I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for...Frozen Yogurt

The girls are the only ones who screamed. The Husband and I did not. We were crazy excited though!


Excited for Cherry Berry frozen yogurt!

They say it's the best on the planet!! I agree!

We experienced Cherry Berry frozen yogurt for the first time while in South Dakota. The girls were sad we did not have Cherry Berry in Minnesota.


Well we do now! Hence all of the screaming!


Cherry Berry's self serve yogurt bar is the berry best and now in Minnesota.

Grab a cup.

Fill it with your berry favorite flavor, or flavors, of yogurt.

Add your choice of berry yummy toppings, of which there is an abundance to choose from!!

Of course this all happens after you have taste tested the many different flavors of berry yummy frozen yogurt.

Oh yes, they give you several little sample cups for trying out the berry many delectable frozen yogurt flavors! White chocolate, chocolate lovers, strawberry, blueberry...the list goes on and on, and each one is berry better than the last one!!


Once filled, your cups of frozen yogurt are placed on a scale. Cherry Berry charges by the ounce, you'll want to watch your little ones whose eyes are much bigger than their stomachs!!

Finally park your berry happy self on a brightly colored couch and enjoy!!

My favorite is a combination of white chocolate, chocolate lovers, and strawberry sprinkled with KitKats. So berry delicious!


But beware!

Addictive it may be, but you will leave Cherry Berry, berry berry happy! 

You are berry wonderful Cherry Berry!


Christine


P.S. Speaking in berry is only a temporary side effect!

Shenanigans

I am not a huge fan of April Fool's Day.


The Family is another story.


The fooling began the moment their feet hit the ground!


The Husband started the shenanigans by giving the girls spoons when they needed forks for breakfast.


He placed drops of food coloring in the bottom of their glasses, causing their milk to turn green the moment it was poured into the glasses.

And he strategically placed this monster.

In retaliation the girls hid fake snakes and frogs to catch the Husband by surprise.

Fortunately, I am left mostly unscathed by all of their tomfoolery.

I, in fact, become the voice of reason and good sense on April Fool's Day. The girls come to me for approval or disapproval of potential tricks.

Rubber band around the kitchen faucet sprayer so that the next person to turn on the faucet is sprayed in the face with water?

NO!

Fake snake on Dad's office chair?

YES!

This apparently gives me enough of an air of superiority that tricks are not played on me.

That, unfortunately, does not mean that I do not occasionally stumble onto a trick meant for another.

The spider dropping into the fridge when the fridge door was opened...unsanctioned! And found by me! Stinkers!!

To be honest, once the rest of the Family gets going with all of their silliness, all I have to do is say something like, "who turned off my curling iron!?" The Family goes into a frenzy of blaming each other. I walk away smiling with the knowledge that I had not yet turned the curling iron on.

I'd say I pretty much won April Fool's Day, but the reality is...

Today I'm putting away snakes, frogs, and spiders that were not discovered yesterday. And I still have a monster to evict!

Did you get April fooled?

Christine

Magnolia

Ahhh the Magnolia,

So very lovely in bloom.

It's enough to make one swoon. (kinda rhymes...right?)

SIGH!


OK, so I didn't actually faint.


But you know what they say.


A rhyme a day,


keeps all bad moods away!!


Have a happy one!


Christine

Science Fair

Miss Emma Bean was all atwitter yesterday because it was time for the science fair!


She and her schoolmates couldn't wait to show off all of their hard work and creativity.


Our school has held their annual science fair for about 6 years now. I think this year's fair was the best one yet!


The students are really thinking through their ideas and trying to perfect their experiments. Many of them created hands on experiences, allowing others to try out the experiment for themselves.


I checked out...

Very fun!


I was fascinated by the study in robotics and this soda can robot!

Very clever!


I enjoyed the carnations in colored water experiment.

I was impressed by this model of the water cycle. 

Nicely done!


I've always thought the lemon or potato battery is a very interesting experiment. I have never seen one as impressive as this though!

We've got to put this kid to work on alternate energy sources! He's ready!!


My friend's son, Andy, experimented with magnets and electricity to create a motor. 

If the experiments I saw last night are any indication, the future of energy is looking good!


And Miss Emma Bean experimented with amplifying sound. She created a balloon-a-phone.

It was interesting to see how the different amounts of air inflation in the balloons affect the volume of the music. And the kids enjoyed listening to music and doing a little dancing!


All-in-all the kids did a great job! No wonder they were so excited. It's also possible that the expectation of going to DQ for ice-cream afterward added to their excitement just a little!


Christine

Origami Pikachu Tutorial

Recently I posted a photo of an Origami Pikachu. 

Since the girls learned how to make them, I have been finding the little critters everywhere! They're in the car, on shelves, on the kitchen counters, on my desk, EVERYWHERE!

Some of you have expressed an interest in learning how to make this little guy, so Miss Sofia graciously agreed to star in a short little video tutorial for you. 


I'm going to tell you straight away that this is the first video of this sort we've ever done. Actually, it's pretty much the first video we've taken in the last 13 years. We don't tend to take videos. 


We have exactly two videos of Miss Sofia that were taken when she was one year old. They were taken with one of those old, gigantic video cameras. Remember those? That's all. Not a single video more. We're just not much into taking the videos. Now photos, that's a different story. We have truckloads of those. Videos, not so much. Go figure.


All of that is to say, we're not practiced in the art of film making. At all! You're going to hear an assortment of whispered directions, sniffs, and some general clammer in the background of this video. We did manage to edit out moments of giggling and general silliness however. woohoo?


I want to give a big thank you to Miss Sofia for being a good sport about showing everyone how to make an origami Pikachu! And a big thank you to the Husband for video editing and for figuring out how to post a video to the blog! 


Applause applause!!

Happy origamiing everyone!


Christine


P.S. If your house becomes overrun by origami Pikachus, I take no responsibility!

Whoopie Pie...Need I Say More?

I'm pretty sure this face says it all!

Happy Happy Joy Joy! Gotta love whoopie pies!


To make this delectable treat, position rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375˚.


Line baking sheets with parchment paper.


Sift together 12/3 cups flour, 2/3 cup cocoa powder, 11/2 teaspoons baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Set aside.

In mixer bowl beat together 4 tablespoons unsalted, room temperature, butter, 4 tablespoons shortening, and 1 cup packed brown sugar on low speed until combined. Increase speed to medium, beat for 3 minutes.


Add in 1 large egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes.

Add half of the sifted flour mixture and half of 11/4 cup of milk (That sounds weird. But yes half of 11/4 cup of milk!) to the mixing bowl batter. Beat briefly on low speed.

Once combined add in remaining flour mixture and milk. Beat until combined.


Drop batter 1 tablespoon at a time onto parchment lined baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart.

Bake one sheet of pies at a time for 10 minutes.


Cool pies on baking sheet for 5 minutes and transfer to cooling rack.

To make filling, beat 11/2 cups Marshmallow Fluff with 11/4 cups shortening for 3 minutes on medium. Reduce mixer speed to low and add 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon vanilla. Increase mixer speed to medium. Beat until fluffy.


Pipe filling onto bottom (flat side) of cooled pie.

Top with second pie!

Hello Whoopie Pie!


You should go make some! 


You know you want to!


You should go right now!!


Christine

The Freckle Fairy

When the girls were little we would look for, and get very excited about, each new mole they sprouted!


Really it was just an excuse to plant extra kisses on them. 


Every new mole deserves a celebration of new kisses! Doesn't it?


One mole celebration led to the question, "Where do moles come from?"


Before I could begin to explain about melanin in the skin, the Husband stated, with all sincerity, that moles are created by the Mole Troll.


Yes, he said Mole Troll. Oh just wait. It gets even better!


The Mole Troll arrives in the night while everyone is sleeping. Then he smudges you with his mole stick, leaving behind a new mole. It's an honor to be visited by the Mole Troll!


You probably assume that I immediately told the girls that Daddy was only joking and gave them an honest explanation. 


I did not.


I smiled and said, "That's right!"


I have no explanation for this kind of crazy talk in our family.


We let the girls believe the Mole Troll story for far too long. I can only imagine the astronomical therapy bills we are going to be required to pay! Yikes


It's exactly this kind of crazy talk that caused me to consider telling Miss Emma Bean that the Freckle Fairy must have danced across her face when I noticed that she had broken out the most precious sprinkling of freckles by her nose.

There aren't very many, and they are very tiny as some Freckle Fairies have very tiny feet. But they're enough to make me want to scoop her up in my arms and plant kisses on each one!

I love them!


They are beautiful!


I did refrain from telling her they were made by the Freckle Fairy. But oh how I wanted to!


Do you have freckles?


Do you know that they are beautiful?


I promise, if I see you with all of your precious freckles, I will resist the urge to scoop you up and plant kisses on each one of them. No matter how badly I want to!


Christine