Red, White and (a) New (Blog Post)

I can't even begin to think of how I'm going to catch you up with all the goings-on around here. Man, my head is spinning just thinking about how much I have to share with you.

For starters, we're still celebrating the Fourth of July around here, so I'm going to share a patriotic snack. (Just ignore the fact that the kids and I actually made this for Memorial Day, as well as the fact that the Fourth was yesterday, and we'll all pretend that I'm finally getting my blogging act together.)

Since Daniel was working for Memorial Day, the kids and I baked up some cookies to deliver to him in celebration. We thought it just didn't seem right that an actual veteran was sitting at work while we enjoyed the holiday. The cookies probably didn't make up for the 12 hour shift he had that day, but I'm sure it didn't hurt.

It was a bit unseasonal to buy patriotic sprinkles, so we mixed up our own from a few bottles of clear, read and blue. And, the best part about these cookies was the surprise in the "sprinkles" - Pop Rocks!


Food coloring in the dough helped increase the patriotic theme, and sandwiching the cookies together with homemade cream cheese icing helped increase the yummy theme.


Some patriotic outfits and dimples completed the cuteness theme.


(We snagged this recipe from CakeSpy.)

It's a Circus Out There - Videos

Here are a few videos of Abigail's circus for the grandparents.

Her dancing chicken performance actually brought quite a few laughs.


The tightrope walking chicken begins at the :40 mark. (Forgive me for being too lazy to edit the videos. Daniel was on Flip camera duty for this event. Blame him. Ha!)


And, this doesn't feature Abigail but it's too funny not to share. The strong man performance didn't go exactly as planned. The strong man had a bit of stage fright, and even with the off-stage urging of the teachers, never did get into the act of demostrating his weight lifting skills. So, his teeny-tiny assistant improvised with a much funnier act. Check it out...

It's a Circus Out There

A few weeks ago, the kindergarten classes at Abigail's school performed a circus, The Greatest Show on Earth. And, it did, in fact, bring the circus to our house! Abigail was assigned to be a dancing chicken as well as a tightrope walker. However, there would be no time for costume changes, and if anyone was assigned to more than one circus act, they had to pick one costume and make it work for both acts. My first thought... A chicken?! Seriously?! Ugh... My second thought... I am not making thought. Internet shopping here I come. That was two weeks before the performance when I ordered the costume. Flash forward to a night before the circus when the costume had not yet arrived and I was at Hobby Lobby buying the materials to sew it. Grr.... But, she turned out to be a pretty cute chicken!


I'm still not sure what the point of this spectacle was, but the kids were pretty cute and even funny at times. Abigail's friend, Grayson, was the ring master.


The elephants jumping through hoops were mildly entertaining. But, I could tell there weren't any parents who stayed up late the night before making those costumes. Ha!


Maddie, who you may remember from the horse farm party, was an excellent hula hooper.


Abigail's best friend, Liam, was a clown driving a silly "car".


This juggler was actually quite impressive!


And, of course, Abigail's dancing chicken routine was quite comical.


Last, but not least, I know you can't wait to hear how we tied in the dancing chicken and tightrope routine into one costume...

Guinea Pig Slayers

You may remember that Abigail acquired her first pet, a guinea pig named Princess, for her 5th birthday. These animals have an average 5-7 year lifespan so I thought we would have Princess for quite some time. That wasn't the case. In a terrible week when my sister's dog Snoodles drowned, we found Princess didn't even make the first year of that 5-7 year lifespan.

Not wanting to replace Princess too quickly, we didn't run out to the pet store immediately. A few months later, we finally let her pick out a new guinea pig, named Rocky (she picked up on our geographic pet-naming tradition and used our town, Round Rock).

After a thorough sanitizing, Rocky made her home in Princess' old cage. However, I recommended that we replace all the leftover food, hay, water bottle, food bowl, etc. Since we didn't know what had brought about Princess' early demise, I didn't want to take a chance that it was a sickness that could be passed on to Rocky. Daniel dismissed me. Did you hear that?! He dismissed me. Hrmph!

Fast forward a couple of days to a big "I told you so." Huge "I told you so." We were back at the pet store, again. So, let me introduce you to Rocky II. We've had her a few months so hopefully we won't have another guinea pig to introduce you to in the near future. This one looks like she'll make it! And, the new food, water bottle, bowl, etc., may have helped her make it longer than the first Rocky.

Home on the Range

A few weeks ago we had the privelege to attend a Sunday School social at our teachers' home. They have a beautiful homestead in the country. The land is currently covered with gorgeous wildflowers, and the kids relished the chance to run free over the Hugghins' property.











We had begun a study of the 10 Commandments in class the morning of this gathering. But, as I told our teachers, I was so glad we hadn't covered "Thou shall not covet" yet because I was so jealous of their land. It's just beautiful! It was all the encouragement we needed to keep socking away our money for a place in the country some day. I can't wait!

Hook 'Em Horns

My parents were here for a visit over the weekend, and Dad and I took in a Longhorn softball game. I wish there was more time for seeing Longhorn games, because it's always so much fun. Not only did the Horns run-rule #7 Oklahoma State, but the crowd was also fun. Longhorn fans do not disappoint.


This woman was in head-to-toe longhorn gear. I can appreciate her UT allegiance, but you won't find me with a BEVO head any time soon.


Another BEVO-head was also in attendance. These people must be serious about rooting on the Longhorns!


This is an easy way to tell that the game was a success! Freshman pitcher Blare Luna kept the strike-outs coming.


Needless to say, we had fun. Hook 'em Horns!

Slumber Party

Abigail crossed a rite of passage last week with her first sleepover. Her best friend Morgan spent the night with us Saturday night, and the girls had a blast!


We started off with Abigail's birthday dinner (a week early but her only chance to celebrate with Morgan) at Chuy's. Thank goodness we've progressed from Chick-fil-a and Chuck E. Cheese birthday dinners!


The girls spent the evening in princess nightgowns and pretending to get married.


Sunday morning we all headed to church, and I decided this would be a good tradition. I know Abigail loved having Morgan spend the night, but I loved having a chance to take Morgan to church with us. I want the kids' friends to always know that our family loves God and wants to share that with them.