Sunday, June 21, 2009

Fast Food Treats for Father's Day

All daddies love fast food...and I'm guessing most like sweets too! Well, this Father's day...I found an idea for a fast food snack that satisfied those sweet tooths too!





Yep... an all time favorite...hamburgers and french fries... But these aren't actually hamburgers. So where's the beef? Well...not here. These are made of cupcake buns, brownie burgers, frosted condiments, and sugar cookie fries. Thanks to www.bakerella.blogspot.com for the idea and for sharing the templates for the hamburger and french fry containers and printed tissue. I just bought three different types of paper (cardstock, velum, and tracing) and was able to copy, cut, fold and tape these cute little containers together!



Of course I had to space my baking and container making out on different days....can't get too much of that done with little kiddos running around. So after the containers...next came the french fries (just home-made rolled sugar cookies cut into small strips and sprinkled with sugar)



The brownies, cupcakes and frosting came another day...and yes I have to admit... I used box mixes for those. As for the rest of Father's Day... I was not a very good mother...did not plan anything exciting for daddy...and oops...didn't get one single picture with him and all three of the kids together (Sophia, Joseph and Willie, that is). Probably the highlight of the day for daddy was heading to Quick Trip with Sophia to pick up some donuts! Apparently Quick Trip has some rather good donuts and it is also Daddy's favorite drink stop (killed two birds with one stone!)

Here are the kids enjoying their donuts...Joseph of course only enjoyed examining each sprinkle...eating it was not too much fun for him. Imagine that...my picky little eater!





Sophia gave Daddy a wonderful book called "The Van that Daddy Cleaned," perfect for our Daddy who is forever cleaning the messes we leave in the car :). She also wrote some wonderful cards decorated with stickers, and made a picture frame with modge podge of course!



We went to Pappou's for a Father's Day cookout....hamburgers of course to match our dessert theme! I was able to get just a few pictures of all of them before Joseph got away!





I feel bad that I didn't get one single picture of Brett with Sophia and Joseph and Willie together....but I did get one cute one with him and Joseph... too bad it is blurry....we'll just blame that on the "fallen" camera once again, because surely a "bad" picture can't be the fault of the photographer...ha, ha!



Happy Father's Day!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Our Wild Willie




Prayer for a dog
by Phylis Feiner Johnson


Treat me gently beloved master, and I will love you with a full and happy heart.

Show me patience and I will learn to understand your every word and action. I will even protect you with my life if yours is at any time in danger.

Speak to me often, for your voice is music to my ears and I await even the simple sound of your footsteps, knowing soon you will be near.

Shelter me from nature's bitter cold and wet and I in return will warm your feet beside the hearth. Or, if life should be unkind, I will find a place of comfort for us both, for your pleasure is my dearest wish.

Play with me, for I seek your challenge just as I seek to please you. I will follow a thrown ball to the ends of the earth if you choose it and I will swim the seven seas just to see you smile.

Fill my bowl with fresh water and see that I'm well fed, for I cannot speak to ask you and am completely at your mercy. But my trust in you is so complete, I know you will never do me wrong.

And beloved master, when I grow old and the time comes to say farewell, hold me gently in your arms and I will go without a whimper. For with you I am safe and secure. A dog who gave love and received it with a grateful heart.


Nine years ago today, he was born. When we saw Willie in the pet store in August of 2000, he stole our hearts. It probably wasn't perfect timing... we hadn't even been married two months....and we both had full time jobs. But his cute little face seemed to be calling our name. We decided to bring him home and we haven't been the same since. We were certain Willie would be identical to the laid-back, easy-going Wheaten Terrier named Miles that we had always admired in our neighborhood where we grew up. Well, Willie had a different plan. Though he is far from easy going, and definitely not laid back (as evidenced by the fact that he must take a "puppy prozac" daily), his loving personality is something so incredible... I can't put it into words. He really is our first baby. Willie is a person in our house. He is my third child. And though he can be a challenge at times...
(he takes more allergy meds than all of us combined, he jumps on any guest that comes in the house, he shakes uncontrollably when a fire alarm battery goes bad or when Joseph, unmonitored, presses the button on the carbon monoxide detector, he spits out his medicines if they are not wrapped in cheese appropriately, he hides when he knows it is bath time, and he occasionally licks the entire house before his tummy is about to get upset)
...we can not imagine our lives without him. He is smarter than we are, he can tell time, he has excellent ears, he is our best protector, he LOVES Brett, Sophia and Joseph and would do anything in his power to keep them safe. He is forgiving....he loves us unconditionally.... even when we aren't the best masters. He probably feels like his world has been taken over by trucks and dolls and loud children (especially one in particular who loves to pull his hair). But he loves us all the same. Animals are amazing.... and they teach us sooo much.

We hope you had a great day, Willie. Thanks for all the joy you give us....and here's to many many more years! Love you , love you Willie Bear!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

And the prognosis is...

So, Doctor Sophia...what is the prognosis?




"Well, his stomach is grumbling a lot....so, he probably has diabetes. You need to give him some Pediatric Partners medicine!"

Well... though the diagnosis was a little off....we did find out that Joseph had "the croup" a few days after this...not sure his symptoms were indicative of diabetes:)....but at least this doctor had an excellent bedside manner! Do I see med school in her future???

Monday, June 15, 2009

I am a "tip junkie" myself AND a cup-cakey treat for you!

One of my favorite sites: http://www.tipjunkie.com

is having a "Going Dot Com Birthday Bash" and is sponsoring give-aways for some amazing items. I LOVE this site...it offers so many creative ideas and organizational tips (imagine me loving that :)


And of course I have to have some pictures of my own to post...so... I found these cute cupcake pops from

http://www.bakerella.blogspot.com

And I had to try them out! What a fun idea...so we made a few for Thea's birthday celebration this weekend. Cake on a stick...who wouldn't love that?





Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Cutting Loose!

I didn't cut Sophia's hair till she was three... but I guess that is just another one of the differences between boys and girls. My little guy will probably need a few more cuts than Sophia! I, of course, was very apprehensive about this cut...not just because it was his first, but because I was not ready to part with those sweet curls along his neck! Tonight was the big night! Not only did he sit close enough to "still" as he could (sitting really still is just something we haven't accomplished yet), but he left Shear Madness with those same cute little curls...only now they look a little neater...and my little man looks a little older!

Here are the before pics:






He's a cute little guy even when his allergies are making him feel horrible!!!



Here is the brave boy during the cut....And what is that in his mouth???? Wait a minute...is he actually eating something AND somewhat liking it????? YES.... he, in fact, did appear to enjoy his first lollipop....for a few minutes at least!!!!!







Almost Finished...






Ta-Da... Here is our handsome little man....I should have gotten a back shot so you could see that his curls are still there....but my camera was acting a bit funky. I keep telling Brett that there is something wrong with it and I've checked the settings repeatedly....Am I being dishonest if I forget to mention to him the number of times I have recently dropped the camera on some pretty hard surfaces???? Oops!



I'm so proud of this little guy....no tears during his first haircut... UNTIL it was time to get out of that fun fire truck chair. Thankfully Daddy was there to take him out for a little walk afterwards!

Missy joined in on the excitement today as well! She loves getting her hair trimmed as long as she gets to sit in her favorite pink car...and she did. When she found out that Joseph was getting to go first she was traumatized and broke out in tears. She was so worried someone else would take HER pink car. Fortunately the hair dresser let her "claim" the car while Joseph got started! Here are her before pics:





Here are Joseph and Daddy watching Sophia get her hair cut:



And here is the princess after her haircut. Notice the new pink barrettes she put in her hair immediately after!




After a LONG rainy day inside with workers in the house all day... I am ready to CUT LOOSE myself! :)

Saturday, June 6, 2009

A "Wobbly" Week

So, it has been a whirlwind of a week to say the least. Our Vegas trip seems a distant memory...and speaking of Vegas... I guess you could say the odds weren't on our side this week. A few little bumps in the road this week..but in an effort to see the glass half "full" I am going to post some pictures of the things that made me breathe a little easier this week.

First and foremost....our baby girl is now proudly sporting her first loose tooth! Before our horribly traumatic 6 month dentist appointment this week (we all know how this little girl dreads the dentist), Sophia assured me that the tooth fairy had already visited her room as evidenced by the "wing" that she left in her room. I chuckled at her imagination.... but later realized maybe she had some sort of "premonition" that the tooth fairy WOULD be visiting her room soon! She is pretty excited about this upcoming visit and has already picked out the rubber duck (at Beauty Brands) that the tooth fairy SHOULD bring her when this important event occurs.

She gave me a big smile so I could see this spectacular loose tooth....it is on the bottom and, though you can't see it in the picture, already has a permanent tooth poking through behind it! Excuse the blue fingernail.... we don't normally have dirty fingernails in our house...but when we made a "magic potion" the other day Missy just couldn't resist overuse of the blue food coloring...but it is pretty fun to squirt that stuff out of the tiny bottle, don't ya think?




Thursday's running injury coupled with a few lousy days of crying, diaper rash, and still more teething...almost got the best of me. But remember...I'm looking for the good here. So despite the allergy flare ups today...we found some good on this windy, warm Saturday. Sophia was finally able to fly her new kite. A perfect day!

Here is the kite getting ready to take off:



After Daddy showed Sophia the ropes...she got the hang of it pretty quickly! It was fun to see her run with the wind and watch the kite as it got higher and higher!






Poor little Joseph has had a rough week of teething and diaper rash...but he was pretty excited to see what this whole kite thing was about...at first...





But then...his curiosity got the best of him...and a few other things seemed a bit more interesting...i.e., the leaves in the grass...the soccer goals, the dogs and even the neighbor's back step. He just made himself right at home!!!





Another little bump in the road...



but no worries...things are looking UP!