We had Caleb's family birthday party on Saturday. He is really loving this birthday thing. He was interested in having a rattlesnake as his cake this time, so although I dislike snakes, I obliged. He loved it so that's what counts. Wayne's dad (Papa), Caleb and I shared the honors in blowing out the candles since we were celebrating all three birthdays.
We had a good time and volleyball to follow that afternoon. Caleb got a lot of paint supplies this year and is asking every day to paint. He also got a baseball mit and a box of small Legos that he is enjoying immensely, along with several other generous and fun gifts. He is mostly proud though of being four years old. He told me the other day that he can now buckle his seat belt because he is four, when he was three he was still too little. He, however, is already looking to age five. He told the utility man the other day that he would be five soon. Funny kid.
I was tagged awhile back and thought I would post that. There's not too much people do not know about me. I am quite the open book. I often wish I were a little more reserved and mysterious like some, but it's too hard to change my wiring. I am a sharer and A talker. So here are my eight, such as they are.
1) I really get into the novels I read. If they have a certain accent or speech characteristic I find myself talking and thinking in that manner. I also mourn the ending of a book. I want it to keep going and just about "miss" the characters when I am not reading about their lives every day. That's why I love series books.
2) I, like several, of my friends am a horrible eater. I am not necessarily picky, I will eat quite a bit, but I fail to cook them and they just don't appeal to me. I make sure my children eat healthy but more often than not I just don't make the good-for-me veggies to eat myself. I have even prayed that I could crave the good foods rather than the Snickers and fried stuff.
3) In the winter I've been known to sleep in long johns plus pajamas. I get very cold. I would sleep under a blanket year round if he didn't have a problem with it.
4) I talk in my sleep and this week woke up while sleepwalking. I woke up when Wayne asked me what I was doing. I had gone all the way to my dresser, opened up the correct drawer and changed my shirt, all while asleep. The funny thing is that the shirt actually matched my PJ pants. Wayne has some pretty funny stories on me.
5) I am fascinated with sign language. If I ever went back to school I would probably study to be an interpreter. I feel like I should at least learn how to say, "I am sorry I am staring, I just find the ability to sign very impressive," because I tend to stare when I encounter people signing.
6) I am quickly becoming addicted to coupons and price matching at Wal-mart. I have saved an average of $7 a week with coupons and another $10 a week through price matching. I am making it a challenge to save as much as I can. Makes me cringe to think of all I could have saved if I had wizened up earlier.
7) I eat a lot of peanut butter. I love peanut butter on my waffles with hot syrup. I even have a childhood memory of eating peanut butter on a hot dog. I can't say that I would make this meal choice given an option, but I remember the taste clearly and it wasn't that bad. There is no better combo than chocolate and peanut butter. Yum!
8) I love to color. I have a coloring book I started before I had children that I decided to color from front to back, not willy-nilly like every other coloring book I have ever had. I haven't finished it yet, but I pull it out every now and then when Caleb wants to color together. My mom and dad used to get us a new coloring book and box of crayons every year for our stocking. My dad liked to color too.
"Try" to go see it in the next week. When the "big" people look at how a movie does, they pretty much only take into account the first two weeks ticket sales.
Right there with you on the coloring and peanut butter:)
I love to color too! I have my own coloring book, but haven't colored in quite a while. Are tomatoes one of those vegetables you can tolerate? I think I saw a recipe once where you toast bread, put peanut butter on it, and then a slice of a homegrown tomato. The person who posted the recipe said it didn't sound good, but that it was delicious. I haven't tried it myself, but if you love peanut butter, maybe you'd like it. :)
We have #1 in common! I mourn the ending of a good book and feel like I have to say goodbye to a friend. I am completely amazed at the power of the written word!
Wow, Beth! I just looked at your cakes and I am just blown away! You don't need lessons - you should be teaching them! I wish you could come over and help me with Annalise's ladybug cake. I loved your tip about dying chocolate icing black. Any more tips? I plan to use a shallow Pyrex bowl for the body, hot pink icing and black polka dots. Not sure how to do the head except I know I'm going to use pipe cleaners for the antennae and googly eyes. I'm so excited! I made a Darth Vader cake and a Lion King cake for friends years ago but that's the limit of my experience.
Hey - its Beth(Hundley) - its been years since camp, but I remember you and your family well. I would love to hear how Andy and Bekah are! I knew Wayne from growing up in Louisville. Glad to see you guys are doing well. Your kids are too cute!
I cannot believe our little boy is now four years old. He has gone from a typical 21 inches at birth to an off-the-charts 46 inches at age four. His latest accomplishment is learning the entire 23rd Psalm. He loves to ride his bike and is daily working on being a good big brother:) Here are a few snap shots of Caleb in the past four years.
September 20, 2004 Our new baby boy
September of 2005 Caleb took a liking to tools very early
September of 2006 Caleb was "born to drive" At age two he was a very capable driver of Daddy's four wheeler.
September of 2007 Caleb's love for anything with wheels has just continued to grow.
September of 2008 One of Caleb's favorite things to do is to go bike riding with us.
We celebrated his fourth birthday Saturday at a neighborhood park with 10 of his friends from our congregation. He chose a crocodile cake this year so I ran with the theme. I think everyone enjoyed themselves and the day was beautiful. We will be celebrating with family on October 4th and I think we will be making a snake cake for that one. We added to the traditions this year and tried our hands at making a pinata. I think Aunt Penny would be proud. I hated to see it smashed though. Oh well, they had fun doing it.
Looks like a fun party. I mailed his gift on Saturday, and Emily and Drew went with me. When we got to the post office, Drew asked if it was Caleb's house. He thought we were going to personally deliver the gift. I wish we could have!
Hey! I'm not sure if you've read my emails but I know wayne has and has already responded. Just wanted to tell you thanks for asking me to do your pics. I hope you like them!
We didn't come up with giftmas on our own. I heard it from a friend. We like it-we started using it the past 2 years and it's almost habit now to say that and not Christmas.
That looks like a great birthday party! I am so impressed with the cake! And, the one in the picture of his 3rd! Did you take a class or just learn by doing? I'm planning to do a ladybug theme for Annalise in November and I'm going to make her cake, too.
I am beginning to fully understand how desirable it would be to have a computer in one's kitchen like the new kitchens in Extreme Home Makeover. Over the past couple of months, Google has been my go-to anytime I need help in the kitchen. Well, I have found two really yummy recipes in the past couple of days and just had to share. You should try them. I am also posting my apple butter recipe due to a request. Enjoy!
Cheese-Filled Italian Meat Loaves (We aren't big meatloaf fans but these were yummy and I made them in mini-loaf pans so it took less time than a big meatloaf)
Crockpot Apple Butter
4 lb. apples, peeled and quartered (full crockpot)
1 c. apple cider or apple juice
2 ½ c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon (+ a little extra)
1 tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. all spice
Fill crockpot with apples. Mix sugar and spices in a bowl and pour over apples. Pour apple juice over apples and mix a little. Cook on low all day (7-9 hrs. or so) until the apples are cooked and mashable. As they cook, mash the apples down with potato masher now and then. When they are mashed to small pieces I put them in the blender until smooth. Pour back into the crockpot and cook for another hour (or until desired thickness) with the lid off the crockpot. Fill your sterile jars and water bathe them for 10 min. covered in a ¼ inch of water or more.
I keep all my recipes in a binder in sheet protectors, then that way any size will fit. I might have two or three recipes on one side of the sheet protector. Every where we go I am always asking for recipes, the tried and true are the absolute best!!!
^^^I have the same method. I love my 3 ring binder and sheet protector. I must admit it has been a while since I bought a cookbook. The web is just too easy!
When we moved into this house 1-2 outlets in the office didn't work so for awhile we just had the main computer hooked up in the kitchen (no monitor-just used our lap tops) Then we decided to hook up the monitor so I could do a few things. Now-I love it and don't want it moved-I use it for everything. Just nice to be able to check your email when you're cooking dinner and I love it for recipes. No paper anywhere-Corey found me an awesome recipe manager so I've entered all the recipes I loved into it (then I can print a grocery list based on the ingredients I need) I also look up recipes online. I LOVE IT.
I love Anne of Green Gables! I still read them over ever so often. It is famailar comfort reading! :0) Like the mac n cheese or apple pie of the book world.
Thanks for sharing the recipe! I can't wait to try it. I love Allrecipes.com. I use it so much I'm getting rid of all but a couple of my very favorite cookbooks. And now that I have a laptop, I open up a recipe, set the computer on the counter (out of the way of flying batter) and use it as my cookbook to refer to. It's great!
