Talent in the mountains!

Family camp talent show. My favorite night. Still laughing!!

 

Volleyball Cake

Here's a cake I made for my daughter Allison's volleyball team at the end of the season.
Some of the balls are missing around the bottom of the cake cause
 some of the girls couldn't wait for the picture.  

They had a great season and made some great friends!

Arizona in the Summer

Yes I tend to get a little salty and bitter when the Arizona summer temperatures creep up to the + 110's.

But when those beautiful, loud monsoon storms hit in August, there is nothing like it anywhere else in the US.

My son was actually inside playing on the computer, and I demanded that he put on his suit and get outside and enjoy the storm.

He gave me the " Ahh Mom" bit, but I would have none of it.

He was going to play in the rain and that was that.  I am such a mean mom!

It's these sweet moments that make the summer's bearable.  It's these sweet moments that make motherhood so fun!

Super Size Me

Nathan is a funny little man.  He spent the whole day last Saturday with his dad.  They were at the mall food court and split up because they both wanted different things.  Jeff gave Nate a $20 stood him in line.  Nate told his dad he wasn't that hungry, so off he went to his line.  I think Nathan loved that he got to buy his own food.  He ordered a calzone, 2 breadsticks, and an extra large drink - HA!

He didn't eat even half of it, and we typically order the kids water.  It looked good though!

My Monsters

I think as a mother, I am constantly striving for my children to love and respect each other.  I wish they would never fight, and belittle each other.  Sometimes I feel like it's a losing battle.

Last week, these two monkey's declared that it was twin day at school and they wanted to be twins!  I was thrilled that they chose each other instead of another friend.  But what the heck was I to dress them in?  I took them to Walmart and told them to look around and see what they could agree on.

Who doesn't love cookie monster?   They marched off to the bus hand in hand as I waved goodbye from the front door.  I smiled for the rest of the day.

I love these two monsters!!

My "not so little anymore" athlete.

This past December Allison and Jeff competed in a triathlon.    I sat this one out this time, but honestly I had just as much fun watching Allison compete.  She is ultra competitive (don't know where that comes from).

 Here she is hanging by the pool with the boys (which she beat by the way).

 She is all fired up coming out of the pool.

 She transitioned well and took off on my bike.  It's a little big for her, but she did pretty good on it.

 Here she comes into the final transition.

She place 3rd overall and 1st in the girls division.  She is still so mad those 2 boys beat her!

I am one proud mama!

Date Night with the "Beloved"

Nathan, (also known as the beloved by his 2 older sisters) got to spend a night out with mom and dad this weekend.  On the agenda - Suns game!!!

He was pretty excited to get to go out with us all by himself.  

We had some pretty sweet seats.  One of the suns cheerleaders stood right in front of us periodically and shook her stuff not wearing much stuff.  Lovely.  When she wasn't disrupting my view and distracting my dates I realized that Steve Nash really isn't that short - the other guys are just freakishly tall.

We had a great time munching on junk food and cheering with the crowd.  I sure love these two guys!

Oh Santa!

Nathan thinks he is to big to sit on Santa's lap.  So some of his friends decided that he indeed needed to sit on his lap, and forced him there.  Look at the grip Santa has on his wrist just to keep him still for the picture.  

 Allison and and her friend Cameron had no trouble at all posing with the big guy!  

Oh how I miss the good ole days when my kids were little and slightly scared of the man in red.

Brownies From Scratch

Allison asked me yesterday, "Mom, do you think we could have a treat in our lunches?"
"I put treats in your lunches every once in a while" I said.
She looked at me funny, "Mom, really?  When was the last time?"
"Okay, okay" I replied. "What treats do you want in your lunch?"
"Brownies!"

I am not a big fan of brownies - especially because of the ingredients on the box mix.  (Partially hydrogenated oil for instance).

So I searched for a brownie recipe from scratch and found a winner!!!!  Seriously - these are really easy and good!  I admit that I was to lazy to sift anything - it still turned out great.  These taste better the next day for some reason.  Resist eating them right out of the oven.
Here ya go!

Cocoa Brownies

Ingredients

• Soft butter, for greasing the pan
• Flour, for dusting the buttered pan
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar, sifted
• 1 cup brown sugar, sifted
• 8 ounces melted butter
• 11/4 cups cocoa, sifted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup flour, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8-inch square pan.

In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs at medium speed until fluffy and light yellow. Add both sugars. Add remaining ingredients, and mix to combine.

Pour the batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square pan and bake for 45 minutes. Check for doneness with the tried-and-true toothpick method: a toothpick inserted into the center of the pan should come out clean. When it's done, remove to a rack to cool. Resist the temptation to cut into it until it's mostly cool.

Alton Brown : food network

Just Dance

Favorite game on the Wii.  I got moves!

Rusty the Egg Snatcher!

We just finished dying Easter eggs today. 

The girls were having a fun game of keep the egg away from Rusty - that is until he stole the egg and swallowed it shell and all!  

That can't be good for a hound dogs belly.

Bake Sale Fun!

Yum yum!!

Going Going...Gone!

My kids wanted to have a bake sale this weekend.  So we have been baking mini cupcakes -50 cents each.   White cake with lemon cream,  and chocolate cake with milk chocolate frosting (each with it's own tiny flower on top).   So come on by, call, or email if you think you need some tiny perfection!  Wouldn't your spouse just love you if you showed up with a box of these?   Fresh squeezed lemonade will also be available tomorrow on the front lawn.  (There is talk of some homemade wheat and banana bread - but we'll see how tired I am tonight)

(Sorry for all you out of towners - they really are yummy cupcakes!)

Warm Summer Day

It's freezing cold outside today (I am always cold) and a friend just emailed pictures they took of us wake boarding for the first time last summer.   Oh I long for some AZ heat and a few more freckles.
My hubby caught on right away and landed a few jumps.  I got up - but didn't quite get the "jumping the wake" thing down.  Maybe next time (hint hint Ryan and Lena).

The kids just enjoyed the ride!

Good Days

Mini tea party sets, baby carrots, a door mat, a willing little brother, and a dog on clean up duty - what more could you ask for?

Birthday Business!

I always get a little nervous a couple days after Christmas because we celebrate my daughters birthday.  It's hard to come up with good stuff when Christmas morning is still fresh in everyone's memory.

I think I did okay this year though - SHWEW!!

After the opening of presents and a birthday brunch - we decided the best way to celebrate a birthday was to go treasure hunting with our pals around the corner.  (Geocaching) 

We were surprised to discover the treasure right under a natural arch.  Bonus!

Eventually we were done hunting and decided to dive into some chocolatey goodness - cupcakes made by the birthday girl herself.

They were a hit!

Then we piled in the car - out of the cold - and headed home.

Hope you had a happy one Sam!

Yippee!

This kid just landed a part ...

... in this play at her school.

She called me this morning to tell me the news.   I have been smiling for hours.

Way to go Sam!

What will they think of next?

Something is definitely wrong with this picture.

The Golden Moments of Motherhood

Recently my son has been insisting that we cut his hair in a mohawk.  He has been coming home from school with his hair all gooped up in mohawk fashion - the best he could manage with his short hair cut.  

When I combed his hair before school he started arguing with me that he wanted it mohawk style.  What the heck!!  I thought that arguing about hair was limited to my daughters only!  I stand corrected.

So I recently volunteered in my sons class at school and discovered that several boys in his grade had their hair cut full blown mohawk style.  Oh dear.  This is not going to be easy to talk my son out of this one.

But the good Lord was with me one morning.  As I was combing my sons hair before school, and the old argument came up again - I took a deep breath. 

"Son, have you ever seen people who dress really different or strange before?  Have you seen people who have their bodies pierced in weird and painful places?"  "Yes" he replied.  

"Remember the guy we saw with the really BIG mohawk, walking by us once?" 

"Yes"

"Well, what did you think when you saw those people?"

"That guy had a really BIG mohawk mom!"

"Yes, you noticed the mohawk and the way they were dressed first.  Son, I am afraid that if you styled your hair in a big mohawk, people might miss the real you."

I continued to tell him that I was afraid if he made a big statement with his looks that people would say, "hey, there's the kid with the mohawk"  instead of  "hey, there's the guy that is really nice or smart or funny". I told him that God doesn't want him to get attention that way, that He wants people to notice him for him and not his hair.

And then my friends - the moment happened.  That connection! - when you see the light bulb turn on in those big blue eyes.  HE GOT IT!  "Okay mom" was his reply as he shrugged his shoulders and off he went.  

He has never asked for a mohawk since.

I am sure it won't always be this easy.  But for now, I will celebrate the little successes as I try to help this little boy become a man.

Lemonade?

Two little girls under the umbrella on a hot Saturday afternoon...

= Big Bucks!!