Just Call Me Little Miss Smiley...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Ribbon Week...

For this year's Red Ribbon Week, the girls' school focused on being drug free as well as living a healthy lifestyle. Each day the students were given a different theme that they could dress up for (red shirt day for being drug free, sweats day for getting out and exercising, team jerseys for team work/working together, etc.). To go along with the themes, the students were also given a special homework assignment that reinforced the topic of the day. All week, we have discussed healthy eating choices and how we can live a more active lifestyle. More than once I got called out by the girls on a not-so-healthy decision (such as my Dr. Pepper habit), but it also helped the girls to better understand why I (try to) always have both fruit and vegetables in their lunches, and why I don't allow them to have sugary juices and sweets too often. It has been a very educational experience for all of us, and hopefully this week's focus will help us all remember to make healthier choices.

I didn't get pictures of all the days, but I did manage to snap a few on jersey day. We aren't super fanatic sports followers, so since we didn't have "official team jerseys" the girls opted to wear some old jerseys from Doug's sporting years. They LOVED them...and looked awfully cute sporting their Dad's old tops.

 

 

  

Fall Festival...

Tonight was the annual fall festival at the girls' school. They were super excited and couldn't WAIT to go. This year, Aiden decided she wanted to be a vampire and Reilly opted to be a ghost. The girls really, REALLY wanted store-bought costumes this year but it simply wasn't in the budget. SO, after making a trip to Goodwill and the clearance fabric bin at Walmart, these are the costumes we came up with. 

 

 

Aiden kept telling me she wanted a long, fancy red dress. I found one at goodwill for $5 and simply had to remake/alter the top and the straps to get it to fit my little girl. I also found the cape at goodwill for a dollar, and the belt was made from some trim I had in my fabric stash. 

 

She seemed pretty happy with the final result.

 

Reilly was very specific with her costume wishes this year. "Mom - all you have to do is get a white sheet and cut holes out for the eyes. It's been a little chilly in the evenings and I didn't have any spare white sheets, so I bought enough clearance fabric to double-layer and create a more form-fitting ghost costume than the traditional charlie-brown-sheet-over-the-head. I also used some scraps of black lace to fill the eye holes so they could be larger and help with air ventilation. 

  

Reilly thought it was great that didn't have to smile for all of the photos because, as she kept saying "You can't see my face anyway, Mom...so it's okay if I don't smile."

 

Mac didn't don a costume for the Fall Fair, but she was awfully cute in some festive tights and an old pumpkin tee (Reilly's favorite, as previously documented HERE)

 

Even with vampire teeth and fake blood, I really do think I have the cutest little "ghouls" around!!

Love Ya Sister...

Found this in Reilly's notebook in the car today...it made me smile.

Happy Birthday Uncle Dan...

Tonight we had a special visitor...Uncle Dan (Doug's brother) came up so we could get wild and crazy and celebrate his birthday! The girls love, love, LOVE their Uncle Dan and were super excited to throw him a party. I actually baked and frosted (gasp) a cake, and while I am no Betty Crocker I think the cake turned out absolutely delicious. I used a box mix but altered the recipe slightly to make it a little more moist. I'll type instruction below in case anyone wants to try it (WARNING: the moistness of the cake may be slightly addicting, causing you to want to bake more and more and more. At least, that's what happened to me...and I don't like to bake. So, just wanted to let you know.) Enough of my rambling, here are the pics of our fun-filled fiesta!

  

Chocolate chocolate chip...YUM

 

My taste testers (Reilly lost her battle with the chocolate and ended up covered in it, hence no shirt above)

My attempt at frosting to make it look it pretty  

  

Lighting of the candles...the girls were enchanted by the flames

  

 

Topped it off with some vanilla ice cream and we were one fat and happy group!! Thanks for giving us a reason to celebrate, Uncle Dan!! We hope you had an absolutely wonderful birthday!!

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Yummy Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Cake Recipe

(originally taken from HERE)

1 box devil’s food cake mix

1 small pkg Jello instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips (mini or regular, whatever you have on hand)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a very large bowl, mix together everything except chocolate chips. Batter will be thick. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into cake pan of choice (I normally use two 9-inch pie pans). Use the cooking times on the back of the devil’s food cake box as a guide, but I usually have to add 10-15 minutes to whatever it says due to my wonky oven. I do the toothpick check, and if it still isn't done, I check on it every 5 minutes until it is. I think this took about 45 minutes for my two 9-inch pie pans. I recommend storing any leftovers in the fridge due to the sour cream and milk, but I'm not sure if that's something you HAVE to do. 

Read more at http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/dessert/the-best-chocolate-cake.html#ixzz2H6TQq2ar

Friday Night Lights...

Tonight we attended our first local football game. After seeing the high school on an almost daily basis for the past 2 1/2+ years, the girls asked if we would ever SEE one of the games. It happened to be homecoming, and I thought the girls would get an extra kick out of the seeing the floats and the princesses, so we decided to make it a late night and attend the football game. The lady at the ticket booth was super nice and let the twins in for free - after chatting them up about the princesses and everything they'd get to see. Then, Doug and the girls stocked up on kettle corn and licorice ropes while Mac and I found a seat close to the 50 yard line where we could see pretty much everything.

 

  

  

 
Aiden and Reilly ditched us a little after the 2nd quarter to go sit with a friend from church, who happened to be sitting a few rows in front. Talk about a flash forward to later teen years when I'm sure they will want to ditch us ALL the time. It was cute seeing them interact with my friend, whose daughter (whom the girls absolutely ADORE) was playing with the high school band for homecoming, and watching them break out a little and exercise a little independence and personal freedom.

 
Doug and MacKenzie entertained themselves with licorice ropes and silly faces. 

  

We didn't make it much past half-time, unfortunately, BUT everyone had a great time and I think tonight's game could be the start of a very fun family tradition!