HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON......

I know I'm just a kid at heart, especially when I enjoy a good animated movie as much or more than my boys! My favorites are Finding Nemo, Cars, The Last Unicorn and now How To Train Your Dragon! Mom is down for a visit and since Jason was at work and Logan was off-track, I thought it would be a great time to sneak away with Logan for a date. I told Logan after lunch that I had a secret for him. I took him aside to tell him that just he and I were going to see How To Train Your Dragon. He started jumping up and down and saying, "I'm so exciting Mom, I'm so exciting!" He then asked if we could have popcorn at the movies. I agreed.....even though it costs more that a ticket these days. I also told him that he would get to pick any treat he wanted to eat at the theater. We went to the "treat drawer" and he rummaged for a minute, that selected the Reese's PB eggs, my favorite as well. For the next couple hours, he walked around the house just beaming, and every few minutes he'd say, "Is it time Mom? Are we leaving soon?" After about a hundred of these questions I finally sent him outside with Silas to play. Maybe five minutes later Silas came running into the kitchen with a serious frown and a quivering lip. He walked right up to me and said, "Logan tole me secrit owsite Mom. I not go wif yew! He said secrit. I go too, Mom. Me too!" Whoops, guess the cat was out of the bag. I didn't tell him the whole truth, just a partial, that I wasn't going anywhere. Which was the truth, I wasn't going anywhere at that moment, not for another couple hours anyway and by then he would be snuggled into his bed and fast asleep. I took the opportunity to teach Logan about how important it is to keep a secret. Several hours later Logan and I were on our way. He couldn't hide his anticipation, he giggled several times in the van on the way to the theater. $26 later (ouch!) we were sitting in our seats munching on fresh buttery popcorn and laughing at the previews. Needless to say it was a fantastic movie! A little too violent toward the end, but a great overall message about being who you are and following your dreams, accepting others in return, unconditional love and overcoming prejudices.

KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS.....

So Silas has moved from one cuss word to another. He may have given up the f-word when he says truck, but Jet sounds exactly like sh@@!

Jason and Silas:
"Hey bubba, can I sit by you?"
**Silas giggles** "Daddy you called me bumba." **giggles some more** "I'm not bumba, you said bum, daddy." **giggles some more**

The other day Logan asked me if he could watch Noggin. I told him that he couldn't watch anymore TV because he'd already watched his 1 hour at 830 in the morning. He then says to me, "But Mom, it's just Noggin, it's like preschool on TV." Point in case! Obviously he watches too much Noggin if he can recite their slogan by memory.

Silas says to me, "Mom I tell yew a secrit", then he whispers in my ear, "Me gwow up an be a moshter twuck wif big wheels." Can you tell he's obsessed with trucks of any sort, shape and size.

Mom and I were shopping at Costco on Friday with the kids. She's was watching them while I ran down an aisle to grab something. I'm walking back toward the cart when Logan comes running up to me his eyes wide with concern, "Mom I saw this little girl who was very sick. Her legs don't work because she was in a wheelbarrow. My heart is sad for that little girl. Do you think she will be okay?"

CARROTS COMING OUT OF OUR EARS........

I bought 25 lbs of organic carrots through Bountiful Baskets. We love carrots at my house. We eat them steamed with apricot spice jam, freshly sliced with the peels still on, mashed with a little butter. I decided to use half the bag for juicing, because not only then we get to enjoy the delicious juice, we steam the leftover pulp and use it for casseroles, soups, meatloaf, carrot cake and cookies! This week I decided to try a new cookie recipe, so I made Orange-Carrot cookies using the leftover pulp. They are so moist and soft....heavenly. Of course I changed the recipe a little, because I really wanted it "zesty" and flavorful. I made the frosting first because I wanted to make sure I had enough OJ and zest for the frosting.

Zest, then juice an entire orange.

Frosting:
1/2 c softened butter
3 c. powdered sugar
3 TB orange juice
3/4 of the orange rind zest
1/4 tsp orange extract

Cookies:
3/4 c butter or shortening
3/4 c sugar
1 egg
2 c flour
1 c mashed, cooled carrots
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 of the orange rind zest
1 t vanilla
The rest of the orange juice
1/2 tsp orange extract
Bake at 350 for about 12-15 minutes.

A PRESENT FOR MOM.......................

Today I am watching the series finale of Lost online (I know, a complete catastrophe! My DVR decided to teach me a lesson) when Silas comes walking up to me.
"Mom, Mom".
"Yahuh, what honey?
"Here mom, here. Take et, open yer han peas."
"Okay, okay, yes, here's my hand."
I'm engrossed in Lost and obviously not paying complete attention until I feel slightly wet. I look down 10 seconds later to discover that my angelic little son has so nicely deposited the largest, ugliest, chunkiest, gooberiest, booger I've ever had the pleasure to meet! I can't believe that it even fit in his nose. Disgusting....I'm gagging as I'm typing this. Seriously gross. I was screaming like a school girl running to the sink to wash it off. Squirming and shrieking I tell you! I washed my hands 3 times! There is NO doubt that he is ALL boy! None, whatsoever.

C IS FOR CLIMBING............

4/4/2010: I'm in the house when I hear the screaming: "Hhhheeelllppp. Mom, hhheeelllppp!" Logan found himself in quite a predicament. This is not the first time he's done this.

I know what you're thinking. What kind of a mother stops to grab her camera, and then stops to take a picture!! When I heard the screaming I looked out the window, so I grabbed my camera on my way out the back door. It really looks much worse than it was...he was actually laughing.

C is for Climbing!


C is for cheese!
C is for Cute boys.

C is for Chilly, and Chocolate (the hot sort that is).

MY LITTLE HELPER.......

4/29/2010: Vacuuming is never easy at my house. It's an all day adventure. "All day" you say. Yes, all day! Anytime I turn on the vacuum, THEY come running!

It starts out with Silas wanting to "Do et meself mom. Me a beg boy."
Which really means that he just wants to goof around. Within 30 seconds he's wielding the arm like a gun, "pew, pew, doot, doot, pew, pew!"
Sure enough, after a couple minutes he's ready for me to "cean mines hair mom, peeeaaasssss!"


They try to ride or stand on the vacuum, push it themselves, play chicken, and eventually try to see exactly what I am willing to vacuum up, i.e, sock, spoon, toys, etc. And so we go through this process all over again as we move from room to room! This is why it takes ALL day.

THE TOOTH FAIRY COMES AGAIN............

Logan lost his second bottom tooth last night. I decided it would be fun to have him put his tooth in an envelope and seal it, then write a personal note on the outside.
In the morning, he found the same envelope under his pillow. At first he thought she forgot, but when he opened it he found that the tooth had been replaced with a new certificate from the tooth fairy, and a Sacagawea coin!

He told me "The Tooth Fairy must be magic Mom because she got my tooth out of the envelope without even ripping it, and then she put the money in it too! She also knew that Silas ruined my floss she gave to me last time by opening it all up because she gave new little flosses."

SPRING HAS FINALLY SPRUNG.........

4/26/2010: Jason was testing the sprinkler system, and the kids went wild!

Silas was poking a sprinkler head with a stick.....
and ran for his life when it came to life and started spraying......

still running.
Simple childhood fun.....they started chasing a grocery bag caught in the wind.
There it goes with Logan close behind.Logan was trying so hard to catch it.
He almost got it, but he was laughing so hard he couldn't hold onto it.
Silas joined the chase.
Lots of laughing, giggles, and running breathless.

Gotcha!
Silas found a worm. "Aahh, ets a beeby snek mom. Poor snek, where's hes mommy?"

ONE COLOR, TWO COLOR, RED COLOR, BLUE COLOR..........

5/6/2010: It was Dr. Seuss week at Butterfield Elementary, and it was Crazy Hair day.

Oh the wonderful things imagination can do.
You can color your hair any color you want to.

Pink on the sides, and orange on top. Green like the Grinch, we don't want to stop.
A little blue here, let's get crazy and loose. Add some purple, let's celebrate Seuss!
For Teacher Appreciation I decorated Miss Clifford's door. I had less than 24 hour notice that they wanted me to do this, since I found out late Sunday afternoon that it needed to be done by 8 am Monday morning. They sent me an email Friday afternoon...I'm terrible at checking my email regularly, as everyone knows!

THE TEA "WAFFAALL"

4/26/2010: Cyclone Silo strikes again! I made a large pitcher of honey and lemon green tea, 24 cups to be exact. I put it in a beverage dispenser with a spigot so it would be easy to access in the spare fridge. What was I thinking? Apparently I was asking for trouble.
Silo decided that it would be so much fun to hold down the spout and watch all the tea pour out. When I asked him what he was doing, "I makeen a waffall mom, a waffall".

Luckily, there were two bins under the dispenser that caught 90% of the tea. For some reason I'm missing another picture of the middle drawer. This drawer is our cheese drawer, and when I found him, all the cheese was completely submerged..with kraft singles floating on top. Just in case your are wondering, no...most cheese is not waterproof! Oh well, lesson learned and the fridge needed a good cleaning anyway.

TWO LITTLE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED..........

4/19/2010: Bunk beds are not just for sleeping. They are for climbing,
and flipping,

and hanging,and monkeyin' around. "Look, I saweengin mom". Zoom in on his face, it's priceless!

HOW TO TELL IF A 5 YEAR OLD IS BORED......

They turn an Arby's wrapper into this............


Logan had a little too much time on his hands after dinner the other night. He asked for a pair of scissors, and 10 minutes later this is what I find.

SILENCE = TROUBLE.........

4/15/2010:
Twas all too quiet upstairs today, went to see if all was okay.
Silas was in the bathroom, a full moon in sight.
He was busy "wussing Mater" with all of his might.

Water on the counter and all over the floor, Silas says "Mama, go away peas....close the door"!

TASTE THE RAINBOW...........

The Price troop was over for a visit last Tuesday. It was a rainy and dreary day and much too wet to play outside. After lunch and games and being cooped up in the house I decided to take a poll to see what to make for a treat. Will it be chocolate chip cookies or a sweet surprise? It really wasn’t much of a choice. Anything with surprise must be better! I decided that since it was too cold to be outside in the rain, I would bring a rainbow to the kids!

So easy, 10 minute prep. One white cake mix, a little food coloring, 20 minutes in the oven, add decadent creamy white frosting and lots and lots of sprinkles..............

and we tasted the rainbow in a colorful cupcake! Okay, so it wasn't a complete rainbow because I couldn't make orange since I ran out of yellow, but they didn't even notice.

Delish! Kenna didn't want frosting or sprinkles.....

Cohen wanted little frosting and lots of sprinkles....

Caden wanted lots of frosting and only a little sprinkles.....

Silas wanted lots of both, and promptly ate the top off the cupcake with all frosting and sprinkles and left the rest......

Logan wanted double the frosting and sprinkles only on half, then ate the top off and wanted more frosting to finish off the cupcake. He's just like his mother, loves frosting!

So fun, and worth all the smiles and cheers! Next time I am going to add flavored kool-aid packets for color instead of food coloring...and it should add a different flavor to the cake as well. I'll let you know how it turns out!