Trent is a Boy Scout!!!

Trent with the 11 yr. old Scout ldr., Sister Norrell.

My son is officially a boy scout!! This past Wednesday night he bridged over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts because he is 11 yrs. old now. (He does not have his scout shirt on because I got it too large, thinking he could wear it longer. It swallows him. I should have known! Anyway, I hated that he didn't have it because we want him to be in uniform, but he will definitely have the right size for his next meeting.) We are so proud of his accomplishments in Cub Scouts. He earned all of his rank, many pins, belt loops, the religious square knot and the Arrow of Light award. Great job Trent!

He was excited to join the 11 year old scouts and be back with all his buddies that had already moved up. He got busy immediately and went on a 5 mile hike where they tracked animals on Saturday. It was tiring for him, but fun too. We are so happy he enjoys the Boy Scout program!

Trent walking across the bridge and saying the Boy Scout Law.

Wood Name Blocks

Recently I came across this super cute craft while venturing around blog land. I loved this and knew I had to make it. Visit Creative Crate to see her original version. I'm glad she had such a great idea and shared it. It made the perfect gift for a friend that had her bridal shower recently.

I did change mine up a bit from the one she did,but not too much. I used a 2x6 and cut three different pieces to the sizes I wanted. I'm really not sure of the measurements for each piece. I kinda just used my preferred method of measuring which is "eyeballing" it. It helps if you have a table saw so you can rip the 2x6 to make the two pieces "arpenters" and "est.2010." If you purchase your board at Lowe's they can cut it for you at $.25 a cut. I sanded my pieces and then spray painted them porcelain satin(it's what I had on hand). Then I distressed the edges of the blocks by wiping on some black craft paint right along the edges and then wiping off the excess. I used my Cricut to cut the vinyl letters and numbers and then adhered it to the blocks. I thought it turned out pretty cute. Can't wait to make more for gifts and one for us. I think I want ours to say "A Family Forever."

Cookies and Cream Cake

Last Saturday our birthday boy finished up his celebrations with my family that came down to help celebrate with him. He opened his gifts from them(lots of Legos and Star Wars.Two of his faves) and later we sang Happy Birthday. Then it was on to the cake and ice cream. I had asked Trent what kind of cake he would like to have and he said something with Oreo's, so I came up with what I call a "Cookies and Cream Cake." It's very simple really. I just made a devil's food cake mix, frosted it with vanilla frosting and then patted on some crushed mini Oreo's on the sides of the cake. I also made a little mound of Oreo's on top. However, I found out that you should wait to add the crushed Oreo's and mini ones on top until just before serving. They were soft because I had put them on the cake the night before. I covered it up in my cake platter, but they still got too soft. The cake still tasted good, though and Trent liked it!

Happy Birthday Trent!

Today my son celebrates his 11th birthday!! There he is in the birthday chair!! Wow! Eleven years ago we brought home this tiny baby that weighed only 5lbs. 15 oz. and today he is my big guy!!! (Not sure how much he weighs right now.LOL!) I am so very happy to be his mom. He is our sweet, loving, smart, courageous, handsome, athletic and funny guy. We can always count on Trent to make us laugh. (Want to hear a good Chuck Norris joke? He's got plenty!) He gets to celebrate tonight at his restaurant of choice and then tomorrow with my family! Fun!!! We love you!!!

Hair Helper

A couple months ago my daughter, Laci, got a haircut. Not really a big deal I guess, but she's only had 3 in her whole little life. She told me she only wanted Tonya, which is my hairstylist and our friend from church, to cut it. She was so excited to get it cut and decided that she would donate her cut hair to Wigs for Kids after Tonya told her that her hair was long enough to donate. I explained to her that some kids lose their hair due to health conditions or when they are trying to get better from certain illnesses and Wigs for Kids takes the hair that is donated and makes wigs for them to wear. She thought it was a good thing and so do I. Good choice, Laci!

If you want to know more about this non-profit organization you can find it here. Their site tells you how to donate, how to cut a ponytail, how long it has to be and more.

After pic(at Bluebell Creamery)

Before pic

Ponytail to donate

The Deep Fried Snickers

That is a deep fried Snickers bar. Covered and smothered in powdered sugar. I have heard about deep fried candy bars, Oreo's, Twinkies,etc. for a long time, seen them on food network shows and heard that they were sold at the fair, but I had never tried one. That was until a few weeks ago when me, my mom, sister and grandmother went on an "all girl adventure" to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, TN. So when I saw that this little shop in Gatlinburg made these, I passed up my beloved funnel cake and got a deep fried Snickers instead.(Didn't care about all those calories. I was on a trip!!) I guess just to try it and see if it was all it was made out to be. Well, it wasn't. Not to me anyway. It was okay at best. I mean after all it is a candy bar that had been drenched in batter and put in a deep fryer. That just sounds wrong. Oh well. Anyway, it was super rich so I didn't (couldn't) eat all of it.It still had that Snickers, nougat/peanut taste, but something was just off. Maybe if I'd had a tall glass of milk. I think the Milky Way would have been a better choice. More gooey and caramel. Mmmm! So that is my review of a deep fried Snickers. I'm sure everyone out there was waiting for that! LOL!!!

Chicken Noodle Casserole

A quick and tasty recipe to share with you today for Chicken Noodle Casserole. I spotted this recipe, along with more that I want to try, on one of my favorite websites, Sugardoodle.net. You can find it here.

I made this last night and it looks like it's a keeper. It all came together fairly quick, too, which I love. This recipe is also something both of my older kids could help make, as well. We are about to start implementing "Kid's Dinner Night." (Just made up that title, but it sounds good) Basically, the kids(the two oldest) will have one night a week to make dinner or make dinner with a little help from mom or dad, depending on what they choose to make. Now,this isn't something we're forcing them to do. It came about as a way to let them help out by doing something they already like to do-cook! I am usually bombarded at dinner time, mostly by my girlies,but sometimes by my big man,too, with eager little hands that want to stir,mix,add ingredients,read recipes and get ingredients for me. We'll see how it goes. They are all excited about it. Hopefully, they will learn more about cooking,find some recipes they love and enjoy helping serve others.

Chirp! Chirp! I Love My Cricut!

Before we get to the Cricut, just wanted to say that the kids' first day of school went well. They both said they had a good day and were ready to go back this morning. We are getting back into our routine and are about to get busier with dance, piano and soccer. Chauffeur time!

Now to that little machine up there, the Cricut Expression. I finally bought one about a month ago.I know I've said numerous times on this blog,"if I had my own Cricut," "when I get my Cricut," "you could cut this out on your Cricut."So, now I have one!! Yay! But after further inspection, I had to send it back to Provo Craft(they paid for that)because the size dial didn't work, which took a week. They sent a brand new one back to me which took another week. Everything works and it is great, but it was so frustrating to have projects waiting and not be able to use my machine. I already had vinyl, transfer paper and cute stuff to do! Can't a girl use her Cricut!

The first thing I cut using the Cricut were the kids' names and intials for their water bottles for school. I think they turned out cute and the kids love them! By the way, I get my vinyl from Expressions Vinyl. I think they have good prices and they ship it pretty quick.



I also cut out monograms and tags for these plastic totes. I found the totes at Target dollar spot and thought they would be good to carry all those extra supplies like Kleenex, paper towels, hand soap etc. Hopefully more projects to share with you soon!!

First Day Of School

Today was the kids' first day of school for the 2010-2011 school year!! It has been a fun summer, but they are happy to go back to school and I am glad school is back in session , too. I'm so thankful they are excited about going back. That might wear off in a couple weeks! LOL!!

My big man, Trent, is a 6th grader! Are you kidding me? That means 7th grade next year. Oh my! I don't even want to think about that right now! My little Laci bug is a 2nd grader! Seems like yesterday that I was taking her to her first day of kindergarten. Time does surely fly by fast.I love my little sweeties and hope they have a great first day!!

Not to be left out, miss Ivy thought she was just as big as the other two. She's in the picture with her lunchbox in hand(still in her pj's). She wants to go to school so bad, so her and I will be having some of our own school activities here at home.

Silly shot

Backpack shot

New shoe shot(they're always excited to have new shoes for school)