Pinewood Derby

JT is our local cub scout troop's Pack Master. I think that's too freakin adorable! One Tuesday a month he rushes home from work to make it in time for scouts. Poor guy will probably never be there on time. With this week being the Pinewood Derby, I thought it would be fun to support him and be there. I got a big kick out of watching him hand out awards.                                                                                                   

The twins were pretty tired the whole time. Delilah was very patient with us though and was just fine with sitting in her carseat the whole night (mostly). Porter wasn't as patient but was EXTREMELY exhausted. I think the look on his face says it all.

                He briefly perked up at the prospect of playing with one of the cars with an older boy.



9 months and counting

Ah! The twins are already 9 months old! They're almost toddlers. *sniff sniff* My sweet little babies are growing so quickly. Don't you agree?!

Delilah still has those beautiful blue eyes that neither myself or her daddy have. Lucky duck. Her hair is starting to come in a little thicker and CURLY. I guess it can't come as much of a surprise since both JT and I have curly hair. Delilah's curls are more defined after a bath and then just end up sticking straight into the air after she's rolled around a bunch. She's still our little chubster but is starting to get more defined features. Her skin tone is still very much pink though and a quick glance at her legs will tell you what her temperature is. She also now has 2 bottom teeth!

Delilah's personality is coming out these days in giggles. She is constantly smiling and laughing with us! She's even enjoying laughing with family and friends! Her cousin Zachary seems to be her favorite. EVERYTHING he does is funny. :) She still likes having a parent always in sight though. It's nice being loved, but sometimes it would be nice to be able to go to the bathroom without hearing her cry. Although, it's kind of funny when I'm cuddled up behind her and she forgets I'm there. Then when JT gets up to leave the room she completely FREAKS out until I remind her I'm there. Then she's all better. Don't be fooled into thinking she misses us so desperately that she'll cry and cry for hours though! If we don't reappear within 2 minutes, she's back happily playing with her toys! Oh my fickle daughter. My favorite new personality update is Delilah's DANCING! It's so much fun! I'm sure she thinks she's as graceful as can be, but it looks more like cute spasms. She'll try and sway her hips and bob her head from side to side. Oh, and she expects you to do it too. She'll wait for you and then once you've copied her, she'll grin and do it again.

Delilah is starting to seek out her own independence. She doesn't want to just cuddle with us anymore. She wants to USE us so she can practice standing. Delilah's actually quite good at it. If she'd only get a tiny bit stronger then we'd be in trouble. We are wanting her to start crawling immediately though. It's a matter of survival! She needs to be able to crawl out of Porter's way! He's constantly running her over, using her as a footstool, and stealing her toys. For the most part she handles it well. But we are thrilled to see her rolling (finally!) from side to side and trying to figure out the crawling thing. Go Delilah!

Porter's our wide-eyed little boy. Everyone's always commenting on how pretty those big eyes are. They're more of a gray-blue than his sisters'. His hair is very thick and getting much too long. I'm looking all over for my shears! He's still pretty chubby with dimpled hands, but is definitely burning the calories by the second. His skin isn't as delicate as Delilah's so he doesn't usually turn red with the temperature. He has 4 teeth up top and 2 on the bottom, making a grand total of 6 TEETH! Whatever you do, make sure he doesn't get a hold of your finger! We're working on teaching him "nice" and "suavecito".

Porter is still our care-free little boy...but he's gotten a little more temperamental of late. His smile and laugh can light up a room. On the other hand, his whining is a totally new experience. The child finds he highest decible possible for those little whines. If I hear him start squeaking then I know it's time for food or a nap. Porter likes to be constantly on the go. Finding things to keep him constantly entertained can be hard. Thank heavens for the jumper and exersaucer. They buy me a lot of extra time.

Porter is now an expert crawler. He has no use for the army crawl anymore. I'm amazed that his knees can handle all that activity! They sure do take a beating. When Porter sees something afar off that he just HAS to have, he can crawl over there in .03 seconds! My eyes go wide with surprise every time. Funny thing, he's not as quick to stop when he hears me say "no". Hmm..... Porter is also pulling himself up on things now. The couch, his crib, my lap, etc. All of it is there for his personal use. He's learned to balance with just one hand or his stomach. Sometimes in his excitement he'll throw his hands in the air and step back from the couch! Thankfully those moments are few and far between. But the warning has been noted and we expect to see him walking anytime now. I don't know how we'll handle it since he already follows us from room to room as it is!

The twins bring so much joy to our lives. They love when Mommy wakes up or when Daddy comes home from work. They'll hear the front door open and turn to see JT. Once they recognize it's him, the biggest smiles of recognition light up their faces! Porter will immediately start crawling until he reaches Daddy's feet and then start to pull himself up Daddy's leg so he'll get picked up. Delilah will start hooting and hollering (not exaggarating in the least) and throwing her arms in the air. Our two little angels are beautiful and we can't wait to see the first time they sit down to actually try and play together.

Halloween Tablescape

I have never officially tried my hand at a tablescape! Oh my goodness it is so much fun! My challenge was to try and do a Halloween tablescape on a very low budget--by low I mean pratically free. I can proudly say that I DID IT! Oh does it ever feel good to say that. Now, I'm not quite done yet. There are a few pops of orange I actually want to add and I think it'll help if I dress up the whole table for my "dinner party" I'd love to have.

To start us off, the table cloth is nothing special. I bought a white plastic table cloth from the Dollar Tree and then used a black one for the table runner.

For my creepy branches I journeyed out to the side of our house to visit the remnants of a tree that crossed JT. I'm sure it would be happy to know it is being put to good use. :) The neighborhood kids had fun giggling as they watched me dive through all the branches trying to find THE ONE. Once I found THE ONE, I spray painted it white. I already had the spray paint on hand so that still counts as free. The spider web & spiders came from the Dollar Tree again.

I am trying so hard to find the before picture of this vase! No joke: this was the single most HIDEOUS vase I have ever seen in my life. I'm sure the previous owners who left it here realized that. It was a gray-green with weird blue and brown flowers and the ceramic all looked cracked to give it the look of age. Eww. I promptly spray painted it white and then spray painted the bottom half silver. I think it looks much better!

I didn't really have anything to use as a wedge for the branch in the vase, so I scrunched up an old sock of JT's! Shhh...don't tell him. To hide the sock I bought flower moss at the Dollar Tree.

 This beautiful candalabra was purchased months ago via craigslist for $10! It's one of my favorite pieces around my home. I've never been able to find tapered candles that look right though.  Most of them are super long and make it impossible to have the candalabra be very versatile. The Dollar Tree had this package of 6 emergency candles! I think they look great and are the PERFECT size for a kitchen table. People will actually be able to see over the candle sticks! Win win for everyone.

I was so excited to get started on spray painting this skull that I completely skipped taking a before picture. I'm sorry! Just imagine a sickly looking beige/gray and black eye holes/mouth. It's the traditional Halloween scary skull, but I prefer a prettier version. A quick spray and it's perfect!

The candle pedestal came from Savers a long time ago--of course that means I'm counting it as free! It was some sort of wood (I wanna say oak?) and was just too rustic for any decor scheme I'd ever be using. I spray painted it white months ago and was waiting for the right time to use it. Yay!

The leaves came off of the flowers I bought from JoAnne's to make our Fall wreath. I pulled held them up and spray painted them with silver from far away. I like the glistening look it gives them.

So what's the total cost you ask?

*2 table clothes: $2

*white spray paint: previously owned

*branches: free

*spiders/spider web: $1

*Pedestal: previously owned

*skull: $1

*silver spray paint: $2 and something cents

*vase: free

*moss: $1

*candles: $1

*candalabra: previously owned

*leaves: previously owned

That all comes to a GRAND TOTAL of $8 and some change!!!!! Ta-da!



The changing of the guard

This was our Mazda 3.  It was JT's first car purchase and the car of his bachelor years. He was very proud of it and by some stroke of luck decided to leave it with me while he was deployed in 2007 (hence the pre-baby-skinny-me). This car has served its purpose well and has been very loved. It's made countless trips between California and Utah. That's also why it's a 2004 model purchased in 2006 and already has 140,000 miles on it. Yikes! 

 

A month or so ago we found out that this sweet little car's engine was on its last leg. We were already well aware that it was time for a change, but the engine was now our ticking time bomb. BOOM. We combed through every single option we could think of but nothing seemed to work out for us. After a TON of research and PRAYER, we came to the conclusion that our only option was to buy a new engine and hope we could get a second car sometime in the future. The twins take up every inch of space in that car and we knew it was only a matter of time before it would no longer work for our family.

Then came the answer to our prayers! Our local Mazda dealership had a Mazda 5 that had JUST been traded in (quite literally) that fit EVERY requirement we had specified. It only had 56,000 miles and the BEST part was that they accepted our Mazda 3 as a trade in!!!!!! They took the car with all its problems and miles and gave us THIS:

Hallelujah! We know that this was a direct answer to our prayers. What a blessing this is for our family. This suv/minivan seats 6 without being overwhelmingly large. I guess it's time for me to learn how to drive a stick shift! EEK! Can't wait!

Trauma Trauma Trauma...Part I

HOLY COW yesterday was eventful! You know those days where so much happens so quickly that you can't help but just have a good cry once it's all said and done?? Yes. That was my yesterday.

For those of you who do not yet already know, we were EVACUATED. So much for it always happening to everyone else except me.  You'd think that having moved away from California and their crazy wildfires would have saved me. Well...it did. I can still give thanks to God that we weren't evacuated for something permanently damaging like a fire.

My Thursday started off a little stressful, but not unusually so.  The twins were being pretty whiny and were refusing to sleep.  Hence I was exhausted and had not even dressed for the day yet by 3:30 pm. Ratty PJs all the way my friends. At about that time, the twins woke up from their 30 minute nap (ugh) and had made a mess of their bedding and selves.  So I cleaned them up, freshly diapered them, and took them into the living room for playtime (or whine time as it had been all day).  At that point someone began furiously trying to break down our door!!!!! Just kidding. Actually, they were just knocking but for 2 minutes straight as hard and as loud as they could. I was pretty upset.  They were SO lucky my kids had already woken up. As I neared the front door I noticed a University Parking car outside my house.  Great...they were probably going to complain about someone parking somewhere around our house.  All I could think was "Really?! You're trying to break down my door over a parking job?!"

Imagine my surprise when I answered the door and it was a full blown police officer! The upset look on my face took him off guard. I felt a little bad.  The problem obviously wasn't parking.  He told me that my neighborhood was being evacuated because of a blown gas line and I needed to leave as soon as possible.  I was speechless for what seemed like the longest minute of my life.  I asked for details.  There were none. I asked how I was supposed to get out when my husband has the car at work.  He said he didn't know.  While this exchange was taking place I could see my neighbors jumping into their cars and taking off.  I felt stranded.  I asked him if ANY of my neighbors were still home and he said one was. Great. He told me to leave as soon as possible and walked away.

I WAS SCARED.  Noxious fumes were making my neighborhood unsafe for residents and I was STUCK with my two precious children.  I called JT and frantically told him he needed to come home right away because we were being evacuated.  I didn't give him any more details.  When he tried to call on the car ride over, I told him I'd talk to him when I saw him.  I didn't know how long we were being evacuated for and I needed to get the babies ready to MOVE.

Oh heavens. The craziness that ensued was traumatizing in itself.  Delilah was in one of her "Mommy needs to hold me around the clock or I'll scream like she's stabbing me" moods. I don't know which of the two of us was more flustered.  I dressed, got her into a carseat, prepped the diaper bag, threw meds in, and threw in our important documents. I even called my dad to make sure there was nothing important I was missing.  He suggested my laptop and camera. Check.

I got the kids, our gear, and waiting on the front lawn....and waited...and waited.  Traffic was at a standstill. JT was having one heck of a time getting to us. I took the kids back in the house in case the air was purer there than outside.

JT called and told me they were not allowing him past the police barricade.  He was very upset.  He asked the police officer how I was supposed to get myself and the twins out of an evacuation area without help...and the officer and no answer.  After a bit of arguing the police officer finally came around and sent a squad car in after us. By that time I was already to the end of the street. When JT said he couldn't come for me, I took matters into my own hands and trudged down the street with a carseat and baby on my hip.  My angel-of-a-neighbor-boy came outside and offered to carry the carseat with Delilah for me.  I think I'm buying that kid a ticket to Disneyland or SOMETHING.

The squad car loaded us up and I realized we were lucky we hadn't crossed the barricade by the time the squad car showed up.  There's no way they would have let my neighbor go back to his family. Glad we dodged that bullet!

The police officer was super nice and took us to meet JT.  It was a comfortable ride--but I was informed it's not so comfortable if your hands are handcuffed behind your back. That makes sense. Then there's the whole being child-locked in the car thing. Not the most fun.

The wonderful, beautiful, kind, sweet, saintly Magleby family took us in until the evacuation orders were lifted! It was SO nice to be able to take the kids home. They were absolutely exhausted by the end of it all----as was I.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED:
*We're pathetically underprepared as a family for an emergency.
*We can't rely on others to save us--they've got their own families to worry about.
*The Magleby's are awesome.
* I know there are a few other lessons to list, I just don't have time.

Hope you all didn't die of old age after taking the time to read this. ;) I'll leave with this: Life can get quite interesting in a hurry. Adios.

Learning to share

We've still got a ways to go.



maybe we could share?



not a chance

Give it back!

Mommy help!

Gotcha!

Back to square one.

Recipe adventures

In my quest to cook daily in our home, I have tried to liven things up by trying a new recipe almost daily.  I figure that when I find a recipe that either one of us absolutely LOVES, why not share?

Copycat Cracker Barrel Baked Macaroni & Cheese

2 Tbsp. butter



2 Tbsp. flour


1 tsp. salt


1 tsp. dry mustard


2 1/2 cups milk


2 cups cheddar (8 oz.), divided


2 cups elbow macaroni (8oz.)


1/4 cup buttered bread crumbs


paprika


In saucepan, melt butter. Blend in flour, salt, and mustard. Add milk, stir constantly until sauce thickens a little. Add 1 1/2 cups cheese, heat until melted, stirring.


Remove from heat.


Meanwhile, cook macaroni as directed; drain. Combine with sauce in a buttered 2 quart casserole; top with remaining cheese, then buttered bread crumbs and sprinkle with paprika.


Bake at 375′ about 20-25 minutes or until nicely browned.
Serves 4-6
credit: The Secret Recipe Blog

JT absolutely adored this recipe! He even had 2 1/2 servings...which is saying a lot since these days he doesn't even finish one serving. I'm not sure if that's a reflection of my cooking or his appetite. ;)
I didn't have the resources for the bread crumbs this recipe called for so I just used the Italian bread crumbs I had on hand.  I also used mozzarella cheese to sprinkle over the top instead of more cheddar. I liked it, but think that it would benefit from an added kick. Not having the paprika to add to it probably was the reason I felt like that. Either way, this was REALLY good! Enjoy!