FUN TIMES WITH GRAMMY

We were lucky to have Mark's mom spend the week with us this past week! We also got to spend a little time with Mark's brother and his family! Here are some of the fun times we had. Enjoy all the pictures:)

We spent most of the weekend with Mark's brother Ben and his wife, Mary and their two kids, Joshua and Lucy. On saturday we went to the Church History Museum, Liberty Park, Cakewalk Baking Company (for some yummy vegan treats), and then out to lunch! After two days of travel and some less than ideal nights of sleeping, a nice Sunday nap was needed!

Explosions! - Baking soda with food coloring and then pour vinegar over it! Alexander loved this soooo much we went through two huge costco size bottles of vinegar!

Grammy showing Melody that it was okay to touch it!

MOON MUD - It is pretty fun stuff! Kind of hard to explain- it gets hard when you push on it or squeeze it, but if you just hold it, it runs through your fingers!

FINGER PAINTING - with shaving cream! Alexander's favorite part was the clean-up because he liked watching it dissolve in the water and go down the sink.

Melody was a little apprehensive at first, but then she went crazy!

PUZZLES!

THE PARK - Mark didn't have to go to work until 12 on friday so went to the park across from our library. Here is Mark, Grammy and Alexander. Melody spent most of her time on the swings!

BINGHAM COPPER MINES - the largest open copper mine in the world! The tires on their BIG trucks cost $50,000 each! They are some bigggg tires!

DRAPER TEMPLE - Alexander really wanted to go inside, but we told him we needed to have our Sunday clothes on. When we got back in the car to leave he asked to go home and put on his sunday clothes! It was a beautiful day!

As Grammy was getting into the van to leave today Alexander looked out the window and said "I want Grammy to come back. I miss Grammy." It was great to see family and my kiddo's had such a wonderful time!!

Alexander Goes Clothes Shopping

Alexander is VERY picky about what he will wear. We rotate through 3 0r 4 outfits. He wears the same outfit for around 5 days unless it gets too dirty. I have a box or 2 of clothes that he has refused to wear. His favorite pair of pants (an orange pair size 2T), have finally gotten wayyyy to dirty and torn for me to let him wear anymore so we took Alexander out shopping! These are the two outfits that he picked out all by himself!

This 'n That

Last month we threw a Potty Party for Alexander. We took away his pull-ups and had a fun day of movies, snacks, games, books, using the toilet (alot!), and then we had a cake that evening to celebrate no more diapers! He loved his Piglet birthday cake and had been asking for a Tigger cake for a while so Mark made this for him:



Melody loves Alexander and always trys to be like him. It is very cute. One day when getting dressed Melody brought this outfit from Alexander's room and insisted on wearing it! What a cutie:)



Alexander was sick this past week with a horrible stomach flu. We ended up having to spend some time in the hospital and they were very nice to him there (minus the horrible experience of having to get an iv....). They gave him this Woody doll and orange volleyball blanket. He spentA LOT of time in this chair this week sleeping...

Birthdays! My babies are getting big!

Alexander turned the big 3 on the 10th of November. He had a fun day! I let him pick out a donut at the store in the morning and then we bought him some new markers and some stickers! He LOVED his piglet cake and still talks about it sometimes. :D

My handsome boy!

His friend Cameron came over to join in the celebration. Alexander did an awesome job blowing out his candles too!


My sweet baby Melody is 1! I can't believe it. Her birthday was on the 10th of December. The is the present she got from mom and dad. A big stuffed dog! Melody is very sweet and loves to cuddle soft things!

Looking a little tired but excited for her cupcake!

Hmm. what's this...?

Yummy!

Melody had a great time eating, or atleast playing.., with her cupcake!


Happy Birthday to my babies!

This Week In Photos

What happens when Alexander wakes up at 4:30 am....
Melody's reaction to being in her crib in the middle of the day with Alexander:
This is what Melody does while Alexander is taking a bath and can't stop her...
Alexander has been really into Winnie the Pooh the past couple of weeks. I think these pictures were inspired by Rabbit.
Mama in the garden with a hat on, shovel in hand and carrots in the ground:
And here is daddy in the garden. He looks like he is flying..:
We bought these cups for Alexander at Ikea. He loves to pour water from one cup to the next and so on. It can be messy sometimes. This time I put some quinoa in one of his cups. He had fun with that too.
Melody playing dress-up with mommy's jewlery:
Mama and daddy dancing:
and lastly, Melody's hair has really gotten a lot darker this week and a little more curly...!

Trick or Treat!

We took Alexander trick or treating last night! Once he figured out that everyone would give him candy, he didn't hesitate to go up to the doors! I would ring the doorbell and he would knock gently and say "open the door. Trick or treat." He would never actually say it after they opened the door but he would say "thank you." It was very cute! Some friends in the ward invited all of us who live in the apartments over for soup and bread. Then we took the kids trick or treating in the nice neighborhood! It was like in the movies where it is light outside, lots of kids running around, houses all decked out! Melody was a bumblebee, and Alexander was a superhero!(an orange superhero because that is his favorite color and he wears his 'orange outfit' pretty much everyday...) Alexander had so much fun playing and trick or treating, that he fell asleep while I was reading him Winnie the Pooh! Here are some pictures:

Yummy Autumn Recipes

This is a recent recipe I found in Alicia Silverstone's book "The Kind Diet". It is super yummy. The spices give it an Indian flavor. It tastes better the second day after the spices have blended a little bit better. It tastes good on its own or served over brown basmati rice! I usually use a mix of sweet potatoes and yams.

Sweet Potato-Lentil Stew
1/4 cup safflower oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 small tomoatoes, diced
1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
Fine sea salt
2-3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4" cubes (can use more if you want!)
7 cups vegetable broth
1 cup brown lentils

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, deep pot. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes or until the onion starts to soften. Stir in the tomatoes and ginger and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the turmeric, cumen, coriander, cinnamon, cayenne, and a small pinch of salt. Cook and stir for 2 minutes, then taste for seasonings; try to use only enough salt to heighten the flavors.

Add the sweet potatoes, broth, and lentils. Stir well, and bring to a boil over high heat. When the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 40 minutes or until the lentils and sweet potatoes are soft.



This next one is a dessert. It is from pampered chef. It is the recipe I chose for the pampered chef consultant to make at my party. She had never made it before and didn't even want to try it! Her loss as it was simply delicious!

Cranberry-Orange Skillet Bread Pudding

2 large oranges, divided
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
4 large croissants (about 3 oz each)
4 eggs
1 cup half and half
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp sugar

1. Position oven rack to middle setting. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove segments from one orange using paring knife. Cut segments in half; set aside. Zest remaining orange to measure 1 tsp zest; set aside. Juice orange to measure 1/4 cup juice. Combine orange juice, water and cranberries in stainless 10" skillet. Bring to a boil; simmer for 2 minutes or until cranberries are softened.

2. Meanwhile, slice croissants into 1 inch cubes; place cubes in mixing bowl. Add orange segments and cranberry mixture; toss gently and spoon into skillet.

3. In another bowl, wisk eggs and orange zest. Combine half and half and condense milk in microwave save bowl; microwave on HIGH 3-4 minutes or until hot. Slowly add milk mixture over croissants; lightly press down to coat.

4. Sprinkle sugar evenly over pudding. Bake 14-16 minutes or until thermometer registers 155 degrees in center. Without moving skillet from middle oven rack, turn broiler on HIGH. Broil 3-4 minutes or until top of pudding is golden brown.


Hope you enjoy!