I like big butts and I cannot lie . . .

So . . . um . . . I made some Rhodes rolls.



They're the new fav at my house.



They're buttery, beautiful, and you can't eat just one.



I have to limit myself to how often I buy them, because . . . well . . . they're buttery, beautiful, and you can't eat just one.



I had half a bag left, and I thought they would go nicely with chicken and dumplings.



The tricky thing is you have to let them rise for several hours before cooking.



OR, you can do the quick rise method, which takes only 1 hour or so.



You have to be very careful with the 'or so' part.



I found that out tonight.



I usually cook these in my 9x12 glass baking dish, but it was still in the fridge with some OH SO DELICIOUS apple struesel bars in it.



I decided to use a different method suggested on the back of the bag.



A muffin pan. Easy enough. I have one of those.



The directions say to put two rolls in each muffin cup.



I did that. No problem.



I followed the directions for the quick rise method.



The directions also say 'Let dough rise about 1 hour, until double in size. Watch closely so dough does not rise too high'.



Hmmm . . . . it was kinda hard to tell in the muffin cups.



After the rising process was finished, I started baking these lovely, scrumptious, slap-yo-mama-good rolls.



And this is what I ended up with.

When I pulled them out of the oven, Matt said, "Those look like butts."



I thought the very same thing.



I must have taught my children something good somewhere along the way, because later, he came up with a much nicer, G-rated, less crude name.



Chef Hat Buns.

The Girl's Princess Hair

If anyone knows my girl very well, they know she doesn't let me do much with her hair.


And on the off chance that she lets me give her a ponytail, braids, or a bow . . . .


it doesn't last very long.


Some days she won't even let me brush her hair.



Just yesterday I tried to brush her hair before going to maw maw's house.



She told me, "No. Maw Maw will brush my hair for me."



The stinker.



She'll let Maw Maw fix her hair, but not her own mother.



Go figure.



So today, I convinced her to let me give her a 'princess' do.



It took some convincing . . . .


and putting the chair where she could watch Dora while I fixed her hair . . . .



but I finally got it done.



And she has left it alone . . . . . . . so far.



Here's my pretty princess with her pretty princess hair.

This is called the Triple French Braids & Piggies. I have about 6 shots to post, but Blogger is STILL being a pain in my ASTABEULA!!!

You can go here to see much better photos of this style. This gal does some pretty amazing stuff with her daughter's hair.

I'm so jealous!

Our Mouse Has a New Pad

No, not a real mouse.


Todd had a hamster once, but that's as close as we'll get to having rodents for pets.


I'm talking about THIS mouse.


Doesn't he look cozy on his new pad?

We've needed a new mouse pad for quite a while now. I have a before shot of our Shrek mouse pad, but Blogger is being a total pain and won't let me post it. You'll just have to trust me when I say that Shrek and Donkey have seen better days.

I'd never thought about recovering a mouse pad. Heck, I didn't even know you could do that. But when I saw the tutorial I thought, "I CAN DO THAT!!!"

This is my kinda craft. 

Is it perfect? NO.



Does it serve its purpose? YES.



Did the kids think it was super cool and now one of them wants me to make him a quilt with the 'frogger's adventures' fabric? YES.

New Year Resolutions

Lets face it . . . . . I'm TERRIBLE at keeping resolutions.


Oh, I'm good at making them.


I can make a list a mile long.


But crossing off that list . . . .  well . . . . it just doesn't happen.


I'm very easily distracted.


It has something to do with having four children, a husband, a crazy-arse dog, school, and a house in desperate need of repair.


Ok. Fine. It's me. It's all me. I've never been good at following through.


BUT! (Is my but too big? Bahahaha! I crack myself up! No pun intended.) 


See? Easily distracted.


Ahem.


Anywho, I just couldn't let the year start without making some kind of goal for the new year.


I decided to go with a family goal so that I'll have to be accountable to someone other than myself.


*Drum roll please . . . . . . 


We're going to read the Book of Mormon as a family.


I know this isn't anything new, and it's something we should have done long before now, but this is another one of those things that we start and never finish.


So, this year WE'RE GONNA FINISH!


I came across a cute and fun way to keep us motivated. You can find it  here.
http://www.sugardoodle.info/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7152

We've done pretty well so far.


At first, the kids weren't too excited about the idea. They usually give us a hard time about reading, but they all want to read more than our '2 verses per person', and by the time we reach the end of the chapter, they're checking to see how long the next one is. More than once one of the kids has said, "Lets keep going. We can knock out another chapter."  I enjoy a little inside chuckle at that point.


Hmmm . . . for little people who make such a big deal about NOT wanting to read, they have a hard time wanting to stop.


I love it.

Congrats to the Pride!

Congratulations to all the band members for their hard work this year! They were invited to march in the inauguration parade for our new governor. What an accomplishment and a great honor for them! The last time our band was invited to the inauguration parade was back in 1963.

The parade will be in Montgomery on Monday, January 17th, which is also a holiday. The kids will be out of school and Ian will be off work.

ROAD TRIP!!!