Hello y’all!  I hope you had a wonderful weekend.  Ours was a pretty laid back one.  Save for our usual Sunday ritual of going to church and lunching out afterwards, and the 3 hours we spent at the park on Sunday afternoon,  we just stayed home the entire weekend.  That’s something we very rarely do. ;)  I did let Abby have some fun in the kitchen on Saturday morning.  How?  I introduced her to cupcake decorating fun. :D

Decorating goodies isn’t entirely new to Abby.  In school, there have been several times when she and her classmates decorated sugar cookies with frosting and candy sprinkles.  At the cake show we attended on March 1st, she got to decorate a cupcake using a piping bag.  This was the result…

Not bad for a first time,  and by a 4-year old at that!  That’s my stagemommy self talking. ;)  I promised her then that I’ll let her decorate cupcakes again at home.  The time finally came last Saturday.  I jazzed up a cake mix a little and when the cupcakes were ready, I set aside 11 for Abby to “play with”.  I then filled a disposable pastry bag with a canned Pillsbury frosting and handed it to my eager student.

I gave Abby a hand in decorating two cupcakes, so I could show her how to properly hold the piping bag and how to squeeze it.  The rest of the cupcakes, she decorated on her own.

Abby decorated some of the cupcakes using the more conventional method of spreading the frosting using a spatula.

My only cause for stress was Abby being unable to resist licking the spatula and everything else where frosting happened to land (other than the cupcakes)…her fingers, the container of candy sprinkles, etc. :D

That’s why her cupcakes are for our family’s consumption only.  Hahaha!  No sharing with the neighbors this time. ;)  These, by the way, are the only two cupcakes I helped her with.  I held her hand while we squeezed frosting on them…

The canned frostings (Pillsbury, Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines) aren’t really ideal for (cup)cake decorating.  But since this was all done for fun and I was not about to make buttercream frosting from scratch, they just had to do. :)

Here’s a sample of one of her finished products…

Funny what a few colored sprinkles can do, don’t you think?  :)  Here’s the slideshow I made so we could remember that day  with special fondness…

I say these are the prettiest cupcakes I’ve ever laid eyes on! Taste good, too! :D

What’s that something special you did with your little one/s lately?  I bet you had a blast, too!

Have a great week y’all!  Cheers!

In our recent trip to Dallas, we didn’t actually stay in Dallas but in the city right next to it, Irving.  Our hotel was a mere 5-minute drive away from one of Irving’s tourist attractions, The Mustangs of Las Colinas.  Although we’ve already seen the mustangs in August last year, we paid them a visit yet again on our 2nd day, just before we went to grab something to eat for dinner.  We still had some energy left in us even if we’ve already spent the whole day going places.

This time around, I didn’t take too many photos of the mustangs.  I already have loads of photos of them from our last visit.  Instead, I decided to just have fun with my favorite models, that would be Abby and hubby, in case that needed spelling out. :D

First, “Abby and Daddy” shots…

Then, a few solos of Abby…

And finally, we horsed around, pun intended, with the Mustangs…

Abby:  Oooh, that tickles!

Mommy:  You better wash your hands, young lady!

Mustang Feeding Time

Mommy:  Not you too, Dad!  That’s not very polite.

Hubby:  Something smells really awful. Blech!

We had a blast taking these pics. :)

Enjoy what’s left of the weekend!  Cheers!

On the first day of spring, we drove off to Dallas for a short weekend getaway.  As usual, we were unable to leave the house at the appointed time.  It was already after 4pm when we arrived at our hotel and after about an hour’s rest, we decided to just spend the evening in Downtown Dallas (DD), specifically, the (historic) West End District.

Our recent trip to Dallas was our 5th, but it was only our 2nd time to actually be in Downtown,  not counting trips to the Galleria Dallas, which doesn’t really count as sightseeing.  Haha!  The first time we toured DD on foot was in December 2007 when my mom was here for a vacation.  It was winter yet we braved the cold weather to explore the West End District.  I love this part of Downtown, probably because I’m a sucker for places that are shrouded in history.  This time however, we didn’t get to do as much walking.  We spent half the time in Founders Plaza, which is right across the street from the JFK Memorial.

What’s in Founders Plaza?  Fountains!  It may not be interesting to some but to an overly active and adventurous 4 year old and a mom who loves taking pictures, it IS quite a welcome diversion. ;)

The funny thing is, with the amount of time we spent taking photos at the JFK Memorial a little over a year ago, I can’t seem to recall the Founders Plaza looking so, well, pretty.  I took a quick look at our Dallas photos from 2007 and found my answers.

This…

…and this.

Apparently, the last time we were here, it was but a fenced open space.  They were probably still in the process of giving the plaza a face lift.  And I say it was well worth it.  We weren’t the only ones taking pictures and having fun there last Friday, although we were the ones who were there the longest. :D

Water springs out of the fountains at different heights.  The lowest is probably (my) mid-calf.  Hubby did something that Abby just had to do herself, that is, skip over the fountains when the water was low enough.  What’s a girl to do when she sees her Dad do something that looked like fun? Follow his lead, of course!

One…

Two (Blurry pic. Sorry!)…

Three….

Whoopsie!  Right on target!  Hahaha!  We had a good laugh after Abby got wet.  But that didn’t stop her from making hurdles out of the fountains.

Here are some more photos from the West End District…

More photos from Dallas on my next entry.

Cheer’s y’all!

Masarap tignan at masarap tikman ang mga sapatos na ito.  Tikman?

Oo, tikman!  Dahil ang mga sapatos na ito ay di gawa sa balat o goma, kundi  sa gumpaste at fondant.

Ang mga sapatos na ito ay palamuti sa isang napakabonggang keyk!

Ang mga larawang ito ay kuha sa isang cake show na aking dinaluhan noong nakaraang buwan. :)

Isa pang lahok para sa LP: Nagliliitang mga Sapatos

Mabuhay!

Happy Monday, y’all!  We just came back last night from a brief weekend get-away.  Unlike in previous times when I suffer from post holiday hang-over, I’m surprised to find myself wanting to blog.  Might as well take advantage. :D

Here’s a fresh dose of recent banters with Abby.  Enjoy!

oOo

At the Dallas Arboretum, Abby sees this sculpture of a couple, which no one can’t possible ignore…

Abby: What are they doing?

No answer from Hubby or me.

Abby: What are they doing?

It looked like I was expected to answer…

Me: Oh, I think the girl fell and hurt herself.  So the man had to carry her.

:P

This was our third time at the Dallas Arboretum.  In my mind, I’ve always dubbed this sculpture as “Public Display of Affection”.  But upon closer inspection, I realize that their lips aren’t touching each other’s skin so I may have misinterpreted it after all.

So what are they doing?

oOo

At the Dallas Zoo, while observing a rhinoceros…

Abby: That rhinoceros is ENORMOUS!

Looks up to Dad who was standing beside her and who didn’t quite react quickly enough.

Abby: Enormous means big!

Then she looked away. :D

Pasensya na, anak.  Mom and Dad have a very limited vocabulary!  Hahaha!

oOo

Still at the Dallas Zoo…

There was this one animal (I can’t remember which one!), which immediately went into hiding the moment we stood in front of it’s cage…

Abby: Why did it hide?

Me: Maybe because it’s shy?

Abby: Well then, let’s leave him alone!

She turned on her heels after saying that and proceeded to the next cage.  See the attitude I have to deal with once in a while?  *shrugs*

oOo

Over breakfast this morning…

I was taking a bite from my cheese sandwich when Abby asked…

Abby: Is that whole wheat bread?

Me: I don’t think it’s whole wheat. (It’s enriched wheat bread, actually.)

Abby: What is it?  Half wheat?

I did try to explain, believe you me.

I hope Abby doesn’t ever get tired putting up with her half-”wheat”ed Mom.  Hee hee.

Have a great week ahead, y’all!  Cheers!