Picture "TAG"

This is a picture that Clayton took the day before we flew from Guam to Alaska. We were staying at a resort and outside eating on the patio that night. The rowing teams were practicing for about 2 hours and we just happened to notice the sunset at the same time. This was such a beautiful moment. I am so glad that Clayton was able to capture this for us to always remember. He does such a good job at taking AWESOME pictures. I have always thought that this one could be entered in a contest! So lucky YOU. You get to see this:) This all started with a picture tag that I would like to keep going. What you do is go to your 4th album in you pictures and then to your 4th picture in that album and see what you've got! Thanks Mandi for the great idea!!!

Now, if you have read this, you have been tagged! I would love to see more crazy random pics like this one!

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

Weston brought this home from school today. I thought it was so cute I had to share!

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake
(aka the most dangerous cake in the world)

4 TBSP flour
4 TBSP sugar
2 TBSP cocoa (can substitute Ovaltine)
1 egg
3 TBSP milk
3 TBSP oil
3 TBSP chocolate chips (optional)
A small splash of vanilla
1 large mug

Add dry ingredients to mug and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips and vanilla and mix again. Put your mug into the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip onto a plate if desired.

Now, WHY is this the most dangerous cake in the world??? Because we are now only 5 minutes from chocolate cake-day or night!!!!

1 year old tantrum!! Where did my sweet baby go?!?

You see this toy in the pictures? Yep, that's the whole reason for the fit! She wanted the toy, but she wanted ME to hand it to her. Hannah was standing there next to the toy looking at it but whimpering. I kept asking her what was wrong but of coarse the only response I got was the standing up bouncing/wiggling "fit". So, even though I know she can't actually respond, I still wasn't going to allow her fit as her response so I ignored her and walked away. She REALLY did not like that! That's when she threw herself forward onto her knees and just started screaming. When I realized that it really was the toy she wanted, I picked it up to "ask". As soon as I picked it up she stopped crying and tried to catch her breath. Oh heck NO!! So I set it back on the ground and told her to get it herself....all of a foot away. Enough to make her even more mad. Mad enough to lay all the way down and start the KICKING! What!?!?!?! Babies do this? For a toy within her reach??? I can not believe this! I am convinced that it is a mix between

her being a girl/redhead/mom's sassiness/dad's stubborness

I really miss those adorable, sweet, cuddly, cute baby days!

Hannah is ONE!

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY HANNAH!!!!

Hannah, we are so blessed to have you in our family. We absolutely love you and adore you.

In the last year, there has been so much wonder and amazement that you have brought to us. ~First off, who knew daddy could be such a pushover??? Those big, beautiful, blue eyes of yours we fear will one day get you into trouble, but for today, they are a very powerful tool. Keep up the good work. That's my girl!

~Second, wow. We never knew a baby could be this active or advanced physically. You didn't just pass up the milestones, you were jumping and leaping and dancing past them too. You are so bright and intelligent and you truly love to learn. Thank you for teaching us too.

~Third, most people would call it stubborn, sassy, ornery, feisty, dramatic....you get the point, but since it is your Birthday we thought we would call it determined. We are grateful that you are "determined" because later on we know you'll put it to good use and that makes it perfect.

~Finally, we are officially "in the know" of what all this "princess" talk really is about. We were so scared when we found out you were a girl, but now after a year of dresses and bows and ten painted toes, we're delighted. We are so happy to have our princess, too!

We love you Hannah Claire. Happy Birthday Princess!!!

Christmas Morning from Kari's camera

This picture is supposed to be below the next one and obviously turned right side up...I tried flipping it upward and it ended up turning my picture and smashing it so it looked like I was nearly a midget....not to mention it added 50lbs to me. No thanks! So, here it is sideways.

This bag is a Coach bag and it was with my stocking/Santa stuff. Of coarse we set everything up the night before so I totally got to see the bag....curiousity does kill! Clayton pulled a prank on me though and put 2 denim skirts inside the bag.....PUNK!!!! I really wanted a knee length denim skirt, but man when it was put in a Coach bag it totally lost it's coolness. And, as the good wife that I am, I couldn't be all bummed like I wanted to be. He ended up wrapping the purses as a part of the joke and made sure that they were the last things that I opened. Earning his "good hubby points" back. This picture here is where I am still clueless and haven't opened the bag yet. I look like such a doof, but I think it's funny so I had to share!

Clayton had the kids help him unwrap all of his presents. This is one of my favorite shots! He is opening a 22" Flat Screen Monitor for our computer. I think he likes it!

If pacifiers are in heaven, then Hannah is definately there! In her stocking I think there were 8 new pacifiers. She truly could have died happy! She went from one to the next to the next.....

Kaiden's KISS

I told Kaiden that he got to be the "lucky one" that gets to wear the mistletoe. He was fine with it until I told him that mistletoe was what people kissed under. He started crying because he was afraid that an old lady would come and kiss him. As far as I know this has never happened so I am not sure what he is afraid of...maybe there was an old lady sitting near us?????

As you can see he is looking a little terrified. Anything but a kiss.....anything! Stupid mistletoe!!

Christmas Morning

I know these aren't the best pictures, but I still wanted to post them just to give an image of what our morning was like. It was such a great year for us as parents. Leading up to Christmas, this was the first year that my kids REALLY believed in Santa and the magic of the season. For that reason alone, Christmas was SOOOO fun. My favorite part is when they would start misbehaving I could use the whole "Santa's elves are watching you" line. I remember as a kid myself, that was a true threat...but I wasn't sure if a 5 and a 3 year old would really feel the threat as well as I remember. Oh, YES!!! December overall was a fairly calm month in the Bodkin home! Unfortunately we are back to normal. Fighting over the new toys and trying to save the toys from Hannah's slobber!

Christmas morning was wonderful too. Weston and Kaiden actually came into our room and woke us up first before going downstairs. (Christmas Eve we briefed them on this and made it very clear that that is our rule. No running downstairs to rip open presents without mom and dad and Hannah there.) I wasn't sure if the briefing would work, but they surprized us at 6:00 whispering over and over, "Santa came! We were good boys. Santa came! Santa Came!!" Weston's favorite present was his real bow and arrows. Kaiden's favorite present was his Bulldozer tractor. He calls it a tractor with a (snow) plow. Hannah's favorite present is her stroller with 2 babies.