Blessed!

Ted and I have been searching for a new church since we moved to Bloomington. We have tried out a couple and sadly they just weren't what we were looking for. There is a church across the street that we bring the kids to play at their park in the summer. We decided to try out their Thanksgiving Eve service and to be honest it was PERFECT it had everything we were looking for a wonderful child center, activities for both boys, and of course a wonderful pastor and very friendly people. We have been attending regularly ever since.. and by regular I mean I am there 3 times a week. a fabulous mom's group Tuesday morning, Alpha class for Ted and I, Royal Rangers for Devin, and Little Lambs for Brody on Wednesday nights, and last but not least Sunday services!

I can truly tell you it's changing our lives GOD has blessed us beyond measure and I am truly thankful for our church family!

Valentine exchange for kids instead of candy!?!

Today Brody, Devin, and I decided to make some Heart shaped crayons.

First Devin and Brody peeled the paper on the crayons.

Then I cut them into small pieces.

Then We filled each heart to the top with the cut pieces of crayons.

( We used a silicone ice tray from the dollar section at target.)

We then placed the heart mold onto a old cookie sheet and into the oven for 15 minutes at 200 degrees.

Wait for the crayons to cool and pop them out!

Happy coloring!

(sorry about the pictures for some reason they are not uploading correctly.)



Making the best of the worst.

Well, sadly my entire family is sick. I was so miserable today, but having a 2 year old means you have NO time to rest. I recently learned in my moms group at church that we need to be great full for the things we have. So, today my out look on life was " at least I have a child to take care of.. sick or not!" We really made the best of our day. We snuggled on the couch and watched " Ice Age" We also took a nap, cleaned the house, did some laundry, and baked some rainbow cupcakes! I truly have pinterest to thank for all my new creative ideas. I love spending time with the boys and maybe after all these cooking lessons they will some day make very good husbands! ( just not for a long time)

They are so simple to make I am just hoping to find a way to make the colors more vibrant. I feel like mine were kind of dull.

1. Whip together a boxed cake mix ( I used cherry chip)
2. Separate the cake batter evenly in bowls. ( I used 5 different colors)
3. Add food coloring or Gel.
4. Drop a tablespoon of each color in the middle of the cupcake so they are layering each other.
5. Bake accordingly to direction on back of box.

I also thought this would be fun to use at various events, baby showers, super bowl parties, birthdays, etc...  :)

Please excuse the mess on my pans. I never said when we are baking that it stays clean!!!



They turned out okay..

Of course no project is complete without a taste tester! 

Smurf!

How Smurf A Licious are you?

Brody was coloring on his art easel, and apperantly the marker slipped!

Pepperoni Roll Ups

I didn't have any help baking today, because Ted took Brody with him to meet some of his guy friends for brunch. I decided to try this new recipe.

Pepperoni Roll Ups

Crescent Rolls

Pepperoni

String Cheese

Ranch/Marinara Sauce (optional)

Separate the crescent rolls into triangles. Place 4-5 pepperonis on each triangle and top with half a string cheese. Then simply Roll them up.

Follow directions on cresent roll package for baking tempeture and time.

Serve with Ranch or Marinara dipping sauce and Enjoy!

Chocolate covered strawberry's

Its New Year Eve and here at the Miller household we made plans to not have ANY plans at all. This morning we decided to do a little laundry, clean around the house, and spend some extra quality time with Brody. It's so nice not having any plans.

I was looking though a couple of cookbooks and came across this recipe. I decided to give it a whirl!

Prep:20 min

Inactive: 30 min

Yield: 1 pound chocolate covered strawberries 

Level: Intermediate

Ingredients

• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 3 ounces white chocolate, chopped
• 1 pound strawberries with stems (about 20), washed and dried very well

Directions

Put the semisweet and white chocolates into 2 separate heatproof medium bowls. Fill 2 medium saucepans with a couple inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat; set the bowls of chocolate over the water to melt. Stir until smooth. (Alternatively, melt the chocolates in a microwave at half power, for 1 minute, stir and then heat for another minute or until melted.)

Once the chocolates are melted and smooth, remove from the heat. Line a sheet pan with parchment or waxed paper. Holding the strawberry by the stem, dip the fruit into the dark chocolate, lift and twist slightly, letting any excess chocolate fall back into the bowl. Set strawberries on the parchment paper. Repeat with the rest of the strawberries. Dip a fork in the white chocolate and drizzle the white chocolate over the dipped strawberries.
Set the strawberries aside until the chocolate sets, about 30 minutes.

My little helper and my taste tester!

We also have a pot roast with potatoes and carrots for dinner tonight!

*HAPPY NEW YEAR*

New camera

I Can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to have a new camera.. I have been surviving off of my ipod touch to capture photos. In June I lost my old one to a can of Diet Coke in target. It went a little something like this.

Ted and I were standing at the check out line when I noticed "Brown water" Hitting my head and feet.

Me: "Excuse me Sir, the ceiling is leaking something"
Cashier: (looks up and ironically there is a brown stain right above us.) "I'm very sorry I will have someone look into that as soon as possible!"
Me: "Where the heck is it coming from?"
Ted: " Oh my gosh Andrea you are covered."
Me: "This is disgusting!"
Cashier: " Again I am very sorry and someone is on their way to check it out right now."

As ted and I walked towards the doors I continued to get soaked in icky brown water. I looked down and noticed it coming from from my purse... Yup, sure enough a can of Diet coke EXPLODED in my purse and guess what was laying in the bottom of that evil carbonated soda? My poor camera! Needless to say at this point I was so embarrassed I just walked out. I wonder if they ever found where the leak was coming from?

Here is a picture of my new PINK camera! Thank you Jack and Betty now my husband can't give me crap about not having a camera anymore!