Zoo

I tell you, for some reason, we are not zoo people. It's not that we don't love animals or the outdoors... I just can't figure it out. After so many years, we give it another try and always walk away with the same conclusion - we're never coming back! Isn't that sad? Or maybe it's just the Phoenix Zoo. We do plan on visiting the San Diego Zoo soon so if that turns out to be a bust, then we'll know there's something wrong with us. Anyway, my mom and I took the boys to the zoo this morning and I'll just say it wasn't terrible because I don't have many highlights to share. :( I'll leave it at that.

But they sure did love their sno-cones!!

Just Working on the Car

 Jay was trying to fix a hinge on the trunk of his G-ride when Nate woke up from his nap. I brought him outside, but he turned around and ran back into the house, then back out again with his potty chair. He pushed it up to the trunk and climbed up to work on the car with Jay. I tell you, this kid is not lazy. He puts a lot of effort into a lot of things and never gets frustrated or impatient. I could definitely learn a thing or two from him. In fact, I am.

Family Fun!

Nana and Papa invited us to the park this morning. It was a beautiful day to be outside and enjoy the company of our family. The kids had a blast on all the rides and are eager to go back!!

Dirt Cups

 Noah brought his birthday treat into school a little early because school will be out for Spring Break during his birthday. He saw this recipe in my recipe box and was sold as soon as he saw the gummy worms.
*I apologize for the quality of my photos. I only use my iPhone so there is never any touching up of the photos and with these ones in particular... I wasn't planning on taking a pic of these until I pulled into the parking lot at school. These were taken in the backseat of the van. lol

Carrot Cake

So I have never been a fan of carrot cake until the beginning of this year. My friend ordered some for dessert when we were out and insisted that I give it a try. I liked it alright but really fell for the cream cheese frosting. I tell you, I am a creature of habit and rarely give anything a try that doesn't consist of mostly chocolate. Since my friend's baby shower was coming up, I decided to bake a trial batch of carrot cake cupcakes and served them to our bible study group. They were a hit - with them and me! I wasn't going to try them, but with all the positive feedback, I couldn't resist. They were delicious and decided to make them again for dessert when Tanj and Matt invited us over for dinner tonight. I didn't want to make cupcakes since they are so small and make so many, so I made them in ramekins so they were a little larger but still personal. You feel extra special when you have your own little creation in front of you that you don't have to share (unless you have kids!). Anyway, I was so happy with the way they turned out and even better, Tanj and Matt were ecstatic as well!

Crazy Kid

 Nate thinks he is so hilarious with these on. I think so too!

Potty Time!

 I haven't mentioned that NATE IS POTTY TRAINED!! Now, that is blog-worthy! He did such an amazing job learning. It took a whole day of wetting his big boy underwear for him to "get it" by the next day. Believe it or not, he even stays clean and dry at night. Noah was still wearing a pull-up at night until he was three. We do put him in a pull-up just in case, but sooner than later it'll be all underwear. Yay Nate! Big Boy!

Star Wars

 Our friends, Gabe and Ari, had a Star Wars birthday party today, and who better to play Darth Vader than Jay!?

Noah received his Jedi training certificate

Nate hitting the Death Star piñata

Noah's first flight - I mean kite

 It was the perfect day to pull out Noah's kite that he received LAST Easter! Yes, we kind of forgot about it. Oops! Anyway, we all enjoyed some good old-fashioned fun!

Cute

Just thought this was cute!

Auntie Anne's, anyone?

For those of you that may not have known, my first job at 14 was as a pretzel-maker at Auntie Anne's. My dad used to love picking me up if I had a closing shift especially because I could take any and all of the leftover pretzels home with me. One would think a pretzel or two would do the trick, but my dad insisted that none make their way into the trash can. There were nights when 20 pretzels would get bagged up and handed over to my dad. He was in heaven! In many ways, I married someone just like my dad (that's a great thing!). In this instance, I definitely married someone like my dad! Jay absolutely loves Auntie Anne's pretzels! So much that my mom will actually give him gift cards on special occasions and also save coupons that she may come across. 

I've seen the "make-at-home" pretzels packs at the grocery stores many times, but didn't take the plunge to make a purchase until Jay mentioned how great it would be to make them at home at the drop of a dime.

Anyway, today I flashed back to the late 90's and it was like riding a bike. I flipped that dough right into a couple dozen pretzels like no body's business.

 Seven minutes later, the next biggest pretzel fan in our family woke up from his nap just in time to sample both the salted pretzel as well as the cinnamon sugar.

Happy Birthday, 'Nen!

Another birthday for Jay! The big 3-5! Jay is a huge fan of lemon so of course, he requested a lemon cake. I made a lemon cake with lemon filling and cream cheese frosting. When I bake, I prefer a more decorative look, always using a fancy frosting tip and such, but I knew from the time I filled the center with the lemon curd, that it was not going to cooperate - thus, the "organic" look, if you will...
As I get back on track with my posting, I will add some of my creations for your viewing pleasure.

Picnic

Doing the same thing day after day gets a little boring for all of us, so more often than not, we are eating lunch outside of our kitchen. Most of the time we eat at the park, sometimes we eat at the patio table out back, a lot of times poolside at Mimi's house, and others we picnic on our small patch of grass out front - which is what they chose to do today.

Happy Birthday, Nana!

I look forward to celebrating every body's birthdays each year. Sometimes schedules can get in the way of getting to see everybody as often as we'd like, so it's a great excuse for all of us to get together and enjoy each other's company. This year, we celebrated Nana's special day at Cracker Barrel, and for dessert, we enjoyed angel food cake with strawberries. It was a nice time!
Happy Birthday, Nana! We hope you enjoyed your day! We love you!

Sneaky, Sneaky!!

 Any guesses as to what my dad is doing? One of his favorite things to do while visiting us...
Upon his arrival, he asks me every time what exactly we're trying to get rid of and he promises to do his best to clear it all out before he leaves. When he asks what we're trying to get rid of, he's only referring to candy, chocolate, chips, pop, ice cream, or anything that contains A LOT of sugar. Grammy keeps him pretty healthy back in Ohio (thank you, Pam!) so when they visit, he's like a feral animal searching for food.
This happens to be Paps in our pantry digging through Noah and Nate's leftover Halloween candy. As you can see, he's not just sampling one or two pieces and he also had no idea I was behind him taking these pictures. Otherwise, I bet his 5 minute scramble would have been a few minutes shorter. On many occasions, he's been known to power-slam (as my brother likes to call it) Dr Pepper in there as a secret hiding place. He's not just hiding from the kids, though I appreciate the gesture, but he is hiding from Pam and me also. Anytime we see him with a can of pop to his mouth, we ask, "Have you had any water today?" And most of the time, he is also running around with a smudge of chocolate around his mouth.

Please!?!?

Nate tries so hard to reach the pedal, but just barely can't reach. He begs Noah all the time to take him for a ride.

Noah and Nate brought Grammy and Grandpa to one of their favorite parks!

Not sure if you can see Grammy, but she is up there too.

Noah showing off his super-speed skills

Grammy and Nate

Fun at church!

Most Sundays involve playing in the basin full of bouncy balls at church. After service, all the kids scramble for their choice. Our boys love bouncing on these. Lucky for us, Grammy and Grandpa were here visiting so both boys got to bounce while I took a few pics.

Cruisin'