My birthday celebration...

This year for my birthday, we went to my hometown, where my family still lives.  My mom baked me a lemon cheesecake & we had a family cookout.  

Us, minus John (He's in South Carolina for a few days)

Lemon cheesecake... yum!

I hope my birthday wish comes true!

Gavin just loves licking the candles...

Jim played the guitar for me & sang a couple of songs...

Cute little cousins, going to swim

My birthday bouquet from mom & jim.

Mom

While I was in town, I took some engagement pictures of my mom & jim.  (Their wedding is on 10-10-10)

Relay for Life 2010

Alex was a part of the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life this year.   Here are some highlights of the relay.

I scream, you scream... we all scream for Ice Cream!

Taking a break to enjoy our local ice cream parlor... Yum!

Gavin's mouth was full of vanilla milkshake...

I said I wasnt blogging until tournaments were over, but sometimes I cant help myself!  :)

Where have we been?

We are pretty much living at the baseball fields now.  Gavin had three games in a row... Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (tonight)... then we have tomorrow off, and playing again on Friday & Saturday.  So, no blogging for me until tournaments are over.  I hope everyone is doing good!  Happy summer!

A FABULOUS local ice cream parlor!

I was browsing some blogs today, and saw a link to a local ice cream parlor. It's called Jeni's Ice Creams. When I went to the site, I was so tickled that it was so close to me.  The menu speaks for itself.  Some seasonal flavors include, brown butter almond brittle, savannah buttermint, the buckeye state, and strawberry buttermilk (YUM)!  They even have a frozen yogurt called meyer lemon blueberry!!!  I can't wait to try this place...

Following in her mommies footsteps...

Alex "tried out" for cheerleading for the first time (although she has been cheering for years, in the youth cheerleading league).  She made it! I can't believe she is going into 7th grade.  She will be in college in a blink of an eye!  I need to slow things down and really enjoy these last few years she will be "mine".

A couple pictures of her getting ready for tryouts!

I promised her she could sign up for a tumbling class if she made it. Now I have to invent some free days for her to attend! ;)

Alex's Dance Recital

Ballet

Alex & her best friend, Hannah

Solo performance

Lyrical group

Blueberry Muffins

I LOVE blueberry muffins & Paula Deen recipes... Here is a recipe from her blog.

NANA’S BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 ¼  cups plus 2 teaspoons sugar, divided
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and 1 ¼ cups sugar until fluffy and pale in color.

Add in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a separate mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternating with the milk until well incorporated and being careful not to over mix.

Gently fold in the fresh blueberries.

Scoop batter into the paper lined muffin tin and sprinkle the tops with the remaining 2 teaspoons sugar.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until puffy and golden brown.

The baseball game that never happened...

Last night we were scheduled for a game, but the visiting team never showed up.  So, this was a great time for the boys to get in a good practice in.  Gavin got to practice his pitching & sliding skills... He just loves to slide.  They practiced about an hour, before we got home in time for the big storm that came in... It didn't last long though. After hearing the tornado sirens, the kids grabbed all of their stuff & ran down into the basement. They packed "all" of their valuables (games, books, blankets, food...), just in case they had to be down their for a while. It only lasted 20 minutes.  ;)

Those brown eyes are enough to melt your heart.

Brenna being silly... She was looking at her reflection in the lens.

Coach Daddy

Gavin removing his pitching heart guard...