Trunk or Treat!

Yesterday was Trunk or Treat at our church. This year is the first year that we've ever done it, and it was really cute. They had activities for the kiddos inside, and of course all of the decorated cars (and candy) outside.


It took the kiddos a little while to warm up to what was going on, but then they made their way around to all of the cars before settling in our friends car. Jill may or may not have helped herself to their candy while she was sitting in their hatch.

The kiddos are really looking forward to tonight and I'm really hoping the rain stops so we can still go trick or treating. Happy Halloween everyone!

Crazy for Cake Pops

I was able to review Molly Bakes' book, Crazy for Cake Pops. I've been interested in cake pops, but definitely intimidated. This book is great for people like myself who are just getting into cake pops and need a step by step tutorial. Aside from the basics, the book tackles 50 different ways to make these, from the super simple to the really complex (like a teapot).

I made the vanilla cake pops with a simple candy coating. Now let me mention I've had this book for a while but haven't been able to make these because of how hot it has been here in Florida. I couldn't find a store with candy melts because they were melting in transit. Seriously.

Like I said, I made the vanilla cake pops which consist of vanilla cake and vanilla cream cheese frosting. I also had a helper, and he was quick to remind me that he made the cake.

Here's how you make that:

For the cake you need:
1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 1/3 cup of self-rising flour, sifted (funny I just read the sifted part...whoops)
4 tablespoons milk, at room temperature

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10 inch round cake tin or an 8 inch cake tin. Cream the butter and sugar until it is pale and fluffy. Mix the vanilla extract into the creamed butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Add half the flour and then half the milk and mix until fully combined. Repeat with the remaining flour and milk. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Once baked, leave to cool in the pan for 20 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

For the frosting you need:
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream the butter and cream cheese together. Gradually add the sugar, then continue to cream until light and fluffy. Finally, mix in the vanilla. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before using.

Once your cake is cool you need to crumble it . Molly suggests doing this by hand, or you can use a food processor. You want to remove the crust of the cake so you do not have any lumps.

Once the cake is crumbled you want to take you frosting, a heaping tablespoon at a time, and mix it into the cake crumbles. You may not need all of the frosting, so just do it a little at a time. Keep mixing until you have a fudge-like texture.

Wrap your mixture in plastic wrap and chill for one hour.



After it has chilled you want to roll the cake balls into the size of a ping-pong ball. Place each ball on a tray lined with parchment paper and chill for 15-20 minutes.

Next you want to do your candy melts. Take a 14 oz bag of candy melts and melt in a microwave safe bowl for 1 minute. Take the candy out and stir it, you made need to microwave for another 30 seconds (no lie, I almost typed minutes, wouldn't that be awful?!). If your melted candy isn't silky you can add 1-2 teaspoons of vegetable oil. The candy will stay melted for 20-30 minutes if you continue to stir.

Now you want to dip your lollipop stick into the melted candy (about 3/4 inch deep) and immediately insert the stick into the top center of each cake ball, about halfway through. Do not insert too deep or too shallow. Place on a tray lined with parchment paper to allow the candy to set. This should take 1-2 minutes.

Before you dip your cake pops you want to pierce holes into a polystyrene block (yeah I didn't read this part until I was ready to do it and that's just not something I have lying around). Dip your cake pops into the melted candy and make sure the bowl is deep and filled with candy so you don't have to tilt it. Gently tap the cake pop over the bowl to remove any excess candy. Place securely in the polystyrene block and allow to dry. This should take 1-2 minutes.

For decorating I just used icing, but there are literally a million different ways to decorate these.

I am amazed at some of the ways Molly decorates her cake pops. You would honestly never know they were cake, it is so cool.

I will admit these are a lot more challenging than I thought, and I cannot wait to try again. I think I'm going to do the red velvet pops next time, they sound sooooo good!

Have you made cake pops? What are your tips and tricks?

Thanksgiving Thursday

For those of you that don't know what Thanksgiving Thursday is, it is the one time during the week where you stop and basically count your blessings. Even if you've had one of those weeks, I promise you can find at least one thing to be thankful for, no matter how big or small.

This week I am thankful for:

• Scott, he's doing something awesome and I'm truly thankful for it.

• Aaron who makes me laugh, maybe at inappropriate times, but at least he makes me laugh.

• Jill who has the best imagination. This week she is a mermaid, with a tail, that swims and sings and jumps around in the water. She also tells the octopus to go away and leave her alone.

• My parents coming to town next week!

• My sister sending me Polish goodies, they're awesome!

• My in-laws who are pretty awesome.

• A great Saturday with our friends Bob and Vanessa and her family. We had an amazing time and cannot wait for their wedding!

• A great upcoming weekend with Dawn and Dys!

• The cooler weather, dare I say fall-ish weather?

What are you thankful for this week?

Happy Birthday to my MOM!

Today is my Mom's 70th birthday, for real. Trust me when I age (who am I kidding, I'm already aging) I want to age like her because she looks nowhere near her age, and after 6 kids that's amazing.



I have so many amazing memories with my Mom. Like the time we went with Cathy to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat when Donny Osmond was performing and she suggested we go to the stage door to get the cast autographs because "you know I did that all time". I swear one minute she was standing next to us and the next minute she was getting Donny's autograph. I have no idea how she got to the front of the line so fast.

She was also the Mom that went to every single band competition when I was in high school. She was even brave enough to chaperone one. She also wrote me a note before every competition and put it in my bag for me to read on the bus.

She has had a card for me for every single event in my life. Even when I went back to school recently, I got a card on my first day.

She taught me it's always important to at least have makeup on when you go to the store because you never know who you are going to run into. Can I add that this is hilarious because nine times out of ten she goes to the store in lounge pants and an old Disney t-shirt. She usually runs into someone she knows.

She has the funniest stories from her childhood and I love hearing them. For example, I sent her a card when I was in college that said "Hey Sailor, buy a girl a drink?" and she called me laughing and said "Oh my God I used to do that all the time at Navy Pier!". Scott said this explains so much about me right there.

I truly cannot express how much I love my Mom, she's always there for me and I could never have asked for a better Mom!


Happy Birthday MOM!

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

Thursday we took the kiddos to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. This is something we have done with them every year, and I love the tradition. This was really the first year we did any trick or treating while we were there, so we already have a nice stash of candy for ourselves...I mean the kids already have some candy.

This year the kids are Snow White and a Pirate. Aaron only wore the hat for this photo, I wish he would have kept it on because seriously he was so adorable. Jill surprisingly kept the headband on the whole night.I know I'm a little biased, but seriously how cute are they?! We actually got to the party fairly early, which was a first. We were able to do a few rides before the party actually started and then we headed over to see our friend Jane. Jill was beside herself because Jane remembered that she was Alice last year. Someday I will have to explain to the kids that no it is not normal for the Disney characters to know your name or what you were for Halloween last year.

We had so much fun this year because the kids are even more into it than before. We let them pick all of the rides that we went on, which translates to every ride in Fantasyland. I'm already looking forward to going with them next year!

Thanksgiving Thursday

For those of you that don't know what Thanksgiving Thursday is, it is the one time during the week where you stop and basically count your blessings. Even if you've had one of those weeks, I promise you can find at least one thing to be thankful for, no matter how big or small.

This week I am thankful for:

• Scott who is doing amazing things that I will appreciate more than he knows.

• Aaron and the silly things he says. Also the fact that he still gives me big bear hugs (we call them Aaron hugs), I know this won't last for long.

• Jill who, even though we had a really rough day yesterday, can be so sweet and hilarious.

• Our parents that sat on the computer for 2 hours with me trying to secure the last 5 Disney Designer Dolls with me. It's definitely 2 hours we will never get back....ever.

• My Dad having a fabulous birthday yesterday.

• My niece hopefully having a fabulous birthday today.

• Apple refunded all the purchases ($152 worth) made by the geek that hacked my iTunes account. Trust me, there is a post coming on this one.

• My Keurig, for real. How did I live without this thing?

What are you thankful for this week?

Way back When-esday

I have not played along with Way Back When-esday in a long....long time, but I thought today would be totally appropriate. Today is my Dad's 74th birthday, so the photo will be of him when he was 4 years old.


Seriously, how adorable is this photo? Left to right it's my Aunt Eunice, Aunt Betty Jean and my Dad. As my sister pointed out, my Dad smiles the same exact way 70 years later. His hairstyle is also fairly similar.

Happy 74th Birthday Dad! I'm so glad I could be a part of 28 of those years (the happiest years I have no doubt). Love ya!

The Ultimate Cake Mix Cookie Book Pt. 2

I already reviewed the drop cookies from The Ultimate Cake Mix Cookie Cook Book and today I'm doing one of the cookie bar recipes. This is the recipe for the Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars. I will say I did see a typo in this recipe and didn't realize it until I was typing it out. In the book it mentions you need vanilla, but it never tells you when to put it in, but based on all of my baking knowledge, I'm guessing you add it with the cream cheese and sugar.

What you need:

• 1 (18.25 oz) package yellow cake mix
• 3/4 (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups quick cooking oats
• 2 (8 oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

What to do:

• Preheat oven to 350
• Grease or line a 13x9 inch baking pan
• Place the cake mix, butter, and 1 egg in a large bowl.
• Beat with electric mixer on medium speed 1 to 2 minutes until blended.
• Stir in the oats with a wooden spoon. Reserve 1 1/2 cups cake mixture.
• Press remaining mixture into prepared pan.
• Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and remaining 2 eggs with electric mixer on medium speed 1 to 2 minutes until smooth.
• Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips.
• Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over crust.
• Mix remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips into reserved crumbs, then sprinkle over cheesecake layer.
• Bake 35-40 minutes or until topping is crisp-looking and golden.
• Run knife around sides of pan to loosen bars.
• Transfer to wire rack and cool completely.
• Chill at least 2 hours, then cut into bars.

These are super yummy! Aaron helped me make them and everything. Be sure to check back next week because I'll be doing one of the specialty cookie recipes.

Still here? Check out What's Cookin' Wednesday at Life as We Know It!

What the kids are saying....

Minus the epic meltdowns, I'm really enjoying this age because the kiddos are coming up with some hilarious things to say. Here's some examples:

Aaron (to any coffee cup he sees): Mama, that your poffee? (Clearly I drink a lot of coffee)

Aaron: I said SHUT UP!
Jill: *gasp* Aaron!
Aaron: Um...BE QUIET!
Jill: That's better...

Aaron: We go to the pumpkin patch and see the GIANT dinosaur?
Me: There's a dinosaur at the pumpkin patch?
Aaron: Uh huh, a GIANT dinosaur.

Jill (every morning for like 2 weeks): I get dressed, put on my owl pack pack and go on the blue plane to Dzia Dzio's house?
Me: Not today.
Jill: Um, my owl pack pack and go to Dzia Dzio's house.
Me: Not today.
Jill: Not today?
Me: Right, not today.
Jill: I talk to Dzia Dzio?
Me: Ok...
Dzia Dzio: Hello Jill!
Jill: "Dzia Dzio, my owl pack pack and the blue plane and your house.
Dzia Dzio: But I'm coming by you.
Jill: No your house.
Dzia Dzio: But I'm coming by you.
Jill: (dramatic sigh) 'K bye...

I was in the guest bedroom getting something and Aaron caught me...
Aaron: Why you in Busia's bed?
Me: Um, I had to get something.
Aaron: Where's Busia? Is she in there? I want to see her.
Me: No, she's not here, I just had to get something out of the room.
Aaron: Let me see. I want to see Busia.
Me: Aaron, she's not here, trust me you would know if she's hear.
Aaron (looking in room): Mama, where's Dzia Dzio's pillows?
Me: They're on the couch, remember?
Aaron: Those Dzia Dzio's pillows.
Me: I know, but they're on the couch.
Aaron: Ok, but those Dzia Dzio's pillows, they go on Busia's bed.

I've officially be reprimanded by a 3 year old.

I wish I could think of more of the things they are saying. I'm trying to write them on Facebook when they happen so I can remember. Hope you got a laugh!

Is Your Homemade Sauce Worth $1 Million?

Is Your Homemade Sauce Worth $1 Million? Dave’s Gourmet Looking to Home Chefs and Food Professionals for Next Great Sauce.

This is a pretty amazing opportunity, and I know a lot of us make our own sauces, so I thought I would share!

Have you ever tasted a pasta sauce from the supermarket and thought, “I can do better then that” or do you make a fantastic sauce, salsa, dip, etc.? That is what Dave Hirschkop of Dave’s Gourmet thought, which is part of what motivated him to start his company that manufactures and markets award-winning sauces to millions of Americans every year.

The thing is, he’s pretty sure he’s not the only one in America who has a great sauce. That’s why Dave is putting his money where your kitchen is by creating a national contest to determine where America’s next great sauce, salsa or dip will come from.

“I know that somewhere someone is home making their own sauce because they know it’s better than anything they can get at the supermarket,” said Dave, whose sauces have won best in the industry awards two years running. “Well, I want that sauce. I want to manufacture it and bring it to people around the world. The only problem I’ve had in that equation was how to find it.”

Enter Dave’s brainchild: the Dave’s Gourmet Recipe Challenge, which carries a grand prize of up to $1,000,000 in sales royalties. Here’s how it works:

• Send Dave your recipe at www.davesgourmet.com by December 31, 2011.

• Entrants have to warrant that they own that recipe and that they did not swipe it from their sister-in-law when she wasn’t looking.

• From January 1-4, 2012, Dave’s team will test the recipes and choose a bank of semifinalists.

• Sauces will be judged in five categories – taste, appearance, creativity, consumer appeal and the recipe’s ability to be mass-produced. In other words, if Dave has to hand-cut bay leaves from trees found only in the southernmost tip of Italy in order to make your sauce, it might be too difficult for him to mass-produce.

• Those semifinalist sauces will be taste-tested by a panel from Dave’s Gourmet and finalist sauces will be chosen and their owners notified between January 12-14.

• On January 15 to 17, hundreds of food professionals attending the Fancy Foods Show in San Francisco will taste the finalists’ entries and will vote for their favorite.

• On January 18, the winner or winners will be announced and notified.

• Within two weeks of being notified, winners must sign some paperwork and collect their advance of $2000.

• The sauce will be produced for Dave’s Gourmet’s retailers and might have the winner’s name right on the label.

• The winner will receive royalties for 6 years, up to $1 million.

Dave said, “Now, I wasn’t anyone special when I started my restaurant and then moved into manufacturing sauces. I’m just like everyone else and that’s why I know that somewhere out there, someone just like me is standing in their kitchen stirring a sauce that could very well be the best one in America. So, I’m going to find out where it is.”

About Dave Hirschkop: Dave Hirschkop is married with three children, and graduated from Boston University back in the 80s. Shortly thereafter, he opened a mom and pop restaurant called Burrito Madness. It was there he first started experimenting with hot sauces, later moving into pasta sauces. He started Dave’s Gourmet 18 years ago, and now has products in major retailers like Safeway, Williams-Sonoma, Whole Foods and Costco.

Pumpkin Patch Time!

Yesterday we took the kiddos to the pumpkin patch to pick out their pumpkins. We've gone to the same patch since their first Halloween. This patch seems to get better every year and there seems to be more decorations, plus the proceeds go to an amazing cause.


The kids loved picking out their own pumpkins, but were not really into the whole 'posing for photos' thing. We all got a pumpkin and then drove around to look at the houses that are decorated for Halloween. The place where this patch is located is full of homes that go all out for Halloween. One house looked like a pirate ship and Aaron was convinced it was were Captain Hook lives.

When we got home we let the kids paint their pumpkins, while Scott and I carved ours. I use the word carve loosely with mine, I pretty much hacked mine up, Scott's is carved.

Aaron did a simple layer on the upper part of his pumpkin and he was all set. Now, Jill on the other hand, well she put at least 5 layers of paint on her pumpkin. Here is what the whole pumpkin family looked like:

The kids have already asked a dozen or so times if we are going back to the patch to get more pumpkins. I think this will definitely be a fun tradition for us for years to come.

Thanksgiving Thursday

For those of you that don't know what Thanksgiving Thursday is, it is the one time during the week where you stop and basically count your blessings. Even if you've had one of those weeks, I promise you can find at least one thing to be thankful for, no matter how big or small.

This week I am thankful for:

• Scott, who is amazing and I love very much. I just finished a book about a woman who hits her head and forgets the last 10 years of her life. When I thought about it, if it happened to me at this moment, I would forget Scott. I couldn't even imagine not having him in my life.

• Aaron finally being over the stomach flu...again. Apparently he re-caught it. I think we're done now, at least I hope we are.

• Jill's excitement when she got a special card with Ariel's autograph last night. You would have thought the guy handed her a million dollars.
  

• Our families, who are awesome and I have no idea what we would do without them. I mean really, who else can you just randomly text "STELLA!" too and get a laugh?

• Having family in town! We got to hang out with my brother Chris, his wife Pam and my nephew Alex last night. Aaron and Alex are totally buddies, and Jill just calls him "the other guy".

• Finding out my cousin is officially cancer-free! My cousin Debbie found out she had colon cancer last year (around this time, I think?) and after surgery and chemo she was just told she is cancer-free. I cannot even express how excited and thankful I am!
  

• The book club I'm in. Seriously, we have read some awesome books that I'm sure I would have never seen had I not been in the book club.
  

• All of my friends, I cherish all of you!

What are you thankful for this week?

World Food Day

October 16th is World Food Day, and to help bring awareness to hunger that strikes women and children around the world, Chef Art Smith is speaking about Women Thrive Worldwide.

With global food prices higher than ever, that number will only continue to grow. Women and girls, in particular, are hit hardest. They not only account for 1 in 6 of the world’s hungry, but also spend a staggering amount of their time and energy preparing meals for their families.
Right now, Congress is considering slashing programs that support women living in poverty around the world. They need to hear from you, that you think this is wrong. Here is how you can help in simple 3 steps:

Step 1: Join the Movement
Tell us a little bit about yourself here.

Step 2: Create a $2 Recipe
Worldwide, 2.5 billion people live on less than $2 a day. Women Thrive challenges you to make just one meal for that amount to call attention to the hunger epidemic that's threatening to impact even more women and girls worldwide. See sample recipes here. Provide your input and we’ll feature your recipe and bio on the Women Thrive website.

Step 3: Sign Art's Petition and Tell Your Friends!
We'll deliver a letter to Congress on behalf of all the chefs who joined the movement. Take action here.

It only takes minutes to sign the petition and get the word out! I hope you all join in this amazing effort!

The Ultimate Cake Mix Cookie Book Pt. 1

I've been able to review this amazing cookie cookbook called The Ultimate Cake Mix Cookie Book by Camilla Saulsbury. The book features 375 recipes that all start with a box of cake mix. If Camilla's name sounds familiar to you, you may know her from Food Network's Ultimate Recipe Showdown Best Cookie Recipe (she was the winner). Her recipes in this book are so easy to follow and the ingredients are all things that you probably have in your house, or you at least know where they are in the grocery store.

The book is broken down into three different types of cookies, drop cookies, bar cookies and specialty cookies. I've decided to break my review into three sections as well. This one is for her drop cookies. There are a ton of recipes in this section and it was honestly hard to narrow down my selection. I decided to make the chocolate-covered strawberry cookies. These cookies will be perfect for our Valentine's Day bake sale at church!

You need:
1 (18.25 oz) package strawberry cake mix
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/3 cup butter softened
2 large eggs

Icing:
1 1/4 cups semisweet or white chocolate chips
2 teaspoons vegetable shortening

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place cake mix, sour cream, butter and eggs in a large bowl.
Blend with electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute until blended.
Drop by the tablespoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets.
Bake for 9-12 minutes until the edges are firm and golden.
Cool for one minute, remove from cookie sheet and then cool completely.
Microwave the chocolate chips and shortening in a medium microwaveable bowl on high for 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds until smooth.
Using a fork, drizzle tops of cooled cookies with the melted cookies.
Chill cookies for 10 minutes to set the chocolate.

It's really important to chill them so the chocolate sets, otherwise you will have a mess when you go to eat them. All of us loved these cookies, even Scott who is not a huge strawberry fan.

Be sure to check back for my next post on cookie bars!

The Weekend of Rain

It was a fairly busy, and very wet, weekend for us. It started raining on Friday night and didn't stop until yesterday afternoon, only to pick up again last night.

Saturday I had a training session for the Columbiette's, an organization I'm a part of from my church. It was a fun morning/afternoon with the ladies and I was glad to be a part of it. Saturday was the day that it really rained so when I got home the kids and I just cuddled in our jammies and watched movies. Sometimes there is just nothing better than that.

Sunday we had a reception at the church for the Bishop in honor of our patron saints feast day. Originally it was supposed to be outside, but because of the rain it was moved indoors (in the very limited space we have). The whole reception was wonderful and the committee who ran/planned it did an amazing job! It was nice to have a chance to meet the Bishop and I was glad the kids didn't try to take his staff or anything.

I've got a lot of recipes coming this week, so be on the look out! Hope you are having a fantastic start to the week!

Review: Curious Critters

In his children's picture book Curious Critters (November 2011, Wild Iris Publishing, hardcover, ages 4-8) photographer David FitzSimmons turns his camera on a variety of animals common throughout North America. Curious Critters presents stunning images of everyday animals, including a red flat bark beetle, an Eastern spiny softshell turtle, a spotted salamander, and many other intriguing creatures. Each Curious Critter is photographed against a white backdrop, showcasing the animals' colors, textures, and shapes with precision and clarity. Along with each photo is a vignette, told from the critter's perspective, that educates and entertains. For example, a bush katydid explains her bubblegum-pink color, a poetic opossum opines upon her often-shortened name, and a far-from-modest black swallowtail butterfly lets readers in on her secret for avoiding predators.

My kiddos are in love with this book! They already love animals so I knew this book would be perfect for them. The photographs show so much detail and enough information for us parents to be able to tell our kids about the animal. What I like even more is the website for the book has a lot of interactive features for you to continue learning about the animals in the book, including eCards, word searches and coloring pages.

Check out some of the sample pages of the book here.

A huge thank you to Lorna Garano Book Publicity for introducing me to this book and providing me with a review copy!

Smilegram Paper

I had a chance to review some really adorable and fun stationary for kids by Smilegram Paper. What I love about this stationary is that it is lined, which really you do not see a lot of for kids. This stationary is perfect for kids who are just learning to write and want to send a note. Plus, the colors and options are so fantastic.

I chose the Fun Jumpin Froggies Stationary because it is perfect for either a boy or a girl. The stationary can be personalized and there are 12 sheets/envelopes in a set.

You can also purchase a writing tablet in the same pattern, which I think it great for practicing writing with your kiddos. The cost of the stationary is $9.99 and the writing tablet is $8.99, which are fairly good prices.


There are so many design options to chose from. Other designs I liked were the Color Me Happy and Movin and Groovin. Like I mentioned before the price is really reasonable and the sets are perfect for kids who are just learning to write.



Now for the awesome part of this review, Twice the Love...Half the Sleep readers will be able to get 20% off their entire purchase until 10-31-11 at Smilegram Paper! Simply use the code SMILE20 at checkout.

Be sure to check out all of the amazing designs at Smilegram Paper's website and be sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter!

*I received sample paper in order to write this review. The review is my own opinion and was not influenced in any way.*

Thanksgiving Thursday

For those of you that don't know what Thanksgiving Thursday is, it is the one time during the week where you stop and basically count your blessings. Even if you've had one of those weeks, I promise you can find at least one thing to be thankful for, no matter how big or small.

This week I am thankful for:

• Scott taking on the role of male nurse again while I was sick and he was getting over his own version of the plague.

• Aaron keeping us laughing during the whole thing.

• Jill not getting the plague (knock on wood, fingers/eyes/legs/toes crossed).

• A smooth drop off at Religious Education this week. Scott said they basically just looked at him and said "bye!". When did they grow up?!

• Finally being able to stomach something other than dry toast or dry Cheerios. That gets old after a while.

• Mimi and Paw Paw who took the kiddos for us on Tuesday while Scott got over the last of his illness and I slept off the majority of my illness. No lie, in 48 hours I think I slept 44.
  

• An afternoon at Sea World with the kiddos before I got sick. We had a great time seeing the whales, penguins and a show we had never seen before.
  

• A visionary like Steve Jobs, seriously, the man was a genius and without him who knows where technology would be. You shall be missed.

What are you thankful for this week?

The Plague

Oh this stomach flu thing...it's ridiculous. Aaron is over it (thank God), Jill has yet to get it (knock on wood), Scott is on the mend and I finally got it the other night and am now on the mend. I didn't even have it that bad and I pretty much wanted to die. I can only imagine how bad Aaron felt.

Everyone seems to be doing better though, and really that's all that matters. My sister keeps telling me I should really try and find an old priest and a new priest and have my house exorcised. I'm really thinking about it...

It's Fall-ish

I think Aaron has finally kicked the stomach bug he had. The last time he was sick was Thursday night, so I'm thinking we're done. At least, I hope so.

We've laid pretty low because of the whole "bug" thing, but on Sunday we hung out with my friend Jenn and her son. The kids all play so well together and I love the time I get to spend with my friend.

After dinner we went outside with the kids and tried out the new swings. It has been so beautiful outside, we in Florida call it "Fall-ish", it would have been foolish to not take advantage of the weather.


Scott's home sick today, I'm really hoping he doesn't have what Aaron had. I think he may just be exhausted from the past couple of weeks. Needless to say I will be Lysoling the house once again. Yuck...