What do I love about the fair?

When I go to the fair, it's all about the food. Lucky for me, my dad feels the same way.
We had an awesome time. The roasted corn was the best of all fair food tastes.

Uncle Peter & Auntie Em

We loved having Pete (my brother), Leigh-Ann (his wife) and Emily (my sister) here in August. Boo called them 'the kids' at first, and then 'my big best friends'. Too bad college is so far away from us, we miss them already.

Uncle Peter and Kitty

Em made matching fish pants for Boo, Kitty and Ty. They are so darn cute. Boo's fit perfectly, but Kitty has some growing to do.

Boo and Auntie Em

Pride and Prejudice...and Zombies

I just finished reading Pride and Prejudice. Loved it. I can't believe it took me so long to get around to it.

I was browsing in Barnes and Noble the other day and saw this:
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem...In this parody, Grahame-Smith maintains the structure and language of the original while strategically inserting zombies into the story.

How funny is that?? Even funnier...I TOTALLY WANT TO READ IT. Maybe for November's book club.

Boo's Birthday

Boo reminded us the day before her birthday that we must have party hats.

My brother Pete was here to celebrate with us. And he loves party hats.

Boo loved opening her gifts. This is a princess lunchbox from Aunt Becca, you better believe it's a prized possession.

And finally, enjoying the long awaited cupcakes.

Boo's Birthday - let's start with the cupcakes

If you will remember, Boo has been looking forward to her birthday cupcakes for quite some time. So let's talk cupcakes.

We started with mini cupcakes using dark chocolate cake batter (bake for 10 minutes) because for me the only cake is chocolate cake. I had to compromise with the frosting, since you can't really make pink and purple cupcakes out of chocolate frosting. But believe me, I spent a long time trying to think of a way.

But second best is cream cheese frosting (1 cup butter, 16 oz. cream cheese, 16 oz powdered sugar, 2 tsp vanilla).

Then for the pink and purple...just add food coloring to white granulated sugar and dip the tops of the frosted cupcakes in the colored sugar. You would not believe how yummy that crusty sugar is on top of chocolate cream cheese cupcakes. Oh man. And enough sugar in one bite to make you buzz.

First we made a rainbow...

But that took way fewer cupcakes than I anticipated, so we also made a butterfly...

Grandkids

It just so happens that all three of my parent's grandkids were here in Indy while they were visiting, so one morning we tried to take some grandparent/grandkid pictures. The two girls are mine.

Most of the pictures turned out to be variations of this:
I did get a decent one, but never again will I dream of being a family photographer. At least not without M&M's in hand. But don't you love Kitty's little pink shoes?

Boo says

I'm pretty much fired for not posting for the last three weeks, but then since it's my blog I have re-hired myself. I've got some posts in the works, but in the meantime, here are some of Boo's latest sayings:

- J and I have progressed from being called 'guys' to 'everybody'. Usually, "Hey, everybody!"
- Everyone (and everything) is her "best friend". She played with a new friend, he is her "new best friend." Pete, Leigh-Ann and Em (my sibs) are her "big best friends". When they went back to college after their visit, she would wander around forlornly and ask, "Where my big best friends go?"

- She will call through the house, "Where arrrrrre yoouuuu pink flip flops?" Or through Target, "Where arrrre yoooouuu diapers?"
- If I say something she doesn't like ("No" or "Time for bed") she comes back with, "Don't talkin' to me like that!" Probably my least favorite thing she says.

- Around the house, "Hey Mommy, make me happy!"
- Every morning, "I want to go to somewhere."

- She tacks on "I guess" to most sentences. "I just go upstairs I guess." Or "I just have a cookie I guess."

Two grandkids

Here is my mom with her two grandkids...before Kitty was born. Isn't she cute? She'll be here tomorrow!

Wahwee youuuuu

We love summer. Since it has been quite a wet and cool summer, we haven't been out in the pool as often as we would like. But we love it when we do get to play in the water.

Grandma got Ty and Boo some pool toys while she was here. Boo's favorite by far was her watering can. It was supposed to be (duh) for watering the flowers she and Grandma planted together.

But watering the flowers is not as fun as watering, say, the patio. Or her towel.

Even better? Watering Ty. She would call out delightedly, "Tyler! I'm gonna wahwee youuuuuu!" And chase him down. "Tyler! I'm gonna wahwee youuuuuu!"

Trying to get away from her? Good luck with that.