Berry Special Day

We lost power today at home.  Not fun.  It was kinda blinky, then on, then blinky a few minutes later, then Gone.  Ethan just cried and cried-he was scared!  The alarm started beeping, and he was just sure the house was caving in.  He wanted to "go out the garage"!  He had no idea that the garage door wasn't working!  Ha.  It was crazy.  I couldn't get in the shower, since my hair dryer wouldn't work.  And we have gas heat, but an electric thermostat and fan on it...so, no heat.  We finally put our coats on after an hour.  It was warm by the fire in the hearth room, but Ethan followed me all over the house, crying about being cold.  Fun times!

I have to tell you, I started laughing as I realized the irony.  If I'd joined the gym, I could've gone there and used their nice warm showers and hair dryers!  This is not lost on me.  Ahh..Ches says to join.  I do miss it.  I wanted to get on the machines.  (is that weird?) (is it weirder that I coveted their heat and hair dryers and lights today?)

When I got a call from a sweet friend, Veronica, I had Plans!  She didn't send her son to school today, since there's a chicken pox outbreak (10 kids is the current total) at school.  (did I forget to mention that?)  Anyway, he goes on Tuesday/Thursday, so we got to PlAy today! : )  We went to the library for story time, then to Chick-Fil-A for lunch.  We had a great time! 

First a story, then some dancing and "freezing" to the music!

More dancing...

Another Story.  Aren't they sitting nicely?  This was right before Ethan had an altercation with the little girl in the cute black and white dress behind him.  Lovely.  Now I remember why we quit going!

We had the best time!  I saw Sandra and Nora there (it's Nora's fourth birthday today!!), and Casandra and Lucas-it was quite the party!  I definitely should go more often!  (except Bible study starts next week, so maybe on Thursdays?).

Then after eating and playing, and special attention to our drinks, balloons, and ice cream from Raoul, we parted ways.  We went to Wal-Mart to look for Nora a gift.  Her party is on Saturday, and I got to ask her what she wanted.  She didn't really have anything in mind, but she said Strawberry Shortcake.  I asked if she wanted people or a little car.  She said a car!  (I'd seen one at Walmart!)  We went straight to the toy section, and found tons of toys!  There is this awesome clearance aisle, so I browsed (while Ethan told me all of the things he wanted for Christmas..at least he didn't ask for anything today!) and found totally amazing deals!  There's this cool My Little Pony Mermaid Castle (normally $40) for $15, a Zoobles! Razoo’s Treehouse Play Set for only $15, and the Little People Happy Sounds Home for $15 (normally $35), the Hex Bugs Nano were only $3, and then...I found some Strawberry Shortcake!!  Remember the awesome Berry Cafe Mary Claire got for Christmas?  I found one, and remember how it was $15 after Christmas (and $35 before Christmas)?  I was eager to see if they had any more.  Well..can I be all hyper and proud and excited at once??  It was only SEVEN DOLLARS!!!  I got it, and I found the most adorable Strawberry Shortcake car for her, for guess...Five Dollars!  Ahh, I got both.  It was pure awesomeness.  (if you are a little girl who *loves* Strawberry Shortcake, or a mom who *hearts* a great deal!)  Can I say again how excited I was? : )


So, that certainly put me in a great mood.  Then we picked up the kids from school, and started our next adventure.  We made Play-Doh...out of Kool-Aid!  Yeah, really.  I could not make this stuff up if I tried.  I'll give you the recipe before I forget:

Play-doh made with Kool-Aid
2 c. water
1 pkg. unsweetened Kool-Aid (grape turns gray, so not good. Orange, berry, and lime are the best)
2 c. flour (I used only white flour so it wouldn't have texture/fiber-haha)
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 cup salt (yes, CUP!)
2 tsp. oil


1.  Mix water and Kool-Aid mix in big pan.
2.  Add remaining ingredients, and mix well.  Cook over medium heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring constantly.  Play dough is done when color deepens and it comes together in a ball.  (You'll be able to tell!)  Turn onto a plate to cool.  Store in a ziploc bag.

We started with the Lime-Ethan's favorite color!

someone borrowed my camera...

and it got thicker..

well, it's not a "ball", but it's done.  It reminds me of cooking scrambled eggs!

Umm..did someone else borrow my camera?

I just love finding surprise pictures on my camera! : )

and Ta-Da!  Beautiful Play-Doh!! : )

Ta-Da!  Beautiful Boy! : )

and because we found another 1/2 cup salt..one more batch!

this time Berry Blue..

They are so cute, working together.

I know..where's Clay?  He's at the bar playing his keyboard all afternoon.  I guess because I could HeAr It ALL afternoon, somehow I thought you could too.

I let them play with this batch-they couldn't wait!  She used all the cookie cutters for her play-doh.  She had a Peace, Love, Bread Bakery she said.  Only bread products, as usual.

I have to tell you, I was very happy with this recipe.  It turned out extremely well, good color throughout, good consistency-not oily, not sticky (or stinky), and it didn't leave any color on our hands (it RoCKs!).  Try this at home!

And I've had this cool toy since Christmas (Santa left it in my stocking!), and haven't gotten to play with it since strawberries are a crazy $4.48 a quart!  But today felt special, and I was feeling Berry Special.. so I got us some for dinner.  Here is my newest strawberry huller:

It is spring-loaded, and you push down on the green to open up its "teeth".

She wanted to be the first to use it. : )

..but she got tired of it, and Clay finished!  He was very good at it!

I sometimes think my posts are WAY too long, but I have so much to say, and so much to share! : )  I mean: great deals, awesome play-doh, and way-cool kitchen toys!  (Ok, exciting to me?)