Twin Falls, Idaho

Last Thursday, we took a day trip to go to the open house for the Twin Falls LDS Temple. It was not as elaborate as some temples I have been in, but very beautiful all the same. The Syringa flower (Idaho State Flower) is found throughout the temple in the woodwork and glass.

We met up with some friends in Twin from Pocatello and the kids had so much fun together. They all got soaked in a little creek in the park by Shoshone Falls. Hence -the wet and rolled up pants and no clothes at all.

In front of the falls

We have a Kindergartener!

Carson has officially started school! He is so excited - and I feel so old! He goes to year-round school, so that is why he started on July 23rd. We had a hard time deciding if he should go there or to the tradional school in our district but the majority of our friends and neighbors attend the newer year-round (it is a math and technology magnet school) and he can attend in the morning so we felt it was best. Cameron had to prod me along that first morning when we left him at the school. I was a little sad to think my first-born is such a big boy now and we're only going to see him less and less from now on! I know, such drama....

Leaving in his "first-day-of-school" clothes and "kindergarten shoes". If you could see it, the sign hanging on our front door with the wreath says "Summer"- because it still is! Weird that he's off to school.

He had no problem finding his name on a table and getting involved with the building blocks.

Getting off the bus! It was almost more exciting to ride a "real" school bus than to actually go to school!

The reunion. Jake is still getting used to Carson being gone half the day and I have to keep answering to "Where's Carson, Mama?"

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Cameron's favorite cookie is Oatmeal Raisin and Sunday I let the boys help me make some. So I thought I would share our recipe because I think its the perfect blend of spice and they're chewy (a must for most any cookie, in my opinion).

Beth's Spicy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (taken from Allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup raisins


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, butter flavored shortening, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light and golden. Do not overbake. Let them cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheets to cool completely. Store in airtight container. Make sure you get some, because they don't last long!
Oh - and I added chocolate chips (but to only half the batch, for Cameron's sake), cuz I think it just makes them that much better.

Happy Birthday Carson (July 16th)

Carson has been looking forward to his birthday for months (don't all kids?) and telling everyone he can about his birthday party, so we were excited that the day finally arrived!

Despite his latest facination with Batman, he insisted on having a pirate treasure chest-chest cake. I got the idea for it here.

It seems in our family, blowing out the candles is usually a group effort. Unfortunately, we could only find 1 candle (oops!)to put on his cake, but Cameron just kept lighting it over and over so all the kids could have a turn blowing it out.

It was fun to celebrate with the local cousins by swimming and then a pinata! I love celebrating birthdays because I think they remind that person how special they are and how important they are in our family. Carson had a great day and is no longer inviting everyone he meets to his birthday party.

Motherhood Mayhem

This picture describes what I have felt like much of this week. I will give you a small sample from experience this morning: I was sitting on my bed nursing Kate when I hear Carson rummaging in the pantry downstairs (he is our expert treat-finder/ sugar-addict). So I set Kate down on the bed and go downstairs to help Carson find a "healthy" snack, cuz I'm sure whatever he is finding is not in that category. I find him climbing on a barstool in the pantry, reaching the ding-dongs off the top shelf. However, what really gets me is the mess I find on the table and all over the floor. Apparently, Jake had trouble getting his Go-gurt out of its tube in the frozen state and there are dollops of it all over the kitchen table and floor. (I should insert picture here, but just don't think about a camera at those moments). So after pulling Carson out of the pantry, I am down on my hands and knees cleaning the kitchen floor and I hear Kate scream - the newborn "something's hurting me/very wrong" cry. I bolt upstairs to find Jake pulling her to the edge of the bed so that her head is about to go over. I send him to his bed for time-out and while I am comforting Kate, Carson walks upstairs with a bag of nectarines and a knife, which is poking out of the bag straight at his chest! (Yes, I do feed the kid actual meals 3+ times a day). This all happened in a less than 5 minute interval.
At this point I feel it is time for TV to intervene so I can:
1. fix Carson some real food before he causes himself bodily injury.
2. finish cleaning up the yogurt decorating my kitchen.
3. finish feeding Kate
4. Go talk to Jake in timeout
5. not go crazy!!
I got that all taken care of (moms are the best multi-taskers, you know) and the monsters taking a nap I decided to catch up on a friend's blog. She has a posting that takes me to this woman's blog: adailyscoop.blogspot.com. This woman lost her 14 month old in a drowning accident last month. Suddenly my perspective is shifted 360 degrees and I realize how glad I am for all the excitement I've had this morning.

4th of July

We spent the 4th up in Donnelly during my side's family reunion. I am wearing a hooded sweatshirt in the picture not so much because it was cold, but to keep the mosquitos out. And yes - Kate is in the blanket on my lap.

Jake's 3rd Birthday (June 26)

Katelyn Elaine

Here are some pics from her first days of life! She was born on Tuesday, May 27 @ 1:05 pm and was 8 lbs. We are so lucky to have her!