Yummy Cupcakes

I think that I've mentioned before that I love to bake.

I especially love trying new recipes, or creating my own recipes.

I tried my hand at lemonade cupcakes.

I loved the way that these turned out.

The cake part tastes a lot like a pound cake, but not quite.

I made a whipped cream frosting. I decorated them

with gummy fruit wedges that I found at a farmers market.

I also sprinkled them with yellow sparkle sugar.

They really did taste and look great.

Little bites of summer.

Cute Pictures of Some Cute Kids

I took this picture one morning

while we were out walking. I loved seeing

them walking together holding hands.

K. loves sugar as much as his mother.

Here he is enjoying a lolly pop or lady pop as

he calls them.

Making a pizza at a local pizzeria.
The kids menu had a make
your own pizza. K. and Doodles loved this!

When their pizzas came out,

the waitress offered them a job.

They were so proud of their work.

I think the pizza tasted better, because they made it.

June and July in Review/How Could the Summer Be Going so Fast!

June is always a busy month for us.

On the 16th, we celebrate our anniversary, and on the

20th, it's Jon's birthday.

Since we've had kids, Jon always tries to think of

something fun for all of

us on his birthday. He's such a great dad,

because he enjoys thinking of things that the kids might like to do.

Last year we visited Fort Rickey for the

first time with them. This year,

we took them to Howe's Caverns.

They loved the cave under ground. They were the perfect

age to enjoy the trip and the history of

the place. After our fun day at the Cavern,

we came home for a birthday party.

Happy Birthday Jon!
In June it's my birthday too.
I always tell the kids that the best birthday
gift I ever got was them. Three years ago, on my
birthday, they came to live with us. On their "anniversary"
we enjoy cupcakes for breakfast, with candles, and a
"Happy Anniversary" song.
Last year, my mom made my birthday cake. Foolishly, I thought
it was just one of many more that she would
make. I appreciated the time and effort that she took making it, but
I don't think that I appreciated the fact
that it could have been the last.
In the fall, when she was diagnosed with
cancer, I remember sitting in the hospital wondering
would my mom even be around in the summer
to celebrate my birthday.
I'm so thankful that she was. This is a cake that she made
for me. I really took time to appreciate it this year.
As I blew out my candles, I wished harder than I've ever wished before
that my mom would be here for many more birthdays.
After birthdays and anniversaries, it's the Fourth of
July. My brother came up for a visit
on the Fourth. We all enjoyed fireworks together.
Last year, I thought we would have unlimited time to watch
fireworks, this year I slowed down and enjoyed each and every moment
that we had before, during, and after the firework show.

We bought the kids cotton candy and glow in the

dark necklaces. Something that we don't usually

do. We let them fool around with

Papa. We made sure to take

time to make memories that we can draw on

forever.

This year, we hosted a Fourth of July brunch. Jon

will be quick to point out that we ate it

on the 5th, so how could it be a fourth brunch.

So, I call it the Fourth of July weekend brunch.

We had a sweet potato fratata, home made bagels, stuffed

french toast, bacon, and waffles with strawberries and

blueberries.

The kids made patriotic decorations that

we hung in our yard.

We ate outside on the picnic table that we

bought for our anniversary.

Yet another reason that I love my husband. Each year, for our

anniversary, we buy something for our house.

We've purchased a barbecue grill, a pool, and some other things.

This year, I really wanted a picnic table, so that we could eat

outside. Jon really didn't want one. He sited

many things: Bugs, heat, inconvenience, and mowing.

He knew how much it meant to me that

we have a table, and he bought one. I love him.

After Fourth of July weekend, my brother staid for a bit

longer. We enjoyed some outings with him.

We went to Fort Rickey one day.

Here Doodles is feeding the deer. She

reminds me of her grandmother, taking her time

to feed each and every animal. She doesn't want any of them

to go without food.

All K. wanted to do was ride the paddle boat.

His sweet Tio rode with him around and around the pond.

It seemed like they paddled everywhere about 100 times.

Tio never complained, just enjoyed the time

with K.

The next day, we took a trip to the zoo.

Both K. and Tio love animals. What fun

it was for the kids to have the time with

their uncle!

My kids favorite thing is to listen to

Tio and I share stories of our

childhood. They love to think of us as kids

like they are.
We had to take time to feed the ducks.

Looking through the binoculars.

What a view!

The kids wouldn't pose in the tiger. Apparently they've

become too cool to do this. So I posed!

"Look, a baby box turtle!"

Aren't they cute!

We've enjoyed lots of fun activities at our

local library this summer.

Here Doodles is painting a bird house.

What an artist.

Big K. enjoying the

painting. Her method, slow and methodical. His method,

paint everywhere!

This summer the kids participated in the

Fun Run for the first time. They ran a

half mile. Doodles was so nervous. K. loved

every minute of it.

The best part of any race, the goodies at the end.

After the run, we went to a local county

fair. We went to see a dog show.

It was the cutest fair I've ever been to. It was

so tiny. They had a performing clown who made

balloons to order. K. ordered a sword, of course, and Doodles

wanted a flower.

The next morning, we went

to watch Jon run the Boilermaker.

Here we are, waiting for Daddy!

What a fun summer we're having. I can't believe how fast the

time is going. When summer starts, it feels like we'll have

forever. I realized that it's going to be August in just a

few days. Before I know it, we'll be ordering our curriculum

and starting soccer again. Time just goes way too fast.

Hope you're summer has been as fun as ours!

Your Children Are a Pleasure

A little over three years ago, Jon and I met our

kids for the very first time.

We were so excited that we had actually been matched

with kids, and even more excited when we got to

visit them.

On our second visit, we took the kids out for dinner at Uno's.

We were so excited to get to spend

time with them.

We eagerly waited to be seated for dinner.

We helped the kids pick what they wanted to order,

sat back with smiles on our

faces and waited for the magic to happen.

We visualized these two children, who would one

day become our children, enjoying a nice

dinner out with us.

That didn't happen.

Instead, those two children were wild. They stood up

on the benches. They waved their drink

glasses in the air while hollering at

the waitress. They crawled under the table, threw their

silverware, picked their pizzas apart.

Doodles opened packets of sweetener and

proceeded to sprinkle it all over her pizza and the table.

We watched as others gave us at first pitying looks,

and then glares as the children got louder and

more wound up. We had become those

people that I used to talk about. People that should

take their children to McDonald's Play Land, or

a park, or better yet a zoo.

I remember how Jon and I would scoot further and further down into

our seats, as the children continued to make a scene.

Discreetly our waitress came to us and said,"Most people with

children don't choose to stay for dessert. They just

pay their check and leave."

I believe that she might have been kicking us out, or maybe

just pitying us.

It didn't matter, we couldn't get out of their fast enough.

After that restaurant visit, we started packing food for

meals that we would share with the kids.

No more restaurants for us. EVER!

Were all kids like this in restaurants I wondered.

It has been three years. Our children are different

than they were then. They go to restaurants with us

regularly. Every time they go, our waiter or waitress

will compliment them on their good manners, good behavior,

and the pleasure that they are.

Hard to believe that they ever could have embarrassed us in public

like that. Over the weekend, we went to a local BBQ joint.

The kids were their sweet and polite selves.

The waitress loved them.

At the end of our meal, she brought them each a BIG bowl

of ice cream. She told them what wonderful children

they were. She looked and Jon and me and said,

"Your children are a pleasure."

I'm still beaming with pride.

Last Day of Soccer

Friday, spring soccer season came

to an end.

I can't believe that it's already over.

Last fall, Doodles started out not really

knowing what to do. She used much of her soccer time to

just chat with the other girls and hang

out at the goal.

Now she has learned the positions and what

to do. She gets right in there kicking and running.

Big K. just ran and kicked. He didn't care which

direction he was kicking in as long as his

feet were touching the ball.

On Friday, he made a goal.

It was for his team.

He was very proud and so was I.

We ended our day of soccer with an end of year party. It was so much

fun. We're counting the weeks until fall

soccer starts again.

Dog Gone Wild

The other morning my friend Ree called me.

We were so busy chatting, that I forgot to

watch the puppy.

This is what I found.

What a puppy will do when left alone!

Now that she's house broken I don't follow her from room

to room. Maybe I should.

A Summer Morning Walk

This week, the weather was

beautiful. Every morning we try to take the dogs for

a walk. One morning

we visited a local park

with a bunch of really pretty trails.

We enjoyed looking at all of the

ferns and trees. The kids enjoyed trying to find and

follow each of the trail markers.

Kalea enjoyed jumping at and barking at the kids.
Bailey just tried to pretend that Kalea wasn't there.
I swear when she looks at me she's
saying, "You never asked me if I wanted a puppy.
Why would you do this to me during my senior years."