Go Blue Bombers!!

Last week Hunter had his first tee ball game of the season (and of his life!). He was super excited. Of course, they're a bunch of 5-6 year olds, so their knowledge of baseball rules are minimal to none for some. So it was quite the adventure.

The coach has them all bring their bucket, which is their "bench". It's a great idea. He sets them all upside-down in batting order, and the know exactly where they need to be sitting, etc. Word to the not-so-wise though.... do NOT write your child's name in permanent marker on the bottom/seat of the bucket - it WILL rub off on the behind of their white baseball pants!! (we learned the hard way....)

My first try at Cake Pops....

So I've been seeing these "cake pops" everywhere on the internet, and thought they were SOOOO CUTE!! With Hunter's birthday coming up I decided to give them a try. His class is having a Summer Birthday party at school on monday, and my plan was to make cake pops to take for his class.

The first step was to bake a cake. Hunter picked out chocolate.



After the cake had cooled, we crumbled it, mixed it with cream cheese frosting, and rolled it into balls and stuck lollipop sticks in them.




After they set up for a bit, it was time to start dunking and decorating....





It took a while to get the hang of it, and they can be a little time consuming, but in the end they were cute.....




...and tasted GREAT!!!




Check out Bakerella - she is the originater and master creater!!

Summer Fun!

It has been a beautiful weekend - warm, sunny, and nothing going on!
Shianne took some time to rest in the pool....




Hunter spent most of his time flying his new remote-control helicopter. He bought with money from Grandpa Collier for his birthday.



One of neighbors had their grand-daughter at their house, who happens to be the same age as Shianne. So they had a great time playing in the pool and with water balloons.


These are what they called "woman boobs".... lol...



It's been a perfect weekend!!

Banana Bread

My family loves to eat bananas, but no matter how many or how few I buy, there always seem to be few left over. I'm beginning to think they do it purpose because they know I won't throw them away - instead, I make banana bread.
This isn't any old banana bread though. It's my great-grandma's recipe. So needless to say I'm not about to give it away. I will however share a few pictures of the process....

KAR Competition

On Memorial Day weekend the Starz Performing Company took part in their final competition of the year. The girls had a great time, and did an awesome job. Our Shooters were down one girl (she's been out with a broken toe), but we still managed to walk away with trophies galore. Nice job girls!!!

"Let 'er Rip" (tap):
Elite Top 1st Place
High Score Overall
KAR Kid New York Workshop Invitation
Cutest Cowgirls
Best Costume



"Soul Army" (hip-hop):
Top 1st Place

"Crazy in the Classroom" (production):
Top 1st Place
High Score Overall

The Great American Sport

Sunday we went and watched our 11-year-old nephew play in his baseball tournament. It was perfect weather: not too hot, a few high clouds, a few drops of rain, a slight breeze and plenty of sun.
They won their first game of the day, which meant they were headed to the championship game and gaurenteed 2nd place. The championship game didn't go too well, and.... they ended up taking 2nd place. We are so very proud of all the boys and really enjoy watching them play.

Warming up:


Getting their t-shirts:


Team Photo with trophy:

Jumpin' Summertime Fun

The weather is telling us that summer is here, and last weekend was perfect: hot, Hot, HOT!! By Sunday we were trying to find a way to cool down and still enjoy the outdoors, so we placed a sprinkler on the trampoline and had a jumpin' good time. At one point all 4 of us were on there! It cooled us down quite a bit, but trampolines are hard work - we were all exhuasted afterwards!! Here are some fun pics of Brian and Shianne on there....

More singing...

Here are some pictures from Hunter's kindergarten concert, and another video of them singing. They grow up so fast!! He was so nervous at first! It didn't take him too long to get warmed up though. He was soon his goofy self (I think he was tired of me taking his picture!!). And had a blast!!

Kindergarten Concert

Today was the end-of-the-year kindergarten concert, and it was so sweet! Hunter was a little nervous, this being his first ever BIG concert on risers, etc, but he did so well (especially for not feeling 100%). It was a little bittersweet - my baby boy is almost done with kindergarten, and almost 6 years old!
Here are a few of their songs. Hunter is in the front row with the orange cutoff shirt on.

Hunter's 1st Big Fish

Hunter LOVES to go fishing, but rarely does he catch anything that he can keep. In the past this had mainly been due to the fact that he was a 5 year old and couldn't sit still! Now that he's almost 6, he must be getting more patient.

Brian took Hunter out for their first trip this season to Badger Lake on Memorial Day morning. It was barely past 8:00am when I got a text on my cell phone: Hunter caught a monster trout!

By some standards, it wasn't a "monster", but for Hunter, it was HUGE! It was a beautiful rainbow trout, probably about 20 inches long. He was SO PROUD! We threw it on the BBQ last night - and none of us liked it. LOL!! I told him next time to catch me a big salmon!!! :)