WE
ARE
READY
FOR
SUMMER!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
All Things End Of School
This week has been a flurry of end of school happenings...which means it has come and gone like a flash! And since I do no scrapbooking of any kind, I felt I had better get a few pictures on this ole' blog.
Kindergarten Graduation was Wednesday. The gym was packed (there were parents who brought their lawn chairs!) and the teachers were passing out tissues. I knew from the beginning that is was going to be long 45 minutes. Can you guess why?
This "pouty" girl was in rare form.
I wasn't really in the mood to reminisce or be sad since I was spending most of my energy trying to keep Phoebe from kicking the people in front of us (we were one of the unfortunate families who didn't snag a seat on the floor or bring our lawn chairs so we were sitting in the gym bleachers) or from lying down on the seat or from screaming during the teacher speech or from generally acting like a P-I-L-L. Sheesh. However, it didn't keep from taking a few more pictures.
The Processional. Please notice that Eli is holding hands with his little buddy. Melt. My. Heart.
Getting his diploma from the principal.
No picture of the whole family, but I did manage to get one of Eli and his proud papa!
The only tears I cried were tears of joy when I finally took my cranky, pouty three-year-old home to nap!
Today was the last day of school...aka Field Day.
This time, I didn't have time to take any pictures because I was in charge of the Obstacle Course. Otherwise known as "The Booth Where They Put First Time Home Room Moms Because It's A Lot Of Work And Everyone Else Knows To Request A Different One". Me and another roommom newby (her daughter is also in kindergarten) spent our morning helping 400+ elementary students spin around five times, walk a tight rope, jump rope 10 times, blow three bubbles over a white line, stack three apples for at least 5 seconds, and then shoot shaving cream off a balloon with a water gun. Whew! Next year, I'll be requesting the water booth...where two seasoned room moms sat in lawn chairs and handed out water bottles to the volunteers. I'll be working there with my fellow obstacle course carnie while some other unsuspecting room mom works the obstacle course.
I did manage to take this (marginal) photo of my children at the Popcorn Booth.
After Field Day the kids were treated to a hot dog sack lunch picnic. As I sat there with Eli and all his Kindergarten buddies, it dawned on me that these few moments were the last he would spend in Kindergarten...with these children and this teacher. The next time he went to school, he'd be a first grader. And that year would fly by just like this one has...and the year after that and the year after that. It was just too much! But I held myself together as we said one last good-bye to Mrs. Riggle and all his little friends. That is until we got to the car. Then Eli started to cry because he didn't want to go to first grade because he would miss Mrs. Riggle and he just has so much fun in Kindergarten. It broke my heart and the tears I had been holding back flowed freely. Then Phoebe, not one to be left out, started to cry and say, "My head is so mad! I want Mrs. Riggle to be Eli's teacher!" Oh, we were a slobbery sight!
So we did the one thing I knew would make us feel better. We went to Sonic for a little chocolate shake and Diet Coke with lime therapy. It was just what we needed!
And now we're ready for summer!
Kindergarten Graduation was Wednesday. The gym was packed (there were parents who brought their lawn chairs!) and the teachers were passing out tissues. I knew from the beginning that is was going to be long 45 minutes. Can you guess why?
This "pouty" girl was in rare form.
I wasn't really in the mood to reminisce or be sad since I was spending most of my energy trying to keep Phoebe from kicking the people in front of us (we were one of the unfortunate families who didn't snag a seat on the floor or bring our lawn chairs so we were sitting in the gym bleachers) or from lying down on the seat or from screaming during the teacher speech or from generally acting like a P-I-L-L. Sheesh. However, it didn't keep from taking a few more pictures.
The Processional. Please notice that Eli is holding hands with his little buddy. Melt. My. Heart.
Getting his diploma from the principal.
No picture of the whole family, but I did manage to get one of Eli and his proud papa!
The only tears I cried were tears of joy when I finally took my cranky, pouty three-year-old home to nap!
Today was the last day of school...aka Field Day.
This time, I didn't have time to take any pictures because I was in charge of the Obstacle Course. Otherwise known as "The Booth Where They Put First Time Home Room Moms Because It's A Lot Of Work And Everyone Else Knows To Request A Different One". Me and another roommom newby (her daughter is also in kindergarten) spent our morning helping 400+ elementary students spin around five times, walk a tight rope, jump rope 10 times, blow three bubbles over a white line, stack three apples for at least 5 seconds, and then shoot shaving cream off a balloon with a water gun. Whew! Next year, I'll be requesting the water booth...where two seasoned room moms sat in lawn chairs and handed out water bottles to the volunteers. I'll be working there with my fellow obstacle course carnie while some other unsuspecting room mom works the obstacle course.
I did manage to take this (marginal) photo of my children at the Popcorn Booth.
After Field Day the kids were treated to a hot dog sack lunch picnic. As I sat there with Eli and all his Kindergarten buddies, it dawned on me that these few moments were the last he would spend in Kindergarten...with these children and this teacher. The next time he went to school, he'd be a first grader. And that year would fly by just like this one has...and the year after that and the year after that. It was just too much! But I held myself together as we said one last good-bye to Mrs. Riggle and all his little friends. That is until we got to the car. Then Eli started to cry because he didn't want to go to first grade because he would miss Mrs. Riggle and he just has so much fun in Kindergarten. It broke my heart and the tears I had been holding back flowed freely. Then Phoebe, not one to be left out, started to cry and say, "My head is so mad! I want Mrs. Riggle to be Eli's teacher!" Oh, we were a slobbery sight!
So we did the one thing I knew would make us feel better. We went to Sonic for a little chocolate shake and Diet Coke with lime therapy. It was just what we needed!
And now we're ready for summer!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Gone Fishing
Last week, Brad and I had a conversation that went something like this:
Brad: "Dr. G wants us to go to his family's ranch this weekend. I told him we would."
Me: "Who is Dr. G and what are we going to do there?
Brad: "One of the docs at the hospital. He's really nice. We're going to fish and hunt and have a cookout. It's just for the afternoon and evening."
Me: "Because I just love to fish and hunt, right? You know I don't like to hang out with people I don't know. And all afternoon and evening? I'm not so sure, honey."
Brad: "It'll be fun."
I was skeptical.
But like most things that Brad MAKES me do, I enjoyed myself very much. And so did everybody else, too!
Old Man Weather was smiling down on us because the weather was beautiful. Well, at least beautiful according to this very cold-natured mama. 90 degrees (really...I'm not exaggerating!), sunny, and just a little breeze to keep us cool. Perfect fishing weather. I have to admit that fishing is just not one of my favorite things to do. It just seems so mind numbingly boring. At least it always was when I've been before. Cast your line. Wait and wait and wait and wait and wait some more for one teeny-tiny little fish to bite your line. Then you have to deal with icky-slimy fish. So. Much. Fun. It just always seemed like a better idea to read a book. This was not the case on the ranch! You cast your line and wham! a minute later, you had a fish. Time after time after time. Phoebe got a little impatient if she didn't have bite after two minutes! So exciting! Oh, and did I mention that either Brad or Dr. G handled all the fish (I had too many pictures to take!). Even better.
Eli's first cast with help from Dr. G.
Eli's first fish. He ended up catching six total.
Getting a little help from dad.
And Phoebe was chomping at the bit to get a turn.
The gal's a natural! She outcaught her brother by two fish!
She even worked up the courage to touch one!
More fishing pictures. I might have gotten a little carried away with picture-taking. :)
Don't you wish you knew what they were talking about?
While everyone who cast a line caught a fish, the biggest catches were made by the girls. This gal (who is way too pretty to catch a fish this big) landed a H-U-G-E bass.
You'll notice that she doesn't want to actually touch the fish...a girl after my own heart!
And just look at the fish Phoebe caught! She even had to have some help reeling it in.
A big ole' catfish!
Even Brad caught a fish!
After a couple of hours (and 845 fish caught) we decided to head back to the house and get out of the sun for a few hours. We shared a great dinner and a cruise around the ranch to see the zebras, oryx, axis deer, fallow deer, and lots of other animals we'll never see at the Amarillo Zoo because they are too busy taking care of the horses, goats, and sheep they have in cages. Sheesh. I won't bore with all the pictures I took of the wildlife (because there were a ton!) since this post is already a little picture-heavy. However, there is one animal that was just too cute not to post its picture.
I guess the moral of this story is Brad doesn't always have bad ideas and sometimes fishing can be fun!
What have you done recently that you thought was going to be about as fun as a root canal, but actually turned out really fun?
Brad: "Dr. G wants us to go to his family's ranch this weekend. I told him we would."
Me: "Who is Dr. G and what are we going to do there?
Brad: "One of the docs at the hospital. He's really nice. We're going to fish and hunt and have a cookout. It's just for the afternoon and evening."
Me: "Because I just love to fish and hunt, right? You know I don't like to hang out with people I don't know. And all afternoon and evening? I'm not so sure, honey."
Brad: "It'll be fun."
I was skeptical.
But like most things that Brad MAKES me do, I enjoyed myself very much. And so did everybody else, too!
Old Man Weather was smiling down on us because the weather was beautiful. Well, at least beautiful according to this very cold-natured mama. 90 degrees (really...I'm not exaggerating!), sunny, and just a little breeze to keep us cool. Perfect fishing weather. I have to admit that fishing is just not one of my favorite things to do. It just seems so mind numbingly boring. At least it always was when I've been before. Cast your line. Wait and wait and wait and wait and wait some more for one teeny-tiny little fish to bite your line. Then you have to deal with icky-slimy fish. So. Much. Fun. It just always seemed like a better idea to read a book. This was not the case on the ranch! You cast your line and wham! a minute later, you had a fish. Time after time after time. Phoebe got a little impatient if she didn't have bite after two minutes! So exciting! Oh, and did I mention that either Brad or Dr. G handled all the fish (I had too many pictures to take!). Even better.
Eli's first cast with help from Dr. G.
Eli's first fish. He ended up catching six total.
Getting a little help from dad.
And Phoebe was chomping at the bit to get a turn.
The gal's a natural! She outcaught her brother by two fish!
She even worked up the courage to touch one!
More fishing pictures. I might have gotten a little carried away with picture-taking. :)
Don't you wish you knew what they were talking about?
While everyone who cast a line caught a fish, the biggest catches were made by the girls. This gal (who is way too pretty to catch a fish this big) landed a H-U-G-E bass.
You'll notice that she doesn't want to actually touch the fish...a girl after my own heart!
And just look at the fish Phoebe caught! She even had to have some help reeling it in.
A big ole' catfish!
Even Brad caught a fish!
After a couple of hours (and 845 fish caught) we decided to head back to the house and get out of the sun for a few hours. We shared a great dinner and a cruise around the ranch to see the zebras, oryx, axis deer, fallow deer, and lots of other animals we'll never see at the Amarillo Zoo because they are too busy taking care of the horses, goats, and sheep they have in cages. Sheesh. I won't bore with all the pictures I took of the wildlife (because there were a ton!) since this post is already a little picture-heavy. However, there is one animal that was just too cute not to post its picture.
I guess the moral of this story is Brad doesn't always have bad ideas and sometimes fishing can be fun!
What have you done recently that you thought was going to be about as fun as a root canal, but actually turned out really fun?
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
I Love This Road
Driving into our neighborhood, there's a stretch of road that I particularly love. It's long and straight (surprising, I know, for West Texas) and when I turn onto it, my heart gets happy because I know I'm going home. It's a nice stretch of road in all seasons. It's open and big and there's so much sky! I love trees as much as the next gal, but when I visit places with lots of trees, I miss the sky. In the winter when it snows, it's miles and miles of pristine snow on the fields on either side of the black straight road. On summer afternoons, we roll down the kids' windows and turn the radio up as the wind blows on their faces. On crisp fall mornings, we often see deer running and leaping across the fields...sometimes 10 or 15 at a time. But springtime is the best. Especially this spring after such a wet winter and early spring and the cool temps. We actually have wildflowers this year! Lots and lots of them. It's breathtaking. Both in the morning when the clouds or fog roll in and the sun is just coming up over the Amarillo skyline and in the afternoon as the sun shines down and turns it all bright blues and yellows and greens. You cannot know what kind of good this does to my soul. Wildflowers might be one of the things I miss most about Central Texas. Well, that and the humidity. And the really warm temps most of the year. But I digress.
If you ever have a chance to come visit, (and I do hope you will because I love to have guests and we're a nice stop on the way to lots of places...I'd even let you stay HERE) please take a moment to enjoy my road. When you do, let your eyes roam along both sides of the road along the wide, open fields. Just after the second big dip, be sure to look down the gorge that runs perpendicular. It's beautiful, too. Eli has big plans to para glide (like DIEGO) off the sides and down into the middle. Oh, the mind of a six-year-old boy!
And the best part? At the end of this road are these two. Ready to see you with a smile on their faces (they love guests, too)!
This is the best picture I have of my children in all the wildflowers this year. I've been waiting and waiting for the weather to be warm and not windy and Saturday I decided that I'd probably be waiting until pigs fly before that happened. I had visions of pillowcase dresses and white pressed shirts, but that would have required forethought and ironing and neither of those are in abundance around here lately!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
A Guest Bedroom Project
I'm not really known for my "finished" projects. It's not for lack of ideas (I have plenty of those!) or motivation, but because the projects I tend to take on are three or more step processes that will take more than just one day to finish. Remember my COFFEE TABLE? Or THIS quilt (which I'm still working on)? A friend asked me the other day if things were slowing down a bit for my family. I told her they probably would be if I didn't have so many ideas running around in my head that I just *had* to do! And the problem is, once I get an idea, I can't just settle for something less than this spectacular idea. It's a curse really.
We've been spending some time on our guest room, getting it ready for the girl youth intern from our church to stay there. Remember LYNDSEY? She'll be staying in Abilene this summer (and we are very sad), but we'll be hosting another gal, Holley, and we are getting very excited to meet her! I've been cleaning and making sure everything was just right for a home-away-from-home. But something was bothering me about the bed. It just wasn't inviting enough. See for yourself.
So Thursday morning I was wondering around The Happiest Place On Earth (some might call it TARGET), when I spotted some throw pillow covers on sale for $3 each. I had seen them before, but most of the prints were a bit modern for me so I didn't really pay any attention. This time, though, two blue ones and a red one caught my eye and I said to myself, "That's what the guest bed needs!" Actually I said it to Phoebe who was helping me run errands. I also bought two plain white pillowcases because nothing says "inviting" like lots and lots of pillows. :)
But just more pillows wasn't enough. They needed a little something more. A little something kitchy. A little something like buttons and rick-rack. And I do love me some buttons and rick-rack. After a quick trip to JO ANN'S, I went home and got started.
And I finished them that day!
I'd like to call this my "after" picture, but it's not quite finished yet. I need something in the corner to the left of the bed and you can't see the TV sitting on the floor because I haven't figured out how to get it inside the armoir Brad painted LAST YEAR. The room also needs curtains. We'll just call this the "now" picture instead.
Here's are a couple of up-close pictures of the bed and the rick-rack.
I'm thinking the little bedside lamp needs some love in the way of rick-rack, too.
Best part about this whole guest bedroom project? It took one day start to finish. And that made me feel so good about myself.
At least until I remembered the other 47 other projects I currently have going on.
We've been spending some time on our guest room, getting it ready for the girl youth intern from our church to stay there. Remember LYNDSEY? She'll be staying in Abilene this summer (and we are very sad), but we'll be hosting another gal, Holley, and we are getting very excited to meet her! I've been cleaning and making sure everything was just right for a home-away-from-home. But something was bothering me about the bed. It just wasn't inviting enough. See for yourself.
So Thursday morning I was wondering around The Happiest Place On Earth (some might call it TARGET), when I spotted some throw pillow covers on sale for $3 each. I had seen them before, but most of the prints were a bit modern for me so I didn't really pay any attention. This time, though, two blue ones and a red one caught my eye and I said to myself, "That's what the guest bed needs!" Actually I said it to Phoebe who was helping me run errands. I also bought two plain white pillowcases because nothing says "inviting" like lots and lots of pillows. :)
But just more pillows wasn't enough. They needed a little something more. A little something kitchy. A little something like buttons and rick-rack. And I do love me some buttons and rick-rack. After a quick trip to JO ANN'S, I went home and got started.
And I finished them that day!
I'd like to call this my "after" picture, but it's not quite finished yet. I need something in the corner to the left of the bed and you can't see the TV sitting on the floor because I haven't figured out how to get it inside the armoir Brad painted LAST YEAR. The room also needs curtains. We'll just call this the "now" picture instead.
Here's are a couple of up-close pictures of the bed and the rick-rack.
I'm thinking the little bedside lamp needs some love in the way of rick-rack, too.
Best part about this whole guest bedroom project? It took one day start to finish. And that made me feel so good about myself.
At least until I remembered the other 47 other projects I currently have going on.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
I Know It's Cliche, But...
Geez Louise, where has the time gone?
Remember this?
This sweet little 2-year-old on her way to preschool for the very first time?
Here she is now.
On her very last day of preschool. Next year she'll move "upstairs" to the big 3-year-old class. Where they learn to write their names and sit in chairs and do big kids things.
Seriously, it all happened way to fast.
By the way, did you see what Phoebe was wearing for her last day of pre-school?! Remember THIS post? I finally crossed something off! Hallelujah! I have a friend making a shirt for Phoebe that has a letter "P" stitched on it (I know, I know, she'll have "pee" on her shirt!), but it wasn't finished yet so I stitched the little ruffle onto a tank we had. Unfortunately, the shirt was involved in a nap mat territorial skirmish and ended up mostly pulled off. I'll have to figure out a way to tack it on more tightly.
Remember this?
This sweet little 2-year-old on her way to preschool for the very first time?
Here she is now.
On her very last day of preschool. Next year she'll move "upstairs" to the big 3-year-old class. Where they learn to write their names and sit in chairs and do big kids things.
Seriously, it all happened way to fast.
By the way, did you see what Phoebe was wearing for her last day of pre-school?! Remember THIS post? I finally crossed something off! Hallelujah! I have a friend making a shirt for Phoebe that has a letter "P" stitched on it (I know, I know, she'll have "pee" on her shirt!), but it wasn't finished yet so I stitched the little ruffle onto a tank we had. Unfortunately, the shirt was involved in a nap mat territorial skirmish and ended up mostly pulled off. I'll have to figure out a way to tack it on more tightly.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Go Big Red!
This is Jesse.
Otherwise known as "The Giant". For real.
He's my cousin. He's 6 ft. 9 in. tall. He plays on the Nebraska Huskers football team. We share a very limited number of genes.
When Eli started to talk, he dubbed Jesse "The Giant". Jesse was around 13 and only 6 ft. at the time. He hadn't really started his growth spurt yet. No joke. That's what his doctor said. The nickname has stuck. You don't really get a clear picture of how tall he really is until you're standing up next to him and then he really is a giant. Here's another picture. Notice that his head is higher than my doorframe (and I have tall doors).
Jesse and his parents came to visit this weekend. The kids were so excited they could hardly contain themselves waiting for them to get here. Jesse was a good sport and played and wrestled the them and fixed Eli's light saber. At church, Eli decided to stay in service with us instead of going to Children's Worship. He cuddled up with Jesse and fell asleep. Be still my heart. This Giant has a heart of gold.
It was a fun weekend. Good food. Good company. But I have to make a little confession. I love my Aunt Amy and Allen. Truly I do. But the most fun part of the whole weekend? Sitting up and visiting with Jesse after the kids and his parents went to bed. He's always had this knack for visiting. Even when he was just a kid, he could visit with anybody and it was fun! Saturday night was like sitting around with one of our Huddle students.
I'll be the first to admit that I have no sports team loyalty whatsoever. Not even one little drop of sports fanaticism runs through my blood. I leave that to Brad. However, I do have a loyalty to Jesse...and whatever team he plays for. That doesn't mean I'll sit down and watch a game, but I'll make sure my kids wear their Husker gear with pride. (Eli's jersey is in the wash as I write because he's dying to wear it to school tomorrow!) And not just because he's family. But because he's just so darn great.
Go Big Red!
Otherwise known as "The Giant". For real.
He's my cousin. He's 6 ft. 9 in. tall. He plays on the Nebraska Huskers football team. We share a very limited number of genes.
When Eli started to talk, he dubbed Jesse "The Giant". Jesse was around 13 and only 6 ft. at the time. He hadn't really started his growth spurt yet. No joke. That's what his doctor said. The nickname has stuck. You don't really get a clear picture of how tall he really is until you're standing up next to him and then he really is a giant. Here's another picture. Notice that his head is higher than my doorframe (and I have tall doors).
Jesse and his parents came to visit this weekend. The kids were so excited they could hardly contain themselves waiting for them to get here. Jesse was a good sport and played and wrestled the them and fixed Eli's light saber. At church, Eli decided to stay in service with us instead of going to Children's Worship. He cuddled up with Jesse and fell asleep. Be still my heart. This Giant has a heart of gold.
It was a fun weekend. Good food. Good company. But I have to make a little confession. I love my Aunt Amy and Allen. Truly I do. But the most fun part of the whole weekend? Sitting up and visiting with Jesse after the kids and his parents went to bed. He's always had this knack for visiting. Even when he was just a kid, he could visit with anybody and it was fun! Saturday night was like sitting around with one of our Huddle students.
I'll be the first to admit that I have no sports team loyalty whatsoever. Not even one little drop of sports fanaticism runs through my blood. I leave that to Brad. However, I do have a loyalty to Jesse...and whatever team he plays for. That doesn't mean I'll sit down and watch a game, but I'll make sure my kids wear their Husker gear with pride. (Eli's jersey is in the wash as I write because he's dying to wear it to school tomorrow!) And not just because he's family. But because he's just so darn great.
Go Big Red!
Friday, May 14, 2010
The Calendar Says It's Spring
So I made this lovely cake for Huddles.
Unfortunately, it is never going to be warm here again and today it was only 52 degrees and rainy. I think the West Texas wind blew Amarillo into the Northwest. I need sunshine and 90 degree weather, but, apparently, I am never going to get it.
But it's such a pretty cake, is it not?
I can't remember what its actual name is, but in our family we call it "Carrie's Strawberry Shortcake Cake". Several years ago (when I was at ACU), my sister and I decided to make my mom dinner for some reason or another. I can't remember why, but I do know it was a secret and we had invited my parents' best friends, The Dillards. Anyway, I figured out the menu, made sure we had all the ingredients, and got everything else ready while Carrie made this cake. Guess what everybody remembered? The cake. Not that I'm bitter or anything. But I'm pretty sure Carrie has only made it once and I have made it a whole bunch of times...to rave reviews, I might add. Whatever you want to call it, this cake is spectacular! Perfect for Spring...if it ever decides to show up. Or we can just drown our sorrows in all of its heavenly whipped cream and strawberries.
Of course I'm sharing the recipe!
Carrie's Strawberry Shortcake Cake:
1 box French Vanilla cake mix
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups water
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups whipping cream, chilled
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 quart fresh strawberries, rinsed, drained, and sliced (keep one whole for the top of the cake)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans. (I also trace around the bottom of the cake pans onto the wax paper and put them in the bottom of the cake pans before greasing and flouring...lesson learned after waaayy too many messed up cakes!) Combine cake mix, eggs, water, and butter in a mixing bowl and mix according to package directions. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until done. Cool in pans 10 minutes then invert onto cooling racks. Cool completely. While cake is cooling, place another bowl and beaters into the freezer to chill. To make filling and topping, beat whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla until stiff in chilled bowl. Reserve 1/3 cup for garnish. Place one layer of the cake onto serving platter. Spread with 1/2 of the whipped cream and 1/2 of the sliced strawberries. Place other layer on top and repeat with remaining whipped cream and strawberries. Garnish with reserved whipped cream and a whole strawberry. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
*Note: This is a very delicate cake! If it gets too warm, the whipped cream will ooze out the middle layer and you'll have an ugly, squashed cake. Just keep it in the fridge until the very last second if possible.
There is one (teeny-tiny) good thing about all this cold, rainy weather. It meant I got to hang out with this cute girl all day.
And maybe, just maybe, the sun'll come out tomorrow!
Unfortunately, it is never going to be warm here again and today it was only 52 degrees and rainy. I think the West Texas wind blew Amarillo into the Northwest. I need sunshine and 90 degree weather, but, apparently, I am never going to get it.
But it's such a pretty cake, is it not?
I can't remember what its actual name is, but in our family we call it "Carrie's Strawberry Shortcake Cake". Several years ago (when I was at ACU), my sister and I decided to make my mom dinner for some reason or another. I can't remember why, but I do know it was a secret and we had invited my parents' best friends, The Dillards. Anyway, I figured out the menu, made sure we had all the ingredients, and got everything else ready while Carrie made this cake. Guess what everybody remembered? The cake. Not that I'm bitter or anything. But I'm pretty sure Carrie has only made it once and I have made it a whole bunch of times...to rave reviews, I might add. Whatever you want to call it, this cake is spectacular! Perfect for Spring...if it ever decides to show up. Or we can just drown our sorrows in all of its heavenly whipped cream and strawberries.
Of course I'm sharing the recipe!
Carrie's Strawberry Shortcake Cake:
1 box French Vanilla cake mix
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups water
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups whipping cream, chilled
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 quart fresh strawberries, rinsed, drained, and sliced (keep one whole for the top of the cake)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans. (I also trace around the bottom of the cake pans onto the wax paper and put them in the bottom of the cake pans before greasing and flouring...lesson learned after waaayy too many messed up cakes!) Combine cake mix, eggs, water, and butter in a mixing bowl and mix according to package directions. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until done. Cool in pans 10 minutes then invert onto cooling racks. Cool completely. While cake is cooling, place another bowl and beaters into the freezer to chill. To make filling and topping, beat whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla until stiff in chilled bowl. Reserve 1/3 cup for garnish. Place one layer of the cake onto serving platter. Spread with 1/2 of the whipped cream and 1/2 of the sliced strawberries. Place other layer on top and repeat with remaining whipped cream and strawberries. Garnish with reserved whipped cream and a whole strawberry. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
*Note: This is a very delicate cake! If it gets too warm, the whipped cream will ooze out the middle layer and you'll have an ugly, squashed cake. Just keep it in the fridge until the very last second if possible.
There is one (teeny-tiny) good thing about all this cold, rainy weather. It meant I got to hang out with this cute girl all day.
And maybe, just maybe, the sun'll come out tomorrow!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
A Bona-Fide Trend Setter
So, of course, I took a billion pictures at Eli's first coach-pitch softball game Tuesday night. Sitting out in a dusty field watching a bunch of 5,6, and 7-year-olds in matching jerseys and hats was so much fun...despite the West Texas wind that was trying to blow us into Oklahoma. And an incredibly cranky 3-year-old who didn't take a nap at preschool and skinned her knee running to the field.
Guess who got roped into being a second and the a third-base coach?
Brad did a good job. Just look at this little before game pep talk.
It was a game full of missed balls, lots of hits, and several vacant expressions.
Have you ever seen such a long, lanky ballplayer?
Here's what Eli did at every. single. base. It was very impressive.
Dontcha know this dad is wondering what the heck Eli is doing. If he only knew we thought that almost every day.
Apparently it was so awesome-looking that all the other little boys decided that they, too, needed to slide at every base. That's Eli. A bona-fide trend setter.
Heaven help us if anybody ever hits more than a single.
Guess who got roped into being a second and the a third-base coach?
Brad did a good job. Just look at this little before game pep talk.
It was a game full of missed balls, lots of hits, and several vacant expressions.
Have you ever seen such a long, lanky ballplayer?
Here's what Eli did at every. single. base. It was very impressive.
Dontcha know this dad is wondering what the heck Eli is doing. If he only knew we thought that almost every day.
Apparently it was so awesome-looking that all the other little boys decided that they, too, needed to slide at every base. That's Eli. A bona-fide trend setter.
Heaven help us if anybody ever hits more than a single.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
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