sleep over!

Ohh the other night the girls were all playing together so good, and it was just so cute. They had a late nap that afternoon and I thought maybe.. just maybe they could have a sleepover in Taylor's room [she is the only one with a dvd player hooked up right now]

the idea was an instant hit of course..

all 4 of my girls getting ready to watch the magic school bus. Aww so cute!

Taylor Belle looking for a teddy to snuggle with! :O)

Aw don't they look so well behaved like they are going to actually sleep! haha no way...

Emma get out of the way!!

then they kept getting after Emma for walking on top of them...

silly girls on the move!

The sleepover was not a success and everyone was sent to there separate rooms around 11 when no one was showing signs of sleepiness haha but they had a blast hanging out and pretending to have a sleepover! So cute. <3

Bradbury Mountain State Park

This is from a few months back but I never shared it and I'm deleting my old blog all together so here it is:

         My peanuts were up at the crack of dawn Sunday morning after Memorial Day weekend camping (sleeping in a tent will do that to you) && the question was: what are we going to do today?! I had been to Bradbury Mountain State Park before on a homeschool field-trip when I was maybe 14? It was a fun easy climb as far as I could remember. So off we went, myself, my sister-in-law and my three girls..

We put on our best happy faces at the top ;O)

3$ for each adult to get in and kids under 6 are free, awesome I thought! All the girls will be free. What a fun thing to do for practically nothing! 















Well, after dragging a three year old and two, two year olds to the top of a mountain and then back down again, I realized maybe they just weren't quite ready for hiking yet.. [It really is a really short easy hike but they're were just too many of them and not enough of me to go around to help!]

but to be honest, we probably all felt like Hallee on the inside. lol

This was much more like it.. :) aww poor babies, just aren't cut out for hiking yet.. Maybe in a few years?

Good thing they have a play ground at the bottom of the mountain, it definitely saved the day!

Cooking with Chloe!

Chloe and I decided we wanted to bake this afternoon! Auntie Amanda and auntie Abi back in Maine always use to let her help bake cookies so she is a bit of a cookie nut. I'm not really a cookie fan.. baha. So I suggested we make a cheesecake instead (which she also LOVES)

Chloe bean chilling on the counter with all our ingredients :O)

We used a "cheesecake factory" recipe I found online I just used my own graham cracker crust because I didn't have all the nuts & crazy things theirs called for..

Chloe got the job of breaking up one package of graham crackers for the crust

The crust is the easiest part all you need is one package of graham crackers a half a stick of mostly melted butter & a pinch of cinnamon!
 

Pour in your butter and cinnamon & mix it all up!

then pack it into your cheesecake pan! tada SO EASY :O)

Preheat your oven to 350 :O)
You're going to need:
1 1/2 lbs of cream cheese
1 1/3 cups of sugar
5 large eggs
16 oz of sour cream
1/4 cup of flour
2 tsp of vanilla extract
2 tsp of lemon juice





Beat the cream cheese until it is light & fluffy then add the sugar after those are completely mixed add one egg at a time until they are all blended in. Add the flour, vanilla & lemon juice, mix well.  Then its finally time for the sour cream! [Chloe's favorite part because she got to lick the spoon & measuring cup.. what a nut ;O)]

yummy sour cream! LOL

Pour the mixture into your cheesecake pan then bake for one hour and 15 minutes, when the time is up turn your oven off but leave the cheesecake in for another hour with the door open a crack, remove & let refrigerate overnight! So Yummy!

mine cracked *bummer* it will still be delicious when its cooled though! :O)

All done!

homemade playdough!

Ever since my oldest started her new Sunday school class she has become super interested in arts & crafts, creating "things" and oh yeah, obsessed with play-doh. They do so many age appropriate fun things every week, she begs to go back! I love the program they have at our church, I adore even more that she enjoys it and looks forward to going back every week.  Her three and a half year old imagination has been running wild lately!


Sometimes I forget to take time aside with Chloe and have fun exploring the things that she is ready & eager to do! Her sisters take up a lot of my time and energy being 10 months younger & SUPER busy. I try hard to make sure we spend time doing an activity Chloe picks!




Lately every time we go shopping at the BX on the AFB here we walk past this "play-doh" display. Chloe instantly goes into "I want it!" mode. [she struggles with that lately, we're working on it ;)] Huge scene because I won't typically spend money on those types of things! So I found this awesome super easy recipe for homemade play dough!



1 cup of flour
1/2 cup of salt
2 tablespoons of oil
2 tablespoons of cream of tartar
1 cup of water
& food coloring! (or one website suggested using beet, spinach & carrot juice if you prefer to go all natural)
I used the neon food coloring & the colors came out beautiful!



Mix the flour, salt, cream of tarter & oil then add the water and cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly with a strong spoon ;) I say strong because I broke one of my plastic mixing spoons on my first batch! baha.

We made 3 batches & split it up into 4 balls :)

It will only take a couple of minutes and the play dough will most likely have formed a giant clump around your spoon, that's how you'll know its done! Plop it onto the counter & let it cool for a couple minutes. Then go ahead and kneed in the food coloring, I let the girls help at this point and we all had colored hands for the rest of the day! LOL

Chloe showing off her new homemade playdough!

They LOVED this, (all of them of course) it lasts for a long time just throw it in an airtight container when your done playing.  I wish I had taken some pictures while we made it! next time for sure! :)