St. patricks Day!

Okay I would say it is about time I updated. I know St. Patricks Day was a few weeks ago but here is what we did.

First, My sister in law, Amanda, is a little leprechaun. She was born on St patricks Day. My brother asked me to make her birthday cake. It is not the best cake I have ever made, but it was fun. Amanda collects snow globes, so that is what I attempted to do. It looks a bit cartoony or like a child colored it with crayons but oh well, I had fun. Here it is.....

Another fun thing we did for St. Patricks Day was go to a "parenting activity" that our ward was having. We had a play date and it included a delicious GREEN breakfast. Green eggs, pancakes, and milk. Thankfully the bananas were not green.

Here is Tyler and his buddy Noah.

In response to HBO's plans to air an episode of "Big Love" where they depict sacred temple ceremonies, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has created a short video that explains the purpose of Mormon temples.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x_-TQivCx8&feature=player_embedded

Deceptively Delicious!

My wonderful husband got me the best Valentines gift EVER. The cookbook: Deceptively Delicious by: Jessica Seinfeld. basically you sneak vegetables and fruits into all kinds of meals and your picky children have no idea that they are eating them. Great idea! Since I have a somewhat picky child, who would prefer to eat everything but vegetables, this was a perfect gift. Today was my first try. I made Banana Nut bread w/ CAULIFLOWER! Here it is.......

THE GIFT

The Product!

The Result!!

PERFECTO!!!

(He even wanted more.)

25 Random Things About... Megan!

I've been telling Megan she should post this since she's been tagged with it a time or two, but she never has done it. So, (with her approval) I decided to do it for her. So here's 25 things about my wife!

1. She hates bottled water - she'll actually dump out the water and fill it with tap water so she can use the bottle.


2. The feeling of metal on her teeth (like a fork or spoon) makes her cringe. So does the sound of metal on other people's teeth.


3. She doesn't eat the last bite of a sandwich if it is an edge. If it's a piece from the middle she will eat it.


4. She usually smells her food before she eats it.


5. Her favorite type of food is Italian.


6. She loves cats and thinks we should have one, even though she is allergic.


7. She has never been on an airplane.


8. She loves playing the game "Ticket to Ride" and always has to be the green player. If you take the green trains before she gets them, expect bad things to happen to you...


9. Her favorite singer is Peter Cetera from the band Chicago.


10. She has seen the Red Sox play in Fenway Park, while her sports fan husband has never been to a pro baseball game.


11. On the sports theme, she gets very excited when the NCAA tournament comes around and loves to fill out her bracket.


12. She loves to decorate cakes, and has quite a talent for it.


13. She learned to drive a manual transmission before I did.


14. She loves elderly people and worked with them as a CNA for 5+ years.


15. She's actually pretty good at identifying types of cars. I quiz her as we drive on the freeway and she does a good job.


16. She loves to read. She would read all day if she could.


17. She doesn't like fruit and chocolate together. Individually - yes, combined - no.


18. She makes perfect grilled cheese sandwiches every time. Never overcooked, never undercooked. I don't know how she does it.


19. She started planning Tyler's 1-year birthday party 6 months in advance. She's also planning a Barbie house she will build for our daughter - whenever (if) we have a daughter...


20. Brushing her teeth makes her gag - almost every time. (Way worse when she was pregnant)


21. She was called to go to the Tennessee Nashville Mission, but ended up getting married instead.


22. She & I both have four brothers and one sister.


23. She still has a stuffed Gremlin toy that she got when she was 1. She won't get rid of it even though it is in pretty rough shape....


24. She's really good at doing those sudoku puzzles. I gave up accepting her challenges to race because I had no chance of winning.


25. Her son thinks she is the best thing ever. I tend to agree with him!

Valentines Day!

Every year for Valentines day we make sugar cookies and frost them. This year we invited my nephew Dean over to help us. Here are a few pictures from our cookie adventure. Tyler and Dean eating frosting off the beaters. Tyler and Dean ready in their aprons I made.

Tyler thought he would help by mixing the sprinkles in a bowl.

Dean putting the sprinkles on the cookies.

Cutting out the cookies. Dean enjoyed using the rolling pin, while Tyler just wanted to eat the dough.

and the cookies!
Here are the final product. We packaged these ones up and sent them to Grandma and Grandpa Hicken. (another tradition)

After we finished Tyler thought it would be fun to show what a mess he made on his face!

I don't know whose child this is.

Sausage Egg McMuffin

Now because of the title you are probably thinking of a delicious, juicy, delectible breakfast sandwhich that you would get at McDonalds before 11 am in the morning. Well sorry to disappoint you but that is not the sausage McMuffin that I am talking about. This "Sausage" is Tyler's best friend.

Of all the adorable fluffy cute stuffed animals that Tyler owns... he chooses the ugliest one to be his favorite. His most sacred posession.

He Snuggles with him.He wont sleep with out him.He brings him everywhere, if we let him.He sometimes even prefers him over food. Now that is Love.

Tyler recieved Sausage from his Grandma Hicken last Valentines Day. Since then he has become part of the family. He has had 2 surgeries, due to his cheap fur. He has had a few baths and even lost his heart during one of them. We are glad Tyler loves Sausage. I'm not sure what he would do with out him.

New years resolutions.....

For the most part I like January.... I think! It's hard to like the bitter cold but I love the renewed energy and motivation it gives me. Like most everybody else we set our new year resolutions at the beginning of January and we do pretty well until February and they all start going down hill. Well we hope that will not happen this year. We have set a bunch of small goals to help us reach our big goals. We will see how it goes. This year (like every year) we set a goal to eat healthy and improve our body image. So to do this we have been working out. Tyler thought this was an excellent goal so he decided to join the fun....... You're never to young for a six pack right?