Visit To KC!!

Cinderella does Nebraska

Recently one of Maddingly's best friends had a "Princess Birthday Tea Party" and the invitation instructed the attendees to wear their favorite dress-up outfits. Maddingly flew to her closet and out came the Cinderella dress Grandma Mona made for her last year. After DAYS and DAYS of grueling anticipation, the party date arrived and so did Cinderella. She did look pretty cute, if I do say so myself. ;O) So off to the ball she went, and home she came before midnight, slippers and all. (Plus all the party loot in her princess bag!) Happy 5th Birthday Kiley!!
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Cassandra

The Princess Before

The "Up Do"

The Tea "Spread"

The Princess After

Brody Vs. the Straw

While we were in KC visiting my parents, we visited Independence Center and the kids enjoyed the big play area in the middle of the mall there. They have a huge carousel, so naturally Grandma Mona took Maddingly for a spin. I took some pictures but they didn't come out very well, due to the lighting. Maddie had a lovely time....Grandma, on the other hand, looked as though she could have used some fresh air...too much spinning, lol.
While they were on the ride, Broderick and I enjoyed a nice treat from Orange Julius. Turns out he LOVES to drink from a straw! Here's the event in photos, it was quite a scene. He had the whole group of people sitting around us in stitches. Mmmm, baby love.
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Cassandra

Yummy Drink

Hey, can I get this out of here?

Aha!

Hmmm, now what to do with this straw....

Yes, in my mouth!! That's where it goes! Sweet Victory!!

Labor Day Splitty Style

Yes yes, I know, Labor day has long since passed, but alas we have been busy as usual! (We just went to KC last week and I will post the pictures from that trip soon!) Paul and Sally, Tony and Lisa, and all the Splitty grandchildren (Minus Carter!! Where art thou oh Carter!!??) came on down to the homestead for a day of fun family fellowship. So, let the brat grilling, beer drinking, face stuffing, clothes swapping, and park playing commence!

Grill Magnet

Looks Yummy! My mouth is watering again!

Like Father Like Son (The real question is, which one IS better? The green onion Brat or Ted's??)

Maddingly's all about the desserts....

Whilst the other Splitty grandchildren seem to REALLY like Watermelon!

Off to the Park! (Yes, we DID call each other and coordinate all the green dresses!)

Clothes for Alexandra...That oughta do it!

The bat is as big as HE is!

Juice Break!!

Addison REALLY gets a kick out of a juice box!

When all was said and done, the kids were all tuckered out and full of fun times spent with each other. We adults managed to have a bit of fun as well, thanks so much for coming over everybody!!
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Cassandra

P.S. Of course, the most IMPORTANT part of the day was drawing names for Christmas. But unfortunately I didn't get pictures of that. And the FUNNIEST part of the day was when everyone was in the kitchen watching Sally cut paper into squares and writing names on them for us to draw and Tony says, "Hey, we should draw names for Christmas since we're all here!" Tony, that IS a novel idea. Love you Tony!!

Edited To Add: The funniest moment AFTER everyone left was when Kelly and I had leftovers that night for supper and realized that the burgers were WAY too peppery. I can't believe Lisa and Sally managed to eat one without saying something about it, that was very polite of you. MY BAD!!

A Visit with the Splitty Grandparents

That's a Nice Watch....

I'll take that...

Sweet Splittgerber Generations

Yeah Grandma, I'll play with the Barbie...but just for you.

Hmmmm, what are THESE??

Wait a minute...where'd they go??
Awww, sweet smiles all around.

I think these pictures speak for themselves. We had a lovely visit. Hope to see you again soon.
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Cassandra

Happy Splitty Anniversary!

Kelly and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary earlier this month, as did Sally and Paul, since it is on the same day as ours! Kelly had heard me talking about how much I like Willow Tree Angels when we put up a new shelf in our living room (a garage sale find!) to display the ones I already had. He then gave me this absolutely lovely piece for our anniversary, it's called "Together". And the caption says "For those who have found their true partner in love and life." Well, I couldn't have put it better myself.

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Cassandra

What do you get?

When you have one HUGE zucchini and a craving for chocolate?? Why, chocolate chip zucchini cake of course. I got this recipe from a friend and it was oh. so. tasty. Hey, I figure the serving of healthy vegetables offsets the load of chocolate yumminess, right? It also gave me the perfect excuse to use my new mixer and food processor, I was feeling so very chef-like. We enjoyed this cake all week and it stayed really moist. So, the next time your neighbor wants to know if you could use their extra zucchini, you will have a good mind to say yes!
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Cassandra

Giant Zucchini (free from church)

Fabulous New Yellow Mixer (I likey yellow)

Mmmmmmm, CAKE! (It also has frosting that you put on later, but I had to wait for it to cool and decided to go ahead and take the picture)

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

1/2 c. margarine, softened
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. milk
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 1/2 c. flour
4 tbsp. cocoa
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 1/2 c. finely chopped zucchini
1/2 c. chocolate chips

Cream margarine, oil and sugar. Add eggs and beat well. Add vanilla and milk. Mix together next five ingredients, add to creamed mixture and beat well. Stir in zucchini. Pour into greased and floured 9 x 13 baking pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 45 min. or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool.

Fudgy Frosting

1 c. sugar
1/4 c. milk
1/4 c. butter (real butter only)
1/2 c. chocolate chips

Bring first 3 ingredients to a boil. (it's easier to use a microwave- takes about 3 min. on high in glass bowl.) Add 1/2 c. chocolate chips and stir until melted. Pour over brownies or cake and spread. Will be thin but will thicken quickly.

Box o' Frogs

Hey, what 'cha got in the box Maddie??

Ohhhh, about 20 frogs...

Now isn't that just so sweet... A Princess and her toad!

Nice Froggy

Edited to add: Kelly wants to be clear that these are toads, not frogs. His wife just likes to call them by the wrong name on a consistent basis, which in turn drives him batty, biologist that he is.
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Cassandra