Gonuts for Donuts!

I Wish I was a Donut

I wish I was a donut
And get eaten every day
To stick on someone's fingers
In a most delightful way

I wish I was a donut
Sugar coated just for fun
Full and round for easy grip
And a hole to put your tongue

I wish I was a donut
Long and filled with custard cream
Delicious on the taste buds
A succulent silken dream

Recipe

All you need to make your own homemade donuts is canned refrigerated biscuits, a rolling pin (or use hands to flatten) and a small circle cookie cutter. (I used a medicine cup from cold medicine)...plus oil to fry your donuts and whatever glaze or toppings you want. I mixed up a traditional glaze with powdered sugar and milk. It is also helpful to have a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet to catch all the gooey drips of glaze while your donut is cooling. Use your rolling pin (or hands) and roll out the biscuit dough trying to keep it in as round as possible. Then use the small circle cookie cutter (or anything round) to cut out the middle of the donut. Save the centers and you can make your own donut holes too:) The next step is to fry the donuts. Be sure to fry on low temp to ensure you dont over cook on the outside and the inside gets cooked. Watch carefully and when you see the bottom half of the donut start to brown, flip them over to brown the other side. Take them out of the oil and drain on a paper towel for a few seconds. Now it's time to glaze. Simply toss the warm donut into your glaze and give it a few flips to make sure the whole thing is coated and add your sprinkles while the glaze is still wet.

Kids loved this and had so much fun. Say goodbye to Dunkin Donuts! You will have a great time doing this with your kids. It's fun, cheap and they a treat to the taste buds.

The Divided Heart - For the Love of a Child

With the New Year brings new hope.  In 2012 I committed to rekindling important friendships that had died or ended due to complicated life situations.  The New Year has proven that new beginnings are truly born.   Proof that people really can move past difficulties and still confide and communicate with one another when there has been pain between them.  These beginnings will not only create peace for me but most importantly one of my most treasured possessions, my son.  The last month has been so rewarding having open communication without tension and interference.   Feels like old times again.  It has continued to improve by leaps and bounds into the New Year.     

Tallest Tree House in the World – Crossville TN

A tree house, a free house,
A secret you and me house,
A high up in the leafy branches
Cozy as can be house

A street house, a neat house
Be sure to wipe your feet house
I not my kind of house at all- Let's go live in a tree house.

-      Silverstein

Today, January 4, 2012 we took the kids to this amazing tree house a few hours from our cabin.  A minister, Horace Burgess, believed that God had spoken to him to build the tree house in 1993.  He was assured that he would never run out of materials or pay for them.  Now in 2012, the tree house is 10 stories tall and officially the tallest tree house in the world.

The kids had the most incredible time in this amazing creation!  There is not much more to say!  Just see the pictures.

The Lego Engineer

This holiday season Bill and I were in search of the perfect gift for each of the kids.  Since this year would be similar to last year, funds were limited and we needed to find something one of a kind.  It meant that we would have to create a gift that would tap into each child’s most treasured hobby. 

This was a no brainer for Payton. LEGOS LEGOS LEGOS!!!  Payton is an artist, creator and engineer at heart.  He loves his Legos and has over 2ooo of them.  He builds ships, houses, cars, sets, and just about anything you can think of.  His favorite pieces are the little people.   

However, a man is not complete without his workbench.  Bill, Shay and I got to work constructing the perfect Lego engineering table.  It was a super fun project to see come together.  Payton was elated when he saw his new work space and all his Legos in perfect order.  We didn’t see him or Shay for at least 8 hours after he got his table.  They spent hours creating a Lego city from scratch.

Our New Year’s Family Tree

Every year Christmas is celebrated with the erection of the infamous Christmas tree, adorned with beautiful decorations as a celebration and recognition of Christ’s birth.   An angel or star is often placed at the top of the tree representing the host of angels or the Star of Bethlehem to celebrate our savior.

Our family is on our annual vacation in Tennessee for the New Year.  The town is still seeping with holiday spirit and the cabin is snowy and feeling like Christmas.  In the spirit of the New Year we came up with a way to celebrate the New Year, Christmas and our family that everyone was crazy about.   Erect a new year’s tree that represented our family.

Payton, the eldest and only son, was in charge of locating and chopping down our family tree.   Shay, the youngest daughter, was in charge of our tree topper and tree stand.  The family decided what the process, decorations and New Year’s Tree meant to us.

Red Bow Tree Topper – represents the tie that binds our family

The blender tree stand – represents our blended family

Finding and cutting the tree – represents finding a new path and leaving old habits behind

Gold Balls – represent the growth our family will experience in the New Year

Candy Canes – represent a J for Jesus:  our resolution as a family to have more Jesus in our lives for the New Year

Thompson Tennessee Vacation

Well the time is already here again!  It's time for the Thompsons to take their annual vacation.  Last year our vacaction was planned in January when Bill's uncle had become ill.  We were not able to actually leave to PA until February.  Unfortunately, Bill's uncle passed away before he was able to get time off in February for the trip to PA.  We had to alter our plans and decided to go only as far and TN.  We rented a cabin and had the most amazing family vacation we had ever taken together.  We decided to make this vacation a tradition since all of our kids love the out doors and the mountains.  We rented the same cabin from the very nice OH couple we had met and are only a week away from heading out on our new road trip tradition.  I am posting our photos from last year since I am just getting around to blogging.  This year we will be going snow boarding instead of tubing like we did last year.  We will be stopping in Georgia, going to the Applebarn and hiking.  We are excited, although the trip will be bitter sweet.  Payton has been asking me for two months now, everytime I see him, are we leaving to TN, he can't wait!  Shaylah will not be with us since she is with dad in Idaho.  Although, we will experience the cold weather she has been dealing with!  I will miss her completing our family and her great photography skills.

Payton's Birthday Week Celebration

Every year we give the kids the option of celebrating their birthday with a mini vacation away from home followed by a small family gathering or having a friend/classmate party.  This year Payton decided on the mini vacation/family gathering since Lego land and just opened a couple of weeks before his birthday.  We had not had this type of party for him since we vacationed at the Nick Hotel a few years ago, which he LOVED.  Payton is obsessed with Legos.  We have a large collection of legos for him and he is a “lego engineer”.  After we planned his week-long celebration of going to Universal Studios followed by his first visit to Lego land and his lego construction cake he was counting down the days. Although, there were a few people that tried to discourage him and steal his thunder, or rather our thunder, it was fruitless.  He did not waiver, he was so excited and continued to keep his optimism counting down the days.   The day finally arrived and it did not disappoint.  We had an amazing time at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.  Payton had grown 2 inches since the last time we had been there and was able to ride all but one ride.  He got to ride the new roller coaster Rockin Roller Coaster, which he went on three times that day.  Lego Land was equally impressive.  Although the rides were nothing compared to what he had experienced a few days before he was mesmerized and inspired by the Legos and buildings.  He even got his Lego drivers license.  We celebrated his birthday with his classmates by having a buffet style birthday party with donuts, cupcakes, cookies and punch on Thursday.  Finally, we celebrated his birthday with family and presented him with his Lego Construction cake.  He was sure it was made out of real legos.  He loved the cake so much he ate the lego head off right away and ended up having to spit it out it was such a mouth full!