Sock Monkey Cards

This year I have been trying to recognize each family members birthday. Living further away has made it harder to celebrate with them. We usually just mail a bit of money but it's the thought that counts right. Beside, with FB, texting and email, snail mail it getting obsolete but who doesn't still love getting a special something in the mailbox? 

My brother-in-law and father-in-law share the same birthday. In trying to scour our brain with ideas for these two gentlemen my dear hubby could only offer one suggestion: Sock Monkey.

It's kinda silly yes, but then again, it is a perfect fit for them. Would you believe that sock monkey accessories are a bit hard to find though. Thank you Hobby Lobby!! They have the best paper craft supply!

Here is dad's.

Here is Mike's...

I think I actually like Mike's the best. You know the feeling when you struggle and struggle and then VOILA!! Everything falls into place and you stand back and go~ PERFECT!

Yep, that was me. I love them. The monkey stickers were the only thing I didn't already have. Plus, I was able to use up a bit of my scraps with these two cuties. I had made a burlap banner and was cleaning up one day. As I tossed the scraps into the trash I thought WAIT!! That might....hmmm I wonder....yeah, I bet that would look great on a card. Add a bit of cute without being girly~ this is after all 4growingboys.

Wouldn't you know! It worked. Gotta love when that happens!

Happy Birthday Guys!

Headboard to bench...

 My neighbors had these headboards out for the trash for a couple of days. I tried to resist the urge but just couldn't. One sunny afternoon I found myself trudging back with these in hand...as well as a pallet. ehehehe.

The sat out for a couple of weeks but this last week Kaylyn and I finally made it to this little project.

 Turning the headboards into a bench. I was a bit worried with the long spindles. I wasn't sure how the sides would look. After about an hour and a few dollars we managed to turn those headboards into something grand.

 I love that we went with the slotted seat rather than a solid one.

And LOOK Jeff, Kaylyn is even using power tools!!!

Yep! It passes the little boy test.

Now Kaylyn plans to paint it a barn red. It will match her pallet patio furniture that we made.....hmmm come to think of it, I don't think I ever posted about those. Maybe I will do that next week. ;-)!

Homemade Rootbeer

There is just something about a good batch of homemade rootbeer.

The taste is great but making it is just as much fun.

Dry ice is just....so....FUN. I mean LOOK at all that steam, smoke, whatever. Yeah, the boys had a great time too.

So here is the recipe I used....

1 bottle rootbeer extract

5 pounds sugar

5 gallons water

5 pounds dry ice.

Mix it together and let it 'cook' for a couple of hours. Careful not to spill any, all that sugar makes it very sticky. Doing it with little boys clamoring about wiggling fingers through the steam is a must!

What a fun, simply, family activity.

Camp food tips and menu

Although part of the fun of camping is the food, I don't want to spend all the time prepping. We wanted to be relaxing and hiking and such. I also run into the problem of the ice melting and turning the food to soggy mush. So here are some of the tips I have discovered to help during meal time in nature.

We prepped most of our food for camping before we went out. Grape Kabobs...

Meat and cheese kabobs for snacking

Orange slices for easy munching.

Then I put it all in containers. They stack nicely in my coolers, stay cool and most importantly DRY. Somehow my baggies always seem to leak.

Here is the rest of our menu.....

Lunch on arrival day:

Sandwiches made ahead. Just leave off the wet condiments and add at the picnic table. Pull out the orange slices and enjoy. 

Dinner:

We planned to have tacos in a bag so I browned the hamburger and froze it. I figured it would be just about thawed when we were ready for it and all I would have to do is reheat it. The lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes were already sliced and in containers. 

Once we realized we could roast hotdogs dad made a quick trip down the canyon for some. Mr. Matthew loves his 'dogs'. lol

All the prep really paid off. We didn't use everything but it was still intact and not water logged when we got home. I didn't have to worry about fixing something quick when we arrived home. Just use up what we pulled from the coolers. 

Breakfast

Pancakes from the mix and shake Bisquick containers. These are wonderful.

Eggs were cracked and placed in a empty peanut butter jar. Easy to pour out and scramble.

Lunch for day 2

Sandwiches again. We just made them at the campsite. We also planned to use a lot of the snacks we had left over. 

Pop just makes you MORE thirsty so mom declared a "No Pop" weekend. We took our 10 gallon water cooler filled with fresh ice water. It worked lovely. We refilled our water bottles after each of our hiking adventures and always had fresh cool water. I love that we didn't eat so much junk food. I felt better with all the physical activity and healthy foods. I enjoy junk food, don't get me wrong, but I LOVE how I feel when we eat healthy.

Family camping

Little Mill Campground was a great place to camp. As you drive up Timpanogos Hwy there are several campgrounds along the way. This one is the closest to Timpanogos Cave. We tend to do things last minute so there were no more reservations to be had. We decided to take our chances.

As luck would have it we got there early enough to pick one of the 1st come 1st serve sites. It didn't take long for the other sites to be filled as well. Lots of trees, the mountain on one side and the American Fork Creek River on the other side= PERFECT!

We took a little walk along the old camp road. It followed the creek along. Although we didn't get much snow this last year there was still plenty of water with some spots moving quite fast.

Each of the boys had to have their own walking stick....just like dad. I absolutely LOVE this picture. I decided camping and hiking is a great way to practice your photo skills.

Well, at least for me....Dad just gets the shot done. lol

In the middle of the path was a big boulder. I am not sure if they put it there to stop cars and such or if it actually rolled down the hill. Either way it became a perfect place for 4growingboys to climb. Matthew wouldn't wait for mom to finish yet another photo!

Even though loads of fire restrictions are in place you can still enjoy a campfire in the developed campgrounds. We enjoyed smores and hotdogs, always a must when camping. We had planned other, non-fire meals but when we realized we could still do some roasting, yep, we were all over that.