Where to Begin

I guess it's only been a few weeks but it seems like ages! Whenever I have sat down with the intentions of blogging, I sadly end up on hulu catching up on my shows. Why is reality tv my weakness in life? 

To make up for my guilty pleasures, we have been up to some good around here:) We were able to watch my 2 nephews for 4 days. My boys were in pure heaven the whole time. On the last day they were here, their dad came to pick them up but Lane was gone to school so he wasn't able to say goodbye. When he came home to their bags gone he about lost it. I have never seen tears of pure sadness from him before! He was devastated his buddy was gone. It took some major bribing to get him to stop crying.

While they were here we went to Langley Market to get some eggs from their chickens and to get a treat. We went out back to hang out and for them to run around. All of a sudden I could hear Rusty screaming so I  turned and saw a chicken grabbing hold of his paci, yank it off the ribbon clip thing and take off running. I had no idea chickens were so aggressive! It was actually kind of funny. There was no way I was putting it back in Rusty's mouth no matter how much I cleaned it so the chicken has a new toy. Now whenever I tell Rusty to go find his paci at home he tells me chicken has the paci.

I picked up this paint kit at Micheal's  80% off. The boys painted those animals for seriously 2 hrs. The only down side was that they smelled like cheap plastic. BAD. The second day I couldn't take it anymore so I let them choose one then tossed the rest.  Mean, yes I know but their brain cells will thank me later.

It was fun but it definitely solidified to us the fact that our house is maxed and only good for 1 more child. When we have our 4th it will for sure be time to move...and get a burb.

On Saturday we made a day trip up to Showlow for Labor Day weekend. We went with Grammy and Papa which of course made it more fun. We had 2 reasons for going, the first to see Grandpa Goodman and his Uncle rope in the rodeo.

The second, to go to the most fabulous garage sale a girl could ever ask for! One of my friends told me about this man named Lamell who lives in Showlow. Lamell travels around and gets wood, tin, moulding you name it from old buildings that are being torn down. He then takes it home and re-sales it. This is all right up my alley so I got his phone number and gave him a call. Come to find out he had just gotten home from Kansas with a trailer full of stuff and was going to have a huge garage sale on Saturday. How totally perfect seeing how we were going up for the rodeo!

When we got there his yard was completely overwhelmed with stuff. The picture doesn't even show half of what he had. There were 2 huge long trailers connected together in an L shape full of antiques, odds and ends, furniture, old doors, you name it. I could have stayed all day. We filled the back of the suburban with our finds and Lamell even offered to drop off a headboard I bought  when he comes down to Mesa in a few weeks. We even went back with Aunt Shirley a second time!

 The boys loved the rodeo. They got to ride on Willy. Both a little hesitant about the whole horse thing but eventually lightened up once they learned horses were not scary. Such city boys!

We swam on Monday and ate at my parents. This Labor Day called for enchiladas!

I have been re decorating a bit. My little side table next to the couch wasn't cutting it anymore. I am excited about it's new look. Here is the best before I could find.

Here is the after. I found the lamp base at Goodwill for $4. I spray painted it  and added the burlap and polka dot fabric to the lamp shade as well as the flowers. The big frame was my birthday present. I L-O-V-E-D the frame but not the paint job that was on it. It was off white with big brown spots all over it. Just think cow print! So I painted it to the color it is now. I couldn't find a mirror to cut to size to make it fit the frame. Well, that wasn't over $50. Solution: Casey went to Lowes and had them cut a piece of glass for $13. At Hobby Lobby they have spray paint called looking glass. It pretty much is a sprayed on mirror color. It did the trick. The square picture frame was one of my finds from our Showlow garage sale.

Add some more unfinished projects, talks in church, swimming and more swimming, and the usual daily grind and there you have it!
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Holding On

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Here we are, the last weeks of Summer. Sigh, sigh, sniff, sniff.

I figure we have until the end of Sept until the water is too cold and no longer enjoyable. Until the stores  have full on Fall AND Christmas decorations. Until it gets dark way too early. In fact, tonight it was almost all the way dark at 7:30. Breaks my heart. I mean, it seems like I just got Lane used to the fact of wearing shorts (I finally had to hide all of his jeans so he didn't have a choice). That didn't stop him from continuing to wear long white socks with shoes with his shorts. Should have hid those also.

Lane had is first day of his 2nd year of preschool! That was a nice little treat. Sending him to the SAME school, with the SAME teacher and almost all of the SAME kids in his class, with the SAME routine. It was so nice to not have to deal with a melt down child who doesn't except change very well. I think he felt the same way. He even wanted to ride the bus on the first day. He came home like there was never a 3 month break. Go Laners!

Since we don't have to wake up early to go to school, we can still have our late Summer nights. Grandpa had to have surgery on his hand. We went over to visit and also brought them dinner as a thank you for our CA trip. The boys got to swim with Grandma while I finished making dinner. Casey grilled us some yummy carne asada. The highlight of the night was while playing the game Psychiatrist. Our "problem' was that we were all supposed to answer like Marcie would. So ironically Marcie gets asked the first question which was: What is your favorite animal? Her answer back: um well I don't like animals but my favorite animal print is zebra. She was serious and we seriously had a good laugh. Love you Marcie and I'm so glad you are sharing the brunt end of the jokes with me now.

This little guy, oh how I love him. He has definitely taken on some character lately. Most days I squeeze his cute little guts out but some points in some days the only word that I can describe him as is destructo.  Let's just say he has learned to get his voice heard by screaming. Like high pitch aunt Stephanie screaming.  My sincere apologies to all who camped next to us during family camping. Don't get me wrong, he is still sweet as can be. I pretend most kids go through this phase to make me feel better.  I thought I would nip it in the butt by putting soap in his mouth each time he did it. By the end of the day I was seriously thinking I just needed to quit or go to Trader Joes and buy some all natural soap so he wouldn't some how get soap poisoning. Heaven forbid he ended up like Ralphy, blind with a cane. "It, it was...soap poisoning". To make you all feel better, I hardly put any in his mouth and I actually think he liked the way it tasted. Darn you Bath and Body Works. I switched to Tabasco, no worky either. Go figure, he eats homemade salsa straight up. Any ideas?

If any of you are wanting to catch up on your Flipper episodes, come on over anytime and watch with the boys. My mom bought the last season on dvd for our beach trip. It had them both by the opening theme song. Every day on the trip they begged to watch it.  We watched for 3 straight hours in the car on the drive home. I keep forgetting to return it so everyday you can find my kids parked on the floor, eyes glued to the faster than lightening, king of the sea, no one is smarter than he Flipper the dolphin.

Exhibit A: Lane is at school. Rusty handing me the dvd case saying fwappar. Sure, why not son.

Exhibit B:  Home from school for about 2 minutes

Maybe they just appreciate a good tv series. My mom pretty much has Blockbuster in her basement so I'm thinking I am going to swap Flipper for a season of Gilligan's Island or the Brady Bunch or Little People Big World or the Dog Whisperer. Her Disney VHS's have saved me this summer!! It sure paid off (in my benefit) for her to have kept them all these years. Thanks mom!

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California, Carlsbad Edition

We ate at our traditional favorites: Mary's, Harbor Fish &Chips, Phil's.

Found new favs: Carlsbad Danish Bakery, Cessy's mexican.

Wore zero makeup 7 days out of 8.

Made a Shelley record and read 2 books in a week: Harry Potter and The Help.

Played at Sea World.

Shopped at T-shirt Mart and the Closet

Enjoyed early morning runs with Rusty while everybody else enjoyed sleeping in.

Beach days x's 4

Watched every episode of Flipper on dvd.

It was great. It was wonderful.

 It was memorable. It went too fast. 

It was a much needed break of fresh CA ocean air.

It is too far away until we can do it again.

Thanks once again mom and dad for the super fabulous vacation!

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"Eesh, You're Old"

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Is what I was told by my nephew when he found out it was my birthday and that I was turning 28. Haha, I really laughed hard.

For some reason it gave me the giggles.

My sneaky boys surprised me with this super cute birthday cake! Yes, made by them! Seeing how the beach is pretty much my favorite thing ever, they hit the mark just right. 

I think it is way creative and the attention to details impressive. Especially my well endowed torso...measured perfectly to scale:)

My actual birthday was a little different than the norm. I woke up to my birthday present, a huge scrolly picture frame from Poppy's that I have been eyeing for months. Then the boys and I took off to family camping. Casey came the next day since he was busy with work. I must have felt older and braver because embarrassing to say, this was my first ever roadie. By myself. And WITH kids. And Jefferson:)

The trip up went great, thanks to the dvd player. I don't know how the pioneers trekked with no virtual entertainment to be honest. It's a forever must have!

Camping of course was enjoyable.

Cooler weather.

Pine Trees. Games. Cousins.

 Deluxe breakfast/lunch and dinners.

Dirt and dirty smelly boys.

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For Your Entertainment

Rusty prefers the north end of his crib.

Every night when I check on him he is somehow scrunched in one corner of that vicinity.

He must be getting too big for that area. And sadly too big for his "save the whales" jammies.

We had to move onto the footballs...so sad.

Lane is a pizza-holic. I have a rule (that nobody knows except me)

 of  Little Caesar's/Hungry Howie's only once every other week.

That being said I have to get creative with the "pizza" dinners.

Pizza Buns are a huge hit around here. Only they have been renamed to pizza rolls.
I wanted to try something different so I found a recipe for pizza braids. Also renamed to pizza twists.
The braid thing goes way over a boys head.

recipe here.
a few alterations:

I used half wheat, half white flour.

 One was stuffed with pepper jack cheese and ham,

the other turkey pepperoni and mozzarella cheese.

We dipped them in pizza sauce (I bought walmart brand)

and stired in finely diced spinach leaves to trick my non green eating monster. It worked!

A new lady I visit teach sent me home with some of her aloe vera plants.

 Casey coincidentally decided to get sunburned that very day!

They sure smell bad but definitely work.

He had almost no peeling which normally he sheds skin like a snake after being sunburned.

The real stuff really works:)

Please meet our newest daughter, Rustella!

Haha, dressing up your boy as a girl is a must...for every mom.

How come the dad's don't think it's as cute?

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