Go Beavers - An Equal Opportunist Cheerleader

Addison is an equal opportunity cheerleader.

She loves the Utes because her mom graduated from there.

She hates the Y because it's just the thing to do.

The team she cheers most loudly for is Oregon State. Her Nana and grandpa met there and her Nana is a HUGE fan. Since Addison is an equal opportunist she was more than thrilled to receive an outfit and parade around practicing her cheers and other toddler moves.

She mounted the bench and then coped an attitude on her decent of the driveway.

She did a little stumble and somersault on her assent of the front lawn and she even practiced showing her cute little bum.

She then paraded around the driveway doing a little jig and sharing her vault of facial expressions.

Hail! Hail! Hail! Hail! Hail to old O.S.U. - GOOOO BEAVERS!

Ultimately, she became distracted from her cheer-leading practice, and decided to investigate the state of the fall flowers in our yard. She was quite distraught when I wouldn't let her eat the flowers off the purple blooming bush because they are swarming with end of life cycle bees that are in their mean phase.

After a *small* tantrum she was satisfied to be relocated to a bee-free bush to eat.

Nana Came and Went

Our anniversary is September 27th and we just celebrated four blissful years together! My mom has actually be in town for 3 of the 4 anniversaries (see 1st, 3rd, 4th) we've had. So, like every other fall, we welcomed my mom into our home for a nice visit. We typically take a gazzilion pictures when she visits - but this time we were too busy playing, shopping, eating, baking, etc. The day before she left we did enjoy a nice drive up to Big Mountain and snapped a few quick pictures. I love fall - it is only the best season of the WHOLE ENTIRE YEAR!

I love having my mom come and visit, but my sister and I are trying to convince her to come and see Utah sometime other than September! I hope it's soon - regardless of what month it is!

Crispy Crock-Pot Rotisserie Chicken

I love Rotisserie chicken - like the $5 kind from Costco. We have tried to cook whole chicken at home in the crock-pot on several occasions but I am always disappointed that it's soggy, oily, and falls apart into a bone-slimy mess.

Well - let me teach you the BEST FREAKIN' TRICK EVER!

Just ball up three balls of foil and put them underneath the raw chicken in your crock-pot and then cook on low! The drippings fell off into the bottom of the crock-pot, the skin was crispy, the meat was still fall off the bone tender, and I just rubbed some all seasoning salt all over the outside and it was yummy. You could shove some cloves under the skin or dress it with fresh herbs - but this was a Sunday "best use what I have on hand" kind of a meal. I picked up a "managers special" whole chicken the day before that was approaching expiration so it only cost $1.88 for the whole bird! Before church I used my little trick and just turned it on low - about 4 hours later we enjoyed perfect chicken.

Look at that crispy seasoned bird! I also chopped up potatoes from my garden and tossed them with a bag of carrots, olive oil, and a ton of this and that seasonings and let them slow roast in my over at 250 for the duration of church. I love coming home to yummy smelling, no work, Sunday dinner!

If you try it let me know! I will remember this awesome trick the rest of my life (which I originally read about in my Our Best Bites cookbook).

Best Event of the Year

I love the State Fair. I took Addison last year but she was just tiny and so I was really excited to take her again this year - especially because she is so curious and excited and fun at this stage. We walked through all the animal barns and Addison pet goats, sheep, cows, and even a piglet. She loved watching the piglets run around and eat and kept telling us all about how exciting it was. Every time we let her out of her stroller she would take off running to see the next thing. Below you can see her running to better see the cows.

After perusing the animal barns we headed towards the children's farm area and made a quick stop at the hot tubs. Addison loves all things water!

I love the children's area where they learn all about the farming process. Addison probably didn't get much educationally out of the whole thing but she loved putting things in and out of her basket, sticking everything in her mouth, and milking the cow.

It was definitely a successful Fair year - we'll be back again and again and again...

PS We went to the Fair the night of the U vs BYU game and dressed appropriately to show our support. Go UTES!

Favorite Food

Addison's favorite food is green beans. These pictures were taken in August - but shows a common scene around our house. She'll sit on the counter with a can full and watch while I cook, clean, do dishes, unload the dishwasher, or whatever.

And this was the first time that Addison sat up at the table instead of in her high chair. She wasn't eating in her high chair but the minute I put her up at the table and let her get her own beans out of a baggie she finished them all off! Yep, she's just a little strong willed. And nope, I have no idea where that attribute comes from. ;)

Working With Mom

Addison loves to play with the laptop and "help". But sometimes she will sit beside us and work on her own laptop while we work on ours.

Pioneer Day Camping

We packed up to go camping for Pioneer Day weekend (July 22 - 25). As you can see - you have to take a whole lot more stuff once you have a baby! This was actually Addison's very first time tent-camping, which is my favorite kind of camping.

Addison loved sitting in her tiny camp chair and playing in the river. It was FREEZING but it didn't bother her and she didn't even mind crawling through the sand. I love Robeez shoes and that they work like water socks on little babies. After the days of mud and fun were over a quick bath in the "kitchen" sink was a necessity.

My sister and her family were able to join us for two nights and Addison and Aiden loved sitting across from each other at the picnic table. And they both loved that they could find a snack later on underneath their high-chairs. :)

We put out a tarp and let the kids play. Addison was just starting to take steps when we went camping and so they were mostly content to play on the dry tent.

We didn't hike far but Holly tried out our hiking pack and loved it!

We can't wait for next summer when we can go again.

Just Tell It Like It Is

When people come to our house we make every effort to have it feel nice and inviting. We work to make it clean, decorated, child-proof, and whatever.

But then we're busy, we work, we have callings, responsibility, then there are all those family things that you try to squeeze into the one-day weekend and it seems like there just isn't enough time to actually live in a house like that all the time.

In an effort for this blog to reflect the state of our house right now, I present to you a typical Sunday afternoon:

Do you have those days where your toy bins look like this:

Because you family room looks like this:

And the kitchen looks like this:

And that is milk that has been forgotten for more than a day...

Yeah, we're not put together all the time either. Good thing it's Sunday, the day of rest, and I can think about dealing with it all tomorrow.

Subscribe & Save

So - I'm turning into an online shop-a-holic. Since I have a 1-year old child I have no real desire to go to the store with a child that hates her car seat and is independent and wants to walk everywhere I have been buying my GROCERIES online - and I have to say that I LOVE IT!

I have decided that I personally hate coupons. I feel like it takes up too much of my time and printer ink. Plus, it's horribly frustrating to go the store and have them be out of what I have a coupon for because some woman before me bought 20 bottles of mustard and I only wanted 1! I've tried various grocery sites over the years and am responsible for my families meal planning, making, and grocery shopping. I have stopped cooking from boxed items and I make most things from scratch. I'm not able to buy everything online for a good deal but I buy several non-perishable grocery add-ons through Amazon.

I stop at the grocery store about every 10 days to buy milk, yogurt, and produce. I stop at the lds cannery about once a month to add to my staple items and then I watch sales for other things and stock up when their cheap. In watching sales and learning my prices I have learned that Amazon is sometimes wonderfully competitive to good grocery store deals. Plus, Amazon offers 3 things that the grocery store doesn't - no sales tax, free shipping to my door, and I know if it's in stock without leaving my bed!

In addition, my husband takes a lunch to work just about everyday. Oliver is a creature of habit and has been eating PB&J since 1st grade. That coupled with a piece of fruit, some carrots, a Yoplait yogurt, and a treat make a complete lunch. The treat part is where Amazon comes in (if I was a better wife he'd have homemade cookies or something to take - and he does maybe 2% of the time - so it's the other 98% we're discussing). I have been able to buy cheez-its for $1.50 per box, teddy grahams for $.28 per package, organic fruit snacks, organic crackers, etc. I also buy Kraft Mac&Cheese (because nothing else is as good) for $.48 per box.

The other benefit to amazon shopping, if you aren't going to coupon, is that disposable diapers and wipes are cheaper than anywhere else! They come to my door, I can get one delivered the next day if I'm in a pinch, and I don't have to wait for a Costco coupon. I'll admit that diaper deals are better with coupons and rite-aid rewards, blah, blah, blah but as previously disclosed that's just not for me. We also do cloth diapers 95% of the time and I just need a box is disposables for when we camp or vacation and so I'm interested in convenience. I can get Huggies, delivered and with no sales tax, for cheaper than Kirtland brand with a coupon. That is success!

Anyway, shopping on Amazon has actually lowered my monthly grocery bill even further (which I didn't think was possible) because I'm not tempted to buy other stuff at the store because I just don't walk down any of the aisles. I walk the perimeter and out! It has also added to my food storage (I bought a 12-pack of Skippy Organic PB (Oliver is a PB brand snob) for $1 a jar) and now it's just waiting when I'm ready. If you don't have storage space then maybe this route isn't for you - but I LOVE AMAZON GROCERY SHOPPING!