Friday stuff ... and some food fun, too!

I am totally up to my eyeballs in commodity markets, commodity pricing, trend analysis, global economy outlook, manufacturing reports, financial flows and industry news. I'm trying to finish a newsletter for work, and I need a break! I'm tired of pretending to be smart this week ... it is simply exhausting!

But first, I just wanted to show you a couple out-of-focus pictures of traffic on the beltway around Washington, D.C. --











Like I've mentioned before ... I live just outside DC, but our women's retreat was a little closer to DC than I care to venture, and this is what I was driving in... 8-lane highway (4 lanes on each side ... but at some points, it is 6 on each side), bumper to bumper of slow moving traffic, both ways ... ugh! The pictures are out of focus, because I took them while I was trying to drive. Not something I'd recommend!

Now ... for a few things that bring a smile to my face. The first picture I want to share with you is one of my son's foot. Yes, his foot brings a smile to my face. Why? Well, because he has one lone freckle on the bottom of his foot. Now, freckles run in my husband's side of the family, so I'm sure he'll eventually have a face or even body full of freckles. But right now, the only freckle on his entire body is on the bottom of his foot. And over the last couple of months... it's gone from a pin-head sized freckle to what you see now. I'm thinking it might be a birth mark, because all of my sister's kids have the same freckle on the bottom of their foot, and my mom does too. So cute. And whenever I undress him, or change his socks, or change his diaper, I always grab his bare feet, pretend to sniff them, and say... "Who's tinky (stinky) toes are these??? Pooo tinky! They are Hunters tinky toes!" And then I kiss all over them and tickle them. They're not really stinky ... so I'm not sure why I started to say that to him, but he laughs and laughs when I do that ... and the poor child is going to grow up thinking stinky is pronounced tinky ... So... here's a picture of Hunter's "tinky toes ..."


Next, I wanted to share a couple pictures of the bracelets we made at the women's retreat ... each of the colored beads represents a verse in Ps 23, and is a tool for memorizing the Psalm, as well as a reminder that He is with us...











I also wanted to share a picture of a gift that was given to me for speaking at the women's retreat. I simply adore it. And it is perfect for me. And the person that picked it out knows me intimately ... better than most people know me ... my sister-in-law!!! And she knows I love teapots, AND love lime green!!! She also put together some awesome goody bags for the other women that had a worship CD, a Point of Grace tape, a starbucks gift certificate, little candies, one of those bracelets like Lance Armstrong wears, and I can't remember what else she put in there... but they were adorable. Any way -- here's my new tea pot --










And, finally ... before we get to the food fun, I just wanted to leave you hanging on the edge of your seats ... because ... Susie (her own blog is so cute) at A Little Luxury has re-designed my blog template, and she has done a FABU job on it!!! It is so adorable, and incorporates ALL my favorite colors -- pink, lime green, oh, the list goes on! So keep your eyes peeled for the change!!!

Now, here is a recipe that I used to make when I worked with the youth in our church, and we had all-nighters. I'm assuming they liked it, because it was always GONE. Of course, I didn't make it for them, but rather, for me, because I love s'mores, and also, because I'm selfish like that! Also, it's nice to change up the rice crispy bars every now and then and have a different kind of bar treat! It's not a GiBee original recipe, but go ahead and try it out with your kids or youth ... it's so easy and tres good! (um, feeble attempt at french for very good) --

Golden Graham S'mores

3/4 c. light corn syrup
3 tbsp. butter
1 pkg. (11.5 oz.) milk chocolate morsels (not semi-sweet)
3 c. miniature marshmallows
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pkg. (12 oz.) Golden Graham cereal (9 c.)

1. Grease rectangular pan, 13x9x2 inches.
2. Heat syrup, butter and morsels to boiling, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla.
3. Pour over cereal; toss until coated. Fold in marshmallows, 1 cup at a time. Press in pan with buttered back of spoon. Let stand 1 hour.
4. Cut into 2 inch squares. Store loosely covered at room temperature up to 2 days. Makes 24 squares.

Let me know how you like it!!!

(Note: I only updated this to space the pictures out better. No content was changed)