Majestic

Isn't it hard to think of anything bad when you're looking at something like this?



Last week, on the same day, my step-mom was trapped in Haiti during the earthquake and one of my uncles had to have a triple bypass. The next morning I went to let the dog out and saw the beautiful sky. Mind you, I detest the color pink. But something about the bright sky with the wavy clouds and the snow was really pretty. And it made me feel like it was a sign that everything would be okay.

Today Jason's grandpa Latiolais passed away and then we got in a car accident. Luckily we are all okay and the car appears to be fine right now, but I had to pull up my sky pictures again because they make me feel good. It looks like we may all be traveling to Louisiana for the service, so we would appreciate your prayers for our very long drive there and back. We weren't going to travel this year but Jason was going either way and his cousin graciously offered us a place to stay, so we figured we'll all go down. Hopefully the family visits and some warmer air will lift our spirits a little and we can return to a calmer, less stressful 2010.

Let them eat cake!

Jason's cousin, Shannon, sent me this really cute recipe last week. I love Shannon and she's a great cook, too. Xander still asks me to get her potato salad recipe and he doesn't even like potato salad. But he liked hers.

I've seen this recipe in the past, but never really thought about making it because I usually just make a whole cake. However, Jason had to work and I was trying to find something fun for the kids to do so I thought it would be fun.

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug (MicroSafe)

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT ! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

First we got out our ingredients. I'm bummed that I've been out of real vanilla for awhile, so I had to use my cheap imitation extract. But I used nice pure ingredients for the rest, like unbleached flour and turbinado sugar.

The kids took turns mixing and adding ingredients.

We watched it cook in the microwave, then I took it out for them to share. Between the two of them they couldn't finsih it. I ate the rest after they went to bed and then the next night I made two more for Jason and me.

Such a fun treat!

Winter Wonderland

Okay, I'm joking about the wonderland part. The snow was cool the whole week before Christmas, but I'm just about over it now because I don't know the last time I saw the grass. Or the sun for that matter. Jordis loves it though. You will notice no pictures of Xander in this post because he is not a fan of snow. He pretends to be, but after a few minutes he's pretty much f-i-n-i-s-h-e-d. He's like his mommy, doesn't like to be wet or cold. After our 5 or so inches of snow last week Jason took the kids out to build a snowman. It was dry snow and not good for packing, so it didn't roll very well. Xander helped briefly, but not before I was able to get outside and take pictures.

The kids had spent all morning fighting over what the snowman was going to wear. My mom had given them a snowman kit a few years ago so we had a perfect carrot nose. The snowman turned out really cute except that they wanted him to wear a hat. But apparently it just wasn't staying on.

After the snowman Jordis decided to try a snow angel.

The next morning we got up and the snowman looked a little different.

Jason had found some sticks at work and gave him some arms when he got home.

And since this post is featuring Jordis, didn't she look cute on bowl day? Unfortunately Ohio State and LSU both played on the same day so we had to get creative with her clothing. She chose LSU dress with OSU socks and hair accessories. I'm thinking she would make a good Dorothy for Halloween.

Sadly, this is not the picture I intended to use. In the one I took Jordis had thrown up her hands in a big "block O" and was shouting "Go Bucks!" However, I traded in my cell phone and the picture didn't transfer during the download, so I don't have it anymore. That's okay though, Ohio State won and LSU, I think, got beat by a Big Ten team, which I've been told will never happen. Hmmmmm.....