Niko feels right at home and wanders all over the house. This morning he found the window between the dining room and the kitchen. He sat there for a while watching us as we worked in the kitchen.
He likes to be petted and he likes to groom you back by licking any patch of skin he can reach.
~~Rhonda 🙂
The new counters were installed in the downstairs bath and the laundry room today. They look beautiful! While the installers were working on the counters (took about five hours), I watched the twins in the kitchen. I worked on drying more parsley, among other things.
The counter tops are Caesarstone, a quartz composite. The color is “Pacific Reflections.” It’s a cobalt blue with silver specks in it. Very pretty! The pictures do not do them justice.
We kept the sinks in both the bathroom and the laundry room. The faucets will be replaced with brushed nickel, and the cabinet knobs will be the same style, but in brushed nickel. The tile floors for the three bathrooms will be installed next Monday and Tuesday. The woodwork in this bathroom will be glossy white. The wall behind the countertop will be covered in a small white glass tile with blue streaks through it. The tile will be installed this Friday.
The laundry room sink is pink. It will be reglazed in white. It’s sitting in the hole off-center because it isn’t hooked up.
In a few years, I hope to put the same counters in the kitchen. I love the way they look.
~~Rhonda 🙂
This morning, the twins tried Grandpa’s famous pancakes for the first time. Yes! Complete approval and instant favorite!
I hear them stirring from their morning nap…will be time to get them up soon. They are being so good. They have a pretty regular schedule. Get up, eat, play, nap, get up, eat, play, nap, get up, eat, play, bottle, bed for the night. They fuss for about 20 seconds when put into bed and then they settle and go to sleep. Couldn’t ask for easier!
~~Grandma 🙂
Our son and his fiancee were married on Saturday. The wedding was planned for the rose garden, but morning rain sent us indoors. Afterward, the ground was dry enough for picture taking in the gardens.
We arrived on Wednesday and were able to help with a lot of the preparation. It was a lot of fun and we were so glad we were able to be a part of the last minute “getting ready.”
Our granddaughters…
Panda’s first bite of cake
Tabby’s first bite of cake
The first dance ~
Big sister helps little sissy with a dance ~
Our second daughter, who is a photography major, served as wedding photographer.
Panda plays peek-a-boo with her dress ~
DD#3 on the right, and her niece. 🙂
One worn out little Panda Bear.
Grandpa and Tabby Cat ~
After the wedding, we packed the twins and all their stuff into DS’s van and drove them home to stay with us for a week. Exciting times ahead!
~~Rhonda 🙂
We are babysitting our twin granddaughters this week, so the menu is one that doesn’t need a lot of work.
Monday
chicken in the crock pot
rice
spinach salad
zucchini stir-fry
Tuesday
spaghetti
garlic bread sticks
corn
peas
Wednesday
pork steaks
baked potatoes
coleslaw
grapes
corn
Thursday
flank steak in the crock pot
noodles
broccoli
carrots
Friday
eat out
Saturday ~ bake two birthday cakes
leftovers
Sunday
salmon
steamed red potatoes
asparagus
corn
green salad
For more menu ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday.
~~Rhonda
I bathed the babies while their Mommy worked on other things.
Baby Einstein
Poofy? Who’s Poofy?
~~Grandma 🙂
The girls are sleeping right now. DH is at the store getting groceries. I am taking the opportunity to catch up on a few computer items. I posted the week’s article to the Christmas Notebook and uploaded more pictures. I’ll be doing a lot of uploading this week, I’m sure.
The girls were glad to see us this morning.
Wash is such a well-mannered kitty. The girls wallow him and he doesn’t complain.
DS#2 and DDIL arrived this morning. Being cat people, they made instant friends with Wash.
~~Rhonda 🙂
While we are here for our son’s wedding, we get to spend a lot of time with our granddaughters.
It has been almost four months since we saw them last. They have grown and changed a lot since then.
She must have one of her ten year old aunt’s genes…we had lots of baby books that looked like this…round corners! Not to mention the corners of cardboard boxes, kleenex, etc.
Happy girl…
Mommy makes noises and she imitates them, facial expressions and all.
Lovin’ on Daddy.
Posts for the next few days may be all about two babies. 🙂 ~~Rhonda
I made Toffee Bar Crunch Biscotti for the first time last year. It was a huge hit. There were only two pieces left after the open house.
I made it again today. It’s packed and ready to be taken down to the freezer to wait for the Christmas open house.
The dough spreads a lot while baking. Last year, I made it into two loaves as the recipe called for, but this year I made three loaves, which worked better.
Also, I didn’t use toffee bars as the recipe called for, but used 1 cup of toffee baking bits and 1 cup of mini chocolate chips instead. And I didn’t have butterscotch extract, so I just left that out. 🙂
When they are thawed for the open house, I’ll dip one end of each piece into chocolate.
This recipe makes the house smell wonderful! ~~Rhonda 🙂
Date Balls
1 pound dates, diced
1 pound butter
2 c. sugar
Cook over medium heat 10 minutes, stirring constantly. DO NOT BOIL. I melt the butter first, and start counting the time from when it begins to simmer after I have added the sugar and the dates.
Remove from heat and add:
4 c. Rice Krispies
2 c. pecans, chopped finely
4 tsp. vanilla
Mix well. The mixture will be runny. It becomes firmer as it cools. As it cools, the rice crispies will absorb some of the butter and liquid.
After about an hour, it will be cool enough to shape into 1-inch balls (more like pressing than rolling into balls). Excess butter will roll down your arms if you hold your hands above your elbows…I speak from experience. Keep a roll of paper towels handy.
Roll the date balls in powdered sugar.
These freeze beautifully.
To store them in the freezer, I layer them between sheets of waxed paper in a plastic container with a tight lid, using any leftover powdered sugar to sprinkle over the date balls.
~~Rhonda