A CHOCOLATE PRODUCT AND RECIPE REVIEW...

So I bought this product this week, expecting great things. I mean, what else would you expect with a name like LAVISH? It wasn't horrible, it just didn't live up to its name. There was one really good bite. I think it must have had a huge chocolate chip in it. Save your $.

But now this, this was really good. I was craving something with that mexican chocolate taste. Love that hint of cinnamon and vanilla in it. Once I had the BEST hot chocolate at Maggie Moo's, and I keep trying to recreate that. They made hot chocolate, then put in a scoop of their cinnamon vanilla ice cream. Have you ever had hot chocolate with a scoop of ice cream? Well, it's wonderful, especially with Cinnamon Vanilla ice cream. Anyway, Maggie Moo's is long-gone around here. I found this recipe and it's a KEEPER!

Cinnamon Brownie Cupcakes (courtesy McCormick seasonings website)
1 c. flour
1 c. cocoa
4 t. cinnamon
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
2 c. sugar
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
3 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
1/2 c. mini chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix first 5 ingredients together. Set aside. Mix sugar, applesauce, eggs and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Gradually stir in flour mixture until well mixed. Stir in chocolate chips. Spoon 1/4 c. batter into 15 paper lined muffin cups. Bake 15 minutes or until done with toothpick test.

NOTE: I reduced it to 2 eggs because I don't like brownies with an eggy taste. I also had to cook it 20-25 minutes to get done. We LOVED the cinnamon-fudgy brownie, but next time I think I will reduce the cinnamon to 3 teaspoons. The nutrition information indicated 4g fat per cupcake, but it would be even less than that with the reduced amount of eggs! Big taste and not a lot of fat. I like it!

MUDDY BUDDIES...

Look at these two little friends...sweet little girly girls with their plastic jewelry on...
My daughter and K playing on the swingset, 1993



Forget the girly girls...just call 'em MUDDY BUDDIES now!
K, from Texas A & M and my daughter completed the Muddy Buddies race! 2010

Isn't it interesting how with some friends you can just pick up where you left off? These two have been separated by distance for a while but are still friends. What a blessing! They went to church together and were in playgroup together for basically the first 8 years of their lives. Although they lost touch for a few years, they reunited again about 5 years ago when my daughter went on "TREK" with K and her youth group in Texas. They went to different colleges, but of course have connected with facebook, and now have enjoyed a challenge getting back together again to do the Muddy Buddies race!

Haven't they grown up to be beautiful young ladies? :)

THE FALL BREAK MYSTERY TRIP...

We decided since our kids all had the same fall break (small miracle!) that we should do something together as a family. That quickly fizzled as our daughter told us she had already made plans.

WHAT? You mean you have your own life now? Without us?

So we looked at all the options within an 8 hour drive of our lovely home. Found an interesting sounding thing in the mountains of New Mexico...

A LLAMA TREK!

Yep. Llamas. We decided NOT to tell the boys. We were a little afraid they might make other plans too, if they knew what we were planning! Not really. Both of them enjoy hiking and stuff. But would you believe we really haven't camped as a family??? It's true. We have each individually had different kinds of camping experiences, but never together. (Too many Marriott points to use from my husband's travel - Yea, I know, it's tough)

Anyway, we spent 3 days and 2 nights with 6 llamas and a guide in the Rio Grande Gorge. It was more like a camping trip with llamas along to tote all the gear. But we did learn their names, got to feed them and lead them through the gorge. We thoroughly enjoyed our guide. He was a Llama handler, science teacher, and gourmet cook all rolled up into one! He's been doing wilderness treks in this area for 19 years. Great guy! I would totally recommend him to anyone. Let me know if you want his name. Here's some pics from the fun:
Beautiful fall colors in New Mexico!
So after meeting our guide here for our trek, he made a change of plan so we wouldn't have to camp in the snow!
Our guide with our son on the rim of the Rio Grande Gorge!
Llama fun...
Of course he got wet
Showing us petroglyphs near our campsite!
Family pic in front of LaJunta peak

MY BABY IN A TUX...

from a concert he was in recently. Wow, he is really growing up! Sorry, just one of those epiphany-type moments...

JUST FOR AMY...OR...HOW MY HUSBAND WAS MY HERO TODAY

What better day than a nice fall Saturday to clean out the shed?

Piglet! Why didn't you tell me a snake was moving in on your territory?
My hero!
Now you're just trying to impress me...CREEPY!
Mr. Snake lives happily ever after in a nearby tree!

REMINISCING...

Imagine trying to have a devotional with this crew! My daughter is wearing a pink bow and my son is on the ground.

Found this photo in a green frame in a box in the attic the other day. It's from 1992, 18 years ago. This is one of those times we met for a vacation with 3 other families that we used to be in Bible study with, before they moved away. I've blogged about them HERE. This time we rented a camp with cabins that had a large swimming pool. We made our kids these t- shirts that say "Make new friends, but keep the old!" with a sharpie marker and let the kids fill in the colors of the clothes with paint. It was a lot of fun. The only regret was multiple ticks found on our kids after we returned home! Ahhh...memories!

THE FRUIT OF THEIR LABOR...

is what we had for dinner the other night. Isn't it great to have friends with gardens? And yes, we made our son and his friends eat all those funky vegetables.


I was actually pretty excited to receive the vegetables as a gift from one of the boys who spent the night last weekend. We ended up making jalapeno poppers, fried okra and potatoes, and fish with onions, peppers and squash. I think that was maybe the second time in 26 years of marriage I breaded my own okra! Add to that the dessert I made from frozen peaches I received from my in-laws earlier this summer, and we had a pretty organic meal!

Note: I said organic, not necessarily healthy.

POLAR BEAR CLUB...

that's the new name of this bunch after they dared jump into the pool last night - on October 8! I had heard a lot of noise outside, so I quickly grabbed my camera, thinking the plunge had begun.

Oh, No. The plunge had not started, they were just...how can I say...doing a little science experiment with the aerosol bug spray and the Bic lighter....so....the Bic lighter was swiftly handed over and the plunging into the pool began.

They're really very sweet boys. We parents just need to make an appearance occasionally to make sure they aren't burning the house down.

GUEST POST....

This is what my son wanted to show me that he has learned in his first 6 weeks of college: how to make his little brother and his girlfriend look totally creepy.
original picture

Sibling love is still questionable...

AM I WEIRD...

for watching ">THIS every day since it happened 10 days ago? I hope not. Just a momma missing her college boy...