InstaFriday - OBSESSED!!!

Another edition of InstaFriday!!!

Honestly, do they have a self help group for this app?  I am obsessed {just a little bit} and feel like I am one, taking pictures sometimes of the most random things and two, checking in on the 19 people that I stalk follow {do I follow you?} and feel like a part of their world via pictures for 10 seconds!  If you are wondering why my posts maybe have been a little few and far between these days, Instagram is your answer!  

What?  You don't follow us?  Well, you can @jenni_roseland or you can just catch up with us every Friday!  This seems to hold me accountable for all the iPhone pics I seem to be taking these days!

Last Friday was jersey day at school and both Kyan and Lola sported their Cardinals gear!

Friday was a BIG day at our house!  We WAITED...and WAITED...and WAITED for Grandpa and Grandma Nebraska to show up, but in the meantime, we cut some rug in the backyard to pass time.  Lola is obsessed with Justin Bieber and plays his songs over and over and over again!

Ok, I'll be honest.  While we were excited to see Grandpa and Grandma Nebraska, we were really excited for the treat that they brought on the airplane with them - APPLESAUCE DONUTS!!!  I have never had a donut that tasted so good and no where in AZ makes 'em like it and because we don't go to visit as often as we should,  they brought them to us!

 The kids love them just as much as I do and we did eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

Grandpa has the new iPad2 {I'll make him an Apple user yet} and of course he has all of the fun games downloaded!  The kids were smitten with him and his iPad!

The weeds in my yard have been growing out of control and with a Super Bowl party to prep for, I got busy around 2 o'clock on Saturday afternoon to start pulling them.  Even with my parents help, we didn't end up finishing until after 5:30-6 that evening.  My legs are finally not sore.  Yard is being sprayed very soon, I don't wish to ever do that again.

 

In the midst of pulling weeds, Grandpa rigged the wagon to Kyan's four wheeler so that Grandma could pull Lola around without having to walk around and around the yard!  We both said there was no way that it could work, but we were wrong!  Not sure who ended up having more fun?!

 Speaking of the Super Bowl - my kiddos were so excited to have all of their friends come over to watch play with them!  Lola wanted a cheerleader outfit so bad and I did search but came back with a cute skirt and t-shirt instead, as I could not find anything!  She loved it and pretended to be a cheerleader anyway!

My muscle man!

The little boys played football in the backyard for quite some time and some how they all ended up with their shirts off!?

 He looked too cute, I had to take a picture with him!

 

 Two of my favorite girls rockin' their stunna shades: my mama and my baby. 

Came home from work and these were sitting on the counter from my mama.  They are so pretty and were such a nice surprise.  She doesn't really know how much I love having her here, but I do.  These three weeks are already going too fast and I am dreading the 26th, when she has to go home.  She really is my best friend.

Best friends are always honest and tell you things without hurting you.  My mom is great at this and she ever so nicely informed me that I was dressing a little blah and I couldn't agree more!  Lately,  I have felt like I have forgotten how to put things together and she helped me to see how again...starting with those yellow bad boys!  Every single person at work complimented them.  Thank you mama.

 Oh yeah, did I tell you that she cleans closets and organizes everything too?

No, you can't have her, she is all mine!!!!

While cleaning out here closet, Lola read to us.  She made up the most random story of what she though she was reading.  Loved every second of it!

Heather, from Angel Face Designs, tagged me for the first time on Instagram {take a picture of your lock screen}!  Huh?!  Wha?!  How do I this?  Good thing she gives such good directions, I was able to play along and even tagged a few others! 

 Celebrated Chad's birthday at Ah So!

 Then came home and had a dance battle as a family!  

SO.MUCH.FUN!  

Everyone got in on the action, including my dad.  I had to sneak a picture of him and once he saw what I was up to, yelled at me {some things never change}, so I had to settle for a blurry one!

 Saw this posted somewhere in Pinterest land and posted it at school.  It didn't take long for the kids to start pulling what they needed.  Kinda melts my heart a little.  I wish I knew who pulled what and why, but I guess that is kinda the point.  Hoping that a simple word or two helped someone over the last couple of days.

 

McDonald's Unsweetened Ice Tea

I get it to drink almost every single day.

I LOVE IT probably like most of you love starbucks!

Happy Birthday to You!

Happy Birthday to Chad/Daddy

Happy Birthday to YOU!

Tonight we spent a perfect evening together!  Normally the birthday person in our family picks where they want to eat, however, Chad let the kids pick tonight and they both immediately picked AhSo!  They wanted to see the fire!  

Then we came home and sang "happy birthday" and ate a yummy Coldstone Ice Cream Cake and had a dance party!!!!

SO.MUCH.FUN.

 Dance Central 2 for the XBox Kinect is addicting.  I have a love/hate relationship with it.  I love to play it and wish I was a good dancer, but I hate it because I always lose.  I hate most when I lose to the birthday boy.  The only people I seem to beat are my kids and Kyan is so close (he is good), I don't know how much longer I can hang on!  I love to watch Lola's face when she dances, she is sooooooo into it!

Happy Birthday Babe!

Really BIG love you!

InstaFriday!!!

Another week full of iPhone pictures and a little sneak peek into our everyday life!

 Lola dressed herself for Kyan's football game {that ended up getting cancelled, but we didn't find out until we got to the field at 9:45}!

 Prepping our food for our Winter Supper Club with friends!  Want to see what we ate?  Check it out here!

Sunday we headed to Urgent Care - Lola had croup.  Yuck.  And a little message to medicine companies out there, PLEASE, I am BEGGING you to make a medicine that actually tastes good for kids!  I had to get very tricky to get Lola's down her throat!

Sunday didn't end all bad however, the carpet cleaner man came over and hooked my carpets up!

 

 Oreo chowing down on a piece of lettuce!  Love how his little back feet are hanging on too!

 Work, work, work, work, work!  I haven't been to bed before 11pm this week because of it and it is killing me!

 A little peek inside my classroom at 6pm!  This was part of my poor pitiful me party I was throwing myself earlier this week, but I think I am over it!

Fletcher just watches Oreo...he is so worried about what is going on in her cage.  And I think he wants to eat her.   See those two cubby spaces?  Fletcher has even been spotted in the middle of one, in attempt to get closer!

 Got my Jersey Shore on!!!  I LOVE me a good spray tan!

 Me!   All of my pictures are of things other than me...so I had Kyan snap one super fast last night!

Forget dinner, drink a smoothie!  Strawberry ones are my favorite!

Can't wait until Friday to see what we have been up to?  You can find me @jenni_roseland on instagram!  Don't have it yet, get it!  So much fun!!!

The Supper Club - Winter {2}

Last night we met up at the Bulter's house for our winter edition of The Supper Club!  This year's menu was stuctured differently than previous seasons, but it was delicious nonetheless!

  

Before we get to that goodness above, a little bit about The Supper Club and how it works!

If you have been following for a while now, you know how it works already, but if not... 

here is how we do it, you know, THE RULES:

1. No kids.

2. The host comes up with the menu and then divides out the recipes to each of the supper club members to prepare for the party (we have four parties per year, each couple takes a season).

3. The host always provides the main dish/side dish with a variety of beverage selections.

4. Remember that it is sometimes best to semi-prepare your dishes and do last minute baking, chilling, slicing, or arranging at the home of the host.

5. Menu items should be new and adventurous.

6. Portion sizes must be small so that you have room to taste every course of the evening, so feel free to reduce recipes in half where ever you see fit. 

I love spending time with these girls!  Choosing the right couples to do this with is very important!  I do get to see them M-F at work, but for the most part, we are all business, so getting to hang outside of the classroom is very important to our friendship!

 THE MENU

Like I said above, this one was different.  The Butler's put a spin on the traditional Christmas meal!

***Click on the food/drink and it takes you to the recipe in case you want to try it.

Cocktail Hour:

White Christmas Sangria & Festive Ice Ring

Please note - we did substitute the sparkling grape juice with champagne

Appetizers:

Spiced Nuts

  

Cran-Apple Salsa

Here is where it gets funky, usually we go onto another course or two before we eat the main dish, but because the traditional meal typically just has it all on one plate, we set out to eat our meal after appetizers and drinks!  Each part of the plate is broken down below.

Main Meal:

Chipotle Green Beans with Bacon

Sweet Potato and Caramelized Onion Shells

Sage Sausage Dressing

Cracked Pepper Cheddar Muffins

Tangerine Glazed Turkey

Dessert:

Caramel Apple Cheesecake

After dinner {and before dessert because our bellies were so full} we played a new game called What's Yours Like? and it was very fun!  I won't even try to explain the rules, just know that it requires lots of thinking and laughter!  I thought I wouldn't be very good at it either, because it is kinda hard not to give the clue that gives the answer away to the guesser, but turns out I won!

 Another wonderful evening together!  Looking forward to Spring, rumor has it we are eating an entirely Jewish meal!

If you missed out on our first year together, click here, it will take you to our first summer together {which will then take you to any other season from our first year at the bottom}!

If you missed out on the first year, or want to see what we eat last year, head to this post, where it will take you to our first summer together and at the bottom of that post, will share a link to the other menus! Click here is you want to see what we ate for the Fall season this year!  I NEED to work on a Supper Club tab for the blog, but until I have some extra time, I will just keep directing you to past posts if you are curious to see what we ate!

 

Linking with some of my favorite party people!

My First InstaFriday!

I joined the IPhone world this week {as a result of my daughter accidentally knocking off the hubby's new Droid RAZR from the counter to the floor - loooooonnnnggg story, in the end I got an IPhone!}!  The first app I downloaded was Instagram!  I think I may be taking pictures with my phone for a while right now instead of dragging the big ol' camera with me everywhere!  I am super excited to capture the random stuff we do!

Oreo - seriously might be the cutest hamster that ever lived.  

Breakfast of Champions - white powder doughnuts are both of my kids favorites and they haven't had them in the morning for a long time, so when I brought them home the night before, they couldn't wait for breakfast!

Lola's homework - decorate your heart with things that make you happy!  When I asked her she said; family, Lucky Charms, Justin Bieber {she also told me today actually that she kissed him on the TV, girl is in love}, painting, hugs, kisses, grandpa and grandma, watching movies with brother, holding Oreo, and singing.

Foils in my hair - seriously, Zonia puts about 5,000 in there, I swear!

Just a few this week, but hoping to have more next Friday! 

"I can't believe it's not a dream!"

Those were the exact words that came out of Kyan's mouth after his party was all said and done!  He kept repeating it over and over and over again!  It was adorable and let me know just how much he loved his day {you will see in a little bit why, if you don't already know}!

Started off with some close friends {a few he has grown up with, a few from school, & cousins} playing in the backyard!  This year we kept it very low key and I will have to say that it was the least stressed I have ever been at any of my children's birthday parties EVER!  Everyone had fun playing with the bikes, scooters, 4 wheeler, football, and wagon in the backyard!  The kids were all old enough to keep themselves entertained, so much adult visiting time was had!  We had pizza for dinner!

 Once we lost light, the kids came inside to sing "Happy Birthday" to Kyan.  I knew exactly what he wished for when he was blowing out his candles, but little did he know it was about to come true!

After we all ate chocolate chocolate cupcakes {homemade of course, requested from the birthday boy, no store bought cupcakes for him} he opened presents!  His Bey Blade collection went from two to 12 in a matter of minutes - no joke!  Not a single blade was repeated either, how lucky is that?

We did save the best for last however...

Kyan has been told for the last few weeks that he has to be 8 to get a hamster.  All of the books and stores recommend at least that age before becoming an owner, so I was trying to buy time.  However, I am admitting that I am a sucker and when I started to ask Kyan about other things he wanted for presents, he asked if he could celebrate his birthday in the summer, because maybe he would be closer to 8 and could get the hamster then?  He also brought up the fact that he plays T for Teen games and he doesn't get in trouble, even though that is breaking the rules, sooooooo......how could I argue?  Plus, in Kyan's defense, he is very responsible and if any 7 year old could take care of a hamster, it is him! 

We wrapped {I should say his Auntie Kiki wrapped} all of the stuff that goes along with the hamster separately and he continued to figure out that he was one step closer to getting what he wished for.  When he opened the cage, it had a note that said it was for a future furry friend, and at that point, he was confused.  So I clarified that he now had all of the stuff for when he turned 8 and he could get a hamster then!  He very sweetly said okay, but you could just tell that wasn't sitting right.  

Auntie Kiki {the one who hunted down for the perfect hamster for him earlier in the week} was the one that was the actually giver of the hamster.  She called him over and asked if he could help her with the back of her shirt.  Of course he did and in it was hiding his new hamster {big thank you to Auntie Rae for capturing his reaction to seeing his hamster for the first time}!

 It is safe to say that he is completely smitten with her {as is his sister, who thinks that she is both of theirs}.

 Meet our new hamster, I am sure it won't be the last post about her either, she is pretty cute!  She is so good when you hold her, but seems to sit the most still with Kyan.  She loves her veggies, climbing in her cage, and getting exercise!  She also knows her name already and comes right to the part of the cage that opens/closes when you talk to her, letting you know that you can get her out to hold her!

Glad to make your dreams come true sweet 7 year old!

I really BIG love you!

PS - if you are wondering...Picnik is closing {I am so sad, I love how user friendly they are} so I am trying to find some sort of program that still does collages as well as Picnik did {they took away that feature for some reason before they close in April}.  I do my editing in Photoshop, so I am not terribly worried about that part, but the collages, I am...I take way too many pictures and want to put them all up, but my posts would be way too long, so that is my solution for picture overload!  Tonight I used Kizoa and I really liked it!  To be able to download the pictures onto your computer, you do have to pay for the premium package, and I clearly did, so I am hoping that I get what I need from it. From what I did above, I think it might not be that bad.  I have to quit crying over Picnik and move on!  This might be my solution!

And just like that, he is 7.

Seriously, where did the time go?  Just the other day I was anticipating his birth and now he is already seven?!   I remember struggling with birthday number four and it seems as if this birthday might just put me over the edge!  I am not ready for him to be seven.  It is one step closer to becoming 10...then 16...then...gwah, he will not get bigger, I need to freeze time!   Just need to find the remote with the pause button first.

Kyan has one of the biggest hearts I know and is just the sweetest little thing.  It isn't uncommon for him to come home from school with little I LOVE YOU MOMMY notes tucked safely inside his folder, or sweet Post-It notes stuck to my night table telling me the fun things he likes to do with me or the reasons why he loves me.  The best is when out of nowhere I get the, "I love you mommy" straight from his mouth.  Kyan is the best son and big brother this mama could ask for! 

I asked him about his favorite things, you know, as a 7 year old:

Color:  Blue

Toy:  Bey Blades

Fruit:  Bananas

TV Show:  Dude, What Would Happen

Lunch:  Panda Express' Orange Chicken {he eats adult meals now, throws it down like it is nothing}

Outfit:  New Pink Mouse shirt {feels like one of the big boys in this shirt...thank you Creels}

Game:  Skyrim

Snack:  Gushers {squeezes most of the juice into his mouth before he pops the rest in, gross!}

Book:  All of them! {he really does love reading everything} 

Animal:  Bears

Song:  Give It Away by the Red Hot Chili Peppers {Has always calls it Take It Away, so cute}

Best Friend{s}:  Jax & Ryan

Cereal:  Mini Wheats

Outside Play:  Riding my skateboard

Drink:  Diet Coke {don't ask, both kids are obsessed about drinking it right now?!}

Thing to take to bed:  Bear & Blanket {they look rough, lemme tell ya, but he can't live without 'em}

Breakfast: Pop Tarts

Sport:  Football

What do you want to be when you grow up?  Football Player

What is one thing you hope you get for your birthday this year?  A Hamster

I am going to ask him the same questions as long as he will let me, think it will be fun to see how his answers change over the years!

 

Really BIG love you birthday boy!