Another Catch Up Post

March is a very busy month for us. Mainly because of all the family birthdays that we have going on (not to mention the friends birthdays too). So here I am, trying to catch up on my lack of blogging yet again.

Earlier in March we had a decievingly warm couple of days. We were able to meet up with one of Noah's older best buddies, Easton, and one of my best buddies Christine (aka, Easton's mom). We took them for a ride on our church's newer "people mover" since they hadn't been on it yet...really exciting I know. I think if you look hard enough, you can see Levi helping Preston drive it in front of our house.

We took our friends on a ride through town and decided to stop at William Woods Univ and see their horses (its an equestrian school).




We also celebrated Noah's 4th birthday on March 13th (5 days after mine). We kept it very low key this year, I figure we will throw a big party next year with all his friends. Honestly, I didn't want to mess with it this year. We spent his birthday at home (it was on a Sunday)and took him to Bonkers (kinda like tunnel town) the next day. Here he is showing off his 2 big gifts from us, a Red Rider BB gun and his first big boy bike (complete with training wheels).




The day we went to Bonkers, March 14th, we got 8 inches of snow in Fulton, CRAZY!!!

On March 16th our new little nephew, Hunter James, was born to Anna (Preston's sister) and Jake. He is adorable! He had lots of cute blonde hair and was a little booger at less than 6 lbs. Here are pics from us visiting him the day after, on St. Patrick's day, hence the reason we're all wearing green. One of these is Preston and Levi chillin together, kinda funny.






The weekend after that Levi, Noah, and I all shared a nasty intestinal bug that of course took me the longest to get over. Levi seemed to have it the worst simply b/c his "toilet" is his diaper so whatever it didn't hold went everywhere else. We had to say "bye bye" to his "bear bear" because of this. Levi has 2 "bear bears" the one pictured is the one my mom gave me when we found out we were expecting Noah. However, Noah has never cared to snuggle with anything so it got zero use until we had Levi. Then Levi always slept with it (or the other one) and carried it around the house. It had a disasterous encounted with Levi's bug, got washed twice, and finally thrown away because there was no getting the smell out. And we all know, where there's still a smell, there's still something there.


Lastly, we have several pictures from us doing fun stuff outside. Levi is at the age where whatever he sees Noah do, he does. Monkey see, monkey do. This is a good teachable time for Noah to learn how to be a good example for his brother. Anyhow, March warmed up a little off and on and we were finally able to go outside to play.




And in April we were finally able to get out the bike and trailer. Yesterday I rode all over the place with it including the school and the park. Of course, it is Fulton, and nothing is really THAT far away. We have some decent hills near our house though and so it still gives a decent workout. Noah was very excited that I picked him up from preschool on the bike. He LOVES being pulled in this thing and I think Levi is really enjoying it too. This bike trailer is definitely one of the best investments we've made for the boys at this age! The sun was in their eyes so these pics are not the best.




Last but not least, I took the boys to Sault's Drugstore (downtown Fulton) where they have an old fashion soda fountain setup, complete with a train that rides around near the ceiling. We haven't been yet this year so we shared some ice cream and the boys loved watching the train. This was the first time Levi was old enough to even care there was a train and he kept pointing and saying "Chug Chug" as he watched it go around and around. As you can see in the ice cream picture, Levi knows that if he stands there with his mouth open long enough someone will put something in it. He's our little birdie.

Wow! Its been a while!

I guess I've been a little lazy with my blogging lately. I will attribute that to being busy with the more important things in life, like making sure I'm not ignoring the boys while trying to blog. Yeah, thats my excuse. Also, I've been bad about not getting pictures taken much lately, especially since getting our smartphones back in July. My computer has been getting some much needed rest. Now that I can do most things internet and camera related on my phone, I've been slacking. Sorry to those of you that care (my wonderful sis-in-law, Lauren, who helpfully reminds me from time to time).

In the words of Noah, "Waaellll" (drawn out "well"), not too much exciting has been going on with us lately. Staying very busy though. Our church has been going through many changes lately and many anticipated changes in the future. All of which are primarily positive. Our senior pastor of 32 years retired in December and the 3rd floor of the church has been under renovations for months and is finally finished (minus a few fixtures). These two events combined have left Preston exceptionally busy. The church has just hired a transitional pastor for a 12-18 month period (approx) to aid the church in continued growth as we adjust to having a loved pastor leave and look forward to what is in store for the future of our church.

Preston's "work" life has lessened to a degree in the last week so we took advantage of a much needed "Daddy Day" on Friday and went to a park that had huge tractor tires to climb on. I was able to snap a few shots of my 3 favorite guys!



Noah still likes to take pictures with his mommy. I'll take it as long as it lasts! He also still loves to pose :p



Levi is finally big enough to thoroughly enjoy swinging and exploring on his own at the playground. Noah loves to monkey around, and LOVES to play with his little brother! Hence the reason he is in a baby swing (next to his brother) instead of a regular one.






Levi loves to do what his big brother does. He sees Noah trying to wear Mr. Potato Head glasses, so he wants to do it too. He put these on by himself and did a pretty good job too!


Levi is developing quite the little independent personality, as you might imagine from an almost 17 month old. We get a kick out of his "goofy grin". If we tell him to do his "goofy grin" he scrunches up his little nose and eyes and gives a big toothy smile to be silly. Noah likes to try and imitate it. They crack each other up!


I can hardly believe Noah will be 4 in just a few weeks! Hehas grown up so much in the last 6 months. I keep hearing people (mostly on FB, but others also) ask why the 2's are called terrible when the 3's seem so much worse. Honestly, the 3's have been waaaay better for Noah (overall) than the 2's. Obviously, there are different struggles, difficulties, and it hasn't been a piece of cake, but we definitely have seen so much growth and maturity (to a 3yr old degree) in him. We get the question "Why?" or "Why not?" constantly now along with "Watch this!", "I HAVE to tell you something!", and "MOM/DAD, Levi's doing...". I love hearing my kiddo say my name, but gotta admit there are some days when I could do with half as much "MOM!"

Noah has also been wanting to help out more and do things himself (responsibility in training). This morning I woke up to him already dressed from head to toe, shoes, hat, and all. The only thing I added was a long sleeve undershirt because it cooled way down, he got spoiled by the nice weather this last week. I went downstairs to get Levi out of the crib and to my surprise Noah had already laid out clothes for Levi to wear also. He didn't do too bad matching things up either. The only thing I would've changed was Noah's red hat with the orange shirt, but hey, after all that who wouldn't indulge that one little fashion faux paux? Anyhow, this is how they looked when Noah was done with them both. (Levi was fussing b/c mommy had just walked out to feed the dog and came back in to take this picture, he couldn't calm down quick enough).

Chocolate Chip Challah Bread

This bread was super easy considering I have never made bread before. It makes ALOT too! My loaf was at least 18in long and about 6-7in wide. It was very yummy! I got this out of my Food Network Magazine.

Ingredients:
2 packets active dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp)
1/2 c. sugar, plus a pinch
7 c. flour, plus more for surface
1 Tb. salt
2 eggs
1/2 c. veg. oil
1 c. chocolate chips

1. Mix yeast, pinch of sugar, and 1 cup warm water in small bowl, then set aside while measuring out other dry ingredients.
2. Whisk 3 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt in large bowl. Pour yeast mixture and stir w/ wooden spoon. Add 1 egg, veg. oil, and 1 cup warm water; stir until combined. Stir in remaining 3 1/2 cups flour until dough starts to come together. Mix in choco. chips.
3.Knead dough on floured surface for about 8minutes until smooth. Place in large oiled bowl and cover w/ plastic wrap for 1-1 1/2 hrs until doubled in size (in warm room/place).
4. Divide dough into 3 equal portions, ball up then roll each into long 2in wide strand. LAy side by side on wax paper and pinch 1 end together.
5. Braid 3 strands and pinch together at opposite end.
6. Keep loaf on wax paper and place on top of baking sheet. Mix 1 egg with 1 Tb of water, then brush over entire loaf. Bake in preheated oven at 375 for 30-40 minutes until golden brown.
7. Enjoy!

Cheesy Potato Soup

I had a few people ask for my Cheesy Potato Soup recipe. Honestly, I've never made it before today (other than opening a can of Campbell's). I googled cheesy potato soup and found tons of recipes but of course I couldn't find 1 that met my tastes, my families taste (except Preston, who eats anything, love ya), or had what I had in my kitchen pantry/fridge. So here is more-or-less how I made it.

6 medium potatos - diced
2 chicken boiullon cubes
1 can of evaporated milk, (I'm sure regular milk would do just as well)
1/2 lb cooked bacon, cut up small
1 cup of broccoli, cut up extra fine
4-6 oz of velveeta, cubed
pepper to taste
salt to taste (be careful, the bacon & cheese makes it pretty salty, taste before adding)
flour or cornstarch to thicken as you prefer

I boiled the potatoes, then drained about 1/2-3/4 of the water. Added evaporated milk, 2 chicken boiullon cubes, and velveeta. Heat over medium heat until cheese starts to melt, then add bacon and broccoli. Let everything get warm and melty, stirring almost constantly. Add conrstarch or flour to thicken as you like it, or milk to thin it out. Heat until the broccoli is tender. Salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Most recipes called for onion (which I refuse to eat, nasty!), celery, some for carrots, garlic (Preston complains I put too much in all the time, you can't go wrong with it in my opinion). Basically, I just took what I liked and what my family (mainly kids) would eat and went with it. It turned out great! It made approx. 3/4 a 5qt pot full, or about 5-6 bowls full.
If you try it, ENJOY!

The Best Christmas Eve!

It has been too long since I've updated my blog. We've done alot since then, but I really haven't taken very many pictures since our trip to WA and NM the first of October. Even then, I had sooooo many pictures it was impossible to narrow them down to just a few.
We have been anticipating this snow for about 4-5 days now and its finally here! We have at least 4 inches and its the perfect sledding and snowball fighting kind of snow. This is definitely been the best Christmas Eve to date!

Here is our own little Winter Wonderland in our backyard.

We ventured down to the park on the 4-wheeler this morning to catch the best sledding snow. Jezebel ran alongside us and we had an amazing time with our own little family! I look forward to seeing these pictures again years down the road when the boys are grown. We had so much fun!



Levi had a pretty good time with the snow, as long as it stayed off his face. He enjoyed the sledding and the 4-wheeling.




Unlike years past, Noah was REALLY into sledding, snowballs, and snow angels. He had a blast!


Mommy and her boys!

Daddy and his boys!

Our Wonder Dog, Jezebel. She LOVES eating snow and jumping 5 feet in the air for snowballs (she really jumps that high, no joke).



Of course, the whole family...and the dog who doesn't sit still :)