Diving Board Jumper!

On Sunday we went to a friend's for a little swim and sun time!  Stella went to the lake with her Grammy and Grandpa earlier in the day, but she was still up for a swim.  She floated all over in her Dora ring and her water wings... by the way, those things are amazing!  Anyway, we had a great day!  Stella even jumped off the diving board for the first time!  Pretty impressive, since I don't even do that!  She is a little daredevil, just like her daddy!  Let's just hope they don't go rock climbing or kayaking anytime soon!  Hope you all had a great weekend, too!

Swim Ranch and saying goodbye to some friends....

Last week, our best friends Addie and Anya moved to Texas.  We have been very sad, but it has been for the best!  They are in an amazing place with a gorgeous river and a great little cottage, and they have family, which is great for Anya.   Needless to say, we will be lost without them here!  As you all who read my blog know, we do a lot of stuff together.... so we will just have to make some long road trips to meet up!  I had to wait awhile to post about it because it hurts my heart :(  But we know we will see them soon!! Love to my BFF and PIC!! ;) Miss you!

On Saturday, we started the Swim Ranch for the 2nd year.  We decided to do Saturday Water Babies because Stella got a little burned out going every day for a week straight... this way we can have it be a treat to go swimming instead of a chore.  She did really well at the swimming part... she can blow bubbles, kick, jump off the side, and get in and out easily.  What she didn't do so well at was following directions!! She decided that she was already a good swimmer, so she wanted to do it herself.  She also wanted to be the one chosen each time to be the 'example' with the teacher!  Stella was definitely the center of attention.  And when you give a child her very own website centered around her, why wouldn't she be?? I guess I don't blame her for thinking the world revolves around her!! All I can tell you is, my husband will be taking her to next week's lesson... mama will be relaxing!! 

Silver Dollar City... WAHOO!!!

On the train

Geyser Gulch 

"refueling"

Branson Landing fountains

splashing in the fountain

At the Table Rock Lake fish hatchery

Look at all the trout!

Taylor and I have been doing a lot of fun "grown up" stuff lately, like our beach trip, so we thought it would be fun to do a mini-vacation with Stella.  We took her to Branson.  I was a little nervous that I would be worn out by Silver Dollar City, but we had so much fun!  It was a gorgeous, warm day, and we went all over the park.  We ate SO much!  She was a little too small for most of the kiddie rides, but she loved Geyser Gulch!  We spent a lot of time there.  We bought Season passes, so we will definitely be heading back sometime this summer.  I hope she will have grown an inch or two so she can ride all the rides!  We stayed at Branson Landing at the Hilton Promenade.  We LOVED the hotel.  So nice!  And it was very convenient, since we could walk downstairs and shop and eat dinner.  They even have this huge fountain by the lake where they put on a show with fire and music.  Stella loved it!  We had dinner at Cantina Laredo (yummy margaritas for mommy and daddy!)  The next day we went to the Fish Hatchery at Table Rock lake.  Now, you all know this is not really my thing!  But daddy loves to fish, and we had to balance Stella out from all that shopping ;) She got to see where they grow the baby trout that they stock Taneycomo with.  Then we hit up Bass Pro Shop and a few outlet stores on the way out of town... best find:  a $10 pair of black tall rain boots from Banana Republic!  I also got a gorgeous dress.  Ahh.... sales!  Now we are back in town and heading over to Jesse and Uncle Trevor's for a cookout! I loved our mini-vacation... definitely great bonding time! I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend as much as we did!

Gentry Zoo

Last Monday we went out to Gentry to go to the petting zoo!  Stella was in heaven... and her mommy and daddy were loading up on the hand sanitizer!!  We took some cheddar popcorn to feed to all the animals, because they were used to all the snacks they gave out there.  Stella petted bunnies, mini goats, turtles, and a donkey/zebra (?) and we drove through the big area and saw a lot of camels, buffalo, monkeys, lions and tigers, and bears, oh my!  It was a lot of fun, and she still talks about it.  We will definitely go back soon!

Stinson Photography shoot!

My very favorite.  Award winning, if you ask me!

"gymnastics" she says

Peek-a-boo!

me and my tiny 

kisses

golden curls

Once again, an amazing photo shoot with Chris Stinson.  I cannot say how amazing he is!! Just look at the pictures, they speak for themselves.  He is busy but well worth it!! Thanks again for the amazing pictures, Chris!  

His website is www.stinsonphoto.com 

Happy Mother's Day and Apple Crack recipe!

Me and my fabulous Momma

family photo on Mother's Day

my cousin Andrea, me, and Cameron

Papa letting Stella be a spy!

The girls!

the famous Glamour Shot!

This post is a little belated but I have been so busy!  We just got back in from Orange Beach yesterday... those pics are on their way.  I had a wonderful Mother's day!  On Saturday night Taylor took me shopping at Mason's, which I hardly ever go to anymore, and I got some amazing shoes!  Then he took me to Soul, where we met up with the Stinsons and Marcy and Ricky.  Our food was amazing!  I love that they have live jazz on Saturday nights... and it is Happy Hour after 9 pm!  So we had a great time.  On Sunday morning Taylor and I went to Rogers and met up with my family at Copeland's for brunch.  Their french toast is to die for!  I was so happy to get to spend some time with MY sweet momma.  We headed home for round two... Taylor's family at our house for dinner.  We cooked up some yummy homemade food and ate till we were sick.  I made a new recipe for dessert, too!  It was supposed to be a dump cake, but I made it like a cake instead of a cobbler.  Needless to say it was a hit!  Here's how to do it if you are cooking challenged like me, but want to be impressive!

"Apple Crack"

Preheat oven to 325 F.  Spray 9x13 with Pam.  Spread 2 cans apple pie filling evenly in bottom.  Mix together 2 STICKS butter (hell yeah!) with 1 box yellow cake mix, 1 C dark brown sugar, and 1 teasp. cinnamon to make a thick paste.  Spread evenly over pie filling and top with 2 C chopped pecans. Bake for 45 mins. until crispy and brown on top.  

**Note:  So I am an idiot, and I didn't do it like above directions... I went ahead and did it the same way but instead of just using the yellow cake mix I mixed up the cake mix as the box instructed.  So it ended up taking about 1 1/2 hour to cook, but instead of being a cobbler, it turned into a SUPER moist apple cake.  It was awesome!  So either way, you can't go wrong... even if you can't follow directions, like me!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you mommies out there... I think we deserve more than just one day a year for everyone to appreciate all of the hard work and effort we put in every day to raise our children and take care of our families.  I am so glad to know and be inspired by all of you!  And Sherry (Mimi, Sherrymom) and Kathy (Grammy), thank you for everything!  Love you!!!!!!!