Summer Fun

I had to do a quick post about what our neighborhood looks like these days...


Lots of kids playing!



Benny and Tallan seriously have ALL the same clothes...here they are in matching bathing suits

The dads getting really competitive in a game of botchi ball. This has become a Sunday evening ritual in the Hall's backyard.

Tim and Warren started the addiction of "HORSE" with Tallan's basketball hoop and the excitement has spread. You wouldn't believe some of the shots these guys come up with. I'm just glad the game moved outside instead of in my family room.

You've heard of wild horses, wild coyotes, and a bunch of other "wild" animals, but have you heard of wild peacocks??? Our neighborhood has a few running around and I finally had my camara close enough to catch a shot of one before the kids chased it off. Sure, they are pretty to look at, but they are LOUD at all hours of the night. And they have a few favorite houses where they like to hang out on the roof. I'm glad ours isn't one of them because they are MESSY!

Yes, this post is to show a few of you how much fun we have and try and convince you to move here and be our neighbors. There are only a few lots left and you know who you are!

Keslie's Milestone Weekend

Keslie had a great weekend!

She turned 1 month old! I can't believe it!

She officially grew out of newborn diapers!

She smiled at me! Thank you!

She slept through the night! She's slept through 2 nights in a row so far...what a good girl!

On Sunday she wore this purple dress to church that was Brooklyn's and I had a flash back of Brooklyn wearing it about the same age...

Brooklyn ---------- Keslie

They really do look alike!

My Mom is Cooler Than Your Mom

My mom came to stay with us for 10 WHOLE DAYS to help me transition back to work and watch the kids while I was gone. I haven't spent that long with my mom since before I was married and we had so much fun! She was the best though. When I came home from work each day I was completely exhausted from lack of sleep, and my house would be clean, the laundry would be done, Tim's shirts had been ironed, my kids were happy and still alive. She would keep them entertained for an hour or so while I fed Keslie and got to take a nap. It was great! We did some quilting, shopping, eating, gardening, and watched a few movies. We were all so sad to see her go...the 10 days went by way too quick. We can't thank you enough, mom! You are absolutely amazing and we love you!

(we didn't get any pictures until the last day, and Brooklyn was up in Montana with Tim's parents)

One Expensive Cookie Recipe!

I got this email and had to share it, not just because I love cookies, but I thought it is a pretty funny story.

Happy baking!

A little background: Neiman-Marcus, if you don't know already, is a veryexpensive store; I.e., they sell your typical $8.00 T-shirt for $50.00.

My daughter and I had just finished a salad at a Neiman-Marcus Cafe inDallas, and we decided to have a small dessert. Because both of us aresuch cookie lovers, we decided to try the 'Neiman-Marcus cookie.' It wasso excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe, and thewaitress said with a small frown, 'I'm afraid not, but you can buy TheRecipe.' Well, I asked how much, and she responded; 'Only two fifty -it's a great deal!' I agreed to that, and told her to just add it to myTab.

Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement, and the Neiman-MarcusCharge was $285.00! I looked again, and I remembered I had only spent $9.95 for two saladsand about $20.00 for a scarf. As I glanced at the bottom of thestatement, it said, 'Cookie Recipe-$250.00. ' That was outrageous!

I called Neiman'sAccounting Department and told them the waitress said it was 'twofifty', which clearly does not mean 'two hundred and fifty dollars' byany reasonable interpretation of the phrase. Neiman-Marcus refused to budge. They would not refund my money because,according to them, 'What the waitress told you is not our problem. You have already seen the Recipe. We absolutely will not refund your moneyat this point.' I explained to the Accounting Department lady the criminal statutes which govern fraud in the State of Texas . Ithreatened to report them to the Better Business Bureau and the Texas Attorney General's office for engaging in fraud. I was basically told,' Do what you want. Don't bother thinking of how you can get even, and don't bother trying to get any of your money back.' I just said, 'Okay, you folks got my $250, and now I' m going to have$250 worth of fun.' I told her that I was going to see to it that every Cookie Lover in theUnited States with an e-mail account has a $250 cookie recipe from Neiman-Marcus...for free.She replied, 'I wish you wouldn't do this.' I said, 'Well, perhaps you should have thought of that before you ripped me off!' and slammed downthe phone. So here it is!

NEIMAN-MARCUS COOKIES (Recipe may be halved)
2 cups butter
24 oz. Chocolate chips
4 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp. Soda
1 tsp. Salt
2 cups sugar
1 - 8 oz. Hershey Bar (grated)
5 cups blended oatmeal
4 eggs
2 tsp. Baking powder
2 tsp. Vanilla
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)

Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream thebutter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, bakingpowder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey bar, and nuts. Roll intoballs, and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for 10minutes at 375 degrees.

Makes 112 cookies