a baking question

if i am using 1 cup of butter, 1 cup of shortening, 8 cups of confectionery sugar plus vanilla, does it really matter whether i use whole milk or skim?

the children's christmas tree

the children's tree is a wonderful magical place where all the handmade ornaments go. ornaments made at school, church and during creative moments at home... a lovely final destination when all grouped together with an adorable chain link garland. the children enjoy putting their things on this tree and arranging them just so. even at the young ages of 7 and 5 (no m2 creations yet) they are saying, "remember when we made this years ago". so funny!

seven years old (or half way to 14)

yesterday was little man's 7th birthday. cupcakes were shared with classmates at school but the party was today... at chuck e. cheese. we usually do parties in the backyard with games, a crockpot full of chili, and hotdogs, but with temperatures only forecasted for the mid 40's we needed to do something inside. a few boys from his class at school joined us along with the grandparents and a great time was had by all.

korry, little man, christian ~ we adore these spirited boys!

little man and carlos ~ we adore his sweet nature

 m1
m2 and granddaddymommy and m1
little man and chuck
the cake ~ made by mommy with love

stop reading if you don't want the gross part! we interrupt this party for a throw up accident near the motorcycle arcade... m2 was walking around with a smile on her face, leaned over, threw up and then continued walking, leaned over, threw up and then continued walking. my parents offered to take her home so we could stay and enjoy the party. THANK YOU! after pizza, cake and a visit from chuck i packed up and headed home. carlos, sam and m1 stayed and played for several more hours. everyone had fun. happy birthday little man.

p.s. it was also my uncle joe's birthday who passed away in october. at breakfast little man commented that God must be throwing a huge party today for uncle joe's birthday

looking back...

i am editing this post since the category over at I ♥ Faces was hillarious outtakes.

this was the reason no one received christmas cards from us last year.

hoping that the picture taking experience this year is a much happier one!

you know you are desperate when...

you find yourself in the children's bathroom with one square of toilet paper left and your only option is asking an 18 month old to bring you more.  you are impressed when (after bringing a bag of wipes first) she actually got it from under the sink and brought it to me!

surprise

my sister, along with my niece and nephew, came to town to surprise our mom for her birthday. mom thought she was coming over for dinner with just our family, but when she arrived all the grandchildren had a little show ready! they were dressed up in my great-grandmother's clothes and some old wigs... they looked hilarious. they each had a sign from the song "happy birthday to you" which they held up when that word was sung. it was very cute. mom was completely surprised when she walked into the room and the children started singing.

m2 woke up from her nap a few minutes before the arrival of grammy and granddaddy. when jd brought her downstairs she was greeted by the sight of all of the costumes and wigs and completely lost it! they had to take off their wigs before she started to settle down. after the show the children made home-made pizza and salad. sister and i completely caught mom off guard... normally she can figure out when something is going on. we were glad to surprise her and happy that the children had fun performing for her. happy birthday, mom!

18 months

m2 had her 18 month appointment recently. she is in the 70% for both height and weight and has some serious thighs. dr. paige adores her and thinks she is doing great ~ with the exception of one area ~ language. not sure if it is a "i am the third child so i will stomp and point to get what i want" type of thing or something more serious. for now we are trying to work on that more intently. she is a complete joy to have with me during the day!

• she wakes up laughing
• she adores her big brother and likes dancing with her sister
• talks all day long without saying anything (all.day.long. & she prefers eye-contact)
• enjoys sitting in the rocking chair reading a book
• loves to play with the kitchen set
• can play independently or with others
• doesn't go anywhere without her dolly (dawdaw)
• enjoys playing the piano and singing
• can say the following words ~ dada, um, toe, ahm (arm) daw-daw (doll-doll) notice the lack of mama, she just wraps her chubby arms around my leg to get my attention
• can sign the words ~ more, milk, please, eat (has known them for a while but they come in handy with her lack of vocabulary)
• knows most of her body parts
• if you ask her a question she will say "uuuummmm" like she is searching for the answer
• runs for the door when she hears daddy come home
• will "discipline" little man and m1 ~ i was fussing a few weeks ago about them not putting their backpacks up after homework was complete... after all they have been in school over nine weeks now. when i was done, m2 took over "dadadada nanana bebebe dududu" she even pointed to the hall closet where their backpacks should have been.