Chocolate Marshmallow Pillows

I got this recipe in an email from Betty Crocker and since I love chocolate and marshmallows together I thought I would give it a try. Let me tell you that it did not disappoint! Words can not describe how delicious this cookie is. Here is the recipe in case anyone is interested.
Cookies:
1 pouch Betty Crocker double chocolate chunk cookie mix (my Target did not have that so I used the regular chocolate chip and added about 1/4 cup of cocoa powder)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 T. water
1 egg
2/3 cup chopped pecans
12 large marshmallows, cut in half (I only used 10 because I only got 20 cookies out of the dough)
Frosting:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup whipping cream
1 t. butter ( I just realized that it says teaspoon and I used a Tablespoon- don't even know how to measure a teaspoon of butter)
1 t. vanilla
1/2 cup powdered sugar

1. Heat oven to 350. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, oil, water, egg and pecans until soft dough forms.
2. On ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough by rounded tablespoons.
3. Bake for 7 minutes. Remove from oven; immediately press marshmallow half lightly, cut side down, on top of cookie. Bake 2 minutes longer or just until marshmallows begin to soften. Cool 2 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets and cool completely, about 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, melt chocolate chips over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. Add whipping cream, butter and vanilla; blend well. Stir in powdered sugar until smooth.
5. Spread frosting over each cooled cookie, covering marshmallow. Let stand until frosting is set.

Trip Down Memory Lane

Aubrey has been really interested lately in when she was a baby and inside my tummy. Not really sure why, as we do not know anyone that we see on a regular basis that is pregnant. Anyway, we got out all the picture books and she is just having a great time going through them.
I have been really bad a printing pictures this year- as in I don't think I have printed any. I take a ton, but have not printed them and put them in books. I am thinking of doing a Blog book since I put most of the pictures on here anyway. Has anyone made one of these? There seem to be several different websites that offer them.

Ice Skating Florida Style

What do you do when you want to ice skate, but live in Florida? Duh, you put on socks and slide on the wood floors. I caught the kids doing this tonight all by themselves and I just had to stop and take a picture. Too cute!




Aubrey showing some good form. Must be since she had just come home from dance class.

Church Christmas Program

This weekend the kids at church performed "The Best Christmas Present Ever." It was the hardest one we have done in the three years we have been around and the kids did a super job!

One of the shirts that we ordered came really small and did not fit the child in the program so Aubrey got to have it. She was so excited to look like Mommy and Ethan on Saturday night. She even willingly wore jeans!
A shot of the whole cast.

Hand motions are great!

The younger kids left during one of the songs and dressed in nativity characters for when the Christmas story was told.


Ethan was Joseph the year and I had nothing to do with assigning his role:)
He kept looking so serious I finally got a smile out of him.We also told him it was okay to look at baby Jesus some.

This picture just makes me laugh because it looks like Mary is about to run away from Joseph with baby Jesus. She must have been scared by his serious expression!

Gingerbread House

This morning we decorated our pre-assembled gingerbread house. Having the house already put together was definitely the way to go. In the past we always struggle with keeping the silly thing together. This cut down on the stress and the kids still have fun decorating it. They were waiting patiently while I put the icing on so the candy would stick. The icing was like toothpaste and very hard to squeeze. Luckily, I have been working out so I could use my muscles:)

Aubrey' side had a bunch on candy on the roof because she just kept putting one piece on after another - not really any design aspect for her. She also liked to lick the icing as you can see with her fingers in her mouth.

The finished product. Please excuse Aubrey's hair- it was first thing this morning (no brushing yet)!

This and That

Derek is King of the House! He was a good sport and put up icicle lights that we got on clearance last year after Christmas. It was easy to get up on the roof, but not as easy to get back down onto the ladder. We back the Pilot up to the garage and put the step stool on the roof of it and that made it much easier!
Aubrey helping to decorate the tree. Ethan did too, but somehow we did not take any pictures.

It was a little cooler on Sunday so Aubrey and I were sporting our boots for church.

Ethan's first plant. He is really excited to take care of it and keeps his blinds open during the day while he is at school to make sure it gets enough light. His name is Bob.
While I was exercising I saw these sweet potato balls on Paula Dean's show. Derek really likes sweet potatoes, but for some reason I do not care for them. I made them for him the other night and he seemed to like them. You put a marshmallow inside so when you break in it is all gooey inside. I must say it is weird to cook something that you do not like to eat. That was love right there!

Thanksgiving

I got a little behind this week, so here is the post about our Thanksgiving. We flew to Ohio to spend the holiday with my family. Since we do not all get together again before Christmas, we celebrate that as well. We had a great time seeing everyone and the kids loved having the constant attention. Aubrey really had everyone stretching their imagination playing with Barbies and Polly Pockets. I think she can play dolls all day long. The kids were excited to see some snow on Friday morning and were able to play in it before it melted. Enjoy the pictures!