Golden Day

Today is Taylor's Golden Birthday. I can't believe that she is 9. . .wow! She has decided that since it is 9/9/09 it is not just her Golden Birthday. It is her Super Duper Golden Birthday.

Birthdays are always a big deal in our house. I love to be spoiled on my birthday so I make sure their day is extra special, too.

She wanted Chocolate Dipped Waffles with sprinkles on them for breakfast.

She couldn't wait until tonight to open her presents, either.

We were rebels and sent non-healthy birthday snacks to school. My end result are not nearly as cute as Bakerella, but they sure do taste good. (Check out her site for all kinds of Cupcake Pops for every occasion)

We are in the process of planning her birthday party. Every year each girl gets a Theme Party that they help me plan. This year in honor of her Golden Birthday she is having a Solid Gold Disco Slumber Party.

Nature & Nails

We had an awesome Labor Day Weekend filled with making memories.

We spent the majority of the weekend camping near our home. The kids ran wild with their friends and we were able to spend a lot of fun time with our friends.

It was really windy, but the sun was out so the girls insisted that they spend a little time at the river.



Nadia took advantage of the wind and decided to fly her kite.

Yesterday we decided to finish off our weekend with a little shopping trip. It is Taylor's Ninth Birthday tomorrow so we took her out of town for eating and shopping. At the end of the shopping trip daddy decided that the girls could get their nails done. I have never even had my nails done. . .but he wanted to treat the girls. I wish I would have had my camera to take pictures of the girls. They looked so cute sitting with their nails under the dryers.

Now back to the grind today. What kind of memories will we make this week?

I Love Packages

A few weeks ago I participated in a Birthday Swap over at Seriously Shawn.

Yesterday I received my package in the mail from Bea. She sent the perfect gift. One of the most important things to me is to create an unforgettable childhood for my girls. I love to focus on the experiences we can have together. So she sent me this. . .

Three beautiful aprons for my girls created by Studio Eight. My girls absolutely loved them. In fact, they loved them so much that when I got home from the gym at 8:30 last night they surrounded me as I collapsed on the porch and begged to bake something.

Well they should have been getting ready for bed, but they were so excited about their new aprons that I knew that I couldn't make them go to bed. Luckily I had a box of Pound Cake mix, so we whipped it up quick (and then had to wait 50 minutes for it to bake). They didn't want to get out of bed this morning, but oh well. They created an awesome memory thanks to the beautiful aprons from Bea.



Thanks Shawn for the swap and thanks Bea for the perfect gift. Now I can't wait for Kristen to receive her gift from me. . .

If you are a parent that is interested in reading one of the best books I have read as a mom. Click over to my other blog and enter to win a signed copy of the book Not So Fast by Ann Kroeker. It is a book I think every parent should read!

How I have survived 9 1/2 years of Marriage

We are celebrating marriage today at a new snazL party on snazL.com.

Today at 3pm EST/2pm Central we will be chatting on marriage, sharing videos and pictures and giving each other advice on marriage survival.

All you have to do to join the fun is go to snazL.com and register. Then go to the top of the page to the "Quick Links" button. Click on upload. Browse your photos on your computer and then upload them to your profile.

During the party click on the (+) button to add your photos, videos, etc to the party. Or do you have a favorite song that is out on Youtube? Upload that to the party. I found the song I sang to my hubby at our wedding, so I added that to the party.

I interviewed my hubby on how he has survived being married to me for 9 1/2 years. I will be adding that video to the party.

It is easy to join in the fun. I would love to chat live with you today at 3pm EST/2pm Central. Hope to chat with you there!

Backyard Campout

Yesterday as I was cleaning inside of the house my girls put up the tent in the backyard. They kept talking about how they were going to sleep in it last night. I laughed. For one thing it was a school night. Not to mention, it wasn't exactly hot out last night. So I thought they would just play in there and then we would come back inside to our nice comfy beds.

The girls somehow convinced their dad that it would be fun to sleep outside, even though they had school today. So we all bundled up and headed outside. The girls each told us a story before bed. It was hilarious. I should have had the video camera out.

We actually went to sleep a lot earlier than we usually do. Somehow the girls ended up on the air mattress and Chad and I were on the ground. He lasted outside until about 2:30 am and then he told me he had to go into the house. Nadia lasted until about 4:00am. The older girls had to be woke up to get ready for school.

I guess this was just another one of our adventures. I only had one question for my hubby. Why didn't we do our backyard campout in the summertime when it was warm out and the girls didn't have school the next day. . .


AND THE WINNER IS. . .I almost forgot to post the winner of the ECOstore USA Shampoo and Conditioner. The winner is #7 The McCormick's.
McCormick's said...
I tried using fancy salon shampoo and conditioner a few weeks ago. Liked the shampoo but my scalp got super itchy and flaky. The conditioner didn't work at all. Would love to try the eco-friendly stuff since you like it!

I will send you an email and get your address to send off your prize.

Yummy Bran Muffins

Last night before bed I mixed up some Bran Muffins. This morning I put a pan in the oven for a fresh yummy breakfast. I wanted to share the recipe with you. This is something I love to have in the fridge so that I can make them whenever we need something a little different for breakfast. The batter can be kept in the fridge for up to 6 weeks.

1 cup Bran Buds
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp soda
2 cups Bran Flakes

Pour 1 cup boiling water over bran buds and set aside. Mix shortening and sugar. Mix in eggs then buttermilk. Add dry ingredients. Add Bran Buds and mix. Fold in Bran Flakes.

Bake muffins for 15 to 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Enjoy!

Afternoon Art Adventure

I am reading an amazing book right now by Ann Kroeker called Not So Fast - Slow Down Solutions for Frenzied Families.

This book has inspired me to slow down with my kids. So Sunday afternoon we had an afternoon art adventure. My oldest was at the river with some friends so the younger two and I gathered up our paint, markers, crayons and colored pencils and we had so much fun.

First we laid out a tablecloth on the front porch and we painted. They thought it would be fun to splatter paint. They filled their brushes with paint and hit the handle to make speckles all over their papers.



After our painting fun we loaded our picnic blanket, sketch books and drawing supplies into the stroller. Madi jumped on her bike and Nadia climbed into the stroller and we were off. We walked to City park and created.


Not long after we were there we had a little visitor. This little bird really wanted to get onto our blanket.



Nadia said, "He wants to be my friend."