A great day...

To PLAY!!!

We have been loving all the unseasonably sunny weather lately! It was perfectly timed with Levi's winter break from school. On Friday, we went with some Edwards girls to a couple of parks and enjoyed some time outdoors.

 

I have been really practicing with my camera the last week or so... and the kids are just about done with me.  If Levi even sees that I'm behind the camera, he won't even give me a single glance!  Such a stinker!  Landon will oblige me a little more often, but with him I usually get his cheesy picture grin so I guess it's a trade off.  I manage to get a few great shots for every hundred or so taken!  

 

I'm  not quite sure what was with Landon, but once we got out to the water, he started having serious issues!  He started stomping in the water, and as if it weren't obvious, I told him what would happen to his pants if he kept it up.  He didn't listen and ended up soaked.  Then he got his hands all sandy, then touched his eyes.  Then the crying started.  He proceeded to whine and cry about going home and changing his clothes.  And being the sensitive mother that I am, I of course continued to snap pictures!

 

This is him giving me his sob story. I just said, "Landon, if you're Daddy were here, he'd have NONE of this! He'd say, toughen up son!"

He eventually somewhat snapped out of it and played a little before we left. It was overall a great time. But next time I think I'll remember to bring a towel!

Spring is in the air!

 

Today was absolutely gorgeous!  There were many signs of spring about as we spent some time at the park today.  In my opinion, it is days like today that make living in Seattle worth it! 

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A perfect day for lunch and the park with Bamma!

Landiana Jones

This weekend marked the 5th birthday of my BABY!!!  He hates that I call him my baby, and insists that he is not, but I don't care.  As they say, he'll always be my baby!  We celebrated with an Indiana Jones themed party at his request, and with, er... a LITTLE prompting from me.  (I couldn't handle another superhero themed party!)  The kids went on a treasure hunt complete with the crossing of a snake pit, target practice and tunnels of DOOM!!!  Happy Birthday Landon!

It makes me so happy, I'm giddy!

1. It's my Christmas present.
2. It's early.
3. It makes me want to jump up and down with joy.  (And yes, I have!)
4. It's today's P365 POTD.

Christmas Tree 09

We have been going up the the mountains out past Enumclaw on 410 to get our tree for quite a few years now. I love this tradition. I love that there is almost always snow there. I love that Aaron cuts it down himself. (He may not love that part.) I love most of all that it only costs $10! While we don't always have the most beautifully trimmed and shaped tree, I love that we can get a Noble for a small price and how it really doesn't end up mattering too much once we get all the lights and ornaments on.

This year we headed up Thanksgiving weekend with our friends, the Bachs.
The boys all enjoyed playing in the snow and sledding.


Here is our tree in it's natural state...


And here it is after we cut it down...
The boys always seem to get snow down their pants, shirts and boots despite my best efforts at keeping them bundled. Here is how I found Landon trying to thaw his feet when we got back to the car...

Boys will be boys. Some day I will learn this!

In all reality, I really should buy a fake tree since I am pretty ridiculously allergic to the tree, but I just can't do away with this tradition! (I will admit the idea of a pre-lit tree is very tempting, however! Our strands of lights were a superior pain in my rear this year...ughh.) But alas, I want our kids to have memories of mom and dad taking them up to the forest to cut down their tree. And so it will be me and the claritin and kleenex for a couple more weeks!

PS. I'm still on the search for a replacement star for the Pottery Barn one that we've had until now. It got a crack in it last year. :(

Finally, a mantel!

If you have known us for any length of time then you will know that we have lived in quite a few places. I believe this is our seventh place of residence. Yet, we have NEVER had a mantel! Every year at Christmas I find myself just wishing we had a mantel to decorate, to hang the stockings from and to have a cozy fire beneath. Well, while it may not have come through the means I would have preferred... we now have a mantel! So this year I was feeling particularly crafty and decided to make my own garland from clippings from our tree, our yard, and the holly bush at Amy's. Here is what it looked like when I finished.

And here's a view of the whole mantel.


The reason why I said, This is what it "looked" like, is because unfortunately it is not looking so hot these days. We use our stove for a main source of heat and as we have had to keep it pretty stoked lately with the 12 degree temps, the garland I worked so hard on is not fairing the heat too well and is getting a little brown, wilted and shriveled. Bummer! Well, at least it was free!

1st Grade Feast

Today the entire first grade class at Rock Creek Elementary celebrated Thanksgiving with a Feast. Each class made one portion of the meal and Levi's class made the Cinnamon Apples. I am fortunate enough to get to go in and work in his classroom so I was able to come help the kids make the apples on Monday and then I also helped out with the Feast today.

The kids made their own Turkey hats, which double as Indian hats if worn backwards (Levi's favorite).
Levi and Joshua. Joshua is in Levi's class and he also played basketball on his Upwards team last year.
Levi and Cheyenne. Cheyenne also goes to our church so she and Levi see a whole lot of each other!

It was fun getting to meet some of the other moms in the class and try to put more names with faces. One particularly funny thing that happened was when I met Hannah's mom. She said, "Who's mom are you?" and when I said Levi she said, "OOOOHHH!!! LEVI!!! Hannah talks about Levi all the time!! I think she likes him!" This totally cracks me up. Of course, I had to tell Levi about it and he just got all embarrassed!

Free Gift Cards?

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Too Much Chocolate Cake

Well, the title of this post has a double meaning. I did indeed eat too much chocolate cake tonight. But the actual name of the cake that I ate was "Too Much Chocolate Cake." It was to die for. I made it today for my sister's birthday. If you are in need of a chocolate cake recipe, this is it. Look no further. Here's the recipe:

Too Much Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil's food cake mix
• 1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.
3. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate. If desired, dust the cake with powdered sugar or glaze.

Satiny Chocolate Glaze

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a double boiler over hot, but not boiling water, combine chocolate chips, butter and corn syrup. Stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, then add vanilla.
2. Spread warm glaze over top of cake, letting it drizzle down the sides.

I think Aaron put it best, "This is the best chocolate cake I've ever had." And it was so easy to make!

Mmmm.... DELISH!!!

Luke, I am your fatha.... er, I mean, TOUCHDOWN!!!

Happy Halloween!