Brownies...From Scratching!

Name that movie!

These were definitely not made by scratching, but they were made from scratch. As in: no box or pre-mixed ingredients involved! I love to cook, but this is one hurdle I hadn't before tackled. I stick with the old adage "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Betty Crocker had never done me wrong, so who was I to stray? However, a friend gave me some of his homemade brownies as comfort food one particularly awful night, and I've been a convert ever since.

If you're feeling brave and want to try these yourself, you can find the recipe here. Good luck!!

Little Man

I adore him. That is all.

"Ali! See under the water??"--I think that if I heard this once, I heard it 100 times. He loves to go underwater and open his eyes to look.

That's not really all. But seriously--I LOVE this child! I would take him and keep him forever as my own. Almost. :-) Love getting to spend the day with him. He's doing so great with swimming! He doesn't quite have the idea of kicking his feet yet, but loves to go underwater, and paddles his way across the pool like a champ.

Crafting It Up

I've been crafting it up quite a bit this summer while I have a lot more free time. Here are a few of the projects I've been working on!

Ahhh, Joann's Fabrics. That place makes me so happy!

Girly burp rags and pacifier clips. I would normally make them softer colors, but these were for my cousin, who is all about the hot pink and bright, bright colors!

Pacifier clips for boys--love these!

More burp rags...for boys this time.

All wrapped up and ready to gift!

Now all I need is a little girl to put in it!

My newest project--it's a squishy block with ribbon tags for Baby to play with.

Critters

Living in the country, my parents' house has had its fair share of critters coming in and out over the years. These last few weeks have been particularly strange, however. Maybe because it's so. dang. hot?!? The poor things need in out of the heat, too, I guess.

He's kinda hard to see, but this little guy was running around the family room the other day.

I'm used to seeing these run across the driveway going through the pasture, but I've sure never seen one in the house before! Little man's got some cajones--here's hoping he made it out before the cat got him!



Here's some background for you: we have barn swallows that like to build a nest in our chimney. The stupid things do it every. single. year. And every. single. year. at least one of the dang things fall down into the fireplace and someone (*ahem* Dad *ahem*) has to pick it up and let it outside. I just can't do it. They squirm and flap and, quite frankly, it freaks me the heck out.

So. The other day I walked downstairs and heard some awfully loud chirping coming from the general direction of the fireplace. Thought going through my head? "Awesome. I'm not touching that squirmy, flapping thing. Fireplace doors are shut; it's cool. Dad can deal with it." About that time, my angel devil darling pup waltzed himself over to a basket near the fireplace and started going nuuuuuuts! So over I walked to check it out. Peering down, I find this:

My question? How the heck does a baby BIRD get in the house?? The fireplace doors were firmly closed, and there are certainly no barn swallows roosting in the kitchen. Totally baffled. One of life's unsolved mysteries, I suppose.

Kristin Comes Home!

Kristin -finally- brought herself back home where she belongs for about a week. I didn't really get to see her as much as I wanted (I don't like sharing!), but we had some great quality bonding time.

Late-night crafting + movies + good family time + bonding over lunch = a great week with my best friend. Miss her already!

That is one sexy truck! The driver's not too bad, either. Out of the entire week K was home, this is the only picture I got! I'm a bad best friend. Or maybe I was just too busy enjoying the fact that she was finally HERE to worry about pictures. We'll go with that.

Gorgeous

Sometimes the beauty of the place I call home utterly amazes me.

These places make me wish I had a better camera!

I wish I could take credit for this one, but it was taken by the Pioneer Woman.

Teachers Have Fun Too

You think teachers choose their profession because they want to help kids learn? Nah. It's so we can go to the zoo, play at recess, spell in shaving cream, and have a whole lot of fun! Every day is different, which is possibly the best part.

Yeah, that's a Skip-It :-)

We had to make sure we practiced our spelling words, too. The shaving cream makes the experience particularly educational!