Happy 10th!

Happy 10th anniversary to Dan and I!


crazy how fast 10 years goes by.




Ten years have brought a house, a dog, a cat, three kids, a minivan, another dog, and a turtle. Ten years have brought crazy schedules, never-ending laundry, and an ever-growing "To Do" list. Ten years have brought more joy and more laughs (and sometimes more tears) than I ever could have imagined, and I wouldn't change a thing.

Whoever said money doesn't grow on trees?

My SIL's birthday was over the weekend, and when asked for some birthday ideas, she mentioned there was a jacket she was saving up to buy. I wanted a fun way to gift her with some cash, so Emily and I created a money tree. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out!

Well, Looky There...

The child who liked the minibike the least finally gave it a fair shot and what do you know? Turns out she likes it quite a lot!

Splish Splash

One of my major complaints about the house we live in is that the driveway doesn't drain properly when it rains (there's a low spot that collects water), but it was hard to find complaint with the puddle yesterday when Connor was having so much fun!





The look on his face CRACKS ME UP!


Calling it a puddle is a bit of an understatement; it's more like a small POND... We jokingly refer to it as Lake ___________ (our last name). LOL!

Blackberry Pie

A few weeks ago, I attempted to bake my first blackberry pie ever, using the easiest recipe I could find online. I didn't end up with quite enough blackberries (the kids had been out picking with my IL's and they visually guaged whether they had enough), and partway into making the crust, I realized I didn't have enough all-purpose flour and had to substitute part of it with self-rising flour.

My neighbor claimed it was the best blackberry pie he'd ever had.

A week later, Dan requested that I make another blackberry pie, because the first one had been so good. This time, I used the correct amount of blackberries, and had enough flour to correctly make the crust, and I worried that it was just a fluke that the first one got such rave reviews. Dan and my neighbor both claimed the 2nd pie was even better than the first! (my neighbor might lie to be nice, but Dan wouldn't!)



I stink at making pie edges look pretty, but it was edible and got multiple thumbs up. Yay me! My neighbor even called and wanted my recipe because he liked it so much. Dan wanted me to mess with the recipe (anyone remember seeing that episode of Everybody Loves Raymond where Raymond's mom puts a fake label over a spice so when Ray's wife tries to follow the recipe, it doesn't turn out right?? LOL), so when he typed it out in an email for them (since I was one-handed due to the brace), he put in C degree temps in the directions instead of F degree temps just to mess with them. LOL

I labeled this post under recipes so it would be filed with my other food-related posts, but if my pie is truly that good, I'm going to be tight-lipped with "my" recipe and you'll all just have to come over sometime and give it a taste-test! *grin*

Super Powers

Connor has super human strength, I've decided. How many four year old kids can lift their own body weight without breaking a sweat? And how many kids can then hold themselves in that position for a decent length of time?

At a local playground, Connor wasn't tall enough to see through the telescope, so he reached up, grabbed onto it, and pulled himself up so he could see through it; then he held himself there for quite some time. It wasn't a prolonged struggle to get all the way up either, he whipped himself right up without even attempting to use his legs for help. It was amazing!

Putty Fun

The kids recently got some putty from the prize box at their dentist's office. After they got home, Emily and Jared charged right into playing with it!