Grill Master

We've had quite a few days of nice weather lately.  It's really gotten us in the mood for grilling, and Scott has taken it upon himself to try a new recipe(s) every week.  Here's what we had for dinner last night....

YUM!

The kids loved being outside "helping" Scott.  Maybe in a few years, they'll be doing the grilling.

Claire didn't want to miss out on any of the action.  Don't you just love her outfit?  Grandpa gave her those boots last week and she refuses to wear anything else.  The leggings are a nice touch too!  

The Benefits of Thrift Store Shopping....

I was just browsing the internet and came across this.......

The price?........  $695! (@ Restoration Hardware).  

Remember this little beauty I found for $35?

Who in their right mind would spend that kind of money on a chair?  For $695 it better clean the house, do the laundry, make dinner and help with homework!  I'm just sayin'.

Our First Real Vacation

After 12 years of marriage and 10 years of parenthood, we decided it was time to take a vacation.  Not just a weekend a couple hours away.... but a real, we-can't-come-back-quickly-if there's-an-emergency, leave all your troubles behind, lay on the beach, remember the good old days VACATION!  Scott's been wanting to return to Puerto Rico since he came home from his mission 17 years ago, and now he can finally say he's been back.

We had an amazing trip and owe my mom big-time for watching the kids.  {Thanks, Mom!}  It was so fun and refreshing and relaxing.  You can check out our photos here:

http://gallery.me.com/mmschlenk#100122&bgcolor=black&view=grid

The only question now is, "Where do we go next?!"

A Quick Birthday Recap...

We had the whole fam over to celebrate Mason and Scott's birthdays.  It's always a little crazy, but so fun!  

Here's a glimpse of how crowded the house gets when everyone's here.  It's hard to believe that nine people are missing from this picture!  The cousins have so much fun together and we feel so blessed to live near so many members of our family.  It's fun to watch all the kids grow up together.

We had another slightly less crowded celebration for Scott's actual birthday.  He's never been much of a cake fan, so I made him is favorite - chocolate chip pecan pie.  Yum!

He had plenty of help blowing out his candles!  The kids always get so excited when we have birthdays around here.

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Brady's birthday was the most recent.  My baby boy is five!  He is so funny and has such a great sense of humor.  He's quick-witted and loves to make people laugh.  He's always seemed a little older than he is and constantly amazes us with the way he puts words together and uses them correctly.  He's a great brother and a great kid and we can't imagine life without him!

{He used to be so tiny!}

We went against all we believe in and took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese's for Brady's big day.  I'm admittedly a germ-a-phobe, and that place just creeps me out.  It's amazing what we'll do for our kids, isn't it?  They all had a blast and I think I endured it pretty well.  We forgot the camera (of course), so we have no proof that we actually went there.  You'll just have to take my word for it.  =)

When I asked Brady what he wanted for his b-day cake, he said "CHEESECAKE!" without any hesitation.  He'd never had cheesecake before and I'd never made it, so I was a little worried.  I found an easy no-bake recipe that turned out delicious (in my opinion).  He didn't really care for it - not even with all the toppings (oreos, choc. chips, fruit, whipped cream, choc. syrup, etc.).  Oh, well.  Live and learn, right?

Claire was right there in the action.  Heaven forbid anyone blow out there own candles around here...  I call it team work!

Project 'Not' Complete

Okay....I'm getting so excited about my new project that I just had to share (I'm such a nerd, I know).  I finally decided on a color.  It's called 'Martinique Dawn' and it's a beautiful light greenish color.  I'm sooo happy with it!  I've primed it and put one coat of paint on it and I already LOVE it!  It just needs one more coat of paint, a little distressing, a little glazing (this will be a first) and a coat or two of polycrylic.  Wow....I guess I'm NOT almost done!  Hopefully I'll get it finished this week.  Cross your fingers!

A New Project

I hadn't been to Goodwill in a couple months, so I decided to stop by today and see if there was anything I just couldn't leave behind.  I've been casually looking around for some sort of seating/storage option for our family room.  I didn't want to spend a lot of money, so when I saw this for $20, I was sold!

A little paint and some new hardware and she'll be good to go!  Now if I can just decide what color....black, white, red???  Or maybe I should just re-stain it.  I've never been very good at making decisions. Hmmm....

Double Digits (and a Decade of Diapers)

Well, it's official....we're the parents of a 10-year-old!  And maybe even more noteworthy....we've been changing diapers for 10 years straight (with two in diapers three times!).

Mason is such a great kid and we feel so blessed to have him in our family.  He loves to read, play the piano, snowboard, play basketball, golf, wrestle with his brothers, watch sports with his dad and play video games (of course).

We had fun celebrating his birthday.  It always sneaks up on us being so close to Christmas and all, but we managed to pull it off again.  

Claire was so nice to 'help' him open his presents.  She had some of them already opened before he could even get his hands on them.  

Grandma and Grandpa Knight met us for Mason's birthday dinner at Bob Evans....Mason's restaurant of choice.  

We came home for Cold Stone cupcakes (which are fabulous, by the way).  I haven't been bitten by the super-creative cake bug yet.  Fortunately for me, Mason said it was the best dessert he's ever had.  (And yes, that is my backside in the picture....Scott just couldn't wait to take the photo until I was out of the shot.)

Don't you like how we don't even have 10 candles?  I forgot to buy them, so I had to scrounge around and find whatever we had.  Mason didn't seem to mind.  He's pretty easy-going.  That's one of the things I love the most about him.  Happy Birthday, Mason!  We love  you!