Mr. Studious

At the beginning of the school year Colby announced that he wanted to run for student council.
We were delighted that he wanted to and helped him with whatever he needed.
He enjoys it and is having some great experiences.
He also got glasses.
At first he was SUPER upset about having to get glasses, but after the lady at the Dr. office told him that they had some "Sporty" frames he thought it would be ok to have glasses. 
I have been told by his teacher and a few others that he looks so handsome in glasses. 
I would have to agree, he is DANG handsome and athletic and smart too! 
Colby is just an all around great kid.  He is very social which is one thing that his dad and I are not so sometimes he drives us crazy with his "socialness" but I think it will really benefit him in his life to be smart and social so I hope he stays that way. 

Snow Mountain Wrestling

My boys make full use of the snow mountain next to our house. 
Lately it has been the sight of some pretty intense snowball fights and wrestling matches. 
I caught some pictures of a match between Cameron and his cousin Jacob. 
Mark and I were betting on who would come in crying first.  Amazingly neither one of them did!

In the end they were still friends and they had a TON of fun!

Hayden's Valentine's

Hayden and I made these Rice Crispy Valentine pops and Hayden delivered them to his friends. 
He was so darn cute knocking on the door and saying "Happy Valentine's Day".  Someday he's gonna have the girls fighting over who gets to give him a Valentine!!

Busy

Scenes like this are an all to common thing around our house.  We were totally spoiled and maybe a little misled with Hayden.  He was a DREAM baby, slept like a champ, didn't crawl-ever. just kinda scooted on his bum, didn't walk until 18 months and he Never put anything in his mouth. 
Clara is also a dream baby but she is a VERY busy dream baby who doesn't sleep well at all, she crawls fast as lightning and put everything in her mouth!  She loves to get her little hands on paper, napkins, kleenex and rip it to shreds, eating it along the way.

After pulling countless items out of the trash that were put there by sweet baby sister, I bought a new taller trash can with a lid. 
Did it stop her from her mischief?
HECK NO!
She is a very tall little girl and she stands on her tip toes like a ballerina!  I think the trash would have to be like 5 feet tall to keep her out of it. 

This girl is a climber too!  None of my boys were climbers, they didn't even try.  So imagine my surprise when I look over and see Clara up on this chair!  She was so stinkin' proud of herself and just giggled and grinned for ever.  After snapping a few pictures I sat by her and tried to teach her how to get off the chair safely.  When I thought she was over the chair I put her down and walked away.  When I looked back at her she was on the chair and making her way onto the train table.  AHHHH!!!!   She now tries to climb on EVERYTHING!!  I don't know if I'm gonna survive her, she is a FULL TIME job.  Good thing she is lets me pick her up and kiss her to death quite a few times a day!

I know someday soon I will miss this crazy happy little girl and I will for sure miss her clinging to my legs everywhere I go.  I had Cameron take a couple pictures of her the other day to document this sweet stage in her life.  

Poor baby girl is so sick right now.  Coughing, runny/stuffy nose.  Her eyes are so red and sad, her cheeks are flushed with fever, and her voice is hoarse and raspy.  Sick babies make me so sad.  I am enjoying the cuddle time I am getting with her even if it means trying to sleep in the recliner with her and waking us both up every few hours to keep the medicine in her.  She did finally sleep for about 4 hours in her own bed and woke feeling much better & with no fever.  She is taking a nap again and hopefully sleeping of the rest of the sickness.  Hopefully this doesn't last much longer, I miss my crazy busy girl!!

The Winner!

First of all, a BIG THANKS to everyone who entered my giveaway!

It was fun and I may have to do it again sometime.

I wish everyone could win but that's not the case.  11 people left a comment, so after entering the numbers 1-11 in the random number generator I found on Google the LUCKY winner is.................

JESSICA F. who lives in our nations capitol!

email me with your address and the color of flowers you would like and I will get it sent out to you.  

Last Day to enter

It's the last day to enter my Valentine's Day Giveaway. 

Leave a comment by Friday the 18th at midnight.

Defending the Brownie Mix

Hayden sat so good...happy as could be that he got to lick the bowl.

The evidence of the goodness was all over his face like an electric sign advertising what he had.

It didn't take long for his brothers to see the sign and invade Hayden's bowl.

Defend it to the death he did.  He was not about to let his brothers in without a fight!!

Sometimes it's really not easy having two older brothers.  It's a good thing that Hayden is going to be WAY bigger than both of them in a few short years!

Multi-tasking

Why is it that I can not just sit down and relax???


I feel like if I am not getting at least two things done at the same time that I am totally slacking and way behind.
ie: clothes in the washer & dryer / sweeping, dusting

or dishwasher running / cleaning out drawers
And maybe I'm weird but I don't like to be doing two things that require lots of electricity or water at the same time. Like I don't run the washer and the dishwasher at the same time, or I don't vaccum and have the dryer going.  And never have someone take a shower or bath while running a water using appliance either.

I know it may be quirky or maybe it's that I was raised in Arizona where there is such a thing as "on peak & off peak" hours of electricity.  "On peak" hours meaning it's more expensive to use electricity.  So we always did things during "off peak" hours.  If they have the same program in Utah I am not aware of it...does any one know?


I guess I'm just a multi-tasker by nature, my mom is too. 

I have been reading a couple of great books that I want to share.  The first; The 5 Love Languages.  We got it as a wedding present but I didn't read it until we had been married a couple of years.  Boy do I wish I had read it BEFORE getting married!! Reading it again has been a great refresher especially in finding out what my kids love languages are now that they are old enough to have one.  If you have not read the book or don't know about Love Languages I really recommend it. 


The other book is called The China Study.  It's an amazing look into the way we eat and how it effects everything, namely our health.  If you are at all interested in your health, which we all should be, you really need to read this book.  It is definitely eye opening and will change your way of looking at food and medicine.  For example, and these numbers really stuck out to me; Males in the US have a 47% chance of getting some form of cancer.  Females have a 38% chance.   Cancer is not a NATURAL event.  Adopting a healthy lifestyle can prevent the majority of cancers in the US.  Note it does not say can prevent ALL cancers, but the majority. 
Why when we all want to live a LONG and HEALTHY life do we not care more about what foods and medications we put into our body?  
I look at medication kinda like this....say you have High Blood Pressure or High Cholesterol.  Your doctor tells gives you a prescrition for some medication.  You take the meds and you are better, you stop the meds and you are sick again.  And who knows what other side effects the meds are going to have.

Or, you can look into what changes can be made to your lifestyle and diet.  You change a few things in your life and what do you know, you don't have High Blood Pressure anymore.  NO MEDS NEEDED!!   You are not dependent on the medication for your health.
I don't know about you, but that sounds like a better solution to me.  I know it is not easy to change a lifestyle, I'm guilty myself.  I think it's kinda like Obama's bailout plan....it's only a band aid and it didn't fix any real problems.  People didn't have to make changes and take responsibility so the problem is still there to creep back up again. 
I'm rambling..........the book is called The China Study and I really recommend it!

On another note; I love waking up and seeing this out my window.  They are so pretty and fun to watch. 

PS.  Don't forget to enter my giveaway in the post below this one!!  Johnson cousins I'm talking to you! And everyone else who looks but doesn't enter, come on, you know you want to!!!




 

Valentine's Day Giveaway!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

To celebrate this day I am hosting a giveaway!  It's kinda pathetic actually and doesn't come close to comparing to a giveaway from someone like Seriously So Blessed or CJane or Design Mom, but hey it's a giveaway none the less!  And your chances of winning here are WAY better than on one of the other sites right?!

So here's whats up for the winner.

The things in this giveaway are really pretty random but they are things that I love and I wanted to share!!
Sorry the picture quality is so bad, I meant to take pictures before the sun went down so I had more light but that just didn't happen.  I promise this frame is super cute and will be perfect for a photo of your sweet Valentine.

These are Ice Cream Spoons and they are so darn cute!  There are 4 of them and if you have kids they will love them, I know mine do!

This little piggy spatula is perfect if you have kids that like to help you cook.  My 7 year old is a pro at making scrambled eggs and this spatula is the perfect size for him.  Plus it's super cute and kids and adults like using it!  Even if you don't have kids that cook it's cute anyway!

I will also make you a felt flower hair clip in the colors of your choice. 

You get to choose one of each kind in whatever colors you want. 

To win just leave me a comment! I know I have some readers who have never left a comment....you know you want to win!!  The deadline is this Friday Feb.18th at midnight. 

Recipe

I'm kinda getting bored with blogging. 

I'm thinking about hosting a Valentine's Day Giveaway to create some excitement around here so check back to see what's up!

I do LOVE all things Valentines!
Love the colors, the sweets, the LOVE, the shapes, the decorations....  So today I'm gonna share a recipe that I am going to make for my Valentines. My mother-in-law & sis-in-law made these cupcakes on my birthday and they were soooo good.  I've been looking for an excuse to make them again.  Maybe they were just so good because I didn't have to make them and usually that's the case on my birthday cause I end up making a cake for Colby.  No, I'm pretty sure they were just that good!

I think I may try and copy some of these awesome ideas. 

Barefoot Contessa Coconut Cupcakes

 http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/coconut-cupcakes-recipe/index.html

• 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 14 ounces sweetened, shredded coconut

For the frosting:

• 1 pound cream cheese at room temperature
• 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 1 1/2 pounds confectioners' sugar, sifted

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In 3 parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Mix until just combined. Fold in 7 ounces of coconut.

Line a muffin pan with paper liners. Fill each liner to the top with batter. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla and almond extracts. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth.

Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with the remaining coconut.

ONE

Clara girl turned one on Thursday!
I may have gotten a little carried away with the hype and the decor but it was so much fun to plan and decorate a party for a girl.  I couldn't help myself.  The decor is still up! Maybe out of laziness or because I still like to look at it, it was lots of work after all, may as well admire it for awhile.
We had Gma & Gpa Davis and the Davis cousins over for Cake and presents and Clara didn't disappoint.  She was cute as ever and wasted no time on her cake. She got some badly needed new outfits from Aunt Julie and GMa.  Thanks again guys!

I wanted to get her something fun and something lasting.  So she got pink legos and a My Little Pony and a nice picture frame that hopefully she can have forever to mark her 1st birthday.
She went to the dr. on Friday for her 1 year well check and is super healthy and perfect. She is however my smallest child by far and I love it.
19lbs 15oz

30.5 inches

That puts her at only the 32% for her weight and 95% for height.  I can't even turn her car seat around yet!!  All of my boys were well over 20lbs at one year.  She still wears size three diapers for cryin' out loud!
Clara is a busy little tornado who LOVES attention.  She will reward you with a HUGE smile and lots of laughs, her dad and I can't get enough.  She gets into everything, jabbers non-stop and stands up to anything that will hold still.  She is still at the stage where she doesn't quite know how to get down so she either stands there and cry's for help or falls and gets hurt.  We are in for it when she walks! 
Her birthday concludes 3 birthday's in 5 days in my family and I'm glad it's over.  It's Julie's turn now with two birthdays in a row. 
Part of me is really sad that she is growing up so fast and part of me is excited for her to grow up.  Mostly so that I can buy her stuff and do things with her that I loved as a kid.  And dang there are super cute clothes out there too!  I hope she doesn't get sick of me before she grows old enough to leave home! :) 
We sure love our Clara Girl. 

It's amazing how jeans on a baby make them look so old. Especially when she stands up, she really looks older!

Her eyes are amazing!

The crew of cousins and brothers that helped celebrate her big day!

These two baby girls are only 20 days apart.  We can't wait to celebrate Annie's big day in a couple of weeks!

Snow Hill

Before it was so cold that we have been confined to our houses we had a few really nice days.
The kids have a GREAT time playing on the mountain of snow that gets piled up in the dead end street next to our house.  Even though it was probably only 35 degrees on the day I took these pictures, I would take that back instead of the -11 that we have had the last two days. 
I really hope the cold doesn't last much longer.
And tomorrow, the 3rd is my baby's birthday.
One year old already. 
I'm sure you all will hold your breath to see pictures of how stinkin' cute she is wearing her new b-day outfit!!