After 6 long months........

they are finally ready!

All 11 1/2 liters of vanilla extract!

I had 1 bottle that was ready last month. I have been able to try it in several baked goods. Let me just tell you homemade is the way to go!!! I can tell a huge difference in taste by simple using homemade vanilla extract. It is so much better than the store bought version. I could almost drink it straight.......just kidding!

Are you curious as to how good it is? Stop by for a visit and I will bake you something.

Griffin is 16 sniff sniff!

This past Sunday Griffin turned the sweet 16. Are you allowed to say sweet if it is a boy who turned 16? 

After church, he picked  Outback for his birthday lunch( Yes, he has expensive taste........girls....any takers?). I overheard him telling his grandmother his favorite place to eat is Zaxbys but he did not want to go there for his birthday( No of course not, we would only be out $25 there! Hehe!). He ordered what he wanted( I thought there for a minute he was ordering for the whole table.).  

At the end of lunch, it was time for the Outback performance of Happy Birthday to you! Griffin would have rather skipped the song and dove into the free dessert( Finally something for free!). He should know you can't get your free dessert without having the whole restaurant staring at you.

Just like any other 16 year old, what do they think will be waiting for them around the corner?

None other than a car!

Yes, we broke down(even after the expensive lunch and bought him a car).

Isn't it a beauty!

A mini version of what he would love but can't have unless...

he fills this up........Griffin's car fund. If you would like to contribute send $ to:

Griffin's Dreamworld

$$$$  Easy Street

Hatethehardway, CA  $$$$$

Later that night, there was a devo at church for the youth. We brought a cake

and everyone sang Happy Birthday again!

Seriously, I can't believe my first born is 16. 23 hours of hard labor but it was so worth it once he entered the world. He is a handsome, good, helpful, fantastic, sweet son. I am so thankful that God chose me to be his mother. 

I love you Griffin!

No pool..........pool party!

For Ella's 6th birthday party, we planned a flip floppin pool party( I know I am having a hard time letting go of summer).

The invitations

The night before the party( fantastic timing), I got a phone call to let me know that the pool we rented was closed. I really needed to cool off in that water because I was hot!!! How can we have a pool party with no pool? Knowing it was too late to move the party I improvised. We had a flip floppin wet party instead. I basically ran into Walmart grabbed wet things before heading to Griffin's game. 

When everyone arrived, I had to explain( as all the children came in their bathing suits prepared for a pool party) there was no swimming. Picture this..... a lovely, sparkling, nice pool, temperatures outside are in the mid 80's and sweaty kids are told they can't get in the pool.

Don't they look confused??????

After getting over the initial shock, we began the fun wet activities.

Water Bottle Freeze Tag

Sprinkler Run

Water Balloon Fight

 Along with the look but don't touch pool was a clubhouse. I was able to decorate in the flip flop theme.

 A few weeks back I picked up this plain white cover up from Target. It was perfect for the party once I added the flip flops and monogrammed name.

I knew I should have taken a picture before she started playing. I promise the dark stains were not on there when I made it.

As a side item for lunch, I couldn't help but try out this idea.

 flip flop fruit

 For dessert, what would be more appropriate than a flip flop cake.

 I had planned as an extra activity for the kids to make flip flop cookies but getting wet sounded better.

The girls had fun making them  at home.

We finished up with presents and a pinata. 

Despite the last minute changes and mom being stressed( I was looking forward to a relaxing by the pool kind of  a party!), it turned out to be a great party!

As long as the birthday girl and all her guest have a good time..........mom is happy!

My order finally came in!

25 lbs of  100% whole wheat

50 lbs of rolled oats

100 lbs of hard white wheat

Hopefully, I am stocked up for a while!

How Ella celebrated her birthday!

We had parent/teacher conferences today at school so it was a half day. 

She brought cupcakes to share with the class.

Her daddy came to eat  lunch with her and spend the rest of the afternoon with her.

For her birthday supper she had a hamburger at Griffin's game.

When asked, "Did you have a good birthday?"

She said, "Yes, I had so many people call me today!"

Speaking of calling, check back tomorrow to find out about a very special phone call she received!

Happy Birthday Ella!

Another homemade success

Homemade Poptarts!

I have been wanting to make  these    http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/homemade-healthy-poptarts for a while now.  Nothing like expiring yogurt to finally get you to try them. These were easy to make and very yummy!

We used our homemade strawberry freezer jam for the filling. We made a few plain and a few with a glaze.

Even Griffin who complains about eating whole wheat enjoyed these.

Can you tell in the next picture which ones Laney made?

If you can't.........they are the poptarts that look like they have been murdered.

N is for nest

The other day for our cooking day we made edible nest.

They are made just like rice krispy treats except we used chow mien noodles instead of the cereal. Form them into the shape of a nest and place jelly beans in the center to represent eggs.

An easy and yet cute treat for the letter N.

Community Helper Day

I volunteered to be head coordinator for the theme days at our school. Since we have been talking about community helpers in my class, I decided our first theme day would be Community Helper Day. I invited local helpers from our community to visit our school.

We had a local fire department bring their truck and talk to us about fire safety.

See that huge match. That would have been nice to have when I needed to light ALL those candles on my husband's birthday cake!

We had a local postal worker bring her mail truck. 

She showed us the back of the truck and told us it would not be empty much longer!

We had a nurse visit and tell us about the spreading of germs. She did an experiment with the kids. They put their hands in flour and sat down at the table. Lets just say the table was no longer brown but white.

Makes me want to go home and take a shower!

We had a local policeman bring the D.A.R.E car. He let the class sit in the car, listen to the sirens and he passed out t-shirts, pencils and coloring books. He also brought a special guest McGruff the crime fighting dog. Surprisingly, I only had I child afraid of McGruff!

The children were allowed to dress up as a community helper. Both of my girls chose to be a teacher. They picked out what they thought a teacher would wear and carry. Laney quickly said she needed a teacher bag to hold her clipboard and phone. Ella on the other hand filled her teacher bag with toys. If only I could carry around toys instead of lesson plans and papers.

Thank you to all the community helpers out there. You are appreciated!