The best weekend of the year...

...according to me, anyway.

We had quite the eventful weekend, for us anyway. We started it off decorating our Christmas tree and getting out a few decorations. It was fun. The kids totally loved it and although our tree isn't symmetrical or evenly colored, it is beautiful. We were lucky enough to have some friends visit that night so the evening was spent pleasantly and we anxiously awaited the first snow storm of the year.


Mason is a face-maker. This one is his personal favorite:


Julianne's favorite is "CHEEESE!!!" as soon as she sees the camera. Whether you're ready to take a picture or not...
Saturday was my birthday. Personally, I love to celebrate Birthdays. I love to celebrate each member of our family individually! Jon and I had plans to go out to dinner. We'd hired a babysitter and everything, but the storm turned out to be all that they promised and our visiting friends' flight got cancelled. So, instead of waiting until dinner, we cancelled the babysitter and went out to lunch while our stranded friend babysat. We ate at Red Robin (YUM) and did some Christmas shopping for the kids. It was quite fun and we got some accomplished. Not as much as I'd hoped, but we were trying to get back in good time :).
By the time we got home the storm was in full swing. It wasn't snowing anymore but the wind had started. (Gusts around 50 mph make for some VERY cold air!) Not in the mood to make dinner (Jon was busy making my cake), I ordered pizza and braved the wind one last time.

We had pizza and hung out some more. Once the cake was ready we sang, blew out the candles (each representing 10 years) and enjoyed. Below, you will find a standard Hibshman picture. I'm sure some of you will enjoy it:
During December, it is essential to have peppermint ice cream so my birthday is no exception. If I can't have homemade ice cream, it must be peppermint.

Happy Birthday to me!!
It's a little surreal to think that I'm 30. I don't feel old, but 30 always sounded old. Oh well. Guess I'm old. I do have a 6-year-old. My dad reprimanded me for making HIM old. Being the baby of the family brings that sometimes :). On to the new decade, I say. Hopefully it will be full of good luck and happy memories (as if it couldn't with a spectacular family and friends like mine!). Merry Christmas, everyone!!

Pancakes for Dinner

When I have brain block about dinner; we have breakfast. Pancakes, waffles, French Toast. It all goes great with Sausage and eggs. The kids love shape pancakes and Jon was kind enough last night to oblige.

He loves me! He really loves me!! :). I got a heart. He made himself a boring circle. What a guy!
Mason's requested Tractor. Although, once he had a tractor he wanted a dump truck; no a backhoe, no a.... It's never ending with this kid.
Brooklyn decided she wanted a Santa hat. And yes, she ate that whole thing.
Julianne's was a Mickey Mouse, but she absolutely cannot stand to have food on her plate and not within her reach. Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough with the camera before she dug in. She loves it though, so that's good.

There's just nothing like Breakfast for dinner. In fact, I can't remember the last time we had breakfast for Breakfast. Besides cereal and oatmeal that is....

Crafties and Cooking

It sure is a good think my m-i-l loves me!! She sends me all these fun projects to do! Recently, Carole sent me a book of "Shaggy Bags" by Taylor Made Designs and asked me to make her one. IT WAS SO FUN!!! I went to the fabric store and couldn't resist buying fabric for two bags. She says I get to keep one, but I'm making her decide which one; so, they're both going to Utah. I told her, if anyone there wants the second one, I would just have to drag myself to the fabric store again. It would be torturous, but I could suffer through!

Bag #1, It's a messanger style bag and thanks to my inability to read and follow directions, I had to make up this cute little flower for the front. It actually turned out way better than I anticipated and so I was glad of my carelessness...this time, anyway!
It has a rather long strap and can be slung across the body (i.e. over the head and one shoulder, get what I mean?).
Bag #2 is almost exactly like the bag I'm using right now (I didn't realize that until I was half-way done...), but it is super cute.
Each outside-side has a pocket and it has cardboard in the bottom to help it keep its shape, but I almost wonder if I prefer it without. We'll see if it becomes mine....
Both bags have three pockets on the inside. One zipper pocket and two "open" pockets for cell phones, i-pods, or what-have-yous. They were really simple to make and as I said on my facebook....Sewing success makes me giddy!


THEN....
I really really really wanted dinner in a pumpkin again this year, since I didn't have to work last night, yesterday was the day!
I used this recipe again (Thanks, Recipe Round Table!)
And, except for the fact that I TOTALLY spaced to salt and pepper it, it was really tastey. Plus, this was a home-grown pumpkin thanks to the Pences!

Finally, I just couldn't resist a little copyright infringement. LifeTouch did Brooklyn's school pics and I think they turned out just great! How did I get such a beautiful girl???
(remember, this is a picture of a picture, so they look MUCH better in person...and don't print it please! Even though I have a lawyer husband, I don't think he could save me from such blatant illegalities....)

Happy Fall everyone!!

Happy Halloween!

Once again, Halloween has come and gone. I must admit. I used to love Halloween, but it's sort of lost its charm. I get excited for my kids but costuming them up and making them look "just right" stresses me out just a little. Plus, this year was a little on the disappointing side. We only dressed up one time. Usually we have 2 or 3 reasons to throw on the old costume. Of course, we did have another opportunity that we opted out of, but we won't discuss that.

Charm or no charm we participated in the events. Can't pass up an opportunity to squish around in a pumpkin and attempt to not cut your finger off....
I was telling some people at work the other day; things are fun to do with your kids, but inevitably it's actually you doing it. Who else, besides a parent, says "WE carved pumpkins last night" when in actuality, they were the only ones wielding a knife. Oh well. We had a good time. And, I saved my pumpkin for dinner in a pumpkin some night this week. (I think I'll use this recipe again...)
Finally, it came. The big night. We had friends over to go trick-or-treating around the neighborhood with us, and after dinner got all set to go. Unfortunately, this is how Julianne felt about her costume:

A get-it-off-as-fast-as-you-can-while-screaming-your-head-off kind of moment.
I really really wanted a picture of her in it. She would have made SUCH a cute chicken..
Oh well. We had Buzz to keep us a safe,
and a beautiful ballerina for entertainment.
Finally I just handed Julianne her bag and let her go with a witch shirt on as a costume. People gave her candy regardless.. It's not like she's going to remember.. (except that I have all these super pictures).
Of course, we couldn't leave Conrad the Clown or Princess Hallie out. We so love it when they come to play. Especially when there's a bucket of sugar involved.

We wrapped the night up with a game of Settlers (which I very nearly won....) and called it good. On Halloween night, I worked and it was just another night. Hope everyone had a good time!! (and I sincerely hope all the candy around my house stays off my gut...) :)

Fresh Apple Cake

Before I get to the point of this post, I thought I'd hold good to my promise. Here is Brooklyn in her witch shirt. It did shrink a little but it still pretty big. Oh well. She can wear it again next year :). This is the house she built for all her Madame Alexander McDonald's dolls. She LOVES to do that... :)

Also, Poor Kid. She didn't get much of a nap that day. Can you tell? Her dinner couldn't even keep her awake.

and...Last but not least:

Fresh Apple Cake

The recipe is courtesy of my mother's recipe box. When I was in young women's (a teenager) I copied all of her recipes that I wanted from her collection so that I would have them when I got married. Turns out, it's a good thing I did. I just discovered this beauty and it's delicious. It looks burned in my pictures, but it isn't. Just crappy photography and light. We had some apples that were way soft so I thought we'd give this a try rather than throw them away. It only took about 4 large apples, so give it a go. It's as easy as.....cake :).
Fresh Apple Cake

4 Cups diced Apples
2 cups sugar
--mix together--
add:
1 cup nuts (I skipped this, didn't have any)
1/2 cup oil
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs well beaten
--stir together until incorporated--
add:
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 to 2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt.

Stir until well combined and put into baking dish. Mine fit perfectly in an 8x8 pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for approximately one hour. Watch it closely. I took mine out before the hour was up.
Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top of the cake during the last 15 minutes of baking. You can tell it's done by putting a toothpick in the middle. If it comes out clean, the cake is baked through.

It smells amazing while it's cooking. We had it with some leftover frosting, but I'm sure served warm with ice cream would be divine too. Give it a try and let me know what you think!!

Festive little Project

Ok, so that picture doesn't have anything to do with my project, but I wanted to put a pic of Brooklyn on here, too and I didn't get one of her this a.m. before she left.....

My sweet mother-in-law went to SEI and picked up these fun iron-ons for me and got them right in the mail, so...I figured the most grateful thing I could do, would be to just play with them right away!!
I got two witches and a jack-o-lantern and I think they turned out so fun!! I noticed that Mason and Julianne's were starting to lift a little today, but I just ironed them again and they stuck right back down. Hopefully they stay now!! Brooklyn wore her shirt to school, she was so excited. Apparently, I need to focus more on what sizes my kids need. I hate when they're in-between. All their shirts are way on the big side. Of course, I haven't washed them yet, so hopefully they'll shrink a little.
Above is Brooklyn's shirt. The word bubble says "I'm one of those nice witches".
Julianne's is "One time I tried flying a rake"
and Mason's is "My name is NOT Jack"....

Yeah, it's a little big, but she got SO mad at me when I took it off to iron it again...
Mason was willing, however and put it right back on.
I just love it when my kids appreciate my projects. It makes me feel good about myself :)...

On a separate note,
It's officially fall! We've cut into our first pumpkin. I baked it, pureed it and froze it. Soon (when we don't have a Tupperware full of cookies), Jon will bake me a pie and it will be SOOOOOOOOOOOO yummy!!


Oh, and just a little side note, Mason has successfully kept his diaper dry 5 nights in a row!!! I can just shout WOOHOO for that! As a reward, we had McDonald's last night for dinner and if he makes it two more days, he'll be getting back some toys we "threw away" one time he wouldn't clean them up... I'm too cheap to actually throw them away, but at least he thinks we did and we can pretend to buy them again :) WOOHOO!

18 months, compare-a-pix

It's official!! Julianne is 18 months! And, in our church, that means she can go to nursery!! WOOHOO!! Luckily for me, she went without a hitch. Of course, I'm sure it helped that we've been dropping Mason off there all her life (he missed the cut off to move up a class by 3 weeks...). She walked right in and went for the toys. She didn't look back, so I left. The teacher told Jon she cried for a minute, but it soon passed. SO GREAT!! Even Mason just barely started going without a fuss.

Sunday was her actual 18 month "birthday", too. I can't believe she's that big. Then I hold her and look at pictures of Brooklyn at that age and realize she's still so little!! She's only one month ahead of Brooklyn so they're similarities are crazy (Brooklyn was born in May). It just so happens to be working out great for clothes, too! Although, I must admit, Julianne seems a little bigger. The clothes don't fit like I remember them fitting Brooklyn...
The picture below is one of the dresses Brooklyn wore. I can't seem to find a picture of her in it, though...
These overalls were Brooklyn's and the shirt, too....
I think they're pretty easy to tell apart. Especially since Brooklyn's hair is firey red...besides that, she just looks so....Brooklyn!


Yep, they look totally different to me. What do you think?