Happy Balentine's Day!! (That's how Chloe says it)

Chloe loves to bake and decorate, so my mom was so great and had her go over there for a sleepover/bakeover. They made a TON of valentine's sugar cookies! When she brought them home, I was so impressed with them and especially how anatomically correct some of them were!
This is a cookie of me and her. I'm guessing that the one with the blob of pink frosting is me since it looks pregnant? I'm not pregnant, but she still talks about when I was with Jake.
The thing that made me laugh so hard I started crying, were these. They're called boobies, and Chloe is very aware of them and is so excited to get her own. She even wears her little hot pink with polk-a-dots bikini top as her "boobie covers." We're a little nervous about all of that, but she breaks down in tears when I suggest that she not wear them under her church dress (since the straps show sometimes!!!). I admit that I am not aware of how I am supposed to deal with this whole situation. Maybe I'll figure it out someday.


This is one of the boy's cookies.


And this is the box they came in. I just love her!
After the cookies were devoured, the boys saw an opportunity to use the box as a target for their BB guns. It's their favorite thing to do.


I also made "Homemade Tootsie Rolls"! Since I believe that Tootsie Rolls should have their own food group on the food pyramid (it's the perfect combination of chocolate-y and chewy), I found a great and easy recipe. I have some fabulous friends that asked for the recipe, so here it is:

TOOTSIE ROLLS
(I double this)

1 oz. Square unsweetened cocoa
1 T butter
1/4 c. dark corn syrup
1/2 t vanilla
1 1/2 c. sifted powdered sugar
6 T instant nonfat milk powder

place chocolate & butter in a large glass bowl
microwave on high for at least 1 minute, stirring during the cooking until it's all melted
stir in corn syrup & vanilla
microwave 1 more minute
mix in 1 c. powdered sugar
add milk and stir until it's all blended nicely

sprinkle some powdered sugar on wax paper, and when the candy is stiff, mold small sections of it into little "turds" as my kids call it, and wrap them each in the wax paper. Yum!



Colten won first place in the photography competition for the reflections contest at school! He's so shy, so it was fun to watch him up on stage when they gave him the medal and put his picture up on a big screen! Congratulations, Cole!
Some of his friends were right there cheering him on.