Who needs to exercise when you can eat mini pies instead?

Baby was down....kids distracted by their "movie of the day"...and I was just about to step on the elliptical.

Then a thought strikes....

"I am taking dinner to the ___________ tonight."

"Crap....what am I going to make."

It was while I was on the "what's for dinner quest" (or rather getting quite distracted from it) that I ran into a recipe for these super tasty, and I might add scrumptiously flaky, goodies on this blog.

"Well...at least I have dessert for them", I thought to myself (not because I wanted something beautiful and gourmet to take to these people, but because I wanted to eat them myself).


They actually turned out pretty well. That says a lot for their step by step tutorials. I am NOT a good, or even halfway decent, baker/cook. Most of my what I make ends up charcoal black on the back porch so the fire alarms will quit going off.

I decided to make the apple "hand pies" and top them with her delicious glaze because I already had the ingredients.

I couldn't help myself.

I think I have probably eaten the equivalent of a 9" pie ALL BY MYSELF! (I tripled the crust and doubled the filling and glaze). Oh...AND I NEVER WORKED OUT!

It was so easy to get carried away. They are so small...and seem so harmless.

Anyway...what does this have to do with anything?

It doesn't.

But "misery" loves company and I am hoping some of you will make them and eat as many as I did so I don't have to feel bad by myself. :)


UPDATE:

We just had them for FHE treat and Gabe says, "Mom, these are AWESOME!" "I LOVE your cooking ON THESE" (notice he had to specify "on these"). Then he says, "I wont even let [a crumb of] these touch the ground."

Makes a mama feel good. Especially since he is the one that usually dislikes everything. Thanks ladies at Our Best Bites!

Holy Cake Batman!

Cael celebrated his fifth birthday over....well, over the ENTIRE weekend...THE LUCKY BOY!

It all started on Saturday (Jan 22nd) with his very first "friend" party. He invited his bestest buddies Jonas and Jackson for a day at the bowling alley.

(Issac and Jonas were having so much fun together. This is them having a wrestling match)

We headed home for some super tasty (and super EASY) "army guy" cake (idea courtesy of FamilyFun.com)

and opened presents.

He had a blast.

It's very interesting the way a car full of 4-5 year old boys behave. VERY INTERESTING!

Sunday evening Grandma and Grandpa Gillespie, Aunt Carrie, Uncle Brett, and all the Larsen cousins came over to celebrate with Cael.

MORE cake....MORE ice cream...MORE fun!

Cake #2

Getting together with the Larsen cousins is always a lot of fun. With their 4 boys and our 4 boys a wrestling match is bound to break out. DOG PILE! (luckily the 2 babies stayed out of it).

Monday (the 24th) was Cael's actual birthday.

I CAN'T believe he is 5 YEARS OLD!

Some of our birthday traditions....

**This one was actually new this year. The kids have a really fun time doing it...it think it's a keeper.

(plain white shirt...washable markers...totally fun...totally washed out)

**They get to choose what they want for all 3 meals (within reason). He chose cinnamon rolls and bacon for breakfast (UGH! NOT MORE SWEETS..I totally didn't eat ANY), meatballs for lunch (he LOVES his meatballs), and a HAPPY Meal from McDonalds for dinner (along with a romp in the "biggest play place EVER").

**We set a timer and count down to the actual time they were born (Cael--1:25PM). This time we even had noise makers, and yelled out "happy birthday". I even started to sing "Happy Birthday" and Cael said "No mom...you cant sing that unless you blow out the candles!" :)

**And they choose dessert of course (because we were all "caked out" he agreed to root beer floats with the leftover ice cream).

As you can see Cael REALLY enjoyed his birthday presents from Rob and I. The expression on his face is priceless!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAEL!

You are such a sweet boy. Your quick (and gorgeous) smile lights up your whole face and brings joy to my heart. You are such a funny boy and make everyone around you laugh. We LOVE YOU!

What is it about my aura that says "twins"?

I met a woman at the park yesterday while there with 3 of my boys.



She was there with her adorable, two year old, twin girls.



As the kids were playing we got talking about our children (as most women do) at it came out that I have 4...not 3 boys. It took her a few minutes to recover from her shock. Truly.



I told her about Rob's "prophetic" prediction...that we would have 4 boys and one girl. She seemed a bit stunned by that too but the conversation continued. Laughing I told her of Rob's amendment to his previous prediction....that, yes, we would have four boys but he now thought we would have one "girl pregnancy" but that there would be two babies ("Wouldn't that be so cute," Rob says the day he amended early prediction (which just happened to be THE DAY OF MY ULTRASOUND WITH KIAN...like can we not get through one pregnancy before we start planning the next)).



Anyway... The look on this ladies face was priceless. She gasped, "Oh my gosh....I was just going to say that." She said she "knew it" just as soon as I told her that "back when we were dating my husband said we would have four boys and one girl." She thought "No, she is going to have twin girls."



Over and over she kept saying, "I was just going to say that."



All I could do was laugh. I have lost exact count but she is now the 5th or 6th random, as in never have met before in my life, person to predict my next pregnancy is going to be twin girls. Most of them just stop me in the store and tell me so...without ever hearing Rob's own "prophetic" prediction.



It's kind of....interesting (for lack of a better word).



What is it about my aura that says "twins"?



I told Rob about it last night. He had a good laugh. He joked about how disappointed I will be if/and or when I do get pregnant next time and it is not twins.



The truth is....I probably will be. Even though the thought of having any more kids right now, let alone twins, sends me into hysterics.



As part of the "joke" I already have names picked out for my twin girls (although Rob doesn't like one of them). Not that I want twins, necessarily. I would probably cry....HARD. I have just come to terms with it in a way. Like it's inevitable.



I never think about my next pregnancy without thinking about "them"...the two of them.



How bizarre is that? Am I crazy? (okay...don't answer that)



Four boys and twin girls....CAN YOU IMAGINE? Only time will tell....and I guess if you are not reading my blog in the next 3-5 years (and I pray that it is at least that) you may never know how it turns out. :)



Scary....but then again.....

A holey brain of cheese intruded by "squirrel" moments

I suffer acutely from "squirrel" syndrome. If you have seen the movie "UP" you may have an idea of what I am talking about.

That coupled with, what my counselor (aka shrink, head cracker, etc) lovingly refers to my "swiss cheese brain" makes for very difficult follow through with anything.

Something like a person with ADHD.....on speed!

First...I have a hard time remembering and keeping track of ANYTHING. If by miraculous means I do happen to retain a thought, it is promptly tossed aside by ANY and EVERY "squirrel" that crosses my path.

Truth is...I don't really care for swiss cheese...and like the dogs in the movie UP...I'm not so fond of "squirrels" either.

No tears over spilled milk....

This morning I was dragged out of bed with a tale of spilled milk.

Apparently Cael (the soon to be 5 year old) wanted milk in his cereal and thought it would be funny to sling the gallon over his shoulder ("like a fireman carry" quote by Gabe). Too late he realized the cap was off. Milk EVERYWHERE!

Ugh!

and

Sigh!

On the bright side, I have needed to take a mop to the disgustingly dirty floor for quite some time now.

No tears were shed (by either party because I kept my temper in check).

It was actually a blessing.

The catalyst to get my very reluctant floor cleaning self to get the job done.

It looks so nice now.

Kian cracked head causes wide spread brain injury

Kian's forehead was cracked open on the computer desk Sunday morning (with the help of his older brother Gabe). It was bound to happen sooner or later. The urgent care doctor chose not to stitch it. Just a few steri-strips and we were sent home. He's pretty happy about the whole ordeal. :)

What we couldn't have predicted was the transfer of Kian's brain trauma to Rob and I. Later that evening we both were showing signs of serious head injury. Accidents are so unpredictable in that way.

Batch two!

OH. SO. FUN.

While doing a BUNCH of mending this morning (mostly sewing on patches for the boys AND Rob...UGH!), I simultaneously scanned in a bunch of new photos. I know...I'm a fantastic multi-tasker (as long as I can remember what I am supposed to be doing. :) ).

After the kids went down for a nap I touched them up....(roughly)!

Now I will share them with you.

It's your lucky day.

Fall 2000

Rob's actually in the picture with another girl. Not that I have jealousy issues but do we really need HER in the photo? I. don't. think. so!

Fall 2000
I'm not sure Rob and I were even dating yet.
No worried...the tatoo is airbrushed.

Fall 2001
Rob with his room mate Dan.

November 2001
Rob and I were actually broken up when this picture was taken. How did we get from there to where we are in the next picture? Mercy...I took pity on the poor fool. :)


Feb/March 2002

Newly engaged. So SWEET!


July 2003

Gabe and I
YEAH...I know I was chubby. Dude, I had just had a baby!

July 2003

Rob and Gabe
Rob was SUCH a proud papa!

Dec 2003

Gabe's first Christmas

Early Spring 2004
Gabe and our pet Russian Tortoise "Harvey"
Gabe hated touching the grass! He he.

Spring/Summer 2003

And we wonder why Gabe is so obsessed with video games now!
Like father, like son!

At an end for now.

Don't cry...there will be more.

YOUNG(er) and IN LOVE (infatuated)!

When you are as "blond" as I am, sometimes it takes a little while to put things together. After installing Photoshop Elements on my computer 7 months ago it finally dawned on me that I have a scanner on my printer (that I have never been used because I didn't think I had the software). Well, tonight I finally put two and two together. I have both a scanner AND the software now. Duh!

I AM SO EXCITED!

I started scanning photos right away. Some of them still need a lot of touch up work (and some need to be rescanned because I didn't realize how much dust was on the scanner glass and the photos and couldn't figure out what all of the white specks on the photos were until I was 90% done with this batch....my mom always said I was her "blondest" blond!

These are pics of Rob and I when we were young and enjoying "new love"!

Rob with some siblings just after we started dating (Nov 2000)
It's amazing how much everyone has changed!

Um....yeah....super HOT!

Who can watch a football game when there are so many distractions on the side lines?
I'm a super big fan of football pants...especially when you put a certain Gillespie booty into them :) Yowsers! (Fall 2000)


The famous "Robbie squat"...even in college I could pick him out ANYWHERE on the field. See what I mean about football pants? (Whew...is it getting hot in here?) (Fall2000)

In Salt Lake on top of the conference center. (April 2001)
(He had a nice shaved head then too!)

Morp at Snow College (May? 2001)
We totally bought our gear at Sanpete Thrift...awesome!
(Sheri...do you remember this dance?)

Um...yeah...like I said before....SO SUPER HOT (I LOVE the dimples)!

On a boat cruise on Lake Coure D'Alene (summer 2001)

Engaged FINALLY! (Feb 2002)

Engagement Pictures (Spring 2002)

Bridals (Spring 2002)

Back when I used to really smile... :)

...before the stress of life, kids, a ppd kicked in.

Wedding Day (May 10, 2002--Manti Temple)

Honeymoon in VEGAS (May 2002)

Another honeymoon pic (May 2002)

There will SO be more to come! I hope you are as excited as I am!

Glasses....like second Christmas!

We got a letter the other day that Gabe's glasses were finally ready for pick-up. Gabe has been long awaiting this day. He was so excited.

So...after dropping Gabe off at school, I headed over to the optometrist to pick them up. Then I trucked (actually vanned) back to the school to give them to Gabe. He was way to hyped up to wait for after school.

He raced down to the office (which is VERY unusual for him). We fitted them and he put them on.

Now this is a quote...a direct quote...

"Wow....everything is so....CLEAR!"

All of the office ladies were giggling...me too. But truthfully, I felt a little bad wondering what he has been missing.

Then he read to me some words off a poster that was a few feet away from us with such a bewildered expression as if he had never even noticed it before. Crazy!

When he got home we took some pictures. This, in and of itself, is a MIRACLE. The kid does not like having his picture taken. He couldn't hold a straight face. That just makes them all the more cute. :)

By the way...he totally picked out the blue frames...he thinks they are so cool!

Funny kid!

On another note, I made meatloaf for dinner. It was a first for me...and a first for the kids. THEY LOVED IT! I was not expecting such an enthusiastic reaction. Gabe said he would love to eat it every day for dinner and lunch...and even breakfast if he could. I was flabbergasted. It's kind of nice to feel appreciated every now and then.


Just thought I'd share.

Holly Jolly Christmas!

We had a super Holly Jolly Christmas!

Festivities started Christmas Eve when we had some of our good friends over for dinner. It was cozy, and relaxed and a super good time.

After they left we gave the boys their Christmas jammies and took some pictures...

I LOVE these close-ups!

then off to bed.



****Christmas Morning****

*Gasp* "Mom...Santa ate ALL the stuff we left for him"

Waiting to see what's under the tree...
(these two were pretty happy. The others...not so happy to wait)

Kian loves following me around when I am sweeping or vacuuming(in fact, the vacuum is his favorite toy). Now he has a new toy to follow as well (Gabe's Spy Tracker (aka remote control car++)). It annoys Gabe a bit but Kian LOVES it!

Gabe and Kian playing with Kian's new ball.

Modeling the jester hats I made them...

and their new play clothes (Halloween clearance).

We spent the morning playing with toys and the Kinect and then took off for Spokane.

We had a fun weekend with lots of family (and Val). :)

It was a really fun holiday.