Family Traditions

Little did I know that I married into a family of mushroom hunters. In all my 23 years before joining my new family, I didn't even know folks hunted for mushrooms, but they do. And we have a fearless leader that shows us the way in Papa John. Now you may wonder what exactly is mushroom hunting and how does one do this sport? The answer to that is simple. Mushroom hunting is a good excuse to go hiking around in the forest on a beautiful spring day mostly. Looking for the mushrooms adds to the excitment and keeps our heads on a swivel.

Last weekend was Max's first exposure to a Bugni Mushroom Hunting Trip and so Papa kept him close to show him the ropes. He had a great view point for watching for the mushrooms from Papa's shoulders.

Now hunting for mushrooms isn't an easy task and you can sometimes walk away empty handed. There is a science to getting your timing just right. You have to target your search for a day when it is not too cold, the snow has to be gone, but not to hot. Mushrooms are finicky. Well we lucked out and found some on this trip, but I am SURE it had to do with Papa and Dan's expert mushroom sense : )

Chase is holding some of our loot!

Engineer, Cowboy, Racecar Driver Man

Chase has lots of favorite things including trains, cowboys and Lightening McQueen to name a few. On a very regular basis you will find random things in our house turned into a train simply by putting them in a line and then from there on out, everybody better have a ticket or there will be trouble.

In this particular picture, I have captured Chase telling me that I need to get onboard. You will notice the cowboy hat and McQueen slippers. He was pretending he was an Engineer, Cowboy, Racecar Driver Man (who perhaps surfs in his free time : )

Who you calling a Husky?!?

GO COUGS!!

4!

This is one of those stories I had to run by some friends before posting : ) I am sure Chase will love that I posted this when he is older, but I can't resist sharing.....

Chase was spending the day at Grandma Sandy's house and he said he needed to use the bathroom. Grandma follows him into the bathroom and she asks him if he needs to go 1 or 2. Chase asks Grandma what she is talking about and she explains what 1 is and what 2 is. Chase tells her 2 and she gets him set up and leaves to give him a bit of privacy. A few minutes later she comes back in to check on him and asks if he went #2. Chase jumps off the toilet and exclaims, "No Grandma, I went 4! See Look!"

My latest cookbook....

This story goes back a while. My wonderful friend Sarah and I discovered this blog a while back called The Pioneer Woman. The blog has recipes, photography tutorials and a quirky writer named Ree who refers to herself as The Pionner Woman. It is a really fun blog to read and I have to save that I LOVE her recipes and have tried a ton of them. If you check out her blog, she has a really cute love story posted on there of how she met her husband. It is long, but a bit addicting I must say.

Well, fast forward a year or so and I notice a post on Facebook from my friend Sarah saying she is in line at a book store to meet The Pioneer Woman (PW)!! Oh my gosh! You see PW's blog was so popular and her style of cooking so yummy, she was asked to create a cookbook and my friend Sarah was in line to get one! Sarah ended up waiting in line for five hours and do you know what my wonderful, amazing, beautiful friend did??? She got me a signed copy too! I love ya Sar!!

So far I have made: Homemade Cinnamon Rolls, Penne a la Betsy, jalapeno poppers & Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich. Most of the recipes in the book are on her blog, but I love having the book to refer to while I am cooking.


Warning....these are not low cal recipes, but they are very tastey!

Spring!

I love the spring. I love that the days are longer, it is warm and I can wear my flip flops 24/7 if I want to. The spring means we can start planting the garden, the tulips are blooming, the trees are blossoming and everything is green. Spring time makes me feel alive!

Allergies?!?!

We found out today that Max is allergic to eggs and peanuts....UUGGGHHH! We were referred to the allergy doctor by our doc from Yakima Peds because Max has always been on the rashy side and he is starting to get eczema. The poor guy has been itchy for a while and we couldn't pin point what exactly was causing the trouble. As it turns out almost everything he eats because so much stuff has eggs in it. The peanut allergie hasn't been an issue yet because we have stayed away from all peanut products, but we will definitely have to make some life adjustments for the eggs thing. On the positive side, the allergist thinks that Max will grow out of these allergies and we will check back with them on an annual basis to keep an eye on things. The other positive thing.....through all the rashes and itches and scratching....this little guy never quits smiling.

Mothers Day

I am so happy to be in the club....here are my two little tickets and they are priceless. I remember saying so many times growing up that I wanted to have girls and now I just laugh at that idea. I seriously can't imagine what my life would be like in pink. I love my life in blue & green, with cowboy boots, dump trucks and bugs.

I love that Chase likes to bake with me and that he has learned to crack the eggs all by himself. I love to hear the sound of little hands slapping the floor as Max crawls to me as fast as a little rocket. I love that Chase wants to be a cowboy and that he wears his boots with any outfit. I love that Max likes to snuggle close and hug me tight.

Guys.....Mama loves you to the moon!

A special Happy Mother's Day to Grandma Karen....

Without Grandma Karen, none of these beautiful smiling faces would be possible. Love her lots!

Happy Mother's Day

Another Shot....

So I want to be a blogger, I really do. I love, love, love to read blogs and especially keeping up with my good friends and their little ones. The issue, is that time is sooooo precious and this blogging tool and I haven't gotten along very well in the past. That being said, I am going to give it another go. We are heading into Mother's Day weekend and I have to share a funny story. We were at Toys R Us last weekend and Chase discovered hula hoops. He picked out a green one and we decided it would be a fun Mother's Day present from Chase to Grandma Sandy. Grandma Sandy is great hula hooper and Chase was really excited to get the hula hoop for her. So we explained to Chase that we needed to not tell Grandma about the hula hoop until Mother's Day.

Fast forward to Wednesday of this week and Chase is spending the day with Grandma & Grandpa. An advertisement about Mother's Day comes on the tv and Chase looks at Grandma and says with a sly grin "Happy Mother's Day Grandma, I got you a Hula Poop!" Mom said she wasn't sure what to say, so she said "thank you Chase. What is a Hula Poop?" Chase stood up and explained that it was a thing where you wiggle your hips and "IT'S GREEN!" Chase loves green. Mom said "Oh, a hula hoop" and Chase said "Yah a hula poop!" Long story short, Grandma Sandy got her hoola poop early and she loves it : )

I love this baby and his big grin and bald little head. He is a little comedian and laughs out loud constantly. He is a crack up and a great person to hang out with when you are having a rough day. It is very obvious that Max is smitten with his big brother and he follows him all over the house.
Ok, well I made it through one post. I hope there are more to come soon. Good night : )