MNO: continued

These are my friends..... Brinda & Tina
I am so happy to have met them, and to call them my friends!

MOMS NIGHT OUT....an evening of chocolate

How could I not go? Chocolate.....YUM! I swear it's another FOOD GROUP in our house! The event was held at Allie's house and she showed us how to make her FAMOUS fudge and Almond Rocka (she spells it different).
Not only did she show us how to make it, we all got to keep the RECIPE too! So, who knows I might try both this year in my holiday baking. It looks easy enough, it's just, do I want to stand there for 20 mintues and stir...stir....stir and possibly get burned by flying butter & sugar to make the rocka? Mmmm, it might be worth it....it's so GOOD! Here is a picture of the butter and sugar mixture this is the part that takes forever to stir, stir....if you can believe it....the bottom layer of almond rocka is ONLY butter and sugar....I had NO idea!
With making one batch we had 4 of these slabs....
and do you want to know how much butter and sugar you need? Probably not, but I am going to tell you.... 6 cups butter.... 6 cups sugar.!! I KNOW....WOW!

The base layer does set very fast and within 20 minutes we were spreading a layer of chocolate over the top! While the chocolate was still wet we added the almonds. A layer of chocolate and almonds are then also spread on the bottom layer too but not until the top is set in the freezer. Let's just say, this is not a quick process. But, OMGosh, it tastes so WONDERFUL! Allie had this batch already made, when we got there, so we got to eat it all night! We each also went home with a goodie bag of rocka & fudge!

We did have dinner too, pizza and salad...then we had chocolate fondue. I brought Tastefully Simple Almond Pound Cake and there was also fruit to dunk in the chocolate. Someone brought spinach dip and Tina brought Peanut Butter Balls.....MAN, those ROCKED too! She also shared that recipe! YUM, I am making those too! So, we had all this food and I thought it was necessary to bring my hot cocoa maker too. Needless to say, I was soooo full when I left.

It was a fun night....with a great bunch of friends!

BRRR... it's WINDY in the VALLEY

HI All,
Not a whole lot going on in the last couple of weeks. The only thing that has been going on is the WIND. OMGosh, it's been terrible. So bad, it's breathtaking!! It's the kind of wind that CHILLS you to the bone. For some reason, this is normal in the Mat-Su Valley. Quite frankly it's frustrating..... I hate checking the mail, for the fright I might LOOSE some mail. Anyway, all our snow is GONE, it's blown away! Along with a little section on our ROOF. Yes, we lost shingles. I am sure Bill will be frustrated. It's not fun getting on the roof. There is no way he can go up there now, it's still blowing really bad. I wonder when it will stop. As much as driving in the snow makes me nervous, I'd rather have it snowing than windy. Cause maybe then it would WARM up!
These pictures were taken in Eagle River on the 12th of Nov. I love the look of frosted icey trees. They are so pretty!

I wish I could say the Valley had trees like that out here now....but not until we get another snowfall, I will just have to enjoy them in ANC and Eagle River. Stay Warm....

Trick or Treat

Sydney was ARIEL.... and Hailey was a WITCH!!!
Shopping in the stores this year, there was not a whole lot to choose from. One traumatic day after Sydney's 5 year well child check....we went to the mall and I got her costume at a Halloween shop. Man, that was not cheap! She loves it though, and she wears it all the time around the house. I knew the pressure was on to find something for Hailey and I waited too long. Hailey was set on being a witch, so I bought her a REAL dress in the girls section and just accessorized. What you can't see in the picture....is she had to have RED shoes, like the Wizard of OZ. So, she is cute witch with nice clothes....but stole Dorothy's shoes. HA HA!!
Since our neighborhood is hard to trick or treat in.....we had to do it the LAZY Whitmore WAY! DRIVE..... The reason for that is, the houses are too far apart. Each lot I think has around a half an acre. We have .59 Anyway....the kids layered up under and over their costume. I can't remember the exact temp but it was COLD enough warm up back in the car after a few houses. I did the driving, Bill stayed home and passed out candy. I love this picture of Sydney in the car...she has a glow necklace on that was green. She looked so cute. Poor Hailey, she had to wear those Dorothy shoes....even if there was SNOW on the ground. Needless to say, her feet were WET after the first 4 houses. She didn't care though.....she wanted to keep going!!! After 45 minutes later we were home with LOTS of candy!
Then Hailey was obsessed with counting all her candy.....OH MY! There was some 100+ pieces. If you can believe it...people were giving out BIG FULL size candy bars. I told the kids next time....TELL me which house did that, so we go back NEXT year. After a fun night of getting candy.....and being chilled to the bone....it was PJ and BEDTIME!!! Then time for mom and dad to raid the candy and watch Nip / Tuck!!!

OCTOBER BUNCO

October Bunco was hosted by Kim Mattson....otherwise known as haircut KIM.
The date was October 26th....Bill's first night home from working 2 weeks on. It never fails, I seem to have something going on his 1st night back. If it wasn't for the Halloween gig, I would have stayed home. But I knew I could NOT miss this.
I dressed up in my COW costume. It was so fun to see everyone.....there was some GREAT COSTUMES. I think if there was a contest.....Cynthia would have WON! She was the BEST. Scary thing is, I knew exactly who she was when I saw her.....!!!! She was Anna Nicole Smith. She looked sooo GOOD! I just sent an email to Ashley requesting the group shot of us all! When I get it...I will be sure to post it. It's going to be CUTE!

October 21, 2006 MOMS CLUB BAZAAR

It went off without a hitch.....It was the most successful one yet!
I wish I would have had time to shop around....but I was so busy at my candle table, I wasn't able too. Maybe that was a good thing....I would have spent too much money!
Scottie and I did the MOMS Club Bazaar last year with Tastefully Simple and we sold around $600 retail. This year, Scottie sold almost $800 retail. Whooo hooo!! SHE ROCKED!! I was very glad I sent out an email to our clients, cause Scottie heard a lot of comments from people. "I got your email and I came here especially for you!" So....it helped get people there!

I did pretty good with my candles....it was my first real bazaar besides the back room at Jitters. I sold around $250 off the table and then placed an ordered around $225 as well. It's always so hard to know what people want to buy.... it's just the luck of the draw. The overall bazaar, made around $5200 With the vendor table rental, bake sale and the silent auction. So much work goes into this bazaar it's very time consuming and stressful but after seeing the results....it was all worth it!
Even though this year, I didnt' have a whole lot to do with preparing and planning......I am still a member and very proud to be a part of this club who does such wonderful things for our community!
MOMS CLUB ROCKS......

Happy 10 YEARS

After all the drama with calling animal control.....
I did get something VERY NICE!

I can't remember the last time Bill was actually home on our Anniversary but he is ALWAYS so thoughtful and sends me flowers. This time, not only did I get flowers.....he also requested CHOCOLATE TOO! Does he know the way to my heart or what?

Since it's been a while since I posted....I want to say that night...I ordered out for burgers, they delivered. The girls went to bed and I stayed up and watched TV. Grey's Anatomy and ER was on!

It's still so amazing to me.....that Bill and I have been together since Oct of 1990 that is 16 years. No relationship is that perfect that we definitely have our ups and downs, but I am very very lucky to have such a wonderful man!

I LOVE YOU BILL....