Ma-ma

Crew will not say ma-ma. I am so very sad about this. He will only say da-da. And Brian is loving it all.

me: Crew say ma-ma.

Crew: da-da da-da da-da. ( & then he smiles)

I told Brian that there are only two reasons to explain this. #1 is that he is just a trader. And #2 Crew really thinks he is saying ma-ma but it just comes out sounding a little different. I think it is #2 because why would he smile after?

I went out of town this weekend with Jessica, Jen & Jay. We had so much fun. We went to Disneyland (no I didn't tell the boys) , Ikea, lots of shopping, pedicures, and just lots of laughing and good times! And I have no pictures because I didn't even take my camera.

While I was gone Brian took the boys to Springs Preserve with Eric & the boys. Looks like they had a good time as usual. And I am so impressed Brian took the camera.
Crew loves the sandbox. His new favorite thing is to eat the sand!
Also while I was gone Brian took the boys to a friends to take a ride on his go-cart. Well as Brian & Tanner were driving away Carson ran up behind to give them a little push. He put his hand right on the exhaust pipe & burned his little hand. This morning when I saw it he had a huge blister on the palm of his hand. I took him to get it checked out. Got a prescription for some burn cream & they wrapped it all up. I will have to get a picture later of the blister. His Doctor said "boys will be boys". Isn't that the truth!
On our trip we went shopping at Downtown Disney. Jen & I went into the Fossil store & I fell in love with the cutest purse. The tag inside said $45. Jen was so nice to give me a $20 gift card that she had & then just said to pay the difference so I could get the purse. Well long story short when we went up to pay the price was really $99.99. I was so sad!! We left the store with no purse. While Jessica & I were on a ride the next day they had planned out that they were going to go get the purse & surprise me. (That is a whole other story though.) That was the nicest thing they did. I felt like it was my birthday when we really were all together for Jessica's birthday. Thanks again girls! I love it! And I had so much fun!

Isn't it so cute! You know how I am about bags & purses!!!

Oh the things you see at soccer practice. Talk amongst yourselves!!

Brian took the boys on a day trip to Beaver Dam. They wanted to scope out a new fishing spot. But when they got there the lake was all dried up &........... no fishing! The boys of course had a fun time anyway. They ran around, hiked, explored & were just happy being outside.

PARTY!

We had Carson's birthday party today. The house was full of just cousins and family. And it was crazy. I never got a picture of all the guests in their costumes. Carson had a fun time & loved every minute of it!

Yes I even dressed up. It didn't last very long. I ended up changing before the party was even half over.

And of course a little musical chairs. This was funny to watch these kids because a few got really mad & cried when they got out. And two of them were Tanner & Carson. I have a couple of cry babies on my hands. I think we need a little girl around here to toughen these boys! You know!
It was a really fun day! Thanks to everyone who came & all your help. And for the gifts. Carson is going to be entertained with all these new toys around here. Thanks again!

Cake Decorating Contest

There is a cake decorating contest for each grade level for the Fall Carnival at Tanner's school. I left Brian in charge to help Tanner while I went to an enrichment activity at the church. When I got home this is what I found. I think they did a good job. Tanner is so excited he can hardly wait to see if he will win!! Here are a few close up pictures of the skeletons. It's pretty funny.

"RIP SLIM" was Brian's idea of course.

Shark Boy

The costume is finally done! Thanks so much mom for all your help. This is one happy boy!

Exploring

I had the back door open yesterday morning & Crew found his way to it. He was sitting like this for a long time just looking back and forth. He finally went out & down the step. But since we won't get up on his knees he couldn't get back in the door.

He was playing in the bathroom this morning but I thought he was playing with the books on the bookshelf. Well he had a good time playing with the toilet paper. He unrolled it all over the bathroom. He was eating it and also brought it out into the hallway. I cleaned it up before I could get a picture. This kid is having fun these days just exploring!

I've Been

I got this idea from Candace's blog.

I've been....

*Getting things ready for Carson's birthday party.
*Making a shark boy halloween costume. (With a lot of help from mom!)
*Working.
*Holding Crew's hands while he stand & tries to walk! This is kind of getting old.
*Trying to remember to drink water. Every time it starts to cool off I just forget.
*Working some more. I try to sit at the computer & work every chance I get.
*Thinking of ideas for christmas gifts.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

What I love about YOU

Your imagination.
Your little attitude. You never miss anything.
The way you tell stories.
You are my big helper & friend during the day now that
Tanner is at school. You always want me to be in the
same room with you.
Your smile & dimples!

What YOU love

Your brothers. Going on trips with daddy.
Drawing & coloring. Playing outside.
Park days. Your blanket.

This is what we gave to Carson this morning for his birthday. He saw it at the gift shop when we went to the Springs Preserve. And when we told him he couldn't get it he cried all the way out to the car. Well I went yesterday while he was at preschool & got it for him. It made him happy! Since he wasn't too excited when he woke up this morning & I had to tell him that his party is not today.

Random stuff

**The Swiffer sweep + vac. This is the best invention ever. I bought this the other day & after letting it charge for 24 hours we gave it a try. Well the boys gave it a try. I can already tell that I am going to have to fight them to use this. But I think I will be saying good bye to my dust mop & dust pan! I love this thing.


**Did you know that Martha Stewart has a scrapbooking/craft line at Michaels. All of her stuff of course is so cute.

**The boys helped me make some popcorn balls after church. I got this recipe from Candace. And I thought it was a Martha Stewart recipe but this was the only one I found online.

Friday started off a good weekend. I went to the spa with a couple of girls from work. Thanks to Dr. Paul. And thanks to Brian who took the day off work so I was able to go. I got a full body massage, facial & a pedicure. It was so nice & relaxing!

When I got home we all went to the Springs Preserve. The boys have been begging to go and turn in their research. They both traded some of their points this time. Carson got 3 shark teeth & Tanner got some big beetle looking thing. We walked around on the walking trails. We haven't been able to even go on those yet. Then of course we had to hit the gift shop. A couple of the workers there told us that there are coyotes, a fox & a bobcat that they know of out there on the trails. And they are not done with all the trails yet because they don't know exactly where these animals live. So lots more will be built later.

I went to pick up Carson from preschool yesterday and while I was waiting for his class to get done one of the moms asked me if I was Carson's mom. I said yes & then she told me that her little girl came home one day & said that Carson asked me to marry him. She said that her & her husband thought that was so cute & funny. They asked her what she said & she told them that she said no! We are going to have our hands full with this kid.

Carson was playing with these headphones yesterday. He was singing and didn't realize how loud he was singing. It was driving me crazy! Crew needed a turn too!

This is crazy!

Did you see this today on Oprah? This is so crazy. Check it out. I really want this cookbook & want to try this with the kids! Jessica Seinfeld just might be my new hero!

*I love*

I love my new carpet & that the house is halfway put back together.

I loved conference today!

I love that the weather is cooling off. We had our windows open all day. It was nice.

I love that Carson finally decided he wanted to have a Halloween theme birthday party. I think it will be fun. We just need to decide on a date.

I love this new recipe. We had it for dinner last night. It was good & super easy. I found it in the Kraft Food & Family magazine. Here it is

Layered Enchilada Bake

1 lb lean ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups thick & chunky salsa
1 can black beans, drained (i used pinto beans)
1/4 c zesty italian dressing
2 tbsp taco seasoning mix
6 flour tortillas
1 cup sour cream
1 pkg mexican style shredded cheese

Brown meat with onions in large skillet on medium high heat; drain. Add salsa, beans, dressing, and taco seasoning; mix well. Arrange 3 tortillas in single layer on bottom of baking dish; cover with layers of half each of the meat mixture, sour cream and cheese. Repeat all layers. Cover with foil. Bake 4oo degrees for 30 minutes.

I love my new rug. I have been looking at Flor at the carpet tiles. And my favorite person Jenny found these at Goodwill. One box was only $12! It wasn't my choice that I was going to get but I love the price! And I love it!

Check out Jessica's blog for some funny pictures!

Before and After

Here is a picture of our dirty nasty carpet. I can't believe I am even showing this picture. And that we have been living like this. This was the worst ........in our bedroom where the desk is.
Here are some after pictures. The boys had a good ol' time playing on their mattresses in their room. Crew even got in on a little of the fun!


Look how much better it looks! I like the color a lot. It was kind of scary to know exactly how it would end up looking in the entire room since we only had a little square sample to choose from. But I am really happy with it! Now the fun begins. We have lots of work putting the house back.

We had a fun weekend. Tanner was in the Wizard of OZ play for our stake on friday night. He was one of the munchkins. I have no pictures to show of that but let me just tell you....After he got his hair done & costume on he was crying & telling me he wanted to go home to wash his hair & that he hated the stupid wizard of oz! His hair was slicked down with a piece spiked up right in the back & then a little curl coming down his forehead. They looked so cute. But he was really upset. You know how he gets with his clothes & hair. But he had some time to eat dinner & calm down before it was time to start.

Saturday we spent most of the day cleaning the house. We moved a lot of stuff from our closets and under the beds out into the garage. Trying to get some stuff moved out to get ready for our carpet! I think we stirred up a lot of dirt & dust because Crew's allergies have been acting up. Poor baby.

Then on Sunday we met Jen & her family to go see the flags at Palm. Yesterday was the last day they were on display. I am so glad we were able to go and see that. It was such a cool idea. To see all of those flags lined up. And then to read the cards & to learn a little about those who died. I was trying to explain to Carson that each one of those flags represented one person who died on 9/11. He was so confused & asking me if they were buried under the flags.