We had pumkin carving for Family Home Evening tonight. It is so fun to see Ian get all excited. I made these cute little ghost cookies. They are so easy. Just use Nutter Butters and dip them in white chocolate, then add miniature chocolate chips for eyes! Easy and adorable!
Well, I leave town for a week and come back to find I've been tagged. Here is goes . . .
1) Much to my mother's shigrin, I throw everything away. She was just here babysitting the kids for a week, there are tiny little packages of 1/4 a slice of a apple, 1/2 tsp of a cooked carrot, an old 1/2 eaten pb and j sandwich, etc, etc all left in my fridge. I had to go through it and throw everything away. Sorry mom! I throw things away or take them to DI all the time. I think I will get to claim a $15000 deduction from donations to DI this year.
2) I talk in my sleep. On our wedding night I woke up just freaking out because there was a scary man in my bed. I also told Kevin that "It's okay if you're a duck."
3) I cannot stand cats. Sorry all cat lovers. But come on! Our neighbor's cat is on our porch all of the time. It drives me insane. I try to squirt it with a squirt bottle but to no avail. Dogs are much more my thing.
4) I get so stressed out for BYU football games I can't even watch them unless we are up by 3 touchdowns. In the game against Utah last year I almost went in to labor with Meg.
5) I pick my kids noses all the time. (my KIDS noses, not mine) I can't stand to have anything "floating around in there".
6) Last one, very cheesy, but I love my life. I am so grateful for everything I've been blessed with. I love waking up everyday next to Kevin and knowing that I get to spend my day with my children. I love the peace I have from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love the opportunities that lie ahead of me and my family and look forward to doing everything in my power to continually find more happiness. ( yes, break out the cheese-mobile, I know)
Yes, I convinced Kevin to try a goatee out, just for our vacation. Isn't he dashing?? He had that thing shaved off 2 minutes after we got home! I loved it, though! He looked like a tough cowboy!
Kevin and I just got back from a fabulous, relaxing vacation. We went to a resort/spa in Scottsdale, AZ and to the Grand Canyon. It was delightful! My mom came and took care of the kids (angel of a woman!). As much as I love my little kiddos, boy was it nice to have a break!
This is family pic of us at Pompey's Pillar this summer. Has anyone been there lately? It is soooo much nicer than when I was growing up. I remember there being couple of totally old disgusting outhouses, and a broken picnic table. Now, it is incredible. Beautiful Visitors Center and cool exhibits. It was great for Kevin, being the history buff in the family.
So, I tried the brownies with carrot and spinach purrees from Oprah's website (Jessica Seinfeld's recipe). Really, you could not tell that there were carrots and spinach. They were pretty good. I think I will try a couple of modifications, however. Ian and Kevin really liked them. Now, I'm not saying that you stick a Paradise Bakery brownie down next to one of these that I would pick the carrot and spinach brownie, but hey, at least it satisfies a tiny little bit of my sweet tooth!
Kevin had the day off so we were at the laundromat doing stuff all day. Hopefully we will get it whipped into shape in the next few months and then not have to worry about it much! We'll just let our great little managers handle everything (Cody and Chelsea).
Signing off . . .
I bought Meg a teddy bear the other day because we had just been giving her a sock to cuddle with (poor thing)!
Did anyone see Oprah yesterday? Jessica Seinfeld was on talking about her new book "Deceivingly Delicious". It is all about how to add veggies into kid-friendly foods. I ran to Barnes and Noble to get it, but of course, they were sold out. Anyway, I went to Oprah's website to get a couple of recipes. I made Macaroni and Cheese with "hidden" butternut squash. Ian just INHALED it! (Any of you that know my son, know that he doesn't inhale ANYTHING). She had tons of different recipes. Tomorrow I am trying the chick-pea chocolate chip cookies! Yum! (don't tell Kevin they have chick-peas!)
We went to a pumpkin patch for family home evening. All Ian has talked about this week is pumpkins. Well, except for our Sunday drive when he announced, "Ian's loco, Ian's chubby, I want some cheese." Hmmm . . . where did we get this kid???? For those of you not well versed in Spanish, "loco" means "crazy").
So, I am totally getting into digital scrapbooking. I love it! It is so much easier, less expensive, and less messy than paper scrapbooking. Here are a couple I have done. Keep in mind I am totally a beginner!
Okay, okay, I am doing it. Thanks to much badgering by my sister and mother, I finally consent to having a blog. Funny thing, my mom and sister are the only ones who will probably read it anyway!
Has anyone every tried to find a blogger name when your last name is Smith??? I must have put 20 different names in. Crazy. Did you know that there are sooooo many Smiths in America that there is actually an "Annual Smith Day"? I never thought I'd be a Smith, but now that I am, I am proud of it.
The updates on us:
Ian is now 2 1/2 years old. He loves to play golf with the REAL set of clubs his dad bought him. Kevin even had them "fitted" (i.e. he shortened the club lengths). He still hates to eat (nothing like his parents). I try everything, I smother cheese on every vegtable and try to get him to dip fruit in peanut butter and chocolate. Nothing. I'm sure he will eventually catch up.
He loves to play with play-dough. A couple of days ago he played with it for over an hour. He would exclaim "look mommy, a pizza". Then he'd move on to his next project and a few minutes later exclaim "look mommy, a car!". Finally, for the most intricate piece yet he exlaimed "Look, George Washington!". I just burst! Maybe we have a little sculptor on our hands.
Meg is 9 months old now and giving me fits with weaning. She wants her mommy . . . bad! I finally pulled the "tough love" thing and quit cold turkey yesterday. Boy, do I hurt! (you ladies understand). She is a good little girl. She loves to play toys with Ian and she talks, and talks and talks. Then she screams, then she talks some more.
Kevin and I are looking forward to our vacation in a couple of weeks. My mom is taking the kids (yeah!). We just bought a laudromat and it has been keeping us busy! Fun little adventure!
