Brilyn On Her REAL Birthday!

Brilyn's REAL Birthday

fell on a Wednesday so we celebrated

the weekend before and after.

But, her Momma didn't want her

birthday to come and go without doing

something special, so we went to

Chuck E. Cheese's!

She opened a couple of presents!

 And we had a special lunch followed

by Birthday Cupcakes!

 She raced her Daddy in the token powered

race cars and won!

(she can make hers go with no token)

 She played lots of games!

And she rode lots of rides!

We had a good time and she was happy!

 

Brilyn loves Chuck E. Cheese's!

She talks about going all the time, so

her Daddy has been wanting to go with her.

They even took her to the big

Chuck E. Cheese's in OKC after the family

birthday party last Sunday.

But on Sunday's Chuck E. Cheese's is

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

and Brilyn doesn't care much

for the crowd. During the week

the little Chuck E. Cheese's in

Wichita Falls is quiet and she pretty

much has the place to herself and

she loves it!

 

Anyway.... I think she has had

a Very Happy Birthday!



Brilyn's Birthday Party

 We have monthly birthday parties at

my house. In January, there is only

one Birthday! So, Brilyn

gets a party all to herself!

We made banners that she can

use at both her family party here,

and the birthday party she

has at her house this coming

weekend.

We also made cupcakes!

 She's not too sure about that fire

on top of her cupcake!

Daddy had to help her blow it out!

 But - she didn't need anyone's

help opening presents!

She can handle that

all by herself.

She might want some help

playing with them, though.

She likes having someone

to play with!

But - she's so much fun

we all like playing with her,

so that's never a problem!

 

 

Happy Birthday Brilyn!

Today is Brilyn's Birthday!

 She's TWO!

 And she's just as sweet as she can be!

She loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,

so she's having a Mickey Mouse party at

her house this weekend.

We had a family party at

my house on Sunday.

I'll share more about that later!

But for now,

I hope this little princess is having a

Happy Birthday!

S'mores

 Brilyn was here and she loves

chocolate so I thought it would be fun to

try out the S'more Maker I got

from Deuce for Christmas!

Brilyn was excited as she watched me set out

the marshmallows and chocolate

and graham crackers!

I got it all set up and she was all smiles!

Until I lit the fire!

Then she RAN!

This brave little girl who acts as though

she could take on the whole world

is afraid of fire!

So, I made the S'mores!

And she ripped them apart to get to

the chocolate in the other room!

 

The S'mores Maker does a great job

of toasting marshmallow's, though.

It was fun!

But - handing over the

Hershey's would have made Brilyn

just as happy!

Brilyn and Her Tea Party Blooper!

 Brilyn wanted a tea party!

 So, I set out a little plate of snacks

and poured some tea.

 She was so sweet! A perfect little lady!

See! She's even got that pinky curled!

She is just so precious!

We were having such a nice time!

And then......

THE BLOOPER!

She got her poor finger stuck!

But we've studied science around here

enough that I knew just what to do.

First - take a picture!

Then - tip the teapot up to get the

stuck finger all wet and it will

slip right out.

 



A New Kuerig for Christmas

 

 Every year Papa Bill gives us money

to spend on a Christmas gift from him!

He's got a huge family,

kids, grandkids and great grandkids!

So - this is one way of making sure

all of them get something they want.

I got a Kuerig!

I actually got it before Christmas so I could

have it set up and ready to use on

Christmas morning.

I tried it out early and then liked

it so much I went back to the store

and got another one to give to

my own Mom for Christmas. And - I think

she enjoys hers just as much

as I am enjoying mine.

These things are WONDERFUL!



See my Caramel Latte!

It's delicious.

Starbucks is not even tempting anymore!

And really - I am not an extravagant person.

I like things simple, clean and functional.

My old FREE coffee maker I got from Gevalia

has lasted over 5 years and has served me

well - but these new single cup

coffee makers are simply amazing.

You can even get a refillable cup if you're

concerned about the expense of the K-Cups and

you can use your regular coffee.

The tight wad in me was going to go that

route until I discovered how delicious

some of the specialty coffees are.

My favorites are

Café Caramel and Chai Latte

And I like the Hot Cocoa's and Cappuccino's, too!

YUM!

 



Snow Ice Cream

 

 Since we had a nice good snow,

we just had to make some snow ice cream!

Grace added chocolate and caramel

syrup to hers!

Yum!

 

Olivia ate hers plain!

And it appears it was just as delicious!

 

To make snow ice cream I simply

add Sweetened Condensed Milk

and a little vanilla to a bowl

of fresh clean snow and

mix it up.

It's the easiest recipe

and it's delicious!

A White Christmas!

We had a WHITE CHRISTMAS!!!!

Really!

It actually snowed.

We don't get many white Christmases

here, so it must have been some

sort of Christmas magic.

Or - the result of lots of kids praying!

But - it was wonderful!

 Grace got to play in the snow!

And ride on a sled!

And Olivia got in on the fun, too!

Christmas

 During the Christmas Season I set out this

sweet little nativity for the children

to play with! Brilyn loves it!

She is constantly asking to,

"Play Jesus!"

Or.... "Read Jesus!" Which means

she wants to read

The Christmas Story.

 I just love watching the little ones play.

Olivia seems to like the nativity, too.

She presses on the angel to make the music play

or holds baby Jesus in her hands and kisses him.

And when they play with this

nativity they share!

Not so much with other toys.

I guess Jesus is for sharing and

even a child knows that!

 Anyway, here is a close up of the

little nativity.

When Brilyn is finished playing with it,

I almost always find it like this.

I'm not sure if everyone just wants

to see the sweet baby Jesus,

or if they are all worshiping.

She's not yet two, so she can't

really tell me what she's thinking.

But whatever it is,

I think it's pretty sweet!

A Wonderful Christmas!

 

 We had a

WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS!

We were only missing one family member.

My sweet daughter in law, Alyssa,

went with her parents and her brother

to visit her other brother and his

family. She has two little nieces whom

she adores and doesn't get to see often,

so while we missed her I was also happy

that she had the opportunity to spend some

time with them.

 And our little ones each got one big toy

from The Disney Store!

Olivia opened hers first!

It was a castle!

 

Brilyn opened hers next!

 It was a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!

I think she likes it!

She LOVES Mickey Mouse!

Grace opened hers!

 

And it was a castle!

(similar to but different than Olivia's)

But - what really made her happy

was a Barbie Doll!