a lambs tail

christmas cards

2011-01-09T22:57:00.000-08:00

for our christmas cards this year i used this photo.....

and tweeked it a little bit in gimp

wed-ding

2011-01-08T17:55:00.000-08:00

wedding invites i made for my little bros wedding:

didnt use enough postage....sorry guys!

the ones i mailed out had black lace, not gray

directions from the back

the end.

party party

2010-12-20T11:24:00.000-08:00

sorry my posting stopped....life got busy...busy

i'm going to try to post the highlights

harleys fourth birthday party:

first we made crayons....

we put them in the gift totes that i made

i made candy dots...they turned out waaay better than i thought they would

then we decorated the house

party time

treats

the cake

i think she had fun

invitus

2010-09-29T22:26:00.000-07:00

made some buttermilk waffles.....again. probably the 5th batch in a month!

i add a teeeeensy bit of maple extract to agave and thats what we use for syrup...gooood!

then we got dow to the serious beesness

profile shot:

and then this is what you get (i added the ponytail):

bat caves part 2

2010-09-27T23:46:00.000-07:00

the bat cake, enchaladas and guacamole are what Obed chose to have at his party

everyone got glow sticks, glow rings, glow necklaces, a flashlight, a (homemade) batman cape that had elastic for around the neck and wrists (i thought elastic was safer than ribbon for the neck), a batman mask, and a tote for all their loot.

i think he had fun.....

signage

rulage

heres what our blacked out kitchen looked like in the light. believe it or not the kids played in here most of the night with their glowsticks and flashlights. its amazing how much fun kids can have with simply a flashlight and a dark room.

we caught this guy after cleaning up.....it was an awesome birthday

its all right there at the fair

2010-08-24T23:44:00.000-07:00

i know ive been terrible this summer with posting. i cant help it! theres too much sunshine, we've been out almost all summer. no time for the computer.

when september hits, i think things will start to go back to normal. ive never really been a summer person until this year, i just dont want it to end!

started out with a coffee in my new glass from a place aaron and i ate at on our anniversary trip....he took me to silverwood....and a few other stops.

off to the fair!

friendly baby cow

axle noticed their sleeping position. does this look weird to anybody else?

harley at the "knights of the realm" jousting.....awesomeness. my only description.....pure awesomeness.

ferris wheel panic!!!!

tractor pull...both of the boys made it to the finals, but neither won. sooooo fun!! i cant believe this was our first year doing this. we had a blast!

a great end to a fair day....eating an elephant ear while watching the beach boys in concert....i love the beach boys!

theres a little preview of my new sewing project.. the bag on the bottom left.

beLATEd

2010-08-02T01:56:00.000-07:00

sorry i dropped off after the 4th.....things have been busy

heres my 4th:

swimming...and fireworks!

cool desert nights

2010-06-30T15:59:00.000-07:00

saturday recap:

went to cool desert nights car show in richland

some of the cars were a little loud.....

my mom and harley......

this may have been taking when the baby pink mustang drove by

then for a swim at grandmas

to the bat cave!

2010-06-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

um..yes..bats

this weeks adventure was to darigold cheese factory and boulder cave near the naches river.

i wanted to post yesterday, but the laptop was being an idiot.

be warned: lots of pictures below.....

arrival at the dairy fair...noon

getting ice cream at 12:10 cause the cheese factory tour was retarded. everything is done by machine in these giant metal incased things. "oh yay kids, look giant metal tubes!" not a single human to be seen.

so healthy...neon ice cream.

on to the cave!

it was hot, she insisted on a jacket with the hood up and would NOT let go of my hand....after about a mile i convinced her to take it off. she was dripping with sweat "oh mom, youre right. it does feel better.". the hand holding lasted the whole three miles to the cave and back.

quite possibly the worst photo ever taken of me

at the enterance of the massive cave (the opening is just to the left of this photo)

the sign above axles head and the one near the tree, repeat the same rules:

1. do not shine flashlights at the cave roof, straight ahead or down only.
2. no flash photography.

3. do not speak louder than a whisper.

4. stay on path.

into the depths....dont worry, i lead the way. harley refused to walk, she was scared .....sooooo scared. i had to carry her which was a bit tricky as the path was slimy and slick. it disapeared into the creek for a few feet also. it was kind of hard to follow cause i was really scared that i'd accidentally shine my light up to high and wake the bats!

this pic is still at the enterance. past the last rock in the photo, its pitch dark.....for quite a long time......at least i thought so. no flash allowed, so i didnt get any shots of the inside.

the light at the end of the cave

its over

the boys are completely giddy and giggly

harley is still scared to death....to be honest, i was pretty freaked out too. i dont do well in enclosed places.....or dark.....or bat infested......it doesnt help that ive seen descent (that movie really freaked me out!)

right here theyre begging me "please mom...please! please! please! can we go again?!?!?!"

of course i cast aside my fears and said yes!

not sure why, but axle and i both agreed that the second time through was SO MUCH scarier than the first!

cheeseballs! you dont see many photos of harley cause she was stuck to my hand almost the whole trip.

she spotted this little guy and wanted me to take a picture

on the way home through yakima, we stopped at the infamous miner burger. everyone raves about this place. ive been here a few times with my family but im not really a "burger kind of girl", so i never ate. today however, i was freaking hungry and it sounded so good.

harley, showing me how much stroger she is "cause i did so much exercise walking"

i let the kids get what they wanted, axle wanted to try a chili dog.....he didnt even eat nearly half.....ugh yuck.

he has to be going through a growth spurt....he DEVOURED this, like a wild animal. hungry..he ate almost all the leftovers too.

so not impressed. not sure if its cause i just really dont like burgers or because it was gross. also, i got home and saw in this photo that my food was touching the table and freaked out a little....ok a lot!

just looking at all the food here makes me a little sick....icky

lavendurance

2010-06-17T23:16:00.000-07:00

i'm completely, totally wiped out.

the kids were nuts this morning, so we loaded up and drove to walla walla to visit the blue mountain lavender farm.

it was fun.....now im tired

scenery en route

window high wheat

u-pick

my new lavender is drying out in my kitchen window...

aarons b-day was yesterday, so we surprised him and made a cake that we brought to him at church. he brought back the leftovers. yeah, i had a slice for breakfast.....bad idea.

the best cake in the whole world. the frosting is unbelievable.

cheese fudge cake:

chocolate part:

1/2 cup shortnening

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 2/3 cups all-purp. flour

2/3 cup cocoa

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 Tbs. vanilla

cheese part:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 Tbs. butter, softened

1 Tbs. cornstarch

14 oz. sweetened condensed milk...you have to use eagle brand or else it wont turn out right

1 large egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1. butter 2 9" pans. line bottom with parchent. butter parchment and flour pans.

2. preheat oven to 350.

3. beat shortening till fluffy, add sugar, beat, add 1 egg, beat, add another egg and totally beat it.

4. in a seperate bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. add dry mix and buttermilk alternately, begining and ending with dry mix. beat 3 minutes more at high speed.

5. stir in vanilla.

6. pour into prepared pans and set aside.

7. beat cream cheese, butter and cornstarch at medium until creamy. add condensed milk, beat it, add 1 egg, beat it, add vanilla and totally beat it.

8. spoon cheese mix over batter in pans.

9. pop it in the oven for 40 min or until toothpick inserted in center comes out cleanish. cool in pans 10 min, remove and cool completely on wire racks.....then refridgerate.

fudge frosting:

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 Tbs. light corn syrup

12 oz. or 2 cups semi-sweet choc. chips

1/4 cup butter, thickly sliced

1. boil cream and corn syrup on high to med-high for 3 to 4 minutes...watch it and stir, cause it boils over easily.

2. put choc. in a large heatproof bowl. pour hot cream mixture over chocolate. let stand 5 min. and stir till smooth. add butter stir till melted and smooth.

3. pop it in the fridge and stir about ever 30 minutes until thick and spreadable....id say, maybe 1 1/2-3 hours?

frost the bottom layer, cheese side up. place the other layer cheese side down on top and frost the whole thing. i really think this cake tastes best refridgerated.

try not to lick your frosting utensils too much, i make myself sick every time i whip up the stuff. its that good.

tard

2010-06-14T23:08:00.000-07:00

i guess i somehow broke the little port on my camera that i need to upload photos onto my computer. this is why i havent really been posting.my hubby showed me how to get it done without the cable....so i guess im back in the swing.

2 day recap:

we owned a puppy for 10 hours......long story

i took the kids fishing

they were impressed with my bait hooking skills....and seriously grossed out when they saw all the worm blood and poo on my finger.

"mom? worms BLEED?!?"

i gave this little man the camera to hold

this is what i discovered when i uploaded pics:

he took these! im sooo impressed!

walk with a gimp

2010-05-05T23:31:00.000-07:00

i love gimp.

ive been playing around with it for a couple weeks now.

im a little addicted.

its free.

i think its equal to photoshop. honestly, i like it better because im more familiar with it.

download it here.

you can mess with color:

*edited*

*original*

sharpen dark photos

*edited*

*original*

just go to google and look up gimp tutorials, youll find all kinds of info. how to antique photos, darken edges, lighten photos, airbrush, hues.....etc......awesome