Proof!

So here is the proof of Brandon's waterskiing abilities. He is quite the little man. Here are some pictures of our trip to McCall Idaho where we had a family reunion last week. It was a blast and we are sad to be back working and doing normal things! It was great to be with all the cousins and have so many kids to play with. This is a little video of Ethan's fist steps though he still chooses to crawl.

Our Three Year Old Can Waterski!!!

Once again the post is all about Brandon. Last night we were at the lake, like we try to be every weekend now that it is warm, and the boys decided they wanted to waterski! Tyler did this last year at agae 4 but didn't really want to try it again last year. Brandon always said he wanted to but you know, he was only 2 last year! So anyway we got Tyler up and then of course Brandon hopped up cause it was "his turn". I looked at Brian and he just said ok~ This kid doesn't even know how to swim! I guess that is irrelevent because of the life jacket but still. Anyway, he popped right up and did great! It was all very exciting. The funniest part though was that about 5 seconds into it he started lifting the skis trying to JUMP!!! He skied for about 5 minutes and tried again toward the end of the ride. It was so hilarious. He is such a little dare devil. I am nervous for my future and my bank account and health insurance! What a crazy kid. It was about at dusk when we took them so all kinds of people were out on their houseboats enjoying the evening and both the boys got plenty of cheers and praise for their accomplishemnts. Anyway it was thrilling as their parents because we love to waterski ourselves!

Here is the bummer. There were four adults and six kids in the boat, no footage was taken. I was driving (which makes my heart race-driving your little babies behind a boat, what mother does that? I can't do that well enough to take pictures too.) My friend Deborah had my baby, her husband had the other side of the rope because (it is this new kind of rope where the person in the boat holds it so the kid is not attatched to the boat getting dragged if they don't know to let go.) And Brian was in the water helping the kids get set. Last year we had Grandma on the dock taking pictures, she will be sad she missed it. We had no idea they would be so ambitious! So anyway that is the story, it was very cute and thrilling. We will get it on video and post as soon as we can!

Here is the other great thing. Last week when we went the water was pretty cold becase the weather had not been very warm. This week just a week later after 70-80 degree weather and yesterday at 98 the water was GREAT! Hopefully the Lake in McCall Idaho where we will be next week will be the same!

So the pictures that I DO have are of Brandon again. He got a hold of some scissors and did some self grooming last week. He walked out of the bathroom and looked at me and in his funny little low voice that can't say "r"s and with his "lithp" he told me "Mom, I cut my haya, it wath too long.."

To our family we are excited to see you all in McCall next week!

"Bum Crap"

Just have to update on the latest with Brandon. He is so funny, in the last update I told how he basically says whatever he hears people say. Well, he heard some kids talking about, you guessed it, bum cracks. Well, he was sure it was said "bum crap" cause he went around all day long saying it until I heard Tyler tell him it wasn't very nice. We don't let our kids say crap but I am sure they hear us say it even though I think we try not to...at least not right in front of them. It was so funny I just didn't stop him right away.

He has done that before with other words. The funny one before that was "Quesadilla" which he said normally but it was just funny to hear him say all night long after we had eaten them and he had learned what they were.

Ethan has been forming cute sounds as well. He for a while was into dadada. Yesterday it was yayayaya. Today it is gagagaga. It is interesting to hear how it changes each day for such a young babe!

Here is the latest art work yet again from Tyler, carved into our office desk with a KNIFE! Yes, he did get into trouble but now I must take pictures! What do you do?

Here is Ethan after some lasagna and Tyler playing and The Portland Temple? Brian and I have been married for 10 years TODAY! Crazy.

I CAN BEAT YOU UP!

This is what I was told today at lunch by Brandon my 3 year old hulk. Not really he's acutally kind of small but he's pretty tough. Unless he gets hurt of course which happens every ten minutes or so and then he goes on and on and on. I can't believe how much he picks up from the neighbor kids, he was saying something else the other day in the other room that made my eyes open very large. I decided to let it slide because I knew that drawing attention to it would only make it worse and luckily I haven't heard it since!

Here are some pictures of the kids and me that got taken for Brian's birhtday/Father's day. The other is a drawing that Tyler does just about everyday and tapes them up all over the house. This particular picture was taped up in our room over our bed. I think it is Brian and I holding hands. They are very cute drawings, he is a sweet kid, never tells me he's going to beat me up!

Ethan is working on two more teeth which will make a grand total of 8. Four on top and four on the bottom. He has been a runny nose mess and pretty fussy but maybe getting those teeth in will make things easier for him. He isn't walking yet but is getting around just fine besides.

Well there's a fairly boring update on us. We are just waiting for summer to arrive. Until then...

Here are some Recipes

Chicken Fajitas with Guacamole

Marinate chicken in olive oil and taco seasoning (I don't like fajita seasoning, just taco)
Saute:
1 onion
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
with olive oil and salt and pepper, remove from skillet

Saute chicken just until tender about 8-10 minutes
combine veggies and chicken and add more taco seasoning to taste
serve with cheese, sour cream, black beans, lettuce, salsa, lime wedge, cliantro sprig, etc.

Guacamole
Mash up desired number of avacados, add Lowry's Garlic Salt (I use this everyday) and sour cream. That's it.

The best salsa is Arriba Brand Roasted Mexican Red Salsa Mild. It tastes just like Chevy's

Graduations and Chins

Well, Tyler graduated from PreSchool last Friday and he was very proud. He is excited to go to Kindergarten across the street at the new school in our neighborhood next year. He is excited to turn six and be at the "big school." He asked me on Sunday

"Mom, when will I graduate from Church so that I don't have to go to that anymore either?"

I think some of the families around us heard him because it was during the closing prayer of sacrament meeting, hilarious, I had to try not to laugh out loud.

Brandon cut his little chin open last night at about 8pm. He was going off the jump that Brian made the boys and he didn't "landed it" as he usually says. He "landed" on the sidewalk and gashed it pretty good. We took him to the ER and they glued him up. They asked if he had ever been there and I surprised myself by saying no, I could't believe that this was the first ER trip with either 3 of my boys. I was, however, there with Brian in January when he gashed open his leg on a snow mobile. Can you imagine the money that the medical industry will be making off us in the future? Especially with the dirt biking that they plan to do together more and more??? Well, good thing Iam a calm and composed mother! I used to teach First Aid for the Red Cross so I feel like I can handle most things...some of you know a thing or two about that. I even had a SHIRT and a BADGE at one time.

Well so those are the happenings around here. Ethan is as cute and crazy as ever at 9 months now. He loves his brothers and his parents and anyone else who takes an interest in him. He took a step the other day so who knows what will be in store for that kid soon.

I love this picture of Brian and the boys. They were checking out the song that David Cook sang with ZZ Top on the Amercian Idol finale, it was pretty cool...Brian likes ZZ Top. The other pics are of Tyler playing T-Ball and Ethan trying hard to play the piano. I just heard Brandon in the kitchen with Tyler talking about his "owee", "you can't touch it, it has glue on it".

So I think I am going to start posting recipes that I like each week....it's fun to remind myself of good easy dinners that I like and I thought some of you might like the ideas.

Here are the recipes of the week

Sweet and Sour Chicken

1 bottle catalina salad dressing

1 jar apricot jam

1 package Lipton Onion Soup Mix

mix those together and spread over chicken in a caserole dish. Bake 350 drgrees for one hour and serve over rice. S0 Good and So EASY.


Sweet Strawberry Salad
dresssing: 3/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1tsp salt

2-3 cloves garlic

put in blender and pour over salad. You can add poppy seeds for color if you want also.

I use:

-romaine lettuce

-sliced fresh strawberries

-shredded monteray jack or mozzerella cheese

you can also add the following if you want the salad as more of the main dish...

-almonds (chopped and toasted)

-bacon bits

-green onion

-cooked chicken

I like to make this in the Spring and Summer and serve with a toasted Thomas' Everything Bagel with butter-yum.

Per Grandma Laraine's Request

Aparently, a post is not a post without pictures. Grandma Laraine says "I like the stories but I really like the pictures!" Sounds like a little kid doesn't it? A book without pictures is just boring! So here are today's happenings with the practically 90 degree weather. Like my mother in law said in an email today, we went from Winter to Spring on one day! I swear living here in the high desert as they call it, it's either hot or cold. This last picture is of Ethan when he gets mad and sad and is sniffing through his nose being funny at the same time. It's the best shot I could get today. He is kind of an intense little baby at times! My cmaera is not nearly as good as Mari's!!! I might be making a new investment soon...her pics are so good! Might be an operator issue as well who knows.

When You Aren't Exciting Enough...

I have been wondering when I would post another addition to the old blog because there is really nothing exciting to report. The only things to report really are the funny things that Brandon says because he is three. He learned how to do a "Cannon Ball" into the pool and yell it at the same time which is very cute. He says it all day long even though we never really swim! He says it for every little trick that he does throughout the day and believe me there are many. So the funny thing is that he doesn't say "Cannon Ball"....he actually says "Canyon Ball!" These are the things that I enjoy about being a parent.

Here are a few more...I found this on my friend's blog today and it's perfect.

"Thinking of Having Kids? Do this 11 step program first!

Lesson 1

1.Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2

Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...

1. Methods of discipline.

2. Lack of patience.

3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.

4. Allowing their children to run wild.

5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior. Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3

A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...

1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.(Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)

2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.

3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.

4. Set the alarm for 3AM.

5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.

6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.

7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.

8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.

9. Get up. Make breakfast.Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive) Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4

Can you stand the mess children make? T o find out...

1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.

2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.

3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.

4. Then rub them on the clean walls.

5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.

6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5

Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.

1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.

2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out. Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6

Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.

1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.Leave it there.2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.

3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.

4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7

Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.

2. Make a small hole in the side.

3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.

4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.

5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.

6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air. You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9

Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10

Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly.(Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11

Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room."