Chocolate + Friends = Fun

Tonight was our monthly Cooking Club and this month I hosted the big event. As I mentioned in an earlier post, The Girls asked me to share some of my sweet Mother-in-law's candy -making secrets with them. Sooooo, after some over-the-phone lessons with the Pro and a last minute frantic phone call consultation, we tried our hand at making candy and I would have to say that the result was a success!! Thank you to my wonderful mother-in-law for all her help!!! You are the best! :)

The menu included:
Chocolate dipped pretzels
Chocolate dipped apricots
Dark chocolate oreo truffles
Milk chocolate truffles dipped in dark chocolate
Peanut butter balls
Cashew macadamia crunch

Phew!! I didn't realize we were making so much! It all came together more or less and we had a fabulous time. An added bonus = my house smells DIVINE right now. Let's face it, you just can't go wrong with a kitchen full of chocolate and girlfriends.

Some of these pics are less than ideal, but I had to document things and make sure that everyone was represented! So, starting at top left we have Kristy and Kristina rolling truffles - lick those hands clean, Kristy! Katrina showing off the tray of Peanut Butter Balls pre-chocolate. Juliet and Kristina hard at work unwrapping chocolates for us to melt. Looks like Juliet is checking out her Dove chocolate fortune. Down below Alison and Tiffany get ready to dip some pretzels - Sophie decided she ought to hide from the camera at the last second and lifted the cookie tray to cover her face just as the flash went off. And lastly, Haley, Sophie and I pose with one (of the MANY) chocolate-covered spoons. (looking at that pic is reminding me that I never wrote up my post-preggo hair issues... hmm, looks like they're not over yet!)

A few plates of the finished products.

I love this pic - the hand in there is perfect!! My faves were most definitely the Dark Chocolate Oreo truffles and the Choc-Pretzels. YUM.

I am very very happy report to most of this chocolate walked out the door with everyone as they left. Thank goodness! Still have plenty around these parts for Bryce and I to taste...and anyone else who suddenly feels the urge to stop by and say hello!!

Cooking Club next month = Homemade Strawberry Jam
I can't wait!!!

She loves the bath so much, we thought we'd give it a try...

West Virginia, Wild and Wonderful!

I have been begging Bryce to go to West Virginia pretty much from the day we moved here. Not really sure why, I just wanted to check it out and see if it really is as wild and wonderful as all those radio commericals say it is! Plus, that gets me one state closer to having been in every state in the U.S. :)

Soooo, this weekend we went to Harpers Ferry in West Virginia! Wooho!! It was very fun. And very hot. 92 degrees to be exact. Phew! I'm not sure poor little Sophie new what hit her! Even in the shade 92 degrees really gets to you. Anyway, we had a lovely afternoon touring around. This place reminded me a bit of the Knotts Berry Farm set up of an old mining town - or Nauvoo, too, only without people and demonstrations in each of the buildings. There were all these buildings that you could go in that were set up like a general store, police station, tailor's shop, etc. and see what it would have looked like. So we saw Main Street, abolitionist John Brown's fort, and lots of artifacts from the time. Very cool. Bryce was in 7th heaven. Some pics:

This building is built right into the side of the cliff behind it.

Sophie and I on Main Street

Bryce and Sophie on these cool steps carved into the mountain

One of the highlights of the day was getting ice cream. Considering the heat, I think it was a highlight for probably 99% of the people at Harpers Ferry that day. The line at the ice cream place was around the block! Anyway, have you ever seen a cone this enormous??? It was HUGE. And we ate every single bite. :) Even Sophie got in on the action. Poor little girl - she looks like she is about ready to die of the heat in this pic...

Cool photo courtesy Bryce

Sophie and I in front of John Brown's fort

Confession

So yesterday our internet was down and I wasn't able to get online for the entire day!! And...

I had SUCH a productive day.

Sigh. I don't want to think about what this means... think I'll ignore that little factoid for now. But I did get so much done! I made a SUPER CUTE (if I do say so myself) card for one of the people that helps Bryce out with Scouts (thank you to Marci's Cricut paper cutter thingamajiggity), read books with Sophie, chatted with a friend (hi Kim!), worked out, went to the post office (finally), deposited a check that's been sitting around here for ages, did a complete load of laundry, read a book, did ALL the dishes, made a practice batch of Cashew Macadamia Crunch with my sweet mother-in-law for our Cooking Group next week and more! At the end of the day it was nice to not have looked at the computer screen a single time. Of course I was dying to get online as soon as I could today... Hello. My name is Lisa and I'm an online-aholic.

Here's a pic of the Cashew Macadamia Crunch I made. Bryce likes to say, "My mom has the BEST hobby - she makes candy!" And it's true! She really is the candy queen. I fully believe
that she can make anything. She is a wonder. One of the girls in my cooking group knew that she made candy and asked if I could share some of her recipes with them. So, I called her up and she agreed to help me try my hand at this candy thing. Yesterday we both made the Cashew Macadamia Crunch at the same time in our separate kitchens as we talked over the phone so it was almost like she was there with me! Totally fun. Unfortunately Sophie had the biggest diaper blowout explosion OF ALL TIME just at the critical sugar crystalizing moments so I don't think it turned out quite right, but lucky for me, with butter and chocolate... you really can't go too wrong. :) Anyway, I bagged the candy and we gave it away to the person I made the birthday card for. Voila card and candy:
And here are a couple pics of Sophie (who has tooth #5 now!) at our favorite park:

Swinging with DadTickling the [metal] ivories

Baby + Jello Pudding Box =

Baby You Can Drive My Car

Young Love Part II -- the romance continues to blossom...

Ethan takes Sophie for a spin around the park. What a guy!

Sophie: Hey dude, you skipped the mall! It's the Nordstroms half-yearly sale -- I am totally taking the wheel. U-turn, Baby!!
Ethan: The what?! How do you even know what the mall is??? Oh my...

Tuck Admissions

Thank you for applying to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. After much thought and careful consideration, I regret to inform you that we are unable to grant your request for admission to the Tuck Class of 2009.

It is often difficult to fully appreciate the competition for admission to Tuck. Our decision is not a reflection on your intellectual abilities, personal achievements or potential success in management. The factors that most often contributed to our decision to not admit an applicant were the rigorous competition created by a strong applicant pool and our commitment to maintain a small class size. This year�s pool is exceptionally strong. We know that many of the applicants who were not granted admission possess excellent characteristics that will serve them well in business school and beyond.

Happy Mothers Day!

To Our Favorite Mothers :)

Visitors from the West

This last week we had some visitors from the west come to play! Shannon and Bob arrived from sunny So Cal and we had a great ole time together doing all things D.C. Sophie and Bob were instantly smitten with each other and Shannon came in a very very close 2nd place behind Bob. Any time she'd see either of them Sophie would break into this enormous smile. You might, too, if you were 10 months old and found two more people willing to play with you - anytime and anywhere. It was great - for all parties involved (and really came in handy, too, when we were touring around. For example, when Sophie started getting fussy in the middle of a tour at Mt. Vernon... we were inside the house, very close quarters, no where to take a fussy baby... and all it takes is a little peekaboo with Shannon to make her happy as a lark again. Phew!). Anyway, we had a great time visiting with these guys - and we discovered this fabulous Thai place in Georgetown, too! Nothing like guests to help you find more things fun about about where you live!

Some pics from their visit...

Shannon & Bob on the Tourmobile at Arlington National Cemetery.
Is that a great name or what?! Tourmobile. Say it with me, friends! Tourmobile! I love it.

Lisa & Sophie in front of the Eternal Flame and the Kennedy's grave

Shannon & Bob with the DC skyline

On our way to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Family pic in front of the Arlington House - where Robert E. Lee lived

Bryce giving Teddy Roosevelt a big ole bear hug... around his leg

Nifty artsy shot of Iwo Jima and the Washington Monument by Bryce

The Declaration of Independence at the National Archives (where we saw billions of hollinger boxes and I felt very much at home. I know there are only maybe 3 of you out there that will know what I'm talking about, but this link should clue you in if you're curious. Ahhh, hollinger boxes. It's a weird archivist thing, I know, but what can I say? I'm a weird archivist, I guess... Here's a flashback to Lisa in her glory days as Asst. Archivist over at that school in the east coast. Actually, it was more like this. Hah! But here's the REAL deal - I actually worked with this guy and some of the stuff you can see in this pic!! -- like those film reels on the left there. Eee-gads. I can smell them now (insert shudder here). Whoah that's bringing back some memories. Ok, too much fun. I love google. But wow, have I gotten off course here... Now, back to our story.)The Girls. :) Sophie, Shannon & Lisa after an eventful day of sight seeing.
Bye Shannon & Bob! Come again soon!

Pic of the Day

This was actually taken the other week but it's just so darn cute - we love spring!!

Ok, fine - one more - I couldn't resist.

Philly: Home of the Liberty Bell, Congress Hall and the Cheesesteak

I only have a second, but I've been trying to post these pics on here since we got back from Philly last weekend... it's now or never! The house cleaning will just have to wait 5 more minutes. Aww, shucks. :)

Last Saturday we took a family roadtrip up to Philadelphia to check out the sites and see the King Tut exhibit at the Science Museum. Some pics from the day...

Sophie and I with two revolutionary war soldiers - Sophie was fascinated with the guy on the right!

Our very first stop after parking the car... a Gelateria!! Got to have your priorities straight, ya know?! Had to stop, sample, and take this pic to send my sister who is in Italy right now on a mission for our church! ps - The chocolate hazelnut gelato was delicious!!

Bryce & Sophie knocking on Betsy Ross' house - anybody home??

Trying out the head decor of choice of Betsy Ross and friends
Sophie wears it well, don't you think?

Outside the entrance to Betsy Ross' house/museum

Sophie looking through the bars at Benjamin Franklin's grave

Stopping for lunch - cheesesteak sandwiches!! Sophie was in total heaven - we gave her a napkin and she shredded it into a million pieces which all ended up under her chair (you can see them in the pic). She was so efficient with the shredding I am considering taking our paper shredder back and handing the job over to her instead! The walls were all mirrors in this place and Sophie also adored that - in this pic she's looking at herself in the mirror behind me. Also not a bad idea for our next kitchen...

Outside Independence Hall

In front of Congress HallChasing the birds -- and all the bread crumbs people left for them.

Umm, errr... rats. Bryce will have to tell you what this room is... I was out chasing Sophie (who was obsessed with the A/C floor grates) when the tour guide was talking about it. It looked pretty cool, though... does that count??

A cute one of my two fave people in the same room that Bryce will have to tell you about

I don't think Bryce meant for this pic to turn out this way, but I thought it looked kinda cool!

Bryce and a sleeping Sophie in front of the GIANT Benjamin Franklin statue at the Science museum

And finally... the whole reason we drove up there - to see Tutankhamun! The exhibit was really amazing. They had all kinds of stuff on display - everything about 3200 years old. That's OLD. and most of it appeared to be in better condition than Sophie's hand-me-down high chair, which is no more than 3 years old. :) We were disappointed that they didn't actually show the mummy (Bryce can elaborate on this point also when he talks about the rooms pictured above), but all in all, it was still a really neat exhibit and had me Walking Like an Egyptian all day.

Ok, back to the house work! Catch ya later!