Quiet Glow

Trunk or Treat

2011-11-28T18:14:00.000-08:00

Is it trunker treat or trunk or treat? Either way that is where we headed off to Saturday night before Halloween. The whole family got in costume and ready to go. I really considered having us all go in a theme, but there were two problems with that. One, there aren't many group themes that fit our family (one girl five boys) except maybe star wars, but I really wasn't interested in being Leia and well, that about it. And secondly, all my boys are very clear as to what they want to be, and I know I had a blast choosing my costumes each year as a kid so I didn't want to take that away from them.

Brodie didn't have a choice.... and if I really had my way, all the kids would be little stinkers... I just think it is SO CUTE!

How sweet are they hand in hand. Bet you didn't know spider-man had a sidekick did you? It will be reviled in the 5th movie.

Austin loved all the activities. Huge shout out to the committee who put on the show this year. It was one of the best I've seen at this ward. Notice his spider on his check to match his costume? He loved it.

Watch out for the black ninja. Ty was very intense in his disguise.

Although Tanner is showing his true identity here, when he had on his mask, General Grievous would have you under control with his powers.... come to the dark side. But for now, we will be nice so we can enjoy the hay ride.

And yes, Eric was a cow. It was 10 years ago when he wore this for the first time and it was a hit back then too.

And yes, those are utters.... don't ask. The boys got right into the trunk-or-treating and I think they did about 3 loops. Austin was the loudest, Tanner was the fastest and Ty was the smartest grabbing the particular candies that he liked. They made out really well and I approved of the stock. It was a great preview to Halloween night and a blast hanging out with friends.

Knives and Flames

2011-11-28T00:40:00.000-08:00

We take pumpkin carving very seriously around here.

Everyone gets there hands dirty (well not me, Ty, Austin or Brodie)

Lucky for Tanner who was DYING to try pumpkin seeds my mom came over to help work on that

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww..... gross. But he loves it!

Leave it to Eric to find the joy that night in lighting the candle. "It sounds like a blow torch" was exactly what he said.

Everyone gather round.

This part is very intense.

Success! Two smiling pumpkins for four excited boys.

Pumpkin carving is not my favorite thing, but I am grateful for my husband and my mom who are willing to get there hands dirty and get it done, as are my kids.

PPPP-Pumpkins

2011-11-26T21:39:00.000-08:00

October is FULL of family traditions and places to go. So back in the car we go to head up to Bishop's Pumpkin farm, to see the goats, I mean get a pumpkin. But also to see the goats. Did you know my kids like goats? We should just rename October the month to go see the goats.

Here we have Tanner, with the goats.

Tyler, hanging out with a baby goat. Notice the little one in the back. The human, not the goat.

Brodie, not so much into the goats yet, but I give it a year until he is converted.

Oh there he is, the child, not the goat. Check out Austin brushing the goat. At least he is making himself useful.

Thumbs up is right. Okay, we can go home now. Oh wait, we are here for the pumpkins, I forgot.

First, a ride on the train.

Again, sooo, sooo happy.

Then onto the wagon to go out to the fields. Ty had this weird thing going on with his smile... but capture who they are right and don't try to change them. That is so flipping hard for me as a photographer, but I am letting go... trying to.

The bummer was all the pumpkins were yucky. I am guessing it is because of the random weather we had this year. I heard a lot of crops didn't work out because of it. So as long as we were all the way out in the field waiting for the tractor to come back and get us I had some fun with my camera.

The sun was setting and I love love sunsets and the light then.

The boys had fun running in the fields

Brodie was a little overwhelmed at the size of some of the plants.

Austin continued to point out his favorite... over and over (always changing)

And while we didn't get a pumpkin the trip was still just as fun. The goats, the train, the hay ride, the fields, the goats, oh wait I already said that. It was just great. We topped the night off with a bite at Costa-Vita, one of Eric's new favs. So fun, love our October traditions.

Austin's Pumpkin Day

2011-11-26T21:24:00.000-08:00

Austin has gone with his older brother's to the pumpkin farm with their preschool class for a few years now, but this year, it was his turn! He was just a little excited. I was actually afraid he was going to hurt his face he was smiling so big.

We always start out the trip with an exciting ride on the tractor around the farm. He was feeling cool.

And guess what came next.... wait for it..... goats. Big surprise that this kid loves goats too. It must be a Lawrence thing.

CORN!! I personally hate this particular corn maze. There is nothing exciting about it. It is literally straight rows one after another and it is about 8 rows to long. But he loved it.

Oh yeah, Brodie was along for the ride too. He loved the giant hay stack. I love how happy my kids are.

Just a few more years for Brodie's turn to do it with his own class. But for now, he is happy to tag along.

Such a fun morning with my two little ones. Such fun to see their smiling faces. Let the holiday seasons begin!

Apple Hill Baby

2011-11-26T14:37:00.000-08:00

Apple Hill is an annual tradition that is LOVED by all in our family. I think it is for most people here in this area, but never the less it is special for us for sure. Each year is different yet the same but always full of amazing memories.

Feeding the goats is a must. Each boy always seems to find a goat they like the best and they make sure that goat gets plenty to eat.

Even Brodie got in on the action!

Cows?!? Sure why not.

Pure happiness!

Who's kids are those?

Oh no, there's more!! Run!!!!!!!!!!!!

What is up with the sideways photo? Anyway, he stayed on this plane for about 20 minutes. Couldn't get the little pilot to get off :)

Finally the boys joined him and the whole crew was off.

Change of pace....

Turn your neck again.... ohhh, how cute. We always end the day at the fish pond. A huge highlight.

Brodie enjoyed the pond while sharing Eric's chocolate apple. That kid can't get enough sweets.

Cheese!

All the boys feeding the fish.

What a good looking bunch... even from the side.

Pose...

Sky high. Can you tell he is having a good time?

What a perfect day! Until next year apple hill.... we will be thinking of you. Thanks for another year full of fun.

Lemon Blossoms and Is It Really Better Than Sex? Cake

2011-09-22T18:02:00.000-07:00

I was laughing as I saw my last few posts today. A little hypocritical don't cha think? HA
It goes fitness/working out, desserts, fitness/working out, desserts, anyone else see the problem with the pattern? But that is my life right now, so why break the trend?

Last weekend I made TWO desserts because my mom needed one for a get together the following week and I didn't want to give her a dessert I hadn't tried before, so we used Sunday night as our taster night. I highly preferred one over the other, but again, I am not a great one to rate desserts, I just like to make them. Gosh- I am sounding weirder and weirder the more I write. Well on to the good stuff.

First up, Lemon Blossoms from my girl Paula Deen. Paula just knows how to make a good, not even a little bit healthy for you food of any kind. We share a love for butter. Butter makes everything better. Since these are chocolate free I can honestly say I really did enjoy them. I considered making full size cupcakes, but in the end went for the minis and I am so glad I did. Bite size is good because I don't feel ask guilty popping 6 into my mouth when I can do it in one bite. I think it would be a bit more socially awkward to be eating the same amount in full size. That's like what... 3 cupcakes regular size. Yup, something about 6 minis just seems more doable. Correction, 6 minis are do-able, I can confirm that from experience.

Just to keep in line with the fresh summer theme I grabbed another one of Ms. Deen's desserts. I went full cake on this one, no bite size fun for me. The name cracks me up because I can just see her saying it on her TV show in her long southern drawl that she does so perfectly. Is it really better than sex? cake was super simple to make and looked pretty too. We renamed it 'Is it really better than other cakes? cake, but still had all the same good stuff in it. The family really liked this one too. Personally it wasn't my favorite flavor combo, but I liked how light it was.

By the end of the night everyone was full and happy. But the dessert picked for my parents event the next night was the lemon blossoms. Either way, they both were great summer night desserts. Two thumbs up for Paula Deen!

Lemon Blossoms

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

Ingredients

18 1/2-ounce package yellow cake mix
3 1/2-ounce package instant lemon pudding mix
4 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Glaze:

4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray miniature muffin tins with vegetable oil cooking spray. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil and blend well with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour a small amount of batter, filling each muffin tin half way. Bake for 12 minutes. Turn out onto a tea towel

To make the glaze, sift the sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, zest, oil, and 3 tablespoons water. Mix with a spoon until smooth.

With fingers, dip the cupcakes into the glaze while they're still warm, covering as much of the cake as possible, or spoon the glaze over the warm cupcakes, turning them to completely coat. Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath to catch any drips. Let the glaze set thoroughly, about 1 hour, before storing in containers with tight-fitting lids.

Is It Really Better Than Sex? Cake

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

Ingredients

1 (18.25-ounce) box yellow cake mix, plus ingredients to prepare
1 (20-ounce) can crushed pineapple
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 (3.4-ounce) box French vanilla pudding, plus ingredients to prepare
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup flaked, sweetened toasted coconut

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare yellow cake mix as directed using a greased 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. While cake is baking, combine the pineapple and 1 cup of sugar in a saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

Remove cake from oven and using a fork, pierce holes into cake. Pour pineapple mixture over hot cake and set aside.

Prepare pudding according to package directions. Spread pudding over cake and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Whip heavy cream and remaining sugar until stiff. Cover top of cake with whipped cream and sprinkle toasted coconut on top.

Putting My Rocks In First

2011-09-12T10:56:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard the story about the professor who gave his class a lesson about priority using a jar, rocks, gravel, sand and water? It is one of my favorite examples of how to best get done what you need to during the day. I have used it many time for lessons at church and in other teaching opportunities I have had over the years. If you haven't heard it you can read about it here.

I have been rearranging my rocks lately as school has started for my boys and I have added some goals to my life that I want to work on. Some of you might have heard about Eric's huge life change lately as he lost 75 pounds over the last year. He did it by exercise and diet. He really got into running, became super committed and completed his first half marathon last spring. He was prepared to run his second race this summer but tore his hamstring playing baseball the week before the race. It has taken several months for it to heal, but he feels strong enough once more and is back out hitting the pavement pepping for his next race in October. My husband has been very inspiring to me as I have watched his journey. He loves what he is doing and it is so fun to see his success and results!

So as the goals started to be put down on paper for myself this fall naturally my mind turned to Eric and his running. As I previously mentioned I am trying this workout program Insanity (which has been fun, but I totally flaked last week.) but there is something about running that I love so much. But with Eric running at night, and our work outs together, plus this little part of my life about being a mother to 4 there just isn't time to squeeze running into my day. Then there is the nagging thought that I could always go in the morning. I have successfully tuned that voice out for a while now, but reality has hit and if this is something I want to do, it must be done in the morning. There is just one little problem with that.... IT IS SO EARLY!!

I am a night person and have been FOR-EV-ER. Like seriously, stay up all night and get all my stuff done then. Morning runs would require me to wake up at 5 am so I could go and be back before Eric left for work. I have to say I am a little motivated because I know if I did this I could expand my work out clothing wardrobe, which would be cute and fun, but can I function on one hour less of sleep than I already have? It is a thin line....

I found this article online of ways to help that can't get up in the morning problem written by Jeff Galloway encouraging some new techniques to get moving in the morning.

Even though the best time for running during hot weather is in the early morning, many runners are unable to overcome the gravity of the bed. But you can overcome this by using the following rehearsal drill that you should do over and over the afternoon and evening before your runs. This will shift your mental control from your subconscious (which wants to stay in bed) to the executive brain which can get you focused and into the action.'

Try these:

State your desired outcome.To be awake and fully engaged in the run, from the start. This starts the process of shifting mental control into the frontal lobe, the executive brain.

Detail the challenge.Desire to lie in bed, no desire to exert yourself so early. The stress of the alarm clock and having to think about what to do next when the brain isn’t working very fast.

Break up the challenge. Break it up into a series of actions which lead you through the mental barriers, which is challenging to the subconscious reflex brain. Your conscious focus is on the next step in the chain, not the run.

Get ready to run. The night before, lay out your running clothes and shoes (often near the coffee machine), so that you don’t have to think about anything.Set your alarm. As you are laying in bed the night before, say to yourself over and over: “Alarm off, feet on the floor, to the kitchen.”

Visualize each action. As you repeat your mantra the night before of how to get moving, visualize doing each action without thinking. By repeating it, you lull yourself to sleep. You have also been programming yourself to take action the next morning.

Alarm goes off. You shut it off, put feet on the floor and head to the kitchen—all without thinking—because you programmed the conscious brain to take control.
Don’t think. Act. Put on one piece of clothing at a time, sipping coffee (or tea, diet cola, etc.), never thinking about exercise.

Check the weather.With coffee cup in hand, clothes on, you stick your head out the door to see what the weather is like.

Final rehearsal. Driving to the workout or race, sipping your beverage, you rehearse seeing friends, feeling the positive energy of an event, easing into the workout/race, feeling good about your exertion. Or, you walk to the edge of your property, put the coffee cup down and cross the street. You're on your way. The endorphins are kicking in. The positive peptides are rising, you feel good, you want to continue.

Principle of motivational physics: A body on the bed wants to stay on the bed. But once a body is in motion, it wants to stay in motion.

So lets see if maybe tomorrow I can put my first rock into my jar and have it be running.... who knows how the rest of the day will turn out if I do!

No Bake Peanut Butter Pie

2011-09-08T09:52:00.000-07:00

I am kind of laughing looking back at my last two posts. I started the perfect bite posts with that yummy snickerdoodle cupcake recipe, and followed up that post about me and working out. Is anyone else seeing the problem here? HA
Everything in moderation right?

And to help cement in my goal for "being health" even more, (because those first cupcakes were not helping AT ALL) I did make another batch of chocolate chocolate chip cupcakes the next day for the boys and gave most of the snickerdoodle ones away to friends so I would stop consuming them! And as I have said before chocolate is not so good according to me so those little treats didn't even get my attention once. I did use the left over cream cheese frosting which I might have had to help taste test a few times as I put them on the chocolate, but I was just making sure it had held up well in the fridge for the few days. It did, very well by the way.

But moving on moving on.... for dessert this weekend I was running very low on ingredients
around the house so I had to find something using the basics but still good because we were headed to a friends house for the night.

I found this no bake peanut butter pie which looked good plus I had everything I needed for it so it was the winner.

It was super simple, which is always a plus in my book. I had to put together a gram cracker crust but those are a snap to crush add butter and sugar and bake for a quick sec. Then I threw together all the pie ingredients, plopped it on top of the crust and into the freezer it went. I put some finely shredded chocolate chips on top because it needed a little oomph but after I thought of all the AMAZING things I could have added to the top like candy bars, caramel, oreos, peanut butter cups... really anything or a mix of them.

We ended up forgetting about the dessert the first night while we were chatting with friends, but I had made a second one and had that the next night with my family. It was the perfect treat as we ate it outside as the sunset on a lovely summer day. The taste was rich and creamy and the chill of the peanut butter was a fun surprise when eating a pie.

This is definitely a repeat recipe. Try it out and let me know what you think.

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup milk
1 (16 ounce) package frozen whipped topping, thawed
2 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crusts

Directions

Beat together cream cheese and confectioners' sugar. Mix in peanut butter and milk. Beat until smooth. Fold in whipped topping.
Spoon into two 9 inch graham cracker pie shells; cover, and freeze until firm.

*** Dress up your pie and add whatever yummy, crunchy, sugary, salty, gooey topping your heart desires!****

My BIGGEST Love Hate Relationship

2011-08-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

Do you work out? Do you like working out? Or are you like me and sit on the couch with your snack as you "preview" your latest workout dvd you got because heaven forbid you do a workout without knowing what you are about to get yourself into, right?

I consider myself an athletic person. I enjoy moving around, having fun, playing some sports or running. But when you talk about the w word or more commonly know as working out, I cringe. For me the goal of working out would be to see a result different from what my current look is. But did you know that when you work out you don't get to see the results right away? Why is that. I like to see the fruits of my labors... like yesterday. Not tomorrow, or a week later, but NOW! I know this post could take a whole different directions into how to have patience, but that is another day.

So back to why I like to sweat. Well, obviously I don't but I committed to something and there is just no backing out. Eric and I are doing insanity for 60 days. WHAT?!?! I know, I'm crazy. But by putting the 2 month goal out there and more importantly having Eric by my side, I'm going to work it out baby and see how it goes.

Have you heard about this workout? If you have, you can feel my pain. If not, check it out....

I have the hardest time each night getting all fired up to do this. Eric has to drag me into. And seriously 3 minutes in my legs are screaming at me to stop. But you know what? When I'm done I feel AWESOME BABY! I want to do it again, well not really, but you know what I mean.

So what do you do to make yourself motivated to workout?
Oh, by the way, I'm a week in AND I'M DYING!! Wish me luck, only 7 weeks left.

Snickerdoodle cupcakes

2011-08-29T00:08:00.000-07:00

Some people like to cook, some like to bake, some just like to eat. Me personally, I like the last two the best. Baking is so much fun for me, and who doesn't like a sweet treat now and then. The funny part is, I actually don't particularly love sweets, and I don't like chocolate at all unless it is lightly tucked inside a chocolate chip cookie, but I love making desserts of all kinds. Weird, I know, but if that shocks you then we need to get to know each other better.

So as I am starting my latest collection of family favorites I thought I would share with you the creations and if they look good maybe you can make them for your family. To encourage this endeavor I have requested to be in charge of Sunday night dessert for my family (including my parents) so hopefully for their sakes I can whip up some yummy and edible treats.

After wrapping up a way to long (and by to long I mean more than a day) of eating healthfully, cutting out the good stuff like carbs and sweets, I decided it was time to indulge. While I was being health I missed 2 awesome deals at my favorite cupcake shop in town so I tried to make up for it on my own here at home. Out came the mixer and spices and I picked out a nice fluffy looking cupcake, the Snickerdoodle cupcake.
As they started to bake, the house filled with that sweet smell of cake and cinnamon, something it had been missing for far to long. Yum!
Now for the BEST part, the frosting. I saw people suggested various kinds of frosting online to top these light pieces of heaven, but I went with my favorite, cream-cheese frosting, and added a a twist.

Yep, perfection. Eric, who really likes being in the kitchen with me grabbed the icing bag and asked to do the honors of topping the cakes. He piled on that cream with easy and with a pinch of cinnamon sugar on top from me they were complete.
And yes, they tasted as good as they sound. I was only going to have one being mindful of all the hard work I had done on my "diet" but before I went to bed I had eaten 3. Don't tell Eric though, he thought I only had 2!

I saw this recipe as I was searching around online from Bakerella who always has great ideas like this Snickerdoodle-Duo I am excited to try! What could be better than a stack of snickerdoodle? I really can't think of any. I might even have to try it tonight if I think I can have a little better self control. Reviews coming soon!

Ingredients:

CAKE:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups whole milk

ICING:
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 pound powdered sugar, sifted
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

TOPPING:
2 Tablespoons sugar + 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 28 muffin tins with paper liners.

2. Sift together both flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

3. In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with additions of milk, beating until combined after each addition.

4. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake about 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

5. Prepare frosting: In a medium bowl, use electric mixer to blend cream cheese and butter. Add sugars, vanilla and ground cinnamon. Spread onto cooled cupcakes, or scoop into piping bag and pipe on the frosting decoratively. Place sugar-cinnamon mixture in a fine sieve and tap it lightly over the cupcakes to give them a light sprinkle.

Tips:

*The cake part of the cupcakes can be stored up to 2 days at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months in an airtight container.

Source: RecipeGirl.com -cake adapted from Martha Stewart

Happiness is Where the Animals Are

2011-08-25T08:48:00.000-07:00

It is no secret our boys love the zoo. They would like them in the rain or snow, in the heat or in the water. Oh my goodness, I obviously read to much Dr. Seuss to the boys today, can you tell? But seriously, animals = pure joy for my boys.

Back in May I had to run out to Wisconsin for a wedding and I took Brodie. Before we left we were visiting my sister as she graduated from CSUN. I left the older 3 with Eric and my sister in SoCal and warned Eric strongly that there would still be 3 kids that looked like a Lawrence when I returned. And no, he couldn't trade them :)

So what would 3 boys, their dad and their aunt do for fun while having fun in the sun? HIT THE ZOO of course. A zoo is a zoo is a zoo. Always fun.

Apparently they put Austin in charge....
There were several photos that I found like this when I came home. He took his job very seriously.

Lions and tigers and bears... such fun. They didn't even miss me. And to my relief I didn't see any news alerts online while I was half way across the country about a boy stuck in a tree with a monkey or swimming in the flamingo pond, so all was well.

Cash Only Budget

2011-08-23T10:55:00.001-07:00

Eric and I have tried various different ways of budgeting and paying the bills over our almost 10 years of marriage. Some worked out pretty well, others not so much. We have learned a lot about each other during this process but it has also made us stronger as a couple as we work together to reach an end goal. Often times money can be such a difficult topic for couples and even though I admit there have been times where a conversation or two has become more heated than I'd like but in general I am blessed to have a husband who really is a partner in this with me.

So recently I wanted to try to revamp our system once again. Our current one had been working for about 3 years, but I wanted to find one to allow us to save more aggressively while still having money for other things. I started reading away on different types of systems and got stuck on the cash budget idea. Eric had reservations because in the past we have lost/misplaced or had cash just full on disappear (I'm talking hundreds of dollars) but the overall system seemed appealing so he agreed.

I first came across this idea on Money Saving Mom and this is her post about how to get started. I looked at various blogger's sites who have also started on this adventure to get an idea on how they worked it out. You can read some of the sites I found info about it here, and here.

Eric and I spent one night going over all the categories we could think of that we wanted to include in our budget. This is what we came up with.

Food
Date Night
Gas
Family Fun/Eating Out
Diapers
GNO (girls and/or guys nights)
Home
Gifts/Birthdays
Clothes: $/per person
Vacation

And like the theories suggest we will continue to pay our monthly bills like phone and gas and water etc with our checking account. I have our monthly bills charted out to where I know about how much they will be monthly. Obviously it changes a little but I tend to round up on the ones that do fluctuate so when it is a higher month I have it covered. And, if it is a lower month for monthly bills but I have it budgeted for higher months I leave the extra in that account because it never fails that some bill will pop up that I wasn't expecting. We call that checking account our bills account (original right) and transfer all other money out of that account to not confuse how much will be coming out that month for bills.

Our second checking account is our family account where all other money use to go, but now with this cash budget I think I will only leave $100 in there for emergencies. Then we have our long-term never ever ever touch it savings account and then a regular savings account where we save money to help where needed or for special things or whatever.

And the rest goes into the envelopes. I debated how I actually wanted to do the envelopes. I am slowly sewing a wallet insert with cloth envelopes with magnetic closures, but like I said, that is happening very very slowly. I didn't like doing just plain white envelopes, because lets face it, those are no fun. But then I found this post online on a DYI envelope system. LOVE IT!

So we are going to start on Sept. 1st with the guidelines we have set up. I am assuming there will be a little adjusting as we go, but hopefully it works out. I'll keep you updated on the status. So now I have to keep working on the cute new envelopes before the end of the month.

What system works for you and your family?

Fallen Leaf Camping

2011-08-23T10:14:00.000-07:00

Vacation really throws a wrench into my mojo. I was all about the blogging thing again, then we did a week trip to Tahoe for camping with my fam and boom, mojo gone. School starts soon and I am hoping that makes things start rocking and rolling around here again.
But while I have a quick second (even though I have already had to get up 6 times and I have only written how many sentences?) I wanted to post our picks from our camping trip. Fallen Leaf is probably one of our favorite spots ever to vacation let alone camp. My parents always secure THE BEST camp site and the place it self is spectacular. I can't recommend it enough. Besides being literally across the street from Lake Tahoe, it has it's own little (big) lake that we ride bikes to or hike around. So much fun.

Can't you just see the joy on their faces. My boys are outdoor boys 100%. What kid wouldn't love being able to get as dirty as they wanted without getting in trouble?
And even more fun than getting dirty is Austin's make-shift bath that was actually for Brodie, but Austin hopped right in too. It became a nightly to do for him.

We did lots of hiking. It is fun having the older two old enough to walk around and explore while the little two are happy being in the backpacks. And Eric just had to teach the kids how to chew on grass like he use to growing up in WY. They thought they were soooo cool.

Brodie tested out our bear alert system I had in our tent. It was just me and the boys for the first night cause Eric had to stay and work, so you bet I had something to let the entire campsite know if a bear dare try to mess with me or the boys in the middle of the night.
Isn't Brodie such a love. He is such an easy flow with it baby. I really lucked out.

My dad's friends came up that he has know since high school. Dave and Cindy quickly became by boys favorite people to hang out with. Plus they brought their dog grace who was the perfect amount of fun and energy for the boys.
Danica and I of course had to have a moment. My dad sent this photo to his sister and said this is the real reason we are sending her off to DC (not because she is getting her masters). She really looks uncomfortable in this photo. HA

And we ended the trip with a day at the Lake. Tahoe is always the perfect spot. Brodie found his place in life that day at the beach. He was all smiles and couldn't have been more content with the day. The older boys were in and out of the water, playing in the sand and running, always running around.

Another success camping trip 2011. Can't wait for the trip next year.

Rushmore Waterslides

2011-07-23T13:43:00.001-07:00

It got warmer towards the end of our trip so we took a day to hit the water park.
T and t jumped right in. Tanner found a small pool of water on top of a slide that he claimed as his own and stayed there for a large part of the day.
Austin wasn't as thrilled to get all wet (I think he takes after his mom a little) but I was able to get him in once with Eric.
Otherwise Austin was found stomping over the bridge across the water over and over again.
Eric and Tyler braved the water slides. That is were Ty spent most of his day with his cousins, but Eric joined him for one run down the double tube slide.
Ty only asked him to go with him once though, and for good reason. See that yellow tube in the background? That little person on it is Ty. Now see the legs in the air just off to the side of it? That is Eric, under the water with his end of the inter-tube, just before catapulting Tyler off into the water.
Once Tyler surfaced they determined it is better to ride the ride with someone closer in size. So Ty jumped out and grabbed his cousin for the next ride. Good choice.

Bear Country USA

2011-07-22T21:34:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been to this place? If not, it is a total must see. Seriously awesome.
We packed up the car and the caravan of 6 cars headed off to the spot. The kids had their maps and began our 2 mile tour of Bear Country. The rules were just to not feed the animals, stay in the car at all time and always keep the windows rolled up. We agreed to the regulations and in we went. The animals started off slowly first were the moose. It was neat as we watched them because the food truck came up and the moose started to move it right passed our car and to the truck. It was cool.
Next came the mountain lions (they had a special cage, not so up close and friendly I guess).
Raccoons.
Bison. And others, but the highlight was most definitely the bears. It was the most up close and personal I have ever been to a bear.

They literally walked by our car. I could have run over one if I wasn't careful. My sister in law said often they are just sleeping, but that great food truck followed us and those bears knew it. Watch out!
The boys LOVED LOVED LOVED it. Probably one of the best parts of the trip. There were so many bears. They were everywhere.
And beautiful. To have them right outside our window and really see their size and their power was inspiring. Really a neat experience.

As we went to leave the driving part of our tour we got stuck. For various cars in front of us and as far back as we could see after the bears had some crossing guards. It was hilarious. We had to time the exit perfectly as these two bears held their position well.
Eric's mom was with us this day and the kids loved grabbing her hand and taking her around with them.

My monkeys felt right at home seeing the animals. I probably could have left them there and they would have been fine with that.
The baby bears were just too cute. Full of energy, full of life, full of personality.
Austin made friends with the locals.
This is our crew from Tanner to the end of the photo... we took up half the fence.
Bear Country, you will easily go down as one of our favorite trips of all time. Seriously, well done, well done. Thanks for the amazing show.

Let the Adventure Begin!

2011-07-21T23:15:00.001-07:00

This summer our family had a couple of little trips planned but there was one HUGE one that we had planned that would take 12 days. To some, a mere 12 days might seem like nothing, but for our family of 6 who is use to weekend getaways, the week and a half + seemed daunting. Oh, did I mention it was in the car? There were pros and cons to driving vs. flying but really it came down to time vs. cost. 20 hours of driving was going to be loooooooooooooong, but the cost of buying 5 tickets, then hauling all of our luggage and renting a car, ummmm no thanks, we decided to endure the drive.
Well I am pleased to report the car ride was actually the easiest part of the whole trip. All 4 boys were all stars. No joke! It was seamless. 20 hours one way, CHECK!

The landscape along the drive was uneventful.Oh sorry. Eric's feet really can detract from the view.

There, see. Pretty flat, really straight, that's about it. The only awesome part was the clouds. If you know me, you know how much I love clouds and sunsets and colors in the sky. It is my thing and always had been. And you can't find thunder clouds anywhere like you can in the mid-west. They are AMAZING. Oh so so pretty. So I really enjoyed watching the clouds as we drove. About 2 hours into Wyoming there was the most incredible cloud in the far east sky. It looked like a fountain shooting up out of the ground. You couldn't tell where the cloud started as it was shooting up into the sky. We chased the cloud all the way across the state and every time we thought we would catch it the road would turn just slightly and drive us just out of reach. As we entered South Dakota the ground was damp and we knew the storm had just passed through just before us. We were so close. Oh no.... now we have to go straight north to hit our destination. The cloud is right in front of us and soooo dark. I just wanted to see the storm that I had been watching for the last 4 hours in the distance. Bummer. North we went. The road started winding and the hills began to roll. The kids became a little restless as our 20 hours destination neared, and frankly, Eric and I were done as well. We came around a bend to get hit head on with another HUGE FREAKING BLACK CLOUD.
And in case you didn't catch the seriousness of my all caps, I'm talking, can't see blue sky left right front or back on this monster. At that moment it was exciting. We actually were going to see one of these awesome storms from this massive midwest rain cloud. Whoo-hoo. We headed in (as if we had a choice). Right as we were directly under the edge of the cloud we could see the cloud just above our heads and instantly all the excitement vanished. You could literally feel the pressure in the air and an almost evil presence. Eric and I could actually see the clouds begin to swirl above us in a circular fashion and the kids began to scream. It was intense, but that was just the start. I took a breath only to be shocked by the sudden down pour of rain. I have been in heavy rain storms, but this rain was so thick I couldn't see the hood of my car. Tree branches started hitting our car being blown off of near by trees. Then the hail joined the party. The cracking sound that happened as the hail made contact with our car and windows was deafening. As the wind got stronger Eric demanded that I drive and do my best to get us out of what seemed to be a potentially very dangerous situation. I couldn't see but feeling the urgency in my husband's voice I slowly started driving trying to stay on the road. With in a few miles (but it seemed like it was a day long journey) we found the street to turn off onto and it was as if we turned right out of the storm. Clear skies greeted us as if it was all just a dream, but my shaking hands and sobbing children confirmed it wasn't. We arrived at my sister-in-laws within minutes and although we had to pry the kids from the car we all were so glad to be inside and felt relieved to have put that little show behind us.

With in no time at all the kids were distracted by cousins upon cousins. I don't even have a picture of Ty the night we arrived because he just disappeared.

Tanner made quick friends with "the girls" as Eric and his siblings call them. They are the youngest 4 of the 10 and from his dad's second marriage. Chambrie became the object the kids used to jump, roll and flip over.

Austin wasn't shy showing his new friends his favorite games on the ipad.

And Brodie, well, he is always such a love.

It was the first time Eric had seen his family in 5 years. He settled right in and was so happy to see all of them. The oldest of "the girls" was at BYU so we didn't see her here in SD but we were able to catch up with her on our way home. Eric's family was so welcoming and kind, it was nice to be there.

We unpacked and got ready for a week of fun with the Lawrence fam.

And with every storm is light on the other side. Like I said clouds and sky are my thing, so even though we fought the storm of the summer, look at the view I got to see later that day. So worth it. Beautiful. It was a lovely end to a very long drive.

The long life of Mac

2011-07-20T21:58:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh, the relaxing joy of feeling the keys slide beneath my fingers as I start to create a story of the latest happening in the Lawrence house. The excitement that comes as the words form that transform the emotions and feeling of the experiences we had translate onto the web to share with others. Rarely is the spelling and grammar correct. Few others check in to read what I have written. There is no award or goal to these posts other than the smiles it brings as my boys and I look back to reminisce together our simple pleasures in life. It has been too long.

And what has caused this jaw dropping moment you might ask? Well it is really a little silly actually, but hey, whatever works right?

My iMac, my lovely computer that is my other right hand has died. Sad, yes I know, I did shed some tears but don't cry for Mackie, all will be okay. We took his remains to a wonderful Dr. at the Apple store and because he was an organ donor not all will be lost. Other iMacs will be able to live on because of our Mac's contributions and during the process a micaral did occour. The amazing Dr.'s saved his heart, or in computer world also known as the hard drive, and with a little bit of work, they transplanted his heart into a new computer and with a few prayers, it did start beating again. Yippee Yippee. He lives, not all is lost. While the outside is new, the inside still has all those important memories and years of experience that we will be able to see again. He will be in recovery for about a week, because the surgery was intense. 19 hours of data transfusion, but I have polished the desk in anticipation for his arrival and I am counting down the hours anxiously waiting for his return.

So in the mean time, while I am missing my other half, I have had a whole new outlook the last couple days. You can't imagine the amount of laundry you can get done in place of working on the computer. (Yes I said working. Of course there might be a few peeks at facebook or checking the latest clothing sales online mingled in but all in all, it is work, I swear).

But as I can I will steal Eric's laptop and do some of those other things I might occasionally do in between working so hard (like clothing sales or whatever) but seriously that gets old really fast. But tonight, a light went on. While 90% of my family photos are in recovery with old Mac, there are a few on this laptop that I can pull. Whoo-hoo. Blog world, save me from my boredom... I can only do so much laundry in one day!

So here we go. Watch out little laptop, these keys are about to experience something exciting!! Oh no, Eric is coming. Okay okay. Plan B save the real fun for tomorrow. I'm so excited, I hope I can get some sleep. You wont believe some of things that went down when the Lawrence family invaded South Dakota. Stay tuned! Eric, wait, no, not yet... ahhhhhh ashlodmsgjdfk;lh------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a nice thought

2011-01-05T23:45:00.000-08:00

So much for the catching up by new years thing. I was really going to, I promise, but when I sat down Thursday before the new year and pulled up those old photos that I needed to catch up on my heart sunk as they were all gone. There was panic, sickness, sadness, calmness, resourcefulness, hard work and then success. My hidden and locked photos became found! But what was lost was the time I had set aside to catch up. But good news is (besides the fact that I hadn't lost a whole years worth of photos including the birth on B) is that I have also been diligently catching up on my archiving of photos (3 ways).

So until next big time block that I have free (haha, like there are ever any of those) these are pictures of my week thus far from my phone.

This is what Tanner wore to school on Monday. Dressed all by himself. What you can't see is his tie, his vest and his collared shirt, worn unbuttoned under his jacket. And of course he had to wear a hat, and today it was Ty's fedora. And these glasses are attached to his face lately and frankly, I think they are perfect for him. I'll have to grab a picture tomorrow with him in his scarf that I just got for him... too funny.

This is Brodie last week actually just after my aunt and grandma had gone home after a post Christmas visit. I had him sitting on my lap, and he turned his head right into my arm and promptly fell fast asleep, and that kid was OUT! He was all tuckered out.

And this is Austin today as we went to pick Tanner up from school. He didn't want me to take his picture and frankly who would with THAT on their face. What is that you ask? I have no idea. Seriously. When I put him in the car and buckled him up his face was clean. Then, after less than a 5 minute drive and no other factor that I could find in the car, I go to unbuckle him and that is on his face. When I first opened the door, it looked like a booger. But I quickly realized the object was about the size of this nose, so there was little possibility that it came from inside of his nose. Then I thought it kind of looked like bird poop, but I thought bird poop would be a little more runny, not as considerate in one place like a dollop of brownish frosting. Plus, it didn't happen outside, because like I said, when I buckled him in, inside of the car, there was nothing. Ummmmm, so what?? I looked all around the car, all around the rest of his body. I quickly ruled out his own poop, plus there was no smell. There was nothing on his hands, shirt, mouth. GROSS! or was it, I really didn't know. I wiped it off, smelled again, carefully examined it, and nothing. It was a mysterious brown gooey thing to which its origin remains unknown. I really hope he isn't coming down with something.

And that is a typical day in my life.

Oh, no pictures of Ty yet this week on my phone. Probably cause I haven't seen the kid sit still this whole week. He has been bouncing off the walls, the chairs, the ceiling... any picture would have just been a tall skinny blur of a kid as he made his 486 lap around the house. 487, 488, 489, 490, 491........

4 really does equal that much more

2010-12-29T13:53:00.000-08:00

4 equals:

more laundry
more things to do
more smiles
more laughs
more pictures
more fun
more things to blog about..... some day

I am still alive... I promise. I had no idea how much busier life would be with four. And he is just now mobile, I am worried what life will be like when all four are full speed.

I have been delaying my blogging cause I want to keep things in order but I can't seem to catch up. But the big thing was I ran out of space to upload my photos and they want me to buy more. I will finally give in to that... grrrr. I wonder if I could get it all caught up before the new year.... it's a goal worth shooting for. Because while we are go go go around here, there is a lot of blog worthy things that happen on a weekly basis with four boys that I really should get on.

So if I hit my goal, here are some things you might see in the posts:

Broderick's birth (kind of a big one, I really should do that one first)

Birthdays.... there have been a few
the great flood...
Halloween
a few home made crafts, in all my free time
DISNEYLAND!!!

And of course, Christmas.

So let me go finish up my laundry, the dishes, vacuum, place a photo order or two and get the kids showered and I'll get on this right away. 2.5 days to get 5 months of blogs in. Ready, set, GO!

State Fair 2010

2010-10-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

The State Fair is a favorite, favorite event for our family. Tanner talks about it literally all year long, asking if we can go. We normally go with friends but this year my parents were able to join us. We luck out BIG time on the weather. We had a crazy summer in the way of weather and the week we went was one of those weird weeks. We debated on which day to go and when the first date came around it was 100 degrees out there. But a week later when we went it was mid 80s. I can't ever remember going to the state fair when it was in the mid 80s. As we left that night I was actually cold and wish I had a sweater and I was 9 months pregnant. That right there made my whole day at the fair amazing.

But there were many many other things that caught the eye of the rest of the family at the fair which made the trip a huge success. There were two main things that I thought really scored big this year. The fair had a whole area that they transformed into a jungle. Not my favorite place but the boys went wild for all the animals in there. There was everything from huge HUGE spiders to alligators and snakes... ohh I am getting the hebie geezie just thinking about it. How do you spell hebie geezies? Heeby geezy... whatever. Anyway. I am getting all grossed out thinking about it.

I am glad my mom and dad took over during this part to show the boys around and I was just on camera duty.
I really have to get my lack of love for these types of creatures under control because you should have seen how elated the boys faces were after the pet the snake. So sweet and an exciting moment. They are experiencing so much and enjoying every minute of it. It's not like the snake is going to eat them. I guess it's not that bad. I could take them to things like this more often with spiders and crawly things and snakes and AHHHHH, I can feel it slithering and crawling ALL OVER ME! Get it off get it off GET IT OFF!!!

Wishful thinking I guess.
Keeping my distance while they experience a baby croc. Whoo-hoo.
This is my kind of animal. A big golden bear. Wonderful. I can deal with this. But seriously, the kids really got a kick out of it too.
6 years of going to the fair as a family and this is the first year we actually let the boys ride something. I don't even know if they knew that there were rides at the fair, so when they figured it out and we said they could ride, we became the best parents in the whole world.
See the joy just beaming off of his face.
My mom and Ty went round and round. I was running in between this ride and Tanner's ride and I could hear Ty screaming and laughing 15 feet away from the ride. He really had fun.
Tanner got to ride some kind of dear/antelope looking thing and my dad jumped on too. Carousels are perfect rides for Tanner.
Big surprise, seeing animals is always a highlight for my kids.
Even Austin got into the action and pet the chicken.
And the rooster.
And the dinosaur. What? Wait... someone grab my kid, there is a dinosaur about to eat him.
Actually there was just a super cool dino exhibit where they had all sorts of life size dinosaurs that moved and roared and made the kids feel like they had gone back in time to dinosaur land.
This was probably the main reason we felt we needed to hit the fair this year. My kids are in love with dinosaurs, especially Tanner who can tell you the names of about 30+ dinosaurs, what they eat and in what time period they live. It is really impressive.
They felt right at home with the huge beasts.
Captain Austin ready for take-off.
And then, of course, there are the "doats" (that is goat in Tanner language).
He would have probably slept there if we let him.
Baby goat are so cute.
I am really trying to talk Eric into letting us get one. I think I am close.
It was another success, memorable and fun fun fun time at the fair. I can't wait for next years trip.

Watching from the sidelines

2010-10-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

The boys are best buds. Always hanging out, together.
Sitting in the door way, watching dad mow the lawn.
Hanging out, eating snacks, having fun. I couldn't ask for anything better.

Doing it Dee's Way

2010-10-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

The middle of our summer was blessed by a visit from Dee. The boys always get a kick when she is here and she is always helpful with things that need to get done. I personally always look forward to the yummy food we eat while she is here, because you can't have a guest come into town and not take advantage of the local restaurants that she so desperately misses while she is down south. Oh, I am getting hungry just thinking about it. Ummmmm...

Anyway, the kids had a great time washing the cars with her while she was here as one of the many projects we got done.
I think Austin had the most fun.

He was actually really good at it too.

Tanner grabbed some clippers and helped Grandpa trim back the blackberry bushes.

Ty did a great job overseeing and putting in his extra touch behind Austin as they worked along.
The cars and the yard looked tip-top when all was done. Thanks for the help guys!

Tan-Ner

2010-10-12T16:20:00.000-07:00

Tenacious
Alive
Nifty
Notorious
Exuberant
Refreshing

TANNER!

Yum

2010-10-12T16:04:00.000-07:00

AUSTIN.....SAY CHEESE!

Slip n' Slide Silliness

2010-10-12T11:12:00.000-07:00

There is no better way to have fun and cool off during the warm summer months than a slip n' slide. I know it is one of my favorite memories as a child. This particular slide had three different "lanes" which was perfect for the boys.
We laid it out in my parents backyard and off they went.Austin wasn't into sliding as much as he was into slipping. But he always has fun at his own version of whatever it is we are doing.
All the adults put their feet in the water at one time or another, but we all tried really hard not to get too wet (which is a challenge with all three boys splashing away.
And splash they did!! LOTS!

Another successful summer memory made having a cool time all together.

Welcome to Penryn

2010-09-04T18:11:00.000-07:00

Our friends the Leavitts recently moved to Penryn, just up the road about 15 min, so we piled the kids in the car one night to have dinner at their new place with some more friends too.
Dinner was great (thanks Noel) and it was the perfect night to sit outside in the yard and enjoy time with good friends. Between our three families we had 5 little boys there, and since then Noel and I have added two more boys to the group. I am hoping in March Diana can get a girl to join the group, but we will have to wait and see :)They have some chickens too, so the boys thought that was amazing and we all went to feed them. I guarantee you that was the highlight of the night. And ever since then each time we head up there, the first thing my boys ask is if we can go see the chickens.

Nights like these are some of my favorite time with friends. Thanks girls!! (and boys)

The last game... for now

2010-09-01T12:06:00.000-07:00

Ty has found his sport. We see a long future of baseball (and probably swimming) for T. He had a wonderful spring playing his first year of t-ball and he can't wait for baseball.
He is really into every game and plays real hard.
The last game was a lot of fun because they pitched to the kids in stead of letting them hit it off the tee. Ty thought that was the coolest thing ever.

And as always, his loyal fans supported him the whole time.
I don't know where Tanner was, probably being bat boy or socializing with some new friend.
After the game we headed to Leatherbys for the end of the year party.
Ty loved loved loved his trophy. Unfortunately it did break 4 minutes after he got it, but super mom here super glued it back together when we got home, and it was good as new.

Tyler loved his coach, and we loved Coach Mandy. She did a great job with the Maidu Twins and the kids on the team.

Eric and I thought Ty did a wonderful job and he really found a sport that he loves for now. I am prepared for many years in the future that have me hanging out at the ball park all day as the boys all play their games, and I can't wait. Thanks for a great season Ty, and I can't wait for more games!!

Cool Down

2010-08-30T14:11:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of summer I was dead set on taking it easy. Baby Boog as we called him at the time was giving me a little trouble and we wanted to keep him in as long as we could. But sitting around and watching shows all day really isn't an option either with three very active little boys at home. So I tried to plan adventures that would limit my physical activity and still allow the boys to have some fun.
We actually did have some warm days in the beginning (gratefully for me the rest of the summer was pretty mild-cool) so we wanted to take advantage of the sun. I packed up lunches, towels and sunscreen and headed up to the park in Rocklin that the boys love!
It has water that shoots out of the ground, and is really a perfect way for the boys to cool off. I was so proud of myself too heading out with the boys, the umbrella, the chairs, the lunches... all by myself. Now looking back I am longing for the ease of that day, but I distinctly remember feeling very accomplished as I successfully set up camp at the park that day being 8 months pregnant.As predicted, the boys had a blast, as did I.

Ty got in a bunch of water fights with the other boys there that day.
Austin was cracking me up as he kept trying to get a drink out of the fire hydrant. The water would turn on and off as it cycled around the park, and luck for A it never turned on at the hydrant while his face was inches from the spout. He would have been knocked over if it turned on while he was drinking.
Tanner not being too huge on water did pay for a minute, until he got caught up in a water fight and didn't like that the boys he was spraying actually sprayed him back. He was beside himself with disappointment that the other kids in the park would respect the fact that regardless of who he sprayed, Tanner was not to be touched. Oh the lessons he will have to learn.
Luckily Grandma surprised us all and showed up halfway threw our adventure. She took Tanner and Austin over to the slides and made up for the lack of respect Tanner was being shown at the water. Austin had a great time going down the huge slide, and I bet Grandma did too.
It was a successful family outing and a great summer memory.

Playing catch-up

2010-08-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness that summer went by fast. And during it all, there was just no time to blog apparently. I want to get started blogging about Brodie, but so much happened before him, I want to catch up first before I get too far behind. So ignore the fact that I'll be taking about June and July for a while, and I'll be fast so I can get to the many stories that have happened in the last two weeks.
Looking back at photos, I left off around the end of May/beginning of June when they boys graduated. Tanner from his first year of preschool and Ty from kindergarten. Tanner did a fun graduation ceremony at Mrs. KaRyn's and wore the hat and gown. Eric and I figured Tanner would be his typical outgoing self and sing all the songs and say all the right things.... but we should know by now to always expect the unexpected with Tanner. He didn't sing a thing. When he got up to say his nursery rhyme that he had been saying night and day non-stop in the weeks leading up to then, he said nothing. Not even a try. In fact, the rest of the class had to say it because he wasn't going to talk. And it wasn't even as if he was scared. He just wasn't talking. Oh Tanner, always doing things his own way. It just is who he is. The one thing he did choose to do during the graduation was make faces. Not at anyone in particular, just cause. Here is a taste of what people in the audience saw.

Tanner, Tanner. What we have to look forward to with you.

Ty's graduation was a little less, theatrical, but still fun.
His teacher decided not to do any kind of a program, which was a bummer, but we did go in a little early the last day and do photos and Mrs. Beatty handed them a certificate of completion. Ty was just sooo happy to be moving up to the first grade. He loves school, and so going all day was really and exciting thought to him.
Congrats Ty on passing kindergarten with flying colors. Top group in the class. That is my T!!

After all the celebration Eric and I took the boys to lunch as a treat for them. We rarely do lunch out as a family, so they thought it was a great little treat.
So to sum up their school year, they both had a ton of fun, learned a bunch and just had a great time. Great job T and t on being wonderful students, brothers and kids! You are awesome and I am excited to watch you learn and grow over the years. Love you boys.

And so begins our summer fun.

Broderick James Lawrence

2010-08-26T10:22:00.001-07:00

Brodie is here, and we are so excited to have him as apart of our family.

Keeping It Outside

2010-07-04T12:14:00.001-07:00

Still taking advantage of the weather, I had my dad cut out some small boards for the boys to have and do some painting. I made them strip down to their underwear, even though the paint is 'waterproof' I don't believe it. They dove right in.

Tanner just went for it, no plan in mind. He enjoyed mixed the colors and seeing what different shapes he could make. Ty was a little more specific on his picture as he started to make a rainbow. Austin even had a board with some paint, but most of the paint just ended up on his legs and he was done within about 2 minutes from when we started. He did however become every interested in what the boys were painting and wanted to a; add to their painting using his own creative eye, which did not sit well with the other artist, or b; step on the boards which cause all sorts of tears and pushing as the older two tried to save their artwork. I didn't want to stop the fun, but didn't know how else to keep Austins attention, so I filled up the pool for the little guy to keep him out of his brothers hair. It worked, kind of. As soon as Austin jumped in the pool, guess who wanted to join him? T & t. Ugh, so much for prolonging the painting experience. I asked the boys if they wanted to finish and they said no, they were done. As the boys jumped around in the pool I didn't want to waste all the paint so I flipped to boards over and started painting myself. I am no artist, unless it is on the computer or behind a camera, so I really had no plan for my art. I just had to use the rest of the paint that was in the bowls.
I was impressed with the results although I have no idea what I am going to do with them. Maybe I'll flip them back over and use the kids original paintings for a fun addition to my walls.

Simple Welcome, Happy Days

2010-07-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

I have never been a huge fan of our entry way, cause I have never done anything with it. I love walking up to a persons front door and being in love with their house before ever stepping inside. It doesn't have to be fancy, just welcoming. But I just can never find anything I like, unless it is in the Pottery Barn catalog, in which case I cannot have it because I would rather buy my family groceries for the week rather than buying one welcome mat, let alone the rest of the decor which is so appealing. So I have lived here for 4 years with no decorations and no one to blame but myself. My dad is always great at decorating is porch (and when I say decorate, he's not all Martha Stewart or anything, but he likes to get a wreath or a door hanger.... pre-made mind you, and replace the current one hanging there already.) He always has something new and seasonal adorning his entry way that lets you know you have arrived at the Dicus house. So I had to laugh a few weeks ago as I called him on his cell and he mentioned he was in JoAnn's. 'Ummmm, are you lost Pop? I know you aren't sewing a new set of knickers for yourself, or scrapbooking your latest robot creation, so why are you there?' I was just really confused. Not the normal answer of Home Depot or the auto store that I am use to getting. So when he calmed my fears by letting me know he was grabbing some 4th of July decor I could only smile knowing next time I went to my parents house, there would be new things waiting to greet me.

The following week I was at JoAnn's myself, which isn't as uncommon as my dad's trip, but I was there for some fabric for something I was throwing together, no big thing. But I was there at one of those awkward times where I didn't have enough time to go to another store, but if I went home I would have to turn around in 10 minutes to go pick up Ty. But if I left the store right then I would be about 15 minutes early to pick up Ty and would have to sit in the car. I hate times like that. So I decided to stay and walk around with Tanner and Austin who both seemed content to just look at all the little things in the store. While strolling around the store, looking at nothing in particular, Tanner found this little frog that was going fishing. It was actually really cute, and he just kept talking about it. I asked what he wanted to do with it, and he said put it outside to look at. That was all I needed. The wheels started turning and I was off shopping again. The frogs had these perfect spring/summer colors and every turn I made, there was something else I could use to put together my creation. It came together all to perfectly, and I couldn't have been happier with the results. So now when you come over, it might not be a Pottery Barn entry way, but it is definitely a Lawrence home entry way, and I hope it puts a smile on your face like it does mine every time I come home.

DISCLAIMER: Handsome Man doesn't come with the display and isn't always present, but sure looks hot when he's there.

Eating While In The Air

2010-07-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

Why eat inside when you can eat lunch on the swings? There has been a nice change in the weather and the boys are once again living outside. We occasionally have lunch on the trampoline or the patio, but just to keep it exciting (like it is ever boring around here) the boys wanted to eat their sandwiches on the swings the other day. Why not right?

Well, Austin wasn't really swinging as much as just leaning on his swing, but as long as he is with his brothers, he is happy. He just has to be one of the boys.How can you not love that smile?They really did a great job of eating, which isn't always the what happens if they are outside, say on the trampoline which in that case half of the food ends up bouncing around with them.But as long as they are having a good time, everyone is happy, and you just can't beat that.

What I should be doing....

2010-06-25T23:38:00.000-07:00

As it is getting close to midnight I sit at the computer looking at all that I accomplished tonight in my night of work. While I am impressed I realize that I have just wasted a whole night and didn't get anything done on my list. I am tempted to stay up and get at least one thing done on the list so that I can say I did something I was suppose to, but the daunting fact that I have a 6am photoshoot in the morning is making a good case why I should just stop now and get some sleep.
I should have...
- folded laundry
- made either one of the two wedding slideshows that I want done by tomorrow for two different clients
- worked on an album for a third bride
- file the things in the huge stack of 'to be filed' papers sitting next to me on the desk
- got some final measurements for my couch that I am so close to finishing
- replied to some emails I haven't had time to get to
- cleaned the kitchen

oh my goodness, I am getting so tired just writing all the could have and should have blah blah blah. The list goes on and on. Bottom line, I didn't do any of it. But this is what I did do. Eric came up with a fun new blog. He always sees things a little differently than I do, so it should be fun to read his posts. Plus, with as big as slacker as I have been lately on blogging, maybe he can pick up some of my slack. But I love the name of his blog so much, and he hadn't done anything with the layout, so.....

I made this fun new header and changed his colors and all that fun stuff. What do you think?
To see it in its full glory check out his blog.
http://boysagainstgirl.blogspot.com/
I think it looks great! Okay, now I am just being overindulgent so I'm off to bed.

That's how we roll

2010-06-25T21:52:00.000-07:00

Whole House Fan, how I miss you!

2010-06-14T21:24:00.000-07:00

My family stayed out in the front yard for a moment or two this evening after FHE to say goodnight to my parents and get the last bit (well, the last allowed for the night) of energy out before bed. It was a warm, very warm 95 degrees today but we were pleased to feel the nice cool breeze tonight as a slight cooling trend will allow those hot summer temps to get back into the 80s which they totally skipped right over this weekend. It was the kiss of summer on my checks as the breeze swirled lightly around that always brings back fun summer memories as a teenager. Never anything specific, just the overall feeling of youth and freedom that so many summer memories stem from.

But the night was growing near and the kids need to get to bed so in we went. I promptly opened the house to welcome in the much cooler air, and now, 90 minutes later I am wishing I could drag my computer outside so I could again enjoy the temperature. See, even with all our windows open the airflow in our house is lacking. It is probably a good 10 degrees at least warmer in the house than in is outside. And unless you are sitting in front of one of the windows, you would have no idea that there was such a wonderful breeze outside. So as I sit at my computer, trying to get some work done, I am roasting. This brings back another summer memory I wish I could capture again so badly right now, although I never realized at the time how much I really appreciated it. My parent had a whole house fan put into their house many years ago, and it always did the trick. I just didn't appreciate the true benefit of the fan and I only like the amount of noise it created.

I will admit, I took advantage of that wonderful house fan in my youth. See the fan was in the hallway leading to the bedrooms. When on, it created enough noise that it was more difficult to hear what was going on in the front of the house if you were in the back. So there might have been a time or two, that as I left for the evening to hang out with friends, I might have moved the timer of the fan to make sure it continued running, at least 30 minutes after curfew. Not that I even needed that buffer of time, or that I was ever, ever late getting home at the set time given to me by my wonderful, loving parents, but knowing that if there was ever a time that I needed just an extra minute or two... opening that front door would be muffled by the sound of the glorious house fan. It was wonderful! I mean to say the thought was wonderful, not the actual action of being late, which remember, I never, ever was. And if by chance I was late, it would have been for saintly reasons like a friend desperately needed a shoulder to cry on, and I left as soon as possible. Or I hit every single red light on the way home and didn't want to speed which might possibly endanger my life, or others. Or there was a dog wondering the streets late at night and several cars had to swerve not to hit it, so of course I stopped and tried to help the little dog find it's home. But we are getting way off the subject.....

So anyway, I sit here tonight longing for the true use of a house fan, so I can suck that breeze right into my home and cool everything down quickly and enjoy this beautiful summer night. To bad so many things go unappreciated for their true benefit until it is too late. So until I get a whole house fan of my own, here's to the many years of wonderful evening of cool summer breezes inside and out and the fun memories of the past and a future full of new adventure.

How many Goats do you see?

2010-06-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

The city of Rocklin decided to try an unconventional way of taking care of the over growth in most of there city a little while back. In stead of hiring high school or college kids to come out and chop down all the brush, they hired goats. And I'm not talking about a couple of goats, I am talking about 2,000 goats. No joke! The goats were hired on by the city and let loose on various hillsides in Rocklin for a few days before being moved to the next. You never knew where they were going to be but I lucked out one day as my dad called to let me know exactly where the goats had been spotted. So of course we jumped in the car and went for a drive. It took me a while to find the little fellas, but once I figured out exactly where I was going, you couldn't miss them.

So actually there were mainly sheep, with a few goats mixed in. It was really fun to see them all on the hillside. All different colors and sizes. I was sad that we couldn't touch the goats and the fence was electric, so we kept our distance, but the boys didn't seem to mind too much observing from afar.
At one point all the animals got spooked by something and took off running. I don't think it was from Austin's growl that he let out at one of the sheep, but Ty and Tanner thought so, which began a bunch of growling from all three in hopes of another stampede. No luck.

I liked all the baby goats. Too cute. I really want one... but then they get big and aren't as cute. I am glad I can make grown up decisions. These pictures make me want one again though.
The afternoon grew late and we had to leave the goats, but it was such a fun adventure and if we hear of where the goats are next we will be sure to go say hi to our new friends.

Watch out.... he's on the loose

2010-05-15T09:50:00.000-07:00

Tanner has been asking for some time to take off his training wheels but there is always something not allowing us to from our health to the weather we have had to put it off for sometime. Last weekend the sun was out, everyone felt good, so we headed out to the empty parking lot next to our house and let him go. Actually I was pretty worried and made him put on the knee guards and elbow pads and gave him warnings continuously as to what might happen when he gets on without his training wheels. I told him he might fall, I told him there might be blood, I tried to give him as realistic point of view as to the possible outcome and how we need to be brave and get on and try again blah blah blah.

Well that was a waist of breath because literally the first time he started off Eric realized he wasn't even holding him and just let go and off Tanner went. Just like that he went from four to two wheels and he never looked back. It took him about 3 more minutes to learn how to jump off when he was falling and I am happy to say there wasn't a single drop of blood or tears the whole afternoon. In fact it has been over a week now of him riding with two wheels and there still haven't been any spills. Oh sure, I know there will be many to come, but I'll take this skin-knee free time gladly.

Part two of this awesome bike filled Saturday happened on our way home from Ty's morning t-ball game. I love garage sailing, but rarely have a chance to go out. I was in need of one thing so I thought I would drive around the neighborhood to see if anyone was out selling stuff. As I drove up our street I noticed a bike on the curb with a sign on it. It looked about Ty's size and so I pulled over to see how much they wanted. To my surprise the sign said free. I looked at the bike thinking it must be broken or really used or something. But it was just the opposite. The bike looked like it had been used maybe twice.
It was the perfect size for Ty. I couldn't have been more excited, and Ty was bouncing out of his chair! So while Tanner learned his new skill Ty hopped on his new bike and flew around the parking lot. And Austin, well he was happy as could be scooting around on his little car making noises the whole way. It was a perfect Saturday afternoon.

Just Becasue

2010-05-10T10:54:00.000-07:00

With everyone feeling better Eric wanted to do something fun this weekend. So Friday night when he got home from work he set up the tent in the backyard, just because. The boys love camping so much, even if it is just in the backyard. And boys weekend always means a good time is on it's way. (Just a side note, I stayed warm in my bed all weekend because I really enjoy my sleep and wanted to take full advantage of this weekend.... I mean, I wanted to let the boys have their time.)

Eric pulled out their mattress, so he didn't have to blow up the air mattress which I thought was a good trade. They had a blast jumping on the beds. And why not take advantage of the fun and have a little wrestling match too.

They ran in and out of the tent all night even though it was a little chilly outside. I thought for sure they would be in before 10pm snuggled together on the couch, but I was wrong. Eric left the tent up all weekend and they had another sleep over Saturday night. Unfortunately a storm made it's way into town, so the tent came down, but I have a feeling there will be many more backyard sleepovers this summer. In fact, Eric is already planning the next one which will be held on the trampoline.

Our New Family Joke

2010-05-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

From the beginning of this year our family has been hit hard with bad health. Mainly just colds and ear infections, but it has been non stop. Our typical family phone call starts with, 'We saw the doctor again today.'
Maybe it seems longer than ever because it never happens all at once. No no, that would be too easy. Instead it passes slowly to one member of the family at a time. Sometimes we actually get anywhere from one to three days of good health, and then it takes someone else down. I have been blessed to miss almost all of it, although the two times I have been infected I have gone down hard. The boys really have taken the brunt of it. We have had ear infections aplenty, pink eye, a nasty chest cold that keeps me up as night as I fear one of the boys will actually cough up a lung, the flu, or something like it and Austin kept us all on our toes as he went and had an allergic reaction to medication that the Dr. couldn't control.

Good times, good times. We have spent more in medical bills in the last 4 months then I have on all three of my pregnancy combined.... and I haven't even had this baby yet. We are doing our part to keep Kaiser of Roseville well funded. But really, I am so blessed with good doctors. Especially our kids doctor. She is wonderful and I love her. She has gotten to know my family better than I had even hoped, and with each visit I grow to appreciate her more.
I just pulled up my pictures to see what I missed out on posting last month, and I was saddened by the lack of photos I had, but realized not much happened last month other than movie watching, snuggling, and resting in bed. But right now we are on the up and up. Austin is just getting over (fingers crossed) the last of this stomach bug he has and Tanner and Austin go back to the doctor in two weeks for our final decision on tubes for their ears, but other than that we are hoping this will end our ill fate and we can return to the world as the full of life family we are.
We have a busy May so I am getting my fingers warmed up as I prep to post lots and lots of fun things that we have planned. We will looked back on the beginning of 2010 and laugh some day as we recall how many load of laundry we did, trips to the doctors we took and the many creative activities we did with our sick little ones and how grateful we are for each day of good health.

Keep Those Eggs Coming!

2010-04-02T15:10:00.001-07:00

After we hit the hunt in the morning in GB we came back to Roseville for a picnic with the ward at a near by park where they also had a hunt for the kids. This one was a little more relaxed and the kids knew how many they could get, so there was no stress or strategies involved for me. I actually just sat in a blanket and watched the fun unfold before me. It was a beautiful day and I loved just soaking up the sun for a while. I say that now as I look outside my window and it is grey and overcast and the wind seriously sounds like it is going to knock my trees down! I wish I could go back to last Saturday. Oh well, I'll look at the pictures and pretend I was there again.

We have another hunt tomorrow (weather permitting) and of course the big one at Grandma and Grandpas. That bunny is a tricky one, but brings the best candy! Can't wait to share the findings with the boys!!

Flash Backs to good times at my Jr. High

2010-04-01T16:15:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl I remember doing awesome Easter egg hunts at Cavitt, which became my Jr. High School when I was older. Who knows how good the hunt really was, but when your a kid... anything is fun, right? So anyway, they are still doing hunts there yearly and Eric and I always seem to remember it the week after it happens. They typically do theirs a week earlier than everyone else does. But this year, we remembered and I am so glad we did. It was really fun. They had a bounce house and alpacas and firetrucks and the Easter bunny of course. The place did fill up by the time we did the hunt, but before that, we had very few other kids there with us.

When we got there, Tanner made a bee line for the alpaca. Big surprise, right.

Austin got a balloon and that is all he needed for the rest of the day. He was so in love with it, it was cute.

He wasn't as thrilled to meet the bunny. Very curious, but not much excitement at all.

Ty on the other hand was having a blast rocking out with the bunny. He got right in there for all the song and shook his booty like it was going out of style.

Eric and Austin even got in on the movin' and grovin' when the hokey pokey came on.
But Tanner, he choose to stay with his new friends the alpacas from most of the morning.

Then it was time for the hunt. We called Grandma down for some back-up. My mom and I are both super competitive even over things like this, so we tried to prep the kids as best we could as to strategies to get the most eggs. Ty was taking none of the advice and just wanted to do it his way, and when I did the count down for Tanner to start, he started screaming, 'I don't want to do it!!!' and basically refused to pick up eggs. I did grab a few for him and he caught on at the last second before all the eggs disappeared. Ty did pretty well. Eric said the little kids group was scary as they had parents, apparently worse than me, who scooped armfuls for their kids and Eric just had to grab a few and get out for safety reasons.
We looked to see if we had the golden tickets, but we had no luck with that.

But the experience was a blast and the kids had such a good time, it was all so worth it.

Cinnamon Roll Goodness

2010-03-31T13:20:00.001-07:00

Quick confession..... I am obsessed with The Pioneer Woman. She is everything I wish I could be... and I would kill for her kitchen. It is beautiful. I honestly don't know if I personally could make it as a ranchers wife, but if I could trade lives with her, I would sure try. Sigh.

Anyway, the point of my little obsession confession is because Ree is an amazing cook and has great stuff on her site all the time. I have tried variations of her stuff, but there are always things that I want to try that I never get around to. Well, last week, I got around to it and made her super amazing, to die for cinnamon rolls. Oh my goodness they are soooo good.

Of course nothing I do is as easy as it should be, but I have to put a Nicky spin on all things I do right. I started out trying this Friday afternoon. It didn't seem that hard. I can make bread, and a lot of this is doing just that, but as the first attempts lump of dough just sat there with no action at all I knew something was up. I started over. I was talking to my Grandma this time who I often call for cooking advice. Neither of us could figure out what was wrong. I told her it appeared the dough seemed to dry, not as sticky as it should be and I kept adding more milk. Well, I didn't want to add too much more because I didn't want to kill the recipe. The second one turned out much like the first, a dud. So I gave up for the night and thought I would try again tomorrow. It was really bugging me all day why I couldn't get it right. At about 10:30 Friday night I jumped online again and studied the recipe over and over.
• Dough
1 cup whole milk
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 packages (4 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
9 cups all-purpose flour
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1 scant teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon salt
Yep, everything looked right. Wait a min.... read that first line one more time. OHHHHH. Not one cup of milk like I thought it said, it was one QUART of milk. That would explain A LOT. (and reaffirm that I am a true blonde.)

So Saturday morning I started again with a Quart of milk and all the other right stuff. A few hours later the most wonderful smell filled my home as 8 pans of the best tasting cinnamon rolls filled my kitchen. (Yes, I said 8, another part of the recipe I forgot to notice. Next time I'll freeze half the dough).
You should totally check out her site and try the cinnamon rolls. www.thepioneerwoman.com Oh oh, I just looked at her site and she had homemade glazed doughnuts right now. YUMMMMMY. But first I'll read the recipe 6 times to make sure I get it right.

Batter Up!

2010-03-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

Monday night was Ty's first t-ball game. He was super excited! I am so glad he was feeling well enough to play. There are lots of pictures, but I put a few in a slideshow to show ya. There are 21 games total this season, so be ready for lots of game recaps :)

The best part was getting him all suited up. I made Eric do it for a few reasons but mainly because it is mandatory league rules that all boys wear an athletic cup and I really thought that first experience should be something between a father and a son. He wasn't a fan as most almost 6 year-olds probably aren't. You'll see him in one of the shots adjusting it. :) I thought it was hilarious and I just know in a few years those things will be all over my house and the boys will be wearing them around on their heads. I love sports!

The Highs and the Lows

2010-03-14T09:18:00.000-07:00

We did it again. This winter has not been nice to our family in the way of health. I am not sure how it keeps happening. I am pretty sure I have taught my kids not to lick the ground or chew the gum you find under tables, but somehow it keeps happening. Last week Ty had to stay home due to the typical cough and asthma cold he gets, but this one lasted about 5 days which is much longer than usual. That just prepped us for Monday night when both little ones cried and cried with ear pain. Actually Austin just cried and cried and we couldn't figure out why. Then when Tanner woke up at 2 am with ear pain we clued in that maybe that was what was bothering Austin too. Sure enough, the next morning the doctor diagnosed them both with double ear infections and they both had their right ear drum rupture. Austin also had a 102.5 fever and was so out of it. Tanner was a quick fix but Austin's cold seemed to linger. Thursday morning I woke up with a horrible cold, and I don't get sick, so that really threw me off. Friday morning my cold had gotten worse and by mid morning I got a call from the school asking me to come pick up Ty because he had pink eye. We have never had pink eye before but the thought of that running it's course threw our family was overwhelming that day. I begged Eric to come home but he couldn't. Yesterday Ty's other eye got infected and he stayed in quarantine all day while Austin and I coughed all over the house. This morning Tanner is 100%, Ty's eyes are 95% clear but Austin and I are still coughing, and Eric, probably not wanting to feel left out, is claiming he is feeling something coming on. Whew, can you tell I am just sick of being sick!! Yuck!!

But there is a huge highlight to this week. It is kind of silly, but to me, it seriously made my whole month! Okay, so there is

this photographer from Colorado that I love love love. Her name is Sandy Puc and she has a tour that she does yearly and I have been to each year she has been to Sacramento. She comes and gives other photographers ideas and suggestions about the business. Her story is truly inspiring. She started photography 17 years ago out of her home. She turned her master bedroom into a studio and she tells the story of how she would have to stand in her bathroom sink to get the shot if she was shooting more than 4 people at a time. She is LDS and has 4 beautiful children. Over the years she grew her business and she is now the most high end photography studio in her area of Colorado. I always come away from her lectures feeling inspired and empowered. Anyway, last month I had the opportunity to see her again. When the night was over I wrote a quick thank you note to her expressing my appreciation for her and the knowledge she shares and gave it to her. I thought nothing more of it. I just wanted to let her know how much I enjoyed the programs she had given us the last few years. WELL...... last night I got AN EMAIL FROM HER. She wrote me an email just thanking me for my note and a few other little things. It was seriously nothing big, but the fact that she took the time to go find my website and then my email address to write ME a word of thanks, well, it just really made my day, obviously. Just that she would take time to thank me, so cool.

So there are my last 10 days in a glance. Really not much going on except trying to make it. Last piece of good news.... it is going to be a beautiful, sunshine filled week. I only hope we are all up and going so we can enjoy it. Then again, maybe a little sun is just what the doctor ordered.

Taking Advantage of the Sun

2010-03-10T16:13:00.000-08:00

The weather has been so hit and miss here that I couldn't help but capture this sunny moment. The older two still in their beds for an afternoon nap, Austin was playing joyfully outside and loving every moment of it. You can't help but notice the pleasure in his eyes as he soaks in the beauties of the outdoors.

It is better when Eric does it...

2010-02-27T22:39:00.000-08:00

Eric showed me this man-mercial and I love it. The more you watch it, the funnier it gets.

I'm on a horse.

take two
hee-ya

My excuse, reason and proof!

2010-02-24T12:42:00.000-08:00

I am not a slacker blogger, I'm not, I'm not. Well, maybe a little bit, but always with good reason. Excuse number 47 for not blogging as much as I should.... photography. And to prove it, here are some of the shots from January and February (and maybe one or two from December, I can't remember).

There are of course hundreds more shots that would help prove my point, but for now that is my story and I am sticking to it. Next, excuse number 21 shaving my legs.

Eric, Nicolette and Jim

2010-02-19T10:44:00.000-08:00

Jim Brickman is one of Eric's favorite artist and on Wednesday my parents took Eric and I downtown to see one of his concerts. It was so much fun to hear him play live so many songs Eric and I have listen to together over the years and we even had one of them as our wedding song.
Being as big as fans as we were, we got to meet and hang out with Jim. Eric and Jim totally hit it off right away. By the end of our time with him you would of thought they were life long friends.

And after the show I got to sit with Jim on stage and he played a song for us. It was amazing! It was like having our own little private concert.
By the way, I am totally kidding. I totally photoshoped these photos and did a horrible job at it too, but it was fun! So we really just sat in the audience, listen to the beautiful music and never met Jim, but I am sure if we had we would be his new BFFs.

Happy V-day

2010-02-14T20:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day everyone. Here are the boys v-day cards to you. Aren't they cute? And the cards turned out pretty good too.

Austin obviously isn't in school so we didn't get one for him... but maybe we'll try anyway just for kicks. I'll let you know if that happens.

FOTO FUN

2010-01-29T19:25:00.000-08:00

Did you know overcast light is some of the best light to take photos in? Combine that with some window light and you get magic. Well, we have had plenty of clouds lately and we have been stuck inside so I grabbed the camera and did a few shots. Are they the cutest? I can honestly say they are a blast to take pictures of, most of the time ;)

What's A Girl To Do?

2010-01-19T11:27:00.000-08:00

Since yesterday I was a true mother of boys, today it is girl time. The weather is horrible. I dread having to go outside to take the boys to school and pick them up. The rain, the wind, the cold, it is just yucky out there. So being stuck inside left me little choice but to do some online shopping. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I love online shopping cause I can put all the things I want in the cart and when I am done, I just close the window without checking out. It makes me feel like I have shopped without spending the money. I know I am a dork, but it works for me. Check out some of these finds this morning.

Actually I found this jacket about a month ago and LOVE IT but can justify the cost, so it has become a staple for my online shopping.

I really like these too, but Camel isn't the best color on me and I try to stay away from black wool. Maybe if it came in a red.And I had to grab some hot, sexy dresses!

And this super cute skirt. I love the ruffles.
Speaking of ruffles, I have my various ruffle purses that I love, but I am trying to branch out and find a different style. These might be a new line of thinking, but I don't know yet.
Yellow or Pink?
And then there are the skinny jeans. I have tried not to go there only because I am not super up on fashion and I don't know the rule on moms wearing them. And then there is problem if I did get them I would have to have some super hot shoes to pair with them, so for now... they are an online shop item. The shoes too.

And lastly, this top and these shoes would be great every day wear (not together) and make my shopping cart complete.

I love rainy days and my new selection of clothes and accessories. Think there is any way these might magically show up in my closet???? I wish...

Puddles and Fun

2010-01-18T12:28:00.000-08:00

Having boys and rainy days sometimes can present it's challenges, but on the other hand, sometimes have boys and rainy days can be a blast if I get past my girlishness. Today, for sanity purposes I put my hair and make-up aside (not that that is saying much) and put on my gear and headed outside to brave the storm. The boys LOVE LOVE LOVE the rain. We probably would have stayed out all morning if poor little Austin's rain boots weren't 2 sizes to big and he hadn't fallen right into the puddle 2 minutes after we had been outside. He was soaked, but I think he could have cared less as we walked up and down the street splashing around.

The older two are really into finding worms (SO GROSS) and there were a ton of worms out this morning to be found.
After Austin 4th fall into the water I took him up to the house where he got to play in the water coming out of the drain. He always wants to touch it after it rains and I never let him, but today, I changed my mind. By the way, his jacket is a light grey, pre-fall.
And of course there was lots and lots of splashing.

But then the wind kicked up, and it was cold!!! I had to bribe them with a warm bath and hot cocoa to come inside, but eventually they came. I had everyone take off their boots before going inside and I am so glad I did. I had no idea how much water those little boots could hold, on the inside! The ground was completely dry before Tanner took off his first boot...

So even though I came in wet and cold, I can't deny the joy on my kids faces as they enjoyed nature at its finest.

Day 4, 5, 6,....25!

2010-01-08T10:34:00.000-08:00

I feel like I fell off the face of the earth, and I guess I kind of did. Last month started out great. And then it hit. The almost daily trip to the doctors office. Okay, maybe not daily, but 5 times in two weeks is enough for me. It started with Austin's shots, which takes him out for 2-3 days. Then Tanner had a double ear infection. Then Ty had an ear infection and finally Austin had a double ear infection and his left ear drum burst. Poor kids. The doctor offered me covered parking and a personal valet though due to my frequent visits. So needless to say I had many sleepless nights and not much time to blog during the day as I tried to catch up on work and kids and house stuff. Plus we had all our daily Christmas things to do. Even with all the sickness and craziness we did something every day as a family to keep us in the holiday spirit, and it really made a difference this season. We had a great time and to top it off my Grandma came into town and just topped off the season with all her love and joy. It really was a lot of fun. But in stead of boring everyone with a daily post of things that happened last month, I made this little show summing up some of our fun moments of last month.

I can't figure out how to download it, so follow this link to see the Lawrence Christmas 2009.
http://gallery.me.com/eric.n.lawrence#100122

Is It Christmas Yet?

2009-12-03T22:56:00.000-08:00

Day 3

Oh my goodness, I am exhausted. Not from the Christmas fun, but from life. Today was a take it slow day due to all the excitement the night before. Like I mentioned yesterday, Austin got his shots after a delayed one year check up. He really has a bad reaction to shots, and last night proved to be no different. Eric put him down at one point, out of necessity and Austin cried so hard because his little legs hurt to walk. He actually got down and army crawled into the kitchen just to be picked up again. He never has army crawled, even when he was little. And night time was worse. He woke up so often crying in pain. It just breaks your heart you know. Eric and I prepared ourselves for a long night, only to have our plans change at 10:30pm when Tanner woke up screaming cause his ear hurt. This is his third one in a year, so we recognized the signs immediately. Unfortunately there was no calming him down and apparently this one was pretty bad because he too had a sleepless night which meant we did too. I visited the Dr. nice and early again this morning only to joke that I would probably be back in with my oldest tomorrow. I am praying that the comment I made DOES NOT come true. But even without the fun times the kids are creating I am sick and over worked with a months more work to do.

But even with all the things on my plate I was determined not to let the 25 day count down fail. So tonight, we packed up and went out to Granite Bay where they have their annual nativity viewing. I took some photos for the even the first year, and it has been wonderful to see how much it has grown.

The kids really wanted to see all the different donkeys and sheep and Tanner couldn't have been more excited when he found a camel. We didn't stay long because little fingers can only not touch something for so long, but it was truly beautiful to see.

We still had a little time before bed when we got home, so we brought the tree in from outside. Ty helped 'direct' it and Tanner was in awe at the size of the tree in his house. After we got it set up we did need to move it back a little so Eric got down to move it with his feet. He quickly had one furry and one little helper to make the job... easier?

So the tree looks great and the front room is really coming together and should be done by Saturday night. Those pictures should be awesome!

Wrapping, Planning and more Wrapping

2009-12-02T22:40:00.000-08:00

DAY 2

This year I do have a goal of having all the gift wrapping done before the 15th. I am a chronic procrastinator with the wrapping and usually I am up way too late on Christmas Eve, making a late night run to the store for more tape, and totally irritated that I hadn't wrapped the presents sooner. So this year, it will be done early. But not this early. Ha, who am I kidding. With my goal of the 15th in writing, I will probably wait to the 15th. But today, I got my fingers warmed up.

The kids and I are going to low to no cost decorations around the house this year. So today, we turned up the holiday meter around the home by doing a little wrapping of our own. What did we wrap you say? Picture frames. Yep. We covered all the picture frames in the living room to give it a little color. The boys helped with the tape, which actually ended up double the amount of tape being used, but they really enjoyed their job. We have a few big frames that we cover (like 40x30) and all Tanner could keep saying was, 'Wow, that's soooo big Mom.' We are going to add bows in the morning cause we ran out of time tonight. But I think it is something fun and different.

Austin wasn't feeling too hot today after he got some shots, so he just sat and watched as his brothers made him laugh. Hopefully he'll feel better soon cause everything is more fun when Austins is involved.

And then we sat down and made a list of everything we want to do this month. I already had a great list put together, but I had the boys add some suggestions, and prompted some others. We then made a calendar and added some things to it. We taped the list on the back to fill things in as we go. I didn't want to commit to too much right now as I know things will change, but we have some great ideas in the works and I can't wait to see the calendar fill up.

Now off to clean up the mess and finish the frames that the tape, ummm, "missed" while getting wrapped.

25 Days of Christmas

2009-12-01T23:47:00.000-08:00

DAY 1

Happy Holidays Everyone! Christmas is here once again. For me, the season always seems to be gone for way to long, then it hits you in the face before you are ready for the full impact of the season. Last year I had just had little Austin which truly changed my regular Christmas routines. Memo to me... no more babies around the holidays. (Well, I guess that only goes for the one more we are planning on in the future unless I completely loose my mind somewhere along the way and want more in which case I really hope someone throws cold water on me and reminds me that four is my personal limit, for sanity reasons.) Anyway, back to the topic at hand. So as I was say, last year wasn't very festive for me. I remember barely getting my tree decorated in time of the holidays. Eric was about to start at a new company and we buckled down on the gift buying, and I mean really buckled down. (Which was actually a plus, but really threw off my groove of Christmas shopping, which I actually LOVE) We looked at Christmas lights regularly with the kids, but there were no other decorations around my home to help make my days merry and bright. I remember I went right back to work taking pictures after the baby was born and was SWAMPED with work onto top of having a new born. So blah, blah, blah, long story short, the season came and went last year and I didn't ever feel a thing in the way of the Christmas spirit I love so much. So this last week, as I prepared for the month ahead, I took some time to sit back and enjoy life. The week of Thanksgiving was one of the most enjoyable weeks I've had in a while. I spent time with my mom, my family, my friends and my work. It was a busy week, but every day held so much joy and love I couldn't help but want that to spread over into the next month.

So I have decided, to really make this Christmas real and tangible, my family and I will do something in the Christmas spirit every day. Yep, EVERY SINGLE DAY. It might be doing decorations, or caroling. Maybe just making some Christmas cookies and watch a Christmas movie as a family. I know this weekend we have several things planned, and by tomorrow the family and I will have something on the calendar to do each day until Christmas. I am especially excited to teach the boys about the true meaning of Christmas and hope to have them understand what it means to feel that spirit of love and joy this holiday season.

So today, being the first of our 25 days, what a better thing to start with that getting a tree. We headed out after dark to find the perfect tree.

Eric and I toyed with the idea of a fake tree, which I had not intention of ever considering.... ever! And after we looked at some last night, we both came to the conclusion that fake trees just aren't our style. (No offense to anyone who sports a fake tree. More power to you. But after 26 years of real trees, I can't give it up.) It is a process for me to find a tree, and gratefully Grandma and Grandpa also came along so I could inspect the trees one by one while the kids ran around the lot.

Austin snuggled right into Grandma when we arrived. I caught this cute picture of him smirking as he rested his head on her shoulder as he had the warmest spot on the lot.

Tyler freaked out the tree lot dog at one point and in turn really worried me too. He was playing in between the trees, and while we knew the general area he was in, no one really had an exact whereabouts as to his location. As Eric got closer and closer to him, Ty let out a loud growl to scare him. Apparently it was a rather loud growl because the dog on the lot heard it too and came braking and snarling in Ty's direction. My mom hairs went up and I quickly looked around for my son. My mom took off running to find him too. Luckily the owners called the dog off and Eric was close enough to Ty to keep him from any real danger. But god to know that Ty can growl well enough fake out a dog.

After the perfect tree was found, we all headed over to Starbucks for a camel apple cider and a quick update of the days events from the whole family. We ended back a my place for a few quick Christmas gifts (I'll grab pictures of them in the morning) from my mom, just to help keep this holiday going in style.

This is my day #1 of my Christmas count down. I can't wait for tomorrows events. Keep the good times coming!!

Tan-Land

2009-11-30T22:36:00.000-08:00

Tanner, my sweet Tanner, what joy you bring me. Laughter, and confusion, and an absolute love for the innocence of your mind.

This is a photo I sent to my family the other morning with the quote, "I've only been up for an hour and he's already stuck."

But today was another day, filled with stories and moments only Tanner could create.

It started very early this morning, just after Eric had left for work and Ty was taken to school. All was seemingly calm in the Lawrence house as we wait for 9 am to roll around so Tanner could also go to school. I was in my room when I heard some rather loud grunting noises. Since the baby was with me, that could only leave one other person grunting like that (I eliminated to dogs, just out of pure hope that no dog could make a noise like that). I debating checking out the commotion because I couldn't pin-point the location of the grunting. If it was coming from the bathroom, I most definitely did not want to intrude. But having the motherly instinct that I have I choose to investigate on the chance that this was something other that a bodily function. As I walked down the hall the grunting continued and started to grow louder. To my relief the sound was originating form Tanner's bedroom, but this also made me quicken my pace as I had no idea what on earth he could be doing in there to be causing such a ruckus. As I entered his room I saw Tanner, on the floor, pulling a exercise trampoline with all his might from under his bed. I started laughing as I asked what he was doing. He replied most certainly, 'Mom, I NEED my trampoline out.' He was so determined I dared not ask more questions and instead offered my assistance. I pulled the trampoline into the living room where he bounded onto it. I then asked one question as I was very curious to the response. 'Tanner, why do you need a trampoline this morning? You haven't used that in years.' He looked at me with such a face, I saw a flash into the future where Tanner is a teenager giving me a look, 'like duh Mom', that I had to stifle my laughter. But nothing could prepair me for what he did next. He stood up tall, walked over to me, held my hand and said, 'Mom, I need to do my exercises like GG.' and without a second look, walked over and started to stretch.

Now, my Grandmother has been stretching every morning for as long as I can remember. I can remember times as a little girl, sitting and watch, but most of the time getting up and joining in the fun. My little ones have carried on this tradition as they too have stretch with GG when we are visiting. The only thing odd about Tanner's actions was the fact that GG hasn't been to visit in several months, and he has said nothing about it, even when she was here, until today. So as I watch in amazement at his memory, he laid on his back with his legs high in the air as he stretched. But my laughter quickly came again as he moved into the next stretch, which included him putting his bottom high in the air while on all fours and wiggling. I am pretty sure my Grandma never did that move with him.

My entertainment was cut short as it was time to take him to school, but the wait for the next Tanner moment was short as there was a story waiting for me as I picked him up from school. His teacher grabbed me and told me that Tanner had asked if Santa was real. Are you kidding? The kid is 3 1/2. He isn't suppose to ask that yet!! But she assured me that he now understands the he is real and he's okay with that. But he did have a little problem with Santa's sleigh See, according to Tanner, it isn't Reindeer's that pull Santa's sleigh. No Rudolf for Tanner. Instead, big wolves pull Santa's sleigh according to Tanner. Really Tanner, wolves, big wolves? Who has this kid been hanging out with. Seriously. So naturally when I got in the car with him I reviewed some basic Christmas facts. Santa's real, he lives in the North Pole, Baby Jesus, the true meaning of Christmas, and that REINDEER pull the sleigh. I am not sure if he real believed the last one or if he just wanted to talk about something else. But he didn't ask any more questions or tell me any other creatures that somehow made their way into the Christmas season, so I moved on too.

I thought after the last three hours there was nothing left to make his Tanner day moments. But I was wrong. I got home and started looking over both boys work from school that day. The last paper I pulled out was a letter to Santa Tanner had made during class that day. I smiled as I stared reading.

Dear Santa,

I would like a big T-Rex. and a ducky dinosaur and a ankylosaurus. (This kid is so into dinosaurs it's crazy. He knows all of their names and how many fingers they have. Truly, ask him how many fingers they have, he'll tell you.) Tyler wants a pterodactyl and a goat. (Actually Tanner wants the pterodactyl and a goat, but maybe Ty will share) Baby Austin wants a baby rhinoceros. (Um, okay, why not?) Daddy wants a fast car. (Cause Mommy always beats him) Mommy wants a new baby. I have been a good boy.

Tanner

Wait! Did I read that right. I thought I wanted a few things, but how in the world did he come up with a new baby? I asked him about it and he said, 'It's time for another one.' This brought me back to a conversation we had in the car about a week ago. Tanner was confused as to why I wasn't his sister too. Once we straightened that out he wanted to know why he didn't have a sister. I tried my best to explain in 3 year old terms. I don't think I did very well though because when I was done he said, 'So go get one Mom.' This Christmas list is a keeper. Too cute.

So all that before noon. The rest of the day was semi-uneventful and Tanner land merged with Tyler-world which creates a whole new planet that I can not even begin to describe. We filled it with a visit to Grandpa's work, a quick stop at a friends home, dinner with Dad and a very loud trip to Target. He is now sound asleep, upside down and backwards in his bed, the way I find him most nights. He is probably dreaming of some dinosaur land where he is King of the dinosaurs and rules all. Or maybe he is riding on a big red tractor, which he reminds me almost daily that he wants, tending to his animals on the farms including the goats (or 'doats' as he calls them) which are his favorites. He is getting plenty of rest because you never know what adventures tomorrow will bring for him, in Tan-Land.

Tanner you often bring so much love and humor into my life, may you always stay that way.

90 Years of Greatness

2009-11-29T10:25:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of this month we had a birthday party for my Mom's Mom. It was her 90th so her kids wanted to throw a big party for her. I volunteered to plan it. I mean come on, a huge party, and I don't have to pay for it.... done. It was a lot of fun. It started out simply with designing the invitations which is one of my favorite things to do. Then some more planning, food ordering and program planning was put into motion. By the time the party rolled around there had been countless hours of prepping, creating and executing, but looking back, it was really a nice success. My biggest stress is I am a big picture kind of person, and sometimes details are missed, but overall, I think I hit 95% just fine.

My cousin offered to play the piano for the event, which was a nice touch.
We collected artifacts from her home from her many travels around the world. My mom and I also made a dvd of some slides she had from her travels. My Grandma has literally traveled the world, and it was a really neat experience seeing some of those photos and imagining the stories behind them. I also did a dvd of some photos of her throughout her life. I love old photos, they have so much character, and it was exciting creating a story with them.
We held the party at her church, and any of you who have decorated the inside of church gym can appreciate my desire to add a little something extra to the room to change the mood. With a lot of thought and a little man power, we really did a nice job of creating an ambiance that was perfect.
And my boys, oh my boys did soooo well. We traveled to Reno early that morning and they just had to hang out ALL DAY. And they were angels. I was so proud of them.
The only time there was a little oops is when we forgot to take the punching balloons away from Tanner after the party had started. One landed on some guests food. All I could say was, 'At least it didn't spill all over you.' Oops.
After the party the family all headed out to dinner to wrap up the evening and have more cake. While the event was a big one, I really had a nice time learning more about my Grandma and her many experiences throughout her rich and eventful life. She is an extraordinary lady and I can't wait to plan her 100th b.day. Happy Birthday Grandma.

Party In The USA

2009-11-16T08:18:00.001-08:00

This is a result of my unproductive weekend.
Enjoy. I am sure there will more to come.

Here is the link in case this screen cuts it off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iyYY637Uio

Halloween from Start to Finish

2009-11-02T23:26:00.001-08:00

WARNING..... VERY LONG POST WITH WAY TOO MANY PICTURES.

Halloween is a great time here in the Lawrence house. The month typically starts off gradually with a trip to a pumpkin farm or two, and by the end we have more candy than we know what to do with and we are pooped!!

Well this year proved to be no different if not more intense. We did start off with a visit to a pumpkin patch just north of here. It's my favorite one, and Tyler's class was the only chance we were going to have to head up there, so I packed up the other two little ones and we followed the bus up. Tyler was so excited about riding a big yellow bus. It was his first time and you would have thought it was cooler than a ride at Disneyland. Memo to me, next time I need a good bribe, offer a ride on a bus. But because I didn't officially go with Ty's class, I just followed them up, I was able to go with the flow and do what Tanner wanted to most of the time. His main focus was the animals. They had a great petting area, and I think we spent most of our time in there. He was in Heaven. And Austin really gets a kick out of the animals too. We did hop on the hay ride with the class to get our pumpkins. I love picking the pumpkins right off the vine. Some year I'll go up there early in the morning when the sun is just right and get some great shots. I offered to drive Ty home, but by the look on his face you would have thought I threatened his life! So he rode the bus home. Again, that was the highlight of his trip. Not the pumpkins, the train ride or the animals, but the bus.

Following our trip up to the big pumpkin farm, Tanner's classes hit the local farm here in town. He couldn't wait to see more 'doats.' Tanner loves animals, but he says their names all funny. Like 'doats'. You can sit there and have him say g, g, g, g, and it all sounds normal, but then you ask him to say goats and you get 'doats' every time. There are also 'shurkeys' and 'yions' and 'tows' and he loves them all. Eric even got to come with us to one of the two trips here in town, and it was fun to have him with us.

A funny story from that trip was at one point we all stopped at the haystack for the class photo. Around the haystack are tunnels and slides and things for the kids to do. I was taking pictures of Austin when I saw another little class sitting on the haystack singing Halloween songs for their parents. But as I looked again at the class, I noticed a little boy at the end of the row, with a huge grin on his face, listening to the music, that looked a lot like Tanner. Wait a minute I thought, THAT IS TANNER. I went and tried to pull him down because parents were trying to take pictures of the class and listen, but he wanted so badly to stay and sing. A few other parents said it would be fine to let him sit there, so he did. He would sing the songs he knew with them and sit and listen to the ones he didn't. Can you tell he is really shy??

One day we even just face painted using my make-up. Noticed I said one day, but it was still fun, just that once.

So with a week to go life got crazy. There was a costume dilemma. Tanner really wanted to be a T-Rex and Ty wanted to be a pterodactyl. Well, there are no pterodactyl costumes and all the T-Rex ones online looked ridiculous. So I pulled on my mom pants and went to work on making costumes this year. That lasted for about a week and the I gave up. Eric talked Ty into being optimus prime and megatron obviously went to Tanner. They seemed satisfied with the choices until Tanner realized that he actually really wanted to be a dinosaur. He's really into them right now, and it only seemed right to let him be one. So I found one on craigslist but it was in Elk Grove. I felt the trip would be worth it because it was what he really wanted. The next day when I gave him his costume he was elated. So worth it, I thought. I pulled our box of costumes out to find something for Austin and Ty found his bat costume from last year and begged to wear it. Ahhhh, what is the point of buying costumes. Tanner found a pirate costume in there too and he also changed his mind. And there goes the trip to Elk Grove. I decided since we literally had a weeks worth of trick or treating to do and various events to attend in costume, I wouldn't fight it too much and we would switch it up. We did everything from a few church party, a party at Oakmont High School with Grandpa, class parties, Old Town Roseville Halloween night and of course regular old around the neighborhood trick or treating. We actually skipped a few of the planned events simply due to overload. The boys switched and swapped costumes almost every time, and Austin was Squirt the turtle once, but his real winner of a costume was a Little Stinker. He was the perfect little skunk and I know I think he's always cute, but literally people would stop and ask if they could take his picture the costume was that cute. I think it was because he's almost the right size to be a skunk, and when he was walking around, it totally looked like it could be real. Halloween night while going door to door he actually was invited into some homes so other members of the family could see him. It was really cute.

Oakmont Party with Grandpa

Austin being a true little stinker at Tanner's class party

Tyler's Class Party

One of the many nights in costume

Random people would stop and watch him.

Austin stopped in the middle of the street and put his bottom up in the air. Just for the camera I think.

And now, we are exhausted. Hence the reason it took me so long to post about it. I am just now recovering!! But looking at all these pictures makes me want to do it all over again. Happy Halloween!!

Fall Goodness

2009-10-29T12:49:00.001-07:00

Fall is here, at least I think it is this time. We have had a few maybes this month with colder weather, but then it pops back up into the shorts and t-shirt weather. But the cold today is the kind of cold that makes you wish to stay inside in your sweats and eat soup and watch a good movie with your man, or kids if you can work it out so they too want to snuggle in the middle of the day instead of run outside that crazy kids, which is typically my kids preference.

My mother is queen of soup making. It's always from scratch, and she just puts in whatever she has laying around, and it is ALWAYS delicious! Ummm, I can smell a pot simmering now.... Mom's want to come over for dinner. Oh, by the way, you're cooking!

We are wrapping up the Halloween holiday this week as we just got back from our 5th trick or treat event with another one tonight, and two on Saturday. Pictures to come soon. All I can say is that the kids are definitely getting good use out of their costumes this year, and Eric is loving all the candy.

Oh, and I can't make soups like Mom, but here is a nice side to those soups.

CHEDDAR SCALLION SCONES

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 heaping tablespoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

4 oz. (1/2 block) cream cheese, very soft

3 scallions, chopped (use green and white parts)

1 egg

1 cup heavy cream (or half-n-half or whole milk)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Add cheddar cheese and mix twice (or so) to coat cheese with flour. Fold in cream cheese until just barely mixed, then add scallions, tossing to coat. In separate bowl, lightly beat together egg and heavy cream (or whatever you have on hand; I usually use whole milk). Quickly add egg mixture to flour and cheese mixture and stir until just combined. (Don't work it to death. Rubbery scones are out this year.)

Dump dough onto floured counter and pat into a circle about 1 generous inch thick. Dip sharp knife in flour and cut into eight large triangles (as you would a slice of pizza). If desired, brush tops with butter or with an egg wash (1 egg plus 1 T. water, beaten together). Bake on baking sheet or stone lined with parchment paper for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve hot from oven, or allow to cool and place in plastic bag or airtight container and refrigerate or freeze. Scones freeze beautifully.

Happy Fall everyone, enjoy the soup and sweats!!

Quiet Glow

2009-10-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

The Job

2009-10-27T16:29:00.000-07:00

My Grandma emailed this to me today, and it is so perfect. I guess I took the job...

PARENT - Job Description

POSITION :
Mom, Mommy, Mama, Ma
Dad, Daddy, Dada, Pa, Pop

JOB DESCRIPTION :

Long term, team players needed, for challenging,
permanent work in an
often chaotic environment.
Candidates must possess excellent communication
and organizational skills and be willing to work
variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends
and frequent 24 hour shifts on call.
Some overnight travel required, including trips to
primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities!
Travel expenses not reimbursed.
Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES :

The rest of your life.
Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily,
until someone needs $5.
Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly.
Also, must possess the physical stamina of a
pack mule
and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat
in case, this time, the screams from
the backyard are not someone just crying wolf.
Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges,
such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets
and stuck zippers.
Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and
coordinate production of multiple homework projects.
Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings
for clients of all ages and mental outlooks.
Must be a willing to be indispensable one minute,
an embarrassment the next.
Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a
half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices.
Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.
Must assume final, complete accountability for
the quality of the end product.
Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and
janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION :

None.
Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills,
so that those in you r charge can ultimately surpass you

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE :

None required unfortunately.
On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION :

Get this! You pay them!
Offering frequent raises and bonuses.
A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because
of the assumption that college will help them
become financially independent.
When you die, you give them whatever is left.
The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that
you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS :

While no health or dental insurance , no pension,
no tuition reimbursement , no paid holidays and
no stock options are offered;
this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth, unconditional love,
and free hugs and kisses for life if you play your cards right.

** AND A FOOTNOTE 'THERE IS

NO RETIREMENT -- EVER!!!

GB Girls

2009-10-24T23:05:00.000-07:00

Today was a perfect day of work and play. What a wonderful Saturday! We started the great day at Ty's soccer game. He did a great job on the field and playing goalie. I have to admit, it is super stressful being on the sideline for me when Ty's playing in the goal. The whole team's fate rests upon his shoulders, and if the other team scores, he looks so defeated, so I try to keep my emotions in check for his sake, but man it is hard.... AND HE'S FIVE!!! Half the time the kids don't even know which way they are going on the field. Really, it is all just a bunch of fun (unless he's in the goal) haha. But they won! It was really fun today watching Tanner on the sidelines. He was yelling louder than I was for his brother, and a few of the other players that he has learned the names of. He is such a good little brother. Where Austin could have cared less about the game, because he was on the sideline getting attention from all the parents as he kicked his little soccer ball up and down the field. What a ham.

After the game we came home and met my parents front for a little deep cleaning on the front yard because heaven knows it needed it. I love yard work Saturdays, as long as there is help. The baby slept, but the older two got right into it and within a little over an hour things really looked a lot better. I think the boys favorite part was when they got to get lunch with Grandpa in the truck. I mean, you really work up an appetite after all that hard work right?

Later on Eric took the boys to see Toy Story in 3D, and they were so excited. I haven't had a chance to take them to the movies yet, it's kind of been dad's thing. But the stories Eric tells me when they get home let me know how much fun they had. I'm glad they did a boys day. While they were gone I had a photo shoot with Alexis and her girls. I wish I could take their picture all the time (and I'm not just saying this because I know you are reading this Alexis) they just really are that cute. And they did so good considering how tired they were.

Then I got to meet up with just the girls since it was Alexis's last night here. We talked forever and just caught up with one another. I totally had the giggles all night, it was really bad (sorry girls) but I think even without the giggles, I would have been laughing a ton. They are so funny. It is nice to have good friends to laugh with.

Now it is time to hit the sack. But looking back this was a truly eventful, productive, enjoyable Saturday. Sweet dreams.

Lush and Loving It!

2009-10-23T10:22:00.000-07:00

I was able to take my friend Jenni out and take some pictures for her business Lush Boutique. You know, the fabulous jewelery that I can't say enough about! Not only was the jewelery amazing as always, but Jenni is beautiful. I had so much fun being creative and doing a fashionista type shoot. It was different that the poses or candid shoots that I normally do and I loved it. I'll probably be giving Vogue a call after this to see if they need a photographer for any of their shoots. HAHA

Now back to the wedding I photographed last weekend. Photos coming soon. Work, work, work.

Great Grandma Makes Everything Better

2009-10-21T21:26:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago my Grandma made it up here to visit for the weekend. My boys love it when GG (great-grandma) comes to visit. Nothing is ever boring when she's around. Friday night we hung out at my mom's house for dinner. GG mentioned a possible bath after dinner and before I could say anything there were bubbles, hot water, and three naked boys laughing with delight.

Actually Austin wasn't too sure about the whole bubble thing. I think it was his first time. But Ty and Tanner couldn't believe their luck when they saw how many bubbles Grandma had in her bathtub. I'm not sure our baths here at home will ever be the same again.

After baths (I don't know why we didn't do this first) everyone enjoyed their ice cream, for dessert.

We played with the robot (more posts on this soon) and just had a great time being together, as always.

The next morning the whole family came to Tyler's soccer game. It wasn't very eventful, but Ty was so excited the they came to watch him play.

Tanner, who has been to all the games, really wanted to play football instead of watching the action on the field. Gratefully Grandpa obliged during a quarter that Ty sat out and so his day was made too.

Where as Austin was very happy sitting on GG's lap while he was fed snacks.

While the visits always seem too short and too long in between, we really love it when GG comes and can't wait to see her again.

5 Little Monkies and then some

2009-10-15T21:44:00.001-07:00

Yesterday our friends dropped off their little ones for a minute while they ran an errand. I love these kids. They are sooooo good. My boys adore Calli. They just treat her like a little doll. And their baby Luke, can't be any sweeter. Austin was in awe with the baby. He wouldn't leave Luke alone. At one point the boys were all snuggled up with Calli on the couch and I couldn't resist putting the babies up there for a photo.

And a few weeks ago we headed out as a family to a BBQ fest in Sacramento to celebrate my friend Lisa's birthday. It was a super windy night, as the photo will show, and the event itself wasn't as great as we had hoped, but I love being with my friends. I love that all of our kids get along, we always have a great time, and even the husbands get in on the action. Good times.

Lastly, before I pass out for the night, I had to post these pictures of the kids with my dad last weekend. They have such a great time with Grandpa. I'm not sure what adventure they are on here, or what the story is about, but they are loving it.

Flooded

2009-10-14T21:54:00.001-07:00

Same old story here. Flooded with work, flooded with kids, flooded with life, but today....
we also had flooded streets.

It was a cloudy morning but at 11:20am the clouds opened up and a months worth of rain came down on us. I was sitting in my living room, getting the kids ready to go pick up Ty from school when it started. The boys and I watched the rain pour down as we sat at the dining room window. Minutes later we had our very own waterfall as Tanner called it. There was so much rain it was running over the gutters and making a solid wall of water in front of our window. While I was enjoying the show, my main thought was, really, this, 10 minutes before I have to pick up Ty. Maybe it will stop? But it kept on coming. I figured if this rain wasn't going to stop, I was going to at least get a front parking spot at school, so I packed up 5 minutes early. As we stepped outside all bundled up and ready to dash to the car... it stopped. As quickly as it had came the rain was gone, but the fun was about to begin.

The neat thing about where I live is the subdivision is on higher ground than the streets just west of us. So guess where all that rain goes???? Down the street. The drive to school had a few detours, some because there were AWESOME puddles, and some because the puddles where too big and I wasn't even going to try. By the time I had picked up Ty, dropped off one of his friends, found a few more puddles to splash and gone home to get my camera, it had been about an hour. I really wish I had gotten the camera first because it was amazing. In fact, some kids actually got their canoe and floated down the street. Of course I had to let my boys out and play in the water too. Luckily it was decently warm while we were out there.

This is one of the puddles I decided not to go into, but because no one else wanted to drive in it too, the boys had a great time in it.

We finally went home but before I could get Tanner inside, he made one last mad dash to the gutter. Mind you, this is about and hour and a half from when the rain stopped and there is still a ton of water.

Austin was dying to join in on the fun, but some of that water was taller than he was, so we let him play out back while we got lunch together. Who needs a swimming pool and where else is it warm enough to have a naked baby in the water in October? Only in California. (mother side note, he was only out there for about 2 min.)

They wanted to stay out all day, but I was wet enough for the whole week and called it off. What a fun afternoon though. It is great to have days like this, once in a while.

But as they went to bed tonight they both asked, "Can we drive in the water again tomorrow Mom?" Too fun!!

Needing My Own Station

2009-09-29T11:24:00.000-07:00

So if my friend Jenni doesn't stop finding all these fun YouTube videos I might need to start my own site with my favorite videos. There are a ton of things happening in my life right now, and it's a lot easier to post a video than write about what's going on so I'll do a cram session later to update about me. But until then.... check out these funny missionaries. Is this the kind of thing I have to look forward to?

Another good one

2009-09-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

My friend Jenni (who owns the fabulous Lush Boutique) is always finding these great things on the Internet and posting links to them. She recently found this one and I love it. I'm Yours by Jazon Mraz is one of my favorite songs, Eric and I sing it ALL THE TIME. And this rendition is INCREDIBLE. Thanks Jenni for sharing...

He's going to be a soccer player... he is

2009-09-23T21:10:00.000-07:00

I mentioned a month or so ago Austin loves to play soccer during Ty's soccer practice and I finally got it on video. He dribbles around the adults and loves the attention he gets for it. Not bad skills though for a little guy.