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Saturday, March 31, 2012

Scavenger Hunt Sunday: April 1, 2012


Scavenger Hunt Sunday items: Clouds, Sun Flare, Seven, High Angle and Low Angle

Clouds



Sun Flare
This one is from my archives. I knew I wasn't going to get a chance to get a shot and I remembered this picture taken about a year ago. I loved this shot when I took it and I still do.

Seven
One of the flowers on my favorite dress.

High Angle

The girls like to help daddy make his sandwiches to take to work for his "lunch." He eats this in the middle of the night, but he still calls it his lunch. I was able to capture this shot from on our steps.

Low Angle

Our little guy is 6 weeks old and has the biggest smiles. In fact the first smile he gave me was in the hospital this past week.


Happy Birthday Flower

Tabitha has a special friend named Flower and she woke up yesterday telling us it was Flower's birthday. We were supposed to have pancakes for breakfast, Tabitha insisted. But mommy just doesn't have the time to fix pancakes for breakfast. They are usually the main course for Breakfast for Dinner Thursdays.  Tabitha was quite upset because we weren't allowing Flower to have her pancakes for her special Birthday Breakfast. We calmed her down by telling her we would have them for dinner (we hadn't had Breakfast for Dinner on Thursday this week because I had a dentist appointment).  Then there was a change of plans. Daddy and Tabitha made a cake while I was at an appointment. Daddy wanted to try adding chocolate chips and marshmallows to the batter. Yum, yum. When I got home I frosted it with Cool Whip.
The writing was done with Hershey's syrup.

Turns out Flower's birthday was to be a grand affair.  They made cards and gathered gifts.

Baby Shower Celebration: Sponsor Spotlight: Picky Sticky



In case you haven't noticed by reading my blog, I really like to take pictures. I have always been a big picture taker, my mom always thought I took too many pictures. I love having the memories. When I was pregnant for Floyd (who is now 18 years old) I read a great idea for taking pictures each month for his first year of life, preferably next to or in something to show how much he had grown. I loved this idea and used it for both Floyd and Krystal, placing the pictures in these photo frames:



I then decided that I would continue the tradition with our little girls (and now our little guy). Unfortunately, because I had to wait a while to get film developed I struggled to figure out which picture went with which month. (In fact, I still have pictures to develop of Tabitha and I am hoping I can remember which pictures are which.)  It was then that I saw another great idea on various blogs. I saw people using signs to mark each month. The thing was, I wanted to keep it possible to frame the pictures as I did above and I couldn't fit putting a sign next to the children. Then I saw the idea of putting the age right on the clothing. That would obviously work with the way I wanted to frame the pictures. But how to implement this idea? I didn't want to write on the clothing. So, I let the idea go by the wayside. Then when I was pregnant with baby Harold I found this great company that made month milestone stickers. The company is Picky Sticky and here is a little bit about them from their website.
"Picky Sticky, the Original Creator of Baby Month Onesie Stickers offers a fun way to record your little one growing right before your eyes. Our milestone monthly onesie stickers offer you an array of bright and fun designs to match your style. Picky Sticky onesie stickers make a great baby shower gift. Give them to friends and family and month by month they can share their photos keeping you up to date on thier growth. It's a fun way to keep in touch. Each set of Picky Sticky's comes in an individual cellophane package with a card that details how they can be used. If giving them as a gift we also offer the ability to leave a short message to whomever is receiving them during check out (free of charge)...Babies grow so quickly. Capture every change along the way. Month by month simply stick a Picky Sticky monthly onesie sticker to your child's onesie or t-shirt. Take a picture to capture each stage and be amazed at how much your little one changes."
"Capture each of your childs special milestones by sticking a Picky Sticky baby month sticker to a onesie or t-shirt, take a picture and cherish the memories."

Here are some of their great designs:

Friday, March 30, 2012

Lovin' The Weekend Blog Hops Week 26- March 30-April 1


Welcome to the twenty sixth weekend of Lovin' the Weekend Blog Hops.
Giveaway Linky is the bottom linky!

I am looking for a co-host. If you would be interested in co-hosting Lovin' The Weekend Blog Hops please contact me in the comments or via email: kewkew34@yahoo.com

Here's how this blog hop works. I would appreciate it if you would follow me via GFC. If you no longer have GFC please follow me some other way. After that there are three different linkys you can link to. Whichever one you choose to link to, please grab that button and share it on your blog (the codes are on my sidebar). I'd love it if you could tweet or in some other way share about this blog hop, the more people who know about it, the more potential visitors and new followers of your blog. I'd love to meet some new friends this weekend.  
I have noticed that some people are more interested in just increasing their numbers, while others really want people who appreciate their blog and want to keep up with their posts. So, I decided to create two separate linkys. The third linky is for you to link up your giveaways.

If you are interested in increasing the number of followers to your blog via GFC, Linky Followers, email, Twitter, Facebook or Google+ link up here. I will follow you back if you follow me (just note which one you are linking to):

Tots and Me







If you are interested in gaining followers to your blog who will read and comment and truly find an interest in your blog, link up here:

Tots and Me





If you have family friendly giveaways to link up, here's your spot. Please make sure to include an end date for your giveaway.

Tots and Me





I am so glad you stopped by. Please leave a comment if you link up and I will be sure to stop by and follow back.

Don't forget to check out my "Blog Hops" page for other great weekend blog hops!!

Don't forget to check out:
Tots and Me

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen: Pineapple Upside Down Cake

I really wanted to make pineapple upside down cake when we were doing the color yellow a few weeks ago. Unfortunately we never got to it. That, however, did not change the fact that I really wanted pineapple upside down cake. I realized we haven't made this in almost two years. We originally made it when we were doing the letter U (for upside down).  So we made this last night when grandpa was here for a visit (grandma is still down here helping out).


3 TBS butter
1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple (drain juice and reserve 1/2 cup)
8 maraschino cherries (we used 16)
1/4 cup walnut halves
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
(This recipe was found at allrecipe.com)

The girls took turns cutting off a tablespoon of butter to place in the bowl to melt in the microwave.





It was then poured into the pan (we use a 9X9 square pan because we don't own a round pan)


The girls then arranged the cherries and the walnuts:



Then they sprinkled the brown sugar on.


I put the pineapple on top of the brown sugar and we set the pan aside while we made the batter.
Then we creamed the shortening and sugar.



The next step is to add the egg and vanilla and beat it well.


It was then time to sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl. Unfortunately I forgot to measure them into a separate bowl. I had the girls put the dry ingredients in with the sugar/shortening mixture. It didn't hurt the recipe though. 



So we just mixed it all together, adding the pineapple juice.



Then we spooned the batter over the pineapple in the pan.



Daddy enjoyed the remaining pineapple juice.


Amelia insisted on getting a picture of me putting the cake in the oven.


The girls love watching their creations bake (and other foods too).


Of course, because Amelia needed the picture of me putting the cake IN the oven, Tabitha needed her turn to take a picture.






Here is a picture of the girls the last time we made this. Wow, have they grown in the last 2 years. 
(Hannah was just a baby last time.)





Do you have your children help you in the kitchen?  What lessons do they learn? Do you have any kid friendly recipes to share?
I'd love to see your posts, whether you have done something this week or some time in the past. Just link up below. This is a weekly linky, it just doesn't always get posted on the same day.

I am linking up to:






Chestnut Grove Academy




Blog Post Hop








Growing Up Gardner







Happy Go Lucky


And here is my Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen linky