Today I Experienced a Baking Fail.

For those of you who know about baking and how it works, can you tell me what I did wrong?

I wanted to make a yummy almond pound cake with a glaze.

The only thing I changed was I put half white whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour.

I'm wondering if I beat it too much, too long.

It was sooo flaky!  A big, crumbling mess.  It just fell in pieces out of the pan.

I didn't even bother making the glaze.  It tasted good though. 

Well, depending upon who you asked.  Tony said it tasted like corn bread.  I said, "yeah, cornbread without the cornmeal and tastes like cake." 

I asked the girls if they wanted any cake and they were immediately excited.  Ash took a big bite and said, "Bread!"  I sighed and said, "No, it's cake."  She then dubbed it "Cake-Bread."

I give up.

Today I Am Playing Catch Up and Losing.

You may have noticed that my blog posts have been sporadic and late for a while now.  So many things fall by the wayside when my life gets tough and blogging is one of them.  Remember my post about Ash being sick?  Well, she and Britt had something that was probably Rotavirus for over a month.  That means random vomiting and diarrhea for 30+ days.  I am exhausted.  Both girls lost over 2 pounds.  We did stool testing and were about to do blood testing too when it just gradually went away.  Such a relief.  I was really getting worried.  I'm grateful that Elle never got it.

Then we made the last minute decision to go ahead and go back to Seattle for a visit.  That was last week.  Hence, no posts.  I do have a bunch of pictures to post.  I will get to that as soon as I can.

And then the first sound I heard upon waking this morning was retching.  It's our first day back home from vacation and Britt threw up all morning.  She definitely has a tender tummy (so the McDonald's for lunch and dinner on the road couldn't have been great for her) but it's likely she picked up something at my mom's house (some of my siblings went down with a stomach bug the last couple days we were there). 

(i set up her mattress in the middle of the living room.  we haven't even unpacked yet, as you can see in the background.)

This has been the sickliest Summer EVER!

Today I Shared Chocolate.

Just some funny stories I need to write down so I can go back and remember how cute and funny my kids are right now.

Ash calls chocolate, "crotch-it."  Hahahahaha!


A couple weeks ago, I was helping Britt with a Pull-Up and while I was doing this, she was busy picking her nose.  Then she offered me the booger to which I scrunched up my face in disgust and said, "I don't really want your booger."  Britt smiled and replied, "Ok.  I eat it."  I quickly told her that was nasty and to go put it in the garbage.  She then pleasantly headed in the kitchen and I can only hope that she followed my instruction.

(booger-lovin' britt)



Today I Did a Fun 'Do.

I like to do Ash and Britt's hair every morning.  So much more appealing than tangled, messy locks hanging in their faces!  Usually I do something simple, easy and quick.  Today I had some real fun with Ash's hair that was more time consuming.

(sweet smile)



It was pretty simple to just divide the front of her hair into sections (starting with one row on top and then trying to do even rows on either side), then put hair bands into them.  Then I threaded an elastic lace through the sections, tied it in the back and stuck a flower clip on the side.  First time a "headband" has stayed put on her head!

(close up.  i was kinda sad when she said she didn't want to sleep with the hair ties in her hair.)

Thank you to Girly Do Hairstyles for the fun idea!

Today I Couldn't Get My Daughters' Bedroom Door Open.

Initially.

I always check on Ash and Britt before I go to bed.  There have been many times I was thankful I did.  Tonight was one of those nights. 

Like I said, initially, the door didn't open.  As I forced my way in, I quickly saw why...

I have no idea why Ash fell asleep by the door and in a toy bin!  But it made me smile.  I took a pic and then put her in bed where she belonged. 

Her new thing is refusing to wear pajamas because it's so hot.  Can't really blame her.  Our house doesn't cool down very well at night. We don't have air conditioning.  Yet.

Today I Played Glow-in-the-Dark Mini Golf.

(ash on a clown fish)

The local game center, Fat Cats, (bowling, go carts, arcade, movie theater, etc) is having a deal for the Summer. All games are 99 cents! So, Tony and decided to take the girls for their first game of mini golf.

(britt on a seahorse)

Let's just say, they aren't quite old enough for that game yet. Especially if it's glow-in-the-dark and their vision is limited. I think we only played for about 5 minutes max.

(elle on a sea turtle)

We ended up playing the arcade games for cheap (also 99 cents). And the girls redeemed their won tickets for candy. Of course!




Then we went back out to the car and had a little tailgate party with the themed snacks I had packed.

 (so much fun!)

Thanks to Dating Divas for the great free printables!

Today I Practically Held Hands with a Bee.

Elle and I went to Idaho Falls this evening to go to the mall, make some returns, go to Target, and get our weekly groceries at Walmart (I reeeeeally miss Costco!).  I had just turned off our road, had the window down, with my hand out - catching the cool air, when a bug hit my wrist hard!  I immediately pulled my hand in and starting wondering if having the windows up might not be safer since it could easily be a rock next.  So, even though I didn't want to turn on the air conditioning,  I went ahead and rolled up my window. 

About two minutes later I heard some loud buzzing right by my ear and look over to see a honey bee, madly climbing the window, less than a foot away from my FACE!  Yikes!  I'm lucky I didn't drive off the road in my haste to get the window back down and that insect out!

(stock photo)

That reminds me of another story.  So, here's my tangent.  Several years ago, when I was pregnant with Ash, Tony and I were going out somewhere, driving along with the windows down, and a bee flew into the car.  It was basically in Tony's space and it totally freaked him out.  He turned the wheel of the car, in a thoughtless attempt to get away from the bug and drove us onto the wrong side of the road and almost into the ditch!  I had to grab the wheel to keep us from crashing!  It was pretty crazy.  Ok, tangent over.

I'm just glad that the bee, that got into our car today, wasn't a wasp or a hornet because those stinging insects are mean!  And Elle was in the back seat.  I'm not looking forward to my childrens' first stings.  My maternal grandfather is allergic to bees so it may have been passed down genetically.  Scary stuff there.  But honey bees don't want to sting.  And this one that happened to get into my car just wanted out.  It did frighten me though.

But this story isn't over.

Elle and I ran all our errands, our last stop being Walmart, and when I got into the car to go home, I look over and there is a BEE!  Climbing my window AGAIN!  I swear it wasn't the same bee.  I saw the first one go out of my window!  I did!  What are the odds?!?  So, down my window went yet again to let out another bee.  Craziness. 

I'm not afraid of bees.  But I am afraid of wasps, yellow jackets and hornets.  I don't kill bees because they make honey and they don't want to sting and aren't aggressive like their non-honey-making cousins.  Plus, female bees DIE if they sting mammals so I know they aren't gonna sting unless they have to, right?  Whereas, hornets have chased me before. 

I also think bumblebees are adorable. 

Today It Finally Happened.

My sister, Kara, is an artist.  She pretty much always has been.  She's also the mother of four adorable, hilarious kids.  She's constantly calling me up and making me laugh until the tears run down my cheeks, with the things her kids say and do.  This is the same sister who wrote and illustrated a book.

I've been telling her for ages that she should journal the funny things her kids say in comic book form.  And now she finally is!  SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!  Go visit her blog and follow her. 

I'm going to include a picture from her blog later, if she says it's ok.  It's too late to call her and ask at this point.  :P

I just noticed that my sister and I kinda have the same idea when it comes to naming blogs.  Guess we both just do a lot of flying by the seat of our pants.  Hehehe.

Today I Chopped My Hair.

My hair was in desperate need of a new dye job.  The old one was wearing off and growing out.  I went in thinking that I'd try to get close to my natural color and have some layers put in. 

The color I ended up with is a bit darker than I intended.  Kinda goth, if you ask me. 

And I decided at the last minute to chop it off short.   One of these days I'll get Tony to take a picture of it for me. 

For now, here's everything I left behind at the salon.  Haha!

Today I Hung a Wreath on My Door.

I finally found my door wreath hanger!  So, then I had to finish the Fourth of July wreath. 

I decided to take pictures so it could be a bit of a tutorial.  :)

Double sided tape
Regular clear tape
4 (5- by 6-inch) pieces each of red, white, and blue posterboard
Cardboard, cut into a 10-inch circle, plus more for a star
Tacky glue
Aluminum foil
String
Box cutter

 (you're gonna have to make your own pattern.  i like lined paper for homemade patterns.  don't look at the ugly rental carpet please.)

 (pretty colors!)

To make a paper cone, put a piece of double-sided tape along the shorter edge of a piece of paper.  Roll the paper into cone shape (see the picture), then press to make it stick.  Repeat with the rest of your sheets of paper.

 (try to get the edges lined up nice and even.)

If you're using light paper, scrapbook paper or card stock, double-sided tape should be sufficient.  If you use poster board, as I did, you will need to reinforce with regular tape on top of the seams.

(i even reinforced the very bottoms of the cones since that part wasn't going to show.)

Squeeze a line of tacky glue on the back of each cone.  Lay the cones in alternating colors on the cardboard circle and press to make them stick.

 (confession: my husband made this with a measuring tape, string, and a box cutter.  i probably just would of used a bowl if i'd thought of it.)

(sticking the cones on the cardboard back.)

Cut a star shape out some extra cardboard.  Cover it with aluminum foil, smoothing out any wrinkles.  Apply glue to the back of the tips of the stars and it onto the center of the wreath, then let it dry.

 (i cut the star out of a diaper box.  you could use this template here.)

(i simply used the cardboard star to trace its shape on aluminum foil and then cut around it enough to have an edge to glue to the back.)

To hang the wreath, make a loop from the string and glue it to the back of the cardboard, then let it dry.

(just put a nice, big glob of glue on the back and it will hold quite nicely.)

(star-spangled door decor!  so festive!)

I'm leaving it up all month long.  :)

Thanks to Family Fun for the great idea!

Today I Got My Sunglasses Smashed.

I'm onto my fourth pair of sunglasses this year.  Someone keeps sitting or stepping on my purse!  Guess I need to stop leaving my purse on the floor or something....

Hope this pair lasts through the rest of the year.  At least.

Today I Celebrated the Independence of My Country.

(britt with her sparkler)

 

Our original plan was to go to my sisters in Wyoming, but we didn't exactly have the gas money (like, not at all) and my husband didn't have the day before or after the 4th off work. So I made some plans just for us and I think they turned out very well.
 

(tony's girls.  elle is just wearing bits and pieces i threw together to make her a festive outfit.)

We started the day off with cold cereal.  You know, the sugar kind that is actually just a vitamin fortified dessert.  The girls were really excited about that, of course.  After breakfast, we quickly got ready to go to the parade, which we were bit late for, but not too terribly.  Let me back up a little.  I had a slight disappointment before we got the parade because I couldn't find Elle's Fourth of July dress.  I had purchased it for her back in March and couldn't remember where I put it.  Sadly, I didn't find it until the end of this day.  Boo.

(ash with her sparkler)

But the parade was awesome.  We saw lots of the dancers.  There are lots and lots and lots of dance teams around here, it's kinda weird.   There was a Twinkie guy and a Snoopy and horses and girls dressed up like they were goin' to the prom.  Ash thought they were princesses and was very excited about them.  Lots of the people in the parade threw candy, which my children were very excited about.   One of the groups even threw otter pops!  I could not even believe that!  They were throwing frozen Popsicles at people.  I seriously thought that people were gonna get maimed.  I kept telling Tony to block the baby so she wouldn't get hit.  The poor lady sitting in front of us got biffed in the side of her face.  Tony managed to catch two of the otter pops so Ash and Britt could each have one. 

(she had me very nervous and stressed because she wasn't careful at all and i thought she was going to light her hair or dress on fire.)

After the parade, we headed home for some nice barbecue chicken and corn on the cob and some really neat Jell-O cups - red, white and blue.  Very patriotic looking and very pretty but I can't say that I like them all that much.  After having gone off sugar for almost 3 weeks,  a little bit of sugar goes a long way.  Not complaining, it's actually nice.  Unless I'm trying to eat a sugar bomb like Jell-O with lots of marshmallows, apparently. 

(4th of july jell-o)

After lunch is nap time.  Britt and Elle went down for a little shut-eye, Tony and Ash went to go get fireworks and a couple of things I needed at the store, and I worked on a wreath for the door.  Of course I can't find my wreath door hanger so I haven't finished the wreath yet.  Another boo!
Tony and Ash came back with some sparklers, worms and Pop-its.  Ash remembered fireworks from last year was very much anticipating being able to light them off this time around. 

(watching the "worms" grow.)

When Britt and Elle got up we went outside to throw Pop-Its and eat the cool Fourth of July flag kabobs I put together (thank you Pinterest!).  Tony also tried to teach the girls how to play baseball but it just wasn't working out so well.  Maybe when they are a bit older. 

(super easy and yummy berry flag)

For dinner, Tony made hamburgers which were DELICIOUS!  And we also had potatoes and watermelon.  I thought about putting a salad together as well but since I would have been the only person to eat it, I decided against it.   We were supposed to have homemade vanilla ice cream with berry toppings and whipped cream but it would've taken too long to make at that point.  Plus, we were soooo full of hamburger!

(startled by a very loud and sudden firework)

So we just killed time until it got kind of dusky and noticed the neighbors had already come out with all of their fireworks.  So we took our fireworks outside and lit everything we had together.  When we ran out of fireworks, I gave the girls the red white and blue glow sticks I had picked up at the dollar store.  Of course they were thrilled and did not want to go to bed, but all good things must come to an end, right?

(ash was still a bit shocked.)

I was sad to have missed hanging out with my family and going to my friend's barbecue that we go to every year.  But I had the people nearest and dearest to me to celebrate with, so I cannot complain at all.  It has been a great day.   God bless America!

(i loved watching the "snakes" grow when i was a kid.  it's fun to re-live the excitement with my own children now.) 

Today I Played "Beauty Parlor."

Hasn't everyone played "beauty parlor" with their mom, sister(s), or friends?  I have pictures from when I was 3 or 4, all dressed up with make-up and wearing one of my mom's slips.  Haha! It's cute.
When I was older I would brandish the make-up brush in front of my sisters' faces like they were canvas and the make-up was paint.  So. Much. Fun.

Practice definitely makes perfect so my make-up application skills have gotten rusty.  I stopped wearing much make-up after getting pregnant with Ash (couldn't stand the smell).  But my girlies don't care.  They just loooove it when I take the time to paint their cute, little faces.

I got on Pinterest and pulled up a page with lots of different eyes, done up with make-up in many various ways.  They each picked the eye they wanted and then picked out the lipstick they wanted from my collection.

I feel like I got a small glimpse of what I'll be looking at in about 10-15 years.  A little bit frightening actually.  Haha! 

(i'm in love with this picture)

Ash wasn't very pleased, later on this afternoon, when I made her wipe all the make-up off her eyes before going to the store with me.