Cute things the kids said (or did) this week . . .

Caleb set the table the other night and when we all sat down, he enthusiastically said, "Good job sitting where I put you, Dad!"

Dilly learned to say "bus" and "titty" (kitty).

Brayden read the book One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by himself! (the condensed "bathtime" version).

Caleb said a prayer this week and said, ". . . please help Dillon to know better and not make such a mess when he eats."

We took our kids to Olive Garden when we were in Salt Lake last week (something we've never dared do, but it was late and we were hungry, and the restaraunt was right there). Their behavior was amazing. I'm still in shock and awe at how polite and good mannered they were. While we were there, Caleb picked up his cloth napkin and wiped salad dressing off his face, and I was just about to praise his good manners when he looked at the dressing on the napkin, then proceeded to lick it all off :)

We went to Brayden's first parent teacher conference and he's getting straight A's. (I couldn't believe they actually keep track of points in kindergarten, but they do!) We have a code to access his grades/tardies/absences online any time we want.

I was using transfer paper this week, to transfer some lettering onto a rock (long story). Anyway, Brayden thought the paper was "magic" and later on, I overheard him telling Caleb about "transforming" paper, and he was trying to trace letters on regular paper and have them show up underneath.

Caleb started preschool, and once again he's been shafted. It's the middle-child-syndrome. I wanted to take a picture of him on his first day, but I couldn't find the camera. So Brayden got five pics on the blog of his first day, and Caleb barely gets mentioned. If he ever complains, I'll show him the stack of Dillon's birth announcements that I never mailed out.

You all should see Dillon haul our cats around the yard. I wish I could write about it, but it's just not the same as seeing it. Usually, when he drops them, we all yell "Run, Charlie, Run!!" 'cause Dilly is a bit rough when he "loves" the cats.

A word of advice from Caleb . . .

If you're going to write on the wall with a marker. . . choose a different word. 

Dilly-willy-doodle-all-the-day

If you can't say something nice . . . don't say anything at all.
 

Oh my Dill!

I'll give you three guesses to decide what happened to our bread, and it has nothing to do with an oven-malfunction or a cat. Dillon decided he was hungry and I guess he likes the crust. We sure love the little guy, but oh can he make a mess! He just walks around all day "un-doing" things. I constantly have every pair of shoes in our house scattered throughout the kitchen and living room. He likes to try them on. He also loves to take my curling irons out of the bathroom drawer, turn the wheels on my quilting machine, taste the cat food, mangle Todd's glasses (they died a tragic death this morning), take the spare change off our bedroom dresser, crawl up my quilt ladder to reach stuff on top of the computer armoire, open the boys dresser drawers in order to climb higher, take CD's out of their cases, open the wood-burning stove to play with the ash, take all my cookie sheets and the cooling rack out of the cupboard and step on them, un-roll the toilet paper, push on the soap dispenser (such delight), hide my kitchen towels, help unload the dishwasher (while I'm loading), unfold the laundry (just after I've folded it), and this is just his morning routine! The worst part is that when he's done "un-doing" he gives me the biggest, sweetest smile in the whole world, and says, "Hi" or "Da-Da" (so stinkin' cute).
Today, after lunch, Dilly was sitting in his high-chair still while I was crawling around under the table picking up noodles, bread crumbs, and other various foodstuffs, when I noticed that my job wasn't getting any smaller. I looked up at Dillon just in time to see him dropping noodles on the floor (one at a time) for me to pick up.
He's just not catching my vision of a clean, and organized house. I guess that's why we call him Dilly-willy-doodle-all-the-day, 'cause that's just what he does.

Awesome new recipe

My neighbor, Andrea, made these noodles for lunch yesterday (we played at their house all morning instead of ours, and then had lunch together). I liked it so well, I added zucchini to the recipe and made it for my family for dinner last night. It was a hit. I was craving it again, so I made if for lunch today too! It is super easy, super fast, and would also be good with bacon, chicken, mushrooms, spinach, onions, etc. The possiblilities are endless. All the ingredients can be adjusted according to taste, and how many people you want to feed. Here it is, the way I made it:

Italian Noodles

1/2 bag egg noodles (cooked and drained)
1 1/2 cups chopped zucchini
2-3 small Roma tomatoes (diced)
1/2 tsp. minced garlic (or 1 clove)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. basil
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. oregano
dash of salt (I used Deverles)
1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese (or cubed)

While the noodles are cooking, saute the zucchini, garlic, basil, oregano, and salt in oil until zuchini is soft. Add the diced tomatoes and stir until they're warmed. Add the cooked noodles and stir. Just before serving, add the mozzarella cheese and stir until melted or partially melted. Enjoy!

Tuesday AND Wednesday's snack-of-the-day

Charlotte and Shauntae, this post is for you! Just so you don't think my kids get "supermom" snacks every day after school, I thought I'd post a pictures of our most recent snacks. We may even have them again today. Otter pops are just so darn easy, and the kids still love 'em. I am reminded of the episode of "Yes, Dear" where Christine has to take snacks to school and she is busily taping spoons to Jello boxes. That's how this week has been. Besides, it doesn't matter what I make for snack, I still get the same answers when I try to pick Brayden's brain to find out what he did that day. Yesterday he said, "Guess what mom? I forgot everything I did today." 

Stinkin' Cute Quilt!

I just finished quilting this quilt for a lady from my quilt guild. It is definitely one of my very favorites---ever! If you could see the quilting up close, you would find an apple pie, a baseball and bat, a yellow ribbon (for the troops, of course), several different "fireworks", and a sailboat quilted into various squares. I took pictures so I could make one for myself someday, in all my spare time.

Brayden's first bike accident

We took the training wheels off of Brayden's bike last Sunday, and by Tuesday he was riding up and down the street by himself. We were blown away at how fast he learned. Tonight, he rode without his knee/elbow pads for the first time, and ended up crashing. He got a bloody nose, a fat lip, and a scraped up knee. He's a bit embarrassed about his lip, but there's no school tomorrow because of Labor Day, so I told him not to worry about it. 

Dillon's first "official" day of nursery

We've been counting down the hours and minutes for Dillon to be 18 mos. old so that we can enjoy Sunday School and RS/Priesthood. Unfortunately, he cried for the first hour, and they brought him to us for the second. He fell asleep in Todd's lap pretty quick, though. He is definitely a "momma's boy".  

Belated Congratulations to the Newlyweds

Aunt Carrie has been soooooo patient in waiting for me to quilt her wedding quilt. It is by far the hardest one I've ever had to pin on because of the corners (I had to pin it three times, but it worked). I've been somewhat "scared" of it, which is why it has taken so long (they were married in January of 2005). It worked out just fine, though. I hope they like it!

Ben - the design in the pink triangles was not intended to look like a scout symbol, it just sort of turned out that way. I know how much scouting meant to you, especially during your 20 mile "hike" to Logan and back so you could get your eagle.

Back of Carrie's Quilt

The one "moment of panic" I had during the quilting of this quilt is when, on the last border, I ran out of thread! I didn't have anything remotely close to the same color, so I called the other machine quilter in Loa, to see if I could buy or borrow something close. She had me come over, and she had a spool of thread that was an exact match. Hooray!  

Close up of quilting

 

And the winner is . . .

And the winner is . . . Uncle Ben! We are blown away that he came up with "duck with little ducklings". Here is what Brayden wants for his birthday:

Superman (good thing we won an action figure! We actually bought one last weekend to give to Caleb for Christmas--now they'll both have one).
Duck with little ducklings - I have no idea if he wants rubber, stuffed, or real!
Pirate Ship - Playmobil or Lego
Orange CTR Ring - the only one I can find online costs $20! Our neighbor, Allie, who is in Brayden's class has a "real" pink one. I know he'd take care of it, but $20 for a kindergartner!?!
Frog Chain - a frog keychain to put on his backpack :o)
this is my favorite:
Pads. Space ones (like Dillon's airplanes in his room "at Logan") - after some confusion and discussion, we've realized that he wants Space Wallies (removable wallpaper) so he can have a Space room. I'm considering painting one wall in his room blue with stars and getting the planet wallies, but as soon as we can finish a room downstairs, Brayden and Caleb will move down there. How hard is it to paint over a dark blue wall?

Thanks for playing!