Success!

To follow-up with my deceptive recipes...I made these tortilla "cigars" for lunch yesterday (with carrot puree) and both of my kids ate them. It called for squash as well, but I didn't have any, so I doubled up on the carrots. Camden loved them a little more than Maddie, who was a little concerned about the inner filing. But, once she tasted it, she ate the whole thing. I thought they were surprisingly good. If nothing else, I am eating more vegetables!

Trying Something New

I recently got this cookbook from another generous friend (my ward is filled with them) and I'm so excited with the idea of it. I saw Jessica Seinfeld on Oprah (Jerry's wife) and was so excited to get this cookbook and try it out. For those of you who aren't familiar with it...she purees all sorts of veggies and puts them in recipes that your kids will eat. Great idea, right? I was never one to make my own baby food or anything like that, but I have been struggling with getting everyone (kids, husband, myself included) to eat enough vegetables. So, the other night when Ben was working and the kids were in bed, I gave it a try!

I just used the veggies I had on hand to start out with, which were carrots, broccoli, and butternut squash.
Last night I made her homemade Macaroni & Cheese (which includes the butternut squash puree)...and I thought it was so yummy! My kids, however, did not devour it like I pictured in my mind. I should have known that, since they don't really like mac & cheese normally. Weird kids, I know! I'm not giving up though. I'm thinking spaghetti pie next...

Finally!

Some of you may have noticed that I've been MIA, or maybe not...long story short, we have been without internet for almost a week! I should say it has been a blessing in disguise (playing with my kids more, getting other important things done)...but it hasn't! What a nightmare, I feel so out of touch. Anyhow...first things first. Ben took the GRE earlier this week and did great (at least we think so). He's been studying a ton and hopefully it will pay off. Good job sweetie! (We'll see if he's been reading my/our blog)

These are a few of my favorite things...

Silly Children:

We came across these fake glasses I used to wear. I'm a nerd, I know...but my kids had a fun time wearing them.

Gingerbread House Decorating:

Since Ben is preparing to take the GRE, he has had a few days off, so we took advantage and made a gingerbread house on Friday. Growing up, my mom would always make homemade gingerbread for the house. Oh my goodness...that must have been a LOT of work! I decided to go with the kit from Target. Just assembly and decoration tuckered me out and I was ready for a nap afterwards! Just another thing that makes me appreciate my mom a little more now that I am a mom.

The finished product.

Maddie's Swimsuit Modeling:

Ok, just had to post this picture of her b/c, well...it speaks for itself.

Our Budding Photographer

Like most kids, Maddie loves to take pictures. Usually I pick up the camera and find all sorts of pictures on there of her room, the bathroom, various walls...normal right? Well, just recently when she says a prayer she often includes such phrases as, "please bless me that I can take a picture," or "please help me to take lots of pictures." Is it too early for her to know that she wants to be a photographer when she grow up? Probably...but it's fun to see her so interested. Here is some of her latest work:

She thought she'd capture her great pedicure on film.

A nice close up.



Not actually one she took, but I got these all out of order somehow.

Who needs TIVO when Maddie captures shows on the camera.

There were many more pics of this particular Barney show, but I don't want to bore you with the pictures.


One of here usuals--her doll house.


She even captured Camden's favorite pastime lately...pulling all of the books off of the shelf!

Good Morning Maddie.

Every morning after we wake up, I ask Maddie what she would like for breakfast. She almost always replies "cereal" unless some muffins are lying around or I've had an ambitious morning and made some pancakes or something like that. So, then I ask her to pick out which kind she would like and this is the result:

Yes, she actually carries every single box out of the pantry and wants them all combined in the same bowl. I mean two or three...OK, but 7 different kinds! It gets a little interesting when you throw Golden Grahams in with Fiber One. Gross! She doesn't seem to mind one bit though.

Letter to Santa

Today we went to drop off Maddie's letter to Santa at the mall.

Here is her letter, in her own words...written by me. Luckily she's forgotten how she wanted one of those motorized Jeeps and an expensive pink guitar that she saw at Costco. It seems to change every week.

"Hey...save me a piece of that corn!"

John, Ben's brother, picked up an authentic Nacho Libre mask right in the heart of Mexico, while on a cruise there. What a great find! My kids were deathly afraid of it.

Maddie finally decided it was ok, once she was able to put it on herself.

Here is Maddie and Sydney (cousin) the other day. We told them to pose cute, and this was Maddie's interpretation of that.

Maddie loves to have storytime. Today she sat up on a stool and told us a great story about Christmas. She is obsessed with being on the "nice list" (I may have had something to do with that). So, this is her telling us all about Santa watching us, to see if we will be naughty or nice.

No need for Christmas toys

My generous friend, Kellie, from our ward brought over some of her kids old toys the other day that she was gonna get rid of. Maddie and Camden both dove right into the bag (well, not literally). But they literally played with them for the rest of the day and then some.

Camden is actually looking at the camera and smiling, very rare. I think he might be saying "cheese" as well.

The bag 'o toys also contained some swimsuits, which Maddie modeled for us over and over again (with panties and all).

I just couldn't resist.

Thanks again, Kellie, for supplying us with fun filled days to come!

Furniture Heaven

Alright, a few of you have been waiting on me to post my new furniture pictures. I'm happy to say that the wait is over! Hopefully you didn't get your hopes up too much. Here is what we got & I'm excited about it. First of all, (I guess I should have done before and after shots, oh well)...here is the TV stand or whatever they call it that we got for an amazing price at RC Willey. Previously we had a tall, Wal-mart entertainment center, which was manipulated when we got a bigger TV two Christmas's ago, to make it fit. I've wanted something new ever since. It's nice not to buy cheap furniture, these pieces may actually last awhile.

Next, is our new bed. I wanted to buy a whole bedroom set, but didn't like the dresser & nightstand that went with it, and it's not really in the budget right now...so I'm continuing my search for those. For now, this is great though. Although now I'm thinking we also need a new comforter! Ahh...it never stops!

Lastly, here is the one and only good thing that came from my "Black Friday" experience--the two patterned pillows on the couch which were normally $40/each and I got them for $12/each. Next year I'll have to go with some friends or something and make it a more enjoyable experience.

So, this year I will just enjoy watching my children unwrap their presents, instead of my own, which honestly does not bother me one bit. I always know everything I'm getting anyways! It's always fun to see their excitement, especially now that they're getting older...I just love it!

Merry Christmas to me! Ben was so kind to let me talk him into furniture this year. I love you babe.

(Sorry about the rain looking spots on some of the pics, the lense was dirty!)

A Little Preview

We had Ann, Ben's sister, take some family pictures for us the other day. I didn't want to reveal the final pic, since most of you will be receiving it via mail, so here are a few other fun ones...

Thanks again Annie, what would we do without you?

Thanksgiving Festivities

We've had such a fun Thanksgiving week, filled with lots of family and fun. First, on a sad note--I forgot my camera on Thanksgiving day :( I'm still upset with myself for not being able to capture everything on film. I'm a sad excuse for a blogger, I know. Despite my boo boo,we had a nice day up in Heber with Ben's side of the family (35 or so I think). Because of the large number, we held it at the church, which was nice b/c we worked off some of our extra calories by playing some volleyball afterwards. I did play in high school, so it's kinda nice sometimes to see if I still have any skills (or maybe I never did ?). Anyways, it was a good day.

The next day started off with some unsuccessful "black friday" shopping and a trip to Chuck E. Cheese for our niece's b-day. My kids love that place. Notice they don't like to look directly at the camera, which makes for great pictures.

Ok, he is looking at the camera in this one.

The merry-go-round

Maddie shaking it, while watching the big characters on the stage, she wasn't shy! (She had to hold onto the chairs for support)

Annie, aka "The Best Aunt Ever!"

Ann (Ben's little sis) is always taking my kids so I can have some peace and quiet and get things done, I don't think she knows how much I appreciate her. I love you Annie!

We ended that day with some furniture shopping...:) I'll let you know how that went later.

Santa, Big Girl

Our little Maddie seems to be obsessed with being a "big girl". Not only that, but loves to distinguish the difference between big girls and babies. The other day I was singing that "Santa baby" song, while giving them a bath and she thought that was hilarious. "Santa isn't a baby!" she said. Then she proceeded to sing "Santa big girl" for the remainder of her bath. Apparently I need to teach her that there are big boys in the world as well.

I am officially in the Christmas mood! I usually wait to decorate till after Thanksgiving, but I just couldn't wait any longer this year. This morning I got everything out and the kids are just thrilled. I'm just waiting for Ben to wake up, (he started the night shift last night) so I can retrieve the Christmas tree from under our bed. One day we won't have to store such things under our bed b/c of a lack of space!

Which brings me to my next topic...beds. I'm having a bit of furniture envy lately. I just can't get the idea of wanting new furniture out of my head. I'd love a bed and new dresser for our room as well as some sort of Entertainment center for our growing TVs. Is it safe to say, that if the TVs grow, so should the furniture around them? I know, I know...I'm being too worldly! I'm just hoping Santa will be kind this year bring me some, but it's kinda a tall order. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Maddie & Nattie

We had such a fun time last night hanging out with some old friends. Ben knew Scott growing up and he and Ben met me and Chandi (his wife) right about the same time. We had fun going on lots of group dates together. They just moved to Lehi, and we're so excited to have them so close. Maddie and Natalia ("Nattie" but I'm not sure if I'm spelling it correctly) had such a great time together. I don't think I have ever seen Maddie play so well with a friend before. They were born 2 weeks apart and destined to be friends...maybe Bosom Buddies. They never fought over a toy or had any problems together, it was wonderful! Thanks Scott & Chandi for having us over!

It got a little interesting when we would call their names, they would both turn their heads to respond.

Happy Birthday Suzanne!

My little sister, Suzanne, turns 18 today! I can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday that she was peeking at me through the window of our house, as I was coming home from dates with my boyfriend in high school. She's the last one at home, 8 years behind me...so she often feels like an only child. Hurry up and graduate Suzie Q, so you can join us here in Utah. We all miss you :)

Where do Croissants come from?

Here is a little video that reminds me of my previous post.

For some reason it makes me laugh really hard.

You're making me pee!

So, Maddie does this new wonderful thing where she pees in her undies if you make her laugh too hard or play rough with her or something along those lines(maybe that's too much information)...but some of you women can relate, I'm sure. Anyways, it's usually Ben induced, so I should blame it on him. So, when this happens and she yells "you're making me pee" out loud for everyone to hear. The first time was when we went to visit Ben for lunch at the hospital's cafeteria, we were so embarrassed and quickly ran her to the bathroom. The latest was at church this last Sunday at the end of Sacrament meeting. Oh the wonderful things children do!

(She is trying to make a scary face in this picture, with Ben's help)

Go Cougars!

Last night we were able to go to the BYU vs. TCU game (our first one this season). We opted to bring the kids, rather than getting a babysitter. They really enjoyed it, especially Maddie, who treated us to a booty-shaking dance whenever she heard a good song come over the loudspeaker. We had great seats really close to the field, all because Ben's dad "knows people".

Cam almost looks asleep here...which he ended up doing near the end of the game.

Poor squishy faced kid.

Our entourage (L to R) Ben's mom, his bro-Paul, wife Heidi, and Dad w/Maddie

BYU won by the way...I was mostly there for the atmosphere, can you tell?

I could eat these everyday...

I'm assuming most of you have eaten at PF Chang's and had their chicken lettuce wraps. Yum... right? Well, while at Costco a few weeks ago, I discovered that they sell lettuce wraps prepackaged. After eating them for lunch today, I decided that they are definitely blog worthy. I just can't get enough of them! I think I could eat them everyday. I know there are probably many of you with good recipes to make them, but I just love how easy they are to put together and, dare I say, just as good as PF Chang's. Even my kids like them (minus the spicy sauce you can put on them). Mmm...makes me want to go get more.

Nurse in Training

So, most of you know that my husband is a nurse. He gets teased quite a bit about being a "male nurse", especially from his siblings. He's a good sport though.

Well, the other day we went to meet Ben for lunch at the hospital and were looking around in the gift shop while we were waiting for him. We came across some kids sized scrubs that said "nurse in training" on the back. Maddie absolutely fell in love with them! After passing them up, we ended up going back later and buying them. On the way to buy them she said she wanted to be a "big girl nurse...like Daddy!" Haha, just what Ben wants to hear! Maddie wants to be just like her daddy, it's so cute!

She asks where her scrubs are everyday and carries them around a lot, calling them her "big girl nurse scrubs". I accidentally referred to them as her "pants" one time and she corrected me and said they are her "nurse pants". Excuse me :)

Lunch at Cafe West

(notice the guy picking his teeth in the background, lols)

Trying to get us all in the picture. This is the best we got.