Cousin It Gets a Trim

For the past ten years or more I've been cycling through growing out my hair for Locks of Love, then getting the mandatory 10 inches chopped off once it gets long enough.  This is my 3rd or 4th time donating.
Note in the pic above that I look like Cousin It from behind.   And it turns out from the front too!                                                                      
                                                                               Me:

Cousin It:

The resemblance is uncanny!  Or should I saw WAS.

I don't like myself with hair quite this short, but it was well worth it and I hope it helps bring some little girl happiness. 

It takes 10 people to donate just to make 1 wig, so if you've got long hair, consider it!

This short hair better fit in a pony tail, that's all I can say!  ;-)

J.P. is Jonesing

I don't usually post twice in one day, but since my neighbor J.P. made a special request, I will make an exception.  Because she watched my chickens for four days.  Even the spotted one that was very bad and ran all over, refusing to go in the chicken tractor. Anyhow, yesterday I gave her (J.P, not the chicken) some granola bars I made.  Now I've tried a lot of different granola bar recipes.  But this is absolutely one of my favorites.  Not only does it taste good, but these bars do not fall apart like so many homemade granola bars.  This makes them perfect for taking along on hikes or snacking in the car. 

First, let me give credit where it is due.  This recipe comes from my friend Maria at Living, Learning, Loving.

Peanut Butter Granola Bars
Ingredients:

* 2 cups rolled oats

* 3/4 cup packed brown sugar

* 1/2 cup wheat germ

* 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

* 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

* 1 cup all-purpose flour

* 3/4 cup raisins (optional)

* 3/4 teaspoon salt

* 1/2 cup honey

* 1 egg, beaten

* 1/2 cup vegetable oil

* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

* 1/4 cup peanut butter

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with Pam.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, raisins and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, oil, vanilla and peanut butter. Mix well using your hands. Spread the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.

3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut. *I actually have best results from cutting them right when they come out of the oven.
 
Note:  The version I made did not use raisins (ick).  Instead, I substituted 1/2 cup Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips (drool).  Also, I added 1 tbsp. ground flax seed.
 
Enjoy!!

Muffin Tin Monday - Birds and Nests

Time for MTM again, and the theme this week is birds and nests.  What we have here are some green bean twigs (for nest building), blue jelly bean 'eggs' in an avocado 'nest', a chick breadwich, some ramen nesty noodles, a boiled egg, and 2 olives in a tart. 

Check out MTM here:

Since we're talking about birds, I couldn't let you get away without a chicken picture.  This is Foghorn.  Or maybe Leghorn.  I can't seem to tell the two of them apart.  Whoever it is, Foghorn and Leghorn are our friendliest chickens.   And Wendiwinn, Elvis is doing just fine ;-)

Just Hike It

One thing we love about camping is getting out to hike, run, swim, and just generally burn off lots of energy.  Here, Meredith and I sport the Bjorns.  Note that Grady, who is 5 months younger than Cort, seems to be slightly larger.  I think being temperamental stunts your growth.

Pierce found a big, big, big bridge.  He adores bridges.  Always has.

Grady tried out his backpack on a group hike.

I tried carrying Cort in the bjorn since I was unhappy with our Kelty.  At first it seriously killed my back, but then we got it adjusted a little better.

And Reid decided hiking was boring.

Pierce checked out the water.

And the twins made themselves cute on an old log.

Of course, Reid kept trying to eat old leaves.

What do you think?  Any chance these boys are going to love nature as much as their parents do?

Some Cabin Time

With some rainy weather yesterday, we spent some time cozying up in the cabin.  We read stories.

And Pierce got to watch his precious Diego by Ipod.

With a little help from his friend, Claude.

Scooter.

He's not dead, I promise.

Just catching a really good nap.

We also made some dutch oven beef stew last night for dinner.

Taylor overseeing dinner.

The boys sniffing scrumptious stew.

The stew was good.  Very, very good.  As were the margaritas that Taylor and Meredith contributed.

But somehow, nothing is quite as good as your very first s'more.

Loving it!

Memory Lane Friday - Those Foods I Loved

Memory Lane Friday is a chance to preserve your stories from your youth for your own family.  Today's theme is 'Those Foods I Loved'. 

My whole family knows what I'll be writing about today.  Without any hesitation either.  Lin Lin's macaroni and cheese.

It was creamy.

Dreamy.

Salty.

Rich.

Southern.

An underlayer of thick elbow macaroni noodles in a creamy sauce.  And a topping of slices of sharp cheddar melted on top.

We've all tried to duplicate it.  Alas, the recipe was lost.  But I'll always be thankful for the chances I had to enjoy it.  I remember at Thanksgiving dinner wishing that I didn't have to try the other dishes.  Wishing I could just use up all my stomach space on mac and cheese and not waste it on inferior dishes.  It was that good. 

Sadly, none of us ever took a picture of Lin Lin's mac and cheese, but here she is in the kitchen on Thanksgiving.

Want to participate in Memory Lane Friday?  It's easy!  After you blog, just come add your link into Mister Linky (I seem to have forgotten my code at home on my camping trip, so I'm not going to mess with that this week - if you really want to grab the code, you can grab it from the right hand side of my blog).

And come back next week.  The topic is "A Ceremony".  The possibilities are endless! 

A Camping We Will Go

Okay, technically it should be A Cabining We Will Go.  But you get my drift.  We weren't brave enough to attempt a tent with 9 month old twins, a 3 year old, a diabetic cat, and a dog.  Yes, you read that right.  We brought animals (but at least the chickens and other 3 cats are at home!).  Claude came with us because he needs vaccines 2x a day to manage his diabetes, plus thyroid meds, and if he gets off schedule it's rough on the old man (he's 11).  Then Scooter, our border collie, came because he's neurotic if he isn't around Paul at all times.  So there you have it.  We have a full house in the little cabin we rented in one of Virginia's state parks.  We're in Cabin 4 and Taylor, Meredith, and Grady (my brother + fam) are in Cabin 5, next door.

It made for a really interesting drive as I navigated through downpours and thunderstorms while both twins screamed, the cat puked AND had diarrhea all over his carrier, and Scooter panted neurotically because Paul was driving separate after work.  Bygones, though, right?

Now that we're settled in, all is good.  We're staying in one of the original CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) cabins.

 It's darling and Pierce is thrilled to have his own tiny little bedroom right off the living room.

I got to enjoy a 5 mile run on trails this morning and then did some running with the twins this afternoon.  Reid has been busy trying to eat every spare piece of dirt that he can find on the floor, and Cort has been busy trying to push over Reid. 

And it's all good.  :-)

Now I'm off to download the infamous Guinness Beer Beef Stew recipe, so we can make it for dinner tonight.  I had to drive 4 miles out of the park to get internet access.