It's finished!

We finished the new office! My dad and Dave worked on it the last couple days and it's finally all done. It's such a great room and the boys took no time to break it in. Colin walked past it yesterday and said, "Oh, I like those colors." Once the desk was set up he went in, found his paper and started to draw. Trevor couldn't wait for the computer to be set up. He'd been waiting to play a game all day long. Now it's on to the upstairs. We'll see how long it takes us to start that one. I can't tell if Dave is tired of working on the room or motivated to do more!

The boys enjoying the new room. We put crayons, paper, glue, scissors and pencils in the desk where Colin is drawing. It will be his new "drawing table" and the place where Trevor does homework. Trevor loves playing games with his dad!

The boys on Christmas morning opening gifts. They loved their gifts and had a great day playing with their new toys...the star wars figures were a big hit as well as their new pirate ship!Dave bought a big fluffy blanket for the family for Christmas. I think it's Colin's favorite new thing. He's always complaining he's cold but I think he'll be toasty warm from now on.

New Pictures

Just like everyone else we got snow on Wednesday. It snowed at the house but didn't really stick. We were a little sad on Thursday when we woke up and there was no snow. But as you can see we did get our chance to play in it.

This is Trevor on our "snow day". My mom called early that morning to let me know the park next to her school had snow (even though we had none at our house and her school is two minutes away). I called my friend Jean and we took our kids over to play at 8:30 in the morning before it all melted. They played for about a half hour and then got cold and wanted to go home. It was the first time Trevor and Colin have seen snow!

Colin playing in the snow. Before I could get his "globes" on he ran out and started picking up the snow. He came crying to me, "Mom! My hands are so cold." I got his gloves on and it was all good. He loved it and had a great time making his little snowman.I took Logan to get his first haircut on Wednesday. As you can see from this picture it was getting pretty long. It would fall in his eyes and the back was getting so long he always looked like a "ragga-muffin" (something my dad used to say to us when we were kids).

This is Logan after his haircut. He's all clean and in his pjs. Doesn't he look like such a little gentleman with his hair all nice and trimmed?

The new office is coming along. We've finished all of the painting (I LOVE the colors Dave picked) and tomorrow we're going to install the wood floors to match the flooring we have in the rest of the downstairs. I can't wait to get all of the furniture down there!

Santa

Our ward Christmas party was on Friday and afterwards we had a visit from Santa. I love the look on Colin's face in this picture. Colin told Santa he wanted a snowman for Christmas, Trevor said he wanted Hot Wheels and of course Logan started to cry as soon as Dave sat him on Santa's lap. But I'm glad my friend was there with her camera phone to capture the moment.

New baby!

My mom just called and my sister Belinda just had her baby. I won't give any of the details - I don't want to steal her thunder (it's a girl and I think it was her biggest baby). I'm going over to the hospital tonight to hang out with my sister after everyone else has come and gone. Hopefully I'll get some pictures. It will be fun to hold a newborn again - Logan is getting so big!

Here's Macy with her new baby sister Kinsley.

The Remodel

Earlier in November Dave and my dad and uncle started the remodel in our house. We're turning the downstairs bedroom into an open den for the computer and desk and we're going to make the loft (where the computer is now) into a new bedroom. The downstairs is going a little faster than I expected. Dave and his friend Kevin are going to work on it today. The flooring for the room is in and Dave is going to choose the paint color. I'm excited to see what it looks like and more excited to move all of the furniture down there so we can start on the new upstairs bedroom. Trevor and Colin are going to share the new room and we'll put Logan in their old room. I have so many ideas for their room so I hope I can make it look the way it does in my head. Here are a few pictures of what Dave and my dad and uncle worked on that first day...

They cut out a new door way and moved around some of the old outlets. We're going to keep this open to the hall and not put doors on.
They took off the closet doors and cut the wall back a little. This is where the corner part of the computer desk will sit. The old doorway to the left has been closed in and we're going to do some built in shelves. I can't wait to post the finished pictures!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

When we were growing up I always wanted lights on the house at Christmas. We had a huge pine tree in our front yard so one year we put lights on it, but the next day we discovered someone had come and taken all of the lights off. We never attempted it again. Last year, about a week before Christmas Dave went down to Home Depot for something and came back with Christmas lights and a big wreath for the door. This year, we're the first house on the street with our lights up. We have a pretty festive street and we were always the dark house amongst the ones all lit up for Christmas. The boys love it; they "helped" Dave get all of the lights up and then came in and helped me decorate the tree. Colin kept asking when Santa would be here and we had to tell him over and over again not for 25 more days. Then last night Dave and I actually went Christmas shopping for the boys and got all of their gifts in one trip. It's not even December 1st yet and we're done. Usually we're scrambling till the last minute to get their gifts only to discover our limited choices since things they want usually sell out (does anyone else with young boys have to buy Star Wars and Transformers again this year?). It was so fun getting the house all decorated, going out shopping and thinking of how excited the kids will be to open their gifts. But after it was all said and done, the one thing Trevor was really excited about was when I put up the page out of the December Friend where we read scriptures of Christ each night and color in a picture until you get to Christmas day. He has been waiting for December 1st so we can start that. I guess it really is the little ones who always seem to remind us what Christmas is really all about.

Not Freezing to Death

Since the weather has been so nice Dave and I decided to whisk the kids away to the beach for a few days. Here is Logan on the beach for the first time....just kidding. That's Colin from 2 years ago. I took some cute pictures of the boys yesterday in the backyard when we were all playing and for the life of me I can't get them from the camera to my computer. So I put this picture up to make my friend Tricia jealous because right now it's as warm as a summer day at the beach. Well, maybe not that warm but it sure is a heck of a nice day. On Sunday one of my friends said she was so sad because she was putting up her Christmas decorations and it was warm and sunny and she was getting hot. She misses the cold and the snow. I don't know how people can miss the cold and the snow when it's so beautiful. I will never understand the love of snow. I lived in it for three years in college and I can honestly say I don't miss it one little bit. Sure it's pretty to look at, but when you have to go out and walk to class and it's 20 degrees and you get all wet from it and your toes start to freeze...no thank you. I will take 78 degrees in the middle of November any day. So sorry Tricia that you're already freezing to death. I am going to go open another window to let in some of this nice, fall air.

Changes to come....

Our little Logan is ten months old now and he still does not have his own room. He shares the loft upstairs with the computer. Ever since he was born we've wanted to make the loft into a bedroom and move the office downstairs, but we've just never gotten around to it. Until today! Our "guest room" is all cleaned out now and Dave started cutting a hole out of the wall for the new doorway. We have officially started our remodeling project. How long it's all going to take I have no idea, but I can almost see what I want Logan's new room to look like. I just wonder if Trevor and Colin will want the new room and want Logan to move into their room. I guess I don't really care as long as I can have all of my boys upstairs with me and finally have a door to close when I put Logan down for his naps and to sleep at night. I'll have to take pictures of the progress and then post the big reveal. As for Dave's family....sorry but we no longer have a guest room. But that does not mean you can't still come visit. We will always have room.....maybe the playroom?

Happy Halloween!

Interview with Trevor

My friend did this on her blog and I was interested to see what Trevor had to say:
1. What is something mom always says to you? - I love you
2. What makes mom happy? - Kisses
3. What makes mom sad? - I don't know
4. What is her favorite thing to do? - Go to a party (I'm not sure where this came from since I never go to parties...maybe because I went out to dinner with friends recently?)
5. What does your mom do when you're not around? - Take care of Colin (what about Logan?)
6. What is your mom really good at? - Cooking
7. What is your mom not very good at? - Playing, because you always say 'I have to go to a meeting, I'm going to a party, I have to go upstairs.' (This answer made me very sad! But again where is the whole party thing coming from??)
8. What does your mom do for her job - Go to meetings (Do I really go to that many meetings?)
9. What is your mom's favorite food? - Enchiladas (he is so right and it's his favorite too!)
10. What makes you proud of your mom? - Proud that you're back home from a meeting (Hmmm, maybe I need to have a talk with the bishop!)
11. What do you and your mom do together? - We do homework (he smiled when he said this so it must be a good thing)
12. How are you and your mom the same?- We both have blue eyes
13. How are you and your mom different? - You have long hair

I'm thinking I need to go play with Trevor now.

Look-a-likes?

I get so many people with different opinions on who Logan looks like more. Some say he looks just like Trevor where others swear he is Colin's "mini-me". There are times when I see both of them in him, but for certain all three have such different personalities. In these pictures all three boys are about 9 months old (I think Colin has changed so much since he was a baby!). So who do you think looks more alike?

What's Next?

Last night as I was cooking dinner Colin went out back to play and soon after Trevor followed him. Not long after he went out Trevor came back in and said very calmly, "Mom, we have an emergency." I followed him out and this is what I saw...



Colin was stuck in the gate. A while back we put a lock on the gate because Colin figured if he stood on his bike he could reach the latch and get the gate open. He then figured out the combination to the lock (never use 0000 - kids can guess that too easily) so we changed that and thought we had finally stopped Colin from trying to get out front. He is one determined boy and I guess this time he thought he had a good plan....until his head would not fit through. I must admit I started laughing when I saw him. It was funny to me. I called Dave and told him what happened and he told me to try and get his body back through (I was not thinking and for the life of me could not figure out what to do) so we eventually got him out. When I asked him what in the world he was doing he said he wanted to get out so he could give Dad a kiss. I guess since I was making dinner he knew Dad would be home soon. I told him the next time he wanted to go our front he needed to tell Mom or Dad first and then use the front door. As we walked back into to the house, our sweet Trevor said, "Mom, I knew he would get unstuck because I said a prayer." I just keep wondering what Colin is going to do next.

A Real Ice Cream Truck!

The other night Dave was out in the front getting ready to mow the lawn. The boys were with him and I was inside feeding Logan. All of a sudden Trevor runs in yelling, "Mom! You have to come see, it's a real ice cream truck!" He was way excited so I went out and saw it parked in front of the house, Dave and Colin looking at the different selections. Trevor came back in and got Dave's wallet and I went out to capture their first ice cream purchased from the ice cream man in a real ice cream truck. I remember when we were younger and playing outside in the summer we'd hear that familiar song jingling through the streets. We'd all run in the house to find change. Sometimes we'd have to run after the truck to flag it down as it drove past the house, but once it stopped it seemed like all of the kids in the neighborhood would be there, waiting to get a cool treat. Sometimes my dad would be outside on a Saturday and run in the house, grabbing the change jar telling us to come out and pick a teat. That truck used to come around all of the time. Is it sad that this is my 5 year old's first ice cream truck experience and that it happened on the last day of September instead of the middle of summer? Hmmmmm....my favorite thing to get was a Strawberry Shortcake. The vanilla ice cream with strawberry in the middle, the crumbly coating on the outside. Those were so good.

My little flasher

The last few days we've taken Trevor to school Colin will tell me he has to go to the bathroom. The ladies in the office are nice and let us use the bathroom in the nurse's office every time. Well I was onto his little scheme and made him go to the bathroom before we left for school today. When we got to school I let him out of the stroller to get a drink. He then came up to me and said, "I have to go pee pee." I told him he did not, he went before we left. So Colin goes out to the grass where all of the kindergartners were running around and playing and proceeded to pull down his shorts and underwear ALL THE WAY, a big smile on his face, looking at me the whole time. He was in the process of trying to pee when I got his pants back on and marched him to the office to use the nurse's bathroom. After he went he turned to me and said, "See Mom I did have to go." Well, well I guess I'll listen to him from now on.

What we've been up to

I have not posted in a while because it seems the day goes by much faster with Trevor in school. Even though he goes for a half day I feel like I am running around all morning and after he gets home and then before you know it I'm looking at the clock and it's time to make dinner. But here is a little update on what's been going on at the Eyre house....
Trevor: He's doing so well in school and has really improved in his listening skills. We were so happy last week when he got a stamp on his hand every day for being good in class. He is learning so much and really seems to enjoy school. I see him on the playground playing with new friends and he works very hard on his homework.
Colin: My friends and I started a playgroup for Colin and their sons Aaron and Nathan. All of the boys are about the same age. They have loved playing together and it's something they look forward to each week. It's fun seeing Colin playing with boys his own age and they are all pretty funny to watch when they are together. Next week we'll start going to the library for story time and I know he'll love that. Colin also has a little crush....Dave and the boys were telling stories the other night and Dave said, "And the Princess was named Mama Kasey." Colin said, "No, the Princess is not Mama Kasey, it's Colby's Mom." We walk to school with Colby and his mom and Colin just loves her. He always wants to give her hugs and talk to her. He got to go and play with her today so I could go to Trevor's class and he loved that.
Logan: He's almost 9 months old and he's crawling, standing and trying to walk when he stands. He's into everything and loves to go in the playroom with his older brothers. They usually let him play with them but sometimes they will start to yell "TROUBLE" when he's messing with their stuff. He finally got some teeth but now it seems they are all coming at once now! He's been a little miserable at night, but seems to be doing better. I can see so many bumps in his mouth of teeth that are coming and it looks so painful but he's a trooper and does well.
That's all for now!

Logan's New Talent

Logan finally figured out how to stand up in his crib. Colin wanted a picture with him so this was the result. Colin seems to like Logan a little better now that Trevor is at school and he has no one else to play with. Just moments before taking this picture Colin was trying to get Logan out of the crib since Logan was crying and Colin wanted to make him happy. Luckily Colin did not succeed.

A little taste

I wrote before that Dave and I got an idea for a story from watching Trevor play. I just wanted to give a little taste of what I've been working on....tell me what you think!

The Wizard laughed softly. “My name is Rupin.”
“Rupin,” Trevor repeated. “Your house is hidden but I knew it was here. Have I been here before?”
Rupin gazed around the room and then settled his eyes on Trevor. He looked at the boy thoughtfully. “You have been here before, but you must not have remembered. You have been here many times.”
Trevor looked out the window. “Is this a town? This place, Evarb?”
“Yes. The castle and my home are on the edge of town. If you go back out on the road covered with trees and walk the way you came you will pass the castle and then a mile up will be the town. There are many good things in Evarb, but there are also many dangers.”
“What kind of dangers?”
Rupin shook his head. “I can not tell you that now. You will find out soon enough.”
Trevor sat for a moment and when Rupin did not say anything more he took that as an indication that he was supposed to leave. Trevor stood and started for the door. Before he walked back outside he turned and asked, “How do I know what to do once I get to town?”
Rupin smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “You will know just as you knew how to find the door in the castle and how you knew how to find my cottage.”

First Day

Today was Trevor's first day of kindergarten. We met up with some of his friends and walked to school together. He was really excited to get to school but as soon as we got there the bell ran so he did not get to play on the playground. It took some persuading to get him off the playground and to go line up. Colin was a bit sad...he stood in line with Trevor and wanted to go in with him. Trevor did great going in and when I picked him up he said he had fun and he was good. He did not tell me much else about his day, but hopefully tonight he will say more at dinner. Colin did not like his brother gone, but I LOVED going grocery shopping with just 2 kids again. It's amazing how different Colin is when Trevor is not around. Colin missed Trevor the whole time he was gone and kept telling me he was sad. I told him we'll get to do fun things here at home, but I don't know if he believed me. But I am happy things went well for Trevor - I was a little nervous but he seemed to have a good day and said he likes school so that is good enough for me. I hope everyone else had a good first day of school!

Another first today was with Logan. He found the stairs and started to try and climb up them. I had the camera out already from taking a picture of Trevor before going to school so I snapped it and then caught him as he started to fall. He gets around so fast now, we're going to have to keep our eye on him. It helps that Trevor and Colin will tell me if Logan starts to get anywhere further than the family room. It's nice to have little helpers who are always watching out for their baby brother.

Pepperoni Pan Pizza

There is a show on PBS called America's Test Kitchen and a few weeks ago they did a show on pizza and showed a recipe for pan pizza. It looked so good and easy to make so I've been wanting to try it out. Well I tried it tonight and it was a hit. Trevor, Colin and I ate one pizza ourselves and Dave will get to chow down on the second one whenever he gets home from work. So here is the recipe....enjoy!

Sauce
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

Cook oil and garlic in medium saucepan over low heat until garlic is soft (about 2 minutes). Add tomatoes and cook on medium heat until thickened, 10-15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (Makes enough for 3 pizzas, this recipe makes 2 pizzas, so freeze extra sauce.)

Dough
Heat 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk in microwave until warm (not HOT). Add 2 teaspoons sugar and 2 tablespoons olive oil and mix.
In a standing mixer measure 2 1/3 cups flour, 1 package yeast, and 1/2 tablespoons salt. Turn mixer on low and add milk. Mix until combined and then raise speed to medium and mix until dough is smooth, about 5 minutes. Shape dough into a ball and place in a bowl coated with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise about 30 minutes.

Coat the bottom of two round cake pans with 3 tablespoons each Olive Oil. Divide dough in half and shape into balls. Roll out dough into 9 inch circles and then press into oiled pans. Cover pans and let rise for about 20 minutes.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Top pizza with 2/3 cups sauce (leaving a 1/2-inch border around the sides), cheese and pepperoni. Bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Let the pizza sit in pans one minute and the remove.

Mmmm, mmmm good!

Rollie Pollie

Yesterday Logan was crawling around and got on a blanket that was on the ground. He grabbed the corner of the blanket and started to roll around. He got all rolled up in the blanket and all I could do was laugh at him and try to get a picture. This was a time I wished I had a video camera. It was so funny to watch and when I unrolled him he was just smiling like he was having the best time ever.

Our little characters

On Sunday Dave and I were sitting on the couch watching Trevor play. He had a piece of his train track that he was using as a sword and he was fighting off monsters and bad guys. As we watched him I said, "Wouldn't that be such a good book? A story about a little boy who imagines things and then they start to happen." That got us talking and all day long we kept throwing out ideas on what the story would be like, how it would work and different ideas on what would happen. On Wednesday I started writing it and this morning we finally figured out what we want the whole thing to be. Of course we had to name the main character Trevor and he had to have a little brother named Colin. I have so many stories I've started and never finished but I've not been as excited about one as I am about this one. Even if nothing comes of it, how fun for our boys to sit and listen as we read a story with them in it. So stay tuned, maybe as I write I'll put little bits and pieces of it on my blog so you can all tell me what you think and maybe some day Trevor will be the next Harry Potter....

Our beautiful boys

I was at the grocery store today and the boys wanted to "walk". We were in the produce section and they both wanted a "stick" - the green twist ties that are with the fruit and veggie bags. So I give them each two and suddenly they're swords and the boys are running around fighting off the bad guys. There was an older women they ran past and she laughed. I ran into her again and she said to me, "My granddaughter was just here visiting me. She is eight and she wore me out. I am still tired." Then, before walking away she said, "You have a beautiful family."
When I was pregnant with Trevor I was sure he was a girl. I wanted a girl since I was so girly and I knew Dave would be good with a little girl. Then when Colin came along I wanted another boy. Sometimes I'd get excited at the thought of having a girl but I wanted a friend for Trevor. When I was pregnant with Logan I pretended to want a girl because everyone else wanted me to have a girl but really I just wanted another boy. There are some families we know who have all boys and I would say to Dave, "I want to be just like them." People always ask if we're going to try for a girl, but I don't feel like we're missing out by not having one. Besides it's nice being the only girl in the house.


Today was a good play day for Trevor and Colin until the biting and hitting started. But even when they do fight they're over it two seconds later and back to playing. They do love one another and have often said they are best friends. And lately they are getting good at getting into trouble together. Logan kept smooshing his face against his crib but when I grabbed the camera, of course he stopped. He is such a good baby and it's so easy to just leave him in his crib with some toys when I need to do something because I know he'll be okay. But then when I come to get him he gives me the biggest smile ever and I pick him up and he just lays against me. I love that. I hope when he's old enough he can join his brothers, and instead of being the 3rd wheel, they can be like the 3 Musketeers.

Whose idea was it?

Last night Dave and I were having trouble getting the boys calmed down to go to bed. Finally, Dave said "Let's just forget about them and watch our movie and relax." So we did watch our move - a few times during our movie I thought I heard the boys running around upstairs, talking and playing, but I just ignored them and enjoyed the time with Dave. Around 9:45 we go upstairs after the movie was over. I checked on Logan, put his blankets on and then went in the boys room to check on them. They were gone. Neither one was in his bed. Then I went into our room and Trevor and Colin were fast asleep in our bed. This morning when they woke up I said, "I found two boys sleeping in my bed last night." When I asked whose idea it was to go to sleep in Mom and Dad's bed Trevor said, "It was Colin's idea." I knew he was right since Colin is always the one to think of what to do at night to get out of going to sleep and Trevor usually follows along. Now that they've done it once I wonder if they'll try and do it again....

A little summer fun

My friend Tricia always has the best ideas for her kids. They make cars out of boxes and have a drive in movie night in their family room - she even pauses the movie half way and opens a concession stand so her kids can buy snacks. She always takes them to the library in the summer and has picnics in the park or in the family room if it's too hot. They have a garden that the kids help with in the summer and she likes to take them on field trips when they are not in school. This summer, since gas prices are so high, she decided instead of going away to go camping they'd do it at home. They put the up tent in the backyard, grill hamburgers for dinner or do foil dinners, roast marshmallows and make S'mores and then tell scary stories before going to sleep in the tent. They've already done this several times this summer so I decided it was time to give my kids a little summer fun. Inspired by Tricia's e-mail this morning I surprised the boys with the tent in the backyard. They immediately took out a blanket, pillows and toys and of course asked for snacks. I gave them their lunch in the tent and Popsicles since it's pretty warm even in the shade. I don't think we'll sleep out there tonight, but I'll keep it up so they have a few days to play "camping" and get outside a little. I am hoping they will have so much fun playing "camping" that we can plan a weekend to go for real.

Are you a good cooker?

Our conversation at dinner the other night....
Colin (looking at the food on his plate in disgust): What is this?
Me: It's manicotti
Colin: I don't wike mani-cotti
Me (upset that I can never cook anything he "wikes"): Oh well that is what's for dinner tonight.
Trevor (taking a big bite): Mmmm, it's good. Mom, you're a better cooker than the food network.
Me (giving Trevor a big hug): See, your brother likes it.
Colin: I'm done (gets up and takes his plate full of food to the counter)
Later that night....
Colin: Mom, I'm huuungry.
Me: Too bad, you should have eaten your manicotti.
Colin (very angry): But I don't WIKE mani-cotti!

Half a year already?

Logan spit up in his crib this morning so I decided to give him a bath. When his bath was done and he was all wrapped in his towel I put him in the rocking chair so I could change his sheets. As he was sitting there he looked so cute I had to take a picture and I kept thinking I could use these for his 6 month picture in his baby book. Yes, my little guy is half a year old now. It's hard to believe all of that time has gone by and it makes me think that in the blink of an eye we'll be taking the Christmas tree down and getting ready to celebrate his 1st birthday in January. Here are some of our favorite things about our Little Champ:

• His smile - not showing it here but he usually has a huge smile on his face.
• His big blue eyes...the left one has a little brown spot in it so I think it's cool he's a little unique that way.
• How good he sleeps.
• His laugh
• How content he always seems to be. He seems to epsecially enjoy watching his brothers play.
• The way he chews on his toes. Babies are so flexible.
• His loving personality. He can be with anyone and warm up to them immediately.
• The way he knows all of us - he gets a look on his face when he sees me or his dad or brothers that tell us he knows us and he's happy to be part of our family.

Eyre Family Reunion

For our 4th of July weekend we drove to Reno to have a little reunion with Dave's family. It turned out to be a very fun weekend and everyone had a good time. We loved spending time together and watching the kids play and get along so well. We don't see his family often so we were glad for the long weekend we could spend with them. Some of the highlights were the boys tubing down the Trukee River (Trevor liked it but Colin said, "It did not like it. It was cold and I wanted to come home."), all of the good food, playing games at the park, painting birdhouses, sitting and talking, watching the kids play, watching Colin eat about 50 pieces of watermelon, seeing Dave and his siblings have fun together. My Aunt JoD also lives in Reno so we spent a little time with her on Saturday. Thanks everyone for the great time and we hope we can come again soon!

The Search for the Perfect Cookie

I have never been able to make good chocolate chip cookies. No matter what I did they would come out flat and crispy, not soft and chewy like I wanted. Others would make me cookies and I would ask for the recipe only to discover my attempts did not produce the cookies I desired. So one day I was searching online for the perfrect, easy chocolate chip recipe...and I found it! I made these cookies and held my breath as I opened the oven when it was time to take them out and low and behold they were fluffly not flat! Soft not hard! Chewy not crispy! They were exactly what I had been searching for. I made them again and again wondering if it was a fluke they came out so good, but each time they are as goon as the first batch I made. So I am sharing the recipe for all of those who, like me, never thought they could make a good chocolate chip cookie.

1 stick butter, melted (yes MELTED, not softened)

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/4 cups flour (sometimes I do half whole wheat flour, half regular flour and they are still so good and a little healthier....can cookies be healthy?)

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup chocolate chips or more if you like it extra chocolately.

Put everything in a bowl and beat - let your kids lick the beaters and mix in the chocolate chips. Bake at 375 for 8 minutes (according to my oven 8 minutes is the perfect time but you may want to do it a little longer).

Yummm....

Just some random stuff

I thought once Logan started sleeping through the night I would be able to get my 8 hours every night and wake up well rested and cheerful each morning. Well it seems that even though he sleeps well I still wake up for no reason at all, or Trevor or Colin will wake up for different things during the night. Last night, for instance, Dave was gone camping with his scouts and I had a plan to put the boys to bed early (Colin missed his nap but instead of being tired he was WIRED) so I could watch a movie, then read my book (I'm reading Before Green Gables so any Anne of Green Gables fans will have to read it) and have a wonderful night's sleep. I am not sure what I was thinking. A little after midnight Trevor wakes up and yells, "Mom I need a drink of water." He yells it again and again until he sees me in his room with the cup. Then I am up around 1 with Trevor asking which switch to push to turn on the light to go pee, then at 2 and again at 3 because Logan has learned to roll over and he now rolls over in his sleep and it wakes him up. I roll him back over (he sleeps on his stomach - I know I'm breaking the rules but he sleeps SO GOOD that way), put in his pacifier and go back to sleep. He is awake again at 5, I try to get him to go back to sleep but he sees me and is all smiles. I feed him and by 5:24 he's back in his crib and I am back in bed. I then hear Colin waking up at 6:18 and so my day begins. And just so you know...it's 8:34 am and Logan is still sleeping. How nice to take long naps whenever you want.

Trevor has strep throat. On Monday my friend Marylin called me to tell me she saw the doctor my kids go to (Dr. Downey - they love him) because her daughter was sick with strep. So on Friday when Trevor woke up telling me his neck hurt (he'd had a fever the day before and was tired all day long - it was actually kind of nice him being sick!) I called Marylin and asked her what the symptoms for strep were. She told me to take him in just in case, "If you wait all weekend and it is strep then he's going to be miserable." So I took him in and we ended up seeing the doctor Marylin always takes her kids to. It took three of us to hold Trevor down to get the throat culture but it was positive so I was glad we had gone in. He feels "too good" now and said his neck is "much cooler." I just keep watching Colin for symptoms too since he's the one who usually get sick so if he does not get this I will be very surprised.

Colin keeps waking up dry each morning which is nice but he will have one good day with no accidents and then the next day it's like he forgot how to go on the toilet. Oh well, at least when he does have an accident it's on he wood floors and not the carpet. That's something to be grateful for. Yesterday when I took Trevor to the doctor I asked my dad to watch Colin and Logan since I am always afraid they would catch the germs there. So I tell Colin he is going to Papa's house and he says, "What about Gramma?" and I say, Grandma is at work." and he says with a frown on his face, "Oooh, but I miss Gramma."

Anniversary, Father's Day and Colin's Success

The best marriage advice I ever got was from my friend Tricia who told Dave and me to always spend at least one night away from our kids for our anniversaries. We took that advice to heart and also decided that each year we would take turns planning the anniversary as a surprise for the other person. Dave does the even years and I do the odd. We also buy a little something to put on a shelf in the family room to remember where we went or what we did. So here is a little recap of what we've done so far:


Year 1 - I planned a trip to San Diego. We went to Balboa park and Coronado Island to go to the beach.
Year 2 - Dave got us a room at the Treasure Island and tickets to a few shows. Three days away from 3 month old Trevor...it was good to be alone but we were both happy to get back and see our baby.
Year 3 - I got us a room at the Big Yellow Inn in Cedar City and tickets to a play at the Shakespearean Festival.
Year 4 - We went to Laguna beach and got spa treatments and sat on the beach and did nothing. (Can you tell we like the beach?)
Year 5 - We stayed home, but the kids were gone and I did a scavebger hunt for Dave. I sent him to all of the places we went on our first date.
Year 6 - Dave got us a room and spa treatments (another trend of ours) at the Green Valley Spa in St. George.
Year 7 - This year! We celebrated this past weekend even though our anniversary is on the 23rd. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant at the Venetian and then saw Phantom. It was SO GOOD. Then we went on a gondola ride. My sister watched the kids...Thanks!!


Father's Day!


I let Dave sleep in (something he likes to do a lot) and made him a breakfast of crepes. When it was time to eat I had the boys put on the shorts and shirt we bought him and wake him up. Colin was not very happy with this idea. For Dave's card I had the boys tell me what they liked to do with their dad. Here is what they said:
Colin - I like to draw bobots with Dad.
Trevor - He's a very very good Dad. I like to wrestle and play monster game with him.
Logan - (Big smile!)

Colin's Success!

We started potty training Colin 2 weeks ago and I thought it was going to be a never ending process. Well he has stayed dry for three days now with just two accidents, one at my sister's house and one this morning. Yesterday he was even going into the bathroom and going all on his own without me telling him he needed to go try. I'm so excited. It's been nice only changing one child's diapers for the last three days! I keep thinking of all of the money we'll save now on diapers and wipes!! He's even been to the store a few times and has done really well. Today will be a test - church and then over to my parent's house for dinner.

Updates

Here are some new picturs from the weekend. We've been trying out food with Logan and he's not been too interested. This weekend I tried sweet potatoes since Trevor and Colin loved them as babies but Logan had more fun spitting it out. Dave mowed the lawn Saturday night and Colin wanted to help. Trevor usually helps too but he was upstairs playing the computer. He is so good at the games he plays that he can do it all himself. I think soon he will be better on the computer than I am. He definitly takes after his dad!

Tagged by Marylin

What I was doing 10 years ago:

• I was at SUU and decided to stay for the summer so I could take enough classes in order to be done with everything by the end of the Fall semester so I could student teach Spring semester. I lived in the sorority house that summer and I was also the sorority President so I had those responsibilities as well. It was a summer like the way a Tale of Two Cities starts out "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

5 Things on my "TO DO" list:

• clean the house (I have a friend from college - a SORORITY SISTER - coming into town tonight and she's coming over with her family to visit)
• start an exercise routein
• set up the "slip and slide" for the kids (I am totally going to play on it with them)
• finish the laundry - it's never ending
• make up my dinner menu for next week and get my grocery list done

Things I would do if I were suddenly a Billionaire:

• I guess Millionaire doesn't cut it anymore
• Buy my dream house that is up the street (the one with the LAUNDRY ROOM!!) and get all of the extras I want.
• Take my family (my parents, Dave's parents, our grandparents, our siblings and their kids) on a Disneyworld Cruise.
• Buy a beach house in Coronado Island
• Put money away for missions and college (that might end up taking most of the money by the time my kids are old enough to go!)
• Go to Italy with Dave
• Stock up my food storage (since my new house has a HUGE pantry)
• Buy a video camera so we can record the kids
• Go out to dinner every night for a week
• Hire a maid service

3 of my Bad Habits

• biting my nails (I am really going to stop this time)
• interrupting people when they are talking (I had no idea, but my husband pointed this out to me!)
• not following through on things I want to do

Places I've Lived

• Las Vgeas, Cedar City for college and Las Vegas once again

Jobs I've Had

• Day care worker (lasted 2 weeks)
• worked at the library
• Hallmark sales associate (I loved that job)
• I worked at a law firm for a few months doing a project for one of the lawyers there
• I cleaned the athletic office building/gymnastics locker room at college.
• worked at a summer day camp before I got my first REAL job out of college
• a teacher - high school and then middle school
• a mom

Some things people don't know about me:

• I have about 10 beginnings to books I want to write. If I get an idea I have to start it so I won't forget. I am getting close to finishing the one I am working on now and then I want to try and get it published.
• I hate clothes shopping.
• I don't like hanging out with a lot of people at once. I'd rather be with a small group so we can all talk together.
• I almost changed my major to Nutrition
• I hated babysitting as a kid

On the Road to Kindergarten

Trevor had his last day of preschool last week on Thursday (was it really only a week ago??) and his teacher planned a little graduation ceremony for that night. When we got there I was surprised to see so many people since there are only 4 kids in his class and one of them is the teacher's daughter, but his teacher's parents and sister came to support her. Trevor did a great job. They all introduced themselves by spelling their name and they all had a little part of a poem to recite and a song to sing. It was so cute and Trevor kept making funny comments throughout the whole thing and the other parents would say, "How funny, he is so cute." Dave and I were very proud and a little surprised at how different Trevor was sitting with his classmates. We both said how happy we were he got kicked out of his first preschool because this one seemed so much better suited for him. He was the only boy in the class, but he still enjoyed himself each week and made good friends. After the ceremony his teacher presented each child with a backpack full of things to do over the summer and a few supplies they will need for school in the fall. It was such a fun night and it made Dave and me realize just how fast our kids are growing up and all of the things they will be doing in the future.

The pictures are the kids signing a song about being a star, his class posing for pictures and the last one is Trevor with Miss Crystal. He said on his last day of school as I was droping him off "Mom I am starting to get sad." Then he went up to Miss Crystal and told her he loved her and that he was going to miss her!

Three Day Weekend Pictures

Here are the pictures from our weekend with Dave's sister Debbie and her husband Chad.