A Weekend Treat

What does a

 Cold Stone Icecream Cake

and

"Real" popcorn

have in common?

In my case it means..

"someone" just turned a year older!

It also means that this certain "someone"

has had a wonderful weekend of celebration!

Starting on Friday night with

Girls Night In!

Abby, who lives locally

and

Dana, who lives out of town

came and spent Friday night with me!

Abby brought this excellent yummy cake,

Dana popped the real corn,

(in my house if I pop the corn it

only involves a bag and microwave)

 and we spent the evening

talking, laughing and eating!

Saturday was filled to the brim

with a morning prayer retreat,

Starbucks,

thrifting until Abby had to depart for home.

Dana and I then went out for Thai

(Abby and I went out for Thai on Friday)

then to a movie!

All this celebrating and my birthday

wasn't till Sunday!

Sunday was also a fun filled day!

Church,

a small craft fair,

lunch at a newly found coffee shop and cafe,

followed up by a family birthday party celebration

at Mom and Dad's house!

I share a birthday with my beautiful niece Jamie

and my nephew Kee's birthday is the day after!

( I love this, I never forget these birthdays!)

I hope each of you have a great week!

I still have two more celebrations to go!

Dinner with my sweet neighbor ladies on Tuesday

and lunch with dear church friends on Friday!

Me want cookies....

I am so excited to be joining Wendy's cookie party

over at Relatively Unique!

I highly encourage you to head on over

and check out her party!

If you feel inspired, create your own cookie post

and join in the fun!

Now, my favorite cookie is the basic chocolate chip.

Throw some oatmeal into the mix

and that's yummy too!

Today's cookie is all about the "no-bake".

You will need:

2 cups of sugar

1/2 cup of milk

1/2 cup of butter

3 tablespoons baking cocoa

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups of quick oats

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the first 5 ingredients together

over high heat.

Bring to boil.

Boil for 1 minute!

( I'm sure that this boiling process is important,

but I'm not sure why?

My guess is that it has something to do with science!)

While I was mixing and boiling,

Madison (my daughter) helped by:

Measuring peanut butter

and

oatmeal!

After boiling for 1 minute:

add the quick oats

the peanut butter

and vanilla

Mix!

Using a scoop or a spoon,

Drop mixture onto wax paper!

Allow time to set!

Eat and enjoy!



Simple Pleasures

I am linking to Simple Pleasures

over at A Collection of This and That.

A special thank you to Dayle our hostess!

My simple pleasure this week is breakfast with Nona.

Nona is my paternal Grandma. 

Within the past two years she has suffered two major strokes.

Each one robbing her of daily functions we often take for granted.

She now requires 24 hour care, much like a infant would require.

My mom and dad made the loving decision to care

for her fulltime in their home.

Three days a week, I have the honor of assisting in her care

while my children are in school.

My parents live "out in the country" and are

blessed with an amazing view over looking a small valley.

Each morning Nona and I watch out the window

at the view and birds at mom's feeders.

We never know what type of birds we will observe.

During the summer we see hummingbirds and

bright yellow finches.

During the winter, we get Blue Jays and Cardinals!

I treasure my Nona!

Summer 2010

I just wanted to wish each of you a

Happy Last Day of Summer!

She wore an...

Itsy, bitsy...

Teeny, weeny...

Pok-a-dotted bikini!

Guess who is in heat!

Poor Latte,

 came with fleas, worms

and now this?

Good thing she has proven herself to be a keeper!

Guess who will be spade next month?

I wishing each one a you a Happy Monday!

A Sneek Peek!

I am posting to Metamorphosis Monday

at Between Naps on the Porch.  

A special thank you to our host Susan!

We made the decision in August

to change our counter tops

from Formica to granite.

{The Before}

This gave us the perfect opportunity to rectify

a "poor" design choice we had made

when we built 6 years ago.

The high counter bar that separated our kitchen from

the dining room has always been slightly, too high!

{Before}

Our new plan...

lower it to counter height.

To do this we had to deconstruct part of the wall.

Wayne and I removed the counter and corbels.

Once we removed the old counter top,

we cut down the studs and drywall in order

to create a level surface for the new counter.

Wayne then worked at patching the drywall!

All we needed was the new counter top!

And here they are...

{After}

We just love the way they turned out!

Being opened to the morning room makes

the kitchen feel so much bigger and brighter!

We still have to pick out and install a back splash.

Any thoughts?

On another note...

our new puppy has a name!

Latte!

What's in a name...?

Well,

 we did it....

our resolve,

dissolved.

In spite of not only seeing the benefits to one pup

as well as having a much cleaner, hair free home...

allow me to introduce you to...

our new Mastiff puppy!

No, I'm not kidding when I say puppy!

She is only 10 months old,

and if we have to guess...

only 115 pounds give or take a few.

Which means, since Mastiffs grow until they are

around 18 months old... she is bound to

only get bigger!

We found her via Petfinders.

She was an owner release,

(too big, can't go to an apartment)

and we drove about 2 1/2 hours north to

Wooster, Ohio to pick her up yesterday!

Caribou, our other dog,

 was so excited to come on the trip too!

At least until,

 we put her in the car to come home with us!

A new family portrait!

See her "puppy" paws....!

Zac, who has large paws himself,

helps to demonstrate just how big those paws are!

We can't wait to see what she will look like when

she grows into her paws and head!

Thankfully she comes potty trained and

has been taught some basic commands!

However,

 she came with a name we are looking to change.

That name...Mercedes.

Although we can joke and now say we own a Mercedes,

the poor little thing needs a new name...

We've tossed around

Jersey,

Lynx,

Wooster,

Puma

and Latte.

I've told the family that if we

don't decide on something soon

I will continue to call her Baby Girl!

All this indecision has just

Worn us out!