Happy Birthday to My Great Grandma!

My Great Grandma Marie celebrates her 87th birthday today. She is pictured in the middle, between her daughters (my grandmother and Aunt Patty)! What a blessing to have her in my life!

Please pray for her. She was admitted to the hospital yesterday for chronic pain in her abdomen.

Grumpy Girl, Fancy Hat

Finger Painting with Daddy

Ella painted a girl. Notice the red bow in her hair and the heart clouds floating in the sky. She also chose to add random letters. She sometimes with write random letters and then ask me what it spells.

McKenna painted a rainbow, obviously! Are you familiar with Roy G. Biv? She is and she tried to follow it...until the green. I don't know what happened. Anyhoo, they had a ton of fun painting with daddy.

Mmm...Mmm....Monday!

Andes Cream De Menthe Fudge

2 1/2 c. sugar

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 stick butter or margarine

1 (5.33 oz.) can evaporated milk (3/4 c.)

1 (7 1/2-oz.) jar Marshmallow Fluff

3/4 tsp. vanilla

1 (10-oz.) package + 1/4 cup Andes Cream De Menthe baking pieces

Grease a 9-inch square baking pan; set aside. In large saucepan combine first 5 ingredients. Stir over low heat until blended.

Heat to a full-rolling boil being careful not to mistake escaping air bubbles for boiling. Boil slowly, stirring constantly, 5 minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and chocolate until chocolate is melted. Turn into greased pan and cool.

Makes 2 1/2 pounds.

Happy Birthday Pa!

My Pa is a very hard workin, golf lovin, Tide rollin, Nascar watchin' kinda guy! He's got a Facebook page that he updates from his Iphone. He periodically texts me! How cool is that?



A fond memory:

I remember one year he and I placed a bet over the Auburn v. Alabama game. This was probably in about 1988 or 89, not sure. The loser had to be a servant for a day to the winner. I had grandiose plans of having my grandfather come to my place and clean my room, then take me to the candy store, the toy store, McDonald's, play board game after board game with me. My "to do" list went on and on.



Something to note: My grandparents have a fantastic, well manicured lawn. They spend MUCHOS time in their yard!



Well, I lost. Alabama won; that meant I was a servant to my grandfather. Ug, I thought I would have to wash his car, pull weeds, move rocks, polish his golf clubs, etc....



My super sweet grandfather picked me up and surprised me by taking me out to lunch and to a movie. I don't remember the movie; maybe he does. I just remember being shocked.



Yup, that's right folks....ya'll can all say, "Ahhhh! How sweet?" now.



Click here for a reminder on the birthday post disclaimer!

Flutterby

The girls had wanted a Bugville Butterfly House for some time. Finally, they got one this past Easter. So, when I though the weather was warm enough we sent away for our caterpillar larvae. Insect Lore received 2 checks from me and I received 2 jar that looked something like this:

After about 7-10 days the caterpillars formed a chrysalis. The chrysalides would randomly vibrate and swing around. This was a bit freaky. I read that they do that for protection. I had to transfer the lid of the jar to the inside of the butterfly house. This was stressful. I didn't want to touch them, break them, hurt them, smell them or really be near them.....but I had no choice. After a successful move, we waited. Here's a picture that I took by slipping the camera in the bottom of the butterfly house and taking a shot of the chrysalides hanging from the top.

In case you were wondering, chrysalides is the plural of chrysalis. I learned this by reading the "How to Care for Your New Caterpillar Larvae" pamphlet that came with the little wiggle worms. However, my spellcheck keeps wanting me to change it to "chrysalises." So, you be the judge. Which is correct?

So, after about another 7-10 days of looking at these 2 butterfly houses in my kitchen, we were ready to release the butterflies. From 10 caterpillars we got 10 chysalides and 9 butterflies. Pretty good, I think. These are Painted Lady butterflies.

McKenna enjoyed holding them very much!

Old Money

Several people in my family are casual coin collectors. I have recently been able to "play" with my father in law's coins. He actually had quite the collection. We found a fifty cent piece dated 1854. We also found several Indian Head pennies dates from the late 1800's! Then, he showed me this bill. No, it isn't Confederate Script! It's a US dollar. We couldn't read the date very well. It looked like it said 1917. Maybe you are an expert and can tell me more about.

Mmm...Mmm...Monday

Thought I would post a little something for you anti-Monday people out there. I will try to post a recipe here and there on a Monday!

Here's an easy, no bake, Summer recipe. It's usually a hit at gatherings. Enjoy!

Fruit Salsa and Tortilla Cinnamon Chips

2 apples
6-10 strawberries
1 pear
6 oz cherries (green or red)
6-12oz apple jelly
Butter flavored cooking spray
Cinnamon sugar
Flour tortillas
Drops of lemon juice

1. Peal apples and pear. Finely chop and mix together.
2. Finely chop cherries and strawberries; add to mixture. Add a few drops of lemon juice. Set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4. On stove top melt jelly over low heat. Stir into fruit mix.
5. Slice tortillas into chip sized wedges.
6. Layer tortilla wedges on cookie sheet. Do not overlap. Spray generously with cooking spray.
7. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar.
8. Bake for 3-5 minutes. Watch closely. Chips should be firm.

Other fruit mixture options: raisins, blueberries, cantaloupe, coconut, walnuts, pecans

Bikes!

We decided that it was time to get the girls bicycles. After perusing the selections at Toys R' Us, Target, local garage sales, Wal-mart, etc....we finally made our decision. Arthur thought it might be fun to give them to the girls in a tricky way.

We, first, set up the video camera to record the event. Arthur and I got the bikes out into the garage and started riding them (carefully) in a circle. We called for the girls; they came thinking they were in trouble for something.

As soon as they were visible we shouted, "Look at our new bicycles. We love them! Don't you?"
The girls could barely contain themselves. They screeched and squeaked and hesitated in claiming them for themselves. But...they knew that we were just playing after a few seconds of thinking.

It was a fun way to present something to them. Not to mention, we have it on video to show them when they are older.

You might have missed....

...this post. It's new, but I posted it in chronological order (or, at least I tried to).

I thought this was funny!

I saw this at Caribou Coffee the other day. See if you can tell me why I thought it was funny.

Zoo Kids

I had been meaning to post this for a long time. Remember way back when...I mentioned that Max visited us? Well, while he was here we visited the MN Zoo. It was a ton of fun. Here are some pictures from our day.

Bath Time

Max and Ella had fun playing in the bath each night. They enjoyed putting bubbles on each other. We enjoyed hearing Max say, "I'm sorry to apologize!"

Wordless Wednesday

Art with Cousin Max

We did a little art project while cousin Max was with us. You've seen this one before!

Need:
big round tub
paint
paper
golf ball or marble

Squeeze some paint on the paper and drop it in the tub. Add balls. Secure lid. Roll away!

Silly Geese!

Ring Around the Rosie

Too Cute Tuesday!

I was going to save these for a Wordless Wednesday post. I decided I couldn't wait (so, Too Cute Tuesday will have to do). I know it has been a while since I have posted and many of you are growing impatient with me. Here's a little something to help you wait!

Here are Ella (4) and Max (almost 4) playing at the park.

A Photo Shoot With Cousin Max

Mother's Day Tea

The kindergarteners celebrated mother's through poetry and song. Afterwards, we were invited into the fellowship hall where McKenna served cookies and lemonade. It was absolutely cute!

It's been a while, I know....

I have lots to blog. Be patient as I slowly and anti-chronologically update my blog.

My mom, Cioci Lynda and her son Max were able to come up for an extended weekend. I will be slowly adding some posts/pictures about our adventures! While they were up, my mom and I went to a Mother's Day Tea hosted by McKenna's kindergarten class. Cioci Lynda watched Ella and Max while we were out. They went to the park and played a bit!

Easter in pictures