Summer Re-cap #1

Before we get too far in the school year and I look up and it's Christmas holidays, I wanted to re-cap some of our fun memories from the summer.

One morning we got up and at 'em EARLY!  We planned to spend some time at a local park and knew we had to get there first thing or we wouldn't be able to bear the heat.  We like this park a lot because it is rarely crowded and has something for all age

Favorites at the park:  Wes - rock wall, Ann Elise - swings and zip line, and Bankston Hays - tall slides

For several years I have wanted to take the kids to a water park.  I figured they would have a good time, but I wanted to make sure I could handle all three on my own.  This summer proved to be the one when all three were swimming proficiently and Wes could manage the slides without me.  We went to celebrate the first day of summer and were having a good time when it thundered.  We were disappointed we had to get out, but when they made the decision to close for the day they gave everyone free passes to return!  YAHOO!  We used our free passes to celebrate the end of summer - going a few days before school started back :)

Favorites at the water park:  Me - lazy river, Wes - potato sack slide (don't know what else to call it but it is like the sack slide at a fair - you just ride down head first on a mat), Ann Elise - tunnel slide, and Bankston Hays - slide under the dumping bucket

My sister and her family live in my hometown (about 3 1/2 hours north of us).  We get together every chance we get and our kids L.O.V.E. being together!  When we found out my brother-in-law had a conference on the coast we started making plans!  The one hour drive was worth it!  The kids had a blast at the hotel pool and us sisters enjoyed our catch up time :)

Every summer we participate in our public library's summer reading program.  It keeps the kids reading and provides us with an air conditioned activity!   This year we settled into the routine of "stories and snow cones".  After we finished perusing the shelves and filling our bag with new books for the week, we'd head down the street to our friends' snow cone stand.

Favorite flavors:  Wes-rainbow, Ann Elise - wedding cake, and Bankston Hays-rainbow

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 :)

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 Art Festival

One morning of Spring Break I received a Tweet that the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art was hosting its annual Spring Break Arts Festival that afternoon and decided that would be worth a little road trip!


We found our way through the streets of downtown Laurel and found ourselves on the most quaint street. The street was canopied with trees and and lined with beautiful older homes and a bed and breakfast.


The Museum sits right among this setting and hosted the festival on their lawn.


The kids made their way from table to table participating in different crafts and activities. The Natural Science Museum had a representative with several neat things to see. Bankston Hays walked right up to "pet" the snake. He thought its long tongue was cool!


From there they each made rain sticks...


added their art to a mural...


strung a necklace/bracelet of beads...


and had their face painted.



Bankston Hays chose a star and Ann Elise chose a butterfly.


The event was very well organized and put together. I would definitely make the trip again.

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 :)

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...