Birthday boy and Braves/Dodgers

Last week, we celebrated Hadden’s 9th birthday! We are so thankful for the fine young man that God has blessed us with! Savannah was very helpful, also. She really enjoys making birthdays special, so she secretly made something for him (so she could surprise him), then proceeded to create an adventure. She made a scavenger hunt with clues that he had to find and then once he found all of the clues, he had to put the puzzle together to make a map. The map showed the location of the present.

Hadden has found all of the clues and is putting the pieces together. I am so thrilled that our kids ask to wrap their presents in newspaper! A couple of years ago, during the middle of building our house, it was someone’s birthday and I had NO IDEA where wrapping paper might be. Rather than buy more, I just decided to wrap their presents in newspaper. Now, it has become a favorite – love that!

Here is the finished puzzle – and LEGOS!! The boy loves legos! Bonus that we found this on clearance a couple of months ago :)

Then, on Friday, we traveled over to Atlanta for a Braves/Dodgers game. John has been a Dodgers fan for a long time and Hadden likes both the Braves and the Dodgers, so he would have been happy either way the game went. John’s Mom loved the Braves as well. It was a pretty good game and the Dodgers even pulled out the win.

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We are also at the beginning of fall soccer and baseball. Someone commented on how Hadden seems to play baseball year around, and Savannah plays soccer all the time, too. For now, since those are the only sports that they are playing, they are doing both the normal and the off-season for those sports. The normal season for soccer is fall, but there is an off-season in the spring. Spring is baseball season, with fall being the off-season. Hadden also had the privilege of playing all-stars which is in the summer. All that to say … yes, they do play a lot!! :)

We're heading to a Braves game!!!

We are very excited to head to Atlanta for a Braves game - they are playing the Dodgers. Whoo hoo!

Hearer and whisperer …

I think it is safe to call John the “hearer of snakes”. He is still working on the whisperer part! Seriously – he has super-sonic ears, I’m telling you. We all went for a walk the other day doing our usual snake check. Disappointed that we didn’t see one, we turned to head home when John heard a sound and said “that’s a snake!” Although, I was initially doubtful, he was right – it was a snake!! (I have been known to dismiss snake rattling sounds for leaves, cicadas, etc.) This time, it was hiding under a dead log – the same place we have seen one before. Yuck! I have left the picture small for you squeamish types, but here is the proof :) It’s another crotalus horridus.

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Now, for the whisperer part – the kids and I went and watched Paul Daily break a horse to ride. It was really fascinating and we all enjoyed it. Throughout the approximate 2 hours, he weaves his testimony and faith in God through the training of the horse and how it relates to each of us. Check out their website for more information.

Just getting started – the horse initially just ran around and around the pen.

Persistent “helper”

After calming and working with the horse, his daughter went for a ride.

 

He was kind enough to allow a picture with our kiddos.

Sugar cookie recipe

I don't normally share recipes, but this one is SO good I can't help myself. I found it a couple of years ago on allrecipes.com and have made it a few times. It is super easy and the cookies are really good. (note: this recipe makes a lot of cookies)

Best Rolled Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

If you know me well, you know I love icing and these cookies are just as good without icing. Enjoy! And if you make them, let me know what you think.

And the answer is ...

Yep - the letter 'e'.

Sorry, Don, no cd :)

**update** - I didn't get this one, but my husband did (thought I could stump him). Our friend, Don did also and was hoping for a prize.

Brain teaser ...

Here is a fun brain teaser from our school today - can you guess it? (I didn't :)

What is the beginning of eternity, The end of time and space; The beginning of every end, And the end of every race?

Random

Can you guess what this is? I just absolutely love it. We finally watched “How to train your dragon”, and the next day, Savannah sewed her very own dragon. If you haven’t seen the movie, I’ll explain just a little bit. The main character, Hiccup, is supposed to be a ferocious Viking and kill dragons. In an attempt to kill one, he wounds it, but doesn’t have the heart to kill it. He helps it by creating an artificial tail and befriends it. That’s all I’m going to tell you, I don’t want to spoil anymore of the movie :) Savannah’s version is a hurt wing, so she built an artificial wing for it. It also has the little “saddle” to hold on. Just very cute and creative, in my opinion.

She was kind enough to share her sewing machine so I could finish up the valances for the master bath. I like how they turned out (if they look uneven, it’s because I had to shoot at a funny angle because of the shower :). The countertop in this bathroom is called African something or other, so I thought the cheetah print was appropriate. It finally looks complete in there. There is only one room left to finish the valances, but I don’t have the fabric for that room yet.

Random question – why do we consider the plants that grow well weeds? And the plants that we spend money on, that don’t grow so well … somehow those are special? This little vine is growing in a little pine tree and just looks so pretty, I think. The bumblebee doesn’t mind that it is a weed, either.