Made From Scratch...

If you know me well, you know that the kitchen and I aren't as familiar with each other as we should be.  A good week I cook 4 nights. A normal night I cook once.  I try but, hey, somethings are easier left up to others to prepare.  But as part of my New Year's goals of "Making an Effort" (my mantra for the year) I have been working on all aspects of my homemaker and Motherhood skills.  In the past week, however, it is like I got a jolt of determination to do things better.

I love my friend Christy's cooking blog- The Girl Who Ate Everything. Christy and I have known each other since middle school (and I wish my scanner was working so I could put an embarrassing photo on here), and I love that we both have 3 boys. So, if she says her boys ate something I know mine will.  She gives me the guts to try things I normally wouldn't, and just last week I tried 3 of her recipes for dinner- which were all big hits! I made the Poppy Seed Chicken, the Pizza Rolls, and even put my own spin on her Italian Chicken (we call it Beach Chicken). You've got to check her out. Trying things like this is a huge step for someone who gags when they touch raw chicken, or browns beef for tacos (ahem, gag..someone like me).

And, as an added bonus of trying so many new recipes, I found it very necessary to organize and make a list of my spice cupboard. So, no more hunting for Celery Seed or a bay leaf, I know right where it is!  Yeah for clean cupboards. I also saw a cute idea for vinyl to go inside a cupboard door with measurement conversions, and that I want to do maybe along with a list of spices...Hmmmmm.  I even had to replenish my supply of flour, sugars and the like! I'm telling you, I've upped my game big time.

A week or so ago, in causal conversation, having nothing what-so-ever to do with baking, Rusty mentioned that when he was growing up he always thought his wife would make the best cinnamon rolls. He didn't mean it in a negative way at all, but still it left me thinking. Had I ever even tried to make cinnamon rolls all on my own? Nope. Not once.  Cookies, yes. Brownies, yes. So, I enlisted every great baker I know to ask for tips and recipes. Lucky for me, my friend Verlinda was in town visiting her daughter Janae.  I had made a number of treats off their family recipe blog so I thought I'd ask her about making rolls.  Well, I got more than that. I got Verlinda and Janae in my kitchen to walk me through making them from start to finish!

(Prior to the icing, I was so proud I couldn't wait for them to cool to photograph them-- and by no means is this a foodie blog, so if you wanna see what they look like all gussied up and plated, well, sorry. I'd rather eat them!)

I didn't tell Rusty my plans, and when he came home he was very surprised. Better yet that he LOVED them. In case I wasn't convinced he ate four. I was so excited!  Thanks 'Nonna' and 'Nae"! Especially thanks to Nae for playing playdough with Berk while we slaved away!

Actually, he liked them so much that Saturday I made them again, all on my own. They didn't turn out as pretty, but they are still all gone.The boys had a ball 'helping' me, and the inches of four on the floor served as proof. Thanks to my neighbor Mendy for helping me figure out what I did wrong. She is my official taste tester and willing offered to eat them even though they were flat. Thanks for taking one for the team to help out my baking skills.

Well, my birthday is a week away, and now that I'm  "Making an Effort' in the kitchen I thought I'd throw a Kitchen Aid on my birthday list-- just for fun. Just to show you how serious I was about actually thinking I'd get one, it appeared on the list right before Nanny.  And yes, I made it ten years of marriage with a hand held Black & Decker mixer, if that shows you how much I used it...Sooooo, Sunday night we had my birthday dinner with Rusty's parents (who'll be out of town for the actual day) and I got to open my gift early. Needless to say I was shocked and SO excited and grateful that they got me my Mixer!!!

So, to break in my Kitchen Aid, I enlisted Christy's blog again and made these yummy cookies! I loved being able to change the speeds and know what I was doing.  You have to make these cookies. The dough alone was delish! Tomorrow, I am trying bread. Fingers crossed. One of the rarely mentioned bonuses to living in Arizona is that everything rises fast here, just put it in your garage and it comes up in no time! So, I hope I can swing it. And don't mind my messy counter tops in all the photos, my house was clean yesterday, I swear.

Feel free to send me any of your favorite cooking blogs, I bet I check them, but the family cooking blogs always have the tried and true stuff on em.

Brenner is 'One-derful' !!!

Despite my pleading, he turned ONE anyway! We had a party for him with family and a couple close friends Saturday morning. Thanks to our family, our best neighbors the Smith's and my bestie Heather & baby Claire for coming to play with us!

I honestly cannot believe how fast this year flew by. Brenner you went from being a fussy, cranky baby who never slept to just a sweet, mischievous,chunky monkey who lets Mama sleep all night.  Here's the quick rundown on you at 12 Months.

• You go to bed at 6pm and wake usually at 7am.
• You eat and eat and eat. You're on whole milk and love it and you haven't met a finger food you don't like.
• You have taken steps but aren't ready to be a walker yet.
• You say 'whasat' (what's that?) and 'whosat' (who's that?) complete with outstretched finger to show us what you are curious about.  You say 'Dad!' and 'Dada' but you haven't started saying Mama yet, I try not to be offended.  
• If you could live in a world of sliding glass doors, screen doors and closet doors you'd be the happiest baby ever. You love to open them and shut them and hide from your brothers behind them.
• You love to throw balls, and push cars. And carry around your brother's DS's whenever they leave them at your level. 
• You have the biggest feet and hands
• You play peek-a-boo in church with such gusto it makes everyone laugh.
• We can't imagine life without you little man!

It was his party and he wanted to...

Proud big brothers. Berk kept asking when Brenners was gonna be 1 and not an 'oval' (zero) anymore.

Your cute cake, and your shirt Auntie Jill made. 

Before the party with all the family and friends.

Opening Gifts. He got a play set for cars, a Build-a-Bear puppy, balls, trucks, blocks, a bubble machine, tool set, books, jammies, a new ride on car, and a little play set from his Noni and Pops.

His cake! He didn't really plow into it like the other kids have, but it turned out to be a good thing, because a few minutes later we learned a fun new fact about Brenner... He is allergic to the blue food dye. Yup, see that last picture with the frosting. After it was wiped away he had hives everywhere the blue touched.

So Noni and Nana got to feed him Benedryl...

This is Claire. She's Brenner's betrothed. Her mom Heather and I have been friends for forever (ok like 10 years, but still) and when we finally got to have babies together we knew they'd get married.  No pressure kids. Claire is a month younger, but more mature as she showed with her uber impressive walking skills. Just look at how he looks at her, ah, young love.

Oh, and this is his new 'little playset' from Becks. He hasn't quite figured out it's for him yet, but don't worry his brothers are having a ball with it. Aunt Rhonda and girls and Uncle Troy, Aunt Jessie and Tempest came by too!

After the party, poor birthday boy crashed- long enough for Rusty to take the other boys to see Despicable Me. We had dinner at Red Robin, did Face Time with Kelcie in Utah, took phone calls from all the out of town family and then after more playing he snuggled down in his bed for his birthday sleep. It was a good day, and after googling 'blue food coloring allergy', I was surprised that it's pretty common. He goes in for his well baby this week, so we'll see what his doctor has to say about it!

Happy Birthday Brenner 'Bren Bren" "Brenners" "Bren-tastic" We LOVE you!

Too Big Too Fast!!!

Ok, so after the post about the Paci Bear (props to Melissa Wing for the idea BTW) I feel neglectful in not mentioning that Brenner has stopped his paci too! He actually quit it while we were in Hawaii, (when he cut his two top teeth) but I tried to get him to hang on to it because I knew we had all these long drives ahead of us.

But no, he was cutting teeth at Snowbird AND Lake Powell (were he got #'s 5 & 6) and has been totally paci free-- longer than Berkley.

He is still doing his bear crawl. I like to call him "Mowgli". And crawling that way, while I think it would take WAY more effort,  he is actually super fast. It sounds like a whole herd is coming when he plows across the wood floors. He also climbs the stairs now, and he has a sixth sense when the gate is down.

(His pause at the landing while he checks to see if we've noticed, and then he giggles the rest of the dash upward)

He stands forever and will walk all over, as long as he has help. But unlike his brothers, he isn't walking on his own yet. (Braden walked at 9 months and Berk by 10). We made the big switch from 'liquid gold' (aka formula) to whole milk (a week early, so sue me) and he is not minding it a bit. My wallet isn't minding it either. He takes the abuse of two playful older brothers pretty well, and is a Momma's boy for sure.

And bestest news of all, Berkley totally poop trained himself at Powell, of all places. He has only had 2 accidents in the last 3 weeks- even in the car trip home, he waited till a rest stop. Now, if we can get his attention span away from his quest to beat Super Mario Bros on the Wii long enough for him to realize he is peeing himself- things would be 100%. But I will totally take being trained #2 with only accidents of #1. He is working hard to earn fish for the tank by staying dry all day and/or waking up dry.

(look at that determination, we've really got to get him back to school.)

I know, I know, I said I was done buying fish but it's a love/hate thing. There are only two of the babies left. One orange and one white Mickey and the sucker fish. So, I feel like if I am going through the work of maintenance for a tank for 3 fish, might as well have 12. Right? Aww crap, bring on the fishie drama...I am sure the stores are getting their signs ready for me...besides he's only earned 1 so far.

Yeah for my boys getting so big, and boo for it at the same time. Brenner's 1st Birthday post will be next, and that makes me want to cry a little...

Back to School, Back to School...

For some reason, whenever I start to talk about back to school, I break out in song. And generally, those songs are set to Christmas tunes. For example, the post title- I'm humming it to 'Jingle Bells' as we speak. I think it has something to do with those Staples commercials.   You know the ones that had the parents riding the shopping cart down the isles while the song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" played.  Still one of my favorite commercials ever. And waaaay better than the "That was easy" version they have now- although I do enjoy some of those too...

But I digress, cue the jingle bells, cause Braden started 2nd Grade today!

He is still at that great age where I can do his BTS shopping without ANY input from him. He is old enough, however, that I can no longer dictate what he wears on the first day. Luckily, he hasn't figured out that I am fine with him wearing whatever, because I picked it all out anyway... hee hee hee, see how clever I am? Regardless, he looked like a handsome devil in his Rusty brand t-shirt and cute shorts. And yes, his Daddy also did BTS shopping for him...

(Walking to line up, he's excited to be in the portables!)

Brae is in Mrs. Tenney's class. She seems super nice, and there are a ton of kids from his class last year as well as kids from his Kindergarten class. It looks to be a fun year, since the boys are outnumbered by the girls 5 to 1... He is quite excited to be the ONLY boy at his table. 

(The chaos that is 'line up'. His teacher is in black)

I'm looking forward to helping out in his class again. I think it is so fun to see how they act when you're not around. Berk is dying that he has to wait 3 more weeks to start preschool again. And frankly, I will be doing a little dance when he goes back as well... Sometimes I feel bad that I'm not the Mom who cries when her kids leave, but let's face it, I don't and I don't even feel that bad about it. Braden does better with a routine, and I do better when Braden has a routine; Berk does better when Brae isn't there to fight him over every little thing like, what to watch (i.e. I-Carly vs Scooby Doo) and Brenner just likes that the noise level is a duller roar while he naps.

All hail the teachers who put up with our kids for 6 hours a day and hurray for the last of those never ending BTS 'Wish Lists". I think I finally got everything on the list- now if only Braden could carry all 30 pounds of it...

Lake Powell 2010...

We were lucky enough to once again head to the Beck's houseboat at Lake Powell. The boys were pretty good in the car, but we stopped in Flagstaff to let them get a snack and stretch.  We stayed on the boat that night and pulled out the next day. As the time there progressed we added more and more people, until in the end we had 17 of us on the boat. It was so much fun. (click on any of the photo collages to enlarge)

{Our traditional Tireless pictures}

We parked at 'our' spot in Last Chance and took right to the water. We've been parking at the same out cropping of rocks for 8 or so years. I am always amazed by Russ's ability to tie the boat to basically a wall of rock and keep us in place!! Now, normally, I am a baby about the temperature of the water, but this year it was sooooo nice. It was Brenner's first trip to the lake, and he loved the water too.  The big boys practically lived in their life jackets and had nice burns on their chins to prove it.

The pictures aren't in any kind of time order, since after 10 days it is all a blur, but you get the gist, there was a lot of water involved.

We took the kids to a beach a few times. They love playing in the sand/mud and hunting for shells.  I am amazed every year by just how many shells there are there.  I call them Lake Shells, since it's not an ocean.

Fun times on the boat, riding in, getting ready or getting finished. We love the new boat. The kids did a lot of tubing, usually while Brenner napped so I don't have any pictures. But imagine in your head Berkley saying, "go faster" and "no bumps" while Braden yells, "he wants bumps" and "lots of bumps" and you get the idea of how much fun they had.

Braden was super excited to bring his wake board for the very first year. He had gone to the lake at home once before but this was a huge chance for him to learn, and by the end of the first few days he could get up all on his own. And, it didn't take him long to start asking how to get across the wake. Man alive, I was so proud of him/ scared out of my mind. But he rocked it. 

The other fun thing we did a ton of was Wake Surfing. It was my first time trying it and I was surprised that I got up my first go round. It was so fun, I have a billion pictures of everyone trying i, but these are my favorites.

*Rusty hanging 10*

Berk also got to wake board- with his Dad

And Uncle Rusty got Jaci up for her first ride. 

So, you know we couldn't NOT try to get Brenner on the board.  I think watching him splash in the water and just be so excited to be out of the boat was as much fun as his turn with his Daddy.

Kelcie, Rusty, and their cousins Bobby & Aaron kept us entertained on the wake boards.

Berk and Jaci have a tight bond. In the way that one loves to hit the other and one loves to take things from the other. It's totally symbiotic- so in the brief moments where there wasn't total insanity they looked somewhat like this... Thank heavens for DS's.

Brenner was just thrilled anytime anyone threw goodies his way.

Uncle Ryan also helped out with the DS playing, isn't that nice?

The boys love the Jet Ski. They would play on it whenever it wasn't being used. And if they were on it, you can be assured they were pushing whomevers hand was driving to make it go faster...

Powell was one of the funnest years yet I think. The Ron Beck family was so fun. We played Nertz, Rook, Presidents, Phase 10 (and Braden won every stinking time), and more. We took sunset cruises. The kids did a mountain of crafts. We ate like kings and queens. Went to Rainbow Bridge and Dangling Rope for ice cream (I left my camera battery behind dang it). Endured some of the stormiest waters yet, including waves from the Tour Boats that soaked the ski boat several times. Can't wait for next year. 

And just in case you've never been to Powell (like the people in the houseboat yards from us) let me give you some advice. It's not cool to bring your boat into someones cove and let your boat drift dangerously close to another tethered houseboat while everyone gets off and swims to climb the rocks-right behind your houseboat.  Powell is enormous and if a boat is there for that week it is theirs. SOOOO, go around the corner of the cove and find your on dang spot!

Sorry, it's been bugging me for a week.  Oh, an wave to people in other boats when they wave at you. It's like boating LAW or something.