It's a Winner!

We went to the fair on Saturday, and I was excited to see

a blue ribbon next to my cake.

It's not my best work, and I definitely had some problems

when I was putting it together....

(for some reason I bought an off-brand shortening - big mistake!

And I know better than that...)

But it all worked out beautifully.

As you can see, I went with the taller, more realistic bluebirds.

My husband said that they were better.

When I went to pick up my things yesterday evening from the fairgrounds,

I received an envelope with my prizes in it.

I brought home a blue ribbon, a sample of Red Star yeast,

a coupon for more yeast, and my score card for the cake.

I scored Excellent in each area (Appearance, Creativity,

Craftsmanship, & Appropriateness).

At the bottom were the following comments - "Swirls on top

coordinate well with bottom layer; contrast of color is good; 

piping is uniform; roses look like fabric - very nice & pleasant to look at."

I was quite pleased with everything.

Still a Fun Weekend

I ended up going into so much detail about geocaching that I ran

out of time for Sunday's holiday, and I

wanted to be sure to post what it is before it's too late for you to get 

the necessary supplies.

Sunday is 

Black Cow Root Beer Float Day

It'll be a delicious celebration around here, that's for sure!

Fun Weekend

I hope that you've had a week with less

Screaming than I have.  Our daughter is about to turn five,

And I think the anticipation is causing her some problems.

And how do you work through your problems when you're four?

Scream. Scream. SCREAMMMMMM!!

So we've had some extra timeouts the past few days,

And I've tried to remember extra hugs.

Have you ev geocached?  One of my college roommates introduced me to it.

It's pretty enjoyable, especially if you like treasure hunts.

But more especially if you have a GPS.

It is kind of a requirement.

Basically, you go to the geocaching website.

Pick a geocached to check out.

Gather any necessary items.

Grab your GPS and try to find it.

Still don't understand?

A geocached is something that someone created and then hid near a specific

GPS coordinate.  It might be a film canister, an old ammunition box - really

Anything that will survive the weather conditions, since it will epboably be outside.

Then you post the coordinates on the website and tell potential visitors what they will need to do

When they find your cache.

This could be trading an item for one that's in your cache or maybe signing something. 

They find it, do the thing, and then you can go back to the website and share your experience.

It's pretty fun.

And what better time to try it than tomorrow?

Because tomorrow is 

International Geocaching Day! 

Try it out.

It might be your new favorite family activity.

Anyone Got a BFF?

While I know 'got' is not the grammatically correct way to word

the title of this post, I'm gonna go with it.

Yes, yes, I'm also aware that 'gonna' is not much better than the title.

I guess we'll all just have to deal, and try not to dwell.

Tomorrow is 

Best Friends Day.

So if you've got a best friend, let 'em know.

You could send flowers, a letter,

cookies or candy if they've a sweet tooth,

or a phone call would be ideal for many BFF's these days.

 Whatever you do, thank them for being a good friend, which 

they obviously are, since they are your best friend, right?  And if they're not a good friend,

then maybe it's time to get a new one.

Thursday is

National Airborne Day.

The first time the US Army used paratroopers in combat was 

during WWII in 1942.  I'm pretty sure that one of my 

grandpa's brothers was a paratrooper back then.

I am so grateful for military personnel, current and past.

They have sacrificed so much for me to make this country what it is and what it can be.

I am proud to be a military spouse, and while it was difficult to have 

Mr MPP in Afghanistan while our oldest daughter

was a baby, I'd make the sacrifice again if needed.

And HOOAH to you, paratroopers, for being so brave to head into

combat from the air.

Scrabble Week

I've been a little remiss in getting this post up,

but there's still time to celebrate

National Scrabble Week!

It runs from the 11 - 15, so there's still today and tomorrow

to get your words on.

Mr MPP and I have played one game every night so far.

Last night, I scored my all-time high of 351!!

I could hardly believe it.

And in honor of Scrabble Week, I made some cookies that 

Mr MPP took to work this morning.

 Here's a picture of the ones we kept and ate:

And here's what our board looked like on Saturday after our first match:

So far, I've won every game.

Hopefully Mr MPP can win tonight and/or tomorrow, or we might

not be celebrating this next August.

Garden Much?

It may be too late for you, but did you know that today is

Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor's Porch Night?

Did you even know that that is a holiday?

Well, it is.

And I am glad that I picked up some zucchini when I went shopping this week,

since we do not currently have a garden.

Maybe next year.

When our backyard doesn't look like this:

 Or this, which is what the current situation is.

But if it's too late for you to be sneaky, why not

celebrate Friday's

S'more Day!

Oh yeah, you'd better believe I picked up some marshmallows and chocolate

bars when I was at the grocery store.  We'll probably do it after the kids

are in bed, since that's how we do a lot of things that involve 

sugar around here.

It's not too difficult to keep my kids from eating too much junk food,

but I love it.

And don't forget about the weekend - there are two

holidays that you might enjoy.

Saturday is

National Garage Sale Day

and both Saturday and Sunday are

Kool-Aid Day

So grab some cash, something super sweet to drink, and enjoy your weekend!