Sunday, June 20, 2010

Daddy Day



Whew!  What a weekend.  It was a busy, but fun one here!  Yesterday our plans of taking the kids to the pool were a bit spoiled when a storm rolled in out of nowhere.  By the time we got ourselves out of the pool... the wind was in full force...skies were black, and before we knew it, a large pool umbrella (blown in the wind) knocked poor Sophie P against the fence.  You can imagine how scared the little kiddos were.  Sophia was in tears....and it took a few seconds for her to realize that in all of the commotion her loose tooth had been knocked out.  She was mortified when we couldn't find it.  I felt so bad...not to mention that  I had insisted that we walk to the pool earlier on....so after all of this ruckus... we had to run home in the nasty weather.  You can bet I won't live that one down.  The day ended with sunshine and blue skies...imagine that...good ole Kansas weather for you!

Today....we actually made it to the pool, swam (in sunshine) went down the waterslide more than you can count and had our picnic lunch!!! Sophia was a little uneasy about going to the pool today...still worried about those darn umbrellas.  I think she will definitely have an umbrella phobia now...not sure that I blame her either. :)

We enjoyed having our families over for a quick throw together grill out tonight.  Lots of good food....picture taking and of course cookies!!!! Here are some pics from our night!  I of course struggled to get a good picture of the kids with daddies and pappous and papas!  Those little guys just don't sit still long enough for me to figure out the correct settings on the camera!!! Practice, practice practice.

Just the DADDIES


Ice cream cones were the best part of the night for the kids...(and the company of course!!!)


We must have had some incredible conversation going on at the table to get this look...

Daddy and his besties....

Daddies and Papas and Pappous....


And of course.....

COOKIES!!!!!  For our favorite "POPPIES" (Speaking of cookies...will have a few more fun orders to post here before the week is through)

Happy Father's Day to all those daddies who do so much for us day and night all year through.  We love you!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

10 YEARS

We are sooo lucky that this little guy has greeted us with such enthusiasm for 10 YEARS already!


I always wonder what it must be like in a dog's world....always having to wait for your masters to take you outside....having to wait for your food ( unless you steal drying cookies from the counter), eating the same thing everyday..and never knowing when someone is coming home.  


But this little guy doesn't seem to mind that he eats the same food everyday.  He never even barks when he needs to go outside.  And he doesn't seem to mind the back and forth pacing from the garage door to the front window when he is waiting for his daddy to come home each night.  He is amazing.  He has a better memory than I do and I swear he knows how to tell time.... At 4:58, without fail, EVERY day he waits by his bowls ready for his dinner.  


He ADORES his Joseph and Sophia....and is their best protector. 


Thanks for being our favorite companion, Willie Bear.  We love you sooo much!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Whenever I see your smiling face...

I have to smile myself....
Thanks James Taylor for these lyrics!!!

So, I woke up exhausted today....too many late night hours in the kitchen....off and on rainy weather....constantly complaining about how bad my allergies make me feel.  But so thankful I took these pictures today...because how can my day not get better when I see these cute faces.  Of course they are not so cute when they are running through the muddy yard or throwing rocks....but....all in all...they make me smile!!







Here's a picture of the candle blowing at Thea's birthday dinner Sunday night.  MMMMMMmmm, Yiayia,  that was one YUMMY chocolate cake!!!!!


I admit... I bought these for myself....and yes, they make me smile too!!!!

Friday, June 11, 2010

Just because....

my life isn't crazy enough....

I have created a SECOND blog....especially for....
you guessed it...
COOKIES!!!!

Thanks to a dear friend...  my new blog was born!!!!  You can access it on the Cookie Construction logo on the right of this blog.


Happy Birthday...........

Of course I will continue to post the most important details of our crazy life right here, because these guys




are pretty darn SWEET, too!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Cooped Up!

Since school has been out... we have loved spending time outside.  When we woke up to dark skies and rain clouds this morning... I knew we would have to make some inside fun or it would be a really long day...especially for Miss Sophia who begs me EVERY day to go to the pool.

We started off the day with some DORA dance music....which I am STILL singing over and over in my head....  They were all smiles while showing off their dance moves...



I even captured a few hugs....


Of course these didn't last for long as there quickly became a huge ruckus because one person decided he did not want to dance anymore....which was of course an unacceptable decision to his dance partner.

A few memory games, though, and everyone was happy again.  Later, we headed to the dentist for Sophia's 6 month check up.  She was soooo proud of herself because she didn't even shed one tear!  This earned her a d on her "Good Behavior" chart...one more word to go!!!  Even Joseph got to sit in the chair and have his little chompers checked.  He was a little apprehensive....but willing once he found out that BIG sister could sit in the chair with him!!!  Wish I had my camera at the time.

Sophia and I decided to make home-made play-doh later in the afternoon.  She had fun mixing and adding food coloring, but getting to wear plastic gloves was by far the best part of the whole process for her.  She said she felt just like Junie B who got to wear "mitts" in the book "Boss of Lunch!!"  By the way....I'm not sure why I've never tried this in the past....but my gel food coloring that I use for my cookie frosting works wonders on home-made play-doh....don't think I'll ever use liquid again!

Here she is... my little Queen of the Kitchen mixing...


And here she is showing off those spectacular "mitts!"


Little J got into the action a bit after his nap....he was a bit more apprehensive about his gloves and that squishy stuff!!!


Check out those BRIGHT colors....they almost made up for our gloomy day!!


Last but not least....our box of goodies for our neighbor who just graduated from high school...will have to wait to be delivered....as soon as we packed it full....the rains came AGAIN....So we opted to save the delivery for another day!


Is it Friday yet??

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Monster Mania

Besides my own little munchkins frequently acting like "monsters" at times :), I have been inundated with requests for "monster" cookies.  When I got my first one.. I panicked a bit when I couldn't find a cutter to match what I was envisioning in my mind.  I had to improvise.  I pulled out the drawing pad.... and with a few models from my research... I drew what I was imagining.


Then I went to work.


I was thrilled when I found some perfect eyes at the baking store....but felt a bit like I was cheating by using them....so..... I decided to make my own royal icing eyes from scratch... a bit of a challenge....and still a work in progress....but they worked!


So here is how the little monsters turned out.  Joseph wasn't so sure he liked them...."Those cookies scare me," was his response...followed by "Are those cookies for me?"





Glad I got to make these for this special family!!!!  Hope you had a HAPPY HAPPY 2ND birthday Mr. S!!!!!:)

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Incentives....

It's only the first week of summer vacation...and already this is what is ringing in my ears...
"MommEEEEE"  he took my crayon."
" Can we watch a movie????"
" Doodah (Sophia) has my carrrrrrr."

Oh me...oh my! Every time Miss S. gets cranky... I keep reminding her of the three H's Father Bill talked about during the last Mass of the school year...
1.  Be HAPPY
2.  Be HOLY
3.  Be HELPFUL

But when this doesn't work.... it's time for other incentives....



And when even these fail.....

a GOOD BEHAVIOR chart may just be just what the doctor ordered...with rewards for filling up all of the letters... of course.   (I knew I was saving these boards left over from Sophia's BD party for a reason!!)