Mason has decided that he wants a baby girl and I'm just the Mom to provide this baby.  He even climbed into my lap and hugged my belly.  He has this idea that the babies stay in the Mommy's tummy for years and years until it is time to come out.  I told him if we had another baby that he would either have to give up his room or share it with a new baby.  He tells me that the baby will sleep in the living room.  I told him the baby couldn't sleep in the living room, and he says that's where she has to sleep because that's where the rocking chair is.  I then explain to him that we might not have any more babies and he insists that we are going to and when am I going to get her out of my tummy.  I tried to remind him that he didn't want any more babies just a month ago, and that he was my baby, but he just rolled his eyes at me and told me that he is big now and we need a new baby.  Kids and their logic.
I told Jamie this story when he got home from work last night and he just gave me the evil eye.  I think that he thinks that I planted this story about us trying to get pregnant and having a new baby in our 4-year-old.  I have to say a big resounding NO to that.  You just have to take it for the innocent story that it really is and to realize that sometimes our babies don't grow only in our bellies but in our hearts.

Melt in Your Mouth Pumpkin Bread

I'm just about to throw in two pans of this bread and realized I haven't added this recipe here yet.  This bread is delicious and it doesn't get much easier than this!  The recipe doesn't call for the brown sugar, but because I love brown sugar and butterscotch I add it.  If you don't want to use brown sugar just add an extra 1/4C of white sugar.  Mason is currently licking his reward for helping me mix it all up.

2/3 C oil
2 eggs
1 C pumpkin
1C flour
3/4 C sugar
1/4 C brown sugar
1 (3.5 oz) box of pudding (I suggest coconut, butterscotch, vanilla, or cheese cake)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix oil, eggs, and pumpkin together and then add the rest of the ingredients.
Bake in 9x5x3 greased loaf pan in 325* oven for 1 hour.

Mason and Jamison building bridges with pillows












Trae playing his DS












Vampire Mas and Mojo.  This was right before he was
caught biting Mojo, trying to turn him vampire too. 












I have realized that I really suck at getting up that little bit early and working out, so new plan this week to work out during the day.  One day down, a million and one to go.  In shape here we come! Of course, with all the wii the kids and I have been playing my arms might fall off before I get a chance to work out.  We have had so much fun though and I'll almost miss them when they go back to school tomorrow.  Mason is starting to become real competition to all of us now.
Found out last week that one of my cousins is pregnant.  I'm so excited for her and really hope she gets a girl.  What is it with all of us getting boys?  Our family is building their own army or something.  I decided that I'm going to go move in with her or my brother, or maybe I'll jump back and forth between their houses so I can get my baby fix in.  Brett and Cynthia find out what they are having 1 week from today.  I'm so very excited for them all.
I was just sitting here thinking of Mason the other night.  He came in my room around 2AM and whispered in my face "Mom, did I wake you up?"   I asked him "When?" and he said "When I was going potty. Okay, I love you and your my bestest friend." and he goes back to bed.  I got up and tucked him in again, but wanted to remind you all that he is just adorable!
My quote for the week is "Were it not for hope the heart would break."

Lazy Sunday night watching t.v. with our boys












Mason doing a handstand

Brother is now involved and it's time to play: Hands up! Stands up!

So, I could probably bore you all day with pictures of my boys.  I have a few of them with huge orange slices in their mouths.  They were so lazy this weekend.  They hung around the house bouncing from one activity to the next.  They blew up the fire truck tent and played nerf war for most of the day Sunday... after Mas and Jamison were done with their handstands that is.  Those two are my little gymnasts.  Poor Trae got the short end of the stick in that area.  He was able to ride a two wheel bike when he was 3 (Jamison was 5 and Mas still refuses to ride without training wheels), but couldn't contort his body to do a cartwheel to save his life.  I remember him tearing down the driveway in Midvale on his tricycle at age 2 and taking the sharp turn onto the sidewalk on two wheels.  Scare the living daylights out of all of us watching him, but he always excelled at that kind of thing.
I started my exercising routine yesterday.  I'm to get up when Jamie leaves to work and start moving on the treadmill.  The only problem is that I already killed the routing by not getting up this morning.  I really, really dislike migraines.  Luckily, I caught it before it was too bad, but I always end up with a lingering vibrating pain in my head.  Maybe later I'll be able to walk a bit. 
I'm also thinking maybe I need a new project.  I saw some really cute coffee themed material at the fabric store a few weeks ago and maybe I'll treat myself with it.  I could also sew some curtains for my room, but I'm not sure the basic curtain will do in here.  Trae and Jamison's curtains turned out so stinking cute though.  Or I could wait until Brett and Cynthia find out if they are having a boy or a girl (two whole weeks away!  UGH)  Will have to think about this....
I'm starting to feel like no news is not good news.  Maybe they just don't realize how much our hearts are already invested, but I guess we'll just have to hold onto those heart strings and hope beyond hope that things will start happening.

New Year's Eve

Kara and I on New Year's Eve

















I forgot to take pictures, but here is one off of my phone of Mason.  I got the kids confetti poppers and Mason absolutely loved them.  Even after they were all popped, he would pick up the confetti pieces and throw them into the air again. 

I can't believe that 2009 is over.  It seems time goes so fast, except right now, right now it is going so dang slow.  I'm so ready for this month to be over already.  I just need a little glimpse into the year to come to get me through this next month and I'll be good.  Still thinking positive and hoping against hope that things will go as I have dreamed.
We had such a great time on New Year's Eve.  All the kids were on their best behavior and had such a great time.  Jamie and I laughed when Trae described to us how cute, innocent Kelsey would tug on his hair when he didn't buy or do what she wanted on the computer game they were all playing.  It was either that or Jaeda and Kelsey would chant until his ears would ring and he would give in to them.  They are teaching him early!  Haha!
The kids popped confetti poppers at midnight and us adults kissed ;)  It was truly one of the best New Year's Eves we have ever had.  I hope all of you feel the same way about yours.  I hope that this is a sign of how the new year is going to play out.

Peanut Butter Cookies

I have been on the search for the peanut butter cookie recipe that I used for the Judy Family Party last month and I'm not sure that I found it, but maybe someone could make them for me and let me know?  ;)  My Aunt Susan begged me to get her the recipe and she is one person that I would do anything for.  So if she wants a recipe, she gets a recipe.  Now, hopefully, this is the right one.  I'm 99.9% sure that it is.  Enjoy! 

2 C butter
1 C peanut butter
1 C sugar
1 C brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 C flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Cream together the butter, sugars, and peanut butter.
Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
Mix dry ingredients and add slowly (or if you are like me... stop the mixer, add dry ingredients and mix slowly so the flour doesn't coat your kitchen.) 
Roll into balls and then roll into sugar.
Place on cookie sheet (do not mash with fork) and bake in 350* oven for 11-13 minutes.

*Now to get the full effect of the cookies I made for the party, you should place an unwrapped Hershey Kiss in the center of each cookie immediately after taking out of the oven.  YUM!

Christmas Pictures

The boys and their new computer! You can actually turn it on now and not have to wait 25 minutes for it to warm up! Yayee! Thank you to all who put money in for this awesome gift!



















The screamed over gift from Brandon, Shannon, Cassidy and Connor!













Nerf War! We had such a fun time with these Christmas day.













Brett and Cynthia still trying to put Jamison's together.













I know it seems that I've been a slacker, but really I've been waiting to get my camera back from my parent's house. By Christmas Day eve I was running on fumes and am surprised I was able to make it home, pop popcorn, and get a movie set up for the boys before passing out... It was only 8PM!
I was pleasantly surprised when the boys woke us up at 7:30 Christmas morning. Shortly following the wake-up call, Jamie got his own call from work. Bummer! Jamie stayed to watch the boys open Christmas presents and I can't say we rushed it, but we could definitely feel the pressure that he needed to leave us shortly.
I made my yummy butterscotch rolls, but sadly they didn't turn out so yummy this year. I don't know what I was thinking, but they were rising too quickly so I threw them out into the garage to slow down the process. It worked, but it also ruined the yeast. They refused to bake properly and ended up being burnt because I couldn't get the middles baked.
Wess and Mary made their Christmas morning visit. I love them coming over and visiting. It gives us that little bit of time of not having to rush out anywhere and enjoy our morning. We showed off our Christmas present from them to them. What can I say, I'm in love with my new freezer. No more climbing into the freezer and trying to dig something out, not knowing if there is any more of that something left.
Luckily Jamie was only gone for a 3hr call and we were able to scoot on over to my family's house. All in all the boys had a wonderful Christmas and were spoiled rotten again, even though we had all vowed that that would never happen again. ah! Such is Christmas when you have kids!

The boys during the last big snow storm.

My best friend and I... also known as my husband

















It's been so long since I posted last, but I wasn't sure what to post. My mind is focused on one thing and one thing only, and not much else is getting past that thought. My quote for the month and the next few ahead is this: "When we think of failure; Failure will be ours. If we remain undecided; Nothing will ever change. All we need to do is want to achieve something great, and then simply do it. Never think of failure. For what we think, will come about."
We had our Judy Family Party this past weekend. There was an element missing though. My Aunt Susan and I talked and both agree that that element was Stacey. Her outrageous flare for getting what she wanted during our gift exchange allowed the rest of us to play off of her. We thought playing in memory of her would be a fun idea, but it just wasn't the same. I miss her so much! It might be time to start searching for a new game to play. 
I have so much to do to prepare for Christmas. Anyone want to come clean my house and finish my laundry while I take a nap? (The chorus of coughing from the boys the entire night last night, has stolen the little energy I would have had left this morning.) Oh and if you have time I welcome you to finish my Christmas shopping. The cookie baking and decorating I will happily keep for myself and what help I can squeeze out of my boys.

Trae participated in the Science Fair this year. He and his Dad worked so hard putting together his DC Relay experiment. I think his Dad was more disappointed that he didn't make it to finals than he was!














Mason the destruct-or . He is prepared for any enemy he meets.




















I have been swamped this week trying to put together a family Christmas party, working, being a Mom, housekeeper, etc. I'm so excited for Christmas, but very unprepared. I had good intentions to be all ready a few weeks before Christmas (which would be yesterday), but I'm not even close to being ready. Oh well, should have a grand time with all the other procrastinators on Christmas Eve. Haha!
I was riding in the car the other day with my boys (I was heading to a Dance Explosion Reunion... it was amazing to see everyone again!) taking them to my parents house for a visit. They were talking about ages and comparing how old they would be at different times in the future. I overhear Jamison tell Mason "You don't want to turn 8. Eight is such a paining age. Eight is when my back started paining me and my legs starting paining me. Yep, eight is a painful age." I just couldn't hold back the laughter. If he only knew what was to come! haha!
Well, back to the DVD drawing board I go. Someone closed out the program I was working on without saving my project. Oh well, such is the life of a busy Mom.

Trae, Nana, Jamison, and Mason on Thanksgiving morning

Great Uncle Mike, Mason, and Aunt Cynthia

Jamison playing catch with Uncle Brett

Trae golfing in the little snow we had

Jamison, Great Grandma, Trae, and Mason

Jamie and Brett couldn't stay away from their game

"I got my flipflops that I left here all summer and my toysrus ads... I'm ready to call it a night."

Another amazing Thanksgiving has come and gone. Every year that we are able to celebrate with my Grandma is a great year. I absolutely love her humor and beautiful spirit. We are so lucky to still have her with us and that my Uncle Mike is so willing and able to help her.

I had 5 days off of work and I can say that I didn't realize how much I needed a break until I had one. I loved just hanging out with the kids and husband, watching movies, eating homemade caramel popcorn. These are the life moments that I hang on to and love to look back on.

Loosemeat Sandwich (including 40 minute bun recipe)

So one of my mother's favorite meals is sloppy joes, my least favorite meal is sloppy joes. Guess who won that war? Okay, so it might have been close to a tie, but maybe I pulled a little ahead after she "forced" me to eat it and I threw it all back up across her kitchen table. Yep, what memories. haha! My poor mother.
My children and husband love the sloppy joe, but I think I have only brought myself to make them once. We have finally came to an agreement and I am willing to make them this tasty little sandwich.

Loosemeat Sandwich

1 lb ground beef or ground sirloin
2 tsp salt
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbsp yellow mustard
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp sugar
water

Salt bottom of skillet. Brown ground beef and start crumbling it with the back of a wooden spoon. You want the meat to end up being cooked into small crumbles.
Add chopped onion while browning meat.
When meat is browned, add mustard, vinegar, and sugar.
Add enough water to barely cover meat in pan.
Simmer until water is cooked out (about 15-20 minutes)
Serve on rolls/buns with mustard and pickles.

40 Minute Hamburger Buns

2 Tbsp active dry yeast
1 C warm water, plus
2 Tbsp warm water
1/3 C oil
1/4 C sugar
1 egg
1 tsp salt
3-3 1/2 C flour

In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.
Add oil and sugar and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
Add egg, salt, and flour to form a soft dough.
Kneed on a floured surface for 3-5 minutes until dough is smooth.
Divide into 12 pieces and roll into balls.
Place on greased pan, cover, and let rest for 10 minutes.
Bake at 425* for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Sorry, it's a bit early for Christmas decor, but I couldn't find a Thanksgiving template I liked. Of course, some of that might be due to the fact that I have zero time to really give the new template thing a good search.