Family Pictures 2011

Alright I'm not going to lie...
I've been a HUGE slacker 
when it comes to blogging. 
(Ben's done the last two posts! Thanks hun. Boo me.)
I'm hoping to change that. I've got plenty to blog about I just haven't taken the time to sit down and do it. I decided today while Gavin is at preschool and Xander and Landon are napping I'd start making amends.

I was terribly slow getting family pictures done this past year. It was almost the middle of DECEMBER before it happened. AND then it took me until the middle of JANUARY to finally get all of them mailed off to all the right family members. I prefer to wait until everyone gets their pictures in the mail before I post them online. Now that it's the middle of FEBRUARY...
I think I'll do that now.

We went back to Natalie again this year. I loved how her pictures turned out once again. Maybe one of these years I'll be on the ball enough to do outdoor pictures...

Here are our two favorite family pictures.

Gavin (5)

Xander (3)

Landon (10 1/2 months)

Big Boys

The Brother Trio

We have such cute kiddos!

Even after 6 1/2 years together and three kids, we're still one good looking couple!

So there you have it. I just love looking at my family pictures over and over. It reminds me how truly blessed I am. I have such an amazing little family that makes me smile...
most of the time anyway. ;)

My goal is to get back to blogging and to do it a couple of times a week. SO come back again soon. I've got plenty to catch everyone up on.

Homemade Twinkies

Now, I wish I could take credit from dreaming these up...but I can't. I found this recipe on topsecretrecipes.com. The mastermind behind this website's mission is to bring name brand foods to the kitchen. When I saw these I had to try them. And I must say the are fabulous!

Homemade Twinkies

makes 10

Cake
4 egg whites
one 16 oz box golden pound cake mix (ignore box directions)
2/3 cup water

Filling
2 tsp very hot water
1/4 tsp salt
one 7 oz jar marshmallow creme
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Make 10 twinkie molds. Rip off 10 large tin foil sheets. Fold in half twice. Wrap the folded foil around a spice bottle to create a mold. Leave the top of the mold open for pouring in the batter. Put them on a pan (either cookie sheet or 9x13). Spray the insides with a nonstick spray.

3. Beat the egg whites until stiff.

4. In another bowl, combine the cake mix and water until thoroughly blended.

5. Carefully fold in the egg whites until combined.

6. Fill the molds about 3/4 of an inch.

7. Bake for about 30 minutes or until they look golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

8. Cool and remove the foil molds. Allow to cool completely.

9. Add the salt to the hot water and let it dissolve. Let the salt water cool.

10. Beat the marshmallow creme, shortening, powdered sugar, and vanilla in an electric mixer on high until fluffy.

11. Add the salt water and combine well.

12. Use a skewer or chopstick or the handle of a wooden spoon to poke three holes along the bottom of the twinkies.

13. Using a cake decorator or pastry bag (or a plastic baggie with a corner cut off) inject the filling into the cakes through the three holes. (Note: if you hold the cake in one hand and pipe with the other you can feel the cake swell as you squish the filling in. Be careful to not overfill or you will bust the cake!)

14. Enjoy! If you have any leftovers - store in an airtight container.

All I Want for Christmas is My 1 Front Tooth

Of course this happens when Lachelle was not at home today...

At lunch time, both boys decided they wanted an apple. No big deal. Right? They have eaten apples before - even big whole apples by themselves. After trying to take a few bites, Gavin complained of his tooth hurting. I sat him down and looked in his mouth. I couldn't believe my eyes! One of his front bottom teeth had blood all around the base of it and it looked crooked...  

A loose tooth! 

Gavin was in tears at this point. Upset does not begin to explain his condition... I wasn't sure what to think. I was afraid the apple broke something... Five years old seemed too young to start losing teeth. I didn't loose my first tooth until about 6 and 1/2.

Lachelle calls just as I was looking up the number to reach her. I tell her that Gavin has a loose tooth and questioned if that is OK. Apparently, 5 is a normal time to start loosing teeth. I must have missed that somewhere during dad training class...

To calm him down, I (and my wife over the phone) told him he was such a big boy and that a new  

big

 tooth was growing in its place. I don't know how much he understood , but it seemed to help knowing a big tooth was coming.

I tried to not mess with it too much so Lachelle could be back before it came out, but to no avail. Gavin could not leave it alone. It only took a couple of minutes with his own little finger to pop it out. I remember having loose teeth for days before any were wiggly enough to pop out. 

Maybe it has been loose for awhile...?

Do you know how hard it is take a picture of a busy 5 year old. This is the best one even with the flash glare - but I needed the faster shutter speed to get one not blurry!

FYI

My Grandma Barnes once told me that if you keep your tongue out of the space where a tooth fell out a gold one

would grow in its place... 

I could never prove this as that space was just too tempting to stick my tongue through.

Little Landon

Isn't really so little anymore...

Landon is now 10 months old. He's a crawling pro. He pulls himself to standing and cruises along the edges of everything with ease. And we wouldn't be surprised if he is running by Christmas! He now has 5 teeth. He is still as blue-eyed, blonde-haired as ever. His hair is getting long again and his curls are coming back... which I love! He has quite the personality already. He's already very vocal if doesn't get what he wants, and he's not willing to give into his brothers. He will already tackle them if they are down on his level. He's becoming quite the spit fire! Life is going to get even more busy when he's walking.

Rub-a-dub-dub my three boys in the tub. They're all getting so big. They barely all fit in there together.

And here's my cutie littlest one. Silly boy hardly stays sitting in the tub anymore. You'd think he'd learn after slipping a few times... We just love this little boy. His big blue eyes and smile are just contagious... how can you not smile back?!

Light of the World

I LOVE Christmas lights... not ONLY because they are so pretty, but they are a very physical beautiful reminder of the light we should be look to, the Light of the World, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This year we finally managed to put up lights outside on our house. It's so fun! And it reminds me of our house outside of Hope that would light up the darkness of the country... You could even see them from my Grandma Shoaf's road a mile away!

Our Bushy-tailed Friends

For some time now, we have had a little friend... a cute little squirrel that uses our fence as his own personal highway. The boys and I have had fun watching the squirrel on numbers of occasions. And at times, I think the squirrel has been fascinated with watching us watching him through the window. The boys get so excited it's hard to keep them from scaring him away, but some days we can watch for a while. Yesterday we saw our little friend in our tree in our backyard, and then we realized there was a SECOND ONE! I never got a very good picture of the two of them together, but I did get a cool picture of one of them trying to shield himself from the elements.

Here's our little friend in warmer times. Ben took these. We were sad the first was blurry, but it's still a fun picture. It's so fun to be able to enjoy nature, the wonder of God's beautiful creatures with my children from comfort of our own window!