They brought a guest home for dinner

Today Dave and the boys went out for an afternoon of airsoft wars. It's such a male thing to do. They get all dressed in camouflage, pack up their guns, masks, hats, high-cap mags (I am impressing you with my vast knowledge of the sport), and all their other gun related items, and join some friends in a local mountainous area. They have an absolute blast.

But today, they brought a guest home for dinner. A somewhat unwelcome guest (in my opinion). One of my boys came running into the house with a bandana in their hands, concealing a large lumpy item. I just knew something nasty was in there when they came running up to me shoving it into my face. "Look, Mom!!!" Now, having multiple sons, I never know what is going to come through that door, and honestly I probably should not be surprised either. But the adventures are never ending!

It was a rattlesnake. A nice big juicy one, head and guts removed. After shooting and killing it with bb's, apparently they felt the need to bring it home for dinner. I sort of had a different idea for dinner, and already had some homemade pizzas in the oven and a salad ready to be tossed. But that's quite alright. I quickly shooed him out of my kitchen as he headed towards my sink to clean it. Yuck!!! I sent him outside to deal with it. He removed the skin, cleaned it, and placed it in a ziploc bag in the freezer. They are actually going to cook it....maybe marinate it and cook it on the grill. I will definitely give it a try, and report back to you.

Ready for the freezer!!!

Life with boys, folks. Life with boys. Always an adventure, and loving every minute of it (even if I do scream on occasion).

Vance's 10th Birthday Sleepover

Pizza dinner....

Nerf war at the park....

Chocolate Fountain......

Hunter enjoying the chocolate.....

Yum-O....

Fun, fun, fun....

Vance and Cooper!

Star Wars legos from Matthew!

Biggest Twinkie Box EVER and some gift cards from the Tubbs boys!

Travis gave him a Hex Bug and Mighty Beanz!

Two more Hex Bugs from Daniel!

Gift card from Josh!

Summer was wiped out from all the fun!

The boys all settling in for a movie and popcorn!!!

The next morning, they woke up early (a little TOO early), and enjoyed cinnamon rolls and fruit for breakfast, followed by some outdoor playtime in the backyard. Foursquare, basketball, stick ball, and Nerf wars! So thankful for my boys friends, and the wonderful families they come from!

Double Digits

My youngest just turned 10. There was a flood in my house last October. That's just too many monumental events for me, I tell ya. For some reason, this birthday for Vance makes me feel old! I really can't fathom that it has been a decade since my 3rd son made his entrance into this world. It has just flown by in the blink of an eye. I am learning to value and appreciate every moment having these sweet boys in our home, because I know it will be gone in a New York minute. Sniff, sniff.

I love my sweet little Fuzzy. His gregarious and entertaining nature makes me laugh every day. He is such a ham, and says the funniest things all the time. I won't embarass him too much at this point if I told you he is a big snuggler. He loves to cozy up to me on the couch with his giant fluffy pillow and blanket. He's my cute, curly topped boy. Yet he's also very rugged and all boy....loves all his Nerf guns (he owns an arsenal), and now he has a new airsoft gun too. In fact, he went out for his first battle today with his Daddy and brothers, and LOVED it. He loves God's little creatures, loves reading about them, and catching them (sometimes to my dismay), and can amaze you with random facts he has learned about them. He is also known for "naming" his belongings. It usually involves just adding a "Y" to the end of it. For instance, his pillow is "Pilly."

Anyways, I just adore this boy, my youngest, my baby. On his birthday, he wanted orange rolls for breakfast, so that's what we had.

He wanted sandwiches for lunch, so that's what we had (sorry, no pic, sandwiches are boring).

He wanted salmon (his favorite food on the planet), twice baked potatoes, and lettuce wedge salad, so guess what? That's what we had!

Finished that off with a SpongeBob cake for dessert.

He will be having a birthday sleepover to celebrate next weekend....I will be sure to post some pics of that. It should be fantastic. Boy parties are so easy....just throw some pizza at them and they are happy. So thankful to have his sweet friends over for a day of fun. In the meantime I leave you with this.

I've gone from Fisher Price to Full Metal AK in 10 years flat! Enjoy!

Orange Rolls

My nephew Brady used to love orange rolls. My sister gave me this recipe years ago, and it has been a favorite in my house ever since. You may be asking, "What is an orange roll?" It is likened to a cinnamon roll, except the filling and frosting are a buttercream-type frosting made from butter, powdered sugar, orange juice, and some orange rind. Yum. Did I say "yum?"

So, in Pioneer Woman fashion (but not nearly as good), I will walk you through the process. You don't need any fancy equipment, although a stand mixer is helpful. So is a treadmill if you are going to eat these. But that's another story.

The dough ingredients are as follows. Go ahead and just throw them all together in your stand mixer.

2 1/4 tsp yeast

3 1/2 -4 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter, soft

1 tsp salt

1 egg

1/2 cup each lukewarm milk and water

Mix well until if forms a soft dough. Take the dough out and knead by hand a bit, just until the dough is soft and pliable. Place in a bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise for about an hour.

Meanwhile mix the frosting and filling:

3 cups powdered sugar

6 tbsp butter, soft

2 tbsp grated orange peel

4 tbsp orange juice

When the dough is ready, place it on a floured board, and cut it into two equal portions.

Roll each portion out into a 7 X 12 rectangle. Spread each rectangle with 1/4 of the filling, reserving the other half of the filling for the frosting (after baked).

Roll up the dough from the long side.

Cut into 1 inch pieces, and place into two round greased cake pans. Cover the pans and let rise for about 1 hour.

At this point, if you are planning on baking them the next day, you can cover the pans with foil and place them in the refrigerator. If not, just place on your counter at room temp until ready to bake. Just make sure you give your rolls at least an hour to rise. Longer is fine.

When ready to bake, place them in a preheated 375 over for about 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Frost the hot rolls using the remaining frosting.

Serve.