Evolution of a Weston smile (Yep, I needed that)

What a cure for sadness, frustration, blah days! There's nothing better than a sweet, cheerful, no worries Weston smile!
I dare you to look at these pictures and not smile yourself.
Impossible, I tell you!
Completely impossible.
I give you the evolution of a Weston smile to cheer you (and myself) on the crappiest days.

Just woke up after a trip to town. Let's see if we can get those fingers out of his mouth.

Okay, fingers out. Warming up......

..... beautiful, blue eyes starting to twinkle. Here it comes.....

.....I see the two new, little teeth.  Cheeks getting rounder and rosier. Almost complete.......

......THERE IT IS! Smiles so hard he can't even keep his eyes open. You can almost hear the happy baby snorts through his nose.

See, I told you.
Even Westy can't help but smile again as he watches me post these.
Now, what was it that was making me feel so low? I forget.
Quick, scroll to the top and do it again!

Millie turns 5!

Happy Birthday Amelia!

Holy cow, I can't believe how time flies! My Millie is 5!

She has been so excited for her birthday for months. I would constantly hear her telling people, "My birthday is after Halloween!". Well, finally it came. November 6th, a Tuesday, election day, just like it was the day she was born 5 years ago.
I remember being so happy to have a little girl and Jason was immediately smitten. He was the first one to hold her after she was born. Of course, that was after they had resuscitated her and she had spent an hour or so in the NICU, but he has been wrapped around her little finger ever since.

 Millie has been wanting a 'Piggie' bank for a long time. She finally got one (with a tutu and tiara of course) along with some money to put in it, dress up stuff, a new Barbie movie, and some clothes.
Happy girl and a very happy birthday!
I love to make different and fun birthday cakes for all my kids every year. I remember my mom making some creative cakes when I was a child. My favorite being the pink elephant cake made with tiered layers and marshmallow toothpick elephants all around it. There was also a clown cake and a teddy bear cake that stick out in my mind.
This year for Millie's birthday, I decided to make an owl. Sounds boring but it turned out cute and Millie was happy which was all that mattered. Her only request was that it be pink and have a crown. Okay then.

Here's a few other cakes I've done in the past.

Wyatt's Candy Cake 11th Bday. Layer cake with Kit-Kats and M&Ms.

Owen's Chocolate-Chocolate cake for 9th Bday. Rich chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting and fudge filling.

Millie's 4th Bday. 8 inch layer cake cut like a peace sign and arranged like a butterfly. Colorful candy stick middle.

Millie's 3rd (I think). Cocoa rice crispie treat base with flower cupcakes on popsicle sticks. 

Owen's 4th? Chocolate Oreo cake with oreo dirt and gummi worms. He loved it!

Owen's 5th? One of our favorites now. Have made it multiple times. Swiss Roll Ice Cream Cake. Swiss roll slices frozen in single layer in plastic wrap lined bowl. Then add vanilla ice cream layer, fudge layer and finish with chocolate ice cream center. It's awesome!

Halloween 2012

Oh, Halloween! You are one of my least favorite holidays (sorry Shannon) but we had fun just the same.

The day dawned with one of the reddest sun rises I've ever seen. It was kind of spooky and even brighter than this before I found my camera.

"Red sky in morning, sailor take warning"

Grandma and Grandpa Eastin sent some super cute 'mummy' candy bars and a card that is now everyone's favorite thing (especially Millie). The kids are so thrilled when they get anything in the mail!

 We went to the ward trunk or treat Tuesday night. Always one of the wards biggest parties with the biggest turn out. Geez! If everyone that showed up for that also showed up to sacrament meeting every week we would be one huge ward. I threw together a chicken tortilla soup after remembering that I had signed up to bring some kind of soup. Used left over barbecued chicken thighs, black beans, canned diced tomatoes and anything else I could find in the pantry. Added corn tortilla strips and topped it with chopped fresh cilantro when I got to the party right before serving. My soup was clear at the end of the huge table of soup and chili so I thought I would be going home with a whole pot of left overs to try to make my kids eat through the rest of the week. I hadn't even tried it and I wasn't going to openly claim it just in case it was no good. As I was eating my broccoli cheese soup that somebody else made, I started hearing things like, "You've got to try some of this soup", "Someone's got to get me the recipe for this", and "Who made it?". Well, being the sucker for a good recipe I went back up to the table to try some of this great soup everyone was buzzing about.
 Lo and behold, it was my soup!
What the heck!
I finally tried some and, yeah, it was pretty stinkin' good. Barely got any and came home with an empty pot. Now if I can just remember exactly how I made it I could give out the recipe. I'll try it again soon and write it down this time so I won't forget.

I loved the kids easy but cute costumes this year. We went with the whole 'lawn ornament' theme this year. The boys were lawn gnomes and Millie was a pink flamingo. Almost everything was made from stuff I already had and took no time at all. I love that! The boys' used red poster board and batting (I did find a little piece of white fur stuff for Weston). Millie wore her pink leotard and tights. I happened upon a pack of cheap pink feathers in the craft section in Walmart and got home to happily find that it was a boa. I strung some along the top of a dress up skirt Millie already had and wrapped the rest around her arms. The hat was made out of an old pink winter baby hat with a bill that we never used and barely fit her. I covered the bill with white felt and fashioned the black end with left over fabric, stuffing, and a glue gun. The eyes were styrofoam balls left over from a solar system project for Wyatt a couple years ago.
I love the way they all turned out! Wyatt said with a pout, "I wanted to be a werewolf." Oh well. Everyone else was happy. I told him he could be an evil lawn gnome if he wanted and I could break out the vampire teeth and fake blood but he settled with a promise that I would try to make him a werewolf costume next year if I can find some ambition.

My sweet Westy!

Millie loved posing on one leg...

again....

and again.