The Perfect Cupcake!?

con·nois·seur (kn-sûr, -sr)
n.
1. A person with expert knowledge or training, especially in the fine arts.
2. A person of informed and discriminating taste: a connoisseur of CUPCAKES.

By the above definition, I have awarded myself the earned title "Cupcake Connoisseur." I just LOVE a good cupcake! My BFF, Shannon, and I kind of scout them out actually. From Washington DC to Keller...no place too far, no place too close. We recently stumbled across a new place in Grapevine on Main Street...PATTY CAKES. SO YUMMY! We were actually looking to try a place called "Crumbles" upon recommendation but entered into the newly named, MISCELLANEOUS (recently purchased by a new owner)...and pretty much just turned around and walked right back out having no intention of trying what little they had to offer. Dissapointed, we headed for frozen yogurt instead when we saw PATTY CAKES and opted to try it out. A WISE MOVE!

My favorite was the red velvet!!




The icing was to die for! I mean let's all just be honest, if the icing isn't delicious...who even cares about the cake?!

Some other good local cupcakes found at...


McKinley's (by TCU) - ALSO delicious cakes!!
j rae's





I will say, my favorite is still BAKED & WIRED in Georgetown (Washington, DC) BUT...seeing as they don't deliver to Keller...my search will continue on to find a local bakery that can compete w/the "prefect cupcake." ;-)



XOXO from your Cupcake Connoisseur! ;-)

Congrats Kaylor!

We went to Missouri to visit some of Jon’s family and help celebrate Kaylor’s (Jon’s cousin) High School graduation a couple weekends back. Life has gotten in the way of blog time so I'm just now posting, hehe. We had a great time! Here are some cute pics and highlights of our trip…

About to leave the hotel and go meet up with everyone for Kaylor's graduation party! Kathryn, Gramma and Jude




Jude playing with Uncle Wilber and Gramma Judy. He LOVED Wilber's beard! It seemed like he didn't let go the whole weekend:-)





Jude also LOVED Christy! She got down on his level and let him tell her all about everything in HIS language while grabbing her pretty face! :-) SO CUTE!




Our niece, Kathryn, had a blast!






Mommy and Daddy lovin' on Jude!



















Playing around with the camera...yeah, we're nerds...

















Jude having fun with daddy and Gramma


Diet Coke vs Coca Cola




Thanks so much to all the Kaylor's for having us! AND an extra big thanks to Uncle Wilber for helping us with our sweet doggie, Bentley! :-)

Much love & can't wait to see you all again!
Jon, Brooke & Jude

Mother's Day Weekend 2010

I had a wonderful first Mother’s Day weekend!! I left fairly early Friday afternoon with Jude to head for Moore, OK to see the Seilkopf’s, my sister’s fam! Jon stayed back in Keller due to a busy Saturday of Ultimate Frisbee!! Jude and I pulled up to their house around 6:00 and we took some time to say hellos and let the cousins play a bit before making our way out for a yummy Mexican dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Ted’s Café Escondido. Stuffed we came home to veg out, visit and go to bed!
Saturday morning we all slept in til’ around 9:00 and woke up to my bro-in-law making pancakes! Mmm good! My grandparents (mom’s side) live in Shawnee, OK and called to let us know they were on their way over and would be coming with us to watch Allen, my oldest nephew, play in his last soccer game!!


The weather was MUCH colder than anticipated so we bundled up, packed blankets and headed to the fields! The Strikers played great and we had fun cheering Allen on!
Jude however slept soundly thru the WHOLE game somehow!

I had such a great time seeing my sister and her boys…it had been TOO long!! Jude and I said our goodbyes around 6:00 Saturday night and packed up the 4Runner to head back to Texas. I counted the mile markers with anticipation and Jon seemed just as happy to see us as we were him! :-)
Sunday we got up and were actually able to make it to church ON TIME, an ongoing challenge for our household! ;-) We work the toddler room during early service then attend the 11:00. Lunch at home followed by a Tom Thumb grocery trip then we were off to Grandma’s house for Mother’s Day dinner and visiting with Grandma, PaPa and the Lowrances!!


I gotta say…THE BEST DINNER I’ve had in a LONG time!! Grilled Salmon, asparagus, pineapple, mixed veggies and a salad! “Good job boys!” It was DELICIOUS!! I wish I would have taken a picture of the food…mmm mmm mmm! Did I mention it was so good?!
Jude had a blast as usual and enjoys all his attention so much! Sugar, Grandma's chihuahua, was as jealous as ever! HaHa.

Everyone had him giggling and playing games with his tongue as usual. I love seeing him so happy and interacting with my family! I can’t wipe the smile off!
I got my hair cut then we played one card game (“Hand and Foot”) before heading back to our house.
It was a WONDERFUL weekend and a memorable first Mother’s Day!! I couldn’t have felt more loved and special!!

Thank you God for the loving blessings you have offered my life!!

Chopped Locks

As many of my girlfriends already know, my Aunt Pam so graciously cuts my hair for me and has most of my life. Well, Jon and I were being lazy in bed Sunday morning playing with Jude before getting up and ready for church and apparently my messy bed head hair allowed my layers to fall in just the right place that Jon caught a glimpse of what I would look like with short locks.
Jon: “I really think you would look good with your hair all that length” (showing me with his hand what layer he is talking about)
Me: “What?! That’s SHORT! Serious?!”
Jon: “yeah well, you keep saying you want to cut the highlighted hair off. It would look good is all I’m saying.”
Me: “REALLY?! Huh.” (Seriously contemplating as I HAVE been saying that I want the color completely out of my hair so I can grow it out natural and healthy since I got pregnant with Jude)
Jon: “really. Do it.”
So I text messaged my Aunt to bring her scissors to Grandma’s (we had plans to be there for Mother’s Day dinner).
We finish eating and it’s time for the cut! I AM NERVOUS!! 3 to 4 inches off is a lot when it’s already what I consider short! Aunt Pam finishes and admits she was nervous herself but says in a relieved pleasant voice “I really like it! Go look!”…Thankfully she did not voice her concerns prior to the chop or the cut would NOT have happened! LOL.
I walk into the living room where Jon is sitting and I can tell by his face he’s also a fan. YAY! I definitely have an official “mom cut” if I didn’t already ~ hehe. I do like it and it’s SUPER easy to style and takes a total of 3 minutes to blow dry! I have a couple more inches of highlights/dye but it’s looking so healthy now and after the last inches are gone, I’ll definitely be growing it back out! :-) This is a quick pic taken in my cube at work… I know, I look tired. Gimme a break ~ It's a Monday. More to come later...

*Live*Laugh*Love*

Weekend Fun

We took advantage of the "off Friday" with work this week and took Jude to the zoo.



Jon had his season pass made and we had a good time meeting up with the Boone's and Needham's.











Jude was more attentive this time and seemed to really watch the animals!










It was so cute! The weather couldn't have been better and it was a perfect crowd. We had alot of fun and are looking forward to doing it again very soon! :-)

Today Shannon and I met up in Southlake for lunch at yummy Cafe Express and to walk around. Jude couldn't keep his tongue in his mouth!! HaHa ~ he just kept smiling and sticking it out flirting with everyone. We were cracking up! We had a blast as always!!


We came home to daddy working in the garage...



but he took a break to play with us some in the front yard and to feed Jude his green bean dinner. :-)

I love weekends!!
*HUGS*
Brooke