Sunday, May 16, 2010

And Even More Recent Pictures

The girls and me on Mother's Day



The girls and Grandma Edna on Mother's Day



The odometer in my Honda Pilot (one year after purchasing it!) I am pretty happy about this!



Back in April, when B2 turned 10, she and B1 decided they would make some fancy cupcakes for the occasion. They purchased a cupcake cookbook together back in December with Christmas money. They chose to make penguin cupcakes. Here are the steps they took:

They needed both regular-sized and mini-sized cupcakes for the project



Icing makes things stick together nicely.....



Doughnut holes were necessary for the head!



A little time spent in the freezer made everything "dry" faster



Assembling.....



The final product! Cute, huh!



Let's see.....their bellies were a sliced off marshmallow, their beaks were half of a yellow starburst, chocolate chip eyes, and thin mint "wings"



Here is a dinner I cooked about a month or so ago.....madeira chicken with mushrooms and asparagus, mashed potatoes, and mozzarella cheese. It took forever for the sauce to thicken and I almost gave up and served is soupy, but all of a sudden it turned to a gravy-like consistency. Whew! It had a very good flavor.



Here are my basil plants. Basil and cilantro are my favorite 2 spices. I've tried to grow cilantro in the past and it just doesn't work out well for me. Plus, it's cheap enough to buy at the grocery store and you get a nice amount of it. I LOVE just touching the basil plants in the morning when I walk out of the house and having that wonderfu smell on my fingers for a few minutes while I drive down the road. Ahhh!!

This came from 4 starter plants.



This year, I also bought some basil seed and planted it. As you can see, it is coming up. This picture was taken a few weeks ago too and by now, some of the leaves are an inch long. It is doing great!



I cannot use all of the basil that these plants are producing as quickly as they are producing it so I have been making pesto and freezing it. By plucking my plant regularly, it seems to already be healthier than ever in the past, and it's reproducing leaves quicker too. I use an ice-cube tray to freeze the pesto and it works great! Now we will have basil/pesto available to use all winter!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

More Recent Pictures

Here are some more pictures from recently:

The first ones are from B2's 10th birthday party, at a local bowling alley.



The girls with one of B2's best friends




B2 bowling




B1 bowling




B1 and one of her best friends




The girls with Grandma




It was a "we love each other today" kind of day!




The whole gang




Sign made by B2 herself!




Eating cake




More cake




Goofing around!



Hmmmm.....ya think B2 might need braces one day???? I've already started saving!




B1's softball team after placing 3rd in a tournament last weekend. She is in the back row on the left end.




The team with their coaches. Bruce is next to B1.




B1 and the trophy.


More pictures coming soon!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

A Bunch of Recent Pictures

Easter morning, just before the egg hunt in our back yard


Shinza wants to hunt eggs too!


Before church in their new Easter outfits


Waiting for Cam Janssen to come out of practice on 4/5


Cam signin the stick he brought for B2


B2 and Cam


It's the real deal!


Cam's autograph


B2, on the morning of her 10th birthday. No, hair had NOT yet been brushed!


She LOVES McDonald's.....Bruce found this shirt for her.....perfect!


New roller blades!


Trying out the new roller blades (yeah, on my hard wood floor!) while wearing the outfit that B1 bought for her

More pictures coming soon!