UNI-Dome, here we come!

Yea Troy, we are proud of you! Dowling won the quarter-final game last night against Urbandale and the Maroons get to play at the UNI Dome on Friday afternoon in the semi-final round!  We're going to try to make the trip...maybe! If they win this Friday, they will play in the state championship the following Saturday. The boys love going to football games and enjoyed seeing their Great-Aunts Debbie and Karen last night :-)

A few pictures from the season:

Ryan loves all aspects of the game...still is convinced that Daddy is playing (aka "wrestling/tackling") instead of coaching. On the other hand, Seth goes for the food, band, and cheerleaders...game? what game?

Thursday night = Family night

So we have one night a week where we try REALLY hard to have some good family time - no interruptions, no other committments, etc.  It's virtually impossible during football since Troy doesn't usually get home until 7....but I'm not complaining (stopping now to pray for a dear friend who's hubby is going to be leaving for Basic Training!).  However, tonight we had some fun - nothing major, just trying to enjoy the small things.  Like trying not to laugh at Ryan's version of telling me off:  "Mom, go buy the farm!" (said in the same tone as "Mom, go take a hike!").  Or Seth tearing open a bag of chocolate chips and helping himself to a snack.  The best part was that after getting all slobbery and chocolatey, Seth grabbed an open bag of powdered sugar and some of it floated down on top of him - it was a sugary version of being tarred and feathered.  Sigh. 
But Troy's highlight of the night was a yummy dinner.  I'm no chef, nothing fancy here in this house...but every once in awhile I find a connoction that is JUUUUUUUST right.  This meal is super easy, can be made in about 5 minutes of prep time, can be left alone in a crockpot, and men LOVE it.  Well, at least I know that Troy does:

"Best-Ever Barbecued Ribs"
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon course salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
2-3 pounds well-trimmed pork baby back ribs, cut into 4 rib pieces (with bones - not the boneless kind)
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon (or more!) Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon (or more!) soy sauce
1 tablespoon (or more) A-1 sauce

Coat your crock-pot with cooking spray.  Combine paprika, salt, thyme, black pepper and red pepper; rub mixture onto meaty sides of ribs.  Cook ribs on Low 7-8 hours (or on high 3-3 1/2 hours although the low method is better) until ribs are tender.

Combine the remaining ingredients; mix well.  Remove ribs from the crock-pot and discard cooking liquid.  Coat ribs with sauce and return to crock-pot and cook on High for 30 minutes or until ribs are glazed.

Birthday Party: My baby is 1!

So, Seth isn't really one yet...the real birthday is Thursday, but since his original birthday was a week ago, I figure I can cheat and celebrate for a week long, right?  We had his birthday party this past Saturday.  Troy voted for a fireman theme, so Chief Seth Rider was the honored guest at the fire station for the day.  We had lots of fun with our family.  It was a very special treat to have both sets of grandparents and Seths grandparents all together in the same room.  Lots of aunts and uncles and cousins shared the day with us.  We're so blessed to have family that loves our crazy kids as their own!  Here are the highlights of our week-long celebration (thus far):

Making a mess for the cupcakes:

These are fire engines....not semi trucks with wierd wings:

Making lollipops....that was really fun and pretty easy!  We might have to try it in Cubbies sometime....ok, maybe not.

The finished product (some of them, anyway).  My mom added the "1" for the final touch, thanks Mom.

The painting, by none other than Abby Charlton, of course!

Happy Birthday, my little silly man!

Ultimate chocolate chip cookies

These cookies are slightly crispy at the edges, chewy in the center, and loaded with two kinds of chocolate.  You can add 2 cups of chopped walnuts or pecans to the dough...but that would ruin it.  I like to slightly underbake my cookies (by 2 minutes or so), take them out a bit doughy, and allow them to firm up as they cool.  Enjoy!

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour                                       
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp coarse salt
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter,
   room temperature
1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I didn't use this)

1.  In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, banking powder and salt.
2.  In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars on medium-high until light and fluffy, 6 minutes.  Reduce speed to medium low and bet in eggs, one at a time.  Beat in vanilla.  Mix flour mixture just until incorporated; fold in chocolate chips and chunks.
3.  Using a 1/4 cup ice-cream scoop or a large spoon, drop dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet (you should have 24) and refrigerate 1 hour.  Preheat over to 350, with racks in upper and lower thirds.  Arrange 6 unbaked cookies, 3 inches apart, on each of two parchment-lined baking sheets.  Bake until edges are light golden brown, 17-18 minutes; rotating sheets halfway through.  Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.  Bake remaining dough using new parchment.

To freeze:  freeze unbaked cookies on a baking sheet until firm; store in a resealale plastic bag in the freezer up to 1 month. Bake from frozen.

Peer pressure

So, I'm reading a book called "When People are Big and God is Small" that is revolutionizing the way I feel about people.  That's right - I'm changing my feelings into facts about people/the world and how we "fear" them when we shouldn't.  So...it's a little ironic that my fear of a certain FRIEND (respecting her right to privacy, but in case you're curious her name kinda rhymes with "Shady Looks") caused me to become a blogger.  Like I've heard many say:  I don't have anything interesting to say, I'm not funny, I'm not one that should be "followed", and I don't have time to blog...., and yes, these are my excuses as well. So I'm setting the bar very low.  Don't expect to laugh, don't expect to learn anything here, don't expect me to lead you into any new dimension of reality or fantasy, and don't expect me to update this each day as I wake up.  BUT, I'm joining the ranks of all the cool bloggers out there simply because my "fear of people" is still holding on.  Maybe I'll shake it soon...but until then, "Shady Looks", please stop scaring me into blogging-compliance.
Now, on a positive note:  I have found the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever.  Trust me, I've tried DOZENS of recipes and I've found "the one".  It's like when Troy knew that I was "the perfect recipe" for him.  Stay tuned.