Derek and Lacie

Here are a few pictures (stolen from other people's blogs) from my brothers wedding. He got married February 2nd in the Seattle area. Lacie is so cute and we are excited to have her in our family.

Family Picture

I think it might be time to have a talk with Mason.

The first time Mason drew a family picture with so much "detail", I thought it would be a one time thing, but it's not.

In case you don't know who is who.....The picture order is Mason (with curly hair), Dad, Mom, and Kennedy.

(When I saw the picture I told him it looked nice and he said, "Don't you think Kennedy looks funny?". I said "No, she looks cute." He said, "Well, I think she looks funny because she doesn't have any hair but there isn't room for me to draw some.")

INAPPROPRIATE?

Okay, so I debated about whether or not I should post this but I think it is so dang funny. Don said that I might not want to post it because then it will be printed in a book later. But, I decided some of you would enjoy it....so it is worth it. (I got this from Libbie, so thank you for the good laughs Lib)

IF YOU ARE OFFENDED EASILY DO NOT READ THE REST OF THIS POST

HOW TO SHOWER LIKE A WOMAN:

Take off clothing and place it in sectioned laundry hamper according to lights and darks.

Walk to bathroom wearing long robe.

If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.

Look at your womanly physique in the mirror -- make mental note to do more sit-ups/leg-lifts, etc.

Get in the shower.

Use wash cloth, long loofah, wide loofah and pumice stone.

Wash your hair once with cucumber and sage shampoo with 43 added vitamins.

Wash your hair again to make sure it's clean.

Condition your hair with grapefruit mint conditioner.

Wash your face with crushed apricot facial scrub for 10 minutes until red.

Wash entire rest of body with ginger nut and jaffa cake body wash.

Rinse conditioner off hair.Shave armpits and legs.Rinse off.Turn off shower.

Squeegee off all wet surfaces in shower.Spray mold spots with Tilex.

Get out of shower.

Dry with towel the size of a small country.

Wrap hair in super absorbent towel.

Return to bedroom wearing long robe and towel on head.

If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.

HOW TO SHOWER LIKE A MAN:

Take off clothes while sitting on the edge of the bed and leave them in a pile.

Walk naked to the bathroom.

If you see wife along the way, shake wiener at her making the woo-woo sound.

Look at your manly physique in the mirror.

Admire the size of your wiener and scratch your butt.

Get in the shower. Wash your face. Wash your armpits.

Blow your nose in your hands and let the water rinse them off.

Fart and laugh at how loud it sounds in the shower.

Spend majority of time washing privates and surrounding area.

Wash your butt, leaving those coarse butt hairs stuck on the soap.

Wash your hair. Make a Shampoo Mohawk.Pee.Rinse off and get out of shower.

Partially dry off.

Fail to notice the water on floor because curtain was hanging out of tub the whole time.

Admire wiener size in mirror again.

Leave shower curtain open, wet mat on floor, and light and fan on.

Return to bedroom with towel around waist.

If you pass wife, pull off towel, shake wiener at her and make the woo-woo sound again.

Throw wet towel on bed.

If there is anyone who did not laugh at the truth behind this, there is something SO very wrong with you. Have a great day..... and woo woo!!!

Crazy Day...

Sometimes I think of something that I want to blog about for my journal but then I think, no that's so boring, no one wants to read that. But really I am blogging for myself (okay, and because I LOVE to keep in touch with all my friends) and once I get enough blogs I am going to have it printed in a book from http://www.blurb.com/. I love to look at old letters that my grandparents have and an old old journal that my Mom kept from when I was a child. (There isn't many entry's in that one, but I still love it.) So my blog today is really just for journals sake, so you might not want to waste your time reading about my crazy day.

So this morning Don came in at 6:40 asking if I had seen his keys. I hadn't and I could hear him searching downstairs and so I couldn't sleep. I went down and we searched for 2 1/2 hours. We never found them. We are assuming that one of the kids took them and they are in some random toy somewhere but both of the kids say they didn't touch them....whatever. (His spare key was at our car mechanics house...ya, ya, we need more spares.) So Don dropped the kids and I off at the gym with the double jogger and he headed to work (The gym is only about a mile or so from home). He works about 25 minutes from home. Anyway when it was time to head home I realized I had not taken a key to get back into the house. Most people have a window they can break into or some way to get in. Not us.

So my great friend at the gym said we could hang out at their house. Which is great except my other great friend Libbie had her baby girl and was coming home from the hospital tonight and I had told her I would bring dinner, and I really wanted to. (Not to mention that when you take a friend dinner after having a baby they always think that you are a great cook because they are starving after giving birth. :)). I needed to go to the store to get all the stuff. So my friend took us to the store, then we went to her house for awhile, then back to the gym for the girls swimming lessons, then she took us home and helped me make dinner for my family, her family and Libbie's.

I also had a meeting tonight and I had to bring refreshments. I showed up at my meeting smelling like homemade chicken noodle soup, in my workout clothes, with chocolate on my shirt. However, Libbie got dinner and I was at my meeting on time, with refreshments. And now that I am home and can relax, I just finished eating my 4th Seven layer bar. What a day.

Oh, maybe you would like the recipe for these. They are super healthy. (kidding) :)

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (I used pecans)
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/3 cups shredded coconut

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
Place butter in 13 x 9 inch pan and melt in oven. Swirl to coat bottom and sides with butter.
Spread crumbs evenly over bottom of pan. Layer chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and nuts over crumbs. Pour condensed milk over nuts. Sprinkle coconut over condensed milk.
Bake until edges are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool.

LOVE

Mason: "Mom, I love you as long as a bean stalk." (pretty creative)

Me: "I love you all the way to the moon." (copied from the book because I have no imagination)

Mason: "I love you all the way to heaven."

Not sure how far that is, but I sure do love him.

Funny Story...

We went to my parents house for dinner tonight and my Mom had bought both of the kids a pair of sunglasses....Kennedy wore hers all the way home (it was completely dark outside).

Anyway, it made me think of a time when I was a kid and I had gotten a new pair of sunglasses and I looked sooo COOL when I was wearing them. We were on a short road trip to Spokane (2 1/2 hour drive) and I had the window down and had my head slightly out the window letting the wind blow my hair and the warm sun shine on my face while I was sporting my new shades.
And wouldn't you know, a gust of wind took those sunglasses right off my face and they were somewhere on the side of the highway. I yelled for my mom to stop so we could get my ($2) sunglasses and she said we couldn't stop but that if I saw them on the way home she would stop. mmmmmmm....... Is that mean, or smart? Not sure, but I was quiet all the way home as I kept my eyes peeled looking for my shades. Nope, never found them.

ummmm, no thank you.

This morning I was trying to empty the paper shredder into a garbage sack and I said, "Kennedy, do you want to help me empty this?". Her response, "Ummm, no "sank" you".

Oh, okay. Thanks for your help, you turkey. Mason tries this every once in awhile as well. I really didn't NEED any help and maybe she just knew that I was trying to distract her and make her forget that she had just found the DVD of a movie she wanted to watch.

(I scanned in this picture Damon took of my sassy little turkey. I need to have him email them to me so they are better quality and legal. :) )

How 'bout a good recipe...

This is one of our favorite meals. We got the recipe from Nicole but I have changed some things that I do different and those changes are listed on the bottom. It is great both ways but I don't usually have potatoes on hand but I do always have rice and everything else. ENJOY!

Enchilada Soup

5-6 Chicken Breasts (thawed)
2 cans chicken broth
2 cans enchilada sauce (I prefer Rosarita)
1 can black beans (rinsed)
1 can of corn
3-4 potatoes – cubed
1 can chopped tomatoes

Cook in crock pot for 5-6 hours or until chicken easily falls apart

*Optional toppings
cilantro, cheese, sour cream, avocados, chips

Tara’s changes to recipe
1 or 2 extra cans of black beans
Frozen corn instead of canned about 2 cups
No potatoes
I cook brown rice on the stove and add it to the soup just before serving. (about 2 cups worth) We like the soup thick

The next day we use a slotted spoon and put soup mixture into tortillas for tacos

Where have we been...

Okay, so the reason I haven't been blogging is because I still haven't purchased a new camera. Blogging is so much more fun when you have pictures. If you are a great writer, it doesn't matter so much....and since I don't fall into this category, I haven't been blogging. So I guess I will share a few random things....

* Mason drew a picture of our family at church on Sunday and I noticed I had two large circles drawn on my shirt. Oh, wait...are those my....? no....So I said, "Mason what is that?" And he leaned in real close to my ear and whispered, "Your boobs." Oh, okay. Thanks for not forgetting those.

*Kennedy has learned to wink like a pro and its cute

*Mason can blow a bubble with his bubble gum

*I had to sneak out of my step class early tonight because my friend and I talked so much I was worried that I would get in trouble after class...some things never change.

*I have a vacation planned for this summer and I NEVER plan this early so I am proud of us.

*I LOVED LOVED LOVED the movie PS I LOVE YOU. Go see it.

Music Ideas

I am making a video of many of my kid's photos from the last few years for our parents Christmas gift. (Hopefully they don't check my blog, if you do, SURPRISE.) However, I need help choosing songs. If you were making a Christmas video of your kids, what songs would you use? Thanks for any help.

P.S. Thanks for all the input on Mason's hair. Looks like the majority thinks it should stay, and the majority wins so Mason will be keeping his locks for a little longer. (He likes his hair so it's probably good to keep it longer.)

IS IT TIME?

So I need some opinions. I have been noticing little boys that have long hair lately and most of them don't look very good. In fact, I was looking at a little boy and thinking he would be much cuter if his mom cut his hair and then I realized, his hair looked almost exactly like Mason's.

I am aware that in this picture it needs a trim, we cut about 1 inch off the day after this picture, but I am asking... Is it time to chop off his hair? I am thinking that it is, but I really do want some opinions. It really isn't even as curly as it used to be. I'll show you a short time line.

Sucking Blood and Karate

So last night Mason was in trouble and I got up from the table to "guide" him to his room and as I approached him he whips out his karate moves and starts saying "HA, HA, YA, HA", while doing his moves on me. Can you believe that? Where do kids learn to be so rude. I have to admit after he was in his room, Don and I couldn't stop laughing.

P.S. Don and I have been trying to convince him to take Tae Kwon Do with his friend (Edyn - Libbie's little girl) and he tells us he doesn't want to because there will be parents watching and besides "I already know how to do karate" and then he will show you his "moves".

Later last night, he didn't want to go to bed and I told him in my scariest Vampire voice (which is oooh so scary) that if he didn't get in bed I was going to suck his blood then I attacked his neck. He laughed and said, "no you won't" and I said, "yes, I will" and he said "You don't have any sharp teeth". Then I told him that he just hadn't seen them yet. He decided not to test me and started going upstairs with his Dad and I heard him ask "Will Mom really suck my blood." I couldn't resist and I yelled up the stairs, "I sure will". What a mean mom.

Challenge

Okay I have read of 2 people this week (so sorry guys) that have lost many of their pictures do to computer failure.

So my challenge to all....

Stop checking blogs right now and go back up ALL of your photos onto CD's or a thumb drive. I will be backing mine up as soon as I finish typing this post.


Side note: I am glad that everyone has potty talk in their home and not just me. So thanks for the support. I do have to say, I have NEVER heard him talk like this at school so they must know how bad it really is. Come to think of it, he never talks at school about anything. HA! Just like his Mom...J/K, just like his DAD.

RECIPE HELP

I am in a preparedness group (Enrichment Activity) and we all have to come up with 7 days worth of meals that can be made from items that can be stored on the shelf. I need some help here. I can only come up with a couple of good recipes. So....if you have a good recipe that only uses canned, or boxed items, please share it with me.

I can use eggs, butter, and milk because I have powdered of those.

The purpose of this is for our 3 month supply that we should have. I do have my year supply but this is different.

Thanks in advance for anyone willing to help.

Mr. Mason

Just a couple conversations between me and Mason....

The other day Mason was stretching with me and we were bending over touching our toes and they guy on the video said, "Niiiiiiiiice good stretch." and Mason said, (in a super snotty voice)"Doesn't feel good to me.". Ha.

I just popped popcorn for the kids and turned on Bug's Life and one of the bugs said "poo poo head" and Mason turned to me and said "see, we do talk like that". So I said, "No, we don't; I don't like it". His response? "I do". AGHHH!

Why do boys like potty talk? It is a constant battle in our home. What am I doing wrong? Does anyone else deal with potty talk? And now my sweet pea kennedy is doing it because she loves to copying anything and everything that her brother does.

Pumpkin Patch
I am a little slow at getting these pictures posted...surprise, surprise.
We went to a new (for us) pumpkin patch this year and Mason loved it. It has lots for the kids to do and it cost us an arm and leg to get in. :)

There wast this little maze of straw bales for the kids and bikes they could ride around with some pools filled with wheat. No, not corn, it was wheat. Weird, I know.

Hayride out to the pumpkin patch and back

Don and I were picking out the most perfect pumpkins and these are the ones our kids picked. Mason's is covered in warts and Kennedy's is green. I'm glad they liked the ones with some personality.

This is Don and his brother racing on the other track.

Dad and Kenna on the straw bale pyramid.

Mason and Kenna on top

GUM
Well, we had our first experience with gum getting stuck in hair, Kennedy's hair, I am actually surprised it wasn't Mason's. Thankfully, Peanut Butter works wonders. I think she thought it was funny, she was trying not to smile in these pictures and act appropriately upset.

A funny gum story...

My niece came down stairs one day and had a chunk cut out of her hair and apparently had gotten gum stuck in her hair and didn't know what to do so she cut it out. Her Mom told her that they could have gotten it out with peanut butter. So, some time later the same thing happened again, she came down with a chunk of hair missing and her Mom said, I told you we could get it out with peanut butter and my niece started crying and said, but I didn't want peanut butter stuck in my hair. Kids are so funny.

Family Photo Attempt
Sooooo pitiful....but kinda funny

Communication

Communicating with toddlers is so interesting, isn't it?

Mason has 3 girl cousins that live close to us and he LOVES them. The last couple of times that we have been over there they were painting their nails and he wanted his done as well so they painted his. (Thankfully he did choose green, instead of purple (his favorite color).) I didn't really say much about it then and wondered if I should be the one to tell him that boys don't do that, but thought it didn't really matter and he was excited about it.

So fast forward to this afternoon....one of his cousins came over and brought nail polish with her. We didn't have time to do nails while she was here so she left the polish and I sat down to do the kids nails. First we painted toe nails and I figured I would just have Mason wear shoes instead of flip flops to pre-school tomorrow.

Then he said, "Okay, do my fingers now please."

Me: "Usually only girls paint fingernails."

Mason: "Okay." and he keeps sitting there while I'm doing Kennedy's and I thought, wow, that was easy.

Then...

Mason: "Okay, do mine now."

Me: "Remember, usually only girls paint fingernails"

Mason: "Ya. So can you do mine now?"

Me: "Well, since usually only girls do nails are you sure you want to do yours?"

Mason: "No, you do it."

Me: "So since only girls paint nails you want me to do mine."

Mason: "No, you do mine."

So then it finally clicked. He thought only girls could do the actual applying of the nail polish. I realized I was not wording things the correct way and so what other conclusion was he supposed to draw. I guess I need to work on my communication. His nails are now green. I wonder what the kids are going to say at school tomorrow.

Sleeping Beauty

K was sick the other day and I got her out of the tub and laid her on this chair while I went to get her some clothes. I got sidetracked and folded a load of laundry and when I came back she was sleeping. Don't you love watching your kids sleep? I love it but it doesn't happen much with her because she always sleeps in her bed and wakes up so easily that I rarely go in while she is sleeping. I just want to pick up and squeeze all 23 lbs of her.

Oh What Do you Do in the Summertime...
We have had such a fun summer and I haven't even been blogging about it, what a shame. I will just blame it on the broken camera. (Even though it broke towards the end of the summer. I guess I just don't take as many pictures as I should.)

Our summer staple is the pool. The kids love going (they like it best when they don't have swim lessons), I love going, so we are all happy. We don't usually go on the weekends but thankfully Don did take the kids one Saturday so we do have a few pictures that he took.

What is Your Favorite Book?

Last night I was at the library and I was having trouble finding a book. I need some recommendations. I have so many books I love, here are a few....

(I love all John Grisham books)

What are some of the books you have loved?

Clean, Crisp, White Sheets and Pirates Feet

Don and I had a great weekend of no kids. Friday night they stayed the night at my parents house and Don's parents took them for a few hours on Saturday. We picked them up, went out for pizza, and went and fed the ducks.

On our way home the kids feel asleep, it was only about 6:30 so we laid Mason on the couch and just as we were going to put him in bed at about 9:00, he woke up. Too late for a bath, I carried him up to my bed so I could talk to him about his weekend with Grandparents.

So we are laying next to each other talking about his day and he gets really excited and sits up and pushes the covers back. AHHHH! His feet were soooo disgusting. Super tan, super dirty, a few cuts with dry blood, gobs of dirt between his toes....ALL OVER MY NICE WHITE SHEETS!! Too bad I still haven't replaced my camera cause I would have loved to show you. He was wearing a pirate t-shirt to bed and I thought it fit perfectly because his feet looked just as I would imagine pirates feet to look.

P.S. I just had to post this picture.....isn't it awful...i just found it on the internet...IT IS NOT MINE OR ANYONE ELSE'S THAT I KNOW

On the Charts!!

It may not seem like a very big deal to some, but for us it is a huge accomplishment. Kennedy is now on the charts....3rd percentile baby.

She has not been on the charts since she was about 6 months old and it has been stressful. But at her last checkup she had gained some weight, she is now a whopping 23 lbs. (She turned 2 in March and this appointment was in July)

This is an old picture of her. (I picked up my camera off the computer desk and the case had been opened and the camera went tumbling out and fell behind the desk, banging up against the wall several times on its way down and no longer turns on. Bummer. So I haven't blogged much lately because blogging without pictures is certainly not nearly as fun as blogging with them.)

Traumatizing My Child

Do you ever feel like you have traumatized your child? Well I try to tell my kids how it is and sometimes I wonder if that is the best way.

A couple of weeks ago Don and I were headed to a Seattle for a weekend trip and while we were packing I couldn't find Mason. He was outside playing in the car. I went out and talked to him about how we can't play in the car because it gets very hot in the car and if he got stuck in the car he would go to sleep and never wake up. Then I just told him he could die. (Granted the windows and a couple of doors were open since we were packing for our trip this day, but I thought it was a good time to bring it up.) A day or two later we got in the car on a hot day, and it was sooo hot in there Mason mentioned how he couldn't really breath and I again talked to him about how that is why we never play in the car because it gets too hot and we could die.


That same weekend we were at the Woodland Park Zoo and a baby elephant had died the weekend before and there was a memorial set up at the zoo. Mason has been asking about the baby elephant that died about every day since our trip. So, death has been on his mind. (He is my tender one)

Then we talked to him about how his favorite cousins grandma was very sick and she died this past Thursday.

Now to the part where I realized that I had traumatized the poor little guy....At church today he was starting to get too loud and was having trouble sitting still and I asked him if he needed to go sit in the car (not even thinking about our ealier conversations). Why would I say that? He looked at me and said "Am I going die?". I will never again ask him if he needs to sit in the car.

I wrote a long post last night and then deleted it on accident so now I am

just leaving a few pictures....

Kennedy wanted to go camping with Mason and Don and decided to get in the car so she wouldn't be left behind. She was so disappointed that she had to stay home with me.

Mason loves pirates. Arrrrgh!

Setting up for battle.