Do you find it hard to choose just the right gift for your sweet teen girl? Me too. So I went to the authorities. Three lovely, fun-loving young ladies that have been friends since birth. These girls recently came for a sleepover. They were more than happy to create their wish list of the Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide for Teen Girls.Continue Reading
Happy 3rd Birthday, Cambrie Noelle
Cambrie LOVES Minnie Mouse!
So for her Birthday I made her a hat.
The pattern is from Repeat Crafter Me
this little 3-year old sweetie melts my heart
peeking in the window
It was a rainy, chilly afternoon when Jared and I met Jamie and the kids at the Pop Shop
to celebrate Cambrie’s birthday in the quaint town of Collingswood, New Jersey.
A few years ago, Bobby Flay arrived at the Pop Shop for a Grilled Cheese Throwdown.
big bowls of ice-cream made everyone happy
and there might have been some noisy children too…
even in the rain the streets were beautiful
~*~
When Ella stopped coming for childcare back in September, I told her I would take her to our church’s Living Nativity. So, that is what we did Saturday night. I told her afterward we could go to Friendly’s for dinner and ice-cream sundaes. Much to my surprise, she wanted to head back to my house where we spent a couple of hours playing together in the nursery, She made me lots of plates of play food, played dress-up and read an American Girl magazine to me.
Off to Kindergarten
Spur of the Moment Adventure
Jared, Ella and I planned to spend the day with Jamie and the kids. When we arrived Jamie asked if we wanted to go on an adventure. We all climbed into her 12-passenger van and it was off the Camden Waterfront. What a gorgeous day with lower temps and humidity, a sky filled with fluffy white clouds, eight delighted children and a (round about) 😉 trek to the city. There was a mad dash to catch the ferry that shuttled us across the Delaware River.
From the ferry we could see on the Jersey banks, the Battleship New Jersey, The RCA building, Campbell’s Field, The Ben Franklin Bridge, the New Jersey State Aquarium and the Camden Children’s Garden. On the Philly side we saw Penn’s Landing and historic Philadelphia.
We walked through the streets and looking for just the right place to eat.
And we found it! An Asian cafe with seating on the quiet sidewalk under shady trees.
The food was delicious! We ended our meal with a wonderful plate of
Sesame Fried Bananas topped with Coconut Ice Cream!
It was such a lovely day that I texted John telling him I found the perfect day-outing for our anniversary in October. I even told our server at the restaurant we will see her then.
He is excited!
Ranger Cookies for Back-to-School
Waaayyyyy back, when our twin daughters were in preschool, a friend shared this recipe for Ranger Cookies.  Since our little Ella will be heading off to kindergarten soon, we made a batch together today. These chewy and crunchy cookies passed her finicky taste-buds even over the fresh bakery cookies from the grocery store.
Raspberry Frosted Sweetheart Chocolate Cupcakes for My Sweethearts
Ella (I’m her caregiver) was excited to bring her Disney Princess Cupcakes and more cookbook to show me and she promptly picked out Sweetheart Chocolate Cupcakes for us to bake together. Little did we know when making them that my daughter, Jamie and her family would be spending the day with us.Continue ReadingThe Kiddos
Cambrie Keri & Chloe
Keri ~ motherly and girly
Cambrie ~ tiny and independent (capable of holding her own as one of six siblings)
Also… soft and pixie-ish (loud and clear when defending herself)
Silas ~ sweet and connected
Ella (like a grandchild) Very girly, bright, capable
Keri ~ thoughtful artistic and creative
Noah ~ strong, athletic and organized
Caleb John ~ full of fun quirky character. Wish you could hear the sweet musical way he talks. It would warm your heart.
Keri and Chloe
Chloe Keri and wiggly Cambrie (even Gummy Bears couldn’t keep her in place for a photo)
Jared ~ self-proclaimed geek, academic neat organized even-keeled, affectionate and tender-hearted
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Baby Chloe ~ tiny soft kissable snugly happy smiley
Jamie and Chloe
Family gathered together for a lovely bridal shower for my niece Toni
sisters ~ caring, thoughtful encouraging helpful fun-loving and oft times downright giddy
Carol is the mother-of-the-bride
Ryan’s birthday gift from Aunt Erin ~ he thought this was very cool
Ryan ~ Bright, athletic, respectful, attentive considerate
Brenna ~ quiet, athletic, thoughtful and nurturing
Shaela ~ Adorable, fun, affectionate leader and Daddy’s girl
and Ella who love spending time with the kids.
Brenna ~ quiet, athletic, thoughtful and nurturing
Shaela ~ Adorable, fun, affectionate leader and Daddy’s girl
and Ella who love spending time with the kids.
Guess who lost her first baby tooth while visiting Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop’s?
Linking to:
Happy Family Times @Crafty Moms Share
Pineapple Spoonbread
Serving a baked ham for Easter? Looking for a delicious side dish? Pineapple Spoonbread is a casserole we first had at my sister-in-laws when we were first married many, many years ago. It quickly became a favorite and goes with ham like stuffing goes with turkey.5 Years Old
Happy Birthday, Dear Ella.
♥
It was so special spending the day with you celebrating your 5th birthday!
You picked chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.
So that’s what we made.
I sang Happy Birthday to you and you blew out your candles.
Then you wanted to do it again.
So we did.
You wanted to play domino’s with your Princess Domino’s over and over.
So we did.
You were such a wee one when you first starting coming to my house each week.
We’ve spent so much time together you’re like one of my own.
And you will forever hold a place in my heart!
♥
Weekend with the Boys
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| They jumped in the leaves on Friday |
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| They played football with Aunt Abbey in the afternoon |
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| They snuggled Friday night |
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| They helped blow and rake all those leaves Saturday morning |
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| They hauled leaves to the curb |
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| They dumped leaves and someone noticed a tree to climb |
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| And climb he did |
 They ate the whole batch of Peanut Butter Spritz made from my friend, Lynn @Happier Than a Pig in Mud’s recipe
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| They watched The Wizard of Oz Saturday evening |
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Noah and Pop-Pop poured casts of sharks Noah painted and glazed his sharks  They watched church service on-line Sunday morning because Pop-Pop’s bones were aching from all the raking on Saturday as well as standing two hours watching soccer as FBC Mt. Laurel Campus beat FBC Haddonfield Campus in the Champion Tournament 🙂  They tried on the spectacles worn by their Great-Pop-Pop when he was just their age about 85 years ago |
And then they all went home.
The End!
Joining Mary @Little Red House for Mosaic Monday
A Collection of Grandchildren
Enjoying every minute with each other during Jill’s surprise weekend visit
Jill with her Shaela, Ryan & Brenna ~ Jamie with her Silas, Keri, Noah, Caleb & Cambrie
Wondering when I blinked and this one got so much older.
Ella is not our grandchild but taking care of her for so long, we love just like she was!
Fresh Flower Ice-Cream Sundae Craft Project
My dear friend, Susan told me about something she made at a Flower Camp she attended with another friend. I was looking for a craft project to make with the kids for a garden themed birthday party I was planning for my granddaughter and her friends and cousins. This sweet fresh flower ice-cream sundae arrangement was a perfect craft project for little girls!
Cute, huh! And just the kind of project that turns out well for kids giving them a sense of accomplishment without being too difficult or boring. It isn’t a messy project and nothing that might stain or ruin their clothing or surroundings.
With a little prep work ahead of time, the project goes smoothly and does not take a long time to complete. I had the Oasis foam cut to size for the ice-cream shaped vases and the flowers trimmed to the right length, sitting in containers ready for “picking.” 
Because the glass is clear and I didn’t want the oasis to show, I had pre-cut pieces of white plastic, cut from the bags you get when shopping. It was free and worked for what I needed. Older kids could add the plastic and then inset the foam themselves. Littler one might benefit if this step is already done for them.
If you have pitchers of water ready, bigger kids can pour the water into their vase. If you think it easier for the littler ones, have the foam wet already.
Let each child pick their flowers and insert each stem into the oasis foam. A little instruction about placement and they catch on quickly creating their sundaes. Ruffly carnations are ideal for the look of scoops of ice-cream in this project but they were not available this day. As you can see, the mums worked well.
They were intent on their creations and enjoyed the process.
Little red pom-poms could be used for the cherry on top, but we gathered bright red flower blossoms from my window boxes.
Even the little ones did a great job.
sweet cousin, Brenna
Pretending to sip their Ice Cream Sundae’s, the girls later took them home as favors and were able to enjoy their pretty flower arrangements for many more days.
Here is the list of supplies you will want to gather to make
Fresh Flower Ice-Cream Sundaes
- Ice-cream vase or something similar
- Bend-y straws
- Floral foam for fresh flowers (pre-cut and pre-moistened if needed) Another option is to fill the vases with those little floral marbles/beads
- Bunches of flowers like carnations or Mums ( pre-snipped the stems to about 4-inches long and had the foam in each glass. I could have let the kids do this themselves but for the sake of time and the littler ones, I did it ahead.
- Little red flowers (or tiny pom-pom’s) for the cherry on top (I snipped red impatients from my kitchen window box)
- Squares of white plastic so the green floral foam doesn’t show through the clear glass (I cut white WM bags) I would double this next time.
- water
- Scissors and garden clippers
NOTE: We didn’t do this for the birthday party craft, but my friend said they lined the top edge of the cup/vase with green leaves before adding the carnations. I’m sure that would look pretty too.
Here is the birthday girl! Oh, Keri, with the dark brown eyes ~ Mom-Mom loves you!
♥
There are affiliate links in this post. That
means if you buy something from that link, I will earn a small commission, but
it won’t cost you anything additional.
means if you buy something from that link, I will earn a small commission, but
it won’t cost you anything additional.
If you are looking for inspiration and ideas for decorations and food for a sweet girl’s birthday party, check out Keri’s Garden Themed Birthday Party.
Keri Jill is 8 Garden Themed Birthday Party & Chocolate Piped Butterfly Toppers
Preparing a sweet birthday party for little girls isn’t hard with a fun garden theme. Invite friends and cousins and watch their delight to see chocolate butterflies perched on frosted cupcakes, fruit skewers in rainbow colors and mini blueberry muffin bouquet treats. Ending with a fresh flower ice-cream sundae craft that doubles as a take-home party favor.
August means Fun!
Jill, Brad and kids arrived for their two week stay in New Jersey on Friday evening.
As you can see from all the photos, it has been busy fun at our house.
As you can see from all the photos, it has been busy fun at our house.
Homemade Pizza
Making homemade Pizza dough is easy, delicious and so economical. Just a few ingredients, a little time and you are ready to add your favorite pizza sauce and toppings. Bake in a hot oven until cheese is melted and crust is perfect.Continue Reading
Making a Fort
Two school snow days in a row.
How does an eighteen year old… and a three year old and a dog alleviate boredom?
Why, you build a fort in the family room using all of the blankets in the linen closet and all of the chairs from the dining room and most of the pillows from the beds.Of course!
I like to believe Abbey was mainly doing this for Ella’s enjoyment…
but I’m not sure who had more fun.
I like to believe Abbey was mainly doing this for Ella’s enjoyment…
but I’m not sure who had more fun.