Isabel was dreaming of a white Christmas---and awoke to this surprising sight!

Have you seen this yet? It captured my eye last night while waiting in line at the Walmart checkout stand. I'm a total sucker for any kind of juice & soda punch. My favorite is cranberry juice mixed with Sprite---so I was thrilled that they finally bottled this delightful concoction for our convenience. Are you ready for the nutrition facts? One small 20 oz bottle is 270 calories and 70 grams of sugar!!

Jake eats now!

Here he is with a clean face. Notice I had to take off his jacket which he managed to cover in sweet potatoes.

Jake playing in the exersaucer---which only lasts for about 10 minutes and then I have to hold him. I'm spoiling this kid rotten!

Is our love of ice cream really in the 'Lunn' genes? What do you say we put this to the test at one of our Christmas family gatherings? It won't be a race to see how fast anyone can eat ice cream---we don't want brain freezes and it won't be a contest---we don't want people getting sick. But just for the heck of it, let's just see if it's in our blood to eat an abnormal amount of ice cream in one sitting----for this activity, a half gallon each---say while watching one of the many Lunn Family classic movies. Are you up for it? I hope so. Vote for the movie that you think would work best for our ice cream challenge.

I discovered these fudge bars at DQ. One bar is 50 calories and has 3 g of sugar. I've had sugar-free fudgicles--and other brands of diet fudge bars---BUT these are by far the best. Finding foods (especially treats for that matter) that are fat-free and low in sugar/calories is not always easy. PLEASE share a similar food tip. Thanks. :)

If I step out of the room, I sometimes return to Jake with a sticker on his face. Isabel happened to get these stickers with her halloween treats. It always cracks me up because she doesn't say a thing about it---and she's not putting stickers on her own forehead. Come on.....I just know that there's got to be some stories like this out there in your families.

Something is up with blogger---won't let me post pictures. I've got one more full shot of Isabel in her Tinkerbell costume. Brandon tried to talk her into being Wonder Woman---I thought she'd make a good Tiger Lily or Pocahontas--but she wanted Ariel or Tinkerbell. Gracie was Ariel so I finally agreed to Tinkerbell.

Jake's hair is curly when it's wet---so we didn't need to put gel in his hair. We just put that litte curl down front and it dried that way. Brandon is a big fan of Superman so this costume was ALL his idea. The first picture in his car seat is when we got home from trick-or-treating---and the second is before we left. Blogger keeps giving me errors while trying to upload these pictures so I'm still working on getting Isabel's pictures up.

Alright, I have to tell you that Jake is now arching his back and THROWING himself back now when he's unhappy. And he does it a lot. I'm scared. This behavior seems far too early for a 4 month old. What do you think? Are we in trouble? Do we have a really BAD BOY on our hands?

Had to get out the 6-12 month clothes last week that were handed down from Cole. Just have one question for you----how is Jake wearing size 6-12 months when he refuses to eat solid foods????

Jake just turned four months. He had his well-check today and weighed in at 18 lbs, 8 oz. He is now able to eat solids---but being the little stinker he is, he's not liking food so much. The doctor suggested sweetening the rice cereal with bananas, but it didn't seem to make a difference to Jake. I guess he's one of those breastfed babies that the doctor said has a hard time transitioning to food. Ahhhhhh. At least he keeps us smiling. Brandon, Isabel and I can really get him to laugh. This is a snapshot I took this morning of him when he woke up.

Today, Tues. Oct. 24th, Martha Stewart made mini pumpkin whoopie pies on her show. I thought I'd post this---because it's different than Jen's recipe. They STILL have a CHOCOLATE cookie---but a pumpkin cream cheese filling. Caity, I want to kick your butt that you were here in Vegas and could have made these with me!! If you are here for Thanksgiving we will have to make them then.




Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

Makes about 20


For the Cookies:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup vegetable shortening

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar

1 large egg

1 cup whole milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Filling:
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

1/4 cup canned solid pack pumpkin

Pinch of cinnamon

Pinch of nutmeg


1. Prepare cookies; Preheat oven to 375°. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.


2. Place butter, shortening, and sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add egg; mix until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in half the flour mixture, then the milk and vanilla. Mix in remaining flour mixture.


3. Drop about 2 teaspoons dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies spring back when lightly touched, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks and let cool 10 minutes. Remove cookies from baking sheets and transfer to wire racks using a spatula; let cool completely.


4. Prepare filling; In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together cream cheese, butter and confectioner’s sugar on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg; whip until smooth, scraping down the bowl as necessary.


5. Pipe or spoon about 2 teaspoons filling on the flat sides of half the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, keeping the flat sides down

I HATE Disneyland. Maybe it's better when it's less crowded on a weekday, but I still hate it. I'd much rather ride roller coasters and fast rides at a carnival. Last year we went to an Italian Festival here in Las Vegas and I went on the best ride I've ever been on in my life. Disney just doesn't do a thing for me. I had a carmel apple---and it didn't even come close to the one at Laguna Beach. But of course this trip wasn't for me---so it doesn't matter what I think. It was ALL for Isabel---and she loved it. Turns out she doesn't get sick on rides like her Dad. She is a little thrill-seeker like her Mom and her favorite ride was Space Mountain--which apparently they just improved---and I did like it. Here is a snapshot of Isa with Laura's little girl. Isabel says she is her new best friend.

I didn't have enough time to order Pirate cake decorations. Searched all the stores and couldn't find what I was looking for. Ended up going to Michael's and buying a wooden box for the treasure chest & a small sailboat for the ship that I needed Brandon's help assembling. Painted both metallic gold--drew the skull & bones symbol on the mask with a black permanent marker---took pearls from my jewelry box & some of those chocolate gold coins--and whala--Tyler got his Pirate birthday cake. Oh--and that's brown sugar for the sand.

Everytime I tell Isabel to do something she says "You're fired!" I know she watches a lot of TV---but it's not like she's watching Trump's Apprentice or anything. What's up with this? I don't know....maybe she picked it up from a friend at school. Ahh---KIDS.

I am three-months old now!

Today was Isabel's first day of soccer practice. I don't know who was more excited, Brandon or Isabel. Brandon bought her soccer shorts, shin guards, orange cones and socks---but noticed right before practice that he had picked up the wrong size sock at the store. He was about to run out the door to exchange them---but I luckily was able to convince him that she'd be okay wearing regular socks this time. He wanted her to have everything. He was actually anxious at the practice--wanting her to be the star of the game. We requested that she and Tyler be on the same team---and it turns out that that meant she'd be put on a team being the ONLY girl. Didn't seem to bother her a bit tonight. She LOVED it out there. The weather was perfect. Couldn't help but top the evening off with a twist and chocolate sprinkles from DQ. It was a great night. The other shots were taken this past Sunday. During our Sunday school lesson, Jake was passed back and forth between six girls. At one point, there was a bit of a fight over him. I'm not kidding. It was funny.

More pictures of 'Jake the Tank'

Out of nowhere Isabel has been saying that she is going to marry Jake. Funny.

Grandma asked me to send her a picture of Alexa in her braids. I didn't have my camera with me while visiting them on Sunday, so I had to take a picture when we got home...and well, ended up taking some more pictures of Jake while I was at it. I can't help but be 'camera happy' with a new baby. I hope it's not too annoying to others. I always love to see pictures of babies. I've been begging Kelly to post more of her kids---they are all so GORGEOUS. Today is a good day because I went to Kelly's blog and saw the most adorable picture of baby Emma smiling---and Cole making the cutest scared face.

Yesterday Brandon got Jake to give us some BELLY laughs. Today he did it for me. I wish I had some way to record it since I know it may be hard to imagine him laughing when he has such a difficult personality. I've found that kissing him makes listening to the whining easier. He seems to be tasting even better with age. Then I'll lean over and start kissing Isabel too---and she tells me, "Mom, I'm not a ham sandwich"---which is her favorite thing to eat for lunch.

My baby looks obese. Should I be worried?

Here are some Sunday afternoon photos. I haven't taken classes yet on how to use my camera--so I'm not happy that the flash didn't work right on the picture of Trav & Dad playing the guitar. Travis really has written a ton of songs---and they're really good. I hope he gets them recorded. Also, every Sunday Kassia buys the latest tabloid magazines. I love it because I no longer get to read them at work---and what would I ever do if I didn't get the latest on Vaughniston & Brangelina?

Happy 59th Birthday Papa!!

Kassia bought these jet skis for Tanner & Tyler (Tanner was kind enough to share his with Isabel) so we took the kids swimming today. It rained hard this afternoon--but only lasted a few minutes. I wished it would have rained the whole day! Can you tell I've lived in Vegas for 10 years?

It only took 7 weeks before I got out the gel and tried the cool spike-do (the one that Jack sports) on baby Jake.