4th of July weekend

This past weekend, we departed from the Friday night norm - eating at The Depot in Helena (www.helenadepot.com) - and ate there on Thursday night instead. So Friday night we went to Habaneros in Alabaster. When we got home we heard fireworks. Madi claimed that she "don't like those fireworks. Fireworks scare me. I go inside and those fireworks won't scare me." We were concerend about Saturday night knowing that there would be fireworks within 50 yards of us. We also started Mason on Nutramigen Hypoallergenic formula in hopes that it would really stop colic within 48 hours (the claim on the package). Friday night he did not cry at all. He smiled, he cooed, he giggled...and no crying!

Saturday morning Madi and I fixed Uncle Craig a Dirt Cake. A great recipe for toddlers to make!

1 to 1 1/4 lb. pkg. Oreo cookies
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1/2 cup b

utter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
3 cups milk
1 (12 oz.) tub Cool Whip (can

use chocolate)
2 (3 1/2 oz

.) pkg. instant vanilla or chocolate pudding
1/2 tsp. vanilla
4 gummy worms and/or other

critters

Crush Oreos. Put 1/3 of the crushed Oreos into a new, clean flower pot. Set aside. Mix butter,

cream cheese and sugar and vanilla

together. Set aside. Combine milk and pudding mix. Fold Cool Whip into the pudding. Fold together pudding mixture and butter-

cream cheese mixture. Layer this mixture (about 1/3 of it) onto the crumbled cookies in the pot. Next, add another layer of the pudding mixture,

then another layer of cookie crumbs, continuing until all ingredients are used. As you're layering the ingredients, decoratively place several

gummy worms and critters in the "soil" so they will be seen emerging. If you have a toy garden trowel, a plastic daisy, or some edible flowers,

these can also be used creatively to embellish the presentation.

After cooking our Dirt Cake, we drove to Palmerdale, Alabama to my Aunt Peggy's house for a family gettogether. Madi really wanted to drive the boat on Emerald Lake, but we were unable to get in cranked.

We left Peggy's house around 1:30 headed to Florence, Alabama to visit with Brit's family. I had not been to Florence since Christmas because of Mason and this was Mason's first trip. It was fairly uneventful trip - both kids slept most of the way! We ate supper at Aunt Janice's house and

Madi played on a slip-n-slide for the first time. She REALLY loved it. We left Janice's house to watch fireworks at Aunt Connie's house. Madi was initially scared, but ended up having a good time watching the fireworks too. Sunday we went to church and then to Chuckie Cheese's...also a first for Madi! No more ball pits at Chuckie Cheese's though :( but it was still fun.

Mason has still not had a single colic symptom - YAY!