Big Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich Photo Post

Okay...so here it is.  The recipe.  I've also got photos of each step because I'm anal that way.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
1 cup butter                                       2 1/4 cup flour

3/4 cup white sugar                            1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract                   1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs                                               2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
                                                         1 cup chopped walnuts

In a large bowl, combine butter, sugars and vanilla. 

Cream until light and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In another bowl, combine flour, salt and baking soda.

Gradually add flour mixture to sugar and butter mixture until well blended. 

Stir in chips (I used 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup crushed Andes mints...and omitted walnuts).

Spread dough in greased 9inch pie pans (or 1 14 inch pizza pan) and bake for 20-25 minutes.  Do not overbake cookie!!!

Allow to cool in pans on cooling rack. 

Remove cookies from pan and line one pan with parchment or plastic wrap.  Place one cookie in pan.

Cover cookie with softened ice cream

Put other cookie on top. 

Cover and freeze for several hours to allow ice cream to resolidify.

Decorate as desired and enjoy! 

I did discover that the top cookie gets a little hard...the bottom one stays soft because of the ice cream.  I'm going to try to see if not placing that top cookie on until right before serving helps so that it's not frozen.  Otherwise, it was delicious! 

Epilepsy Part III

Through my own stupidity, I missed this morning's neuro appointment.  Not only did I get yelled at when I called to see if we could still make it in, I had to make 4 calls to make another appointment because the first lady wouldn't make one for me.  Then, I got yelled at AGAIN by the scheduling lady and was told that we now have to go to the end of the line and wait until October 19th.  When I asked if I could get on a list for any cancellations, she told me that was, "doubtful as the list is very long."  I was so mad when I got off the phone that I was shaking.

So, I did a little research and called KU Med.  They were EXTREMELY nice on the phone...already a bonus.  The earliest they could get us in was September 2, but that's still 1 1/2 months before the other guy.  AND they put us on the cancellation list.  She couldn't guarantee us anything but said they'd try. 

Now, I'm just waiting to call our pediatrician to get Daniel's records transferred over to KU. 

And we wait again...

Epilepsy Part II

Since I'm writing this after midnight, I guess I can say that Daniel has his second opinion with the neurologist later this morning.  I'm really nervous but kind of excited at the same time.  This has just been the longest process...waiting 6 months just for the second opinion...and I'm hoping we can get this done and over with.  We're at 10 months since this whole thing began at our pediatrician.

I'm just so confused at to why all this stuff isn't lining up.  Why has Daniel had one abnormal regular EEG and one abnormal 24 (48) hour EEG with the spikes lining up in the correct area of the brain for seizure activity but nothing is wrong with that?  Why are they dismissing family history of this particular kind of seizure (this is where I really wish Mike had gotten tested, too)?  Why, if it was no big deal, did they keep us for 48 hours when the test was only supossed to be 24?  We were told you cannot "turn off" seizures and therefore it's ADD...which you can't "turn off" either.  Why is my child so special that he's the "1 in 100 that can walk around with these misfireings in his brain and it's nothing when 99 other people would have Epilepsy?"  But we were never able to push that stupid plunger when they happened.  Because of that he's fine...go home and wait for a real seizure.

I'm so mad that we were dismissed like that.  "He doesn't have Epilepsy so go home."  Awesome.

We, kind of, know this new neuro.  His son was Hannah's kindergarten Sunday School teacher.  Rabbi Vered, our educational rabbi, put us in contact with him.  After having a long conversation with Vered in the middle of Wal-Mart on a random day in January around midnight, she made sure she hooked us up the following Sunday after Family Service. 

I'm hoping that, at this time tomorrow, we have some answers.  I'll keep you posted. 

Feels Like Friday

We spent last weekend in Peoria and came back on Monday.  Since we usually leave on Sunday, I feel like I'm a day behind and have all week.  We had a very nice trip, though.  We got to visit Mom in Sterling (I haven't been there in two years) and went to the Olde English Faire (could have done without that...too hot!).  I also got to hang out with some old high school friends on Saturday night.  It was a ton of fun.  One of our friends couldn't be there since he was just transferred to Edwards AFB so we made a little cutout of him and took him along.  Oh boy.  Flat Kris got into so much trouble.  The police officers we asked to pose with him were awesome.  They thought we were either drunk or insane but they played along.  We probably had a little too much fun with it but that's okay.

Dad and I went through a bunch of my grandma's old scrapbooks and then Dad pulled out her old journal.  I didn't even know this thing existed.  Her thoughts from January 1941 through 1970.  It's mostly typed but there are a few handwritten entries.  It is, quite possibly, the coolest thing I've ever read.  I'm only up to 1946 but I'm trying to read slowly and piece together who is who (aunts, cousins, uncles, great grandparents).  I've heard of these people a billion times but to hear them spoken of so casually is very cool.    It's also funny to read about just how much help my grandmother had (a lot!).  This journal is truly gold.

Fun with Blogger

I got bored earlier and decided to change my template.  I really like it.  It's not as customized as Sara's Blog but still cute. 

The gadgets feature popped up with a Video Bar.  Ooooo...it let me link my YouTube channel (yes, I have a YouTube channel) to my blog.  Nice.  So, scroll down and look to the right and you can all see my wonderful camera work from the Blue October concert at the House of Blues in Chicago.  Because those are the only videos I have on my YouTube channel.  Yeah, the camera work is awful.  Mostly because I promised Emily that I'd be paying more attention to the concert than to the camera (she was afraid I'd be seeing the whole thing through a camera lens...and I only got about half of the songs...so you get me dancing and singing.  Yeah, that's me singing and screaming.)  I can't wait to get a few different concert videos up next month from the Counting Crows/Barenaked Ladies concert we're going to.  And, of course, I'll be posting more Blue after the Portland concert in September. 

I'm such a 16 year old.  With a plane ticket to Portland...and a partner in crime (Emily!).

Camp Update

Jacob made it back from Boy Scout Camp yesterday.  He was seriously tired,  kinda filthy from not showering for 10 days (apparently, the pool and lake are good enough) and he'd lost some weight (10 pounds to be exact) but he looked great and seemed to stand a little taller.  Not like he got taller but like he was more confident.  He seemed as relieved to be home as we were to have him home.  Jacob and Mike shared story after story about camp...most revolved around the fact that the other troops were annoyed with how spirit filled our troop was.

A good deal of the kids in our troop woke up Sunday morning with orange paint all over their faces.  Some of the kids in the Mic-O-Say tribe (the honor society for our district) thought it would be fun to paint the faces of some of the younger scouts while they were sleeping.  Jacob wasn't amused.  Sounds pretty funny to me. 

Overall, Jacob had a great time and walked out of camp as a Tenderfoot.  Yeah, I didn't know what that was either.  It's the second rank in Boy Scouts.  The ranks go:  New Scout, Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life, Eagle.  Mike only made it to Second Class so once Jacob hits that milestone, he will have tied him.  If (Jacob says, "when," since he says he's going to get his Eagle) he hits First Class, he'll have gone farther.  Nice.  I hope he does get his Eagle.   

I got the pleasure of washing everything.  We encountered 4 spiders and countless ticks as we washed everything...in blazing hot water.  My poor washer was very tired by the end of the day. 

Speaking of ticks, I was joking around with Mike about a tick check last night as he was heading up to bed.  He said he was fine and I headed outside to watch the incoming thunderstorm with Jacob.  A second later, Mike opens the door and says he does have a tick.  Can I help pull it off?  Sure.  I head inside and grab some alcohol.  After further inspection, we discovered three more ticks that had latched on.  One on his back, one on his stomach, one on his hip and one on his leg.  The one on his leg had been there for a while and actually backed itself out when we put alcohol on it.  The others were more stubborn and had to be pulled out.  Gross.  I hate ticks. 

Next up to camp is Daniel.  I'm breaking out the DEET.

Finally Photos!!!

I'm finally able to post photos!!! It only took me two days. Oh well. Here they are!

This makes me nervous.  The campsite (think unit from Girl Scout Camp) Storm Shelter.  Yeah. 

Jacob by his tent on the "younger boys'" side of camp. 


Jacob and his homesick tent mate, Shane.  I don't know if you can tell he'd been crying. 


Inside their tent.  What a mess!

The Ico.  This is the gas station/general store/ice cream parlor.  The line was for ice cream, which seemed to make an elderly gentleman with a gas can agitated since that one pump was right by the line.  

The Toad Suck.  I don't know if it was even open since the lot was pretty deserted. 

The kids at Osceola Cheese. What a great place!

Family Day at Boy Scout Camp

Sunday was Family Day at camp. It was a long drive down and back, but it was awesome to see Jacob again. We drove through a bunch of teeny, tiny towns in Missouri, which was fun. The little town outside of the camp is called Iconium. It had a cemetery, a gas station (one pump)/grocery store/ice cream parlor, a "restaurant" (hot dogs and root beer floats), a fire station and two houses. The sign outside of town said, "Iconium Population abuot 16." Yep. "About" was misspelled.

Jacob seems to be doing well. He is homesick, but not like his tent mate, Shane. That poor kid was crying when his parents arrived. He also holed himself up in the car for a while. Shane was pleading his case to his dad, who kept telling him that it was going to be fine and that he really doesn't want to go home, to which Shane would say, "you keep saying that but it's not true!" Poor kid. Out of all the kids there, I really thought it would be Jacob that would be demanding to be taken home.

In typical camp fashion, the only dirty laundry I took home with me was one shirt and the pair of underwear he'd been wearing since Thursday night that I made him take off. Note to self, you do not need to pack 8 shirts, 6 pairs of shorts, 12 pairs of socks and 11 pairs of underwear that you packed for Jacob's 10 day camping trip. At least they've been swimming everyday. I seriously wanted to rip the Class A uniform he was wearing off of him. I think that thing's going to be walking all by itself by the end of camp.

We were able to take Jacob into "town" (Osceola...pop. 800) to the cheese store. That was so much fun. What was even better was that I scored some cheese curds and a 12-pack of peach Nehi. Next time, I think we'll skip the Nehi and get more cheese curds.

I wish I could post pictures but Blogger's being stupid lately. I'll try again tomorrow.

Off to Camp

Jacob left for Boy Scout camp this morning. He was so excited about going, especially since he was going alone with his friends. The first 5 or so days, he'll be there alone and then Mike will come down on Wednesday and stay until the end. It was sad to watch them load up the bus and then head out, but I know he'll have fun. Here are photos from this morning.

Jacob and Jack hang out while waiting for the bus.
A photo of all of the first year Scouts that are heading out to camp for the first time.
All of the boys from Jacob's school. Jack, Shane, Dean, Jacob and Andrew.
Waiting to get on the bus. Jacob and all of his friends lined up quickly and an Eagle Scout came over to tell them that, as first year Scouts, they'd be the LAST to get on the bus. It was pretty funny.
Still waiting.
Jacob was the very LAST Scout to board the bus. He didn't care, though. He got a seat next to his friend, Shane, in the very front. They were very happy.
And the bus heads out. It was everything we could do to NOT hop into our cars and follow.
We will be heading down on Sunday for Family Day. I can't wait to see the camp!

What a Difference a School Year Makes

This was the kids last August, on the first day of school...

This was today, the last day of school. I didn't notice how much taller they got!
Daniel was not happy about school ending and was in no mood for pictures this morning. That's why he looks like he does. LOL!

5th Grade Farewell

Jacob's 5th Grade Farewell was tonight. I cried, but only during the slide shows. They had one where they took their kindergarten picture and morphed it into their 5th grade one. It was really neat. If I can figure out how to copy it to my computer, I'll post it. Anyway, here are some photos from tonight. I can't believe Jacob's in 6th grade!!!





They asked us to bring in photos of the kids as infants and their current picture. They hung them up like this.
The 5th graders line up for a song.

Jacob gets his certificate from Mrs. P, the school counselor (remember her? I haven't mentioned her in a long time!) and from Mr. L, the principal.
Jacob with Lanston and Louis
Jacob and Andrew

Jacob and his best friend, Kellan. Kellan was smiling right up until I took the picture. He did the same thing to his parents when they tried to take one. Gotta look tough, I guess.

Jacob and Mr. L. See that chair to Jacob's right? There are a couple of moms that call it my chair because that's where I usually sit to wait for them to get out of school. LOL!

Photo Post

Here's what we've been up to this month...in pictures!

Jacob playing 2nd base
Jacob batting

Hannah's music program

Daniel's pack graduation cookout
Bears becoming Webelos I
Getting the new neckerchief
Playing spoons at the Daisy campout
S'mores!
Hungry Daisys!
Getting ready for a hike
Brownie Bridging. Make new friends but keep the old...
Hannah crosses the bridge and earns her Brownie pins

Hannah's troop leader made this cake. Isn't it adorable? She even gave the girls patches for their smocks!
We still have 5th Grade Farewell and the last day of school this week, so I'm sure I'll be posting more photos!