He Still Loves His Cozy

Today Brandon came up to me and asked for his baby blanket. His "Cozy" was what actually inspired me to name my etsy shop "My Cozy Creations". I got this cozy as a gift at my baby shower when I was pregnant with Brandon. At the time it was so soft, cuddly and cozy. Brandon loved it from the time he was born. It was the only blanket that he wanted to go to sleep with. As a matter of fact, he had to have his cozy with him wherever he went!! We tried to get a couple of other "cozys" but, this was THE cozy! One of his uncles even called him Linus because he would throw a fit if someone tried to take his cozy away! Then all of a sudden he just didn't need it anymore, he was about 2 1/2 when he decided he was too big to carry it around anymore. At this time he also got rid of his binky and didn't want to take naps anymore either. Pretty much all at one time! I wish he would still take naps, but he just doesn't.

So, today he asked for his cozy. And now he's cuddling up with it. His long lost friend. He asks for it every couple of months, so that he can cuddle up with it.

He still loves it!

Halloween

In no particular order (mainly because I don't feel like rearranging the pictures) here is what our Halloween looked like!

This was or trick-or-treating party! All of the cousins together trick-or-treating in Grandma Jane's neighborhood. Look at poor Adam's face!! He's so scared!! Most of his cousins had scary costumes that he didn't like all too well. The big one with the mask had to take off the mask after these pictures so that Adam could see that he was nice. poor guy.

Adam the dinosaur. He was trick-or-treating for his favorite candy, Whoppers! So when people asked what kind of dinosaur he was we would say the Whopper-saurus! He also was always the last to get his treats at the door, so people would always give him more, because he's cute and because he called all of the ladies Grandma. "thank you gama" cute.

Brandon the Spiderman! My mom cut out the eye holes to be bigger, but as you can see in the top pictures, he didn't even wear the mask when trick-or-treating, because he still couldn't see that well. But he carried his Spiderman head, his candy bucket.

Carving pumpkins that we grew in our garden!!

He's getting too big!!

And last, but not least, we had a visit from Grandma Berta!! And while she was here we made our haunted gingerbread house!! The boys had fun covering the roof in candy corn!

Catching Up

What we've been up to lately...


We went to the fair and saw my ribbons...


And posed for pictures (Adam was asleep in the stroller during this pic)...


Brandon started preschool! He takes the bus all by himself...

And we've been making fun crafts while brother takes his nap!

Massive Cookie

I have a cute little 4 year old that likes to do things with his mama when his little brother is taking a nap.


Yesterday we were reading some books that we got at the Library. One of the books was called "Wild Boars Cook". He picked it out at the Library all by himself. It's a fun book about some really hungry boars that decide that if they want to eat a lot, they have to cook! And at the end of the book is one of the recipes that the boars cook, a Massive Cookie. So, we made the massive cookie. Here it is before it was baked, we thought it was massive then!!

Just look at it after it got out of the oven!! That thing was MASSIVE!! He had lots of fun reading the book (well, having mom read the book) to his brother and dad later that night before we ate it for dessert after dinner. It was really crunchy and really sweet, but it was fun to do and he had a blast! So, if your kids love books and like to bake with you, go and get "Wild Boars Cook" at the Library! We returned it today to the Shelley Library, so if you live out here, go snatch it up!!

The Karate Kid

These are for you Grandma Berta!

Brandon recently started taking Karate classes in Idaho Falls. He really loves it! These pictures are from his third class. We are hoping that Karate helps him to listen better and have more respect. He does still have a little trouble following directions during class, but he is getting a lot better!

LOL, this one makes me laugh! He is such a goofball!

I tell you what, it's hard to take pictures of this kid, he moves way too much!!

When he got home from Karate class yesterday we had The Karate Kid movie from Netflix in the mail! He watched it right when we got into the house!

Baking & Bear World

Earlier this summer we went up to bear world with my sister Savana when she came to visit. The boys had lots of fun seeing all of the different animals. Here is Todd and Adam getting up close and personal with a doe.

Adam checking out the pot belly pig that was way bigger than him!

And Brandon and Savana petting little baby goat kids! They were so cute! The duck wanted some of the action too! Or maybe it just wanted some of the food inside of Vana's hand!

Here is a raspberry peach cobbler that I made last night with the last of my fresh raspberries, thanks Lori! I just used my regular peach cobbler recipe and added in some raspberries. It was yummy!

And yesterday morning I made this buttermilk raspberry cake, with hopes of posting it on to But Mama, I'm Hungry! But before I could get a picture of it Adam did this to it! He thought it would be fun to dig his hands into it to get some to eat. It was yummy! You can find the recipe here.

I'm Just Craving A Really Big Burrito

Last night for dinner I made Chile Verde burritos. {The recipe will be up on But Mama, I'm Hungry! In a few weeks. Right now I have recipes lined up to post until the end of this month.} Anyway, I made chile verde, mexican rice, refried beans, pico de gallo, guacamole and homemade chips. Yeah, I was cooking all day. And we made burritos for dinner out of all of those things. Todd was craving a really big burrito (inside joke) so he made this almost 4 pound burrito. At first I thought we were going to share it for dinner, like the whole family... but he wanted to see if he could eat the whole thing. So, he started eating...

It was really big, this platter is the same one I use to put things on for Todd to take to work, like a whole batch of cookies big.

This is a candid shot of Todd almost done with the whole thing. He had one bite left to go. See that "I'm in pain" look? Yeah, he claims he wasn't in pain, but I think this picture says it all!

So, he ate the whole thing! I swear, that thing was big! He used 2 HUGE tortillas to make the burrito! We weighed it right before he ate it and it was just under 4 pounds! Yeah. He said it was the best burrito he ever ate. In his whole life. I'm glad he enjoyed it!

And here are Brandon and Adam after eating dinner and a cookies & cream cupcake (the recipe will be up in a few weeks). Adam loved them! Can't you tell?

The Loss Of A Good Friend

A couple of weeks ago I told Adam that I wasn't going to buy any more new binkies after he lost his last one. I swear, this kid loses binkies like it's going out of style. And then a couple of days after I told him that I wasn't buying anymore, he finally lost his last one. I stuck to my guns and didn't buy anymore new ones. Adam was pretty sad at first, those first couple of naps and going to bed at night were pretty hard for him. In fact, the first night he cried for almost an hour. But, he eventually got over it and is now completely binkie free for 1 1/2 weeks now! He's a big boy now! Now we just need to work on potty training! ;)

He looks so much more grown up without the binkie, don't you think? He's a cutie!

A Rodeo In Town

The boys had lots of fun at The Little Buckaroo Rodeo this year! Both Brandon and Adam competed in the Stick Pony Race and they had a blast! Brandon really wanted to do the sheep riding, but he's a year too young so he's hoping to do that event next year. Even though he looks bigger than most of the kids that were competing in it this year! Adam had so much fun, this was his first year doing it and he loved it! He even met a little girlfriend, as you can see in one of the pictures above. He is just too cute! They are both my cute little cowboys!

Freak of Nature

I went out to the garden yesterday to pick some vegetables and this is what I found.

A conjoined yellow squash. They some how fused together while growing.

Weird.

Join me, won't you?

I have been in the works of getting together all of my favorite recipes to eventually write a cookbook. In the meantime, I've created a new blog about some of my recipes. The blog is brand new and needs your help to stay going! I've only got a couple of recipes listed so far, but I plan on posting almost everyday with a new recipe. So, if your looking for some good recipes to feed to your family, follow me over to my new blog "But Mama, I'm Hungry!". I look forward to sharing my family's favorites with your family. If you have any tried and true recipes that you'd like to share with me, I'd love to see them! See you soon over at But Mama, I'm Hungry!

SO MAD!!!

Ugh!! I just thought to look to see if the Pillsbury bake off contest is going on this year. It is, and I missed the deadline to enter by a day! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!! I am so mad at myself right now. I found one of my entries from two years ago just a few days ago and didn't think to look at the website until today.

I've Done It!!

I have created a sweet and sour chicken recipe that is just as good as any good Chinese restaurant! And I mean a good one in California, because we all know that the Chinese places out here in Idaho kind of suck. Here it is.


Sweet and Sour Chicken
Just as good as take-out!

1 ½ lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into small bite size pieces
1 cup flour
1 cup cornstarch
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
1 1/3 cups cold water
oil for frying

Sauce:
½ cup ketchup
½ teaspoon soy sauce
1/3 cup white vinegar
¾ cup water
1 ¼ cups sugar
½ cup brown sugar, packed
3 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
¼ cup cold water
½ large onion, chunked
1 green bell pepper, chunked
½ cup pineapple tidbits

In a medium saucepan, combine all of the sauce ingredients, except for the onion, bell pepper and pineapple. Bring sauce to a boil and turn heat down to medium. Add the onion, bell pepper and pineapple and heat until vegetables are soft. Stir occasionally. Meanwhile, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and water in a large bowl. Whisk together well to make a thick batter. Dip chicken pieces in batter and drop in hot oil. Fry until golden brown and chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Let cool on paper towel lined plate. Serve over hot cooked rice, pouring sauce over chicken and enjoy!

I would have taken a picture of it, but for the past, um... six months my digital camera has been lost. Just yesterday I found it!! After dinner was already all eaten though. :) The dang thing was behind the dvd player, which stopped working on Wednesday, so we got a new one and while I was putting the new one in, I found my camera! Yay!! And here we were blaming poor Adam on the missing camera! :)