November

I thought I better post something before people stop reading my blog! Kind of a quiet month, so I just posted some of the pictures I've taken recently.

Cute little Carter running to give me a hug!

A little while ago we babysat Krystal's dog, Joey, for a night. Of course the kids were loving him....and probably torturing him at the same time! I got a few cute pictures of them together. In the first picture they are sitting on my yoga mat. Evan insisted that Joey wanted to lay down on it for a bed. Evan was quite the little care taker with Joey!

Not sure what Carter was eating, but he made a mess as usual. The kid loves food!

Even more recently, we set up the Christmas tree this weekend. Tom even put Christmas lights on our house too! Really cute picture of Tom and Evan putting the star on top, isn't it?

We had a really great Thanksgiving too. Tom was on call for the weekend (he never did get called in) so we had to stay in town. We had Thanksgiving at Travis and Linda's house. Tom's parents, Chae's family, Krystal, and Travis and Linda's good friends all came for the whole day. Of course we stuffed ourselves and then played a bunch of games. A pretty great day!

Can't leave Jordyn out! I just love her funny smile in her school photo. Way to show all the teeth you've lost Jordyn! Gotta love it.

Halloween 2009

I love dressing the kids up in a "theme". Who cares if they had no idea who the characters were, they still loved it! I actually went to the library and borrowed Peter Pan so they could watch it. Carter could have cared less and Evan watched most of it. I watched a little bit and wondered if I have ever even seen the movie! It sure didn't seem familiar. It's one of the older Disney movies and they are just so different and almost unusual in a way! And I have to say that I spent a total of $17 on all three costumes. The best was Evan's.... it cost $1. I found the pirates set at the dollar store! Not too bad!
We had a great weekend with Tom's family. Chae and Misti came from Sheridan and Tom's mom, Glenda, came from Buffalo. We played games on Friday night at Travis and Linda's. Oh man, that was fun. We now have an inside joke that we'll probably be laughing about forever. It's still cracking me up. Sorry, can't write about it on here! Guess you'll just have to go crazy wondering what it is!
Saturday we had a little birthday party for Chae and Misti's son, Joseph. Then had pizza, went trick-or-treating, then went to a little Halloween carnival that the city puts on. It was a GREAT Halloween!
Yes, Carter has TWO Halloween bags in the picture! He was so cute marching around to all the houses. I would try and get him to catch up to the other kids and tell him to RUN! Then he would run as fast as he could (more like waddling) to catch up. He didn't want to miss a house! Oh and he was just in AWE after he got all that candy! He was such a cute CHUBBY Peter Pan!



THE CREW L to R: Ryan (army guy), Joseph (Robin), Caleb (Ninja Turtle), Cole (Bears Football player), Sumner (witch), Evan (Pirate), Carter (Peter Pan), Ninny, Clay (Vikings Football player, Dallas (golfer). (Sumner and Dallas are two of the neighbor kids/Missing Jordyn and Megan)

My Favorites

Here's a few things that I've found lately and REALLY love.

Recipes:

I've recently discovered that Dry Onion Soup Mix may be the greatest ingredient EVER. Here are two recipes that I've tried and LOVED. They are SO easy and delicious. I don't want to give you false hope, but I told Tom the meatloaf was the best I'd ever tasted (and easiest I've ever made)!
In the second recipe, it makes the BEST gravy. I'm cooking it today and serving mashed potatoes, green beans, and rolls. Just a good ole' hearty Sunday dinner!

The third recipe is one that a friend told me about. It's a Rachel Ray recipe that's really tasty, just click on the link!

Easy Meatloaf

1 1/2 lb. lean hamburger

1 pkg. Lipton onion soup mix

1/2 c. oatmeal

1 egg, beaten

3/4 c. ketchup

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Mix hamburger, soup, oatmeal and egg. Spoon in loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Top with ketchup mixed with Worcestershire sauce. Bake 5 minutes longer.

Roast with Mushroom Gravy

3 lb. rump roast

1 env. onion soup mix

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 c. water
Cover roast with onion soup mix, pat on. Place roast in crock pot. Pour 2 cans mushroom soup mix with 1 cup of water, over roast. Cook on low for about 8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.

Rachel Ray Spring Chicken Roll Ups with Lemon Dijon Pan Sauce

Another great thing I've discovered is a great online store to buy t-shirts! Yep, a great fitting LONG plain colored t-shirt! I like the Shade shirts and Downeast Basics t-shirts. But, I decided I wanted to find an even cheaper short sleeved shirt that I could wear to work and not feel guilty if it got dirty and to stay cool while cleaning. At $10 each for shirts at either of those stores.... it was a little too much to order a bunch.

That is when I found http://www.forever21.com/! Just go to Women's, Tops, Basics & Hoodies. They have a TON of different styles/colors to choose from. The best part??? Most of them are $5-6!!! I think I struck gold! I ordered two t-shirts and two long sleeve shirts to try them out. I wanted long sleeve shirts to use for layering during the winter. I loved them all! I don't think I can wear the t-shirts just to work because I want to wear them all the time! I'm definitely ordering more some time soon. Now the real test is to see how well they wash and hold up! But for $5, I won't be devastated if something happens. Also, you have to pay attention to the length (most are as long as Shade t-shirts, but some are shorter/longer) and the type of fabric too. Each shirt is different in those aspects. Love them!

I can't remember if I've ever posted about this, actually I'm pretty sure I have, but my all time favorite exercise dvds are by Cathe Friedrich. I'm telling you people, these are the toughest workouts you can do at home. I LOVE HER! Because of Cathe, I am only two pounds away from my goal weight (I'm talking about the goal weight you set thinking you might never reach it!) AND I am now doing REAL push ups, not girl ones! I think Tom is getting SO tired of me flexing my muscles and telling him that I'm stronger than he is! hahaha!

I don't know, I think I am really developing a huge passion for fitness and nutrition. I love it so much! I have the time for it too since I'm a stay at home mom.(is that an oxymoron??) Honestly, I do have days where I might not feel like working out, but then I think,"Hmm, I don't have anything else to do besides get on the computer or watch tv... guess I WILL work out!" I know I know... it's pathetic! :) I just view it as my hobby! I've even thought about going back to school to study it too. We'll see where that road leads some day!

So, Cathe has some pretty tough exercise "moves" that I see her do and think,"I will never be able to do that." I want to show you one of them. Click on the link below and watch the video. The move I'm talking about is 45 seconds into the video. I bet you will watch it and think,"That doesn't look so tough!" But trust me, get up off your computer chair and TRY doing it. It just seems impossible! I'm setting the goal that I will some day be able to do that "move". And when I do, I'll take a picture or video and put it on here. Not sure HOW I'm going to do it, but I will! And by the way, if you CAN do it.... you're crazy... and awesome.

Guess I was really in the "blogging" mood today, huh?? :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNHzJbRR0zk

Happy Boss's Day KRYSTAL!!!!

I have the greatest boss in the world! Honestly, Krystal is the best boss that I have ever had! She is one of the most caring, loving, and kind people I have ever met. She loves her employees and just wants to help us in every way she can. Krystal started her cleaning business about a year ago and has done great. She's been so strong to stick with it through the stressful times. Through all those stressful times, she is always thinking of others and keeping everyone as happy as possible. And of course, she is really fun to be around and always has a smile on her face. Love you Krystal!

I really haven't had anything to blog about lately. It seems like when school starts you get into the same routine every week. We've just been hanging out with family almost every weekend. I guess we did go to a Pumpkin Festival here in town. They have carnival games for the kids and pumpkin decorating. But, I have no pictures because I didn't take my camera. My parents came a few weekends ago to help start building our retaining wall. I won't post about that until the wall is finished. Just a few more hours of work and it should be done. But, I guess it's postponed for a few days because the of the SNOW! I took some pictures of the boys playing outside yesterday. Evan just kept saying he wanted to go outside so he could lick it with his tongue. And yes, I really need to get them some gloves!!! Today the snow is already starting to melt fast!

In September, Carter got his first official haircut. I've just been trimming it here and there. I really have NO idea what I'm doing so it was time to let a professional do it! Both of the boys like getting haircuts and are really well-behaved when we've gone. Carter just had this little grin on his face the whole time!

8 years together
What can I say? It keeps getting better and better! I love you Tom!

First Day of School!

Today was Jordyn's first day of first grade! She's spends 75% of her time in her special education class and then they will take her into her her first grade class periodically. She looks so cute and was so happy to be going to school today! Can't wait to have her come home and see how she did on her first day!

Branding

This past Saturday we had the chance to go help with Chae's (Tom's brother) branding. Well, I'll have to admit that I really only took pictures and kept Carter from being trampled... I wasn't any help! After 8 years of being in the Bybee family, I finally got to see my first branding. So.... get ready for a ton of pictures:

Do these calves have any idea what is about to happen??

My cute cowboys.

One of the great things about Chae's branding is that the missionaries come every year! Can you even imagine how fun/exciting/scary it must be for them? Look at them.... do they have any idea what is about to happen??


I have to say I thought they did an awesome job. Most of them just jumped right in and worked REALLY hard! Below: calf being branded. The smell of burning hair is HORRIBLE might I add!

The calf has to be branded, vaccinated (Linda is doing that below), and then castrated.

Here was a tiny calf that they let a little kid help with. The guy in the blue shirt is one of the missionaries. He was so funny.... he really wasn't interested in helping. Not sure if he was scared or grossed out...but he helped with this little one! Hey, he did better then me!

Way to go TOM! Wrestle him down!

Aww Carter... he sat in this chair for a long time when we first got there.....he didn't even move! You just have to imagine all the action going on and LOTS of loud "mooing" and chaos. He was in shock.

This will be a GREAT photo to send to the missionary wearing the white t-shirt. Won't his family get a kick out of it? haha Chae is the one helping him.

Gotta make sure they can't move, kick, or get away! That cow was looking at me like ,"HEEELP!" lol

I think Travis (middle guy in the photo) should win an award...he did almost ALL of the castrating that day. Now that is a nasty job!

Tom's dad getting ready to rope. He looks mad, but he didn't know I was taking his picture!

Dang this picture would have been awesome. Travis' hands were all bloody from castrating...but I didn't know my camera was set to black and white!

The brands in the fire.

Some good ole action shots!

Look at Ninny getting in on the action!

All done!

Wow, I can't even imagine how tired and sore these guys were! They worked pretty much non-stop from 9am-3:30pm.... it was 96 degrees out... and they branded 150 calves. We wondered if the missionaries were wondering what the heck they got themselves in to! Pretty fun day.... for me at least! :)

Spontaneous

Tom and I are not very spontaneous people... at least since we've had kids that is! But last Friday, Tom was home for lunch and we decided we were going to drive to Rapid City, SD and spend the night and just have fun! So, I had the afternoon to book a hotel and pack our stuff by the time Tom got home from work. Rapid City is only two hours away from us and it's where everyone in Gillette goes to shop and do fun things. It's also only 30 min. from Mt. Rushmore and has tons of touristy things to do!

We got to the hotel and the boys probably could have just played there the whole time. We hardly ever stay in hotels, so they thought it was awesome! We were just walking to our room and Evan kept saying,"I'm so excited!"

The next morning our first stop was glow in the dark miniature golf! I love a good game of miniature golf... it was fun! We did have to chase the kids around to keep them from interrupting other people games... but we managed alright. Oh, I forgot to mention that Tom's sister, Linda, and her husband, Travis, came to Rapid City for the weekend too, so we met up with them for most of Saturday. Photo below is Travis and Clay posing during the golf game with Homer.

Next stop.... go carts! Carter drove we with me in my car and it was hilarious! He just held onto my arm and had this blank stare on his face the whole time. I think he was a little scared, but when we had to stop he started crying! Photo below is Linda and Clay taking off.

Third stop was Reptile Gardens! Very cool place! The photo is me, Jordyn, and Carter in the "rainforest" where the cool birds are. We don't look excited, but we were :)

Probably my favorite picture of the whole trip...LOVE Evan's expression!

ALL of our kids even touched a real snake.... like it was nothing! Jordyn even felt it! Yuck...snakes give me the CREEPS! Below you can see a snake in the left of the photo... can't see much of him but he was HUGE.

Evan and Cole posing for the "tourist" picture!

Loved the turtles. I think this one was around 130 years old.

Travis in the gift shop.... yep, he's the only one who will actually pose for my pictures! We had a great time .... a fun weekend with no worries! We even made a stop for shopping at Target and Scheels and dinner at Olive Garden....all in 24 hours! We'll be headed back soon, there's still tons we want to do there!