Sloppy Joe's

So the other night our ward has the "Annual Ward Picnic, Car Show & Pool Party" at a local park.
I thought just by the title we could find something for each member of my family to enjoy, Who doesn't love a car show anyway! After a disappointing phone call from Manuel telling me that he was going to be home late and would be missing this "high on his priority list" activity, I decided to go at it solo. After all, it's just a ward picnic, car show and pool party, I can do this one by myself.
So after I've parked the car and given the boys the lecture about eating healthy, not touching the food unless your planning on eating it, no smelling things if your not sure about them and only choosing 1 dessert then I let them loose.
I decided to just sit down and save us a spot to sit while they navigated the food table, Avery had stopped at the playground so I could just eat after the boys got their dinner.
Eli arrives at the table first with a cupcake, 3 pieces of cake and a large pile of potato chips in the center. He quickly drops his plate on the table and races back to get a cup of root beer. Upon his return I asked him where his dinner was. "This is my dinner, it's all I like over there" I see the talk in the car really made an impact....
David arrives next, strangely he has the exact same thing as Eli. He sits down very quickly and starts inhaling cake while not making eye contact with me or answering me when I say his name. After several bites of cake he finally looks at me and says "Mom, they have some wierd hamburgers, but not really hamburger thingys over there. I can't eat them or I'll throw up"
Alex then sits by me with a strange look on his face but a much better looking dinner plate, he nods to his plate and says "What is this Mom?"
Oh, the mystery dinner item is a Sloppy Joe.................................................. I said to Alex" You should try it you might like it."
The sweet sister next to me, who has quietly been listening to all of this sits up a little straighter and sticks her head very close to me and in her best speaking voice says " Do you mean to tell me your kids have never had a Sloppy Joe, what on earth do you feed them?"
What on earth do I feed them? I was just wondering if I missed a memo about sloppy joes being a staple in the diet of picky children? I think I'll be revamping my menu to try and acclimate them to the american classic of Sloppy Joes!
Oh and by the way, the car show was a hit- especially with the 5 and under crowd! The pool party was great except everyone was freezing to death. Can anyone tell me why it is so COLD here in Utah in the middle of August??????
Wishing your family lots of fun at your Annual ward picnic this year- I bet your jealous that you didn't get to have a car show too;)

Just a few things I am loving lately...

Tomato Sandwiches & Corn on the Cob- this is my all time favorite summer food- Thanks to my friend Stephanie for getting me hooked!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake- I never would have thought I could love it as much as real "bad for you" chocolate cake. The kids all love it too- Oh except for Eli, he found a tiny piece of something green in his cake and now he thinks we are secretly putting vegetables in everything-ugghh!!!

Sundance Day Camp- The boys are loving camp up at Sundance! I am loving some quiet time around the house and it's so awesome to have them tired at the end of the day from spending the day up in the mountains. They really keep them busy and my boys never get tired of riding the ski lift up to the top of the mountain- they have had nothing but rave reviews each of the days they have gone.

Glimmer Mist and Distress Inks- I have been really working hard to squeeze some scrapbook time into my schedule and I have been having so much fun playing with these. Maybe I'll get brave and post some of my pages. It really is the coolest stuff!

The slushy store- My kids are loving the slushy store around the corner.

The Lindon Pool and the Flowrider!- Seriously this has saved my sanity this summer. It is clean, easy to keep track of my kiddos and the Flowrider has been a huge hit with Alex, especially. He seriously will stay there for at least 8 hours riding it! I hav some pics so I'll try and get them downloaded so you can see how much fun it it!

Hope you are all enjoying these last few weeks of summer- Yikes, I can't believe school is starting in less than 2 weeks!!!

Washers

(Okay, still working on Part 2 to my last post, I promise it's coming.)

I will be the first to admit I have a serious love/hate relationship with all things LAUNDRY!

I love to sort the laundry, I hate to pick it up from the floor in what seems like every room, every day!!!

I love it when my laundry room is clean and smells good, but I hate that I have to clean it everyday to keep it that way.

I love having warm, clean smelling clothes fresh out of the dryer, I hate that my washer is continually having issues- serious issues!!!!

I love to fold laundry, I hate putting it away.

I think it's time to eliminate some of my "hates". After reviewing them I think getting a new washer is the one I actually have the most control over and the one I may actually have some success with (previous attemps to have some boys in my home help with picking up said dirty clothes or helping to put away said nicely folded clothes has proved highly unsuccessful!)

So I'd like washer recommendations, I am looking at the front loading kind that wash LOTS of stuff at once and that can accomodate big fluffy blankets!

Let me know if you have a washer and dryer set that you LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!!
Happy Weekend to you!!!!

We are still alive!!!!

Hello everyone!!!! I'm so excited to be back blogging again. It's been 4 months since my last post- I can't believe it!!!

Anyway, I realize that I left ya'll hanging on my last post so here's to an update and hopefully more regular posts from here on out!!!

YES, we did actually move! It was really difficult to leave, we were really enjoying the neighborhood and the ward and the good friends the kids were making. We were not enjoying all the little problems that started showing up in the house. All in all, it worked out to be a blessing for us.

Avery enjoying some chocolate milk on one of the only seats left in the old house!

This is our current house! I say current because this will be a temporary landing spot for us while we look for lots or until we find a house with everything that we are looking for.

David and Avery are getting so big and they are great helpers, they love to help me paint or in this case distress a piece of furniture that has been in the family for a long time.

Avery is getting to be a pro on her scooter, she has loved being able to take it outside and ride up and down the street. She also continues to impress us with her fashion choices- gotta love those snowboots in the spring!!

Our street has a slight incline and Alex and his cousins love to ride down the street on their longboards, scooters, and ripsticks. There is a neighbor dog that isn't so nice that chases them sometimes, but I'm to scared to stay outside and try to get a picture of it- It is scary but really so hilarious!

We sold our old Orem house- we were really happy to get close to what we wanted out of it and are so grateful that we are done taking care of multiple houses!!!!

We celebrated our 14th Anniversary in March- no pictures or fun things because we were all sick! It's okay we look the same as we always do!!!

Alex turned 11 on April 1st. He only wanted an Ipod touch so after he had earned half the money we pitched in the rest and gave it to him for his birthday gift!!!! We wrapped up a fake toy Ipod and gave it to him before he left for school, he was confused but I think he was catching on that there was something more for him. He wanted to eat Filet Mignon at home so we stayed here and had a little celebration. It was fun and he was super excited to get his Ipod Touch!


Eli turned 8 on April 7th. He was a little upset that he didn't get a MP3 player that Alex had convinced him that he "needed", but we got him lots of fun toys and action figures that he loves to play with. He wanted to eat at Brick Oven so we had dinner there and then cake when we got back home.

Manuel's niece had a baby, his name is Joshua and Little Miss Avery is in heaven!!!!!!

Manuel and I went for a weekend to Colorado- shocking, yes I know! It was really fun to have some alone time away from the kids and we loved seeing all our old friends in Louisville. It was raining when we flew in and by mid-afternoon they had started to cancel flights and close roads because of the snow. We made it to our hotel and pretty much had to hang out there for Friday and a good portion of Saturday.

Even with the snow, we wouldn't have missed meeting Trish and Gerry (and Kyle) for dinner. They actually bought dinner for us which was not part of the plan. Now they need to come here so we can treat them to dinner!!! HINT HINT!!! We'd still love to meet you in MOAB, Mapquest says it is 5 hours and 47 minutes from Louisville!!

Thanks again guys it was great to catch up!!!

Okay so I think that catches me up through April so for now we'll leave you with.....

TO BE CONTINUED...................................................

Busy Thoughts!

I know everyone is busy, but somehow you WONDER WOMEN seem to find time to

download your photos and write fun little posts that I so enjoy reading. So I guess this is a "confessional" of sorts.

I am a blog reader and not the blog writer that I thought I would be.

I just can't find time to do both.

I think updating every month is more my style! Someday:

I'll have a food blog,

I'll workout everyday,

My house will actually stay clean,

I'll have an art studio where I can sit in the sunlight and be creative,

but for right now I am a Mom. That is my main focus and everything else must WAIT!!!!!

I'm still WONDER WOMAN, I just won't be wearing that little outfit anytime soon!!!

So, until I get the "blogging bug" back again, please know that I love to read your blogs and hear about your fabulously exciting lives!

P.S. We are probably moving soon, our house is having structural "issues" that we are not comfortable with so we are probably going to rent somewhere for a little while till we can find another home that we love!!! Call me if you want more details, we haven't told the kids yet so keep it on the down low for a little longer. I'll give you contact info once I know a little more!!!!! UGGGHHH!!!

Catch Up!

I have good reasons for not blogging lately, here are a few of them......

Ahh, the deliciousness of this time of year!!!! We have been doing some baking and enjoying all the fun treats and time in the kitchen. The kids are turning into great little sous chefs!

Chocolate Pecan Pie

Pumpkin Bread

we sprinkled raw sugar on the top and it gave it a delightful extra layer of goodness!

We have done a few arts and crafts projects- anything to keep the kiddos busy and happy while it's freezing outside!

David and Will and Avery(those are her fingers on the bottom left) having a blast using up all my old Christmas die cuts!
Avery painting a birdhouse that Manuel put together for her. That is serious talent to paint with 2 paintbrushes;)

We have been doing some decorating, these are a few of my favorite projects. Still lots to do but we are making progress!


This makes me smile everytime I look at it!!!!

We spent some time with Grandpa in town over Thanksgiving.

The highlight of the visit was putting fire crackers in the apples in the backyard and blowing them up.


Eli flexed his muscles with Santa!
Alex had a singing performance at the tree lighting ceremony at Zions Bank where Santa made an appearance. All the pictures of Alex had another boys head in the way- sorry Alex!!!

Manuel had a Birthday- He is 41-yikes;). I'd list 41 reasons why I love him but he never reads this so I think I'll just give him 41 kisses instead!!!!
We decorated the tree and listened to Christmas music!!!!!

We have been enjoying our generous helping of snow, every few days!
Snow boot requests have been added to everyone's Christmas lists- Is it too late to make requests??

We have tried to take SEVERAL pictures of the kids for a christmas card, all in various locations, (the couch was a last resort) This one is in the running for the BEST PHOTO!!!!! I'm planning to keep trying so if you see a Christmas card anytime between now and Valentines Day, consider yourself lucky!
We spent 1 evening at David's preschool for the annual holiday concert. Seriously don't let this picture deceive you, this is the only second that he actually sang. I'll try to download the video clips that I have. It is one of the best concerts in Yanguez family history!!!!

Happy Holidays!

Love the Yanguez Family!!!!!

Congratulations!

Congrats are in order for the youngest member of our family... Avery is finally potty trained!

(I am so happy to not have to add diapers to my grocery list anymore!)