Ma Maison a Rempli Avec L'amour: May 2009

Erin's luau

In addition to Sean's 8th grade dance last night Erin had her "end of the year luau" at her school.

It was an all you can eat ice cream buffet sponsored by Cold Stone Creamery, and she chose cotton candy ice cream with gummy bears.

There was all kinds of dancing, games, and shell coloring (her favorite).

And at the end of the event there was a raffle drawing, and Erin won one of the prizes. A huge beach bucket filled with beach/summer goodies. She was so excited when they called our number.

8th grade dance

Tonight was a big night for Sean. It was his 8th grade dance, celebrating the end of middle school and the move to high school. It was a semi-formal event (and parents were not allowed). The boys mostly dressed in khaki's and nice shirts, but the girls were dressed more formally. They were all so cute.

Jessica and Sean have been friends since 1st grade. We picked her up, and her mom and I were both taking a ton of pictures.

After leaving Jessica's house we went to AJ's (in the black) to take pictures with a group of their other close friends.

Upstairs on the balcony at AJ's house.

The group of seven that AJ's dad and I drove to the dance.

The complete group once we got to the school.

After the dance (6-9pm) they all went to Beef 'O Brady's for a couple of hours even though the dance was catered (all you can eat, too). I guess it's just the thing to do after a dance, eh?

Maggie's Decadent Brownies

I have no words. Nevermind, I do. Sinful. That is the best way to describe these frosted brownies, and if you make them you will understand. A layer of rich, dense brownie, and then a layer of chocolate frosting with marshmallows. Oh my!

Maggie's Decadent Brownies (click the name to get the recipe)

Erin

And lastly, Erin climbed up in one of the trees down by the lake to have a picture taken.

A new neighbor

While we were sitting by the lake we discovered a new neighbor. We now have a baby alligator living in the lake with the big 9-footer that lives in there. This one is only about 3 feet long, and he wasn't at all bothered by us being there. (click once on any picture to see it enlarged)

With a dragonfly on its head.

Anah Belle

We spent some time down by the lake behind our house today, and Anah enjoyed the fun, too. She is such a sweet dog, and she has so much personality.

Smiling

Playing "peek-a-boo"

Telling us that she wants her belly rubbed

Snuggling with Erin

Getting kisses from Sean

Jumbo 3-Chip Cookies

Oh, these are good. Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, and loaded with white chocolate chips, semisweet chips, milk chocolate chips, and chopped walnuts. And they are "jumbo"-between 4 and 4.5 inches in diameter! Enjoy.

Jumbo 3-Chip Cookies

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1.5 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened

1.25 cups granulated sugar

1.25 cups packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup milk chocolate morsels

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1/2 cup white morsels (I used 3/4 cup)

1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 375º F.

Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda in medium bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop dough by level 1/4 cup scoops 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Sleepy head

Taking a nap on the way home from Jacksonville a couple of weeks ago. I just love how sweet she looks when she's sleeping.

These were taken on my phone so they aren't really clear.

Brendan's spring concert

He had a great performance this evening. This time he played the xylophone, suspended cymbal, and the triangle.

Before the concert Brendan and his friend Jordan were goofing off while I tried to get a picture of them.

The beginning band that Bren is a part of is the largest in the state of Florida. It really is impressive that we have such a huge participation in the music program at the schools around here. And the staff works wonders with these kids. (You can see Bren standing over on the far left hand side).

Afterwards Erin wanted a picture with her "Bub-bub".

Look who wrapped up the season...

Today was the last day of baseball for the spring season. And who was left with closing up the pitching? That would be my boy! And talk about finishing with a bang...he did it with a NO HITTER! They had a double-header today, so it was a long one for us. We were at the field from 9am until 3pm. Afterwards they had a closing ceremony with trophies, and cupcakes and drinks. Now they are off for two months before they start the fall season.

At bat during the first game. He hit an awesome line-drive down the third base line, and earned a double.

Erin helped the president of the league pass out trophies to all of the teams all day.

Love his expressions when he pitches. You can just feel him throwing it.

Throwing his two seam fast ball (click and you can actually see the two fingers that hold the ball after they released it).

Kiss your heart

Every night Erin and I snuggle and talk for about 30 minutes before falling asleep. It's our quiet time to talk about whatever she wants to talk about. This was part of the conversation on Thursday night.

Erin: "Mommy. If both of us were about to die, right before we died I would kiss your heart."

Me: "Why would you do that?"

Erin: "Because your heart is so beautiful, and it has worked so hard to keep you alive this long."

Me: No words. I just kissed her and told her how sweet she is.

Various pictures from this week

You all know that my girl loves to pose. And of course it doesn't matter where we are. These first two pictures were taken of her at Bren's baseball game last weekend. The last one I took of her as she was watching Bren play. You can see him in blue out on the field. She adores him.

We've been at the pool at the YMCA nearly every day after school with Lars and his family (usually until it's dark). These are just a few pictures taken there this week.

Brendan modeling.

And last, but not least, a picture of Bren while he was playing the drums at practice this week. He is REALLY good! He actually had a crowd watching him play.

Redneck school bus

As seen on the side of the road on our way home from Jacksonville last weekend.

Pure enjoyment

On our way to Jacksonville this weekend Erin was in heaven. She had an Icee in her lap, and a book in her hand.

**She read this particular one from start to finish in 90 minutes. Our trip was three hours, and she asked for another after she finished this one, but I hadn't packed any others. Now I know better.

Here Comes the Bride...

It's one of Erin's favorite songs that she first learned to play on the piano, and she actually let me take a video of her playing it this evening. It's one that she has memorized so she didn't have to look at her music. She also sings along with it, but you can't really hear that. She's getting so good, and I'll try to remember to post more videos of her playing every few weeks.

Take two

In March 2008 when we took a vacation to Oregon my mom and step-dad bought me an "End of the Trail" statue while we were at the Redwoods. I loved it, and couldn't wait to get it home. However, I made a huge mistake by checking it with my luggage on the flight home (despite the fact that it was properly packaged). The box, which was marked FRAGILE, and was taped shut, had been opened by security after we checked it, and had not been repackaged properly. As a result, when we got it back at the airport in Tampa it was in about 1,000 pieces. I filed a claim, but it was rejected (they said that they did nothing wrong).

So I got a package from UPS last night, and in it is the "End of the Trail" statue. They made the 1.5 (3 hours total) hour trip back down to California to buy me another one for Mother's Day this year. I was ecstatic, because despite searching for something similar here I have been unsuccessful. I'm so happy to finally have it properly displayed in my house right where it can be seen when anyone walks in the front door.

Thank you mom and Larry! I love it, and you guys are so thoughtful to go out of your way to get me another one.

Finishing up the spring season

Bren has three more games left in the season. One this Saturday, and then a double-header the following Saturday. It's been a great season, and he has grown tremendously as a baseball player. He had three awesome hits tonight, and made several great plays on first base.

Waiting at first base.

Getting a few pointers from coach before his at-bat.

This was an awesome line drive down the third base line that earned him two RBI's.

An afternoon swim

We met Lars (Erin's long time boyfriend), his mom, and his newly adopted big brother (James) at the YMCA for a swim this afternoon. Brendan and James are the same age, and instantly became best buddies when James became part of their family a few months ago. They are peas in a pod.

James and Bren playing around.

James is Lars' new big brother.

Mr. Lars!

My beautiful girl.

Brendan playing around with Lars.

Lemonade and cookie sale for American Cancer Society

Erin has been wanting to have a lemonade stand for weeks. I talked to her a few nights ago and told her that she could, but that all of the profits would have to go to a good cause. We talked about several options, and she agreed that the American Cancer Society was the best choice (having known several people with cancer she understood the benefits). I agreed to make three batches of cookies for her to sell, and she did all of the rest of the work.