Ouch! Natalie Broke Her Arm-

Even though she has a smile now :) - she didn't have a smile when she fell off her bike.

Earlier this evening Natalie was riding her bike and I was throwing the ball to Powder. Unfortunately there was a little bit of a problem with our timing. Just as I had thrown the ball Powder took off and was running full blast and only looking at the ball. As Natalie was riding by, Powder collided into Natalie's bike. As soon as that happened, Natalie fell off her bike directly onto her left arm. As I watched - everything was in somewhat slow motion. But as soon as she hit the sidewalk I knew that by the way she fell, something was definitely wrong. Natalie was very sad and she had a hard time moving her arm. Usually I wait a little while to see how things pan out, but this time I knew that I at least needed to get an x-ray to make sure that everything was alright. On our way to the doctor Natalie couldn't really get very comfortable. It kind of seemed like there wasn't anything we could do to make her feel better. Once the doctor saw us he told us she did have a broken arm. He could only put it in a splint for the night because of the type of break she had. Tomorrow we will need to go see an Orthopedic Surgeon to have her arm set and cast. You would think that we have had more than our share of medical stuff in the last few years. But I guess this is what happens when we have kids that like to do fun things. By the way, Powder is fine - no injuries to report.

Yummy Cookie (or Skookie)

Ohh, Yummy! One of my favorite things is the Foodnetwork!! I love to watch and even every once and a while try the recipes that I find. Today I made what I think is a pretty yummy cookie. If you like Reeses Peanut Butter Cups you might really like this cookie. This is a soft peanut butter cookie recipe with homemade chocolate frosting. I think I even like the way I decorated my cookie (I probably learned it from Ina - The Barefoot Contessa). I made a Skookie (skillet cookie) with the leftover dough that I had. My friend Natalie posted her favorite cookie recipe so I will post the new cookie I tried (By the way, my kids love it - it's Madison's new favorite cookie).

Irresistible Jif Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe

3/4 cup extra crunchy peanut butter

1/2 cup Crisco shortening

1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

3 Tbls. milk

1 Tbls. vanilla

1 egg

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Place sheets of foil on countertop for cooling cookies.

2. Combine peanut butter, shortening, light brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until well blended. Add egg. Beat just until blended.

3. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls 2" apart onto ungreased baking sheet. Flatten slightly in crisscross pattern with tines of fork. (I dip mine in sugar so they won't stick)

4. Bake at 375°F for 7-8 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown.

Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet.

Remove cookies to foil to cool completely.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Creamy Chocolate Frosting

INGREDIENTS
2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, sift together the confectioners' sugar and cocoa, and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter until smooth, then gradually beat in sugar mixture alternately with evaporated milk. Blend in vanilla. Beat until light and fluffy. If necessary, adjust consistency with more milk or sugar.

Two Down...Two To Go!

Saturday, Natlalie and Lyndsey finished the 2nd of the 4 competitions that are scheduled for the year. Their team took 2nd and did a GREAT job. It is so interesting to see the different teams compete and to see all the different dance ideas. Once again, we are just a bit proud.

No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow. ~Proverb

It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain

I absoloutely LOVED the beautiful spring day that we had today!! The spring days that we have had this year have been few and far between. I am afraid that we will not have much of a spring. I don't want to go directly from winter to a HOT summer!!! I wish that our spring season would last a little bit longer. I think that the temperature and weather that we had today was pretty much perfect. While Lyndsey was at dance Madison, Natalie, Mason and I went to Barnes park and enjoyed the day - just a little bit. Some of the things we LOVE about spring are:

Light spring breezes through the air

Temperature of about 70-75 degrees

Beautiful spring flowers and blossoms

Flip - flops and barefeet in the grass

Feeling the warm sun on my face

Finding new birds nests in our trees & listening to them chirp

(we were kind of sad - one nest already fell out and we found the little eggs)

Watching Powder (our dog) lay in the sun

Playing outside with the kids (lightening, tetherball, jumping on the tramp, soccer & jump rope)

Hopefully the days will last a little longer....HAPPY SPRING!!

Dance Competitions Begin-

Sisters that play together - Stay Together




This year we have started the dance competition season. Lyndsey and Natalie are both part of the LightBox Dance Co. This year they will have 4 different times that they will perform in 4 different competitions. They performed once in March and will perform once in April and twice in May. Both Lyndsey and Natalie love to show off their dance moves and they absoloutely love the make-up and hair (I will say that while I am doing their hair they don't really like it too much). They have worked really hard this year and they are AWESOME dancers. We love to watch them dance.

Stadium of Fire

Yep, you guessed it! Miley Cyrus (otherwise known as Hannah Montana) will be performing at the Stadium of Fire on July 4th in Provo, UT. The next question you might ask is why we would be so excited. Well, the person you might want to ask is Lyndsey. Lyndsey dances with LightBox Dance. LightBox dances every year at the Stadium of Fire. This year Lyndsey will have the opportunity to dance with MILEY!!!!! She is just a tad excited!! She has already promised all of her friends that she will get personal autographs for each of them (she hopes....yeah - uh, right). But you never know when it comes to Lyndsey. She just might get her way. Anyway, at least she will get the chance to say that she was a "backup" dancer for Miley Cyrus! More details to come....

Hello Blogging World!

Well, I guess I have succumbed into the world of blogging. I was being left in the dust by my sister-in-laws and having difficulty staying up with the times. I think that this will be another effort in "scrapbooking". I have heard that this is the best way to now keep up on my family and to help preserve our memories. Most people know that my scrapbooking has gone by the way side (I know, I know - please don't mention the Christmas scrapbook calendars). However, I have loved looking at other blogs and I know how much my kids love to see family. So, here we go - hopefully I will update my blog every once & a while.

I think I'm pretty fast!

106 words

Speed test>

I found this from my sister-in-laws (Julie) blog. I thought it was a lot of fun and then I thought if I ever need a new job I should look into something that has to do with typing! If any one of you try it - good luck!!