Tractor Trouble Twins

Just because I think they're cute.

A Man that Cooks! Chubby Hubby Bars

Our church recently had a Valentine's Day Baking Contest for the Men, where the men were supposed to WOW us with their culinary expertise and the women got to taste and judge.

After trying several different recipes, Chris decided to make a dish never before attemped at the Amthor house hold ---Chubby Hubby Bars.

First, you dump out a tub of refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough and kneed it with your hands to soften it a bit. (I suppose you could make homemade chocolate chip cookie dough, but we don't want to add too many difficult steps.  He is a MAN after all.)

Then you crush up a baggie full (about a cup and a half) of pretzels and throw them in there.

Then you add a bag full of these babies.  Well....a bag full minus about 10.  I may or may not have eaten some while he was crushing the pretzels. :)

Then you kneed it all together with your hands...

...and press it into the bottom of a well greased baking dish.  Cook for about 30 minutes. 

Here is where I got distracted either by twin 3 year olds demanding my attention or by the second bag of Reeces I had hidden under the table.  Either way I didn't get pictures of the next two steps.

Next, when they come out of the oven, let them cool about 30 minutes and then pour an entire jar of carmel ice cream topping over them.

Then, let them cool about 30 more minutes and pour melted chocolate chips over the carmel.  Refrigerate for at least and hour to let the chocolate set, then cut into bars.

                    The finished result is AH-MAY-ZING! Rich, gooey, yummy-ness!

This was my dad's entry into the contest.  It's an Italian Cream Love Cake.  It was super yummy.

He won the "Best Use of Cheese" award because it had a lot of Ricotta Cheese in it.   It was still super yummy.

Chris won "Best Chubby Hubby Bars in the World" award.  Duh! They were the only ones there.  He also won the best Overall Award!  Because He is Awesome!  And those bars were Soooo GoooooD!

He won a straw.  :)

San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo

This past weekend we took in the San Antonio livestock show and all the shopping that it has to offer.  The boys and their bestie, Kayin, had a blast checking out all of the exhibits.

Heath spotted this carousel a mile away and made it his mission to get to ride it.

"Hey Brother, that is sure one goofy looking hat on your head!"

 Eattin` at Joe's.  Crabby #1 and Crabby #2.

Momma wore them out shopping.  They were tired little teddy bears.

Kali Joe

Thank you Papa for the Tractors and Mimi for the Dinosaurs.  They were well entertained while Momma shopped.

...and some pictures of the actual stock show so you can see we really did go for a reason.

Happy Valentine's Day

Tis the Season...

...for lambs.

Belated Super Bowl Post

My babies were sick during the super bowl, so there were no parties for us. Chris was away working so the boys and I just vegged out on the couch with a bowl (train car) of popcorn. It was nice and quiet, but it would have been a whole lot better if there had been no high fevers involved.

My Bubble

I live in a bubble. I like it there.


The other day some fellow teachers were talking about a cruise ship that crashed. They had been going on about it for about 10 minutes, talking about the captain and the crew members when I had to stop them and get them to recap the highlights of this ship wreck since I knew nothing about it. They stared at me open jawed and couldn’t believe that I hadn’t seen anything on the news about this wreck.

That’s when I explained to them that I didn’t have TV (cable, satellite, etc...).

We have been without TV at our house for almost a year and I love it. Chris and I decided that we were being drawn into trashy TV sitcoms and we decided that there really was nothing good on that was beneficial to our kids (or us), so we had it cut off.

Now, don’t get me wrong, we do have Netflix, which can show Thomas or Diego at the touch of a button. It’s $8 a month. Best money I’ve ever spent.  We spend more time as a family, playing games, and cooking together.  We can still occasionally watch a family movie.  There are many days that the TV never even gets turned on.

So what am I missing? The news? I have an app for the local news on my phone, but to be honest with you I only use it to check the weather so I will know what kind of clothes to wear. The news is so depressing. Even now, looking at the news app, the top few headlines are: Woman Sentenced to Probation in Death of Niece, Car Plows through Home, and Student Suicide on the Rise. Who wants to read (or watch) stories like that? They just put a damper on your day. I don’t need the negativity in my life. It just brings you down. I like my bubble.

I don't want to know about how dangerous the border is.  That way, when my husband gets sent down there to work, I will be able to sleep.  I find that people always let you know the important things.

I do miss having some sports channels, but did you know that MANY games are televised on the Internet. I watched the Super Bowl on my laptop and had great access to all of the funniest commercials (the only reason to watch the Super Bowl in my opinion).

Chris watches his favorite, Fox News, on the Internet, too. He is the political guru of the family. He will tell me who to vote for in the presidential elections.

I guess I’m saying all of this to tell you, if something is happening around me and you think I ought to know about it, please tell me. I live in a bubble. I like it there.