A Perfect Pair....

I feel such an overwhelming sense of gratitude when I think about the girls my brothers choose to marry. Being the only girl in our family, I have thought about the sisters I would someday have for as long as I could remember.

Sara set the bar REALLY high and I never dreamed I would I would feel the same about the girl Todd chose, but I have fallen in love with her as well. She is adorable!

The Wonderful World of Shaving Cream....

I have a huge stock pile of shaving cream and thought it would be fun for the boys to get messy with it. One evening, I made a palate of colors for them to experiment on their tile canvases. They painted with basting brushes and their bodies ended up covered in the colorful, fluffy, cream. They looked like they tie-tied themselves. We had dogs, trees, flowers, rainbows, moons, and all sorts of magical colors all over the tub and tiles.

They played in the bath tub for 45 minutes. Do you know what that means?45 minutes that my highly active,(wink-wink) firecrackers were confined. I was able to deep clean the bathroom like it's never been cleaned before and I was right there to keep an eye on them.


We also made shaving cream cards. These turned out really neat and even the little guys, Elena and Kendall got in on the fun. When we were all done with the cards, I let them go to town with their pile of creamy colors. They were covered up to their elbows. What a mess, but they loved it and keep asking if they could do it again.


We love the Alverez girls and are so excited to have Lydia Leah join the cousin force!

I LOVE shaving cream!

Sweet Tooth?

I don't want to be known as the gross blog so here is some Kendall cuteness:

Kendall calls M&Ms No Nos. Now why in the world would he do that? Every time I turn around, he has found the M&Ms at Mammy's house and I'm chasing him around saying,"NO NO, Kendall!" His hands are full of the melty chocolate goodness. He is shoveling it into his mouth as fast as he can so that I won't get to it first. Now when he politely asks for some "no nos, please", I can barely resist him.

I also caught him climbing on Justin's desk and when I asked him what in the world he was doing he just said , "Bubble gum, please". He was holding some empty gum wrappers and sure enough had found our entire treat stash HIGH up in the desk hutch. What a stinker!

When we are in the car I hear that little two year old voice in the back saying," cookies?, doughnut?, cookies?"

Don't Try This at Home... Or the Grocery Store!

Justin walked in the door from work late, I kissed him goodbye, grabbed the keys, and off I went to Albertsons to do my grocery shopping in record speed . I was in a hurry to get back home so that Justin could get some things done that he had been planning to do.

On my way to the store, I had something annoying stuck in my back molar. Because I'm so germ-a-phobic and sanitary, the only thing I had access to was my earring. I stuck the earring in my tooth and to my shocking surprise, as I pulled into my speedy get-a-way parking spot, I could not get the earring out! I started wiggling it gently and after a few minutes, the car was violently shaking from the rigorous movements I was applying to my tooth.

Now this earring was not your everyday pearl or diamond stud. Because I'm so involved in fashion these days, and wanted something to match my sweat pants, I was decked out with the BIG ones. The ones that dangled back and forth when you walked. The ones that make your ear lobe hang down 2 inches because of all the metal and handy bead work.

I was desperate to be back to the house for Justin and had no other choice but to tuck the dangly earring deep into my cheek and pray I ran into nobody that I knew.

I grabbed the items one by one at full speed yanking them off the shelves and there at the check out stand... was Janice. Our favorite Keebler Cookie grandma that works the evening shift. Her line was empty and the self check out lanes we full. At this time, the clump of metal was getting very uncomfortable as it was gauging the delicate inner part of my cheek. My mouth was full of metal spit and I was afraid that if I swallowed I would get some sort of disease.

I knew I could not talk let alone have one of our special conversations about world peace, her delicious beef stews, and those adorable grandbabies of hers. A small tender mercy was preformed at the exact moment I made eye contact with Janice. Someone walked to her line and a self check out line opened.

I finished purchasing my items and headed back to the car. I was sweating. By this time I was bending and pulling on the earring, whispering panicked prayers above to help me get it out!

I'm happy to report that I returned home with a tooth not entirely free from irritation, a very bent and destroyed dangly earring, and my bag of grocerys. A very embarrassing moment....avoided.

Princess Elena...

To mix things up a bit, the boys and I dress up when we do our chores around the house. Trust me, for some reason it is so much more fun and our jobs get done so much faster on these days.

We break out the Halloween bin about once a week and the boys pick out what they want to be. Then we open up all the windows, crank up the music, and go from room to room making it sparkle. Me, being oh so mature, always chooses to wear my wedding veil. There is something about scrubbing a toilet when you are wearing your veil and yellow rubber gloves. You can't help but feel like a dang princess!

When the Alverez girls came over, my veil hadn't made it back into the bin and sweet Elana found it. I had to take a picture.

Tasty!

Yes, they make you that happy!

Kendall was taking a nap and Nathan and I were craving something yummy, so we decided to make some semi- nutritious granola bars. We have tried lots of recipes and this one from make and takes is our favorite. We follow it to the T except we triple the amount of M&M's and use the BIG ones. You will love em!

Chewy Granola Bars:

2 1/2 C. quick oats

1/2 C. rice krispies
1/4 C. coconut
1/2 C. M&M minis
1/2 C. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 C. butter, softened
1/4 C. honey
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Add all of the ingredients and mix together until combined. Press into a 9X13 pan. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and score into bars. Let it set completely and then cut into bars.

Shoot!

I have this disease that whenever I pass by the school supply section at any store, this time of year, all kinds of delightful things end up in my cart. I don't know if it's the sale prices- .24 cents per pack of Crayolas, or the fun colors, or if it's the smell of them that brings back the best memories of going to school when I was little. All I know is that I definitely have a problem.

When I cleaned out my closet, here is what I found:

14 packs of Crayola crayons
8 bottles of glue
5 glue sticks
11 packs of colored pencils
7 packages of markers
3 reams of construction paper
3 rulers
an endless supply of pens and pencils still in their packages
Paper, Paper, Paper

The weird thing is that I only buy Crayola stuff , everything is brand new still in the packaging, and every once in a while I will go and smell it.

I'm Dreaming Of....

Before:

After:

Big freakin' deal after I saw these beauties!

NOOOOOOOOO!

Justin got home from work, we ate dinner, and piled the kids into the car. We headed over to Aunt Cindi's pool to wear out the kids and as for me, I was looking forward to burning some much needed extra calories.

The kids and Justin jumped right in and I was chasing them around like a crazy woman with a camera making sure I didn't miss any cute thing they did and I'm pretty sure I got every angle you could imagine.

We love Aunt Cindi's Pool. It is kid friendly, has super sonic bubbles in the hot tub, grassy patches complete with two barbecue grills, and is tucked in the middle of growing trees, shrubs and flowers. In the back, the workout room sits with huge windows that overlooks the entire pool area. This particular evening there were 7 MEN using the facility.

I was eager to say the least to get into the pool to join in the "sports" games, (as Nathan called it), and with my back towards the work out room, 7 MEN and my entire family's eyes on me, I ripped down my shorts and froze. Just by the look on Justin's face I knew exactly what I did. His eyes were as big as Georgia peaches, ready for the pickin! I had pulled off my ENTIRE BOTTOM HALF OF MY TANKINI!

Those men were blinded and traumatized by a BIG, WHITE, (it's never seen the sun), BOTTOM! I screamed, reached down, pulled up my tankini bottoms, and jumped into the pool!

I knew I had to surface, I was about to pass out and couldn't stay under the water forever. We (mostly Justin), couldn't stop laughing the entire rest of the night. I'm pretty sure I'm turning into Aunt Kathie!

Gag!

I really, really, really, hate the smell of a rotten washcloth!

Reckenbridge!

Our family unanimously voted Breckenridge our favorite weekend getaway spot. I love the boy's ages right now. It makes little trips so much fun!
(Kendall and Dad)

We packed the weekend full with trips to Daylight Doughnuts for the morning special and some maple, chocolate and Bavarian creme filled doughnuts, a beautiful, scenic ride up the mountain and whipping down it on the Alpine slides, a picnic in the heart of the mountains at a slide riddled park, swimming in the pool and sitting in the hot tub until we all turned into fish, shopping at the outlets, watching movies every night and bawling our eyes out at the end of Marley and Me, steamy cups of hot chocolate before bed, going to the marina at Lake Dillon to watch the boats, and hiking around the lake.


When I asked the boys what they liked most, they both agreed that the chairlift was fun and there is nothing like playing in the mountain dirt!

This town has so many cute little shops and places to eat. This place went wild with flowers! Every where you turn there is an interesting building, door, yard, and potted folige that fills the streets.

Breathtaking Views...

Lake Dillon

After we soaked in this cute little town, we wore the boys out and put them to bed. We went out on the deck of the place we were staying, and it just so happened that the town was celebrating it's 150 anniversary with a firework show. It was so loud that Kendall came and joined us while Nathan, of course slept through the whole thing. It was so amazing that by the end of it, Justin, Kendall and I could not even talk. We just laughed. It was fun.

One SWEET Boy...

I just melt into a big puddle when this little guy is around. He has a huge heart and is so thoughtful.

Every time he hears the shower turn off, he runs into the bathroom, opens the linen closet as fast as he can and gets me two towels. Never fail.

When he hears that the water is on for a bath, he runs to get the bubble bath and makes sure there is plenty of bubbles for me to enjoy a relaxing bath.

He greets Nathan with a big, long, embrace in the morning and always wants to wait and eat with him. Then Nathan tackles him and it all changes:).

He is so cuddly and squishy. He could snuggle for hours and is perfectly content sitting by me or anyone willing, all day. He is very in tune with the feeling in the room and gets uncomfortable and even sad when he senses contention.

He can sense when I have a bad day and out of the blue he will come and hold my hand and kiss it.

He LOVES the pool and every time we drive by it, he does the cutest, out of control, "happy dance", while squealing and pointing to it