What have we been up to?

This and that. Samuel recently discovered he can have a say in what clothing he wears. It's a battle that most of the time I have no desire to fight (obviously he needs to dress appropriately for church) and so I let him choose whatever he wants.

We pretty much always end up with cars somewhere on his person. It can be, and is most likely, Disney Cars, but really any shirt with cars will do. Race cars, police cars... you get the picture.

Grandma W bought him a Cars swimsuit that he insists on wearing just about every day.

Way too happy about it if you ask me.

Passed out on the couch with his beloved football and a Cars t-shirt.

He also recently organized my Pyrex for me. (Those are the shelves from the oven, yah...)

Oh - and I found graham crackers stuck to the wall behind the couch...

Cute and innocent or plotting his next move? (And ANOTHER Cars t-shirt, yes my children are growing up completely Disney brainwashed!)
And what about Lillian you ask? Well, she just keeps us laughing.

Cooking and Cleaning...

The kids were playing really nicely and entertaining each other last night. So, I cooked my little heart out. I made homemade rolls, stuffed Chicken Parmesan, baked spaghetti squash, and a homemade tomato sauce to top it all off.


(Quick side note: I usually make this dish vegeterian with just the squash and marinara sauce and add fruit, sometimes fish). I'm telling ya, I was in the zone and didn't even notice what was going on around me.

I turned around from the stove and found a trail of debris starting underneath the microwave and going throughout the house ending in the chaos of what was once knows as the living room.



I really don't think the pictures do it justice. I serenely decided to ignore it until after I had completely enjoyed my dinner. Carlin wisely didn't say a word when he came home, just sat down and complimented my superb cooking.

Crafty me!

I often drool over wreaths at the stores. Especially ones that look like this:


They are so beautiful and so expensive. I can never bring myself to buy one.

Well, the other night we had a craft night at my house and I decided since I was hosting it I should probably attempt some craft. I went for a wreath.

And it turned out great!



Isn't it great?! I do need to tweak it a bit, but I was pretty pleased with it. I did what some of my friends and family suggested and looked at a couple of wreaths I loved and then tried to mimic the style on a wreath of my own.

It's so Fall-ish, I just LOVE this time of year.

P.S. You can find the store-bought wreath at Pier 1 for $44.95, mine was just a fraction of the cost coming in at about $12!

A Picture is worth a thousand words...

Our smiling-live-and-let-live Lillian.

"How did Lillian end up under the table?"


Our ornery-mischeivous-make-up-man Samuel.

What's my Secret?

See this:

Yep, it's a bowl full of rice, and gasp!, vegetables!

And now see this:

Yep, it's an empty bowl (mostly) of rice and vegetables.

No, I didn't throw any of this food out. Samuel ate it all. How did I get my kid to do this?

I let him help me cook dinner. He gets so excited to try the food he has prepared he will eat whatever is put in front of him (mostly).

I'm not sure how long this phase will last, but I always have marinara sauce or ketchup as a back-up. :)

Happy Birthday Dallin!

Let me introduce you to my brother Dallin. He doesn't get mentioned very often on my blog (a fact that he had to point out, that is once he realized I had a blog...).

23 years ago my baby brother was born into the world, and I would never again enjoy being an only child. In fact, I would never remember being an only child. Dallin has always been a part of my life. Many of you know him, but I would like to tell you about the Dallin I know.

When we were younger he loved: Power Rangers, hockey, Mighty Ducks, pretending to be a tap dancer in Mom's high heels, climbing (trees, walls, bookshelves, etc), video games, dancing and music, and his big sister. ;)

As he got older he had many "phases." There was the: skater phase, BMXer, Cowboy, mechanic, Masonry, and military... am I forgetting any? Funny enough, a little bit from each of these stuck and now you have one interesting person...

He has wanted to be many things: hockey player, drummer, tap dancer, policeman, truck driver, fireman... the list goes on.

He loves his sisters (of course, he wouldn't be the same without us), his parents, his beautiful wife, his friends, and his PS3.

He lives his life passionately. Dallin is an all or nothing type of person and is so passionate about everything that it is sometimes exhausting to be around him. He loves being an uncle and my kids love him.

Dallin and I are like night and day, I don't think you could possibly be more opposite than we are, but I love him. He is my brother and we've shared so many things together, that he has helped shape me into the person I am today.

Bronte Sisters Power Dolls

This made me laugh so hard. I just HAD to share: