random thursday...

i never tire of sharing my kiddos' art work with u....i hope u don't get tired of seeing it! ;0) here is some recent stuff jaden has done...

i wonder how this guys uses the restroom? ~lol~

and this guy has pictures all over his body (like tattoos, i guess) that light up & make him powerful! and check out the gleam from his super sharp claws!

and here's how i found jaden the other evening - he made all these drawings at his daycare that afternoon (they say he'll go through one sketch pad in about 1/2 hour!)....then when he got home, he lined them all up for us to check out - asperger's much? ~teehee~

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there's another little artist in the house, that's really coming out of her shell! i don't know if it's kindergarten or just the fact that she's getting older....but little miss gabrielle is becoming a lot more self-confident these days! i like that! ;0)

the artist at work...

her creation - too sweet!

and my new fav drawing - our family! :0) LOVE the lashes on us girls!

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actually, gabrielle is showing her independence more at school too! here's an email i got from her teacher last evening...

"I know that you like to give your children freedom and don't think you will have a problem with this. But she said today that she wanted to be called Gabrielle. I/we can call her whatever she wishes. I just thought it was cute that she said that she didn't want to be called Gabby anymore- they called her that in PreK. It was like she was too grown up for Gabby. We shall see if that changes throughout the year. :)"

when school started, gab's teacher asked me what i wanted her to learn to write....i explained that she knows how to write both gabrielle & gabby already - that she doesn't really care what others call her, but that she usually prefers to write gabby (i'm assuming cause it's shorter, duh)....i said that i'd like her to keep practicing gabrielle, but that i didn't care what she had everyone call her.....i guess she set the record straight for us! ;0)

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last night, i made larger versions of the cupcakes in a jar that i made for my 1st giveaway this week.....these are for my BFF & my brother.....Misty celebrated a birthday on Labor Day & CJ's birthday is today! these contain about 4 or 5 cupcakes each (the smaller versions contain 2)! i hope they enjoy them! :0)

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randomness, from the mouthes of babes....

(this pic was taken, by the request of jaden - he was sporting new kicks!)

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mama - "jaden, could you go put your shoes away in your room please?"
jaden, without hesitation & in his most charming voice - "how could i say no to a face like that?!"

~lmao~

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corinn - "gabby, i'm telling Jesus that you _____! " (whatever it was she did - i can't remember)
mama - "corinn, you don't need to tattle to Jesus - he sees everything we do & say."
gabrielle - "yeah, like santa claus!"

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(if you've seen one of jaden's fav movies, home alone, u'll get this one)

jaden & deandra are taking turns on grandpa's go-kart.....jaden is counting how many seconds it takes deandra to do a loop around the property - "24, 25, 26, 27..."
uncle cj, trying to mess jaden up - "7, 11, 34, 85..."
jaden, very nonchalantly - "cj, don't b a moron"
cj just cracked up laughing!

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mama, going through jaden's school folder with him - "oh, i see u got to go to mrs. jessup's class for science today! was it fun?"
jaden - "yep, we talked about tomato seeds on page 7"
mama - "and did u meet with mr. johnson today?"
jaden - "yes"
mama - "how many times a day to u meet with him this year?"
jaden "four"
mama - "four times a day?!"
jaden - "no, i saw mr. johnson 4 times."
he's right! we had this convo tuesday eve - he had seen mr. johnson on wed, thur, fri the week before & that day (he didn't meet with him the 1st day of school & they were out for labor day)
and remember the page number of his science lesson?!
how does he catalog all this stuff?!
i can barely remember what day of the week it is!

(jaden, as a sea monster)

happy thursday! ;0)

weekend recap...

Saturday, i had a wedding cake to finish up, deliver & assemble - i don't know what i'd do without curtis sometimes....he's so good at keeping the kids busy when i'm forced to work on cakes when they're awake....and he's super good at taking them fishing, to the playground, etc. to get them out of the house! ;0) thx babe!!!

after i got home, we went for a family walk through the neighborhood & watched a movie together after dinner (Son of the Mask - The Mask is one of Jaden's very fav movies, so i couldn't wait for Son of the Mask to arrive via Netflix)....silly movie, but cute

i don't have any pics from Saturday....but on Sunday & Monday, i took LOTS! ;0)

Sunday was the day that the kids discovered the fun of K'nex....Jaden has some of the fun new sets where u can create animals & aliens - and he loves them.....but never any of the old school sets that have wheels & motors & stuff.....my mom just came across my brother's old set when they moved & gave them to Jaden.....the kiddos spent a long time Sunday morning, playing with them

even daddy joined in and made a cool race car


here's some of the kids' "inventions" (as they call them)....Gabrielle made the big thing & couldn't figure out why it wouldn't roll one way or the other....i explained to her that it's cause the wheels are going in different directions & showed her what it could do - spin in a circle! she was amazed! ~teehee~


she's so creative - she made the middle part into a little seat for her polly pockets - they even had shade cover


before we headed out on our traditional weekend "playground hopping" trip, we stopped by our future home....we wanted to explore the yard some more & start planning where we're going to put what....we think we've found the campfire spot & we've already talked about clearing out some of the flower beds & what we'll put in instead.....i'm LOVING the clothes line & the grape vine/trellis that are already there - both just need a little work to spruce them up....and there's 2 apple trees on the side (behind where Gabby is standing) - i guess if we have to give up our cherry trees, it'll b nice to have apples in their place ;0)

curtis even found a spot to hang his punching bag.....the landlord is going to fix up this out building more, before we move in.....and if the landlord doesn't, curtis is planning on clearing out the brush here to hang his bag from a sturdy tree hidden in there somewhere

we took the kids by a playground that Curtis & I had spotted at a local church.....it's probably been there for a while, but it's new to us.....it's small & doesn't have any shade, but it's very fun!

every time we take the kids by the school's playground, they have to roll down the hill first....needless to say, it's one great sledding spot in the winter! ;0)

on the way home from playground hopping, gabby taught Jaden to blow a bubble! it's so cool how the kids teach each other stuff! Jaden taught both girls how to whistle a while back (all 3 are amazingly good - he surprises the heck out of adults who hear him whistle).....Gabby learned to blow bubbles from our cousin Ricky (who's 9) a few months ago.....but in that one car ride, she taught Jaden....and i was shocked at how well she was able to describe what to do with the gum & your lips/tongue, in teaching him - she's good!

here's pics of the whole thing....the funniest part is Corinn in these pics!


he got it!

and then Corinn asked me to take her pic - what a ham! a very sweet & beautiful ham tho! ;0)


Monday (Labor Day), we woke up to gorgeous weather! we all sat outside for a while - Curtis chatting with our downstairs neighbor, me reading a magazine & drinking my coffee, & the kiddos just playing

we brought out buckets of water for them to play with their Polly Pockets, Barbies & dragon toys....they love doing this - whether is bath time for the dolls, or they're swimming & exploring the ocean - it's endless fun


Gabby is also big into her jump rope these days!


and both girls have been catching & observing every bug they find! we currently have 3 caterpillars inside, hoping they'll build cocoons & turn into butterflies!


then, daddy found this out front, on the side of the road....it was dead....it didn't appear to have been run over tho? and we didn't know what kind of snake it was....when i showed the pic to my brother & dad, they said that it looked like a corn snake.....looking online, it sounds like these make good pet snakes - non venomous, constrictors.....so i wonder if someone just tossed him.....he was small (& like i said, dead).....poor thing


we headed over to Nana & Grandpa's that evening for a BBQ.....and we had a great time!
my sis & i both commented on how it felt like we were camping, out there under all the trees

of course, Grandpa got out the 4-wheelers & go-kart

here's a fun video of a trip that my brother, CJ, took us on.....he hooked up a cart to his 4-wheeler & led us on a trail through the woods, below his chicken houses.....Katie (his wife), me, Gabby, Corinn & Bryan rode in the cart.....then Jaden followed in the go-kart....Travis & Kelly (my sis & her hubby) pulled up the end, on Grandpa's 4-wheeler.....the kiddos LOVED it and had us do it about 3 times! it was fun! :0)
(the video starts out kind of dark - cause at first, we're in the woods & it was late in the day)

i hope u all had a fabulous labor day weekend too!

weekend cakes & giveaway winner!

first up this weekend, were these cupcakes for Miss Abigail.....she turned 3 this year & i've gotten to make her cake every year! this year, her mom just wanted cupcakes for her party - 4 dozen, made to match the party decor

so here's how they turned out....confetti cupcakes - i made all the flowers from fondant & the butterflies from royal icing & rice paper - everything is 100% edible!

next up, was Miss Heather's wedding cake....she chose to please the masses, by having marble, chocolate & white cake to serve everyone.....all iced in butter cream.....the flowers & leaves are all gum paste - some i made, & some i ordered

i also made them this little 4" cake to save for their 1 year anniversary

next, was this Pokemon cake for Miss Alyx - again, i've been making Alyx's bday cakes for years now....her mom sent me her favorite characters from Pokemon, and here's what i came up with...

the ball on top is part of the cartoon/game - not sure what exactly tho? it's made of rice krispies & covered in fondant....the cake is yellow, iced in butter cream....i made royal icing pieces with a fondant overlay for the characters - then i hand painted them on with edible gels, looking at pics that Alyx's mom emailed to me....they're kind of creepy looking, but hey - the bday girl gets, what the bday girl wants! :0)


and lastly was 1 dozen strawberry cupcakes for Michael....i work with Michael & his parents moved to Florida a few months ago....his mom emailed me about making something special for him - how sweet, that she's still looking out for her boy! ;0)


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and now, for the giveaway winner...

i have to admit, i was a little disappointed in the number of people that left comments....i got a total of 24 visitors from the time i made the giveaway post friday (late afternoon), until this morning, when i logged on.....but only 7 comments! those lurkers must want to stay in lurkdom - that's cool....i lurk other blogs too ;0) and hey, at least one of my faithful readers/commenters will win ;0)

i also realize that i posted this on labor day weekend & not everyone was on their computers & checking in on my blog over the weekend
(several of u pointed that out to me this morning via email - i'm sorry if u missed the deadline - i promise to do another giveaway soon)

so anyway - i went ahead and had the kids draw this morning before heading out for our day.....and from the 7 entered, the lucky winner is....

AUTUMN

autumn will be receiving these goodies:

crystal talked about these on her blog a few months ago - she saw them being sold on etsy & i thought it was such a cute idea - cupcakes in a jar! so just know up front, this creation was NOT my idea....i just made it my own with these flavors.....and i've got so many other fun flavor creations in my head - can't wait to try them out too! i thought, what a great thing to send to family & friends that live far away, when i'm not able to make them a cake! :0)

so autumn, u get to be the first to try them out.....my fam & i think they're fabulous - but u'll have to let us know what u think after u've had a chance to try them!
shoot me an email with ur address, and i'll ship your goodies out today :0)

CONGRATS!

my 1st giveaway!!!

i've never done this before - but in honor of this past Sunday (the 24th) being exactly one year since i started this blog....i've decided to host my very first giveaway! :0)

a blogiversary giveaway!

i'm not going to tell u what the prize is yet - let's just say it's something very "sweet" ;0)

so, leave me some love ♥ - tell me what ur plans r for this long Labor Day weekend

come on lurkers - i know u're out there - u leave me some ♥ too!

the deadline for leaving me a comment is Monday at 7pm EST....i'll put all ur names in a hat & have my kiddos randomly draw a winner

then, i'll announce the winner here & ship out their prize on Tuesday!

everyone have a FABULOUS weekend!!! :0)

it's official

i met with our new landlord last evening, to give him the deposit so he'd hold the house for us until October....he still wants to do some work to the out building & he said he's going to send someone to clean the oven & windows & just to tidy up (oh, be still my heart!)....then he'll call me within the next week or so & we'll meet up to get the keys! then, we can start moving stuff over there throughout September....come October 1st, we won't have much to do at all! just move the big furniture & whatever we've kept at the old place just for daily living :0)

AND, i asked him last night about us putting in flowerbeds & a fire pit - and he said SURE! the kids were so excited!!! plus, there's already a clothes line & grapevine trellis thing there - i'm so excited!!!

i'm mailing out the 30 day notice to our current landlord today too - whoo hoo!

getting off the bus...

yes, i'm one of those dorky moms that wants to b present for every milestone in my kids' lives!

so i took a late lunch break, ran down to the daycare & waited for corinn & gabby to get off the bus, then got back in my mini-van and came back to work....i wanted a pic of corinn's 1st official bus trip & i wanted to b the first to hear all about her 1st day of school!
(hey, i did the same for gabby & jaden - just didn't have my blog back on jaden's 1st day of school)

she said she had a great day!

they got a book from the teacher today - the kissing hand - it's such a cute story....i remember it from gabby's class last year.....it's to help the kids not cry or be scared to b at school without their family....the homework is for me and/or curtis to cut out a shape of our hand & put a kiss print on it (& i squirted gabby's with my perfume last year).....then the kids can keep it in their desk & if they miss us, they can get it out & kiss it ;0) corinn most likely won't need it, but i think it's a sweet idea

unfortunately, it's been raining ALL week here (well, the grass & farmers really need it - so it's a good thing), so they didn't get to play outside today.....but she said they painted rainbows with their hands & she got to drink chocolate milk at lunch!

sounds like a great day to me!
i can't wait to go pick her up shortly & hear about everything else they did today!
:0)