Picnic time

It may seem odd that we had a picnic in the middle of February but it wasn't too cold out. The boys thought it was so fun to have a picnic at the zoo and with all the walking/running around they did they were ready to eat.   

 It was nice that they let you bring in your own lunch and probably saved us a lot of money as well as had a better selection ;) Now I am not sure what I was thinking when I packed but I tend to over pack when it comes to food and it was no different this time around. Because we still had about half of the zoo to see I went to the car to get our lunch. The walk didn't seem too bad to the car but I packed three bags of food and walking back was a little more of a trip by myself. I was to meet the boys back by the gorillas because by that point Eric and I were tired about hearing about seeing the gorillas. 

I found this little gazebo type table at the top of the gorilla forest and by this time I was pretty tired so I dropped my bags and waited to see the come up to the top. The boys were so excited to have seen the gorillas and wanted to take me back after we ate. The boys were starving so after filling our bellies with a yummy lunch we loaded the bags into the stroller and headed back down to see the gorillas.  

Lions, Tigers, and Bears Oh My!

The zoo had some new exhibits open this year that included polar and grizzly bears as well as seals. The boys really want to see the bears (Not as much as the gorillas but it distracted them from thinking about the gorillas for a bit ;)

 It was amazing how active all the animals were. The boys loved watching these two grizzly bears. they were playing/fighting with one another right in front of the glass it was fun for all for all of us to watch. 

 After the bears we were all starting to get a little hungry so Eric took the boys to see the tigers while I went  back to the car to get our picnic lunch. Again he was so close to the glass the boys were able to get a really good look at him. 

I think the lions are always a big attraction. It is a big deal to Thomas that they have a "boy lion" so we were happy to see that the boy lion was out and about. As we were making our way up to see the lions they started doing some kind of roar call ( I am not a lion expert by any means of the imagination so that is the closest thing I could come up with what it was) But for a few minutes they were roaring back in forth to one another. It was great to see and hear and I am not sure really what the boys thought it being so loud. Because the camels were across the path, which we were going to see next they completely disappeared as soon as the lions started roaring, probably good thinking for the camels ;) Therefore we never did see them. 

Yellow "brick" road at the Zoo

I am not sure what the yellow line was on this particular path as we only seen it here. The boys thought this was much cooler then looking at the wolf that was to the left. As soon as they seen the big yellow curvy line it was off to the races. 

 It wasn't too far into the zoo and I think between riding in the car and not being able to be outside these last few months they had lots of energy stored up. 

They ran all they way down, then about half way up then back down to see some more of the zoo. Because of it still being morning and the middle of February there was not much of crowd which was very nice.   

Six Years

Today marks six years for since Eric and I walked into the Washington D.C. Temple and were married for time and all eternity. It is hard to believe how fast time has gone. This post may be a little mushy but it's our anniversary so what can I say?

As I look at the picture above it seems like it happened yesterday. I remember as I walked into the temple I was excited. As I looked around the beautiful surrounding I could feel the love of our Lord and Savior and how proud He was to see the both of us here in His House. I remember walking into the sealing room looking at my husband to be knowing our journey together was just beginning. I knew that I wouldn't have to worry about "death do you part" because at death our journey together would continue. The blessings of that day were amazing and ones ill always treasure.  

Last minute adventure

I think it was last last week we decided to have a fun weekend with the boys, a fun day trip. The boys love animals so we took a trip to the Zoo.

 Eric did some research and found that the Louisville Zoo had a deal that for each canned food item you brought you got half off each admission. We looked at the weather and seen it was going to be pretty nice. So we packed up early Saturday and drove to the Zoo. Sup was free but with our four canned foods the rest of us all got half off our admission! It was a great deal!

 We were able to make it to the Zoo just a little bit after they opened and the boys couldn't wait to see the animals. For some reason the gorillas were a must see and highly demanded but it was one the other side so we started with the orangutan. It was pretty neat that the one was right up against the glass, the boys on the other hand seemed a bit unsure about him being that close. 

 The reptiles and snakes were a big hit with these boys. They had a lot of them to look at and I am sure they saw all the ones they had. This one was just for you Gramma's ;)

 They had an albino alligator. At first the boys didn't think it was real and wanted to know why is was white and not green. they sat here and stared at him for a bit.  

Kitchen Beds?

We have a pretty set bed time around here and the boys and I have gotten into a pretty set routine, it has been nice for all of us :)

 They are generally pretty good about getting ready. Thomas can get his jammies on all by himself and Sup   will pick out which ones he wants to wear and bring them to me to help him change. 

 For some reason the other day I asked them to go and get ready for bed and when I went to go check on them I walked into the kitchen and found this.... I know the kitchen is a fun place but I can't imagine it would be very comfy. And I am sure when Daddy got home he may have either tripped or stepped on them. 

So as disappointed as they were I had them pick their "beds" back up and put them on their bed in their room. They thought they were pretty funny boys laughing the whole time and telling each other how silly they were trying to sleep in the kitchen :) 

Lebanese rolls

When Eric and I were dating/engaged his mom made these roll for us probably a few times. They are a very popular Anderson meal. Because they take a lot of work/time and they are not umm... the healthiest meal, they are a nice treat every once in a while.

 As I remember now almost six years ago now I said I would probably never make these. One because I don't really do a lot of fried food and two it is just about impossible to replicate a meal "just like moms" ;)

 So yes after almost six years I broke down and decided to make Kris' famous Lebanese rolls. I had gotten the recipe a few months ago but still was pretty hesitant to make them. Last Sunday I (there may have been a little encouragement ;) decided to make them for our "Sunday treat". I will admit I did underestimate the time to would take me to make them, so we had them a little later then I anticipated. 

 As you can see the recipe makes quite a bit. The bigger ones I had stuffed with the meat mixture. The smaller pieces I tossed in powered sugar and cinnamon sugar for the dessert option. They went over really well with the boys. Although it was funny that Thomas really like the bread so with the meat ones he ate all around the bread. And Sup really like the meat so he was digging into the roll just to get the meat. 

Of course everyone loved the dessert ones. We dipped them in chocolate or strawberry syrup and the boys loved that. Amazing I thought I would have to freeze some but with packing them for Eric's lunches and Sup loved eating them cold as a snack our little family ate the rest of them up in four days :) 

Our Family Valentines Day

We had a fun Valentines Day. I wanted to make a special treat for the day so I went with a chocolate strawberry cream torte.  

 The recipe was technically suppose to be raspberry cream but we had strawberries. It came out really pretty good. I am working on making more things from scratch so this was my first cake all from scratch. I was actually pretty impressed with it and the boys were very excited to try it.   

 I had made the cake a few hours before so they were a little disappointed they had to wait until after dinner. Eric and I got the boys a little heart and were very excited with it.   

 Sup was a little upset because there was the plastic around the heart and he couldn't get right to the chocolates....fyi he has started this thing where when he gets upset he screams and runs to his room throws himself on the bed and pouts for a period of time, lots of fun.... So this happened when he couldn't get right to the chocolates. Even after I opened it for him he had to decided how long he was going to be upset about it so he looked at it for a bit and decided the chocolates were worth trying now that they were opened. 

 After we cleaned up dinner and exchanged our chocolates it was time for the cake and the boys could barely wait of me to cut it. As you can see Sup was very interested in the icing as he "samples" a bit or two as I was cutting it ;)

 I hope at some point my boys will find that a fork works much better to eat cake with...

Don't worry we have a lot of forks for them to use but for some reason it is a lot more fun for them not to use them. Anyhow they dug right in, it was a big hit :)

Thomas' first Valentine exchange

Since Thomas only has preschool three days a week he had his Valentine exchange with his classmates on Monday.

 To no ones surprise Thomas picked out Transformer valentines to give to his friends at school. It was nice that they requested that the kids just put their name on the From line to make it easier for the kids to hand out. It also made it a lot easier to make them out. We topped it with some Hershey hugs and he was ready to go.

 After we picked him up from school he was so excited to show us everything he got for Valentines day. He refused to show us anything in the truck. But when we got home he told us to sit on the couch and he would show us everything he got.

One by one he showed us everything in the bag. He was pretty funny because he would want me to tell him who it was from but I wasn't allowed to touch them. Even now Eric and I are not allowed to touch his bag and keeps it high on the shelf so Sup can't get into it. 

Making of the movie

Both of the boys really had a fun time making the movie last weekend. Eric had been working on this idea for quiet some time, so he was excited to see how it go.

 We started the shooting the footage in the afternoon last Saturday. Even though it was a cold afternoon the boys were still excited to be outside. Since Sup had only a small part outside it was my job to try to keep him out of the shots. I did pretty well until we made our way to the back door. When Thomas was taking his tools out of his red bag to "break-in" Sup was all to willing to help :)

 Of course the favorite part and I would say a reward for being so good was the last scene where they were able to eat the cookies and drink the chocolate milk. This only took one take but they had so much fun eating and drinking the treats as well as "running away" we did the scene several times without the camera on.  This took no acting whatsoever.  

The boys loved watching all the video clips. They sat here most of the afternoon while Eric was putting all the editing stuff together. It was a bit hard because they boys always wanted to "watch it from the ginning Daddy!" And when your trying to put things together it was not played from the beginning very much. 

Our date morning

For those who made not know both our our boys are pretty big Star Wars fan. They know pretty much all the characters and love to play with toys and play in their robes..Thomas is always Obi-One and fights Darth Maul and Sup is always Luke and fight Darth Vadar.

It has been a big deal that they have brought the movie back to theater in 3D. Thomas favorite episode the first one so when it came out this past Friday Eric thought it would be fun for Thomas and I to have a "date" and he and Sup would spend time shopping together. It was actually a lot of fun to spend time with just him and I. They have a deal at the movies where all movie tickets before noon are five dollars so we went to the 10:15 show. This way we both get in for a pretty good price and kinda beat the crowd. It was nice because there seemed to be quite a few kids there so we fit right in :) 

Thomas did really good and I treated him to some popcorn. His favorite part is at the end where Qui-Gon and Obi-One fight Darth Maul. With the 3D glasses he thought it was like he was right in the room watching them fight. The only think that would have made it better for him would be if it was a longer segment.  

I wasn't sure how he would do with the glasses and the didn't seem to fit him the best. It seemed that they wouldn't stay on the bridge of his nose very well and had to hold them up with his fingers. At some parts of the movie he was just looking over the glasses but at the end and most of the movie he was able to look through the glasses. When we got home the adult glasses that I had actually fit him better (the ones he has on in the pic). Had I known I would have let him use mine and I could have had the kids ones. But we had a great time with just him and I. 

After the movie we met Sup and Daddy for lunch and had fun together as a family.  

Sweet endings

Because we had our football snacks a few hours before the big game we waited to have our sweet treats.

 This was nice because it gave me a little break to sit a relax. We had I think three treats planned but we only ended up making two out of the three. Thomas was the most excited about the strawberries and brownies. 

 I think I got this idea from Hershey's website, the idea of chocolate kabobs. Instead of meat and vegetables you use brownies and fruit. Since strawberries are very big at our home we just did the berries :) Thomas helped me put them together and then I drizzled the chocolate sauce and a few minutes later Thomas had four of them gone!  

We can't have a party without a milkshake :) We had some football Oreo's and vanilla ice-cream so we had Oreo milkshakes. I think Thomas had filled up on the berries and brownies so did have much of the shake Sup on the other hand is a HUGE milkshake fan so he had his most of mine and most of Thomas' :)  

Hollywood hopefuls

Eric wanted to try out the iMovie on our new computer and came up with a really cute production for the boys. We hope you enjoy! Don't forget your popcorn ;)

We all had a really fun time making the movie and the boys love to watch "their" movie over and over. Although Sup was not too fond of actually seeing himself on the screen. 

Daddy's special drink

I do not remember the first time that Eric and I made this sangria punch (obviously minus any naughty substances) but his has been his special drink since we came up with the idea.  

 We only make it for special occasions so we thought it would be fun to have the boys try it for our "special football drink". The boys were so excited to help pour in all the ingredients. (The recipe we have is a low kcal drink which doesn't really go over well for boy or man Eric made the necessary adjustments ;) 

For me it is just a bit too sweet so I added some water and ice to mine and it was just right, but for the others they drink it as is. We actually made two batches it went over very well and the fun football cups made it perfect for the occasion :)

Football party

We are a pretty big football family, so when the Super Bowl comes around every February we have a fun time with it. It was fun to be able to spend time together and enjoy some yummy food.

 Because we were all hungry when we came home from church I started making our special football snacks. We always seem to have a bigger menu then we really need just for the four of us. But it was fun to see the boys all excited for the football snacks and I couldn't get them out fast enough :) 

We decided on a yummy cheese fondue with some bread. We also had bite sized chicken bites, mini hot dogs and mini pigs in a blanket. The food went over very well and the boys loved all the "mini" choices. We decided to hold off on the dessert foods until later on. 

Playing football

On Saturday there was a little drizzle but the temp was not too bad. The boys were dying to go outside and convinced Daddy to come out to play before he was off to work.

 I had a few errands to run so when I came home I was a bit surprised that the boys were outside. Daddy had gotten out the football..a little flat from being in the garage all winter.. but it didn't seem to be an issue to them. 

 At first I was not even allowed on the field because I was a girl. But then it was decided that I would become a tackler with Sup and Daddy was a blocker/hiker while Thomas was the QB. The fence was the goal line for both team. We would switch offense/defense for a few runs but Thomas really liked being the QB and Sup really liked to tackle so we stayed for the most part. 

We all had a really fun time together and it is amazing how much these boys know about the game and the terms of football. Daddy had played with them pretty hard and Mommy had a nice quiet night :) It was a great day even if though the sun was not shining :)

PJ day

Last week at preschool they have been working on the letter P. Last Friday to honor the letter P they had a pajama day/party. 

 Thomas was totally in love with the idea of wearing his pajamas to school. I had told him about it at the beginning of the week and it was all he could talk about and could not wait for Friday to come. On Wednesday they were told by the teachers they could also bring their pillows and a stuffed animal. That day when he got home he had already picked out what pajamas he wanted to wear. It was all I heard about the rest of the day along with the whole day on Thursday. 

Friday he was asking about every five minutes if it was time to go...lets say we ended up leaving a little early because he was driving me a little bonkers. He chose his green T-rex jammies, his Prime pillow, and T-rex pillow pet..he was really going for the P theme.  He had such a great time and all his friends had their jammies on and his teachers. They also had popcorn for a snack and he made mini pepperoni pizza that he brought home with him. It really was a fun day for him :)  

Hiding place

Thomas has always been well... we will say protective of his things. He can tell you for the most part what is his and what is Sup's. At times this can be a little exasperating for me. Even if they have the same thing some how he can tell the difference and to try to change his mind is... well just not worth the argument.  

 There are things that Thomas is willing to share and there are others he is just a little too protective of for his own reasons. This can cause some major noise around our little household. Sup knows exactly how to push Thomas' buttons and if there is a cherished toy left out he never lets this opportunity slip by. (The general rule if it is not currently being played with it is free game for the other to play with regardless of who's toy it is).  

So Thomas has been creative of putting his toys "way up high" so Sup can't get them. Although Thomas has a pretty good memory he tends to forget himself where he has hidden his special toys. This creates a problem when he wants to play with them. For days he would be looking for a certain toy and I never knew where he put them so it became frustrating to both of us. After days of searching I would find them in some strange place. Of late he has been using the cereal shelf so after moving boxes around I found his toy stash. So now I know at least where to start the search :)

Outside!

These past few days have been really nice here and the boys have had so much fun being outside.

 It has been around 60 in the afternoon so we didn't have to mess with bulky coats, hat, or mittens. The boys really didn't need anything but Sup did insist on bring out a blue car. 

The car didn't last too long before they found the sticks and dirt and they were set. It was great Eric and I were able to sit on the front porch and enjoy the warm weather and the boys ran around and played with whatever was around...simple boys as mentioned before just some dirt, sticks, and left over leaves. They could have stayed out for a lot longer so getting them inside was a little bit of a challenge ;)