Remember when you were a kid?!

It's funny how much things have changed since I was a kid. Tonight I was thinking about when I was 7 years old. My parents would sometimes splurge on renting a movie for the family. That's when it was cheaper to rent the VCR than to buy. We'd be SOOO excited. If we didn't have a rental, it was the Sunday night movie speacial on TV that we'd look forward to watching as a family. All of us kids grabbing a blanket and pillow and plopping down on the floor. Mom would make popcorn on the stove (no microwaves back then). Yet here I am watching TV on DVR or movies on DVD on our huge TV. Our library of kid movies for our kids. It so different. I'm actually on my porch right now typing on my laptop. I don't think I could have imagined these kinds of changes would come when I was 7. The best part of my memory is that we were doing stuff as a family constantly. I was brought up in a close family strong in the gospel. This is something I feel blessed to pass on to our kids.

This is Max playing in the rain on the bike trail at the end of my run.

He was so excited to get out of the stroller to play.

Max and Maggie were playing in the yard a couple days ago.

I love watching Maggie try to keep up with her big brother. It's so sweet!!!

It's wonderful having all these sunny warm days. All the outdoor fun we get to enjoy as a family. I can't wait to go camping this summer. It's going to be so awesome!!!

Before and Afters - Wes & Brandon Go Bald

It's nothing new for Wes to shave his head. He's been doing it for about 14 years now. Well, tonight he shaved it for our nephew Brandon because he REALLY wanted to be bald. We were ready to take him in for a cut, but he begged for a shave.

Not sure how the shave turned Wes from smiley to crazy...

but it seemed to happen to Brandon as well. Yikes!!!

The end result was awesome. Brandon looks totally cool and handsome. Good job Uncle Wes!!!

Happy Father's Day Dinner for Wes

My sweet handsome hunk of a husband has been appropriately titled 'The Worlds Greatest Dad' as you can see below. He wore this shirt to the gun show on Saturday where a man tried to correct him, saying that he in fact held that title. Wes offered to fight him for it and the guy respectfully relented. To celebrate I made him this delicious meal. Oh and it was SUPER delicious!!! This is Wes's favorite meal his Mom used to make. Roast with au jus. The roast is the easy part, but the au jus is a little tricky. So I'm going to post it here so I won't forget. I've been forgetting things more and more lately.

3 to 3 1/2 pound Bottom Round Roast

Fresh Ground Pepper

16 ounces Beef Stock

1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce

1/3 cup A1 Steak Sauce

Place roast in slow cooker. Cover roast with ground pepper. Add beef stock and worcestershire sauce. Top the roast with the A1. Cook on low for 10 to 12 hours or high for 4 to 6.

For Au Jus: Remove roast. Place cheese cloth inside a strainer and strain the liquid into sauce pan. Reduce in a sauce pan. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Can't wait to do this again!!!

Sloppy Joe Craving

I remember having sloppy joe's at school sometimes when I was a kid, but I never had them at home. I don't even remember ever trying Manwich, and for some reason that seems weird to me. Well today I saw a recipe and decided tonight was the night. Thank you Pillsbury! It may not go with my diet, but I sure loved it. I hurt my back running for the past couple weeks so I had to take today off. I promised my sweet husband that I wouldn't even leave the house. My sweet sister Shaun helped me out by running to the store for the ingredients my pantry was lacking.

This first picture is Pillsbury's picture of their Sloppy Joe Casserole.

This is the picture I took of my casserole. I made it the same way except I covered my casserole completely. I think I must have used a different shape of dish or something. Didn't matter though. I loved it!!! I highly recomend it.

Sweet Memories

Tonight Max and I were playing with one of his toys that lights up while we were under a large quilt. This is a comfort thing for him. He LOVES forts! We were having so much fun pushing the buttons to make the music play and have it light up. It looked really cool under that quilt. Max sat on my lap as he always does and I couldn't help but to think of my first little while with him. To be specific... the day this picture was taken. Max was 13 days old. Daddy was at work and I was still recovering, so I just held my boy, fed my boy, changed my boy and took naps with my boy. I remember holding him while he slept on my chest in this picture. He still has the same sweet little boy smell he had that day. I can't stop kissing his little red head. What an awesome feeling!!! I love remembering my first days of being a Mom. It was all new then and now I can't remember how it felt not being a Mom. Babies are amazing and mine are the BEST. And yes... I'm totally playing favorites!!!

Taking The Day Off

While I was getting us ready for our run/walk this morning, I noticed Max playing ball in the living room. For the past couple weeks we've been going daily. It's great for us I think, but sometimes it's nice to just stay home. Not because it's raining, or because someone doesn't feel good. We all feel good and we want to spend time together at home today. We wish Daddy was here to play too, but we love that we're blessed with work for him. Can't wait to have him home so he can enjoy this as much as I am!!!