Starburst Flowers

Kaylee loves to bake...and that is a problem on these 90 + degree days. Today she wanted to make cookies....again...and this was my compromise - Starburst Flowers:

Simply use Starburst candies like molding clay. Flatten little pieces to form petals, fold them, and then layer them to make a flower.

Roll a green Starburst to make the stem and flatten small pieces to make the leaves. Kaylee and her friend loved this activity and I avoided turning on the oven :) And the best part...these flowers are not only pretty and smell good, but edible too!

An End To The End

Nathan loved The End by David LaRochelle that I got from the library. He wanted Eric and I to read it every morning and night. Out of the huge pile of fresh library books he would always resort to this one. We all had the thing memorized...including Nathan. I got so sick of reading it one day that I told Nathan that he needed to read it to me...hoping that he would move on to another, less annoying book. Surprisingly he picked it up and "read" it almost word for word. From then on,every morning and night Nathan would "read" this story to us. I sure got sick of this weird, backwards story and was very happy to take it back to the library and put an end to The End, but I could never get sick of listening to Nathan tell it in his cute little voice:

Little Shoe Number Two

My nick-name is "Little Shoe" or "Shoe Shoe" or lots of other varieties with shoe in it. I now have a "Little Shoe" at my home. He is carrying on the nick-name in a whole new way. Travis LOVES shoes. But...he will not keep shoes on his feet...no that's too boring and normal. Travis will go in my closet, or grab any shoe laying around, or even take shoes right off your feet and put them on his hands. He will then crawl around (barefoot of course) with shoes on his hands. It is so funny to see him moving around with Eric's size 11 shoes covering his entire arm. I have even caught him with sandals pulled up to his elbows and a second pair of shoes on his hands.


Here is my "Little Shoe #2"

 

 

Hopefully he doesn't get athlete's foot on his hands!

Where Did The Years Go?

“Near the end of his life, one father looked back on how he had spent his time on earth. An acclaimed, respected author of numerous scholarly works, he said, ‘I wish I had written one less book and taken my children fishing more often.’

“Time passes quickly. Many parents say that it seems like yesterday that their children were born. Now those children are grown, perhaps with children of their own. ‘Where did the years go?’ they ask. We cannot call back time that is past, we cannot stop time that now is, and we cannot experience the future in our present state. Time is a gift, a treasure not to be put aside for the future but to be used wisely in the present.”

President Thomas S. Monson, “Dedication Day,” Ensign, Nov. 2000, 66.

I am asking myself the same question today...where did the years go? Aaron just turned 8 years old. He will start Cub Scouts and be baptized soon. As he was trying on his new Scout shirt yesterday I couldn't believe that he was that old...or that I am that old to have a son that age. Time is truly a gift...treasure each and every day because they go by too quickly!

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

I came home the other day to find Eric making these with the kids. This a a favorite recipe from his childhood. They are SO GOOD...and the dough is even better. Sometimes I don't even want to cook them and just eat the dough!

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Cream above ingredients together then add:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cups oats
• 1 cup chocolate chips (we tried peanut butter chips and it was really good as well)

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

Freedom Isn't Free

Freedom Isn't Free

I watched the flag pass by one day,

It fluttered in the breeze.

A young Marine saluted it,

And then he stood at ease..

I looked at him in uniform

So young, so tall, so proud,

With hair cut square and eyes alert

He'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him

Had fallen through the years.

How many died on foreign soil

How many mothers' tears?

How many pilots' planes shot down?

How many died at sea

How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?

No, freedom isn't free.

I heard the sound of Taps one night,

When everything was still,

I listened to the bugler play

And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times

That Taps had meant "Amen."

-Author Unknown

Graham Cracker Eclairs

These are SO EASY and SO GOOD! It really does taste like an eclair. I made these for Fathers Day and my mother-in-law was so excited to have this for dessert because it is her favorite...and I think that it is one of my favorites as well!

Graham Cracker Eclairs

• 2 small packages of instant vanilla pudding
• 3 cups milk
• 1 8 oz cool whip
• graham crackers
• chocolate frosting (see recipe below)

Make pudding with 3 cups of milk. When it is firm, fold in the cool whip. In the bottom of a 9x13 pan put a single layer of graham crackers then spread 1/2 of the pudding mixture on top then grahams and the rest of the pudding and a final layer of grahams. Refrigerate until firm and top with chocolate frosting: (I like to make this the night before so that the graham crackers are soft and easy to cut through)

Chocolate Frosting

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Combine. If it is too thick add a splash of milk until spreadable. 

Enjoy!