Comings and Goings

Where to start?!?  We've been so very busy at the Horstmann house this summer, and we love it :)  Right after we celebrated Tim's birthday, Father's day rolled around.  I mean, the kids sang "Happy To You Daddy- YAY!!!" for over a week!  :)

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Yay!

Blowin' out the candles :) 

We love you Daddy! (gimme that cake!)

Right after Tim's birthday, sure enough Father's day rolled around!  Poor guy, he has to do a birthday-father's day celebration now.   I don't think he minds though.  Especially since he got a combined gift this year and we upgraded his grill.  Aren't you excited?!?  He picked it out, so I know he liked it- ha!  We got together with the Short family for breakfast and then home for a nap (zzzzzzzzz...) Then on to celebrate with the Horstmann clan.  Did I get any pictures of us celebrating Father's day? Nope, I'm apparently a slacker.  (but that's okay, because we didn't get pics on mother's day either.)  BUT, we were supposed to bring Kid Friendly Dessert for dinner so we made cupcakes.  Don't you know the kids were all in the middle of that one!  And yes, they licked the batter off the beaters again.  THAT'S THE BESTEST PART!  (egg free, so don't freak out, okay?)  So I didn't get pics of the actual Father's day celebrations but I did get a picture of the cupcakes.  I mean, wasn't that the best part of the day?  JK!!!  Kinda.  But not really.  ;)

Mmmmm!  Pink Lemonade cupcakes with Strawberry Whipped Cream icing

Go ahead, lick the icing- I know you want to.

These seriously were the most incredible cupcakes and perfect for a hot summer day.  They are our new favorite dessert.  I will share the recipe, I promise!  

And of course, because I'm a smart-a** (i know, you're shaking your head in disbelief!) I decided to make NON-Kid Friendly cupcakes as well :)

Margarita Cupcakes!  Oh. Emm. Gee!

Um, the kids did NOT get to lick this batter (it was all for Mommy!)

I mean, melt in your mouth, tangy refreshing for-adults-only deliciousness.  The alcohol bakes out, right?  Oh, who cares?  It's just one... maybe two... and then I'll lick the icing off the container.

These puppies are margarita cake- alcohol included- with margarita-flavored jello icing.  Sigh.  

I promise I'll share the recipe for this one too.  

Right after the week of Birthday/Father's Day Celebrations, Aunt Jia and Kin-ley came to town!  They really do deserve a whole blog all of their own though :)  

Happy Buhrday Daddy! YAY!

Like I said in the last post, this past week has been busy HECTIC!  But in a good way :)  We've had dance class, swim lessons, Daddy's birthday, softball, a Thirty-one Party for a good friend, and that's all before Father's Day rolled around!  WHEW!  But we definitely didn't forget about Tim's birthday.  Especially since his b-day was softball night and Thirty-one party night, we wanted to show him how happy we were he was born, so we did it BIG!  On his birthday, we snuck to the store and got stuff to make him TWO birthday cakes!  He'd requested carrot cake when we asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday but we surprised him with cheese cake, too!  (those are probably his two very favorites ever...)  

Have you noticed yet that the kids like to help, especially when we're baking in the kitchen?  I don't have pictures of them actually baking this time, but I have pictures of them helping me "clean up"  

I remember when my Grandma Cleda used to let me lick the batter off the beaters when we were done, and it's still one of my favorite things to do when I bake.  I thought I'd start a new tradition with the kids- I think they like it :) 

Welcome 2 our Zoo!

Welcome 2 our Zoo!

We wanted to celebrate the Kennedy and Graham turning two with family and friends- so our house literally turned into a zoo!  So our little monkeys fit right in :)

lots of balloons and cupcakes, stuffed animals hanging around- the house was festive if nothing else!

we had tons of cupcakes- so many that my cupcake tree couldn't hold them all!  So I turned to pinterest for some ideas... some cardboard from the bakery, scrapbooking paper, cans and ribbon- viola!  Cupcake tower!

 I'm glad I made such a big one- we needed the room!

We had lions... 

And Ah-ahs (monkeys)... 

and Jo-Jos (giraffes) for Kennedy

... and i think the elephants were by far the cutest!

I spent over 10 hours on these lovely cupcakes- we baked 4 different kinds and had 4 different animals... so if I ever decide to quit teaching to open a bakery somewhere, will someone kindly remind me of the animal cupcakes?  I don't think people would be able to afford my creations!  :)  But there were rave reviews and everyone said they were delicious- and even more importantly the kids absolutely loved them.  So time very well spent!

 We were so happy that so many people were able to celebrate with us- luckily it was a very nice day outside, so a lot of people enjoyed the weather in the backyard.

the Short cousins- Kennedy and Amelia 

having fun in the playroom with our friends

Momma and the birthday girl 

our friends Emily and Jen

Jean Marie and Paige

Uncle Steve, Aunt Theresa, and Jacob

cousins Adalyn and Amanda

we finally got to dig into our presents- it was hard to wait!

Graham loved his new Cardinals jacket- he had to stop opening presents just to put it on!

in fact he loved his jacket so much, he cried when we made him take it off so he wouldn't get cupcake on it!

but Kennedy had no problem digging into her cupcake!

lovin' the giraffe!

... but don't worry- Graham finally got to eat his cupcake :) 

our friends Angela and Sophia and Aunt Becca singing Happy Birthday

Angie and Rachel waiting for some cupcakes

we had time to play outside with some of our new toys- we got a really cool pirate ship pool from Uncle Chris, Aunt Megan, Grandma Kim and Grandpa Don.  We can't wait for this summer so we can go swimming!

 And we got an awesome new wagon from Grandma Diane, Grandpa Glenn, Great-Grandma Aubuchon, Aunt Becca, Uncle Chris, Uncle Steve, and Aunt Theresa

we love it!  we got to take turns getting wagon rides in the backyard with our friends

 everyone had a blast playing with our new slide, too!

Graham was pretending to shoot water out of the cannon on the pirate ship :)  I just LOVE watching their imaginations grow by leaps and bounds!

and last but not least, we got this great picture of cousins Abby and Graham that Uncle Chris sent us.  Aren't they cute?!?!