VACATION FUN!

 Each year we take the entire family (daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren to Virginia Beach for a week of family fun.  The cousins love spending time together.  Here are the five Divas! Kari and Clara (top) and Sasha holding baby Tessa, and Emme.  Adorable!

My oldest grandson, Aidan, holds my youngest grandson, Camden!

 The kids love the beach and we had beautiful beach weather all week!

However, Jayce was NOT happy at the beach! Maybe next year!  Tessa just chilled.

Lots of time was spent in the pool.  

Camden relaxed poolside.

Pap enjoyed the hot tub with Sasha and Jayce

You can't go to Virginia Beach without at least one trip to Handel's for ice cream

 This year we celebrated Clara's and Ryan's birthdays which are August 13th and 16th.  They wanted a luau so that's exactly what we had!   The weather was gorgeous so we ate outside poolside.

 Ryan turned nine and Clara turned seven!

 Jayce LOVED the cupcakes!

Emme looked the part of a little island girl!

Too soon our week came to an end.  Until next year . . . 

NEW BABIES!

I am so far behind on postings I was having heart palpitations on where to begin since my last post (just kidding!).  I am shocked at how long it has been since I posted, so I am going to vow to do better and try and do a weekly post from this day forward!  To start it off, on July 2, my ninth grandchild, Tessa Faith (on the left) arrived weighing in a 6 lbs 2 oz.  She's a precious little peanut and joins two sisters and a brother!  A week later on July 10th, Camden Alexander arrived weighing in at 8 lbs. 9 1/2 oz.  As you can see from the photo taken a few days ago, Tessa is already asserting herself!  We are so blessed and thrilled to welcome two more members to our family!  

St. Patrick's Day Cuties!

St. Patrick's Day is a fun holiday to celebrate. I found these cute shirts for the Andersen clan at Wal-Mart. Little Jayce's reads " You're Lucky I'm Not Your Son." Too funny!

He thinks it's pretty funny , too! Love those sparkly blue eyes!
I got the placemats at the Dollar Tree - fabulous for just $1.00 each! and filled the little white buckets with gold foiled Reese's cups - our pots of Gold, which were our favors. After dining on a beef stew- Hungarian style, we had dessert.
I found a simple easy recipe for chocolate, peppermint meringues that were delicious! The kids LOVED them, so we are already planning on making Easter colored meringues using a variety of extracts for flavoring, coloring them with spring food colors, and putting "treats" inside!
On St. Patrick's Day, our other four grandkids dressed up in their holiday finery and we headed to TGI Fridays. It has been a tradition for several years.
After dinner we headed home for cupcakes to celebrate Jim's birthday, which is the day after St. Patrick's Day!
Happy Birthday Jimbo! I won't give away your age!

Love For Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation!

On February 18th we hosted our annual Scrapbooking/Craft Love Crop For a Cure to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Thirty wonderful ladies spent the day scrapping and crafting! This year we raised $846.66, which is almost $300.00 more than last year's Love Crop!

It is always fun to see the creativity each person brings to what they are making. There is so much talent in one room.Thanks to Target, Food Lion, Giant, and Tastefully Simple, we had a delicious lunch and yummy snacks. Of course, a Love Crop wouldn't be complete without some "lovely" cupcakes.
This year two vendors joined us: Creative Memories and Thirty-One. Thanks Ally and Courtney for your contribution to a successful event!
It is always such joy to meet new crop attendees! This year we welcomed seven new scrapbookers to our Love Crop!
We are always grateful to welcome back scrapbookers who have been coming to both our Love Crop and our Fall Crop For a Cure.
Congratulations to our door prize winners!

VALENTINES DAY PARTY TIME!

I love any excuse to make cupcakes and decorate the house, so with Valentine's Day approaching I thought it would be fun to plan a little party for the four grandkids who live close by. Their moms and dads would get a night out kid-free! I spent a few weeks planning the menu, the evening activities, and decorating. I loved reading some of my favorite blogs for ideas. This morning I made red velvet cupcakes, one of my favorite flavors!

Last week, Sasha, Clara, Dixon, and Emme made the adorable hearts that we turned into a sparkly banner behind the table. This was one of the blog ideas! Then I found these cute drink bottles along with the paper plates and napkins at The Dollar Tree - what a great place to get fun party gear so cheap!
Dinner was Tastefully Simple Vidalia Onion Crispy Chicken, veggies, and a melt-in-your mouth stovetop macaroni and cheese from a favorite blogger - Brown Eyed Baker. It was so good! I actually substituted gluten free elbow macaroni and the kiddos went for seconds!
We did two craft projects - bookmarks and wooden cupcake ornaments.
Then it was cupcake tasting time! I loved the way these cupcakes turned out!
Dixon was definitely focused on the cupcake! The kids wanted seconds of these, but I knew the parents would not appreciate kids on a sugar high! I sent some home with them!
It was unanimous that this is going to be an new annual tradition! We had so much fun!
I found all of these wonderful candies in pinks and reds, and white and each of the grandkids got to take a small bag and fill it with their choice of goodies.

Their little Valentine present bags contained a variety of goodies - books, art pencils, hair bows, and matchbox cars. On Valentine's Day - Tuesday night - Jim and I get to have our own date night. We are going to the Luhrs Center to see Fiddler on the Roof. Going to the theater is a wonderful way to spend Valentine's Day! I hope you enjoy the day!

JoePa and Icefest 2012

As a Penn State graduate, this week marked the passing of a legend. The Paterno family and JoePa meant more than football. The Paterno family led a simple life, donating their wealth in ways in which no one knew until the Memorial service and the testimonies to their quiet generosity poured forth from the speakers. And their stories were only the tip of the iceberg.

In addition to the library and sponsoring the Paterno fellowships at Schreyer Honors College at PSU, hundreds of thousands of dollars were given for scholarships, they helped families in need, and the list goes on . . . It is no wonder that the Penn State community, and not just the football players whose lives he touched, thought of JoePa as more than a coach.
My daughter and her husband (a PSU grad) were fortunate to obtain two of the 16,000 tickets to the memorial. The tickets went online at 10:00, they got theirs at 10:02, and by 10:07, they were gone. The two and a half hour service was a celebration of a life that made an impact on people who knew him personally and who never even met him. We love you JoePa.
Nine years ago, Chambersburg held its first annual Icefest and I think we have only missed one in the past nine years. Yesterday, Becky, Barry, Emme, and I headed for downtown Chambersburg! Jim was helping the Lion's Club with their entry in the Chili Cook-off. Last year they won - not this year!
Emme loved the ice sculptures, but held tight to her balloon! She loves balloons!
The warm January day took its toll on many of the sculptures that were quickly melting. But a few maintained their beautifully sculpted details.
A favorite each year are the two different ice chair sculptures. Emme fit perfectly on this one!
We had to stop and get a picture of our little "cupcake" with this cupcake sculpture!
Inside the Woods Center, there was a cake decorating contest. WOW! There were some absolutely gorgeous and fun cakes like this one . . .
And this one . . .
The cakes in combo with the cupcake ice sculpture, put me in the mood to go home and bake. So I did! I made a basic dark chocolate cupcake. Once the cupcakes were cool, I removed the center and put Tastefully Simple Caramel Sauce in the center. Next I piped whipped vanilla frosting on top and added chocolate sprinkles and Tastefully Caramel Cinnamon Sprinkles.
When you cut it in half, the cupcake oozed that awesome caramel. This caramel sauce is simply amazing and no other sauce I have eaten compares to it.
I topped one for Emme with sanding sugar and multi-colored sprinkles.
Her response was "Yum . . . " So was ours! A great Icefest and a great cupcake! What could be better?