Cat Woman

Homecoming week at school and Nicole dressed up for "Hero" day on Monday. Unfortunately, she and one other girl were the only 7th/8th graders who did. I was afraid she'd be mortified, but she was so tickled with her get-up that she just didn't care! You go girl! I'm so glad she has the confidence that I lacked at her age!


I wanted a picture before she got on the bus. Ellea said, "You know, if she takes your picture, she'll put it on her blog......" To be polite, I asked Nicole permission to put it on my blog. "Sure," she said, "I love it when you put my picture on your blog." Yippee. A willing victim to my crazy blogging ways!

Chocolate Crunch Brownies

I took a chocolate dessert (of course!) to the tailgating event on Saturday. It got rave reviews. It was only the second time I'd made it, and I think it's my new favorite. If you like chocolate/peanut butter/marshmallow and rice-crispies then this is the dessert for you!

I found the recipe on the internet. I did a google search after sampling similar yummyness at a church picnic. This is what the internet version of the recipe looks like:

Maybe in a perfect world. My world ain't so perfect.

They might not be as stunning, but they go down just fine!!

Chocolate Crunch Brownies
1 c butter, softened
2 c sugar
4 eggs
6 Tbs (or heaping 1/3 cup) cocoa powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
7 oz jar Marshmallow creme
1 c creamy peanut butter
2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 c rice cereal

Cream butter and sugar; add eggs; stir in cocoa, flour, vanilla salt. Spread into greased 13 x 9 inch baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool. Spread marshmallow creme over cooled brownies.

In a small saucepan, melt peanut butter and chocolate chips over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in the cereal. Spread over marshmallow layer.

Chill before serving. Store in the refrigerator.

Think fondly of me every time you indulge.

Tailgating

We had a fun day on Saturday basking in the glorious sunshine, eating lots of food and listening to the vandal football game on the radio. Well...... some of us listened. Other's just said once in awhile, "What's the score?" It was never good. We lost. That's pretty normal any more. We had fun anyway!

It was homecoming at U of I. The fam went up Friday night and stayed with Tony and Paige. The kids and I went to the Homecoming parade with Paige and her girls. Emily invited Nicole to join her on the parade float that she was on. She's helping with a Halloween haunted house that's a fundraiser for some wonderful charity that I cannot recall right now. Emily and Nicole got to dress up in costumes (scary clowns) and throw candy. I was heartbroken that I didn't have my camera. I'm hoping if I bribe Paige with some high quality chocolate, she'll send me a couple pics to share......

After the parade, it was off to the Kibbie Dome for some tailgating with Glenn's family.
Morgan plays nicely with his cousins. He played with Sam a fair amount. He only got hurt by Sam twice. Sam can be a tad rambunctious. Here Morgan is "racing" Ben.

Jen kindly took a picture of me and Ben. She understands a blogger's need to have photographic evidence of all things.

Ellea is always grateful for a little Ben-time. Andie was there too, but has no use for us Poxleitners unless her parents are away!

I also got to snuggle a new baby. Ben's Auntie Beth and her baby Clara were there. She was sick, but that doesn't keep me away! Ben's Oma. Cynthia, was there also. I enjoy her. The first thing she says to me? "I totally Blog stalk you!" That's the biggest compliment she could've given me!

Hi Cynthia. Have a great day!

Snow, Snow, Go Away

This is what we woke up to on Thursday morning......

Ugh! I'm not a fan of the white stuff only because it always overstays its welcome. If we could have snow for three months, it'd be a treat. But we'll likely have snow on and off (mostly on...) for 6 months.

Morgan and Ellea were delighted with the new arrival. Morgan even dug out his snow pants and boots and went and *played* in it, although there wasn't much to play with! It was gone by late afternoon, but still. It's a sad, sad reminder of what's to come!

Firewood Season

Sadly, it's that time of year again. It was a balmy 34 degrees here in tropical Keuterville at 10:30 Thursday morning. Brrrr! Thankfully, Glenn had us on schedule to get our firewood. We can't do it too much earlier in the fall or there are lots of bees to worry about.

My logger man.

This is our four-horse trailer. It holds LOTS of wood. Thankfully, Glenn didn't mind tossing the wood into the trailer instead of stacking it (only the last row is stacked). I'm not a fan of stacking the wood more than once at the final destination. I'm not a fan of hard work and firewood is hard work. I am a fan of warm houses, however, so I grin and bear it (I think!). The kids are a big help with firewood. Thank goodness for slave-labor!

Dessert Drinks

I don't do much drinking, but when I do, my drinks must be yummy. Sweet. Like little desserts in a cup.

Strawberry Daiquiris fit the bill.

Candi introduced me to another sweet drink that was right up my alley..... Chocolate Cake shots. What?!! I love all things chocolate, so how did I not know about these things?! And the craziest part? There's no chocolate liquor of any sort in the drink (there's also no cake, but I assume you know these things...). It's some trick of the taste buds or something. It's Hazelnut Liquor and Vanilla Vodka. You're supposed to follow it with a lemon, but I don't understand that part. Why would I consume chocolate and then torture myself with a sour chaser?

It was probably a good thing that she only had enough mix for one shot each. And then we pigged out on her chocolate candy stash, so it was all good!