Lovin' the Carseat!

Dustin took the car to a scout camp out, so that more people could fit in the car David's carseat was removed.  So what does David do with his carseat in the middle of the living room?.... He straps himself in and would have me unbuckle him and then he would strap himself back in.  I had to bring his blanket out for him to cover his feet.  He loved sitting in his carseat!

Snow! Snow! Snow!

There is still snow on the ground and more was added last night.  We are so sick of the snow.  We want to run and play outside.  I want to be able to open the doors to let fresh air into the house.  What are we to do with all the snow?  Well....I have started garden planning for this season.  I'm excited.  I have decided to start all of our plants from seed.  I hope it works out.  I plan to start at the end of April/ beginning of May with the seeds.  Some will be planted directly into the garden since they won't transplant well and the rest will start inside.

I've also taken to planning when we can go to the sand dunes, and the pool, taking swimming lessons this year (I think), playing at the park and taking walks.  We are so ready to be able to spend time outside in the nice warm weather.

Mommy, WOW!...

...I'm a big kid now!!!

David put his pants on all by himself after going potty this afternoon.

Delicious Decadence

I made this cheesecake for Valentine's Day.  It is Turtle Cheesecake.  We have thoroughly enjoyed this delicious decadence of cheesecake.  It has a chocolate graham cracker crust, cheesecake, melted chocolate and pecans mixed with caramel.  I made it smaller than the recipe calls for, so I of course I have extra batter and crust so that we can make another mini cheesecake.  I don't know that this cheesecake compares to anything I have ever made before.  I would dare say it could stand up against any cheesecake served at the cheesecake factory!

The recipe came from Southern Living Little Book of Cheesecakes

Turtle Cheesecake

2 c. chocolate wafer crumbs (38 wafers)

1/4 c. sugar

1/3 c. butter, melted

3 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 1/4 c. sugar

4 large eggs

8 oz. sour cream

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1/4 c. butter

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

12 oz. jar caramel topping

1 c. chopped pecans

Combine first 3 ingredients; stir well.  Firmly press mixture into bottom and 1 inch up sides of a lightly greased 9" springform pan.  Bake at 325F for 10 minutes.  Cool in pan on a wire rack.  Beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add 1 1/4 cups sugar, beating well.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition and scraping sides and bottom as needed.  Stir in sour cream and vanilla.  Pour batter into prepared crust.  Bake at 325F for 1 hour and 5 minutes.  (Center will not be completely set.)  Turn oven off, ad partially open door; leave cake in oven for 1 hour.  Cool completely on a wire rack; cover and chill at least 8 hours.  Gently run a knife around edge of cheesecake to release sides of pan; carefully remove pan.  Transfer cheesecake to a serving plate.  Melt 1/4 cup butter in small heavy saucepan; add chocolate chips.  Stir over low heat just until chocolate melts and mixture blends.  Spread warm chocolate mixture over cheesecake; chill 15 minutes.  Combine caramel topping and pecans in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, over medium heat; boil 2 minutes.  Remove from heat, and cool 5 minutes.  Spread over chocolate; cool completely.  Serve immediately or cover and chill.  Let stand at room temperature at least 30 minutes before serving.  Yield: 1 (9") cheesecake.

**I used a 7" springform pan**

Happy Valentine's Day!

For family home evening on Monday we made a Valentine's tree.  During David's nap I traced, stapled and glued the valentine hearts.  During family home evening we colored and wrote on the flat hearts.  We all listed things that we love and drew pretty pictures.  David loves the tree and really enjoyed putting the hearts on the tree; some days he pulls them off just so he can put them back on.  It's a good little tree.

I want David to have a good understanding of the true meaning of Christmas and to be able to look past all the commercialism of it.  So....I have been trying to find ways to incorporate some of the many activities of Christmas with the other holidays of the year.  For Valentine's Day I made us a valentine stocking.  We have a little advent calendar of sorts with the valentine fortune cookies I made; they are filled with chocolate kisses.  Then we also have our Valentine's tree.  I hope to be able to come up with great ways to celebrate all the other holidays.  If you have any ideas, please let me know, I would love to hear them!

Snow, Snow, Snow!!!

It snowed last night,

We got at least 4 inches.

Morning classes were cancelled,

Afternoon classes will post at 11am.

We still need to make a path to the car,

There is a lot of snow on the ground!

When will the snow go way?

I wish it were spring!

Hinton Look-alike Meter

So I thought is would give this a shot.  I learned that the picture of the child does matter.  When I used an older picture of David he looked my like Dustin.  The more recent the picture the more he looked like both of us.  Here are the results.