The best gingerbread recipe ever

These make very soft cookies and the flavor is mild...not to intense (like some gingerbread I've tried).

Gingerbread Men

1/4 c. boiling water
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 c. baking molasses
3 c. flour
1/2 c. butter or margarine
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1 egg
1/2 c. brown sugar

Melt butter in boiling water. Add all the other ingredients. Then chill the dough for 2 hours. Roll out and cut into shapes. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool and decorate. Makes 24 cookies.

Holidays In Hand Days 1-3

This year I decided to to Jessica Sprague's Holidays In Hand class and document every day in December. Let's see if I can keep up!

December 1
Did: Holiday Hoopla at Bowsher. It was pretty much a bomb so we managed to salvage the evening by stopping at Speedway for some hot chocolate. Then we drove around the neighborhood looking at Christmas lights. The girls notice so much more this year. The best house was on Sherwood hear River Rd...giant pine tree decorated with LED lights. Very impressive.

December 2
Made: Ornaments at our Daisy meeting
Remembered: Making gingerbread cookies...the three of us girls. The girls want to do it again this year. Made plans to do some baking this weekend.

December 3
Made: Christmas pictures/list for Santa using my Christmas stamps. The girls are so good with the stamps this year. Gretchen made a whole list for Santa and Heidi made a picture. So cute. Gretchen asked if her list was "too greedy" and I told her it wasn't. How sweet that she was concerned about it.

Remember: a Christmas filled with joy.
I can't remember a Christmas that wasn't filled with joy, really. But I think the most joyful one would be 2001. I knew I was pregnant a few days before, but on Christmas Eve we got the official word from the doctor. We shared the news with the whole fam damily at Grandma's house. They were literally pulling out of the driveway when we yelled and told them to stop. I was so excited I couldn't keep the news inside. Grandma cried. I had never seen her cry before. That night as we sat in church at the candlelight service, I felt joy, peace, relief, excitement...and so many other things I can't even describe. It was the greatest Christmas gift I had ever received.

Of course every year since then with the girls has been wonderful, and they "get it" more and more every year.

Plans for the weekend: watch the Phineas & Ferb Christmas special on Friday night, work on Christmas cards, bake cookies, some shopping, attend event at botanical gardens.

// Right now \\

On the calendar // help with the book fair at school tomorrow, soccer game, work in the Trinity kitchen

On the needles // a second pair of hand warmers with a fabulous soft wool

On TV // Brothers and Sisters (yup it's a guilty pleasure

On the couch // Rob with his laptop and me with Pinkie

On the menu // Sweet potato soup and homemade bread, some kind of crockpot supper, frozen pizza with salad and the Kraft 1 bag 5 dinners Healthy Living menu

On the phone // No one right now...thank goodness!

First Day of...

I read a great blog post today that really summed up what I'm feeling about the first day of school tomorrow, so rather than trying to reinvent the wheel, here it is (courtesy of Elisa Blaha :: enJoy it:

Today is the first day of school for so many people. I'm a little bit envious. So much excitement. Clean notebooks. Favorite outfit. The only day of the year when you are not tired when the alarm goes off and instead jump out of bed to start making your hair look right. The day when you really only want toast for breakfast to settle your stomach. You actually enjoy packing your lunch. You walk into every class hopeful about who might be there. You listen to the teacher and decide if this is going to be a class that requires a lot of meaningful effort or if this will be one that you just get to skate by in. Your homework is to read chapter one and write an essay about who you are in less than 200 words (or maybe now its 140 characters.) You carefully add it into your planner.

Day one feels so clean and new. As if anything can and will happen.

What if today was day one? For you, not just your kids or your younger brother who is starting his senior year at USC (love you, Robbie. Hold on tight, it will fly.) How would having a clean state, fresh notebook, & high expectations change your Monday?

::::::::::::::::::

Today was spent doing a lot of things to get ready: haircut, dentist (yay no cavities for either girl), finishing hems and tucks in uniform skirts, discussing breakfast and lunch menus, and early bedtimes. The girls are excited and ready for school, but also a bit nervous (which I assured them was completely normal).

Happy first day of...

Summer in a Nutshell Part 1: Synchro

I love synchro. I loved it as a kid and I love it now that Heidi is doing it. I encouraged both of the girls to join in June but Gretchen was really hesitant. Now that she has watched Heidi do it for a summer, I think next year she'll want to participate.

Heidi went to practices twice a week for June and July, and then had a few extra ones the week of the show. The whole summer has been plagued by rain and cool weather, and the dress rehearsal was no exception. We all huddled in the club room during a pretty intense thunderstorm while the girls were getting their hair done. They weren't even able to get into the water that night! No matter though...the show was great and brought back so many memories. Heidi's group was just adorable and they swam to "Just Can't Wait to be King" from The Lion King. I think her group had the cutest costumes, but then, I'm a bit biased. LOL

I hope both girls want to do this next summer.

Summer=

Credits: SYTYCD Week 2 kit by Wild Dandelions, word art by Ali Edwards

Summer = swimming. gardening, barbecue, camping, running around barefoot, wearing skirts and dresses, flip flops, rhubarb, walking to Lickity Split, the big synchro show at Laurel Hill, library reading program, garage sales, that summer glow, catching lightening bugs, baseball.

Fairies Everywhere!

Credits: Mon Petit jardin by MaeliaDesigns, Dear Mom by Anna BV, Yin template 114, Spell It Plastic Beads by Kim Jensen, Font: Pea Bethany

Melissa told me one day about these cool things called fairy doors in downtown Ann Arbor. I showed the girls on the computer, and that was it...we HAD to go see them! Melissa had a band rehearsal in AA on a Saturday, so we all hopped in the camper for the trip. We found most of the doors downtown, and the girls were delighted. Heidi left the fairies notes and Gretchen left jelly beans. We even found one door that wasn’t on any list...it must have appeared recently! We also went to thebookstore to find the last one. My favorite was the Red Shoes, since it had its own garden. Now they are hoping the fairies will come to live with us. I hope so too!