Porter has teeth!

I love this little man, he is growing so fast and is so funny. Here's a picture of his mouthful of teeth and him pestering his sister(his favorite past-time) and my favorite cuddle-time!

Today was Savannah's Pre-k Halloween Party at school. It was so much fun. I volunteered to help out and i also made the yummiest popcorn balls ever!! I hate hard popcorn balls so we found a recipe that is so chewy and not too sweet. So I made a couple dozen of those. It was so much fun to be in class with Savannah and watch her interact with the other children. It was fun to meet all of the little kids Savannah mentions at home. They made some crafts then ate some lunch and went Trick-or-Treating in each of the classrooms.

I wanted a place to share some awesome recipes that I've found, so I created a blog to post some ideas. So if you have a great recipe you want to share please send me an email or message!
Check it out!
nikmosrecipes.blogspot.com

pumpkin patch...well sort of

Look at this mischevious boy!




Paint wasn't a good idea






Today the housing management company set up a pumpkin patch in one of the fields near our house, so the kids could go out and pick out a pumpkin and then paint it. They had a great time getting their pumpkins and painting them, but Porter decided to taste the paint which didn't go over well. Overall it was a great time for all!

work party

Yesterday was Robs work party. It was a lot of fun, they decorated each of the different rooms and offices and let the kids trick-or-treat around the building. We got to see Rob's office, he has his own right now. Of course Porter's favorite room was a room FILLED with balloons! They had a ton of fun.

I LOVE this man.....especially in the leather!!!!

Lunch date

Today me and the kids met rob and some friends for lunch, it was so much fun. Then this afternoon we are going to a Halloween party at Rob's work. It should be a lot of fun. We have quite the fun weekend planned. Tomorrow we are going to some kind of pumpkin/family event that the base is having. I promise to blog about it later.

Here's a couple odds and ends from this month so far. When we were in Branson, my dad took us on the duck tour ( I don't remember the official name) but the converted some old military vehicles that go on land and on the water and they take you around branson and up into the hills then INTO the lake, it was a lot of fun. At one point when we got into the lake the driver asked if anyone wanted to volunteer to drive and Savannah did!

Another Kelly baby!!

We found out Sunday night that Rob's brother Jamie and his wife Angie are expecting their second child!!! Yay! We are very excited, and anxious to have another Kelly baby in the family. Congratulations Jamie, Angie and Madeleine (you're going to be a fabulous big sister!)

My beautiful life

I am sitting here reflecting on what turned out to be a fabulous day. Rob had the day off, and we met with our financial adviser this morning, which turned out pretty great. He is a smart guy and educated us on so many great things, and we learned some valuable tips.
Then tonight we just had a great time together, its not that we did anything out of the ordinary, but it was just so much fun. We had to run some errands so we decided to load up the family and all go, which normally turns out to be pretty hectic. We went into the grocery store and i decided to let Porter down so i could put some produce in a bag, and the next thing i know i look don at Porter who is holding a tomato with a HUGE bite out of it! lol Needless to say we bought a half of a tomato. It was so cute watching Savannah take Porters hand and lead him around the store and show him things and redirect him, him was so much fun to all be together, I mean we are together often, but there was something about tonight that was so carefree...I'm probably not making any sense, but oh well.
I am a blessed woman, with so much to be grateful for. I know i say this at almost every stage in my kids' lives but this is such a fun age...Savannah has such a fiery personality and she is so observant, and Porter is hilarious, and such a little boy!!! He's learning so much so fast. I'm so glad I get to come along for the ride!!!!

Merrill's Engaged

This weekend has been so much fun. We left on Wednesday after Savannah got out of school, she was out of school Thursday and Friday for fall break. So we decided to go see my family. We knew the ring that Merrill had designed for Briahna had come in so we were so excited for him to propose. So here's how he did it... We were planning on taking a family photo at a local lookout, and then we were going to carve some pumpkins, and so Merrill(ahead of time) cut out the bottom of a small pumpkin and placed the ring and the ring box inside the pumpkin and put all of the pumpkins in the trunk of his car, then he picked up Briahna and told her they were going to meet up with us at the lookout. Merrill asked Briahna to help him get the pumpkins out and she noticed one was already cut open so she opened up and found a little surprise.So needless to say he proposed!!! She said YES!!! We are all very excited, and am so excited to soon have a new member of our family! Welcome Briahna! The picture of this ring doesn't do it justice, her ring is GORGEOUS.

For Papa

As you all know I'm a little obsessed with baking cupcakes, I've had some great opportunities with Savannah's school lately to develop some new recipes by tinkering in the kitchen. My dad loves pecans and I wanted to try to bring in all of those awesome fall flavors and use pecans for my Dad. Hope you like them Dad , Love you!

Papa's Pecan Cupcakes
with Pecan White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp allspice*optional*
  

n 2-quart saucepan over medium low heat, brown pecans in butter until butter is lightly browned; stir constantly. Remove pecans and set aside. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, and baking powder, salt, milk, vanilla, eggs, and browned butter . Beat for about 2 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup of the browned pecans( this step is optional, since some people who shall remain nameless-ROB- don't like nuts in their cake, you can use most of the remaining nuts in the frosting or sprinkle on top). Pour batter into lined cupcake pan. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes.

For Frosting:
9 oz white chocolate (melted and cooled)
12 oz cream cheese
6 oz unsalted butter
1 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup toasted chopped pecans(you can use more or less depending on your preference) *we used the pecans that were browned in the butter

Kelly Randoms

We've discovered that Porter's a little obsessed with brushing his teeth! We're not complaining. I just wish these pictures had turned out better!

In search of a recipe...

I'm looking for a recipe for a Pancake Cake....I'm not sure what the offical name is for it, but Rob remembers layers of pancakes with some sort of filling or glaze in between and on top. Anyone know what he's talking about??

An email from my mom

Nikki

I wanted to send this to you today! this was sent to me by my visiting teacher! As I read it, dreading to read it thinking, yeah yeah its one of these dumb messages! It made me cry as I read it. Moms are invisible and want to stay that way! I see the "masterpiece" I helped build! And am so proud of what it became! I am so proud of what you have became and are as a wife and Mother! I know I don't express it enough but this message made me think of you and Merrill and how you grew up and always brought your friends to our home. You let me stay involved in your school events and I loved every minute of it! Now it's your turn! As I stand back and watch what beautiful person you are and how you work with your kids! How you now are creating your own cathederal! I love You!
Mom

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'
Obviously, not.

No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.

I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?
Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated sum a cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going; she's going; she is gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England .

Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in.

I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself.

I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.'

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe .

I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:
'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changi ng truths, after which I could pattern my work:

No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.

These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.

They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything..

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place.

It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.' At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life.

It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.
I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finis hed, to work on something that their name will never be on.

The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right.

And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

My neighbor made this for lunch the other day and it was so delicious, the kids even LOVED it.

B's Curried Chicken Salad
Ingredients :
3 cooked, seasoned chicken breasts ( or i used leftover roasted chicken)
chopped celery
halved red grapes
slivered almonds
Dressing:
1 cup mayo
2 tablespoons curry powder ( can use up to 4 tbsp)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons soy sauce

Pull chicken into shreds,mix all ingredients together with dressing.(Note: B cooked her chicken breasts in the crock pot with cayenne pepper, mustard, garlic salt, bay leaves and a little water)

Its an alien!

We are watching General Conference and Savannah was watching the organist for the Mormon Tab Choir and they had two people playing,but you couldn't see the other person, you could only see his arm playing. Savannah says" He's an alien," burying her face...I said "why Savannah?" She said " that guy has 4 arms!!" It was pretty funny.

Wonderful Date Night

We've become a little lazy about our date nights lately, and we always seem to make excuses. Well last night we couldn't get a sitter so we got creative. We put the kids down to bed, and Rob left so I could get ready, I'm talking full-on (pre-children) get ready. Remember how you used to prep before a date? Well thats what I did. (Note: judging from his reaction I will do this more often;) Anyway Rob showed up with these beautiful flowers, and we had a candlelit dessert picnic and then watched a movie. It was so great to have some uninterrupted time.

This girl has my vote!!
http://www.tsgnet.com/pres.php?id=46832&altf=Tbwboobi&altl=Lfmmz

A Day at the Zoo!

Today after we dropped Savannah off at school, we had a play date at the zoo. Porter really loved the animals, he wanted to walk the whole time, which made it a little hard to see a whole lot, but we had a great time.

Craft Day

Me and my neighbor got together today and had a craft day and the kids made leaf wreaths, a witches hat and a couple of jack-o-lanterns.

Random Pictures

My poor little Porter

So tonight when we were getting Porter ready for his bath I noticed these whelps or hives all over his back and lower abdomen. I bathed him yesterday morning so he could've had this last night and I didn't even notice. I feel horrible. So I called the after hours nurses for our Pediatricians office and they automatically give me to a triage nurse at the OU children's hospital. She went through a series of questions and he wasn't running a fever and didn't really have any other symptoms, it could possibly be a food allergy since he tried 2 new foods this week, but she thought there would be more immediate symptoms. He's tried lime and mango this week, I'm not sure if it related, but I will be calling the doctor tommorrow, and we'll see if this clears up by itself. The nurse just told us to give him a little bit of benadryl (is that how you spell it?) and see if it progresses at all throught the night.