Feels like Football

 This week I saw this bus parked in the lot of my local Wal-mart. And then this chair in my grocery store. Looks like it's almost football season! It sure is going to be exciting this year... Since we're now in the Big Ten, the Penn State - Nebraska rivalry in our home is going to really heat up!
I am dying to buy one of these little camp chairs for Millie. Every since she learned to climb on our kitchen chairs, she has been climbing on EVERYTHING. Maybe a chair her size would be less dangerous. :) I've also been hunting for the perfect Husker tee for her. She's not quite ready for the 2T size but I'm so done with onesies. And I think this year she might get a PSU tee and  Nebraska tee. Maybe I won't let her out of the house in Nittany Lion blue. Millie has been learning new words left and right. I can't wait to hear her say GO BIG RED!

Satisfying the Sweet Tooth

 

 We just finished these S'more bars. OOH YUMMY!

Starbucks Outrageous Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Starbucks Outrageous Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats (not quick cooking)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dark raisin
1/4 cup golden raisin
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
Topping (optional): 4 tablespoons dark raisins, 4 tablespoons golden raisins

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Blend oats, flour raisins, cranberries, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg, cinnamon, and vanilla; beat until combined. Gradually add oat mixture to butter mixture; beat until combined. Combine raisins for topping in separate bowl and set aside.
Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart onto two lightly greased baking sheets. Place 1 mounded tsp of raisins on top of dough.
Bake about 12-16 minutes, until cookies are golden brown, but still soft. Cool on sheets before serving.

Notes: I don't do the topping because they usually burn on me and they're really not necessary because there are plenty of raisins and craisins in the cookies. Also, 1 batch makes 17 cookies when I use my pampered chef scoop. So I like to buy all the stuff and keep it on hand to make a small batch every once in awhile or double or triple it. Do not succumb to eating all the craisins after you make one batch! They're so good but expensive! :)
Oops I guess I haven't made it quite clear that I didn't come up with this recipe. I got it from my sister who probably found it online somewhere but I don't know where. 
Hope you enjoy these cookies!

S'mores Cheescake Bars

S'mores Cheesecake Bars
from Annie's Eats (who adapted from Sugar Plum)

Crust
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (from about 7 graham crackers)
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake
4 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1/2 cup marshmallow cream
2 teaspoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature

Topping
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
Milk chocolate chips, melted (optional)

To make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil leaving an overhang on opposite sides to lift the bars out. Spray the lined pan with cooking spray. Stir the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, salt and melted butter together in a small bowl with a fork until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Press the mixture in an even layer into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden and fragrant. Transfer the pan to a wire rack while you prepare the filling. Reduce oven temperature to 325 F.

To make the filling: Put the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat in 30 second bursts on 50% powder, stirring in between, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, sour cream and marshmallow cream on medium-high speed until smooth, 1-2 minutes. Add the cocoa powder, vanilla extract and eggs to the bowl and beat until incorporated. Finally, beat in the melted chocolate. Give the batter a final stir with a rubber spatula to ensure everything is evenly combined. Pour the filling over the graham cracker crust and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the center is just set (does not jiggle when shaken gently). Transfer the pan to a wire rack and spread the mini marshmallows evenly over the cheesecake layer. Return the pan to the oven for about 2-3 minutes, or until the marshmallows just begin to melt into one another. Remove the pan to the wire rack and, using a kitchen torch, brown the tops of the marshmallows. Let the cheesecake cool to room temperature then drizzle with melted chocolate, if desired. Refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours before cutting into squares and serving.

I found this great recipe at Tracey's Culinary Adventures. This week I signed up to make dessert for Bible Study and since my birthday is also this week, I wanted to make something chocolate so I could enjoy the leftovers all week. So started hunting and found that August 10th is S'mores Day so I had a lot of marshmallow and chocolate treats to choose from. Amy Atlas did a fun s'mores day roundup and Tracey's cheesecake struck my fancy. But when I found I could make it in bar form, I was sold! They were easy to make, didn't require the traditional cheesecake water bath and are very tasty! I hope everyone else liked them as much as I did!

SSMT

I find this verse to be a very good reminder. I ought to post it on a wall in my house... in BIG letters! How many days do I find myself saying dumb things that are better left unsaid? How many days do I let my selfishness and personal discomfort affect my mouth? I want to speak words of kindness to those I love. Words that build them up and strengthen our relationship.

Proverbs 31:26 NKJV
She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness.

I pray that the Law of Kindness will be evident on my tongue and in my home.

August Ten

So my ten has officially become a top ten list, not ten photos. I sure wish I had a better eye for photography. But, hey, I definitely know how to make lists. I am the list queen! I make lists during the day just so I can remember everything and then so I can mark things off. I feel more accomplished! :)
So today...
1. Going to the YMCA. We started the day off right with a trip to the Y for some PiYo. It makes me feel loose! Today Millie didn't want to leave. She was coloring. I guess I'm glad she no longer cries while I'm gone.
2. Groceries for the 3rd time. This week! Grr. The country girl in me does not like. I went Sunday and then again Monday to exchange my faulty hamburger. I bought 80/20 instead of 93/7 for meatballs. Oops, that would've been greasy. So today I was back for 3 more things.
3. Playtime. We spent a fun filled hour or so with the neighbors. They have toys, lots of them. Millie loves it. And today she got to chase the bunny too.
4. Bunny chasing. Millie absolutely loves to chase the sweet bunny. Good thing Cutels is so good tempered. She just runs around searching for a safe hiding place. When she gets fed up she runs back to her cage for a break. Isn't Cutels such a cute name for a bunny!? It's "cute" and "ellls". Add bunny to the list of pets that baby girl is going to beg daddy for someday.
5. Blueberries. Millie has been thoroughly enjoying freeze-dried blueberries. She won't touch fresh ones with a ten foot pole... purple food apparently isn't edible in her book. (Please forgive the awful blurry phone picture and smile at the blue lips.)
6. Baby meal. One of our friends just had a sweet baby girl so I prepared a meal for them today. My go to baby meal is meatballs. The other moms expect it. :) In a good way. But one of the other gals brought meatballs on Monday. We thought it would be ok for them to have it again cause they're a little different. But I didn't feel right about doing that. So with a quick (and 3rd) trip to the store I was set for Hamburger Pie (casserole) a la the yellow Mennonite cookbook. I wanted to keep a spoonful for myself!
7. Starbucks outrageous oatmeal raisin cookies. Yum. Recipe coming up later.
8. Good friends and good talks. I'm thankful for my Titus 2 'older' woman. A girl can really be encouraged by a listening ear!
9. Veggies! We are part of a CSA vegetable share. Hmm I'm say that wrong. But we do get a bag of fresh, local veggies every week. Yummy! We got lots of tomatoes this week. We also have sweet corn and beets coming out of our ears. I'm looking forward to enjoying whatever my chef comes up with this week.
10. Sweet corn. It is so in season right now. It's perfect! My ear for supper was so sweet and had nice big kernels. Yum! Thanks Dad! I think we should definitely visit my parents again, at least for the sweet corn. ;) I'm attempting to freeze a bunch so we can enjoy it this winter too.
Happy August 10th!

I Wish Wednesday

I wish my baby was sleeping. We have a friend over today and H is sleeping soundly and my girl has been making herself heard for the last couple hours. I think it's time to completely drop the morning nap. We've be doing naptime from 10-11 and then 2-4. Millie just couldn't make it through the morning without a rest. But now she's really struggling with her afternoon naps.
Any tips on how to make the transition to one nap easier?
Honestly I think the transition might be harder for me than her! I enjoy being able to take a morning nap if I stayed up too late last night. And I usually get ready for the day during her morning nap as well. I'm either going to have to get up before her, which is rarely going to happen or learn to get ready faster with her around.

I wish it was 85 degrees everyday for the rest of the summer. Today is so beautiful! It's been so ridiculously hot that today I almost felt like I needed a jacket this morning. Even though summer is my favorite time of year, I do miss cooler evenings and mornings where you just want to pull on a cozy sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. But today was the perfect day to be outside! Yesterday the FedEx man delivered our new kiddie pool and today we broke it in! It was a hit and a great way to cool off. Between all 5 kids (my 2 for today plus the 3 neighbor kids), I had to wash out a bunch of grass but it was worth it. I'm happy to have a pool for the rest of the summer!
How have you been beating the heat this summer?

I do not wish for twins. Oh my goodness. Having two 1.5year olds today has shown me that I do not wish for twins. Ever. When I was a kid, I thought having a twin would be a blast. But now as a mother, I realize raising twins would make me pull my hair out after a couple days. To those mamas out there I know that have twins ...you are strong women! God must give extra patience to those moms and dads!

The Maverick's Bride

I just finished reading The Maverick's Bride by Catherine Palmer. On our recent trip to PA, Grandma gave me a pile of easy reading, fluffy, romantic books. :) She knows I like to read. It was a pile of like 8 books and I read 2 of them while we were there. They must think I'm anti-social the way I buckle down and read every time we're there. This book took me less than a week at home. And if I had nothing to do, I could read one in a day. I enjoyed this one and the story was surprisingly well developed for a 272 page book. I even wished it was a little longer!

The Maverick's Bride is about Emma Pickering's desire to follow God's calling to be a nurse in East Africa in 1898 despite her father's disapproval, her needy younger sister and her heart's tug towards rugged, mysterious, American, cowboy, Adam King. Spoiler Alert: if you want to read this book and not know the details stop reading here. But seriously, you can guess how it turns out based on the cover picture and the back cover description. :)

What I loved most about this book was Emma's character. She was a woman with a calling from God to be a nurse. But in that day, she was expected to be a proper young lady whose only goal was to find a good husband. She was faced with the added pressure of keeping tabs on her flighty younger sister, Cissy and keeping them both out of their strict father's way. Their mother passed away when they were young girls and it turned their father into an unhappy man. Mr. Pickering was a British railroad man and they were all headed to East Africa to beat the Germans in a railroad race inland. Upon arrival, Cissy was broken hearted to be separated from Dirk, the German solider she fell in love with on the ship; they were bombarded with reports of lions attacking the railroad workers; and they crossed paths with Adam King. The railroad foreman Nicholas Bond, immediately informed Emma that Mr. King was a loose cannon with a bad reputation. And Mr. Bond also made it clear that he intended to please her father and marry her. But when Emma broke her father's rules to help a sick child, Adam was there to help. At the first railroad stop on their journey inland, Emma realized Mr. King was following her and she didn't want to admit her attraction to him. That night there was a lion attack and when Cissy disappeared because she thought she heard Dirk calling to her, Emma took off to find her in the wild Savannah. Thankfully Emma was rescued by a local tribe and Adam King. Mr. Pickering died unexpectedly because of all the chaos and Emma married Adam to access her sizable inheritance so she could continue searching for her sister.
The rest of the story is about Emma's struggle to find her sister, follow God's calling to be a nurse and fight her attraction to Adam. I don't think I have to tell you that it all turns out after a few twists and turns. If you're looking for a quick, enjoyable read try The Maverick's Bride! :) I recommend it.

August 1st SSMT

I'm excited to be plugging through Proverbs 31!
Proverbs 31:25 NKJV
Strength and honor are her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come.

This verse is encouraging to me right now! It's amazing how that often works out. The verse that I just happen to be focusing on speaks to me at this time of life. :) I love how God arranges that. This verse reminds me to be diligent in my day to day work at home because there is a reward coming.