A Fun ActivityI

The other day, the kids and I learned how to make pot stickers.  It was a BLAST!  I found a great recipe for chicken filled ones, so they were as healthy as they were delicious!   Nicki and Joshua were super helpful with the task of pinching the dumplings closed.  They did a great job!

I wish we'd done this during our tech-free Tuesdays.  They are a great family activity.

We made a LOT!  Enough to eat some fresh, then freeze about 50.  We ate some for dinner last night, along with rice, edamame, and match stick carrots. Yum! 

Alison REALLY loved them.  She wants to make them again soon, testing different recipes and deciding on her favorite.  Sounds good to me! 

If you're interested in the recipe, this is the one we made:
http://damndelicious.net/2014/08/08/sesame-chicken-potstickers/

Pumpkin Patch

Fall break was last Thursday and Friday.  The kids had a four day weekend!  We spent most of our morning hours getting their bedrooms cleaned up, then we tried to do something fun each day.  On Friday, our fun adventure was the Smith Family Pumpkin Patch Excursion.  I have to admit that at first, when we were planning it, I was a party pooper.  I didn't want to drop $25 for 5 pumpkins.  I'm cheap like that.  But I knew it wasn't just pumpkins I was paying for, it was memories.  So I ended up loving it!  And in the end, I discovered that pumpkins cost $4.95 at Sam's Club, so why wouldn't I pay an extra $.05 and get a fun hay ride with the cousins out of it?

This is when we first got to the farm.  Katie's crew wasn't there yet.  Gotta love Josh hugging a pumpkin and Bron giving Alison's neck a little squeeze.  

Here's the whole crew.  Ready to go!!  Front Row: Grandpa Smith, McKenna, Nicole, Bronson, Joshua, Alison, Payton, Krsitin.  Back Row:  Grandma Smith, Megan, Katie, (Adam is behind Alison), Kelley, and Quinton.

I honestly think that there is little in this world more beautiful than a field full of big orange pumpkins.  

Here's Katie and Adam searching for the perfect pumpkin.

This is Meagan telling me not to take a picture of her.  I'm about as obedient as my children.  

No, Grandpa!  That is not a good pumpkin!

I think Alison found hers!

Loading back up on the trailer for the ride back.  Quinton got a pumpkin for free, so we actually got 6 pumpkins!  That makes me so happy because the kids all want to carve theirs, but I really wanted two for cooking (one for dinner-in-a-pumpkin on Halloween and one for pumpkin bread, pie, bars, etc.)

Quinton's hair blowing in the breeze reminded me of a toupee! 

Autumn Leaf Drive

We went out for our annual autumn leaf drive on the day after Bronson's birthday.  We basically came home from church at noon, ate a quick lunch, then loaded everyone back in the van.  My idea was that the baby would take a nice long nap while the rest of us enjoyed the lovely fall colors.  My plan worked out perfectly in the beginning.  We drove up the Ogden Canyon, over Trappers Loop, and back down the Weber Canyon.  The colors were lovely - of course you can't tell that from these pictures, but it really was nice.

 Then, about half way through the drive, people started nodding off.  By the time we hit Mountain Green, all four older kids were sleeping and the baby was wide awake, happy and babbling joyfully.

So David and I enjoyed one of the most peaceful, enjoyable drives we've had in YEARS!!!

Bronson's Birthday!

Little Bronson Isaiah turned four years old on October 11th!  He's getting so OLD!!!

I sure love my Bronny Boy!  He and I get to spend our mornings together while the older kids are at school.  Especially when Quinton naps, we get to have one-on-one time, working on little preschool lessons, doing chores together, etc.  We're really good pals.   He's such a sweet, kind little boy (especially when he doesn't have the older kids overshadowing him) and the world's biggest chatterbox!  He talks CONSTANTLY!  We have a running conversation going the entire time he's awake.  

Bronson loves to ask questions, and he REALLY loves to be told "'yes," so he's keeps  rephrasing his questions until he gets the right response.  ie:  B: "Can I go in the front yard?"  Me: "No, honey."  B: "No, I mean can I go in the backyard?"  Me: "Not right now.  It's dinner time."  B: "No, I mean can I go in the back yard later?"  Me: "Yes, you can go later."    Only then can we drop the line of investigation.

Bronson's birthday fell on a Saturday this year.  That's the BEST!!!  He opened his presents in the morning.  He got some pretty fun toys, along with a new T-shirt and some treats.

Then we had pancakes for breakfast.  Daddy made a special HUGE pancake for the birthday boy.  Everyone thought that was pretty cool!  The kids spent the next hour or so playing with Bronson's new toys while I baked his cake and got everything set for the rest of the day.  

We went to Josh's last soccer game of the season later that morning.  After it was over, we went to a park and ate a picnic lunch.  Bronson chose his favorite things - Lunchables and Cheetos!   David and I don't see the coolness of Lunchables, so we just ate sandwiches, but all of the kids loved them.

Grandma and Grandpa Smith and Grandma Church joined us at the park.  Somehow, they escaped the camera so I don't have any pictures of them.  They gave Bronson their gifts, then watched  for a while as the kids played on the playground and walked by the duck-filled stream, etc.  It was a very nice afternoon.

Speaking of Grandma Smith's present reminds me of something else I really love about Bronson.  He is very generous.  He eagerly and openly shares everything he has with others.  He would happily give away his last piece of candy, which is something completely foreign to my other kids.  When he discovered a whole package of Oreos in his birthday present from Grandma Smith, his eyes lit up, he got a huge smile, and he squealed in delight!  The older kids instantly started chirping like hungry baby birds, "Can I have one? Can I have one?"  Bronson, with a huge smile burst out excitedly, "SURE!  Edryone tan had some!  We tan eat den ALL RIGHT NOW!"  Then, he proceeded to pass them out to everyone in attendance - even the adults.  It was very cute.

After the park, we came home so that the birthday boy and his baby brother could get their naps in.  That's when I decorated his birthday cake and made homemade pizza dough.  When he woke up, he played some more with his siblings and his new toys.

For dinner, he chose two more of his favorite foods:  homemade pizza and cornbread.  Nice combo, I know - but birthdays only come once per year!  That beauty is my pizza - Bronson's had a couple pieces of Canadian Bacon and pineapple on it - but mostly just cheese.  While we ate, we watched "Walking with Dinosaurs." Bronson loves dinos, but he actually wasn't very interested in the movie after dinner.  He wanted to play with his new toys instead.  That was fine with me because one of his presents was bathtub finger paint, so I gave him his bath while the older kids finished the movie.   Win/win!

Bron picked out the cake (funfetti) and the frosting at the store a day or two before his birthday.  It CAME that blue!  And the sprinkles are little fish.  So I got creative and made a shark fin.  As you can see, the black frosting gave me a bit of trouble.  But Bronny didn't mind.  He thought it was "awes-tom!"

Thank heaven we have this little whirlwind blowing through our house!  I can't imagine life without him.  He's exhausting a lot of the time, and he's certainly a handful, but his powerful personality will serve him well as he gets older.  I can't wait to watch him grow up!  It's going to be a wild, crazy ride, but I think whatever happens, it will be amazing!

For No Reason In Particular

I just have to put this darling picture in my family history so that I always have it to look at.

Love Love LOVE baby Quin!  Look at those chocolate eyes!

Soccer

This was our very first experience with AYSO soccer here in Utah.  Josh played in the youngest age group available.  It was so much fun!!!  At this age group, it's all about having a good time.  You show up at the assigned time, have a half hour practice, then play a 20 minute game against another team.  It's three-on-three with no goalies, no score keeping, and the two coaches are the refs.  It's super laid back an very, very fun!  I wish they played like this forever!

Look how BIG Josh is compared to his team mates.  He really is large - I hope the other team's parents didn't hate us for having a giant on our team.

Bron, Quin, and I watching from the sidelines.  Go Sharks!

David worked in the back yard with Josh several times per week and he really improved over the season.  Josh has some natural athletic talent.  If he could just stay focused long enough to use it.

Two of Josh's team mates are in our ward and in his kindergarten class.  Eli is his friend in the front there.  

End of game cheer.  Their coach, Brad Bowen, was great.  I'm looking forward to spring soccer.  

David's Birthday 2014

David turned 45 years old this year!  And what a day it was!!!

It started with presents, of course.  And I made him a special French Toast breakfast.

We all love Dad!

He may look surprised, but he knew everything he was getting - he even shopped for some of it himself.   Okay, I did surprise him with new socks.  Exciting, huh?  I also gave him a few pairs of womens' exercise socks because giving him socks for me means I won't steal his any more.

Looking good in his new hat!

Then, he had to go to work.  Bummer!  But  the boys and I met him for lunch at his favorite burger joint, Tony Burgers.  Oh, man!  They are good!!!  They've been voted best burger in Utah a couple of times.  They're known for using the best ingredients available and taking the long way to make everything so that you get the best flavor.  I tell you, it works.  Their burgers and fries are amazing!

Happy boys!  Those fries are hand cut, soaked, fried two or three times, etc... They don't do shortcuts at Tony Burgers.

There's the end of my burger.  Two patties, cheddar cheese, grilled onions, mustard, ketchup, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes.  Drool!

When David came home from work, we ate dinner. You'd think that we'd still be full from lunch, but you'd be wrong.  We had pizza from Papa Murphy's.  Dave LOVES their stuffed pizzas.

After dinner we had a fun time playing soccer in the back yard together.  I'm seriously impressed with how good David is.  I thought I'd at least be able to hang with him, but he smoked me!

Dave's birthday was on a Monday night, so we still had FHE.  Nicole taught.  She gave a lesson on putting on the whole armor of God.  Bronson was the model.  September/October is a great time of year to hit the dollar store and stock up on your armor!

That diaper box in the background is where we store our armor when it's not in use.  I made the girdle out of felt - no loin coverings at the dollar store.

Then, at the end of the night, we ate David's birthday "cake."  David is more of an ice cream man, so I made him a mud pie.

This is my magnum opus!  Chocolate crust, layer of Chocolate Ganache ice cream, layer of Magic Shell Fudge and chocolate crumbs, another layer of Chocolate Ganache, topped with hot fudge, caramel, chopped roasted almonds, and home made whipped cream.  To DIE for!!!

Happy Birthday to my main man!

Bouncy Bouncy Baby!

We found this little gem of a baby bouncer at a garage sale near Josh's soccer game the other day.  They were asking $10 for it and David bargained them down to $6.

BEST $6 WE'VE EVER SPENT!!!  So far, it has provided hours and hours of entertainment for all of us!  It's about as much fun for Quin as it is for the rest of us who get to watch him.  Nothing is more adorable than his chubby legs flying in the air with pointed toes!  (Also, it buys me a half hour here and there to get work done - seriously best purchase ever!)