Summer vacation-Idaho

We arrived at my sister's house in St. Anthony, ID on Thursday evening. The kids had such a fun time playing with their cousins, Brynn and Jordan. It was so nice at my sister's house...the weather was perfect summer weather. Nice and cool in the mornings and evenings, and warm during the day, with no humidity! Also, the view of the Tetons was also beautiful to look at on a regular basis. We have no views in Kansas. I really do miss seeing the mountains.

Friday, we met my mom, grandma Avery, and my nephew Kellen for lunch at Bajio's in Rexburg.My sister and I popped over to DownEast Outfitters for a bit, and then my mom, grandma and Tony took all the kids (except Levi) back to my sister's house while my sister and I went grocery shopping for the food for my family's reunion at the cabin Saturday, and the food for the dinner after Levi's blessing on Sunday evening. My dad popped up to Kristy's house later on as well, and was able to meet his new grandson Levi for the first time. So sweet!



Saturday morning, rather early, I was coming out of my room and noticed my children, Logan and Avery, along with my niece Brynn, running down the hall from Brynn's room to the living room and back...all the while giggling and laughing and trying to be quiet. It was rather suspicious, so I asked them what they were doing. My nephew Kellen was sleeping on the couch, and the kids pointed to Kellen and said "look, look!" Again, while giggling and laughing and falling on the floor...while trying to be quiet. This is what I saw.



They were surrounding Kellen with naked Barbie dolls and My Little Ponies. They were quite proud of themselves and thought it was the funniest thing ever! My first instinct as a mother was to reprimand them and tell them that wasn't very appropriate. But then I thought about when I was little...and especially when I played with my cousins and brother and sister, and how funny we thought we were then too. And honestly it was hilarious that they had thought of playing this "trick" on Kellen. So I took a picture of it and waited for Kellen to wake up to see his reaction. I think it was just what the kids were waiting for. Hysterical. Apparently the night before, Kellen told them that naked Barbie's freaked him out.Funny kids.

Saturday morning, the kids went out to jump on the trampoline. Here is a great jumping picture!



Saturday afternoon we headed up to the cabin to spend the evening with my family. The kids had fun playing on the "merry-g-round". Here is Uncle Kris pushing them around and around.



We got a brief little spurt of rain in the afternoon, so Avery and my niece Cassidy decided to catch some raindrops on their tongues. Refreshing!




We had a little program Saturday night, and Avery and Logan were so cute sitting by each other watching. They had their arms around each other at one point, but when I tried to get a picture, my brother thought he would be funny and stick his hand in front of my camera. So, I missed the moment. This was what I did get though.So cute!


And I got lucky to get such a great shot of my grandma Avery holding her great grandson Levi. What a special moment.

The start of our Summer vacation and Martin's Cove

So, last year Tony's parents returned home from their mission in Africa. They had been gone for 18 months, and were anxious to plan the Black Family Reunion when they got home. They presented 4 different options of placed to go for the reunion, and were getting feedback from everyone as to where to go. The options were: 1.) Stay in Blanding and go up on the mountain. 2.) Go somewhere in Colorado, near Durango I think...but not sure.3.) Branson, MO. or 4.) San Diego. I was going for either San Diego or Branson, since I could see my family in SD as well, or Branson since it is only about 4 hours from us, and that way we wouldn't have to drive across the country like we do every year. This time the family could come out our way. We are the only ones in Tony's family not in Utah after all.

After having my grandma come stay with us back in November, I started reminiscing about the cabin we grew up going to every summer in Idaho for big family reunions on my moms side of the family. I absolutely LOVE that place, and hadn't been there for a few years. I then got to thinking that it would be a super great place for Tony's family to have a reunion, and I really wanted to be able to share that part of me with them. If they even loved it a small portion of how much I love it there, I knew they would have a good time. After talking to Tony about it, I brought up the idea with Tony's parents. Everyone agreed it sounded like a grand idea, so the plans were made. We planned the reunion for the first week of August,to allow the regular Avery and Wheeler reunions to take place in July like they do every year, and also to give me just enough time to recover from having a c-section when Levi was born.

Tony and I also decided it would be a great time to bless Levi, since all his family would be there, and all of mine could be there as well. The hardest part of living out in the middle of America, is not having family around for different events. None of my children have ever had any extended family or grandparents around for their birthdays, or soccer games, or school programs, or talks in church, etc. When I read family members blogs about their birthday get togethers with family, or other events where the family gets together for different things, I can't help but feel so alone, and left out. Almost like I am a stranger looking in on a family that I am not a part of. It makes me get really emotional, and yes I cry. Tony and I feel so strongly that we are supposed to be where we are right now, and I understand that is just part of the territory, but I can't help feeling emotional about missing out on family. Anyway...enough about that. On to our trip.

We left Wednesday morning, July 28th, and drove all day.The kids were so excited to go on our trip!
Here they are in the car! Traveling in style and comfort, with their sunglasses and neck pillows.


We stopped in Laramie, WY that night, where the kids got to go swimming at the hotel pool with daddy while baby and I hung out in the room.

The next morning, we decided to stop by Martin's Cove, since it was only about 15 miles out of our way. We didn't want to stay too ling, since we still had a good 6 hours of driving to go. I knew we would have to walk/hike out to the cove from the Visitor's Center, but I didn't know how far it really was. The missionaries offered to drive us out on a rover, and then came back to get us wher we were done, so we only had to walk maybe a mile down the trail. It was a bit warm out, and I was all set to carry Levi in the sling/wrap, but luckily, a sweet Sister missionary offered to keep Levi in the nice cool visitor's center with her while we went. It worked out really well for us, and I think that Sister Warr got her grandma fix too! I left Levi's hat at home anyway, so now I didn't have to worry about him getting too hot, or sunburned.

While we were there, there were a TON of church groups there doing the handcart trek. We really didn't have the time to spend to talk to the missionaries about the stories, or read the plaques along the trail that told about certain events that happened there. I would have liked to been able to hear some stories, but with all the trek people there too, it just felt a bit too crowded. I am glad we were able to go anyhow, and maybe someday we can go again and spend a bit more time, to really feel the spirit of that sacred place. What an amazing bunch of pioneers, to suffer through what they did. I doubt I could have done it...especially with small children. No way.I am so grateful for the blessings I have, and to live in this time.

We took some pictures of the kids at the cove, and some antelope as well.





This is a picture of the cove from the rover as we were driving along on our way back to the Visitor's Center.



This picture is from the top of the cove, looking down the path. Very pretty place, and quite peaceful. I can't imagine the suffering that occurred in this very spot over 150 years ago. If you want to read some stories about this, click here.



And more information HERE.

Random pictures

Baby Levi


A few nights ago, Logan wanted to make a "tent" in his room and sleep in it. He ended up sleeping in this "tent" two nights in a row!


Avery swimming in the neighborhood pool. She loves to swim! She's like a little mermaid.


Logan likes swimming as long as he has some sort of floatation device. He's so cute!


This is daddy's favorite thing to do! I had to get a picture of my boys enjoying a snooze together!




I just took these pictures today. He's so sweet!

Kid-isms

These are just a few of the funny/cute things that the kids have done or said recently. I need to do better at writing these thiings down, so here we go with Kid-isms.

1. The other day, we were driving home from the library, and Avery kept asking Logan what he was thinking about. She had to ask him several times before he answered her. He said "Nothing. I'm just thinking about God's beautiful world and looking at it."

2. The other morning I was trying to get ready, and I had layed Levi on my bed so I could put my make-up on. The kids kept running in and out to talk to Levi and then would run off again. I think Logan is such a great big brother, and he is so cute with Levi, so I called to Logan " Logan, do you think you and baby Levi were good friends in heaven?" He kept saying "what?" so I had to ask him a few times. Finally he came in the bathroom and with a puzzled look on his face, said " What did you say mom? You want me to put baby Levi in the oven?"

3. Again, the other morning (probably around 7 or 7:30, I had finished feeding the baby and put him back to sleep, so I had gone back to bed too. Tony was up gettiing ready for work and had come back upstairs and happened to see Avery coming out of the bathroom on her way back to her room. Tony said" good morning Avery!" And she looked at him and said "hmmmph!" and went into her room and slammed the door. Tony cracked up at this, and attempted to blame her behavior on her gender. Well, later on that morning when she was awake and talking to me, she told me she had a bad dream that I had throw her toothbrush down the toilet. She had woken up and had to go check to see if it had really happened I guess...hence her behavior to Tony that morning.

4. Logan's favorite nonsense words these days are "masa masa" whatever that is. He used to always say "so so". Like things smelled like "so so", or tasted like "so so". He will just randomly start jabbering away "masa masa" about who knows or whatever. Silly kid.

5. Tonight while the kids were getting ready for bed, Logan asked Avery if she was ever going to go to Mars. She was confused, and then said "Oh, you mean monkey bars?"

6. Almost everyday for the past two weeks Avery has said " Mom? I really wish I could have a pet lizard." A few times she has also said she would like a pet kangaroo to hop around the backyard.

The Name Game

LOGAN FROST, AVERY NOELLE, and LEVI CABLE BLACK



I always love to know how people name their children.There are so many options out there to choose from, so why do we end up choosing the names we do for our kids?

I know when I was young, I had a whole slew of names picked out for my future children. Of course, I also planned on having 8 kids, and I knew the order they would come as far as gender, and how far apart they were from each other. This was in 6th grade, mind you. I wrote a paper about what my future would be like in 20 years or something like that. I wish I had that paper still, cause it would be very interesting to see exactly what I said. From what I remember, I was going to be married to a doctor (does Phd count?), and living on a large residence in Washington State, where I had stables with horses, and people to take care of them and the massive green lawn we would have as well. So, Kansas isn't exactly close to Washington State, but I think I am grateful for the sunshine we do get here, as I have come to realize that I would probably have a very difficult time with the Seasonal Affective Disorder, or whatever. Growing up in sunny southern California spoiled me with constant days of sunshine.

Fast forward to now, when I am really having my own children and having to figure out what to name them. The names I chose 20 something years ago aren't still in the running...well maybe some would be if I could remember what they were!So on to new names!

Let's start with Logan. We had two options picked out for him when we discovered we were having a baby boy. When Tony and I got married, we left on tour with the BYU Folk Dancers like two weeks later. The first night we were in our own home after the wedding and week of honeymoon, we were joined by two of our friends from the Folk Dance team who needed a place to stay while we rehearsed to get ready for tour. Josh and Craig. I joked that they were our boys, and we would have to name our kids after them. Well, when we were expecting Logan we talked about our name choices, and we actually really liked Joshua Craig as an option! We also really liked Logan, after coming across it in the baby name book, and considered both Logan Frost and Logan Anthony. Tony didn't want to use his first name as a middle name, for whatever reason, so we settled on Tony's middle name, Frost, which was his grandpa's name.

On the way to see the Oprah show, my friend Gigi and I were were talking about our name choices for our baby's...we were due within a week of each other and were both having boys...and discovered that we had both chosen Logan as an option! I was devastated for a while. I didn't want to share my baby's name...selfish as I was. I still wasn't 100% sure that was the name we were going to go with...I had to see the baby first to know for sure who was supposed to be. The more I thought wbout it however, it didn't really matter. In fact, it was kind of fun to be able to share our first child's birth and have the same name as well. Gigi's Logan was born about 2 weeks before mine, so she was able to take the name first. When our Logan was born, I debated about if he was a Joshua or a Logan. Turned out he was definitely Logan, so that is how Logan Frost Black came to be.



I have had a little girl's name chosen probably since middle school. But when I found out I was expecting a girl, I knew the name I had chosen wasn't her name. It was easy after that. I wanted to name her Avery...after my mom's maiden name. The middle name was the hard part. Since Avery was a family name, I didn't think I needed her middle name to be a family name as well, so I went for names I just liked. I love the sound of Noelle, and thought it went well with Avery. Once I convinced Tony to let me go with that name, it was right. I didn't have to think too hard about her name...she was meant to be Avery.


( No, she's not a non-vegetarian vampire! I didn't have my red-eye thingy on my camera, and I haven't edited yet! Ha ha!)


Now with baby boy #2, we had a really hard time! I had a few boy names written down, but none of them sounded right. They were cute names, and so were many names that people suggested, but they just didn't feel right. Tony and I would lay in bed at night and read names from the baby name book we had, and try to find names we both could agree on. Levi was a name that we both said felt pretty good, and we both agreed that we liked it. I had never even considered Levi as a name before, so it was interesting to me that it settled on me and felt comfortable. I was still not 100% though, so I wanted to keep looking for other options. There were a few names I liked, but they just wouldn't work. For instance, I have always liked the name Jacob. And we both agreed on liking it the same, so that was good. However, as much of a Twilight fan as I am, I could not let myself name my baby Jacob Black. For anyone not in the know of all things Twilight, Jacob Black is one of the main characters in the series. I also really like the name Luke...but Luke Black just sounds to "kkkkk-y' if that makes any sense. We considered Joshua again, but it just didn't feel right for this baby.

Several months ago, I was reading a book series where the main male character's name was Cabel. The more I thought about that name, the more I liked it. I knew it wasn't exactly your run of the mill boy name, so I never mentioned it to Tony cause I was sure he would say no way. Anyway, one evening I was just reading or watching TV or something, and Tony was looking at family names on the computer. All of a sudden he said "What about Cable?" I was seriously surprised! Apparently Cable was a family name on his mom's side...a middle name I think. I told him I had been thinking about that name, and yes I did like it. We put it together with Levi, and Levi Cable Black was born. I considered Cable for a first name as well, but Tony preferred it for a middle name. Anyway, I am 100% sure that this little baby named himself. But we are thrilled with him, and happy with the choice because it is him. Although, I do get mixed up and call him both Logan and Avery. I also often have other random names come to mind in the middle of the night when I am not quite awake. I think the L's and V's in the names are what have me calling him Oliver, or even Lavender. Yeah, I know! Poor little dude! It's LEVI!!!!! Not Oliver! Not Lavender! And definitely NOT Logan or Avery!



Anyway, I just thought I would document the stories of how our children have been named. Maybe #4( whenever that will be) will be a girl so I can finally use the name I have had chosen since middle school!

Levi Cable Black is here!

Well, my little man is now 12 days old! Time really does fly by!

We had a very stressful month leading up to his birth, and a few stressful days in the hospital, but that is behind us now and we are home and happy with our new addition! I can say that in regards to many things around here too! New carpet, a new basement, new couches,new siding, basically a new front of the house, AND a new baby!Whew!

So, Thursday morning, Logan woke up with a fever and sore throat. Great. We ended up taking him to the doctor Friday morning really fast before I had to be at the hospital. The diagnosis? Strep throat. Great. We had time to pick up his antibiotics and send them back home with grandma on our way to the hopsital.

We arrived a little after 10 a.m., where they had me get hooked up to the monitors, and do all the other necessary preparations for the c-section. My doctor came in at noon, to apologize that we would have to wait a bit longer since she had another patient in the process of pushing. No big deal to us...we weren't in a hurry, and I wasn't in any pain, which was lovely.

She wasn't gone long, and then it was time to wheel me into the surgery room, and get my spinal and get ready to go. With Avery's c-section, I got the shivers soooo bad, that my jaw hurt really bad from clenching my teeth to keep them from chattering together. This time I wanted to try to avoid that if possible, so the anesthesiologist covered my arms and head with warm blankets. It was actually very cozy, and actually helped...regardless of how silly I might have looked. The c-section was painless, and free of discomfort, until they pulled the baby out. Then my right shoulder started to hurt really really bad! The anesthesiologist said it was probably referred uterus pain, but later my doctor thought I probably just got a lot of air in there. Crazy.




When Levi came out, he was crying and wouldn't stop for a long time. It turned out that he had a lot of fluid in his lungs, and his oxygen levels were low, so he got sent to the NICU to be on oxygen.


He was only on oxygen for a few hours, and then he was fine. He was born at 1:08 p.m. and weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. and they said he was 18 inches long. Later when he was measured in the NICU, he was 19 3/4 inches, and I don't think he grew that long in two days! I think the NICU really liked him and thought he was so cute they wanted to keep him, and wouldn't let him come down to my room...even after he was off the oxygen, off the IV, and eating regularly like a normal newborn. I was supposed to come home Monday, and they were telling us he woldn't go home until Tuesday, which made me sooooo mad! While I was greatful that he was well taken care of, and they were playing things safe, I knew he was just fine, and I wanted my baby with me. It seemed like everyone we talked to told us something different, and so we were very confused,and mislead. I was not happy with the communication efforts, and felt like we were completely out of the loop, and we were merely visitors to this baby, and not his parents.This was an added stress I did not need to deal with while trying to recover from surgery.

We had been told on Saturday that if he was off the IV and eating well, he would probably be able to come to my room Sunday afternoon. I was really hoping this would be the case, since it was Father's Day, and the kids hadn't been to see the baby yet. We gave Logan two full days of being on his antibiotics before we brought him to see the baby. I wanted to spend Father's Day as a family in my room. When i went up Sunday morning to feed Levi, they had just taken him off his IV, and he was eatiing like a champ! I was so hopeful that he could come down! Later that afternoon, when my family came to visit, we talked to the perinatalogist and that was when he dropped the bomb that they wanted to monitor him for two days of eating normal before they sent him home...hence Tuesday, not Monday. I couldn't control my emotions, and cried. Of course, at the end of his conversation, he again mentioned that if he was eating well, then he could possibly come down to my room that night.









My family came and spent Father's Day afternoon visiting Levi for the first time in the NICU, and then hanging out in my room. I did my best to get some pictures of the family, but this was the best we could do. It started to get a little chaotic in the NICU room, and eventually my mom took the kids back down to my room to wait for me to feed Levi then come back down. This is what I found when I got back to my room!



That night came and went, and no one said a thing to me about him being able to come to my room. The next morning, Monday morning, the pediatrician from my kids pediatric office came to check on him, and after looking through his chart, and talking to the nurse in charge, agreed that he was completely fine to go home with me that day! I was so relieved! I knew people had been praying hard, and our prayers had been answered. What a relief! Then the doctor and nurses asked me about him having come to my room the night before, and I told him he didn't. They acted surprised, since word on the street was that he was going to. Well, no one told me a thing, so I missed my chance. Hence the anger at the communication efforts. I was up in the NICU every 3 hours to feed Levi, and no one said a thing to me about it.Hence the irritation about the communication efforts on their behalf. Part of me thinks it was just confusion about what to do since it was the week-end.

Anyway, I was very grateful and relieved that people with some sense came in Monday morning and were willing to let Levi come home with me that afternoon. They were able to get his circumcision done, and we were home by about 4 p.m. Sweet sweet buddy! I feel like I was jipped getting my one on one bonding time in the hospital...as well as any rest. I knew I would be tired in the hospital, but I wasn't expecting the stress of the situation, and that definitely took its toll. For the first few days of being home I felt completely wiped out!I am so glad that Grandma has been here to help entertain the kids, and let me get some much needed rest. I think I will cry when she has to go home today. I have loved having my mom here, and am not sure how I will function when she has gone home. Times like these are when I really miss having family nearby....when I need them most.

We love our new baby boy, and are so grateful he is in our family! When Logan first saw him at the hospital, he said so excitedly " I love him already!" Avery declared "Mine! My baby!" And he is! We are now a family of 5!

13 days and counting!

Ok, well I read my last post, and am pleased to say I can check a few more things off my list.


*Our couches are actually in! We just need to arrange a delivery date.
* Our carpet has been ordered and the installation date set for June 16th. Two days to spare!
* We have someone chosen to do the work on the front of our house, if only he would call us back now so he can get started!
* We bought our tile, and Tony can hopefully get that started early next week.
* I have spent the last day working on my craft room. I think I have made some good progress, although I look around and feel like I am just moving the mess from one place to another.
* I made another meal to pop in the freezer.
* I have decided on the paint colors for Avery's room, but need to go get them now.
* I think we have a name chosen for the baby, but I don't want to announce it yet in case we find somethiing else. I really think this baby named himself. It's the only name that sounds right, whether we like it or not! We like it, we do. It's just not a name I ever thought of before, or really loved either. We'll see when he gets here!

Because of all these major projects, I have been neglecting the everyday basics, like laundry, dishes, cleaning in general, and I still need to hit up the grocery store! Times like these I really wish I had a cleaning lady! Ha ha!

I need to keep working upstairs, but sat down for a minute to eat some lunch and rest. It's hard to rest though, when there is still so much to get done!

I need to post pictures of Logan's birthday party, so hopefully I will get to that soon. Maybe this evening...if I can get the stamp room done!

May...where has it gone?

I have SOOOOOO much going on in my life right now, and I really need to get it down in writing, but I have had a hard time sitting down and doing it.

As of today, I am 2 days away from being 36 weeks into my pregnancy. I have my c-section scheduled for June 18th, which leaves me 3 1/2 weeks before our new little baby joins our family.

These are the things I was wanting to get done before the baby comes.

1. finish the basement
2. get new couches for our living room upstairs
3. get new carpet for the basement as well as the living and dining rooms on the main level.
4. Clean out my stamp/craft/junk/guest room and move it all down to the basement.
5. Paint the old stamp room pink.
6. Move Avery into her new pink room.
7. Get Logan a new dresser and nighstand so I can give his dressers to the baby.
8. Set up the baby's room (currently Avery's room)
9. Pull out all the baby boy clothes from Logan to see what can stay, and what can go, and what I might still need to get.
10. Make a bunch of freezer meals to stock my freezer to make cooking meals less of a chore.
11. Pick out tile for the basement (for the entry from the outside)

These are the things I have gotten done:

1. ordered couches. They are supposed to arrive a week AFTER the baby.
2. basement mostly finished, but discovered a leak from the front of our house, so our carpet installation has been put on hold.
3. picked out carpet and need to order and set a date for installation.
4. made 4 freezer pizzas
5. Chose the tile...but still need to buy it and install it.

That's all folks! I am going crazy! I had Logan's birthday and birthday party that were my priorities last week, so now that that is over, I can get cracking on cleaning out my stamp room and making some freezer meals.

The best part of all this, is that right after we had painted the newly drywalled basement wall, we discovered some water coming in. After much investigating, we realized the water was coming in from behiind the stonework on the front of our house. Tony pulled all the stone off, and we have some MAJOR wood rot going on. It is not a simple, easy job to fix apparently, cause a few of the guys we had come out to give us estimates said it was beyond what they are capable of doing. We have received two estimates and are waiting on one more. I can't wait any more though. It HAS to get fixed! Until that leak is repaired, we can't finish the basement. My plans for moving my craft stuff have had to change slightly. I now need Tony to clear out space in the storage closet he built so I can just move my stuff into it for now. My goal is to get that room cleared out this week, so I can get Avery's room painted after Memorial Day and move her in. Then I can at least get the baby's room set up and ready, and feel like I will be ready for the baby to come, regardless of the basement and other issues.

The hard part to all this is that sometimes it hurts to walk (thank you lower back pains and pelvic joints or whatever the prob is)which makes it hard to be efficiently productive. Not to mention that my feet are starting to look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy, and the need/desire to prop them up comes every so often. If I can get my kids to really help pick things up that they scatter all over the floor, that would be a great help. I just can't bend down to pick things up very well at all. I need one of those trash picker upper thingy's. Or as Logan calls it, a "grab-nabber".

I will try to be better at documenting this wonderful journey over the next few weeks, and hopefully get back in the habit so I can continue blogging about baby when he arrives. Speaking of...we also need to decide on a name for this little guy.ANy suggestions? And serious ones please. Not Sirius (Black), or Jacob (Black) or Jack (Black), or other things like that. I don't have time for funny anymore...no offense!

Easter Egg Hunt and Potluck

So, here I am ...3 weeks later. I finally got the pictures off my camera, so I can blog about our fun Easter tradition. Whenever I play hostess, I tend to not get very many pictures taken, so this is the best I've got! No adults!

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We have a pretty large backyard with lots of trees. I know that a lot of parks and places like that host Easter Egg Hunts for the public, but I just hate the thought of the crowds, and the possibility that my kids would only get a few eggs, or none at all due to more aggressive kids. I really wanted them to have a chance to have an egg hunt, so I decided to host our very own egg hunt with some friends. We started this 3 years ago, right after we moved here, and plan to keep on hosting for years to come. It's been fun! We have a potluck lunch, and then the kids run wild while the adults visit.I look forward to it now.

I was worried this year about the weather, since we have had such a LONG winter this year. But, it turned out to be a beautiful day! Nice and sunny, a bit on the chilly side, but nothing a sweater didn't fix. It was great!




We had the biggest turn-out yet this year. We had 7 families, totalling 16 adults and 16 kids.We started taking a picture of all the kids after they found the eggs.Here is this year's group! The boys were outnumbered 11-5!



We can't wait for next year!

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter! I will post some pictures soon of our 3rd Annual Easter Egg Hunt and Potluck, and other fun stuff about our week-end.

I just had to document something funny that Avery said a minute ago. Logan got a package of squirt guns in his Easter basket, and we told the kids they could go outside to play with them between conference sessions. When handing Avery her gun, I asked her some questions about who and what is ok to shoot.

Me: Avery, do we shoot Logan?
Avery: No
Me: Do we shoot mommy and daddy?
Avery: No
Me: Do we shoot Macey? (the cat)
Avery: No
Me: What do we shoot?
Avery: Bad guys

Tony and I were busting up! Ha ha ha! We love that girl!

Spring Break 2010

For spring break this year, I was really wanting to go away somewhere. But I knew that was not going to happen, so I went to plan B. I decided to try and plan something fun to do every day. I knew I would go CRAZY if I stayed cooped up in the house with my kids, listening to them whining and crying and fighting, and being disobedient, etc. They always tend to be better behaved and more pleasant to be around when we go somewhere. So, I made our itinerary.

Thursday March 11:

We went to storytime at the library. It was the first time I was able to take Avery into the 3-6 year old storytime, so that was exciting. In the past I have just taken Logan in to the younger stortyime with Avery and it worked out well too. I could have left the kids in storytime by themselves and gone and found my own books with some peace and quiet in the meantime, but I wasn't sure how Avery would do if I wasn't there, so I stayed in the back to watch. She did fine, so now I know for the future!

Friday March 12:

We didn't do much today, but I did have to go to the store, and then after we went to PetCO to look at the pets. The kids had a great time chasing a bird around it's cage, looking at fish, ferrets, hamsters, gerbils, rats, and cats. They got to put little toys in the cages with the cats to play with them, and they loved it!

Monday March 15:

We went and met Tony at work and ate lunch with him in the cafeteria. The kids loved going to daddy's work, and I think Tony enjoyed showing off his cute kidlets to his co-workers. The kids had pizza and chocolate milk. Of course they loved it!

Tuesday March 16:

Today we went to Paradise Park. Some of our friends went with us, and we had a great time. The kids painted their faces, played in the ball pit, played at the water table, played in the little city, made cookies, a St. Patrick's Day craft, and listened to a story. We also had lunch there, and played outside for a few minutes...it was COLD! Needless to say we were tuckered out and completely exhaisted when we got home!






Wednesday March 17:

St. Patrick's Day! We met some friends at the local cupcake shop. Avery chose a vanilla cupcake with green buttercream frosting. Logan chose a chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting. I tried the S'mores cupcake, chocolate cake with a marshmallow frosting and graham cracker crumbs sprinkled on top. It was yummy! After the cupcake shop we hung out at our friend's house, and the kids watched Ponyo. Another fun day!



Thursday March 18:

This day the weather was finally looking a bit closer to Spring weather, so it was the perfect day to go to the ZOO. We went with some more friends, and had a perfect day. It was sunny, and about 62 degrees. We saw kangaroos, and monkeys, and tigers, and rode the train, and the carousel, played on the playground, ate lunch, saw blue frogs and limurs and otters, and played with friends. I am not sure who was more exhaused when we got home, but I think mom won.




I didn't get any pictures with the animals, but I figured these monkeys were good enough! Sometimes I feel like they belong in a zoo!

Friday March 19:

Tony took work off this day so we could all go to the Shatto Dairy. This dairy is over an hour drive from our house, but they sell their milk locally at many grocery stores, including the cupcake shop we went to on Wednesday! It was pretty crowded, since it was spring break. They divided our tour group into 4 smaller groups, but even then there were probably about 50 people in our group.



We started off the tour in the bottling room, learning about how they bottle the milk. They use glass bottles so the flavor isn't affected by plastic or paper cartons.




We then went into another room where the owner told us a little bit more about the dairy and what they do, answered questions, and then we got some samples. We got to try some root beer milk (yum! tasted like a melty root beer float!) and some chocolate milk. He told us that their chocolate milk placed in the top 3 best chocolate milks in the world, at the World Milk Expo, or something like that. They were able to take some chocolate milk to Pres. George W. Bush, and now have a picture of Pres. Bush holding his glass of Shatto Chocolate Milk. It was awesome. The picture, and the milk! We also got to try 4 different kinds of cheese. I love samples! Yum!

While we were standing around waiting for the group to gather before the owner started his little schpiel?, there were some 11 year old boys standing near us, up at the front closest to Leroy Shatto. He asked one of the boys how old he was. The boy answered 11. Then Mr. Shatto, nodded his head and then said " You know, when I was your age I was 12." Tony and I were busting up laughing, and the look on the boys face was priceless. He was so confused! Granted, so was I, but it was still hilarious. What exactly does that mean????

After that, we got to go in the barn and see some brand new baby calves, and Logan even got to milk a cow. He was so excited! Avery of course wanted nothing to do with it!





Then we went into the actual milking room, and watched how they milk the cows, and learned all about that process. Overall, it was a very interesting time. I am glad we went.

After the dairy, we met our friends at Chick-fil-a for lunch, and let the kids play on the playground. Once again, when we got home I was worn out! What a great way to end our spring break week!

Happy Birthday Princess Avery!

We have kind of started an un-official family rule in our house about having birthday parties every other year, starting at age 2. When Logan turned 2, we had a party for him (no gifts) and invited our graduate school friends and their kidlets who were all close to the same age. We had his party in our backyard. We knew we were going to be moving away 4 months later, so we thought of it as a last hurrah. Since we had a party for Logan at 2, we had to have one for Avery at 2 as well. Last year was her Pinkalicious birthday party, so this year was just a family party. Since we don't have any family close, it was just the four of us to celebrate. Avery kept saying she wanted a purple party, with purple cupcakes and hot chocolate to drink. So that's what we did! The night before her birthday, I put a purple plastic tablecloth with Tinkerbell on the table. We had a bouquet of 3 balloons, two purple latex balloons, and one mylar balloon...with tinkerbell of course. Then we had matching tinkerbell plates and napkins and party blowers. I gave Avery a birthday outfit that was all purple as well. She was so excited to see her "purple party" when she came downstairs that morning! It was so cute! She got to open her birthday present from Logan that morning before Logan went to school. Her latest book obsession has been "Ladybug Girl". Logan got her a second one called "Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy". She loved it! And the two of them switch back and forth playing "Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy" and "Sharkboy and Lavagirl". Dont' ask. When Tony got home from work, she opened the rest of her presents. She got a pair of "ugg-like" boots and a kit with toy hairbrush, curling iron, hairdryer, flatiron, lipstick, perfume bottle and curlers. I also gave her some headbands, so she was having a great time "fixing" her hair. She got a pretty church dress from Grandma and Grandpa Bowden, and a cooking set and apron from Grandma and Grandpa Black. The apron was an Aunt Jody original and is so stinkin cute! She loved it, and had to put it on immediately and "make" stuff. After she opened gifts, we went to "Red Robinhood" for dinner. I think it's so cute that she called Red Robin, Red Robinhood! We came home, sang Happy Birthday and had purple cupcakes, then went straight to bed! I think she had a great birthday! I can't believe she is already 3, and such a big girl!

Valentine's Day!

Ok, I am kind of bummed, cause I didn't take any pictures of our Valentine's Day! I was soooo exhausted after spending Saturday getting things ready and running errands, etc. that yesterday I didn't even think about taking a picture until the kids weren't dressed in their Valentine's Sunday clothes, and our dinner was half eaten. And even then, I was too tired to get out the camera. Maybe I will get a picture today of our pretty table with the Lovely flowers my husband and Logan gave to Avery and I!

Anyway, I feel like in the past I haven't been able to do for my family what I want on fun little holidays like this. I don't know if I just don't plan ahead well, or I am too lazy, or what, but this year I decided I couldn't let the day go by without doing something to show my family I love them. This is what I did for them!

I put together little treat bags for the kids. I bought a Valentine's gift bag at the store for each child, and put a $1 heart shaped box of chocolates from Wal-mart in each of them. I also included a box of conversation hearts, a few starbust candies, and some non candy treats. I got Avery a red beaded necklace with a red rhinestone heart pendant, and a pair of Valentine's socks. I got Logan a little notebook, and a book about Dolphins, whales and sharks. All these things i got from the $1 spot at Target. I made them a little Valentine card as well, and was so proud that Logan was able to read his all by himself!

For breakfast, I made a super yummy recipe for muffins. I was a little nervous when I took them out of the pan the night before and tasted a piece that had fallen off. There were cranberries in them and it was so sour! I was worried they wouldn't be good at all, so I made a glaze from powdered sugar, milk and vanilla and drizzled it over the top. They ended up sooo delicious! I am afraid that between Tony and I, we have eaten them all gone already, and it has only been two days!

Cranberry Cream Cheese Muffins

1 cup butter, softened
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, dusted with 2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped **(we left these out per Tony's request. I would like them with pecans, so maybe next time!)

1.Preheat oven to 350*F (175*C). Line muffin pan with paper liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray.

2.In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.

3.In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the butter mixture gradually. Fold in cranberries and nuts. Spoon batter into greased muffin cups.

4.Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden and wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let muffins stand on a cooling rack for about three minutes before removing from the pans.

This recipe made 23 muffins for me.

**Like I said, I made a glaze and drizzled it over the top of the muffins. I left the muffins uncovered on a platter overnight so they would be available for Tony to easily grab for breakfast before he left for his early morning Sunday meetings. I had a few muffins that wouldn't fit on the plate, so I just put them in a ziplock bag...without glaze. I have to say, I loved the texture of the ones I left out! They got a little crispy on the outside, but were still soft in the inside. They reminded me of the texture of old-fashioned glazed donuts. Yum!

For dinner, I made Crockpot Cranberry Chicken, wild rice, and roasted broccoli. I totally have to rely on the crockpot for Sunday dinner these days, as I am WAY too tired to think about preparing a meal when I get home from church!

Crockpot Cranberry Chicken

4 to 6 boneless chicken breast halves, skin removed
1 can whole cranberry sauce
2/3 cup chili sauce
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 package dry onion soup mix

Place chicken breasts in the slow cooker/Crock Pot. Combine remaining ingredients; add to the slow cooker/Crock Pot, coating chicken well. Cover and cook on low 6 to 8 hours.
Serves 4 to 6.
** I used 5 frozen chicken breasts, and cooked them for exactly 6 hours on low and they were perfect!


I also made a jello recipe I got from the back of the recent Family Fun magazine.


Ingredients
1 (14-ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk
3 (3-ounce) packages of red flavored gelatin
2 (1/4-ounce) envelopes of unflavored gelatin

Instructions
Dissolve one package of flavored gelatin in 3/4 cup boiling water. Add 3/4 cup cold water, then pour the mixture into a 9- by 13-inch glass pan and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Stir together 1/2 cup boiling water and the condensed milk. In a separate bowl, dissolve all the unflavored gelatin in ½ cup cold water for 1 to 2 minutes. Thoroughly mix in 3/4 cup boiling water, then combine this mixture with the milk and let it cool. Add half the mixture to the pan of red gelatin, pouring it over a spatula to slow the stream, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Continue alternating layers — gelatin mix, the remaining milk mix, the final gelatin mix — chilling each for 20 to 30 minutes to set it. Create individual servings with a heart-shaped biscuit or cookie cutter.

These were super cute, and really tasty! I might even make a green version for St. Patrick's day and cut them out with shamrocks!

To top of our meal, I made chocolate lava cakes. I got the recipe from www.ourbestbites.com They were yummy, but SUPER rich! We topped ours with whipped cream, but I think I would prefer vanilla ice cream. And maybe next time we will share one, cause I almost couldn't finish mine!

Individual Molten Lava Cakes

4 T real butter
1/3 C sugar
3 large eggs
1/3 C flour
1/4 t salt
8 oz bittersweet chocolate*, melted
*8 ounces is about 1 1/3 C of bittersweet chocolate chips. Make the 1/3 cup a little over-full and you should be good (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips)

Additional Ingredients:
powdered sugar for dusting
sweetened whipped cream for serving
butter and sugar for preparing pans

You can either bake these in a muffin pan, in ramekins, or even oven-proof
mugs. If you use a muffin tin you'll get 6 cakes and depending on the size of the ramekins you'll get 4-6.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. To prepare pans, use your fingers (or the butter wrapper) to rub butter in the muffin tins or ramekins. Sprinkle in some granulated sugar to coat the entire inner surface and tap out any extra discard.

In a bowl with a mixer beat the 4 T butter and 1/3 C sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour and salt and slowly add it into the butter mixture just until combined. Stir in melted chocolate by hand, just until combined. Don't over mix.

Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups or ramekins and then place them on a baking sheet. (If using ramekins you'll want them not quite 3/4 full)
Bake just until tops of cakes no longer jiggle when pan is lightly shaken, about 8-10 min for a muffin pan, and 10-12 for ramekins. Remove from oven and let stand 10 min.

You can serve them one of two ways. Obviously if you're using a muffin pan you'll need to invert the cakes and place them on serving plates. They should pop right out after you run a sharp knife around the edge. You're the cook, do what you want! Dust with powdered sugar and serve with a dallop of sweetened whipped cream.

After dinner, we sat around the table and played Go Fish and Old Maid. The kids LOVE playing these games, and can do a great job playing by themselves. Tony built Logan a card holder...a piece of wood with slots in it so he can put his cards in it. Then he doesn't have to worry about trying to hold all his cards in his little hand. It works great and he loves it! Anyway, we had a great time as a family!

I WISH I had taken pictures, so I am sorry this post is boring without any. Logan is home from school today, and we are planning on going to the library. If I don't get sucked into the books I am picking up today (I have two on hold! "The Book Thief" by Marcus Zusak, and "The Swan Thieves" by Elizabeth Kostova. She wrote "The Historian" which I LOVED, so I am anxious to see what this next book is like!) I will update some more about Christmas and Avery's birthday. I will not let myself get so far behind this year on my blog!

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!