The way to one's heart, is through the stomach...

(Proud Mommy Monday #2)

My girls and I have decided that each week, we are going to bake a new treat! It's not only a great way to bond, but it's also good math practice (fractions), good for when they will be mommies too, and well, just....fun!

So, I subscribe to "cupcake of the week" which has been very fun and has given me some great things to try. It's a free subscription. (where our second creation came from) You can also get a recipe a month to make a kids' cook book from their email or website.

Last week, we tried Cocoa Cola Cake. Loo clipped it out of a magazine in her foods class this past year, but I found the exact same recipe on the Coke website. Click here to view. I did everything as planned, except I didn't put the nuts in the frosting. It was delicious!

This week, we tried Root Beer Cupcakes. Here is the original recipe. I ended up cheating a bit. I used a spice cake mix. 3 egg whites, and a can of root beer. Then baked as directed on the cake mix. Then cooled the cupcakes. Frosting: 24 root beer barrel candies. (I couldn't find those, so I used 24 of the root beer hard candies you can buy at Reem's (if you live in UT). Crush the candies. Mix them into 3 cups of cool whip. Then frost the cupcakes. (make sure you store them in the refrigerator though, since they have the whipped cream. You don't want food poisoning) We took them over to the neighbor's house to share. The verdict: pretty dang good!

So, here's my Mommy Moment for the week. Bake something with your children. I'm pretty sure there are absolutely no calories or fat in items baked with your loved ones! :)

Today's song, is one that's very dear to me. Please click on the You-Tube video for a super-fun flash back. "It's The Real Thing!"

Here's a random thought: does anyone remember when there was Coke and Original Coke? Weird. I'm glad they took the confusion out and just stuck with "Coke".

I forgot to say that you should join in on celebrating your mommy moments. We all do dumb things, but it's nice to focus and remember the good things! The things we've done right. It might also spark an idea for someone else! You can still write about your duh moments though. We all like reading those! It's a misery loves company kind of thing! :)

Go Jump in the Lake

AKA Mommy Moment #1

When I was a little girl, my great grandma used to tell me to "go jump in the lake!" Of course the real reason for her saying this was to get me out of her hair, but that's not the point of my story. The point is that last week, I did! I did jump in the lake!!

I used to be the type of person who wouldn't try to do something because I didn't want to look dumb if I didn't know how to do it, but I'm starting to change! I feel like time is passing me by and I have spent too much of my time hindered by fear. So, so long fear! I am going to try things!! Even if I look dumb doing them!

Several months ago, I tried roller skating for the first time in probably 25+ years. I sucked. I was a wall hugger. I fell too. BUT I couldn't stop smiling! It was so much fun! I want to go back and try it again! And, the next time the opportunity comes, you better believe I'm going to take it!

Now, back to the go jump in the lake part of this story...

So, anyway, we were invited to go boating with our next door neighbors. It was very spur of the moment, but we decided to do it anyway. We were so excited for the opportunity!

We got out on the lake. My neighbor jumped in. Then two of my kids jumped in. Then...I thought when in Rome...so in I went too! Woo! It was a tad chilly! But it was fun! Eventually all of us got in the water!

Then, it was time for tubing. Trevor (my neighbor's oldest son) went first. Now, the old me, probably would have stayed in the boat to watch and cheer everyone on, BUT NOPE not this time. So, Super and I went second! It was a riot! But I kept telling them the speed was fine. She kept wanting to go faster and faster. It was pretty funny!

So. Anyway. There it is. My mommy moment. I'm not sure if I'm playing this right. But, play along with Shannon every Monday for Proud Mommy Moment Monday.

We need some water songs now right? Well, without further ado, here are:

Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding

Beyond the Sea by Bobby Darrin (playlist says it's Frank, but I know FRANK...and I'd be sleeping on the couch if I agreed with playlist about that. Not really, but my husband is a Frank fanatic!)

All Dressed Up With Nowhere to Go...

Like the new design here? I do! I've been busy making my blog look cute. I added a new header, new sidebar pics a while back, new background, and my favorite thing...my new signature! I've been using it as a time filler though. I'm afraid I've hit a dry spell! Sure, we've been doing things, but I want to write something that's witty or interesting. I don't want to be the type of blogger that says "Yesterday we went here. Today we went there. Tomorrow we are going here. And in 5 minutes I'm going there."

I really miss the days of Tuesday Tell All. I miss the topic ideas. I didn't love every single topic, but the beauty of it, was that it was there if you needed inspiration. I DO love Shadow Shot Sunday though. I try to participate every week. It gives me a creative outlet for photography. BUT it does nothing for writers' block. And while we're on the subject of writer's block, when is Stephenie Meyer going to write something again? I'm so ready to move beyond Twilight. I'm ready for the Host sequel! And speaking of books, I can't wait for September's release of Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.

Do you think they make a cream for writer's block? You know. Kind of like the opposite of sunblock? Or I guess the opposite of sunblock would be like suntan oil. So maybe they make writer's oil with a fabulous coconut scent. Maybe. If so, maybe I can send some to Stephenie too.

Song: Dead Man's Party by Oingo Boingo

testing 123

Hello all!

Color me happy!

subtitled: My shadow shot entry

I. Love. New. Crayons. I love the pointy end. I love them when they are unbroken. I love how the wrappers are so pretty and clean. They just make me happy...and glad that I can see shadows in my photos! They're subtle, but they are indeed there. :]

Shadow shot Sunday is way fun! It's a great way to look at things differently! If you want to play along too, visit Hey Harriet.

I can't bring myself to put "Colors Make Me Happy" from Barney on here, but instead, enjoy a couple of my favorite songs with colors in the title:

Yellow by Cold Play and Red Hill Mining Town by U2

Fortune Cookies

I love fortune cookies! I love the texture and the taste...and of course, I LOVE seeing the message inside!

Jason and I have a thing about fortune cookies.... On our last Chinese Food takeout meal, we got these fortunes:

*Avoid unchallenging occupations- they will waste your great talents.

*Use your abilities at this time to stay focused on your goal. You will succeed.

*Now is the time to try something new.

Those are pretty good fortunes! Don't you think?

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Well, we like to step it up a notch and add the phrase "in bed" to the end of our fortunes! Suddenly, those fortunes bring on a whole new meaning!

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I looked up the history of the fortune cookie. Did you know that they originated in the good 'ol USA? YEP!!! Here are a few different stories of the first person to invent them.

1. A Chinese immigrant, David Jung, living in Los Angeles and founder of the Hong Kong Noodle Company invented the fortune cookie in 1918.
The story goes that David Jung was concerned with all the poor he saw in the streets near his shop. So he created a cookie to pass out to them for free. Each cookie contained an inspirational verse written by the local Presbyterian minister.

2. A Japanese immigrant named Makoto Hagiwara invented the fortune cookie in San Francisco in 1914. He was the designer of the famous Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.
Makoto was fired by an anti-Japanese mayor of the time and suffered much hardship until a later mayor reinstated him. Being thankful to those who had stood by him during this time he created a cookie that contained a "thank-you" note. These became very popular and so began serving them regularly. And then in 1915 they were displayed at World Fair, in San Fransico

3. Way back in 13th and 14th Centuries, China was occupied by the Mongols. Chu Yuan Chang, a patriotic revolutionary of the time made plans for an uprising against the Mongols. In order to instruct all the Chinese of the date of the uprising, messages were hidden in 'Moon Cakes'. Moon Cakes contained a 'yolk' of Lotus Paste which the Mongols did not appreciate so this yolk was replaced with rice paper messages. The uprising was successful and the Ming Dynasty was born.
Thus a tradition of giving cakes with messages was born and a Moon Festival regularly celebrated.
It is thought that this legend is what inspired the Chinese 49'ers who worked on the construction of the great American Railways through the Sierra Nevada to California. At Moon Festival time they did not have any moon cakes but only biscuits. So out of necessity they improvised and the Fortune Cookie was born.

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Fun trivia:

The fortune cookie was not introduced to the Chinese until the 1990's and were amusingly advertised as "Genuine American Fortune Cookies".

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I got my information from http://www.chinese-fortune-cookie.com/fortune-cookie-history.html

*

And today's songs are...

cause I can't do a post without a song to go with it....

Superstition by Stevie Wonder

and Genie in a Bottle by Christina Aguilera. (I know this one's a stretch, but I like it AND it's more along the theme of "in bed".

Until next time

Brandi

(if I was really cool, I'd have a fancy-shmancy signature, but I can't figure it out. HTML codes and such only go as far as copy and past for me)

Horray for the Red, White and Blue

We spent this Independence Day with the Lowry's. First off was a BBQ, then we were off to the Stadium of Fire in Provo. Duane was able to score us some $45 a seat tickets on E-Bay for only $13. Who could resist at that price?
This year's headliners were Shedaisy and the Jonas Brothers. The Lowry's knew every one of the Jonas Brothers songs and were singing along pretty much the whole time! It was cute!!
The weather was pretty great! There was a pretty good breeze through the majority of the program. We did get a bit of lightening a few miles away, but thankfully, not any of it close enough to really be of concern.
Anyway, here are some photo hightlights of the evening.
(these are not scrapbook pages I'm doing here. I'm using Roxio to create "albums" in. It makes it much easier than posting a million pictures. And a bit more interesting too, I think!)

Special thanks to Sue's friend Jacob who was our family's photographer and companion for the evening. He was a crack up and fun to be with!!!

Solid Gold Tour 2009

Here are some photo highlights from Sue's Solid Gold Tour.
They went to Las Vegas to go see the Lion King, the Hoover Dam and the temple.
She went to California to go to Knott's Berry Farm, Disneyland and the Queen Mary
then, the last stop was St. George to see Footloose at Tuacahn. I think it's pretty obvious from the pictures that she had fun!

Song: Dizz Knee Land by: Dada