Fun Food!!!

I bought a magazine at Walmart that I just have to share.  It's Taste of Home Fun Food.  It is the funnest, most awesome magazine I've ever read.  There are 150+ recipes, 100 of which I want to try.  I've made the hamburgers, today I made these.  I've been looking for fun patriotic food and found these cute strawberries.  I was supposed to dip them in vanilla chocolate and then dip them in blue sugar, but couldn't find any at the store, so improvised with tinting the chocolate blue.  The kids had a fun time dipping.  We also made these cute dog cupcakes.  SUPER fun and SUPER easy.  I also made three of the meals and put them in the freezer for a rainy day.  We can't wait to try them.  I would 100 times recommend this magazine!!!

Home Grown!

An entire month of not biting my nails!  I've only done this 3 times in my life!!  I had real nails for my wedding and about a year after, for 9 months after Brennon was born, and now!  I hate the way they feel.  I hate having to think about it 24/7.  And I don't really think they make my hands look any prettier.  I've had my nails uber short my whole life, what can I say?!  I just know it's a sick habit that I need to finally break.  Wish me luck on the next month, year, lifetime:)



Keilie's New Locks!

 Keilie has been begging us to cut her hair for a long time now.  I wanted to get some pictures in her baptism dress with her beautiful long hair before we chopped it.  So the day I got some pictures, she begged to go right then.  Here are the after pictures of my beautiful Keilie.

Randy wasn't too happy to have hair at the bottom of the shoulder blades cut to the top of the shoulders, but after Keilie said she thought she looked prettier with it short, how can he argue with that?

Hamburgers

If you know me, you know that I have NO skills when it comes to cooking on the grill.  However, I did make my own hamburgers today:)  Here's how!

1 large box Nilla Wafer Cookies

1 Package Grasshopper Cookies

1 Jar Vanilla Frosting, divided

10 drops each Yellow and Red Food Coloring (Ketchup & Mustard!)

1 Cup Coconut with 3 drops Green Food Coloring

FUN!

So, if you ever come to a barbecue at our house, you'll either have Randy cook you the real ones, or get these babies from me:)  Happy Independence Day Weekend!!!

Now that's love!

Last night at FHE, we talked about loving everyone and treating them kindly, too.  The kids have had a few scuffles this last few days, so I thought it would be a great lesson for us this week.  As part of the lesson, we went around our family circle and told one thing that we love about each member, although Tyson didn't say anything:)  We got to Shelby telling what she loved about Brennon and laughed our heads off.  "I love that he goes poo-poo in the big boy potty!"  It's a big deal to more than just Brennon apparently:)

Sleeping Predicament

Since we've lived in this house, we've moved our rooms around a few time.  Like 20, at least!!  I just have a hard time keeping the kids where they are.  Point in fact... Caden is sharing a room with Ty right now in the basement.  Shelby and Brennon are sharing the bedroom that we first occupied in this house.  Keilie is in a room by herself.  Caden was SUPER grumpy yesterday, so we asked him what his deal was.  He told us that Ty has been waking him up earlier than he'd like.  He begged us to sleep on the floor in Keilie's room so Ty couldn't wake him up.  This morning he proclaimed, "That was the best night's sleep I've had in a long time."  So, can you now understand why I keep changing the room arrangements?  Caden slept better than he's slept in a long time- ON THE FLOOR!  I loved sharing a room growing up.  In fact, I've never really had my own room!  So, I thought I'd love letting my kids experience this by having them all share.  Nope, it's not working out to my ultimate design.  I wonder how many more moves we'll make in this house before we're finally settled!  I think of new arrangements all the time:)  Maybe I'll make a new room out of the bathroom that I constantly keep locked.  A bed in the tub would be a fun memory for one of the kids:)

Talkative

Today Randy got pulled into a meeting after church that kept him for an hour and a half.  We were not expecting this, so I took the kids into the nursery while we waited.  Since everything was all locked up, the kids only had limited toys to play with.  Ty was pretty much interested in what the other kids had.  ALL THE TIME!  He'd get a toy, see that someone else had something awesome, and decide he wanted theirs instead.  Shelby was having none of it:)  She picked up her toy and was running around the nursery.  I finally caught up to Ty and told him that it was Shelby's turn for that toy.  He turned on me, gave me the mother-of-all scowls and said, "No, it's my turn."  Perfectly!  He's had such a jump in his vocabulary this last few weeks.  He'll say anything you ask him to.  He has a little lisp, kind of like Brennon's.  He says "thooth" instead of "shoes":) He also said Brennon and B-boy in the same sentence the other day.  Shelby's nickname for Brennon is rubbing of on Ty already.  My baby is a big boy now!!

Praise Indeed!

 (Above: Brennon trying HARD not to smile!  Below:  I Love this one!)

Brennon went to his first official Dentist appointment last week.  He, like my other kids, LOVES going to the dentist.  They are always SO good!  Both the dentist and the assistant told him he was so good, to which his reply was, "Uh-huh!  And I got poo-poo in the big boy potty!"

11 Years of Matrimonial Awesomeness!

Today Randy and I have been married for 11 WONDERFUL years.  It doesn't seem that long at all.  We haven't had a year that seemed more trying that any other.  We've had trials, sure, but nothing that has rocked our love.  We are perfect for each other.  Sappy, I know, but true just the same!  Here are a few things that have happened since our perfect wedding day, June 23, 2000...

11- Temples we've visited together.

10- Jobs we've had.

9- Moves we've made.

8- Vacations we've taken together.

7- Vehicles we've owned.

6- Schools our kids have attended.

5- Kids we love and adore.

4- Business ventures.

3- Homes we've mortgaged.

2- Basements we've finished.

1- Fairy Tale Marriage.

The only way our marriage and lives could be any better would be if we were in the Celestial Kingdom.  For now, it's our own Heaven on Earth!  Come What May ~ And Love It!

Go To Bed!

Brennon and Shelby share a room.  They LOVE it!  Most nights, they go to bed without a problem.  Some nights they have a little too much fun for my nerves.  Tonight was one of those nights.  They played, and played, and played!  I went in there and told them that if I had to come in one more time, I'd give them a spank.  I went to Shelby, got down near her face and said, "I don't want to spank.  Kay?"  She just nodded her head.  I went to Brennon and did the same thing.  He had something to say.  "Then just give me a hug!"  So, that's just what I did.  They are now quiet!



Shelby

Shelby and a little neighbor boy, Carter, are attending a summer science camp at the Planetarium this week.  When I picked them up today, the leader told me that they had been holding hands all morning.  Both she and I thought it was SO cute.  I was telling Randy about it in the car when Shelby overheard me saying how cute it was.  She said, "I know.  I just love Carter."  He was talking to Brennon and stopped mid- sentence and said with such feeling, "I love you, too, Shelby."  I can't wait to watch them grow up together:)  Shelby Athey is a cute name, dontcha think?!

***************

Shelby got her pointer finger caught in the car door yesterday.  Apparently, Randy had said that the kids couldn't come outside, and Shelby didn't listen.  Keilie decided it was her job to enforce the law and was trying to bring Shelby inside.  The door closed and caught her finger.  She didn't wait for it to be opened, she just yanked the finger out.  This caused a huge bruise on her whole finger that was swollen to popping point in my opinion.  The swelling has gone down some, but she's got a nasty finger right now.  No break, just a lot of pain.  She told us it hurt this morning by saying, "I have a finger confection."  Poor thing!

***************

I've said this before, but Shelby LOVES to try on new clothes.  She comes up with the funnest, cutest, and most colorful creations when it comes to clothing.  Today she started off with a pink shirt and black shorts.  Not too bad.  Around lunch, she decided she was done with those boring clothes and decided to get on her dance leotard and a colorful skirt.  She looked so cute.  Around dinner, she'd had enough of the skirt and decided to get on her "Ballerina" swimsuit.  Three wardrobe changes along with three attitude changes made today a FUN day with Shelby!

Test Drive

We took Keilie out for a "test drive" in her baptism dress tonight.  She got her white shoes today and wanted to try on the whole thing.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to let my "mama- rotzi" side loose!

It was only when we got them home and downloaded that Randy realized that the resolution was messed up on our camera!  They're not good quality at all, but she sure does look beautiful in her dress.  I CAN'T believe my sweet Keilie is going to be 8!  She is so gorgeous!!!

Brownies

Today the Relief Society put together a group of women to bring goodies for the Fathers in our ward. One woman brought a whole pan of brownies. She left them in the kitchen and didn't think anything of it. Big mistake! Youth from another ward came in and made themselves welcome with that pan of brownies! They even left the spoon (YUCK!) in as evidence. They ate 1/3 of the pan (how generous of them to leave us some.) We didn't have enough for our dad's! I called their Bishop and asked him to talk to them. My only hope is not that they get super sick from eating them (after all, it is Sunday!), but when they grow up, they realize how incredibly selfish and rude their actions were today. I'm ticked beyond words. I can't believe how rude they were to come in and think they had the right to those brownies! I mean come on, a whole untouched pan of brownies sitting out on the counter on FATHER'S DAY. What could they be for?!?! Sometimes youth can be so maddening. No matter what church they attend!

Fruits of my elbow grease!

 The back layer will be a hedge that will come up to the bottom of the windows.  The second layer will be yellow flowering bushes that stand about a foot below the hedge.  I'm looking for a third layer that will stand about a foot and looks like long grass.  This is my first attempt at landscaping.  Let's hope the outdoor plants last longer than any of my indoor plants.  That would be, longer than one month!

I have a Missionary!!!

The Burrell Family consists of 5 Women and 1 Man.  The lone man in the Garden of Eden:)  Just kidding.  Anyway, that made it so that I didn't really have any association with either Scouts or Missionaries.  Randy was on his mission when I was cheering my heart out to the crowd.  Yep, he graduated High School when I was "graduating" 8th grade!  Kind of creepy if you think of it that way.  Age really doesn't matter when you're not in High School.  Or Jr. High, which was my case.  I met him the September after High School, was "officially" dating in January 2000, Engaged April 14, 2000, Married June 23, 2000.  I've never had a missionary!  I wrote to a friend once or twice, and the same to a cousin, but nothing big.  I was already married with a baby, so I didn't really have time.  Now I do!  My nephew, Tyson, got his call to Russia, Novosibirsk a couple of weeks ago.  I went down this last weekend to go through the Temple with him.  It was magical!  The feeling was so special to me.  Here's somewhat of a secret I haven't told many.  This boy is the reason that I have a Tyson!  I admire his courage, his strength, and his choice.  At the age of 13, this boy brought his family back to the church.  He was converted to the Gospel, and encouraged his parents to come to church with him.  He reminds me so much of Randy.  Although I didn't know Randy at this age, I can still see Randy encouraging his family to go to church.  He was the 1st missionary in his family.  He did what he knew to be right, although the choice was difficult.  I now have a missionary!!!  We already have plans to write often, send gifts, and put together care packages.  I won't go crazy and get a sticker chart, although it has crossed my mind, but I will be counting down the days for his return.  I can't wait to learn more about Russia.  And parts of Siberia!  I couldn't be more proud if he was my own son.  Who leaves in 9 years if you can imagine!  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is TRUE!!

Summer Reading

Caden and Keilie begged to be able to stay up later during the summer.  My compromise was that they could stay up as long as it was in their rooms, reading.  Quietly!  Last night, Randy heard Keilie up past lights out.  He went up to tell her to turn out her lights and go to bed.  When he came down, a smile playing on his lips, he asked me what book I thought she'd been reading.  As Junie B. Jones, or Diary of a Wimpy kids, or something along those lines played across my mind, he turned to me and said, The Book of Mormon!  My child, the one who couldn't read as well as we'd like, the one that felt like a nerd because she couldn't read as well as the other kids, the child that used to beg to only read one verse at family scripture study, was now reading the Book of Mormon on her own time.  I praised her this morning about her book choice, to which her reply was, "I'm almost to Mosiah!"  I knew tutoring was a good buy.  Now I figure it's about the best purchase we've made in our whole lives!

Year of the Money

*This year, July has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays. This happens once every 823 years. This is called money bags.  This is the only time we will see and live this event!
*This year we're going to experience four unusual dates. 1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11, 11/11/11 and that's not all...
*Take the last two digits of the year in which you were born - now add the age you will be this year.  The results will be 111 for everyone in whole world. However, those born after 2000 will only result in 11.  This is the year of the Money!!!
19 (81) + 30 = 111  Steph
19 (77) + 34 = 111  Randy
20 (01) + 10 = 11  Caden
20 (03) + 8 = 11  Keilie
20 (07) + 4 = 11 Shelby
20 (08) + 3 = 11 Brennon
20 (09) + 2 = 11  Ty

Kind of interesting.  I LOVE numbers!

Audiology Rocks!

Shelby had her hearing test today.  It's kind of fun watching her do stuff and get a huge smile on her face while wearing those HUGE headphones.  Dr. Podrazic said she's at the low end of the hearing spectrum with a 20 decibel hearing loss in both ears.  Since she's still within normal range, there is nothing to be done.  I'm to watch her academic levels and make sure she isn't slipping.  She does have some hearing loss, but not enough to really worry.  So, we'll just learn to accept her loud, cute, shrill little voice, and teach her to quiet it as much as possible.  He did pull out a wad of wax from her left ear that is always present at ear checks.  At the end of the wax, which happened to be stuck to her ear drum, was the tube that hadn't fallen out of her ear when it fell out of the drum.  She cringed with fear, had sweat built up on her forehead, and shed a tear or two, but for the most part was super brave.  My girls are my heroes when it comes to being brave when thing hurt!  Shelby with ears, Keilie with teeth:)

Lovin' the Laundry

In the book I'm reading right now, Take Two Chocolates And Call Me In The Morning, she begins the book saying how she has her kids learn to do laundry by starting with the towels.  If they make a mistake, who cares!  So, yesterday I took Caden down and showed him how to use the washer and dryer and how to sort and do towels.  It's not too hard, so he was done in a few minutes.  He was in bed for a few minutes before he came to ask me how often he needed to do them.  I told him once a week, to which he said, "Oh, I thought every day."  I didn't know he was that excited:)  This morning he was up and doing his towels at 6:52!  Since I've been behind on my laundry for a few weeks, and towels were always the thing I left till last, I think I've found my solution!!!  He told me how much fun it was to do laundry.  I think he must have been dropped on his head as a child:)

Movie Madness

There are a few movies I can't wait to come out soon.  The Help.  I just finished the book and can't wait to watch the show in August!  I hope it's as good as the book and follows it closely.  It's probably my new favorite.

Of course, Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1.  It looks SO good.  I can't wait for November 18.  Or should I say November 17 at 11:59 pm!!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2.  I've loved all of the Harry Potter movies.  I can't wait for the ending.  My goal is to read all of the books before this one.  Maybe I'll even have a movie-a-thon and watch all of the previous movies and then end with this one:)

The Hunger Games.  It's coming March 2012.  I'm going to force Randy to read them with me before he goes to the show.  Ashlee and Russ are reading them together and Russ is really liking it.  I know Randy would, too.  I LOVE The Hunger Games!

I hope they come out with The Maze Runner series as well!  This summer has some GOOD movies coming out.  I better find a babysitter now:)  Any takers?

Mundane Perfection

I got out the ice cream last night for desert for the kiddos.  Shelby came running in, saw the ice cream, and said, "I want the black mustard."  Chocolate Sauce:)

This morning I was laying in bed when Ty came to wake me up.  I held out my arms, like I do each morning for him to lay with me for about 3 seconds (sometimes I'm lucky and get 5 seconds.)  Instead, he slapped my hand and said, "Five."

This morning I finished reading a book that will be a re-reader each year.  The Help!  It was amazing.  It made me laugh.  It made me think.  It made me sad for the way things used to be.  I'm glad it's not that way anymore!  If you get a chance, read it.  It's downright the best book I've read in a long time.  Twilight and Hunger Games  included:)

Sunday night, the kids and I finished reading Summer of the Monkeys together.  We laughed.  We cried.  It was SO fun to read a chapter book together.  They BEGGED each day to read it.  We even got so involved trying to finish Sunday, they went to bed over and hour late:)  We've decided that we're going to start Indian in the Cupboard next.  Caden's choice!  Summer reading is the best!!!

My kids still get Cradle Cap super bad.  Everything that I read tells me that it stops around the 1st birthday.  Um... Keilie is going to be 8!  So, I shaved Brennon and Tyson's heads on Saturday night.  I was really trying to postpone any haircuts for Ty.  I LOVE his hair shaggy!  I had to do it though.  So, I shaved his head and now regret it:)  He looks so different.  It sure made it easy to get his head fixed though.  Does anyone else have trouble with this?  Am I the only one that has to scrape my kids' heads until they're bloody red?  It's a curse in the Dirks' house!

The two huge front windows of our house have decorative squares in the top, between the two panes.  Randy went to Discount Doors and told them about what was happening.  They said the were probably under warranty and came out to inspect them.  Sure enough, they were.  They came out yesterday to replace them.  They got the first one out and installed in under 20 minutes.  They started on the second and ran into a little snag.  When they were pulling the last one out of the truck, something happened that made the whole window break.  It's a HUGE window.  6' x 3'.  I could tell that one of the men was super ticked.  They kept apologizing to me.  It's not skin off of my back, they're still free for me.  I just feel bad for them!  I didn't realize how much it really bugged me that the decoration was falling down between the panes until I saw how it looks perfect.  I can't find my camera right now, so no pictures for now!

I realized on Saturday that I pretty much have something to write each day.  Some might think this excessive!  While I was in Utah, some of the girls in the Kimber family got together at the grave of my recently deceased Grandma Kimber.  My Aunt Jeannie talked about how she was typing out her journals.  She said it was fun to read the mundane things that went on in Grandma's life, the sick grandkids, the cleaning, the studying, and everything that my Grandma wanted to write.  How fun it is to go back and see what she loved.  What she cared about.  It was US!  Each year we get our blog printed.  Someday, my kids and grandkids and maybe great-grandkids will look at our books and see what I  love.  What I care about.  THEM!

Garage Sale

The Young Women in our ward are having a garage sale to earn money for Girl's Camp this year.  They've asked people to donate all that they don't want or need anymore.  All I can say is, Thanks!  We've gone through each room, including the garage to look for what we can donate to help them out.  I'm also going to bake for the bake sale.  I LOVE the feeling of getting rid of stuff that is taking up space in my home.  It feels like I'm getting rid of a dark cloud that has been hanging over my head for a few months.  I feel such relief that school is over, that tutoring isn't every day, and that I get to be with my kids without anything pressing to do in the mornings and most days!  I can't wait to see how much they make.  I'm glad they're doing this.  Even if it's for my own sanity:)  Organizing and cleaning are two of my most favorite things to do!

One year of growth!

It's hard to believe that this was over a year ago now!!!  May 30, 2010 was the first butch job.  June 2, 2010 was the shave job!  After this year, Shelby's hair has grown 8 inches.  EIGHT inches in one year.  It's a whole lot thicker, still coming in blonde, and super cute!  She looks at it daily and asks if it's getting lower than her shoulders.  She's just as anxious as I am to get her hair back to the length it was before this atrocity.  Thank goodness hair grows back.  I still can barely look at her in this picture.  It makes me emotional even now!

When Prayers Seem Unanswered

When Prayers Seem Unanswered.  This is what my lesson is about today in Relief Society.  I decided to challenge myself and sing a musical number.  So, in March, I asked Kimberly to play the piano while her husband, Danen and I sing this song.  People pray to feel the Spirit at church and I pray that I'll do well with this musical number.  We'll see if we all get answers to our prayers today!

Little White Dress

I let Keilie pick out her Baptism dress yesterday. Don't you love it? She's going to look SO beautiful!!! I can't wait to get it, take pictures, and send out our invitation to her baptism. I'm so proud that she's made this sacred decision to be baptized. August 27, I can't wait!

Desert of Dreams!

Ultimate Chocolate Chip n' Oreo Brownie Fudge Bar

1 Cut Butter, Softened

1 Cup Granulated Sugar

3/4 Cup Packed Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 teaspoon Salt

2 Cups Milk Chocolate Baking Chips

1 Package Double Stuffed Oreos

1 13x9 Brownie Mix

1/4 Cup Hot Fudge Topping (optional)

Cream the butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer for 3-5 minutes. Add Eggs and Vanilla. Mix well. Add dry ingredients. Stir in Baking Chips. Line 13x9 baking dish with wax paper and pat Chocolate Chip recipe evenly in bottom. Top with layer of Oreos. Mix together Brownie mix adding an optional 1/4 cup fudge topping. Pour the Brownie mix over cookie and Oreo layers. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes.

Goodness found on www.kevinandamanda.com

Nicknames

A few months ago Shelby came to me and said that we should start calling Brennon, "B-boy." I laughed and kind of forgot about the whole thing. Upon closer inspection, I've noticed that she really does only call him B-boy. I've tried to remember a time when she's either called his name, spoke to him, or even spoke about him that she's called him Brennon. Nothing! Yesterday, Shelby had Caden write down a list of all of her friends. Kennedy, Baylee, Faith, Trenton, and so on. She then had Caden write a list of her family. Daddy, Mommy, Ty, Caden, Keilie. When Caden wrote "Brennon," she crossed it out and had him write, "B-boy." Usually it's the younger siblings that give the nicknames because they can't pronounce their real name. I'm not sure why, but Shelby refuses to call him Brennon, even though she can say it just fine! Kinda Fun!