Back from a Mini Vacation

Last Wednesday (Oct. 13th) the kids and I hopped in our neighbor's mini van and drove up to Snowflake, AZ.  Us girls took off earlier then the men, you know, so the kids could get settled, play a bit, eat dinner and go to bed at a decent time.  The guys had to work and couldn't leave until after 5, so they didn't get up to Snowflake until after 9pm.  Thank goodness for exhausted kids - sleep overtook them by 8:30, no fighting for them to go to bed took place...YESSSS!

We stayed at our neighbor's sister's house that sits on an acre of land.  Kids played on the trampoline, swing set, took rides on the ATC's and even got to play with their awesome dog!  And guess what?  Oliver really didn't experience any allergies with this dog, I was exstatic!

Oliver joined in with the other kids in riding the ATC, which was great.  Last time we had Quads he didn't want anything to do with them.  Aaron took Oliver on a ride which made Eli jealous, he had to go too.  So, on he went, and LOVED it.  Eli will be our rollercoaster-kid, just you wait.

On Thursday, we had our family photos taken up there, thanks Jeff!  So I quickly trimmed up Oliver's hair so he wouldn't look like a raggamuffin (does anyone say that anymore??).  We had a fun little birthday BBQ for Morgan followed by a movie outside that night.

Friday morning, we all went to a nearby pumpkin patch to pick out a couple pumpkins.  The kids had fun exploring, I had fun looking for white pumpkins or blue pumpkins to take home, but they were all gigantic, so we ended up with orange, which is cool too.

Thanks to Kathy and Jeff for all the fun - we had a great time!

~enjoy the photo collage!

We ran out of bread today

Some of you know that I shop for groceries once a week, I make a menu for all the dinners we will have then shop for those things (as well as things to refill my pantry).  Okay, some times I go more than once a week to get the random things I forgot, but I'm trying not too.

Today is a good example of one of those days.  We ran out of bread.  Well, except the heels, which we all know is best to use as food for ducks, right?  I decided NOT to go to the store for the bread, so I made some.  I've been wanting to try a recipe that I found last year so today I did.  It turned out really good!  I made one small loaf, a small batch of caramel cinnamon sticky buns and froze dough to make another small loaf.  Yay!!

As you can see by the photo collage, the kids really enjoyed the sticky buns, as did I!  Eli was begging Oliver for more, and like a good big brother, Oliver obeyed mom's instructions not to fee him anymore, as Eli had already had plenty.

Next time you run out of bread, try making some.  I've got a great recipe if you'd like it!

Did you ever?

This morning the alarm buzzed at 6am, just like it does every morning - but today, I actually got up!  I showered, got dressed and put on my makeup.  I went downstairs and poured a bowl of cereal for myself - Lucky Charms, don't you just love those marshmallows?  Oliver came bouding down the stairs just as I poured my milk.

"Mom?  Whatchoo dooin?"  [Gotta love it :)]  "I'm hungwy, I want ceweal."

I ask him if he's sure he doesn't want oatmeal, he says no.  Then picks up the Lucky Charms box.  I give in to his request and give him the cereal.  This is his second time to eat Lucky Charms, so he asks what the marshmallows are.  I explain.

Breakfast is done, Oliver excuses himself and goes outside.  Mind you, he is only wearing a shirt at this time.  He pulled his pj shorts and diaper off as soon as he got downstairs - potty training, remember?  A couple minutes later he peeks his head into the kitchen from outside and says, "Mom, look at this."

He's got poo on one of his fingers!  Oh my gosh.

About this time, Aaron comes into the kitchen ready to walk out the door.  Turns out, Oliver decided to go poo outside.  In a plant.  But he missed.  And he poo'd on the rocks next to the plant.

How can you not laugh?  It's funny, but kinda not!

So, we cleaned up the mess outside, cleaned Oliver up and explained that going potty outside is a no no.

What crazy funny things have your kids done?

Remember? It's now called Funday

Funday (as we are now calling it) was Aaron's birthday!  We had a great time eating dinner at Texas Roadhouse with Emilee then coming home to cake and ice cream with Emilee and the Jones' family.  I made a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting then coated with toasted coconut.  The cake was a little underdone, but still a hit :)  When I get my recipe perfected, I'll share it.  See, I made up the recipe and am pretty proud of it.

For Funday, Oliver got to invite a friend over to play.  He and Henry played for 2.5 hours and had a good time.  They played guns, hide and seek, cars and chased Eli.  Or maybe Eli followed them around, who knows.

What did you do for Funday?  Please share if you'd like to :)

Tuesday is Laundry Day

In an effort to organize myself and my household more efficiently and *ahem* schedule-ly (I think I just made up a word), I am working on making it easier to do the household chores.  So, Tuesday has been officially dubbed Laundry Day.  Doesn't that sound fun.  Yes, sarcasm is deeply rooted into that last sentence.

I have gone so far that in my Outlook calendar, every Tuesday there is a reoccuring appointment from 8am to 4pm to get laundry done.  Now, to me, getting laundry done, means washed, dryed and folded - sometimes hung up or put away in drawers.  I am famous for "laundry piles" all over our house, just ask my hubby.  He'll vouch for me - wink!

So anyway, my new plan includes washing, drying, folding, hanging up and/or putting away in drawers.  Goodness knows, we have enough of them, putting clothing into them is only natural.

Goodbye Monday...Hello Funday!

Let me be the first to tell you that I do NOT like Mondays.  6am always comes too early, kids don't seem to sleep all that well, and 'm not always in the best of spirits.  So, needless to say, I do not like Mondays.

I need to change this.

From now on, Mondays will be forever known as Fundays in our house.  The day will be happy, upbeat, relaxing and most of all FUN!  We will take trips to the park, the pool (weather permitting), play legos, etc.  One of Oliver's friends called today and asked if Oliver could go play, perfect!  This kid loves to socialize.

How do you feel about Mondays?  What do you do for fun with your young children, especially during the HOT summer?

First Day of School

The day has finally arrived, just ask Oliver. School! He’s been so excited about going to preschool for months now and for the past three weeks has talked about it daily. He got up this morning, asked to get dressed right away. He picked out a new pair of dark blue jeans, his red Old Navy t-shirt and even the pair of underwear he thought he should put on (yes, he’s wearing underwear now [yay!]).

For breakfast, he ate his favorite: scrambled eggs with chives and American cheese and waffles with syrup. Before leaving for school, we snapped a few pictures to share. His teacher, Miss Carrie, has nine kids in the preschool, including Oliver. She said they all did excellent today!

Oliver came home from school with artwork and dry pants – no potty accidents at school – wooHOO! He had a great morning and can’t wait to go back tomorrow.