'Tis the Season: Bucs and Bills

This last weekend we got to travel to Pocatello for both Taron and Keaton's first football games. They were both excited and seemed to have a good time being part of their teams. It's clear that city football is the heartbeat of Pocatello weekends, so we're glad they are part of that.

Keaton's team is the Buffalo Bills and he is a great addition! I was so heartwarmed as I watched him help a hurt kid up off the field and walk with him to the sideline. It seems Keaton is sure in his element out there in the pads pushing the other team back!

And this is Taron's third season as a wide receiver on his team, the Bucaneers. He does a lot of running and is a great sport!

This is the first football season that both Cooper and Ryder are big enough to actually enjoy the games and not be too difficult to keep happy in the process, so I'm actually quite excited to be part of it all. Good Luck through the rest of the season, boys! We are proud of you!

Recent Simple Goodness

Ryder loves to ride on the back of Cooper's trike! I stay super close when he does so he doesn't plink off, but I think they are the cutest thing! In their jammies, enjoying summer dusk....


And here's a few things I've made over the last month or so. I've been loving learning to sew! I don't get to sit at the machine very often it seems, but it is so fun when I can!

This is a diaper clutch- it's made out of a place mat and holds diapers in a pocket on one side and a travel wipes case in the other. I also made myself one of these and I LOVE it! So handy and a lot more inconspicuous than packing a diaper and wipes to the changing room. I love the fraying flower on the clasp! I got the idea and followed the instructions from here. Made two of these for a double baby shower awhile back...

... and included this fun little baggie of bib clips as part of the packaging! They were a hit with the moms-to-be. They are binder clips attached to both ends of a strand of ribbon. Put it around the back of baby's neck and clip an unfolded napkin or paper towel to the clips for an instant bib! I made myself one of these too and leave it in my bag for when we are out- such a creative idea that I found here!

And these are some bibs I made for Lundyn. I was given one similar when Cooper was born and it was my favorite so I used it as a basis for making these- I love having a washcloth to clean things up when eating is over! And the headband was for Quincy- loved this fabric!

Just a few things that remind me life is good... hope anyone stopping by to see has a great rest of the week!

Ryder Turns One!!

Yesterday and while we were at Lundyn's we celebrated Ryder's first birthday! Hard to believe that just a year ago he was just this adorable little bundle! Gosh it wrenches my heart how fast time flies. But the last year has been great with him in our mix. Before he came I wondered how I would do with two and now I can't comprehend life without him!

He loved his own little cake and devoured a cupcake at Lundyn's too! Cooper helped with the sprinkles :) And if you can't smear syrup in your hair on your birthday, well what can you do...

Thought I'd mention a few Ryderisms...

• Ryder is a ball boy! He draws to pretty much any kind or size of ball. His very favorite are golf balls and he will cling to one and not let go! I call a golf ball "the binki" because it's about the same effect for this little guy.
  
• He doesn't walk yet but wants to so bad! You can tell he just yearns to cruise around better. His favorite method for getting around is the bear crawl, on his hands and feet with his bum in the air!
  
• The first thing that most people say when they see Ryder is, "Wow, he's a blondie!" or something like that. Somehow he has gotten lighter as he's gotten older and is more blonde than either Stephen or I.
  
• Ryder is a good eater and generally tries most anything. Favorites are yogurt, animal crackers, bananas, cheese, pasta, watermelon- the usual.
  
• He loves to be most anywhere Cooper is, particularly outside. He loves the water and draws to it quickly. He also likes the trampoline and getting bounced around as Cooper plays.
  
• He is generally a content, animated personality. His smile takes up his whole face and he gives it willingly and often. He's also very cuddly and loves to snuggle. I so appreciate his easy-going attitude.
  
• We love this little boy! Happy First Birthday Ry Ry :)
  
  
  

A Visit Full of Favorite Things

At least once a month, Stephen ventures to Nevada for several nights in a row to take care of our favorite clients ;) This last week he was going to be gone an extra night even, so I loaded up the boys and went to visit Lundyn and take them to the zoo! It was really a great trip filled with some of our favorite things and people. Cyndel suprised us by taking the day off of work and coming over with my Mom to join us! Thanks Lundyn for a great trip- you made it awesome!

Not so successful attempt to get a pic on Lundyn's front steps, but I think they are adorable just sitting there- don't even have to try at all!

The "big 'ole snake" was probably Cooper's favorite thing at the zoo!

Don't you love how zoo pics tend to be of the back of people's heads? :) Thought this was super cute though!

Coop also loved this huge turtle! I loved hearing "Mom, look!" the whole time we were there!

Shameless Plug

Last weekend we tried something new that I wanted to make sure and post about here on the blog- Bountiful Baskets!

You've probably heard about it or tried it yourself already, but it's a food co-op that operates in several states across the west. You pay on-line for your produce by Tuesday night, then on Saturday at the time and place you selected, you go and drive through to pick up your basket. Each basket is $15 and you definetly get more than that worth of produce! It's half fruit and half vegetables and there are other options you can select too, like bread and granola.

I was unsure of what to expect, but was so pleased with everything! The whole process was slick and hopefully it will work out that I can volunteer next time. Last night we had the best salads with almost entirely what was in the basket. In mine there was:


10 plums

One pound strawberries

Two pound bag of grapes

One pound carrots

6 ears of corn

One head of romaine lettuce

3 tomatoes

One canteloupe

6 pears

8 bannanas

One eggplant

6 cucumbers


Wow, huh?! We will definetly be trying this again in the future. There are all sorts of locations and you can learn about it and get involved yourself at bountifulbaskets.org!

Beaching and Fishing... Redfish 2010

As always, it wouldn't be summer without Redfish! This year we made more great memories at one of my favorite places on earth. Cooper is still talking about all the fish Dad caught, Ryder ate and loved his first watermelon, I soaked up the nostalgia of this beautiful place and the boys both got buried in the sand. Redfish as a mom is certainly different than it was as a girl, but I love passing it on to my kids and know the years ahead will only bring more memories!

Coop in Grandma's hat! He was so cute and it worked great! My Mom was awesome to play with the grandkids on the beach- she was the only one that could actually catch the little fish.

Bathing the little boys at our campsite and getting them ready for bed. They loved the warm water and I loved that they were clean again (if only for a little while)!

On the way home we stopped along the river to fish. Stephen had been told this was the place to go and indeed it was! Cooper was in a state of bliss as Dad and Taron caught fish after fish after fish. We cooked them up for Sunday dinner the next day!

Thanks to all of my family for making a great trip- was fun to spend some time with my Uncle Brent's family, watch Cooper and Garrett play when my Aunt Lisa and family camp for the day, visit with my brother and sisters, and share a campsite with my Grandpa and Grandma Waddoups. Thanks Mom and Dad for being what makes it all come together and happen, even now that I'm older. The best of times no doubt... :)

I Heart Cupcakes!

This last spring I learned that I was terrible at frosting cupcakes. After piping and then swiping all but two or three of about two dozen cupcakes, my new favorite kitchen hobby began. They are just so fun and so endless! Gel food coloring, silver frosting tips and fun paper baking cups are my new cardstock and letter stickers. I love making and sharing cupcakes and finding and trying recipes. I'm still learning how to make them really yummy and pretty and it's so fun! Thought I would share a few on here...

Homemade red velvet... which I learned in the process of finding a recipe is actually red devil's food- who knew? And isn't this the cutest cupcake presentation? I love cello bags and putting the cupcake in a cup makes it possible to use one for giving away cupcakes! I got this idea here and love how they used a tag out the top!

Cookies and Cream cupcakes- Coop loves oreos so I thought he would like these, but he actually ended up being sad that I crushed all the cookies up! These are fun cause they have an oreo wafer on the bottom :)

Peanut butter with choclate buttercream. These were a hit with Stephen! I got both of these recipes at Frosted Happy Cupcakes, a super cute cupcake blog.

And these are cake pops. I saw these on Bakerella quite awhile ago and have wanted to make them since but needed to have all the stars align first :) And now that I've made them... I'm officially sticking to cupcakes! How do they not end up flat on the tops exactly? Hmm... But I did package one upside down for our friend John and he enjoyed it- they do taste yummy, just aren't very practical in my world for sure!

My very favorite cake and frosting combination is still choclate with orange buttercream- for the link to that recipe click to this post. Now let's go make some cupcakes... (well, maybe tomorrow...) :)

As If You Had Wings

Yesterday in the mail Stephen recieved a package with this new CD inside... the latest release from a falconry friend of his, Marcus Eaton. Awhile back he had asked Stephen to send him some bird pictures for his upcoming album and so Stephen held one of his birds and got it to spread it's wings while I tried to take just the shot he had asked for.

I confess I was less than excited about it cause I thought there was surely no way it would end up being used. But we were both pretty stoked when we saw our picture across the album cover! Kinda neat. To have a listen, click here. If you like guitar, you won't be disappointed :)