Summer is...

Summer is spending time with my adorable little Todd's.

Summer is popsicles... however you choose to eat them.

Summer is learning new tricks... like how to move a chair to your dresser to reach the books on top.

Summer is water play in the back yard... including pouring water on your sister's head.

Summer is crafts during naptime... crayon shavings, dog masks, and obstacle courses for Yoshi using recycled materials {Summer is NOT wearing the same shirt every day}.

 Summer is tea parties and story time.

Summer is a time to be silly.

Summer is bike rides.  And Daddy trying to teach you how to ride without training wheels.  And a brave little sister trying to do everything her brother does.

Summer is my favorite.

Rainbow Cupcakes

I have the world's biggest sweet tooth.  I am a big sucker for anything sugary and fattening... cupcakes, pastries, cakes, candy... I love it all.


A few days ago, I decided to make some rainbow cupcakes that I had seen on a few blogs last summer.  It was a baking project that combined my two favorite things... sugar and cuteness.

I enlisted some help from Betty and my favorite kitchen assistant.

After mixing the cake mix, I divided the batter into 6 bowls and colored it with food coloring gel.  Then I put a little batter of each color into the cupcake liners and popped them in the oven.

While the cupcakes were cooling, I mixed up the frosting using my other kitchen assistant.  I sure love that mixer.

 The frosting tester made sure it tasted good.  He gave it two thumbs up.

We {by "we" I mean G.I. Joe and I} tried to be fancy and use this decorating tool to frost the cupcakes.  It quickly became clear that we need a little work in the cupcake decorating department.

 However, after seeing this smile, I think the cupcakes turned out A-ok!

Who wants a cupcake?

Insta-fun

I have mentioned before that the Instagram app on G.I. Joe's iPhone is one of my new favorite things.  Instagram allows you to take a picture with your phone and add a filter to transform the way it looks.  It definitely reminds me of an old Polaroid camera.


I wanted to share with you some of the dorky quirky Instagram pictures I have taken {on G.I. Joe's phone} over the past few weeks.  Please forgive my hair-not-done-no-makeup-grubby-clothes summer look.  I'm trying to start a new trend.

I think that G.I. Joe is secretly celebrating today because he will no longer have to share his phone with me.  After waiting for what seems like a million years, I will finally be trading in my crackberry for a new iPhone!  Today is the day!  And to top it off, I will be picking up my mom at the airport and making a stop at my favorite Scandinavian store, Ikea. I'm not sure that I can handle all of this excitement in one day. 

We Love Mo!

One of the most favorite read aloud stories at our house is called Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems.  If you aren't familiar with the story, it is about a pigeon who desperately wants to drive a bus and tries to convince the readers to let him.  It is also a very popular book in my classroom, as it encourages participation from the audience and the pigeon is very funny.

One night after reading the story, I asked Maddox if he would like to create his own pigeon story and he took off from there.  I helped him draw some of the pictures {although you may have a hard time noticing the difference between mine and his} and I wrote many of the words for him {for aesthetic purposes}, but the words of the story were all his idea.  

As you can tell by the last picture, Maddox was very excited about his book.  He is such a perfectionist and got very upset if his drawings did not turn out exactly the way he envisioned them.  It was so fun to watch him as he expressed his ideas and argued with me {politely} when my suggestions did not fit into his plans.  Who knows, maybe I have a future author/illustrator on my hands?