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."