Happy Birthday Fred!

Wishing you a Happy 56th Birthday, Hon! Not sure HOW that happened. Remember when 56 use to be OLD?!! We'll be having Jake's Explosive Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake to celebrate this evening.

Rhubarb, Anyone?

One of the nicest things about Spring is fresh rhubarb. Unfortunately, it doesn't go well with Weight Watchers. I made Rhubarb Crunch Monday. It is hard, in fact impossible, to pass it up. This is Grandma H's recipe except I doubled the rhubarb part. I've tried to double the whole recipe but I like it best with the bottom doubled and the crunch part left the same.

Rhubarb Crunch

6 cups fresh rhubarb, diced
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup shortening

In bowl thoroughly mix rhubarb, 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and nutmeg. Dump in 9 x 13 pan. In separate bowl, combine brown sugar, 1 1/4 cup flour, oatmeal and salt. Cut in butter and shortening until crumbly; sprinkle over rhubarb. Bake at 375° oven for 45 minutes or until crisp and brown.

A Day at the Zoo

We went to the Toledo Zoo today. It was a perfect day for it. The weather was perfect. Mid 70's with a nice breeze. It was quite busy as lots of other people decided it was a perfect day for it also.
Danny would stick out his tongue at this chimp and it would stick his tongue out at Danny. It was quite funny.

Jeanie's Glasses

Grandma Comes to Visit

Grandma came down with Elaine K. last Thursday. She stayed here last night and will leave tomorrow. She is working on her crossword puzzle while we are relaxing this morning. She is pretty serious with her puzzles. Note the crossword dictionary and her notebook with past hints. (Mostly hints that pertain to movies or movie stars.) We are going to go look for a lamp for a wedding gift and then will meet Ria, Karen and Lisa for lunch.

Babysitting Club

It was so cute, a few girls camping at the family reunion formed a babysitting club Saturday afternoon. They came up to Joanne J. and asked if they could take her baby because they needed one more baby for their club. Shortly after they pushed her away, one of the girls came running back to ask what her baby's name was!I took Danny to the university hospital yesterday and he is now on thyroid medicine. It is pretty much a given for Down Syndrome kids to have abnormal thyroids. I was pretty impressed with our pediatrician last January when she wanted to do some blood work to check his thyroid. He had no symptoms and still doesn't of hypothyroidism but his numbers were very high so she sent me to the peds endocrinology clinic. The doctor there said it was probably "good timing" when I brought him in for a sore throat since that visit initiated the look into bloodwork, as his numbers were probably just starting to rise. I really liked the doctor we saw. She was very impressed with Danny's over all health. Even his height. She said she usually uses a special chart for Down Syndrome kids but Danny was about average on the regular chart for height and weight.

I took Jeanie to the eye doctor this morning as she failed the eye test at school. She does in fact need glasses and she picked out a cute pair this morning. We will post a picture of her new look when she gets her glasses! She basically needs them for reading and close work. He said she didn't need to wear them to play.

Guess Who's Birthday is Today?

Happy Birthday Jennifer! Hope you enjoy your day to the fullest.

Shannon's Shower

Berry-Stuffed French Toast

This recipe is actually in the family cookbook but I thought I'd post it. It is of course, as almost all my recipes are, from a Taste of Home Cookbook. I usually make one "breakfast" supper each week. I made this last week and I forgot how good it was! The now closed Honey Dew resturant use to have a French Toast Marcel that had an orange sauce but the french toast was filled with a cream cheese base. This reminds me of that.


BERRY-STUFFED FRENCH TOAST

RASPBERRY SYRUP:

2 cups unsweetened raspberries
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

FRENCH TOAST:

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
18 slices sourdough bread (I usually use Vienna Bread and sometimes French Bread)
1/2 cup raspberry preserves (I don't always have raspberry jam so I use strawberry)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 eggs
1/2 cup half and half cream
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Confectioners’ sugar and additional berries, optional

For syrup, combine raspberries, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered, for 5-7 minutes or until syrup is desired consistency. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla; set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sour cream. Spread about 3 tablespoons on each slice of bread. Combine preserves and vanilla; spread over cream cheese mixture on 9 slices. Top with remaining bread, cream cheese down, to make a sandwich. In a shallow bowl, combine the eggs, cream and cinnamon. Dip both sides of bread into egg mixture. Cook on a hot greased griddle for 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Cut in half diagonally. If desired, sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar and garnish with raspberries. Serve with raspberry syrup.

Family Reunion

The Family Reunion/Anniversary Party was a HUGE success. We REALLY had a great time. The weather cooperated for the most part. Saturday night for the Song Services was a bit chilly but we just bundled up. This State Park was really a nice park. I posted almost all of our pictures. I put most in collage form for space. I realize that I didn't get too many pictures of our family. Brad, Larissa, Wade, Brett or the twins but they were there!

Jeanie Gets a New Bike

I tell you, if you ever need anything, just mention it to Auntie Lisa. Monday I had mentioned that Danny needed a bike. Tuesday she called me from Salvation Army saying all their bikes were 1/2 price and there was one like Paul's that Danny might like. I asked if there were any girl mountain bikes for Jeanie but there wasn't. Yesterday she called me from a garage sale and said there was a girls 6-speed bike, did I want her to get it? I don't think I'll do any garage saleing this year. I'll just let Lisa know what I'm looking for! (This bike came with a black seat but it had a small rip in it. Jeanie was NOT happy about that so she took the seat off of her old bike and put it on this one. So it may not match real well but it doesn't have a rip!)

Danny Gets a New Bike

Lisa found this bike at the Salvation Army. Their bikes were half price. We picked it up Tuesday night. He was so excited! Exclaiming, "I love it!" Then he tried to ride it. He had trouble. He came in complaining, "I hate my bike! It's too hard!" But then yesterday after school, he tried it again and mastered it. Now once again, "I love it!!!!"