A new friend, and old friend.

I'm so happy for my best friend who just had a baby girl. We grew up together and have been friends since we were about 3. It is so amazing to me that I'd have my 3rd and she'd have her first and we'd end up with daughters just months apart.

Back from vacation!

Sorry no posts for the past week but we've been away camping with no phones, Internet or cell service!

We just got back from silver islet a marvelous camp area that was originally a mining town. So much history and sense of community we were happy to share in it for the week. Sandy beaches, a tea house, canoeing, friends and family sum up our week!

And check out the cute mock burger and fries our cousin made for the kids, looks fun and easy to reproduce. A cookie cut in half sprinkled with sesame seeds with a peppermint patti inside. The side of fries are hickorysticks!

How did I ever survive without this!

The backyard swing, never had one for the other kids as babies but it's a lifesaver today. The picture says it all, she was crying in the house and nothing was making her happy. This fixed everything and it's not to hot or sunny out yet for her to enjoy it!

We already had the swing set for the older kids and my friend gave me his baby attachment and it's so much better than having to go to the park each time, although she likes that too!

Blog Award

Thank you to Craftmates for giving me the Liebster Blog Award. I think there are so many great blogs out there and finding them is a blessing, so here are 5 great lesser known perhaps blogs!

Nanny's Place
Little Lamb wants to be Debt Free
That Thing I made
The Food Allergy Chronicles
Diary of A Stay At Home Mom

be sure to check them out, wonderful woman with great posts to read!

Great Kids party cake!

I just came back from a kid's birthday party and my amazingly talented friend always has the best cakes and individual kid's cakes.  She made cake in a cone, like the ones pictured above, so easy to serve and so fun for the kids! Plus they don't end up eating to much cake either, it's a nice serving size (and no fights over who got a bigger piece). Here is the betty crocker site the photo and instructions are from!

Ingredients: 

1box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® party rainbow chip cake mix

Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box

24flat-bottom ice cream cones

1to 2 containers Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy frosting (any flavor)

 

Directions:

• 1 Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups.
• 2 Make cake batter as directed on box. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups (two-thirds full). Place ice cream cone upside down on batter in each cup.
• 3 Bake 16 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean (cones may tilt on batter). Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Remove paper baking cups. Generously frost cake with frosting, and decorate as desired. Store loosely covered.   
• Expert Tips:
  
  After frosting, enjoy a downpour! Sprinkle frosted cone cakes with any of the following: breakfast cereal, animal crackers, dried fruit, candy sprinkles, crushed hard candies, graham cracker crumbs, granola, mini chocolate chips or chopped nuts.
  Vary the flavor of your cake cones by using other varieties of Betty Crocker® cake mix. You could also try different flavors of flat-bottom cones.
  Help steady Ice Cream Cone Cakes on a serving plate by putting a small amount of frosting on the cone bottom; lightly press cone onto plate.
   

Beat the heat!

So since it was so hot here today we laid low at home in our cool basement and went out around the kids usual bed time when it was cool. Much better time to go to the park.

First week a success!

So it was a successful first week back to the gym.  I got my membership Tuesday and went 4 days in a row. I don't plan to go on weekends, but I intend to go again on Monday.  I've cut down on my eating as well this week, I didn't eat anything after 7pm, which is hard for me! I've also cut out bread or cereal for breakfast and I've replaced that with omelets and smoothies.


So have I lost weight? Probably not, even though a week of improvements is setting me on the right track, I don't look at this a a quick fix my any means.  I'm 165 and was 137 before I got pregnant so I've got a long way to go, but this is the way I look at it. Does weight gain happen over night? Nope, it's a slow process, that happens over time. So it's the same thing with weight loss, I'm not too worried about the number but just happy to be getting back into my healthy habits, I figure the weight loss will eventually follow.

Back to the gym!

Okay so I finally decided to get back to my routine of working out every week day. I still have a membership at push but I couldn't see bringing my baby to their daycare. My other kids were so well looked after at the complex and I trust the baby will be in good hands there. Plus these two weeks my older 2 kids are there for adventure camp and I can go watch their swim lessons while I'm there! It's working great do far!

My latest creations

I've been busy making cards, a girlfriend is having a baby in a week so one is a congratulations for when I go see her in the hospital. This is July's collection from Created With Paper, it is the picnic perfect collection "Double Dutch" from Lilybee Designs. This collection is total summer perfection. I also made some cards for my Pay It Forward she wanted a thank you and two birthdays so I'll be sending some these off to her!