Snow

We have been experiencing quite a bit of cold, snowy, wintery weather here lately. It snows during the day then, freezes hard at night thus, causing many accidents on the roads and highways. Casey has been working pretty much non-stop since Monday for the towing/hauling company.... there have been too many auto slide offs and accidents to count. After working 23 hours straight, he arrived home at 5:30 this morning and slept about 4 hours before heading out again.
Before picking Katie up from school this morning, Tys got to spend a few minutes outside playing in the fun snow. Other than that they haven't really gotten to play outside because of the cold temperatures. He enjoyed building a "no-man"! As you can see, Trenton wasn't too happy about all of this cold, wet white stuff!! He was just walking to the car but, even that was too much for him. He would much rather look at it from inside the comfort of his warm, dry house :) I don't blame him!

Randomness

These past couple of mornings we've woken up to a layer of snow on the ground! Of course, the kids think it's so cool :) And, we've been having snow storms off and on throughout the day. Yesterday, Katie's potted sunflower, from August's VBS, decided to finally bloom! I have it on the kitchen window so that I can see my little "ray of spring" through the snow. Trent is learning how to pray. He has his own version of Now I Lay Me that he says before bed and he participates in prayer time before meals. I can't help but smile whenever I see his "prayer face". It's very serious and scrunched up!

Katie has had fun dressing up in her new "Go-Go" dress... gotta love those post-Halloween 75% off deals!

Beauty and the Beast

On Friday my mom took Katie and I took to Reno for a 2 day "girls weekend". At the beginning of our weekend Katie wasn't feeling too good but, thankfully, she was lots better by the end of the day. We did quite a bit of Christmas shopping those two days, ate out at our favorite restaurants and on Saturday afternoon we went to the Disney Beauty and the Beast musical. The play was so entertaining! Their costumes and acting was amazing! And, of course, Katie loved the beautiful Belle :) She even wore her new Belle necklaces and dress for the occassion... Having lots of fun at Beauty and the Beast

Sleeping through dinner on Saturday.... shopping can be so tiring!

Pepperoni Rigatoni Bake

My mom, Katie and I will be going to Reno this weekend so, I have been busy cooking and baking food that "the boys" can eat while I'm gone. Here is one dish that they LOVE! It's very kid friendly and you could add whatever you want to spice it up. Pepperoni Rigatoni Bake

1 package (16 oz) rigatoni or penne pasta
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 container (15 oz) part-skim ricotta cheese (or cottage cheese)
1 cup sliced pepperoni
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1) cook pasta
2) In large bowl lightly beat eggs. Add milk, cheeses, pepperoni, salt and pepper. Stir well
3) Drain pasta. Add pasta to mixture and mix well. Place in 9x13 greased pan. Bake 25 mins @ 375 degrees.

Note: I put more shredded mozzarella cheese on the top b/c my boys love cheese!

Art Station

We recently turned the 4th bedroom into our office/guest room/workout room. This left empty space at the original built-in computer desk so I turned it into a "work/art station" for the kids. Located in the kitchen, it's the perfect spot for me to keep an eye on them while I am cooking or cleaning. And, Tys enjoys doing his school there on the mornings that his sister is at her school!

Idaho

We headed up to Idaho over the weekend to see long time friends and attend Nathaniel and Saundra's wedding reception (they were married in Aug) We arrived into Wilder Friday evening and enjoyed our time with dear friends, the Fisks. The kids all got along great and our kids were introduced to the world of "video games"! Tys spent his time playing the Wii with their two boys, Colton & Evan. Now, he wants one of his own :) Even Casey got in on the Wii action ~ I think this was the first time I had ever seen him play any sort of video game! Anyhow, we had a great time catching up with Dave & Mindy and they were so kind to let us "trash" their house for the weekend. THEE Wii!!!

On Saturday we went in to Caldwell for Nathaniel and Saundra's reception. We saw friends there that we hadn't seen in years! There was lots of old stories to tell and catching up to do... the reception went by too fast so a group of 20 of us went out to dinner that night at the Olive Garden. We had a wonderful evening... even though Trent was SO tired and crabby from the big day :(

Two pretty girls ~ Emma and Katie

More pretty girls ~ Katie and her Auntie Ri

The newlyweds, Nathaniel and Saundra

Mary Ellen, Saundra, me and Marie

A reunion of the "old gang" Nathaniel, Dirk, Casey, Joe and Rod. Too bad Jerry and a few others were missing....

Olive Garden... Joe and Jake

Casey, Marie and Meredith

Uncle Jake and Katie