....sweet lovin' at lunch

miss maddie had lunch one day at her aunt tiffany's house

aunt tiffany made homemade heart shaped lunchables

miss maddie was in l.o.v.e.

so she begged & begged & begged....and begged & begged

her mommy to make her heart shaped lunchables too

finally her mommy found a small heart to make cheese & turkey hearts

miss maddie feels so much love eating lunch at school

...i love it when it rains

One of my girls' favorite songs when they were little was "I Love It When it Rains" by the Wiggles. It was so soft, so soothing, and so relaxing.

I too love it when it rains. I miss a good midwestern thunderstorm... the smell, the thunder that rolls, the lightning that crashes. I remember when I was little, my mom would let my brother & I go out in the rain with our little umbrellas (it was clear, with an apple on it).... and we would stomp in the rain puddles. Afterwards, we made mud pies. Such wonderful memories...

Rain? What is rain? We don't get rain here in Texas anymore, especially in San Antonio. However, we DID get rain Friday after work. My girls have always wanted to play in the rain, and I can be such an uptight mom, and worry about the wet clothes, the wet floor, & the mud. I've learned to relax a bit, and let my girls have a little fun, even if it's a spur of the moment thing. Like last Friday. After dinner, I saw it started raining, so I ran outside to get a whiff of the smell. I wish I could bottle up that smell. Maddie came out to join me, and she looked at me, didn't say a word, and I knew exactly what she wanted to do. I laughed, and said "go ahead". She took off and had a blast in the rain. Katie joined her shortly after. The funniest thing they did was open their mouth to catch the rain. The rain only lasted 5 minutes, but I know they had the best five minutes of the day.... just by playing in the rain.

I love it when it rains
And I lie in bed at night
I listen to it patter
On the roof soft and light
But then a storm may come
And the thunder starts to crash
The rain beats on the window
And I see the lightening flash

I hold old teddy tight
And sink down in my bed
I close my eyes so tight
And pull the covers over my head
I feel so snug and warm
I know that everything’s all right
I love it when it rains
As I lie in bed at night

See? Wet as a dog, but happy as a clam!

....1st day of school

We have a middle schooler now..... and a 2nd grader.

Last night we set out clothes.....took the showers... shed a few tears (Miss M) because they were starting school & were very nervous.... listen to Miss M cry herself to sleep as well..... shed a few tears myself because of Miss M crying....

Then the big day came! And they both came out of their room wearing something totally different than what they had picked out the night before! Why is that?! Maddie picked hand me down clothes from Katie! What?! What happened to the cute shorts that Grandma & Grandpa got her & the Justice t-shirt? I swear.... this kid just doesn't get the "1st day of school outfit is the COOLEST outfit I have!". At least, that's how it was when I was growing up!

Glad to say they both had a great day! Loved their teachers, their new friends they made, and had a great experience all in all. Thankfully this is the first year Katie did NOT get on the wrong bus coming home (and going to school....oops). That is probably deserving of a blog post of its own when I want to take a trip down memory lane & record it for posterity purposes... but let me tell you, it's quite a story, and it happened not once, but TWICE!

Oh, and see how they're wearing PANTS!! Pants in the 100+ degree weather we're having!

...mishaps of washer necklaces

I set out last week with the hopes of making the "ever so popular" washer necklaces. I told Mike I wanted the "1/8" set of alphabet steel stamps"... which he said he would get, but he came home w/ something different. It was 3/16", which according to him was only slightly bigger than 1/8". Oh well..... I bought tons of washers, and set out to try my hand at them. I wasn't very good, trust me. It's going to take a LONG time to get used to these, and a LOT of washers! Thank goodness they're so cheap.

I made a double washer necklace (sorry for the lack of a picture), one bigger than the other, of my girls' names. It was pretty cute. I did have trouble rubbing the sharpie ink off with a baby wipe, but I found that using a Magic Eraser helped remove the rest of the ink.

Mike took me on a date that night & kept looking at it and shaking his head. He said "as a mechanic/contractor I can't believe women are finding things to do with WASHERS!" Yep, we're just being frugal, but looking chic!

I offered to make a washer for a church ladies event last Thursday, and He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named said "let ME make it... you need more practice". So, he did. He'll never admit he made it, but he did. And he did a good job.... at the very end. He'd get so excited about almost being done, then mess up on the E. Then the T is sideways. Well, take a look for yourself.

::giggling:: I've also been taking scrapbooking paper and gluing them on the washers & placing Diamond Glaze over it, and they've turned out BEAUTIFULLY! Except for the time my girls decided to sprinkle salt on their cucumbers RIGHT BY MY DRYING WASHERS! Augh! The horror! Oh well.... adds to the character, right?

...night at the arcade

We have this amazing money sucking place to go called Incredible Pizza. It's got pizza, salad bar, taco bar, potato bar, ice cream, etc there. They have different types of rooms where you can eat (hey, the Wiggles were showing in one room! I seriously wanted to eat there!), an old '50's movie in the "drive-in" room that had dimmed lights, and tons of party rooms. This is THE place to have a party, and it is THE place to lose a ton of money as well.

Both girls were invited to one of Maddie's best friend's birthday party. We love Lilly... she's so sweet and the perfect friend for Maddie. Maddie had been before, but Katie never had been, so was RARING to go! Here is their night:

Maddie & Lilly eating before playing

Maddie gets ready to ride by HERSELF

I told Katie which game spills the most tickets, and she ended up staying there for an HOUR. She made multiple jackpots & seriously.... won a ton of tickets (look at the pile on the floor!)

Not enough tickets for anything "cool" though

VroOm VrOOm

Funny story... (hey, I only make fun of my kids on my blog).... Maddie was racing, driving pretty slowly, and this turd of a dad w/ his little girl next to him clipped Maddie going around a curve, which sent her into a pile of tires, and a pile up occured behind her. I was SURE she was going to have whiplash, break out crying (b/c that's what she does...) or SOMETHING! Well, she did freak out, and started to put on a face like she was going to cry, but I just laughed at her, with the hopes of stopping her from even ATTEMPTING to cry. It worked like a charm. She started laughing. I gave that turd of a dad my evil eye when he walked past me. My evil eye is pretty evil. Y'all just have to take my word.

OK, guess the race car driving was too scary. Both girls decided to hit Mario Cart instead. Notice they can't move the seat up anymore?

Ahhh... my favorite game of all. Maddie & I hogged this one for the majority of the evening.

....writing on the windows

My girls are really enjoying their Crayola package we received from MyBlogSpark. I mean.... REALLY! Included in the package was Window Crayons. They love this stuff. Everyday they have been using it, drawing amazing pictures on my big French doors.

Miss Maddie had to go to the dentist one particular morning, and be sedated (due to her anxiety & freaking out over needles). Well, my heart broke for her and all her little struggles, so I let them break out the new Window Crayons. This is their story of their happy 15 minutes.

Forgive all the pictures... I was trying out my camera w/ the natural night (it's too dark, and when I enter light, it doesn't look right, so I left them dark), and I wasn't happy with it, but I still loved the pictures. :)

One last picture of my baby w/ her stiff, sore side of the mouth.

She didn't regain feeling for most of the day.

....cookies with maddie rose

Miss Maddie came up to me this afternoon after church... begging to make cookies. How could I resist such an opportunity?! I couldn't! However, I didn't have any chocolate chips, in which case I would've made chocolate chip cookies. I had just gotten in a magazine from Betty Crocker called "Cookies & Bars". I had "voted" on the cover months ago, and for my participation, I got this amazing magazine! So, both Maddie & I went to work trying to find the "perfect" cookie to make today. Most of the ones she wanted to make, I had to say "sorry charlie... nope!" simply b/c I didn't have an ingredient on hand.

What DID catch my eye, was the Caribbean Lime Coolers cookies! Oh.My.HEAVENS! These are OUT OF THIS WORLD!

Here are some pictures to document this wonderful occasion for Maddie & I as we set out to try our hand at this recipe. I just happened to have all ingredients on hand, which was hilarious in itself: coconut, lime juice, limes, Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix (from Christmas 1 1/2 years ago, bought in a huge box @ Sam's but never used). I mean, who has all those ingredients at once?!

yes, I'm a little crazy for letting her put them in the oven by herself, but she wanted to!

I said "OK, you've gotta start sometimes!"

Caribbean Lime Coolers

(makes 2 1/2 dozen)

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix

1/2 c coconut

1 tbsp grated lime peel (about 1 lime)

3 tablespoons lime juice (or about 2 limes)

6 tbsp butter or margarine, melted

1 egg

1/4 c powdered sugar

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, coconut, lime juice, lime peel, butter & egg until soft dough forms.

2. On ungreased cookie sheets (I used parchment paper), drop dough by level tablespoons 2 inches apart (or do like Maddie did to get 4 dozen: make them really really tiny)

3. Bake 9-13 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.

4. With small strainer, sift powdered sugar over cooled cookies. Store covered @ room temperature.

Notes to add: if you let your 7 year old place powdered sugar on it, WATCH! Otherwise she'll put about an inch of sugar on it, and then proceed to sneeze while holding a cookie to eat, which'll send sugar ALL over her mother. And the floor. What a mess.....