Cake Pops (part II) - Final installment.

Jill & I made them again! This time we made them for back-to-school teacher gifts. Remember a few weeks ago we made some cupcake cake pops and then some ladybug pops. Since we had done it before, we thought - No Problem. They are so cute... we can do it. It would only take a couple of hours. You can go to Bakerella's website for more specific directions, but here are the basics.

First, you bake a cake-any kind you want.  We made one chocolate and one red velvet. ( I would insert a lovely picture here if I had remembered to take one)

Next, crumble it up or use a food processor on it. (next picture goes here)

Then you blend the crumbled cake with one jar of icing. What do you know?! I remembered! This was the red velvet with cream cheese icing.

Then you form the little apples and poke a small hole on top for the pretzel stem. Doesn't Jill have lovely hands?

Then you freeze them for about 15 minutes and you talk about how you can't believe your babies are going to kindergarten and a lot of other things.

Then you get the red chip things melting on the stove (double-boiler). Flip those babies over and dip your lollipop stick in the melted stuff then put them about a third of the way down in the apples. (insert picture)

Then they go back in the freezer for 10 minutes or so. Talk about some frenamies.

I'm going to have to give you a quick description of the rest of the process, because it was painful and involved some cussing. And it got so bad picture taking was the last thing on our minds.

You dip them in the melted stuff and spin and tap and spin and tap and pray the stupid thing doesn't fall off of the stick. When it does falls in use a spoon to get it out and the crumbs and eat it. Then once you manage a fairly smooth one that hasn't fallen off the stick, put a tiny piece of pretzel on top for the stem and a piece of a sour straw cut at an angle for the leaf.

Repeat; cuss; throw some in the trash; eat some more that look bad; threaten any child or husband who comes near the half-way decent ones; then cuss some more at the process.

Once you have enough to fill up a flower pot, stick styrofoam and tissue paper in the bottom. Cover up the pops with a baggie & tie with cute ribbon. Then put a raffia bow around the pot because it looks cute. Now go have a drink, because you have just spent 5-6 hours of your life trying to bribe someone into liking your kid. And because you deserve it for loving your kid so much. 

While you're drinking, swear you will never make these things again, no matter how cute or yummy they are.

small sidnote: Their teachers loved them.

 Back to SCHOOL!

School started yesterday! Josh is in fourth grade this year and Justin is in Kindergarten!!! Everyone was ready & excited. No tears were shed by any of us! I was relieved that Justin wasn't nervous a bit. His shirt says "Big Man on Campus." How cute is that?

Josh was ready to go too! He even said that he has been bored the last couple weeks and was ready! He's looking so grown up to me lately.

I walked Justin into the cafeteria to meet his class. He has two good buddies in his class Kyle & Brennan! Here he is with Brennan.

So the parents were allowed to walk them to class for a little bit. They were greeted by their own little cans of PLAYDOUGH! This was so exciting since they are strictly forbidden from playing with the stuff at home. (I know, I'm mean.)

Then his teacher read them the cutest book. The Night Before Kindergarten.

Then we headed outside for a flag raising ceremony. This is where things got a little hairy. Justin's class sat right up in front. In front of the principal that is. See the little kid in the turquoise shirt? The two of them started partying a little & had to be "talked to" by the lady in charge! Oh boy.....

Guess who else we saw out there? Josh. Will actually spotted him!

After a quick good-bye Justin was off to class!

They both came home super happy! I'm so grateful for great teachers & an outstanding school!

Last Day of Summer Vacation!

Friday was the last day of summer vacation. You know what that means...BACK TO SCHOOL on Monday! Boyd took the day off & we planned a couple of surprises for the kids. Our first surprise was breakfast at Krispy Kreme!

Then we headed to the lake. It was GREAT going on a weekday morning. The water was calm. There wasn't a wait at the ramp to launch. There weren't a lot of other boats out there to get in the way either!

Perfect day for some skiing!

Boyd has recently figured out that he can take the little boys along for the ride. And they love it!

It's a little tricky for me to drive the boat and turn around and take pictures. But some how I managed. Don't judge. I already know.

Will's turn, Justin wasn't ready to quit.
Little man LOVES IT!
What do you think about my photog skills on this one?! I just wish I could make all of them look this good. I sure have a handsome big boy.
I actually have THREE handsome boys. (If I may say so myself. It's MY blog after all)

Silly little man.Josh wanted me to include this one. Those are his giant feet. They are almost as big as mine.

The Godwin's joined us! It sure makes it fun when we can meet up with friends on the water!

Come Monday Josh will be in Fourth grade and Justin starts Kindergarten!

Texas Safari

Today we took the kids to a Texas Exotic safari place. Four moms, 10 kids. Oh my!

It's about 45 minutes north of here. We had heard cool things about it, so we mustered our motherly strength and patience & headed due north very early this morning. Our plan was to get there when it opened to avoid excessive heat (103) & people. Not that we don't like people, it's just that a lot of people and animals in the same place can cause a bit of anxiety to people with many small children. We were the first group to arrive which was great because the animals were really hungry (no, I don't mean the kids).

You buy a big bucket of feed. We went through 3 of these fast. (we should have gotten more)

Tyson, Will & Justin smiling for Ethan's camera.

Josh totally needed a buddy with him. It would have been tough for him to hang out with three 5 year olds, one 4 year old, one 3 year old, two 2 year olds, & one baby. So Ty came with him!

The buffalo were fun to feed with their long blue tongues. You just pour the feed right on it.

Will & an elk(?). We decided he looked like one on Papaw's wall.

ZEBRAS! My favorite animals.

This next one cracks me up. Justin & the ostrich look like they are having a stare down.

Josh. He secretly loved this place.

Goober the camel was very pushy.

This momma ostrich was sitting on her eggs!

See! They are really smart animals. The guide told us that the female sits on the eggs during the day & the male sits on them at night. We also saw some recently hatched baby ostriches. So cute!
Goober stole our bucket.

After the tour we had a picnic, then went into the petting zoo.

Will loved this baby goat. He chased him/her everywhere.

Great place to visit! We can't wait to go back. They even have cabins you can stay in over night. Maybe when it cools off a little....

Stompin' Boots

Did you know that when it's raining they are called rainboots, but when it's not raining and you feel like wearing them they're called stompin' boots? I didn't either.

Little side note about the cake pop post:

I've been working on my photog skills since I am my family's official paparazzo. Anyway, the previous post was an attempt at using all the artistic settings on my camera. I have since figured out what I did wrong that made them all grainy or in more technical terms "noisy." I had my ISO set too high. You learn something new every day! I have a ways to go on this, but I'm getting it...

Cake Pops!
My friend Jill has a link on her blog to another blog called Bakerella. Bakerella makes the most adorable things ever! They are called cake pops or cupcake pops. They are so stinkin' cute. We just had to make them!

What do you think?

Justin, Brennan, Josh, Juliana & Will approved. (I think Will loved them the most, look at that smile...hahahaha)

Take a look at Jill's blog. We spent a good part of Friday making some ladybug ones for her daughter's second birthday party. I also made some apples for back-to-school. (more on that later!)