Caramel Cupcakes Crash

In all my culinary skill, I was unable to create a delicious caramel cupcake. I made a regular cake mix (yellow cake) and thought it would be a great idea to put a caramel in the middle. So I peeled the caramel and put it in the middle of the batter. I assumed that baking the cupcake for 15-18 minutes would be enough to melt the caramel so it would no longer be hard to chew. I assumed wrong. My cupcakes were not good. ERIK WOULD NOT EVEN EAT THEM! He said they were the wrong consistency. You have soft cake then a really hard caramel piece in the middle. I tried to take a picture so you could view my cooking failure, but I think I've even failed at the picture.

So I took a picture of my cute daughter as well. Look at those dimples!

In other news:

1. Potty training has been unsuccessful. Even the pull of Strawberry Shortcake underwear is lost on her.
2. I finished "The King in the Window" and absolutely loved the book! I recommend it to anyone who is a kid at heart
3. I am now reading "God is Closer than you Think" by John Ortberg and love it!! God has been speaking to me so much through it lately. And he's been bringing that story of Mary and Martha to me. Yes -I'm Martha!!! Worried and distracted by many things.
4. Today is National Punctuation Day. This is actually a day that should be recognized. In the world of IM, punctuation is lost - poor commas :(. Don't get me started on grammar though - its, it's, your, you're, lose, and loose, to, two, too... AAAAH! My students think butchering the English language is a grand idea.
5. I've been going to cycling class lately at the gym and am really enjoying it. Especially since I bought a fancy gel pad. Now my bottom can handle the rigor of cycling :).
6. I got 55 points on Quiddler today because apparently nyl is not a word. I know nil is a word, it's just a spelling variation right?
   
   

My Weekend

Wow. I'm home all alone. I dropped Jenna off at Erik's work at 4:30 and then left for home. When I got home I wasn't sure what to do. I'm rarely ALL alone and for an entire weekend....what do I do?? Yes - I should be working and doing research nonstop. But I wasn't sure where to start. Ahhh... that's it. Starbucks. I quickly drove to Starbucks and got a decaf raspberry mocha and a pumpkin cream cheese muffin. Now I can work on my research. Or at least think about it.

Jenna has started swimming lessons again. These swimming lessons are for bigger kids and the parents aren't supposed to be in the water. We'll see how she does with them.

I'm also working out more. I"m not sure why I've decided to start working out at 5 months pregnant but for some reason I have. I may even work out tomorrow on my free weekend. I can't believe I have all this time to myself. And that I miss Erik and Jenna so much *sniff*.

Today I got 79 on Quiddler. Who knew cookings was a word?

10 years of bliss!

We celebrated our 10 year anniversary yesterday! It's hard to believe that 10 years ago we exchanged vows and started our life together. Marriage has just gotten better over time. Erik and I are closer and better friends than ever and I thank God for the wonderful gift he has given me of a husband like Erik. For our anniversary, I got him a sword (see previous post) and he got me a 5 star chef's knife. So we exchanged weapons for our anniversary. The knife is so awesome. It cuts everything (and I mean everything!) like butter. Anyone can look like a fancy iron chef using this knife.

I've also included a picture of Jenna and her friend Kate in the wagon together. We took a walk and got a picture of the two girls because they both had their hands in their mouths. It was rather funny. This was at 8:30, past both of their bedtimes.

Today I got 90 points on quiddler. And Quiddler wouldn't let me make the word prion. That stinks as prion is a word!! Biologists would be mad to know that quiddler doesn't allow the word prion!