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.