Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Dip

I’d add a picture, but it disappears before I have a chance to photograph it.  So…photograph coming someday!

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 T. brown sugar

1 t. vanilla

1 cup miniature chocolate chips

animal crackers, graham cracker sticks or teddy grahams

In a small bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Add sugars and vanilla.  Stir inchocolate chips.  Refrigerate til ready to serve.  Serve with graham cracker sticks, animal crackers or teddy grahams.

Spring Break

means making a HUGE pot of corned beef and cabbage for my family!  I got a new pot at IKEA last December.  It’s the biggest pot I’ve ever owned and I was a little worried that I wasn’t going to fit in all the cabbage at the end.  But no worries…it all (barely) managed to fit and we enjoyed a delicious St. Patrick’s day meal with all 6 of us at home!  YAY!

Everyone home again for a few days.  As always, there was lots of laughter and lots of eating that took place. I love having everyone home! 

With spring comes the annual question “Which bikes still work?”  As you can see…we have several to choose from!

Right now, there is a working bike for each of us that live here.  But when Caleb and Cameron take their bikes back to Iowa City…we might have a problem.

And finally, with the spring, comes spring rains.  A necessary part of life.  And with the lack of snow this year, the moisture is MUCH needed around here!

Signs of Spring

As I mentioned yesterday, the beautiful weather and flowering daffodils are signs that spring is here (and many of us are hoping that it is here to stay…we will have to wait and see on that one).  But even indoors, there are signs of the new life that comes each spring.

This plant was given to me by some friends when my dad died last May.  It was a beautiful flowering outdoor plant.  It literally bloomed all summer long.  When fall hit, I decided to try to keep it over the winter and see what would happen.  But I waited one day too late to bring it in, and the frost got it.  It was withered and shriveled and dead, with only a few green areas remaining.  I ALMOST threw it out, and then decided to wait til spring and see what happened.  I pruned away the frost bitten parts, a little at a time, and faithfully watered it all winter.  It did gradually green up, and now…little new shoots are reaching out for sunlight.  I am SO happy, and can’t WAIT to see those pretty yellow flowers on here again! 

This plant is very much an example of how I feel all winter long.  Frost bitten, withered and left for dead (well…not THAT extreme, LOL)  But I do just really suffer through winter….just hanging on for dear life til that warm sunshine starts appearing (and I’m SO extremely thankful with how early that warm sunshine hit this year!)  That first warm day, I just want to stand and turn my face to the sun and soak it all in…kind of like these sprouts did on this plant. 

I’m so thankful to God for the promise of spring and new life, after a long (or short!) winter.  I’m thankful for the promise of new life…eternal life…when I’ve made it through the season that is my life here on earth.  That promise of new life…eternal life…waiting for me is what keeps me turning toward the SON and soaking Him all in.  Waiting for that eternal life He has earned for me by giving up His life for me.  Because He loves me and He KNEW how much I need that eternal spring that is waiting for me!

Did you make your brooms stand up?

A couple of weeks ago there were all kinds of stories going around about the way the planets were aligned perfectly so that brooms would stand up by themselves.  Well, it really has nothing to do with the way the planets are aligned …it’s all about gravity and balance…but I still had to try it.  And it worked!  And guess what?  It still works now! 

Rachel has been playing organ for church.  She is improving each time.  I hope she enjoys it as much as we do.  I LOVE hearing her practice those good ole Lutheran hymns here at home, and then belting them out on the organ at church!  We recently asked her if she wanted her own copy of the organist accompaniment book.  We told her that if she intended to keep up with organ playing, we’d get it for her.  She said yes!  Here it is, in front of the piano, with Ron’s Martin Luther Bobble Head.  (It was a gift…)

And here is what I’ve been doing that has kept me from keeping up with the blog recently.

I’ve been trying to get a head start on Rachel’s graduation scrapbook.  I’ve got most of her non-digital pictures scanned in, and I’ve created a folder where I’ve copied the pages from Caleb and Cameron’s books that I can use as is (or at least with minimal tweaks).  AND I have her first five pages created.  Feels good to have a start on this project.  Now….to keep at it so I don’t have to be cramming them out at this time next year!

This

is another reason that I haven’t been keeping up so well with the blog….it’s just been TOO stinking beautiful outside!  Look at those AWESOME temps!  And this was before spring even hit!  I’m LOVING it!  Things are greening up and

my daffodils are in full bloom (actually, by now, they are almost done!)  They were beautiful this year! 

And, of course, there are kids activities keeping me busy as well.  Ethan’s middle school band had a college professor from Wartburg come and listen and critique and give wonderfully helpful tips to the kids.  But he also said (and this isn’t a direct quote, but it’s close) “This is, hands down, the BEST band I have heard in this middle school!”  Which is pretty cool, ‘cause he’s been coming to do this at our school for many, many years!  Our MS band really is super this year!

So…there you have it…some of the reasons you haven’t heard from me in a little while!  I’m sure there will be other times where I run WAY behind, but I’ll just keep plugging away!

Musical Mayhem

I love music.  Especially when it is produced by my children!  Cameron came home Friday night for spring break.  Very shortly, the guitar came out, and he asked Rachel to play piano.  What fun it is to listen to them try to figure things out and make music together!

Leopards and Avocados

The prompt for a photo of the day for Wednesday was “Something you wore”.  These are some of my favorite shoes EVER…comfy AND cute!

and they go with all KINDS of clothing! 

This last summer, either Ron or I mentioned to a friend that we have tried a few times to start an avocado plant from an avocado pit, and we haven’t been able to get one to sprout.  On Thursday, she brought me one she had started!  (Of course, it will take 10-15 years for it to produce a fruit, and I’ll never keep it alive that long, but hey…it’s cool for now!)  I THINK, from research I’ve done, that I need to cut it back (almost in half) and see if that will help it leaf out a little more.

Make (beer?) while the sun shines…

Isn’t that how the saying goes?  It was definitely Ron’s interpretation of the old saying. 

We had unseasonably warm weather on Tuesday.  Sunny and just beautiful.  Ron decided to spend a bit of time on the deck, brewing his latest (2) batches of beer.  I think his favorite moment (well…favorite moment after tasting the homebrew for the first time!) is this moment…

…the dumping in and the stirring of the hops.  I think the quote went something like this… “I have to get my nose in there to smell the hops!”

Watch his blog (These are the Beers of my Life) in a few weeks for a review of how this brew turned out!

The Ethan Show

For 3 days in a row, Ethan was the focus of my photo of the day!  He’s such a photogenic kid, isn’t he?

 

I needed a picture of Ethan to use for his confirmation invitation, so I made him sit in a chair and smile.  Look at those dimples!  Isn’t he handsome?? 

On Saturday, the middle school jazz band had their contest.  They sure wowed the crowd!  They sounded absolutely wonderful!  I was more than impressed with our group of kids, and a huge shout out to Mr. Johnson, our band director!  He has worked SO hard with those kids this year, and done a great job with them!

Can you guess what Ethan did on Sunday?  The 7th and 8th graders are working hard on their upcoming performance of “Oliver”.  On Sunday, Ethan and his friend went to the middle school to help paint.  I’m rather curious to see if any paint actually got on the SET or if it all ended up on my KID!

A Smile

I’ve seen a couple of lists of ideas for photo of the day pictures.  I w0n’t use them every day, because there are so many days where there is something that I NEED to photograph to remember.  But….I was stumped for March 1 (after missing February 29, evidently.  I can’t find a picture for that day!) 

So I turned to the list.  “A Smile” was the item for the day.

Rachel made this in preschool, and we hung it on our bedroom wall.  It makes me smile every single time I see it.  Seriously. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I just found a new recipe for chocolate chip cookies.  They stayed soft (my favorite kind of cookie!) and moist until they were all gone.  (This is the recipe that I have used a couple of times on that yummy Chocolate Chip Oreo Brownie Dessert. ) 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 c butter
1/4 c sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
2 eggs
12 oz chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1 (3 1/2-4 oz) package instant vanilla pudding

Beat butter, both sugars, vanilla and pudding mix until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs. Gradually add flour and baking soda. Add chips. Drop onto cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 7-9 minutes. Check them after 5 or 6 minutes, because you only want them to be lightly browned.

Cool and EAT!

Always running behind…

do you ever feel that way?  Every week, I look at the calendar and think, “Ok…this is a busy week, but next week things will slow down a little.”  Ha…who am I trying to kid? 

So, I decided not to stress about blogging.  When I have a free night I’ll try to write a post or two, but I’m not going to worry about it too much.  If I have to make a post with several photo of the day photos, that’s just what I’ll do.  (I do really want to try to keep that up, but I am finding it a challenge to find something to photograph every day.  I think I have missed a day or two in the last week or so.)

SO….photo of the day for February 24th…

Rachel had a jazz band festival at Coe College in Cedar Rapids.  Ron and Ethan and I drove down to Iowa City to pick up Caleb and Cameron after their classes, and we took them with us to the Jazz Band summit.  The jazz band sounded super, and we had a good time listening to them (never mind that her 3 brothers got her I trouble with a judge for making her laugh and not pay attention).  After the band was finished, we went to The Airliner in Iowa City, for a birthday dinner for Cameron.  He and Caleb shared this “Airbus”. It was a wonderful family dinner, and great to have everyone all together again for a short while!

On the 25th, Rachel had individual speech in Riceville (yes, another weekend spent on the road!)  She did a fantastic 6 minute speech on Billy Joel, complete with some piano playing.  Unfortunately for parents, photos aren’t allowed during the performances, so…I took a picture of Rachel and Katelyn … my 2 girls.  Love them!

On Sunday afternoon, Ron and I went to the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center for Beers to You.  MUCH thought and preparation went into the planning of this afternoon (on Ron’s part!) We arrived at 3 pm for a presentation by Bob Cannon, brewmaster from the Sam Adams brewery in Boston.  He gave a great presentation, and Ron got his picture taken with him.  Then, Ron pulled out his sheet that he had highlighted and circled and starred, to help him organize which beers he wanted to sample.  He was also really happy to have the chance to cast his vote for a homebrew contest!  He happily sampled from 4-7! It was a really enjoyable afternoon (even though they ran out of the goodie bags we were supposed to get to bring home!)  He was gathering data for later entry on his own blog, These Are The Beers Of My Life.  (Stop by and check it out if you have a chance!)

And finally (for now) on Monday, we went to Decorah for the Dorian Honor Band concert.  Beautiful, beautiful music for the evening.  It ended with a Bible Study with our LCMS students who are attending Luther.  A late night, but a good one!

My daughter is one of these.  You can play “Where’s Rachel?” and see if you can spot her…

Can you see her now?

What about now?

Yep…there she is!

A Long February Week

The (late?) winter UGH feeling has set in, and this last week seemed to be a really long week (even though we had Friday off of work!)  It hasn’t been a bad winter, by any means.  I’m EXTREMELY thankful for the light amount of snow we have had.  Sure made the season more bearable for me, at least!

But we did get hit with a little snow this last week.

It was snowy, and blowy.  It only amounted to a few inches, but it was definitely a blast of winter on Monday night!

One of my favorite shows on TV is NCIS.  And one of my favorite quotes from the show is one by Abby.  And we say it almost every time we eat pistachios.

Abby: ...It's twice as addictive as heroin, but not quite as addictive as pistachios
McGee: Pistachios?
Abby: Well have you ever had just one pistachio?

We had a potluck at church on Wednesday, and I tried to make brownie bites.  I could not get those things out of the pan!  Ethan worked and worked to get them out.  These are a few that looked presentable.  So…we just left them here at home and at them. They may not have looked pretty, but wow they sure did taste yummy.

And…speaking of yummy…

THIS stuff is DEFINITELY yummy.  It really hit the spot after an 11 1/2 hour work day on Thursday!  It was Student Led Conference night, so I worked til 7:30.  This tasted GREAT when I got home!  I enjoyed a glass while I talked to Cameron and wished him a very happy 19th birthday!

Interrupting my Photo of the Day

posts to wish my son CAMERON a very happy 19th BIRTHDAY! 

Cameron has a tremendous sense of humor, and is just really fun to be around.  He has grown up SO much in the past few years.  I just was in the room when Rachel called to wish him a happy birthday, and it was SO fun for me to hear those two on the phone having a conversation about graphic design and ideas for future photoshop projects.  Cameron is a great trumpeter and had a super first year as a member of the Hawkeye Marching Band.  He’s had success in his first year of classes, as well.  He’s made wise choices in life, and I’m so proud of him.  I really can’t wait to see what God has in store for Cameron in the future! 

(I just HAD to include this one…I think this is one of my alltime favorite pictures!!)

Happy Birthday, Cameron!

College Visit Weekend (part 2)

Even after getting home late on Friday night, a laid back and relaxing Saturday was not in the cards.  Rachel and I, along with another member from our church, Lucas, were on the road by 10:30 to Iowa City to attend the college weekend hosted by St. Paul’s Chapel.  It was a super time, filled with devotions, an overview of what campus ministry is, a college student panel on college life, a tour of the University of Iowa, and all kinds of fun and games (otherwise known as chapel mayhem) 

Caleb and Cameron attend St. Paul’s, so this was a great time to have a chance to visit with them while Rachel and Lucas were getting to know other high school students, college students, and learning what the University of Iowa, and St. Paul’s Chapel has to offer them.

One of the activities over the course of the 24 hour visit included a “Nerf Dual”.  It was the chapel’s version of a western, gun draw dual.  A double elimination bracket was drawn up.  The participants put on goggles, stood in their assigned spots and waited for the bell.  Then, they fired their nerf gun at the competition…with the first one being hit by a bullet being out.

Rachel made it through the first round…and the second…and had to face Lucas in the final round on Sunday afternoon.

Saturday evening included all kinds of fun, like the ever popular game “Sardines” ("but “it’s best not to scare a high school girl so badly that they CRY”, says Rachel to Nate!) and the new game “Telephone pictionary”.  That was a HOOT!  Everyone in the group writes a phrase on a piece of paper.  The next person has to draw out that phrase, as in pictionary.  That is passed to the next person, who looks only at the picture (not the words written first), and writes what they think the picture is.  That is passed to the next person, who draws a picture….and so on, until it gets back to the original person.  It was hysterical to see the way it all changed from person to person.  Lots of laughter!

Sunday morning included a Bible Study, Divine Worship including the Lord’s Supper, and a yummy fried chicken lunch, followed by the final dual.

which Rachel WON!  Woo HOO Rachel!  She came home with a Chapel t-shirt! 

It was a great weekend for Rachel and the other high school students to get an overview of college life and how being involved in the church while at college can be a really fun thing.  Ron and I, as parents of 2 students at the University of Iowa, are tremendously thankful to the work of Pastor Mons and those at St. Paul’s Chapel, to provide a church home away from home for our kids!

And speaking of our kids, I had plenty of time to chat and catch up with Caleb and Cameron, too.  It was fun to visit with them, and also watch them have fun and worship with their friends!

A College Visit weekend (part 1)

Wow….it’s Tuesday, and I’m just now beginning to feel semi-recovered from my weekend!  We had Friday off from school, so it was a 3 day weekend.  But we covered LOTS of ground in those 3 days!

Rachel has been wanting to do a college visit to Concordia University, St. Paul, Minnesota, so she could do some comparing and contrasting to our campus visit at Concordia Univesity, Wisconsin this summer.  It all worked out (sort of at the last minute) for Rachel to get an appointment with the admissions folks for Friday afternoon.  We were kind of interested in attending a chapel service on Friday morning, but since it was a day off school, NO ONE wanted to get up super early to hit the road.  With that in mind, Ron hit Priceline.com and scored us a very reasonably priced hotel in the St. Paul area for Thursday night.

We didn’t really make these plans very far in advance, (hey…we are spur of the moment kind of people), so we ended up getting home from school on Thursday at 3:30, and all packed our bags and were on the road by 4:10!  How’s that for speedy packing?

As soon as we realized we’d be eating on the road, Rachel and I immediately knew where we wanted to eat.  Rochester has a NOODLES and Company!!!  One of our FAVORITES!  We were SO excited, and HUNGRY by the time we got there.  Everyone was VERY, very happy with their meal!

Next stop, (much to the dismay of our anxious to swim in a hotel swimming pool children) was Trader Joe’s.  Ron had never been to Trader Joe’s and was more than anxious to hit their “beer room”.  He thoughtfully perused the selection…and then thought some more….and then studied the labels, and then perused some more…and…well…you get the picture.

When he was finished, we made a fairly quick trip through the rest of the store, and headed on our way to St. Paul.  The kids did get a swim in before we hit the sack.

Friday we attended chapel services at Concordia St. Paul, and then took a very quick tour of St. Paul’s Cathedral, before heading back to the university for a 1 pm tour.

( I took lots of pictures this day…it was hard to pick just ONE to be the photo of the day!)

We had a nice tour, and received lots of information about Concordia, St. Paul.  It definitely gave Rachel more to think about!

Following the campus visit, which included sunny and beautiful weather, I thought it would be a perfect day for a quick visit to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.  But WOW it got cold.  We didn’t stay there very long!

yeah…we don’t get it either…

We were FREEZING, so we quickly got back in the car and went to one of Rachel and my favorite places ever!  The Mall of America.  We knew ahead of time that it would be a quick trip, so we had to strategize which stores we were going to hit.  We each ate our favorite foods at the food court (Ron had sushi, I had OPA! gyros and fries, and Rachel and Ethan ate at Panda Express) then Ron and Ethan went their way, and Rachel and I power shopped.  We left around 6:30 and made it home by 10 or so. 

That sums up the FIRST HALF of my 3 day weekend! 

….to be continued.