Mistaken Identity

Here is the book I picked up last Friday to read over the weekend. It's such a sad story. These two families were also featured on "Dateline" last Friday night. I laid in bed watching Dateline and was just bawling at some parts. I'm sure most have heard of these two amazing families who's daughters got switched in an auto accident. I will say that Dateline did a great job on this story I was very surprised. It was so nice to see Christians portrayed right for once. These two families have such a strong faith and is just evident throughout the entire book. They really are a wonderful testament to the hope we have in Jesus. I can not imagine going through what they have and to read how they just completely trusted Jesus and leaned on him the entire time. It was one of the best books I've read in awhile.

Staggering fact:

I saw this fact on the "Today" show this morning:

20% of kids under age two have a TV in their bedroom

What! To me that's incredibly high my kids never even wanted to watch cartoons or were interested in anything on TV until they were around 2 1/2 years old. We limit our kids to an hour of TV/X box/computer time to one hour a day. Of course there are always exceptions like homework on the computer or watching a movie etc. But as that as our goal we feel it sets a time limit at least so there's no fighting when it's time to unplug. Alright there you have it my opinion on TV watching I just thought it sounded ridiculous to put a TV in a toddlers bedroom no wonder kids are cranky these days and don't get enough sleep. Sorry again just my opinion no you didn't ask for it I just gave it anyway :)

space museum and airplane zoo

Yesterday the boys and I went for a little road trip only an hour away from home and went to an air zoo and space center. We've been there a few times before but the space center was new. We had so much fun the boys really enjoyed it they have several planes and war planes on display which any boy thinks is awesome. I really enjoy planes myself and enjoyed reading about the different ones. One building houses a space launch simulator, airplanes, a 3D theater, two different rides for little ones, and a jet plane simulator the kids get to drive. The other building has old war and old planes on display and houses the space center. We all learned a lot and the kids had a blast it was the place they most wanted to go to.
Here is Roman trying out the airplane ride he rode in this red airplane over and over and over again. There was only 50 people at the whole place so he literally just stayed on this ride for a few rounds.

This is a Blackbird airplane I thought it was the coolest one there. It is so huge you can't appreciate the size of it until your standing right next to it. There were only 32 of these planes made and none of them was ever shot down.
At the space side you can try out "walking" on the moon or what it would feel like. This was quite weird is the only way I can describe it. Here Kaleb is trying it out.

Yes, that is me hanging there trying out this moon walking it was quite the workout let me tell you. I was laughing so hard.

Lucas in the cockpit of an airplane we had a hard time keeping Roman out of it. In fact all the boys didn't want to leave it alone. All little boys dreams driving a real plane..right?

All in all we've had a very fun week but am really looking forward to Ben coming home tomorrow. Lucas has missed him terribly and is very excited he'll be home tomorrow as am I:) On Wed. the kids and went to an indoor go cart/arcade family fun center. The kids begged me to play laser tag which I've never done before. Off we went is search of the laser tag oh me oh my it was some of the most fun I've ever had I'm addicted now..:) I told Ben we he comes home we'll have to take the kids again. They even let Roman play they just put the vest on him and let him pretend to shoot his laser gun. I will admit I was terrible at hitting the targets Lucas creamed me of course he's played before so I told him next time he's going down..hahaahha. Moms have to win once in awhile that's the competitive streak in me:)

Here's what happens....

When the hubby leaves me I bake and bake and bake. Actually I only made one thing so far this mocha chocolate cheesecake. It is so good quite rich but not to rich. It has an oreo cookie crust and then a chocolate layer then the mocha layer and topped with a chocolate glaze.

Here you can see the layers better the first piece kind of came out messy but the rest of them came out so pretty. I wish I had a better picture it's a very pretty cheesecake. I will be freezing a lot of it I also shared some with my neighbor already who said it was one of the best cheesecakes she's ever had..:) So I'll be putting this in my recipe book and making it again for company sometime. Here is the recipe below and you can also link to Taste of Home for a better picture of the cheesecake.

Layered Mocha Cheesecake

Taste of Home

“In my search for the perfect mocha cheesecake, I ended up combining a few of my favorite recipes to create this delicious version. It’s as much a feast for the eyes as for the palate!”

SERVINGS: 16

CATEGORY: Dessert

METHOD: Baked

TIME: Prep: 30 min. Bake: 45 min. + chilling

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• FILLING:
• 2 tablespoons plus 1-1/2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
• 1 tablespoon boiling water
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled
• GLAZE:
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons butter
• Chocolate-covered coffee beans, optional

Directions:

Combine cookie crumbs and butter; press onto the bottom of a greased 9-in. springform pan. In a small bowl, combine the coffee granules, water and cinnamon; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and flour until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in vanilla. Divide batter in half. Stir melted chocolate into one portion; pour over crust. Stir coffee mixture into the remaining batter; spoon over chocolate layer.
Place pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 16 in. square). Securely wrap foil around pan. Place in a large baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan.
Bake at 325° for 45-50 minutes or until center is just set and top appears dull. Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight.
In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate chips and butter; stir until smooth. Spread over cheesecake. Remove sides of pan. Garnish with coffee beans if desired. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 16 servings.

Fun Day #1

Ok I didn't really count Monday as a "fun" day for the kids since we did school work and it was my house cleaning day. So with all things of importance done and in order for the week we officially started our fun week yesterday. We started out the day sleeping in until 9:00 pure bliss I tell you:) We then proceeded to finish up any remaining school work that had to be done for the week which wasn't much the boys did double all last week. I folded and put away umm about five loads of laundry..gulp..glad that task is done. We then headed to the YMCA where I ran and the boys played basketball in the gym. We came home and ate lunch gave Roman an early nap and then headed out around 2:30 or so. I took the boys to see "Horton Hears a Who" at the mall. It was so funny I throughly enjoyed it as did they we had many good laughs. I told Ben it was one of the better kids films I've seen in awhile. After the movie ended we decided to shop for while and see what good deals we could find. Old Navy happened to have two large tables with shirts and sweaters for $4.99 I bought one I might go back and "dig" better when I don't have three antsy little boys:) After shopping for awhile we went to have dinner at Red Robin. The boys had gotten coupons for free kids meals from the dentist last July so I thought we'd better finally use them. I had a brushetta chicken sandwich on ciabatta bread yummy is all I can say it was fabulous. We then headed home and had desert which was strawberry shortcake for Kaleb and Roman and a cheesecake I made for Lucas and me recipe coming soon. All in all a fun day and took our mind off missing Ben so much. Lucas told me last night at dinner he really missed his dad he usually misses him the least off all the boys I'd say. They've spent so much time together lately with Ben being his basketball coach all winter that they really bonded a lot more. Well I'll end this post since I rambled for awhile were off to the Y to play b-ball with some of our homeschool friends.

Making Maple Syrup..

On Saturday while my hubby was working all day I decided to take the boys to our local nature center. Every March they tap their sugar maples and have a festival two Saturday's of the month. So off we went in search of how do they make maple syrup. First they tap the trees as you can see the buckets here with the sap dripping into them.
If you look closely you can see the tap and the sap dripping in.
After they've collected enough sap they cook it and...wallah... maple syrup. We couldn't get close enough to the big fire where they were cooking the maple syrup so I didn't get a picture of it. But it was very interesting how they do it. We did learn that the sugar in sap when cooked is what gives the syrup its rich amber/brown color.
Here Lucas is trying is hand at carrying buckets how they would've carried them in the old times. They had a trail to walk and they showed how the Indians would make maple syrup and cook it up it was very fascinating to the boys they had a really good time.

Lastly we stopped in the barn and got to see how a blacksmith would've made something out of metal. They heated it up and then showed the kids how to shape into something and what tools to use. So without the boys even knowing it they got a school lesson for the day:)

Happenings in our corner....

Happy St. Patty's day for one I forgot today is St. Patrick's Day not that we do anything special for it:) Roman made this hat at the YMCA last week and was very proud of it. My hubby is gone to Florida on a guys golf trip until Sat. he left last night. So to pass the time it seems that I'll be blogging a...LOT...hahaha. The boys and I are doing a half spring break week with school and doing fun things instead. Some educational and some just for fun so I'll really be posting...a lot..haha:) I've already been to CVS twice in the 24 hours my hubby has been gone. I needed some retail therapy I miss him so bad already. At least it only cost me 1.00 out of pocket so far for all my goodies. Nothing to pick up your spirits like CVSing (is that a word?)
On Saturday morning Roman and I went to a second best sale and he just happen to find this truck. It's actually quite a "cool" truck it's motorized you push a button and it will go forward or backward and he can even do a lever and the back end will lift up to dump whatever goodies are in it. He's been having a hey day with it so it was a good find I only paid $4.00 for it. Quite a good investment for loads of fun.

Radon test

I had Kaleb tested for food allergies and also they did toxins/chemical testing in his body. Radon showed up in his system so the lady who administered the test suggested we get our house tested for it. Because we also live in an area known for high radon I thought it was a good idea. At the home and garden show I bought a test kit and tested our home. It's just a packet you hang up in the lowest livable area of your home in our case the basement. I just got the results back via email this morning and thank the Lord our home is ok. It did show up with a little bit of radon but in what is considered the "safe" range. Of course any radon exposure isn't truly safe and they do state that on their website. However the level in our home is quite low it came in at 2.5 anything over 4 is considered unsafe. Anything less than 2 is considered as not showing up so ours isn't to bad. I was so happy this is something I've been concerned about for a few years radon is a serious issue in our area and it causes lung cancer among other things. It's also quite costly to fix the problem. I think in our case just caulking all the cracks in the cement foundation will more than likely take care of most of our problem. So I'll add this to the growing list of projects for spring. For more information on radon you can go here.

A taste of spring..

I'm training for a run in May that I've been doing some long training runs for. I've been doing them on Saturday's well today was 50's out I repeat 50's..WOOHOOOOOO..so I ran outside today and let me tell you it was awesome beautiful spectacular!!! I was in a tank top and pants it was so warm and hot I loved it! It was such a nice treat after running last Saturday in 15 degree weather. Praise the Lord for warm weather and spring!!

I'm so messed up..

This whole time change messes me up for a good week maybe two even. I feel tired and an hour behind all week probably cause I'm getting up an hour later than normal. Today I set my alarm clock for 8:00 I slept right through it until 9:00 urg...that's with a three year old in my bed also..what's a girl to do:) I do enjoy my sleep we all know that but I also like to feel on schedule for the day. Well I'll look ahead to next week and try and get up earlier tomorrow..haahaa!

Conversation with Kaleb...

Background info: I have a friend named Natalie that is pregnant with her third child due in a month. Her youngest child just turned a year so they are very close together. Last night at dinner here was the conversation with Kaleb.

Lucas: Mom, did Natalie have her baby yet?
Kaleb: Yes Lucas she had it a month or so ago.
Me: No she didn't have it yet she's due in a few weeks to have it.
Kaleb: Natalie, is pregnant again! She must be eating lots of food. She already just had a baby and now she's having another one!
Me: What did you say Kaleb? as I'm laughing.
Kaleb: Well she must be eating lots of food if she's pregnant again that's what you do that's how that baby got there and now it has to grow and grow bigger so it can come out. ( he says this all so matter of fact I wish you could've heard his tone of voice it was classic)
Kaleb: how are they going to get that baby out of Natalie's belly? Do the cut her stomach open?
Me: Yes honey they will cut her stomach open and take the baby out. ( she does have C-sections so this was at least truthful in her case)
Lucas is laughing and I almost spit my food out I was debating about weather or not to tell him how most babies come out. Then he asked if they cut her stomach open I thought perfect since it's really in her case what will happen. So what I learned from the conversation is that apparently Kaleb thinks when you eat a lot you get pregnant and babies come out from a cut in your stomach. He keeps praying for a baby sister and again asked me if I was pregnant and going to have another baby. He really wants that baby sister I guess. I must be watching how much food I eat in front of him lest I give him any false hopes :)

My New Best Friend.:)

Yes, indeed CVS is my new best friend. Today I went and bought items that totaled $47.91 and I spent out of pocket a big whopping $.98.....WooHoo. I have been learning this CVS system and I am having so much fun with it. I can't believe how many items I have gotten free or they've paid me to get. My hubby is even getting in on it a little he looked through the ad on Tuesday night and gave me a few more deal ideas. Here is what I bought today:

2 large bottles of Tresemme shampoo
1 large bottle of Tresemme conditioner
2 Oral B toothbrushes
1 Charmin 12 double rolls of toilet paper
1 Crest pro health night rinse
1 Glade flame less candle
1 box of Huggies baby wipes

This totaled $47.91 I then used a $5.00 off coupon that got emailed to me another $5.00 off coupon from the internet. I used a bunch of other coupons and then $21.00 in ECB's that brought my total down to $.98. The best part is this is all stuff that we use I am trying to just buy the things that our family uses. If I know of someone else that needs something or uses a product I buy it and give it to them. This way I'm not buying a bunch of things we don't use and are sitting around. I couldn't find that Venus razor anywhere I really need a new razor and that is the one I use. Maybe tomorrow I'll try and get that since it'll be free if I'm in the area of CVS I'll pop in otherwise maybe another time. I also got back$22.00 in ECB's to use on my next trip so all in all a profitable week. WOOHOO I love CVS!

Pancakes...

I've been making so many yummy things this week that I decided I need to start putting them on my blog so that I have another hard copy of all my yummy things. In case I ever lost my own personal cookbook I'd be in trouble. Here is a pancake recipe I've come up with that really suits our family tastes. I can also make them dairy free for Kaleb which is an added bonus to any recipe in my opinion. After making them this morning for breakfast I was reminded how yummy they are so here is the recipe:

Pancakes

3 C. flour
3 t. baking powder ( I only used 2t. today and they turned out great still)
2 t. salt
4 T. sugar
3 C. milk (add a little vinegar for "buttermilk" pancakes)
2 eggs
6 T melted butter
2 t. vanilla
1/2-1 t. cinnamon
blueberries, apples, etc if desired.

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together.
2. Add all the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until mixed well.
3. You can add a little water to the mix if it's to thick for your tastes.

4. For Kaleb's I just substitute soy milk for the regular milk and because he can have a little butter I just leave that as is. I know you can buy a dairy free butter to though. I am going to try half water half soy milk for his next time and see how they turn out. I'm always experimenting with recipes sometimes they turn out better sometimes not but it's always fun to try:)

Basketball Frenzy

After a crazy last two weeks of basketball the season has officially ended. We had regionals this past weekend at a university about an hour and half away. Our boys went in seated third in the state for elementary teams there was a total of 12 boys elementary teams I think. We had our first game on Friday afternoon. The team we played came out fighting and in the end won at the buzzer by one point. Our guys were all so distraught they played so hard to win most of them were crying at the end of the game. Boys just take things so hard when it comes to sports sometimes. Lucas was crying to it was the disappointment of not winning and having the chance to go on to the final state game. Ben when in the locker room and gave the team a pep talk and they all came out a lot happier and looked to the game the next day. The team was league champs so they got presented with a trophy on Saturday. Three of the kids are missing from the picture for some reason. It was a silver lining in their weekend one they were thrilled with. On Saturday we had a game in the morning and the team came out strong. Lucas scored the first two points of the game and from then on just had a terrific game. Ben told him it was his best game he's ever played he was just a little fighter. He had a few assists, and was playing defense just awesome. We were so proud of him and the team. Ben was the head coach this year of Lucas' team which they both really enjoyed. He's planning to coach again next year which Lucas is thrilled with. All in all they had a great season and had lots of fun as a team and made some great friendships.

Here's Lucas he's number three defending the guy driving to the hoop in the middle. Way to go Hornets!!