Wisconsin

Hard to believe it was 2 weeks ago that I was on a jet plane headed to Wisconsin. Even harder to believe that Thanksgiving is 4 days away & better yet - Christmas is only 36 days away - YIKES!

FRIDAY - Nov 4th
I arrived at my sister's house in Wisconsin around noon. As I was walking up to their house, my nephew Tanner came running out & gave me the biggest hug. Best-feeling-ever! He was so excited to see his "Aunt Hedder" :) Cael was unfortunately sleeping when I got there so I had to wait a bit longer to see him.

In the meantime, Tanner was telling me all about Halloween & what his costume was. He even tried it on so he could show me & so we had to take a picture in his Captain America costume. So stinkin' cute:
Shortly after, Cael decided to wake up from his nap & we all gathered around the kitchen table for an afternoon snack. Love his blonde hair & curls:

The rest of the day was spent hanging out, catching up & making a birthday cake for a very special little boy who was turning 4 years old! The boys insisted on "helping" me make the cake so we all put our aprons on & then started baking. We had so much fun pouring & dumping & mixing.

Tanner wanted a Lightening McQueen cake & my sister didn't want to spend lots of money having a bakery make one so she figured "we" could make his cake. Somehow along the way, it turned into ME making his cake - my sister is sneaky like that ;) Honestly, I didn't mind. It was actually kind of fun!

After the boys went to bed, I started to frost the cake:

Two hours later & the frosting is complete. Here is what I ended up with:

Being that this was the very first cake I have ever made, I must say it turned out pretty darn good! Sous chef HT in the making :)

Saturday, Nov 5
My parents were making their way from South Dakota & arrived to my sister's house around lunch-time. We spent the early part of the afternoon playing with the boys & catching up. By mid-afternoon it was party time. We all headed to McDonald's where everyone gathered in the Play Land for Tanner's birthday party. There were lots of little kids running around everywhere & we didn't see the boys again until it was time to eat. We gathered the kids & they sat down to eat their Happy Meals. After they ate, it was time to sing Happy Birthday to Tanner & cut the cake.

He really liked his Lightening McQueen cake which made it even more rewarding making it myself.

The rest of the evening was spent hanging out with the family, drinking wine & relaxing while watching TV.

Sunday Nov 6
We started off our morning by eating a yummy breakfast of french toast & sausage made my brother-in-law. He always does such a good job of making everyone breakfast! After we stuffed ourselves, we made our way to the very small town of Fremont to visit a true Wisconsin cheese factory - Union Star Cheese Factory & buy some fresh cheese.

From the outside, it looks like a regular house but on the inside it is a full blown cheese factory. They only make the cheese Mon-Sat so unfortunately we weren't able to to take a tour & watch them :(

We browsed through the many refrigerators packed full of cheese, butter, ice cream, beef sticks & everyone got a little something to take home.

My purchase consisted of a block of colby jack, tomato/basil cheddar, mozzarella sticks, cheese curds, butter & beef sticks. Two weeks later I can tell you that it is all gone - except the butter. It is only half gone :) Lucky for me, you can order their cheese online & they ship it out the same week so I will definitely be taking advantage of that! They also ship gift baskets which would make a really nice gift!

After our cheese stop, the girls dropped all the boys off at home & we headed to the Oshkosh Outlet mall to do a little shopping for the rest of the afternoon. I was able to get Shane's birthday present at the North Face outlet & a pair of gray, leather boots for me at the Bass store. I could have spent so much more but managed to keep the spending under control. My mom & sister got a few things also so it ended up being a productive trip.

We headed back to the house, ate dinner, took some pics, made cupcakes for Tanner's class & spent the rest of the evening lounging around.

Sunday Nov 7
Today is Tanner's 4th birthday! It was also the day that me & my parents were leaving :( My sister & her husband were up early since it was the beginning of a work week so we were all up & saying goodbye by 7am. My parents left shortly after & headed back to South Dakota. My flight wasn't until later that morning so I was able to enjoy some coffee & slowly get ready to go.

It was sad to say goodbye to my sister, her hubby & the boys knowing that I won't see them until April but am hoping the time flies by as quickly as it has been!

Happenings

I have gotten REALLY behind on my blogging lately. I apologize to those of you who check-in daily anxiously looking for an update only to see the same darn post written 10+ days ago. I need to really work on this. Don't want to disappoint.

Since Oct 22nd (the last time I wrote a real post), there have been a few things that have happened that I would consider "blog-worthy"...

- Shane went & bought himself an early B-Day present:

At least he was considerate enough to buy it while I was IN town unlike his last big purchase!? Last I knew the boy was just "looking" at new trucks - I should have known better! Looks like I need to start thinking about what fun toy I get to buy next :)

- one of my favorite Fall festivities occurred on Oct 31st: Halloween. The hubby & I joined our neighbors out in the cul-de-sac for our annual tradition of food, a bon-fire & passing out candy to the kids. The KC Chiefs were playing that night so our neighbor Dave brought his big screen TV out to the driveway so the guys (& girls) wouldn't miss the game. It was a beautiful night to be outside & as usual we had a lot of fun with our neighbors.

- first weekend in November I flew to Wisconsin for my nephew Tanner's 4th birthday party. This trip needs it's own separate post so look for it coming soon. In the meantime, here's a "sneak peak":

Those boys are SO cute & SO much fun! Can't believe how fast they are growing!!!

- this past Friday night I met the "game-night" girls out at BB's - Spring Hill's local bar & grill. Nov & Dec are always so busy for everyone so we decided to gather for dinner rather than having someone host game night at their house. We all enjoyed catching up over a cocktail & dinner while watching some KU basketball. I also brought cupcakes from Smallcakes to celebrate Keri's birthday so everyone got to indulge in some yummy cupcakey sweetness. Right now they have a Pumpkin with cream cheese frosting cupcake along with a Peppermint Mocha Crunch cupcake for the holidays. Mmmmm - they both get HT's stamp of approval.

- on Saturday, Shane & I road-tripped down to Pittsburg, KS along with a couple of our neighbors to visit Julie & Brian who used to live next door to us. It is about an hour & 45 min away which ended up being an easy drive. We enjoyed the evening gathered in the kitchen snacking on a yummy spread while being "forced" to watch the K-State game (which was a nail-biter after 3 OT's), as well as played several rounds of Mad Gab which had everyone cracking up with laughter. It was a fun evening spent with great friends & am looking forward to seeing them all again at our Annual Progressive Dinner in December.

This upcoming weekend I am on call & have no plans other than housework :( so blogging might be kind of sparse for a few days with not much to blog about. Will get my WI post up soon along with a couple of other posts I am planning.

Thanks for hanging in there & sticking with me :)

VIP

To the left is a cheesy self-portrait of me in my hard-earned personalized Dream Dinners apron. I have been in the program for 12 months now & have finally earned my apron. I am now also a member of the VIP club.

With this VIP status I receive a 10% discount on my dinner purchases each month, along with a clean pressed apron that says "Heather T" on it & is hanging up waiting for me when I enter the store.

Shane & I have really enjoyed the meals I have prepared over the past year & I have loved not worrying about what to make for dinner when I get home. You can't put a price tag on time & that's what makes doing Dream Dinners so worth it.

White Chocolate Pumpkin Drops

Tonight I made these delicious cookies & thought they were very "blog-worthy" so here is the recipe for you all:

(photo credit)

INGREDIENTS

2	cups (4 sticks) butter, softened
2	cups granulated sugar
1	can (about 16 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
2	eggs
4	cups all-purpose flour
2	teaspoons pumpkin pie spice*
1	teaspoon baking powder
1/2	teaspoon baking soda
1	package (12 ounces) white chocolate chips
1	container (16 ounces) cream cheese frosting
1/4	cup packed brown sugar

*Substitute 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/4 teaspoon each ground allspice and ground nutmeg for 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice.

PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease cookie sheets.

1. Beat butter and granulated sugar in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add pumpkin and eggs; beat until well blended. Add flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and baking soda; beat just until blended. Stir in white chocolate chips.


2. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake 10-14 minutes or until set and bottoms are browned. Don't overcook as cookie will end up being hard. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets & then move cookies to wire racks.


3. Combine frosting and brown sugar in small bowl. Spread on warm cookies.

* Makes about 6 dozen cookies.
* Serving size: 1 cookie * Total Fat 8g; Carb 19g; Cholesterol 7 mg; Calories 151; Sodium 97 mg; Fiber 1g; Protein 1g

HT's thoughts:
- Definitely use an upright mixer as this makes A LOT of dough or you could just halve the recipe!
- I like a bigger cookie so I doubled the size of the drops of dough & ended up with about 3 dozen cookies.
- I baked my cookies for 10 minutes & they turned out soft & moist on the inside & just barely crunchy on the edges. Perfect in my opinion.
- I always bake my cookies on parchment paper on top of the cookie sheet rather than greasing it. Makes for a perfectly baked cookie.
- Also, I turn the cookie sheet half-way through baking as the back of the oven is always hotter than the front. Cookies are then baked evenly on your cookie sheet.
- I spread the frosting on the cookie while warm & it turns into a yummy icing.
- Not to be enjoyed if you are on a diet. 4 sticks of butter AND 151 calories per cookie!? YIKES - but they are SOOOO good.

Happy Baking :)

Holiday Mart 2011

October brings with it many things. Fall, pumpkins, blooming mums, cooler temperatures, Halloween & my favorite - the annual outing at Holiday Mart.

My friend Melissa was kind enough to join me on this annual adventure that I look forward to every year. Nothing begins to put you in the holiday mood like an afternoon of holiday shopping at this fun event.

We first stopped for lunch at a little place called "The Brick" which is located in the Crossroads Art District in downtown KC. This little hole-in-the-wall restaurant was featured on the hit show "Diners, Drive-In's & Dives" on the Food Network. If Guy Fieri has been there then it has to be good, right?

Melissa & I ended up deciding on the burger with tots. Any place that serves tator tots is a hit in my opinion! We both agreed our meal was very good & I was happy that Mel had suggested this place. We of course had to get a picture under Guy's signature before we left:

I have to take a moment to make a comment about my scarf & the drama it caused when I picked Melissa up. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a huge Jayhawks fan. Melissa is a HUGE K-State fan & today the two teams were playing each other in football. Notice Mel in her K-State purple & black. As soon as she gets into my car she comments on the purple in my scarf & how nice it was that I am wearing "K-State colors". Um - my scarf clearly has pink in it NOT purple. Don't you agree??? I mean look at the color she is wearing & compare it to my scarf. Definitely NOT purple! She knows I don't own anything purple so she enjoyed giving me a hard time :)

After we enjoyed a yummy lunch, we made our way to the shopping extravaganza. When you first walk in I must admit it is a bit overwhelming but once you get going, it is a lot of fun. There were over 200 retailers there with rows & rows of booths set up all selling their specialty items. There was jewelry, clothing from quaint boutiques for kids & adults, home decor, dips & soup mixes, lots & lots of holiday stuff & so much more.

Later on we met up with Mel's friend Sarah who joined us for some shopping fun:

We spent 4 hours taking it all in & we each kept our spending under control. I ended up buying only 4 things for less than $50 so I stayed well below the $100 budget I had allowed myself.

All in all it was a great day spent with a great girlfriend & I was so glad that Melissa decided to ditch the football game & come with me instead :)

House

Before:After:

The first picture is of our house the day we moved in. The 2nd picture is what our house looks like today with a fresh coat of paint. We are so happy with the color & as crazy as it may sound, glad to have painted it by ourselves.

Surprise!

This past weekend was a busy one. My mom & her friend Jodi came to visit for the weekend as well as attend my brother Steve's surprise 30th B-day party. They ended up getting in late Friday night & we enjoyed catching up while chowing down on some Papa Murphy's pizza.

Saturday we spent the morning checking out the 2011 Parade of Homes. We stayed in the Overland Park, KS area & looked at several homes from the $500,000 - $1 million range. It was a lot of fun going through all the homes & seeing all the expensive tile work, intricate details, huge rooms, closets & design of the homes. We all had our "likes" & "dislikes" of each & got lots of decorating ideas for our own homes. It is definitely something to check out if you have a free afternoon with nothing to do.

Next stop was lunch. Jodi had never experienced KC BBQ before so we HAD to make a stop into Jack Stack Fiorella's. We all enjoyed ribs, burnt ends & of course the delicious baked beans. She is now a fan :)

And no visit from my mom would be complete without a visit to Hobby Lobby. We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon browsing up & down the aisles & somehow our shopping cart became jam packed with stuff. I ended up getting a new pumpkin for the front porch that I just had to have along with some pretty Christmas ornaments & my mom got some fall decor, fabric & some ornaments as well. Even Jodi found something to buy - yarn for an afghan she is going to knit. Hobby Lobby is such a dangerous place to spend time but oh so fun! It's hard to believe Christmas is only 2 1/2 months away!!!

After our shopping excursion we headed back home & had a few hours before we were to leave for my brother's party so I whipped up his favorite dessert - a cherry pie to take with us & then we lounged around watching TV until it was time to head out.

We made our way to Parkville, MO where the party was being held & awaited the birthday boy's arrival. We were all gathered at my sister-in-law's (Meghan) mom's house for the festivities. Steve had gone golfing for the day with his brother-in-law while Meghan got everything ready. The plan was that Meghan was to get the phone call that Steve & Shawn were close by & we were to all head to the bottom of the driveway & surprise him when they turned in.

SUCCESS :)

He was more than surprised as around 40 of his closest family & friends greeted him! I think seeing my mom there was a HUGE surprise for him as she drove 9 hours to be there. To say he was speechless seeing all those people was an understatement!

There was LOTS of food, music, beverages, a bon-fire & lots of fun had by all. Meghan had this photo collage made of Steve from when he was born to the present:

And right underneath it was the dessert table with his favorite cherry pie & the cutest cookies ever of Steve's favorite things - Chicago Bears, football & beer :)

The invitation said for everyone to dress up in clothing from the year Steve was born which was 1981 so there were several who participated. Here is Meghan in her lovely floral vest & shorts set & her best "big hair" impression:
There was even an 80's shirt for Steve that he was given to wear:

Me, Steve & my mom

It was a great party & so very nice to see Meghan's family again! She did a great job of pulling off the surprise & I think the birthday boy even had a great time!

Sunday morning Steve & Meghan made there way down south & we all met for breakfast at IHOP before my mom & Jodi left town. It was really nice to spend some one-on-one time with my brother & Meghan & glad they met us.

After everyone said their goodbyes & parted ways, Shane & I headed back home for another day of painting. Lucky for me, the wind had picked up & it ended up being way to dangerous for Shane to be up on a ladder so he opted to go to the Nascar races with his dad & I did a little painting & then alot of lounging :)

It was definitely a whirlwind of a weekend & so fun to have spent it with my family!

Ladies Night

Since Shane was working late this evening, I ended up meeting my cul-de-sac neighbors for a much needed girls-night-out. It has been forever since just us girls have gotten together so I was very looking forward to catching up with them all. My next door neighbor Julie - who moved last month with her family to Pittsburg, KS - even made the trip back for the nights festivities so it was so great to get to see her.

We all met at My Big Fat Greek Restaurant for dinner & enjoyed catching up with each other, the greek food, the fun atmosphere & we laughed until tears were streaming down our face - literally.

After dinner a few of the girls decided they wanted to learn the greek dance that the staff was doing so our waitress was kind enough to show them how it is done:

L - R: our waitress, Gael, Linda & Julie

They did really good for their first time & were quite entertaining to watch dance all the way around the restaurant.

After dinner, we all headed to AMC 30 for the showing of 50/50. It is a film that is based on the life of screenwriter Will Reiser & it was a really good movie that made you laugh & cry both at the same time. I didn't care for how the movie ended but the rest of the movie I thoroughly enjoyed. HT definitely gives it 2 thumbs up - just be sure to bring kleenex!

Thanks ladies for such a fun evening out! Can't wait to get to do it again with all of you!

Home Makeover

So you may be wondering why I have been MIA these past couple of weeks & not done much posting!?!

Well, my husband decided a couple of months ago it was time to paint the exterior of our house. I thought great - I will start shopping around & getting some estimates on painters.

Um - wrong!

My darling husband informed me that there would be no need for hiring painters because WE were going to paint the house ourselves.

Say what???

Yeah - you read that right! So Shane took last week off of work & got the house ready to paint by power washing it, caulking it & even replacing some wood rotted trim.

Starting this weekend, I had a paint-brush in my hand from sun up until sun down both days while spending quality-time with the hubby (as he calls it) & painting away until I just couldn't paint any more. We managed to finish the front & one side of the house in 2 days - by ourselves & I must say I am loving the color!

So forgive me if the blog is lacking in posts for the next few weeks. I usually write all my posts on the weekends but I am pretty sure I will be spending my next few weekends with a paint brush in hand.

Will post before & after pictures once we are all finished!

Stay tuned...

Happy Hour

Tonight I met the girls for a long overdue happy hour at our favorite "after work" hangout - Rudy's! We enjoyed our usual chips, salsa & strawberry margaritas & shared in many laughs. It has been a couple months since we have all been together like this so it was great to get to catch up with everyone.

Love quality-time with my besties :)

Bullie-Sitting

So this past week we had some guests stay with us. My dear friend Samantha asked us if we would be interested in "bully-sitting" her bulldog puppies for 5 days & I immediately said YES! Was I crazy? Probably but I love her "babies" & couldn't wait to have all that puppy breath to myself for a few days :)

Sam & her boyfriend Jason dropped off Maggie (9 mos) & Miles (7 mos) Tuesday after work & the introduction with our dogs seemed to go well. Millie was a bit "dominant" over the puppies but by the next day she was over it & it was all good.

It was interesting having bully puppies in the house again as I had forgotten how wild, playful & mischievous they are. Our bulldogs are lazy & either sit there hanging out with you wherever you are or are sleeping & Neo is always laying on his "throne" up in the living room so it was definitely an adjustment chasing puppies around & watching their every move.

For the 5 days that they were with us Maggie & Miles behaved SO well. No accidents, no chewing on things other than toys, they didn't make a peep while in their kennel, they LOVED to be outside, & loved chewing & playing with all of our dogs toys & were SO sweet. I think they had a good time & by the time Sunday came around, we were getting used to the idea of having them around. It was actually sad to see them go & I may or may not have had tears in my eyes when they left :( BUT by the next day I must say it was nice to get things back to the way it used to be!

We told Samantha & Jason that the "babies" can come & stay ANYTIME so I am hoping she takes us up on it. It will be fun to have them over when they are a little older & be able to "play" with our big bullies.

Here are a few pics from our week:

Miles & Maggie - "Treat? Yes please!"

Maggie in the Big Bullies bed - "Nom nom nom"

Miles with a Cuz ball

Big Brother

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE the show Big Brother. For those of you who don't know what BB is, it is a TV show in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world for almost 3 months & are continuously watched by television cameras. One house guest is voted off each week until there are only 2 left standing. The person voted for by the evicted house guests wins $500,000. I have watched all 13 seasons of BB. It is very addictive & I look SO forward to watching it every summer.

It begins the first week of July, lasts until mid September & is on 3 nights a week. I started out watching this show with my brother Steve when he lived with me during the summers & then I got my husband hooked on it. A couple months ago during dinner with the game-night girls, we all discovered that we were all watching it & decided to get together for the finale.

So on finale night we headed over to Melissa's for snacks, beverages & the end to BB for the season. Surprisingly, we were all "Team Rachel" but the majority didn't start out that way beginning of the season. She ended up winning the money & sadly, another season of Big Brother came to a close.

As always, it was much fun to spend the evening with these girls: Melissa, Michelle, Me & Natalie

Until next season...