Rides of March Re-Cap

Last weekend was the annual Rides of March up in SLO. This is the first year that Kirk has been able to convince me to go up with him and David came along too since he has a Vespa now. We left on Friday afternoon and made great time up there.

Can I just say that one of my favorite parts of a road trip is stopping at 7 -11! Why???
I LOVE ICEES!!! They make me happy and make a commute in the back seat of Kirk's truck with a bunch of luggage mush more pleasant.

We drove straight to The Madonna Inn where the first ride was meeting up. Kirk & David started to unload the scooters from the truck and start them up.

Kirk drives a vintage scooter, so he has to start his ahead of time to warm that oldie but goodie up for the ride. All of a sudden I see Kirk giving David an (are you kidding me) look and David's face is in shock. David can't go on the ride...he forgot his keys to his Vespa. So...they loaded his scooter back into the truck and David hung back with the gals (me and Scoti) while Kirk and Brooks took off with the rest of the people on the ride.We headed for McCarthy's Bar in downtown SLO (where the ride was ending) and just as we finished parking my cell rang.

Julie: (looking at my phone) "Why is kirk calling me?"
Scoti: "One of them broke down I bet"
Julie: "Kirk?"
Kirk: "You gotta come pick me up"

So, we head back to the ride route to find Kirk along the side of the road and pick him and his bike up. He was not super pumped that his scooter broke down......especially not when he later realized that all that was the matter was that the ignition wire came loose which he could have easily fixed at that time, but needed a flashlight to do so. Guess who is getting a mini flashlight for his birthday???

We hung out at the bar with most of the Scooter Rally peeps until about 1 am then headed for Brook's & Scoti's in Paso Robles where we were staying the weekend. They have 2 adorable girls - Cider and Ruby!



Thankfully Brooks has a garage full of vintage vespas, so David was able to go on the ride the next day with the boys! Below are Josh, Kirk and Brooks at McCarthy's. It is fun to see Kirk in his old school environment with his friends.
After an awesome breakfast on Sunday we headed home and on the way met up with my dad and the twin in Sherman Oaks for a little belated 64th b-day dinner for my pops!


All in all...a great scootin' weekend had by all!

Like Butta Baby

Dear Butter Goodness...you are the reason I will not be donning any of my sassy bikinis in Costa Rica come April vacation time!Our new Butter Cake (coming to your local CPK in June) has gotten the best of me...over and over and over again since we have been testing it. Buttery magic...why do you hurt so good?

Ha!

This image of Kammers makes me want to have a lil' baby Snell...
...the melt down and tantrum she had later that night reminds me of how much I will enjoy the time without a little Snell running around for a while longer.

A Little Color Goes a Long Way

This weekend we through a 4th Birthday Party for Miss Kami Lynn at Wendy's house. We thought she would want a princess party...oh no she did not. She repeatedly told us over the phone the weeks counting down to her party that she wanted a Spiderman party! I had been wanting to make a fun cake for Kami, but was a little concerned that it would be too girly for her Spiderman party...but I think Wendy & I pulled it off.

Wendy separated all of the cake mix into different bowls and we added all the food coloring. I originally wanted to do six layers, but when things got started the twin suggested we cut it down to 4....kinda bummed there was no purple though.

We baked the 4 cakes and then let them cool before stacking.
Stacking was a task. The red layer was a lot thicker than the others, so it really should have been on bottom...I think we will actually measure the amount of cake batter in each pan instead of eyeballing it. Then came the frosting!
I did my best to Spiderman the cake for the birthday girl.
Happy Birthday to Kami!
And here it is! The cake was a hit. I totally suggest making one for your next kid's b-day party.

You Go Granny!

I am lovin' this little old lady! Preach it sister. My favorite part starts at the 1 minute and 48 second mark. This is a must see!

A "Friendly Visitor"

I have been talking for the past few years about getting involved in volunteering in some capacity. I have always wanted to work with special needs kids and still have a desire to do so, but that takes a lot of training and I wanted to do something now...not in another few years. After multiple conversations lately with some of my gals (Mya, Sarah & Courtenay) I decided that I wanted to volunteer with the elderly. We are in fact called to care for the orphans and the widows right?

So, tonight I went to a mandatory training class so that I become eligible to be paired up with a "friend" in the next few weeks. The organization I am working with is the Orange County Council on Aging, specifically their Caring Connections program where I am (pending a background check & fingerprinting) a new Friendly Visitor. After I am paired up, I will set up weekly visits with my friend (1 hour visits) and begin this journey. I am pretty excited about it.

I am excited to hear the stories of someone and learn from someone who has LIVED a life of things I will never experience.

I am excited to hopefully make an impact on someone who feels like they have been forgotten.

I am excited to bring joy to a stranger!

I am excited to practice just listening to someone, instead of my usual ;)


With these exciting prospects, I am also challenged and have a bit of anxiety.

Will I be paired up with someone cranky and/or depressed, and will I be able to help turn the beat around with them?

Will I be put into a situation I can't handle?

Will it be hard to get close to someone who I am pretty sure I will also have to say goodbye to sooner than later?

Will I also live up to the commitment I have made recently to visit my own family members who need that same love and companionship on a regular basis? (Thanks to my husbro for pointing that one out, to which I fully agree with!)

I am praying for the "friend" that I will be paired up with and for our first friendly visit!

Challenge Update

Hello adorable Jumper with detachable straps...I will not be wearing you around the house on the weekends while avoiding chores, although I really want to! Hi there super cute Cracked Glass Hooks that I would love to hang in my kitchen to put my aprons on and a few in my entry way for coats/scarves. You will not be hanging in my house.
What's shakin' ridiculously cute bikini I would LOVE to have and would help motivate me to get myself into better shape. We will not be traveling to Costa Rica together in April.
And last but not least...to you...you sassy belt. You were going to be my first jump into the land of cute belts to wear with dresses and/or long shirts/sweaters (I know...I am behind on this fun trend) and I guess I will stay behind.

Explanation: A few posts ago I mentioned The Challenge http://www.rhsouthcounty.org/2010/02/challenge/ that Rock Harbor South County is doing.

Kirk and I chose to do the following - sacrifice shopping for the 5 weeks leading up to Easter. I know that may sound lame...but we both work hard, we both make good money and we like to buy nice things for ourselves...so we shop from time to time. Our sacrifice does not include shopping for groceries or must haves (toiletries and such) as these are things we will need to purchase after Easter...so really it would just be delaying the purchase, not giving it up completely.

Instead of having the items above, I will be adding up what I would have spent on them and praying about what to do with that money (along with any other items we add to the list until Easter). Although I was slightly bummed to add these items to my on-line shopping cart tonight only to add up the total and then press the Cancel Order button...I trust that God will bless this money and that it will bless others in whichever way he guides us to give it! And really...it's just more stuff! Really cute stuff ;)

Minty Smeeps

My latest sweet concoction...which I can't take credit for, as some adorable gals in my office came up with these little beauties...but I did name them.

You start with Thin Mints and Peeps. I decided to start with the traditional Chicks (but I also had the Bunnies on hand...we will get to the bunny later). Just look at that sugary marshmallow goodness we got going on here.
NOTE: for those haters out there who don't like Peeps...don't care...more for me!

I know that traditionally, smores should be made over an open flame, but I am not camping here people. I am in the Twin's kitchen...microwave city it is! You can't put them in the microwave for too long as they tend to plump when you cook them.

So you have one thin mint sitting below a little chick-o-dee and microwave it for 10 -15 seconds depending on the power of your micro. Check out the plumpage on this guy! I wanted to experiment to see if it would burst, but again I was at the twin's place and the clean up would not have been fun with W behind me critiquing the cleaning.

Then take that sucka outta the micro and place the second thin mint on top of the plump little chicky. Press down slightly, and then carefully enjoy your tasty dessert, but have napkins on hand as they are messy.

Look at how much I am enjoying this Minty Smeep! The combination of sugary peep love and the chocolate mint is just delightful...and might I add scrumptious.

Note that I recommend the chicks and not the bunny, per the photo here. The Plumped-Up bunny tends to overwhelm the thin mint just a bit. Not to mention, the best part about the bunny peeps is biting the ears off first... and you can't do that after they are microwaved. I had to do some bunny manipulation to make this second minty smeep happen.

So that is it. I still LOVE my Cadbury Eggs and Reece's Peanut Butter Eggs during the Easter season. But I have to admit that the Minty Smeep is a perfect way to hit my sweet tooth.

FitzSnellSonHillBow

Yes...that means that we had an awesome weekend with the Fitz Fam, Wilsons, Bowers (Mya & AA) and Miss Candice Heather Hill, aka Treats!

Saturday in pictures... How adorable is AA's lil' Rainy Day Outfit! He is such a mini me of Tim!Isaac loves to "cheers" with everyone!Momma and AA...so sweet!Isaac did not want to go down for a nap...he wanted Juweee!!! Yes, that would be me :)
Mya, Isaac and I went for a cozy walk in the village and thankfully he crashed out in the stroller and got his nap in.Little Man was out on the roof checking the weather for a while. Later in the day we spent some time at the Fitz's. Awlays tons o' fun at the Fitz house...wrestling with the kiddos!!!

I have a great video of Ben & Kirk pounding on eachother, but it was huge so it would not load. I am hoping I can convert it to a smaller size to post later. I have to figure out how to use my camera better.Sweet Troy the Boy!