Boys' Skylander Birthday Party.

So as most of you know Cameron and Easton's birthdays are in December. Cameron's is the 17th and Easton's the 24th. So we try and have their birthday party the first weekend of December and we do a combo party {not sure how much longer that will last}.

Last year {yes this is one of those catching you all up post. A little late but at least its getting done...right?}They both decided on a Skylander Party. If your not familiar with Skylanders it's a video game. Santa brought the kids a Wii for Christmas the previous year and it was the special Skylander edition. It comes with this power of portal thingy that the little characters sit on and then you are that character in the game and you can switch them out. There are like a bazillion characters {we have about a million of them}. So prior to this party they have been all about Skylanders. They go in phases and as of lately they haven't played it much at all. 

I was thinking of buying a cake to look like the power of portal but got a couple quotes and was like "Oh HELL No!" LOL. I looked at some pictures on the Internet I told myself I could totally make it. So that's what I did. I wasn't wanting a fancy cake or anything. A round cake with 2 colors of fondant on it and the prices were crazy. It was super easy to make. All  I did was roll out white fondant and covered the cake. I used the Duff pre-made stuff from Michael's. I got little square cookie cutters, there were 3 different sizes and I just made about 2 inch panels or so and gently pressed the cutter into the fondant to make it look like stones. Then I just gently laid it on the cake. It was super duper easy. Then I bought them some NEW Skylanders and used those as the toppers. 

The party was held at LazerCraze. By the name you can tell its a Lazer tag place but they also have this huge party area and inflatables for the kids to bounce on. It's a great place to have a party for the little kids. They also have arcade games. It was a great party and Cameron was able to invite all his new Kinder friends from school, which he was super happy about. It was a little weird not decorating and cooking and party prepping but it was SO nice not to have a mess to clean up. 

I saw these invitations on Pinterest and had to have them for the boys. So when you buy a Skylander it comes with a trading card and they look exactly like this. The Etsy shop owner can no longer sell these because it goes against the copyright policy or something like that. Too bad because these are so cool!

 Bentley wanted nothing to do with the slide or bounce houses. He hated them. Nowadays he loved them! Uncle darrin and Cousin Landon enjoyed themselves:)

 We took presents home to open. The kids were bummed but it's just easier to take them home and open. Especially when there's two kids it can get a little crazy. 

This was the best picture out of like 10 different ones. Oh well at least Ryan and I are looking at the camera.

 This was on Cameron's actual birthday day. We took him out to dinner and ice cream. The little crown he got from school and just had to wear out to dinner. And can you believe we still have that crown. It's almost ripped in half because Bentley has gotten a hold of it a couple times but it's still hanging on. 

And poor Easton will never have a cool birthday dinner and ice cream. Everything closes early on Christmas Eve. So we had take out pizza and Baskin Robbins. Then we went and checked out some Christmas lights. We might just have to make that a traditon on his birthday now since everything shuts down so early. It was a wonderful night and we will always remember it. The kids faces lit up when they saw all the lights. Absolutely loved it!

Please forgive me if there are numerous typos. I did kinda proof read. Dinner is cooking, Ryan and  Cameron will be home soon from baseball practice. Ryan always lets me know when there are lots of typos...thanks dear:)

Make it Monday.

Today's Make it Monday is a cute and simple card. I love the black and white with a pop of color. And for this card I chose one of my favorite colors, Strawberry Slush. This card layout you can do with any patterned paper and cardstock.

                   

here are the items used to make this card:

Strawberry Slush 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

$6.95

Back To Black Designer Series Paper

$10.95

Strawberry Slush Thick Baker's Twine

$3.50

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

$8.50

A Dozen Thoughts Clear Stamp Set

$18.95

Punch Corner Project Life

$7.95

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

Summer Swim Lessons.

So this summer we signed the kids up for swim lessons again. Last summer they did 4 weeks of swim lessons. After 4 weeks of swim lessons this summer I asked the kids if they wanted to keep going and they said YES! So they had a total of 6 weeks of swim lessons 4 days a week for 30 minutes. 

Last year Cameron hated it. He cried almost everyday and looked miserable in the water about 90% of the time. And of course Easton was always smiling laughing and  having a great time. So this year I was a little worried it would be a repeat of last year. Cameron was a little hesitant the first few days but after 2 weeks he improved like 100%.  It was awesome seeing how much he improved and after he got over the fear factor he did great. He started trying and doing stuff he hadn't before. 
Not much I can say about Easton. He was the same old silly kid out there with his mouth wide open laughing and smiling the entire time. He had a hard time listening to the instructors. He always wanted to just play with the little dive toys:)
We were just over at my friends house yesterday swimming and the kids haven't forgotten anything they learned. They were swimming like little fish and loved it. It's such a great feeling seeing your kids succeed and improve at something. It makes you all teary eyed and warm inside.

On the last day of the each 2 week session they get a little 
report cards telling them what they needs to work on. 

Oh and as you can tell Bentley was not part of the swim lessons. Maybe next year when he doesn't need a parent in there with him. I was not going to be getting in the pool every day each morning for 6 weeks with him. Sorry B just wasn't happening:) 

Ryan's Jalapeno Poppers.

A couple months ago Ryan went golfing {like he does every other Wednesday} with his homies {that's what I call his golf buddies}.  And one of his home boys was raging about these little thingys he had at a party. So Ryan came  home and talked about how good these stuffed bacon wrapped jalapeno's sounded.  So come Forth of July he decided he wants to give them a try. We were having the family over so he thought this was the perfect little snacky snack. 
He didn't really have a recipe to go off of. He just knew the ingredients. He knew they were stuffed with cream cheese and lil smokies....YUMMY!!! He did some googling and didn't really find anything so he just went with it. 

What you will need: 

Bacon
Jalapenos
cream cheese
lil smokies

This is very simple and you cannot mess it up. Wash and slice jalapenos lengthwise and remove seeds and membrane. Fill with a little cream cheese and place a lil smokie with in the middle. 
Then you take your bacon and cut in half and wrap it around the jalapeno, hold together with a toothpick. 
Place on a baking sheet {foil lined if you would like}. Bake in oven at 400 degrees for approximately 15 minutes or so until bacon is crispy {maybe a few minute longer} then broil on low for about 5 more minutes. 

Let them cool {if you can wait} and EAT!!!!!

                      

You could always wrap the bacon around the other way. This was his little recipe so I just let him be:) Of course they were a big hit and everyone enjoyed them. 

Great Job honey!!!!

Friday Rewind.

Not too much going on this past week at the crazy house. The kids were crazy as usual, if anything they were more crazy. They are off the hook on a daily basis. Maybe it's because they have been with each other for the past 9 weeks. Some separation will be good for Cameron and Easton come next week. 

The weather was kinda weird here for summer. It rained and was humid. Totally reminded me of living in the Midwest. Very humid and sticky and nasty. I cannot wait for the fall weather to kick in. I can't wait for cool evenings and mornings with a breeze blowing through the windows. We still have a couple months or so of this 100 degree heat left....UGH.

Last week my Mom had kidney stone surgery. On mother's day she went to ER and discovered she has some really bad stones. One stone covers her entire kidney and she had surgery last week to remove it. The surgery went well and they got most of it out but over the weekend she started running a fever and ended up in ER. She had a number of infections and pneumonia. She was is a hot mess.  She was finally released yesterday. Her breathing is much better and she seems to be doing ok. I haven't yet spoke with her this morning so we will see how she did overnight without all those heavy narcotic painkillers. It was so hard to see her in so much pain because there was nothing I could do but try and help to make her comfy. So that filled up the days this week going to visit her. Tuesday I took the boys to see her and she was so happy to see them. I took them with me on Wednesday and yesterday as well. 

The kids loved coming to visit Grandma because they got kindle time. They LOVE Minecraft. 

Kinda hard to see but Bentley found the foamy hand sanitizer....lol. He just roamed around and took Nini for lots of walks. 

Last night Cameron had his first fall ball baseball practice for almost 2 FREAKING hours. Seriously they are 6-7 years old!!! Ryan took Cameron while I stayed home to cook dinner. And in exactly 6 days school starts so with baseball and school starting we will once again be on the go. 

I have a Stampin' Up! class Sunday I need to get ready for. This one is an easy one to prep for. I think Ryan will be taking the boys to see the new Ninja Turtle movie, however I just heard this morning on the news it didn't get very good reviews and is kinda violent for the little ones. I guess it can't be any worse than all those super hero and Transformer movies they watch. They are totally boys and love all those movies. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!!! 

One More Baby Boy.

Once again today's post we are going back a few months. Almost 6 months ago we had a new addition to the family. No not me. My BIL and SIL had another baby BOY. 
Yes folk's I said BOY. I don't know if the Mink's can make girls. I guess we will have to wait a long time to see if any of these boys can produce us a Granddaughter. I sure hope so. But then again I am sure my mother-in-law was thinking the same thing and she has 5 grandsons now. 

Baby Grayson was born February 12, 2014 at 9:52pm. He weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces and 20.5 inches long. I cannot believe he 6 months old already. The little guy is finally starting to fill in a little. He was a little tiny dude. It always feel weird holding little babes since mine were ginormous. 
So now big brother Landon has someone to torture and fight with on a daily basis. Maybe not now but very soon it will start to happen. But Jen isn't a rookie. She knows first hand how rowdy and wild kids can be......oh I can't wait for it:)

Easton loves to hold baby Grayson:) and on this day {which was July 4th} he got to feed him. He sat there so good and held the bottle....he is so sweet with babies. 

 This picture was taken just the other day. I snatched it from Jen's facebook page...hehehe.

Brothers....Landon and Grayson.

A Wedding.

Today I am going to share Cynthia's wedding with you. This happened almost ONE year ago. September 1st was the big day for Cynthia and Joe and it's so hard to believe it's almost been a year. 
When Cynthia told me that Joe had proposed of course I said "OMG" and "FINALLY!" I was so thrilled and couldn't wait for all the planning to begin. It was only a matter of time until Joe proposed. There was lots of texting and emailing going on between Cynthia and I in the months leading up to the wedding. Cynthia planned and worked so hard on everything. And of course it all turned out PERFECT!

The wedding was at a winery just outside of Sacramento called Scribner Bend. The venue made for some great pictures. Such a beautiful place for a wedding. 

Ok so let's get to the FUN. Everyone loves to see wedding pictures so here we go.

 Beckett was such a good baby the morning of the wedding. He just hung out with all the girls while we were getting ready. A good friend of Cynth and Joe's strapped on the Ergo and took him for a long walk and of course he managed to pass out. Then the rest of the time Auntie or Grandma had him:)

 This is the guest book I made for them. I hope it hasn't fallen apart yet. It is handmade so it will eventually need some repairs.

 I believe all the pictures below ere taken by Cynthia and Joe's friend Ben Carter. He did an amazing job.

This is totally Cynthia.

 Family pictures were taken before the rehearsal. 

So there you have it folks. My BFF's wedding. One of the happiest days of my life. Makes me so happy to see that my dear friend of 20 years {has it really been that long?!} has found the man of her dreams. And of course Joe is pretty lucky to have found her:)
Love you guys....XOXO

Summer Break Coming to an End.....and I couldn't be Happier.

This is our first summer with a real summer break. Our first 10 week break after being in school all year. Even though Cameron only went from 8:20-11:40am, that short 3 hour window kept me from not losing it. The kids have been at each other all summer. The fighting and the arguing is getting old. Cameron's smart ass mouth is getting old. He currently cannot play with the Lego's or the Wii until I SAY SO. I am hoping that once school starts up again his attitude changes. Some days they can be so good and then other days they are flipping crazy and I am about to lose my shit. Yesterday was one of those "I am about to lose it" kinda days. 

Recently I have been playing referee . Cameron will hit Bentley and then Bentley will haul off and smack him {usually on the face or head and usually with a toy of some sort}. And then Cameron will end up in a time out. Bentley wants to do whatever his big brothers are doing and most the time they do not want him playing with them and that means lots of screaming and crying. It's either Bentley smashing up their Lego's or smashing up their lined up trucks and cars. 

School cannot start fast enough. It will be a little sad. Sad because Cameron will be in First grade. First grade is like big boy status. He will be there all day, he will eat lunch there, and he will be dismissed at the end of the day with all the other students. It's crazy how fast the Kindergarten year went. BUT I will happy to have a normal everyday routine again with a little peace and quiet. 

They had lots of water gun fights in the backyard and lots of Free time to make a huge mess. 

Not sure how many bottles of wine I have gone through in the past 10 weeks.......