4th of July 2012

I know I'm running a little behind, but that's how we roll around here. For your enjoyment, below are some pictures from the 4th of July this year.

**Disclaimer:  Yes, we are those parents that let their 6 and 4 year olds light firecrackers. They get to do the little sidewalk ones and parachutes, and one of us is always right next to them. They need to learn how to do things like this safely and correctly and learn to respect the fact that they are indeed playing with fire and you have to be careful.**

Julian lights his racecar monkey.

BANG!

Kaleb lighting his racecare monkey.

Aren't they cute little guys?

Best seats around, in the back of grandpa's truck.

 Here's wishing you time to enjoy the bright lights and truly enjoy the freedoms we have everyday!

Make a SPLASH!

What better way to celebrate a summer birthday than with a water party. For his birthday this year Julian invited a few school friends over for the afternoon to enjoy cool treats and lots and lots of water.

Pre-party line-up

Handmade invitations were sent out to spread the word.

Blue jello cups and swedish fish along with a heaping bowl of goldfish crackers filled the snack table. We also had popsicles later on as a break from the water festivities.

Julian and Kaleb decorated the Thank You/Treat Bags, and guests also got to take home the water squirter they picked out to play with outside.

Two tubs of water balloons were gone in about 10 minutes flat and the big tubs of water for the squirters were refilled numerous times. Since the temperature was a slightly balmy 106 degrees that day Daddy brought home a 40 bag of ice from work to add to the water tubs, the water was nice and chilly for the kids. I don't think they noticed the heat outside or the ice cold water they were shooting at each other, they all had a blast!

Here's wishing you time to cool off and chill out with your favorite buddies!

Summer Salad

Whenever we are invited to a summer BBQ I always make the same pasta salad. It is super easy and I always get requests for the recipe. So without further ado, here is my top secret summer pasta salad recipe.

You will need:
1-box rotini pasta
1-can black beans, drained
1-can corn, drained
1- can diced tomatoes and green chili's, drained
Spicy Ranch salad dressing (I end up using most of one bottle)

Cook and drain your pasta, and rinse under cool water until it is no longer hot. Add beans, corn, tomatoes and chili's and salad dressing.

Mix together and add more salad dressing if you need to. Enjoy! (We also like to add grilled chicken to this the next day if we have any leftovers.)

Here's wishing you great summer get-togethers with friends and family.

Rock Chalk Birthday

This year for the boys' combined birthday party with family they requested a Jayhawk theme. Easy enough, we kept things pretty simple and they were more than happy with the results.

Plain white cards, stamped and stickered

Stamped inside for details and a "Cheat Sheet" with
the boys' sizes and likes.

The spread of Crimson and Blue treats.

Red Velvet cupcakes with white frosting
and red and blue sugar sprinkles.

The two tasty treats below were a couple of Pinterest finds that I couldn't wait to test out. The cake I have had pinned for quite a while, I knew as soon as I saw it I had to make it, the boys favorite candies are M&M's and Kit Kats. I altered it a little from the original idea, I cut my Kit Kats so they didn't tower over the cake and I used mini M&M's (sorted by color of course).

By the way this cake lasted all of 5 minutes at the party,
not an M&M was left.

The original idea for these cookies is awesome, but I was lazy and didn't make it to the bakery supply shop for the correct sprinkles (also it was like 110 degrees outside and the last thing I wanted to do was walk around downtown). I ended up using red and blue sugar sprinkles and it worked, they were super yummy!

Here's wishing you many happy birthdays! Rock Chalk Jayhawk, GO KU!!

June Bride

My lovely sister got married a couple of weeks ago out at our parents' house. It was beautiful and was a labor of love for the entire family. Everyone had a hand in some part of the preparation for the festivities. My contribution was making her Pinterest inspired barn board signs come to life.

These handsome fellas pointing the way were also "Ring Security" later that day.

We spent some time the morning of the wedding cooling off from the heat and humidity and creating our bouquets. We went a couple of days before the wedding and just bought some of the market bunches of flowers and then made the bouquets ourselves. I think they turned out quite nicely if I do say so myself!

The bride's bouquet.

One of the bridesmaids' bouquets

 We also made all of the table centerpieces from bottles and other items that mom has collected over the years. The mailbox on the gift table was used to hold cards and used to belong to our grandparents. It fit nicely with the overall look of the reception and was another nice way to include family momentos.

The fans came in very handy as the night went on!

Crayons and paper to keep the little ones entertained

We offered a basket of cards, dominos and checkers for those who wanted to play a game or two. We also found a couple of fiber optic spools at the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore that came in handy. We topped them with chalkboard paint and set out little buckets of chalk on top.

Julian's artwork for the new couple

 Here's to finding true love and spending many happy years together!!

Basketball Camp 2012

Julian attended the Jeff Hawkins basketball camp this summer and had a blast! They worked on all the basketball fundamentals:

Dribbling

Shooting

Passing

Kaleb even got in on the action and worked on his dribbling and passing skills on the sidelines, he can't wait to have his chance to attend camp next summer.

Here's wishing you time to hone your skills and enjoy a game or two with friends.

I present to you the Class of 2024!

Julian is officially a Kindergarten graduate!

Here's to the class of 2024, may you reach all your goals and never stop learning!