cleaning house (blog actually)

I cleaned up my blog a bit. I had way too many buttons on the sidebar so I took a lot off. I still may take a few more off. It just depends.

I also stopped following so many blogs. A lot of the blogs I only followed for their giveaways. I figured that wasn't quite the right reason to follow a blog, so I stopped. Some I started following, then didn't read them. Instead of having to sort through the ones I don't read to get to the ones I do read, I just stopped following.

If anyone was following me just because I was following them, feel free to stop following me.

Whew!

Ok, just wanted to share. :)


Until next time...

Chocolate Friday - birthday goodies

Well, I had a good birthday yesterday. I pretty much did nothing all day.

I got biscuits and gravy for breakfast. My favorite breakfast that I never get to eat because for some reason the southern gal cannot cook gravy! I kid you not. Somehow I missed that gene. It must be a gene because although I've watched my mom and grandma cook it many times, even with them telling me how, I've never been able to do it. I can cook other things, but gravy escapes me. Oh well. Sam's Club makes a good packaged gravy. :) So my husband and my two oldest girls cooked gravy and biscuits for me. They make good homemade biscuits. (Better than mine, even. Sad, I know).

The girls also fixed lunch.

We took the day off of school since it was the teacher's birthday. :)

Last night a young couple that we know came over and babysat for us while we went out for my birthday dinner. Texas Roadhouse is my favorite place to eat. (Plus I had a birthday coupon for a free appetizer - yum - Rattlesnake Bites!).

After that we went over to Dairy Queen and I used my other birthday coupon for a buy 1 get 1 free Blizzard. To get those you just scroll to the bottom of the main page and there is a place to join the Blizzard fan club. I've gotten a coupon every month this year for a free Blizzard of the Month with the purchase of one. It's a nice treat (and a cheap date :) ). I got the Turtle Pecan Cluster Blizzard, my husband got one with chocolate chip cookie dough or something like that. Anyway, it was really good. It had chocolate, caramel, and pecans in it.

Then when I got home I got presents. The fun part! I got two Yankee Candles; Harvest and Autumn Wreath. The both smell so good. Too bad there's no scratch and sniff on here. :)

Then I got some special chocolate hand-dipped cookies and treats and some fudge. Yummy-yum!

So that's my chocolate for this week. No recipe, but if you go to the Dairy Queen site and sign up, you can get coupons in your email inbox at least once a month and get a treat. It says 6 free blizzards a year, but I'm not sure if that correct or not. But hey, 6 is good too, right?

Now for more chocolate madness, go see Lisa over at Stop and Smell the Chocolates. She has a really great post today. Very helpful. :)



Until next time...

46 of 52 photos of me

So today is my birthday. :)

This morning I got a couple of shots with two of my children.




I'll probably have some more later.

For more pictures of the moms who are usually behind the camera go to Carin's.


Until next time...

birthday giveaway winner announced!

If you are up past midnight and read this - you're crazy. But then, I guess I'm crazy for being up this late writing it. :)

So I guess you're all suspenseful, huh? Well, here goes...

...after lots of comments (I loved them all by the way!)...

...the winner is...

...comment number 37!

And that is...

ARLENE!

Yay!

I don't know if you get the email first or see this. But in either case...congratulations!

Oh, do you want to know what it is?

Books. (But then, you already knew that, didn't you?)

I'll let Arlene tell you when she gets them. Keep her in suspense a few more days. :)

I think I might do this again. I had fun, didn't you?

What's the next holiday? Easter? Mother's Day?

Hmmm...stay tuned. :)



Until next time...

giveaway reminder

Wow. I don't remember the last time I had so many comments on a post.

If you missed it...I'm having a giveaway for my birthday (which is tomorrow).

You only have the rest of today and tomorrow to enter the giveaway.

So go here and comment til your little heart's content. :)


Until next time...

my birthday is this week

My birthday is this week. And you know what?

One of YOU is going to get a gift! That's right. For my birthday, I'm going to have a giveaway!

What is it? Well, that's part of the fun, you see. A person usually doesn't know what they are getting for their birthday. And that's going to be the case here. I'll give you a hint...you read it.

I know, I know, I practically gave the whole thing away. But trust me, you'll like it. Especially if you entered any of my other giveaways recently. (hint, hint)

So go ahead and enter. Comment as many times as you'd like. The more, the better, because each comment is an entry!

Have fun!

Oh and the drawing will end Thursday (my birthday) midnight and the winner announced Friday.

Comment away!!


Until next time...

Chocolate Friday - healthy chocolate cake?

Oh my. You HAVE to go to Lisa's and check out her post today. She's having a giveaway...chocolate of course. You'll drool. Seriously.

Now to share my chocolate with you today. Here's a recipe I found this morning and I just had to post it. I haven't tried it yet, but I will. I just need to go buy some eggs. You can see my priorities...I have all the chocolate I need to make this...I just need the eggs. :)

Whole Wheat Blueberry-Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 6 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 egg
• 1 cup frozen light whipped dessert topping, thawed
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
• Fresh blueberries and/or Blueberry Sauce (see recipe below)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In medium bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In blender combine water, blueberries, and the egg. Cover and blend until smooth. Add to flour mixture. Whisk until well combined. Pour into greased 8x8x2-inch baking pan.

2. Bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack. Invert onto serving platter.

3. In small microwave-safe bowl combine dessert topping and chocolate pieces. Micro-cook, covered, on 50 percent power (medium) 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Let stand 5 minutes. Pour onto cooled cake, spreading evenly.

4. Cut cake into squares to serve. Top with fresh blueberries. Serve with Blueberry Sauce. Makes 9 servings.

Blueberry Sauce: In blender combine 1/2 cup frozen light whipped dessert topping, thawed, and 1/2 cup fresh blueberries. Cover and blend until smooth.

Can you believe chocolate and healthy are in the same recipe?! Yum!

Don't forget to check out Lisa's site if you haven't already.

Until next time...

45 of 52 photos of me

You thought I was finished, didn't you? Well, I'm not. I'm just a few weeks behind. Forgive me. I'm really not all that into posting lately. School, tiredness, toddlers...they kind of make a person put some things on the back burner.

However, I had some family visit over the weekend and the beginning of this week and thought I'd share a few pics that someone snapped of me. So here goes...

me with my grandparents

me and one of my aunts

So that's it for this week.

Other moms have gotten in on the challenge from Carin. Some have finished already, but some are still working on it. Go see at her site.


Until next time...

so tired

Some ladies get morning sickness.

Some ladies get other kinds of sickness.

Some ladies get weird cravings.

Some ladies get bursts of energy.

Some ladies get heartburn.

Some ladies get tired.

I am of the last group. Most of the day I'm good. But around 4:30? 5:00? See-ya! I'm ready to crash! Of course I can't until my dear hubby comes home, but I'm pretty much gone for the rest of the day. The kids run the house.

Hence, not a lot of posting going on.

Along with the tired, fuzzy-brain I seem to lose my appetite in the evening. At least it's not the other way around.


Until next time...

a solution I think

Ok, I think the embedded window for comments doesn't like me. :) I changed mine to a pop-up window (my own blog wouldn't accept my comments!) and my comment went through.

So if anyone is interested in getting my comments just change your "comment form placement" to a "pop-up window" instead of the "embedded below post". To find it, go to your settings and then comments. It's only the third one down.


Until next time...

my comments to other blogs

Edited to add that I think I found the problem. See this post.

Ok, some of you bloggers out there are not getting my comments. So if you happen to read this please tell me how to fix it.

It's the ones that beneath the comment box it says "Comment as" and a drop down menu. No matter what I comment as, the comment is not going through. Even when I'm signed in to google.

So does anyone know what's going on?

Until next time...

joining the ranks

As I read different blogs over the past few months I noticed a growing number of bloggers had exciting news to share. Of the family variety. Adding to their family to be exact.

Ever Joyful, Life in a Shoe, My Charming Kids, Raising Arrows, Raising Olives, Sacred and Profane. I think that's all. That I know of anyway.

I wanted to be numbered among them. Not to be "part of the group" just so I could say I was, but the reason behind the group. Not that they are an official group per se. Just in my mind there was a group of women among the blogs I follow that were expecting a baby. I would read each post to soak up anything relating to babies.

You'd think I was weird. I have 9 already. But there is just something so special about having a baby. To think that you are being entrusted to carry a life. To raise that eternal soul for God. To shape and mold a precious life to the glory of God.

And now...

...I have joined that group.

Another baby is being formed as I type.

Baby #10 (hopefully, prayerfully) Although if you count the 2 that are with Jesus it is actually baby #12.

So, please, rejoice with me and pray for me and baby.

For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:
1Sa 1:27

Until next time...

another day, another birthday

Two birthdays in our family are pretty close together. Within 10 days of each other actually. :)

The birthday girl.

The cake.

The ice cream.

The gifts.

A special treat.

What is she hiding?

What I consider the best gift. :) Peanut butter pie fudge. Yum! (She shared a bite with me). They make this where my husband works and he brought home a sizeable chunk.

More gifts.

I think she had a good birthday. She got to invite a family over and they came. We usually tell people to not bring gifts, but somehow we forgot and they did bring some things. It was really nice and she loved them all.

Time flies.

She's 5 now. It seems like yesterday she was just a baby.

Now she's a princess.


Until next time...