Chocolate Dipped

As always, I bought wayyyy too much food for Mark's birthday party. Although the kids love fruit, it seems like we can never eat it fast enough. So on Saturday, we broke out the chocolate chips and dipped the rest of the strawberries and some grapes. They were delish and oh so easy. All three of the kids took turns and they turned out beautifully. Ok, some weren't beautiful, but they still tasted great. We used 1/2 bag semi sweet and 1/2 bag milk chocolate combined with 2 T shortening. I just used a small sauce pan and melted it over low heat. Give it a try. And can you believe it? None of the strawberries went to waste.

Surprise!

It's a surprise party! Amazingly, I pulled off a total surprise party for Mark's birthday. First off, I'm a horrible liar. And second, I am terrible at keeping secrets. I knew in order for it to work, I would also have to keep it a secret from the kids (which is hard when you are lugging them around to buy the food for the party). I got a great deal on a room at Noah's and tricked Mark into thinking that he had a dj gig at Noah's. Unfortunately, he showed up early to set up for his gig and we only had a few guests there to surprise him. More people showed up as the night when on and the party was a big hit. He LOVED it! Thanks to all that came. You are all great friends to Mark (and the rest of us too).

Marlie

The other day Marlie and I were getting ready in my bathroom. Out of the blue she said, "Mom, 10 seconds ago, this was the future." So deep and so true.