May 28, 2009 | Uncategorized
Well, we don’t have the swine flu going around… I was scared- we’d been at Riverfest and Chuck-E-Cheese, then E comes down with a fever of 103+ for the entire weekend. The doctor swabbed her throat and both she and J have strep. We opted for the shot, but she still has a fever (but it’s lower now.) Explains why J wanted chocolate pudding.
M came home and went right outside. E & J asked if they could catch some rays too and of course I said “Yes.” This is what I saw when I looked outside. Needless to say they had to strip to come in and get right in the bath. (And the dog was muddier than they were.) 
And now to be grossed out…
My tub AFTER I rinsed it when they got out. Guess we know what I’m doing tonight, and tomorrow…
May 24, 2009 | Recipes, Sweets
Patience is a virtue (and not one of my strongest qualities- ask my family) but chocolate helps.
The rain is back. Thank goodness it didn’t rain yesterday while we were at Riverfest. Scott’s cousin, Chris, was playing with Nik and Sam and his family sat with us and watched him play. It was so cute to watch Liam- “That’s my daddy!” he said with a big smile. So cute!
I am so wishing I had rain barrels installed. I think we wouldn’t have had to pay for city water for at least six months if we’d had them. I feel like we are in Seattle or London.
So the kids had become obsessed with clips they saw on KidZui of the newer version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Not my favorite movie. Why would they remake the original? Much better music. I love Johnny Depp most of the time, but let’s be real- he was the absolute freakiest in this movie as Willy Wonka. Ick. So, we had to go get the dumb movie for them last night to pacify the obsession and I think it’s backfired. They LOVE it and have already watched it twice. Great. Thus enter the patience…
So this rainy morning (more patience) I woke up to Jac asking for chocolate for breakfast. Chocolate pudding to be exact. I thought, well it does have eggs in it so it could be a breakfast food. We can’t do mixes here because of the food dyes (yes, almost ALL pudding mixes have yellow and/or red dyes.) But, this is an easy and inexpensive recipe (and tastes better too!)
I use the Gourmet’s Best Desserts cookbook’s recipe:
Chocolate Cornstarch Pudding
3/4 c sugar
1/4 c cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 c milk (I use whole organic)
2 egg yolks, beaten lightly
3 ozs of chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
In saucepan off the heat whisk together first three ingredients. Gradually beat in milk, egg yolks, and chocolate, mixing well. Put over moderate heat and bring to a boil (stirring constantly.) Boil one minute and add butter and vanilla. Pour into buttered ramekins or dishes. Cool and YUM!
May 18, 2009 | Uncategorized
Ahhhh,
Sunshine at LAST! What a beautiful weekend.
Cupcakes I made for Heidi’s wedding shower (photos thanks to Tony!)
Flavors included: Vanilla Bean with Lemon filling,
Chocolate Fudge with Vanilla Buttercream,
Spiced Carrot with Cream Cheese icing, and
Vanilla Bean with Amaretto Buttercream
Now I have to think about the wedding cake! (Actually it’s all I’m thinking about.) I am going to try some small trials because I wanted to do ruffles of fondant and haven’t done that before. I am not sure if white chocolate or fondant will work best…
We went to Hot Springs yesterday and had a great time.
(Except for waiting at Magic Springs for a long time again to get our season’s passes-
THE SECOND TIME!) I had ordered our tickets on the phone and they lost our paperwork. This time we did manage to get our passes made and leave- we wanted to do it before the park gets busy for the summer.
We also went to the Mid America Museum (the purpose of the drive) and had a picnic out front. I didn’t want to leave the picnic table it was so sunny and breezy! We have really missed the sun in central Arkansas lately.
A tip for anyone interested: if you have a science museum nearby- join! We have really made use of our memberships. Most science museums have reciprocal memberships with museums around the world. A family membership at Mid America Museum is only $65 for a year, and includes 3 kids and 2 adults. We can go there (or the Museum of Discovery here in Little Rock) for free the rest of the year. If we go to Memphis for the day the Pink Palace museum is free, Children’s museum is free. In Dallas the Natural History museum is free! This Spring Break we went to the several museums in San Antonio for free. When we drove to California two years ago we went to places all along the way for free! If we had to pay regular admittance it would have been at least $65 each time.
*We also join our zoo for the same reason.
J. watching the koi at Mid America Museum
Terrarium I made a few weeks ago and forgot to post a picture of!
(Unfortunately it’s not doing too well now, going to have to change the plants already.)
Today looks to be a gorgeous day also! Hope everyone has a great day.
Also congratulations to my lovely cousin, Molly on her graduation from Texas Women’s University! We love you and are so proud of you!
May 13, 2009 | Uncategorized
Today was my first trip back to an orthodontist in 21 yrs. Not for me, for my oldest cutie.
We got the bad/good news.
- Yes, she has to have braces (sucking your thumb for 9 yrs will do that to you)
- Insurance will pay $1000 of it
(Not going to tell you what they WON’T pay, but let’s say “YIKES!” and “I wish I’d gone to dental school.”)
- It will only take 22 months or so! (I had my stupid braces on for FOUR YEARS!)
- Rubber bands now come in an actual pallete of colors you can choose from.
- Spacers are now plastic and tiny. (No huge metal bands around your teeth that they hammer on.)
- No head gear! (Yes, I had to wear it but cheated and only wore it at night.)
May 12, 2009 | Uncategorized
I am NOT a “car person.” I can’t really tell one car from another, I guess because I really just don’t care in the end. I’d rather be walking or riding bikes, but reality is that I live in a city and have a family of five. My kids attend school and activities in another city so what can I do? I was really hoping that in the years since we bought our last mini-van (used then of course but a ’99) that things would have progressed and I’d get a vehicle with much better gas mileage.
Ahem. Nooooooo!
Mini-vans today (even brand new) get MAYBE one or two miles more per gallon than my old one! So, with many repairs in the future of the old Winstar we bit the bullet and bought a “new” used vehicle anyway.
My Mother’s Day Gift (Thanks, babe!)
It is really swanky compared to our old mom-mobile- 2 DVD screens, wireless headsets, everyone has their own sunroof and air control (and light like on an airplane!) Thanks for the great deal, Marc!
I think we’re spoiled already! I only hope that President Obama will take all this into consideration when he’s doling out tax-payer money to car manufacturers that don’t manage their companies well. I know that large vans still get the same gas-mileage that they did in 1977. Mini-vans haven’t made progress since at least 1990. What is wrong with this picture? Hopefully by the time I need a new mini-van (and yes, I will have to get another one since I have 3 kids and a large dog and even though car seats will go away they will only be replaced with long legs!)
Hopefully there will be hybrid or electric mini-vans soon…
A funny for you…
My tub AFTER I rinsed it when they got out. Guess we know what I’m doing tonight, and tomorrow…
