Wordless Wednesday

Milestones

Every week I think I'm coming here to write about food.
Every week I write about my kids.
Every week they surprise me.
Every week I'm more proud.

Last week we had the honor of watching Aspen.
She performed for the first time at the State Speech competition in Kearney, NE.
She performed in the VERY competitive poetry division.
She medaled in her first State Speech EVER.

For those that have never attended I cannot believe the intense pressure of the day.

This was before the 2nd round.

There are 2 rounds with 1 judge each round.

There were 3 groups of 6 kids each.

The level of these kids was amazing.

She spent a lot of time alone at this table.

She thinks too much sometimes.

I'm not sure where she gets that.

The 1st round started at 9:30.

The 2nd round started at 12:30.

Finals were not announced until 3:00.

The waiting to find out whether she was going to be in the top 6...

EXCRUCIATING.

This was incredible.

She stood on the podium.

She put her heart into this.

She worked harder at this than I've every seen her work.

It paid off for her tenfold...

This is what accomplishment looks like.

It's also what exhaustion looks like.

Our night ended at 6:30 p.m.

Let me tell you about this speech team.

For (I believe) the 12th year this team

has placed 1st or 2nd overall against schools from Omaha.

(Kudos to Brownell-Talbot by the way, simply amazing talent.)

Aside from the parents there was 1 administrator that attended and

1 teacher.

What an awesomely talented group of kids that Hartington continually produces.

Thank you to Coaches Kathol and Johnson for your time and energy and your

consistent belief and expectation in these kids to succeed.

NOW...

No blog of mine is complete without a bit about Madame R.

Last weekend we discovered the most wiggly, teeny, tiny, tooth.

Sadi spent a week performing oral surgery.

R waffled between wanting it out and never giving it up.

Success came.

WHILE I WAS GONE!

Do you realize this is my last first lost tooth?

I do. I cried. Jeff laughed. Fairy came. The end.

I did bake on Saturday:

These are amazing.

I found the recipe over at Within The Kitchen.

Click HERE for the recipe.

YUM!

Children... Pain... Love...

Children.
Hug them today.

Rubi's teacher has suffered a terrible tragedy and will bury her youngest son on Wednesday.
It's a pain no parent should ever suffer.
Ever.

So this week...
All I ask...
Is that you LOVE with abandon.

Now We Are Six

I am reminded today how quickly life goes by.

6 years ago I was giving birth

to the Spectacular Madame R.

I thought, BELIEVED, that she was an Oscar.

SHE was not.

She's been a wonderful way to end.

I wonder why I've been given so much?

I wonder how I can make the following poem true?

I love the poem below. It's NEVER, thru all my kids meant more than right, exactly, now...

Now We Are Six

Author: A.A. Milne

When I was one,

I had just begun.

When I was two,

I was nearly new.

When I was three,

I was hardly me.

When I was four,

I was not much more.

When I was five,

I was just alive.

But now I am six,

I'm as clever as clever.

So I think I'll be six

now and forever.

The many faces of Rubi:

Happy Birthday who all those who are 6!

Wordless Wednesday

Inspiration

HA!
Believe it or not
I heard from the Rachael Ray Show!
I kid you NOT!

Whether I was captivating enough
to warrant a visit to the show
remains to be seen.
However,

It did jump start me to
experiment a tiny bit.
I made more cupcakes.
They didn't go quite as I planned.

I started here.
Chocolate and peanut butter.
I started with a recipe off of 52cupcakes.
I used the Reese's hearts at the bottom of the liners.

I think they were a bit too small.

I would use mini cupcakes next time or

WHOLE regular peanut butter cups.

This is what I ended up with.

I ordered a bag of BABY peanut butter cups 

from Country Kitchen Sweet Art.

I also did a peanut butter buttercream.

The cake was awesome.

The hearts were too small and thus overdone.

The frosting was to die for!

Probably my most inventive to date.
And my least successful...

Yep those are Froot Loops you see in that batter!

My kids said, "WHY would you put Loops in a cupcake?"

I said, "Why not? The box was sitting there."

I started with this:

Now before you get your dander up.
I have MANY recipes that are not mix based.
However, when I see interesting flavors I buy them.
Mixes are good for gooey butter cakes and some cookies.

I doctored things up a bit,
Threw in 2 handfuls of Froot Loops,
Used orange juice...

I added orange buttercream.

I added crushed Froot Loops.

The cake was one of the best I've had.

The Froot Loops shrunk up and became tough and gummy.

I would NOT add Froot Loops to the batter again.

I think I can figure out how to make it work though.

The frosting was orange too.

Orange buttercream is dreamy.

I WILL make this again just the same way!

So Rachael whether you call me back or not

I'm gonna keep on experimenting.

There is so many interesting things you can throw

in a cake.

Thanks for thinking of me Rachael and pushing me

to keep baking. (Even though you're not a baker.)

Rubi has told everyone she's going to the Rachael Ray Show.

I love that girl...

And Rachael if you are listening...

I would LOVE to have a bright yellow KitchenAid Stand mixer...

Wordless Wednesday