My Angel-kissed Boy is a Pre-Schooler!

Itching to get out.

The weather was finally starting to be really nice out and I just had to get up to the mountains. We had got on a short drive the day before and sat by a stream and ate sandwiches.

 So I sent kids off to school, and Dylan and I packed a backpack and looked for a little hike. We went up the Alpine loop as far as we could (the road was closed up top,) and parked.

 There was a short easy hike  that was perfect for the both of us. I was a little hesitant at first because I had no idea what kind of conditions (and critters) we would encounter, but it turned out just fine.

 He's never been on a hike and the only moutainous exposure he's had was with mom and dad at fishing holes and streams. SO this was a new adventure for him. I had to teach him to stay on the path and every little buzz, chirps, and rustling in the trees was "ok". Although I have to admit, i was waiting for that cougar or badger to come pouncing out of the folliage and consume us whole.

I was having to tell him to be brave. And then repeating it to myself in my mind. Luckily, we made it home safe and before brother was done with school. Definitely going back up!

Dylan lost a tooth. And for that to happen is really odd considering his age. It had been loose for a long time, but I never encouraged him to wiggle it out.

 I didn't know if it would cause problems coming out so early.

 But he came to me one day and asked me to pull it out. So I grabbed it and pulled. It popped and it was out. He was kind of taken back at the popping and he closed his mouth to tongue it and asked, "where's my tooth"? I opened my hand.

 He was happy but had a hole now to get used to. I thought the tooth looked weird. It was really long and had no blood.

Luckily, a new tooth is already growing in so I guess this kid is just a little ahead on the teeth thing.

Babble babble

One day I was talking to a friend and she asked me if I've ever messed up on a cake. I said, Yes..of course But nothing that I couldn't "fix". Skip up a few days later and I'm making a cake. Not the normal recipie that I usually use and I was trying to hurry so it didn't freeze enough. And THIS is what happened. The more I tried to fix it, the worse it got. It was just not frozen enough, or at all! This is when you (may or may not) curse a little, sigh really big and put it aside for little scavengers that (may or may not) live under the same roof, and then start cooking another one to freeze OVER NIGHT! End of the story....turned out MUCH MUCH MUCH better! You can see it here

 This was another cake. I took this picture because they are getting more flat and more straight. Something that excites me. AND....the fondant didn't tear! YAY!

I got a new phone for my birthday. A "myTouch". And I LOVE IT! I finally let go of my old one after 3 years and a shattered screen (hey. it still worked!) The games are pretty fantastic too. It's a race in the mornings between the little terrors on who can ask me first to play it. Usually I say no because I'M playing it! My favorite game....."Where's My Water?" Totally worth the $1 for the whole version!
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And while we're here....Let talk about Dylan. This kid is stuffed, chalk full of energy, curiosity, defiance, cuteness, and love.) But more energy than anything else. He's up before the sun. And down after I finally reside myself. And as of late, that's been pretty late. He LOVES talking to people and asking them all sorts of questions. LOVES being the center of attention and will perform as such. Can't sit still for the life of me. Church is a silent arm wrestle. Me wrestling him to sit, with my arms. (Maybe I should flex to see how big my muscles are!) He's sweet and loveable and cuddly (almost TOO much. Waking up in the night to a knee or an elbow or another head on my pillow, not something I enjoy much.) And then he can turn on a dime and be nasty. Throwing a tantrum that 99.9%  of the time, sends him to his room. He's loud too. I think this is payback because my mom always used to tell me I was loud. I didn't think it was a bad thing. And it's not really. It's just nerve wracking. And to an already tired, stressed, busy momma. It gets old REAL quick! He's a boy who is adventurous. And I have to find the patience to allow that. And I do. Sometimes.

 Ashton came up to me one morning and asked me, "does this look good"? I said, "heck yes! You look HOT!" He smiled and then got serious. "It feels weird". He's wearing his football jersey, which hangs down to his knees. Having it "tucked" in, yea, I would imagine it felt weird. So I took a picture of him so he could see how good he looked. He was smiling, really. He just has to act tough and serious in pictures. It worked because he went to school like this. During lunch break I had picked up Eli and got to get a burger. We went back to the school and parked in the parking lot) because the kids were out for recess. (I know! It's creepy and I could've sworn the duty-guard was eyeballing me the whole time I was parked there.) But Ashton was still wearing it like this. The minute he walked in the door after school, he yanked the jersey off and put something more comfortable on. Gotta hand it to him, the boys got perseverance. (As far as his looks go, that is. Actually...he's pretty good with all aspects of his life.)

 One other thing that I get to deal with. "Plugged ears". I swear, if talking to yourself wasnt looked down upon, I'd be more ok with it by now. But I'm not and I actually don't enjoy doing it. The cute side of this all. Listening to my son sing loud and off key, thinking no one can hear him.

 Monet. My sweet boy. So old. So skinny. So fragile. So sick. But Oh So cuddly. He relishes the moments I actually sit down long enough, in front of the heater, wearing my blue jeans. (Something about making my flabby legs tight enough for a firm place to lay. If I have anything else....he opts for the arm of the chair. But nonetheless near me. In front of the heater.

The little things in life

Or quite literally the little lifes. My own personal little "life" Dylan and I went to go see some of our favorite people who moved away before this little one arrived. We tricked them into accepting a dinner meal to be brought in, to get our foot in the door and be able to maul this precious pink package.

 Dylan had all sorts of questions on the drive there about babies and by the time we got there he knew everything there was to know and was prepared to educate the new parents. He also had one in his belly and it was a girl. (funny, he was "pregnant" a few months ago when they still lived close to us.)

 He found that little Madelynn has a super curl too. Her daddy insisted that she had, the laser eyes, super power, but Dylan thought that was silly. But thought it would be a good idea if she dressed up as a football player and played football with other little babies.

 His own super curl. (Notice the wound below his lips. Results of the previous post below.)

It really was fun to hold something pink and warm and sweet like this. ALMOST caused a craving of my own. But not quite.

Milestones

We went to Desert Industries (second hand store) to look for some pretty prints that jared makes frames for.

 And in search of some possible treasures, Dylan found a little bike w/out training wheels. To humor him, I set him on it and pushed him. To my complete surprise he actually peddled a few times and fell over (in my arms). So our search for a nice picture was abandoned and we left with a bike for Dylan. He was determined to learn how to ride a two wheeler. And if was there mentally, I was there to support him. Although I wonder if it had had training wheels, I would've taken them off to teach him. Probably not because I would use the cold as an excuse to wait till "next year". But luckily I didn't, I put my coat on and spent some backbending painful time teaching him. (It's kind of far to bend down that much for that long. Waaa waa waa. I know. Poor me).

So we tried two different times that day until he was sent crashing to the ground and scraping his lip and chin.

The next day resulted in this video.


It's the little milestones like this where the pride just bursts out of a parents chest. His grin was comparable to the one I had on my face.

Dylan's 4!

With Dylan, it seems the time has passed even quicker than all the others. Perhaps it's because he's the 'baby'. But...WOW...time is speeding up!

 He decided that he wanted a Spider Man party so I started two weeks before to plan some games. I picked two. I didn't want to complicate things. I DO have a limit.

They played 'Pin the spider on the web'. They loved it! And did pretty well.

 The second game was pretending to be Spider Man and shoot the bad guys with 'webs' (silly string). That was a HUGE hit (once they figured out how to press the button down to squirt the string with their little fingers.) They just wished that I had an endless supply of silly string for their disposal.

I served a light lunch of PB&J/Ham sandwiches with veggies and juice.

 Eli. The little stink.

 Not so little anymore. Running with the boys now!

The cake was pretty simple. But not really. I've come to love making cupcakes and made them for the party. The cake was for the family later on in the evening when all were home.

Dylan's birthday

*Note: I'm going through Labeling all my posts. And I came across this post that never got posted....over TWO YEARS ago when I typed it. So I'm posting it now. It's got stuff I wanted to remember.*


I haven't really had any "creative juices" flowing lately and I was at a loss for what to do with his cake. I wanted to do a super cute one like the one found on this post....BUT...I didn't.  Simple, obvious, and kind of a perfect canidate for cake wrecks. (and to think i want to try and make a wedding cake.)

Anyways, it still turned out and tasted good. *That's all that matters anyways.

Dylan loved being sung to all day! When grandma and grandpa Lewis called to sing he would light right up. He'd look at me with the "I can't believe they're singing the same song as you mom." And then join in and sing along. He and 'Eli-stomach' (that's his name as of right thissecond) were in the tub. I was washing them and singin' to Dylan. After I finished Eli kept singin' to him. "Happy to you, happy to you...Dylan".

Later that night we went fishing at an (empty) fishing hole with Uncle Coley. It was still fun and seeing the ducks were the highlight.

Dylan got a singing flash light, blocks, and a hunting video game (NOT my idea!!!)

The next morning he asked me, "Haaah day?" And I sung to him again. Same results as were expressed above.

Some things shouldn't come to an end, but they do.

Before they Rot

We finally cut the cord on the "big ol' pumpkin" and gave him a face. Somehow he became Eli's pumpkin and he choose a "goofy face". I think he looks rather cute! (The pumpkin too.)

 We had a late bloomer with this little watermelon and since the frost came and killed his life support, we took him in and gutted him. Then gave him some eyes. It was the least we could do after taking all that we did from him.

 The middle pumpkin, I believe was Dylan's. And the football....I'll give you one guess.

 Jade and Ash started this Halo pumpkin and I finished it. Mykael and Jade carved their pumpkins at their mom's a few days previous and I think Jade's pumpkin there looks A LOT like this one.

 But hey, if you've got a great idea the best thing to do is spread it. Especially to young influential minds like your little brothers.

Posers. And brotherly love.

Today is the day...I guess.

As soon as I changed Dylan's diaper this morning, he said he needed to "pee in toilet". I never object to that so off he ran. Nothing came out. So I put a diaper on him and he ran off to play. A while later he says he has to pee again and runs to the bathroom, rips his diaper off and I guess he peed because he came running back to tell me. (I was having to cook something) I praise him and he runs off to play....naked. A minute later he yells at me again and runs to the bathroom. At this point I'm figuring he's just playing so I don't give it another thought. He then comes running in yelling excititedly that his poop came out. I ran back to the bathroom, scared to find something unpleasant. Yup...he did, but no unpleasantness. I get him cleaned up and put "underwears" on. I'm not going to stop this one!!!!

Since then he has ran to the bathroom two more times. No accidents. (Fingers crossed!)

Since my camera broke, I feel like I've had nothting to blog about. But I'm going to sit down and bring you up to speed. Without pictures. My camera is in being fixed so I guess that's reason enough to post.

Ashton and his team has done so well with football. Up until this last saturday they had only lost one game. The game on saturday was a battle for the number one team to beat with playoffs. But they lost. Barely! 1:30 left to make a goal. 8 yards from the endzone....but the other team held them back. They boys played really well that day. They now have to continue winning until they face this team for the championships.

My big giant pumpkin is still connected to the vine. I'm not sure that it's growing anymore. But we're going to wait a little longer. Maybe at least until the vine dies. It weighs in at 71lbs. and measure 59in. around. Not huge, but not small either. The second largest pumpkin weighed in at 34lbs. That one is still definitely growing!

With canning and harvesting this year. I bottled: Tomatoes, Dilly beans, Salsa, and Pears. I still am waiting on my grapes to sweeten up to make jelly with. We have dried potatoes and apples. My next canning attempt will be applesauce.

In the last 3 months, Jared has lost 30 lbs. His method was exercise and smaller porportions. When Ash has his football practices (3times a week) Jared would just walk and run around the field for the 2 hours Ash would practice. I'm really proud of him. He also goes out on some nights with the kids and runs. It's fantastic for me, because he wears them out right before bed and makes nighttime routines that much smoother.

The road construction in front of my house is even worse than it was before. (I didn't think that possible) But the road has been since torn up and there's a lot of dirt ALL the time. And cars are now coming (after construction crews go home) and peel out in the dirt. Really bugs me! They are also leveling the lane where they want to extend the freeway lane and it's like THISCLOSE! It's less than 100 meters from my doorstep! With winter months coming up quick, I know that crews will work less, therefore prolonging it all. OR...if i'm lucky. Take 3 months off while a beautiful blanket of white covers up all the ugly.

Kid update: Mykael, I believe, has settled into junior high nicely. Parent teacher conferences showed that as well. Jaden is living up his last year of elementary and "ruling the school". Ashton incorporates football into EVERYTHING. School work, recess, cleaning the house, running with dad, and constantly tries to talk his little brothers into "playing" with him. Eli LOVES preschool. He got into the program they have at the school and his teacher adores him. I have to say his paintings are really cool! Dylan had a hard time adjusting to loosing Eli to school, but quickly got over it when he realized it was just him and I.

I feel like I need to say, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year now! So I'll just end it before I get any more cheesy.

Oh! and my Last Supper cross-stitch...I'm still working on the table cloth! (Once every few months!) So it doesn't look any different from the last picture I posted of it....forever ago. I was hoping to have it done by the same time I started it...November. Not going to happen. I'll just be more realistic and shoot for finishing it within 2 years!

Dylan is Three!

My baby turned three last week but we didn't celebrate until Sunday. (I was still making his cake "preps" and it wasn't done.) Yes, it is now a joke that you're not allowed to have a brithday until the cake is ready, in my house.

Bonnie and Randy came over and this year we were surprised by Uncle Coley as he was passing through on his way to Germany. I had made a yummy lasagna dinner because that's exactly what Dylan.....didn't want. (He ended up eating a bowl of cereal. I didn't care. It WAS his birthday after all.) 

Dylan got a "couple of trucks/cars" (I use that term loosely)! A scooter, that his siblings have put to use more than he has. And a couple shirts/sweaters.

As for his cake...I wanted to do a jungle theme with lots of different animals but the few that I did make took WAY too long so I just kept it at that. It still turned out, so I'm not complaining. AND because it did take so long, I did not attatch them to the cake because they'll look great on a shelf somewhere. *and yes, they are made out of fondant too.

I guess the zebra is the only one I took pics of in the process. Oh well. The others were roughly built the same way. Just different colors. And shapes. And well, Ok, they weren't the same. But you know what I mean.

I estimated the zebra has over 120 tiny little stripes on. TOOK. F.O.R.E.V.E.R!!!!! But totally worth it! I wish this little fat guy was real.

The lion, was the easiest. For the mane, all I used was a mini 5 petal flower cutter. Holed out the middle and sliced it between two petals. Stretching it out to make a scalloped strip. Then glued it on. *When I say "glue", it's a mixture of pieces of gum paste (similar to fondant, just more stretchy) and water. Swirl around till disolved. Use a paint brush to apply. Little bit goes A LONG way. It's SUPER sticky and perfect for attaching "props" to your cakes and arms to fat little bodies, like this.

Butt shot! ahahahaha Actually It's the tails. Turned out cute as well.

To lay fondant over rice crispies, You need a generous amount of frosting to help hide the bumpyness of the crispies. And something for the fondant to stick to.

For the Griaff "spots", I rolled out the brown fondant and then took my knife and cut a squiggly line down and then across to make the misshaped squares. The zebra stripes.... alternating squiggly triangles. And pointy strips. All different thicknesses. Just make sure they don't touch. There is a little bit of white between each black piece.

The making of my palm tree. I wrapped wire with fondant and cut and shaped and dried leaves. Used royal icing to stick together.I did have to hold it for a minute till I was sure it wouldn't drop. I would apply a leaf, go work on something else, come back, stick another leaf on, go back to something else....and so on. I didn't want the weight of all the leaves to make it fall. So patience is neccessary!!!

I wanted to incorporate water in some way, but didn't have the creativity (my mind was pretty fried at this point after the chaotic week I just had). So I just rolled little blue balls and randomly placed them around the middle. I like the accent color it adds to the cake.

Removal of the animals for the demolition of the cake. I have a picture of the lights out and the candles lit, and the yellow cirlcles with his name, were glowing with the flames behind it. Cool effect that I didn't plan.

Fist bumps and elbow bumps sealing the deal wish.

Our cake hater was even FINALLY able to have some because of the rice crispies. Now I know what to make for Randy's birthday! As for the others, they had to have a little of both!

Happy Birthday to my Baby!