....when there's someone by your side to sing along!
For the past few days the boys and I have been breaking into song, singing
I've got everything that I neeeeeeed....
right in front of me!
Nothin's stopping me, nothin' that I can't be
when you're right here next to me!
Tonight as I ran upstairs because I heard Tracen cry,
helped him go to the bathroom because he is usually sleep walking...
Logan stirred and was thirsty and then in his sleepy, raspy voice
asked me to snuggle for a few minutes while he went back to sleep...
A sense of complete and utter happiness and yet sadness came over me all at once.
Happiness because I have the very best boys in the world for me
and today was such an AMAZING day...
not because we did anything spectacular, but
just because we had a great day full of working together, laughter, car rides around the block,
wheel races, running races, baseball, basketball games to 5 AND 6,
silly conversations at dinner,
transformer jammies and fruitsnacks,
rock candy making
and singing all along.
Sadness because sometimes, I don't always appreciate all that I have and I always want more
and thinking that these moments of snuggling before bed
won't be there forever.
I really do have EVERYTHING that I need...Right in Front of Me!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Something to Laugh about
I might be the meanest Mom ever...
but this is too funny not to laugh about and share.
SQUINKIES
I truly am a fan. I love these little play things and so do my boys! They get lost, we get sad, but I still think they are fun...what can I say, I loved to play with my Disney Princess figurines as a kid...I would play for hours and hours...giving them random names like Priscilla and Berty and loving every minute of my pretend fun. Maybe this is why Logan is overloaded with "GUYS" and despite Chris' request, we still buy more when he asks for them...
Back to the story...
The boys were taking their bath last night and I watched Tracen put a little Squinkie in his mouth! Let's put in perspective that these little things are rubbery and tiny...maybe an inch tall and that is being generous...so you would understand why I told him not to do that again.
The boys played and I finished the dishes and came back and Tracen had, not one, but 7 Squinkies in his mouth. I again told him to take them out, explaining why they are dangerous and told him that if I saw him, or Logan for that matter, put one in their mouths again that I would throw them in the garbage. Well, not sure if he was testing my power to follow through with my threats or if he just wasn't thinking, but he took another one and put it in his mouth right after I said not to.
I was a little angry and so I told him to give it to me and I put it in the garbage....oh man....sad day! Tears erupted, sobbing ensued and he was ANGRY! I calmly explained why he got it thrown away asking if I had warned him and he was fully aware of our previous discussion...so it stayed in the garbage.
And then...
Through uncontrollable sobs and tears he looked at me with all seriousness and said
"MOM, if you EVER do this to me again, then I will THROW YOU IN THE GARBAGE!"
I stifled laughing but a few giggles broke through (probably wasn't nice...but seriously funny to hear that) and I calmly left the room helping Logan get on his pajamas. I know this won't be the last time that I will hear something like this, but it was definitely the first..so I wanted to document.
It definitely is something to laugh about.
but this is too funny not to laugh about and share.
SQUINKIES
I truly am a fan. I love these little play things and so do my boys! They get lost, we get sad, but I still think they are fun...what can I say, I loved to play with my Disney Princess figurines as a kid...I would play for hours and hours...giving them random names like Priscilla and Berty and loving every minute of my pretend fun. Maybe this is why Logan is overloaded with "GUYS" and despite Chris' request, we still buy more when he asks for them...
Back to the story...
The boys were taking their bath last night and I watched Tracen put a little Squinkie in his mouth! Let's put in perspective that these little things are rubbery and tiny...maybe an inch tall and that is being generous...so you would understand why I told him not to do that again.
The boys played and I finished the dishes and came back and Tracen had, not one, but 7 Squinkies in his mouth. I again told him to take them out, explaining why they are dangerous and told him that if I saw him, or Logan for that matter, put one in their mouths again that I would throw them in the garbage. Well, not sure if he was testing my power to follow through with my threats or if he just wasn't thinking, but he took another one and put it in his mouth right after I said not to.
I was a little angry and so I told him to give it to me and I put it in the garbage....oh man....sad day! Tears erupted, sobbing ensued and he was ANGRY! I calmly explained why he got it thrown away asking if I had warned him and he was fully aware of our previous discussion...so it stayed in the garbage.
And then...
Through uncontrollable sobs and tears he looked at me with all seriousness and said
"MOM, if you EVER do this to me again, then I will THROW YOU IN THE GARBAGE!"
I stifled laughing but a few giggles broke through (probably wasn't nice...but seriously funny to hear that) and I calmly left the room helping Logan get on his pajamas. I know this won't be the last time that I will hear something like this, but it was definitely the first..so I wanted to document.
It definitely is something to laugh about.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
The Adventures of Sass and Krab
With an 80+ hour work week and 4 days off a month it is pretty hard to squeeze in a date...but we decided that it needs to happen at least once a month...so with vacation and the boys at their friends' house for movie night...we took advantage...we went to Costco and got our tires checked...pretty awesome...but then went to the local bowling lane for some competitive fun!
WARNING: we have not bowled in years...the skillz of Sass and Krab are a bit lacking in the bowling department!
So in our true competitive nature we had a bet...what was on the line?
1.) Back massage for 10 minutes without complaining (in favor of Krab)
**I know many wives are loving and love to rub their husbands back, can do an occassional rub, but a full on massage...sorry babe! You married the wrong person. I hate it! i don't know why..but it is the truth...so this is a big deal!**
2.) Date night planned...no movies, or bowling and more than just dinner...including finding the babysitter and picking the date and time.
**another huge thing in our relationship...I love Krab, but he hates to decide or set-up dates and has NEVER done it in our married life...no joke...I told ya this is huge***
The competitors:
KRAB
and SASS
After 10 frames of intense competitive bowling full of lead changes and suspense...the winner is?
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SASS! You better believe that in the month of March I am going on a sweet date planned entirely by KRAB and he is truly "krabby" about it!
***notice that I even let the score be really close in the end, I am so nice***
***notice that I even let the score be really close in the end, I am so nice***
Monkey Joe's
With Dad around and on vacation we have been going to all places that are fun! We hit up Monkey Joe's a bouncin' good time. It is full of blow up slides and obstacle courses for the kids. Of course Logan always prefers the food...especially the Popcorn.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Heavenly French Toast
I don't normally put recipes on my blog...but these are HEAVEN and so so GOOD! I wish I would have taken a picture...but they got devoured! You will have to try them! We topped them with this buttermilk syrup...so so delicious! I have to thank my old visiting teacher. She made these for me once when Chris was away in Vegas...sad that I am just now getting around to making them. Enjoy!
PS my one suggestion would be to 1 1/2 the batter recipe because I definitely was scraping the bottom of the dish to try and get some batter for my last 2 pieces of toast.
French Toast
The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, Revised Edition
Serves: 4
Prep time: 5 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Many types of bread can be substituted for white sandwich bread, including cinnamon-raisin bread and challah. The recipe can be doubled and the cooking time sped up by preparing batches simultaneously in two skillets or by using an electric griddle.
8 slices of high quality white sandwich bread
6 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 cup milk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 200 degrees. Arrange the bread on a wire rack set over a baking sheet and bake until slightly dry, about 15 minutes.
2. While the bread is in the oven, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and whisk it together with the milk, egg, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk in the flour until smooth. Pour the batter into a large shallow dish.
3. Transfer 2 pieces of the bread from the oven into the batter and soak both sides, about 30 seconds per side. Meanwhile, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until beginning to brown, swirling to coat the pan. Remove the bread from the batter, allowing excess batter to drip back into the dish, and lay in the hot skillet. Cook until golden brown on both sides, about 2 1/2 minutes per side. Transfer the French toast to the wire rack to keep warm in the oven. Repeat with the remaining butter, bread and batter.
Test Kitchen Tip: Flour does the trick
All too often, French toast is as soggy on the outside as it is on the inside. To remedy this, we experimented with a number of techniques. In the end, we found that adding flour to the batter, although a bit odd, was a highly successful solution. It lends crispness to the French toast that milk and egg alone cannot provide.
Jen’s variations:
I use my multigrain bread and skip the drying in the oven. I also use my electric griddle to cook 4 at a time. I use a shallow baking dish that can accommodate 4 pieces of bread soaking at the same time.
We went to Philly!
For Christmas I gave Chris tickets to see the UCONN Huskies battle the Villanova Wildcats! Well yesterday was the day! We decided to head to Philly early and explore the city a little bit. Both Chris and I agreed that while we had a great day, Philly isn't our favorite city...lot's of history?....yes!...but we just weren't feeling it...so check it off the list of things to do while living in PA...but we had a fun time and pretty much wore ourselves out!
Driving into Philly
Driving over the Benjamin Franklin bridge...Logan asked, "Are we at Disney World?" Sorry babe...we won't be there for 3 weeks! But we are going!
We went and visited the historical district. Side note...Chris and I watched National Treasure Sunday night...kind of fun. I guess there is a National Treasure tour that you can take through DC and Philadelphia...that would be really cool...but probably not little people friendly.
The Liberty Bell
As we were walking back to our car...there was a random bear hanging out on the street...gotta love it!
The highlight of our trip (for Tracen at least) was probably the time we spent by the river. He just loves rivers...we we took advantage of the nice weather.
For lunch we headed over to the original Philly cheese steak district...Geno's and Pat's. We actually decided to eat at Pat's Steaks...it was pretty delicious...this was one on Chris' checklist of to-dos.
We had a lot of time to kill so we headed to the King of Prussia mall...let's just say...it is the BIGGEST shopping mall I have ever seen! It was a little depressing having no money to shop with...but it was fun to just walk around and see all the different stores. Then we once again headed to the river...this time finding a place where the boys could run freely. It was really nice. I loved the path and I was wishing we had a path like that...maybe we do? I will have to discover that.
And now for the main event! Let's just say that we were in the Nose Bleeds and we sad behind....well let's just say his aroma was not that of flowers...but we were excited to be there. The boys were a little tired...but we bribed them with super healthy pretzels, cheese and pizza...(lol). The begginning of the game was a bit embarrassing, but they pulled it off in the end.
Overall a super fun, but super long day. Oh and we changed seats at the half...not really any better, but away from our great smelling friend :)
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Bop It and Young Love
A bit of a random post...but we LOVE to play Bop It.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE it and I have to say I am pretty good...ha! Well Tracen has found a love for the Bop It and after much frustration, whining and tears, he has learned to be patient with himself...he plays daily and is actually getting pretty dang good. He has even been known to come up to us and say, "Hey! You win...not!" "Bummerrrrrr!" "Here he is in action.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE it and I have to say I am pretty good...ha! Well Tracen has found a love for the Bop It and after much frustration, whining and tears, he has learned to be patient with himself...he plays daily and is actually getting pretty dang good. He has even been known to come up to us and say, "Hey! You win...not!" "Bummerrrrrr!" "Here he is in action.
In other news my friend and I took our kids to a free movie (Despicable Me...soooo funny) on Saturday and her sweet little Cala and Logan were so sweet together. The walked all the way from the car to the theater (through the mall) holding hands and even sat by each other and ate popcorn during the movie...awe...love young love! Aren't they cute?
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Our Love Story
Our Love Story is simple...but it is my FAVORITE!
People always laugh when i tell them that Chris proposed to me by going
Fishing in the Dark
...but if they truly knew the back story of it all...they would have found it as thoughtful, creative and romantic as
I do!
Valentine's Day normally comes and goes in our home...no big bang surprises
(even though secretly every year I hope for one...sigh)
and this one was about the same. The boys and I woke up and had heart-shaped sugar toast, did some grocery shopping, went to the gym then headed over to the ever-so-popular dollar store to buy a toy or two with the dollars that Gigi and Papa Layton sent. The boys were in HEAVEN.
My friend texted and offered to come watch the boys for a bit so Chris and I could go out...considering that we NEVER go out...we took her up on the offer...but since I already had dinner planned and Chris doesn't get home early, we left after the boys were in bed and just got ice cream and spent an hour together away from home. During Residency it seems like those small moments are few in number. I want to treasure these times that I get to spend with my boys and to spend with Chris. I know that the next 53 months (yes, I am counting down) will be rough...but there are a lot of good moments in there too.
<3 Happy Valentine's Day to MY 3 DUDES <3
Monday, February 13, 2012
Grounded
This story is primarily so I can look back and show Logan what a "notty" boy he can be. LOL...not really, but it's good to document your child's first day grounded right? People always talk about the "terrible-twos" that is not the case for Logan...it is the "terrible-trantrum-threes"
It all started on Sunday morning. The boys were eating breakfast, with dripping wet hair ready to be blow-dried yet dressed for church, I came down with the boys' "church clothes." As soon as they saw me, immediate whining and complaining began.
"I don't want to go to church!"
"Why do we have to go?"
"It is way too long!"
"I am NOT wearing that."
Amidst these cries, I still handed them their clothes and informed them that we will be going to church so we can learn about Heavenly Father and Jesus and that I wasn't going to change my mind.
Tracen surrendered, but Logan was up for a fight!
Kicking, screaming, wailing (gnashing of teeth to its fullest) could be heard throughout the house.
I forced him to put on his clothes while he decided to take all anger out on me and kick me...yes folks...Logan has a little temper and despite the fact that I don't kick him (or hit for that matter) while I am mad at him he chose this for his outlet...and would not stop.
I was furious and marched him up to his room and shut the door.
Minutes later he was still angry with me, but we had to get ready to go and so I told him that he needed to say he was sorry and talk to me about his bad choice...he would not comply.
So I gave him
warning #1: Logan, I am going to count to 5 and if you don't calm down and start listening to your mama you are not going to be able to play with any of your guys (action figures) for the rest of the day...1...2...3...4...5 ok I guess you won't be playing guys today after church.
Logan: I don't want to say sorry!
warning #2: Logan, I am going to count to 5 and if you don't calm down you will not be able to play with your dinosaurs for the rest of the day...
still not a positive response
warning #3: Logan, I am going to count to 5.....you will not get to watch any movies for the rest of the day...
Seriously? Why isn't this working...I have now taken away his 3 favorite things and he is not budging...talk about stubborn.
and then it hit me...
warning #4: Logan, I am going to count to 5 and if you don't fix your attitude and apologize to your mama then I am going to call Leslie and you will not get to play with Max and Ben tomorrow.
Bingo! Immediate remorse...ha! Needless to say, we had a lot of talking and explaining about how to handle our anger. When Chris got home from his night shift (just in time for us to leave) I informed him that Logan was GROUNDED for the day and that he had lost a lot of his privileges. Chris thought I was a little funny...but hey, I didn't know what else to do.
The severity of his punishment didn't really hit him until we got home and he couldn't find his guy/dinosaurs and wasn't allowed to watch a movie. I held strong even though it brought on a lot of sad tears, but I calmly reminded him that he made these choices and he knew what the consequences were...sorry...Hopefully our little temper man will fix his attitude next time!
It all started on Sunday morning. The boys were eating breakfast, with dripping wet hair ready to be blow-dried yet dressed for church, I came down with the boys' "church clothes." As soon as they saw me, immediate whining and complaining began.
"I don't want to go to church!"
"Why do we have to go?"
"It is way too long!"
"I am NOT wearing that."
Amidst these cries, I still handed them their clothes and informed them that we will be going to church so we can learn about Heavenly Father and Jesus and that I wasn't going to change my mind.
Tracen surrendered, but Logan was up for a fight!
Kicking, screaming, wailing (gnashing of teeth to its fullest) could be heard throughout the house.
I forced him to put on his clothes while he decided to take all anger out on me and kick me...yes folks...Logan has a little temper and despite the fact that I don't kick him (or hit for that matter) while I am mad at him he chose this for his outlet...and would not stop.
I was furious and marched him up to his room and shut the door.
Minutes later he was still angry with me, but we had to get ready to go and so I told him that he needed to say he was sorry and talk to me about his bad choice...he would not comply.
So I gave him
warning #1: Logan, I am going to count to 5 and if you don't calm down and start listening to your mama you are not going to be able to play with any of your guys (action figures) for the rest of the day...1...2...3...4...5 ok I guess you won't be playing guys today after church.
Logan: I don't want to say sorry!
warning #2: Logan, I am going to count to 5 and if you don't calm down you will not be able to play with your dinosaurs for the rest of the day...
still not a positive response
warning #3: Logan, I am going to count to 5.....you will not get to watch any movies for the rest of the day...
Seriously? Why isn't this working...I have now taken away his 3 favorite things and he is not budging...talk about stubborn.
and then it hit me...
warning #4: Logan, I am going to count to 5 and if you don't fix your attitude and apologize to your mama then I am going to call Leslie and you will not get to play with Max and Ben tomorrow.
Bingo! Immediate remorse...ha! Needless to say, we had a lot of talking and explaining about how to handle our anger. When Chris got home from his night shift (just in time for us to leave) I informed him that Logan was GROUNDED for the day and that he had lost a lot of his privileges. Chris thought I was a little funny...but hey, I didn't know what else to do.
The severity of his punishment didn't really hit him until we got home and he couldn't find his guy/dinosaurs and wasn't allowed to watch a movie. I held strong even though it brought on a lot of sad tears, but I calmly reminded him that he made these choices and he knew what the consequences were...sorry...Hopefully our little temper man will fix his attitude next time!
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Valentine's and other crafts
For a few weeks, maybe even months, Tracen has been bugging me to make him Racing Podiums. So while Grandma Debbie was in town, we wanted to craft and bought a post at the Home Depot to make blocks and I had the guy cut some racing podiums for Tracen's Race Cars. So we got messy and got to work painting. Tracen did the red, Logan did the blue and I painted the yellow. Dad was around for moral support...ha!
The finished product. They have gotten a lot of use in the past couple of weeks. The boys are constantly racing and announcing the winners. Pretty fun and easy project!
With Valentine's Day rapidly approaching we have had a few projects to send to our friends and family. Thursday night, we formed an assembly line of bouncy balls, candy and suckers and stuffed all of our Valentine's for Tracen's class plus a few extras to send to friends and all of our cousins. The boys get the saying {Being your friend is a "ball"} and the girls get {Valentine, you make my heart "bounce"} We also made Valentine's for our Grandmas and Grandpas today that we will send...they will be late, but hey, we still wanted to show them some love <3
While my mom was here we made a couple of things. These are our Valentine's Day block that we fashioned from the above mentioned post. I think it is pretty cute!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
A Purple Day
DISCLAIMER: This is in no way an attempt to catch up on major back blogging from the month of January...it will happen! We have not forgotten about Rheuma-holiday, the fabulous visit from Grandma Debbie or the craft projects and just plain good times.
A green day is a good day
Yellow is a not so hot day
and Red is a very bad day!
So far this year Tracen has had all GREEN DAYS! and he is always so proud of this accomplishment.
If you get a green day everyday for a month you get to choose a special prize from the treasure chest..
it's a pretty big deal when you are 5!
Well, on Tuesday...Tracen not only got a Green day for good behavior
but he got a PURPLE day!
meaning that his behavior went above and beyond that of the rest of the students in his class.
This is a pretty big deal. The purple days are NOT, I repeat NOT, handed out very often
AND
if you get a purple day, at the end of the month you get to choose an
EXTRA Prize from the treasure chest! That's my boy!
Tracen was SO Proud of himself...he told everyone we saw about his PURPLE day!
So why did he get it?
He was "setting a good example by listening, sitting quietly while the rest of the kids...
were full of energy." What? Way to Go TRAY!
And now for your viewing pleasure...
What happens on a 29th birthday when the Daddy is stuck at work...
Don't laugh at us too hard...I only include this because Tracen LOVES this dance and we do it often...we were documenting it for Chris. Ha! Enjoy
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Once there was a Snowman....
SNOWMAN****************SNOWMAN
Once there was a SNOWMAN
TALL
TALL
TALL
Then the boys
ate him***ate him***ate him***
Then the boys
ATE HIM
ALL
ALL
ALL
ALL
ALL
ALL
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