Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Last night we had our ward Christmas party dinner, and the boys got to meet Santa Clause.  Noah was so excited, he didn't even know what to say to him.  We kept telling him to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas and all he could do was grin.  He even mentioned the "party with Santa" in his prayer last night. :)

Ammon on the other hand, was not impressed!! He was ok standing near santa, but don't you dare try to put him in his lap!!

This morning we woke up to snow!  I opened up the window and it was white everywhere!! Noah and Ammon couldn't keep themselves out of the window.  I brought some snow inside for them to play with:

Its going to be a LONG December

As time is going by, I am getting more and more behind on my blog, and I am finding it hard to find things to write about!!  With the stress of court coming up on the 14th for Noah it seems my mind is consumed with one thing!

We did get around to putting up a tree and some Christmas decorations.  Noah is excited, he asks me everyday when the "Christmas Guy" is coming.  My mom gave us an advent calendar with little goodies everyday until Christmas for the boys, and it is the only thing he can think of, he asks me at least 10 times a day if he can have whatever is in the next day's pocket.  Ammon seems to have a different excitement than Noah, he wants to tear EVERYTHING apart.  I am constantly chasing him away from the Christmas tree while he tries to pull off every ornament he can, smack them together, pull the tinsel down and destroy the nativity.  He doesn't take "no" for an answer nowadays, and all these extra fun things to get into lately make it all the worse. :P

Mike got his first cat of the season, the first day he checked his traps, on the very first trap.  He has been using all his will power to hold out until Friday to check them again, he is certain he has more cats.  Its funny to watch him, because it is like watching a kid waiting to open his Christmas presents. :)

Other than that there isn't much to report on, just trying to survive day to day, and figure out how to balance my life with kids, babysitting, primary and scouts!!

Falling Behind

I haven't been able to get on the computer much lately, and my blog is falling behind a little.  Things have been pretty crazy around the Campos house lately.

Ammon just went in to get his one year shots last Monday. (he was sick when we were originally supposed to get it done, so it has been put of for a while)  He has been very cranky the last few weeks because of teething, and now on top of it he has a fever as a reaction from one of his shots.  One of his molars is half way through though, so at least we are seeing some progress.  He has been very clingy, will not nap and has a very hard time sleeping at night, making his mother into a very cranky tired mom.  I really hope the rest of his molars make a quick appearance and soon!

Noah has been very helpful lately, I have been babysitting one of our friends' daughters and he likes to give her hugs when she is upset, brings her her bottle, and keeps Ammon entertained.  He is still really enjoying preschool, and all the kids at his school really like him too.  He is such a friendly and loving little boy, and an awesome big brother!!  Ammon loves his big brother so much, the other day Noah decided to take a nap on his own in the late afternoon, Mike walked in to find Ammon laying in Noah's bed with his arm around Noah, rubbing and patting his back.  He called me in to go look and it was the sweetest thing I had ever seen!  I wish I had gotten a picture.

Mike is very excited in preparing for trapping season this year.  He says he is a lot more prepared this year then last year, and is hoping to have more success.  I just hope I don't have to deal with dead animal skins drying out on stretchers in my living room this year!! :P

I have been a little stressed out lately, last Monday I had mediation with Noah's dad and it did not go well.  We have another mediation next Monday, which I am trying very hard not to stress about.  The fact of the matter is if we don't agree, we don't agree and it goes to court, nothing in the mediation other than the outcome gets shared with the court.  I just have to suck it up and keep my emotions in check, I did pretty well last time considering what went on.  On top of all the stress from court I had my very first sharing time lesson on Sunday, and our stake primary president and her counselor were there!! I was nervous even before I knew they were coming! But it turned out pretty well.  I had made these "secret service" heart necklaces for the kids to take home, and the stake primary president told me she thought that was a very cute idea. :)

Halloween

This is a little late in coming, but things have been a little crazy and busy lately.  We took the boys to a pumpkin patch the saturday before Halloween, and they got to do a little bit of trick-or-treating.  They looked so cute in their costumes!! :)

Wax Lips

A couple days ago I was reminiscing on Halloweens we had as kids, and I asked Mike if he remembered having wax lips as a kid.  I was in the grocery store yesterday picking up some power aid for Ammon (he is sick yet again!) and I saw one of those cardboard stands they use for promos filled with wax lips...I didn't even think they made those any more!! Needless to say I had to pick some up, I thought Noah would have fun with them and Mike would get a kick out of them.  Last night we had a lot of fun with them, laughing and taking pictures, and even Ammon got in on the fun.

I wish I could sleep like a Kid

After school on Monday Noah was watching his 30 minutes of cartoons before we did his homework.  I looked up and saw him laying his head down on the counter and asked "Are you tired Noah?" to which I got no response, I walked around to look at his face, and this is what I saw:

He had fallen asleep sitting up on a stool.  Guess school wore him out.  I wish it was as easy for me to fall asleep anywhere!!

Pumpkin Soup in a Pumpkin

Last Thursday we had the missionaries over for dinner.  I wanted to do something fun and fall like, but also something that would be yummy.  I found this recipe online for Pumpkin Soup in a Pumpkin, and it looked really yummy to me.  Mike was skeptical, he said that pumpkin soup didn't even sound appealing at all, but I decided to be adventurous and try it anyway.  Luckily for me, (and the missionaries!) it turned out really yummy!!  I made some homemade crescent rolls to go with it, and pumpkin bars for dessert.  Everyone ended up eating way too much food because it was so good!!  Here are some pictures of how it turned out, and the recipe in case anyone is interested! :)

1 7-lb. Cinderella pumpkin, with a 2" stem

7 tbsp. butter
Salt
1 large yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 1⁄2 cups fresh white bread crumbs, toasted
1⁄2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1⁄2 tsp. ground sage
Freshly ground black pepper
1⁄2 cup grated Swiss cheese
4 cups Chicken Stock
2 bay leaves
1⁄2 cup heavy cream, optional

Preheat oven to 350°. Cut a lid about 4" in diameter out of top of pumpkin and set lid aside. Remove and discard seeds and strings. Rub inside of pumpkin and lid with 1 tbsp. softened butter, season with salt, and place on a baking pan. Melt remaining 6 tbsp. butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in bread crumbs and cook for 2 minutes, then add nutmeg and sage and season generously with salt and pepper. Remove from heat, stir in cheese, then spoon mixture into pumpkin. Pour enough stock into pumpkin to come within 1⁄2" of the rim. Lay bay leaves on top, then fit lid onto pumpkin. Bake until pumpkin begins to soften and brown on the outside and the stock bubbles on the inside, about 1 1⁄2 hours. Carefully remove from oven and transfer to a serving platter. With a long-handled spoon, scrape flesh from bottom and sides of pumpkin and, just before serving, stir in heavy cream if using.

Trying to teach Ammon to self-feed with a spoon

As you can see it is not going so well. :)  Thank goodness for indoor plumbing and baths!! :)

Spicy Chicken, Rice and Beans Casserole

So I was talking to my mom last night about being wanting to be more "adventurous" and make new recipes, so I got a little adventurous today, took an idea from a couple different recipes and made my own recipe.  We had it for dinner tonight, and it actually turned out pretty tasty :)

1 can refried beans
1 C uncooked rice
2 C cooked chopped chicken
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 7oz can El Pato tomato sauce
1 can Rotel
Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Cook rice as directed.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13x9in glass casserole dish.  Spread refried beans in the bottom of casserole dish and top with cooked rice.  Sprinkle chicken on top of rice.  Mix together cream of mushroom and chicken soup, El Pato sauce and Rotel.  Spread over chicken and top with shredded cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  Serve with Tortilla chips if desired.

Beef and Rice Casserole

This recipe is one of our favorite dinners.  Its pretty easy to throw together, I found it in one of my cookbooks, but I have made some changes to make it taste even better :)

1lb ground beef
2 medium celery stalks chopped
1/2 C chopped onion
1 C long grain rice
1 14 1/2oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 sliced black olives
1 4oz can diced green chilies
1 1/4 C beef broth (approx. 1 10 1/2oz can)
1 t chili powder
1 t garlic powder
2 t Worcestershire sauce
1/4 t pepper
1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese

In a large oven-proof skillet brown ground beef with onion celery, onion, garlic powder and salt to taste.  Drain fat, stir in uncooked rice and beef broth.  Add undrained tomatoes, chili peppers, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, and pepper.  Bring to a boil, remove from heat, cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Sprinkle with cheese, cover and let stand for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Mike's Stitches

Saturday morning Mike was out splitting wood for the wood stove in preparation of winter.  His mom and I were talking in the kitchen when he came in looking like this:

Apparently he had put a piece of wood on the splitter that had a big knot, when the splitter got to the knot a piece of wood shot off and hit him in the face.  It knocked his glasses of, but it was lucky he was wearing them, because they probably saved his eye.  He asked if it looked like he needed stitches, to which his mom replied "Yes! That definitely needs stitches!"  He argued for a bit, saying he had had worse and super glued it and was fine, but in the end he lost the argument and we went to the ER.

When the doctor came in to exam him, he asked if he needed stitches or if there was anyway they could glue it.  The doctor said no, it needed to be stitched, and after removing a piece of wood from inside his head he got 7 stitches.

When we got home, Mike went over to the wood pile to see if he could find the piece of wood that had hit him in the head.  In my mind I was picturing a little wood chip, but this is what had hit him in the face:

What's new with Ammon

For the past week Ammon has been sick.  No fever, no ear infection, nothing other than some GI problems, which lead to a very nasty diaper rash.  We have restricted his diet, taken away dairy, tried every diaper rash remedy under the sun, with no avail...but today after being on some probiotics called Lactinex for a day, he is doing much better.  His doctor thinks he had some sort of stomach virus or it was caused from his teething (he has 2 teeth coming in on the bottom) at any rate, a full week of constant diarrhea was enough to drive both of us crazy.  Last Monday he finally had his one year check up with his pediatrician, but because of he was sick he was unable to get his shots.  We did find out that at 30 inches he is 95th percentile for height and since loosing some weight being sick he is 18 3/4lbs and 3rd percentile for weight.  His pediatrician is concerned about his weight, she says he is very light for a one year old, so we have to go back at the end of the month to get his shots and check his weight again.  Because he is not 20lbs yet, we are still keeping him rear facing in his car seat, hopefully he can get his weight up soon!!  Other than that he is running around being his usual crazy self, getting into everything he can, talking more and more (he now says Dodo for Dodger, Numma Numma for his cub/bottle, Doah for Noah) and even figured out how to push the buttons on the dishwasher now!!

Random Ramblings of a Three-year-old

They say "Kids say the darnedest things" and its true.  Some times I wish we had our life on video recorder so I could catch more of the funny things Noah says.  Lately Noah has been giving the excuse that he is "too little" to do anything I ask him to.  He is "too little" to look for his shoes, "too little" to do is homework, "too little" to eat his food.  The past few days he has been adding more excuses to his repertoire, he is now "too hot" to do his homework, or "too big" to color his picture, or he is "too slow" to hold my hand.  Yesterday he came up to me and out of the blue said he wanted to be a doctor.  I asked him what kind of doctor he wanted to be, and he replied "I am going to be a doctor by smarting."  I asked him if "smarting" meant "being smart" and he said, "of course mommy!"  Yesterday my mom sent me a picture of my brother David in his army uniform, I showed it to Noah, who said that uncle David was "a superhero!! He's going to save the day!!"  He has no idea how right he is!! :)

Lizard Stew

This is a recipe our family enjoys, and no it is not made out of real lizards!! :)  (Plus its easy and fast! Even Noah will eat it!)

1lb ground beef, browned and drained
1 15oz can of ranch style chili beans
1 26oz can of minestrone or vegetable soup
1 10oz can of rotel (tomatos and green chilies)
1lb of velveeta cut into cubes

Combine all ingredents except for velveeta in a large pot. Heat on medium high until hot and bubbly. Add velveeta heat and stir until melted. Serve over fritos.

Pumpkin-Spice Bars

I think I have a new favorite here!! :)  I am really not a big pumpkin fan (I don't really care for pumpkin pie, or pumpkin bread) but these are so very yummy!! I could eat the whole pan myself!! :)

4 large eggs
2 C granulated sugar
1 C vegetable oil
1 15oz can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
2 C flour
2 t baking powder
2 t ground cinnamon
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t ground ginger
1/4 t ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease bottom and sides of a 15x10x1 pan.  (I have a 15x10 inch jelly roll pan I used)  In mixer beat together eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until smooth.  Stir in flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger and cloves.  Spread into pan.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool completely.  Frost with Cream Cheese frosting.  (you can either buy it from the store like I did :P or make it)

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 3oz package of cream cheese (softened)
1/2 C butter (softened)
1 t vanilla
2 C powdered sugar

Beat together cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth, gradually stir in powdered sugar until smooth and spreadable.

Pathetically out of shape!

I have been bugging Mike about replacing the inner tube in my double jogging stroller so I can walk Noah to school for a few weeks now.  He finally got around to doing it last night for me, so I decided there was nothing holding me back from doing it.  The school is really close to our house and I felt rather silly driving him, but its hilly and it would be hard for him to walk it.  So this morning I packed both the boys into the stroller and headed off to school.  I got down our big long hill of a drive way and street just fine, but then I had to walk up an enormous hill to get to the school, and let me tell you my lungs and legs were burning.  Apparently chasing after an almost 4 year old and one year old everyday is not exercise enough!  I am so out of shape it is not even funny!  It took all of 7 minutes to walk from our house to the school, and I was out of breath and wishing I had driven...lol.  It was a lot easier though going home with just Ammon in the stroller.  Pushing 20lbs is a lot less work that 50+ pounds.  I almost had myself convinced that I was too tired to walk to pick him back up, but I figured if I was ever planning on getting in shape I couldn't make excuses, I just needed to do it.  So I huffed and puffed and made it down and up and down and up the hills again picking up Noah and going back home.  I guess I need to get out and be more active or something. :)  Mike has started getting up super early and going to the gym with one of his friends from work, so maybe I need to follow his lead and get my butt in gear!!  So I am making a goal of walking him to school everyday he has school (4 days a week) and taking walks with Ammon on the days Noah is visiting his dad.  I may even throw in an extra day of exercising at home while the boys are napping.

Magic Cookie Bars

My mom made these yummy cookie bars all the time when we were growing up, and I LOVE them!  I decided to make them tonight for our family night treat, and thought I would share the recipe.

1/2 C butter
1 1/2 C graham cracker crumbs (we usually take one package of graham crackers out of the box, put it in a ziplock bag and crush it up with a rolling pin)
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/3 C shredded coconut
2 C chocolate chips
1 C chopped pecans

Place butter in 13x9 pan and place in oven while it preheats to 350 degrees to melt butter.  Once butter is melted, sprinkle graham cracker crumbs evenly in bottom of pan.  Spread sweetened condensed milk over graham cracker crust.  Sprinkle coconut, chocolate chips, and pecans evenly, and press down.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Family Pictures

A couple weeks ago we decided to go and get some family pictures done.  We got everyone ready and Noah was excited to go get pictures done, but when we got there Noah decided to have a melt down, and didn't want to cooperate.  It took several minutes of convincing but we finally got Noah excited about it again (and he ended up being quite the little ham!) but then Ammon was cranky and didn't want to cooperate.  I guess you can't have it all.  After all the crankiness, we did end up getting some pretty cute pictures, and here they are:

(The scanner isn't the greatest)

The Time Traveler's Wife

So when the movie "The Time Traveler's Wife" came out I thought it looked really good.  I still haven't been able to see the movie (we don't have a movie theater here in Tonopah) so I thought I would read the book, besides books are always better than the movie, or so I thought.  A couple weekends ago the library here was having a book sale and I found this book for only a quarter, and I thought "what a great deal!"  Later on I was happy I only spent a quarter on it.

The book was terrible!!  The concept was a good idea, but I could have done without the "f" word 6 times in every paragraph, and the several racy scenes through out the book.  Not only that, but the main character Clare just drove me crazy.  She didn't seem to think anything wrong of sleeping with her best friends husband not only once, but twice!! And one of the times was after her husband had died.  Her husband told her to live her life, that he would see her again when she was old, but not to sit around and wait for him wasting her life...so what does she do??  She goes out and sleeps with her best friends husband.  The ending was horrible, it was like the author just got tired of writing and had to end it somehow.  After Henry told Clare to live her life and then died, you think that it would explain some of what she did the next 40 years to follow what Henry wanted her to do.  The only thing she did was sleep with Gomez, draw a picture and wish she could disappear in time, then all ths sudden she was 82 years old and Henry came to see her.

I would NOT recommend for anyone to read this book, it was a waste of time!