Random Pictures

Okay, so I don't really have any stories this time, just a bunch of random pictures from the last month. 

I love this one!  They are such great buddies! 

My 3 boys - all reading their own books.

Nope, that's not an earring, just a bean.  This kid loves eating beans - and wearing them too!

This is what Darren does when you ask him to smile.  Although, he doesn't usually have food remnants in there.  Sorry if that's a bit gross.

He NEVER falls asleep playing.  This is a definite first!  He even stayed asleep when I picked him up to put him in his bed.  He was a very tired boy that day.

Matt turned 21 for the 10th time!  He requested Dunkin Donuts instead of cake.

Our super yummy Valentines dessert.  It's layered with fresh, sliced strawberries, vanilla pudding, heart shaped Jello jigglers, and whipped cream. 

Already trying to fill Daddy's shoes.  Those are some mighty big shoes to fill, too - figuratively and literally!

Barbara Manatee

"Barbara Manatee, you are the one for me.  Sent from up above, you are the one I love...."  Living in Florida, this Veggie Tales song runs through my head frequently.  Especially this time of year.  Lately, the temps have been really cold for here (40's and 50's), and all the locals have been freezing!  So have the manatees, which means they swim into the canals to try and stay warm.  Yesterday, we passed by a canal that had several people standing on the bank staring into the water.  We stopped, and the boys and I had the opportunity to see the sea creatures for the first time in real life!  I was amazed at how many there were all huddled up together!  We even got to see a mom and her baby swimming together.  It was a neat experience, and the boys seemed to like it, too. 

Picture quality isn't that great (I only had my cell phone with me), but here's a little taste of what we saw.

Here's Mom and baby!  Horrible pic, but you get the idea!

Largest Carrot

Some of you may know, once upon a time, a little over 8 years ago to be exact, Matt sent me on an undercover secret mission/scavenger hunt that lasted all day long (literally!) and ended with the most romantic evening of my life! It was INCREDIBLE!! He proposed at the very end of the evening, and well, with a very fun, unique story, the rest is history! Anyway, one of the things I had to do for the scavenger hunt part of it was go to the nearest grocery store (just a couple blocks from my house) and buy the LARGEST carrot I could find! I found a pretty large carrot that day, too. It was so thick, biting it was out of the question. It had to be gnawed -and that's exactly what we did with it... in a very crowded movie theatre! I'm sure we annoyed several people with our VERY crunchy carrot munching, but we were in love (not engaged yet) and didn't care. That carrot has remained the largest carrot I have ever seen.......... until TODAY!!

Today, I stopped at a little farmer's produce stand (I LOVE that I can do that in the middle of winter here!) looking for strawberries. They had some of the most beautiful strawberries I have ever seen, AND the largest carrots I have ever seen! Carrots weren't on the list today, but when I saw how big they were and how cheap they were, I just HAD to buy them so I could reminisce with Matt! He was super impressed, and Darren kept exclaiming over and over how amazing it was. I took pictures so you could see too!

Here's the infamous carrot with an average size baby carrot and one of those little bigger than average PERFECT strawberries I drooled over (doesn't it look scrumptious?!) for size comparison. Pretty huge carrot, I'd say!

I measured the carrot. It's a good 3" diameter at the top, 13" long, and weighs 1 lb. 4 oz. The best part is that I got 5 carrots of similar hugeness (is that a word?) for $2, and they're fresh and tasty! This carrot has officially replaced the engagement day carrot as the largest carrot I have ever seen!

Bedtime Wiggles

So, Matt has a new way to help Darren get his wiggles out just before bed..... Watch the short (less than 15 sec.) video clip to see. Toward the end, watch for Joseph's little foot - he steps on Matt's head just before climbing on him! What a great Dad! Good times!

"Cold" Sunday

Having spent the last 3 winters in interior Alaska, we got accustomed to the cold and the cold weather policy they had there for church. Temps -29 and warmer meant all 3 hours of church. Once the temperature reached -30 and colder, we had sacrament meeting only (the full first hour). So, you can imagine our surprise when we went to church here in Florida, but then were sent home right after the passing of the sacrament (no speakers) because of the "cold" weather and the furnace not working properly (only part of the building had heat). We were SHOCKED!!

For Florida, it's been pretty cold, 40's during the day, around 30 at night. Cool, but still warmer than what we've been accustomed to. Today, the inside of the church was just a bit cooler than room temperature, but I didn't think it was too bad. I wore a thin, lightweight skirt with no coat, and was not uncomfortable. No one else in my family wore a coat either, and were just fine, though many people around us not only brought coats, but kept them on! Our family has obviously not fully acclimated to Florida weather!

Anyway, because church was cancelled, we had a little extra time on our hands. So we spent it playing hide and seek, reading, looking at baby pictures (Darren learned about an umbilical cord today after asking if Daddy made Joseph's belly button), talking to some of our family, taking naps, tickling the boys, singing songs, etc. It was nice to spend some time together as a family, and I was lucky and even got a couple pictures of today's events.

Matt seroiusly got stuck down there "hiding" from the boys! It was pretty funny, and took a great deal of effort to pull him out! He was wedged in there so tight, moving the couch would have been the easier option!

Darren has to do everything his Daddy does, exactly how Daddy does it!

My Own Mormon Ad

Have you ever seen one of those Homefront Mormon Ads? Well, tonight I feel like I walked into one at my own house! For those who don't know what I'm talking about, click on this for an example:
http://http//www.youtube.com/profile?user=MormonMessages#p/u/62/kPmSyOlv5D4

Darren has recently developed a fear of the dark, and the traditional night lights are not a safe option at this point in time. Joseph unplugs them, sucks on the prongs 'til they're good and slobbery, and then tries to plug it back in. Uh... NOOOO!!! So, for Joseph's safety, Darren's security, and Mom and Dad's sanity, we found a fun, SAFE, creative, educational answer. Perfect!! It's a Twilight Turtle. It's a stuffed turtle w/ a hard shell that lights up and projects stars (with actual constellations) and a moon onto the wall in 3 different colors.
Anyway, tonight Matt put Darren to bed, while I got Joseph to sleep. My sweet, tired, little Joseph fell asleep in my arms. As I carried him upstairs to his bed, the bedroom door was closed and all was quiet (a little unusual). I didn't think anything of it though, and as I approached the door, I turned the knob oh so quietly, so I wouldn't disturb the silence and wake the baby. When I opened the door, I was "greeted" with Matt and Darren laying on their backs on the floor in the middle of the room with the light off, and Twilight Turtle on their bellies, turned on. As I laid Joseph in his crib, and tucked him in, I was keenly aware of two sets of eyeballs staring at me. When I turned around, both Matt and Darren gave me a look that seemed to say both: "Oops! We were caught!" and "How could you dare interrupt our Father/Son time!" I smiled to myself as I quietly slipped out of the room, closing the door behind me. I knew that they were creating a great memory together.

Christmas Train

The boys and I experienced a first today! We made a graham cracker Christmas train! My ONLY experience with anything like this before was (one time - a long time ago) attempting to make a gingerbread house, but the frosting was too soft, and everything kept caving in. Not successful at all. So, I had no idea how this was going to go together and if it would even work.

I found a frosting recipe online, looked at a couple pics of gingerbread trains, and went to work with my graham crackers! D had very definite opinions about the wheels, smokestack, engine light, and other mechanical things on/about the train, but for the most part, coulda cared less about how it was decorated. J was all about sampling the candy!

Here is the naked train, with an excited, happy boy!

Front view of the finished product!

The engine! D is super excited about that smoke stack - he built it! He also insisted on putting a "roof' over the 3 wheels. (looks like wheel wells) And adding train track, the arm connecting the wheels, etc. He did a pretty good job!

The coal car - filled with M&Ms. I prefer how it looked decorated, but before filling the car. Wrong candy choice for inside - shoulda done plain old chocolate chips!

The logging car.

The caboose! The back is open, so the gumdrops serve as a railing. D wanted to put one of his cars in there - surprise, surprise!

Happy boy and finished product! I'm glad that it worked, and that both boys are still pretty excited about it! We had a good time.