A Week In My Life (Enter at your own risk)

I love this picture. I am always looking out the window and saying, "Wow! Look at the light outside!" I say that all the time. Does it have something to do with where I live or do you say that all the time too when you look out the window? I can't believe I was able to capture it in a picture!

So my week. On MONDAY I got up and fed everyone and sent Chance and Sarah off to school just like normal. A half hour later Chance and Sarah walked back into the house with doughnuts and chocolate milk. I forgot to look at the calendar; there was no school on Monday! Duh.

TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY were mostly filled with housecleaning and cooking. I signed up for these wonderful menus to be e-mailed to me from SavingDinner.com and we have been eating so good! I love this program. I got three months for $9.95. Six dinners every week plus the shopping list to go with them. So far there has been 1 beef dish, 2 chicken dishes, 1 pork dish, 1 fish dish, 1 vegetarian dish and one is always a crock pot recipe each week. Love it!

On THURSDAY I took Maggie in for her one year well-baby check up. She weighs 20lbs. 12.5oz. And is perfect in every way. Three immunization shots did not go down too well though. Thankfully, she recovers very quickly from that nonsense. During the exam though, she was amazing. She just sat there so still and looked at Dr. Brus with those big blue eyes like, "Whatcha doin'?" It was pretty cute.

THURSDAY night was date night. We went to Applebee's and Craft Warehouse. Woo-Hoo. It doesn't matter. We could sit in the car in a parking lot and have fun. It's mainly about being just the two of us with no hooligans around. You know what I'm talking about!

I purchased some pre-cut quilting squares that I've sewn into a mini-quilt top. Valentine's theme. I'll post pictures very soon.

FRIDAY Davis came home which always makes us all feel that things are back to "normal". And on SATURDAY we tore the kids' rooms apart to do some deep cleaning but we never put them back together. Oops.

And TODAY Chance is making my favorite meal for "First Sunday". Spaghetti and Meatballs! We'll be celebrating Maggie's birthday today. Fun! I'll post photos of that soon too.

Happy Birthday Miss Maggie!

Check out the blotchy complection and the wild hair! Last night after the kids went to bed Chance and I sat here at the computer and looked at old pictures of Maggie and her brothers and sister. They used to be so little! Sarah's chubby cheeks and Dayton's widely spaced front teeth just killed us. And Davis, oh man, I don't even know where to start. He's practically a teenager now!

But back to the birthday girl. What a beautiful little girl she is turning in to. Even with cupcake on her face. It occured to me that it won't be long now before she starts getting "easier". Not long after she really starts walking she will start growing up in so many more ways. Feeding herself, climbing into her carseat on her own and before you know it she will want to go potty in the toilet like her siblings. I will have been changing diapers continuously for something like 7 years. Seven years!! Anyway, we'll be turning a major corner in our house in the next year or so and mommy has very mixed feelings.

For now though, Happy Birthday my Beautiful Baby. Mommy loves you!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pupcakes

Today the kids and I tried a new recipe. Grandma Hodgson makes Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies that everyone loves (particularly Chance and Chase!) And I found a very similar recipe for muffins. Actually, my recipe can be used to make cookies too and I bet you could make cupcakes with Sue's recipe. Here is the cast of characters. (Not the apples and bananas):
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves (I didn't have any so I left this out)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2/3 cup applesauce
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix flours, spices and all the other dry stuff together. Be sure to take turns!

You're supposed to mix all the wet ingredients in a different bowl and then add it to the dry stuff, but I just did it all in the same bowl. Then stir in the chocolate chips. Chocolate chips are special so it can't be just one person's job...work together. Put the mix in your muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes.

You could also drop by tablespoonful on a cookie sheet to make soft cookies. If you do that, you'll only need to bake them for 8-10 minutes.

I used a whole bag of chocolate chips in these and thought it was almost too much but when I shared this opinion with Chance and Davis just now they looked at me like I was insane and said, "Nuh-uh". That's a direct quote.

Bannack, Montana

The week right before Halloween Chance took some time off work and we all went to Montana to visit Grandma and Hodgson. Here's the proof.

We visited this cute ghost town called Bannack. It used to be the state capital. It was a mining town. It was super cool and super cold. See Maggie shivering there in Hodgson's lap? She does love her Hodgson.

Here's a picture of the jail. The lock on the door was broken. I tried it.

The floor plan of each house or building was very unique. This house was just one square room right after another.

Finally, on the sunny side of the street Maggie began to thaw out.

Look how warm it is now, no coats! Of course we've nearly seen everything now and it's about time to go find some grub.

Maybe there's a McDonald's across this bridge. No? Shoot.

Christmas Photo Losers

I love this picture. It would have made a good Christmas Card if Maggie had been in it. She was being pissy though. Maybe if you're being pissy you don't deserve to be in the Christmas card photo. Nah.

Can you believe this photo was a loser in the contest for Christmas Card Photo? Me either. You can see Maggie's pissiness in this one. The others were worse. Maybe next year when she's nearly 2 it will be easier. Haaaa!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Goodbye Summer

Fireworks!

As you know, we were in Montana for the 4th of July this year. Mostly to be in the parade with Hodgson, but that's another post. For such a little town, Lima has an amazing fireworks display! Dillon (the nearest town of any size) doesn't have a show at all. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, I don't think they have a parade either. So Lima is the place to be for Independence Day.

I must admit, fireworks displays are one of my favorite things. I oooh and aaah over every explosion and at the end I applaud like mad.

It's a very good thing that I love the show so much because I married a man who likes to be the one putting on the show. I can't let him go to the fireworks stands alone because he will spend an embarrasing amount of money.

But who cares? It is so much fun to act like a kid every once in a while and the 4th is a great time to let loose!

And what kid doesn't love to stay up way past their bedtime?

There was a very happy suprise nearly at the very end of the night. Daddy showed up! We didn't expect him for another hour or so, but suddenly there he was! It was just the best end to a really great day!

Montana in June...

...is just about perfect. Everything was so green and beautiful and the weather was just wonderful. Add to that staying with Grandma and Hodgson and you are almost in heaven!

One of the first places we visited was Spencer, Idaho which is just 30 minutes or so south of Lima. Spencer is the "Opal Capital of America". It was pretty interesting to learn about the mines and the different types of opals. We didn't spend too much time there, it is even smaller than Lima and you can only tour so many makeshift jewlery stores with little kids before they mutiny.

Speaking of mutiny, this funny ship was one of the first things we saw when we pulled in to Spencer. We spent some time looking for all the strange things on this ship like a chicken, a small bar-b-que and a rubber shark hanging way up high from the rigging. As much time as we spent looking, we never could come up with an explanation for why it was there at all.

Kent and Davis had a fun time camping. They took Kaden along with them and Davis and he explored and had a fantastic time while Kent was able to sit and read for hours (one of his favorite things). Kent also took Davis riding twice and when they came back he took Sarah and Dayton for short rides too.

While Kent and Davis were camping, Sue and I took the little kids to Rexburg. That was a fun trip. There was the coolest craft store there that I fell in love with. We also drove up the hill to see the temple. It appears to be nearing completion and it is so beautiful! It looks to be modeled after the Nauvoo (sp?) temple which I really liked. I like old fashioned looking buildings. I prefer the older LDS church houses to the new ones they build now. I can't wait to go back to Rexburg when it is all done. I want to see the grounds for sure and maybe go in to do a session too.

Post-Water Play

After we get good and soaked and good and hot, we come in the cool house and watch a movie. Ahhh...summer!

Last Day of School

I love summer vacation so much. Especially since I became a mom. I always have such high hopes for these three months. I want to plan long weekends away from home. Campouts in the backyard. Lots of outings to parks and pools. The summer just seems so full of possibilities, three whole months to fill with adventure!

Alas, what usually happens? Not much. I don't like extremes in the weather so when the temperature climbs above about 75 all I want to do is stay inside in the air conditioning. My poor bored children.


This summer will probably turn out the same way as all those before it. Especially with Maggie, I don't really expect to get out too much. There are a few things I think I can guarantee my kids. Lots of campouts in the backyard, lots of running through sprinklers, swimming at Aunt Maggie's house if she'll have us and one or two trips to Montana. Really, that's not too bad at all.

I Love Fish!

Oh joy. Oh I gotta get this thing in my mouth. Oh why don't I have better motor skills yet?

Oh yum!

By the way, look what my mommy made. Isn't it cute?