Some shut eye for now...

Hopefully more tomorrow... One day I'll get all caught up.

When you organize your kitchen...

Your counters look like this:





And your pantry looks like this:




I'm very thankful for my helpers :)

The Great Outdoors...

The end of the year is approaching fast so we had to sneak in a camping trip before it gets too cold. This past weekend we headed over to Anastasia State Park. Again, forgot my camera, but the Porters brought theirs.

Rewind: Late Night Visitor...

After I'd finished baking cookies the other night, I went to the bedroom to hit the hay. Thank goodness I thought it was a bit warm that night. Normally I'd jump straight into bed, but I needed to flip on the light to find the remote for our fan. That's when I met my late night visitor... sitting on my bed. I don't know how he snuck in and found his way to my room, but there he was. I can only assume he was Roger's cousin. This LIZARD was sitting pretty on MY bed. Darren was too slow arriving to my rescue and Roger's cousin had decided to play hide and seek. I left Darren and Caleb to take care of things. It wasn't long before Caleb won the game. I have no idea how he spotted him.


The flash from the camera makes him stand out in this picture, but in the light of my bedroom he completely blends in. It's kind of funny though... out of all the places he choose to hide he choose a plant, a fake plant, but it's the closest thing to what he's used to.

Thank goodness for little observant eyes. I don't know if I could have gone to sleep if we hadn't have found him. It's one thing to have a lizard in the house, but finding him in my bed leaves me a little uneasy.


...guess I've been away from Hawaii for too long. Lizards in the house creep me out.

Rewind: Yeay for the Holidays!

(Nov 11)

The holidays are approaching and I LOVE it! I got my first taste of holiday goodness during my day at Julie's... good food, good treats, great company! Just Fabulous! I of course forgot my camera :( But you can check out the happenings here.

Rewind: Cookie Craze...

(Nov 10th)

I'm going to my friend Julie's house tomorrow and I asked if I could bring anything. She requested some cookies. Little did she know that I had cookies on the brain. I had a few cookie recipes I'd been wanting to make, so I made them, all of them. Well, there were 3 different kinds of cookies I made: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip, White Chocolate Chip and Cranberry, and Chocolate Chip and Macadamia Nut.

My new favorite cookie recipe is the White Chocolate Chip and Cranberry. These cookies are AMAZING!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon [vanilla]
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 cup dried cranberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and [vanilla]. Combine the flour and baking soda; stir into the sugar mixture. Mix in the white chocolate chips and cranberries. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. For best results, take them out while they are still doughy. Allow cookies to cool for 1 minute on the cookie sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

( http://allrecipes.com/recipe/white-chocolate-and-cranberry-cookies/detail.aspx)


I used the same dough recipe for the Chocolate Chip and Macadamia Nut cookies, and just switched out the white chocolate and cranberries. But I have to say, these just do not measure up. They're still delicious, but they don't even compare to the White Chocolate Chip and Cranberry.


I also made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies because they are so easy I just couldn't resist.


This whole process was torture for poor Caleb. Too bad he didn't finish his dinner. If we don't finish our dinner we don't get dessert. Caleb sat there starring at all my cookies as they cooled. This is the face I had to look at the whole time I was baking:


"Pleeeease.... Pleeeeeeeease, Mom"


If I had only been making one batch I think I could have held my ground, but batch after batch the pleading persisted. I finally gave in and said he could have one cookie.


"Really, Mom!?"


...I like this face much better anyway.

Blogging Binge...

One month! ...ONE MONTH!!! It has almost been one whole month since I last posted anything on here. Well, that is way too long and I have way too much to catch up on, so get ready for my blogging binge. Hope you can keep up...