Jacobson SIX

And I Thought it Could Never Be Done!

2011-06-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

Back in December I made the decsion that I was going to run a half marathon. Keep in mind the longest distance I had previously run was a 5K. I bought a treadmill (used) and started my preparations. I would run 3 days a week, one of those days would be a longer run. My long runs started at 3 miles and I worked my way up to 10 1/2 miles. When the weather got nicer I started running outdoors (and vowed I would never set foot on the dreadful treadmill again.) A few weeks ago I started having some major pain around my right hip(ish). So a few weeks before the race I thought it best to take it easy. At first that meant still working out but not running. Then when I still wasn't feeling better...lets just say I didn't do any form of exercise the whole week before.

Yesterday (the day before the run) I had one of those days, where I kept saying to myself, "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!" I was so emotional. I would start tearing up everytime I even thought about it.

The day of the race: I woke up at 3:00 am to ready myself for a 3:30 am departure. My friend Kelli and her hubby picked me up. We drove to the mall, parked the car and hopped on a bus that took us to the starting line. (I am so thankful to my friend Kelli, not only did she encourage me to run the race in the first place, but she distracted me the whole morning with great conversation so I wouldn't be focused on the torture that awaited me.)

Me, Lesli, Kelli, and Shilo

We got to the starting line at 4:40...the race didn't start till 6:00. So we stood around a campfire trying to stay warm. We ran into some other folks from the ward to help keep us company. And then at 6:00 we were off. The start of the race was great, other then the pain in my hip, I was feeling great. I made it to the halfway point in 1 hour and 4 minutes. (Which is excellent time for me.) But then it got harder to keep running. At the 8 miles point I grabbed some gatorade at a refresment station and it made me so thirsty, those next 2 miles were horrible. I just wanted some water so badly. At about mile 11, I felt like I wanted to burst into tears and just sit down in the middle of the road. But of course I didn't and I kept "running."

This is me about to finish. I know it's not pretty!

I finished the 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 33 minutes. The last half was much slower then the first. As a matter of fact 1473 people finished the half marathon before me, and 4 insane people fisnished the full marathon before I finished the half. But I did it! I set a goal and I reached it.

Here I am after eating myself a creamie.

Me with the kiddos.

After it was all done I of course was in pain, so I came home and took some Advil and a nap. Now I am showered and...still in pain. Hopefully I will be fine by Monday morning, because its YW Camp!

Already several people have asked if I would do it again, I'm not sure if I can answer that one just yet. The training is so time consuming and with the kids still being young, it is really hard to find the time to properly train. But maybe next year I'll have forgotten about the torture I just went through. You never know.

Oops, I forgot Sydney

2011-06-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, I didn't really forget her, but I did forget to post on the bloggity blog about her birthday. So here are some pictures from the event.

I made her dress a while back for our last trip to Disney so I thought it would be a fun party to do. Several years back my mother-in-law gave me Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs nutcrackers, so they were perfect for decorations. For the decor, I also made tissue paper pom poms and homemade garlands. I made the carmel apples for party favors. We had sandwhiches and salads for lunch. There you have the quick version of the party.

Disneyland, again!

2011-05-30T15:53:00.000-07:00

We went to Disneyland again and of course we had a great time. (How could we not, it is the most magical place on earth.) The kids were great. Tanner and Isaac just love riding the thrill rides. Kevin and his dad took them to Knotts Berry Farm one day so they could ride some real roller coasters.

This trip the parks were more crowded then we are used to, but we still managed to do everything we wanted several times. The wait to visit the princesses was 90 minutes long, but we managed to work it in around lunch and we took turns waiting in line while the kids were eating. Otherwise the lines were manageable. While we were there we realized that Sydney has turned into quite the diva and that we have our work cut out for us so that she doesn't turn into a spoiled brat!

We have one more trip planned to Disney in September and then we will be taking a break. Up next on the vacation list...an Alaskan cruise (maybe). Still trying to decide if we can afford it.

The Dam Valley of Fire

2011-05-28T15:43:00.000-07:00

On our way to Disneyland we decided to go the scenic route and swing by Valley of Fire and the Hoover Dam. We had never been to Valley of Fire and some day when it is not windy I would like to go back. Seriously the wind was horrific. We packed a picnic lunch and everytime I took a bite I would crunch on gritty sand. Yuckers! The wind was so bad that we only did one hike, so like I said I would like to go back someday and really see it.

We have been to the Hoover Dam before. Last time we were there, they were building an enormous bridge and I really wanted to see it. Little did I know that you could actually walk across it. I knew we were safe, but that still didn't stop me from being terrified that one of my kids would find a way to fall to their death. We survived to tell the tale.

Tanner's Rock Band PARTY!

2011-05-26T08:55:00.000-07:00

As we started getting closer to Tanners 9th birthday, I attempted to bribe him with $100 dollars to avoid doing his birthday party. He was fine with that...but then I started feeling quilty. So a few weeks before I decided to do one, but not get carried away with it. He likes Rock Band, so I thought that would be perfect. Easy enough.

I went to the internet to look for cake ideas. There were no simple Rock cakes out there. So I decided to go with a guitar. I have never done a carved cake before. And with all the fondant, it kinda took a long time.

I didn't do a ton for decor. Just hung some stars and guitars (inflatable) from the ceiling. Put the goody bags in the center of the table and threw some star confetti all around.

We had pizza and IBC Rootbeer for dinner. Cake and ice cream for dessert.

For entertainement, I split the kids into 2 teams. Each team had to come up with a band name and make a rock poster. Then we headed to the basement for Rock Band. Each team played 4 different songs and I kept score. Then each team played the same, a head to head competition. I was really worried about some of the songs on Rock Band, whether they were appropriate for 8-9 year olds, so I decided to buy Lego Rock Band thinking the songs would all be kid appropriate. They were not. Which was very frustrating. O-well, another party done. I have decided 9 years is the cutoff for parties at my house. They just are not as fun to plan when their older.

Yearly Zoo Trip

2011-04-16T15:39:00.000-07:00

On Monday we took our almost annual Spring Break trip to the Hoggle Zoo. The kids all had a great time. They enjoyed being outside seeing the animals. Lots of excited faces!

Here are some pictures of the animals. They are doing some major construction at the zoo and as a result several animals were "missing." But there was still plenty to see.

The kids enjoyed a ride on the carousel, especially Sydney, she was all smiles.

When we asked the kids what their favorite thing at the Zoo was, of course they said the playground. Well we don't need to go to the Zoo for that!!!!

Michigan!

2011-04-15T15:15:00.000-07:00

Last week I was in Michigan on a "family history" trip. Sydney and I jumped on a plane and met my sister Andrea and her daughter Anna in Detroit. We spent our first evening with Grandma Chiapelli looking through old photo albums. My sister was busy taking pictures of pictures. It was great looking at pictures of when she was younger but also she has several pictures of me when I was young as well. We also got to do the photo album thing with my Pop Pop in Petosky. I left my fancy camera at home, so I depended on my sister for taking most of the pictures, but here are some I do have.
Here are some pictures from some of the visits.

We don't get to Michigan very often, so it was great to see so people we haven't seen in 8 years and some even longer then that. Grandma Chiapelli, Uncle Larry, my mom, Kym, Dana, Jeffery, Matty, Alex, Pop Pop and Grandma Rosemarie, Aunt Jean, Uncle David and Aunt Mary, cousin Becky and her 5 kids. It was great seeing so my family and it makes me want to make more efforts to get out their more frequently.
Here are some pictures from my Pop Pops house. I have so many great memories from his farm!

Here we are goofing around at the outhouse and checking out the old cars and the airplane.

Here are some other random pictures. On our way up north we stopped in Frankenmuth (a little German town) for lunch at the Bavarian Inn.

On the way home, we had to leave for the airport at 7am so my sister would be on time for her 10 am flight. We got to the airport at 8 am and when I was checking in they were asking for people to be bumped from my flight, so I said I would for $800 credit. So Sydney and I hung out in the Detroit Airport till 5:30 pm. Good thing it is a nice airport. we road the train, hung out in the bookstore, played in the play area, and of course did a little eating. About and hour into our flight home, Sydney threw up all over me and her seat. Lets just say the next 3 hours were very pleasant!!!
All in all a great trip.

Mission Reunion April 2011

2011-04-14T15:14:00.000-07:00

On April 1st was the Temple Square Mission Reunion and as one of my last catering jobs (for awhile) I agreed to cater it. I had originally planned something a little bit fancier, but I was leaving the next day for Michigan, so I had to tone it down. I still think it turned out nice. We had gourmet sandwiches, fresh fruit, nuts about berries salad, sesame pasta salad, and cupcakes for desseret.Here is everyone who was there. I wish I could name everyone, but I'm embarrassed to say I can't. (Not really). It was fun to see some old friends, but I spent a lot of time in the kitchen which was just fine with me.

Here I am with my mission president. President (Rusty) Snow!

I was horrible with taking pictures. I took lots of the food, but that was about it.

The Truth Hurts

2011-02-24T22:10:00.000-08:00

When I started blogging, I thought I would use this blog as a journal, but really when it comes down to it, writing my personal thoughts was something I didn't really want the world (or all 2 people who read this) to see. I only write about the "good" things so everyone out there thinks that I really have it all together, well I don't. So tonight I am going to break from my usual type of blog entry, so here goes my thoughts.
Tonight as I was getting ready for bed my hubby says to me, "Noah switched up his prayer tonight." (He typically says the same thing every night.) "He said his usual but at the end he said,'Please bless mommy to not be mean."
Where to start, first maybe Kevin that would have been better to have kept to yourself (not really, like I said the truth hurts). After crying for an hour I decided to come blog for a few reason. 1) I need some advice and 2) I want to be better, so maybe if I put it out for the world to see, it will give me some accountability.
Often times my kids will say to me, "You are so mean, I want to live with so-and-sos family!" Now how much of that is kids being kids and how much of that is actually that I'm really MEAN. I really don't know the answer to that.
I feel like I do a lot for my kids. They are the center of my world. I certainly don't feel like a slacker mom, but I yell, apparently a lot more then I should.
Every morning and after school we have a specific routine that we go through...breakfast, dressed, piano, homework, etc. And every day i have to nag nag nag my kids to get it done and when it doesn't happen, I yell yell yell. Do you have some system that works for you, seriously I need some help.
Is it possible that I put to much pressure on my kids? Am I too strict with piano schedules and just routines in general. I feel like the things that I do (which often make me mean) are good things. No tv/video games except on Saturdays, practice piano everyday for 30 minutes, read do your homework, etc.
That is only part of it though...sometimes if I put to much on myself then my stress will cause me to be more demanding with them. This is a BIG part of why I am "retiring" from catering. My kids are the ones that suffer. I have a demanding calling at church (which I love) and I self inflict a lot of other unnecessary stresses. Are the YW really going to suffer if they don't get a cute handout every lesson-NO, are my kids going to care if I make them a birthday cake or buy one from Wal-Mart-NO. (Please note, just because I am saying this out loud doesn't mean I am going to stop doing these things.)
Recently Elder Uchtdorf gave a talk entitled "Love is really spelled T-I-M-E" and I think that is the key for me. Instead of sitting on the computer researching how to the throw the best Snow White party for Sydney's 2nd birthday, maybe just maybe I need to sit and help Noah do a puzzle or jump and the tramp with the boys, or push Sydney in the swing. I'm not saying that I never do these things, but maybe I just need to do it more often.
This is the career I chose. To be a mom to these kids. I need to be better, do more, yell less. I really don't want to fail at this job. It is too important, so tommorrow (and everyday after) I am going to try. If you have any thoughts, tips, etc. that might help, please please let me know. I'm serious, it is important to me.

Sometimes I still cater...for now

2011-02-22T14:18:00.001-08:00

I catered a party back in January and never posted about it, but since I will be "retiring" from catering at the end of April, I thought I should post some pictures. I did this job with my friend Amara, we split it half and half. That was kinda nice, only half the work and half the stress.
Here is what we served:

Pork Medallions with Apple-Cranberry sauce (probably could have described that better if I had made it).

Tuscan rolled chicken with feta, basil, and sundried tomatos.

Roasted Potatoes

Balsamic grilled vegetables

Butterflake rolls and salad with strawberries, cashews, onion, fried wontons with a strawberry vinegrette dressing.

3 Layer Chocolate Cake

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

I don't typically make desserts myself (I buy them from people who specialize in that sort of thing), but this time since this event was for only 60 people I thought I could handle it. I made the cheesecake and Amara the chocolate cake, both were very delicious. It was a little warm in the kitchen so our whipped cream flopped a bit.

I unfortunatly didn't get a picture of any of the center pieces we made, which kinda stinks because they were lovely and I spent hours spraying curly willow branches.

Anyway...the reason I am retiring is that I have other things (4 kids, husband, church calling, etc.) that are presently ranking higher on my priority list. Maybe when the kids are older, maybe not. I am catering my mission reunion at the beginning of April and a wedding at the end and that will hopefully be it for awhile.

SUPER NOAH

2011-02-20T16:16:00.000-08:00

On Friday we had Noah's Birthday Party. We decided on a SUPERHERO theme (by we, I mean I gave him a few suggestions and he got to pick which one he wanted). I really was trying to stay away from any specific Superhero, so coming up with a cake was tricky. I think it turned out cute, but it was a lot more then I wanted to do. Plus it was crooked...that is why I took the picture at that angle. I think the goody bags turned out cute, simple. Inside were some superhero gliders, figures and stickers all purchased from Oriental Trading. The capes, this is the whole reason I wanted to do this party...I saw a picture of a bunch of bright colored superhero capes and I wanted that. So they were super easy to make and only slightly time consuming. I kind of lost my excitement with the decorations, just some crepe paper and balloons in yellow, red and blue.

For the games we started with a game called Saving Superman. I had my older son Tanner lay on the ground with a Superman cape on. I told the kids that Superman needed our help. There was kryptonite (rocks painted green) everywhere and we need to pick it all up and put it in a lead pouch (made out of construction paper-very fancy). The kids ran through the house and picked up all the rocks.
The next game we headed to the basement for the Bat Cave. I put dark colored blankets over our pool table and hung some construction paper bats. I purchased some bat rings from OT and painted them 6 different colors. The kids would take a flash light into the cave and grab a green and red ring (or whatever colors I said).
We headed back upstairs for some Bean Bag Wham (I know my game names need some help). This was just a simple bean bag toss game. My 8 year old son needed to make a bean bag to pass off some cub scout requirements, so I put him to work. This game cost nothing to do and it was a huge hit with the kiddos.
Next we went outside for some Villian Blaster. I got silly a can of silly string (renamed and labeled Super String) from the Dollar Store for each kid. I also had 6 helium ballons with pictures of "villians" on them. The kids used the string to blast the villians. They all had fun but many of the 3-4 year olds struggled to push the sprayer.
We ended our games with the pinata.

Christmas is Over...but I'm not Done Blogging about it.

2011-01-18T14:55:00.000-08:00

These pictures were taken Christmas morning. We had to kind of rush through the morn, because we left our house at 11 am to fly to Pennsylvania. We still wanted to keep with some usual traditions, so we still took lots of pictures and had some yummy breakfast scones. The kids got to play with their new toys for about an hour and then we headed out.

The highlight of our trip to Pennsylvania for me was definetly the girls day out day trip to NYC. We had a great time and laughed ALOT. We had lunch at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill, we saw the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes, ate cupcakes from Crumbs, rode the subway and enjoyed lots of talent there, shopped, ate roasted almonds and hot dogs from the street vendors, and of course we modeled in front of a big blowing fan in the train station. It was a cold day, but we all had a blast.

Because the weather was so cold, we tried to think of some fun things to do indoors to keep the kids entertained. This was a highlight for the boys.

At about 9pm on New Years Eve we decided to celebrate with the kids. They marched around the house banging on pots and pans. They thought that was so fun. And we thought it was fun that they went to bed at 9 pm.

Well I think that wraps up all our Christmas fun. We had a really great trip to PA, it was one of those trips that make me really wish I lived there, close to my family.

Christmas Recital

2010-12-22T19:04:00.000-08:00

The boys had their recital and of course mama (and dad) were really proud. They worked really hard and their hard work really paid off. They complain a lot when I ask them to practice, but in the end (I think) they are glad that they did. Tanner has been taking lessons for 2 years and Isaac for 1 year.

They had a lot of fun at the recital because a lot of their friends take from the same teacher. It was fun to see all the kids play.

Here is Isaac playing Silent Night.

Here is Tanner playing We Three Kings.

Here is Isaac playing Frosty the Snowman.

Here is Tanner playing Up on the Housetop.

Nevermind...after several attempts and way to much time, I have given up trying.

(After uploading all of these videos, I am convinced that Blogger needs a new system....it really should not take hours!!!!)

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas

2010-12-21T15:46:00.000-08:00

Here are all the kiddos dressed for Christmas Sunday. Look at the 3 (little) men and a lady. Sydney loves to dress as a princess.

After church on Sunday the kids got to make their annual Gingerbread house. This year I let them have complete control of the decorating, hence the chaos all over the table.

Noah had his preschool program on Monday night. He was so cute singing all the songs.

After all the snow we got, we thought it would be a perfect day for sledding. The kids had a blast. It is nice to be able to be out in the snow and not freeze.

This wet snow was perfect snowman snow.

The kids spent the next several hours enjoying the snow.

We still have lots of Christmas fun to come...Wednesday: Tanner and Isaacs Recital, Friday: Jacobson Family Christmas, Saturday: CHRISTMAS and we leave for Pennsylvania.

My Birthday is Done!

2010-12-14T09:21:00.001-08:00

Yesterday for family home evening, we put together all 35 (plus 3, so 38) hygiene kits. It was such a great experience for our kids as we sat all around the table and filled the bags. They asked lots of questions about why people would need them and then realized how blessed they really are because they don't need them. We had to explain to them that sometimes if there was an earthquake or other disaster, we may be in need of a hygiene kit. Tanner and Isaac were quick to point out that we have our 72-Hour-Kits, so we would be fine if there was an emergency. (Note to self...add hygiene things to 72-hour kits, sorry boys we would have food and water but no toothpaste).

Here they are all packaged up. Don't they look fun.

Today I dropped them off and from there they will be shipped off to where ever they are needed.

This has been such a great experience for me. Not only did I get to participate in this humanitarian project, but I also felt the love from so many wonderful friends and family. Everyone was so generous and that was a bleesing to see.

So thank you to Kay, Tina, Amara, Kim, Lisa, Joanne, Sandra, Brenda, Becky, Ceci, Kelli, Kris, Jaime, Kelli, Kristy, Pam and Elna. You all made me feel special and helped with this great cause.

I still need A LOT!

2010-12-07T16:52:00.000-08:00

Incase you care, this is what I still need for my hygiene kits:

0- 1 gallon ziploc bags
0- Unbreakable combs (they have packages of 12 at Walmart for $2.50)
2- Toothbrushes
0- Tubes of toothpaste (6-8 oz.)
0-bars of soap (4-5 oz.)
0-Handtowels (not dishtowels or wash clothes) They have these at Dollar Tree.

I'm getting closer, thanks to so many people. If you have gotten something I no longer need, no worries I'll just make more kits or donate them to the humanitarian program.

Happy Birthday to me....almost!

2010-11-25T19:04:00.000-08:00

A few months ago a friend of mine decided to put together 40 humanitarian infant kits to celebrate her 40th birthday. I liked the idea so much that I decided to copy her (sort of). I say sort of because...well, 1)I'm not 40, and 2) I have decided to put together hygiene kits instead.

A few years ago I heard this story of a young girl named Mariama Kallon who recieved a hygiene kit that saved her and several other women. Please take the time to read her story it is truely touching. The first time I heard it it brought me to tears.

Well last weekend, I attended Time Out for Women in SLC and Mariama was there to tell her story. I felt such a bond with her because I had heard her story a few years back and we also served in the same mission for the LDS church (although not at the same time). She still carries around her little hygiene kit as a reminder to her of how blessed she was to recieve it in her time of need.

So anyhow...to celebrate my 35th Birthday, I am going to put together 35 Humanitarian Hygiene Kits, these kits are handed out to those in need throughout the world.
So instead of gifts this year, I am asking for my friends and family to donate some of the supplies that I will need to put these together.

What I will need is:

35- 1 gallon zip lock bags
70- Unbreakable combs (no sharp handles)
140- Toothbrushes (packaged)
35- Tubes of Toothpaste (6-8 oz.)
70- Bars of soap (4-5 oz.)
70- Hand towels (new towels, approximately 15'' by 25''. Please do not use dishtowels or washclothes)

So if you were planning on getting me a present (or even if you were not and you want to support a good cause), that was my list.

I decided Thanksgiving Day would be a great day to type up this blog post. As I sit and reflect on all the things I have to be thankful for...I am so incredibly blessed. I hope that in some small way I (with your help) can help others like Mariama.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and Happy early Birthday to me.

It's All About Isaac

2010-11-10T14:51:00.001-08:00

Today Isaac turned 7, so why not a little post about him.

As a preschooler, Isaac was TROUBLE! I was worried for him and his teachers when he started school last year...but for no reason. I think school was the best thing for him. His little personality has changed so much. He is now the kid that wants to make everyone happy, he's a peacemaker (for the most part), he's funny, he's smart. He plays the piano, he loves to read, he loves to be outside and active, and he makes the silliest faces. For all those reasons and so many more, WE LOVE ISAAC-Happy Birthday!

2010-10-29T20:47:00.000-07:00

Hope You Have A Super Halloween

Here are all the costumes, this has been a fun theme to do.

Going Green

2010-10-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

After a "guilt trip" from my friend Kelli...we have decided to start recycling. The trash company around here does not offer recycling, but a local family does ( I just found this out the other day). For $10 a month they provide bins and will come and pick up paper, plastic and metal. We just got our bins the other day! Pretty exciting stuff.
Not only are we doing that, but if you know anything about us, you know that we love using paper plates and cups. We'll we are also working on that as well. I bought some new (non disposable) plastic cups and plates and we are saying good-bye to the paper products.
I also have purchased a few reusable grocery bags, but every time I go to the store I forget them in my car. O-well, that'll give me something to work on.
There you go Kelli, your blog posts have inspired me, so it wasn't for nothing.

A Drive Up the Canyon

2010-10-13T13:24:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we loaded the kiddos up in the car and took the short drive up the canyon. The kids were in heaven...running around, climbing trees and rocks and playing in the leaves. Does it get any better then that. They were all so sad when we loaded them up in the car to leave. We are getting family pictures taken this week and this was kind of a practice run. I think Sydney is going to be tough. She would not stay in 1 place, it was really hard to get a picture of her, hopefully the professionals will do a better job then me.

2010-10-11T12:41:00.001-07:00

Early last week Kevin and I went to Vegas to see the Lion King. Kevin found a really good deal tehat got us 2 tickets to the Lion King and 2 nights at Mandalay Bay for super cheap, so we just had to do it. Thanks to my mother-in-law and my friend Becky who each took a pair of kids for a few days. Obviously we could not have done it without you.
The first night there we saw the Lion King. Our seats were not awesome, but the show was fantastic and definetly worth seeing. The next we met up with my Aunt Rosanne and Uncle Tom for dinner. I have not seen them in like 20 years (or more), so it was so great to be able to catch up. We had a fabulous time.
We also spent a lot of time eating. (When you don't gamble and drink, what else do you do in Vegas?) And of course we had to check out some of our favorite hotels and places on the strip. Oh and I can't forget...we went bowling. And lets just say it was embarrasing. I went in all cocky, thinking "I'm in a league now, I am finally going to be able to beat my husband at bowling." Let's just say I didn't. O-well maybe next time.

2010-10-01T17:43:00.000-07:00

Every year we take a trip to the pumpkin patch and pick our own pumpkins. This year we grew our own, so the pumpkin patch was our back yard. They aren't the biggest pumpkins I ever did see, but they are round and orange and the kids thought they were fantastic. (We can always pick up a few larger ones at Wal-Mart for carving.)

New Lens

2010-10-01T16:11:00.000-07:00

We are pretty excited about our new camera lens, I had to take it to Tanner's soccer game to try it out. I am not a camera smarty pants, so I don't know the lingo, but it is a zoom lens but also a normal lens, all in one. Actually I don't know if it is that great but it zoom is 18-250 mm (whatever that means). All I know, is that when I am far away I can actually take pictures and Tanner doesn't look like an ant running on a field.

I don't think my kids have been born with that natural athletic ability, but they like soccer and it gets them outside running around, so we'll take it. Tanner has shown improvements this year. He has been a little more aggresive, but he still has a ways to go. I am such a mean mom and I don't buy him a new uniform every year. I do think his shorts are getting a little short, maybe next year I'll spring for a new pair.

I've Been Sewing!

2010-09-16T14:04:00.000-07:00

Most of you have probably already seen these pictures on Facebook, but I decided to put them on my blog for those who are not Facebookers and for my own "journal" purposes. Up until a month ago I was not a sewer. Although I owned a sewing machine, I had never sewed anything with a pattern (since high school home ec.). For Halloween we decided as a fam to do the Super Mario Brothers theme. I found all of the costumes online except Princess Daisy (for Sydney). So I decided to attempt making it. Here are the results.

I was pretty proud of myself. I made a few adjustments from the pattern with the lace, collar, flower applique and the peplum. I gathered and sewed a zipper.

Well if I could make a princess dress, then I could make a simple little jumper dress for Sydney. This dress even involved button holes, which I must say, I still need some help with. I got a little better with this applique, but again could still use some help.

So as I said earlier, I ordered all my other Halloween costumes online. Well shortly after I got an email saying my Princess peach costume was backordered till right before Halloween. I didn't want to worry, so I canceled the order and made my own.

I still have a few adjustments to do to make it truely Princess Peach. I know it looks like a 1980's bridemaid dress, but again I am just amazed I was able to do it.

We are going to Disneyland in November, so I thought now that I can sew I need to make Sydney a Snow White dress (she's my favorite princess). You can't see it from here, but there is a red cape in the back that can come off.

Well, that is all so far. I ordered Kevin a Yoshi costume for Halloween and when it arrived it was way to small for him, so i have decided to attempt that. All the materials are purchased, now I just need a husband here to make sure it fits as I sew. Sounds like a fun project for the weekend. Pictures to come...

2010-09-08T11:06:00.000-07:00

Noah was so excited for his first day of preschool yesterday. I told him we needed to go out and take some pictures before school, so he went outside and started making silly faces. He was nice enough to do some normal face pictures for me. I can't believe how big he is getting. He just looks so grown up with his pack pack on.

What to do?

2010-09-08T08:59:00.001-07:00

So I have been trying to figure out what we are going to do for Isaac's 7th birthday party in November. Isaac is a different sort of kid....he likes a lot of things but isn't really passionate about anything, except video games. So I decided I would do a video game party, but not actually play video games. I want to come up with games and activities based on different video games. I thought for sure there would be ideas online, but NO, nothing. So what to do? Anyone out there got any good ideas, I could used some help. Please!

First Day of School and other stuff.

2010-09-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

Tanner and Isaac started school on the 24th of August and look at me finally getting pictures up. (I am just learning how to do these photo collages in Picassa, so forgive me if I keep using them.) Tanner started 3rd grade and Isaac started 1st. They are both enjoying school, and mom is enjoying getting back in to routines. Noah will begin preschool next week, which he is also very excited about.

Life has been busy here lately. I was recently called as YW president so that in and of itself has been busy, but we also had a big fundraiser that we did. We made about 600 cupcakes. Everything turned out well and I am happy to have that out of the way. I am also over the Elementary School carnival, which is run by the PTA. Our goal is to raise $13,000 to run all the school programs. We have carnival games, big blow-ups, rides, dinner, concessions and a basket auction. I have a lot of good people helping me with this, which has been fantastic, but I will be happy when September 10th is over and the carnival is done!

Yellowstone

2010-09-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

So I never did blog about Yellowstone. So here it is real quick like. We went to Yellowstone to hang with my brother Joel and his cute family. We stayed in a little cabin at the KOA in West Yellowstone. Yellowstone is a super fantastic place to visit. I highly recommend it. We had a great time (this was our second time here as a fam) and we will probably go back again. Here are some pictures:

Bear World

2010-07-29T13:21:00.001-07:00

On our way to Yellowstone we stopped at Bear World (just outside of Rexburg, ID). We had never done this before, but it came highly recommended from friends, and it did not disappoint. It was a drive through wilderness where we saw dear, elk, mousse, bison, and of course bears. My kids were bummed because no bears came and put their paws on our car, but the bears were really very close. I didn't get any good pictures because we had to keep our windows close and apparently our windows were not very clean.

There was more to Bear Worl then just the drive through experience. They also had a petting zoo with deer, ducks, pigs, goats, etc.

This deer is only 2 days old.

Tanner walking amongst the ducks.

Noah chillin with a deer.

Sydney playing with the goats.

They also had 5 small rides for the kids to enjoy.

Sydney just loved the rides. She laughed so hard on them. It makes me very excited for Disneyland in November.

My very own bear cub.

Another bigger cub.

Anywhoo, if you are going to Yellowstone and you have young kids, I highly recommend Bear World. Good times were had by all the kids.

Messy Night

2010-07-29T13:02:00.001-07:00

Every Monday night Thanksgiving Point Gardens does a theme night of activities for kids. We decided Messy Night would be the perfect time to go. My friend Sarah Jane was in town so her and her family met us there for the fun.
Here is Tanner in the process of throwing some perfectly good jello

The three boys after the jello fight.

The Jello fight was definetly the highlight of the night for my kids, but other fun things went on as well, such as: eating popsicles from a string, paper mache, finger painting, quick sand, etc.

Here is Tanner having himself a popcicle.

Isaac showing of one of his messy silly faces.

Isaac playing in the quicksand

Sarah Jane and Me

Anyway I highly recommend the Thanksgiving Point Garden Monday night thing. If anyone wants to go, let us know, we can get you in for half off.

Pennsylvania

2010-07-29T12:38:00.001-07:00

So recently Sydney and I took a quick trip to Pennsylvania. We typically try to go every year as a fam, but because of pricey airline tickets, just the 2 of us got to go. My main purpose of going was to run a 5K with my sisters. (okay I just used it as an excuse)

Here we are: My nephews Tyler and Jared, my sis Andrea, my sis-in-laws Carrie and Anastasia, and me.

The race we ran was part of a running club, lets just say...we didn't win. I had been "training" to run this and when it came down to the actual race, I felt like I had to pee the entire time so it was hard to pick up the pace. Thanks to my sis and law Carrie who ran with me the entire time and kept encouraging me to keep going.
Blue Marsh

all the mommas of the family (except Tara-we missed you) took the kids to the lake. Since I am so super awesome, I didn't get very many pictures. O-well, whats done is done. I'm just mad at myself, because I don't see my fam very often, it would be nice to have pictures of when I actually do.

I took Sydney a little while to get used to the water.

Look at my cute nephew Boston

And my lovely sis Andrea (she is going to love that I post this pic)

That night we took the kids to a little carnival in town.

Sydney and her cousin Anna cruisin around town

Sydney loved the rides.

Poor Anna had to deal with crying Sydney...apparently way past her bedtime.

Sorry that is all I have to show for the trip. We did a lot of other fun stuff like eating, hanging out and going to the Camden Aquarium.

Baptism

2010-06-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

Tanner was baptized this Saturday. He is our oldest, so the first to get baptized, so it was a big deal at out house. He was really excited and understood how important and special this day was.

Here he is with his daddy all dressed in white.

Here is our little family.

With my parents.

With Kevins parents.

The gang.

Kevins brother Sterling and his family also came as well as our home teachers and several of Tanner's friends. After the baptism I asked Tanner if he was able to feel the Holy Ghost at all during his baptism. He said that he did. He said that he could feel a lot of peace and he knew that was the Holy Ghost. I was definetly a proud momma.

Afterwards we had the family over for Navajo Tacos, fruit, cupcakes and chocolate strawberries. Everything was yummy but I forgot to take pictures. O-well, it wasn't about the food.

Parents Visit

2010-06-15T08:19:00.001-07:00

My parents came out to visit for Tanner's baptism. We tried to stay as busy as we could, but the weather was so crummy...They day they got here, we met them at the Thanksgiving Point Gardens. We have a season pass there and had not been to the Gardens yet. It was beautiful and the kids had a blast (we didn't even make it to the Childrens Gardens section).

After the Gardens we went over to Iceburg for some icecream. Sydney was so cute, she just loved the independence of using her own spoon.

The next day it was raining on and off all day, but during one of the rain breaks we made it to the local carnival.

Sydney had a great time on all the rides. It makes me very excited to take her to Disneyland

The boys on the Dragon, Noah looks very unsure about it, but I actually think he really liked it, because he keeps talking about it.

Tanner rode this very scary (to me) ride called the Fire Ball. I was scared just watching him ride it.

I was a good BIG brother and rode the little ride with his very happy sister.

Apparently my 8-year-old has not learned how to eat a carmel apple.

In Tanner's defence, Kevin just reminded me...We would not have a lot of success eating a carmel apple if we were missing our 2 front teeth.

Grand Canyon

2010-06-04T07:36:00.001-07:00

We spent our Memorial Weekend at the Grand Canyon (well actually we went to St. George for a few days then went to the Grand Canyon for 2 days and back to St. George). The kids got to do some swimming at grandpa and grandmas pool and in all seriousness they probably would have loved to just do that all weekend, but we tore them away and spent Saturday and Sunday at the Grand Canyon. As we were driving there we passed a National Monurment (I totally forget the name, something Springs) since we have the parks pass it was free, so why not. Here are a few pictures from it. It was an old LDS tithing Farm, cool enough.

Here we are at the Grand Canyon Visitors Center. I know you can't really see us, but thats what you get when you ask some stranger to take your picture.

Look at these tired boys during a hike to Bright Angel Point.

Noah

They are very impressed with the views.

Sometimes he is not so serious.

The family.

Kev and his dad. Kev's parents came with us on this trip. The kids loved having grandma and grandpa with them.

The views were amazing and what a perfect model Tanner was.

Isaac and the canyon.

Even with this metal bars and chain link fencing, I was still pretty nervous (by prettynervous, I mean nightmares the night before and horrible visions of my children falling).

The boys.

So here are my thoughts on the Grand Canyon...I'm sure you want to know. It is a 6 hour drive from here to there. The views are certainly breathtaking. There are only a few shorter hikes (under 4 miles), which is where it lacked for me. With young kids we are definetly not hiking "rim to rim" or "rim to river" and back, so for 2 days there was a lot of down time. We could have covered it all in one long day, so for a 6 hour drive 1 day is not worth that drive, so if you decide to go I would recommend bringing some games to play in your cabin. There were some ladies chillin at the visitors center playing themselves some Mexican Train. Also if your kids are older (7 and up) they have mule rides you can do as well. They also have plane tour rides but that was a wee bit out of our budget.

At the North Rim there are not many places to stay. You can stay at the lodge right at the park (which was full, so not and option for us), Kaibab Lodge (this is where we stayed) which is 5 miles from the park, or Jacobs Lake, which is 30 miles from the park.

At the Kaibab Lodge we stayed in a little cabin with 2 double beds and a set of bunk beds. It was older and somewhat rustic (it had a shower and toilet and mice), but it was a nice little place to stay.

Will we go back...probably when the kids are older.

Family Pictures

2010-06-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to get some family pictures done. We just went to JC Pennys, and they certainly are not my favorite, but...

Sydney was not all well behaved for the pictures so the whole time we are just trying to keep her just as happy as we can.

Sydney was due for her one year old pictures (yeah yeah, I know I'm a little late, call me a slacker).

You never would have known she was having a hard time by how sweet she looks here.

Tanner was due for his 8 year old pictures. He is always easy as far as taking pictures of him, however he is missing his 2 front teeth so he often smiles a little funny because he doesn't want to show them.

Pinewood Derby

2010-05-24T09:16:00.000-07:00

Turning 8 has been a big deal for Tanner. First off, of course, he had the birthday party. But turning 8 also means cub scouts and this month for pack meeting it was the Pinewood Derby, let's just say he was pretty excited about that.

Here he was with his car. (In his brand new cub scout shirt that I had to mortgage the house just to pay for.)

Watching the cars race. We are by no means hard core Pine Wood Derbiers, but we did put a little time and effort into it because we wanted to make sure it at least made it down the track. He ended up in 5th place which we all felt perfectly fine with.

All the boys diplaying their cars so proudly.

Tanner won the award for most like a Corvette. (I remember when I was in cub scouts trying to think of award names for each of the cars, not always the funnest job).

So also with turning 8, Tanner gets to get baptized. I guess we save the best for last. That is scheduled for June 12th, so look forward to more pictures for that.

Harry Potter Party

2010-05-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

So this year Tanner requested a Harry Potter party. I was so NOT excited about this theme. Although I had read the books, I am by no means a "hard core" fan. So lets just say it took me a little while before I really got into it, but when I did I will say I got carried away (even for me). So for all the mamas out there who need to plan the same party, here are some ideas.

So when the kids arrived, we headed to Diagon Alley to Madam Malikins and they were fitted with their very own Gryffindor robe. I had planned on only making a cape, but the robes actually took less fabric and only took a little more sewing time, so I sewed 12 robes. They each took me about 45 minutes, but they only cost me about $1.30 in fabric each. I also printed out a Gryffindor crest on iron-on paper for each robe.

Each kid also got some Harry Potter glasses. For these I purchased cheap disquises with the nose and mustache and I just cut off the unneeded parts, and they only cost 20 cents each. Then they got a lightening bolt tatoo for their foreheads.

Then it was off to Ollivander's for making wands. I bought black customizable pencils from Oriental Trading that said Ollivanders Wands on it. I had pipe cleaners that they could use to wrap around the wand. I popped out the erasers so the kids could put either a red pheonix feather or a dragon scale in it to power their wands, and we hot glued it in. As we were finishing up the kids were able to run around the yard and practice with their wands.

Look at this cute wizard. We called him Dumbledore.

Here is the birthday boy.

Look at all these future Gryffindor.

Platform 9 3/4

I bought plastic sheeting with brick print on it and taped it to the door and cut it up the center, so the kids could walk "through" the brick. The 9 3/4 sign was made with card stock and paint.

Inside we headed right to Hogwarts for classes.

Divination Class

I know they don't look perfect but these are suppose to be crystal balls. My sister so nicely pointed out that they would have looked better with clear ballons and this is true, but I had white balloons already so we did white. Inside each crystal ball was a fortune the kids one by one would pop the balloon and red their fortunes. I think all the kids really enjoyed this.

Next we did Charms Class. This did not go as well as I would have liked. I "taught" the kids 3 different charms. Expelliramus (disarms opponent), Ricktasempra (tickles your opponent) and Tarantellegra (forces your opponent to dance). Each kid had a chance to perform a charm of their choice on Headmaster Mommy.
Potions Class
Each kid was given a small cauldron (bought from oriental trading) to mix potions in. I also used some everyday stuff but them in containers and labeled them magical sounding names. Ex: Lemonade=Acid, Red Hots=Petrified Frog Hearts, Honey=Elder Tree Sap, Sprinkles=Brown Spider legs, etc.

We did 2 different potions. 1 was for Felix Felicious (Liquid Luck). I totally made this up using some of the above ingredients. I made sure to use ingredients that would actually taste alright so they could drink this one. The next was a pop rocks potion which I found online. This was pretty cool. Although other then the Pop Rocks crackling, I didn't notice much other change. Obviously the kids enjoyed this. All boys love to mix gross things together.

After a "hard day of classes" we headed over to Hogsmeade for some fun.

Honeydukes

At Honeydukes we played a game involving Bertie Botts Every Flavor Jelly Beans(which I bought at Toys R Us). They had to randomly pick a jelly bean (3/4 of them were disgusting flavors like boogers and vomit), if they could chew and swallow the jelly bean they scored a point. Some of those kids had no fear and ate everyone. Yuckity Yuck. This game, I think went very well. I gave each kid a little spit cup, just incase they didn't like their jelly bean.

I sent each kid home with a bag of jelly bellies (I bought a big thing of them at Sams Club and then put them in Bertie Botts bags that I bought really inexpensively on Ebay).

From Honeydukes they also got Chocolate Frogs. I bought my frog mold on Amazon.com. I had planned on just putting them in a little baggie with their wizard card, but then I had seen someone online made these cool boxes, so I had to do it too.

The wizard cards...I kind of lost my party planning steam by the time I got to these, I just ended up making them black and white and everyone got Dumbledore.

Quidditch

We played muggle Quidditch.

I made these broom stick (the broom part was from the dollar store and the handle was just a wooden dowle which I painted blackish brown and wrote either Nimbus 2000 or Fire Bolt on it). I also had yellow and red sashes for the the different teams so they could tell who was on their team.

Here are the goal posts. I had another set of these on the other side of the yard. I made these out of dollar store hula hoops. They had to throw the Quaffle (red playground ball) into one of the hoops to score 10 points.

So each team had one seeker (the one who finds the Snitch-I had a snitch key chain, which I hid in the yard, the one who found it got 50 points for there team), a keeper (the goalie), 2 chasers (the ones who score) and 2 beaters (the ones who throw the bludger).

If they got hit by a bludger (I had bought these small balls and painted them black, but apparently the paint didn't want to stick to the ball so it was a mess and I ended up just using some mini beach balls that we had at the house, they weren't black and that bothered me a bit, but the kids didn't seem to care), they had to drop the Quaffle.

I had to put this picture in because it is the only one of me dressed up as Headmaster Mommy.

If the kids would have listen to the rules a bit better I would have been happier about how this game turned out. Plus we had 2 kids get in a fight, serious poor sportsmanship going on. You would have thought Harry and Draco were having one of their "issues".

After Quidditch we headed over to the Leaky Cauldron for Butterbeer (cream soda, butterscotch syrup and vanilla ice cream), cake and ice cream.

The Cake
I had a hard time deciding what to do for a cake. Not because there are a lot of ideas out there for Harry Potter cakes, but because in my opinion I just didn't like any of them except the really cool ones that were so not a possibility for me. So I decided on Hogwarts and still was nervous that it would just look like a castle and not Hogwarts. I printed off on cardstock some House flags and the Hogwarts crest just so people knew. I baked 2- 10 inch and 2- 8 inch square cakes for the body of the castle and Wiltons Romantic castle set for the turrets. I wrapped the whole thing in marshmellow fondant (which I made myself). It was a lot of work and took me about half a day to make.

Here is Tanner blowing out his candles.

We ended the party with present opening and goody bags. For the goody bags, I just used black colored paper bags which were filled with more lightening bolt tattoos, Bertie Botts, Chocolate frogs plus my mother-in-law had given us a truck load of Harry Potter stuff she had been "collecting". So the kids got to pick from bookmarks, coloring books and bumper stickers. Plus they got to take their robes and brooms.

It was a fun party, but I am glad I don't have another birthday till November.

Unofficial Mission Reunion

2010-05-20T13:03:00.000-07:00

A few mission friends were coming in town for Women's Conference so we decided to throw together a little unofficial mission reunion. I don't have a ton of pictures, but here are a few. Thanks ladies for the good times. I really had not laughed that hard in a very long time.

Aniesa, Morinda and Natalie

Kiki and Alicia

Sarah and Kiki

Angela and Jen

Renee and Kiki

Heather eating yummy Cafe Rio.

Renee, Aniesa, Alicia, and Angela.

Heather, Morinda, Jen and Sarah.

More Cupcakes!

2010-05-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I made some more cupcakes for a friends baby shower. I had to put some pictures up because they were so stinking cute. I did some lemon ones and oreo (these are some of my most popular ones).

Aren't they cute!!!

Arches and Canyonlands

2010-05-20T12:27:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago we went on a little family trip to Moab to visit our last 2 Utah National Parks, Arches and Canyonlands. We had tons of fun, but because I am a little behind on blogging...I am only putting in the abridged version of the trip here.
Friday we spent at Arches National Park
Kevin and the kids at Balanced Rock

Me and the kids in the Windows section at Arches

Me Sydney and Noah hiking, while the BIG boys were off having some fun of their own.

Noah at Landscape Arch

Kevin and the boys took a half day river trip.

We spent Saturday at Canyonlands
The whole Family at the Visitors Center.

Me and all the kidlets at Mesa Arch.

Me and Kevin at the top Upheavel Dome

Sydney

This is after the 1 mile Grandview Point hike.

Isaac at the same lookout point. Don't worry he is not as close to the edge as he looks.

Tanner at the same lookout point.

We went back to Arches on Sunday.
Noah at Skyline Arch

The boys at Skyline Arch

Sandune Arch- The kids has a blast playing here, it was like a great big sandbox.

She's on the Move

2010-04-25T16:05:00.000-07:00

So ever since the weather has started warming up I have been waiting for the day that Sydney would start walking. Every time Sydney goes outside, her clothes get dirty dirty from crawling on the ground. Today she started walking....it's a good day. I know it will be a little while till walking becomes her prefered method of getting around, but we have progress, and progress is good.

Sorry I am using my excited mom, baby voice.

Easter

2010-04-06T14:18:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures from Easter.

These pictures were actually taken the Sunday before Easter, when the weather was actually pretty nice.

Because of General Conference we didn't go to church on Sunday, but here they are on Easter. We'll just call it Easter Casual.

Sydney finds her basket with the help of her brothers. Of course, she is way to interested in what's inside to look at the camera.

Tanner was the last to find his, it was hidden in the dryer behind a bunch of clothes. The older you get the harder we hide them.

Noah

Isaac was the first to find his, it was in the jungle.

Noah finds an egg.

Sydney was real cute looking for eggs, she knew there was good stuff inside. I let her eat 1 jelly bean and decided that was enough.

Golf Anyone

2010-04-06T12:50:00.000-07:00

The other day I made a golf cake for 80 people for a friends suprise party.

I wasn't sure if it would be enough, so I made a second small cake just to be sure.

I know it is not perfect, but I have never made a cake this size before, so I was pretty proud of it. A big thanks to Tanya and Kris who lent me pans, knives and dowels. Couldn't have done it without you.

Cupcake Heaven

2010-04-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

It was so fun to fianlly be able to plan a birthday party for a girl. I have lots of ideas up my sleve for the next several years, but we decided to start her first birthday with cupcakes. I had a great time trying different recipes in the weeks leading up to the party.
Momma loves her birthday girl.

Sydney loved having everyone sing to her. Wow look at that cake all for me.

Not really sure about this.

Oh wait I think I liked it.

The food: Ribbon sandwiches (some with PB&J and others with ham, tukey and cheese), Nuts about berries salad, fruit salad, fluffy pink jello salad, chips and to drink pineapple raspberry frappe.

The dessert: cupcakes and more cupcakes!!!

Just because we need a closer look at these cupcakes...

For so long, I have been wanting to make these cupcake pops from Bakerella, but I never really had a reason until now. They were a little time consuming, and there were times when I questioned whether they were even going to work, but I think they turned out cute...so I may be tempted to make them again, maybe.

Here they are all wrapped up as a centerpiece.

You may remember these Oreo Cupcakes from a few weeks ago. I girled them up a bit with these cute chocolate hearts.

These cupcake toppers were fun and something that I never knew were a possibilty to make until I ran across then while looking for sprinkles online. They are called chocolate transfer sheets. You pour melted chocolate over the sheet, level the chocolate, wait till it is almost hard and use a cookie cutter to make in the desired shape. I chose hearts

These were a lemon cupcake with a lemon cream cheese frosting. I thought they turned out so cute. Very girly. A very easy to make.

I got the ideas for these cupcake toppers from Bakerella. With a homemade flower pattern they were super easy a quick to make. You start with the pattern underneath a piece of wax paper. You put a yellow candy melt for the center and then with white chocolate you pipe the outline and then fill in with pink chocolate.

We also had cupcake decorating for the kids as well as a pinata and a quiz about Sydney.

I know a lot of work for a one year old birthday party, but hey it's what I do and for the most part I have fun while doing it. I love trying new things, especially if they work.

Happy 200th

2010-03-28T17:29:00.000-07:00

Wow, this is my 200th blog post. When I reached a 100 blog posts I made a list of 100 things about me...so now as I sit here trying to think of some creative way to celebrate the 200th post, my creativity is not shining through. The last thing I want to do is make another long list about me...plus not sure all 4 people who read my blog would want to read the long list so I won't bore you.
So anywho, Happy 200th Post to ME!!!!

Sydney's Birthday

2010-03-28T15:11:00.000-07:00

For this post I will only be sharing pictures from her actual birthday. (Party pictures to come later.)

For dinner we made her favorite dinner...mac and cheese with hotdogs in it (She loves it, I however do not, the sacrifices we make for our children).

After dinner she opened presents.

Do you think she was happy about that?

She was so cute all day long people would say happy birthday to her and she would just smile so big!

She got all sorts of fun stuff. Books, Ball, Fisher Price tea set and purse, and a kitchen.

Notice how her hair is finally long enough to wear a little bow without a headband, someday maybe will graduate to pigtails.

Germany Report

2010-03-28T15:05:00.001-07:00

In 2nd grade all the kids around here have to do a country report. Tanner had his turn on Friday. Because Kevin served his mission in Germany...of course that is the country Tanner chose. He had to right a report and make a travel brochure and get up and present to his class.

Here he is...

He still needs to work on looking up more often when he speaks, but hey he's in 2nd grade, we'll cut him some slack. He wanted to make sure he had some German food to pass out to the class, so we made sure we brought some German chocolate...which we have been enjoying the extra Milka.

Kindy 500 #2

2010-03-28T14:47:00.000-07:00

This year was Isaac's turn for the Kindy 500. This is something they do at our elementary school. Each kid is suppose to come to school with a cardboard box car and they "drive" across the US. I really have a lot of fun with this. I told Isaac to run upstairs a get a hotwheels car and we would make his box look like it...so he grabbed a orange and white pickup truck with flames on the side and this is what we came up with:

Happy Birthday Little Princess

2010-03-25T06:50:00.000-07:00

A year ago today I was settling into my hospital room getting ready to have my baby girl. Wow, how this year has come quickly. Since I am not planning on having other children, it is kind of sad to think this is the last baby and now that she is one, she is not so much a baby.

She is such a great little one. For the most part she has been very easy in comparison to some of the others. She loves to smile and will do it on demand. She had six big teeth with a big ole gap in the front teeth. She has big bright blue eyes. She loves to eat bananas and macaroni and cheese.

There are so many reasons to love her, I am so happy she is a part of our family.

Goblin Valley

2010-03-23T14:11:00.000-07:00

On the way home from Capitol Reef we decided to go to Goblin Valley. This was a great decision because all the kids really enjoyed this, Tanner and Isaac especially. Kevin took Tanner and Isaac on a hike up on the platteau, looking down on the valley. I stayed back with the little ones and took some pictures and let Noah run free. There are just so many cool places to see in this great state of Utah, I'm glad we are finally getting out and enjoying them.

Capitol Reef

2010-03-23T13:35:00.000-07:00

We just returned home from a long weekend trip to Capitol Reef. We have a goal to reach all 5 of Utah National Parks before the end of August. So far we have been to Bryce Canyon, Zion and now Capitol Reef. We plan on going to Arches as well as Canyonlands in June (sometime). We are also going to the Grand Canyon in May and we may try to squeeze in a quick trip to Great Basin as well. We have really enjoyed going to all these National Parks and I am sureit is not the only time we will.
We got to Capitol Reef around noon and headed to the Visitors Center to get an idea of what hikes we wanted to do. We headed over to a moderately strenuous hike to Hickman Bridge. This was fantastic, not only was the bridge an amazing site to see, so was everything else all around.

While we were on the Hickman Bridge hike, we ran into our good friends the Peads. They had mentioned that they might come, but I was doubtful because they had a new baby and it wasn't exactly warm. When we got there and there was no cell service, we really gave up on thinking we would see them, but we just happened to be on the same hike. Crazy! They have boys all my boys age, so of course the kids were excited.

After this hike we all went to do the scenic drive as well as a quick stop to look at some Petroglyphs. We topped this day off with a trip to Slackers for burgers, fries and an ice cream sundae (totally off the diet this weekend).

The next day we started our day with a 4 1/2 mile hike through Great Wash Basin. This was a long way to go for the kids, but we all made it. Noah decided after about 20 minutes that he had had it with the backpack and so he walked the remaining 3 miles. Needless to say the pace was not all that fast. He even fell in the mud and was pretty thrilled about that. This was an enjoyable hike, but would have been much more enjoyable without Noah. Sydney on the other hand was perfect and just enjoyed herself on mommies back.

The boys became Junior Rangers.

We spent the rest of the day at the hotel pool and eating (of course).

Each night we triend to put the kids to bed a little before 8 and becasue we were in one hotel room we had to turn out all the lights. It was kind of nice...Audrey also went to bed at 8pm each night.

Pretty in Pink

2010-03-11T10:51:00.000-08:00

Sorry everyone...I am in total cupcake mode lately. I am trying a bunch of recipes to see which ones I want to make for Sydney's cupcake birthday party coming up in 2 weeks. Today we did Pretty in Pink Strawberry Cupcakes from the Cake Doctor.

I tried to find the recipe online but I could not, so I'll will type it out here.

1 box of plain white cake mix (I use Betty Crocker)

1 package strawberry gelatin

1 cup finely chopped fresh strawberries with juice

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup vegetable oil

4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350. Line 24 cupcakes cups with paper liners.

Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix on low for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Scoop 1/3 cup batter into each lined cupcake cup, filling to about 3/4 full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until they are lightly golden and spring back when you lightly press your finger.

Cool.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz. pack cream cheese (room temp)

4 tbs butter (room temp)

3-3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup mashed, drained fresh strawberries

Place cream cheese in butter in mixing bowl and blend on low speed until combined (30 seconds). Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and the drained strawberries. Blend about 1 minute on low speed, then an additional 1 minute on medium speed add additional 1/2 cup of powdered sugar if need to make the right consistency.

I piped my frosting on and the first 12 went great, then the last 12 looked a little bit more like this...

Actually that was the worst of them, but still you get the idea.

I think I did not drain my strawberries enough or I should have added even more powdered sugar. Luckily they still taste good. Isaac said they are the best cupcakes I have ever made.

Add they still look pretty yummy.

A Day at the Rink

2010-03-07T18:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we took the boys ice skating. Originally the plan was for just Kevin and the the older boys to go, but really who could deny a face like this...

So Sydney and I went along (but didn't skate) to "help" with Noah.

Tanner was a natural. It took him a few minutes to get his "ice legs", but then he did really well and had a fantastic time.

Isaac took a little longer to "catch on". He spent a lot of time here...

and here.

Noah had a great time with daddy. He really liked it and was so cute.

Overall a good time was had by all. Next time (which will probably be soon) I think Kev will just go with the older 2, so he can focus on helping Isaac.

OREO

2010-03-05T10:12:00.000-08:00

I will admit that I love myself an Oreo, but lately my treat craving has been cupcakes...so I made Oreo cupcakes. They are delish! I have never made a filled cupcake before, but I'd been dying to try, so I did.

For the cupcake I used a Betty Crocker Devils Food cake mix, which I made according to the directions on the box, except I added a box of Devils Food Jello Instant Pudding. I baked them for about 20 minutes on 350.
After they cooled I filled them with a whipped "frosting."
This I whipped 1 quart of whipping cream with 6 Tbs of powder sugar and I tsp. of vanilla. Once the cream gets to stiff peaks, then you add 12 Tbs. of finely crushed Oreos and stir with a spoon, till it is well mixed.
I used my Pampered Chef Easy Accent Decorator with a large star bag, but really anything will do. I pushed the tip into the cupcake and squirted the filling into the cupcake. Like I said I had never done that before, so at first I wasn't sure how it was going, but it worked. Then I used the same tip to pipe some topping on top and added a half Oreo on top.

Here it is cut open. Yum-O

Noah's Monster Party

2010-02-21T14:28:00.000-08:00

Today my little Noah turned 3. Yesterday we celebrated with his first friend party. A few months ago (when it was time to start planning) I gave Noah a few choices for party ideas and he chose Monsters. After Halloween target had some fun Monster stuff in clearance, so we stocked up for goodie bags, then of course we put in an order with oriental trading.

Because Noah is only 3 and his friends were either 2 or 3 we kept it pretty simple. When everyone got there they got a Monster hat (which I ordered from Oriental Trading) then they sat down and colored Monster pictures that I printed off online with monster crayons from Target.

After they finished coloring, we headed to the basement to play Find the Colored Monster. I had bought these bendable Monsters (from OT), they came in 6 different colors, we scattered them all throughout the basement...so I held up a piece of construction paper and said go find an orange monster, go find a green monster, etc.

Here is Noah with his purple monster.

Tanner and Isaac were great helpers, throughout the party.

After that we had a monster pinata. We let all the little kids have a turn at hitting it and then left it for Tanner and Isaac to finish it off.

Next we had cake and ice scream. Noah was so cute when we sang happy birthday. He just sang along very excitedly. For his cake I baked 3-9inch round cakes and 1-2 quart pyrex bowl cake staked them and then decorated with fondant. I am not very good with fondant, so there were cracks and wrinkles all over....but from afar it was so cute and Noah loved it.

We then opened presents and then quickly we had a small parachute and popped monster balls on that. The parachute was rather small, but for the few minutes we did it, most of the kids seemed to enjoy themselves.

Since we only did the party for an hour, the party ended and all the kids left with their monster bags (Target) which were filled with all sorts of monster stuff, including the monsters from the color game and candy from the pinata. For a party with 7 little 3-year-olds running around, things went really well. Of course I couldn't have done it with out so many helpers, so Thanks everyone who stayed to help.

Walk Training

2010-01-30T11:50:00.001-08:00

For Christmas Sydney got a cute little stoller walker. She is having a blast walking around holding on to that thing. Maybe just maybe she will start walking before a year. Noah did not start walking till he was about 17 months.

Diaper Cakes

2010-01-30T11:31:00.000-08:00

So I have never made a diaper cake before, but I had gotten one at Sydney's baby shower and thought it was so fun....so I just had to try it. I had 2 boy baby gifts I had to do, so I headed out to Target because they have super cute generic blue and green bubble diapers. How perfect they were for diaper cake making.

If you have never made a diaper cake before they are pretty easy. The first cake I made I used about 60 diapers (the second one was less because I ran out and had to improvise). You roll each diaper up tightly and smack a piece of tape on it. I put about 5-6 together to make a bundle and taped all around the outside of that. Then I added a ring of diapers around that bundle and taped it all secure, and then another ring of diapers with tape around it. That makes up the bottom tier of the cake. So for the next tier you would start again with a bundle of about 5-6 and then make one ring of diaper around that. And for the top tier you make one more 5-6 diaper bundle. You use a wide ribbon around each cake tier to hide the tape. I used a wooden dowl down the center to keep the tiers together. I added a little stuffed toy as a cake topper. I also added some pacifiers and pacifier clips, but you can put whatever you want on it to decorate. It look me less then an hour to do it, so it was pretty easy.

The Babies

2010-01-22T15:37:00.000-08:00

Today I took the 2 youngest kids to get their pictures taken...they did so good. Cute little posers.

Noah is turning 3 next month. Isn't he a doll, I just want to put him on a shelf he is so cute.

Sydney...have I mentioned that it is so fun having a girl.

Catch Up

2010-01-21T15:18:00.000-08:00

I again am trying to get caught up on the old blog...it is just so much easier to post on Facebook. But the main reason I do this blog is to be a journal for me, so I need to touch on some of the highlights.

Christmas: Of course I took a lot more pictures then this...but lets just say I am blog lazy. This year we decided to start the tradition of the Advent calendars. The kids really enjoyed getting a piece of chocolate each night.

Sydney first time in the snow. Could there be a cuter little snow baby??? Never.

Shortly after the new year, Kevin had to go to Disney World for work. Since we had just gotten home from there just 2 months ago, we decided not to take the whole family. Kev and I did want to take an anniversary trip because we will be married for 10 years this month, so instead of the cruise we thought we would take, we went back to Disney, not ideal but we got a little break from the kids and his work paid for most of it, so it worked out well. We brought Sydney with us because she was free to fly, she hung out with me while Kevin was working and then she went to stay with my friend Kami, who lives in Orlando. Kami was so great and worked with our last minute schedule changes and Sydney got a lot of attention, so thanks Kami.

We don't normally do the princess thing, but this trip Sydney got to meet Aurora, Cinderella, and Belle. Also one day while Kevin was working Sydney and I went to a character meal at our hotel.

Also, I have decided to do Body for Life again...it is really hard to do a diet the second time. I also have not exercised in forever (1 1/2 years, because of pregnancy and then lyme disease, I know it is excuses, but good ones, right???), so getting back to that is...painful. I am trying to decide what I want to do as far a cardio goes. I tried a spin class this morn and it killed me (and I don't mean the workout). I am going to try a Zumba class, but most likely I will start going to TaeBo classes at 5:45 in the morn, doesn't that sound fun, o-well, I can get my work out in before Kev goes to work.

That is really all that has been going on here...

Tanner's Piano Recital

2009-12-27T13:44:00.000-08:00

Tanner had his first piano recital the other day and he made is parents very proud. He has been taking lessons for about a year and although he doesn't always enjoy practicing, he does enjoy playing his songs once he gets them down. He was really confident and played his songs well. I think he has a real talent for music, it comes relatively easy for him. I really wish I was musically talented, but I'll just live my musical dreams through him.

Christmas Sunday

2009-12-20T15:42:00.001-08:00

This morning before church we tried to take some pictures. Sydney just was not cooperating, which was rather unfortunate because she did look so pretty in her Christmas dress. The family was photo was taken by stacking a few things up to set the camera on (didn't want to call a neighbor over at 8:30 am).

The Family

The Girls The Boys

The Babies

The Big Boys

All the Kiddos!!!

Ricks Reunion

2009-12-13T15:57:00.001-08:00

Last night we had a mini Rick's College Reunion. It always fun to see these friends. We had dinner at Goodwood in SLC and reminisced about the "good old days". Thanks to Chris and Natalie for coming from Texas giving us a reason to all get together. Of course not everyone was there and we missed you if you were not, maybe next time.

A Visit with Santa

2009-12-13T15:48:00.000-08:00

We took our annual trip to visit Santa the other day. It was really cute...when it was finally our turn Noah just walk right up to Santa and jumped on his lap and said, "I wan't a choo-choo." It was precious, he just looked knew exactly what he was suppose to do. Isaac sat down and froze, he forgot what he wanted to ask for. Tanner sat down and just went off on his long list of wants.

I just love that my kids have no doubt in their minds that Santa is real, I will be sad when that is no longer the case.

Disney World 2009

2009-11-23T15:28:00.000-08:00

We have now been home for a few weeks...it is about time I blog about our trip. I just have to start by saying we had a wonderful time. As far as family vacations go we just couldn't ask for more. The kids were all very well behaved., we ate great (and I didn't even gain weight), we slept okay, and we created many fantastic family memories. We spent 8 fabulous days in the park (that is 2 days per park, and although it was long, it also felt like just about the right amount of time). Here are some pictures of the whole fam.

Tanner

Tanner loves going to Disney. He is not afraid of anything. He will ride all the rides and get excited about it. This trip he was finally tall enough to ride Rockin Rollercoaster, that ended up being is favorite ride. He decided to start collecting keys while he was there, he got one at every park, so that is how he spent his Disney Dollars (also grandma helped a bit). It is nice that he is 7 now, not only can he ride ALL the rides, but he is also well behaved.

Isaac

Isaac overcame some fears on this trip. He is no longer afraid to ride Tower of Terror, as a matter of fact it has now become a favorite. He was also tall enough to ride Expedition Everest and Mission Space, which also ranked really high on his favorite list. Isaac celebrated his 6th birthday while we were there. For his b-day he wanted to start collecting and trading pins. He was so cute looking all around for cast members to trade with.

Noah

Noah was interesting on this trip...he did not smile as much as usual, but he was still having a good time and still talks about it a lot. He had to share the stroller with Sydney and she would always try to grab is sucker or cookie or whatever he was eating, so unfortunatly he picked up his habit of hitting again and again we are trying to remedy that. I asked him what his favorite ride was and he said Winnie the Pooh. He loved seeing the characters. Other then the hitting and often wanting to be held, he was very pleasant to have around.

Sydney
She was a doll on the trip. So smiley the entire time. Just happy to be outside, happy to have people paying attention to her, just down right HAPPY. She loved meeting all the characters and they all loved her. She got a lot of attention from everyone, every where we turned people were commenting on her outfit, her bow or big huge smile. Of course mommy was so excited to finally have a girl at Disney and I get more excited for when she is old enough to enjoy all the princess stuff. Just a few more years.

Kevin

Of course Kevin loved being there, what a proud papa to have all his of his kiddos there. Kev and the older boys would go off and ride the big rides and that is always a bonding moment. We were fortunate to have Kev's parent's there with us for part of the time. They were able to stay with the babies so we could ride together. Kevin also got to be a part of a street performance in France at Epcot. Kevin really works hard to make these vacations possible for us. So thanks hun.

Audrey
People always ask me why we like Disney so much? I would have to say it is Magical. Just to see how much the kids love it and to see there joy, it is priceless and that is why we keep going back. While we were there I got to meet up with a friend from my mission and her fantastic little family, Kami it is always good to see you.

Until next time...which for me, Kevin and Sydney it will be in January. Kev has to go for work so we decided to make it our "anniversary trip".

Just so you all know, I HATE blogger for how difficult it is to post, maybe part of it is user error but wow it is ridiculous.

Trick or Treat 2009

2009-11-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

So every year our neighborhood does a Treats on the Street thing, you just come with your bowl of candy and sit out at the road. The kids come walk up and down the road and get lots of candy, it is kind of nice because it doesn't take long, they don't have to walk long, and they get more candy then these little ones would ever need. Here are some pictures from the night.

Isaac Birthday Party

2009-11-01T17:12:00.000-08:00

Isaac will be turning 6 while we are on our trip to Disney World, so we decided to have his party before we left. This year the theme was Star Wars. We did a Jedi Training Academy. The kids came and we dressed them in their Jedi attire (cheap fabric from Walmart, no sew just cut and tie). Then as we waited for everyone to show we had them color a picture. Then we gave them their lightsabers and we had lightsaber training (my hubby showed them how to attack adn defend). Next they had to bounce a balloon on the lightsaber without letting it touch the ground. After that they used the force (we had a remote control light) this was probably the most impressive to the kids, they had no clue how they did it. Next up was the jedi obstacle course...we set up tunnels, balance beam, they had to climb over, under, through and across. Then they had to save princess Leia (pop balloons and find the one with Leia inside. After that we defeated Darth Vadar (pinata). Sang Happy Birthday, ate cake and ice cream, Drank Yoda Soda or Darth Malt, opened presents, presented the kids with a medal of honor for defeating Darth and saving the princess, gave the academy graduation certificates, fought the evil Darth Sidius. What a fun filled hour and a half with 13 little Jedi running around. Sorry for the very undetailed description, but this girl has got to pack and get ready for Disney World, we leave in less then 2 days.

Halloween Party

2009-10-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a Halloween costume party. We had 10 families come with over 30 total kids. It was super fun. We ate, we talked and of course we played some Rock Band. We had some crafts for the kids (magic wands and popcorn hands-thanks Kris for putting that together). We also had a pinata for the kiddos. I have parties rather often at my house, but I think in all honesty that is the messiest it has ever gotten....popcorn ALL over the floor, cupcake crumbs on the couch, frosting on the walls, spilled drinks on the floors. Although it was chaotic it was totally worth it, especially because many friends stayed to sweep, vacuum, pick up, wipe down and throw away.

Here is a picture of our family in our Star Wars costumes. I love dressing up!!!!!

Witch Convention

2009-10-16T14:02:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was Bunco and the gal in charge decided that we should all dress as witches. It was really fun to dress up and most people really got into it. I ordered my costume from ebay, thinking I had plenty of time for it to get here...well it did not, so I had to improvise. My friend Kelli lent me a few things and the rest of the stuff I already had.

Family Fall Photos

2009-10-16T13:48:00.000-07:00

So the other day we went for family pictures at JC Pennys (I am so cheap and rarely spring for real photographers, maybe next time...) I think they turned out pretty good.

We also got one of just the kids.

Isaac was due for his 6 year old pictures.

Sydney had her 6 month pictures as well.

Audrey goes to Time Out

2009-10-16T13:31:00.001-07:00

So after my catering job last Thursday I took a red eye flight to Virginia...I had a layover in the worst airport ever ATLANTA. We got in a little late leaving me only 30 minutes to get to my next gate. I ran like a crazy lady through the airport(it is a big airport with a train system that was broken) I get to my gate with 10 minutes to spare only to find out that they have switched my gate, so I start running again (and crying) to the opposite end of the airport. Keep in mind that I am exhausted from catering a dinner for 75 then not sleeping and eating much. I honestly did not have the energy to run anymore, but I tried and alas I made it to my gate and collapsed into my seat. Lesson learned: always check for gate changes even if you are limited on time.
I got to Baltimore and waited for my sis-in-law Tara to arrive from NY and then my mom picked us up. We drove and met up with my sis Andrea and then drove to Richmond for Time Out for Women. We had a great time being spititually uplifted and sometimes not (sorry Michael McLean I don't always think a pill is the answer). We had a lot of bad luck at resturaunts with bad food or bad service. All and all it was a fantastic time.
Andrea and I had an intersting experience on our last night there...at 3:30 AM we were awaken by obnoxious knocking at the door. We looked out the peep hole to see who it was, it was a drunk man. We called down to the front desk and they immediatly called security. He started to get a bit more aggresive with his knocking so we called the desk again to tell them to hurry. Andrea and I just sat on the bed holding hands hoping the locks kept on working. Security came, we were too hyped up to sleep and my mom score herself some extra Marriot points.
I will have to add pictures later I forgot they are not on the new laptop.

Wedding Dinner

2009-10-16T13:18:00.001-07:00

I recently catered a friends mom's wedding dinner. Here are some pictures:

We served almond crusted chicken with a raspberry citrus sauce, parmesan roasted potatoes, balsamic grilled vegatables, spinach salad with craisins bacon and feta, and butterflake rolls and foccacia squares. For dessert we did a cheesecake bar. We did plain cheesecakes with many toppings: strawberry, mango, carmel, chocolate, nuts and whipped cream. My friend decorated 2 display cheesecakes, they looked so good that people were digging into them with forks. I forgot my camera that night and had to borrrow my friends, and I actually took the pictures before we had put all the cheescake toppings on the table.

Mission Reunion

2009-10-04T14:12:00.000-07:00

This weekend I got to go to my mission reunion. It was fun to be there and see all these great sisters that I served with. It was amazing to me that so many of them came from so far away. In all honesty I don't think I would have traveled the great distances that they did, but I am so happy they did. It was great to see my mission president again, it had been many years (he has been serving as a member of the seventy in Africa for the last 4 years). President and Sister Snow spoke to us and I'm sure that all that were there were spiritually fed, I know that I was.

I wish I had been able to take more pictures but it was a busy night, not only was I attending the reunion I was also catering it. I am grateful to all those who helped out in the kitchen, thank you. For dinner we had 3 soups (beef stew, corn chowder and chicken enchilada soup), white and wheat butterflake rolls and foccacia squares, and two salads. For dessert we had chocolate cake and cheesecake. I just recently bought these new soup chaffers and they worked out great, it is nice to finally have a solution on how to keep soup warm at an event. Here are some pictures...the tables are not decorated as much as usual, I had brought all these pumpkins, gords and indian corn to decorate with but they totally did not go with the other decor, o-well what's a girl to do. Thanks Kelli and Amara for the decorations (even if I didn't use them).

Temple Square

2009-09-21T14:46:00.000-07:00

After church yesterday we decided to drive up to Temple Square. We don't go there very often but decided it was a perfect afternoon for it. I served my mission there so it is always fun to go back and see it, although both visitors centers are completly different. It is crazy to think how long it has been since my mission. I think I've been home for about 11 years. Wow. I am getting old.

Trying to catch up

2009-09-21T14:14:00.000-07:00

So since it is alot easier to post things on facebook, I have kind of been neglecting my blog. But today I thought about my reason for blogging being that it is somewhat of a journal for me, so I have decided I need to try to be better about it.

Ward Campout

About a month ago we had our Ward Campout and since it will probably be the only campout for the summer I feel like I should post some pictures. I am (or was) in charge of it so in all honesty it was more of a stress then it was really fun. I went early that day to actually set up our little campsite, because I knew that later I would be busy organizing and what not. So this was the first time I ever set up a tent all by my lonesome. I was pretty proud of myself. I was excited and optomistic that Sydney would be a good little camper like the rest of my kids...So just about when everyone started to head to their tents for bed time, Sydney freaked out, lets just say it was a good thing that home was only 15 minutes away. I had to be back by 6:3O am to start breakfast, so the whole night I was afraid my alarm would not go off, so I barely slept a wink.

Reading
I go through phases in my life were I read...I just recently got into one of these phases again (yes even with the start of tv). The first book I read was the Time Travelers Wife, although the story is good I did not love it because in my opinion it was an R-rated book (don't get me started on my I wish books had ratings thing). Next I read My Sisters Keeper, I liked this book, obviously it was not very uplifting but it definelty got me thinking about a lot of things. After that I read The Undaunted about the Hole in the Rock pioneers. I had never heard of this little expedition so it was really interesting to learn the history behind it (I'm a sucker for historical fiction). It overall was good, but certainly not my favorite. Today I just finished reading Hunger Games, so good. I was into it from about page 3. If you haven't read this I highly recommend it. When I heard the plot I never in a million years thought I would like it, but I never thought I would like books about vampires either. So next up on my reading list Catching Fire (which is the sequel to Huger Games) and then the These is my Words series. If anyone has any other recommendations I'm open to some more suggestions.

Sydney

Sydney is getting big she is almost 6 months. That is just crazy. Time flies when your having fun. She has just recently learned to sit up. I am not sure if she is getting teeth but she has been very fussy lately.

Back to Zion and More

2009-09-08T09:06:00.000-07:00

We went back to St. George this weekend. Since we purchased the National Parks pass, we decided to take another day trip to Zion. We had a lot of fun hiking, but had to limit ourselves because we had all 4 kids with us. Here are some pictures.

Some family photos

We also spent a lot of time at the pool. I really need to find an indoor swimming lesson for Noah, because the kid has no fear when it comes to the water. He is crazy. Tanner is finally getting to a point where he can swim without a life jacket and I don't worry the whole time. Isaac thinks he can swim without a life jacket, but he most definetly can not.

Like I said NO FEAR

One day we went to Sand Hollow to do some boating. I have extreme fears of my kids drowning, so this is not a relaxing thing for me. But everyone got out on the tube (except for Sydney) and Kevin did some wake boarding. Isaac is a little daredevil on the boat. He was very excited to get on the tube all by himself, unfortunatly the front of the tube went under and kind of flipped him off, this kind of scared him (and me as well).

On Moday Kevin hung out with the kids at the pool and I went shopping and got a pedicure. What more could a gal ask for. This was a fun holiday weekend. We really enjoyed our time with the Jacobsons.

A Few Firsts and Other Stuff

2009-08-27T17:15:00.000-07:00

So Sydney just recently turned 5 months old, so here are a few recent pictures of her.

In other Sydeny news we decided to start feeding her rice cereal. Of course she gobbled it right up (not really at all). She made a sour lemon face and shuddered, I guess that means she didn't like it.

On Wednesday it was Isaac's first day of school. We tried to make a big deal out of it, so Kevin worked from home for the morning. We took Isaac to lunch at his favorite place to eat, IHOP. Then we got home and waited and waited for the bus, that was 20 minutes late. Those poor kids were all late for the first day of school. Isaac loved it and absolutley loves riding the bus.

Let's not forget Noah and his own "first." So this is a picture of Noah the first time he wrote all over his face. Yes, proud mama must include this on her blog.

Now I wish that day he limited his writings to his face, but my dining room has lovely black crayon all over it. Looks like I need to head to the store to buy some magic erasers.

Southern Utah Vacation

2009-08-19T08:14:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we went down to St. George with my sister and her family to visit some National Parks. The first day we went to Zion National Park. My mother-in-law was nice enough to watch Sydney for us, which was great since it was over 100 degrees that day. The kids were awesome we did 3 different hike (about 5 miles) and they all survived.
The next day Rob was sick so we took it easy. We did a small hike to some petroglyphs that are near my in-laws house. The kids loved this. Then we went to eat at Pirate Island. We spent several hours in the pool (the kids would have spent the entire day there). We ended the day with a raging session of Rock Band.
The next day we headed home. We took a big detour to Bryce Canyon, so glad we did. This was probably the most amazing thing I ever did see. We did a cool hike down into the canyon (the only tricky part was coming back up). We had a great time and love vacationing with the Kunzs.

Tanner's Ist Day of School

2009-08-19T07:40:00.000-07:00

I have been a major blog slacker lately, it has been about 2 months since my last post

What better time to get back into blogging then the first day of school.

Sorry not the best pictures I've ever taken, but it was very sunny and Tanner was not thrilled to be getting his picture taken. I was one of the only cheesy moms out there with my camera (thanks Valeree for not letting me be the only one) and I could see it on his face "come on mom please no more pictures."

Tanner has been sick the last few days, so I am happy that he was feeling better, it would have been sad for him to miss the first day of school. I got up and made scrambled eggs and pancakes for breakfast and the poor guy still does not totally have his appetite back.

Tanner is a great helper for me and I will miss him during the days for that reason, but with school back in session, we can start to get back into routines and that is really what I need. Kindergarten starts next week, that is when the fun really begins.

Lyme Disease

2009-07-20T14:53:00.000-07:00

Just so all of you know, I just found out I have Lyme Disease. When the doctor called I was paniced because I really did not much about it or what I was in for. I decided to go to the doctor because I was experiencing some joint pain. Apparently joint pain is a sign of later stages of it, so I have no idea when I got it. Most people (when they are bit by a tick) will get a bulls-eye rash on their skin. I never did get this, unless it was in my hair. I suppose I could have gotten it last year, I also could have gotten it when I was in PA recently, or anytime in between. The doctor has me on an antibiotic for 6 weeks and this should hopefully cure me, if this does not work (which obviously we hope it does) they will have to do IV antibiotics. I am for the most part doing just fine. I still have the joint pain and migraines (and all along I thought they were just because I had 4 kids), it is nothing to bad just kinda annoying. Thanks to all of you who are concerned, I can feel the love and I appreciate it.
Just as a reminder if you are out in the woods, tall grasses, sagebrush, or whatever...make sure to check for ticks.

Kiddie Pictures

2009-07-20T14:42:00.000-07:00

Today I took the kids to get some pictures taken:

Here is little Sydney.

Tanner was also due for some pictures:

And we might as well get some of all the kiddos:

I just love these kids.

Summer Vacation 2009 Part 2

2009-07-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

Next...

Monday: We (along with my sister and her kids) went to Washington DC to the National Zoo. The kids enjoyed seeing all the animals. This zoo is free other then the $20 parking. Make sure to get gas before you get in the city, we spent FOREVER driving around looking for a gas station.

Tuesday: This day we (with my sis and her fam and my mom) went into the city to see the sights. Our day was cut short because of rain. We did manage to make it to the Air and Space museum, but that was about it. Afterwards we drove back to my sisters and took the kids to see UP.

Wednesday: We drove back to PA and on our way we stopped at Gettysburg. This visitors center was very interesting, it would have been nice to go without kids, but that's okay...It was pretty cool that we were there on the anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg.

Thursday: We (with my sister Alison and my sis-in-law Carrie and their kids) went to Blue Marsh Lake. This was a cheap, yet fun thing to do. It only costs $3/per car to go, it was really nice and the kids had a blast.

Friday: this is the day we flew home. On the way to the airport we stopped by the Smith Memorial Playhouse and let kids play at this fabulous playground for a few hours.

Then we flew home, we had a great time. Thanks to my family for hanging out with us and making our trip so great.

Summer Vacation 2009 Part 1

2009-07-05T17:36:00.000-07:00

We just got home from a very jam packed vacation back east. Here is what we did.

Wednesday -travel day. This was Sydney's first time on a plane and she did really well. I'm sure everyone who was sitting around us got really paniced when they saw us coming with our 4 kids, but they all did great.

Thursday: We met my sister-in-law Carrie and her kids at Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia. This was super fun, the kids could have stayed here all day, but we limited it to 4 hours.

Friday: We went to Dutch Wonderland, this is an amusement park for kids. It was great, there was nothing the older kids could not ride and the best part of the whole experience was that we never had to wait in a line all day.

Later the evening we headed over the Chocolate World.

Saturday: We met up with my sister Andrea and her fam, by brother Jeff and his fam, my brother Brad and his son, my parents and 2 more of my nephews for a super crowded but fun day at Hershey Park.

Sunday: we went to church and then had a family lunch before we left for my sisters in Virginia. On the way there we stopped by my sister Alisons.

Okay this vacation was to long for one post, so more to come.

Grocery Smart

2009-06-18T13:11:00.000-07:00

So a few months ago I went to a grocery shopping class to learn how to save money. The class was about clipping coupons and stocking up while things are on sale. There is a web site (www.grocerysmarts.com utah password g84cjh) that will tell you what is on sale at each store and what coupns to use to make the sale even better and they also rate each item to let you know how good the sale really is. Along with this I have subscribed to the Sunday paper and each Sunday morning if you drive by my house you will see a pile of 5 papers sitting on the driveway. If you are buying the paper for the coupons the newspapers will give you bulk deals (I think we pay somewhere around $12/month for the paper). I used to be horrible with grocery money, I just bought what I needed when I needed it. Now I buy things that are on sale and I stock up, that way I have them when I need them. So far in the few months that I've been doing this I have saved about $200/month and I still have tons to learn in the coupon world.
Yesterday I went to the store to get my groceries for the week. The total came to $55.39 and this is what I got for that:

1 Bottle of Murphy's Oil Soap

2 Cans of Pam Cooking Spray

3 Boxes of Kellogs Raisin Bran

3 Boxes of Kellogs Frosted Flakes

2 Loaves of Bread

1 Bag of Hamburger Buns

1 case of Bottled Water

10 cans of Manwich

10 boxes of Pillsbury Brownie Mix

1 gallon of Milk

3 Dozen eggs

5 packs of Danimals yogurt

4 Angus Beef Steaks

3+ LBS of Bananas

2 LBS of Red potatoes

2+ LBS of Granny Smith Apples

1 Onion

1 bag of baby carrots

Not only was all of that only $55, I also have $10 coupon to spend on my next shopping trip.

After looking at the list you may wonder why I didn't buy any "real" food, well I have already stocked up on my chicken, roast, lunch meat, cheese, etc. It may be a little time consuming, but it is very exciting, this girl likes a challenge, and it is fun to see how cheap I can get things for.

Sneaky Kids

2009-06-11T07:14:00.000-07:00

Pretty often my kids will get "sneaky" and hide and typically be doing something they know they should not be doing. The other day I caught them being sneaky.

I would by them all the books they could read, if this is what "sneaky" typically means.

We Love the Carnival

2009-06-11T07:02:00.001-07:00

Every year we look forward to the local carnival. On opening night they always have dollar day. It is one dollar for a ticket and one ticket to ride each ride. This year we were pleasently suprised to find out it was actually 50 cent day. That meant we could save some money for some yummy funnel cake. What is a carnival without funnel cake???

Here are some photos of all the fun:

Noah liked the little roller coaster so much, he wanted to go again.

Not Much Going On

2009-06-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

Really we have not had much going on, which really is okay for now...

Tanner and Isaac have started swim lessons. We are only 2 days in. This year I decided to do private lessons at 7-Peaks. They raised their prices on normal lessons, so this was not that much more and it is totally worth it. One on one attention, that is just what they need. The only problem is it is a little chilly at 10:30 am and they have ZERO body fat (I wish I had their problems) so they shiver the whole time.

Tanner is doing pretty good. He is starting to learn different swimming techniques and he has shown good progress already. I feel like if he fell in a pool he is at a point where he could save his life and swim to the edge.

Isaac on the other hand has digressed and it is like we are starting all over again. He is working on learning to float, AGAIN. Hopefully by the end of the 2 weeks he will be to a point where he could save his own life if he fell in.
Noah and Sydney have been really well behaved so far, this sure makes it nice.

Noah is going through a phase, some call it the terrible two's. When he does not get his way, he will run up to his room and slam the door shut. If I follow him up there he will climb into his dresser and shut the doors. Today I decided to take some pictures, by the end of it he forgot he was mad and came down for breakfast.

So in my last blog post I said I was going to be better about taking more pictures of Sydney and I have been (look at me reaching my goals). Here are a bunch of them.

2 Month Update

2009-05-31T13:26:00.000-07:00

I'm a few days late on the 2 month update, but....I'm trying.
On Friday Sydney had her 2 month doctor appointment. She had to get 4 shots and she did not love that, it was a rough day. We did find out that she weighs just about 11 lbs (she started at 9 lbs 3 oz, so she really hasn't gained that much). She is 23.75 inches long, very tall and skinny. My dreams of having a chubby baby girl are out the door.
Speaking of dreams, mine have been great. On Mother's Day Sydney decided to sleep through the night (what a great gift, thanks), and she has continued with this new found talent ever since (except one congested night). She typically sleeps from 9pm to 7 am, I love her. Her temperment is overall pretty good (of course she has her moments, don't we all).
She started smiling a few weeks ago, and she is especially happy first thing in the morning. I tried to get a picture of her smiling, but no such luck, you'll have to settle for not crying. I haven't been that great about taking pictures, I thought I would be better, I definetly need to start doing better, and that will be my goal. So at 3 months expect more pictures.

Preschool Solo

2009-05-19T09:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Isaac preschool spring program and graduation. As part of the program Isaac had to sing a solo. He chose to sing On Top of Spaghetti, and without further ado here he is:

Isn't he cute. He was a major spazz the rest of the program. He just would not sit still. His poor teacher, I'm sure he challenged her this year.

Mad Science

2009-05-17T14:25:00.000-07:00

Well my oldest baby turned 7 yesterday, crazy. For his party this year he decided (with a little encouragment from me) to have a Mad Science Party. One day when I was at the doctor I picked up Family Fun Magazine and on the cover was a mad science birthday, so I got some ideas from there, as well as some from my big sissy Andrea (who did a science party a few years back), of course some ideas were from my birthday-go-to-source birthdaypartyideas.com, and some I even came up with all on my own. Here are the party details if you want them, if not just scroll down and look at the pictures. I am writing down the costs of everything, so that if you want to do a similar party you will know how much each thing cost.
Invites:

This is what I did for the invitations. I printed this out in 5 by 7 inch size on cardstock. I rolled it up and slid it in a large test tube (baby soda bottle found at stevespangler.com) and filled the test tube with homemade confetti. The big expense for this was the test tubes, which were $10 for 15. So in total the invites cost me $10.

Costumes: From Family Fun I got the idea of making costumes for each of the kids which included lab coats, safety goggles, name tags, and rubber gloves. For the lab coats I bought plain white tees at a $ a pop and just cut them down the front, easy. I bought the safety goggles for $ and the rubber gloves I got at the dollar store, I bought mad science name tags on clearance from Oriental trading for $2. The costumes were the biggest expense, but totally worth the $28. Check out the picture of these MAD SCIENTISTS.

The Cake: I gave Tanner the choice of what cake he wanted I told him I would do a science flask or an eyeball and brain. He chose the flask, this I found on Family Fun. You bake 2 bundt cakes, place the first bottom-side up and frost then put the next cake bottom-side down on top of that. You put a paper towel roll (wrapped in foil) in the bundt cake hole. Then you just frost to look like the flask. You can get details on familyfun.com. I am not good at making frosting smooth so that part was a bit tricky for me. Also, you put blue cotton candy in the top of the paper towel roll to look like vapor. The only kind of cotton candy I could find was from the dollar store and it was not light and airy like you would get at the carnival, so it did not acheive the exact look that I wanted. But all in all it turned out and Tanner thought it was great. Total cost for cake and frosting $5.

Mad Science Word Search: As a gathering activity I painted the words MAD SCIENCE on a big piece of butcher paper and then wrote 75 different science-ish words very small. The idea of the game was to find as many words as you can using a magnifying glass, the 2 who found the most words got a big box of Nerds (because scientists are nerds, right?). I bought little science notebooks for about $4 and magnifying glasses for $3, Nerds for $2, I had the pencils and the butcher paper and paint. So in total this game cost $9.

Test Tube Lava Lamps: For this we used the same tests tubes I used for the invites. The kids used droppers (also purchased from Steve Spangler for $4 for 50) to fill the test tube 3/4 of the way full with oil and then the rest with water. In the end you add several drops of food coloring. We then used super glue to keep the lids on and then you just rock then back and forth and you get the look of a lava lamp. This experiment cost about $15.

Drops on a Penny: Next we used the same droppers as before and slowly dropped water onto the surface of the penny. The water will form a big bubble on top of the penny (pretty cool), I was able to get 42 drops of water on the penny. The kids just had a good time squirting water on the penny.

Diet Coke Mentos Geyser: This is a pretty fun experiment. You quickly drop 7 mentos into a bottle of soda (Diet Coke works best because diet has no sugar = easy clean-up). What happens is the soda erupts out of the bottle and goes very high. If I can figure out how I will put a very short video clip on of it. This experiment cost me about $15 for soda and mentos.

Cornstarch and water: The kids got to mix cornstarch with water. If you have never done this before you take 2 parts cornstarch and add 1 part water. The mixture will react differently to metal, plastic, wood, rocks, etc. Sometimes it is a solid other times a liquid. I spent $2 on disposable containers to mix in and $3 for cornstarch. In total $5. Cheap and easy, just make sure not to pour the mixture down the drain, it can mess up your pipes.

We ended the party with cake and ice cream which I served with Capri Suns ($2), then we opened presents. Everyone left with a goody box filled with candy and things from the experiments we did. The cost for those were about $10 for candy and $2 for the boxes (on clearance from OT).Everything went well, it seemed like all the kids had a splendid time.

So sad, no more parties till November.

Dinosaurs

2009-05-16T16:33:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, while my parents were in town, we took Isaac and Noah to the dinosaur museum. I've been a bit of a blog slacker, so it has taken me a while to get these pictures up.

2009-05-06T12:07:00.000-07:00

What a Blessing!

2009-05-03T17:15:00.000-07:00

Today was Sydney's baby blessing. Kevin gave her a real nice blessing. It was a wonderful experience, followed by a very unplifting testimony meeting. We had a lot of friends and family who were there for the occasion. (my parents, Kev's parents, his brother and sister and their families, my friends Kate and Byron and their family, and of course all my ward "family") Afterwards we had everyone over for Brunch. We made a bacon and egg casserole, cinnamon rolls, fruit platter and fruit and yogurt parfait. Thanks mom for all your help in the kitchen. My friend Mandi (from Pennsylvania) came over with her mom Hollee as well. I had not seen Mandi for many years, so it was good to see her. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to come be with us for Sydney's special day.

2009-04-28T10:49:00.000-07:00

I know everyones already knows we had a baby but this is the birth announcement that we sent out to far away family and friends. My sister made these up for me and I sent them to Walmart to be printed. It was kind of flatering because they questioned me about whether I had the copyright for the picture.
Anyhow thanks Andrea for always coming to my annoucement/invite rescue. Someday I will learn to do it on my own, but until then...Thanks.

Baby Burrito

2009-04-27T08:53:00.000-07:00

So when I think of baby items I could not live without, this would definetly be near the top. It's called SwaddleMe by Kiddopotamus, you can get them at Wal-Mart, Amazon, etc. It may look like a baby-sized straight jacket but I really think it helps baby sleep. When babies are in the hospital they "swaddle" them real nice and tight. This is the same idea, but velcro helps keep the blanket in place. So if you are getting ready to have a baby, I would definetly recommend this.
Also check out the super cute rag quilt Sydney is lying on. My friend Lorraine made it for her, this is also another baby item I could not live without, okay maybe I could, but I sure do love it.

Spring Break

2009-04-20T10:27:00.000-07:00

So last week the kids had Spring Break, unfortunatly it snowed so it didn't feel quite like Spring. If my kids are cooped up inside all day, they start to misbehave, so we had to think of some things for them to do. On Wednesday we went to lunch at Wendys with a bunch of friends and then to Jumpin Jacks. My kids could play here forever, it was fun for them and they got lots of energy out. On Thursday we didn't do much. My kids really like to visit their dad at work and he recently graduated from cubicle to an office, so we wanted to check out the new set up. So we brought lunch to the office and called it a day. On Friday the weather was a bit nicer, so we decided to head to the Zoo. Kevin took a half day at work, so I didn't have to go on my own. It was still a little chilly (not to bad) which was nice, it was not at all crowded. The kids had a great time, we all did. Noah really enjoyed himself, he was only 1 last time we went, so this time he was so into the animals.

Here is Sydney at 3 weeks. I just wanted to post this picture to prove that I actually dress her in other colors then just pink.

Bunny Days

2009-04-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

This year, although life is crazy with a new baby, we still tried to keep with our Easter traditions. On Friday evening we dyed eggs. The kids really enjoyed this and wished that they had more then 3 eggs to decorate. Please do not look to closely at the picture of Isaac, my kitchen is a disaster.

On Saturday we started the day with breakfast and an egg hunt at the church. Because of rain, we had to do this indoors, which wasn't ideal but it worked out. There were lots of eggs and individual pieces of candy scattered all over. Noah was funny, so not interested in the eggs, was all about the candy. I don't think he really understood that there was candy in the eggs.

Later that day we had dinner and an egg hunt at Kevin's parents. Yummy food and lots of candy for the kids, what more could we ask for.

This morning we got the kids all dressed up for church. They sure do clean up nice.

After church we came home and the kids got to search for their Easter baskets. Of course this is the most excting part for the kids.

The Easter bunny also brought mom and dad the Wii Fit. After desperatly trying to squeeze into my pre-pregnancy pants (with no success), I'm in major need of something to help get me motivated.

These were not Easter pictures, but just some recent pictures of Sydney.

So have I mentioned how much fun it is to have a girl. It is like having my own little doll to dress up and snuggle.

One Week

2009-04-01T12:58:00.001-07:00

It has officially been one week since Sydney was born. Just wanted to document how life is going for all of us.
Sydney: So far she is a great little baby. She is not a big crier, typically only when she is hungry or getting a bath. Speaking of baths, she absolutely does not like those. We just had the first major diaper blow out, which of course led to a bath. She screamed through the whole experience, which makes me feel like a horrible momma, but it had to be done. She is doing pretty good at nights, it seems like every night gets better and better. Last night I only had to get up once in the middle of the night, it was glorious. I'm guessing this will not continue to be the case, but we will take what we can get.
Noah: He just loves his little baby, it took him a few days to warm up to her, but now he wants to hold her all the time, which means I can never leave them alone in the same room for even a second because he will try to pick her up. Although he seems to be handling things pretty well, you can tell he is need of extra love and attention. Everytime someone comes to the house he runs up and hugs them (even if he does not know them, I'm sure he would hug the UPS guy when he comes). But overall he is doing well.
Isaac: He seems to be handling things with the baby the best. He just loves her and wants to hold her and touch her all the time. It really is sweet. His behavior has not changed either, sometimes he is a challenge because he is not the best listener. I'd like to say this is because of the baby, but this is usual behavior.
Tanner: He is funny, because when Noah was born he just loved him and when I was pregnant he always wanted to feel the baby move and was the most excited for her to come. Now that she is here he could care less. He absolutly does not like it when the baby cries and he will cry and cover his ears. He occasionally will want to hold her or give her kisses, but not like I expected.
Audrey: I mentioned before that the baby had been doing better at nights, so of course I am getting a bit more sleep. I am still tired all the time, because there is just no time to nap during the days ( I still have a very active 2 year old in the house). The weather here is very cold, so we have no desire to leave the house, but I am getting a bit stir crazy. I just wish it would feel like spring so I could take the kids out for a walk, but instead it SNOWS. Yesterday I had to take Tanner to piano lessons and it was a major chore just to get all 4 kids in the car (3 of the 4 were crying). Then while he was at his lesson, I thought it would be fun to go to the store to pick up a few necessities. It took like 10 minutes just to get the kids out of the car and into a shopping cart, fun stuff. Anyway, I can't really complain, for being on my own during the days I feel like I'm doing alright. Yesterday I was just sitting on the couch looking at my sweet baby and thinking how lucky I am, and I really can't believe I finally have a pretty little girl.
Kevin: He has been great through this all. He helps out as much as he can at nights, unfortunatly he is not able to feed her, but he gets her if she wakes for other reasons. He also wakes up early each day so he has time to get himself and all 3 boys fed and dressed every morn, I don't know what I would do with out him. I guess I will find out at the end of the month when he has to go to Pennsylvania for work. Hopefully in the next 3 weeks we can get into a good routine, so that it won't be to much of a challenge.
Well this is our life now and although at times it is a challenge, I love it.