Skittles is Back

 Our elf is back and ready to have a "hole" lot of fun!  Haha.  I tell you we have way too much fun with this little guy!  This year he came with a cool idea.  He told the boys to try and do a good deed everyday and write it down and put it in the Christmas tin he brought.  Then he can report to the North Pole, all the ways the Christensen boys have spread holiday cheer this month:)  I think Santa is really going to like this :)

 

Man I am going to miss Skittles and all his antics when we have no little people in the house anymore.  I know that time is coming quickly--boo hoo!!

 

Hope you have a very happy weekend!

What are you up to?

We are making Christmas caramels, white chocolate pretzels and watching Family Man!

I love watching this movie every Christmas season--it is the best!!

 

Weekend in Pictures

 Friday started out with Coleman's scope at the Children's Hospital.  Luckily there was ESPN while we waited.  We caught up on the March Madness.  With everything going on at our house, we totally forgot to print off brackets and fill them out!  Darn!

The procedure went well and we had some good news!  The Dr felt from his view that the damage is minor and we have caught it before it progressed too far.  We are very grateful for that!  We have to wait until next week for the pathology report from the samples that he took for biopsy but the Dr was pretty confident that it will show little damage.  

 I was hoping with that news that maybe it wasn't Celiac disease but just a wheat allergy that he could outgrow.  Unfortunately the Dr explained that this is not the case.  The blood panel they ran showed that Coleman definitely has the disease.  He said there are certain antibodies that they test for and would be about 5 normally and Coleman's were like 125--which makes them 99.9% positive that he has Celiac disease. Since this is a genetic disease, now our whole family needs to be have that blood test--just a fun little Spring Break activity--the boys are so excited:( ugh. LOL  The Dr said that he is always surprised that some people have the disease and it is doing damage inside but they do not have symptoms.  Strange, huh?

Luckily he was feeling back to normal pretty quick.  Good enough to put puzzles together the next morning.  Yeah!  Any activity that does not require a screen, makes this Momma HAPPY happy happy:)

Brad and Connor's long awaited guy road trip to the NCAA National Wrestling Championship finally arrived.  Connor was SO excited about this weekend!  He didn't forget to fill out his wrestling brackets:)

 Getting to meet Olympic gold medalist and national Champion Jordan Burroughs!

 Happy boy and a very sweet Daddy to drive him 12 hours.  I wondered why they didn't fly--since with all Brad's traveling we have lots of flight miles and he said he wanted the long hours in the car to talk to his son:)  Connor was also able to practice his driving skills since he is turning 16 in May.  Woo hoo!

 My Easter grass is growing like crazy!!  We have had to give it a haircut since this picture!  I am going to have to remember to start it just a week before next year.

 Sunday games with friends.  SO darn fun!!  We need to do this more often:)

Cannon is it for "Ducky Wucky" much tohis delight!

How was your weekend?  I hope happy!

We are currently on Spring Break--and it is so freezing cold here, darn it!

All my outdoor activities I was planning will probably have to be scratched... Grr!

Weekend Fun

Did you have a good weekend?

I hope so! 

Ours started out with Daddy home from a bussiness trip--hurrah!

I am especially happy because this marks the end of the constant traveling that happens every January-February with his position.  Now we will go back to a once a month trip, instead of weekly.

On Saturday we had a birthday party at the Children's Museum.

It was super fun!  Thank you Cullen--and Happy Birthday!!

Bridger ran off with friends-- so Cannon and I were little buddies:)

We ended up being pulled into a cooking demonstration--Mini Vegetable pies.

It was so fun!

A little creation out of the leftover pie crust:)

Cannon now offers to make pies for our dinner every night.  He was so proud of himself and his new found cooking skills!

I am thinking of getting a mini pie maker so he can--it would be fun!

I am looking at this one.

Do you have one?  

Its FRIDAY and the sun is out!

Source: hydrangeasandwhitedaisies.blogspot.com via Melanie on Pinterest

So very glad to see the the sun even if it is pretty much freezing outside:)

The boys ended up having a half day yesterday and a 2 hour delay today due to "dangerous weather conditions".  We didn't have any snow that actually stuck, but there was a possibility of ice on the roads.  We laugh about how scared they are around here about any kind of snow or ice, but we are not complaining.  These snow days are GREAT!

A little Xbox time during the week--what a treat:)

Last night Brad got home after a week of traveling and we all enjoyed a cozy night at home with chili and warm cinnanom rolls.  Mmmmm...

Want the recipe to my all time FAVORITE cinnamon rolls?

Go here.  YUM!

Weekend Plans:

*Figure out how to make that darling burlap heart pillow pictured up top--shouldn't be too hard, right?

*Wrestling tournament for Coleman

*Basketball game for TJ

*Teaching my sweet Young Women at church a lesson "How can I know my Heavenly Father"--using this

 and this great talk in my lesson. 

*Get pictures for the family album caught up--I am 3 months behind!

*Get a library card (since I live in the county--I have to pay for it and I have never done it--but I think it is time!) and take my boys to pick out books.  I am finding that they would rather play electronics than pick up a book.  I am going to work on getting them excited to read. I really need too come up with some fun incentives to get them going.  Any ideas??

Happy Weekend

FRIDAY Hooray!

I get a surge of happiness on Thursday night just thinking that the next day is FRIDAY! Not to say that my weeks are bad, but weekends are special! I LOVE them, especially now that wrestling and basketball are done !  As much as I LOVE watching my boys and their beloved sports --a little break is nice:)

This weekend includes:

*Date with my hubby at Macaroni Grill--yum!

*Big pancake breakfast

*Super cleaning of our home

*Eye exam, errands and lunch date with Bridger

*Pizza and watching American Idol on the DVR with the boys--I am dying to see how they did and who is gone:(

*Church on Sunday (I am giving a talk- yikes!)

*Sunday dinner--I am trying this-it sounds soo good, I can't wait!

*Sunday naps (me and Brad), backyard football(instead of naps), board games and a neighborhood walk around the pond to feed the catfish (Cannon's favorite!)

 

Hooray for the weekend!

ENJOY!

Happy Friday Thoughts

Source: google.com via Melanie on Pinterest

Happy happy stuff on my mind:

*Brad gets home at 7pm after being out of town all week--can't wait to see him!  And the boys can't wait to have their Daddy back!

*BYU plays tonight...we are hoping they can redeem themselves after last weeks devastating loss-ugh! 

 Lets hope that a miracle happens and they come out STRONG!

*I have been re-reading all the conference talks from April in preparation for next weeks General Conference.  This one and this one have inspired me today.  I am so thankful to have these beautiful words of counsel and direction from current prophets and apostles.

*Can't wait to sleep in tomorrow morning--ahhhh!  Getting up daily at 5am wears me down by the weekend:)   I am going to  enjoy a lazy Saturday morning and make some pumpkin pancakes--we don't really have time for that during the week, you know?

*Finishing up a "BOO" banner for my Halloween mantle.  It turned out just as cute as I imagined--which doesn't always happen with my crafting projects:)

*Looking forward to the Relief Society General Broadcast and dinner tomorrow night at the church.  Always so inspiring!

*Going to go for a family bike ride this weekend. We will enjoy the {slightly} cooling temps and first hint of Fall colors!

I LOVE this time of year, don't you?!

Happy Weekend to you!

PS

 Monday I will share some tips and ideas for organizing your kitchen pantry and cupboards!  Let me tell you, completing that project was something to smile about:)  I have LOVED the results!

Weekend Iphone Shots and a new Silver Smile

Our weekend here in the South was full of sunshine and blossoms:) Yeah! I love Spring in the South. The boys found some seriously big fuzzy caterpillars lurking in the tulips. Most of my time was spent CLEANING my house, seriously! After a very LONG week of strep throat in our family, the house needed some attention! I luckily had a great book from Audible on my Iphone to keep me going. Have you used that app? It is awesome. I am currently listening to "A Forgotten Garden" by Kate Morton. Have you read it? It is very mysterious and the narrator has a very cool british accent. The perfect story to entertain while cleaning bathrooms:)

In other news... The boys found this HUGE frog going in to church on Sunday. It was sitting in the parking lot right next to our car. Right after I took this picture with my trusty Iphone (per the boys request) he started leaping towards me and I am embarrassed to say that I screamed in fear! Yuk!

Also Coleman spent some time in his "Secret Hideout" (located across the street from our house, hidden from view) with his best bud Kollin. This is how I found them Saturday evening when the pizza was ready and I was missing a couple little guys. And a final bit of news....My oldest is the proud owner of a new SILVER SMILE!! You can tell he is just thrilled with it (or maybe having to pose for this picture)!

All in all it was a great weekend! How was yours?

Menu Monday

Enjoying a Sunday night treat of Pizzookie a gooey delicious mix of warm cookie smooshed in a pie plate straight from the oven topped with ice cream--seriously YUM! Ours was gone before the pie dish was cool:) Recipe here. Make it, your family will thank you! Yes, I think Pizookie may have been the highlight of our weekend for the boys! How was yours? I spent Friday and Saturday in Nashville with a group of friends for 'Time Out for Women'. It was inspiring, uplifting and so much fun!! I would love to share a few highlights of the conference on a later post. I also did some shopping in Nashville finding some super cute and comfortable Born sandals on clearance (score!) and tried 'Chipolte' which I LOVED!! Have you been there? It was the first time I found a good fresh mex out here in the South. Now I am hoping they open one in Chattanooga. Anyway, I am very tired now that we have put our clocks forward for Day Light Savings, but so happy that it is Spring time! The trees are starting to bloom here and birds are chirping--yay! OK I need to get back on track with my Menu Mondays. The problem is I don't feel like making it a post--so I think I will start posting my weekly menu on my sidebar. Hmm I will look into that for next week. Anyway, here we go....

Monday--Chicken Terriyaki, sticky rice, roasted asparagus, fresh pineapple

Family Home Evening treat: Carmelitos

Tuesday--Tomato Soup and Paninis with kettle cooked sliced turky, spinach, pesto and fresh cheese, spinach salad with walnuts and apples

Wednesday--Power Burritos, Green Salad with buttermilk dressing, clementines

Thursday--St Patrick Day--Irish food!! haven't picked my recipes yet--but go here for ideas:)

Friday--Date night Mom and Dad--leftovers boys

Saturday--Mardi Gras Dinner Party--lots of yummy food including red beans and rice, gumbo and King cake--yummy fun!!

Sunday--Crockpot BBQ pork, rolls, freshly sauted brocolli, sliced apples, coleslaw

Healthy and Strong Challenge #3 tomorrow!

What is on your menu? If you want you can post a link in your comments.

Time does Fly

Can tomorrow really be Friday?! This week has seriously flown by! I had lots on my plate this week, including...

*Speaking in church Sunday--about trusting in the Lord. What a beautiful experience for me to prepare that talk. Was able to share one of my very favorite quotes-

“Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 361).

*enjoyed a happy Valentines celebration with my sweet boys

*being in charge of a dinner and program (New Beginnings) at my church for the teenage girls and their parents. In preparation for my presentation, I spent some time studying the women of the old testament. I was so touched to be reminded that women have always been at the heart of God's plan. How grateful I am for the noble and righteous women of the scriptures who had a sacred and important missions to fulfill. I also felt so deeply and was able to share with the sweet young women that they are precious and loved beyond measure. That as daughters of God they have a noble birthright and that He has a plan for each of them too. When we dedicate our lives to God through prayer, scripture study and service to others we are HAPPY, at peace and confident. I know this to be true.

* lunch with a dear friend that I love. My boys were at preschool and so we talked for hours with out interruption at a little table at Jason's Deli. Honestly, I probably didn't have time for that, but I don't care how busy I was, it was worth it. There are certain people that are just good for your soul, you know?!

*played a number of 'Memory' games with my little boys. They are addicted to that game right now and good at it too! Bridger seriously beats me! It is funny how a few minutes of my undivided attention and my boys are happy for hours. I am learning to not put off those requests of little games when they come. They really don't take too much time and soon enough they will be too old and busy to want to play with Mom.

*lovin' American Idol with my big boys! What do you all think so far? We DVR the show and watch it here and there when homework is done and we have a few minutes. So fun!

What I am looking forward to this weekend:

++
*relaxing in our spring like weather--if only I had a spot like that to gaze out at! Doesn't that look heavenly?

*celebrating Valentines day with my love. Just the two of us. He has something planned and I am excited! Last weekend our romantic plans didn't really work out.

*sleeping in! I am so tired by the end of the week. How are we going to do early morning seminary next year? Yikes!

*maybe a trip to Nashville to cheer on some young men we know that made it to the State Wrestling tournament!

*a long weekend with no school Monday. yipee!

Happy Friday to you!

xoxo

Inspiration on a Friday

I really couldn't be happier that it is Friday! My little crew is T I R E D and ready for weekend fun and extra sleep! Plus, the Daddy is coming home today from a long 8 day business trip-yeah!

Weekend Plans:
*Family Pizza and Movie night (watching this wrestling movie on Clearplay)
*Coleman's basketball game at the YMCA (love that place)
*Making Valentine Cookies with a cool new technique I learned (tutorial coming to Sisters Cafe)
*Saturday Night Date for my and my love (CAN NOT WAIT:)
*Sunday Morning church (first Sunday of new schedule with Sacrament meeting first-yeah!)
*Watching the Superbowl (with lots of yummy food) --Go Packers!!
*Painting my nails a pretty shade of Valentine pink
*Vacuuming out my kidmobile--oh my does it ever need it!
*Figuring out how to plug my laptop into our TV to share this inspirational clip with my boys on the big screen:


My boys love this guy! Brad used to take them to watch Tyler play at Lone Peak High School (our HS) when we lived in Highland! Our boys would get so excited to wear their Lone Peak clothes and stay up late on a school night to cheer him on!

I am so thankful for young men like this --what a great role model for our boys!

Have a wonderful and relaxing weekend!

Weekend Yeah!

photo credit
I LOVE this time of year...

Weekend Plans:
(*orange words are links!)
Clean my bathrooms; enlists the boys!
Make some fall treats to Boo our friends with
Visit an apple orchard and sample some fresh cider and homecooked fritters
Fast this Saturday-Sunday
Have some yummy family meals, including this warm and wonderful soup
Really connect with my children--inspired by this sweet parenting message below:)

Love this quote from the above video regarding family meals:

"It is not the food, but the family interaction

that nourishes the soul"

Have a Happy and Sweet Weekend!

Happy Weekend Plans

School has been on for over 2 weeks now and my boys are T-I-R-E-D and frazzled!

It is always a little rough to transition from carefree summertime to {what they think} is the extreme stress of Middle School with lots of classes, overwhelming amounts of homework and big assignments, on top of exhausting 3 hour football practises everyday! I am tired just writing all that :) So on that note, let me tell you ...we are all very happy that the weekend is here! Phew!

Plans for De-stressing the Boys this weekend

*Friday night movie with cold gatorades and buttered popcorn (using Grandpa's special 'recipe')

*No alarm clocks Saturday morning

*Big pancakes, eggs and bacon breakfast with fresh peach smoothies

*Yark work and super cleaning our house {not fun-but needed} together with our favorite tunes blasting {kinda fun?}

*Afternoon swim with the whole family-hurrah

*BBQ with fresh corn on the cob and cherries from the Farmers Market--yum!'

*Games and red vines--and get them into bed fairly early{wish me luck wiht that one}

*Slow and sweet Sunday--sleep in, church, naps, maybe some home videos (that is always good for some laughs) , and lots of TLC from their Momma--boys pretend that they don't like that, but secretly I think they do and I know they NEED it!

I hope that my plans have the desired effect! It makes me sad to see my children struggle and feel overwhelmed, but I know that it is actually good for them and a necessary part of growing up, learning to be responsible and successful in life. I can't take the stress away, and I don't want to! Even thought it is hard, I know that learning to cope with it now will make them stronger and more capable later in life when {shh don't tell them} it is actually harder and matters more.

All I can do is be generous with my love and affection when they are home.

Ohh the pains of growing up:) and the pains of being a Mother!

Melandboys recommendation...

This football movie was perfect for my family of sports lovin' boys, but honestly I think it would be inspiring for anybody. We got it from Netflix, but I plan on getting a copy of our own from Amazon. It is the kind of movie that I wouldn't mind my boys watching again and again. It is a Christian movie with {not} the best acting ever but a GREAT message! Filmed here in the South, there is even a cameo by the Georgia Bulldogs head football coach Mark Richt who talks about Bible scripture and being faithful:) I am telling you, people in the South are not afraid of being religious ! I love it!

We would also recommend some fast and easy caramel corn to go along with this. Recipe here!

Happy Weekend!

Weekend Recap and a menu

Disclaimer: Coleman would like to state that he is in fact NOT a cowboys fan...it just happens to be the only football uniform with a helmet that we have in our dress up box.

Our weekend included:

Family movie night (Disney's Planet Earth) with lots of popcorn and treats:)

Basketball game for TJ--He is a mighty good point guard!

Cleaning our home--it needed it!

Date to Avatar 3D with my honey--I liked it, he did not. My guy is just not into sci-fi.

RAIN, rain and rain which drenched us going to church!

Football games--we are all sad that Favre didn't make it into one more Superbowl... but we are very HAPPY that this BYU grad is going...go Colts!!

Discussed this as a family--the boys decided (on their own and enthusiastically) to donate ALL their money and are going to keep the people of Haiti in their prayers.

All in all it was a nice weekend. How was yours?

Now on to my goal to have a weekly menu.

(By the way, I am thinking about putting this on my sidebar instead of a post.)

Monday-- Ham fried Rice, Stir fry Veggies, mini Egg rolls (from my freezer)

Tuesday--Caraba's Lentil Soup, Honey Wheat Rolls, Salad

Wednesday--Spicy Black Bean Cakes with Lime Sour Cream, Sliced apples

Thursday--Thai Peanut Chicken, Lemon Spinach Salad (apples instead of strawberries)

Friday--PIZZA NIGHT (of course the boys always request boring pepperoni--but I am going to make this one too)

Saturday--Date with Brad...boys get leftovers


Sunday--Italian Restaurant Chicken, parmesan spaghetti squash, Carver Salad, French Bread

Handsome like Daddy

Cannon in his new PJs...:)

This weekend:

* date with Brad...can't wait

*finish moving in...FINALLY!

*purchase and wrap Bridger's birthday gifts

*make chili and find boys Halloween costumes for Saturday evening's

Neighborhood Fall Festival

*speak in church Sunday...topic given, 'Be Thou an Example of the Believers'

(Timothy 4:12)

*make pumpkin bars to enjoy with the missionaries , our sunday dinner guests

* plan weekly menu...which I will start posting here

*plan activities to do next week during fall break (it is a whole week here!)

What is on your list? Happy Weekend everybody!

xoxo

Melanie

PS

Check this out...Choose This Day

What the World Needs...

More brotherly LOVE!

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Here is my weekend to do list...

**plant all my flower pots,
**purchase a new bike for Coleman (his tire exploded, he thought someone shot a gun!)
**get Connor some birthday presents (he turns 12 in one week!)
**buy a new IPOD (mine died, so sad, but I am leaning towards a hot pink one this time-I don't think any of my boys will "borow" it then!)
**go on a long run with my new IPOD(still getting ready for the Wasatch Back)
**celebrate my nephew Gabe's 2nd Birthday with a big family BBQ in the park !
**enjoy a hot date with my hubby!

What is on your list??

Sweet Weekend

Friday we were off to Idaho--to go to the Twin Falls Temple with Mom and Deloy. It was Deloy's first time. His 4 sisters and their spouses were there too. It was a very special expereince, we were honored to be there and share in it. The Twin Falls Temple is brand new and very beautiful!

We had such fun staying with my Uncle Ron and Aunt Laura while we were there. They kindly babysat the little boys while we were at the temple. The boys had soo much fun with their cousins! Friday night we went to the Burley High School homecoming football game with them that night. They lost--but it was still fun! Saturday we went to a few soccer games!


On the way back Brad dropped me off at my parents home--so I could join my sisters and Mom in attending the world wide Relief Society Meeting. (If you missed it --you can see it here)This is a yearly tradition I share with these women that I love so much! This years meeting was especially wonderful! I left feeling so inspired and spiritually enlightened! I am so deeply grateful for a loving Heavenly Father, and for His great plan of happiness for us. I am thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and my membership the Relief Society organization. It inspires me to give more of myself and try to become a kinder, stronger more compassionate woman, mother and wife!