Goodbye July!

If you want to be in my family you basically have 2 choices for your birthday month: July or December.  Birthdays in clusters, thats just how we do it and it's funner that way [wink]! We were  in party-mode during July, celebrating 6 of my family members and 1 close friend!

Happy belated Birthday to:
my sister-in-law Jessica (July 8th)
my bestie Aly {you know of the mommie diaries...we are real life friends since 7th grade}
my Father-in-Law Dave (July 21)
my sweet Nana (July 21)
my brosie Matty & the big 3-0! (July 22)
my sister Melissa (July 26)
my lil niece Olivia (July 28)

Here are some pics of our parties! [I was lame and forgot my camera a couple of time..so really its only pics of Dave's bday and Mattys. Doh]

Dave is a chocolate lover- so I made a Texas Sheet Cake for him! I'll post the recipe soon :-) It's a family favorite.

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We had a big family party to celebrate Matthew Hartley 

(same middle name as Jack :-)

 30 & Flirty & Thriving!

Matty and his new bride Mara are the cutest newlywed couple ever!  They are both gorgeous people inside and out! 

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For my sister's birthday my mom made her famous Cherry Pie. It is an old family recipe from her grandmother Mimi.  I'm so bummed I didn't have my camera because it might be as gorgeous as it was tasty.

That pie and her Pumpkin Pies are the only pies I like...because they are divine. She is the master pie maker in our family, but maybe I'll try my hand at it one of these days. 

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We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our family and in our lives! We are thankful for each one of the July birthday people :-)

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Oh July...where did you go? 

I meant to post this one before I left on our vaca to Hume Lake...

Oh well :-)

Red, White, & Bradford

I grew up in a very musical family. We all sing and play various instruments, and holidays are always celebrated with songs.  As a kid, 4th of July meant Kentucky Fried Chicken and a medley of patriotic songs complete with choreography, performed by myself, my sisters and my cousins.  We would put on little shows for the adults, and we thought it was grand fun! Good memories.

So in keeping with that spirit, I tried to teach a couple patriotic songs to Jack. He thought it was funny and kept asking me to sing the Uncle Sam Doodle song, but he loved the line, 

"I've got a Yankee doodle sweetheart.." 

He would even put his hands together by his face...if only you could see him singing it. Too cute. Just too darn cute.  He didn't really get what we were celebrating...at one point he said, "It's Valentines Day Mommy?" and he also has since confused Uncle Sam [see photo from parade below] with Fireman Sam.  He also was not a fan of the fireworks.  He has always been sensitive to noise, so he didn't like the BOOM of the fireworks. We still had a lot of fun celebrating with family and friends!!

My Mom "Mia" and my Aunt "Nina" with Claire and Gabriel 

Like I mentioned already, we have a 3rd of July party [because that's when there are fireworks in the neighborhood where Nana lives :-) This year we all went to my sister's house for dinner and then headed over to Nana's for an ice cream social! I wanted to get more candid shots, but my camera battery died [doh!]. We had a wonderful time and it was fun to see my newly-wed brother and his cute wife who were in town from L.A!

 And just in case you thought we were totally un-American by solely celebrating on the 3rd...we went to a small town 4th of July parade [on the 4th] with our friends, Ryan, Nichole, Brett & Haven!! Brett is Jack's best little buddy, and coincidently (wink wink), Brett's mama is one of my best friends! Our boys are 5 months apart (Jack's older) and now our girls are 5 months apart too...(Claire is younger).  It's so fun having good friends to raise our kiddos with! The boys had such a blast in the wagon, and they waited so patiently for the parade to start!

They of course loved the old fashion tractors, cars, fire trucks and even a train {on a flatbed...but still]!

So much fun in one weekend. Whew! We really are blessed to be in this country.  It's not perfect, but the freedoms we have are priceless.

Ok, I think that officially wraps up the Red, White, and the Bradford.

Trendy lil Toddler (& Baby): Star Spangled Edition part 1

Claire: Ciao Bella by Gymboree (top and bloomers)

 Headband by Blossom&Vine 

Jack: Fore!! Axel&Hudson (again) shirt and shorts 

[I can't help it]

:-)

Red, White, & Blue {Cookie Decorating}

 My mom makes the best sugar cookies and homemade frosting in the world. not kidding. As a child I always loved decorating cookies, and now my sisters and I still love to do it with my mom and our kids (and occasionally a wiener dog named Derby too)!

We made these on the 2nd to take to our 3rd of July party, and it was so hard for the little ones to not eat the cookies! We told them they could each have one, and then we had to save the rest for the party.  The temptation was just too much for my Jacky boy.  He grabbed one off the table and announced that he was going outside to eat it. I quickly said, "No Jacky. Come here now." He handed over the stolen cookie and then covered his face with both hands and burst into tears. It was the saddest thing ever. Needless to say we went outside and ate a cookie together! 

Sometimes you just have to let them have another cookie.

xo

Marshmallow Sparkle Pops

Every year my Nana has a 3rd of July party at her house. He neighborhood sponsors an amazing fireworks display, so we celebrate a little early!

I was feeling a little crafty, so I enlisted the help of one very adorable 2 year old to help me with my "project."  We made Marshmallow Sparkle Pops.  I'm listing this under D.I.Y. and not Mmm D'licious, because I'll be honest, they look much better than they taste.  My husband tried them and said, "It's like a sugar ball, dipped in sugar and then dusted in sugar...a little to much sugar!" haha. But they did make a cute decoration, and if I had had more time, I would have wrapped them individually and sent them home with people as a little favor.

Ingredients [for about 30]:

Large Marshmallows
Candy Melts {I used red and blue- 1/2 bag of each}
Sprinkles...lots of sprinkles!
Lollipop sticks

How To: 

Follow directions on the Candy Melts bag :-)
Dip one side of the mellow into the melted candy
Dip/roll in sprinkles
Set (candy coated side DOWN) on cookie sheet that is covered with wax paper
Once the candy hardens a little (you can put them in the refridge to speed up the process) repeat on the other side using the second color.
Stick your lollipop sticks in before the candy hardens. I didn't do that, so I ended up sticking them into the marshmallow part that wasn't frosted.

Super easy, super cute, it was just too much sugar for me! haha. Next time I think I'll attempt Cake balls- same idea, but edible!

Wonder where my lil baby face was while we were doing our project? She was just playing in her exersaucer! Such a good girl! We got it down out of our storage and Daddy and Jack put it together for her! I feel like Jack should still be little enough to be in there! I remember when we put him in it for the first time! ahh. how time flies! She loves it! And Jack loves showing her all the little things on it!

my lil helpers!