pumpkin fieldtrip...

This past week the boys went with their preschool on a pumpkin picking field trip to a local farm. They had a blast with Jodi as their guide.

Here they are deciding on the perfect pumpkin...
..ok, perhaps a bit too much sun....
Em and the hay ride (he was pretty excited) The big boys claiming their spots for the ride...
When they finished picking they got to run around a little hay maze climbing thing that the farm does every year. They sure had fun!

A shout out to Cam!!!

The boys wanted to say "good job" to Cam! We miss you buddy! Good job on the potty!!!

swimming lessons...

Things are looking up once again at the Taylor house. Last night was swimming lessons and we all went just to get out of the house. (we needed it) Emerson was the next in line for the barfs and capped off with 7 fairly clean bucket runs. Hopefully that is all behind us now...

This makes me laugh everytime... goggles-- they've gotta have 'um. My kids have a slight obsession with goggles-- it makes me giggle...

...and so it goes...

I wish I had some amazing news to share but, I don't. I've been trying to survive life after surgery and things were starting to get better until.... last night around 9:30 we heard Breckyn running for the bathroom. It wasn't pretty. She had gotten sick and said it "snuck up on her." Needless to say-- she didn't make it. She hit everything there was to hit in her room and on the way to the bathroom....and in the bathroom....walls, toilet-- you name it, she got it. As I was cleaning it up (because Tim is immobile and unable to help) I was regretting letting her have root beer with her dinner and also discovered that Tim had snuck her some Doritos without my knowledge. After the night of 8 barfs (and a few more messes) she still wasn't feeling well. This afternoon she redid her original pattern and rebarfed all over the newly cleaned bedding.... it's gotta get better soon...... please!!!!

Jodi's new baby...

As all of you have heard, Jodi (and the rest of the family) got a new dog. It is perhaps the sweetest little thing you have ever seen. Jodi tried to buy the dog under the pretenses that it was "for the kids"-- but I gotta tell you she is pretty much in love with this little guy.

His name is still being debated. The kids want Sam, and Jodi likes Piper or Owen... I'm sure they'll decide soon enough.... or not. (we all remember what happened with Jacob-- oh I mean Caleb)
The kids are super excited-- especially Maddie who is not scared of this little guy at all. He doesn't make any sudden movements and is pretty relaxed. He is the perfect kid dog. He even lets Chloe take swipes at him and he doesn't care. Here she is so happy and proud of her newest companion. She can't stop smiling even if she tries. Welcome to the family Barlow pup (fill in the name when they decide)!

Addition updates...

Just a quick update on Yaya's house. Mom and Dad are making some good progress on the addition. In fact, they have everything drywalled and Mom just finished painting the master bedroom. The new carpet will be done next week and things are really kicking into high gear. The goal is to have them moved in by the end of the month. Mom is having fun with something new to decorate (I'm totally jealous) and Dad is having fun doing his man work. I don't think he has looked back once since retiring-- he's too busy plowing forward with new work.

This is the outside view (Yaya's house is too the right). The french doors are in the back also-- it's a mirror image of the front. It looks like a great fancy breeze way. (they do have the garage door in but it was up when I took the picture)

To the right is the garage door entrance and the doors are the ones you could see from the front of the house. This will be their main living area TV blah blah...

I turned around and these are the back doors I was telling you about. Now the garage door is off to the left and you can see the space for Mom's desk and a small closet.

I turned to the right and you can see into the kitchen (which use to be the laundry room). Where all the boxes are is going to be cupboards ect. The cubby looking thing to the left will be the washer and dryer cubby (with a door). If we peep off to the right you can see....

...down the hall the old spare bedroom. (which will be Dad's office/guest room). All stripped and ready to be carpeted.
Across the hall is the master bedroom. Mom painted it a really cool greenish shade that makes her striped chairs look awesome. Now I will turn to the right and show you....
This is the master bath. The new cubby will be the future shower. Mom picked really fun tile and Dad is scheming a cool shower head configuration he is very excited about. The new shower covers up where the old one was. Where the level is (the yellow thing) is where the old red tub was. They covered up the tiny closet doors and made a bigger door to the left. Again, where the level is (yellow thing) will be Dad's vanity area....
...this is to the right of the shower. This will be Mom's vanity. (white mushroom looking thing on the ground was where the old toilet was (step has been removed) and the new one will go there. Oh, and Dad built Mom a little cupboard (to the left) with an outlet in it to house her beauty items. Isn't he so thoughtful....
Here we are at Yaya's end. I thought you'd like to see the new linoleum she picked. It has little pink flowers and a slight carmel colored design on it. But, it's defiantly an all white room now... I'll keep you posted with the latest happenings. I'm sure there will be a lot of change this week because Mom's got all of her paint brushes out and she's got that crazy look in her eyes... I'll let you know how it turns out...

We did it again...

For those of you who didn't know, Herbie the hamster passed a few short days after arriving at the Taylor home. He had "wet tail" which is a stress induced hamster disease. I don't know how he could have contracted that in our quiet calm house (yeah, right) but none the less, he is now in hamster heaven spinning that big wheel in the sky. I tried to do the right thing and replace the little guy right away but there was a hamster shortage in our area and we weren't able to buy one until tonight. So here we go with round two....
This is Scuttles. He seems to be adjusting well....so far. When we were picking him out at the pet store the hamster lady dropped him from about a 4 foot height. She assured me he is fine but he seemed pretty freaked out to me. He spent the remainder of our drive home trying to scratch himself free from his box. ....I'm not sure why I torcher myself with this stuff....
Oh yeah, that's why.... Breckyn is again happy to have me as her mother. Although, tomorrow she might change her mind when she finds out that the Barlows got a dog... Pet envy, it's gonna be bad....

6 looooooong weeks...

Tim and his cool workout machine that he is suppose to use several times a day...


We are still alive here-- but barely. Tim's surgery went well.... after that, not so much. It's been the busiest week of my life. I'm going nutso here trying to keep up with the kids and Tim and their many demands. Tim seems to be in a lot of pain and not able to do much for himself. The kids are starting a busy year in school and I'm all over the board trying to keep all the "balls" in the air. Breckyn and Zoey are doing well with their classes. Rugby and Emerson are now in the same preschool class (because I had to cut a few corners to make everything work). Emerson is starting his speech classes at the end of this week and Tim will start his physical therapy this week as well. Keep in mind, he can't drive at all for 6 weeks because it was his driving knee that got taken out. He will remain in his leg brace (that keeps his knee straight) for 6 weeks as well. So, in short, things around the Taylor house will be a little more normal in 6 loooooooooong weeks. I'll be keeping you posted on all the details...

Timmy's surgery...

Yesterday Timmy had knee surgery. It went really well. He had his knee cleaned up and his ACL replaced. He was a little nervous about it-- but he did really well.

Here we are before his brush with death... hee hee...
He is all ready to go (thanks to the Barlows for stocking him up with the "essentials")...
I think this picture says it all!! We had a little too much fun waiting for the doctor... you know, a camera, a curtain, no kids, and a little too much time on our hands. We thought we were pretty stinkin' funny.
Here's the big boy after his surgery (still a little loopy on drugs). Doesn't it make you want to bring him some ice water with one of those bendy straws and maybe a little paper umbrella just to cheer him up...?

He is doing quite well and is accepting gifts that are edible or fit into his DVD player. (since that's about all he can do right now) He can't move around a whole lot because he is in a brace and they have him hooked up to an ice machine that circulates cold water around his wound. He also has machine (that is on a fanny pack-- yes, I found that particularly amusing) (we are totally going to save it for our trip to 6 flags next summer-- yeehoo!!) that feeds him some numbing medicine. He is basically strapped to the bed and I have to unhook him from all of that for him to go potty or whatever. Between him and the kids, I've got my hands full. I admit we did have an incident just this morning and I couldn't get to him on time-- he had to use the bucket I provided for such emergencies. (it wasn't pretty) But we're doing fine this afternoon. Thanks for all the support (and babysitting-- Mom and Jo). He'll be back up on his feet in no time.

Don't go....

As you know, Cheri came for a visit last week and jumped ship this past Monday. We were NOT happy about it-- but we are coping....

Do you see how stressed Rex feels about leaving us-- his hair says it all!!!
Even Chloe tried to stow away with the Heatons. She packed her "angry eyes" for Aunt Cheri!!

Oh well, we knew you'd have to leave eventually.... we miss you and little Rexy too.... (send us Cassie soon so we have one of you from Utah to visit with-- we're going through with drawls)

Makeup...eeek...

Maddie has become Zoey and Breckyn's Mary Kay consultant. Let's just say, she's got a little room to grow...

Maddie gave Zoey a make-over....YIKES!
She kept it simple for B but, she used a really lot of glitter (not very visible in this picture)

Thank you Abby!!!!!

I begged (stay with me here)... my sister Jodi's husband's sister Abby (see that wasn't too hard) to give me the recipes she found of Cafe Rio's famous amazing food. I thought you'd like to share in my joy so here it is....

...see we really liked it! It ROCKED!!! We even had a missionary from Utah who loves Cafe Rio and he said it tasted just like it. I really really really LOVED it! It's just like the real thing. Good Luck!

Abby said,

So I promised Aleca a long time ago that I would post these recipes... so here they are. After living about 16 hours from the closest Cafe Rio, my mouth started salivating for that oh so tasty, mouth watering food. So I did some sleuthing and came upon the recipes below. I am not promising perfection... they are probably not the exact recipes... but they sure do taste close enough!

CAFE RIO CILANTRO DRESSING

1 1/3 cups sour cream
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 bunch of cilantro
1 package ranch dressing mix
4 tbsp. salsa verde (green salsa)
2 cloves of garlic
1/8 tsp. Tabasco sauce
juice of one lime
Mix together in the blender. Refrigerate before serving. (I like to make this a day before so that all the flavors can soak in.)

CILANTRO-LIME RICE

1 cup uncooked rice
1 teaspoon butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, lime peel, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice.

BLACK BEANS

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/3 cup tomato juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro.

CAFE RIO SWEET PORK

1 cup Pace salsa
1 cup brown sugar
1 cups Dr. Pepper
pork sirloin roast (about 2 lbs.) (I use a tenderloin)
Mix salsa, brown sugar and Dr. Pepper together and pour 2/3 of the mixture over a pork roast. Cook in crockpot on low all day. About 1 hour before serving shred the pork in the crockpot and add the remaining salsa mixture, cover and let simmer till ready to serve.

CAFE RIO CHICKEN
(I have yet to try this recipe, so let me know how it goes if you try it!)

1 small bottle Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing
1 T chili powder
1 T cumin
3 cloves garlic—minced
5 lbs chicken breast
Cook all together in a crock pot for 6 hours, shred meat and cook 1 additional hour.

*********************I melt cheese on the tortilla in a skillet, pile on the rice, beans, meat, lettuce, tomatoes (or salsa), dressing and top it all off with little baked tortilla strips (can be found usually in bags by the croutons at the grocery store). I have also found that it feeds about 4-5 people depending on who is eating it! ENJOY!

Tim's BIG Swim...

This is the big moment that all of you have been waiting for..... Tim finally swam the pond. At high noon today, the much talked about event occured. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves....

...he's gettin' in the zone. (although hard to take him serious while he is wearing Brecky's goggles-- they're a little small for his big 'noggin) Tim gearing up with his tough friends... (ok, it's just Barlow and neither one of them are that tough-- but they tried)
The said scuzzzz pond... eew...

The main event...

He looks pretty stinkin' proud of himself-- nice work T-Bone!!

fun with rex and cheri...

Rex... and Cheri have been in town this past week and I've been too distracted to post. We are having a fun time and enjoying squeezing that handsome little baby boy.

Em and I at breakfast...
handsome baby Rexy...
Rugby is pulling out all the stops for his cool Aunt Cheri. He was taking out his best material to impress her.
...oh yeah, all the stops...
Here he is wooing her with his cool skateboard moves...

...our little man....so cute!!

our little star Rex...

Em thinks this "little star" is pretty cool. (...and so do I)

back to school...

Today was the first day of school for everyone except Rugby (his school starts tomorrow). They were so excited, we were ready to go with about a half hour to spare. It's gonna be a great year!

Emerson had his first day of preschool today. He's got his backpack on and he is all set. When I went to pick him up from school he was seriously mad at me for taking him home. (Tuesday and Thursdays cannot come quickly enough)
Here is the gang all ready for school. B and Z my old old girls showing off their new back packs.
Rugs was pretty jazzed this morning even though he has to wait until tomorrow.

Another year blew by and today we are starting it all over. They are growing much too fast for me...

pets...

This summer we started a "being good" jar. Every time the kids made a good choice we gave them a cotton ball to put into the jar. We promised them a reward when the jar was full. Well today was the day that the jar was finally filled. We decided to get them the reward they really wanted... a PET! We took the plunge, sucked it up and got them a hamster.

Here are the girlies with the new little guy, Herbie the Hamster.
Tim picked out this posh condo for Herbie. He is livin' in luxury.
Herbie is still a little freaked-- but, he'll adjust soon enough.
We also had to make a few rules right away to make sure the poor little thing doesn't get "loved" to death. I'm swear I haven't seen Breckyn look at me with this much love since I gave birth to her. It's going to be an adventure. (although, this time I can't just let it go in the back yard when I get sick of it--gulp!!)

summer is over....

Summer is officially over at our house. The past few weeks have brought a lot of rain to our yard and our poor garden got flooded out big time. I was forced to salvage what I could and pull everything out. We also took down the pool and "winterised" our yard. It was sad and our back yard looks kind of pathetic now.

No pool, it's already in the shed. No garden, it's all tilled up and ready for next spring. Fall is in full blast at the Taylor house. School starts Tuesday and I can already feel the air turning colder when I look at the freshly fallen leaves on our grass.
Em's face shows just how I feel about it. (plus the nap hair is pretty hilarious too)