Say What!?!

Did you (or your kids) ever have a MagnaDoodle? Inigo has one with magnets and it sits on the fridge. He frequently writes little messages on it...

We laughed when we saw this message:

This is a photo I took tonight as we were getting ready to watch American Idol. Thanks Dish Network for a roll-on-the-floor-laugh!!!

Exactly who is the star of American Idol?!?

Travellin' Through

Over the weekend we took a drive up the Interstate to a wildlife refuge. Right now the snow geese are migrating from the warmer areas in the American South and Southwest, back to the Arctic Tundra where they breed and spend their summer months. Apparently, Florin and the surrounding area is one of their flight paths and they stopped to rest from their 5000 mile journey at some wildlife refuges in the area.

It was an amazing sight! Even Buttercup, who is usually underwhelmed at things in nature (overwhelmed at things in the mall...) was sufficiently impressed with what we saw. When we got to "Big Pond" there were literally thousands of geese peacefully swimming in the chilly water (someone estimated that there were about 6,000). We aren't sure exactly what happened, but something spooked them and, as if they were one, they frantically took flight and took their cacophonous symphony to the air. (There are bald eagles nests near by and one of our fellow observers thought that maybe an immature bald eagle had flown in the middle of the flock. We think it looked like a hawk)

I am posting a video I took while we were there, and you can kind of get a hint of what it was like when they took flight, but this doesn't do it justice. Those birds just flew higher and higher and higher.... circling the pond and eventually, most of them moved off to ..... somewhere else. Whether it was another pond in the area or if they decided that they could keep moving north, we don't know.

It was interesting to watch. There was lots of panic, chaos and noise as they left the pond, but as they got higher in the sky, we could see them move into their normal "V" formations with their family groups. And even though there were thousands of birds flying above us, things seemed to be organized. There was an odd goose flying solo, trying to find their group, but for the most part, the skies were full of families, sticking together and helping each other out.

We told the kids to keep their mouths shut as they watched the bird fly and we're sure glad we did. Buttercup and I were enjoying the beautiful sights overhead when we heard a plop in the grass right in front of us.... Whewwwwww! A near miss!

This is when the geese first started flying

We think this hawk (or young bald eagle) started the melee.

The geese are starting to get organized!

Not all the geese flew away. These decided Big Pond was where they wanted to stay for a while.

We couldn't drive past this sign without stopping!

(Buttercup doesn't embrace the fact that she has red hair too, so she wouldn't get out of the car.)

Buttercup is taking a photography class in high school. She took this for one of her assignments. I think she did a good job!

I know this video is quite lengthy. I was so enthralled with the geese that I couldn't push stop when I was recording it. And I don't know how to edit. Watch as much as you like....

Addendum....

Tonight I was making (another) batch of this week's "As The Cookie Crumbles" entry.

I tell ya, when you find something good, you just have to run with it!!

I ran out of Rollo's and a quick trip to Walgreen's didn't give me any results -- not even in the Easter candy section!!! Argh!

It became apparent that I was going to have to improvise, so I grabbed my favorite chocolate candy.... Reese's Peanut Butter Mini's.

Why not?!?

I just want to let you know, that if you decide to make the Rollo's Cookies, feel free to turn them into Reese's P.B. Mini Cookies.

Mercy Agnes.

So good!!!

Eggcentric?

I have a quick question for you....

How do you take your eggs out of the carton?

Do you start on the left side and take them out in order?

Or, do you start on the right?

Could it be that you start in the middle and work to one end of the carton and then the other?

Does it bother you when someone takes an egg out of the carton and they don't take it in the proper order?

Buttercup and I laughed at each other when we realized that we take the eggs out of the carton in the same way.

Symmetrically.

We can't take one egg from one side without taking one from the other.

There has to be a pattern.

There has to be a design.

If someone (a.k.a. Max) takes one out of order, we start to sweat and have to rearrange the carton.

This is what my carton of eggs looked like when I pulled it out of the fridge.

Perfect.

Your Taste-Buds Will Rollo Over In Ecstasy

Ecstasy.....


The only word that can be used to describe this new cookie recipe. You can add to it words like Pure; Total; Complete; Utter; Divine; etc. etc.


I first tasted this cookie at a ward book group meeting. One bite and I was hooked. I was instantly taken away to that earthly part of heaven where there are no cares or concerns, where only happiness exists. That comfortable place where you want to snuggle down and savor each and every bite....



I was brought back to harsh reality after I had finished that one cookie.... I looked around me in alarm.... I wasn't in heaven, I was in my friend's living room and that plate of cookies was on the other side of the room. I wanted just one more taste of ecstasy, but the rules of decorum dictated that all I could do was stare longingly at them while discreetly wiping the drool off my chin.


I left that night vowing to acquire that recipe. I planned on printing it on gold leafed paper and putting it in a gilded frame. But life got in the way.... time passed and still, I didn't get the recipe.


Finally, FINALLY, last week I was got the recipe (THANKS MEL!!!) And I have made this my newest entry in "As The Cookie Crumbles."


Rollo Cookies (yields about 30 cookies)
1 Devil's Food cake mix
1 pkg. Rollos candy
1/3 cup oil
2 eggs
Powdered Sugar

(I didn't have a Devil's Food cake mix, so I just used Milk Chocolate.... which was FINE!!)

Mix cake mix, oil and eggs together.




Roll a Rollo in the middle of a ball of the mixture.



Drop onto an ungreased cookie sheet

Bake for 9-10 minutes at 350*.

(Baker's Hint: DO NOT OVERCOOK!! I baked mine for 8 1/2 minutes and they came out PERFECT!!)

Sprinkle with powdered sugar as soon as you take them out of the oven.

Find a comfortable place to sit down and enjoy this cookie!! Feel free to disappear into your own earthly heaven. And bring others along with you on your celestial journey. These cookies are so fast and easy to make that you can bring your best friends with you!

Brain Dump

It's been a while since I've dumped the random thoughts coursing through my brain. Please bear with me while I clear some space on my cranial hard drive:

Water. I'm drinking it. I used to have one... maybe 1.5 glasses of water a day. I knew it wasn't enough, but it worked for me. I am trying harder to be healthier. While that hasn't translated into the whole 'early to bed, early to rise' way of life (yet...) but I'm trying harder to: a) watch what I eat (more fiber, less sugar, less carbs, more protein) b) exercise more (getting to the gym 3 times a week NO MATTER WHAT and take a walk outside five times a week), c) pay more attention to what time I eat (no more snacks as I go to bed at 11:30 pm) and d) DRINK MORE WATER!!! Now I drink a minimum of 6 glasses a day and some days as many as 10.
Here's what I learned: If you drink more water you have to go to the bathroom more frequently. Holy cow. I used to make fun of people that couldn't go more than a couple of hours between bathroom breaks. NO LONGER!!! 'Nuff said.

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Does anyone else have "underwear dreams?" You know, the dreams where you are in public wearing underwear and ONLY your underwear? Usually there is someone you know -- non family (or a football team) -- close by and you hope and pray that by some miracle that person thinks you've got slightly see-through swim suit or shorts on? Because, apparently, these non-family members aren't smart enough to recognize underwear when they see it... Well, last night, I ice skated all the way through Florin streets in my underwear. It was horrific because my subconscious dreamer is finally realizing that my neighbors/friends are actually pretty smart after all, and I knew that they knew the embarrassing truth. Thankfully, no one laughed at me. But, even in my sleep, I was certain I was blushing.

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Today we went to the storage unit to get my scooter out. Our temps have warmed up and the snow is melting and, frankly, its going to be scooter driving weather before much longer. YIPPEE!! Sadly, we are having some problems with it. We didn't realize that we needed to weatherize it before we parked it for the winter, so when we got it started, it started leaking great gobs of gasoline. Enough that we felt it wasn't safe to keep it running.... (we also had to jump start the battery and we were concerned that there would a spark from the jumper cables). We decided to keep it parked in storage and find a place to service it. (insert sad face here) We'll have to wait a few more weeks to start driving "The Piglet."

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Here is Inigo's latest creative writing assignment. I think he's got the dramatic finish down pat...

"Once upon a time I made a ninja. He got away and he said (say fast) kill me, kill me. And I chased him but he was fast. Then he ran along. Then he met a leprechaun. The leprechaun chased him. Kill me, kill me. Then he came to a army man. Then he got shot. The end."

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Even though it's still pretty cold at night -- temps are lingering in the teens to low 20's -- I have been sleeping with my bedroom window cracked open -- about 2". I have been anxiously waiting to hear if the neighborhood owls have come back. Every time I drive past the tree where the babies were living last summer I look and see if I can see the gray feathers camouflaged against the green pine needles. There have been no signs... until last night -- or if you want to be technical -- this morning. At precisely 1:11 a.m. I was woken up by the gentle "Hoooooo HooHoo" of my owl! Yay! They're back!!!

The only sad thing about having them back is that I have fallen in love with the squirrel love that has been exhibited in my backyard this spring. I have a pair of squirrels that are giddy with each other... playing chasing games up and down the trees and across my yard... and I'd like to see them survive the feeding frenzy that will inevitably come as the baby owls start growing. Sadly, they probably won't. Last summer our squirrel population was DECIMATED... but I still hope they will live long enough to raise their babies!

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This is all the ramblings I have for now. Stay tuned for my next cookie post. It's another winner!

Songs of Angels

This is Buttercup's choir at their spring concert. They did such a great job!

**sniff**.... only one more concert before graduation!

Earlier this year, the director sent in an audition tape for the State Music Educator's Conference in the State Capital and only 10 choirs out of the state were picked to perform there. Two of those choirs are from our school!! They will perform this song while they are there this weekend.

We have such a great music program in our school!

(Wees, you will recognize the director. His wife is the pianist and his 3rd daughter is standing next to Buttercup -- on our left.)