Cuz she is cute

I had to post this picture of Ruby.

For no other reason then she just is cute.

For some reason she needed to lay on Lucs shoes. She doesnt do this often, but I had to share.

Pineapple upside cake

I saw a recipe for this in a cookbook. Most of you that know me at all know I dont bake. Cook yes, bake...not so much. But I really wanted to try this recipe. Partly because my dad always talked about how he could make a great pineapple upside down cake.

Well, I made it in my fancy Cabelas Cast Iron skillet that I rarely use. It was easy and it was fabulous, one of the best things I have ever made.

I shared with friends. Everybody loved it, we ate it for two nights. Then we had to be done. We dont eat like this. What is all that time at they gym for to come home and eat a huge slice of cake or two.

Then I remembered,my dad was talking about making a wacky cake....

Well, maybe I will try that one day. Oh well a yummy mistake huh.

the longest day of my life, literally

Whitney has been talking about wearing contacts, so we head to the dr. office.
He puts them in for her, then she has to practice taking them in and out several times before we are on our way.
She loves wearing them, she looks so different without her glasses. She has had glasses since 2nd grade, I hardly remember her not wearing them. We thought it might be easier to play softball with contacts.
So after 4 hours she has to take the contacts out, on her own. She did this twice at the dr. office.
Initially, she's "got this" and doesnt want my help, withing minutes.....MOM?!?
Within a few more minutes, there are tears and I am not being helpful.
I leave, John steps in a few minutes later. One contact out.
A call to a friend who just got contacts, more tears, more "you're not being helpful", more of me leaving, finally victory, the 2nd one is out. 30 minutes later.
Of course all the kudos go to the friend and not me for any help. I dont know if she will ever put them in her eyes again.

That was all by 4:00.
AT 9:15 last night, we left for the Mall, yep that is right, the Mall. We were attending Mall Madness with over 1,000 girls scouts of Michigan. The event was to be locked in the mall for 5 hours with 11-14 yr old girls........
I HATE the mall.
I have been dreading this for months, trying to figure out how to get out of it.
I came up with squat, we went. Long story short, it was better then I thought. The lines to get in the stores were long, since only a few stores were open.
Aeropastle had some good deals for the girls scouts, and we loved that.
Hot pretzels taste really good at 1:30 in the am.
By 2:00, the moms were done, the girls had been to every store they wanted to go to and we were locked in the mall until 2:45. Coats on, bags in hand waiting by the door to open at 2:45. We wearily trudged to the car and had a quiet drive home.
The kicker....the girl scouts didnt change the clocks, when we left at 3, it was really 4!!!!
I am 40 I dont stay up that late anymore, I have learned something along the way.
Whitney is still sleeping, it is 12:30, I have been up since 8. There is a nap in sight for me this afternoon.
Thanks John for making dinner tonight, that is why I love you so much!!!

Little bit of heaven

The kids and I tore out of Michigan last week, we couldn't get out fast enough. The cold weather and the 54 inches of snow we have had this winter was just too much.
So we headed South to let Mimi and Papaw take care of us.
5 days of the most beautiful weather, it was just what we needed.

We did everything we could outside, the kids even tried playing tennis...Whitney hits everything like a softball, it is just in her blood I think.

It was rejuvenating being down there. We came home with our spirits lifted sure we could get thru the rest of winter in Michigan.

It is raining here today, finally, hopefully, melting all the snow that is still on the ground. I can look at this picture and remember how the sun felt so warm on my skin and know we can make it!!!!