document life now

my birthday cake

So I baked myself a birthday cake. I had an idea and I might as well do it myself, right?

I was inspired by several great blog posts:

Colorburst Cupcakes

Rainbow Cake

Rainbow Cake

I love Mickey Mouse and thought I'd let that be the theme for my cake. Right now, my children and my husband are rallying and planning our monster Disney trip for next summer. I wanted to kick that planning off on a good note. So....

I followed the directions at the Tasty Kitchen link. Baked three separate layers. Then I froze all three layers overnight. 

The next day, I made the most amazing frosting (if I do say so myself). Here's the recipe:

 

1 cup milk

1 (3 1/2 ounce) package instant pudding mix, any flavor

1/4 cup powdered sugar

8 ounces Cool Whip

 

I used white chocolate pudding mix. You whisk the milk and pudding mix and powdered sugar for 2 minutes, then fold in the cool whip. I doubled the recipe and still had about 1/4 of it leftover. So I needed a double recipe, but not the whole thing. It really is amazing. So much lighter than regular frosting. 

However, not really intended for layered cakes like this. I probably should have froze it again before serving instead of just refrigerating. It slipped a little bit as I was cutting. It was still amazing, though. 

I have all these ideas for other themes. I actually intended to do a princess themed version for my niece, but she wasn't there, so I've got some pink food coloring left over. Chesney wants a Stitch themed cake -- blue and purple layers. I could do school colors for Brady's graduation cake. 

The possibilities really are endless. And when you start thinking cupcakes... I could go on and on. Any other great ideas? 

why my mom is the bomb diggity by my children

Since today happens to be my momma's forty-first birthday I thought I would share a few tips she has taught me in my fifteen years of living. 

1.) Be a leader.

    Don't follow what other people are doing. Do what you want and what is best for you. 

2.) Don't live to impress anyone other than yourself. 

3.) Ummmm.. go to college. 

Yeah my mom is pretty much the coolest person I know. I just wanted to share that she has influenced my life for the better. Happy birthday mom! I love you!              -Your favorite daughter Mykiah

Dear Mother,

    You are the best mother I have ever had.

Brady Lund

i love my mom for many reasons. the first one is she always tells me the truth. the second one is she is always there for me.the third is she is my mom and is the awesomest person in the whole wide world! i love her she is the bomb diggity! she cooks, she cleans, she loves me, she tells the truth, and she is my mom! i love her forever i like her foralways and as long as she is living my mommy she will be! i hope she has a wonderful birthday! i could not live with out her. that is why my mom is the bomb diggity ! i love her.

chesney

our summer obsessions

My summer days aren't as long this year since I'm teaching 4 mornings a week (and Dan has Fridays off), but the temperatures this week have been horrific, and we have been spending our afternoons in the relative cool of our living room. This requires that we have something going on the TV (although we do take 1-2 hour reading breaks with the TV off quite a bit). 

This summer's TV list includes:

1. Toddlers and Tiaras

I got started on this last fall. I can still remember watching it late at night one night when I was babysitting at the hospital over New Year's. I normally abhor rude little children, but this show just amuses me. It's just unreal, and the girls (and mostly their parents) are just so serious about it. Cracks me up. I love Makenzie. Rhymes with Lindsay.

My girls and I regularly make T&T jokes. We love it. (Nods head with fist under chin.)

2. Bones

So over Memorial Day we went to visit my mom's family and my cousins and I got to talking about TV shows. One of my cousins said that her daughter loves Bones. Since her daughter and Chesney were pretty much two peas in a pod, I thought maybe we might like it.

And like it, we do. 

Thank heavens it's on a couple dozen times a week. I like to tape it on my DVR (in our bedroom) and fall asleep with it on. Then I have to rewatch it the next day because I didn't catch the end.

P.S. Doesn't Sweets look like Tim Haygood? It's freaking me out. Doppelgangers!

3. The Voice

We'll call this my early summer obsession. It ended while we were on vacation, so it was anti-climatic (because I'm pretty sure during the finale I was sitting in a piano bar somewhere singing "Piano Man" at the top of my lungs and rather ignoring my two companions). However, totally fell in love with Adam Levine. 

Not my usual style, but so pretty. And I like his music.

I gave up on Idol after Daughtry didn't win, so this was a new, fun show for me. I'm excited about another season and kind of glad they're saving it for mid-season. Too much of a good thing just makes you sick.

We have other, non-TV obsessions. This year it's BLTs for dinner. Ice by the bag. Hummus and pita chips. Listening to podcasts while in the van. Flip flops. Air conditioning. 

What shows, foods and activities make your summer one to remember?

 

totally craving

I'm not pregnant. I swear. It's the middle of summer, I'm stuck indoors most of the day (I guess I could go outside, but melting is just not my style) and my birthday is approaching. My birthday makes me think about things I really, really want, but for the most part cannot have.

Like these:

I love Sweet Tarts. Should I be in a store and see them, I grab them. And Disney sweet tarts... probably the best thing ever. I'm sure they taste better just because they're shaped like Disney characters. I took this photo in 2009 while we were at Disneyland. I know I went through at least two bags of them. Probably more. I wuv them. Need them... right now. In fact, if someone walked down my street munching out of this bag, I'd be hard pressed not to attack. That's how bad my need is. If I should ever get to a Disney park, I'm bringing home a whole suitcase full. No lie.

While we're talking about Disney, I want a magic bar. As far as I can tell in my recent research, they are only sold at Wilderness Lodge and Port Orleans. I decided I wanted some for my birthday "cake". Yeah, you can't find a recipe anywhere. I found one that claims to be close. I may use it. I have a different idea, though. However, I'm craving this magic bar. Not enough to assault people. Craving.

It's only been a little over a week since I ate at Cantina Laredo, but this wonderful meal was no longer on the menu. I regret it. This is enchiladas de chile relleno. That's right... inside each of those tortillas is a chile relleno. Side of avocado, please. This is my favorite thing to order at Cantina (next to a margarita, which I did not order the last time I ate there). It's awesomeness. Wrapped in a tortilla.

I crave one of these almost every morning. So four mornings a week, I stop at the QT and get me a styrofoam cup... because that's what makes the difference. 9 times out of 10, I get an unsweetened iced tea in the cup. At 7:20 am. Then I drink it throughout the morning. The styrofoam keeps it cold. Makes it magical. 

And it's only 63 cents with tax for a few more weeks. 

Love QT. 

And finally...

Because it's summer, I want me some blueberries. I have a really hard time paying $3/pint for them. I'm going to cave this weekend. I need to put one of these in my mouth and feel the memories of summers past come flooding back. I'm not a huge berry/fruit eater, but I could eat these by the pound. I need me some blueberries. Plus, any blue food is extra fun, right?

another movie review

I love buddy movies. SWAT, Without a Paddle, Stand by Me. Three very different movies that at the core feature buddies. Guys, who share a friendship. A bond. 

So when I started to read a bit about Super 8, I thought it might be something I'd enjoy.

One Sunday while it was 103 degrees in Branson, we decided to go see a movie. My girls didn't want to see some strange movie named after a motel, so they went to see Monte Carlo.

I went with my guys to see Super 8.

It was really good. The best new movie I've seen in years. I even liked it more than the Harry Potter movies. To be fair, the HP movies were based on books I've read many times, so there weren't any surprises. Super 8 was full of surprises.

I loved the movie so much that Mykiah decided she wanted to see it. So last Friday, when it was once again very hot but we were back home, we decided to see it again as a family. And Mykiah fell in love with it. 

Definitely my favorite movie of summer 2011. I hope it will be one of those movies that becomes a classic. It's not flashy like Transformer or Captain America (although... have you seen the previews? CA is going to be fun). It's just a nice solid movie. It grips me.

It's got pieces of a lot of great movies in my past. In fact, it kind of made me think about this t-shirt I bought Brady while we were on vacation:

I really wish I'd bought the ladies' version for myself....

the shows we saw

We really love to see shows while we're on vacation. Music is just something that we love. And laughter. We love to laugh.

We saw a bunch of shows. Haygoods, Duttons, Buckets N Boards, Cat's Pajamas, Neal McCoy, SIX, and Haygoods again. We love Buckets N Boards. It's our favorite. Matt and Gareth are funny and talented and just full of McAwesome Sauce.

Friday night we went to see Neal McCoy. It's not really fair to compare a former CMA Entertainer of the Year to Branson shows, but I have to say that I think I could see his show many, many times and never get bored. I was pretty excited when I realized that he was going to be in town for one night during our trip. 

The next day, most of Dan's family went to see SIX. We have (obviously) seen them before, and this time we were sitting so far back that I just wasn't as into it as I normally am. Still love Carry On Wayward Son. Such a surprise to hear during a show in Branson. I think everyone else liked it pretty well. Good show for Branson newcomers because they do such a great mix of songs.

We weren't planning to see Cat's Pajamas, but it sounded fun. They've changed line-ups a couple of times since we last saw them and Kiah really wanted to give them a try. We were glad they did. They're fun and have a great song selection. They're also going to be on TV real soon. I'm excited to be able to watch them.

The last show we saw (and also the first) was The Haygoods. Kiah and I went alone earlier in the week, and then the whole family went on Saturday night. They've got an amazing first half. 

So there's my top five for 2011. Not sure when we'll get back to see another show, but I've got these memories to get me through. And the promise of a Buckets N Boards DVD soon...

more photos

Chesney in the pool. Doing her "sparkle baby" from Toddlers and Tiaras.

That's how we roll.

Brady eating a double burger at Danna's. He overdid it a bit with the spicy barbecue sauce. It was oh-so-good, though. Even if we did have to stop at the condo to change his shirt before our show.

Me & Bady waiting for Neal McCoy. We like Neal. And each other.

Brady always gets stuck with the bad bed when we go on vacation. This one was particularly bad. We tried putting the hide-a-bed mattress on the floor. It was awful. He tried sleeping on the sofa. Awful. Finally we went to Wal-mart and bought him a convoluted foam mattress pad and that helped a little. And he just slept on the sofa bed as it was meant to be used.

Didn't help much. He slept 12 hours straight once we got home. 

The fact is... he's the biggest person in our family. He shouldn't be forced to sleep on air beds, or rollaways, or on pull out sofas. Yet with a family of 5 (and two sisters), that's exactly what he gets. It's a problem. Poor guy.

more from vacation 2011

Hmmm... what night did I take this? Oh yes. Thursday evening I wasn't feeling well, and the good people at the Americana were able to switch our reservation to Saturday night. So we were at the condo and got to see the sunset off our balcony. It was gorgeousness.

Tuesday we took the crew plus two to White Water. It was a gray, cloudy day and a bit cool, but it was perfect for White Water. Chesney had a friend to entertain her (and she's often the odd one out with her two older siblings, so it was very nice for her) and Brady got to show Zach around White Water. Zach wasn't too sure when we got there and he saw the slides. I strapped him into a life jacket (although he is taking lessons, we wanted him to be safe) and after one ride with Brady, Dan and I, Zach was good to go. The boy went down slide after slide... and Brady trailed after him. Both boys were exhausted by the end of the day. Twelve years age difference, but it doesn't matter when the objective is fun.

Took this photo our last morning, while the family was packing up. We normally are up and running on "home" day, but not this time. We were still out by 7:30, but it was a slower to wake, slower to get going kind of day. I took a moment to photograph the beauty of a morning in the Ozarks. I love this view.

You know what we love doing in Branson? Shopping! We brought home twice as much as we took to Branson. Part of it was food that we'd bought for the condo and hadn't eaten (notice the case of pop), but we hit the outlets pretty hard. Nike had athletic shoes for the girls. The Disney store had clearance merchandise from Disneyland (including a shirt Dan picked out for me... too bad I'd bought it during our 2009 trip). Eddie Bauer was amazing. A $160 swimsuit for $10. Old Navy. Target. Lots of shopping. Made for a very full van. Entire back of the van was shoved full. The seat beside Chesney... full. The area between the captain's chairs... overflowing. Poor Hayden. He ended up in a very small space between the captain chairs. But he didn't get sick... bonus points for Hayden!

vacation 2011

I know. We already had a trip for Spring Break. However, the past 10 or so days were our true family vacation of 2011.

Surprise, surprise... we went to Branson.

I'll be honest with you... I didn't take a bunch of photos. You can only take so many photos of the same thing. Or at least I can only take so many photos. 

I thought I'd share a few each day this week with you, and tell you some stories behind them. Hopefully I'll get enough edited to finish the week.

Kiah before we saw the Haygoods for the second time. She's just gorgeous, isn't she? I do love seeing that show with her. 

Dan's friend the squirrel, who ate breakfast on our balcony each morning. Dan would leave him peanuts.

Brady jumped into my photo. He walked around without a shirt most of the time we were at the condo. Drove me crazy. And so he had to jump in and document it. I like this photo because it's just me and Brady, our authentic relationship.

Kiah and Dan getting ready to blast off on Powder Keg. Look at the joy on her face. Girl is an adrenaline junkie. 

P.S. Brady had his senior pictures taken over our trip by a wonderful Branson photographer. You can see a sneak peek of Dynae's photos on her Facebook page: Brady's Senior Session

Happy 4th of July!

I hope this Independence Day finds you happy and full of summer fun! 

July has long been my favorite month. There's the 4th, and my birthday, and the last full month of summer, and my birthday. 

I originally had a cute little ad here telling you about my sale in my digital design store, but while we were away, I decided to just close my shoppe. I came home and put my entire shop on clearance for 50% off. I have no plans to sell elsewhere (although I do have a fun guest spot for July!) and want to give you a chance to get my designs at a great price. If you're doing Disney anytime soon -- or have a pile of photos still to be scrapped -- definitely check out my shop. No coupon code needed. Just put it in your cart and it will show up at the sale price.

my shoppe at 2LP

Have a wonderful month!