I am adding to my blessing list today.  It is easy to think of blessings that involve money, and although I don't want all of my focus to be on money, this week it is. 
Blessing #9  We have horrible insurance that only pays for a yearly physical and not much else unless you meet a huge deductible.  But apparently it covers mammograms as part of the physical! 

Blessing #10  My mammogram was fine and it was not as bad as I thought it would be.  And I learned that you can't wear deodorant during a mammogram.

Blessing #11  We are receiving some of our tax money back in a refund this year!  This may be the last year for this, but I am happy that was don't have to pay a dime!!

Blessing #12  Although we are using the money to pay off our house remodeling expenses, we are also buying me an Ipad!!  Yeah!  And the Ipad is a tax write-off!

Fleischkuechle

We made fleischkuechle last night.  What is it you ask?  Basically dough wrapped around meat.  Deep fried dough that is.  Nathan had wanted this North Dakota delicacy, but I told him that I can't deep fry food very well because I do not have a deep fryer.  So I thought we could find a German restaurant that sold it.  Unfortunately, the closest restaurant I could find was in North Dakota!  So to the stove I went.  The first batch was not too bad, but the second was basically burnt dough wrapped around raw meat!  We threw those out...yuck!

I have again decided that I will not deep fry again unless I get a deep fryer.  Not only did I end up with oil all over my stove top and a thin layer on the kitchen floor that I need to mop for a second time, my house still smells like the fair! 

Nathan helping make the dough-meat balls.

I am glad we also had quiche for dinner!

Who would have thought?!?!

We made chocolate covered potato chips tonight (because that is what they eat in North Dakota) and they were actually good!  I guess anything dipped in dark chocolate is tasty!

Of course being Valentine's Day, chocolate is a big thing at our house.  Chocolate heart shaped cake, chocolate torte, and Dove chocolate in all sorts of hiding spots!  That would be Blessing #6 in my life...dark chocolate!  It is a nice thought that dark chocolate has some health benefits.  In fact the recipe for the torte was called a sinless dessert!  We even added a few strawberries to our dessert plate to make it healthier!  Poor Camden though...he doesn't like chocolate; only gummies!

But he does like hanging with Nathan.  Which is my blessing # 7.  My boys like to hang out.  Being 6 years apart, they don't have a lot of common interests, except Camden trying to like whatever Nathan does!  Which would involve Nathan's Ipod.

Since I am behind on my blessings list, I will add one from last week.  Blessing #8.  I have a paid off car, but this blessing is also sometimes a burden :)  But when I had my flat tire last week (which could happen in a brand new car), I was able to get to a parking lot that was close to home and Dave was at home and able to help me.  That was a true blessing!

Muppen

I love the imagination of my children, but sometimes it gets a little crazy! Since Nathan got his gecko and Camden received the fish tank, I thought we were good with pets for a while. But then Camden goes and gets a new pet...a disc from his Buzz gun!

I was cleaning out my dresser drawer and he found a shell change purse that a friend had brought back to me from Hawaii. He asked to have it and after I gave it to him, he put the disc in it and said it was his pet!  He named him Muppen!  He said one side of the shell, his home, was where he played and the other was where he slept. He also takes it out to bathe it! Although he has to stretch his imagination in order to even call it a pet, he was very realistic in one of the expectations of his pet. Nathan asked him if he used the bathroom. Camden replied in a "duh" type of voice, "No, he does not have a private." Well that makes clean-up after his pet a lot easier!