C is for candy factory!

The other week my sister and I thought we better get going on our ABC project and took the kids to the Sweets Candy factory for a tour. Yes, we are only on the letter c, but you know how it goes-summer gets busy yada, yada! But let me tell you, we had so much fun! I highly recommend going! I took Alexis when she was about eights months, but this time was so much more fun! First of all you get to wear these awesome hair nets that definitely fulfill your lunch lady dreams! Next you get to watch a little video explaining a little at what goes on at the factory. You then get led around the factory and get to see how the candy is made, and if you are lucky you get to taste some of the candy fresh off the conveyor belts. We came on a good day because we got to taste the orange sticks, chocolate covered marshmallow bears, and candy corn flavored taffy! (yes they make the holiday candies like six months in advance!) I have a killer sweet tooth that has been passed on down from my mother to me and then onto Alexis so- WE WERE IN HEAVEN! The air was filled with the smell of chocolate that permeated into our nostrils! It was like watching an episode of the food network's unwrapped, but in person! You end the tour by taking a spin around the candy shop, and naturally spending a fortune on candy because you just can't help yourself! I think we have finally now recovered from our sugar coma!

The lunch lady hats were a huge hit, and caused hours of laughter!

Tommy, Alexis and their cousins Kate and Jack

I just had to show this picture of Alexis the first time I took her!

can you believe how chubby she was?!

Happy Fourth of July!

We had a great time this Fourth! We started the festivities with the Kaysville parade. Alexis and Tommy loved it! Alexis scored on the candy, mostly because her cousins so graciously shared theirs with her. She wasn't quite fast enough-though she did catch a weird looking chicken thing off the Bukos truck that some crazy lady tried to steel right from her hands, but Alexis held on tight as I gave the lady the stink eye! We then went to Oakridge Country Club for dinner and fun. We even got to ride the golf carts! The kids got a huge kick out of this, and Tommy turned out to be a good driver- go figure! We played so hard that the kids couldn't stay up for the fireworks- maybe next year! But Nate and I had a great view of about three different shows from our front and back yard. A perfect end to a great day!

Tommy enjoying his first parade

The infamous chicken!

Hanging out at the parade

Tom Dog enjoying dinner

Alexis with her Little Mermaid balloon

Crazy drivers!

Quest for the Best!

Today the kids and I made our favorite Sunday treat-COOKIES! I admit I have an adiction to baking cookies. Some people meditate or do yoga to relax-I bake cookies- or brownies or cakes, whatever I'm in the mood for! So today I felt like chocolate chip. I don't have a favorite recipe so I just used the one on the back of the chocolate chips bag. Well I was sorely dissapointed-they came out flat as a pan cake. I have tried several recipes for these glorious cookies and I can't come up with a tried-and-true. You know the cookie that is not too cakey and not too flat-just right. So if all you bakers out there can help a girl out, I would love your favorite recipe! We can even turn it into a competition-the winner gets bragging rights! And I promise I will try them all because cookies are my crack! (just kidding- well maybe not!)

p.s you can leave your recipe on the comment section or email me at bestchocchip@aol.com

the dissapointing result-though they still tasted good, but did not satisfy!

Latest and Greatest (it's about time!)

I have been a bad blogger- shame on me! A lot has gone on since the last post so I will try to catch up without boring everyone!

First of all Tommy has finally started walking! It's the drunken sailor walk mixed with a little prancing of the feet- I love it! He thinks he is hot stuff- which he is!

Next Nate and I celebrated our 7th anniversary on June 7th. Wow how time flies. I still remember Nate trying to hit on me at Church and thinking he was the most handsome man I had ever seen! I feel so lucky to be married to such a great man, and am very grateful he is such a wonderful husband and father. I love you Nate! I wish I had pictures of our wedding on my computer but our scanner isn't working. So you get a repeat of this picture from our cruise. I realize that we have very few pictures of us together- how sad!

Next Alexis started and passed her first level of swim lessons! She was a little reluctant to go but as soon as she saw her teacher and got in the water her fears went down the drain! She went crazy! She was always asking "what's next teacher?" I was so proud of my little Bobo. Now every time she gets in the bath she likes to show me her new "moves!" Her personal favorite is floating on her back, but my favorite is her awesome belly flop! Tommy was seriously upset that he couldn't get in the water too, but was easily bribed with multiple packs of fruit snacks!

(I don't know if she was more excited about passing swim lessons or getting a treat!)

(Notice the mouth packed full of a whole bag of fruit snacks!)

Two saturdays ago I was able to get together with some of my childhood friends. It brought back so many good memories. I spent many days and nights with these girls playing night games, watching movies- I remember watching "The Labrynth" for the first time at Brooke and Ambers house, talking about boys, trying to stay up all night at sleepovers, the list could go on! It was so good to see all of them, and to see how their lives have turned out. All of them have turned into wonderful women, and I am in awe of each one of them. I really miss those times we shared as kids. I will always have fond memories with these girls. Thanks Brooke for welcoming us into your home. For those girls who live in Utah we should get together more often. And for Amber I will have to settle being updated by reading your blog, but please call me anytime you are in Utah and we can catch up. Yet again I forgot my camera so I don't have any pics of the festivities, sorry!

Lastly we have really been enjoying the begining of summer now that the weather has gotten better (what's with the cold rain?)! Last Friday I bought the kids a blow up pool. They had so much fun swimming in it that after I had dried them off and got them dressed they wanted to just go stick their feet in- you can guess how that ended up!

Learning the ABC's with pizzaz!

My sister Kim and I are both trying to teach our kids the alphabet. So she heard of the idea to make learning fun and memorable by having a day for each letter of the alphabet. So for example on day "B" you would eat bagels, blueberries, etc. You would go to a place that starts with B like a bakery or bookstore. And you would work on writing the letter B and saying it's sound throughout the day. We also decided to take it one step further and make a look book of each day we do. We are going to collect memorabilia and pictures from each day and put them in a book so our kids can look through them and see the letters and all of the fun stuff we do! We decided if we did two letters a week it will keep us busy the whole summer. You can get really creative with the activities you do, and you can come up with a lot of things that are free!
So on Wednesday we stared with "A" day and went to the Aerospace museum at Hill Air force Base. Admission was free and the kids loved seeing all of the real airplanes. There are even flight simulator games the kids can play, and paper airplane making contests. After the museum we ate at Artic circle- notice the A in Artic circle- and had apples for afternoon snacks. It was a really fun day- but both of us forgot our cameras! So no pictures of this day, hopefully I won't forget again! But here are some cute pictures of my kids anyway! Have fun learning!


What happens at dinnertime when Mommy is not home!



Alexis the cool ballerina!

Vroom,Vroom, Beep, Beep, CRASH!

Do you remember those "Little Tyke" plastic cars from when you were little? Well, I do! I never actually had one of my own, but I secretly coveted one. So when one of my friends got one for her kids it brought back serious feelings of want! So I found these beauties on the Walmart website and never looked back! It's so fun to watch the kids zoom around the house (they will be exiled outside as soon as the weather is warmer)! When Alexis isn't looking Tommy will try to hijack her pink car- for some reason he always likes Alexis' stuff better! I don't blame him that pink and blue car is a beauty. I seriously love reliving my childhood through my kids!

Treehouse Museum

On Monday my friends Jamie, Becky, and Michelle and I, along with our excited kiddos, took a trip to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden. It was too funny to see how Alexis ran from each exhibit with an excited fervor, never stopping to take a breath! And when she couldn't find her friends she made new ones! Tommy had so much fun playing with the trains and his favorite thing- the BIG fire truck! He did freak out though at the big stuffed dinosaur (thanks Jamie!) I highly suggest taking your kids! Mondays from 10-12 am parents are free and kids are $3. Don't you just love a great deal?!

Tommy and his best buddies Abby and Bryson (too busy to look at the camera!)

Tommy navigating the huge map of Utah

The future President?

Alexis sailing on the Mayflower

I couldn't get the kid off of this BIG fire truck!

Alexis jamming on the bongo drums in a life-size tee pee