November Daring Baker’s Challenge
November 29, 2008 by Heidi in Food, House Stuff
The challenge this month was a yummy caramel cake with optional caramels. Now, when the challenge came out I was planning on doing both of them, but when I woke up this morning and realized that it was posting day I knew that both items were not going to get done (who would have thought that 2 young kids and another on the way may prevent me from getting everything done I wanted to this month!!). So I made the cake. I was a little intimidated about making the caramel sauce because it talks about wearing long sleeves and having ice water ready for possible burns, but it wasn’t as bad as I had imagined. I don’t really like cakes, but this one has such a great taste!!
This month there are some new posting rules for the daring bakers so that they can now track which daring bakers are doing the challenges. So the following information hopefully is everything that they need for the tracking.
Helping Dolores (http://culinarycuriosity.blogspot.com/) host this month are Alex (Brownie of the Blondie and Brownie duo:http://blondieandbrownie.blogspot.com/), Jenny of Foray into Food (http://forayintofood.blogspot.com/). And since none of us know jack about alternative baking, we’ve once again turned to Natalie of Gluten-a-Go-Go (http://glutenagogo.blogspot.com/) to assist us.
Our leading lady this month is Shuna Fish Lydon of Eggbeater (http://eggbeater.typepad.com/) and her signature caramel cake. Read the rest of this entry »
Thanksgiving
November 29, 2008 by Heidi in Family
Thanksgiving this year was at my Mom and Dad’s house. It was fun to be with almost everyone (we missed Kim and her family). My Grandma was able to join us and it was fun to watch Ben entertain her with his songs. We also got to meet Brady and Hannah’s baby, Damon, in person for the first time (we have been passing around a cold and hadn’t gone to see him because we didn’t want to share.) We ate lunch and then played Bingo. Ben was so excited when he finally got Bingo and got to get a prize. We then spent some time looking at the ads and making our plan for shopping the next day. It was nice to have time to sit and relax with our family.
P.S. There are no pictures because I took my camera, but didn’t even think to take a picture once I got it there.
Shoes
November 26, 2008 by Heidi in Family
So my little sister was coming down from Kemmerer today. Before she left she got on the IM and was surprised to see me because I’m normally at work at that time. I told her that there was no school today because it’s Thanksgiving break. She told me what time they were going to arrive at my mom’s and I asked her why it was going to take longer to get there. She said that she was going to stop at the Walmart in Evanston to see if they had some shoes that she was looking for. We started talking about shoes and feet and how my feet are so swollen that I’m stuck wearing flip-flops until this baby arrives. Then our conversation moved on to other things and the holiday. Well, when I got back to my mom’s today after taking my Grandma to the store Holly was there and she had a pair of these shoes for me.
I looked at them and told her I didn’t think that they would fit. She told me to just try them on. (She had been so concerned about them fitting that she had questioned a pregnant women in the store about them fitting.) To my amazement I actually got them on my feet! It was so nice. My feet were warm for the first time in weeks. I am so grateful that I have been blessed with a family who are so loving and giving. Who knew that a new pair of shoes could make a person feel so loved.
Dr. Check-up
November 25, 2008 by Heidi in Family
I went to the dr. today for my 32 week check-up. Medically everything is going really well with me and the baby. We are very excited to be able to enjoy the next couple of weeks (and the holiday) without having to worrying about pre-eclampsia!!
A Day of Unfortunate Events - AKA A Crappy Day
November 21, 2008 by Scott in Family, Religious
Yesterday will go down in mine and Heidi’s history book as one of our crappiest days ever.
My Dad
Just before our alarm clock went off, the phone rang. It was my older sister, Kristy. She had a hard time keeping the tears back as she told me that my dad was in the Emergency Room at the hospital because he might have had a heart attack. We just couldn’t believe it. We were so worried for him. We got ready and got the boys ready and I took the boys to their babysitter’s house.
As I pulled up to the house, Kristy called again and said that they were unsure if it was a heart attack or not, so they were going to repeat the tests to make sure. My dad called while I was on the phone with my sister and I tried to answer, but it had already gone to my voicemail. So, I took the boys inside and then listened to the voice message my dad left while I drove to work. He sounded good and optimistic that it wasn’t as bad of a problem as they originally thought. He instant messaged me when I logged on at work and said that it was a high blood pressure issue and that he was going to his doctor that day to get tests and some prescriptions.
So, it didn’t turn out to be a heart attack, but was still scary for us. Read the rest of this entry »
Ben’s Desire to Learn to Read
November 19, 2008 by Scott in Family, Work
When I get home from work, Ben almost always asks me, “how was your day, Daddy?” And I respond, “Good”, “Long”, “Busy”, etc. He sometimes follows up the question with, “what did you do at work?” I mostly respond, “I looked at numbers all day and made changes to our marketing campaigns.”
Somtimes on Wednesday’s Heidi and I go to lunch together before her afternoon meetings at the school she teaches at. Today we went to Joe Bandido’s near my office. We had a great conversation about Heidi’s class and about the boys. Heidi said that Ben asked her the other day, “Daddy looks at numbers all day at work. Mommy, what do you do at work?” Heidi told him that she taught little boys and girls how to read. Ben’s eyes got real wide and he said, “Can you teach me how to read, Mommy?”
Now, a while ago I apparently told Heidi that I didn’t want her to teach Ben how to read because I didn’t want him to be forced to learn to read or write and hate school as much as I did. So, Heidi, remembering what I had said, told Ben, “no” but that he would learn to read when he went to school. She said that she would teach him other things and they could have “school” at our house. Well, my point of view has changed since I had made that comment, because Ben is so smart already. He knows all his letters and letter sounds. He memorizes the books that Heidi and I read to him every night. And he thirsts for knowledge and really shows interest in learning to read. So, I think we’re going to try it out and see if he really wants to learn to read or not. I think he will love it.
Harry Potter HBP Trailer
November 18, 2008 by Scott in Uncategorized
Many of you know that my family are huge Harry Potter fans. We go to midnight showings of the movies whenever possible and we went to the midnight releases of the books. I frequently listen to the HP audiobooks while I work as well. Here is the full theatrical trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It is awesome, I can’t wait for July. Enjoy!
You’re My Best Friend
November 13, 2008 by Heidi in Family
My sister, Kimberly, doesn’t have a blog because she says that people just present all the great things that happen in their lives and it isn’t really accurate. Well, to be accurate, last week Ben and I had one of the worst weeks we have ever had. He did not adjust to the time change well, he learned the word “hate”, and decided to be mean to the other kids at the babysitters (including his brother). Tyler was as cute as he has ever been, coming over and patting my knee when I was getting frusterated or starting to laugh so that I would laugh with him. Ben and I finally got things worked out after a week of fighting him to take naps so that he would be happier. I was excited when I picked him up on Monday because the babysitter said that he had a much better day. I still made both boys take a nap. Ben woke up happy, however, Tyler woke up crying and he didn’t stop until Scott got home. Needless to say my nerves were shot. I was standing in the kitchen getting stuff ready for dinner and Ben walks up to me, gives me a great big hug, and says, “Mom, you’re my best friend.” I stood there in the kitchen and just cried. How blessed my life is that when one child is struggling and I am struggling my other child sees a need and tries to make it better.
