No Bake Cookies

So, I had a craving for chocolate and thought I'd make up a batch of No Bake Cookies. I've had some problems with this recipe in the past, but thought I'd try one more time. Although they look pretty scrumptuous, unfortunately they didn't set yet again. This is very frustrating and I think I've written them off. Right now I have two pans of cookies that are super goey. What to do?

Congrats on Pregnancy

My sister, Katie, just recently shared that they were pregnant. This will be niece/ nephew #5 for my family and their first. I decided that since we'll be seeing them this weekend, I was going to give a little gift with the card to say congrats. The front has some cute ducky paper, yellow ribbon, and congrats written in my favorite font. I used one of the ducks for the inside. It's a 3"x3" card.

They started a blog to record the pregnancy.

Another Winter Greeting Card

In the same vein as yesterday's cards, I was trying to use supplies that I hadn't used in a while.  This beautiful ribbon came on a wedding gift, I think (5 years old!) and I repurposed it for this card.  The paper is gray and has all sorts of wintery words on it.  Then I added snowflakes like the previous card.

I have some pictures that I wanted to send to in-laws who visited at New Years.  Since the pictures are 4x6, I needed to use a bigger sized card.  So, this one is 5x7 sized.  The sentiment is "Warm Thoughts of You!"

Wintery Card

I was trying to use up some of the supplies that I've had for a while.  I have had a booklet of quotes and found this one about winter.  It's especially cool because it says:  "Winter is a time for frosty days and snowy nights -- a time for home."  Some friends of ours just got a new home and I thought this might be a cool welcoming card.  I used a plastic snowflake, white ribbon and a combination of wintery paper.

Thankful for my Friend

Quote:  We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.  Winston Churchill

This card is for a friend and I decided to use the movie stub as part of the card just as a cute reminder of what we just did.  She has been a great friend to me over the last few months especially and my husband and I got to hang out with her Saturday night.  I used a brown flower die cut, wrote out the quote on pink paper, used blue ribbon and a lighter blue paper (that says thanks on the top) and wrote a little sentiment inside (Your friendship is precious to me!).  I think she'll like it -- but don't we all like to get little notes of thanks -- for just being who we are?!  If you haven't taken the time to share thanks with a friend, do it today!!!!

Race Day

I've been wanting to run a 5K for quite a while. The Zoo Run Run was my chance! Here I am with Barry.

Dawn (on the far right) had heard about the race from Amy (center) and encouraged me to run. Amy's run several races, but this was the first for Dawn & I.

Look at all the people! 1700 were reported to be there! It was a chilly day. 36 at race time.

The picture of me coming across the line was very fuzzy, but here I am with a silly grin on my face. I succeeded in meeting my goal of running the whole race. The bonus was that I did it faster than I ever expected -- 35 minutes, 36 seconds. I normally run 3 miles in 36 minutes on a treadmill. So, I ran a longer distance (3.10 miles) in a shorter time! I even saw a tiger!

Chelsea's 1st Birthday

So you've seen the cutey in the Christmas pictures and you saw the card that I made to go with her gift, but here it is -- Chelsea's 1st Birthday!!!! Check out the fun she had for her birthday at http://jerlindzchels.blogspot.com/. Not only did she have fun with the cake, but she started walking!!!!! Go, Chelsea!

Sympathy Card

I made this card to go with the meal that I made for my friend. The colors didn't turn out so well, but the front is a cherry red color with cream designs on it. I used cream ribbon and then wrote in calligraphy. The back of the paper was striped - red, gray, & cream - so I just added a bit of cream cardstock so that I could write the message easier. It's about 4"x 7." Kind of a different way to do things, but since I didn't have to put it in an envelope it was okay to do a different size.

Meal for a friend

My friend had a death in her family and I wanted to make a meal for her.  So, here is a new favorite -- cheddar & broccoli soup.  I also made a batch of cookies (since they love them) and have some Sister Schuberts parker house rolls.  All in all, seems like a good meal.  Hope they like it!

First Birthday Wishes

It's my niece's birthday next week so we're trying to get her gift in the mail.  I made this little card up using the invitation that they sent out.  I decided to make a tag since I couldn't fit all I wanted to say on the card.  The card is about 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".  The top pictures shows the tag and what I wrote inside.  Hope she'll like it!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies are one of my husband's favorite sweet things.  He's not normally a sweets type of person -- salty is his thing.  So, I started pretty early off in our marriage making him these cookies as a treat.  I usually make up a batch every once in a while for him to bring to work and share with his co-workers.  They are quite the hit!

I've found that the trick for a successful batch is how soft the butter is.  If you totally pulverize it in the microwave they don't turn out so great.  You have to have it softened but not totally melted.

Yummy!

A full day

Luke loves to read books! He's here with Melissa (his mom).

Here's the older cuteys - Emma & Luke.

Katie & Dad

Aren't these just the neatest babies? My mom MADE them! The clothes are able to come off and be changed. These were definitely works of love. They are so great.

We spent the afternoon at the pool at Andrew's hotel. Although Emma was hesitant at first, she did have a good time. Luke LOVED it!

Visiting in Cleveland

My parents, Katie & Andrew, Melissa's family and us got together in Cleveland to have Christmas together. Since Caleb's arrival in November changed the Vernon's plans to come to Sioux Falls for Christmas, we decided that those who could get together after the trip in a closer location for the Vernon's would do it. Here's my parents with Caleb.

Isn't he just the cutey?!

Thank You Cards

I found these cool papers at JoAnns this weekend, on sale!  I decided to make thank you cards for all the gifts that we got at Christmas.  So, I made up 15 of these for my co-workers and family and plan to write them up in the next couple days.  They are 3" x 4" and I plan on writing on the back a short note to thank them for whatever they gave.  Part of the problem with my good handwriting is it doesn't take up very much space.  So, this smaller size should be perfect for the amount of information I plan to write.  Thanks everyone!

Bridal Shower Cards

A co-worker is getting married the end of this month and they're having a shower for her today.  I made these cards for a friend & I who went in together on the gift and for another co-worker to use.  Although we were giving gift cards, I didn't do anything different with the cards.  Congrats, Olivia!

Starfruit

Technically I didn't make this, but I couldn't resist sharing it. Family came up from Florida and had several starfruit that were just picked off the tree. I had never had it before so they left one for me to try. I have to say that although it smelled citrus-y -- like grapefruit, the taste wasn't the best. Maybe I needed to add sugar (like for grapefruit) or do something different, but for now I guess I'm not going to be a starfruit fan. The shape is pretty cool though!

Fruit Pizza

This is a family favorite that I always have to make for my husband's family. It was a little tough to get fresh fruit being the winter and such, but it had to go over pretty well since my nephew asked for two pieces!

It's an easy recipe -- Pillsbury sugar cookie crust, cream cheese based "sauce" and whatever fruit you want to do. I've done strawberries, peaches, and the standard fare you see here.

Yummy!

Saying Goodbye

Here we are! Aunt Kristy, Brianna, & Jessica. This picture was taken early in the morning -- 6am or so as they were trying to get on the road early. I'm hoping to get this picture printed and put in this cool magnetic frame that I have and put it at my office. We'll see them again in April when we go to celebrate Barry's birthday.

Buffalo Chicken

We had family come to spend New Years with us and that brought opportunties to cook and try new things. My husband likes chicken wings so I thought I would try making some. It was really easy -- just got a mix from McCormicks and 2.5 lbs. of Tyson chicken (on sale, no less!). You toss the chicken with the mix, throw it on a cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes and VOILA! Everyone seemed to like them. This will be a good fall back recipe for group get-togethers.

Rainforest Adventure

We went to the Opry Mills Mall and had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe which was a new experience for everyone except Barry. The area that we were in had monkeys that would carry on. I think when I took this picture, they had just started up again which is why Tod is looking that direction.

Missed Jessi in the first picture so had her stand by a tree. This restaurant was huge! It was a cool experience and had great food.