Chocolate Appreciation Night

Personally, I think the government should set aside one day a month as Chocolate Appreciation Day. Since that is not going to happen, I'll just have to enjoy our Relief Society Chocolate Appreciation Night this evening.

Here's what I made:

Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Toffee Trifle

3 cups milk
2 package (4 serving size) instant chocolate pudding
1 8 oz. tub Cool Whip, defrosted
1 (12 oz.) package pound cake loaf, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup chocolate syrup
4 (1.4 oz) bars chocolate-covered English toffee (like Heath), chopped

Pour milk into large bowl. Add pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. Gently fold in 2 cups of the Cool Whip. Arrange 1/2 of the cake cubes in 3 1/2 qt. serving bowl. Drizzle with 1/4 cup chocolate syrup. Layer with 1/2 of the chopped candy bars and 1/2 of the pudding mix. Repeat layers ending with pudding mixture. Refrigerate 1 hour or until ready to serve. Garnish with remaining Cool Whip. Sprinkle with additional chopped candy bars, if desired. Refrigerate leftovers.

Laura's Art Work

Laura drew this picture of Peter.

It's raining in the picture and Peter has his hood on. The small yellow circle in the middle of his body is, of course, his "bee boo" - or belly button for those of you who have not been indoctrinated yet. 

Yes - Laura is still obsessed with her belly button and with everybody else's too. As I type this, Laura is holding a printer cable to her belly button.

Awesome Deal

Leah's blog has instructions for how to get 100 free photos printed from snapfish. Check it out.

I can't figure out how to put the address as a link in this post, so just click on The Actons on the list of Blogs I'm Checking Out.

Grateful Sunday

Last Sunday one of our sacrament speakers was sick. The Bishop opened up the remainder of the meeting to anyone who had a "talk" they wanted to give. I normally wouldn't be grateful for someone being sick or for an opportunity to speak in church, but I am grateful because I had a spiritual experience. I normally have a difficult time recognizing the Spirit in my life. Not that Sunday. It came and hit me right in the chest. It was very noticeable. I knew Heavenly Father wanted me to get up and speak. I ended up talking about Visiting Teaching, something of which I have a very strong testimony. What I said isn't what was important to me. Feeling the Spirit, recognizing the Lord's hand in my life, remembering that Heavenly Father is aware of me and where I am and what I'm doing - those are important to me and so I'm thankful that Bro. Christy was sick last Sunday!

Friday Night -Kids' Choice Night

This past fall I started a new family tradition - Friday night kids' choice night. Each Friday one of my three kids gets to choose what we eat for dinner and gets to choose a movie for the entire family to watch. For example, tonight is Peter's Choice Night. He chose Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup and Jeni's rolls for dinner

and Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones for our movie. 

Shad seldom gets to enjoy our Friday night tradition as he has to work.  

Lately I've been wanting to "shake things up" a bit. The kids are choosing the same thing over and over again. Laura always picks tacos or chicken nuggets with mac and cheese. Peter always picks a breakfast food - waffles, pancakes, or French toast. The repetition of food I don't mind so much; it's watching the same movie every Friday that's driving me batty. I have now put our family on a Harry Potter hiatus.

Do you have any suggestions for great family movies?  

I'd love some new ideas!

In My Perfect World. . .

I would never have to clean the toilet again! Those of you who do not have sons have no idea how lucky you are. And for those of you who only have boys, let me express my sympathies.

Question (and I want responses, please): 

How do you keep your house clean?

I am a lousy housekeeper. I hate cleaning, but I also hate living in a dirty house. I am a pack rat as well, so every horizontal surface in our house is covered with clutter. Shad and I have discovered that hosting events at our house is one of the few things that actually motivates us to clean. Emily had two friends over to play tonight and Shad and I spent about 4 hours cleaning before the girls arrived. We're pleased with the improvement, but know that the mess will be back within 24 hours.  So, again I ask - how do you keep your house clean? Share your tips and secrets with a woman in need!