Happy Birthday Ty!!

Tyler celebrated a birthday while we were on vacation... he's now two years old (and acting every day of it) and he got to spend his birthday at a baseball game! The LA Dodgers were playing the NY Mets the weekend we got to California, so Shaun and I took Ty to the game. Ty was so excited! He jumped up and down on his chair and pointed down at the field yelling "Ball! Ball!" And everytime someone hit the ball- he would turn to one of us, with his mouth in the shape of an "O" and say "Whoa!" He's a little bit of a sports nut- can't imagine where he gets that from... everything he wears has to have a ball somewhere on it, otherwise it's like hog-tying a moth to get him to wear something different. Anyway- he sure had fun. He loved the hot dog and the ice cream.

After the game, we went down the the tidepools at Corona Del Mar and watched the waves. Then we crawled around on the rocks looking for different signs of sea-life. Ty took one look at a crab and wanted to run in the other direction. I think there was something about the scuttling they did that he didn't like. He loved watching the little hermit crabs though- as long as nothing got too close. The sunset that night over the ocean was just beautiful and we couldn't help but take a few pictures while we were there! Later that night, we put some candles on a cake and had him make a wish. Ty is the biggest ham and loves to be the center of attention- so a birthday party just for him was right up his alley. I can't believe that he's two already- these last couple of years have really flown by!

Sunny California!!

Hey everybody! I know that all of you are avid readers of our blog and have been eagerly anticipating a post that just hasn't come. It is not just because I am lazy, but rather- I have been on a much needed vacation!! But we're home now and it's back to sanity. For those of you still in the dark- Shaun, Ty and I spent a week in Southern California with my family playing on the beach. I have pictures, and I think it's going to either be a long blog, or a long list of blogs since I can't make my pictures all cute like Janae can (you'll have to tell me your secret later Janae!).

Hmmmm. Where to start... We actually flew in to San Diego and then drove up to Santa Ana to meet the rest of my family (mom, dad, dave, nat, miss and miss' fiance mark). We decided to head up to the Colesseum (so not spelling that right) to watch the LA Galazy take on Chelsea (soccer for you laymen out there). It was the first game that David Beckham was playing in so it was a pretty big deal. I got to take a few pictures of him coming onto the field- it was so great! It's been fun having Nat around (Dave's wife) since she is a senior on the BYU's (boo! hiss!) soccer team- she gets the rest of us excited about the game again!

Can't I skip this part?

I have to say... I am so not looking forward to this next part of my little boy's development. Seriously, potty training is starting to look like a massive hill that I don't even want to look at, much less attempt to scale. Shaun and I keep trying to prime Ty into getting excited about it. We got him his own toilet seat and a stool so that he could get up to the toilet, and a very special jar that has been labeled "Treats for Poopies". It's been kind of funny- Ty knows when he has to go- but usually tells us after he's done it in his diaper. At least that's a step in the right direction. Anyway, I went to the grocery store tonight to get some cornflake crumbs and came back to my boys hanging out in the bathroom.

Cups? Pints? Ounces?

Hey you guys! For those of you out there that know me- you know that I basically live in the kitchen these days and anytime I find something that makes my life easier is something that I can't wait to share with someone in hopes that it does the same for them. Anyway- I can't count how many times I sit and try to remember how many teaspoons make 1 tablespoon. Or how many cups are in a pint. And what about pan sizes? How do you know what you can swap out for something else? Martha Stewart came to my rescue and created some fun little reminders. I'll put the link here: http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.3a0656639de62ad593598e10d373a0a0/?vgnextoid=e17d608f8532f010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default&rsc=dl_home03

Hopefully you'll all get some use out of them too!

Trouble Trouble Trouble

Does anyone else out there have a monkey for a kid? I came around the corner today and this is what I found: Ty had pushed our small cooler up next to the fridge and climbed on it to see what he could reach. The silly thing is- there really isn't anything worth getting or reaching up on the fridge, I think he just wanted to see if he could do it. What a goof. I just never know where I'm going to find him- tomorrow he could be on top of the washer or maybe driving the car. I guess I'll just have to keep you guys in the know so that if you see him doing the grocery shopping at Albertsons next week- you'll be able to keep and eye on him for me. Just don't blink- he'll be gone again before you know it.

I'm Melting! I'm Melting!

Okay. I don't know about the rest of you- but we are DYING of heat up here! It's been over 100 degrees all week and it isn't expected to go down anytime soon. In the name of "cooling off" Ty and I walked to Fred Meyer the other morning while it was still cool and picked up a little wading pool- but I think the picture on the box was a little deceptive. I really thought we were getting a small pool for Ty to splash around it- but the thing is freaking huge!! Shaun and I could swim laps in it! Okay- maybe not that big, but it definately takes up our entire deck. Anyway- Ty and I filled it bucket by bucket (we live on the second floor and don't have a hose that reaches that far) until there was enough to play around in. Ty had a blast and we'll have to do it again in the near future (like tomorrow since it will be 103).

Peanut Butter Cookies

Did you know that the average peanut butter cookie has 200 calories in it? And 12 grams of fat? Yuck. Keeping that in mind- I'm adding a new recipe to my recipe section that has all the taste of a good peanut butter cookie, but has only 130 calories per cookie and only 4 grams of fat. Whew. I feel better already.

See Dani? It's a good thing we went for that walk last night... that way we burnt off a crumb of the cookies you made!!

Happy 4th of July!!

Whew! We have been all over the place this last week for the 4th of July weekend! To prepare for the holiday, Ty and I spent the day in the kitchen making lots of goodies. We made some special red 4th of July cupcaks and some "Sparklers" (we dipped big pretzels in white chocolate and then sprinkled them with red and white sprinkles- for a "sparkling" effect). Ty is my biggest helper in the kitchen, and his favorite job is "Taste Tester". For the actual 4th, we went down to Salt Lake City to spend a few days with the Henriksen clan. We spent the day playing, and then went swimming to help cool off! Ty loves the water and cried when it was time to leave. Then we went down to the Cottonwood Club (the place that Shaun and I had our wedding reception) for fireworks on the golf course. My whole family comes out for this and we take up half of a hill! But it's so much fun! I love getting a chance to talk to everybody (Thanks again for the forced invite Gary and Roz!). Ty and his Aunt Missy ran around together and she even kifed a balloon for him. He spent the rest of the time running around with his cousin Daniel and his Aunt Nat and Uncle Dave. It was hard to tell who was more worn out! When it came time for the actual fireworks, Ty was so tired that he tried to fall asleep- but once he realized what the fireworks actually were- he kept one eye open and the rest of his face buried in grandma's shirt. I guess we'll have to try them again next year! Ty was so tired by the end of the night- that it was all he could do to keep his eyes open on the car ride home.