Sunday, March 30, 2008

Pink Layer


Well, the pink layer didn't work out as well as I would like. The chocolate kept melting and messing up the pretty pink. So I put the whole box of cookies in the freezer. I'm hoping that they will get so cold that it won't have a chance to melt during a quick dip in the warm coating. We shall see!! I decided if it doesn't work then I will just make some Rice Krispie treats and coat them in pink so they will be all festive (and extra fattening!!) for the party. So here is the recipe:
GIRL SCOUT COOKIES THIN MINTS
Chocolate Cookie Wafers:
1 18.25 oz package Betty Crocker chocolate fudge cake mix
3 Tbs shortening, melted
1 egg
3 Tbs water
Non-stick cooking spray
Coating:
3 12 -ounce bags semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 tsp peppermint extract
6 Tbs shortening
1. Combine the cookie ingredients in a large bowl, adding the water a little bit at a time until the dough forms. Cover and chill for 2 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out a portion of the dough to just under 1/16 of an inch thick. To cut, use a lid from a spice container with a 1 1/2-inch diameter. Arrange the cut dough rounds on a cookie sheet that is sprayed with a light coating of non-stick spray. Bake for 10 minutes (cookies need to be crunchy so no doughiness here). Remove the wafers from the oven and cool completely.
4. Combine chocolate chips with peppermint extract and shortening in a large microwave-safe glass or ceramic bowl. Heat on 50 percent power for 2 minutes, stir gently, then heat for an additional minute. Stir once again, and if chocolate is not a smooth consistency, continue to zap in microwave in 30-second intervals until smooth. Or use a double boiler!!
5. Use a fork to dip each wafer in the chocolate, tap the fork on the edge of the bowl so that the excess chocolate runs off, and then place the cookies side-by-side on a wax-paper lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm. After they are firm and are not melting in your hands, you can even pack them in a freezer safe bag and freeze them. We just pull some out individually and eat them straight from the freezer (very yummy).
Makes 108 cookies
I doubled the recipe for the cookie part but you really only need one extra 12 oz bag of chocolate chips to cover them. I melted two more 12 oz bags and ended up with a lot left over. (And for the Non-math people: One bag of chocolate chips only needs 2 Tbs shortening and 1/4 tsp peppermint ext.)

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Girl's Night: Baking

Well, first of all I need to say THANK YOU to Jackie for posting the Girl Scout Thin Mint cookie recipe. I knew I wanted to make them, eventually. But then I started thinking I could make them for Annagrace's birthday party ... being circle cookies at a polka dot themed party ... perfect ... well almost- if only they were pink! But wait, they make pink candy coating (vanilla flavored) So ... Angie came over for a girls night (both husbands are working tonight) of baking cookies. We doubled the recipe so we had over 200 little chocolate discs that we then had to cover in chocolate.

And we planned on covering them again in the pretty pink candy coating, but the chocolate is taking too long to dry so I decided to wait until tomorrow to finish them up. So, you will have to wait until then to see the finished product. Actually, I should make you wait until her birthday, but I probably won't be able to wait that long.

And this isn't all of them, there are two more pans on the other counter too.

THANK YOU ANGIE for all of your help and a fun girl's night!! You're more than welcome to come back and help with the pink layer - LOL!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Easter Egg Hunt

We went to Cooper Creek for a pot luck and Easter Egg hunt with the fam. Erin, Heather, and their kids (of course) came along as well. We took advantage of the beautiful day, cute outfits, and nice park to take pictures. Since there are so many pictures I am dividing them up into a couple of slide shows. (Girls just click on the slide show to see each picture in Picasa).
Egg Hunt
Bigler Family

Heather and Rowin
Our little Easter Princess

Cute Easter Dress



Grandmother smocked this dress for Annagrace. About this time last year Barbara Meadows, at a baby shower, gave my Mom this dress and said it was her job to learn how to smock and have this dress ready for Annagrace's first Easter. And Mom did it!

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The Easter Bunny Stopped By


He left Annagrace a fluffy flower, three books, new shoes, bunny ears, bath fizzies, and a pack of her favorite crakers!

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Saturday, March 22, 2008

Easter Egg Dying

Erin, Heather, and I decided to take on the task of dying Easter Eggs with two 1 year olds, a 2 year old, and a 5 year old. It was a lot of fun but made me realize what an uptight, neat freak of a Mom that I am. I will have to tell myself "EVERYTHING IS WASHABLE" over and over and over. (But I don't know how much that will actually help.) We also made sugar cookies and iced them - YUMMY! After finishing my butterfly, Erin pointed out that I am going to be THAT Mom that freaks out when my kids mix the colors of playdough together. Sadly . . . I had to agree with her. But, in my defense I have ALWAYS been like this. Even when I was a kid, I never mixed the playdough colors - it "makes them DIRTY!"

Friday, March 21, 2008

Yummy Soup

Annagrace and I woke up sick again today and ended up staying home all day! But, this afternoon Erin surprised us with homemade soup. It was so sweet of her and the soup is delicious. This is the FIRST time anyone has EVER brought me food when I was sick.
It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

FIRST STEPS!!

I can't believe my little girl is starting to walk. I am so excited and so is she, with every step she takes her smile gets bigger and bigger. Tyler was also able to see these first steps thanks to his wonderful job. I am so thankful that he works from home and is able to be there for these little moments. He also had fun editing this video!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Bad Hair Afternoon

Annagrace took a nice long nap today but this is how I found her when she woke up. I keep debating if I should cut her hair on her birthday or not. Should I let it grow and see how long and curly it can get or trim it up so that it's not crazy and everywhere?

Thursday, March 13, 2008

A day in the park

Toughman Max

Max came over for another visit but when he arrived he was asleep so Heather put him in Annagrace's bed. He just looked so funny ...such a big boy in a tiny pink bed.

Almost Walking

Annagrace finally discovered the full potential of this toy that has been sitting in the corner since Christmas. She kept doing the crab walk tonight so we grabbed this little walker and she went to town!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

VOTE FOR ANNAGRACE

Alright, I entered her into another photo contest. PLEASE. PLEASE, PLEASE go vote for her!

Monday, March 10, 2008

Home Again, Home Again, Jigity Jig

This past week I was busy babysitting the McGrory crew. Their parents went to San Francisco for the week so Annagrace and I moved in. We had a lot of fun with the kids and I had fun playing a Mom of four, BUT . . . it is so nice to be home again. I will miss the nice Toyota Sequoia that came with the job :), but not the 6:15 alarm time!
But, here are a few pictures of what happened this past week.

On Friday, we went to a local bakery and ordered the cake for Annagrace's first birthday. It is going to be SOOO cute, I can't wait. And of course, we couldn't leave the bakery without buying treats! Mom got a cream horn, I got a creme puff, and Annagrace got a gingerbread man. She loved it and even tried to be nice and neat and wiped her mouth.

We were very happy to wake up to snow on Saturday. After running out in their shorts, the boys came in and got dressed in all of their ski clothes for a snowball fight.

Candi means:




What Candi Means



You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily.

You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind.

A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable.



You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection.

You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive.

You have the classic "Type A" personality.



You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people.

You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts.

You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.



You are balanced, orderly, and organized. You like your ducks in a row.

You are powerful and competent, especially in the workplace.

People can see you as stubborn and headstrong. You definitely have a dominant personality.



You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.

You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.

You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

Monday, March 3, 2008

Happy Birthday Daddy

He may be retired but, my Daddy is a fireman through and through - he is caring, devoted, strong, and always to the rescue.
His birthday was on Saturday, but he ended up with a Birth-weekend, we celebrated with TWO parties. We love you and hope that you had a great time!

Here are pictures from the celebrations:
Carol and Ken came down from Atlanta to celebrate. Annagrace thought she was hilarious and tried to copy Carol's laugh - and was very close!
This is the only picture I have of the second celbration - waiting for a table.

Story Time


We went to story time at the Library on Thursday. I think she had just as much fun looking in on the previous class as she did in our own.