Erik, Jenn, Tyler & Mason

One year ago right now, Sarah was getting off work and heading out with her friends. She had no idea it would be for the last time. They went to IHOP and took silly pictures making fun of her top lip (she thought she had no top lip). She laughed so hard she cried, tears even fell onto her jeans. She had just dyed her hair black, she had it curly that night. She was wearing one of her favorite shirts and her favorite diamond earrings our mom got her. Clark and Kyle thought it would be a good idea to race each other and since my sister didn't bring her car that night (it was parked at Starbucks to save on gas) she waited patiently in Geoffrey's truck while Kyle and Clark raced. Kyle in his mommy's BMW and Clark in his daddy's Corvette. Dumb boys with their parents' cars--way too much horsepower for children to handle. Obviously. Kyle won the race and my sister declared she would get to ride back to Starbucks with the winner now that the races were over. But then ...

For the first time in over a year, we set off at 5:30 this morning for a really fun Jeep trip with Ashley and Scott. We went to Elbe Hills, a trail we had never run before. Erik spent the last week lifting our jeep and putting new off-road tires on and so we were pretty excited to try it out. We met up with Russ, a backwoods dude with a very interesting take on beavers. Don't ask. From the backseat I got a few good pictures of Russ' Jeep. Things started out pretty normal, rock here, tree trunk there. Nothing to write home about. We didn't expect to see mud out there since it's been so hot lately. You can't tell from the picture but Ashley and I ended up getting completely covered head to toe in stinky mud. It was pretty fun. Then we got stuck and couldn't get out. So we had Russ tow us out. After several attempts which included Erik taking off his shoes and socks and getting the mud, we got out of the mud pit.

Here is a blog post I stumbled across today after trying to figure out a way to incorporate yellow cake into a pie for Erik's birthday treat. I made it with some modifications of course, and it turned out great! Triple Threat: The Cookie Cake Pie Shared via AddThis

I know I just posted 5 minutes ago, but a lot happened this weekend. So scroll down for the other post from today too. So as you know it was hotter than hot yesterday (Saturday). It was actually cooler in the shade outside than it was in our house (except in our air-conditioned bedroom, but who wants to sit in the bedroom all day?) So Erik was going to trim the hedges and Tyler and I believe it or not had never had a "picnic" outside before. So we grabbed the big quilt Dane's mom (Dane was Sarah's boyfriend) made for us and headed out front. We had so much fun! Tyler loved watching Daddy do the yard work and watching the clouds go by in the sky. Then we decided to practice sitting up and what do you know but he sat up all by himself for the first time! My little superstar!!! I was totally surprised...I had no idea he could do it! I think he was a little surprised too. Then, he got a little tired of sitting up... And I'm really not sure what this face was abou...

I had decided after doing rice cereal for a month that I wanted to try "real food" pretty soon. After talking to Valerie Vanderhoeven and Amy Felt when they came visiting teaching on Friday and hearing their stories I was excited to start right away. Especially since Tyler has shown so much interest in what we eat for dinner and the rice cereal went over so well. So we started peas on Friday! He absolutely loved them! He didn't spit them out or anything. I realized though that I need a new camera because this really doesn't capture just how cute the peas were smeared all over his face!

I just made the BEST dinner. I took a Rachael Ray recipe and cut out a lot of the fat but kept the flavor. It ended up being 11 - 13 points per serving depending on if you eat the bacon or not. It is SOOOOOOOO tasty. Oh my gosh. I love it love it love it. Creamy Spaghetti with Beans and Bacon * 4 cups chicken stock * 1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil * 1 tablespoons butter * 3 slices bacon (I used maple flavored) * 4 cloves garlic, chopped * 1/2 pound spaghetti * 1 medium white onion, chopped (don't use yellow or red) * 1 red bell pepper * 1 fresh bay leaf * 5 to 6 sprigs fresh thyme * 1/2 can Cannelini or white kidney beans * Salt and freshly ground black pepper * 1/2 cup white grape juice (this is a white wine substitute) * 6 oz grated Parmigiano-Reggiano * A generous handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped Place the stock in a sauce pot and warm it over medium heat then reduce to simmer. Heat the extra-virgin oli...

We had the pleasure of spending a couple hours with Ella and Olivia on Friday night--two of the most beautiful and fun little girls in the world! We had SO much fun. They are so sweet, smart and adorable. Dinner time was very entertaining. Erik did "magic tricks" where he "pulled a crayon out of his ear" and Olivia immediately said, "Whoa, there is a LOT of magic in this house!" Then Ella wanted to try and we had to let her know that Erik didn't really have a crayon in his ear--Ella, don't try this at home!! Then we went outside to play tag, soccer, bubbles and chalk. Olivia played peek-a-boo with Tyler and Ella chased the bubbles around the yard. We had a blast. Tyler loves Ella and Olivia. We just aren't sure which one he will marry!!! They are both so cute!!