My baby's first "date".

No, I'm not talking about my 16 y.o. daughter.....

I'm talking about my 6 y.o. son!

A couple of days ago, I got a message from a mom of one of Jameson's classmates. (Hey Nicole!) She said that her daughter, Gracie, wanted
Jameson to come see her play t-ball on Friday night.
I asked Jameson if he wanted to go, and he got this really giggly,
red-faced, smile on his face and said "YEEEES"

So, this week's bribe to get him to behave in school was
Gracie and her t-ball game.

It worked really well! Only one marked-off sticker all week!
(This may work even better than the puppy bribe!)

As I confirmed the details of the game with Gracie's mom, Jameson was anxiously trying to decide what exact words he was going to say to her
right before the game.

"Gracie, your team is going to be the best!" ended up being the winner.

Once Jameson got home from school today, he constantly watched the clock....asking me a million times:

"When will it be 7:00?"

"4 more hours."

"4 MORE HOURS???? I'll NEVER get to see Gracie play t-ball"

"Jameson, it's not that long."

"YES IT IS! IT'S FOREVER!!!"

**Repeat this conversation every 15 minutes for the next 4 hours.**

Finally, Jameson's prayers were answered and we made it to the ball field. Jameson got out of the car and rushed to the fence yelling "HEY GRACIE!!!!!" So much for the well planned out speech.

They exchanged a few "Hey's" and waves, and then Gracie had to get focused on the task at hand....T-BALL! No slacking allowed for Gracie...her mom is the coach! And might I add, a kick- bootie coach, complete with black-sequined flip flops! (I am SO going to get a picture of those cute shoes at the next game). Jameson knew exactly when Gracie was up to bat and ran to the fence to cheer her on at each attempt.

Isn't she cute? (Well, from what you can see of her.)




The voice you hear screaming "RUN, RUN, RUN, RUN, RUN" is Jameson.


The Rockie's continued to dominate, and ended up winning 24-11.

After the game, Jameson and Gracie met up at the concession stand and said their goodbyes to each other. But, being the proud and blogging mama that I am, I just had to get a few pictures.

***SIGH***

I thought I would have at least a little bit longer to be the
one-and-only girl in his life.

****SIGH*****

(Photo credit: Southern Living Magazine)

I (((HEART))) Southern Living!

What's On Your Wall Wednesday!

My dear, sweet, friend Barb over at Grits and Glamour is getting back into her decorating groove by resuming her hosting duties of What's On Your Wall Wednesday!

Now since I have ZERO very limited decorating funds these days (two mortgages are KILLING ME!), I haven't participated in WOYWW like I would have liked to, because, to be honest....I really don't have a lot on my walls!

Well tonight, Barb reminded me that WOYWW doesn't have to be just about Art, pictures, plates, nick-knacks, etc....it can be ANYTHING you have on your walls!

Barb's post this week is showcasing many beautiful TILE walls that she has found during her decorating excursions. Most of her pictures showcase walls that are more beautiful than any art ever could be. This post thrills me to death because I HAVE TILE WALLS!

When we first started building this house, we had no plans on having two completely tiled showers, or a mosaic tiled backsplash in the kitchen.....but after spending many, many, many hours looking at tiles, I just couldn't resist! Now I am so glad I did!

First of all, I would like to share the most unused portion of our new home....the kid's tub/shower. Now, now....I know what you are thinking "Your kids don't BATHE?" Well, of course they do...just not in their bathroom. Since I still have to help bathe both kids, it's just much easier to use our shower. So for now....I just love looking at my new, clean, unused bath/shower.

The large tiles on the walls are the same tiles we have on our floors. I fell in love with this tile the first moment I laid my eyes on it! I literally chose every color and stain in this house to go with this tile. It is ceramic, but looks exactly like travertine...complete with the little pits and imperfections. But the great part is....NO MAINTENANCE!

Tiling the entire wall with the same tile would have made the shower a little boring, so we decided to add the tumbled-marble mosaic stripe around the top. But it still needed something more...so after a quick trip to the home improvement store, I found these great and inexpensive dark gray metallic tile strips. It is amazing how much that little touch improved the look of this shower!

Next is the tile backsplash in the kitchen. Originally, we were going to use tumbled marble that matched the floor tile, but then I came face-to-face with THIS.....

TAHHHHH DAHHHHHHHH....isn't it beautiful? Different colors of tumbled marble with brown glass tiles.

It was love at first sight!

I literally bought every piece of this tile they had in every store from Trussville, Alabama, to Atlanta Georgia!

However, I am NOT pleased with the pattern it was laid in! That will teach me to leave the house while the tile was being laid!

And finally, my master shower. Oh this shower....visitors have begged to use this shower. I've had offers to rent my shower out for second honeymoons....really!

When you look at a space on a set of houseplans, you never really realize how big or small the space will actually be until it is actually built. This shower turned out sooo much bigger than we thought it would! NOT that it is a BAD thing!

So, without further ado, my master shower...

Isn't she pretty?

Here is the same floor tile that we have on the floors and on the other tub/shower walls. I forgot to mention the MAIN reason that I loved this tile is the cost. Only $1.99 per square foot! Can you believe that? This great price allowed us to splurge a little on this border of tumbled marble. The floor of the shower is also tumbled marble. It's amazing how these different materials match perfectly with each other!

Well folks, there you go....this is what is on my walls this week!

What is on yours??

By the way Barb,....you SO need to have a bench in your shower! ;)

The BEST cake you will ever eat!

First of all, I would like to give credit for this recipe to somebody from the HGTV Decorating Message Board. I don't remember who gave it, but I am very thankful they did! I have baked this cake about 100 times since I first got brave enough to try it. Barb? Kim? Was it you?

The instructions sound really strange, but I PROMISE, it works and it tastes GREAT!

Here are the ingredients:

First, crack 4 eggs into your mixing bowl. This particular cake mix says to use 3 eggs, but we need to add an extra. So, if the mix says to use 2 eggs, use 3.

Trust me, it works.

Next, add 1/3 cup vegetable oil (or whatever amount your mix calls for)

Here, I substituted 1 1/2 cups milk for the 1 1/2 cups of water the mix calls for. A caterer let me in on this little secret. The higher fat the milk, the moister the cake. The cake is also very delicious if you just use water. In fact, most of the time, I use 1/2 milk and 1/2 water. ****edited to add: Sometimes using all milk will make the cake SO moist, it breaks apart coming out of the pan. For you first attempt, you may want to use water instead of milk, and then work your way up to all milk.**** (Sorry Julie!)

Now comes the strange part. Add one can of ready-made frosting.

YES....pour (or spoon) it into the bowl.

I'm not lying! I promise, it works!!

See, I am proving to you that I really did add the frosting to the mix!

Mix for about 20 seconds to combine all wet ingredients.

Add cake mix and stir according to package directions. (I mixed for 2 minutes) 

While your mix is combining, spray or prepare your cake pan of choice. After much testing, I found that a bundt pan works the best for this extra-moist cake.

 

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and combine.

Now pour into your prepared cake pan. 

Shake it down and get some of the bubbles out. 

Now, put your cake into a pre-heated oven, again according to your package directions. (Mine should say 350 degrees....stupid oven) Now start off by setting your timer about 5 minutes longer than the directions say. You may end up baking for 5 - 15 minutes longer.

Trust me on that!

You don't want a runny cake, do you? 

 

Ahhhhh, that looks Great!

Now take out of the oven, and cool.

After cooling, remove from the pan and TAHH DAHH! Beautiful, moist cake. So moist, in fact, it doesn't even need frosting on the outside of the cake! 

 

But, if you MUST have frosting, go ahead, I won't tell anyone!


The beauty of this cake is you can use ANY flavor cake mix with ANY flavor frosting. If you want to use red velvet cake mix with cream cheese frosting....GO FOR IT! You want to put chocolate frosting in a devil's food cake mix....YUMMY and chocolaty! I will warn you, though, if you put chocolate frosting in a yellow cake mix....it will look like a chocolate cake.

Been there, done that! Got into an argument with someone over what kind of cake it was! LOL!

So, when you are in the mood for a quick, moist, delicious cake, try this recipe!

I promise it will surprise you!

In a GOOD way!

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I'm off to work for the next couple of days, so I will be seeing you again later in the week! That is, unless something strange, unusual, fantastic, funny, or scary happens!

{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}

Happy Easter Everyone!

We just wanted to wish you all a

HAPPY EASTER!!






OK, seriously, Happy Easter from our house to yours!!



And here is an Easter Basket for all of you!