Random Notes from the week (Amish Friendship Bread)

I love Fridays! It is the one day of the week that I can stay in my pajamas and not worry about hurrying off to get somewhere. It's been a good, fast week for us.

I dared the mall on Monday because I HAD TO GET new glasses. My eyes were a little infected from something, so I had to give the contacts a break for a while. My friend Monica met me there and she helped me pick out a cute "hip" pair that I wouldn't be embarrassed to wear. I was totally afraid that if I picked them by myself, I would end up with a pair of glasses that were a cross between Harry Potter and Sally Jesse Rafael. Sorry there are no pictures of me in my new glasses, but here are my two darlings being so patient with me.

It was such a nice day on Tuesday, the whole family loaded up and went to Bo's baseball practice. I did not know that the temperature was going to drop dramatically when the sun went down, so we ended up freezing. Poor little Reed got into the car with his teeth chattering. We went to Longhorn for dinner because I was going to be cleansing on Wednesday and Thursday. I LOVE the Salmon Dinner at Longhorn! Here is a picture of the kids goofing off that night. I'm sorry about the ketchup on Sophie's face.

We always eat good at Longhorns. Reed gets the macaroni and cheese, Sophie gets a hot dog, and Bo get the kid's steak. Bo also eats the oranges off of the other kids plates. They won't eat them.

Wednesday and Thursday were quick days for me. I was cleansing, so I wasn't eating anything. I was drinking as much water as I could and I would drink some juice that I bought through Isagenix, so I wouldn't be depriving my body of what it needs. I did pretty good with my cleanse. I lost 7 pounds. This isn't as good as I was hoping. But, It's a start and I am motivated to continue with the program. I also made it to the gym 3 times this week. With tennis on Sunday and hopefully I will fit in a little treadmill time in the basement, I will feel like I have exercised enough this week.

Last week, my sweet neighbor/friend gave me a starter for Amish Friendship Bread. Sophie and I love to "play" in the kitchen together so this was fun for us. We fed the starter on Sunday, which was day 6. Then on Thursday, day 10 (my last cleanse day), we baked our bread. It's always fun being in the kitchen with Sophie and Bo likes to help sometimes, when he's not too busy. The bread smelled HEAVENLY as it baked. I must have done something wrong because it didn't rise a bit. The only thing I can think of is I must have mistakenly put plain flour in my self rising flour canister. It tasted really, really, good, but...it was not pretty and it was as flat as a pancake. I am going to try again in 9 days. I am keeping some of the starter for myself and I am going to give some away. I will let let you know how it turns out. Here's the recipe for the bread. It's a little different than the one my neighbor gave me. But I found this one on the Internet and I just cut and pasted, didn't feel like retyping. Let me know if you would like some of the starter.

Amish Friendship Bread
Important Note: Don't use metal spoons or equipment. Do not refrigerate. Use only glazed ceramic or plastic bowls or containers.
Required Main Ingredient
1 cup live yeast starter (see above)
day 1:
Do nothing with the starter.
days 2-5:
Stir with a wooden spoon.
day 6:
Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk. Stir with a wooden spoon.
days 7-9:
Stir with a wooden spoon.
Day 10:
Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Stir. Take out 3 cups and place 1 cup each into three separate plastic containers. Give one cup and a copy of this recipe to three friends. To the balance (a little over one cup) of the batter, add the following ingredients and mix well.
1 cup oil 1/2 cup milk 3 eggs 1 tsp vanilla
In a separate bowl combine the following dry ingredients and mix well:
2 cups flour 1 cup sugar 1-1/2 tsp baking powder 2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 - (5.1 oz) box instant vanilla pudding 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup nuts
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix and pour into two well greased and sugared bread pans. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

Busy Week Ahead (Sesame Chicken Pasta Salad)

We had a good weekend, full of sports. Sophie had a basketball game, I had a tennis match, and Bo had a basketball game and 3 baseball practices. Sophie is trying to decide what she is going to do this Spring. She wants to play everything from soccer to softball, now she is even thinking about tennis.

This week is going to be so busy. There's something everyday of the week. Here's a rundown of the activities on our calendar:

Sophie - basketball practice, dance lesson, basketball game, birthday party

Bo - basketball practice, 4-5 baseball practices, basketball game

Me - bunko, Mom's taxi, tennis, basketball coach

Michael - 2 flag football games, coach for baseball and basketball

Reed - bless his heart, he's just along for the ride... He does get to go to a birthday party though!

We will all be watching the Super Bowl with my whole family on Sunday. I love Super Bowl Sunday because I get to see aunts, uncles and cousins that I don't usually get to spend a lot of time with.

I am still on my cleanse. Today is day 8. Only 4 more days to go. I am feeling so good right now. This morning, I got out of bed and got the kids off to school and got to work cleaning the house from this weekend's rush of activities. Usually, I go strait to the recliner and watch the news and drink my coffee. I love having this extra energy that comes with being healthy. For 7 of the 11 days of my cleanse, I am replacing 2 meals with protein shakes then having 1 healthy meal, between 400 - 600 calories. I have totally cut out all of the sugar and believe it or not, I am not drinking any coffee. One of my favorite low fat, great tasting meals is Sesame Chicken Pasta Salad. I found this recipe on-line and I make it every time I do a cleanse. I also make it a lot in the summer time because it is so light. Here's the recipe:

Sesame Chicken Pasta Salad
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup sesame seeds
½ cup roasted sliced almonds
2 (16 ounce) packages bow tie pasta
½ cup canola oil
2/3 cup light soy sauce
2/3 cup rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 cups shredded, cooked chicken breast meat
2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2/3 cup chopped green onion
2/3 cup chopped celery
1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
2/3 cup chopped red or yellow bell pepper
DIRECTIONS
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add sesame seeds, and cook stirring frequently until lightly toasted. Remove from heat, and set aside.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente. Drain pasta, and rinse under cold water until cool. Transfer to a large bowl.
In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine vegetable oil, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, sesame seeds, ginger, and pepper. Shake well.
Pour sesame dressing over pasta, and toss to coat evenly. Gently mix in chicken, cilantro, celery, tomatoes, bell pepper and green onions.

Staying out of the Kitchen!!! (Chili)

Here it is Friday and I haven't posted 1 blog all week. The main reason is that I have been trying to keep myself busy. The reason I am trying to keep myself busy is that I am hungry! Most of my friends know that I am into Nutritional Cleansing through Isagenix (http://jodistallings.isagenix.com/). I slacked off a little during the summer and over the holidays I think I went into SELF-DESTRUCT mode. I ate anything I wanted to and I never exercised, so here I am trying to catch up. I am on day 5 out of 11 and I am definitely on the upswing.

I've got a couple of things motivating me:

1. I have a pool in my backyard and I want to be able to enjoy it without feeling self-conscious.
2. My 20th class reunion is this September, enough said.

3. I just want to be healthy and be a good example for my kids, especially Sophie. I never want her to feel self-conscious about her body and I don't want her to see that in me.

With all of that in mind, I made Chile this week:) It was really good because it was REALLY cold this week. Luckily, it's warming up today, because Bo has his first outdoor baseball practice.

These are a few pictures from our week. On Monday, MLK jr Day, Michael decided to ride his bike to work! This is normally a 30 - 45 minute drive. He said it took him about an hour and a half. I did go pick him up at the end of the day because I didn't want him to ride home in the dark in busy Douglasville. Michael loves to ride his bike. Sometimes, he will get up at 5:00 AM and ride his bike then come home and leave for work before 7:00. He's crazy!

Cooper and Sophie play really good together. Now that she is in Kindergarten, he really misses her during the day. It's just not the same playing house with Reed, although he does try. This is a picture of Cooper and Sophie playing "Super Spies" one day when Sophie got home from school.

Here's my really quick, really easy chili recipe (I got it from Tiffany):

Chili:

1 lb lean ground beef

1 red or green pepper, chopped

1 sm onion, chopped

1 chili seasoning pack

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

1 Tbsp. Franks red hot sauce

1 15 oz can Chile beans, undrained

3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Brown meat with pepper and onion, drain. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Weekend Update (Strawberry Spinach Salad)

We had a GREAT weekend! First of all, it was freezing cold on Friday. All I wanted to do was stay in my sweats and wrap up in a blanket. We did go eat lunch with Bo and Sophie at school. Cooper (nephew) and Reed ate the Lunchroom Pizza and they loved it! I wish I would have gotten a picture of their faces because they did get messy.

Friday night was Family night. We got "take out" for dinner and did puzzles. Here is a clip from the first part of our night when Reed and Sophie were working on their puzzles.

First of all, I would like to apologize on Michael's behalf. He didn't know I was recording, otherwise, I am sure he would have put the sandwich down. Secondly, it was a spur of the moment decision to video this puzzle time, so I just used my digital camera. Sorry for the poor quality. Lastly, in the background you can hear Sophie talking on the phone to Cheyenne. I think it's hilarious that Sophie's response to Cheyenne telling her she didn't like to do puzzles is "Well, you're just missing out on all the fun." We had a great time working on puzzles and just being together for a night at home.

Saturday started off with basketball games. Bo and Sophie both "unofficially" won their games. I am really enjoying coaching Sophie's team with Lee. Michael is helping Brandon coach Bo and Russ' team.

Saturday night was a special treat. We went to David and Carol's (Michael's coworkers and friends) house for dinner. They made a fantastic meal for us. Carol even made my favorite Strawberry Spinach salad. It was my recipe that I had giving her around Thanksgiving. Somehow it is just better when you don't have to make it yourself. (See recipe below) After dinner we went downstairs to their amazing media room and watched Iron Man. We all had a great evening, but Sophie left feeling like a queen. Carol gave Sophie so much girl time and attention. They didn't watch the movie with us, they just talked the whole night. Carol said we wouldn't believe some of the things Sophie told her. I can only imagine!

I woke up Sunday morning at 8:00 to Sophie tapping me on the shoulder. After she realized she had successfully woken me up, she asked if we could invite David and Carol over for dinner that night. I regretfully told her no because we had a busy day ahead. A little while later, I heard Reed calling me from the monitor. When I went to get him, he told me there was a monster in his closet. We had to go check the closet to make sure. We made it to church, then we all went our separate ways. Michael and Bo headed over to baseball practice. Sophie and Reed went to Nana and Grandaddy's. And I went to my tennis match. I played with Lee again and we won! I love playing tennis, but it's so much more fun when you win! After tennis and baseball, we all met back up at Nana and Grandaddy's for Angela's (Sister in Law) birthday dinner. Angela is pregnant with her first child and I can't wait. Hopefully she will start feeling better soon. She is just about a month pregnant and she is already pretty miserable.

When we got home, Sophie went strait to bed. She was exhausted from our wonderful weekend! Bo helped get Reed settled down by reading him some books. Every time Reed went to his room to get another book, he watched Bo the whole time saying "you stay there, I'll be right back." Reed was so afraid Bo was going to stop reading him books. Bo was so patient and sweet and read to Reed as long as he kept bringing the books. I have to believe that these are the best days of my life!

Strawberry Spinach Salad
(EVERYBODY asks for this recipe after they have tried it.)

1 pt. strawberries
2 oz sliced almonds
2 Tbs. sesame seeds
1 bag baby spinach (stems picked off)

For Dressing: ( I usually heat this for about 30 seconds in the microwave to dissolve the sugar. Then I will refrigerate it overnight before I serve it. If I don’t have time to chill it overnight, then I don’t heat it and just make sure I shake it REALLY good before tossing it into the salad.)
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp. paprika
½ cup canola oil
¼ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup cider vinegar

Slice strawberries and set aside. Toast almonds and sesame seeds for about 5 minutes in 350 degree oven and set aside.

Just before serving, toss in strawberries, almonds, sesame seeds, and dressing (shake well).

Back in the Saddle Again

Anybody want to do a nutritional cleanse with me? I started replacing 1 -2 meals a day with protein shakes on Monday, just to get ready. Next week, I will start my cleanse. For 11 -days I will be starving myself, not really. I have just gotten into the bad habit of eating whatever I wanted for so long and now I have to get back to reality!

By the way, my Magic Bullet is a favorite kitchen tool of mine. It's perfect for my protein shakes.

Yesterday, I took the kids to get haircuts. Reed was first. When he was done he found a bowl full of balls and arranged them along the windows of the shop. This place is so stimulating, I could barely get him to look at me long enough to take a picture. His hair is a little short, but I guess it will grow.

Next, Bo got finished pretty quickly. He was pretty bored so they let him play video games in one of the empty chairs. Bo is beginning to not like getting his picture made anymore. I wonder why?

Sophie was last. This was the first time she has ever had her hair cut by anyone but me. I figured is was time for her to get a real hair cut. Here she is admiring her reflection. She got 3 inches cut off! It looks really healthy now! They also put glitter in her hair when she was done.

Overall, I would call our trip a success! I can't figure out if I like the Snip Its in Douglasville. I liked the haircuts, but as soon as we were in the car, I noticed the manager SCRUBBING down the bench that Reed was playing on. She wasn't just wiping it down, she was thoroughly SCRUBBING the thing! I can't decide if I'm offended or not. My kids were basically well behaved for a children's hair salon. They were clean and well dressed. I'm trying to decide what would make that lady feel like she had to disnfect the whole store after we left. Maybe, not the whole store.

Sophie's Birthday (Lemon Squares)

We had such a great weekend! For most of the day on Friday, I was preparing for Sophie's Hello Kitty birthday. At about 4:30 our first guest, one of our neighbors came over and started playing with Sophie. This was perfect timing because Sophie was getting really anxious about the party. Eventually, the other 4 girls got there. My dad came and picked up Bo and Reed so us girls could all ride together. We then made our way to the mall for a "food court" dinner, where we met the rest of the family and the boys. The girls were already having so much fun!

At 7:00 we moved on to Build A Bear Workshop where the kids had a blast! We played games, we ran around the store, and we stuffed and dressed our bears, kitties, and rabbits. After a long time at Build A Bear, we headed home for cake, ice cream and presents! Sophie loves each and every one of her friends.

The rest of the night was kind of a blur for me... We headed downstairs to work on some crafts, which I totally enjoyed! I think the girls had fun too.

After crafts and some dancing, we went outside so the girls could jump on the trampoline for a little while. Then we came back in for "Makeovers at Midnight." I don't know what I would have done without Madi and Ashtyn.After the makeovers, I got everyone's sleeping space ready, popped some popcorn, and put in High School Musical. The girls finally got settled down and I think Sophie was the first one to sleep at about 1:30. The rest of the girls dozed off shortly after Sophie. We only had 1 "casualty" of the sleepover. We did have to make a 4:00 AM wake-up call to one of the girls parents to let them know she was ready to come home. I couldn't let the girls sleep too late on Saturday morning because we had to leave at 10:30 for Bo's basketball game.

Sports Update: In Bo and Sophie's basketball league, they don't really keep an official score. BUT... the coaches keep score anyway. Bo's team won and Bo scored 6 points. Sophie's team won too. She didn't score any points, but she played awesome defense and caught a pass and got a shot off. I couldn't believe she actually knew what to do! I played tennis with my brother Lee as my partner on Sunday and we won. This was Lee's first official ALTA match and he was a nervous wreck about it. I couldn't believe how AWESOME he was at tennis. He is pretty athletic and he is pretty tall, so it shouldn't have been that surprising! I would be his partner any day!

Lastly, for Sophie's birthday she requested a Cookie Cake from the mall. Since we were having dessert here, I decided to make some lemon squares too.

I LOVE lemon squares! Here's the recipe:

Lemon Squares

crust:

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

3/4 cup butter, very cold, sliced

Filling:

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp grated lemon peel

1/3 cup lemon juice

confectioners' sugar

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 X 9 baking pan. For the crust: combine the flour, 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and butter slices in a food processor until crumbly. Press evenly into prepared pan and bake for 20-22 minutes. For the Filling: In a separate bowl combine flour and baking powder and set aside. In a large mixing bowl combine the eggs, sugar, lemon peel, and lemon juice. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well. Pour the filling over the baked crust and bake for 26 minutes. When cooled, cut into squares and sift a light coat of confectioners sugar over them before serving.

Kids in the Kitchen (Sausage Balls)

I am proud to say that we didn't eat out once this week. We have had a homemade dinner every night. Last night we had breakfast for dinner. The kids love the "backwards" nature of this meal. I love breakfast for dinner because it gives me an excuse to make another pot of coffee. I made the scrambled eggs and grits and the kids made the sausage balls.

Yes, Sophie is wearing her bright red lipstick. She doesn't care about the size of the sausage balls. She really likes to make a pretty design on the cookie sheet.

Bo is letting Reed help him. He doesn't really like it when Reed makes them too big or too small and he really can't stand it if they are not in perfect rows. And yes, Reed is not wearing a shirt. But he does have his pants on.

Sausage Balls

1 lb sausage

2 cups cheddar cheese

2 1/2 cups bisquick

Mix it all together and shape them into balls. Bake at 350 for 10 - 12 minutes.

I LOVE PUBLIX!

Today was the Grand Opening of the Publix in our area and I am so happy about it! After I picked up Reed and Cooper from preschool, I conveniently stopped by to see what it was like. We got so many samples of the food, I didn't think the boys would eat their lunch. But, I did end up getting some of the deli chicken fingers that we love and the boys cleaned their plates.

Now, I'm going to get my house ready for Paul to come clean and then I am going to get to work on planning Sophie's party. We have 6 little girls coming to spend the night with us tomorrow night. That should be fun. I have a feeling I won't be drinking my decaf coffee on Saturday morning.

Here are just a few random pictures from the last couple of days that I thought I would share:

Reed eating his "healthy" breakfast of syrup and pancakes. Can you see the eyelashes?

This is my notepad that I keep all my lists in; grocery, things to do, things for Michael to do, etc. As I was flipping through looking for a clean page (Sophie likes to make lists too) I found this drawing. It just made me laugh.

Sunshine on a Rainy Day (Vegetable Soup)

This is what I saw when I looked out my window yesterday morning. I don't know if it's the rain or the "after Christmas Lull," but I am so BLAH right now. I did make some homemade vegetable soup for dinner. That would be my number 1 comfort food. When I was little, my grandmother would always cook me a birthday dinner and my request was always vegetable soup with macaroni. I vaguely remember going to the restaurant, "Campbells" as a child with my grandmother and their vegetable soup had macaroni in it. I don't make it with macaroni now, but a lot of my food memories start with vegetable soup. Here is the recipe I used last night. It changes often, depending on what I am in the mood for:

Vegetable Soup

3-4 lb roast

1 carton (26 oz) beef stock

2 lg cans diced tomatoes
1 carton Chicken Broth
some salt and pepper
corn, green beans, onion, potatoes, baby lima beans, carrots, celery (just add the vegetables you like)
1 can V8 juice

First, I cut up my roast into big chunks. Then I put it in a large Ziploc bag and put some flour and a little salt in it. Then I shake it to make sure each chunk is covered with flour. I then put some olive oil in the big pot I am making my soup in and let it get real hot. Add the roast in a single layer in the bottom of the pot.


The roast will start browning very fast. Let it sit for a minute or two then turn the pieces so you are browning each chunk on all sides. This doesn't take long and the bottom of the pot will get almost burnt looking. Don't worry, that's the good stuff. After the beef is browned, not cooked all the way, add the beef stock and a little water, so you are covering the beef. Scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen all the drippings. Cover your pot and let it simmer for 30 minutes to an hour, making sure you stir it a couple of times.


The next step is to add the tomatoes and the chicken broth. After your meat starts to become tender, start adding the vegetables. The ones that need the most cooking time need to go in first, like the potatoes, onions, carrots and celery. If you want to add macaroni, you need to add that just about 30 minutes before you serve the soup.



I love soup nights. It doesn't really take that long to cook and it is so worth the extra effort of chopping up all those vegetables. Usually, the kids love my vegetable soup.


Here's a picture of Sophie and Reed waiting on dinner to be ready:
And yes, Sophie did come strait home from school and put on her princess dress up clothes, tiara and all. And you don't realize it from this picture, but Reed isn't wearing any pants. Since we are working on potty training, he is all about taking his clothes off. I am really lucky I caught him with a shirt on.
I am telling the truth when I say my kids eat my vegetable soup. Here's Bo enjoying a bowl:
He thought I was crazy, taking a picture of him while he ate! Thank goodness Bo went back to school today. He was sick on Monday and Tuesday. I still don't think he feels great, but he was well enough to go to school.

Best Cup of Coffee Ever!

I knew last night at 11:00 when Sophie was still jumping up and down and singing in her bed that it was going to be a rough morning.

At 4:00 Reed woke up crying, he had an extra cup of milk last night before bed and he was totally soaked. So Michael gave him some Tylenol because he was complaining that his mouth hurt and a little more milk. He went right back to sleep.

At 5:00, I heard a weird noise coming from the kids side of the house. Normally, I would say it was just Bo up making his early trip to the bathroom, but there were some different sounds too, I just couldn't figure it out. So I woke Michael up to investigate. Before Michael could even get his slippers on, Bo came into our room shivering with fever and said he had just vomited. Luckily, he is old enough to know to go to the bathroom when this happens, so we didn't have a big mess to clean up. I gave him some Sprite and some Motrin and he went right to sleep in our bed with us.

At 7:00, we realized Michael had turned off our alarm clock and had slightly overslept. I went to get Sophie up, where her alarm clock had been going off for a full 30 minutes. She got a new Hello Kitty alarm clock for her birthday and she was so excited about using it. To make a long story short, she was very tired, she cried a lot, and she was mad that Bo didn't have to go to school and she did. Eventually we got her out the door and to school.

It was a rough morning, but everything seemed to settle down. Bo is still asleep in my bed (It's 12:15 as I am typing this) poor baby. Reed slept until 11:15 and Cooper slept until about 11:30. So I had a nice quiet morning trying to get a few projects done, like cleaning out Sophie's closet.

I don't usually resort to caffeine in times like this. I usually just drink my plain old Dunkin Decaf and know that I will eventually wake up. I really try to stay away from the caffeine. Since I got a coffee grinder from my brother for Christmas, I decided to get some Whole Bean regular coffee. I have loved my coffee so much since I started grinding my own, I haven't had my decaf since Christmas. Fresh ground coffee does taste really good, especially this morning. This is a picture of my coffee/tea station in my kitchen. It gets used everyday!

The coffee grinder is on the top shelf. It's a little loud, but I don't mind. You may notice the Michael Buble coffee mug. He's my favorite! It was the best concert I have ever been to. You may also notice that I am almost out of my creamer and sugar. Some people say that I usually have a little coffee with my cream and sugar. I am trying to cut back on the sugar.
Sports update: Bo had baseball practice yesterday and Michael said it went really well. He is building his fundamentals and his strength. I can't wait to watch this team play. I played tennis yesterday, without Michael. We lost. We didn't win a single line. Hopefully this is not an indicator of how this whole season will go. Bo and Sophie both have basketball games this weekend.

Happy New Year! (Antipasto Bites)

We had a great Christmas full of family, food and friends. The kids got a trampoline from Santa that has been used almost everyday since.

We spent New Year's Eve with our Best Friends. We ate a lot of food, watched football, played games, and had an amazing fireworks display. The kids enjoyed the sparklers and Carter enjoyed throwing firecrackers at my feet and watching me jump!

**New Year's Day was spent as it usually is, at my Mom and Dad's house, eating ribs, black-eyed peas, collard greens and cracklin cornbread. I truly enjoy this time with my family, especially my cousins, because we always end up playing cards at the end of the night. I love to spend time with them and learn more about them. We've all gotten older and have our own lives to keep us busy, so I look forward to New Years Day and spending time with them and I know they feel the same way too.

**Reed (2 years old) is still working on being "potty trained." He would probably be doing a lot better if his mother and father were a little more consistent. Reed is learning to speak in sentences now. I love to hear him through the monitor in the mornings, "Moommmmyyyy, get me OUT!" I can't seem to make the transition from the crib to the bed yet. I think it's because he isn't trying to climb out of the crib and he does sleep good still. It may be a little of the fact that he is my last baby and I really don't want to admit that he isn't really a baby anymore.

**Sophie is reading and writing up a storm. I can't believe she just turned 6. On her birthday, we went to see a movie, came home and baked cupcakes. Then we went to Stars And Strikes with all the Grandparents and Tiffany's family. She got in on the Hula Hoop contest and won a $5 game card. Sophie had a fantastic day that was topped off by her winning 3 humongous stuffed animals from the giant Crane Game at Stars and Strikes. We will do a real birthday party with her school and neighborhood friends on Friday at Build-A-Bear workshop.

**Bo (8 years old) is growing up! After I boxed up all of the Christmas decorations (about 10 big ones) he took everyone of them downstairs for me and put them away in the storage room. He always wants to spend the night with someone or have someone spend the night here. He loves watching sports on TV with his dad. He loves PLAYING all kinds of sports. We are about to start our basketball games, we just finished football in November and baseball seems to be a year round sport for us now that he is playing on a traveling team. We'll see how that goes.

**Michael and I are playing mixed doubles tennis together on Sundays now. Our season will start tomorrow. We have had a fantastic year. We have put a pool in our backyard, we have finished and furnished our basement, we have made some new friends and become closer with the old. We are so thankful for our family, our rock, our stronghold. I just can't count all the blessings in our lives.

**I am looking forward to 2009 with hopes of happiness, good health and a deeper knowledge of God and His plans for us. We will let His light shine through us!

**Antipasto Bites**

I took this appetizer to Mom's house on New Year's Day this year. It's a new recipe that I got from my cousin Lisa.

2 8oz cans crescent rolls
1/4 lb genoa salami
1/4 lb provolone cheese

1/4 lb pepperoni

1/4 lb swiss cheese

12 oz roasted red peppers, drained

3 eggs, beaten

grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Open one can rolls. Spread on bottom of greased 13x9 inch baking pan. Layer the meats and cheeses in order. Place peppers on top. Pour most of the egg over (reserve a little for the top). Sprinkle a handful of grated parmesan cheese over egg. Top mixture with second can of rolls. Top with remaining egg and sprinkle with more cheese. Bake covered with foil for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.