Picnic Weather!

Except for today, it has been a beautiful week! We have enjoyed wearing shorts, playing outside, riding bikes, and Tuesday I decided to let the kids have a picnic. They were so excited......it didn't quite turn out as planned. Maddie wanted to drag the blanket to the very top of the hill, where there is absolutely no shade. Within two minutes Maddie was complaining about being hot and Turner was worried to death about his food blowing away. It was not windy AT ALL!!! I just couldn't get through to him though. So what seemed like such a great idea at first, turned into a pretty big disappointment in the end. We shall try again though!!

Happy Birthday Landon!!

Well, I am behind again.....I will eventually get caught up:) Last weekend we helped sweet Landon celebrate his 4th birthday at the Children's Museum. It was great! It was only Maddie's second time to go and Turner had never been before. There was a dinosaur exhibit there for the kids to see as well, so Turner sported his dinosaur outfit for the party. Landon received lots of great things and seemed to have a really great time!
My kids both loved the grocery store, the dentist room, and the room with the firetrucks, policecars, etc. Maddie really enjoyed all the slides and climbing and Turner loved singing into a microphone on the stage. He is such a performer!!! Megs came with me to join in the fun and it was a great afternoon! We love the Dunaway's and are glad we were there for Landon's special day!!

Boo Boo's, Ball, Babies, and Bunnies!!

Seems like I have a lot of B posts going on lately. Maddie has started tball and is loving it! I think it is a little much for a 5 year old, but what do I know (I am only mom:) They practiced for 2 1/2 hours Saturday!!! The nice thing about tball is there is usually a park close to the field. So, while Maddie is practicing Turner can get some play time in himself!
Saturday afternoon we had the Gaines crew over for a cookout. The kids played great together, we enjoyed Mary and Danny, and everyone loved seeing baby Garner. It was a fun night spent with great friends!
Turner acquired several boo boo's over the weekend. Saturday he went face first down our whole set of stairs and ended up with a busted lip. I am just so thankful that is the only thing that happened! Then Sunday while looking through his binoculars, the poor thing walked smack into a wall and cut under his eye:( Of course we are getting pictures made this weekend for the first time in forever! I am praying his bumps and bruises are gone by then.
I also pulled out their bunny shirts from last year and was excited that they still fit!! Turner's is getting close to being a belly shirt, but we will get a few more wears out of it. Not much chance of me reselling a shirt that has "Turner" on it. I keep telling myself I am not going to buy anymore with his name on them, but I can't help it. Gotta love the monogrammed clothing:)
Just a normal week for us this week, but have some fun things going on this weekend!! Here are some pics to go with the title of the post:)

First Zoo Trip of 2012!

We love the zoo! We have gotten so much use out of our membership this past year. Today was really exciting because 1. we met some great friends there and 2. the dinosaur exhibit is open and the kids LOVED it. Maddie loves watching Dino Dan and she was telling me about all of the dinosaurs that we saw:) Turner loves the sea lion show as well. We took lunch and had a picnic and spent about 3 hours there today. I love having a membership because you don't feel like you have to see every single animal each time you are there. We are enjoying our spring break and having daddy at home. It was in the 80's today and I think set a record for this time of year. I have a feeling it is going to be a hot summer!!

Our Happenings in Pics!

Olivia came over to play Friday and the girls had a blast!!

We had dinner at Newk's Friday with the fam and this is the men in deep conversation:)

We went to Nonna and Da's this weekend and took all the kids to see The Lorax. This was Turner's first movie. We walked in as the previews were starting and it was loud. Turner wasn't a fan, started crying and Kevin left with him before the movie even started:( It was a cute movie and I hate they missed it. We will have to try again in a few months. He is such a nervous nellie:(

We have been playing so hard outside lately that the kids have to be put in the tub immediately after coming back inside. They are having so much fun!!

These flowers are Kevin's pride and joy. Kevin got some from Nonna's house and planted them 3 YEARS ago. This is the first year they bloomed and he is so excited.

T-Ball practice started tonight! Maddie decided over the weekend she didn't want to play anymore. We told her we were going to go to the first practice and if she didn't like it, she didn't have to play. Luckily she had fun and there was a park where Turner was able to play too. Looking forward to a few months of tball!

Things have been busy busy around here. This is Spring Break so we went to Savannah for a few days. It was great to be able to visit and let all the kids play. We are going to the zoo tomorrow with Kel and her crew and Friday the kids are going to PNO at gymnastics. Looking forward to a few hours with just Kevin and I!
One big thing that happened last week was that Maddie was asked to join a developmental team with Gymnastics. They are called the "Spunky Skunks" and it will require practicing FOUR hours a week and costs quite a bit more. I have been praying about it and just trying to figure out if it is the best thing for Maddie to do. She is always playing a sport, is in the choir at church, and I don't want her to be stretched too thin. We feel like she does have a talent when it comes to gymnastics and she does really enjoy it. We are thinking about giving it a try, and if it does become too much or she stops enjoying it, then we will stop. I just can not imagine what things will be like in a year when Turner starts playing sports and doing choir as well. Life sure isn't slowing down, but we are enjoying the ride we are on!! I am sure I will have lots of pics to share after the zoo tomorrow!

A Little Bit of Deliciousness!!!

I probably bake two or three different yummy treats every week. I have gotten a ton of new recipes to try from Pinterest and have had so much fun. I am going to try and start documenting some of them on here (especially the favorites) so I can remember everything that have made. Some recent faves have been rolo cookies, oreo bars, and there are todays treat--Cake Box Sandwich Cookies!!! I found the idea on pinterest and you can go to www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com for the recipe. So so simple and you can use a ton of variations! For mine, I used a German Chocolate cake mix (mainly because I had several in my pantry that I bought on clearance for 65 cents each a while back:) I thought a caramel frosting would taste good in the middle, so after finding a ton of recipes on the internet to choose from, I found one that I already had all the ingredients:) Caramel frosting=really really good. The recipe I used is from www.cdkitchen.com and it is called One-Minute Caramel Frosting. Here is how you make it:

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

In a large cast-iron skillet, bring sugars, milk and butter to a boil over high heat. Boil for 1 minute.

Remove from heat. Pour into a heat-safe mixing bowl. Carefully beat with an electric mixer at high speed until icing reaches spreading consistency, about 15 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Spread on cooled cake.

Frosts 2 (8-inch) round cake layers or one bundt cake.

(or use for Cake Box Sandwich Cookies)

That was our sweetness for today! We also went to the park, ate lunch at McAlister with my parents, and played in the backyard ALL afternoon. We had two dirty kids that had to get in the bath as soon as they hit the door:) We are Loving this weather!!!

Pancake Breakfast!

Poor Guy is crying because he didn't get a basketball!! One day Turner man:)

This morning we finished off the basketball season with a pancake breakfast! It was so fun! There was pancakes, bacon, and sausage galore. Kevin and Boo Boo helped do the cooking and Turner was in Heaven when he got there. He stood right by his daddy until it was time to sit down and eat. The three teams were recognized and the kids were able to play on the other side of the gym. I am so glad Trey played ball with Maddie. They had such a good time and it was nice seeing so much of the Gaines family over the past two months. The players all received their very own Upwards Basketball at the end and they were all very excited. Little brother.....not so much, but his time will come:) It was a nice ending to a fun first basketball season.
Up next.....Tball!! We should be getting a call in the next week or so from the coach to let us know where and when practices will begin. Maddie loves to hit and throw the ball, I think she will have a great time!!