no words needed.

 (for the scrap book)

When we were done I took a photo of him on my phone and then showed him...he gasped a little and reached up to touch his head with both hands like he had no idea what was going on up there.

Still handsome as ever.  

We're hoping for a Samson kind of effect...you know, like maybe his naughty was stored in his long blonde locks?

painting wooden spoons!

Yesterday was STRESSful for me.  I know I will sound like a complete wuss but it was.  Aaron had his first dentist visit and came out with SIX cavities.  :(  That completely bums me out for him.  Add to that the verbal scolding I feel like I got from the dentist and his helper and I was in the pits yesterday.  It completely baffles me...Moses and Aaron have the same diet essentially and one has perfect teeth and the other apparently inherited both my super soft teeth and Doug's close together teeth.  Not a nice combo for keeping cavities away.

I felt like the doctor didn't believe me when he asked...well does he drink a lot of juice? Does once every few days count?  Does he eat a lot of candy?  Does a couple times a month count? Don't give him food or drink after brushing teeth before bed.  Never done that.  Don't let him have soda.  Has never happened.  Does he eat a lot of those "kid" yogurts?  Never.  I swear they went down the whole list and I could say with conviction that my kids don't eat a bunch of junk.  It has to be genetics.  Were any of your kids that way?  

Anyway...I'm happy to have dental insurance and I am thankful that they are baby teeth.  And I am making Doug take him for the fillings.     

Yesterday seemed like a good day to tackle this project.  After seeing it on House of Earnest, I just knew my wooden utensils were meant for greater things.  I gathered them up, scuffed the shiny ones a little with sandpaper and painted myself a rainbow.   

Once they are dry they will be coated with a layer of food/baby/people safe shellac.  I used regular non-toxic craft paint and was sure to keep my painted area pretty far from where it would come in contact with food on a regular basis. 

And now to find the right way to display them in my kitchen....

marshmallows and toothpicks!

Last week I set out a big bowl of mini-marshmallows and toothpicks and declared that it was family time.

There was no arguing.

It was fun, easy and cheap!

Good for the littles, too! 

There was a lot of eating.  I was ok with that. :)

Then happy mayhem ensued. 

You should give it a go!  It was a hit here and I can't think of any age that wouldn't love this!

what i made for monday-salted caramel butter bars!

salted caramel.  butter.  yum!

Here's what I made for Monday!  They were delicious and decadent.  Not too much and not too little.  Easy and fairly quick to throw together.  Plus, you know, salted caramel and butter.  Yeah, that. 

Salted Caramel Butter Bars (recipe adapted from  Cookies and Cups)

Bottom layer ingredients:
1 lb. salted butter room temp
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 Tbs vanilla
4 cups all purpose flour

Top layer ingredients:
1 bag (14 oz.) caramels (about 50 individual caramels), unwrapped
1/3 cup milk 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

coarse sea salt 

 

Preheat to 325F.

For the crust:

Using mixer on medium speed, beat together the butter and sugars until creamy. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. Sift the flour into the butter mixture and beat on low speed until a smooth soft dough forms.

 

Spray a 9×13 inch baking pan lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Press one-half of the dough evenly into the pan to form a bottom crust, and place the remainder of the dough in the fridge to chill.

Bake until firm and the edges are a pale golden brown approx 20-30 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool about 15 minutes.

Prepare the filling:

Place the unwrapped caramels in a microwave-safe bowl. Add the milk and vanilla.   Microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove from the microwave and stir until smooth. If caramels are not completely melted, microwave on high for 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval, until smooth.

Pour the caramel filling over the crust.  Give the caramel layer a good salting...same as you would salt your plate.

Crumble remaining chilled dough on top. 

 

Return the pan to the oven and bake until the filling is bubbly and the crumbled shortbread topping is firm and lightly golden, about 25 – 40 minutes.

Let cool, cut and serve! 

Enjoy these! :)

unfathomable testimony.

Two amazing points of testimony I give you, especially to the people who say that the Bible is faulty, full of nice fable an written by mere men.  I give you this (YAY!):

And this bit of info that our pastor shared this morning:

If you take the probability of fulfilling eight of the most difficult to manipulate prophesies about Jesus that he fulfilled (there were over 300+ that he did fulfill) you get a number that is 1 x 10 to the 17th power.  That is the equivalent of covering Texas in stacks of silver dollars two feet deep, marking ONE of them, shuffling them completely up, blindly grabbing one it it being the ONE that you marked.  

WOW.  Just think about that.  Both of them.  Amazing, awesome testimony of who our God is.

Nothing from nothing can't produce that. :)

thank you and a cute video. :)

I wanted to thank each and every one of you for your kind words and emails on my last post.  Between you all, you showed me that indeed, I was supposed to share my thoughts and heart on a matter that it seems we all struggle with.  Your emails and comments sharing your same thoughts, struggles and doubts gave me assurance and confirmation that it was more than I that needed to share that last post.

I strongly believe that giving our struggles a voice, makes them less powerful.  Sharing something "out loud" this way somehow minimizes it (in a good way!) like saying to the enemy "I know what you are trying to do and you won't be keeping me in the dark". 

And really, since writing that post, I have gotten so much awesome confirmation about so many things, God has blessed me beyond my expectations.  It's like crying out has opened the flood gates. 

I can't wait to share with you all the awesome details He is working out. 

And for the record, Doug has ALWAYS supported me in staying at home.  I told him from date number two that that was my intention and he has always lovingly supported that.  He also thinks I'm a pretty hot mama. :)

To say a little thank you...enjoy this super sweet video of Aaron trying to say the Lords prayer. :)