Jessica-I'm sorry it took so long but here is the recipe for sugar free sugar cookies (that is an oxymoron!!)

3 sticks of butter (softened-MUST be butter)
1 cup splenda
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups ALL PURPOSE flour (be sure to aerate your flour with a fork before measuring)

Mix all ingredients together and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool. This is a crispy delicious cookie not a chewy one. To make them whole wheat substitute whole wheat flour and keep about 2 tbsp all purpose flour and also abour 3 tbsp of wheat gluten.

Jettybetty-you can always quote anything I say!! Glad to have said something worthwhile!!

Sandy-yeah, I feel a little guilty buying those beanie babies at yard sales for a quarter when it is a cute one my kids really want!! You know those people paid about $7 a pop when they were collecting them!

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Yesterday we worked and worked on all the things we had been putting off because we knew today would be wild(funeral). Most of this centered around getting our pool ready. We hauled the sand, got all our holes filled in and our spot level again. Then we went to get our pool out of our storage shed. We unrolled it onto the ground and discovered great chunks of it had been eaten by some sort of critter. Then we discovered the critter. It was the cutest little mouse with big ears and such a sweet little face. We watched it run around on the pool for probably a good 10-15 minutes. Erika begged to catch it-"No". Kayla wanted to get it a cage-"No". I said please, we can get it a little motorcycle-"No". Erik is so mean. We finally helped it find it's way off the pool and out into the world where it climbed the treehouse tree and the girls are hopeful to see it later. So now we have a pool with big holes. We debated patching but since it is one of the big pools we decided that would just be too much pressure on the holes to work. We got two full years of use out of it and thoroughly enjoyed it!! We got our money's worth. Now we have to decide if we bite the bullet and get another one or have a pool free summer. We're thinking on it. What we had is no longer sold, only smaller and larger. I just wanted to go ahead and get an above ground pool installed and then we would not have to go through this again-but hubby says "no!". He says that alot!

In other news, we will spend the day today with family starting at about 9:45. It will be a hard day, it always is when dealing with a non-christian. Erik's Dad says he believes he did get baptized once upon a time, but he did not stick with it. So there is just a big question mark as to the condition of his soul. Erik has gone to work to case his mail and then he will meet us at the funeral home. My husband is such a good hard worker!! He could have had the whole day off but he knows they are very shorthanded so he went above and beyond what he had too.

Keep Erik's family in your prayers please.