The Big 4!

Once Halloween hits, it seems like the craziness begins and spins us right into the new year... and before you know it, it's the middle of January and you're already thinking about Christmas shopping again! Whew!

Now that I've got some time without Little Helpers trying to get at the computer, let's share the craziness of the Durrer Family over the past few weeks!

The biggest news... Clayton turned 4! Wow, where did the time go? He started off his birthday "week" (it seemed like!) by taking cupcakes to school to share with his friends!

And then we celebrated with Clayton's Custom Buffet dinner... 

Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches, Squid Dogs and Mac & Cheese with Hot Chocolate and Apple Juice. Yum! (Not Really!) But, hey... If I can fulfill his every birthday wish for the bargain price of about $15, you know I'd do it all over again!

The Squid Dogs have raised quite a bit of discussion, and let me tell you, they're a kid's delight! We've been doing more and more "Kid Cooking" lately, so kid friendly recipes are on high demand. This creation we found in our Family Fun magazine and it's been requested a few times already.

Squid Dogs

Ingredients: hot dogs, dry spaghetti, butter or ketchup (optional)

Instructions: Cut the hot dogs into sections and stick 4 spaghetti noodles through the center of the dog (long ways). Boil until the spaghetti is tender. Servew with butter or ketchup, if desired.

Stephanie - Clayton's godmother 

We were excited to celebrate with cousin Emily and Rena, Morrisa & Madelyn... Spider Man style! 

Jenn, Skylar and Auntie Annie 

Auntie Katie & Chris 

Grandpa, Abby & Papa 

Grammy & Grandma 

Daddy, Mike - Clayton's godfather & Uncle 

This is one conversation that I would have loved to have interpreted! :) 

You may have noticed Clayton's choice of apparel... his Spider Man costume, intended for Halloween, that's been worn daily since two weeks Before Halloween (mind you, it is now nearly mid-January)! The "use" that's been gotten out of this $20 purchase amazed me enough to inspire his birthday gift...

another $20 spent on 6 costumes in the post-Halloween Clearance at Target! Please allow me to introduce... Knight Emily, Luigi Rena and Shrek Clayton, shown with his brand new cap gun! Also in the collection are Skeleton Man, Iron Man and Phat Rapper... What a riot! By far the best entertainment I could have ever found! And still, Spider Man is a daily wardrobe choice, but now we are frequented with other visitors from the costume box!

Surprise!  

And a Spider Man birthday would not be complete without a Spider Man Birthday Cake! Complete with every mini-spider man guy we own!  

Happy Birthday, little man (please note the Iron Man costume... may I point out, the 3rd wardrobe change of the evening)!

Sometimes... it's better not to ask. I'm just glad that there were cupcakes for the rest of us!

The Arts and The Balloons!

One afternoon, I realized that Clayton and I haven't been cooking together as often lately, and we definitely hadn't made any sweets for quite some time. So, we decided to make some sugar cookies... with green & pink sugar sprinkles! Ha! In future cooking courses, we'll be discussing the concept of "sprinkling" sprinkles! On the other hand, they turned out and we had fun!

This year I debated on whether or not to take the boys to the Ripon Hot Air Balloon Festival on Labor Day weekend. I really wanted to take them to see the balloons inflate and take off... but when I realized that they were to start inflating at 6 AM, for 7 AM take off, I decided that maybe we should just watch from home and wait until they're a little older before we get ourselves into such early morning adventures. This is the view from our deck, where Clayton and I watched them from about 7:15-7:45 AM, at one time I think there were 10 balloons visible. They floated from Ripon towards us, and then turned towards Riverbank. Cole was asleep until well after they passed, so I was glad that I talked myself out of dragging them out of bed so early!

Since I'm severely lacking in the creativity department, we are extremely thankful for Grammy's gift subscription to Disney's Family Fun magazine and all of the great ideas it has! We have used quite a few of their ideas, and we even made our very own Cornstarch Modeling Clay! When we were done, I packed the clay into a Tupperware and put the lid on. Surprisingly, it's held up well... and it's over a month old! Clayton's favorite sculptures were the snowmen and the snakes!

"Mom, check this out! I did this puzzle all by myself! Take my picture with it!"

Awesome job, Buddy!