3 Men & a Mom

We are visiting Erik's family in Lincoln, Nebraska over the holidays and we were here all of 24 hours before they boys both had double ear infections and terrible coughs. Erik also came down with a pretty good cold! So considering their love for mexican food and warm weather, I think there is a good chance you will always find our family living somewhere SOUTH of the Mason Dixon:) Oh how we long for the Texas patio weather in January....

Now that we've been here in Edmond for 1.5 years (but who's counting right?) I thought I would update on what's going on in our world. Erik still loves his job and is doing well in school. He is officially half way done with his MBA!!!! WOOOHOOO!!!! His graduation date is mid-August and up until this point his has managed a 4.0 which I am so proud of considering he is juggling a family, a full time job, getting his CFP, and completing his MBA. So with all that on his plate, we were thrown a bit of a curve ball health-wise. Erik has been having some trouble digesting fatty meals (like pizza, fried food, etc) for the last couple of years and the doctor he went to said he thought it was Erik's gallbladder being overactive. Ugh. So we've been trying to watch what he eats and manage it that way but lately these attacks have been causing severe abdominal pain so we scheduled an appointment with a gastroenterologist and Erik had his first endoscopy last week. The doctor found a small hernia and tested a few other things but now we have to have his gallbladder tested. We hope to get surgery scheduled and get the issue resolved soon so we can be confident in what he eats....my 6 foot 4 inch 185 lb husband does not need to lose any more weight!!!

Did I mention Erik is halfway done with his MBA???? I'm not excited or anything:) :) :) :) :) That is LESS than a year away!!!!

After his endoscopy when he was coming out of sedation he talked NONSTOP about the stock market, politics, the CEO of GM, and World War II. I've never been so bored. I married a nerd:) And I love it!!!

We have been trying to do some festive things with the boys this year and we've realized it's so much easier/fun the older they get and the more they understand! Except Jacob with Santa of course...he doesn't care for him much:)

The boys with Santa in Allen.

We went to a FUN birthday party/Christmas party and Jacob loved the bouncehouse!

Santa made an appearance for the kiddos at the party!

We had Noah, Gage, and baby Gavin (not in the picture) over to decorate sugar cookies.

Jacob is not a fan:)

This always happens when we try to get the boys to take a picture...they end up having a big wrestling match:) Poor baby Gavin on the end...we rescued him don't worry!

Jacob, Jack, Gage, Noah, and Gavin

Cute boys.

For toddler boys, they didn't do that bad on this cookies! We were kind of impressed!

Jacob and Gage were more interested in eating the cookies. Jacob started eating the icing like soup:)

My boys helped me celebrate my birthday a couple of weeks ago. They did a great job! Jack and Jacob 'took me out to lunch' because Erik had a lunch meeting that day. Erik took me on a date that night and also got me the bedding from Restoration Hardware I'd been eyeing for a while:)

Sneak peek of our bedding. It doesn't look great in our current master bedroom because of the rich colors and red brick fireplace in our room. But in our next house--- wherever that may be;)--- I'm sure it will fit better.

Jack loved my birthday lunch:)

Since we moved to Oklahoma I've had lots of free time on my hands so I started cooking a lot. We used to go out to dinner a few times a week because there were SO MANY wonderful places to go in the Frisco/Plano/North Dallas area. It's a little different here:/ I don't always take photos of food I make but when I have my camera or phone handy I started trying to document certain recipes. And I am no chef...and I'm definitely no photographer. Just honest pictures of meals I make for my boys:)

Delicious baked potato soup.

Easy weeknight meal- King Ranch Chicken, Salad, and Pinto Beans.

Slow cooked spaghetti sauce, caesar salad, and bread.

You have to eat dessert on occasion when you are cooking for 3 hungry boys:) Homemade pound cake, homemade strawberry sauce, and homemade whipped cream...yum.

My snow village pound cake.

at least someone likes my cooking!!!

Easy weeknight chicken tortilla soup served with cheese quesadillas.

Anytime I make brunch I always make the boys an orange julius.

Weekend Brunch--Not the best picture but the boys were hungry and I didn't have time to 'stage' the food...ham/egg casserole, fruit, and blueberry muffins.

Blackberry cobbler and ice cream...a family favorite

Chicken pot pie and spinach salad...and maybe a little KJ Chardonnay;)

Again, not a great picture...but you can't go wrong with chicken tacos with black beans.

Possibly my husband's favorite meal. Barbecue chuck roast, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls, and sweet tea.

Homemade lasagna, chopped salad, and bread.

Easy weeknight dinner...taco salad.