Bugs n Bubbles

If You Give A Mom A Muffin

2012-01-06T08:56:00.000-07:00

I found this online, and I had to share. It is so funny!

IF YOU GIVE A MOM A MUFFIN- "If you give a mom a muffin, she'll want a cup of cocoa to go with it. She'll pour herself some. Her three-year-old will spill the cocoa. She'll wipe it up. Wiping the floor, she will find dirty socks. She'll remember she has to do laundry. When she puts the laundry in the washer, she'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer. Bumping into the freezer will remind her...... she has to plan supper. She will get out a pound of hamburger. She'll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With A Pound Of Hamburger.) The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail. She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow. She will look for her checkbook. The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old. She'll smell something funny. She'll change the two-year-old. While she is changing the two-year-old the phone will ring. Her five-year-old will answer and hang up. She'll remember that she wants to phone a friend to come for cocoa. Thinking of cocoa will remind her that she was going to have a cup. She will pour herself some. And chances are, if she has a cup of cocoa, her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it." by Kathy Fictorie ~

Project 30 - Days 27, 28, 29, 30

2011-09-30T19:52:00.000-06:00

Day 27 - We love our iPad. The kids play it all the time. Also, I don't know what I would do without my iPhone. I love using the calendar on it and having apps for my kids to play when we are waiting for something, like the doctor. And, my husband won a shuffle from work! He gave it to me for an early birthday present.

Day 28-
My son is doing band and playing the flute. It is my flute I played for 3 years in junior high. I had an insane day and I was late picking him up today, and he was just hanging out at the school practicing.

Day 29-
I have a budding scrapbook buddy! My 5-year-old created her first digital scrapbook last week. I had a free one from Shutterfly, so I let her use their website and create her own book. She did it almost all by herself! We ordered it last week, and it arrived yesterday.

Day 30-
My sweet neighbor called me today to see if I wanted her leftover tomatoes that were not quite ripe and all her green ones. I went to her house and got 5 bags of tomatoes! I'm going to make salsa with all of them.

That is the last of my 30 days of photos. I might not be blogging for a while...this has taken a lot of energy out of me! Plus, I'm going to be busy makeing salsa!

Project 30 - Days 25 & 26

2011-09-27T10:04:00.000-06:00

Day 25- I took photos of my kids on Sunday morning. I like to do this because then my posterity will know what we were all clean and dressed up at least once in our lives. =)

Day 26- My kindergartener was sick on Monday. She was throwing up all day, and couldn't keep anything down. I spent the day cleaning her up and helping her. She wanted to listen to piano music with our earphones while she took a nap. She kept saying "I don't like my overflow." Translation: "I don't like the fact my stomach feels like it has too much in it that it is coming up." Her sister kept saying, "Why did you swallow the flu?" I think this is because I said she had the flu in her tummy.

I'm so glad she is feeling better today.

Project 30 - Days 20 to 24

2011-09-26T12:20:00.000-06:00

Day 20- My 5-year-old wanted to bring some of her special things to show and tell. This is what she came up with. A care bear, her favorite blanket, a penguin (her favorite animal), a doll, a zhuzhu pet and a Book of Mormon.

Day 21- My youngest and I made bread today. She loves doing the dough. The apron she is wearing is one I made for her for Christmas.

Day 22- My oldest is in Jr. High. We had parent teacher conferences Thursday. The Chick-fil-a cow from American Fork was at his Jr. High, so we got a photo.

Day 23 - My mom keeps all kinds of fun bandaids at her house for the grandkids. Sometimes my kids aren't even bleeding, but ask for a bandaid. I was at her house today, and one of the kids had pulled out all the bandaids to choose one for an owie.

Day 24 - Our county 4-H had an extravaganza today. I took three of my kids. I loved watching my oldest help his sister with the games.

Project 30 - Days 16-19

2011-09-20T11:11:00.000-06:00

Day 16-

My oldest won a coupon for a free ice cream cone. He begged me to take him to get ice cream. I made it a date, and just the two of us went. It was fun spending time with him one-on-one.

Day 17- We were outside at a park near us when it started to lightly rain. So, we hurried home. On the way, it stopped raining and the sun came out. Here is a photo of the sun peaking from behind the clouds.

Day 18 -
My cousin is going on a mission for the LDS church. His farewell was Sunday. My only living grandparent came, so I got a photo of my daughter with her.

Day 19-
We went rollar skating for Family Home Evening. My two girls only lasted 30 minutes on the skates. After we took their skates off, we watched my boys skate. This is my youngest watching her brothers.

Project 30 - Days 8-15

2011-09-16T08:16:00.000-06:00

I am a little behind. Okay, a lot behind. Here are the photos fromt the past week:

Day 8:
I made homemade bread with my daughter's preschool class. They ate all the bread we made, so I made a second batch for my family for dinner.

Day 9:
My husbands work party was at Hogle Zoo last Friday. Me and my girls went there with him. We had a lot of fun.

Day 10:
I decided to make ketchup-an adventure I will not ever repeat. After cooking down 24 pounds of tomatoes, this is all the ketchup we ended up with. Kinda disappointing.

Day 11:
I will never forget September 11, 2001.

Day 12:
My son is in 7th grade. He skipped pre-algebra and went right on to algebra. Every night, my husband works on the math homework with my son.

Day 13:
This week was patriotic week at our school. Tuesday was Hat day. My son wore a Chinese hat to school.

Day 14:
We are experimenting with powdered eggs instead of depending on fresh eggs. We made scrambled cheesy eggs and added ham to them. Then, we put them into tortilla's and had it for breakfast. It was really yummy.

Day 15:
My two year old and I watered the garden this afternoon. She decided she wanted to get wet...very wet. She was soaked, but had so much fun. This is her watering one of our fruit trees we planted in the spring this year.

My girls

2011-09-11T22:01:00.000-06:00

Those of you who know me, know I love to do hand-me-down clothing for my kids. My oldest son passes his clothes to his younger brother. (Although now my younger son has such a skinny waist, he is in slim jeans, which his older brother never wore.) And, my older daughter passes on her clothing as she outgrows it to her younger sister. Today I put on one of the dresses she passed down and took a photo of my youngest in it. I wanted to do this because I also had taken a photo of my older daughter wearing it three years ago. It is one of my favorites they have. Here are the photos. Can you believe how long the hair is on my older daughter? I did it in french braids that day. My sweet littlest can barely have pony tails on each side. =)

Aren't they stinkin' cute?

Project 30 days 6 & 7

2011-09-08T15:45:00.000-06:00

Day 6

I spent the morning picking a bunch of vegetables from our garden. Due to the rain, our tomatoes have been late turning red this year. We have had more tomatoes than a lot of our neighbors, but they have still come late. Well, the other day when we were picking our tomatoes, my 5 year old decided the bowl was too heavy for her to carry. So, she had her friends carry it with her. I grabbed my phone and took this cute photo of them.

Day 7

After my 5 year old left for kindergarten, my mom and I went to lunch at my favorite place...Zupas! I love the Ultimate Grilled Cheese Sandwich and the Tomato Basil Soup. I almost always get that when I go. My girls share it with me and they eat the extra bread and chocolate covered strawberry. It is their favorite place, too. =) I love to taste the different soups they offer, but I haven't found one better than the Tomato Basil.

Afterwards we went to check out the new Shelf Reliance warehouse in American Fork. It is really cool inside. If you are in the area, you should check it out! This photo was also taken with my phone camera, so it is not the best photo, but it was all we had.

Thanks for the fun afternoon, mom!

Project 30...again

2011-09-05T22:29:00.000-06:00

So, I'm doing project 30 again over at Digital Scrapbook Memories.

Day 1-
My three oldest are now all in school. So, it is just me and my youngest at home. She turned 3 recently, and I can't believe how big she is getting. On September 1st, she took a nap, which is a rare thing at our house. I got a lot of work done while she slept!

Day 2-

On Friday I volunteered at my kids elementary school. My younger son spent the summer reading the Harry Potter books. He is reading the last one right now, so I got a photo of him with it.

Day 3-
On Saturday, my oldest son and I went shopping at the DI for church pants for him. It was fun spending time one on one with him. I love the DI! You never know what you will find there. We found this ugly (or pretty?) chair while we were there.

Day 4-
After church yesterday, we spent part of the afternoon cleaning up our basement. My husband had the kids take turns getting into our basketball hoop. This was a free giveaway we got earlier this year. We can't use regular basket balls on it, but my husband still manages to make a basket!

Day 5-
All day long I promised my kids when it warmed up, we would go to the splash pad near our house. Well, it barely got to 80 degrees. And, the wind was blowing. But, my two middle kids still played in the water. We have loved going to the splash pad this past summer.

That is all for tonight. I will post more photos from my month later.

Pho - "Th Eorer"

2011-08-27T15:15:00.001-06:00

My husband loves Pho. He has a place near his office that is his favorite pho restaruant. He has gone to so many times, they have a table for him and his coworkers, and they know exactly what he is going to order. Well, a few months ago, he was sick and couldn't go to work. I was running errands and I passed by a place that sold Pho. So, being a good wife with a sick husband, I went in to pick him up some pho for lunch. I was reading the menu they had printed. It was poster size, and on the wall of the restaruant. I had to laugh at it when I read it. I thought it was so creative, I took a photo with my phone. You might have to click on the photo to make it bigger so you can read it.

Does anyone know what "th eorer" is?

Baseball

2011-06-23T10:59:00.000-06:00

Life has been crazy aorund our house. Summer vacation for the kids is not vacation for the mom. After school got out, the boys went to History Camp, and now one is at scout camp. We have been busy with all kinds of activites, including going to Seven Peaks, our garden, visiting the zoo and This is the Place the same day, and 4-H.

My oldest was in baseball for two months. He loved it! Every time he plays, he is better that the year before. He does such a great job. Here are some photos of him playing:

SLINDING into HOME!!!

And this cool photo of him sitting on the bench with the sunset behind him.

A New Stage of Life

2011-03-25T09:16:00.000-06:00

If you are wondering why this photo shows me pregnant, I'm not. I just wanted to make that clear before I got into the rest of my blog post. The photo was taken almost five years ago when I was pregnant with our oldest daughter. Can you believe how little my oldest was? In five years, he is now almost as tall as me!

Anyway, our family has entered a new stage of life. Well, I guess it is not really new, but a big change. Okay, not big, but it seems big. Well, not big, but different.

You know how life has different stages. There is the stage when you are newlyweds and have no kids. Then, there is the brand new parent stage. Oh, and later, all the kids are grown and you are in the grandparent stage. (I think my parents are having a lot of fun in this stage!) Well, this week, we made a big step in our stages of life. We took our baby crib down....And we are never putting it up again.

I know for some of you this may not be a huge change, but to me it was. To me, this means my baby has now grown into a little girl. To me, this means that there will be no more late night feedings for babies. To me, this is a huge change in my stages of life. I knew this day would come someday, but I guess it just hit me this week.

When our oldest was little, other parents would come up to me and say, "Enjoy him while he is little. It doesn't last long." Being a first time parent, I enjoyed him, but looking back I think I could have enjoyed him more. When we had our fourth child, we knew we were done having kids. We knew she would be our very last baby. We have enjoyed every minute with her. She has been our little baby, but she is now a little girl.

Over time, we have given away all the other baby stuff:

All the baby boy clothes left our house the day after we found out we were having a girl.
Later, all the baby toys were sold at a yard sale, or given to charity.
The baby swing and high chair were given to a friend last year for her baby.
As my daughter has outgrown them, the baby girl clothes have all gone to my sister-in-law for her daughter.

The crib is the last to go. I know it doesn't sound like a huge change. But, it seems like a huge change. A big girl bed is a big thing when you are two. (And, when you are a mom and your baby is growing up.) I'm sad this week, and it is going to take some getting used to. I guess I just get to look forward to the grandparent stage in the future! Oh, and holding other peoples babies.

I thought I would posts some photos of the girls in the crib when they were little.

This is my 4 year old when she was little. Check out the curly hair on top of her head!

This is my baby, when she was only a few months old. I loved the crib bedding!

And last, this photo of my two-year-old was taken just last month. She was sleeping so peacefully. I'm glad I

got this photo.

Way to Go Baby Sister!!!

2011-03-09T14:27:00.001-07:00

I love my baby sister. She is a few years younger than me, and looking in my journal from high school, you would think we were worst enemies. But, since she is She lives 3 1/2 hours away from us. We try to talk to each other or text each other almost every day. We just talk about anything, but mostly motherhood, and crazy kids, and not being able to keep our houses clean.

Being a mom of 5, life is really crazy for her. Her oldest is only 6 and the baby is not quite a year old. She is a very busy stay at home mom.

Anyway, she was in a contest with over 60 other women in her area. The contest was to see who could lose the highest percent of body fat. It lasted for eight weeks.

Well, yesterday they announced the winner....MY SISTER!!! Way to go Angela!
You can read about her getting her award here.
If you visit, leave her some love in the comments!

And, she blogged about her journey here.
I am SO proud of her! Love ya Angela!

Head Kerchiefs & Pink Cupcakes

2011-02-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

Project 30 - Days 23 & 24

So, I got the book Simple Sewing For Baby by Lotta Jansdotter. This book is full of cute things you can make for your baby. It truly has simple sewing in it. My favorite was the cute kerchiefs in there. I have wanted to make them for a while for my girls, but didn't find the time until yesterday. I think they turned out darling! I just used leftover material from other projects. Oh, and with her pattern you tie it in back. Instead of this, I added some cute stretchy lace so that my girls could just slip it over their heads and I won't tie their hair into it. (Not that I have ever accidentally tied my girls hair into a headband. LOL!) Anyway, here is a photo of them.

And, here are photos of my girls wearing them.

Isn't this adorable on my youngest? I LOVE the way it looks on her.

And, my oldest in hers. The material I used is leftovers from the skirt I made for her a few weeks ago.

And, on to the cupcakes. I was talking to my neighbor today. She told me that her kids were sick. Her husband was sick. And, she was even sick. They have been to the doctor everyday for the past 3 days. I offered to make chicken soup for them for dinner. I decided to make cupcakes for dessert. So, here is a photo of the cupcakes. Cute, huh?

Funniest Grocery Store Comment Ever!

2011-02-22T14:25:00.000-07:00

Project 30-Day 22

I took my girls grocery shopping with me today. I was standing by the feminine products. My 2-year-old says really excited, "I love band aids! I LOVE pink band aids!"

I couldn't stop laughing!

So, my photo for today, is of the wonderful invention of Pink Band Aids!!!

What funny things have your kids said lately?

Project 30 --Days 18, 20, 21

2011-02-22T14:21:00.001-07:00

February 18- Friday I only had my 2-year-old at home all day. So I spent the day trying to potty train. I remembered that day why I hate potty training! I have potty trained 3 others, and she is my last one.

Here are her panties. I'm sure that years from now, she will be mortified I put this photo on the internet. LOL!

Day 20-We went to my sister's house in northern Utah for the weekend. We actually left on Saturday and stayed until Monday. I love all of her fun cowboy decorations. I really love this boot rack. Isn't it really cool?

Day 21- So, the reason we went to my sister's house is because she bought our old car. We recently got a new one, and we sold our old one to her. My husband and I were married almost 15 years ago. We bought this car brand new right after we were married. We realized that we brought 3 of our babies home from the hospital in this car. We have put over 200,000 miles on this car. It has been such a good car, and I hope her kids enjoy it!

On the way home, our oldest threw up in the car. I hate that! I won't describe the smell, but it stunk up the whole car! I will feel really bad if any of her kids get sick.

Anyway, we had a lot of fun, but we were so glad to sleep at our house in our comfortable bed!

Fun Cupcakes

2011-02-22T14:05:00.001-07:00

Project 30 - Day 19

So, I love cupcakes…I REALLY love cupcakes. I bought the book “What’s New Cupcake.” I {{{HEART}}} this book! There are some of the cutest cupcake ideas in there. Well, because I loved it so much, I decided to check out the cupcake books at the library. (PS, this is not my photo for Project 30. I got this one off the Internet.)

I found one that looked really fun called Who You Callin’ Cupcake? It said in the description “Start baking cupcakes that will blow people’s minds.” I was really curious to see what they meant by that, so I started reading it and found some yummy recipes in the front. (Here is my photo for project 30.)

Things like Lemon Cupcakes. (I am a total Lemon fan, so I really want to make these.) Then, there were the frosting recipes. What is a cupcake without yummy frosting on top?

Then, the cupcakes got crazy. Here are some of my favorite titles:

Happy Hour Cupcakes - You put alcohol in the frosting and cupcakes. Here are a few titles: Tequila and Lime, Strawberry Daiquiri, Tequila Sunrise, Rosewater Champagne and Bloody Mary.
White Chocolate Wasabi - Yes, Wasabi in a cupcake!
Green Tea with Caddied Red Beans - Ginger, canned red beans, and green tea make up this one.
Fresh Herb and Lemon with Goat Cheese and Micro greens - Goat cheese…need I say more?
Bacon Peanut Butter – Chocolate cupcakes with bacon inside. Then, Peanut butter frosting, with bacon strips on top. Blah!
Spinach and Apple – Spinach?
Chicago-Style Pizza – Vanilla cupcake with cheese inside. Then, topped with marinara and sausage.
Pancakes and Bacon – Again with the bacon. Yes, they did bake it inside again, and added maple syrup inside.
Corn Dog – Yip, just what you think…hotdogs and ketchup in your cupcake. I don’t even know if my kids would eat them. Cupcakes and hot dogs just shouldn’t go together.
BBQ Pork – Add corn and BBQ pork to your cupcake when you bake it. Then, top with more pork and some maple syrup.

Are you grossed out yet? I was reading the titles to my husband and he said his stomach lurched a little more with each title. Like I said, I LOVE cupcakes, but really?

They did have some cupcakes that I would call normal: Pumpkin Chocolate Spice, Chocolate Raspberry, Peppermint Cookies and Cream, Cookie Dough, S’more, Strawberry Shortcake and Blackberry Lemon. (Did I mention I like lemon?) But, I thought those other ones were too funny! I just had to share!

I hope you laughed as much as I did at those cupcakes!

What is your favorite kind of cupcake to eat?

Lemon Tree

2011-02-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

Project 30-Day 17

So remember my little lemon tree? Well, yesterday it started to flower! We thought that was a little lemon growing, but it was actually the flower bud. I love watching things grow!

(For anyone who lives in an area where lemon trees are abundant, I have to apologize. For me, I live in an area where no one has lemon trees and all lemons come from the store. So, this is pretty exciting!)

Blue & Gold

2011-02-18T09:54:00.000-07:00

Project 30-Day 15.

On Tuesday, we had Pack Meeting for my son in Cub Scouts. It was the Blue and Gold Banquet. They did a cake decorating contest and we ate them for dessert. We could pick the theme of our cake: camping, birthday, or cub scouts. My son picked camping. Here is a photo of our cake:

Here is a photo of another cake one of the mom's did. I loved it! The people cutting the cakes didn't want to cut it because it was so cool.

My son got his Bear award that night. So here is a photo of the two of us.

And, this is a close-up of the bear paw on his cheek. The cub master painted it on as a symbol of him getting his bear award. He was so proud of himself, and I was so proud of him, too!

Project 30 -Days 13, 14, 16

2011-02-18T09:48:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, we went to my grandparents cabin in Brighton. This cabin belonged to my Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, and Great-Great-Grandparents. It has been in our family for over 100 years. Before my grandfather passed away, my mom and her brothers took it over. Well, because of different reasons, my mom and her brothers sold it. We are all sad, but it is a burden on my parents.

Anyway, on Sunday, we were cleaning it out. I loved all the interesting stuff we found in the nooks and crannies! There were so many old puzzles, books, and nick knacks. This was my favorite random item. It is called Naval Jelly. I guess it is for screws, but we got a kick out of wondering what you would need Naval Jelly for! LOL!

Oh, and I know it is not a great photo. But, it was in a darker room, taken with my phone camera.

On Monday, it was Valentine's Day. I had some coupons from Build-a-Bear that were expiring. Anyone who knows me, knows I love coupons!!! I took all four kids to the mall. While we were there, I stopped by Bath and Body Works because I love their lotion. My favorite is the Tahiti Sweetie Body Lotion. I LOVE this stuff! Anyway, I saw it, smelled it, and put some on. But because it is $15 a bottle, I didn't buy any.
I just felt like that was not in the budget right now. (I spend too much on my kids instead of me!)

Oh well, at least I got to try some on!

On the 16th, I did something I haven't do a VERY long time. I went to the paper scrapbook store! I haven't walked in one for over a year. I decided I wanted to do some die cuts so I could scan them into my computer. Then, I will use them as templates in my digi scrapbooking. I cut out envelopes, bags, boxes, and a cute purse card. This photo is of the die cut machine with some paper in it.

Harry Potter Party

2011-02-15T09:00:00.001-07:00

My younger son is turning 10. I can't believe it has been that long since he was a baby. He has grown up so much!

Well, he wanted to do a Harry Potter Birthday Party. Doesn't he look so handsome dressed in his costume! His guests came dressed in costume, and we had such a fun time. It was a lot of work for me, and a lot of clean up, but it was so fun!

We made wizard hat cupcakes. I frosted ice cream cones for the top. They were a hit!

Then, the kids dipped chocolate pretzel wands, and we had "butter beer". We put root beer in a cup and put whipped cream on top. My son and I melted chocolate and made chocolate stars, too.

Then, there was a special appearance from Harry Potter! The kids loved it! Harry made some fun magic potions with the kids. He also helped the kids make Troll Snot. (Corn starch mixed with water.) The best was when he did his magic trick. He lit a match in a pan and made plastic spiders magically appear! It was really cool!

As cool as Harry Potter was, I think my son's favorite part was the cake. See, for about a year, he has been planning on smashing his face in his birthday cake. We made him his own cake. After singing Happy Birthday, he blew out the candles. Then, with a lot of cheering from the crowd, he dived into the cake.

You should have heard how loud his friends got cheering for him! They all loved it!

He had frosting and cake in his hair the rest of the day!

It was such an awesome birthday party!

More Disney Photos

2011-02-14T12:50:00.000-07:00

Here are some more Disney Scrapbook pages I did. I found some Disney type digital scrapbooking elements and papers. I was so excited! After I found them, I decided to put a "hidden Mickey on every page in our book. I went through the pages I did before and put Mickey ears on all of them. I'm so excited to have the kids look for the hidden things after I get the book printed! Anyway, here are some more pages I did.

Valenine Hybrid's

2011-02-11T19:02:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday, I made these cute Valentine's for a few of my neighbors and the ladies I visit teach. I used the Love kit from Digital Scrapbook Memories. (I love that kit!)

I made the template in photoshop, and then printed them. They each have a bag of candy hearts hanging inside. Didn't they turn out fun?

This photo shows the full front of the two different ones. The one in the middles is the back of one.

Then, I decided to do some for an upcoming birthday party we are doing at our house. They are Harry Potter Berttie Botts Every Flavor Beans! This time, I cut a window inside so the kids could see the jelly beans. My son is so excited!

Some days...

2011-02-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

Some days the dishes don't get done. They sit in the sink.

Some days the laundry keeps piling up because it is being washed, but not folded.

Some days the dinner doesn't get made.

Some days kids just need mom to play with them.

Wednesday was one of those days. My youngest took an early nap and my 4-year-old wanted mom to play with her. Two full hours of mom time! That doesn't happen very often at my house.

So, what did we do? We played with the felt stories we have. We had so much fun.

Friday:

Some days mom just needs a break.

I did today. I sent the girls to a neighbors to play. Then, I went to the Roots Tech Family History Expo downtown Salt Lake. It was really cool. I only went to the booths. If I had more time (and more money) I would have gone to the entire thing.

***But, money has to go for things like baseball, clothes for the kids, food for the family-you know, all the stuff that comes first before stuff for mom. ***Grin***

Anyway, my photo for today is some of the stuff I brought home. I saw Amy with Digital Scrapbook Memories while I was there. Too bad I didn't think to pull out my camera and get a photo with her.

I WON!!!

2011-02-09T21:55:00.000-07:00

So I know I posted once today already. But I wanted to tell you guys that I won! (I know C.H. You are not surprised at all.) See, there was a Scrapbooking Super Bowl that I found out about. The Grand prizes were a $10, $25, $50, and $100 gift certificate to Scraporchard. Well, I won the $50! Wahoo!!! I scrapbooked much of Superbowl Sunday. I didn't find out until today that I won. I couldn't believe it!

So, what did I scrapbook? Here are some of the pages I did for the contest!

The journaling reads: My 4-year-old has started to write her letters. She wants to practice everyday. One day she went to the white board and wrote the alphabet. She even included "And now I know my ABC's, next time won't you sing with me." Pretty smart for a 4 year old.

One from when my husband and I were married.

I loved watching my husband teach my 11-year-old to tie his tie. I can't believe how he is growing up.

And some from our recent Disney Trip!

Quilted Advent Calendar

2011-02-09T08:39:00.000-07:00

I made this advent calendar for my family. For years, I wanted to make an advent caledar that would help our Christmas more around Christ. I found this. It was nothing more than a panel of material. I cut the ornaments, sewing backing on them, and embelished them with beads and hand stiching. Then, I quilted the panel and bound it. It was the first quilt I bound. Oh, and a project I actually finished! LOL!

Here is a close up photo of the advent calendar.

Crazy Utah Weather! (Photos day 7 & 8)

2011-02-09T08:25:00.000-07:00

On Monday morning, it was nice spring weather. I wore a light jacket and it was only a little cloudy. I ran errands, and even took the jacket off later in the day.

That evening, I was at home and the kids all had friends over. It started to rain a little, then suddenly the wind and ice came. Within 15 minutes we had ice and 2 inches of snow covering the yard. The poor neighbor kids had to get home in the snow. Utah weather drives me crazy sometimes!

Here is what our window looked like withing 15 minutes:

And, here is the view out the window. The photo doesn't show it well, but it was snowing hard. That morning, their house had no snow on the lawn or the roof.

Our weather is so crazy here that even though we had the storm blow through Monday, the skies were so beautiful and blue in the morning! I loved the way the mountains looked in the morning, all covered with snow. Also, there was not a single cloud in the sky.

Sunday Photos-Day 6

2011-02-09T08:18:00.000-07:00

So, here are my photos for last Sunday. I like to take photos of my kids on Sunday's before church. My sister-in-law told me she does "growing" photos of her kids every Sunday, so we started doing it, too. Sometimes all the kids are together, and other times they are all individual---depending on how crazy our house is that morning! LOL!

(Secretly, I do it because it shows that yes, we were all dressed and clean at one time in our lives!)

Anyway, here are my photos. Here is my Mouse and my 2-year-old. They are is getting so big!

Here is my 4-Year-Old. I made the skirt she wore that day, so I got a photo of it, too. She loves it because it is a "twirly" skirt. I love the ric-rak on the bottom!

And, here is my 11-year-old. I can't believe how big this guy is. He grew 2 shoe sizes last fall. From a 7 to a 9 in less than 6 months. That is the same size shoe as my sister's husband. He is going to have big feet like his dad! Oh, and like all of his tall uncles. Thanks for the tall genes guys!

Oh, and yes, we did cut his hair short, like his dad's. I was cutting the boys hair two weeks ago. I cut it to save $$$. My husband cut's his own, too. Anyway, I was almost done with the back, and it was looking great. Just one last hair that I missed and as I went to do it, the comb flipped off the clippers. Ahhhh! It cut a 2 inch bald spot in his hair. I couldn't believe it! So, what could I do but shave it all off! My son was not mad....he was so excited. He kept saying "Finally, after 5 years of asking, she is shaving my head!" My husband was not happy. Because he is going bald, I think he is a little jealous that my boys have hair. ***Smile***

Needless to say, it is starting to grow back little by little.

Day 5

2011-02-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot to post my photo for last week on the 5th. Here it is. I was planning out my garden. I was reading books and looking at seed catalogs. I'm thinking of doing a few self watering pots this year. I definately want to do some herbs.

Lemon Tree

2011-02-05T15:06:00.000-07:00

Last year, I was going through some seed catalogs. I found an indoor dwarf lemon tree. I thought it looked so fun, I ordered it! Because of a mix up, we ended up getting two of them shipped to us. This is a photo of one of my lemon trees. I think that the small white ball you see in the middle of it is a lemon growing. At least we hope it is a lemon!

Gung Hay Fat Choy

2011-02-04T14:43:00.000-07:00

(Happy Chinese New Year)

When I was younger had the opportunity to travel to China. I spent my 16th birthday there. I fell in love with so many things about the country and Chinese people.

Yesterday was the start of Chinese New Year! So, I made homemade Chinese food for my family for dinner. We ate with chopsticks and out of our Chinese bowls. Even my youngest tried to eat with the chopsticks.

Wicked Workout Wednesday

2011-02-02T21:46:00.000-07:00

My photo for Day 2 I took with my phone. I went in to do some physical therapy today on my knee today. I called it "Wicked Workout Wednesday." I like doing the therapy because I know I will get better, but wow...It hurts. I did the bike, steps, leg lifts, and some other excersises. I worked muscles that haven't been worked in a long time. I know I will be feeling it tomorrow!

Project 30- Day 1

2011-02-01T20:56:00.000-07:00

Digital Scrapbook Memories (my FAVORITE digi-scrap website) is doing "Project 30" again. I did this a while back and loved it! So, when they said they were doing it again, I decided to join in and play! Because, honestly, who doesn't like to take photos! Oh, wait...perhaps you don't, but I love it! Last time, I journaled it all here on my blog. Then, I put the photos and journaling in a book from Shutterfly. My kids love looking at the book, and I love remembering what went on in our family for that month.

The deal this time is that each photo has to be of an object, not a person. Well, in my life, I have 4 kiddos I love to take pictures of. And, I love to take photos of My Man. So we will see how this goes because I tend to take a lot of pictures of people, not stuff. But, as we all know, I have a lot of stuff, so I might as well start taking pictures of it. Maybe I will take the pictures of the stuff I need to sell on KSL and use that as my object of the day...hmmm....

Anyway, back to today's photo. For anyone who lives in Utah, it was COLD outside today! Like FREEZING cold. Like the kind of cold that all-you-want-to-do-is-cuddle-up-in-a-warm-blanket-and-crawl-back-in-bed-with-a-good-book cold. When I took my boys to school, and it was only 8 degrees outside. That is cold!

Well, each time any of my kids went outside (even for 30 seconds) they came back inside begging for hot cocoa to warm them up. My photo for today is of their favorite mug, the hot cocoa, and milk. My kids love to have HOT cocoa, then add milk to it to make it creamy and cool it off. They usually drink two cups of it because they love it so much. So, I had to take a photo of something my kids did, even if they were not in the photo. ***Smile***

Oh, and a funny note about the mug-I got it as a souvenir in Disneyland when I was about 14 and my kids love it!

What does your family like to do on a cold winter's day?

Disney Christmas!

2011-01-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

So, this past year, we decided to take our kids to Disneyland for Christmas! We went the second week in December. It was so much fun! There were not many people there, and we walked right onto many of the rides. We loved seeing the lights on Cindrella's Castle at night, and seeing The Small World all decorated. We had room in the car, so we took my nephew with. The hotel we stayed in was the best! I will hopefully write more about our trip later. But, here are some scrapbook pages I did yesterday for our trip. Enjoy!

Conversations with a 2-year-old

2010-12-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

The other day, we were talking as a family. My Man was telling the kids that he was the boss of the house. I rolled my eyes at him. He laughed and told the kids, "No, mom is the boss."

Then, the 2-year-old replies, "NO! I'm the boss!!!"

Guess What?

She really is the boss and does run the house.

Halloween

2010-12-16T16:34:00.000-07:00

When I should be blogging about Christmas, I realized I didn't show you my cute kids in their Halloween costumes. =) It was such a fun, crazy day. A day spent on crutches by me because of my knee injury. (And chasing my 2-year-old on crutches. Now that is fun.)

The Friday before Halloween, we did parade at the school in the morning. Then, the girls and I went to get FREE pancakes at Ihop. We had to go home so I could rest for a bit. After the boys were done with school, we visited their Dad's office to trick-or-treat, and then to Grandpa K's office. By that time, I was worn out, and I rested on a chair while everyone else trick-or-treated. We visited Grandma H to show off the costumes. Then, met Grandma and Grandpa K for dinner at Ihop for more Free pancakes. (Can you ever get enough free pancakes from Ihop? I don't think so!)

On Saturday morning, we had yummy pumpkin pancakes for breakfast. My Man had a practice for an upcoming play he was in. My cute neighbor invited us over for a Halloween Party and lunch. The kids had a great time breaking the pinata! (Thanks L for inviting us!) Then, trick-or-treating again...no, they did not get enough candy the first two times. My youngest took a nap while everyone else went out.

Sunday evening we went to my sisters for a Halloween Dinner with my family. More candy and treats...but I had a plan for them. My oldest had to donate something to his school store, so we made small bags and put leftover Halloween candy inside. Someone else's kids got our candy, and my son got to have a fun project. =)

Anyway, here are my adorable kids! Oh, and Happy Halloween!

We found this awesome Clone Trooper costume, but it was too small. So, I cut the middle open and added extra material to make it bigger.

My middle son was Harry Potter...for one day. Then, he changed costumes and was a Dad. He wore a bathrobe, painted a mustache on himself, and had a newspaper. Then, he changed again, and was a Zombie Hunter. Funny kid.

We found this penguin costume for my oldest daughter. She loves penguins! They are her favorite thing!

My baby was a purple witch. I found her dress and hat at a yard sale for a dollar. You can't see it in this photo, but she has knee high black boots on that I got at another yard sale for a buck. Then, the purple spider bag also came from another yard sale! It was the cutest witch costume for only a few dollars! Yeah!

Well, that was our Halloween. Hope you all had a fun one, and a Happy Thanksgiving...Oh, and Merry Christmas next week! LOL!

ABC Book 2

2010-11-23T11:21:00.001-07:00

This is my older daughter's ABC book. I realized today, I forgot to post it. I'm so excited about it. I don't remember if I mentioned this in my other email, but I ended up creating 9 of these books. Four for one of my sisters kids'. Two for another sister. One for my brother's daughter. And then my two favorite...mine! Of course, mine are the cutest, because my kids are the cutest!

Don't you love those blue toenails!

ABC Books

2010-11-13T22:40:00.002-07:00

Years ago, when my boys were small, I made them ABC scrapbooks. I scrapbooked photos of them doing something for each letter of the alphabet. A-with grandpa's airplane, B-looking at the birds, C-riding in a car...you get the picture. After finding photos of them, I then plastered each page with stickers of items that started with that letter. To this day, they both love looking at the books and seeing photos of themselves when they were small.

For Christmas, I decided to get similar ABC books done for my girls. And, because I don't paper scrapbook as much, I did them digitally. I'm so excited with the way they turned out! Here is my younger daughters book:

After the Rain

2010-10-09T16:41:00.006-06:00

Don't you just love the smell of rain? Or the smell just after it rains? I love taking walks in the warm springtime rain. I love to watch my kids jump in the puddles left from a good rainstorm. They love it too! I also love to stand on our front porch and watch the storms come in over the mountains to the West of our house. (Someday I may have a house with a bigger front porch that we can put chairs on and enjoy the rain while sitting down....Someday.)

Then there was the time earlier this summer when my husband and I were in our driveway and literally watched a wall of water come down the street. It was only slightly sprinkling on us. Then, we watched the downpour come down the street. The sound was amazing! Millions of big raindrops hitting the pavement at the same time. It was AWESOME!

Well, this past week, we have had rain. It has not been the warm spring or summer rain, but a cool fall rain. I have loved it! The smell, the beauty after the rain, and because it has brought water to my garden. The other day, I went out and took photos of the plants right after the rain. The sun was setting, so the lighting was perfect. I love taking photos of the beauty that our Heavenly Father has given to us. These photos don't do it justice, but I'm excited to share with you.

These are my pretty purple pansies. I planted them early April this year, thinking they would just last until summer got underway. I placed them on the South side of my house in the garden boxes we built to give my garden instant color. Most everything else we planted was seeds. Because it has not been terribly hot this summer, they survived the whole summer! I'm excited, because they will stay strong all winter. And, next spring, we will have lovely flowers waiting for us when the snow melts.

Above is one of my big broccoli plants we planted in the spring. This year was the first year we planted broccoli. I had no idea how big they got! I took this photo for my sister M. I grew a Broccoli Head! LOL! In the photo below I put arrows pointing at the rainwater left on my Broccoli Heads. I know the rain water is hard to see, but it was so pretty in real life.

We have these spontaneous sunflowers that pop up year after year. I love them.

And the last photo...our tomatoes have done great this year. Until the beginning of August, we didn't have any, but now we can't keep up with them. We have so many! Before I hurt my knee, I bottled both peach salsa and some hot spicy salsa for my husband.

What do you love about the rain?

Stuff...

2010-10-07T21:18:00.005-06:00

Do you ever wonder how all the “stuff” ends up in your house? I recently looked around my house and realized we have way too much “stuff”. Yes, we use a lot of our “stuff,” but there is so much of it. At our house, there is the kids “stuff”- toys, clothes, and books. Oh, and all the junky “stuff” we get at the dollar store. There is all the “stuff” in the kitchen –the appliances and gadgets. I have the ones I use all the time, then I have a bunch that just sit there, and I forget about them. Or, there are the items with missing pieces-I know I will find that missing part someday, so I keep it. Then, I have all the craft crap in my house. Oh, and the Scrap Crap from when I was paper scrapbooking years ago.

Every so often, I wonder where all my “stuff” comes from. Some comes in the form of school work from the kids. Some is junk mail---how I hate the junk mail. Some of it comes from the store when there is a great sale, cuz I am a sucker for a great deal. The “stuff” even seeps in through the cracks in the windows! I don’t know how…magic, I suppose. I am getting sick of the “stuff”. So, I decided to do something about it!

Three weeks ago, I decided I was going to go through my house and purge. Not just clean out…but purge! I decided we have way too much “stuff.” So, each week, I was going to clean out one room of all the extra “stuff” we don’t use anymore. I figured I could get the whole room done in a week.

Here was my schedule…

· Week One: The girls room and playroom/guestroom
· Week Two: The master bedroom
· Week Three: The kitchen
· Week Four: The boys room
· Week Five: The front room
· Week Six: The downstairs family room

· 6 6 weeks. That is all it was going to take. Until my plan came to an abrupt and complete stop. After only one week. But, I am getting ahead of myself…

Week one…The girls bedroom and playroom/guestroom.

The girls “stuff” takes up most of two rooms. The bedroom has the crib for the youngest, a twin bed for my 4-year-old, their clothes, their dolls, My Little Ponies, Barbies and miscellaneous small toys that are under the bed. The playroom/guestroom had two play kitchens, a queen bed, a bookshelf, a doll bed, play food, play dishes, and various other toys.

I was determined to get rid of every broken toy, all the toys they no longer play with, and one of the two play kitchens they have. Yes, we have two girls, but do they really need two kitchens? Like I said, we have too much “stuff.” Ahhh! I also decided to go through their books and throw out or donate any damaged books or books we don’t read. Or, the books we have doubles of. Yes, we have doubles of books. (Did I mention we have too much “stuff”?)

I had my 4-year-old go through the toys with me. I told her that we were giving some of her toys to kids who didn’t have toys. She was very giving and happy to help out another family. Eight bags of toys later, we have cleaned out the toys…Yes, Eight bags to donate! There were Babies, Ponies, play food, dishes, balls, and lots of toys that have missing pieces. Then, I also got rid of two bags of books and one play kitchen.

So, after cleaning out the playroom and the bedroom, we rearranged the rooms so that they was more room to play in. My oldest decided that there was so much room in the playroom/guestroom, she wanted it as her room. Because it already had a bed in there, and we are almost ready to put the baby in a bed instead of the crib, I agreed with her. So, she now has her own room. And, the toys are going to charity, or to the girls’ cousins.

So, on to Week Two…the Master Bedroom.

Our Master Bedroom is a landing zone. Things land there, but unfortunately, they don’t take off and get put away. It has been this way for years, and I have decided I needed to make a change. Last week on Monday, I was determined to turn our landing zone into a runway and make many things land in the garbage or charity bags. I decided to get rid of our “stuff” and organize the bedroom.

So, early Monday morning, I started making piles of papers for the garbage, shredder, or to file away. The plan was going perfectly. Within thirty minutes, I had the entire area under and on top of my nightstand cleaned away. Then, I decided to put something at the top of the closet. I was in a hurry to get the room clean. So, instead of going in the kitchen and getting a chair to stand on, I looked at the shelves and thought “I’ll just climb the shelves to put it up there. It won’t take too long.” That is when my plan to get my room clean came to a sudden stop. After putting the item on the top shelf, I slipped and fell down. When I landed, I heard a “crunch” from my knee. I looked down, and my leg looked totally unnatural. Three thoughts ran through my mind at the same time…

"My kneecap has got to go back into socket somehow.”
“If I don’t get it back in now, I’ll have to take an ambulance to the hospital and I don’t want that bill.”
“If I get it back in now, it won’t hurt as bad later.”

So, I grabbed my kneecap and pulled it back into place.

Now, you may wonder if it was painful… Yes, it is very painful. And, after talking to nurses, it is not recommended that you do this. But, nevertheless, I did it myself. (And secretly, I’m really proud of myself for doing it.) I called to my four-year-old to get me a phone to call my neighbor across the street. My dear neighbor hurried over to help me out. There I was, laying on the floor in horrific pain. I called my husband to tell him.

Now, pause this story and rewind time, to when I broke my toe a while back. I was pretty sure it was broken, and for two weeks my dear hubby kept telling me there was no way it was broken. Finally, he told me that if I thought it was, I should just go to the doctor. Well, the x-ray showed it was broken. So, when I called my husband after my kneecap was dislocated I said, “I just broke my knee, and don’t tell me it is not broken, because I know it is.” He jumped in his car and hurried home…27 minutes later, he was home. When he arrived at home, we had an ambulance, fire truck and 6 neighbors at our house. Thank goodness for awesome neighbors! The ambulance came and they were able to help me calm down. They also told me not to eat or drink anything until the ER said I could.

I am grateful for an awesome home teacher, who arrived shortly before my husband. The two of them gave me a priesthood blessing. After the blessing, the EMT’s took me down the stairs in this really cool contraption that rolled me down the stairs. We decided that if we were ever going to move, we would call them to see if we could borrow it. My dear husband took me to the ER to get x-rays. I think I was in more pain when they had to straighten my leg to get the x-rays than when I was putting my kneecap back in place. By the time we were done with the x-rays, it was 1:30. I realized that because I was so excited to get my room clean, I had forgot to eat breakfast, and now I was really hungry! So, my sweetie says, “What are you in the mood to eat? I will take you anywhere.” I replied, “A big, juicy hamburger.” Then, I started to think about what I really wanted to eat. For the second time that day, three thoughts entered my mind at the same time.

A root beer float from A&W.
A chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-a
French Fries…from Arby’s.

I started to laugh really hard for the first time that day. My sweet husband says, “What is so funny?” So, I told him the three things I wanted to eat. He smiled and said, “Whatever my baby wants to eat, she can have. Are any of those places nearby?” Luckily, all three were on our way home from the hospital. Finally, I was released from the ER with instructions to rest, ice my knee, and keep it elevated. With my new crutches, I went home to lay down the rest of the night.

My cute husband made a real gourmet dinner that night…Ravioli and Spaghetti-O’s. YUM! And, was so sweet when I sent him out at 8:30 at night to get me a knee brace.

Things are slow in healing, but I am doing great. I am very grateful for many things in my life. Thankful for sweet sisters in the ward who brought in dinners to our family. And, my adorable neighbor who brought me lunch the day after I fell. I’m also grateful for the cute gals who took care of my girls every day last week, so I could rest. And my dear parents, for bringing dinner on Friday for our family. And, my dear friend who helped me with my tomatoes so they didn’t go bad. And, my kids for helping out with laundry, dishes, and everything else. (My oldest says, “There is a lot to do when mom can’t do it all.”) And, my sweet neighbor for vacuuming my upstairs. And, especially thanks to my wonderful husband who did so much for me. Because of all their awesome service, I am doing so much better. I can get around on my crutches pretty well.

Oh, and I am grateful for a small kitchen. Why? Because I can pivot on my good foot and reach the counter, stove, sink, and the fridge is only a small step away. I can get around in it without crutches! Did I ever think I would be grateful for a small kitchen? Nope. The Sunday before my fall, we were talking about how it was too small for our family to make dinner together. Oh well, I guess it is all in your perspective.

***I even actually made dinner tonight for my family. And no, it was not Ravioli.

NOTE: After going to the hospital and finding out it was dislocated and there were no broken bones, we are still kidding each other and arguing about whether my knee was broken in the fall, or not. What do you think? Is a dislocation considered a broken bone?

Totally funny blog

2010-09-15T09:48:00.006-06:00

I just came across this blog and had to share it. It is a random blog, but hilarious! It tells you about the exciting life of the people who live in catalogs.

A few of my favorite posts:
This one...because it is totally something my husband would do
This one is by far one of my favorites! Be Prepared
And Life's Simple Pleasures. You never know what people would like to eat.

Scrapbook Pages

2010-08-26T08:36:00.004-06:00

So, it has been an insanely busy summer. Between reunions, vacations, swimming lessons, and visiting family, we have not been home much. Now that the kids are back in school, I am going to start blogging again. I will post about our summer, but I wanted to post some digital scrapbook pages I have done. I decided a while back that I need to get a scrapbook done of our year last year and get it printed. It has been a big project, but I'm loving it.

Anyway, here are some pages of last year:

My oldest on the first day of 5th grade. (Honestly, I can't believe he is in 6th grade now!)

My younger son went into cub scouts last year. He loves every minute of it.

This was taken in January 2009. She is such a joy to have in our family.

Another one taken in Januray.

This is one of my favorite photos. It is my girl with my mom. We were in Brighton walking along the lake, and my daughter wanted to hold Grandma's hand.

Did you notice? The last scrapbook page and the one of my cub scout actually are the same layout. I just flipped it around and then added girl colors instead of boy ones. That is why I love digital scrapbooking. It is easy, and once I have a layout I like, I can change a few things and create a completely new one!

A great read!!!

2010-04-20T20:45:00.003-06:00

My dear cousin, Sassafrass is a finalist in a blog contest. She wrote an amazing piece on her birth defect and her life. It is so beautiful to read about.

You can view her post and vote for her here
http://servicesoapbox.blogspot.com/
The voting is on the left side just a little ways down. You can also view her post by clicking on it on the right side. Come help my sweet cousin by voting. You can vote once a day for the next three days.

The other blog articles are wonderful to read too!

April Fools!

2010-04-02T22:26:00.005-06:00

For April Fools Day, I made a joke dinner for my family! I found recipes on allrecipes.com and familyfun.com for fun food.

By far the favorite of the evening was the "Kitty Litter Cake." It looked so gross! The kids laughed and laughed every time someone would say, "Can I have more poo?" Don't worry, I wasn't feeding them real poo, or even real kitty litter! It was crumbled Chocolate cake and yellow cake. Then, add some pudding. Topped with some crushed crackers. (Some of which were food colored green.) Then, I smashed some pieces of the chocolate cake to look like poo. They loved it! Today, they were still asking to eat the cake!

Our main course was "Cupcakes". Dessert for dinner? Yip! I made meat loaf in muffin cups, then "frosted" them with pink mashed potatoes! They looked so realistic. My baby was so excited to eat "cake". That is until she discovered it wasn't cake after all. She didn't eat any after that. But, my dear husband was so excited when he discovered they were meatloaf! Afterwards, he told me that when he saw the table, he was kind of mad that I would serve cupcakes for dinner. After a closer look, he realized they weren't really cupcakes. They were so yummy!

My three year old couldn't stop giggling through the whole dinner! She loved it! Especially asking for more poo. She said later, "Mom, this is the best funny dinner ever."

Another thing we had was Jell-o Juice. I made Jell-o earlier in the day, and had it set up in cups. Then, I put them on the table, along with a pitcher of real juice. My husband, who was so thirsty after work tried drinking it first. He couldn't figure out why it wouldn't come out! Then, he realized it was Jell-o. When the kids saw dad drinking it, the tried their own drink, only to discover it was jell-o! I had a great laugh at them all!

I also made everyone eat with my mixing spoons, instead of real forks and spoons. Here is a photo of my younger son eating his Jell-o with a big spoon...

And here are my husband and oldest eating with their spoons...

It was such a fun dinner! I'm so glad I could play a joke on my family!

Gross....

2010-02-22T14:29:00.004-07:00

You know what is really gross? When you go to take a drink of your 3 year olds chocolate milk from McDonald's and the unexpected happens!

See, we were running errands this morning and stopped at McD's for lunch. We picked up chocolate milk chugs, fries, and hamburgers. We ate the hamburgers on the way to pick up the boys from school. When we got home, we brought the groceries into the house, along with everything else that needed to come into the house.

We divided the fries up and each kid got a chocolate milk chug. My 3 year old and 9 year old were dipping their fries in the milk. (Yes, they really were. It wouldn’t have been as gross if the fries were being dipped into a Frosty from Wendy’s…YUM!!!)

Anyway, one by one, the kids finished up their snack. We didn’t have enough chugs for mom to get one, but I knew I could finish off one of the younger kids. Low and behold, my 3 year old declared she was done. Her chug was half full still. Yeah! Chocolate milk for mama!

So, I started to chug it down…yum…until one of the fries she dipped in it ended up in my mouth! She had lost it at the bottom of the chug, and mama chugged it!

My kids broke out in hysterical laughing fits! My 9 year old son was finally able to speak in between his full gut laughing and said she had sucked on each one before she dipped them. Yuck!!! I threw the fry out and decided I would be more careful next time I drink her milk when she had fries!

Fast forward twenty minutes….I’m putting groceries away and emptying the sippy cups we cleaned from the car when we brought the groceries in. I always try to pack sippy cups for my 18 month old. Well, I figured since there were two cups, they were both from this morning. Only, one of them was NOT from this morning. When I opened it up, the milk came out in a giant frozen milk popsicle stuck to the sippy lid! I realized that I had no idea how old that sippy was and how long it was in my van. I’m waiting for it to thaw out so I can wash it out. Oh, the joys of motherhood!

What experiences have you had that just grossed you out with your kids?

P.S. I really would love to hear your stories, so please write!

Being Mom

2010-01-29T08:16:00.002-07:00

I read this today and it totally described me. Plus, I needed to here it.

"That's me. Mom. Just like I always wanted to be. A mom. A super mom, no less. Five kids later I realize that being a mom is the hardest thing I've ever done, and super certainly doesn't happen very often. There're no All-State Honors, no A grades given, no pictures in the paper or stats on how many diapers you changed in one day. No rewards if you can get your kids to eat their veggies, and you know, there really is nothing to say that you are doing your job as a good mom or not. And so you get to choose... okay, good, great or awesome. Me, I'm probably just okay. That's a tough one for me to swallow when I've always excelled in everything I've done. So I've found that the key is to start each day and give it your best, knowing that your awards will come in happy smiles, hugs with sticky hands, and "I love yous" that melt your heart. And you know, I guess there really could be no better award than those big brown eyes looking at you with love. So though it is hard, very hard, I just take it one smile, one hug and ONE DAY AT A TIME."

Thanks Mom of Mix Kids!

Christmas skirts

2010-01-07T08:22:00.005-07:00

When I was almost 12, I started sewing lessons. I absolutely loved it! When we got married, my husband bought me a really nice sewing machine. It works great, and I love to sit at it and sew.

I love the excitement of getting new fabric. I love the sense of accomplishment in getting a project completed. Now that I have kids, I love the look on their faces when they know it is for them! One of my dreams growing up is that I would make clothing for my daughters. Well, I just started making skirts for them this year.

To celebrate Christmas, I made these adorable skirts for my girls! I found some free patterns online, adjusted them to my taste, and had a whole lot of fun!

I even made matching flowers for the skirt, and one for their hair.

When I was done, my 3 year old says, "Mommy, it is perfect." It made it all worth while.

A Happy Thanksgiving

2009-12-23T19:57:00.004-07:00

(I had this all written up, but forgot to post it in my busy life. So here it is...)

On Thanksgiving, we went to be with my husbands family for our lunch. It was fun seeing all of the family. I think every one was there! There was so much food! YEA! The boys had fun playing Rock Band and playing with their cousins.

Later in the day, we went to my parents house for dinner. My mom makes the best turkey and stuffing. She always has. After dinner, we watched home movies from when I was a kid. My dad has some great 8 mm films of us as kids that we watched on the kitchen wall. When we were younger, we loved watching us unwrap presents, then wrap them back up. All of our kids were kind of bored with the movies because it took longer to start the projector with a new movie than it did to actually watch one. They didn't think that wrapping back up presents was that great, either. I guess it is not as exciting as watching something on an Ipod or the TV.

While we were walking out of my parents house, my 3 year old and I went out hand in hand to the car. She looked up at me and said, “Mom, Merry Christmas.” (I think she meant Happy Thanksgiving because we were saying that all day.)

The next day, we put up our Christmas decorations. The boys and I went on the ladder and put up the outside lights. We put the tree up, and turned the lights on.

For our 3 year old, it was magical! She was amazed at the beauty of the tree. She was standing next to it, and I held her hand. She then told each of us to hold hands around the tree. She then said, “Everyone say, ‘We know. We know. We know.’” It is one of the sweetest things ever. I guess she learned it from a show somewhere. I loved it! It is fun to have Christmas be so magical. I know that this age doesn't last long, and soon she won't believe in the magic as much. For right now, it melts my heart!

Breakfast with Santa

2009-12-23T19:30:00.005-07:00

Every year for as long as I can remember, my mom does a Breakfast with Santa. We used to go to ZCMI and have it there, but it got too expensive for the entire family to go. So, we do it at my mom's house. A few Saturday's ago, we had a big breakfast of omlets (Thanks T&T!), then Santa came! He took time with each of the kids, and talked to them about something that happened to them this year. He even knew that my second boy was baptized. The kids loved it! My oldest said, "That must be someone from our family because he knows too much about us."

THANKS SANTA FOR THE FUN TIME!!!

Being one of the biggest grandkids (but not the oldest), he almost can't sit on Santa's lap!

Our second couldn't remember what he wanted for Christmas when he sat on Santa's lap. Mom had to remind him.

She was so excited to see him. I love it when Christmas is magical to the kids!

And, our baby wouldn't go close to Santa at all! She stayed in the other room with her dad, then when it was her turn, she cried and cried. So cute! (My neice in the photo didn't want to go to Santa either. She just wanted to stay on Grandpa's lap.)

Merry Christmas and we hope you all have a wonderful New Year!

Mason's Tribute

2009-12-08T10:51:00.006-07:00

Last year, two darling children passed away. They were cousins. Sweet Esther (8 months old) passed away in January, and dear little Mason (18 months old) passed away the following July. How hard it still is for each of their families. Dave wrote a beautiful tribute to Mason and his feelings about what happened here.

A Good Grief is one of my favorite sites. Molly is an incredible woman who also lost a child last year. There are many more wonderful stories on this site. Be sure to bring a box of tissues with you whenever you visit. You will be inspired, and hug each of your children a little tighter after reading it.

Mason and Esther-We love you and we miss you!

True Visiting Teaching

2009-11-20T11:17:00.005-07:00

One day in October while I was at the home of one of the ladies I Visit Teach, she mentioned she had apples on her tree she would not be able to use. She said she had picked all the ones they wanted, and asked if I would like to pick the rest and use them. Of course I would! I told her I would be back that afternoon with my kids so we could pick her apples. After school, we loaded up our small car (my husband had taken our van to work) with kids, buckets, boxes and a laundry basket. We drove to her house. In her backyard, she had one tree which was still full of apples. The kids picked the ones in the low branches. Then, we took turns climbing the ladder to pick apples. The girls even went up the ladder with moms help. We picked so many apples! We filled the laundry basket, a big box, and all the buckets we had brought with us! When we had got all the ones we could reach, we packed the car back up. My oldest decided to walk the block and half home because the car was so full.

I posted on Facebook about my oodles of apples. I asked what for ideas on what I could do with them. My friends overwhelmed me with their responses! I appreciated each idea, as I had so many apples and didn't know what to do with them. My cousins wife gave me tons of ideas from her blog at Momzoo. My dear Visiting Teacher replied that she had an apple peeler/slicer/corer from Pampered Chef that I could borrow if I wanted to. I figured that doing apples would be more fun with 2 people, so I had her come over to do apples together. We had so much fun. We spent hours making pie filling, apple butter, and dried apples together.

I also made applesauce, cinnamon apple syrup, apple jelly and apple juice. I bottled as much as I could, and put the rest in my freezer. I can’t wait until next year when apple season comes again so I can do apples!

Halloween Costumes

2009-10-26T16:26:00.004-06:00

This year I decided to make homemade costumes for my kids. They each picked what they wanted to be, then we got the patterns (on sale for only $.99 each), bought the material, and I spent time making them for the kids. Here is a photo I took when they were all finished. Didn't they turn out great?

My oldest is a dwarf, my younger boy is a sailor, my 3 year old is Tinker-bell, and the baby is a baby fairy. The baby's costume is the only one I didn't make.

We are excited for Halloween. In fact, my younger son wore his costume from the time we got home from church until he woke up this morning! 5 more days to go!

One more mouth to feed?

2009-10-20T23:45:00.005-06:00

Tonight my husband and I were watching a movie together. The kids had gone to bed and I was putting the finishing touches on 2 of the 3 Halloween Costumes I am making this year. I finished the last bits of the Tinker Bell dress for my 3 year old.

Then, I picked up the cloak for my oldest son. He wants to be a dwarf. (Personally, I think he is going to be the biggest "dwarf" ever, but that is what he wants to be.) Anyway, I picked up the buttons to sew on to it. One of them fell in between the couch cushions. I reached down to find it, and instead found a sock. So, I reached in again. Out came another sock. My husband asked what I was doing, so I told him I was looking for a button. As I did, out came another sock! Next came a top, followed by 3 more socks! My husband said, "No wonder why no one has any clean socks!" I said, "I guess we just have one more mouth to feed!"

Oh, and I never did find the button I was looking for. =)

What types of things does your couch "Eat" at your house?

Baby's growing up!

2009-10-14T14:59:00.004-06:00

My sweet baby is over a year old now. She is growing and learning more each passing day.

Today, her newest word is "Jesus". It is so cute!
She signs "mom", "eat", "more", and "ball".
Other words she says: Mom, dada, each of her brother's names, ba (ball), mo (more), kitty cat, dog-dog, and uh-oh

She loves books. She will pick out a book off the shelf and bring it to us to read to her. She loves books with animals in them. She also loves books with food in them and will pretend to eat the food off the page.

She moves all day long. She is walking around everywhere, and climbing on everything. I can't ever get her to sit still for very long. She loves to climb into her high chair and then wants me to take her out, only to climb up again. She loves following the other kids around the house, too.
Her fourth tooth finally came in and she has a smile that melts our hearts. Every time "dada" walks in the door, she gets so excited to see him! She slides down the stairs on her belly as fast as she can to see him come home and give him a "love". She loves to give kisses to all of us.

She loves to laugh at all of us, especially her dad. No one can make her laugh like he can.

Last night, I rocked her to sleep. This is something I haven't done in a very long time. I loved every second of it, knowing I should put her in bed, but also knowing that she won't stay thist small for long. I held her long after she was asleep stroking her soft blond hair and kissing the top of her sweet head. I love those moments...the quiet moments when you remember that they truely are angel's sent from heaven.

Got Wheat?

2009-10-08T22:19:00.004-06:00

Last week, we bought wheat. A lot of it. We have never bought wheat before. We have known for years that we should, and recently we decided we needed to get it. So, now there is over 500 pound of wheat in our garage. Needless to say, because we never had wheat before, we have never cooked with it.

We decided since we had it, (that much of it) we might as well learn to use it. So, we got my mom's wheat grinder. Her grinder is really old...well, older than me! But, it works awesome! It is a big wood grinder that was the best that 1975 had to offer. After getting out the dead weavils and dusting it out, we had ourselves a great grinder!

My mom told me that her mother gave her the grinder one year for Christmas. I found out that my Grandma loved to make wheat bread. She would save apple juice cans and bake the bread in them. I may try it someday!

Well, with the wheat ground, I started the dough for my bread and bread bowls.

It smelled so good!

The recipe I used was a very sticky one. It doesn't have any oil in it. Instead it calls for Liquid Lecithin. From the time I started mixing the ingredients, to the time it came out of the oven was only 1 hour!

I made bread bowls for dinner tonight. I also made a few mini loaves for my neighbors. (I borrowed a sifter from one neighbor and the liquid lecithin from another, so I gave them mini loaves as a thank you!)

Here is the finished product! I know that they are not the most perfect looking bread loaves, but they sure tasted great!

Conversations with a 3 year old

2009-10-07T10:42:00.002-06:00

Today I was talking with my 3-year-old while I was trying to clean the kitchen. I was thinking aloud about dinner and asked, “What should we fix dad for dinner tonight?” “Hmmm…” she thought for a minute. Her reply was, “Cookies! Dad likes cookies for dinner!” She is right…Dad likes cookies for dinner!

Come and play!!!

2009-10-01T15:30:00.002-06:00

Have you ever wondered about Digital Scrapbooking? Well, there are some awesome classes going on this weekend and I would love to see you there!

It is going to be so much fun! There will be beginners and advanced classes. So, something for everyone!!!

My last days of September

2009-10-01T08:22:00.007-06:00

Day 26:

Here is the photo I took at the General Relief Society Meeting for the LDS women. I went with my mom and sisters. It was awesome! I loved being in the same room as 20,000 other women who have the same values I do! And, being in the same room as the prophet of our church!
My favorite song we sang was "How Firm a Foundation". I loved at the end, the prophet, President Monson, waved to everyone! It was so cool!

Day 27:

Last Sunday morning our boys came in to wake my husband and I up. Then, the girls woke up. The boys brought the girls in our room. So, all our kids came in bed to snuggle with us! I had to get a photo. Don't we look like we just woke up? LOL!

Day 28:

We went to the gardens at Thanksgiving Point for Family Home Evening. It was in the evening after my husband got off work. The kids had so much fun playing in the water at the Ark, that we didn't even see the rest of the gardens that day. This is my younger son splashing around.

Day 29:

I took photos of my baby because she is 13 months. This one is my favorite. Today, tooth #4 finally came in. (Only 3 weeks behind the rest.)

Day 30:

We went to the boys school to volunteer today. My girls had fun playing on the giant teddy bears the one teacher had in her room.

The last few days...

2009-09-25T22:44:00.005-06:00

Day 23:

Our ward Picnic was this night. We had a YUMMY chili cook-off. There were so many kinds of chili I had a hard time deciding which one to try! I think my favorite was the Nachos-Yummy!

----That reminds me...One time we were on the way to grandma's cabin in Southern Utah and we stopped at the gas station. After we left, we decided we were hungry for nachos. So, we stopped at the next exit at a gas station. It was like 11 at night and they were closing up so we couldn't get any. So, we stopped at yet another gas station off the next exit. Man, 3 gas stations in 10 minutes. That's a memory that stays with you your whole life.

Anyway...the ward party was really fun and the desserts...delicious! My girls had fun riding the pony and my boys had fun with their friends.

Here is a photo from it. It is kind of a boring photo, but I'm sure glad they had drinks!

Day 24:

I was inspired today. I went to the craft/fabric store and just wandered around for about an hour. I don't get much time by myself and this was a choice moment. I found this while I was there:

My kitchen is done in cherries. It is just an ordinary milk jug painted black with a stripe of wallpaper border on it. SO CUTE!!!

Day 25:

After my inspiring day at the fabric store, I had to make something. When I was younger and learning to sew (at the age of 12), I always dreamed I would make dresses for my daughters. I thought I would make every dress they would wear. I even bought patterns to make dresses before I had any children. Well, my older daughter is 3 1/2 and I have not sewn her a single thing. I have made my boys costumes for Halloween many times, but nothing for my girls. I decided it was about time! I picked up this fabric and made matching skirts for my girls. I even made up the pattern. My older one was so excited. She danced and twirled all evening in it after it was done.

Sorry it is not a great photo. She was moving when I was trying to take her photo.

Photos

2009-09-23T09:22:00.006-06:00

My days have been busy, so I haven't had a chance to post these.

Day 20:

We went to my mom-in-laws house. She has a motorized wheelchair she uses to get around. I put my baby on it because I thought it would be fun for her. Well, you can see how much fun it actually was....

She did not like it at all. (Note: This is not a great photo, as I had to use the flash. But, I still thought it was a cute one!)

While we were there, she did have fun playing with Grandpa. There are some play yellow ducks that she found to play with. She liked picking them up and handing them to Grandpa. They both had fun playing.

Day 21:

I went to the Mount Timpanogus Temple to take photos of my sister-in-laws family. I took this photo of the temple. Then, used some Textures from Digital Scrapbook Memories to make it look antiqued.

Day 22:

This is the only photo I took yesterday. I was playing "Princesses" with my girls. They both dressed up in princess dresses and were playing in our castle. I took some videos of them, but no other photos.

72 hour kits & Sleeping girl

2009-09-19T20:46:00.003-06:00

Day 18:

My daughter fell asleep while playing the computer today. She loves to play Nick Jr, PBS Kids, and My Little Pony. I will be upstairs doing dishes and she will say, "Mom, I play a game?" I will tell her she can. Then, she will get on, Say "click the e?" (Internet Explorer). Then, "The star?" (favorites). And then navigate to the website she wants. The first few times she did it, I was surprised to hear Aurthur or Dora playing. I love the fact she can navigate the computer.

Day 19:

I got our 72 hour kits put together today! We need to get a few more things: a couple water bottles, a food packet for the baby, hand warmers for everyone, and some flashlights. Other than that, they are all done! Yea! I even know where they are in the house. Wahoo!

Day 17

2009-09-17T20:42:00.004-06:00

Day 17:

This is my oldest son. He recently discovered an absolute love for reading. He has always liked it, but the past two weeks he has loved it!

Too Cute!!!

2009-09-16T22:26:00.006-06:00

Day 16:

My sweet baby's hair is finally long enough to pull up and put bows into. I did it today, and it was so dang cute, I had to take some photos! I think the first photo is one of the sweetest faces I have ever seen.

And, this one she is crying, but you can see her one tooth on the bottom. It came in a few weeks ago, followed by 2 & 3 on the top. Her other bottom one has not poked through yet. We are still waiting.

AND...drum rolll....

I WON!!! On the Digital Scrapbook Memories website, I won a CD for doing this Project 30! I am so excited. I wanted it for my birthday, but now I'll get it early! I can't wait for it to come.

Days 14 & 15

2009-09-15T10:46:00.004-06:00

Day 14:
My boys are 8 & 10. They sleep in the same bed almost every night. We even built another bedroom in the basement so they could have their own rooms, but they still sleep in the same bed. =) The Star Wars pillowcase is from when I was a kid and Star Wars just came out.

Day 15:

This morning my husband left for work and took the boys to school. When they left, my daughter burst into tears. She kept saying, "I need kiss daddy!" It was so cute. I called my sweet husband to ask him to came back home after taking the boys to school. He did and she was so happy to give him a kiss! She didn't want to stop giving him a love. It was so cute I had to take a picture.

Beautiful!

2009-09-13T20:50:00.006-06:00

Day 13:

Don't you just love the smell of rain? I love going out right after it rains and smelling the air. It smells so fresh and clean! (Although, I don't like the smell of cleaning products that claim to smell like "Fresh Rain". They never get it right.) Anyway, after church today, I took the kids outside to play. It has been raining off and on all day. The sun was shining when we went out, and the weather was so nice! We could hear the rumble of thunder in the distance, and see dark clouds far off. But, at our house, it was beautiful.

My oldest wanted to make a game, so he brought out the paper, crayons, and pens to create it. While, the 3 younger kids played on the bikes, toy cars, skateboards, and whatever else they could find.

I looked in my backyard and saw this:

I love rainbows! They are so beautiful, I can't help smiling to myself whenever I see one. We have been blessed with so many beautiful things in nature. I need to take more time to enjoy the beauty of the earth. When I see a rainbow, I slow down and remember our Heavenly Father and the wonderful, beautiful things He has given us.

Lessons I learned

2009-09-13T13:16:00.007-06:00

Day 12:

You would think that being a mom for 10 years, and having 4 kids would have taught me something about giving little ones baths. Well, yesterday I learned some things while giving my girls a bath. I thought I would share them with you, so that you don't make the same mistakes!

Lesson #1
When the older child gets off the potty before a bath, make sure your 1 year old isn't walking nearby with a cup in her hand. Chances are, when the older one gets off, the younger one might think it is a great place for a cup. It may be placed into the toilet before it is even flushed.

Lesson #2
Make sure you check the baby's diaper for poopies before taking it off the baby. Chances are, it is dirty and it could possibly fall on the floor.

Lesson #3
When using 2 baby wipes at the same time, make sure they are connected together. Otherwise, your finger may go through the hole and get messy....Very messy.

Lesson #4
After you take baby out of the tub and dress her, shut the door so she stays out. She may come back into the bathroom and drop clean socks into the bathtub with her sister.

Lesson #5
Boxes of Macaroni and Cheese really don't belong in the bathtub. (Actually, I realized this lesson years ago, but I guess it is something I need to teach my baby. After the socks went into the tub, she came in again with a unopened box of Mac & Cheese and threw it into the tub with her sister.)

All my husband heard while I was trying to give them a bath was me saying "Ahh!" and "Ewe gross" and "Oh no!"

Nonetheless, the girls got a bath, and were clean before bed. (So was my finger.)

So you think you're a witch?

2009-09-12T12:16:00.006-06:00

Day 11:

Last night, we went to a show at Gardner Village called "So You Think You're a Witch?" They had a contest for each witch to see how Witchy they were. They were judged on their cackle, casting a spell, doing a talent, and answering a question at the end. It was such a fun night.

My sister participated as one of the witches. She ended up being crowned as one of the attendants at the end of the night. My R. was crowned as the Queen Witch! The two of them were so funny. My sister's witchy name was "Mildew Rose" and R. was "Hyperspeed Helga". I think the two of them stole the show! They will be at Gardner Village 4 times this October dressed as witches. They will also be there to celebrate Witches Night Out on October 16-17. They both commented yesterday that this would be a fun October.

I'm posting the first photo of the one I put on the Digital Scrapbook Memories Site. The next ones are other ones from the show last night. I had so much fun!

Here are those in my family who went to the show.

Me, "Mildew Rose", my girls, my husband, and 2 neices

"Hyperspeed Helga" & "Mildew Rose"

2009-09-10T21:51:00.005-06:00

Day 10:

I went grocery shopping today and got a bunch of canned goods. This is a photo of some of my groceries I got today. Smith's is having an awesome caselot sale, and I needed to stock up. Since I learned how to save money on my groceries, we have been not only saving money, but building our food storage at the same time! I love it!

I had the kids take these out of my car and stick them right on the driveway to take the photo. My baby was so excited for the corn I got. She had 3 helpings of it for dinner!

My Morning

2009-09-09T11:04:00.006-06:00

Day 9:

It was a crazy morning this morning. I had a PTA meeting at the boys school. I was rushing out the door and realized I needed to have my daughter use the bathroom before I left, so I was in a hurry to go. I got everything in the car and drove to the school. I didn't realize until I got out of the car at the school that I still had my slippers on instead of my shoes! Then, when I walked in, they were wrapping up because the meeting started 1/2 hour before I thought it did. I couldn't believe it. At least I made an appearance, even if it was in my slippers, right?

Today's Photo

2009-09-08T13:38:00.005-06:00

DAY 8:

Here is my photo of today. It is of the Digital Scrapbook Memories website. I spend a lot of time here. LOL!
They are holding a really fun Girls Night Out on October 3 from 6-9 pm. It is in Sandy at 9750 South 300 West. There will be Digital Scrapbook classes for all skill levels-from beginners to advanced. I attended it last spring, and it was SO much fun!

If you would like to learn to digi scrap, this is the way to do it! I can't wait to see you there!

My husbands battle today

2009-09-07T21:58:00.005-06:00

Day 7:

Here is my photo for today. My dear husband had a battle with the disposal this evening.
My disposal hasn't been working for three days now. It would just grind and not turn the blades. So, he pulled all my plastic dishes that came from under the sink, where we store them. Then, the battle began. (Notice his weapon in his hand.) We thought for sure the disposal was going to win and we would have to get a new one. He took the disposal out from under the sink, where it stays when it is tame. The stench reminded me of Star Wars when Hans says, "And I thought they smelled bad on the outside!" The entire kitchen stunk so bad.

With his almost all his tools on the kitchen floor, he couldn't find his weapon of choice... His ratchet. We looked through all the tools on his tool bench, but it was not there. The smell was killing both of us. He had to work quickly!

Finally, he found it in his tool box. The deed could be done. With a mighty twist of the sword, I mean ratchet, the disposal was fixed. When he finally got it to turn on and it spit yucky dragon smelling juices all over him, we knew the battle was almost won. (He said it tasted disgusting!)

He locked that disposal back in place. With the won the battle, and I now have a working disposal!

Honey, I love you!

Surprise today

2009-09-06T22:12:00.003-06:00

I was released from my calling in my church as the first counselor in the Relief Society Presidency. I am now the assistant cub master and a Family History Consultant. I am really excited. My boys are both in cubs right now, so I will get to work with them. And, I love Family History! I told my sister last week that if I could have any calling in the Church, it would be doing Family History. I can't wait to jump into both these new callings!

He didn't make it...

2009-09-06T22:00:00.005-06:00

Day 6:

So, this is a crazy, silly story. My husband did a movie for work 2 1/2 years ago. He used some clay-mation dolls in it. It took up every Saturday for 5 months. The figures were done with clay to resemble some of his co-workers. This one was in his office until last week when he put it into his car because he was moving offices. He left it in the car for a few days. Well, when we were getting in the car today, my son says, "The face is all melted on Dad's figure." I thought, "What is he talking about?" The car had got so hot, the head of the figure had melted all over the place. He brought into the house to show his dad and said, "One brave soldier didn't make it, Dad."

We laughed and laughed because now it looks like something from a grotesque science fiction movie.

Photos yesterday and today

2009-09-05T21:46:00.005-06:00

Day 4:

Here is my photo for project 30 for yesterday. I took my girls to the park to play in the morning. My baby loves the swings and the slide. My older daughter likes to play "Dora". She will tell me, "Mommy, I Dora., you Boots (pointing at me), and she Baby Jaguar (pointing at her baby sister)." Then, I have to "save" her from the water, the rocks, or whatever her imagination decides she needs to be saved from.

One more thing...my baby finally got her first tooth two weeks ago. It is on the bottom. Then, two days ago, her second one broke through. It is on the top. Today, she got number three, and it is also on the top. Her poor gums are so swollen because number 4 is almost there.

Day 5:
Here is my photo for today. My 3 year old loves the Temple. She begs me to drive past all the temples and we count them. I'm making her an "I love to see the temple" book for Christmas. I'm trying to get photos of her in front of different temple, then digiscrapping them to put into a small 5x5 board book. I'm going to put the words to the song on each page.

Project 30

2009-09-03T12:23:00.008-06:00

My favorite Digital Scrapbook site, Digital Scrapbook Memories, is doing a challenge called Project 30. They challenged each of us to take one photo everyday in the month of September. I decided to take the challenge and post all my photos here! Here are days 1-3.

Day 1:

I spent part of the day playing "dinner" with my 3 year old. We also did the hair on her ponies and Dora dolls.

Day 2:

I made dinner for my dear friend and her husband. I spent the afternoon mading homemade French Bread. The main course was Rice covered in vegies, cheese, and chicken. I make this for our family about once a week. We then put Asian salad dressing on top. It is like a rice bowl from Panada Express, but a heck of a lot cheeper. I also think it taste better. =) The plums in the photo are from my mother-in-laws tree. We picked a bunch of them last Saturday.

Day 3:

This is my baby. She is such a girl. She loves playing with the play food and holding purses. If you notice, there is a purse hanging around her neck. She will find a purse and walk all over with it on her arm or neck.

Anyway, that is my week so far. I'll put up the pictures I take the rest of the month for you all to see.

Army Camp 2009

2009-08-16T21:09:00.008-06:00

At the Camp Floyd State Park, they hold a day camp for the kids ages 8-11.

So, a few weeks ago, my two boys went to camp for three days. During this three day history camp, they learned all kinds of things. They got to go to a one room school house and pretend they were in school. They played games that kids would have played in the 1850's. Then, they "joined the army". They learned about life as a soldier, drilled like soldiers, played camp games, and saw a cannon fired. One of my boys went last year and he was a Corporal. He was in the "Union Army". He came home with a navy blue shirt and a Union hat. Since it was my younger sons first time going, he was a Private and they made him a Confederate soldier. He had a gray shirt and hat. They also got canteens, muskets, pretend money, and did crafts each day. As a parent, I wrote them each a letter which was delivered by a Pony Express Rider!

They were in Johnston's Army. This is the army that came to Utah and stayed out their in Fairfield. The boys told me one of their "supply wagons" was burnt up one day. They said the leaders set a cardboard box on fire to represent the wagon burning up.

On the last day, they have a battle which the families get to come watch. First they show us their army drills they learned like standing at attention.

Then, the battle begins. The Confederate Soldiers line up on one side of the field, and the Union on the other side. They shoot at each other with cap guns.

Can you tell which one is my youngest in this photo? (I'll give you a hint, he is the smallest kid.)

"Charge!"

My oldest was the first Union Soldier to "die" in battle. He laid on the field for a good 5 minutes until the battle was finally over.

Unfortunately, I lost my other son in the "battle" too, because all the Confederate Soldiers died, too. (I didn't get any great pictures of them all laying on the ground.)

Afterwards, they are given a certificate and advaced rank for the next year!

Then, they get to show their families around the park and tell us what they learned.

Grandma and Grandpa came to watch the "Battle" with us, too. Grandpa was in the military. We are very greatful he served our country and set a good example for my boys.

And my girl. He is her favorite person. She adores him.

This camp is the coolest thing. My boys love it! Espeically my oldest; who from the time he was 5 has wanted to be in the military when he grows up. They are already talking about what they are going to do next year for camp! I think it was the best three days of their summer.

Conversation with my 3 year old

2009-07-15T23:38:00.004-06:00

When we woke up in the morning the other day....

Daughter (while touching my hair softly): "Mommy, you have beautiful hair."

Mom (while touching her hair): "Sweetie, you have beautiful hair, too!"

Daughter: "And I have beautiful ears. And beautiful nose. And beautiful eyes. And beautiful mouth!" (Touching each one on her face as she said it.)

Mom: "Does dad have beautiful hair?"

Daughter (while looking at dad): "No! He has no hair!" She is right...he has no hair. LOL!

Happy 4th Of July!

2009-07-08T14:03:00.003-06:00

I love celebrating our Country's birthday! I love to see the fireworks! I love the parades! I love thinking about all the wonderful things our country stands for. I have ancestors who fought in many different wars to defend our country's rights, and fight for freedom. I am grateful for each and every one of them and their willingness to fight for freedom so I can live as I do today.
Thank you to each soldier who serves our country right now! Thank you to those who fought for my freedom:

My dad fought in Desert Storm.
Both my grandfathers and some of my great uncles fought in World War II-one of my great uncles died fighting for freedom.
One of my great grandpa's fought in the war of 1812.
I have many great grandparents who fought in the Revolunionary War.
Some of my great uncles marched with the Mormon Battalion.
I have a least on great grandfather who fought during the Civil War.

I love to learn the stories of each of these individuals. For me, it makes history become more real. I have never been very good at history. I just barely passed it in High School and College. For me, it was boring to learn. But, now that I know about my ancestors who lived during those times, it has become exciting! My husband loves history. He can tell you dates, names and places of many different historical facts. It amazes me how he can remember all those facts. My oldest is taking after his dad. One of his favorite subjects is history. I'm glad they love it so they can tell me more about it when I ask!

One of my favorite songs says, "I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me...There ain't no doubt I love this land: God Blese the USA!" I am truely proud to be an American. I love our country.

Here are some photos of my kids on the 4th of July:

My oldest raised his hand up for the photo. I asked him why. He said, "Hooray for the USA!"

My 3 year old picked a bunch of my Shasta Daisy's in the front yard.

This is the Place

2009-07-03T22:35:00.007-06:00

Every year, I make a list of things I want to do during the summer with my kids. Usually it ends up that the list is still just as long at the end of the summer as at the beginning because we don't do anything on it. This is the place has been on the list for years, but we haven't ever gone.

Well, we went to "This is the Place" a couple of weeks ago. It was so much fun! We went on a day when there was free enterance into the village and free ice cream! It was cold that day, and somewhat rainy, but we still decided to go. My mom came with us. We had fun doing all kinds of activities. The kids were able to ride the train, ride the pony, watch "little pioneer children" working, eat ice cream, pet the baby animals, play pioneer games, and see the indian village. We did all of it before the rain really started to come down.

Here is a picture of us with "Brigham Young." At the Brigham Young house, I ran into my good friend "J" from high school. It was really fun to see her and her kids! My kids had fun doing gunny sack races and tug-o-war behind this home.

My oldest loved the indian village. He studied Utah history in school this past year, and loved it. He and his brother loved the printers shop. They thought it was really cool to help make a newspaper.

My youngest's favorite thing was the ice cream. She had her cone in her hand. She had to grab mine in her other hand, so she had two. It was so cute! She loved eating the ice cream cones.

And, of course my 3 year old loved the animals. She loved the petting zoo, and would have spent all day there if I let her. She loved riding the pony, petting the bunnies and lambs, and see all the animals. Here is my favorite picture of her with the lambs....

I was glad the train drove us around so we didn't have to walk the entire way. The stroller wouldn't fold down, and ended up breaking while we were at the village. I just left it next to a garbage can, hoping someone would toss it for me.

While we were there, we ran into my husbands brother and twin sisters and their kids. We had no idea they were there! Right after the stroller broke, (we had just got off the train), we sat down to pet the bunnies, and I heard someone yell my name. I looked up and there was Uncle D! He was on the train we had just got off of and the train was leaving. When we got back on the train, we met them all at the petting zoo. My kids were so excited to see their cousins, especially little "L". He is such a sweet boy, and my kids adore him. The had fun playing with all 4 of their cousins.

After we did many of the activites, we decided to go to the car to eat lunch. Almost as soon as we got there, the clouds burst and down came the rains. Luckily, we were inside the car. The kids thought it was funny to watch the other people running to their cars in the rain!

(PS. If you were there, and got caught in the rainstorm that day, we are sorry. But, it was funny because we were not in the storm.)

And, last of all, don't you just love it when you see things like this from your kids:

Famiy Update

2009-06-05T23:42:00.003-06:00

So, I realize it has been forever since I have updated my blog....okay, so 2 months now. Life has gone by so fast. We have had birthdays, school is out, my calling in church is taking up my time....life is just crazy. Does the merry-go-round ever stop? I don't think so.

I just keep getting busier and busier trying to keep up with 4 kids. How did my mom ever do it with 6, I'll never know. Many people told me that if I had 3, I could have a whole bunch....not true. 4 definately is trying my patience. We now fill up a bench in church. We can't ride in our small car as a family anymore. I have LOADS of laundry to do all the time. ( I think this is because of 4 kids, but also, my boys are bigger, so the laundery takes up more room.) 4 kids means 4 times the dishes, and 4 times the mess in the house. 4 times the $$$. 4 times the teasing.

It also means, 4 times the hugs and kisses. 4 times the love. It means 4 kids get to greet daddy when he comes home from work. Saying prayers at night with 4 kids. 4 times the memories together. Right now, we have 2 great helpers (the boys) and 1 who thinks she is a "helper". I love having 4 kids, I really do. I wouldn't trade any of them for anything.

Well, off my tangent...We have done so much, and here are a few photos....

Our daughter turned 3. She had so much fun on her birthday. She got a doll, a doll bed, and a bunch of doll clothing. Here is her birthday cake that mom tried to decorate.

We went to a fair with my nephew recently. There was a guy there advertising his company Scales and Tails. He did a really cool show on reptiles and creepy animals. He asked for volunteers to help hold one of the snakes. My son and nephew volunteered. He had them come up and hold their arms out....

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Then, he brought out a really big snake...

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Notice how nervous my son is....
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He had them hold the snake while he talked about it.

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And, then they got to scream at it! They loved it!

Our baby had so much fun looking at everything that day. My neice took this photo of the two of us playing. She is getting so big, I can't believe it. She is now 9 months, and crawling everywhere. She started walking with her walker the other day. We have had the same walker with all our kids. I finally brought it upstairs for her to play with. The first time she stood with it, she started walking. Our oldest started walking at 10 months. Maybe she will do the same!

There was a petting zoo at the fair. The kids got to pet cows, goats, chickens, rabbits, dogs, and lambs. Here are my boys petting a calf.

And, my daughter was facinated with the goats. She kept feeding them. I love this photo of her looking at the goat. Makes you wonder what she is thinking about...

With our busy summer, who knows when I will update my blog again. Hopefully sooner than before!

A special visit from a special witness....

2009-04-06T22:12:00.005-06:00

On March 18, my grandfather passed away at the age of 89. He was such a wonderful brillant man. I have been working on his life history for a few years, and I am amazed at the things he did. I wish I had it done before he passed, but with four kids I am just busy. In the last few years, his health has gone downhill, especially the last few months. It has been hard to watch someone so amazing be so helpless. I am glad he is out of his misery, and in our Father's hands. I am also glad he is with his son and wife who both passed away years ago.

His funeral was a few days later, and my husband and I made a movie of pictures from his life. It was a time consuming project that kept me busy. Everyone at the funeral loved it. The viewing was wonderful. Family came in from all over the country to attend. My husband, boys, and 2 year old daugher didn't come because she had a fever. Then, that night she threw up so she stayed home with dad for the funeral. My sister picked up my boys the next day and brought them.

At the viewing just before the funeral, we had a very special guest come....the PROPHET! The spirit was incredible! I can't even describe the feeling when he came into the room. He and my grandfather were friends for years. They met on a cruise together back when my grandmother was still alive. President Monson spoke at her funeral 20 years ago. It was such a beautiful talk on resurection. It is wonderful to know that we can see our family and be together forever with them.

What an awesome opportunity it was to have him come. He stayed just a few minutes to shake hands with many people. Then, he had to leave. As he was almost out the door, my sister came in with her kids, my cousin, and my boys. They were just in time to shake his hand! I am so glad they got to see him. Here are some of the photos from the funeral that I scrapbooked.

He gave a few of the kids high fives!

Everyone had a smile on their faces! When he shook hands with my nephew, he leaned over and wiggled his ears!

This is of the casket with a flag draped over it. My grandfather served our country in WWII. Some Vets came to the graveside. They gave him a 21 gun salute and a bugler played taps.

It was such a wonderful day. I miss my grandpa, but I am glad he is well now and he is watching over me and my family.

February-What a busy month!

2009-03-09T22:35:00.004-06:00

Our second son turned 8 last month. He informed me "I want a Halloween birthday party." I said, "You can't do a Halloween party in February." He said, "Then, a Valentine's Day Party." I asked how we would do that. He said that we would put up hearts around the house. I talked him out of that one because it is too girlish. Finally, I figured out why he wanted a Halloween party...he wanted a party where everyone could dress up. So, we did a sports party and everyone could come dressed in sports gear. It was a lot of fun.

Our boys are in a play in a neighboring town. They had play practice many nights during February because the play starts soon. One Thursday night, I dropped them off. My husband usually picks them up, but was working late that night, so I waited for them. We were in the car and I decided to drive the girls around to see the Oquirah Mountain Temple. My 2 year old says, "I go in Mommy, please?" It was so sweet. I told her we were going to go into one the next day with daddy. She said, "Daddy...not here...at work." We left the temple and as we drove, she started counting churches. So, that is our new thing when we drive around...we count all the churches.

We went to the Draper Temple Open House the next day. It was just my husband, me, and the girls because the boys had play practice. Both girls were so good. Our older daughter kept looking in the pamphlet at the pictures and trying to figure out which room we were in. She loved the "cows."

The next week, came our baby's blessing and our son's baptism. Our baby is now 6 months old. We were going to bless her when she was younger, but things just kept us from doing it. My husbands mom has health problems, so it is hard for her to come down here. Then, with him losing his job, we decided we didn't need the stress. Then, Christmas came and life got really crazy. By that time, it was February, and we were going to do our son's baptism, so we deceided to do them both at the same time.

It was such a wonderful day. We had over 50 people from both our families come support us for the baptism and blessing. One family came all the way from Las Vegas. It was so sweet of each family to make an effort to come and show their support. The baby looked so angelic in her blessing dress. It was handmade by me when I was 16 and I used it for both our girls. Our son was so handsome in his white suit. My favorite part was his little bare feet! Everything was perfect that day.

Our 2 year old took a nap and slept forever because we had such a big day. So, I left dad at home with her and I took the boys to the temple open house. On the way, I asked them if they had ever seen pictures of inside the temple. My oldest said, "There are horned buffalo." (The oxen.) When we got inside, the feeling there was amazing. They were in awe of everything they saw. I told some of the workers that my one son got baptized that day. The congratulated him. I loved going into the sealing room and sitting there by my boys. By this time, we were hungry and they were ready to go. It's a good thing they had cookies for us afterwards! My oldest took 8 of them.

Later, I asked the boys what they remembered from the temple. My oldest talked about the font. My younger one said, "Everyone shaking my hand because I was baptized today."

I know it is almost the middle of March, but I had to catch up and tell you about all the wonderful things that happened in February! I'll post more photos later.

Oh Baby!

2009-02-19T11:43:00.003-07:00

My baby is almost 6 months old now. She is "army crawling" everywhere! I'll put her on the floor in one spot, with nothing around, except her toys. Within a minute or two, she will decide to go for something out of reach. (Usually something she shouldn't play with.) She will army crawl to whatever it is. Yesterday, it was the open box of Nilla Waffers. They were on the floor, far away from her. I was on the phone and heard her knock the box over. I didn't pay much attention, and figured she was fine. Then, she got really quiet. I looked down to see what she was into. She had somehow got one of the crackers out of the box and was chowing down on it as fast as she could! I tried to get it away, and she got mad at me! She was enjoying her food! I got it from her and put her on the floor again. A while later, she crawled to the box again. (I think she knew what was in it and wanted more!) She knocked it over and started hitting it with her hand, hoping something would come out! It was so funny.

My sister's house

2009-02-15T08:55:00.005-07:00

It's been a while since I updated my blog. Last month, my 2 year old and I were driving in the car. From the back seat, I hear her talking aloud. She said, "T.'s house." I asked, "What about T.'s House?" She said, "I go see T.'s house!" Both me and my sister T. didn't know my daughter knew her name.

So, the next week, we went to T.'s house. Her house is a 3 hour drive away. Both the boys played their Nintendo DS's the entire way...It was great because there were no fights! The girls both slept most of the way, so me and hubby had a great time talking.

My sister lives on 10 acres of land. My kids say she lives on a farm because they raise chickens in the summer and have horses and other animals. My daughter was so excited to ride the horses! We went up on Sunday, so we couldn't ride them that day, but I told her in the morning on Monday we would ride them. All day long, she would look at the horses out the window and talk about. That night, we slept in the room closest to the horses. When my brother-in-law woke up at 6:30 to feed the horses, she saw him in the yard. I was mostly asleep, and I could feel her climbing on me to look out the window. After a minute or two, "Mom....Horses! I go see horses!" Because it was so early, it was still dark outside, and it was only 15 degress outside. Well, after we all got up, had breakfast, and got dressed in very warm clothing, we went to see the horses.

Here are the photos.

My oldest on a horse....

Check out the fog...You can barely see the house next door.

Me and my 2 year old on the horse.

This is one of my nephews who came up, too.

And a neice...

After riding horses, helping my sister fix her computer, and spending all day with them, we went home. The next day, my 2 year old and I were in the car again. From the back seat I hear, "Horses, mommy." I asked, "What about the horses?" She replied, "I go see horses mommy! At T.'s house!"

Sign Language

2009-01-26T17:49:00.003-07:00

My cousin emailed me today and asked about how we taught our daughter Sign Language. She is 2 1/2 and knows around 50 signs. My boys know around 80 different ones. I email her back, and it was a really long email. I told her what DVD's I like for little kids, so I thought I would post it here for others to read!

"We use the Signing Time DVD's. My sister won a set of 3 and gave 2 of them to me. We also used to get Siging Time on the UEN TV station. It's the education station here in Utah. But they don't have Signing Time anymore. You can get the DVD's at Deseret Book, or online. I've also seen the DVD's on Ebay. The set we used for her was the first set. It had "My First Signs" and "Everyday Signs". They also sell ones like "My Backyard", "Zoo Train", and a bunch of others. I think that those ones are more for older kids-like 3-7. I would get the basic ones. Another sister has one called "Baby's First Signs." It is a really cute one, too.

As far as other great DVD's... The Baby Einstien DVD's are pretty good. I personally like the ones that teach the kids things like colors, shapes, and words. A lot of the Baby Einstien stuff is just a bunch of toys on the TV with music in the background. It totally annoys my husband that the lady is making money on video's she took in her basement. I know you can find these at Costco in a big set, but I wouldn't buy the set. Just a couple of the ones that actually teach things. On the front it say things like "colors" or "Shapes". We have the shape one and love it. I have a friend who has a bunch of these, and the one she had on the other day taught sign language. They were teaching signs like Post Office. Tell me, what kid at the age of 2 needs to know that sign? I think all kids need to know the sign for "more" and the other ones in Signing Time. In my opinion, if you want your kid to learn sign, you should do the Signing Time.

Leap Frog has some GREAT DVD's. The two we have are the Letter Factory and the Word Factory. Because of these awesome DVDs', my daughter knew all her letters and their sounds by the time she was 2. They are fun and totally entertaining. You can find them for around $10 at Target. "

I hope this helps her out, and any other mom's who are wondering what to do for their babies!

My kids photos with Santa

2009-01-09T14:51:00.004-07:00

I posted the photos of each family from our Breakfast with Santa party a while ago. I scrapbooked these photos of my kids and wanted to post them for everyone to see. I think they turned out cute.

This first one is of the baby. She fell asleep on Santa's lap, while sucking her thumb. It was SO cute! I took a bunch of pictures of her sitting in his arms, and this one is my favorite.

Here is my oldest on Santa's lap. He was so excited the night before. My mom does a sleep over for those who want to come, and then we have a big breakfast in the morning. After breakfast, Santa comes! Everyone was so excited so see each other and Santa!

Our Mouse loves Santa. He was excited to see Santa and find out if the real Santa came to Grandma's house. It was so fun to see him get excited about the Real Santa at Grandma's!

We thought for sure that our princess would be scared. Nope! She went up to him and gave him a big hug....more than once! It was so fun to see her jump up and down at the sight of Santa!

New Years!

2009-01-01T10:41:00.003-07:00

Happy New Year!

We had some friends come down yesterday for a New Year's Eve Party. It was a lot of fun. We ended up with 12 kiddos at our house running around! It was a mad house. We ate pizza and (my favorite) brownie sundaes. And after dinner, we played the Wii and card games. I showed one of my friends my favorite Digital Scrapbooking website, and she is very excited to start!

The boys were really excited to stay up until Midnight so see the new year come in. We usually make them go to bed at 8:30, otherwise they are cranky the next day. Well, when the ball fell on the TV in New York, they were dissapointed that there were no fireworks, or anything else exciting happening on the TV. Just a lot of "Ewe...they are kissing!" I asked this morning if they had fun, and Mouse said that the party was fun, but bringing in the new year was boring. Maybe we will have to bring them somewhere next year so we can see fireworks and make it more exciting.

I was reading another blog the other day, and her goals for the new year were great. I don't remember where I read it. She made realistic goals, that she knew would be obtainable. They were things like: "Gain ten pounds." And, "Collect more junk." "Get more disorganized." I laughed so hard when I read that. How often do we make unrealistic goals, and never reach them? =)

Anyway, have a very Happy New Year Everyone!

Breakfast With Santa

2008-12-28T00:37:00.005-07:00

We did Breakfast with Santa at my parents house the Saturday before Christmas. It was SO much fun! The "real" Santa came. Mouse said, "I'll find out if the real Santa comes to grandma's this year." I asked how he could tell. He said the ones who are Santa's helpers have "those things" on their feet covering their boots. Well, thanks to the real Santa, he did't have "those things" over his boots. Everyone had a great time!

Grandma, Grandpa, and Santa. Thanks Grandma for a fun time!

Our family with Santa. Notice that baby is asleep!

One of my sister's families. Her oldest daughter had to work. We sure missed her.

Another Sister of mine, and the favorite aunt of all 20 of the neices and nephews:

My brother's cute family. I love his youngest's smile. It cracks me up in this photo. What a cheeser!

One more sister and her 4 kids (all under the age of 5):

The last sister, with her husband, and 6 boys. The thought of 6 boys wears me out, but she does a GREAT job with them. They are really good kids.

And, this is my favorite photo of the kids. He is putting lifesaver's over his eyes. I laughed so hard when I saw this photo:

A Different Christmas Poem

2008-12-23T14:04:00.004-07:00

I got this in my email today and love it, so I thought I would share it. Let us all remember why we have our freedom and thank those who are away from their families fighting for the freedom of others. God bless the soldiers.

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
my daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
so I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
but I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
then thesure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
and I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
a lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,s
tanding watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
you should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift away
from the cold and the snow blown in drifts.

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line
that separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,
"Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers.
"My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
and now it's my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
but my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag
the red, white, and blue...an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
or lay down my life with my sister and brother
who stand at the front against any and all
,to ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
your family is waiting and I'll be alright."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
for being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
to stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
to know you remember we fought and we bled
is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
that we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

PLEASE, would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to ourU.S service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq

Merry Cookies to All!

2008-12-22T15:46:00.004-07:00

My cousin posted her neighbor gifts on her website here at Momzoo. So, I thought I would post what I am doing for my neighbor gifts this year. It is no where near as cool as hers, but I'm excited about it, and I think my neighbors will like it.

I made a Santa's Magic Cookie Mix for them. I put 5 cups of flour, 2 cups of sugar, and 1 tsp. of baking powder in a bowl. I mixed these until they are blended. Then, divided the mixture between 4 sandwich zipper bags evenly. (It is about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups in each bag.) Then I put colored candy sprinkles into a small zipper bag. I put a Cookie Mix and a bag of colored candy sprinkles into a paper gift bag. On it I attached the following poem/directions:

Magic Christmas Eve Cookies

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through your house,
You were scurrying around as busy as a mouse.
No time to make cookies for dear Old St. Nick,
You needed something, and you needed it quick.
What to your wondering eyes did appear:
A gift from us! There is no need to fear!
Place the special cookie bag mix in a bowl,
If you don’t, you might just get a lump of coal.
Add butter or margarine, only a stick,
To start these cookies for Old St. Nick.
Add one teaspoon Vanilla and one egg to the batter,
Before on the rooftop there will be such a clatter.
Roll into balls about 3/4 of an inch,
These cookies, you’ll find, are really a cinch.
Place the balls on an un-greased cookie sheet,
Gently press the dough flat, or they won’t be ready to eat.
Be sure to add some MAGIC candy sprinkles to the top,
Then on Christmas night, Santa will be sure to make a stop.
Bake at 350` for 11-13 minutes, no more,
Then you will have plenty of magical cookies galore.
So, we say to you as you finish your cookies this night,
“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”

The nice thing about these neighbor gifts, is you can make them early and then when the other neighbors drop off their gifts to you, you can give them out. I wasn't that organized this year, and didn't get them done early, but they are now ready to take around to our friends!

School's out

2008-12-21T22:57:00.003-07:00

My kids came home on Friday after school. It was their last day until January. We had a Christmas party the next day, it had snowed a lot, and they were out of school. Let's just say....they were wired! When my kiddos get excited, they get on each other's nerves. After an hour and a half of arguing, I called my mom and asked, "So, when does school get back in session?" Later, the settled down a bit, and went sledding.

Well, I am really excited for Christmas, too. I can't wait for Santa to come and the kids to open their gifts. It is always so much fun to see their faces as they open their presents. I am hoping to take the kids sledding and take photos of them. And, my husband has the day after Christmas off, so we can spend time together as a family.

I can't believe December 25th is this week! Time just goes by too fast. Hopefully, I'll be ready for Christmas that morning!

The School Store

2008-12-17T22:30:00.004-07:00

My two boys took some money to school today to buy Christmas gifts at the school store. While we were on the way home, I asked them if they had fun buying gifts. My oldest says, "I bought some presents and some candy, but I ate all the candy. Then I got a stomach ache." I thought that was so funny. I asked him how many pieces he bought. He said, "About 15." So I don't know what kind he bought, but whatever it was, he shouldn't have eaten all of it. LOL!

First Day of Real Snow!!!

2008-12-16T12:30:00.006-07:00

We got about 5-6 inches of snow last night! The kids were so excited. They woke up and had to go play before school started. I grabbed the camera and took pictures so that I could post them and scrapbook them. Isn't the baby cute in her carseat and red hat?

This is my nephew who slept over last night.

Don't you just love her red cheeks and nose? She was so excited to make a snowman, but they just played.

Mouse had fun throwing snowballs at everyone.

I continue to be amazed at how big my oldest is getting. He is growing so fast. He had fun playing with everyone and throwing snowballs, too.

Mouse Tales

2008-12-11T22:38:00.003-07:00

I was talking to my 7 year old after school today. I asked him how his day was and what he did. Then, we got on the conversation of Christmas. I asked him if he was excited and what he wanted. He said, "An Ipod, a Nintendo DS, and some DS games." I told him that was a lot to ask for and asked if he would be sad if Santa didn't bring the DS. He said, "That would be okay because Christmas is not about the toys and decorations on the tree. It is about family, and I love my family." I asked him where he learned that and he said at school. I thought it was really sweet. I am so proud of my Mouse and the fact that he is so thoughtful.

A few things....

2008-12-09T22:39:00.003-07:00

Well, our Thanksgiving holiday was wonderful! The dinner I made on the Wed before Thanksgiving Day turned out almost perfect. Honey was so excited, he kept calling me all day to see how it was coming. He got home just in time. My sister and nephew also came over to spend it with us. It was so much fun!

I was going to do the kind of rolls that "pop" out of the can from the refridgerator section of the store. During that day I realized I had time to make rolls and I made my Grandmother's Orange Bow Knot Rolls. They were SO good. It was fun to think of her while I made them. She passed away when I was 11. I am working on her personal history. It has been an ongoing project for a few years now, but I have narrowed it down so that it should be done sometime early next year. She was a wonderful woman and I have been able to get to know her through doing this.

Anyway, off my tangent...So the rolls turned out great, the turkey was moist, and the stuffing was awesome. The next day, we went to both our families to visit. The dinner on Thanksgiving day was WONDERFUL (Thanks to everyone who brought such good food)! We had fun seeing everyone.

Instead of shopping at the stores on Black Friday, we shopped online. I can't tell you what an awesome experience this was. No lines. No waiting. And, we found exactly what we wanted! Oh, and if you are wondering, my dad did not go out at any insane hour that day, either. Nope, he stayed home, warm in his bed until he had to get up for work. (Honestly, who makes people work other than retail the day after Thanksgiving.)

The kiddos are doing good. Baby has started to roll over. Yes, she is only 3 1/2 months. I couldn't believe that she started to rolls from front to back and back to front before she was 3 months. We keep telling her she is too little, but she doesn't believe us. I guess in our family she has to grow up fast. The boys only have 7 more days of school and then they are out for Christmas break. Then, the fun and maddness begins until January when they go back to school.

Well, enough of my ramblings. Goodnight. (Or goodmorning if you read this tomorrow.)

Thanksgiving Dinner

2008-11-25T16:31:00.004-07:00

I love Thanksgiving Day. My mom's turkey & stuffing are the best, and my dad's homemade gravy is to die for. I love to pile my plate with all the yummy food...pile it high and then go for seconds. I love to remember all the things I am thankful for. I love to relax and chat with family after we eat. Both mine and my husbands parents live within 3 miles of each other. Every year, we have family on both sides visiting from out of town for Thanksgiving, who we don't see very often. It is a fun holiday to see them. Usually we sleep at my parents house that night and wake up early to catch the great sales the next day. My dad loves to get up early and get whatever free thing Shopko or Office Depot is giving out to the first 100 customers through the door. He loves to get computer gagets for free with the mail in rebates. One year, we got a light for our USB port, a "hot chocolate" heating plate for the USB, a mouse, and a massager for the USB. Honestly, the only one we use often is the mouse for our laptop. We no longer have the laptop anymore, but you never know when you are going to need one of these things. Plus, they were free! (If we mailed in the rebate for them. LOL!)

Enought of the sidetrack...."Honey" has been begging me for years to have Thanksgiving at our home instead of going to it with family. Because both our families do dinner, and dinner is already being made, I have not wanted to do this. After our fun Halloween dinner, I decided we need to do nice dinners like that as a family more often. So, we are doing a Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow night. (I picked Wed so that we could still go north for the Thanksgiving day.) I am going to make turkey, stuffing, stuffed mushrooms, rolls, jello, and all the other good things you have for Thanksgiving Dinner. I know the gravy won't be as tastey as my dad's. I also know the turkey probably won't be as moist as mom's. It sounds crazy to do all this work here, and then have the dinner the next day, too, but I am excited to do it! It will just be the six of us and my single sister. I am going to have my kiddos help with all the food, too. One of those "character building" things mom's do sometimes.

Then, we are going to visit my husbands family for dinner on Thanksgiving day. It is going to be a very fun holiday.