Baking with little ones is an adventure (read: challenge). As you know, the magazines and commercials portray nostalgic pictures of perfectly clean children making cookies with Grandma. All the cookies come out with arms and legs attached, everyone is smiling, the kitchen is clean, and the four-year-old shows off her decorated cookie that looks like a professional cake decorator iced it. Seriously? Not so in our house! (Well, we did smile….most of the time…)

My sweet Savannah posed for a picture with my Kitchenaid. In the background, Buddy is asking if he can eat the butter he just swiped from the bowl. (How many times do I have to tell them not to put their fingers in that bowl? I mean that is seriously dangerous, right?)

Here is Buddy eating the butter after I told him not to put his fingers in the bowl. Yum! Ummmm…maybe not…why do kids like to eat plain butter?

Poor little butter-eater, now he is punished and has to sit on the rug for a little while.

In the meantime, Savannah licks the bowl like Pooh Bear with a “hunny” pot.

Now after the ETERNALLY LONG thirty-minute wait for the dough to chill in the fridge, we have the dough rolled out and ready for making people! Aw! The little butter-eater is so cute! He and Pooh (I mean Savannah) did such a good job cutting out the cookies!

Hmmm…I wonder where the missing appendages of these cookies went?

These guys safely made it to the cookie sheet! Isn’t it cool how the chandelier reflects in the pan? Adds a touch of elegance (or maybe I’ve just inhaled too much flour).

All baked and ready to decorate! I did put the icing in a decorator bag for the kids to use, but it quickly became obvious that it would not work. So, I just gave them a bowl of icing and let them have at it. It was much more fun that way! (Oh, and I made my own powdered sugar to make the icing! Just whirl granulated sugar in the blender. Isn’t that great?!)

“Mom, can I eat this?” That’s one of Buddy’s favorite questions. I’m so glad he asks!

Ta da!!!! I love that “I’m so proud!” look on Sweet Pea’s face.

Now it’s time to eat them up before they run away!

Ok, so there was a thunderstorm today and a tornado warning, so Sarah and I and our 5 kiddos (up from naps) camped out in the hall. In the midst of the wetness and chaos, we were overwhelmed by…

CUTENESS!

Zoe Ruthann (12 weeks) and her cousin Lillyann Elizabeth (9 weeks)

We’re all safe, by the way! Blessings on your day!

Our little Buddy, Caleb, turned three yesterday! We are so proud of him. He is a sweet, thoughtful boy, and he is learning how to be obedient and kind. After waiting for SO LONG, his birthday finally came, and he had a race car party. Some of our friends from the Big Sandy Fire Department joined us to celebrate and Grandma and Grandpa Overby came! Here are some pictures:

I had a blast making Buddy’s cake. To give credit, I was inspired at familyfun.com. I used all icing instead of candy and cookies to decorate. I also found a yummy buttercream recipe that uses all butter, no shortening (yay!). Note for future reference: give your reputation to God before eating black icing. :)

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
Hebrews 12:1-3

First of all, praise the Lord for LOTS of rain last night!!!

And now to Caleb’s first third birthday party… Yes, one with the kids here, one with Nana and PawPaw, and one with Grandma and Grandpa. Yep, that kid really rates! The latter two will be closer to his birthday (Nov. 6). We had this one closer to the other little boys b-days.

When Caleb was born, three other little boys were born within a month of him, so we had a party in the park for the boys. It was such a nice day! Here are some pictures with commentary by me, of course.

Family Camp 2011 is over, and we had a great week! We went to some camp meetings, which the kids enjoyed and endured (all depending on the entertainment and available snacks). We also went to a game show, and Savannah got to be one of the noise makers. It came naturally to her, of course. Savannah and Caleb got to ride ponies, and we all joined in on the picnic Thursday evening. Then on Friday, we went out to the lakefront to watch the canoe races and tug-of-war fun. It was a good week and here are a few pics. I didn’t get many, but maybe these will make you smile. (The Overby kids are still a little young for Family Camp, so we didn’t get to do a lot.)

Cowgirl Savannah riding a pony!

Lil' cowboy enjoys his brownie!

Savannah and Buddy with their dear Auntie Mel!

Us at the lakefront! Zoe is sleeping in the stroller behind us. She's not too interested in canoe races.

Ok, so now, are you ready for a super burst of cuteness??? Here’s our little Zoe with big smiles and curls!

You have to admit: that is majorly cute stuff! I was going to take a nap, but I just got a burst of energy from it!