Sunday night.....

The kids came over on Sunday night. I did not see much of Issy, she was in the mood to hang out with the guys. When you have 3 guys who cater to your every whim it's hard to resist! But here she is in a pretty little outfit and playing with a gun. The problem with no Aunties around to even things out!:-)

This left us more time to play with Elizabeth we enjoyed our little miss smiley pants! she gave us lot's of head butts, high fives, and kisses... then she would clap and laugh. She was so sweet and enjoyed her evening!

Papa and Smiley

I made a simple dinner and of course no dessert. So some people, who shall remain nameless,  were wanting something sweet. We decided to make cup cakes again, but I didn't have cupcake liners. So we decided to make a "donut cake" thats what my kids called bunt cakes growing up.

Issy came around to help a little, but the draw of the guys was to much and she took off again. She was happy despite her face in this picture!

Then Elizabeth got in on the process, she really enjoyed it!

It looked super cool when we were done!

Then we cooked it and it was still cool cooked. We love this recipe, it looks great and tastes great!

Yummy!

It was a fun night and now a picture of a little puppy who is causing me to be on my hands and knees to clean the floor, she looks so innocent doesn't she!

Colorful fun....

The young moms today are so creative and amazing. They come up with some of the funnest ideas. things I wish I could have done for my kids. I saw a lady on a local TV show make these super awesome cupcakes and I just had to make them. It was a little work but so much fun!

The lady made the 5 colors of the rainbow. I was going for Easter colors, but went way to heavy on the pink and made it almost red. So I used the 5th bowl of batter to bring down the pink. It was going to be violet.

but they were fun anyway.

She said you just squirt about a teaspoon of each color when you have 5. I just had 4 colors so I used smidge more.

                 Chris said it reminded him of the food scene in that movie "Hooked." It did look fun.

   

I made 2 batches worth. My boys were excited. It's fun to find something that still makes them surprised.

The last one were a little more fun. I was just using up the left over batter. But I made it more squiggly and they looked better. The red was actually supposed to be pink.

Nathan thought the red and blue one looked like the earth. I said if the earth were red instead of green.  He said OK when Jesus comes that's what it will look like.:-)

I frosted them with cream cheese frosting.

Then we packed up plates of them and took them to our home teaching/ visiting teaching families. I did leave

a few for the boys. They were very happy.

They are so colorful all the way through! And they are pretty tasty too.

2 "Happy News"es and a recipe!.....

Well yesterday was tough emotionally. I ask for prayers people prayed and things got better. First good news: little Miss Elizabeth is now only borderline anemic. that means no leukemia, sickle cell anemia, etc.... We are thrilled she is great!

She just has to eat more iron rich foods and take an iron supplement. We can handle that!  I picked up Mike from the airport today Issy had called me and as Mike got in the car she said "Grandma you and Papa come to my house?" I said papa just got in the car, you ask him. We went to her house on the way home:-) Their mom was sick and we grabbed them a little lunch, including raisins for Elizabeth they are a good source of iron and potassium. Elizabeth also is drinking a toddler formula, that is giving her some iron.

Issy was just happy to see us and wearing her new jammies.

Now the second good news: My mother didn't have to have anything cut off. She went to the hospital and they admitted her ran ton's of test and decided that she was fine. She had no infection, the gangrene is a dry gangrene not a wet pussy one (sorry). So they said her foot will heal itself from the inside out and her toe will just fall off. She will be fine. That is a huge relief!

Now this is a recipe I have made now twice. Mike and the boys love it, it leaves me immediately a little gassy, my body isn't a fan of cabbage. Nathan had a friend over tonight and he loved it too. But I think part of the reason the love it, is because it's real food, not processed frozen pizza, chicken nuggets, or mac and cheese. My poor boys have come to appreciate real food!:-)

CABBAGE LASAGNA

I shredded and chopped cabbage,and put it in a 9x13, and salted it a little. I drizzled the left over sauce on it.

Then I mixed ground beef with a humongous jar of spaghetti sauce. And put a solid layer over the cabbage.

Then I mixed 2 eggs, italian spice blend or parsley would work too, and 16 oz ricotta cheese. Then spread all of it on top of the meat sauce layer.

Then I sprinkled a layer of shredded mozzarella over that.

Another layer of cabbage with a little more salt.

Then the rest of the meat sauce, I would have liked a little more sauce but the cabbage cooks really wet.

Then I covered it with foil and baked it at 400 for 35 minutes.

 

Then Chris came and told me the house was smoking up. I forgot that happened the first time. The cabbage and sauce boil over and make a mess in the bottom of the oven. So I maybe need to tent it, or cook it at a lower temp or put foil under it to catch all the juice.

Then I took of the foil topped it with more mozzarella and put it back in the oven for 10 minutes.

 

And the final product, yummy again!

Caution.... we are bad for your health!

First I will tell you about Issy's sleep over.  Mike had to leave town on Sunday so we drove by Erin's house and picked Issy up to go to church with Grandma and have a sleep over. She was so cute in the car she was talking up a storm. She said, "I like you on the TV." Which meant she liked our news story. I think I have mentioned it before but a reporter  friend did a story about Mike and I loosing weight together. Actually her mom told us that it was played at least 4 different times. That happened with the first part. It was run the next night. That is great news for the reporter, and it was nice for us that people responded so well to our story. Actually a long story short. Issy said something to her doctor about her grandma exercises. Erin told him we had had the surgery, and it was his brother-in-law who was our surgeon. The amazing thing about that story is that our surgeons wife is a lawyer, and her brother and sister are both doctors. What did that family do right!!!!

Then Issy went to church with us. She enjoyed our nursery but guess what. I boy hit her in the head again. She was sad again. It just happened to her at the gym! We had a fun night together. She woke up with a big smile on her face and gave me hugs and kisses. When her papa called I had her answer the phone. She said "I take nap with grandma!" It was a very long nap:-)

She enjoyed playing with Ophelia

And she loved eating her "green" lollipopsicle" She told me green is her favorite color. If it was really her favorite color that would be awesome. Because is was her mothers favorite color from the time she was 2 or 3 years old.

These are jammies that her great grandparents got her and her sister. Way cute spring jammies!

Now on to the serious and sad part. Everybody we love is struggling with their health right now. Gary and Cathy just left and Cathy left with a very, very bad bladder and kidney infection. She got help and is starting to feel better.  My mother is having a surgery in the morning to have a toe cut off. She has what they call dry gangrene and has to have it cut off right away. Mom and dad had a heart to heart talk, and dad told her if the train came to get her and she was inclined to go, she had his permission to go. I told her that with that unhealthy thing off of her body she would probably be healthier. After all the bible said something like "if it offends you cut it off. Well I told her, that black dead toe was offending her, so she will be fine! I will be saying lot's of prayers for her. I am worried about her and hope she will come out of this surgery healthier!

Then  today a dear old friend had his heart drilled. The blockage in his heart had hardened/calcified. So they had to go in with a diamond head drill and drill his veins! His surgery is over and he is doing pretty good. Mike and I went to visit him and took him this fun balloon.  He had a room full of big fun balloons. And we are so glad he came through his surgery so well.


Then on to the baby princess, Elizabeth. She has a little anemia problem. They were giving her some iron supplements for about a month.  Then they went back to the doctor Friday and Erin heard the doctor say that's really low, are you sure the machine is working?  Erin had decided that what he said had nothing to do with Elizabeth. But when he walked into the room he said, well the machine is working fine, but.... So the kids took her to Primary Childrens today to have blood drawn, for further testing.  So we are staying positive and hoping it's just a supplemental issue and nothing else!

She makes the greatest faces. And I miss most of them when I get my camera out. this is one of the fun ones she was giving me her favorite toy.

Because I'm the grandma and she wants me now here is another one!

She is just so stinking sweet!

 I'm starting to get a little nervous we are surrounded by loved ones who are having trials, and it is sad. It absolutely makes our prayers longer!:-)  And I leave you with a recent picture of me Steven took it. Look at the sagging neck, I'm going to have to start wearing  turtle necks!

lunch and a movie....

So Nate and I spent a day with the girls. We ate Chinese food and watched the newest princess movie in their theater room!

They girls ate a cookie and grandma stole lot's of kisses!

Elizabeth was in a very happy mood, with her cookie face!

Then Issy wanted me to paint her nails. After that she painted mine.

       After Issy was done with my fingers she said "now let me paint your footies." So I let her paint my footsies!

Then she painted her mothers fingernails, and toenails.

When she was done she wanted to paint the babies, but there was no way to get the baby to be still enough. So she ask Uncle Nate if she could paint his. He laughed and told her "no."

                                                    But that just made her really sad.

So her mother jumped in and tackled her little brother to save the day!

Issy was so happy:-)

Then she needed to do the other foot!

                                               I told Nathan, now he was a real man for letting her do it!

                               Elizabeth got upset over something and up the hands went again, to cute! Oh, I almost forgot to write this down. Normally when I hold my hands out to Elizabeth she'll hold her hands up for me to take her. But if I don't hold my hands out she just smiles at me and is happy to stay where she is. Well today after I got there, her mother brought her down. She smiled at me and held her hands out to me. I was super excited, she wanted me! That was the first time on her own that she wanted me. I think she is starting to figure out I'm her grandma!

                                                     Me and Issy with matching nails!