It happens to everyone, right?

I think that there is a story in every family about someone coming up and showing their mom or dad a handful of hair. Today it was Sammy. He came up with a handful of strawberry blonde hair in one hand, a mini electric trimmer in the other and a bunch of bald spots on his head. He said, “Daddy, I cut my hair!” At least his hair grows quickly!

If you look closely you can see five or six spots on the left and one straight up from his ear where he nicked his head a little bit. Luckily his hair is very light and he is a boy! Phew!

Update: The next morning as I was hugging Nate before work I noticed an interesting spot on top of his head. You guessed it, Sammy had also helped Nate with a little bit of a haircut. I asked him, “Did Sammy cut your hair?” to which he replied, “yep!” Oh well. It’s just one chunk!

Birthday Boys

Happy Belated Birthday to my two October birthday boys!

Nathan turned two earlier this month on the 5th and Sammy finally turned four on October 15th. They are still very young and I’m not a fancy person so we did a small family party at the park again and it was a hit! I can’t believe how quickly they are growing and how independent (and stubborn) they are!

I have to say that Sammy was the cutest on his birthday. When he woke up in the morning and I told him that it was his birthday he got the biggest smile on his face and said “I’m four!” He thinks that four is some kind of rite of passage and often said things like, “when I’m four I’ll be able to chew gum” or “I’ll be able to skate” or “ride a bike without training wheels” or anything else he thought he was too small for. He’s still not big enough to do many things but he’ll get there. He’s still growing like a weed (He’s 45” already!) and size wise would fit in nicely in any kindergarten class ;) He loves to tell stories and is constantly talking and making up stories and pretending to be dinosaurs or power rangers and more. Four is quite challenging at times with discipline but I hope that we figure him out quickly!

Nathan is getting big too! It’s hard to remember Sammy being that small. He is a loud, boisterous chatterbox who loves trains and his brothers. He loves to play outside whenever he can and if you turn your back on him for 30 seconds he’ll have ridden his bike further than you can see. His new thing to yell out this week is “why?” but I think his favorite things to yell are “Outside” and “MOM!” which he’ll yell over and over and over again until I respond or help him. He’s getting quite independent but is still a little boy! He’s also growing and already is 37 1/2” tall and is quite sturdy (as well as heavy)!

We were glad to be able to celebrate a bit at the park. It was lots of fun with the family and friends that could make it. We love our boys!!! Enjoy the pictures.

Daniel’s Blessing Day

A little update on our big boy Daniel (he’s almost two months old already!) He is growing and filling out and as happy as can be. He loves to smile and recognizes each of us. He is a good little guy and is adored by his big brothers.

This past weekend we had family in town and Daniel was blessed at church. It was nice to have everyone there and to hear a special blessing just for him. Here are a few pictures from the special day. Enjoy! :)

Legoland, CA

We went to visit my sister Carolyn and her family and she got us some free tickets to Legoland and the aquarium for the day. The big kids were in school but Carrie and Ashley, and friends Laura and Ashton, joined us at the park.

We'd never been there before and we were excited to go. It was a really hot day but the kids had a lot of fun. Sammy got to go on the most rides because he was the tallest/oldest but all of the kids had fun. They have a water park inside of the park and an aquarium next door so there were a variety of things to do.

Too bad this park isn't closer or we could go more often. Here are a few pictures of our adventures there!

To see the rest of our pictures from our adventure check out Smugmug! :)

Brothers…a few fun pictures!

I am having lots of fun taking pictures of the boys together. They adore their new brother Daniel and barely let him sleep or do anything without one of them hugging or kissing him, holding his hand or doing any number of things to him. Either way, here are a few fun pictures of the boys by themselves and together that were too fun or cute not to share. :)

This one is also from Zimmerman Park…woo hoooooo!

Not wanting to be left out…this guy is also going to eat us out of house and home! He is already 5 weeks old and starting to fill in!

And my favorite photo…

My Big Boy Sammy – His first talk

Last Sunday we got a little note telling us that Sam was assigned a three minute Primary talk for the following Sunday. I was kind of excited for him and nervous and wondered what to do it on. We finally decided to have him tell one of his favorite Bible stories--Daniel and the Lion's Den.

I put it off but eventually we wrote it out in kid form and I hoped that it wouldn’t be too long. He did a great job and repeated most of what I said. A few times he got so excited that instead of repeating after me he yelled out the next part (pretty good for not practicing at all with him) and the other kids giggled but he just smiled even bigger. I was very proud of him and he was so happy looking back at us in Primary—his smile said it all!

Two more recipes that you’ve gotta try!

Two things that I made this week that I loved were from two of my favorite recipe blogs Picky-Palate and My Kitchen Cafe. I will definitely be making these two things again!!! The chicken tacos were a hit even with the kids and the cookies had just the right amount of crunch but were still soft and chewy!

Easy Chicken Tacos from My Kitchen Cafe

*Serves 6

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons minced canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (you can find these in the Mexican Foods aisle at most grocery stores); use less if you don't like it as spicy or more if you want it more spicy!
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
• Salt and pepper
• 12 (6-inch) flour tortillas

Melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and chipotle and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the orange juice, Worcestershire sauce and 1/2 cup chopped cilantro and bring the mixture to a boil. Add the chicken and simmer, covered, over medium-low heat for 12-13 minutes, flipping the chicken halfway through cooking. When the chicken is done cooking, transfer to a plate and tent with foil.

Increase the heat to medium-high and cook the mixture left in the skillet until the liquid is reduced to about 1/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Off the heat, whisk in the yellow mustard. Using 2 forks, shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces and return to the skillet. Add the remaining cilantro to the skillet and toss until well combined. Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm with tortillas topped with lettuce, cheese, tomato, sour cream and avocado.

**To warm the tortillas, wrap them in foil and heat in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes.

Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Cook's Country

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Secret Ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookie Crispers from Picky-Palate

• 2 sticks softened butter
• 3/4 Cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 Cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2  1/2 Cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 Cups Panko (Japanese Bread Crumbs)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 bag chocolate chips

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place butter and sugars into electric or stand mixer and beat until well combined.  Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined.

2.  Place flour, panko, baking soda and salt into a large bowl.  Mix to combine.  Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips on low speed until just combined.  Scoop onto a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet with a medium cookie scoop*.   Bake for 9-11 minutes or until edges just start to turn brown.  Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Makes approximately 3 dozen cookies

* I just put them on a regular cookie sheet (no parchment or fancy silpat lining) and they turned out just fine!