sandbox

These are long overdue, but I wanted to share the photos from the day we put the first load of sand in the completed sandbox. We still need to tidy up the area in the background- most of that stuff will be moving out and we'll plant some flowers or something, but the sandbox itself is all finished!


Toy boxes all finished with kid-safe hinges that won't slam on their fingers.





Playing in the sand while it was still in the truck!



Hazel helped Grandpa steer the wagon full of sand down the hill to our back yard.



Dumping the sand in, and discovering the stash of new sand toys we had hidden underneath!




The kids got busy playing right away, while Grandpa made more trips with the wagon. I didn't get in on the hauling much during the first load, but I did the whole second load myself the following week- and I had the sore shoulders from shoveling sand to prove it!









Daisy even practiced her Zen Garden techniques a little.


Everything turned out so great- just how we had pictured. My dad really did an excellent job on the construction, as always. All the wood is so smooth and the toy boxes/bench are really nice. I am sure this will bring many years of entertainment for the kids. Thanks, Grandpa!!!

muted monday: cold day at six flags

{I know a lot of you come looking for a new post on Mondays when you are back at work, school, and the regular routine. In an effort to help me get going after the weekend I'm going to try putting up just a photo from our weekend on Monday mornings, with little to no text. No promises, but we'll see if we all like it.}

valentine cookies

We've been wanting to make cut-out cookies for a while, and it just didn't happen during our hectic holidays. So we decided to bust out some heart shaped goodies and make up a platter to bring our wonderful library staff in the Young Adult department. We love them. A LOT.

We made the actual cookies the evening before, so these photos are in the morning when I had to drag the kids out of bed to get these done before it was time to head to the library. That's why they are in their jammies :)






It was great having Bea with us for this project. We haven't seen enough of her lately and we've missed her. And of course, these three made it lots of fun and wowed me with their creativity. They made some gorgeous cookies!






We had a lot of fun and made a big impression on the staff when we brought these in to them! We just wanted them to know how much we appreciate all they do for our teens, all year long. They are fabulous!


We used store bought black icing in a tube for our cookies, which really made them stand out. We also used red food coloring to dye some coarse sugar for the sprinkles, which worked really great. You just put the sugar and food coloring in a zip lock bag and squish it around until it is evenly absorbed. Oh and we used coconut to sprinkle on some of the cookies, which looked really pretty and tasted delicious.

I know some of you are going to ask, so here is the recipe we used. It's the one my mom used when we were kids, but I'm not sure where it came from before that. It's pretty basic but oh-so-good.


Cut-out Cookies

1 c. butter, softened
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract
2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar

Cream together butter and sugar, then blend in eggs and liquid flavorings. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to sugar mixture a little at a time. The dough will be quite stiff and you'll have to make sure to work in all the flour. Chill for 2-3 hours (DON'T SKIP THIS PART!) and then roll out on well floured surface to about 1/8" thick. Cut with cookie cutters and then bake at 375 for 7-8 minutes or until cookies just start to brown slightly. Cool completely before frosting.




Frosting

1 1/4 c. powdered sugar
1 T. softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
TINY bit of hot water
food coloring

Blend ingredients together with electric mixer and beat until fluffy frosting consistency. Add more water as needed, but just a TINY bit at a time. Add more sugar if it gets it too runny. Frost cookies and enjoy!

flashback.5

Some more random photos, this time they are pre-Lyle. And if you haven't seen them already, go check out the pics on Daisy's blog from the girls' trip with my parents. They are exploring in Florida and having a wonderful time! I am jealous (I've never been to FL) but enjoying the time as a mom of only 2 kids :)


[Daisy jumping]


[Hazel jumping]


[Stella in her star outfit]


[Daisy and Daddy]


[Jason & Hazel at the beach]


[One of my all-time favorites, Jason & Stella snuggling]

flashback.2

A few photos with our friends, India & Grace. This was at the skating rink on January 10, 2008- just a few weeks after we met them. They all look so little! 2 years can make such a difference when you are a kid.

spider web

We're finally getting going with decorating the house for Halloween, starting with a giant spider web in front of the house. Daisy helped me get it made and I thought I would outline it here, because it was so easy and looks really cool. We borrowed one from a friend last year and decided to make one of our own this time.


You start with a small circle of yarn, about 2 inches across, tied nice and tight with a knot. Then you tie strings going out from the circle to nails or hooks around the outside of your web area. We have some small nails along the top and sides of the porch, and on some wooden planters on the ground. We made loops on the end of the strings so they could just be hooked onto the nails, and will come off easily.


Then you just tie your yarn to the center area, and start weaving the web. At each string, tie a half knot to secure the yarn. Keep working your way outwards in a spiral, making sure the strings are all about the same tightness. I like making them look a little uneven here and there too.


Daisy not only helped me with a lot of the tying, she also took some pictures of me while I was working. I hardly ever get in the photos!




Now we just need a big spider to live on our web and we'll be all set!


Oh! And speaking of Daisy, go to her blog and check out the really cool mobile she made for her friend. It turned out so cool and I can't wait to have one in our house! Great job, Daisy.

teen film fest

Saturday night was the Teen Film Festival at the library. Daisy and Beatrice worked very hard filming and editing their videos together. They included a number of their friends (and even some of the parents!) in the films, and everyone got dressed up to go to the big premier together!


It was so awesome to see how much support and love these kids are surrounded by, evidenced that night by the twenty-one people we packed into the front two rows of the auditorium! Everyone was so excited just to see the films and cheer for Daisy & Bea. And then came the award ceremony! Between the two of them they took home 5 out of the 9 "Lucy" awards given away, including Best Film. It was a fantastic night!



Posting these videos to the internet has proven to be a bit of a challenge for me, mainly because they used some copyrighted music in the films and YouTube removed the audio for one of them. (lesson learned for next time!) For now, hopefully you can view the first film right here (below) and the second one is available here on YouTube (I posted that one below the first one now). They do go in order, so be sure to watch "What's it all Mean?" first, followed by "What Happened Before?" Thanks for watching!




I am so proud of these guys for following through to completion on this project! We all learned a lot about the software and also about the steps of putting a film together while working on this, and I know that the kids are all brimming with more cool ideas for upcoming films. I also want to thank Jason Hubbard for being such a great sport and doing whatever the girls asked them to for his part. That really made a huge impact on their project!

Update: We were Spotted!

what we've been doing

Other than unpacking and getting settled back in since we returned from Minnesota, we've been pretty occupied with our new toy, iMovie '09. Daisy and her friend Bea had a film project due for their library summer reading program and at the last minute we decided to upgrade our iMovie- and boy are we glad we did! If you are an owner of the '08 version we highly recommend the upgrade, it is WELL worth the money (even if you have to upgrade your operating system first like we did...)

We're working on getting their finished films uploaded online so we can share them and tell the story of their fabulous night in the spotlight- hopefully that will happen soon! It was an exciting evening!!

fourteen?!

Somehow I just can't believe my Daisy is fourteen today. It is amazing how quickly that time has passed by us!



Jason took her out today for a lunch date instead of dinner, because there is an evening event at the library she wants to attend (have I said how awesome our teen program is at the Athens library?) and then she is having a few friends over to celebrate tomorrow night.





In these pictures she is sporting my newest creation and birthday gift to her, a skirt made from neckties. She is completely in love with it and I am sure she will wear it often. It looks great on her and twirls out to a full circle- and who doesn't love wearing something that twirly?







I am so proud of the young lady Daisy is becoming- she is trustworthy, helpful, and honest, and is still very much my sweet little girl even as she heads towards becoming a woman. I enjoy very much the time I get to spend with her and love watching her try out her wings as she gains more and more independence. She is an awesome daughter, sister, and friend- a person I am thankful to have in my life. I love you, Daisy girl. Happy birthday!!

helper

I don't have any pictures of Lyle with his dragon (I'll try to get some soon!) but I do have pictures of him helping in the kitchen recently. We were having Veggie Dinner (usually corn on the cob, green beans, and baby potatoes, along with homemade bread) and Lyle wanted to help. First he helped Daisy shuck the corn.





Then he wanted to help cut the ends off the beans like Stella has been doing, but I am not ready for him to use a sharp knife yet! So we gave him a butter knife and a bunch of the ends already cut off, and he "helped".







My new exhaust fan recently installed by Jason & my dad is extremely useful when I have 3 pots going at full blast on the stove. My kitchen won't be nearly so hot this summer!!



And the reward for all that hard work: digging into the delicious "Poyen"!