Happy Birthday Mckay!

Ok ok so this post is long overdue but we had some cute pictures of Mckay's two little birthday celebrations and I wanted to post them.

The Lady's Man

In October when Mom & Dad visited us, Dad showed Connor the movie Tangled.  He LOVED it and still loves it, as a matter of fact.  He has decided that he loves any show that has a girl singing in it.  He just saw Pocahontas and loved her too.  He is so cute.  He starts giggling and tries to get as close to the screen as possible.  I think that he wants to give them big kisses! :)

I know that's a guy but it was the only photo I had of him watching Tangled.

Owen & Jacob and the Kitty Cat

Today while Owen & Jacob were playing out in the backyard a little cat decided to jump up on our fence and tease them.  He walked up and down the length of the fence and the twins kept following and shouting to him, "Come here, Kitty!"  They went at this for a good 15 minutes.  Owen came inside asking me to help him get the kitty and when I went out I saw that the cat had jumped into our yard and Jacob was slowing walking behind it to try and pet it.  Of course, when Owen saw that the cat was at ground level he let out a huge squeal and went running across the yard to it.  Which caused the cat to jump on the fence again.  :P

I was able to coax the kitty down again and the boys were LOVING that cat!  They were so cute with it and wanted to touch it and pick it up and love it.  And I think the cat was happy to have some attention, too.  :)

Some Weekend Fun in Denver

This is only like the third saturday that Wes has had off and we wanted to do something new and cool here, so we decided to hit up the Hammond Candy Factory for a tour of how they make their candy :).

It wasn't quite the peppermint place, but we had a lot of fun! Mckay loved watching the taffy get all stretched out on the turny stretchy thingy haha. I told him that was Grandma's favorite part :). It also didn't hurt his excitement that they gave us some free candy cane tree suckers that he proceeded to get all over his face on our way to the toy store!

We found this sweet toy store online that seemed like it had a lot of promise...and since we have a void left by Blikenstaff's toys in Orem, we had to check it out.  The Wizard's Chest actually turned out to be a weird mix of spencers and creepy World of Warcraft conventions, but outside was shaped like a castle and there was a magician so it wasn't a complete disappointment lol. It actually ended up being part of this HUGE indoor/outdoor mall in downtown Denver so we had a lot of fun walking around there until it started snowing on us :).

It was a fun filled day topped off with BYU crushing Idaho :).

Oh PS, I found a video of an earlier day version I described of the Thriller flash mob on Halloween. Imagine the first like 5 old folks up front after a long day of hanging out lol.  If you need a laugh :)

Always A New Game

Tyler and Connor always invent new games! I love it! Boys will be boys!

Halloween

We had so much fun on Halloween this year!!!  The kids had crazy hair day at school and their hair was pretty crazy, let me tell you.

We teased and teased and teased Cailyn's hair and hair sprayed the heck out of it.  Then we used some spray-in white for an extra crazy touch.  I told her she looked like Albert Einstein.  She said, "Who?!"  :)  On Wednesdays both me and Cailyn get to work in Landon's class.  When Cailyn came in she had a bunch of candy in her "nest" cuz her teacher kept putting it in there.

Landon's hair was blue, blue, blue!  He reminded me of Caeser Flickerman.  :)

Cailyn and Landon had a hard time figuring out costumes.  When I happened to mention that I was a crayon one year Cailyn jumped on it.  Luckily Mom keeps EVERYTHING and still had these costumes Tyler and I wore!  I need to dig out the old photo of us in the costumes.  :)

Owen and Jacob used some old costumes of Landon's.  For trunk-or-treat last week Owen was Nemo and Jacob was Buzz.  But last night they decided to switch.  These boys were so much fun to take trick-or-treating.  Owen was especially animated and excited.  They sure kept Mom and me entertained.  :)

ROAR! Happy Halloween!

So our little town had a "Trick or Treat on Mainstreet" last night with all kinds of music, fun, and of course candy. Since Mckay is still not quite to the age when he wants to walk around tons of houses with a heavy bag of candy, this was the perfect little walk to collect the goods and have a great time doing it :).  We had such a blast and Mckay looked soooo darn cute in his little fat lion costume!

He was kind of scared of the costume at first and I had to hold him kicking and screaming to get it on him! haha But when it was finally on and he saw that we were excited, he actually started to enjoy it.  By the end of the night he didn't want to take it off!


     

It was so funny to watch him bring his bag up to people and ask for candy. His face was mostly that of shock and awe, but once he saw that he was getting candy in that bag he clutched onto it for dear life.  Haha that kid cracks me up. :)

I love living in Parker. Everything is so community and family based and there are a ton of great people here :). I think the funniest part of the night (I wish I got a picture) was the "flash mob" (really just 6 old ladies and one old man) doing the thriller dance. I kid you not they were all like about 70 years old!! Hahaha. Good times :)

Power of the Priesthood

Family scripture time is one of those things that we do as a family because we are supposed to, but honestly sometimes it feels like a waste of time.  The kids are always rambunctious, doing somersaults on the floor, climbing on chairs, fighting over who gets to do what or sit where, and just being loud.  Often time we have to shout to be heard over them!  But every once in a while I'm reminded why it is we persist.

A few days ago we were reading about the apostles after Jesus died and how they had the priesthood and used it to heal others.  I talked with Landon about how he would get the priesthood when he turned 12.  It was about a 30 second talk before we moved on.  

A couple days later I was driving with him in the car when he randomly asked me, "When boys get older (like dads) will they still have the priesthood?"  I was just shocked that he'd actually remembered something from scripture study and I decided to use it as a teaching moment.  I told him that as long as boys choose the right they will always have the priesthood no matter how old they are.  Then I asked him if he knows what you can do with the priesthood.  I said, "Can you think of anything special that daddy's can do but that mommy's can't do?"

He paused for a moment and I could see the wheels turning in his head.  Then finally his face lit up and he shouted, "Build things!!!"  :)

I did go on to set him straight but I still loved his answer.  :)

Cailyn's Halloween Party

Cailyn has a really good group of friends at school this year. We talked about having a couple over for a Halloween craft but it kinda turned into a full-blown Halloween party!  (Which was fine with me because poor Cailyn is almost 9 years old and never had a birthday party!) But we did keep it pretty simple and the girls had a great time.

We had some Halloween themed treats and sodas.  (Funny story -- when the girls were occupied with a game I found Owen & Jacob sipping on all their sodas!!!)

Goodie bags using a bunch of stuff we got on clearance after Halloween last year.  I'm so thrifty.  :P

The girls each got a small pumpkin to decorate with paints and Sharpies.

Then we made some water bracelets.  Some of the girls were SO not good at these!

All in all it was a fun party and the girls had a great time.  I'm so glad Cailyn is part of such a fun group of girls. And I'm also glad that she was nice to her brother and was more that happy to include him in it.  :)

Weekly Menu

Erika's post inspired me to get cooking and I totally stole some of her ideas! :)


Mon - Winger's wraps
Tue - bowtie pasta, rolls
Wed - taco soup, cornbread
Thu - sloppy joes
Fri - BBQ chicken pizza
Sat - leftovers

Dinner menu...a little late

Yeah I meant to post this at the beginning of the week but here it is Friday. Oh well! I actually have many blog posts awaiting my free time but I will get to them eventually :)

Dinners:
1.wingers sticky finger wraps
2. Creamy chicken flautas
3. French toast with buttermilk syrup
4. Bowie chicken pasta, breadsticks (I don't remember where I got this recipe but it is delicious so the recipe is at the end of the post :))
5. Tortilla soup, cornbread (double for freezing)

Breakfast:
Pumpkin Pie Steel Cut Oats in the Crockpot

Dessert
Yummy brownies


Chicken Bowtie Pasta

    Servings: 8
    Categories: Chicken & Other Poultry, Italian, Pasta
    Source: Picky Palate


Ingredients

    • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
    • 2 large chicken breasts lightly seasoned with salt and pepper
    • 1 pound mini bowtie pasta
    • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
    • 3/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
    • 2 cups sliced mushrooms
    • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
    • 4 cups broccoli florets
    • 15 ounce can large butter beans or other white bean
    • 15 ounce can reduced sodium chicken broth
    • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
    • 1/2 cup prepared basil pesto
    • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
    • 1 cup cooked, crumbled bacon pieces
 

Directions

1. Heat oil in a medium cast iron skillet over medium heat. Place lightly seasoned chicken breast into hot skillet and cook for about 4 minutes per side, until lightly golden brown. Transfer skillet to a preheated 350 degree oven and continue baking for 20-25 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Let chicken rest for a good 15 minutes.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain, run under cold water and set aside.
3. Place oil into a large dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Saute onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, garlic and broccoli for 10 minutes. Stir in beans, chicken broth, cream, pesto and Parmesan cheese. Stir until well combined and reduce heat to low. Stir in pasta, bacon crumbles and chicken.  Simmer until ready to serve. Note: Stir pasta every 5 minutes if not serving right away. It thickens quick and needs stirred.  Add additional broth, cream or milk to loosen sauce.

Swap Meet Spoils

Okay I'm feeling totally lame for not posting anything in forever and not even checking this blog in forever!  Life has suddenly become crazy busy for me.  I've got kids that start school at 3 different times and there has been a lot of running/driving around involved with that.  Plus story time every week, helping out in Landon's class, my calling, Colby's calling ... the list goes on and on.  Just busy!  But I finally caught up and LOVE seeing what everyone's up to and I'm so happy we have this blog.  :)

Mom, Emilee, Cailyn & I went to the swap meet today and had such a great time.  Isn't the swap meet the best girls day tradition we have?!  I totally scored today and thought I'd share what I got.  A purse (yes, it's just like Emilee's!), 3 skirts, a denim shirt, and 3 nail polishes.  Oh, and some DELICIOUS hummus (though it's more of a feta cheese dip than hummus). 

We had such a good time!  Plus, this is the day we will always remember that changed Emilee's life.  ;) 

Smarty Pants

Sorry I'm monopolizing the blog.  Here's a quick video of Connor being a little smarty pants.  He was sitting on my lap watching T.V. after I fed him when he started to fuss a little.  I started making that noise and he watched me do it for about 30 seconds or so and he started doing it to! I just started laughing.  So I did a little experiment to see if he would do it more and I got this video. What a silly boy! I love him! P.S. sorry the quality of the video isn't very good, I just took it with my ipod! Oh well, at least I got it!

Circus Circus!

A few weeks ago when I was on my way to eat lunch with Tyler, I saw a billboard on the side of the freeway. The Ringling Brother's Barnum & Bailey Circus was coming to town!!! Tyler and I were lucky enough to get tickets and go on our 2nd date since Connor was born! It was the MOST FUN we've had in a long time.  It was absolutely incredible!

 

The lion and tigers were really great to see! It's amazing how many things you can train those animals to do!  The lion was HUGE!  We were cheering so loud for him!

 

They had the elephants do a lot of iconic tricks.  It reminded me of Dumbo when all of the elephants were performing in the big top.  I'm just glad that we didn't have any angry elephants.

 We got expensive cotton candy.  I couldn't believe how expensive it was! 12$! But it did come with the awesome hat. We were on a sugar high for the rest of the night.  That cotton candy got us so pumped!

They put 8 motorcycles in that metal cage! It was crazy!  I couldn't believe they all fit in there!

Outside of the arena they had a few of the box cars.  It's awesome to think that the circus has been around as long as it has and they still transport their equipment with train cars!  I love it!

Tyler and I loved it!  We will definitely take Connor some day!  Doesn't he look adorable in our expensive cotton candy hat!?!?!

The Hogle Zoo

A couple of weeks ago, Connor & I went to the Hogle Zoo with Aunt Niki.  It was pretty fun, but it was probably the craziest day I've had in a long time!  We got our tires changed that morning and then went straight to the zoo.  Connor was being so good at Walmart when we were changing the tires, he even fell asleep! I decided that we would just go straight to the zoo from Walmart, since he was sleeping.  Then he woke up on the freeway demanding food.  He was so mad for 15 or 20 minutes.  So when we finally got to the zoo parking lot, all I could do to calm him down was feed him in the parking lot.  

When Connor was done we made it into the park.  Connor was doing his business when he was eating so I needed to change him.  It was EVERYWHERE. That's outfit #1.  I clean him up and change him out of his clothes.  When I'm finishing up he throws up.  ALL OVER his clean outfit! Ugh. It was mostly on his jacket, but still I had to change him again.  Outfit #2.  When we went to eat he threw up again all over the floor.  The lady at the register just looked at me like, you better not ask me to clean that up. (I didn't ask her) So after outfit 3, he fell asleep and managed to stay in it for a while. :) 

He was asleep for most of the park but he did see a few animals.  He saw elephants . . . but you wouldn't really know because Aunt Niki took the picture with the elephant's bum showing. Nice one! lol

 

We saw some rhinos . . . There was a little cave that you go in and you can see them right in front of you, which is where the photo was taken from.  Off to the side there is a button that you can push and above it it says, "What's that smell?!?" We didn't push the button, it just seemed really funny to me.

 
There were lemurs . . . 

 

And some hairy monkeys that I don't remember the name of. . .

 

Even though the day started off a little hectic, we had a lot of fun with Aunt Niki!

We can't wait to go to the zoo again!  Hopefully, next time Daddy will be able to come too!