Lauren's Baby Shower

A couple of Fridays ago, we had a baby shower for one of my closest girlfriends, Lauren. It was fun showering her with attention, gifts, and food. Lauren and Zach haven't found out whether they are having a boy or a girl. They got lots of good baby stuff. I think that the pictures say it all!

Two Delicious Treats

Lately I have found two treats that aren't really so bad for me that are really delicious.

The first is Laughing Cow Cheese. I get the Light Garlic and Herb flavor. One triangle of the cheese and 5 whole wheat Ritz Crackers is 2 points. Yum.

Next is something I discovered at Lauren's shower which we recently threw (which I still need to blog about). We had a parfait bar, just to have something different. We had all kinds of fruit, vanilla yogurt, and granola. It was delicious. So, I did some researching and I got strawberries, Activia Vanilla yogurt (the regular, not the light, which has artificial sweeteners in it), and Fiber One Honey Oat Clusters. The whole thing is only 2.5 points on WW. I use 1/2 c strawberries, a carton of yogurt, and about 1/4 c of the cereal. I have been having one for breakfast all but one day this week. Yum-O.

Just wanted to share.

New Hair Cut and Laptop

Here's my new hair cut. (It is a little bouncier earlier in the morning. This is after being up for 12 hours on a hot, muggy day).

Here's a picture of my new laptop.

Why?

A friend of ours posted this link on his Facebook page the other day. I still can't get over it. I thought I would share this with all of you. Who would want this? I mean, even if I was a huge fan, why would you want a terra cotta bust of the president with tendrils of plants growing out of his head sitting around your house?!

http://chiaobama.com/

This and That

I always think about things to blog about when I can't sit down and write a post. Then, when I have the chance: nothing.

Let's see, what have we been up to lately?

My Aunt Bobbie passed away on Friday evening. She had had cancer and lost the battle. She was a wonderful Christian woman who was always a joy to be around. I will really miss her. Please pray for her only son, Chris, and his wife, Lori, as they get ready to move on with their life after caring for her for the past few months.

This week is Restaurant Week in Downtown Atlanta. That means that there is a list of restaurants in the area that offer a very small selection of dishes for $25 a person. These are restaurants that usually end up being over $100 for two people. Last night, Scott and I went to Morton's to take advantage of this deal. It was very good. We both had the filet mignon and it was one of the best steaks I'd ever had. I got the Lyonnaise Potatoes and Scott got the grilled asparagus. The asparagus had this balsamic stuff on it and Scott wasn't a huge fan of that. I loved the potatoes and Scott liked them too. We both got caesar salads as well, but they had too much anchovie paste in the dressing, so I only ate about 3 bites of that. Yuck. The dessert was to die for. We both got the double chocolate mousse. It was rich and creamy. I had to hold myself back and only eat half. I had eaten my entire steak and about half of the potatoes. I still felt full when I got up this morning. I know that is not on my Weight Watchers plan, but I didn't want to miss out on the chance to go to such a nice restaurant for so cheap!

I must admit that this has been my worst week yet on WW. I decided last week that I absolutely had to have some hot wings and soon. We had tried to make them in a healthier fashion at home and it just did not quench my need. I like them super crunchy. So, Scott went to Buffalo's and got us some wings on Saturday night and I made fries in the oven. It was really good and hit the spot. I needed that. Of course, I didn't realize then how much I would be eating in the next few days. The church made a meal for us after Bobbie's funeral and I didn't know how many points were in all the food I had. I didn't eat a lot, but I had a little sliver of Chocolate cake (with homemade chocolate icing that my Aunt Noma, cousin Judy, and I were drooling for) and I wasn't sure how any of it had been prepared. However, since it was prepared by a bunch of Southern ladies, I can only guess. Plus, we'd eaten out several time over the weekend driving to and from Austell for the funeral home. At this point in time, I have blown through my extra 35 points for the week plus an additional 13.5. It would be 16.5, but I got some exercise on Saturday.

Since we took our house off the market, we are going to take our stuff out of storage so that we aren't paying for storage any more. Plus, we really do use or need most of that stuff and had only put it in storage so that the house would look more empty for the "staging". I will say this: it is one thing to have your home "staged" for selling for a couple of months; it is quite another to live that way for a year and a half. Needless to say, we were glad to go and get some of our bigger items on Saturday that we had been missing. We still have a bunch of boxes with all our extra linens, books, picture books, picture frames, and other items and a couple of large items to go and get. So, I am thinking 2-3 truck loads in my truck. Our sweet neighbors, Nan and John, came over and helped us rearrange our living room several times until all agreed we had the perfect set up. I should take some pictures and post them.

I went and got my hair cut for the first time in about six months on Saturday morning. I like it. I need to take a picture of that too.

Okay. Dilemma. When we packed up all of our stuff for storage, we threw away a big old bookshelf that was in danger of falling apart. So, now we need another book shelf or two for around the house and one small one for our bedroom. We went looking on Saturday and didn't find anything we liked. We'd like to not get something that looks cheap, but we don't want to spend a lot of money either. I have heard a couple of people suggest Ikea. Does anyone else have any suggestions of where to look?

We went a couple of weekends ago and saw the new Harry Potter movie. I liked it, but was a little disappointed in some parts. They changed some things completely, but not like in previous movies. They had some great opportunities to have some really exciting action scenes, and they passed those by. But, overall I enjoyed it. I purposefully did not read any of the books for a LONG time before the movie came out this time. In the past, I have always re-read the books right before the movies came out and it caused me to spend the entire movie analyzing the differences. So, now that I have seen the movie, I of course wanted to read the book again. Luckily, we have the book on MP3, so I listened to it on MP3. I finished it today.

My current computer at home is about 7 years old. Scott has been talking about getting me a new computer for quite a while and I have been holding him back because we just didn't need to spend the money. Of course, we still just don't need to spend the money, but I just can't stand the slowness of the internet any more. He found a sweet deal on a HP laptop for me and is going to get it tomorrow to take advantage of the tax-free weekend! I can't wait! Now, I will feel like I really need to clean off my desk. Ugh. I hate doing that. I dread it, actually.

Well, I have rambled on for long enough. I am in the calm before the storm right now and don't have much to do at work.

Peanut Butter/Butterfinger Brownies

I have been thinking that this would be a good combination for quite a while, and had decided that I would make it for 4th of July. Then, our June Betty Crocker calendar had a very similar recipe, but did not have the Butterfinger. These were inspired by my mint brownies that I make.

1 brownie mix, prepared according to package directions for 9x13 size
Most of a container of peanut butter
1 12.5 oz bag of Fun Size Butterfinger Bars
1/2 pkg of chocolate chips
2 Tbsp butter or margarine

Let prepared brownies cool completely. Unwrap all Butterfinger bars and put them in a plastic bag. Using your meat tenderizer, crush all the Butterfingers. Pour Butterfingers into a bowl and then mix in peanut butter until you are happy with the consistency. I used up the remainder of a jar that we had opened and eaten maybe 2 PB&J sandwiches out of. It was a pretty thick consistency. Spread Butterfinger/Peanut butter mixture on top of brownies. Using a double boiler, melt chocolate chips and butter together. Let it cool just a little and then spread over the top of the Butterfinger/Peanut butter layer. Cover and put in the fridge until the top layer is solid. I usually prepare these the day before. I removed them by sliding a butter knife around the edge of my pan, then, I turned them out on top of a sheet of aluminum foil then I covered my cutting board with aluminum foil and flipped them right side up. I cut them into squares by doing 6 x 8 squares.

Options: You can probably use a package or two of full size bars and save yourself some time. I didn't know how many I'd need, so that's why I got the small ones. I usually get a brownie mix that doesn't stay really soft and squishy because they are harder to cut.

These were a hit at our recent family event and have been requested to make an encore at our next event by Daddy. So, that's a definite plus.

Sorry, no pictures. I wasn't thinking, obvi.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

I have decided that I loved all the things I made for the 4th of July so much that I am going to post all of those recipes over the next couple of days. The first is the easiest, since it came from the Betty Crocker website. I followed the directions exactly with the type of brownie mix and the type of cookie mix. I used the triple fudge chocolate icing with chocolate chips because I already had it. But, I think you could probably use any brownie mix and any cookie dough mix you wanted.

1 box Betty Crocker® Original Supreme brownie mix (with chocolate syrup pouch)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
2 eggs
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® chocolate chip cookie mix
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
1 container Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy chocolate frosting

1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Spray bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray, or grease with shortening. Make brownie mix as directed on box, using oil, water and 2 eggs. Spread in pan.
2. Make cookie mix as directed on pouch, using butter and 1 egg. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls evenly onto brownie batter; press down lightly.
3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out almost clean. Cool on cooling rack 30 minutes. Frost with frosting. For brownies, cut into 8 rows by 6 rows.

Oh man, these were SO good! Yum. Yum. Yum!




So, I right clicked on the text of this recipe to copy it and this came up: a link to print coupons for the stuff in the recipe!!! So, if you go to the link for this recipe any time soon, print these up!

Print these coupons...

$0.50 off Betty Crocker® Warm Delights® Bowls
$0.75 off Betty Crocker® Box Supreme Brownie Mixes
$0.40 off Betty Crocker® Cookie Mix
Plus 19 more...

July 4th Weekend

We had quite a busy weekend for the 4th of July. Scott and I both had the day off on Friday. I spent the morning and early afternoon preparing food to take to Daddy and Stephanie's for a party they had on the 4th. Scott went and played disc golf with some friends and then did some work around the house for me. That evening, we went to a birthday party for our good friend Zach at Zach and Lauren's new house. It was a lot of fun and the food was really good.

The party at Daddy and Stephanie's was a lot of fun as well. They have a nice pool in their backyard. We ate and swam and visited. There were people from our family and from Stephanie's family there. I had made a decision to not count points on Saturday, so I made some things I wanted to have for the day. I made 2 different kinds of brownies and a big batch of kicked up pimiento cheese (there was so much of this actually that I took some of it with me to Zach's party). After we swam and ate and visited all day, we had about an hour before dark inside then we went out front and had some fun fireworks. We did fireworks for about an hour before we shot off the grand finale. We drove home tired, but happy. I'll include a slide show of pictures from the weekend.

Grandma's 90th Birthday Party

On June 20th, we had a 90th birthday party for Scott's Grandma at our church. 90 years is a lot of living! Scott pretty much grew up without his mom's parents as they lived in California until about 2.5 year ago when his Grandpa passed away and Grandma came to GA to live with Scott's parents. She is always smiling and very cheerful. It is these qualities about her that draw people near to her. In the short time that she has been in GA, she has touched enough people that about 100 people came to wish her happy birthday! She volunteers at church in a program for elderly people called Happy Hearts and she helps out with the Youth Group on Wednesday nights, loud music and all. It was really very touching to see all the people that came and the different ways in which she had touched their hearts. Scott's mom set up a slide show of pictures of Grandma throughout the years and it was going through her laptop to a little flat screen tv. At the end of the slide show the words "We hope you like your new TV!" came across the screen! Grandma was watching the slide show on her birthday present and didn't even realize it! The look on her face was really priceless! I am including a slide show of the pictures that Scott took at the party.

Critters and Our Stories About Them

We have had some new visitors this year. We put out a squirrel feeder in the fall in the back yard on our fence post. There were never any "patrons" and we never actually saw any squirrels back there. Sometimes we would see a chipmunk, but not often. So, after I potted up all my container gardens, I kept noticing dirt on the ground around them. I investigated to find that there were little holes in the dirt! There were apparently squirrels and chipmunks digging in them! This was happening in the front and the back. I wasn't sure how to handle this, so of course I googled. The websites all said that they are either looking to eat your bulbs (there weren't any in these pots) or they are looking for moisture. SO, I figured we were kind of inviting them in with all of our bird feeders. They said that the best way to deter them from digging in the pots and garden beds is to sprinkle red pepper flakes, like you see at the pizza places, on and around the pots. They say that you have to re-do this every few weeks because the smell wears off. So, we bought a huge thing of red pepper flakes and it has been working. But, I can always tell when they have worn off, those little stinkers. The website also suggested that you could provide them with a source of water. We also moved our squirrel feeder from the back to the front and attached it to our tree (see the picture of the feeder). Of course, the first Saturday after we moved the thing, we got up and went into the living room to see 2 squirrels sitting in our bird feeders out back! I wish I had gotten a picture before we scared them off. So, we made a home-made squirrel feeder for out back that consists of a piece of wood with a screw through it and a big hunk of nut suet stuck on there and bought a baffle for that shepherd's hook. It does look like it has been gnawed on, but not much. I even put a big hand ful of out good bird seed on there to attract them. The bird seed was all gone today without much missing from the suet thing. Oh well. The front squirrel feeder gets emptied every other day. I also put bowls of water out for them all, one out back and one under the tree out front. Of course our front porch looks crazy with red pepper flakes everywhere, but oh well. I am sure you have wondered what all the red dots were in all my plants.

One day last week, Scott was in the living room and heard a scratching at the back door. There was a squirrel scratching as if he wanted in. Both cats were sitting there watching him like they weren't sure what to think. Then, he ran over and got in the chair closer to our potted vegetables like he was thinking about climbing in, and decided not to. Finally, he tried to climb the shepherd's hook and ended up inside the baffle and wasn't sure what was going on. He kept climbing down and back up. Very strange. I wished I had seen it first hand, but Scott got pictures of him on the shepherd's hook.

We have a couple of beautiful sunflowers growing in our garden that were lovingly planted by a chipmunk or a squirrel. We always have them growing out from under the bird feeders, but I pull those up. These weren't in a bad place, so I let them grow. Here is a picture of the one that was blooming as of yesterday. You can see that there is a taller one behind it. It was starting to open up today. So pretty.

The other day, a chipmunk kept scary me while I was working in the garden putting out pine straw. Apparently, he travels from one side of the garden to the other in the drainage pipe that runs across the back of the garden. I heard him running through there once then suddenly it was quiet, so I just tried to ignore it. After I had just had enough time to forget about the noise, I hear it again and suddenly a chipmunk comes running out of the end of the pipe closest to me and runs across the walkway into the other side of the garden. I screamed out loud...then felt silly.

Okay, last critter story:

So, when we put the squirrel feeder under the tree, we noticed that the squirrels seem to like sunflower seeds and peanuts much better than the corn, which ended up on the ground under the tree. Scott asked me if the corn would grow, and I was like, nah!

Yesterday, I went out to pull weeds, dead head things, and water the pots. I walked up to the tree to check on the caladiums to realize that there were lots of things growing that weren't supposed to be.

I recognized the sunflowers trying to pop up from the squirrel food, but there was a new weed that was coming up that I didn't recognize.

This is what it looked like.

So, I pulled it up and this is what was attached to the end...a piece of corn! Great! There's corn trying to grow under our tree!

This is the face I made before I got down on my hands and knees and pulled up as many of them as I could find (both the corn and the sunflower seeds).

Needless to say, we are going to buy some in-the-shell peanuts and mix them with sunflower seeds and that is what the squirrels will be getting in the future.