A Guided Elk Hunt

Chris's Homemade Birthday Part 2 & 37/52

No birthday would be complete without our Happy Birthday decoration across the archway!
I will continue to use this decoration for all of my boys birthday parties. :)

I thought I better document my cocoa powder incident before I hopped in the shower. It was a busy morning of cooking & cleaning yesterday, but it was all worth it. We had a lovely birthday dinner for Chris & special company to share it with.

Also I am now 25 weeks pregnant. Can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going...

I found this olive cheese bread recipe in the Pioneer Woman's cookbook too. It was yummy & went perfectly with turkey soup.

Homemade turkey soup for dinner...

It has become a tradition to have turkey soup for Daddy's birthday.

It was so special to have Monte & Poppy here to share in Daddy's birthday party.

No my husband is not 213. I decided to be creative and use the candles I had.

1 + 2 = 3 right?

He is 33.

The boys helping Dad blow out his candles.
We had to light the candles twice because it was so much fun.

Chris's Homemade Birthday Day Part 1

After we said an early morning "Happy Birthday" to Daddy, the boys and I started making homemade pancakes.





We had to make sure our griddle was hot.

Yum Yum. Chris said these were the best pancakes he had ever eaten. I used the recipe from the Pioneer Woman's cookbook.

Mac & McQueen were also invited to breakfast. The boys seem to be going through a phase right now & Mater, McQueen & Mac are the coolest.

The birthday boy enjoying his homemade pancake.

I had to make a second batch because my hungry boys wanted more. Now I know to just double the recipe from the beginning.

Then I started to make the homemade turkey soup & the homemade chocolate sheet cake & the homemade olive cheese bread.

Just a note: When opening cocoa powder be sure to not just rip the aluminum cover off of the can. I inhaled cocoa powder & ended up getting it all over my face, shirt and arms. Yikes I was not expecting such a cocoa powder explosion when I opened the can!

My stomach covered in cocoa powder.

Yes my kitchen was a mess after making all of these homemade things!

But this was the reward for all of the dirty dishes & messy countertops.

And if I ever think that I never accomplish anything in a day I just need to look at this post. :)

So then I started on round two after my initial breakfast & sheet cake mess was cleaned up.

I started chopping the veges fro the turkey soup & the olive cheese bread.
I stuck all of my veges in the crockpot to slow cook all day & just put my olive cheese bread topping in the fridge to save until right before supper.

Once again I washed my dishes...(my dishwasher is broken right now!)

Chris's homemade scrapbook page from me. I dearly love this rancher!

Chris ended up cooking our homemade steak sandwiches for lunch.

After lunch some special company stopped by. We decided to have some cake before they left.

Little did I know they would soon be back to stay the night because of the weather we were having yesterday!

Favorite Memories 2009

I went through some of my past pictures & included them on 1 LO. I know I will appreciate this LO more in the years to come because it offers a glimpse of the year we had in 2009!
I can't believe that it is almost 2010!
There will be 1 major change for us...a new baby in March.
Next year I will have 3 little boys in my favorite memories LO for 2010.

A Few things to not forget!

Guess whose picture goes in the blank spot wearing the same outfit his brother's did when they were tiny newborns?

I just wanted to remember how tiny this outfit really is...I can't believe my boys were that size at one time!

I've been sorting and organizing baby clothes this week & it is the dreaded time to pull out the maternity clothes. :)

Notice Hazy's little toes in the top of the picture. He was keeping a close eye on his baby that mom was using for the picture.

A Fun Inside Project! We've been doing it alot.

Fischer informed Chris and I that we were Mr. & Mrs. Mallard from the book Make Way for Ducklings last night.

He also wondered if "ducks like cottage cheese?" hmmmm

I'm not sure!

Hazen informs us that he "rode in tractor." He loves to tell us every chance he gets.

Remember when I titled my post a couple of posts ago The Potty Training Chronicles...it is because I had sneaking suspicion that it would turn into that. Hazen is now back to diapers, and still going pee in the potty whenever Mom reminds him to go. He just does not go without being reminded, and continues to hide whenever he has to go poo. Does this sound familiar to anyone else?

The other day I made a homemade pizza & then became distracted downstairs cleaning. When I came back up my timer had been going off for awhile and the topping was a bit black. Hazy could see my disappointment & then I felt two little arms around my leg & heard a little voice say "sorry Mom." I love to see my boys show tenderness & become aware of others feelings!

I'm making homemade pizza again tonight to have a little mini celebration for Chris's birthday which is on Wednesday of next week. My sister and her boyfriend Chris (yes he has the same name as my husband) are coming over and his birthday is on Sunday. It seems a little funny that they both have the same name & almost the same birthday!

I plan to make the Pioneer Woman's chocolate sheet cake for Chris on his actual birthday. We just wanted to celebrate both birthdays together tonight. It should be fun.

I can't believe my hubby is almost 33. :)

One more machine page...

Well, I found I few more pictures I wanted to include. I thought why not make another page. Now I have 4 pages made for my 4 year old.

36/52 A Little Bit of Culture & Can't see my feet anymore & Painting

Fish took this picture of me today. I decided to wash our bedroom walls and do a little touch up. Luckily, no paint was spilled. I was sort of holding my breath with a 3 yr old and 2 yr old helping.



I took this picture yesterday. Hmmm
I think the baby is growing by leaps and bounds right now. I won't be seeing my feet for awhile.

I went to a concert in town on Saturday. They were called Colcannon. It was so nice to meet my dear friend Jen, and Chris kept the boys. A little bit of culture for this rancher's wife. :)

Fischer's almost 4

I will have this printed & ready for his party. It is less then a month away. :)

Fischer Lee is almost 4! A Machine Birthday is coming up...

Fischer wants a machine birthday this year. I went back through all of our old pictures & found a bunch of Fish riding in all sorts of different machines. I'm going to make a page about it! Hope to post it sometime today!
I can't believe that Fish is almost 4 years old. That just sounds so old.

Love this man...

Growth & Change

I can't believe how much these two have changed. It is not always obvious when I am around them all the time. It was good for me to go through some pictures this afternoon as they were napping. I see that our years with them are going fast. They are growing & changing every day.
Sometimes I need little reminders like this when I have had a long day & my patience is not what it should be.

35/52 The Potty Training Chronicles

I had another ultrasound this week to make sure everything looked normal. It did, and we were able to see lots of neat photos of baby's face with the 3D ultrasound.

We started potty training Hazy J on Dec 7. Only underwear throughout the day. I still put a diaper on him during naptime & bedtime. Hazen is 2 years 4 months, and I am hoping to have him completely potty trained before baby #3 arrives.

Precious Everyday Life at our House

I think this little boy has a bright future ahead of him.





I am definitely the mom of little boys.

Enjoying goldfish in a cup by the fire on their favorite seat in the house...the black bean bag!

Helping Mom cook homemade pizza! It has become a special time for all of us. The boys help me roll out the dough, and choose which toppings to use.

Playing "Piggy Snout!" If you suck in on a sippee cup lid without the bottom attached it sounds just like a pig!

Hazy wearing Mom's bogs.