A New Favorite

I have a new favorite thing! I read about this Perfect Brownie Pan and had to check it out! I was so excited when it showed up on my front porch and couldn't wait to try it out! I love it!!
You pour the mix in the pan and then place the dividers in and bake. This is what it looks like when you take it out of the oven.

After it cools some, you lift out the dividers, and place the pan on the cooling rack. The bottom of the pan is removable, so it slides down over the cooling rack. I am now on the hunt for anything I can bake in it!!

The names have been changed to protect the guilty

It rained Friday night and then all day on Saturday. We had some rumbling and some lightning, but nothing like other areas. I am very thankful for that!

Because of the rain, baseball was cancelled, so we just hung out around the house all morning.

James went to a birthday party on Saturday night. A friend in his class had 3 boys over to spend the night. Earlier in the week I asked what time she wanted me to bring James over. I couldn't believe it when she said 2:00!! I immediately emailed her back and asked if she was insane?! 4 boys from 2:00 Saturday afternoon, spending the night, going to church and lunch afterwards -that's a long time!! But I dropped him and another friend off a little after 2 that afternoon. And that's when the craziness began. Since it was rainy, they were stuck inside. She is a better mom than me! There is no way I would have had 4 boys inside my house for that long! James had his DSI and lots of games, and his big nerf gun. The parents had also bought the boys some nerf guns. I am sure it was wild!



Anyway, they all had fun, played games, ate pizza and got very little sleep. The next morning when they pulled into the parking lot at church, Skip (not his real name) gets out of the car and throws up in the bushes! He gets car sick and has thrown up in my car before. They make it into church and three of the boys fell asleep leaning on each other. I wish they had snapped a picture!



Somewhere and somehow along the way, Skip gets a bead stuck up his nose! They called Skip's parents and his mom went to meet them to pick him up. She met them at Dairy Queen. When they got there, Skip gets out of the car and says he is going to be sick again!


I know it wasn't funny, but I couldn't help myself. I laughed and laughed!

Annamarye had a birthday party Saturday night at the Venetian spa at the Summit. Johnny and I dropped her off and then headed across the parking lot and had dinner at Flip Burger Boutique. It is very hip and chic! I had the shrimp burger and Johnny had the veal burger. For dessert I had a chocolate martini, which was fabulous! They didn't have it on the menu, but I asked if they could make me one. Johnny had a foi gras milkshake. Now I have had foi gras once before and that is enough for me! But let me tell you, I could drink the milkshake all day long! It tasted more like a french silk vanilla shake! If you go to Flip Burger, you have to get one!


OK, back to Sunday now, since James' game was canceled on Saturday, they played it Sunday afternoon. They played well and won 10-9. Right now we are in third place in the standings. The numbers 1 and 2 teams each have one loss - we beat them each.

Our friend Wes was on his way home from the beach and met us at the ball park. Afterwards, we came back to the house and ordered pizza.
James got in the bed early, but I guess not early enough. Today I found James like this while doing his reading homework:

We will be getting in the bed early tonight!

During a break in the rain on Saturday, Johnny took a water sample from the fish tank to the pet store to be tested. We now have two more fish! And we have to start feeding them twice a day. We aren't feeding them too much, but they aren't eating it fast enough and it is sinking to the bottom. The two new fish are ones that dig and eat the food that does drop to the bottom.

This one is long and skinny and attaches itself to the plants, rocks and side of the tank.

This one stays close to the bottom and digs for food between the rocks. You can't see it well in the picture, but he has whiskers like a catfish.

Baseball, yardwork and projects

I can't believe it is Thursday already! The days are just flying by so quickly! James had a book report due on Tuesday. They had to read a Beverly Cleary book and then make a kite to go along with it. On the kite they had to put a drawing of the main character, the title and the author. On the tail they had to list character traits of the main character. Here's what James did:

He read Strider. He did a good job! I help a little, mostly with the glue gun so he would burn himself. I am a firm believer of letting the kids do their own projects.

Annamarye also had a project this week. For Earth Day, she had to make something using items from around the house. Here she is spray painting an empty (and clean) orange juice carton. The finished project is coming soon. She finished it yesterday and took it to school today. I forgot to get a picture, so I will get one when she brings it home. Can you guess what she is making?

I love being outside right now! It is not too hot and not too cold. The gnats do kind start to bother us after a while, but the weather is just wonderful right now!
James loves cutting the grass! Johnny lets him help some on the straight parts. I just hope it lasts and he still loves to cut the grass when he is older! When I was single and had my own house, I cut the grass and loved it too! I would help cut it now, but Johnny would never let me touch his lawn mower!

James had a baseball game last night. I was a little nervous and forgot my camera! It was another great game! I just love baseball!! Can you tell? It really is exciting! They were playing the number one team, a team with one loss. It went back and forth and we were down by 4 going into the the bottom of the 4th inning. There is a time limit on the games, so this was it. Since we were home, we batted last. The Pirates pulled through and won 13-12! James played well, he missed a ball and a chance for an out at third, but later caught one and made an out to end an inning. He struck out once, they walked him once and he had one fabulous hit to the outfield! Our next game is Saturday, I hope it doesn't get rained out!

Sprinkler Delay!?

What a game!! James had the late baseball game last night. It was supposed to start at 8:00, but didn't get started until 8:20. The Pirates had a fantastic start to the season and were 4-0. Then we lost, then we tied, then we lost. So we were a little nervous going into the game. Plus we were playing a team that was undefeated! Those of you with kids playing ball know though that things can change quickly in a game!

We were away, so we batted first. Everyone had great hits and the bases were loaded. Things were looking good. Then we had three outs, had to leave the bases loaded. Which meant we had to start the next inning at the end of our lineup!
We were able to hold them, so it was 0-0 starting the next inning.

Everyone of our guys was hitting, and we scored and scored! It was 13-0 and their turn to bat. They only got 1 run, so it was 13-1 going into the third inning. I know that sounds like we had it wrapped up - but going back to what I said before, it can change quickly!

We are batting and all of a sudden the sprinklers come on!!

The kids loved it of course! They were running wild at first, then the coaches made them get in the dugout. No one knew how to turn them off! Coaches were calling trying to find out. Finally someone figured it out and turned them off. They re-prepped the field and the game continued. The Pirates held them and won 20-8! It was another exciting night at the ballpark!

Baton Recital

Today was Annamarye's baton recital. Last night she spent the night with her good friend Audrey. They played and played and wore my baby girl out! The recital didn't start until 12:15. Annamarye fell asleep on the way!The recital was great! I love how that they split all of their classes and do 4 recitals. Each group performs at one. That way it only lasts about an hour.
Here's Annamarye with Dana, her teacher.

Had to get the flowers! My sister, Renee gave her the baby red roses and we gave her the multi-color roses. I think the flowers were her favorite part!

Annamarye and Aunt Nae

This year each student got a medal instead of a trophy. Annamarye was happy with that!

After the recital, we all went to lunch. Annamarye got to choose and she picked Longhorn.

James, Sophie, Annamarye and Claire. Or possibly, James, Claire, Annamarye and Sophie. Not sure which is which in this picture!

Now off to baseball - we have the late game tonight and play a team that is undefeated! Wish us luck!