Sleepover with Cinderella and Lily

From Lily: Yesterday we went bowling with Aunt Amy last night and then we sleptover at Aunt Amy's house. And then this morning we got to go to Gardner Village and then we went to Wheeler Farm. It was so fun looking at all the animals, especially the babies. And then we tried to go to Corner Bakery, but it doesn't open until April 19th. So we went to the mall and had Panda Express. It was so fun!

From Cinderella: Last night we went bowling at a bowling alley and then we had dinner and came home and watched The Moonspinners. Then we watched House Hunters and went to bed. The next day we went to Gardner Village and Wheeler Farm. The babies were so cute! Then we had lunch. It was sooo good. We had a great time with Aunt Amy.

The End.

From Aunt Amy: Yep- that about wraps up the first of the sleepovers at Aunt Amy's house. Good times, good times :) This is what I find so endearing about my nieces. I let them pick the pictures that went into the mosaics (its 12 pictures EXACTLY so that they could each choose 6). They don't care what Aunt Amy looks like in those pictures... obviously as they picked some that I probably would NOT have made available for public viewing... they just cared that we were all in them together. :) So cute and fun! Love them!

I've been reading.

That's why I haven't been blogging. Not like anyone truly reads my blog besides my sisters and my parents. :) That's fine. Its kind of a fun thing to have anyway. But as I was saying... I've been reading. That's taken about every spare minute I have. I go through these odd cycles where I can't read enough, and then I don't want to read at all. So all my books just make gigantic piles on the edge of my counter and the piano and my desk at school. But since about mid-January I've been fairly engrossed in catching up.
I read Percy Jackson- finally. The book was much better than the movie. I haven't read any of the others but I'll get around to it. I saw the movie first and that was more or less a disappointment. I'm hoping when I go see it with my nieces this week it will be better.
I read the remainder of The Luxe series. Tweener romance novels set in turn of the century New York. mmmeehhhhh- ok.
I read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. And that's exactly what it was... a little bitter, a little sweet. Also a little slow for me.
I read The Help. Very well written for a first time author. Also loved the story. Still not sure I'm happy with the wrap up of each character, though.
I read Have a Little Faith. Loved it. Must make that a permanent part of my small library.
I read My Friend Leonard..... I read it because an addict friend of mine said it would help me find insight into some of his problems. Still thinking about that one.
I read The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo. Could have been a great mystery if you could set aside all the messy and offensive stuff in it. Kinda bummed about that one.
I am currently reading Amish Grace. Its about how the Amish people so earnestly forgave the man who killed 5 of their daughters in a school house. I'm only 60 pages into and probably cried about 40 of those.
I just updated my goodreads page so I've got plenty more. Its my spring break and while I'll be busy playing favorite aunt for the first three days of it, I figure I can get through the remainder of my library checkouts before they have to be back. :)

Fascinating to me

Go read this article. See what you think.

Nummmm-O!

So in my attempt at eating better/healthier, I've put a twist on some old favorites. Here's my revised, but not yet perfected, two new recipes.

Chicken Meatloaf
2 lbs ground chicken
2 eggs, well beaten
1 pkg. saltine crackers
1 sm can cream of chicken soup
1/4 c water
1 pkg Lipton Onion soup mix

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix eggs, crackers, cream of chicken soup, water and soup mix well. Add meat a chunk at a time until well mixed. Mold into 2 loaf pans. Pull meatloaf about 1/4 inch away from edges. Cook for 1 1/2 hours.

All- Bran Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup margarine or butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup hot water
3/4 cup All Bran Original Cereal (I used crushed wheat flakes instead)
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in hot water and add cereal. Combine with flour mixture until mixed well. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop onto baking sheet. Bake for 13 minutes. (Because of the All Bran or wheat flakes, they cook darker and look almost burned. They're not! Just darker color.)

Enjoy!

6 words

haha- My sister Meg and I have the same posts at the moment. One was completely unintentional- as we both posted about the BBC movies. :) But I'm stealing her idea, that she stole from Cocoa, for an update. Basically, use 6 words to update what's been going on in your life. So since I really don't have much to blog, and yet want to say something, here's my version (sorry Meg AND Cocoa for the steal)

• Busy at school; new student teacher
• Water aerobics at night with friends
• Enjoying going to church with families
• New tv, new bed, awaiting guests
• Reading everything I find or borrow
• Working on food storage and preparedness
• Still dateless, not so concerned; why?
• Waiting for summer, warmth and sunshine
• Looking forward to yard work soon
• Trying new exercises like pilates; ouch!
• Not missing sweets like I thought
• Body feels tired; but good tired

That's about it! I know, I know- its too much excitement! But sometimes consistency and downtime is a good thing.

My new favorites

Lovely "newer" versions of some favorites. Thank you, BBC!