Decadent Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

 

These are delicious!!!  Thank you Kristina for the recipe...

Here it is:

Cookie Layer

1 white cake mix

1/2 cup flour

2 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Cream Cheese Layer

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  With spoon, mix cake mix, flour, eggs and oil together.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Press half of dough into a greased 8x8 inch pan.

In a separate bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, and egg together until smooth.  Spread cream cheese mixture over bottom layer.  Crumble remaining cookie dough evenly over top.  Bake 24-28 minutes or until light golden brown.  Cool, then cut into bars.  Store in refrigerator.

Captivating...

You might be wondering why I am doing yet another book review...well, did you know they have sites where you can choose a book, receive it in the mail FOR FREE as long as you post a review on your blog and post it on a consumer website, like amazon.com.  You can go to either www.booksneeze.com or Blogging for Books, two wonderful sites...and there is my plug for them!

Now to the book "Captivating" it is yet another book by John and Stasi Eldredge and it is about "unveiling the mystery of a woman's soul, and that is truly what it does.  I am not big on reading books, but this one captured me, truly a great find and I recommend it to everyone!  It is about remembering what it was like to be a little girl, what we held in our heart, what our dreams were.  I know that I had many dreams as a little girl, dreamed about what I wanted to be when I grew up, wanting to be married, have kids, and many more.  As I got older I longed for romance, for a guy to sweep me off of my feet, but yet to get to that my heart, my desires got trampled and pushed aside and it left me wondering, do I deserve the desires that I once had as a little girl?  The answer is Yes, and this book tells you so!  What I love is the message that Captivating is teaching throughout this book, "Your heart matters more than anything else in all creation.  The desires you had as a little girl and the longings you feel as a woman are telling you of the life God created you to live.  He offers to come now as the Hero of your story, to rescue your heart and release you to live as a fully alive and feminine woman.  A woman who is truly captivating."  

For quite awhile my husband and I have been wanting to do a devotional together, but have not been able to find the right book.  This time I think we may have found the one...It is called "Love and War Devotional for Couples" by John and Stasi Eldredge.  This is an eight week - 5 days a week to go deeper in our marriage.  I love it.  It is short, sweet, and to the point.  It consists of scripture, a devotional, a prayer and then at the end of each week it will give you questions to ask one another, a little activity. It's a great way to end a day together reading a book, hearing scripture, and learning more about each other.  A definite good read!

Gleek Out!

All that I have to say is FINALLY!  I do not know if anyone who reads my blog likes this show, but my husband and I are definitely GLEEKS!  We love this show, especially there music!  Now I know the Superbowl is this Sunday, but to be honest more of my excitement is for what happens after the game, that's right, the NEW season of Glee!  Yay!

  

So far, so good!

 How many of your kids love this thing?

Our little red head was attached, especially when it was nap and bed time.

We thought about taking it away when he turned 2...but then as that year went on it got pushed back to when he would turn 3...

Well you all know that just this past Monday he turned 3, which meant, no more NUK!

The morning of his birthday he said, "Mommy, no more nuks."  But I could tell that made him sad, which made me nervous.

However, as he said "goodbye" to his beloved friend of 3 years, he proceeded to play with his other toys, and when it came to nap time he went to sleep all by himself and even took a 2 hour nap (a little longer than usual)!  And you may be wondering, how was bedtime???  GREAT!  He slept from 8pm to 6am!!!  The longest he has slept in a long time, yay!

You may now be wondering, how has the rest of the week gone...so far so good!

The Big 3!

 It was a cold day today, the coldest it has been in awhile and tonight as I sit here and update my blog I am reminded of the wonderful event that happened 3 years ago.  The birth of my little red head, Titus!  Here is a little photo journey of Titus through the years and after our fun birthday weekend, there will be more to share...Enjoy!

Just a few days old....

 Turning 1...

 Turning 2...

 Picture taken one month before his 3rd birthday...on Christmas Eve!

Even though my little boy is getting bigger, he will forever be my baby boy, Love you Titus!

Race for a Cure - TEAM TARA

  This year will mark my 3rd year running in the Race for the Cure 5K.  It is the best activity I can think of doing on Mother's Day!  This year will, however, I will be running for my sister.  In my past entry I mentioned that my sister was diagnosed with Breast Cancer just this November and will undergo surgery in February.  This year I will be running for her, that is why my team is called TEAM TARA.  I am also praying that she will be able to join me.  I did create a team, so if you would like to join my team please let me know.  It is on Sunday May 8th, Mother's Day, and it is at the Mall of America.  If you do not want to run in the 5K there is also a 5K walk that takes place after the run.  Would you consider doing this event?