Pinterest LOVE

A few bucks worth of burlap + some ideas from Pinterest =

Did I mention that I love Pinterest?!?

~FaLL~

I love Fall!! But I have to say it takes me a few weeks to get over the fact that yet another Summer is gone and another long Winter is approaching. Once I get that out of the way though, I am excited! I love the smells, the colors, the foods, the Holidays, the together time and the warm, fuzzy feeling :) Yum!

To start our Fall off, I have been bottling! My Grandparents have a huge, BEAUTIFUL garden and it is plentiful in many things - tomatoes, onions, corn, cucumbers, squash, peppers {of many kinds}, beats, beans, rubarb, and not to mention the fruit trees - apple, peach and apricot! My Parents also have a few apple trees that have TONS and TONS of delicious apples. I have picked 5 or 6 five gallon buckets full and so has my family and you cannot even tell it has been touched.

I have been so blessed to have Grandparents and Parents that work hard and provide for us. And my Mom and Grandma have taught me so much about bottling and preserving. Everything is getting too hard for my Grandma and she just cannot do what she used to be able to. And my Mom has had a bad back this last month and she cannot do anything either. So... I decided I would take care of the bottling this year. I enjoy it and am happy I have the knowledge and ability to do it.

My Grandparents and I made 24 jars of these gorgeous peaches!

6 jars of pickles, 3 batches of dried apples, 30 jars of tomato juice and 36 pints of salsa!

And I still have a box of tomato's to make stewed tomato's with. I have a feeling I will be all bottled out soon.

{{BACK TO SCHOOL}}

This year I had very mixed emotions with school starting. The kids truly need a schedule and do much better when they are going to school and getting good bedtimes. It is really hard to get in the swing of things again though, for Momma and the kiddo's! And the part that has caused me lots of stress, anxiety and tears... my BABY started All-Day Kindergarten, All-Day. That is 8 - 3 everyday, school lunch and 3 recesses! The whole Shebang!!! And wouldn't you know, he is doing absolutely great! I may or may not have been the crazy Mother that sits across the street to watch him on the playground. And if I did happen to do that, it was only for a day or 2, because if you know Dax at all he is extremely independent and was JUST FINE. Which makes me so happy and proud of him, yet so sad at the same time because I know that he is growing up. And before I know it he will be in High School and College! So have any of you tried the brick/rock trick? Ya know, put a rock on their head so they stop growing up?!? I do not think it is a bad idea at all ;)

I just have one question!

 When did this red-headed baby of mine...

 that was so little and needed his Mommy all the time....

 become this big boy.....

that goes to Kindergarten All-Day?!?!?

Brylee Ann is a Big First Grader! And I am pretty sure she is the cutest one in the County =)

  Bronsen Larry is in Third Grade and is most definatly one of the smartest, coolest 3rd Graders around!

Dax Chad is in Kindergarten! And I know he is the the most handsome thing to hit Ashman Elementary ever!

Here is to a great school year and a house full of the 3 smartest kids I know!

Family Pics 2012

I love getting family pictures done. I try to do it at least once a year. It is a lot of work, with planning outfits and getting everyone ready. After 2 hours of getting everyone dressed and done up, we headed out to get the pictures and it was windy and rainy! I was having some major anxiety. Luckily, by the time we got to the farm and got going, it died down and was perfect. I think the pics are pretty perfect too =)

Here are a few!

We really have the cutest kids ever! And the pics turned out great (minus the chubby girl with dark hair - GRRRR)!

Love my family!!!

~The Words of Dax~

{In the Bath Tub}

Mom: "Dax hurry and grab that bar of soap out of the water please."
Dax: "Too late, it already resolved."

{Working with Gramps on the Farm}
Dax: "Grandpa, I have a Dad at my home now, so you can be my Uncle. I do not have one of those."
Grandpa: "How about I still be your Grandpa?"
Dax: "Okay"

{Driving to Work/Daycare this Morning} - Trying to figure out full names and middle names.
Dax: "So Mom, are you a Chad too?"
Mom: "No, I am a Jo."
Dax: "What is all of your name?"
Mom: "It is Katie Jo....?"
Dax: "Katie Jo Mom!?"
Mom: "Katie Jo Anderson"
Dax: "Oh yeah, you are a Chad too."

{Driving Home from Work/Daycare One Afternoon}
Dax: "Guess what mom, I know the king of all swearwords."
Mom: "Oh you do huh? What is it?"
Dax get really close and whispers in my ear, "Crap!"
Mom; "Oh yep, we better not say that word anymore." ;)

Such a smart, innocent little thing! Love him!

Me and My Love

Just wanted to share this cute picture of me and my handsome man!

MAN I love him!!!

Father's Day

Saturday before Father's Day we went for a long fun ride with Larry's Dad, his wife Dee Dee and their kids Ty and Summer. It was a good day :)

All about DAXC BOY!!!

I have always heard people say how fast your children grow up, but you never understand how fast they truly do until you have your own!!! And holy tamole, my little man is becoming a big boy. I love it and hate it at the same time. He is so stinkin' fun and smart. He is my best friend and thinks that I am pretty awesome, I know that it will not last long and pretty soon I will be an embarassment to him. I DO NOT want that time to come. I have made him promise me that I will always be his best friend and his favorite person to hang out with. He promises now, but I have a feeling that will change WAY to soon.

2 BIG things have happend for Dax the last few months:

First - He graduated from Pre-School!!!!

 Dax and his friend Gavin

 Miss Mya and Dax. They have been friends their ENTIRE lifes :)

 My handsome BIG Boy!

Pre-School Graduate!!!

Next step in life, KINDERGARTEN!

Second - He turned 5!

There is an awesome outdoor pool about 40 miles away in Manti. Everyone had told us it was way awesome and I had been wanting to take the kids there. Dax's birthday was on a Monday, so I took the day off and spent it with the kiddos :) It was a fun day for us all. We went and visited everyone at their works, then we went to McDonald's and had lunch and played. We went to the Lion's Park and played for a bit and then headed to the Manti Pool. It was a hot day and perfect for a cool dip in the pool.

 Dax and Ty

 Miss Mya

 Brylee Ann

 Bronsen and Dax

 Mya Zoie and Josie

 The Birthday Boy himself :)

 A Spiderman Transformer - what more could you want in life!?!

 Dax got to pick out his own bike for his birthday present from Larry and I

 Brons

DaxC

What an amazing adventure my handsome little 5 year old has taken me on. I count my blessings everyday for him and the life we have.

What's new!

What has happened in the life of the Anderson's/Cosby's this past few weeks:

* We now live in Redmond. Weird to think, but SO nice and exciting for us all :)
* Dax graduated preschool!!! - Pics to come!!!
* Our cat Elvis had babies. 3 new kittens! (we knew she was prego) - Pics to come!!!
* Our dog Bella had babies. 6 new puppies! (we had NO CLUE she was prego) - Pics to come!!!
* We went camping for Memorial and had a very good time!
* Larry had a birthday! The big 31 and still so very handsome ;)

I think that is it! We are just a happy, busy little family and I LOVE EVERY SECOND OF IT!!!

L.O.V.E.

I am still adjusting to our new life style and it will probably take me a while to get used to being so much more busy! It is a good, fun busy though :)

So with that being said, I am just a little late on finishing our Mother's Day gifts. But they are done and I will get them to their deserving recipients this evening.

This was my goal:

Thank you Pinterest ;)

And these are the pics I came up with:

 They look SO cute in the frames I got for them. Pretty proud of these cute kids and how cute the gifts turned out :)

And isn't this one just adorable?!?! LOVE THEM!

{Mother's Day}

I am not sure how I became so lucky and/or so deserving to be the Mother of my little man, but there is not a second that goes by that I am not thankful for him in my life. He is the greatest blessing to me and has forever changed my life for the best.

Now if that is not enough blessings for one momma, I now get to have 2 more amazing kids in my life that I get to help be a Mommy to - Bronsen and Brylee. AND I have an amazing guy who loves all 4 of us unconditionally, does all he can to take care of us, is truly an awesome Daddy to all 3 of our kiddo's, who has a great personality and is very handsome. WOW! Lucky me :)

Bronsen and Brylee were with their Mom this weekend and my parents were out of town, so we spent Sunday with his mom and his sister and her little fam. It was a very nice day and we enjoyed the time spent together.

 Our little fam, minus Brons and Bry :(

Dax, Kaydence and Erica - Cute Cousins :)

 I hope you all had a great Mother's Day as well. Loves!

HOSPITALS!!!

This week I am very thankful for our good health and the great hospitals around us.

Wednesday, Larry had an accident at work and was hit in the face with a metal grinder. It turned out a heck of a lot better than first expected and could have been so very much worse. Luckily, he only ended up with some stitches in the end of his nose, lots of swelling that makes his nose look very crooked and he is one sore boy. The grinder pretty much cut the one side of his nose off.

This picture does not do the injury any justice. He is still handsome though :) And claims he looks like Owen Wilson now that his nose is crooked ;)

Thursday, Brylee had a surgery up at Primary Children's Hospital. She is a cancer survivor (Whoot Whoot!!!) and because of the feeding tubes and all the medications she had, her throut muscles shrink and it causes her problems. The AMAZING Doctors put her to sleep and put little baloons in her throat to stretch it out. Not to major, but very necessary. Because her daddy had his accident the day before, I was sent along to be with her during the surgery. Along with her mommy. Bry did GREAT and is so tough after all she has been through in her little life. And did I mention that Primary Children's is WONDERFUL?!?! The entire staff there is SO good to their patients and the nervous parents.

Such a tough girl :) And she was so cute and funny when she came out of surgery. Such a pretty, strong girl!



Just some randoms :)

Bronsen took 2nd in his Pinewood Derby on Friday night!!!

We celebrated Brylee's 6th birthday at the Gunnison pool and park. There was lots going on and so this is the only picture we got... The Aftermath :)

And this was Larry swinging at the park with our Niece Kaydence. CUTEST PICTURE EVER!

Lovin' life!!!

Susie Homemaker?!?!

I am trying to be a cute little house wife that can whip up a meal or, in this case, a school treat and have it be delicious and nice.

I came up with 3 analogies last night:

1. Pinterest makes everything look a LOT easier than it is in reality.
2. Cooking, cleaning and being a Mother (not to mention adding 2 adorable kiddos to the mix) is not a simple task.
3. Sometimes, it is easier, faster and cheaper to just buy it from the store to begin with. And here is my example of why...

Dax's birthday is in June, so they just pick a random day at preschool to celebrate, since they will be out of school in June. And today was his day. The kid has an obsession with infomercials and one of our most recent purchases was a few Bake Pop Pans. They are pretty awesome actually, that is why I ordered them. I mean, if I ordered everything he asked for from informecials, you would have to put us on Hoarders. Anyway, so we decided to make him some cute Bake Pops. The cakes turned out perfect, they are really easy. But I wanted to dip them in white chocolate for the coating instead of frosting. To make a long story short, when you melt Almond Bark and add food coloring, it does not work out and ends up in the garbage can. Like this....

And if you attempt to make your own frosting from butter and powedered sugar, it doesn't mix well for some unknown reason and turns out like this:

And CLEARLY nobody wants to eat that.

So I went to the store and bought frosting and in the end, it turned out okay and Dax took his bake pops to school, looking like this...

So, it turned out to be a cute, fun and YUMMY snack for him to take. I am getting there.... I think... slowly....