Family Reunion Time!

The Best Of The Best....

The best of the best

is having all 3 here at the same time...

Even with messy rooms,

make-up on the counters,

extra toothpaste in the sinks,

shoes in the kitchen,

candy wrappers all over,

3am noises in the hallway,

three times the normal laundry load...

I can't get enough of

all 3 here together.

I just wish we had more of them,

instead of always having to say goodbye

to one, or the other

or both.

Is it summer yet?????

Let's Go Bowling!

Catching up before we head out tomorrow morning for Hawaii!

Last Friday, we joined our CoOp friends to see

"Click, Clack, Moo" at the Dallas Children's Theater.

It was a GREAT performance!

Afterwards, when trying to decide on a lunch location,

Some of the Mommies had dueling iPhones!

Mrs. Holly led us all to Steak n Shake for lunch which was a great choice!
After a big morning of theater & lunch,
Reese zonked out in the car on the way home!

For Valentine's Day on Saturday, Reese & Jessie got little gifts from Jeff & I.

Earlier in the week, Reese worked hard on signing his Valentine's cards for his CoOp buddies.

Those boxes for his name were tiny!

Reese found some "edible paper" in the gift section at WalMart & I told him if I bought it, he'd have to wait until Valentine's Day to open it.

He waited for over a week to taste it...he asked every single day if it was time to eat it yet!

Finally, it was Valentine's Day & Reese wrote a message on his paper...

And took a bite!

Hmmmm....not as good as he thought it would be...

We attempted a bowling trip, but the wait was SO very long on Saturday.

We ended up heading home with one very sad little boy...

We ended up bowling on Sunday though & had a great time together!
Can you tell who bowled in the Junior Bowling League?

Reese had a blast bowling too!

Sissy & I didn't use the bumpers once. Um. Maybe once.

Or twice.

Hope your Valentine's Day was fun!!

Brothers In Bling

We swung by and picked up Austen today & all went to Peter Piper Pizza together! I was so glad he called just as we were passing by his neighborhood so we could bring him with us.

Reese, of course, loved having Austen there...he introduced Austen to all his friends & the Mommies that were there. Then it was game time!

So what do you buy with this stash of tickets?

Bling, baby!
I can't get enough of these two! Austen heads back to school tomorrow....the countdown starts again for when we get to see him next!

Merry Merry!!!

Sending Merry Christmas wishes your way...from our family to yours....

We've had the best time with all 3 kids together in one place! Lunch together...

And making cookies for Santa was especially fun!

Everyone got in on the decorating...even Daddy!

Austen worked hard on his cookie for Santa

Jessie puts up with my picture taking...
Reese needed blue icing for his Christmas tree....

A plate full of Christmas cookies to share...

And a special letter to Santa:


Dear Santa, These cookies r for you. Love, Reese

A special plate of cookies for Santa...one cookie made by each of us...

Opening Christmas gifts together...Daddy got a very special, handmade gift from Grammie!


We hope your Christmas was a fun-filled morning with many blessings!

Don't Buy Caramels Anymore...Make Your Own!

A few weeks ago, Jeff & I were talking about Christmas traditions and he remembered homemade caramels as a special Christmas time treat. Given my limited talent in the kitchen, I wasn't sure if I could pull off Homemade Caramels or not.



The first batch didn't turn out well. I didn't have a candy thermometer, so getting the caramel to the proper temperature was a guess...and I didn't guess so well! While it tasted really good, it was way too soft and had to be dumped. I guess we could have used it for a caramel topping of some sort, but it was just easier to start all over in this case.



After getting a candy thermometer, and giving it a second try, we were really pleased with the results. I was most pleased, though, that Jeff loved them!



Check out our yummy recipe & enjoy!



Ingredients:

*1 cup unsalted butter

*1 lb. light brown sugar

*dash salt

*1 cup light corn syrup

*1 14oz can sweetened, condensed milk

*1 tsp. vanilla extract



What To Do:

*Melt butter in a heavy saucepan. Add brown sugar & salt. Stir until thoroughly combined.

*Stir in corn syrup & mix well.

*Gradually add milk, stirring constantly.



*Cook & stir over medium heat until candy reaches firm ball stage (245 on candy thermometer). This will take about 45 minutes. Make sure you stir constantly so the cooking candy doesn't burn.



*Remove from heat & stir in vanilla.

*Pour into a buttered or heavy duty foil-lined 9 inch square pan.

*Cool in the fridge & cut into squares.



We also made some Turtles with the caramel. Lay 4 pecans on parchment paper (turtle's legs) so that they touch in the center of the Turtle. Pour a tablespoon of caramel in the center, top with melted chocolate & let cool!

And it's great to get those little hands helping wrap all that caramel!

Come See Me Elf Myself!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Found This Post...Welcome To The Way-Back Machine!

In cleaning up the blog, I found this post that I never posted for some reason...so welcome to my thoughts from August!


We always have frogs & toads that visit in the summer. This little fellow is a frog, with slimy skin, webbed feet, & a long mouth. Reese & I caught him in the pool after he was scared out of the bushes by the dog.



We looked at his webbed feet for swimming, his tiny nostrils on the top of his nose that were opening & closing, so he could breathe or hold his breath. We talked about why he had nostrils on the top of his nose instead of anywhere else (so he could float in the water with just his head above water & still breathe). We checked out his ears (that perfect little circle behind his eyes). We talked about why his eyes were on the top of his head (so he could float and still see above the water for danger). We felt his slick skin & talked about the protection it offers. We talked about his camoflaged colors.



Then we put him back in the bushes where we found him & said goodbye. He's always out on the patio at night though, so it wasn't truly goodbye for good!

Not YOUR Mama!

Reese has had a great time looking through all the Halloween costume catalogs that started coming in the mail lately. He's gone from wanting to be Darth Vader, to a UPS man, to a Power Ranger, to a Storm Trooper.

The catalog that came today had some interesting costumes. Here's what he picked for Mommy:

While Daddy gave a big thumbs up, I said, uh, no...don't think so! I thought the whole french maid attraction didn't start until they were older? What's up with that?

What's The Best Freecycle Item You've Picked Up?

Last week, we picked up a breadmaker!!! Thanks to my friend Holly O...I didn't even know she was the person who offered it up. We've made 3 loaves of bread so far. First one turned out flat because I didn't set the loaf size high enough. Second loaf was a white bread that turned out good. Third loaf was a 100% whole wheat loaf that was dense but still yummy.

Our next loaf will be a wheat mix...maybe it will be a little lighter & more fluffy.

Waiting patiently for the first loaf to finish baking...

"Mommy, I want to take your picture!"
"And I want to take this picture of Zoe too"

Splash!

Siblings

Just some pictures from last week when Austen & Jess were here...

Reese loves to go in Austen's room & just "hang out." Austen let Reese sit on his lap and watch what he was doing on the computer...
On Saturday, we went to the Galleria & at lunch at Corner Bakery. Jessie made a pickle sculpture...
Which Reese bought from her for $1Million. ...

Happy Four-Fifths Of July!

I couldn't stop giggling at Reese's wish of "Happy Four-Fifths Of July!"

Reason #187

Reason #187 I'm glad Jeff no longer travels....time together with the family all day, every day!!

We Haven't Fallen Off The Face Of The Earth....

We're all fine & well. I just haven't felt like posting much lately :)

I'll get back in the swing soon...Reese turns 5 Saturday and we've got Grammie & Pottsie coming to visit for the birthday party. Maybe I'm sticking my head in the sand and trying to ignore the fact that our baby is turning five...

Dollywood, Here We Come!

Last week, we took our first family road trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We traveled all those miles to take Jessie to Dollywood...which she didn't know about!

While Dollywood wasn't all that fantastic, the road trip was a blast & we all had so much fun together :)

Summer Nights

One of my favorite summer evening rituals is going out in the backyard & front yard with Reese to look for "hoppers." We usually have a few toads that reside in the front & one toad that lives in the back and hangs around the pool.

Last night, when we went out, Reese found a frog in the pool, which we eventually got out after trying the pool brush, then hopping in the pool to chase the frog around the water. Turns out it was a bullfrog from the golf course ponds & could SWIM fast!

Once we pulled him out of the pool, he sat so very still in my hand...

Reese and I took a minute to compare my bullfrog to his toad. Ou can really see the difference in face structure & coloring.

We put the bullfrog in a bucket & tried taking it to the golf course to let it go in the pond, but it hopped out while we were driving the golf cart to the water & so we headed back home. I was just glad I didn't run him over!

When we were out in the front, we came upon this Mommy spider... If you look closely, you can see a bunch of white "dots" on her back. Those are all her baby spiders, and if you touch her you'll see hundreds of them scatter, only to come back to safety on Mommy's back. It's truly amazing.

Reese got really close to the spider & was "cooing" at her and telling her what a good Mommy spider she is. Such a tender hearted boy...

Fun In The Pool With Daddy

I could snap pictures all day of these two...