Inagural Ride

Showing off the new wheels. It's a pretty teal and white Trek mountain bike.

Syd grew out of her bike over the winter. It was definitely time for a new one, as her knees were almost up to her chin every time she rode around the neighborhood. The local bike shop is really good about taking trade ins, so that's what we did.

She is now out of kid size bikes and onto the adult sizes. She can barely touch the ground on this one, so hopefully it will last for a couple of years.


We told her it was an early birthday present. If we waited until August when her birthday comes, summer would be over and she would hardly get a chance to ride it. She was fine with that, and was happy to have a bike that fits her.

Cruising down the road. How do we ingrain in her head the need to look both ways, no matter where she is?

Plenty of room to grow into.

Happy Mother's Day

Every year Ken and Syd find some cute flowers for me for Mother's Day. This year they were some very nice sunshiny yellow ones.

A few months ago, out of the blue, Syd said she wanted to see where Ken's mom's grave is. So we planned to go on Mother's Day. We left some pretty tulips there and just had some quiet time at the graveside. I think this could become a new little family tradition. It's good to keep the one's who have gone before us in our thoughts from time to time.

Best Dessert Ever

My sister-in-law made the most wonderful cake last weekend. She said it was super easy to make, so I found the recipe and tried it myself. Surprisingly, it was easy! My favorite dessert is Boston Cream Pie, and this tastes just like it, but without all the effort of baking and icing layers of cake.

It only has 5 ingredients, and you don't even need to turn the oven on. Definitely my kind of cake :)

Mix 2 packages instant vanilla pudding, 3 cups milk, and one 8 oz tub of thawed cool whip in a bowl.

In a 9 x 13 pan, arrange a single layer of whole graham crakers on the bottom. Pour half the pudding/cool whip mixture on the crackers.

Add another layer of crakers on top of the pudding, and pour on the remaining pudding. Arrange one final layer of crakers on top of the last pudding layer.

Spread a can of chocolate cake frosting on the top layer of graham crakers. (I heated mine in the microwave for about 20 seconds to make it easier to spread).

Chill for about 4 hours before serving.

I took this over to our neighbor's for a cook out we had. I forgot to take my camera to capture their reactions to it. But I do know everyone there loved it.

Here's a printable version of the recipe.

2 (3.5 oz) packages instant vanilla pudding
1 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
3 cups milk
1 (16 oz) package graham cracker squares
1 (16 oz) can prepared chocolate frosting

In a medium bowl, thoroughly blend the pudding mix, whipped topping, and milk.

Arrange a single layer of graham crakers squares in the bottom of a 13x9 baking pan. Evenly spread half of the pudding mixture over hte crackers. Top with another layer of crakers and the remaning pudding mixutre. Top with a final layer of graham crackers.

Spread the frosting over the whole cake up to the edges of the pan. Cover, and chill at least 4 hours before serving.