Nathans Full Of Tricks

Nathan definitely has some tricks up his sleeve ill tell you that. when we left my Aunts house in Alabama Nathan said we would go ahead and stop by Texas to see our good friend Jen. Nathan knows me all to well so he was depending on the fact that if hes driving or if we have the GPS i don't pay attention to all the signs or the roads. i drove about 2 to 3 hours and then he said he would drive. so we switched, i took a small nap and when i woke up he said we were in Texas. this picture was taken about the time that i updated Jen and Joyce and told them where we were.

Ridge just woke up to when i snapped this pic. he looks like he has a widows peak lol but its just hoe his hair was laying. isn't he so cute!!

well i offered to drive and when he said no i thought it was a bit strange but wasn't going to argue. as we drove i realized we were in the middle of nowhere. i finally said "you know, if your lost you can just say so". he told me he wasn't lost. well we kept driving and kept driving and then we were in farm land. i was very confused and questioned him again. he assured me it was fine and he was taking a different way since we were stopping at Jen's. so another 10mins go by and he pulls up to a cute Little house surrounded by farm land and i was so confused knowing Jen didn't live there. WTH! so we park and then i see Grandpa come out the door! i was so surprised i went up and gave him a hug and told him i thought we were in Texas lol (we were in Oklahoma). Nathan then told me he had it planned for days and that we were going to be staying for a few days. (btw everyone was in on it, even Jen) what a WONDERFUL surprise!!

when we got there we unpacked and then went to Sheila's to show the kids the donkey and horse. 

they all took turns feeding Sunny the horse and Casper the donkey. all the kids were able to ride Sunny which of course they loved!

we also went to the Cotton Gin to show the kids how the cotton was picked and processed. Grandpa used to grow cotton so it was exciting to show the kids a little bit of the history.

here is a big brick of cotton being dumped. the whole process was really amazing and the raw cotton was much softer then actual cotton balls which i was really surprised at that.

we had a few family dinners while we up there and also did some sight seeing. one of the places we stopped was a museum. here is a really nice photo i got of Uncle John, Jayvin, Grandpa, Grandma, Jazlynn and Ridge.

the whole trip was amazing. it was so nice to be able to see where Grandma and Grandpa live and get to spend time with them. the farm was very carefree and the kids loved being able to just roam free with out us. we spent time with the horses, road the quad, saw the town, ate some good food but the best thing was just spending time with each other. when Nathan has a break from school i want to go back.

Valentines day FUN!!!

February is such a busy month for us. there are 5 birthdays in our family to be celebrated, mine and Nathan's anniversary and then valentines day. this valentines day like every other one nathan and i did not celebrate with each other. instead we celebrated with the kids and the love we have for them. were not really into the romance of valentines day so now that we have kids we think valentines day should be a family holiday celebrating our love as a family. nathan was in school this day so me and the kids made some yummy cupcakes. i also picked up some specialty sprinkles in the dollar section at target for the kids to use.

this was the out come.

then i had the kids make "love bugs" for daddy since he missed all the fun.

during our cupcake making anna and olivia came to visit. olivia got the kids some valentines and then they all played in the room for a bit. i also got to witness olivia walk. she had been walking a week i think but i hadnt had the time to come see it for myself but i did valentines day. she does great and looks like such a big girl! 

well just wanted to share our V-Day with everyone and i hope everyones else had as great of a day as we did!

Boiled Peanuts! A Must Try

i wanted to share one of my families favorite snacks. I'm not sure if its more of a southern thing but Boiled peanuts are one of the souths traditional snacks. they sell them on the side of the road like Arizona sells tamales. they will usually have little stands on the side of the road with HUGE pots of boiling peanuts. usually one will be a spicy mix and the other will be a traditional style. these little suckers definitely pack a punch! you cook them all day with a bunch of spices, i put onions and garlic in mine and the end result is amazing. the outside softens to make peeling really easy, i usually peel it with my teeth so i can get all those juices that are absorbed on the inside. the peanut its self has a texture of a cooked bean and really flavorful. i have my own recipe for these but you could definitely google one for yourself. they are so easy to make you can even make them in the crock pot. definitely a must try! (if you do try you HAVE to use uncooked, raw, whole peanuts not the already roasted ones)

Potty Power!!

we started potty training 2 weeks ago. first we had to get the big boy underwear ! i had gotten a little potty at ikea for 99cents, i thought it looked a bit uncomfy so i figured it would be perfect to take along in the car and i would get a different one from the store. well i went to the store and saw the potties averaged about $30 and decided that he would just have to use the one i got. i was happy when he actually liked the cheap potty. maybe its different when your bottom is small enough to fit the potty i dont know but it really does look uncomfortable. i used the kids timer and set it every 30mins to give him a reminder and then if he went he would get 1 chocolate chip for number one and 2 for number two. he caught on immediately but had his occasional accidents. he also watched Potty Power several time (a kids movie that helps with potty training) and i LOVE that movie. we used it with the twins as well and they still like watching it. i never waited to see if he would go on his own i would just set the timer.

he stayed in diapers at night since he is such a hard sleeper. well now its been two weeks and he is now potty trained. he goes on his own without the timer and we are done with the "potty treats".  last night was the first night he didnt sleep with a diaper only because he refused to. we have a waterproof cover on his mattress just incase but he woke up dry. i know that if he does need to potty at night he wont wake up he is such a sound sleeper he will wet the bed so im not sure if i will continue to keep him in underwear at night. 

he was actually very easy. Jazlynn was 2 when she was potty trained and she was trained immediately i swear. she wet her self once and after that never again. i remember she cried and cried over the mess i think it traumatized her. shes always been a very clean child. Jayvin was 3 till he was potty trained. i started them at the same time trying to get them trained before ridge was born so i wouldnt have 3 kids in diapers at once but soon found out that Jayvin was far from ready. he has always been really sensitive so the last thing i wanted was to push the subject. so we stopped and then when he was almost 3 we tried again and that day he was trained. now ridge at almost 2 1/2 is trained and wearing big boy underwear! its almost brought out the big boy in him cause he talks better, cries less and listens more. he was never a hard child... just... different then the twins but still REALLY easy! now next thing we tackle is his bear and thumb lol i think we wait a while for that one!

How We Fit 3 Kids In One Room

as many know we live in a very small apartment. 2 bedroom, 2 bath 900 sqft. for us, its all about living way below our means. so yes, this means all 3 kids share one room. I've heard many people say that its horrible to keep the kids contained in such a small living area but really, how spoiled do families need to be? how do we make this happen? well thanks to my ocd habits and wonderful children everything has a place and everything stays in its place. i thought i would take some pictures so you could judge for yourself. 

here are Jazlynn and Jayvins beds. its a shorter "loft" style bed so its not very high off the ground and then i just put a twin size futon mattress under it for jazzy. they each have a red shelf for their water at night. their beds stay made to get rid of clutter, their dress up stuff stays in the green toy box and then they have room for their alphabet center that they use during tutoring alot.

here is their closet. the first picture is Jazzys side. she has her hanging clothes and then the lower blue buckets hold her panties, hers and the boys shoes, PJ's, and pants. the blue buckets on top have other random school/art supply etc. the other picture has the boys clothes in the same order and Jazlynns. the all the red buckets in the middle hold all their toys (categorized of course)

the picture above is where their doll house is and the shelf above it has a few baskets that also hold other art/school supplies. the baskets that hang on the side of it have her dolls for the doll house and some other of the kids toys. (the glowing balls are their lights)

this is Jazzy's bed again.

Jayvins

and this is ridges bed. its actually the exact same bed at the twins its just flipped upside down so instead of a bunk/loft bed its a canopy bed. this is ideal for if we have another baby. and of course he has a cup shelf too.

there is just enough room in the middle for their play kitchen and PLENTY of room for them to play on the floor. the room really do stay this clean. rule is, you take one toy out at a time. if we didn't keep it this clean it would be chaos!

so there you have it. deprived? i think not! we love the space we are it completely. its cheap, safe and just right for us. judge for yourself =)

my twist on pancakes

Every so often ill post some more craft ideas or kid friendly recipes that my family loves. i love being crafty in many ways and i'm always thinking up new ideas to do with the kiddies. i've had a couple people ask me to blog some of them but never really thought many people would care to read them (not like my personal life and opinions are any more interesting) but i keep this blog mostly for my distant relatives. now that I've gotten asked more and more ill go ahead and post them from time to time.

this is a very popular one with our bunch. i personally like to get creative and experiment with shapes of my own. i make my pancake batter and put it in one of those old fashioned picnic style ketchup and mustard containers (from the dollar store) and just cut the tip a bit bigger. this allows me to be more precise with my shapes. however for the less coordinated you can use metal cookie cutters. just place them onto the pan and poor the batter in. you want to make sure the pan is already hot so that the batter doesn't leak through the sides of the cutters as much. when one side is cooked just remove the cutter and then flip. remember the cakes will be smaller so wont need to cook long

Hot Digity Dog

as most know i LOVE to cook. I'm always trying to find or create new ways to make my meals that add a twist and tang. so you can imagine how much fun i have with making cute meals for the kids. i always try to involve them in the cooking so i thought i would share this really creative way to make hotdogs and pasta.

i use whole wheat spaghetti and either turkey dogs or tofu dogs but you can use what you like. cute the dogs in bite size pieces and one by one stick the uncooked spaghetti through the dogs. i usually do about 6 or 7 pasta sticks per dog. also i usually cut the dog into smaller pieces and the pasta i usually break in half but its easier to see it the way i did in the picture below.

when your done you just put it in a pot of boiling water and cook until the pasta is done. drain the water and then you can serve tomato sauce or whatever else you like . i usually cook mine with some veggies and the mix it all with some freshly grated asiago cheese.

heres another way to cook them. i just poked the pasta in a row through a whole hotdog. we call them centipedes lol