Life in cell phone pics...

Like everyone else, life is BUSY! I haven't felt like I have had much time to update my blog, nor have I wanted to. December has seriously FLOWN by, I swear we just got back from Utah, but it has been 4 weeks since then. Our month has been full of sickness and all the normal holiday fun and traditions.

I was doing laundry and Oak was in helping me and she all of a sudden was in the dryer.

We have never let our kids sleep with us, but the last few months Mac will come in to our room in the middle of the night and want to be snuggled, I am usually too tired to get up and take him back to his room so I just let him come in our bed. Bad idea. Some night he does this 3 or 4 times after we have taken him back to his bed. Thankfully it isn't every night. But I don't mind it when he comes in the early morning when Hubs is getting ready for work and then he falls back asleep in our bed. I actually love that and find it really sweet!

Mac had his third cleaning at the Dentist. And he did better this time than the last two times. Although he did really good the last two times. He let them clean his teeth without and hesitation. Which is great, because his teeth were really stained and brown. Mac is usually a non-go-with-the-flow, uncooperative kid, so it surprised me. His hygienist is SO great with him. And he left with sparkly white teeth.

He had to miss his buddy's pirate birthday party because it was on a Sunday. But she saved a goody bag for him and he makes such a cute little pirate.

We have to be really careful about closing all doors in our house, because Oak has a keen sense to door left cracked open and knowing she isn't supposed to be in there. Mac is usually really great at closing the bathroom door because he know Oak will get in there. One day he forgot and Mac and I found her like this. She was so funny because she was all giggles and squeals about getting caught. She is so funny! Mac and I were laughing so hard.

Dinner and dessert at Costco. Daddy was working a long day and our power was out so we headed to Costco for errands and to waste time.

Oak loves the animal sound app on our iTouch (which is now not working anymore, since I dropped it in a cup of water. It recovered once, but died again, boo!)

She would lay like this or lay on her tummy and play on it. SO cute!

Mac got croup and Oak had a bad cough so we took a lazy, sick day and made a fort and watched movies in it all day. We had two, scheduled, 3 hour, power outages and this was the second day of it so when it got dark we got our lantern and continued to watch movies on the iPad (that thankfully daddy had left at home).

One day I hear Oak say "poopoo" and I turn around and she had tried to wrap a diaper around her bear. So I put the diaper on her bear the right way and then spent the entire day diapering her bear and then her taking it off and re-diapering her bear. We probably did this at least 30 times a day for about a week.

On Mac's birthday and he had fallen asleep on our way into town for his birthday fun! Cutie!!

Oak is getting quite girly lately in the fact that she loves purses and dolls and pushing strollers and putting on shoes. She will put a bag on her shoulder and wave and say "bye!"

They both had just gotten out of the bath and I left the room for a minute and came back to this. Mac has been so sweet with her lately and loves to rough house and wrestle and snuggle with her. THankfully she LOVES it too!

After two weeks worth of sickness in our house, we needed to get out and even though it was a cold day and 9am we decided to go on a walk and find some mud puddles and just wander around. I didn't put Oak in a stroller this time but let her wander too and she was in heaven. It was alot of fun! And it was a good excuse to have hot chocolate when we got home.

Oak and Mac were very spoiled by Oak's birth family for Christmas. This was Oak's gift. So cute right?!?!

My little diva! Oak loves anything you can put on. Her favorite being sunglasses and hats. She pretty much wears hats all day long every day.

She all of a sudden figured out how to climb up on the kitchen chairs. Next I am sure is the table but she hasn't tried that yet, thankfully!

THe funny thing is she can't figure out how to climb down from the chair. Not sure why since she gets down from the couch or the beds just fine. But since she is terrible at staying sitting on our snack bench I have started to put her at the table to eat her snack since she won't get down and wander around. I though she looked like such a big girl sitting at the table.

Our MAC is FOUR!

3 weeks old

1 year old

Two years old

3 years old

4 YEARS OLD

Favorite color: blue

Favorite  toy: trains

Favorite  fruit: applesause

Favorite  tv show/cartoon: word girl (we rarely watch this show because I can't stand it)

Favorite  movie: Thomas

Favorite  thing to eat for lunch: chicken and sauce (chicken nuggets and sweet & sour sauce)

Favorite  outfit:  pants (he's doesn't really have an opinion yet on clothes)

Favorite game :  chess

Favorite snack: brownies

Favorite animal:  spider

Favorite song:  I Am a Child of God

Favorite book: space books

Best friend: Jace & Athens

Favorite breakfast: Malt O Meal

Favorite thing to do outside:  ride my bike

Favorite drink:  water

Favorite holiday:  the holiday we get to spend together…halloween

What do you want to be when you grow up:  a missionary

Some other things Mac...

--He can write almost any number or letter on his own. You tell him which one and he can write it.

---He really does LOVE Malt O Meal (It's my favorite too). When I make it, he will ask me if he can finish my bowl off before either one of us is done eating. It makes me laugh every time.

---When he wants to tell us something he wants to do he will tell us and say "That's my deal".

---He takes his dishes to the sink without being asked.

---He loves all of his blankets and needs all 6 of them when he goes to bed. And he still chews on them when he is tired.

---He is a walking Encyclopedia. He will spout off random facts that he has learned all the time.

---He has the best memory. He seriously NEVER forgets anything.

---He can clean his room (when willing) with out much guidance now.

---He is really loves to rhyme or sound out the first letter to words.

---He loves to read and there is a constant pile of books on his nightstand, all over the floor by his bed and in his bed.

---He really likes doing mazes and is pretty good at them.

---He loves to wear hats, and when it is sunny he wants to wear his baseball cap to keep "to keep the sun out of my eyes and so I don't get sunburned".

---He loves Preschool.

---He hates church.

---His favorite word to say when he is mad is "stupid".

---Lately his behavior has consisted of getting mad when he doesn't get his way, and when he gets mad he gets mean, and then he purposely does things he knows he shouldn't. He does it all to get a reaction, and I have to try my very best to ignore it all, which is H.A.R.D.

---He can be the sweetest, loving little guy in between all those other moments.

---He is very inquisitive and wants to know the Who, What, When, Where and Why of everything.

---Shopping for his birthday and Christmas have been hard because he isn't really "into" anything right now. If we would let him he would be into Star Wars or Transformers or Harry Potter. But we feel he is a little young for those things still.

---His favorite toys are always the Happy Meal toys.

---He is obsessed with Dilly bars.

---He likes to help cook.

---He is still a terribly picky eater.

---He is really funny.

---He is really good at role playing if he can be the one in charge.

---In groups setting he wants to be the leader. (Hope we can teach him to be a good leader)

---He loves to play with older kids.

Recipe: Crisp and Creamy Baked Chicken

Here is another easy, SO yummy recipe! I usually have all the ingredients for this on hand too, so it is another easy one to make when I have no clue what to make. It also probably takes from start to finish about 40 minutes, possibly less.

Crisp and Creamy Baked Chicken:

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 pouch of Shake N Bake (I like the Italian or Ranch & Herb flavor)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup of milk
1-2 cups of cheddar cheese (when I have it I add monterey jack too)
And we also like to eat rice with this.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, grease pan and prepare chicken with the recipe on the Shake N Bake package. While chicken is cooking whisk together well the soup and milk and then grate cheese. When chicken is done evenly spread the soup/milk mixture all over the chicken then cover with cheese. Put back in oven for about 5 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly. When done serve over rice.

Sunday Gratitude...

I am grateful...

01.   for the miracle of adoption in my life.

02.  how adoption touches so many.

03.   for the beautiful young lady who changed our lives forever 4 years ago.

04.  for the funny, adorable, spunky, full of energy, red headed boy that was placed in my arms almost 4 years ago.

05.  for a warm, cozy home.

06.   that my iTouch is now working after I dropped in a cup of water this week.

07.   for my testimony of paying tithing and for the opportunity we have to teach our children the importance of it.

08.  for forts and movies on the iPad on a sick day and when the power goes out.

09.  for the Christmas cards we get in the mail. I LOVE Christmas cards.

10.  That Mac is on the mend after having croup again.

Beef Stroganoff Recipe

I don't have a picture, sorry. But I did want to share this recipe with you because it is easy, and I almost ALWAYS have the ingredients on hand and can make it in a pinch. It takes, start to finish, 30 minutes tops. I got it from my friend, but have made one tiny adjustment to the recipe since then. I think that this recipe is so good that I literally have to make myself stop eating it when I get full. It is really good for left overs too. And both my kids will eat it, which is always a plus.

Beef Stroganoff

1 pound of browned beef
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
3/4 of a can of water
1/4 cup of butter (half stick)
lots of onion powder (to taste)
1 cup of sour cream
rice or pasta (we like it with rice)

Brown your beef, drain and add back to large pan. (While I am browning beef I will get the rice started in the rice cooker).  Add the soup, water, butter and onion powder. Bring to a simmer and let simmer (stir occasionally) for about 10 to 15 minutes. Put on low and add sour cream. Mix well and keep on low. DO NOT BRING TO BOIL! The sour cream will curdle. When ready to eat put it on top of rice or pasta.

Enjoy!

Utah Trip Part 2

Thanksgiving day we went to my brother Rick's house for dinner. As you can tell there were alot of people. These are all of my sister-in-law's family. My brother built on this great room to his house a couple of years ago for this very reason. They love to host parties!

My brother's family sure knows how to party! They never have a party without a pinata! Mac and my beautiful niece getting ready to hit the pinata.

This was one tough pinata. I swear it was made of stone, it would not break!

The next morning, my nieces watched all the little ones while we went as a family to the Temple for my nephew to receive is endowments. It was amazing to be there with most of my family.

My brother Ryan (the one we stayed with) has a walk-in rain fall shower downstairs. Mac hates showers but we talked him into getting in. Him and Oak LOVED playing in it. Mac even would put his head in the shower a few times. I couldn't get either of them out because they loved it so much!

Later Friday night, Mac was sitting on our bed and said his tummy hurt. Hubs asked him if he needed to go potty (which is usually the case). Then all of a sudden a puked all over the bed. We took him out of the room to get him cleaned up and then he puked all over the hallway (thankfully wood floors). Hubs cleaned up the floor and I spent most of the evening and the next day washing all the bedding. On top of that I was not feeling very good and Oak's cold (snotty nose and cough that she came to Utah with) was getting worse because of the dry air. I was really hoping we would all be better before we headed home. And unfortunately it made it so we couldn't see one of our good friends that we haven't seen since we lived in Montana. I was pretty bummed.

One of the things I really wanted to do while we were in Utah was go see the lights at Temple square. Even though we were kindof sick, we braved it Saturday night, since it was the only time we could go. I was able to get my mom and my nieces and nephew to go with us and we took the TRAX. I am at this point not totally sure it was worth it. My kids were grumpy and cold, there were literally a million people there so it was hard to really enjoy, and it was really really cold. The kids did ok while being there but on the way home they were done with the whole adventure. But now I can say that I have been.

My nieces and nephew.

Trying to get warmed up in the visitor center.

I didn't realize that the circles on the doors could be lit from the inside. Cool!

Riding back home on the TRAX.

Love Mac's face in this.

And just some random pics from the trip.

All the kids and dogs were infringing on my brother's space. It was so funny!

Playing video games with cousins.

Hubs and I went to the store and my sister-in-law texted me this picture of my brother playing video games with Mac.

This was a daily occurrence when Mac  would try to eat his breakfast. Babies and dogs waiting for table scraps!

My brother would make "green" smoothies almost every morning. Mac loves them and had a mustache and uni brow going after drinking

We planned on leaving Sunday, but my brother Rick and his whole family were speaking in their Ward, so we stayed long enough to go to that and left right after Sacrament meeting. They did an awesome job (well what I could hear while taking care of my noisey kids.)

I had to get a pic of Oak with my nephew before he leaves on his mission.

Oak and my adorable niece!

Our trip home was another long one and thankfully uneventful. Once again it was our plan to just drive through the night. But Mac does not do well sleeping at night in a car seat and he was having a hard time. At midnight we hit Pendleton and I begged my hubby and dad to stop and let us get a hotel. We got up early the next morning and were to my parents house my noon.

We were so glad to be almost home. We then had to return the rental van, repack all of our stuff into our car and then drive the hour and fifteen minutes to our house. And literally when we got home, both of our kids had had it, they were done! And so was I!

Sunday Gratitude...

I am grateful...

01.   for the photo above!! everyone is looking and smiling, I love it!!

02.  that we made it home from our Utah trip safely.

03.  for the tradition of going and cutting down our Christmas tree ( I am NEVER going fake!!)

04.   to be a Primary teacher. My favorite calling!

05.   for Christmas music and how it keeps the tv off more and makes me more motivated to get things done or play with my kids.

06.   that we are constantly blessed by having open adoptions with both of our children's birth families.

07.   that four years ago, we were anticipating the arrival of the sweet baby boy that would finally make us parents.

08.   for already seeing the Lord's hand in our 3rd journey to adopt.

09.   for the beautiful, perfectly-imperfect decorated Christmas tree that is illuminating our home and making it smell oh so good!

10.   to not have alot on my calendar this next week!