Scrumpscious recipe

So last Saturday, I had the lucky opportunity to attend a class about making easy, simple recipes that are ready in 30 min or less. Here is one that was my favorite and I will probably will do for Valentines Day: Chocolate Waffles. Just follow the recipe on the box, except add only a 1/4 cup oil instead of the required amount. Put the batter in your waffle maker and, presto, an amazing meal. You can top with ice cream and whatever sunday toppings you want. We sampled some of the waffles and they are amazing. I totally recommend them for any special occasion. I think the best part is they are so easy to make. Just sharing the love.

I have cute kids

So my kids did some cute things over the weekend. Belle is going to be the next musical hit. She loves to strum Matt's guitar and she will sing a little tune to her strumming. It is so cute. I will try to record it, but every time I have pulled out the camera to record her, she stops. No joke. I hope I can catch her. It is so cute.

At church yesterday, Beckett got tired of using only one piece of track (silly me for not packing more in the diaper bag). He than got pretty ingenious and decided to take apart all of the big legos that I packed to make a bridge with for his track. After taking them apart, he lined them up to be his new track, which was much longer than the single track I packed. The only problem was that the track kept moving apart and it frustrated him. Luckily the kind couple behind us brought smartees to church and kept him happy.

January in a nutshell

January has been quiet and crazy all at once. Matt gave me Wii Fit Plus for Christmas and we love it. It is so much fun. We have played it with some of our friends and it is way fun to play with a group, which is a big advantage to Wii Fit. It doesn't allow you to have multiple players at one time. Any of you are welcome to come on over and play whenever (just give me a heads up so I can clean up first).

I cut both Matt's and Beckett's hair. I think I did a decent job too. Beckett's was easy. I just buzzed it. But I used scissors for Matt's (well, buzzers for the lower part, but scissors for the top and to blend). I am really proud of how it turned out. It took me about an hour and a half to do the whole thing. My back and feet were killing me when it was all done, but I felt pretty good that I was able to do a decent haircut all by myself. I think Matt was pleasantly surprised too. He forgot that I had attempted to cut Beckett's hair in his sleep and so he was a little skeptical when I first offered. Hopefully next time it will go faster. If any of you cosmetologist have any suggestions on how to cut it faster and easier, please feel free to leave a comment.

We have been getting ready to potty train at our house. I have been contemplating training them both at the same time, but I think I am going to train Belle first. She is more ready than Beckett. She asks to sit on the potty every day, unfortunately it is after she as already pooped, but hey, that is a good start. She has even asked to go potty right after she woke up one morning. I hope that is a good omen as well. She is also obsessed with the underwear we bought her and Beckett. She actually likes Beckett's more I think.


She is always trying to put them on over her clothes, but she usually just gets both legs in on hole and then she can't pull them up over her knees. She gets so frustrated. The other day she kept asking me to help her put on more and more underwear. By the end of the day, she had one on top of her onsie, and 4 on top of her pants. and they were all Beckett's. We got a good laugh out that. She also carries them around all over the house like they are a stuffed toy or something. It is hilarious. Beckett could care less. He just likes the pictures of Thomas and Lightning McQueen that are on them. I don't know if Beckett will be interested in potty training for a little while. At least not until he realizes that he can get treats if he actually does something on the potty. I think that will be his great motivator. The almighty fruit snack or candy have great sway with that child. I am thinking the first part of February is when we are going to give it a go with Anabelle. We'll see how long it takes Beckett to follow in her footsteps. Wish me luck!

I had a birthday this month. It was awesome. I kind of celebrated all week (which I totally recommend). It started the Wednesday before my birthday when my mom came up to my house and helped me rearrange my house and make it look more put together. (I still need to post pictures up here of what we did. I want to finish the picture hanging first, but that might be awhile) Then on Friday, my parents came up and took Matt and I out to dinner at Windy's Sukiyaki. It was so good. Their Beef was amazing! By far the best beef teriyaki I have ever had. And their tempura veggies were pretty amazing too. The sushi was pretty good too (but not as good as that place up in Logan). It was a very delicious meal. I recommend that restaurant to anyone in the vicinity. They have private tea rooms that you can reserve and you sit on the floor, like they do in Japan. So cool. On Saturday, I opened my presents from my family and I got some new clothes (which I needed badly). They are super cute and in style, thanks to my sister Sara. I love them. I have already worn them and I feel so hip. On Sunday, my actual birthday, we went to my brother's house and had dinner with them and played games. It was a blast. We always have such fun with family. Thanks to everyone that made my birthday great!

Well, we finally did it. We got rid of the thorn in our side. The Saab story has come to an end. We are now the proud owners of a 04 Mazada 6 wagon. We love it.


It has zoom, zoom (which Matt really likes). We love all the storage space in the back and the seats are super comfy. I think this might be one of our best car purchases yet. We wont be in the market again until we have baby #4 on the way, so that gives us at least two years (hopefully more).

Beckett is still in love with our fish. Whenever anyone comes to visit, he says "Want to see our fish?" He even said that to me. Such a cutie. He reminds me to feed them and he talks to them and shows the fish his toys. I have even caught him playing pretend with them. I love it.

The last week or so, Beckett and Anabelle have started playing together really well. I will often hear them giggling in the other room and surprisingly it isn't always because they are getting into trouble. They are just playing together and having a good time. I do have to remind Beckett that he has to calm down when he starts getting too wild and rough with Belle, but for the most part, they have become great little friends. It is so nice. I am so glad they like to play with each other and that they get along. I hope they stay this way.

Belle is still trying to become as much of an adult as she can. She doesn't like to sit in her high chair anymore. She loves to eat what I am eating, including cucumbers and many other veggies. She knows how to take off her pants now (which is great for potty training) and will run around the house pants-less most of the day. She loves to pray. I will be going about my daily routine, when I will turn around and there will be Anabelle with her arms folded and she will say, "Amen?", meaning she wants to pray. She always remembers to bless our food. It is so cute and has made me stop to think about how often I pray throughout the day. Kids sometimes teach you more than you teach them. It is awesome.

Beckett is getting better with his prayers too. He sounds a little like a baptist in that he kind of shouts his prayers and looks up as he says the words. Sometimes it is hard not to laugh. We still have to tell him what to say, but he says almost all of the words now, instead of just the end of the phrase. And today, he said "in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen", which is a big first. He only says "Amen" after I say the first part. These are the moments that are truly rewarding as a parent. Less than a year ago, I was worried we would never be able to get Beckett interested in prayers, but now he asks to say the prayer at almost every meal and he is excited to say them. As a mom, that makes me feel so good inside and that I really can make a difference. I hope that both my kids keep up this love of praying.

And just in case you happened to vote for our friend that was in the competition for Xbox, he made into the final three and now he is one the final two contestants. They are in the process of making his game right now. That is so awesome and we are so excited for him. The game will be out in the Fall for everyone to play for free and then we vote again on which of the two we like the best. Thanks to all of you that helped him out.

New addition

Well, we finally have a pet. Two actually. Two little fish. One named George, the other Lady. My sister bought us a fish tank last summer, but we haven't set it up because we didn't have a good place to put it. That same sister was getting rid of her old end tables over Christmas and she had one that was perfect for our fish tank. It is a hexagon, which is the same shape as our tank. So we snatched that up as quickly as we could.
On Wednesday, my mom came up to help me rearrange my house a little. We got all furniture rearranged in the living room and put where I want it. Now I just need to put up some pictures. If I can keep the children from messing up the room, I will take pictures to show you all what we did.
With furniture all set, I got the tank all ready and then, last night, we went to the store and got our fish. We got two little gold fish. They are fancy goldfish. Lady is black and has those bulging eyes. George is orange and white. The kids love them. Beckett has been looking at the fish nonstop since we brought them home. He keeps trying to put his Nemo bath toy into the tank. He has also shown them his Thomas through the glass and tried to feed them a Captain Crunch. I have to watch this kid like a hawk. Anabelle likes to watch them too, but she isn't as obsessed as her brother. I'll post pictures when I can. Things are crazy today, but I wanted to share the happy news.

I'm a big kid now

Here is something I want to remember: Beckett can button and unbutton his own shirt now. Buttoning is a little more difficult, and usually he needs help, but he can do it. Last night he did one button all by himself. I almost started to cry. There were times that I thought he would never learn (he is the type of kid that if he has no interest, there is no way you are going to get him to do it), but I am so happy that he can do it now. The trick now, will be to get him interested in getting dressed all by himself. Both my kids would stay naked all day if they could, even in this cold weather.

Funny story on how I got him interested in buttons. One Sunday at church, Beckett was starting to get bored and restless. I had on a jumper that had big buttons on the straps. I thought, "Maybe I can distract him with unbuttoning my strap on my jumper?" It totally worked. He was fascinated with pushing the big button through the hole. Unfortunately, he realized there was another big button on the other side and undid that one too. I didn't think anything of it until I noticed some guy watching us. I got really embarrassed and the game soon ended and found something else for Beckett to do. Not to self, don't let children undress you at church.

Christmas

Merry Christmas everybody (3 weeks late). Here are some pictures of our Christmas. I hope you enjoy them.

Here I am reading one of my favorite Christmas books of all time to the kids. The kids just loved looking at the pictures. It has just beautiful paintings of Santa Claus. I have never read the words in the book, ever, in my whole life. The story is all in the paintings.


Christmas morning:
Belle got a tutu from Santa


She also got a little Kitchen from Grandma.


Beckett got a new engine and a freight car. Here he is plotting what to get next.


This is what I gave Matt. He always gets so cold at the computer at night, so I got him a Snuggie. It was a big hit. I might have worn it more than him on Christmas.


Playing with new toys.


The newest Jacob, cousin Graham. We met him for the first time the day after Christmas. He is so cute and Belle couldn't help kissing him. She just wanted to give him loves the whole time he was there.


Here are more Jacob cousins that we saw at Graham's baby blessing. Of course, my kids wouldn't co-operate.


On the Sunday after Christmas, my dad took me and the kids over to a neighbor's house that has a bunch of model/toy trains.


Beckett was in heaven!


This train set was actually a cookie jar, cocoa jar, and marshmallow jar, with a mug for the caboose. How cute is that?!



I hope all of you had wonderful Christmases and that you have a very happy new year. We love you all and wish the best for all of you.

Advent, advent, a little light burns

As long as I can remember, my family has had this advent calendar that my mom made that is a giant stocking, with 24 small pockets and one big one (for Christmas day). She would hide ornaments in each pocket and then, starting youngest to oldest, we would take out one ornament a day and put it on the cloth Christmas tree she had made as well. I remember being so excited to see which ornament got taken out each day. I remember waking up and running to the stocking when it was my turn to take out the ornament. I loved it.

Last year, my mom gave the advent calendar to me. I was so happy and couldn't wait to share it with my kids. So, when we got it out this year and showed it to the kids, they loved it. They did the same thing I did as a kid. The first thing they thought about when they woke up was to get the ornament out of the stocking and to put it on the tree. They also loved to get on the chair and just look at the different ornaments (Beckett especially loved the train one). It was so fun to share my tradition with them and for them to love it as much as I did.







Here is the tree when we were all done putting ornaments on it. It kept folding. I had to hold it open for this picture. Next year, I will have to figure out a better way to keep it from buckling. Any ideas, all you crafty people out there?