Camera

When Laycee gets ahold of the camera... we get pitch black

a blurry shot
a close up

and crocodile tears when she drops it and nearly falls off the trampoline trying to save it.

Gotta love them kids!

Garden

I decided to try my hand at a garden this year. It took a lot of work to get the area ready. It was an over grown rose garden. We took the weeds out, and took the roses and moved them (more on that to come when the project is complete). We tilled the ground and then planted. I think we planted to early, but we will see how it all turns out. So, here is 4 pepper plants, a tomato, and a blackberry bush (which I might move).

I'm planting the broccoli
Trent goofing off, which is his way of helping.

Haylee loved the plants.

Pictured is one strawberry, two romaine lettuce (which has already produced and I love) 2 cucumber (which I think have died) and a pumpkin.

I am excited to see how it progresses how that the weather is warm and we are getting some sun. I hope we get some peppers because they are expensive!

Recipe

When I posted my information on freezing your meals, some people requested some recipes, so from time to time, I will try and post some of them. This is one of my favorite to freeze because it requires minimal cooking on either end.

Tuscan Style Chicken Thighs

Finished product with potatoes and green beans
Ingrdients
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small shallot, chopped
1 T Rosemary
1 T olive oil
1 T Dijon Mustard
1 T Lemon Juice
6 bone in thighs
Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix ingredient and freeze. Thaw and cook. Or mix ingredients and refrigerate for 2 hrs and then cook. Bake 450 for 30-35 minutes.

We love this and really the rosemary is a nice change of spice.

Trampoline

We recently gave into our childish dreams and bought the kids a trampoline. I think in the beginning it was more for us than them lol. And so much of living here reminds me of my fun filled childhood. So, when Dave mentioned wanting to buy a trampoline, there was not much arm pulling for me to give in. And as the weather has warmed up, we have really enjoyed it. Logan is completely in love!

Their first time on and Haylee is full of smiles!

I love this one of Trent

Logan- "Fall Down"

Laycee just cries the whole time and she doesn't jump she gallops.

Have fun watching them!

I so love having the trampoline and am so glad to have something truely fun in the backyard for the kids.

Potty Training Update

Okay, so I know I just posted the potty training picture, but actuality, that picture was taken several weeks ago. I have again started potty training. I used a method that Nancy suggested. I read a lot about different methods where most suggested not training twins at the same time. I wasn't really interested in that idea. I just want them both done. So, I am trying the 3 Day Potty Method. The book warns that it may take longer than 3 days for twins or multiples. And we passed our 3rd day yesterday. Since Dave was on a 4 day for Memorial Day, I thought it would be the perfect time to start. Day One was ok becuase I knew there would be lots of accidents and I was prepared. Day 2, I was so tired of being patient, but kept my cool. Day 3, we went to church for an hour! No accidents there. But still I wish they would get it already.

How are they doing you ask? Well as suspected, Laycee has almost all caught on. She has some accidents, but mostly due to the miscommunication issue. It takes me forever to figure out what she is saying, and by then she has had an accident. But she initiated pooping on the potty by herself yesterday! YEAH!!! Logan on the other hand did really well on the first day, but now he is really upset about wearing underware and going to the bathroom. He hates it! I have considered pulling the diapers that we were supposed to throw away out of the garage and putting them on Logan, but I figure, we have already stuck it out 3 days... lets keep trying. If by the end of the week he doesn't have it, we will stop for about a month or two and try again. I am cutting him a little slack because he is teething (when will this end?) and has been a complete terror. He never does well with teething. So... I will update in a little bit to let you all know again, how it is going. I think Laycee is on the path to being trained soon, but Logan will require some special attention to get this done lol. As everyone knows, it takes boys longer than girls, so I am not too concerned or stressed about it.

Okay, so I am off, just wanted to post a little bit of an update about the potty since I posted a deceiving picture. Hope you all have a great Memorial Day and remember our fallen soldiers who fight for our freedoms!!

Potty Training

Who needs that much toilet paper?

She used the right amount here

Apparently the toilet needed the rest.

Note to self... don't walk into the kitchen while potty training... you end up with a whole roll of toilet paper in the potty chair. At least it wasn't clogging the toilet or all over the house right?

Some Days

This is all I see. Tears from one

And pure joy at making him cry.

Obsessions

I have a HUGE obsession with Children's books. Oh how I wish I was able to be a children's book writer. I have no creative bone in my body. I can barely match my clothes lol. But I LOVE LOVE to read childrens books. I love to have books for my kids to read. When Haylee was in Sure Start, her teacher made several comments on how many books I have for the kids. I have books in every room of the house. I hope that having so many will spark the children's interest to read and learn. The book fair comes to school, sign me up. Scholastic pamphlets home... what can I buy? A visit to the library... I think the kids each need 5 more books to read. Birthdays, Christmas, or just whenever, I am picking up new childrens books. I love reading and hope my children grow to love it as well.

Deals

My new friends Jamie and Kim have been helping me figure out how to cut my grocery bills. I used to coupon shop all the time in AZ using couponsense.com but then when we moved to Italy... the luxury was taken from me unless people sent me expired coupons. But the commisary never had deals anyway. So, Jamie told me where to get the Sunday paper on Monday for over half price. And Kim kindly posted on her blog some of the deals she got, so I knew where to start looking. Of course since this was my first time back in the thrifty game, I decided to post. Can you guess how much this cost?

I found $1 coupons for each box of cereal printable from online. And the remainder where Fred Meyer coupons. So... I got these items, 4 boxes of cereal, 4 bags of lettuce, lipstick and mascara for $8.36! Oh yeah, that is less than the original price of the mascara alone!!! Thanks Ladies for helping me get started and reminding me how much fun this can be!!!

Piglet

Logan recently went through a growth spurt. Here he is after dinner with a huge belly and sucker.

I made fruit salad and Laycee loved it for breakfast... but Logan
Wanted more and more. This was a typical breakfast for him, minus the peeps for several weeks... until he stopped growing again.

Thank goodness for that. Between him and Trent, I was feeding a household of teenage boys!

Quirky Laycee

Oh yeah, this is typical of my Laycee girl. Pretty princess in her bow and heels, and such a tough girl with her bullets. Gotta love it... strong yet feminine!

Bike

With the beautiful days going on, I was looking for something more for the kids to do in the backyard. I headed to walmart in search of bikes. Logan is sporting Diego.

He is totally in love with it too.
Laycee is sporting princesses.

And she is in love with hers as well. And very protective of it too.

And what is the best thank you a mom can get? Being blown a kiss!

Firsts

Well now that we have a yard, we have to mow it. And Haylee was dying to try. So she had her first chance at mowing the yard!

Trent has been working on tying his shoes and he got it for the first time!

Laycee got her first chance at yard work. She loves to help pull weeds, rake, fill the bucket with yard wastes. It all started here.

Logan doesnt' have the same love for yard work, but he does love to try out the new rakes.

Front Yard

I have been talking on facebook all about the endless days of yard work. And while Kevin was visiting two months ago, we got started on the front yard. A week later, Dave and I got outside and finished the job.

And for those of you wondering, this is the front of our house, with a white picket fence now!

Up close of the flower area and the fence plus living room window.

Laycee loves to pick the flowers!

So now, you all have seen the front yard and the way it all turned out. In coming months as we finally finish up the backyard, I will post before and after pictures of that.

Picnic

4/4/09:

We had another day of sun. We were so happy. The kids were in need of more adventures, so we went outside to the front yard and had a picnic.

We of course had to bundle up still, but it was nice to get a little sun.

Haylee loves posing.

And this is what we had to eat. One thing I love about being back in the states... seedless grapes! You never could get truely seedless grapes in Italy. I don't know why considering all the grapes produced there, but we LOVE them!

Slide

After the movers came, we had our little playset back and the kids couldn't wait to get outside and play on it. We were working on their imagination, so they were playing some sort of imaginary. We watched the Bridge to Terabithia and were encouraging them to explore their minds.

I have no idea what he was thinking. I think the super heroes were battling here.

And she was COLD.

Also after several weeks of rain about a few days of sunshine, we found this plesant surprise in the gross flower pots outside. They were such a "springy" surprise!!

Keep It Real

Jess tagged me with this "made for women who don't care to show off their mess" tag. But to be honest, I care, but thought it would be fun. So... here is an inside view of my mess. I considered cleaning the house first, but it is called the Keeping it Real tag and seriously, this is pretty real.


1. My Kitchen Sink...

never empty because I always wait too long to do the dishes and they don't fit in the dishwasher.

2. The Fridge

Who fridge doesn't look like this?

3. The toilet
Haylee did her chores yesterday!

4. My Favorite Shoes

But who can ever wear them after having children, these have maybe been worn twice each!

5. My Closet

Thankfully it is mine and not Dave's can you imagine

6. My Favorite Room

I love the kids playroom. I love that there is an area for them to be kids.

7. What are my Kids doing now?

Well Homework... and finishing their nap. It is 3 pm and Haylee and Trent just got home, so we are doing homework for 30 mintues before Laycee and Logan finish nap time.

8. Self Portrait

My least favorite thing to post. But oh well, at least I managed mascara this morning lol.

Okay, who to tag?? I have so many people I would like to see this from... so I am tagging everyone! Get out your cameras bloggers! I want to see who is real here!!!