Another Night at the Pool!

Hi Mom!

Emma's Un-Birthday Party

Emma's party went off without a hitch. She invited everyone she saw from the moment we told her she was going to have her much awaited UN-Birthday party. We played a couple of games. One of them was blowing marshmallow's with cereal straws down the length of the table. Then they all ate their games pieces, so much fun. We also had a scavenger hunt at the end of the hunt they ended up in the living room and the adults sprayed the kids with silly spray. Their treasure was their gift bags and in the bags Emma chose bling teeth, candy, and princess jewelry, lovely I know. Because this wasn't the traditional Birthday party we were only going to invite two little girls from church and have lunch with their family. But sometimes parties tend to grow and have a life of their own. She ended up having all of her cousins, all of her grandparents, and her two friends from church. It didn't turn out the way we planned it was so much better. The pressure was off of me that I normally have when I am planning a party or holiday. Because this was 'pretend' in my mind I was able to relax and go with the flow much better than I normally do.

Chocolate Mint Cake

These are the ingredients that I use to make the Chocolate Mint Cake that my kids and care group really enjoy.
This recipe is on the back of the Triple Chocolate cake mix by Betty Crocker.
This is what it looks like after you bake it, let it cool for 15 minutes, and put the white chocolate-peppermint pudding on top. (You add a 1/4 tsp of peppermint oil to the pudding as you make it.)This is my addition to the recipe. You are supposed to add a 1/4 tsp. of peppermint oil to the frosting. I found that if you also add a small container of cool whip to the frosting it is much so better and tastes like you made it from scratch.
I forgot to get the peppermint patties at the store this time to sprinkle on the top but I think it is still good without it. This recipe is one of my favorites because mint and chocolate are my two favorite sweet flavors.

note: I have looked for the white chocolate pudding mix for months and never found it until I went to super Wal-Mart. enjoy

Emma's Un-Birthday

Our little Emma has really regretted missing a birthday party this year. We were about to move and chose to go to the beach (which she wanted) to have a little get away before the storm of the big move. So ever since then she has been asking for a birthday party and wanting to know when her birthday comes again. So Jason and I decided to have an Un-Birthday for her. She is so excited. We were thinking having grandparents over. But she wanted kids. We wanted small, easy, no frills. You guessed she wants the whole shoot and shabang. We are compromising. She is having cousins and two little girls from church over for the not so un-party. I will post pictures after her party on Sunday.

Kids Club

Our kids had a blast on Saturday their first day at kids club. Mel and Meg are fish. Buddy and Emma got to play in the jungle gym and had a great time too!

First Day of School

The girls wanted to knock on the front door this morning for their first day back to school. They were excited because I told them they could call me, Mrs. Wakefield. Buddy had to join them, of course.
A friend from church helped me clean out my garage and arrange the furniture for a classroom. This last week I unpacked a million boxes and set up our first real classroom. The kids love the room but not too excited about school.
I found this idea to make lunch much more fun on-line recently. It was a major hit.

Faux Zoo

We wanted to take the kids and my parents to the zoo today. The baby elephant and the fact that it is Labor day made it impossible to find a space. So we went to Washington Park and looked at all the beautiful roses. It was one of those days where no one wanted to pose for a picture but I just took them anyway. So this ended up being our faux zoo trip. We saw one strange squirrel and one humming bird but millions of gorgeous roses and plants.