Trav's Favorite Date Ever

Last Thursday night I started thinking about what we could do for our date night the following evening and got to thinking about how fun it would be to go dancing!! I haven't danced in ages. I think I've taken every kind of dance class known to man... salsa, ballroom, ballet, hula, clogging, etc. but it's been years!! When I took salsa at ASU, we were required to go to this one dance studio on a weekend night and take a Latin dance class that was followed by an open dance. I went with my dance partner and had the best night. WEll, it was time to relive the fun! I googled dance classes in Buffalo and searched and searched and ended up finding that exact same type of studio literally a mile from our house!! I don't know if I can explain my excitement. Like giddy, I just won a million dollars, kind of excitement. Of course it was later at night, after our babysitting swap, so I had to find a sitter. A dozen phone calls later and a sitter was in place! I called Trav to tell him the good news. I tried not to be too overexuberant on the phone...but I think I failed. I wasn't getting much feedback (although I hadn't heard a "no"), so I finally asked if he was excited. After a defeated chuckle, he offered, "Well, I'm excited that you're so excited." What a guy. He has about as much interest in dancing as I have in Friday night football. Maybe less.

Oh, I forgot to mention! The added excitement was due to the fact that their drop in classes on Friday nights are usually $15 a person, but that Friday happened to be an open house so they were free! So we walked in about 8pm and joined the group of mostly older folks to watch a demonstration of all the popular Latin dances. There were two couples doing the demonstration and one of the men was admittedly very in touch with his femine side. VERY. I believe they were dancing a rumba to the song, "It's Raining Men", when Trav leaned over and whispered in my ear, "I'm pretty sure everyone up there is happy it's raining men." He may have gotten a small giggle followed with a reproachful look. However, I have to hand it to Trav... once it was our turn to get up and take the dance floor, he was all on board. They taught a beginner dance class for about 45 min. and we learned the Foxtrot and Merengue. For being the first time Trav's ever really danced, he did fantastic. And what was better than just being good at the steps was, he didn't complain or mope one bit. He knew how happy I was and he totally committed to the activity. I seriously haven't been so happy in a long time. I really got myself a good one!

After the class, it turned into a regular dance from 9-11pm. The DJ would announce what dance it was when he put a new song on and if we didn't know the dance, we'd watch the other couples for a minute and try to figure out the basic pattern, then give it a try. We stayed another 45min. before we figured we should get home and relieve the babysitter. Trav is probaby happy for the first time ever that we are poor, because if we had any extra money at all, I would be dragging him to that place at least once a month! I had the best time! And I can't say for positive (and I don't know if he'd admit it), but I think maybe Trav realized dancing isn't all that bad after all! Huh, huh... what do you say, babe? :)

Book Review

I always tell myself to write down book's titles after I've read them so I don't forget them in my "reviews", but I never do! So here are a few that I remembered over the past couple months.

When I asked my MIL what her favorite book was (after Gone With the Wind), she said the Williamsburg novels. The first one in the series is Dawn's Early Light, so I gave it a try. I guess each book is about one of the major wars in America, so this one dealt with the Revolutionary War. It's historical fiction (my favorite genre) and I liked it pretty well, although it took some time to get into the story, and you have to get used to the old fashioned language. Paula did amend, that the best ones are later in the series.

I saw this at the bookstore and wanted to read it just because the cover made me laugh. Luckily, the rest of the book makes you laugh too. It's basically just a bunch of anecdotal stories about her life, but it is hilarious. I didn't want to put it down and was constantly laughing out loud. My only hesitation in recommending it, is the language. She had combinations of swear words I'd never even heard before! That said, it really is pretty d#$% funny.

I heard about this book through book club and LOVED IT. I couldn't recommend it enough! I even made Travis read it and tried my darndest to convince my mom and sister to read it. It's a true story about a man named Mosab Yousef, who grew up in the Middle East. His father is one of the founding members of the terrorist organization, Hamas. I learned so much about the Israeli/Palastinian conflict. Even though he is an Arab and was raised Islamic, he eventually converts to Christianity. His stories are truly fascinating... sometimes gruesome, with the violence and torture, but I couldn't put it down most of the time. Do yourself a favor and READ IT! :)

I ended up hosting for book club earlier than I thought I would and had no idea what to pick! I eventually picked Water For Elephants, mostly just because it had been on my "to read" list for some time. When I found out it was really about the circus I was pretty sure I wouldn't like it, but turns out... I did! Mostly because the author did tons of research and really sold it on the authenticity of the details being true to that era. I felt like I was reading historical fiction in a way. However... I had no idea about the language! Or "naughty" parts... *grimace*. Our book club isn't exactly a "church" book club, but it's still all LDS girls from our ward! Luckily, no one stoned me. I thought the story was really interesting and found myself all nostalgic and sad at the end when {old Jacob} is talking about his life with Marlena. How crazy and hectic it was with 5 kids, and then just like that, they are all grown up and it's over. The movie was pretty good... but of course... the book was better! :)

This is one of those classics that I've always wondered about and now I don't have to anymore! I was anticipating an abstract, hard to understand novel but it was quite the opposite. Just a story written by a boy about a couple days out of his life. I was warned about the language, but my gosh... WAY worse than I thought. It seemed every sentence had a bad word, or two! I'm the type to read every word on a page, so it was an adjustment to get myself to skim so much. So it's weird to give an opinion on this book because I'd say I didn't like it, however I found myself not wanting to put it down........ maybe just to get it over with??? Or maybe because I just kept waiting for it to get to the "story". It was just so weird and all over the place and I didn't get where it was going. I assumed there had to be some sort of plot or storyline, but it really was just a first hand account of all the things that happened to him over his weekend. I asked a friend of mine who taught it in her high school English class to tell me what the big deal is about it so she went though some symbolism and that made it a bit more interesting. But all in all I'd just say it's WEIRD! It's like a book made up of all the parts of other books that you would normally skip over. And he complains a lot. Really, it could be called just a book of complaints. OK, so that probably doesn't lend itself to inspiring anyone to pick it up, but actually I would recommend reading it. I mean, it's the Catcher in the Rye... you gotta read it at least once, right?! :)

Riverwalk

I have been wanting to go on this riverwalk for literally years! Practically since we got here. Every time we crossed the Peace Bridge (behind us) I would see it and think how fun it would be to take a Sunday stroll down it. Well we finally did it! I thought it would take longer than it did, but there was a fence under the bridge so we couldn't go any further. Weird!

(PS. I love Rach's face in this pic.... "I'm so happy to be taking a pic 9 months prego" ...I think we can all relate! Thanks for being a good sport :)

 Only once did one of the boys get away from us fast enough to make it under the fence and down on the rocks. Luckily, no swimming occurred! Especially since on our way out we saw a sign that said something about raw sewage when there's wet weather, and warned about getting an illness. Gag. And we saw people on jet skiis!

 Good ol' Canada!

 It was beautiful weather and we had a fun time but we finally called it quits when the boys were running all over the grass area by the parking lot and we realized needles were a very real possibility. Not the best part of town. Then getting back in the car I noticed some unsavory.. ahem...garbage, if you will. I couldn't wait to get the heck out of there by that point! Driving home, I did yet another {check} in the air with my finger! :)

Soakin' Up Some Sun!

Some updates on my sweet one....

He is doing really well in physical therapy and only has to go every other week now! He is such a happy, content child. He can sit unassisted and rolls everywhere. I have a hard time finding a place for him since the ground isn't safe (insert crazy, running older brother) and the beds are now miniture cliffs so they don't work either. He's often placed in his bouncer, exersaucer, or high chair, but it looks like the bouncer is on it's way out, since he'd rather be sitting than laying back and bouncing! I got a kick out of the this, the last time we strapped him in..... he leaned forward, til he got a hold of the bar, then his head just looked like the missing toy in the middle.

 For a while he did ok with drinking out of a cup, but lately he hasn't been much interested. This is a pic after a cup feeding. It's a bit messy. That neck of his seems to constantly be wet. He loves pears and applesauce though, so we're slowing working our way through baby food.

This energizer bunny never stops! He recently gave up naps, which has been hard on me, but it's so nice to put him in bed at 7:30pm and know he'll sleep til at least 7 the next morning. Previously, he wasn't tired enough for bed until 9pm or later and would still be waking up before 7am. No thank you!

He had his 2 1/2 year check up last week and weighed in at 28 lbs (30th %) and was 34 1/2 in. (12%). So if the old wives tale about doubling their heighth at 2 1/2 to see what they'll max out at as an adult is true, he'll be 5 ft. 9in. Hmmmm. Not sure where my genes were at on that one! Seems the Evans genes dominated in the height department. Still seems odd to me, since Trav is at least 5'10''.

Anyway, he is all about firemen still and will often be running like crazy around the house pretending to put out fires. He's also obsessed with monsters. Everything is, "Oh nooooo.... a Monster!!! Ahhhhh!! Run, hide! Monster get you!!!" But he seems quite happy while yelling it. I love this imagination stage. He also likes to be a dog and crawl around on his knees barking and brining me things in his mouth to throw so he can {fetch}.

He is officially potty trained!!! (Mommy does a dance!) (Ok, Daddy does too!)

In  hindsight it wasn't very long for him to "get it". We started on a Tuesday and his last accident was that same Friday, 4 days later. So I guess I would recommend this Potty Boot Camp method! Worked for us. Although, she recommends started before 2, I'm glad we waited until he was 2 1/2. It's so much easier since he can pull off his own pants and underwear and get himself on the toilet by himself. I don't even ask him if he needs to go throughout the day, he always tells me when he needs to. It's pretty marvelous.

So I took this picture at the mall this past week when I was trying to do some shopping. Emphasis on trying. I had probably been looking at shoes all of 30 seconds before I turned to see that Collin had yanked off both flip flops, stolen a manequin's hat, pulled down two sneakers and was currently trying to get the tissue out of them so he could try them on. Intervening created more of a scene than I cared to deal with, so he got to play dress up for a bit.

On this same mall outing, I needed to nurse Weston, so I found a bench near those electronic toys that charge an arm and a leg and let Collin go nuts. And go nuts he did. He had the time of his life climbing in and out of every single ride at least 5 times a piece, hootin' and hollerin' the whole time. Literally, he spent almost 15 min. continuously and happily yelling nonsense... LOUD. Then it happened. A man walked up and put his son in the school bus. I inwardly groaned as he inserted 4 quarters and the bus came alive. Collin was just rounding the corner, mid holler, when he stopped dead in his tracks. Eyes not blinking, his face plainly read, "What the HAY, MOM?!! This thing MOVES?!" I quickly scooped him up, recognizing our exit had come, and chirped, "Time to go!". Someone's always got to ruin the fun, cheap time! :)

After a short cold spell, we've been soaking in as much sun as we possibly can. Which means more walks to DQ after dinner! On the way home, Trav called my attention to the little copycat, walking next to him. If Trav pulled one hand out, so did little man. He kept glancing over at him to make sure he was doing it right. So cute.

When we got home we were trying to practice baseball with him, but he wanted nothing to do with our help. He really needed a tee to get his swing right. Pretty sure that's what old soda bottles and toilet paper rolls were made for. We're not ghetto, at all.

We also hit up the zoo with some friends and while we were walking along it occurred to me that we each had two boys a piece. (Well, Rach's second is almost here!). We were quite the group of 4 mommies surrounded by 7 active boys! Go boys club! :)

On Saturday, Trav's dental class was doing an activity at Becker Farms so we drove out and did some apple picking. Collin's cheeser face kills me.

Still laughing!

The drive might be worth it just for the donuts and cider. Collin recommends the powdered.

And now for the main event........ introducing our newest football player,

Weston Evans!

He finally got his helmet last Wednesday and he's been tolerating it extremely well. The fitting took about an hour and the whole office was peeking in, amazed that he wasn't crying. He's quite the trooper. It's pretty sweaty though so I'm glad for that reason that we are heading into winter. Whenever we take it off, his hair is wet and drops of sweat slide down his face. Of course we get stares and comments constantly. Some people think it's an accessory, and that we're crazy parents for making him wear it. All the kids at church were very curious about it too.

We want to put some stickers on it so it's not so plain so I went to Zumiez to see what they had. The well adjusted teenage boy adorned in nose rings and hair dye behind the counter wouldn't pay me a bit of attention until I finally explained what I wanted to do with the stickers. Then he was a very excited personal shopper. He was pulling out all kinds of stickers and giving me recommendations.... "If you wanna be hardcore, go with this...(brass knuckles). Or this would look way cool (hand grenade sticker)" Hmmmm. Finally, nose ring got the most excited about the pink sticker that read, "I like boobies." Haha! Cuz he nurses... get it, get it?! :) It's tempting, but we do have 3 hours of church to think about.... maybe if it was removable.  

I found this costume at a garage sale for $5 and just DIED when I saw him in it. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it's about the cutest thing ever. (It's a lobster btw). And imagine if we carried him around in a big pot?! Haha! But now with the helmet, people are telling me I need to incorporate the it into the costume. Like put goggles on the top and have him wear a bomber jacket to be a pilot. I think it would be fun to find a wrestler singlet in his size (think it's possible?) and have him be a wrestler! Just like his daddy was. :) Anyway, what do you think? Any other ideas?! I'll admit, I'm finally getting excited for Halloween!

Potty Training

Last Monday, the day after Labor Day, we started potty training Collin. I had ordered a book called, Potty Boot Camp, that I've heard lots of good things about and Trav and I both read it over the weekend (it is really short). So kind of spur of the moment, I decided Monday night that we would be starting the next day. When Collin woke up we told him he was done with diapers and he was a big boy wearing big boy underwear. Then started the "regimine". 5 minutes on the toilet, then 10 minutes off, drinking and playing. 5 minutes back on the toilet, and if there is success... then 20 min. off.  And so it went. If he informed me he had to go on his own, then he got a treat. If he had an accident he had to do drills, or practices, as we called them. Which means you take them back and forth from the toilet to another room, 10x. Each time, you pull down their underwear, sit them on the toilet, then pull them back up and walk back to the other room and start over. You reemphasize that you are doing practices because they went potty in their underwear. I guess the idea is that they will connect the thought that you walk to the toilet to go potty and they will get tired of practices and figure it's just easier to go in the toilet the first time around. Well Collin had 6 accidents the first day. So 60 times from the toilet to another room and back again. Ya... bad day. I was haggard. AND, I had refused to buy a kiddie toilet because I think they are disgusting. Turns out, we needed one. He was getting too tired of holding himself up on the toilet. Trav to the rescue! He had the car, so on his lunch break he ran to Target, got a Cars toilet (so cool) for Collin, and a Chipotle burrito for me. I needed a treat too. The next few days gradually got better, but still multiple accidents a day. Friday was bad news and Sunday was pure trama with constant trips to the bathroom during nursery, but since then he has been accident free! When he has to go #2 it is drama, but he has #1 down pat and even wakes up from naps and bedtime with dry diapers.

(I cropped the {poo} out of the pic, but this was taken after his first successful attempt! We jumped, we cheered, we got treats and praise. And then 2 minutes later he pooed massively again in his underwear. Loooove it.)

I basically stayed home all week last week because of potty training and then due to many different reasons, we have stayed home all of this week too... minus some walks to Gavin's house and a doctor's appointment. It's been a hard couple of weeks on me. My exhaustion is catching up to me. It's like the way your body feels after pulling an all nighter... all shaky and {on the edge}... but even worse. My eyes constantly burn. I am so tired of nursing through the night, but Weston is so tiny (off the charts now) that I don't feel like I can make him cry it out. I feel like he's probably truly hungry at night. (but who knows?!) He had another weight check this week and he only gained 4oz in 3 weeks. That's what he should be gaining in one week. Since he won't take a bottle, the doctor said to try formula in a cup. I have tried different nipples on bottles, rice and oatmeal cereal, and he spits it all out. I will keep trying though!!! I am supremely motivated now to give my future babies bottles from the start. I have started giving him yogurt and baby foods and hopefully that will help. I just really wish he would sleep through the night. 7 months of never getting a good nights sleep is simply awful. I am definitely not one of those people that is good on 6 or 7 hours of sleep. It can be done for a while, but not months at a time. I have no energy to get anything done and that makes me cranky! I can be wiped out at the end of the day, but if I've been productive and gotten lots of stuff done, I am happy. I just don't have the will or energy anymore to tackle those "to do" lists... and they just keep getting longer. I've decided that sleep is like a drug... it can make you feel invincible. With sleep, everything is better. And without it, everything is terrible. I yell more, I cry more. I'm just a bad mom. I remember growing up and wondering why my mom always took naps. I really thought it was the strangest thing. Why did she need to sleep so much?! It never even entered my mind that she was up late getting things done, and then woken up through the night by babies. I GET IT NOW! Except that it is getting harder for me to take naps. Take now for instance... both my boys are sleeping. I laid down for about 10 min. and knew it wasn't going to happen. My mind wouldn't quit... I have too much I could be doing to sleep! How do you turn your mind off??

I realize life is much like a rollercoaster, so I'm hoping that a couple weeks at the bottom is enough before I'm ready for some time at the top. It doesn't help that the weather is turning colder and fall is here. I LOVE fall.... but not right now. I didn't get enough summer. I need more sun. I need it. I don't like waking up and needing a long sleeve shirt and flannel pants and hot chocolate to warm up. And even after that I'm still cold. After fall comes winter and I most certainly don't need any of that nonsense. And usually I love that this season brings holidays and fun, but right now that just sound like more things to add to my to do list. I am tired of being in survival mode. I like being on top of things. The only good part about time marching on, is that it will bring me closer to my trip home in December!! Yippee! I booked our flights a couple of weeks ago, and it may have been a bad move to do it so early because I can't stop thinking about it. Really.... like every day. I picture the sun, my parent's pool, holiday parties, eating with family, Collin with his cousins, me with my sisters, and nummy Mexican food! Ahhh, I want it all.

OK, this has been quite the downer post, but there is always some silver linings amongst the clouds and those were in the form of a couple girls nights....

The night of Collin's potty training I got to escape to our last night of Bunco! Whitney hosted and made some amazing food. It's been a fun, two year run... but I think we're retiring the dice. Bishop said.

(Just kidding!)

We might still do the occasional bunco party, but not a regular monthly thing. Good times, girls!

There was also such a pretty sunset that night, I had to take a pic. Don't see this much out here... reminded me of home!

Briste also came to town, so we hit up Panera with her and watched the Bachelor Pad finale on Monday. Gotta say, a little disappointed in the new Bachelor for next season. It's a little mean... ( but since I'm pretty confident he'll never read my blog :) it's hard to get past his whole {Geicko caveman} look. Ah well, motivation to do something more productive with my time on Monday nights.

Then last night I went with some fun ladies to go see The Help. Um, LOVED it. That doesn't happen very often with a book turned into a movie. I teared up so many times... but that's not surprising, given my emotional state as of late. And the shakes and fries we got at Red Robin beforehand helped make it a good night.

Also, last Saturday we had some fun as a family out at an open house for Mercy Flight. We watched some planes land and take off while eating lunch and there were several bounce houses that the boys had a ball in. They also had a helicopter you could sit in.

Thank goodness for husbands. Poor Trav has been helping out tons, and then going to the lab later at night to get his work done. I would truly go crazy as a single mom. Remind me why we want more children??!! Oh ya, because eventually I'll be getting more sleep and then I'll think I could handle more. That sleep... its wonderful, but a deceiver!

Labor Day Weekend

Labor day weekend was full of lots of {non-laborious} activities. (Thank goodness!)

Lynae threw a fun party for Chris's 30th birthday. Weekend nights are always nice when there is something to do and friends for Collin to play with!

Saturday morning I went to a few garage sales and staggered in with a basket full of toys. Trav's eyes widened just a bit. I'm never quite sure what Collin will really take to, but I did good on this toy tool set! I guess it's from a show called Handy Manny and the tools even "dance" up and down in the tool box to music. Collin LOOOOOVES it. He has spent so much time "fixing" things around the house. Trav was playing with him and he had the wrench and Collin had the hammer. Trav would go around to various objects and "fix" them by pretending to use the wrench on it. Then Collin would copy and hammer away on the same object. It went like that for a bit, then Trav decided to mess with him and used the wrench to "fix" his own hair. Sure enough, without hestitating, Collin started whacking away at his own head. That poor child.

Saturday afternoon we were a little crazy and went to the Buffalo Wing Festival for the 3rd time since we've moved out here. I say crazy... cuz it was bloody hot! Really, like I don't know if I've felt heat like that out here before. And the humidity doesn't help! We were only there 2 hours and we downed 3 BIG waterbottles filled with ice that melted the minute we got there. Oh, but it was worth it for spectacles such as this........

bobbing for wings in a pool of blue cheese. (anyone dry heaving yet?)

 How 'bout now?

We stayed for the professional eating contest of the {Buffalo Buffet}, including items like beef on weck, and pizza. It is pretty dang gross to watch. They dunk the food in water to soften it and ball it up before stuffing it in their face. It's like a train wreck... you don't want to watch, but then you almost can't look away.

You might recognize the guy on the right... Joey Chestnut.... he's been winning the 4th of July hot dog eating contests lately. He was saving his talents for the next day for the professional wing eating contest. I guess he had an esophogal tear. That is disturbing to me. That you would shove food down your throat with such force that you tear it. And here we all are to watch it! Hmmmm, a proud day for us all, I guess!

 Collin was pretty miserable in the heat so we kept pacifing him with cold sugar. He got a whole Perry's 1/2 pint of Cotton Candy icecream to himself. And seriously, 1/2 hour later he was so pumped with energy, he was trying to do handstands while dancing. We were cracking up.

 On Monday we went to a BBQ in the afternoon that was supposed to include swimming and kayaking at the neighborhood lake. I hadn't been outside all day (and was still recovering from the heat stroke of Saturday), so we all got ready in swim attire and started packing in the car. Then I clue in that it was a bit chilly. At the last minute, I ran inside to change out of my leopard {not so long} board shorts and tank top to a skirt and t-shirt. When we get there, everyone (like 30+people) were in normal, nice clothes and jackets, and looking at me weird for having a swim suit on under my clothes. I was dying, imagining the scenerio if I hadn't changed. And it was a 1/2 hour drive away. I'm pretty sure I would have had to drive home to change to save myself from hours of embarrassment. Man, I'm cool.

It was a really fun bbq, though, and again it was so nice to have something to do to occupy the day! Especially for Collin. And especially considering the week we were about to embark on....

stay tuned for potty training nightmares.



Casting

This morning Weston was casted for his helmet at Great Lakes Orthodics in Women's and Children's hospital.

Step one: Look like a shepherd getting ready to visit baby Jesus!

He was all giggles and smiles for this part.

 Step two was not as pleasant. He screamed and cried and broke my heart. I took one other picture, but I can't post it because it makes me too sad to look at it. At least it was over quick (about 7min.) and he was happy the second the plaster came off. About a week to wait now for the helmet!



Winston

So this was one of those "photo shoots" that produced at least 2 dozen pictures and even though they all look pretty much the same, I had to include many!

Have I mentioned that I love this boy?

Cuz, I do.

I really just want to snuggle him and eat him up all day long.

I love his blue eyes and happy, yet mellow personality.

I cannot even describe how sweet he is. 

And I am addicted to sweetness!

Maybe I should explain the title.... Weston seems to be an "odd" name for out here. Whenever I tell someone from this area what his name is, I often get a funny expression followed with something like, "Oh! I haven't heard of that... I've heard of Easton". Hmmm. It must really have to do with which coast you're from! I thought Weston was fairly "normal". Anyway, apparently it also gets confused with Winston. There is even a girl at Trav's dental school who thought that was his name for so long, that now she calls him Winston anyway, as a joke. Then I was at a Music and Movement class with Collin and Weston on Monday and they were doing a "Welcome" song with everyone, where the woman leading sang everyone's name (she knows us from the Family Room) and when she got to Weston, she sang, Winston. I wanted to correct her, but what could I do! She was already singing the next kid's name. And then I was kinda bothered (I was going to type mortified, but lest you think me extreme....) that everyone thought I named my kid WINSTON! Who does that to a sweet baby?! Sigh, alas it seems I may have named my child something too hard for east coasters to grasp.

I included this one for the inner thigh chub! Awww, takes after he momma. :)

How 'bout them baby blues! I am in love.

OK, what is it about this picture?! The first time I saw it, I just stopped and stared. His eyes... the coloring... I don't know, I just love it. Too bad he's in his car seat or I'd probably print and frame it. What the heck, I might do it anyway.

Well, another title I was going to use for this post was {Pip Squeak}. He had his 6 month doctor's appointment last week and his stats are:

Height: 25.5 inches (9th%)

Weight: 13lbs 11oz (<3rd %)

Head:17 inches (24th%)

His weight is basically off the charts. Now they want him to come back in for weight checks. I don't know what the deal is. I eat lots! Seriously, that can't be the issue. I asked if they've ever counseled anyone to stop nursing because it's worse for the child, but she just looked at me weird. I don't know what to do.

On a more positive note..... we found out yesterday that the insurance is going to pay for his helmet!!! I was shocked. I didn't think they would. It was such good news. He will be casted tomorrow and then should get it on about a week after that. Hooray! 

And here is a parting shot of Collin. Still wants to be the baby sometimes. I was busy doing something and came into the room to him bouncing away. Don't know what the weight limit is, but I'm glad he didn't snap the spring! 
(He is actually not a nudist... there is a diaper under there!)

To Do... or Not To Do!

Here is something I will probably NOT be doing again...

A chocolate bowl.

Seemed easy enough... and I guess it wasn't terrible, but not worth the time. Plus, no one seemed to really enjoy eating it. (Trav and I, however, devoured ours! We were meant for each other.) 

What was more worth it was the deliciousness inside. Homemade Oreo icecream! I liked this recipe much more that the last one I tried a couple weeks ago. So I will share!

Homemade Oreo Ice Cream
3 cups half-and-half
6 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
12 – 15 Double Stuffed Oreo Cookies, roughly chopped
Heat the half-and-half in a sauce pan, over medium heat, until bubbles forms around the edges.  Beat the egg yolks and sugar, on medium high speed, until combined and forms yellow ribbons.  Reduce the mixer to low speed.  Slowly add the hot half-and-half to the egg mixture until well combined.  It is important to pour slowly to prevent the eggs from curdling.
Pour the combined liquid back into the sauce pan and cook over medium-low heat.  Stir constantly for about 5 – 8 minutes until thickened and coats the back of the spoon.  Pour the liquid through a fine-meshed sleeve into a bowl.  Add the vanilla and chill in the refrigerator until completely cooled.
Pour the cream into the ice-cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer’s directions.  In the last 15 minutes of the churning process, add the chopped Oreos.    Makes about 1 quart.

(Side note: I doubled the recipe and it still didn't fill my ice cream container so I poured about a cup and a half more half and half and it still turned out great!)

And here is something I will definitely be doing again.....

I thought I was going to be the first person ever to mess up freezer jam, but it ended up working out! First jar of jam I've made since I was a Beehive. I'm stoked.

This stuff will always remind me of Grandmother. 

Wanna Be My "BookWorm" Date?

A momentous occasion occurred last Friday.... we went on a date... CHILDLESS! 

We have been doing a babysitting swap with some friends for the past year or so, but ever since the babers was born, he's been accompanying us. And it hasn't been too big a thing. He's pretty good, really. But since he turned 6 months I thought we could try leaving him. It was a little hard for me to walk away. The parting scene was Rach waving me off and walking away while I tried to yell last minute instructions from the reversing car. She knows my paranoia and loves me in spite of it. Good friends are priceless, I tell ya!

So I got this date idea from the Dating Divas blog and if you want more details you can go here... http://www.thedatingdivas.com/tara/the-bookstore-date/ .

I changed the invite wording and one of the tasks (the poem one... BORING! We went to a more {fun} section of the store if you get my drift :)

Basically we went to different section of the store and completed certain "tasks". For example... go to the magazine section and find a quiz to take with your spouse. Or go to the children's section and find a book that you loved as a kid and read it to your spouse. We also went to the travel section to find a picture of a place we'd like to go on our dream vacation, to the humor section to find a joke to share, and the cookbook section to find a recipe we'd make for each other. It turned out pretty fun, although the quiz was hard to find! I think if we'd had all night we could have spent more time doing each task justice, but we did what we could in an hour. At least it was fun doing something a little different for the second half of our date, other than running errands! And Trav was such a good sport! Not even an eye roll :) He must love me!

A