What's the Next Holiday After Halloween?

The movie New Moon is coming out next month as many of you know (and some of you have been counting down the days for a while now!). I’ve never been to a Twilight party myself, but have heard of MANY of them so I’d imagine the New Moon parties will be starting soon. I found a few ideas to share for your party, but even if you don’t like Twilight, take a peek at the last photo!

I love all the fun and elegant party ideas Jennifer always has on her totally amazing blog Hostess with the Mostess and she has lots of ideas for Twilight parties posted already. She also said that a New Moon party post will be up soon. Of course, those will have more wolf Here are a few pics from her blog.

You can even download and print the labels.

I found this blog dedicated to all things Twilight called Tara's Twilight Party . You can get so many ideas there…like these.

The fun place setting idea she came up with to stick a fork (remember where the story takes place) into an apple.

I found this recipe for Vampire Cookies on Recipezaar.

I can’t seem to find many ideas for the wolf-pack part of the story yet. I’m sure lots of creative people out there will start posting them soon. Go, Jacob! (Don’t attack me!)

I’m sure that you have seen lots of great ideas. But what got me thinking about all this since I’m not into Twilight the way so many people are, is this fabulous necklace that I found during my blog browsing. Have you seen it? It would be so fun to give one to each of your guests as a party favor or with the invitation. Wouldn’t they be soooo happy to have something so great? Or you could buy one to wear just for you. And not just to wear at a party, but to the movie and whenever. Can you believe they are only $10??? Sew Simply Sweet
I wanna know…Are you planning a New Moon party?

A Spooky Picnik

Are you having a good time with all things spooky and creepy for Halloween? Here's another thing to add to your list of things to do. Go to www.picnik.com where you can edit your photos to make them eerie or just fun. I edited a few of ours and then my children had lots of fun doing some of their own. Here are a few of the monsters we have hiding in our family tree.

Chocolate Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake

I've made this a few times, but can't remember where I found the recipe. I sprinkled almonds on top of part of the cake this time because I was in the mood for nuts and they were all I had. Sometimes I sprinkle powdered sugar on top or drizzle a glaze. Next time I think I'll even add coconut to the top. Since you soak the oatmeal in the boiling water, you can't even tell there's oatmeal in the cake. It's moist and chocolatey!
Chocolate Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cake
1 c. quick oats
1 3/4 c. boiling water
1 c. sugar
2 lg. eggs
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 c. brown sugar
1 3/4 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 T. baking cocoa
1 (12-oz.) package semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided

Preheat oven to 350º. Mix the oat and boiling water, let stand for 10 minutes.

Stir in the sugar, eggs and butter. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa, and 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips. Mix flour mixture into liquid mixture until well combined. Pour into greased 9x13-inch pan. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips over batter. Bake for 40 minutes.

Breakfast Empanaditas

Since the recipe I’m posting today is one that I created, I figured I’d include these other two items I created in the same post. Of course, they are very easy crafts that I just painted and stuck stuff on, stuff like that, since other people cut the wood and the metal, but I normally don’t do any crafts so I am was glad to make them anyway. Yay for Super Saturdays! Now my children all want me to do their names with blocks. Alex wants an Oriental background (dragons or something like that).

On to the recipe-- I made up this recipe many, many years ago after I had eaten a few regular empanadas and liked them. Empanadas are great because you can hold ‘em in your hand and eat on the go. Maybe that’s why there are versions of the same sort of food from many countries throughout the world. For mine, I put together a whole bunch of breakfast foods and stuffed them in a biscuit. Easy to make, easy to eat. I’ve made these on Christmas Eve to warm up on Christmas morning since I don’t want to take the time to make a whole breakfast, but I don’t want us all eating just sugar either.

I’ve had many requests for this recipe over the years and many people are surprised that I use refrigerated biscuits for the dough. You can use just one biscuit per empanadita to make them small or flatten two together for a slightly bigger one. Elisa thinks you should only use one since I call them “empanaditas” which means “small empanada”. The kids helped me make them this time and we were able to throw them together quickly. I usually use egg white on top, but since I had egg yolks left over from making meringues, I just used the yolks, leaving the tops very yellow—quite pretty according to Sabrina, who brushed them on.

I admit that I don’t really measure anything. I just throw the ingredients together. Of course, you can add or subtract your favorite veggies. And you don’t have to use sausage at all.

Breakfast Empanaditas

½ c. breakfast sausage
1 med. potato, grated
1 green onion, chopped
3 eggs
1/3 c. water
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 t. parsley
¼ c. black olives, chopped
1 c. cheddar cheese
3 pkg. refrigerated biscuits
1 egg white, whisked
Poppy seeds, optional

Preheat oven to 425º. Coat a heated skillet with just a thin layer of oil and heat. When oil is hot, brown sausage, then remove and set aside in medium bowl. In oil remaining in skillet, brown potato together with green onion, stirring occasionally. Add to sausage. Beat eggs together with water and parsley. Make scrambled eggs, then add them to bowl along with the salt and pepper and olives.

Open biscuit packages. Take individual biscuits and flatten so they are thinner and larger circles, being careful not to tear dough. Holding a biscuit in one hand, sprinkle middle only with cheese and then a bit of filling. Fold dough in half and press edges with fingers or a fork. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat with each biscuit. Beat the egg white and brush onto tops only of empanaditas. Sprinkle tops with poppy seeds, if desired. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes.

The two rows on the left side are made with one biscuit each and the two rows on the right were with two biscuits each.

Elizabeth's English Bakery & Tea Shop

My sister Sheri watches a lot of British shows and has long wanted to travel to Great Britain, but she has never been (same with me). We decided to go to Elizabeth's English Bakery & Tea Shop in Salt Lake for the first time for a bit of a birthday celebration for my sister’s birthday. I saw it across the street from Trolley Square before, but had never been inside. Just to let you know, you won’t find any pics of us in this post. Sheri really, REALLY doesn’t like her picture taken and I didn’t think it was fun to pose alone. But there are lots of photos here.
Elizabeth’s is inside a cute historic building and right next door to The London Market which I’ll talk about later. There is a driveway in between the two buildings with some parking in the back and the buildings both have entrances from the parking lot and in the front on the street. We parked in the back and went into Elizabeth’s Bakery. There is a large menu on the wall with the savory choices like soup of the day, salad, quiche (large slices), crumpets ($3.50/2), pies/pastries like Curried Vegetable Pasty ($5.85) or Kate & Sydney Pie (Steak & Kidney $6.50), or sarnies also known as sandwiches (cucumber ($3.75) or ham or English Bangers in a sandwich ($4.95)to name a few) to name a few choices. Then they had 2 glass cases with some of the savory pastries and all of the desserts: Tarts, Lamingtons (which I’ve always wanted to try), English scones ($2.25), éclairs, trifles, tea cakes… And you can choose a tea (of course!), or a British soda or other British drink in their refrigerated case, but I opted for water.

Sheri and I actually decided to have the same thing (pretty rare indeed!)—a Cornish pasty ($6.25). Of course, I couldn’t leave without taking a dessert too, so I bought a small lemon tart ($1.95). (I shared it with my children when I got home and my little piece was sooo good—pulp in the lemon curd!) You order at the counter and then take a seat at one of the tables in their not large, but not too small dining room. They send you to your seat to wait for your food to be delivered to you. Instead of handing you a number to stick on your table, they give you a photo of something British. I didn’t see any of the other ones, but we had the Beatles.

The interior is cute with shelves of assorted tea pots (and a few pictures of the queen) on the brick walls. For some reason, this bell boy teapot was my favorite.

We didn’t wait very long for our food to come. Those Cornish pasties were sure big. You could get a side like baked beans or a salad, but I wouldn't have had room for it. It reminded me of an empanada with thicker crust. It had beef sausage, swede (which I later found out was turnips, first time I tried them), onion and carrots. It was pretty good. It was sprinkled with a heavy amount of pepper. I like pepper but it was more than I would normally use and Sheri never eats pepper so it was way too much for her. I know she didn’t like it much, but she never let on just how much she disliked it. I’m honestly not sure I’ve seen her eat something she didn’t like in a very long time. I felt bad since it was supposed to be her birthday celebration. And she didn’t like any of the dessert choices. Some celebration with no dessert!

But after we were done there, we had just a few minutes to check out London Market next door. They have different boxed or canned foods, along with a large assortment of candies and biscuits (cookies). Of course, since they are imported, they aren’t cheap. They aren’t all British. They also have products from Australia, and different parts of Europe, and I assume they are popular in England. They also have British souvenirs and photos and different gifts.

Can you tell this photo below is the candy wall? And they had more than just that wall of candy.

These potato chip bags look like Lay's, but my grocery store doesn't have "Prawn Cocktail" flavor.

Sheri just got a small bag and I spotted a Violet Crumble that I have been wanting for quite a while. It’s a candy bar with a crispy “honeycomb” center that I can’t seem to find anywhere. I shared it with Alex and Elisa at home and they like it too.

I thought it was fun how they (most of the world, I assume) have “Energy” on the nutritional information measured in kJ. That takes me back to chemistry classes. And 8.6 grams of fat in a 50 gram candy bar didn’t seem too bad to me.

Next time I go to the bakery, I’ll get the Cadbury hot chocolate with a dessert. I haven’t decided which one yet. My children really want to be there next time though for treats at the bakery AND the store.

Elizabeth’s English Bakery & Tea Shop

575 S. 700 East

Salt Lake City

(801) 433-1170

Mi Familia Eterna

Today was our primary program at church. For those of you who haven’t heard of it, it is a program where the children get up in front of all the congregation (very brave!) and have short parts to share things that they learned throughout the year and sing songs that are related to the same themes. This year we learned all about families. It was funny because the Sunbeams (the youngest children) all memorized their parts and said them clearly and without hesitation. The older children did well too.

At the very end of the program, a few families were asked to go up front and sing “Las familias pueden ser eternas” (Families Can Be Together Forever, but we go to a Spanish ward). We were one of the families asked to sing it. When it came time for us to sing, the girls and I were all up in the choir seats already. I motioned for Robin to join us so he came up. He had moved down from the stand to watch the program, but wasn’t sitting with Alex. He had been sitting all alone in a pew. I motioned for him to come up, but he wouldn’t. He had already told me that he wouldn’t come up, but I had hoped that if I motioned for him in front of everyone, he’d decide to come up. He didn’t. So we sang the song about Heavenly Father giving us a family and that we could be together for eternity.




I know it’s silly, but as we were singing, I was just so sad that my whole family wasn’t there together. Alex was off by himself and I could see him, but there wasn’t anything I could do to bring him. It brought tears to my eyes. After we got to the car, I told Alex that I was sad that he chose not to sing with us and we were incomplete up there. He said, “You were?” I asked him how he felt down there. I expected him to say, “Comfortable”, but instead he said, “Lonely”.

I hope and pray that my whole family (husband, children, parents, siblings, in-laws…) can be together for eternity because of our choices and decisions in this life. I know that if even one person is missing, I will miss him or her

Raspberry Meringues

Sometimes a mistake in the kitchen can turn out to be something wonderful (and sometimes NOT). I made dinner for a family who just had a baby and I ALWAYS include a dessert with it. I had just gone to the store to get everything I needed (so I thought) when I started taking all of the ingredients out for the mint meringues I was planning on making. I took out the mint extract and tried to pour it in the measuring spoon to get it ready. Nothing came out. For some reason, I had put the empty mint extract bottle away after I used it all a while ago. ?? I didn’t have time to run back to the store so I decided I’d use one of my other extracts. I had coconut, maple, almond and orange. Then I saw the raspberry extract that I bought when it was on sale and hadn’t used yet. Since I was making the meringues pink (for the little girl they had), raspberry would work well.

I had never used it before so I didn’t know how strong it was. How much should I use? The same amount as the mint extract? I put in the same amount as the mint and hoped it would work. This isn’t the kind of recipe that you can taste the dough (basically just raw egg whites and sugar, ewww!) so I put them in the oven wondering how they’d come out. When I pulled them out, I didn’t wait long to try one. Oh, YUMMMMMM! I really like them. The kids came home from school and this is what they said about them.

Elisa: “I like them better than the mint ones.”
Alex: “They are really good, but I like both.”
Sabrina (who only eats 3 other desserts that I make): “They are soooo good. Can I have another?”

Even Robin said he liked them and came back for more and he doesn’t have a sweet tooth at all. Yeah! I’m glad I ran out of mint extract. I don’t think I like them better than the mint ones because I really like those too, but I will make them both ways many times! Hooray for mistakes!! Well, this one.
Raspberry Meringues
2 egg whites
½ c. sugar
¼ t. cream of tartar
½ t. raspberry extract
6-8 drops green or red food coloring (optional)
1 c. regular or mini semisweet chocolate chips
Additional chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 200º. Grease WELL 2 baking sheets. In large bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Add sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time; continue to beat, scraping bowl occasionally until mixture holds stiff, glossy peaks. Add mint extract and mix for 30 seconds. Add food color and mix for another 30 seconds. Gently fold in chocolate chips. Drop meringue mixture by rounded teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Decorate tops of cookies with additional chocolate chips, if desired. Bake until outsides of cookies are dry and set, about 1 hour. Cookies should not turn brown. Let cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to racks and let cool completely. Store airtight.
Yield: About 3 dozen

Potato Sticks

This post could have been called "Who Knew Something So Very Ugly Could Taste That Good?" Wait, don't leave! I found this recipe in the book "Beyond Burlap" from the Junior League of Boise. It was full of ways to use potatoes, fresh or frozen. I wanted to try something different so I tried this twist on a breadstick. Unfortunately, however, I didn't realize that kneading the dough by hand would take so long and we had an unexpected visitor in the middle of making them so I didn't have enough time to do them well. I mixed them up as well as I could (the hashbrowns mix into the dough completely eventually) and quickly formed the shapes. I had hoped that they would kinda fix themselves in the oven, but as you can see, they didn't. They are ugly. And I had to pull them out of the oven before they were done completely. The bottoms were lightly browned, but next time I'll let them bake longer.

Even with all that, I liked the unique texture and the taste. I did sprinkle garlic powder and regular table salt on top of all of them and poppy seeds on some before I baked them. I thought they might be bland without the garlic powder and it really made a difference! It has so much butter that I was only planning on tasting a part of one of them, but they were so good I had to eat a couple. Maybe one of my readers will make these the right way and share their pretty photo with us. Or I can update this the next time I make them.

Potato Sticks
10 oz. frozen grated hash brown potatoes, thawed
1 ¼ c. butter, softened
2 ½ c. flour
1 t. salt
2 egg yolks
½ c. half-and-half
Coarse salt, poppy seeds or caraway seeds to taste

Preheat oven to 400º. Mix the potatoes, butter and flour in a bowl. Sir in the salt. Knead on a lightly floured surface until the dough is smooth. Roll 2 tablespoons at a time into the shape of a breadstick. Make shallow diagonal slits in the tops of the sticks. Beat the egg yolks and half-and-half in a bowl. Brush over each potato stick. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Place the potato sticks on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

A Simple Strip of Paper

Not too long ago I was released from my Sunday School teacher calling (to the 12 & 13-year olds) after 4 years doing it. They almost immediately put me in primary as the secretary. Our primary program is this Sunday so we've been practicing a lot. On the Sunday where we handed all the children their little strips of paper with their parts, there were a few children who rarely come that came that day and then a few new children. They watched as all the other children were given papers and asked to go to the front to practice. The primary president quickly re-assigned parts from others who never come to these children who were there and I went around handing them out. It was funny to me to see how they were suddenly so happy to be included and made a part of the program like all the other children. How easy it was to make these children smile.
Of course, it's not always that easy. On most Tuesdays I help in Sabrina's class. This Tuesday I went into the office to check in (that's what volunteers do here) when I saw one of the girls from Sabrina's class on the phone talking to someone (I assume her mother). Not long after I got to their class, the girl returned. I had a table out in the hall next to their room and would call them out one by one to work on reading with them. After a few students, it was the little girl's turn. She came and sat down.

I asked if she was feeling sick and she said, "Yeah". I told her I was sorry and hoped she would feel better soon to enjoy the rest of the day. She said, "I won't. I don't want to be here. I want to go home." After reading a little, I noticed she was struggling so I said, "Let's just do a little more and then you can go back inside to do math." Her response, "I hate math. I hate everything in my class. I don't want to be here." We got to the word "us" and she said, "I can't read that one because I don't know the U sounds." So we worked on them and I told her that maybe she can tell her mom that they can practice at home. She said, "She won't! She doesn't even help me with my homework!" Soon I asked what she was going to be for halloween. She said, "I don't know. Probably just a stupid kid cuz that's what I am." Of course, I told her she wasn't, but she was obviously not in the mood to listen to me." I told her that I hoped the rest of her day would be better and she went back in the room and the next child came out.

After I was done, I went inside the room to give the papers back to the teacher and she was on her way out, telling the kids that they'd be right back. She asked if I could watch them while she was gone and she left with the same little girl. I asked the kids, "Is she sick?" But the children told me that their teacher was taking her to the office because she had a temper tantrum. I told them that she was just having a bad day and maybe needed a friend to be extra nice to her that day. Then the kids started telling me how she is like that everyday.

After school, Sabrina told me that someone in the class wrote and passed around a note that said, "Do you like_____?" and everyone was writing "NO!", but she wrote "yes". I told her how sad I was that they would do that and that could hurt her feelings if she saw it. I was glad that she wrote yes, but it would have been better for her to crumble it up, throw it away and tell them it wasn't nice. Of course, she's a timid little girl so that didn't occur to her.

I was sad that the little girl seemed to be so sad and mad and that I wasn't able to help her feel better. It isn't always as easy as giving them a strip of paper and including them, or giving them a sticker or saying nice things. But I'll keep trying anyway. And I will try to think of ways I can help someone feel included and important this week.

Banana-Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

I have a strange relationship with peanut butter. I love buckeyes and Reese’s cups, but don’t like peanut butter cookies or peanut butter sandwiches. But I decided to try this recipe I found at Abby Sweets because I’m kinda into sandwich cookies right now and I had bananas and yogurt that needed to be used. The cookie is a soft, cakey banana cookie with a creamy peanut butter filling. I thought it tasted like a soft banana peanut butter sandwich topped with chocolate. Although it wasn’t for me, Alex loved them and has eaten quite a few before I steal the rest with some other cookies to give away in Halloween treat plates tonight. Boo!

Banana-Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies
2 c. flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
3/4 c. mashed banana
1/2 c. plain fat-free yogurt
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/2 t. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350º. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together banana and yogurt. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to combine butter and both sugars completely, ten add egg and beat until just combined. Add vanilla.

Alternately mix flour and banana mixture into creamed butter until just combined, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Scoop mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4 inch tip (or you can scoop it onto cookie sheet).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pipe batter into 1 1/4 inch rounds. Bake in oven just until the edges are slightly golden brown--you want the resulting cake to be soft and moist, not crispy. About 10-12 minutes. Transfer parchment to cooling rack and cool completely.

For the filling:
16 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 c. powdered sugar
1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter

In a medium bowl, use and electric mixer to beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add sugar, vanilla and peanut butter and mix until combined. Spoon mixture into a pastry bag with the end cut off.Pipe filling onto the flat side of half of the cakes and then top with the other half of the cakes. Drizzle with chocolate glaze.

Chocolate glaze:
1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 T. butter
1 T. corn syrup

Melt all ingredients in double boiler, or a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water. Mix until smooth. Do not over heat, or it will become grainy. Drizzle over whoopie pies.

Lentil-Beef Chili

Good fall food! I know this photo isn't very appetizing, but maybe you'll be brave and give it a try anyway. This recipe is from Bon Appétit, November 1990. I didn't put leeks in and threw in some flower-shaped pasta. Next time I won't put the pasta in. I actually picked it out and I rarely do that. It was pretty good plain, but it was so good topped with sour cream and eaten with Ritz. To make it a vegetarian dish, just add an extra 8 ounces of lentils.
Lentil-Beef Chili
1 lb. ground beef
2 T. vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
2 leeks (white and pale green parts only), chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
8 oz. lentils
2 (28-oz.) cans crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 c. water
2 T. plus 1 t. chili powder
2 1/2 t. salt
2 t. dried marjoram, crumbled
2 t. dried oregano, crumbled
2 t. dried basil, crumbled
1 t. pepper
1 c. grated Parmesan
Sour Cream

Heat heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground beef and cook until beef is brown, crumbling with fork, about 5 minutes. Drain well. Heat oil in heavy 3-quart saucepan over medium-high. Add onion and next 5 ingredients. Sauté until onion is tender, about 8 minutes.

Add beef, lentils and next 8 ingredients to saucepan. Cover and simmer until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 1/2 hours. Stir in Parmesan. Simmer, uncovered, until mixture is thick, about 15 minutes. Serve, passing sour cream separately.

Is He Calling Me?

Today I was listening to a BYU devotional by Kim B. Clark given on 9/29/2009 called “Are Ye Stripped of Pride?” You know how you can hear a whole talk and everything is good, but there is one particular thing that you seem to focus your thoughts on? (Yep, here I go on one of my crazy pondering moments.) For me with this talk, I kept thinking of one thing that he said about Satan. He said that we need to ignore Satan’s call to enmity toward God because he is calling. (Sorry I don’t have the exact quote. I couldn’t find a written file, only audio.)

Satan’s call really does seem to be loud and prevalent. In contrast, the Holy Ghost’s call may be quiet and drowned out in the world. I actually don’t know anything about bird calls, but I started thinking of our Heavenly Father’s call to us like a parent to his or her baby birds. While Satan is trying to trick us to listen to his call and overpower the voice of our Father, He is still calling us with His perfect love and patience.

So I wondered why birds call and decided to look it up online. On the very first search result, I found such a perfect answer. According to Cornell Lab of Orinthology , there are 4 reasons they call. You won’t believe how perfectly they fit my crazy analogy.

1. “I'm here, where are you?” Our Heavenly Father does not change. We will always know where to find him and what we must do to return to Him. Sometimes when He calls us, He is alerting us that we may be going off the path where we belong or helping us to feel His presence and have confidence that we are doing what He wants us to be doing. I have heard this type of call many times and am so grateful for them.

2. “Follow me” Yes, it actually says that. A more experienced, mature bird will call to the other less experienced birds so that they may follow him while traveling to a new location or in the dark. They use the calls as a guide. Of course, Heavenly Father’s call is our ultimate guide through this life full of darkness and unknown. We can know that we will be safe if we just listen for His call and follow Him.

3. “Predator alert!” Satan is the master deceiver and will lie and trick us into thinking that good is evil and evil is good. He will make it seem that the world’s temporary happiness is the only joy we need. Our Father in Heaven will alert us to Satan’s lies if only we listen and are following Him.

The fourth reason birds call is actually a baby bird (us) calling to his parent. “I'm hungry—feed me!” We all make that call many times throughout our lives. Our hunger may not always be physical hunger. “I’m lonely, stay with me.” “I’m searching for truth, teach me.” “I want to do what is right, guide me.” Our Father is always listening and always there for us. We may not always hear the calls immediately responding, but He does not leave us. He just waits for the right time to call back to us.

First Grade Field Trip

Sabrina has been counting down the days until her field trip to Thanksgiving Point . She even drew this picture of what she wanted to take for lunch.

She wanted: a brownie, sandwich, Kit Kat King Size, Apple Juice and a banana. My kids have my sweet tooth! She drew the picture Monday night when I was too late for me to go get what she wanted, although I wouldn't have given her a king size candy bar, let alone one with a brownie. So she had everything else and a cookie.

I went with her to school where she got to color a picture while they waited for 15 minutes before boarding the bus, where she sat with me and her cute friend Lauren.

The mother helpers were never told what the kids were going to be doing at Thanksgiving Point, but we'd be going to Cornbelly's, their corn maze and pumpkin patch. The bus pulled up right next to it where we could see all the slides, a giant trampoline, and so many fun things. Then they lead us out of the bus and over the opposite direction of all the fun. They still weren't telling us anything while we waited for 10 minutes outside. Then when several of the children had to go to the restroom, they let them in Farm Country just to go to the restroom and then wait outside more. So I went and asked someone what the kids would be doing. I couldn't believe it when she told me that they'd be going in Farm Country, where you can see animals and go on a short wagon ride, but not to Cornbelly's. I couldn't believe that they would park the bus right next to all that fun and then tell the kids that they weren't going there. They were not happy! But they were good sports once we went inside. They had a little class about plants and wheat, along with the Little Red Hen story. They got to make a little necklace with some wheat and soil inside that can grow.

They went on a wagon ride that was fun for all of them.

And we walked around with "Farmer Heather" to see the animals while she taught us a little about each one. They didn't even get to go on the pony rides that other children who came (not with the school) were enjoying.

Then we ate our lunch outside in the chilly wind with clouds that covered the sun most of the time, but it wasn't as cold as it was the week before so I was happy. I'm glad they chose me as one of the mother helpers so I could spend the day with Sabrina. I miss her at home while she's at school all day now.