today

Today we headed to my mom's after church (my dad is in Liberia on a missions trip). Chris made the baked potato skillet I blogged about earlier and it was very yummy. We had a nice lunch and followed it with a walk around the block, making a quick stop at her friend's house so Cam could jump on the trampoline.

After my mom's, we stopped at the yogurt shop. I recently made a discovery that I'm quite excited about. You know the places where you can serve yourself? Well, who says you have to actually GET yogurt? Since Cam doesn't care for the stuff, but does like the toppings, we've turned it into quite a fun outing. What kid wouldn't get excited to look at the row of fun, colorful candy? I let him choose 5-6 toppings. But here is my trick: After he chooses one, he quickly moves on to look for the next. So he doesn't realize that I barely put 4 chocolate chips in the cup...not even half a scoop. I do this with each one so he ends up with about an 1/8 of a cup. The total for his cup o' candy today was 58 cents. Yep. You can't be that!

So we get a nice outing and an exciting time of candy hunting, all for the bargain price of 58 cents. :)

*Last thing you ate: Tortilla chips

*Highlight of the day: 1. Tmoms- I love my table. 2. Going to feed the ducks with Cam and Kendall and seeing Cam get SO excited when the ducks would chase one another.

*Last thing on your TV: Yo Gabba Gabba

*Last thing that made you smile: Cam kissing me good night

*Plans for the weekend: Palm Springs tomorrow to escape the rain.

*Current favorite song: None I can think of, but Cam and I have started "Dance Party U.S.A". He'll often request this and we always play "Jennie From the Block", by J-Lo. Yes, I actually do own a CD of hers...shhh, don't tell. :)

*Last clothing purchase: pair of capris from JC Penny's for $8

*One thing I'm looking forward to: Tomorrow when my mom comes over for dinner. I'm making homemade mac and cheese.

update

*Cam had an amazing trip up north with Chris and his cousins. Grandma and grandpa made the weekend so worth the drive and I'm sure Cam wished he were heading back today, instead of heading to school.



*A friend of ours was in Haiti recently, helping with the relief effort. We were able to donate a small sum to her trip (she is a doctor). To thank us, she sent us a small gift, which will remain in our home from now on. It is a rock, hand carved by one of the Haitians staying at one of the Salvation Army shelters. So touching.



*Cam is VERY into his "friends". They go all over the place together. Here they are all loaded up, ready to go to Disneyland. So cute. :)



*Last week Chris decided to make dinner one night. I was impressed because he came up with it all on his own, with no recipe. We decided to call it, Baked Potato Skillet. He took hash browns (not the shredded kind) and added bacon bits, chicken, onion, broccoli, and cheese. It was SO tasty. I think we will definitely make it again since you can use the hash browns as your base, and really add any number of things.

friends

Chris had planned to take Cameron up north this weekend for a visit with grandma and grandpa. He then decided to also take my two nieces along. This way, his brother and wife could have a nice kid-less weekend and Cam could have a fun time with his cousins. I was impressed he took this upon himself as a 4-5 hour car ride might not be the easiest with three kids. But they were all great and the trip went quite smoothly.

I stayed back with Kendall and decided to hang out with a couple friends. Yesterday I drove out to see Jen's new house. It is so cute! Two favorite parts:
1. Kitchen-so cheerful and open 2. Backyard-has a pool and tons of play room.




Today Ruth came over to hang out for a while. Kendall slept the whole time, which was great because I wanted to hear all the details of her getting engaged yesterday!! Woohoo!!

We took a couple pictures to see if Kendall could actually not look at Ruth's...um... (funny part is that she is actually looking at the buttons on her shirt...ha!). We gave up and decided it would make for a pretty funny picture.

t-ball

Cam has now had two t-ball practices. I can honestly say he loves every single minute of them. The best word to describe his attitude is, "giddy". I'm not sure if we detect a true love for the game, but there sure is a true love for just being around the other kids and running around. It makes me happier than you'll ever know to watch him have so much fun. A year ago this would not have been possible because he would have been overwhelmed with all the new people. Now he thrives on it. :)

Here are a couple of pictures from his first practice.



I love this one from his second practice. He is in the red shirt. Notice the direction he is running. Then notice how Chris and two helpers on 3rd are trying to get him to run the opposite way. Priceless. :)

valentines

Last night Chris and I went to Cheesecake Factory to celebrate Valentines Day. On the menu:

Kelly: Classic Burger with Corn Succotash--LOVE the corn succotash :)
Chris: Spicy Cashew Chicken
Dessert: SO DISAPPOINTED since they no longer carry my favorite, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake. Had to settle for Oreo Mudslide.

Best part? The whole meal was free, thanks to a gift card!

After dinner we headed over to the mall. Despite our instructions to one another to NOT get gifts, Chris got me a gift card to Buckle. I've mentioned the jeans there before and the fact that I cannot justify spending that much on a pair. Knowing this, he got me a gift card because I would have no choice (as opposed to cash, which I could spend on other things).

I found a pair but I just couldn't pull the trigger. They didn't fit perfectly, which I feel is a requirement if I'm going to spend so much money on them. We'll try again another time. :)

p.s. Despite having the gift card, I feel like I still have to rationalize spending so much money on jeans. So...
1. I have worn three of my favorite jeans for over 5 years. So jeans last me a LONG time.
2. In general, I shop at places like Target for clothing and I never buy expensive brand name anything.
3. I get my hair done about once a year, so I'm really saving A LOT of money there.

Ok, I feel better. :)

rainforest

Yesterday after church, we drove to Ontario Mills. We had a gift card to the Rainforest Cafe. What a fun place for kids! I can't say much for the food, but it sure was a fun and family friendly restaurant.




Afterward we walked around the mall for a while. Note to self: Do not go on a Sunday afternoon again. It was a little too crowded. Cameron enjoyed it, especially when he got a balloon animal made for him.




Afterward, we headed back to my parents' house to pick up the other car (long story). Chris took Kendall home to nap and I took Cam to the park. This is our new favorite thing to do. He enjoys it and I love it because I can get my cuddle fix since he has never been much of a snuggler. :)

new activity

Yesterday while Kendall napped (a 2 HOUR nap, by the way!!!), Chris and I just wanted a little down time. Cam had dumped his entire basket of toys on the floor. So Chris told him as soon as he picked them up, he could get a treat. We figured he would dilly dally and take forever to do it, which he did. But that was ok, it gave us a little relaxing time, which was what we wanted!

As you can see below, playing with his truck (top right corner) wasn't really accomplishing the task. :)



While we are not doing anything today (we'll go out Tuesday to avoid the rush), I did want to wish everyone a Happy Valentines and Kendall wanted to show off her Valentines outfit from grandma and grandpa...

the last 24 hours

Good: We had good shish kabobs last night for dinner.
Bad: They were just that, good. Not great. This was a bummer because poor Chris spent over an hour putting them together.
Good: Kendall stayed in the nursery today for almost an hour, allowing me to enjoy some of my mom's group.
Bad: Due to poor napping because of my mom's group, her nap total for the day was worse than normal, 50 minutes (total!)
Good: Despite her non-napping day, she was remarkably happy.
Good: Picked Cam up a little early from school and got to see him passing out Valentines to his classmates during their party. So cute!
Good: It has been quite a while since I have cried this much...I'm making progress and succeeding more and being positive.
Good: Chris took Cam to his first t-ball practice. While it will take some getting used to for him (learning what to do and when), Cam was probably the most giddy, happy little guy the whole time.

And I'll leave it on a good one...good night.

had a bad day???

Watch this...

cake pops

Every since I saw the recipe for Cake Pops, I've wanted to try them. I think they are the cutest, tastiest things I've had in a long time. They are pretty labor intensive, but they are also fun to make and taste VERY good. Here is the recipe, which also includes better pictures than what you see of mine below. You'll see that you can really go all out with the creativity of them. I just stuck with the basic ones since this was my first time.

These are red velvet cake balls. I want to try ultra chocolate ones, but since these aren't for myself (I made them for my mom's group table and Cam's teachers), I decided to go less rich.



Here is my taste tester. He gave them two thumbs up.

p.s. As I was watching the news tonight and seeing footage of snow that covers 1/3 of our country, I couldn't help but appreciate the fact that we were at the park today and I was wearing Capris. I know California has it's downsides, but the weather isn't one of them and as a stay at home mom, I'm super thankful for this.

update

I never write two posts in one day, but I wanted to give you the update. Denny's was WAY too crowded for them to get breakfast this morning. At first Cam wasn't too happy seeing as we had hyped the, "special pancakes" he would be getting. But upon peering in the glass donut case at the donut store, he quickly forgot. :) Chris and Cam's typical breakfast routine (just about once a week...not every day!) is to get Cam a donut, then head to McDonald's, where Chris gets his breakfast. Anyway, after arriving at McDonald's, Chris texted me that they now have their version of frappuchinos. Would I want one? Um...YES!! I have to say they are equally as good as Starbucks and much cheaper. I'm officially a fan. :)

free breakfast

Chris read that Denny's was offering free Grand Slam breakfasts this morning and he wanted to take Cameron. So I guess Cam waking up at 5:00 a.m. worked out for the best. Yes, that's the way we'll look at it. :)

****

*Chris's favorite restaurant dessert has always been the Applebees Blondie. I found the knock off version in my latest Food Network magazine. Despite there being no chocolate in it, I have to admit it is divine.



*Went to Palm Springs today. It was raining there also, but at least it was something to do and we enjoyed lunch and the mall.

*Cam is into praying for EVERYTHING. After praying at the beginning of his meal, he'll then want to pray again if I add another piece of food to his plate. Tonight it was, "Thank you Jesus for the hamburger, dipping sauce (ketchup), peas, and grapes." He also then insists on us praying after he is done. So cute.

*I'm reading the Sara Palin book. I'm not a die hard fan of hers, but my mom got it for Christmas and it's pretty interesting. So far, I have enjoyed learning about life in Alaska. Not sure it would be my cup of tea, but interesting none the less. :)

*My brother and sister in-law gave us a new toy for Kendall. It is quite a hit and she looks so cute playing in her little kitchen.

popcorn

Last night Chris went to see the new Mel Gibson movie. Why didn't I go? A) I don't like seeing movies at night because I get home too late (I know, live a little, huh?) B) I'd rather use babysitting on going out to dinner. Anyway, Chris loved it and gave it a solid 9.

My point of this blog, however, is to express shock over the price of popcorn. While Chris didn't get any, he did glance at the menu only to find the price of a medium to be $7!!!! Are you kidding me? Who buys that? I get that buying popcorn at the theater is part of the whole experience, but $7?? I would much rather buy M&M's from the grocery store and snack on them while enjoying my movie. :)

list

This week's Costco list:
*Crackers
*Frozen Chicken-for cooking, cutting, freezing packets for some friends who just had a baby
*Rotisserie Chicken-for White Enchiladas I'll make tomorrow night
*Bananas
*Goldfish Crackers-donate to Cam's class
*Eggs
*Paper Towels

What we forgot:
Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches-I'm quite upset about this because I really need my "something sweet" after dinner each night. I just scrounged up some pudding from my cupboard. It's not instant, so I'm hoping it's ready to eat by the time we are done with dinner. :)

Samples: I was quite excited since this is the week before Super Bowl. I figured they would have lots of yummy stuff. The selection was pretty good, except they didn't have anything dessert'ish, which they never do anyway. Grrr...

My favorite: Pita Chips with hummus
Chris's favorite: Deep Dish Pizza
Cam's favorite: Veggie Straws
What were they thinking? Super thin pizza. Really? Pizza is not worth eating unless the crust is as thick as a donut!

petting zoo

Lately I've noticed that whenever we see an animal, Kendall gets super excited. I thought it was a good time to take her to her first "zoo". I put that in quotes because we went to the petting zoo in Oak Glen, which is VERY small and not that exciting. But she loved seeing the animals and grunted/growled as they moved about. Cam had a great time too, mainly running around and chasing the peacocks. :)