What Happens When I Leave My Camera Unguarded.... **SIGH**

These were from a recent trip to Kansas. (The last guy? Not related...a friend of the kids....)

And I thought I would add this one so your eyes won't hurt anymore. :) This is Megan and a sweet friend of hers.

Oh My. :) :) Gotta love goofy college kids!

Hansel & Gretel

A few weeks ago I watched a friend's kids for a couple of hours. I was trying to read some books to the very busy three year old to keep her from getting into trouble. One of the books she handed to me was Hansel & Gretel. What kind of a children's story is this? There is child abandonment, kidnapping, murder, stealing, cannibalism. Not to mention a father who was not in control of his family. Have you read Hansel & Gretel lately? Go here to read it and imagine reading it to a three year old. I found this play-set on Amazon.UK. Really? A toy to promote child abandonment, kidnapping, murder, stealing, cannibalism? Just so strange to me. What on earth were the Brothers Grimm thinking when this became a children's story?

I guess you can tell I never read those stories to my children.

After we were done, I told my little that was a silly book and to find one that was happy. So we read a book about Elmo. Much better. Whew. A red fuzzy.....ummm....thing. (What is Elmo anyway?)

Chocolate Lover's Dream Cake

This bundt cake has a great story behind it.

But first the recipe:

1 box chocolate cake mix

1/2 cup chocolate milk
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 eggs
16 ounces sour cream
1 small box instant chocolate pudding

1 bag (12 ounces) chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bundt cake pan. I use this cooking spray with flour. Works wonders!Mix together: cake mix, chocolate milk, melted butter, eggs, sour cream, pudding mix (dry). Combine until well blended (batter will be very thick). Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon into pan.

Bake 55-65 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly. Cool in pan on a wire
rack: (I usually leave it in the pan for half an hour to an hour. See reason below)

Glaze.....

Rich Chocolate Glaze

3/4 cup chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons water

Melt and stir together in a saucepan on low heat.
Drizzle over cake.

The first time I made this cake was for a church potluck a few years ago. Our associate pastor was candidating here that weekend. On Saturday night we had the youth group here at our house along with the pastor's kids. So the basement was full of teenagers with LOTS of guitars plugged in. I was keeping myself busy in the kitchen so I baked the cake that night in preparation for the potluck the next day.

The directions say to let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool. So I did that. But when I dumped it out, the cake fell into a pile of crumbles!

A few minutes later the pastor, pastor candidate and their wives came back to pick up the kids. I asked them if they wanted to see what I had fixed for the potluck and said, "Look! I made a pile of chocolate cake crumbs!"

Our pastor's wife and I came up with the idea to make a trifle. She let me use some cool whip she had in her freezer and I used a can of cherry pie filling I had. I just layered the cake pieces, with the cool whip and pie filling in a big glass bowl. I took it to church and put it on the dessert table. When it came time for the potluck I couldn't find it on the dessert table. It had been moved to the salads! Something to do with the cool whip? :) It was polished off completely.

Okay so that may not be such an funny story, but flash ahead a few weeks to a phone call I got. It was from a friend at church and she wanted the recipe for the trifle I had made!

That made me laugh so hard since it was all a mistake to begin with.

I told her to first ruin a really good chocolate bundt cake.....






P.S. Every time I have made a bundt cake since then, I make sure to cool it in the pan for a half an hour to hour or so before I attempt to dump it out on to a wire rack to finish cooling. Doing that and using a cooking spray with flour added allows for it to come out in one piece!

Authentic

I was talking with a friend a few weeks ago about blogging. She is a friend IRL (In Real Life) and a fellow blogger.

We were pondering how authentic to be on our blogs. I read some bloggers that have a real gift for writing about struggles without giving minute details. My friend and I agreed "that airing dirty laundry" is not in good taste. On the other hand, to only write about how everything is totally great isn't ideal either. It gives the impression that we have fairy tale lives. Which is obviously not true.

One of my goals in my life is to be an authentic Christian and an authentic person. Kind of the same thing, I guess, since the person I am is a Christian.

On that note....

Last week was a tough week. I had a doctor's appointment. I really don't like going to the doctor for the yearly check-up. I managed to put it off for six months, and kind of got chewed out by the doctor for that. The check-up is disagreeable for obvious reasons. But I think I dislike more the list of things that I seem to not be doing right: from exercising to taking vitamins. Then there's the tests and the wait for the results. I manage to get through it, but it comes back to me every year. I just find it all very discouraging. The same goes for dentist appointments. Nope I don't floss. I only brush my teeth once a day. (But I did switch to an electric toothbrush! Good news!)

Then there was the a hard conversation I had with a loved one. It was a productive conversation. But, like my doctor appointments, I felt discouraged. It was good to get thoughts out and things did end well with hugs and I love you's. But it was hard and kind of yucky.

I guess sometimes I'd like a pat on the back saying that I did a good job. I will try to make that my goal for my next yearly exam. To change my actions so there is an improvement and an acknowledgment of that. Oh to not hear "do you think you can do better?" I heard that growing up a lot and it was more discouraging to me than motivating. Yes, one can probably always do better, but is it so bad to want a pat on the back for what one has accomplished?

I came across the following video by Nicole Nordeman. These words say it for me:

I won't lie, it feels alright to see your name in lights
We all need an "Atta boy" or "Atta girl"
But in the end I'd like to hang my hat on more besides
the temporary trappings of this world

I want to leave a legacy
How will they remember me?
Did I choose to love?
Did I point to You enough to make a mark on things?
I want to leave an offering
A child of mercy and grace who blessed Your name unapologetically
And leave that kind of legacy

All That Jazz

Last night I got to take advantage of a Christmas present given to Pete. Megan and Zach gave him two tickets to a concert at the Minnesota Orchestra Hall. The group was Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. They played the music of Thelonious Monk. Wasn't it nice of Pete to take me along to use the second ticket? Thanks sweetie for the date!

They were some pretty awesome musicians.

My only complaint of the evening was all the clapping that is done at jazz concerts. Not just once at the end of a song, but many times during a song for each solo. Yes, I know, it's proper. (I'm really just kidding about the complaining part....)

The amusing part of the evening was coming out of the parking garage and standing there trying to figure out where the heck we were and how to get to the restaurant we wanted to go to. I'm sure we looked pretty stupid. But we didn't make any wrong turns and found our way to Chipotle just fine. (It was yummy.)

Smile

I spent a morning a few weeks ago watching these two sweeties. Little ones make me smile. :)

Brother & Sister

This is a tribute to my two amazing kids.

I am blown away with how God has blessed us with Caleb and Megan. We all know that their dad and I far from perfect parents, so I am on my face with thanksgiving to God for giving us these two cool people.

My kids love to take pictures of themselves. But most of the time they make goofy faces.

But look! I found a "normal" picture. Aren't they cute?

They go to the same college (at least for 3 more months). Last fall the fellowship group they are involved in had a barn dance. This is how they dressed for it. They both won awards! Caleb for Best Villain and Megan for Best Cowgirl.

I call this picture "Megan and Her Sister". When Caleb was a junior in high school he decided to grow out his hair. He had some friends who were doing that so he thought he'd try. It was another 3 months before he got it cut. He didn't like it. (He shaves his head now.) They are 16 and 13 in this picture.

This was on our way down Pike's Peak. I think the lack of oxygen at 14,115 feet wore them out. They were 13 and 10. This was the spiky hair phase. Megan also tried the shorter hair for a while. I liked it, but she likes it longer. (And I think she looks beautiful all the time!)

I love this picture. Megan is so sweet and did a great job of being a flower girl in her uncle's wedding. Caleb wasn't so sure about the whole thing. :) They were 3 and 6.

In the spring of 1991 Pete and I took a vacation to Disney World. Pete had been a part of the grand opening ceremonies of EPCOT back in 1982 and he wanted to show it all to me. The kids spent the week at my parents. We got there to pick them up after they were in bed, so we didn't see them until the next morning. As you can see, they are modeling the souvenirs we bought for them. Megan has a really annoyed look on her face because I think she was mad at us for abandoning her for a week. I felt bad, but it made me giggle.

I don't really remember why we took this picture other than they both had blanket sleepers that had Winnie-the-Pooh on them. Megan is 8 months old and Caleb is 3 1/2.

Man the years go by quickly....