It Snowed!! In March!! In Texas!!

Yesterday was quite the day! The weather people say its going to snow, but it usually just "passes" and we get nothing. Not yesterday! It rained and sleeted most of the day. I was luckily at my clients house most of the day decorating and my kids were at preschool. Then halfway through my decorating, I get a phone call, "Hi Summer, this is ____ from the school, just letting you know Noah has a 102.6 temp and not feeling so good, we need you to come pick him up." So, at the peak of the rain/sleet/snow stuff, I had to leave and pick up my poor baby. A few hours later, the picture below will tell all...

Lots and lots of snow!!! Noah, even though he was sick and miraculously felt better when it started to snow and had no more temp. They had to go outside and run, Caden was practicing his karate.
Say "SNOW"!!!
These pictures are after it snowed. We got about 2.5 inches and other areas a few miles away got around 6-10 inches. Crazy Texas weather. Yesterday it was 65 or 68 degrees and we were in shorts. The boys played long enough so I could take these pic's and then went inside. Too cold for me! The best part about Texas is even though there was only 2.5 inches, everything closed early...work, school, stores...everything! And even though the next morning the sun was out and all is melting, schools were either closed or delayed!
Oh, and yes, Noah is still sick. We get to stay indoors all day today. Not fun. But its ok, Ben was about to drive to work to notice he has a flat tire. I can't go anywhere anyway. What luck!

Easter Eggs!

I wanted to share these cute Easter Eggs I have been working on forever! I finally finished them tonight and oh how happy I am! Sorry, I am not the best at taking pictures, so just imagine how cute they are in person! First I bought 6 paper mache eggs from Hobby Lobby. Then painted them gold. Get some crackle paint and follow the directions on how to crackle (the kind I used, 15 minutes was the perfect amount of time to get "sticky"). When the crackle is "sticky" paint the egg a buttercream paint color on the egg, let it dry. Stencil the letters in black, add metallic gold dots and add some fun black boa trim on the bottom.
Some pointers...Do not do half the egg, let it dry, then do the bottom half. It will come out looking like two different halves. Trust me, I have painted and repainted a million different times!!! Just prop the egg on some sort of really small bowl (or cut a paper towel tube and let the egg rest on that) and paint the eggs that way and put your finger on the top to hold it in place. Also, trying to stencil the letters on is not so fun, tape was my friend. After I figured out the trick, it was pretty easy to do...I think it was totally worth the effort!

Carpoolers

Carpoolers...my new favorite show. If you haven't seen it, it is a must! I am not one to laugh out loud when I watch a sitcom...but I laugh hysterically at this one! It is on ABC at I believe 8pm Central (I have a DVR so I watch it when it is over so I get no commercials!!). Marmaduke is my absolute favorite character (check out his blog on my list, its called Marmaland). Anyway, I hope you all will watch it, it is a new one tomorrow night, so get those DVR's recording! You can click HERE and watch some of the episodes! Hope you enjoy!

I WON, I WON, I WON!!!!

See these amazing plates??? Well thanks to Pippin Party I won them! I am so excited! Thank You! This evening I remembered that they were picking the winner today, so I checked their blog, and lo and behold, I saw my name. I seriously was jumping up and down! I never win things...maybe the streak has been broken. I better go and get a lotto ticket! These will be used every single birthday for our family and friends! Thanks again!

Soccer Fun!

I am an official Soccer Mom! Every Tuesday night we have soccer practice and every Saturday will be dedicated to a soccer game! Caden is loving every minute of it. Whats really nice is when he gets home from practice he is so tired and actually asks to go to bed! His team is called the ThUnDEr DrAGoNs!! So cute. Their first game was on Saturday. It was so cute to watch them play! I was expecting them to twirl around on the field or touch the ball or whatever...they actually played! Caden even made the winning goal (not that we were keeping track or anything)! We were so proud! All five little boys are good friends with each other....the names are (not too confusing!!): Caden T., Caden S., Ayden, Cason and Evan. Here are some pictures from the game...



This is what kept Noah entertained for a bit. Then he kept running on the field trying to play soccer. We need to think of something to keep him busy!

Caramel-Apple Bars

Just wanted to share this recipe I got...They are so yummy! Whenever I make them they are devoured and everyone always wants the recipe. I made these today for Ben's work and he said everyone loved them!! Hopefully they weren't just being nice...You'll have to let me know what you think! I'll tell you where I got the recipe as soon as I figure out where it came from!!

Caramel-Apple Bars

1 3/4 c. flour
1 c. rolled oats
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. (2 sticks) butter margarine, chilled
1 (21 oz.) can apple pie filling
21 caramels
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 c. walnuts (opt.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, oats and brown sugar in a bowl; mix well. Stir in baking soda and salt. Cut in butter, using a pastry blender or 2 knives, until crumbly. Reserve 1 1/2 c. of oat mixture. Press remaining oat mixture over bottom of a 9x13" baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes; cool slightly. Spread pie filling over baked crust. Combine caramels and condensed milk in a medium saucepa. Cook, stirring continually, over low heat until smooth, about 5 minutes. Pour over pie filling. MIx reserved oat mixture and walnuts in a bowl. Sprinkle over caramel layer. Bake until set, about 20 minutes; cool. Cut into bars.

**For a chocolaty confection, add 1/3 c. semisweet chocolate chips to the recipe while melting caramels and condensed milk.

My New Fireplace Mantle

I just wanted to share my weekend project with you all! I always hated my fireplace mantle, it was white. I don't own anything white. So, I was brave and painted it black and distressed it. I am so glad I did it! Now, I was pressured into getting this blogged before I could make it look really cute. I am still on the hunt for cute things to put on it and when it is officially done, I will blog that for you! Oh, and I did have a before picture and for some reason I deleted it...I am trying to search for it...we will see. Just imagine a boring white mantle.I thought that since the rest of the room is now complete, almost, that I would post the rest of what my family room looks like. Hope you like it! My favorite piece is my treasured leopard ottoman. I LOVE it!!

Birthday Plates

How amazing are these plates?? Well, I am going to win them because I know my name is going to be picked and I will be so happy!! Click here to check out this cool website (pippinparty.com) and how to win them! However, if you do win them, you will ship them straight to me!! Just kidding!!

Valentines Day!

Just wanted to share some fun Valentine ideas. I made these little tins for Caden and Noah's Pre-school teachers. I thought they turned out cute! If you are on the hunt for the tins...don't bother going to Hobby Lobby or Michaels or JoAnn's , they don't have them. Container Store. I found luck there! Then just get some cute paper and glue it down, really easy!

I made these for Noah's class. They resemble the sour cream containers. I got the idea from Skip to My Lou. She gave a very detailed step-by-step on how to make them. Make sure to check out all her other things, tons of cute ideas!

Hope you all have a wonderful Valentines Day!

Paradise Chippers

Have any of you heard of Paradise Bakery? Well, it happens to be my favorite "cafe". It has the most amazing chicken salad sandwich and my favorite cookie: an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. I have looked high and low for the recipe, and unfortunately have come up empty handed. So, I took matters into my own hands and have tried to figure it out for myself. This is part of the Nestle Tollhouse Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie and part of me adding and changing a few things. It isn't exact, but until I perfect it, it will do. If you have had their cookies, feel free to give me suggestions on how to fix it! If anything, at least you are getting a yummy cookie!

Also, on the Picky Palate
blog (which is an amazing blog with some awesome recipes) she made some Black and White Chippers (which look amazing) and people left comments on the Oatmeal Chippers, well, I hope this is similar! Does anyone know if there is supposed to have coconut? Anyway, here is the recipe! Hope you enjoy! (Sorry, my pictures are not the greatest, still practicing!)

Paradise Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Chippers

1 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. butter Crisco
1/2 c. sugar
2 large eggs
2 TBS milk
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. quick oats
2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 to 1 1/2 c. Heath Bits 'O Brickle Toffee Bits

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat brown sugar, butter Crisco and sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats, chocolate chips and toffee bits; mix well. Drop by rounded teaspoon (I used a small scooper to make the small "chippers") onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 9-10 minutes (longer if you use more then the small scoop) for chewey cookies. Cool on baking sheets for one minute; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Eat warm with a glass of milk...YUM-O!

Valentines Mailbox

I made these cute little mailbox' for the boys today. Also starting a tradition with them that my mom did for me and my brothers. Every day for one week before Valentine's Day, the boys get a Valentine's present (toy, candy etc..) and they get to check their mailbox every morning. I was really excited on how these turned out.

I got the cute red mailbox at Michaels and the paper and ribbons came from various stores. Warning though, if you make them, you need to make a pattern because you have to figure out where to make holes and slits for the flag and flag rester. Have fun if you make them!

Also, I got the idea here. Check out her website, she has lots of cute things! Thanks Lynn!

Noah's New Bed

I put the boys down for a nap today and it was so nice because I put them in their beds and they stayed there. They didn't get up a million times or fight or scream (they share a room). So I was folding laundry and was putting it away, and this is how I found Noah, in the PLAYROOM. Apparently he wasn't sleeping, he was playing and eventually fell asleep under the table. So unlike him. I thought it was funny.

I Love When My Parents Visit!

My parents came for a visit this weekend. We always have so much fun! Did lots of shopping and eating (at Pei Wei, YUM-O) at Southlake Town Square (if you have never been...I would highly suggest going!). It is so great when they come, they take my boys on walks, they us lots of junk food, they change diapers (I love that part). Thanks Mom and Dad! The boys already miss you!

Caden and Noah love going on walks...


Noah and Popi. I love this picture of them!
Caden, Noah and Mimi. Doesn't she look comfy??