Quick Post... Kinda back:)

Wow...what a couple of weeks it's been over here.  Nutcracker is over!!  Thought that would give us more time...but we still have after school crap almost every day and I still have Baby C every day.  Sooooooooo, it really didn't free up much time.  But, I did have this past saturday to catch up on some cleaning..whooo hoooo!!

The laptop I've been using is DEAD... Franny knocked it over and there is a wonderful screen of Black.  Boo. And our 'home' computer is not the fastest piece of machinery around.  I feel a little out of the loop this week.. and I can't make any of my words in that stupid Words with Friends b/c it freezes this computer.. Hopefully hubby will bring home another one to use...please:)

Oh, and Francesca is getting to be more and more daring... so, we waited until this past weekend to put up our tree and it is currently gated so she can't get to it.  The house is starting to look and feel like Christmas and it's a little bit cleaner.  Can't wait 'til next week when hubby is home and perhaps we can get some stuff accomplished???  Ha ha ha... yeah, b/c we won't have all 4 kids home wanting to do stuff, right??

Some pics of my beautiful, feisty Franny Wrecker:

Chocolate Bark Recipe...

1 pound of chocolate (I used semi-sweet b/c that's what I had)
1 cup crushed candy canes (I used the red/white peppermint)
1 cup mini marshmallows

-Lay aluminum foil into a large pan (shiny side up).. I used a 13x9 but you could go bigger for thinner bark
-Melt 3/4 of the chocolate in the microwave (or you can use double boiler method)
          heat at 50% for 2 minutes... stir ... continue heating at 50% for 1 minute at a time stirring in between
-Once chocolate is melted, add remaining chips and continue to stir until shiny and smooth
-Pour melted chocolate onto prepared pan
-Sprinkle crushed candy canes and marshmallows all over chocolate
-Allow to cool and harden (you can put in fridge to speed up this process)
-Break into pieces and enjoy!!


The original recipe I found used white chocolate.  Because I didn't have enough white chocolate, I went with the semi-sweet chips I had.  In the end, I did melt the little bit of white chocolate I had and drizzled it all over the chocolate after the candy canes and marshmallows.

You can totally change it up and add/take away things.  I'm thinking I might try the white chocolate with the green/white candy canes next.  Add nuts if you like them.  Use Andes Mint Candies... or, I just found a bag of Ghiradelli white/red peppermint chocolate pieces.  The great thing about this recipe is that it's super easy and super changeable!!

Enjoy:)

I am NOT a Chew Toy!!!

Seriously... I don't think I'm enjoying this whole 'nursing' mommy thing anymore!!  She is ridiculous and thinks that my boobs are her personalized chew toys these days.  She is ridiculously attached to my boobs.  I've never had a kid so completely attached to these things.  She has no inclination of weening what-so-ever and I'm almost at that point where I just need to sever the ties.  I think it would be so much easier if she actually drank real milk, you know??  She spits it out at me or she smiles with a mouthful of milk in her mouth and just lets is drool out of her mouth onto her chin and clothes.  And then she knows the cup that holds the milk and throws it at me or on the floor.

Ok- enough about that.  Things that have happened since we last talked:
Friday: Christmas tree lighting in town...Kyra and her 2nd grade class sang holiday songs.  She was cute!!  Same night I went to a holiday party that went much later than I wanted it to... was supposed to bake something that night for a party the next day but, since I got home at 12:30 that night, it didn't really happen.  Wound up making some 'chocolate bark' that turned out really good (I'll write recipe below... if I forget, I apologize, my brain has stopped functioning).  Oh, and my phone broke...yup, it went tumbling to the ground for the umpteenth time and the screen cracked right down the middle.  Useless touch screen phone that I can't touch the screen..boo!!

Saturday: early morning...Breakfast with Santa at the school.  I took pictures the entire morning of all the parents and kids who came to enjoy Santa, breakfast and some crafts.  Then off to an annual party with lots of good food and friends!!  Rehearsal for DJ followed by rehearsal for me.  Kyra wound up on the couch with one of her fevers so I kept DJ with me during my rehearsal.  Missed my library holiday party but partook in some lovely Chinese take-out!!  Got home around 8:30 to find an overly tired Franny Girl who didn't want to go to sleep gracefully.. cranky, tired babies suck!!

Sunday: get kids to CCD (sorry, we missed church again.. Hubby went hunting and I just won't take all 4 of them to church).  Run home, call phone co. to try and transfer my # to a different phone and get the 3 of us dressed and ready to go back to CCD to pick up the big kids.  Off to Kyra's rehearsal and some sort of fast food lunch (this fast food stuff is becoming too much of a habit right now).  I go to work and hubby takes over picking Kyra up at rehearsal and getting the grocery shopping done for the week.  Home, make dinner, Kyra still feverish, DJ showered, Franny fell asleep at 6:30 (made for an interesting night trying to get her re-settled)

Monday: get kiddies up and out the door, Baby J came at 9 and Baby C came at 10.  Lots of crying in my house this morning... I find that when one cries, they all cry.  Or, it is eerily quiet in my house.  Taking care of kids is tiring.  But when you add more kids/babies to the mix, it can be utterly exhausting some days.  When babies leave, my big kids' schedules take over.  Had to pick them up at school and get Kyra to rehearsal at the theater.  Took other 3 to Walmart and Michael's and grabbed some, yes, more fast food crap.  Raced back to the theater to get Kyra and go home.  Got here around 6:45...homework done, cook dinner for hubby and myself (steak and potatoes, my favorite and one the kids don't eat).

What's coming up... ha ha... do you even want to know??  I have to make cookies tomorrow so the girlscout troop can decorate them on Wednesday and hand them out when they sing on Thursday.  I also have to make some cake pops I foolishly volunteered to donate for a raffle.    Sometimes, lately, my brain really doesn't think properly.  I also have to oxyclean Kyra's angle dress and try to fluff up DJ's bunny tail.  Gotta get my costume crap together too... Big Blue Bertha (my dress) is coming out of the closet tomorrow...  Oh, and we have a doc appt for Franny wed. morning to check her ears... Baby C is still coming all week ... who says laundry needs to get done this week??

OK- have I bored you enough??  If I don't post regularly these days, I'm hoping you'll understand why.  Most nights I completely pass out while thinking about writing..lol

Have a great night:)