little chefs birthday party

The summer months are crazy in our family.  We celebrate birthdays galore.  London and Aidan's are 3 days apart, so we decided on a joint celebration this year.  She loves monkeys.  He loves soccer (yay Spain!).  So I mixed the themes in the birthday cake. 

(has anyone worked with modeling chocolate before?  It was my first time and I wasn't thrilled with the results.  My monkeys were so glossy & lovely when I first made them...but then they turned crackled and dull.  I could use some tips..or a new recipe? or maybe just practice!)

We decided on a chef party with all the cousins.

First, they decorated aprons & chef hats:

 

Mandi made a great food Memory Game:

Grandma Kay did a blindfolded taste guessing game that the kids loved:

Then the party littles decorated mini cakes:

And made slime (at a station where Jim used big words like viscocity, making me love him all the more):

This party was go, go, go...and I was tired, tired, tired by the time it ended.  Azh passed out immediately...I think we all wished we could have, too.  Cyn & Tyler & Jim had it worst of all and proceeded to move Cyndee to her new house that night (Jim got home after midnight!). 

But I do love these Birthday Beauties (fake smiles & all!).

sidenote to Mandi: thank you for humoring my crazy urges!

sidenote to Kay: thank you for being so amazing with the littles!

sidenote to Cyn: thank you for letting us invade your home mid-move...it was a perfect half-empty party place!

4th of July weekend

We just checked off camping trip #3 of the summer.

Alpine, AZ is BEAUTIFUL.  I stole this picture from Shanon's blog to prove it.  So now you know. 

We've never been up there for the 4th, but they had a great little parade, and Grandma Scott was the Grand Marshal. 

There was quite a showing from the Alpine Fire Department, which pleased Davyn infinitely.  We even coaxed one of the water trucks to spray the boys.

This was Azh for the first half of the parade...

but then she got a prime spot on Michael's lap in the truck bed.

My boys' camping obsession used to be making bows & arrows.  Now it's all about the forts.  This one was built with the help of Jim and his brother Michael.

After working on some finishing touches, Michael monkeyed up this tree.  It was unbelievable...literally 10 seconds from bottom to top.  Well, I actually have no concept of time, but it seemed like I would have missed it if I'd blinked.

I'm cursing myself for not getting a picture of my three in their 4th outfits.  The boys chose USA soccer shirts (Jim prefers the Espana one we got him for Father's Day - go Spain!), and Azh had a slew of hand-me-down patriotic options.  I even put a bow on her head.  Which she actually kept in place for a half hour-ish.  So just imagine how cute the three were.  Little sunburnt noses, perfectly posed, huge smiles.

Yep, that's it. 

111 degrees outside...

...so I'm obviously anxious to get out of town tomorrow.  An extended Scott reunion and my only food duties are 2 desserts.  Breakfast, lunch, dinner - all taken care of.  Is it pathetic for that to be my prime motivation to go??!  Oh how the heat zaps my appetite {and my will to feed small humans}.

But let's pause on the 2 desserts for a moment.  Sugar cookies are done.  A perfect secret recipe that I'm sworn not to share.  Earthquake Cake (found on allrecipes last month)?  Quite shareable.  And richly, gorgeously delicious...don't let the cake mix base fool you.

Earthquake Cake

• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 (18.25 ounce) package German chocolate cake mix
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 3 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

1. Prepare cake mix as directed on package. Pour batter over coconut and pecans in pan. In a saucepan over low heat, melt cream cheese and 1/2 cup margarine. Stir in confectioners' sugar until mixture is smooth. Spoon cream cheese mixture randomly over top of cake batter.
2. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool and serve from the pan. Tastes even better after it sits overnight.

***

I know we've been gone so often lately, but a weekend away feels needed.  Somehow.  Azh has been sick, the sun hates Jim, the boys have been restless, and I'm suddenly in the midst of two big changes. 

1.  I was asked to serve as a counselor in Primary. 

2.  I *may* be teaching part-time starting in August.

The Primary calling has me enormously excited.  But the high school teaching prospect is more like a roller coaster of ups and downs.  The opportunity slipped into my life so easily and feels so right, but my nerves are already screaming their doubts.  It has been SIX YEARS since I last taught.  I have THREE children, LOTS of laundry piles, and MANY hobbies (which I know will have to take a backseat...is it too, too terribly selfish to voice this as a concern??).  On the upside, my classes only meet two mornings a week, I LOVE the ladies of the English department, and this is a welcome financial blessing.

So with the surprises of this week, my vacation reading list has obviously altered considerably.  Some of these books will undoubtedly return with earthquake chocolate besmudged pages.  And when I turn to those marks mid-semester, it will undoubtedly make me smile. 

Let the ride begin.  

once a month

the whole Scott clan gathers for dinner.  It has been a fantastic tradition for the past few years.  And usually happens on a Sunday night at Mike & Kay's.  But at June's start it was a swim party at Daniel & Tonya's. 

Which the kids LOVED.

And to which I actually brought my camera.  I flagrantly flash it around at the Hendrix events, but feel more sheepish being in everyone's face at the Scott's..(especially when Shanon is the real picture pro!).  But it's ridiculous how few pictures I have of the cousins on that side, so I'm going to mend my backwards ways.

My D and A; Jared & Shanon's Jake, Abby & Lily

Azh is already looking to her girl cousins in complete admiration.  If only they could teach her proper picture posing...

Abby is a pro.

but maybe I need to address the dirty face issue first..

Posing the boys was less of a problem.  Just hand over an iphone. They were obviously oblivious to anything else around.  True little Scott men - glued to their gadgets!

The picture I tried hardest to get was my bathing beauty.  Her chubby little body in its first swimsuit was absolutely killing me.  But she was such a move-it, move-it.  No time for posing nonsense. 

Love it.

Cyndee Reunion 2010

We, the Hendrix sisters, decided that it was time to implement an official every other year family reunion.  JoDee's family took charge this year and called it the Cyndee Reunion. 

And it was good.

The food amazing.  The company absolutely enjoyable. The activities over-the-top (treasure hunt and crafts for the cousins on Friday..family games for all on Saturday..talent show & gifts for dads on Saturday night). 

Now the pressure is on for the Scott's to plan something equal for 2012!

at "THE fort"

Colin making his bow, an impromptu activity that captivated all of the boys.the Girls club

the Little ones

Treasure Hunt

Competition Day.

those Adairs even brought an icee machine for post-tournament cool-off.

Mandi & Megan had different drinks of choice

Talent Show, which included lip sync, cup stacking, poetry reading, bike jumps, and dance moves.

Azure with her gorgeous cousin Andersyn

Instructions for sisters who want to see the rest of the pictures {because there are far too many to include here} -

I was razzed a bit by everyone for always taking pictures and never sharing them.  In my defense, I have a stack of "Cabin Trip 2009" discs sitting in my desk.  They never made it a foot away from the computer that burned them, but the intention was obviously present.  and good.

So next time you naysayers come to my house, proceed directly to my desk.  It has a slide out drawer.  Where you will find one "Cabin 2009" and one "Cyndee Reunion 2010" disc.  Take one of each.

Or maybe it's time for me to join Smugmug and share online!