We Found Montana!

My entire life as a parent, I have prided myself in never losing a piece to a toy.  Sure, I've conveniently "forgotten" a toy somewhere, but, every night when we clean up, each toy has all its pieces and gets put in it's place.  

However, somehow, amidst 3 moves in one year, we misplaced Montana.  So, for the last long while, the girls (mostly Sadie), have been putting together the 49 state puzzle.  Don't know how we've managed to keep track of Rhode Island and New Jersey, but lose Montana.  But, anyway, we did.  

Then, this morning, while putting together a Cars puzzle, Sadie exclaimed, "Look!  Mom!  I found it!"  And, right there, in the box, was Montana!

Now, I don't have to explain to Carson why Montana is no longer part of the United States!

Never a Dull Moment!

Carson stays busy all.day.long.  Which means I stay busy all day long, too!  From rearranging the cupboards, to "sorting" laundry, there's never a dull moment with this handsome guy!

I kept moving the play tent off the chair so he could sit down and he kept taking it back from me, putting it on the chair and climbing on top!

Front load washing machines are the perfect size for Carson!  He loves to help load and rotate laundry! We're still working on the folding part...

 He loaded the entire basket and closed the door!  Then, he stopped to watch the washer and dryer work their magic!

Earlier today, I dropped a basket of raspberries as I was putting them into the fridge.  Brian and Sadie quickly came to help pick them up.  Carson came just as fast...to eat them up!

What Sadie's Been Up To...

Sadie Bug moped around the house for the first few days while Morgan was at school.  I thought I was going to go crazy!  But, she started preschool, and, loves it!  When she's not at preschool, she's playing blocks and trains with Carson, or attentively tending to her baby, Bailey.  Here she is, preparing to take her on a field trip to the lake (can you tell what gets talked about a lot at our house???).

It's been pretty hot lately, so she's enjoyed some down time, watching movies from the library.  

 And, while Morgan sleeps in on Saturday morning, Sadie (and Carson) helps make breakfast!  She rolled all the biscuits for monkey bread this morning by herself!  And, the mess wasn't too bad, either!

School Days...School Days

School will finally begin at our house in about 1 hour!

Morgan was up, dressed, teeth brushed, and bed made before 6:30!  But, as anxious as she is to start school, today is a late start day and she can't meet her new teacher until 9:45!  So, she's currently curled up on the couch with yet another Magic Tree House book!  She's already informed me that she will have plenty of time after school to continue reading the series.

So, without further ado, here's Morgan on her first day of first grade!  She's an official "grader!"

And, I'm going to attempt to do something cute in her lunch box each day.  I remember when I was little, my mom put cute little Suzy's Zoo notes in our lunches.  It was always so fun.  Last night, on Pinterest (man, I love it!), I found 180 lunch box notes--one for each school day.  I've already printed them and cut them out, and they are ready to go each day!

I've also tried to find creative lunch ideas.  Last year, even though Morgan only went to school 2 days each week, I got stuck in a rut and she ended up with PB&J, applesauce, a fruit and crackers/cookies each day.  BORING!!!  So, I'm going to try and get creative, all while staying healthy.  Today, Morgan has requested homemade chicken noodle soup.  Not my choice on a hot summer day, but, hey, if she'll eat it....

Today's lunch: homemade chicken noodle soup, oatmeal cookies, nectarine and whole grain crackers, with a brand new water bottle on the side!  I found some cloth napkins while we were unpacking a few months ago, and thought I'd give it a shot.  I'm going green (well, at least for the week)!

And, for the first time in our married life, I packed Brian's lunch!  No leftovers today!  He's getting a turkey/spinach rollup, carrots with homemade ranch dressing, oatmeal cookies, and a pear.

Labor Day at the Lake

Guess where we spent our holiday? That's right....the lake!  We had some friends come up, we rented a boat (the kids loved it!), BBQ'd and played all day long!  We love this place!!

 Teresa stocked the kids with TONS of snacks for the boat--popcorn, graham crackers, "red" chips (Doritos), "blue" chips (the yucky Doritos), CapriSuns....

Our Trusty Captain! 

Teresa and the tots! 

Brian and I--I think we take a picture like this almost every year!  

It's fun to look back on them over the years!

I'm guessing one of the snacks included chocolate frosting? 

Morgan and her Oreo mustache! 

Yay for Brian--getting Carson to sleep in his stroller for almost an hour!  

Yummy homemade ice cream!  The kids, of course, were too impatient to let it cure (I remember being the same way as a kid), so it was more like soup, but, still delicious!

Thanks for coming up, Vitzians!  We all had a blast!

Vote for Carson!

Everyone always tells me that my kids should be Gerber Babies.  So, here's our chance!  Be sure to vote for him on Facebook everyday until September 24th!  

His entry number is: 402183

Here's the link:

https://apps.facebook.com/gerberps/detail.do?entry_id=402183

Good Luck, Little Buddy!

Fillmore...times 2!

So, the secret's out.  Carson discovered today that Fillmore is more than just a single frog.  I asked Sadie to go grab Fillmore for me and she didn't know he was on the couch.  She went and grabbed "Fillmore" out of Carson's closet.  And, for the rest of the afternoon, Carson carried Fillmore AND Fillmore around with him.  (Fillmore needs a bath, so I'm only putting him to bed with one...let's see if he forgets!)

The Pioneer Woman

Today, I love her.  The blueberry muffins were awesome!  Tomorrow, as I'm running to burn off the blueberry muffins...well, we'll stick to the fact that they were awesome.

Until about a year ago, I didn't even know she existed.  Then, I stumbled upon her book one day, and fell in love!  If you haven't read her book yet, you are welcome to borrow my copy!  Or, if you live far away, here's a link to buy it on Amazon: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels.

Anyway, let's start at the beginning.  About a year ago, I read her book, and then shared it with all my book club groupies back in Denver.  Our tradition in book club was to make a delectable treat to share. Even better if it came from the book we had just read (remember the potato peel pie, ladies?).

This gave me an opportunity to browse through all of the Pioneer Woman's tasty recipes on her website, The Pioneer Woman.  I remember, in particular, making her Knock You Naked Brownies, that were quite scrumptious!  And, ever since then, if I've had a inkling to make a new treat, I've turned to this fabulous site!  

Jump forward to this morning.  I have a tub of blueberries in my fridge.  It looked something like this: 

I also have a 6 year old that's been asking me for days (okay, just yesterday) what I'm going to do with the second tub of blueberries.  I told her we could make blueberry muffins.  But, we've kind of been stuck in a little heat wave, and I have been trying to avoid the oven like the plague.  But, today, I decided I would break the "save the planet, don't run the ac full blast" rule and make blueberry muffins for breakfast.   Which, turned out to be at 8:33, not 7:00, but, hey, it was worth the wait!  

So, here's what the final product looked like, complete with the tasty sauce over the top! Mine were slightly darker because I used whole wheat flour and sucanat, but they still tasted delicious!  Slightly crispy on the outside, and soft and moist on the inside!  Yummy!  Here's the link to the recipe, The Awesome-est Blueberry Muffins.  The girls loved them so much, they requested them for a morning snack, about 5 minutes after breakfast.

(photos courtesy of thepioneerwoman.com)

King of the Beach

So, we have a new love at our house.  It's called Lake Mission Viejo.  We frequent it.  Often.  Like, at least weekly.   And, now that Carson is walking (as of last week, it's official!), we should just go every day.  Only, that might be a little bit too much work to pack a picnic every day.

We've had lots of friends come up to play at the lake.  But, being the super-on-top-of-it mom that I seem to be these days, I haven't taken a single picture.  So, while we were at the lake yesterday with Maryn, my BYU roommate (who also married my 2nd cousin), she took some pictures.  Most of them are posted here, on her blog.  But, I have to share my absolute favorite of Carson (taken by Maryn).

Here's the story behind the picture:

We are playing in the water and everyone is having a great time, when one of the ladies next to us decides to put her child's chair in the water.  Not exactly sure why, because her child never actually sat in it there.  Anyway, Carson notices this lonely chair on the edge of the water and starts walking toward it--very determinedly--to say the least.  I quickly asked the parent if he could play in the chair and she said, "Sure!"  And, by this time, Carson had already climbed in, sat down, and decided he was king of the beach!

Random Snippets from Late

We've been crazy busy around our house!  Brian and I were just talking last night about how we chose a rather hectic time to move.  I don't think we've had an empty weekend since we moved---2 months ago!  So, I'm happy to announce that we have NO PLANS for the next 3 weekends and I'm super stoked!  I can finally finish moving in!

Here are some pictures from the last month or so:

Morgan was bored during nap time one afternoon.  She kept asking me what she could do.  After not liking any of my suggestions, I finally put her to work.  I gave her the spray bottle of vinegar and two rags and told her to clean the floor.  She loved "skating mopping"!

This summer has been all about reading for Morgan.  I have lost track of how many books she's read.  She gets swallowed up by The Magic Tree House series!  I'll ask her to do something and she'll walk through the house, getting the task done, all while reading her book!  I found her sitting on the coffee table one afternoon, reading.  That can't possibly be comfortable, but if you're so caught up in a book, I guess it doesn't matter! (Oh, and Morgan scored with her own private Magic Tree House library!  The primary president in our ward has the entire collection, so we stop by each Sunday after church for a new sampling!  This week she picked 8 because she finished the 4 from last week before Wednesday!)

Carson always loves to share everything....including his pancakes.  Isn't that so sweet???

Somebody has big sisters around!

Don't know what Sadie was so sad about, but it's such a classic Sadie face these days!

We went to see Hunter Hayes (click here if you have no idea who he is!) last Saturday at the lake!  Didn't plan on all wearing our BBQ shirts (and my cowgirl hat), but, we were running late, lost our change of clothes underneath all the recycle bottles in the car, and, well, we had fun and that's what matters!

 Carson is one and walking now, so that means he gets his own chair, right?

Sadie's 4th birthday was a couple weeks ago and all she wanted was a burrito.  Well, there it is....her burrito. (We had cake and presents, too!)

Big boy Carson moved up into his big car seat!  Still has to face back, but there's plenty of entertainment in the back seat, so I don't think he minds! And, for all of you out there that think he's a tank--he's only in the 60th percentile (23 1/2 lbs!)  He's not really that huge!