Playdough Cookies

Last night for Family Night, The kids and I did Play dough Cookies. Our Friends, The Sharps gave us 4 tubes of frozen dough for Christmas. Brooklyn and Easton loved it! The cookie dough even felt and smelled like play dough. I was a little nervous to eat it. The cookies were pretty good. We had a good time...Family Fun!!!!

Crazy Easton!

My crazy Easton! I needed to do a test photo for a shoot and Easton was happy to help. He was a little crazy face...it was bedtime hence the PJ's. These photos are Easton to the "T" he is our funny boy!!!!

Yummy Chocolate Chip Cookies

My friend, Natalie posted this awesome cookie recipe on her blog. I had to try it and I must say I will never use another Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe again. These are sooo good and soft and chewy. I added M&M's...they turned out awesome! I made them for my YW's lesson today. And Eric took some to his meetings. I have probably eaten 4-5 today myself...oops! I am making Eric take the rest to work tomorrow...if I don't I know what will happen to them tomorrow...and I just don't need a few extra pounds in my beehind! I doubled the recipe and it made 3 1/2 pan fulls.


Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 C plus 2 Tb flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

12 Tb butter, melted and cooled until just warm

1 C packed brown sugar

1/2 C white sugar

1 large egg, plus 1 egg yolk

2 tsp vanilla

1-1 1/2 C chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Adjust racks to upper and lower middle positions.

1. Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together and set aside.

2. Mix the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended.

Beat in egg, yolk and vanilla until combined.

Add the dry ingredients and beat on low until just combined.

Stir in chips to taste.

(My Note: I just made a ball and set it on the cookie sheet...I wasn't sure what a "scant" was and this twisting business what about! Don't push them down!)

3. Roll a scant 1/4 C of dough into ball.

Pull the ball into 2 parts and twist so the jagged parts are up, smoosh back together.

Place on cookie sheets.

4. Bake 15-18 minutes, switching racks 1/2 way through. This way you can do two pans at a time. Don't over bake...they will be barely brown on the edges...but they will finish baking while cooling.

Cool the cookies on the pan.

(makes about 12-14 cookies)

from The New Best Recipe cookbook

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A new lesson learned!

Eric's friend/coworker asked me to make him this logo out of vinyl for his sons room. Oh boy...what did I get myself into? First it took a while a create the file on Sure-Cuts-Alot (awesome program for Cricut users). Once that was done...cutting was the easiest part of all thanks to the Cricut!

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Then the fun part began...layering the vinyl on top of each other....my friend had warned me to be careful because vinyl on vinyl sticks very fast and strong...once down...it will not come off. So one black ring was lost immediately. So I cut another one...this time I was extra careful and put it down just right...then the big problem occurred...BUBBLES! I didn't even think about bubbles...I took the credit card and smoothed it out but still had ALOT of bubbles and it looked so bad...so again I had to cut out more vinyl. This time I googled..."Layering Vinyl without bubbles." Thanks to some awesome lady who had the same problem... I found my answer...Water! Who would have thought of that!

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So if you ever have to layer vinyl...this is how you do it. Spray the bottom layer with water and then immediately lay down the piece of vinyl...then quickly use your squeegee or credit card to smooth out the bubbles and water. Pull off the transfer tape and wipe dry. Make sure you rub it down really well...I had a few drops still come out after I wiped it dry. The technique WORKED GREAT! It was nice and smooth. I made a little mistake later and didn't use the water for one of the letters...thinking it was a little piece and I could do it without bubbles...well I should have used water...I have a few bubbles. So if you ever layer any vinyl...use WATER on all of it!

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So after wasting alot of vinyl and time...the project is done! LESSON LEARNED!

Why?????????????

WHY DOES MY SON DO THIS???????????

COME ON is it really that hard to get the toothpaste out???

And this happens over and over...toothpaste is a pain to clean up!

Kids will be kids!

My New Obsession!

Remember this...

I bought it for only $5 on the Wii Channel...and I love playing it! I can't get past level 8.2 (with warps of course). I use to play this ALL the time as a child and it has brought back so many memories...good times!

My poor kids always ask when they can have a turn...when I get sucked in... I am done! JK...Easton has plenty of time on the Wii! Eric has even told him if he sleep during sacrameeting..he can play the Wii when he gets home. The things Daddy's do...well Easton has slept for the last two Sundays! Today he woke up and the lights were out in the chapel and he was scared and walked out to find someone and told them that his parents left him. I felt so bad..he thought we went home and forgot about him...never!

Eric's way to say Thanks!

Eric's mom sent some clothes for Christmas!

This is Eric's way of saying Thanks!!!!

His Mom loved it...She emailed back this...

"Eric you are tooooo much.

Funny Kid!

Thanks for the photo shoot.

Love you Mom"

What a beautiful sight!

What a beautifulRAINBOW!

This morning, I drove out of the garage to see this breathtaking FULL RAINBOW! It was the brightest rainbow I have ever seen. It was pure beauty! I had to run into the house for my camera...I couldn't let the beauty pass without capturing it!
Rainbows are one of those things...that make you smile and appreciate everything that God has created for us! I love rainbows!!!

Who would wear this????

NOT ME!!!! Eric bought me a SNUGGIE for a late Christmas Gift. I thought I would give it a try even though I always thought they looked so dumb on TV. I gave it a good five minutes before it went back into the box to be returned! The fabric is THIN and CHEAP! I thought it would have been really thick and warm. No way! It is HUGE and just falls down. I looked like a giant blue whale! I can't believe that millions of people have spent money on these! All a snuggie is...is a cheap piece of fleece in the shape of a hospial gown or backwards robe!

I will stick to my robe...at least it will stay on and I can walk around with it. AND it is 100 times thicker and warmer!!!!! And it is cute...with hearts!

I'm "Mother"

So Easton has names for his parents...
I'm "Mother" and Eric is "Buddy"

That is just not fair! Eric got the better name!

"Mother" sounds so old. Especially the way Easton says it. And of course...I hear it hundreds of times a day!

I am going to start calling Easton..."Son!" See if he likes it!

My random thought...was I doing it right or wrong?

While cleaning...I had the thought...am I doing this right? At one of my jobs...I have noticed that everytime someone else puts on toilet paper or paper towels they put it on the opposite way that I do it. I know I am stupid for even noticing...but I do and sometimes I change it...the perfectionist in me. So I thought...maybe I was the one doing it wrong and would feel so embarrassed that me the cleaning lady didn't know how to put on the toilet paper right. So I looked it up tonight on whatelse..the internet...it is such an amazing tool..who needs a libraries now days! With one click I found this website, http://currentconfig.com/. It made me laugh...thought I would share my random findings...I've been doing it right! (I figured I was...but never hurts to double check)

Essential Life Lesson #1: Over is Right, Under is Wrong
"As part of our ongoing effort here at Current Configuration to make your life not only better, but also 10% more crunchy, we’re offering you this first installment of what will be an ongoing series of Essential Life Lessons. Kicking off this series will be a critical but even-handed examination of a common misunderstanding that occurs in a realm of many misunderstandings: the bathroom.

Put simply, there is a right way to hang the toilet paper, and a wrong way. Read on to determine the status of your own roll.

Toilet paper has a natural curve, a way of being that lends itself to certain orientations on the toilet paper spool.* If handled with skill and knowledge, it can provide an abundance of both sanitation and comfort, quilted together in each square of pillowy ply. If handled with clumsy ignorance, or worse, carelessness, it will beset the user with pain, filth, and frustration. Don’t let it end this way, with you curled on the tile floor of the stall, weeping in frustration, covered in wasted papier de toilette. To convince you, we’ve created some diagrams, harnessing the power of SCIENCE, to demonstrate the natural benefits of the over hanging method. First, we examine the optimal viewing benefits of the over hanging method.

Below are examples of the helpful and fruitful over-hung method on the left and the annoying and detrimental under-hung method on the right.

Notice the dramatic difference in the amount of visible toilet paper. Ironically, it is the over-hung toilet paper that has both the most visible free sheetage and the least amount of sheetage free from the roll to do it. Now, this may not seem like a big deal on its own, but in these extra sheets lies your undoing. Observe.

We here at Current Configuration, for the purposes of ease and expediency, do the one-handed tear (okay, really, it’s just me, but bear with me, er, us). The one-handed tear is a quick maneuver that takes advantage of the perforated squares, allowing your bundle of toilet paper to be liberated with one quick swipe of the arm. This is the foundation of bathroom ease, the cottony bedrock on which enjoyment rests in the restrooms of many nations.

The one-handed tear relies on a quick and forceful motion directed either away from or towards the tear-er. The forces applied in this motion are great and, like the atom, are not to be trifled with. The natural curve of the over-hung method allows the roll to stand fast after a one-handed tear, but the under-hung method creates a calamitous tendency in the roll. This tendency can only lead to this:

Wasted paper, frustration, the destruction of our forests. While we realize that it is possible to execute a one-handed tear on an under-hung roll, this is a game of sanitary Russian roulette. You are bound to lose eventually, and there is no re-rolling an unwound toilet paper roll. The results will only cause you grief. Don’t let this happen to you. Restroom attendants, janitors, maids, facilities crews, and responsible toiletowners take note: Don’t use the under-hung method for your toilet paper rolls. It leads to the destruction of our precious resources and the pillars of civilization as we know it!"

No name was listed on the site. http://currentconfig.com

Brooklyn's Photography Skills!

While in Southern Cali..Brooklyn snatched my camera out of my purse and did a little photo session with Natalie. She took around 30 photos of Natalie, Dolls, & Horses. She loves to take pictures...just like her mommy! She makes me smile!

Natalie and Brooklyn had a great time playing together...they loved playing house, dolls, pretend dogs, dressup... anything girly!

Note: Easton and Nicholas just loved playing Wii Mario Kart...We couldn't get them stop!

Our Southern Cali Trip!

We had a great time in Southern Cali after Christmas. Legoland was the first day and these are pictures from the rest of the trip. We stayed with our good friends, The Moffatts. They were fabulous tour guides and made us feel so welcome!

We spent the day at Newport Beach on New Years Eve! It was beautiful!!!! We had lunch at "Ruby's." on the pier. It was so yummy. We then went to the arcade and played some games. The kids loved getting tickets and winning their "prizes". (Which were all from all a dollar..so cheap but the kids loved them anyways). We then drove our car on the fairy to Bobia island. It was so pretty...if only I had a couple Million to buy a house there...it is so beautiful on the ocean!

We then went back to the Moffatt's for our New Years Eve Celebration! Julie made a fabulous dinner for us and then we played the Wii, the kids swam in the hot tub, and we roasted marshmallows smores & stayed warm by the fire. We had a great time sitting by the fire...kept us toasty warm! Then around 9:30 we headed inside and did a little celebration with the kids...we did the countdown but none of the kids got into it. They were all so tired that they just sat there and didn't even blow the noisy horns. Crazy. So we then put them to bed...well they put themselves to bed because they were so tired. It was nice! The adults then played the Wii-Mario Kart and watched a little bit of the New York Celebration on TV. It was a fun night with friends!

New Years Day...we spent the morning sleeping and relaxing and then Julie and I took the kids to see "The princess and the frog" and the guys went to see "Avatar". I really liked the movie. It was really cute. They had a pond/bridge structure by the theatre so we walked around that after the movie. Then we went back to the Moffatts and had dinner and chilled for the night. We visited and played more wii till our eyes couldn't stay open any longer!

We had a fabulous trip! Thanks again to Julie and Dan for opening their home to us! The kids had a great time playing with Nicholas and Natalie. I was so proud of my kids...they were well behaved most of the time and played really well with Natalie and Nicholas. Can't wait to go back to Southern Cali!

Look at that...I can't believe people eat those! Not me! Eric would love too!!!

My funny Easton...

Dan has this golf ball/tee...you have to move the globe around till the ball lands on the structure. Dan is awesome at it and can do it in less than a minute. I tried for two days and didn't want to give up...well it was the first thing I did on New Years Day...at 12:15 I finally got that dang ball on the tee! It was crazy hard...but I finally did it. Eric did it too...but the day before.. it didn't take him as long as me. I was relieved when I did it!!! I will always remember the first thing I did in 2010!

The waterfall was really loud...they all did the same thing without even knowing it!

The kids loved Wii Mario Kart & played it MOST of the time...but we had them try the Guitar Hero...it was a little hard for them...but they liked it.

FABULOUS TRIP!!!!!

Thanks again, Julie and Dan!

The Robot Ride!

Eric's Favorite Ride at LEGOLAND was the Robot Arm!

(Not sure what the real name was) It was really cool...you could pick your level of fun...Beginner, Fun, Really Fun, Fast, or Extreme! Brooklyn and I did "Fun!" She got a little scaried but liked it. Easton could only do "beginner"..he would have liked it "Fun" though! And then of course...ERIC...He picked "EXTREME!" I took video! It was crazy...I don't think I could have done it!

Check the video out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaFS1xB_Vx8

Eric has a robot like this at work...but smaller. So he was pretty excited to see it at the park. Eric also loved seeing the machines they make the legos out of...he is such an engineer!

Again..Legoland was awesome!