A Day at the Spa

Earlier this week, I hurt my back cleaning the house.

Moral of that story, don't clean the house.

Anyway, I've spent a great deal

of time this week sitting, reading, knitting, moaning.

I'm getting a bit board.

Today, Doodles said to me, "Mommy, I want to do your

hair. Can I?" Who could resist

such a cute hairdresser.

Out she came with bags of hair things. She gently combed my

hair. She put it up with clips, rubber bands, and hair bobbles.

She was so proud of her work. Thought you might enjoy

the picture.

It's not everyone who has such a cute

hairdresser.
Have a great day.

The week of Scones

About a month ago, I found this cook book from Ireland

It was in a used book store near my parents' house.

I love to cook, so I was very curious about the

recipes.

One of the recipes was for scones.

On Tuesday, I decided to make scones for breakfast.

Let me tell you, Irish scones are very utilitarian.

They are hard, and not too sweet. They're filling.

Good with butter, but they aren't sweet.

This morning, I decided to try a different scone recipe.

Not from Ireland.

I made some pumpkin scones.

They were delicious. Sweet, moist, yummy. They even have

frosting.

Here's the recipe:

1c. flour

1c. whole wheat flour

1-1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. cloves

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 c. butter (cold)

1/3c. pumpkin puree

1/4c. light brown sugar firmly packed

1/3c. half and half

1tsp. vanilla extract

For Glaze:

Powdered sugar

milk

vanilla flavoring

What to do:

Pre-heat the oven to 425. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. I have a Kitchen Aid so I just put all of this

in the bowl with the wire whisk attachment.

Cut the cold butter into little chunks. If you don't have a Kitchen Aid, use

a pastry cutter to incorporate the butter until it is small and crumbly in the flour mixture.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining

ingredients. Add them to the flour mixture.

Mix until a crumbly dough appears.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead a few times

until dough is smooth. Add more flour if dough is too

sticky. Pat into an oval about 1/2" thick and cut into 8 slices.

Bake the slices on parchment lined baking sheets

for about 13-15 minutes.

When cooled frost with glaze.

Hope you enjoy these scones. My kids loved them.

Crazy Dream

I had the funniest dream last night. I love the show 24. Frankly, Jack Bauer scares me a bit. Last night, I dreamt that he was my dentist. He had me in the dental chair and was yelling, "Open your mouth!" Then he got really close, and he had on the dentist glasses, and he kept yelling, "Open your mouth or you'll regret it!" I'm not sure if I opened my mouth or not. I woke up. When I remembered what I had dreamt, I started laughing. I guess that's a good way to start the day.

The Dentist

The cookie.

The tooth.

The bill.

First, thank you Ree for watching the kids so that I could take a much needed

trip to the dentist.

On Sunday night, I was innocently eating a delicious sugar cookie.

Chewing away, I felt something hard. Trying to chew it, I realized that it was too

hard to eat, spit it into my hand, examined it, and proclaimed, "That looks like a tooth."

Imagine my shock when I realized it was a tooth and not just any tooth, MY TOOTH!!

At least it didn't hurt.

Now, I hate dentists, really, really hate them. They may be nice people when

they aren't sporting needles and drills, but when they are,

I would rather stay away. For many years I have managed to avoid the

dentist. Well, a chipped tooth. What was I to do. I could either become

one of those guests on Jerry Springer who sports a smile

that screams, "I have poor oral hygiene," or I could put my fears aside

and go to the dentist. Debating my options Jerry Springer smile or

dentist, I had to choose dentist. Not that there's anything wrong

with Jerry's guests. It's just not me. Thankfully, I found a dentist

that didn't laugh at me when I explained my fear of needles, drills, and Novocaine. He

continued to listen as I begged for the gas, only to learn that it is currently

illegal to use knock out gas in a dentist's office.

He promised that I would feel nothing, and that my experience would

be "pleasant". I wasn't too sure. Pleasant and Dentist seem a bit

like oxymorons. Well, I didn't feel anything. He numbed my mouth so much

that I didn't even feel the needle deliver the Novocaine. He allowed the Novocaine

to work, and I didn't even feel it as he drilled what was

left of my tooth away. Now, I wouldn't choose a trip to the dentists

over an afternoon shopping trip, but it wasn't that bad.

I even made an appointment to get the rest

of my mouth examined. I guess I won't

become one of those TV talk show guests

that are missing the majority of their teeth.

A Special Day

Yesterday, we had a wonderful visit with the boys.

For those of you who don't know, we had

two little boys (brothers) in our family for a year.

We had desperately wanted to adopted the two boys,

but it didn't work out. We made the choice to have them

removed from our family, but that didn't remove

them from our heart.

They will always be a part of our family, and we are so thankful that

they remain a part of our lives even when they no longer live

with us.

Jon and I both believe that the Lord holds these boys
in His hands, and that if it is His will, they will come back
to us. For now, we trust and pray.
Yesterday was so fun for all of us.
The kids played together all morning.
They dressed up in Halloween costumes and ran around the
house. I loved hearing their laughter and
enjoyed a talk with their foster mom.
It amazes me to see how much they've grown.
My heart was so full of love for them, and for our
children.
The time came for us to tell them good bye, but we made
promises to see them again soon.
Until then, we know that they are in God's loving
care. He has allowed us to remain a part of
their lives, and has even brought their birth
mother into our lives. He knows how
our family will grow and what children need us.
Meanwhile, we remember to enjoy the time given. What a wonderful
gift it was for us to spend our afternoon with
the four children we love most in this world.

A Table Full of Love

Last week, we decided it was time to get

ready for Valentine's Day.

Doodle's loves all things holiday and party.

She also loves all things crafts.

We spent our morning shopping for some important

supplies. Then we made a list of all the

people that we love.

It was a very long list.

Then we started working. We painted, glued,

glittered, cut, glittered some more.

Glittered lots of hearts.

Did I mention glitter? Really, can there ever be too much

glitter?

We spent our day laughing and talking about

how great it is to be loved and to be a family.

We enjoyed our creativity and our time together.

We had a great day making memories together, and

when we were done we had....
a table full of love.
Hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day with
the ones you love.

One Spoiled Cat

Lucy has become so much like a member of

the family. It's like

she's always lived with us. Here she is

attending school with K.

She hopped right up to the

table and started listening to us talk

about math.

She even reached for a pencil.

Besides school, she enjoys sleeping. Here she is resting

on Bailey's bone. This is Bailey's favorite toy. Lucy loves it too.
Lucy also enjoys our fish tank. You can't
see her very good in this
picture, but she's by the plant watching
the fish. She discovered a way to
crawl through the back of the tank, stand on the filter
box, and watch the fish. She did this one morning
during breakfast, and we laughed so hard I swear
milk came out of our noses.

D. decided that Lucy needed a cat castle.
Apparently a paper bag
wasn't good enough for our little kitten.

Here Lucy is with her castle. I think she enjoys it.
Lucy was a shelter cat. I'm so thankful that we've
given her a home. She's a great addition to
our family.

Pop Tarts

K. has loved Pop Tarts since he was four.

We used to take them with us when we were visiting the kids.

We would try to pack things to feed them in the hotel

if they got hungry.

One time, we brought Pop Tarts. He fell in love.

He would always ask us, "Jon, Jennie, would you bring me

Top Tarts when you come again?"

He was hooked.

Last week, I was talking with my mom, and she told

me about a recipe she had seen to make home made Pop Tarts.

Wow! I thought. Home made. It never really

crossed my mind to do that.

Then I thought, why not.

I will never eat a store bought Pop Tart again.

Well, maybe not never. I may be in a hurry, or in the

mood. These home made Pop Tarts are decedent.

Here's the recipe:

2c. flour

1T. sugar

1t. salt

1c. unsalted butter (cut into pats)

1 large egg

2T. milk

Cinnamon Filling

1/2c. brown sugar

1 1/2t. ground cinnamon, to taste

4t. flour

1 large egg, beaten, to brush on before filling

What to do:

Whisk the dry ingredients together. Work the butter until the mixture holds

together when you squeeze it. I put all of this into my Kitchen Aid mixer, and it worked great.

Mix the eggs and milk and add it to the dough. Mix until everything

is blended.

Roll the dough out. Use an index card as a guide and cut out rectangles.

Make sure you have an even amount. Brush the beaten egg onto

one rectangle, and then spread with the filling (oh, I forgot a step, mix the filling) onto

the rectangle. Cover the rectangle with another one.

Use a fork to seal the two pieces of dough. Poke holes

into the top of the pastry. Repeat this with all of

the dough.

Refrigerate the assembled tarts for about thirty minutes. Preheat your oven

to 350 degrees. Bake the tarts on a parchment

lined baking sheet for 25-30 minutes.

Let cool and enjoy.

You can also fill the tarts with jam. My mom

thought of peanut butter and some chocolate chips. We might try that next.

Anyway, these pop tarts are delicious! Hope you

enjoy them.

The Power Of Snow

The other morning, Jon and I were talking about how tired

we are of the snow. Here in the North East it seems like we

have snow from about October until

May.

I might be exaggerating, but that's how it feels.

We were both discussing how it would be nice just to

have snow for the holidays, and then have it

be spring.

That afternoon, I watched

the kids playing in the snow. They weren't tired of

it. They weren't wishing it away.

They just enjoyed burying one another

in it.

I thought to myself "Ah, the power of

Snow". Perhaps I should be enjoying it too.