having fun, wish we were there

for some reason when you have to get so bundled up that you can hardly move your arms it just isn't as much fun to be out in the snow.

that is the case with e and c. so instead of joining them outside they looked longingly out the window and thought of a day when they will be big enough to truly enjoy the beautiful snow.

too funny

after a 'heat wave' here in the ozarks it was about time for another snow. we were more prepared for this one, however.

in one sense we were ready because we went to R and A's house before the snow began. that way we could hang out with them in the snow the next day.

perfect day for a snowball fight. two against two and a half. including N. even though the snow wasn't the greatest packing snow the guys made due and made pretty intense weapons out of it.

even though alot of the shots taken didn't hit their mark, a few did and those are the ones that counted. no casualties.

N was the faithful follower. he is a snowball thrower in training.

later in the day...our second time to go out...eric, n, and i went outside to go sledding in their back yard. it is a steeper hill and soo fun... i think i had more fun than n.

after sledding for a while eric went inside and left n and i out sledding. we decided to go a few more times. it was a blast and so funny...n cracks me up...

the last time down the hill we got a little off course and ended up in the woodpile...again, no casualties... n says...'ouch...nothing in my body doesn't hurt.'

too funny.

what are we up to

eric and i have been keeping very busy lately...
eric is still working at cantina laredo, which kept him really busy in the summer and during the christmas season...now that the seasons are over things have slowed down at the restaurant so he is applying for a job at another store at the landing.

Eric has an interview at the store this weekend with them...so we will see what happens. he would be working part time if he gets the job. not only is he going to be having a second job, more than likely, but he is also starting classes at an online school. he is getting a second bachelors in accounting. i guess he loves school as much as i dislike it. as much as i don't like school or numbers/math...i am excited about his new endeavor and thrilled to see where this new area of learning will lead us in the future.

everything is pretty much the same for me... still working at the church and doing little jobs here and there.

eric and i are working with the youth group at the church and have come up with new ideas to do with them. it is exciting to see the Lord work in their lives.

we are thankful for all that we are learning as well...it has been an exciting 1 3/4 years...and we are excited about what is to come in the years to come.

give me cake

'that cake looks really good...'

'...i just want one piece...'

'how 'bout it dad?'

'if i could only reach it...'

'thanks, dad, you're swell!'

i have a little teapot...

what do you do with a cute little teapot, without a lid, that can't be heated on the stove, that you don't want to use for fear that you will break it, given to you by your mom, given to her by her mom, and is absolutely beautiful.

make a flowerpot out of it.

italian cream soda

as mentioned before, eric and i have a favorite restaurant...nonna's. it is an italian restaurant in springfield and we have been there a few times. each time that we have been there eric has gotten an italian cream soda. yum....

since we were absolutely in love with the taste of italian cream soda we asked our waiter how to make them....and the result....pure bliss.

first...buy flavoring...any flavor will do. coconut is really good as well as french vanilla, raspberry and strawberry...those are the only flavors that we've have tried so far, but there are lots of different flavors you can buy.

secondly... pour about 1/4 cup of the flavoring into a glass (the amount, of course, depends on the size of your glass)...our's uses about 1/4 cup. next...fill up the glass almost completely with ice cubes. pour the glass almost completely to the top with club soda. (be sure the club soda is really fizzy).

the last thing to do to finish up this delicious treat is pour, maybe 1 tsp, of half/half to top off the glass.

if the italian cream soda is for a party buy some nice umbrella toothpicks and put them into the drink..this is an amazing treat...you will love them!

video game night

swagbucks

what in the world is swagbucks...well, right now its my new favorite thing! To give you a general idea...
it is a search engine just like google... except instead of just searching for things on the worldwide web it also gives you random bucks (swagbucks). i.e. i am searching for a particular book, i go to swagbucks site and type in the title of the book i am looking for and swagbucks brings up a whole page (or more) of the book i am looking for. it is as easy as that. *they don't give a swagbucks everytime you search for something... it is completely random.
once you have collected enough swagbucks, you can go to the swagbucks store and buy various types of gifts, giftcards, musical instruments, electronics, books...and for real...a lot more.
so eric and i have been saving swagbucks since this summer. we have been pooling our bucks together so we can have more swagbucks. we saved enough swagbucks to count as $75 worth of Amazon gift cards.


And this is what we bought... the whole series of Dick Van Dyke... can you believe it...a $75 item...for absolutely nothing. all we had to do was search the web.
If you want to know more about swagbucks let me know...ya know...if you want free money... just click on this link, sign up and get started: http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/spallozzi .
Have Fun!

you, not me...

Birthdays are very difficult to know how to plan. First of all what do you get for the birthday boy... in this case, Eric. Secondly, do you plan a big birthday bash or just make it a nice quiet dinner for just you and a couple friends. To solve the first problem, well the novel idea would be to just ask him. Okay, I will swallow my pride of coming up with my own idea and just ask him what he wants. his obvious reply... 'a new Bible, since Jack tore my old one to shreds.' Okay, I thought, I can handle that.

To the second question... lets make it a big party at a Brazilian grill but lead Eric to believe that it is just us and one other couple...SURPRISE!

To my chagrin, I was surprised... One night last week... the week before my darlin's birthday, to find the birthday boy ordering a new Bible online. I calmly asked Eric, not wanting to give anything away, 'what are you doing, babe?' his response, 'I am ordering a new Bible.' 'Okay'. I quietly replied on the outside, but on the inside it was a different story. 'WHAT, you just told me you wanted a Bible for your birthday and now you go and order one...fine, I just won't get you any birthday presents at all!' nice, huh.

After the initial response had worn off...like the next day...I began to plan how else I could surprise him. Perfect idea. Only invite one couple to go with is to this Brazilian grill, but really have everyone else already there to surprise him. The only problem... no one could go except M and S. Back to rethinking a birthday plan. I love surprises, obviously there has to be some sort of surprise on his birthday, right...honestly...I think I had more surprises than he did.

Eventually the plan came down to this...

First, I was home when the package came with his Bible in it...I thought...I don't have a birthday present for him... so I will wrap up this Bible (which I know he wants, since he picked it out himself)...and give it to him for his birthday.

Second, we will have a nice dinner with just two couples and another one of our friends.


So that was the plan the 5 of us would go up to Springfield...no surprises... and eat at this amazing restaurant, ReRicos. I even had a coupon so we could get a discount on our meals. We had to leave at certain time...because the coupon stipulated that in order for the discount to work we had to get there between 4:30 and 5:30. We made it 5:15, perfect! Our mouths were all set and as we walked in, the host at the front table says...'i am sorry, but we are closed due to plumbing problems.' 'WHAT!' alrighty then...now what...

*I must say at this point I could have cried... nothing is working out like I had planned.

We made the most of it and went to our favorite place to eat in Springfield, Nonna's. Alright, I can handle that. So we made our way to downtown Springfield to eat dinner at our little Italian restaurant. From this point on there were no more surprises coming my way.
After our meal, S and M came back to our trailor and we ate dessert and played CTR (video game) and Scattergories until midnight. and Eric got to open his presents...he loved the games that his parents got for him...and he loved the Bible that I wrapped for him.

What started out last week as crazy planning trying to come up with something fun to do for my dear husbands birthday...then getting surprise after surprise of my own when things didn't turn out quite right...turned out to be a great evening with lots of laughing and fun times with some very close friends.

So Baby...I hope you enjoyed your birthday...because next year, believe me...you will be surprised...not me!

snow pops

Before the lovely snow melts away for the year I had better share the recipe for snow pops.

It is a fairly easy project, although it is a little time consuming... just be prepared to have a mess in your kitchen before the snow pops are complete.

First, buy a chocolate cake mix (I used devil's food)...Might I recommend using another flavor of cake mix as well (strawberry or vanilla). I haven't tried this before, but it would probably taste just as good. Maybe not for you chocaholics out there...

Back to baking... so buy a chocolate cake mix, prepare it like it says on the back of the box and bake it.

After the cake is done, (you know the usual toothpick test) cut it into small sections and put it in a food processor until it is in small crumbs. To be honest, I don't have a food processor...is a blender the same thing? Well, I tried using my blender and it didn't work very well. So, unless you are wanting to make an even bigger mess by trying to use a blender instead of a food processor, don't bother. I just chopped it up with a couple of forks and it worked just fine.

While the cake is baking you can whip up a batch of cream cheese frosting:

Frosting recipe:

8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened

6 T. butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

1 T cream (milk)

3 c powdered sugar

Mix the frosting into the crumby cake. and mix it until it looks like dough.

Continue this yummy process by forming the cake dough into small balls and placing them on a cookie sheet. After all of the dough is used put them in the refrigerator to chill... or if you would like just put the cookie sheet outside...I mean with the temperature the way it has been it is probably colder outside than in your frig anyway.

*side note- make sure they are really chilled it makes it easier to dip them in the melted chocolate later...they tend to fall of the dowels if they aren't chilled enough.

once they are COMPLETELY chilled put wooden dowels rods through the center of each snow pop... i used sucker sticks. They seemed to work just as well... they just aren't as tall as wooden dowels are, but they were alot more for alot less money.

after each one has a stick in it dip them into melted white chocolate...

I melted white chocolate chips, but I know that you can use dove white chocolate with meltaway centers..either way ...yum.

what makes the difference is the food color. Before dipping the snow pops be sure to put food color in the white chocolate to give them a pretty color. You can choose what color you want based on the celebration...christmas (red, green) 4th of july (red, white, blue) easter (pastels)...you get the idea.

After they are dipped put sprinkles on them before the white chocolate hardens. Place them back on the cookie sheet and back into the frig (or outside) to chill.

and...voila!!!

snow pops...

first snow

enjoying our first real snow of the year... Eric and i woke up to a world of white this morning.
we weren't too sure if jack would take to the idea of snow...but he loved it.
his favorite game catching snow balls in his mouth.

after taking a hike through the woods behind our house and taking some lovely scenery pictures

we went to r and a's house to sled with them and the kids.