Tanner's Skills

Girls only want guys with skills. Nunchuck skills, computer hacking skills...rolling tummy skills.

EYES!!!

These eyes make me smile. They are sooooo blue!

Menu Monday

Menu for the week:

Monday: Mac and Cheese with asparagus

Tuesday: (Missionaries for dinner), BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

Wednesday: Grilled hot dogs and sweet potato fries

Thursday: Spaghetti and breadsticks

Friday: Pizza Night

Breakfast Chit-Chat

Conversation this morning:

Riley: "Mom, how do babies get in mommies tummies?"

Me: (Oh crap!) "Um, when mommies and daddies love each other then they make a baby in mommy's tummy."

Riley: "Is the baby upside down?"

Me: (oh thank heavens he didn't ask anymore technical questions) "Yep. Babies are upside down."

Riley: "Won't they fall down?"

Me: "No. The babies are in a sac that keeps them in."

Riley: "What's a sac?"

Me: "It's kind of like a bag."

Riley: "Mommies have bags in their tummies?"

Me: "Ummmm...yeah."

Riley: "Oh"

There's always time to fill him in on all the nitty-gritty details when he's six. :)

Meet Anneka

Meet Anneka. Riley and Anneka are "best friends"...at least that's what they tell me. :) All I know is, Riley loves her. Today she came over to my house in a beautiful little dress and 10-minutes later, she was out of her dress and all decked out in Riley and Tanner's clothes...including Riley's HUGE shoes. I had to laugh. Here is a conversation I heard today when Riley's friend Joshua came over to join in the fun:

Riley: Hi Joshua! Meet my best girl, Anneka
Anneka: Yeah, we're going to get married
Riley: Yeah. Anneka, I'm so glad you made that wish!

A week ago, Anneka made a wish on a dandilion that Riley and her will get married when they're older. :)

Menu Planning Monday

Well, I'm back to real life now...and that means menu planning.

Menu for the Week.

Monday: Pizza, jicima sticks, apple juice

Tuesday: Chicken Parmesan with steamed broccoli

Wednesday: Taco salad with guacamole and pico de gallo

Thursday: Grilled cheese and onion rings

Friday: Bertoli dinner with rolls and salad

Saturday: Cereal...I'm holding out for a date night!

Sunday: Dutch Babies with bacon and orange slices

More Utah Pics

Julie, Hailey, and Erin took a shopping break and came to visit. It was fun to see my beautiful cousins and my cute, cute Aunt again. I was sad that one of my beautiful cousins was missing. Kenzie couldn't come and was still back in Logan. Sad.

I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. I had my friend Michelle come and take pictures of us at the Jordan River Temple...more on that later. We also went out to Chuck-A-Rama...a favorite hot spot for my family. Then on Sunday my mom and I went to lunch at my grandparent's place and then sat and played the piano and visited for a bit. It was really nice to see Jim and Lalah. They are the best!!!

Ava loves her Nana.

She also loves her Grandpa Paul. She would smile every time he looked at her. It was pretty cute.

Utah Trip

So, I just got back from Utah and it was SOOOOOO much fun! Em and I realized just as I was getting ready to leave to come back to Kansas that I did not take very many pictures. So, we hastily snapped a few of me and my favorite little family. All I can say is, I have the cutest nieces and nephew around. They are really adorable!!!

Don't I look like a teeny little midget compared to my YOUNGER sister! Sheesh!

Cute little 5-year old Ellie. She is so sweet and quite the little beauty.

Adorable Nathan, aka "mini-Mike". He is a handful and a half. He's got red hair and he knows how to use it! What a cute, funny little guy.

Sweet, sassy Lauren. I had a lot of fun hanging out with Laursie. I was there when she was born and have such a tender place in my heart for her. Love you Lauren!

Chef Riley

Today I gave the boys Munster Cheese (monster cheese as Tanner calls it) and Cheeze-It crackers for a snack. After breaking up the cheese and crackers into small pieces Riley gave me a cheese and cracker h'orderve to sample. I told him it was delicious to which he replied, "Dad, I'm kind of like a chef."

Primary Talent Show

Last night was the Primary Talent Show. Riley was the first act of the night so you could hear a pin drop as he got up to play "Old McDonald"(things got louder as the night went on). He was trying to go so fast that he had a couple of hiccups on the first notes after which he stopped and looked at me with a patented Riley scowl. I told him to keep going, after which he completely recovered and did a great job. Nice work Riley!

Ava and Cooper

Ode to Jenny and Chris

To Jenny and Chris...is this enough blogging for you? Are you sufficiently caught up with our super-interesting lives? ;) I hope so, because this took me a long time! Love you!!!

Yea For Spring!!!

We are so excited that Spring has finally sprung! We had a lot of fun playing outside with Grandma and Grandpa and enjoyed reveling in the spoils of Easter. Riley and Tanner each got a jump rope, a frisbee, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and binoculars. All of which were a hit.

Tanner LOVES hopscotch! He loves to count as he jumps on all the numbers.

Riley got a new, bigger, bike. He was getting way too big for his old bike. Now he can go super-fast.

Ava had a monumental event happen this weekend, and thanks to Grandma Charlene, we were all made aware of it. Ava cut her very first tooth, with a second on its way. Charlene felt it first and told Todd...who, being the skeptic that he is, didn't believe her. Oh, but it's true. Our baby has a teeny-tiny tooth.

And the vultures descend...

Well, a little girlie this cute can't expect to be left alone for too long. Eventually, she's going to get noticed and then she's going to get knocked over.

A Visit To The Legends

During our fun family visit, we went to one of my favorite shopping destinations, The Legends. It was a nice, but rather windy, sunny day. The boys got to run around and I got to shop. It just doesn't get much better than that.

We all met up at Cabella's for lunch. I have never been in Cabellas, and I have to say, I was impressed. It was like a wild-life museum in there. The kids absolutely loved it! Grandpa told Riley and Tanner that next time we go to California, he would take them on a campout in the backyard. Riley was excited.

Happy Easter

We had such a wonderful Easter this year! Charlene and Shelton and Uncle Ryan came to visit us and we had a lot of fun. The day Ryan left, Riley looked at me with big, sad eyes and said, "Mom, I really miss Uncle Ryan." Then the next day as Charlene and Shelton were getting ready to leave, Riley came up to me again with the same sad eyes and said, "Mom, I want Grandma and Grandpa to stay forever." Me too buddy.

We had a fun Easter egg hunt in our backyard. I thought I was scaling back on the candy by only buying 2 small bags of candy, but even that was too much! Next year, there will be a bit of candy in the eggs, but mostly it will be trinkets of the non-edible variety. Riley was doing such a great job of sharing all the eggs he found, until he realized that Tanner had more eggs than he did...so the sharing stopped. :)

I know that ham is the meat of choice for Easter, but I really felt like turkey, so turkey it was. I was in the kitchen from 8:30 am to noon preparing the food...with the immense help of Shelton and Charlene. Slaving in the kitchen for 4-hours was totally worth it though when I got to taste the fruits of my labors. Can you say YUM! I bet you can, but not loud enough for what this meal deserves. So tasty! Mmmmmm...

Here are the recipes...trust me, you want these

The BEST turkey recipe out there...I use it every Thanksgiving...and now Easter as well.

Sweet Potatoes to die for: This is the base recipe, but I change things a little to make it truly fantastic. First of all, cut the sugar in half. Second of all, use brown sugar instead of white in the potato mixture. Third, and last, before you put the streussel topping on, cover the top with mini-marshmallows. Then put the streussel over the top.

Homemade rolls that are melt-in-your mouth delicious

Asparagus: I melt some butter in a pan and drizzle with olive oil. I add some minced garlic, then my washed asparagus and swish it all around. Then I put some kosher salt over the top and cook until it is crisp-tender.

Mashed Potatoes and Gravy: I always use red potatoes with the skin on for my mashed potatoes. Then I add milk, butter, cream cheese, diced green onions, and salt/pepper.

Stuffing...of the Stove Top variety...yum!

Jell-O Salad: Boil 3 cups of water, add 2 packages tapioca pudding and one small box cherry Jell-O. Put in a bowl and cool in refrigerator until set. Then fold in raspberries and one tup cool whip. Mmmmm. It is a family favorite...and we are not Jell-O OR tapioca people.