**yes, he can still hear**

well thank goodness that's over! cj has been waiting to go to the devil wears prada concert. his friend austin, austin's mom susan, cj, and me went to portland yesterday for the concert.

we had dinner at the cheescake factory. what a cool place. we all brought home a piece of cheescake (i brought a piece home for bailey, too). susan and i then took the boys to the roseland theater downtown and dropped them off for this:



i don't know how cj listens to this. he loves it and had a great time. even austin, who listens to rap, had fun. austin just went as a buddy with cj. what a guy!

cj and his dad are headed to seattle on december first for the metallica concert. they are going up via train and spending the night. they are going to have a great time. 2 concerts in 2 months...he is in heaven.

bailey, becky, and kelsie just went to a concert as well. it wasn't nearly as scary. =)


well, i am off to california to see my best friend, danea on december 3rd. her lovely husband cashed in their frequent flyer miles and got a ticket for me. i am sure i will have a few meals to cook, some dishes to do, and i know danea wants me to help her clean her scraproom (again!!). it's so worth it to get to spend time with them. i bet they will want a batch of these as well:

Ingredients

18 1/2 ounces yellow cake mix
3 1/2 ounces instant lemon pudding mix
4 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Glaze

4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 lemon, zest of
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Spray miniature muffin tins with vegetable oil cooking spray. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil and blend well with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. (The batter will be thick). Pour a small amount of batter, filling each muffin tin half way. (I found a small cookie scoop the perfect thing for making them a uniform size).
3. Bake for 12 minutes. (I baked 4 dozen at one time, so it took a little longer--be sure to reverse places in oven for even baking if you cook this many. Also, they come out of the tin better if you cook a little past the golden brown stage so the cake is more firm). Turn out onto a tea towel.
4. Make the glaze while the cakes are baking. Sift the sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, zest, oil, and 3 tablespoons water. Mix with a spoon until smooth.
5. With fingers, dip the cupcakes into the glaze while they're still warm, covering as much of the cake as possible, or spoon the glaze over the warm cupcakes, turning them to completely coat. Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath to catch any drips.
6. Let the glaze set thoroughly, about 1 hour, before storing in containers with tight-fitting lids.

well, that's all i have for now.

peace.