It just occurred to me

What if its not the recipe at fault here, but something I miss-measured or forgot to put in when I was putting the thing together?

But the flavor was the same in both bags... so it was something I did more than once.


Ugh.

I don't think I'll do those again. Well, maybe in my own kitchen...Then I could set up stations and get a few friends together to help. And re-read the directions over and over again.

brownies

so, our ward does one of those ultra craft days where you can make something like 6 different items and most would make great Christmas presents.

This year they offered some great stuff, some ok stuff, and some good values.

The good values were in the form of brownies in a bag, and pumpkin muffins in a bag. At 50 cents each, this was a good value.

I ordered 4 of each. I thought these would make great co-worker and neighbor gifts.

I showed up at the activity to make my mixes. they even provided a cute holiday themed bag!

Anyway, I think we gave 6 away and were given one.

So a few nights ago I thought, yum, lets make some of these brownies. Since we had a choice we decided to keep the brownie mixes for last just in case we didn't give them all away.

So I followed the directions, except I used a substitute for the buttermilk. Seriously, who keeps or buys buttermilk on a regular basis? So I bought one of those containers of dry powder that you use to replace buttermilk. It was in the cooking isle.

So I followed the other directions to a T. I put it in an 8x8x2 pan and dutifully set my oven to 400 degrees and my timer to 40 minutes.

At 40 minutes my fork didn't come out clean. (I was out of toothpicks). It was so bad that I set the timer for another 20 minutes. After that it was still not clean.

I set it for another 10 minutes.

After that, I think I went for another 5 and then it was finally done.

The top of the brownies were slightly burned, but the brownies were done!

And the result. They just weren't very chocolatey despite the extra chocolate chips that were in the mix. Even my hubby didn't like them.

Well, tonight I decided to try them again. This time I put them in a 9x13 cake pan.

I wasn't certain that this would solve the problem that I had the other night, so I set the timer for 35 minutes to hopefully avoid overbaking.

At 35 minutes they were almost there and I set them for another 5 minutes.

they were done.

And they weren't very good! I thought that because they were made with chocolate chips and buttermilk that they would be extra yummy. And they were just not very good.

I'm totally surprised and a little bummed because we have another mix on the cupboard to be used. I guess if I throw it away it was only 50 cents.

So the moral of this story is this - if you make a mix at a super activity, try it out before you give it away. Lucky for us the only person we gave the brownie mix to was a bachelor and will most likely never make it, or will re-gift it.

I'm mildly worried about the pumpkin muffin mixes we gave out....

Life

So, here it is. New Years Eve.

Our big plans? We're going to stay home, go to bed at our normal time. I guess we're just boring.

Hubby has tomorrow off.

AND!

Tomorrow I get to pick up my spinning wheel!! Hooray! I've been waiting nearly 3 weeks. It had to be shipped from New Zealand.

Anyway, I'm super excited about that.

C and A had a great Christmas. They've been playing madly with their new Christmas toys and only destroyed about half of them so far.

I still haven't decided if I like the whole 'buy my own Christmas gift' thing we did this year.

I was told I was going to be released as a nursery teacher a few weeks ago, but that didn't happen. Yesterday they gave me a roster of sorts for next year. so I guess I'm staying. It had my name on it.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Each week my back hurts and is sore for days after nursery. I think that had to do with all of the bending and lifting. I'm going to try and stay in the game for a while longer. I like nursery. Just don't care for the pain.

Our nursery is going to be down to about 5 kids (YAY!). We were up to 14 when everyone was there. But that didn't happen often. We averaged about 10-12. I'm hoping with the reduced number of kids there will be reduced pain. If so, I'll stay. If not, I'll try to stay a few months and then I'll ask to go.

If last week had been this week, and the older kids had already moved on to Sunbeams, we would have had 1 kid. It sounds like a vacation to me! I think we may take the time to clean out the toys closet and organize our other suppplies.

Hubby and I also serve with the 8 yr old scouts. so if I ask to be released from nursery, its not like we're slacking.

Anyway, I really hope that it all works out.

Look what I made!

Golf Club covers. 3-9 irons and one pitching wedge.



Yes, I am married to a rabid BYU fan.

Onions

OK, so I wear contacts. cutting onions? No big deal.

Today I hadn't put my contacts in yet and was making hubby's favorite Green bean tator tot cassorole for a special treat. My eyes were also tired and a little irritated from a late night. I was about 1 minute into dicing an onion when it hit me. First the pain and then the tears. Then a moment of relief as the tears helps. then pain again. It was about 5 minutes of this cycle. When I finally finished I just wanted to find somewhere to sit and not open my eyes for a while.

OUCH

I really feel for anyone who regularly cuts onions and don't get to wear contacts.

Remind me

Remind me never to obsess about something over and over and then expect people to not know what the big mysterious gift coming is.

:)

I guess I should have realized. I also mentioned the mystery to another of my sisters and she was like, "oh, you're getting a spinning wheel?".

Yeah, no surprise. Oh well. :)

So yeah, I'm getting a spinning wheel for Christmas. A Majacraft Suzie Pro. It has to come all the way from New Zealand so most likely won't be here for Christmas since I ordered it on the 12th or sometime around there. It probably won't even ship until today. I was hoping for a tracking number, but most likely won't get it. I ordered it from my local yarn shop/sheep farmer (support your local farmer!), and it will be shipping to them, and I'll be picking it up from there.

Anyway, in family news Mom and Dad keep trying to freak me out by saying their mission call could come by early Feb and they would leave soon after that. Really, its exciting. The reason I'm freaking out is that by virtue of living next door to them, as soon as they leave we are responsible for feeding the 2 goats and making sure their pipes don't freeze (whoa, how will we do that? They heat by a fireplace and oil furnace. Oil is expensive... sorry, tangent) and we still haven't figured out who will pay their bills, or how it will be done.

It is exciting. Really. I'm really pleased that they are going on their mission. I hope they get a call that uses their skills. Dad is a bit of a jack of all trades, and Mom can play a mean piano, and anything musical, as well as great management skills. I know that wherever they get called, they will love it.

so change of subject.

Christmas is a little wierd to me this year. I know exactly what I'm getting. I even chose my stocking present. A clover needle felting tool! Purchased from my local yarn shop!

On one hand its great! I know what I'm getting and I'm loving what I'm getting. On the other hand, there isn't the normal Christmas excitement or something. there is an element missing somehow. I haven't decided if thats bad yet. :)

Just to explain - this year we decided to tell each other what we wanted. Hubby has a birthday near Christmas as well and we decided that he would tell me what he wanted there as well. The weird part was that he didn't even tell me. He just went shopping a couple of times on his lunch hour and bought some new clothes. I argued that he needed them, so they didn't count and he said they counted. So... I guess they do.

So that is the weird part. I didn't even have a hand in getting him a gift. Weird.

And his stocking. I was going to fill it with gag gifts from the dollar store, and maybe a few things from the regular store ($10 doesn't go far) and then he said don't bother. I'd rather have some nice chocolate. But then he says he's going to buy a new baseball hat for a bowl game he is going to and I told him that at ~$21 that could be his stocking gift.

So yeah, this Christmas is a little weird this year.

sheep Sheep and More shEep

We went ahead and bought 2 more sheep for a total of 4 sheep. Its fun to keep them. Sheep seem to be easy keepers. They don't try to get out. They can be friendly.

The first 2 sheep we bought were bottle babies and are used to humans around. One even comes and plays with the kids. He would follow them around the yard if we let him out. today C had the container for the chicken feed and Charlie the friendly sheep wanted to see what was in it. It startled C a little and so she ran, but was giggling the whole time. I was watching carefully just in case it became a sheep attack of some sort. But C was giggling the whole time. I did step in front of Charlie and slow him down at one point . Just to make sure he didn't actually catch C. I wasn't sure what he was going to do. I was probably being overprotective. The only thing Charlie ever does to that chicken feed container is try and see if there is food in it and then he nibbles on the container.

I'm glad we got the animals. Even if their only benefit is to give the kids experience with animals, since we don't think we'll have any inside animals. We don't like the shedding. At one point we did have a yellow lab. But that thing shed year round. We had yellow hair on everything. While moving (4-5 years after we found him a new home) we pulled out a blanket and it was covered with hair.

The sheep will give us about 5+ pounds of wool each. The Chickens give us 3 eggs most days. They take about 1 day off a week. The rabbit...well, we are halfheartedly trying to find him a home. She will give a couple of ounces of really soft fur in the spring. But I've been questioning if it is really worth it. The poor thing sits inside her cage all day. She's afraid of people. she's afraid to be out of her cage. I don't know what to do with her. But I don't feel great about her being outside in this really cold weather.

So an announcement.

Something big is coming to our house for a Christmas present. I'll keep you in suspense until it arrives!

Happy holidays!

Enchanted

So I was reading a favorite blog the other day and they had posted some Youtube videos from Enchanted and said that the songs were stuck in their head.

I was watching them and the kids came in and they were mesmerized.

If you haven't seen any videos from Enchanted, here are a couple.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv350WPnBNk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KObgs81QyR4&feature=related

The movie looks like a lot of fun. Probably one that we will have to own one day.

now for a real post

sorry about that last post. I was typing on a computer in the same room my hubby had been asleep in for 3 hours. you'd think he'd be sound asleep, but somehow I woke him up. so I was trying to finish my post and was super concious of every single key stroke. Therefore use of backspace was denied. Anyway, here is a real post.

We have a new neighbor. Not a big deal. The only thing is hearing heavy machinery for the next few months. and then again when he builds his house. But he seemed like a nice guy when I (nosy neighbor) shouted through a space in the trees and introduced myself. He seemed like a nice guy.

Our other neighbor whose house has been for sale for a few months now is another story. He bought the house last December right out of a divorce. He lived there for a few months and then moved in with a girlfriend. That was ok because he had some strange friends over there from time to time. Then his sister moved in with her hubby and 2 kids. She seemed ok, but her hubby was a little different. One day he road their 4 wheeler around and around in some water from their above ground pool that they had drained. I think there might have been some drinking involved. He did that for about 3-4 hours. And then there was the 2 week period where they kept having bonfires in the backyard at 1-3 in the morning. Not a big deal you say? Well, out here in the somewhat country there are not as many things in the way blocking the sound. My parents (with my property in the middle ) were kept awake by their noisy antics. I was woken up a few times, but Mom is more sensitive to noise at night due to her working nights half the week. Anyway, after Mom called the cops at 3am, they only had one more bonfire.

This was not huge for us, not a party, but bearable, until we realized that they were stealing wood from our woodpile in order to fuel these bonfires. Ok, I don't know if they stole more than one log (they put it back on our woodpile half burned) but that was enough. Wood costs money! And that is how we heat our home in the winter. So if I had had the guts (and not cared about neighbor relations) I should have marched up to their front door and demanded payment. But I didn't. all I did was put up a 'no trespassing' sign to replace the much worn one. I hoped that they would get the drift.

Anyway about November first the sister and family moved out. The house was still for sale. Strange thing was that the owner never did any clean up. There were still a large pile of garbage near the back door from the sister moving out, and a huge pile of broken cement and junk on the side of the property. For me and other members of the family, this was weird because when you are selling a house (especially in this market) you have it spic and span. Repaint and clean the carpets. The yard needs to be immaculate. Nothing like that ever happened over there. And we have to pass this place every time we leave home.

So yesterday the for sale sign had a new addition. It said 'short sale'. So I called the realtor to get the scoop. I had met the realtor when the owner bought the house. He had come and introduced himself and asked about the neighborhood and also the former owners. Also about the well which is shared with my parents home. Anyway, nice LDS guy.

He filled me in that after the owner had moved in with his girlfriend he married her and then got sick for a few months. This was a problem because he owned his own buisiness and was unable to work and so no income. So then his sister became unable to pay the mortgage, and that was when he put the house on the market.

He has it listed at 184,000 or so, but I know he bought it for around 160,000. So he must have borrowed more than he needed for upgrades and improvements. But now he can't afford the house, so the bank has to deal with it. Anyway, in today's market the house, although on 1 acre is probably worth $120,000. It has a huge 3500 worthless shop in the back that is dark, drafty and scary and it just needs to be knocked down because its taking up valuable real estate.

The house is a wreck . It was built in the 60's and not taken care of. When I met the realtor I begged for a tour of the house and shed. It was very small. Had 1.5 baths, 3 bedrooms. One bedroom was about the size of my closet. The other bedrooms are about as big as my kids rooms, including the master (what master?). The floor under the washing machine when stood on, you could bounce. If you tore down the shop, stripped and redid the house from the studs, floors included, could be worth a decent amount of money. But I don't think there is any profit in it. The people who owned it before this guy were house flippers and they barely got out with their shirts. They probably lost money. Also, the house has a one car garage that is very very sad. Made out of old mobile home material. Get my drift? This place is sad.

Well, I've got to go and pick up C from preschool.

New neighbors

We recently discovered that our neighbor sold his front acre. Its the one right next to the street. It makes his house back from the road, and once the new neighbor builds it will make it so cars driving by can;t see his house.

So we aren't unhappy about it. There is a thick row of trees between the neighbor and us so it's not like we can see him.

Anyway, that is all on that subject. I think I'm keeping hubby up with my typing.

The birds!

So about this time every year we reenact scenes from Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds". Its kind of cool. And no, we don't have a problem with poop. I don't know why. Maybe its because the birds like to hang out in the trees that are in the neighbors yard instead of ours?












All I can say is that these pictures don't show anywhere near all of the birds we have hanging out around here. But it gives you and idea.

We also had our first snow a few weeks ago. Just a skiff.



We also went to hubby's company Christmas party! We had a whole lot of fun!