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