I can't... because it's fun.

On Sundays we do our best to only watch church films/shows and family videos if we want to watch TV.  We do let Austin watch "Baby Einstein" videos because they are short, musical, and educational.  His most favorite 'week day' show is "Little Einsteins."  He knows the difference between 'Baby' and 'Little' when it comes to the Einstein shows and he knows that he can only watch the 'Baby' ones on Sunday. 

As we climbed into the car after church yesterday he said, "It's Sunday and I can't watch a Little Einstein... because it's fun."  Ha!  Jeff and I thought this was pretty funny and we hope that he's not deciding to dislike Sundays because he can't watch his 'fun' show.  He actually loves church and can't wait for nursery each week.  What a goofball.

(No, he did not kill this butterfly with a screwdriver...)

Angry Birds

Austin says some really funny things, most of which I post on the side of our blog.  This one is a bit too long for the side post.

Earlier today, playing in Austin's room:

Austin:  I'm sad.
Me:  Why are you sad?
Austin:  I'm angry.
Me:  Why are you angry?
Austin:  I'm not an angry bird, I'm Austin!

This kid makes me chuckle...

Misc Pictures from Jan-March

Austin came up with this pose on his own.

How did I get so lucky?

 My two favorite blue-eyed boys

Jeff gave Austin a ball and glove for Valentine's Day

 I bought a Groupon to an indoor kids' amusement park before Austin's birthday.  We finally used it at the end of February.

 Austin and his best friend, James.

My college roommate, Kimee, and her son, Thomas, stayed with us for 6 days in March.  We went to the zoo on the most perfect day!  The weather was amazing, and no one was at the zoo... it was almost too good to be true.  We were able to get through the entire zoo in about 3 hours - that will likely never happen again.  Unfortunatley, the only picture I got of the two of them was really blurry...

Austin went to lots of birthday parties in March.  There was a balloon artist and one party.  He asked Austin what he wanted and he replied, "A blue bug."  Apparently this guy had never made a bug before, but was up for the challenge.  He made this HUGE blue ant that looked a lot like "Flick" off of A Bug's Life.

 Austin loves to show people his belly

 Chest-bumping the wall

 There was a big wild fire in the mountains earlier this month that made the sun look red from our area.  It was the most intense red I've ever seen from a smoke/sun combination.  The picture does not do it justice.  It was an incredibly windy day and we lost one of our trash can lids.  Austin still tells me that our "lid flew far far away into the red sun."

Just playing outside  :)

Recipe Posts Moved to Side Bar

I have been enjoying trying new recipes more regularly this year (even though it's not been weekly as intended).  However, I realized that if I ever want to have our blog printed into a memory book I don't really want to have all these recipes and my reviews of them interspersed with our family goings on.  The recipe links will now be on the right side of the blog should you happen to keep up with them.

Toddler Playtime (video)

It's been so fun to watch Austin learn to use his imagination and become more independent. He will wander down to the basement and play alone for 30-60 minutes at a time. We get together with friends regularly and he is getting much better at sharing and interacting with them in the way a friend should!

Today we watched Lillie (3 months younger than Austin) for a couple hours. These two seem to either play really well together, or they both end up upset and crying. I've discovered that the more I just let them be, the better they play. While they played I did dishes and laundry. I'd check on them periodically and I just had to pull out the camera when I saw them reading stories together. What cute kids! 
(Sorry for the poor videography at the beginning... I was hiding behind a wall so they wouldn't see me. The candidness goes down the drain once a camera is spotted!)

http://youtu.be/pFQB3kT3ry8

(I can't upload any of my videos directly to the blog anymore... not sure why.  So, check out the YouTube link instead)

Recipes 9 & 10

I have no idea how many weeks behind I am now... oh well.

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos (from Our Best Bites)

I have many friends who own this cookbook and swear (not literally) by this taquito recipe.  I never buy the frozen taquitos, even though they're tasty...  This is a much healthier version of a more hearty and tastier taquito.  We were supposed to have the missionaries over for dinner last night, so I thought I'd try this out on them.  Turns out, one of them was sick so our family enjoyed almost an entire cookie-sheets worth of these puppies on our own.  We will definitely be making them again.  (I also made the cilantro-lime dressing to use as a dipping sauce, as recommended in the recipe).

Salsa Chicken (Crockpot)

This is a simple and quick throw-it-in-the-crockpot chicken.  It's not the best chicken for eating as a main dish, but it is awesome for use in the above-described taquitos, soups, tacos, etc.

Christmas 2011

I know my posts are all out of order, but at least they are getting done.

This Christmas we were blessed to have Jeff's parents and brother come stay with us for almost two weeks!  It was fun to have them stay in our new house and was SO much more comfortable than when they've stayed with us in past apartments.  We did lots of cooking, played some games, watched movies, shopped and lounged around!  Austin enjoyed having someone's full attention at all times.  Every few days he will tell us that he misses Grandma, Grandpa and Michael.

 Austin likes being just like Grandpa

Austin and Gpa with their shape-sorter 'helmets'.

"Hut, hut... Hey!"

On Christmas Eve we hosted a dinner/housewarming party for my family.  Unfortunately I did not get a picture of the entire crowd, but it's hard to get 26 people in one place!  We had a ton of fun.  Thanks to everone who helped prepare the soups and who brought snacks and appetizers to go with!

 Cousin Madi, and I

 Gpa & Gma Woodis... and Max hiding

 Austin and Jaxon

 Kelsey and Cameron creating a masterpiece

The most people in one shot that I captured.
What a fun get-together!