More Curls

Okay...I tried another way of curling my hair today.  Only took me 30 years to figure out how to use a curling iron in more than one way!  We'll see what I try next.  I found some really cute dressier looks that I'm waiting for the right occasion to try.

Late Night Photo Session with Lisa

My sister came by last night to spend the night.  She is on her way to Tacoma for a figure competition. She wanted some pics done to post on her fitness facebook account (she's a personal trainer now) for her clients to see her transformation.  It was after eight when she got here and I finally went to bed just after one!

I originally set up my black backdrop but when I unrolled it I wanted to cry.  My lack of proper storage in the garage had put a dent in the paper roll, which showed up very clearly in a very bad way.  Only about a 1/3 of the width is usable now. :(  We ended up moving to a bare wall and doing most of the pics.

I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time.  We had some fun with some posing!  None of those pics are going to get posted here.  Lisa probably doesn't want people to see those.  I'm surprised we didn't wake anyone up.

I guess I will have to start saving my money to be able to buy a new black background.  I was already saving up to buy a white one but now I'll have to save even more.  And I can promise you they won't be stored in the garage again.

Cute Hair!

I had a few moments by myself today while K-dub took a nap.  I found myself blog hopping.  I had originally gone looking for something I had seen before and ended up in a completely different spot!  In this case it was good.  I came across a blog (http://www.thesmallthingsblog.com/) that had tutorials on some really cute hair styles.

I have been growing my hair out on a bet with Wayne.  The bet is if I grow it to 21 inches (from the top of my head...not the neckline) then I get laser eye surgery.  I am getting really close.  Last time I measured, I think I only had 2 inches left.  We'll see if Wayne follows through with is part.

Now that it's longer, I often wear it in a ponytail and not the cute kind.  When I looked into the large mirror that sits above my computer while I was blog hopping, I couldn't help noticing that my hair looked terrible today.  So I decided I'd try one of the hairstyles from the blog I came across.  Here's how it turned out.

I don't mind doing my hair.  I just have very few ideas to do it.  This blog I found will definitely help.  Now if I just get my hubby to pay a complement or two.  I have gotten several from friends but none from him.  I have been growing it out for over a year now and he has yet to say anything nice about it. :(  But I'm sure he'd have lots to say if I decided to cut it!!!

Jake's Cast is Off!

Jake got his cast off yesterday after school.  He is pretty excited.  He still has to be very careful for the next couple of weeks.  The doctor told him not to do anything stupid!  I love our doctors.

Purple Cow Guts

For those of you that don't know what a purple cow is, let me tell you.  A purple cow is a milk shake that for the flavoring you add concentrated grape juice.  Specifically you add Welch's because it is super flavorful and extra purple.  We have tried it with other brands and it just doesn't taste the same.

I first heard of these years ago when I was serving in the primary.  This and grasshoppers (a cookie like thin mints) was the special treat at the yearly baptism preview.  All the kids were excited to come so they could find out what these were.  This year for YW in excellence we used purple cows to go with our purple theme (see the mybokehcreations blog for the post).  We had purchased way to much and so the left over supplies came to my house.  The young women wanted to have them again last night.  We were learning how to make cinnamon rolls and topped our bellies off with a purple cow.

There was an open container of juice.  I wasn't able to get the lid on tight so I put it inside my blender glass with the lid on.  I placed it carefully in the trunk of my car and packed stuff around it so it wouldn't tip.

Well apparently it didn't work at all because this is what I found when I got home.

Let me answer a few of the questions that might be rolling through your head while you laugh hysterically!

No, I did not have the glass part on the base while traveling.  I was using the base to help hold the glass in the corner of the trunk.

Yes, I did stand up the glass part when I opened the trunk. It didn't end up that way.

Yes, I did swear when I first saw it.  "Oh sh**" flew right out my mouth.

No, I didn't cry.  Too busy swearing apparently!

Yes, welch's is very thick and a concentrated red/purple color.

Yes, it does look like a bloody murder scene.

Yes, it welch's does stain.  That orange wash cloth in the bottom edge of the picture is no longer orange.

Yes, it does look like it tipped over pulling out of the church parking lot.  From the extensive splatter you can tell I didn't make it far.

No, I will never to do this again.  Any extra juice will be dumped down the sink prior to leaving!

And to top it all off, I forgot my milk.  So after I cleaned the purple cow guts up, I went back to the church to get my milk.

More Teeth & Cookies!

K-dub is teething again.  He had 2 teeth when he was placed with us.  The first month he was here, he got 6 more!  And after a short break, he's teething again.  I'm pretty sure he is working on everything that's left.  Every spot that doesn't already have a tooth is swollen and I could feel a molar had just broken through or was about to.  Needless to say, he has been very grumpy this week.  He just follows me around the house crying and fussing.  Holding him doesn't help.  Motrin usually works but today it didn't.  By 7:30 tonight, I was ready to go bonkers.  And to top it off, I had a sugar craving.  Bonkers and cravings tend to go together.



Yep, that's drool!



So, I decided I'd whip up a batch of my favorite cookies, Chocolate Chip-less.  For those of you that don't know what that is, it's mom's chocolate chip cookie recipe, minus the chocolate chips.  These are my absolute favorite, even if my intestines and gluten have an ongoing disagreement.  I have never been able to convert these to gluten free and have them turn out.  Trust me I've tried.  They either taste horrible or bake into a paper thin rock or both.  So when I really crave them, I make them.

My favorite is right out of the oven, and ever-so-slightly undercooked.  I don't know how my love for these started.  I would assume that it has something to do with being the youngest of 5 children.  Picture this with me if you will.  You come home from school and mom is baking cookies for everyone.  The oldest kids (Brian and Jeff) call dibs on the first batch of cookies to come out of the oven.  These cookies are loaded full of yummy chocolate chips.  They eat them and run along.  The middle kids (Steve and Lisa) call the second batch to come out.  They too have plenty of chocolate chips in them.  They eat their cookies and run along also.  Now it's my turn.  Mom is scraping dough that is stuck on the sides of the bowl to get enough to make one or two more cookies.  If I was lucky, there might have been one chocolate chip left for one of the cookies.  She bakes them up and because she is trying to clean up with all 5 kids home, she puts them in for the minimum time.  She doesn't give them that extra 30 seconds to a minute more that they need because she's ready to load the cookie sheet into the dishwasher.  And there you have it.  My love for chocolate chip-less cookies begins!

Those of you that are the youngest in your families completely understand this sibling hierarchy.  I have a similar reasoning for why, as a child, always took cool water baths!  Still to this day, I don't care for real hot showers.  But all said and done, I wouldn't trade my childhood for anything.  I love my family and love to laugh at our stories.  I hope my children will think so highly of their childhoods when they get older. 

Here's my mom's recipe if you're lacking some yummy goodness in your life.  It's an older Hershey's recipe and is not the same as on the bag of chips today.

1 cup crisco

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

Cream together then add:

2 1/4 cups flour (a little more if needed)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

Add 2 cups chocolate chips (optional!)

Bake in pre-heated oven at 375* for 8-10 minutes.

Avery's Mobile Domain

One of my best friends, Amber,  is moving to North Dakota on Friday.  Like many others in the area, her family is going where there are some really good paying jobs on oil fields.  They will be in somewhat of a remote area called Powers Lake.  The school has just over 100 kids, grades k-12.  This last week she was talking to the principle on the phone.  In their conversation, the principle ask where they would be living.  Amber told her that they would be staying in their 5th wheel camper.  This a common thing there.  Many families are doing this.  The principle said that in the state of North Dakota there is a law that states anyone living in a mobile domain automatically qualifies for free/reduced school lunches because they are considered homeless.  So the joke now is that Amber will be homeless in her mobile domain even though they are keeping their home here and will making adequate money to support their family.

Today we had a farewell lunch at El Gallo Giro for Amber.  I wanted to give her something.  So I got the idea to include "mobile domain" in a sign for her wall.  And this is what I came up with.

I purchased a black frame to finish it off.  It turned out soooo cute.  I'm thinking about using a different saying a making one for my own home.