Our Ice Cream Social and Other News

I think our Ice Cream Social was a success. Everyone said they had a good time and Katie is developing into a good hostess. I just had to remind her one time that a good hostess is gracious to her guests. I think she was wanting her little friends to do what she wanted to do and it made her a little upset. HAHA! When I reminded her, she told me in a low voice, "while I got a little upset that's all." All was good again after my advice. From time to time, we just need a little voice to remind us when we begin to loose control. I was proud of baby girl for her behavior and trust me, I let her know it last night.

Well, remember me posting my ice cream template?

The multi-photo above on the top left hand side is the end result of this template. I made about a dozen of these cute ice cream cones and hung them from the Kitchen/Dining Room ceiling. They were so easy to make for a last minute party decoration idea.  I placed double-sided taped on the ice cream with the cone sandwiched between. I have to warn you that if you decide to hang them from the ceiling, you might want to add a little glue to the ribbon or extra tape for strength.

I also made the mini ice cream cones garland, pictured in the bottom left hand side.  Another Simply Modern Mom idea.  She didn't have instructions in her post, so I found this tutorial from Kaboose.  The only difference is I used hot glue instead of regular white glue.  To make the garland, I simply thread the ice cream cones together with gold thread.  My tip, be sure the thread through the middle of the pom-pom because when you hang the garland, the pom-poms will not cooperate with you.   

Ruffle Ice Cream Cups

I found this idea from Simply Modern Mom.  They turned out so cute, but are a little tedious to make.  If I must give you a tip that SMM doesn't.  After you put on the ribbon, you might want to add a little dot of hot glue where the bow is just for security reasons.  I noticed a couple of the cup's ribbons fell off during the party.  Oops! 

If you want these cute cups at your next social party, this is what I did.

What You'll Need

Cocktail Party Cups (I believe they are 8oz.)

Recycled Coffee Filters

Small dainty ribbon

Double-sided Tape

Hot Glue

1. Cut out the bottoms of the filters
2. Place double-sided tape on the sides of the cups
3. Making a ruffle, gather the filter and stick to the tape on the cups.  It's neat because the tape acted like a magnet to the filter paper, drawing it close to the cup. 
4. Add your ribbon and tie into a small bow.
5. I would add a small drop of hot glue on the paper where the bow will be for security.

I think the kids made some great memories yesterday.  We had a lot of fun, I just hated that it was so hot.  Yuck!  But I believe the water was perfect to cool of the kids. 

Congrats Elton!

An amazing educator and great friend, Elton Bouldin, accepted the principal position at CHS.  We  are so happy for him.  He has been the principal for West  Elementary for several years and with his leadership, the school has won several awards.  West is a tight ship and I know a lot of educators that work at the school think very highly of Dr. Bouldin.  Doug and I got to really know Elton and his lovely wife, Sue, at church. When he was our Sunday School teacher, we couldn't wait to get to church just to hear his lectures on the book of Revelations.  Like I said, I'm happy for him and the high school, I think he'll be a great asset to that school system; However, I'm sad because I was really depending on him being at West when Katie started 2nd grade.  Yuck!     

Alabama Heat
In other news, CBS 42 reported yesterday that the heat in Alabama has been so bad, it has been blamed for six deaths since May. What's so bad is health officials project the death toll could climb. Click Here for the full story.  Y'all it's been so hot here that the heat idex has been in the triple digits. 

Because of the heat and rain, we've been spending these past several days in house.  Not only are we having ice cream socials, but we are taking full advantage of our Wii and Xbox systems.  Growing up, I was always so jealous of my nephew, Ryan, when we were play Mario Bros. video games.  He could accomplish so many goals and get to go in all these different worlds and me well I was lucky to get out of the second world without getting ate or killed.  Yeah, I was that bad with video games.  I got to where I hated them.  I would just stick to my board or card games, thank you very much.  Well, I must say that I don't regret getting the Wii or Xbox systems.  On days like we've had, they are so worth the money.  The kids are not so bored and out of my hair.  To tell you the truth, I've enjoyed playing the games as well.  I've never played on a SimsCity game until I recently purchased the My Sims Collection.  I thought it was a good deal because the collection included two different games for $20.  I've been playing off and on during my down time a couple games off the Facebook, Cityville and Farmville.  So, if you like them, you'll probably like Sims.  The one thing I didn't care about playing games off of Facebook is you depend on your friends to help you out.  I just needed something to relax after everyone's gone to bed.  I taught Katie how to play My Sims, which is kind of a plus because it's helping her with sight words and reading.  I'm hoping to use it that way.  I love watching Katie's face when she makes a mistake on some of her video games.  Instead of getting mad, she laughs that she's flying off of the road into a lake or crashing into something she's not suppose to.  She'll laugh and laugh.  Then she'll tell me that she's going to do that again.  LOL!  You have to understand, Katie is such a poor sport when it comes to losing.  She absolutely hates it!  So, this is good for her to lose and be able to handle the disappointment every now and then. 

Katie and Colton have been great little helpers around the house.  I taught Katie how to use our vaccum.  After I fold up the clothes, Katie and Colton help me put them away.  It's so cute to hear Colton telling me "I help, I help."  Big sister gets a little aggravated at him when he wants to help her.  LOL!  Katie told me the other day that she wished we didn't have to work so hard, cleaning house.  LOL!  I told her that she had better get use to it because it doesn't get any easier. 

How have you been spending your hot Summer days? 

Ice Cream Cup Cakes

Okay, so I've seen a few blog posts where people add pictures to their cooking creations. Of course, I had to do one as well. I have to say, it was pretty fun documenting my cooking experience. I'll have to do it again. Ha! Ha!


I started off with your basic ingredients to make a cake batter. Follow the instructions from the cake box. What's really nice is the ice cream cups that I purchased had the directions on the side on how to make ice cream cup cakes. This is so cool because I've never heard of it until now. Look what I've missed out on.


After you make your batter, place the ice cream cups in muffin trays. I used a regular table spoon and spooned the batter into the cups 3/4 full. I would recommend filling it up just a little bit more.


Katie had to get in on the action. I had one tray already in the oven and we were waiting for the next tray to go in. I ended up making 3 dozen according to the directions. I think when I remake them for Katie's birthday, I'm going to fill the cups up a little more than the directions tell.


I baked each tray for 15 minutes at a time on 350 degrees. Make sure the toothpick comes out clean. Then, you are ready to ice and decorate the cakes. Katie got a little excited because it was time to decorate. I figured the cups would burn in the oven, so I was surprised to see that they were not. I also like that the cups soften up a little, which is good. This way when you bite into the cup, it won't be so hard that it cuts the roof of your mouth.



Here is our finished product. We are so proud of ourselves. We actually did it and it wasn't hard at all to do. In the picture above, Katie is pointing to her Ice Cream Cup Cakes. She's so proud.



What an easy and delicious treat. My food critics agree. Tehe!