A Few Pictures

What's new in Dohlchester? Keith has put back in for evenings, and Katherine is still working some mornings. "What is it that Katherine does?", you may ask. In fact, many of you have. Basically, I do marketing and web development (more web development at the moment) for Virginia Review, a professional journal for Virginia government. It's not Vogue. But it is just one mile from the house, relatively in my field, with flexible hours and fine pay. Also, I am doing web development for a new site set to come live in the fall. More on that when it happens.

The picture to the left is of Kaitlyn being treated to one of Grandmama's molasses cookies at White Lake. Just after this picture was taken, Kaitlyn thrust her other hand in the bag, too, and chose a whole handful of cookies. She was "persuaded" to just take one.

To the right is a picture from the Chesterfield County Fair. Katherine won 4 ribbons for crochet, for Kaitlyn's "Just Like Daddy" blanket, for the bear from the nursery friends set, for the christening dress she pattern tested, and a blue ribbon for her first doily ever. Keith and Auntie Kris both enjoyed fried candy bars. Katherine and Kaitlyn (reluctantly on the SweetPea's part) abstained. Kaitlyn did get to feed some baby goats and pet some animals, but she liked them better from a distance. The picture is from the "Corn Crib" sandbox of corn in the Kid's Tent. Wow. Ok. A sandbox of corn. She had fun, though.

Then to the left is an older picture from before our PA trip of Kaitlyn learning to feed herself. She was very very proud of herself and very very messy. It would have helped if she had learned that a spoon goes bowl side down into the mouth, not flipped. Oh, and if she hadn't stuck her goopy hands in her hair to take out her hairbow. She enjoyed feeding herself much more than the ensuing bath.

That's it for this evening! Have a blessed Wednesday!

Back From The Lake

We made it back! Safe, sound, and 12 hours ahead of schedule. No pictures yet, but some were taken (of course!).

After figuring that we would need to leave by 8 am (waking up by no later than 6am) to get back in time for work, we decided that leaving at 8PM the night previous would make more sense. We would have had to go to bed not too long thereafter in order to get up, anyway.

The new location had no private pier, but that didn't bother Kaitlyn! She saw the lake and exclaimed "Pool!" She was even more excited to see her family. And the cookies. A funny story that combines the two: Kaitlyn was given a Molasses Cookie (Grandma's specialty, now made by Mom Hudgins), just as Grandmama (Kat's mom) went to the ladies room. "Mmmmm!" she exclaimed. "You'll have to tell Grandmama how much you like those." She ran over to the bathroom door and banged on it yelling "Grandmama!! Grandmama!!" OK, maybe you had to be there.

Either White Lake has gotten "gikkier" or we're getting old. It's probably the old thing. While Kaitlyn didn't seem to mind floating or walking through floating patches of lake vegetation, we had no desire to get in. But, loving Kaitlyn as we do, we waded, splashed, and floated for what seemed like hours a day. The "waves" thrilled her, and she laughed with delight as each one splashed against her. Why doesn't this child love the bathtub?

The game tables were in full-effect. Nertz, Cranium, Taboo, Outburst, Apples to Apples... we make powerful allies, but terrifying opponents.

An M&Ms Pine Bark Update
This did not work well. (a) the M&Ms didn't crush well in the food chopper; (b) the M&Ms didn't melt well, and (c) the M&Ms didn't spread well. There must have been a better way to do this. For the result I was going through I think that using milk chocolate chips with the usual recipe would be best, and then after spreading top with some M&Ms crushed by a rolling pin.

What did work well? Making the recipe with peanuts. Since I had the food chopper out, I ran a big handful (1/3-1/2 cup) of dry roasted peanuts through. I sprinkled about 1/2 of the small pieces over the saltines before pouring the butter/sugar over, then the other 1/2 of the smaller pieces before sprinkling the chocolate chips. I saved a small handful of larger chunks of peanuts to sprinkle over top of the chocolate once I spread it. Yum! THIS I can recommend.

White Lake Bound!

Well, it's almost time to climb in the car for our last trip of the summer. Usually White Lake is the first trip of the summer, so this is a little unfamiliar feeling. And we're going to a new house. Have I mentioned I am resistant to change? I still cringe every time I go to my home church and see the interior walls painted pale pale lilac, and think of the layout of the old building - the new one still confuses me a little.

But the times they are a changin'

One thing that is the same about White Lake... people I love, fun games, and a big table full of snack foods that will make you feel a little guilty all year.

This year I am making pine bark, with a twist:

35 saltine crackers; 1 cup butter; 1 cup brown sugar; 1/2 tsp almond extract; ~16 oz M&Ms, crushed in food chopper
Boil butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes; remove from heat and add almond extract. Pour over saltines (salt side up) in greased & foil lined pan. Bake for 5 minutes at 400 degrees. Sprinkle chocolate bits over, and spread when chocolate melts. Cool, crack, and cool some more.

Usually I use semi-sweet chocolate bits, but I think this will be fun and delicious. We'll see.

Off to cook some candy!