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Sunday, September 29, 2013

Looking forward to....


OCTOBER!!!

1. Mia's birthday is this Friday. We will be celebrating with a girl's movie night with large amounts of candy and cupcakes. (She can't wait to be 6! She is one of the youngest in her class and everyone else is 6 already.)

2. This next weekend will be General Conference. I am super excited to break our our King Benjamin tent. All of the direction and guidance will be pretty awesome too!

3. In 2 weeks the kids have a four day weekend. Ty took the time off and we will be heading to Lake Arrowhead for a weekend in the mountains. (A weekend in the mountains was on my fall to-do list this year!)

4. I think it is officially time to break out all of the pumpkin everything.....pumpkin/fall decor, pumpkin spice candles, pumpkin roll (for Ty and Max!).
THESE pumpkin spice monster cookies

5. Caramel Apples!
Also....Honeycrisp Apples
and....caramel in general

6. We took our first look at the costume stash this weekend. Mia, Max, and Zoey have all picked out costumes for Halloween. Zackary is as yet undecided. Halloween is such a kid friendly holiday. It has become more fun for us each year.

Lots of good things coming up this month!


Saturday, September 28, 2013

Chick Flick

 The boys ran away with Ty to Home Depot.
The little girls got cozy on our big chair and watched Brave.
Saturday afternoon chick flick.
Love this sister set!
Wednesday, September 25, 2013

More Birthday Fun

 Zac was in the kitchen eating oreos (leftover from Max's pie!) when the doorbell rang. It was a birthday package for Zack from Ty's parents!
Zac was completely surprised and so excited!
It's all about planes now.....
Unexpected birthday surprises are the best!

Max vs. Pie

Max brought home a list of creative homework assignments he could choose from for this week.
One choice was to make a pie and document the steps involved.
 Max picked out a recipe for a triple chocolate cream pie with an oreo cookie crumb crust.
 We pulverized the oreos in the blender and them mixed them with butter and cocoa powder.
Max is a serious dark chocolate lover so he was all over this.
 For the filling we heated cream and poured it over bittersweet chocolate.
 When the chocolate was melted we added the rest of the ingredients.
 Again....Happy chocolate loving boy!
We popped our pie in the oven and 25 minutes later....
Homework is done!
Now the pie needs to chill and we still must make some chocolate whipped cream to complete the triple part of this chocolate pie!
Shouldn't homework always result in a ridiculously chocolate dessert?

The Bobcat Badge

 Max finished all of his work for the Bobcat Trail in cub scouts.
Last night he got his bobcat badge.
Ty and I thought it would be funny to "not" explain what was going to happen. He was very surprised to be held upside down so that the pin could be pinned on right side up but end up upside down.
To turn the badge right side up, Max will need to do a good deed. We have plans to make that happen this afternoon!
Max is loving scouts. He says he wishes every day could be Tuesday so that he could go every day!
Monday, September 23, 2013

Zac is 4!

 Our little Zackary turned 4 yesterday.
He is an amazing little guy and we are so happy to have him.
 I always set a birthday table themed with whatever the birthday person likes.
I made a little road all around the table and Zac helped me decorate with his cars.
 He was pretty excited about the whole thing.
 One thing I love about Zackary is how excited and happy he gets over small things. He was thrilled about the table and kept talking about how much he loved his balloon.
His attitude never leaves any room for disappointment.

A few things the newly four year old Zackary is into right now:

strawberries
nutella
Chima
Minecraft
butter
pancakes
preschool
writing his name
reading No David
riding his razor scooter
and the color green!
 Zac wanted a cookies and cream cake.
I used THIS recipe. It was super easy and delicious. Especially when we covered it with homeade chocolate sauce :)
 Zac actually blew out all of his candles immediately after I lit them. I had to re-light them so that we could sing to him and get a picture!
Zack had an excellent birthday.
He got lots of cars, legos, and loves.

Happy Birthday Zac!
Saturday, September 21, 2013

Picnic Weather and Weekends

 The temperatures last night were perfect for an impromptu picnic dinner in the backyard.
I made a BBQ chicken pizza that we ate along with some crispy roasted garbanzo beans. (The best way to eat garbanzo beans!)
 Our little backyard is so enjoyable when the weather is nice!
Everyone filled up and then we played outside until the kids were nicely coated with dirt.
We came inside and cleaned up. Everyone put on pajamas and we settled in for our Friday evening movie night. 
This morning the house was so nice and cool. The kids were cold enough for hot chocolate first thing! Weekends are the best :)

Thursday, September 19, 2013

A few Things for Thursday


1. Max went to his first official scout meeting on Tuesday night. We have been working with him at home and he has earned his Bobcat pin! He is so excited to be a part of scouts.

2. Mia has decided to sing in the school choir again this year. Her friends were doing it and Mia loves anything social!
(I am also hoping that she might develop a love of singing!)

3. It is finally cooling down!
My windows are open and I can think about turning on my oven again :)
THIS cake looks amazing. 
I think it must make an appearance for Halloween or Thanksgiving!

4. THESE cookies.

Everything I love and all things Ty doesn't on one delightful package.
More for me!

5. We are entering that time of year when time speeds up. We have birthdays, and holidays, and so much coming up. I always try to enjoy it as much as possible because so quickly it will be over and a new year will have begun.

Happy Thursday!

Sunday, September 15, 2013

10 years and Catalina

 We spent an amazing weekend on Catalina Island celebrating our first 10 years of marriage!
 We were able to stay in a beautiful place.
 The weather was perfect! Such a relief from the desert back home.
We ate some terrific food, walked for miles, drove along the coast in a golf cart, and spent most of the time holding hands :)

Here's to the next 10 years!


Monday, September 9, 2013

Monday


1. We had such a wonderful weekend. The baptism went so well. It was so nice to spend some time with our families. Monday morning came too soon!

2. The kids are back at school. I am driving the carpool this week. Zack had speech this morning. I needed peanut butter.
I don't know how I managed to run out of peanut butter.
Me and peanut butter go together like
peanut butter and jelly........obviously!

I made it to the store and peanut butter is back. All is well.

3. Speaking of which.....
THESE are my favorite cookies right now
I made a batch for the baptism and then let my mom take the leftovers for her seminary class. I realized, later the next day, that I had made a terrible mistake and made another batch.

4. Ty and I are celebrating 10 years of marriage this Thursday! We will be heading to Catalina Island for the weekend. I can't wait to spend a little time with my favorite guy!

5. I love boots, and sweaters, and scarves! Too bad I live in southern California.
Maybe I will wear them anyway.


Happy Monday!
Sunday, September 8, 2013

Movie Night


Before all of the cousins and grandparents left we wanted to have a movie night.
The weekend was still all about Max so we let him pick out the movie.
He has been wanting to watch Epic, so Epic it was.
Our nephews had seen the movie and told us that it was a manly movie so it would be a good one :)
 Everyone got cozy on the couch and all over the floor of the tv room upstairs, which was kind of uncomfortable considering the weather we have been having lately. (Hot and sticky!) It turned out to be a fun evening anyway though!
 We had lots of candy. It is part of what makes movie night so fun!
The movie was pretty good as far as kid's movies go! I would recommend it.
The kids are already looking forward to next weekend's movie night!

Max's Baptism

 Max turned 8 last month and this weekend he was baptized!
It was a very special day filled with excitement.
We gathered together with all of our family at the church to get ready for the big event.
 Max was all smiles. It was all about him!
Ty was a very proud dad. I was a proud mom too!
 Ty's parents were able to come down from Utah. Ty's dad gave the talk on baptism.
 We had one of Ty's brothers and his family stay with us over the weekend. The kids had so much fun together!
I am so glad that they got to have some cousin time.
 It is a rare treat for us.
 These pictures were all taken while I was telling them to give me a normal smile.
 It didn't work out so well, but I love the goofiness!
Cute cousins!
 Jamison....He was ready to sing for us.
He did an amazing job!
 It was so wonderful to have so much love and support for Max's big day!
It was a very happy day for all of us. Everything went so well. I am so excited for Max and for all of the happiness to come.
I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for the amazing opportunity to watch my children grow and learn in His light!

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Tuesday Things


1. The long weekend was just what I needed. I actually ended last week with a bad sore throat and I was able to get a lot of rest in. This morning I woke up and I could finally tell the pain was going away and I was getting better! 

2. Mia starts taking art classes today. They are offered through Young Rembrandts at her school and she is very excited! I can't wait to see what she is able to do.

3. Max will be baptized this weekend! I am busy baking ridiculous amounts of cookies for the event.
(I can't believe Max is 8 and getting baptized! 8 years went by so fast. In another 10 years he will be going on a mission......Glad I still have 10 years to get ready for that one!)

4.
This is a great thought.
It goes along well with THIS little video I watched this morning.

Someday, when it does become fall in southern California, I will get to work on this list!

Hurray for 3 day weekends! Happy Tuesday!