My Only Sunshine

NOLA

Last week Buster and I went to New Orleans.  He had the annual AAPG convention and I had never been to NOLA so I went along.

It was so lovely and lively.  I can't help but love a city where there is jazz in the streets.  This man was a fantastic clarinet player.

I had such a great time just walking the streets taking pictures and soaking up NOLA.

There weather was perfect and the beignets were even better. 

This last one is one of my favorite photos. 

While in New Orleans we had one of the best meals I have ever experienced.  We ate at Emeril's NOLA restaurant.  The food was very very good but the service was even more amazing.  I wanted to bring home all the waitstaff so they could be my buddies.

Support the Swim Bug

If you keep track of my blog and all the crazy things I drag my kids to every week then you know that this year Bug started swimming for the city swim team.  She's not the best swimmer on the team, but she has grown so much as part of this team.  The amazing coaches always make her feel good about herself.  The exertion of the swimming makes her glow with health.  The swim meets have taught her an amazing amount of maturity.

In May, Bug will be swimming in the Swim-a-thon to raise money for her swim team.  95% of the money raised goes to the team to pay for pool rental, equipment, and scholarships.  The other 5% goes to USA Swimming.  Every team swimmer is a member of USA Swimming which insures them and provides safety and swim programs all over the country.

Bug's goal, set by the team, is $200.  I think Bug can do better than that.  If you would like to help support her team there are two options.  You can pledge per lap or pledge a flat rate.  We would be happy with any amount you have to give.  Enough people give $1 and it can make a difference.

To make a pledge email me at myonlysunshine@me.com.  Thank you.  

Amanda

Birthday Crepe Cake

Today is Buster's 36th birthday.  He doesn't much care for people making a big deal over him.  Having two little daughters means he has to put up with a little excitement anyway.  I try to make it fun for them without overwhelming him so this year all we bought for him was a little remote controlled helicopter from Brookstone.  To make it just a little more special I also made him a Crepe Cake because I had never done it before and I knew he would like it.

I used Martha Stewart's Meyer Lemon Crepe Cake recipe.  I had never made a crepe before so I got some really good practice making 20 of them for this cake.

 

The crepes are stacked alternately with a layer of meyer lemon curd mousse.  That was fun to make too.  I don't get the opportunity to use gelatin all that often.
 

The recipe calls for 15 crepe layers but I had 20 usable crepes so I used them.
 

We cut into it early (last night) and it was fantastic.  The Buster liked it, and that was the most important part.

I'm hoping to find the time to turn the left over egg whites into macarons.  We'll see how that goes.

We miss Frisco...

...but you couldn't make us leave Richardson.

There are so many things about Richardson that make it home.  I have so much I like about Richardson that it is making my post two days late.  (Oh come on, I can use that excuse if I want to, it's my blog!)

The first thing about Richardson...  I grew up here.

I went to high school in Richardson.

Richardson is close to where my babies are buried.

We lived in Richardson when the beautiful bouncing Bug was born. (she had those crazy blue eyes even then)

We lived in Richardson again when pretty itty Bitty was born. (she was sassy even then)

 

At our house in Richardson we spend our lazy summer days like this.

My friends here are fantastic. 

The boys in Frisco are cute.  The boys in Richardson are cute too.  I can't help but love how funny they are too.  The best part, they are so nice to my Girlies.  The Moms in Richardson are really doing something right.

      

Speaking of moms, look how hard these moms are working to make a great day for their kids.

I love that in Richardson Bit can make friends like M.  Through M she has learned how it feels to be needed.  Through M's Mom she has learned how it feels to be appreciated for being a good friend.  It can be hard for kids to share that with each other.

One of the biggest reasons we moved to Richardson was its proximity to stuff.  Richardson is close to just about everything we want to do.  Most importantly it is close to dance.  We used to drive endless hours every week getting to the dance school in Richardson all the way from Frisco.  This is important because if we were still so far away we wouldn't be able to do Girl Scouts...

...while doing this...

We wouldn't be able to do volleyball...

 

...while doing this...

We wouldn't be able to swim...

 
...while doing this...

Richardson has an annual Christmas parade that we liked to come to even when we didn't live in Richardson.  Add that sense of community to the sense of community we get from our own neighborhood putting on a 4th of July parade and you get a strong sense of small town home.  It feels even more like a small town when our entire neighborhood trick or treats on the same street where our neighbors put on a huge haunted house.

The Richardson school district has a full day gifted program so that little Van Goghs like this...

...can feel inspired to make works of art like this...

 

Our school has an annual talent show so that kids this cute can show how very clever they are.

The best part of Richardson is being close to friends...

 

...and family.

We love Richardson...

...but the Girlies and I have been missing Frisco lately too.

 
 We miss Frisco because we had great art teachers there.  Not only great art teachers but great art programs that let our kids be in their own gallery show at the high school.
Not only did they do cool stuff at the high schools in Frisco, but we all got to go together to fantastic field trips like the Dallas World Aquarium.
It was always fun going to school in Frisco but it was a special kind of fun on days when the Girlies got to dress up like Mommy when she was in that grade.
Oh, and Bitty had Madonna for a first grade teacher.  (We love you Mrs. H).
I get pretty teared up thinking about these guys.  This is my DI team at competition.  What a beautiful, smart, funny group of kids.
Our house was pretty awesome, even if it only had one tiny little sad tree.
I mentioned the art teacher, but she didn't have the biggest impact of the specials teachers.  This is one of many all grade music programs we got to participate in.  Mrs. M is the best music teacher to ever live and boy were we lucky to get to spend a couple of years with her.
Bit loves Frisco because her friend Amanda lives there.
 
Who doesn't love "dress like your favorite book character" day?
You can't beat an idea like having all the kids in each grade get a shirt that shows their tight bond with their grade.  It helps you keep up with them on field trips too.

 How can a Mommy not love a school that brings all the kids together at the end of the year and praises them for the things they did well that year? Bitty also loves Frisco because her friend Maddie lives there.  What a great kid.
Though I could talk about what cute boys they have in Frisco, this picture was really to show you Bitty getting her positive referral.  I've really missed this practice of sending a kid to the principal's office for being caught doing something good.  They get a call to the parents, a certificate, an announcement, and a t-shirt stating that they had achieved the ultimate goal.
Bug misses her friends too.
I mean, have you ever seen a more beautiful group of girls who are all crazy about each other?
Last but not least.  Our house in Frisco was pretty cool.
It didn't need foundation work and there wasn't an ant to be seen.
We love and miss you Frisco.  Tomorrow we'll talk about why we love Richardson.

Handy

I know that this isn't so much a hand photo as a funny glove pic but I wanted to use it for i {heart} faces anyway.  My Bug, she is one sassy kid.

i Heart Faces - Dance

Wow, this week at i <3 Faces they are doing a dance theme.  Made for me, isn't it?

 
Here's Bitty as the Brown Mouse in this year's Nutcracker.  This was her dream role and she got it.  Go Bitty.

Geaux Saints!

I live in Dallas.  I love football.  You got it, I'm a diehard Cowboys fan.  Having said that, today I will be cheering loud and long for the New Orleans Saints.  Go Saints!!!

(Don't you love my little Cricut made Saints sign?  I was taking a break from cutting out the pieces for my kids' valentines for school)

The Mushrooms

Bug has three BFFs at school.  They eat together, play together, email each other, and have sleep overs as often as they can talk the parents into it.  They call themselves the "mushrooms" and love to make each other little crayon pictures of mushrooms and things like that.  They each have a color for their own mushroom persona.

Bug and I decided to make necklaces for each of the mushrooms in their colors.  While Bug was stringing beads onto Stretch Magic I was making little mushroom charms out of polymer clay.

 

The green one is for Bug.  I didn't want a head pin to show at the bottom so I used an eye pin stuck almost to the bottom of the mushroom and then added a drop of jewelry glue to hold the pin in after the curing was done.

 

The beaded cord matches the 'shrooms and is stretchy so it will fit over the kids' heads.  This is the first time I have used Stretch Magic and so far it is holding up really well.  They have been wearing their mushrooms for a couple of weeks now with no breakage.  These are 4th graders; they aren't the most gentle jewelry owners.

 

I tied the cord in two knots to secure it and applied a drop of jewelry glue between the knots.  The place where the cord is tied off is not noticeable at all.

I've been having fun with the polymer clay the last couple of weeks.  I got burned out on it when I was working with it every day for my knitting needle business.  I guess it has been long enough to get back to enjoying it.

Here's a pic of the 'shrooms in their necklaces.

iPhone Thursday

Here's the Bug in her swim warm-ups at the end of the first day.  Doesn't she look like the cutest little athlete?

This is the way the swimmers remember where they need to be and when.  The big numbers are the events and the smaller numbers are lane and heat number.

Isn't this costume for Bitty's tap recital cute?  Her sassy little personality should pair with this perfectly.

Last but not least, my favorite little elf pixie face at the pet store playing with the 8 week old ferrets.  Think the little critter liked my Bit?