Gone Are the Days of Summer...

Tomorrow I return to work after about 10 weeks off.  It has been an amazing and busy summer. I finished planning a wedding and got married -

We spent a lot of fabulous days at our neighborhood pool . Madison and I took a lot of trips to Target where we shared lunch at the Target cafe-

We had fun painting pottery at Color Me Mine -

We had many great family days watching movies at home, going out to eat, Madison took a trip to Vegas, and Chris and I took a honeymoon cruise.

Tomorrow I go back to early wake-ups, a 30 minute drive to work, papers to grade, meetings to attend, and students to teach.  I will remember as the school year progresses how wonderful the summer of 2010 was for me and my family.

The Past Few Days...

Thursday was the last together day of summer vacation for me and Madison. I took her to Moe's (her favorite) place for lunch. Then we headed to Just Cupcakes. Madison had a birthday party cupcake and we picked up three to bring to the hair salon to give to the ladies who work there.

Next we headed to Salon Icon for Madison's back to school haircut.  I think it turned out fabulous -

Then we headed to one of my favorite stores.  We picked up three frames for my wedding photos.  I love how it brings out the hints of pink in the photo.  Here is one of my favorites -

Madison left on Friday for a week at Grammy & Pop's.  Chris and I had a date night when he got home from work.  We had a Groupon for Tiki Bar & Grill near Sandbridge.  We started out with 2 appetizers - crab balls and chicken wings.  Both were great.  I had a shrimp po boy sandwich and Chris had a steak.  We both agreed the entrees weren't as good as the appetizers and it was more of a place for drinks and appetizers rather than a meal.  Next we had ice cream at Handel's.  Then we made a stop at a different TJ Maxx where I picked up two more picture frames.  We ended the night watching the movie, Cop Out, at home.

Madison will be home Labor Day weekend in enough time to start SIXTH GRADE the day after Labor Day.

Made From Scratch Cupcakes

I love to bake, yet I have never made a cake before totally from scratch. Saturday evening I attempted it for the first time. I made white cupcakes and they turned our fabulous. I used my friend Angie's recipe from her blog, Angie's Simple Cooking.

I used the buttercream frosting recipe from the back of the confectioner's sugar box and added pink food coloring to chage the color. I totally recommend these cupcakes - they were light and moist and a hit at Madison's Back to School Pool Party that we hosted today.