Look What Showed Up On My Back Porch

A little cherry eating mud soup making summer swimming little girl.  Now that's a face that looks like she's having fun!  I love it.

Soup's On

"Hey Mom, I'm making you red pepper, garlic, ginger, mud soup.  It's not quite ready yet so have a seat and I'll bring it to you when it's time to eat."

Making Breakfast

The other morning I walked into the kitchen to find Dylan at the counter - "Hey Mom, I'm making you breakfast."

Happy Vday

Happy Valentines Day!  Dylan was very excited about V-day this year.  All her classmates handed out Valentines, candy, and stickers.  For a special treat Dylan made her classmates mini red velvet cupcakes.  She so proudly decorated them herself. 

For V-day I made Matt and Dylan a special breakfast.  It got a few giggles.

Here's Asa in her cute V-day outfit from Cousin Stacey.  She was so happy she's doing a little dance.

And here's Dylan so proud of her cookies she made her dad.  For Christmas she gave him a cookie of the month club - this month it's peanut butter cookies with chocolate hearts.  She did a really good job with them and was very proud!  Of course she had to sample them before giving them to her dad (hence the cookie in her mouth smile below).

Love to all and to all a big heart (and a cookie if you come over)!

Gingerbread Cookies - Let The Holidays Begin

Last night we started the Holidays off with a family gingerbread bake off.  Here's our mad little baker patting, rolling, and cutting the dough out...

 We were getting really crazy with gingerbread men and women, elves, reindeer, squirrels, and even a slug bug or two....

This morning after a fine breakfast of crepes (thank you Matt!) we started the decorating fun.

It was oodles and oodles of fun!

Brownies Anyone?

The other day Dylan and our good friend Kristie made brownies.  Someone was in chocolate heaven!

The New Playhouse

Someone's got a new playhouse!!!!! And someone's super excited about it. Don't worry I let Dylan play in it sometimes ;)

Our friend Nan was at Costco a few months back and texted me pictures of this super cute playhouse. It took a few weeks before Dylan and I could get down there to check it out - turns out we were just in time as the one on display was the last one in stock. Luckily I still have connections at Costco so I asked if they ever sell their displays - score! Not only did I get it reduced a hundred bucks (it was already really reasonably priced), I sweet talked the guys into disassembling it so I could get it in the car. I got it home and Matt put it together while Dylan was napping - when she got up Oh My Gosh!!!! You could only imagine the yells and screams of delight. I was off to prep for a shoot but apparently Matt and d played in the playhouse for the next 3 hours! Unheard of in the world of a 2 year old.





This past weekend Matt built a platform and little patio for Miss d's playhouse - he did a great job! Our neighbors cleaned out their daughter's playhouse and gave Dylan tons of little dishes, pots, pans, and play veggies, along with a little table and chair set. There was some major fung shui going on in the little playhouse - chairs in and out until she got it just right. Now Dylan is cooking, cleaning, and hosting up a storm in her little playhouse!

Lil' Chefs Cooking School

Lil' Chefs. Oh it's as cute as it sounds. Imagine 12 toddlers all sitting around a kitchen counter listening to teacher Denise talk about kitchen rules and cooking up a storm. First day the little ones made english muffin pizzas and cut up their own fruit salads (with plastic knives). Dylan had a blast. We're taking the class with our good friends Miles, Gia, and Momma G (Dylan's nickname for Shannon). It was a hoot and Dylan was in her cooking glory.

Pizza Making With Dad

During G-ma Montana's visit Matt and Dylan decided to make everyone pizza. Dylan loves to drag her little chair to the counter and help (or help herself) :)>.

First the sauce.

Then the mushrooms.

Okay a few in the mouth.

Then the tomatoes.

Okay a few in the mouth - wait did I say that already?

Then the olives - and yes a few go the mouth.

Olive dance break!

Finally the cheese - and yes that too went in the mouth.

Whallah! The pizza is done! And it was quite tasty!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all our friends, family, and squirrel buddies.

Stirfry for two

Dylan's such a good little sharer that her pretend stirfry meal for one ended up in her feeding rabbit.

"Um, good stirfry!"

"Wanna bite rabbit?"

"Here let me just feed you."

Dtv ~The Cookie Series

How do you bake a great batch of cookies you ask? Well Miss Dylan Childs is here to show you how in her 2nd cooking show.

"We're serious about our cookies over here at camp Clark. When my mom was pregnant with me she baked batch after batch of cookies (I think my Auntie Beans can actually tell you how many). So I guess you might say baking is in my blood. The only thing better than walking into a house filled with the delicious smell of cookies in the oven is taking a bite of one! Today I'm going to show you how to bake a scrumptious sprinkle cookie."

"Okay, so first you carefully remove the cookies from the container - sometimes it helps to use your spatula."


"Or sometimes it's easier to just get in there and use your hands. I personally like to be hands on things when baking."

"And I really take this serious!"

"Once you have your cookies out of the can arrange then on your cookie tray."


"Sometimes they stick to the can so I give them a good shake to get them out. For those of you wondering what's up with the doctor's kit it's for my new up coming show 'D-watch' or maybe I'll call it 'Doogie D MD' I haven't decided yet. It's also good kitchen safety to have a medical kit standing by."

"You want to make sure your oven is preheated to 350 degrees - and be careful it's very hot! I always warn my baby & rabbit before opening the oven door. AND I always wear my oven mitts!"


"Once you have the cookies in the oven bake for 7-9 minutes."

"That's just enough time to jump on your rocking horse for a quick rockka-rockka-roo."


"Awe Cookies are done! Now for the really fun part - EATING THEM!!! ~ enjoy."

"And the great thing about pretend cookies in a can is that you can repack the can for another fun filled day of baking! Thanks for joining me on another D-Tv baking series."


Our producers would like to thank Madison Murphy for all the great photos.