dc cupcakes…

march  2011.

Jarom looks more excited to give me the pink box than I think I am to receive it!  What a thoughtful sweetheart!

So I LOVE watching DC Cupcakes and Cupcake Wars!  I don’t know why, but I’ve become enamored with cupcakes!  So Jarom flies to DC about every month, and surprised me by going to the Cupcake shop where they film, and grabbed some cupcakes for us.  So, to honestly judge, I feel presentation is beautiful, the box and the cupcake, I give a 10 out of 10.  As far as taste, I would give it a 2 out of a 10.   
I want something I can totally enjoy.  Jarom got me a gluten free cupcake-aftertaste was pretty gross.  Even the regular glutenous ones had a little aftertaste.  
But I do have to admit, this was one of those cutest things a husband could do for a wife!

oh, little but bigger than we thought you’d be, tate…

march  2011.

Tate has needed some obedience lessons, because frankly, we don’t know what they heck we’re doing.  But on a good note, dogs train through complete positive conditioning, which in turn, reminds a person to be more positive to people too!  They never respond to being hit, yelled at, their noses rubbed in anything gross, so don’t even do it.  But you wouldn’t believe what they do respond to…treats!  Well, who wouldn’t, right?  It works for me, and my kids and husband, so why not the dog.

Meredith has been awesome helping us understand the canine world.  Tate is very smart, but still goes on the floor sometimes, so we’re not doing something right.  We just can’t keep enough dang treats around for him!

alex and science…

march 2011.

Alex is at that great age, where she pretty much can do lessons on her own, which makes my life a considerable amount easier, giving me more time to go back and forth between the other two girls for their schooling.  Just a few pic’s of Alex doing some science…one is of pollution(the red dye) and how it gets into our streams, rivers, and water supply, effecting us all.

Then moving on to molecules…

the ward luau…

february 26.  2011

so when our ward throws an event, it’s done to the hilt!  they are amazing, the food(pork, chicken-amazing!, rice, pineapple, salads, rolls, hawaiian desserts), the decorations, and the costumes and dancing(our girls have been learning their luau dance since the fall of last year).

this was such a fun gathering, and at the end, nadia and i had our own little fun by her doing funny poses, me snapping a shot, her looking at the picture of herself, laughing… and repeat about 100 times!

our smart little 2 year old…

february 2011

while i’ve been working on my next project, unpacking all the toys that have been in boxes in the basement, sorting, selling, and organizing, i gave nadia this little activity, and walked over and noticed she had done half of the clock correctly!  I was happily surprised she even had any idea of where the numbers went on a clock.

nadia has always been a little ahead, speaking 4-5 word sentences at 18 months, full sentences at 2, knows her alphabet and can sometimes count to 20.  Camden taught Nadia the plus, minus and equal signs, and she’ll regularly show us those. She’s also picked up the words to “The Living Christ” as we have been memorizing that during scripture study.  The only difficult part of all this wonderful things are the negotiations that happen with such a child who can speak and express herself so well! 

princess dinner party…

february 23.  2011

The activity day girls celebrated their 2nd annual princess dinner.  Florence did an amazing job decorating, and the girls and I enjoyed getting to help out.  Madison set the table, Alex origami’d the napkins, and I pitched in wherever needed.  It was such a beautiful event.  Florence had little stations set up to learn about manners…things they had been talking about.  Each got a princess crown and wand.  Each little girl felt so special, you could just tell from their beaming little spirits. 

Miss Nadia was also very helpful in the kitchen.  She helped me ice all the cupcakes.  She’s starting to get more demanding in her requests to help out.  She loves to just jump right in, she’s wonderful!

We’re very grateful for such a wonderful ward that really puts so much effort into events such as this!

hosting recipe exchange…or should i call it, the chocolate exchange..

february 18.  2011

Oh, how i love chocolate, so the theme i picked…chocolate!!!  We had about 15 people show up, and what a delicious chocolate show it was!  We had such a great variety of desserts, people really went all out!

The recipe i chose to make was homemade moose munch!!!  Oh, if you don’t know what that is…it’s amazing deliciousness.-originally made by Harry and David.  Homemade caramel covered popcorn cooked over an hour in the oven, then after it’s cooled, we covered half of it in chocolate, let it set, and voilacaramel and chocolate covered caramel popcorn!  and of course, i had to mix peanut butter and chocolate over caramel popcorn too…amazing!

valentine’s with loved ones…

february 13-14.  2011

Valentine’s Day this year was extra special.  Since living in Georgia, we’ve gotten to spend more time with dear family here.

Sunday 13th–  So we were able to celebrate with Aunt Darlene and Uncle Lynn, their 58th wedding anniversary!  Wow, what a marvelous thing to celebrate!

We had a yummy dinner, dessert, and even tried our hand at making our own fortune cookies, thanks to Sandra!

Monday 14th-We had so much fun eating at Cheesecake Factory, our favorite restaurant, and then we all went to see Gnomeo and Juliet.(Movie was o.k., being together was priceless and just plain fun!)

And after we got home late from our activities, I walked into our room to find that my husband is still romantic after almost 14 years…what a sweetheart!

fun projects completed…more on my vintage craft/project blog…but here’s a good one i wanted to share…

february 2011

If you would have told me, “Cynthia, February would be a great time to organize your pantry!”, I would have laughed, made a joke, and moved on in my day.  But something happens when you just realize to your own self, somethings gotta change!  And it did…

I’m very happy with the results, as is the family.  I’m not embarrassed to have people look in our pantry anymore, but even more than that, it’s aesthetically pleasing to my eyes when I’m trying to figure out meals.  So it really was something I did for myself, and everyone reaps the rewards.  It’s great when things happen like that!

BEGINNING

 MIDDLE

 FINISHED PROJECT!


tons of science to come…

february 2011

We saved most of our science for the end of our school year(we are catching up after having started a new curriculum at the end of the school year last year…so the girls tested for their appropriate grades in the middle of the year, but we had to start their grade at the beginning of the new curriculum and are finishing it up, and are just about ready to get them in their appropriate grades!…it’s been a lot of work, but so worth it of course!  It’s been a great year!).

So Madison and Camden and I are learning about Matter, and how all things are made of matter…and that matter is made up of molecules and smaller parts called atoms.  We learned that when the molecules in the matter are cold or in a solid, they are linked together and move very slowly, but when the molecules are in a liquid or gas or something warm, they move faster and start to let go of each other.

So the test was…to see if the red in the warm water would spread faster than the blue in the cold water, and it seemed to work.  If anything, it helped bring home the whole point.  And for me too!