Pippy Long Stockings...

I love my little red head :O)

Baseball...

Boky has been asking me a lot about playing baseball. We got her a little mitt with a ball but that hasn't been sufficient enough for the lil sprout. This weekend while we were up in Idaho visiting The Grove's we bought her a bat and a ball. Zach made the handy dandy T-ball stand thing and it's been wonderful. It's fun to watch her play and reminisce about the days when I played softball, I miss it. Can't wait to get her into little league :O)

Ham Fried Rice

Ingredients:

-		2 eggs
-		1 tablespoon butter or margarine
-		1/4 cup soy sauce
-		1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce
-		salt and pepper - to taste
-		1/2 onion - chopped
-		1 1/2 cups ham - cooked and diced
-		2 green onions - chopped
-		3 cups rice - cooked
-		1 can pineapple tidbits (8 oz.)
-		2 teaspoons garlic or 2 cloves garlic, chopped

Directions:

• In small skillet, heat butter or margarine over medium-high heat.
• Whisk eggs in small bowl. Pour into pan, and scramble until soft cooked.
• Remove from heat, set aside.
• In large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil. Over medium-high heat add onion, ham and rice.
• Stir fry 5-10 minutes until rice is crisped brown.
• Add garlic, soy sauce and teriyaki sauce. Continue stirring another 2-3 minutes.
• Add in green onions and pineapple, salt and pepper to taste, and scrambled eggs. Heat through, stirring to combine.
• Serve hot.

Note: you can also use leftover chicken or turkey.

I tried this one for the first time this last week and we really liked it. I altered the recipe a little and I added peas to it (I suppose you could also add carrots) I didn't put the pineapple in either. I really liked it and so did my family. My dad even gave it the stamp of approval :O)

I got this recipe online at: http://www.recipetips.com/recipe-cards/t--3803/fried-rice-with-ham.asp (because I didn't have a fried rice recipe)

Baby Acne?

So the past week(ish) Tessa face has gotten really broke out. Zach asked me about it and I told him that babies get acne and it's normal. Today when we got up and moving he asked why her acne was spreading all over her head and neck... weird. Then I got to thinking about how Mom gave Rachel, who was also an August baby, heat rash because she wrapped her up all the time thinking she was cold. Well... I'm pretty sure it's heat rash. Poor kid. Here I am thinking she likes to be really warm and cuddled and I give her a heat rash... nice huh? So the lesson learned here, use cotton blankets and don't let her sweat!

Good Dinner...

I decided I'm gonna start putting recipe's on here that I love and think you all might love too...

So here goes the first one...

Home made BBQ's (from my momma :O))

1 lb hamburger
1/2 lg onion chopped
2T flour
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 T mustard
1 1/2 t vinegar
1/4 C ketchup
2 T brown sugar
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/2 green pepper diced
1/8 t chili powder
2 ribs of celery
1 can (10.5 oz) chicken gumbo soup

brown meat and drain. saute onions and green pepper
add rest of ingredients and simmer 1 hour with lid on

Tessa Shares...

Brooklyn recently named her baby Sunny Patch. She has really started to play babies and house a lot. This particular morning she wanted Tessa to share with Sunny Patch and so you have it....

Twister...

I love the fact that my little sisters are still little enough to want to play games with Brooklyn. This day they were playing twister. It was hilarious to watch as Jade would mix up her left and right, Esi would run around and around the mat, Brooklyn would jump from circle to circle and Jamie actually played the right way. Thanks for the entertainment :O)

Helpful Mommy Hint of the Day...

It is great to let your kids help you cook. Keeps them entertained and can create special memories. Just remember that they probably shouldnt help with the onions...

We were making dinner together and I let Brooklyn scoop the onions out of the chopper into the pan and she started crying both onion tears and real tears. I felt SO bad!

Flarp...

These are the types of moments that remind me that, yes, she is only two!

We usually let her just keep her flarp with her other special toys but after this experience I think it will be a "top-of-the-fridge" type toy. Would you believe she has had this same bottle of flarp for at least 4 months and this is our first tragedy?
Thank you to Jade-o who pointed it out to me. The total casualties included this chunk of her hair, my favorite Children's Place dress, and the down stairs couch.

September 12th, 2010

Esi turned 2!!!!
We had a little get together at Grandma and Grandpa's house to celebrate. These are a few pictures from that day...

Things I have learned in the last 24 hours...

* I should indeed be concerned when every diaper I am changing isn't poopy. Why? Because that means when the poo does come, it's coming full force. I am talking all the way up to the armpits, on the blanket, and between big sister's toes.

*No matter how good a child has been with play dough, silly putty, or flarp in the past, does not make them constantly worthy of playing with it. Chances are it may still end up in their hair, all over their not-so-cheap outfit, and on the couch.

*The dog that eats the most vegetables and "earthy" things will leave your grass looking dark and luscious after you scoop his poop.

*No matter how many times you take a child potty in a thirty minute time period it is still possible for them to have an accident, especially when you are not at home.

*Although your child's "cool trick" may be completely disgusting (drinking a little and then spitting the rest back into the cup), it can distract them long enough to trim their embarrassingly long toe and finger nails.

*Children like to make their parent's exercise. For example: I am getting Brooklyn in the car and she runs to the other side before I can buckle her in. She says, "This is how you exercise, because you are a mommy!" As I try pulling her to the driver;s side and kindly shoving her into her seat.

*Mom's probably shouldn't wear black shirts or forget a burp pad after feeding a "starving" baby.

Our Basketball Hoop...

Many of you already know that Zach LOVES basketball, so he's really been wanting a hoop at home so he can play with Boky whenever they get a chance. He got a killer deal on this hoop (free) and worked hard to get it put up and functional. The only down fall is that to play you have to be in the road. According to Zach this was a common and not so "out of the ordinary" thing for him when he was growing up and he is totally excited about it, I on the other hand think it's crazy to play in the street even if our street isn't that busy. Oh well though, as long as Boky only plays with her dad we will be ok. He is good about watching for cars, I hope. It is very cute to watch them play together. I am glad he is such a good dad and likes to play with his kids <3>

Got Milk??

She loves to eat, can you tell? She is very messy, but still cute!

Smashed Cheese Cake...

Read the paragraph below and see if you can guess who's plate is who's... now that I look it might be obvious without reading...oh well, enjoy!

Yesterday we spent the entire together as a family and it was so nice and so needed. We have been trying to fun things and get away from the TV, Video Games, and usual boring things. So we decided to spend the day getting household stuff done like vacuuming, dishes, yard work, etc so that we could enjoy our evening. Oh and we went on a walk with Gunner to help him calm down too! When evening time came we all made dinner together, hamburgers and green salads, then we ate dessert, CHEESECAKE! We were goofing off (like usual) and Zach poked his finger in my cheesecake so I put a finger print in each peice of his. Then he mashed mine with his whole hand. so in return I did the same thing. Then we sat down and ate it with Boky. She loved it, which I find surprising because I just barely learned to love the taste and she is way young. It was a successful dinner/dessert. When we were cleaning up Zach and I got in a little disagreement so I grabbed the remainder of his cheesecake on his plate and 'kindly' smashed it in his face, so funny, until he wiped his face on me :(
It was such a fun night we really needed to spend time together.
Love my family :O)

Fun Pictures...

Just goofing off with the camera nd my scrap book program. I thought these ones turned out the best...