Pheasant Hunt

Brennen has an obsession with hunting. He loves guns, bows and arrows, and especially his sling shot. Look out I know. So when Travis called my dad and wanted all the boys to come over and hunt Brennen was not staying home. He carried the birds the entire time and my younger brothers came home saying they didn't know how his arms didn't fall off. I think they were just glad not to have to pack them. Of course his shirt was covered in blood but that is not even the best part. His prize possession from that hunt is the BIRD FOOT. If I find that disgusting foot laying around one more time I might just lose it. It has the tendon hanging out so you can pull it and the claws will open and close. He thinks it is just great and has not quit playing with it for days. Gross, I know, but boys will be boys. Ryan loves to pheasant hunt but he had to work so when He got home from work that night Brennen climbed up on his lap and said, "Don't be sad Dad, next time I will take you." He doesn't have to wait long, the day after Thanksgiving is the annual rabbit hunt and I am just waiting to see what the prize will be this time around. Which is worse a rabbit or pheasant foot?

As you can see we are finally going to attempt Disney Land. Wow are my kids ever excited. Okay, I must admit they may get that from their mom. I am also a little nervous about the whole plane ride with kids but we will cross our fingers and hope for the best. Katelyn is ready for breakfast with the princesses, Brennen can't wait to ride the jet plane, and Braxton he just wants some food. Mads is going with us so we are sure to have a blast.

Thanksgiving?

I walked into Wal-Mart a week ago (yes, I have been there several times since) and guess what? Christmas music is playing. My kids became so excited and of course we had to go walk through the Christmas isles which have been set up since before Halloween. I bought a new tree skirt but Hello!!! It is not even Thanksgiving yet. Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday and at our house it gets lost somewhere between the costumes and the Christmas music. Except the food of course, that never gets lost at our house, YUM! This year we are going to make a blessing book. It's not going to be elaborate. I am going to,of course, Wal-Mart and buying a small scrapbook, you know the kind with the cardboard feel pages. My kids are then taking the camera for a few days and taking pics of all our blessings. We have one of those cameras that the pic immediatly comes out of the camera, I have no idea what they are called. My kids think it's magic. But a digital would work just as well. Then we'll just glue them in the book and on Thanksgiving when we go around the table and talk about our blessings I will write down what they say about each one, after the big weekend I'll add in the rest of the pics I snap add a little journaling and wala (seriously, sometimes I wonder if I ever learned to spell) a finished book all about Thanksgiving. Oh, I almost forgot, most of this book will be created on a Monday and I'll get two birds with one stone. Yeah!!! If you have any other grand ideas I would love to hear them.

Pedal Pedal Pedal

Okay, so I know it has been forever since I have updated this blog so I am doing it now, kind-of. My camera with all my pics is outside in the car and it's freezing so I will have to wait until tomorrow. (which knowing me may be next month) Anyhow, this is Katelyn learning to ride her bike. She's been begging me for months to take off her training wheels. She picked up her bike and learned to ride it all by herself. This was after I had run up and down and up and down the rode helping her balance, after I felt like my lungs were going to burn right out of my chest, after I didn't know wether I would ever be able stand up straight again. (anyone who has leaned over balancing the short little bike knows what I am talking about) Now she is riding her bike like a pro. It is amazing how the minute it clicks riding becomes second nature. It was so much fun helping, okay watching, her learn such an exciting new skill.

A mummy at the dinner table?

The kids are so excited about Halloween (yes, we know it's still a month away) that we made a special dinner, a mummy. It actually ended up tasting pretty good. Here's the recipe if you want to make your own mummy. I made the head a little big so I will just use a chunk of an apple or a really small one if I do it again.

Pork Tenderloin Mummy

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup dijon mustard

thyme

1 pork tenderloin

salt and pepper

oil

8 tbsp butter

10 sheets phyllo dough

1 small apple

Bring heavy whipping cream and mustard to a simmer and cook until thick, add thyme. In the meantime, brush pork with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil six inches under broiler for about 8 min. Turn oven to 400* remove pork and let cool slightly. Brush one sheet phyllo dough with butter; repeat layer 4 times. Set aside 1/2 cup mustard for dipping and spread the rest on pork. Place pork of phyllo layers and wrap tightly. Brush another sheet of phyllo dough with butter and repeat layers three times. Using a pizza cutter, cut sheets into thin strips. Wrap around pork to resemble a mummies layers. Brush remaining phyllo sheets with butter and wrap apple. Place in shallow baking dish and bake for 20-25 min. Let stand 10 min. before cutting. Serve with remaining mustard for dipping sauce. (My kids refuse to eat mustard so we dip in ranch dressing with orange food coloring added!)

We took so many pictures at Katelyn's Princess Gala that it is hard to decide what to post. The princesses and knights had so much fun. We started out by filling the trampoline enclosure with royal balloons and everyone danced and jumped while waiting for friends to arrive. Then they all decorated princess hats and the boys made knight helmets. The kids were all dressed up and very in the mood to party. After dressing up we turned on the music and they danced in the ballroom. The knights then went to battle the dragon (pinata) and the girls kissed the frog prince. The cake was the first one I really decorated and I had a lot of fun with it. In fact I was really sad to cut it so I also made cupcakes. Weird, I know. My dad may be furious about his picture but hey, what do ya do? Katelyn is such a great girl, she was being a very good host making sure everyone was having fun. I can't believe she is already five, time has flown by. We love you Katelyn!

What a Party!

This is my very first post and I am so excited to get going. I have to tell Kristy thank you! She has been trying to convince me to start a blog for so long and now my family wishes I would put down my computer. This is Katelyn's birthday party, which was clear back in May, but she had so much fun we had to share it with everyone.