Five Years Ago Today

We had a four-year-old and a five-year-old.  Their lives revolved around Thomas the Tank Engine and play dates with a great group of friends we were lucky enough to find in Iowa.

Daddy worked with some of his best friends at John Deere and I was finally coming into being a mom and feeling like I might know what I was doing…

I LOVED Will and Scotty’s bedroom in Iowa.  It was such a happy, cheerful room for two little ones.  And I remember looking out that window, down our street, waiting for Scott to come home from work.  It was a fun time!

Lots and lots of good memories in this one picture!

Making Cake Pops–What I’ve Learned So Far

So, documenting my ongoing struggle to make cake pops, this is what I did yesterday…  It was fun, don’t get me wrong, but I know the final product can be better.

First off, I’m a little disappointed when I found out that the makers of this little machine have only just recently renamed it to “Cake Pop Maker” from “Donut Hole Maker”, I think in order to cash in on the popularity of the cake pop.  But truth is, it DOES NOT make cake pops.  Cake pops have frosting incorporated IN THEM. And yes, you can inject frosting into the middle of these, but try to get them to stay on a stick when you do…  This is not a cake pop maker.

It’s a fun, little machine and my boys loved playing with it.  It did not, however, make what I was hoping for.

Cute, huh?  And fun to pop in your mouth.  They are bite-sized, like I had hoped.

I really hoped that injecting them with icing would do it for me…  but no.  Again the process was fun.  The boys loved giving them “shots”.

Also discovered that while Almond Bark is far easier to work with than melted chocolate, the chocolate is worth it!  Almond bark isn’t nearly as good.

So in order to use my DONUT HOLE MAKER, I need to find a recipe for donuts.  (not a cake recipe)

And if I want cake pops, I need to break out my Bakerella book and try again.

Eye Candy Friday

Who knew Cilantro could be so beautiful?  Does anyone know, is it going to stay this love fall red color all summer?  I hope so cause it’s gorgeous!  (and I’m so glad it’s doing well, because I hear grasshoppers HATE cilantro!)

Happy Friday, everyone!

Year in Pictures–Week 35

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Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Our last day of fourth grade for Dood ended with a school carnival!  It was awesome!

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Thursday, May 19, 2011

A beautiful day in Nebraska full of working and playing outdoors!

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Friday, May 20, 2011

Antique-ing kitchen cabinets and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on this kitchen remodel.

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Saturday, May 21, 2011

The boys’ first golf lesson.  It was too cold for me!  The boys had too much fun to notice the cold…  mostly.

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Sunday, May 22, 2011

Scotty wrote a song for Boo and was singing it to her this afternoon.  It was so sweet!

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Monday, May 23, 2011

They’re opening and they are more beautiful than ever!

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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

My first attempt at Artisan bread.  The recipe is really pretty easy, but I’ve learned a couple things from this first try:  I need to decrease the salt and make the loaves bigger and let them rise a little longer.  Can’t wait to make the time to try again!  It isn’t going to happen today because we have priority baking to do today:  DOGGY COOKIES!

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Wednesday, May 25, 2011

All done!  It took 2 1/2 weeks – not bad…  not bad at all!  And we love how it all came together!

Eye Candy Friday

These two underachieving lilac bushes in our backyard were dangerously close to losing their lives this year.  They haven’t bloomed once the 5 years we’ve lived here!  But this year is proving to be a wonderful surprise for these bushes and the strawberries!  I haven’t had lilacs in so long, I had forgotten how sweet and perfect they smell!  They’re right outside my office window and I’m enjoying them more than you can imagine! 

So glad we didn’t get around to uprooting them!

And the strawberries that have produced a total of 1/ 2 a dozen berries in three years, must have 200 tiny berries on them right now.  We’re going to put a fence around them this weekend in hopes of keeping puppies out of them.  I’m already thinking of freezer jam!!

Year in Pictures–Week 33 and 34

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Sunday, Mary 1, 2011

First fire of the year!  It was awesome!

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Monday, May 2, 2011

The fourth graders fitness goal was to run one mile.  So today they did it!  It was loads of fun for everyone!

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Tuesday, May 3, 2011

I was so excited to get this in the mail…  and so bummed that I haven’t had time to play yet…  I’ll keep you posted when I do…  Boys have been asking everyday…

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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Sounds like an awesome idea, huh?  But it leaves an ugly, purple stain everywhere a bubble lands…  Not so good, cleaning it up afterward…

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Thursday, May 5, 2011

Bought myself a little goodie:  this cute little square bag for small knitting projects.  Isn’t it adorable?  If you’d like one too, I bought mine at http://www.etsy.com/shop/daintyhippo?ref=pr_shop_more

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Friday, May 6, 2011

My favorite Maple tree has baby leaves!!!

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Saturday, May 7, 2011

Bee’s 9th birthday party!  Everyone had a ball!  And we’re so grateful to have such awesome friends!  Thanks you,  everyone!

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Sunday, May 8, 2011

What a difference!  We hired some wonderful guys to help us spruce up around here and one of the things they did was paint this little garden shed out back.  I LOVE THE BARN RED!  It reminds me of the covered bridges in Iowa!

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Monday, May 9, 2011

Per Scotty’s request, we made Oreo Truffles again…  to take to his class for a birthday celebration at school.  They were very popular and I want to make them again, just for fun when school starts back up in the fall…

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Tuesday, May 10, 2011

We attended the annual Muffins With Mom event at Central Elem.  It was a great way to start the day!

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Wednesday, May 11, 2011

This family’s last Fun Day…  They end in the third grade.  And this year we had to have Fun Day indoors because the weather wouldn’t cooperate.  I was glad because IT WAS COLD!

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Thursday, May 12, 2011

I’ve been wanting to go to The Macaroni Grill for weeks.  Sadly,  I remembered it being a lot better than it is.  The rosemary bread was the best thing I had and it was free…

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Friday, May 13, 2011

Scott and I got to hang out and just be together.  We decided to go to Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado and it was as beautiful there as ever!

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Saturday, May 14, 2011

Party Number 2 at Chuck E. Cheese with all the “Colorado Cousins”.  He was a little embarrassed with the spotlight completely on him (just like his Mommy), but overall, he had a great time!

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Sunday, May 15, 2011

I never thought in a million years, that we’d actually have strawberries, but we must have 300 tiny, little green berries out there.  Of course, if we don’t get a fence around them pretty soon, Boo’s going to eat all of them.  I’m already dreaming of freezer jam…

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Monday, May 16, 2011

Look what I did today!  First step to homegrown tomatoes!  We’ve got the Praying Mantis egg case maturing, and I’m feeding the birds and I’ve planted Cilantro all in an effort to keep the grasshoppers away from the garden this year!  Wish me luck!

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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

75% done!  I think my helper is getting really tired of painting!  I know I am.