Thursday, May 5, 2011

2 Yrs Old!

My baby is now a 2 yr old! The past 2 years seemed to have flown by and a little girl has emerged from the bundle we brought home.

We were blessed to have my parents come down Thursday - Tuesday for the special occasion. Jason's parents came down Saturday-Sunday. So we celebrated Katelyn's birthday on Saturday with LOTS of gifts. We bought her a little kitchen set, so that was our Saturday morning project of erecting the plastic structure made of a million pieces. Oh the joys of being parents, the assembly! Thanks to the handy dandy hubby, complete with cordless drill, it didn't take long at all. Nana and Papa Derksen got her some colorful dishes and my sister Gina sent a set of stainless steel pots and pans with baking sheet and rolling pin. Quite set for a 2 yr old! Auntie Janesa sent lots of cute clothes for summer, which is always appreciated by me. Grandma & Grandpa Pellegrino got her some Veggie tales movies and Clifford, a felt flower purse that we had to sport on Sunday, and a pink spikey ball that squishes. It's her new favorite thing. There were sticker books from her 2nd cousin Sephira and money from her great grandpa Peters. This girl made out in the gift department. There were other clothes and books from some friends here as well. She was definitely celebrated.

She became a pro at ripping off that paper!

Sporting the new ball. She takes this thing everywhere now. She sleeps and eats with it, and yesterday it went to the post office with us. It kept her occupied for as long as it took me to send off a package, which was nice. She was quiet and stayed right next to me without holding my hand. We're making some progress in that respect.

I thought that cupcakes would be a simple birthday cake with not a lot of left overs. So black bottom cupcakes with chocolate icing were in order and were a big hit with K.
She could even blow out the candles on her own!




Happy 2nd birthday Katelyn, We Love You So Much!

Alberta Bound


This has been my Canadian Anthem lately. I've always wanted to be a western girl living in the West and Alberta was always my dream. Little did I know that God would have me in the west just south of Alberta. One day I'll be Alberta Bound too, to the Calgary Stampede! Another dream on my "bucket list".

Friday, April 22, 2011

April

Wow, where has the time gone?

I don't have, or so it seems, any new pictures of Katelyn. Maybe I haven't downloaded from the video camera, but she is just a busy ball of fun! Last Saturday it was so nice outside, that I sent her out with her daddy to play in the backyard so I could get some cleaning done. She spent the whole morning outside and didn't want to come in for a nap. She loved it! And it was nice enough for a light jacket and then no jacket. She totes her pail and shovel around, picking up rocks from the garden or dirt from my flower boxes. I was in the front yard and could hear her singing behind the house. She was just loving it. It's so nice that the yard is fenced and we can let her run around, of course someone is always with her. I packed up a simple lunch and had our first picnic outside. Just didn't want to mess with having lunch inside when everyone was outside already and the clean up is so easy. She loved the idea of sitting on the blanket and sneaking our dog Tucker some morsels of bread. When the dog is around food, she knows he'll eat it if it's dropped, which is just a thrill for her. She loves her dog, "Ducker". She's caught on to how we talk to him when he's being annoying or he barks outside. She's taken on that commanding tone of voice with him too. It's kind of funny! If any dog barks, "dog, no" or some other babble. We've definitely got a talker on our hands.

Last week, I started helping a girl from church with her daycare, in Cody. It's only for 3 hrs a day and it means that both Jason and I are going to Cody. Jason has been driving with our Pastor's wife, Diana, since she has to drop her son off at the high school which is across from the hospital, so jason can walk. But that means I'm getting Katelyn up early to drop him off at the pick up spot and then heading back home and then driving to Cody at 12:45pm. I'm doing it because we need the extra money. Even though everything I make is going towards the fuel that we use. It's nice that Jason has steady income, but with our bills, everything is pretty much gone with no money for fuel. So hopefully this is going to help. Sometimes it doesn't really feel like it and I'd rather just stay at home, but is has gotten me out of the house which is something that I need and Katelyn can learn to interact with some kids. She's not charging me to bring Katelyn, other wise it wouldn't even be an option if I helped her or not. I'm just sick of the runny noses of the younger ones. And I'm so anti-daycare. Germs are just crossed way to easily and no one gains in it. I've been reading a book called, Home By Choice, and it's a psychotherapist who talks about the needs of children in the first years of life and how they bond to their caregivers, which relates to how they may perceive their relationships with the parents. It's from the 90's but it makes so much sense. Our society has gotten it backwards, putting children last and job first. Of course there are those cases where there is only one parent, but I'm saying in a healthy 2 parent family, why can't the mother stay home and do what God has designed her to do? We've gotten into the selfishness of wanting more things or bigger homes that we think we need to incomes, but the children suffer from lack of parental attention.
I'll get off my soap box now.

Other than that, it has been a quiet month. We've got a few things we're trying to sell, with some bites but nothing has been sold. Jason had his tool trailer sold, but the other party couldn't get the money they needed to buy it. So that was a blow and it's sitting for sale again. We just need to get out of a hole that having no work has put us in at different times. We are so over debt! Debt or mortgage, I can't remember, means "in death's grip". And yes it is. God knew what he was trying to protect us from when he told the Israelites not to owe a man anything because they own you. That's my paraphrase.

Thanks for reading this novel. Sorry it's not much but that's where we are at.
Have a good day

Monday, March 21, 2011

Noir Bars


These look so good!
  • FOR THE COOKIE BASE:
  • ½ cups Butter, Softened
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 1 whole Egg
  • 1-¾ cup Flour
  • ½ teaspoons Baking Soda
  • ½ teaspoons Salt
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • ¼ cups Semisweet Baking Chocolate, Melted
  • _____
  • FOR THE CHEESECAKE FILLING:
  • 1 stick Butter, Divided
  • ¾ cups Dark Baking Chocolate, Cut Into Chunks
  • 16 ounces, weight Cream Cheese
  • 1-½ cup Powdered Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • _____
  • FOR THE GANACHE:
  • ½ cups Heavy Whipping Cream
  • 2 cups Semisweet Chocolate Chips
  • 2 Tablespoons Instant Coffee Or Espresso

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a medium-sized bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Combine the rest of the cookie base ingredients and stir until well-blended. Spread the cookie dough in the bottom of a greased 13×9″ pan and bake 10-12 minutes or until set. Remove from the oven and cool completely (about 30 minutes).

In the meantime, work on the cheesecake filling. Melt 2 Tablespoons of the butter and 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips in a sauce pan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Set aside. Using an electric mixer, cream the remaining 6 Tablespoons of butter with the cream cheese in a large bowl. Beat in the powdered sugar and vanilla, and then beat in the cooled chocolate mix. Spoon the filling over the cooled cookie base. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, approximately 2 hours.

For the ganache, heat the cream, chocolate, and instant coffee over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth. Cool until lukewarm and then pour over the filling. Refrigerate uncovered until set, about 2 hours. Store covered in the refrigerator.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

New Saint Patty's Day food


Something else I must try.

Irish Cream Cupcakes
  • FOR THE CUPCAKES:
  • 2-½ cups All-purpose Flour
  • 3 teaspoons Baking Powder
  • ½ teaspoons Salt
  • ½ teaspoons Cinnamon
  • 1-½ cup Granulated Sugar
  • 12 Tablespoons Butter, At Room Temperature
  • 2 whole Eggs At Room Temperature
  • 2 whole Egg Whites, At Room Temperature
  • 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
  • ½ cups Irish Cream Liqueur
  • _____
  • FOR THE BUTTERCREAM:
  • 1 cup Butter
  • 4 cups Powdered Sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons Irish Cream Liqueur

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line muffin tins with 24 cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes. Add eggs and egg whites one at a time, beating on low between each addition. Add vanilla.

Add flour slowly in 3 additions, alternating with Bailey’s, starting and ending with flour.

Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full and bake 15–17 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting, beat butter in an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, until completely mixed. Add the Bailey’s and beat until well combined.

Poke holes in the tops of the cupcakes and brush some Bailey’s on each before frosting. Load frosting into a piping bag fit with a large tip and decorate as desired.

If you want to frost all 24 cupcakes with as much frosting as I’ve pictured above, you’ll want to double the frosting recipe

Bailey's Irish Cream! Sinful sounding!


Double Fudge Irish Cream Cookies
These just sound so good. Must go buy some Irish Cream.
  • 1 cup Butter, Softened
  • 1-½ cup Sugar
  • 2 whole Eggs
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 8 Tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream Liqueur
  • 2-⅔ cups All-purpose Flour
  • ½ cups Cocoa Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Instant Coffee Powder
  • 1-¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
  • ¼ teaspoons Salt
  • 1 cup White Chocolate Chips
  • ½ cups Milk Chocolate Chips

Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until fluffy. Add in Bailey’s one tablespoon at a time. Add flour, cocoa powder, instant coffee, baking soda and salt and mix until combined.

Fold in chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough for 4–6 hours.

Roll into balls and set on a baking sheet.

Bake at 350ºF for 8–10 minutes.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Bubbos







Nothing makes my girl happier than playing in water and "bubbos"! I think we have a fish on our hands.