May 31st

And we are ready for the cabin! Now, I can't promise that I will post a picture every day while we are gone because the internet there is one step up from "dial up". However, I will continue to take at least one picture each day and post them all when we return. Happy Summer!

May 30th

We have a tomato sighting! Three of them actually...and over thirty flower buds on top of that! I guess it is a good thing only two of my plants survived. I don't know what I would do with eight times that amount!

May 29th

We spent this beautiful day boating on the lake...actually, lounging on this huge fiesta raft. The weather was perfect. The company couldn't be better. And the water felt wonderful.

May 28th

Emery and I starred in a commercial for David's mall today. We were featured in the Build-A-Bear scene. Em even got a free Bunny out of the deal!

May 27th

"Its not... top of the muffin TO YOU!... No, No it is."

Name that quote.

David brought home some birthday goodies yesterday and included in the bunch were these!

Muffin top baking cups. Genius! And pretty tasty too!

May 26th

Thank you so much for all the birthday love! I woke up this morning thinking today wouldn't be much different than any other day. After all, what is so special about turning 27? But it was different. I was overwhelmed by all the cards, calls, texts, and facebook messages. It is so nice to be reminded of how much you are loved. And today really has been spectacular. When I woke up this morning, David brought Emery to me and she said, "Happy Birthday Mama!" Ok not really. What she really said was "Ball!" Maybe that's what she wanted to get me for a present. (actually her present to me was an extra long nap this afternoon) Anyway, David made us breakfast and then we were off to the gym for some sweet yoga. Then David met up with us again on his lunch break to do some shopping with my birthday money. He kept Em entertained while I tried on some cute little numbers. After lunch I caught up on the Biggest Loser finale during Em's extra long nap. Tonight we are going to meet friends for Japanese hibachi and sushi. What a great day! Even Moose and Zee sang happy birthday to me! How did they know? Thank you to everyone for making this birthday so great. I love you all!

May 25th

We have become quite the tourists lately. We toured Branson via Ride The Ducks today with our new neighbors. Em was facinated with being on the water. This was good news to me because we are going boating this weekend!

May 24th

Stormy Sunset

May 23rd

Our little swimmer.

May 22nd

We spent the day at Silver Dollar City and this was Emery's favorite part of the whole park. These fountains would sporadically squirt from the ground and surprise her. It was a nice way to cool off on a hot day. Boy was that water cold!

May 21st

We let Emery ride the trolley to the car after dinner tonight. She said "Weeeeeeee" the whole way.

May 20th

Want to know why I cook so much? Cause this guy does most of the dishes. I love him more than my shoes.

May 19th

I now have a masters degree in homemade pizza and have been testing out combinations. On the left, taco pizza. On the right, half tomato basil, half BBQ burger (which is really turkey). The taco was so good, Em ate a whole slice all by herself. BBQ burger was a present for David. And the tomato basil included fresh pesto made from my herb garden...which made it taste the best in my opinion. Scratch that. Taco was the best. No, tomato basil for sure. Ok it was a tie. I am now taking orders...my number is 1-800-dominosisintrouble.

May 18th

Em's latest masterpiece. She has given up on pointillism and has moved on to line art.

May 17th

We headed out to Big Cedar tonight to celebrate some neighborly birthdays. I love the drive in because you get to drive over these waterfall pools that run across the road. Makes Xterra feel like she is doing what she is born to do. Happy Birthday Karen and Jill!

May 16th

May 15th

Okay okay, not everything I make is loaded with butter, sugar, and tons of calories. Tonight's dinner: Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad on a whole wheat bun with broccoli mac n cheese made with whole wheat noodles. It was every bit as delicious as the cheesecake cookies. And that's the truth.

May 14th

We got a little rain this morning so Em and I decided to go for a swim in the backyard. She got to test out her new floaties and I got to work on my jack knife.

Don't worry. The drainage around here is pretty good. This is what the yard looks like now.

May 13th

Well its raining outside...and David has poker with the guys tonight...so I thought I'd do a little baking. You know me, I'll use any excuse. What? Broke a nail? Ahh well we better make some cookies...

And would you look at that!

THAT is another one of my mother's day gifts. But they are so dang expensive we are going to say mother's day/birthday gift. (May 26th in case y'all forgot) David knew how much I need/wanted a kitchen aid mixer. I have burnt out the motor on three hand helds already. And she is bright shiny candy apple red! I think I'll name her Trudy. I wanted to start out making something nice and easy so that Trudy and I could get well acquainted. So I made these:

And wouldn't you know it, they were the best doggone cookies I have ever put in my mouth! (this week) I have to give all the credit to Trudy...and the person who actually came up with the recipe. They are cheesecake cookies and they are easy and super delicious. So good, that you should get up right now and go make them. Well go on. Umm...you're still sitting there.

May 12th

The ladies of Branson Creek met for lunch this afternoon. And in true lady like fashion, Em proceeded to pour milk on top of the macaroni and cheese she previously smeared on her portion of the table. Luckily, her charm makes everyone forget the mess.

May 11th

Yum

May 10th

I was so excited to receive The Pioneer Woman's cookbook for Mother's Day. If you don't know who the pioneer woman is, shame on you for not reading my blog enough. I talk about her and make her recipes all the time. The coolest thing about this cookbook is how well it represents her blog. There is photography, ranch life musings, and best of all her quirky personality. I noticed that David had marked some pages in the book when I opened it. Looks like we'll be eating rib eye steak with a whiskey cream sauce in the near future!

May 9th

I love being a mom! Here is Em waking up to tell me how much she loves me. She looks a mess, yes...but she was all smiles I swear. Today was wonderful. I loved my flowers, cards, and gifts... (to which I will devote blog posts to later, they are so special) It was truly the best mother's day I've ever had!

May 8th

I made this diaper cake for our neighborhood friends' baby shower today. It was surprisingly easy to make and turned out pretty cute! Can't wait till you get here baby Mason!

May 7th

My poor baby is teething again. More top teeth are coming in and top teeth bring the worst. Last time was "the mess" this time is a fever. So, she has spent most of the day like this.

May 6th

Yee-Haw!

May 5th

This was as close as I got to celebrating cinco de mayo.

May 4th

Mishap to masterpiece. A couple weeks ago I tried making homemade soft pretzels. And instead of a perfectly formed pretzel shape, I ended up with pretzel mounds. Sure, they tasted good but just not what I was going for. So I threw what I didn't eat in the freezer until an idea came to mind of what to do with them. Then we had these awesome slider appetizers at this restaurant who used soft pretzels for the buns. "Great idea!" I thought. And since I had some meat at home that was getting dangerously close to expiration, I pulled those bad boys out of the freezer. Viola! Pretzel bun sliders with sweet potato fries and almond green beans.

May 3rd

Summer Reading

May 2nd

Our small town of Hollister turned 100 years old today. We gathered "down town" (pictured above...like I said small town) for music and fireworks this evening. Em was full of "ooh's and ahh's."

May 1st

This is to show you that not everything I make comes out magically delicious. These were supposed to be molten lava cakes. But they ended up being semisweet charred chocolate disks with zero lava inside. However, times like these are chances to better myself as a cook. Tweaking other people's recipes is when cooking gets fun.