Yum, yum!

Tonight is International Night at the kids' school. We went last year and it was so fun! Basically, it's a huge school-wide potluck where you bring an item that represents your family's culture. I was thinking about what to bring, and I decided to bring brownies made from scratch. A big, huge pan of them. Caitlyn helped me make them, and they turned out wonderfully. A little too wonderfully, if you know what I mean. Now mama's gonna have to find something else to bring, y'all. Sorry. It started out with just one teeny tiny corner. One small square. A rectangle. A tad bit more. And ended with about 20 "just one more bites". Sorry kids. Mama has absolutely no willpower when chocolate is involved. Better luck next time. Here's the recipe just in case you want to torture yourself with a bit of chocolatey goodness: I found it by google-ing "scratch brownies". Google is a mom's best friend, you know that, right?

Scratch Brownies

• 1 cup butter or margarine (melted)
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla flavoring
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup cocoa
• 2 cups plain flour
• optional - nuts, raisins, chocolate chunks, caramel pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream margarine and sugar. This works well with a mixer, but you can do it by hand.
3. After the creaming stage, do switch to a spoon for mixing. Brownies tend to get tough if worked too much.
4. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix just until smooth.
5. Pour in cocoa and flour. Again, mix until smooth and lumps are broken up. But, don't go to wild on the mixing.
6. If you want to add extras, just fold those in easily.
7. Bake for 18-20 minutes in 2 pans size 8 inches by 8 inches. You can use a larger pan like the 9 x 9 and cook for a little longer-25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees F. If you use a single pan, then the Scratch Brownies are thicker.

The batter is VERY thick. You have to smoosh it into the pan. I use a 9x13 pan and bake for 15ish minutes. For that extra "oomph" sprinkle a handful or two of chocolate chips on top before you bake it. You can thank me later.

In other news, we are leaving in 3 days for our Thanksgiving get a way. I. CAN'T. WAIT!!!

The Trip!!!

This morning I sat the kids down and we talked about what we want to do while we are in Arizona. Here is what they said. I wrote it down as we talked about it, and didn't edit... enjoy!

See Bears!!- Caitlyn
Go to Sea World (in San Antonio)- Cameron (he insists San Antonio is in AZ...)
Go Hiking- Cameron & Collin
Go Crawdad fishing- Cameron
Go hunting for bears- Caitlyn
Go Camping- Cameron & Collin
Go fishing- Cameron & Collin
Bring my Bakugon- Collin
See Grampa and Nanny!!!- Everyone!!!
Go to Great Grandma Rhodes' house and pick fruit- Collin
See TyTy and Brandon- Cameron and Collin
Go swimming on the mountain- Collin
"I want to survive- like survivorman- with Grandpa Rhodes"- Cameron
Eat Turkey- Everyone
Eat Deermeat- Cameron
"Kill animals w/Grandpa Rhodes!!!"- Cameron (I asked him what he meant, and he said he wanted to "help kill chickens and turkeys like that one story [I] told [him]"-- I'm still laughing about this one because he was so excited! aww...mommy's little psychopath... ;o) )

I think I'll take the kids out of school early on Friday, but I'm not totally sure. We are getting really super duper excited!

Here's a tentative timeline for our trip out:

20th (Th)- Mom flies in
21st (F)- leave for AZ
22nd (Sat)- Arrive/ Rest up/ hang out
23rd (Sun)-
24th (Mon)- Get together with "old" friends from town
25th (Tues)-
26th (Wed)-
27th (Thurs)- Thanksgiving- Morning at Mom's; Afternoon at Dad's??? vice versa???
28th (Fri)-
29th (Sat)-Leave either afternoon/ early evening for TX
30th (Sun)- Arrive in TX/ Rest up/ restart real life

What's everyone doing? Any suggestions? Anyone want to claim a day? Leave me a comment and let me know =o)

Quick update

This was such a fun weekend, and a new one is almost here! The kids and I spent Saturday at the park. It was beautiful outside. We took a pic nic lunch and spent a fun day together. The 3 big kids played, played, played. They get along so well when they are outdoors. It's so heartwarming. In the evening we went and spent some time with Erin and Jesse. The boys worship the ground their cousin Jesse walks on, so it's always fun to see all of them play together.

On Sunday, John took the 3 big kids to the park while I stayed home and worked on my Virology presentation. I was feeling a little picked upon because nobody called me Sunday afternoon. I decided I would call everyone, so I picked up the phone and realized that it was dead. I guess that just might have contributed to our lack of Sunday afternoon calls ;) I felt just a bit stupid... After I let the phone charge a bit, one of our friends called and invited us over to celebrate her husband's birthday. It was so fun to get together and let all of our kids play while we grownups visited. All of our kids get along great and all of the grownups do too. We have a fun little group!

Monday was rainy weather. It was a bit of a bummer because Saturday was so beautiful, but we survived. Barely. I did a lot of laundry and the kids did a lot of homework. It ended up being a rather productive day.

Tuesday was rainy. Again. Bummer. We crashed and burned on Tuesday. We couldn't get going at all. We went and visited some friends in the evening, and stopped by Erin's too. Caitlyn played with Craig (Erin's husband) for a long time. She is such a tease- she kept taking his chair, and tricking him! When we got home, I stayed up and worked on my presentation a bit more. It was one of those projects where it seemed like the closer I got to being through, the more I found to do. I gave up on it about 4:00 this morning, and decided it would wait for me to sleep.

Today, Caitlyn got to watch all her favorite shows- 4 million times each- while I finished my presentation. I was able to finish right at 3:00- right in time for playgroup. The kids had a fun time at the museum today. Cam gets to go back on Friday with his Kindergarten class. I think the girls and I might sneak over and see if we can play with him for a bit ;o) My presentation went relatively well. I always stutter through them, but it lasted exactly 30 minutes, and I think (hope!) I covered all that I intended to cover. I just hope I did well enough to maintain my 4.0.

While I was working on my presentation (have I mentioned it yet...it was 30 minutes long...), I couldn't help but laugh at my idiotic spelling abilities. It never fails to amaze me that I can spell pathophysiology, immunohistochemistry, or gastroenteritis without thinking twice, but I have to slow down or check the spell-checker to spell tomorrow, tennis, or definitely. Does that make me an official science nerd? =o)

Before I go to sleep, I have a favor to ask. Some of our good friends are going through a hard time right now. Their father passed away earlier today, and they are heading out of town to attend his funeral. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

Our "New" Table =o)

After John's Mom passed away, we inherited her kitchen table. There's nothing fancy about it, but it was bigger than our old one, and had more chairs, so we LOVE it! Plus, it was HERS, so we want to keep it for as long as we can! The only bad thing about it was my kids kept coloring on it with marker, so it looked horrible. We went to our friends' house, and I fell in LOVE with her table. When I asked her where she got it, she told me she took her old one and painted it. Well, I'm not that crafty, so I was a little nervous, but I decided to give it a try. I painted the table, two chairs, and the bench black, and let each of the kids pick the color for their chair. Check it out:

Here's what it looked like during painting: I'm so glad we don't have an HOA- we would have definitely been the white trash neighbors!




Collin picked Gold

Caitlyn picked Pink (hers isn't flipped- I'll fix it later!)

Cam picked Red (Cam's isn't either- I'll fix it later =o) )

Here's what it looks like in the dining area.

We love it!

Oh, and I have to add some pictures of Caleigh Bug in her new outfit. Don't you just LOVE the 4 month stage?

A little wisdom for Sponge Bob.

It's the end of the semester, and I feel like this. It's about 10 minutes long, but so true. If you are a procrastinator like me, you will relate!

Today is much better than yesterday. I'll write more later- after the kiddos go to bed. I have a fun project done for the house, and I can't wait to show it off =o)

Also, Chance's parents updated- he is doing GREAT! God is good! Prayer works!

What a day =o)

Wow! I feel totally, utterly, and absolutely drained today. I can't wait for my trip to Arizona. Only two more weeks! I think being around my family will be just what the doctor ordered. I always feel so recharged after a visit home.

It seemed like the kids were extra needy today. Caleigh is teething, so she comfort nursed nearly the entire day. Caitlyn felt slighted by my neglect, so her wall and furniture coloring impulses kicked into overdrive. I have so much painting to do when we move. Thanks Cait! Really. Thanks. The boys fought, fought, fought then fought whined and screamed all afternoon and evening. Loved it. By the time 6:00 rolled around (aka the third hour of WWIII), I had grown so embarrassingly crabby with them that I just wanted close myself in my bedroom and cry. I hate when I get crabby and spiteful toward them. Everyone was finally asleep and I thought I was going to be able to spend some time recollecting myself before I went to bed, but Caleigh woke up. Again. Poor little girlie. I want her to feel better. Maybe she'll stay asleep this go 'round.

I guess I filled my gripe quota for the day. I'm sure a little sleep will make it all better. Nighty night =o)