Grasshoppers Game

I came across these and totally forgot about them!  For father's day, we took the kids to a Greensboro Grasshopper's game.  It was AR's first game, she had an awesome time.  We sat right behind first base in the heat of all the action, and right where the mascot hangs out.  So, we got lots of entertainment.  Although, her favorite part was walking up and down the bleacher steps.

Then we went out for a Mexican dinner, Cody's favorite.  It was a fun, hot day.  Wish I could have had a beer.

FIVE!!

1. What is your favorite color?
Black

2. What is your favorite toy?
Light Sabers 

3. What is your favorite fruit?
Pears

4. What is your favorite tv show?
SpongeBob Squarepants 

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? 
Pepperoni

6. What is your favorite outfit? 
Pajamas

7. What is your favorite game?
Marco Polo

Sam's new bike

8. What is your favorite snack?
Pepperoni

9. What is your favorite song?
Old McDonald Had a Farm

10. What is your favorite book?
If You Give A Mouse a Cookie

11. Who is your best friend?
Walt

12. What is your favorite cereal?
Frosted Mini Wheats

13. What is your favorite thing to do outside?
Play Tag with friends

14. What is your favorite drink?
Water 

15. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?
Jack Dog Lovee

16. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?

                            Bacon/Sausage

20 weeks belly shots and It's a .....

20 weeks with bean 3

It always takes my tummy a little extra time to POP!  I think it is because my babies are so tiny, haha!  But it is out in all its glory now, it really started to come out at the start of July.  I am still kind of at that awkward stage where my maternity clothes are too big and my regular clothes aren't quite fitting comfortably yet.  Thank goodness, I spend a lot of time in my gym clothes and can wear my summer dresses.

We also got the good news that not only do we have a nice healthy bean, but it is a boy!  There was a lot of whooping and hollering in that ultrasound room.  Sam came with us and he really wanted "a brother of his own, cause he already had him a sister."  I also think Cody was a little partial to having an "spare heir" since him and Sam are the only male Fieldens.

I wish I had a picture of our little man, but I walked out of the room without my CD of the pictures and our scanner doesn't seem to be working.  I have got the most darling picture of him sucking his thumb.  We do have to go back in at 24 weeks to do a check up on him, the radiologist found a tiny cyst on his brain.  She assured us that isn't anything to be likely be concerned about, she said it is a common developmental thing at this stage.  It is becoming more and more apparent with the improvement of medical equipment now, and she sees them frequently.  And, surprise, surprise... he is measuring quite small (8 days behind) and they want to check his growth progress.  Sound familiar anyone?  Nonetheless, say a little prayer for our guy that he continues to show healthy development and blood work.

We've have had a crazy July!  We have been super busy, barely a time to catch up and breathe.  Weddings, travel, birthdays and company... and the month is not even half over.  Cody and I are exhausted.  If I have a minute to myself, I will try and get all our fun up so my faithful readers can see the excitement.

Sam of the Sharks

This year, Sam wanted to be a part of our club's swim team.  It is by far Sam's most favorite activity or sport and even thought the team practices everyday plus meets once a week, I said yes.  He is really enjoying it and I am very, very proud.  He is the youngest kid on his team and one of the only 6 and unders that will swim in the meets.  Here he is at our second meet swimming his strongest stroke, BACKSTROKE.   Just like his Uncle Damien!  He rocked the whole 25m and came in fourth place.  

"He came out of the water and just couldn't wait to swim his next event."

Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake

I have had a bunch of people request this recipe that I made for Cody's birthday a few weeks ago, it turned out fabulous!  I thought I'd post for everyone who may be interested in getting their bake on.

Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake

1 1/2 cups Nilla Wafers crumbs (about 50)  

3/4 cups chopped pecans, divided

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

32 KRAFT caramels

3 Tbsp. milk

2 pkg. 8oz Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

2 eggs 

1 package of Bakers's Semi sweet Chocolate, divided

HEAT oven to 300, and add a pan of water to oven on bottom rack.  Cheesecake needs a humid oven to cook evenly.

In a food processor, crumble nuts and cookies to make crumbs.

SPRAY PAN REALLY WELL!  Mix crumbs, 1/2 cup nuts and butter and press to the bottom of a spring form pan.

In microwave, melt caramels and milk on medium heat, 3-4 minutes.  Stir every 2 minutes until melted and blended together smooth.  Pour evenly over crust and allow to cool.  Try to keep it about an inch from edge of crust.

Beat Cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl with mixer until blended.  Add sour cream; mix well.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing at a low speed after each just until blended.

Melt 5 squares of chocolate in microwave, it is going to be kind of sticky of clumpy.  You can splash it with a smidge of milk if needed.

Stir chocolate into cream cheese batter, pour over caramel layer.

Bake 45-50 min or until the center is just set.  Allow to COOL COMPLETELY on your counter.  It takes several hours.  Cover and refridgerate.

Before serving, sprinkle with remaining nuts, melt 2 squares of chocolate and teaspoon of Crisco to create chocolate sauce to drizzle on top.  I also melted a few caramels and drizzled those on top too.


*** Originally the cake was double this recipe and was to be made in 13x9 pan.  I cut the recipe in half, but kept the thicker crust.  If you ever wanted to make a big one, it will work just double everything.  This cake takes a lot of steps, but is totally worth it.  I suggest making it the day before you plan to serve it, so that it can cool correctly.  Otherwise, if any heat is coming off the cheesecake it gets a yucky moisture filmy slick on top.  And something I learned about melting chocolate, it is always sticky and clumpy.  It never is smooth as it should be for either dipping (like strawberries or pretzels) or drizzling.  Adding just a little Crisco makes it smooth and when it cools has a nice hard shell effect you want for anything chocolate dipped.  It is the only reason I keep Crisco, buy yourself a small can.

Happy baking!

Catch ups

We had a nice visit from Grandpa over Memorial day weekend, the kids really enjoyed him being here.  Annarose is still talking about him!  I have never seen her so snuggley before, she usually is to busy for all that.  But, she seemed to love crawling up into his lap and laying on his chest.  It was very, very sweet.  Also, in our evening prayers before bed Grandpa has been getting the regular shout out from her.

Sam wants to know when Grandpa will be back to work...?  Hopefully soon.  And maybe he can bring Oma:)  Although, after all the free manual labor Cody solicited out of big Sam on the land... I am not to sure he is so eager.  Haha!  Just kidding.

Chillaxin'

I wish I could say I had some more pictures, but honestly I have been uber lazy with the camera lately.  Keeping up with lil Miss is some work, she is a busy little bee!

We had a birthday party for Nana here on Memorial Day, she turned the big 60!  And she doesn't even look it, my beautiful Mama.  Cody made her a gorgeous beef tenderloin roast on the grill and I made her a strawberry cake, not strawberry shortcake (her favorite) but a new recipe that I found on Pinterest.  It was a massive hit, hardley a bite left over.

Dennis, Holly, Cody and I got her a Nook since she has been doing so much reading, trying to conquer the book lists.  And, us girls are taking a weekend trip to Asheville in August to celebrate and tour the Biltmore.  I can't wait!





And, Dr. Fielden just celebrated turning 37!  My hunk of man got a huge dinner of short ribs braised all afternoon, onion rings, green beans, cheddar jalapeno corn bread, and artichokes.   And for his dessert a homemade Chocolate Turtle Cheesecake, it was so flippin' good.  It was my first time making a cheesecake.  It turned out perfect.  The kids got him a pair of Crocs and Mario Kart for his Wii, and I a assortment of gourmet beers for summer.  I think he had a good day.  We had some friends to dinner to help celebrate and we are off to spend the weekend in Smith Mountain to do some camping.  We haven't taken AR yet, so it should be quite the adventure.

Flying the Nest-- Preschool Graduation

Sam had his last day of Eagles Nest preschool on Friday, and his graduation ceremony on Wednesday last week.  It was such a sweet day.  They prepared a very cute program demonstrating prayers and songs they learned, and everyone of them stood up and told the audience what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Sam wants to be an astronaut!  We were so proud of him.

When it came time to hand our their diplomas, they each got a pair of wings pinned on also.  Since they were "flying the nest" and going to the big school for Kindergarten.  Not a dry eye in the house!

Getting ready to sing!

Getting his wings from Mrs. Garret the principal at IHM

His classmates and him, a portion of the 28

Sam and Lilly, his love and future wife (or so he thinks)...

Sam and Christopher at the after party, Christopher is Sam 5th grade prayer partner.

Sam and Walt, best buddies.

 On the last day of school, Annarose and me joined Sam for the last day festivities.  I got the summer birthday kids a cake, so we could sing happy birthday to all of them.  It's such a bummer they don't get their own day to where a birthday hat and celebrate at school-- but hey!  winter birthday kids don't get to have cool pool parties.  That's what I tell Sam anyway.

Annarose loves eating lunch with Sam at school, she sits right at the table like a big girl.  He is always so proud she sits with him too.  It is always so cute.

Sam and Thomas are birthday buddies and have been friends since infants, only 6 days apart.

Sam with his teachers

More buddies

And now summer has officially begun at the Fielden house, hallelujah!  I am so looking forward to drinking my coffee with leisure and spending mornings at the pool.  We don't have to many exciting plans this summer with all of our house plans getting into gear, but we are gonna try and do a little camping.  We also have a birthday surprise planned for Sam at GREAT WOLF LODGE, his favorite place in the world.  And, let's not forget our wedding in July in San Diego.

Baby bean 3 is doing good, I am in week 15 and feeling pretty amazing.  My energy is starting to return and I don't feel quite as foggy.  Cody is certainly glad to have his dinners back and food in the fridge.  I am no longer terrified of the grocery store and getting sick.  Yeah me!

Mother's Day in Gatlinburg, TNCar

For Mother's Day this year, we rented a cabin in the Smokey Mountains.  We did a little hiking, a little relaxing and a little exploring that crazy little town of Gatlinburg.  I can't really put it into words, but it is definitely a unique place with unique people.

It has one of the best aquariums for kids I have ever been, go figure: an awesome aquarium in the mountains.  The kids got to touch sting rays, hold horseshoe crabs and go through lots of underwater tubes to get great views of the sea life.  And there were lots of sharks!  Big sharks!

 We did an amazing 3 mile hike to a waterfall.  It was an extremely beautiful morning.  The temps were perfect, kind of chilly and overcast at first, and then the sun came out on the way down the mountain.  The waterfall spilled over a ledge, so we were able to walk behind it and around the other side.

Carb loading for our hike 

Our cute little cabin

Pool player extraordinaire!

Sam did the whole hike at top speed, his stamina has really advanced.

Almost there...

Blurry, but our only family shot from the weekend.

A natural climber

Annarose didn't like the pack quite so much, she wanted to walk it like her brother.  It made for a slow pace and lots of falls on her head.  She also refused to hold hands.

Me and my guy above Gatlinburg!

Our cabin was super cool, it had a huge game room filled with fun stuff like an Atari arcade game and pool table, guess where Sam spent his spare time?  It was such a fun weekend, the best way to spend Mother's Day with my family.

Strawberry Fields forever...

We did some strawberry picking at a local farm here at the start of May.  The kids had a really good time, and AR even attempted eating a sun warmed strawberry.  If you know her, she doesn't eat any fruits and veggies unless they are mashed to a pulpy puree.  It is getting OLD.

Anyway, we picked our fill and ate strawberries on everything for days.  I wish the season wasn't so short here, but it usually is over by mid to late May because it gets so hot so fast.

The Fielden Family Five

Yes, we are taking the plunge!  Number 3 is coming this November... we are very excited!  And, I am very tired.  I am 12 weeks in... first trimester is just about over.  I am anxiously awaiting my appetite and energy to make a reappearence.  I have lossed a few pounds, as is typical for me at this point in my pregnancies.  Although, I have to admit, I feel more like I did with Sammy.  So, maybe that indicates a boy?  I am not sure we are going to find out with this one, I kind of am into the surprise.  

We have told Sam, and he is also beyond thrilled.  He gives my belly lots of zerberts to make sure the baby knows s/he is loved.   Annarose is clueless of course, I have a feeling she is in for it.  She gets real jealous.  We have a few months to work on it.

My doctor's appointments have all been great.  The ultrasound today showed a really healthy bean, all the test and measurements came back within normal range.  So yeah to that!  S/He did measure a bit small, again typical for my pregnancies.  

Growing bump pictures to follow.

This morning, for the first time in months, Sam came running into my bedroom in his footed fleece pajamas and climbed under the covers to snuggle me.  He curled up his knees into my stomach, grabbed my face and kissed it, all the while telling me how much he loved me.  Did I sleep well?  How was I feeling this morning?

We used to start all our mornings like this.  It was such a sweet and wonderful surprise to have him stop for a few minutes in his crazy, busy life to love on me.  He usually runs straight to the bathroom to interrogate Cody on everything he is doing, and ignores me.  Not today.  Today I got all the attention... it was awesome.  I wanted to freeze time.  We were 20 minutes late to school and I don't care one bit.

He is growing so tall, and he will start Kindergarten in the fall.  He can write his name and recognizes dozens of sight words.  He loves to swim and plays soccer like he is never going to run out of batteries. He is sweet with his sister, and wants to be an astronaut or "animal doctor" when he gets to be older than a teenager.  His latest favorite is anything Muppet.

I can't wait to spend the summer with him.  He is so much fun to be around.  I am really proud of him.  And honored that I was blessed to be his Momma. 

Easter weekend

Before I post anything about our Easter, here is Sam at the Life and Science Museum in Raleigh.  He loved that place and loves this picture.  He asked me to put it up special.  I thought that was pretty cute that he wanted to have some input on our family blog.  Maybe next year, when he gets a few more computer skills and spelling proficiency he can do some "guest" posts.

Easter weekend was not to busy, but just busy enough.  We went to a few egg hunts, played in the yard and generally just hung around the house.  Cody is working on tearing down a few fences, and the kids and I are really enjoying not having any agenda.  The Easter bunny was really good to the kids, they had tons of eggs to seek and find.  I will be throwing out a lot of candy.  Their baskets had some goodies, but mostly just outdoor toys to enjoy this spring and summer.

The whole family went to church on Sunday morning and then we had brunch at the club.  They had an Easter bunny and egg hunt there as well.  I will never have to buy another plastic egg again...

A picture with all the loot!

One of many unsuccessful dressed up pics

Creepy bunny and Sam

 Annarose really, really got into the egg hunting!  She was very serious about the whole business.