Summer Fun

These are some pictures of the neighborhood boys having a great evening showing off their stunts on the diving board.

Favorite Foto Blog Hop

I've joined fellow bloggers in today's Favorite Foto Blog Hop.

Here's my favorite pic from this week.

And I must confess that I wasn't the photographer this time.

Michael was behind the camera.

Which, for those of you that know his picture taking skills, this was QUITE the accomplishment!

Ethan just finished eating Spaghetti.

And in case you couldn't tell, he fed himself.

Michael stripped off the clothes and threw him in my tub.

And obviously, he didn't mind!!

Oh, and check out my little SIS (a.k.a. Aunt Grabbie). She is #674!!

A Book for Kate

On Friday my sister and I went to a scrapbook store in Waxahachie. Now, to many of you this wouldn't seem like anything special. However, EVERY scrapbook store in the Arlington/Mansfield area has closed. (That is, with the exception of Hobby Lobby and Michaels...which are actually CRAFT stores)

And there's nothing like a great scrapbook store....they have all the

latest papers, embellishments, blah blah blah.

THIS particular store we went to was no exception.

GREAT selection! Seriously.

They carried a large selection of chip board related items....

alphas, designs, and they even had books.

These weren't just any books...they were in a variety

of shapes and sizes.

I loved 'em. They were so cute.

So I bought a book to make for Kate.

It's in the shape of a tiara.

And as if I had nothing better to do, I sat down yesterday and finished the whole thing.

Couldn't wait.

And most importantly ....she LOVED it!

She thanked me over and over.

And said, "Mommy, I thought you were making another book

for someone else. I'm so excited that you were just trickin' me"

Show Us Where You Live

This week Kelly is touing our yards.Now, under NO circumstance would my husband and I be classified as "green thumbs". But we live next door to a professional landscaper, so that helps.

Various views from the front:

These lillies are the prettiest in the morning.

The backyard...


The backyard is where we spend a lot of time during the summer.

We love to swim.

And we love to cook out!

Bon Apetit!

WARNING...Don't Bake During a Crisis

As I mentioned in my last post, we have our niece and nephew with us this week. This morning, Kailey (who is 3) woke up with some sort of stomach virus. Not necessarily fun, but manageable.

Anywho, because of her sickness, we didn't want to take Kailey to church. So I stayed home with her and Ethan. After Michael and the other kids left for church, my mother came over for a little while. I was telling her how the kids were aggrivated becasue they didn't have any more cookies. She, then, ran to Walgreens across the street to buy some chocolate chips. (However, when she returned she had M&M's...)

While she was gone, I received a phone call from one of the elders in our church. He explained that they were having an emergency situation with Connor and they were trying to find me or Michael. Michael was at church, but not answering his cell. He proceeded to tell me that while Connor was playing on the playground, he came in contact with a wasp nest and had been "attacked". I told him where Michael would be. Within seconds, Michael was located. He called me a few minutes later letting me know they were headed home. And he warned me...that what I would see wasn't going to be pretty.

With everyone on their way home, I decided that I should make the M&M cookies. Connor LOVES M&M's and I thought he could use some extra TLC. I started getting all the stuff out....beginning the same reciepe I posted on Monday.

Then they walked in the door. He looked AWFUL. He sustained at least TWELVE wasp stings. Two were on his face. They were on his arms. Legs. Connor was red and swollen all over.

My mom was tending to Connor. I was listening to Michael tell about what happened WHILE I was throwing together cookies.

Finally put the cookies in the oven. The kids were running around everywhere (except the patient) and kept asking when they could have dessert. My mom sampled the dough (the best part according to her) and comments that it's really salty. Weird. They werent' salty the other day. I pulled out the measurment I used for the salt. One teaspoon. That was right.

Went to check on the cookies, and there inside the over were very colorful round blobs. I don't know what in the sam hill I put in those dang cookies. Maybe too much (salted) butter. Maybe not enough flour. I do not know. I honestly couldn't remember what I put in there.

The moral of the story...don't bake during a crisis. Especially if your son has been stung twelve times.

Homemade

My goodness, I don't know what's gotten into me but I've been cooking all weekend. Friday night and Saturday morning I made homemade cinnamon rolls. They were melt in your mouth good. (I say this not in vain, because it was NOT my receipe. I just followed it).

Then Sunday, I made new receipes for Brisket, Mashed Potatoes (with what I now call the "secret" ingredient), homemade corn dish , and cheese rolls. YUM. YUM. YUM.

Today, my niece and nephew arrived from Houston. They're staying with us the rest of the week. And, not wanting to break my new cycle, I decided to make them homemade chocolate chip cookies. I make cookies in the oven all the time. But usually I cook the frozen ones in my freezer that I buy EVERY year from the kids' fund raiser. But NOT today. Luckily, I had a spare package of chocolate chips.

They were very yummy. The kids loved 'em. And Mason said, "Mom...these taste different."

I said, "A good different? Or a bad different?"

He said, "WWWAAAYYY good different."

I said, "That's because they're homemade."

And he replied, "You should make 'em like that more often! Everything you make homemade is better!"

Thank you. (I think. Now I'm gettin' myself into trouble. I should probably stop this whole Martha Stewart cooking trip I'm on)

Now go make your fam some homemade cookies!!

2 1/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup softened butter (the real stuff, PLEASE)

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

package of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Bake @ 375* for about 12 minutes

Show Us Where You Live ...Master Bedroom

This week, Kelly is featuring Master Bedrooms in her "Show Us Where You Live" series. Welcome to my room...
Actually, this is the small hallway leading to the Master.

And here's the view from the door way.

Here's the view from the bay window. The closed door on the right is Michael's closet.

The open doors leading to the bathroom and to my closet.

My favorite thing in our closets are the built ins!

This sitting area has been many things. Once there was just an oversized chair. Then a baby bed. Then a treadmill (to help get rid of baby fat). Another baby bed. And now a desk to which I use almost daily when I'm on the computer. The windows open up to the back yard and I love the view of the pool from here (which, according to Kelly you'll see next week)!

These pieces, along with most of the decor, came from Hobby Lobby.

Some of you may notice that Ethan isn't in any of these pics. Kate is two here, so obviously

I'm behind with the family pics.

I love to get great decorating ideas, so leave a comment

with your site if you love your "nest".

Thanks for visiting. Here is a link back to Kelly.

Have a super weekend!!