I've won two things this week!

How amazing! One didn't really have much competition, and really I only won because the real winner never provided an email address. The other thing I really won, out of lots of people! It was from couponcravings.com. I won a pair of crocs! Woohoo! I've been drooling over the new styles for kids, so I'm excited!

In other news, our official first day of school for the 10-11 school year is tomorrow! I hope it goes well! We will be doing school Mon-Thurs with Friday as a catch up day (hopefully not needed). I plan to keep myself at home those mornings and run errands as needed after Paul's nap. I hope things go well and we have lots of fun and learn lots of stuff! I hope to update more about that later! Maybe a weekly, what we learned or what was fun?

And, I totally need to dump pictures off my camera, but I haven't yet. Maybe I will later tonight? Maybe? I hate getting this behind, it makes me not want to get caught up!

Best cookies...EVER?

Maybe! They were pretty darn good! I wish I took a picture, because they looked liked really good cookies too! These were the Hu La La Surprise cookies with a little tweak.

Luke & I had our very first Hu La La cookie out in Salt Lake City last October from the Lion House. It was unique and good. I looked through the Lion House cookbooks I own and couldn't find the recipe. Typical I thought, if I like something, the restaurant won't give out the recipe (like Barbara Jeans pumpkin bread). Well, they happened to put out a new cookbook soon after, Lion House Bakery, and the recipe was inside! We have made it many many times and it is a favorite of ours, and my mother in law is pretty fond of them too! Well, I decided to make these for our little Mills mini family reunion on Saturday. While I was mixing them up, I thought I would try to make them a little less chunky, so I whirled the oats and coconut, separately, through my vitamix (super powerful blender, though I'm sure a food processor would work or regular blender would do the oats, but watch out with the coconut) before adding to the cookie mix. I love them this way!

Before you make these cookies, be prepared to get your hands messy! These don't call for a mixer and its a lot of dough so I just knead it together with my hands. Oh, and I generally make these into big cookies, a recipe makes a few more than 3 dozen. So, check out the recipe link, and mix these together the next time you need a cookie fix, I don't think you will regret it!

Videos

Kids playing leapfrog. Ruthanne asked me to take a video of them playing.

Paul walking down the hallway. He has really been walking all over today. He does rounds of the living room, falling down some, crawling over to something to stand up, then starting over. One day he will learn to stand on his own, right?

Protein Packed Pancakes

Say that three times fast! This morning I made myself an experimental batch of pancakes from the internet. I tested it on me before I made a bunch for the gang. Tomorrow we will all be having them for breakfast (I must have like it!). The bonus (besides all the protein)? It was super easy!

Protein Packed Pancakes
2 eggs
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup oats (old fashioned or quick should be fine)
splash of vanilla

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend it up! Pour on your griddle/pan and cook like regular pancakes! Serve like normal pancakes or I'm imagining some fresh jam on top would be fabulous!

I did eat most of the above recipe (and really doubt I will be hungry until lunch) so tomorrow I will triple the recipe probably for me, hubby, and three (two and half?) kids!

Can you please have more kids?

Come on, Mom, we need a whole army of clones!

This is what John just came up and told me. Apparently my whole purpose in life is to supply his army with more clones! Too much Star Wars/Clone Wars?

I think Paul is making it pretty clear that he wants to be the baby in this family. Its not set it stone but I can definitely say a baby clone is not making its way into this family any time soon.

Walking?

Well, sometimes Paul is! It all started last Saturday (the 3rd). He was standing holding on to the guest bed and me & Patricia were in there. Next thing we knew he had let go and just stood there for a second and then took a couple steps. Nothing too major, and I figured it was just an accident and it could be MONTHS until he did that again! Well, he has consistently taken some steps occasionally over the past week. Yesterday he did a couple bouts of lots of steps (7-8?) but today I don't really think he has taken any. He is on his way to being a toddling little boy.

Ruthanne is 7!

And, it was THE. BEST. DAY. EVER!  Her words, not mine!  She had a little birthday part here at the house with the kids from her Sunday School class.  We did dinner, cake, presents, then some outdoor fun.  Outside there were sprinklers, swings, chalk, bubbles, water balloons (NOTE:  100 water balloons don’t last long!). 

Some fun present opening.  She was sooo excited about her presents and loved each and every one of them.

 

Getting ready to blow out the candles.  Oh, this isn’t a very good picture but the icing is pink with a white big 7.  I was SUPPOSED to make the cake pink also, but I forgot.  I felt sooo bad, but Ruthanne took it surprisingly well. 

 

Making a wish.

Outdoor fun.  See the swingset in the background, the kids LOVE it!  Thanks Mimi & Poppa for coming to help us put it together.

Well, I was trying to get a picture of this stinker eating cake off of the kitchen floor but he wanted the camera!  Suck that baby gut in!

Next year I guess John will have to have a party.  Thank goodness I have about 11 months to prepare!

Water, water, water!

Man, we’ve been busy!  Where is my relaxing summer?  Between starting back up piano lessons, two weeks of constant swim lessons, gardening, school, etc, we have been BUSY!  Thankfully some of those things were fun things for the kids! 

Its also been HOT so those swimming lessons helped the kids cool off, but only made me want to jump in the pool, clothes and all!  Ruthanne can swim and tread water and float now!  Woohoo!  She loves getting her face wet and playing around.  Yay!  John also made significant progress (last year he wouldn’t even get wet, I think he associated it with potty accidents) and will put his face in the water and can almost tread water.  We are going to keep playing in the water this summer and we’ll see if he can make more progress.  Here is a pic from before swimming lessons:

We also had some fun water time in our own backyard.

 

Then, Friday we went and played at Mistletoe State Park as part of the local Marine Family Day (we get to do fun things with the Marines and Navy because of Luke’s assignment).  There was a bouncy house, playground, bbq, and a little beach.  The kids had a blast at the beach and I got in the water with them.  Luke and Paul mostly enjoyed some shade, but for about the last 5 minutes, Paul came a played in the water too.  I thought he wouldn’t like it because lately he hates his baths, but he LOVED it!

 

This is just one of those fluke funny pictures.  I’m pretty sure he was not upset but just making a funny face because of the water splashing.

Hopefully I will have a little more time to blog soon!

4 Stitches

The kids survive their first day of swimming lessons, but John is running around the house and splats down on the ground with a slice over his eyebrow.  It didn’t look too bad to me at first, but after he got a bath it started looking like it was gapping open, so Luke took him to an urgent care (Luke is getting good at this, he took Paul to the ped yesterday – another ear infection for Paul).  John now has four stitches over his eyebrow and can’t be submerged underwater at swimming lessons until Thursday.  Luke says he was very good, and got John some food on the way home, Sonic it was.  The hamburger and fries were gone but the shake was still fully intact and Ruthanne got to share some too.

Stitches come out Sunday sometime.  We’re wondering what will happen to Ruthanne tomorrow so she has to go to the doctor.  Hopefully nothing!  Can’t life be boring?

Here’s the Cutie Patootie!

I think we made it to five, if not, oh, well, I guess that many people just aren’t entertained by my blog!

Here are a few befores.  Luke made me have a photo session with Paul before he let me cut his hair.

 

 

There are no “durings” of the haircut because it was just not pretty.  Lets just say Paul was not appreciative of the haircut.  I ended up holding him on my lap and cutting his hair, we were both completely covered with hair by the end!  And, here are the results.

 

I have a few more on the camera, but its inside and I’m outside watching the kids ride bikes.  We really like it.  He looks like a little boy now and not a baby!