Payton, Party of Five!

Well, look at you! Beautiful, fun, encouraging you! I was shocked to see that I had readers. Thank you for making my day. Thank you for making me laugh!




I thought you might like to meet us. We are the "Payton, Party of Five." (That's what they call us at restaurants.)

My hubby (Brian) and Me:

Skyler (14) A.K.A "The Artist." I have no idea where he gets his drawing skills. I still have trouble with connect-the-dots.  

Blayne (11) A.K.A. "Piano Man." He played in his first piano recital on Friday (He totally rocked the house with, "Oh, When the Saints Go Marching In."). He also likes balloon animals from the Rainforest Cafe.

Tate (6) A.K.A. "The Entertainer." He will be nominated for an Oscar, just you wait and see. This child was born for the camera! He keeps us all in stitches.

This is Possum. She hates baths.

This is Honey. She also hates baths.

The following are some photos that I have taken since yesterday. Enjoy!

This is my secret hiding place; my closet. It's where I tuck myself away to enjoy delicacies, like rice cakes. This is the perfect place to eat rice cakes, as they remind me of my flip flops, which are also in my closet. Am I the only mother who hides, just to snack in peace?

Doesn't this look scrumptious? Can't you just SEE Martha turning green with envy? "Gluten Free Pineapple Upside-Down Cake." This was before I baked it.

Sorry, Little Man, you will have to wait 45 minutes.

While the cake was baking, Skyler and Tate played the "guitar."

As I was washing my best crystal platter, to display the cake on, I dreamed up the most amazing blog post. It involved glittery crystal, warm gooey-goodness, perfectly placed maraschino cherries, pineapple circles that were placed just so. I wanted you to imagine the smell of sizzling brown sugar, perfectly caramelized, swimming in butter, atop a beautifully dense cake. Yes, a cake that would put Martha to shame. You know, something like this:
 

Wait...what? Okay, so I guess the pan I used was too small. The middle wouldn't set, so I slurp-plopped it into a bigger pan, and cooked it 20 minutes longer. Don't judge a cake by its container. This thing was eat-it-over-the stove-right-out-of-the-dish GOOD.

Play time!

Behold the amount of paper towels (2 and 1/2 rolls) that it took to clean barf off of my kitchen floor.

Epic.

This was last night. I thought you should know.

And last, but not least, I took the time to stop and smell the honeysuckle. It was sun-kissed and sweet, and nothing like barf. 

Cheering you on & checking the fuel gauge,

Layla