oh wow!

I absolutely love PANCAKES! and I love making breakfast special... AJ however hates breakfast, no matter how good it is, he'll give me two courtesy bites and he's off... Well this past Valentines day, I made pancakes from a gourmet box mix, and they were nothing short of incredible- even AJ polished off his plate! Down side: I had polished off the mix as well. But when I woke up this morning, something was crying out for Pancakes(it was literally Treson)so I looked up online(specifically The Chew) and found Daphne Oz's recipe for Blueberry Buttermilk pancakes. I looked over the ingredient list KNOWING I didn't have any Main Wild Blueberries.... or Buttermilk..... *sigh* but then it hit me: "isn't there a way to make your own buttermilk?... something about milk and a lemon...." but I didn't have a lemon either! SO with another web search I found the solution- 1 cup of milk(-1TBS) +1TBS of white vinegar and sit for 5 minutes. Perfect! And to address the lack of blueberries, I just upped the ante on the sugar to 1 1/2 Tbs of sugar instead of the measly 1 tsp(Come on Daph!!). Topped with buttered syrup(equal parts of melted butter and real maple syrup) and into our mouths! Seriously the BEST PANCAKES I HAVE EVER MADE! I wish I took a picture so show you all, but they were literally gone in minutes! Trust me, it won't be long 'till I'll make them again and next time I might do a little self pinning to spread the joy!

Play group Inflateable pool party!

yeah... I know... it's February... it's taken me 6 months to FINALLY import these photos off my camera..... believe me I've been looking EVERYWHERE for the USB camera cable! (didn't actually find it, but AJ got a spiffy new camera that came with!*Yay*) Looking at these pictures make me pine for summer.....

yay for 2011!

2011 here’s looking back,
Lots has happened as we try to keep track.
Ellie lights up the room with her laugh and bright smile,
She’s loves attention, singing & dancing all the while.
Treson has started an obsession with space,
Cooking and baking; he’s all over the place.
Mandy’s been busy raising this crew,
Improving our home and her Etsy store too.
AJ’s back to school for his Masters Degree,
His work’s sent him to China and he trains employees.

Stay tune for next year
Same dog-time
Same dog-channel.
The Cliffords will be back,
sporting our flannel.

backyard camp out and first tutorial: Fail

Our poor ward camp out- I don't think more than a handful of people were able to make it- including us. We were all set and revved to go, but things didn't work out in the end....My sweet husband didn't want to disappoint our son, so we set up camp in our backyard and had a wonderful night under the stars with the comforts of home close by!






I found a cute little dress on pintrest and thought it would be fun to do a tutorial on how to make it for you all- I took a lot of pictures and tried to be meticulous to avoid reader's confusion... but I messed up quite a but and did some sly make-shift cover ups, but the dress turned out cute none-the-less:

Fourth of July!

This was probably one of the best we've had- no pressure to go any where or to impress anyone but ourselves. We set off to buy fire works (yay for aerials!)and then to the parade. We caught a few pieces of candy, took a couple handouts and waved to a couple of beauty queens. Had lunch, a quick nap, and then moseyed over to the park for their 4th of July festival. We played some games, Treson got to ride some rides, and we came back home in time for dinner. THE BEST RIBS I'VE EVER MADE! along with corn on the cob, rolls, chips and grapes! perfect picnic food(if only it wasn't raining- I'm sure we would have had a blast on our lawn!) We watched a movie and then joined our neighbors outside to light fireworks in the street. I think my favorite was a "tropical fish" fountain from Black Cats. it was pretty awesome how we so many people were lighting aerial fireworks- I hope these stay legal!

Ellie's Birthday party

Ellie's Pretty in Pink- Handsome in Blue party went really well! The photo shoot was a blast and the pictures turned out great! (Thanks Ny!) I made Ellie a cute little cupcake tower, but I didn't take any pictures of it cuz the icing got really messy and it didn't look that good... :(- but it still tasted amazing! We did get a funny video of her eating cake on her actual birthday though.

Garden Party

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a great time chatting it up and enjoying yummy food. Brunch consisted of chicken salad sandwiches, fresh fruit, spinach salad, lemonade, and cake. I ended up frosting the cakes with whipped cream rather than butter cream because both of the cake recipes (top:orange dreamsicle, bottom:margarita) instructed so. The pineapple flowers turned out well but were more so of a garnish. And to top it all off the guests were sent home with strawberry plant party favors!

I'm so lucky to have such fun-spirited friends:D Thanks for the fun memories!