Cha Ching!

I have learned quite a few things while nursing my babies in the mother's lounge at church. Most recently, I was talking to a Mom that told me that she puts her daughter's clothes in Ziploc bags. One matching outfit in each bag. That way her daughter can pick out her clothes, but they will match. I have always let Gracie be a "free spirit" as far as clothes and hair goes. She LOVES to pick out her clothes, "do" her hair (picture tells it all) and put lotion on her face every morning. I have been known to let her wear Teletubby snow boots in Summer. I have the attitude of "If you don't like the way my kid looks, don't look!". Anyway, so this is gonna be great. She still thinks she is picking out her clothes, but not looking quite as kookie!

Growing Too Fast!

I can't get enough of my little guy! Can't wait til I get my new camera so I can get better quality pics....of course how could this guy get any cuter? As you can tell I love the belly shots.

Suzie Sewmaker

This is my latest hobby that is taking me away from my homework. I keep conveniently finding things that take my time, and therefore don't allow me to do as much schooling as I should. My mom bought me that little sewing machine a couple years ago. I haven't the faintest idea how to sew, but my first skirt didn't turn out too bad! Don't look close!!!! I had to blur out my messy kitchen table. This is a Strawberry Shortcake print from Walmart--cheap quality material. I buy from a place out here that is much nicer quality and steeper prices too. I went to Kassie's a few days ago and we succeeded in making 3/4 of a dress for Gracie in about 4 hours. We made peanut butter cups too, so that took some of our time. I am determined to learn the basics, because I figure I can make a skirt for about 25% of the price I was paying online---or less.

Finally!

I think it's about dang time that we get to enjoy spending time out doors! This Summer is going to be much more pleasant then last Summer. We planted grass in September, and it's actually looking pretty good! I don't know why Gracie always morphs into Bucky the Beaver when I take her picture, but she does (if you click on it you can see just how hideous it is). In the one with her and Breck I finally had to say "Ok no chips when we go in the house if you don't smile normal." I promised her she could stay up with me tonight and eat chips and dip. Bad example...I know!

My Lil' Scriptorian

Gracie came home from church telling me that her friend Baelynn had scriptures, and that she wanted some. So on Monday I took her to an LDS book store. We got her a paper back B.O.M, a book mark, and some highlighters. She loves highlighting the pages. She's all "Mom, why do we have to read this?" I'm already getting all the hard questions! :-)

Naked Bum + Bright Eyes = Adorable

I swear he's not my favorite child! lol! He is just too fun to take pictures of. My girls are at a silly stage where they either purposefully (Gracie) or accidentally (Ava) ruin pictures with their CHEESY smiles. Breck on the other hand just loves to give nice, big, natural smiles. What a cutie!

Bowling Fun

Breck's Latest S.B Page

Shopaholics Anon.

I have already successfully completed a course in blogaholics anon, and even though it doesn't seem like it I DO spend less time blogging. Now it is time to send myself through a shopaholics anonymous course. Over the past week I have had a heart to heart with myself, and decided that indeed I shop online TOO MUCH. Since Ryan got a major raise at work I have, little by little, started piddling money away online. It's almost like eating a chocolate chip cookie (or in my case 10). It feels so great doing it, but after it's that yucky feeling in the pit of your stomach. Anyway, I love going through Old Navy etc.... and finding all the awesome deals, so I decided I will still allow myself to do that; on one condition, when I figure out the grand total of my purchases I will add that money to our van payment, to get that paid down sooner, instead of buying my finds. I already added $39.50 this morning. I was all set to buy a few things this morning, and had them in my cart for a few days, but decided to implement my plan. It felt GREAT to do something productive with that money. I read (in Parents) about a group of women online that get kicks out of paying down debt. They chat back and forth with each other about it, and encourage each other. I thought that was cool! I will have to update my blog in a month and let ya'll know how much money I have rerouted so far. Before you think I am full of will power I will just say last, but not least, I will not give up my obsession with Bajio--which already takes too much of our money. Poor Ryan. Last time we were there he's all "Aren't you getting sick of Bajio?" H#@% NO I'm not! I love it!

The pics are some of the items I "sacrificed" on my debt altar!

Farm Girl

I am a farm girl at heart. I would LOVE to live in a really small town, and live on a farm; wear my wranglers (ha ha--they don't fit) around all day, everyday, and just be a country bumpkin. BUT that isn't going to happen anytime soon.....or EVER. That being said, I had a ton of fun being "field trip mom" again with Gracie's preschool on their trip to a farm. Gracie had a blast, which always makes me happy! She was such a sweetheart too. Most kids get cocky when their parents are around, but she was the best one there. I swear, I am not even biased. She has nine kids in her class and she waited patiently to be the last one to ride the horse. She just sat there and pet the dog. There were two little boys probably 2 and 3 that lived at the farm. They were in wranglers, boots and hats. Oh so cute! They were the ones leading the horse around the corral with the Grandpa walking along by the horse. The conversations in the van ranged from interesting to downright creepy. Everything from "How did I get in my Mom's tummy?" (no joke) to "Don't leave me in the van because Chucky will get me. My parents let me watch Chucky and he's scary!" (yikes) The girl standing next to Gracie is named Kennedy. I figured her glasses made her incognito enough that I could post a pic of her. She is a triplet. Her two other sisters are also in the class.

More Of My Boy

I love this little guy! He was SO beautiful when he was born. He looked so clean like he had just been bathed, and had such beautiful features. To our delight he has also turned into such a happy baby. Don't mind the MESSY house on the video. I whipped it into shape later that day!

10 Things I Love About Being A Mom

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

1. Having alone time with each child. We try and set aside a couple days a month where we spend one on one time with each kid. Just Ava and I getting ice cream or just Gracie and daddy going swimming. I love this time with my kids. I think it will prove to be a really important part of our relationship when they get older.
2. Watching them sleep.
3. When I get unexpected hugs and kisses for no particular reason.
4. When they listen the first time. That way I don't end up being the big bad wolf and making good on my threats. :-)
5. Listening to them laughing together.
6. Cherishing baby features (clenched hands, chubby cheeks, bowed legs, soft skin etc..)
7. Finding sales on cute clothes or items I know they will look adorable in.
8. When we get into "deep" conversations about God or just the world in general. Or when Gracie makes comments like "When I say the prayer I think about President Hinckley."
9. When Kiddie's or P.I captures their true personality. I.E Ava sticking her tongue out etc....
10. Staying home with them each day as they fight, learn, whine, spit, dance, swim, yell, run and just enjoy time together.

I repeat this phrase to myself everyday "Treasure Each Moment" I don't want life to pass us by too quickly and realize that the saying is true "Life is what happens when we are busy making other plans". I hope I can enjoy my kids while they are young and not always hoping that they "hurry and grow up" so I can get on with "life". This is my "life" and I LOVE IT!

Tortilla Lasagna

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 cup water
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1-1/2 cups (12 ounces) sour cream
1-1/2 tsp chili powder
4 cups shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese (or both)
1 Tb cornmeal
10 flour tortillas
1 jar salsa
1 small onion, chopped

Directions:
In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in the water, taco seasoning, garlic powder and cayenne. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine sour cream and chili powder. Sprinkle cornmeal into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Arrange 5 tortillas overlapping, in the bottom of prepared dish; spread with 1/2 of salsa, 1/2 of meat mixture, 1/2 of sour cream mixture and 1/2 the cheese. Add remaining 5 tortillas and rest of ingredients as described above, leaving the rest of cheese off until last 10 minutes of baking. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes.

**This is so good with those yummy "cook it yourself" tortillas from Costco. I make it for Ryan's lunch and freeze individual servings.

Coordinating Cuties

I can tell these pics are scattered all over the page, but oh well! I have gotten the biggest kick out of dressing my girls in "matching" outfits. I just think it is so cute. They might hate me for it when they are older :-) I hope not! The outfit at the top is my Mother's Day present. I bought skirts, leggings, and hair bows off etsy. I have since decided those skirts would be about 1/3 of the price to make so I have already picked out material for two sets of matching skirts. That will be another post I'm sure!

We Think It's Summer!

We think it's Summer at our house! My kids have been cooped up for so long that I decided we should FINALLY buy a pool. Our grass is pretty solid now, but still has a ton of crab grass and stuff in it. Needless to say they were freezing even after I tried to haul a ton of hot water out from the house. It is always pretty windy out here so that doesn't help. I mainly did this video for Annie, cause I figured she misses sitting out on the lawn chair watching them swim. You too mom! Breck kept pulling on the camera cord, and on my computer the video keeps pausing a bit. Ava wore her swimsuit in the tub last night so it was in the wash, and I could only find one clean towel in the whole house--hence my jacket on Ava. Enjoy!

My Big Baby

When you have your kids close in age your brain has a hard time processing things. I used to be half awake feeding Breck, and really think I was feeding Ava. It takes me awhile to get turned around and realize that I have a new baby in the house. So to see "my baby's" hair cut like this just blows my mind. She talks so clear now. She is growing like a weed!! Must be the Miracle Gro!

Now I'm Raising A Plant!

A couple posts ago I was raising a dog, now I am raising a plant! I took the kids to McD's to play and when we got home Breck was tired. I decided to let the girls play in the garage while I put him to bed. I always leave the door going from the house to the garage open and I can hear them out there playing. They have played in there a few times without incident. They just ride their bikes in a circle and bounce their balls. Anyway I checked on them once right at first and they were fine. I normally WOULD NOT check on them again, especially with how tired Breck was. I KNOW that the Holy Ghost told me to go check on them again. So I left Breck on the bed crying, and ran out there (just in case). Ava was DRINKING MIRACLE GRO! I am not even kidding! I FREAKED! I dragged her in the house. Scared her to death! She was crying. I have always had poison control memorized, but in the heat of the moment I couldn't remember it exactly so I called 911. I got the number to poison control (1-800-222-1222 for future reference) and called. He said "What is the active ingredient?" I couldn't find it on the label, but he said normally it isn't a big deal. If the active ingredients have nitrates or something like that in them then it can take oxygen out of the blood; so "if she starts turning blue within an hour then call back!" HELLO!?! She hasn't turned blue yet so that is good! Let's just say I learned my lesson. My mom always tells me not to turn your back on your kids for one minute. I am actually pretty good at that BUT I have a lot to learn I guess.

Savannah Smiles

Do you remember this movie? It is so fun that my girls are getting old enough to enjoy some movies that I loved as a kid. We bought this before we had kids. Ryan had never seen it, and I knew he would like it so we bought it. Just a few days ago I remembered it and decided Gracie would love it too. She does! She doesn't exactly understand the whole story line yet though. Of course I have to cry at the end of the show. Gracie and Ava don't understand that. And frankly neither do I. LOL!

Disney World BOO HOO!

Ryan and I didn't have money to go on a honeymoon, so after we had been married 6 months we decided to go to Disney World and on a Disney cruise for a late honeymoon. Ryan's parents had been to D. Land a lot, but not D. World so it was my idea to invite them along. We had a great time and they thought D.W was much more fun than D.L. When we got home we decided we should go back again with the whole family. Ryan's mom decided she would pay for the whole trip for everyone. The point of my story is we decided to go in 2008 and the whole family is on the trip AS WE SPEAK! Where am I? Home listening to Ava cry because she is in time out for hitting, and listening to Breck cry because Gracie is mauling him. PAUSE--- OK, I saved Breck. Anyway we decided when it came down to it that our kids are too young to go clear to D.W and miss their naps everyday, and feel deflated when they can't go on half the rides their older cousins can go on, etc.... So I guess we will have to wait several years and pay for it ourselves. One consolation is Ryan's brothers family didn't go either because they have a baby due this Sunday. I guess D.W will be there when we're ready to go. Of course a free trip won't, but that's life.

Gracie Girl

My Gracie Girl is so funny! This is one of her new outfits from The Children's Place. I think that skirt was only like $6.00. I had to take a pic of her bow too. A lady out here makes them. This one was called "Rainbow Bright." Anyway, Gracie asked me today if oil was yucky (like vegetable oil). I said "Yea I guess if you ate it alone." She looked a little confused. She's all "But if you eat it with friends it's yummy?" LOL!

*See how clever I am? I promised I would stop showing you my finds, but I just conveniently threw it in with another post.

Three-Cheese Garlic Bread

Ingredients:
1 loaf French bread
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3 Tb grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Dash of paprika and pepper

Directions:
Cut bread in half. Save one half of bread for another use (if you prefer to use whole loaf just double ingredients). In a small mixing bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Spread evenly over cut side of bread. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Slice and serve warm.