The Mark of the Chunder Monkey - (by Dave)

We are possessive creatures. We like to own, buy, claim and protect. Some choose to scribe a name, while others label with a sticker. We all know how dogs mark ownership. Fortunately our children choose a different route. They mark with incredible grace and surreptitious stealth. After discovering something they love, they calmly ram their digestive system into reverse and toss their cookies over everything they hold dear.

Let's take the big E for example. Few things bring him greater joy than the Costco Food Court. He is a giant among the beef franks, a beast among the cheesy pizza, and dominates any churro in his path. He finally returned his love last Saturday as his Costco meal had a round-trip ticket we didn't expect. Better yet, he chose to shoot his salad right behind some poor patron's shopping cart. I am sure that patron would have reacted differently if she knew our son's action was out of love and not spite. E turned away with indifference and finished his hot dog.

And yet, he learned from the best. Lils can be matched by no one. The oh-so-lucky eatery she chose to mark never saw it coming. Red Robin couldn't have ever anticipated what was about to befall them. What could she have done? Her carnal nature took over when three of the greatest things in the world collided: free balloons, chicken nuggets, and a TV embedded in the daggum floor. She chose the last great thrill and chundered all over it.

Whether you choose to label with a sharpie or with your gastroinstentinal system, the chunder-monkey children salute you and will go on marking their own way through life.

Lils' Saw the Sign

Lils has gotten into signs and writing things lately. She wrote a note to Dave telling him she missed him while he was gone on a business trip. She wrote me a sweet card when I had the stomach flu this weekend that said "I hop you feell bedr, ritin by Lil". She is just sweet that way. She made Baby Rose a card at school in the shape of Rose's head with a piece of red yarn for hair that said, "I am so so soree that you got sick, I hop you feel bedr".

She was doing projects in her room this afternoon and made two new signs. The top sign's translation is "If you want to go in Lily's room then you have to get a stamp". Apparently there are rules for entering her room now. This bottom message is a conundrum, though she is offering help if you need it! Translation: "If you need help reading this message you can say to her I need help reading this message"! Classic.

Guest Bedroom Info

This is a pricing breakdown of how much the guest room cost to re-do-

Paint: $17
Painting Supplies: $18
Goodwill glass vases: $25
Mirrors cut to size at Lowe's: $20
Shower curtain turned into a quilt: $12 shower curtain + $4 sheet = $16
Pillows: $25

Total: $121

I still need to get my Fort Bragg pictures framed, that'll be a another $45- (hopefully $15 a frame)

Candyland

Baby Rose has been sick for the past week, and as I was rocking and holding her, I noticed a pleasant quietness and giggling in the home. I went downstairs to investigate and saw Lils and E playing NICELY the game of Candyland! This being such a rare occurance, I broke out the camera! Yay! They do love eachother!

Guest Bedroom Makeover

Our trip over Labor Day weekend to Fort Bragg inspired me to redo our guest room and bathroom in a Fort Bragg vintage chic style. We have shells from our trip, sand dollars, and "soon to come" framed pictures to put up on the walls. Here is the transformation so far! The first two pictures are of before.

After:

Monster Trucks!!!!!!!

For the past 3 or 4 years my father-in-law has taken whatever grand kids live close to Monster trucks! Finally we were able to go! We were so excited, especially Lils and Ebay. They were talking about it all week and when it came time to go they were ecstatic. Garndpa had plenty of "plug ears" to go around and the funnel cakes and candy bars were in abundance. The show started with a funny redneck announcer in a blue mechanic jumper and fake mullet telling us about the drivers as the monster trucks game barreling in the stadium! Oh man! The look of E's face when those trucks came in! I want to bottle that up forever. We each picked our favorite trucks. All of the kids loved Bigfoot! My fav was Jurrasic Attack! After 2 + hours of races- all of the kids were asleep by then- the REAL show started. Free style! The monster trucks went out one at a time and had 3 minutes to run over stuff, get sweet air, and make huge circle donuts. It was pretty amazing! Though I don't think anyone in the stands enjoyed it as much as my father-in-law, who was just giddy and crazy! Loved it! And, by the way, look at the first picture- could Dave and E look any more alike???!

Soccer picts

So, I'm trying to do cool stuff with Photoshop. Here's Lils team at their first soccer game. What do you think?

Sick Baby

(She's spitting out an apple in that picture, I thought it showed her grumpy sick 'tude well!) Lil Rose has had a fever over 100 for the past three days. Usually I like the excuse to lay low, stay home, watch movies, or cuddle with the sick child I love. Rose is another story! She won't watch movies yet, she's whiny, she's not cuddling and she wants to be held constantly. Not too fun around here. Plus she had me up over 2 hours last night rocking her.... which I enjoyed for most of that time. I love rocking babies and hearing their sweet little sleeping breathes. I know I won't have the chance to hold my sweet little baby too much longer before she's too big to hold and rock in the rocking chair. She gets bigger every day! So I enjoyed it, until the third time I tried to lay her down and she screamed again! I think I'll get her ears checked. Here are some new pictures of my sweetie, it's nice to remember the "before she was sick" Rose.

Pumpkin Pancakes with Apple Cider Syrup

Every Spring General Conference, Dave and I have homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast and every Fall General Conference I make pumpkin pancakes! We had a good recipe our first 6 years of marriage until we moved to Chapel Hill. Our friends, the Harmon's, introduced us to the best, most delicious, and scrumptious pumpkin pancakes ever. You MUST make it with the cider syrup. (I always use apple juice because that's what we have on hand and it is great.) These are divine, easy to make, and perfect for fall.

Pumpkin Pancakes:

2 eggs
3/4 cup pumpkin
2 Tbs sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup oil
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cup milk

Syrup:
1 cup sugar
2 Tbs cornstarch
2 cup apple cider or juice
2 Tbs lemon juice

Pancakes: Beat the eggs and stir in pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda and salt. Then add baking powder, oil, and flour. Stir in milk until desired consistency. (It should be thinner than you think. These pancakes are so good when they're thin and sand-dollar sized.)

Syrup: Mix well and boil one minute.