A family "treasure"

In anticipation of Tripp's first brithday coming up in a month, my Mom found a little treasure that was used on my brother's birthday each year. Mom found it and the music was not working and would no longer wind up. Leave it to my sweet Husband to take it apart and fix the problem. 34 years later and it is like brand new ready for the next generation of boys to celebrate their birthdays!

It is small things like this that make my heart so happy!

CAKE POPS - it's what we have been waiting to MAKE

Over the past few months more than anything, more than watching a movie or playing a game, Juliette has begged to watch how to make cake pops on YouTube. She knows her favorite, which if you are curious, is "Lee Hanson with Betty Crocker kitchens." She will make that very clear to you too.

So today as Tessa and I have promised her we dove right in! The excitement level could not have been much higher. She talked about it all morning at school and guaranteed Mrs. Kraft and Ms Hailey that she would bring each of them one.

Most children get super excited about playing with Barbies... my child gets super excited about Unicorns, Danette her doll, SunStar and Starla her horses, and MAKING CAKE POPS!

I would be lying if we did not give Juliette the majority of the credit for making them. She knew more what she was doing than we did and that is the truth!

 

Yes oh yes.... we have the books and pictures out...

First we make the batter... this I can promise you... the licking comes at the END...

We moved the cake outside to cool and then began to crumble the cake and add the frosting into it

Now, we're ready to make the cake balls.... yes Juliette was perfecting her balls!

All lined up on the sheet

Now we're ready to melt the chocolate and dip the stick in the melted chocolate and stick it in the chocolate ball... note the three bows that Juliette put in her hair.... she has been preached to many times by her Mama that bakers NEVER have hair in their face... hence to keep the hair away, three bows must be better than one or two

Letting the melted chocolate dry to secure the stick

Then comes time for "pretty in pink" because of course the first cake pops had to be pink

Getting them all lines up and dipping the final pops!

The pink pops had some "sugar snow" added to them

The "Aqua" pops turned out beautiful! 

  

My Tessa and me sampling the first bite!

Nothing could be finer, than eating a CAKE POP in South Carolina!

"Learning the ropes"

Lately it has been so funny to watch Juliette show Tripp the ropes on everything. This morning I walked into the room to find Little Miss just out of her bath in her robe SITTING inside the wicker basket with all of the toys in it. She is debating whether or not to share and show Tripp the toys or try to keep everything to herself.

I could hear her saying... "Now Trippy, this is where we keep the toys and even though some are pink you will still like to play with them because they are mine..."

Now OPEN WIDE, I will need to check your throat with my binoculars to make sure everything is okay....

Now, lastly, thank you Trippy for letting me be in charge.... this is why I love you SO!

A play date with the ladies

Tripp had his first swing ride today and he LOVED it... it is debatable whether he loved the movement of the swing or the audience of girls around him. We had a play date with the Galvan girls and it surely was fun! Fun for Mommy on the way home with two children out like lights for the evening.

The 70 degree weather has made for such fun outdoor activities. Tripp and Juliette love their daily walk with the dogs each day. 

Someone is becoming quite the helper...

Juliette has become a super big help and is even doing a chore or two besides picking up after herself and her toys. Today she was eager to bring the trashcan up to the house and bring the mail in. She is most often the first one to race into the house to let the dogs out of their crate and opens the door for them to go outside. It is little things like that which can become a huge help.

A beautiful day for a midday walk

It was so crisp and beautiful out today that we decided to take a nice long walk and ride the bike. Juliette is getting better each day and really loves to ride her bike. We even had the dogs join us as well. After the crisp walk, it made for a very sleepy baby and a tired little girl. The whole house is quiet now as they are asleep. A good nap = success for the day!

Off to the races...

but not before a good pet for the doggies

Come on Trippy let's go!

Daddy in tow too 

Tripp dreaming of being able to someday ride a bike...

"Trippy don't worry, when you're big like me you can ride a bike too!"

The 5th annual cutting of the collards

We had the traditional cutting of the collards today in the garden. They are being cooked now and should be DELICIOUS!

This year we had the new addition of Tripp in the picture! It is always fun to do in the backyard of Doh's with collards that he takes such pride in growing.

Bath time = FUN

Bath time has become so much fun now a days with the two of them both taking a bath together. Tonight the jokes were on Tripp as Juliette was making him Santa Claus... She was hysterically laughing each time as she would lather him up on the chin with the bubbles.

Santa with his little beard

All wrapped up and ready for bed....

Smiling and laughing at his Sissy still in the tub

5 reasons to not get up this morning and go to school...

"Back to life, Back to reality" as the old song went this morning...

Juliette had 5 reasons of why she could not go to school this morning and would rather ride unicorn in her jammies all morning...

• her legs were too tired to move
• her eyes could not see in the light... it would need to stay dark all day
• her toe was sore
• the turtle neck was too tight around her neck
• her tongue and tooth did not feel right...

She tried them all! 

AND just when she thought no one was looking, I found a little girl who looked like she had no ailments at all but maybe just was not ready to get back to school!!

The annual oyster roast in Beaufort

We had a great New Years Eve and New Years Day in Beaufort for the annual oyster roast. The weather was perfect for the outdoor party. We had plenty of wonderful oysters as well as wonderful items prepared by Don's Mom. We had 14 people for the event and seems to grow a little each year.

We look forward to keeping the New Year's tradition of food, folks and football!

A very happy and healthy New Year to you!

"Paul Bunyon" aka Don Stovall Sr.

Getting the fire ready for the party

Waiting for Tessa and Doh to arrive at the party

Feasting on some delicious Bluffton oysters

Juliette busy playing in the sandbox and just happy being outside!

Trippy and Doh