Wednesday, November 23, 2011

the smell of fresh pumpkin...

...is wafting through my house as I'm baking a pumpkin pie & pumpkin roll :) one year at thanksgiving i might even make some pumpkin muffins,or pancakes etc there are SO many recipes to make with pumpkin but if you make too many i think it loses that yummy specialness of one or two pumpkin items you just love :)i only make them at the holidays & hubby cannot wait,he could eat a whole container of cool whip alone with his pumpkin desserts. well i am off to go relax until the oven timer goes off,busy day of cooking & baking ahead of me tomorrow!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

cake truffles

a friend of mine was telling me about these 'no bake' cake truffles & i came across this recipe,looks like something to try for lillian's class christmas party & of course i can just holiday-ize them with some red green :)



CAKE BATTER TRUFFLES
Recipe from: The Girl Who Ate Everything
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup white sugar
1 ½ cups flour
1 cup yellow cake mix
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
3-4 Tablespoons milk
2 Tablespoons sprinkles
Truffle Coating:
16 ounces (8 squares) almond bark (or white candy melts)
4 Tablespoons yellow cake mix
sprinkles

Beat together butter and sugar using an electric mixer until combined. Blend in vanilla. Add cake mix, flour, salt, and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Add 3 Tablespoons of milk or more if needed to make a dough consistency. Mix in sprinkles by hand. Roll dough into one inch balls and place on a parchment or wax paper lined cookie sheet. Chill balls in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to firm up.


While dough balls are chilling, melt almond bark in the microwave in 30 second intervals until melted. Stir between intervals. Once melted, quickly stir in cake mix until incorporated completely. Using a fork, dip truffles into almond bark and shake of excess bark by tapping the bottom of the fork on the side of your bowl. Place truffle back on the cookie sheet and top with sprinkles. Repeat with remaining balls until finished. {Note: for smoother looking truffles, don't add cake mix to melted chocolate, just leave it by itself}


Chill cake batter truffles in the refrigerator until serving. Makes around 24-30 truffles.


Enjoy!

breaking dawn

was AMAZING!!the last time i was this excited for a movie it was years ago for titanic,& i saw that 7,yes 7 times in theater,(we also had the $1 theater than so that was nice ) :)i could not wait to go see this in theaters!!they leave you at a good stopping point right where you want to know more,maybe they'll move up that year from now when pt. 2 is set to be released,here's hoping! my best friend,her girls & i went opening day,at a reasonable time of course,not the midnight show & then out to dinner afterwards.it was a nice best friend 'date' picture coming soon :) (hint,hint to my best friend reading this )

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

HAPPY HALLOWEENY!!!



FROM MY CUTE LITTLE SPOOKS TO YOURS!! lily was so excited to be what she told everyone, a "beautiful angel" "with wings & a hoop"(which is a halo) :)

Monday, November 7, 2011

Amber updates

updates on amber straight from nate's mom:
10/31
Amber's surgery went much better that the doctor expected. Thanks to all your prayers, no debris was found in or around the spinal cord. Though a tedious process, the three crushed vertibreas were repaired and it went very smoothly. They also repaired the one between her shoulders, which took longer due to its location. They found no brain or nerve damage. She will to be in a brace for several weeks to three months.

They will do surgery to repair her crushed lower jaw in the morning, and the doctor expects her to be sitting up in 24 hours. They will still need to do surgery to repair her collar bone which what shattered, and they will have several surgeries to repair her right arm which has two fractured bones, broken tendons, cracked wrist, and what remains to be seen.

We are so very grateful for all the prayers. Please continue to pray for Amber as she recovers and greives for her husband, my son Ryan. When they let her wake up tomorrow, she will have that yet to face.

11/1


I just got a phone call that they will be doing all of Amber's other surgeries tomorrow (Wednesday). Please keep her in your prayers. They did not let her wake up after all. So hopefully after tomorrow we can all take a deep breath, relax, and let the healing begin. They have had to coordinate several doctors and their teams, so we have been up in the air about several things for a week.

11/2


OK just got off the phone with Josie. The miracles are coming in one after another. This morning they repaired Amber's collarbone, upper arm, lower arm, wrist and reattached and repaired the torn ligaments. This evening they were going to fix her jaw and face. They found that her upper jaw was shoved backwards and had separated the plates in her face. They pulled her upper jaw out and all of the plates popped back into place. No incisions or surgery in her mouth. Our Heavenly Father is wonderful.

We would like to thank everyone who has prayed for us and for Amber. May God's blessings be poured out on each and every one of you.

11/3
They decided to keep Amber under today as her blood oxygen was low. They needed her to rest and get it back up. They plan to take the tubes out about noon tomorrow and then she will be waking up. Pray for us as we give her the news that she has lost Ryan. I am at a loss has to how to comfort her. Perhaps we will just greive together. I am asking God to help me to be what she needs me to be.

11/4
Amber is recovering nicely; however, her oxygen levels are still in the gray area, which means she had sufficient for her current status, but it needs to be much higher before she can be allowed to be conscience enough to be told about Ryan. The stress from that news will quickly deplete her supply. Due to the jaw surgery when they remove the breathing tube, they will not be able to intubate her again, so they would have to do a trach and we really do not need that to happen should her breathing be affected. They will be checking her oxygen level again at 3am, so hopefully we will know more tomorrow.

11/5
They are weaning Amber off her pain medications. She had a rough day today and they kept her sedated most of the day. I was told that they got her up, but she was probably unaware that they did so. She has been moving alot in her bed and has not been resting well. They removed the breathing tubes and her oxgen levels are good and consistant. They are saying it may take several days for her to become completely conscious. So we are waiting on her to respond. There is not definate time line. Pray for her mother who is exhausted and is constantly by her side and the grandparents who are watching baby Chloe for the most part as she needs some consistancy in all of this. They are tired also.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Rest in Peace little brother

Nathan lost his little brother in a horrible motorcycle accident 2 weeks ago,his wife,Amber,who was also on the bike is in the ICU but is now stable,thank you Jesus,please continue to pray for healing for her and prayers for the family during this hard time,Nate & his little brother were very close. we went up to Texas to visit the family for a week and be there for the funeral,not under the greatest circumstances but it was really nice to be with the other half of our family. I know grandma really enjoyed being around the 2 grand babies :)and the rest of his family got to meet Violet for the first time :)Lily got to play with her cousins and spend time with her great-grandma's which she doesn't have here in FL.Nate's mom is doing surprisingly well,she has a lot of faith and she knows he's in Heaven & one day she'll get to be with her baby boy again.I guess God just need a warrior up there in Heaven more than we needed him on earth.Forever in our Hearts baby brother,We love you.