Pro Dance photos

These are the photos that were taken at the dance studio. We paid $60 and got a CD of photos with permission to do what we wanted with them. Bobby curled Munchkins hair for the pictures but it didn't really have time to set...they only had about an hour between getting home from school and going to dance. Even though it is not super curly I think he did a great job and that the pictures turned out pretty cute.

Nashville Duck Tour

Last weekend Bobbys dad got to come visit us. I am one of those fortunate people who has in-laws that I love. The visit with him could only have been better if my Mother in law could have come as well. One of our outing was the Music City Duck tour. We parked downtown and walked a few blocks to get to the Charlie Daniels museum where we needed to pick up our tickets. I was really glad that we had reserved and purchased them online the night before as there was quite a line when we arrived.




The DUKW (popularly pronounced "duck") is a six-wheel-drive amphibious truck that was designed by General Motors Corporation during World War II for transporting goods and troops over land and water and for use approaching and crossing beaches in amphibious attacks. More..



Our tour first took us all over downtown. I have not been to the Tennessee Museum yet but now know where it is. We got to see the state capital, the bicenntennial mall, TPAC and a few other things. Nashville does not have a boat ramp into the cumberland river so we had to go out to Shelby Park to get in the water.

Going into the water in a vehicle that drives on land was a little unnerving but fun at the same time. I was glad we were not up in the back as the water really splashed in.

Munchkin volunteered to drive the boat once we were out on the water. She was quite the contientious little driver and did not want to take her eyes off the river to smile for a picture.


Little Man loved the boat as well. He kept calling it a boat bus.

If you are ever in Nashville I highly reccomend this tour. It is entertaining and informative. :)

{TWD} Chipster Topped Brownies

It is Tuesday once again and that means bakers from around the world are baking the same recipe from Dorie Greenspans Baking from My Home to Yours. This weeks recipe was Chipster Topped Brownies. I think I could have eaten the brownie batter all by myself. I of course had a little help from my diabetic father in law. He surprised me by wanting to polish off the batter in the bowl and on the beaters. Since Bobby is paranoid about eating raw dough I just figured he would be as well. I was wrong. Apparently he is on a see food diet. :)


You know how Paula Deen LOVES butter? Well, I accidentally put in 4 extra tablespoons of butter when I was mixing up the cookie dough. How does that happen one might ask. Attention to detail I tell ya! I pulled out 4 sticks of butter, 2 for the brownies and 1 and a half for the cookie dough. I forgot to cut the 4th stick in half though and just dumped it all in. I realized it when everything was mixed op and I was ready to spoon the cookie dough over the brownie base. Oh well, we love butter at our house too. This was definitely not a low calorie treat! In addition to the 4 extra accidental tablespoons of butter I put baking m&ms on the brownies instead of walnuts (much to my hubbys disappointment...mental note: pick up walnuts) and put butterscotch chips in the cookies instead of bittersweet. Thank you to Beth from Supplicious for choosing this delicious recipe. You can find the recipe on her blog. Everyone in my house loved these and so far at work they have been a hit as well. The extra butter doesn't seem to matter to anyone...who knows about it, and these are perfect with a little scoop of ice cream! Yum!

Sleepytime

{TWD} Fresh Mango Muffins

Back in the late 80's early 90's when I was in Jr. High I remember going to the student store and buying Koala soda. I think it was around 50 cents and came in flavors like Mango and Passionfruit. I loved that soda. I wonder when it stopped being made.

I have tried Mango slushy and other mango flavored items and have always like them. However, I am not really a fan of the actual Mango fruit. It seems to leave a bit of a bitter aftertaste. I did know I wanted to try this recipe though.
I replaced ginger with Allspice due to the ginger in my cabinet smelling...not like ginger. This was also supposed to be a loaf of bread but it was supposed to bake for and hour and a half. I decided to make Mango Muffins instead. I subbed milk chocolate chips for the raisins and forgot the lime zest. I guess I didn't really forget it, my lime was rotting and I didn't bother with a lemon.


24 muffins in the over and 20 minutes later I had a nice batch of Fresh Mango Muffins. I really thought I would be taking this whole batch to work with me tomorrow due to my hubbys dislike for cooked fruit. He surprised me by eating one and really liking it. My daughter kind of liked them and my son LOVED these. He wanted to eat them instead of his actual dinner.
Can you believe it? I am actually posting on Tuesday...only because I had the entire day off. :)
This recipe is a keeper!! Thank you to Kelly of Baking with the Boys for choosing this weeks recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie. You can find the recipe on her blog!

The macarena, a wet shoe and a Lifegroup

I think I have mentioned before how much I like our LifeGroup. It is a really fun group of people to be around. This weekend we went bowling. I was waffling on whether or not to go due to an argument with my 6 year old. She seems to think the world revolves around her on occasion and this was one of those days. She didn't think she would have a good time and that it would be BORING! I am not sure where she got that idea but I decided she needed to experience bowling again outside of the Wii.

Our trip to the bowling alley started off with a bit of an ominous overtone. Why? Well being the smart mother I am I got our shoes and then took my children to the bathroom. After strategically/precariously balancing all of our shoes in the toilet paper dispenser they all came crashing down. The kids were fine. One of mine went splashing into the toilet. Hey, at least it was clean water and the show floated so only the bottom got wet. I actually laughed so loud in the bathroom that I was glad the only people in there were me and the kids.

Little Man got right into it with a little help from one of the big boys. This particular big boy was very helpful with the little kids in positioning the ramp for them. Unfortunately it kept sliding over the foul line so several times there were no points awarded. Once I told him that though he helped keep it from sliding over the line.

Mrs. Lindsay helped Munchkin keep the ramp steady for her first shot.

My kids adore Lindsay and Andrew and give them the best hugs every time we see them. This day was no different.

During her breaks from bowling Munchkin was quite happy to play with our children's pastors daughter. This little girl seems to have the sweetest disposition and didn't seem to mind Munchkin hanging on to her for a quick picture.

Poor Munchkin was so excited because she got a spare. Unfortunately for her those happened to be the frames where the ramp went over the line. I explained to her why her score didn't count and encouraged her to not use the ramp the next time. She did and actually got a strike!!!

Taking a cue from big sister, Little man decided he didn't need the ramp either. His ball got there quite a bit slower than it had with the ramp but got there all the same and even knocked a few pins down. He was hilarious when he would throw his ball. He would do a super bowler pose, jump up and down as he watched the ball go down the lane and then do a dance if it hit the pins or point and make an angry face if it didn't.

The adults all finished our game far before the kids did. Partially because there were far more kids bowling and partially because we know how kids are. :) The last few frames for the kiddos were bowled during Cosmic Bowling. The music was turned up and the blacklights turned on. Everyone thought this was hilarious and so cool. Of course when I looked at my feet I realized my socks must have been very linty inside because they were glowing!

My sophomore year of college one of my roommates was from Ecuador. That fall she taught us the Macarena by the original group that did it. We often broke out dancing in our little living room in Pac Glen Apartments. It was hilarious and I just remember laughing so much. So, when the Macarena came on at the bowling alley I did a few of the moves. No one was willing to join me though. Maybe next time.

I am really glad that we decided to go bowling with the LifeGroup. I needed to be with friends after kind of a cruddy week.

Pre-K Graduation

I don't know if this is a big deal all over the country or if it is just in the south that Pre-K graduation is such a big deal. Little Man had graduation on Thursday night. We took him in the clothes he had worn to school that day and apparently I should have dressed him up a bit more. Why? I don't know, his clothes were under a cap and gown anyway. :) There were little boys in ties and little girls in dresses, flowers and graduation gifts. That said, this was the cutest thing I have ever seen. The kids marched in to Pomp and Circumstance all the way from the back of the church.The took their seat and there was an intro from the director of the Preschool. The pastor of the church opened in prayer and the kids proceeded to sing a bunch of songs. One of them was the Name Game song where they each had to say their name. They have been practicing this since Easter and everytime they would ask our Little Guy his name he would say a nickname that we have for him. When it was his turn he stood up and said the nickname, stopped because he knew he was supposed to say his whole name and actually said it in front of all of those people.

He sang all of the songs and he knew them! I loved seeing him up there with his little classmates and doing so well. There have been times when I didn't think I would ever see him on a stage like that without freaking out. But, he was comfortable and even held up the llama in the Down by the Bay song. Now, if he could have kept his tassel out of his face he would have been even happier. There was one little boy that kept cracking us up. He has albinism and is just the sweetest little thing. He was like a gospel choir singer up there on the stage. His hands were up, he sang loud and proud and put the rest of the kids to shame!

We had to pose a photo pf Little Man getting his diploma because the first one I took didn't turn out as well.

I am so proud of my little man for graduating from Pre-K. More that he did so well during the ceremony than anything else. He has a long road ahead and I hope things like this will keep him motivated to do well in school.

I was not the only one proud of Little Man. Munchkin and Daddy were happy to celebrate with him too!

Mothers Day 2009

This was such a fun Mothers Day. Both kids "get" the significance of special days like this are are so excited to celebrate.

I woke up to a lovely breakfast in bed. It consisted of chocolate mini wheats, toast with Nutella spread and V8 Splash. They brought me presents in bed as well! Sweet kids! (And sweet hubby too!)

My sweet family took me to Longhorn Steakhouse for lunch. Aside from throwing my asparagus at my daughter (not on purpose of course...apparently I don't know how to use a knife) the whole meal was delicious and so fun. The server even brought me carnations before we left the restaurant.

After lunch we took the kiddos to the local carnival. We got a few tickets and rode a few rides. Munchkin freaked out at the top of the roller coaster because it was high. Little Man LOVED the roller coaster.

My family knows me well. They got me some new measuring cups, a Silpat mat and a gift card (including tip) to Massage Envy. Bobby was funny about the measuring cups. He wasn't sure if I would like them or not but I absolutely do! They are collapsible so they will fit in my drawer and they are such purty colors!

The best part of Mothers Day was getting to spend time with my sweet babies. I miss them so much now that I am working outside of the home. Any day that I get to spend with them is precious.

Mothers Day Tea

Last week I got an invitation to go to a Mothers Day Tea at my Little guys Preschool. When I arrived there were a few moms already there and quite the spread for all of us.

They led the kids out in a line. I was glad to see Little Man was on my end. He happened to be the line leader that day so he was pretty excited about that. The kids sang a few songs for us mommies and then brought us each a present.
Inside were some of the sweetest little gifts. I love to keep anything with my kids handprints on it. Each of those little treasures show how much the kids are growing. I think my favorite was the handprint butterfly.

Once the gifts were all distributed we were all asked to line up to get treats. One of the teachers even had a teapot that played music every time tea was poured. Little Man tried some sweet tea and made a horrible face. His teacher got him some water. :)

A tradition at the preschool is for the kids to rub lotion on their mamas hands. Little Man would have nothing to do with that. Have I mentioned he still has some sensory issues? He smelled it but would not touch it.

At the end he simply gave me a hug and a kiss and said "Bye Mommy! I yuv you!" and went back to being the line leader. We were instructed to take the flower with our kiddos name on it and head on out. The next class was about to start their tea

This was such a sweet gesture put on by the school. I loved seeing my sweet little guy there and seeing him shine.