Motorcycle Memories

How totally AWESOME are these pics of Ricky T and Little Miss H? We hit the old Pedigo Furniture lot downtown last night and shot these. Ricky is thinking about selling the bike and wanted pictures before saying goodbye. These two look like a couple of real hard core motorcyclist if you ask me. Complete with tattoos (tee hee hee). Oh, and dont' worry. Little Miss H doesn't really RIDE with daddy and Ricky T wears a helmet when he rides. Safe AND Cool.

So what do you think? Who wants their own motorcycle pictures?

Easter 2009 - She Wore the Dress!

Here are a few pictures from Easter Sunday. Yes, Marin wore the mini dress. Lot's of compliments. Nobody said anything about it being too short (grin). The egg hunt was indoors.




Once the rain stopped we went outside for more pictures.




How cute are the pictures of Steven and Marin?

Bird Nest Candies for Easter

My mother was always thinking of fun, creative ways to celebrate Easter. She didn’t go out of her way to create tradition. It just happened. These adorable (and yummy) bird nest candies are an Easter mainstay for our family. Maybe you can share them with your family too.

Ingredients:

One 11oz bag Butterscotch morsels

¾ cup peanut butter (smooth)

3 cups Chow Mein noodles

Mini Robin Eggs (Malted Milk Candy)

Melt butterscotch morsels and peanut butter in the microwave. Stirring frequently until smooth.

Add chow Mein noodles. Stir until fully coated.
Place table spoon size drops on wax paper and shape into nest shape leaving room for eggs.

Add Robin Eggs once the candy has slightly cooled.

Makes 16 large or 30 small bird nests.

I’m anxious for tomorrow. I enjoy the excitement of remembering the miraculous resurrection of Jesus Christ. His sacrifice is what makes me whole, brings me peace and reminds me that there is always a bigger picture. I am unworthy of His gift and am overwhelmed by His love. I want my children to experience these same feelings as they grow. For now, I’ll create fun traditions that build anticipation for Easter and one day enjoy the moments where they discover their own relationship with Christ.

Egg Hunt At Pedigo Park

On Wednesday, Marin hunted Easter Eggs with kids from the local moms group. We all had such a wonderful time (lots of laughter and fun). Here are my favorite pictures from the day. Thank you , again, Jennifer and Heidi!!!!

Marin was quite passive on the egg hunting field. She would find eggs and then simply hand them to other kids. Emma on the other hand, quickly grasped the concept of gathering eggs and at one point began "gathering" them from Marin's basket. She took them one by one and Marin simply stood there watching. I noticed the interaction from a distance, wondering what would happen next. It began with just a slight twitch in Marin's left leg. Little by little the twitch turned into shaking, which moved through her entire body and up to her lip...just before she burst into tears Emma offered to return the eggs. Whew! Needless to say, I was NOT allowed to remove the plastic eggs from her basket for the rest of the day. Aren't playmates fun? Thank you Emma, for sharing.

Pinecones are shaped like eggs! Who needs treats? We want quantity here people!

How cute are the bunny ears?

I think the best part about having kids is that they give you an excuse to relive the portions of your childhood you enjoyed the most. Thank you, Mom, for always making Easter memorable.

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

We have a birthday party for a co-worker of mine today. She loves Pineapple Upside Down Cake, and I volunteered to bake. Well, you know me, can’t do anything NORMAL, so I thought, "how can I make this unique?" The idea of a cupcake came to me, and I found quite a few recipes. I chose this one and it’s YUMMMMY! I’m planning to serve these chilled (because making them fresh isn’t an option), with Blue Bell homemade vanilla ice cream.

This makes 9 full cupcakes, or 12 small ones.

Ingredients for topping:
1 can pineapple rings
Maraschino Cherries
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted

Ingredients for batter:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a non-stick cupcake pan. You won’t need cupcake liners, obviously, because you’ll be inverting these.

Melt butter and brown sugar in a small pot over the stove. Place a large table spoon of this mixture in the bottom of each cupcake cup. Placed pineapples and cherries on top of the sauce. I sliced my pineapple rings into four quarters. Two quarters fit nicely in the bottom of the cup.


In a mixing bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon and baking powder on low, with an electric mixer. Carefully add in the melted butter, pineapple juice and milk. Then add the egg and the vanilla.

Spoon the batter over the fruit and sugar into each muffin cup, evenly. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick tester comes out clean. (Note: The sugar butter mixture bubbles up from the bottom and made quite a lovely mess in the bottom of my oven (yeah). Next time I’ll lay foil down first!)

When you take them out of the oven, let them rest in the pan for a few minutes making sure the edges are unstuck. Then place a wire rack on TOP of the pan, flipping it over and hopefully…your little cakes will just plop on out, with the pineapple on top. If not, gently tap the bottoms of the cupcake pan with a spoon. You can hear the difference in tone when the cake has released (Steven discovered this). Oh, and be sure to lay wax paper down before flipping these, because they do drip a little.


Aren’t you dying to try one? Marin whined and whined to have one. I KNEW she wouldn’t eat it, but I finally gave in. She grinned, poked it and then pushed it to the side of her highchair tray (typical Marin). She doesn’t appreciated food the way Steven and I do. Aren’t these cupcakes fun?

Happy Birthday Darci

Today is my friend’s birthday. Birthdays are a BIG DEAL to Darci. So, today Darci YOU are my blog post. This little piece of the internet is about you and how glad I am that we are friends.



Darci is quick to laugh (at herself and others mostly).

She LOVES being a mother, and she’s really GOOD at it.

Her best friend is Dan, her husband. She’d rather “hang out” with Dan than anything else.

Her voice is like an angel (confirmed by others) meets Superwoman (my perspective).

She makes office work fun (no more “Quiet Zone” signs).

I’m pretty sure she sits in front of a computer more than me (that’s impressive).

She is the QUEEN of multi tasking! If you are talking to her on the phone, I’d bet she’s also, answering an e-mail, working on a design layout, while entertaining Jami and IMing someone on the side. The amazing part is she hears every word you are saying and is on top of it all.

There is no doubt that Darci is a 100% dedicated member of Church on the Lake. Enough said.

Her faith in Jesus Christ is clearly evident in all she does. I love this most. It’s there on the surface and down deep. Her heart is wrapped up in Jesus and she is quick to give him credit for all things.

I’m blessed to have her as a friend and am so happy she came into Escapees to apply for the Graphics Assistant position. I think fate brought us together.

So, today, and every day I hope you know how happy I am that we are friends. (I think you can fill in the rest telepathically).

Krystina

Do you know how hard it was to find pics of us together? These will make you smile.

Something New From Something Old

Last Friday, I visited a couple of my favorite resale locations here in Livingston. I find that it inspires creativity to peruse items that other people have discarded. At times I find wonderful treasures for only a dollar! During my last visit I was on the hunt for fabric.

I came away with two items; a single panel from a set of curtains from the 70’s and a home-made “old lady” jacket (age, undetermined). When I stumbled onto the curtain panel I immediately envisioned a bag. When I saw the old lady jacket I estimated there was enough fabric to transform it into a dress for Marin. Below are before and after pictures of the jacket, turned dress.

I’m thinking it’s cute enough that it might be Marin’s Easter dress. What do you think? Is it too short? Lay some comments on me.

Happy Friday!