3

I'm a little late with this but, oh well.

My sweet baby Jack is 3!

Jack LOVES Super Mario Bros. so I decided to make Starman cookies - he loved them!
I also made a one-up mushroom cake but while we were visiting with my parents in the living room, Jack decided to get a closer look at the cake and poked two big holes in the side of it and it collapsed!

by request, green birthday pancakes

I can't believe he is 3!
Happy Birthday, we love you Jack!!

October/November Updates

We haven't been doing much in our household lately but we always *seem* so busy, time certainly goes by too fast. Here is a little update on the Ericksons.

getting ready to go out after the first snow of the season

The preferred cat of the household, Jimmy, she loves the kids and pretty much lets them do anything they want with her. I can always find her snuggled up with one of the kids in bed each evening.

Lunch with Wes for 1st grade parents luncheon

heading out to play after the first snowfall

this was *supposed* to be his Halloween costume but he wouldn't wear it that day, now i can't ever get him to NOT use this stuff!

Saturday morning wrestling match...well, everyday is wrestle-mania around here

Have you noticed Jack has a sword in EVERY SINGLE PICTURE? Wes and Jack play made up warrior games CONSTANTLY! It's super cute and I'm enjoying watching their creativity blossom plus, they really enjoy playing together! Yea!

A Makeover and Halloween

It was about time for a haircut for this boy...

Curly Jack - before

No more curls - after

Wesley the Warrior

He was pretty pumped about wearing this costume, he's been wearing it everyday since I bought it for him! Jack has the same costume in silver but he only carries the sword. He wouldn't wear it trick or treating but we finally got him to put on the helmet for about 5 minutes. They both had fun going to the casino for candy and later Wes and I went door to door in downtown Walker so he could experience 'real' trick-or-treating - he liked doing that better than the casino, I think we'll do that next year!

Morton.

Meet Morton Koopa Jr.

This is who my son, who will be turning 3 in 30 days, would like to have on his Birthday cake AND dress up as for Halloween!

Everything is about this Super Mario Bros. World Six Boss! Every time Jack plays pretend he is either playing as this guy or trying to defeat him.

I'm having a hard time trying to come up with ideas, hopefully I'll get lucky and come up with something good for Jack, until then I am at a complete loss!

Fall Fishing

The weather was beautiful on Sunday so we decided to take a family boat ride
and do a little bass fishing

Giant ManToddler

Walked into the living room late afternoon on Labor day to this

Poor thing was all tuckered out from building couch cushion forts.
No joke, he really was sleeping!

1 of 1

Me: Did you have a good first day?
Wes: YES! I was perfect the whole day!
Me: Awesome job!
Wes: Mom? Can I take my shoes off? The teacher wouldn't let me take them off the whole day and my feet are really sweaty.

Wes' first day of 1st grade

Joyful

joyful - full of high-spirited delight; "a joyful heart" gleeful, jubilant, elated, joyous - full of or characterized by joy; "felt a joyous abandon"; "joyous laughter" I think this is the first time I've used this word to describe Jack. Once I said it aloud it made complete sense, he truly is such a joyful child! He finds simple pleasure in many things, dancing in the rain makes him so happy! He is growing so fast, everyday he has new questions and too many 'whys', I can't keep up! He has his Dad's sense of humor and keeps us on our toes. He loves to sing - his favorites being Jesus Made the Rainbow and Mary had a Little Lamb, loves to swim, play pretend and help me make pancakes on Saturday mornings. I pray that he will always keep his joyous outlook on life! We love you, sweet baby Jack!

Animal Land

On Sunday the weather was so beautiful so we decided to go to Animal Land.
The kids really enjoyed it!
Jack's favorite animal was the deer, this one followed us for most of the trip.

This camel tried to eat Wes.
Acutally, I think he was after his bag of food, it was a close call, good thing Kyle is quick!

Thank you, Lord!

Every morning on the drive into work I pray with the kids. I like to start out by saying 'lets pray, what do we say?'. One of them normally yells out 'Dear Jesus!' Then we list out all the things we are thankful for.
It normally goes like this:
Me: Thank you for _______ (I fill in the blank) . What are you boys thankful for?
Wes: Mario! And....Mommy, Daddy and Jack
Jack: SHOES!
It makes me smile everyday, sometimes he's shy about saying it and he whispers it but, the answer is always the same - shoes.

I was asking the kids what their favorite word to say is, Wes, of course, said Mario (not surprised) and Jack yells out 'Siskabob!' (shish kabob) - I have no idea where he learned that word or if he even knows what it is but he sure does make me laugh!

Can you guess the movie?

Formerly know as 'World of Meats'

Where the famous 'Woman, wooooooman' poem was done

Russian sailor scene

'I was electrocuted once, it was horrible!'

Opening scene of the movie - the Ferry Building


Any guesses? Kyle and I had fun wandering the city looking for landmarks from one of our favorite movies!

A Food Journey through San Francisco

We had an amazing trip to San Francisco last week! It was so nice to get away from the stress of everyday life and just relax! Thanks to my parents for taking care of the kids while we were away! Since we both *love* food, here is a photo journal of everything (well, almost) we ate and yes, we did more than just that! I'll post more sightseeing pics later : )
I loaded all the pictures backwards by accident so, we'll start with the yummy desserts!

Above is the view of Alcatraz Island from the top of Coit Tower.

Cannoli and Eclair from Little Italy...delicious!

Macarons from Miette located in the Ferry Building.
There were OK, I thought they would be fantastic since I've been craving them for weeks and even tried making them myself. The texture was like a brownie and the taste was too delicate to detect anything : (
They look good though! We tried chocolate, chocolate lavender, vanilla and, pistachio.
The chocolates tasted alike and we couldn't tell the difference and the same with the vanilla and pistachio flavors.

Lombard Street - San Fran's crookedest street

Golden Gate Bridge at dusk

Kara's Cupcakes
I tried coconut and banana caramel - both super delicious, definitely a great choice. The only drawback was that they were $3.75 EACH!! (worth it!)

Beard Papa says they have the world's best cream puffs and it is so true! They make them fresh everyday and fill them right in front of your eyes! They are delicious and HUGE! We walked for an hour trying to find this little gem, the blisters on my feet were totally worth it!

Mood Thai Sushi
This place was so good we ate here twice!
I can't remember the name of anything we ate but it was all so delicious! I can honestly say I have never been somewhere where EVERYTHING on the menu looked good and the service was great!

Sushi is my favorite *LOVE*

CHINATOWN

House of Nanking
This place was featured on Food Network's Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels, it was good (I liked Mood much better).

Sesame Chicken with Ginger Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Excellent Pot Stickers - soooo good!

This is how they served hot tea, the glass was so hot!

Fresh fruit on the Wharf
This was the best fruit I have ever had! The cherries were amazing!

Breakfast at Boudin
This was really good! Scrambled eggs with tomatoes and peppers in a fresh sourdough breadbowl. Mmmmmm!

Best strawberries ever! The were meaty and so flavorful - I've never had a large berry taste so wonderful!

The Slanted Door
The food here was really, really good! The scallops were so good, I never thought I would use the word 'creamy' to describe them but that is definitely what they were - so fresh and good!

Caramelized Tiger Prawn - outstanding!

Claypot Chicken - amazing!
Kyle also makes this at home (I think his recipe is even better!)

Kyle's bread pudding with frest strawberries

The best for last
Here is my dessert from the Slanted Door - the BEST THING I HAVE EVER HAD...EVER!
Please do not judge this as I am describing it, you have to experience this, trust me, you will love it. It sounded so BAD, I had to try - it wouldn't be on the menu if it was horrible, right?
This was (from layered top to bottom):
candied yams
banana tapioca
avocado ice cream
lime meringue

We were able to enjoy all this great food and not gain any weight because we WALKED A BAJILLION MILES EVERYDAY - I had blisters on my blisters!! All totally worth it! : )