Just call her Betty!

Today Libby decided she wanted to play with her easy bake oven and make cupcakes...except its not really an easy bake oven...its a princess cool bake oven. It "cooks" the cupcakes by putting ice cubes in the "oven." I have no idea how it works but Libby thinks it's great fun! As you have probably already guessed, these are no gourmet cupcakes. They are the strangest little things. They have a very spongy kind of texture and that's really all I can say about them.

Here is Libby showing off her finished product. Aren't they wonderful?? (And yes, she is "cooking" in some dress-up princess dress that she has! What else would you wear while cooking princess cupcakes?)

Here is the infamous "Princess Cool Bake Oven!"

"Is it done yet, Mommy?" Twelve minutes is a long time for ice cubes to bake a cake?!?!

Here is Libby licking the cake batter out of the mixing cup. She really thinks it's tasty! MMM Good!

Now it's time to make the icing...oh yes, I told you these were wonderful! Libby is concentrating very hard to make sure the icing turns out just right! By the way, she is making vanilla cake with vanilla icing...

...and sprinkles! Lots of sprinkles!

"Wow mommy! Is that cool?" My baby sure can cook...she gets it from her mama! She is very proud of herself right about now!

And now for the taste test...MMM delicious! So delicious...

...She only ate a half a cupcake! That's all she ever eats and then she says she's done! To put into perspective how big these cupcakes are...think silver dollar! That's ok..she has fun baking them even if they taste like sugar-coated foam rubber!

What's more fun than a trampoline???

A TRAMPOLINE WITH BALLOONS!

My oldest niece, Kenzie, came over Sunday night to spend the night with Libby. Besides Nathan, this is the 2nd person Libby has had over to stay all night! She was very excited. In May, my niece Cassie spent the night. All the girls came over to drop Kenzie off. They were playing inside with all these balloons...the ceiling fans were on...there were kids everywhere...then I got the great idea of putting all the balloons in the trampoline and letting them jump around with them. They loved it! It was even more fun when someone landed on a balloon and made a big *POP*! Aahh! I love cheap entertainment!

Little Libby Mermaid

Turn the sound up...Here is a video of Libby singing "Part of Your World" from the Little Mermaid. She is becoming obsessed with Ariel! She is so cute when she sings big songs!

My Friday night off! Woohoo!

The day started with bubbles! Libby was blowing bubbles at Ginger but she has a short attention span, so Libby moved on to the Mama! (I don't chase them around quite like Ginger, the wonder-dog does!)

The little Nemo sitting on the deck railing is actually a bubble blower. Libby gives the Mama a rest a lets Nemo blow some bubbles in her face! It doesn't get better than this!

After our bubble-blowing adventure, we went to my nephew's (Nathan) baseball game. This was their last game of the season because they lost. This was also the first game I had a chance to see Nathan play this year because I work EVERY weekend! It was very exciting! Nathan is still on the pee-wee team. I forgot how entertaining those little kids on the team can be! I can't wait for Libby to play next year! Anyway...in the pic above, Libby is playing in the little play area next to the ball diamond. Look at her stance, her body language, her utter disgust that this little boy is moving towards her in an attempt to play! She was in a "I'm shy and don't like boys mood" I guess!

Here she is again...This time she is trying to leave the little fenced in play area but here comes a little boy. She just stops and waits for him to pass for fear of touching him! Meanwhile, the little boy has something interesting in his hand and stops to ponder it for a while. I think Libby stood there about 7 minutes before the kids grandma told him to get out of the way so Libby could get out! I was dying laughing on the inside! (Because what kind of mother would I be if I laughed out loud!)

Ok...back to baseball...Here is my nephew up to bat. For a minute, I almost thought I was watching Don Mattingly! (For those of you who know me really well, know I know nothing about sports! The only two reasons I know that name is because he is from Evansville and my little brother used to idolize him!) So Nathan hit the ball out somewhere in the outfield and he ran like Forrest Gump! Run, Nathan, Run! (Libby was cheering him on in the stands...it was so cute because she had no idea what was going on! She just liked to yell and clap! She clapped for everyone on both teams!)

Nathan made it to second base and is waiting for the next batter to do his thing!

And he's off! He rounds third and heads into home! The crowd cheers, "Go, Nathan, Go!" Ok, so Libby and I are cheering!

...And here he is after crossing home...taking a quick look behind him to see if he is safe and if anyone is behind him! It's all good! My nephew, the rock star!

After the game, we all went to my dad's house for a cookout. Here are the kids and my youngest brother, Jack, daddy to my nieces, going for a spin on the golf cart!

The kids played on the swing set...Libby learned a new trick...pulling herself up on the rings and flipping through her arms! Watch out Olympics 2016...Here comes Libby! That's my niece, Julianna on the swing.

This is my middle niece, Cassie. She's just hanging around! :)

And that was my Friday off! Poor Libby didn't even make it to bed until 11pm that night. She was so tired. She's an 8pm bed time kind of girl! It was even a hour past my bedtime, too! It didn't even get dark until 10pm! It's so easy to loose track of time....stupid daylight savings time!

Father's Day Festivities/2 Birthdays!

All the kids...minus Libby because she wasn't cooperating!

Libby...not cooperating again!

Nathan (9) and Kenzie's (7) Birthday.

Kenzie, my oldest niece. (The Amish-looking guy in the background in my Dad!)

Cassie, my middle niece.

Julianna, my youngest niece. She is 9 months younger than Libby!

Nathan, my nephew! (I don't know what happen to the focus!)

My younger brother, Jack...Daddy to my nieces!

Dylan and Nathan playing ladder ball...it's more challenging than it looks!

Libby on the slip n slide...she's a pro now!

Julianna and Libby playing in the sprinkler.

Libby playing in the sprinkler trying to get a drink!

For Father's Day we had a cookout at Tarah's parents house. It was also Nathan and Kenzie's birthday. All the kids were there and had a good time playing together. I can't believe how grown up they all are now! The two "babies," Libby & Julianna, are 3 and 4 now! We all managed to eat, play, and open presents all before the big storm came blowing through. It didn't last too long...When I left for work (at MN) it had all passed.

A Snack on the Steps

I don't even know how this all started but anytime Libby is outside playing she wants to have a pack of peanut butter sandwich crackers and eat them on the steps! Oh yes, and a drink too! And she always wants to set them on the first step, not actually up on the deck. Just for spite, when she's not looking I'll move her drink and crackers up to the deck and when she notices they have been moved she'll say, "Hey! I wanted my crackers on this step!" Then I just laugh to myself! My poor little OCD daughter...she gets it honestly from her mama! In the last picture, Ginger Sue Tiger comes along hoping for a crumb...instead she just gets some hugs and kisses from HER mama!! "Aww Ginger!"

A Birthday Party/Slip N Slide Adventure!

This past Tuesday Libby went to a birthday party for one of our cousins, Abi, who is 1 year older than Libby. Libby was very excited to go to Abi's house to play because she hadn't been there in a loong time! Libby was a little shy at first because of the extra kids there but warmed up quickly. After everyone was done eating the kids played on the slip n slide. This was Libby's first experience with a slip n slide...it was quite amusing to watch her. The first time she went, instead of sliding, she just kind of dropped to her knees at the beginning of the slide and landed with a thug! She did this a few times and after some coaching from the other kids she finally got it! What a champ! All the kids had a good time and of course, Libby didn't want to go home...I had to make a deal with her....She would leave if we could take Nathan home with us! Ok!

Did you know???

As I am sitting here at work in the PICU trying to keep myself occupied by reading a people magazine I found lying around, I learned something interesting and surprising. Being the generous person I am, I though I would share my findings with you! I am sure you will be "wowed" as well! Did you know Yves Saint Laurent is (was) a guy?? I guess I never REALLY stopped to think about it, I just assumed he was a woman! So you can imagine my surprise when I came across the article telling of HIS demise! Sure enough, there was even a picture to prove it! In an effort to further educate my blog spot followers, I copied some words from wikipedia to further summarize Yves Saint Laurent:

Yves Henri Donat Mathieu Saint Laurent (August 1, 1936 – June 1, 2008)[1][2] was a French fashion designer who was considered 'one of the greatest figures in French fashion in the 20th century' (Daily Telegraph 2/6/2008). In 1985, in Caroline Rennolds Milbank's book Couture: The Great Fashion Designers, she wrote, "The most consistently celebrated and influential designer of the past twenty-five years, Yves Saint Laurent can be credited with both spurring the couture's rise from its Sixties ashes and with finally rendering ready-to-wear reputable".

There you go....now we all know!!

It's Pinkalicious!

Here is a pic of Libby with her very first pink ice cream! Libby & I were at Cone Palace one day, the best ice cream place ever, sharing a banana split when in walks this little old lady with a pink ice cream cone! Poor Libby didn't know they had pink ice cream there! She wanted to know where that lady got her pink ice cream! Libby had to have one too! I promised Libby that we could come back the next week after she finished somersault school and get her a pink ice cream. So here she is...a proud moment for my baby...her first pink ice cream cone! I didn't realize I had been depriving her so!

I confess...I'm a dork!

Now that American Idol is over and we are coming into the summer of reruns, I've been desperate to find something interesting to watch on tv. A few weeks ago there were two back to back episodes of "Farmer Wants A Wife." So I watched...for two hours! Now I am hooked! It really is kind of entertaining, especially if you have any knowledge of farm life! Now I don't want to leave anybody out, so I am confessing for Mike, too! He's a dork -- he watches! I'm a dork, he's a dork, if you want to be a dork, too, tune in to the CW Wednesdays at 9pm!

A Day with Tarah

On Monday, Libby got to spend the day with Tarah (my bro's GF) so I could sleep. Libby loves to go to Tarah's! Actually, I think she just likes to get out of the house! On this particular day, the girls went shopping...this is Libby after her shopping spree. She is sporting an oh-so-cute butterfly dress in bright summer colors, accessorized with coordinating ponytail holders (and a princess tiara, of course!) and what you can't see are her cute little butterfly flip flops! Libby says, "Bonjour Butterfly!"

Libby's New Desk

One of Mike's friends gave Libby this desk. As soon as she saw it she said she wanted to put it next to my desk in the living room. She loves it! I found a little pencil box for her desk, got her some little notebooks and she is good to go! (And don't forget the juice box...working makes you thirsty!) You can see it even has room for her friends...The little puppy in the cubby is Scruffy, the animal on top of the desk is Ali the Aligator! Yes, we are getting to the point that all her dolls and animals need names! I'm almost ready to get a baby names book for her because I am running out of suggestions!

I'm that kind of friend!

Here are some random pics of my peeps from work! Yes, I am that kind of friend!