Gas Stoves Rule

Boy do I miss my gas stoves. Having been spoiled with gas stoves in our last two homes I am having a hard time coming to grips with my current flat top. I do not like cooking on it. I have a difficult time cooking food on a surface that is constantly turning on and off. Weird, I know. It drives me crazy!!

I've repeatedly asked people what is so great about these flat tops that they have become so popular? The #1 always and only answer: "well, they are SO easy to clean."

So I ask, what is the purpose of a stove? To clean it? I like to cook on my stove.

Matthias turns 3

Just last week a friend of mine (who teaches Matthias in his mom co-op preschool) said, "I just love Matt, he is such a good kid. Give me 15 of him." Well, many of you know Matthias as his real self, not the pretend self. I love just the one I have. Two might give me a heart attack.

The birthday...




We opened presents in the morning...puzzle, spiderman sheets, pirate playmobils. Taylor took the boys to Lowes to make wooden gingerbread houses while Hannah and I ran errands. We all met up at Virgilio's Pizza because Matthias really wanted to go out for pizza for his birthday. The food was yummy and we had lots of fun. Then we headed home for cake and ice cream. And you know the cake story. It was such a fun day! Can't believe my little guy is 3, but so proud of all he can do...especially being potty trained day and night! Love this little guy!

The Great Cake

Let me begin by saying I really don't like making cakes. I ALWAYS end up with cake crumbs in my frosting...is there a secret for avoiding this?

This cake has been discussed for many months, but I am thankful because the original request was for a Spiderman cake with a monkey in a tree holding a present singing to Spiderman. Which I did not even want to attempt. So after convincing to have just Spiderman and Venom fighting in a web preparations commenced.

Apparently I have never made red frosting before because after using all my remaining red food coloring my frosting was still pink. Which is not very super-hero-three-year-old-boy-ish. So I borrowed some food coloring from the neighbor and after using all of hers still ended up with pink frosting which of course was also full of chocolate cake crumbs. At this point I just moved on to the web part. I was pretty confident in my web making abilities.

I also added his name for good measure and strategically picked the worst spot on the cake so I would be sure to draw attention to my abominable frosting skills.

The end result...



(we don't know what he is doing...)

In the end only Taylor, James and Matthias acutally saw the cake and Taylor wasn't about to point it out because he is a smart man. And the boys were too enthralled with the Spiderman and Venom figurines to notice the color of the cake. Phew. One cake down and two more to go for the birthday season. Up next, James requests a Star Wars cake...

One day the boys will realize that I actually am a bad cake decorator, but for now they are quite pleased, crumbs and all.

Utah

It was fun, we do it a lot. We made excellent time both drives. Here are some pictures.

Hogle Zoo with my parents

Lego Tower with Grandpa Urie

Aunt Mindy, Stephanie (12 mo), Hannah (9 mo)
My kids were really noisy and crazy (surprise) and Stephanie needs to spend some more time with us...or else Scott and Mindy need to start leaping off their furniture and making odd noises in her face throughout the day...

James played this for like 2 hours...he even got the jump down.

The reason (or excuse?) for our visit...Aubrey who was 4-5 weeks old. And she weighed about 7 lbs. Hannah is like Ginormica.

Watching Ice Age with Aunt Teresa

My Aunt Rain...the first aunt to see Hannah, sorry ladies! =]

Stephanie's Birthday...she needed some Legos of course.

More Zoo

Spiderman at the Zoo

Christmas Tree...finally!

Promptly after eating our "feast" and pie we put up the Christmas decor. It was so fun and great. I LOVE decorating for Christmas and we are finally glad that Hannah doesn't move...it will make for a much less eventful month. And we can avoid placing our tree in our food storage room like some people. =]

Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving was a blast this year! We had my best friend and her husband (Taylor's friend since age 7) who drove all the way from Utah! They were so fun to have over and the kids were in heaven. 25 minutes after they left Saturday morning James said, "It's boring here." It was so fun seeing what life will be like when our kids finally have cousins to play with (ahem). =] The were off and running all day and we actually had a lot of time to chat and even play games in the middle of the day. It was wonderful!

James (4), Katelyn (3), Matthias (2), Whitney Mae (1), Hannah Mae (0)


We had our annual Pie Before Turkey with great success this year. Many neighbors and church friends came. I failed to take any pictures of the party, but here are the kids right before while Taylor and I were finishing preparations...


This is my pride and joy of the year! Every year I attempt Lemon Meringue and every year I fail. But not this year! Isn't it beautiful? And set up? And perfect? It was mighty good!


Friday Bec and I shopped and went to New Moon. I found the cutest skirt in the world, seriously for $7 at Children's Place. When you see Hannah wearing it you will agree. Eric and Taylor took the kids to the park where they saw 6 other kids and 4 other dads. No moms in sight...

We had so much fun with the Murrays! And laughed and laughed and played.

Hannah Mae and Whitney Mae...9 months apart and SO cute...maybe Hannah will have that much hair someday?

Snuggle Bumper

Another shout out for my new small business...my website is up and running where you can browse my shop or see posts of recent crafty items I have sewn. Visit me at

snugglebumper.com


Also Discount Queens is having a give away for one of my baby bumpers if you want to enter to win one for yourself or a friend! And I will be featured on their blog for the whole month of December. Please spread the word to all your friends.

Thanks so much for your support!