4 Musketeers

Necessity is the mother of all invention.

Chocolate is usually a necessity around our house. When we only have chocolate in the form of chips (if we buy the chocolate in chips, we won't eat them unless we make cookies, right? WRONG!) things can get pretty desperate. In an effort to kick up plain ole chocolate chips, ingredients start flying around the kitchen. What can I make with chocolate and........marshmallow cream?

4 Musketeers

{yet only 2 of us eat it, yes, we hide chocolate from our kids, we don't like to share}

milk chocolate chips

marshmallow cream

more melted chocolate for dipping

Melt chocolate chips in microwave and stir in an equal amount of marshmallow cream thoroughly. Roll into 1 inch balls and cover in more melted chocolate. Chill until outer shell is set.

Enjoy. Savor. Devour.

However you eat it.

bras and aprons

This morning...

{Setting the scene} Me, going to the bathroom.

Dallin, approaching me with my bra (I really wish they would leave me alone when I went to the bathroom!)

Dallin: Mommy, put bra on. Dal need bra for tummy.

Later that morning...

{Scene change} Dallin, picking up my purse.

Dallin: Dal want gum

Me: I don't have any gum in my purse

{Scene change} Dallin walks into the kitchen, grabs an apron and tries to put it on.

Dallin: Dal make gum

Pompoms

I think these might find their way into my home somewhere.

Above Ellie's bed?

In the kitchen?

Either way, I really want to make some. Image and instructions via Martha.

To the lights we go

We took Tracks up to see the lights at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

The temple was beautiful, as always!

This picture makes me feel like I live in the city, like I am on the move, like I have places to go and people to see.

Dallin and Ellie both loved seeing all the lights on the trees. What a fun night this was.
I absolutely loved this view. I looked up and felt like I was in Narnia, by the lamp post in the woods.

Game On!

Next up: The snow sculpture contest!

Everyone was supposed to split up into teams and all the kids wanted to be on Paul's team. I don't blame them, he IS good.

We had to get pretty creative with the color. There was no food coloring to be found. I scoured the kitchen for alternatives.

We found red and green m&m's, orange juice, and hot chocolate mix and that is what we used for tinting purposes.

Lightening McQueen

The champions!

{this team really wasn't voted 1st place, but I think that the judge was on some pretty heavy meds at the time and got confused}

Here is the dino team and another team working in the background:The dinosaur

And then they killed it.

COOKIES!!!

For our "P&K Duncan's 3rd annual Sugar Cookie Decorating Extravaganza"
we decided to let some more family in on the fun. I will swallow my proud and say that Kali and Shelby decorated the best ones this year (Kali-candy cane, Shelby-snowman).

Merry Christmas!

All of the Christmas cards have been sent out!

And to my great surprise, we have run fresh out!

So here's a peak at what went in the mail this year.

We hope your Christmas is full of love and great cheer!

“The first time I tried organic wheat bread, I thought I was chewing on roofing material” - Robin Williams

Hello everyone this is Paul. I am not sure if I am allowed to post, but I am anyway. I have a sad, sad story to tell. You see, Kristen and I love to cook; But, neither of us are any good at following a recipe. I think that this may be the reason until now, we have really abstained from the delving deeply into the baking arena. This is no good though, seeing that we really are a bread family. We admire the artisan breads at Kroger (clearance, of course) as though we were in an a (delicious) art gallery, and really want to make our own.

So...a month ago I tried my hand at it. My loaf was much closer to a brick than bread. I even had a book that I had gotten at the library. Apparently, you can't proof your bread in the oven while it pre-heats to 350 degrees (something to do with the yeast being cooked into oblivion).

Flash forward a month or so and Kristen decided to try her hand at it. These bricks weren't as much her fault, as they were the fault of the vague recipe that she found on a blog.

Anyway, here is the challenge: We need someone to tell us how to make bread. We are trying to eat whole wheat, but half wheat/half white would work. Really, anything that won't resemble a brick when we pull it out of the oven. So all you master bakers out there, help!!

Not a lot of time....

T-minus 2 days!

This is a really funny ornament!

Christ centered Christmas

Look how cute this blog is.

Compromising

Our first Christmas together as a married couple, we had a big decision to make; what was our Christmas tree going to be like?

The battle:

Real Tree vs. Fake Tree

White Lights vs. Colored Lights

Paul wanted a real tree with colored lights.

Kristen wanted a fake tree with white lights.

Who would win?

Years 1 & 2: Real tree, white lights

Years 3-6: Fake tree, colored lights

Year 7 (current): Fake tree, colored lights, and white lights

We're having twins, twins, twins, twins!!

I'll be honest, it was really the chickens who had twins, but now we have them. My neighbor's grandpa-in-law owns a 20,000 chicken (egg) farm. These eggs here didn't make the cut, so my neighbor (I call her Santa Claus. More on that later.) brought them over.

Some eggs are big, some are small. Some are tall and skinny.

They remind me of people. We are all differently shaped on the outside, but inside, we are all people.All the big eggs are twinner eggs. I remember as a kid, a twinner egg was considered a great prize. Everyone would crowd around the pan to see the special egg with two yolks. Out of the 24 eggs that we have, 18 of them are twinners. Needless to say, we are eating a lot of eggs right now.
As for the Santa Claus part: My neighbor cleaned out her kids rooms while they were at school and brought over two huge piles of toys. They are currently locked up in the bathroom that is "broken". Merry Christmas, kiddos!

Kiddie Ornaments

No, my kids didn't have anything to do with the ornaments that I made this year. I am too controlling with some things. It's an issue that I have been working on. I now let Paul cut Dallin's hair, but I can not be in the same room. I used to cut it, but OCD is not a good mix with clippers and a 3 year old who won't sit still.

If you are a better mom than me, you will let your kids help.

Here are a couple fun ideas for your kids that I want to try with mine:

here

and here

Annual Christmas Ornament

Every year since Paul and I have been married, we make new ornaments for the tree. Some we don't get out any longer (like the painted glass balls and the popcorn strings, which, both, are self explanatory as to why they remain in storage). This year, we decided to keep going with the paper globe theme. To make smaller circles, I used a Cricut on loan from a friend to do the dirty work. We all love how they turned out.

Today, I found these cute little puppies that I might try, too.

Thanksgiving Feast-ivities

What a JOY it was to have Paul home Thursday through Sunday. I would take him home any day, really. This morning, I called him at work. He answered with his sexy I-am-getting-a-chest-cold voice. Sexy nonetheless. (My mom hates that word. Sexy, Mom. Sexy. I like to bug my mom sometimes.) I am off track now.

Sorry. Right. Where was I? Oh, yeah, Thanksgiving.

We woke up and cut veggies, made key lime pie, opened a can of cranberry jelly, and whipped some cream.

Despite Dallin's love for cooking, his love for eating what he cooks remains sparse. Our annual bread turkey relish tray.
Dallin's had a grand old time playing outside after the big feast.

Thanks, Mork family, for having us over to be part of your family for Thanksgiving.
We felt at home!