Horseshoe Canyon

A beautiful fall weekend spent camping on the Buffalo River and climbing at Horseshoe Canyon. We are so proud of our little climbers and are so thrilled that they are developing an appreciation for the things we also so enjoy. Hopefully, many more weekends like this one will be in our future.

Still Here!

Now that our computer issues are resolved, I'm looking forward to keeping this blog going!

I look back over photos from the last six months and am amazed at how much our babies have grown. We have hit a lot of milestones. Ellie started riding her bike without training wheels last fall. At four years old, she snaps her fingers, knows her letter sounds, and draws the funniest creatures you could imagine. She is very sweet and cuddly. Jack is still enamored with Legos and Star Wars. He is reading more and more and has lost two teeth. He is taking on more chores and is becoming quite helpful around the house, especially, when it comes to scooping dog poop and taking out the trash, two chores I am happy to pass on.

I'll start with birthdays. We had Ellie's fourth birthday at the dance studio where she had been taking ballet and tap. She really was in little girl heaven, with all the tutus, tule, music, and dancing. It was precious to watch all the little girls having so much fun. It was a very special day!

Jack's birthday was also a lot of fun. We kept it simple and small with just a few cousins and friends. Jack enjoyed picking the theme and helping decorate. It was, of course, a Lego party. We played some games, ate pizza, and had "Lego Club" in the tent. Later that night, Jack requested that we go out to Mexican with grandparents and then out for ice cream. He successfully managed to have two parties!

a cupcake and a cowboy

Halloween Weekend 2010... better late than never!
Jack was a cowboy and Ellie was a cupcake...

Somebody is an OU fan!

We had an action packed weekend of 'smore eatin', hangin' with friends and fam, pumpkin' carvin', festival goin', trick-or-treatin', and candy eatin'. The children were in bliss. The parents were exhausted. We've learned what we will and will NOT be doing next year. (Hint to naive parents: do not take little children into your local church festival's cardboard box maze in a dark crowded room... bad idea)

Homemade Play Dough

Why haven't we done this before? I've never really cared for store bought play dough (it's sticks to everything, the colors get all mixed and ugly, and it dries out so quick), but this homemade stuff is great! The cuties loved helping make it. Probably should have saved this activity for a rainy day, but I guess we'll just have to do it again sometime.

Recipe:

1 C Flour

1/2 C Salt

1 C Water

1 T Oil

2 t Cream of Tarter

Food Coloring (as desired)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in pan over low heat. Stir until a ball forms. Remove from heat and add food coloring and knead until combined. Store in airtight zip lock bag.

Dinner

Meal planning and cooking are not my strength, but I'm trying! I'm trying to get out of my same old rut and try some new recipes. I get all my good ideas from other people and when I find a good one, I love to share it. The husband loved it. The wife had 2 and a half. The kids ate it. That's a winner in my book! Here's the link to mini meatball sandwiches! It wasn't hard to make either.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/07/16-minute-meal-3-mini-meatball-sandwiches/

First Day

So my baby started school this week. I didn't cry the first day. I cried today. He said he was ready for me to let him out of the car in the drop-off line. He looked so small with that big backpack on and it's all I could do to keep from following him in.

He is loving it.

Ellie misses him the mornings he's at school. She keeps asking if it is time to go get Jack yet.

While I was vacuuming this morning, trying to get up all the cheerios scattered around the house and avoid the Lego's, I thought, I'm really going to miss this someday. My babies are growing up too fast and these years really are so short. Better cherish them.

On a lighter note, we tried a new kind of curry chicken for dinner last night. It was a yellowish color and was served over rice. Jack sat down and promptly asked with the most innocent, straight face "Hey Mommy, who pooped in my bowl?" He was sent straight to his room, so Hayden and I could recover our laughter before correcting him. The funny thing is, I know he knew he would get in trouble, he just couldn't resist.

butterflies and bats

This summer we've been able to enjoy a little nature in our own backyard. We raised some black swallowtail butterflies that we brought in as caterpillars from our parsley plant. We made a home for them with left over pink tulle from Ellie's birthday and a tomato cage. We fed them fresh parsley daily and then had the privilege of watching them transform up close. I never realized their chrysalis forms from the inside out. Awesome metaphor there! Then, we got to set the butterflies free as they came out of the chrysalis. I think I was even more excited about this whole process than the kids were.

fat little caterpillars

shedding their skin to reveal the chrysalis

out of the chrysalis, ready to fly

set free!

enjoying a drink from our garden

our Monarch

Then yesterday, Jack spotted this little guy way up high on our front porch. I never would have noticed him. I thought he was sleeping (it was daytime afterall), but the zoom on the lens showed he was, to my dismay, AWAKE!