The Rivard Fam

Halloween 2011

2012-01-28T08:28:00.000-08:00

This Halloween was a ton of fun! We were able to attend our friend's party in the park, our ward's trunk-or-treat and do our own trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. To say that we had too much candy is an understatement! Logan sold us his candy for $, and if I remember correctly he had 4 lbs. Cole had double the candy that L did because he has a love of running to as many houses that we'll let him. Ty wasn't having much fun. Most of the houses scared him and he wouldn't wear a costume. Finally we put him in his regular clothes and called him a "gym teacher."

This was at our friend's party in the park. They didn't want to leave!

The boys were helping Alain get the fog machine ready. C is wearing part of my costume :).

This is Alain's decorations that he made this year. Every year he makes a scene out of cardboard boxes and then paints it all by hand. I think this year's may have been one of his best.

This is right before they left to get their loot. Our neighbors went with us and here is one of them checking out A's masterpiece.

L was a Star Trek guy. He was too cool to wear the rest of the costume ;).

Here's the gym teacher, Coach Rivard. Doesn't look much like a "coach" !

Here it was at night. I have to say it was great when the kiddies would come up to the house saying how cool it was!!

Derek's Endowments

2012-01-27T19:45:00.000-08:00

In 2010 my little brother (two years younger than me) was hit by a semi-truck and killed Labor Day weekend. At his funeral my family decided that we would do his temple work at the one year anniversary of his death since he wasn't able to get it done on this earth. Being with my family in the celestial room, knowing my brother was there, was a great feeling. It was really nice to be able to take a quick trip home to see my family and also visit his grave since I hadn't yet seen the gravestone.

Me and my parents.

View from the temple parking lot.

Oakland Temple

Derek's grave.

Logan's Piano Recital

2012-01-27T19:17:00.000-08:00

Logan has been taking piano for a couple of years now, but it seems as though he has only started to really progress this year. He does not fight me too much with practicing, so it makes it nice for all of us. At the end of the year (I think around May) his piano teacher, Sister Ostler (who is fantastic by the way) had a recital for all of her students. Logan did great and we are so proud of him.

He had to tell everyone what he was playing.

Doing his magic ;).

All done. (More like- Get me out of here!)

Start of K and 6th Grade- 2011

2012-01-27T19:02:00.000-08:00

Logan started middle school this year and it made me feel really old! Cole started Kindergarten, which broke my heart because he was my little buddy. I was really excited because this was the first year that I was able to take Cole to his first day of school because I was always teaching school. But school in ABQ starts really early (early Aug.) so I was ecstatic to get to do it! However, Cole is so independent that he walked right in by himself and was perfectly fine. No crying on either end, so it went really well!

He was so excited!!

His school requires uniforms, which I love.

The Rivard Boys :)

Ingrown Toenails

2012-01-27T18:54:00.000-08:00

Logan had to have surgery on his two big toes because he had some really nasty ingrown toenails that were beyond infected and swollen. He has also had a problem with the way he walks and since he was going into middle school (the bain of every tween's existence) I figured it was time to get it taken care of. We found out that he doesn't have an arch which affected his walk. The doctor recommended a special brand of ~~expensive~~ shoes and orthodics. He has been doing a lot better with his walking and his toes are much, much better. I was so proud of him because he had to soak his feet in epsom salt and warm water every morning and night for 15 minutes, plus wrap them up with Neosporin and bandaids. He was definitely a trooper and I'm so proud of how he handled it. My little boy is growing up :(.

1st Trip to Santa Fe

2012-01-27T18:44:00.000-08:00

While Abuelita was here during Easter we decided it would be fun to take a trip to Santa Fe since none of us had ever been. We heard there is a train that you can ride for fairly cheap from ABQ to SF, so that's what we decided to do. The boys absolutely loved it, but it took a l-o-n-g time with all of the stops they had to make before we actually got to SF. It was totally worth it though because the boys loved it so much.

I had always heard so much about SF, so I was really excited to go and see what it was all about. We got off the train, went on a shuttle bus to the square, and it looked just like Old Town here in ABQ. It was still nice to walk around and see the cute stores and the old church that was there. We had fun and will definitely go back, but in our car because then we would be able to roam more around the city.

It was freezing while we were waiting for the train!

Luckily Ty fell asleep on the train ride.

Me and my honey :).

Cole loved the R2-D2 mail box!!

The old, OLD, church that Alain loved.

This is a little maze (I guess you can call it) where you start on a certain brick and then follow the pattern to the center or vice versa.

It was really cool inside the church.

I love seeing all of the old buildings.

Cole's Preschool Graduation

2012-01-27T17:53:00.000-08:00

For the past three years I have been lucky enough to be Cole's preschool teacher. This year Cole graduated from preschool, and I cannot believe that he is now in Kindergarten.

He is literally beaming!!

Daddy was so proud,

and so was mommy!

The bros.

The whole class.

It was a great graduation, and I'm so proud of my little Cole-buddies :).

Alain's 36th Birthday

2012-01-27T17:46:00.000-08:00

This year Alain turned the big 36. It's hard to say or write that because I don't see Alain as closer to 40 than 30. Ugh, we're getting old!

Every year Alain always gets a Black Forest Cake for his birthday. I thought I would change it up a little bit by making a trifle. I'm not too big on BFC but this trifle was SO good! Alain loved it and that's all that matters :).

Easter 2011

2012-01-27T17:43:00.000-08:00

Easter this year was really special because Abuelita was able to come and be with us. We rode the Road Runner to Santa Fe, which the boys LOVED. It was nice to walk around and see some of the shops, but I think driving there would be a lot faster and more convenient because we would be able to drive to other parts of the city to see more of what Santa Fe has to offer.

We dyed Easter eggs and had a nice yummy meal with the family. It was a really fun weekend :).

Beginning to dye the eggs.

Lots of serious faces.

Ty had to get in on the mix.

Had to do our egg hunt in side the house since our backyard is rock.

It didn't matter to the kids. They still had fun.

I made the cutest bunny rolls for our Easter dinner. Isn't he cute?!

Hopefully Easter 2012 will be just as nice.

ABQ Zoo and Aquarium

2012-01-27T17:34:00.000-08:00

We were very excited to find out when we moved here that they have a zoo and an aquarium. We were spoiled with the San Diego Zoo and Sea World that we were able to visit multiple times having lived in Las Vegas since SD was only 5 hours away. But the boys still had fun here even though they were nothing like SD's (sorry ABQ lovers!).

They had elephants,

that made Cole happy :).

Very cute zebras.

These "meerkat manors" as Cole says were lounging in the sun.

Now on to the aquarium.

Ty loved the fish!

So did L :).

There is a big cage with a ton of mana rays (or sting rays?).

Ty trying to touch them.

This one is full of sharks and turtles. It's in a really big room so they were able to stay there for a while and watch all of the fishies.

Fun with the fam :).

Castelan Cousin Reunion

2012-01-27T15:51:00.000-08:00

This past summer Alain's cousins had a reunion. We found out literally a day before that it was going to be in UT. Alain was lucky enough to grow up with his cousins and even live with them for a time. Needless to say, he is very close to them. I also love all of his cousins. They are some of the loveliest people I have ever met. This trip was so much fun, and we had a blast at the reunion. Thank you Castelan Cousins for such an amazing 4th of July vacay!

There was construction going on around Paul's house, so the boys had a lot of "boy" things to play with and do.

Cousin Aida, Cousin Soraya, and Cousin Doralia.

The trampoline was a huge hit, of course. Except can you see where Ty is? Yep, right on the edge! I about had a heart attack!

Cousin Audry and Cousin Bridget.

The Smith brood (some were missing, though).

Just chillin'.

Is it time for fireworks yet, mom?!

Almost!

Cousin Monty and Uncle Lamon.

Aunt Betty and Aunt Pepita.

Aunt Amy and Cousin Paul.

Sasha, Cousin Laurie (Sasha's mom), and Cousin Chantal.

These are L's favorite!

Of course Cole has no fear. He loved the sparklers.

They were setting off fire works in the construction bulldozers that were across the street. Can you imagine my anxiety?!

Logan's not too fond of the fire work sounds. Can you tell?!

These are my kids 2nd cousins (Chantal and Monty's kids). They all got along great!

And last, but certainly not least, is my nieces and nephews (Tanner was away). My kids absolutely adore my brother, Doug's, kids. They were so excited to get to see them!

Here's to another fun and awesome summer :).

ABQ Comicon

2012-01-27T12:41:00.000-08:00

Most of you might not know this about Alain, but he L-O-V-E-S comic books. He has read them since he was young and collected them in high school. In 2010 he was lucky enough to go with his brothers to Comicon in San Diego, and to say that he had an amazing time is an understatement. Since he wasn't able to go to the Comicon in SD in 2011 he decided he would go to the ABQ Comicon. It was quite a disappointment :(. He took Logan and Cole with him as well, so they were able to have fun, but poor Alain was quite bummed. This year Alain will be able to attend SD's Comicon, and he is SO excited!

The boys are excited to go to SD's convention, and so is Alain!!

Arrow of Light

2012-01-27T12:33:00.000-08:00

The week before Logan turned 11 he received his Arrow of Light. We were lucky enough to have his Abuelita with us since it was Easter weekend. This is a big accomplishment in Cub Scouts and we are so proud of Logan for getting it.

Good job Bud!!

Logan's 11th Birthday

2012-01-27T12:23:00.000-08:00

I figured I should blog about Logan's 11th birthday before he has his 12th (which is in 3 months!!).

Logan hadn't had a birthday party since... I can't even remember when. Since there are quite a few boys his age in our ward it was a perfect year to have a fun b-day. He invited the boys from church and some boys from school. I was a little worried because I wasn't sure I would be able to handle that many boys. I had no clue what to have them do. One of my friends told me not to worry because they would entertain themselves. Lo and behold, that is exactly what they did!! They had a water balloon fight and played with their Nerf guns outside on our street. Logan had a ton of fun, and that's all that matters. :)

Our family celebration.

I forgot how well he made out. Look at all that loot!

Looks like he was going to make this wish count!

He wanted hot dogs instead of pizza. Boy, those kids can eat!

Water balloon fight.

We love you Logan!!

Happy 33rd!

2011-04-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

This past week we celebrated Debra's 33rd birthday. She is not too particularly happy to turn 33. Actually, she is downright depressed! But what can you do, right?!

Alain really spoiled her this year! {The last 3 years of birthdays have sucked...BIG TIME! Alain admits, this too.} So, the Saturday before her birthday Alain set up a little bit of "girl time" for Debra. She was able to go and get a pedicure {only the second in her life!!} and go to a sushi restaurant after with a couple of her friends. Debra <3 it!! When she got home she was surprised with 2 bags of Sonic ice {her fave!}. The fun didn't stop there! Wednesday night Debra and some of her friends went to a restaurant in town that she'd been wanting to try. It was delicious! Debra got a fish taco and a lamb taco. {First time she'd had lamb, and she liked it!}

On the actual day of her birthday, Debra had to teach preschool but didn't complain one bit! She had also got to go to her favorite donut place for breakfast. For lunch she took the kiddos to Panda Express and stuffed herself silly. Alain and Debra had found a real Mexican food restaurant in New Mexico {no small feat} and so that's where she went for her birthday dinner. It was supposed to be a family affair, but the boys didn't want to go, so it was just Alain and Debra. {She didn't mind the quiet :)} Before going to dinner they stopped by Costco to get the best chocolate cake ever. You know, the one that weighs as much as a toddler? It is soooo good!!

When they got home the singing, cake eating, and present opening commenced. Debra got a slew of books that she had been wanting, a bed skirt {since in their almost 14 years of marriage they have never had one} and a detachable flash for her camera. The cake was delicious, the company was fantastic, and the birthday celebrating was unbelievably enjoyable! Debra would like to thank everyone for making her birthday a ton of fun, and for making her feel so special. Here's to another 33 + years :)

See that mother-lode of a cake? It's fab-u-lous!!

{thanks, Chelsea, for the candles}

Mr. Studly

Mr. Chub-a-Lub

Mr. Loud-Mouth

The Two Love Birds

Mr. Sexy

"I Really Do"

2011-03-15T11:18:00.000-07:00

If any of you have watched this season of "The Bachelor" you know exactly what this blog title means. That's right, Brad Womack. I don't know if any of you noticed, but after almost every sentence this man utters are these 3 magical words: I really do.

A group of us have been congregating together for this season's Bachelor, and we've had a whale of a time. I don't know that we necessarily "watch" the whole thing because we're usually ~~yelling~~ talking at the TV for the whole episode. One of my friends mentioned that she has to go back home and watch the episode again because we miss so much! {Sorry Chelsie!!}

I thought I should give a shout-out to all of my lovely friends who I've had so much fun with these past few Mondays.

Not everyone is pictured because they were out of town for Spring Break. What's up with that?!

Thanks Steph for hosting, and thanks Taylor for putting up with us week after week until all hours of the night. {Don't worry, Taylor..."circle of trust."}

These girls have truly made watching "The Bachelor" a whole new exciting experience. I can't wait until "The Bachelorette"!!

I Love Laundry!

2011-03-02T10:14:00.001-08:00

Can anyone sense the sarcasm in that title?! Hmmm... I can!!

Has anybody ever come home from a seven day vacation only to find that your washing machine is broken?

I have!

Has anyone ever not been able to fix said washing machine for another five days??!!

Yep, that would be me.

It's seriously just my luck, though. If it would happen to anyone it would be me.

So, for the last two days I have done countless loads of laundry.

Washed.

Dried.

Folded.

Hung.

Am I finished yet?

Hells to the no.

Of course not!

This is what I have left to do:

No big deal, right?!

So in between all of the other countless things I have to do, I still have about EIGHT more loads of craptastic, funnerific, most favoritist-thing-for-me-to-waste-my-day-with laundry to finish.

Someone help me....

Ty's 2nd Birthday

2011-02-27T19:34:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that our little boy is already 2 years old! It seems like yesterday that people were standing on my pelvis to get him out {yes, they really were!}.

He has been a stinker from the moment he was born, and boy is he a tough one {hardest child by far}.

Even though he is quite a challenge {ask anyone in our ward who heard him today (sorry nursery leaders, you're the best!)} we love him and are thankful that he has completed our family.

We had a joint celebration today, even though his actual birthday was yesterday. He didn't know/care!

It was fun seeing him open his presents. It's amazing to see how much his present-opening skills have grown just since Christmas. He totally got it today!!

See, he gets that there's something in a bag this time around.

Yes, totally proud mother ;p

The "Handy Manny" hat went straight to his side-kick, Mickey.

He has not left this toy alone. It's great because it's got a button that he can press and they tools will sing to you. Can you sense the sarcasm?!

It's not enough that we have a butt-load of Thomas trains in our house. The next generation of "cool" trains is Chuggington. Now the new collection begins! Yay!! {sarcasm anyone?}

My mom made him the coolest quilt. He loved it, can you tell?! It's a Noah's Ark quilt. Every square has a letter and an animal to go with that letter. It is totally adorable! {Thanks Mom!!}

The loot. Can you see a theme here? If your brain is not working I'll give you a hint: It rhymes with wisney.

G-H-E-T-T-O cake :( I'm sorry boys. I'll do much better next year, I promise!!

It was awesome because he actually understood how to blow out the candle. Adorable!!

A few tidbits about Ty:

* He S-C-R-E-A-M-S!!! And I mean ALL day. If he doesn't get what he wants it's an ear-piercing scream that comes from that little guy. I shouldn't be surprised, though, because he has had that same scream since the moment he came to this world. It has just gotten significantly louder!!

* He loves playing with his brothers. He is a great wrestler, and Cole is brave enough to get taken down by his little brother. Logan is so sweet and will talk and play with him when Ty is interested. It's really cute.

*He has this little bear that he has cleaned the stuffing out of. He just dug his little finger in there and gutted it like a fish. I'll have to take a picture and post it one day. We literally find the bear's stuffing everywhere, and in the darndest places!

* This kid will eat anything. Can you tell?! Where Cole lacks in the eating department, Ty makes up for it tenfold.

* His favorite shows are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, Oso and Chuggington. Whenever his TV time is up he pitches a fit, but he gets over it fast. {He kind of pitches a fit for everything he doesn't want to do, which is often. Does anyone feel sorry for me yet?}

* We can't take him to the park anymore because he likes to walk off the openings that are in the second story. Still doesn't get that yet. Hopefully he will soon. Park time is NOT relaxing for mom!

* Everyone thinks he is the cutest thing. I tell them all that looks are deceiving.

* Since Ty has started to talk it has been really cute. Not everyone can understand him, though. Usually Cole and I will have to translate for Alain or other people.

*Even though he can't talk, he for sure knows what he wants. He will say the same thing over and over until you finally get it :)

* He has started doing this little shoulder slump when he gets in trouble or does not get what he wants. It's quite cute.

We have thoroughly enjoyed having our little Ty-guy in our family {even though I often want to give him away ;)}.

We love you Tyler Tre!!

Cole's 5th Birthday

2011-02-27T18:56:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, Cole turned 5 while we were on vacation in D.C. Luckily my lovely parents were here to celebrate with him and make his day special. After we got home we had a joint celebration with Cole and Ty since their birthdays are only 6 days apart.

Here are some photos of the celebration:

He had already opened some of his presents on his actual birthday, but I had to have him open some for me to witness :)

He has been asking for a gumball machine for as long as I can remember.

Spiderman DS game (one of his fave superheroes).

Had to get right to it!!

I went a little ghetto for cakes this year.

{Can you tell?!}

He knew just what to do. ;)

Now for some reasons why we LOVE Cole:

* He always wants to help, especially with his little brother. He shows so much love for him and for all those around him.

* He is our only child who will cuddle, snuggle, and give me loves. I love it!

* His nighttime routine has not changed in over a year, maybe more. He has to have tickles, loves, and kisses. It is so adorable and endearing.

* He is our pickiest eater by far! If it's new he definitely will not touch it. An example: Just last week when we were gone Grandma and Grandpa took the kiddos to McD's. I didn't tell them that you had to order a plain cheeseburger. So what did Grandpa do? Wiped that sucker clean until there wasn't a trace of onion, ketchup, or mustard. It had to meet Cole's seal of approval.

* All video games are a piece of cake for Cole. Uncle Michael introduced them to him a little over a year ago, and we are sad to say that he excels at them. The second Alain gets in the door, he asks to play "Black Cops" with him. He eagerly waits for Alain to get home every night! {Yes, we get the Parents of The Year Award for letting our 5 year old play Black Ops. Thank you very much!}

* He never wears pants at home. It's underwear 24/7. When I tell him to go put pants on he gripes and complains. What am I going to do when he goes to kindergarten?!

* He has been reading for a while now, and truly enjoys it. We especially enjoy the spit that flies on us when he's very carefully sounding out a particularly hard word.

We love having Cole in our family. He has been such a joy and blessing since the day he was born.

We love you Cole!!

Flower Necklaces

2011-02-02T12:57:00.000-08:00

I just put up my flower necklaces in my etsy shop.

{Sorry it's taken so long (to all those who have been asking).}

Please feel free to order through my etsy shop, but if you'd like a discount {or if you live in ABQ and don't want to pay shipping} please just email me at hautedebdesigns [at] hotmail [dot] com with your order.

Here are the specials I'm running:

*BOGO 1/2 off {discount off lowest priced item}

*Buy 2, get a third necklace free {lowest priced item}

*Buy 3, get a free subway art {of your choosing} free

*Refer a friend {and they make a purchase} get $2 off your next order

I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of your support and accolades. I have such a fun time doing all of this. And you know what makes it even more fun? Doing it for people like you :)

**If you find fabric that you'd like a necklace made out of, I'll make each one for 1/2 off**

I Love Days Like This {psych!}

2011-02-02T08:32:00.000-08:00

So for the last ~~many, many~~, few days this is what I get to deal with all day:

Isn't life so hard?!

{Maybe for the mom!?}

Where Am I Going?!

2011-01-27T14:54:00.001-08:00

Can anyone guess where I'll be in less than 4 hours?

Have no clue?

Do these colors help you any?

I'll give you a hint: It's a play!!

Yep, you guessed right. It's WICKED!!!

One of my awesome friends had an extra ticket and she told me I could trade it for some of my necklaces. Hello? Am I stupid? Of course I accepted.

Thanks a ton Wendy!!

{Another super duper plus to tonight: PF Chang's for dinner :) Yippy Skippy!!}

Oh, I Love This! {Scarves}

2011-01-25T12:21:00.000-08:00

I guess I should explain my title for this blog. This is a saying that my husband and his brothers (all 4 of them) say. They got it from their funny father who one day in church went up to the pulpit and said, "Oh, I love this!" {For those LDS ~~stalkers~~ readers out there, it was for fast and testimony meeting. You also have to imagine him saying it in a funny French-Canadian accent ;)} So of course all the boys in his family have a hay-day repeating this saying when they really like something. Being the wonderful daughter-in-law that I am, I have also stolen this awesome phrase for things that I love, ie: my scarves!

My husband and I were asked by our very good friends in LV to go with them on a vacation to D.C. What?! D.C?! Um, yes. The only problem? It's in February {only 3 1/2 weeks away!} so it is going to be C-O-L-D! Does a girl who has lived in LV for the last 12 years have freezing cold weather clothes? Yeah, that would be a big fat NO. So, I decided to make some more scarves out of knit. {All you cold weather people are probably thinking, "Yeah, she thinks that's going to keep her warm!" I know it's not going to keep me warm, per say, but they're really stinking cute, kay?!} I knew there had to be a better way than adjusting the tension on your sewing machine. {That didn't work as well as I'd have liked it to on my ancient machine.} Of course my brain muscles were working, and I remembered that there is a thing called elastic thread. Boy, oh boy, did it work a lot better! They came out all cute and ruffly without having to change tensions a million times and resew down the last seam in the exact same spot.

Anyway, enough of my rambling....

blue and grey (goes with anything)

this actually is 2 different colors of pink-striped

(gotta love the hand-raising)

black and white: <3 it

had to show you the $1 socks I am rocking today

they'll be a nice barrier between my jeans and my chicken-skin ~~pokey~~ leg hairs when we're in D.C. ;)

Hope you enjoyed them as much as I do!

{even if you didn't, keep it to yourself -JK!! ;)}

Goody Plate

2011-01-24T11:31:00.000-08:00

Look at my new V-Day goody plate!! {I just love my new Silhouette :)} I did this in about 5 mins. My kind of craft ;-)

The only problem now is deciding what to put on it. YUM!!

Friday Confessional

2011-01-21T09:19:00.000-08:00

I love linking up with Glamazon Mom and Mamarazzi on Fridays because it's like free therapy. Oh, and they are seriously hilarious! You should do it to. Come one, everyone else is ;)

-I love having girl time

-Last night was no exception

-Every girl that was there I love to hate

-There are skinny girls (you know who you are ;))

-There are talented girls

-There are totally better than me in every way girls

-I love to hate them all :)

-No, seriously, I do love them

-I just am so insecure about myself

-There, I said it

-I never feel that I can measure up to anyone

-I'll never have the "guns" (arms people!)

-I'll never not have the muffin top

-I'll never be skinny-minny

-I'll never have flawless skin

-I'll never be super-duper smart

-I'll never be a "molly"

-I'll never be able to have an adorably decorated house

{-I'm so not creative in any way

-I just ~~stalk~~ copy other people's creativeness

-Why not?!

-I give them the credit :)}

-I need to learn to be okay with who I am

-I need to be able to know that I am accepted for me

-I guess I should work on that

-Sometime

-In the future

-Right now I'm secure with being insecure

-How sad is that?!

-Every time I try to think about accepting who I am I have an anxiety attack

-Once again, I'll work on that

-How seriously serious was this confessional?!?!

-This was not the way I was going to go with today's confessional

-I guess it just needed to come out :(

Valentine's Day Decor

2011-01-20T12:27:00.000-08:00

Seriously! How cute is this?!

(sorry for the crap pictures!)

I stole this off of a blog I ~~stalk~~ read. Can't remember where, but thank you for the idea!

I would've rather had red glitter hearts, but I think the pink turned out cute, too.

If any of my ABQ friends want to do this, I still have some glitter hearts left over. :)

1st Basketball Game

2011-01-17T18:06:00.000-08:00

Cole's first basketball game was on Saturday. He did a great job, and we are so proud of him! We were really nervous because at practice he just stands around the court with his arms open wide saying, "I'm open, I'm open!" He doesn't quite get how to play the game yet. Nevertheless, we were excited to see him play his first game. He can only get better, right?!

Most of the time he was picking his fingernails.

SO excited to get the ball! Still doesn't know what to do with it ;)

This is the, "Dad, leave me alone" look.

I'm open! I'm open!

Eye on the ball, but ever so cautious.

I'm still open!

Good job Cole! We love you :)

Bestest, Easiest, Tastiest Bread EVER

2011-01-14T12:36:00.000-08:00

One of my "besties" (you can read about her here) made this bread for me one day. It was to die for! So, of course with my addiction to carbs, I had to have the recipe. Since some of my "friendies" have asked her for the recipe I thought I'd post it on my blog so everyone can have their life forever changed :)

First bring 2 c. water to a boil in the microwave (about 3 mins.)

Then stir in 1 c. rolled oats (not instant) and 3 T. butter

Let cool. Place in the fridge or freezer until warm, not super hot.

Add 1 1/2 c. flour, 1/4 c. sugar, 2 t. salt, 2 T. yeast, and 1 egg.

Beat on medium for 2-3 mins.

Then it will look like this :)

Next add 2 c. flour and stir until incorporated.

Until it looks somewhat like this.

Scrape out of mixing bowl onto floured counter and knead in another 3/4 c. flour until you have a nice, thick dough. Let rise on counter for 15 mins.

Grease a 9x13 pan and place dough in it and spread it out. Spread almost melted butter (recipe doesn't say how much, but I used a little under a 1/4 c.) over the top and let it rise for another hour.

This is what it looks like after it's risen. Bake at 375 for 20-25 mins. until golden brown and a knife comes out totally clean.

This is how good it is:

We started eating it without getting its picture taken!

(sorry about the crap picture!)

We always love to eat it with ~~lots~~ a little more butter and a little jam never hurt anyone ;)

Thanks to Liz for giving me the recipe. I hope I did it justice :)

Oatmeal Pan Bread

Bring 2 c. water to boil in microwave

Stir in 1 c. rolled oats (not instant) and

3 T. butter

Let cool. Place in fridge until warm, not super not.

Add 1 1/2 c. flour

1/4 c. sugar

2 t. salt

2 T. yeast

1 egg

Beat on medium for 2-3 mins.

Add in 2 c. flour

Dump out of mixing bowl onto floured counter and knead in 3/4 c. flour til you have a nice, thick, soft dough. Let rise on counter for 15 mins. Grease 9x13 pan then place dough in it and spread out the dough. Spread almost melted butter (recipe doesn't say how much, but I use a little under a half a stick of butter) over the dough and let rise for an hour. Bake at 375 for 20-25 mins. until golden brown and a knife comes out totally clean. Feel free to put a little more butter on the top when it comes out.

Friday Confessional

2011-01-14T11:58:00.000-08:00

Once again I'm linking up with Glamazon and Mamarazzi for my Friday Confessional.

Here it goes:

*I have a deep need for dark chocolate

*I thought I had kicked that habit, but yesterday it came back

*I mean back in a big way

*I ate *gasp* 1/2 a bag of those mint M&M's

*Do you know the ones I'm talking about?

*The uberly-delicious ones?

*The only M&M's I will now eat?

(*If you don't, you're missing out!!)

*I am absolutely obsessed with food right now

*You can't tell, right?

*I had lost a few pounds

*But then I ate a few carbs

*And, tada, those few pounds came back

*I think I'm going to go get me some spankin' new Spanx this weekend

*That'll solve the problem, right?!

*Last confession (my husband would kill me if he knew I admitted this): I have no clue how to "link" up with Glamazon and Mamarazzi with their cute little button. Sorry guys!

1st Silhouette Project!

2011-01-12T18:29:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited that I finally got my Silhouette :) Everyone has been asking what I'm going to make and, honestly, I can't decide!! The machine has literally been sitting on my kitchen table waiting to be used. There are so many things I could and want to make that I don't know where to start, so I've been taking my time brainstorming. After getting all of my "chores" done today I sat down at the table and made this:

(excuse the horrible picture)

I made a heart! Lame, I know, but it turned out cute (I think). It's even cuter in person ;)

Any ideas on some super cute stuff I should make? I'll add them to my list!~

Friday Confessional

2011-01-07T10:21:00.000-08:00

* I've read Glamazon's confessions for a while now and just never had the gumption to do one myself
*Yes, I'm one of those blog-stalkers who doesn't comment
*Yes, you can hate me now
*I'm going to try to do a lot better with commenting
*It's just so much easier to read everyone's blogs in my reader where you don't have a place to comment unless you click on the title, which takes you to the blog, then you have to find the comment area, blah, blah, blah, blah
*Does anyone else find that totally frustrating, or is there a way to do it and I'm just completely computer illiterate?
*There's probably a way to do it and I'm just a blog-loser
*Anyway... I'm totally lazy
*I've been up for hours and have done nothing
*Except for "working" on my computer
*At least that's the excuse I give my kiddos
*I really need to take a shower, but I don't want to
*I think showering is totally overrated
*Because then I have to do my hair (which I have a ton of)
*And do my make-up (because I am fugly without it)
*Or maybe I'm just really, really lazy
*Yep, today I am
*If I have to play one more game of "army men" I'm going to shoot myself
*Not really, you don't have to call a suicide watch on me
*It just takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r to set up the 300 little guys so meticulously so they don't fall over just to have your 4 year old and 2 year old knock them over in milliseconds
*Can I say this again?
*Yes, I'm totally lazy...
*Today
*Ok, sometimes twice a week
*Ok, sometimes a lot more than that
*Final confession:
*This was a ton of fun! :)

Snow...in ABQ!!

2011-01-04T20:04:00.000-08:00

One day the boys and I were going through our normal routine, when all of a sudden I looked out the window and saw this:

I know you probably can't tell because of my wonderful photography skills, but it was snowing!! Not only were we excited to see snow, but these flakes were the biggest I have ever seen. They were just wistfully floating down from the sky. I have never seen it snow like this before. It was breathtaking!

The kids were ecstatic and, of course, had to go right out an play in it. It snowed pretty hard and fast, so there was a lot to play in. This is where you can tell we're desert folks, because I didn't have any warm-weather gear to dress them up in. We did our best, but when they came in I was sure I had given Ty frostbite!! They had fun and that's all that mattered. Usually, we're told, snow in ABQ doesn't stick around for very long, but this snow lasted for a couple of days. I cannot tell you how many times I was asked to go outside and have snowball fights!! Overall, it was great fun, and a good experience

for my boys. I would gladly welcome snow any day :) (Don't hate me for saying that!)

Watching if fall (he never wears pants!).

See, told you they were huge flakes!

View from our front window.

View from front door.

Having fun :)

Dad is such a good sport to have a snow ball fight.

(I think he likes it just as much as the boys, though!)

One of the many times we played outside in the snow ;)

Easiest Pumpkin Muffins EVER

2011-01-04T19:49:00.000-08:00

For those of you who are not sick of pumpkin, and who do not think it's a sin to eat it after Fall, here is the easiest pumpkin chocolate chip muffin recipe ever:

2 boxes of spice flavored cake mix

1 30 oz. can of pumpkin

12 oz. of chocolate chips

(I prefer mini chips because there's more of them in each muffin! Sneaky, I know :).)

Bake at 350 for 22-25 mins.

Don't mind the one on top with a bite taken out of it :)

(I know, I really need to take a photography class! You get the idea, right?!)

Thank you to one of the fabulous blogs I stalk. You made my night ;)

New Year's Eve

2011-01-04T19:08:00.000-08:00

Growing up we had the tradition of having appetizers for dinner on New Year's Eve. Being the fabulous mom that I am (can you sense the sarcasm?), I have carried on this tradition in my family, so that ~~I can enjoy all the yummy food~~ they can enjoy it like I did and pass it on to their families. I didn't plan too well for NYE, but I wanted to have some kind of theme, so I gathered all of the white bowls/plates I could fine (which wasn't much) and served the food up in that. Honestly, it was quite sad, but the kids didn't care or notice. Next year I will definitely plan ahead!

Told you! Sad!! It was a seriously sad spread, but the more food we had the more I would've been the one to end up eating it all. We still have a TON of dip left over. Anyone want some?

Here's to a better year!

(Honestly, it better be better than last year. ~~How could it get any worse?~~ Actually, it could get worse, so I shouldn't even say that. Knock on wood!)

Christmas Day

2011-01-04T18:59:00.000-08:00

This was the first Christmas in probably 10 years that we haven't been with family for Christmas. I hadn't really given this too much thought until Christmas day. It was really sad! I didn't think we would notice or really even mind that our little family was on our own, but we did. I told Alain that next year we have to be with family. Isn't that what the holidays are about? (We've sent out the invite for 2011, that's how ~~sad~~ serious we are about this.) I think it would make for a much more enjoyable Christmas.

Ty is obsessed with Mickey, and he needed new sippy cups, so ta-da!

Isn't he too stinkin' cute?!

SO excited!

HaPpY DaY

More ships to fly around the house-yippee! (Did you sense the sarcasm in that?)

Again, he loves his "mouse" as he calls it. He loved on him all day, and Mickey hasn't left his side since.

More ships to fly around the house! (~~YAY!!~~)

See what I mean? Those are all ships :)

Here's the loot. They were all happy, so that's all that matters :)

Christmas Eve

2011-01-04T18:34:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas Eve this year was very low-key. We I ended up baking all day, so by night time I was done. Luckily we had my besties, Pei Wei, cook us up some yummy dinner. Afterwards we opened up our traditional Christmas Eve present (pajamas) and sent the kiddos to bed. Alain and I had wrapped most of the presents a couple of weeks early, so we just had some final things to do. We wanted to go look at the Christmas lights around our neighborhood because we have a doosy of a house by us (the picture is at the end of this post), but Ty didn't have a nap, so you all know what that means: early bed time! Overall it was a very busy day, but a nice, relaxing, night.

Boy, Ty sure got the hang of opening presents really fast!

(He got Mickey Mouse pj's-his favorite)

For some reason I don't have a picture of Cole opening his pj's. Probably because he ripped through the wrapping like a Tasmanian devil.

(He got Star Wars pj's- his favorite.)

Oh, there's Cole opening his present!

I just love that Logan is happy with everything he gets :)

(He got some from Old Navy. I couldn't find his favorite-Star Trek- at a reasonable price.)

Here it is in all it's glory:

I think it's better than the National Lampoon's House!!! Isn't it awesome?!

Christmas Baking

2011-01-04T18:20:00.000-08:00

I love to bake, and I am definitely better at it than I am cooking (like by far, just ask Alain). So, during the holidays I <3 trying new recipes that I have ~~stalked~~ found from different blog sights. My favorite was these chocolate peppermint cookies. Oh, heaven!! I also attempted to make rolls for the first time in 14 years (bread is not my thing, I always kill the yeast). I always have fun baking everything, and guess what's even better? I get to partake of it all!!

Don't they look fantastic? (Thanks Jana for your famous recipe!)

This was the coolest looking jello salad on the blogosphere. Too bad mine didn't turn out so cute. It was super-yummy though!

LOOK! Delicious!!!!

Sugar cookies. The ~~dreaded~~ required holiday baking tradition.

I need to make a list of the cookies I made so I don't forget for next year's extravaganza:

chocolate peppermint (divine)

ginger softies (also divine)

peppermint

sugar

white chocolate cranberry

butterscotch

gooey chocolate

I think that's it :)

(I can't believe I ~~ate~~ baked all those cookies. Maybe not so many next year. In all reality, I'll probably end up adding more to my repertoire! YUM!!)

Bye Bye to my BFF

2011-01-04T18:01:00.000-08:00

I have had the absolute pleasure of living next to one of my oldest friends (we've known each other for 17 years). Sadly, this past month, she had to leave me :( I know it was for the best for her and her family, but dang, I MISS her!!

Here are a couple of fun things we did before she left.

Went dumpster diving looking for moving boxes.

See, we found a lot of good ones!

Isn't she cute?!

She dyed my hair.

(Can't believe I'm posting this pic!)

Ty <3's Liz!! He still asks about her every day :(

Rivards 'n Evans

(They got along so great!)

We had to take one of just these two because we have one of just them when they were less than a year old.

These two are like two peas in a pod!

Just bugging the heck out of Liz's mom, Dianne.

(Don't worry, she's used to it.)

Dora was so good to Liz and her family.

I know Monique is going to hate that I put this up, but Liz loves you!

Here we all are.

(Liz did have more friends, but they weren't invited into the kitchen. (Inside joke-ha ha!))

Liz, I love you and you are definitely missed. Insert sulking here_______.

A Sad, Sad Day :(

2011-01-04T17:42:00.000-08:00

This was the day where I could not take it anymore. I had had enough. So, I caved and did what any mother would NOT have done.

I chopped the curls :( He was looking more and more like a girl, and it was getting in his eyes. I had to clip it back everyday and it made him look like ~~a girl~~ Bam-Bam.

It doesn't look like a lot, but believe me, it was.

He loved showing it off!

See, here he's saying, "look at the top."

What a stud.

(Don't mind the crown of a Christmas tree.)

Christmas Deco Time

2011-01-04T17:37:00.000-08:00

This one was not allowed near the tree!

This one was working on a project that was due the next day.

This is who had the honor of decorating our ~~haphazard~~ beautiful tree.

Oh, the joys of tree shopping :) (This is only the second store we went to-ugh-the joys of living in a new town where you don't know all of the secret good spots for things.)

This was our first stop. Once again at Galloping Grace's. At least the kiddos had fun.

This is a happy mommy because ~~I was done~~ we were done.

Ruffle Scarf

2010-12-03T12:04:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd finally make something for myself, and here it is:

Now I just have to perfect it a little bit and make it in a zillion more colors!

GLiTTer WrEAth

2010-12-01T18:47:00.000-08:00

I was going to put this wreath on my laundry room door (which is right in the kitchen and where I hang all of my other holiday wreaths), but it was just too small and looked weird.

It is VERY glittery!

I ended up putting it above my glitter trees and subway art. I think it's still missing something, so I'll have to find something to make it look less empty. Until then ;)

GliTTer TrEEs

2010-12-01T11:08:00.000-08:00

Last night a bunch of girls from my ward came over and we all made our long-awaited glitter trees. It was a lot of fun, and I'll have to think of another craft we can ~~copy~~ do. I think mine came out okay. I love them and that's all that matters ;)

It's not totally set up because I need my hubby for that ;)

I totally forgot to take pictures of the ~~madness~~ creativity last night, but trust me there were people here.

Thanks girls for the funtastic night!!

"Real" Mexican Food

2010-12-01T11:02:00.000-08:00

I just wanted you to all take a peak at what REAL Mexican food looks like.

The most delicious food :)

Happy Turkey Day

2010-12-01T10:59:00.000-08:00

We were lucky enough to be able to go back to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving. Let me tell you, it was wonderful!! Boy have I missed "home." We I was able to eat at my favorite places and, of course, go shopping. Since ABQ doesn't have ~~anywhere to shop~~ the same stores as LV, it was nice.

For Thanksgiving my wonderful in-laws hosted, and Alain's biological mom and half-brother were able to come up from San Diego to be with us. After ~~stuffing ourselves senseless~~ eating a well-balanced meal we took the boys to see HP7. I liked it, but am hoping the second installment will be better.

On our way home (we drove to Flagstaff and then the next day drove the rest of the way) we woke up to this:

Yeah, we were a little surprised to say the least. We didn't even think of checking the weather!! Oh, well. Everything worked out okay, and the older boys were excited. We also went through another snowstorm in Gallup.

(Do you like Mr. Grumpy Pants in the corner?)

I'm glad we left when we did because I heard it just got worse throughout the day.

We are now back "home," gearing up for the holiday season.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday :)

Want This!!

2010-11-19T08:03:00.000-08:00

I have wanted a picture of the San Diego Temple for forever, well since we've been married (which seems like forever-JK). This website always has the cutest pictures, and I want one!! What do you think?

http://poppyseedprojects.com

This is Halloween, This is Halloween!

2010-11-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

We had quite the Halloween this year. It was filled with lots of parties and lots of fun. Nana and Pop Pop came from Las Vegas to help us celebrate. Here's to another successful Halloween!

This is how Ty greeted Nana. When he woke up from his nap he ran right to her and loved her (with his eyes closed in pure bliss) for at least 5 mins. This is a record breaker for Ty, if anyone doesn't know his true colors.

These are the bean bags I barely finished for a Halloween party we went to. Can you tell that (from the left) there is a ghost, candy corn, witch hat and bat? Yeah, I didn't think so. I tried my best :)

I didn't get to take any pictures from the party. The kids had fun, though! There were a ton of booths of games for them to play. They also loved just playing on the playground. It's always fun getting to know our new ward members better.

The dalmation costume was way too hot to wear to the party in the park, so we put him in this. Isn't he too cute?!

One of my friends is a balloon artist! Who knew, right?! Well, this is a parrot on his shoulder. He was sooo proud of it.

Carving pumpkins (I ABHOR it!). Cole made a Green Goblin.

Logan did a Star Trek symbol.

Here they are on their way to trick-or-treat!!

They ended up just going up and down our street. Even though they didn't go very far they still had a ton of candy. I can't imagine if they had gone all around Ventana Ranch!! It's a good thing, though, because now mommy won't be eating all the good stuff :)

McCall's Pumpkin Patch

2010-11-02T11:43:00.000-07:00

We heard about this great pumpkin patch about 45 minutes away from ABQ, so we thought we'd take a family trip and see what all the talk was about. It was totally worth it! We all had a lot of fun and can't wait to go back next year :)

Cole thought he was so cool riding in the big cow. They took a little tour around the barn and back. It was so cute to see him in there!

On the hay ride out to the pumpkin patch. It was freezing!! Don't all my boys look just a little bit crazy in this picture?!

Look at all those pumpkins!

You want to know the sad part? It was going to be a 20 min. wait once we were at the patch to get on the next hay ride. Since we already had like 5 pumpkins at home we decided to just stay on our hay and ride it back!!

The corn maze which mommy had to guide them out of. It actually was really hard. I can't imagine how we'd have ever found these 2 cuties had we let them go in on their own.

Once again, Cole's favorite, the duck races. See his serious face?

I swear to you they had the best fudge ever!! Thankfully I only bought 2 squares instead of the money-saving 6 Alain wanted me to buy :)

Here's my animals!!

Cole could not get the hang of this! He was either running into the tires or the grass. It was quite hilarious to watch!!

Logan, on the other hand, did very well. (Thank goodness! If not, I'd be a little bit worried.)

There was the coolest jumping contraption. It was level with the ground and air was pumped up from underneath to give it a round top. Then they just bounced and bounced.

This was the farthest I could get Ty to go.

It was freaking cold!! But I'd rather have cold than hot, for sure. By the time we left it was actually really nice.

Here's to next year :)

Trunk-or-Treat

2010-10-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

This year our ward had to have their annual trunk-or-treat early because of some kind of stake training this weekend. It didn't matter to us since all we cared about was the candy (JK)!! The boys had fun, and Logan especially had a blast dancing (albeit all by himself) at the dance afterwards.

Isn't he too freakin' cute?! (He's a dalmation, not a sheep.) All of our boys have now worn this costume. It's been well worth the $.

Cole was a skeleton, which he was totally stoked about (for some reason). The costume was so tight that it was going up his little tushy. Too cute!

Logan, and I can't belive I let him buy this, was a "Fart-o-Meter". It even had a little funnel to hold up to your butt to measure the fart. If you look closely you can see the meter. Quite lovely, isn't it?!

Alain was his classic '70s prom guy, and I was Sue Sylvester from the greatest show ever "Glee". Not very many people got who I was, but the ones who did are uber-cool in my book :)

Alain had to put Ty down because he was getting too heavy to carry, and he popped a squat right there in the middle of the road right in front of the trick-or-treaters. He just wanted to grub on that candy!

Since he was holding up the line Alain took him across the way to stuff his face.

Alain was quite a hit with his costume. One of the sister missionaries was laughing so hard she had to take a picture of him. Of course he was happy to oblige (with a great disco pose, too).

As always we had a lot of fun at our annual ward trunk-or-treat.

Grace's Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-25T15:22:00.000-07:00

Our ward went to a local pumpkin patch that helps raise money for a farm they have here that let's people ride their horses. (I don't know if that's exactly right, but it's something like that.)

I've seen plenty of sand pits, but never a corn pit. If you look closely those are corn kernels. Maybe I just need to get out more ;)

This is a picture of Cole and his new friend Jay just before their turn to ride the horses. Jay is very much like Cole, ie: likes Star Wars, video games, and Legos, so it has been a perfect fit. Every morning he asks if he can play with Jay.

This was Cole's first time on a horse, and he took to it like a natural!

He loved it! See, thumbs up :)

He thought it was great that he got to pedal around in a tractor. It took some getting used to, though. I had to help him get unstuck at the first corner.

The second picture is of him getting all three of his ring tosses on the pumpkin on the first try!!

I swear to you he was at this "duck race" for at least 30 minutes if not more.

They did a quick run through the corn maze and were very proud that they found their way out so quickly.

Cole was quite upset that I wouldn't let him buy a pumpkin. He thought he had found the perfect pumpkin. (We had already gotten 5 free ones so, no, I'm not a mean mommy.)

It was a lot of fun, and thank you Susan for setting this up for us :)

Fall Crafting.... Project #4

2010-10-15T10:18:00.000-07:00

This was a super simple project I found on a blog one day. I wish I could remember where, but I ~~stalk~~ look at so many that I can't recall which one had the idea.

Thank you to my mom for sending me the vinyl and the pattern for the bats.

Thank you to my awesome hubby for painstakingly cutting them out for me.

These are in my dining room. Super cute, huh?!

These are in my entry way.

Loves it!!

Fall Crafting....Projects #2 and #3

2010-10-13T09:20:00.000-07:00

Here are the second and third things I attempted to do for our fall decorations. I still have to get some glitter spray for the feather boa wreath, but I think it looks okay as is. I'll think on that one. Thank you to the girls who helped with the "BOO" wreath last night. I still think mine looks funky, but oh well. This is more crafts I've ever done in one year, so I should be proud of myself, right?! I still have one more fall craft that I want to do. I just have to see if I can flirt the Home Depot guy into cutting a huge 2x4 board for me into a million pieces (not a million, just every 3-5").

It looks better in person.

This one doesn't look better in person ;)

Now I have to start ~~stalking~~ looking at blogs for some Christmas decorations!

Fiesta Time!

2010-10-13T09:13:00.000-07:00

We went to the annual ABQ Balloon Fiesta this year. We were so happy to find out that we moved right in time to see it :) There are so many different times you can go to see the balloons, but we didn't want to pay for every time we wanted to go. So, after much deliberation we chose to see the special shapes and the balloon glow. However, after the amount of people that were at the special shapes show, we decided to forgo the balloon glow because we didn't want people running over Ty in the stroller. Next year we will definitely see the glow, though. We've seen pictures and can't wait to see it in person.

***I have no clue why this post is being nasty to me. When blogger stops being mean, I'll try to fix the pics.***

Cole's 1st Soccer Game!!!

2010-10-13T08:57:00.000-07:00

Cole played his first soccer game this past Saturday. He did great! The first time he came up to the ball he picked it up (which Alain had told him repeatedly not to do), but he realized what he did and put it right back down. There were not enough players to rotate, so he played the entire game. Poor thing, he was sick too! The coach saw that he was hacking up and down the field, so she put him in the goalie position. Guess what?! He blocked a goal!! Overall, it was a good game, and his team won :)

Go, Cole! We're so proud of you :)

**I tried to upload the videos Alain took, but they weren't working. Maybe next time you'll be able to see the little guy in action ;)

Exercise and Fun

2010-10-13T08:34:00.000-07:00

After having moved here to ABQ we found out that a gym membership for both Alain and I, including day care for the kiddies, would be $180 A MONTH!!!! Back home we were paying $35 for both of us and the day care. Needless to say, we're not joining a gym anytime soon. I've gained 10 lbs since moving here, so I decided that I needed to get some exercise (stress will do that to ya). Anyone who knows me knows that that simple task is not an easy one for me. With my hip needing replaced and my knee on the fritz, it's hard for me to find things to do that won't put me in massive pain all day, every day (I'm not 80, I've only turned 30 2 times; I'm just a lemon). I decided I wanted to get a bike trailer so that I could get outside (we only have 1 car, so I'm stuck at home everyday) as well as the kids could see the sun from outside our house. FYI: the park is out of the question since I have a dare-devil for a 19 month old.

Needless to say, I love it and the kids love it.

See how I can lock them in there?!

Condomints (yes, I meant to spell it that way)

2010-10-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

We were at one of our family's favorite stores last Friday night (Costco!), and as we were waiting in the check-out line, Logan (our 10 year old) and I had a conversation that went something like this:

Logan: Mom, did you know I have to watch something called a puberty video this year?

Me: Yes, I did hear that. (I heard from another mom that they teach the kids how to masturbate. Not happy with that one.)

Logan: Yeah, one of my friends said that they're going to hand out condomints. What are condomints?

Me: (OMG) Interesting. We'll have to talk about this later.

First of all, I don't think it's okay for the ABQ school districts to MAKE our children watch this video. From hearsay, they do not allow the parents to opt out of their child seeing the video. Alain and I want to be able to talk to Logan about these sorts of things, which of course we'll do before he watches the video at school. I am very torn between my 10 year old son needing to know about masturbating and condomints (condoms for those a little bit slower). I know he's going to find out sooner rather than later. I guess I just want to keep him young forever.

Does anybody out there have any advice to give me about this? How do we have this conversation with our 10 year old? Should we tell him EVERYTHING (even about condomints)?

Fall Crafting... Project #1

2010-10-05T11:18:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling kind of crafty since I've got nothing to do here in ABQ, so I decided to ~~stalk~~ look at blogs to find some cute things to attempt to make while I'm dying of boredom. This first project was totally easy to do! It's made by mod podging napkins onto pumpkins that I found at a craft store. My pumpkins are ceramic, but you could use any kind you wanted to. I've got a number of things I'm still going to do, and hopefully I won't end up spending too much money on a million things that I don't have room to store ;)

Cinnamon Buns

2010-10-05T11:10:00.000-07:00

This conference weekend we were able to chillax as a family, which was SO nice. Last week seemed never-ending with all of the things we had to do. Only having one car puts a damper on when I can run my errands, so our weeknights and weekends are packed with doing those errands or running the kids around to the various things they have going on.

So, sorry about the ranting there, getting back to the original point of this post ;). This conference weekend we were stoked because we all knew that Sunday morning we would be able to partake of the most delicious breakfast: monkey brains. Now if you don't know what "monkey brains" are it's a type of dessert/breakfast dish made with frozen bread and lots of sugary goodness. You bake it in the oven and partake of it with yummy cream cheese frosting. We started this tradition because Alain's family always had cinnamon rolls on Sunday morning conference. His mom would make homemade cinnamon rolls and everyone would ~~veg-out~~ watch conference. I, however, am not a great homemaker, so I always bought Cinnabon buns. This got too expensive, so I started making monkey brains (which taste just like a cinnamon roll, just made in a bundt pan). Fast forward to this last weekend... and we are tight on money. This meant I wouldn't be able to spend the $ on Rhodes Rolls (because I'm ~~cheap~~ trying to make more things from scratch to help with my homemaking skills). I had the grand idea to make my own cinnamon rolls. Wow, was it an adventure!! My great friend Liz gave me a recipe that she said was great, so I forged ahead. After about 6 hours, I had homemade cinnamon rolls, and they weren't that bad! I'm feeling a lot better about my bread baking skills, so I've got a lot more recipes I'm going to try. Hopefully they'll be even better than my now infamous Conference Cinnamon Rolls :)

Doesn't that look deeelicious?!

Three Blind (By Blind I Mean Dead) Mice Warning: May Gross Out Viewers

2010-10-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

**If any of you are wondering why I'm posting this ridiculously disgusting entry, it's because my gross husband made me!!!

When we moved into the house we're renting (which was vacant for a while and right next to a gigantic field) Alain and I heard some scratching outside our bedroom wall. We thought nothing of it because it sounded like the birds that scratched outside our bedroom in LV. One day Alain went outside to see if there was any bird poop so that he could start killing (I don't mean this literally) the little flappers with his lovely dart gun he bought specifically for this purpose. Guess what he found? NOTHING. OMG!!! That meant, as so he told me, that we had mice. (See me almost fainting, here.) I told him we had to call the rental agency (thankfully remembering that we wouldn't have to fork out a bunch of our $$$ for this) right away and get somebody out here ASAP. So, like most husbands do, he didn't. It wasn't until our son found a huge hole in one of his fruit snack wrappers as he was packing his lunch that Alain got some fire lit under his butt. I won't forget to mention the hundreds of little mouse poop I found littering our garage after Logan told me this!! Whatever it takes, right? The very nice "Mouse Guy" as we so affectionately call him came within a few days and said he didn't find anything to suggest we had mice. I told him we could hear them scurrying and chewing on stuff in our attic (see me dry heaving, here). To make a long story semi-short, he has come back 3 times and finally this last time caught 3 mice. We haven't heard them since, so hopefully we're rodent free now. If not, I might literally SCREAM (and not the nice kind of screaming, unless as by nice you mean a bunch of 4-letter words).

Here are the culprits:

Tierra Antigua Fall Festival

2010-10-02T13:14:00.000-07:00

**This is going to be picture overload, but I don't care ;)**

Last Friday Logan's school had a Fall Festival to raise moneys for their school. We went as a family and had a lot of fun. There were these little things you sat on and used your arms to steer and make go. Cole did it, and I'm so bummed I didn't get a picture because it was hilarious! He was supposed to be weaving in and out of his cones, but he had gone all the way to the other side of the black top. The teacher in charge of this activity did not think it was as hilarious as I did. I was sending her evil-eye messages and telling her, telepathically of course, to lighten up. Overall it was a fun night for the kids, and that's all that matters. But no more paying out the wazoo for these school activities. Oh wait, I have a jog-a-thon to pay for next week!!

Abby and Cole
(one of my best friend's girls)

Daryn and Logan
(again, one of my best friend's girls)

Classic fishing game.

He loved this one. I think he played it like 3 times.

Isn't Cole's face hilarious?! I often wonder what in the world he's thinking....

This game was REALLY hard! You had to lift up a rubber ducky to see if there was a dot on the bottom of it. Good thing Cole's super smart!!

Cammi and Logan
(the last of my best friend's girls)

I Want to be a Missionary Now

2010-10-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

When I take a shower Cole and Ty always play in our closet, preferably in the dirty clothes pile. Gross, I know. It doesn't matter how many times I tell them that it's gross, or to put them back, they still end up burying themselves in the clothes. The other day Cole walked out with Alain's shirt on. I thought it was adorable and it reminded me of the church picture in our building of the little boy in a way-too-big suit with a missionary tag on. So I asked Cole if he wanted to be a missionary, and his reply was, "Yeah, then I can wear one of those jackets all the time." I thought it was funny, and also very poignant because Cole has noticed that the elders wear their suits. Anyway, it was quite a hilarious day for us.

Do you like the church shoes, too? He kept tripping every two steps!

Of course Ty had to get in on the action. The crusty, dirty, shirt he picked was not "missionary attire" though.

When Alain came home and saw the shirt where Ty shed it, he asked if that wasn't a dirty shirt. I said it was and he was disgusted with me. You moms know that playing with dirty laundry is a battle not worth fighting, right?!

**Please ignore all the crap strewn about the house in the background of the pics. I hadn't gone through WWIII yet that day to get all the toys picked up.**

Soccer

2010-09-24T09:16:00.001-07:00

We are so excited that Cole has decided that he wants to play soccer. I was kind of concerned because of what we went through with Logan, but Cole LOVED it!! He was so excited to run out there and kick the ball. He was actually kind of good at it, too :) We tried on his cleats and shin guards a couple hours early, and he wouldn't take them off! I can't wait until they have their first game and we're able to see how Cole does.

Doesn't he already look like he knows what he's doing?!

Look at that huge smile of joy :)

Good kick, Cole!

Volcanoes.... in Albuquerque?

2010-09-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

We live on the top of a mesa here in Albuquerque, so we've been told. On this mesa is some volcanoes, so Alain was very excited to tell Logan about it and take him hiking there. It's literally not even 3 mins. from our house, so it was something nice to do early one Saturday morning. They both loved it and learned a little bit about the volcanoes.

Alain found out that they aren't "real" volcanoes, but actually volcano fissures. If you're that interested you can ask him whatever that means.

This is the snake that Alain had to save Logan from stepping on. EWWW!!

Isn't he cute?

Old Town

2010-09-02T19:42:00.001-07:00

The week that we moved here we desperately needed a break from unpacking, so Alain decided that we should see Old Town. He had been there before from a business trip, so he was excited to show us around a little bit.

The boys loved this fountain. It is surrounded by a bunch of little shops. It's cute.

Just chillin'.

There's that Chuckie face again :)

These are some of the views of Old Town. It's not very big, and there's really not much to do there, but it's nice. There are a bunch of shops surrounding this park. It reminds me lot of Jackson Hole, WY.

Back to School, ABQ Style

2010-09-02T19:33:00.001-07:00

Look at this stud!!!

I literally cannot believe that my firstborn is in 5th grade!! Next year he'll be in middle school, and I don't know that I'm ready for that.
This was Logan's first day of school. We rushed to move so that he could be here on or near the first day of school. ABQ starts school way earlier than LV, so we moved as fast as we could, and it paid off. He started on the second day of the school year which wasn't too bad since the first day was a half day anyway.
So far he loves it and is thriving at Tierra Antigua. It is a new school that only opened last year. Coming from LV, it is an amazing school. It's awesomely designed, two stories, huge playgrounds and fields, instead of the brick prisons we've been used to.
Logan's only request was that he have a boy teacher. Unbeknownst to us, he got one!! He was so bummed because we knew in LV that he was going to have one, so he was very upset when he learned that he was going to have to switch schools. So far it's turned out ok, and he loves his teacher. I like TA because they are preparing Logan for middle school. They switch teachers throughout the day just like they do in middle school. So even though I don't think he's ready for middle school (he's my baby, and I taught middle school, so I know what it's like!!!) they're trying to prepare him as much as they can for the crazy experience he'll be having next year.
Good luck, Logan! I know you'll do and be great this year. I love ya!

Bye-Bye Las Vegas :(

2010-09-02T19:08:00.000-07:00

Many of you may not know, but Alain and I have lived in Las Vegas for 12 years until about 2 weeks ago. We moved there a year after we were married, so we felt like it was going to be home for forever. All our children were born there, and we created many special memories. However, Alain was let go from his job last November due to the economy. Nine months later, he got hired at a firm in Albuquerque. It was a shock for us, but we know this is where we're supposed to be.
We had a little get together thrown for us before we left. Thank you to all who came and said good-bye. We miss everyone we got to know in our years in Vegas, but we know we'll make new friends here in ABQ. This is just some pictures of the people who came to support us on this new journey.

Heather and Justin Williams. They were our neighbors for 7 years, and great friends. There were many a day/night when they were there when we needed them.

Lucien and Delight Paet. I was her visiting teacher, albeit a very bad one. Sorry Delight!!

Annie and Brandon Barkhuff. I taught their son Aidan in my preschool. I loved him!

This is Alain's friend, Catherine. She is one of the sweetest people I think I've ever met.

Leslie and Joe Terry. What can I say about the Terry's? We miss you guys a TON!!

These are some of the people Alain worked with at his old firm. (They are the good ones :)

Kelley and Reese Howell, Jennie and Rob Ogden, and Allison and Chad Waldron. They are all too much fun! They were always good for a hoot and a holler :)

Lindsey Sechrist and Brittney Herlean. I don't think I'll look at sushi the same again after this meal we had. OYSHI!!

Good-bye San Diego :(

2010-09-02T18:16:00.001-07:00

When we went to San Diego this past July we knew that it was probably the last time we'd be able to go because of Alain's new job. We tried to make the best of it.

Since we were so excited to go we were so devastated when our tire blew out about 45 mins. out of LV. It was HORRIBLE!!

It took them about a half our just to figure out how to change the tire and where everything was. Cars were honking at us, as if it was our fault we got a flat tire. Alain got a massive burn on his elbow from trying to look for the spare and touching the hot muffler.
It was a great experience (can you sense the sarcasm) that I hope to NEVER have again!

While we were in SD Alain went on his yearly "brothers trip" to Comicon (can we say GEEKS?) while me and the boys spent some time at the SD Zoo. We were all able to go to the Wild Animal Park, the beach (which was FREEZING), and La Jolla. It was extra special since Uncle Clint was able to be with us too.

Three of my four handsome boys.

This was cool because they could go in the turtle thingy and be spun around. They loved it!

Cole was the only one who wanted to feed the deer. He has no fear!

We had lunch near this hill, so the boys enjoyed rolling down it. It brought back many memories of my childhood when we would go to the church near our house and roll down their hill. It seemed huge at the time, but I know now that it was a tiny little thing.

Me and my Cole-buddies.

Ty loved the beach. A little too much in fact. He kept on racing into the water. I don't understand why because if was unbearably cold. The whole vacation it was cold, but I didn't mind coming from 110 weather.

Logan spent his time trying to make a little kiddie pool so Ty wouldn't dive into the ocean. Isn't that nice of him? It never worked though because the water kept on seeping into the sand. Nice try, Logan!

Here's Cole helping his older brother out. Isn't he a sweetie?!

Our last trip was to La Jolla. It was soooo nice! It brought back memories for Alain and I since we went there when we were dating. It was also great weather, and just all around beautiful.
This here is Uncle Clint and Uncle Michael in the look out with the boys.

Isn't it gorgeous?

There were so many pictures I took that were gorgeous, but I didn't want to bore all of you with them. Here's one of my faves.

Good-bye San Diego, you've been good to us. We love you and will miss you tons!

First Girl's Trip.... Take 2

2010-09-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

This is the Disney Concert Hall. It looks kind of like a ship, don't you think? It was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. We both want to go back and see a concert there.

There is a famous restaurant called Phillipe's. It is famous for it's roast beef sandwiches, so we had to try it. Who would've known that the night we went there they would be all out of roast beef? It was ok, though, we just went back the next day, and boy was it good. They need to have a sign on their squirt bottles, though. What I thought was a mild horesradish sauce turned out to be a hotter than hell horseradish sauce!! I literally felt my sinuses open up. We had the best lemon mirengue pie there. It was to die for. I didn't get a picture of the goods, though, because we were so hungry. It's probably for the best since you'd all be jealous ;)

Isn't it crazy? There were a ton of people there! It's really cool because the floor is covered in sawdust. It also had a bunch of old-fashioned telephone booths.

Next is what I like to call Little Mexico. It is LA's Garment District where there is a ton of clothing and other stuff. I can't lie, I was totally scared, kind of like the time I went to Tijuana, but I got the cutest stuff there for dirt cheap. Leslie and I get comments on our $5 purses we got there all the time. We would've loved to have gone during the week when all of the stores were open, but that would've just added to my anxiety and Leslie's pleasure ;)

Of course we went to the Hollywood Star Walk of Fame (that's what it's called, right?).

We drove around and around this twisty-turny street to get a picture of this sign. We were no where near it! Thank goodness my camera has a great zoom thingy.

Chinese Grauman's Theatre (or however you spell it) was cool, and I had no clue it was right next to the Kodak Theatre or that it was on the Walk of Fame.

It was cool seeing where all the stars have their award shows.

There was so much more that we saw and so many more things we got to do, ie: Dodger Stadium, the Ronald Reagan Library, shopping, every "Town" there was, more shopping, eating, and of course more eating. I can't thank Leslie enough for taking me and making my life so relaxing that weekend.

Anyone up for a Second Girl's Trip?!

First Girl's Trip.... Ever!!

2010-07-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, but I have never been away from my family for any type of vacation. My good friend Leslie heard this and decided that after 13 years, it was time to have a" Girl's Trip." I rightfully agreed, with much pleasure, and we set a date. I can honestly say that it was AMAZING!!! We just went to L.A. for a weekend, but still, I loved every minute of it. I had never been (crazy, I know) but Leslie had; however, she had never been to the places we went, so it worked out perfectly! Thank you so much Leslie for being such a good friend and vacation buddy :)
Our first stop was to Leslie's Aunt Becky's house which she so lovingly let us crash at. Her house is amazing!! The first night we just did a little retail therapy, where Leslie showed me how to really shop :)

The next morning we set out on the town.Can you tell how excited we are?!!?!?

The first stop was the L.A. temple. I had never been there and couldn't believe how massive it was! We saw at least 6 different brides in a matter of like 10 minutes. I can't imagine how busy it was inside!
Next we visited Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive (totally not what we expected at all!). It might seem weird to some, but we literally just drove around and took pictures from the car. What's the point in walking around somewhere where you can't afford anything anyways?!

Does anyone recognize this hotel? Yep, Pretty Woman!!

We thought it was funny that these Orthodox Jews were walking right down the street next to our lunch joint, which was Pink's Hot Dogs! We were going to take a picture of them, but missed due to traffic. Funny thing was that when we turned down some odd street, there they were!! It was so funny that we had to take a picture of the poor guys :)

Here's the famous, original, Pink's.

We waited in line for a little over an hour, short by most day's standards, but it was totally worth it!!

Doesn't this look deeeelicious?!!? It was :)

Our husbands are huge LA Ink fans, (who am I kidding, so am I) so we decided to stop by and take a peek.

It was totally different inside than what I imagined.

On TV it looks huge, but it really isn't. Can you say JEALOUS, Joe?!?!??!

There's a ton more to post about, but I think this one is long enough. Stay tuned :)

Thirty-Five Years Young

2010-07-11T20:42:00.001-07:00

It's official! Alain's an OLD man ;) He turns 35 tomorrow, so we had our family celebration tonight. In attendance: his dad and step-mom, his mom and youngest brother Michael, Jake and Emalisa, and our family. It turned out well, if I do say so myself. He wanted sliders, so I did 3 different kinds with fries and a strawberry salad. As always, we had Black Forest Cake for dessert, which was a rather abstract version
that turned out mighty cute :)
I love you hon!It looks kind of gross, but it really was appetizing!One year older and wiser, too! (We hope.)

Ty's Mess

2010-07-11T20:35:00.000-07:00

I was cleaning out the pantry this week, and our little rascal snuck out a box of cereal when I wasn't looking and did this:

Not even an hour later the pantry door was obviously left unlocked and I heard, "Not again!". Yes, he had done it again, and it looked like this:

Alain was so mad!! He went storming to get the vacuum. What did I do? I went to find the camera! :)

Bow Ties and the 4th of July

2010-07-04T18:22:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to make bow ties for my boys to wear to church for the longest time. I finally decided that what better weekend to do it than the 4th of July? I went to the fabric store and picked a few different fabrics for them to have. Then after the celebration of the 3rd (read previous post) I made them. Boy, talk about a long and arduous task!!! Once I got it down I was ok, but then it took me like an hour to figure out how to tie them. It is HARD!! But, once again, once you figure it out you wonder what took you so long in the first place. I'll be making some more for them to wear on Sundays because they were just too stinkin' cute!!I loved that we were able to dress up for church in patriotic colors!Cole made this is Primary. Isn't it cute?!Ty wanted a picture with me. Don't you love the face?! (He's scrunching his nose up. That's why he looks so crazy :)Clowning around!
Isn't he sexy? I mean, seriously, what a hunk of a man!!

America's Independence (a day early)

2010-07-04T18:12:00.000-07:00

Since 4th of July was on a Sunday this year, we decided to do our family celebration on the 3rd. We went to a local park and played in the water features they had there. My in-laws tried to BBQ hot dogs, but it was waaayyy too windy, so we went back to our house to grill inside. The kids had fun, so that's all that matters :) Later that night we went in the front yard to do our kids' favorite fireworks: sparklers!! We also did some Glow Worms, which Cole calls Worm Turds (since that's what they really look like).
The lighting of the sparklers.

It's A Girl!!!!

2010-07-01T20:53:00.000-07:00

I don't know that I have to say anything else....

Wouldn't I have had THE cutest girl?
(Ty, don't hate me when you're older. I HAD to do it!!)

Eclipse

2010-06-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

I, like a lot of other women, loved the Twilight Series books. One of my friends buys out a theater for every opening night, so we all get to go out and enjoy a fun girls night out. (Yes, I am unbelievably tired today, but didn't get to sleep in very much because I have a jam-packed day today. Hence, no nap either.) Last night was no exception :) We went to Cafe Rio for some yumminess, then headed to the movie. Right before Cafe Rio we decided to make a stop at Target, and look what we found!! That's right, "Team Edward" t-shirts!!!! I never thought in a million years I would buy one of these, but it was on clearance for $3.74 so I couldn't resist. My friend Lindsey was so embarrassed at us, but thanks for being a good sport anyways! I had a lot of fun, and have decided next opening night is going to be "Pajama Night" for me.

Me, Lindsey, WhitneyThese are all girls from my ward!!

I had a ton of fun, loved the company, and will keep on keeping on with the tradition of the midnight showings!!

Thanks girls for a fabulous much needed night out, and especially Jennie for setting it all up! U R do best ;)

Soap in the Eye!

2010-06-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

This morning Cole was taking a shower with Logan helping him, and he came out crying that he had soap in his eye. Logan had given him the normal soap to wash his hair instead of the baby shampoo, so when he was washing and rinsing his hair he got it in his eyes. Cole insisted he get a band-aid over his eye to make it feel better. It was quite hilarious!!

Popcorn Popping

2010-06-28T11:11:00.001-07:00

Ty has taken a liking to popcorn. He has even learned how to say it :) It's the cutest thing ever! I swear he could eat a whole big bag if I let him. I even tried passing off the 100 calorie popcorn to slow down his carb intake, but he wouldn't have anything to do with that. He wants the full-on Movie Butter popcorn that is oh so delicious!

Happy Father's Day!!

2010-06-28T11:00:00.001-07:00

This Father's Day I made an egg quiche (which I totally forgot to take a picture of) that was mighty tasty if I do say so myself. We then went to church where we had Marie Callender pies for the men. Afterwards we had the fam over for dinner of Alain's choice: hot dogs. Interesting, wouldn't you say?! He said it went well, and I think it did too. The boys were much, much better than they were on Mother's Day, and Alain was spoiled with niceness :) At preschool we made a hand print poem thingy, and Logan made Alain a beautiful mug... too bad you can't see how darn cute it is in the picture ;)
Alain is a fabulous father, and I couldn't ask for a better daddy for my kiddos.

Here's the gorgeous mug. It says, "Drink me up!"I forgot to add the cute BBQ brownie/cupcake we made. We used Hot Tamales for the hot dogs :)Aren't they just too cute for words?!

Totally Surprised!

2010-05-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

If you know our little Ty-guy you know he is anything but quiet. So it came as quite a surprise today in church when I looked down at the chunker on my lap and he had his arms folded. That's right, folded!! They were saying one of the prayers and he had folded his arms all by himself. We're totally bad parents and haven't taught him this yet, so I guess he's just really smart! ;) It just goes to show that he watches and understands much, much more than we think he does. He even continued to do it throughout church with all of the rest of the prayers. It was a total surprise!! Good job Ty-genious :)
PS- I know you're thinking that your kids did this on their own too, just let me have my "Proud Mom" moment, okay?!

Cub Scout Day Camp-2010

2010-04-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

This year's Day Camp's theme was "The Wild Wild West." It seemed like Logan (and Alain) had a lot of fun. The stake always does such a good job putting it together. I was surprised to find out that this is Logan's last year doing it. I had no clue that the cut-off age is 11, and next year's camp will be a couple weeks after Logan turns 11. So sad!! I don't know who's more upset about it, Alain or Logan ;) Logan has been very lucky to have had his dad in the Cub Scout program with him all of these years. Hopefully when he's older he'll see how nice it was. Actually, I know they both like having each other at Scouts (Alain's still cool; we haven't hit the "parents are embarrassing" phase yet), so I'm sure he already does appreciate it.

Anyhow, this is Logan's really good friend Cole. They hung out the entire time. I love that he has a good friend, and that they get along so well.Here we are waiting, ever so patiently, for the egg drop. Usually it takes forever, but this time it went pretty fast. (We're ALWAYS the last den to go. Go figure!) Cole was running around aimlessly the whole time, so he couldn't be found for a photo-op.
There she goes! Thanks to Alain's wonderful schematic design, the egg arrived safely on the ground.

Playtime... Outside!

2010-04-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

The weather in Vegas is really warm in April, and since it was in the 80's last week, I decided to let Ty venture outside for the first time. (I know, I'm a protective freak of a parent, but he's the kid who would eat the dirt, rocks, grass and bugs. He'd probably also fall off of every toy out there and get a concussion. There are a million other things this rascal could get into.) Let me just say: he loved it! It was HOT out there, and his cheeks were bright red, but he was having so much fun. He found this ball and would not let go of it (so cute!).

Sticker Face

2010-04-30T20:50:00.001-07:00

Ty is just a tiny bit obsessed with stickers. He had a sticker attack from his brother Cole, and since then he's been stuck (get it, stuck?). He finds stickers and and brings them up to me and sticks out his arm for me to put them on. It is so freaking cute!!I mean, seriously, how cute is that?!

Clark County Fair

2010-04-30T20:36:00.001-07:00

We have now lived in Vegas for 12 years. One of the things that all "natives" talk about is the Clark County Fair in Logandale. We have also talked about it, but we've never gone. This year we decided that we were finally going to do it, and thanks to our good friends (the Terry's) we were able to go and have a blast. It was great because the boys had friends to run around with and go on the rides with. I didn't have a clue as to what to expect, but I was super excited because I grew up in an agricultural town and every summer we would go to the County Fair that was, luckily, in our town. It was huge!! Actually, it still is. I've always wanted to take my boys to the one in my home town, but we've never been able to make it work with our schedules. I have to say the CCF wasn't as big or nice, but it was still something fun for my kids to do. I was really excited to see that the carnival they had there was pretty good. We were surprised that there were so many kiddie rides for Cole to go on, so it was worth all the money we spent.Leslie is the best!! She took Cole on the rides for me so I could stay in the shade with Ty. Cole didn't want me taking him on the rides, so it worked out perfectly.
Logan hung out with Camden and Carson. They had so much fun together!! I was surprised they went on some pretty scary rides.

Thanks Terry's!!

Logan's Birthday Celebration

2010-04-30T17:16:00.001-07:00

Since Logan didn't get a birthday party this year, he decided he wanted to go to Circus Circus and take a friend to a movie. We were cool with that except the weekend before his birthday we went to the Clark County Fair (see previous post) and they had a HUGE carnival extravaganza that they were able to experience, so we did that instead of Circus Circus. (He's holding out for Iron Man 2 to come out for his movie.) So since there wasn't anything for him to do on his birthday we took him and his friend Brady to Chuck E. Cheese's. He also got to go to Cheeburger Cheeburger with us and his grandparents. He acted like he was embarrassed when they sang to him, but we all know he loved it :) Everyone loved it and had a lot of fun. It was Ty's first time there, and he had a blast.

My 10 Year Old Boy

2010-04-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

I seriously cannot believe that my Logan is 10 years old!! First of all, I cannot believe it's gone by that fast, and secondly, I don't feel THAT old. I am so greatful for Logan and the sweet spirit he has been to our family for the last 10 years.
10 Things We LOVE About Logan:
-He loves to be in charge. Give him any task, and he will make sure that it gets done. He especially likes telling people what to do.
-When he wants something, he sets his mind to it. Don't let anyone tell him no, because once he thinks of it, he's going to find a way to do it.
-He is an AWESOME helper around the house. When I can't count on anyone else to get it done, I can always count on Logan to do it for me.
-If I forget something or can't remember this or that, leave it to Logan to remember it!
-He is always on the straight and narrow. He has never wavered in what he believes and we love that about him.
-He will speak up for what is right. Even when people he doesn't know are doing things they shouldn't, he has no qualms about letting them know it.
-He has the softest and kindest heart. When someone is down he always tries to cheer them up. He is always the first one to offer a tissue when I'm crying (which is hardly ever by the way).
-He tries at things that he knows he isn't good at. He complains about it, but he always tries, albeit reluctantly.
-He is obsessed with airplanes. For the longest time it was trains, and he wanted to be an engineer. But since he's older now, it has become airplanes and wanting to be a pilot. He has not wavered about this for quite a while now (here comes in the #2 reason why we love this guy).
-And last, but not least, we love that smile! It can always brighten up someone's day with the nice straight teeth and hugely opened mouth. (Evidenced by every picture he's in, as well as our Christmas card 2 years ago)
We love you Logan and are so thankful to have you in our family. Happy Birthday!!

Easter-2010

2010-04-30T16:36:00.000-07:00

Later is better than never, right?! We had a calm Easter with General Conference being the same day. Our traditional Monkey Brains were eaten for breakfast, along with a yummy classic Easter dinner. Luckily Alain's brother and his wife were able to come over and spend the holiday with us. Who knows if they'll do it again, though. Our kids are crazy, and crazy in love with them. It seems as though they can't spend more than 5 minutes away from Jake and Emalisa. So, thank you Jake and Emalisa for being such good sports!

We colored eggs, which the boys loved, of course.
The egg hunt went well with everyone finding all the eggs this year. We usually (and when I say "We" I mean the boy Easter Bunny) cannot remember where all of the eggs are hidden. This year a girl Easter Bunny came, so they were all remembered and all found.

Venting.....

2010-04-30T16:16:00.000-07:00

I have to start off by saying that I appreciate all my girl friends that put up with me last night while we were stuffing our faces with Grimaldi's pizza and Godiva Cheesecake (YUM!). I was a little frustrated and could not, and I mean could not, get over it. The thing I need to vent about is this: I HATE it when someone says they're going to do something, and then they never do. Instead, they screw you, probably thinking you're never going to even find out. WRONG! Anywho, if you can't tell, the venting has needed to continue on into today. Hopefully I'll be able to be cooled down by tomorrow. If not, I might have to give a shout-out to one of our friend's blogs, Stupid People Hater, and start blog-venting about all the stupid people who screw you over and don't even care. Maybe that's what I should call it!?

BTW, thanks girls for letting me crazy-vent and for making it such a special night for Rachel. Thanks Rachel, we love you and miss you already :)

New Background

2010-04-07T19:27:00.000-07:00

A little tid-bit of information for you all (because I know you guys have always wanted to know this). Debra in Hebrew means "Honeybee," hence the new background. :)

32

2010-04-02T20:05:00.000-07:00

Thirty-two. That's how old I am now, and I feel OLD! I know I'm not, but come on, you guys know what I mean. I'm no longer in the "young crowd" but I'm also not in the "older crowd." I think I'm going to have to make up a new crowd for myself. I'll think on that one.

I had a wonderful birthday. We were in San Diego (Carlsbad for those of you who know the area) for the big day, which was very nice. Alain bought me donuts for breakfast, took me to my favorite restaurant in Carlsbad (Overseas) and then we tried a new Mexican restaurant for dinner. Shopping was of course on the agenda, and I scored a very cute pair of jeans at Gap for $20!! I was also able to take my boys to see that new dragon movie, and it was dang cute!! Overall it was a great day, and I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful husband and 3 boys to have shared it with.Let's hope this year is a good one :)

Bellingham and Seattle, WA

2010-04-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

Alain and I had a great time in Washington last week. We thought it would be a good place to move our family, but after being there we decided it was not right for us. I just didn't get the Brigham Young "This is the place" feeling that I was hoping for. Oh well, at least we got a vacation without the kiddos. (Thanks again, Alain and Jana, for watching them for us!)

We took a drive on Chatanuck Dr. (I don't think I spelled that right.) It was breathtaking. Here's only one of the many spectacular views we saw. I kept on bugging Alain pretending that I was in the movie Twilight.I almost hit a deer while we were driving.
We stayed with my Uncle Stan and Aunt Connie while we were there. I saw my uncle and thought of my younger brother, Derek. Man, it is uncanny how exactly alike they are! Connie and Stan have an amazing log home with views you wouldn't believe. The pictures, in no way, do it justice. It's for sale if you have 1.3 million you're just sitting on. :)
Here's the view from our room. AMAZING!
Seattle was soooo cool! It reminded me a lot of San Francisco's Pier 39 that I grew up visiting quite a bit. Here's us at the Waterfront.
Pike's Place Market had the prettiest flowers and produce I've ever seen.
Sadly, I didn't get to see a fish thrown. I was in the bathroom! (Where else, right?!)
Tulips are my favorite, and there were tons of them! Aren't they gorgeous?!
Not that's a LOT of cheese!
These donuts were yummy in my tummy :) We ate so much food there that I felt like I was going to be sick.
We got to see the Chittenden Locks. Sadly there weren't any salmon running. It would've been so cool to see that! The entire trip I kept saying, "The kids would've loved this," and this area was no exception.And, of course, the Space Needle.

We got to go to an oyster farm. It was freezing! Just a few miles down the road my Uncle and Aunt treated us to the best seafood buffet I've ever been to, and that's saying a lot having lived in Vegas for the last 12 years. I'd take another trip just to eat there again. Sick, I know.

The last day my aunt and uncle took us up to a summit with amazing view. It was a long bumpy ride to get to the top, and I had to go to the bathroom BADLY!! Stan said it was just a little ways and I jumped out right in time to run up to the woods to do my business. (I do have pictures to prove to my boys that their mother has peed in the woods, but I will not blind you with them here.) Anyhow, we got in the car and drove, kid you not, like 100 ft. further down the road just over a little hill, and what was there? A bathroom!! That's right, could've saved myself the humiliation and pee on my pants if we would've driven a 100 ft. more. Good times, good times. :)

Ty's 1st Birthday!

2010-04-01T19:49:00.001-07:00

Ty turned 1 on Feb. 26th. I'm a horrible mother because he's over 13 months and I'm just now blogging about it! Oh well, what can you do?

He had a great day, as we all do when we turn 1. It was filled with tantrums, crying, and whining, which brought on hugs, loves, and kisses. So, overall, it was good :)
We gave him his first cupcake, which he devoured (what else coming from him, right?). It got to the point where he had eaten the entire thing, and he was taking his finger and scraping off the frosting from his hands to get more sugary goodness in his mouth. We were all laughing hysterically.

One thing we love about Ty:

He thinks he is older than his 1 year, and wants to be just like his brothers. If he is left our of preschool in any fashion he throws the biggest fits until we let him be in the room. It's quite amazing that he knows what he wants at this age. I can't wait for him to be able to talk to TELL us what he wants instead of screaming or shrieking his demands.

I can't just list one thing, so here are some more:

We also love him because he keeps us on our toes. He has been the only baby to get in EVERY single one of our drawers, closets, and cabinets and take everything out of them.

He makes the silliest faces, which we love and nickname, ie: cheese face (see previous post).

He learned to walk on his birthday, and we are proud to announce that he no longer is doing the Lemer walk (hands in the air to balance), so he is now doing the bulldog walk (legs spread wide so as not to rub the thigh pudge).

We love our little guy and are so glad that he came here to us. He sure is a blessing.
Ty, we love you!My adorably cute, big, Little Man.
Don't be deceived by his devilishly good looks.
You have to get a really good bite to make it taste good, right?

What a cute family!

Star Wars

2010-02-22T19:15:00.000-08:00

Cole, to say the least, is OBSESSED with Star Wars. He goes around humming the theme song continuously all day. If you see him shaking his hands in a ball and then throwing a pretend something at you, it's "The Force." Cole's collection of Star Wars "guys" as he calls them is getting pretty immense. Almost every day he asks if he can go get a "guy" from the store. As you can see, it was fitting that we throw him a Star Wars themed birthday party. Here are only a few of the pictures and events from his day.

I had a ton of fun planning it! I just love a themed party:) (If anyone's interested in having one before we leave, let's do it!)

There were 6 games, plus a pinata planned because I knew there were going to be a lot of kids there (17 to be exact). Because there were going to be so many children, I broke them up into groups, then we rotated through the games so each child had a turn to play every game.
Luckily I had help from family and friends, otherwise there's no way I would've been able to pull it off. (Thanks Lindsey, Jana, Jake, Mom and Dad!!!) Pizza and "Yoda Soda" (lime sherbet and 7Up) were our refreshments. Who knew kids would be so enamored with green soda?

Usually I get a cake from the store, but in order to save money I thought I'd make my own. Research on the internet brought me to the most adorable Ewok cupcakes. Since they're my favorite characters from the series, and they were the easiest character cupcakes to make by far, so I decided to try it. Boy, they were surprisingly fun and cute!

Thanks to everyone who came and participated in Cole's 4th birthday celebration!

I can't wait for Logan's birthday: airplanes! (Unless I decide to throw a little something for myself ;P)

Cole is 4!!!

2010-02-21T20:20:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my little baby is now 4 years old!! It literally seems like yesterday that he was born. He was such a good little baby, and is still so kind-hearted. Even when I'm super mad at him I still can't get "really" mad because he has the cutest little face. And it's really horrible when he does something bad that's not supposed to be funny because I try to punish him for it, and I can't because I'm laughing too!! I love our little guy, and here's some pictures of him for all to enjoy.
(Sadly, we don't have any of when he was a baby because they were lost when our computer crashed. We did find a few of them, but I can't seem to upload them since they're in a photo book thingy Alain made. I know, it's sad :( He was such an adorable baby!) This is the earliest we have. He was about 15 months here.This is my favorite picture of me and Cole. He had just gotten his first hair cut and all his curls were gone. I was balling! But I wanted people to stop saying, "Oh, what a cute little girl you have!" Sadly, they've never grown back :(

About 16 months. Love that face!

Here's 4 things we LOVE about Cole:
1. He loves and cares about everyone. It doesn't matter who you are or if you just hurt him. He still loves you and is concerned about you. Just ask Logan. Logan can be mean as sin to him, but Cole still loves him!
2. He's soooo nice to his brothers! He loves to share and play with both of them. Even though one of them won't share a darn thing (he will remain nameless) Cole loves to share with him. Sometimes he is a little too nice and loving to his brothers. Just ask him about his chipmunk scar from Ty. Cole got a little too lovey, and Ty bit him on the cheek!! I told him to get his face out of Ty's, but did he listen? Big fat NO!
3. He is a BIG helper. If I have asked Logan to do something, Cole never wants to be left out. He is always checking to make sure he's doing a good job and making good choices. IE: "I'm a good helper, right Mom?" and "I make good choices, right Mom?"
4. He's always good for a laugh. Ever since he was little Cole has been a little, okay a lot, accident prone. When he learned to walk he tripped over his feet. Normal, right? Well, he still trips over his feet, and everything else you can imagine. There's always something funny he does or says that gets us rolling. Even just listening to his little voice is entertaining. If you have heard him talk, you know what I mean:)

We love you Cole and are so grateful you're a part of our family!

Sunday Dress

2010-02-21T20:15:00.000-08:00

We're always taught to look our best to go to church, right? Well, Alain has given a whole new meaning to "Your Daddy Dresses You Funny."

Alain couldn't resist tucking in the pants and giving him a nice, big, layer of Eucerin on his "Cone of Shame" face (read our previous entry). The worst part was that Cole had NO clue he looked ridiculous!! Alain wouldn't let me change a thing about the outfit, so Cole went like this to church and lasted all through Sacrament. Thankfully he had to go to the bathroom, so the pants got untucked. Also, the Eucerin finally got soaked in.
You gotta love that Alain!

50 NUGGETS

2010-02-21T20:06:00.000-08:00

No, that's not 50 karat gold (I don't even think that exists), it's 50 McD's Nuggets!! Yes, we were one of the gluttonous ones who took advantage of this deal. If you've ever noticed, 10 nuggets is like $6, so when they were offering 50 for $10, Alain jumped on it!

When Alain came home with this, I thought, "How in the world are we going to eat all of these nuggets?" Well, we did. There were only a few left! You can make fun of us later :)

Valentine's Day

2010-02-21T19:53:00.000-08:00

Our Valentine's Day didn't turn out the greatest this year. I was planning on making french bread cut into hearts with strawberry syrup and powdered sugar. My plans were foiled by my boys waking up at 6:30 and getting their own cereal, and my husband throwing up in the middle of the night. So, the best we did was I hid some Hershey's kisses around the house so the kids could find them. Alain and I didn't get to go out by ourselves, but we did go out with a couple of our friends. The Terry's and McEwens made wonderful Valentine dates for us:)
Without even knowing it we all matched to go to church, so I had to take a picture of the ones I LOVE :)

SURPRISE!!

2010-02-21T19:46:00.001-08:00

I got the surprise of my life on Saturday! It was Cole's birthday, so I was welcoming kids to our party, when all of a sudden I walked out the door to see my MOM and DAD!! This was a shocker to say the least. I started bawling and fell into their arms. I was so excited to have them here. It was such a nice treat, even though it was for less than 24 hours. I feel like the most special daughter in the world that they did that for me (I mean Cole). Little did they know that 2 nights before I was looking to see how much plane tickets were to fly home because I needed some family time. Words cannot describe how much I needed and appreciated their coming to see us. Thank you Mom and Dad! I LOVE YOU! XOXXOO

My mom has a Cricut, and I've been wanting to do some crafts with vinyl lettering, so I'd been talking to her about it. Guess what she brought with her to LV? Yep, that's right, her CRICUT!! We had a lot of fun doing 2 projects, even though it took forever to figure out the details. Here's a picture of us working on it, and one of the finished projects. It was such a great weekend :)

Grazing

2010-02-21T19:40:00.000-08:00

We found out that Ty has a "happy place." It is a little peculiar, but whenever he gets there he could stay for forever! It's quite a precarious place, so he usually doesn't get to stay as long as he'd like.

That's right, it's on Alain's shoulders!! The only problem, even though we as a family all claim Daddy has "Herculean" strength, is that carrying a 30 lb. lump on your shoulders is hard! That's why he doesn't get to stay in his "happy place" for long periods of time :)We think he mostly likes it because he grazes like a sheep on Alain's hair. Right on his bald spot!! It's HILARIOUS! Every time Alain takes him off he's got a slimed head.
Here's Ty trying to get a piece of hair out of his mouth!!

Father and Son Adventures

2010-02-21T19:26:00.000-08:00

This week Alain decided to take 2 of our three boys on hikes at Red Rock. He thought it would be fun for them to see it, especially since we had just received some rain. Logan was the first to go since he didn't have school, and Cole went later on in the week. Isn't he just the best dad?!
Aren't they the cutest? Cole couldn't wait to see the waterfall and lizards! He was very disappointed that he didn't catch a lizard. On the other hand, Mommy was very happy about that.Aren't they just so adorable?!
Logan's hike was a little too long, we think. He still did it though! We're proud of you, Logan!

I just love my boys!

Blueberries

2010-02-09T14:39:00.000-08:00

The other day Cole kept on telling me that he wanted to give Ty some blueberries. I was confused and didn't know what he was talking about, especially since we didn't have any blueberries. Then I saw him lift up his shirt and start blowing on his onesie. I then figured out that he meant he wanted to give Ty a "raspberry!" It was too darn cute :)

The Rivard Fam

Halloween 2011

Derek's Endowments

Logan's Piano Recital

Start of K and 6th Grade- 2011

Ingrown Toenails

1st Trip to Santa Fe

Cole's Preschool Graduation

Alain's 36th Birthday

Easter 2011

ABQ Zoo and Aquarium

Castelan Cousin Reunion

ABQ Comicon

Arrow of Light

Logan's 11th Birthday

Happy 33rd!

"I Really Do"

I Love Laundry!

Ty's 2nd Birthday

Cole's 5th Birthday

Flower Necklaces

I Love Days Like This {psych!}

Where Am I Going?!

Oh, I Love This! {Scarves}

Goody Plate

Friday Confessional

Valentine's Day Decor

1st Basketball Game

Bestest, Easiest, Tastiest Bread EVER

Friday Confessional

1st Silhouette Project!

Friday Confessional

Snow...in ABQ!!

Easiest Pumpkin Muffins EVER

New Year's Eve

Christmas Day

Christmas Eve

Christmas Baking

Bye Bye to my BFF

A Sad, Sad Day :(

Christmas Deco Time

Ruffle Scarf

GLiTTer WrEAth

GliTTer TrEEs

"Real" Mexican Food

Happy Turkey Day

Want This!!

This is Halloween, This is Halloween!

McCall's Pumpkin Patch

Trunk-or-Treat

Grace's Pumpkin Patch

Fall Crafting.... Project #4

Fall Crafting....Projects #2 and #3

Fiesta Time!

Cole's 1st Soccer Game!!!

Exercise and Fun

Condomints (yes, I meant to spell it that way)

Fall Crafting... Project #1

Cinnamon Buns

Three Blind (By Blind I Mean Dead) Mice **Warning: May Gross Out Viewers**

Tierra Antigua Fall Festival

I Want to be a Missionary Now

Soccer

Volcanoes.... in Albuquerque?

Old Town

Back to School, ABQ Style

Bye-Bye Las Vegas :(

Good-bye San Diego :(

First Girl's Trip.... Take 2

First Girl's Trip.... Ever!!

Thirty-Five Years Young

Ty's Mess

Bow Ties and the 4th of July

America's Independence (a day early)

It's A Girl!!!!

Eclipse

Soap in the Eye!

Popcorn Popping

Happy Father's Day!!

Totally Surprised!

Three Blind (By Blind I Mean Dead) Mice Warning: May Gross Out Viewers