~before they danced~

 i remember being in middle school and we would find any reason to go to our girlfriends house to hang out and do our hair and make-up....listen to music. loud music.

and so it starts with my daughter. before they danced the other night at half time, they all met up

at one of their friends house to get ready.

to get dressed,  do hair,  put on make-up

or to just get all fired up and just be together

maybe a little talk of boys, who knows?

its neat though seeing brooke do what i use to do so many years ago as a middle schooler.

hopefully some things she won't attempt to repeat though. like my mistakes.

mistakes we all wish we could take back or do over, because if given a "do-over" we would

have done it so much different now. now that we know....what our parents knew all along.

~dancing with the big girls~ (a.k.a high schoolers)

 brooke and the rest the middle school girls(who signed up) had the chance to perform at the varsity boys basketball game last weekend during half time.

the high school girls took back stage for once so they could get the spot light.

the girls were all dolled up and did a great job given they only practice the dance twice.

all of the girls wishing i'm sure how they'd like to be one of the dancers on the dance team

when they grow up.

 be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.

~nice way of displaying quotes that matter to you....~

for Christmas i rec'd a gift i love (well lots of gifts i loved, but one i'm sharing now)

 here is what it looks like in the day time. when not lit up.

and if you get tired of the same old quote you can change them out.

of course you have to buy more as it only came with the one.

but how fun is this.

they have some that say happy anniversary for those nights or

even holiday ones.

“A good deed is like peeing in your pants. Everyone knows you did it, but only you can feel it's warmth.”

i've been sick for the past 3 days with 100.6 temp and am finally get back to feeling ok.

not sure what was going on with my body but it hurt. so sorry for the lack of posting.

it was my first day back to work the other day after using two sick days, and it snowed again most the day.

so arriving home i see my children playing video games

i come in and point out that our driveway still has snow on it that they could have been shoveling instead of playing around. (mean mom, i know)

i tell them to shut off the game and get there winter gear on so they can go shovel their

great-grandmothers walks.

brady says" are we getting paid"

i say "no you doing a "good deed" for someone who is in need. without payment. without trying to be noticed. i'm trying to teach my kids. i really am. but some days they're just not working with ya

 (if you know what  i mean)

but they did it and IT DIDN'T EVEN KILL THEM!

i told them they'd be fine.

p.s. when i took this picture. when they got back from great-grandmas, brady stated to me that this was his "signature pose" so you may be seeing more of it.

~tongues??~

ever wonder why most teens stick their tongues out in almost every picture??

me, too.

so I asked my daughter...

"brooke, why do you guys always still out your tongues??"

the answer i know will shock you....

"i don't know" (she says as she shrugs her shoulder)



i guess it could be worse..

~garlic~

i've been eating alot of these lately. so as you can guess my breath probably smells fantastic....at times.

anyway i've always wanted a easier way of getting garlic in your system because it's suppose to be good for you, but it's too hard to get it down on it's own.

 they say (who's they anyway) it's good for:

1. lowering the risk of heart disease
2. helps manage high cholesterol
3. acts as a natural mosquito repellent (for obvious reasons)

i'm sure it's good in other ways i can't think of right now.

these are pretty tasty, if you are a olive kind of person

i get them at our local grocery store
but can be ordered here

our you could eat them roasted. like shown here by pioneer woman i've made them using her
recipe and they are so good alone or for use with other dishes.

please people, please~

just when i'm trying to cut back on the amount of chocolate i eat, someone leaves a mayonnaise chocolate cake recipe on my desk...come on people.quit being sooo good to me..which reminds me of a saying from one of my favorite movies "Just when I thought you couldn't possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this and totally redeem yourself!"


Let me share

• 2 cups flour
• 1 heaping cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons cocoa
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup mayonnaise(the real stuff)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  mix on low speed until all ingredients are combined, then medium speed until smooth and creamy.

Pour into a greased 9"x13" pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until done. let cool.

Top with your favorite vanilla or chocolate frosting or sprinkle with powdered sugar.