Party like a rock star!

So in honor of my "party like a rock star" birthday/New Years Eve party tonight, I thought I would post some Rockin' pics of the kids in their new jammies from Grandma Haines:




HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Bring on the Christmas spirit

My annual picture of the boys in their Christmas sweaters in front of the tree:

Those sweet smiles are wishing you a Merry Christmas.

And here's a little jingle for the holiday season:


We hope that you have a wonderful week and enjoy the holidays and your families!

Santa

The boys have been very good this year and know that there will be some fun presents under the tree! The YMCA had Santa come this year-so we went for the low key event instead of the mall. Definitely a good choice! Parker didn't freak out, and there were lots of fun stations: Christmas cards for the soldiers (Which Camden wrote as Soljers), Ornament making, letter writing, nativity sticker picture making and Santa.

Here's Camden writing a letter to Santa-he even got a reply!


Camden went and told Santa what he wanted, and I even convinced Parker to sit on his lap! This is only the second time ever that I've gotten a picture with neither boy screaming! I got one 4 years ago, and one has cried every time since then. So, YAY me :)

I hope that all of you are having a wonderful Christmas season! We are pretty mellow here. I had about half of my shopping done before the Christmas season and finished up by the first of the month. We got all of our decorations out Thanksgiving weekend and have pretty much taken it easy. It makes for a much more enjoyable holiday :) I'll be making up friend/neighbor gifts soon which I think are simply going to be some "non beer" beer bread mix with a can of sprite (to make the non-beer beer bread)-if any of you have gone to a Tastefully Simple party and gotten the beer bread, I'm making the copycat mix for it :)

Well, sorry for the slow blogging-with a mellow holiday season, why would that be? Well, between needing a root canal, having the heater break, being sick, then having Parker sick, practicing with the ward choir (playing organ accompaniment on a couple of pieces) and all the other fun stuff that comes with life...it's always an adventure! If you read the blog and haven't gotten a Christmas card, send me your address (although a couple are still on the way....)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Not much going on...but to catch you up..

So there really hasn't been much going on lately! But I realized that I never posted a pic of the kids for Halloween! Se here they are:

Camden with his friend Michael (Jeff Gordon)

Camden wanted to go as Ash, a pokemon trainer. What? You've never heard of Ash? Then you must not have an elementary aged boy :) I had to make the costume since the ONE available was kind of stupid, and expensive, but it turned out fine. Parker was Opimus Prime...as a truck! We went to our Trunk or Treat and then Camden and I went trick or treating on Halloween. Parker stayed home and handed out candy, which he enjoyed.

So, what is it that has been keeping me busy? My new hobby...err..obsession is couponing! During Harris Teeter triple coupons, I got $324 worth of groceries for $66! Here is a pic of some of the stuff that I got (most of the brownie mixes and random stuff came out free...)
Couponing is actually pretty fun-it's like a game. I joined the grocery game and it helps me not obsess about it too much and not spend TOO much of my time couponing :) I still do some scrapbooking as well. I'll have to take a picture of some of my favorite pages for ya'll.

For Thanksgiving, we headed down to Scott and Jen's and had a really nice time. They made a great dinner, we played games and the kids had fun playing as well. We pretty much chilled during the weekend, set up our Christmas stuff and did a little shopping. I did most of my black Friday shopping at 1am online :) I'd rather stay up then get up early in the cold!

More posts to come!

Austin, Texas!

For more pictures, go to my brother (Scot's) blog! He posted in real time while we were there. But here is a recap!

Our trip to Texas was a blast! We had so much fun hanging out with Scot, Becca and Riley! We had just the right amount of activity with relaxation-it was a really great vacation. Riley was so funny! Camden just loved playing with her and making her laugh. Since Riley is so small, Camden loved picking her up and carrying her around. It was pretty funny to watch! She seemed to enjoy him a well.


We got in really late on Wednesday evening. The flight wasn't too bad, although the kids were pretty wasted tired.

On Thursday, we went to San Antonio. We ate a picnic lunch on the temple grounds, and then headed to downtown. We saw the Alamo and then did the river walk boat ride. Camden thought that the Alamo was awesome because it was a fort and there were lots of guns, swords and coins ;) He also liked the movie about the battle. The ride on the river was also fun for everyone. Thank you to my brother for being our personal trip photographer He takes really good pictures!



Friday we headed to the state capitol building, which we learned is slightly taller then the US Capitol building, on purpose :) We then headed to Flip Happy, a restaurant that we learned about on the Food Network when my bro was staying wtih us for the summer. We had AMAZING crepes-savory and sweet :) We were going to head to Zilker park, but it was chilly, so we checked out the Whole Foods headquarters, which was very cool. There were tons of samples and it was just a fun store!


Saturday was game day for the boys! Paul and Scot went to ESPN game day in the morning and then went to the Texas-Missouri game in the evening. Becca and I took the kids to the children's museum in the morning, which was fun. For lunch, we headed to Lockhart for some REAL Texas BBQ. We are talking about a restaurant with fire in the floor, and smoke everywhere. It was very good. It was quite the big Texas experience for Paul!


Sunday we went to church and then headed to the Texas botanical gardens. They were beautiful! It was a lovely afternoon.

The NC Zoo

Camden and I made our first trip to the North Carolina zoo last week. My friend, Rachel, called me and asked if I'd like to go to the zoo for free, we were like, "Sure!" Camden has been tracked out and she has the membership. It is about an our and a half away, but the drive is always more fun when you are driving with another adult :) It is a beautiful zoo! Large habitats, shady walkways...very nice. It was also great weather, but there is a lot of walking, so I could see why people complain in the hot summer months :) We had a really fun time, although we had to leave to get home in time for Parker and her oldest son coming home on the school bus! We made sure to stop at Sonic during happy hour for our half price limeades! Thanks, Rachel for a fun day!
My little zoo animal :)
Getting ready to fly his helicopter over the rhinocerous herd-that was his favorite animal of the day.
Hatching out of an egg-there were lots of fun kid things to do! We will definitely have to make a trip back.
The alligators-always a crowd fav.
The big turtle. My friend's son, Aaron, had on bright orange crocs and the turtle kept following him-so we got up close and personal with the turtle!

I'm back.....

The month of September just got away from me! I've been having too much fun playing with both kids in school :) Everyone wants to see pics of Parker horseback riding, so here they are:





Is he not just the cutest thing you have ever seen in that riding helmet? Parker really enjoys riding and we were excited to get a regular slot. It is costly, but it is something fun for Parker to do to make Camden just a bit jealous :) He also gets a lot of therapeutic benefit out of it!

I will post more soon!

We've come a long way, baby!

Parker is 5!!!

Wow, not only is Parker in kindergarten, but he is a little 5 year old! As usual, we had a low key birthday celebration. Because Parker started school this week and we are all getting up an hour earlier then normal, we tried to take it easy. Unfortunately, Parker had had it. We only continued the celebration at Camden's insistance.

Parker does not like birthday cake, so I bought birthday cake ice cream and formed it into a little cake. Unfortunately, Parker still thought it was a cake, and this was his reaction: (poor little guy!)

After putting it in a bowl and showing him it was, in fact, ice cream-he was much happier
We then went to open presents, but Parker was ready for bed. Camden wrote Parker a pokemon story and made him some homemade pokemon cards (to him, this is of great value!) He told me he would have bought Parker something, but that he didn't have any money and $1 wasn't enough ;) I guess I really need to start allowance!



Overall, not the best birthday, but oh well! We are having fun hanging out this weekend, so we will make up for it :)

What's for dinner?

So, every week I do what my mommy taught me and make a grocery list with the dinners on one side, and all the ingredients I need to buy at the store on the other. Some weeks it's easy to decide what is for dinner, and some weeks it's hard. So, I thought I would list my weekly dinners, and then you can use the comments section to tell me what you are having and give me some new ideas! I don't pick which days I'm going to have what (since I never know what I'll be in the mood for) and usually have at least one extra dinner planned per week just in case I'm in a rush, or don't feel like something I planned or whatever. I will also include a recipe of the week to share. I made some yummy new dishes last week (lemon shrimp on parmesan rice, herb artichoke ravioli-yum!) So will add the recipes when they make the dinner rotation again!

Dinners for this week:

Santa Fe Chicken with yellow rice
Chicken Tandoori with brown rice and naan
Ravioli with salad and bread
Beans and rice wtih fruit salad
Spinach pizza with salad and fruit
Breakfast for dinner (we do this every Sunday)-smoothies, bacon and eggs
Loaded baked potatoes and fruit salad

I also have peirogies, gnocchis and a bertolli's pasta dinner in the freeqer in case an evening gets too hectic!

So, here is the recipe of the week from my list (also will post on relative recipes)

Santa Fe Chicken:

Marinade:
juice from 3 limes
1/4 c. soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp. olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. chile powder (I'm a wimp, I only put in like 3/4 tsp.)
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1 1/2 tsp. coriander
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tsp. honey
2 whole chicken breasts (4 pieces)
1/2 c. white wine
3 T. chopped cilantro leaves

Marinade chicken in ingredients. (The recipe actually says to add the wine and cilantro 1/2 hour before cooking-but I can never remember, so I just add it all when I make it) Bake at 375 degrees till done, or grill. Serve with papaya salsa.

Papaya Salsa:
1/2 c. cilantro leaves
1 c. cubed papaya
1/4 c. choped red bell pepper
1/4 c. diced red onion
1 small jalapeno pepper-seeded and minced (again-wimpy girl puts like 1 slice in)
2 T. lime juice.

Mix together and serve over chicken. I like to make this the night before or earlier in the day so that the flavors meld together better. You could also pulse lightly in the blender if you wanted a smoother salsa.

Enjoy!

Catch up time!

Well, the Olympics are officially over. Time to go back to cleaning my house, reading with the kids and blogging :)

I will go chronologically backwards to let you know about our past week!
Today was Parker's first day of Kindergarten! He is in a fabulous classroom with high ceilings and lots of room. There are 6 kids, 1 teacher and 2 TA's. His teacher seems very nice and really wants to challenge the kids and help them reach their full potentials. He loved visiting on Meet the Teacher night, but wasn't as keen getting dropped off. But I've heard that he is doing great and having fun. Camden was a bit jealous of his cool classroom..but oh well! I am sad that they are on different schools and different schedules, but it will give me some alone time with each child every day and then different times throughout the year! So that will be great. Here is a picture of my big boy (more on that later!)


Over the weekend, we had lots of fun. On Saturday, we had an Indian dinner (well, my americanized version) and converted 2 men who said they hated Indian food to now knowing what to order at an Indian restaurant! We made a curry chicken, curry potatoes and spinach, Chicken Tikka Masala and naan. We also had some non-Indian alternatives ;) The men really liked the Chicken Tikka Masala. Their wives, who like Indian food, were so grateful :) I will post the recipes on the "relative recipes" blog for anyone to copy and make at home!


On Friday, the whole family went out on the boat with our friends. This was the first time for either Parker or Camden to be on a motorboat. Camden had fun tubing and swimming and we all had fun powering across the water. Parker really enjoyed the wind in his face as we went. Camden did mention, though, that it was "too much fun" and wanted to know why we didn't have a boat to take out on a regular basis. Ummm....that was fun to answer :) Luckily, they are older then us, so I pointed out their older children and how we aren't really able to buy a boat right now, and it would be tough to take Parker out regularly anyways. That will hopefully hold him off for a few more years!

Look at this sailor boy!


Lovin the wind in his face!


On Wednesday, Paul took off of work and we headed to the beach for the day! It was really fun. Camden went boogie boarding for the first time and really enjoyed that. We picked up terrible seashells (seriously, they're bad!) and pretty rocks on the beach and, of course, played in the sand. The kids both enjoy the beach so much, it makes it an enjoyable day for all!

Boogie boarding!

And, referring to the "big boy" comment. We took Parker to his GI Dr. last Monday and he had gained 6 (yes SIX) pounds in the last 6 months!!!! He is now 36 pounds. He went from finally making it on the growth chart last visit to being in the 20th percentile! Now wonder he grew out of all his clothes this summer! We actually have to cut back his feedings to get him back between the 5th and 10th percentile (why make it any harder for him to move!) Now that we aren't stressing about his weight for the first time in almost 5 years, we can work on getting him to eat!



Well, life has been good and busy! We are sad the olympics are gone :( Camden is now determined to be in them-we figure 2020 or 2024 :) He hasn't picked his sport yet, but we will keep you posted!

Nothing much to report...

Sorry for my lack of blog posts! I haven't taken any pics and just haven't been doing much except watching the olympics, which, by the way, I am TOTALLY addicted to! My favorite parts have been some of those amazing Phelps races, the women's beach volleyball team, women's gymnastics (favorite since I was little) and watching the 100 meter dash last night. Wow! What an impressive showing!

Parker just finished up his last week of summer school and Camden has finished 3 weeks of first grade. I was out having fun until I sprained my elbow-seriously, I am such a klutz! I fell while playing tennis-you know, that contact sport that results in so many injuries...yeah...So we have just been hanging out! Paul is taking Wednesday off and we are planning on heading to the beach, unless weather dictates otherwise. It will be fun to take a family day-he has been working so hard this summer! Everyone is doing well! Parker has his GI appointment tomorrow, so we will get to see just how big this growth spurt has been. He is almost looking his age (well, until he turns 5 in a week and a half.)

So here are just some tidbits about the kids. Camden is still very much into Pokemon (stupid easter bunny for putting them in his basket...) He is doing well in his new school and has finally taken a liking to reading-which has resulted in massive improvements in his reading and writing! He finally sees the utility in it (he can read and write pokemon stories...) We are going to preview a gymnastics class in a few weeks that is at the same time as Parker's PT-he liked the olympics too!

Parker is sweet as always! He did a good job of adjusting to summer school, so I hope his transition to his new class will go as well! He will start horseback riding in the Fall, and keeps doing his physical therapy at the gym. He continues to work to try and communicate better!

I hope all of you are doing great! I'll add pics after our beach trip!

Yep, that's me! Still not too old to try new tricks :)

I had a very fantastic Friday! :) I got to go out on my friend's boat and learn how to water ski!!! The weather was absolutely fabulous and the water was nice and calm. It took me 3 times to get up, and a 4th time to actually get going! The first try, I told her to "hit it" and when she gunned the engine, I was just not prepared and got water up my nose and totally biffed it. The second time, I prevented the water up my nose, but still didn't go anywhere. The 3rd time, I got up, but leaned back too far and flipped myself back...but the fourth time...I was money!!! I had a HUGE smile on my face the whole time-it was really cool!

It was SOOO fun! She ended up sinkng me by going too slow over some bumps, and I wasn't sure what to do and just let go. Not only was it fun, but I got a good workout! We also had a picnic on the water, and I went tubing with her kids (also a good work out!).

It was fun to have a mini vacation for the day while the kids were at school! It was also quite the pick me up since I had been feeling a bit down...I did feel a bit guilty that Paul was off working hard, and I was on the lake...but he'll be going white water rafting next month with his coworkers, so it all evens out :) Hopefully we'll be able to get the whole family out one day-I'm sure Camden would love tubing, Parker would love speeding along on the water, and Paul has never been able to "pop up" while water skiing because the water has always been choppy-so he deserves a try! Here's to living less then 30 minutes from a lake! Ahh, I just love it here!