Re: Hey friend How are you...

Make mega profits online using an incredibly simple system http://bhavani.info/effortcast/carlclark46/

time flies....

I hadn't realized how long it's been since I've posted.  School is officially out for summer!  I've got pictures from the girls award ceremonies and last day.  I'll try to work on those during this long weekend coming up. 

video #1

Check out a short video from our day at Universal here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSd97-TIw7M&feature=plcp&context=C406063eVDvjVQa1PpcFMLPkFOAgb17eH14NENVflNEe2x10PiykY=

Universal/Disney Spring Break 2012

What an AWESOME time!!!!











The "Lost" foot!!  haha



Butterbeer



Yay!  The teacups!

Walking through the Cinderella castle.  The details are amazing!

Flowers at Epcot....WOW!!

Morocco

Talking to Tinkerbell in the UK.









LOVE this picture!  <3



watch out Florida!!

We are leaving Saturday morning for Orlando.  Disney and Harry Potter World here we come!!!!  We are sooo excited!  I've got several things planned for along the way also.  We are going to make the most of our week of travel.  :)  I'm sure I'll have tons of pictures to share when we get back.

My little drama queen

About a week ago Taryn started complaining of blurry eyesight.  The strange thing was that she just all of the sudden started walking around holding onto the walls because "everything was so blurry that she couldn't see where she was going".  She has been asking me daily to please get her eyes checked because she HAD TO HAVE some glasses!! 

Last night she spent the night with a friend.  When I picked up my phone around lunchtime today to call and see if she was ready to come home, I had 2 voicemails from her.  In the first one she was asking if I was taking her to get her eyes checked today and if I would also take Chloe.  The second message was a desperate plea for glasses....again...because she said "she couldn't even walk around because she had hurt her foot on a rock because she couldn't see what it was on the ground". 

This child has been acting like a blind person for several days.  So off we go to the eye doctor.  When she told the doctor that she could barely read the largest letter on the chart, I caught myself from laughing out loud because she had just been playing hopscotch on the tiles in the waiting room...which I don't think she would've been able to see if she couldn't see an E about a foot tall.  After some checking, getting funny looks from the eye doctor, and dilating her eyes to get a more accurate reading, we determined that, in fact, her eyesight is 100% perfect.  That's always a great thing to hear but Taryn was not pleased!  I'm quite sure that good news totally ruined her day.  

She got plenty of drama from having her eyes dilated though so no worries.

A girl at school got new glasses and apparently Taryn and Chloe really love them.  So, the scheme began.  I guess it's good to know that whatever Taryn is doing she pours her whole heart into it.  There is no 1/2 way with her. 

  There is never a shortage of drama in this house.  :)  I wouldn't want it any other way!

Whole Foods

Just looking at my fruit basket makes me feel healthier!  We had to try these little red bananas and baby bananas.  I hope they are yummy because they sure are cute!  :)

cherry blossoms

Can't get much better than friends, drinks and paint!  What a great night! 

My finished product:  Cherry Blossoms

Calzones

I decided to try something a little different from our regular pizza.  We made Calzones.  They were really good! 

Make your favorite pizza dough recipe.  Roll out two 8 - 10 inch circles.  Spread 1/2 of the filling on one side.



Filling:



2 cups ricotta cheese (let liquid drain for about 15 minutes)

1 cup mozzarella

1/2 - 1 cup parmesan ( I only had about 1/2 cup so that's what I used)

1 cup cooked, chopped spinach (be sure to get the liquid out)

Brush a little water around the edges, fold over and press together.



Cook for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

We had pizza sauce for dipping.  This made about 6 servings.


ENJOY!!!  :)



dog treat recipe

I found this old recipe that I printed years ago and discovered that I had all of the ingredients in my pantry.  Taryn and I decided to give it a try.  It seems like a lot of work but it really isn't and it makes a ton.  I made about 40 treats and still have 1/2 of the dough in the freezer.  The dogs recommend it!  :)

Pooch Peanut Butter Swirls

Dough #1

4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 cup water
1/3 cup peanut butter (I used chunky because that's all I had)
1 egg

Combine all #1 ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Knead on a lightly floured surface.  Set aside.

Dough #2

4 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup mashed banana (this was about 1 1/2 small bananas mashed up)
1 egg
1 1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp cinnamon

Combine all #2 ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Knead on a lightly floured surface.

Roll each dough separately to a 1/8 inch thickness, into rectangles.  Lightly brush a little water over the top of the light dough.  Place the dark dough on top, then roll up like a jelly roll.  Wrap the roll in plastic and chill in the freezer for one hour.  Cut the roll into 1/4 inch slices.  Place them on a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray.  Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. 

***The dough was a little too dry so I added a little more water until they mixed better.  Next time I will probably only cook them for 45 minutes.  They are SO hard you can hardly break them apart.  The dogs don't seem to mind though.

a week in pictures (Feb 19-24)

Taryn certainly has her own sense of style.  :)

AMAZING Vegan Apple cake!! 

Taryn and I made homemade dog treats Saturday morning.  I'm glad the dogs love them because we made a ton!

My first baby purchase!  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them!! 

friends

I found out last night that one of my oldest friends has a brain tumor.  What a scary thing!  Her surgery is coming up and hopefully will go well.  Her positive attitude will certainly be an inspiration to me.  She's amazing!

my week in pictures

This was my drive to work Monday morning.  Unfortunately it was mostly gone by the time I got home.  :(

We had a great Valentine's Day! 

I wish that I could relax 1/2 this much.

I just like this picture.  :)

and we have snow...

FINALLY!!!!!!  I'm so happy to see snow!  :)  :)

Super bowl

NY won just as I predicted!  That was a fun game to watch!  :)

Harry Potter

We saw The Woman in Black tonight.  It was soooo scary!  I'm not used to seeing Daniel Radcliffe not fight everything with his wand.  He was great in the movie though.  Madeline may possible be sleeping with us tonight....haha

photo challenge day 1 & 2

I thought it would be fun to do this photo challenge for February.  So here goes....

Day 1: Your view today

Day 2: Words  :)

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Beauty in the Common Things: My walk and nonstop conversation with Taryn.  The mind of an 8 year old is amazing.  :)
Listen In:  Barry Manilow playing on my ipod.  haha

Supper Plans: We had hot taco pockets.

Today: work, school, unfortunately not much exciting.

View From the Kitchen Window: darkness  (it's 9pm)

SOS

Tonight after laughing and telling funny stories to the girls about Megan, I had an unexpected email from the Survivors of Suicide group.  It really threw me.  I got on to see how it felt to read around on there and after almost having an anxiety attack I canceled my account.  Now for some reason I feel overcome by guilt.  Ugh.....I'm finally, after all this time, at the anger part of grieving I think.  I hate this and want all of it to just go away.  I'm going to bed early so I can wake up to a new day and hopefully feel better.

goals...

My goal (for tonight anyway)  is to quit my job so I can concentrate on all of my pinterest finds.  Haha...I realize this is shallow.  I will never have enough hours in the day to do every awesome craft I've found on there but I'll sure have a blast working on them! 

unicorns

 Instead of bugging me for candy at the store, the girls have been bugging me to buy corn on the cob.  That's a nice change!

Corn tastes soooo much better impaled by unicorn horns!