Arts and Crafts!

My girls and I may have had a chilly frumpy day (my hair is piled on top of my head, this is day 3 without make up and i'm wearing a large tshirt over a pair of leggings!) but we sure did have a crafty one. I realized about mid-day that I managed to get birthday gifts for one of the little boys here and totally forgot to buy wrapping paper! :-/ So I sat Sarah down to paint some craft paper with finger paints and I sat down on the kitchen floor with some white paint and Char's little toes! Most of these crafts that we do are either from 'The Book' (see earlier post!) or Pintrest: Emily's Pinterest.

 

The results!

Our toesy ghosts!!!

Sarah's beautiful wrapping paper!

And my baby's big smile!! (Don't judge, she's still in pj's!!)

Only a Cookie....

Can be named after a facial expression and a child's drawing!

Oh Snickerdoodles... how fast you go to my thighs, but how yummy you taste...

Knowing how fast they tend to go in this family I decided to try and find a better way to make them. I think I may have just found the best way to make them! First off, the recipe comes from Taste of Home just search 'Snickerdoodles' or click there!! I altered the recipe so it is lower in fat and refined sugar. Instead of a half cup of butter I used 1/4c butter and 1/4 applesauce. I am running short on the super sugary refined white sugar so I decided to go with brown, it worked for all those wonderful ladies 100 years ago right?

The result... a sweet, super soft, darker cookie! They won't be that white shortbread style but after letting them cool and putting them in the Cookie Jar overnight I guarantee you that if you like soft chewy cookies, they are Top Ten!!

Jingle Bells... Wait.... What??!!

Yes Ladies and Gentlemen.. It's snowing... And no, i'm not happy about it!! I love the romance and softness around the edges that snow can give a landscape, but we haven't chopped firewood yet! Panicing a little bit here!

Here I was going to blog about how wonderful of a weekend it was and my hilariously awful day yesterday but it's almost sad posting all the beautiful sunny pictures of this weekend while it's so miserable outside! Maybe at the end...

So let's get into Tuesday. I have managed to have monday at least twice a week for the last three weeks, hoping for a difference this week was my last thread of hope but alas, it wasn't any different. Char's birthday party is next weekend and it was a day of 'Ok, cleaning the baseboards, whoa, the heaters are clogged in dust, wait a minute, did I get the windowsills, geez, the door frames need to get done, hold the phone... I never finished the baseboards!'. The girls were my Kryptonite yesterday... They decided that since I had mopped the floor, they should spill milk, since I just did the baseboards, that they were the best place to draw with chalk, and you can spill cheerios all over where mommy isn't watching where she's stepping? Grind them into carpet? Yes yes yes yes!!! AAAAAHHHHHH!!! After all the cleaning I decided to hop in the shower and rinse off before hubby came home (I hate smelling like bleach) so I set up Sarah with Tangled and Cheerios, Char with a sippy cup and Cheerios and ran to the bathroom. I was three minutes into my 5 minute shower and I hear a 'bloop' I peak out and Sarah said she had to go potty and so I said ok, shut the toilet when you're done (anyone see where this is going yet?). I was doing the final rinse off and I here a 'plop' I look out and find Char elbow deep in the flushing toilet and see her binky going down with it. Sarah looked at me and said 'Binky go bye bye?' And then Char as if on cue looks down the toilet and very sadly waves 'bye bye'. I got dried off and dressed, sat down and balled. There are just days that require emotional breakdown. Yesterday was that day!!!

Last Sunday was the sunday of my dreams! I got to read, sleep, ride, and run!

And the leaves turn...

Wednesday was the very last branding of the year. It was a chilly morning, with a light fog at the base of the mountains, slightly overcast, definately a day to pack coats for the girls. We got out to a later start than I would have liked, but by the time we made it up to Middle Creek, branding was in full swing. My hubby was on Fred, Scott on Roany, Lloyd on Dalcie, and Matt on his horse (he's the new guy, I don't know his horse's names yet!). It's moments where being so isolated and so far away from town is so so so worth it. As the crowd of calves began to thin, and lunch was being set out, it was official, summer had come to a close. The days have gotten a little cooler, a little calmer, a little shorter, and fall has rolled in with a whisper.  At around one it was time to head home, and with two tuckered out little girls we made the half hour trip back to the house.

 Sarah waving to her Daddy!

 The bug!

Miss Sarah and her beautiful blue eyes!

Bryce and Lloyd

 

And that is how peacefully the seasons change.... 

Fall Fun!!

What can I say, the man still has it! Today was a glorious day off and we decided to spend it going to breakfast in Cascade and playing with the girls in the park. Both were fabulous ideas!! Even though the basketball was a little flat, Sarah was disappearing picking flowers, and Char was trying to eat every rock in Montana, it was so nice just to relax and have some family time.

Told you she had a thing for flowers!! Wish away my love!!!

 Char playing keep away... Bryce says he sees a future player! :)

These are our other daughters, aged respecively at 1 and 2 they have made life a little more joyful. Within the first month of owning her, Molly broke her leg, then right before Sadie came, she broke it again!! Then in the last couple months we have had two near misses with both of them being pregnant. Thank God neither one of them were! Life wouldn't be the same without these girls...

 

 The above shot is so that everyone knows that Bryce can still dunk it.. Me on the other hand... Haha... yeah, I would be the reason the saying 'White girls can't jump' exists!!

In all it was a wonderful day and now we are off to ride our new pony, Pepper. I wonder if Bryce is ever going to get anything male around this place... His only company is Fred and our rooster, but maybe he just loves all the feminine attention... This man gets doted on alot!! :)

Swai filets for dinner!!

 

Options...

My Bug's tastes are evolving every day. Since the day she was born, Charlotte enjoys having options. Where Sarah needs to focus on one thing at a time, Char needs to have options. From binkies to toys, the more diverse and colorful the better. Sarah loves to wing it, moving erraticly and never either following through or planning ahead. Char loves to move things methodically, she moves carefully, and likes routine. At night we cuddle, then I lay her down in her crib followed by her 'options'. Her blanky has to be tucked up over her ear (she won't sleep if you don't), and she gets given 5 binkies. It is a gamble which colors she will choose but she usually goes one of two ways. She will take the pink one, the purple one, and the green one, (one for each and and one for her to suck on) or she will go for all green. Rarely does she use two green and a pink or purple. How she eats is another options game. Going with the different color behavior I try to make our meals diverse, green peas, white chicken, brown bread. She picks from each category and eats accordingly. I've never met a neater baby. As I speak she has her bottle in one hand and her sippy cup in the other, switching drinks on the go!

Shortly after this picture was taken, she found the purple binky and dropped the second green one!

The Book

Ever have a ton of magazines around the house and you don't want to get rid of them because you have an article you want to keep? I found a solution to that and it's becoming my household Bible!

 

 

The first section, My Style section! All of these are torn out of those 'one article' magazines, placed into page protectors and put into a 3 inch binder!

 



 My home section, my organizing wizard, my future kitchen, and decorating! This one might be in the top 3 of this book. I can't wait to own my own home and actually put these ideas to good use!

 

The money saver section... Self explanatory and mandatory for a family!

 

My recipe section, most definately the biggest section... A variety of recipes from Travel magazines, Cooking Light, and Taste of Home! Yum!

 

 

Aaahhhh Travel. This is my favorite section, just a huge reminder of all the things I want to do in my life!

 



Bryce's section, filled with cows, horses, dirt and silver!

Yes, that does say 'How to Raise a Foodie'! The girl's section, from children's saddle, to how to cook with your kids... Another top pick in The Book!

 

Just had to share what my limited creativity created!!!