Casting Call-Brenne

my photo of Brenne

A local photographer is looking for a model to advertise some of her photography styles. I had Brenne try out for the free photo session. The voting has not taken place yet, but we did receive the 'proofs' online. The gallery does require a password to access the pictures. If you would like to check out the photos please visit http://www.serenanicolestudios.com/onlinegallery/. Click on Sovereign-April 15. Enter in the following password exactly: cast J. Make sure that you have a space between the t and J. The photo labeled Casting Call 15 BW was entered for the vote.

Art Gallery Event

Layne's elementary school has an Art Exhibit event to showcase all the K-2nd graders work of art. It is set up to feel like a big expo night with simple appetizers, piano playing, etc.; so you are to get slightly dressed up and see your child's work as well as fellow student's work up on display. She did a beautiful piece of art.

Yummy! French Muffins

If you like the aroma and taste of french toast, but don't always care to make it or wait for stale bread and love breakfast muffins, then this is a 'gotta try' recipe from Family Fun magazine: http://jas.familyfun.go.com/recipefinder/display?id=50342.


A few tips when making them:

*It says to butter the bottoms only of the muffin pan, but I would butter the sides as well.

*My batter was not as thick as it is in the picture on the recipe. Plus, I had lots leftover, so I filled the cup to 3/4 full and they came out fine.

*After the muffins are done and have cooled, when rolling the muffins in the mixture, I would melt 4 tablespoons butter instead of the 2 it calls for. Also, I had about 1/4 cup of sugar-cinnamon mixture leftover, so you could use half the recipe.


A plate of yummy french muffins-Delicious!

Snow Fun!!

When it snows, it is minimal here in Germany. So, when it was a decent amount, enough to have fun out in the backyard, we layered up and played in the snow. Brenne was fascinated by the white stuff and put some in her mouth right away. She did not stay happy for long though; her gloves kept coming off and her fingers were getting cold. She then went for a nap so Layne, Liam and I built a snowman. It was a fun morning. Although not pictured, we did make another snowwoman.

Happy Valentine's Day

The kids had great Valentine's Day parties at their schools and enjoyed treats at home. Layne and I made 'play clay' for her classmates. We also made chocolate covered strawberries for her snack to bring to school. With the leftover chocolate I made some chocolate covered cherries and made some of them look like mice, but I have another recipe for chocolate mice I would like to try some time. The kids also made homemade cards instead of the traditional character cards from the store and enjoyed the compliments from their classmates.

Being entertained

We have just been doing our normal fun activities at home, so there hasn't been much to update on since Layne's birthday. It has snowed a few times, so carefully, I have the kids sitting at an open window and playing catch the snowflakes with cups. It doesn't last very long because it starts to get cold.

Right now, Brenne loves to spin around on the computer chair and dance her body to music. She is very talkative with her sounds and babbles and absolutely loves to play with Layne and Liam, especially being chased around the house.

Layne's Party

Layne had a great turn out of friends at her 7th birthday party at an indoor fun park called Yabadoo. As I wanted her to have fun with her friends and kept up with all the other details of the party, I didn't take any pictures of them playing. The only pictures are of the cake cutting and singing. She overall had a great birthday celebration, loved all of her gifts, and picking out party favors for her guests.

As for Layne's cake, I took the decorative napkin and drew freehand the little princesses on tracing paper, then shrunk them onto copy paper. I colored them in and placed contact paper and a popsicle stick on them to make them more sturdy. Layne colored in the castle coloring page and I placed it on a piece of cardboard and then placed contact paper on it as well.