Ta-Ta Treats

***DISCLAIMER*** This post features a fun, unique cupcake...read at your own risk!










On Monday I got a facebook message from Charisse asking me how busy I was this week and if I could possibly do her a favor.  The favor?  Make a dozen or 6 "pairs" of booby cupcakes! Some friends of hers here in Coldwater were getting mammograms this afternoon and since she couldn't be here with them, she wanted to have a treat waiting for them at the hospital!  What a sweet friend!

I admit...at first I thought, "How the heck do you make a booby cupcake?"

Then I turned to my faithful, trusty friend, Google!  Google showed me many forms of booby cupcakes, for a multitude of causes.  And I decided that I was definitely up for the challenge, so I asked her when and where they needed to be.

So, here they are in all their glory!








Here's to the ta ta's!!

Thankful Thought #2

 

Today I am thankful for this guy.

He takes such good care of us.
He keeps me grounded.
He makes me laugh.
He loves me more than I deserve.
He puts up with me...that is almost worthy of sainthood!
He is adored by his kids. And he adores them too!

It's easy to get caught up in the details of everyday life.
It's easy to take for granted all that we have and the people in our lives.
It's easy to assume that he will always be around to take care of us, to love us, to love him, to make me laugh, to hold me when I cry.

Today we attended the funeral of a friend.  A 34 year old cowboy with a wife, a 7 year old and a 5 year old.  Sort of makes you realize that it can all be taken away...whether it is over the course of months or years or it could all be taken away before I finish writing this.

Either way, when life starts to creep in and make me wish for more I hope I can stop and remember to be so thankful for all that I have right now.

Our Best Bites

Have you heard of the blog Our Best Bites?

If not, WHERE have you been? You obviously are NOT blogging enough!!

Go there...RIGHT NOW!

Your life and waistline will never be the same.

Be sure you have paper and ink in your printer...you are gonna want to print some recipes.

They have a new cookbook

Doesn't it look delightful?

It is definitely going on my 30th birthday wish list!!

Cambree's Guest Reader

March 2nd is Dr. Seuss's birthday...but I am sure you already knew that, right?

In Bridges to Learning Preschool this is BIG stuff.  So big in fact, they invite all the parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles in to read to the class anytime during the WEEK of the birthday!

Preferably a Dr. Seuss book {which I figured out AFTER Preston's first year of preschool...I let him choose a book like the note said...only it wasn't Dr. Seuss...oops!}.

Cambree asked Grandma Robin to come over and read Horton Hears A Who to her class.  Grandma happily accepted her request.

Here are the gals while the rest of the class finished up snack and made their way to the reading corner.



A little practice...


Grandma is a good reader...she holds the book where ALL the little students can see the wonderful pictures.


Cambree listened very intently as Grandma read, "A person's a person, no matter how small."


My favorite picture of the whole afternoon!



Thanks Grandma R for coming to Cambree's school to read a story!

Thankful Thought

I thought I would try something new...a thankful thought...whenever they hit me, whatever they are.

Here's thankful thought #1.



Westynn Cole Stapleton.

My heart walking outside my body.

Chubby, adorable balm for my soul.

Woke up one morning this week a boy, no longer a baby.

Spending a week with him...wishing each moment would last MUCH longer.

THANK YOU LORD....for this little piece of heaven on earth!!

Today I...

*showered and dressed
*fed breakfast to C & W
*ate my own breakfast
*convinced P & C to dress and brush teeth BEFORE noon!
*dressed W
*took kids for haircuts; P & C today
*watched kids show off new hairdo's to Grandma R at the bank
*went to store
*cleaned P & W room...sorted toys to go to consignment sale
*fixed lunch
*put W down for nap
*sent P & C outside to play
*traded 1 girl for 2 dogs
*browned 21 lbs of hamburger...got a facial in the process
*hung, sorted and tagged 50 sets of clothes for sale
*tagged toys for sale
*spent 3 hours with boys doing yardwork...cleaning out flower beds, raking leaves, picking up 1 BILLION teeny, tiny pieces of toys Oscar has chewed up
*took 2nd shower
*welcomed husband and daughter home 10 minutes after completing shower...only to have husband say, "I came home early to get stuff done around here."
*pulled hair back, put shoes on, went BACK outside for another hour and a half of yard work...YES our yard was that BAD!!
*unloaded 2 pickups full of leaves and other yard junk
*ordered pizza...AWW sweet relief at the end of the day!

I am EXHAUSTED!! But Preston has already told me, "Mom, tomorrow let's clean the house so that it looks like it did when we had Cambree's party!"

I hope he knows that my life insurance policies aren't THAT great, 'cause I am convinced he is trying to kill me!!

First Grade Authors

From time to time Mrs. Snyder has her class write books.  Usually they are a spin off one of the books they have recently read in class.

Last week they read lots of Dr. Seuss books since March 2nd is his birthday.

They also put together a book.  Then they send it home with each kid, so they can share it with their families.

Preston brought the book home last night.  I went out to feed the dogs.  I hear the back door open.  Cambree yells, "Momma, Cody drew you with big boobies."

I tell her to go back inside and she can tell me when I get back in.  I am HOPING beyond all hopes that the cold, drizzly weather has most of our neighbors indoors and no one has heard my daughter talking about my boobies!!

Once I get inside I ask her what she is talking about...Preston shows me the book!






That's me sitting at my computer!

I think the other person in the first picture must be Mr. Jellison.

If you need help the page says:
"I saw a cumpowter in office and to think I saw it on South Central Street!"

The italics are what the student, Cody, wrote.

And, technically, I think those are my arms...not my boobies!

Ah, these are the reasons I LOVE my job!  How many of you get written and drawn about in books?

One Week Ago

Last Monday was Jeremy's last day at People's Bank as a Loan Officer.

Over the past 2 and a half years, the kids and I had developed a habit of heading to the bank on Friday mornings to see Daddy and to get some popcorn!

Here's a picture of our last Friday at the bank to see Dad.



Thanks to Grandma Robin for insisting I get in the picture...even though I didn't fix my hair or apply make-up!  Of course, we can still head to the bank on Friday's to see Grandma and get our popcorn!

Jeremy has been working with his dad and the other red-headed women in his life for a week now.  The transition isn't quite what I thought it would be...good or bad.  Just different.  There's still some adjusting to be done, but overall it has been a good move.  Jeremy has definitely been more relaxed and that is a good thing.

However, it is very apparent that we are ALL anxious to get the ball rolling on our house and get moved to the ranch.  It's looking like the end of June, beginning of July before things will get going.  Seems like ages away, but I suppose it will be here sooner rather than later.  In the meantime, I guess we have several more months to change things, LOL!

Pony Party - The Details

Let's start with the party decor..



The birthday treat station...PLEASE, please forgive the sherbet upside down in that big glass container!  I was scurrying around putting together the last minute touches when kids started showing up.  I wanted to be sure and get a picture of this before it was destroyed and the sherbet was too frozen and wouldn't come out of the container.

What's a party planning diva do?  She takes the picture anyways and begs forgiveness later!  Trust me, the punch was the perfect touch and DEL.I.CIOUS too!

Here's some close-ups of what was on that table.

Ooooh, Yummy cupcake tower!  Pink Buttercream frosting swirled on a basic, butter recipe cake...(insert sound of licking lip!!)



These might have been the biggest hit of the party...well at least food wise.  AND they were so very super simple!  Strawberry marshmallows, on Popsicle sticks, dipped in vanilla almond bark, and covered with what else?  PINK SPRINKLES!!



This next treat needs a better picture...maybe even it's own dedicated blog post.  Caramel corn!! I came across this recipe in a magazine and I thought it would be the perfect touch for a Cowgirl party...and it was!  At least with the adults...I think Grandma Robin might have even stuck one of the extra bags in her pocket before she disappeared after the party!



We also had a "Waterin' Hole" with IBC Root Beer and some ice cold H2O.  The original plan was to let the kids have a R.B. during cake time if they desired, but after only a few very brief moments I realized this was going to be SUGAR overload to the max.  And since we still had a good hour and twenty minutes of party left, I made the most important decision of the ENTIRE day...each kid would take their ICE COLD ROOT BEER home with them...to enjoy in the comfort of their own home.  Parents of children who attended, YOU ARE WELCOME!  A huge hit I believe though.  In fact, one little girl told her mother upon arriving home, "Look Mom, Sara gave us beer!"

 

Here's where all that cake eatin' took place!  I have to say that I just LOVED the way this table turned out.  We had about 15 kids here total, including friends, cousins, and semi-cousins and brothers.  We don't have near that many chairs for our table, but lucky for us, my brother built a picnic table with benches for my mom.  So, those benches were the perfect solution to getting most of those kids around our table!



Place Settings...You know, out on the trail, real cowgirls and cowboys would eat out of tin plates.  So I thought that we should too...nothing else would be right.  These are just disposable pie plates, paper napkins I got on clearance at walmart several years ago and stamped a boot on with purple ink, plastic forks and spoons tied together with a piece of pink gingham fabric, a cupcake liner filled with caramel corn, a ball jar for a cup, and a straw tied with a piece of purple gingham fabric.  These little details are what really make the party something special!!



One more close-up.  This one is because I want to share with you the little paper cups that I put the ice cream in.  Molly had gobbled her ice cream up before I took this picture, but you still get the idea.  This was a huge time saver on party day.  I scooped the ice cream out earlier in the day and put the cups on a baking sheet in the freezer.  When it was time for cake and ice cream we just pulled them out and put them on the plates.



Party Favors...straight from Bakerella.  Well the recipe anyways, I put them together!




Party Favors Up Close




Here comes the Star of the party...PANCAKE the Pony!!



When I started talking about Cambree's party at school, our friend Jaymi so graciously offered to bring her daughter's pony over to the party. Jaymi's daughter Bretlynn is 8 months old and not quite ready to ride this pony yet, so it was very nice of them to share Pancake with us!



Cambree LOVED riding the pony and she can't wait for us to move to the ranch now so she can get her own pony!



In fact, ALL the kids loved Pancake! It was cold on party day, but that didn't stop the kiddos from riding 'round and 'round the front yard. But eventually it was too cold to stay out any longer and the party was about to wind down.



We can't forget the requested pony cake.  It didn't turn out exactly like the example, but I still think it turned out pretty cute!



Now, before I end this incredibly long post, here are a few more of my favorite shots from the party!