Sydneys music program...solo time!!

                                      So proud of my little girl!  She was so nervous!

 

IF I HAD A HAMMER....This song reminds me of my Dad...he used to always sing this and I loved it!

This is the "Tonights the

Night" revised to "Todays the Day" for their ISAT testing week.  

Easter in WA for 2 days!

So we decided very last minute that we would drive up to Washington Friday night and spend Easter weekend with Mom and Dad and surprise Steves parents. Steve had the weekend off and was able to get Monday off too so we could drive back that day. It was a great weekend! We loved seeing most of our family but missed the ones we didnt get to see. We had fun dyeing eggs, hunting for them and finding easter baskets and eating TONS of sweets the whole weekend. I even snuck in a game of What if with Mom, Dad, Lairen and Steve! Leif, Rachel, Kiestin, Wes, Andrea and Jeremy get ready for a good game in Disneyland!! ;)

Over Spring break we decided to surprise the kids with a trampoline. We figured it would be a good way to get there energy out and both Steve and I grew up with a trampoline and had tons of fun memories from them. I can think of so many things we did on our! Dance parties, Sleep overs, basketball dunk competions, water fights, Wrestling, and having fun! The kids love it, but man does having kids take a toll on your body! It wouldnt be a bad idea to slap some depends next time I decide to jump like crazy!!

 

Reesie Roo turns 2

I cant believe my little Reese is 2 already! She is getting so big. She is talking more and more everyday and her personality is really coming out. The only part of her that isnt growing is her HAIR! LOL! We celebrated her Birthday the day before since that was Steves day off and he had to work on her actual bday. We celebrated by taking the kids to Monkey Bizness in the morning and after nap, opening presents and then going to, of course, TEXAS ROADHOUSE! Then we came home for cupcakes and movie time- HOP. She wanted Daddy pretty much the whole day..which is a daily occurance. Grandpa came over the other day and as soon as she woke up from her nap she was so happy to see him and went right to him! She just loves the men! :)

Vday, Stevens music program, and more...

Valentines Day- we did our usual Valentines Day treasure hunt, kids had parties at school, and just enjoyed our evening together.

Sydneys friend Ryen sent her this bear, candy and lip gloss in the mail for Valentines Day. She was so excited to get something in the mail...from a boy!
Stevens 1st grade music program, which I had to miss because I had to be at Activity Days...but Steve was able to go with the 2 little girls.

Sydney and her friend Chloe. Those two.... when they get together it gets wild and crazy around here all preteenie!

Tori got her self dressed and called it her new "fashion style"

Tori singing so seriously....I love that face!


Baby Reese who is almost 2!!!!


Sydneys dance camp


I found this T-shirt for Steve with his favorite phrase "YOUR FACE!"

McCall, Id trip

We had a great time in McCall. It was so pretty and the kids loved all the snow. Everyone around here goes up there all the time so we finally made a 1 night trip out of it. The winter carnival was a couple weeks ago so some of the ice sculptures were still up and fun to see. The lake was frozen over so got to walk out on it. The kids probably loved the sledding the most since it was their first time going and they LOVED it! Even Reese loved going down with us....and hitting the bumps! We ate a lot of good food and at a really great breakfast place where the pancakes and cinnamon rolls were HUGE!!!! I should have taken a picture! They were about 13in. in diameter! On the ride back I just had to get the kids out and go run and mess up all the snow in these big open fields. It was fun...there was about 2 feet of snow with a layer of ice and then fresh powder on top...so we could walk on top and then drop down a couple feet. It was fun!

WRESTLING!!!!!!!

Steven and his friend Jacob at the Skyview wrestling camp tournament. Steven and Jacob are in the same class in school and at church and were born the same day AND are the same size! So they got to be sparring buddies at the wrestling camp together all week and ended up, of course, wrestling each other at the end. But that was perfect because they both were a bit hesitant about wrestling other kids they didnt know. It was really fun to watch them. They split the kids up in groups of 4 but Stevens group only had 3...so he wrestled each boy 2 times for 3 30 sec. matches with everyone being declared winners.....but we all know my little Steven kicked some buns out there! ;) Hehehe!

Still needs some work on his technique.....I think he thinks its all about who's tougher!

Chocolate Creme Oreo cake

This is YUMMO! I got this recipe from Kierstin and it is amazing!



Chocolate Oreo Cream Cake
• 1 pkg chocolate cake mix (I used triple chocolate)
• ingredients need to make the cake on the back of the box
Filling:
• 8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups Cool whip (I used the extra creamy kind)
• 12 oreo cookies, coarsely crushed
Frosting:
• 1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
• 6 Tbsp. butter, softened
• 4 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 5 to 6 Tbsp milk or more if needed
1. Prepare cake mix according to package directions for 2 9-inch round cakes. Cook Cake according to the package. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and remove from the pan. then allow cake to cool completely.
2. Once cakes are completely cooled, prepare the filling by beating the cream cheese and sugar together with a hand mixer until well blended. Fold in the cool whip until almost blended then fold in the crushed oreos.
3. In another bowl, make the frosting by whisking together the cocoa powder and powdered sugar. Then add the butter, vanilla, and milk. Blend with a mixture until smooth. Add additional milk if needed to make the frosting spreadable.
4. Now it’s time to assemble the cake. With a serrated knife, cut off the domed top of each of the rounds to make the cake even and level. Save the parts you cut off for another use. Place one round on your serving platter or cake plate. Top with half of the filling mixture and spread evenly. Top with the other cake round.
5. Now use the reaming filling to fill in the center filling section of the cake so that the filling layer is completely even with the cake layers. You may not need all of the filling. Then cover the top and sides of the cake with the chocolate frosting. You may have some leftover frosting.

NOTE: This is what I did with the left over filling and cake.
I mixed them and a bowl and made cake balls and put them on top of the cake.

Steves ma'stache

Steve has been working long and hard to grow this......going on 3 weeks now. He may or may not have had some help from the beard/mustache dye kit....