Put the Spray Bottle Down

We had a fantastic opening night to our weekend. We dined at the scrumptious Texas Roadhouse. Quinn told our waiter if he kept the rolls coming he would get a big tip. This is a pic of our third round of rolls. Mmmm.

The group. So nice having friends in the neighborhood. We always have a great time with these guys and always end up laughing A LOT. From left to right, Blake and Kristen Capson, Me and Trent, Craig and Alyssa Allen, and Meg and Quinn Capson.

Blake wanted to 'make some memories,' so he told the waiter it was Trent's Birthday. Well, for those of you who know Trent, you know he would never, ever get on that saddle. So me, being the good wife that I am, covered for him. Little did I know how chubby I looked up there. Is that what eating a dozen Texas Roadhouse rolls does to your body? Yuck.

After dinner we headed to Blake and Kristen's for some dessert, Scene It, and Mad Gab. Fun, Fun, and Fun! In memory of Trent's first attempt at reading, "Hue Bed Chirp Hoots" which came out nothing like it was supposed too. And here's to the cheater Blake, (imagine the face and hand in the air) "Haste Robber Reap Eye" I would say that cheaters never prosper, but the boys did win the second game. Thanks everyone for a great night! It was a blast as always!

Answers to the Mad Gab: You Bet Your Boots and A Strawberry Pie.

So, Here is My Problem,

I love watches. They are like my jewelry. I switch em' up for the different outfits I wear. Unfortunately, 6 of them are dead and need new batteries. 6! Actually, I should say 10 seeing how one of them is the kind you switch with different bands. That is more than half of my jewelry gone, just like that. Plus, in the mix of the 'not working' watches are 2 of my favorites. It makes me sad everytime I reach for them in the pile and I remember they are not working. So, whats the problem you say? Well, for 10 bucks a pop I can get the batteries replaced, bringing the total to $60. That is a little much for 6 tiny batteries. I feel like joining Seinfield's parents and pulling a fast one and stealing some. To quote Seinfield, "nobody pays for everything." and "they just wear out so fast." But really, the reason for this not important post is that I want to know if anyone knows of a cheaper place to get your watch batteries replaced. I would so like to wear my big chunky black watch again. We miss each other.

Cheap Family Activity

What do you get when you add latex gloves, gutter water, and kids?

Homemade water balloons!

The nice thing about this activity is it really didn't cost us anything. Gutter water is free, (gross, but free) and being a nurse I have oodles of latex gloves lying around. Perfect!

Syracuse Half and 5K

We decided to enjoy the Memorial Holiday by running races. We even had the pleasure of having Jake from St. Louis and my friend Alyssa join us. This was Alyssa's first race and she did amazing. Well, we were all winners in the end!

Here are the results for those that care. And for those that think I am bragging, well, I am. I am proud to call myself a runner now. I have gone from a fat, non runner, to a slightly skinnier runner that actually gets a pretty good time. So yes. I will brag and I will enjoy it.

Trent of course did great. He placed 3rd overall and got his PR of 1:23:59 for the half. That's a 6:25 min mile for 13.1 miles. I don't know how he does it.

Jake left us in the dust in the 5K. He placed 12th overall, 2nd in his age division, and got 21:08. That's 6:49 min mile.

Alyssa did awesome for her first race. A few months ago she couldn't run a mile and now she is smoking the 5K. It has been fun running with her every morning to prepare for our races! She crossed with a time of 26:47, finishing 72nd overall and 9th in her age division. Nicely done Alyssa!

I got my first medal ever! I got 2nd in my age division and was the fourth female to cross the line! I finished with a time of 23:57 and came in 41st out of 201 runners. That's a 7:44 min mile. Sweet!

Once again, thanks to Jill for watching the Hoard while we went and did our thing! You are great!

Cabin Getaway

We had a quick visit to the cabin over the weekend. It is so beautiful up there and my kids absolutely love it. I would include 'relaxing' in the description, but with 5 little kids it is never relaxing.

Me and My Hoard. I really, really like this picture.
Hanging out. It is nice to have extra hands around to help with kids. Everyone is always nice to help. Especially when they help clean up vomit. We are reverting back to our old throw ups days. Not fun.

The campfire. My boys love fire and marshmallows. Put them together and it is a party. Andrew even roasted the most perfect marshmallow. Aiden's just caught on fire every time!

Four Wheelers. My kids love these as well. And once again, everyone is always nice to take them for a ride!

It was fun to get to enjoy the cabin again. One of the main reasons for the excursion is because Jake is in town. Sad that I don't even have a pic to document that, but my kids love when Uncle Jake is around. Too bad it can't be more often! Thanks to Brad and Teri for letting us use the cabin! We love it up there!

Andrew's Letters

Andrew has been fascinated with writing his letters lately. He is actually pretty good. He also gets a whim to send these letter creations to some members of the family. We send out a few a week, so if you haven't gotten yours yet, just wait, I am sure Andrew will get around to it.
This week it is "Big Brads" turn. Big Brad is Heidi's husband for those who don't know. I am sure Brad is going to treasure this creation. He may even put it up in his office. Who knows?

I think Andrew was trying to show how big, Big Brad is, because he is almost touching the sun??? Thats my interpretation of this masterpiece anyways.

Andrew's favorite part is putting it in the mailbox and putting the flag up. I know you all will be checking your mailbox everyday now to see if you are one of the lucky ones that gets a letter from Andrew. They really are priceless.

I Came Home From My Run to This...

Cute Huh?

5 Kids, 4 Toddlers, and 2 Babies...

...can make it rather difficult to get some good pictures, but Karina succeeded. The kids may not all be smiling and happy in every picture, but they are still cute.

We thought it successful if all the kids were looking forward-if any of them smiled it was just a bonus!

Love this tree. It is such a cool backdrop!


This was the best we could do with the girls. They just didn't want to cooperate and sit still. But like I said, still cute!

The boys cooperated a little bit better, maybe because if they moved they would fall a few feet. Should have tried that strategy with the girls!

I absolutely LOVE this picture of Aiden and Andrew. They have 'real' smiles and I love the old truck!

Not so many smiles here, the bench tipped over during these shots. Morgan wasn't too happy about it.

The Hoard. Cutest kids around. I know I complain a lot, but I do love them and I am glad Trent and I could be so blessed with litters of children!

The "Celebrations"

We have had another busy, but fun weekend. The theme of this weekend was, of course,Trent and his birthday. Friday I loaded the Hoard into the Bohemith and surprised Trent at work. Because of his regimen, we brought him some Gatorade and Ding Dongs (which he will eat next week). The kids always have a good time at their dad's work.
Friday night we headed over to my house for a BBQ. Jake and Becky were in town, so everyone got together for some partying. We missed Cade though. We wanted to get the "band" back together and have another go at "Testify." Jake can rock the vocals on that song!

The BIG celebratory event. Trent did an amazing job once again. He finished with a time of 2:56:16 (unofficial time, the results aren't posted yet). I always love being there at the finish and watching him cross. It amazes me every time. A special shout out to Jill who watched our kids AND let me drive her small car. Finding parking for the Bohemith in limited space is quite difficult.

Saturday night we had Trent's real birthday celebration. We had another BBQ with family. I know, we are BBQ maniacs. That made three nights in a row of gorging ourselves with food! My diet has completely gone out the window. However, it is always fun to have the Veigels and the Jensens come hang out.

James brought the entertainment, his experiment (James words). All the kids got to shake and shake pop cans and then throw them into the street and watch them blow up, hiss, and spray Strawberry Kiwi all over the road. Leave it to Heidi to think of something fun and messy!

We had a great weekend with many fun events. Thanks to everyone who celebrated with us. We love hanging out with the fam. Happy Birthday to Trent!

Happy Birthday Trent!

Today is Trent's Birthday. And to celebrate Trent is going to run another Marathon in the morning. Shocking huh? Not my idea of a fun birthday celebration. So, that makes celebrating in any way today difficult. You see, Trent has a strict eating regimen the day before a race to prevent unwanted bowel issues during his tortuous run. Therefore, I can't bring him a treat to work or take him to lunch/dinner at his favorite restaurant. So, here is the next best thing. A Happy Birthday shout over the blog! (I might even argue it is the best thing one could get for their Birthday!) To avoid repeating myself and since I am sure you all remember every single post of mine word for word, I am just going to link last year's mushy post here. All the things in that list are still true and I am sure I could add more, but I will spare you today. To sum up, Trent is amazing and I couldn't be happier that he is the one I chose to spend Eternity with! Love you Trent and hope you have a great Birthday Weekend!!!

Just Add it to the List...

...of my favorite things I like to consume everyday. I was first introduced to this product at Kimmy's B-Day BBQ. I was hesitant to taste the dip, because I do not like avocado/guacamole at all. I actually wondered why I even tasted it to begin with, but once I did I just hovered around the table dipping chip after delicious chip.
It tastes like a ranch dip with a slight hint of avocado and then a whole lot of other spices. If you like avocado (and even if you don't) give it a whirl. I doubt you will be disappointed. And if by chance you are, just bring me the leftovers and I will take care of it for you!

Can you see the little bit of drool coming out of my mouth? It really is heavenly. Thanks Kim for introducing me to my new friend. (don't my fingers look freakishly long and pointy in this picture?)

Addendum

I was informed that I left one of our celebrations out of my last post. And I can't believe I did. Especially when it was one of the most delicious BBQ's ever and with some of the funnest people ever. I hope my friends forgive me. Better late than never right?
During the course of Friday evening we ate bacon wrapped chicken, cheesy potatoes, hot rolls, fruit salad, green salad, asparagus, grilled pineapple, and, for dessert, the yummy PB cup cookies. The food was to die for, which if I ate like that every night I am sure I would. We had 8 kids running around playing and watching a movie while the adults talked and watched basketball. We have such a fun group of friends in our neighborhood and love hanging out with them. Can't wait until the next BBQ!!

Our Weekend

Our weekend started off with a Bang! We went to Aaron's birthday party on friday. The kids had a ton of fun eating pizza, doing presents, having cake and ice cream, and beating Sponge Bob to death. I had a million pictures, but decided on the pinata ones. Thanks Cade and Emily for a great party!
Saturday was full of scrapbooking. We have been working on a Hawaii scrapbook for Teri for the past couple months. And me, being the procrastinator that I am, left it all to this last week. I honestly think I did 25 pages in 6 days. Here are the tragic results of my strenuous week. My craft room looks like a tornado has whipped through it. I guess that is my project for this week...

On to Saturday night! We all met up at Brad and Heidi's for a Mothers Day BBQ! It was delicious! Have I said how much I enjoy a good BBQ? As soon as we finished our last bites we broke out the present! Lets just say that Teri loved it!

On to Sunday. This was the theme of my Mothers Day. All I wanted to do was a whole bunch of nothing. It was perfect! Thanks Trent for letting me sleep in and then lounge around ALL DAY LONG!

On a side note. My mom decided to ditch us all and have a nice relaxing weekend in St. George. I did make sure to call her so she knew we were all thinking of her AND that we were very jealous she was on a little Vacay.

The Devil

These beauties are the Devil. And the girl that brought them to me is the Devil's Advocate. How can I stay on my diet with these hanging around? Wouldn't it be rude if I didn't eat some? And when I say some, I mean half the plate. In fact I just consumed the last 3 for breakfast. Healthy huh?

Anyways, here is the recipe for all those that love a good soft cookie and most importantly peanut butter cups! You all know by now my addiction to peanut butter cups, so this cookie is the most delish cookie I have ever had! Hope you make a batch and enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
1/2 cup butter softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter (must be creamy if you ask me)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
1-2 bags mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (no no-name brands allowed!)

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda; set aside.
3. Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter, and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla, and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well.
4. Shape into balls and place in ungreased mini muffin pan.
5. Bake for 6-8 mins (depending on how gooey you like your cookies). Remove from oven and immediately press a mini a PB cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.

I hope you all try this recipe and love it as much as I do. And thanks to Alyssa for introducing me to yet another fabulous peanut butter treat!

Crazy Eights

8 things I'm looking forward to:

1. A date tonight with Trent.
2. The good food I will eat tonight with Trent. I am thinking a F'Zhookie for dessert!
3. Taking the boys to preschool. I love preschool days and I am NOT looking forward to their last day this month.
4. Trips to St. George, the cabin, Bear Lake for a 10K, and Greys River.
5. Getting a hair cut and highlights done, which may never happen because of our income reduction. My roots are horrible!
6. Mother's Day. We have nothing planned which is what I want. Having a quiet Sunday at home sounds perfect to me.
7. Trents birthday and BBQ.
8. Having the girls potty trained and being done with diapers forever.

8 things I did yesterday:

1. Ran 4 miles.
2. Did 7 scrapbook pages. My mind has finally got back into the scrapbook mode.
3. Laid in the sun for all of 3 minutes. It was a wonderful 3 minutes.
4. Went to Walmart and bought a cart full of cereal. I think I bought at least 25 boxes.
5. Looked at my dirty house and decided I didn't want cleaning on my "list of things I did yesterday."
6. Motherly things like changing diapers, dressing kids, feeding the hoard, breaking up fights...
7. Did the usuals on the internet.
8. Read for a little while.

8 things I wish I could do:

1. Go on a Trip with just Trent to a little beach house some where, lay in the sun all day and think only of myself and what I want to do.
2. Lose my last 20 pounds of baby/marriage weight, while eating what I want.
3. Run a half marathon.
4. Sleep in. Even just once a week would be nice.
5. Afford a maid, chef, personal trainer, and a hair stylist.
6. Have more patience with my kids. They definitely deserve better than me.
7. Sing. I can't carry a tune for the life of me and am so jealous of anyone with this talent.
8. Have a clean house all the time and somehow teach my kids to clean up after themselves.

8 Shows I watch:

1. The Office
2. Fringe
3. CSI New York
4. CSI
5. Rules of Engagement (we don't like David Spade in it, but Putty (from Seinfield) is hilarious)
6. Greys Anatomy
7. Super Why, Sid the Science Kid, Clifford, Word World, Curious George...really anything on PBS
8. Survivor-well, we used to watch it, but haven't had time to this season, but it is still one of my faves!

The Zoo

Went to the zoo yesterday and had a great time, but by the end of the animal seeing I was ready to be done. My kids wear me out. Thanks to Brooke and Grandma Teri for coming and helping. Definitely couldn't have done it alone!
This is the kids favorite "animal" at the zoo. They would have just stayed right here for the whole 2 hours if I didn't make them continue on to see live animals.

Of course, the train. Another fave. Does anyone else think the train should just come with the price of the zoo admission??? Seriously.

The boys thought they were pretty funny getting "eaten" by the lion. Oakley did not even want to risk the chance of getting bitten and Paige and Morgan just watched from the safety of the stroller.

The gorilla. We didn't see any real gorillas so we played with the pretend ones (above and below).

What would a day with Brooke be without her being Brooke? She is crazy...in a good way.

And the Rains Came Down...

Our roof has a leak and with last weekend's rain it became a problem. Thanks goodness Andrew noticed, otherwise our couch, table, and floor would have been soaked. If you look close you can see the big bubble of water under the paint that Trent is trying to pop and drain. Fun times. Fun times.

This One's For Cade...All Others Beware!

I was traumatized growing up. With 3 brothers always teasing me I never knew what to expect next. There is a story told over and over at our house and the victim of the story, me. My oldest brother, Cade, wrecked on his bike coming down 18th south on his bike. He was banged up pretty bad and had a HUGE scab on his shoulder from sliding across the road. During a not so unusual Sunday afternoon, I went into my room and saw something on my pillow. Not being able to tell what it was I got a closer look and screamed! It was Cade's HUGE scab from his shoulder. It had fallen off and he thought it would be hilarious to tease me once again. It wasn't that funny to me, but the boys were laughing pretty hard. I guess maybe except for Jake. This Sunday happened to be one of the first times Becky was eating at our house. Who knows why she ever came back after that?

So, on to the post. The other day, Trent went to get the girls out of their cribs and Oakley followed him. The next thing I knew Oakley was coming over to show me something. It took me a second to realize what it was. Yep, Morgan's huge scab from her head. Yuck! Cade's "pillow mint" came flashing back to my mind. I did freak out a little bit when I saw it and I could hear Trent laughing. Apparently, he put Oakley up to it. He is just like my brothers...there's no escaping the torment...