Update to cupcake post.

For those of you who asked how I transported them....

I got a large shirt box left over from Christmas and I put the bottom in the lid for double the strength. Then I lined up all the pots inside. I guess because the pots are hard and were lined up side by side touching they didn't move around at all. I was very careful and layed them on the flat floor of my car. The school is just one turn off my street and one turn into the parking lot. So no bumps really. The book suggests using tissue paper however I did not.

Happy cupcake making!!!

Hello Cupcake!!!

I've told ya'll about my Hello Cupcake book before but I had to share again because I think it is just the greatest book. The author must have been a creative genius because I could never come up with such great ideas. That or has way too much time on her hands. However, I am happy to copy her ideas.

Hogan's new teacher had a birthday today. She loves plants and flowers. So the room mom and I decided to throw her a little "flowery" surprise celebration at school today. We went with the whole flower and plant theme. So Hello Cupcake came to the rescue when we were trying to decide what kind of cake. The book features these awesome sunflower cupcakes. They even suggest you put them in little terracotta pots. How cute is that. Mine are not near as good as the ones in the book but I still thought they turned out cute for someone who loves flowers.

The brown centers of the flowers are oreo cookies. (miniature for the small flowers and full size for the bigger flowers) And the lady bugs are red M&Ms.
After decorating them I stuck them into some pots for the kids to take home as party favors. I decoupaged the pots with the same flowers that I used in Mrs. Williams gift. You will see pictures at the bottom of this post.

I had some extra batter so I made some miniature cupcakes with miniature oreos for the siblings of the kinder kids. The little ones were even cuter. Too bad I didn't have any miniature M&Ms. If you like these sunflower cupcakes, you will love the rest of the book! It is awesome!

Here is Hogan enjoying his cupcake.

To go along with the theme of the cupcakes we gave her a potted plant with more than just a plant in it. The flowers are made out of the kids hands and then laminated. The small sticks have gift cards to some of her favorite places. All the kinder parents were so generous.

On the pot I wrote one of my favorite verses. and......

Then I used the kids thumb prints to make ladybugs, bumble bees and inch worms on the pot. A few decoupaged flowers to tie it all together and tada the gift is complete. It turned out really cute and I think Mrs. Williams was very surprised. I love to get crafty and creative and I just don't have time to do it as much as I would like. This was really fun.

Happy Birthday Mrs. Williams!!!

More Randomness

The other day I went into Elisabeth's room after I had dropped her off at school. It mad me laugh and sad all in the same moment. I love that she loves to still play with dolls. She is such a great little mommy already. It made me miss her and wish she could stay home. The doll on the far right is baby "Emily" she was my baby doll when I was a little girl. I took that thing with me everywhere. Here is Beck playing in the back yard with Chiquita. That poor dog. She is really sweet and lets the kids do what ever with her.

Elisabeth and Hogan on the trampoline. They really do love each other.
We went out to Bruce and Holley's on Sunday for Holley's birthday party. The kids spent the whole time on the trampoline. At one point, Roger put a huge cup of ice on the trampoline. The kids that it was great.

On the way over to their house Andy stopped and got some oysters right out of the bay. Talk about fresh! YUCK! Even the kids were eating them. BARF!!

Beck loves dogs!!! Here he is giving Buddy a BIG KISS.

Busy Times

Things have been so busy around here. I feel like we go non-stop. Here are just a few pictures of some of the day in day out kinda stuff.

This is Chiquita. She is the neighbors dog but she comes over every time she hears the kids outside. She has a little hole under the fence. She loves the kids and the kids love her. The kids would love a dog but this bad 'ole mom just doesn't want one more thing to take care of. When Chiquita started coming over I was kind of glad because the kids feel like they have a dog yet I don't have to take care of a dog. Poor thing must not get any attention at home. When the kids come inside, Chiquita goes back to her yard.

We have had so many beautiful days.

The air is cool and crisp..........

The sun is shining and bright..........

The boys have been playing outside non-stop.

glOrIOUs!!!

Here is Gates on the swing with his bicycle helmet. Man I love that kid.

On a side note, here's a funny story for ya. Everynight at the dinner table Josh asks Elisabeth what they did at PE that day. Don't ask me why. I think he just likes PE. Anyway, depending on what she says he has some sort of comment. If they play soccer he says "Well did you dominate?" She always laughs and so on. So one night last week we were having dinner and Josh asked Elisabeth what they did at PE that day. She said they played basketball. Out of no where we hear Gates say: "Did you dominate?" Josh and I cracked up...... Well you had to be there. I think part of what made it so funny was that he talks extremely slow. Like "w e l l d i d y o u d o m i n a t e?" Ok forget it. It is too hard to explain when I type. Onward and upward.

Hogan on the slide. Check out his toothless smile. When they start loosing their top teeth they really start to look older. So sad.


Beck hammering. The boys all love to hammer. Our tree set is full of extra nails. I figure it can't hurt. Right?!?!


This past weekend we went to the livestock show. I love to see all the animals and so do all the kids. Look at this cute little face!

This place was packed. It is always crazy trying to keep up with all the kiddos. See Josh walking off with part of the kids in the top right of the picture and then Maddie and Hogan still looking at the pig. I don't even see Gates and Claire. YIKES!

Here are Elisabeth and Gates petting the sweet pig.

Those things really do steal my heart. I have a soft spot for animals. Well...except cats. I don't care much for cats. They can be so snooty.

One day we went outside to check on the kids. They were playing outside way to quietly. We found them all fishing. They were pretending the Rubbermaid was their boat and the driveway was the water. It was so cute. How was so impressed at how well they ALL could cast. Even Beck. He is definitely the fourth child.

Waiting for a BITE.

Happy Thursday everyone! Have a great day!

Even the Baby has Noticed!

I know I make short stories very long, but what can I say....if you have ever met my dad, I come by it naturally. Great guy....but a long story teller. I have to admit I love his stories and they always crack me up. Oh...and my mom's dad....he was a long story teller, too. My whole family can quote some of his stories. It is hysterical. So...back to the reason for my post. I have to give some background info so everyone will understand thus making this story a little longer than it should be. It's a good excuse anyway. :)

Starting when Elisabeth was an infant Josh and I started to sleep with the TV on in our room. We turn the volume all the way down once we go to sleep but the TV stays on; all night. We started doing this because I was nursing and Elisabeth would wake up several times a night. I needed a little light to get us started (remember I was a new mom) and the TV did the trick. Well, as most of you know.....I wasn't the best about getting the kids on a strict schedule so they woke up in the night to nurse long after they should have been able to sleep through the night. Then I had four kids four years in a row so I nursed many a nights. I weaned each child just in time to start a new one nursing. For those of you who are wondering, yes I was pregnant, nursing or pregnant and nursing for seven years straight. YIKES! That sounds really crazy but it was really great. I really miss having a baby. So the TV thing has just stuck and now the TV stays on all the time.

Last night Beck woke up in the night and told me he was going to Barf. DREADFUL! So I ran him to my bathroom thinking he was going to barf right then. However, he didn't and we waited and waited. I got tired of being in the bathroom so I got him a large bowl and we set up shop in my bed. Josh was out of town and so I propped him up on some pillows on Josh's side of the bed with his bowl. After a while a dozed off. Now remember the TV is still on with no sound. The next thing I know Beck is waking me up saying "mommy you need one of those, you need one of those." I roll over to look and see what he is talking about and he is watching an info-mercial. That's all that is ever on in the wee hours of the night. I think I have seen every last one of them but that is a whole nother story. What is it for you ask......"The New Body Shaper" . It is a tight girdle like thing that you wear under your clothes to make all the lumps disappear. He was watching it with no sound just pictures and they were terrible. Big lumpy slouchy women that then become slim and smooth and stand up straight just from putting on this thing. It showed woman after woman before and after. Beck thinks I need one. I'm so sad. I know I have gained some but I didn't realize it was that obvious that a three year old would notice. I shouldn't have given up my athletic club membership after all. LOL

"Devil Sauce"

Josh hAtEs ketchup! He calls it the devil sauce. The reason he calls it that is because the smell, the sight and the feel of it make him want to say bad words. He hates that the kids want to put it on their food. He really hates it when the want to put it on their eggs. Ketchup on eggs is quite disgusting to me, too but it does not make me want to say bad words. Bad drivers on the other hand, that is a whole nother story. Or the neighbor dog that keeps coming in our yard and pooping, oooh I have to bite my tongue but ketchup not so much. I have digressed so onward and upward. Now, one of kids agrees with Josh's hate for the sauce. He crys if any even gets on his plate. For this reason, I call him Josh's kid. (That and he is rotten and does bad stuff all the time and Josh allows it. Oh wait so do I. We have got to buckle down on the kid) Anyway, so instead of ketchup he always wants ranch. He puts ranch on anything other kids would normally put ketchup on. That means eggs if I let him, hot dogs (disgusting), hamburgers, french fries.....well you get the picture. I go through ranch like water at our house. I tell you all this background only to tell you about a funny story that happened today.

Today, we went through the drive through at Wendy's and I got the kids each a five piece crispy nugget. You can't beat it for 99 cents. After I ordered, Beck kept saying: "I want yellow ranch I want yellow ranch." I think he meant honey mustard dipping sauce. :)

Geocaching FUN!

While the kids have a little time off from school, we have been busy trying to have fun and make memories with them. One of the things we have been doing it Geocaching. If you are unfamiliar with this activity, I will give you a brief description. Basically there is a website called geocaching.com it hosts maps that have "caches" (hidden treasures as we like to call them) all over them. You use a GPS to find the coordinates of these caches. Caches are hidden all over the world and in most cities. Basically it is a huge world wide scavenger hunt. When you find a cache you put it back right where you found it then log into the website and tell everyone you found it. Some are more difficult than others. Some are tiny and some are big. We saw one that was in a five gallon bucket. It is really lots of fun to take kids to do. It is like going on a bit of a treasure hunt.

Here are a few examples of some of the ones we have found:

This one is a tiny little magnet with a screw off lid. Inside was a long skinny piece of paper you could sign to say that you found it. The magnet was stuck in a hidden place. We used the GPS to find the exact pole it was stuck to.

Here we are in a local park. Hogan found this one. It was a pimento jar, inside a rubber toy tire, hidden in a tree trunk under some leaves.

Inside the jar were all kinds of "treasures". You can add something to the jar if you like.

It was dark this night and we had to use flashlights to find them. It made finding the caches a little more challenging.

This was where one of the caches was hidden. I wont say where so as to not give it away to anyone in Corpus who goes geocaching.

Can you guess where we are? There were big drops off either side of us. The guys and the kids were sitting on the point.

We found this film canister under a rock and in a hole. Another cache checked off the list.

All the kids wanted their own flashlights. Hogan wore Josh's head lamp. We're getting serious, now. We found five out of seven of the cashes we planned out for this week.

Here we are after finding our first cache. I want to go geocaching everyday now. It was so fun.

Here is our first find. This was actually one of the easier ones.

Beck didn't care much about finding the treasure. He just wanted to climb the tree.

The kids were so excited to find their first cache.

Inside the camo jar was a tablet.

.....and some pens to sign it with. There was also a pez dispenser. We added a soft little soccer ball to the jar.

This is such a fun thing to do with your family. If you have a GPS and want something fun to do go check out the website and look it your city. You can also hide your own geocache for others to find. We made one to hide but haven't found that special place we want to hide it yet. Good luck!