One Determined Little Girl

She might be pint sized but boy can she climb : )

AYSO

The time has come . . .  SOCCER! We signed Sophia up for AYSO. Technically you have to be 4 years old by July 31st, but I asked if they could make an exception for Sophia. She missed the cut-off by 9 days. Apparently this is a National League rule, but they granted her permission. YAY!

Although I knew Sophia would be the youngest, I wanted her to experience a team sport. I think it's a good way to learn teamwork and sharing. But David and I are not acting like crazed sport parents. We just want her to have fun. We don't want this experience to be about winning or losing. It's all about trying your best - which is all we could ever ask of our children.

The next Hope Solo?

Lucky #4

Had to had pink cleats. And you can bet your bottom dollar her
shin guards are pink too : )

A little tutorial before the game : )

Practicing her throw-ins

Time to stretch and warm up those legs

Have a great season Blue Butterfly!

And remember . . . HAVE FUN!

Proud Papa!

Easy Hair Accessory

I was at the club the other day and saw a mom making these cute ponytail holders for her daughter. Well, I'm about easy! Not to mention it is so inexpensive : )

Cute ribbon and a hair tie

Add some knots

Instant ponytail holder worthy of a fashion opinionated 4 year old girl.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

You know how much I love cinnamon rolls. I mean, really love cinnamon rolls. But they can be somewhat time consuming to make when you want one immediately. So what would be the next best thing? How about Cinnamon Roll Cake? I found this lovely recipe on another favorite blog Your Home Based Mom.

Cinnamon Roll Cake (from Your Home Based Mom)

For the cake:
3 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup melted butter

For the topping:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Mix all cake ingredients together except for the melted butter. Slowly stir in melted butter. Pour batter into a 9x13 greased pan.
Mix all topping ingredients until well combined. Drop topping evenly over the cake batter and swirl with knife.
Bake at 350 F for 28 - 32 minutes. (I'm not sure why, maybe weather difference, but my cake baked for 45 minutes before a toothpick came out clean).

Now you see it . . . 

Now you don't!

Now for the glaze. I did not use the same recipe that went along with this cake. I like cream cheese frosting with my cinnamon rolls, so I knew I had to make a cream cheese frosting for this cinnamon roll cake. Here is what I came up with:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 ounces Mascarpone cheese, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream the 2 cheeses together until smooth. Add powdered sugar, milk, orange juice and vanilla. Mix until well blended. You can play around with the milk and orange juice combination to your liking - add more liquid to make it more of a drizzly consistency.

Drizzle or in my case spread : ) over warm cake.

Hardest part of all this is trying to figure out if you want some
for breakfast or dessert. : )

Pre-K!

Oh my word! Seriously? How did this happen? Pre-Kindergarten?! Sophia has been overly excited to be a Butterfly this year. Apparently, being a Butterfly is a very big deal for her. And for me? Well it just emphasizes how fast my little girl is growing up. Pretty soon she won't want me to hold her hand on the way to the classroom; that is if she even lets me walk with her or be seen with her for that matter. I'm gonna stop here before I turn my keyboard into a wet mess.

The kids have their own sign-in binder too.

Not bad?!

Everyday there is a different question for the kids to answer.

Sophia wasted no time and headed straight for the reading area.

Looking pretty astute, wouldn't you say?

WE LOVE YOU SOPHIA!

HAVE A WONDERFUL BUTTERFLY YEAR!