One little monkey

Ethan is our little spider monkey. He climbs EVERYTHING. I am constantly finding him here though. He always seems to make his way onto the top of the kitchen table. And what is is about eating the rocks from the bamboo plant? This has got to stop. I have had to find a way to blockade one of the kitchen entrances and cut off the other with the baby gate just so he wouldn't do it. He has taken a couple falls from here and it is pretty scary but it hasn't fazed him. Doesn't he look so happy?
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My little shadow!

Kiera is definitely my little shadow when it comes to being creative. Lately she has wanted to do nothing but color, draw, and paint. The other day I was brave and got out my watercolor paints and let Kiera go for it. She had soooo much fun and stayed there forever concentrating on her masterpieces. Our wall in the kitchen is filling up fast with our little artist's work.


The joys of an artist! You can just see it in her face! I am so happy to share this joy with my daughter. It makes me sooo happy!

This one is by far my favorite of Kiera's paintings. She did it ALL by herself! Absolutely no help or direction from me. I think it is worthy of selling too! Anyone interested in purchasing a watercolor painting done by a 2 year old? All proceeds will go towards her college fund. I am dead serious too.
I will try everything I can to help my children find the joy in being creative. And it looks like so far so good!

More pics from our strawberry picking

Here are a few more pics from or strawberry trip to Beringer's Farm. It was a lot of fun and if you haven't been before I strongly recommend you go! The berries were AMAZING!

mmmmm Yummy!

The Day and The Life of a Strawberry

Have you ever wondered what it'd be like to live the life of another? I am sure almost, if not all of us have wondered this at one point. But I don't imagine many of us have wondered what it would be like to live the life of a strawberry. Lets face it, not many of us would like to sit hours and hours in the dirt under the hot sun only to be destined for a PBandJ sandwich, or to be put into a pie, or to be mashed into a pulp to be poured on hot pancakes. Much to many things eat us up in this world as it is. Why would we want to imagine a life where being eaten up happened literally?

But just sit back for a minute and let me take you down that journey that not too many of us think about. The title is self explanatory. It is The Day and The Life of a Strawberry.

It all began with a pleasant evening around 5:00 p.m. I was doing the same thing I had been since the day I was planted here on Beringer's Farm. Sitting, growing, sitting, and growing. Trying my best to grow up big and strong and show my bright red color through those overwelming green leaves. I do have to say though, that those leaves sure do make for some nice shade on hot sunny days. When out of nowhere came these huge creatures. I had seen such creatures before, they were the kind that brought me to this place and gave me a place to stay and would even let me shower once in awhile. But not like these creatures today. These ones came with boxes and littler creatures who kept taking my friends and neighbors away with them. "I wonder where they're going to," I'd asked myself. But not too long and I would soon find out.

One of these littler creatures lifted away those shady green leaves and picked me up in her little hands. She sort of gave me a funny look and then put me in a box with my friends and neighbors. I was happy to be amongst familiar faces. More and more of our friends joined us and we had a good old time swinging and riding in this big box the creatures carried with them. I was very happy.

After a fun ride in the box we were all put in the trunk of the creatures' car and whisked off to their house. This is where all the pampering began.


First we were stripped down and given a nice soak in a giant green tub. It felt nice to be rid of all the dirt and dust.

Then we were all given a long massage and got to sit in a hot jacuzzi for awile. That was soooo relaxing! I felt like jelly all over.

Finally, a couple of my friends and I were given the luxury of napping on a buttery soft mattress with silky smooth covers. mmmm. I love being a strawberry.

So in the end I guess being a strawberry isn't all that bad. Lets face it, why wouldn't we want a life of luxury and the destiny to be nibbled on. Hehe.
If you can't tell I had a lot of fun writing this post.

Strawberry Festival

Marysville is the City of Strawberries and this past weekend we went to the Strawberry Festival. There was tons of things going on! There were carnivals, fairs, car shows, kiddie parades, big parades, adult tricycle races.... etc. and fireworks. We went to a little fair in Asbery Field and Kiera was able to go on the giant bounce house slide a couple times. We got an order of curly fries that fed our entire family and then some, and we also got some strawberry shortcake. Dan insisted that we couldn't go to the strawberry festival without getting some kind of strawberry dish. It was very yummy!

After the fair we walked down to State Street to watch the parade. Our all time favorites are the infamous Cowboys and Pirates! Those two were probably the highlight of the parade for us. Also one of the kids favorites were the motorcycle police. I think the combination of lights, sirens, and speed was just right. It was pretty funny though when two of the officers crashed their motorcycles by complete accident! The crowd went wild! I bet they were so imbarrassed.

Towards the end of the parade we decided to head back to the car to beat the rush of people home. We took the kiddos home for bed, and I started working on my singing time presentation when we heard the fireworks start. Dan and I took our big green blanket outside and sat in our driveway and watched the fireworks shoot above our neighbor's roof. It was very nice and a pleasant way to end the day. I love summer time! What do you love most about summer?

The small stuff.

No this post is not about problems or stress or things that make us unhappy. Instead it is about the small things that make me happy. I was tagged by a friend of mine whom I love very much. She always makes me laugh and is such a great role model. Check out her blog HERE sometime.

The game goes as follows:

* List Six Unimportant Things That Make You Happy
* Mention and link to the person who tagged you
* Tag six of your favorite bloggers to play along

Unimportant Things That Make Me Happy

1. Sunshine Sunshine Sunshine. I just am not myself without it.
2. Bubble baths. (I don't get them very often especially when rubber duckies, tug boats, and foam cutouts of the alphabet are in the way).
3. Saturday mornings when Dan makes me breakfast. He started the tradition when we were first married. He doesn't do it quite as often but when he does it makes my day!
4. The smell of playdoh. I just love that smell!
5.Watching Kiera help her dad wash the cars on the weekends. It makes me laugh to see her keep washing the same spot over and over again, even after Dan has rinsed away the soap.
6. Blowing goodnight kisses to my kids at bedtime. Kiera reaches up and catches my kiss and I reach up and catch hers, but she always tells me to throw it back for her to catch one more kiss before she can go to sleep. Now Ethan has started to reach up to catch the kisses in midair. I love it!

So these things may all seem unimportant to you but to me they are what make me happy; and to me happiness is all that is important. Isn't that what we are all striving for anyway?

Now who to Tag?....
Kim Hibler
Kim Lohberg
Michelle Glenn
LaDean Glenn
Autumn Perrenoud
Erica Kirby

Can't wait to see your posts!

mmmmmm Cinnamon Rolls

Last week I was craving cinnamon rolls. They sounded soooo good! (no I am not pregnant. This was just one of those non-pregnancy cravings). Anyway I decided to make some. I was a bit disappointed when I found out that I had to let the dough sit in the refrigerator overnight ,but they were well worth it! It has been a long while since I put a recipe on here so I thought I'd share this one with you. Just so you know this recipe says it makes 3-4 dozen rolls so keep that in mind. I thought it was waaaaay too many so I had Dan bring a co-worker home from work with him so he could take some for his family as well. But I don't have any problem in sharing either.

Here it goes...

Cinnamon Rolls
from The Essential Mormon Cookbook
by Julie Badger Jensen

1 cup water
1 cup butter/margarine
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1 cup cold water
4 eggs, slightly beaten
2 (.25-ounces) packages of yeast *I just used 3 Tbsp*
1/2 cup warm water
7 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter, softened (not melted)
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cinnamon

1 recipe Powdered Sugar Glaze:
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla
cream above ingredients together and Spread over warm rolls.

Directions:
In a large pot (I used my stock pot) bring on cup water to a boil. Add teh 1 cup butter, sugar, and salt. Remonve from heat. Add the 1 cup cold water. When the mixture is lukewarm, add beaten eggs. In a separate bowl, dissolve yeast in the 1/2 cups warm water. Allow the yeast to rise for about 5 mins. until foamy. Stir into mizture. Add flour and stir together. *Don't worry about getting all the lumps out just make sure it is mixed well.* Cover pan with lid and refrigerate overnight. (I just put my stock pot in the refrigerator but the recipe says that a 5 quart ice cream bucket with lid works well too).

When you're ready to roll it out, divide the doudh into thirds. Lightly flour your surface. Roll dough out into a 12x6-inch rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Spread each rectangle with one-third of the softened butter. In a bowl combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle one-third of brown sugar and cinnamon mixture over the surface of dough.

Roll up felly-roll-style and cut into about 12 rounds. *I used dental floss to cut the dough* Place the rounds on a greased baking sheet. Follow the same procedure with the other portions of dough. Let raise for 2-3 hours. Bake one sheet at a time at 375 degrees F. for about 15 mins or until lightly browned. Spread with Powdered Sugar Glaze while still warm. *I just used left over frosting from a can, and it worked great too*

Enjoy and tell me how yours turned out. Also stay tuned for my crock pot bacon potato soup that I created last night. It was wonderful!

The half sissor

Have you ever tried to cut a 1 1/2 year olds hair? I did today. I will say it was not the easiest feat. I think I did pretty good considering every time I went to cut hair he'd move his head or hold up his hand and push mine out of the way to stop me. I took much longer than I had planned and the only way I was able to do anything was to keep pushing the cheerios. Hair was everywhere! After I reached a point where I could consider myself finished (or at least pass it off as finished) Kiera wanted me to cut her hair too. I only cut her bangs but at least she felt included in the adventure. Anybody have any tips for the future to make this job less of a battle?

Mommy take a picture!

I think it was about a week ago on enight while I was working on the computer that I heard Kiera say, "Mommy take a picture!" I turned around and this is what I saw.
It makes me so happy that my children love each other. They may not act like it all the time but they truly are best buds.

Dream Bulldozer

So Dan and I are coming to believe that maybe buying a house just isn't for us anymore. We've gotten our hopes up time and time again just to have them dashed. Our most recent attempt was by far the worst. We found a house that we both loved where the size was right, the neighborhood was awesome, and the price was reasonable. It was a brand new listing on Thursday and we went to go see it that very afternoon. (They hadn't even had the chance to put the for sale sign in the yard yet. We were on top of things!) We made an offer on it the very next morning and offered the full asking price. We also jumped through the hoop of getting approved through their preferred lender. Things were on a roll. This had to be it!
I spent the next day dreaming of how I'd decorate our new dream home and make it my own. And then we got the news! "You're offer was recieved, but it was not accepted." What?! How could you not accept an offer when it was the full price?
Turns out that there were 3 other offers that had come in and all three of those offers were for more than what they had asked for. Who does that?! Needless to say I was very dissappointed. So we're back to square one yet AGAIN. One more of this happening and I think we're throwing in the towel and just going to look for a cheaper rental when our lease runs out in August. Wish us luck.

The Graduates

The whole purpose in my trip was to support my little sister Kayla in her graduation. I can't believe she is already preparing to go to college. I feel soo old! Anyways, I am so proud of her and know she will go places! She has so many talents and is so smart. She was one of the valedictorians for her school and got to give a speech at the graduation ceremony. She also played her trumpet in the band there. She had the honor of doing a trumpet solo. WOW! I have no idea where someone her size gets all that air! She was amazing! I loved being able to watch her play. I've missed out on a lot of that since I'm married and live in another state. I am so proud of her!





Also amongst all the graduation hub bub we found out that one of my long lost foster sisters was also graduating! We got to go see her graduate and it was so nice to see her again. We wish her the best of luck in her future.

A new look

While in Boise I decided it was time for a new look I had tried on my own to go for a new look at home but was unsuccessful. I have a very talented cousin who lives in Boise and I had her help me with my new ambition. I told her I wanted to go blonde for the summer. Never in my life have I made a drastic change to my hair before so I was very excited and a bit nervous too. I went to her salon called Atomic Salon in Boise and had her have at it! I love love love how it turned out! It is still a little shocking to look in the mirror but I am very happy with how it turned out. Afterward another one of my cousins met up with us and we went out for lunch at Carino's Italian Restaraunt. It was delish! The cool thing though is that my mom had a scratch off coupon that took $15 off the total so for the three of us to eat lunch it cost a total of $7. That made the meal taste even better!



Also speaking on new looks. While I was in Boise not only did my hair change but the weather was different from what I had been getting for the past 8 months. Not a single complaint here! There was one day that it rained but for the rest of the two weeks while I was there it was hot, and sunny! I was in heaven! I got some cool pics of the rainstorm too. It was raining while the sun was shinning so there were some cool rainbows.

Destination AT LAST!

After a long days drive we finally arrived in Middleton. All those long hours of sitting paid off and the kids were set free!!!! The kids were in heaven not to be sitting in their car seats any more! Well, at least until we all got in the dreaded car again to go and get some pizza.

Kiera saw my mom and said "MY GRANDPA!" "MY KAYLA!" for some reason she doesn't get the difference between grandma and grandpa.

That evening after dinner we all hung around and enjoyed the change in pace. The kids played with some toys that Grandma Lazenby had stashed away for them. There was a Little Tikes slide and teeter totter, a tricycle, a lawn mower with eyes and teeth, and a little Winnie the Pooh truck that had buttons that made sounds. The sunsets were great! It has been a long time since I've had a clear view of the sunsets like that. It was a nice evening and when bedtime rolled around I was happy to say goodnight. Why is that you can go all day long not doing anything but sitting in a car and become soooo tired?

Shellie stayed the night at my mom's and was off again the next morning to make the other half of her trip to Utah. Thanks Shellie for letting us tag along for part of the way! You're a life saver!

Stop number 2 Sililoh Park

Monday morning we all got up and packed the car for our journey ahead. The weather was beautiful and the kids had a good nights sleep behind them. And we were off!

We made stops along the way to stretch our legs and let the kids wiggle a bit. One of our stops was at a place called Sililoh Park. There we got the kids dressed and went and threw rocks in the Columbia River. Anything to do with water, Kiera and Ethan are all over it! Ethan kept trying to inch his way closer and closer to the water and Kiera kept looking for the perfect rocks to throw. You'll notice that Kiera is carrying the same puppy with her as she was while playing on Grandpa's tractor. She is in a stage now where she has to have at least one of her many treasures along for the ride.

After throwing rocks we went on the grass and had a snack at one of the shady picnic tables. Although, the kids were more interested in running around than they were in the food I think. I love the picture of Kiera peeking around the tree at me though.

The rest of the drive to Boise went amazingly well,and the kids surprised us with how well they did. We didn't really have any problems with them at all. As long as we made our scheduled stops everything went smoothly. I'll have to remember that for future treks.

Stop number 1 on our trek to Boise

Two weeks ago the kiddos and I started a long vacation to visit family.
My mother-in-law Shellie just happened to be on her way to Utah for a family reunion and asked if I wanted to tag along for part of the trip and be dropped off in Boise on her way over. It was perfect timing since we had already been trying to figure out how we were going to make our way over there for my sister's graduation. It worked out perfectly. I kept Shellie company and she helped make the long car ride over with two little ones easier. I know I wouldn't have survived doing 8 hours of that on my own.

On Saturday June 17th, Dan drove the kids and I four and a half hours to Oregon City to Dan's parent's. It made it very nice to make a stop at Grandma and Grandpa Glenn's to let the kids get their wiggles out and play a bit.

Grandpa had bought a trailer to pull behind his riding lawn mower specifically for giving grand kids rides in. The kids and I got to ride around the back yard in it. It was very bumpy but Kiera loved it! Ethan didn't have as much fun riding in the trailer but he sure enjoyed climbing in the drivers seat of the tractor. He and Kiera took turns sitting and pretending to drive.

We spent the weekend there and went to church with them the next day and then that evening Dan headed back to Marysville without us. This trip was going to be the longest amount of time Dan and I have been apart since we've been married. I know this may sound corny, but as soon as he was gone I already missed him.

The kids slept really well Sunday night and I was happy because Shellie and I were headed out bright and early the next day. I didn't want the kids to be cranky the entire way. 8 hours of screaming didn't sound very fun to me.

I am in the middle of working on my other posts telling you about the rest of our trip. There are a lot, so keep looking for them.