Note to self

I thoroughly believe that once a year you should have a day to eat whatever you please! Watch what you eat on Thanksgiving? NO! Eat countless raspberry chipotle lil' smokies before dinner. Gorge on Dad's butter, brown sugar, and marshmallow yams. Enjoy those homemade rolls. Pour that gravy on the turkey, potatoes, and stuffing. Have three slices of pie? YES! But note to self: Don't ever step on the scale the morning after Thanksgiving! Did you really think you were going to have good news? Bad. Bad. Bad. Time to hit the treadmill!

New Toy

Can anyone guess by these pictures what I got as an early birthday present?! That's right! A Canon Rebel Digital SLR camera! Oh the things I need to learn about photography now!

This girl loves the camera!

I have been getting more and more adventurous with Bryndi's hair. She's getting better at sitting still!

Such a sad little dirty Bella face. But she was too cute at the same time.

Gingerbread Pancakes

I saw an ad for IHOP the other day that featured pumpkin pancakes, eggnog pancakes, gingerbread pancakes, and pecan pie pancakes. Uh....YUM! Well, I decided to make my own. I already make pumpkin pancakes frequently, so I decided to try the gingerbread pancakes. Of course I tweaked the recipe a bit to be healthier, but if you want the original it comes from this site.

It's worth it to make this just for the amazing smell that fills your kitchen!!


Gingerbread Pancakes
(From the Magnolia Cafe, Austin Texas)

3/4 cup liquid egg whites or 3 eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon ginger
1 tablespoon nutmeg
1/4 cup light butter, melted

Cream eggs and sugar together. Stir in buttermilk and water; set aside. In a separate bowl sift together remaining dry ingredients.
Stir egg mixture into dry ingredients, then mix in melted butter.
Add more water or buttermilk if necessary, but batter should be thick.
Cook until done on a lightly greased hot griddle or in a heavy skillet (turn once when bubbles appear on upper side and start to break).
Pancakes will be thick and cake-like in texture.
Makes 8 to 10 five-inch pancakes.

I made buttermilk syrup to go on top and it was divine! (and not the least bit healthy ;)

Buttermilk syrup
(from Michelle Lloyd)

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp corn syrup
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Bring butter, buttermilk, sugar, corn syrup to a boil in a deep pot. Take off heat. Add baking soda and vanilla. The mixture will bubble up. Stir until it settles.

Halloween pictures are up!

Bryndi was a care bear this year: Bedtime Bear to be exact. She LOVED it. She would giggle everytime she put her costume on and say I'm a care bear! over and over.

I had to take this pic so you could see the little heart on her bum :)

Bella was appropriately a fairy princess.

She loved to twirl around with her wings on.

Richard was a gorilla. He makes a really good one and can scare even the older kids!

I put on a Harley Davidson bandana, leather pants, and a leather jacket. What a rebel... NOT!

Veterans' Day

Veteran's Day is November 11th. I'm writing about it early because I just happened to listen to my playlist at the bottom of our blog this morning and Letters From Home by John Michael Montgomery came on (go play it now while you read this!). I hadn't listened to that song in a long time and it still makes me bawl like a baby. For those who don't know, Richard served in Iraq for a year in 2004. Every time I hear that song a flood of emotions and memories come back. I think about him being gone half way around the world--in 130+ degree heat, with sand EVERYWHERE, with mortars coming in and sirens going off, carrying a weapon on his back 24/7, kissing my fiance goodbye, 4 months later marrying the love of my life and then kissing him goodbye again only 10 days later, eight months of being a long-distance newlywed, living for emails, phone calls and chats with the webcam. To all those who have loved or lost or said goodbye to someone in the military: God bless you. To all the veterans: Happy Veteran's Day next week; thank you. What will my veteran be doing on Veteran's Day? Putting flags up around the neighborhood--just like he does every year. I love you Honey!!