Pookie Bear

I was doing a photo session the other night and ended up having to take my kids. I was shooting a small family. They had a little girl a little bit older than Maycie. Maycie thought it was pretty cool to get her pictures taken like the little girl. Cool beans dude...I got some way cute pictures of her!

Doesn't she melt your heart!

NOTE: Pookie bear is a nickname Con gave her when she was just a few days old. Jaxon calls her Pookie sometimes too. To him, he is "buddy" and Maycie is "pookie".


FYI - You can view the family photo session I did the other night at: www.capturedmomentsbymandie.blogspot.com
(check tomorrow though...I don't have them all edited yet!)

Elvis Lives!!!

"I HATE dressing up", says Conrad. "I don't care, you are anyways!" says Mandie.

This was at a couples only Halloween party. We played American Idol on the Wii...so basically we learned that no one knew how to sing in our group. The worse you were, the more entertaining it was. Conrad is doing a duet with our friend Clint. (video to follow...had a hard time loading tonight)

Sorry, turn your head taco style for this one. Clint was supposed to be Anna Nicole Smith, but he just turned out to be a hoochy mama 'cause no one got it!

I wasn't in the mood to go too far out of character...WITCH! Doesn't Con look like he is having a blast! haha No really, it was fun. And we pulled a first....HIRED a babysitter...NICE...I think we might try that more often!

We also had a family Halloween party with some other friends. It too, was a blast. This is Jaxon trying to hit the witch pinata.

You can't tell, but Maycie is Nemo and Jaxon is Squirt!

Thanks for the parties!

Stay tuned for an American Idol debut featuring Elvis himself!

Sinfully delicious!

These are at least a "once-a-weeker" at our house during the Fall season!

Pumpkin Pancakes

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 and 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (I have just used cinnamon before)
1 teaspoon salt
1 and 3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup Libby 100% pure pumpkin
1 large egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Makes approx. 12 pancakes. Serve with butter, syrup and WHIP CREAM (cool whip)! The whip cream is a must. NOTE: if you are watching calories...replace the oil with applesauce and omit the butter and syrup and use fat free sugar free cool whip! YUMMY!

Con's busy just got busier....

With the economy struggling, we are constantly worrying about our financial security. How and where can we save money? is the constant question I ask myself daily. It hit me the other week that I need to concentrate just as much or more on my family's spiritual security. Well, I prayed about it, and didn't exactly get the answer in the way I thought. Conrad was called, sustained, and set apart today as the 2nd counselor in our bishopric. I am so proud of him and grateful for the priesthood in our home. Now, on top of working full time, school full time, he will now have church full time. We used to look forward to the weekends so we can spend some time with our daddy. I guess Saturday will have to do. I hope we can live up to the blessings that we are capable of receiving through this calling.

**NOTE: Wish me luck because I will have my kids...aka JAXON...all by myself in sacrament meeting. YIKES!!!!!

Raisins!

I wouldn't normally share something like this. But, hey 95% of you that read this are probably mothers and can relate in some small measure to this experience I had with Maycie last night.

Potty training Maycie was...well...EASY! Really! She caught on super quick, even through the night. Since being in "princess panties" she has had 3 accidents, all of which she was super embarrassed about. (I would be too if I pooped my pants!) We are now at the stage where I don't have to tell her or remind her to use the bathroom, she does it on her own. If she tells me in a store that she has to go potty, I can now tell her to hold it till we get home. Life is getting GREAT!

WRONG!

She comes to me last night and shows me her princess panties. "Mommy, they're dirty." "Maycie, they are dirty because you didn't wipe good. We need to wipe our bums really good." "No, Mommy, they are dirty because of poopy in them!"

EXCUSE ME!

As she is explaining the "skid marks", I notice a trail of RAISINS coming from the bathroom, down the hall, and into the living room. Goodness Child...did you really have to show me that you pooped your pants! She was a little stunned that when she actually made it to me that there were no more poopies in her panties. I pointed to the trail she had left and explained to her how disgusted I was. It wasn't exactly a trail to paradise.

"It's okay, Mommy. You can just pick them up. Let me see your happy face!"

Oh child, I WILL show you my happy face......LATER!!!!!

NOT! I repeat, NOT!

We had a few family things going on this last weekend, so we decided to head home. We enjoyed a nice, smooth, easy going ride.....

NOT! I repeat, NOT!

First we get up at 5 am. We have a baptism in Pockie and have to be there by 10 am. It takes 3 hours to get there. We leave just before 6:30. PLENTY of time. NOT! I repeat, NOT! We drove through a snow storm...hhmm...let me check my calendar...October 11....trapped in a snow storm...interesting. Our fault though, the weather man said it was going to snow this weekend. But, I pushed that little thought in the very back of my head along with the thought, "it will rain in the valleys, snow in the mountains." NOT! I repeat, NOT! We drove through one of the worst storms ever. Did we make it to the baptism? Barely! Showed up at 10:30 am. Good thing it was a Stake baptism and there were 11 kids being baptized. But, we were really glad that we made it and re-learned about our baptismal covenants and the Holy Ghost.

We then decided to venture to Logan to see my sister who just had a baby. No big deal, only an extra hour. NOT! I repeat, NOT! Crazy kids! The picture above portrays that things were smooth sailing for us....NOT! I repeat, NOT! He cried himself to sleep. Keep in mind, Jaxon doesn't have a monotone soft cry. He has a piercing, loud scream. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a soar throat today. I know I have an ear ache!!!!! But, it was really good to see our other family and baby Zack.

Hhmm...let's see...when is our next road trip...can't wait. NOT! I repeat, NOT!

Lose, Lose

We were at the park the other day and Maycie comes running over with her hands holding her...well...you know. "I have to go potty." She started the potty dance. We looked around and NO bathroom. What does a parent do...you let them pee outside and it teaches the wrong thing...you try and get her home and she pees all over her clothes and car seat. Thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking, thinking...let her pee outside. So we found a little corner and dropped her pants.

Now, only 2 days have gone by. Maycie and Jaxon are playing on the back patio. I look out to check on them and Maycie has her pants around her ankles. YIKES! Yup...you guessed it, she peed outside again! Sad thing is, we live in an UPSTAIRS apartment. Yup...you guessed it again, it drizzled down and left a HUGE puddle on the gentleman's porch below us.

We officially just became "THOSE" neighbors.........

Conference Craft

One of my favorite things to do during the Saturday conference sessions is a craft. For some reason, I listen better. I kept thinking all last week what I wanted to do. I have PLENTY of things I could have worked on or rather....projects that needed finished. But, none of those sounded appetizing. I didn't want to go purchase a project because I am in a thrifty, frugal, anti-spending money state. I finally remembered that I had this project cut out. A friend and I seen this particular craft in a magazine, only it was an Easter version. I thought to myself, I can do that for the other holidays as well. So, we came up with a pattern and I cut them out. Well, I thought it turned out pretty ugly after I cut it out...so I stashed it in the closet. I decided to get it out this weekend, wipe the 2 years dust it had collected, and I started to paint. Not bad huh!!!! I am super proud of myself because I had nothing to look at/copy....I am REALLY good at copying!!!

Now...where to put it...?