Caden loves ACDC

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The only reason we love summer

This is what happens when it's:
1. Hott
2. Humid
3. Sweaty

DIY

I love DIY projects(Do it yourself)! I think as I'm getting older and wiser right? I'm finding my style and I love all old and eclectic things, I think if its got a scratch thats just adds a little more character to it. I love finding random things and painting them. I wish I could go shopping to all these garage sales and find all these little hidden treasures(no such luxury here, husband works, every saturday).
When Eric and I got married all young and happy and broke, My MIL Connie gave us a table and chairs, so we have updated the table but I decided to refinish the chairs!






Stay tuned for the piano bench and our awesome old wicker chair.....

I love this guy

Brilliant Idea...I think so anyway

So, after now looking to buy Caden some summer pjs. My mom and I came up with a good idea that was simple and inexpensive. I'll just sew him some shorts(if you can sew a straight line, you can make shorts) and then just buy him under shirts and call it a day! So, that's what I did! And an added bonus I could buy a material that had his favorite characters on them, such as Nemo, Cars, Thomas, Little Einsteins! And the best part, each pair ends up being about $2 a piece. AWESOME!

Happy Birthday to you...

Well, my wonderful hunk of a husband turned 23 this weekend! That's right, 23 he's growing up so fast! And is what quite an enjoyable weekend! Saturday, we got to hang out which was quite nice. We even got a babysitter for Saturday night, and I surprised Eric the whole night. So, first I took him to a shooting range, why you ask? Well for two reasons: 1-Eric likes guns=Army 2-Eric is notorious for buying a gun, owning it for a couple years, selling it and buying another, while the whole time never shooting this or any gun once, that's right, he owns a gun but never shoots it, seems pointless to me. So, we went there and the whole time planning this event I never actually thought about me having to shoot the gun, let's just say I was flipped out. We get set up, eric shoots a couple times and can I just say how stinkin loud it was.



So, he wanted me to try, nervous, he stands behind me, helps me hold this 12 gauge SHOTGUN, and it fires back right into my arm, OUCH is all have to say. So, Eric shot some more, and I went to rent a different gun and got myself a glock(a handgun...I think) anyways with some help and encouragement, I shot it and did pretty well according to Eric.



And of course he did great! And loved it! So far successful!


Then we went and got some dinner, delicious and so peaceful by ourselves.
Then we headed to Zoo city, it's like an arcade, go carting. And it good, I must say though after shooting a real gun, those gun arcade games are quite addictive, Eric and I killed it forever in this game. Then Eric crushed this girls dream by getting the Jackpot on this one game getting him 300 tickets. That’s a right person, that’s my husband! I was so proud of him. Then we concluded our night, with a slew of candy from our tickets! Who doesn't love a bunch of tootsies?




Sunday Eric's actual birthday was so busy for him, he taught the deacon class(Eric was called to be the Young Men's 2nd counselor) and then he had to speak in Sacrament for 20 minutes on missionary work, and he did AWESOME!


We ended the day with some Cocounut Cake(Eric’s choice) and some birthday candles!
So, happy birthday Eric, I love you and thank you to Connie and Larry for raising such an amazing man!

I love technology....

So, we have stepped it up in the technological world. We bought a webcam! Rally inexpensive, some technical kinks, but totally worth it! It was amazing to see my sister and then my sweet little niece and nephew on the screen! It makes a person feel so connected. I think we have the rest of the two families talked into it. I'm just kicking myself we didnt do it 2 1/2 years ago when little man was born. Oh well! So, I highly recommending anyone who lives far from friends and family go by yourself a twenty dollar webcam and run with it!

New BFFS

Please meet Caden's new best friend: Buzz Lightyear. We decided to buy Caden a buzz lightyear and let's just say it has been nothing but entertaining. If this tells you anything he loves this Buzz as much as Lightening McQueen, that's like as much as I love Eric, it's crazy!

IT''S BACK!!!

That's right people, American Gladiators! Our favorite show. Please all meet my new boyfriend:

ROCKET


Stay tune on Mondays at 8 for awesome flashy outfits, cheesy one-liners and an all around good time!

Happy Mother's Day Weekend

That's right in our house it isn't just Mother's Day it a weekend. And I love it! It's my favorite time of year, way better then my birthday. I was supposed to go to a crop(a scrap booking thing) but Eric had to work late Saturday. So when he came home I said see ya and headed out shopping....wait for it....BY MY SELF! WAHOO! and it was great! I bought, some fabric for our chairs I'm redoing, a skirt(the fabric was adorable and only $3.00/yd) and some prints for shorts I'm making for caden. Anyways after going to several stores and spoiling myself(thank you stimulus check) I came home and Eric had dinner going, Chicken Kabobs, sweet potatoes and rolls.



Delicious and I didn't have to do a thing. And for an awesome dessert homemade chocolate covered strawberries, the absolute best!



Actual Mother's day started out with a bang, literally, there was the craziest storm and crazy car accident, an incident helping people out and this all before 6 am. Church was great, received carnations. Came home hung out, received a really sweet card with music, that caden won't stop playing and is now learning the words to the song in the card.




As most mother's day's go it's a tradition to go to KFC and eat it at the park. Well we decided to forgo this because the playgrounds would be drenched and try a new recipe Sausage primavera. Delicious! But, I now see why my mom always wanted to do KFC, no clean up and no mess. All in all a pretty decent mother's day!

I love being a mom and everything that goes with it. The pregnancy, the pain, the laughter. There is nothing more frustrating and more joyful then my little man Caden and without him I would not know the true joy of life. I love the wonderful examples of mom's I have in my life, my mother is the most compassionate selfless woman I know. And my mother in law Connie is by far the strongest, most passionate and loving woman! They both are incredible woman I strive to be.



So, happy mother's day to all you woman out there, it is a day to be grateful and proud for all the hard work and sacrifice we put in as moms!

Cheese

Ouch, that looks like it hurts

So, we went to the pool.
And caden got burnt.
and I didn't think he would in an hour.
Now he and I have learned our lesson.
Never leave without SPF 50 on Caden.

The missionaries

So, one great thing about having the missinaries in our home, besides them being entertaining, is that they and Eric get to be my guinea pig for new recipes. So, for dinner I made pot roast in the slow cooker, salad, veggies and a new roll recipe(gasp!) I know anyone who knows me knows I stick with my familys recipe and I thought these rolls were good, but not fantastic maybe I messed up somewhere, they just were very bland to me, but we halved the dough and made the other some orange rolls and these were delcious, the center was Orange rind, butter and sugar. and the glaze was powdered sugar, butter and o.j. They were pretty delicious!




I didn't in tend on making the orange rolls but there was so many and the recipe came with it, so I though I'd give it a try. But for dessert I made a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, all homemade baby, crust and all. And I must say it turned out pretty freakin awesome!




Yeah for the missionaries and all the hard work they do!

The Classic

So, I had a fabulous weekend, nothing amazing happened...well wait yes something amazing did happen, my husband was home for three days people(with a couple hours on Saturday at work). That is a miracle and something we truly appreciate. We didn't do a ton, we went to the this rockin' library, got some books for us all. Had a picnic on Sunday, took a nap, nice things that we don't get to do together very often. Well, with the weekend comes baking...I love it! I can't help it and that's probably why I've put on weight and the fact we moved to the south, lack of sidewalks....that's another blog another time. So, there's this blog, and its great, great recipes, so far I've made the bread sticks, garlic bread(we had the missionaries over and tested it out on them) seasoning and the chocolate chip cookies the link to the blog is this: http://www.the-daily-bite.blogspot.com/
And here is the recipe for


The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever
½ c. butter
½ c. high-quality tub margarine (like Smart Balance)
¾ c. white sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. flour
¾ tsp. salt
¾ tsp. baking soda
1 12-oz. bag chocolate chips

Cream together butter, margarine, sugars, eggs, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to creamed mixture and beat well. Stir in chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned. Naturally, you want to keep an eye on them because every oven is different. Mine took 9 minutes. Makes about 4 dozen.

No I'm not turning my blog into a cooking blog

So, I love to try new recipes and they way I shop is find around 10-14 recipes to try and buy ingredients that I don't already have. Well, I totally swiped, that's right I stole this magazine from a oil change place. It was Taste of Home Simple and Delicious how perfect for us.And let it be known I'm a total sucker if it has a picture, it gets me. So I managed to find 14 new recipes and I will share them with you. First recipe was tonight, Chicken and Bows, very simple and quite tasty. I got Caden to eat it as well, little did he know he was chowing down on peas and peppers? And there is a ton left over that will freeze for 3 months, how great is that?



Chicken and Bows

Prep/total time: 25min

1pkg bow tie pasta 2 lbs of chicken(cut into pieces)
1 c. Chopped Red pepper 1/4c. butter, cubed ( I used margarine)
2 cans of Condensed Cream of Chicken soup, undiluted
2 c. frozen peas
1 1/2 c. milk 1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp. pepper
2/3 c. grated Parmesan(I used a blend of white cheese's)

Cook pasta according to package. Meanwhile cook chicken and red pepper in butter(I used margarine) over medium heat, until juices run clear.
Stir in the soup, peas, milk, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Bring to boil. reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 1-2 minutes or until heated through. Stir in Parmesan Cheese. Drain pasta; and mix together.

Pee-pee in the Pot-tay

We have been kinda laid back about training just letting him sit on the potty when he wants and letting the interest grow. Well, the other night he said "pee pee on the potty" and ran to the bathroom so Eric went in there and within a couple seconds Eric is hollering for me and lo and behold, Caden had peed in the potty. YEAH! He clapped, we clapped we were all so excited and so proud and so I gave him so chocolate chips, he was even more excited, so now he goes "pee pee on the potty chocolate?" That was Monday. Fast forward to Wednesday(Tuesday we spent the day dealing with doctor appt, fun)

So, I asked Caden if he needed to go potty he ran to the bathroom sat and nothing, so he asked for a drink I thought it couldn't hurt, and he gulped it all down(seriously our kid will drink entire cup of anything in one sip) and then I thought I'd let him be free(naked) for a couple minutes. Ten minutes later I ask him if he needs to go, and he runs and sits and starts to play with the door stopper and I say "go pee already" and BAM he goes, how great, right. So, I thought all right I'll go with this so I brought out some big boy underwear which he was totally jazzed about he says "TOW-MATER" so, he wore those for awhile, I kept asking him if he needed to go and he answers no or ignores, then i hear it the first accident awesome! So, we went back to diapers which I intended on doing for nap time.






So, here's the plan I think I'll wait till June when Eric will be home and we will just do it, I've got a system on how to do it, but let's just say we will be done with diapers. So, til then we'll just keep letting his interest brew and enjoy our little man's success.

The best $7.99 spent

You push the red button and it ejects the car, Caden loves it and will shoot every car!

He's on the phone....

So, caden has a new love, talking on the phone, anytime he see's me or a phone in general he must pick it up and say "hello" and then jabber on with an occasional "yeah" "uh-huh". It's great, this is his face talking to his cousin Chase.

Cadens first pic

This is the first pic Caden has taken two thoughts:

1. I think he could definetly have a career in photography
2. Its amazing what he picks to take a picture of, his love, the DRINK

Pure Bliss

Eric had CQ on Wednesday so Caden and I took advantage of it and had the car. It was just a wonderful day. I loved it, it was like a date with me and Caden doing the things we love. We started out the day sleeping in(I love it when he does, it totally makes my day) and then we lounged. When we did decide to venture we thought we'd head to this library that has been catching my eye for some time now and needless to say it did not disappointed. I got some books for me and then we went to Caden section and he just had a hay day with it, he loves books and loves to look at them. We were there probably an hour just reading and hanging out and it was probably just one of the those moments where I felt like my little man was growing up and I was just soaking it up.



Then we went to get the oil change, which was amazingly quick, ate a SaMICH(that's how caden says it) and headed to Monkey Joes, Caden's favorite hangout. For those that don't know what it is, it is quite awesome, it's all these blow ups of slides and these blow things he can jump on, he loves and I love watching him there. Then we came home made some biscuits for Achievement Days(I'm the girls leader and we were making Strawberry Jam) and Caden had a blast at the church running around like a crazy man. Anyways, to most of you not a very exciting day, but to Caden and I is was priceless, a day that made us feel normal again and that Georgia is our new home we will grow to love even more and appreciate.

Books

Well, I enjoy reading quite a bit. If I could all day everyday I would, well I would take a break to rest my eyes but continue on. So, I love to read books before seeing the movie, I've never seen a movie that is better then the book. So, my recent watch was "Into the Wild" I read it a coupld months ago and just watched it and I must say it was pretty darn accurate, which I love and appreciate. This book and movie were very interesting, I'm not going to say a whole lot about it because I don't want to ruin it for anyone but I thought whoever was the leader actor for this movie did amazing and should have won an award of some sorts.

What a weekend

435 miles. That's right we drove that much. We went up to see Carrie in Marieeta, GA for her work build and it was a blast. Came back to Columbus, ate some yummy dinner and hung out. Then next day we drove up to Pine Mountain, GA and checked out the scenery and Caden got to see an old train that was there, he was so excited!





Later we played some Guitar Hero. and then the next day we bowled and Caden loved it. He cheered for anyone and everyone and he especially loved the ball return, CAden ended up coming in last but only by 2 or 3 pins. He scored 102, pretty impressive for a two year old. Anyways it was a blast, Carried left later that night and we all had a great time.

Dance Monkey Dance

So, I made a quick video of nothing special, just Caden doing his little monkey tricks. I know most of you have seen him recently, but there is family out there who have not. So, those who care to watch enjoy! And sorry I was stupid when recording and decided to hold the camera sideways, thinking I'll just flip it, when they watch it, like a picture, duh! I'm dumb, I know.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Okay?

I think these picture turned out okay, we're not going for professional or anything, but I like them and think that this little kid is turning into quite the little charmer