Easter, a photo post.

These are the Easter Cake Balls.

They are white cake, with cherry frosting and milk chocolate.

I tried to shape some sort of egg shaped.

They were really good.

Three silly children.

This is what happens when you let the Daddies watch the boys play.

I tried to get fancy with the chocolate covering.

The boys played Nintendo.

The girl played with her eggs. She wouldn't let me push her hair out of her eyes.

Another picture post, Strawberry-chocolate-white chocolate Cake Balls.

This is about half of the strawberry chocolate mix.

A Strawberry chocolate ball before it was dipped.

My Pizza pan works well for cake balls. It holds about half the cake balls I made.

I had enough white chocolate to cover about 1/4 of all the cake balls I made.

A couple of them got kind of messy.

The prettiest one. Top view.

The prettiest on.

Cake Balls, a picture post.

Here are the cake balls I made the other day. I just finished up dipping the last of them this afternoon. They took longer to do than I thought they would and I didn't feel comfortable doing them while my Little Day Care Girl (Now on know as LDCG) was here, and need the morning for dishes and cleaning. I got them done with only 15 minutes until she got here today. They are chocolate, with chocolate frosting and of course dipped in chocolate. The first batch were dipped in semi-sweet chocolate, the last batch was dipped in a mixture of what was left of the semi-sweet and some milk chocolate. Everyone loves them, I've even had someone suggest that I make them to sell!

The tray with 4 left over semi-sweet dipped cake balls

along with the milk chocolate dipped ones.

A bit closer look.

My favorite one.

Another close up.

Another look at my favorite one.

Baking with cake mix, and other stuff.

Last week I was hungry for spice cake. I needed something quick to make, because I had a Daycare child here and didn't feel comfortable being in the kitchen for more than a few minutes at a time. So I decided to try improvising and used a yellow cake mix and just added 1/2 teaspoon cloves, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 2 teaspoons ginger and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. I made the cake as directed on the package. I baked it in a 9X13 cake pan. It turned out fantastic! I'm not much for frosting, so I got a can of spray whipped cream to top it with. YUM!

Another way to use cake mix, You take any flavor cake mix and bake according to directions. Let cool and then crumble into a big bowl. Add any flavor of frosting and mix well. Roll into half-inch balls and chill in refrigerator for about an hour. Melt down baking chocolate (like Ghiardelli's) and dip each ball into the chocolate and then re-refrigerate until chocolate is set. If you use the right kind of chocolate it shouldn't melt on your fingers and can be kept at room temperature for a good while. I found this recipe on Baby Center, in the Cooking for your Family group. I haven't tried them yet but they sound good. You could probably put them on sticks if you wanted to, that might make it easier to decorate them. You can roll them in crushed nuts or candy, add sprinkles or drizzle another chocolate over them. I've heard of people making them with white chocolate, and almond bark.

There are cookies you can make using a cake mix as well. I'll have to go looking for some of them. It's always nice to be able to put together something a little bit different, without all the hassle of a from scratch recipe. And it seems that every now and then cake mixes go on sale, sometimes 10 for $10 or something. Of course I'm going to keep making things from scratch most of the time, because I like knowing exactly how much sugar, salt and fat things have. I like that there are no artificial preservatives. But there are times when I just need/want something quickly and mixes fit the bill.

Long day ahead of me.

Today is going to be very hard. I got about 4 hours of sleep last night, I NEED 8. Two of the Kids came at 8:30 this morning, the other came at 2:00PM. I'll be watching other people's kids for about 16 hours when it's all over. Tomorrow it will be about the same, two will be here early, and one at the normal evening schedule. I just have to make sure I get to sleep earlier tonight. One good thing for tomorrow, I'll be able to have half an hour sleep in the morning, since The Boy doesn't have school. Next week is Spring Break, so we will see how it all works out.

Corned Beef, with pictures.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We had our corned beef last night. It wasn't horrible, but it's not something I'll be having more than once a year or so. I'll try different recipes and see how they work. Maybe next years will convince me to have it more often, who knows? This time I cooked it in the slow cooker, with small red potatoes, baby carrots and sliced onion. I didn't rinse the corning spices off, and added some beer. The only thing that had any flavor from the beer was the potatoes. I liked the carrots and onion, the meat was okay, I didn't like the potatoes at all. Now I'll look for recipes for next year. LOL

So here are a couple of pictures I took of our dinner.

Sad news from California.

Howard's cousin's daughter died yesterday. She was 28. The family in California is devastated, they are very close. The Boy really liked her when he was little, he called her Miss Emily and thought she was a princess. So far all we have is a short newspaper report of the accident. I can't remember how many children she has, at least 2 but could be 3 or 4. I can't imagine how her Mother must be feeling, I can't even begin to think of loosing one of my children. Yesterday they were waiting for he Father's brother to get there before they told him.

She was a beautiful, sweet, caring young woman. Her family meant everything to her. My heart is breaking for them. Her Mom and Dad, her Husband and children, her brother and sister, and all the Aunts, Uncles, and cousins who loved her.

Here is a copy of the News Paper report from the Merced Sun-Star. I stared out the name of the other driver to protect his privacy, even though it was printed in the paper I don't feel it's important for my purposes to have it printed here. I'm sure he is feeling awful enough.

One killed in highway wreck near Chowchilla

A 28-year-old Chowchilla woman was killed on Thursday morning when she crossed Highway 152 against traffic and was struck by a westbound car.

According to the California Highway Patrol, Emily Tatum was driving a 2000 Toyota Camry southbound on Road 10 when she attempted to cross Highway 152. ******************of Clovis, was westbound on Highway 152 in a 2008 Dodge Charger traveling at 65 miles per hour when Tatum tried to cross in front of him, pulling out directly in front of the ****** car. The front of the Dodge collided with the driver’s side of the Toyota.

**** had only minor injuries. Tatum had dropped her six-year-old child off at school, and was on her way to work. Both parties were wearing seat belts. The accident is under investigation by the California Highway Patrol.

--Carol Reiter

What I did yesterday, and what we woke up to this morning.

I spent 9 hours yesterday helping The Boy make his 100 Days poster. I cut out 100 hand prints, 50 small ones and 50 larger ones. (His and Mine) Then we glued them together in groups of 4. The I glued them to the poster board. (The Boy fell asleep before we started that part.)

100 days of school,

100 Helping Hands.

We woke up to snow in the yard, on the road and still falling! We expected school to be delayed, so that morning Kindergarten would be canceled. But it wasn't, so we waited for the bus and The Boy played.

The Snow made the Bus late.

But The Boy got to play in the snow.

These are just some extra pictures of the snow and the tree that is getting ready to bloom soon.

The Boy has an other birthday!

His birthday was February 14th. The day before they had a small celebration at school, with a big card signed by everyone in the class, singing "Happy Birthday" (which I'm told he handled well, no crying or hands over ears), and a small treat. This happened at the start of their day, and then at the end of the day (for kindergartners) they had a Valentine's Day party with some treats. Right now he feels lucky to have a Valentine's birthday, because he gets treats twice in one day.

His actual birthday was quiet. Messed Up Daddy had to work, so we decided to have The Boy's Birthday Party on Sunday the 15th.

The party was nice, we had family a friends there, we ate pizza, and had cupcakes. The Boy got some Hot Wheels cars and track, and a Candy Land game. He was very excited about everything. The kids all played on the floor of the Pizza place with the cars and track, helped by two of the grown men who were there. (Messed Up Daddy and My nieces fiance)

And now for some pictures. I didn't get as many as I wanted to, I got distracted visiting with everyone I missed some good ones.

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This is the cake The Boy picked out. It's make from chocolate cupcakes,

and has star shaped candles.

With the candles lighted.

The Boy and My Sweet Little Great Niece.

The kids playing.

A New Rock Group I discovered yesterday.

This group is really awesome! The guitar player is amazingly cute, their lead lady singer is exciting, and the drummer, well he's multi-talented he also plays the guitar. I have a few pictures to share.

They are called

"The Boy and The Grandparents"

they really rock!

The guitarist is called "The Boy", The Drummer is called "Grandaddy", and the lead singer is known as "Grammy".

Here is "Granddaddy" playing the guitar.

Oh yeah! I forgot that "The Boy" also plays the drums and sings with "Grammy". What an amazing group!

Happy Valentines day, more than 2 weeks early.

Messed Up Daddy, I've decided to call him that because it connects us and he thinks it's strange, ordered a Valentines Day present for me, it was delivered yesterday. I was surprised he ordered it, but I knew it was coming. I've wanted one of these for years!


I couldn't wait to make something with it, so I went looking for a brownie recipe that used cocoa powder instead of bakers chocolate or semi sweet chocolate chips, because I have cocoa and don't have the other stuff. I found one, and quickly put it together.



They didn't turn out very brownie like, the flavor is good, but I think I made them too thick.

They are nice though, a good chocolate cake kind of thing.

So, got any good recipes that I can use my new kitchen toy making? I'm going to make bread in a day or two. But I already have a loaf and nearly a half here.

Photos from my new camera.

The only thing I did to these pictures was crop them a little bit. I probably need to do some adjusting with the high lights and shadows.

Rain drops on the grass.

A big smile from The Boy.

The Boy running around at the bus terminal.

Back to work, hopefully.

I should hear from The Daycare Mom about her new work hours. She has an interview tomorrow, with the manager at the same place she was working at before. She says that they want her to come back, and will give her a schedule tomorrow.

I'm really glad that she is going to go back to work, and so I'll have my job back. I will only get about half the hours of a normal month, but even a little bit is good. We've missed having the kids here. I hope she gets things worked out and can work full time as soon as possible.

In other news, I got a new camera. It's a Nikon D40 D-SLR, I really like it. I'm still learning about it and will be trying different things as I can. It's a bit big and bulky compared to my old point and shoot, which makes it hard to just grab it and go, but it has a quicker shutter speed so capturing the moment is easier. I ordered a tripod for it, so I can do low light/natural light shots, and fireworks shots this summer. I've always wanted a tripod, and it was a mark down on Tiger direct so it was cheap. I'm very excited to try some of the manual settings. I'll post some pictures I've taken with it soon. I already have several of The Boy and a few other things, I just have to put them in the computer and edit them, if needed.

My family grows a litte bigger.

My youngest brother, Mark, and his dear wife are adopting a boy from the foster care system. He came to live with them this week-end. I'm so excited! They have wanted a child for years, and now they have this wonderful little boy. He is 8, he will turn 9 in February. He's cute as can be and will fit in with the rest of us really well. He likes movies, reading, cars, boats and trains. This past month has be a crazy one for Mark and his new family. This time last month they didn't know they were going to get my new Nephew, and now he's all moved in and part of our family. There have been meetings, and tons of paper work. There will probably be more of those before it's all finalized, but it will be so very worth it.

Congratulations Mark and Eileen!

The Boy has BIG dreams.

I was talking to The Boy the other day, about what he wants to be when he grows up. I suggested the typical, Fireman, Doctor, and "A cook like Daddy", all of which he said no to. So I asked him what he wanted to be. You will never guess his answer ... Okay I'll tell you, he says that he wants to be "Chef Gordan Ramsey" when he grows up. Not Chef "The Boy". MY boy wants to be GORDAN RAMSEY himself LOL. Now to break the news to him that he can't take over someone's life just because he thinks they are cool. (I guess I watch too much Kitchen Nightmares and Hell's Kitchen when he's around.)

And so the New Year starts.

Happy New Year! So far the year is starting out okay. The Boy and I are watching Loony Tunes on Cartoon Network. We had toast and hot chocolate earlier, and will probably have more after dinner. I found an instant hot cocoa mix recipe and mixed some up, it's really good and it's nice and warm when we are feeling chilled. There is some bad news however, I'm probably unemployed again. My Daycare kid's Mom has been having a hard time with her Ex. There have been problems that made her late to work and one night she didn't home from taking the kids to see him and his family until after 2AM. So she's missed work a day or two, with weather and the kids and her Ex, so they fired her. I understand why they had to do that, they need to be able to depend on someone who works for them. But until she finds another job, I will only be getting a few hours here and there while she looks for work. If it takes too long I'll have to open up those spots and find new kids.

It not all bad news though. I'll be getting a good pay check in a couple of weeks because I worked quite a few hours last month, I only get $2.20 and hour but that is per child so when I have all 5 it's actually $11 and hour. In fact I had each of the older 3 for 33 hours more than the approved amount of hours for last month. I'm going to send a letter setting out the details of what happened, with the snow days and I don't think they took into account that she worked some week-end hour, and all the week day hours were late afternoon/evening hours. (2 PM to 10 PM) So we will see if they will cover those extra hours or if she will have to.

I want Hot Chocolate, and toast. I'll have to make bread before I can have any toast. It takes about three hours to make bread. (About 30 minutes to mix and knead the dough, two one hours rises, and 30 minutes to bake.) It's worth it, we all prefer home baked bread. I need to make more apple butter, and perhaps more pumpkin butter as well. I don't know when I'll get the apples but I have plenty of frozen pumpkin.

Our Holiday, in pictures.

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas. It was quiet, Howard had to work, and other plans were postponed due to weather.

Our "tree".

The Boy checking out the presents. (M0st of them are for him).

A book he got from Grammy and Grandaddy.

The Boy and his Daddy gave me toe socks.

Here are all his presents.
I hope all of you had a wonderful Holiday.