Peppermint for 3

 Baby Girl turned 3 this week.  I guess we should stop calling her Baby.  There's NEVER been a 3 year old baby in the Fish House.  Come to think of it, there's never been a 2 year old baby in the Fish House.  This is a first for us.  She was so excited about her birthday.  When Grandma asked, "Lydia, do you want a chocolate cake, a vanilla cake or a strawberry cake from Grandma?"  She said, "Hmm....let me think about it. (pause)  I want a peppermint cake."  So sweet Grandma rose to the occasion and accommodated.  Baby Girl seemed to be set on the idea of peppermint.  When we would ask her what she wanted for her birthday, her reply was always "Peppermint!"  So Peppermint it was.

 She ate her requested cereal, peanut butter balls, with one happy face.

 She quickly opened her gifts before the big Fish Sticks headed out the door to school.

 And we had our traditional Oreo Ice Cream Cookie Cake with a peppermint 3 on the top.

 Happy Birthday, Baby Girl.  You keep us laughing.  

You keep us young, and you are a blessing in our home.

May you grow to passionately love the Lord and serve Him every day of your life!

Substitutions

 Who needs a Bluetooth when you have a pipe cleaner?

The Big Seven

 My sweet Roofie Poofie turned 7 this week.  It's hard to believe that my tiniest little Fish Stick (weighing 5 lbs. 3 oz.) has already turned 7.  It seems like yesterday that she was wearing baby doll clothes.

Here she is enjoying her cinnamon rolls for breakfast on the red plate.

 She quickly opened her gifts in the a.m. before the big Fish Sticks heading off to school.

 As she was planning her special day menu, she repeated over and over how she wanted FRUIT....all kinds of fruit.  I kept telling her there had to be something other than just fruit.  Protein.  Carbs.  Dairy.  Vegetable.  Some type of balance.  I just filled in the blanks with what I knew she would like and she couldn't get enough of her fruit. (See it oozing out of her mouth?)

The boys went to Caleb's basketball game which was too far away for the whole family to go to.  We waited until they came home to have Oreo Ice Cream cake with a number 7 with M&M's on the top.  (Anyone tried the new Cherry M&M's?  Yummy!)

Happy Birthday, sweet girl.  Your giggle and carefree spirit brings our home joy.

New Blog

I might be a bit crazy, but I had this idea a while back.  The more I think about it, the more I want to do it.  I have decided to start a new blog.  It's crazy because sometimes I feel like I can't keep up with my family "history" blog so why would I try another blog.  It's just that my mind gets cranking about things sometimes.  I just feel I want to write them down and share them with someone.

I love to cook.  I love to plan menus.  Basically I love being a homemaker.  I enjoy reading other blogs about sewing, cooking, budgeting, cleaning, time-management....basically just homemaking.  All of this reading and applying has caused me to want to pass things on as well.

So today I am sending out the link to my new blog.  It's called Feeding the Fish Sticks.  It will be a little bit of everything homemaking.  I am making no promises, but my goal is to post 2-3 times a week.  It will be practical for sure.  It will be for the mom who loves reminders and good ideas about how to manage her home well, because I'm one of the ones who loves those reminders and good ideas.  It will be from one mom to another.  Nothing fancy.  Not much Martha Stewart, just practical, everyday talk about what our job as wives and mothers entails.

I still haven't gotten it to look all cute, so bare with me on that end.  I'm not the most tech-savvy mom, but I'm working on it.  Check it out and pass it on.  Let me know what you think.

10 year old + camera + too much idle time

 I was told these were taken in the loft of the lake house this summer during a cousin sleepover.

I'm clearly not utilizing my camera to it's full potential of fun!

Dysfunctional?

Sometimes I wonder if we have a bit of a dysfunctional relationship with our pets.

Filling Time With Surprises

We went to the lake house this past weekend.  It had been months since we all were there.  Going there in the dead of winter requires a bit more creativity to keep the natives from getting restless.  My Man told the Fish Sticks on Saturday that we were heading out for a surprise.  During the 30 minute trip, we were bombarded with 20 questions to reveal this special surprise.

Now when times were better, we used to enjoy eating out as a family fairly regularly.  Friday night Mexican.  After church all-you-can-eat pizza.  Chick-fila  while we're out shopping.  Well, those days are gone now and eating out is few and far between.  With a growing family, we easily drop over $30 at fast food restaurants, not to mention how much a sit down restaurant costs.  It just doesn't seem a good way to use our money.

But this past summer we happened upon an amazing place in the small TN town of McMinnville.  It's called Sentosa.  (My family is snickering now).  If you did a google search on Sentosa you would find a tourist resort island in Singapore complete with a swimming lagoon, amusement park, miniature golf, high rated hotels and don't forget the ever famous, huge Merlion statue.  The picnic areas have wild monkeys running around like squirrels.  I know so much about this place because we lived across the street from it for 2 years and went there almost weekly.  So when we happened to see a restaurant named Sentosa, we knew it was something we had to try.

We pulled into Sentosa (of McMinnville) and all Fish Sticks started squealing with delight.  Why, you ask?  Sentosa is a buffet restaurant; no menus required.  It has about 12 buffet tables with cuisine from sushi bar, hibachi grill, chinese, salads, pizza, bbq ribs, asian pastries, country cooking to hard packed ice cream.  It has it all.  But what My Man and I really like about this place is that it is ridiculously cheap (unlike the true Sentosa Island!).  We all got water and left, having eaten WAY too much, for $31 for a family of 8.  That's crazy.  We expect Sentosa won't stay in business too long, but for now, we are their biggest fan.

And what else can Fish Sticks find to do at the lake house with limited entertainment and freezing cold temperatures?