Spencer's pirate birthday weekend...

This year instead of a big birthday party with all his friends, I'm taking him to Utah next week to play in the snow with his cousins. Just a mom/son trip for four days (while Dad stays home with Chase and Leda) and we're so excited! But I still wanted to do something to celebrate this milestone, so this past Saturday we had his best friend over (Garrick Foth) along with Grandma and Grandpa and we hit McDonald's for lunch, saw the Veggie Tale movie "The Pirates who don't do anything"and then came home to a pirate cake and opened some presents. It was a great day---full of his three favorite things: friends, family and pirates---ARGH!

A few years ago Spencer one day just decided he loved pirates. I'm not sure how it started or exactly when, but I know it's been about two years and he can't get enough of them. Funny thing is, he's never seen the Pirates of the Caribbean movie all the way through (he's seen the first 30 minutes) but he's totally obsessed with Captain Jack Sparrow and he can prove his obsession as he's dressed as him the past two Halloweens. He loves to play dress up with all his pirate stuff almost everyday and we have swords galore and pirate ships (five to be exact) all over our house to prove his devotion. I was so excited to learn about this new Veggie Tale movie that came out at the perfect time to be seen for his birthday! It actually was a really cute show and we had a ton of fun. Even Leda sat through it. Thanks grandma for staying home with Chase!

I've never been one to make cakes for my kids. I'm not a baker, and VONS makes perfectly good ones ;)...but this year Spencer really wanted a pirate ship cake, so I did it for him. I'm so happy with how it turned out! I followed a picture I found online, but Aaron says mine is cuter. lol

The evening of his birthday (last night) we took him to Chuck E. Cheese as a family. We had a great time. Overall I think he had an awesome few days of birthday fun. He has seriously been wanting to turn five since he turned four as he's so excited to be big like his cousin McKay and he can't wait to start Kindergarten. This is such a fun age---I just LOVE it!

Spencer and Garrick before the show. I asked them to turn and smile and they grabbed each other in a big bearhug. So cute!

Spencer with his pirate cake!

Grandma and Grandpa helping him celebrate with a cool pirate book!

Mom and Spencer at Chuck E. Cheese (they gave us the #5 at random to put on our table to wait for the pizza, and Spencer was thrilled that they gave him this number purposely in honor of his birthday, lol)
Chuck E. Cheese fun...

A close up of the pirate cake I made:

McDonald's before the show

Happy 5th Birthday Spencer!

I can't believe he's five! For some reason, this birthday feels different to me. I even caught myself crying this morning (though didn't let him see me). I just can't believe my baby is five, and now Kindergarten is just around the corner. Sigh. Spencer is such a special boy. He has such a gentle heart, eager to please, happy and full of energy and life. I'm so grateful he joined our family first. I can see now why he did as he is such a good big brother. He is so protective of his siblings and is very good to go with the flow and give up something he has (ie: toys, books, food) to make them happy. Tonight I am just so grateful to my Heavenly Father for this beautiful gift that is Spencer. I am SO proud to be his mom!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of him over the years. And btw, I totally give up trying to get these in any kind of order so OH WELL (lame blogger uploading feature).

Later on I'll post some pics of his little birthday party.

Happy Birthday Buddy! You've wanted to be FIVE since you turned four. So CONGRATS you made it!

President Hinckley's passing.

When I first heard (my mom called after she saw it on breaking news on TV in UT-she's there visting my sister) I was sad initially, then I felt so much joy for him to be reunited with his sweetheart.

Have any of you read the book entitled "Letters" by Margorie Pay Hinckley? It is so sweet and was such a tribute to the life they created together and the love they shared. Since her passing, he's mentioned many times of missing her and being terribly lonely. My heart really does feel happy to know they are reunited.

Then I read a news story of his life and saw a picture of him on the news and that's when my tears flowed. It's the end of an incredible era. He was my prophet for most of my life---at such an important time of my growing years. He has had a profound affect on me as a person and as a member of the church. Someone in the news (was it Senator Hatch?) mentioned something about his "wit and wisdom" and these two words are exactly what I think of when I hear the name Gordon B. Hinckley. My heart really does ache for such a loss, but so grateful to him for his service and that he can finally have the ultimate reward for his labors. Can you even imagine what kind of a reunion he's experiencing now? Not only with his wife, but his parents, grandparents, siblings, prophets of old and of course our Savior? Aaron and I talked all about this last night and what a joyous reunion he must be having. What a wonderful day for him. How I love President Hinckley and am so grateful he was my prophet for so long.

Future heavyweight champions?

Maybe there's a reason my kids were born big?

Spencer was 9 pounds 5 ounces

Leda was 8 pounds 10 ounces (2 weeks early, mind you)

Chase was 9 pounds 14 ounces

Perhaps they are meant to be the future heavyweight champions of the world?? Sure seems like they are heading that direction because I cannot keep them from wrestling with each other! UGH!

No matter how hard I try, they are constantly (and I'm not being dramatic-it's pretty much constant) tackling, jumping and taking each other out! And while it's happening, it's as if they are in the "zone" and don't hear my voice of warning (or my voice at all, really) that someone is going to get hurt. And yes, someone more often than not gets hurt.

I'd say it is mostly the boys who instigate, yes even my 15 month old son instigates a good match. But Leda, even dressed as Belle, can hold her own and fight to the bitter end. They think it's funny. Even if they get hurt, they cry for a bit and are right back at it. Sigh. What's a mom to do? I can't play referee all the live long day! So today I snapped some pictures because I'm sure someday I'll look back at these pictures and think they're cute. But right now all I see is three naughty kids not listening to their mother, and right after these pictures were taken, Spencer got clocked and was crying like a little girl.

Cayenne-rubbed chicken with avocado salsa

Okay, not to get all dramatic over a recipe, but if you like a bit of spice and want a SUPER easy chicken dish with a Mexican flare---you MUST MUST MUST try this one! Holy cow was it ever good! SO easy, healthy, and a huge hit in our home last night. It was a bit spicy for Chase, but Spencer and Leda asked for seconds. Aaron kept saying it tasted like a restaurant meal (ah, shucks!) and we just can't say enough about it! It has the perfect blend of spice (we LOVE spice, but it's not too much, don't worry) and sweet (with the red onion and lime juice).

I recently subscribed to Food Everyday Magazine (and bought a subscription for basically everyone in my family for Christmas) and I've been loving the recipes in it. This one came from January's issue. My sister first raved about this recipe, so I knew I had to try it and I'm so glad I did!

At first the kids wouldn't touch the relish on top, but after I told them that avocado and onions were Carter and McKay's (my sisters boys) favorites (yes, I lied) Spencer said he'd try some and ended up loving it. hee hee. So of course Leda had to try because Spencer did (you know how that goes) and we couldn't believe how fast our kids were eating avocado (not in guac form) and red onions! lol

Yes, Aaron was laughing at me for taking this picture, but I love having pictures to go along with recipes, so laugh if he must...here it is!


CAYENNE-RUBBED CHICKEN WITH AVOCADO SALSA
(prep time 10 min. total time 30 min. serves 4)

Ingredients:
course salt and ground pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6 to 8 ounces ea)
2 T olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 T fresh lime juice (I used bottled)
1 Hass avocado, pitted and cut into chunks


Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, rub all over chicken (both sides).
2. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium. Add chicken and cook until browned on the outside and opaque throughout, 8-10 min. per side.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine onion and lime juice, set aside. Just before serving, fold avocado chunks into the onion mixture; season with salt and pepper. Serve chicken topped with salsa.

See how EASY this is???? To make the chicken easier to cook in a skillet (and instead of pounding it) I decided to butterfly cut my chicken breasts. It cooked faster this way (only 8 min. each side) and I like the chicken thin like that. I also ran short of the rub (I guess my chicken was a bit big) so I just added a bit more than it called for and it turned out perfect.

And while we're on the subject of healthy, yummy food, I have been making the best salad for lunches. I got the simple recipe from watching Giada (Everyday Italian-the food network). It's so good that I've honestly had it every single day this week for lunch. You just cut up romaine lettuce, add a handful of cannellini beans from the can, a bit of shredded Parmesan cheese (I buy the big old container from Costco), slice up some red onion, and drizzle with olive oil, lemon juice (I use bottled-not fresh since I don't always have fresh lemons on hand), salt and fresh ground pepper. That's IT! It tastes soo great and is surprisingly filling!

Okay enough of my rambling...let me know if you try the cayenne-chicken recipe, Okay? :)

The temple this morning...

Isn't this a gorgeous shot of the Newport Beach Temple? I don't normally go to the Temple in the mornings, so it was a neat experience to enter the Temple when it was dark outside and then walk out a few hours later to these bright blue skies. Since I happened to have my camera in my car, I captured this shot on my drive out of the parking lot and wanted to share. It's such a beautiful day here today!

Our "Rainbow Brite"

Man, is it ever FUN to dress a little girl. Not that I don't love my boys, or like dressing them, but MAN is it ever fun to dress a little girl :)

I'll admit that this outfit is a little "out there", but when I gave Leda her choice of tights (white or pink) this morning she quickly went to the bright striped ones in the drawer and said, "These mommy!" And just how could I say no to that face?? Seriously ;)

She also decided she wanted to "share" her Easter purse at school today and wouldn't step foot outside until she had successfully shoved her sippy cup inside it for safe transport in the car so it wouldn't "spill and make a mess." She is soooo opinionated these days and my mom LOVES to remind me every chance she gets that Leda's exactly like me when I was a child.

So yes, today Leda went to preschool dressed as Rainbow Brite, but a pretty cute one, eh?

Ode to Thai Bite

Aaron and I would like to take a moment to pause, reflect and give a big shout out to one of our favorite places to eat: Thai Bite. (click on the name to be directed to their menu)

(LEMON CHICKEN)

For all you locals who lurk on my blog ;) you MUST give this place a try! It's in the Ralph's shopping center off of Pacific Park and we seriously are in love with this place. We've never tried an entree we haven't liked! Since paying a babysitter and going out to dinner adds up for us, we have improvised and Aaron and I often (okay, a lot) have in-home date nights where we order take out from this place and eat it together after the kids are in bed.


For New Years, Chase had pink eye, so we were housebound, but we wouldn't have had it any other way. We had the best time just being together, eating great food, playing boggle and watching a flick. We highly recommend their lemon chicken (and by default we always order this entree) and then we balance out the sweet with a spicy entree (our fav spicy dish is prik khing). So if any of you try this place because of this blog, please let us know!


If you need a recommendation of what to try, please ask as chances are we've probably tried it! lol

(OUR NEW YEARS FEAST)

Pillow talk with my 2.5 year old

Leda can be quite the stinker lately with bedtime. We'll put her to bed, and she'll be up 2-3 times before midnight crying for no real reason. Well, actually she was recently diagnosed with asthma so sometimes she has a reason as it's an asthmatic cough that wakes her, and other times (like tonight) it's just to be a stinker and test our every bit of patience as parents.

After she'd been "asleep" for about 20 minutes she began her first fit. After a few of those fits, Aaron went in once to calm her and it seemed to work because we hadn't heard her for about a half an hour. But then it started up again. We knew that she hadn't been coughing and I knew she was tired (no nap today) so normally I'd ignore her and let her cry it out, but for some reason I went in there just now to try to calm her again. I did this partly for her and mostly to keep from disrupting the boys sleeping peacefully in the next room. Well, I'm so glad I went in because she'd worked herself up so much she'd actually puked a bit all over her princess blanket and nightgown. Lovely. So after cleaning up the puke, getting new jammies, re-tucking her in with all seventy-two of her stuffed animals, this was our conversation:

Mom: “Leda, do not cry. Please go to sleep---no crying, okay?”
Leda: “Okay mom. Mom, Jesus loves me”
Mom: “Yes Leda, Jesus loves you”
Leda: “Mom, I love Baja Fish Tacos”
Mom: “I know you do Leda, goodnight”
Leda: “Mom, I like a drink with my fish tacos”
Mom: “Leda I know. It’s time for nigh-night now”
Leda: “Mom, Jesus loves me”
Mom: “Yes Leda, Jesus loves you”
Leda: “And Jesus loves Chase too”
Mom: “Yes, Jesus does love Chase”
Leda: “Okay, goodnight Mom”
Mom: “Goodnight Leda”
Leda" "Love (sounds like "wuv") you"
Mom: "I love you too"

Isn't being a parent the best?