Strawberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies & Cookie Dough Scoopers!

I tried this recipe for Strawberry White Chocolate Chip cookies from Shawna's blog Nuts to You (http://shawnahenry.blogspot.com/). I love strawberries and I love anything with white chocolate, so it seemed like the perfect combination. It was extremely simple. There are only 4 ingredients and it took less than 5 minutes to get them in the oven. Blakey and Caleb love them and so do I!
Strawberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 box of strawberry cake mix
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup white chocolate chips

Mix ingredients, scoop onto cookie sheets (I only use airbake sheets when baking cookies), bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Super easy!
On a random side note, do you know that there is such a thing as a cookie dough scooper? My mother in law got me one for my birthday several years ago and I LOVE it! It makes the process of putting cookie dough on a cookie sheet quick and precise. All of the cookies wind up being the same size. Before the kitchen doo dad I had problems with my cookies being different sizes! :)

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Last night we went to the Ironbirds game in Aberdeen, MD. I honestly was exhausted and kind of grumpy about going... boy am I ashamed now! As most of you know the Aberdeen Ironbirds are owned by the legendary Cal Ripken Jr. For those of you that are not from MD (I know there are a few people reading this from out of state) he is our hometown hero. According to the staff at the stadium, Cal usually only attends one game a year. Last night happened to be that game! From what I've heard he rarely signs autographs/take pictures, but last night was one of those rare moments! After participating in the opening ceremonies of a special event (the Little League World Series) he happily signed autographs and took pictures with kids.

He even posed for a priceless picture with Caleb!

A few minutes later he began walking through the stadium. As he got near our section I yelled, "Cal, would you take a picture with the baby?" He actually turned around! He then said jokingly, "Do you realize how long it has been since I've held a baby?" He grabbed the baby up and let me take a picture! He even held him for a few moments as the crowd said "Aw!"

I've heard gossip that he can be mean, etc. but that was NOT my experience at all. He is wonderful with kids! It seems like his life's purpose at this point is helping kids play baseball. I think he gets agitated with people that are trying to make money off him, and really who can blame him?

The rest of the evening was a little hectic... the kids usually go to bed at 7:30 and the game didn't even start until 7:35! By 8:30 the kids were nuts! Caleb spent most of his evening on Traci's lap (my brother's girlfriend), I told Sean that he has some serious competition! I'm so glad we went!

Instant Answer to Prayer

I have recently grown VERY worried about Blake. He's 18 months old, wasn't walking, and wasn't saying as many words as I thought he should be. I was ready to discuss it with the pediatrician at next week's checkup to see if I should look into getting him special services. This was a hard realization for me to make and accept. I am ultra sensitive about him because of the issues he had during pregnancy and the holes that still remain in his skull as a result of these issues.

I did the best thing I could think of when I came to this realization last week and I prayed hard! Out of nowhere, in the last 24-48 hours he has been saying a ton of new words (go, stop, bad, whoa, uh oh). Then tonight I nearly lost it when he went from my boy that would only crawl or walk around holding furniture to a boy that could run! While we were at the library he just took off! I was so happy I almost cried! What is even better is that I had my digital camera on me to catch the moment! You can watch the video at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAPK14Keq3Q

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Barbecued Beef and Bow-Tie Dinner

With the slow pace of summer we've been trying some new recipes. Some of my experiments have been good, others not so much. This recipe (that Jason actually cooked) turned out pretty good! I'm not a huge fan of barbecue, but would still rate it 3 out of 4 stars!

Barbecued Beef and Bow-Tie Dinner (from Betty Crocker)

• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 cup red bell pepper, chopped (I omitted this, I hate peppers)
• 1 1/2 cups uncooked mini bow-tie pasta
• 2 1/2 cup beef broth
• 1/2 cup barbecue sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup frozen corn, thawed
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1. Brown ground beef, drain

2. Add bell pepper; cook and stir 1 minute. Stir in pasta, broth, barbecue sauce, salt and pepper. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to medium-low. Cover; cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta in tender.

3. Stir in corn and 1 cup of cheese. Top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Cover; cook 3 to 4 minutes longer, until corn is hot and cheese is melted.

Blake was a hot mess after eating this dinner! He had barbecue everywhere... even in his ears and hair! :)