Cute Little Turkeys

I have the cutest little turkeys every! No, really, its true. And this Thanksgiving I am SO thankful for them! (Okay, really, I have 2 little turkeys and one big Tom!)

This Thanksgiving we made turkeys from Oreo cookies. They were meant to go on popsicle sticks, but we couldn't get the sticks to hold our heavenly treats, so we ditched that idea and put them on a platter. It was a really fun family activity and the kids were super proud of their creations. And, wow, it was an intense! Just look at the concentration on those faces!

They were also super proud of the artwork they made in school. When Brykn came home from the "1st Grade Feast" and pulled out the hat, shirt, necklace, and drum he made, Harlee was right behind him saying, "I made a turkey hat too!" The look of pride on her face as she pulled out her turkey headband was like nothing I've ever seen. It was like she was saying, "See, I'm just as big as him!"

Love those little kids!

My Life is a MasterCard Commerical

You know all those commericals that advertise MasterCard and all the unlimited finanical capabilities if you get one? Yeah, well, we need to be featured on one of those ads.

Grooming Supplies     $50
Show Shirt       $35
Gas money       $100
Stall, shavings, show fees     $125
Horse and saddle       $Way too much

Seeing the smile on your kids face as they slide to a stop and tell the crowd "My nickname is Slidin' Sam!"       PRICELESS!!!! Absolutely PRICELESS!!!!

Can't tell you how much I love being a horse show mom--it's such an amazing feeling. I get nervous, excited, and incredibly proud. These photos and video are from the last 2 weeks of horse shows--the first of many, many, many.

Like Father, Like Son...1st place!

She was the world's best cheerleader...for the first 7 hours of the show. Then, only 30 minutes before Brykn went, she crashed! That's okay, Harlee, you hung in there really good!

So, I guess I'll just close my eyes as I sign the credit card bill and take a great big deep breath. Because, after all, these memories are PRICELESS!!!

It's a Ragnar Thing...

We did it--we ran the highly acclaimed Ragnar Wasatch Back. 192 miles of sweat, exhaustion, and...well, fun! I wasn't particularily worried about the runs, but I didn't anticipate the toll the heat or the lack of sleep would take on me.

I'm still a little tired. Okay, a lot tired. And, my legs are still a little sore. I seem to be walking fine, but sitting down is more like a controlled fall (which can be particularily dangerous on while using the restroom, but that's a different discussion for a different time). But, all in all, I feel pretty good and Brandon says he does too. I'm ready to sign up again! Brandon says he'll think about it. I have a feeling he'll think he'd rather go fishing!

At Check-In. Look how fresh we look! This was BEFORE we were all sweaty.

That's right...we're tough! This was after we were all done. Check out the tat on Brandon's arm!

Team "And We Came To Pass." Brandon, Me, Nate, Shelly, Tanya, Don

Immediately after Brandon and I finished our last legs. Here we don't look quite so refreshed...and we were totally sweaty. And stinky. And gross. But, still smiling!

This is after my first leg...me and The Girls!

A Horse--It's a Horse!

We've been looking for Brykn a new horse for a long time. We looked at old ones, we looked at young ones, we looked at reiners, we looked at ropers. We looked everywhere. And, just when I was losing hope that we would ever find something for the littel man, we found one. And by we, I mean Brandon. You know, because he's the horse trainer.

Rio is 8 years old and has had a fair amount of reining training. He's great with kids and has a really fantastic "WHOA" saftey feature built in. The horse can flat out park it! This is particularily appealing because my little Brykn has absoltutely no fear. Zero. Zippo. Zilch. Notta. None.

We actually tried Rio and Brykn rode him for a long time before we decided to buy him. Since  Rio lived at the barn where Brandon has been riding, Brykn didn't have a clue we were looking to buy Rio just for him--he just thought this was a horse he could ride while Dad was riding.

Needless to say, we bought the horse, and Brandon has been working with Rio for the last month or so. We didn't tell Brykn because we wanted it to be a big surprise. Here's the big surprise video and photos too!

The Tooth Fairy's First Trip!

That's right--we've offically lost a tooth! Can you believe it? Brykn was getting so incredibly sad that he was the "only kid in all of kindergarten" that hadn't lost a tooth yet. In fact, he was so sad that at his last dentist appointment he BEGGED the dentist to just pull one out. Ummmm.....no.

But, as it turns out, he actually tripped going up the stairs and smacked his mouth on the corner of the stair which loosened his tooth. Now there could not have been anything more fortuante happen to this child. With a mouth that was a little sore and bloody, he smiled from ear to ear.

2 days later, after lots and lots of wiggling, it FINALLY fell out! Holy crap, this was breaking news! I'm pretty sure that Tremonton heard him screaming when it came out in his hand. And, with that, we began planning for the tooth fairy...

But, brykn didn't want to leave the tooth for the Fairy because he wanted to show Grandma his tooth. So, we wrote the tooth fairy a note asking to please keep the tooth for a few days. With the tooth secure under his pillow, Brykn fell sound asleep and the Tooth Fairy made a grand entrance!

The next morning, the tooth was still there, along with a note from the Fairy telling Brykn she could come back for the tooth a couple days later and $5--inflation happens, you know. (Well, inflation and the fact that the Tooth Fairy didn't have change.) But, that wasn't the interesting part. Oh, no. The most interesting part was the FAIRY DUST she left all over the place. Fairy dust on the windowseal, Fairy dust on his pillow, Fairy dust everywhere! And Brykn was ticked off! And, not just a little big--a lot!!!

Why, you ask (which was precisely what I asked!)? Well, because he didn't want his stuff to float! Seriously...that Fairy had SOME nerve!

With groggy eyes he lept down the stairs to get the windex and papertowels so he could clean up this stupid Fairy's mess.

I honestly haven't laughed this hard in a long time. He told me, "Mom, I hope the Tooth Fairy cleans up after herself the next time I loose a tooth because she was kinda rude. Don't you think? I mean, I don't want my blind to float. I'd be up all night because the moon would be shining in my room!"

Well, Brykn, I guess that WAS kind of rude. Fairies. Rude little Faires, anyway.

I'll Just Call You Grandpa...

Isn't it funny when kids figure out that their grandparents are actually your parents? It's like a light bulb buzzes on and they realize how the whole puzzle fits together. Sometimes a dysfunctional puzzle, but a puzzle nonetheless. Brykn has known for some time that Grandma and Grandpa Wall (aka Grandma Lauri and Grandpa) are my parents. In fact, he's referred to them on more than one occasion as "your parents." Particularly when he's giving weight to something he and Grandma have conjured up....And, well, there's a lot of conjuring and mischief between the two of them. It typically begins like, "Your mom said (insert mischief here)."

Terral Fawn Wall...aka, "Grandpa"

We just, however, had a new discovery..."Grandpa" has a real name! Holy cow! Who knew? When did this happen, anyway? This unique discovery occurred over a fun afternoon of roping sheep--we're country kids, what can I say? Brykn said to my dad, "Grandpa, what's your REAL name?" Grandpa said, "My name is Terral Fawn Wall." To which Brykn responded with a very puzzled/concerned/dumbfounded, "Humm....I think I'll just call you Grandpa."

Great plan, little dude. Great plan. I think that's the name he likes best, anyway.

Sweet Revenge...

The mood: vindictive.
The plot: a distinct disagreement between West Weber Woman and Thai Chicken Pizza.
The characters: chicken, an oven, and West Weber Woman.
That's right, this story's about to get interesting...

Pioneer Woman Thai Chicken Pizza won't win. I'll be darned if that stupid peanut sauce and a smoking blender is going to going to get the best of West Weber Woman. Nope. Not gonna happen. Some might say I'm vindictive--I say I'm determined. Strong-willed. Tenacious. It's in the genes, people! (That and bargain hunting, but that's another story for another time.)

So, I'm getting out the cookbook again. You know the one: Pioneer Woman. The book that brings all your buttery, heavy cream-filled dreams to life. Only this time I'm abandoning Thai Chicken Pizza and seeking revenge via White Chicken Enchiladas.

First, let me say that this recipe is not for the calorie counters. It's not for those who want to avoid a heart attack or even those who try to stay under 500 grams of fat per day. That's right, it's "heavy." It's heavy with cream, butter, more cream, chicken, and...more butter...and cream. Notice a pattern here?

I gave myself a pep-talk before this White Chicken Enchilada meal preparation even began. "You've got this," I said in my busy little brain, "You've totally got this." Then, I decided I should probably abandon this phrase. After all, this was EXACTLY what I said right before the blender began begging for forgiveness after a few good thumpins on the counter. I decided to go with "These enchiladas are going to be calling me Mama!" But, that was weird, so I decided to forget the stupid pep talk and start cooking.

Yup, they're burnt!

First, let me say that I have never roasted a pepper.Today, I was about to roast 3. I read and reread the instructions and had pretty good success--mostly because it's really just a matter of burning the crap outta them under the broiler. I've burned lots of garlic bread the same way, so this was a walk in the park!

I told you the cream was plentiful!

Next came making an amazing enchilada filling from copped onions, cream, butter, perfectly grilled chicken breast and garlic. What an intoxicating combination!

Awe....can you smell it? It's truly magic!

Followed by the filling of the enchiladas, the making of the lusciously creamy and buttery (I told ya--lots of cream, lots of butter) and cheesy sauce that covers the entire pan. Oh, oh, oh, yeah, baby!

This is the "Whala!" part!

And, whala! West Weber Woman has a pan full of enchiladas that I'm pretty sure will make the people of Mexico proud...or at least my kids. I added multi-grain tortilla chips (which are more yummy and have comparable nutrition facts as the baked tortilla chips--ha, NOW we're watching the calories!) and a pan of Mexican rice which was also a Pioneer Woman recipe.

Homemade goodness, people!

Okay, confession time....this makes the whole ordeal sound pretty easy. Well, it wasn't! Total time for this euphoria-inducing recipe? 2 HOURS! This would've been fine on a lazy weekend (is there such a thing?), but on a weeknight it was too long. We ate dinner late--really late. Good thing my fam was patient. Okay, they weren't patient. They were banging forks on table and crying. A little hollering by the kids, a little of me yelling, "I'm TRYING!" and a little "But, Mom, can't we just have a hot dog?" But that's all besides the point.

Little West Weber Woman. I sure hope she's responsible for cleaning up that mess!

 Lucky for me, I had a fantabulous little helper. I call her "Little West Weber Woman." She just calls me "Mom" which is by far my most favorite name.

Awe, REVENGE! Take that, Thai Chicken Pizza! That's right, "I've got this. I've totally got this."