{kindergarten graduation}

::Ellee graduated from kindergarten::

We had a (small) party before the ceremony to celebrate this sweet little munchkin's graduation!  She requested a "soft yellow and pink" party.  I gladly obliged...

 

Part of the graduation festivities included a program from the kindergarten class called "Kids Under Construction."

We were thankful to celebrate the day with family and friends (some of which are not pictured)...

ellee and her "friend" - isn't he a doll!!

May 18, 2012

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summer days

I do realize it's been two weeks since Sam's 1st birthday party and as far as this blog is concerned, it never happened! I do hope to post pictures and stories soon from his party but we have so many photos and video that I'm trying to pick out the best. I am fully aware of that saying "no one thinks your kids are as cute as you do" so I'm being mindful of the amount of birthday pictures I post! :) I will give you a sneak preview of my cutie...
Until I get around to that...

The dog days of summer are in full swing around here and we are enjoying a {slightly} more relaxed schedule and some {temporary} down time!

Sam is enjoying one of his favorite pastimes - completely unloading one of the kitchen cabinets...

While these silly girls
do what they do best - make me laugh! Today, they served me this for lunch!
We spent most of the morning outside and they decided to make me something yummy to eat. Hmmm...

While they were "cooking" and Sam was napping

(i love how he sleeps with his blanket in his mouth!)

I decided it was time to tackle my out-of-control basil plant. I've been doing a little research to figure out the best way to preserve my herbs once the beauty of summer has passed. I compiled the the most common suggestions for drying them (freezing is next!) and here's how it went down...
I cut leaves from the plant in bunches. Most articles I read said to do this early to mid morning - soon after the dew dries.

Next I rinsed the leaves really well in room temperature water and patted them dry with paper towels. Apparently basil can mold easily so getting the leaves dry was important.

Finally, I rigged up a string in our dining room (adds a nice touch!) to hang small bunches of basil on. I secured the stems with a twist tie and hung them upside down. Honestly, if you peek around my china cabinet, it looks like I'm dabbling in some illegal activity!

I'll keep you posted on how it all turns out in the end!

popcorn balls and sprinkler fun

Summertime has arrived! For the first time, I am experiencing the joy of summer that comes with school-aged kiddos because our oldest just completed Kindergarten. Because I am "one of those" that finds comfort in planning and organization, I have all kinds of plans for the girls this summer. :) We started on the list a few days ago and here are some pictures from our fun...

One of our projects is cooking together! Both of the girls love being in the kitchen helping me, so I thought it would be fun to find some recipes they could cook up together with little help (but lots of supervision!) from Mommy. We started with popcorn balls - a recipe I stumbled across HERE on a blog that I love! We improvised a little, and the girls loved making these!

Another part of our summer plan is to spend a lot of time outdoors. We bought a new sprinkler-toy-thingy a few days ago and the girls could not wait to play with it! (amazing how much fun $10 can get you) I'm not sure if you can tell from the pictures, but the girls enjoyed their new form of entertainment in the rain! Afterall, they were going to get wet anyways, right? I'm sure this new gadget will be used a lot this summer...



Happy Summertime!!

the best caramel popcorn...ever!!

This recipe was given to me by a friend (thanks, Julie!) and has become a HUGE hit around my house. It is the best caramel popcorn I've ever had and everyone usually agrees!

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter (use the real stuff!!)
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup light or dark corn syrup
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
6 quarts popped popcorn (usually about 3 bags)



1. Pop popcorn and spread in two 9x13 baking pans.



2. Melt butter in sauce pan. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then boil without stirring for 5 minutes. **



3. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla. Gradually pour over the popcorn and mix well.



4. Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Break pieces apart.


5. Enjoy the deliciousness of the popcorn!!

(As you can see from this picture, the popcorn was eaten before I could even take a picture!)

**Make sure you bring this mixture to a boil slowly and allow it to boil on medium heat. If you bring it to a boil too quickly with the heat too high, you can easily burn it! I just may have done this before which may have resulted in a very burnt end product which may have ended up in the trash can. Maybe. Hmmm....