*A random pet peeve of mine is to have a full coat rack.  I HATE having layers of coats on our rack by the front door.  I don't know why because it's not like they are all messy around the room.  I like to only have one coat for each kid.  If there is already one there, I march the one they just wore up to their closet. :)

*So Cameron LOOOOVED the hamburgers we had this week!  I'm sure he didn't figure the reason he liked it so much was that 1/3 of it was mashed black beans!!!  Luckily he didn't inspect the patty before digging in, otherwise it would have been quite obvious what mom pulled. :) And no, I did not try to trick Chris...his was "normal". :)

(sorry it's blurry)

 *Bachelorette tidbits:

 Leslie:  I like her, but I think she is more a "guys' best friend" type of gal and I don't see a ton of sparks between her and Sean.

Ashlee:  Stunningly beautiful!  I'm 50/50 on whether Sean sees something here.

Desiree:  My favorite.  Super cute and down to earth. :)

*I like to have a drama on TV to watch with Chris each week.  We don't have one we both like yet.  We started to watch The Following.  I could NOT stomach it.  Way too dark/bloody for me.  We tried The Americans last night and so far we both really like it. We'll see! :)

latest design

Chris just posted a new girls t-shirt design for Lastraw.  They are super cute and honestly, very comfortable. I live in fitted t-shirts in the summer and these colors are super cute.  And remember, you pick from their list of charities and they'll donate $5 of your purchase price go to whichever one you choose.  

Check them out here :)

 

p.s. I actually equally love this new guy design he made...

success and partial success

Success
I had the yummiest lunch the other day.  My mom was a tad grossed out when I told her but I stand by the fact that it was quite tasty. :)  I topped a baked potato with black beans and a mixture of sour cream and pureed pumpkin.  Wonderful!!

My partial success comes with my attempt at homemade Cheez-it crackers.  So why the attempt?

Store bought Cheez-it ingredients:

Homemade Cheez-it ingredients:

*Cheese

*Flour

*Butter

*Salt

Makes sense I would want to try my own, right?  

Well, first off, I thought my creation was fantastic!!!  I think using sharp cheese was key.  The mistake I made was in telling Cameron (not Kendall, she liked them) that they were homemade "Cheez-it crackers".  I should have just called them some new cute name and then he wouldn't compare them.  They are more biscuit like and less hard, but I think the flavor is awesome.  And despite asking for the "regular ones", he will eat them.  

So my conclusion is that I will continue to make them and at least feed them to him more often than the regular ones.  Maybe he'll eventually learn to LOVE them as much as I do!!  So I would try them, but just call them something different. :)

some good and some bad

BAD:
*Yesterday I let the kids walk with Zoe in front of our house with strict instructions to stay between two houses and not go in the street.  I checked on them every few minutes.  The last time I went out, they were across the street.  Mom was NOT happy...at all.  Kids were not happy due to mom not being happy.

*Later as I was rushing around getting dinner ready because I had to leave, I dropped an entire ceramic bowl of spaghetti sauce on the kitchen floor.  There went dinner.  Mom was NOT happy again.

*The rain we are experiencing makes mom not happy.

*Battles with Kendall daily on what she will wear make mom not happy.  Skirts must "twirl like a princess".  She "must wear a tank top under her dress" (who knows why!).  She only will wear leggings (as opposed to jeans).

GOOD:
*I was trying to convey to Cameron how serious it was that he/Kendall disobeyed and went into the street when I wasn't with them.  I had to chuckle when, after my heartfelt words of how I wouldn't know what to do if something happened to them (I actually had tears in my eyes), he simply replied, "Do I still not get my cookie tonight as consequence?"  Ahhh...oh, well.  I tried. :)

*Let's be honest, breakfast breads are simply desserts with "breakfast" slapped in front.  Muffins have just as much sugar as cupcakes.  Donuts are simply fried cake with frosting!  So with that mindset, I didn't think the girls at my moms' group would mind if, for brunch, I brought Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies.  I don't think they minded as the cookies were all gone by the time we were done.  These little things are incredible! :)

*Cam has been a little more attached to dad recently and so we both felt he needed a "daddy/Cameron afternoon".  So on Tuesday, Chris surprised him and they spent the afternoon at Disneyland.  They had a neat time, just the two of them. :)

*Since Cameron didn't have school yesterday, I decided to take them for a hike.  The weather was amazing and we had such a fun time.  Zoe came along, which upped the "fun level" immensely for Cam. :)

What a view...

*Last night the girls from my moms' group table got together for dinner.  We had such a nice evening.  I have a great table this year and look forward to each time we get together.  Some years tables are a little more work to get conversations going, but this year we always have things to talk about. :)

*Cam HATES beans and so I rarely serve them in their regular state, only hidden in his muffins/waffles.  I'm so glad I finally took the time to learn how to make them myself. They are so easy and I basically saved $3.50 for this amount vs. what they would have cost canned.  Plus I don't get the added salt and whatever else is hidden in those cans. :)

our saturday

Yesterday screamed for a trip to the desert.  With 76 as the temperature, it was a WONDERFUL change.  After our normal trip to the mall and Barns and Noble, we veered from our usual routine and brought along the kids' bikes to the park.  I think we will definitely do this again as they both liked it (Kendall in particular).

Costco followed, as usual, for lunch and samples.  The favorite sample for all of us were these super yummy Skinny Cow Dreamy Clusters.  They are a tad pricey, otherwise we would have bought some since they are so low in calories but incredibly good. :)

We've learned that cart riding is the way to go at Costco, to prevent excessive hyper'ness and running around. :)

They always get to share a churro for the ride home.  Not sure how smart this is considering how incredibly messy they are. :)

Last night for dinner the kids had "hamburger dippers", a.k.a veggie burgers dipped in ketchup.  I simply cut them into strips with a plop of ketchup on the side. :)  They seem to really like them, which is great!  I'd like to not have meat at EVERY single dinner, so this is a nice alternative.

remedy for dense

This morning I made the most delicious cinnamon rolls...and they were healthy!!  I wanted to make them a little more light in texture so I used half whole wheat flour and half oats (ground in the blender). Now, it's not like they were like Cinnabon or anything (they are still more biscuit like than chewy dough), but they were definitely less dense and the oats gave them SUCH a good flavor!!  I think part oats is the way to go from now on!  

Here is Cam the helper.  He liked to spread the applesauce (instead of melted butter) on top before the sugar/cinnamon went on.

Yes, even Chris liked them!  Don't let his face fool you...he had just woken up. :)

"ju-nastics"

Today my moms' group went to a gymnastics place for an hour of playtime.  Kendall was SOO excited for "ju-nastics" and loved talking about the things she was going to do.  We kept asking her simply to hear her say the word.  If you would like to hear her say it, click here. :)

p.s. If any of your kids are huge Lego fans, there are the CUTEST videos I found on Youtube.
Here is one, and you can also search "lego, michael hickox" in Youtube.

*Every single day I have at least two cups of hot chocolate.  This is my round up.  I use 1 tsp sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa (only Walmart has dark chocolate cocoa...which is amazing), and 1 tbls. Hazelnut creamer.  I mix this into a little rice milk/water and mmmm....good. :)

*The other day a friend asked if I still had to entertain Cameron most of the day.  I realized that it has been a long time since I've had to do that.  This is thanks to his little partner in crime.  They are such cute playmates and while playing together has increased the arguing, it's still so worth it to see the fun they have with one another. :)

*We rented Bourne Legacy this past weekend and I LOVED it.  I feel like I've gotten a lot harder to please in movies and TV shows and this one was sooo worth the rental. :)

*I've been talking a lot to my mom/sister and thinking about organic vs. non-organic.  I'm still so confused about it all. Right now I've switched back to Rice Milk and for fruits and veggies, while I don't buy organic, I've started soaking them in a water/vinegar mixture before washing them.  My mom learned this from a book she had bought on fighting cancer.  Sometimes I'm so "done" with worrying and analyzing about all the foods we eat.  I'm not super extreme about everything we put in our mouths (my kids are not candy deprived nor am I!), but I do want at least the majority of what we eat to be good in the food itself and the way it's grown.  I just wish there wasn't so much conflicting stuff out there.

*Cam has gotten to the age where he asks tons of questions and comments on things a lot.  For instance, he's already done the, "That lady looks like she has a baby in her belly!" (she didn't) and, "Hey look, a criminal and a robber!" (staring straight at a couple of thug looking teens at the mall).  Ugh!!!  So embarrassing!!!  Question:  When your child does that, is it better to acknowledge the comment to the person by apologizing, making them feel even more embarrassed?  Or is it better to whisper in his ear and not acknowledge the person (I would think they would realize a reprimanding was going on)?
 ?????Thoughts??????

*I make tortillas all the time because I use them as bread.  I have yet to find a bread or tortilla that is 100% whole wheat PLUS doesn't have ingredients I can't pronounce. :)  My tortillas, however are never floppy enough to use as wraps since the whole wheat flour makes them dense.  I tried White Whole Wheat flour the other day and there wasn't much difference.  Oh well, at least the kids don't mind super dense baked goods. :)

*We were so excited to get Cam into the Lego elective class at school this quarter.  He was equally happy. :)

*The first recipe I made with that white whole wheat flour were homemade pretzels.  Both kids were huge fans and I had to make the rule that Kendall had to eat her stew before she had a second one.

*Speaking of stew, Chris gave my stew the other night a 9 (just a basic beef, potato, carrot, etc.)!!!  For a soup-is-not-a-proper-meal guy, this was big!!  Granted he threw in, "Well, it's a 9 on a 'stew' scale" :)

*Yesterday afternoon we took the kids to Skytown with some Christmas money from my sister.  It was not crowded at all, which was great.  Little shy Kendall would leave most trampolines once one other child joined her. :)  Thanks, Susan and Chris!!!

*After Skytown we met my parents for dinner/happy hour at Claim Jumper.  My parents had never been there for happy hour so it was fun to introduce them to $3 pizzas!!

*Costco run today:

-Cheese
-Crackers
-Eggs
-Frozen Veggies
-Toilet Paper
-Veggie burgers
-Rice Milk

Favorite sample:  Chocolate covered cashew clusters

*Today Cam completed his first "clean up Zoe's poop" chore for the week.  This pic was taken right before he took a HUGE spill.  He and Zoe were out in the front and Zoe took off so quick that Cam flew into the air and skidded on the ground (he forgot initially to let go of the leash).  Poor guy has two pretty nasty boo-boo's. :(

super exciting for us...

For almost a year now, Chris and a partner have been working on forming a T-shirt company.  This has actually been a dream of Chris' since we got married and after meeting Nate (his partner) last year, they both seemed to have the same goals and decided to fulfill this dream.  However, this T-shirt company is quite different than most (or any for that matter).  Basically when you order a shirt, you can choose among a list of charities (the list will continue to grow) and they will donate $5 to that charity from the proceeds of the shirt.  Is that not a cool idea or what? :)

Anyway, after hundreds of hours of work (I never knew something like this was such a huge undertaking), they officially launched Lastraw Clothing yesterday. 

If you have a minute, will you take a look at this awesome video from their website?

Hope you think the designs are as cool as I do!  The above one is my favorite. 

p.s.  If you have one more minute, visit their Facebook page and "like" them. :)

chore chart

I didn't make any New Year's resolutions this year, but there were a few things I wanted to implement/improve on.  The first was to continue reading from The Jesus Storybook Bible with the kids.  We had gotten into the habit of doing it each morning over breakfast during advent and I really liked it.  So far we have been doing pretty well.  We don't get every morning, but it's somewhat consistant.

Believe it or not, the 30-Day Shred I started back last January was pretty much the only DVD (besides a Biggest Loser one I rotated in sometimes) I did the entire last year.  Some people get tired of doing the same workout all the time.  I'm the opposite in that I enjoy the familiar. :) However this year I asked for a new one for Christmas which I'm  hoping to try out this week and get into the rotation. :)  It's called Jillian Michaels:  Ripped in 30.  It's still only 20'ish minutes, which is my max. :)

A chore chart was also something I wanted to implement with Cameron.  I'm starting out pretty basic, hoping to add things to it as I need. :)  He is excited to earn money (for Lego of course!).

So there are a few things I'm working on... :)  On a much more shallow note, raise your hand if you are excited for tonight!!!

*I got a tortilla press for Christmas and used it for the first time the other day.  It was so much easier than what I had been doing (pressing REALLY hard with a plate to smash them down) and made the process go much more quickly.  So yesterday the kids had their usual lunch, peanut butter sandwiches.  I've been using almond butter, but I have to mix 1/2 peanut, 1/2 almond for Cameron because he is not an almond fan. :)

*Today we went out to Orange County to watch Chris play in a flag football tournament.  It was fun to see him in action and I was very thankful there were no injuries.  We also squeezed in a visit to see my friend, Jen, and her new baby.  It's so neat to see our kids enjoy one another so much.  :)

*Last night I bombed big time with dinner.  I thought these looked so scrumptious.  They had absolutely no taste.  Luckily the kids actually ate them so I froze the leftovers to use as lunches.

*Today Cam was reading a new science book he got from the library and asked, "Mom, did you know that monkeys start out small, then get bigger and bigger until they turn into humans?"  Oops...didn't realize an evolution talk needed to happen so soon. :)  It's hard to explain to a 6 year old that sometimes even when a book says something is "true", it might not be the case.

*Just started Human Game and it's really interesting.  Here is the synopsis:

In March and April of 1944, Gestapo gunmen killed fifty POWs—a brutal act in defiance of international law and the Geneva Convention.  This is the true story of the men who hunted them down.

vacation

I'm trying to do fun things to take advantage of Cam not having school this week.  Yesterday we went to Bracken Bird Farm and today was Victoria Gardens.

I always like to pack a lunch when we go somewhere.  It extends our time and it's always fun to eat somewhere else, even if it's packed from home. :)

Tomorrow's outing won't be quite as fun.  Both kids will accompany me to the dentist!  I'm cueing up a movie before we go so they can sit and watch while I get my cleaning. I scheduled it for the first appointment of the day so I'm REALLY hoping it doesn't take too long. :)