Nine Years

Nine years ago, I said yes to a crazy guy who thought we'd have a great life together. Boy, was he wrong!!! Kidding, of course. We have a really great life together. I've been reflecting more than I ever have before. We were teasing the other night about what we lovingly call "the single years," as in, the years before kids. Brandon called them the good years the other day, and while it was different, it definitely wasn't better. Yes, we could go out to eat whenever we wanted, we slept through church once, we slept all night every night, but there is a depth to our relationship now there wasn't before.

The good and the bad, ups and downs, laughter and tears, have made us get to know each other. Even the ugly parts that only your parents know about, and maybe not even them. Those are the things that have kept us together.

Sometimes it feels like it has been a long, winding road, and then other days it feels like last week I was curling my hair to pick him up from the airport the day he got home from his mission. I'm so glad I still get that excited feeling when he comes home. I love my husband more than I could have ever thought possible, and I can't imagine our life will get better, but somehow I know it will.

And we lived happily ever after.

O Christmas Tree

Jonah was admiring the tree the other day. Of course he couldn't just stand right next to it and look, he had to climb up on the trunks to look! (I tried to take it without the flash...)
As soon as he noticed me with the camera, the grin came out. He has figured out when someone gets the camera, you smile and say cheese. He can't quite say "cheese" so he says "eeee!" Then, of course, you run to mom to see the picture.
On another cute but random note, I was out checking the chickens this morning, and this is what Hyrum came wondering through the yard in.

The Dora backpack was his Donatello bag. Don't you know anything purple belongs to Donatello? He's very much to comedy relief here.

The other day he and Sterling came in to ask me a few questions about a map they were looking at. It was a big world map and they found Washington. For some reason, the makers of this map found that Walla Walla was an important city in Washington to highlight, who knows why, and Sterling was telling me how there is a state called Walla Walla. I explained that it is a city and it is even in Washington! Hyrum, in his cutest Hyrum I-can't-quite-pronounce-w-and-r voice, asked, "Mom, when can we go to Wawa Wawa?"

I just about died.

Lots of nothing

I'm too tired to post much today, even though I feel like I need to do something. I have a few things waiting in the queue, like pics from the craft fair, and Christmas decorating, but right now I have a question.

How can kids be up sick half the night and then be their normal, boisterous, rambunctious selves the next morning??? Hyrum was up with a stomach bug Sunday night from about 1am till 8am, and then Jonah was up last night for about the same amount of time with the same thing. Could I have a little bit of that resilience? Please? I'm pretty tired...

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!!!