Happy 6th Anniversary

My Son the Ribbit

I love the open and creative ways kids think. Owen became a "Ribbit" (aka frog) today with the assistance of his handy "ribbit feet".

What a clever Ribbit!

Hop Hop Hop

"Mommy! My ribbit fell off!"

I Take What I Can Get

Mom: Burp. Excuse me.

Owen: Mom's Incredible!!! (With lots of excitement)

I smile enjoying the compliment even though I know my son well enough to know what he was really saying. (Mom's burp was just like Dash's on Incredibles) :) I'll still go with what he actually said. It feels better.

Play Group Party

Monday was our Kennesaw Mommy's group. We've had a lot of fun this year with all of our new pals. And it was great to celebrate Christmas with them too. There were lots of kids and mommy's there and best of all Santa came by too. We are on a roll. This is the third time we've seen Santa this year. And we plan on seeing him next Tuesday too! We are so lucky!

Not Much

What's been going on? Well the title says it all. Not much. Just the norm. Movies, play dough, cars, baby dolls, snacks, diapers, naps. All the essentials. Right this minute everyone is napping but me. I was torn between blogging and the dishes, dinner and laundry. So I went with most enjoyable. :)

This week is rained and got really cold. Our poor toys.

We were lucky enough to see Santa at the ward Christmas Party last night. He was very nice and jolly. Owen loved him. Marilee had the whatever attitude. Charly will go to nearly anyone, even Santa.

This is when Santa walked through the door.

And the kids singing songs to usher in Santa.

These pictures are out of order. A little annoying isn't it.

I just thought this was cute. She just had to play in the basket even though she kept falling out of it. She insisted.

Your Opinion

I'm looking for a Semi Professional camera. If you have one please leave a comment and tell me what kind you have and why you love or hate it. I've been looking at Cannon and Nikon. They both seem so nice but it's hard to decide between the two.

Thanks! I'm looking forward to your remarks.

"Mommy Fall?"

Yesterday I used our new latter to put up Christmas lights. I'm excited to have lights up for the first time in my married life. Our drive way slants downward towards the road which made it seems very steep on the latter. I not sure if I'm afraid of heights, but I know I am terrified of falling.
I thought my plan through, I waited for Charly's nap time, I laid out all the lights carefully, and occupied the little ones inside the house. I put my cell phone in my pocket in case I fell then I could call for help if needed. I start thinking a cell phone is only helpful if I don't break the arm on that side of my body or get knocked out. Should I put up the lights? It could wait. No, the lights are going up. So up I go, I'm on a roll, doing good. I'm half way done, Owen comes to visit. "Mommy it's cold." "Yep" "What's Mommy do-ing? Mommy fall down? Mommy ouch? Mommy fall down - ouch." "No Owen Mommy no fall down, I'm fine, just putting up lights." Something catches my eye, it's a vulture soaring over my house. Hum. Maybe the lights can wait till later. No. So I finish putting up the lights. So pretty! I'm excited! Then I realize I put then entire portipon over the garage on backwards. Dang it! I managed to fix it and not fall. Ta Dah! I'll try to capture a good picture of them lit up tonight.

Tis The Season

I really love this season. There is so much excitement in the air, Christmas is the reason for it all. Time with loved ones, Santa, the baking, the singing, the parties, stocking stuffers and shopping! And most importantly Christ our Savior. The one who loved us so much He lived for us setting a undeviating path for us to follow and died for us so that we could become spiritually whole and live again as He does today. I am grateful for Him. I am grateful to God that he would prepare a way for us through Jesus Christ.

So celebrate we do! There is so much to be grateful for!

Still Here

You know when you are trying to do something quietly you seem to make a ton of noise? I'm trying to type quietly. My sweet niece is sleeping next to me and waking her would be terrible for the both of us. My hand have been so full since Thanksgiving. My sister Wendi is moving to Georgia from South Carolina and is taking finals at the same time so Marilee is hanging out with us for the week. Good luck on your finals Wendi!

So for those who do not know, Marilee is 1 almost 2, Owen is 2 almost 3 and Charly is 8 months old. So our lives are filled with little hands, feet, diapers and tiny attitudes. :) I'm not complaining, just providing an excuse for why I haven't called, blogged, or emailed.

Thanksgiving weather was so nice we couldn't resist going outside to play.
As it turns out, wet sand is way more fun than dry sand.

Sour Cream Pound Cake is a traditional food for nearly all of our family gatherings that include eating. Maybe you care, maybe you don't. But I was so proud of how perfect my Sour Cream Pound Cake turned out, I had to post it. It tasted perfect too.

This Week

For family night we had a lesson on the Savior's birth. And we made this Nativity from the Friend magazine. We read some of the story from the Bible and sang Christmas songs. The kids did a better than usual job at paying attention.

Marilee helped decorate the tree, she found a few "special" ornaments that she wanted to carry around all day. Please note the cute pig tails. I put her hair up and she kept flipping her hair around and saying "Cute!" she really is.

Garett vs Marilee and The Man of Steel
The kids love to play with Garett, and he does a fantastic job of entertaining and winding the kids up right before bed time. I'm happy he makes the effort to play with them and to show them love. I just hope the timing of the rough housing can get bumped up an hour or so.

I bribed the kids with M&M's to smile for me. It so totally worked. The tree is decorated, no ornaments at the bottom, I'm guessing our tree will look like that for a few more years to come.

So here it is after midnight, I finally have my hands free. Dishes are still undone, but I'm on my third load of laundry. Now maybe I can catch some Z's before the nightly ritual of babies waking up starts. :)

Mini Milestones

This past week has been great. Charly turned 8 months on Monday! Hurray! She continues to be delightful and sweet. She is learning quickly how to get what she wants and needs - in that order. She has started to say "Da Da" unless you want her to, then she stops. :) Owen is nearly potty trained. He goes to the bathroom by himself but still needs help with those darn buttons and zippers. He finally went #2 on the potty, not that you wanted to know that, but it's a big deal so we took him to "Chuck E Cheeses' House" for hours of fun!!!

Yea! Chuck E Cheese!

I didn't worry about getting great pictures because the video clips I got were so much fun to watch. Unfortunately they came out choppy, I think it's the camera. Not sure..??

Free "Pepper Pepper"

LOS ANGELES – Dr Pepper is making good on its promise of free soda now that the release of Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy" is a reality.

The soft-drink maker said in March that it would give a free soda to everyone in America if the album dropped in 2008. "Chinese Democracy," infamously delayed since recording began in 1994, goes on sale Sunday.

"We never thought this day would come," Tony Jacobs, Dr Pepper's vice president of marketing, said in a statement. "But now that it's here, all we can say is: The Dr Pepper's on us."

Beginning Sunday at 12:01 a.m., coupons for a free 20-ounce soda will be available for 24 hours on Dr Pepper's Web site. They'll be honored until Feb. 28.

Dr Pepper is owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc.

Just Got Back!

Just got back from a fun and fabulous date with my husband. I took him out. We went to see Twilight, I was much more excited to see it than Garett. Okay, he was only happy to spend time with me, not so thrilled about the chick flick. I enjoyed the movie, the book is always best though. And Garett had fun, he thought the movie wasn't so bad for a chick flick. I think he had a lot of fun watching hundreds of girls squeel with delight and freak out over the smallest parts of the movie. I guess that is what happens when you watch it with hundreds of teens and tweens. :) I agree the audience was so much fun, they made the experience Dazzling!

Here We Are

I know I have disappeared for a little while, but here we are again. Normal life has been all that's been going on for the most part. We've even hit a few milestones in the past few days.

Not a milestone, but worth mentioning. The Swan's baking flour box has recipes on the back of the box and this is my attempt at the Simple Chocolate Cake. It is not as simple as a cake mix but it wasn't that hard to put together. I held back on the frosting because it was so sweet and the layers are not even, but I tried. And it does taste great!

Our little energetic Owen has learned how to fly Daddy's helicopter.
It is kind of hard to fly but he can do it and he does a good job.

Charly has surprised us the most in the past 3 days. Her top two teeth are about to break through. She learned how to pull up on everything! And the next day she started to cruise. She really gets around. The only down side is she hasn't learned to sit back down so she will just hang on and cry until help arrives. This gets really annoying at bed time.

I found her like this after nap time, we lowered the mattress that evening.

What to blog about?

I'm not considering myself in a blogging slump. I know there has been an unusually big gap in my posts but bear with me. I've actually been sparing you the dirty details of my oh so normal life. Here is a hint, it's all about poop. I have no idea what has hit our family (kids) but there have been so many poopy issues lately and who wants to read about that, much less see pictures. I'm hoping with cleaned up babies, clothing, floors, beds and a new office chair that our poopy problems have come to an end. I know I shouldn't jinx myself by writing that but I have hope.

On another note, my obsession to find outfits for the family pictures is paying off. I've got what we need DAYS before picture day! It's a miracle!

I've got a few things to blog about, check in soon!

Our Halloween Night

Trick or Treating was lots of fun. I love how Owen has the hang of asking for Treats and saying Thank you most of the time. He enjoyed it all with the exception of the haunted house (garage) at the end of our street. He refused to go in. I'm glad he has fear of something. Plus last year the people who were doing the haunted house took pictures of the kids mind included with out my permission, not a big fan of that. Especially because I don't know them.

Letting out some energy before the festivities.

My big boy.

He was so happy to be Superman and to be carrying a Spiderman bag.
I drew the line at the Spiderman shoes.

Here mom it's heavy.

By the time we got home we were wiped out and put our candy out on the front poarch for the kids to take. Most were good about taking one or two but the the tweens came and wiped out the rest. Maybe I shouldn't be, but I'm annoyed by that. That is very selfish and inconsiderate to other trick or treaters. I know, no need to go on about it.

Happy Halloween!

I so enjoy this time of year. It feels so nice outside and kids everywhere get so excited. Pumpkin carving is messy but fun, one day I'll make a really complicated pretty one. I just really enjoy all that comes with fall, the festivals, the colors in nature, the fresh crisp air and warm soup . Fall is one of my favorite seasons.

So Monday night Family night was over before it began. So we moved it to Tuesday night. We carved our pumpkin for our activity. And I think it turned out great.

Little Miss Charly's new trick. She will grab on to anything and do a body press. I guess this is the first step before pulling up on things. Yesterday she crawled perfectly! She has been working on the alternating knees and hands, well folks she's got it!

Our perfect pumpkin.

Hard at work poking little holes in the pumpkin.
It's just what every pumpkin needs.

Dut Dah Dah Daaaaaaaah! It's Superman! It looks great lit up too,
I just couldn't figure out how to get a good picture with no flash.

Happy Halloween everyone! Be safe and have fun!

I Feel So WICKED!

Last night Garett and I went and saw Wicked the musical at Fox theater. It was wonderful! The singing was amazing and the story was just as great. I would love to see it again. Thanks Rhonda and Joe for watching the kids. The first thing Owen said this morning was "Where's Rona 'n Joe's house". :) He had a great time.

Scroll Down if you want the cake recipe

What Your Jack-o-Lantern Says

You are a naturally cheerful, happy go lucky person. You're the type of person to see Halloween through the eyes of a child. This Halloween, dress up as something cute - like a bunny. The candy you should give out: candy corn

The Jack-o-Lantern Quiz

Old Problem / New Problem

Even though you cannot tell from the picture, this costume (non returnable) is way too tight. And the back is wide open. Being so tight there was no way that we could put clothing under the costume to keep the little guy warm. Owen doesn't care as long as he is Superman.

I fixed the tight in the torso problem and here is our new dilemma. We have a belly shirt. :) We are on the way out to find a shirt that will mask the problem.

Banana Split Cake

A yummy experiment :) This Banana Split Cake recipe looked so easy to make I had to try. It was super easy and delicious! I liked it best served hot. It is suggested to serve it with vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream topping, a slice of banana, strawberries and a cherry on top.

There was a little more chocolate than suggested, but that was no accident.



HERE IT IS....

1 cup butter 1/2 cup milk
4 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups all purpose flour 1/2 cup strawberry preserves
2 teaspoons baking powder about 10 drops of red food coloring
1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup presweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda (not low calorie)
1/1/2 cup sugar 1 12oz jar chocolate fudge topping
1 1/2 cup mashed banana (1 lg) cream topping
1/2 cup dairy sour cream vanilla ice cream

1. Allow butter to reach room temperature. Let eggs stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Grease and flour a 10-inch fluted tube pan. In med bowl stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; set aside.

2. Ina large mixing bowl beat butter with electric mixer for 30 seconds. Add sugar; beat until fluffy. Add one egg at a time, beating well after each addition. In a small bowl combine banana, sour cream, milk and vanilla. Alternately add flour mix and banana mix, beating on low-speed. Mix each addition well.

3. Stir in 1/2 cup strawberry preserves and red food coloring into 1 cup of the batter. Stir cocoa powder into another 1 cup of the batter ( I used a little more batter to keep the batter loose) . Spoon half of the remaining plain batter into prepared pan. Spoon all strawberry batter over the plain layer. Top with remaining plain, then the chocolate batter.

4. Bake in a 350 oven for 55 to 65 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack. In a small saucepan heat chocolate ice cream topping until warm. Drizzle over cake (only for show - if you are keeping the cake for a few days just drizzle over individual slices) Serve cake with ice cream and any other topping you want.

Our Weekend

This weekend we stuck mostly to home and relaxed. Saturday I spend half the day trying to set up Garett's office in the newly painted blue room. And I bought that paint from Sherwin Williams (2 gallons) for $4. Awesome, I know. So when I had finished that and Owen was restless enough to leave the house without telling anyone we headed down to the neighborhood Fall Festival. We made it just in time to see a few things while they packed up. :) Oops! Owen didn't know the difference and was thrilled with it all.

The bird. I think it had enough of people visitors because
it kept hissing at Owen. He thought it was saying hi.

There were two camels. He didn't really care much about them.

But he loved the pony.

And Willy the goat who squeezed through the gate to visit with us.

He played on the slides at the play ground.

He also got a wonderful Giraffe balloon! This totally made his day. The best part is he kept saying "It's a giraffe! Ruff Ruff!" That's right my kid knows all the animal sounds. :)

He was so excited to show Daddy his balloon he ran up what we call Killer Hill. It's a steep beast, myabe not in the picture, but it's a good work out, and a bit dangerous.

"Look Daddy it's a Giraffe balloon Ruff Ruff"
(He's holding it upside down.)


Sunday was usual is most ways. Owen helped himself to breakfast. We went to church. Came home ate lunch, made the house a little messier that it was. And we had company! I wanted to see them so much that I let them into my messy house. You know, I think it's time to stop pretending that it is usually straightened up and put together. That is more of a rarity these days. Sad but true.

Do you think I could sell this on EBay as art work?

He was so cute all dressed up that I wanted a picture.
Then he got mad that I was taking the picture. Still cute to me.
On the way home from church I gave him some gum. Bad idea.
By the time we had arrived home he had made cuff links out
of his gum and stuck them to his shirt.

Here is the gum in the hair to match the cuff links.
He had a unibrow of gum too. I'm just going to buzz it out tomorrow.
Not the unibrow, the back of his head.

Choo Choo Charly (as Owen calls her) is teething, hence the rosy cheeks. Poor thing looks miserable, but she really is quite the trooper. I think the two bottom ones will be in any day now.

Last but not least I call this picture, "You stupid pieice of crap",
it's a Trent household original.