Snuggles

Sometimes, the best part of having Grandma and Grandpa visit is the snuggles.

Snowball

We have had so little snow this year, that anytime there is even a inch or two on the ground, the boys are dying to get and play in it.

Last weekend, we ended up with just about 3 inches, and Ryan begged to go out.

When I opened the back door and asked him what he was doing (as I was snapping this picture) he giggled and told me he was going to make a snowman... then he promptly changed his mind and told me, "I gonna throw my snowball at CHOOO!"

Yeah.  As cute as that little grin is, I quickly shut the door and watched him from behind the glass!

Faster, Stronger...

Ryan loves trains.

My parents got him two new trains while they were visiting, and so one morning, my Dad got down on the floor with Ryan to test them out.

Obviously, a simple oval track didn't hold their attention for all that long... so then they decided to see which train was FASTER.  And what would happen in the fast train ran into the back of the slower train.

And what if you hooked all the cars up to the fast train... would that slow him down?

Could he still catch up with the slower trains?

And can he climb a slight incline (see my dad hold up the track just a touch?) and still pull all the cars?

AND THEN they wanted to see if he could climb TWO hills and pull all the cars. 

 So Thomas and James became track supports while Dennis pulled every one's heavy loads around the track.

Hey, the show is always talking about being a "Useful Engine" no matter what your role! 

From Grandparents to Uncles...

It's been a BUSY week! 

Pictures are coming soon... but it started out last Thursday when Grandma and Grandpa Lealos came to visit... then Grandma Joycee... and we're finishing up the week with Uncle James!!

There has been games, stories, movies, a pig named Pig Chop, snowballs, sword fights, yarn balls, trains, Mario Cart races... endless fun I tell you!

Tomorrow, James heads back home, and I'll unload my camera and share some of the fun!

The automatic car wash is so worth the extra dollar or two...

Just for the cheap entertainment...

With the happy ending!

Pin-Success: Sopapilla Cheesecake

Well, I decided to make a something special for the boys as a Valentine Treat. 

And I saw THIS on Pinterest, and it seemed pretty easy and quick, and most of all super duper yummy sounding!

Oh Pinterest, How I love thee.

One problem.  My computer was ALLLLLLL the way in my office, with a dead battery.  And it was too far away when I was motivated to make these.

And if I went to get it, I would have had to either a. sit down at my desk and print out the recipe or b. crawl under the desk and dig out the power cord and bring them both into the kitchen.  Both would have been motivational killers.

(No one point out that my phone, with unlimited data, was sitting on the counter next to me.  I was in the moment and not thinking about that!)

Anyway.... that was a long winded way of reminding you that I like to wing it when it comes to cooking.

So, follow the recipe if you want, or follow my lead and make it up as you go along, because MAN was it good the way I made it!!


2 cans of Crescent Rolls
1 8 oz box of neufchatel cheese (the 1/3 less fat cream cheese alternative... not for the less fat, for the consistency)
1 egg
1/4 c of sugar
1 T butter, melted
1 T cinnamon sugar

Place on sheet of dough in the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan.  Press the seams together. 

Whisk the cheese, egg and 1/4 c of sugar together until smooth.

At this point, next time, I would probably add a splash of either vanilla or almond extract... or some orange zest.  But I forgot, because I was too lazy to read the recipe.

Spread whatever you remembered to whip together onto the dough.

Place the second sheet of dough on a long piece of plastic wrap, and press the seems together.  Carefully lay it over the cheese mixture.

Brush the dough with the melted butter, then sprinkle with however much cinnamon sugar you feel like.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 20 mins... or until it looks done, lol!


We had some left over caramel sauce and whipped cream from football banana splits, so the boys had it with that.  I had it just plain, and it was de-lish!

Happy V-Day!!

Well, as "made up" as the holiday is, I still think it's a great day in dreary February to show a little extra love to my boys!

This last weekend, Evan and I made his VERY FIRST Valentine Box.  Okay, well, he's made a few in school before, but this is the first year he was allowed to bring one of his VERY OWN CREATION.

His Dad had ordered something online that came in the PERFECT box a few weeks ago, so we set it aside, and started planning.

**Warning: Cousin Eva:  Yes, my son is a Star Wars fan.  I tried, he loved Star Trek until he discovered Star Wars Legos, and then he turned to the Dark Side.**  

Step one: BLACK paint.  Evan was excited to be using MOM's good craft paint and brushes (shhhhh, no one tell him that the acyclic paint costs like 50 cents, and the brush about 10).

Step two:  While the paint dried, we searched the Internet for a picture of the Death Star, then worked some Cameo magic and printed and cut it.    It looks AMAZING!!  And literally took about 30 seconds once we found the picture.

Step three:  Mom had to break out the old school scissors to cut out the image on the front of the package from the cards he picked out.  Best Up-Cycle EVER according to Evan.

Step four: More Cameo magic to cut some custom letter... Font is Star Jedi (free download from DaFont).

Step five: GLUE.

Step six: White paint dots for stars.

Then the hardest part was waiting for it to dry so he could touch it.

I finished it!!

I pinned something similar to this ages ago... but couldn't find the motivation, until Mark and I purchased the most beautiful piece of furniture we've bought our entire married life. 

Now I've decided it's time to focus some decorating energy in our bedroom!  (Seriously, the only thing on our walls are some abstracts I asked Evan to paint for me when he was 4.) 

I found the & at Hobby Lobby several months ago and used a coupon... so it was a HUGE purchase at $3.50.  Almost broke the bank.

When I bought it, I thought I was going to paint it.  Never been a tarnished gold type.

But then, I put it next to the dark wood of the bed, and realized it popped more than pewter or silver. 

Then the search for the smaller letters began.  Nothing was really what I wanted... and I thought about special ordering them or having someone cut them for me, but that was either too expensive or too labor intensive (oh the sanding!). 

Then I found these (almost) perfect letters at Hobby Lobby... they were a little bigger than my plan originally called for, but I liked the simple font, and THEY WERE ON SALE!   ($1.25 for each letter)

I painted them a base of raw umber, then a light wash of jet black, that I used a paper towel to splotch off (splotch is a real painting term, I'm sure of it).  They ended up pretty much the same color as the bed!

But I wanted them to pop just a little more, so I stamped each one with a little bit of blingly metallic ink.

Not too shabby for a $10 piece of art!! 

Oh, I love DIY!



Friday Fun Day: The Park

There is this GREAT park in West Jordan... The boys call it the Castle Ride.

And since it was about 60 on Friday, as soon as I got home from work, I packed the boys up with a few snacks and some beverages, and we headed over!

Evan loves to pose...



Ryan, on the other hand, won't hold still long enough for me to get anything but shots like this.



Again, Evan, posing and smiling for the camera... 



And Ryan running past so fast, I only get a shot of his shoe. 

Until I trapped him!

We ran around for over an hour, and got nice and worn out!

And, as a mom, that's the best part of going to the park!  Snuggly tired kids at the end of the night!

The Age of Art

I remember this stage...

When Evan was about 3, any scrap of paper brought on the pleads of "Mama... Can I color?"

Ryan has entered it.

There are little scribbles all over any piece of paper we leave out.

Anytime he sees a pen, pencil, crayon, marker, etc... He starts searching for a piece of paper.

It makes my heart happy.

I love the creative... and when my boys show the love for creative expression, the calm that it brings to their faces... it just makes me smile.

Right Brain Babies... with their Daddy's good looks and smarts to go with it!

Thomas and Friends

There's two, there's four, there's six, there's eight... Shunting Trucks and Pulling Freight...

Ugh.  My first full time sitting job, the boys I sat for one summer were addicted to this incredibly boring kids show, and that summer, I swore that my kids would never become addicted. 

Uh huh.  Well, at least neither of my boys like Barney!

Anyway, the train expo was in town this weekend, and my good friend Robyn and I decided to take the boys!

They had a BLAST, and thanks, in part, to the Superbowl, the place was DEAD... which means no waiting in line, no pushing through crowds to get close enough to see the trains.  It was perfect!

Ryan was amazed at all the trains... he was a little overwhelmed.  He would just stand and stare at the tables.  We were there for close to an hour before he ever reached up and tried to TOUCH one of them.  (Which for a almost 3 year old is AMAZING!)







Evan was amazed at the LEGO train table.   LOOK at his face, lol!

He noticed the smallest of details in the huge display... noticing which sets he had, which sets he recognized... where they had combined sets to make a scene.  I'm pretty sure he could have spent hours looking at it all! 


Seriously, this is HALF the table.  See the woman just to the right of the Statue of Liberty in the white sweater, holding the small child?  She's standing against the far end of the table, and it was twice as wide as I could get in my camera frame!

Evan was in heaven.  As we rode the train home, he told me that as soon as his little brother is old enough, he wants to build a scene like this in our play room downstairs. 

I told him he better start saving his pennies! 

Anyway, it was a blast.  I'm glad we had the chance to go! 

Superbowl Snacks: Baked Won Tons

So, I saw a pin the other day for Cream Cheese Won tons... and man did they look 1. simple 2. good.

So when Evan and I were discussing his Super Bowl Party food, I suggested them to him.

And he drooled all over my computer.

And, of course, I had to change them up... I mean, seriously, just cream cheese inside deep fried dough sounded good, but there is so much else you could do!!

So, we made them three different ways:  Bacon and Jalapeno, Feta and Garlic, and Bacon and Green Chilies. (I folded each one differently so we could tell them apart.)

Super easy instructions:

Cut an 8 oz package of cream cheese into 3 parts.  Mix each part in a bowl with a few tablespoons of whatever flavors you want.  Place a small spoonful in the center of a store bought won ton wrapper and fold. 

Then deviate even further from the directions by BAKING them instead of deep frying.  Just spritz with a spray oil and put in a 375 degree oven until lightly browned, then turn on the broiler just to make sure to get them extra crispy.  I mean, it's filled with cream cheese and bacon, I promise, you won't miss the extra calories! 

Weekend Creative

I have a new toy.

Some of you know about it....

I've been saving my pennies... and I finally bought myself an electronic cutter!!

This weekend, I cut out Ryan's Valentines... and I've started to assemble them. 

(This one still needs a few final touches, but you get the idea!)

Now to add the finishing touches and fill the goody bags they will be tied too!

Sounds like the perfect activity for movie night!

Crabby Patties

Every weekend, before I trudge to the grocery store, I ask the boys I live with if they have any dinner requests.

I usually get a bunch of mumbles, and no good ideas. 

This week, however, Evan informed me he wanted Burgers.

YAY!  An IDEA!!!!!!

So, I made up my grocery list, and the boys and I trudged off to the store.  While we were walking the aisles, Evan started asking me if we had misc burger toppings... Pickles? Check. Ketchup? Check.  Cheese? Check.  Then under his breath, I heard him say, "hmmm, what else goes on a crabby patty?"

Don't know what a crabby patty is??  Watch 5 seconds of Spongebob Squarepants one day.

Anyway, here's Evan with his dinner choice!

Boys are the Best

I know, I know. 

Girls are cool too.

But wanna know what a little boy can do that a little girl can't?

Melt his mama's heart at 6:26 am after the coffee pot explodes all over the counter, and she's running late anyway, and can't find her phone... and is just having a crappy morning.

How?

By saying just 6 words.

In an adorable little boy voice.

What are those miracle words??

"Mama, You look like a Princess."

Can't have a crappy morning after that!