Cookies!

I've been doing a little baking over the last couple days. Tuesday I made some fudge and mailed it to my parents and my father-in-law for Valentine's Day. It was the simplest recipe I had ever seen and I had to try it, seeing as there seemed to be a fudge recipe in existence that is "H2-proof". In the past, my attempts at fudge have come to ruin. The candy thermometer and I are at war and last year I finally declared "no more" and shoved the thing back into the gloom of my junk drawer. This new recipe I found requires no thermometer! You just need a can of sweetened condensed milk, 18oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla, and a dash of salt! After melting the chips in a saucepan with the condensed milk and salt, add the vanilla and spread into a wax paper lined 8x8 pan. Two hours later and presto! It's as good as any I've bought before, and H1 really liked it--he wants me to try it with peanut butter chips next! Even H3 joined in, complete with apron and my grandmother's purse that she's taken to carrying around lately.



Since November, H1, H3, and I have been attending a small group that meets in a nearby couple's home. We didn't know Kenny and Joanna before the group began, but have really been enjoying their friendship. At the moment, they have 4 children (all boys), but a fifth will be joining the family in July. I think we get to find out in March whether #5 is a boy or girl! The youngest children in the family are twin boys, and they are about 8 months older than H3. Since she sees them in the nursery at church too, Joanna and I had talked about having a playdate, but never really got that setup until this morning. I went over to their house around 10 and we baked sugar cookies. The twins and H3 ran around the house and played, and the 5 year old helped us roll and cut out the cookies. He's a sweetie too. I have him in my Sunday school class at church. Below is a sample of our efforts.




It's been a long week and I've had migraines since Monday evening, but there's also been so many fun moments that make me smile. I love to see my little girl smile and hear her laughter. H1 should be home from work soon, and it's supposed to start snowing again tonight. Hmmmm...maybe I should start a fire in the fireplace and break out the marshmallows!

~H2

Animal Cracker Recipe

Here is the recipe for the animal crackers that I posted about yesterday. Like I said, this recipe is from my college roommate's mom, who introduced me to all sorts of healthy eating ideas!

Animal Crackers

Grind 2 cups rolled oats in blender. (Sub: quick
oats)
Add:
1/4 cup honey
1 t. salt
1 t. soda
3 cups whole wheat flour
Cut in 1 cup butter.
Add 1 cup milk or buttermilk.
Roll to 1/4 inch and cut with cookie cutters.
Bake at 400 degrees 8-10 minutes on ungreased cookie sheet.
Serve with love.

Back in mid-January, H1, H3, and I went to SC to visit Grandpa. H3 and I had visited back in November, but H1 couldn't go due to his work schedule. Grandpa said we needed to come again, with my hubby, so we planned this trip! I'm so glad we went. It was really good to see him again. He had a defribulator put in just after Christmas, and looks like he's doing really well. He's getting around a lot better than when H3 and I were there last. I've always enjoyed going down there, and I'm glad my family does too. Grandpa is lots of fun to talk with and I enjoy watching his interaction with H3. He has commented these last two trips about how energetic she is. I have to agree. I'm starting to think she may be related to the Energizer Bunny!


H3 loves climbing up on the green rocker sofa and perching on the edge!


Grandpa


H1 and H3


Staring out Grandpa's front window


This last week, I made animal crackers. They're a recipe my college roommate's mom gave me. She used to send them to me and Bethany at least a few times per semester. I love them! They're not sweet, but you can eat them with yogurt or honey. H3 likes them with honey.


Last Monday and Tuesday, H1 was off of school because we had 8 inches of snow and this area doesn't have the equipment to deal with any snow at all, much less that amount and an inch of ice. Since he had the time, he decided to make cinnamon rolls from scratch! They were amazing and the house smelled fabulous...I have to say "were", since they are gone now!



H3 walking in the snow a couple days later, with our neighbor's house in the background.


Walking with Daddy


Baby footprints


Happy baby!


All the first snow melted, and then in snowed a bit again yesterday. Initially, there were a couple inches on the ground, but since it rained the day before, it melted quickly. The sun came out today and it's almost gone now.


H3 at the last game of the basketball season. She really enjoys watching basketball. I have to keep that harness on her though, since she also likes running after the basketball! It's the cutest little backpack harness, and she wears it most of the time when we go out for walks.




This last month or so has been busy as always, but a lot of fun too. The week we got back from Grandpa's, I was called in to substitute at the high school for a couple days. We got to go to Virginia Beach and have dinner with a friend whom we hadn't seen in a while, and I spent a night and part of a day at the rescue squad. My next overnight there isn't for a couple weeks. I've been doing lots of organizing and baking, and working with H3 on some new activities. She is able to put shapes correctly into the corresponding holes in her red bucket how, and has also started signing "book", and "eat", adding those to her other signs of "more" and "all done". I'm trying to teach her to put together a wooden puzzle and her alphabet, but those are going to be a while in coming, I think!

I'm hoping to invite our landlord over pretty soon to ask about doing a few renovations. We would like to paint one of the bedrooms (the one we're moving H3 into later this spring), and we would like to replace the linoleum in the kitchen--it's really gross and wasn't installed properly to begin with. We'll pay for the paint for the bedroom, but I was going to ask for a discount in rent for a couple months for us to install the flooring. That way, he won't be paying full price to put it in and neither will we. The stuff I found looks really nice and would brighten it up a lot. I hope he'll let us do both! We'll have lived here for one year on April 1st, and I know this place looks a lot better than before we moved in, so maybe he'll say yes.

It's Superbowl Sunday, and I'm making homemade pizza and nachos for dinner. We're also having hot wings, but I'm not making those. They came in a bag! I like them, but not enough to learn how to make them. H1 makes them sometimes, but wasn't in the mood today. I made some brownies too, regular fudge for half and mint for the other half. H1 loves watching football, and H3 seems to like it too. I watch a few games per year, but am not an avid fan unless Green Bay is playing. I think I'm watching this game tonight for the Focus on the Family commercial about Tim Tebow and his mom's decision to carry him through pregnancy, even though doctor's advised her it was dangerous. I'm amazed and excited that CBS is carrying this commercial and looking forward to seeing it.

Off to make pizza dough!

~H2