the big grape bubble gum challenge

We started off our New Year with a bubble gum blowing contest!  

The kids love chewing gum.  They are always asking for gum gum gum. While shopping I saw grape flavor Hubba Bubba at the checkout line and it made me want to chew gum.  I remember blowing bubbles as a kid and it was the best fun.  

Y'all, chewing gum isn't for sissies.  That piece of Hubba Bubba was huge.  I couldn't get it chewed without a jaw cramp.  I finally started blowing bubbles after about 10 minutes of chewing.  It's like that big blob grows 4,000 times its original size in your mouth and promptly loses it's flavor and gets hard. 

Chewing gum and life issues are similar huh?!  Some things start out full of flavor and you have to conquer that blob to get it to the bubble stage. Then after a few bubbles you move on and spit out the hard gum.  

Leave it to me to over analyze our gum chewing fun. ;)  

Back to the contest... 

 We all gave it our best shot, but I think I actually had the biggest bubble.  I tried to get one of Gary's giant bubbles on camera, but it popped too fast, so we're just gonna say I won. I'm pretty sure the kids are ready for a rematch soon!  

soup soup soup

My favorite broccoli cheese soup from way back in 2012 is still a family favorite!

Tonight we decided to buy some huge rolls and make our own bread bowls.  I think that makes this the best Wednesday ever!  The kiddos were fans fo sho!

tiny baker

Layla loves to cook and be in the kitchen with me.

She decided to bake cupcakes!  She did everything all by herself with help from Hayden.  He's a great helper and he puts up with Layla's bossy attitude.  

She made tie-dyed cupcakes and decorated them including added a filling.  She's fancy and pretty good as a baker.  She's going to do big things in the kitchen this summer.  I'll have her cooking dinner for us every night! ;)

She even made a few double stacked cupcakes and the green and yellow cupcakes are Baylor cupcakes.

Yummy yummy!

My two cents for today

Do you ever get sucked into pinterest?

I love pinterest quotes.  They make me happy.  When I find myself in a stressful situation I turn to reading, even if that reading is as silly as pinterest.  It makes me feel refreshed and revived.  
I won't post a ton about my personal feelings for now, but I will say moving from a big city to a small town is very different socially, as you can imagine.  It is exactly the town in which I want to raise my kids, but it is most certainly different than Fort Worth in the drama department ... if you know what I mean.  
All the experiences we encounter make us stronger.  They also make my children stronger because we all learn how to deal with personalities different from ours.  In closing, even if we as individuals feel scared or week or bullied at school, we come home to our safe place and bond as a family.  Our family unit is all that matters in the end.  
{All that being said, we are fine, just learning and growing and that is the best and most important part of life!  My job as a parent is to give my children "Roots and Wings."  They will see how I choose to deal with social situations and they will grow and learn by example.}

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Weird worm Wednesday

I saw this weird creature crawling on the patio this afternoon. It is creepy huh?!? I know it has to be scary when the dogs won't even mess with it. Usually Lily barks and paws at caterpillars, worms and crickets, but she wouldn't even touch this stinker!

I've definitely seen some weird bugs here in Ohio that I never saw in Texas!

Hayden came home from school before it slithered away. He said very matter of factly, "It is a horned caterpillar, mom. I saw one at school today. I wouldn't recommend touching it."

Ya think?!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

You're never too old for a long flowing gown

I just love gowns.  

I love gowns on little girls.  

You can never have to many gowns right?!

  They are so soft and flowy and they look precious on a little sassy girls.  I have taken so many pictures of Layla in all her gowns.

  I hope my sassy little girl knows how much I love her.  She is pretty special and I know she has been through a lot this year with us moving across the country.  I think she has handled it well and maybe even better than me!

word-full wednesday

It is officially that time of summer.  The time where I miss my blogging friends because I am so busy with the kids I haven't made the time to check on my friends and read their updates.  If you are a blogger you probably know what I mean.  Having two kids home 24-7 is amazing.  I love their sweet little faces, but I also love when they go to school so I have a second to myself.  I just want to say I miss you all so much and I do read when I can.  There are so many new twitter friends I have made that also have blogs and I can't wait to read them.


Today is Layla's 2nd day at golf camp and I'm pretty sure she is loving it.  She practiced her swing last night in the backyard and I already think she is better!  I am so happy for her.

It helps that a few of her buddies are attending the camp too.  Everything is better when you get to be with friends.  Since I mentioned friends I must mention that I had a fun time this morning too.  I got to visit with a few mommy friends while the kids were golfing.

Us moms did lots of chatting and had coffee.  Hayden and his friend played monster trucks on the golf course patio.  It was a win-win!

Anybody's kids have super sensitive ears?  Hayden hates loud noises.  He doesn't like the swimming pool because it is loud.  He despises public toilets because they flush too loud.  If someone is squealing or screaming near him he will get up and leave.  I remember Layla having sensitive ears and she outgrew it, but he hasn't outgrown it yet.  Bless his heart.  It drives me bonkers.  At first I thought he might have a hearing problem.  I remember last summer when I had that horrible ear infection my hearing was super amplified.  Nope, his hearing is good.  He just has sensitive ears.

I miss reading recipe blogs and researching new recipes.  I am such a recipe nerd and I could read recipes for hours!  I'm excited about a recipe exchange Jenn {one of my dearest friends} is bringing back. You heard me right....bon appetite is back!  Starting next Tuesday we can link our blogs to her site to share our favorite recipes!

Have I mentioned iCloud on the blog before?  I love it.  Gary and I share an iCloud account, so we share a photo stream and I can see his photos and he can see mine.  If he is out of town traveling and he takes pictures of the scenery I can see those pics.  {as long as his is connected to wi-fi}  I have our photo stream set up to my Picasa account also.  When I open Picasa on my PC the pics will load right up and I can edit them.  I also have them linked to my online Picasa Web account so they are uploaded to the internet and I'm able to put them right on my blog.  I am no pro at iCloud.  I have played around with it to figure all this out, but I LOVE IT.  It makes my life so much easier.  The number one thing I like the most:  my pics are on private albums on the web.  If my computer crashes my pics are safe.  I may be in trouble if Picasa ever goes away though.  Let's just not think about that.  I have pictures stored there from YEARS past.

Check out Sipes and I.  I created this crazy effect with one of the many photo apps I have on my iPhone.  Isn't it the coolest?  I am almost as addicted to editing photos with my silly iPhone apps as I am reading recipes.  I could play with Instagram for hours.  But I also like these:

Let me know if there are any other fun photo apps I need to know about!

Now, I think I will pick up my Layla bug from a crafting birthday party and hit the swimming pool.   A late afternoon swim sounds just about right on this steaming hot Wednesday afternoon!!

things we're gonna do this summer

Grill burgers, steaks, ribs, brisket and just about any vegetable.

Camp as much as we can.

Eat tons of watermelon and other fruits and veggies.

Water my hibiscus and enjoy it's blooms.

Love on these two little cuties.

Relax and throw our hair into fun buns and pony tails.

Indulge in many many snow cones.

Layla has two half days of school left and then we are officially on summer break.

Woooot!

a few lines from a book I'm reading

I am reading the cutest book!  I just love it.  It's called Saving CeeCee Honeycutt.

Oh I love this!!










My favorite sentence in the book is this one above!  LOVE!!  I know that everything is already written in my life book.  This is such a great reminder.

The book is a feel good book and reminds me of The Help.  I am not finished yet and I can't wait to see what happens.  I am so thankful for our local library because I am reading this e-book for free right now!
What are you reading?



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

my little baker boy

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip & Walnut Cookies

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 sticks of butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

2 cups oatmeal

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup of chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups walnuts crushed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a bowl stir brown sugar and butter.  Add in vanilla and egg until light and fluffy. Stir on oatmeal, flour, baking soda and salt.  Add in chocolate chips and walnuts.

Lightly spray cookie sheet with cooking spray.  Drop dough by rounded spoonful onto the cookie sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool and move to a wire rack.

Each cookie is 120 calories, makes approximately 3 1/2 dozen cookies depending on size.

Mmmm...delicious!