Cinnamon Rolls

We got a great invitation to watch General Conference and have brunch at some friend's house. They only asked that we brought cinnamon rolls. So we made some. I just used the old standby roll dough and went to work. Lexy had fun sprinkling brown sugar and the other stuff on them with me.

Here they are ready for the oven.
They turned out pretty nice. Here is an upside down shot of the ones with yummy stuff in them. I put Craisins, pecans, and apples in a third of them. One I stuffed slices of apples in special for Isaac. I put a nice sugary glaze on them as well.

I ate the last one this morning for breakfast. So great...!!

Early Halloween

The kids school had their Halloween / Fall Festival pretty much as early as possible and still be in the correct month. It was Saturday October 1st.

Lexy dressed as a Dead Cheerleader. Isaac's Vegta costume didn't quite make it. It was in West Virginia, but was in a locked FedEx container and we couldn't even go to them to get it. So, he went as his standby Zombie. He planned to work in the Spook Alley anyway, it is a great costume for that purpose. He had SOOOO much fun scaring people in there.

We put the dark around his eyes so that the eyes in the mask were dark too. If not you get these bright white eyes. He is certainly scary in that costume.

This isn't the best makeup job that I have done, but it was quick. She didn't want her hair all black, so only the pigtails are black... and pink. Her fingernails were back as well, just for good measure.

Here is a little video of her cheer that she kept doing for people at the party. She was having so much fun...!!!

JRuss HansOn

I love to see the work of others. Jon is one of those 'handmade' guys. He loves handmade stuff, I have that streak too. We both like to figure out how to build it and get'er done. He has taken that to a whole new level. He has been building bicycles in his garage as long as I have known him. His brand is called Sabrosa Cycles. If you watch the sidebar to the right you will see his blog pop up over there. There is everything from the bikes he as built to rides he has done, from books he has read to rants about chickens. He is a great guy.

So, all that to lead up to Jon HansOn was featured in a TV show about people in Utah with passion. Here is the clip. Utah Passion – Bike Builder Please take the 5 or 10 minutes to watch it. He is such a cool guy...!!!

This is my favorite picture of Jon. Yes, he built both of those bikes.

Video of Lexy in Pitt

Here is Lexy's routines from Pittsburgh Figure Skating Competition in September 2011.

This one is Day 2.

Penguins Game 2011

We got tickets to the free Penguins game on Saturday afternoon. This is the second year that they have done this, they give the whole stadium away to the local kids hockey clubs. We got tickets from the Morgantown folks. Thank you Harry and Chris...!!! It was a great game, we had a cool perspective of the ice from the center on the end about 4 rows up from the rail.

This one is kind of dark, but that is Isaac. Complete with his Kris LeTang jersey on, and the tee shirt..!!
Here is Lexy Jo with the ice behind her. She is still sporting her medal from ice skating earlier in the day.
We had a great view of the ice...
The kids got a minute on the bench..
Chris was nice enough to take a picture of the three of us and texted to me. I hope that you can tell we were having a great time.

Pittsburgh Figure Skating Competition

We had a great weekend in Pittsburgh for Lexy's figure skating competition. She got a 3rd place in Free Skate and a 5th in Interpretive. She did fantastic.

I have a lot to blog about and lots of pictures to post, but here is a start and I am tired tonight.

Lexy and Ms Mischa.

Her is Lexy just after she got off the ice on Saturday. With her new flowers.

This is a shot taken my the professional photographer on site. I stole the snap shot with my phone. LOOK how HIGH she JUMPED...!!!

Lexy on the podium.

Lexy and her friend Maddy.More to follow.

Busy Week

We have had a very busy week. It doesn't look like we will slow down either. Here are a few pictures to view.

This is three of Ms Mischa's students at the ice rink. Maddy, Carley, and LexyJo. They were having so much fun.

On Tuesday I visited the Smithfield 'algae farm'. Ha... Not supposed to look like that, on SO many levels...!!!
We made some Monte Cristo sandwiches that were listed on a food blog that I follow. They were pretty stinkin' good, and easy to make.
Lexy was ready to go to work with me the other morning. Hard hat and safety vest, she was ready.BIG weekend ahead... Stay tuned...!!!

Lexy's 8th Birthday Party

Oh boy did we ever have a Birthday Party...!!!

I picked up the kids right after school so that we could finish getting ready for Lexy's Birthday Party on Friday afternoon. I was a little bit worried about the early start time, 3:30pm on a Friday. But we had a great turn out. I grabbed some pink, sparkle, spray-in hair dye for Lexy. She LOVED it...!! My, my it is soooo PINK...!!! I posted a version of this cake that we had on her birthday. But this is the one that we had at the party. Nice and small, it was all gone by the end of the party. Huh, Helper C...???

Look at all the people that came to Lexy's party. There were two more that showed up late. Being such an early time of day and the 'off season', there were only 2 or 3 other skaters one the ice the whole time. So, we kept control of the music and such. Fun time for the kids.

Here is a little cake time, just before they all sang to her. Look and that cake a blaze... We played two games in addition to skating. Pin the Stuff on Lexy and a version of hot potato with a Stink-eez. The Pin the Stuff on Lexy was fun. We had skates, hair bows, a crown, ear rings, a necklace. It was pretty fun, and she just happened to pick the skating dress to wear to the party that was the same as the poster I had printed for the game.
After the party we went to a pho-Mexican place for dinner. It was pretty much a goodbye to the Barker's dinner with the Payne's. The kids all had so much fun. I'm pretty sure the adults enjoyed the visit as well. I know that I did. Still kind of sad that the Barker's bailed on us. They had all lined up the restaurant up to sing Happy Birthday in Lexy in Mexican. They brought out this giant sombrero and two fried ice creams. At the end of the song one of the guys picked up the treat and held it in front of Lexy, she thought it was to try the treat... Nope, they pushed in in her face... Hahaha...!!! Just a little, it was so fun, she loved it. She talked and talked about how fun that was. Turned out to be a fantastic evening. Thank you so much for all the help, Helper C, Butch, Zoey, Jess, Andrew, Cam, Jen, and all the others that helped me pull this off. Thanks to all the parents that brought your kids. You all helped me make a WONDERFUL memory for my little Princess.

Lexy's Birthday

Here is a shot of Lexy as Isaac and I sang Happy Birthday to her. That is her ice skate cake with the candle and glasses that Amy got her. So, Lexy wanted to borrow this dress from her friend Camryn. I found one at Target (upon the prompting of Camryn's mother) and got one for her birthday. She wore it to school the next day. So, this is a day after her birthday dress. And her new shoes that Amy got her.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEXY...!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEXY..!!!

I don't know how to get that any bigger, bolder, or pinker...

This picture is right after brushing her teeth, ready for school.She is wearing the bows that Aunt Lyn made her for her birthday. The ribbon actually says, "Happy Birthday". Super fun.Last night she got a package from grandma with this hat inside (and lots of other stuff). She loves this hat, she can't wait to wear it to school and the ice rink.I started making her birthday cake, take one. I am making this one for today, just me and the kids. Then we will make another one later in the week to take to her party. I still have some work to do on this one. Laces, her name, touch ups, etc. I got the main base together and called in a night. Yep, those are rice crispy treat blades, with silver food coloring spray paint. It looks cool, but it tastes NASTY.I can't hardly wait to post pictures of presents and her party.

Happy Birthday Princess...!!!