Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Kiddie Olympics

In the spirit of the 2008 Summer Olympics we had a kiddie olympics right here in our front yard area. We had some friends over and swam and played games. Here are some of the events:


Shotput: throwing the ball as far as we can. Look at Landon and Reese go!

Balance beam: walking along the tape on the ground and jumping the gaps.We had a couple of other events planned, but the kids were having so much fun playing in the water that we just let them be.
Here are some of the mommies watching in the heat. Most of them were pregnant. Thanks for being such troopers!

The rest of the time we played in the water and ate red, white and blue popsicles.

Here are our gold medalists:

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Vanilla Peach Syrup

A couple of weeks ago friend of mine gave me a bunch of peaches off her peach tree. They were pretty fuzzy, so the kids wouldn't eat them (I know! Picky little boogers). Trying to figure out what to do with the peaches before they rotted I found this fabulous recipe for Vanilla Peach Syrup. And when I say fabulous I really mean it! Try it out:

Vanilla Peach Syrup
5 cups peach puree (peel and puree in blender)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla
Combine the peach puree, sugar and lemon juice in a pot. Bring to a boil then turn down heat and simmer for 5 minutes (it will come to a boil pretty fast). Then add the vanilla. Stir and serve! If you are like me and don't like your syrup so sweet only add one cup of sugar.


We use it on our waffles and pancakes. I've tried it on vanilla ice cream and it's delicious. Poor Kevin is probably getting sick of peach syrup and waffles for breakfast and dinner a couple of times a week, but I can't seem to get enough of it and the kids will actually eat all of their food. Peaches are a great price right now too (for those in AZ they are $0.39/lb at Sprouts this week).

He's Gone and Done It...

slept through the night, that is!
Two nights in a row...I'm one happy Mama. :)

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

2008 Summer Olympics


Have you been watching?!

Friday, August 8, 2008

Gavin's Blessing Day

Here are some pictures from Gavin's blessing day. Personally, think "adorable" would be an understatement, but I am his mother. :)
So handsome in his little suit.

Such a sweet picture.

The Three Musketeers

Again with the lovies!

Father and Son. Kevin gave a beautiful blessing. And Gavin did a beautiful job not screaming. It was a beautiful day.

When Grandma Comes to Town

Last weekend Kevin's mom, sister Wendy, and Aunt Den came to town to meet Gavin and attend his blessing. We had a wonderful time with them! I took tons of pictures, but they all came out fuzzy. Here are the few that turned out:

We had lots of laughs as the kids tend to show off and act goofy when a grandparent is there to watch.
I wonder who they got that from.
Aunt Wendy was so much fun to play with. Cade just adores her.
This is a great picture of Pat and Den. We had a fun time!

Monday, August 4, 2008

Gavin's Newborn Pictures







Late Night Purchase

Stacey and I thought it'd be fun to go grab Breaking Dawn at midnight...or shortly thereafter (we really wanted to avoid all the other Twilight freaks who'd be dressed up like vampires or other characters). When I picked Stacey up at 12:00 we both were wondering what the heck we were doing. Poor Stacey is pregnant and packing to move this week. Our eyes were bloodshot and tired, but we went anyway. It was fun. We were able to cut some people in line, courtesy of a Barnes and Noble employee (he probably saw the exhausted condition we were in and took pity) and we were out of there within 5 minutes. Here are some not-so-flattering pics ( Stacey looks cute, as always!):



Yes, I've finished the book and am curious as to what all you other Twilight people think of it. Let me know!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Obsessions

Those who know me well know that every now and then I get obsessed over trivial things. I wish these obsessions were somewhat useful, like those who must wash their hands 30 times a day or repeatedly check certain objects to make sure they are organized in a perfect line or look at their stove over and over to make sure it isn't on. Nope, not me. The good things is, generally my obsessions fade away over time. Here are some examples of my obsessions:

NKOTB & Tom Cruise - My walls were lined with pictures of them as a pre-teen. I collected every teen mag I could find, carefully cut out the pictures and taped them to my wall or put them in a photo album. I still have the photo album...I can't seem to part with it.

Billy Bob Thornton - Don't ask.

Vanilla Coke and Lemonheads - Generally not together, but definitely an option. All throughout high school I always had a bag of lemonheads. Did you know they make Lemonhead jaw breakers that are about the size of a quarter? Heavenly. And when Vanilla Coke came out I had to have at least one can a day (I admit, probably more.) If my metabolism hadn't slowed down to the pace of a snail I would still consume these daily. For now they are rare treats. And that's ok.

Okay, I have a confession...when Titanic came out I saw the movie 13 times in the theater. And I cried every time. I think I dragged everyone I knew to the movies just so I could see it again. And again. And again. You get the picture.

Aprons. This is a recent obsession...as is blogging. I have 13 aprons hanging in my kitchen, with 2 more cut out and ready sew up. And 10 more ideas in my head that I can't wait to make. And blogging. I'm sure most of you have experienced the addiction to blogging. It comes and goes, but especially in the beginning, it was an obsession.


Okay, so here is the point of this whole post...right now, my obsession would be the Twilight series. Last year, while getting my hair done, my friend Chelsea asked me if I had read the books. I told her I had not and she explained that they were about vampires, but it wasn't like a stereotypical vampire book and they were so good. Well, vampires really aren't my preferred genre, so I had no intention of reading the books. Then it seemed like that was all people talked about; Twilight this and Twilight that and "Oh Edward!" Then I really didn't want to read the books. Around Christmas time I had to spend the day in the hospital and wanted to take some reading so I went to the bookstore and Twilight was there...in my face. So I begrudgingly purchased it (I was curious to see what all the hullabaloo was about). And started reading it. And couldn't put it down. I finished it quickly and sent Kevin to get the second book, New Moon. And finished it. And then sent Kevin back again to get the third book, Eclipse. I finished all three in a weekend. Yes, I became obsessed. So, why am I telling you all this? Well, the 4th book, Breaking Dawn, is coming out THIS SATURDAY! I decided to read the first three again, to prepare for it. I started three weeks ago and barely finished the third book tonight. It takes a lot longer to read with three rugrats. :) I will be buying it on Saturday, but since we are blessing Gavin this weekend and will have family in town, I probably won't be able to get to it until Monday. So next week if you see my kids running amuck, hair disheveled, glazed looks in their eyes, chocolate running down their chins it will probably be because I will be playing Disney movies all day and setting out a smorgasborg of junk food to keep them happy while I read my book. (Just kidding...really!)

Thursday, July 24, 2008

7 Week Stats

Today Gavin went to the doctor and this is what we found:
Weight: 11 lbs 3 oz
Height: 22 inches
Health: perfect!
Bright-eyed! We still aren't sure what color his eyes will turn. They are just really dark right now. There are hints of both blue and brown and maybe even green.
This week it seems like he's woken up. He looks us in the eyes and responds to our voices a lot more than before. He seems to be observing things a lot more now. He loves staring at the pictures on the wall and he watches Cade and Myla run in circles. He is smiling now, as well and it just melts my heart to see him smile.