Little boy easter eggs

I saw these on Good Things Utah and thought that they would be perfect for Mathias (less messy and it involves cars, how perfect for him and me!). I was wondering if I would even be able to find them since they showed them only a couple of days before Easter. I didn't find them till the day after Easter, which was ok because they were then half off.

What you do is decorate the big plastic eggs with a bunch of car stickers, then open up the eggs to find different match box cars. He would point to which sticker he wanted and Devin would take it off and give it to him to decorate the eggs.

He thought that was pretty fun, but when he realized that the eggs opened and had cars in them he was in heaven.

He had a hard time wanting to put down his new cars to go to bed (no toys are allowed in bed). I love this picture, it just captures how excited he is about his new toys! I hope they have these around next year, if not I guess I can just make them myself!

Easter Eggs

We were a little late dying easter eggs this year but I still wanted to do it. So I got everything ready. I lined the counter with saran wrap for easier cleaning and put plastic on the floor, the only thing I wanted dyed was the eggs!

Mathias automatically jumped in and started helping, but like every little boy he is not very patient or soft. I think this was just way more stress than it was worth, maybe it will be better next year!

When we dipped an egg in the orange color, I told him that it was the color 'orange' and he immediately replied, "Apple?" He has been really into apple juice lately, which really means any kind of juice. We got a pretty good laugh out of it.

He was pretty surprised when the eggs came out a different color, but when I would not let him drink the dye he was all done with the whole thing...

...as you can see. He only lasted about three eggs which I think is pretty good for a two year old.

I never got a picture of the finished project. We did camo eggs and this was before the sticker part. oh well better luck next year, I hope.

Easter clothes

I am going to be in so much trouble if we ever have a girl. I am in enough trouble as it is with all of the cute little boy clothes there are. I just love all the cute little spring dresses that come out during Easter time. However, nobody can say that the little boys clothes aren't just as cute (love Children's Place!). Look at this cute little blazer ( I think it is cute even if Dev says it's dorky) (Dev's note: it IS dorky! The poor kid has a long sleeve shirt on, a vest, AND a goofy-looking jacket. Cut the kid some slack!) (Ness' note: it was a thin shirt and Mathias would not let me take the jacket off so I guess he didn't mind!) and the little tie. So stinkin' cute!

Can you tell he was sick of pictures for the day? I love how he is just hiding behind his little bubble fan.

Easter

This year the Easter Bunny heard that Mathias likes to read and do things outside. So he got some cool new books, sidewalk chalk, and bubbles. And of course he also got some "num nums".

When I was growing up my mom... er, I mean the Easter Bunny... would hide our easter baskets and we would go and look for them as soon as we woke up.

Mathias is still a bit too young for this I think so we just sat it out for him to go through after we got back from church.

We also tried to take some pictures next to his basket which never works out because he just wants to see what is in it. Oh well maybe one day I will get a good one with him by his basket.

Big Boy!

Ever since Mathias turned two, he thinks he is all grown up. Little by little he is becoming so independent. As of a week or so ago, Mathias is suddenly too big to eat in his high chair. I will say, "Come on and get in your highchair and eat your dinner!" and he will go sit at the table. This is kinda weird because Dev and I rarely eat at the table. (Devin's note: the TV is much more entertaining to look at than an ugly table and a wall) Anyways, he now refuses to eat in his high chair - guess we can store that till the next one comes along.

He is also pretty particular lately with where he wants things. In this picture he is pushing his milk back to the certain spot he wants it in while saying, "Right there!"

We are also letting him feed himself more often. It is not that he can't do it, it is that I am lazy and just don't want to clean up after him. So here is our naked guy (gotta make those cloths last) so very proud of himself and we are so proud of him!

Delicious Hamburger Seasoning

Devin got this recipe from a jeeping buddy and it has been a hit with everyone who has tried it.

• 1 ½ pounds ground beef
• 1 ½ teaspoons season salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Large hamburger buns

Mix all ingredients and grill burgers at 400* ~4 minutes each side. Baste buns lightly with olive oil, pepper to taste, and grill as preferred. Top burger with whatever you like and enjoy!

friendly visit

My friend Shauna was in town from Nevada this week so we got together with my mom and had lunch at Brick Oven. It was good to see her again since it has been awhile. I have known her since Jr. high (which is the longest I have known anyone due to moving so much) and was happy to get to spend some time with her and her little boy, Lucas (big sis kenzy was hanging out with grandma)

Can you tell Mathias did not want to sit for one more picture. Oh well, It turned out cute anyways.

Trying to get both of the kids to look at the camera at the same time was a challenge. I would get Mathias' attention and my mom would try to get Lucas' which made him look the other way.

When we did get them both to look at the camera I chopped of Mathias' head. oh well. Look at Lucas' chunky cheeks I just want to pinch them, they are so cute!

Traffic school

So I got pulled over a couple of weeks ago for speeding (40 in a 25) on 600 west in P.G., which is totally retarded on my part because of where I got pulled over. I know that the cops are always sitting at the little pipe office building. I pass that spot daily when go to or from work and see them poaching there quite often, so why I still speed there is beyond me. Anyways, he offered me traffic school (which I attended today) so that it would not go on my record , which I am grateful for. However, I have a big bone to pick with P.G. I am not sure if only P.G. does this or not, but I found out that you have to not only pay for traffic school (which is $60) but then you also have to pay a surcharge fee (which is $32), and then on top of all that you still have to pay the ticket (which was around $82)! I was surprised by this. A couple of years ago I went to traffic school in Provo (Devin's note: anyone see a theme here?!) and only had to pay for the class. But I guess I should not be too surprised because they will always try to get the most out of you. Needless to say, I will never speed on that road again! Man that is a pricey mistake!

Mommas big helper

We went to Ikea a while ago and all we left with was this rubber whisk. To keep Mathias entertained the rest of the time we were there looking around we let him play with it. Ever since then he thinks this is his toy. He will get in the utensil drawer just to get it out and then proceed to hit me with it. Well the other day he saw me using it to mix the waffle batter and decided he wanted to help. He has become quite the little helper lately.

Daddy's in Heaven

Lately, Mathias has been into watching jeeps big time. He will go up to Dev and say " jeep" or "watch jeep". So Dev will throw a jeeping movie in or find some on youtube. Also, on occasion, Mathias will ask to watch hockey. Can you tell he is daddy's little boy?! There is nothing better than to see father and son bonding over jeeps and hockey on a Saturday morning!

Bath

Mathias got some new bath toys and is not to sure about them. They are crayons that you can color on the tub with.

He will try them out for a minute or two and either finds something new to do with them (see below) or just goes back to playing with his cars or boat and splashing.

He has been a little water boy lately. He will go to the bathroom after dinner and sit there and say "baf" till we finally give in. I think he would have 3 baths a day if we let him. This summer should be fun!

Snuggles

The combination of the time change and Mathias turning two has not been so good for the sleep schedule. Our wonderful little sleeper who use to ask to go to sleep is now starting to fight it. When we tell him it is time to go "night night" he will come to me and give me huge snuggles and when I say it again he will hold on tighter. In this picture every time I tried to get up he would press against me till he knocked me back down. He would not even let me put on his shirt! Can you tell I am a sucker for snuggles? He sure figured it out quick! Hopefully this is not a sign of things to come.

Alice Chicken

INGREDIENTS

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 5 fluid ounces Worcestershire sauce
• 8 slices bacon
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 (8 ounce) package Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• 1 (16 ounce) container honey mustard salad dressing

DIRECTIONS

1. Place chicken in a glass dish or bowl; poke with a fork several times, then pour Worcestershire sauce in and turn to coat. Cover dish or bowl and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
2. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, and set aside.
3. Heat butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms, and saute for about 10 minutes, or until soft; set aside.
4. Preheat oven to Broil.
5. Remove chicken from marinade (discard any remaining liquid), and broil for about 5 minutes each side. When chicken is almost finished, top each breast with 2 slices bacon, then cheese. Continue to broil until cheese has melted, then remove from oven. Serve with mushrooms and salad dressing for topping.

Little D and Mathias

Tonight, Jami, Davy, and Little D came over and hung out for a little bit. We have not really hung out with just them so this was kinda fun. The boys had a blast playing together. They played cars, wrestled around, and then Davy came up with the great game of jumping from the bed to the couch and back. I wish I had my camera out when little D tried it for the first time. He feel right in the hole and was folded in half, it looked pretty funny. We then stuffed pillows between the two to make for a softer landing next time.

You can just see the wheels turning in Mathias' head, thinking, "hey that looks fun - but do I dare?" You can also just see the determination in Little D's face!

For those of you wondering why our bed is in the living room, it is because they are finally fixing our walls in the bedroom. That is a whole other post in the future!

read!

Mathias is seriously such a little book worm. He loves having his daddy read to him. Here they are reading "Dizzy Dragon" for the millionth time.

(doesn't Dev have the most gorgeous eyelashes! Like father, like son!)

He is even reading it during his one and only show that he loves to watch: Meteor.

What, mom, can't you see I'm reading?

And again, they read it right before "night night." Gotta make sure you have the "oo oo aa aa" (his monkey). This has been the one thing he has had to have in bed with him in a certain spot for the past couple of weeks. Too cute!

Pizza!

Mathias has been kind of a picky eater lately and has not been eating all that much. When we told him that we were having pizza for dinner, he got all excited. That excitement quickly faded when he realized that we still had to cook the pizza and he could not eat it right that second. When it was all cooked, however, and we told him "lets take off your shirt and go sit in your high chair," he ran to his chair with his shirt half over his head. That was pretty funny to watch because lately he has been very stubborn and has not been willing to take his shirt off to eat. (I just don't want stained clothes!) Mathias ate three whole pieces by himself!
When I took this picture he said "MESSS". You have to hold out the "s" to sound like a snake when you say it.

Park?

The weather has been pretty nice the past couple of days and Mathias has really enjoyed playing outside. He especially likes playing over at Aunt Kelly's house in her back yard when she watches him. I was kinda excited when I got off early today (not nice for the bank account but...) because it was a nice day and I wanted to go play at the park with Mathias. When we got home I put all of our stuff inside and then told him "lets go play." He was all excited to go play except.....

When we went towards the park, he threw down his sippy and started crying saying "buh bye." He wanted to go for a car ride instead of play at the park. Weird. So we went to put some gas in the car and get some "nacks," then we drove down to the park by Grandma Brower' s house. It even took some convincing to get him to play there. I think this park is for kids that are a little bit older, but we still had some fun. Not sure what the deal was today, I have never seen him refuse to play at a park!

We also discovered a few new "nacks" today. I got him some juice that comes in a little squirt bottle, I figured he would love this since he always wants to drink from Mema's water bottle. I also got some Reeses today and he loved those, but honestly, who wouldn't?! That is what is in his hand in this picture.


This is a little tunnel you had to go through to get to some slides. He was kinda scared of it and would only go through it once and that was because I put him in it. Apparently this tunnel is ok to go through if you stick your tongue out!

ranch chicken

(tastes better than it looks , I promise)

• 1 cup ranch dressing

• 1/4 to 1/2 cup flour ( sometimes the consistency varies )

• chicken breasts

• Shredded cheddar cheese

Mix flour and ranch until you have a creamy paste. Smother chicken then top with the cheese. Place it in the oven at 325* for 45 minutes. Very easy, fast to prepare, and yummy.

talk, talk, talk

(nice cheeser, huh)

For a while I worried about Mathias' speech, that he was not talking that much. Well, the week before he turned two he started to mimic everything. Not only what everyone said but every sound as well. He is still doing this and I swear his speech has more than tripled since he turned two, not quite a month ago. It is like some switch in his brain just automatically switched when he turned two. This is pretty funny, cute, and at sometimes scary because you have to watch everything that comes out of your mouth. He now tells us when he is hungry or thirsty, he will say "eat" and either go to the pantry or high chair, or say "milk" when he wants something to drink. He has also started to put together more two word phrases and tell us what he wants or does not want. Some of them that are kinda funny are:
daddy jeep
mama car
mema car
Shoe on :when it comes off or he wants to go somewhere.
light on: at bedtime he wants the hall light left on
kitty down: when he thinks she should not be on something
mom up: when he does not want me to lay down on the couch
Walk : (not a two word phrase I know) he will say this either when he wants to walk or when he is sick of walking and wants to be held.

Some of my favorite things he says are :
cuck or big cuck = truck
berry hoT= very hot (with extra emphasis on the "t")
momocycle = motorcycle
messss = when he makes a mess
1,2,3,5 (fibe),eight niNe (make sure you say the "n") 10 (men) his version of counting
EIEIO moo, moo, moo= his version of old mcdonald
Lub (love) mom or dad. If we just say love then he will say it but if we say love you then he will focus more on the you part. so for now it is just love___.
Those are the ones I can think of right now. I just love that he is starting to talk. Now, however, we can't get him to be quiet sometimes - I know, we asked for it.

Cherry-O Cream Cheese Pie

A family tradition for birthdays and holidays. It is so delicious and very easy!

1/3 cup lemon juice
1- 8oz. package of cream cheese
1- 14.5oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 can of cherry pie filling
1 graham cracker crust

-let cream cheese sit till room temperature
-then mix cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk together
-mix in the lemon juice till mixture is smooth
-add vanilla
-pour into graham cracker crust and refrigerate till cold
-add cherries before serving

Book tag

So...here's the tag:

• Pick up the nearest book (one with at least 123 pages)


• Open to page 123


• Find the 5th sentence

• Post the next 3 sentences


• Tag 5 people (or as many as you'd like)

I have been tagged by my friend Betsy. I have not read an adult book in awhile. I decided to give the Twilight book a try since I am probably the only female in Utah that has not read it. I am only a few chapters into it but so far so good.



"That's Sam-- he's nineteen," he informed me.
"What was that he was saying about the doctor's family?" I asked innocently.
"The Cullens? Oh, they're not supposed to come into the reservation." He looked away,out toward James Island, as he confirmed what I'd thought I'd heard in Sam's voice.
"Why Not?"


Tags: Jeri, Jana, Jamie,Emily, Melissa