Marvelous Shells 'N' Cheese

Ingredients: 1 package (16 ounces) medium pasta shells 1 package (8 ounces) Velveeta cheese, cubed 1/3 cup milk 2 cups cottage cheese 1 can condensed cream of onion soup, undiluted 3 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend 2/3 cup dry bread crumbs 1/4 cup butter, melted Directions: Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine Velveeta and milk; cook and stir over low heat until melted. Remove from heat. Stir in cottage cheese and soup. Drain pasta and add cheese sauce; stir until coated. Transfer to a greased 13x9 baking dish. Sprinkle with Mexican cheese blend. Toss bread crumbs with melted butter; sprinkle over the top. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until heated through. This really is yummy. You have to like the taste of onion soup though, because you can definitely taste it.

Little Grins

A new portrait studio opened up out here and I thought I would give it a whirl. My time is more precious then my money right now while I try to finish up my schooling; frankly I just didn't want to deal with trying to set everything up to take some of my own pics so we ended up going here today.

Ava was being her silly self and didn't give me many to choose from!

I made a fool out of myself trying to get this little guy to stop crawling away.

I'm gonna save the group pics for Christmas cards so I can't post them until after I send those out or it will spoil all the fun.

A Walk a Day

Ever since Gracie was little I have tried to get out every day and take a walk. Even in January. Of course that is not really as pleasant as September, but I really think it just lifts your spirits to get out. Anyway lately I have been piling all three in the wagon for a walk. They look so cute. I thought they would enjoy this picture when they get older.

Trudy's Tag

Answering with one word is gonna kill me. I love to elaborate! 1. Where is your cell phone? None 2. Where is your significant other? Vegas 3. Your hair color? Brown 4. Your mother? Dedicated 5. Your father? Thrifty 6. Your favorite thing? Family 7. Your dream last night? None 8. Your dream/goal? Peace 9. The room you're in? Living 10. Your hobby? Running 11. Your fear? Earthquakes 12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Marathon 13. Where were you last night? Home 14. What you're not? Patient 15. One of your wish-list items? Clothes 16. Where you grew up? Utah 17. The last thing you did? Eat 18. What are you wearing? Jamas 19. Your TV? Smudged 20. Your pet? Kids? 21. Your computer? Black 22. Your mood? Happy 23. Missing someone? Absolutely 24. Your car? Odyssey 25. Something you're not wearing? Mascara 26. Favorite store? Buckle 27. Your summer? Hot 28. Love someone? YES! 29. Your favorite color? Lavendar 30. When is the last time you laughed? Today 31. Last time you cried? Unknown Trudy tagged the people I would have so I will leave that blank.

Kreativ Blogger Award

Jackie awarded me the Kreativ Blogger award and so I guess now I get to make my acceptance speech and tell you the 6 things I love. In no particular order. (btw- please forgive the smorgasbord post. I realize the words and pics are all over the place. I refuse to spend more time fixing them.)

I LOVE spending time with Ryan. As much as we adore our children it is so refreshing to just get together and remember why we are together in the first place. Just to really laugh and have a good time. And man do I LOVE how thin my thighs used to look! 16 lbs away baby! I guess I'll have to starve myself to get there! :-(

I LOVE the blessing of knowing what I know. Of knowing the nature of God. The ordinances of the temple. The worth of each person. I know all of this because of my membership in the church. I LOVE the gospel!

I LOVE chocolate chip cookies! And a myriad of other food items that we won't get into.

I LOVE sunsets. They have beautiful sunsets out here. I took this one from my porch a few weeks ago. Sunsets are one of my favorite things in life.

I LOVE that Ava is potty trained!

I LOVE when my kids will entertain themselves so that I can have some time to myself.

I had a picture to go along with this and it got erased! ARGH! And I cannot for the life of me get this extra space to erase at the bottom this time! I think I have proven how UnKreativ of a scrapblogger I am.

Another F.H.E Idea

I thought I would post another little F.H.E we did. If I have one that I think is even remotely a good idea I will post it just so if someone else out there needs an idea they can use it.

Song: I'm trying to be like Jesus.
Lesson: Read the Good Samaritan book and talk about nice things we have done or could do for others.
Activity: Draw our own interpretation of the story in shaving cream.
Dessert: Kool Aid* See bottom.

Things I would have done differently:

-Included Ryan instead of letting him run around like a chicken with his head cut off getting ready for Vegas.

-Left the bibs in their drawer. They "meaning Ava" managed to get shaving cream on the couch, her pants, the carpet....everywhere BUT her bib.

*-Taken the time to make a dessert with the kids instead of telling them the Kool Aid was dessert. Of course with small kids you can get away with that. If I had planned ahead better we would've made cookies together and taken them to a neighbor we don't know very well.

Reptile Expo

We bought a book at D.I a few weeks ago that looked brand new for only .50 cents. It was called 'Reptiles'. It just has a lot of fun facts, and pictures of reptiles. Well my kids think it is the greatest thing. Gracie loves the "snapping turtle." So I heard that the Reptile Expo was at the SL fair grounds and decided we had to go. Ryan was hunting so it was quite a job hauling three kids there by myself. We did find the snapping turtle for Gracie. After we'd had enough of the nasty reptiles we went down the street and ate at the Red Iguana. I have wanted to go there for awhile, and figured since it was named after a reptile, today would be a good day. It is a Mexican restaurant. Pretty good, but not great. The pic is Gracie cutting up tortilla chips with a knife. What we won't do while waiting for our food?

I decided to Scrapblog the rest of the pics, nothing fancy for sure. I hope you can actually read the text on the pages.

Reptile Expo

Nine Month Check

17 lbs. 10 ounces
27 inches
Once again no crying for his shots. He must be one tough little booger.

This is Breck and his little friend Alison. We babysat her and her sister Emmy while Mom and Dad went to the temple. She is one month older then Breck. If I had it my way they would get married someday because I love her family.

Tomato-Basil Orzo Soup

Ingredients: 1/2 cup each chopped carrot, celery and onion 1/8 tsp each dried basil, oregano and thyme 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 can (19 oz) ready-to-serve tomato basil or hearty tomato soup 1 cup chicken broth 1/3 cup uncooked acini de pepe or orzo pasta (I used a.d.p) Directions: In a small saucepan, saute the carrot, celery and onion with basil, oregano and thyme in oil for 8-10 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add soup and broth. Bring to a boil. Stir in pasta. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10-12 minutes or until pasta and vegetables are tender. Simple and low fat! Unless of course you have it as a side dish to say a quesadilla dripping with cheese grease! Not that I ever have ;-)

G's First Day of Preschool

September 8th was the big day! Gracie spent the ride over telling me to turn around and go home. I knew she would love it, and I was right! This is a scrapbook page from last year that her teacher put together in a special book they got at graduation. This was her on her 1st day 1 year ago. She looks so much younger. I feel like my little baby doesn't have a baby face at all anymore. At least she had a hint of one back then. :-( This is her and her new teacher, Ms. Natalie. She is so cute and fun. They write letters in shaving cream and do a bunch of other hands on things. She has a BS degree in Elementary Education, and taught school for 3 years prior to this, so I feel good about Gracie being in her classroom. You can tell Gracie is shy getting this pic taken.

Poor Ava's reaction to the situation. She has taken up drawing pictures for Ms. Natalie until she can get her own shot at preschool. She is also using this time to her advantage. She will say, "Mom can I have an otter pop cause I miss Grace?" "Mom can I have a piece of gum cause I miss Grace?"

Breck doesn't seem to be bothered by the big day. All he can think about is his morning nap.

The following three pics are just different angles of the preschool. It takes up her entire basement. She even has a little potty and sink in the bathroom, but I thought she would think I was a nut shooting pics of the John.

My Beautiful Mom

I have been taking the time to edit my own family pics for once, and came upon this one of Grace and my Mom. My mom is 67 years old! She has been raising kids and grandkids for 50 years, and still only has a few gray hairs. She doesn't dye her hair if you can believe that. You can tell she doesn't, because you can see a few gray hairs here and there. One for every kid and grandkid that she's got. She always helps me with my kids and buys them special things. Thank you Mom. I have come to appreciate her 100 fold since I have become a mother. Whenever my kids yell, "MOM" I think of my mom saying, "If you want me you come to me!" At the time I was so offended and thought she was rude. Now I say the same thing to my kids! Love you mom!

Come Rain Or Shine...

Whether it's raining.........

Or shin

ing......

My kids love to have a good time!

Love Your Body 5K

Well I completed my first 5K this morning. Woo Hoo! For those of you who don't know how much 5K is it's 3 miles. Ryan was under the impression that it was 5 miles. Not quite! Someday, but not quite. Anyway, it was 20 bucks and the proceeds went to SPEAK, which is an organization that helps people get educated about eating disorders. It was sponsered by Wasatch Woman's Magazine and was on the U of U campus. I completed it in 42 minutes, which I was happy about. I told myself no more then an hour, so I was pleasantly surprised. When I say happy about it you have to understand that I am just getting into running after a LONG stint of NOT getting on the treadmill---so 42 minutes is good for me!

It's All About Me!

I love doing these cute little things from the library. This month you are supposed to fill these out and bring them back for a surprise. I hope you can read them. Gracie said she wants to be a "bracelet maker" when she grows up. She has been making bracelets lately. Thanks to her inspiration Trev. I spelled out "jeweler" for her, but it didn't quite turn out the way I wrote it :-)

Ava, on the other hand, wants to be a "big horsie cowboy ride" when she grows up. So cute! You can see their different personalities by the color of paper they picked out. We were at D.I (love to go there--they actually have really good stuff at the one out here), anyway, I let Gracie and Ava pick one toy each. Gracie picked a doll and Ava picked a basketball. She told me she wants blue pull-ups too. She is a little Tomboy. I think it's great. Maybe she'll play sports when she's older.