Thursday, February 28, 2013

Olivia's Birthday at Home

 Olivia celebrated her birthday in Texas
by going to the zoo and having
a small family party at home.
 She opened more presents!
 And her Momma made her
a Dora cake!
 She picked this cake out of the
Wilton Yearbook.
Olivia really doesn't ask for much,
but she did want this cake!
Isn't it cute?


Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Home Remedy for COOTIES!

Grace had a little incident
with cooties,
and it was not fun!
Her Uncle Billy gave her an itty
bitty kiss on the cheek and
she just knew he gave
her COOTIES!
Why?
Because he's a BOY!
And
BOYS have COOTIES!
She was distraught.
So much so, she cried!
(you would cry, too, it you had cooties)
So - I told her about COOTIE WASH!
 
THIS:
REMOVES COOTIES
Really.... it completely destroys them!
And it's not necessary to read
the label. It doesn't say
a thing about cooties
on there.
But then, it's a home remedy.
Home remedies aren't mentioned
on product packages.
Nope... I've never seen packaging
on a bar of soap say
put it under your sheet to
prevent leg cramps
and the vapor rub bottle
doesn't say, rub on bottom
of feet to prevent coughing,
but we all know those work.
So - if you get COOTIES
try this!
It'll also make you
smell nice and it'll
make your skin soft!

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

A Tea Party for Brilyn

 Brilyn loves a Tea Party!
 I had the tea room all set up to do a
wedding consultation, so we could
not use it, so when Brilyn asked
for a Tea Party, I first told her
not today. Then, she put on the cutest
little smile and said, "Pretty please!"
 How could I resist?
She was using her manners.
And what could be more important than
enjoying a tea party with a grandchild?
Moments like these are priceless!
We couldn't use the tea room, so we moved
the tea party to the kitchen.
And it was just as special.
Time shared with Brilyn is
always special!


Monday, February 25, 2013

Happy Birthday, Olivia!

 Today is Olivia's Birthday!
 She's been celebrating for three
weekends, so I'll have more
pictures of our zoo trip later,
but TODAY is her DAY!
Happy Birthday, Olivia!
I hope you have super wonderful day!
You've been a Joy!
And I look forward to lots and
lots of good times
in the years to come!
 


Friday, February 22, 2013

Dog Sitting

Last weekend Billy and Alyssa
went to Red River,
so we kept Pistol and Kat!
I think Pistol enjoyed his stay.
He likes sneaking into the kitchen
and hiding under the table
waiting for Brilyn to drop
some little morsel of food and
chewing on rawhides
and bones.
Kat misses Billy!
Just look at those big sad eyes.

When she's not in the middle of the
living room floor looking at us with
those big sad eyes she's
laying on the staircase making sure
no one else gets to the
food bowl.
(when we moved here Abby slept upstairs
with the boys so the food bowl is still upstairs
in the bathroom)
Poor Pistol and Abby!
I put Kat out by herself for a little while
each day to give the other dogs
a chance to eat, but they
might have both lost a pound
or two during Kat's stay!
Kat has appointed herself
guardian of the food bowl and
she guards it very well!

 

Thursday, February 21, 2013

A VERY Special Christmas Gift

I received a very special
Christmas Gift
this year from
Brandy, Andrew and Brilyn!
It's a very special
snow globe!
Look at it closely.
REALLY CLOSE!
Did you notice anything?
 
If you didn't get a very special
message - look again!
Read Brilyn's shirt!
 
 
Yes! Brilyn is going to be
a Big Sister!
And we are having another
grandbaby. He or she
is due in August and although
we found out on
Christmas Day,
the kids wanted to wait
until after the first trimester
to make an official announcement.
It's going to be nice
having a teeny tiny baby
to love!
*very big smile*
 


Wednesday, February 20, 2013

February Birthday's

 We celebrated February Birthday's
and Valentine's Day on the 10th
to accommodate more people's schedules.
 Billy & Olivia have Birthday's in February!
 Billy got a Cinnamon Roll Cake
and Olivia got cupcakes!
(Billy doesn't like to have his picture taken)
 I think Olivia enjoyed hers.
And I know she enjoyed her presents!
This girl loves everything.
Especially if it has Mickey Mouse,
Minnie, Dora or Tinkerbell
on it. It's nice when little
ones are so easy to please!
 

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

F'Real Shakes for Breakfast!

When Grace says,
"I have a great idea!"
You can believe she REALLY has
a great idea!
(or she's up to something)
This time, she wanted to go to
the new store at the corner because
she thinks she saw donuts there.
And it would be a nice surprise
to go and get donuts
for Momma and Olivia!
(you can't argue with that)
So, I started the car, got dressed,
loaded up, scraped windows and off
we went to get donuts.
Grace picked out a round chocolate
covered filled donut with no
center hole for herself.
(more service area for chocolate)
She also got one for her Momma!
And - she got the prettiest donut for
Olivia because Olivia likes pretty
donuts. Hers had lots of sprinkles.
She picked out an Apple Fritter
for me and then wanted to get drinks.
I told her I could make coffee at
home so she got a chocolate
milk for Olivia and a
F'Real Shake for herself.
That's when I figured out that Grace
was up to something.
I think she had planned on
getting a milkshake the whole time!
The donuts were just an excuse
to get to the store.
(where do kids learn that?)
 
Anyway,
Grace loves these milkshakes!
Not only do they have her
favorite flavor, but she gets
to make them herself.
They are soooo cool!
You choose a cup of ice cream,
Peel off the top and place it
in the mixer. Then press either,
thinner, normal or thicker
and it mixes it up.
Then you get to put on a
lid and inset a straw.
Grace can do it
ALL BY HERSELF!


Monday, February 18, 2013

Another Rice Cooker Recipe

 
 I had never really thought of cooking
desserts in the slow cooker or
rice cooker, but when I saw this
I wondered if it could be adapted,
so I gave it a try!

First, I peeled and sliced Granny Smith
apples and put them in the rice cooker.
 Then, I dumped the topping over the apples.
 
I set the rice cooker to slow cook for 3 hours
and served it up with ice cream and
caramel topping.
Delicious!
Yes - you can cook almost anything
in this machine!
 
Recipe:
 
Apple Butterscotch Crisp
 
3 Cups Apples, sliced and peeled.
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 sm. package cook and serve butterscotch pudding mix
1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup quick cooking oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup unsalted butter
 
Put your apples in the crock pot/rice cooker/
Mix the other ingredients in a bowl.
When the butter is mixed in it will be lumpy,
but that's okay. Just mix it up and
dump it over the apples and then
slow cook for about 3 hours.
 
Serve with Ice Cream
and Caramel Topping!

Friday, February 15, 2013

Another COOL Christmas Gift!

Here is another REALLY COOL gift
I got for Christmas!
It was from my son Billy and
his lovely wife, Alyssa!
When Billy buys something - anything - it
has to be the best, and this is
the best rice cooker I've seen.
It's also a steamer and a slow cooker!
I have been using it for so many different
(ribs, apple crisp, various rice and chicken recipes,
soups and chili's)
things I got to wondering if I could
also use it for meals I normally cook
on the stove.
So - I did an experiment!
 
First, I browned 5 lbs of Hamburger Meat
and put it in 5 freezer bags for future use
and put it in the freezer.
Then, one night when I had a basketball
shoot at dinner time, I put all the
ingredients for Hamburger Helper in the
rice cooker/crock pot.
 I put vegetables in the steam tray and put
it on top of the Hamburger Helper.
I pressed the White Rice button!
And when we came home from our
basketball shoot dinner was ready!
And - the rice cooker cleans up so
easily! I just love it!
This wasn't my favorite rice cooker meal.
I'm not really a fan of Hamburger Helper.
But - it was a good experiment and
a healthier option than
fast food on the way home.
And ANYONE could do it!

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!
Since Valentine's Day fell in the middle
of the week, we decided to celebrate
the Sunday before, as we were
already all together for the
February Birthday Celebration.
(except for Dustin, who was catching up on work and home work)
 
 We had birthday cupcakes and
Valentine's cupcakes!
 And a cute little candy bar!
 A teapot full of lollipops to match our
tea party theme!
Aren't the little silicone teacup
cupcake tins the cutest little things?
I think the girls liked them.
Grace and Olivia came up early
so they were here to help make
cupcakes and decorate.
Grace is getting to be a good helper
and Olivia likes to try!
We gave her the job of taste testing
the frosting and licking the spoons.
And I think she handled both
tasks like a pro!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

A Sophia The First Tea Party

 We watched the Sophia the First
Disney Movie and liked it
so much we decided to have a
Sophia the First
tea party.
 Grace decorated cupcakes while
Olivia sampled frosting.
 Aren't the cupcakes cute?
We carried this little plate strait to
the tea room. 
 Grace poured tea and then
both girls licked the frosting
off of their cupcakes.
I think cupcakes are simply
frosting dispensers.
Neither girl eats the cake.
Only the sprinkles and the frosting.
Hmmmm..... I wonder if we
should try just making
frosting cups?
 

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Puppet Show Time

 I got a bunch of cool new puppets
for Christmas, so Grace gave me a
puppet show!
 Aren't these the cutest puppets?
 They were just perfect for a rainy afternoon!
 Olivia and I got to be the audience
while Grace performed!
Every so often Grace would look out
to make sure we were paying attention.
We were...
See Olivia laughing....
Grace performs a really funny puppet show!
See...
She made Brilyn's Barney
scare away a sting ray!
I think Olivia was just surprised
to see Barney.
He's not a puppet!
He's a dinosaur!