Bukey Christmas Baking Day

As a kid, you look forward to the arrival of the late-December package containing all of Grandma's Christmas presents and stocking stuffers. That being said, I most looked forward to Grandma's "other" package that arrived the first week of December.

Every year, my Grandma Supola baked literally dozens of different goodies in the month of November and then shipped them off for us to enjoy the entire month of December.

Since she lived in Montana and we lived in Idaho, Oklahoma or Texas, this package was the primary way we connected for the holidays. Each treat came in its own colorful tin, carefully wrapped in contact paper to preserve eat yummy bite. Opening a tin and discovering its contents was an exciting event. Was it fudge, toffee, peanut blossoms or shortbread? Either way, the goodies were always homemade and somehow, chalk full of love. Even as a child, I think I understood the magnitude of the gesture and couldn't help but feel special, loved and important.

Grandma passed away a day after Christmas in 2003 and I think about her often. So in honor of her love, time and gifted calories, we decided it was time for the first annual Bukey Christmas Baking Day.

Favorite moments from the day...

Nicole and Nixsen decorate sugar cookies

Crew has a run-in with a very chocolaty spoon

Janice selects her favorite cookie cutters (out of one of Grandma's old tins)

Nixsen charms us with her version of every Disney princess song

Cutting cookies

Begging for another marshmallow

Manning the candy station (Keep stirring, keep stirring!)

Pouring the fudge. hmmmmm!

Crew enjoys his first sugar cookie

The boys crack nuts for the toffee

It was amazing to have that much of the family together in one place. Love you guys and love you, Grandma!

Jumping in the Leaves

or at least trying.

As part of our ode to fall, I really wanted to play in the leaves with Crew. Lucky for me, both our trees decided to drop all their leaves over night last week. Talk about a leaf-filled playland!

Crew wasn't sure he wanted anything to do with it.


So I jumped in to show him how much fun leaf crunching can be.

Throwing the leaves did end up being a crowd favorite...

Along with waving at any and all passing cars.

But before you know it, he's on to the next thing.

Love you, lil guy!

Back Yard Apple Picking

Finding myself a little short on time and creativity today, Crew and I headed to the back yard to keep busy for that last hour before his afternoon nap. My sadly overgrown fruit trees caught my eye and I decided to have mercy on the worst one, this apple tree. The branches are literally "heavy" with fruit, most of which had become a snack for some lucky bug/worm.

I decided to pick some of the apples and at least haul them to the trash cans. Beware, branches of overgrown apples tend to drop a few at any given moment. Crew escaped unharmed but I did get one or two to the face.

Look at these beauties! For two years the men in my life have tried to convince me that this is a crab apple tree but I am not buyin' it. They look pretty awesome (and free) to me! :)

I guess only a deep dish of apple crisp will tell.

And just because Crew and I had so much fun with all the rotten ones. A little video for your viewing pleasure.

Snip, Snip: Baby's First Hair Cut

Despite a very painful loss from our Utes last weekend, the game's silver lining was winning two free haircuts. 

Crew's been sporting a hard core mullet for weeks months now and we finally decided it was time to get it cut. Truthfully, I was a little attached to it, especially when he got those little sweat curls in the back. 

But it was time.

As you can see, he was less than enthusiastic to begin. 

Luckily, our stylists was prepared. 

He was willing to lick the sucker only if I held it. Plus a side view of those lush locks.

As the sugar sinks in, the mood visibly improves....

What a handsome guy! Now, what to do with that envelope of baby hairs?

Fall Family Fun List

This week I found the most inspiring list of Fall Family Fun To-do's on one of my very favorite blogs. It was just the "kick in the butt" I needed to get started on enjoying my favorite season.

(http://www.bowerpowerblog.com/2011/10/totally-self-explanatory/)

I'm committing to many of them, including our recently-been-done task of visiting a pumpkin patch.

My sister and I took the kiddos up to the Pack Farm in Farmington. We loved the mini hay bale maze, scare crows and dormant tractors just waiting to be explored by the little guys.

We also managed to come home with a few rockin' goodies. Pumpkins are great, but don't you love all the weird gourds? They're definitely my favorite.


A few additions I'll be making to the list include:

Soup Dinner with homemade Sourdough Bread
Halloween costume making
Halloween Pictures
Drive one of the "Utah Fall Tours"
Hunting down the perfect pair of boots

Any other ideas for the list?

Utah Man am I

Maybe we're gluttons for punishment or maybe Cole didn't want to track down a sitter for the evening...either way, Crew made it to the University of Utah's Homecoming game with us this weekend.

Amazingly, there is almost nothing to report except it was a huge success.

Crew loved:

• the kettle corn and corn dogs (I know, dinner of champions)
• the cheering crowds; he loved to clap along
• the kids in the rows around us and
  
• the "players;" Lots of pointing and say,"Yes, players"
  

I doubt he will be tagging along on all future games but it was fun to be together as a family for the evening.

18 Months

Every time I blink, I feel like Crew discovers something new or shows us more of his rapidly developing personality.

Things I really want to remember about this stage:

Crew LOVES dogs. He signs puppy when he hears one bark, sees one on the Dr's calendar and especially when we arrive at the babysitter's house.


Expressing Emotions. When Crew is frustrated, he isn't afraid to hit, grab or whine about it. Luckily, he is quickly learning the meaning of the words "soft and gentle." Because we are first-timers and don't know how else to do it, we all (including Crew) stroke our checks slowly while saying soft, gentle. Most of the time, it stops any physical outbursts. :)

Watch out, Crew and his cars are under foot! Just this week, he connected the dots about pushing things with wheels. He will mostly push around "Chuck, the dump truck," the singing school bus (below) and the carrier for all his wooden blocks.


Our little soloist. In addition to the constant babbling, Crew does his fair share of singing to me. I mostly notice it when we are driving in the car. Call me sentimental, but I wish I could bottle up his little, unidentified songs and keep them for when he's 16 and driving me crazy.

So Helpful. Crew can be distracted with any opportunity to be helpful. We get things out and put things away together. He loves to bring me items I often use. I can't help but laugh when I see him trying to drag my purse or his full size backpack across the room to me. LOVE it!

(Crew with a giant spoon and our unmatched socks basket)

Growing Boy
Stats from the Dr's
Head: 18.4 inches (22%)
Length: 30.51 inches (6%)
Weight: 20.92 (2%)

He's still pretty small for his age so we've officially started Project:Pack on the Pounds. More to come on that as I figure out how to reverse everything I've ever done to try and loose weight. :)

Good Bye Summer, Hello Fall

Fall is my very favorite time of year. I love the leaves, the warm soup and the chill in the air before we actually have to deal with snow.

That being said, there is a sense of sadness as we wave goodbye to summer, Bees games, hikes and bike rides.
How I will miss you summer! Til next year...

Untitled from Maura Lansford on Vimeo.

And maybe, one day, I will have enough energy to blog about our one yard project this summer. Maybe.

Clue: I will NEVER self install one of these again. :)

A la Baja

After months of hemming and hawing about what we should do to celebrate our five year anniversary (anniversary=May 13), we finally bit the bullet and decided on a 4-day cruise to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico. In the midst of really busy schedules and a eye for frugality, it turned out to a quick but really fun trip.

Catalina Island is about 3 seconds from Long Beach. So I'm pretty convinced we set sail just far enough to be in "international waters" for the Casino and then chilled the rest of the night.

In the morning we took a ferry into the island and set off for our kayaking excursion. We traveled along the coves of the island until we got to a small private beach and the Frog Rock formation.

Cole is such a water baby. While all the other couples were looking for shells, this man was out swimming in the ocean til the tour guide called him back in.




The next day we made our way to Ensenada, Mexico. We got duped into paying $4 for a shuttle ride 1.5 blocks into town. During the two minutes on the bus, we were sold on a tour to the local blow hole and street market. We were pretty crunched for time, so we don't have any photos of us haggling for those dang maracas. Needless to say, we finally got those, a poncho (for Crew) and a few silver bracelets for a semi-reasonable price. Having a hubby who is fluent in Spanish helps open a few doors with some vendors. :)

We did manage pictures of the blow hole and the yummy fish tacos.


Another highlight was paying $.50 to use what I believe is the nicest bathroom in Mexico. Well worth the investment.

We spent the last full day of the cruise at sea. I got all the laying out and reading that my albino body could handle.


Turns out we also look pretty good all cleaned up, so here's a picture from the night of the Captains Dinner.

Overall, such a wonderful trip. Loved hanging out with my handsome man and literally leaving everything behind. Next time we want to bring friends. Anyone up for a Cruise in 2013?