Halloween Treats!

So why do I feel like I'm the only sister blogging? :) You girls need to get a jump on it!

It is fall break for the girls so Anna and Elizabeth are home! We are so excited to spend a little time with them. Sarah took a trip to the beach with some friends during the break; maybe we will see a post about that! :) It has been really different with a full house again, but very fun.

I wanted to post about some fun treats I made from inspiration I found on Pinterest and my general love for fall! So here are some pictures and info. on the deliciousness I created!

I created: caramel filled apples, "acorns," "witches' hats," and "spider webs"!

First the apples.

Materials: apples, lemon juice, caramel, melon scooper, and toothpicks

I cut the tops off the apples for lids. Then I used a melon scooper to hollow out the inside of the apples to make it a little apple bowl (so cute!)

Then I filled them with caramel! I put toothpicks in the spheres made from the inside of the apple and dipped them into the caramel filled apple bowls! Any excess caramel and apple spheres can be "toothpicked" and made into mini caramel apples! So fun and easy. It probably took me 5 minutes per apple.

[Tip: Put lemon juice around the top of the apple and on the lid (and even the apple spheres too) to keep them from browning!]

Next up was the chocolate and pretzel spider webs! (My favorite of the bunch!)

Materials: white chocolate and stick pretzels, waxed paper, and a lot of counter space!

They are SUPER fun and delicious. Arrange pretzel sticks in groups of 6 or 8 with the ends really close. Melt white chocolate and spoon it into a pastry bag. (Or a ziplock with the tip cut off for those of us in real life) :) Fill the area in the center with white chocolate to stick the pretzels together. Then carefully squeeze the chocolate in circles over the sticks to make the webs! It takes a steady hand and few tries to get it right!

Also, it is hard to stop in the middle and take a picture.

Please excuse my face.

Last up were the easiest of the bunch: the witches's hats and acorns.

Materials: Hershey's kisses, Nilla Wafers or Nutter Butter snack bites, chocolate morsels, and Keebler fudge striped cookies

Assembly is simple. Melt a little chocolate to act as the glue. For the acorns, simply dip the bottom of the kisses into the melted chocolate and set the kiss on the wafer! To be extra detailed, add a mini chocolate morsel to the bottom of the wafer to act as the acorn stem.

For the hats, dip the kisses in the "glue" as well then stick them on the upturned cookie. For extra pizzaz as well, you can use any excess chocolate to pipe a little bow around the kiss. Ta-da! A hat.

I would call it a successful day. :)

Happy Fall and Happy (early) Halloween!

-mary claire

Homecoming 2011!

Hey, guys! Here's a quick post from me about my last Football Homecoming in high school! I am a cheerleader and have always felt the importance of this event. Though Anna was our only alumnus in the family to actually come home... :) it was a FUN but stressful time for me.

We have a tradition at my high school of decorating the hallways according to our overall theme and building a float for our individual grade's theme. Our theme this year was "Survivor" like the T.V. show; the senior class was "Señor Seniors"-cultural not racist. It was loads of fun.

So with my responsibilities as a cheerleader and my dedication to our senior float, I had a crazy week.

Cheer consisted of practices before AND after school, then I would head over to decorate the float after a quick stop at Walmart for supplies and food. (Also, Walmart's deli is awesome; I'm a new fan.)

These are some of the devoted float workers and some of my best friends!

Also, my friend's dog just had nine precious puppies. I may or may not have spent the majority of my decorating time with the pups. I mean look at them!! (Please disregard my cheer clothes-busy week.)

Homecoming is a very big deal. It may just be a Southern thing, but we really love it at my high school! Another beloved aspect is our theme days. One day was T.V./Movie Character Day. Two of my friends joined me in being the three orphans from the movie Despicable Me. We were awesome :)

There were some really creative costumes! Here's some of my best friends as two of the 101 Dalmations.

Here's my friend David in his Mexican dress! It was his mom's dress; I wore my mom's dress too! If you didn't know, my mom is awesome. Debsta lived in Alcapulco, Mexico for a year to teach music and piano to missionary kids. Is she not the coolest? :) So I wore one of the dresses she bought while there. I felt super authentic!

Overall, Homecoming is so fun. Stressful, yes-but fun! It is hard to fathom that this is my last football Homecoming to be involved in. It is bittersweet. :) This is a part of my high school experience I hold close to my heart and hope to always remember.

What are some of your favorite experiences from high school?

:) have a good week, y'all!

-mary claire

Who would've thought....

Who would've thunk it. The day that I post on this dang blog... Well get excited people, because here it is!!!

Anna has decided to post!

I'd just like to give a little shout out to the people who are following this thing, I admire your dedication. I'm probably just doing this to avoid packing(for a tiny weekend home), studying, writing an essay, or showering... Life is just busy, folks. A good busy, but still busy in itself.

It's almost October, and school is well into swing. And it is no easy thing, but I'm making it! I went through rush here at my school and I am a Chi Omega! wooo! So now that porker is one, too, there are three of us sistas in that srat! woo! mc has no choice... hahaha! just kidding. :)

Anyway, life is just chugging along, and I can't believe how fast it has gone! New friendships that have come into my life, and the old ones are still there too! So many changes, but they aren't bad! I don't know how I could do it without God though. It's been tough, I won't lie, but He has had me every step of the way. From sorority stuff, friendships, and school, He has been a constant and leaning on Him has given me a peace that is like no other.

So yes, life is good. God is good. And I get to go home tomorrow!! woo! who would've ever thought that I would be this excited!? haha :) and I get to see my baby, check check.

Well fellow bloggers, this is good night, and hopefully I'll be back on here sooner or later, giving details into my crazy, exciting college life! haha! just kidding, but not really :)

-anna

ps-here are some pics, enjoy!

The rooms and I!

Mom and Dad came up on Bid day!

Going to a wrestle-mania function with my sista and "brother"!

A Little Too Quiet: Senior Year

Hey, y'all! Holding down the fort over here. :) I titled this post "A Little Too Quiet" because that's our house right now... too quiet. Without my sisters, it gets pretty dull around here. M and D are doing great; there's a lot of "Words with Friends" and guitar playing going on tonight per usual. At least they aren't asleep again...

I have a feeling I will get in trouble for this picture, but it's so worth it! It's a little peak at what I'm dealing with daily... ;)

It's quiet here, but peaceful. Going from three girls at home to one is quite a change for all of us but, in all honesty, we are finding it a pleasant change. Although we miss all of our girls, the Lord knew we needed a year to ourselves: a year of peace. :) Just this morning when I was driving to school at the crack of dawn (okay, maybe it was more like 7:00 AM, but that's still early!) I saw this beautiful sunrise and was reminded of God's promise of new mercies every day and the comfort that He is with us. ALWAYS.

Exodus 14:14, "The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still." Amen and Hallelujah.

In other news, my senior year of high school is starting with a bang! Cheer is crazy as always, but I am truly enjoying the girls on my squad. They are all nuts; I fit right in!

Our high school has a tradition of having one "Senior Lunch" a quarter at a student's home. All 120 of us unload upon a house and eat-and eat and eat. Today we had our first lunch and it was splendid. Even better than splendid-stupendous! It really made me realize that I am actually a senior, not still in seventh grade.

The moms who helped set up the lunch brought all the foods we

ate in kindergarten and elementary school! PB&Js, grilled cheeses, Lunchables, KoolAid, Caprisun, cotton candy, ring pops, Laffy Taffy, Fruit by-the-Foot, and so much more. They even provided sidewalk chalk and bubbles! But, get this, they also had two ice cream trucks come and serve us whatever we wanted. It was like Christmas!! We took a class picture then headed back to school all hyped up on sugar.

They also gave us some sunglasses with "Class of 2012" on the side. Here are some pictures of my friends enjoying them-in class of course. :)

Aren't they adorable?!

So, sisterless, somehow I am managing. We do alot of praying around here. :) We know that even though we can't be together all the time, God is with us every moment of every day.

Hallelujah. :)

bye, y'all!

-mary claire

College Times

I am moved back in at school and it feels like I have not ever left. Although this year is different than the past 2 years. This year Elizabeth is here with me! I love getting to see her on campus, and now she is a part of my sorority!

I was reunited with my wonderful roommates. I am so thankful to them, especially working with the freshmen and seeing how I have made so many deep and fulfilling relationships. These relationships are evident in my 3 roommates.

During this semester I have done some craziness! We went to the fair. I love fairs. Not only because of the rides, but because of all of the crazy people and the best food ever. At the fair we attended a glorious magic show, and did not ride any rides. This girl loves her fair food more than the rides.

Lastly, Elizabeth and I went on a spontaneous journey to see Les Miserables! We were going to go with one of our friends, but that did not work out and the sisters decided to go on our own. Girl power! I sobbed through the entire show, and we had such a wonderful time together. It is such a blessing to be able to see her whenever I want. She is such an encouragement to me, and I love getting to share college with her!

New Beginnings

The eldest three sisters are now settling in (I think I can safely speak for the other two) at our respective colleges.  I am with Sarah, and Anna is on her own, but surrounded by great friends.  The change from high school to college is a drastic one!  First there is the fact that I had to leave my parents for the first time, not to mention Mary Claire, knowing that their lives at home would keep going, but I would be completely separate.  It is so strange to think about.  Secondly, I would leave my home!  All of the familiar places would be traded for ones I had only glimpsed a few times on visits to see Sarah.  I am a disaster when it comes to directions, so moving was an intimidating concept for me.  Also, Anna and I had to separate for the first time EVER.  We are twins, so we have been together literally since birth.  Actually, since before birth!  The longest time we have been apart has been when we went on different mission trips.  I did not know what to expect with all of these changes.

I think I auto-piloted my way through the first week or so.  I was physically and emotionally exhausted but I did have a lot of fun experiencing college life for the first time.  God comforted me and blessed me with Sarah, who was a huge encouragement to me.  I did not miss my family too badly, and am starting to feel at home here.  I think it is when I really do feel settled in that I miss my family the most.  I wish that they could be here with me, not to see how well I am doing, but just to share in my joys and triumphs.  I wish that they could know every detail of my day, good or bad.  I just miss sharing every aspect of my life with them, which used to happen almost effortlessly at home.  

Communication is just different now.  In this new stage of our lives we are learning how to connect in different ways.  We are still close, and the distance between us makes us want to talk to each other more, and gives us more to tell each other.  I cannot wait to see Anna, MC, Mama, and Daddy again, though.  That will be fun.  In honor of the beginnings we are having, I think I will post pictures of Anna's and my dorm rooms.  Sarah has moved in a few times now, so her room was not documented...maybe she will post some pictures. :)  

We moved Anna in first.  Her college is a state school so the process was strictly timed and organized.  It was just a little bit stressful, and very hot, but we made it through and her room turned out great!

My moving-in experience was more leisurely, and I love the way my room turned out.  I got more pictures of my room than I did of Anna's, maybe she'll upload some more of hers.  

MC was tired of my indecisiveness, I'm sure. :)

This last picture is a painting done by a dear friend of our family, actually one of Mama's friends from college.  She painted this from a picture of us four at the beach when we were little; we used to go to Destin every summer.  She makes prints for each of us girls and gives them to us when we go to college. This picture is so special to me and I love having it in my room.  My sisters and I have made so many wonderful memories together, and I know we have many more ahead of us!  Love y'all so much!

Elizabeth

Oh, I should mention that beneath the picture is a chart that Mary Claire made me.  It asks a series of questions, and every answer leads to "Don't worry about it."  Such a good life lesson!  That girl is full of wisdom. :)  

The Winding Down of Summer

It is now August 27th.  AUGUST 27th!  I cannot believe it.  Our four lives have changed drastically, but before I go into all of that I feel like I must mention the wonderful things we did our summer days came to a close.
First, we visited Sarah at the family camp she worked all of July.  We visited a favorite Mexican restaurante and enjoyed our traditional fajitas.  What a predictable family we are!

Our dear friend, Hannah, lunched with us.  She served at another branch of the same Christian camp.

A small side note was a College Night that Anna and I attended at our local container store.  This would not be of enough importance to mention, except for the fact that Anna won a raffle for a large tower of shelves.  We rejoiced in her winnings.

Next up was our tie-dying (or is it tye-die?) party.  Mary Claire, Anna, and I tie-dyed t-shirts in our garage in the relentless summer heat.  Typical of our personalities, Anna and Mary Claire finished quickly, while I labored in the heat, unwilling to rush through the dying process, even though I was baking alive.  The shirts were worth the effort, though!

(The pictures of the dying process are on Anna's camera... maybe I can convince her to post!)

The next major event in the lives of the sisters at home was a cookout Anna and I threw for our friends.  We (mainly Mama and MC) cooked all day long for this extravaganza.

Aprons are a big part of the cooking process.

As you can tell, we did much cooking and the party was a success.  It was a "last supper" of sorts for Anna and me, though, because the next day we got our wisdom teeth taken out.  Trust me, you do not want to see those pictures...they are so pitiful, even I can barely stand to look at them!

Mary Claire and I love getting snow cones, especially from our local Purple Penguin stand because our friends work there.  Or maybe we just made friends with everyone who works there.  

Anyway, we are regulars, and I decided to document our favorite summer activity.

Obviously, my snowcone was the one on the left.  :)

These times are my favorite summer memories, and I treasure every minute I am with my sisters.  I am writing this from my dorm room which still feels very new and very unlike my room at home, and I long for my sisters.  Thankfully, Sarah is with me!  But I miss my other two.  I am so glad I got to have these memories with my sisters this summer.  Stay tuned for our moving-in stories!  

Elizabeth