Picture Time, Picture Time.

We got family pictures done today. Yay! No, this one isn't going to be blown up and put over the mantlepiece, (and not just because we don't have a mantlepiece) but it does amuse me quite a bit and may make it on my new family history wall. Those two sure are crazy about each other. :)

My sister-in-law Laura got Andrew this ADORABLE little Santa outfit. I laughed for a good 2 minutes straight when he was presented in it. Sooooo cute!!! He's definitely going to be wearing this when he meets Santa this year. Yeah, Mr. and Mrs. S have invited us up north again this year for brunch on Christmas Eve. Such a chore, but we must indulge the old man. Just kidding. Please don't tell him I said that.

30

Goodbye 20's. Helllooooo 30's. Yup, tomorrow is my husband's birthday. I doubt he'll see this on his special day as he'll be busy finishing up his huge memo that's due tomorrow for school, but in any case - Happy Birthday, Mike. I sure love you. Because:


1. You're my best friend.
2. You are hilarious.
3. You are genuinely interested in people.
4. You work so hard in school.
5. You are a wonderful, caring husband.
6. You are a fun, nice daddy.
7. You are a good friend and support to all of your family members.
8. You are quite humorous in your sleep. (I'll leave that to another post, web on-lookers.)
9. You are so handsome.
10. You support me in all I do.
11. You brought me Runts at work, thereby saving the lives of my co-workers that may have otherwise perished in a pregnancy-induced rage.
12. You're my favorite handy-man.
13. You are custom-fit for me.
14. You help me strive to do what's right.
15. You make me want to be my best self.
16. You are interesting to talk to.
17. You're smart.
18. You are kind.
19. You help people, even when no one is looking.
20. You watch chick-flicks with me. (And you even like them! Shhh...I won't tell anyone you like Jane Austen movies.)
21. You give good compliments. :)
22. You never yell.
23. You always have great gospel insight.
24. You're strong.
25. You make being married fun.
26. You think of fun things for us to do together (lay under the arch and look at the clouds, giving me a scavenger hunt on my birthday, Birthday Buddies, etc etc etc.)
27. You love me - truly.
28. You are always learning.
29. You love to read.
And lastly:
30. Because you're you. And you are perfect like that.

Happy Birthday, my nice Michael.

Hi=hi!

Funny Girls

Last night was Activity Days. We made turkeys and wrote things we were thankful for on the feathers, with an emphasis on SPECIFIC things we were grateful for. It went pretty well.

Somehow they started talking about MAP testing. One of the girls said that in California it was CAP testing. So they then starting talking about all the other states - Virginia would be VAP testing, Hawaii would be HAP testing, etc. They were all laughing pretty hard at this. Then one of them said, "In Pennsylvania, it would be PAP testing!" I really don't think that any of them know what that means, but it set me laughing along with them, so they continued onward while I tried to stop laughing amid cries of "Yeah, PAP tests! Those kids all have to take PAP tests!" They then started doing it with other states (my personal favorite was Texas - they thought tap tests would be funny - part of it would be tap dancing). It was pretty hilarious.

We had a really good time, and while looking at their turkeys, I noticed that one of them had put, "My Activity Day Teacher's Humor."

Yeah. It went well. :)

Toy Story 3

Here's the link to the trailer. I hope it's as good as the first two which were awesome. :) Pixar is amazing. I can't wait to watch Up again.

Click HERE.

Adventures in Babysitting

I got to watch this sweetness today for about an hour while his mommy was at work and his daddy was hometeaching. He spent the whole time cooing at his toys. Andrew cried anytime I talked to CJ instead of him. It was kind of funny to see him get jealous so early. I love having friends with cute little babies who will be buddies with my little guy. :)

So excited...

Yummmmmmmmm......

Baby News and Karen's Got a New Mindset

So, sorry no pictures, but my kid is about to crawl. He hasn't gotten the hands yet, but he's constantly up on hands and knees. He's either rocking or moving his knees back and forth. Maybe I should get him a baby treadmill. :) If he would move his hands at the same time, he'd be moving. All along my un-vaccumed floor. Oy vey.

Which brings me to my new mindset. My house is little by little getting cleaner and more organized. I prayed for help, and came up with FlyLady. I have yet to follow her advice on anything. Whoops. But (BUT! Yes, it gets better.) I have followed a bit of her mentality. Ready for it?.............

Rome wasn't built in a day. Why in the world do I think I can change all my bad habits and bad mindsets in a day? And because I'm not beating myself up constantly (and with the help of a little guy who is just starting to figure out that he can play on his own) (and with a little help from my favorite of husbands for his help in throwing things away and putting up shelves so we can put up our food storage, etc.) I feel in control. I tell myself that I can only do a little at a time. And that's what I do. I now find myself looking around the room before I leave to find something I can take to the room I'm going into to put away.

For some of you (maybe most of you) this may not seem like a big thing. But for me, it's been an amazing week. I made cupcakes in celebration. Luckily, the missionaries and the Bells are coming over to help us eat them.

And is it just me or is Rainbow Chip icing the best icing on the planet?

40

Happy 40th Anniversary, Little Guys!

Today

***Exciting news!!! It has now been 5 days of ALL the dishes being washed, dried, and put away by the time I go to bed at night. That's right folks!!! Small victory, but it's mine, baby!***

Today my house still looks messy. And that box is still in the upstairs bathroom with 5 things in it or so....and it's been there since we moved in. Ahem.

But today I...

1. Had breakfast buddies with Michael and Andrew. Toaster Streudels. So good.
2. Made taco soup for dinner and had it done by noon. (Really easy, really delicious. Brown hamburger with onions. Add corn, kidney beans, pinto beans, green chilis, taco seasoning packet, ranch dressing packet, diced tomatoes, meat and onions. There were lots of recipes online, but I just kind of added what looked right. Serve it with cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips for dipping. SOOO good.)
3. Did 3 loads of laundry and folded them. The trouble now is to put them away.
4. Straightened up the living room and baby's room
5. Exercised
6. Changed 11 diapers. I think. I stopped counting.
7. Gathered up the trash throughout the house
8. Watched an episode of Monk online (love that show)
9. Made an appointment with the Parents as Teachers program
10. Stopped all that to play with Andrew. Because I realize that he will not always be this little. He will grow up and eventually not want to cuddle with me anymore. Everything I do will no longer be hilarious, and as much as I am excited to meet Andrew as he grows into his own little person day by day, I think I will always miss my sweet little Jellybean and his goofy toothless grin.

The day wasn't perfect, but for now it was absolutely where I needed to be.

Someday...

Someday I will be able to put all of my groceries away the same day I go shopping.
Someday I will be able to look back and see a truly productive day.
Someday I will keep my house in such a state that I wouldn't be embarrassed if someone were to just drop in.
Someday I will remember to both read my scriptures AND say my prayers properly- on the same day.
Someday I will do all of this because today, today I am taking baby steps to change my habits and become more of the person I want to be.

I don't expect to be perfect, but gosh darn it - I'm ready to start improving my life by small and simple steps. I'm worth it. I just gotta remember that.

Weekend Happenings

I went to my parents' house this weekend with Andrew for a Halloween visit. Jeanette and Jason came, too, and it was a lot of fun! We played games (including Harry Potter trivia - we played by candlelight. Yes, we're dorks, but it was so fun!), watched movies, and basically just spent time together. My in-laws were sick, so we didn't get to see them unfortunately. I somehow left my card and card reader for my camera there, so no pictures. Sorry. :( Other "not so happies" include Andrew burning himself by putting his hand in my bowl of piping hot chili (he's ok, just didn't feel awesome at the time), eating my weight in sugar (seriously, what is it about this time of year that makes me feel like it's ok to go into a sweet-induced coma? If I do, please send chocolate chip cookie dough through my tubes so I can continue with the deliciousness.) and not getting to see Michael for 4 days. Andrew and I were sure glad to be home and see Mike. Visits are fun, but it's true that there's no place like home.

Captain?

For those of you who grew up watching Sesame Street, you may have seen this lovely character - Captain Vegetable.

For those of you who watch Monk, you may know this guy - Captain Stottlemeyer.

Yes. It is he - Captain Vegetable.

I contend they are basically the same person.

Am I the only one who thinks they sound and look a lot alike?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmjLqddPqZQ

See the above link for the Captain Vegetable song (for those of you poor souls who managed to grow up in this cruel world without our noble hero.) I couldn't find any clips of Stottlemeyer, but you can go to www.hulu.com and watch him there.

Seriously. I'd pay good money to hear that actor sing that song.

Jeepers Creepers

What's creepy you may be asking? How about this old ad? Great googily moogily.

Anyone else have an imagination that runs wild every once in awhile? I HATE being home alone for that very reason. (And cause I like Mike a lot.) I also hate when my cell phone will turn on for no reason at all. No call coming in, no text, nothing. C-R-E-E-P-Y. But it's really not. I think I just need to turn on some more lights. Sheesh. It's only 2:45 p.m.

Can anyone say "chicken baby"?

Pre-Halloween

We've had a little pre-Halloween fun lately. A family from the ward threw a Halloween party last Saturday that was pretty neat. She had all kinds of food and decorations, and tons of little kids dressed up. So, we had to dress Andrew up, of course. He was a teddy bear. This was taken at the Bells right before we all headed over. Note the adorable little tail.

The best part of this outfit was that it cost a total of 50 cents. I made the hat and scarf, and bought a teddy bear at Goodwill and cut off an arm (for the tail - I just rolled it up and sewed it into a ball) and the two feet (for the ears). Easy, and OH so cute. Seriously. Who could resist this kid? I can't wait to dress him up on Friday and then again on Saturday. :)

We had the Bells over on Thursday for chicken nachos (which were awesome - just bought some nacho cheese, cooked up some chicken with taco seasoning, and added other nacho-ish type stuff. Yum.) and pumpkin carving! This is Michael's pumpkin. It pretty much cracked us up.

Here's a shot of us all doing our pumpkins. If Quentin looks less than enthused, that's probably because we think he got carpal tunnel syndrome from cutting out his pumpkin. :) It took a while to do, but turned out great!

Here are our pumpkins. From left to right: Mike, Karen, Natalie, and Quentin.

I made the little pumpkin to go inside Mike's. :) My pumpkin is an Andrew pumpkin. It's kind of remarkable how much it looks like him, honestly. Natalie's is obviously a witch, and it looks awesome! The creepy one is Quentin's. Pretty intricate!

All of us with our awesome pumpkins!!!

Happy Early Halloween!!! :)

Activity Days

I was called as the Activity Days leader at church which is basically a group for 8-11 year old girls. Last night, we thought up some attributes we admire in others, and decided on one we would focus on this week. I brought some scrapbook paper and we made "At-tree-butes." Corny, I know, but they loved it.

Working on their trees.

A finished product.

The group.

Here are some quotes from the evening. Little girls are a crack-up.

"Your wish has been observed......and come true."

"This one looks like a Tinkerbell house!"

"The way to remember my name is to think of At Least, then change the at to El and there you go." (Her name is Elise.)

"If I were over 13, I would go over there and tell those boys to be quiet."

"I'm going to be very optomistic. Even though at school there's a boy that, unfortunately, I think is flirting with me."

So funny.

Sweet Pea

I know you were all dying to know what the boy was eating this week. I must appease his fans. It's sweet peas! He gave me a "Hey! What the crud is this stuff? I KNOW it's not bananas..." look after the first bite, but seems to really like them now.

When at all possible, I want to make his baby food, but I wasn't feeling up to it this week, so I bought a jar of peas. The only ingredients were: peas and water. Yippee! And no additives or preservatives, so that's a bonus as well.

This is his hat for Halloween. We were driving along and as we got home, we saw that it had gotten over his eyes. And yet he STILL didn't fuss. Gotta love that kid.

I think this is his 'What the heck" face.

66

Only 66 days until Christmas!

Woohoo!!

This Kid's Gone Bananas

Andrew has started eating bananas. He. Loves. Them. As soon as he sees me pick one up, his eyes light up, and his arms start flailing.

He's a mess, but we love him.

This picture was ridiculous. It just made me laugh. He looks like he's been drinking some fermented banana juice or something.

Here's why he gets so messy. He is good about getting the banana in his mouth, but bad at not pulling some out with his little hands....

He's started smiling with his tongue out like that. Even with a bib and face full of a nasty spit/banana mixutre, he's adorable.

What can I say? The kid's just sweet. And when did he start looking like a big kid?

Don't wanna

I don't feel like doing anything. Had those days? And Andrew's decided that 15 minute naps should be sufficient. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.

World's Biggest Fan

Yesterday was Quentin's birthday. If you don't know it already, Quentin is one of Andrew's favorite people of all time. Conveniently, his wife Natalie is also one of his favorites, so a night at the Bells is always an exciting experience for him. I made him a onsie that says, "The Quentin Bell Fan Club." He's the president. :)

Happy Birthday, Quentin!!!

Here's a picture of our buddies. We're so glad to have them, even if Butters eyes look slightly scary in this picture. Notice that Andrew is with the Bells. :)

A Smash

A Graveyard Smash, in fact. Inspired by Jeanette's JibJab Halloween hilarity, I decided to make my own. And yes, I did laugh really hard. And yes, Andrew did cry. Oopsie. Anyway, check it out. I put Aaron in there since he can't be here (mission) and was going to add Dustan as well (mission) but that picture of Sierra was too hilarious. And HOW CUTE does Andrew look?

Click Here.

Rice, Rice Baby

In our newest news, Andrew is now eating rice cereal! (No, that's not the box it comes in anymore. That would be cool, though...) He thinks it's the greatest thing since birth. His first "meal" was on Wednesday night.

The baby's reaction to his first few bites of solid food. (He was so excited, he lost a limb, apparently. His new name is Lil Brudder, the one legged dog.)

Waiting for me to give him some more. He cries between bites.

Looking nasty as all babies eating food do. And yet, adorable at the same time.

Bananas are next. :)

Coastin' along

I made coasters yesterday. They're marble with some cutie scrapbook paper decoupaged on. I thought they turned out pretty well!

An aerial view...

A random shot of me and Andrew. He loves the strings on my hoodies.

The table all set for dinner with the missionaries. It looked so nice and autumn-y, but of course I couldn't capture that with my camera.

Our house looks ready for fall!

I went to Hobby Lobby and took advantage of their awesome deals on flower stems to arrange the fall bouquet for the table. The best part? You can re-use it year after year!! :)

And also, a day late- Happy Birthday, Mom. I love you!!! {And yes, I did call her. I was a good girl. Just late on my blog. :) }

Breakfast Buddies

The missionaries are coming over for dinner tonight, so I made Brownie Bottom Cheesecake Bars. We've never had them before, but excited to try them! :) We had some leftover strawberries so I just sliced some up to top it and make it pretty.

Who doesn't love Mondays? I do, cause Mike came up with a great idea. We switch off making breakfast for each other every other Monday. The other person gets to sleep in until the breakfast is ready (around 7:30 or 8) and then we all eat together. That's why I look like a total mess. :) Today was the first one and Mike made crepes. YUM! It's especially nice because every other day (including Saturday) he's gone by 7 am so we don't see him until at least 6:30 at night. Yay for Breakfast Buddies! Yay for my sweet husband! He's so fantastic.....

Feelin' Sappy

Have you ever been totally and completely amazed? Everytime I look at this sweet face, I am blown away. I don't know why I was so blessed to have such an amazing son. But I tell you this, I will spend every day for the rest of my life feeling a deep gratitude to a loving Father in Heaven who has allowed this special little guy into my life.

1st meal of October

I know it looks a little funny- pictures of food never quite turn out right. This is a recipe we got from our friends, the Cannons. It's Tomato Dill Soup. It is soooooo good and perfect for the first day of October as it is ORANGE! :) Here's the recipe if you want it. It is totally delicious, and so easy to make.

Tomato Dill Soup

Saute 1 thinly sliced onion and 1 minced clove garlic in 2 tsp vegetable or olive oil and 1 tsp butter until tender. Add 3 large tomatoes, blended (or use 1- 28 oz can canned tomatoes. Don't use the juice but save it for later- This is what I used. It was way easier. All I did was stick those puppies in there and mash them up with the spoon.), a pinch of salt, and pepper to taste. (I used more salt as that's a lot of tomatoes.) Cook over medium high heat for 2 minutes or until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in 1 6-oz can tomato paste. In small bowl, combine 1/4 c flour and 1/2 c. water. Stir until smooth. Stir into pan. Add 2-3 cups sour cream (depending on your tastes) along with dill and onion powder to taste. Cook over low heat until heated through. Don't boil. (I accidently let it boil so had to add water to make it thinner. I wish I hadn't thrown out the tomato juice from the can so I could have used it, but the water worked great also.)

I also somehow managed to burn the tips of my fingers. No fingerprints for me, baby. Enjoy General Conference this weekend!!!