Memorial Day 2014

We spent a little time yesterday at a veteran's memorial park. My grandfather was a utility pilot in WWII. He made it back with a Purple Heart and some horrific stories, but otherwise OK. So many of his friends didn't though. Yesterday was a day to remember their sacrifice and the ultimate sacrifice that so many other men and women and families have made in defense of our freedom throughout the years.

Father's Day 2013

After Mass and brunch, our favorite Dad put together a patio swing. This little one loves to swing and her Daddy loves her!

 His littlest sweetheart!

 She gave him a "byoo-full mile" to say thank you.

 We made him some Triple Mint Chocolate Brownies (GF for hubby and regular for the kids...yum!)

This is one of my favorite pictures of my dear husband. That is a tiny little Sunshine in his arms in case you couldn't tell.

Happy Father's Day to all the excellent dads out there, to our children's godfathers and our spiritual fathers.

Doggie for a (Mother's) Day

My husband has insisted that along with all the praise I lavished on him this Mother's Day that I let you know the "truth" about what he also brought home.

Actually, some neighbors found her wandering in their yard but they were on their way out for a couple of hours so they handed her off to us. He gave her a bath while I called to find out who had a microchip scanner. Husband and the girls took this little sweetie down to the people at the local emergency animal hospital who found a microchip and contacted the pet finder people while I made some flyers to post in our neighborhood. Based on the info they gave us we believed that her name was Opal and she had been owned by a man in our area but surrendered to an animal shelter sometime last year. Well, I chucked the flyers thinking there was no reason to put them up. Little did we know their info was wrong. People... if you have your dogs microchipped (which I think is a great idea, btw...) you might want to double check to make sure the information they have on file is correct. Otherwise, some kind but misinformed neighbor might accidentally keep your dog overnight, give it a bath and come this close to giving it a hair cut!

When we called the shelter in the morning, they called the owner, our neighbor down the street, who had not surrendered the dog but in fact, had rescued her from the shelter sometime last year. We walked her down to them yesterday and met them officially. I have a feeling we will be visiting them again soon since Cupcake has been asking for "Puppy Opal"... whose name turned out to be Suki.

Mother's Day 2013

Homemade cards are my absolute favorite! A poem, a quote from the Bible, a crocheted flower. My 15 year old even told me he loved me... in Latin. A Mary statue on every table for the beautiful month of May and a delicious treat from one of our favorite bakeries! A friend on FB said "Note to great husbands/fathers everywhere: if you're the husband and father you should be, Mothers' Day is a silly formality. We know you love and appreciate us." and I have to agree with her. My husband and my children never make me feel unappreciated or taken for granted. They tell me and show me in a thousand different ways every day. They are such amazing people that I constantly feel like I should do more to say "thank you" for the privilege of being with them. Today was just another beautiful, special day with the people I love.

Fourth of July Shopping List

• paint
• masking tape
• star stickers
• plain white t-shirts
• glitter
• black construction paper
• mini M&Ms
• Twizzlers
• ice cream cones

Doesn't your list look like this? You know that a fun, creative activity has become a tradition when the kids start asking you the week before, "Are we gonna decorate T-shirts for the 4th of July again?" Why yes, yes we are!

Pops for our Pops!

The girls have been intrigued by the idea of cake pops and wanted to make some for Sean for Father's Day. So I pulled out all the sprinkles and jimmies and let them go to town.

They love their Pops! Happy Father's Day, Sweetie!

In Memoriam

Holy Mass with a priest who used to be in the military is one of the best ways I can think of to start a Memorial Day remembrance! Seeing him, standing in front of the altar, refusing to turn and leave until all four verses of America the Beautiful are sung, chokes you up a little... especially when your son is serving beside him.

God bless the fallen and those who miss them!

Remember, Lord, the fallen
Who died in fields of war, 
In flaming clouds, in screaming crowds,
On streets that are no more,
That we today might waken
And greet this day in peace
With grateful prayer for those who bear
The storms that never cease.


Remember friends and stranger, 
And those forgotten now,
Who names are known to you alone, 
Before whose love we bow
And ask that you surround them
With mercy's endless light
That they may live, and we forgive
The foe they went to fight


Remember, Lord, the living,
Who bear the pain of loss
A death she died who stood beside
Her Son upon the cross.
Remember all your children
The dead and those who weep,
And make us one beneath the sun
Where love will ever sleep.

~ Sr. Genevieve Glen, OSB

Sweet Mums

When I saw these beautiful creations over at Jessica's place, I knew exactly the kind of flowers I wanted for Mother's Day!

Aren't they beautiful? And so easy! Even my teenager enjoyed participating in this little food craft. He was the only one brave enough to use the red hot cinnamon sugar sprinkles! We're gonna make him eat that one later.

Sunshine and BigBoy had the idea to try and make some with pollen.

And then we got crazy with the colors and just had fun! What else would befit a cappuccino chip cupcake with white chocolate peppermint frosting?

I hope you are all having a wonderful Mother's Day whether you are a mother now, hoping to be someday or acting as spiritual mother. Happy Mums Day!

Happy Labor Day!

Today we are off to daily Mass with Husband (whoo hoo! what a treat!) to pray for a Super Soldier in the hospital and his sweet momma who is so far away. And also for a sweet friend, pregnant with #9, who is hoping to go into labor today! Appropriate, right?

Then it's time to... wait for it... clean out the garage! Or the flower beds. We haven't decided. (I know... right? Soooooo exciting!) Hey, anything is exciting when Husband is here with us. :) Trust me, I'm sure we'll sneak in something fun.

What are your plans?

Independence Weekend!

Are you celebrating today or tomorrow... or both? Most fireworks shows are happening tonight but I just see that as an excuse to celebrate our independence all weekend long!!! Thank a soldier if you see one or hug him if he happens to be living with you!

Speaking of celebrating...you want a peek?

So for those of you who haven't yet cemented your plans, let me give you a few options.

Super easy (for the non-crafty):
A variation of Pirate's Ruby Ale... freeze some blue and red Gatorade or Kool-aid (we used Gatorade) in ice cube trays and add to clear soda. Watch the colors sparkle in the glass when they hit the soda! If you are worried about ending up with purple punch on the 4th of July, you could put the colors in separate glasses.

Little less easy, but still doable:
Flagcakes... blue M&M's and red licorice strings. I just draped the licorice string over the cupcake and cut it with some clean scissors. You can see in the photo above that I ran out of mini M&M's so I just used what I had for the rest of them.

A little challenging (only because there was piping involved):
Upside down cupcakes (these were extra-large sized cupcakes cooked in ramekins), frosted with white star blobs for a beard, and M&M's for a face. I made the hat out of a ice cream cone. BTW...if your house is as warm and humid as mine (or even if it's not), star blobs are perfectly acceptable. Impressionism totally counts in frosting art.

Happy Independence Day!

 

P.S. I think I have seen the Uncle Sams made with scoops of ice cream in place of the cupcake, but both of these ideas came from Hoosier Homemade. She offers you a step by step photo essay of the Uncle Sam cupcakes. I obviously did not use the Fruit by the Foot, instead I just smeared on some blue frosting. And I do mean smeared.

Patriotic Tees 2010

Have I mentioned how much we love 

decorating 

T-shirts?

One Snip Star Tutorial

When I as putting together this post with links from my archives, I was reminded of the fold-and-snip stars we made a few years ago using a Family Fun tutorial. They made a lovely garland for our Independence Day celebrations. I decided to make my own tutorial so that I could offer a few more in-between steps. Granted, it may not be as much fun as cutting snow flakes in the winter, but it is less labor intensive and my kids are always amazed at the perfect star shape that emerges after a few careful folds and one little snip!

First, start with a regular sized sheet of paper.

Fold it in half, top to bottom. Make a hard crease.

Fold it again, top to bottom only this time, make a light crease.

Open the fold back up.

Take the top right corner and fold it over to the left side at the light crease. (The red chopsticks are pointing to the respective corner and side at crease.)

Here is the paper after the fold is made.

Next, fold the top left corner over the flap created by the previous fold.

Like this...

This is what it should look like now.

Here's where it gets a bit tricky, but you can do it. Take the left side that the top left chopstick is pointing to and fold it over to the right side, using the flap you just created as a folding guide.

Like this...

Now, it kind of looks like an elegant paper napkin or something.

There is a crease that shows up naturally (dashed line) that you can use as a cutting guide, but it results in a rather plump star. If you cut at a sharper angle (straight line) you will get a star with sharper angles.

The star on the left was cut on the dashed line and the one on the right was cut on the straight line. Use a hole punch and string up an assortment for an easy and fun decoration!