Chia Pets

     Can someone explain Chia Pets to me??   They have been around a long time.  So, someone buys them!

     You know what scares me?  The commercial says, "Collect them all!"  You KNOW

someone does!  Someone, somewhere has every variation of the Chia Pet sitting in their house.

     See, I found this picture on google!  Proof!!

   

     So, do you have a Chia Pet?  Do you know someone who does?  Better yet, do you know someone who has mulitple Chia Pets?

     I went to look up some information on the ever-popular Chia Pet and now I am feeling a little guilty.  Apparently, the Chia Pet is saving lives.  Who knew??

    This is the beginning of an article I found about Chia Pets:

     Recently U of T researchers discovered that eating a certain variety of grains similar to the variety found in Chia Pets significantly reduces the risk of heart disease in individuals with Type 2 diabetes.  (Click to read the rest of the article.)

    Is there other information I am missing on the Chia Pet?  

Crap!!

**** Bold, italicized words are links****

     Crap is not a very lady-like word, but there are times when it is the only word that will do. And, there has been some crap at the Isaacs' house.

     Quick update: Shelby has had two concerts with the Children's Choir, Emme had a "procedure" done at the hospital, and I am addicted to Pathwords and Sweet Potato Fries.

     How's that for quick??

     If you are nosey like me... that is not nearly enough information.

     Shelby has had 3 choir rehearsals and 3 concerts in a week. I had no idea when she tried out for this choir in '07 that they were : A) so amazing B) so professional C) so Christ centered.... at least the Christmas concerts have been. I am blown away by the training that she is getting for $330 a year. The concerts have been a perfect way to worship and truly get into the season for the right reason. (Yea! I made a rhyme... or rather... I stole it!)

     Last Tuesday, Emme had an endoscopy. In this the procedure, they knocked her out.... with bubble gum flavored air and ran a camera down her esophagus, into the stomach and into the beginning of the intestines. Poor thing was so hungry (procedure was at 11:15, she had not had food since 3:30 am. I told her it was her fault. She got us into this mess.:-) (Just call me Mercy Mama) she passed out licking the gas mask.

     The procedure was scheduled for 44 minutes. I think it took 12 minutes. When one has about 6 inches from the mouth to the intestine, I guess it shouldn't take long.

     Everything looks great.... EXCEPT.... the hole at the beginning of the stomach is supposed to close after food passes through. Her hole does not close. It has atrophied. In time, it should fix itself, but until then, things come up very easily. Add that to her aversion for food, the mere sight of the baby food jars induces gagging and coughing... and you have... lots of laundry.

     The next step will be to assign her to a feeding team. She needs her mouth desensitized. Basically, she needs to learn how to eat. How ironic! I need to learn not to:)

     If you've been lurking around for any length of time, you know that I have lots of quirks. One of them is I have some addictions. I have tried to confess my sins. It's not working for me.

     One of my addictions is a game called Pathwords. It's all BooMama's fault. I am not taking any responsibility. Don't go there! And, if you do, don't blame me.

     My other quirk... because one always has to involve food... just ask Paul or Gina...sweet potato fries. For the record, until about 2 weeks ago, I hated, with every fiber of my being, sweet potatoes. I really don't even know what possessed me to try them. It was probably my vitamin deprived body screaming out for some nutrients. Nonetheless, I tried them.

     I cut up one sweet potato, skin intact. Drizzled it with olive oil... one tsp. Rolled it around in the olive oil so they all got coated. Added some sea salt. Baked on 400 for about 3o minutes. And, the love affair began.

     This is going to surprise you .... but, I eat them EVERY day!!!! Today, I ate them twice. I am pretty sure, by Christmas, I am going to be orange.

     So, there you have it.

      Since I took a little hiatus, I can't wait for all the comments about how much you all missed me!!!

   

Yum!!  Yum!!!  Yum!!!

     Emme at the hospital.  Doesn't she just look pathetic?


     Crap!  Yes, that little pile behind her foot.  She threw up, so Paul took her clothes off , sat her down and went to get her towel.  When he came back, she was standing in a puddle laced with her own fecal matter.  

     Emme in her own personal spa bath, aka The Kitchen Sink.  See the cutting board??  We always have to throw something out of the sink because these situation don't come at convenient planned times.

Fashion Faux Pa

Now, I am clearly not setting the fashion industry on fire, but I'd like to think I have a little common sense and hopefully some class when it comes to dressing.

So, I am officially calling myself the fashion police of my hometown and I am making a law. 

The law states: a woman over the age of 20.... (should be younger) is not allowed to wear leggings and a regular length sweater.... and then..... go out in public!!!

Yesterday, we went to my son's Winter Carnival at his school. I saw a mother, working at the carnival no less, wearing a Christmas type sweater with ..... drum roll please.... you guessed it....leggings. Now, it would be one thing if it were a long sweater and that sweater covered up her oversized bootie. But, it's altogether different when, the sweater, at best, comes to the middle of the bootie. Then, to top it all off, she didn't have on some cute little flats that would not draw any extra attention. She had on some type of big Adirondack- looking socks that kinda matched the sweater and rose just above her brown fur boots. And, the brown fur boots had long tassels hanging off of them... the kind with the little fur balls.

Wow!!

So, being the ever gracious Proverbs 31 woman that I am... I looked at my good friend, Jennifer and said, "She might as well be naked."

Jennifer said, "She wore the EXACT same thing last night!"

Rule#2 Do not wear the outfit two days in a row!  For the love of Pete!!

So, for your viewing pleasure, I will now show you some unacceptable outfits featuring the ever-popular leggings. Enjoy!

     There is NEVER a reason to wear gold leggings!  I won't even address the other issues.

     WHAT IN THE WORLD!!!!!?????   This is bordering on pornographic!  

COME ON!!  Would any man EVER be caught dead wearing this??

Conversations with and amongst little ones

     That's a rough looking bunch isn't it???  The was the morning of Black Friday when I was out and about.  I can always tell when dad has been left in charge.  Emme's in a box!!   

   Stick a bow on her!  Could there be a better gift??

     Last night, Jackson and Gracie were sitting at the kitchen table having a snack. 

Gracie says, "Jackson, when is your library teacher going to have her baby?'

J:  "I don't know."

As he goes about eating his snack,

J:  "But, I bet it's going to be a boy or a girl."

Really?    

Then, yesterday, I asked Shelby....

"Shelby, do you know someone in Dad's ministry named Camy?

S: "No."

S: "Why?  Do you think he's cheating on you?"

Me:  "No Shelby!  She left a note on my blog and I am trying to figure out who she is."

(Sorry Camy!  Sometimes I have brain farts... can you throw me a bone?)

So, one can tell that I am intellectually stimulated on a daily basis.  Am I  even going to know how to act when I have to venture out into the adult world again someday? 

I think I'll stay right here for as long as I can and enjoy these conversations:-)

The ailments of the Isaacs

     Even Christmas ornaments at our house have ailments.  Do you see my headless reindeer??

This is his Christmas debut as he was purchased after  Christmas last year.  Poor fellow.  I am not even sure super glue is going to help.  His stinkin' head weighs 10 pounds!

     And, this picture is from Thanksgiving with the Chinese students.  Why, because I didn't put it up with the Thanksgiving post.  It's my blog, and I can do whatever I want.

     We need some excitement around here, because there is nothing going on around this house.

     In the last 3 days, we have been to the hospital twice and to the doctor once.

     The details:

     On Monday morning, Emme had to go to the Children's Hospital for an upper GI.  The good news is, anatomically she is perfect.  On Tuesday, we went back to the same hospital to see the GI doctor.  Let me tell you, this girl is HM (high maintenance). 

       Emme had the attention of two doctors, a dietician, and a speech pathologist.  She is going to have at least two tests.  The first one is a swallow test.  She will drink some barium and then a doctor and a speech pathologist will watch her swallow.  Then she needs to have an endoscopy.  During this test, they will put her to sleep, run a camera down her esophagus, into her stomach and then into the small intestine.

     The dietician gave us a recipe to take her formula from 20 calories and ounce to 24 calories an ounce.  Then, we will increase from there. Doesn't seem like much, but the theory is, too much of a caloric increase will make it all come back up.   I am also to add a tsp of olive oil to her food.

     Finally, she needs to see a speech pathologist.

     Meanwhile, I was barely able to stand at this appointment because my body was so weak and  AND my throat felt like it was swallowing razor blades.  I had taken 3 Motrin to get me there.  By the time I got home, the Motrin had worn off and I needed 3 more.  By the end of the day, I had taken 9.

     This morning when I woke up and could barely swallow, I thought is was time to go to the doctor.  If you click here, you can see what my throat looked like (although, I only had one pus pocket on the back of my throat.)  I also had very enlarged and tender lymph nodes.  I was given an antibiotic, magic mouth wash (good stuff- numbs the throat) and I was told to buy some musinex to help with the STUFF that was just hanging in the back of my throat. Yum!!  I know you are loving these descriptions.  I was also told to rest a lot and drink lots of water.  After I picked myself off the floor from laughing so hard (rest... she has apparently never been to my house), I went to Target to fill my prescriptions.  I then came home and rested as much as humanly possible to do in this house.

     And, let me say this, when one is sick, calories should not count.  When my throat hurt this bad, I want two things: fizzy, fountain Coke and ice cream.  Neither of which is healthy or good when one needs to shed some pounds.

     Is is just me or do we seem to have an inordinate amount of things going on at this house?

    I am not going to lie, when I was trying to get dinner for the kids because my husband had to bail someone out of a mental health facility (don't ask) and the kids were arguing, I was wishing I was a horse and someone would just shoot me.

    God's mercies are new every morning, right??  Someone, remind me of that!!

I am now a tree hugger... and white trash

     If you are a new reader, while we were in China (see our adoption story at http://milesandmilestomylei.blogspot.com- look in the September archives), Hurricane Ike hit our house.  And, we live the MIDWEST- for crying out loud!!  That beautiful tree split and landed on our house.

     It's sad because it was a big (sniff)  ol' beautiful (sniff) tree and (sob) now, it's gooonne!  I had no idea I was a tree hugger.  

      To be honest I am probably more sad because when Gracie turned 5, I bought her a round, wooden swing ($19.99 on sale at Target).  We then went to Lowe's and bought a rope for $10.00.  We swung the big rope over a big branch on the tree and wa-lah!!!

     It was an instant attraction.  Parents brought their children from miles away asking and offering to pay to ride that swing.  Once the child payed, we would secure their hands on the rope, tell them to cross their legs, and then tell them to hold on for dear life.  The child would sail high in one direction, descend, and then swing equally as high in the opposite direction.  It was no match for an ordinary swing.  Not even an ordinary swing on a really cool swingset.   

      Oh, and the whole paying for rides and coming from miles around, well, that may be a slight exaggeration.

     We did have every kid in the neighborhood riding it.  They rode it so much that they wore away the grass and left a bare spot in our yard.  At first we frowned upon the beating our yard was taking.  But, then we looked at the bare spot as a badge of honor.  After all, kids are only little once.  Besides, we relished in the fact that we spent $30 on a swing that brought hours and hours of entertainment.  Kids would fight over who was next.  Screams of "Higher, higher" echoed through yard.  Meanwhile, the really cool looking swing set complete with a slide coming out of a  wooden house and a price tag of $2000, sat in our neighbors yard jealously looking at the kids, longing for the same attention.

  

     Can you understand the despair I felt being halfway around the world and seeing this tree on my house?? I knew the days of the swing had come to a screeching halt!

     If you look hard, you can see the lonely rope awaiting it's fate.

     Two months later, we decided it was time to part with the tree.

     We called in some professionals, Nate and Tyler.  Ok, maybe semi-professionals.  How long does it take to become a professional?  They cut down several trees last year in Tyler's yard.  Does that count? 

     I'm afraid of heights.  There!  Add that to my list of quirks.  I HATE seeing people climb trees.  But, on Saturday, I decided there was something I hated more than seeing people climb trees.  It's people climbing tree with CHAINSAWS in their hands!!!  Lord have mercy!

     Now, be honest, doesn't that make you a bit queasy?

     At least he looked serious.  He had that going for him!  Which was nice.

     Along with the first big cut, came the first big crack.  It was a pretty cool sound if I do say so my (nervous) self.

     Now when I snapped the above picture... I was not happy.  I knew what was going on.  See, you can fool some of the people, some of the time... but it's hard to get one past this girl.  

     I knew Tyler was giving some instructions to Paul.  But, there was no need for instructions. There was no need  because that morning, before our professional, I mean, before our friends arrived, I had told Paul, "No climbing and no using a chainsaw."  What would he need instructions for?

     See, my love for Paul runs really deep and I couldn't stand to see anything happen to him.  Plus, he has no life insurance!  (He can't get life insurance because of a childhood illness.)  He is worth way more to me alive, than dead.

     Can't you just feel the love?

    "So, what you do Paul, is you take the chainsaw....."  

 

     ARE YOU SERIOUS???
     Meanwhile, Nate not a bit worried that my husband has no life insurance or the fact that he has NEVER used a chainsaw, just cuts away on the easy stuff while my husband risks his life.

     See!!  Tyler even has to carry the chainsaw up the ladder.  This IS NOT how a first tree- cutting- chainsaw -lesson should start.

     Tyler yelling, "OK, NOW LEAN OUT REALLY FAR AND MAKE SURE YOU DON'T SLIP AND AND LET THE CHAIN HIT YOUR BODY?  ANYWHERE!  KEEP IT ON THE TREE!"

     I mean does that look safe to you??  If one goes down, they're both going down!

     "Ok, see that little knot above the bark, you want to cut right there!!"

     Oh, brother!

     I like the views from farther away better.  I should have just stayed in the house.

     CAREFUL, OH, CAREFUL!!!!!!!

        One more big limb.

     I started feeling really good at this point.  Everyone was still alive... including the 12 kids running around the yard.
     We were able to chop up all the limbs and lay them in 4 foot stacks along the curb outside our house.  We'll make a call and the city will come pick them up.

     The big logs were cut up too.  However, by the time we were ready for the big trunk,  darkness was descending rapidly and the temperature was plunging.  So, we quit.

     And, now, we have that large trunk laying in our yard.  Presently, it is snowing and windy and cold outside.  We are officially WT (white trash) until we get that big stick out of our yard.       

     A few other scenes from the exciting day.
     Times were tough and the excitement level was low when the kids lined up to merely climb the ladder.... to nowhere.

     The death of the swing hit hard by the looks of this scene.
     Jackson was distraught.  He didn't know how to handle his feelings so he bugged the life out of his sister.  I am pretty sure she cold cocked him about that time.

     And, the little neighbor boy behind Jackson, I think he just had to pee.

     Emme is oblivious to the whole scene.  She didn't get to experience the pleasure of the swing.  She was just glad she didn't have to eat right then! 

     "I am so glad I get to sit in the wagon.  It's way better than the high chair.  The nerve of these people trying to shove food down me.  They act like I am 15 months old and only way 13 pounds 11 ouces!"

Happy Thanksgiving!! I am done blogging!

     I don't think I realized the craziness of my life until I started blogging.  I'm kinda naive that way.  So, I decided I should quit blogging and then I could just go back to being naive.  But, then I thought about it some more.  I really like writing so I'm just going to have to embrace the crazy.  At least I have something to write about.

     This week, I had had enough of Emme's spitting up,  gagging when I simply brought out her food, coughing and crying while eating.  We were up Saturday and Sunday from about 12-2 am, while she screamed and screamed and screamed, and of course, threw up.  So, Tuesday, we went to the doctor.  

     We were there for 2 hours.  She had 8 vaccinations ( 6 shots).  The doctor was very concerned about her weight and said she CAN NOT get sick.  I totally agreed.  One of the reasons I threw up the white flag was because, according to our scale, she had lost weight.  She had in fact gained 7 ounces since our last visit to the doctor three weeks ago, but the doctor said she should be gaining an ounce a day.  Emme also had her urine tested.  The nurse taped a bag to her peepee and we waited and waited and waited.  Of course she was not about to drink formula or Pedialyte or water.  Heaven forbid we speed the process along.  The doctor also scheduled an Upper GI for Monday morning and a gastro doc visit for Tuesday.  Sounds fun!

     I was also instructed to give Emme PediaSure or Whole milk and Carnation instant breakfast.  I told her I thought she had a milk allergy, but she was hesitant to agree.  So, I went out and bought Emme PediaSure.  (That was Tuesday night.)

     Paul and I were not asleep long when Emme woke up.  He went to give her a bottle.  He was back in 5 minutes  and they both were covered in old pink PediaSure.  On Wednesday, while I was trying to cook for the 26 people scheduled to come to my house for Thanksgiving,  Emme threw up 6 more times.  After the 8th throw up and the 5th bath, it dawned on me, "I bet the PediaSure has milk in it and darn it!  I knew she had a milk allergy."  GOLLY!!  How dumb!!  I paged the doctor but a nurse called me back.  She said, "If she throws up 3 more times, you need to take her to the Emergency Room."

     Well, after her extremely intelligent mother put her back on soy formula.  She was fine!

     Now, fast forward to Thanksgiving Day.  Our dinner was scheduled for 2 pm.  Our family of 6 minus Emme ran around like mad getting ready.  Paul left around 12:00 to run to the University to pick up 5 Chinese students.  (Why 12 and not 1:55??  I asked the same question.  I wanted to kill him!) I'm not going to lie.  I was stressed about them coming.  I so desperately want to open my home for people, and we usually try to do that.  But, I am spent.   

     And, how am I supposed to talk to my family, all 21 of them, and talk to Chinese students I have never met??  AHHH!!!!!  (The Chinese students are here for a year.  The don't know many people.  They don't leave their apartments except for class.  The campus is a ghost town.  I was in China for 2 weeks and felt I couldn't go out much without a guide.  I can't imagine how they feel.)

     When the Chinese students came in, after I met them, I asked them if they were scared of our food.  They said they were.  I said, "That's ok because I was scared of your food too."

    I'm just saying!

     So, trying to be the gracious host, I made things I don't normally make:  steamed rice, plain broccoli, plain corn and plain green beans. 

     When it was finally time to eat, Paul called everyone together.  He gave a very brief Thanksgiving history from a Biblical perspective.  Jackson prayed.   Then, we quickly tried to explain to the students the food on the table.

     We let the students go first.  After they filled their plates and sat down, my aunt pulled me aside.  She whispered, " I don't think that Chinese boy understands the mashed potatoes.  He took a roll, opened it up and put a whole bunch in the middle."

     I guess he liked it that way because I looked over a little later and he had another roll filled with mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce on top of all of it.  Hey, to each his own!

     It was pretty uneventful dinner.  I thought the students wouldn't eat much.  Boy, was I wrong.  They ate and ate.  I think they all went back three times.  And, they hardly touched the rice.  I think my dad, however, was trying to get in touch with his Asian roots.  He ate a huge vat of rice with broccoli and gravy.

     I have stopped trying to understand people.

     Being the host, I was last to sit down to eat.  As soon as I sat down to eat, I took Emme from my mom.  I gave her a teeny speck of sweet potatoes.  She liked them, so I gave her another little bite.  She gagged.  And, yep... she unloaded all over me!  I was covered, COVERED!!   I had to change my clothes.

   Do you know why she threw up?  Because, apparently, my mom missed the memo about Emme and milk.  Never mind that I called her 20 times yesterday to tell her about Emme puking.  While I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off, before our guests arrived,  my mom yells at me, "Emme loves the fruit in this pie with the milk!  She's eatin 5 huge bites!!"

     With all the craziness, I wouldn't change a thing.  It's my life.  I am blessed.  And, I am very thankful!!!!!!!

     Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

     Stayed tuned for pictures tomorrow.  I have to sleep now!

     

All I want for Christmas....

     I never ask for anything for Christmas.  I usually just pick up something I want when I am out and about and call it my Christmas gift.  It saves a lot of time.  No returns that way.

     This year, I thought I'd throw a wrench in all of that and ask for a gift.  So, we were in the car the car the other day and I said to Paul, "I think I want a Christmas gift this year."  He was all ears... because I never ask for anything.  

     "Well, actually, I want one of two things.  I either want electrolysis for my eyebrows..."

     He about went off the road.

     "What?" I asked him. " Have you seen the rate at which my eyebrows grow??  One of these days the dogcatcher is going to come after me!"   

     Seriously, it's ridiculous!  And, the worst part of it is, I always forget to keep up with them until I start having double eyebrows.  You know, the regular eyebrow is still there and then the new growth under the regular one starts to take over.  You know it's bad when the non-observant daughter says, "What's wrong with your eyebrows?"

     So, I think it's a perfectly legitimate request.  Who has time to take care of four kids, homeschool them, pay the bills, grocery shop, make all the meals, clean up bodily fluids, wash clothes, shuttle kids to all their activities, do post-adoption paperwork, schedule a multidisciplinary approach to all Emme's issues, etc....  Did I mention that there will be here 27 people at my house for Thanksgiving????  6 of them students from China attending the local University !!  (What in the world am I supposed to talk to them about?  And, do they even eat turkey?  Speaking from experience, I want nothing to do with their food.  What makes me think they want some sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce??  Should be interesting!  It's gotta make for a good story... at least.)

    ANYWAY.........

    

    "Ok, well I either want electrolysis for Christmas or a photography class.''

     I gotta raised eyebrow and a smirk of the mouth from that request.  Translated... "now that's a good idea".  

     I think, if you ask for something totally ridiculous first, the next request is bound to be granted.

     I have always loved to take pictures.  I have been the only historian in my family and Paul's family.  My brother, awhile back, bought me a really nice, very expensive camera and I am sure I am not making full use of it

     You'll see what I mean when you see the pictures.  I need help!  

     I didn't get any natural picture taking abilities either.  If their is some kind of picture taking gene, we don't have it in our family.  I don't know that I have ever seen my dad with a camera in his hand.  And, my mom, bless her heart, (you can say anything you want about someone if you say 'bless their heart' first) apparently, she has some kind of disability that does not allow her to look through a camera's view finder,  focus on a face and then capture the face in the square. Lots of pictures of me when I was growing up.... I only have half on a head.  Or, my brother and I would be in a picture together and since I was a bit older and taller, there would only be a picture of my body - no head!  (More on that to come in a future post.)

     So, because I want to be like Pioneer Woman or my friend Sharla, when I grow up.  I need a few lessons.  But, until I get those lessons, if you want me to share some things with you,  you're just gonna have to deal with the poor quality of my photos.

     I meant to share this first recipe awhile back so you could try it and then decide if it would be something you'd want to make for Thanksgiving, but clearly, that did not happen so you're going to have to trust me.  

     The first recipe is for a pumpkin cake.  It is important to know that I hate pumpkin pie.  I wish I felt about all desserts the way I feel about pumpkin pie.  I'd have a lot less problems. 

     Last year, the girls and I studied our way around the world, starting in the USA.  At the conclusion of the tour, it is suggested to make some of the recipes that were listed in one of the books we were using.  So, had this recipe not been in that book, I would have never tried it. Why??  Because I just told you I HATE pumpkin!!!  Are you not listening?

     But, even though most of the recipe comes from the book, I would like some credit for tweaking it and making it my own and making it better.

     

     We'll start with the ingredients: 1 box yellow cake mix, 2/3 cup o' sugar, 4 eggs, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, 1 can of pumpkin (16oz) and 1/4 cup water.
Look at that awful picture!!  One would think I'd be embarrassed to even show it!  

Anyway, combine all of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
     I always stir the dry ingredients around.  

    I also thought I'd take a picture of my hand.  Do you know that my hand has looked about 90 years old since I was 16??  What is up with that??  But, besides looking at my 90 year old hand, I wanted you to see my nails.  I did them myself in about 5 minutes from a $3 box of fake nails I bought from CVS.  I think I missed my calling!

    Add eggs and stir them into the mixture.
     

    Add the water and the oil.  

    Check out my mixer.  He's handicapped.  Poor fellow. (He's got one leg.... please read like the skit from Saturday night live.  I've got one leg) He's busier than a one-legged man in a butt kicking contest.  If he can do it, anybody can!

    How on earth do you lose one of your beaters??  One of these days, when my rich uncle dies, I am either going to get a second beater or a kitchen-aid mixer.  (P.S.  I don't have a rich uncle.)

     He looks worn out, doesn't he?
     Add the pumpkin.  Beat on low speed until smooth.

     Poor into a greased pan.  Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes.  The ol' toothpick methods works if you want to check to see if it's done.

     The recipe in the book calls for baking it in a bundt pan for an hour.  I don't like the word bundt so I used a regular cake pan.  

     The recipe did not call for icing either so I made my own.

    Take an 8 ounce package of cream cheese and 1/4 cup of butter- allow them to soften!!  Very important.
     Look at that hideous picture.  As if you can tell what's in there!

     Anyway, it is very important that you use your mixer to blend the cream cheese and the butter FIRST!!
     Then, add 2 teaspoons of vanilla and blend that together.  After that is blended, add a 1 pound package of powdered sugar.  If you try to add the powered sugar before you blend the butter and the cream cheese.... your icing will look like it has some sort of disease.  It will be all bumpy and not look pretty at all!
     Once the cake comes out, allow it to cool.  I usually put mine in the refrigerator.  And, if I am really impatient, I put it in the freezer.  

     


     After it cools, you can ice it!
     ****NOTE****   Put the cake back in the refrigerator and allow it to get really cold.  It tastes best this way.  It's actually a great cake to make a day ahead.

     If you try it, let me know how you liked it!




     Because I have no shame about my picture taking ability, now I will show you a true invention of my own.  I was looking for a way to get more fruits and vegetables into my system and especially into my kids.  So, I made this up and they all love it.  As a matter of fact, they ask for one about every day.

 

     Ingredients:  banana, frozen strawberries, a frozen berry blend (includes blueberries, raspberries and blackberries) fresh spinach (which I accidently froze one time and it still worked perfectly... so now I always freeze my fresh spinach.
There's the awful picture.  Hey, you gotta start somewhere!     Then, (and I am so sorry that I don't have measurements, I just wing it according to how many people want one) I add some Northlands Cranberry Pomegranate (it is 100% natural juice, no sugar added.)  Next, I add some skim milk.  I also use 1 or 2 packets (again depends on size) of stevia.  (Stevia is a natural sweetner.  There is nothing artificial in it!  I love it!!  You can find it with the sugar or in the health food section of a regular grocery store.)  I top it off with crushed ice and blend until there are no chunks.  You can make it thicker if you use less liquid... that's the way we like it.  Then we eat it with a spoon.

    

     That blurry purple thing is the final product.  And, just so you know, you can't taste the spinach AT ALL!!  It is so yummy!

    Let me know if you try this too!