Merry Christmas to You from Me!!  As of yesterday they started charging $3.19 for shipping!  still is a good deal though!!

The cost on the cards……FREE!!  100 Free Photocards and Free shipping = FREE!!!  it’s only good through November 30, 2009.  I had already ordered my Christmas cards for this year so i made some cards for New Year’s, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day to get a jump start on the other upcoming holidays for next year.

Here’s how to get 100 custom photo cards with envelopes for free:

Just go here and set up an account and then upload and create your photo card. It took me about 30 minutes to put together…. but it was because it took me forever to chose a picture i liked!

After you’ve set up your photo card, be sure to save it. Then put 50 photo cards in your cart and go to the checkout and use coupon code newbaby and you’ll get all 50 free with free shipping.  shipping is $3.19

Log back in and click on your saved items and order another 50 photo cards this time using this code freebies4mom-1109.  Again, you should get 50 more free photo cards with free shipping.

My little present to you!

Merry Christmas, Hugs~B

I had to have a trial run of a new cheesecake recipe that i will be making for the holidays.  Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Squares!  oooh-an absolute sugar filled heaven!  these little squares are so yummy.  i usually make a trial run of a new recipe to ensure that it doesnt come out tasting like poo.

After tasting a square, i can tell you that these are VERY sweet!  I think my family will heart them for sure…

Here is a pic of squares and the recipe following:

Cheesecake Squares

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Squares

For crust
3 1/2 oz graham crackers, crumbled (1cup)
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For filling
1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (from a 1/4-oz envelope, will just about half of envelope)
1/4 cup whole milk
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs
3/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup dulce de leche (12 1/2 oz) (recipe follows)

For glaze
3 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), coarsely chopped
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons light corn syrup

Make crust: Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325°F. Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with 2 sheets of foil (crisscrossed), leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides.

Finely grind crackers in ziplock with sugar and a pinch of salt or in a food processor. Pour into a bowl and add melted butter. Stir and then press mixture evenly onto bottom of baking pan. Bake 10 minutes, then cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes.

Make filling: Sprinkle gelatin over milk in a small bowl and let stand 2 minutes to soften. Beat together cream cheese, eggs, salt, and gelatin mixture in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until well combined, about 2 minutes, then stir in dulce de leche gently but thoroughly. Pour filling over crust, smoothing top, then bake in a hot water bath (I was able to fit mine in a 9×13-inch baking pan) in oven until center is just set, about 45 minutes. Cool cheesecake completely in pan on rack, about 2 hours. Chill, covered, at least 6 hours.

Glaze cake within 2 hours of serving: Microwave all glaze ingredients in a glass bowl for apx. 4 min.  Stir until smooth, then pour over cheesecake and coat top evenly. Chill, uncovered, 30 minutes.

Lift cheesecake from pan using foil overhang and cut into 1-inch squares with a thin knife, wiping off knife after each cut.

Note: Cheesecake (without glaze) can be chilled up to 3 days.

Recipe for Dulce de Leche (Milk Caramel):

Pour 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk into top of double-boiler pan; cover. Place over boiling water. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 40 to 50 minutes, or until thick and light caramel-colored.

Remove from heat. Whisk until smooth.

Alyssa turned 1yr old this past week and we had a super-fun pink/Tinkerbell Party!

Jacob had Colby sleepover on friday night.  they woke each other up at 6am….poor Jacob was a sleepy kid by the time 11am rolled in!  We then went to Alyssa’s birthday party and after that he had a birthday party sleepover with his buddy, Braxton.  i am sure that by tonight (sunday night) he will be partied out!  It’s so fun to be 8yrs old!

Here is the gang from Treating this year…..it was kinda chilly so we went around for maybe and hour and called it a night.  we had the mcclearys (andy, angie, alyssa, jw, drew, austin) and Todas (danielle, collin and colby) with us….

Today is Jacob’s 8th birthday!  Woo-Hoo!  He had an awesome birthday party over the weekend and then tonight watched Ice Age 3 with some of his cousins.

A friend of mine called to say that Oprah has a 50% off Payless deal going on today and tomorrow only!  It’s 50% off everything!! Go here and print your coupon.

I just wanted to let everyone know that i have a couple of tickets left for our Holiday Tea.  My sister-in-law, angie, (Austin’s Mommy) will be sharing her testimony on Saturday, Nov. 21st at WCC from 2-4pm to over 600 women!  This will be an exciting time for everyone to hear how God has worked and weaved His awesomeness in her life.  The tickets are $8.  please let me know if you are interested asap….

his treatment went really well this past week and we are all so happy that all our kids are feeling good!  the flu bug has been pretty bad in our schools but has not touched our boys! PTL!!

i took austin to chemo at lutheran on thursday and we had a really fun day.  we picked up my mom and off we headed for a spectacular day of fun, fun!  austin and i took our halloween outfits and decided to dress up when we got there.  the nurses thought we were a crack!

Austin and Grama Mac got into a heated air hockey game.  I got to play air hockey for awhile and then a pool tournament. grama mac  she  says she won…we beg to differ.

we had an awesome day and grama had both austin and i laughing so hard at her silly shenanigans on the way home that we almost peed our pants!

I am sorry i havent updated lately but life got a little too busy for me the past couple of months.  i will try and catch you up and if you notice that i am missing an “l” in some words, it’s because there must be dirt under that key on my laptop and it doest want to type.  i have probably munched on too many goodies standing over it and that’s the way we rol…..roll.

Austin is doing wonderful.  his chemo was scheduled for last week but his counts were low so it got pushed to this week.  i will have some picks for you as i will take him tomorrow for a fun day at the hospital.  i had planned on taking logan with me to hang out with austin tomorrow as the boys are on fall break but the hospital is on lockdown and not allowing kids under 18yrs. on the unit.  so, it will be just me and austin.  oh-we get into so much fun and trouble when we are together.  it will be exciting to see what we will accomplish tomorrow…..

logan has finished up his soccer games.  his team won 3, lost 2 and tied 2.  He had so much fun and is somewhat sad that it’s over.  the last game was played last thurs. and it was freezing cold and raining!  his fingers were numb.  am glad he doesnt have to go any further into the fall to play.

jacob will be celebrating his 8th birthday this friday night.  he is having a skate party with all his friends.  personally, i love to watch all the little kids trying to skate.  it’s the most hilarious thing to watch….although, at times, my heart drops when they fall down so much.  eek.

some pics: