I'm moving!!!

I'm moving over to Wordpress....

So, now my blog is:

4menandmommy.wordpress.com

See ya over there!!!

Little Businessmen

Keith went to a job interview the other day, and when he got back, the boys pretended they were going to work, too...

Toby helped CJ adjust his tie, while CJ was busy texting someone...

Then Toby put on Keith's watch, and kept saying he was looking for his keys, until he found some of Bo's baby-toy keys.

So, you know, if Keith doesn't find a job, I think these boys are ready to go to work!

Bo's First Cereal

Bo has started eating solids!  So far, we've tried oatmeal, rice cereal and carrots.  Like his brothers, he LOVES to eat!  He is so funny... he makes these hungry, slurpy noises while he eats, and always says, "Mmmmm!"  He's so little, being born 2 weeks early, but I think in the past week or so that he's been eating solids, he feels a lot heavier!

So, here's his first bite of cereal...

He liked it!

Another Resource for Moms of Boys

I have listened to this message by Charlotte Richardson & Janis Shank over and over again, and have found it SO helpful!  (and I cry at the end every single time)!

The Dangerous Book for Boys

I love this book, and highly recommend it if you have boys!

I have actually been reading it on and off, if I need to pass the time (like, while nursing), and it is great!  I learned how to skin a rabbit, how to waterproof matches and make a tree house!  I can't wait until the boys are old enough to really benefit from this book... I love having boys... they're so fun!

Potato Salad

I have been looking for a good potato salad recipe for a while, and found this one on Cooking Light (I adapted it a little).  I thought it was pretty good, Keith said it was the best potato salad he's ever tasted!  (That totally made my day)!

Classic Potato Salad

1 1/2 lb. red potatoes, cubed

1/2 c. finely chopped red onion

1/4 c. finely chopped celery

1/4 c. finely chopped pickles

2 hard-cooked large eggs, coarsely chopped

1/3 c. light mayo (I used Miracle Whip Light)

2 T. pickle juice

1 heaping T. Dijon mustard (I used extra 'cuz Keith likes mustard)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Boil, drain and cool potatoes.  Combine potatoes, onion, celery, pickles and eggs in med. bowl.  In small bowl, whisk mayo through pepper until smooth.  Pour over potato mixture, tossing gently to coat.  Cover and chill at least 8 hours (I only chilled it for about an hour and it was fine... I am always a little short on time :~)

Fun with the Spencer's

This past Sunday, we were so blessed to have our good friends, Todd & Erin Spencer, over.  Originally, it was just "Hey, do you guys want to come over for lunch after church?"  After we put the kids down for naps, we were having such great conversation, and well, our card game wasn't over yet, so it turned into, "Hey, do you guys want to just stay for dinner, too?" and then, "You guys are welcome to stay as long as you want..." and finally, "Why don't we just make a night of it, and put the kids down to bed?"  Eventually, we did finish our game and conversation, at about 12:30!!!  I have to say, though, it was really them being gracious enough to bless us by staying that long.  It has been so long since I have hung out with friends for that long, and they are such good friends!  Erin cleaned my kitchen (and really did most of the actual cooking!), and the boys all cleaned up the living room.  Todd & Erin also happen to be extraordinarily gifted with wisdom, and were kind enough to draw out Keith & I, ask us lots of questions, offer very helpful suggestions, and even challenge us on certain points.  We needed it, in this crazy busy season we are in, especially as we try to figure out what to do with these boys!  Keith & I ended the night by talking briefly about all the ways we are excited to change, and put into practice their godly counsel.

Anyways, all that to say, thank you, Todd and Erin!  We not only had a blast with you guys, but were SO encouraged by our time spent with you!

So, for lunch I made Tara's chicken salad (actually, I was running behind, so Erin made it!  Horrible, I know!).  Then I remembered that they just had that at Tara's like a week ago!

I also made this yummy fruit salad, and for dessert we had this:

I've never made cherry pie before, or a lattice-top crust, but it was pretty easy, and if it's not too arrogant to say so, it was delicious!
We had so much fun watching the kids all play together!  Caden and Toby have similar personalities, as do CJ & Zoe, and it was so fun to watch them all interact.
Keith pulled out the guitar, CJ's favorite!
All the kids eating their tacos.

Toby & Caden made a "train," that is, Caden sat in a car in the front while Toby pushed him with a truck from behind.  Toby was having the best time with his new friend.
It was hard to get a non-blurry picture... they were on the move!
Zoe loved holding Bo (I think he liked it, too!)

All the kids, with Todd (I think he's meditating or something in this one)
I love this last picture, CJ looking to Toby to see what he should be doing...

Thanks, Spencer's!  We had such a great time!

Dance, Dance, Dance!

Keith made up this game for the boys called "Dance, Dance, Dance!"  They LOVE it!  (He's like the best dad ever!)  It's kind of like musical chairs, but without the chairs :~)  Keith turns on fast music, we all dance around, and then he pauses it, and everyone has to freeze.  To start the music again, the boys have to yell out "Dance, dance, dance!"

So, we were playing this today, and were dancing to "The Way You Make Me Feel" by Michael Jackson, and, in the song, he does a lot of "Come on, girl!" and that Michael Jackson squeal/scream and stuff.  So, while Toby's dancing, he starts shouting out, "Come on, grill!" (his way of saying "girl").  It was hilarious!  Keith and I were laughing SO hard, which of course made him repeat it over and over.  

Too funny!

Awww...

I'm a big fan.

:~)

Boys & Bugs

One thing I forgot to mention about the 4th of July, was I had my first "boys & bugs" moment.  We were getting ready to go to Chris & Tara's.  Keith opened the door to the garage, and a cricket hopped in.  He killed it, and told me he was going to put CJ in the car, and come back in for Toby, and he would pick up the cricket and throw it away.  So my job was to make sure Toby didn't get it.  I was doing something on the computer, and thought Toby was playing in the living room.  He ran up to me, excited about something, and I turned around to give him my full attention.  He pushed up RIGHT INTO MY FACE, literally, a half-inch from my nose, the dead cricket!!!!  AAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHH!  I jumped, and tried to calmly ask him to throw it away, but he was having way too much fun playing with it!  I helped him throw it away and promptly washed his hands (twice) and laughed to myself that I will probably spend the next ten years asking my boys to keep their fun dead bugs FAR away from me!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a very relaxed, low-key 4th of July yesterday.  It was actually very non-patriotic (not that we aren't grateful for our freedom.  We are.)  It was still fun, nonetheless!

I started the day off early, super-excited that I finally got out of bed to make it to a class at the gym, and got there to realize... they were closed!  BUT, there was a Starbuck's across the street, and my kids wouldn't even be waking up for another hour or so, so I did something I haven't done in several years.  I got some coffee and read the newspaper.  The entire newspaper (well, except the sports section, ew!), all by myself!  It was glorious.

Then we got the boys up, picked up some pizza, and headed over to "Uncle Chris & Aunt Tara's" house!  We had such a great time!  It's so fun now that all the kids are old enough to interact and be cousins!  (Thanks for having us over, guys!)

Taylor is a natural mom!  She is so cute with the boys... she loves playing with them and is like the big sister they never had!  Look how cute she is holding Bo:

I love how Bo is smiling at Rylee here:

Toby had fun playing with toys that aren't his, plus having a cousin who loves trains as much as he does!

Taylor, with her beautiful picture she drew with me!
Toby loved this hat!

The highlight, for me, though, was this moment:

I cannot figure out how to post video (anyone wanna help me? :~) but this was HILARIOUS!  First of all, as a side note, Uncle Chris and Aunt Tara are celebrities in our home!  Seriously.  Anytime the boys hear a song that Chris or Tara have sung, they get so excited and squeal, "Uncle Chris' song!" or "Aunt Tara's song!" (and even sometime's "Tay-Tay's song!")  So, Chris got out his guitar and was gracious enough to let CJ whack it over and over again, and sing with him.  The video is hysterical, though... CJ just repeats whatever Chris says, and then adds some rap at the end.  I love the footage of CJ at the guitar, Taylor laughing with him and dancing around, Trevor jumping up and down and doing flips over and over on the couch, and Toby playing with toys in the background... all their personalities in one shot!  (Sorry, Rylee, I think you were sleeping! :~)
We came home, all tuckered out, and the boys fell asleep right away!  Later, while I was making dinner (BBQ chicken, chile-lime corn, and dill mashed potatoes with Lemon-Cornmeal Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches for dessert) I looked out in the hall way to see this:
The boys were watching a Sesame Street with Ernie singing a song, and started dancing together, holding hands!  Sooo cute!  Again, I really wish I could figure out how to post video, b/c this picture doesn't really show their little "ring-around-the-rosie" type dance.  

So, after dinner, we put the boys down, Keith got some ice cream for us (I love him so!), and we watched "Vantage Point."  It was an insanely good movie!  I highly recommend it!  I didn't even finish my ice cream until the movie was almost done... I didn't want to look away from the screen...

It was all in all, not a very "Red, White and Blue" kind of day, but still tons of fun!  Maybe next year we can actually see fireworks :~)

Steak-tacular!!!

(Sorry, it's the best title I could come up with!)

So, speaking of yummy food, I made Bourbon-Brown Sugar Steak with Garlic-Chive Mashed Potatoes the other night, which is a favorite of ours (thanks again for the recipe, Tara!)

A couple days ago, I read this article about marinating, and how it apparently makes no difference how long the meat is marinated for.  This was really helpful about an hour before making this steak, and realizing I forgot to marinate it.  I concur: my steak spent about 10 seconds being marinated and tasted exactly the same as when I normally marinate it for a few hours.  Genius.

So try this steak sometime.  It's, like, "what-would-you-eat-as-your-last-meal-if-you-were-on-death-row" good.

Fresh & Easy

Okay, this is totally unrelated to anything, but I had to put a plug in for my new favorite store, Fresh & Easy

I love this place for many reasons...

1.  They let you scan the bar codes, but they bag everything for you.  It was always a dream of mine when I was little to scan the food at the grocery store.  It looked like SO much fun when I would watch the lady do it in the checkout aisle (Yes, I do realize I am VERY weird).

2.  They don't have any magazines by the checkout!  They're displayed behind a corner that you really have to look for.  I'm always blown away by how grossly indecent magazine covers are, and I get so mad that I am forced to see them every time I go to the store (or my boys have to see them, if they are with me).

3.  They have special parking for "adults with children."  Awesome!

4.  They have the BEST produce!  Everything actually smells like a farm (in a good way, and yes, I do know what a farm smells like... my grandpa's a farmer).  Most of their produce is packaged with expiration dates, too.

5.  Their prices are really reasonable, and their store brand is actually really good!

6.  They have a great mix of organic foods, and regular stuff you can get at regular grocery stores.

7.  Their meat section is almost, if not all, hormone-free.

So, anyways, if you have one close to you, I would HIGHLY recommend this store!  And enjoy scanning your items... I know I will ;~)

Recipe for Grilled Corn

We had this last night, and it was SOO good!  Keith said it was the best corn he's ever tasted!  You can really guess the measurements, you don't even really need to measure everything... you can't really screw this up (perfect for me!)

Grilled Corn with Chile-Lime Butter

(adapted from Williams-Sonoma)

Corn on the cob (however many you want, I did 4)

1/2 to 1/4 cup butter, softened

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2- 1 T. chile powder (plus more if you like your's super-spicy)

large pinch cumin

large pinch paprika

about 2 T. chopped cilantro 

1/4-1/2 lime

1 T. olive oil

salt & pepper

Remove the husks and silk from corn on the cob (however many you want).  Rinse and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine butter and garlic with a wooden spoon until well blended.  Add chili powder through cilantro, stirring until combined.  Squeeze lime into mixture, and season with salt and pepper.  Let sit for about 30 min. to combine flavors (I didn't do this, do to lack of time, and it was fine).  Combine 1 T. of the finished butter with the olive oil, and brush or rub into corn until well coated (I needed to use more than the 1 T. of butter to completely cover the corn).  Grill for about 5-6 min. or until it's slightly charred on all sides, but not completely burnt.  It should be sweet and tender, but not blackened.  Serve immediately.

You can save the leftover chili butter to serve with the corn, or spread on French bread, garlic-bread style, and grill or broil.

Kids Say the Cutest Things

Now that Toby has been talking, it has opened up a whole world of entertainment for Keith & I.  Some of these might only be funny to us, but here's a small sampling of cute stuff he's been saying lately...

The other day, he said to Bo, "I'm going to go read my Little People book now, okay, Bo?  I love you, though, Bo!"

He randomly shouts things at the top of his lungs, like the other day, he started shouting, "I can't stop it right now!!  I have to try it!!  I have to go backwards!!  And choo-choo train is pretty cool!!!"

We were eating breakfast (the boys had cereal), and Toby told me, "I don't need to use a spoon because Charlie Brown doesn't use a spoon."  (he only knows about Charlie Brown from the Christmas movie we watched like 6 months ago).

He told me the other night, "I'm not hungry because I already ate dinner." (lying)

At breakfast, we were having a battle over him eating breakfast, and then he finally started eating it, and said, "I tasted it... it's pretty good."  Then I asked him if he wanted strawberries on top, and he says, "Um, yeah... okay.  Go ahead."

This morning he got so excited when I told him that his full name is Toby Edward, because Toby and Edward are trains in "Thomas the Tank Engine" world!!!

CJ has been talking a lot more lately, mostly copying what Toby says, but he's got some cute sayings, too.

I asked him what a fish says, he thought for a minute, and said in a silly voice, "I'm a fish!"

The other night I told him we were having chili for dinner, and he told me, "I'm hungry for meat loaf."