InstaFriday: NKOTBSB Edition

This entire post will not be dedicated to New Kids on the Block and the reunion event of the century.

It will not.

I promise.

OK, just some of it.

Just a few pictures.

I promise.

I was a fan in junior high school.

A big, embarrassing fan.

With dolls.  And pillowcases.  And Jordan Knight/Teen Beat wallpaper.

Vikki heard they were coming to HP Pavilion and she made us all go.

The Backstreet Boys accompanied my boyfriends on this reunion tour.

And I will say I could have easily done without their portion of the show.

And they alternated every other song.  Which was not my favorite layout.

It went a little something like this:

"Uh uh oh oh oh.  Uh uh oh oh.  Uh uh oh oh oh.  The right stuff."

Jump up, scream, dance like a 13 year old.

Almost cry but don't.

"You are my fire.  The one desire..."

Sit down.  Check email.  Take a picture.

Play Hanging with Friends.

Wave at and text Michelle and Sue who were across the arena.

Watch a girl get carried down by 2 paramedics with an Ace bandage around her ankle.

"Please don't go girl.  You would ruin my whole world."

Jump up.  Scream.  Dance like a 13 year old.

Almost cry but don't.

Back and forth.  All night.

BSB?

I don't know them.

I don't like them.

I didn't have their pillowcases.

So.

Whew.  I spent a lot of time on that.

We can't be friends anymore, huh?

 

Church the next morning.

The 100% best part about a church plant at a school in the summertime?

No tear-down.  We have the place all summer long.

Not that I do much tearing down anyway.

I love Old Testament references to Christ.

On Sunday, Dave preached on this one.

Is this the most random post in all of history?

NKOTB to OT foreshadowings of Christ?

Sometimes I feel as shallow as a kiddie pool.

 

Moving on. And speaking of pools.

It was sweltering this week.

So we escaped to the hills and the home of friends with a pool.

Thanks, Turdici family.  We had a blast!

Especially, Kayla.

She's not excited at all to be swimming.

 

4th of July baking prep.

Although it was pretend prep because we did no baking.

Because it was sweltering.

 

We've gone to the exact same spot to watch the fireworks show since the beginning of time.

E. Hillsdale Blvd/Center Park Ln.

Ashlyn loves them.

And shouts out the colors for us as if we can't see.

It's cute.  For the first 5 explosions.

But there are like 508 explosions.  So it starts to not get so cute.

Although this year I think there were only like 308 explosions.

Budget cut-backs and all.  Not the best show ever.

Firework color identification wears a girl out.

 

Hi Dave!  I love breakfast with you!

 

She ditched her water wings and jumped.

Because the pool makes her crazy.  And irrational.

 

This is how she falls asleep most nights.

Reading a book about dinosaurs.

Surrounded by a variety of stuffed huskies.

Sea creature stickers proudly displayed on her headboard.

She also tans darker than a T-Rex in the summertime.

 

I'm off to make Texas sheet cake for the Friday Night Lights season finale tonight.

I'm also in denial about it ending.  I could barely even type that, y'all.

 

Also linking up with Jeannett.

It's the thing to do on Friday.

 

Words from Ronnie. And a patriotic drink.

If you know me at all, you'll know I'm not super political.

I'm a registered Independent.

I'm not crazy about Obama.

But I wasn't crazy about Bush, either.

Even though I voted for him.  Twice.

Sorry about that.

 

I don't pay attention to much of what they say.

Because I don't believe much of what they say.

 

Well.  Except for Ronnie.

He's the first president I remember.

And the cutest little man I ever did see.

And Nancy.  How could you not love Nance?

 

For our 3rd anniversary, I bought Dave some Ronnie poker chips.

My very first Ebay purchase.

My very last Ebay purchase.

I thought it was a whole set.

When the box arrived, it seemed so small.

I was bewildered at how they could fit all those chips inside.

Then I opened it.  And there were four.

Four poker chips.

Four really expensive poker chips.

The lucky Ronnies.

We still laugh about that one.

 

My dad sent me an email around Eastertime and I found it appropriate to share today.

On America's birthday.

Words by a former leader of this country.

Words, from a politician, that I love.

And believe.

With all my heart.

 

My dad's email didn't site the source.

So the mass communication minor in me did a little investigating.

I learned that these were not spoken words by Ronnie.

But written.  In March of 1978.

A response to a Methodist minister who wrote President Reagan, questioning Christ's divinity.

 

This is what he said:

 

"I still can't help wondering how we can explain away what to me is the greatest miracle of all.

A miracle which is recorded in history.

No one denies there was such a man, that he lived and that he was put to death by crucifixion.

Where is the miracle I speak of?

Well consider this and let your imagination translate the story into our own time,

possibly to your own home town.

A young man whose father is a carpenter grows up working in his father's shop.

One day he puts down his tools and walks out of his father's shop.

He starts preaching on street corners and in the nearby countryside, walking from place to place.

Preaching all the while, even though he is not an ordained minister.

He never gets farther than an area perhaps 100 miles wide at the most.  He does this for three years.

Then he is arrested, tried and convicted.

There is no court of appeal, so he is executed at age 33 along with two common thieves.

Those in charge of his execution roll dice to see who gets his clothing -- the only possessions he has.

His family cannot afford a burial place for him so he is interred in a borrowed tomb.

End of story?

No.

This uneducated, property-less young man has, for 2,000 years,

had a greater effect on the world than all the

rulers,

kings,

emperors;

all the conquerors,

generals and admirals,

all the scholars,

scientists and philosophers who have ever lived.

All of them put together.

How do we explain that?

Unless He really was what He said He was."

--President Ronald Reagan (March 1978)

See?  Don't you just love him?  I do.

 

 

I will also leave you with a Ronnie-approved, family friendly patriotic drink recipe that I found here via here.

 

You'll need:

 

cranberry juice

dark blue Gatorade

Diet 7-Up

 

Fill clear glass with lots of ice.

Pour cranberry juice first.

Then slowly add Gatorade, but be sure it ricochets off the ice.

The ricocheting is important.  Otherwise you won't get the stacked look.

Lastly, slowly add the DIET 7-up.

The diet is important.  Otherwise it sinks.

And the ice ricocheting is still important.  Add more ice if you need to.

 

Happy Independence Day, friends!

Peaches and Cream Cupcakes

I didn't clean out my garage yesterday.

It was WAY too hot.

Instead I turned my oven on and baked all day.

So my already sweltering house doubled in temperature.

Sometimes I get nervous at how smart I am.

 

If you don't like peaches (ahem, husband) you won't like these.

But if you even kind of like peaches, you'll be one happy camper.

I adapted Martha's strawberry cupcake recipe

and stole Meg's Cool Whip Buttercream recipe.

And the results are kind of amazing.

If I do say so myself.

 

 

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup cake flour (not self rising)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter @ room temperature

2 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 large whole eggs plus 1 egg white

1 cup heavy whipping cream

3 cups finely chopped fresh yellow peaches

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin tins with paper liners.

Dice up your peaches and set aside.

Eat half your peaches while you're dicing.

Sift together both flours, baking powder and salt.

I use this sifter.  And I love it.

You fling it right to left and it almost sifts for you.

And it kind of makes you want to dance.

I can't really explain it.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy.

Add whole eggs and the white, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated.

Reduce mixer speed to low.

Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the whipping cream.

Beat until well combined.

Fold in chopped peaches by hand.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each 3/4 full.

Bake 25-30 minutes until golden.

Transfer cupcakes to wire racks and let cool completely.

 

Now, on to the frosting.

It's one of the best I've ever tasted.

And I don't even really love Cool Whip.

2 sticks butter (room temp)

1 lb bag powdered sugar

1 tablespoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tub Cool Whip

 

Cream butter.  Be sure there are no clumps.

Clumps = unacceptable.

Room temp = muy importante.

Be sure it is soft to the touch before you start mixing.

Slowly add powdered sugar and vanilla and mix on low.

Add milk and continue to blend until smooth.

Lastly, fold in the tub of Cool Whip by hand.

I also added chopped peaches.

Yummmmm.

And because it was 300 degrees in my house, I let the frosting sit in the fridge for a bit.

Next to my Chobani.

I also made 2 in a jar.

Because I want to make everything in a jar now.

 

And don't make fun of my handheld mixer.

Sometimes when it's really hot outside, I use it.

I can't really explain that either.

 

Happy 4th!

InstaFriday: Hello July!

It's July.

And it rained last week.

It rained alot.

There was even a rainbow.

Today, it's supposed to be hot.

Today, I'm going to clean out my garage.

Today, I'm going to clean out my garage.

Today, I'm going to clean out my garage.

Yes.

 

OK, linking up with Jeannett again for InstaFriday.

Sometimes I think this is kind of turning into InstaBlog.

One real post.  One lazy, easy post. Repeat.

Too easy to pass up.

Today, I'm going to clean out my garage.

This is what happens when you're crazy bored waiting for Jell-o to set.

You stack boxes in rainbow order and take a picture.

Then spend 20 minutes deciding which Instagram filter to use.

When really you should be cleaning out your garage.

 

These cupcakes were fun.

Although, I had some baking issues.

Lost some to under-bakedness.

Lost a few more when they fell over into the 1/4 inch of water that I baked them in.

Almost lost my hand when I tried to pick them up out of the water.

8 survived.

My friend Cindy (the one who needs to start a blog) texted me last night saying she made peach cobbler in a jar.

With ice cream on top!  Genius.

I'm going to make her guest post one of these days.  Ya hear me, Cindy?

 

Dave picked this baby up at Walmart for $8.

And it provided hours of entertainment.

OK, I'm lying to you.  More like 20 minutes.

R.I.P. non-eco friendly Styro-foam plane.  Sorry about the side of the house.

 

Ashlyn really loved you.

 

My favorite Hope tradition.  The birthday prayer chair after service.

Kayla and Timmy both took a seat this Sunday.

Timmy's mom made really delicious orange cakes.

I'm going to make her guest post, too.

Ya hear me, Mrs. Belleson?  She still makes me call her that.

And I do whatever she tells me.  She's from Tennessee.

 

These people hate me.  Sorry, Millbrae Starbucks.

28 separate transactions.  On 28 separate cards.  No real money to tip.

But if you ever need an ambulance?  We'll get there REALLY fast.  Totally promise.

 

Peace out Words with Friends (sorry, mom).  Hanging with Friends is where it's at.

Play.  You'll love it.

 

Kayla is a Girl Scout.  Or a brownie.  Daisy, maybe?  I still don't really get it.

We went for pizza and were supposed to go on our first badge-earning nature walk afterwards.

But it was cancelled.  Due to rain.  In JUNE.

We should get a badge for that.  A wrong, weird weather badge.

 

Here's the rainbow I was talking about.

I love El Camino.

That's weirder than rain in June.

But I really do.

 

Safeway's marketing is so cute.  And personal.

Have you tried frozen watermelon yet?

 

Playdate at her house yesterday with her and her.

Such fun.

Playdates are 175% more for moms that kids.

But they had fun, too.

 

Happy Friday!

Today, I'm going to clean out my garage.

 

 

A Rainbow (and Wolf) Party

Here ye!  Here ye!  Someone's turning 8.

That purple recorder and the horrific sound it emits has been the bane of my existence this summer, thus far.

Who gave it to her?   I still can't figure it out.  But I want to give it back.

 

Our oldest turned 8 on Friday. And we celebrated in style.  With rainbows.  And wolves.

Here's the wolf cake.  It weighed 800 pounds.

Pop Pop and Kayla felt the need to add blinking star candles because the original decoration was not sufficient.

Did you know you can bake cupcakes in a jar?  Rainbow cupcakes, even?  Thanks for the idea, Jeannett!

Did you know that this lady makes really amazing invites, favor tags and cupcake toppers?  Thanks, Mel!

Initially, I had planned on rainbow colored ice cubes for the lemonade.

But then I realized that the lemonade would turn brown when they melted.

That's not cute.  Or refreshing.

So we went with blue.  And the lemonade turned green.

Cute.  And refreshing.

We also had rainbow finger Jell-o which was super easy to make and fun.

But not so easy to take a picture of.

It looks 100% cuter in real life.  You'll just have to trust me.

Or you can ask her.  It was crazy hair day at camp.  I love this little girl.

That window you see up there?  It used to have curtains.

Until Ashlyn pulled them down 30 minutes before the party started.

5 minutes after that, she dropped my phone in the toilet.

Happy rainbows everywhere.

The girls kicked daddy and the Giants game out of the living room and the official slumber party festivities began.

Cupcakes in a jar and Tinkerbell.  A magical combo.

They fell asleep around 1:00 am.  After switching beds and rooms 12 times.

Cupcakes at 10:00 pm probably didn't help much.  But it's once a year.

They were up early and completed the craft I forgot about the night before.

They decorated white pillow cases with fabric markers.  I stole the idea from my cousin.  Thanks, Kim!

We also read this book which was a gift from Ellen.

They left with rainbow nail polish goodie bags.

And my nails are blue right now.

Happy rainbows everywhere.

We love you, KK and hope you had a fun day!