A Literary Feast

I told my daughter I didn't want a birthday cake this year, as I'm trying to not eat sugar. The day arrived for my party and before I was allowed into the kitchen, I was told I needed to read a book to the kids. Great! I'm a librarian AND a Gramma, so that's what I do! I was handed a copy of The Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle and at it's conclusion, I was led--eyes closed--into the kitchen. There was spread out a feast to please even the hungriest caterpillar! Each item was labelled with what the caterpillar ate that day, and progressed through to his tasty green leaf at the end of the week as a digestive aid. The centerpiece "cake" was a "fruit" cake, of course!

Cast your (chocolate) upon the waters...

When I had found this awesome chocolate a few months ago, I shared my find with a co-worker. Today, she and another staff member brought me an assortment of Alter Echo chocolate for a belated birthday gift!! Cha-ching! I was running late this morning and grabbed a meager offering for my lunch (and dinner--have to work late) so this is perfect to tide me over today!
p.s. I just added my "snack" into MyFitnessPal database and one serving is less than 200 calories if you divide it up into 3 servings!

Come together

Donald, 1947

My dad's birthday sychronistically fell on Family Home Evening night while my mother was visiting. She and I were at Siemers, so I planned an activity to help my grandchildren get to know their great-grandfather a bit, whom they never got to meet. I had a photo (left) of him and mom and then on top of it I overlaid smaller pictures of things that would evoke a story of his life: a picture of some Dunkin Donut's coffee/treats, a man helping someone fix a flat tire, a go-cart, a stock car racer, a puppy dog, a picture of my dad as a young man (right). Each of the kids got to take off a small picture and then I or mom told a story about it. It was fun. Happy Birthday, Dad!