Jump

Baby Girl's cheer group finished the semester with a performance for the parents and a performance at a local nursing home. This was her first semester participating in this afterschool program and she loved it. And for the record, it was crazy hair day at school that day. I don't normally send her to school with two ponytails, a braid and a bow. Really.

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Brownie Bottom Pudding Pie

I wanted a yummy dessert this Sunday afternoon so I took a look at what I had in the pantry. After taking inventory of what I had on hand, I did a quick search online. I adapted this from a recipe I found on kraftfoods.com. The original recipe called for making the brownie from scratch but I had a brownie mix on hand and just used that. I had a family size brownie mix so I divided the batter. I put half in the pie plate and half in an 8x8 pan.



To make this you need:
1 small package brownie mix
1 box instant chocolate pudding mix
1 container cool whip or whipped cream
1 chocolate bar(optional)

Mix brownies according to package directions. Spread batter into a 9 inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 22-28 minutes or until middle is set. Cool completely.

Mix pudding according to package directions. Pour over brownie in pie plate and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to let the pudding set.

Top with cool whip or whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Serve and enjoy.

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A Fish Tale Or How Long Can A Fish Survive Out Of Water?

Meet Sunny.

Sunny was at the center of some amazing drama in this house on Friday night. It was bedtime and I walked into Baby Girl's room to do the bedtime storytime/snuggles/kisses routine. I reminded her to feed Sunny and at the same time turned to look at the fish bowl only to notice that Sunny was nowhere to be seen. I looked from a different angle, thinking perhaps Sunny was just behind the little treasure chest. No Sunny. I got the little net and gently turned the chest on it's side thinking Sunny may have swam through one of the holes and was trapped under it. No Sunny. At this point Baby Girl and Sister Girl were quite alarmed and we began looking outside the bowl since it was obvious Sunny was not in the bowl.

The bowl sits on top of a bookshelf but Sunny wasn't on top of the bookshelf. We looked in the floor. No Sunny. We looked at the shelves. No Sunny. I then moved the bookshelf out from the wall and there, belly up, tail slightly curved to the right, lay Sunny. There was not a sign of life. No movement. Nothing. My heart sank. I said, "I'm so sorry but it looks like Sunny died." Baby Girl began to sob hysterically and ran to my arms. Sister Girl was crying as well. So I sat on the floor with Baby Girl in my arms rocking her back and forth while I rubbed Sister Girl's back as she sat beside me crying softly. Baby Girl kept saying, "But I took good care of my fish. Why did it die?" And I just kept reassuring her that she had taken excellent care of her fish but it was just an accident and Sunny had somehow managed to jump out of the bowl. It was all very sad.

And then as Baby Girl began to calm a bit we heard it. It was quiet but we all heard that little "flip" sound. Baby Girl yelled, "It moved!" And sure enough, Sunny was no longer lying there belly up, tail slightly to the side but was now lying on it's side. Sunny was alive! I grabbed the net and quickly scooped up and returned Sunny to the fish bowl. Sunny zipped and darted around clearly so happy to be back home and able to, you know, breath. The girls are convinced it is nothing short of a miracle that Sunny is with us. We have absolutely no idea how long Sunny had been out of the bowl. As for the why of it all, I'm wondering if the water had gotten too warm. We didn't have the air on and it was about 81 degrees in the house that day and Baby Girl's room gets a good bit of sun. We will be more careful about that in the future. We'll definitely be keeping a close eye on our little escape artist. And we are very glad, that in the end, we have a happy fish tale to tell.

Sunshine On My Shoulders

We've had incredible weather the past few days. Beautiful, warm, sunny days that demand time spent outdoors working in flower beds, riding bikes, taking walks, & washing cars. Spring perfection! After dropping the girls off at school this morning, I was driving down a stretch of road where the sun was streaming through the trees bathing everything in a warm golden glow. It was glorious! And I realized that at that moment the song playing was Sunshine On My Shoulders. The Man had apparently put my John Denver CD in while cleaning my car the day before so the girls and I had been listening to it on the way to school. The beauty of God's creation and some of my favorite music coming together in one amazing moment. What a lovley start to my Monday. Wishing you sunshine on your shoulders today.

Sunday Scripture

Photo by Ian Britton

1 John 4:10-11 (NIV)
10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Wordless Wednesday-Spring Showers

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Zesty Pasta Salad

With the warmer weather, I'm getting ready for grill season. We had planned to grill out this past Sunday but rain prevented us from doing so. Even with baked chicken, our meal was light and summery thanks to this yummy pasta salad.

Zesty Pasta Salad

1 box Rotini pasta

1 container grape tomatoes

1 bunch broccoli

1 small can sliced black olives

1 bottle zesty italian dressing

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, rinse and let cool. While pasta is cooking/cooling slice grape tomatoes in half, cut broccoli into bite size pieces, drain and rinse black olives. Toss tomatoes, broccoli, olives and dressing with pasta. Chill for at least 2 hours. Serve and enjoy.

For more tempting recipes stop by Blessed With Grace.

Sunday Scripture

Photo by Ian Britton

Revelation 4:11 (NKJV)
11 You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created.

Saturday Afternoon

It's a beautiful day here in my part of Kentucky. The sun is shining and it's so warm. We've been out enjoying it while we can. Cool temperatures and rain are moving back in tomorrow. It's supposed to be short lived though which makes me happy. I'm ready for weather like today's all the time. We ran some errands earlier today and then came home and headed outside. The girls just had to enjoy some water play. We pulled out the water guns and soon they were both soaked.




I was having a grand old time chasing them around and snapping pictures. And then it all went terribly wrong..........they turned on me.

An airshow is going on nearby today. We live close enough that we get flyovers from the jets that are participating in the show out here. No need to drive there and fight the crowd.

And since I never got around to sharing our Easter, I'll leave you with a picture of the girls in their dresses. It was a wonderful day.

I hope your day has been as lovely as ours. Happy Weekend!

WW-Spring

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Mini Cheesecake Easter Baskets

I was looking for a yummy but also fun recipe for dessert to go along with Easter dinner. I came along the recipe for these cute little cheesecake baskets at kraftfoods.com. I altered the items used to decorate the basket using things I had on hand as well as what I thought would make it cute.

To make these you need:

2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese-softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

12 Nilla wafers

1 cups flake coconut(tinted green)*

decorations-original recipe calls for jelly beans and red licorice. *

12 baking cups

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs; beat just until blended.

Place vanilla wafer on bottom of each 12 paper-lined muffin cups. Spoon cream cheese mixture evenly over wafers.

Bake 20 minutes or until centers are almost set. Cool. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. Top evenly with coconut and decorate. Store in refrigerator.

* I used SweetTarts bunnies & chicks, Cadbury mini chocolate eggs and Air head sour belts to decorate the tops. I cut the sour belts in half lengthwise and then cut about 1/4 of them off to make them the right size for the basket handles.

* Place coconut in ziploc bag or covered bowl. Place a few drops of green food coloring in and shake until coconut is evenly tinted.

These were a hit with the family.

These little cheesecakes are incredibly versatile. When you don't want to make the baskets you could just eat them plain or top them with fresh fruit, lemon curd or drizzled chocolate. You can also substitute the crust with a different round cookie like Oreos.

For more great recipes be sure to check out Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays at Blessed with Grace.

Easter Sunday Scripture

Matthew 28:1-7 (NKJV)

1 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it.
3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.
4 And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.
5 But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
6 He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
7 And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”

He is risen!

Good Friday

Romans 5:7-8 (New King James Version)
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Thank you, Jesus, for your Amazing Love.

It's Good to Go Home

This week has been a blur of recovery from last week's Spring Break and preparations for the Easter holiday. I wanted to take a moment to share a few pictures and memories from our last half of Spring Break while the memories are still fresh. And with me, that means I'm quickly running out of time to do it. Last Thursday we began our trip to Alabama to visit the family. I was a bit anxious as strong storms were in the forecast all the way from Kentucky to Alabama and was hoping we wouldn't spend the whole day driving in the rain. Thankfully the day started out bright and sunny. By the time we reached Bowling Green the clouds were moving in but the rain continued to hold off. We were able to stay just ahead of the storms through most of Tennessee although once we were south of Nashville it seemed were were just barely ahead of them. There would be severe thunderstorm & tornado warnings announced on the radio for areas we'd just been in 20 or so minutes before. We hit rain near the Alabama state line as the first round of storms had already started moving through. About an hour from my parents we got caught in in a big one. Rain like I've never seen.....truly a toad strangler. Throw in thunder, lightning and high winds and you've got yourself a good time. I couldn't see the road at all and pulled over to the shoulder by sheer feel. Thankfully I was in a flat area and knew that even if I went further than the shoulder I wouldn't land in a ditch or anything. As the rain eased up a bit I pulled back on the road and continued to inch along at 15 miles an hour. I really don't enjoy driving in weather like that. I can just feel the muscles in my neck and shoulders drawing up as I do. The girls were pretty freaked out by it all. Sister Girl spent the entire duration praying. Baby Girl later told me she was too scared to even pray. Poor kid. Thankfully we drove out of it and it was clear the rest of the way to my parents' house. It was so nice to get there.


My mom and I are huge ER fans and I am so glad we were able to watch the final episode together. I was really so pleased with how they ended it. I've watched it from the beginning and it felt like a very appropriate ending. Oh, how I miss it already. Mom had to work a half day on Friday so the girls and I spent the morning hanging out with my Dad. He had promised to take them on their first fishing trip while they were there so the girls spent a good part of the morning practicing how to cast. Dad took the time to show them how to properly cast just like he did with my sister and I when we were little girls. In fact, they used our very own kid size fishing poles.

My sister and nephew arrived that evening. Her birthday was the weekend before so we celebrated with cake and presents. I'm a good sister, so I won't tell her age. I'll just say that she is the older sister. Heehee!


Saturday morning arrived with great anticipation of the upcoming fishing trip. We loaded up the kids, the food, the various fishing paraphernalia and we were off. After a quick stop to get the appropriate liscenses and permits, we soon arrived at the fishing destination. Baby Girl insisted that at the tender age of just 5, she was much too young to touch the worms. My dad is a good Papo and baited the hooks himself. I'm pretty sure I had to bait my own when I was a kid. Just sayin'.

The fish were clearly feeling lazy or perhaps they are smarter than we think and were fleeing for their lives. Either way, it was not a great day for catching fish. The kids grew bored after not getting a nibble after about 15 minutes....an eternity for a kid, you know. One by one, they began to explore the creek banks, eat snacks, etc. They spotted the beach area so my mom took them over there to play while my sister, dad and I continued to fish.

But never fear, there were a few fish caught before our day ended. Only 4 actually. It was a catch and release kind of day. I caught this one which, while impressive to look at, is apparently not a good fish to eat. But still.....

And my sister caught one......

My dad caught a couple. I missed a picture of him with a big bass because I was over at the beach taking pictures of the kids. Oops! Sorry dad.

That afternoon we took the kids to have Spring pictures made by my mom's favorite local photography studio. She usually does this once a year or so. For several years she did Christmas photos but we decided to skip this past Christmas and do Spring pictures instead. The kids looked so cute in their outfits I insisted on taking a few myself.

Unfortunately the trip ended too soon. We had a wonderful time visiting with my parents, sister, nephew and G.G. The drive home was much easier than the drive down. We're happy to be home but always look forward to our next trip to Sweet Home Alabama.

Building A Better Blog

I'm learning to be a better blogger this month. I just signed up to participate in 31 Days to Build A Better Blog. This started Monday, April 6th but you can jump in anytime. You receive your lessons via email and each one contains a task for the day as well as some brief teaching to help you implement that task. If you'd like to join me, you can sign up here. And if you do decide to participate as well, leave me a comment and let me know. We can help each other out and keep each other accountable.

Wordless Wednesday-Cousins

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What's All The Hullabaloo?

We recently discovered the game Hullabaloo. It's a sort of crazy take on the classic Twister game. You are instructed to make different moves, say silly words, and do funky dances throughout the game. There are lots of different combinations so the games are always different.

My girls absolutely love this game but to be perfectly honest with you, The Man and I do too. With this game there are lots of laughs and silliness in abundance which suits our family perfectly.

We enjoy board games but this game definitely ups the fun factor.

And if you win, you are encouraged to do a funky victory dance. You can see Baby Girl doing hers here. So do you Hullabaloo too?

Wordless Wednesday-Victory Dance

Baby Girl doing a Hullabaloo Victory Dance

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