What he does

This is what Gibson was doing while we were working on crafts on Thursday. I tend to pull him off the table often. He is a trouble maker!

The after picture

Here is the sword we made out of PVC. We made three, but I guess we should have made 4. This guy kind of likes dragging it around.

By the way, he also thinks he's going to be a classical pianist. He enjoys banging on the keys. While it's cute some of the time, I'm not happy when he wants to practice while I'm working with his brothers.

Linden's choice

Linden and I checked out a few recipes on some blogs and he chose a peanut butter pound cake for Treat Tuesday.

He's using my mom's trick. When a piece of egg falls in, use the eggshell to fish it out. It's much easier than trying to use your finger. Trust me, the trick is used often in our house.

Doesn't the batter look amazing?

Too bad, I didn't cook it long enough. Piece of junk pampered chef cake tester told me it was done and it wasn't. After dumping the uncooked cake on a cake plate I scooped it back into the pan and cooked it a little longer. I cooked it for another hour and decided it was at least cooked all the way through even if it didn't look pretty. We enjoyed a peanut butter dessert in a bowl just not pound cake on a plate.

In case you need the recipe...

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Pound Cake w/ Peanut Butter Glaze
Yield: 12 to 14 servings
Prep Time: 25 min
Cook Time: 1 hr, 20 min
A dense and wonderful slice of cake to have with a cup of coffee.

Ingredients:
CAKE:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup creamy peanut butter (don't use natural)
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
3 cups granulated white sugar
6 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

GLAZE:
1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray 10-cup tube pan generously with nonstick spray (I like the Pam Baking Spray).

2. Prepare cake: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream together peanut butter and butter. Add sugar and beat an additional 5 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until well combined. Add dry ingredients a little at a time, beating just until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Scrape batter into prepared tube pan. Tap it a couple of times on the counter to shake out any hidden air pockets.

2. Bake 1 hour and 20 minutes, checking on the cake at 1 hour to make sure it's not browning too quickly on top. If browning too quickly, just place a piece of foil loosely over the top of the pan. When a toothpick is inserted into the center of the cake and comes out clean, your cake is done. Let cool for 20 minutes, then flip it onto a rack or platter and let it cool completely.

3. Prepare glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, milk, peanut butter and vanilla until smooth. Drizzle glaze over the top of the cooled cake, letting it drizzle down the sides. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top. The glaze will set eventually- if you'd like to quicken the setting process, just place it into the refrigerator for a bit.

Tips:
*Might be nice to chop a bunch of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and swirl those into the cake instead of the chocolate chips. Then you can add chunks on top as well!

It was quiet

Holden and Channing were upstairs playing and it had been quiet for probably too long so I went to check on them.

This is what I found.

She asked me to turn on the noise machine because they were going night-night.

I had to get a few pictures of them. :)

Moving to the big boy chair

Gibson still isn't the most pleasant child at dinner and we thought maybe it would help to move him into Channing's chair. He seems to be a little happier, and we'll take it.

I love the oh face even with food in his mouth.

Craft Thursday on Friday

I had planned to make pvc swords with the kids on Thursday but the day got away from me so we made them on Friday, quickly.

The kids have enjoyed playing with them but we had to run out of the house to meet Beth at her pool so I didn't get a picture of the finished product. We had a fun time making them.

Because he's nice to me

After battling with Holden for awhile, Channing came inside to play. When she walked back outside I asked her what she was doing. She said, "I'm playing with Holden because he's nice to me."

Sleeping hard.

We had our first home study visit on Wednesday. While I was getting ready I decided it might be a good time to let the boys listen to the rest of the Ribsy audiobook. Linden has really enjoyed listening to Beverly Cleary books in the car but I guess after a long day of swimming hard it was too much.

Treat Tuesday

I read about a mom who has enacted Treat Tuesday in her house during the summer. On Tuesdays her family makes some sort of dessert treat together. If you know me, baking is my thing so I thought it was a good thing to start up for us as well.

Do you remember the oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies? Well, I saw this recipe and had to try it. I'm a sucker for anything with oreos.

I helped the boys make it according to Hadley. :)

We were all disappointed it took the entire bag of oreos. We were hoping to get to eat the leftovers.

I had to make sure the brownies weren't over done. No one noticed.

What is it? Chocolate cookies on the bottom with double stuffed oreos in the center and brownie on top all baked together with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream. In case you were wondering, it's good.

Guess I should probably enact work out Wednesday after this.

Staying up late

The boys had a great hockey game after dinner. Stefan and Channing were the goalies.

When Stefan put the boys to bed Hadley asked if maybe we could stay up late some night because Stefan works all day and Hadley only gets to see him for a couple of hours at night and it's not enough time to play with him.

Uh, yes, Hadley you pick the bedtime.

Father's Day

What's a super dad to do on Father's Day? Build a kid carwash of course!

Forgot about that.

Linden asked me to get out his rock collection then proceeded to carefully inspect each one explaining how shiny each one was and whether they had sparkly parts in them. It was like a brand new toy.

Everyone

We had such a good week in Alabama. Thanks for having us Huntsville Crafton family and cooking and cleaning and taking care of us.

We enjoyed every minute, well, minus the minutes that Gibson screamed.

The botanical gardens

I had a picture of Channing up in this same tree house last year in Alabama at the botanical gardens. This year with the promise of a surprise from the gift shop (thanks Lala) they all posed for me.

We really enjoyed the botanical gardens this year knowing that our purpose was the treehouses and not the so-called water exhibit.

The Uno King

I'll forever remember this visit as the one where Hadley really learned to play Uno and decided he liked it. He asked to play every chance he could.

Fishing

Ever since last year's fishing trip down to the creek the boys had looked forward to going again. This time Channing got to go. We all went the first day but didn't have enough bait and on top of that we went to late in the morning and it was hot. The guys (and Channing) went a few days later earlier in the morning and caught a few fish. Those pictures are on Stefan's phone so I'll have to post them later.

He was there too.

One of the best thing about summer...

is catching fireflies. Alabama had a bunch of them and we had fun almost every night catching and releasing them. Do you see the one on his hand?

Celebrating

Grandaddy Crafton's birthday is the 13th and since they came to Huntsville to visit us on the 12th it seemed like a great time to celebrate with cake and ice cream.

Here was the whole crew.

The trampoline

Grandaddy and Lala have a trampline and according to Hadley it WAS the reason he came to Alabama. Channing really enjoyed it this time as well.

Saturday

Every Saturday starts better with a little car wash especially if you have 4 fabulous helpers.

Also, things are always more fun with grandparents. Do you honestly think I could talk my kids into washing and scrubbing my car? They would have given up after about 5 minutes to ride scooters or something.

The real laugh

When was the last time you got a picture of your kid in a real laugh. Not a fake smile like the ones I get so often from my oldest son these days but a real belly type laugh. Throw in some water, cousins and a camera and you might get this.

By the way, welcome to ALABAMA. We made it after driving 16 hours through the night and stopping several times because of my stomach issues.