Sunday Afternoon

We set off on a journey to a land far, far away. Okay, it was Chatfield reservoir 5 minutes from our house but it felt like we had left the country.

We made foil dinners, roasted marshmallows, hiked the wilderness, lost the areobe -aham papa, discovered neat sticks, cool beetles, and beautiful views.

We watched the sunset, listened to the boats go by on the lake, and enjoyed a peaceful evening together.

How To Eat A S'more...

Get serious about roasting it. You want to really concentrate so that it is the perfect shade of brown, or black if you are Kendall.


You have to get so excited about the fact that a piece of Hershey's milk chocolate will be accompanying your marshmallow that has been roasted to perfection!


It tastes so much better if you have someone that is as serious as you are about your S'more process. And like you, they can down 10 of these bad boys with no problem. Even if you throw up, you've just made room for three more.


You have to really dig into the Graham cracker. You have to lick every nook and cranny and can't be afraid of the gooey residue that will remain on your face. Really go for it.

Lick all the remains off you fingers, and if your tongue is long enough, you might be able to reach those hard to reach places on your cheeks. That is just a maybe though. Good luck.

A Drive-In Movie!

The boys have been working really hard this week to earn "movie money", (money I printed off the computer), so that they could buy their drive-in tickets, drinks, popcorn, and treats.

It's been a great reward system- if their naughty, they loose a dollar. They had to be extra nice and helpful because my concession prices were through the roof!


We spent an entire evening decorating their cars, cutting out moons and stars to decorate the room to make it feel like night, and we even strung up twinkle lights everywhere! I think I had more fun than the kids and we decided this needs to be a new tradition!


Their cars had wheels, lights, and Aunt Sara special steering wheels to make them extra fast! All nestled in and ready for the feature presentation: Bolt!


The boys were extra cozy with their favorite blankets, teddy bears, and pillows.

Justin set up the black light in the kids closet where they purchased their glowing tickets and then it was off to the concession stand where they bought their treats from Mammy, the cute concessionist in her little brown hat.

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.