Saturday, September 18, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Our Newest Resident
Isn't this little guy pretty? I found him and 2 of his friends on my parsley plant. We looked him up and discovered that he is a black swallowtail. He is common in CO and likes to eat parsley (obviously). We originally had all 3 in a jar so that we could watch them change to butterflies but then I felt bad for them. I released them all back into my garden. Unfortunately, 2 of them disappeared and we think that the birds got them. I took this guy back in after the fiasco so that he wouldn't be bird food. Hopefully we will get to see him change. :)
Posted by Brandy at 9/14/2010 10:52:00 AM 0 comments
Monday, September 13, 2010
Cruise News-A Totally Unexpected Surprise!!
Well, it isn't set in stone yet but the Barnes' family may join us again on our Disney cruise coming in January. We are thrilled!! I got a message from Natascha over the weekend telling me that they were thinking about going (I am giddy, to say the least). We had so much fun together last time that I just don't think that it would be the same going without them. She messaged me today that they have a reservation on hold barring Jason's approval. Hopefully he will say yes! How can he say no? It's 6 against 1 so he is the odd man out. We may just have to kidnap Natascha and Jasmine if he refuses, lol.
Posted by Brandy at 9/13/2010 02:10:00 PM 0 comments
Menu Plan Monday (with recipe links)
Posted by Brandy at 9/13/2010 11:11:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: recipes
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Party Ideas, Cake Decorating, Surrogacy, Etc.
Posted by Brandy at 9/07/2010 10:14:00 AM 1 comments
Labels: surrogacy
Monday, September 06, 2010
Menu Plan Monday (with recipe links)
Posted by Brandy at 9/06/2010 08:48:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: recipes
The Boys' Camping Trip-August 7, 2010
Emerson (5) & Hayden (7)
Hubby and his Dad took the kiddos up to the mountains for a fun night of camping in the woods. Sandy and I didn't go so that the boys could spend some time male bonding together. While they were out enjoying the wilderness, we got manicures, pedicures and massages. Needless to say, it was a great time had by all that weekend. I just didn't take any photos of our girly fun.
Clayton forgot to take a camera last time they went so I made sure he had one this time around. He got some good pics but they sat on my camera card forever. Sorry I am just now getting around to posting these!
Posted by Brandy at 9/06/2010 08:40:00 PM 0 comments
More Camping Pics
Ack! I can't believe my boys climbed trees so high. My husband didn't mention this activity until I saw it on the camera card. There's no way I could have allowed that if I had been there. My kiddos are klutzy (like their mama) and I would have had a heart attack watching them. Oh well, I guess boys will be boys. :P
Posted by Brandy at 9/06/2010 08:30:00 PM 0 comments
Friday, September 03, 2010
My First Wedding Cake
Posted by Brandy at 9/03/2010 11:37:00 PM 2 comments
Labels: cakes
Monday, August 30, 2010
Menu Plan Monday (with recipe links)
Posted by Brandy at 8/30/2010 10:52:00 AM 0 comments
Labels: recipes
Friday, August 27, 2010
Best Pie Crust EVER!!
Holy cow, this is the best pie crust that I have ever had the pleasure of eating. I don't even really like pie crust. I have been known to take a spoon and simply hollow out a pie because I didn't want the crust to ruin the filling. To me, crust is only to help contain the pie and make it pretty. It has never been worthy of eating, in my opinion. I can now officially say that I have finally had a pie crust worthy of eating! This recipe is simply the bomb and my taste-testers agreed. My crust tasted buttery like a croissant and the texture was pleasantly flaky. It does take a little time to make but it is soooo worth the results. Trust me on this one. Go to this blog to get the deets on how to make this sinful concoction. She has it down to an art with easy to follow directions and photos to help you along in the process. Enjoy! :)
BTW-The pie pictured above was of the apple variety but this crust would be good for any kind.
Posted by Brandy at 8/27/2010 12:00:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: recipes
Monday, August 23, 2010
Emerson's Big Day
I can't believe that both of my kiddos are now school-age. Wow. Emerson couldn't wait to complete this milestone today. He drove me nuts all morning because he was ready to go to school. It's too bad that he had to wait until 12pm to go. The morning dragged on forever for my little guy, lol. Once we got there, I showed him where to stand in line and then I watched him make his first trip into the cafeteria for lunch (afternoon kindergarten has lunch at 12pm and then school from 12:30-3:30pm). It was incredibly sad. I have been waiting forever for this day as I am not a mother who enjoys babies/toddlers but it really affected me. I had to rush out of there before I burst into tears. My heart felt a little broken as I sat in my car this afternoon without having my little copilot behind me. Emerson has always went everywhere with me and I can honestly say that I am going to miss that.
Posted by Brandy at 8/23/2010 06:38:00 PM 1 comments
Meal Plan Monday (includes recipe links)
Today begins Hayden's first full week of school and Emerson's first day of school. E has afternoon kindergarten so he goes from 12-3:30pm. Half day school is one of the things I hate about Colorado. Full day kindergarten isn't funded. In NC, 1/2 day wasn't even an option and I had never heard of it in public schools. Oh well, Emerson is bummed but he will just have to wait until first grade to be a full-time student.
Posted by Brandy at 8/23/2010 10:41:00 AM 1 comments
Labels: recipes
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Back to School
Posted by Brandy at 8/18/2010 12:01:00 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Emerson-Baseball (Rattlers)
Posted by Brandy at 8/11/2010 08:18:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: sports
Hayden-Baseball (Dragons)
Hayden did really well this year with baseball. I was disappointed in the TRPR program though. It wasn't very instructional and I feel like he got nothing out of it. He was also disappointed in it so next year we will try to go back to LBL which is a much better program. It costs a lot more but the experience he got from it last year was remarkable.
Posted by Brandy at 8/11/2010 08:16:00 PM 0 comments
Labels: sports
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Fun in the Sun-Grace Community Church (June 26, 2010)
Our church hosted a huge free event back in June for the community called "Fun in the Sun". We had around 2500 people come out for the festivities. We doled out Chik-fil-A sandwiches (1000 were nicely donated from the Loveland store), sloppy joes, hot dogs (800 of which were buffalo), chips, cookies and drinks for free to anyone that was hungry. It was awesome! Besides the provided lunch, we also gave out snow cones and cotton candy to everyone that was willing to stand in line for them. Our church band (which is fabulous!) provided entertainment while the kiddos were allowed to play on a lot of different play structures and win prizes at games. It simply amazes me how we pulled off such an event for such a large crowd and we managed to do it all for free! God is good. :)
Posted by Brandy at 7/20/2010 03:44:00 PM 1 comments
Pizza Night
Cinnamon Dessert Pizza
We love pizza in our household and I especially love California Pizza Kitchen. We discovered this wonderful pizza chain back when we lived in Atlanta. Now I don't have a CPK near me but that's okay. I bought their cookbook a few years back and I am able to satisfy my cravings whenever I want to (well, I can always purchase the frozen ones from the grocery store too but I prefer to make my own).
A couple of nights ago, I watched a rerun of Alton Brown's "Good Eats" and he was talking about making good pizza crust. That piqued my interest enough to make 6 pizzas recently. I tried 1 crust on the grill and it was tasty but we preferred the ones from the oven. I precooked each crust before loading with toppings and I made them paper thin (all except the dessert pizza). The top two pizzas I made tonight were from the CPK cookbook and the bottom was my own creation. I used Pioneer Woman's cookbook recipe for the crusts and we loved it. The recipe was simple and had the best texture. I just rolled it out super thin and precooked it. Yum!
Posted by Brandy at 7/20/2010 01:16:00 AM 4 comments
Labels: recipes
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Happy 4th of July!!
We are heading out tomorrow morning for Cheyenne. Clayton's sister invited us up to celebrate the holiday. She hinted that I should bring some peanut butter chocolate cupcakes so I made them this evening. I wish I had red and white sprinkles to add to them but blue will have to do. We are teeing off at their local golf course around 1pm and then we will watch the fireworks from the fairgrounds from her back yard (she lives rather close to it). I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!!
BTW-My cousin Natalie gave birth to her daughter Savannah Grayce today. She was 7 pounds even and is doing well. Congrats to the Dailey family!!
Posted by Brandy at 7/04/2010 12:46:00 AM 1 comments