A little tidbit

Just wanted to do a post about something Colton said today because it is one of those things I want to remember. He and Cooper were talking about how Colton wanted to be a video game designer when he grew up. Cooper kind of gave him a weird look and then Colton said, "The reason I want to be a video game designer is so I can watch my artwork come to life." I thought that sounded so smart, mature and reasonable to me. He is growing up too fast!!
He still loves to pause whatever show he is watching or video game he is playing to draw it. I love this! He pays such close attention to the details and does such a great job. Here is a quick little drawing he made of a scene from the Cut the Rope game he has on his iTouch.

In case you haven't seen this game, here is a similar scene from it. I have to admit it is kindof addicting.

Our Weekend

Well, it is Monday again and we had a pretty simple weekend. So here it is in a nutshell.
Friday night we took Cooper's fabulous teacher dinner(which Cooper helped make) because she has been dealing with some health issues. Then we grabbed some burgers and came home to pay per view a movie. The boys chose Judy Moody's Not So Bummer Summer. (We had read several of the books in the series about her little brother Stink.) Anyway, they loved this movie. It was super cute!! Definitely one to buy on dvd.

Then on Saturday, Colton had a basketball game and did really great! He really hustled and got the star for effort this week. Here he is all serious about throwing in the ball...

That evening we had a birthday party to go to for my nephew Luke. He turned the big 5!!! His party was at Peter Piper Pizza. It was pretty crowded but the kids had a blast! My hubby had to be at something for work ALL day so that explains the lack of pictures. =(

Yesterday, my poor baby woke up with a croupy cough and a fever. We were supposed to spend the afternoon at my in laws making sausage but with Carter sick he and I stayed home. Cody and the big boys went and worked hard. Well, the boys played with their cousins and had fun. Carter and I played around here. He brought me our bucket of Mr. Potato Head and we made some cute characters. He loves Mr. Potato Head and will spend forever building potato people. =)
Here is Carter with a Pirate, Woody, Jesse and Buzz.

A pirate and Woody

Jesse and Buzz Lightyear

The back of Buzz and Jesse. 

I love this next tourist set we got at Disney World. How fun it is the little Mickey Ice Cream? 

They think of everything!

After some potato head fun, Carter and I had lunch at my parents(they don't care if he is sick), then we came home and he took about a four hour nap. He needed it!

We spent the evening doing the usual Sunday routine. Dinner, baths, reading a few books and getting to bed so my big boys are ready for the busy week.

Well, my little man just woke up and is pretty miserable. Still coughing and running fever. Looks like we are headed to the Dr. =(

Happy Monday everyone!!

Cooking with Cooper

**Sorry, for some reason blogger is adding all this extra space and not letting me move things like I want to. SO annoying! **


Lately, to get some quality time with Cooper, he has been helping me in the kitchen. He loves to cook with me and I love having him helping me. 
The other night we made a great recipe I found on Jamie's blog. (You should go check her blog out....love it!)

Crispy Cheddar Chicken

www.jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com Time: 15 minute prep + 45 minutes baking Yield: 7 servings Recipe from adapted from What's Cookin' Chicago via Pinterest  Chicken: 4 large chicken breasts  2 sleeves Ritz crackers 1/4 t salt 1/8 t pepper  1/2 C milk  3 C cheddar cheese, grated 1 t dried parsley  Sauce: 1   14 ounce can cream of chicken soup 2 T sour cream 2 T butter    1. Cut each chicken breast into 3 large chunks.  2. In a small food processor grind up the ritz crackers. (Cooper just crunched them up by hand) 3. Pour the milk, cheese and cracker crumbs into 3 separate small pans. Toss the 1/4 t salt and 1/8 t pepper into the cracker crumbs and stir the mixture around to combine. 4. Dip each piece of chicken into the milk then the cheese and finally the cracker crumbs.  5. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and lay the chicken inside the pan.  6. Sprinkle the dried parsley over the chicken.  7. Cover the pan with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove the tin foil, bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until the edges of the chicken are golden brown and crispy.  8. Into a medium sized sauce pan combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream and butter with a whisk. Stir it over medium high heat until the sauce is nice and hot. Serve over the chicken.  Cooper was so proud to serve it to Daddy! It was delicious!! Definitely something I plan to make again!  The other thing that Coops always helps me make is mashed potatoes. (No special recipe just lots of butter, some milk, salt and pepper) He loves them and begs to have them nearly every night. =) They went great with the chicken.  Here he is making them...   In true Cooper style, he changed his shirt in the middle of cooking. Oh and he has a huge, not-so-cute tattoo on his arm. =) I love this boy so much and it is so nice to find a way for us to have some special time!!  Love my little chef!!!

The training wheels are off!

On Saturday morning, Cooper was determined to ride his bike without his training wheels. So Cody took them off of the bike, helped Cooper on and Cooper took off. It was awesome! He did great!! He was so excited!! So proud of him!

Love my handsome little big bike rider!!!!

Colton's Birthday Party

Colton turned 9 last Sunday but his party was yesterday. It was a Sonic the Hedgehog theme at Laser Legend and it was so much fun! Colton has some really great friends and I am so glad they all made it. They all seemed to have a great time!
Laser Legend does a great job with parties. You show up and each guest gets a card for the arcarde. They play games for awhile, then they play a game of Laser Tag, then they have pizza, then play another game of Laser Tag, then they have cake. It runs smoothly, the kids stay busy and have a blast!!
The best for me was that the birthday boy had fun and felt special!!  Love my big 9 year old!!

Getting ready to go into play Laser tag

Cooper and Colton with their cousins Landon and Luke

Hayden, the birthday boy, Brayden and Luke

Cooper and Ian

My nephew Luke

Carter and my nephew Grady--how cute are they?

Colton and his buddy Luke

Cooper and Ian

Colton and his cousin Graham

Colton with his great-grandma Nana

Hayden, Cooper, Ian, Colton, Luke and Carter
These three brothers are in school with my big boys. They have all become great friends!!

Our little family. Poor Cooper. He had just had a little meltdown. 

First basketball game

This afternoon was Colton's first basketball game of the season! His team name is the Grizzles and they played really well. Colton did great! He was awesome on defense and after some warm up time, he was getting the hang of being on offense too. My boy was hustlin' out on that court. He was worn out but really enjoyed it! In the Upward league, after each game, each player receives a star for what they contributed best during that game. Colton got the star for defense. Way to go #12!

I love how they pray right before they start. 

My boy playing defense

Grabbing some water after a good hustle.

Getting open on offense

The end of the game 

Omi, Opi,  & Mammy cheered him on (Papa was at the deer lease)

Colton with his biggest fan---Cooper=)

A simple Friday night

 Things tend to pick up speed for us when the Spring semester hits. We start basketball, baseball and the class we lead at church. The weeks go by fast and are fun but exhausting. I am so thankful for the simple, quiet Friday nights at home with no where to go and nothing specific to do. Tonight was one of those nights. We started off in the driveway playing some basketball. Colton and Carter  wanted to dunk it. =) (Cooper was riding his scooter)

When we came inside, Cooper and Carter made their own pizzas(Colton passed since he isn't big on pizza). They loved this process complete with aprons and a little commentary from Cooper. He was so funny. He was pretending he was doing a cooking show...."next you add the cheese", "then you put it in the oven", " there you go--yummy pizza!"  Carter would copy everything he said. Too cute! Here are my little chefs...

"Tadaaaa"

The evening ended with them all cuddled up watching a movie. (Sorry no pictures of that) 

I love quality time at home with my boys!!