OwIe!!

This morning when going in to wake West I was alarmed to find my child had been beaten by ghosts! Hah, The poor thing had a scratch from the left of his nose to his lip and a huge swollen lip! I'm still trying to figure out how this may have happened. He tends to do some weird things at night.. but if he's awake he'll usually come in and let us know about it. I feel so bad for him. He can be a stinker and all I have to do is look at him and my heart aches, although the swelling has gone down alot and doesnt look near as bad as this morning. He's been a clumsy one lately though, just the other day he experienced his first 'real' owies when falling outside on his knees. He's so tough though, only complains for a brief moment. Poor kid, takes after his Mom... or is it Dad?

STaKeR HaLLoWeeN PaRTy

Last night we went to the Staker Halloween party, which is a annual event. I dont think I've gone the last few years.. for whatever reason. I think its because I dread figuring out what the heck Im going to be. Most of the time these guys take it Real serious, so they do some great costumes that are hard to compete against! Well, I think Cody and I decided what we would be maybe an hour before we left! I went to pick up Westons costume and grabbed Code some "TaTs" .. because it was cheap! :) Needless to say, our costumes were probably the least thought through. Lys wasn't able to go with til the last minute so we threw something together for her. Gage was a Bear, so I was his hunter. Cody was a hard core Biker dude.. Lys..... was his hard core girlfriend?? She had to leave the party early so we didnt get her in the family photo. And west.. none other than a pirate... AAAHHHHHRRRRR!Here we have my parents, and Gage... I dont know how I ended up with as good of teeth as I have, and 20/20 vision looking at my dad! Haha He was hilarious. ya couldnt look at him without laughing!

And Mike (my brother) and Mauri... or should I say Napoleon and Deb. They made it all worth while going and seeing them all night pull off so well their costumes. Michela, Hunter, Chase and Aria looked so cute in their costumes as well, Mauri is so talented and made them all!I dont know how Sara got Matt (my other brother) into that tin man outfit, but she did.. way to go! They always go all out on their cute matching family costumes! There's no place like home, theres no place like home.Here we have Jeff, and Jessica and their cute little munchkin Kara.. They are pretty much my favorite Staker (Bench Family) cousins ;). I took a normal picture of them but had to post this one.. they were trying to do chinese eyes and thats the best Jeff had! HaHa! Love you guys!

BRoTheRLy LoVe..

Earlier this week I took some pictures of West loving Gage. He always wants to give him loves and kisses, most of the time he clobbers him, and I do have to keep a close eye when he's around him.. but I thought this was so sweet.

MaYHeM aT tHe JoHaNsOn Est.!

Last night Alyssa had 6 of her friends sleep over, and shall we say... GiRLs GoNe WiLd?!? I think Cody may still be recovering from his migraine given :). The night consisted of scavenger hunts, food, making bracelets, Truth or Dare, facials.. and lots and lots of loud chatter, laughter and screaming. But they all had so much fun! I only thought about my camera when everyones faces looked so... so... scary! heh.. thought Id share some of the fun photos taken.

Weston had to get in on all the fun, he was following those girls around all night. Lets just say he WaS 'ThE LaDiEs MaN'!

All of the girls were SO much fun to have over... I adore all of them!! Thanks for the party!

ScaRy ScaReCRowS

Over the weekend we had the chance to go check out the scarecrow festival at Thanksgiving point. To those of you who I invited that didn't make it.. don't feel so bad. We ended up getting poured on right as Lys and I were FINALLY at the front of the line to do the bungee trampoline. Lys was so sad. She was absolutely adorable though, she said "Mom, its okay! I want to still go even if it is raining." How could I say no. So I told Cody to get the boys in the car as I went back to watch lys, while we were both getting absolutely drenched. She took about three jumps then told the guy she was done. :( Poor thing. Her constant uplifting, cheerful, positive attitude towards everything amazes me. Needless to say, our first hot chocolate run of the season was absolutely amazing! Weston was so scared of the pirates, it was cute. He wouldnt sit with Lys and take the picture, I had to get int here with him.Whenever you say pirates he says "AAaHHhRRRR!!". So cute! Lys is such a good climber, she got up that wall so fast! :) Good job Alyssa! Weston was so proud of his "Pider" on his face. He sat so still while the girl painted it on.... I dont know if he could be any more 'BoY'.

My PuNkInS

This Morning we went and picked out some pumpkins.. I was so mad when I figured out I had left my camera home. Everyone knows you have to get those yearly pumpkin patch pictures (say that five times)! So, We just came home and took some outside the house. Weston was more interested in his trucks, and Gage was more interested in milk. Im so glad Alyssa is so willing to sit still for me though! Thanks Lys.. you are beautiful! :)

KaT & tHe HaT

Last night my friend Kat came over because she was so excited to give Gage his new hat she made him. She's been so crafty, and Im so glad she wants to use her talents on me and my family!! It was so cute on him so we took a couple pictures (okay, like 20!) I thought I'd share. Thanks again Kat!!

I LoVe FoOd!

So Last week we went over to Kat's for dinner and she made us Enchiladas.. they were SOOOO good!! I thought to myself "I should put this recipe up on my blog" to share with anyone who is like myself, looking for semi simple recipes for dinner. So I had asked Kat and she was okay with that. I just received a recipe email from Rikki and it just reminded me that I was going to do this! Also called and got my mom's chicken square recipe and FiNaLLy made that this week (thanks mom!). Im sure my sisters all have that one.. its a goodie!! Ill add that one as well. Enchiladas (serves 8-10) 1 pack chicken thighs--Boil 40-60 minutes, shred with fork. Coat chicken with enchilada sauce, add a spoon full of salsa. 1/2 can refried beans 1/2 can cream of mushroom soup 1/2 can diced green chilis handful of cheese Line a cake pan with enchilada sauce Coat a plate with enhchilada sauce, dip tortillas in sauce covering both sides,add mixture in with more cheese.. Roll.. squish enchiladas together. Cover with more sauce and more cheese. Cover with foil (sprayed with pam so the cheese doesnt stick) Cook at 400 30-40 minutes. ENJOY! Chicken Squares: (serves 8-10 depending on the guys to kids ratio) 4-5 chicken breast-- boil 40 minutes Cut into small squares Cut and sautee Onion add: a box of cream cheese Salt and Pepper Mix 2 packs of crescent rolls. They are called squares because you double the rolls up, putting the mixture in the middle and folding them into squares, you can also just put the mixture in the middle before rolling. Either way is great! Mom also said if youd like to get a little more fancy you can roll them into a breaded parmesan cheese mixture for more flavor and texture. Bake 350 for 20-25 minutes Make a can of cream of chicken soup to drizzle on top.. Mom said she added a little sour cream to hers. I did that to mine as well. If you want to spare some calories Id say you could leave it out and it would be great! Sounds so simple but its so good! Please share any more recipes you might have with me! I need to get better at making dinner more! But want something good and simple!

MoRe AfTeRs.. To Be cOnTiNuEd

Here are a few more after pictures, I just realized I am in Alyssa's sign in name so I couldnt bring up all my before pictures, and Im too lazy to reload. :) So again, Ill just do some more later! Heres a couple pictures of the family room, the bare wall you see in the second picture is where Cody wants to do a built in Waterfall, I say "Great! That would be awesome!" :) The other wall, Im still trying to figure out what to do with.. Meg, Im waiting for you on that one. Also waiting for Cody (notice I say Cody.. hah I need my own tools I guess!) to frame the eiffel tower.. And here we see where Im hanging out right now (The Office)! I didnt realize this picture was so dark, Sorry! Someday Id like to get a new couch and put our other one in here.. then we can take our outdoor furniture back outside! Hah! Now we'll go up the stairs Here is the bedroom.. Excuse the mess where my chaise lounger should be! So I come up to see how its going in the shower and this is what I get... No wonder its taking as long as it is! HaHaHa.. And.. a couple more random pictures. One of Westons room, the other jus the hanging on the way to the kitchen...

ReMoDeLiNg iS SuCh FuN.. WheN YouR DoNe!!

For those of you who dont know (and those who just want to see), We bought our home the end of June.. and were able to start working on it as of August 1. Its been such a process, and is still in process (Cody is working on the shower, which is looking awesome, as I type)! Especially when you try doing it all in one month. We had Gage's arrival making us be on a time schedule to be in. Needless to say we still need to do alot of little work. I must say, I have the most talented husband alive! We have done everything ourselves (with the help of friends and family of course) the only thing we hired out was our mud guys. I just took a few photos of the kitchen because I wanted to see the difference from our before's to now.. So I just thought I'd share! Its coming along.

We still need to get some things done in the kitchen. We will be replacing the countertops with Granite tops, New Sink and of course Cody will do a sweet tile backsplash. But unfortunately We only have so much more time before snow arrives and we need to get other things done first, so that will have to be a spring project. Also, I dont know how but the pantry door frame and door got left out of the painting.. Meg, I WiLL get some more up this weekend.. if not by monday! :) Promise!

RoLLin with the FLoW

Just taking a break from work going for a bike ride, Weston LoVeS to ride his bike, outside aNd inside!