Old Skool

So my entire childhood my family went to the lake. There was a group of 4 families and we always went together. One of the "lake kids" got married last weekend. We decided it was the perfect time to get together again. The parents get together every now and then, but all of us kids don't make it happen as often as I think we should. So, after the reception we went over to Amy's house for dinner, games, and A LOT of laughing.

I love that even though we have all changed so much since we were 12 (thankfully) we can still get together and have fun. Everyone is definitely at different stages in their lives, but somehow it seems like we are all on the same page. It's also great because this particular group of friends is so real. Nobody sugar-coats things. We don't make ourselves sound better than we really are. We don't butter you up to make you feel better. I think everyone needs at least a few friends like that!

Mr. Cool

So I saw these sunglasses at Old Navy and couldn't resist. They were only like $3 and I think my little man looks like a stud in them. He actually does surprisingly well with keeping them on!

"Purse"-onal Journey

This month's enrichment was the birthday dinner. Our theme was although everyone may be at different spots during their "purse"-onal journey, we can rely on other sisters and form a network of support. Katherine did an amazing job of planning the evening, and I think it went great!

I was in charge of the centerpieces which were just purses. Katherine kept asking me if I needed any of the board members to bring extra purses. I told her that unfortunately me and Jennie would be able to provide the 25 purses! I had Chad help me load up the car with all of the purses the night before. When he saw the massive pile of purses, he turned to me and said, "You know this is ridiculous, right?" What can I say? I love purses. I love how the are the perfect accessory and they always fit!

I thought the centerpieces were simple, but cute. I took picture of all the tables just to prove that me and Jennie really are a little ridiculous!

Belated birthday pictures

I took Vance to get his pictures takes for his 1st birthday. I tried JCPenneys first, but I didn't love them. The top two are from Penneys and the next two are from Picture People. I can't believe how big he is getting!



Vance loves sucking his thumb with his blanket, and I keep forgetting to get his pictures taken with it. This is how I will forever remember my baby Vance.

The picture below is my favorite. It isn't the cutest, but it definitely captures his personality. Vance is always on the go and full of mischief. It makes me laugh every time I look at it because it is just so "vance."

Rob & Jennie are busted!

All of Vance's aunts and uncles are constantly giving him treats, but Uncle Rob and Aunt Jennie are the worst! They are always giving Vance foods. Any time we go to their house, the first thing Jennie says, "Vance - you want a cookie or some soda?"

And then we wonder why he won't eat dinner...

Chad's dream birthday week

As I posted earlier, on Chad's actual birthday I told him that he could buy his gun. We went shopping and he found the gun he wanted.


Now fast forward 4 days - Chad and I are talking on the phone and my brother-in-law Joe keeps calling Chad. Finally Chad hangs up with me and takes the call. Joe was calling to tell Chad that he bought Chad the shotgun he wanted for his birthday!!! He bought for a kind of early thank you for a favor. Joe and Leslie are building a house and Chad is going to be doing A LOT of stone work for free. But still - isn't that so nice?! Chad couldn't have been more thrilled...or so he thought.


Fast forward 2 more days - Chad is supposed to come pick up Vance because I was teaching piano. I was wondering why he was so late when he tells me that his car is overheating. I'll skip some of the details, but the story ends with me holding Vance in the front seat while Chad pushes the car uphill - all by himself! I tried telling him to ask for help, but he insisted on being a jerk and ignoring me. Needless to say he was regretting that decision about halfway up the hill. After a little bit more work, we realized the old 1997 Camry with 170,000+ miles on it had officially died. It was no longer worth fixing. Bummer that it broke. Yeah that Chad doesn't have to drive it anymore!Fast forward 1 more day - Chad gets a truck. He was always wanted a truck, but we told ourselves we needed to keep our cars until they died. I have a friend whose dad who owns a car dealership and gave us an amazing deal on the truck. It is a white F150 with a standard cab and long bed. We only paid $3,500 and Chad has to help them remodel a fireplace. I thought this was quite a steal. It was a low price, but we had peace of mind because we bought it from a dealership whose mechanic had looked over it. It was such a relief that we didn't have to worry about buying private party and getting a car that didn't really run as good as the owner said.

Chad got his two big wants - a truck and a shotgun all in the same week! He is like a little boy, he is so happy. I actually am happy too. Chad is always giving and giving to me, but he never really does much for himself. It's about time, my baby gets what he wants!!!

Vance with the ladies

Last week my friends from high school were in town. They came by to visit me and play with Vance. It was SO good to see them. It's always comforting to sit down and talk with some one that you have some history with. It's also nice to talk with some one who lives out of state and doesn't really know all of the people that you are talking about.

Vance also had a good time playing with them. He was acting so shy (which I have never, ever seen him do). I guess beautiful ladies just make him nervous! Doesn't he look so happy though sandwiched in between them?

Thanks girls for stopping by. It was great to see you!

Stupid lemon glaze cake

So normally Chad and I don't really do a lot for each other's birthdays. Last year though I did a little more than normal. I had planned a dinner with some friends and bowling with both of our families. Then on his actual birthday we had our nephews spend the night and had another little party. You want to know what he said at the end of all that? "I didn't have any lemon glaze cake for my birthday."

Are you kidding me? It's not like he didn't have cake. In fact I think he had three different cakes, but none of them were his favorite cake.

So this year, I wasn't going to fail again. I had come to the conclusion that as long as I had lemon glaze cake nothing else really mattered. I decided I would make the cake in the castle-shaped bundt cake pan that Chad registered for when we got married. It kind of has sentimental value for us, so I thought it would be cute.

I went to Williams-Sonoma to buy a lemon bundt cake mix and bought the lemon glaze too. I made the cake exactly like the directions said. I buttered and floured the cake pan really good to make sure the cake would turn out. This was the end result. On the right is the pan I used, and on the left is the outcome.

Not only did I basically have to take the cake out of the pan in handfuls, it didn't even taste very good. It didn't taste like I messed it up, it just wasn't that good.

I went to bed that night pouting because it didn't turn out. Chad tried to make me feel better. This is how the conversation went. (Before you read on you need to know that earlier that day Chad's mom called to say that she wanted to bring over the lemon glaze cake that she made him)

Me: That cake was SO disgusting. That freaking sucks.

Chad: Honey, I loved the cake.

Me: If you loved it, how come you didn't eat everything you dished up.

Chad: I was full from dinner. I swear I loved it.

Me: Stop lying Chad. I ate the cake too and there is no way that you loved THAT cake.

Chad: Well...I loved it because you made it for me.

Me: Whatever. I hope you enjoy the cake your mom made for you tomorrow. From now on, you can have birthday brownies. No more lemon glaze cake!

I know I'm a baby but that is seriously how the conversation went down. No more lemon glaze cake for me!

Bonnie Springs

I have been wanting to take Vance to Bonnie Springs for awhile now. The weather was perfect last weekend, and Chad and I were itching to get out of the house. Leslie and Joe and their kids came with us too. We had so much fun! We were out there for about 2 1/2 hours and only spent 50 cents - that's what I am talking about.
The petting zoo was definitely the kids' favorite part. There were quite a few cool animals. The place seriously smelled like crap though - literally. I tried my best to breathe as little as possible. The kids' favorite animals were the burro, goat, and the random mice. The adults' favorite was the Canadian lynx - it looked kind of like an over-sized house cat, but a lot meaner.

Vance wasn't as in to petting the animals as much as patting them and pulling their hair. One time he was petting the horse and it licked his hand. He then immediately stuck his hand in is mouth - eeewwwww! He also had a hard time understanding that he couldn't play with the balls in the animals' cages. Every time he saw one, he started crying for it. The kids weren't sure at first about feeding the animals, so Chad showed them how it's done. After that we couldn't get them to stop feeding them.
There was this one fallen down tree that had a couple of saddles on it. The boys were in heaven. We would take Vance off and he would crawl to another saddle and get right back on.

Chad kept trying to get the peacocks to spread out its feathers. He kept sneaking up on them and then screaming as he chased them. I think everyone around was entertained watching him.
The older kids were pretty fascinated with all of the turtles. They kept petting them and petting them. Needless to say, Vance wasn't impressed at all with an animal that barely moved. There were a couple of miniature horses (no idea what they are really called) that were playing with each other. It was really cool to see two horses playing with each other like that. It almost seemed like they were actually out in the wild.
Aunt Leslie kept trying to convince Vance that he could walk. Vance did pretty good most of the time, but he got tired pretty quickly and ended up on Dad's shoulders (which I thought was so adorable from behind). They also had a "hanging" in the old Nevada town. I thought the show was pretty lame, but all of the older kids seemed to think it was hilarious.

After we left, we decided we weren't quite ready to go back home so we drove the Redrock loop. We stopped a couple times to enjoy the scenery, but we had tuckered Vance out and he was ready for a nap!

This was our best attempt at taking our own picture before my battery died!

What a wonderful day!

World's greatest grilled cheese

Chad would like to think of himself as a grilled cheese connoisseur, so I have tried quite a few recipes and this one is to die for!!!

Ingredients

• Havarti cheese


• Fontina cheese


• Fresh mozzarella


• Fresh basil


• Honey


• Tomato


• Bread


• Olive oil


• Butter

You simply butter one side of each piece of bread. Then on one piece of bread you put the Fontina cheese on top of the Havarti. On the other piece of bread just put the mozzarella. I put about a tablespoon of olive oil on the pan and preheat the pan for about a minute. Then you cook on low to medium heat until the cheese has melted. Once the cheese has melted you drizzle honey on the side of the bread that has the Havarti and Fontina cheese on it. You sprinkle the finely chopped basil and place two tomato slices on the piece of bread with the mozzarella cheese on it.

I normally serve it with either Von's or Panera Bread's tomato soup. It is seriously the most delicious grilled cheese ever!!!

Happy 23rd Birthday Chad

Chad's birthday was actually on the 12th but I am just blogging it now. He has been begging me to let him buy a shotgun, so as his birthday approached he told me not to spend any money. All he wanted was for me to let him get his shotgun. So I decided that he deserves it and attempted to plan an inexpensive birthday celebration.

When he got home from work I left a note an the door for him to go get ready and that I would be back soon. I was dropping off Vance (thanks again Mom). When I got home we headed to Big5 to look for a shotgun. He was really excited because I had convinced him there was no way that I was going to be on board the shotgun-idea. The guy at Big5 was a little gun-crazy. He kept telling us how it was the best gun and ever house should have a shotgun. He also kept telling us that when you shoot, you shoot to kill. Hopefully we won't ever be in that situation, but I guess we will be glad for the gun if we ever are.

After that we went to Townsquare. Chad and I both love walking through the stores. Plus I had a 30% off your entire purchase coupon at Old Navy and Vance needed a summer wardrobe. Chad was a good sport and I think he actually had a little bit of fun picking out a few outfits for Vance.

After that we picked up Vance and headed home where I planned to make dinner. I made Vance his favorite dinner - grilled cheese. It's not just any grilled cheese though. I have the best recipe, but I think it deserves its own post so stay tuned!

Then we just relaxed on the couch and watched a movie together. It was so nice to snuggle up under the blanket!

While we were watching the movie I baked Chad's favorite cake - lemon glaze. It didn't exactly turn out (once again I think this deserves a separate post), but he told me that he loved it anyway!

Happy birthday to the most amazing man I know!!! I love you!

He steps!

Vance must have known that I was talking crap about him because he finally decided to take a few steps. So far he has gotten to where he will take about 10 steps. He doesn't get scared, but after that he just loses his balance.

Maybe he'll walk after all!!!

Another random Vance tidbit -
So we have a little game with Vance that cracks me up. We stand him up in front of the bean bag or on the bed or sofa. Then we say boom and he leans forward, straightens up like a board, and falls head first - without his arms out to brace his fall! He just laughs and laughs every time. He is definitely going to be one crazy boy when he gets a little more mobile!

He speaks!

Uh-oh

Uh-oh

Uh-oh

That is about all we hear at our house these days. This is Vance's first and only word so far. He definitely isn't the sharpest kid on the block, but we love him anyway! He sometimes attempts "ball" and "thank you" but you really can't understand him.

I am so excited for him to start talking and gaining even more of a personality.

He is also teething right now. As of now he only has two bottom teeth, but his top four front teeth are all coming in. The tooth on the far left has already broken through the gum but the other three haven't. I hope at least the front two are too far behind otherwise my kid is going to have one funky looking smile!

Vance still isn't interested in walking. He pulls himself up on everything and can really cover some ground, but don't try taking away his hands. Before now I didn't really care if he walked, but I am ready now. Hopefully it will be soon!

So all in all, he doesn't really talk, he doesn't have too many teeth, and he doesn't walk! We joke that he can't do it all because he's so cute he doesn't want the other babies to feel bad that he has it all going on!

Vance we love you anyway!!!

Vance's cubby

So the older Vance gets, the harder it is to keep him occuppied at work. He is always getting into everything. He does have one favorite spot to make his mischief though. There is this little cubby in one of the desks where we keep some random office supplies. He likes to empty everything out and then try and climb in. I caught him in action the other day and snapped a picture. He isn't is an far as he gets sometimes, but I thought it was still pretty funny. Please excuse the diaper bottom - he loves to take his pants off these days and it isn't always worth putting them back on!

To share or not to share

So the other day Amy called and wanted to go the RC Willey clearance center. I have never been there, but I have always wanted to go so I picked up my mom and drove across the world to Amy's house.

We should have known better than to try and take 4 boys to a store like this! We sat Vance and Colton in the double stroller. Vance brought his blanket with him (a habit I am gearing myself up to break) and Colton could hardly stand it. The battle was on!

At first it was a draw. Both boys got a pretty good grip and you can see the determination in their little faces. But then...
Colton manages to get the entire blanket away from Vance, but not before Vance got in a little slap to the face!

It wasn't long before...

Vance tasted success. I think it's hilarious how he stuck his thumb in his mouth and just glared at Colton - daring him to try and take it! Brayden is coaching Colton on the side.

Eventually they decided they could share after all!

I love watching these two little guys play/fight whatever you want to call it with each other!

First Five

The first five people...to leave a comment on this blog will receive something made by me. However there are some limitations:

1. I make no guarantee that you will like what I make :)
2. What I create will be just for you
3. It will be done within a year (might take a while)
4. You have no clue what it is going to be
5. I reserve the right to do something really fun.

There is a catch. If you choose to do this, you must post this on your blog and be ready to make something for five people too. This will be fun! When you receive the fabulous item I make you, you must post a picture of it on your blog.

Dumont Dunes

This last weekend we went to Dumont Dunes. I have been begging my dad to plan another trip and we finally coordinated our schedules to get out there. It was the BEST weekend! There was no one there. Normally when we go, we go over a holiday and there are literally thousands of people of there. This past weekend there couldn't have been more than 300 people there. We went out with the Cooks, the Bradshaws , the Houstons, and a few other people that were friends of friends.

I have to admit that I am still a little bit of a baby sometimes. The more we went riding the more excited my dad got - which translates into the more scary the ride got. I kept telling my dad the younger he feels the older I get. I think my heart actually stopped a few times. He viewed the smooth, untouched dunes as a canvas where he could paint his freaking SCARY masterpiece. Thanks Dad for keeping me young!

Vance was SO good. He just crawled around all weekend. He definitely got his fair share of dirt in the mouth (yes - he really did sport the sand goatee for most the weekend). We brought out a ton of balls and cars for him and he went to town! He also just had fun throwing the dirt and rocks!

When he wasn't playing in the dirt, you could find him at the steering wheel...

or just back in the dirt playing with Isaac (dune buddy) with the balls.

He could always find time to beg Grandma for a treat or just to pick him up!

But when all else failed, you could find him on Daddy's lap in the buggy! Can you say heaven on earth?!

Thanks Mom and Dad for going with us and letting us use all of your toys!

PS - Excuse the crappy pictures. I forgot my camera and had to use the camera on my phone!

FREE!!!

My friend gave this to my mom, but she doesn't want it anymore. I thought since we got it for free, we should pass the favor along. If anyone is interested, leave a comment. Please leave a comment even if someone else has already left one (just in case it doesn't work out)!

This is the description that I found:
The innovative Little Tikes Town Playhouse features an "all around town" theme to inspire young imaginations and promote interactive role play. Kids can enjoy a variety of games such as basketball, firehouse, hockey, ball toss, school house and more. * Innovative playhouse with 4 themed walls to inspire role play among kids * Schoolhouse/Firehouse wall has durable molded-in features and a working door * Sports wall features a basketball hoop, a soccer/hockey net and targets for ball toss * Gas Station wall has a gas pumper and phone * Grocery Store/Bank wall has a make-believe ATM machine and a drive-up window * Richly detailed construction makes for realistic play, while the high variety of themes keeps playtime fresh and fun.

• 4 separate walls each with a different theme
• Each wall has interactive role-play activities
• Molded-in details in the walls
• Made of durable, heavy-duty plastic
• Fast and easy construction
• Gabled roof ends and full coverage
• Built for outdoor or indoor use
• Dimensions: 55L x 49W x 58H inches