Around Here

This week the girls and I have been getting excited about Valentines day. We made cards yesterday and today we made decorations to hang on our walls. Derek has the camera today or I would have put pictures on here. We are also making cookies.
The girls love doing crafts and to help me cook so that makes all of this very fun for them.
The picture above is from a day that we decided was "We love Papa" day. The kids made cards for him and I made Pad Thai soup which he had been wanting. than we had a candle light dinner. followed be the chocolate lava cupcake recipe I had posted earlier.
The other evening the neighbor boy, Samuel, brought over a really big activity coloring book over for the girls. The girls have really enjoyed that.

Thoughts in response to Friend's posts awhile back

Here is a recipe for a very good vegetarian soup;

Pad Thai Soup
Saute: 4 Tbsp. sesame oil 1 bulb minced garlic
2 bunches chopped green onions
1 block cubed tofu
Add: 6 Tbsp. chunky peanut butter
When peanut butter is melted add: 1 1/2 cups soy sauce
3/4 cup maple syrup 1/3 cup cider vinegar
2 tsp. cayenne pepper 2 Tbsp. lime juice
4 stalks celery finely chopped Water(enough to make a somewhat thin broth)
Shortly before serving (so as to be just tender) add:
8 oz. rice threads 1 lb. bean sprouts
10 oz Spanish peanuts
Serve.

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Some of our favorite snacks;
yogurt, nuts and fresh fruit
we also enjoy things that are not so healthy from time to time like;
cookies, cheesy crackers, and cake or ice cream
Popcorn is my all time favorite though. we sometime try different things on it other than butter and salt. Like; powdered cheese (from a mac and cheese box), brewers yeast, kettle corn (white sugar), and once ranch mix. all were good. I always pop it on the stove with just a little oil.

Limericks

There was a young fellow of Perth,
Who was born on the day of his birth;
He was married, they say,
On his wife's wedding day,
And he died when he quitted the earth.

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I really like limericks, I think they are very fun. Do you know any limericks? Or maybe you could write one for me!

Dark chocolate yummyness!

Here is a recipe for a very good dessert I made awhile back.
Ghirardelli Individual Chocolate Lava Cakes
Center: 1/2 bar (2oz) 60% Cacao bittersweet chocolate baking bar
1/4 cup heavy cream
Cake: 1 bar (4 oz) Cacao bittersweet chocolate baking bar
8 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 whole eggs 2 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup flour
To make centers, melt chocolate and cream. whisk gently to blend. refrigerate about 2 hours or until firm. form into 6 balls; refrigerate until needed.
To make cake, heat oven to 400. grease 6 4 oz. ramekins or custard cups. melt chocolate and butter, whisk gently to blend. with a mixer beat eggs, yolks,sugar and vanilla on high speed about 5 min. or until thick and light. Fold melted chocolate mixture and flour into egg mixture just until combined. Spoon cake batter into ramekins. place a chocolate ball in the center of each. Bake about 15 min or until cake is firm to the touch. let sit out of the oven about 5 min. Run a small knife around each and invert on to a plate.
serve with raspberries and whipped cream or do like I did and top with 7 min frosting.
for people who do not like dark chocolate, You will not like this! (Abbi, if you want to try this you should make it with milk chocolate;D)

I'm in the Lords army!

My son created a hat and then started marching around singing; I'm in the Lords army, Yes sir!
I'm not sure why that combination was his army hat but it is very sweet anyway. :)

trying it on

last month Derek got a bunch of new stuff for Deployment. all kinds of jackets and hats and well we had to try some of them on. Lars was sure these hats went together. :) There is a back pack that I wish he didn't need because I want it.

he also got new sleeping bag and stuff that he tried out last week. they were on a army style camping trip. the first night was really cold but the next night it was warmer so Derek slept out under the stars, or rather the rain cloud. But he stayed dry in all his wet weather stuff. After that they let him sleep in a tent.

the flu

This past week we have had the flu. it was awful. we are starting to feel better today finally. We all still have coughs though.
maybe I will have time to do this once and awhile again now.