For the sake of posting....

I'm sick of visiting blogs and seeing my name with the constant reminder......Curtis Fam-- 1 month ago. Yeah, so it's been since like the end of October and I haven't posted. And, in that time, we've had Halloween, McKinnlee's 6th b-day, Aynslee's blessing, Thanksgiving, and now we're working on Christmas. I'm a slacker and need to catch up someday when I have a second. For now, I'm posting so I can cross it off my list.

Here's one of my favorite Christmas cookie recipes:

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 (10 ounce) jar maraschino cherries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

2. Beat butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla and beat well. Add dry ingredients and stir until smooth.

3. Roll into 1-inch balls about the size of a walnut (larger if desired). Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Drain cherries and reserve juice. Press center of each ball with thumb. Place a cherry in indentation.

5. In a saucepan, heat condensed milk and chocolate chips until chips are melted. Stir in 4 teaspoons of cherry juice. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of mixture over each cherry and spread to cover cherry. (More cherry juice may be added to keep frosting of spreading consistency.)

6. Bake for 10 minutes.

Quick Walgreens Run

For anyone interested in a quick trip to Walgreens, here's an easy shopping list for you. Now if you have any coupons or any needs, there are so many other ways to do this-- this is a great week. (If things go well with my coupons, and I actually make it out of the house, there's a possibility of actually making some money with the whole deal.) Anyway, to keep things simple:

Buy:
4 bags of candy (sale 4/$10) = $10
10 pringles (sale 10/$10) or 4 ritz crackers (or planters/capri sun etc. see ad) = $10
1 St. Ives element scrub (not in ad) = 4.99

Total: 24.99

Now use 2 of these coupons here for $1 off one bag nestle candy. (Press the back button on your browser, and it will allow you to print another. Technically, you could use 4 of these coupons, but it will only allow you to print 2 per computer. If you have another computer, you can print 2 from it, just add another item/items into your transaction totalling $1.01 or more. (The reason for this is that your total after all coupons needs to be $20.)

And use one of these coupons for $2 off St. Ives elements.

Total after coupons = $20.99
Now use this Walgreens coupon = -$5

Total: 15.99 + tax
And get back register rewards, good for your next purchase: $5 from St. Ives, $3 from pringles or ritz, and submit a rebate for $4 on the candy.

Net cost: 3.99 + tax

Pictures

Priorities

Okay, I know I should be posting all sorts of cute pictures of Aynslee (so I can get rid of the swollen looking, not so cute one-- and overcome Kinnlees lopsided piggytails-- though I sooooo appreciate Grandma getting her off to school while I was occupied.) However, I need someone to come make my camera work, and to have enough time to actually upload pictures. I forgot how time consuming it is to feed a newborn-- thus, pardon all the typos, I get to type one-handed these days. I promise to post pics soon, just as soon as i find my house that was recently hit by Hurricane Gaven and Jaycen. **Category 5-- Books in all bookcases down, major destruction to lower floors of all rooms, toys flowing down the staircase (they were making a waterfall), and toliet paper strewn from one end to the other--anyway, you get the idea.** The kids have determined today that I am the Big Bad Wolf and they are the little piggies. I wonder where they'd get that idea.

The Newest Little Curtis

Alright, Steph usually does the blogging, but she is a little occupied right now. We just wanted to get up some pictures of the newest Curtis addition. Thats right, Aynslee Arlene Curtis was born Sept 23, 2008 to the great delight of her new little family. Everyone is home now and here older siblings are making sure she feels right at home ( Kinnlee is extremely "helpful" and Jaycen loves to pet her like he has a new doggy). Both mother and baby are fine, and Mom is happy to be home in the midst of her family. More details will follow, along with updates of several other recent events. when Steph returns to fully blogging status.

Introducing Aynslee Arlene

She's here! Born Tuesday, September 23 @ 5:58 p.m. She weighed 7 lb 12 oz. (the smallest) and is doing great. (Okay, my camera is being dumb, and I'm exhausted.) I promise I'll get the pictures up soon!

Curtis Fam