Cornhole board picture and baking adventures....

*Here is a picture of one of the boards Dave is working on, plus a picture of a baking adventure I had. I think Dave has done an amazing job on the boards, the picture doesn't do it justice! He's going to finish them up today, so his friends can have it for when they leave for the beach tomorrow.

*So my baking adventure... Our friends who had a baby girl are home from the hospital, and today I am going to surprise them with dinner, and figured I would also use it as an excuse to make a dessert I saw via pinterest.com . It's a cream cheese pound cake from Southern Living. The picture looked amazing! So I have to say, since I cut the whole thing up in slices so I could take some to other people as well, that is good, but not as good as I pictured. Mainly because the freaking thing took over 3 hours from start to finish, and I had to smell the goodness the whole time. By the time I could eat a slice I was dying to go to bed, and I was expected to taste heaven, and it was ok. It was easy to make, and maybe I will like it better if I try a piece today. We shall see what other people say I guess. Here is the link on how to make it if you want to try.

http://elizabethsedibleexperience.blogspot.com/2009/03/cake-cravings.html

*So the Elmo theme won on the poll, and to be honest I made my mind up this past weekend I was going to go with Elmo as well before the poll closed. I fgure she has a long time for Barbie, but not much longer for Elmo. I already have her birthday card read to send to be print (I already printed a test copy to make sure it looked ok), I also bought supplies to make her goody bags for friends, and have a friend that has a bounce house for outdoors that is going to let me borrow it! My plans are totally in motion! As for her birthday gift, we are redoing her room for her, and of course we will get her some clothes or something to open, but we are not going to go crazy on toys as there just isn't a need. A room redo, and some new clothes will be just perfect for our youngest! I already bought the bedding, and she went bonkers over it when she saw it!

Thursday Thoughts....

*Yesterday my mom and I saw the movie The Help. Oh. My. Goodness. I loved this movie. My mom and I read the book when it came out, and we really enjoyed it. I had heard good things about the movie and we were not disappointed! Most times when I see a movie based on a book, I leave disappointed, but I really think the movie did the book justice. I really can't say what I liked better as both were so good! I thought the casting was great, all of the details were perfect, and I lovvvveddd seeing all of the dishes, and other antiques used on the set. I saw some Fostoria glasses that I have from my grandmother in a couple of scenes, which made me smile. Such pretty stuff! If you have read the book, please go and see this movie, you will not be disappointed.

* Dave has been making cornhole boards again. He's not selling any, but just really making a set for a good friend of his, and then working on his own. They look amazing! He bought some nice quality wood that he could stain, and then he is being all creative by using a vinyl sticker as a stencil, and staining the inside of the vinyl sticker image a darker color. The one he is making for a friend has a large palm tree silhouette. I will post pictures of it when he is done. He is trying to get them in time for his friend to take to the beach by this weekend.

*Once he is done with that project, he is helping me make a art gallery for the kids. Basically just making something for the hallway upstairs in which we can hang the kids art work and change it frequently. I saw the idea on what else: pinterest.com, and we want to hurry up and get it done in time for the kids starting school. It's going to be awesome!

*This weekend I think we are going to take the girls to use a groupon that I have for a paint your own pottery place. It expires soon, and in my attempt to squeeze in some last minute summer fun before Laura heads to school, I want to do that with them, and take them to see a movie.

Tuesday Topics, and you can tell I have been cooking a lot again....

* Yesterday Laura got her Twinkle Toe Sketcher shoes, I have never seen that child smile as big as she has over them. Of course, making her happy, also makes me just as happy =)

* Some close friends of ours had their second baby girl this morning. There is nothing like a new baby! The husband came over to have dinner with us tonight, and we just had Taco's but I also whipped up a recipe that I found via Pinterest.com
It's called Taco Dip - and the link to the actual blog that has the recipe is here:

I did make my own changes though. I first of all cut everything in half as I didn't need such a large portion for us. I also attempted to make it healthier with low fat cream cheese, low fat ranch, being easy on the cheese, whole grain chips etc. It still tasted great, but hey I don't think I have tasted any sort of dip that I have not loved ....

*I also braved up and made something from my good ole stand by and BFF, Pioneer Woman... So what did I make? I made a dessert, the Prune Cake. Let's be honest, when I flip through her cookbook I always saw that and thought- EWWWWW. But little by little when I looked at it, and read that her husband was obsessed with it, and what a hit it was, I just had to see for myself. I also had a huge bag of prunes from Costco that we bought to snack on and give our youngest, when (ahem) she's needed a little help...The cake is Ammmmmmaazzzzzzinnngggg. You don't taste the prunes at all. Honestly it's pretty darn yummy, I had to cut myself off, and then go to the gym and do 45 minutes of intense cardio. True Story. Here is the link to the recipe....HERE
Make this asap, and if you need prunes, come to my house, were all stocked up here thanks to Costco...

* I am going to see the movie The Help with my mom tomorrow! So excited, both of us loved the book, and our local movie theater is running a deal this summer in which you can get $5 movie tickets for movies before 5pm Monday-Thursday, and we found a showing at 4:50pm, so we are taking advantage of that! Can't wait!

And then Laura told me she was getting married....

Not really, but I am sure that day will be here sooner then I will be prepared for. Laura lost her first tooth Sunday night! It's been loose for a while, and she came running to tell me it was REALLY LOOSE. I wasn't really taking her serious though as it's been loose for like a month lol, so I told her just to be patient. She looked at me and said she was just going to take it out, and in went her hand and out came her tooth lol. I about passed out. She was so excited, started calling both sets of grandparents with the news, and then ran over to personally show my parents the empty space. My dad promptly gave her $5, so the Tooth Fairy got the memo she better top that. We found her tooth pillow (I bought each girl their own when they were all infants lol, at the Richmond Bizarre Bazzar show). She went to bed early eager to see if the tooth fairy would come, and she was presently surprised in the morning! Tonight she is taking her money, and with a little help from Dave and I she has asked that she gets a pair of those Sketcher Twinkle Toe shoes. We are headed out tonight to get them, and we are not coming home until Laura is wearing them on her feet!

Great weekend....

This weekend was the best weekend that we have had as a family in a long time. Things have just been nuts it seems all summer. I have needed to simplify my life, and this weekend is just what I think we all needed. We had a lot of fun, so no we didn't just sit on our buts. The girls had a friend spend the night, her dad and my husband used to work together in their college days, and they live the next street over from us now. We took her with us to another couple's house for dinner, we did art projects (copied a butterfly hand print idea I saw on Pinterest.com) I cooked everyone a huge breakfast this morning that would make Pioneer Woman proud. We ran to Lowe's and have brainstormed a million projects we want to focus on and do together, I baked chocolate chip bars for the girls and other family members to eat, organized some kitchen cabinets, did some laundry, and enjoyed each and every second of it......

Pssst.... if you have not gotten on the pinterest.com bandwagon yet, you are missing out! If you need an invite let me know and send me your email address.... great stuff!

Party Help

My youngest daughter will be turning three years old next month. I am in the very early stages of planning her party, but before I can do much I want to figure out the theme. I have asked her and she goes back and forth so I figure I get to be the tie breaker, but I need help. Should it be a barbie theme or Elmo theme??? Keep in mind she is three, and the party will be small and at our house. Help a sister out. Leave me a comment and in the mean time I am going to try to figure out how to make a poll for votes on this thing too....
**Update- poll in on the right side of my page!

Making Playdough...

This past Wednesday I came home from work, and the girls wanted to get the playdough out (well Laura and Rachel did, Emily was napping). They got out the playdough, and discovered that most of it was dried out and gross. I checked the cabinets, and we had everything we needed to make our own. I make it a lot, but this time I decided I would let them help me make it, figuring it would be a learning experience for them, in measuring, counting, safety lesson, etc etc. This is pretty big for the control freak that lives inside me. David took some pictures of us in the process.

The girls loved helping, and making our very own pink playdough. At the end though when I asked them to tell me how we made it, they didn't care to rehash the details of it all, and either couldn't tell me what we used or just didn't want to... oh well hopefully if nothing else they had fun =)

Here is how we made it:
1 cup flour

1 cup warm water

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon oil

1/4 cup salt

food coloring
Mix all ingredients, adding food coloring last. Stir over medium heat until smooth. Remove from pan and knead until blended smooth. Place in plastic bag or airtight container when cooled. Will last for a long time.