Snowy/Sick Day

Today we're playing hookie. Brandon is down and out with some sort of crud and Jonah woke up pretty stuffed up, so no church for us. Now, what exactly do you do on a Sunday when mom and dad have banned video games and most TV? That's a tough one, but if your mom is nice, maybe she'll build you a fort in the front room!!

(And take a picture with a camera she just got out of the car. Darn the foggy lens!!)

And if you're really lucky, she'll make a cake with the Never-Fail Frosting from saucysprinkles.com (her favorite place).

Of course, little boys must, must, must watch in wonder as the flakes start to fall. If you're lucky, you can catch one!

As the evening wears on, it's always nice to snuggle up in a cozy chair with a good book. (OK, this wasn't today, but it works.)

And maybe, just maybe, your mom will snuggle with all of you and read a book or two.

Halloween Replay

So, I had to make my kids dress up today in their costumes so I could take pictures. Brandon and I were in Florida over the weekend, so I missed out on all the festivities!! But I had to have pictures for our posterity, right?

Sterling had to be Batman this year. Apparently Batman was a hot costume, so he had many others to help him conquer evil.

Jonah got the hand-me-down costume I made for Sterling five years ago. Wow, that's crazy to think about!! But he sure makes a cute lion, if I do say so myself.

Hyrum was adamant about being a Ninja Turtle. This was fun to make and he has worn it every day since it was completed. That's what I love about making costumes. They wear them over and over. It's a labor of love.

And our pumpkins. Sterling wanted a scary faced one, and Hyrum wanted... can you guess? A Ninja Turtle. This is his mom's best Jack-O-Lantern Michaelangelo. He had a major melt-down about it the night it was down, but after a good nights sleep, he tried to carry it around the house and showed it to everyone who came to the door. I guess I didn't do too bad. And it's a good thing Grandma was here to help Sterling!!

And Grandma and Grandpa got to have all the Halloween fun with the kids. I'm sure they are grateful we're home so they can rest. My mom said she forgot what it was like to go to the store with three kids. Now they want to take the kids more often so I can get things done! Awesome!! I think she also forgot that as a mom with kids you just make it work and it's really not that bad. Or I've just lost my mind. That's a very distinct possibility...

A recipe to share

Uh, so I admit that I failed at my own recipe sharing idea. Having that many recipes to share turned out to be hard!! Especially recipes that I like and actually have measurements for...

That being said, I do have one I dug out of my box and made for dinner the other day.

Italian Meatballs

1/4 cup Italian dressing

1 pound 90 percent lean ground beef.

1 egg, lightly beaten.

3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs.

1/4 cup fat-free milk.

3 tablespoons finely chopped onion.

1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic.

1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves.

1 teaspoon salt.

1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Shredded Parmesan cheese (optional)

In a large bowl, combine ground beef, egg, Italian bread crumbs, milk, onion, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper; mix lightly but thoroughly.

Shape mixture into 20 meatballs, about 1-1/2 inches in diameter.

Arrange on broiler pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Drizzle half of dressing on meatballs.

Broil 3-4 inches from heat until meatballs are cooked through (160 degrees), about 10 minutes, turning once and brushing with remaining dressing.

I got this recipe out of the Syracuse newspaper a few years ago. And when I say "a few," you all know that it's longer than that but I'm so not old enough to say how long ago it really was.

And speaking of denying my age, I got into my beast of a car the other day (which I really love, by the way) and looked behind me at all the carseats. I totally felt like there was no way I was old enough to have a vehicle full of car seats. Do you know what I mean?

Pumpkin Patch

I love our local pumpkin patch. It reminds of one we visited in Syracuse once. Lots of fun things to do and totally free!! (Except the pumpkins.) There's a little corn maze that you don't need a map for, plenty of pumpkins to choose from, farm equipment to check out, and my boys' favorite, the hay pile. A few pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Jonah was so excited about the pumpkins. He loved them very much!

Here's a lovely shot of all the boys at the start the corn maze. We have plenty of shots at this spot where one of them is looking where he should be. All together? Fat chance!

The wagon! Jonah was sooooo excited about the wagon. He did not want to get out.

And finally, in the hay pile. Jonah just sat while Sterling and Hyrum jumped in around him. He laughed and laughed! They were funny doing their flips and pretending to slip off the edge.

As a side note, Brandon noticed the other day that it had been a while since I've blogged. Yep. That's true, and probably not going to change. This whole teaching my kids thing is keeping me pretty busy!!!

Sionara Facebook!

I'm sorry to announce that Facebook and I have come to irreconcilable differences and will therefore be ending our relationship. Please pass any condolences on to FB. I'm positive heshe needs it more than I.

School Daze

We're getting into the groove of school here. I figured it would be a big challenge, and that is proving to be true.

But there are cute smiles and lots of hugs and kisses. (Hyrum is making letters out of Lincoln Logs. Only straight letters please.)
The boys truly are pretty proud of their accomplishments. (We still don't have our curriculum books yet, so we're working out of two first grade workbooks I'd picked up to review and get into the swing of things.)
And fortunately, I only have to keep Jonah entertained with something for about an hour and then he goes down for a nap. It's amazing what can keep a one-year-old's attention! And when he's done, he throws it all on the floor. That's obviously the best part.

The only problem is, last week I forgot to do laundry. My own schedule needs some rearranging.

Bragging on me!

Look what I made!!

I know you probably could have done it too, but I'm pretty pleased that I could do it!! It's for a missionary night Brandon is hosting at our ward for the youth. He wanted them all to have their own invitation for it with missionary tags. I couldn't find a clipart I really liked, so my trusty Microsoft Publisher came to the rescue!

I'm happy to share, or pass along the easy-peasy instructions. If you are handy with Publisher, you could make them super quick.

Anyway, there will be some more bragging on me coming soon as I finish projects for the craft fair. Please don't mind my swelling head.