Sad Announcement- Blogging Break

As most of you probably have noticed our posting has become sparse. As Jasmine mentioned in a post, we have all been really busy including preparations for a beach trip together. We are going to hold off on posting for a bit. We're not sure how long but make sure you keep us in your readers to know when we're back at it again. We have some exciting stuff going on in our lives and we can't wait to share with everyone! Until then, stay wayward, y'all!

Yogurt and brown sugar coffee cake

In the midst of moving (will we EVER be out of the "midst" of moving??), I ran out of sugar. I have more . . . somewhere, so I don't want to have to buy more, but I didn't have enough to make our favorite sour cream coffee cake. At the same time, I thought our sour cream was no good anymore (untrue, as it turned out, but oh well), so I tried an alternate version of our "cinnamon bread."

My favorite part of this recipe? You can use even really old, hard brown sugar--the kind where you can't break down the lumps--and that makes it even better! The rocks of brown sugar melt into sweet gooey pockets of goodness!

Ingredients

Cake

• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 2 T softened butter
• 1 egg
• 3/4 c plain or vanilla yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla (omit if using vanilla pudding)
• 1 1/2 c baking mix (like Bisquick)

Topping

• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 1/4 c flour
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon (or to taste)
• 2 T firm butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8x8 glass or metal baking pan.

2. For the cake, in a mixer or medium mixing bowl, beat the brown sugar with the butter until combined. Beat in egg, yogurt and vanilla. Add Bisquick and stir until combined. Pour into prepared pan.

3. For the topping, combine dry ingredients in a small bowl. Using two forks, a pastry blender or your fingers, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs or wet sand. Sprinkle over cake batter in pan.

4. Bake about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

See that pocket of gooey goodness in the corner there??

Yum!

2 Books created for children

Brooke's daughter PB turned 2 recently, and I wanted to make her a couple books to take to church with her. I did something similar for Jordan's children, so I knew I needed to make them more durable.

For the first book I used clear vinyl from the fabric store.
I glued pictures I got online or from the clipart in my word processor onto both sides of heavy cardstock. There is a big library of free images on all sorts of religious, family, and nature topics here .

Then I cut strips of vinyl 2 times as long as the cardstock. PLUS about 2 inches and about 1 inch wider that the cardstock. Since I was using 5" x 7" pictures, I cut my vinyl into 14" x 6" strips. I folded the strips in 2 and placed my cardstock at the fold. I sewed a seam right next to the picture as shown here. I tucked in a 1" strip of vinyl along  the top (where the holes are)  before to make it stronger. 






I punched holes in the top margin. (Ouch! This hurt my hand!) and then used binder rings to hold them together.

You could use this technique with coloring pages or puzzles to make them reusable with dry erase crayons or markers.

The other book is a personalized one to remind PB that Jesus loves her. This one could also be adapted to any topic for any child.

I bought a little 2.5" x 2.5" photo album with a magnetic closure on at a craft store. Any size would work.
I collected clipart and photos and printed them on cardstock the right size. I also glued a picture on the cover. Quick and easy!

Developing Your Talents

Sorry for our absence! Jordan just moved, Jaime is preparing to move, Brookie...moved almost a year ago (sorry I don't really have an excuse for you), I am graduating with my Bachelor's in just a few short weeks and mom is supermom doing supermom things. So yes, there are our excuses. Anyways....

This past weekend I went to a dance performance put on by my school. Each piece was based off a piece of artwork or the author. One of the dances was based on the painting "The Son of Man." In this dance (well at least how I interpreted it) was about how we sometimes sell, abuse or don't use our talents and creativity. This really made me want to live up to my potential. This makes me think of the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. This is the parable about how 3 men are given talents (coins). The first two men multiply their talents. The third man buries his. How easily we must do that all the time; bury our talents or not develop them. So I challenge each of you and each of my sisters and our mum to expound on their talents this week. Develop or indulge in something you're good at or interested in. Even if it's only 5 minutes that you do this, it's better than ignoring it. Now...don't ignore your kids or job or other important responsibilities either but strive to achieve something better.