Sea Life Aquarium, Tempe AZ

I took the kids to the SeaLife Aquarium in Tempe yesterday. Joe had recently done a segment in class about the ocean and the animals in it, and so I thought that they would enjoy a little trip. I told them about it Friday night, and all Joe could talk about is what kind of animals they might have or not have. He was so excited.

We had a blast. The kids got to touch a crab, a slipper lobster, and several star fish. Later there were lots of rays, skates, sharks, octopus, jelly fish, seahorses, and many many more fish we couldn't identify. There was even a Nemo and a Dori...Ü

On the way we stopped at Walmart and picked up a couple of sketch books and some colored pencils. I thought I'd have them do sketches of what they saw and write down a little story to go with it. They loved the idea and filled several pages full of pictures they drew.

This is when Jocelyn realized she had lost her sketch book. We were able to go back a short ways and find it. It was really sweet, though, because Joe kept telling her it will be ok, we'll find it soon.-

Beautiful Day Outside

It was a beautiful day outside and I had some time alone with my sweet baby boy. Joe was kind enough to placate me posing for pictures. He is such a good, genuine kid.

Greatest Chocolate Frosting EVER!

I have found the absolutely BEST chocolate frosting EVER!
It is from Martha Stewart and you can find it on her website. I personally make a double batch, which is what I have listed below. This frosting is not too sweet, but very chocolaty and a great consistency. Enjoy!

Enough for 24 Cupcakes.
1 Cup plus 4 Tablespoons white sugar
1 Cup Heavy Cream
5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
½ Cup butter, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla

Place Sugar and Cream in heavy bottomed saucepan; bring to boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium and cook without stirring for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate. After chocolate is completely melted, whisk in butter. After the butter is completely melted, whisk in the vanilla.

Place the whole pot into the refrigerator. Whisk occasionally until the frosting is cooled and to the consistency that you prefer.

Happy Birthday Baby!

My baby, my youngest, my last child just turned five. Sometimes it's hard to believe it's been five years, and sometimes it's hard to believe it's only been five years.

This sweet girl, my little punkin, my firework, my blankie loving beauty has always been filled with the exuberance of life. She still loves to snuggle and give hugs and kisses, and if we let her, suck her finger.

Now she is big. Soon she will start Kindergarten, and my baby will be gone, replaced with a big girl who is not so little anymore. At times, that makes me sad, but I love watching her grow and discover herself.

For her birthday she wanted chicken wings. Jocelyn loves medium chicken wings. Yes, I know, we have one of the few children in America that loves spicy food. But, of course, when we got to Buffalo Wild Wings she didn't want wings. In fact, she hardly ate anything at all, she was too excited to get to the gifts and the cake (double chocolate with a strawberry cream cheese filling).

I love watching Joci open gifts. Each time she has this looked of amazement on her face, almost as if she just opened a box of a million dollars, each and every time.

I'm so happy she had a good birthday. I love my sweet Jocelyn so much.