Pink and green Thursday - Strawberry Cake Club

I have an amazing group of friends and we get together once every other month or so and share dessert, champagne (or some other delicious food) and relish in the company of each other. Our "group" formed our friendship just over eleven years ago, when we met in a "mommy and me" music class when our oldest were infants. A few of us knew one another from various places and were already friends, but we really formed a bond that grows stronger with each passing year. Back when we met, there were five mommies and five babies. Now,there are five mommies and thirteen babies! We decided to form a "club" because, as the children are now older and in school, we no longer have the luxury of getting together and visiting over an afternoon playgroup. (where does time go?) We do get our families together, but we decided we needed some "girl" time, so I had mentioned one time, several years ago, about a wonderful, strawberry cake recipe that I have, so I made it, and we got together, ate the entire cake, drank a bottle of champagne and visited until 2:00 in the morning and a "club" was born! The Strawberry Cake Club or SCC.

This morning, I am having brunch after school drop-off with these amazing ladies! I am preparing to be there with them until it is time to pick-up the kiddos in the afternoon! We just never run out of things to talk about! There is nothing like the comfort of a good friend and with this amazing group of women, there is comfort and love. So, my Pink and Green Thursday post is celebrating friendship and good cake and cold champagne....

Cheers!

Krissy

Pictures via http://weheartit.com/

Trash to Treasure

School auctions are a BIG deal around these parts. Auction committees work behind-the-scenes all year long for one night of frenzied money-making to benefit the children. I think you either love or hate these events. It doesn't matter if you attend a public or private school. We all "pay" to send our children to school in one way or another and being shamefully coerced to spend even more money for school does not sit well with some people. I, for one, don't mind a mediocre dinner and tables full of gift certificates and items donated by local businesses. I cannot resist the opportunity to bid on a stay at some fabulous vacation home, generously donated by an owner, but my favorite part of the school auction is the "Class Projects."

Class projects range anywhere from poster boards decorated with thumbprint flowers and bumble bees, to over-the top furniture pieces. (One school in my town has taken "over-the-top" to a whole new level. They have some amazing parents that have constructed wooden lemonade stands, custom chalkboards, wooden stands, fitted with metal coolers - awesome for icing down cold drinks for a patio party- and all sorts of furniture pieces that are stripped-down and painted in some incredible ways.) I have adapted this to fit my children's school. I like for the children to still have a hand in the "creative" process. They love to take part in making something, and they put pressure on their parents to purchase said project! Our school has some amazingly talented parents, as well, and they worked hard with the children to produce great results. The class project section of our auction contained a little something for everyone: an incredible copy of a famous painting, that each child in the class painted a part of, a wonderful magnetic, message board and custom magnets, a basket filled with everything you would need for an Italian dinner (complete with personalized aprons), a vintage school desk, given new life and the box below. The auction raised enough money to put Smart Boards in every classroom and purchase some other needed items.

I hope this Trash to Treasure inspires you to create. Whether you are creating something for a school auction, or something for your home, don't overlook an item just because it's ugly! You never know if that "ugly" frog is destined to be a "prince" or a BIG money-maker at the auction! Happy junkin'!

I purchased this old, electrician's tool box at First Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas. If you don't know about Canton, it is one gi-normous garage sale in a large field in East Texas, the weekend of the first Monday of each month. Now, there are some covered pavilions, and really neat vendors that take the time to arrange everything and set a mood, but the real adventure is outside, tromping through the field! That is where I found this little treasure for $15! I spray-painted it a cherry red and purchased wooden arrow and star shapes from a craft store and painted them turquoise. I then purchased vintage bottle caps from an online store. I had the children choose ten or so bottle caps each and then, one at a time, they each got to hammer (yes, Kindergartners with hammers - they were great) their caps on with little masonry nails. I then mounted the arrows and stars to the box. For the inside, I purchased a set of vintage-looking alphabet cards and gave each child the card with the letter of their first name on it. They wrote their name on the card and I then decoupaged them to the inside of the box. I'll toot my own horn and say how cute it is! So, cute in fact, that we are now the proud owners of this box and it now resides in Sport Cort's room. He is SO proud of it!

I guess that leads me to one important part about school auctions: if you help to create a project, make sure it is something YOU like, because you very likely could be looking at it forever!

Happy Hump Day!

Krissy

Dream Hide-away

I came across this yard on a real estate website. This home is for sale and I don't know how the owner could leave this! It's like a vacation paradise in your backyard. So, grab a glass of tea or wine and escape for a moment with me to this dream hide-away.

The mini-pearls have seen this and are going crazy! "Mom, let's buy that house!" - my reply,"We can't." mini-pearls - "but it's FOR SALE!" Wouldn't it be wonderful if just because something was "for sale", you could buy it? Well, I am off to explain why this beautiful piece of paradise cannot be ours, but I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. If you are interested, leave me a comment and I will put you in touch with the realtor!

Dreaming,

Krissy

Flashback Friday - September 11, 2001

I normally reserve "Flashback Friday" for a little light-hearted fun, however, today I found myself reflecting about September 10, 2001. The day before life, as we all as Americans had known it, changed forever. I was the happy mom of a three year old Fisherman and a three month old Sweet Pea. Life was wonderful and I was excited about a Sip-n-See my mom was having to honor Sweet Pea on September 11th. Then, the next morning, the unthinkable happened. We all know where we were and what we were doing. The morning, started out as normal. I dropped Fisherman off at preschool and was headed to the doctor for Sweet Pea's three month check-up. I swung back by the house before the appointment and turned on the TV to watch Good Morning America, just in time to watch "live" as the second plane hit the World Trade Center. I went and picked-up Fisherman from school. He went to preschool at a church in the downtown area of our city, and the downtown was closed-down. I spent the rest of the day glued to the TV, holding my babies and praying. The Sip-n-See went on as planned, but it took on a more somber note. Being in the company of dear friends was such a comfort for all of us.

So, today on this Flashback Friday, take a moment to remember. It is ok to feel sad. Sad for the innocent victims and their families. Sad for the loss of our innocence as a country and all of the freedoms that were so often taken for granted. But, in the midst of the sadness, celebrate the heroic stories of bravery and selflessness that came out of this event. Celebrate the fact that we are still the "land of the free and the home of the brave". Celebrate those that fight and serve our country to keep us that way. Celebrate the fact that we are free to pray and worship where we choose. And pray. Pray for peace and for hope. Pray for our leaders and guidance for them. Pray for the next generation - that they will always be able to live freely in this great country of ours. And forgive.

Krissy

Take a child to the horse races....

Take a child to the horse races and he will have fun for a day.

Teach a child about parimutuel betting, and he will make money and possibly be off the family payroll sooner.

-Confucius Pearl

Labor Day weekend is THE biggest horse racing weekend of the season at Ruidoso Downs, so my mother-in-law loaded-up all of us pearls and took us to the Jockey Club for the races. Now, for the record, I am NOT a gambler! I have never been to Vegas and I don't condone gambling, etc... But, I must admit, a $2 per race bet can be fun. So, Mr. Pearl and I, being the responsible parents that we are, decided to teach the children about horse racing and parimutuel betting. Our thought process was that the mini-pearls would get a math lesson out of it (since we pulled them out of school) and we would have a little family bonding time before they were bored to tears and Sweet Pea would be begging for her very own thoroughbred. We were wrong! The mini-pearls LOVED it! (please pray that they don't end up at Gamblers Anonymous) It could have been the fact that we were waited-on hand and foot in the club, or that they went to the paddock and got up close and personal with the horses or the cool colors of the Jockey's silks, or (thank goodness) it wasn't crowded yet on Friday, but whatever it was, we stayed for all of the races!

Sport and Sweet Pea were our "big winners". Those two really know how to pick them! Sport went by the names of the horses - Macho Man was his favorite. Sweet Pea would choose her horse after they paraded in front of her and she would choose the "prettiest." They really had something! Fisherman didn't fare as well, but had a good time and he helped keep the money straight and wrote down the results of each race. He is great that way.

The following pictures were taken by the mini-pearls!

one of Sport's winners!

and they're off... this was one of Sweet Pea's faves- a white horse

Friday was also me and Mr. Pearl's 16th anniversary! It wasn't the most romantic of days, but I wouldn't change a thing about it. We had a wonderful time as a family!

Windmills, Roswell, New Mexico, UFOs and Blow-up Aliens

The land between West Texas and New Mexico is flat and rocky and in Texas, wind farms line the sides of the road, for as far as the eye can see. The giant windmills look like big sculptural people turning cartwheels and are really something to see. It reminded the mini-pearls of the Teletubbies (go figure).

Most of the cities and towns on our drive are unremarkable, with one exception - Roswell, New Mexico. (insert sarcasm) If you don't know, this is the area where in 1947, an "alien spacecraft" or UFO (read weather balloon) crashed, and a big government cover-up of the incident ensued. Sport Cort calls it the "alien city" and was sooooo excited to actually get to stop there! The streetlamps look like alien heads! What's not to be excited about?

Now, Mr. Pearl, the man I married, is a smart, mostly sane man with a college education, BUT I am worried about him. He has a fairly long commute to work each day and sometimes travels at hours that are not conducive to talking on the phone and he doesn't want to mess with books on cd, so instead of crying along with Glenn Beck, Mr. Pearl listens to all the "freak" radio stations! Mr. Pearl's favorite show is Coast to Coast. The original tapings of the show are in the middle of the night, so you can imagine the sorts that are calling in. The show, from what I have heard, is always about encounters with "not of this world" beings and Big Foot. This show has brainwashed Mr. Pearl! He claims that he just pretends to believe it to make me mad, but he sure knows an awful lot and is very passionate about it. All this to say, he was excited to stop at the UFO museum in Roswell.

Calling this place a"museum" is a stretch. It is an old theater building with a lot of blown-up newspaper clippings, dioramas of UFOs and "model" aliens. There are also several maps that light-up in the places where UFOs have been spotted and alien encounters have been reported. The kids and I were done in five minutes (poor Mr. Pearl). We let him look around a bit more and then we exited. Just like a good ride at Disneyland, the exit puts you out right at the gift shop. The mini-pearls were elated! Alien souvenirs! Fisherman brought his own money and quickly selected a 36" green, blow-up alien (he named him Bob) and a green golf ball with alien eyes on it. Sweet Pea carefully looked around and being the precious, middle child that she is, declined "wasting" our money on any of this "junk" and "oh, by the way, since I am not getting anything, would you take me Justice when we get home and get me something there?" (that's my girl) Then it was Sport Cort's turn! He wanted two blow-up aliens - one green and one blue - we let him know that he could chose one. So, reluctantly, green it was. We had almost made it to the counter to pay, when he spotted it.... on a shelf, just higher than his head, was a box of "fake" alien I.D. cards and "Alien Express" cards. That did it! He had to have one! We told him to chose one - the blow-up alien or the Alien Express card. Sport then proceeded to tell us that we did not love him and we needed to get both of these things for him because it is his birthday (October 6th). I let him know that if he still wanted both of these things for his birthday, we would see about getting them. Sport's reply, " But I have a bad memory, and I won't remember it then, so we have to get it now!" He finally settled on the Alien Express card and we were off to McDonalds for a snack for the road.

a diorama of the crashsite

Two hours later... boredom had set-in in the car, Sport was tired from waking-up before dawn and he was not feeling well from the asthma that had bothered him all weekend and we here a screech from the backseat, "I want a blow-up alien!" Then tears and uncontrollable sobbing - it was hilarious and we were all in tears from laughter, which didn't help the matter. I got the tantrum on video, but I had to promise not to show outside the family. Poor guy, he really was upset.

Sport in his GhostBusters shirt - the kid really is a markers dream!

So, the "pearl of wisdom" from this story... if you ever go to Roswell, New Mexico, skip the museum and go straight to the McD's. It looks like a big UFO on the outside and inside, has a play space, good Diet Coke on tap and absolutely NO gift shop!

Nanu nanu,

Krissy

Climb Every Mountain...

ford every stream

follow every byway

til you find your dream

We took the mini-pearls out of school on Friday for an extra-long, long weekend and headed-up to Ruidoso, New Mexico where Mr. Pearl's mom has a place. We were enticed by the promise of cool temperatures, lots of outdoor activities and the horse races.

I have always claimed to be a "beach baby", even though EVERY family vacation my family took (until I was a junior in high school) was to the mountains: every one. We went skiing in the winter. I do love to go skiing, so I saw this as "good". But, then we would pack-up and head to the mountains in summer, too! I never understood why we had to go somewhere in the summer where it was too cold to even go swimming or wear my cute summer clothing. - I will say in my dad's defense, when he finally gave-in to the beach when I was in high school and took us to Mexico, he got second degree sunburn on his feet from sticking them out in the sun from the umbrella he had parked under!- My dad was paying, so I guess he had the right to choose and until nine years ago, he claimed that the mountains were the only "real" place to vacay. We have since won Popie over to the beach-side, though, as he LOVES our trips to Florida each summer. (He went kicking and screaming the first year).

All of this being said, maybe Popie was right after all! (Did I just say that out loud?) This really could be my age talking or the fact that this summer was brutally hot around these parts, but I had FUN in Ruidoso! Sans swimsuit and missing the last opportunity to wear some of my summer frocks! Did you hear that Dad? The mountains were fun! I loved the fact that I didn't break into a sweat walking to the car and I could take a long walk any time of day and not have to worry about heat exhaustion. I will never call myself a "mountain" girl, but I will acknowledge the fact that the mountains do indeed have their place in summer, as well as winter, but given a choice between the mountains and the beach - the beach will always win!

I must say that being in the mountains always makes me want to sing songs from the Sound of Music. Mr. Pearl had to remind me that we weren't in the Alps and I got a lot of "be quiet mom" from the mini-pearls, but I sang anyway! (The Sound of Music was ABC family on Sunday night, did anyone else see it?) So, I will leave you with a few of my "favorite things" from our

Ruidoso trip.

doe, a deer, a female deer

ray, a drop of golden sun

me, a name, I call myself

fa, a long, long way to run (or ride a horse)

the pearls "popping" out to say.....

So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, good-bye,

Krissy

Sixteen years ago today....

September 3, 1994

I wore this...

and somehow convinced Mr.Pearl to wear this...

and we had a date at half past three o'clock in the afternoon - here...

Robert Carr Chapel on the campus of Texas Christian University

Mr. Pearl and I met at TCU and both graduated from here!


with all our dear family...

Proud Pearl Parents - mine on the left, Mr. Pearl's on the right

and lots of precious friends...

We have LOTS of wonderful friends!

the scene looked like this...

and we joined our two hearts together, and sealed the deal with this kiss...

Wooohoooo!


afterward, we had a big celebration, with lots of this...

Our first dance - a Texas two-step to the song, No Doubt About It by Neal McCoy


and this...

My daddy and me dancing to My Girl

and yet more of this...

Cuttin' a rug with my baby brother - Uncle G

The band was awesome!

we had a yummy cake...

We look like we are twelve!


we left in a shower of rose petals and a few happy tears,



and jumped into this....



on a journey down a winding, sometimes bumpy road that sixteen years later...

has led to this...

and I wouldn't change it for anything!

Happy Sixteenth Anniversary Chaz!

All my love and a neon moon,

Krissy

Pink and Green Thursday

I can't believe that it is time to say good-bye to yet another summer! Fall is just around the corner and the pools are about to close. School is back in session and it's time for football tailgates and jeans and boots! I thought I would throw a little Pink and Green End of Summer Soiree and invite all of you!

A beautiful invitation waiting in the mailbox

Jump on the ultimate form of summer transportation

the setting

delectable delights

icy, cold refreshments

cupcakes -of course!

sweet party favor treats in the colors of summer

Au revoir summer! You have been wonderful! I can't wait to see you again next June!

Krissy

Click on the "pink and green" button below to see sweet Trish at Pink, Preppy Lilly Lover. She started this pink and green fun and her blog is amazing!!!

All photos via here http://weheartit.com/