennan up. He was running a fever and ached all over. When we got home, I got him all snuggled in on the couch. When I came back into the room, this is what I found...

We call her "the nurse." I don't know if it's just because she's a female, but she just really seems to care about how we're feeling. And she especially watches out for her Bren. She loves him, and he can snuggle, hold, manipulate, and squeeze her like none of the rest of us can... and she doesn't mind a bit. When he fell asleep later in the afternoon, she perched on the cushions right above him watching out for him. It was so precious.
I took him to the Dr. today. Still running a fever and not feeling any better. He was complaining of a sore throat this morning, so I thought maybe it was strep throat. That test came back negative and so did the mono and flu test. The Dr. did verify it was viral, but that's all we know. So while my dad and his wife and Gary all headed to Boone tonight to watch Bradley (who turned 15 today!!!) play basketball, Bren and I are chilling at home.

And these two have now found a new spot to take their naps. Maizy has been very interested in the laundry room for the past couple of weeks- wandering in there while I'm washing and drying, snooping in the open dryer door, and making a little nest in a dirty laundry basket. Usually she is the one to copy him, but I think he liked her idea as this was the extent of their afternoon...

And yes, they are lying on the CLEAN piles... If they weren't so darn cute...

a banana bread recipe you must try

I believe this recipe came from the blog I just shared with you. I already had a great banana bread recipe which always got wonderful feedback when I took it somewhere, but the streusel topping got me on this one. And it is FABULOUS!! The bread consistency is better than my old one as well. If you give it a try, let me know what you think!

Streusel topped banana bread


Makes 3 mini loaves


1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup mashed bananas (3 small overripe)
2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted


streusel
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon


1) Grease 3 mini loaf pans.
2)Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl.
3) Beat bananas, eggs, sugar, and butter in large bowl until smooth. On low speed, gradually beat in flour mixture. Divide batter among prepared pans.
4) Streusel- Mix flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon in small bowl. Cut in butter until small crumbs form. Sprinkle over batter.  NOTE- I actually let the bread cook for about ten minutes and then put the streusal on so it would not brown too fast.
5) Bake in oven 30 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
6) Cool bread for 10 minutes.