Sunday Sayings

 "The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved--loved for ourselves, or rather, in spite of ourselves."  Victor Hugo

One Dollar

The other day when I was at Michael's buying unfinished frames  (see previous post) I wandered by the

dollar section and the clerk was putting out these pretties.

Post It notes...

 Note cards...

 Adorable little carved frames...

In the cutest colors and patterns ever.  Had to bring a few things home to add to my already overflowing stash.

Craft Night!

Thank you all so much for the wonderful comments on our grandbaby news!  You guys are

just the best!  I highly recommend grandparenthood.   It's so much fun without all the

work.  And stress.  And expectations.  And expense.  Well, there's some expense but mostly

for fun things.  At least that's been our experience.  So thank you again.

In our church we have a women's organization called Relief Society.  We meet on Sundays for a spiritual  lesson and then about one night a month for activities.  We've had speakers talk to us about breast

cancer awareness, disaster preparedness, communicating with your spouse, children's literature,

all kinds of interesting things.  Sometimes we have cooking demonstrations or we tie

quilts for humanitarian projects.  My favorite activities are the craft nights.  We're having one in February, just

in time for Valentines Day. 

This is the class that I'll be teaching.  Simple, inexpensive, kind of cute, mod podged frames.

 The frames are $1.00 at Michaels.

 The scrapbook paper is cheap.

We'll be doing a couple of other projects too.  It's such a great way for women to get together and socialize, get to know each other a little better, and end up with a cute little frame to help make their house a home.

An Announcement

Daughter #1 and her husband are expecting baby boy #2 in July!  That means I'm going to be a Mimi again!

We are so thrilled! 

Sunday Sayings

"True love requires action.  We can speak of love all day long, we can write notes or poems that proclaim it, sing songs that praise it, and preach sermons that encourage it, but until we manifest that love in action, our words are nothing but sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal."   Dieter Uchtdorf

Cakes!

Here are the recipes for the crockpot cakes.  Some crockpots cook hotter than others so be sure you keep an eye on them the first time you make these recipes.  You may need to adjust the cooking time.  Just a little warning.

These are great when you don't have an oven (when you're remodeling your kitchen), or when the oven's full of something else.

Chocolate Cake

1 (12 oz) bag semisweet chocolate chips

1 (3.4 oz) package instant chocolate pudding mix

1 cup sour cream

1 box chocolate cake mix, batter prepared according

to package directions

butter flavored cooking spray

Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Stir the chocolate chips, pudding mix, and sour cream into the prepared cake batter.  Spray a 3 qt or larger slow cooker with cooking spray, and then pour the batter into it.  Cover and cook on high for about 2 hours, and then stir well.  Cover and cook on high for another 1 1/2 hours or until the dessert is mostly set in the middle and firm around the edges.  The top and middle will still be a little gooey.  Turn off the slow cooker and let it sit for at least 30 minutes.  The dessert will have the consistency of a bread pudding.  Spoon it into bowls and serve with vanilla ice cream.  Makes 8-10 servings

Lemon Cake

1 (12 oz) bag white chocolate chips

1 (3.4 oz) package instant lemon pudding mix

1 cup sour cream

1 box lemon cake mix, batter prepared according

to package directions

butter flavored cooking spray

vanilla ice cream, for serving

Stir the white chocolate chips, pudding mix, and sour cream into the prepared cake batter.  Spray a 3 qt or larger slow cooker with butter flavored cooking spray and then pour the batter into it.  Cover and cook on high for about 2 hours and then stir well.  Cover and cook on high for another 1 1/2 hours or until the dessert is mostly set in the middle and firm around the edges.  The top and middle will still be a little gooey.  Turn off the slow cooker and let it sit for at least 30 minutes.  The dessert will have the consistency of a bread pudding.  Spoon it into bowls and serve with vanilla ice cream.  Makes 8-10 servings.

For the lemon cake I sometimes make a sauce made of the juice of one lemon and enough powdered sugar to be able to drizzle the icing over the cake and ice cream.

Enjoy!

Thought of You - by Ryan Woodward

Sunday Sayings

"Winter is the time for comfort.  For good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand, and for a talk beside the fire.  It is the time for home."  Edith Sitwell

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

Here on the Wasatch Front we've had a cold, gray, depressing January so far.  But this morning, for

about 20 minutes, the sun shone.  (cue the hallelujah chorus) I had to take a couple of pictures

so I can look at them when we have another cold, gray, depressing day tomorrow.

I just wanted to thank you  for your kind comments on my Mary Englebreit cookbook

recipes.  You all are so supportive of my 15 minutes of fame!  Well, semi-fame.

I debated whether or not to post the recipes.   Didn't want Mary to lose

any revenue over my giving the recipes away for free.  After much soul searching I decided to share

them with my adorable blog friends.  So one day next week I'll post them

just for you!  Hopefully on a sunny winter day.

Gossip

Sunday Sayings

"The best thing to hold onto in life is each other."    Audrey Hepburn

Mary and Me

A long time ago, I can't even remember when exactly, I received the Mary Englebreit newsletter via email.

It contained her usual cuteness, of course, and then she asked if anyone would like to submit a recipe for

her new slow cooker cookbook.  Why yes, I think I would!  So I sent her a little chocolate cake

recipe that I make in the crock pot.  The more I thought about that recipe, (it's been around forever), the more I thought maybe I should send her another that no one had ever heard of.  I thought I  might have a better chance of getting in the cookbook that way.  So I made one up!  It turned out pretty good so I submitted it.  (It's a lemon cake with white chocolate chips)  Then months and months went by and I didn't hear anything from the Mary Englebreit people and I kind of forgot about the whole thing.

Well, take a look at what came in the mail a couple of weeks ago!

Signed by Mary herself.  Even her autograph's cute.

Recipe #1.

Recipe #2

I know!  I'm so excited!   

Happy Anniversary to the Mister

Happy 39th Anniversary! 

Where has the time gone?

This man lives to make me happy.

And he does.



A Cute Little Monkey {Hat}

My darling friend Janis, from the Grams blog, crocheted this darling hat

 for one of our little monkeys.

She is sooo talented in sooo many ways.  Thank you so much Janis!

 Trying to take a picture of a squirmy two year old in a monkey hat is a bit tricky.

 Why does he need a nice warm hat you ask? 

Sunday Sayings

"Rise to the great potential within you.  But don't reach beyond your capacity.  Don't feel guilty or dwell on thoughts of failure.  Don't compare yourself with others.  Do the best you can, and the Lord will provide the rest.  Have faith and confidence in Him and you will see miracles happen in your life and the lives of your loved ones."     Deiter Uchtdorf