Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Not at all healthy, but OH so yummy...

2 packages chocolate cake mix
4 eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
orange food coloring (optional)

Preheat oven to 325. Lightly grease cookie sheets.
In a large bowl, mix cake mixes, eggs, and oil until well blended.
Drop 2 inch balls of dough onto prepared cookie sheets. Flatten balls slightly with a spoon.
Bake for about 10 minutes or until firm. Let stand on baking sheet for a few minutes after removing from oven.
To make filling, beat cream cheese, sugar, and orange coloring until very smooth.
Spread between 2 cooled cookies. Yum!

Sewing Adventure

Inspiration and help from my extraordinarily talented friend led me to create matching dresses for the girls. Although I took out many seams and had to redo a few sections, I was suprised and pleased at the final product. I was so excited about the outcome that I even made matching hairbows. Having little Caleb there to whimper and crawl around me throughout the process extended the total finish time considerably; I'll probably wait a while before attempting it again. ;)

Weekend Camping Excursion

Columbus Day weekend marked our big camp trip to Garner State Park. The park is in Texas, about a 5 hour drive from us. What a terrific time we had! Our good friends came along and we enjoyed relaxing by the campfire, hiking to Crystal Cave, swimming in the extraordinarily clear Rio Frio (means "cold river" for those of you who may not immediately understand the spanish translation), playing in the misty forest, a full play production by the kids complete with stage curtains (beach towels on a rope) and a wooded backdrop, amazing food prepared in our outdoor kitchen, and swinging in the hammock. Camping seems to be so much work, but always so worth it to spend good quality time outside with wonderful people we love.

Lego Craze

The lego phenomenon has caught hold of the girls… especially Audrey. Brendan passed on his lego building wisdom and Audrey designed her own little village, complete with its own duck pond. These two architects would spend entire days creating structures if they could. Here is the latest of Audrey's creations:

Galveston Beach

This year we spent a relaxing Labor Day visiting Stewart Beach in Galveston. The sand, sun, and good friends provided an ideal play day for our four busybodies. Brendan and his buddies spent hours building in the sand; Audrey learned to boogie board with me; Madeline ran around with her cute girlfriends; while Caleb lounged in the mud and under the shade canopy with dad. Some of us mommies tried our hand at body surfing and had a blast playing in the waves, watching from afar as the dads did their best to keep track of all the kiddos. What a fun excursion!

We did receive several unfortunate sunburns, and spent the week rubbing aloe plant leaves all over our arms and backs (thanks Maren & Megan for your generous donations to the sunburn cause). We are now back in business and enthusiastically watching as the poor burned skin relics peel away. So very relieved to be done with the tender skin stage. One tip for future beach trips: sunscreen lotions work so much better than sprays!

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Family Campout

Last weekend we decided to take a last minute camping trip with some friends. All the little Lewises were so thrilled to sleep in a tent together and get dirty playing outside. Brendan really wanted to take Legos along, so I reminded him of the bounteous supply of sticks and rocks in the woods. He got an enthusiastic look and exclaimed, "Yes! I just love those kinds of toys. They will be a great substitute for the Legos, mom."

We enjoyed tin foil dinners, throwing things into the fire pit, and exploring the woods. We even found a delightful and cool river that was shallow enough to wade through. We got completely soaked and loved every minute of it. So glad I remembered lots of plastic bags to tote home the muddy gear. 10 loads of laundry later, I'm still so glad we went!

Special Time

I have very much enjoyed the past few days with two kiddos at home. Madeline feels special to be the oldest child in the house. She feels so grown up to be able to go on outings with me while "the other guys" are at school. Although I was sad to see B & A start school and be away from me, I find that I am cherishing the time I have to spend with the littler ones. Here is my attempt to capture some of our fun moments: