Saturday, June 27, 2009

Birthday Girl...


Last weekend we got to help Emma celebrate her 1st birthday! (Emma is Rick's mothers cousins sons daughter... how is THAT for confusing? And she's part of the only family we have in TX!)

She had a "cowgirl" themed party and her mommy, Jennifer, made THE cutest goody bags!


The kids also played Pin The Tail On The Donkey... here is Emma's attempt at getting that tail on:
She got lots of fun gifts but seemed to really like the baby doll that cousin Sophie got her... she kept hugging the box!

Her grandma and grandpa also flew in from out of town to spend her special day with her! Here she is with her grandpa! He doesn't look like a proud grandpa, does he? =}


She had the sweetest little "smash cake"... a giant cupcake that her mommy made her!

And she ate it just like a little lady... a little nibble at a time...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA!

Newest Members of Country Lakes...

Part of the charm of our community are the "lakes" scattered around.

We are fortunate enough to have one right in our backyard. We have ducks wandering around all the time. We found out a little while ago that one of our neighbors had a duck nest in her front garden that contained 21 eggs! Since we heard the news, we've kept our eyes peeled on the pond for the little babies. They have just recently hatched and today we spotted them for the first time!!


You'll notice that mommy is only shepherding around 15... a few must have not made it. But I'd say 15 is pretty good! I don't know how she does it... 2 is enough for me!

The girls were jumping up and down, wanting to feed the ducks so Rick unlocked our back gate and let them go down to the pond with some bread. The girls had quite a few friends, very quickly! They had a lot of fun feeding the ducks.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Don't know where to go when you need your hair done and your chainsaw repaired...?

I've got the answer!!


I have passed by this place a number of times and always wanted to take a picture.... well, last weekend I did! The sign makes me smile every time I see it!

"Well, Buford, I'm off to get my hair done at Mable Peabody's...."

"Alright, Eunice, don't forget to take the chainsaw and have it looked at... it's having trouble startin'."


Always interesting things to see in Denton! Next, I'm off in search of the "chair tree" as described by my neighbor and friend, Diane. Stay tuned for photos...

Monday, June 22, 2009

Muffin Tin Monday

This week's theme (found here) is "copycat"!


Thank goodness because I wasn't feeling very creative. Last week I found this idea and knew I would copy it this week! So cute! Rick went to the library and got us the book. The girls and I read it...they didn't know there was a reason we were reading it. They were surprised at their meal today and loved the little "sword". They had fun making their "stone" more tasty with the cheese, bacon and sour cream. Hannah pretended to struggle as she pulled her "sword" out and claimed she didn't have any "royal blood" in her. =} What an imagination...

Monday, June 15, 2009

My first Muffin Tin Monday...

"What in the world..." you may ask "is Muffin Tin Monday?"

I stumbled upon this idea on a fun blog called "Her Cup Overfloweth" . You can find all the details about it there but basically you just use a muffin tin and fill it with a meal! She includes different themes for each week on her blog (check the far left column). Today there was no theme and I thought it was the perfect time for me to start!

Rick works late almost every Monday night so what better night to have our Muffin Tin Monday dinners! Here is what the girls had for their very first ones:

carrots, ritz crackers, cut up cheese stick, ranch for the carrots, vanilla pudding with mini chocolate chips and ham slices on tooth picks!



Linklook at those smiles! they were quite excited... I was pretty secretive as I was putting them together and they couldn't wait to see what it was

Here are a few examples of some themes from the past.... numbers, under the sea, children's literature...the list goes on and on! There is even a flickr group dedicated to MTM's!

Next week the theme is "copy cat" and I think I have already found the one I want to copy here. It looks simple (love THAT!) and the girls love stones... um, I mean baked potatoes! We'll have to discuss the story as we eat.

You should try it! It's as easy as you want to make it and the kids will love it!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Homemade Buttermilk Donut Holes


Lately I've been checking out a lot of blogs about home decor and food... I'm not sure why. But I came across this recipe for homemade buttermilk donut holes and had to try it! Our girls LOVE donuts and would live on them if we let them. Rick enjoys the "old fashioned" donuts so I thought they would all like these.

Last night I told them I was going to make a surprise in the morning. I got up and got to work on these little beauties right away this morning. They are super easy to make!

My shapes are a little funky but they taste really good!


Here is the pile of doughy goodness on our favorite plate we purchased at Fishs Eddy on our trip to NYC...notice the NYC skyline all around the rim of the plate... we need to go back and get some more to complete our set... but I digress...



I was proud of myself! Usually if it doesn't come out of a box, I don't make it. But I think that's all about to change... wish me luck!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Beginning our first full week of summer...

Last Thursday was Hannah's last day of 1st grade!
She's come a long way this year. She was struggling with some subjects in school and her teacher, the wonderful Miss Jones, worked so hard with her. Finally, as many of you know, Hannah was diagnosed as ADHD. Since then, life has been much better for her in the classroom. Knowing the problem has made life easier! She is now up to speed in her reading and all of her other subjects! We are all so proud of her and so thankful that Miss Jones was her teacher this year.
Last Wednesday was the End of the Year party for Hannah's class. By default, I was the Room Mom this year. I just wanted to plan a party that was fun...not super structured, no crafts, not a ton of snacks (they just finished lunch 1/2 hour before the party). So, we went outside and:

had a water balloon toss...look out Hannah, that blue balloon is coming right for you!

raced in gunny sacks

did the egg in the spoon race (it was also crazy hair day...you can see the green and pink in Hannah's hair)

The skies were getting dark and there was a chance of rain in the forecast. We decided to stay outside as long as we could. We were out there for about 1/2 an hour when it started raining. Then we headed inside to play "pass the flip-flop"...I found a stuffed flip-flop in the dollar section at Target. The class sat in a circle while I played music and they passed it, kind of like playing "hot potato". Then we had some cookies, popcorn and juice. At the end, we presented Miss Jones with her gift.


I was really pleased with how it turned out. I traced each child's hand on colored card stock and turned them into a bouquet of lilies. They turned out so pretty! Each child received 3 hearts to write memories of Miss Jones on and then I hot glued those on to green pipecleaners and added them to the bouquet (although we got so many back I had to stuff quite a few into the bottom of the vase but it still looked nice) and I asked for each child to bring in a $10 gift card from Target, Barnes and Noble or Olive Garden...all of her favorite places. The bouquet you see above is the end result! I hope she knows how much we all appreciate her hard work!!

After that party at school, Hannah hosted an ice cream sundae party at home. She had a few friends over and they made their own sundaes. They had crushed oreo's, M&M's, sprinkles, gummy worms, etc. to top their sundaes. After that we went out in the backyard to play with some silly string. The funny thing was it was kind of windy and they ended up shooting the silly string out only to have it blow back into their face! It was also hard for their little hands to press the button to get it to come out, but they managed! Then it was just playtime until parents came to pick them up.

Haylee, Veronica and Hannah enjoying their ice cream

Hannah and her silly string

Hannah chasing Ashley

Ivanna trying to get that crazy stuff to come out!

Hopefully we'll be having lots of playdates with these girls over the summer!
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