Grandpa's 80th Birthday Party Slideshow

Grandpa Burton turned 80 years old last month. We threw him a lovely party complete with family and friends from out of town. The Reids and Hernandez's drove up and so did Uncle Bob & Aunt Nancy. Grandpa's good friends the Boswell's also came and stayed for the evening. I didn't get pictures of everyone there, but here are some fun ones from that night. My favorite is baby Lucy's close up. Those blue eyes are to die for! And make sure to check out Grandpa's stylin' hip shirt. I love that he's sporting the Mexican guyavera.

My little chefs

These kids are so cute when it's time to cook at Joy School. They'd rather eat all the cookie dough than wait for the cookies to bake!



Our letter of the week was the letter C. "C" is for Cookies!

The BARBIE Cake

So this is about the 3rd time I've made a "Barbie Cake". This one was for the school carnival cake walk. I love that the girls "oooh" and "ahhh" over it. I only had about 5 minutes to frost it so it wasn't going to be anything fancy. Frosting and sprinkles. That's it. I was trying for lime green frosting, but it came out more avocado than lime. Guacamole Barbie Cake? Mmmmm.... Anyone have any quick/easy/cute frosting ideas for next time?


So here are my tips for making the Barbie Cake.

1. Spray your Pampered Chef 4 quart mixing bowl with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Fill your Pampered Chef 4 quart mixing bowl 2/3 full of cake batter. (This requires more than one cake mix. I just mix up 2 together then fill the bowl 2/3 full.)

2. Bake at 325 degrees until a wooden skewer inserted down the middle comes out clean (about 40 minutes).

3. Lay a piece of foil across the top of the bowl while it cooks so it doesn't burn!

4. Wait 15 minutes for it to cool before inverting it onto your serving plate.

5. I cut out a small portion of the cake where I plan to insert the Barbie. She goes in a little easier that way.

6. The dollar store "barbies" work best because they are just a little shorter than the authentic Barbies.

7. Frost and enjoy!

Some oldies but goodies

I'm working on a little art project for the family room. I just love getting a small glimpse into the past...

Dad's In-N-Out Bday

Happy Birthday Dad!


There could be no better way than to celebrate with a delicious burger and family.


I love it when my family takes up half the restaurant. I also love the "kids table"... far away from the adults. (On a side note... Lizzie ate her first hamburger at In-N-Out at Grandpa Louie's Birthday party. Her daddy was so proud!)

Fall Pleasures

There are many things in life that are simple pleasures. Fall decor is one of them. Pumpkins are so orange and round. Berry garlands are so delicious. Wreaths are wonderful! And a new pumpkin spice air freshener puts the whole house in a festive mood.



WELCOME FALL.

Go Freedom Fire!

Logan's first soccer game of the season was on Saturday. Unfortunately it was also the first rainy day of the season. So the ground was a little splooshy and the players got a little wet, but everyone that came had a fun time.

There's Logan in his #10 red jersey. He was an animal!


He has great coaches and great parent support for the team.


Logan played hard and had fun. Good job, Logie man.


Here are some of the cute fans:

Lizzie and Malia

Trevor and Jackson

We came in 2 cars so of course that meant only one thing for the drive home. A RACE. The rules are 1.Who ever touches the front door first wins. That's it. Ready? Go!

Here's crazy daddy as we raced home. Can you see him saying, "SUCKAHS!"

He thought he had the advantage in this shot, but did he? Um no. We beat him to the driveway.

Logan (who was in daddy's car) actually got to the front door first. So Jeremy's team won. But Lizzie (who was also in daddy's car) was not happy about that. She cried for about 20 minutes because she wanted mommy to win. That's my girl. Always on Team Girl. Good times, good times.

Helloooo Whittaker Woman!

Last night was the best night of my week. My friend Heather is in town this weekend. We were two peas in a pod in high school and through the first year of college. After that she moved to southern California and now lives in Georgia - wow that's far away! We were (and I think still are) so much alike. People would always ask us if we were twins. I don't see it... do you?

It was so nice to visit and just be in person together. We communicate through email and blogs, but being able to actually reach out and hug her is so great. She is truly a great gal. Check out her blog if you haven't already.

To be honest, I was a little nervous going over to her in-laws house. I don't know these people and I knew that there would be lots of other people there that I sort of knew from way back. But from the moment I walked in it was so comfortable. Everyone hugged me and just wrapped me into their wonderful little world. I know several of them from snooping on their blogs and they look like such good/fun people there, but truly they are even better in person.

Heather, thanks for a great evening (even though I was only there a short time). It was great to see you. Thanks for being so good. Love to you and your sweet beautiful family.

Clone Wars on Cartoon Network!

If you did not know it was coming - then you must not be an avid fan...

Cartoon Network has been teasing our kids for the past month that this new CG series was coming out. They've been asking almost every day, "is today the day?" And finally it was!

Jeremy and his dad set up TV/satellite/projector so the kids would be able to watch it on the big screen outside.
Here they are after about an hour of finagaling. Notice the TV manual came out. It took about 2 hours, but they figured it all out.

And here's the finished product:
Yeah, it was awesome. The kids had a blast. They watched the 2 new episodes and got to sleep downstairs. (They were asleep by 8:30 - and it was Friday night!)

Thanks to Jeremy and Grandpa Doug for making it fun for the kids. It was a perfect night for a Star Wars fan.

We'll eat more chickin!

We went to Chik-fil-A last week - first time ever. I have to say I was totally impressed with:

1. the service - it was quick and personal
2. the menu - all things yummy, variety-ful and food our picky eaters will eat (Here's a picture of Jeremy's carrot raisin salad. You can substitue this more health conscious option instead of fries. I had the coleslaw. It was right up there with KFC or Long John Silver's. Yum!)

3. the play place for the kids
4. the handi wipes hanging on the wall
5. the large variety of dipping sauces - what the heck is polynesian sauce anyway?

The kids also very much enjoyed all the cows doing the advertising. Why would a cow want us to "Eat mor chickin" ?


We'll definitely be back. Now we're totally regretting not being one of those crazy people that camped out overnight before the opening. The first 100 people got 50 (or was it 100) free meals to Chick-fil-A!