Kaden's morning workout

Kaden wants to stand up

Just call me Abuelita

Tamale making was a complete success! It is always a good feeling when you learn how to make one of your favorite foods that was previously hard to obtain at the certain level of quality you've come to expect. I didn't cut any corners, I made those suckers as authentic as it gets. I had no idea that it would take me DAYS to do it, but hey, I was happy with the end result and that's what counts. Day one included shopping for all my ingredients, slow cooking two pork roasts, making homemade red chili sauce, then shredding the pork and marinating in the chili sauce overnight. The next morning I soaked my corn husks and made my mesa mixture. Spent the afternoon rolling tamales and then later steaming them. I had so much left over ingredients that I had to make another batch the next day. But we had a nice tamale dinner and invited friends over, and sent some home with everyone, plus I have about three dozen in the freezer. And man are they delicious!!

Kaden Mikal 3 months old!

Sitting here enjoying the company of my two beautiful children and being thankful that I don't have to work tonight. I love days off! Addi just looked over at Kaden smiling big and said, "Geez Mom, that baby is really happy again!" :o) Today I have to gather supplies for my attempt of making homemade Tamales. And if you are going to all the trouble of making tamales you might as well make ALOT and freeze them/give them away to friends. So I plan to spend the day slow cooking a pork roast, then rolling some corn husks filled with mesa and pork and then steaming batches all evening. Good thing my rad friend Renner will be by my side. Sounds like the perfect Friday night.

Back to the Grind...

Tony went back to work today, Staycation is officially over! It was just what we needed and such a nice way to start the summer. We took a trip to Spokane for the weekend. Tony stayed up all night playing video games with his friend the first night. He would have done that the whole staycation if I would have allowed it! The next day we had a sort of field day of games to celebrate Fathers day. We stayed with my cousins and played football, basketball, bean bag toss, and Jenga, then put the kids to bed and played beer pong and Apples to Apples. It was great. Addi has been a little crazy lately, testing her parents patience. Yesterday we had to take turns dealing with her because she was stressing us out so much! She can be such a little turd one minute and the next she will cuddle up to you and say "I love you Mommy and Daddy!" and totally melt our hearts! Kids are a trip! I have a feeling Addi is going to test us alot in the next 18 years or so. That will get her to 21 and hopefully by then she will chill out and have some sense...... I think that is about how long it took me!! :o)

Kaden likes to talk to his Momma

The Staycation

Here we sit smack dab in the middle of our "stay-cation". We are missing out on Tony's family reunion because I didn't get my vacation request and Tony didn't want to cram a long trip into my days off. So we are staying home and enjoying what this area has to offer. We had a nice camping trip on Monday-Tuesday, then home so I could work Tuesday and Wednesday nights. We camped on the Southfork of the Clearwater so Tony could have a chance at catching the tail end of the salmon run, but he had no luck. We had a great time just enjoying our beautiful state of Idaho though. Yesterday we went to the water park as a family. This is a huge accomplishment because in all the years Tony and I have been together he has NEVER gone to a water park with me. It's not his thing he always says. I am always taking Addi by myself, and now Kaden too. But he agreed to go and had an awesome time, running around like a little kid. Now I shouldn't have any trouble getting him to go in the future. He came out of the wave pool with the biggest smile I have seen in a while! It was a great day. Then we went to our friends house for dinner and did fireworks with the kids. They were really impressed with your average ground bloom flowers. 3 year olds are easy to impress! We made a fire to sit around, and while Tony was getting fire wood he found a toad! We all had fun with that!! Now today is a new day of our staycation and time for a new adventure! We are going to head up to Spokane for a couple days and try to check out some places we always just drive past, like Steptoe butte and a couple parks. We are just having fun hanging out as a family. Looking forward to the rest of our "staycation"!!!!

Yesterday was such an awesome day. We spent the afternoon walking around Moscow enjoying the finer things this community has to offer such as super friendly people everywhere you go, Friendship Square and the fountain on a hot afternoon, and even a stop at the Bagel shop. Then of course we went to visit Tony at work, and he is always wondering what takes us so long to get there. The thing is we can't walk straight there, what fun would that be? So we stop at a park or two along the way, and maybe grab a smoothie from Otto's, or a cookie from Wheatberries. And eventually we get to Tony's store and have a nice little visit with Daddy, then turn around and enjoy the walk home. Addi says hello to everyone we pass along the way and asks what they are doing. Then she asks what their name is. Then the people tell me, "my what a social little girl you have!" Don't we know it! The other day at the pool the U of I football team was there swimming and Addi had to go right in the middle of thier large group and introduce herself and say hello. They were very cute with her, but that is just another example of what happens on a daily basis with that girl. I will know the entire town if she has anything to do with it! After I made dinner I took off with a friend for a girls night without the kids and husband. I am always excited for these rare trips out on my own, but when I finally get out, I always feel so guilty for leaving my family. It can really ruin all the fun if you let it. But we went to Genesee Days, a little town that reminds me alot of Inkom, and enjoyed live music and a great fireworks display. And we went on a really cool drive to get there taking all the back roads. All the kids running around didn't help with the whole guilt thing, but it was nice to have a break and some time to myself. Besides, Addi fell asleep at 7 pm last night, so she was obviously tired. And today I woke up feeling refreshed and ready for all my motherly duties. The laundry was going strong and the kitchen was sparkling by 9am. Both kids fed and happy, and now on to a new chore. Maybe we all just need a break sometime to help us refocus on what we have going on. Tony starts his vacation tomarrow, and I get to work. Hopefully he will have some fun on his days off. I didn't get my vacation request off at work so that kinda spoils our whole week. I can't say I am surprised though, I did just take 2 1/2 months off, and when I take time off they have to pay someone else overtime. I am just going to have play around my work schedule for a while, like a responsible adult. Bummer. :o)

Fishing Trip

Kaden went on his very first camping trip this week. We loaded up the car and headed to Spring Valley for an overnight fishing trip. Addison was very excited to go and even reeled in a few fish. This was her first time actually fishing, and she had quite a love/hate relationship with her fish. She really freaks out about bugs and it wasn't too long before she was ready to go home and watch movies and play video games. She was not thrilled when we told her we were staying the night there. The next day she sat in the car telling us to hurry up while we packed up our camp. I guess some campers need to be trained, and she is one of them. I am sure after a few summers of this she will have a change of heart.

Kaden 2 months old

He loves to smile now. It melts your heart!