Heaven On A Plate

This, my friends, is heaven on a plate. I decided to make these delectable delights for dessert this coming Sunday afternoon. I have a feeling Taigen is going to have to show some restraint because these look very  tempting, and we all know he has a weakness for cookie dough. These are Cookie Dough Truffles. Yes. Truffles. That would be chocolate dipped cookie dough (minus the eggs...it's held together with butter, sweetened condensed milk, and lotsa love). Believe it or not, they were super easy to make too. I got the recipe here. I decided to dip them in milk chocolate and then pretty them up with drizzles of white chocolate. I had so much fun! Don't you all just want to come on over and try some for yourself?

A Different Way to Play Chess

There's a gentleman in our church who absolutely loves to play chess. Apparently he's really good too. The other day he brought Marshall and Shaylen some chess pieces that he had found or had been given to him. The goal is to teach them to play. I've delegated this job to Taigen since I have forgotten everything I learned about chess in 6th grade. (I'm thinking that's the last time I played it too. Let's see...that would be 1986. I'm old!)

 The kids have made attempts to learn how to play, or maybe I should say that Taigen has made attempts to teach them, but I think Marshall prefers letting his imagination run wild with all of the pieces in a different way. He managed to play with his "team" one afternoon by tying up Shaylen's "team" with silly bands.

I think I can say with confidence that Marshall definitely won this match.

The Furnace: On Again, Off Again

The weather here in New England has been extremely unpredictable. Late last week and earlier this week we had such beautiful, warm weather that we turned off the furnace. We were thinking that we were done with it until late fall. Then, we got a cold snap toward the end of the week. The highs were only in the 40's! We bundled up, but when I saw that the living room was 59 degrees one the morning, and the classroom was 57, I caved and flipped on the big red switch again. I knew with even the sunshine streaming in, the temps weren't going to get high enough to heat the house to a comfortable temperature. 

I was able to snap up a picture of the twins in their short-sleeved Seattle t-shirts while the warm weather lasted. They have enjoyed finishing up their school, chores, piano practice and other responsibilities quickly so that they could head outdoors. It's so good to get outside again after a long, cold winter.

From the Backseat

The kids love to play with their puppets while we're in the car. They enjoy having them wave at those driving by and seeing who will wave back. Today on our way back from piano lessons, the kids were playing with King & Queen Castlehoff. Shaylen was making the queen speak in a wonderful southern drawl.

"I speak this way because I am from the South!"

Marshall made the king reply, "Well, I am from the North. I speak English."

I about busted a gut from the front seat, but because I knew it would interrupt their "royal" conversation, I refrained from bursting out with a loud guffaw. The things kids say!

"Don't Wake Up Daddy!" - Game Night!

When we find ourselves with a free evening, we throughly enjoy spending some quality time with the kids. We love to sit, snuggle, and read through a book (We just recently finished a wonderful book entitled Ginger Pye, and just started reading through a short, easy book entitled Did You Carry the Flag Today Charley?), OR we often play a game.
One of the kids' favorites is a game called "Don't Wake Up Daddy." The way this game works is by slowly working your way on the game board toward the refrigerator to get a midnight snack. On certain colored squares, there are pictures of things that would make noise (screeching cat, broken vase, musical toy, television). If you land on these squares, you must press a button on the bed for an assigned amount of times. No one knows when the button will cause "Daddy" to wake and spring up wide awake and make you go all the way back to the beginning of the game board. It's hilarious.

Of course, as you can see in the pictures, Taigen and I milk the suspense for all it is worth. These pictures and the video make me laugh! When we first got the game, Marshall was actually afraid of it, probably because of the noise and suddenness of the springing up and startling him. He's gotten used to it, but now, he covers his ear to muffle the inevitable. It's hilarious to watch. We had a wonderful time and got a good many laughs together as a family.

Strange Rash

Taigen and I got up this morning and got all ready for our Sunday services. We went in to the kids' rooms when we were all ready and woke them up. I love smooching their rosy, warm cheeks and gently waking them. I had awakened Shaylen and was getting out her Sunday outfit when Taigen called me back into Marshall's room. Marshall's cheeks weren't rosy from his warm bed! Marshall's face, belly and back were covered in a strange rash! Since we have no idea what the rash is from, we knew it was best to keep him home. No sense in starting a Plague through the church. Marshall is in good spirits, but looks miserable! Poor Buddy!

April Fool's Snowstorm - No Joke!

We got a beautiful snowstorm early on Friday morning...about five inches worth. What a hilarious April Fool's joke on New England! We were just getting used to the idea of SPRING!

April Fool's Prank - A Day Late

When we came home on Saturday from the Leadership Conference, we pulled into our driveway to see our garage plastered with painter's tape! We instantly knew who did it: our sweet and quiet friend, Amy. Remember her? She and her family were the ones who foiled Taigen's office last year and came up with the colon dough. They are hilarious. What will they think of next? It's those quiet ones you have to keep your eye on, you know. Well, April Fool's Day happens to be one of her favorite holidays and it seems that she plots and schemes all year long (at least we think she does)! You should hear of some of her antics! We laughed SO hard as we pulled into our driveway. Taigen drove through it and we got out and looked it over. We decided to leave it up for the kids to see. They were away with Auntie Janelle (who was in town from MI).  They drove down to MA to see Jason, Joni, the kids and the new baby Gianna! (Hopefully I'll get pics really soon so I can show you.) Look at the sign! I love the fact that she still got her joke done in spite of the huge snowstorm on April Fool's Day. She is hilarious!

Leadership Conference Ministry

This past weekend was the annual Leadership Conference at Trinity Baptist Church in Concord, NH. We look forward to this every year. It's a great time for fellowship with people from all over New England and a wonderful opportunity to glean wisdom from preachers and fellow Christian workers. There are guest speakers for the two general sessions, and many different workshops to choose from during the two mini-sessions available in the morning. The church (Trinity) typically brings in guest musicians to do the special music, and every four years or so, they change things up by bringing in a speech person to do a dramatic presentation. This year, they brought in Jeff Stegall, a speech professor at BJU. He did a dramtic presentation chronicling the life of John Newton, known mostly for penning the words to "Amazing Grace." It was a moving presentation. Jeff did an amazing job.

Instead of having the home folks from Trinity fill in with the musical end of the program, they asked Taigen and me to do it! We were completely shocked and VERY honored. It didn't require much of us, just one duet in the morning general session and another one for the afternoon session. We haven't sung for this large a crowd (around 800-900 people) in years. We got together with Trinity's music pastor and wife on Monday to do dinner and then practice. We had a wonderful time! They are such dear, dear folks and we appreciate their years of ministry and sound wisdom.

Friday we drove over to Concord for the Pastors/Wives' Dinner and then rehearsed again in the big auditorium. It's a lot different singing in there. Saturday  we arrived early and warmed our voices up a bit. I can honestly say that Taigen and I were very nervous. When we sang for the morning session, Taigen said his knees were shaking and I know my hands were shaking! It took a good five minutes after we were done before my hands finally steadied. God is good, though, and we were able to accomplish this very special ministry. It was an honor to sing in this way and I'm very thankful that I can serve alongside my husband with music.