Justin Withdrawls!

The boys and I have been visiting family for awhile and left Justin to keep the home fires burning. There are several things I miss about him but here are my top ten:

1. Bites of his gourmet quesadillas and salsa.
2. Hearing the kids cheer when he walks through the front door.
3. Foot rubs on the couch EVERY night!
4. Playing cards when the kids go to bed.
5. Watching him do sit ups and push ups in the living room:).
6. Him constantly reassuring me with his "pure positive energy".
7. His happy outlook on life that seeps through his veins and hopefully someday will rub off on me.
8. That deep booming voice with lots of chuckles as he tells me about his day.
9. His twinkly eyes. DREAMY if I do say so myself.
10. His eagerness to make sure every little thing, up to the smallest details are taken care of.

Sigh.... I miss him.

Dad's Weekend with the kiddos

Can I just say that I love my kids they are so fun. I took the day off work on Friday before Thanksgiving, because Alisa went down to her Aunt Jeri's for the weekend and I got to hang out with the boys. We had a lot of fun for sure.
Pappa got to spend the night both Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The kids totally loved that!
Friday
- Nathan got to go to his Thanksgiving feast at Ms. Melody's preschool and got to be the Indian!
- Kendall and I went to Costco and stocked up on some goodies
- Then we all went on a walk to the pet store and Redbox to pick out a fun movie, on the way you wouldn't believe what we saw?!?!! Yep that's right the OSCAR MAYER WIENER MOBILE, Nathan spelled bologna and got a wiener whistle (Which I might throw away pretty soon) and they got to send a hot dog post card to Grandma for free in Grand Junction. They loved it!
- After all the excitement Kendall took a short nap and Nathan and I watched Space Buddies
- Then we went to go visit Grandpa which is always fun!
- The day was over and off to bed we all went
Can you believe that was only Friday!!!
Saturday
- Pappa and Cindi watched the kids while I got to go to basketball and Cindi brought over Muffins from "My Favorite Muffins" man she is soooo the best!!
- Then we spent the rest of the morning at Pappa's hanging out
- After that we ate lunch and took a good nap
- Then off to the store for some bananas, mac n cheese and just to get out, then back to Pappa's for some more fun!
- We got home and read books, called Mommy, did baths and hung out then off to bed they went
There was never a dull moment

*Kendall Talking to Mommy*

Sunday
- I got up and got the kids ready for church and made it on time and before Brandon and Cody!! (our family next door) I couldn't believe it. I even did the kids' hair and everything, man did I miss Alisa cause I just don't have the touch with the hair, they still looked like they just got out of bed...
- Then nap time and time to clean the house before Alisa got home
- Then back over to Pappa's house so ours didn't get messy again HAHA
- Then after lots of play and fun we went to the Airport to Pick up Mammy and Alisa, Nathan passed out in 5min and Kendall stayed awake the entire time, not getting home until after 9p.m.
I had a blast with my little guys and I'm glad Alisa had a good time away, but I sure am glad Alisa is back!!

Any Guesses?

The Black Eyed Peas!!! HAHAHA

Stacey, Dora, Natalie, Yours Truly, Tanna, Jen, Debbie

The Boys On Halloween!

Here is my creature- "TheWhite Darth Maul". The man that makes Halloween the holiday that it is for us.

The kicker is that my kids aren't even scared of him. They are so used to Justin dressing up, that it doesn't even phase them. Nathan told Justin, "Yeeeesssss dad! You scared that little kid!" Oh great!
I never knew that spiders were so warm and sweet! This little guy was loving to say trick or treat! He could not believe that you got candy for saying that! His favorite part was passing out the candy. He would waddle up to the door to see all the kids dressed up and when they left he would listen for the goblin that lived in the house next door.

My mom and I borrowed the dead grandparent masks and tried to scare the kids that came to the door. After trying to be REALLY scary, one group of kids said to my mom, "Hi there little lady!"
Nathan has tons of extra batteries! He LOVED trick-or-treating! He would have gone all night if he could.

Hip-Chaw!

I love this cowboy! This was the second year I got to be the helper for the Halloween party. I hate missing out on the fun so I told Miss Melody I would be her official "party mom".

Nathan loves learning new things at school. He loves art and enjoys snack time beyond belief!
I've had a few moms tell me that their daughters want to marry Nathan. Holy cow, I'm not ready for this yet!

Who Is In Our Trunk?

Justin and I dug up our dead great, great grandparents from the back yard to bring to the party. The crazy part is that we ended up winning 1st place, a Texas roadhouse gift card!

Oh, What Do You Do In The Winter Time?

You have the "Do or Die" girls aka:Aunt Pam, Aunt Cindi, mom, Debbie, Tanna, Aunt Allison, Jen, and Natalie, brave the icy roads and meet at Chili's for a celebration- Nat's birthday.

I have actually LOVED the snow! It's because there has been so much to do with all the cousins. Natalie and her family came at the perfect time. School had been canceled so we had a crepe breakfast and after bundled up the kids to play for hours in the snow. That afternoon we took all of them to the movies: G-force.

We have been building snowmen, drinking hot chocolate by the gallons, having potlucks, sledding, making pumpkin sugar cookies, and my new favotie workout: shoveling sidewalks. (My muffin top is sore! Yipee!)
This is Debbie's car. You could barely recognize it. I think there is at least 24 inches of snow out there.

Our New Favorite!

Aunt Pam's Halloween PAR-TAY!!!

(She seriously looks like she is 18 years old!)

Wow, talk about a treat! Aunt Pam had her anual Halloween party for her grands and had invited Nathan and Kendall. There were 18 cousins all together along with Tanna and Natalie. The parents got to leave for two hours to get a bite to eat:).

The downstairs was glowing orange. Pumpkins, all sorts of Halloween decorations and orange lights were strewn as far as the eye could see. A station with a huge witch was set up with a cauldron full of apples. All the kids sat in the middle of the floor on the "pizza blanket" and ate.

Root beer floats, prizes, gooey goblins, games, bobbing for apples, and a Halloween movie. When I asked Nathan what his favorite part was, he told me , "Every PART. It was so much fun!"

I'm One of Those.....

Today was Nathan's first sacrament meeting primary program. He arrived wearing his Sunday best, polished shoes, freshly pressed shirt, and socks that matched his tie.

His turn arrived and he delivered beyond my expectations, "My dad protects my family."

I then turned into one of those mom's I've made fun of my whole life. I just about jumped out of the pew- trying to contain myself, I regained my composure, gave him an air high five, thumbs up signal about three times, and sang every song right along with him mouthing it extra big so that he could remember the words.

I then proceeded to think about how the last 4 and a half years I have been so richly blessed because of him. People have often told me that their kids teach them so much and it's so true. This short little time I have with him I will cherish forever. If I could freeze time, I would do it now.

There is nothing quite like a little guy wrapping his arms around you and telling you that he loves you. There is nothing like the pure sound of a giggle echoing through the walls of your home. Or an act of kindness that melts away the cold. There is nothing like witnessing all the "firsts" and the feeling that you get so deeply rooted in your soul. Or getting to know his personality beyond your wildest dreams.

He has the ability to lighten my load, to make me laugh, and strive to be the best mom I can be.

I love him.

Little Town of BOO!

It was a perfect day to head up to the mountains and take advantage of weather in the low 70's. Mammy showed the boys "how it's done" as they spun around and around on the tilt-a-whirl. I think they were about to kick us out for our out-of-control laughter!

Papa braved the Safari ride and helped Nathan conquer heights as they looked out over the lake and watched the swan paddle boats. The scenery was breathtaking, but then again I'm a sucker for fall.

We painted pumpkins, ate hot dogs, got lost in the hay maze, watched Justin's head ferociously bobble back and forth HARD on the roller coaster (almost ruined my pants laughing so hard- almost got kicked out again), jumped in the giant jumper, took in the warm breeze, and my favorite, just hung out together.

Popovers?

What ever happened to them? I'm not talking about a delicious flaky pastry filled with a sweet apple or cherry filling, I'm talking about popping over to a friends house for a chat, apple cider, or some hot chocolate.

Is it just me or has our society lost our sense of community? It seems that no one's pace of life lets you drop by a friends home for tea and cookies and then sit for an afternoon of talking about everything and nothing.

I know that to some a few hours of an afternoon is precious time and not a luxury that we all have (I've been there) but why and when all of the sudden did we get to busy for the person living and breathing next to us?

My home is open all hours of the day and night. It may not be sparkly clean, but I have a feeling we could conjure up a good treat and some much needed laughs!

Bat Cave!

It's getting SPOOKY little by little over here!

We LOVE October...

Warm pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting
Turning our fireplace into a bat cave
Spooky stories before bed
Stuffing "grandpa" into a scare crow
Goblin pizzas and corndog mummies
Watching general conference and helping the boys with their packets
Vegetable stew and pomegranates
The Paris street market
Steamy apple cider on the stove after coming in from playing in the leaves
The nip in the air and the breeze blowing through out jackets
Drives trough the mountain canyons
The beautiful eye candy as the leaves change colors
The "leaves" candle that simmers throughout the house
Halloween parties
Corn Mazes
Taking classes at ACC
Picking out pumpkins at the pumpkin patch aka:Mammy and Papa's garden
Breaking out all the warm quilts during family movie night
Dressing the boys in sweatsuits and sweaters
Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven

My Little Monsters!

I think we are a teeny bit excited for one of our favorite holidays!

The Dumpling!

Mr. Squish turned TWO! What a delight he has been! This little one has been a sweetheart for 2 years...lets see if he keeps his reputation-please!

Oh boy, here comes the cupcakes!
I think Grandma just might be as excited as Kendall!

Almost here!

Lets blow out the candles! He started to blow the second we started to sing.


My trusty assistant, Nathan was ever so kind to help me out in the kitchen. His creations were absolutely delicious!

One of the things Kendall got, was a big monster tent. Best thing ever! The boys have been playing with it for hours. All of their blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, and every toy they own has graced the monster's presence. Nathan has even slept in it for the past 3 nights.

It"s Been Filled With?

FUN!!!

When you are turning 4, it's best to have a birthday Tanner style! You wake up and get to go to breakfast with Mammy, Papa, and Nathan and order the funny face pancake. Then you go to the store all by yourself with your mom and pick out lunchables, chips, capri suns, and fruit leather.

Around lunch time, you have all your brothers and cousins change into swimming gear and head to the most fun park we have to offer in Colorado. You eat your picnic, wade in the pools, splash in the stream, climb up all sorts of exotic equipment,and if you have time, run around in the splash pad.

Then you come home and help your mom make the coolest spider man cake ever, run around and around in the back yard to burn off some of the excitement that the giant mound of birthday presents has created and get ready to let the festivities begin!

(yes, this Mohawk fish is mine.)

A Date With the Dudes and the Ducks

A picnic lunch consisting of 2 Carl's Jr Cheeseburgers and water, 5 happy and active boys, 30 minutes of playing on some awesome playground equipment, a couple bags of bread, 70 hungry ducks, 1 beautiful afternoon, a half mile walk, 13 prairie dogs, tons of bees, 1,345 giggles, 8 legs a runnin', 5 tired boys, five 2-minute meltdowns, 1 trip home in the car, 5 boys asleep in their beds for a nap, and 1 life long memory.

What Would You Do For A Sweet Deal?

These are the pros. My mom and Sara.

I think our obsession with getting a good deal has gone a little to far...NEVER!

We went LATE night dumpster diving in the recycle bins for Sunday newspaper coupons and found we have a little gold mine not to far from our house. My mom sacrificed her body (HAHA, she is so dang CUTE!) just so we could replenish Sara's stock pile. My mom is our number one supporter for our addiction!

Sara is the ultimate sweet deal shopper, (Lisa is up there too).
I will forever remember getting books, Leapsters, dresses, shirts, jammies, jewelry, dino sipper sauruses, markers, endless delicious meals, stocking suffers, target combos, old navy bags, MOVIES, and games, either free or next to nothing.

My eyes have been opened to some new stores and I will never pass by a red clearance tag without thinking of her.

Little Champs!

I love the fact, that with a cousin, you have a built-in-best-friend for life.


When these boys are on, they are on! I love to look out the window and see them zipping through the backyard.

On the same broom, they wiz by acting like witches with a genuine cackle taking over their domain.

Dance Party!

There's only one thing that can top Disneyland according to the boys and that is .... a dance party with Papa!

The kids have been fine tuning their moves and perfecting them for Papa's approval.



Kendall loves to play all the instruments while he dances... just like Papa.


All this fun works up an appetite for a bowl of Lucky Charms before bed! Whew!

Youchers!

Modern medicine is simply amazing! Nathan fell and severed his ear while on an outing to non other than our favorite place in the world, Chick-fil-a. His ear was gushing blood and flapping in the wind according to his very "remaining calm" mother.

We took him to the pediatrician before we were going to go to urgent care to see if by chance they could fix it there. After they cleaned the cut they told us that it was in the perfect place to use GLUE instead of getting stitches even though the cut was all the way through, and they could fix it in the office.

Two Popsicles, some Tylenol ,and a dermabonded ear later, we were sent home with an ear that looks like some minor scrapes and bruises. They did an AWESOME job!

A Popping Cob!

Grandma brought the kids a poppable corn cob from Palisade and we thought we would conduct an experiment.

Some of us thought the corn would pop on the cob and some of us thought the corn would pop off the cob, straight into the bowl.

The outcome:
Off the cob and into the bowl with a few stragglers left on the cob!With a little melted butter and salt, it was a very delightful treat!

A Day With Sara!

Oh bummer! It's Sara's Birthday. Mammy had the day off and Justin took the little boys to the movies. That only means one thing....S H O P P I N G!

We ran down to the outlet stores, had a yummy lunch, went to the mall and a couple of other stores, wore our sports paraphernalia to Chick-fil-a-, got free sandwiches, and ate a to die for cake!


She really makes motherhood look easy! I always learn a ton from her!

This recipe is from her sister Kelsey, and it will make you gain five pounds just by looking at it but that little extra wrinkle on your thigh is worth it. Just shop til you drop and you just may burn it off. There are no guarantees though.

Oreo Ice Cream Dessert:
1/2 C. butter
1 1/2 C. flaked coconut
1 large pkg. oreo cookies
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream

Chocolate Sauce:
1 C. evaporated milk
1 6 ounce package chocolate chips
10 ounce package of mini marshmallows

1. Melt the butter - add coconut (stirred & toasted). Remove from heat and cool.
2. Crush oreos in blender. Add coconut mixture and blend. Pat 3/4 of the mixture into the bottom of the pan.
3. Cut the ice cream into 1 inch slices and cover cookie mixture. Chill in freezer.
4. Pour cooled chocolate sauce on top of ice cream and put remaining crumbs on top. Freeze for at least 2 hours.