Can't We All Just Get Along?

Uncle seems to have finally found a common interest with my little man. They could even be heard laughing back and forth with each other. After a week of him avoiding the big burly guy, my son realized that he and his uncle both share an affinity for food. They sat down and broke bread together and all was right with the world if only for a moment. Now if they would just sit down to watch Dog the Bounty Hunter together then they might become inseparable.

Go Play Outside!

Yesterday we went down to the river to look for neat bugs and sticks and rocks with the kiddos. It was a beautiful day for a hike and we got to see lots of neat sights along the way. Of course, the kids' favorite part was stopping for snacks on our hike but my favorite part was seeing the kids get out and enjoy the day without interruption from phones or computers or televisions. Just good 'ol fashioned playing outside. Priceless.

Hanging on the Boat

Since Aunti and family are all visiting for the week, we took the boat out for a little cruise on the lake. It was a bit windy, but a nice day in general. My nieces had some fun getting to drive around since there were virtually no other boats on the water. We even got some fishing in and my little princess caught her first trout on her new fishing pole. She later reasoned with me that must have been a girl fish because it liked the princess fishing pole! I knew I put those stickers and that bling on there for a reason...

A Night With Daddy

So, at some point last month, I was unable to get to the gym in the morning so when my hubby got home I asked him if I could go after dinner while he watched the kiddos. He agreed and I got a good workout that night. The best part of the night however, was coming home to a quiet (albeit rather messy) house and finding this on my bed:

Looking for Sunshine

In hopes of harnessing any rays of sunshine that might be falling our way, the kids and I have planted a small "garden" of vegetables. Okay, so we can't plant it in the ground, you saw what happened LAST summer with those pesky ground squirrels, but we planted them in several pots and put them up on the deck. Right now they're just a bunch of pots of dirt, so no pictures yet, but there hopefully will be some coming soon. On a related note, since I moved the roses off of the threshold to the deck and further up away from the dirt they have quadrupled in size, which is saying something since the stupid ground squirrels ate every darn leaf off of them last fall. We might even see flowers this year if I can keep them away long enough.

Has it Only Been 2 Days?

We all miss you so much already Daddy. We hope you're having a fun time in Mexico but can't wait to see you soon.

Happy Birthday Nana

We hope you're enjoying Mexico and getting spoiled on your big day.Love, 'stinky-britches' and 'miss sassy-pants'

Horsing Around

We took a short day trip to Santa Anita last weekend to watch the ponies run. Some friends joined us with their kids and we spent the afternoon enjoying ourselves while we were making bad choices on horses. Here's a few tips about betting the ponies in Santa Anita:
1) Don't take our advice on picks
2) Don't trust "Bob" either. His 'expertise' sheet is worthless.
3) If your husbands offer to take the kids to "see the horses", make sure to clarify (see below), just in case security decides to escort them out of the park (ours, luckily, avoided notice).
4) Bring a lawn chair, some snacks and prepare to have a good time whether you win or not.

Happy Birthday Old Man

Happy "more than 1/3 of a century old" birthday! Luckily, you get to ACT as old as you want. We all love you so much. You keep reminding us (especially Mommy) that it's not about what you get accomplished, but how much FUN you have doing it. We love you very much~

Snapshots in My Brain

I'm not sure what it was, either a movie or some television show I saw recently, but there was the best dialog about how these two people (a man and wife) took 'snapshots in their brains' of things that they saw and wanted to remember forever. It really captured that feeling I've been having for the last, oh, 8 years or so. I will see something and want to take a picture of it so that I can carry it with me forever but either I don't have my camera or didn't get it quite how I wanted to remember it. Luckily, sometimes it turns out that I DO get the picture on film (or jpg) so that my now-failing brain can look back in my scrapbook (assuming I get them updated) and fill in those blanks that may be missing from my brain and I can share the shots with our friends. I got one of those good ones on jpg recently. We went down to the beach in Santa Monica while on a business trip in LA. We had stopped to get the kids their very first ever corn dogs and walk in the sand. While down there, the sun was perfect, the ocean was glistening, there were seagulls gliding along the crests of the waves, there were even a few select sailboats far out in the water to add atmosphere. We had a wonderful afternoon together and there's a couple of the snapshots from my brain that I can now share with all of you.

Happy Kiss-Your-Honey Day!

I got a great gift from my valentines this morning. I got time all to myself to go to the gym - no kids in tow, no time schedule to be home. Then I went to church and got all heart-happy only to have it increased exponentially when I got home.

I walked onto the deck when I arrived home and could smell the yummy ribs my honey was cooking for us for lunch and my 3-year-old gave me a little suspicious grin that turned into shock when her brother came running from the house with a GIGANTIC heart that they had decorated for me. His sister quickly burst out "NO! That was supposed to be a SURPRISE!" and daddy added in "Buddy, you were supposed to leave it hidden and we were going to play 'hotter/colder' with Mommy until she found it". My little guy promptly returned to the house with it and re-hid it.

It was not to last however because as I wandered into the house with the other two, he ran and took it from it's hiding place (thus, revealing it to me) and ran to me to give it to me again. He was just so proud and excited for it that keeping it hidden simply wasn't an option. I thanked him (and his sister) profusely and closely inspected all of their beautiful artwork. My toddlers are awesome valentines (and so is their Daddy).

My Three Kids

"Wait one gosh darn moment!" I hear you thinking..."you only have TWO kids"...well, you wouldn't have known it by the show they put on at Chuck E Cheese's recently. Of course, the place is designed to draw kids into their party & game atmosphere, but apparently it works on Dads too. Every spare moment that we waited for our pizza, my sweet husband spent playing games with the kids. Then he found a few that he insisted that he be able to play alone (in order to brush up on his Mickey Thompson off-road prowess, apparently). As usual, skeeball was a big hit, even though the two REAL kids have yet to make a single point and I believe that their goal is to just get them up the ramp into the gutter. Daddy was a bit frustrated at this fact and couldn't help himself from throwing a few balls to prove that he could get one in the 100 point pocket. By the time the pizza came, they had burnt through 1/2 of the coins and quickly devoured what they could in an effort to get back to the games. It didn't take long to finish off the remainder of the tokens. Ultimately, the grand prize for all of their work was a plastic 2" lizard, a pink sparkle flower ring, and two mini-tootsie roll pops. Job well done kids - all three of you.

My Super Kids

We recently went to a friend's house for his 4th birthday party with a superhero theme. It was a fun afternoon for all of us. It is so great to see my little ones grow into mini-people who are learning the ins and outs of the finer things in life - like birthday cake and pinatas. One of their prizes for their games at the party was a superhero cape for each of them. As it turns out, my kids are pretty super already. The did a super job of sharing their toys with the birthday boy's grandpa. They did a super job of whacking the pinata, and of course, they both at their birthday cake with superhuman speed! It certainly was a SUPER day~

What to Make

Parsnips.

Have you tried them?

I hadn't until a couple of days ago and don't know why I ever waited so long. I can thank Alton Brown for opening my eyes to this delicious vegi. I did two things: I made parsnip muffins and made parsnip chips. The chips are ridiculously easy and addicting and - get this - moderately GOOD for you. A cup of parsnips has almost 5 grams of fiber and are good sources of folic acid, calcium, and potassium. They kind of taste like carrots. Kinda sweet but not too much so.

Here's what you do: Slice the outside of the parsnip in thin strips (with the single blade side of the cheese grater). Don't slice the inside core because it's woody and not as good. Heat up some oil (I used canola) and toss in the parsnip slices. Let them brown and then transfer them to a paper towel-covered plate to drain. If you want you can sprinkle them with salt and pepper but they're good plain too. That's it. EASY.

Here's a link to AB's recipe for the muffins. They're awesome too.

My Little Girl's World

I recently downloaded all of the pictures from my little girl's camera. It had been about 4 months since I downloaded them so they were as old as last October. It's interesting to see things from her perspective sometimes. What she finds picture-worthy is very telling. Here's some highlights~

And Since We've No Place to Go....

Luckily, I got home from the gym this morning just in time. It's been snowing ever since and we got about 2-3" so far. No worries though. I stocked up on groceries yesterday and since we replaced the weatherproofing strips on all of our exterior doors last week, we're all nice and cozy inside. I hope you all are keeping warm in this winter weather too.

A First Time for Everything

Last weekend we went up to visit Aunt Lyss & Uncle Chris. We had a fun time playing with them but the big highlight of the weekend for our little girl was her first time on roller skates. She was a little wobbly at first, which is to be expected, but was soon moving along easily on her own. She made it all the way to the end of their block and back without help. What a big girl!
Meanwhile, her little brother tested out his new Lightning Mcqueen helmet while riding his radio flyer tricycle. He's not quite the daredevil yet that she is - but I can see it coming.

What to Make

Okay, this recipe is not so good for you - but better than doughnuts! Mix a 2c can of pumpkin with 1/2 cup each of flour & eggbeaters. Then add about 1t of any combination of cinnamon/nutmeg/pumpkin pie spice. Voila - the batter is done. Put it in a plastic bag.

Heat oil (I used canola) in a skillet until it is very very hot. Cut a small hole in a corner of the batter bag and drizzle it into the hot oil. Let it fry until it floats and it's dark brown on both sides. Remove and roll in cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar. Set on paper towels to cool and collect excess oil.

These are REALLY good, easy and also a great way to use left-over sweet potatoes (trade 1/1 for the pumpkin) after the holidays.

Cabo Day #2

Somehow I forgot to do all of Friday. We had such a good time that my days began to blend together I guess. This was the day that the other adults when on a hike while Heidi and I took the kiddos to the pool. Very relaxing and unscheduled - GREAT.

The Last Cabo Day

Finally! As it turns out - I skipped the "real" day #2 in there (excluding travel days) so actually there's still one more day to go. Either way, this was the last day we spent in Cabo. Chris & Kristin went on a little trip in the car and did exploring on their own. Daddy & Gary went on a hike and Heidi & I took the kids down to the beach. A nice relaxing close to a great week.

Cabo Day #5

We headed back up to the shell beach again and this time took the kayak and more snorkeling gear (that had been fixed). After a morning at the beach we went out to some GREAT shrimp tacos for lunch and then hung around the house (and pool) that afternoon.

Sunday in Cabo

On day #4 we took the quads out and enj0yed playing on the beach on them then drove them up a wash to a waterfall where we had a picnic and played in the pools.

Day #3 in Cabo

We woke up and went for a walk on the beach then headed to a beach down the coast that has loads of shells. That evening we went for a ride on the quads. The third of MANY fun days.

The first day of the trip

Here's a small slideshow of our first two days in Cabo. Really, this is a travel day and then our first REAL day in Cabo. We actually had over 1500 pictures (NO KIDDING) for the trip since there were five of us with cameras but I've grossly abbreviated the list and this is only the first two of eight days so here goes:

We're OFF!

We leave today for Cabo until January 6th so don't expect updates before then. I'll be sure to post soon after we get back though so maybe you will all want to come with us next time!

Kids' Stories

Thank you to all of you who did a recording of yourselves reading books for the kids. So far we've gotten them from Aunts, Uncles, Great-Aunts, Great-Uncles, Cousins, Great-Grandparents and Friends. There is still time to get a recording done and included in the final copy. If any of the rest of you would like, I can visit with my video recorder and get the copy digitally too. We've still got some promised to be coming from other Aunts, Uncles, Cousins (and HOPEFULLY GRANDPARENTS, ahem) so this should be a great gift for them to keep forever. I will try to post some highlights when I receive the entire set. Thanks again to those of you who've already done it and keep 'em coming!

San Diego Zoo Lights

On Saturday we too the trek down to San Diego in the afternoon to see the lights at the zoo. There were all sorts of neat Christmas light displays and we got to ride the tour bus and skytram, had dinner, saw a bell choir, watched ice sculpting, and saw LOADS of animals. It was neat to be there that time of night because several animals (like the big cats) who are normally docile during the day were up and about in the evening. The tiger in particular was very vocal and the hippos were swimming laps around their pool. We renewed our membership so whenever you all come to visit, be sure to take the trip down there with us. It's a great way to spend the day (or night!).

Christmas with Nana

At some point on Christmas morning we headed over to Nana's house to visit with her, Grandpa, Great-grandma Tanyon, Great-grandpa Tanyon, Uncle Brian, Uncle Dennis, Aunt Nancy, Cousins Kyle, Jessica & Catie. Although I didn't get any shots of gift-opening (those were all taken with Grandpa's camera) here's some highlights of the rest of our day:

Good Morning

We had a fun Christmas Morning and hope you all did as well. Here's some highlights from ours.

Merry Christmas Ya'll

Hope your stockings, hearts, and glasses are full~

Cookies for Santa

We had a very cute experience tonight, leaving cookies and milk for Santa and carrots and water for the reindeer. My sweetheart wrote out a little note for the big guy in red while her brother stood watch over the cookies so that Daddy didn't swoop in and snatch one. Although her letters aren't exactly perfect yet, she did the whole note without Mommy helping one bit (well, except to spell most of the words of course). Both kiddos signed their names, with the little one needing some help, and we left them on the coffee table by the fireplace. This is definitely one for the scrapbook.

Be Careful What You Wish For

The other day I was thinking to myself 'this toy room is a pig sty, I can't wait for the kids to be old enough to clean it themselves'. I wished at the time that the room was clean so that I wouldn't have to deal with it. So you can imagine how surprised I was to find it neat and tidy the following morning after the kids had been playing and I was doing the dishes in the kitchen nearby. I was very happy with them and about to praise them for their job well done when it hit me....something was missing. In fact, a LOT was missing....
They had taken the majority of their toys from the floor of the toy room and put them on the landing in the middle of our upstairs staircase. You see, the staircase has many stairs and they resemble seats to a toddler...much like a bus has many seats. So the kids were "taking the bus" and needed to bring everything with them on their trip. I was speechless. The stairs were impassable without cleaning up the mess as it was somewhere in the vacinity of 3 feet high of toys. If only I could get them the direct this energy toward something productive - I could be a millionaire.

Visiting family

We went up on the train to visit with our family this last Friday and had a very fun time riding with the kids on the train. We didn't have long to visit but enjoy seeing them when we can. The kids really love their Aunt & Uncle and got to open their Christmas presents early which always scores some good points. They got some great books read to them on digital copy and each got an occupational set. Our little girl is now practicing to be a doctor (seen here with her patient, Aunt Goldie) and our little guy has his own contractor tools and belt to hold them like his daddy. They both loved their gifts (as did we) and look forward to getting to see their Aunt & Uncle again soon.

Happy Birfday

Today is Gran-pa's 55th birfday so his little sweetheart wanted to share this with him:

HAPPY BIRFDAY GRANDPA!

Trimming the Tree

We spent the afternoon and evening last night decorating our Christmas tree. The kids were all excited about helping out. Our little ballerina kept dancing around it like she was putting on some kind of arbor serenade. The highlight for her though was getting to put the Jesus star on top. Sharing the tree trimming duties with the kids is one of my favorite traditions. What a wonderful way to celebrate the season.

Snowflake Craft

We have a playdate today to make these fun snowflakes that are easy and pretty when done. All you need is paper, scizzors and a stapler (with staples of course).

1: take your paper and cut it into a square (size is irrelevant). You will ultimately need six of these squares so either do it all up front or as you go.

2: fold the square into half, making a triangle.

3: fold the triangle into half, making a smaller triangle.

4: cut the 5-6 slits into the triangle, starting from the single fold side, stopping the slit about 1" from the double fold side.
5: unfold the triangle and it should look something like this:
6: Take the outermost strips from both sides and fold them over, stapling them together at their outermost points.
7: Take the next outermost points and fold them over on the OTHER SIDE, stapling them together at their outermost points. Repeat alternating with remaining strips, leaving center diamond in tact.

8: Do steps #1-7 five more times then staple them together at the center and outermost strips to make your snowflake!Thanks Nana for the great idea!

December?

You wouldn't believe it was really December by the looks of these pictures, but last weekend we had an amazing trip, canoeing/kayaking down the Colorado river. One of our friends, Brendan, had the idea so he went with us and we had a great time. Thanks for the idea bud~

Wrapping it Up

Daddy gave me some time to finish up a little client work last weekend when he showed the kiddos how to wrap Christmas presents. His little girl helped by getting the boxes and tags, her brother was in charge of bows and tissue,And daddy? Well, he was in charge of making the rest of the mess! So here's my disclaimer folks, Mommy didn't wrap those presents so cut the kids some slack.

Happy Thanksgiving

Some food for thought (since you all will most likely have plenty of the other kind):

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving. ~H.U. Westermayer

Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence. ~Erma Bombeck

Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel. ~Author Unknown

"Some people complain because God put thorns on roses, while others praise Him for putting roses among thorns." ~Author Unknown

Kids Christmas List

It's that time of year again, when I get multiple emails and phone calls asking what the kids (and we) would like for Christmas. It has been an ongoing effort to convince people that we prefer their company and time to presents. I completely understand that for many people, the time is much harder to part with though. So here's my idea for a Christmas gift for the kids that they will enjoy and keep forever:

You've got 30 days before Christmas. This shouldn't take you long at all. Go to your favorite book store, library or thrift shop and find your favorite children's book. Get a tape, CD or DVD and record yourself reading the book to the kids. You could do this with a video camera, tape recorder, computer, or whatever. I can convert any media you get the reading onto so that the kids will be able to have it forever. If you would like, you can include the book with the media as part of the gift but the media itself (audio and/or video) is the truly valuable part of the idea. I would like to make a compilation of as many various friends and family reading stories to them as possible. Ultimately I would like to put them all onto a single disc for the kids to keep. Perhaps someday you'll be reading it to their grandkids!

Thankful

Today I am thankful to God for all of the amazing blessings we have received. Tomorrow we will be spending the day with our family in California and missing our family in Oregon. We are truly blessed to have so many people who care about us. We have a nice house to live in that is located in a beautiful place where few people could make ends meet. We and our kids are healthy and happy. When things go wrong we are able to sort them out and deal with them. We have several good friends to spend fun times with. When people refer to the "good 'ol days", this must be what they are talking about. Thank you Lord, a million times over for our wonderful gifts.

It's a zoo in there

Today I specifically planned to stay home and do NOTHING...well, not nothing, but rather, nothing that wasn't kid oriented. So we started the day by cleaning the toy room and vacuuming so that we could spend the rest of the morning playing with their toys together. We built a lincoln log tower, played with their baby dolls, made some make-believe brunch in their pots & pans, but the highlight of the mornings was building a zoo out of megablocks:
They just soak in the time that I can devote entirely to them and not to running errands or cleaning things or dealing with a client. I love days when all I have to do is be a mom. Being a mom is the BEST.

Thankful

Today (and every day) I am trying to be thankful for the things I hate. For example, I am thankful for stinky diapers because they come from my happy healthy baby. I am also thankful for the wrinkles under my eyes because they came from the many sleepless nights I have had helping my babies become the beautiful, confident people they are today. I am (sigh) thankful that I miss my husband while he is away at work because it makes me look forward to him coming home at night and means I still love him more than life itself. Here's a cute little verse I found about being thankful for those hateful things:

Be Thankful

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire.

If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don’t know something,

for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.

During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations,

because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge,

because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes.

They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you’re tired and weary,

because it means you’ve made a difference.

It’s easy to be thankful for the good things.

A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks.

Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.

Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, and they can become your blessings.

Thankful

Today we are having a playdate with some friends at our house to make advent wreaths for all of our kiddos. Therefore I am thankful today for many things:
-That we have a home where we can host friends
-That we have friends who feel welcome in our home
-That my kids play well with others so friends are willing to come back
-That I have a kennel for our dog so that she doesn't bark at our friends when they come over (bless her heart, she has become quite the mama dog to my little ones)

Thankful

This week I am planning getting a swine flu - excuse me - H1N1 shot for my kiddos and (knock on wood) I am thankful that they have thus far avoided any contact with this nasty virus. I recently did some research on the internet about it and I am also thankful for what a great resource the internet has become. With me getting a million different mixed comments about the innoculation, I didn't know whether to get it for them or not. If you haven't looked into it, do your own research online (Center for Disease Control is a great resource) and you'll have an easier time deciding.

Thankful

Today I posted a bit about my newfound soap discoveries and it reminded me how thankful I am for reconnecting with all of those long lost friends from the past. I truly am blessed to have so many people to lean on.

Homemade Soaps

I recently reconnected with several old friends on Facebook. One of them, a lady who was a grade ahead of me in high school, introduced me to the amazing world of homemade soaps (Thanks Mary!). I'm not referring to the bar kind (which she does do but I'm not that devoted). What I have made for myself is dishwasher detergent, laundry soap, a soap to replace my 409 and soap to replace my Comet. Not only was it very easy but they work great and it saves loads on the cost of normal soaps. Here's how they're made:

1) Dishwashing Detergent : equal parts of Borax, Washing Soda & Cascade (additional hint: White vinegar works better than Jet Dry in your rinse cycle valve).
2) 409 : Mix 1t Borax + 2T white vinegar + 1c hot water then shake. Pour this into a 32 oz spray bottle and add water until it's about to the fill line. Add 1/8c Dawn dishwashing detergent and allow it to diffuse on it's own (don't shake).
3) Comet : Put 4 parts baking soda + 1 part borax into a shaker.
4) Laundry Soap: (This one's a little more involved) grate up a bar of Fels Naptha laundry soap, melt it into a pot with 4 cups boiling water. Fill a 5 gallon pail halfway with hot tap water, add melted soap, 1c washing soda, and 1/2c borax. Stir til dissolved. Fill bucket rest of the way with hot tap water. Cover with lid and allow to set overnight. In the morning, stir and fill a clean laundry container half full with soap- fill the rest of the way with water. This makes A LOT of soap - I'm talking 6 months worth!

I've also heard you can make a Windex replacement out of equal parts rubbing alcohol, white vinegar, and water but haven't tried that one yet. I hope you try at least one of these soaps out. The Comet replacement and dishwasher soap are the easiest so try those first if you're not sure whether it's for you. I LOVE THEM and may never use storebrand soaps again.

Thankful

Today is my birthday so I am thankful for being able to grow old....which is what I am.

Thankful

I am thankful today that our good friends Sarah and Wally have moved closer to us. We are looking forward to taking the train down to see their new house and celebrating another Wally Day!

Thankful

Yesterday I got to take the kiddos for a walk around one of the local lakes and they were good as gold. I am thankful for the times when they mind their manners. It helps me deal with the times (like right now) when they are being absolute MONSTERS and think back telling myself "this too shall pass".

What to Make

This is a super easy recipe for sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are NOT YAMS. In this house, yam is a very bad word. I eat them because I know they are good for me but it is like torture to make the other three eat them. Sweet potatoes are a little more subtle tasting, WAY less pungent, and in my opinion, more versitile to cook with. This one's easy:

Slice up some peeled sweet potatoes into small strips. Sprinkle on some salt & pepper then a very little bit of cayenne & paprika. Cook them on an oiled cookie sheet for 20 minutes (they will shrink significantly). Flip them over, sprinkle garlic on them, and cook for another 20 minutes. That's IT! The kiddos might not eat them if you put the paprika and cayenne on them but then again, that means more for you so measure accordingly!

Thankful

Today I am posting a recipe for sweet potatoes. I am thankful for two things related to this:
1 - That my family puts up with being my guinnee pigs when it comes to recipes and will try almost anything once.

2 - That I have the time and means to test out pretty much any recipe that I find that sounds interesting. I love to cook and am also thankful to my Dad for instilling in me a curiosity in the kitchen.

Thankful

Today my grandma Pearl turns 93 and I am so thankful for having her influence in my life as I grew up and now for her being a great-grandparent to my kids.

Thankful

I am thankful today for my adorable kiddos. From the "Mommy I lub yew"s to their playing ring around the rosies or mixing up S for F in their ABC song so it became an infinate verse ("QRFGHIJKLMNOPQRFG...") and singing take me out to the ball game with gusto - albeit with several missing verses and a few random karaoke tangents about potties and peanuts and crackerjacks ...they are a comedy show all by themselves. I'm saving up all of these thankful moments for when they become teenagers.
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