Dining (Dinning) Table

I am surprised at how many people misspell the word dining.  We have been half-heartedly looking for a new table.  We have a hand-me-down one that works just fine, but we have our eyes open for our dream table.  We'd like a table with matching chairs (we are using folding chairs now), but because we don't NEED it we are being quite picky.  No sense getting one if it's not a good deal and one that we love.  So, craigslist has been my friend.  :)  I have learned that if I search craigslist for "dining table" I only pull up half of the options.  I have to type in "dinning table" to get the other half!  I will admit, that our table is noisy enough that "dinning" table is maybe more appropriate!  :)  So we thought we found THE one.  We went and saw it, but it didn't work out to get it.  The table wasn't as nice as the pictures showed and the price was still pretty steep.  We'll keep looking!  You may be wondering what we have used as a table in the past.  We had a dining set when we lived in Las Vegas, but sold it when we moved.  Since we've lived in WA we have used our outdoor patio set as our table.  But, now, that one is outside where it belongs!  :)

How Did This Happen?

All of a sudden I have change my cooking habits.  When I make tacos I make a certain amount every time.  When I make a pizza, I make one.  When I make steak, I make 2 steaks.  I just realized that has changed!  One pizza doesn't cut it anymore.  2 steaks?  The boys laugh and say where's all the food?  I no longer have a little taco meat left over to freeze for my next pot of chili.  When did this happen?  The other night I made steaks (2, oops), roasted potatoes (lots, or so I thought), corn, and crescent rolls.  A normal meal.  5 minutes later it was gone and everyone was wondering what else there was for dinner.  When we eat out (rarely), we've never ordered food for the boys, we just let them eat off of our plates.  That can't happen anymore, unless it's La Brisa and the boys have filled up on chips and bean dip before the food came.  I know that this is just the beginning.  There is more to come!  And Owen, is going to be the biggest eater yet, I think!  He is barely a year old and ate 6 chicken nuggets at lunch today!  That's not counting the oranges, peaches, and glass of milk!  It's ok though!  I LOVE it!  I enjoy cooking, but I really, really, really enjoy cooking for people who appreciate it and eat it.  I'm like a little old grandma who just wants to feed everyone and is happiest when people are eating her cooking!  :) I say that now....  I might not be saying that when I have to be cooking constantly just to keep my head above water!

"Mommy I have pick-ups in my mouth!"  -Wade, who had hiccups.

Owen says clean-up and actually does it!!!  He definitely likes to unload drawers, buckets, shelves, etc, but then I start singing the clean-up song, and he says it with me as he puts everything back!

When you say Wisconsin....you've said it all.  (In reference to their 2nd round game on Saturday!) On Wisconsin!

He DID It!!!!!

Yippee!!!!!!!

Videos

Outside Time

The boys' cousins got a little motorcycle.  Uncle Shawn is so kind to take Tristan and Wade for rides on it.  They LOVE having a turn!

We spend a LOT of time outside!  Owen likes to push himself around on this trike.  I love that the whole front of my upstairs is windows and sliding doors, so I can see them while I'm working.  And I can holler at them from the door when they get out of line.  :)

Fun Weekend

But no pictures to show for it, except this one!  Friday night we had a crab dinner with Jason and Sue, Mike and Tawn, and Jared.  Jared was with us for the weekend, and Mike, Tawn, and girls stayed the night too!  Reading bedtime stories....Jared wanted to see the pictures too, but there just wasn't enough room!  :)

Decorating

So last week I started decorating a little bit.  Finally!  I still have lots of things that I need to find a place for (or not, I don't want to force things into places if it doesn't look just right.)  This was an idea I stole from Neisha.  Just printed some scrapbooking paper and then printed my text onto it.  Put it in a frame, and use a marker to fill in the menu.  I made 3 different designs so that I can rotate through them if I so choose.  

I need to get some pictures hung up, and I need some height on top of my piano...somewhere in one of our many moves since Las Vegas my 3 tiered candlestick things went missing.  I'm kind of bummed, because they would be perfect up there!

March Madness

And so it begins, the Madness that we call March.  The Lepak family is having a friendly family competition regarding the brackets.  In fact, the commissioner (Garrett) has insisted that all family members participate, including Tristan, Wade, and Owen.  So, Tristan and Wade did their brackets last night....I figured that they probably didn't need to wait until the play-in games were over...  Tristan liked teams that had "George" in it, because he has a friend named George.  He liked Washington and Wisconsin for a little while.  He also liked Florida, because we went there.  He said UCLA was "his" team, but had them lose at some point too.  Otherwise his selections were pretty random.  Then it was Wade's turn.  Because Georgetown was fresh in his mind after Tristan picked them to win the championship, he wanted his bracket to be named Georgetown...but then when he was selecting, I don't think he necessarily picked them.  Wade always picked the second team that I said (there were a couple of exceptions.)  So after the first quadrant, I caught on that he was always picking the second team that I said, which is a problem because the higher seed is listed first and the lower seed is listed second.  So basically his bracket was going to be 100% upsets.  So, I started changing the order I said the teams.  So, now it's about half and half. :)  It was cute trying to hear him pronounce some of the names...like Wofford...hahhaha.  By the time they were done, Owen was ready for bed and was not up to cooperating to select his bracket.  I might use the cheerio idea....if he picks the one on the left, he wants one team, and the one on the right represents the other team.  :)  Or I might just hold him over the bracket and choose the team his drool lands on...that might work too!  Tristan and Wade were asking the rest of the night when the "racket" starts.  I explained that the games would start Thursday and we would see if the teams they chose would win.  They still asked "has the game started yet?" for a couple of hours before falling asleep!  :)  


Have I mentioned that Owen gives the BEST hugs?  He wraps his little arms around your neck and burrows his face in!  It is soooo sweet!  I love them!  Wade is also very affectionate.  He always comes up to me several times a day gives me a hug and tells me that he loves me!  I am a very lucky mommy!


I have some videos that I want to put up of Owen "trying" to walk!  Also, Tristan likes to make a funny face at Owen to make him laugh.  

Now Owen puts his fingers in his mouth when he sees Tristan do it.  I've tried to document it, but every time he sees the camera he stops doing it to try and grab the camera.  :)

The boys have been LOVING the warmer weather!  They spend as much time as I'll let them outside!  They play basketball, ride bikes, ride in their battery-powered Escalade, drive trucks, play "pirates", etc.  Owen loves being outside too!  He likes to drive his new 4-wheeler, ride a tricycle, and crawl around wearing holes in his knees!  :)

Birthday Shirts!

Thanks for the fun shirts, Auntie Carebear!  :)  We love them!  

Owen's says "Yiggle Tiny" and the back says "Baby Owen".

Wade's says "I was WADE in' in the water"  and the back says" an' I got my feet all wet".

Tristan's says "Squishy" and it glows in the dark.

They are also sporting their Auntie Carebear watches!

On another note, the boys all had their check-ups yesterday.  They all fall around 35-50% in every category.  Except for Owen's head, which is huge (99%)!  Tristan's is 20", Wade's is 19.5", and Owen's is 19".  :)  Owen still hasn't taken any steps (3rd child?), but yesterday he was standing on his own for a very long time and did sort of a pivot/half-step.  So, we'll see, maybe soon?

Sleepovers, Birthdays, and Savings

Ashlyn, Cody, and Caleb had a sleepover party at our house on Tuesday!  We went to Dr. Seuss' birthday party at the library.  We watched a Dr. Seuss movie, read a book, played Cat In the Hat beanbag toss, made a Butter Battle Banner, played with Oobleck, got our face painted like cats, and ate some treats!  What fun!  Then we came home and ate popcorn.  Ashlyn read the boys stories while they settled in to the big bed in the guest room.  This was how they looked at 4 am!  :)

Wade on his birthday!  He turned 3 on 3/3!  How's that for a golden birthday?  :)

We already celebrated his birthday, but we did put a candle in his coffee cake this morning!

Owen soaking up rays!  or microwaves!

Have I told you that I have started couponing?  Safeway was having some pretty decent sales this week and I had some pretty decent coupons.  Working together, I got all of this food for $53.  (Plus, the gallon of milk and half gallon of ice cream are not pictured.)  I have to be careful that couponing does not buy me a bunch of things that I don't need or that will go to waste!  Today was really good!  I didn't get anything weird that I may/may not use.  It is all stuff I normally buy, except I got it for really really cheap!!!  Woohoo!!!!  Here is a list of the things that I bought.  Oh!  And!  I got a $.30 off per gallon of gas and a $2.00 off my next trip to safeway!  

Box of FiberOne granola bars

4 boxes Gushers fruit snacks

Cinnamon Toast Crunch

2 boxes Cinnamon Burst Cheerios

Golden Grahams

Bottle of Ranch salad dressing

Bottle of Asian ginger salad dressing

Miracle Whip

Bottle of sweet and sour sauce

2 bags Chocolate chunk cookies

can of refried beans

3 pack of Extra gum

10 pack box Quacker instant oatmeal

2 cans Chicken noodle soup

2 packages cookie dough

Frozen meal Sweet and Sour Chicken 

1/2 gallon chocolate milk

1 quart whipping cream

8 strawberry yogurts

2 raspberry yogurts

1 blueberry yogurt

1/2 gallon cookies and cream ice cream

1/2 gallon mocha mix creamer

2-1/2 gallon cartons orange juice

16 cartons kids yogurt

Box of steak taquitos

1 gallon milk

2 turkey/ham deli creations

3 lb slab of beef flat iron

bag of fish sticks

2 lbs of asparagus

2 lbs carrots

big pepperoni pizza

That's a lot of food!  The bill before savings and coupons was $157.82.  The amount I paid after savings and coupons was $53.29.

Doesn't Get Much Better Than This

My drive to work this morning...a little blurred because...well...I was driving!  Lake, mountains, and a beautiful sunrise!

More Birthday Pictures

Putting the finishing touches on the "dinosaur" cake!

Owen was in a wonderfully pleasant mood all day long!  He liked having the dinosaur mask on!

Lots of new toys!!!

Do you like my new tractor?  That ball that Cody is holding is a big hit too!  It plays music and shakes.  Owen loves it....unfortunately it plays just one song very loudly....it might be banished to a downstairs toy!

Sunday we met up at Abby's pizza after meeting.  How many Sanderson boys does it take to drive the race car?  At one time we did have all 5 of them too!

Our hosts, Andy and Patty, provided a roll of quarters that were doled out to the kiddos.  My boys had never realized that these machines take quarters and have always been content just pretending.  Hopefully we can convince them that it was a special treat from Andy and Patty and not something to be expected!

We had a great time with great pizza!

Birthday Party

We celebrated Owen and Wade's birthdays on Saturday.

Present Time!

Dinosaur masks for all the kids.

Enjoying all the excitement!

Ummm...that's supposed to be a dinosaur.  Didn't turn out quite like the youtube video I watched to learn how to make it!  :)

Spitting out  Blowing out the candles.

Yum!

Owen Turns 1!

Owen started his birthday really really early!  I guess he didn't want to miss any of it!  He was up for good at 5:30.  By 7:30 he had ridden his car down the first flight of stairs.  He had a bonk on his forehead, a bloody nose, and a fat lip.  By 8:00 we were on our way to a birthday party.  Not Owen's birthday party though, Brielle's!  :)

The boys were singing on the way down to Wenatchee.  And notice Owen's front facing car seat!  :)  

The birthday girl on her 3rd birthday!

Happy Birthday sweet boy!

We tie-dyed t-shirts!  I know!  Brave, huh!

Opening presents

Cupcakes and snacks

We will celebrate Owen and Wade's birthdays this weekend.  Owen was pretty grumpy most of the day, I think he might have had a headache from his fall.  Hopefully he will be feeling better for his party!  Can you believe he is already a year old?????  I can't!!!

Sequim Part 2

We stayed with Mom and Dad Wed-Fri and then they left to go to Portland.  Then, the house filled up!  Mike and Tawn had planned a weekend get-together and we used Mark and Karol's house!  It was us, Mike, Tawn, and their girls, Derek and Julie, Derrick, Kate, and little Zoey, Amy T., Fred S., and Daniel.  

On Saturday we went down to Salt Creek and climbed on the rocks.

Beautiful ocean

Playing at the playground

Julie was a trooper, pushing up to 3 kids at a time!

Owen liked hanging out with Buck

Enjoying the amenities!

Fred won the hearts of the 2 year-olds with a story and a snuggle!

Back at the playground

Basketball hoops with nothing but a football led to the invention of a new game.  Basketfootballsky or something like that.  It looked fun and they were all sweaty, so it must have been a good workout too!

Jason, Mike, Derek, and Derrick

Owen, Lydia, and Zoey in the high chairs

Rook extravaganza

Chatting with Kate

The Thompson Tribe

The boys had a blast running from the waves.  Well, until Tristan decided just to get wet in the background.

The Sanderson Swarm

The Nap Nest.....my alliteration skills need a bit of practice!

Fun at the spit

Bath time!  This picture is not the best, but I picked out the one that had the fewest  "parts" showing.  :)  The only one that is missing is Lydia.  She had her own bath.  :)

On the ferry home

We had a wonderful weekend  with great friends!  Can't wait to do it again! Maybe one of these days everyone will be healthy when we hang out!!  The last couple of times we've been together, sickness has spread!