Pumpkin Pie

Here's what I've been "baking" in my craft room! : )

Just in time for Thanksgiving. I think they turned out great. I love it when the idea in my head comes out exactly as I dreamt it would be.

Halloween Cupcakes!

Okay, I promise my next baking post won't be about cupcakes! : ) I just had to make some more cupcakes because I found these super-cute cake toppers at our local cake store and I couldn't resist. I used a Sprinkles pumpkin cake mix with cinnamon cream cheese frosting. My favorite topper is the spider with it's long legs. You could always use those black plastic spider rings if you don't have a local cake shop. I'm sure you can get a whole bag of rings at Walmart for $2. Cheap & easy cupcake decorations.

And an apology for this post to my sister-in-law, Jen, who detests spiders! Nothin' says love like a spider on a cupcake. haha.

We're In!

Sorry it's been a week since the last post. We moved into our house on Wednesday and have been painting and unpacking ever since! We are almost done. We like our house a lot. The best part of the house is the backyard. We have a swing set. It's just not a rinky-dink swing set either - it's serious. Sydney calls it "the park." I took this picture laying from our hammock. The hammock is also known as Matt's "park!" It's not a great picture of the set, but you get the idea. I'll take more pictures of the house and post them soon.

As you can see, Sydney is super happy to be outside. We can't even describe how much we love the backyard! The weather is perfect right now so we are outside often.

So today after church, the back part of the house if awfully quiet. I thought they were unpacking the closet. I guessed wrong.

Caught red handed! : )

Oktoberfest

Saturday night we went to Oktoberfest with our friends, Neil and Karisa and their daughter Annika. We had a good time. It was a lot smaller than I thought it was going to be but Sydney had fun. That's all that matters in my book! There was a huge slide. Sydney tried it. It wasn't pretty but she was all smiles at the bottom!

There was a fire truck that she got to sit in.

And a clown that was making balloon creatures. Sydney loves balloons. She was so happy to receive a flower creation. Here she is "smelling" the flower.

We still had a little time after the festival so we went to an absolutely fantastic park. It was enclosed with 6 different slide structures, 2 splash areas, and a huge bubble tower. We'll definitely be going back. They are so many play parks and splash pads in this area - Sydney's dream come true!

Next weekend - Seafood Festival! : )

Chai + Cupcakes = Heavenly!

I love chai. I love cupcakes. And the two together make a great pair!

I first tried the chai cupcake at Sprinkles. It was great. That means I had to find a way to make my own. Sprinkles isn't readily available to me and they only serve it on Fridays. Granted, today is Friday - it's coincidental. I still don't have a kitchen yet so I went to my friends house we made these cupcakes. Absolutely delicious - the chai buttercream frosting is the best part. Yum-O! If you like chai I really recommend this recipe. Thanks Karisa!

While we are still on cupcakes, let take a look at some super cute ways to display them!

Holy Smokes! I love these. They are from Michelle Miller. I don't how to get them, but I'm going to try! : )

I might get this stand for our next party. It's from Martha Stewart Celebrates at Walmart. It's new so I don't know how easy it is to find.

Thanks for putting up with another cupcake post! This weekend we're going to Okoberfest, so the next post maybe about good ol' German bratwursts! : ) I'm excited about that too! Have a great weekend.

Frozen Custard

It's been like a vacation here. We are living in an extended stay hotel, Matt's off work, we eat out, go to the beach, shop, and do something on a daily basis. It's been fun. Don't get me wrong - I'm looking forward to moving into our new house soon. I'll just enjoy our vacation until then. Today, we went for some frozen custard at Shake's. We had one back in College Station so it brings back college day memories. It's very good. The best frozen custard is Goodberry's in North Carolina. A good runner-up is Ritter's in Ohio. Shake's comes in 3rd in my book. Here's Matt sundae. I didn't get anything that fun.

You like how I rate all these desserts?! I guess that one reason I like to travel so much. You get to taste and try all sorts of yummy stuff. I guess it's a good thing I like to workout too! : ) haha.

The High Speed Chase

On our way home from church today, we witnessed a high speed car chase. No joke! This red Camaro flew past us in the left lane, and immediately thought "I hope he gets a ticket for going that fast." I mean - it was insanely fast. Next thing we know here comes a police car flying past us. Then all of a sudden there is a huge dust cloud, the red Camaro had turned around (off the road) and flew past the other way (with the police car right after). Thankfully we had turned to get on base and away from the drama. Honestly, we both thought is was kinda cool (because you only see that on tv) and truly scary at the same time. Imagine the accident that the high speed car chase could produce. Anyway, that's our excitement for the day! : )

A walk to burn up the cupcake calories!

Yesterday, we went on a little walk at a nature park. The past couple days we have had beautiful mornings. We tried to walk on the beach the other day but it was actually kinda cold! As you can see, we are loving it here!

Now...to cupcakes! : ) We tried to go to that cupcake store that I had talked about previously but it was CLOSED! I couldn't believe! Not just closed on a Saturday, I mean shut down. Such a shame! I was so excited about Nutella cupcakes, but thankfully I found a recipe and will be trying it as soon as we move into our new home! Thankfully, we have a cute little cake bakery in town and I bought some cupcakes there. Here's the proof because they aren't goin' to last long! : )

Dog Demo and Splash Pad

So we went to a base play group today. They met at the dog training center and showed the kids what the dogs can do. It was real interesting. It was the first time I've seen a live demo. Syd really liked it too.

These dogs were so smart, obedient, and active. It makes Dixie look like, well....

haha. She's such a good dog!

They have a number of splash pads here in town. We took Sydney to one today. Here's a few pictures.

She was blissful!

Our 1st weekend back in Florida

We're doing great here. It's a good season - it's all "new."

A new place to live.

A new home to live in (we have found a home here, we are just waiting to move in).

A new season of the Martha Stewart Show. : ) Starts tomorrow.

A new season - fall. Even though it still feels like summer!

A new cupcake shop to visit! And get this - they have a nutella cupcake with chocolate frosting! (No worries - I'm also going to get a vanila/vanila!)

A new football season. I do love football.

A new church. We did visit one we liked today.

And last but not least - a new zoo!

Here's our pictures from today:

A baby monkey - so cute! It was born in May.

Sydney feeding the sheep.
Isn't this the cutest. It looks like the little boy is actually petting the otter!
You know these two!
The funniest of the day was this raccoon sitting in the hanging basket. He was pretty big to fit in the basket but he got in there none-the-less. And he popped right out when Matt threw him a animal cracker (legally - it wasn't just one of Syd's animal crackers).
So, anyway, we are doing well. As I said before, we did find a house. Hopefully everything will work out and will be able to move in soon. I'll keep you posted. It's really nice here and it reminds of a lot of our old home in the other part of Florida. Tomorrow, we're off to do some exploring and already have 2 social outtings with friends. It's always good to know people when you move! : )

We're Here!

I just wanted to let everyone know that we made it to Florida safe & sound.

I'll post again soon!

Matt's Graduation

So Matt graduated from his training yesterday. Whoo-hoo! That means we move - again! : )

Here he is getting a pin or something. I'm so proud. He's so highly educated these days! haha.

The family picture.

Sydney and her friends - Kaitlyn and Avery.
Me and my friend Laura.
Unfortunately, the picture I took with my other friend, Tiffeny, turned out blurry. She's the mom of Sydney's friends. It was really great meeting our friends here. We had a lot of fun and we'll miss them dearly.

Now, we are onto "the move". I don't even want to mention what number we're on. All I know is we'll have 4 different addresses by the end of this year. Crazy! I'm surprised anyone can even keep up with our current address these days! : ) So, this weekend is packing and we'll be in Florida next week! Maybe I'll be able to get some sun there since my doctor told me just last week I looked real pale! That's great, huh?!

Have a great weekend!

Abiliene Zoo

This past weekend, we went back to the Abiliene Zoo. It was a nice little day trip - very hot though!

Matt and Sydney:

Action shot of feeding the giraffe:

Little Rock Trip

So 2 weekends ago, Sydney and I went to visit my best friend, Lauren, in Little Rock. We had a great time. We just hung out. We did go to the Little Rock Zoo. It was fun. Here are some pictures:

Sydney - not happy!

Talking on the phone to dad. She loves talking to him on the cell phone.
Lauren also took us to a cupcake store! Whoo-hoo! : ) I had a vanilla and Sydney had some black bottom cupcake with cream cheese in the base. I have decided that every cupcake store I have to eat a vanilla cupcake with vanilla frosting. It's going to be my standard so I can rate cupcakes more efficiently. You know - to serve you, my faithful blog readers! haha.

And we're going to be moving in exactly one week! I can't believe it. We're very excited. Not for the moving process but to be back in Florida. Hopefully, all the hurricanes won't affect our move!

Computer Problems

I am so sorry for not posting in awhile. I've been traveling and came back to a dead computer. Really! It wouldn't work at all. Now, I'm typing on our new laptop! : ) Hopefully I'll load the software for pictures and show you what we have been up to. Check back soon for pictures!

Home, home on the range...

This weekend we went to visit Matt's sister, Jen, and her family. They recently moved to southwest Oklahoma so it was a fairly quick drive to see them. On Saturday, we went to this state park (I guess, I really don't know exactly what it was called). They had lots of buffalo and prairie dogs roaming around. We also some deer and a coyote. It totally reminded me of the "Home, home on the range" song. Anyway, he's the family picture out on the range! : )

The cousins.

Luring the prairie dog to eat goldfish.
Prairie dogs do in fact like goldfish crackers!
The buffalo grazing right by the side of the road.
Jen's birthday was on Saturday so "Happy Birthday" to you.

One more cute story, so on Sunday before we left we went to a playland thing at McDonalds (it was totally raining that day). There was some other bigger kids there going crazy and Sydney was intimidated but wanted to slide. So Robbie sat at the bottom of the slide guarding it so other kids wouldn't climb up. All the while, Lauren took Sydney and protected her while she went down. They were so cute protecting their little cousin from the other kids - we were joking about the family mafia starting! : )

Flowered Tank Top

Here is a tank top I made with the flowers from a few weeks ago. One of my many uses for these flowers. Sydney was quite happy to wear it and kept commenting on it all day. I just tried not to let her get any stains on the white tank top! : )

Have a great weekend!

The Weekend

Matt's parents came in for the weekend. Matt's dad is big into model trains and there is a train museum here in town with lots of model train exhibits. Sydney enjoyed it too! Here's a few pictures.

Today's Conversation

Sydney: (whining) I have a boo-boo on my finger!

Me: What would you like me to do about it?

Sydney: Amputate.

Me: Amputate?

Sydney: Yeah.

I thought is was funny she had never said that word before. I usually joke about amputating whatever limb is ailing at the moment- I guess she has caught on. Have a good weekend! : )