Ah, the memories...

I am sure there are many pictures like this one from my childhood. I couldn't resist a second generation re-take. The only difference is the lack of black eyes, bruises and I was a lot fatter than Ashlyn...REALLY! People don't believe me when I tell them I was a fatty, so I will have to document that later (my Mom hates it when I say I used to be "fat", but we will let the unbiased decide. For the record, Ryan has seen the photos and agrees with ME!)

I wanted to make a cake for a friend's birthday and just couldn't decide on the right cake. I didn't want to do an easy-peasy original, cause I just love Katie! After looking through all my cookbooks of favorites, I remembered THE CAKE that Mom used to make for our b-days growing up. When I called her for the recipe/instructions, she said she hadn't made it for years because she hasn't been able to find chocolate frosting mix in over 10 years. Well, I knew I had seen it somewhere! Don't you hate it when you've seen something but can't remember where? Well, I ran out to 3 different stores until I found it. I think the reason I took note of this mix was because it is for those of us families with allergies. I'll tell you what...I haven't tasted this cake yet (remember...it's Katie's cake~) but, if I find that it turns out resurrecting the infamous cake of old, then the nearly $4 box is well worth it! Here's the box, Mom:

Dear Mom...I didn't do you justice. Good thing this was practice. I added too much water to the glaze and my children thank me because they got to "snitch" the glaze from the puddles on the paper towel that saved my refrigerator shelf.

I am considering which cake recipe to put up for auction at a scout fundraiser. To make it "fancier", I added chocolate curls on top. I don't know what I think. This will sound funny, but the chocolate curls are the wrong color brown to me. What do you think? By the way, there are four layers of yummy goodness inside this little beauty! Maybe Katie will cut it open and I can snap a photo(:

Ps...thank you cherrybrook kitchen for making frosting mix for my favorite birthday cake from my childhood and for looking out for my son. I will buy your mix often! (found it at WalMart...the big one, not the neighborhood market.)

Deegan's "SHOW" and "TELL":

Deegan has been very excited about HIS own "baby bi-oh-lin" since I got mine for Christmas. He has always been over-the-top-obsessed with LITTLE EINSTEINS and I sware to you he can pick out any melody that they have ever featured on that show...he has them all memorized! He has been able to name instruments and pick them out of a song on the radio (yeah, I love to drive around listening to classical music! It calms me and the kiddos.) Anyway, I started to consider whether or not he would really be able to take lessons yet, and Ryan and I decided to give it a go...My (OUR) teacher is affordable, and I was able to pick this violin up on e-bay for a whoppin' $25.50...I got it for $10.50, but my s/h was $15. Still a good deal! Supposedly, it is a $500 violin, so we are VERY careful with it because who knows if I could replace it for that cost later? Anyway, he has wanted to take his baby violin everywhere we go, so we arranged to take it to school for show and tell. He starts lessons on Tuesday, so cut the beginner some slack...he'll get better-promise!

I showed Deegan a bunch of you-tubes of 3 year-olds playing violin and he just kept saying "Me too! Me too!", so we figure he really wants to do it, plus we have all his Dr.'s saying no contact sports, so if this is going to be his "thing", why not get started? I'll keep you posted on his progress.





(Notice Ashlyn's feet? I think she's made of rubber...)

One of T.H.O.S.E. kind of days

Every Sunday is different not having Ryan sit with our family because of his church calling, but today...THIS is how I felt too, Ashlyn. She sure did look darling in her new dress and shoes though. Now-off for my theraputic Sunday nap. (She sure didn't want her picture taken...that's unusual, oh well.)

8 THINGS: (I've been tagged...)

Here are the Rules:
1) Post rules on your blog
2) Answer the six '8' items
3) Let each person know by leaving them a comment

8 FAVORITE TV SHOWS
1-American Idol (yeah, I've been hooked since season 1. Ryan made fun of me and I missed a bunch of season 2. I hated that I missed so much and found my way back in time for the finale. I wish they had two seasons a year! I hate waiting so long between them.)
2-The Office
3-Dancing with the stars
4-Even Stevens. An old Disney channel show. Ryan and I loved watching it before Kaeleigh was old enough to understand it. Great laughs! (BACON!)
5-Everyone loves Raymond (re-runs are AWESOME!)
6-Extreme home makeover...when I get to watch it
7-Monk...was raised watching Matlock and Murder She Wrote...this is a hilarious murder mystery show!
8-Wipe Out!
We (Ryan and I) really don't watch a lot of tv "SHOWS". Ryan watches a lot of sports, and I don't have time to sit in front of the tv, but I never miss #'s 1-3!)

8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY
1-Took care of sick kids
2-Talked to Amy on the phone
3-Went to Lowe's
4-Took a drive with Ryan (he stayed home sick)
5-Practiced my violin
6-Played trains with Carson and Deegan
7 & 8-Clean, Clean and Cleaned the house again.

8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO
1-No more diapers!!!
2-School being out so I can sleep in, I hope!
3-The new temple in Phoenix
4-A bigger car that the kids don't fight about the back seat (I hope Ryan reads this!!!)
5-A clean house
6-Valentine's Day
7-My family not being sick anymore
8-Faylor Family Reunion...July 10-12th!!! (I promise I will send announcements soon, but save the date!)

8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS
1-EASY...CARRABBAS, HANDS DOWN!
2-The old spaghetti factory...who doesn't love FREE dessert and milk with your dinner?
3-Olive Garden
4-Ruth's Chris Steak House...only been there once, but HOLY ....(good thing we had a $100 gift card. We still had to pay about $13. I am sure we won't ever go back unless Ryan is feeling CRAZY later in life. Right now, he's pretty sane, so bye-bye Ruth's Chris! The best $10 broccoli (single serving) I ever paid for!)
5-We loved Bobby McGee's, but they are a BBQ Grill type of place now and no more performers...so sad!
6-In-n-Out

I can't really think of anymore. We must not eat out enough (kidding!)
8 THINGS ON MY WISH-LIST
(ooh! let me think...)
1-The bigger car. Right now, I want a Toyota Sequoia, but I have my eye on a little piece of eye candy called a Lexus IS. I told Ryan he can drive the kids and have the Pathfinder. Compromise, right?
2-Granite countertops
3-Double ovens
4-Ashlyn to potty train herself
5-Deegan to not have accidents in the potty training arena
6-Unfinished projects in my house to magically finish on their own
7-A beautiful master bed and bath that NO KIDS ARE ALLOWED IN!
8-Peace and quiet. Kids have been home from school all week, Ashlyn's sick AND teething. Too much crying and fighting for this Mom.
8 PEOPLE I TAG
I am not tagging anyone only because Ashlyn is STILL crying and the kids are hungry...gotta go.

Introducing...Kaeleigh, Student of the month

(K-getting her award...those are her chorus peep behind her)


That's right! She would probably start this by saying, "FINALLY!" Either way, we are proud of her for her accomplishment. She sure is a very bright girl. Mrs. Mahoney moved her up in math and is considering moving her up again. I am not at all ashamed to admit that she gets the smarts in this department from Ryan. I can't compete with his wicked math skills-I've never tried. I couldn't beat him with a calculator and it's getting to be the same way with Miss Kaeleigh. I already have to get the refresher course from Kaeleigh so that I can figure out how to help her with math and by the time she has taught me how to do "the problem" she has solved the problem. Easy enough? I will say that I sure am looking forward to Ryan's shift change in March so that he will be home in time to help with some homework.

Kaeleigh was very cute at the assembly, of course. She always shows school spirit. It is a competition at the kids' school to get the SPIRIT STICK each month by wearing something school colored...shirt, hair ties, bracelets, etc. Mrs. Mahoney is such a cool teacher...she shopped Oriental trading and has found teal wigs, beaded necklaces, pom poms, etc. Mrs. Mahoney's class has won back to back months, but they lost the stick (politics!) so Mrs. M. is stepping up her game! Now, that's school spirit! Go Thunderbirds!!!

(top:)Kaeleigh and Mrs. M. (bottom:) Kaeleigh and her principal

After the assembly we got to have doughnuts and juice with Kaeleigh

In 4th and 5th grade, the students choose the student of the month, so we know she must be loved by her peers. Way to go Kaeleigh...we love you too!

Oh Ashlyn!!!

So, Ryan and I have been going back and forth a little bit about Ashlyn's "size". We keep using the word "diet", very lightly, wondering if we ought to be more careful of what our mini hoover eats. Obviously we wouldn't put her on a real diet. I just need to feed her the right foods. She doesn't suffer at all for loss of food. She scrounges all day long. I am thinking about counting how many times in one day she makes her one-word request to "EAT". So I googled her weight percentile today. I got my number back and she is in the "healthy" 87th%.

Taking that info...I decided that maybe I shouldn't cave every time she asked for a cookie, marshmallow or fruit snack today. I tried to opt for more healthy snacks like apple sauce or carrot sticks-seriously. I cannot even recall how many times exactly, but she literally asked to eat ALL day today. So, this is what I found...

Ashlyn was seriously eating the corn bread mix by the handful. Totally gross, I know. She obviously can get into the pantry now, so I will be locking it full time. She literally ALWAYS has food in her hand or mouth. Half the time I never even know where she found it. I did catch her opening the fridge the other day. Isn't it nice having advanced children?

It seems that she is a cute little trouble maker. The other night, Ryan was so cute helping give baths and he took Ashlyn out first and we got her in her pj's. Ryan apparently didn't know what happens with Ashlyn if you don't let the water out. I usually take her out last...