Chip n' Dale
Just kidding - check out this little stud! He received a beautiful blessing. We love this sweet, pudgy little man!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Brenan's Blessing Outfit!!
Just kidding - check out this little stud! He received a beautiful blessing. We love this sweet, pudgy little man!
DRUMROLL PLEASE!!!!!!
Nathan matched!! We are going to San Antonio, TX and are so excited for our next adventure!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
ALRIGHT ALREADY!!!
I know all of you have been dying to have the recipe for my super yummy bean cookies. =) Actually they are oatmeal chocolate chip - secret ingredient being BEANS!!! So, without further ado:
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Bake @ 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes
Ingredients:
* 1 1/2 C. Whole Wheat Flour ( regular flour will probably do the trick too...)
* 1/2 tsp. Salt
* 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
* 3 Cups Oats
* 1/2 C. Pureed White Beans (you can soak them yourself or use canned beans and just stick them in the blender)
* 1 1/4 C. Brown Sugar
* 3 Large Eggs
* 1 tsp. Vanilla
* 1 1/2 - 2 C. Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips (I like to do a chocolate chip/butterscotch mix!)
* Nuts - optional
Directions:
Mix first 4 ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Beat beans and sugar together. Add eggs (beating in between each addition) and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and chips. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or so. Bake! Don't forget to spray your pan with cooking spray because these cookies don't have butter so they'll stick!
I pretty much made this recipe up so it's not perfect but it satisfies my cravings for cookies while I eat WHOLE GRAINS and BEANS! HELLO - pretty sweet deal. =) AND you can't taste the beans at all - I promise! Feel free to mess around with the recipe - for instance - it might need baking soda - I don't know. They seem fine without it.
By the way. Please feel sorry for me - today I woke up with a stiff neck and then about an hour ago my back started to go out!! What the HECK?!! There is nothing worse than wanting to be productive and not being able to! Okay - whining over!
Have a great Saturday!
Bake @ 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes
Ingredients:
* 1 1/2 C. Whole Wheat Flour ( regular flour will probably do the trick too...)
* 1/2 tsp. Salt
* 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
* 3 Cups Oats
* 1/2 C. Pureed White Beans (you can soak them yourself or use canned beans and just stick them in the blender)
* 1 1/4 C. Brown Sugar
* 3 Large Eggs
* 1 tsp. Vanilla
* 1 1/2 - 2 C. Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips (I like to do a chocolate chip/butterscotch mix!)
* Nuts - optional
Directions:
Mix first 4 ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Beat beans and sugar together. Add eggs (beating in between each addition) and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and chips. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or so. Bake! Don't forget to spray your pan with cooking spray because these cookies don't have butter so they'll stick!
I pretty much made this recipe up so it's not perfect but it satisfies my cravings for cookies while I eat WHOLE GRAINS and BEANS! HELLO - pretty sweet deal. =) AND you can't taste the beans at all - I promise! Feel free to mess around with the recipe - for instance - it might need baking soda - I don't know. They seem fine without it.
By the way. Please feel sorry for me - today I woke up with a stiff neck and then about an hour ago my back started to go out!! What the HECK?!! There is nothing worse than wanting to be productive and not being able to! Okay - whining over!
Have a great Saturday!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Time For Some Catching Up!
It's Saturday night and here I sit! Nathan is studying. The kids are in bed. I could be working on one of the many projects flittering around in my head but instead I think I'll keep on sitting. It's been awhile since my last post anyway!
Let's start with Brenan! He had his two month check up last Monday and weighed in at a whopping 16 lbs 4 oz!! HOLY COW!!! He's a chubby little thing! He's such a nice baby. At 8 weeks we put him in his own room and started putting him to bed at 7:00 with the girls. It's been dreamy! He sleeps until about 4AM and then will eat and go right back to sleep until about 8:00. It seems like he finally figured out how to cry these past two weeks and he lets it be known when he's mad. He usually gets pretty upset whenever we change his clothes or takes a bath. =)
The girls love each other so much. It's so cute to listen to them play because they will say "I love you" to each other just out of the blue. They stay busy making messes (I mean playing!) all day and saying super cute things. I can never bring myself to correct them when they say a word wrong. It's just too cute and I don't want them to stop!! Here are some examples:
Excited = ACTCITED (Anika)
Decided = BECIDED (Keslie)
Supposed to = BESPOSED TO (Anika)
Any past moment that they are talking about = LAST NIGHT OR LAST YEAR (Both)
Keslie can't figure out her Who's, whats, don'ts and doesnt's. For example - when asking what the green things are on her plate she says "Who are those green things?!" Yes - always with an exclamation point and always very loud and cheesy. That's our Keslie! She always pulls her little rocking chair up next to mine when I feed Brenan so that she can feed her baby. She tells me that she has "Strawberry water in one peckaroo and chocolate milk in the other and hot chocolate in her belly button". =) Anika sweetness is unsurpassed. She loves to bring me breakfast in bed a lot lately and tell me all the things she is going to give me for Christmas. =) Such nice little girls!
AND pumping. =)
We find out next Monday what is in store for us for the next two years! I can't wait!!
Here is my latest injury. It actually happened last Monday night so the bruise has actually faded! I was watching 24 and during the commercial I went running to change the laundry and totally slipped and fell in the kitchen. That's the second time in a month! What is the deal?!?!
Let's start with Brenan! He had his two month check up last Monday and weighed in at a whopping 16 lbs 4 oz!! HOLY COW!!! He's a chubby little thing! He's such a nice baby. At 8 weeks we put him in his own room and started putting him to bed at 7:00 with the girls. It's been dreamy! He sleeps until about 4AM and then will eat and go right back to sleep until about 8:00. It seems like he finally figured out how to cry these past two weeks and he lets it be known when he's mad. He usually gets pretty upset whenever we change his clothes or takes a bath. =)
The girls love each other so much. It's so cute to listen to them play because they will say "I love you" to each other just out of the blue. They stay busy making messes (I mean playing!) all day and saying super cute things. I can never bring myself to correct them when they say a word wrong. It's just too cute and I don't want them to stop!! Here are some examples:
Excited = ACTCITED (Anika)
Decided = BECIDED (Keslie)
Supposed to = BESPOSED TO (Anika)
Any past moment that they are talking about = LAST NIGHT OR LAST YEAR (Both)
Keslie can't figure out her Who's, whats, don'ts and doesnt's. For example - when asking what the green things are on her plate she says "Who are those green things?!" Yes - always with an exclamation point and always very loud and cheesy. That's our Keslie! She always pulls her little rocking chair up next to mine when I feed Brenan so that she can feed her baby. She tells me that she has "Strawberry water in one peckaroo and chocolate milk in the other and hot chocolate in her belly button". =) Anika sweetness is unsurpassed. She loves to bring me breakfast in bed a lot lately and tell me all the things she is going to give me for Christmas. =) Such nice little girls!
AND pumping. =)
We find out next Monday what is in store for us for the next two years! I can't wait!!
Here is my latest injury. It actually happened last Monday night so the bruise has actually faded! I was watching 24 and during the commercial I went running to change the laundry and totally slipped and fell in the kitchen. That's the second time in a month! What is the deal?!?!
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Christmas and New Years!!
Finally! I have GOBS of pictures (none very good - we all know I lack talent in the photography department!) and tons to get caught up on so I'm sorry if this post is a little long for you! I am so sad that the holidays are over but I have to admit it's going to be nice to have things slow down a little! This was our first year not traveling to see family for Christmas. I was prepared for a slow, kind of boring day and I was VERY pleasantly surprised! I absolutely LOVED just having it be us for Christmas morning. It was so fun and stress-free and relaxing!
For Christmas Eve we had some friends over and it was a blast! We ate, we played Rock Band (Nathan is dying to own it now!), and pulled together a last minute nativity. We had such a great time!
Nathan and Rick
Our nativity was VERY original! We used what we could find in the girl's dress up bin so we ended up with a Pocahontas Mary (Keslie), a handsome little Joseph (Peter), a dragon donkey (Anika), a dog sheep (Abby) and an awfully cute shepherd (Wyatt). OH and Brenan acted out the part of "the little Lord Jesus" (Anika's words) perfectly! 
I think they look professional - what do you think?
After everyone left we opened up our Christmas pj's!
Our chubby little man before he put on his pj's
And after! I know - my hair looks fabulous!
They put out cookies for Santa!
And then spilled the cookies! At least it wasn't the egg nog!
For Christmas Eve we had some friends over and it was a blast! We ate, we played Rock Band (Nathan is dying to own it now!), and pulled together a last minute nativity. We had such a great time!
Janae, Amy, and David
Nathan and Rick
Our nativity was VERY original! We used what we could find in the girl's dress up bin so we ended up with a Pocahontas Mary (Keslie), a handsome little Joseph (Peter), a dragon donkey (Anika), a dog sheep (Abby) and an awfully cute shepherd (Wyatt). OH and Brenan acted out the part of "the little Lord Jesus" (Anika's words) perfectly! 
I think they look professional - what do you think?
After everyone left we opened up our Christmas pj's!
Our chubby little man before he put on his pj's
And after! I know - my hair looks fabulous!
They put out cookies for Santa!
And then spilled the cookies! At least it wasn't the egg nog!
CHRISTMAS DAY!!
I was awake and ready to start by 4 AM - like always! Much to my dismay the girls just kept SLEEPING and SLEEPING! Finally, at 7:45 AM, they woke up! They were absolutely thrilled to see that Santa had eaten his cookies and used the napkin they left out for him! I don't think they noticed the big doll house he left for them for a good 10 minutes! They got some pretty fun stuff! Here is smattering:
Aunt Kelyn sent them about 60 Littlest Pet Shop animals. HOLY COW! Between the ones Kelyn sent and the ones they already had they are at 111!! And they play with every one of them!
Keslie's present for her Daddy was "a house to put a picture on".
And this is Nathan's present from Anika. She wanted to give him a bug squisher so this is what we came up with!
Here is Keslie opening up her new Cinderella dress from Nana West. Nana must have noticed how "loved" her Cinderella dress from last Christmas is!! You can kind of see the doll house in the background. I found this at Target last September on clearance for $24.99 - normally $125!!! Can you BELIEVE that?!! I was pretty excited!
Anika got her Easy Bake Oven. She has been asking for this thing for MONTHS. She was SO happy!
Brenan with a super cool toy from his cousin Taylor! He loves it!
They got K'nex from Grandma and Grandpa Kivett!
And this cool Leap pad computer from Nana and Papa West!
Nathan with his new shoes! This was my other big score. Normally $75 and I got them for $20! SWEET DEAL!!
In their new Christmas outfits and ready to go see the Tale of Despereaux! It was super cute by the way. =)
NEW YEARS EVE!!!
We had such a fun New Years!! The Vellingas flew in on New Years Eve morning to celebrate with us!! We invited them thinking it wouldn't really happen but it did!! It never hurts to ask!! Janae, Rick, and Wyatt also came over for part of the night. We were sad when they had to leave! We played some American Idol Karoeke on the Wii (my present from Nathan!) to start the night! I think we all have a musical future. It was awesome!
Nathan, Rick, Richard, Wyatt, Richard Scott and David
They've got their rock moves!
Richard tried to swallow a whole orange! We all about died laughing. Apparently, he has a big throat! =) It had been 10 years so it was attempted but in the end the orange didn't go down the throat. Here is some video footage for the Vellingas. It's pretty much just 3 minutes of us laughing! It's probably something that only we will think is funny. =) And for the record - he did not throw up. The video ends with me asking if he threw up. And the answer is no. =) Richard, Sumer - you guys are awesome.
Around 11:45 I was about ready to throw in the towel. My eyes were drooping!! But at 11:55 we turned on the TV to countdown to the New Year with NYC! We all woke up and partied (sat and talked) for another 2 hours!
The New Years kisses!
It's IBC ROOT BEER FOLKS!! And I, for one, like it much better than sparkling cider! We made a promise that every year - no matter where we are - we'd whip out the IBC root beer and think of the Vellingas and they'd think of us! It's tradition now. 
The boys dancing to 'THAT'S NOT MY NAME' by the TING TINGS. It was the most retarded song I've ever heard but it made us laugh!
Anyway - HAPPY NEW YEARS!!
I was awake and ready to start by 4 AM - like always! Much to my dismay the girls just kept SLEEPING and SLEEPING! Finally, at 7:45 AM, they woke up! They were absolutely thrilled to see that Santa had eaten his cookies and used the napkin they left out for him! I don't think they noticed the big doll house he left for them for a good 10 minutes! They got some pretty fun stuff! Here is smattering:
Aunt Kelyn sent them about 60 Littlest Pet Shop animals. HOLY COW! Between the ones Kelyn sent and the ones they already had they are at 111!! And they play with every one of them!
Keslie's present for her Daddy was "a house to put a picture on".
And this is Nathan's present from Anika. She wanted to give him a bug squisher so this is what we came up with!
Here is Keslie opening up her new Cinderella dress from Nana West. Nana must have noticed how "loved" her Cinderella dress from last Christmas is!! You can kind of see the doll house in the background. I found this at Target last September on clearance for $24.99 - normally $125!!! Can you BELIEVE that?!! I was pretty excited!
Anika got her Easy Bake Oven. She has been asking for this thing for MONTHS. She was SO happy!
Brenan with a super cool toy from his cousin Taylor! He loves it!
They got K'nex from Grandma and Grandpa Kivett!
And this cool Leap pad computer from Nana and Papa West!
Nathan with his new shoes! This was my other big score. Normally $75 and I got them for $20! SWEET DEAL!!
In their new Christmas outfits and ready to go see the Tale of Despereaux! It was super cute by the way. =)
NEW YEARS EVE!!!
We had such a fun New Years!! The Vellingas flew in on New Years Eve morning to celebrate with us!! We invited them thinking it wouldn't really happen but it did!! It never hurts to ask!! Janae, Rick, and Wyatt also came over for part of the night. We were sad when they had to leave! We played some American Idol Karoeke on the Wii (my present from Nathan!) to start the night! I think we all have a musical future. It was awesome!
Here are the rock stars:
They've got their rock moves!
The girls! Sumer, Brittanie, Janae and Anika 
And Miss Keslie:
And here is another one with Sumer and me - I had to put a smiling one of her on!!
And the lovely Janae again!
After Janae and Rick left we put the kids to bed and things just got wild. =) Haha!
We played the napkin nose game. Mandi - you know what I'm talking about! Here is Nathan with his napkin - still unused.
And Miss Keslie:
And here is another one with Sumer and me - I had to put a smiling one of her on!!
And the lovely Janae again!
After Janae and Rick left we put the kids to bed and things just got wild. =) Haha!We played the napkin nose game. Mandi - you know what I'm talking about! Here is Nathan with his napkin - still unused.
Richard tried to swallow a whole orange! We all about died laughing. Apparently, he has a big throat! =) It had been 10 years so it was attempted but in the end the orange didn't go down the throat. Here is some video footage for the Vellingas. It's pretty much just 3 minutes of us laughing! It's probably something that only we will think is funny. =) And for the record - he did not throw up. The video ends with me asking if he threw up. And the answer is no. =) Richard, Sumer - you guys are awesome.
Around 11:45 I was about ready to throw in the towel. My eyes were drooping!! But at 11:55 we turned on the TV to countdown to the New Year with NYC! We all woke up and partied (sat and talked) for another 2 hours!
The New Years kisses!
It's IBC ROOT BEER FOLKS!! And I, for one, like it much better than sparkling cider! We made a promise that every year - no matter where we are - we'd whip out the IBC root beer and think of the Vellingas and they'd think of us! It's tradition now. 
The boys dancing to 'THAT'S NOT MY NAME' by the TING TINGS. It was the most retarded song I've ever heard but it made us laugh!
Anyway - HAPPY NEW YEARS!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)