Mr T Comes for a Visit

Every now and again, my brother and his more-than-girlfriend-but-not-yet-wifey will travel many miles to come visit us.  I just wish it wasn't so many miles between us so that the visits could be more frequent.  I'll take what I can get though.  I am always happy to get to share our short visits.  Can't wait to see you guys and Mr. T again soon~

 

Science Teachers

My sister teaches science.  I thought she'd like this one...

Oh the Joys of Little Boys

My sister (okay, and brother too, but really, let's be honest...) blessed us with an amazing little nephew this year on tax day.  We had her shower a month before his due date and it was so nice to get to visit with family and friends that we don't see often enough.  I am so happy for both of them and their new little handsome son.  I know they will be great parents.  Babies are such a blessing for everyone who knows them, especially those chosen to raise them.  I can't wait to see what a great person I know he will become.  Congratulations to both of you and welcome little man!

PS~Nancy, I think I still owe you a shower gift for picking the date, good job!

ROCing Out

We climbed up walls, we slid down chutes, we clung to ropes over mudpits, we bounded through tires, we stumbled across the finish line, we bounced across inflateables, we jumped across trampolines, we crawled through tunnels, we took a group shower, we watched marines try to outdo each other in a test of strength, we raced across barrels, we got our picture taken with the Joker, a cowboy, superheroes, a rainbow of people, some midgets, and a man in a wedding dress.  Did I mention we ran too?  Oh yeah, and we ran 3 miles too.  Blech.  Whatever with that....the rest of it was fun though.  Always a pleasure Mrs. D.

Rainy Disney is Fun Disney

Want to know the secret to a great day at Disneyland?  Wait until it rains!  Wear a raincoat and dress warm and you will walk on every ride without lines and get to meet all of the characters that you want.  We got to experience such a day this spring.  Here's a shot of Hubby and I snuggling up on Goofy's chair:


And here's the kiddos meeting Donald:

But my very favorite was when we met Minnie Mouse.  My little ninja boy did NOT want her autograph in his autograph book and neither did he want to meet her, shake her hand, high five, or even be in the same picture with her.  This is, I think, a classic case of "girls have cooties"-itis.  But Ms. Mouse would not be deterred.  She waltzed on over to him, and to his astonishment, took him in her arms and planted a series of loud S*W*A*Ks on him all over his face.  I was beyond delighted with her gumption.  Now there's a girl who knows what she likes when she sees it.  Unfortunately for him though, we all now refer to her as his girlfriend, which he vehemently denies.  The proof, as they say, is in the pictures...

My Little Girl's Two Big Days

There are two skills that my home-schooled daughter has been developing this year.  The first has been her weekly Wednesday morning piano classes and the second has been her weekly Tuesday afternoon ballet classes.  She definetly prefers the ballet to piano but is nicely progressing in both.  She got to perform each this year on a stage, at the end of her school year.  She played "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "This Little Light of Mine" for piano and was one of the washer-girls in the ballet recital titled "Enchanted".  Here she is in all of her glory:

Girls' Weekend

Back in February, we took a weekend away from Daddy and my little ninja boy to go to Disneyland and then the Scrapbooking convention in Anaheim.  A couple girlfriends joined my princess and I and we had a great day cutting, pasting and generating all sorts of awesome ideas for crafts to do and pages to create.  Now we just need to find the time to put it all together...

Trail of Ten Falls

As a last minute decision at the end of the year in 2012, a friend and I took a quick flight North and then drove home.  On the way, we stopped in Salem, Oregon to view several breathtaking sights along an awesome hike called "The Trail of Ten Falls".  If you are ever in the area, I highly suggest making the stop to see these gorgeous landmarks.  We drug my mom along with us for the hike and she is not a hiker.  Somewhere beyond 3/4 through she was cursing at us like a sailor and suggesting we just leave her and save ourselves but in the end she made it the whole way. I was very proud of her and I think she was proud of herself.  So be forewarned.  It is not for the faint of heart, but definitely worth the walk.

A Little Crazy and a Lot of Fun

The highlight of our January this year was a week in Mexico friends.  I couldn't decide which picture to post: the one of us on ATVs, fishing off the shore, the bull my Hubby chased, our favorite eatery, or any of the many other fun shenanigans.  In the end, I think this picture says it all.  Someone is always looking the other way, a couple people are caught off guard, the daughters think it's all about them, the husbands are carrying more than their own, and there we are in the middle, enjoying the crazy and fun ride.  Good times.  This is what memories are made of.

Blessings

In mid-May, a bunch of my girlfriends and I got together in what has become an increasingly rare opportunity to celebrate.  Life has become so crazy for us mommies that it is often hard to find times where we can all find sitters, energy and quite frankly, a clean outfit to go out in at a pre-arranged time.  This happened to be a celebration of a birthday for one of us and it was so nice to take the time to appreciate and uplift each other.  God has been very generous to me on our isolated little piece of heaven up here and blessed me with a few really great groups of moms to share, laugh and cry with.  Cheers ladies, here's to many more nights where we get to clink our glasses together.

Blanch

I didn't know either of my own Grandpas.  Luckily, my husband's grandfathers both welcomed me with open arms.  We lost one of them this year and he used to call me Blanch.  Not because it was my name, because he knew it wasn't.  And he played golf with me and beat me at poker and laughed with me and gave great hugs and loved us all SO much.  I will miss you Grandpa. 

That's all I have to say about that.

Roasting by an open fire...

We had a bonfire last week in one of the neighboring cities and here's my kiddos appreciating the hot cocoa and heat from the fire.  What a fun community night.

Pearly whites

In the hopes of teaching my kiddos the value of brushing their teeth, we did a science experiment using eggs and a variety of liquids to show the effect on the shell over time.

Vinegar - dissolved the shell.
Soda - stained the shell brown (unable to brush off eventually)
Dye - stained the shell green (able to brush off but also stained INSIDE)

Moral: BRUSH YOUR TEETH REGULARLY!!!

Haaaayyyyyyaaaaa!

Congratulations to my little man for starting his journey in karate by getting his white belt. 

The River Jordan

We recently took an amazing trip to Israel with some folks from our church.  While there, we got to go kayaking down the Jordan River.  Here's a shot of us relaxing in the beautiful Israel sunshine.  Ask me when you come over to visit next time and I'll show you the scrapbook I made of the rest of the pictures.  It's just too much for one little blog.

Ouch!

Here's a quick shot of what my hubby did to his hand the night before we left for Isael.  Ooochy-ouchie!

Horney Toad

Nope.  He did NOT learn that from his mommy.
 
We were out on a hike while camping in the local forest when something by my foot moved.  I instinctively jumped away from it (think - rattlesnake freakout) and that obviously caught the other three's attention.  Daddy was excited to see a horney toad (I have to say I was a bit relieved as well).  He explained to the kids that it was not poisonous and so my brave little man reached down and picked it up.  Right on buddy - way to come to mommy's rescue and slay the dragon (okay, he didn't KILL it, but really, being brave is what it's all about, right?).

Daddy's girl

I get her for shopping.
I get her for nail appointments.
I get her for pretending.
I get her for dessing up like princesses.
I get her for cooking.
I get her for crafts.
I get her for...well, all sorts of other GIRLY stuff.

So okay, FINE.  Daddy can take her riding on his quad.  She is an eclectic mix of cammo and sparkles and dirt and nailpolish and wonderful and I love that I can share her with her daddy everyday.  He is what makes her unique and this is precisely why God made Daddies.

Love love love them.

Girlfriends

When we got back from our cruise to Alaska recently (what, I didn't blog that yet?  Okay, maybe soon), my princess stopped in Seattle and bought a bunch of special beads for five of her bestest girlfriends.  She picked out special charms for each of them and invited them all over once we got home so that they could spend an afternoon playing together and catching up after a summer apart.  They were all so sweet and well mannered that it just reminded me how lucky us moms all are to have raised this beautiful group of girlfriends.  I hope that in 12 years we will have an almost identical picture of the same girls all loving on each other the way they do now.  FYI - the date stamp is off on my camera, don't judge me, I have other priorities.

See Boy Fish

See Boy Fish
See Daddy Lose Fish.
See Boy Reprimand Daddy.
See Boy Fish Again.
See Daddy Land Fish.
See Boy Delighted.
See Daddy Catch & Release.
See Boy Devastated.

Yep.  That pretty much sums it up.  I think that he thought we were going to take it back on the cruise ship and ask them to cook it up for us in the galley.  I've gotta say, it was a highlight of our stop in Juneau.

When is 54 = 300,000?

When it's the 54 pounds short that your catch is to winning a big fishing tournament.  Man, that must have been ONE EXCITING catch and then drive back to the docks.  This is my hubby's dad (and fishing partner).  Well, there's always next year guys!  It sure sounded like they had fun.

Sweet Sweet Berries

The kids had a great time with their friends over the summer going to places like the berry patch to pick some fruit right off the bushes.  There's few things better than a day spent working with friends in the sunshine.

Already 5

We spent a day decked out in Red White and Blue for my son's "Transformers and America" birthday.  I'm not sure where the theme originated, but he was convinced that was what he wanted.  So we did what we could, decorated the place up good and invited a zillion of our closest friends over to celebrate my little man turning a "whole hand of fingers" old.  From the looks of this picture, I think I hit the nail right on the head:

Buddies

There's something special about how boys interact that is SO not like little girls.  It's rough and honest and friendly and dirty and wonderful.  I am so glad that my son has these boys (and several more) to share his playdates with and join him in all of his adventures.  Ah, remember when it was all so simple?

Girty Goose

To finish out the kindergarten school year, the classes have an alphabet circus play.  Each child gets a letter of the alphabet and is supposed to dress up accordingly and the whole class sings a song about that character.  In my little starlet's case, she was chosen to be Girty Goose and what a darling little gosling she turned out to be, isn't she?

Here she is in all of her Goose-ness...

What to Make

I like caramel, especially in apple cider, so when I saw a recipe for cookies that involved both (here), it caught my attention.  I've been wanting to make them for over a month now.  There are lots of ingredients on their list and I thought "I can make those much easier!"  I keep telling myself I'll make this and then something comes up.  At first I didn't have caramels, then I didn't have time, then I didn't have time again...and again.  Today there was no school (make up for lack of snow days) and I had cleaned the kids room and done the laundry and dishes and the kids and I played for a couple hours and I needed a moment, just ONE moment in my day to add to my blog and my daughter ran in to the office crying "HE won't leave me alone!  HE wants me to play with him!"  Then right on cue, my son ran in to the office crying "SHE won't play with me!", "I already played with you!" "No you didn't" "YES I did, with mommy" "That doesn't count" "Yes it does"....

And then I remembered the recipe I've had saved on my bookmarks for a month.  Oh, and I also remembered I had the ingredients!  YES!  I bought them with forethought for my sanity.  I love it when I do that.  Ah cooking, the great peacemaker.  This was so easy that my kids did everything but cut the caramels, and by the end they were on peaceful terms again and my house smells like cider and cookies.  All is well in the house, and I am blogging.

Here's the miracle recipe:
Take premade sugar cookie dough (or make your own if you HAVE to be Betty Homemaker, which I don't) and scoop it out and flatten in your hand.  I don't know how much - bigger amounts make bigger cookies.  Take a caramel (I bought werther's chewy ones and cut them in half, but I figure any will work).  Bury it in the middle of the cookie dough, wrapping the dough around the caramel, thus making a small ball of dough with caramel in the middle.  Roll each ball in apple cider mix and set on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Cook them in a 350 degree oven until their lightly browned (about 13 minutes, they'll be flat & tan).  Take them out and let them cool slightly.  Once you can lift them, flip them over and let them cool completely upside down on a cookie rack so they aren't soggy.

Voila!  You have carmel centers in your apple-cider-flavored-snickerdoodle-type cookies.  They are delicious and easy and cause momentary peace.  I just heard something break...okay, the moment's over.

The Best Watermelon smiles EVER

Some friends came over to spend the afternoon with the kids yesterday and luckily I had made a treat the night before that they could all enjoy.  Here's what you do:  Buy a mini watermelon (on sale now for about $2).  Cut it in half and hollow it out, using a spoon (I used a melon baller).  Do whatever you want with the melon center, you don't need it.  Then measure out how much water it takes to fill the watermelon.  Mine were about 2 cups, which was perfect for my half.  Make jello according to the jiggler recipe on the box and pour it into the hollowed out rind.  Let that sit in the fridge until firm and serve, sliced as you would a normal watermelon.  It was a huge hit with my 4-6 year old crowd. 

The Wild Blue Yonder

I love me some soldiers.  I love that they risk their lives to protect a way of life that most people take for granted (including me sometimes).  I love that my dad was in the Navy and that I have family now serving and that my son wants to be a soldier when he grows up.  It is no wonder then that when I get a chance to attend a military air show that I attempt to make time if possible.  This year we got to go to the March Air Reserve base's airshow with some friends and it was awesome.  We showed up just in time to see the Patriot jets fly in formation all over the skyscape above us and also got to see a plane that can hover in mid-air, a water drop demonstration, lots of trick fliers and the culmination was an impressive show by the Thunderbirds.  It was sunny and warm and we a perfect day spent with family, exposing our kids to the lives that protect us on a daily basis.

Mutton Bustin'

We went out the Phoenix recently and got to catch a little professional rodeo while we were there.  In between the bull riding, they had a kids' show of mutton bustin'.  On the drive out we were skeptical about letting the kids do it if they wanted and decided against it as we hadn't seen the show before.   After seeing it though (and the 2 year old girls out their with their daddies), I would absolutely let the kids try it out.  When we asked them if they were interested, we got mixed reviews.

Here's my son with his reply (not just "no") - OH HECK NO!

My daughter on the other hand was a definitive YES! NOW! PLEASE?!?! AWWW, why not?

YUCK

There are people in this world who don't know a salmon from a trout from a goldfish.  They would look at this picture and say "WOW, that's a big fish".  I, however, am not one of those people.  Although I can appreciate the skill necessary to catch this monster and the strength necessary to fight it to the shore, my response is more of a yuck than a wow.  People DO eat them though.  Not me, but someone does.  I suppose one man's trash is another man's treasure.  Nice catch daddy, even if it IS a carp.

Skitter

I would like to preface this blog by stating that it was not my idea.  In fact, in my eyes, hamsters are mice without tails - EW.  But my daughter loves her new hamster, "Skitter".  As it turns out, she picked a roborovski hamster.  Little did I know at the time, but they are the smallest and fastest of all hamsters.  So now it has somehow become my job to retrieve little Skitter from his cage since no one else can catch him.  My daughter has been holding him every day and he is slowly becoming more comfortable in her hands and will sit still for short periods of time before jetting off in one direction or another, at which point it is my darling hubby's job to retrieve Skitter for her.  At least it has given them another bonding activity and for that I am grateful.  Bonding - yes, hamster food in the carpet - not so much.

Cowgirls

Once a year, some friends join us for the Stagecoach festival out in Indio, CA.  There is lots of sun, singing and swimsuits and a good time had by all.  This year was no exception.  I shall not elaborate further so as not to incriminate myself in any  mischief.  We are some purty cowgirls, if I do say so myself.

My Bad Investment

Last year my hubby mentioned that he'd like to have another boat.  If I knew then what I know now, I would have just let him stew on it until he found one that he was happy with.  But no.  Of course, almost immediately I began perusing craigslist for things that might interest him.  As we had sold our previous pontoon boat the year before, we were considering the idea of buying another one.  When one came up locally for $2500 I took the opportunity to go check it out.  I mean, they're usually in the $7000-$10,000 range, who wouldn't go look?

Well, the guy sold me on it and I bought it (due to my smooth talking) for $1500!  Woo Hoo!  Oh wait, I don't know the first thing about boats.  But it had a new canvas shade/top.... Of course, the first time we took it out it broke down and my husband wanted to sink it to the bottom of the lake.  My brother talked him out of sinking it and the boat sat, untouched, next to the house all winter long.

Once spring rolled around I fixed it up, painted and re-carpeted it using supplies already around our house.  Hubby (reluctantly) fixed the broken starter and rewired a couple items and I was able to sell it for $2400.  I've got to say though, for the $900 profit I may have accumulated off of the deal, I consider the whole transaction a loss.  Don't ever buy in anything that may cost your marriage more than your pocketbook.  I'd pay the $900 back not to have had those arguments about the boat or feel my hubby's resentment for 6 months.  Some investments just aren't worth the profit.

What to Make

Here's an easy-ish one:

I made 24 of these for my daughter's class recently. Buy vanilla pudding and prepare it according to the directions on the box. Split it into six seperate ziplock bags. Put a different food coloring into each bag, seal it and squish it around until it's all one color. Then squeeze each bag into clear plastic cups in layers to make a rainbow. Top it with a cool whip cloud. Easy and fun all in one!

Brave

We have been working with our little guy to try to get him to be less timid and more brave in everyday situations. As a general rule, we have tried to encourage him to do one brave thing every day. We are emphasizing that being brave and having courage doesn't mean you aren't afraid, in fact, it means that often times you ARE afraid and just don't let it keep you from doing something that you would otherwise enjoy. Case in point, playing on the bounce-house slide recently. Although he was afraid at first, he conquered his fear and went down the slide, only to realize how fun it was and want to immediately go again...You will see from the following video, that we haven't had to have this talk with his sister...

Happy Easter!

May God's blessings and promise sink past your brain and into your hearts today~
Click here for one of my favorite Easter Songs

Gentlemen Start Your Engines

We did loads of fun things in the last five days. One of which was taking my hubby to drive NASCAR cars at the Fontana Speedway with his brother. He got to drive the Dale Jr car and his brother was in the Jimmy Johnson rig. We all went and watched to cheer them on...

Six...UGH....S.I.X!!!

I am super duper uber excited to have a six year old!
We can go to movies together, get our nails done, she likes shopping with me, we can play all sorts of "girly" things together, she is still at the age that she listens to me and asks my opinion...and yet....she's SIX - already. Okay, maybe "super duper" but not UBER excited for her to be six...[sigh]

Here's some pics of us having our "girls day" for her birthday this year. We got our nails done with 4 of her girlfriends and their mommies:Then we went out for a "tea" for lunch in our fancy dresses and hats:She even got to have her first sleepover:Yep, six is pretty awesome. But then again, it IS six, and 1-5 were pretty awesome too.