I didn't want to share.

Do you ever sneak candy or treats, hoping your kids don't catch you?  Ya, I've never done that either...

There were two pieces of chocolate peanut butter cake left.  I told Davis he could have one and I would eat the other.  After a couple of bites, I asked Davis if he would eat something else so I could eat his cake.  Davis and I have a few things in common.  One of those things is a love for rich chocolatey goodness.  He wasn't interested in being generous and letting my have his piece.  

Mike was also at the table, and could see the pain in my face for the second piece of cake.  He being a great husband got in on the convo.  Mike started making negotiations with Davis for me.  I was too busy salivating and acting like an irrational child for more sweets.  After about ten minutes, Davis is stubborn like me too, everyone had reached an agreement.

This is a photo of Davis' compensation for a 2 by 2 inch piece of delicious peanut butter chocolate cake.

What you are looking at is two cups of vanilla bean ice cream, five oreo cookies, one butterfinger bar, and half a cup of chocolate syrup.  Davis finished off everything, but the butterfinger.

Some may think we are crazy, but my second piece of cake was so good.

Paper Presents

In the past we've purchased the chocolate advent calendars from the grocery store.  This year when I saw Homemade by Jill's post on making an advent I was gung ho to make one myself.  Somehow I was side tracked, probably by laundry, and didn't get it done.  Then I saw this post on Poppytalk featuring this tutorial.  The wheels in my head started turning.  I whipped up this little advent garland in an afternoon.

This is really easy to make and can be executed lots of different ways.

Supplies:

1. A bunch of scrap paper.  I used some origami paper 

Mike brought back from Japan like 5 years ago.

2.  Glue or some kind of adhesive.

3. Stapler with staples.

4. Scissors and/or paper trimmer.

5.  24 little gift tags.

I started by trimming my paper down to different sized squares and rectangles.  The biggest were four by four inches.  My smallest were three by three inches.  These squares and rectangles are the presents.  You will need 24.  With the left over paper, I cut half inch strips.  Next, I glued the strips of paper on to the boxes to look like ribbon on a present.

Each present got it's very own bow.  This is where you can be creative.  I folded two strips of paper to resemble some kind of bow, then stapled it to the top of the present.  I then tied on a little gift tag to each of the 24 presents.

I used my trusty marker to label each gift tag from 1 to 24.

With some yarn and paper clips, I hung our presents on the mirror in our front room.

Behind each present is a clue or riddle for my kids.  The riddle tells them what their treat for the day is.

I'm still working on this part, but I have a few to get me through this week.

I will share some with you, if you remember I am not a poet and these are for my kids!...

Dec. 1 "We start the month fresh and new.  Here's a kiss from me to you!"

treat: Hershey kisses

Dec. 2 "Have a holly jolly lolly"

treat: a lollipop

Dec. 3  "Don't waste your fingers as nose pickers.  Why don't you 

use them to lift up some stickers?"

treat: stickers

You get the idea.  I think I'm going to hang some christmas lights on 

the mirror too.  That'll spruce it way up.  Visit Skip to my lou for 10 other advent ideas.

Let's Eat

My sisters and their families are here for Thanksgiving.

The kids are running wild and eating the turkey cookies.

My niece Alia.  Photo taken with my Fuji Instax

I'm busy making these mini pies today.  Yum!

Hope you have a great Thanksgiving filled with lots of good food, friends and family.

Viva Las Vegas

Mike and I had an awesome time on our incredibly over the top date.

I decided not to bring my big camera, and capture the memories with the camera on my phone.
It was fun to use my camera phone.  I didn't worry about getting the perfect shot and I just went with it.

Mike and I packed in as much adventure as we could.  We saw two shows Friday night.
1. David Copperfield - THE Magician.
Um, like he totally made a car appear on stage out of nowhere!
Super cool.  I thought for sure I would be able to see how it does it.  Nope.  He's just amazing.
2.  "O" I Cirque du Soleil
What can I say?  I was completely absorbed into all of it.  There were so many
things happening all at the same time I wish I had more eyeballs to watch.

Saturday we started the day with fresh crepes in the Paris Hotel.  Delicious.  After breakfast we headed out to Red Rock Canyon.  A lot of people don't know there is great hiking and rock climbing right out side of the city of Las Vegas.  Mike packed our climbing gear, but we decided just to hike.  We scrambled around on the rocks for a good hour or two.

Our out door adventure ended with rain, so we headed for Trader Joe's.  The parking lot was as busy as Costco on a Saturday.  Not even two minutes into the store, Mike and I started pulling things off the shelf.  We filled our suitcase full of non perishable goodies.  I wish I would have brought a cooler, like people do when they go deep sea fishing.  Then I could have packed some refrigerated stuff home.  I didn't even look at all the cheeses because I knew I couldn't bring any back.  We had a nice flight home. We were greeted with snowfall when we landed in Salt Lake.

I can wait for our next Incredibly Over the Top Date!

Sugar Cookies with Tess

Yesterday after church, Tess asked if we could make turkey cookies.

I wasn't in the mood to make cookies, so I started out a little resistant.  

We looked through our cookies cutters and I was hoping she was give up when we didn't have a turkey cookie cutter.  She found a flower and said we could make leaves instead.  I realized this wasn't going to just blow over, so I decided to get into it.  We found a hand shaped cookie cutter, and decided we would use that for the turkey.

I have a few new tricks up my sleeve when making sugar cookies with my kids.  

1.  Evendough bands:  This handy rubber bands slip on to your rolling pin.  They help to ensure even thickness of your dough.  These bands make things a little easier with my eager helpers.

2.  Butter spreader:  We spread cream cheese frosting on our cookies.  It was so easy with the little butter spreaders.  They fit nicely into little hands, and they can spread on easier than a knife.

3.  Powdered Sugar:  Instead of flouring our countertop to prevent sticking, we used powdered sugar.  The powdered sugar adds to the sugar cookie dough instead of making it dry and pasty like too much flour can.

After I cut out the had shape, I bent the thumb out a little to become the turkey's head.

Tess used all of our colored sprinkles to create the feathers, head and body.

My sister and her kids are coming over for Thanksgiving dinner.  Tess wanted to give the turkey cookies to her cousins.  I hope they make it a few more days.

A surprise for me

My husband surprised with a short to Las Vegas, Nevada.

We are off on an adventure.  I will share when I get home.

Gift Ideas

We have been getting a lot of catalogs in our mailbox lately.  Yesterday I flipped through the pages

of Uncommon Goods for the first time.  

There were quite a few things that I would love to give/receive.

1. This reclaimed cheese board would be a great gift for someone that likes to entertain.  

2.  Tess really wants these face plates.  They might encourage playing with your food, but I who cares.

3.  My feet are calling out for these sushi slippers.

4.  I can't decided if I would give this stencil kit to my 20 year old sister, or my 6 year old son.

5.  This street art doodle book is so much cooler than the latest cartoon character.

6.  My kids bookshelf could sure use a new book like this one.    

There are so many fun things.  Check out their website to see it all.

Uncommon Goods

Charming

I usually buy the big cheap bag of "Marshmallow Maties."

Yesterday I bought the real deal.

Lucky Charms.

The big box is almost empty.

I'm sure my kids wish someone sold a box of just the marshmallows.

It seems like so much work to fish out the little marshmallows and avoid all the cereal bits.

Party Games?

Last weekend we had some friends over for my belated birthday party.

My great friend made all the awesome desserts for our extravaganza.  

We had giant chocolate chunk cookies, lemon posset, panna cotta with a blackberry coulis, mini pecan pies, and carrot cake to name a few things.

Can you believe I didn't snap one photo of all the desserts?  I don't know what I was thinking.  It's probably because I was too busy stuffing my face.

Mike's end of the party planning was the invite and games.  I wasn't too excited to have games, but he insisted they would be the best ever.  Mike modeled his games after the Minute to Win It show.  

So, the few pictures I do have are of the party games.  I thought I would show you some action shots. This was the only game I participated in.  I think Mike called it 'Wiffle Ball Nose.'  

We had to move the wiffle ball down the playroom and back using just our nose.  The aprons were to cover anything you wouldn't want exposed in a high stress situation. 

The games were fun Mike.  Yes, the middle shot shows me cutting Mike off.  For all those cheater haters, you will be happy to know I sprained my toe in that maneuver.

But I still won.

I am made out of Legos

My kids are lallygagers when it comes to going to bed.  

The other night I was fed up and just wanted them to be asleep.

Mike went to check on Davis, and he came back with this Lego statue.

Davis had made me a Lego sculpture.

It is a sculpture of Davis giving me a flower.

How could I be mad at him for staying awake?  He was using his

creative juices to create me a masterpiece.  My heart was so touched.

Ruff Ruff

Please don't get upset, but I'm not a big pet person.

I grew up with lots of different pets.  We had cats, rabbits, fish, and a bird (R.I.P. Dear Fred).

Not to mention the creepy crawly bugs and geckos that Hawaii keeps.

My kids have had a couple of fish and hermit crabs.  For a little while I wanted a dog, but then decided cleaning up poopy diapers and wrestling three kids was enough animal handling for me.

I do however think this little dachshund necklace could be the perfect pet. 

 It's compact, dander free and so stinking cute.

Hillary Lang from Wee Wonderfuls shares the tutorial on The Storque .

Go check it out.  I am adding this to my TO MAKE list.

Too Cute

Have you heard of Sarah + Abraham?

They have the cutest personalized stationary and what nots.

Right away I was drawn to the customizable plates and bowls.

Wouldn't it be so fun to have a plate for each of your kids?!

I also want this and this and this.

Giving Thanks

The last few years we have made 

a giving thanks turkey.

Skip to my Lou shared another cute idea.

She made a thankful tree.

I have a vase with sand from Hawaii that has been holding apple tree branches.  We just taped 

our leaves to those branches.

I got one of these for my birthday, and we used that to cut out little leaves.

Mike and the kids really got into things they were thankful for.  

Davis said toilets.  Collin did his usual scribble.  Tess wrote the letters she knows best.

I love this Thanksgiving tradition.

this morning

Here are a few snippets of conversation before we took Davis to school this morning.

Tess yelling at me from the front room,

"I'm mad.  I'm going to wrap my self in a chrysalis because you won't let me watch Kipper!"

Collin yelling back from the kitchen table,

"I will cut you!  I will cut you!"

We were almost in the car...

Mom: "Davis where's your coat?"

Davis: "It's not my fault!"

Friday Finally

I'm so happy it's Friday.  I think I get more excited for the weekend than kids do.  Sometimes I feel like I am the one in school.  Dreading the morning alarm clock, getting ready for the day, and knowing that there will be homework to do later. 

This afternoon is all about creativity.

Between the feathers and legos we are having a good day.

 Have a great weekend.  Sleep in for me.  My kids only sleep in on days they have to wake up.

A Popping Turkey

3 weeks from today is Thanksgiving. 

 On Thanksgiving Day I usually eat 1huge meal.

4 years ago we hosted Thanksgiving and I cooked my first turkey.

This year I am having my sisters and their families over for dinner.  I am excited to 

try some new recipes and dish out some of the responsibilities.

When I decide I am going to throw a party my mind starts obsessing.

I can't sleep at night because I am thinking of all the little details and extra things I want

to do to make everything feel special and memorable.

As soon as I saw this paper bag turkey from One Charming Party

 I couldn't stop thinking about it.

I love having a table for the grown ups and a separate table for the littles.

I will definitely be making this paper turkey for our kids table.  

Check out One Charming Party for lots of fun party ideas.

Toothless

Davis lost his first tooth was I was doped up on pain killers with my kidney stone.  I don't remember much except everyone was really excited for him.  Davis has had a few other wiggly teeth since then.  I get sick to my stomach when he shows me his loose teeth.  And I hate hearing the sound of the spit and gums moving around.  Yuck.  We were at the dentist and I asked him to just take care of them, so I wouldn't pass out.  However, Davis wasn't ready.

Last night Davis got really brave.  He walked into the bathroom and pulled one of his top teeth out.  I was so happy it was painless and I didn't have to do anything.  D put the tooth under his pillow and received a  nice note from the Tooth Fairy.  

When I picked Davis up from school today, he handed me this fun little award from school.  I was confused because he had pulled his tooth out on the 2nd, not the 3rd.  

Davis had gotten brave at school again and pulled out another tooth on the bottom.  While we were driving home he was convinced he was going to pull out the last loose tooth.  He encountered a more stubborn tooth.  Davis had a plan.  Wiggle left, wiggle right.  Push forwards, push backwards.  There was this inner struggle.  The tooth wasn't quite coming out, but he wasn't going to back off.  There were tears, blood, and me feeling really sick to my stomach.  

In less than 24 hours Davis pulled out three of his teeth.

Davis has become a tooth pulling vigilante.  

My Babies Love Babies

Have you seen this movie?

This movie has been sitting in my Netflix que for a while.  

I started watching it on Sunday and my kids joined me.  They were laughing hysterically.  We finished the movie last night for family night.  Then we discussed what it would be like to live in different parts of the world.  My kids were quick to see so many similarities between all babies.

Collin was upset when the movie was over and asked for more.  It's rated PG, and Netflix recommends it for 7+.  There is a lot of breast feeding, and I guess that could be a reason you might be hesitant to show this to your kids.  My kids have seen me nurse, and they didn't think anything of all the feeding/boobies.

I think this a great movie to show your kids people live differently around the world, but we are really all the same.

What movies do you like to watch with your kids?

Halloween 2010

This was the first year, in the eight that Mike and I have been married, that our family wasn't all dressed with the same theme.  I kind of feel like it's the end of an era.  

Collin looked great in Old Navy's dragon costume.  Tess picked out this candyland costume.  It needed a little something extra.  She helped me make the candy headband and we added a tulle skirt underneath.  Davis was the perfect Mario.  He totally posed like that on his own.

Without fail, it is cold at our house when we go trick or treating.  Before Mike took the kids out he made sure everyone one had something warm on their hands.  They made it all the way around the block with just enough candy.  We let the kids gorge until they can't handle it anymore.  Then we are over and down with Halloween candy.