Lorien, Soccer Star

Lorien is playing Soccer this year. She is LOVING it. She's definitely got some Sorensen in her because she is FAST & she can actually kick pretty hard. But the whole quick thing is what makes her good. As a goalie she can stop just about anything because she's so fast & when she's playing offense, she can dribble that ball all the way across the field at lightning speed. I'm SO proud of her & I'm SO happy she's enjoying herself out there.

Oh I did I mention how absolutely adorable she is?

All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth

Sweet little Lorien. I can't help but smile when she's around. She's just a crack up. At her little sleepover party, she managed to roll over & knock out one of her front teeth. It wasn't even very loose to begin with . . . it just popped right out! All the girls at the sleepover were excited that the tooth fairy got to visit while they were there. She left $1.00 on the window sill of the toy room where they all slept. It was VERY exciting.

Then, LESS THAN A WEEK LATER, out popped her other front tooth. Now she's our toothless wonder &

"theth the thillieth thingth!"

I love it when they can't say their "S's." And with Christmas just around the corner, she's got a new theme song:

"All I Want for Chrithmath ith my Two Front Teeth!"

SO CUTE!

Sleepover Party

For Fall Break I promised each of the girl a sleepover with their friends. They were extra helpful with chores the week before, so we set up the plans. Each girl invited one friend to spend the night.

I made a fun Halloween themed dinner (witch fingers, caterpillars, & candy corn pudding cups) for them & then we got situated for some girl fun.

We watched their favorite Barbie Movie & had lots & lots of yummy popcorn!

Then we all did some Halloween crafts & painted our fingernails & toenails orange & black for Halloween. The girls LOVED every minute of it.

Everyone wanted to sleep in the same room so the toy room became the sleepover party room. The kids had a BLAST giggling & talking long past bedtime.

Then for breakfast the next morning I made pumpkin pancakes (with faces), scrambled eggs, & pumpkin toast. They were very excited about all the Halloween themed fun.

It was just a small, quick, party, but the girls were happy & excited they earned something as fun as a sleepover. We'll definitely have to do it more often.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Trek got a 3 day weekend in October so we took the kids to the Aquarium here in Monterey on his day off. I had only been once before, & Trek had never been so it was a fun trip for the both of us. And the kids LOVED it, of course.

Our little "Barnacles."

Bladen was totally fascinated with the sting ray. He loved reaching into the water as it swam by. It didn't let any of the kids touch it, but Bladen got close.

Lorien is my total hands on kid. She had her hands in everything that they allowed you to put your hands in. She was touching snails, crabs, eels, starfish, you name it. She is FEARLESS.

They also have this really cool room where a real ocean wave crashes over the top of you. The room is made of glass so you can feel the pressure & see the craziness of the wave. It scared poor Bladen to DEATH.

My favorite exhibit is always the jellyfish. They are such BEAUTIFUL animals. This aquarium has SEVERAL tanks full of them. They are SO fun to watch.

I love all the play areas in the aquarium. The kids really have a blast there. I love my little dolphins. . .

I think it's a requirement that every aquarium has a NEMO TANK. Bladen never wanted to leave. The kids found every character from the movie inside this ONE tank. It was FUN.

All of our favorite part is the play land. There are SO many things for the kids to touch & play with. We spent a good hour just playing with everything.

They even have a baby play area. Craiger LOVED the waterbed. He was rolling all around & would laugh every time I made a wave for him. It was ADORABLE.

Bladen & Taya spent most of their time playing the the water with little plastic fish. Who knew water could be so fun?

Okay, so I'm a HUGE HUGE HUGE fan of both

"Lord of the Rings" & "LOST"

so imagine my surprise when I turned around & Dominic Monaghan was sitting there with some friends. He was "Merry" in LOTR & CHARLIE in LOST. Charlie was one of my favorite television characters of all time. I was SO excited. But I was a good fan & didn't bother him. . . I just snapped a bazillion photos without him noticing. ha ha ha.

I got a lot of shots of "Craiger & I". . . . with Dom in the background. I know, I'm nuts.

And we finally ended our trip with a step outside onto the deck area. The ocean was beautiful that day. It was SO MUCH FUN.

It was a GREAT FAMILY DAY.

Cadence's Glasswing Butterflly

My mom always told me

"I hope you have a daughter just like YOU someday." Well, I got one. There are definitely pros & cons to having a daughter "just like me," but for the most part I'd like to think I was a pretty good kid based on Cadence's nature. Sure we have our ups & downs, but she is such a sweet girl. . . & SMART as a whip.

Cadence just completed her very first REPORT in 3rd grade. Yes, moan & groan away. Actually, I really enjoyed teaching her about how to research & how to organize your thoughts & information into sections / paragraphs for your report. It made me feel like I was in school again. . . It made me realize how much I enjoyed school as both a child & as an adult.

She wrote her 3 page report on a rainforest animal. She chose the glasswing butterfly in Costa Rica. It took almost 2 weeks to complete the report & I was happy when she was DONE with it. But of course, she's got ME in her & she wanted to do a PROJECT to go with the report. (this is where you enter the "I hope you have a daughter just like YOU" concept) The teacher didn't ask for a project. It was not needed, not necessary, not even brought up in class. No, Cadence just wanted to do a project. Yup, she's my child. So this is what we came up with. We found a fun little butterfly 3-D puzzle kit at Oma's house & put it together & painted it. I helped very LITTLE. Cadence did a great job doing this mostly on her own. I was very proud of her.

She spent an entire Saturday painting all the delicate wooden pieces to her butterfly & then she carefully glued all those pieces together.

It turned out beautiful! I was REALLY proud of her!

Great job Cadence!

Jack'o'lantern Beef & Bean Pots

For some reason, blogger won't let me upload any pictures tonight. . . could be the SLOW internet. ha ha ha. This dish is made in individual bowls (or pots or mugs that can go in the oven). I used 6 glass bowls that hold 1 cup of food. I'll add photos as soon as I can to help because you need the visual to see what to do with it all.

Jack'o'lantern Beef & Bean Pots:

1 lb. ground beef

2 teaspoons chopped onion

1 can of pork & beans

1 can tomato sauce

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 cup Bisquick

3 tablespoons boiling water

1 tablespoon ketchup

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease the bottoms & sides of your mugs/glass bowls/pots. Cook ground beef & onions over medium-high heat for about 7 minutes until done. Drain. Stir in beans, tomato sauce, & brown sugar.

Pour into mugs/glass bowls/pots.

In a medium bowl stir the Bisquick, water, & ketchup until a soft dough forms. Beat vigorously 20 times.

Place dough onto a floured surface & form into a ball. Knead about 10 times or until smooth.

Cut dough into 4-6 smaller balls & roll them flat. Cut with the rim of a cup about the same size as your mug/glass bowl/pots.

Carve a jack'o'lantern face into each dough piece & place on top of your bean mixture.

Bake uncovered 15-20 minutes until crust in light brown. Enjoy!

Jack'o'lantern Pizza

My dear sweet husband put this one together all by himself. Lorien had soccer practice until 5:30 so when I came home this was in the oven baking away. He even made a face on it. What a good husband I have!

Jack'o'lantern Pizza:

1 Frozen Cheese Pizza

Pepperoni

This one is simple. Cut your pepperoni into shapes for your pumpkin's eyes, nose, & smile & add them to your cheese pizza. Bake as directed on the box & you're DONE.

Cutie Pie Pictures

As I'm frantically trying to get my blog updated before Halloween hits (just a few days away), I'm finding some adorable random pictures along the way. So I thought I'd make a post with some of the cute randoms pics of the kiddos.

Craiger is getting SO big & can sit up by himself now. This has been HEAVEN for me because now I can get a cart that both he & Bladen can be strapped down in. It's REALLY difficult to shop when Bladen can't be strapped into a cart. I wind up coming home with some RANDOM things like toothpaste, candy, & cookies simply because he throws them into the cart (or onto the conveyor belt) without me seeing. Craiger is SO MUCH HAPPIER sitting up than he ever was laying down.

I will do a post later dedicated to costumes, but here's a sneak peak of Taya's since I finished her's first. We're doing "THE INCREDIBLES" this year & she is Edna Mode. Look at that sassy look on her face. She's PERFECT.

I can see SO MANY THINGS WRONG with this picture. Why is Bladen picking his nose (& why did he "miss")? Why does Bladen have the My Little Ponies & why does Taya have the ninja warrior? Seriously? Silly kids.

Craiger falls asleep in the weirdest positions. Silly boy.

Enjoy!

Taya's Birthday Breakfast

I know what you're thinking. . .

HOW MANY BIRTHDAYS DOES ONE KID NEED?

We do all three things in one day. . . I just like to separate them on the blog because there are so many pictures involved with birthdays. We always do a birthday breakfast in the morning, then their birthday party with friends later that day. Then we open presents from family later in the evening (usually). So, if it's your birthday your ENTIRE DAY is special.

So, we woke Taya up bright & early to start her special day off right! There's nothing like having your favorite breakfast served to you in bed.

With our birthday breakfasts, there are always ding dongs with a candle. The kids LOVE blowing out candles.

I can't believe my baby girl is FOUR YEARS OLD.

For Taya's special breakfast she requested Chocolate Chip Mickey Mouse Pancakes, scrambled eggs with bacon & cheese, orange juice, & her ding dong. YUM.

Bladen ALWAYS enjoys the ding dongs. . . he snuck onto my plate & ate mine too.

Happy Birthday Taya Girl.