Bed head

So handsome!:)

She did it!

We have been working with Madison for awhile
now trying to get her to learn to
write her name.
She finally did!
Can I just say, Ian is going to love us with his
super short name!
There were a couple of letters (s and d)
that she really didn't want to do, but we
explained they are all necessary!

Pri-vus-eye

Ian loves his sister (whom he refers to as "Si")
and usually follows her wherever she goes.
He has learned the art of opening doors and
sometimes walks in on her in the bathroom.
One time Madison got really mad and
yelled, "Get out Ian, I need my Pri-vus-eye!!!!"

That's not a Dino!

The kids got these adorable Toy Story figurines for
Christmas which included Buzz, Woody (who Ian
also refers to as Buzz), Jesse, Bullseye, an alien,
Hamm, and Rex.
We were playing with Rex and I said to Ian,
"This is a dinosaur. Can you say Dino?"
Maddie quickly interrupted and said,
"That's not a Dino, it's a Tyrannosaurus!"

Thank you Dinosaur Train!

Rain drama

While driving in the car
Madison said,

"Look Mommy, there's lots of clouds. I
think it is going to rain. And it will rain and
rain and they will never have preschool again!"

Wow, do you think she is a bit dramatic?

Books

When we moved to Virginia my friend Lauren
kept trying to get me to go to book club with her.
I realized that it had been a really long time since
I had read anything for my own pleasure. I
finally started going to book club and have been
enjoying reading again.

Since we moved here last March I have read

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
The Next Thing on My list by Jill Smolinski
Souvenir by Theresa Fowler
Breaking Dawn (again) by Stephanie Meyer
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An
Eclipse Novella by Stephanie Meyer
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Mocking Jay by Suzanne Collins

I decided as one of my New Year's resolutions that
I would read 20 books this year. So far, so good.
I have read
A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmell
and The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

So...all those in blogging land, I am in need
of some awesome books so I can get my read on!
Let me know if you have some must reads!

p.s. I read all of the Twilight books and
most Jane Austin, in case you were going to tell
me to read those:)

p.s.s. I love Nicholas Sparks books, but good
grief does he have to make me sob?
If you know of any of his books that wont send me into a
deep depression I'd love to read them!:)

For anyone who has ever watched Team Umizoomi

Maddie and I were watching the episode of
Team Umizoomi which explains how we get milk.
Starting with the cows in the farm,
then to the factory, and then to the grocery store.
When we were done watching I wanted to see
what Madison had learned so I asked,
"So Maddie, where does milk come from?"
She very proudly responded, "Umi city!"

P.S. She was a little upset that they mentioned
white milk, strawberry milk, and Chocolate milk,
but not orange milk:)

More on ice cream cakes

I forgot to mention how I did Madison's
birthday cake.
The bottom layer was the Oreo crust.
After freezing it for a couple of hours I then
added the Strawberry ice cream.
I bought 2 half gallon cartons and used
3/4 of the 1st carton for the first layer then
froze it for a couple of hours. Then I poured fudge
on top of the ice cream and put it back in the freezer
for a couple of hours. Then I added the remaining
1/4 of the 1st carton and another 1/2 of the 2nd carton
of ice cream. Then, you guessed it, back in the freezer.
Then I put pink icing on the top for decoration.

The additional ice cream makes
it much deeper, so the pieces can be smaller, but still plenty and
if you want to put anything on top (like on Maddie's was
a princess doll) then you'll want the extra height.
P.S. The fudge was awesome!

My birthday cake

I have had a few people ask about my birthday cake.
It is ridiculously easy!

First you need a springform pan.
My is a 9 incher. I bought it at Bed Bath and Beyond.
Once the cake is frozen it has a latch that you open that
releases the tension on the cake so you can lift it out. I have always made my crusts out of Oreos because
1) I love Oreos and 2) If you did graham crackers you would need
to add some butter and I don't like a buttery flavor when
I am having ice cream. I find double stuffed Oreos work the best.
I throw close to a whole bag of Oreos in
a gallon plastic bag, crush them up then press them on
the bottom of the springform pan. Then I put it in
the freezer for an hour or so. I used Butterfinger ice cream, which
you set out for about 20 minutes to melt. Then
press on top of the Oreos crust. Then I chopped up a bunch
of Reece's Peanut Butter cups and sprinkled them on top. I put
tinfoil on top and then put it back in the freezer for several hours.
When you are ready to eat it you just slide a knife around
the outside and open the springform pan and
there you have it, a delicious, super cheap ice cream cake
with the exact flavors you want!

The best 30th birthday I've ever had!

Last weekend I celebrated my birthday.
Since it was a big one I declared a 2 day celebration.
Friday began with my friend Lauren watching my kids
so I could go get a massage. It was heavenly!
Then we went to Chick-fil-A which is no secret one of
my favorite places to eat. That evening I made
chicken carbonera and then we watched Despicable Me. (So funny!)
Then we had my scrumptious cake and I had a very long,
very relaxing bubble bath.

I'm not a big cake fan, but I love ice cream, so

I made this yummy ice cream cake.
The bottom layer is Oreo, then Butterfinger ice cream
then chopped up Reece's peanut butter cups on top.

Clay bought me these beautiful flowers.

The next morning some friends of mine had organized a
shopping trip. We started with breakfast from McDonalds
and then we drove 2 hours to Richmond.
Lauren and Dacy

Kim, me, and Jennifer

It's an hour door shopping plaza, which
had a ton of great stores.

After a few hours of shopping we went to Chilis for lunch.
We don't have one in Lynchburg, so we were all very excited!

We shopped for a couple more hours after lunch and
then headed home. They dropped me off at Olive Garden where
Clay was meeting me for dinner. After we picked up the kids
from Clay's parent's house we watched When in Rome (a birthday
gift) and finished off my cake.
It was an amazingly fun couple of days, thanks to everybody who
made it special!

Well I'm officially old, and Clay will enjoy the next
5 months reminding me of that:)

New Year's Eve

Our New Year's Eve was pretty Mellow.
Clay had the day off of work so we enjoyed a lazy day.
For dinner we had pizza and then had Cold Stone ice cream
for dessert.

The kids played with the new year's eve party gear
and then went to bed at their normal time.
Clay and I watched movies until a few minutes before midnight,
watched the ball drop on tv and went to bed.
Not super exciting, but perfect!

Washington D.C. Temple

The Monday after Christmas we headed up
to D.C to go to the temple. It's about a 3 1/2 hour drive.
We were so happy that they still had the lights up!
Clay gets credit for the pictures, it was in the 30s and
really windy, so I wanted to keep my hands in my pockets!

We just got switched to the Raleigh, North Carolina
temple district, so we wont be going to D.C. as often,
but it will always be a favorite!

Madison and Ian loved the nativity.

Inside the visitor's center were beautifully decorated
Christmas trees. They also had a display of
nativity sets from around the world. They were doing a
concert but we didn't stay for that.

When Ian saw the Christus he said,
"Jeesh." It was pretty sweet!

Since it was Monday the temple wasn't open, so we
stayed in a hotel that night and Clay and
I took turned doing sessions the next morning.
Here are some pictures of the next day.

I miss living so close to the temples. I love going to
the temple and the amazing peace and joy you feel inside.
Raleigh will be a little over 2 hours away, so
it will be a bit closer and much less traffic.

Favorites of Christmas 2010

Favorite tradition:
Going out to breakfast the day or two after Christmas.
It gives us something to look forward to
when Christmas is done.
Here we are at Cracker Barrell.
(Um, their blueberry pancakes are amazing!)

Favorite guilty pleasure:

Favorite Book:
Favorite Taste:
I know most people either love or hate
Eggnog. I LOVE it!

Favorite Movie:
Favorite new Holiday decor:
Favorite songs:
I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas
and
What Child is This

Favorite picture:
The look on Madison's face is priceless!
The words that then came out of her
mouth were, "A doll house!"
I am so thankful for my kids who made
Christmas so much fun, my husband who works
hard so we can have nice things and puts up
with my crazy traditions and obsessions, and
family and friends that made this holiday season
so wonderful!

Christmas Morning part 2

After we opened our presents Christmas morning
we got ready and
headed a couple minutes away to Clay's parents.
We got to unwrap more presents, eat, laugh a lot and
eat some more.
Here Maddie is "helping" Ian with his big present
from Grammy and Pa pa.

A big truck that both kiddos love.

They like to put toys in it and push things
around and ask us to push them around and
it also works as a recliner!:)

Travie, Wyatt, and Brad opening similar
Big presents.

Madison got Flin Rider (the "prince" from
Tangled.) She was soooo excited!
(She got Rapunzel for her birthday)
Ian is also excited to have some male dolls
to play with in the doll house:)

The only family we were missing was Clay's
brother and his family. Luckily Clay set up Skype
so we could see them.
Here is everyone around the computer.
Not the same as having them here, but the next best thing!


I always wish for a white Christmas and
we were really lucky this year to get one.
It started snowing in the afternoon and kept on
through the night. By the next day we had a few inches
of beautiful snow. But because the snow plowing can be
a little slow around here church was canceled. But by
about 3 they came to plow and we could get out of
our neighborhood to make it back over to the festivities at
Clay's parents.
These are from later when Madison
put her Tinker bell costume on that
Grammy and Pa pa gave her.

These kiddos were super lucky this year!

I love how magical Christmas is again since
we have little ones!