Happy Halloween

First Halloween tradition.....carve pumpkins! Marley even helped with hers, we carved a princess castle and an "M" into her pumpkin.

Uncle T carved a more difficult pumpkin. He has mad skills!

Second Halloween tradition... a Halloween party. Daddy was out of town so it was just Marley and me, aren't we the cutest cats ever?

Marley's costume was so warm we had to go outside a few times to cool off.

Third tradition...go trick or treating of course! So here is the gang, yes I know that is a whole lotta strollers! We started out kind of early because of the little ones and Marley absolutely loved it! She would cry if I left her buckled in her stroller while the big kids went up to the door, so she went to almost every house that the big kids went to!

So here is Marley and L.J., we thought that the cat and mouse costumes were a perfect fit for the little couple hehehe. They were so cute!

Cute little kitty!

She loved checking out the loot she got and testing out each one that she could get open.

Here is Marley with Ty's dog, or should I say horse. She is huge and Marley didn't even notice her. I guess a dog is a dog wether it is 7lbs or 70lbs. She is fearless!

Whats for Dinner?

Lately Marley loves to help me cook. Ok she doesnt really "help" but she cries if I am in the kitchen and she is not on my hip! So I thought how to remedy this problem....give her some dishes and let her "cook" in the other room! She loves it but only stays entertained for so long before wanting something else.

I'll let her cook for me anyday!

Overnight Campout

So we decided to go camping just for one night. We use to go camping all the time but this year we really didn't get to go at all. I have a compulsive disorder that sometimes I cannot control and when we are doing something fun I want to invite everyone I talk to! So we went with the Tongi's and the the Sas and BF. Oh and we didn't forget to bring my gangsta baby.

Luckily my "lumberjack" husband brought up his chainsaw (that unexpectedly stopped working) and his axe. What a mountain man!

Who wants smores? They do!

There was a lot of setting up and taking down and a little bit of rain....Ok a lot of rain.... all night. And I could not have felt worse when we woke up in the morning to find that the tent that was borrowed from my mom for the tongis was not so waterproof! I know! How could I let them use a tent that leaked right? In my (and my mom's) defense I had no idea that the tarps in the tent bag were to waterproof the tent, we assumed that it was just a nice doormat to leave shoes on outside the tent. We were obviously wrong.

It did take a little longer to get the food going then we had anticipated thanks in part to wet fire wood. Thanks again to my hubby (and some extra gas that we had for the chainsaw, I know, not very smart but we were freezing and this was the last resort to getting our fire going to make breakfast. Do not try this at home.) we recovered quickly, got a fire started finally, and packed up most of camp then....yum...breakfast!

Breakfast while camping always tastes so yummy, is that because of all the hard work it takes or because of that added flavor from the ash melting onto the food? Either way, it was delish!

All in all we had a lot of fun and we know not to ever assume that a tent is waterproof or that it won't rain!

Give me some Sugar!

So I made the most yummy melt in your mouth sugar cookies and found the perfect icing recipe! So for all you Bettys out there here are the recipes if you want to try them out. They would be super cute for Halloween cookies!

Sugar Cookies

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup margarine or shortening

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup sugar

2 eggs beaten

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sour cream

Into a bowl, mix together the sifted flour, baking soda, and salt. In a mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla with an electric mixer. Beat for 2 minutes. Add sour cream and half of the sifted dry ingredients; beat 1 minute. Stir in remaining dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. Refridgerate for at least 2 hours.

Divide dough in half and roll each portion out on a lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thick. Cut with floured cookie cutter. Place cookies on greased cookie sheets; bake at 375° for 8 to 10 minutes. Store soft sugar cookies in an airtight container.

Sugar Cookie Icing

1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons milk
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
assorted food coloring

In a small bowl, stir together confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If icing is too thick, add more corn syrup.
Divide into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to desired intensity. Dip cookies, or paint them with a brush.

The day after

Here is Marley the day after her birthday. She loves all of her toys and I love all of her clothes! Thank you to everyone who loves her so much!

On her own two feet

This picture was taken about a week before Marley started walking on her own. It happened over night!

For a few days she would take a step or two and then sit down.

And then in the blink of an eye, she was walking around the house, even helping me with the dishes.

Silver Lake Hike

We got this backpack carrier earlier this year and this is the first time we used it! We have not gotten out as much as we usually do, but it worked great. Marley seems to be very comfortable in it, and why not right? She just gets to ride up the mountain and enjoy the scenery.

Daddy daughter moment.

Family pic.


It was so beautiful at the lake, and luckily there was a nice breeze because after that hike I was in desperate need of something to cool me off.

Not a Baby Anymore

Marley's first birthday was so much fun! She is a very loved and spoiled girl, she got lots of toys and clothes. She was not so interested in the presents but sat in her new chair for all the present opening. I had more fun than she did.

So for Marley's birthday I attempted to make a cake.... Into a purse. I am addicted to food network and love watching the cake decorating shows. Wow they make it look easy. So this was the result that we got. Not bad for a first timer I think. Here is Marley next to her purse cake.

You can't see it to clearly but the purse has a quilted texture on it. I talked my sister in law into letting me make a cake for my nephew's first birthday in November. It will be Philadelphia Eagles theme! Good luck to me!

This picture was Daddy's idea. She was not very interested in the football.

I'm pretty sure this was her favorite part of the whole party. She dove right in so fast that I completely forgot about the cute candle I had!

Chico and Marley.....

So now that Marley is on the move her favorite thing to do is sneak over to Chico's food and wather bowl and either try to eat the food or splash in the water. So as I was doing the dishes one day it took me a minute to notice where Marley was. And then I found her....

I think the phrase out of my mouth was, "Marley! What are you doing?!" When she heard that she got a smile as to say, "Who me? I can't be in trouble, look how cute I am." So I agreed and she went back to splashing in the water and throwing Chico's food.

I mean honestly, isn't this what I prayed for years to have? Cleaning poop out of my bathtub, scrubbing crayon off of the walls, and getting dog food out of her mouth? Yep I asked for it and I love every minute of it! So I just snapped some pics because who are we kidding? Even covered in water and surrounded by dog food I think she is the cutest girl ever.

Happy 4th of July

We have made a tradition with some friends of going to the parade on the 4th of July. We have a lot of fun, maybe more than the kids. We went to the parade this year and there were over 100 entries, it was a 2 hour parade. Like I said we enjoy it but the kids get a little restless after an hour or so.

The Tongis.

Noel and Amanda on baby duty with Marley and L.J.

Here is Caydance and Marley getting ready for the parade to start.

Yumm....licorice!

After all the fun at the parade we went to lunch and then headed to another friends house for a BBQ and fireworks. They have an adorable little lake that the kids loved playing in!

Here is Dalan jumping in the water.

Marley was not content to sit for very long. Eventually I walked her out into the water.

She has no fear, she loves being in the water and she splashed both of us until I was soaked!

Happy 4th of July!