{Valentine's Week}
& a couple recipes

It's fun to do some extra things now and then.  Like bake cupcakes with yummy cream cheese icing and a gum drop on top.  Hey, it's Valentine's week, so why not? And my kiddos like when I make them something out of the ordinary just for fun.  Isaac's class is exchanging lunches this week, so I was also trying to come up with something fun for his box.    He's suppose to decorate a box or container of some sort to bring it in.  We worked on that last night.  I was thinking today was the day for the exchange, but thankfully he made me aware last evening that it was for Thursday, not Wednesday!  That would not have been a good thing to take it on the wrong day. =(

Thought I would share the
Cream Cheese Icing Recipe
8 oz. cream cheese
2 Tbls butter
1-2 tsp vanilla
2 C. powdered sugar (or more till right consistency)

Softened cream cheese and beat.  Add softened butter and vanilla and beat some more, gradually adding the powdered sugar.  May want to refrigerate it to stiffen the icing some.

~.~.~.~.~

I also had some left over chicken in the fridge that I was trying to decide what to make with it.  Soup, chicken spaghetti?  Hmmm...decided I had enough to make some Chicken Squares.  A specialty of my mom's that some of us really like.  And something I don't make very often.  Here's the recipe.

Savory Crescent Chicken Squares
3 oz. cream cheese
3 T. melted butter
2 C. cooked cubed chicken
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 Tbls chopped chives or onions
8 oz. crescent or Italian flavored rolls
(I used a homemade dough, but the crescent rolls do make it just a little bit more yummy)
3/4 C. crushed croutons
Blend cream cheese and butter.  Add chicken, salt, pepper, & onions.  Mix well.  Separate dough into 4-6 rectangles.  Firmly press perforations to seal.  Spoon 1/3 to 1/2 C. chicken mixture onto center of each rectangle.  Pull the four corners to top of center, twist slightly and seal edges.  Brush tops with melted butter, dip in crouton crumbs.  Bake on ungreased cookie sheet 20-25 min. at 350.
I also like to make a gravy to serve them with.  Mmm.  Mmm. Sick to your ribs, Good.

Happy Wednesday!

We ♥ Kisses

This week's contest at I ♥ Faces is on Kisses. 
I came across this picture I took a number of years ago
of my daughter, Anna, and our dog, Nemo. 
Spreading a little love and puppy dog kisses.
                                       

To see a lot more love being spread around, hop on over to
I ♥ Faces

"Have you ever noticed how a gray, rainy day makes you feel gloomy and tired, but a sunny day can leave you feeling cheerful and energized? Well, there's a scientific reason for this. Insufficient exposure to sunlight has been associated with low levels of melatonin and serotonin, carbohydrate craving, weight gain, and sleep disturbance."

S.A.D.
Seasonal Affective Disorder

Any sufferers out there??
It's been cold, rainy, and gloomy around these parts lately.  And it looks like some of you have mounds of snow instead of rain.  I'm thinking this combination is going to make for some really happy spring time people!  Isn't that the way life is a lot of times, we don't appreciate the good stuff until we've been through the bad stuff.  Well, hang in there.  One of my favorite sayings "What goes around, comes around"  and "This too shall pass"

A facebook friend posted this verse today, one of my favorites. 
Thought it went along well here.

"I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!" Psalm 27:13-14

A challenge for today.  Spread some SONshine to someone.

 

 Chocolate • Hug • Bake a Treat • Kisses • Kind Word • Flowers

Oh the weather outside is frightful, 
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we've no place to go,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Well here in the south, we've no snow, but its been rainy and dreary the last while.
So we'll just pretend its frightful outside, and cozy up to a fire that's fireless.  For some reason our gas logs quit burning the other week. It still shows some gas in the tank, but we haven't figured out if the gauge is wrong, and its really out of gas, or if something's wrong with the burner.  Oh well, at least we have other heat. 
Our family has straggled in today.  But we're all under one roof again.  Two of the children had sleepovers with friends.  And I actually had one too.  I was invited to a ladies birthday/slumber party last night for a friend.
Most of them left before midnight, but I decided to stay and watch a movie with the few brave souls. Finally about 3:00 a.m., after falling asleep during the movies, and then waking back up when they were over, I decided to just come home to my own bed, and then maybe I could sleep in this morning.  I must be getting old.  When I was younger, I was one of the last ones to sleep at parties, sometimes playing pranks on others who retired "earlier"   I think my daughter must have some of my blood.  She said her and her friend were up till 4:00.  I know one tired girlie that needs an early bed time tonight!  I have pizza dough rising, making our usual Saturday night pizza.

 
Wishing all a Blessed Sunday~

  § A Happy Boys Post §

Why do boys have a fascination with things that go BOOM?  Makes this mother a little nervous. 
Last Sunday afternoon, my oldest son wanted to try an experiment.

plastic bottle • baking soda • vinegar • happy boy

       
get back, Mom, I'm going to throw it out your way

Alas, it was decided there wasn't enough baking soda/vinegar to properly do the job,
so we'll just target practice instead. 
(the green dot by the spindly tree is the intended object)

•Another happy Boy•
Isaac's birthday was January 22.  He had spotted a bow and arrow in the Vision Forum magazine that he really wanted.  So the first part of January I ordered it.  The extra arrows made it in time for his birthday, but the bow set was back ordered.  Poor thing.  Guess it was a lesson in patience.  After all, isn't life like that sometimes?
Yesterday the long awaited bow finally arrived.

down to one arrow in the holder there.... 

•Some more happy Boys•
Last year around the first of September, we had the fun experience of hatching out some baby chicks.
After various calamities, only four remain.  They have all turned out to be "half breed" roosters.

See the brown mixed in with the gray and white?  The lone rooster we had kept earlier was brown, and apparently the mom of these particular eggs was gray and white.  They're starting to get a little cocky.  I'm thinking its about time to downsize again.  Five roosters to ten hens just isn't a good thing....