Off to the Lake!

We are off to Swan Lake today! While I'm soooo excited for this vacation, I'm struggling with leaving this computer behind. There is no internet access at the lake house, but there might be in Bigfork...not sure. SO, I guess I will just disconnect myself from the internet world for a few days....grudgingly. I will be back on Sunday with lots of great stories and pictures from our trip, though. In the meantime, think of of me roughing it at the lake....this is the view from the deck:It'll be rough, but I'll survive...somehow...

A Wish

Kellan played his last t-ball game tonight and he did great. He such a natural athlete...just like his Daddy! On the way to his game, we had this conversation:

Kellan: Mom, tonight I'm gonna wish that I'm the strongest kid in the universe. Mom, do wishes come true?

Me: Sometimes.

Kellan: Is today sometime?

Oh, how I wish my thoughts could be this simple!

Cousins

Today was another day of fun! My cousins Sean and Kammie and their families are here for their summer visits and we spent a fun afternoon at my Aunt and Uncle's pool with them. They have children right around the ages of the McCauley kids and they all have a great time playing together. In addition to swimming, we all enjoyed ice cream sandwiches!

Sean and his wife, Hope, have a little boy, Finn, and another baby on the way! Finn is a handsome little sweetheart who charmed us all!

Hope and Finn
Katy and Finn

This has to be one of our busiest and most fun weekends ever! Tomorrow will be spent grocery shopping, cleaning, and packing for our trip to Swan Lake...Woohoo!

The Fair

The Stampede Parade has traditionally been lots of fun for our family. This year the parade was lacking participation so it was kind of short, but we still had a lot of fun! We picked up McDonalds and enjoyed a picnic with the Fields cousins and Grandpa and Grandma McCauley while watching the parade.

After a little afternoon rest, we had a quick bbq at Grandpa and Grandma's and then went to the carnival and rodeo. The kids only got to go on a couple rides and then it was time for the rodeo to start. They loved the cotton candy and kettlecorn and were completely enthralled with the rodeo action.

The rodeo lasted until 10:00 so it was late night for the McCauley kiddos and they were exhausted by the time we tucked them in!

What a Day!

Today was a big one for the McCauley kids! Megan rode her horse in the kiddie parade this morning:

Kellan enjoyed a playdate with his best buddy in the world, Carson, AND, best of all, Kellan caught his first fish today! Grandpa and Grandma McCauley took him to dinner and fishing this evening and he reeled in a rainbow trout! Here it is:

After the excitement of their day, these kiddos are exhausted! They are now all snuggled up under a blanket in the recliner watching a movie. What a life!

Stickhorse Rodeo

This is fair week in Helena, which is a big deal to those of us who reside here. Today Marc took the kiddos to the stickhorse rodeo where they competed in most events. Megan actually took third place in bullriding! Nope, there is no way I would ever let her get on a real bull! It was a "bull" constructed out of a suspended barrel. She is very proud of herself and, unfortunately, is having a hard time not reminding poor Kellan of this victory. Needless to say, Kellan is a little dismayed that he didn't win an event. That's okay....he had a great t-ball game tonight!

Here are a few photos of this morning's rodeo action:

This is my handsome little cowboy Kellan roping a "steer". Fun stuff! Stay tuned....Megan is riding her horse in the kiddie parade through downtown Helena tomorrow morning....

And now, I must go tell Jacksen to quit talking to himself and go to sleep - it is 10:05 for pete's sake!

The Best Carrot Cake EVER!!!

This weeks' blog hop is right up my alley! Anybody who knows me knows I love to bake - especially desserts. SO, I thought I would share one of my most favorite recipes.

CARROT CAKE

Combined preparation and baking time: about 1 hour

Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients Required:

2 cups raw sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups unbleached flour
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups grated carrots
1 (16 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup chopped pecans

Frosting:

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 ob powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup butter, softened

In mixing bowl, beat raw sugar and eggs thoroughly. Mix in vegetable oil. Stir in carrots, pineapple, and pecans. Stir together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to egg mixture, beating until just comgined.

Spread evenly into two greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans (or one 9 x 13-inch rectangle pan). Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until cake pulls slightly away from edge of pan. Cool 10 minutes and remove the cake from pan. Cool on wire rack.

Frosting:

In large mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar. Bean until smooth Spread top of one layer with 1/3 of cream cheese mixture. Place second layer on top and spread top and sides with frosting.

A Perfect Ending

Today was a day of over-tired kiddos, house cleaning, grocery shopping, and a quiet evening. We ended our weekend with baths, High School Musical 3 and....rootbeer floats!

Marc and I are quite busy preparing for our upcoming vacation to Swan Lake and landscaping (still!). Plus, this week Marc will begin his summer job of hauling hay for a local ranch during evenings and weekends and Kellan still has t-ball. Whew! We can hardly wait for our get-away next week! Until then....well, wish us luck!

Pool Party

Today we had an impromptu pool party at Grandpa and Grandma Miller's house! There was plenty of sun, lots of kiddos, and great conversation! We went through alot of sunscreen as it was 95 degrees and very hot today. Unfortunately, I did not put enough sunscreen on myself - let's just say I have a doozy of a sunburn - OUCH!!!! Kellan

Megan


Jaymee
Cute girls
Preston on the diving board!

It was a fun afternoon! Cody and Morgan are having a sleepover at our house tonight - all of the kiddos are exhausted!!! AND....so am I! Did I mention that I am really sunburnt?!

A Proud Moment

So, I took all three of the McCauley kids to Kellan's t-ball game tonight with their Auntie Ami and cousins, Cody and Morgan. We were all thoroughly enjoying the balmy 90+ degree weather and watching Kellan when Jacksen suddenly got a little....shall we say, "bent out of shape" because Megan wouldn't give him the toy she brought along. There seemed to be a bit of a lull in the conversation around us when he yelled out (plain as day, I might add) "Megan, you are stupid!" All of the parents and families sitting around us burst out laughing, but I really just kind of wanted to crawl under the bleachers and hide. Like I always say, it's a good thing he's so cute!

ARGH!!!!

Have you ever had one of those days? By one of those days, I mean the kind of day when you get to work a little later than you intended? Then you ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch because you promised your husband you would quit eating out for lunch so much even though you were really craving something better? And, after work, before you could even get out of your vehicle, two children were climbing on top of you desperate for some mommy time after an entire day with their (wonderful) father? Then, you had to clean every room in your house, make dinner, clean up from dinner, reclean every room in your house, give your oldest child a bath, do laundry, and beg your husband to come up with alternative arrangement for sighing up the oldest child for the sheep riding event at the upcoming local rodeo because sign-ups start at 8 am, but anybody who even wants a chance for their child to participate has to be there around 6:30 am but you have to be at work no later than 8 am because you are moving into your new office first thing in the morning? And, in the midst of all this chaos, your husband disappeared outside to work on landscaping and your three children were the crankiest, most orneriest children in the universe? Just wondering if I'm the only one who has had one of those days.....

Little Angels

I don't think I've mentioned that the name of Kellan's t-ball team is the "Angels". When his coach told me that, I couldn't help but think "This is probably the only time in his entire life that I will be able to refer to him as an "angel". While all three of our kiddos definitely look angelic (I can say that because I'm their mom!), they most certainly don't always act it. For example, Megan and Kellan have a new saying. Every time one of them....um...toots, they exclaim "Oh! I just did the ugly American thing!" I have no idea where they got this, but it sounds horrible! The thing is, it's also a little bit funny.

Lately, Megan and Kellan seem to have a lot of up and downs in their relationship. One minute they play like the best of friends and the next they are beating the heck out of each other. Then, before we can even figure out who should be in trouble, they are back to playing happily. Megan can be a tich (is tich even a word?) bossy and Kellan definitely does not like being told what to do. Kellan has a very quick temper while Megan is a peacekeeper. However, they both have amazing imaginations and are generally very happy children. Interesting combination.

And Mr. Jacksen? Well, he is a fairly compliant kiddo who prefers to do his own thing. He likes playing with Megan and Kellan, but he mostly enjoys playing with little cars and trucks and riding his tricycle by himself. Really, his most favorite playmate in the world is his daddy.

Isn't it funny that these three children who are growing up in the same house with the same parents and the same rules can be so different?! Sure makes life interesting!

Family Time

We took the kiddos to the carousel this afternoon for a ride and some home-made ice cream. It didn't take me long to remember why I rarely ever ride on the carousel - the darn thing goes fast and it makes me very dizzy and nauseous. Of course, I managed to recover quickly enough to eat ice cream, though! The kids were thrilled to spend some uninterrupted time with their mommy and daddy and we had a great time. Here are some pictures from our afternoon:

As you can see, I've grown bored with my blog design so I decided to change things up a bit. Okay, I changed things up alot. I'm not sure I like it, though. Any thoughts?

Kellan Left....

....but then he came back! Kellan asked for a snack while I was bbqing pork ribs tonight and when I said "No", he decided to run away from home. He packed his backpack and walked to the end of our property. It was getting pretty cloudy and windy so I think he got a little nervous. He came back to get a sleeping bag and his little elephant tent. The more he thought about it, the more he decided it would be a good idea to stick a little closer to home. So, he decided to camp out under our deck. But then it got a lot more windy so he decided maybe he should just camp out in the livingroom....in his tent...with his Aunt Ami... and Jacksen...and some gummybears. (At this point, we had eaten dinner so I didn't have an objection to a snack!)

I just love this little guy!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow....

The weather here in Montana has been a little unusual this year. We usually get most of our precipitation during June, and July is generally hot and dry. This year, however, we didn't get as much rain in June, and July is starting out with rain and cooler temperatures. Kinda nice, if you ask me!

Anywho, the McCauley kids really like rain storms - even thunder and lightning. Their mother, however, is a big weenie about lightning! A little thunderstorm passed over our house a bit ago and left us with a double rainbow! Unfortunately, by the time I went out to the garage to get my camera out of my vehicle, realized Marc left the garage door open and the floor was all wet, went back into the house to get some shoes on, put my memory card in my camera and raced to our back deck, there was only one rainbow remaining. I got some pretty pictures anyway!

This is one end of the rainbow (to the south of our house):

And this is the other end (to the north of our house):

Megan is convinced there is gold at the end of the rainbow....the question is which end?

One Tired Kiddo!

Only a very tired kiddo could sleep in this position for an entire hour!

4th of July Weekend

We had a great weekend! On Friday evening we enjoyed an early 4th of July bbq and fireworks at Aunt Katy and Uncle Bill's house. Here is a picture of all the cousins posing for the camera:On Saturday we went to Virginia City with Grandpa and Grandma McCauley as Auntie Ann and Uncle John. The kids, especially Kellan, loved the candy store and the ice cream stand! We spent the night tent camping with Ann and John outside Sheridan, MT. Megan and Kellan liked making smores over the campfire and Ann made delicious blueberry pancakes for breakfast this morning. Here are some snapshots of our afternoon/evening:

We had a beautiful campsite - right next to Mill Creek with lots of wildflowers and trees.
Happy 4th of July!

Darling Children

Kellan had a t-ball game tonight - he played very well. He is definitely starting to figure out this game! Here is a cute picture of all three kids together before the game:It is so hard to get a great photo of all three of them - one is always moving or not looking at the camera. I've decided I've just gotta take what I can get!

Oh, and by the way, Kellan has decided to stay with his family....for now.