Cousins

It is fun having Baker at an age to really play with other kids. Especially with cousins. Izabelle is 2 years older than Baker and for the first time, they really enjoyed playing together. We celebrated Brent's brother, Gary's birthday Saturday night at Tokyo. Then we had cupcakes at our house and Glenn's family spent the night. We never get to see them, so it was great. 

 Brent and his 3 older brothers. Not one of them looks like the other. Its amazing.

We spent the entire Memorial Day weekend surrounding this night, at the pool, but I took zero pictures at any of our pool adventures. Pool and camera don't mix so I don't even go there.

About an hour before Gary's party, we lost our girl dog, Bubbles. She was older, but not at the end of her life (we thought). So, it was tough for Brent to really have fun, but family was a nice distraction.

A Tiny Actor

To prove to you that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, I have a little short story for you.

So, Bake was looking cute on his big boy bed, reading away and having fun. What better time to do a mini photo shoot? So, I get some cute ones:

 Of course he likes to call the shots on the shoot. Specifically asked if I would take a picture of his feet.

 I remember seeing a cute picture on Pinterest of kids upside down on couch and how cute it was. So, that was going well...

I didn't realize this cute picture, was actually him falling over. This was more "mid-air" than it looks. I didn't realize it until I came up from behind the camera that he had flipped over onto the floor. He was crying real tears. After collecting himself he said "Take of picture of me crying, Mommy". So this picture is totally fake. Just good acting.

And last, "Why is there a cat in my bathtub"

AND SCENE....fade to black.

Baked Smores

Let me just warn you that these are every bit as good as they look. I have turned into a baking fanatic lately. I mean, I really look for any excuse to bake something new. I had no good reason to make these baked smores, but they called to me and I answered. The selling point was that I have EVERY single ingredient it called for in my pantry alread. Done and sold.

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
 1 1/3 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt (optional)
 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (approximately 5 full graham crackers)
1 tsp baking powder
2 or 3 super-sized (5 oz.) chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)
 1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (or mini marshmallows if you must!)
 Directions
 Preheat oven to 350. Grease bottom of pan.
 In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined.
 Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. Two 5 oz. Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly [for 8 by 8] side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer. [use 3 Hershey's for 12 by 8 pan] Spread marshmallow fluff evenly over the chocolate layer. Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the creme. This is most easily done by putting the second half of the dough in a gallon size freezer bag. Use your palms or rolling pin to flatten it out, and then use scissors to cut down both long sides of the bag, so it will open up book-style. Open it up carefully, and the dough will stick on one side of the bag. Then place the bag, dough side down, on the other three layers. From there peel the bag up and carefully spread the dough where it is uneven. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely or almost completely for the melty factor before cutting into bars. Enjoy!

Must Do

First, can anyone tell me why the following post has no separations? I did not intend for it to be one long thing. I'm posting it anyway. Last night's conversation went something like this- Baker: I want to do something... Me: Ok, what do you want to do? Baker: (enthusiastically) I KNOW! How about color?? Me: *get crayons and coloring book* Baker: No! I dont want this. I want to queeze! About 2 months ago I saw on...wait for it...Pinterest, about a kids project where you put baking soda in a dish and then fill separate containers with vinegar and food coloring. Then give your child an eye dropper and let them drop the colored vinegar in the baking soda. It fizzes up and its really neat. Well, this truly entertained the Bake for a long long time. (hours was an exaggeration, Pinterest but either way, a great idea. So, this is what B was talking about "queezing". We have done this activity about 4 times since he was introduced.

All you need is an eye dropper, baking soda, vinegar (apple cider will work) and food coloring. In other news, "queeze" reminded me to share that B has a hard time/cannot say words that have an "s" followed by another consonant. He just drops the "S" completely. Squirrel is quirrel, Squish is quish, skeleton is keleton..you get the idea. There are a few exceptions he had made to this rule and I have no idea why. Instead of Smile, he says PILE. Really? "Pile, Mommy!" Instead of Smarties, he says Parties.

Mother's Day

I am so blessed that I've gotten to be a mother for 2 1/2 years. This sweet boy has made life so much sweeter.

We spent the weekend in Dothan and I failed to take many pictures. Not even one of my own mom. She is loved though and such a special mother. I wish she lived closer!

"Take a picture of my eyes, Mommy". Then, "Can I see??"

Beach Weekend 2012

I have decided that the end of April is the BEST time to go to the beach. After Spring Break, but before summer. This weekend was the perfect beach weekend in my opinion. We hit up PCB, mainly because I like to break up a trip by staying in Dothan so we could wake up early and only have 1 1/2 hours before hitting the sand. We were greatful for the getaway and spending some good, quality, family time for a little while.