Olivia Walker

Crafty Mom

2012-01-26T20:36:00.001-08:00

So I have been wanting to sew something again and finally sat down and did it. My sister-in-law designs fabric and hooked me up with some ADORABLE fabric so I have been dying to use it. I got this book of easy patterns and made this shirt for Olivia. Ignore her face/posing in the pictures she was very tired and it was late and dark when I asked Dan to take the pictures but I wanted you to see the shirt!!

Olivia and Family picture

2012-01-26T20:24:00.000-08:00

Dan got a new camera for Christmas and Olivia has been his little model lots lately. Here are some of the favs!

We also took a trip up to Idaho City and took a family picture.

Miles

2012-01-26T20:13:00.001-08:00

These are just some cute Miles pictures. He is 6-7 months old in these! Time is flying by and I don't know how to stop my children from growing up!!

Miles with Grandpa Eric when he came to visit just after Christmas!

2012-01-26T19:58:00.000-08:00

We had our first big snowfall and Olivia has been asking me for MONTHS to build a snowman. She was so excited and it was already starting to rain and melt so we even skipped nap time to build our two snowmen.

We had to build a little snowman and a big snowman.

Miles did not love it so much when I put him in the snow. I have to give him credit he sat in the stroller quietly the whole time.

On another note I feel like I need to put a few more Miles facts on the blog. He is 7 months now and an absolute joy. He smiles ALL the time. Strangers all over stop me and talk about his smile. He adores Olivia, no one can make him laugh like Olivia. He can sit up and he is very close to crawling. He gets up on all fours and rocks and will sometimes throw his body forward. He loves his bouncer and just got his second tooth yesterday!!

Olivia has been so fabulous lately. She loves preschool and is learning lots. She says the funniest things and loves Miles. She is so sweet with him and loves to help him do things and play. She is so good at getting him toys and helping me get things.

Christmas

2012-01-26T19:16:00.000-08:00

We had a nice quiet Christmas this year with our little family. While we did miss our extended family tons it was really nice to not travel. We had so much fun with the kids and ate tons of good food!

I am not gonna lie, I have been really bad at taking pictures lately. These are all I really have of Christmas Day.

Olivia's Dance Recital

2011-12-12T12:51:00.001-08:00

Olivia had her second dance recital on Saturday. It was so fun to watch her, she was so excited. I will post pictures soon too I just wanted to get the video up while I was thinking of it!

Miles at the hospital

2011-12-12T12:50:00.000-08:00

I was uploading videos from our camera and found this cute video of Miles right after he was born in the hospital.

Happy Halloween

2011-11-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

This Halloween was so much fun. Olivia was so excited. She loved everything about it. She kept asking if it was dark halloween yet so we could go trick or treating.

As you can see she was Sleeping Beauty this year. She loved her costume.

We got invited to a halloween party this year and adults were required to dress up as well. Well, Miles was a hot dog this year so I went as a Hot Dog vendor!!

It was so funny, he loved being in that laundry basket. He seriously was in it most of the night just chillin'.

I had lots of fun making all sorts of halloween related food for Olivia this year. It is so much fun that she gets so excited about everything. We had a pumpkin shaped cake, mummy pizzas, finger carrots and mummy hot dogs!

Olivia loved carving pumpkins this year. She obviously couldn't really do it herself so Dan helped her. We kept asking her what kind of pumpkin face she wanted and she insisted that she had a sad pumpkin. She thought her pumpkin was sad because when she got to pick it his stem was very prickly.

Olivia's sad pumpkin. Dan did a great job, he carved a frown and tears! It was super cute actually.

It was Olivia's turn to bring snack to preschool on Halloween. I saw these orange pumpkins online and I could not resist. I filled them with grapes.

This was Halloween night. The other pictures were at the party.

Miles eating solids!

2011-11-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

Miles eating solids for the first time. He was not a huge fan, but I love how he kind of did it anyway. He is so sweet.

He is liking it now although still has a little bit of a hard time not pushing everything out with his tongue.

Field Trip October

2011-11-02T12:40:00.000-07:00

In October Olivia got to go on a field trip with her preschool class to Linder Farms. She had a blast.

On the hay ride

She got to pick her own pumpkin.

The hay maze. She was pretty confused by the hay maze. It was sure cute to watch.

Driving a tractor!

Faces

2011-11-02T12:21:00.001-07:00

I really like these two faces!!

Birthday Horse Ride

2011-11-02T12:17:00.000-07:00

Recently Olivia got to go to a birthday party that had ponies!! She had such a good time.

Oregon

2011-11-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the month my in-laws were kind enough to drive the kids and I to Oregon to visit my sister and her kids. We had so much fun and LOVED getting to spend time with them. It was an adventure getting five kids places with two nursing babies. She had a little girl a couple of months before I had Miles! These are some pictures of our trip.

Tori and Olivia

Alisha, Elle and James

Elle and Miles (she is older, he is bigger!)

First day of Preschool!

2011-10-04T12:19:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe that Olivia is old enough to be in preschool, but she is!! She was so excited to go and loves it. She goes three days a week for 2 1/2 hours, which gives me a little time to do stuff with one kid or spend time with Miles! This is her on her first day.

What a little poser!!

Her teacher, Ms Erika, is to the right.

I am so glad that she loves it and gets a chance to learn!! I can not believe that I am already having to think about kindergarten!!!

One short preschool story, every day I ask her what she did and she gets really upset and says "Mom, I don't want to tell you!!" So I have no idea what really happens or what she is learning. :)

Miles Blessing

2011-10-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

Over Labor Day weekend we had a wonderful opportunity to go to Bear Lake and be with Dan's side of the family and bless Miles!! It was such a wonderful experience. The spirit was so strong during the meeting and it was great to be surrounded by family.

Alisha sent me James' blessing outfit and I think he looked super cute!!

Proud and adorable big sister!

Family!! Ignore my double chin. I refused to post a full body shot of myself.

Caboose and 5 years

2011-08-25T08:52:00.000-07:00

For our fifth anniversary Dan asked me if I was feeling adventurous. I said I was so we were off. I didn't know where we were going but I packed us up. We ended up going to Lake Wallowa in Oregon. And... we stayed in a caboose!!

Dan found this caboose on line. It is just in this woman's back yard and she only takes cash.

It was so much fun!! It was not like staying in a hotel but it was a step above camping. It was gorgeous scenery and it was just so much fun.

Olivia was So Happy!! When we were in the town she just kept asking when we were going back to the caboose.

Miles was also so smiley and happy.

Olivia had a little bunk bed type thing that she loved!! She was a little excited though and didn't go to sleep until after 10 and she had not even had a nap.

The sunset was amazing. The picture doesn't even do it justice. The caboose was right by this beautiful field that had a horse and two goats. Olivia got to pet the horse and there was a beautiful garden right next to the caboose too.

The lake was also so beautiful. The water was crystal clear and Olivia loved playing in it even though it was super cold. The town was cute too. There were a lot of things to do in the town too. I would love to go back when the kids are a little older and do some of the stuff and go boating! It was so much fun and I am so lucky to be married to a man who keeps life interesting and has so much fun!! I can't believe it has been five years and I love Dan more than ever.

Olivia's 4th Birthday!

2011-08-18T12:40:00.000-07:00

First of all, I can hardly believe my baby is 4!!!!
My Mom was able to be here for Olivia's birthday this year. This was the first time we have had any family here for one of her birthday's so we went all out. We opened presents in the morning then went and got manicures and had a party with friends in the evening.

Dan made this awesome magnetic chalkboard for her!

It was a princess party with pizza, cake and pin the crown on the princess!!

It was so much fun! i am so lucky to have such an amazing daughter. She is so kind and helpful and good!! I am truly blessed, I love her so much.

Miles first two months

2011-08-18T12:21:00.000-07:00

Miles has been so much fun these past two months. He is growing so much and he is overall a really easy baby. He is super happy and smiles a lot. The only bad thing he does is grunt in his sleep. He grunts so much and it is so loud that I can't sleep through it. But the doctor said he will just grow out of it.

He did not like his first bath!! He likes them now though, especially at the end when i float him aroung in the water.

Olivia is in love. She has been soooo ggod with him. She loves to hold him and he lights up when he sees her. It is so nice having two, she will play with him lots and it makes them both so happy.

I got tons of help after he was born. Dan's mom came the first week and my mom came a little later. (She was helping my sister move across the country.)

I remember when she was that little!

He does pretty well at tummy time!

smiles!

Miles Joseph Walker

2011-08-18T11:47:00.000-07:00

Labor Story - Do not read if you don't want to know, although it is not gruesome.

On June 9th 2011 Miles Joseph Walker entered our lives THREE WEEKS EARLY!!! I had gone in for my apt that Tuesday and the doctor was not going to check me but I said that I had had one painful contraction and some other little ones so I was curious. Well he checked and I was between a 5 and a 6. So we figured I would probably be a little early considering I was already over halfway finished with labor and didn't know it. Anyway, two days later I started having contractions and I was nervous because I had strep B and I didn't want to give birth without drugs!!! So I went in. They checked me and said I was still a 5/6 but my bag of water was bulging so if they sent me home it would probably break as soon as I got home then I might not make it in time for the antibiotics. So they admitted me. I called Dan and it took a few min for it to sink in. He actually had time to go home and change clothes and come back. They broke my water and gave me some pitocin and I got my epidural nice and early. I was talking to my mom on the phone and the nurse came in and checked me and I was a 10 and it was time to push!! I had to push a lot more with Miles than I did with Olivia because he has a GIANT head!!! He literally popped out and surprised the doctor and the nurse.
I can not even express to you how much I love this little guy. He is so wonderful and I cannot help but smile when I think about him. He is perfect and adorable as you can see!

Easter

2011-06-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

I am about to pop so I wanted to get our Easter pictures up on the blog before I am too tired to do it again. Easter was so much fun this year. Olivia totally got it and was so excited. She still prays about being resurrected. She had so much fun coloring eggs and finding eggs the next day. I cooked my first full ham and it turned out really well, if I do say so myself. I froze tons because it was just the three of us! We had tons of fun and I just love holidays with a little kid, everything is just better!!

Pregnant Belly and cool recipe

2011-06-07T20:13:00.000-07:00

These are just some easter/pregnant belly pictures. I am much further along now but this is what I got so here you go!

At Easter time I found the coolest recipe where you make cupcakes inside an actual egg shell so I tried it! It was super fun and they tasted really good, even without frosting!

You peal the egg after they are baked and cool!

Here is the link:

http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2011/04/easter-cupcakes-baked-in-real-egg.html

Olivia Dance recital

2011-03-31T20:13:00.000-07:00

Way back in February Olivia had her first dance recital. She was so excited and I am not gonna lie, super cute. I may have been a little emotional. She is growing up way too fast.

Gender Party

2011-03-20T19:56:00.000-07:00

At Dan's work there was a man who had a fabulous idea when he found out the gender of his latest baby. They went for their ultrasound and asked the tech to write down the gender of their baby and put it in an envelope and not tell them, then they took the envelope to a baker and had them color the inside of a cake. Then they had a party and cut in to the cake to find out the gender! So we copied them! It was so much fun. We let Olivia cut the cake and she loved it.

As you can see from the color... its a boy!

Gender Cake Video

2011-03-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

Vegas Baby!

2011-03-20T19:45:00.000-07:00

Ok I am back! Sorry for the hiatus but I am determined to get back to blogging, especially before number 2 comes along.

So back in early February Dan and I got to go on our last trip just the two of us before baby #2 comes along. We went to Vegas. We had so much fun and it was so nice to get away just the two of us. Dan's parents were sooooooooooo wonderful and came and stayed with Olivia, she hardly even noticed that we were gone.

We rented a car so we got to go see things near Vegas as well as the strip.

Hoover Dam

The Shelby Museum

At the Shelby museum they have you sign their wall so Dan left his mark!

Or should I say Otis Ash...

We did so much more but I forgot to take pictures. We ate wonderful food and we saw Ka! We had so much fun and it was so nice to have some time just the two of us.

Christmas

2011-02-12T12:34:00.000-08:00

There is nothing like Christmas in February right? I am entering the blogging world again!! I have no good excuse for not posting so I will just get on with it. We had a fabulous Christmas this year. We got to go to VA and spend it with my parents and my brother and his family. Olivia had a blast and we were all sad to leave.
This is Olivia in her Christmas dress.

Santa also made a special appearance at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Someone was VERY happy to see him.

Christmas morning.

Brunch at Westfields, YUM!!

We had so much fun and did so much more, but since I am so behind we are just going to stick to the basics! Merry Christmas!

Snow storms

2010-12-02T11:20:00.000-08:00

Recently we have had a couple of snow storms. The first was very small but Dan and Olivia could not resist playing outside.
Olivia mad her first snow angel!

The second broke records and caused lots of school closings!! Olivia was so excited to make a snowman and would not come in when we were done and it had started to rain.

Halloween

2010-11-09T14:08:00.000-08:00

This year Halloween was very crazy for us. As I mentioned my Grandmother passed away right before Halloween and then I got very sick so we were stuck at home for most of the week.

We did however have tickets on the 30th to go see the Philharmonsters. The Boise Philharmonic puts on a halloween concert every year with fun activities before for kids. We took Olivia and she had a blast. I am not gonna lie, I really liked it too.

They had face painting.

This is a piano, if you can't really tell. Olivia was moving while the girl was painting.

They had an instrument petting zoo where the kids got to touch and play some instruments. It was really cool.

Olivia with the violin. She was adorable with it so we took a million pictures.

This is Olivia on Halloween going trick or treating in our neighborhood. Yes she has my smile, which I will apologize for for the rest of her life.

She was a fairy princess, which she loved. I wanted her to be a cute animal but as soon as she saw this costume it was over.

Better and Camping

2010-11-09T13:57:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the glum post! I am doing better. Things were just kind of piling up on me. My Grandmother passed away and I flew back and forth from Illinois in two days then got sick for 2 weeks! I was so tired and sick and tired of being sick. Oh and then Olivia got sick! I am doing much better now although I am still getting over some of the sniffles. I cannot believe how long my sickness lasted.

So on a much happier note, Dan, Olivia and I went camping a long time ago and I keep forgetting to post about it.

We went up by Bogus Basin which was about a 45 min drive. It was gorgeous. We had so much fun. It was at the end of the season so there was only one other family there for most of the time. They had a little girl so Olivia was in heaven.

Olivia eating her s'more.

Messy face

I thought I wouldn't post about the fact that I was the one who got the fire started after Dan tried for a long time, but I had to brag.

Out set up.

The view. I was very beautiful

Night time.

The road to the campground was VERY windy so we had to stop a few time for a car sick mom and child.

On a hike. I LOVE this picture of my backside by the way. (I hope you could tell that was laced with sarcasm.)

Question

2010-10-30T21:14:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else feel like they are kind of beat up emotionally and physically???

Please don't take this the wrong way, I am just venting.

I will post more pictures of my adorable daughter soon!!!

Millions of Peaches

2010-09-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

Olivia and I recently went peach picking with our friends Chelsi and Aspen. Olivia and Aspen had tons of fun playing and picking the peaches and Chelsi and I dreamed of all of the baking and canning we would do.

I totally forgot my camera but Chelsi was kind enough to send me the pictures that she took. I was very glad because they were fabulous!!

I had no idea what I was in for when I brought home a laundry basket full of peaches.

I canned peaches, made peach freezer jam, made peach muffins and a loaf a peach bread (all pictured above). I also made a peach pie and had peaches every day on my cereal and for snacks. I still have quite a few in my fridge that I am still using. It has been so fabulous. Peaches are probably my favorite fruit. The picture is just a sampling of the things that I made, I canned more than three pints. I am totally converted to canning and I think I will can pears as well!!

Mini Meatball Sandwiches and Nutella!!!

2010-09-08T18:26:00.000-07:00

A while ago I made these

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/07/16-minute-meal-3-mini-meatball-sandwiches/

They were so yummy I had to share.

I also found a recipe for Banana and Nutella wontons that was calling my name. They were pretty easy and tasted fabulous.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen-blog/2010/08/a-tasty-recipe-nutella-and-banana-wontons/

Zoo w/Grandma

2010-08-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

The last week in July my mom came to visit. We had the most wonderful time playing, eating, shopping and just visiting. As usual I forgot to take a lot of pictures but I did get some key moments of fun

We went to the zoo one day and Olivia loved it.

This is how Olivia spent a good portion of the trip. She loves Grandma piggie backs!

Feeding the goats was definitely a highlight.

Dance Lessons

2010-07-20T12:14:00.000-07:00

For Olivia's birthday her Great Grandma and Grandpa gave her ballet/tap lessons. She went to her first lesson last week and I don't think I have ever seen her so happy in her entire little life. She LOVED every min of it. In the middle of class they send them out to put on tap shoes and Olivia almost started crying because she thought it was over. It was just so adorable I could hardly stand it.

Last post for today, sorry!! I was really behind.

Another craft!

2010-07-20T12:06:00.000-07:00

Here is another thing that I made recently. It is a crayon roll. They are all over the crafting blogs. I made it for my niece's birthday. (Don't show Tori, Alisha because I made one for her b-day too!) It was a fun easy project.

This is the tutorial that I used

http://www.skiptomylou.org/2007/04/25/on-a-roll/

6th of July

2010-07-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

I am not sure how I feel about my baby turning three but it happened anyway! I just love this little girl so much and I am so proud of her. She is so funny and we love laughing together. We decorated for her big day the night before so she would wake up to a fun living room.

She got a little swimming pool for her birthday so we filled that with balloons and put the rest of her presents in there.

Dan gave her her first watch and now we cannot get it to stop beeping!!

When I asked her what kind of cake she wanted she said PINK! So we made that happen.

We had cake at the park that night with some of her friends and it was a really wonderful day! We love our little girl.

4th of July

2010-07-20T11:52:00.000-07:00

We went to the Walker family reunion over the 4th of July and had tons of fun!! Olivia loved getting to spend so much time with all of her cousins.

I write like!

2010-07-17T10:05:00.001-07:00

I saw this on a friends blog and I that it was cool

Here were my results

I write like
James Joyce

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

b-day gift

2010-07-02T12:59:00.000-07:00

I recently made this car playmat for my nephew's 1st birthday. I saw the tutorial online here
http://fiskarscraft.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/03/onthego-car-activity-mat-fiskarscraft.html
and here
http://happybabydesigns.blogspot.com/2010/04/car-playmat.html
I kind of did my own thing based on these two ideas.
I was pretty please with how it turned out.

Sometimes a girl just needs to wear her Lightening McQueen lifejacket.

Dad makes me Laugh!

2010-06-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

Olivia loves her dad, and that is probably an understatement. When he comes home at night she screams, literally, with joy. She runs up and gives him a huge hug. Not to mentions the 50 million times a day that she asks me where he is or when he is coming home. It is adorable how much she loves him. And he can make her laugh. This is just one little example. Sorry about the food in her mouth it is kind of gross.

What Olivia's been up to

2010-06-20T07:59:00.000-07:00

Here is what Olivia has been up to...

Being cute wearing her Batman shirt.

Coloring with Dad

Playing Drums

This was one of my favorites. Olivia went in her closet, got her backpack, found her lego like blocks and made some binoculars then came out to me like this. I love it because I have never even shown her binoculars before.

Random Stuff I've Made

2010-06-20T07:45:00.000-07:00

Chalkboard plate to write what's for dinner on!!!

Here is where I got the idea
http://brownpaper--packages.blogspot.com/2009/09/chalkboard-platemenu-style.html

She has much neater handwriting but I still love mine!! It is really fun to have and write on.

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas and Pineapple

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/05/grilled-chicken-pineapple-quesadillas/

These were AMAZING!!! Dan was a little reserved at the idea because of the mix of ingredients but man they were fabulous!!! He loved them.

Italian Sausage Bread

http://foodblogga.blogspot.com/2010/03/italian-sausage-bread-recipe-for-easter.html

I have made this twice now and we love it. It is actually not as hard as it sounds. I make homemade pizza dough because I am cheap but it would be even easier with store bought. The only thing that I do wrong every time is that I don't let the egg mixture cool enough but it still turns out it just melts out of the dough a little.

Snickers Shake

Look what I can do!!!

2010-05-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

I made this this morning.

I got the idea and tutorial here.

http://www.michaelmillerfabrics.com/blog/cloth_shoe.pdf

Virginia

2010-05-15T12:38:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of May we went to visit my family in Virginia. I forgot my camera so it has taken me a really long time to post about it. My mother was kind enough to send me the pictures from her camera but I have not loaded them up yet. These are the ones from Dan's phone.

We went to a mall and Olivia got to ride the train with Grandma. She LOVED it.

Dan got to drive my dad's car. He LOVED it!!

We went downtown and got to go to museums.

We could not both look at the camera at the same time.

We also got to eat lots of good food. One morning we went to brunch at Westfields, a very nice restaurant. Dan and I saw this....

Yes, we giggled and turned in to 12 yr olds and took a picture of the Mini Fruit Fart.

We had so much fun, it was so hard to leave. We stayed for a whole week and it was not even close to long enough.

Venting

2010-05-10T12:04:00.000-07:00

Ok so I cannot tell you how many times people come up and talk to me about Olivia when I go out places. Most of the time it is super sweet and I never tire of hearing how cute, kind and wonderful she is. But alas some of the time I am approached by someone and have no idea how to respond.

Case in point. Today we were at this thrift store in Meridian (I have been very inspired by some crafting blogs and I am looking for fun things to make over). It is an overcast day and it is raining off and on. With that said it is actually not that cold outside. When we left the house Olivia had her coat on but through the course of our errands the coat came off. So I chose not to fight that battle and let her keep it off. We are in the thrift store and this old woman looks at Olivia and smiles then says "You look cold, are you cold?" Kind of a weird comment but no big deal. Olivia just smiles back at her and comes to me. The lady then proceeds to ask Olivia about 5 more times if she is cold. I am just standing there and I have no idea how to respond. I just smile and keep walking down the isle. All the time wanting to go back and say "Actually lady you can feel her arms and legs they are quite warm. She has been running and is not cold in the least. And I think I know how to keep my child warm, Thanks though!" I know this sounds like and overreaction and in truth it probably is, but I am telling you it was so weird and awkward. She said nothing to me and it was obvious that she thought Olivia should have been wearing a coat. This lady was quite a bit older and if she had kids I am sure they NEVER went outside without a coat on! Heaven forbid a child gets to make some choices in their little life, so they can learn consequences to their actions. Maybe if you don't always make your child wear a coat they will learn that without one they will get cold. I am not saying let your kid go out in subzero temperatures with nothing on but a little give and take can be applicable.

Sorry for my ranting, sometimes I just cannot believe what people will say to complete strangers, or their kids for that matter.

On a happier note I will leave you with these... They are actually pretty old but they are pictures I never got around to blogging that I want to put up. This was last fall at the park.

Thanksgiving Travels. So cute with Dad.

Dan used to read Olivia this Batman book every night before bed so Grandma Walker sent her this Batman shirt. She loves it!

Recipe Links

2010-05-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

It took me forever but I finally have the recipe links incase anyone wanted them. Just click on the name of the recipe.

Poppyseed Chicken Salad

Tres Leches

Pumpkin Muffins (not pictured but they were yummy)

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

2010-04-19T21:34:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was very busy for us. On Saturday we had breakfast in the park with friends then spent the rest of the afternoon doing yard work. Dan was awesome and helped me tons!! Unfortunately I really wore him out. On Sunday Dan was pooped. I gave Olivia a bath Sunday morning and after she takes a bath she likes to snuggle with Dada. Well Dan was very asleep on the couch so I just went and put her on top of him. It was pretty cute.

I also put Olivia's hair in french braids for the first time this weekend. It was so cute I have done it several times now. It is really not easy to do, especially because doing hair does not come naturally to me. So just know that I must really love it if I am willing to try it more than once. You can judge for yourself.

Food

2010-04-19T20:57:00.000-07:00

These are a few of the recipes that I have been trying out lately and I just wanted to share. I got most of them from a Food Network magazine that my mom gave me so if you want them just leave a comment and I will post them. If not I won't waste time typing them out :).

BLTA (Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato and Avacado)

Tres Leches Cake with a Mango topping

Poppyseed Chicken Salad - very refreshing for a mayo based chicken salad

Once again I find myself not losing weight, it is a continual mystery to me!

Bike Seat!!!

2010-04-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

Recently Dan and I bought a bike seat to attach to my bike so we could go on family bike rides. Olivia LOVES it!!!!!!

At first she was scared but once she got in and rode around she was hooked. She loves putting on her helmet and knee pads (her request, not mine) and going for bike rides.

What I've been up to

2010-03-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

I know this is my 1 millionth post today, but I am finally blogging so I just want to do it while I am on a roll. I have recently become very interesting in sewing! I got some fun stuff for my b-day and I decided to make Olivia a dress. And I found another fun sewing project online for alphabet fridge magnets and made those too.

Olivia would not stand up or turn around for me to get a really good picture so this is what I got.

I finally got her standing when she was not expecting me to take a picture.

I didn't make the white shirt I put under the dress, just the yellow dress.

These are the fridge magnets. Both of these are filled with mistakes but I still like them.

This fabric was from my sister-in-law, Samantha Walker. She designs fabric and it is ALL adorable!!!! You can see her fabric here.
http://www.alpinefabrics.com/shop/category/riley-blake-designs/available-now/wanna-be-a-cowboy-flannels/
This is for the flannels but on the same site they show them in cotton too.

Also here is the website I got the fridge magnet pattern from.
http://chezbeeperbebe.blogspot.com/2009/10/tutorial-how-to-make-plush-alphabet.html

Nature Center

2010-03-18T11:28:00.000-07:00

About a week ago Olivia and I went with our friend Celeste to the Nature Center in Boise. It is this cute place where they can learn all about animals and walk on trails and see fish!! And it is FREE!! Anyway, these are a few of the pictures. I didn't take tons but we had lots of fun.

There were so animal pelts that you could touch, but Olivia was VERY not interested in that. She loved seeing the fish and walking on the trails.

Her face is all washed out in this picture but I didn't feel like editing it. And these are the HUGE fish! I think I got more of a kick out of the fish than Olivia did.

After we went to the greenbelt and had a picnic. It was a beautiful day and it was so much. We were very happy that Celeste went with us as well.

Random pictures...

Olivia eating olives!!!!

Straight Hair and Rolls

2010-03-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

Yes looking back on the title of this entry, it was probably not the best word combination.

Once again a while ago Olivia was really sick. She had a bad cough and snot was coming out of everywhere. We were stuck in the house for a couple of days and I was getting very bored and stir crazy. So.... I did Olivia's hair. I love my little girl's curly hair but sometimes I do wonder what she would look like with straight hair. I decided that the time to wonder was over; now it was time for action.

I blew dry her hair and had to use a straight iron. It still had some curly parts in it, especially at the ends. I am also not a master hairstylist so that didn't help. Normally Olivia HATES getting her hair done in the morning so I have been very reluctant to approach her with something hot during that process. This time she was very mellow from being sick and it was a novelty so it worked out just fine.

I think she looks very cute but I would NEVER trade in her curls.

After talking about hair and snot it seems only natural to transition to food! I made Lion House rolls the other night for dinner and they turned out so well I had to take a picture.

They may not be as pretty but they sure tasted good!

Olivia Updates

2010-03-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

I have had these pictures on my desktop to blog about forever so today I am doing it! They are nothing in particular just cute Olivia moments and updates. This is a new spring dress from Target that I thought was super cute and I LOVE her curly hair.

She is quite the poser.

In other Olivia news, I don't know if I have said it on here before, and I am too lazy to go back and look so we have big news. Olivia has not had a binky for over a month now and she is sleeping in a big girl bed!!! The bed was a very easy transition and the binky was easier than I thought it was going to be but not quite as smooth. We clipped more off her binky each week and it worked very well. At the end I actually didn't even notice that she had not asked for it for a couple of days.

A while ago I thought it would be fun to build a fort so we did!! Olivia loved it. Here she is watching Thumbelina. If you look closely in the second picture you can see that she has her binky in her mouth backwards. She started doing this when it was getting too small to keep in her mouth.

In other news, we are doing well and are really enjoying the warmer weather. Now it just needs to stop being so windy here!

McCall or Bust

2010-03-10T11:59:00.000-08:00

So as some of you may know, my husband is amazing!!! On Valentine's Day he woke me us and said I needed to pack we were leaving. I of course was very confused and skeptical. It took him a while to convince me that I really needed to pack. He had his parents come up for the weekend to watch Olivia and we were going somewhere!!!

It was so exciting and fun. It was really crazy how things were working out too. Anyway, I was very excited and confused. After about a 2 hour drive we stopped in Cascade, Idaho. It is a small town that is about 20-30 min outside of McCall. We stopped at a little cafe and got some food.

This trip was mostly about food!! And the food was fabulous.

We drove around Cascade a little then we headed up to McCall.
Dan had made hotel reservations and dinner reservations and taken care of everything. I was speechless. Our hotel was a little cabin about 4 miles outside of McCall and beautiful!!

We walked around town and looked at the remnants of the Ice Festival. Every year McCall has a big ice carving festival and people come from all over to see the amazing ice sculptures. It was a couple of weekends earlier so some of them had melted but they were still pretty neat!

After walking around we had lunch at a little Bistro that a local recommended for us and it was outstanding. It was called Bistro 45. It was a small little cafe type restaurant and the food was light and delicious. It had lots of character and was really fun.

We were going to go ice skating but aparently curling is very popular in McCall and the rink was closed for the next 5 hours for curling. So we went back to the hotel and rested and got ready for dinner. We ate that night at Rupert's. It was AMAZING.

Dan had called around and found out that one of their special appetizers that night was crab legs. He knows that crab legs are one of my most favorite foods EVER. We ate until we could eat no more. At one point Dan actually knocked his water glass all over the table and into my lap. It made such a loud noise; the entire restaurant went silent and starred at us. It was awesome. We both just started laughing so hard. It was such a perfect evening.

I had lamb and blue cheese mashed potatoes and Dan had beef tenderloin with a smashed potato and asparagus for both of us. Then we shared Tres Leches cake for desert with a mango and pineapple sauce thing on top. We were in heaven!!

Then we went back to the hotel that night. The hotel didn't have TV but they had a library of over 600 movies you could check out. So we watch a couple of movies and slept!!! It was the first time in 2 1/2 years that I did not wake up to Olivia! It was a very weird feeling.

The next morning we slept in then went to breakfast at The Pancake House. A couple of Dan's coworkers had come to the Ice Festival and had recommended this place on the grounds that it had a cinnamon roll the size of a large human head. They were very correct. We ate so much we literally almost got sick.

Then we went to this place call Mountain Monet and had tons of fun being artistic. Dan painted a plate and I did fused glass. It was super cool and they mailed them to Boise when they were finished. I will take pictures and post them later.

It was totally an amazing weekend and a much needed break. We did call Dan's parents quite a few times because we missed Olivia so much. It was a very strange feeling to miss something so much and at the same time be a little glad to be away from it. The whole next week I was so much more patient with Olivia and relaxed. (I wish it had lasted a little longer but oh well) It was really wonderful and I love having such a wonderful caring spontaneous husband who will go through all of that trouble to make me feel special and loved. Also a huge thanks to Otho and Rita for watching Olivia we knew she was in good hands and it was so generous of them.

Afternoon Nap

2010-03-04T13:23:00.000-08:00

Olivia's have become not regular every day. Most days she takes a nap but some days she just won't. She still very much needs a nap during the day but I can't force her to sleep. She always has quiet time in her bed but sometimes she just plays instead of sleeps. This poses several problems because if she doesn't sleep I can't go anywhere in the car after about 2 because she will fall asleep.

So today Olivia was playing in her bed. I went in several times and told her it was time to stop playing and she needed to sleep. She continued to play for about 2 hours. I was just about to go in and get her and I noticed it was quiet. I about died when I went in and saw this...

I took a video because I didn't want the camera to wake her up. Her play mixer is in one hand then in the other is the stand for the mixer, a cell phone and her sippy with water. My only problem now is that she fell asleep at about 2 so when she wakes up at 4 there is no way she will go to bed at 8! Oh well, it is too cute to be too upset.

Basketball - Go Aggies!!

2010-03-03T19:39:00.000-08:00

I will begin by saying that I don't have a good excuse for not blogging. It has been last on my list of things to do so I keep putting it off. I need to get back in to my blogging grove.

So on Feb. 11th Dan, Olivia and I got to go to the USU vs. BSU basketball game here in Boise. It was so much fun!!! We were especially happy because the Aggies WON!! Basketball is no where near as big here as football. There were almost as many Aggie fans in the stadium as there were Bronco fans. They were certainly just as loud.

Olivia in particular had a blast. We met up with several of Dan's coworkers. Olivia was happy because Eric brought his daughter and her friend so we had built in baby sitters!!

Even now when Olivia sees anything BSU she yells basketball and then 'Go Aggies!' Yes I do realize that that is confusing but she is only 2.5 so we let it slide.

Rainbows

2010-02-02T12:15:00.000-08:00

The other day when Dan came home he had Olivia and I come outside because there was a HUGE rainbow. It was really cool. Then the other day Olivia was coloring by herself and she picked up her picture and said "mama look a rain." At first I thought she drew rain because it had been raining for the past couple of days but then I looked closer...

She drew a rainbow with rain all by herself. We were not even by her when she drew it or picked out the colors!!! I know that she is my kid but I am pretty sure that this proves that she is an artistic genius. What can I say she is fabulous!?

In other news I got a pedicure for my upcoming bday this morning. I had to use the foam shoes when I left because I didn't bring flip flops. Olivia was fascinated with these when I came home. After I put her to sleep for her nap this was what I found...

She cracks me up!

Utah Christmas

2010-01-19T06:57:00.000-08:00

We spent our Christmas with Dan's family in Utah. We had tons of fun playing with cousins, riding tractors, working in the shop and painting. It was great to see so much family and we had a blast.

I got to make a gift for my Dad and Dan loved using his mom's oil paints.

We spent Christmas Eve with just Dan's parents and had a nice quiet evening. For dinner we had ribs and Olivia Loved them. She kept saying "nummy meat!"

My Dad will especially appreciate this!!!

Our Christmas

2010-01-18T11:05:00.001-08:00

Yes it is mid January and I am posting about Christmas. In all honesty I forgot that I hadn't done this.

So Dan, Olivia and I had our little Christmas before we went to Utah for actual Christmas. It was so much fun. We were very excited about setting up the tent combo thing that my parents got her. It barely fit in our front room.

She loved all of her toys and played with them in side her tent all morning.

Story

2010-01-18T11:00:00.000-08:00

Just a quick cute story! So yesterday Olivia was taking her short nap before church. This is always a tough situation because she only sleeps for about 45min-1hr and is very tired when we wake her up. On Sunday Olivia is so excited to go to nursery. She talks about it all morning and LOVES it. So when I woke her up and she was groggy I asked her if she wanted to put her sweater and shoes on so she could go to nursery. She looked and me and said "No nursery, I want to watch football!" Dan enjoyed this comment although I did not let either of them do that.

My BFF

2010-01-10T21:34:00.000-08:00

This is also a very late post but well worth the wait. When we went to Illinois for Thanksgiving on our return trip we had a 4+ hour lay-over in Denver. It just so happens that the coolest woman in the world, my BFF, Roxanne, is living in Denver so we got to chill with her and her mother! It was so nice to see them and to have something to do for 4 hours with a VERY tired kid.

So sleepy!

Two awesome Ladies!!!

If only it was like this always!

It was so great to see them and they were so kind to come to the airport to visit with us.

Gingerbread Houses

2010-01-07T20:49:00.000-08:00

Before Christmas Dan and I made Gingerbread houses with our friends Derrick and Celeste. It was tons of fun but as you can see they may have out done us??

I'm so Late!

2010-01-07T20:43:00.000-08:00

Ok, so back in early December Dan, Olivia and I went to the Meridian City Winter Wonderland Parade! In theory it was a wonderful idea. It happened to be terribly freezing that day so Olivia only made it about half way and then started bawling. It was pretty sad. I thought I had us bundled up enough but it turns out there was no such thing. It was lots of fun though.

Later that night we went to the lighting of the Christmas tree in Meridian. Several choirs sang and they showed How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

What really brought us there were the free Krispy Kreme Donuts that they gave out.

Olivia had much more fun at this because I dressed her in her snow suit and there were a lot more people so it was warmer (not to mention the donut).

This Week

2009-12-30T16:15:00.000-08:00

I have been horrifically sick this week so no posting about Christmas just yet. I will put these pictures up to tide the few of you that read this over. Sorry it has taken me this long.

Thanksgiving!! (a little late)

2009-12-22T11:28:00.000-08:00

You would think by now I would have posted about Thanksgiving but I have not. We had tons of fun and got to see lots of family. Dan, Olivia and I flew to Illinois to see my Dad's side of the family and my sister and her family. We had a blast and ate lots of good food. Here are the pictures to prove it.

Grandpa, Tori, Olivia John and Alisha. If you look close in the back Dan is holding James!!! He wants another baby, he just doesn't know it.

Grandpa Eric reading to Tori and Olivia and Great Grandpa Facer reading to Tori and Olivia.

This was just as our trip began! You can see Olivia wearing her cute backpack, she loved it.

James, Tori and Olivia, sorry it is blurry.

Even though Olivia is blurry it is my only real picture with them together.

On our way home Olivia got so tired that we just laid her blankets on the floor in the Denver airport and she snuggled up.

Cousins!! Olivia Loved Tori. She wanted to play with her constantly and even after we got home she would ask for her. She even named one of her toy dinosaurs Tori! She also calls all babies Baby James now, even baby pictures of herself.

Olivia after eating her chocolate cupcake.

I was a gonner after the first hold. He is such a smiley, cute, adorable, wonderful baby.

We had so much fun and were sad to go home but we sure loved seeing everyone and miss them terribly.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

2009-12-15T11:54:00.000-08:00

Beware of Cuteness

2009-12-13T09:22:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to a friends house and played Wii. Olivia loved taking turns playing the wii fit. This is her hula hooping. It was so cute I almost died. I had to post it.

This was her playing a penguin game. She was so good at taking turns and getting on and off when we told her. She is pretty great!

Can Wii Play???

2009-12-07T13:37:00.000-08:00

A little while ago my father very generously sent us a Wii. Well we have had lots of fun playing it. In fact the other day in the middle of the afternoon Olivia went and got out the controlers and said "Mama play games!" Unfortunately for her it was lunch time and we did not have time to play but later that night we had lots of fun.

Stockings

2009-12-07T13:13:00.000-08:00

This year I decided that I wanted to make our stockings. I thought this was a cute fun idea until after Thanksgiving when I realized that I actually had to take the time to make them. I went online and found the easiest stocking pattern I could and this was the result.

I do not love them but it is really fun to have them made. I am going to put our names on them but I am not gonna lie that might not happen before this Christmas.

Budding Artist

2009-11-24T14:01:00.000-08:00

To her defense I knew that she was in the bathroom coloring I just thought it was only on the tub.

I should clarify, they are bath tub crayons so this is not as terrible as it could have been. They wipe off pretty easily.

Oh Dan

2009-11-17T22:55:00.000-08:00

When an artistic husband finds a 2 year old's bathtub crayons the inevitable happens.

Sorry it is kind of a bad picture. It is a boy throwing paper airplanes, it filled all of the walls of the shower.

Joys of Having a 2 Year Old

2009-11-09T12:59:00.000-08:00

So this weekend I was pleasantly surprised to find that Olivia had adjusted the setting on one of the drawers in my fridge and frozen all of my vegetables. She is full of surprises.

Random Cuteness

2009-11-07T12:04:00.000-08:00

The accessory Queen strikes again. I think she is very fashion forward for a 2 year old.

Please no comments on how my 2 year old still has a binky, it is a sore subject.

My daughter doesn't like to have her picture taken, can you tell??? She is a ham!

Halloween

2009-11-07T11:23:00.000-08:00

It has only taken me a week to finally post about Halloween. We had a really fun Halloween weekend. First on Friday Olivia got to go trick or treating at Dan's office. She loved getting in her costume and getting 'treats.' It is funny, since then when we go to Dan's office she asks to put on her monster costume.

On Saturday, Halloween, we just had a nice relaxing day and then went trick or treating pretty early in the evening. Olivia really liked it at first, although she was a little afraid of going to the first couple of doors. Then she really got in to it but kept saying "trick or treat" before they opened the door. She also said "Happy Halloween" a lot which I thought was cute.

Just getting started!

She loved putting the nose of her costume on Dan's forehead.

I tried to capture it with the camera but she never did it when I took a picture. This was as close as we could get.

The last house we went to had tons of decorations and scary music playing. Olivia was not a big fan of this and got pretty scared. Luckily it was the last house we were going to because she was done.

When my Mom was here we went to a pumpkin patch and picked out our pumpkins. On Halloween we decided to carve up our pumpkins. Dan's pumpkin was huge and he was feeling particularly wussy that evening so I offered to carve up the big one and he did my little white pumpkin. The irony in that was that the huge one turned out to be pretty easy to carve and the white one was the toughest/thickest pumpkin ever! Dan stuck with it and we were pretty proud.

Olivia got to help us scoop out our pumpkins and loved playing with the tools, that were not knives of course. She got to color her pumpkin with markers.

The finished product! Mine, Dan's and Olivia's.

All lit up in front of our house. This was when I had one of those surreal moments when you realize that you are grown up and have a family and are carving pumpkins at your house! It is hard to explain but it is a neat experience.

It was really fun to have Olivia get Halloween this year and she loved 'roaring' at everyone, because that is what a monster says, incase you didn't know.

Animal Sounds

2009-10-27T13:32:00.000-07:00

Dan took this video of Olivia about 2 weeks ago. There are several things that I really like about it. First, is how she screams the second 'neigh.' Second, is how cute her 'meow' is. I hope you enjoy it as well.

I also enjoyed this series of pictures that Dan took.

Pictures from Grandma's Camera

2009-10-20T11:46:00.000-07:00

These are just the pictures from my Mom's camera. She got some good ones.

She brought the movie Sword and the Stone. Olivia loves it and so does her Dad!

Grandma also taught Olivia lots about shopping! She loved playing with these bags and saying "shopping." And if you look at this picture closer she is making the weirdest face.

The coveted pig snout prize because her pig won the pig race!

Family on the cow train!!!

So many fun memories!

More pics

2009-10-16T11:52:00.001-07:00

More of Olivia, Tori and James. We sure do wish we lived closer!!

Can I just say that I can't believe that my baby is old enough to hold another baby!!!

Olivia

2009-10-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

Grandma Margie

2009-10-12T12:19:00.000-07:00

My mom just came to visit us for three weeks! We had so much fun and we were very sad to see her go. We ate and ate and ate, and I am now 5 pounds heavier, but it was worth it. Olivia just loved having Grandma around and has asked for her several times since she left. Although for some strange reason she insisted on calling her Grandpa. We went on lots of walks and had a blast. Dan and I even got to go out a few times alone!!! While she was in town we got to drive down to Utah to see my Sister and her husband bless their new little baby boy! It was the first time that I got to see him in person. Unfortunately I didn't get any good pictures of Alisha and her little guy so this is my only evidence.
Olivia loved getting see her cousins, on both sides. She has asked for baby James and Tori multiple times since we came home. She actually insists on calling one of her baby pictures baby James, she gets mad when I say "No that is baby Olivia."

My mom was able to get Olivia's Halloween costume for us and Olivia loves it. For the first week after we got it she insisted on sleeping in the monster head part of the costume. Don't worry I monitored it very carefully so she would not be hurt by it. There is a body to the costume as well.

We also got to go to The Farmstead and had tons of fun. Olivia even had her first pony ride and loved it.

They had cowboy hats the kids could wear. Surprise, surprise Olivia loved hers so much she screamed when we had to take it off and give it back.
They had a cow train that we all got to ride. The adult seats were not as roomy as one would have hoped but it was a lot of fun.
They also had pig races and Olivia's pig one so she got a pig nose that you can see in the cow train picture.

I really think this picture captures Olivia's personality, happy with a little dash of feisty in her.
Last but not least they had a giant rocking chair so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for family pictures!

Bear Lake

2009-10-09T13:22:00.000-07:00

For Labor Day we went with the Walker Family to Bear Lake. It was tons of fun and really great to get to see everyone. Olivia had a blast and was surrounded by so much entertainment she hardly knew what to do with her self.
About a day after we were up there Olivia found a helmet, she became obsessed. She wanted to wear it all of the time. When that helmet was taken she found another one. It was especially funny because Dan and I joked about making her wear a helmet all weekend before we went and it turned out she did!

Boise Zoo

2009-10-06T19:45:00.001-07:00

I will begin by saying that I think this is the longest that I have ever been without posting! Things have been super busy and I have not had much time but I will be making up for it now that my Mom has gone home.

About a month ago we went to the zoo with Olivia. It was by no means her first trip to a zoo but it was her first trip to the Boise Zoo. We had lots of fun but it was very hot that day so we did not stay too long. Olivia loved the animals and spent a good deal of time on Dad's shoulders.

Roxanne!!!

2009-09-11T10:53:00.000-07:00

Finally I am getting around to posting about everything!!

A few weeks ago my BFF, Roxanne, came to visit. She has been living in Scotland for the past 2 years so I have not seen her in quite some time and she had not seen Olivia since she was born. Needless to say we were very excited to have her come visit. Roxanne took a million fabulous pictures so this will be kind of a long post. I don't know how to do those cute collage things so there will just be lots of pictures.

Roxanne showed up and was instantly a favorite of Olivia's, she brought her a stuffed dinosaur.

We did lots of playing at the park, and Roxanne was a very good sport.

She even taught Olivia how to do the slide all by herself. I have tried this but to no avail. I will forever call Roxanne the slide-whisperer because Olivia now goes down slides all of the time and loves it.
She even goes down the big ones!!

Dan went down the twisty slide with her and he may have had a little bit of a hard time fitting.

I just loved this picture that Rox took of Olivia.

She also got some great family shots, which is fabulous because we really don't have any of those.

When we went to show Rox downtown Boise we stumbled upon this street performer's fair. It was very interesting and fun to see what people will do in public.

Olivia loved the bubbles, if you can see them???

We had so much fun and miss her constantly. We were so happy she could come visit!!

Slacker

2009-09-08T20:38:00.000-07:00

Some great pictures and stories are coming, I have just been lazy, sorry!

One quick story to tide you over. The past weekend we went with the Walker Family to Bear Lake. Olivia insisted on wearing a helmet for most of the time. She was really never in need of a helmet but felt safety was a priority. She cracks me up. She has even asked for it a couple of times since we have been home.

Grandpa Eric!!

2009-08-19T12:34:00.000-07:00

My Dad came to visit us this past weekend. We had so much fun. We went swimming and to a Hawks game and out to eat. It was fabulous. Olivia fell in love with Grandpa and wanted to constantly be near him and play with him. She insisted on holding his hand when we were out and when ever he was not in the room she would ask "where Grandpa?" It was so much fun and we loved every minute he was here. Of course being myself I forgot to take pictures until the visit was almost over. I did manage to get one cute one. So, Thanks Grandpa for a great visit and we are already counting down the days until we can see you again!

A little side note, we have been trying to teach Olivia to give a thumbs up and she can't quite focus on her thumb enough so she either points or gives a thumbs up and points her finger. Below is her trying but only managing a point.

Why I don't lose weight!

2009-08-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

These are two desserts that I made recently. The first is a peach pie. It was just a standard recipe I found online, nothing too special. The second is my sister-in-law's carrot cake. I thought that one was a pretty picture so I wanted to post it. I hope that I have helped to make other people's luv handles as big as mine!!

Jungle Book

2009-08-19T11:08:00.000-07:00

We have been reading and watching Jungle Book a lot lately and Olivia has started marching like an elephant. Mowgli taught her how!

She is also very much my daughter, she loves pretty shoes!

Chicken Strips

2009-08-05T18:14:00.001-07:00

We had these Chicken Strips tonight for dinner and they were fabulous!!!
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/05/quickie-homemade-chicken-strips/

Sorry it is blurry.

I didn't remember to take pictures until we were all sitting down ready to eat again so they are pretty bad. The grease on my plate is not from the chicken it is the spray salad dressing I used. I should have waited to put it on until after the picture, learn as you go I suppose. They were so tender and crispy at the same time. I will definitely make them again. I served them to Dan with honey mustard but I am not a huge honey mustard fan so I just used ketchup.
The salad is just romaine lettuce with cucumbers, red onion and blue cheese with a vinaigrette dressing.

All Grown Up

2009-08-05T18:08:00.000-07:00

When did my little baby girl grow up?

I am having a little bit of a hard time with the fact that she is growing up.

I had to get the pigtails!!

Happy and You Know It

2009-07-28T06:37:00.000-07:00

Just a fun video of Olivia.

A few of my favorites are the look on her face in the beginning when she says Hooray and how whenever you sing Wheels on the Bus she just can't control herself. For the millionth time please ignore the very loud voice in the background singing so nicely (Yikes).

Music and Movement

2009-07-27T11:13:00.000-07:00

One of the libraries close by has some really fun classes for kids. We really like going and Olivia is really starting to warm up to them. Our favorite is the Music and Movement class. I remembered to bring the camera today.

She does vary in her participation but I love to see her dancing and doing the motions.

Bean and Rice Enchiladas

2009-07-26T20:15:00.000-07:00

I believe it was Thursday night that I tried out this recipe. We have been trying to be very frugal lately so I have been searching for frugal recipes. Everyone knows it doesn't get cheaper than beans and rice so that is where I started.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Black-Bean-and-Rice-Enchiladas/Detail.aspx

This was a huge hit!!! I did a few things differently. I used canned black beans as the recipe states but if you wanted to be even frugaler (I know that is not a word) you could use dried. I didn't use a green pepper because we just didn't have one and no red pepper flakes either for the same reason. Instead of the canned tomatoes I just cut up a few fresh ones and I added a can of olives because Dan loves them. I also didn't use the picante sauce and salsa I substituted enchilada sauce. I pretty much followed the directions except adding about 1/3 of the can of enchilada sauce to the mixture and then putting the rest on top after everything was in the tortillas. I did the same with the cheese. I put some inside and some on top. Lastly I used half whole wheat tortillas and half flour because that is what we had in the fridge and we both liked the whole wheat better in the end. We really enjoyed the meal and will eat it again many times.

Sorry the pictures are so weird, I was hungry and forgot that I wanted to take pictures of the meal. Not to mention I am still learning a lot about food photography.

I got the focus all wrong on this one sorry. Please also ignore the large amount of sour cream on my plate, I happen to love sour cream and so I get carried away sometimes.

Beware, My first food entry!

2009-07-23T11:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had to make some cookies for several different reasons so I searched on line and found an enticing recipe for the "Best Chocolate Chip Cookies" on Allrecipes.com, one of my favorite recipe sites.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Best-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies/Detail.aspx

I read the reviews and gave it a try.

Watch out is all I have to say!!
These cookies were so fabulous. They were thick and chewy and loaded with chocolate chips. I cannot say enough about them. When they come hot out of the oven it is like eating a piece of heaven. Needless to say I had a stomach ache for most of the night. So I caution you... Do not make if you are on any sort of a diet!!

As you can see they didn't make it through the picture taking process without some casualties.
I think someone else was a fan of the cookies as well.

She even licked her fingers after she was done with the cookie!

Please ignore the weird hair, it was just after nap time, things always get a little messed up during nap time.

Introduction

2009-07-23T11:34:00.000-07:00

To all of my faithful blog readers...

Hi MOM!!!

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I am going to be incorporating a new aspect of blogging into my life. As some of you may know I love to cook, baking especially but cooking in general as well. I also love to try new and delicious recipes. So I decided that I would document some of my food adventures. This is strictly for my enjoyment and I hope that others may get some good recipes out of it as well. Most of the things that I will cook will be recipes that I did not come up with so I will provide links for those. On the rare occasion I do invent something I will provide the recipe for those interested. I do intend to include all of my adventures in the kitchen even the mistakes so get ready for a ride. I won't be posting every meal because some night, last night for example, we just have a can of soup and corn on the cob. Not much to post there so I will just do it when I try something new or interesting.

I will still be posting all about Olivia so don't worry there will still be fun and cute stories this is just an addition to what I already blog about.

Thanks and I hope you are hungry!!

Birthday Part 2

2009-07-12T20:00:00.001-07:00

Finally

We had tons of fun on Olivia's b-day. She got tons of fun presents and loved playing with them throughout the day. At night we went to a near by park and had cake with friends. We also made a pinata for the kids. It was pretty cute watching them hit it. Olivia kind of got it. I have to give Dan the credit for the pinata the design was all him!!! He is so talented.

He even had the idea of painting cotton balls black for the antenna.

Opening presents

Loving her new books

Playing with the tea set

Birthday smiles

I thought that was so cute. All of this was on the table and she brought it in to the kitchen and put all of the spoons in the cups!! She loves organizing things.

Pushing her baby in her new stroller.

Her Ladybug Cake.

Thanks to everyone for spoiling her rotten. She had a fabulous birthday and loved everything.

Birthday Part 1

2009-07-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

This is the video from Olivia's second birthday on Monday. We had tons of fun. She got some great new toys and got to play with some kids at the park. Win! Win! It was really windy so Dan had a really hard time lighting the candles. Derrick had to hold a plate in the way to block the wind. It worked out nicely because when Olivia blew he took the plate away and out the candles went.

PS Yes I was a music major for three years and that is my lovely singing voice!! Ouch.
I will put up the pictures soon. I have just not been in a blogging mood but they are coming!!

4th of July!

2009-07-04T19:43:00.000-07:00

We had quite the fun 4th for not having any plans. This morning we went to Caldwell and watch the parade. For those of you who don't know Caldwell is a small town about 20 min west of Meridian. It was tons of fun. Olivia LOVED waving to all of the people and seeing the horses. I got to dress her up in all of her fun 4th of July attire from Grandma and Grandpa in Virginia.

Her pigtails were killing us all day.

Dan is gonna be mad I put this picture on but I wanted you to see her pigtails! We came home and took a nap then it was off for more fun. We went to a park near by where they had a live band and Funnel Cakes!! Olivia loved to dance to the music. Lately she has been dancing with her hips lots. I don't know where that one came from. She also loved wearing her sunglasses all day. She actually cried pretty hard when we took them off. What can I say, my daughter likes to accessorize. We weren't able to stay for fireworks because it stays light here until about 9:30/10:00ish. Most of the fireworks weren't even going to start until 10:00. Olivia could stay up for this occasion but not that late she would expire. We had lots of fun and are excited to explore more ways to have fun in Idaho. We love to have visitors so if you need a vacation we have a third bedroom!!
I will leave you with this...

I loved these women, I thought they were awesome.

Fishing

2009-07-04T19:39:00.000-07:00

Dan recently had to opportunity to go fishing with his Dad and brother, Jeremy. They had tons of fun and Olivia, Grandma Walker and I got to play too.
We LOVED having company.
Dan even caught a FISH!!

Olivia in particular loves having an audience.

She loved to holding the fishing poles and asking for Grandma, Grandpa and Jeremy in the mornings. She still will call for Jeremy sometimes. Dan has taught her to say "Jeremy Come Fishing!" It is pretty cute.

On a side note, when I see pictures of her I realize how fast my baby is growing up!! It scares me. I want her to stay this age forever.

Camping

2009-06-23T12:48:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we had the opportunity to go camping with some people from our ward. We went to Trap Creek Campground. It was pretty rainy but we still had tons of fun. The mountains were beautiful and we got to see Red Fish Lake. The lake was crystal clear and would be tons of fun on a warm summer day. Olivia was a little weary of everything at first but by the end she had found some puddles and was happy as a clam.

The field right next to our camp site was covered in these beautiful wild flowers.

The view from our camp site.

Red Fish Lake

Reading

2009-06-23T12:47:00.000-07:00

Just one of the cute moments spent with Dad.

She wasn't feeling so hot so she was cuddly.

Face Painting

2009-06-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

CBH homes, the builder of our home, recently had an event where they had face painting for the kids. Olivia got her first face painting experience and it was cute. She held so still but kept looking the wrong way. It was so fun to show it to her in the mirror when we got home. She would point to her cheek and say firefly, that is what she calls any bug with wings. Her face is a little messy because she just had a graham cracker, but oh well.