My Camping Cake:)

Yea!!!! Tomorrow begins the Memorial Day weekend which means (in my family:) ) ..... CAMPING!!! I can't wait to see everyone for our trip to Indiana! It will be a busy weekend - Aricka (my cousin) is graduating from West Lafayette High School, so her party is on Friday and graduation is on Saturday. And then there's all the relaxing and the eating and the Bocce ball....

Well, everyone tries to pitch in and bring food. So, my mom suggested I bring a bag of cookies or something easy and store-bought. But, I just purchased a new cooking magazine and couldn't resist the challenge!!! Oops.

You know the joke that goes... "It's not how beautiful you are on the outside. It's what's on the inside that counts." And then the other person says, " That's what ugly people say." ?

Let's just say you know you really have a doosie of a cooking experience when your mom is encouraging you on the phone by saying, "I bet it tastes really good." :)

Here's my attempt at a homemade "Triple-Decker Strawberry Cake" including "Strawberry Buttercream Frosting".

It started well....

Action Shot

3 Burned Cakes

I learned this trick from Sandra Lee (but it worked a little better for her:) ).

I had to "shave" the cakes. Here's the result - a less burned looking triple-decker.

Shortly after this photo was taken, I called my mom:).

As long as the cake and icing stay cold, I think everything should look OK.... We'll have to wait for this weekend to see how it tastes all together!

For Fans of "The Office"

Well, I've only caught "The Office" TV show here and there. However, this spoof seems to be pretty dead on. Enjoy! :)

Sno Cone Season Has Officially Begun!

We can't wait to make our first Sno Cones of the year!

One More AWANA Video

Here's one more AWANA program video from last week (all videography from the program is courtesy of Nancy Heslop - thanks, Nancy!!). This is the SPARKS group (Kindergarten - 2nd Grade) performing John 3:16. [They really are saying John 3:16 at the beginning.... it just sort of became a "round" rather than saying it all together:). ]

Last Night of AWANA 2008

Tonight, we had our annual AWANA auction and ice cream social. The kids have been working hard all year long earning "AWANA bucks" that they are able to spend at the AWANA store multiple times throughout the year (or save them). Or they can spend them at the AWANA auction. One of our fearless leaders, Kevin, is the auctioneer, and the kids (wth help from their parents) bid on various items. It was a lot of fun, except for the heartbreaking moments when the Cubbies (2-3 year olds) would bid for something and lose. There were multiple tears shed! (I'm not quite sure they totally understood the whole auction thing.) But they were SO proud when they won!

Here is a video from our AWANA Closing Ceremony/Program (last week). It is a group of our 5th and 6th graders performing to Arise My Love by NewSong. The kids worked SO HARD and put in a lot of practice. We were all so proud of them. God was glorified! It was awesome!

2 Cor. 5:15: "and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf."

The New TV

Ta Da!

Set Up....

and Inspection.

I'm hoping that the cable collection behind the TV will be "downsized".

We measured the TV. It's approximately.....

One Emy wide.....

and a half an Emy tall.

The Old TV Stand

Ben and Herbie watching the new TV

We all know the best part about buying something new is the box:) !

(Almost) The Finished Product

Happy Mother's Day!

We love our moms and grandmas!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Landscaping Update

Our plants are GROWING! Ben's standing by our new trellis (inspired by our friends Mitch and Nicole).

Our climbing roses!!!

One of our lilies!!!

Herbie's new friend... Toben

Dinner

Since it's probably been a month since the last time I cooked something besides take-out or grilled cheese, I felt tonight's dinner was worth a blog post..... We had my mom's famous Sweet and Sour Meatballs.... except, she makes her meatloaf without a recipe (which KILLS me.... the accountant/cook can't stand to not have exact measurements). So, I improvised and got a meatloaf recipe from online.... Ummmm.... definitely not as good as mom's. But the sweet and sour sauce was from her recipe, and it tasted yummy. We also had Party Potatoes, green beans, and these cute little Lemon Meringue thingys.




Ben and I purchased a bedroom set and TV this weekend. We've been saving for a while and finally had enough money:). Plus, by buying them together at the same place, we got a better deal! We're so excited to be able to see next year's Purdue scores on our TV (instead of the blurry white blob - just ask our families:) ). And it will be so nice to lean against a headboard instead of the wall when we're reading in bed!