My littlest one is working hard on becoming a big girl.  Doesn't she know she's not allowed to grow up?

Snow at the end of February, can you believe it?  It's pretty amazing if we get snow that sticks at all but at this time of the year it's pretty much unheard of.  The kids were more than happy to see it snow.  I don't love the snow but I have to admit it is really pretty.

I've been craving caramel corn so I looked for a recipe online.  I found one on allrecipes.com and gave it a try.  Not only was it super easy but it was delicious too.  I can't stop eating it!

Caramel Corn











Ingredients


Cooking Spray
4 quarts popped popcorn
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Light OR Dark Corn Syrup
1/2 cup butter OR margarine
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Directions

1.Spray large shallow roasting pan with cooking spray. Add popcorn and place in preheated 250 degrees F oven while preparing caramel.
2.Mix brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and salt in a heavy 2-quart saucepan. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil over medium heat.
3.Boil 5 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat. Stir in baking soda and vanilla; mix well.
4.Pour syrup over warm popcorn, stirring to coat evenly.
5.Bake for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven and spread on foil that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
6.Cool; break apart. Store in tightly covered container.

*I followed some of the reviewers advice and stirred the caramel corn every ten minutes while it was cooking in the oven.

Charlotte was invited to spend the day with one of her best friends, Ande and her family at Ande's grandparents farm.  Charlotte was beyond excited!  She was lucky enough to get to ride Oreo, a miniture horse.  Laura (Ande's mom) just sent me these pictures, I haven't even talked to Charlotte yet but I'm sure she's going to have some fun stories to tell me when she gets home.

Today we got some unexpected snow.  I don't think it's ever snowed here in February since we've lived here.  The kids were so excited (as usual) to see the snow coming down.  They had to go to school but they got to play in it for a little while before the bus came to pick them up.  Luckily they got to play because the snow was melted and the sun was out by noon.

4 Monster Jam tickets - $75
Parking - $10
Popcorn and ear plugs - $9
Pure happiness on my children's faces - priceless!

Today we left Claire with my mom and went to see Monster Jam (for those not familiar, it's a monster truck show).  We surprised Connor and Charlotte.  We didn't tell them what we were doing until we walked into the arena.  They were pleasantly surprised!  It was so awesome to see pure joy and happiness on their faces during the event.  They were so thankful when we left, I can't count the number of thank you's they gave us.

It's been awhile since I posted a recipe so today I thought I'd post a really simple dessert I made last night.  They were good, for as easy as they were the recipe's a keeper. 

Bugs Bunny Bars (not a fan of this name, I'm changing it to chocolate chip bars)










1 cup butter or margarine
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 pkg. (4-serving size) vanilla instant pudding
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 pkg. (12 oz.) semi-sweet mini chocolate chips (2 cups)

Heat oven to 375. Beat butter, sugars, pudding mix and vanilla in a large bowl on medium speed until smooth. Beat in eggs. Gradually add flour and baking soda, beating until well blended. Stir in chips. (Batter will be stiff.) Spread in greased 13 X 9 baking pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack cut into bars.

*recipe from whatmegansmaking.com

The only reason Charlotte wanted to join Girl Scouts was to sell the cookies.  Her dream has come true!  The cookies arrived today and my house is now overflowing with boxes and boxes of cookies, 129 to be exact.  Now the hard part begins, getting all those boxes to the people who ordered them!

We have not had the best of luck with fish.  We just can't seem to keep them alive.  Four fish have given their lives because of our inability to properly take care of them.  Why is it I can keep a child alive but not a fish?  Fish are such simple creatures.  Anyway, we decided to try one more time.  We've had this fish for almost two weeks now, a record for us!

My littlest one is by far more of a trouble maker than my other two ever were.  I love her playful personality but it can be a little messy at times.

She loves to throw toys from upstairs to downstairs.  If you're downstairs and she's upstairs you'd better watch out!

I love Superbowl because I love all the yummy food that's part of the day!  This year we went to my mom's house and my sister, Lisa and her family came too.  It was a fun time although I think I might have watched a total of five mintues of the game.  Remember, it's about the food!

Claire said three new words today without any prompting from me.  She said horse, trash and brush.  Her little vocabulary is quickly expanding.  Proud mama moments!

Claire thinks the whoopie cushion is so funny!