Late Summer Camping

I have so much to catch up on.  I know some grandmas who are waiting for pictures of what we have been doing around here so I've made up my mind to get a few things up here.  

 It's no secret that I love camping.  Fortunately for me, so do my children.  We arranged to go with another family who are so fun to be around.  The Holbrooks are up for fun anytime and although we only got to stay one night, it was great to let the kids loose and just sit back and relax.  Their dog Lucy was practically mauled to death by my kids.

Renae was such a trooper.  This is where my baby wanted to be the entire time.

Two happy campers.

I love this face.

My two sweethearts posing with their "guns".  "Take our picture Momma!"

His poor little eye.  This boy is sooo allergic to mosquito bites.  His forehead was huge!

This is right after I told Parker that yes, he could bring the stick home with us (where it currently resides).  I'm a nice mom like that. :)

You can't tell from the pictures, but Alexia was there too.  I'm not sure where she was hiding while the camera was out.  Probably off on an errand for her momma.  That girl is the best helper I have.  It was such a fun time going with friends.  We will definitely be doing it again.  Thanks Holbrook family for coming along for the fun!

A love letter

Dear Paper Towels,


It's true what they say - absence really does make the heart grow fonder.  You weren't in my budget for the past two months and I'm telling you...I've missed you.  Life here just wasn't the same without you.  I realize I took you for granted.  I thought that a rag or newspaper could take your place. But I was wrong, and I've changed.  I'm making you a priority.  I never want us to be apart again. 

Your's Affectionately,
Heidi

First day of School

For most of you reading, this may not seem like it's coming too late. But my kids have been in school since the end of July so I'm playing catch up.Alexia is in the 4th grade now with Mr. Cederstrom as a teacher.Parker is in 2nd grade with Ms. Mortensen - who was Alexia's 2nd grade teacher as well.I was a good mom who walked her kids to school that day. It was nice outside with clouds and a slight breeze. So after dropping the bigs at school, the littles and I headed to the park, where we lasted about 15 minutes. Spencer really liked the swing (his first time at the park) and it was funny watching him watch Elijah.
"Momma...why you always got that big black thing poking out from your face?" I'm pretty sure that's what he was thinking in that moment.Oh...there's the smile. It's never very far from those chubby cheekies.And this boy...well I was queen for the day because I took him to the park. That's always nice.
Good gravy. Why does Elijah always look like an orphan? I swear, between my letting him dress himself, all the bumps, scrapes, and bruises that come from being a boy who plays hard, and needing a haircut, most days this boy looks homeless. Who is his mother? Poor baby has to wear his big brother's old clothes. He's a bean pole compared to what Parker was at his age and everything seems to hang off the boy.
See what I mean? If I tugged just right those shorts would be at his ankles. And lets take a minute and not check out the little boy behind him with the gel in his hair and matching, well fitted clothing on. Darn little over achiever. :)

What did you do Saturday night?

Turns out it was the Mr. and Mrs. Green with the wrench...in the family room.

Sincerely,
Professor & Mrs. Plum

Isn't she Lovely?

No seriously.

Funny things

Parker has said some doozies over the past few days and I wanted to get them written down.

Parker: "Mom how old do I have to be to go home teaching with dad?"
Me: I think 14.
Parker: "How old do I have to be to go on a mission?"
Me: You have to be 19 Parker.
Parker: "Wow being a teenager is important when you're in the Kingdom of God.


Me: Parks, did you put on deodorant today hon?
Parker: Yep
Me: That's good because you get kind of hot and sweaty and it will help you not to be smelly too.
Parker: Yeah because it has all day protection you know.

Parker: "Today a boy in my class called me stupid."
Me: Why did he do that?
Parker: "I don't know, he just sits by me and he turned around and whispered it."
Me: Well what did you say?
Parker: "I told the teacher on him." (after my 'look') She said that's not tattle telling mom."
Me: Oh, okay.
Parker: "I think he was showing me pride."
Me: What?
Parker: "It means hatred toward your fellow men, and I'm his fellow men. That's pride."

Oh man, I love that boy!

PS. In the picture above, the boys were being knights. Last night I was made queen of their fort castle and the backwards hats are really their helmets.

The Countdown is On!

Only 8 more days until we see this face! Around here, Aunt Melissa is legend!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Okay so for a while now I've wanted a new entertainment center. We bought our old one off of friends 11 years ago for $50. I was tired of it and so we pulled it outside for our yard sale two weeks ago. It didn't sale. We put it on Craigslist. Still, a no go. Meanwhile, I was getting extremely annoyed with having the tv in my room - which translated to the kids begging to be in my room all day. The entertainment center also used to house our kids' computer and the printer as well as the stereo, dvd/vcr and all of the movies. It was all in my room waiting for a replacement piece of furniture. I suppose I'm not patient enough. Or I just love a project. Anyway, my honey humored me last Saturday. It took all day but we took it apart, sanded the sparse shine off of it, ditched the glass doors, painted it, bought new hardware and... there you have it...my newish entertainment center. It is another $50 project that seriously puts a smile on my face every time I happen to look at it.

Making up for that Cookie

Saturday evening after getting home and getting all of the camping gear washed and put away I whipped up a few cupcakes in order to celebrate Parker's birthday for real. I never knew a cookie could be so greasy. When Darren and I threw it away, I promised I'd make him cake when we got home.
Makin' a wish...
...and blowing out those candles! Hope your birthday wishes come true big guy!


I thought I might share this recipe. This cake is our family's favorite. When Parker was little, and more allergic to dairy and eggs, Darren's mom went out of her way to track down a cake made without anything that would cause a reaction. She came through with this recipe. Just so you know, I never ever use a box cake (unless I'm making cookies). My husband would think I didn't love him anymore if I tried to feed him fluffy colored cardboard topped with icing, and unless it's homemade, the icing gets scraped off anyway. This cake is dense and rich without being too sweet. It ices beautifully, because it isn't crumbly. I've made it substituting the oil with applesauce and it's still yummy, although Darren swears he can tell the difference.

Parker's Allergy Friendly Chocolate Cake

3 cups sifted flower (yeah right on the sifting)
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
6 TBL cocoa (yes six!)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups water
2 TBL vinegar (I'm sure I've used either one depending on what was in the cupboard)
2 tsp vanilla

Mix dry ingredients together, then wet ones and beat together until cake mix consistency. Bake in floured and greased pans for 30 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Making half of the recipe will give you 12 cupcakes. This cuts down on how much cake there is available for me to eat. ;)

(The icing is just some butter, some cocoa, some vanilla, some milk and a lot of powdered sugar.)

Man, looking at those pictures and thinking about that icing...I'm going to have to make cupcakes tomorrow I think!

Summer Campin'

I love camping. I love getting outside with the kids and letting them have at it. I love it, I love it, I love it!
Only this guy was a little "fenced in." The rest of them got to run, climb trees, gather firewood, take walks, play freeze tag, catch, and hide and seek. They met new friends at the neighboring campsite and from then on Darren was released from freeze tag duty.

I just wish it was a little easier to gather the herd and all the stuff and then get it all set up. Because it takes a mammoth effort to get us out there, I insist on staying more than one night.
I seriously breathe better out there. No phones, no computer, no somebody needing something. Just me, my family, good food, and a good book. Ahhhhhh....

Parker's birthday fell on a Saturday this year and I asked him what he wanted to do to celebrate turning seven. Go camping! A boy after my own heart. There was no way to get a cake up there without a big mess so I picked up what turned out to be the nastiest giant cookie for Parker's big day.Parker with his gift from us. Plug it in to your tv to play 12 old school video games. It's a family favorite right now - especially since it's 114 degrees outside right now. Thanks for the fun way to spend your big day kiddo. We love ya!

Family night at the Library

I usually take my kids to the library on Wednesday mornings for reading time during the summer. Last week I happened to be there on Monday night to pick up a book I had put on hold. Apparently they have reading time on Monday nights too. I saw that they were expecting a special visitor the next week and so we headed back over there.
Darren met us there on his way home from work but the baby smelled suspicious and I didn't bring a diaper bag so they went home early.
Ronald McDonald read stories, did magic and recited poems to the families.

Elijah wasn't too sure about him at first ,but he warmed up eventually. I love watching my kids giggle.

Parker even got called up to help out with a magic trick. Thanks Ronald!

Father's Day Pictures

So much of what I love the most in the world in one chair!
Look at all those baby blues! No doubt where my kids' beautiful blue eyes came from. I took these picture of Darren and the kids on Father's day this year. The kids helped me pick out a Dodgers hat and multi-function tool for him and my good friend made a peanut butter pie for us to give him. (Thanks Trish...it was amazingly yummy!)
My honey loves some peanut butter. Happy Father's Day Darren!

(Now they are all pretty cute, but take a minute and go back to look at my chubbsa wubbsa baby boy. Ahhhh!!! His cuteness kills me!)