Blueberry Mania and Blueberry Buckle

Well, it is officially blueberry season. We went out to our old faithful farm and picked our little hearts out last night. It was sprinkling which was perfect- it's usually soooo hot! We managed to pick a little over 8 pounds. We came home and froze half of them and kept the other half to eat for the next few days. Our first mission....dessert! Gavin and Ellie were so excited to make a blueberry buckle tonight. We made it last year also and it is YUMMMMMY!!

Blueberry Buckle

Streusel Topping:

1/3 c. flour

1/3 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 c. cold butter cut into pieces

Cake Batter:

1 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

1/4 c. room temperature butter

1/2 c. sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/3 c. milk

2 c. fresh blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and butter an 8 inch spring form pan.

2. Make Streusel topping: In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and cinnamon. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or fork until it makes coarse crumbs. Set aside.

3. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

4. in the bowl of your electric mixer cream the butter. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla. Add the flour mixture, alternately with the milk and beat only until combined. Spread the batter onto the bottom of the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula.

5. Evenly arrange the blueberries on top of the cake batter and then sprinkle with streusel topping.

6. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick come out clean from the center of the cake. Cool slightly and enjoy.

Playing in the Rain...

Playing in the Rain...Just Playing in the Rain...What a Glorious Feeling.....

TINY DANCER
Our little ballerina had her first dance recital tonight. (As did her cousin Maddie) It was precious. She was really unsure of her costume at first but ended up LOVING it once it was on. She LOVED getting to put Mommy's make-up on and she LOVED the fact that everyone came to watch her tonight at The Woodlands pavilion. I must say that for being the youngest, smallest, and last to join in her class, she did awesome. She was so cute up on stage!! She made us all so proud and I know this is just the first of many dances to come.

Way to go my tiny little dancer!

Painting Fingers and Toes.....

How many Dad's would do this??

I just heart HIM!

She Found Her Toes

Hadley was in her bumbo talking... and when I looked over, she was talking to her toes. Yep, she found them this past week. She loves to play with them now that she has discovered she has them. My little cutie pattootie is getting so big!

Fish In the Water

The same girl who taught Gavin to swim last summer has been at our house a few times a week for the last two weeks...and guess what...we can now officially say our two older kids can swim. What a great feeling! I am so proud of them! Ellie learned in one lesson just like G did last year. Our swim teacher is AWESOME with the kids! She has taught Gavin freestyle and backstroke this week and he is doing GREAT. And Ellie can swim under water and float on her back. It makes me breath a little easier when we all go swimming knowing they can save themselves. So I officially have two little fish in the water. Now, just two more years and hopefully Hadley will be joining them!! :0)

The Verdict is in...

Gavin watched American Idol with me tonight and in case anyone wants to know who will win...
According to Gavin, "David Enchilada" is going to be the winner. (David Archuleta) "He beat David Cooks bum." And was the "betterer" of the two.
(Even though Mommy and Daddy are Cook fans!)

3 Months Old

Hadley Faith Morgan you need to stop getting so big on me. It kills me!! I can't believe my baby is already three months old. She is just the sweetest little thing and we are so in love with her. It is hard to remember what life was like without her as part of our family. She is such an easy, laid back little girl who only cries when she is hungry or tired. She still has yet to sleep in her own bed and loves to snuggle Mommy every night. She puts one arm and one leg over me, it is just precious. I think it would be hard for me to sleep without her just as much as it's hard for her to sleep without me. She is so alert now and so smiley. She loves it when we talk to her and she loves to talk back with lots of coos. She loves to look at herself in the mirror. When I am getting ready in the mornings I put her bumbo in front of the bathroom mirror and she just smiles and talks to herself. I can't help but sing to her, "You're so vain...you probably think this song is about you..." She loves Gavin and Ellie and will usually stop crying as soon as she hears their voice. She follows things with her eyes and is starting to grab at things. She loves her play mat in short spurts and still loves to sleep in her swing and car seat when not in our arms. She is just a joy and such a blessing. Frank and I couldn't be more smitten with this little bundle of love. It just kills me that it is all going by so fast. I wish I could just hit a pause button and they'd all stay little forever. I packed away all her 0-3 month clothes two days ago and I must admit I was a little teary eyed as I put away the clothes not knowing if we'd ever be dressing a baby that little again. We love you little Faithy!! Happy three months!

Watch out world- Gavin has found something he LOVES- T-BALL!! Yes, he played his first game yesterday and LOVED it!!! He talked about it all day long. He was assigned the team Florida Marlins. It was so cute to see all the kids out there. I think we have a new little baseball fan!!

A few quotes from Gavin:

"This is my favoritest sport EVER!"

"I LOVE THIS!"

"Mommy I want you to sign me up a hundred million more times for T-ball!"

"I was like the best one out there!" "T-ball is awesome!" It was so cute, he ran after EVERY ball no matter where he was on the field or what position he played. I am sure this won't be our last t-ball post.

GO SPEEDRACER GO!

We have been wanting to take the kids to a drive in theater and decided to go on Friday night. It was fun. Thanks to the Laughters and Mitchell's for inviting us. :0) The kids were sooo very excited to go. Little did we know the movie wouldn't start until after 9 so we didn't get to stay for the whole thing, but we all had fun hanging out and enjoying the experience while we were there. We saw Speedracer. I couldn't tell you what it's about since our car wouldn't pick up the radio station and I was trying to keep my 2 year old awake with cotton candy and peanuts while trying to get my baby to sleep. Hopefully we'll go back again soon and get to stay for the whole movie. Maybe when it starts getting dark earlier....

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

"All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my Mother."

-Abe Lincoln

We are so thankful God chose you both to be our Mothers.

We are so lucky! Thanks for all you do and have done

to make us who we are today.

We love you both!

FEEDING HADLEY

Yesterday Hadley was crying and Ellie said, "Daddy, Hadley is hungry...she needs to eat...put her here..." Ellie was sitting on the couch, patting her lap as she said this. Frank asked, "What is she going to eat?" And this is what we saw......

Then as I was dying laughing I said, "Where?" And she grabbed her boob......

Friends

Lexie has been Ellie's little friend since she was born. Actually maybe even before- at least in my mind. My good friend Stacy and I found out we were pregnant with the girls around the same time and they were due two weeks apart. While pregnant we frequently would talk about how they would grow up to be best friends and it is fun to see that become a reality. Ellie came late and Lexie came early and they are actually only 4 days apart. We have pictures of them in our bellies, in the hospital after being born, and throughout the last two and a half years. They are in the same preschool class and she is really the only friend Ellie has had consistent play dates with. She loves "Lexie Grace." And she loves that Lexie called her the other week and said, "Love you" on the phone. (I hear all the time how Lexie told her that.) Anyway, we got together with them for a beautiful day at Market Street yesterday (the last picture) and the girls had fun playing in the fountains and riding their bikes. Here are a few pictures of the girls and their sweet friendship that started out before they were even born. We love you Lexie Lou...

HEARTPRINTS PROGRAM
Every year I look forward to the SonKids Preschool Program. It is so cute to see your kids on stage singing songs they have been practicing all year long. This year Gavin's class changed their song the day of the program because their track wouldn't play on the CD but they still did great. Gavin was a little ham on stage and REALLY got into it. He loves to perform! Ellie was a little unsure, but once she saw me and blurted out my name she was fine and started singing her little heart out. Before spotting me she looked at the audience like a deer in headlights and slowly her fingers crept to her nose...we were dying laughing. Yes, I had the nose picker of the night. Looking at the pictures and video it definitely shows how little Ellie actually is for her age. It was such a fun night and so cute to see our little one's on stage performing for us!

10 Weeks Old

Barry B. Benson

So how many kids go to get their haircut and ask the hair stylist to cut their hair like a movie character?? I am sure not many. But I am sure it won't surprise you that our son did just that. He asked the lady to cut his hair like Barry B. Benson from the Bee movie. So she did just that...see the resemblance??