Back to the grind

The big kids have started school (3rd and 1st grades) and Bankston Hays (3 yr old Preschool) starts tomorrow. We are excited about the new year - new teachers, new friends, new things to learn! To celebrate the first day of school we had a special treat as an afternoon snack.

I am kinda on a recipe kick, so I'll share one that caught my attention :) I first saw this recipe on a blog I can no longer find, but great old Google read between my search words and lead me right to an almost identical dessert (if not the same recipe)!

Frozen Caramel Toffee Ice Cream Dessert

1 box Ice Cream Sandwiches

1 jar Hot Fudge

1 jar Caramel

12 oz. Cool Whip

Toffee Bits

Unwrap ice cream sandwiches and layer bottom of casserole dish (1 sandwich thick). Top ice cream sandwiches with Cool Whip. Heat hot fudge in microwave until runny and drizzle on top of Cool Whip. Drizzle caramel on top of Cool Whip. Sprinkle Cool Whip with toffee bits. Then layer with ice cream sandwiches, Cool Whip, hot fudge and caramel. Top with toffee bits. Freeze until ready to serve.

This dessert was super easy and super yummy! Throwing in different nuts - peanuts, pecans, almonds - would be good, too :)

Celebrating Kris!

Yesterday was Kris' birthday! The kids and I were excited to celebrate such a great husband/daddy. Kris and I went to see Harry Potter the night before (for our anniversary), so his big day did not entail too many great or exciting plans. However, we kept with our tradition and celebrated lunch with a few friends at our our house. The tradition includes Kris choosing the lunch menu - I'll make whatever he wants ;) The kids love this - always putting in their suggestions.

Birthday Lunch Menu

Shrimp Lasagna (A dish my mom makes that we LOVE - rumors hace it that my brother requested the same meal for his birthday a few weeks ago! The link takes you to a similar recipe I found online.)

Spinach Salad

Sister Schubert Rolls

Not Yo Mama's Banana Pudding

I did not take any pictures of his special day, but I thought I'd share two of the recipes with you. Both are DEE-LISH!

(photo credits)

Shrimp Lasagna

12 oz. Angel Hair Pasta

15 oz. jar Chunky Salsa

1 lb. bag Shrimp (frozen, tiny)

8 oz. Mozzarella

Mix:

2 large Eggs

1 cup Evaporated Milk

1 cup Yogurt (plain)

8 oz. Feta Cheese (crumbled)

8 oz. Swiss Cheese

1 tsp. Parsley

1 tsp. Basil

1 tsp. Oregano

2 tsp. Garlic (minced)

Spray 9x13 pan with Pam.

Layer from bottom to top:

1/2 of Pasta

Salsa

1/2 of Shrimp

Remaining Pasta

Yogurt Mixture

Remaining Shrimp

Mozzarella

(photo from Flickr)

Not Yo Mama's Banana Pudding

2 bags Pepperidge Farms Chessman Cookies

6 to 8 Bananas (sliced)

2 cups Milk

5 oz. box Instant French Vanilla Pudding

8 oz. Cream Cheese (softened)

14 oz. Sweetened Condensed Milk

12 oz. Cool Whip

Line the bottom of a 9x13 dish with Chessman Cookies. Layer bananas on top. In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well. Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth. Fold the cool whip into the cream cheese mixture. Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended. Pour the mixture over the cookies and bananas and cover with the remaining cookies. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

13 Years

(these young faces were headed out to begin the journey of life together)

HAPPY 13th ANNIVERSARY, Kris!

So glad to be doing life with my best friend! It's been wonderful - marriage is a JOY :)

Easter Portraits

We took the kids to Southern Miss' campus to snap a few pictures in their Sunday best. I couldn't resist posting a few. I really thought they turned out sweet!


They are just getting too big :(


I don't know that Ann Elise's days of smocked dresses are gone for good, but they are definitely fewer and farther between. But to see her happiness over this "big girl" dress and her delight as she looked in the mirror, I couldn't help but smile :)

Oh, how I love these children!

Resurrection Rolls

A few years ago a good friend recommended trying this recipe with the kids on Easter weekend. It is a neat recipe because you read the Resurrection story along with the preparation/cooking steps.

Resurrection Rolls
1 can Crescent Rolls
8 large Marshmallows
1 stick Butter (melted)
Cinnamon Sugar


Read John 19 while the oven is pre-heating to 350 degrees.

Explain the symbolism of the ingredients:
Marshmallow - represents Jesus, all white and pure because He was without sin
Melted Butter - represents the embalming oils
Cinnamon Sugar - represents the spices used to prepare Jesus' body
Crescent Roll - represents the cloth used to wrap Jesus


Each child took turns making their way down our assembly line.

Take a marshmallow and roll it around in the melted butter.


Take butter-coated marshmallow and roll it around in the cinnamon sugar.


Wrap the butter and cinnamon sugar coasted marshmallow with a crescent roll (making sure to pinch the dough, sealing it together securely).


Explain that the oven symbolizes the tomb. Place the Resurrection Rolls in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.

While the rolls are baking read John 20:1-18.

Open the tomb and remove the Resurrection Rolls. After they've cooled break one open and find that the marshmallow is no longer there.

Jesus is alive!

Easter Weekend

We had a great weekend! Easter is always a welcomed treat for a long weekend usually means we are all home from school/work and get to do things as a family without too much rushing around. We had a couple of fun things on our to do list and got them all accomplished!

We certainly wanted to get in our tradition of dyeing a few eggs.


This can be a little stressful. Since there is dye and breakable eggs and all! But, I must say this year was a little more relaxed. It wasn't too long ago that our dyeing experience went on with these sweet faces and hands :)


We also had an impromptu Easter Egg Hunt.







This year proved to be exceptionally fun for Bankston Hays. He totally got the idea of "hunting" and was so happy every time he found an egg! It reminded me once again how precious these young years are...everything is so new and exciting. I guess it was really the first time he had experienced an Easter Egg Hunt. Last year we had the Wicked scheduling snafu and previous years he would have been a little young.

And continuing on the secular note...the Easter Bunny left each kiddo their own basket of goodies:)

Spring Break 2011 Recap

Southern Miss' Spring Break was the week before the kids so that really messed up our planning! They should really check with me before they make their schedule! HA! With Kris out of town the week before, it led us to have a rather low key break. Wes and Kris (he is the coach) had several baseball practices scheduled but other than that we didn't have much planned. I tried to think of a few fun things to do locally to help pass the time. However, I needn't plan much because the kids' creativity always wins out! The first day of Spring Break I walked outside to find they had "built" a life size spider web! Who knew a whole roll of boxing tape could provide such entertainment?!?!?


I know the pictures don't do their work justice but - believe me - it was impressive! They had even rounded up mittens, hats, etc. to get caught in the net and serve as the spider's bugs.


I absolutely love when all three are playing so cordially and working together! To see them have so much fun and use their imaginations is just as much fun for me :)

Another day we made an outing of visiting the library and a local park. While they were playing the ice cream truck made his rounds. I never carry cash, but this day I had a few dollars and decided it was worth a Spring Break Splurge! Who needs Walt Disney when you have the Ice Cream Man?? (I kid!!!)


They each picked out a mega popsicle and loved it!


Another favorite event of Spring Break - well, Spring in general - is watching the Golden Eagles play baseball. Nothing like running the bases after a game :)

Ann Elise's 6th Birthday Party

In the Fall when we were planning the boys' birthday parties Ann Elise announced she had two requests for her own birthday. One, she wanted a "puppy paint" party. Excuse me, what?!? What is a "puppy paint" party? And two, she wanted the party to be at our house. After more Google searches than I care to admit, I came up with a plan that I thought fit her imagination.

As most of our parties go around here, the invitation set the tone.

And my sister's awesome mother-in-law made us a cake to match the theme.

February birthdays have to deal with very upredictable weather and this year proved no different. After a week of beautiful sunshine and temps in the mid 60s, we made a last minute decision to bring the party inside after realizing the highs were indeed in the low 40s. We moved our dining room furniture into the garage and set up tables to decorate for the party.


Each child had their own setting that included a plush puppy, paint brush, cup of water, paint, and art smock.


After the kids got seated we wrote their names on the plate so we would know who the puppy belonged to and so they'd have a place to dry.


The kids were free to paint till their puppies were just the way they wanted them...Ann Elise chose to paint her's hot pink with black polka dots :)


I was really happy to see all the details and planning come together so smoothly. And, the kids seemed to really enjoy the project!


Especially the birthday girl!


After a lunch of pizza, cupcakes, and ice cream and a fun time of opening gifts, each kid got to take home a watercolor set and their very own painted puppy!

Wordless Wednesday

(Ann Elise, Bankston Hays, Wes, Kris - Lewis Lights, December 2010)

FLASHBACK: Wrapping up the Holidays, Vol. 3

We decided to take down most all of our Christmas - leaving the main tree and our Christmas Card garland - before we left town for Christmas. It was a little conflicting to empty our house of the season before it even arrived! But I knew it would be easier to accomplish with Kris' help, and considering he would be out of the country when the kids and I returned, it was the best decision. I am glad I didn't have that hanging over my head when I got home. And I am equally glad we chose to leave up the main tree!


Even though the middle of January was approaching before it came down...I must admit I was sad to see this sight go!

I really enjoyed this view late at night once the kids were in bed and the house was quiet. Something about that glow was extra peaceful and brought me company. I passed the time alone reading and watched a few movies that Kris wouldn't miss. One such movie was Letters to Juliet. I thought it was such a fun, cute movie. I couldn't have picked a more perfect story to entertain me. It was time well spent!

FLASHBACK: Wrapping up the Holidays, Vol. 2

The third objective of our "Day of Fun" was to visit the McWane Science Center. I had never heard of the museum, but determined it had a lot to offer after a google search! From the written word it seemed to be a good mix of children's museum meets aquarium meets natural history museum. And after our visit, I would say that was accurate :)

With complete dependence on the Garmin, we successfully arrived at the center in downtown Birmingham, put our quarters in the parking meter, and crossed the street to the McWane Science Center. After an obligatory group picture at the entrance

The kids were enthralled with this life size marble coaster while we purchased our tickets.

The Center is massive! The interactive exhibits are spread throughout 4 floors. They were promoting their Winter Wonderland exhibit on the top floor so we decided to start there and make our way down. They did a terrific job of putting together winter activities for the kids to enjoy! They turned this escalator into an ice cave/slide...

And had simulated a gondola for picture taking...

They also had a snow room. The floor was filled with a polymer substance that felt and acted like snow (without the cold or melting). The kids were asked to wear booties over their shoes to keep the snow from getting dirty. But other than that they were free to play and build.

This cute snowman was part of the decoration.


The next room simulated an ice skating rink. The kids wore attached a slick bottom skate with velcro around their feet. It allowed them to "ice skate" on the carpet.

There was also an ice fishing station. Once the fish were hooked, they could measure their catch on a nearby scale.

After enjoying the Winter Wonderland, we made our way down each floor trying to take in all the science experiments and wonder. This station had several life size pin thingys. My kids always eye these on the toy aisle. They love the way the pins feel and what impressions they can make.


On yet another level they had a very impressive dinosaur exhibit. It contained numerous skeletons and facts!



They also had a petting tank in the aquarium section. The tank was full of baby bull nose shark and sting ray.


These smiles say it all! A day trip to Birmingham is every second worth it. You could spend an entire day at the McWane Science Center - very well done!

And it might just exhaust a few little ones...