orange cup

The girls and I tagged along with Justin last week while he was in San Antonio for a meeting and we met up with my friend Georgianna who is also a photographer for a little lunch and photo safari at La Cantera. I loved the colors in this frozen yogurt shop.









Here are Trey and Paige hamming it up for the camera. Oh, and Brooke trying to be sneaky.

brooke's birthday bonanza

Brooke and I took a snack to P's class today to celebrate her birthday. You see, B is quite the little celebrity when it comes to P's class...they LOVE her. So, of course, when they heard she was turning the big 2, they wanted to have a party for her!

my hot date

The waiter at PF Changs spilled a steamy, family size bowl of wonton soup all over me.

They were kind enough to give me a complimentary burn kit with my meal, though.

It was a huge blessing that it hit me and not Brooke who was just a few inches away. (my Coach bag was not so lucky)

Anyway, here was my v-day posse, who are hot in their own right:




Hope all my bloggies had a great Valentine's Day!!

V-Day '09

Thought I'd share some of the projects Paige and I made for her school V-Day.

First, here's her class valentine. They were wallet size.




I made each of her classmates a bar of frog prince soap.


Here are little bags of chocolate covered marshmallows we made for administrative/support staff.


We made cinnamon bread for her teachers:


And hot chocolate for the dieters:


She even let me put her hair up in DOUBLE bows!!

cookie monster

2 packages organic sugar cookie dough +

4 cups powdered sugar +

4 colors of food coloring +

5 shakers of Christmas sprinkles +

=

One super hyped-up 5 year old

A big sticky mess

several dozen very colorful cookies for Santa

Here's a shot of Auntie and the very proud baker.

puttin' on the ritz

Dang that HEB. A couple weeks ago they had a great deal on Reduced Fat Ritz crackers. I don't usually buy crackers, but it was BARGAIN...coupon and everything.

Is it really that great of a bargain if you wouldn't have bought it anyway? Probably not, but my addiction to coupons/saving money/getting a deal is kind of pathetic. But that's a whole 'nother post. I digress.

So, I make it home with 3 boxes of RF Ritz. (yes 3...don't you judge me. I said it was a bargain, remember?) A few days later the girls are wanting a snack so I decide to whip out the crackers. That's when it started.

Once Brooke sank her cute little baby teeth into that buttery, salty goodness, she was addicted. Like 12-step addicted. Since then, I've caught her sneaking into the pantry and pulling down the box from the shelf and gleefully pulling sleeves of crakers out. Fortunately, she can't open them, but she does know how to use her whiney voice and stomping and crying to wear her momma down.

The other day I inadvertantly left an open package within her reach. She pulled them down, found an empty cup filled it with the ritz, and proceeded to press her chubby little face into the cup and inhale.

That's right. My sweet, angelic daughter huffs Ritz. The horror.

i scream

One of the moms in Paige's class invited the kindergarten girls out for ice cream at our local soda fountain last week.

She is brave.

Paigie digging into the sprinkles.




Miss Em.


L&L with Brooke


Miss S


The whole gang


Thanks for the fun afternoon Miss Tessa!!!

B2S: part deux

I love Laptop Lunches. Paige started using them when she went to Mother's Day Out. They are perfect for toddler-sized portions, they keep everything neat and they are environmentally friendly.

If you need ideas for fun ways to pack you Bento, check out the Vegan Lunch Box. Jennifer is a very health-conscious and creative lunch packer. I've used lots of her ideas.

Of course I'm not vegan (not that there's anything wrong with that) but you can adapt lots of the recipes.

I have found that it is very hard to find a cute carrying case for the box, but last year I bought one of these Stephen Joseph bags, and it fits perfectly. You can even drop an ice pack or a Capri Sun in the front pocket. Paige has the butterfly and it's really cute. (they even come with matching note cards to leave in your kid's lunch)

i can can

I've been putting off the jelly canning for a few days.

precise measurements + 2 wild kids + boiling liquids = BIG disaster

So, after the girls were down for the night, I got out the supplies, sterilized the jars and set to jellin'. I cooked the jelly and Justin handled the hot jars.

Coming out of the bath


The 'scum' off the top. It's yummy!


Our babies...waiting for the *ping*