If you are looking for ideas on how to celebrate a birthday,  I have some sure fire ways to make your birthday a success.

Start your morning off baking your favorite breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls and a birthday cake.

Make a really big mess and make sure someone else is around to clean it up– your mother would be perfect for this job!

Taste test everything thoroughly.  Raw cake batter is excellent!

More than one taste is required for the perfect cake. It is never too early in the morning to enjoy birthday cake.

Make sure you are looking good for your big day– spare nothing in picking out just the right outfit.  If you slightly resemble the ‘crocodile hunter’– perfect!

At some point during the day you will need to get caugh doing something– bad.  That will just make the day more fun.

Above all else decorate you own cake!  Spare no expense or thought going into cake decorations—the more sugar the better.

Surround yourself with presents.

Completely decorate the place.  If you have more than one theme–that is ok! Balloons would be nice here also ( we had probably around 50 but no picture of them!)

Don’t use too many candles– destoying your house by fire with birthday candles will not make you cool.

Look cute when someone snaps your picture– your mom will love these pics no matter what your age.

Take your time when opening gifts–savor the moment!

Enlist the help of others if you need to.

Curse the one who tapes a package so tight you can not open it in a reasonable amount of time–

Remember take it slow in opening presents. Make everyone in attendance wait as long as possible for cake. They may eat less leaving more for you later.

The pinnacle of all parties is the pinata!  Always a crowd pleaser. I don’t recommend the cheap wally world pinatas– go to a quality mexican store for your pinata purchase– it will last longer and can withstand a much longer beating before releasing the candy.

Lastly, keep all the candy to yourself!

For the boy who wanted a batman & spiderman birthday with lots of balloons– Happy 3rd Birthday Hayden!

As the sun was going down last Friday night, we were invited to go fishing with a friend.

Although there is a noticeable lack of water in these parts of Texas (which I am sure has something to do with the fact that we are in a desert) there are those who have built their very own ponds. And the best part of it is, they stock them with fish! If you know the right people you can be invited onto their land to partake in the joy of fishing.

We took the whole family for a night of fun.

Hayden loves to fish and the fish have a real love/hate relationship with him. They love him because they eat all of his bate and he never reels them in for the catch. They hate him because sometimes he eats the bate first! (Gross I know) Which brings me to the topic of bait– what exactly is ’stink bait’? I get the one called ‘chicken livers’ but we also had one called ‘cat cheese’. What is that exactly? Hayden tried it– I think I will pass.

It was a perfect night for fishing. Cool and breezy–already looking forward to winter.

Carley was enjoying her night fishing.

Check out this catfish I caught! Impressive- he was good eatin’ also.

This is the whole spread of catfish.

I just wanted to show off my fish again! Mine was the biggest fish of the night.  We ended up fishing until a little after 1 am!  We would have stayed longer but Hayden had finally given up and was ready to go home. Which was a good thing, because I was sure the kids would be back up around 7 am!  We got into bed about 2:30 am and to my surprise all the kids slept until 10 am.

The following day, the fish were cleaned and then fried in cornmeal– I made some home made tarter sauce and it was delicious!

Up for next week is: Hayden’s birthday and first days of school!  I will be back on Monday with the Birthday update.  but just to give you a preview: Hayden woke me up at 5 am this morning to tell me he wanted a Spiderman birthday!

The stars have been officially aligned, a rainbow was over the house and it was time to pick the pears.

With two pear trees, we had to do something will all those pears. Surely the squirrels did not need them all!

We peeled and we sliced!

More peeling and more slicing (photos taken by Landon)

There was a little bit of pouting and whining

and still more peeling and slicing– it took a really really long time to get those pears done! and my hands were sore

we were getting a little bit crazy

and maybe just a little bit sleepy

But finally we had an entire bowl full- ready to be cooked and canned.

AHH the fruit of our labor– Pear Preserves!

I am going to make homemade biscuits with pear preserves tomorrow–  YUMMY! We have canned probably about 25-30 jars! Does anyone have any name suggestions for the pears– I was thinking ‘prickly pear preserves’ (after the prickly pear cactus found here in west Texas)

Glad to be done.

Today was the first day of kindergarten!  I will have more pics tomorrow– See you then.

Did you know that oven mitts make fantastic boxing gloves?

I did not either but apparently they do.

So put up your dukes! Are you ready to enter the ring with this superhero?

Not me–

I got a bill in the mail and made me laugh so hard, I am wondering what to do?  The bill was for a doctor visit in the amount of $0.01

I believe this was an over sight by the physicians office, surely they would not send me a bill for one cent when the cost for postage and paper  was far greater.

Should I return it with a penny inside– or would that be insulting.  Maybe I should just ignore it.

But it did make my laugh. Frankly, I needed a good laugh today.

Apparently after reading the previous post about my conversation with Landon, the burning question of the day is: What exactly is Pet Soup?

My answer is: a tomato based soup that has just about anything I can find in the kitchen to put into it. It is usually made when we are down to the bare bones in the kitchen and I am too lazy to go to the grocery store. All I can find are a few cans of tomatoes, tomato sauce, traces of frozen veggie and if we are lucky some chicken or beef to throw in for good measure. The origin of the name refers to a soup that started with the letters PET but was too complicated for me to say and therefore way too complicated to try and describe the dish to the boys. I shortened it to Pet soup and only occasionally actually refer to the recipe.

But it does make for interesting conversation when you say “we are having pet soup!”

I will put in this disclaimer so I don’t get PETA after me: Don’t worry, all the animals are alive and doing well.

Landon: Mama, What’s for dinner?

Mama:  Pet Soup.

Landon: Were having DOG!

Jeff and Landon went fishing on Monday night.  Get a load of this fish!

Ahh! the easy life of summer.  (That cute little red head on the right is the Grandson of one of our good friends.)

I had a six hour drive to Austin last week and I could think of nothing better than to pass the time listening to a book on CD. My trip to the library proved to be fruitful and I found a biography, John Adams by David McCullough. I have developed a love recently for history. I have come to realize that the past is full of good stories and I especially like a historical novel that reads like the latest fast paced fiction story. History books that tell the story rather than give you just the facts. (Don’t get me wrong, the facts are important but equally important is how they are put together in the story) I found this particular book so enjoyable that I could not wait to hear the next CD and listened to the entire 10 hours in one day!

Naturally, this is a biography about the second president of our country. I learned many new things about the man, the president, the Declaration of Independence and life during that time. I found my self so into this book, I began taking notes and writing down quotes he had said or wrote in his journal. My favorite was, (writing to a friend) “life has been grief upon grief, disappointment after disappointment, what’s next?   this is a gay, merry world notwithstanding!” Read the book and I know this quote will mean a great deal more to you.

As promised, I have another book recommendation for you this week. Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller.  A book like this is hard to write about and it is even harder to explain.  But such an excellent book deserves not only my time as well as my attention.  I must admit I was a bit taken aback by the title especially since we picked this book up at church a few weeks ago, and I was even more surprise by the thought provoking nature and insight the author shares.

I think I can sum this book up by saying, Mr. Miller believes the Bible is not a book of formula or steps you to take to enter the kingdom of heaven, but rather an invitation to follow and love Christ. Once we move away from the preset formulas, we are free to develop a deeper relationship with Christ and love everyone.

This book is fun and witty and with chapter titles such as “Santa takes a leak” or “why the three legged man is better than the bearded lady” or my personal favorite chapter “why I am better than you” and “Why William Shakespear was a prophet”   what is not to love about this book.  So check this book out, you will not be disappointed.