Emma's Banner

Emma's sixth grade class is studying the Renaissance era at school right now. She had an assignment to create a "banner" that depicted her personality using symbols. This is what we came up with.

Before we began, I made sure it was okay for her to have help with this project. I was informed that family participation was encouraged, so I pulled out my watercolors and let loose. I was determined that we would not be running to a store to purchase any supplies for this assignment. I get so tired of spending money on stuff that will eventually be thrown in the trash. We did not have the right colors of butcher paper, so we ended up painting quite a bit of it.

Now...let me explain what the symbols mean. The Bee indicates that she is always on the move and gets things done. So true. The Peacock shows that she takes pride in her appearance, inside and out. The circle with the number 5 in the middle means that she is the fifth child in our family. The beach scene shows what she enjoys - sun, summer and beaches.

I was actually surprised at how creative she was. Using ribbon on top of the peacock's head was her idea as was his feet. She also wanted the bee with the buzzing lines to show movement. Very cute.

This little project ended up taking us 5 hours to complete...yep...you read that right. FIVE HOURS. Both of us were ready to put it away by the time we glued the last thing in place. I told Emma that we both deserve an "A" for effort. And I am happy to report that this is the very last time I will ever have to deal with this project again :)

Breakfast Monte Cristos

I decided to mix up some of our "food traditions" for General Conference this year. In the past, I have always had cinnamon and orange rolls to eat on General Conference morning. Tara showed me a recipe that she found on my new favorite site (favfamilyrecipes.com) and I thought "Why not? Let's try it this year".

Well, I think it is safe to say that we now have a new tradition in our home. The recipe that I am posting below is incredible...even heavenly. I wish you could have heard to audible noises coming from my families mouths as they were eating these little tidbits of love. I heard a lot of "Oooo's" and "Awww's" and "O My Gosh's!" I swear that at one point I even saw Greg roll his eyes into the back of his head from shear taste-bud-euphoria. My family was eating them as fast as I was taking them off the griddle. I seriously recommend that you try these little babies. You will not be disappointed.


BREAKFAST MONTE CRISTO SANDWICHES

*Makes 2 sandwiches

2 eggs
1/4 c. maple syrup
1/4 c. milk
1/4 tsp. vanilla
4 slices of bread (thick, whole-wheat bread works great)
cream cheese
2-3 slices deli black forest ham
2 eggs, fried (middles poked and spread out so the eggs lay flat)
2 slices Swiss cheese
powdered sugar
Raspberry Jam (or any jam you like)

Mix eggs, maple syrup, milk, and vanilla together with a fork and pour in a shallow dish. Spread a good amount of cream cheese on each slice of ham (if you have a large slice of ham you may want to fold it over). Add the cream cheese-covered ham, a fried egg, and a slice of Swiss cheese to one slice of bread and top with another slice of bread making a sandwich. Dip each sandwich in the egg mixture and turn over so the the entire outside of the sandwich is coated in the egg mixture. Cook on a griddle or in a frying pan (as if you were making French toast). Carefully flip the sandwich when the first side becomes nice and brown (again, like French toast). When both sides of the sandwich are brown and slightly crispy, remove from heat and sprinkle each sandwich with powdered sugar. Cut into halves or fourths and serve with raspberry jam.

***Side Note: I did not have any Swiss Cheese so I used Cheddar instead and they were obviously still yummy. Also...don't let the instructions intimidate you, they really are not that hard to make.