Happy Birthday to me!

So I feel a little wierd writing a bday post about my own birthday, but oh well. We were in Utah and I had the perfect day. Rusty and the kids took me to lunch at my favorite place, Costa Vida. And seriously--drinks were spilled 4 separate times. The people at tables around us were laughing so hard. But I'm still glad we went. Then I got to go to a playgroup with my friends. Lindsay made yummy cupcakes (Thanks!) and we got to catch up and meet many new babies. It wasn't long enough! Later that night Rusty ordered some pizzas and the Banks and Cornell families came to eat and play nerfis. Josh was so concerned that there weren't party hats, and luckily Sharon had a stash of Mater hats from previous parties. Josh took the stack and handed one to everyone as they came in. He was very adament that no one could eat cake unless they were wearing a party hat. It was cute. So thanks to everyone for making my birthday so much fun!





From Left to Right: Cadence, Blake, Sammy, and Lucy. I think for having 4 babies, the pic turned out pretty cute!

Selling Punch

A few weekends ago we watched Brax and Bree while Sara and Brian went on an overnight anniversary get-away. My kids had been looking forward to it for WEEKS, and it didn't disappoint. Everyone had so much fun. We got to take Brax to his soccer game, (he's quite the little athlete!)eat LOTS of pizza, and watch a movie with popcorn. But hands down the favorite thing they did was set up a punch stand. First they drew pictures that they were going to sell. Then they made signs saying "Punch 10 cents." They set up their table, taped the sign to a tree, and were ready to go. Unfortunately, my street had NO ONE out that day. So I gave them all dimes and they played "customer" with each other. Rusty and I got a turn as well. Everyone drank way too much punch and they all had cute little orange mustaches.
Braxton and Kambree were sleeping on a blow-up mattress in Josh and Halle's room. Josh was SO upset that he wasn't sleeping on the mattress, so I relented and threw a pillow at the bottom for him. It made him so happy. I was really surprised that they all fell asleep pretty quickly. I think we'd exhausted them all. Halle's already asking when they can come stay again. We'd have them anytime!

We've Come Full Circle, Baby

When we were first married Rusty hated doing dishes. (What am I saying? He still hates to do dishes!) So he would eat straight out of the pan whenever he could. He also made us share a plate most of the time. This drove me NUTS--and eventually he gave in and started 1. not eating out of pans and 2. using his OWN dishes.

Last night our church had a corn roast where they were supplying all the corn, drinks and cookies, and we were all supposed to bring our own picnic dinner. I was really not feeling in the mood to pack up an entire dinner so we just decided to scarf some leftovers before we went. I wasn't that hungry yet (it was only about 4:30), so I went to the fridge, pulled out a huge serving bowl of pasta salad I had made earlier in the week, got a fork from the drawer and plopped it all down in front of Rusty. He looked at me with awe in his eyes and said, "I've never loved you more than I do right now."

It took 7 years, but we've finally come full circle.

Just some pics

Blake riding to the pool in the bike trailer. Josh HATES to ride with him b/c Blake will flail his arms and "hit" Josh, or sometimes Blake tips over a bit and is "crowding" Josh.


Labor Day Party at the Pool 2009


Cute Smiles


Three Cute Kiddos


Napping at the Park

Josh's First day of Preschool

My tiny Josh went to his first day of preschool today. He is so excited to have something that is just for him and not for Halle. We bought him a Lightening McQueen backpack and he's been toting it around for weeks.

Me and 4 other friends (Joanna, Haley, Nikki, and Carrie) are doing home preschool this year. Crazy, maybe. Money saving, definitely. We each paid $100 for curriculum for the entire year. I paid twice that a month for Halle's preschool! We all just rotate teaching, so we teach one week out of every 5. Today was at Joanna's house and she said everyone did pretty good, but they needed lots of breaks. Josh was very excited about an alligator they made by gluing macaroni to a paper and then painting it green. But he really wanted to eat the macaroni, and was so confused when I kept telling him that under no circumstance was he to eat the paint covered noodles.

Another funny Josh story--he is such a little PARROT. Anyone listening to him talk can tell exactly how I discipline him. Our conversation:
Me: Josh, please go clean your room
Josh: Mom, if you say those words to me again you are going to go to time-out. OK?
Me: Josh, you can't talk to mommy like that
Josh: says it again
Me: If you choose to say that again you will lose your cartoons
Josh: Mom, if you make me clean my room you will lose the remote.

Oh my heavens! It sounds so sassy, but I don't think he really means it that way. And today he told me if I took off his Nike shirt that I would be in Major Trouble. It's so hard not to laugh at him.

Dancing again

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The beauty of allowance

We started giving the kids allowance if they complete all their jobs for the week. We give them $2. We've been doing it for a month or so, and they each had $10, so we decided to go to Target and let them pick out a toy to buy with their money. So, we had a tithing lesson and they each paid their tithing and then put the rest of the money in a little baggy and off to Target we went.
They spent about 45 min looking at EVERY SINGLE toy in the whole store before making their decisions. Josh chose a tool set, and Halle chose a set of play food for her kitchen. Josh's tool set came as no surprise, he LOVES that kind of stuff. But Halle hasn't played with her kitchen in FOREVER. (maybe from the lack of food) So we were a little surprised by her choice. When we got home she said to Rusty, "Dad, I've been thinking about this, and dreaming about this. It's like a dream come true!" Apparently toy hot dogs and ice cream cones are what her dreams are made of. Who knew.
We NEVER buy the kids toys except at bdays and Christmas, and it has been great for me as well. They took their new stuff to the basement, and I haven't seen them for two days.
But I'm curious what other people do with allowance. Do you have any tips to share??

What's for dinner?

No one has played along for awhile.....What are you having for dinner this week?  OR what was one success from last week?  Anybody have any EASY weeknight meals??

This week we're doing:

Tacos topped with spinach, tomato, avocado and salsa. (I also usually substitute 1/4 of the meat with ground up zucchini--no one ever knows the difference. 
Here's a recipe for making your own taco seasoning. Best part--NO SALT!

BBQ chicken Salad

Sweet and Sour Chicken--the more healthy way. This recipe takes awhile to prepare and cook so I usually do it on Sunday when Rusty can take the kids off my hands.  But it is a family favorite!
1/2lb-1lb chicken tenders or chicken breasts cut into strips

Sprinkle the chicken with a little garlic powder and dip into egg white, then roll in flour.

Brown the coated chicken in a skillet coated in cooking spray.  Also coat the chicken with cooking spray so it gets nice and brown. (You may have to spray more than once)

SAUCE:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup red wine vingear
1/2 cup pineapple juice (So, I usually serve this with canned pineapple so I can use the juice!  If not, they sell little Dole cans of juice)
1 TBS ketchup
1 tbs soy
1 tbs seasoning salt

Put chicken in baking dish and pour sauce over the top. Bake Uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Serve over brown rice.

That's only three, so I need some more ideas!!!!