Mauery Moments

Fast forward a year or so.....

2012-01-24T11:25:00.000-08:00

Do you remember this picture I posted about Holly and Tyler when he was brand new? She just couldn't get enough of him. I think she has saved me hundreds of hours of "cry-time" just by holding him gently and talking to him. She has been a lifesaver at dinner-making time over the past 15 months. I love you, Holly Lou!

Well, you can still find them snuggled up most mornings in the same position. Nothing has changed!! She certainly loves this little boy!

And it is obvious that he loves her right back!!

Limerick

2011-10-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

This boy has been busy writing Limericks again. Seems like every year he gets an assignment at school and then it sets his thinker into Limerick mode. I thought I'd share the one he came up with this morning:

The Grave of Jefferey Drake:

Hit the gas instead of the brake

His car did explode

As it went off the road

Went splash right into a lake.

Have a happy Friday, all you ghosties and ghoulies! See you at the Trunk or Treat.

Love my boys.....

2011-05-19T11:46:00.000-07:00

I found this old picture of Jaren. He cracks me up. I have more silly pictures of him than I will ever have of the serious kind. :) Lately, he has been up to some building.

Jaren learned from his big brother that when building with blocks, dominoes, jenga pieces, or anything else.....it is cool to build temples. (I don't know where Ryan got it. I always built "Towers" when I was little, so I think it is pretty cool that they build temples instead. ) Anyway, here are a few of Jaren's recent temples.

This one with the curved entrance looks like the Bountiful, Utah temple. Timothy and I were married there. :) Here is a comparison:

You can tell where we live....

2011-04-25T14:16:00.000-07:00

We finally had a day where the sun was shining a bit. We live in the rainiest, cloudiest place. I just about go bonkers every year before the sun comes out for a few months. I took the kids outside in the sun to get a picture and this is what I got:

No EYES! It wasn't even full sunlight. The sky was completely overcast with thin clouds. You would think they were at the beach in full sun.

Tyler WOULD NOT open his eyes. "Gee Mom, what is that bright ball?"

We put Tyler in the shade and finally saw a tiny bit of his eyes.

Oh, there they are! It took a while. I guess we can't move back to Sunny South Carolina. Their eyes just wouldn't take it. We are now a bunch of Seattle wimps.

Things are a bit hairy around here....

2011-04-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

Dear Grandma S. ,
These pictures are way overdue. So, instead of emailing one, we decided to post all of them here for you. Here they are!

We Love You!
~Holly and Ariana

It is that time of year again to give the "big cuts" to the girls. Holly has never given her hair to Locks of Love. She will usually get a few trims and then take 5-6" off before school starts.

But now that her hair is so much thicker, it finally made it to the 10" requirement for sending in to Locks of Love. Check out the before and after:

Holly Before:

(some lucky child will get Holly's pretty platinum hi-lites! :)

Ariana Before:

(wet hair! :)

(Ariana has been doing this now for 7 years. So, she is a pro and gave 14" again. Way to go, Ana!)

Ariana's BIG CUT!

Holly's Big Cut!
(This is the only picture I got of Holly's ponytail. She is covering half of it. Aaargh. But you get the idea, right? Holly gave a full 10" of hair. )

The finished product. Ahhhh, so light and fluffy!

Wow, we forgot how much curl Holly has!

(This is curled, but is sure is easy to do now.)

Adorable Ariana

Happy Holly

It was a fun experience for both these beautiful gals. I am glad they like to do good things for others. And it is kind of fun to be pampered in the process.

P.S. Since the girls were getting so much attention with the cutting of their hair, the boys decided that they needed a little attention of their own. What better way than to grow a little hair themselves?

Jaren is planning on a full handlebar. But he's gonna need a little wax to get the full effect. Anyone know where I can find some mustache product that doesn't build up?

Ryan was goin' for a simple chevron, but his hair is so wily that it quickly got out of hand. He trimmed it back to this handsome horseshoe and he is in the process of redesigning his look. We think that a freestyle-English type 'stache will be in the works next. Stay tuned....

Being so careful

2011-01-07T16:47:00.000-08:00

I love to snap candid shots. Here is Daddy putting Tyler in the new swing for the first time. Doesn't it look like Tyler has a little sideways smirk on his face?

On a side note....everything has fallen apart that we used for our other babies. So, this time around we had to buy everything over again.....car seat, swing, crib. I just put Tyler in the bouncer seat (the one and only thing that hasn't been destroyed by going through four other babies) and the seat support bar just broke through. Aargh!! So, I guess we get to buy another bouncer. Like I told Timothy....."We either should have stopped at four or now we'll have to have another four to make it worth all the new purchases. " *grin*

Mauery Monkeys

2011-01-02T11:18:00.000-08:00

We've added a new monkey to the family. I wonder if he knows what he is in for! (Jaren and Holly crack me up in this one. And Daddy and Ryan have the classic monkey underbite.)

Ariana joins in on the fun. I think the zoo just called and they want Daddy back. Peace, Holly. Hang Loose, Jaren. Goodnight, Ryan.

Introducing our newest......

2011-01-02T11:16:00.000-08:00

Newest Mauery edition

Model #2010

Tyler Harris Mauery

(Don't you love how the curls in his hair make a tiny mohawk. It is so cute.)

We are so excited to have our little guy here in our arms. He came a month early and is healthy and strong. We have so many pictures to post and thank you's to write. We'll start catching up as time (and sleep) are to be had. Love to you all!!

All I want for Chrithmath.....

2010-09-23T03:45:00.001-07:00

Look who lost a new tooth!! She couldn't wait to show grandma! And from the looks of all the snaggle-toothed neighbors that tooth has.....I'll bet she looks like a jack-o-lantern for Halloween.

Some fun and a little reflecting....

2010-09-22T09:35:00.000-07:00

The week before school started we went on a little family outing to the Seattle city center. We played at the Pacific Science center and went to the Lego Games touring show. But the funnest part was the Singing fountain!! We hadn't planned on going, so no swim suits.

But who needs a suit to get wet?

The kids weren't shy about rolling up their pant legs and hopping right in.

Ready, set, go!!

The fountain sings and shifts spray patterns to the music. The kids love it when the jets suddenly switch and come from below their feet and scare them. Then they all run back up screaming.

Except our duckling, Holly. She is never afraid of the water. During this diluge, she was the only person left under the fountain. I got a video of her putting her arms around the fountain and hugging it as it sprays her ruthlessly. She just giggled and put her arms in the air triumphantly like this while everyone watched her. So cute!

Jaren needed a little sun time.

The water felt good on a hot day. Can you believe we actually had a "Hot" day? What luck.

BUT THESE SHOES MADE ME PAUSE AND THINK SOME UNEXPECTED THOUGHTS. Just look at them........

I was sitting on the ledge at the top of the fountain. I looked over at this pile of shoes. It made a tear come to my eye. There was a time it would have been only one little pair of shoes. It seems not too long ago. Then two pairs.....then another.... and another. Can you believe this pile? And to think that each pair represents a piece of my heart. Each pair has changed my life and made me better in some way. And now, ANOTHER tiny pair of shoes will be joining our family in a few weeks. How lucky am I? I can't think about it or look at this picture without tears. I AM SO BLESSED!!

Bee Happy!

2010-09-22T08:36:00.000-07:00

We had a Family Home Evening lesson on being positive and trying to always have a happy attitude. So, for a treat afterward we made "Be Happy Bees". What fun!

This was a book that had our model in it. But we kinda did our own thing.

The ingredients: Sixlets candies, lemon fruit slices, black licorice, and honey sweetened cookies baked in oval shapes.

(Just a silly side note. I looked for 6 months to find these lemon slices. The lesson was a long time in coming. I finally found them on our trip to Canada. When I checked out I was so shocked!! They were in the bulk section and they were prices by the GRAM and not the pound. So, I wound up paying over $8 just for those 12 slices. Count it up folks......they were over 75 cents a piece. Ouch....I guess I am the one who got stung!)

On your mark, get set, make those bees!!!

Ariana's bee was cute as a button and it was already in flight!

Holly designed her bee in rainbow colors and he was smiling with all those candies for a mouth.

Jaren's bee cracked me up. It looked just like him with those cute BIG eyes. The shape of the cookie even looked like it was smiling.

Ryan's bee was mad about something. Love those eyebrows and red hot stinger.

Daddy's bee was a little fashion conscious and opted not to do horizontal stripes. They just make you look wider anyway!

And Momma's bee was just plain YUMMY!!

What is your favorite treat for Family Night?

I'm back...

2010-09-21T04:51:00.000-07:00

It has been ages since I have blogged anything. But we are alive and kickin'! I am especially the one who is feeling the kickin'. I was up this morning at 4AM because I gave up on sleep. When baby doesn't sleep--Momma doesn't sleep. So, here I am thinking of my blog.

We have been busy doing a lot of fun family things. I just haven't posted any. I'll get right on that. But in the meantime......I am busy drooling over these:

PUMPKINS (click me!)

Aren't they gorgeously delicious. I must make some quickly!! I think I need to run to JoAnn's. I'll put that blogging off for a little longer while I fill my pumpkin fabric void.

Boy or Girl?!?

2010-07-21T17:32:00.001-07:00

After many weeks of vacation, we finally got in to do an ultrasound. Good thing....cause this baby is getting big! It measured almost three weeks ahead of schedule and oddly enough, I have lost several more pounds. It may be a 10-11 lb. WHOPPER like Jaren was. I can't keep up with huge babies like he was. They eat me in the process!!

(Baby waves.....Hi, Mom and Dad!)

So, we found out that this little one has the outdoor variety of plumbing!!! We are so excited!! Our house will never be quiet again. The kids are all picking out Fabric for burpcloths and receiving blankets. They even want to try their hand at making them by themselves. (Their idea, not mine. I think it is adorable how excited they are. :)

IT'S A BOY!!

Ja~RRRRRR~en!

2010-06-02T08:04:00.000-07:00

I don't know where he learned to roll his RRRRRR's but it is pretty cute. Some days he spends the whole day rolling all the r's in his words. So, I told him to say "Ruffles have ridges" like the old Lays potato chips commercials.

He doesn't understand what he is saying and keeps asking me what RRRRRRRidges are. I guess I'll have to buy a bag and explain. Mmmmm....:)

We're nuts.......................

2010-05-31T15:13:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you why. First, I need to preface this with a little bit of history about our family.

Timothy's Favorite peanut: Planters Dry Roasted Peanuts. Mmmmm. Salty and nutty.

Ryan's Favorite peanut: Boston Baked Beans Candy. Little candy coated peanuts that are crispy. These bring back memories of my childhood at the ball park.

Ariana's Favorite Peanut: Honey Roasted. Can't blame her. Don't they just beg to be crunched! These are the most requested peanut in our stockings each year.

Holly's Favorite Peanut: The versatile Spanish peanut. We especially love these on top of curry with chopped fruits and raisins. Yummy!!

And of course, most of you know Jaren's favorite peanut: I don't even need to explain. He lives on the stuff.

Now, we come to my favorite peanut:

Can you blame me?

Mauery baby #5 - 2010 edition

Style to be announce later next month!

Grand appearance will be late November.

(p.s. It may be my favorite peanut, but I still think I am allergic to it! It's sure making me sick!)

Forced to change.....

2010-04-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

........for comments, that is.

I have added comment moderation to my blog. I am having trouble with unknown users adding links and/or phony ads to the comment section of old blog posts.

So, now if you'd like to comment just hit send and it will email the comment to me. After I have seen it and I know it isn't one of these phony links, I just okay it and it appears in the comment box like usual.

Sorry to mix things up. I don't know why people want to be malicious.

One Hairy Mess!!

2010-04-27T08:50:00.000-07:00

Our Little Ryan has always had a lot of curly hair.

In fact, the longer it gets the bigger the curls get.

And as you can see below........the curls have gotten WAY OUT OF HAND!!

No amount of pleading could get permission for me to cut his hair. He was determined to keep the curls. At first he had the shaggy, Luke Skywalker look. But it quickly turned into this:

So, I made him a deal. He could pick any haircut he wanted and I would replicate it. He went for it. This picture below is the "do" he wanted. I was happy to oblige! One young Malfoy coming up!

While Draco is quite a monster in the show.....he is nothing compare to the monster that we found in Ryan's hair!! (Can you believe that mound!?!)

And the finished product..........

I am glad he is so pleased with the cut. It was a first for me. I specialize in the missionary haircut, so keeping it long in the back took some time. As I started to cut it was turning into a mullet. A little layering in the back smoothed it out and we flipped the ends up. (I told him it was a little bit "Kirk Cameron". He just rolled his eyes and said, "Mom, I don't know who you are talking about!")

Ryan, you are once again my handsome curly headed boy. Let's keep the curls to a minimum!

I Love yoU!

New Neighbors

2010-04-27T08:25:00.000-07:00

I was taking the kids to their art class and Ariana swore she saw a bald eagle.

I told her it was probably a plastic eagle that someone put up to scare the crows away from their garden. But on the way back home from dropping them off I saw not ONE but TWO bald eagles in the tree.

When I picked up the kids, the birds were still there and I grabbed my camera. Ryan jumped out of the van and took these close-ups. You can really see this big guy staring and Ryan. I think he wanted to eat him for lunch!

They must be building a nest in our neighborhood. We have friends who have seen them quite frequently. It sure is fun to know that they aren't endangered anymore. How fun!

3-14-2010, Pi, Pie, π

2010-04-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

Ryan loves pie. He asks for it regularly for Family Home Evening. Last month he insisted we celebrated Pi day. It was 3/14. Does that make sense?

Pi =3.1415926535

So, we even set the alarm for 3/14 1:59:26. Hurray!

In honor of the day our handsome daddy made this pumpkin pie. He opened the oven and etched the pi symbol into the top. You know how a pumpkin pie usually cracks in the middle? When this one cracked it cracked into a perfect pi symbol.

Happy Pi Day!

Job Charts

2010-04-26T12:42:00.000-07:00

We have a new job system at our house. The kids are busy earning fun things.

Holly wanted to earn a set of nails. We played salon last weekend. If you have kids.....you gotta check out this site:

http://www.myjobchart.com/

It is totally customizable. You choose chores, points, rewards. They check off their chores and it gives them points. They can see the rewards they are working toward. It has worked wonders at our house and it is free. You can't beat that.

Jay-zo buggy......

2010-04-26T12:34:00.000-07:00

Hey, Jay-zo....show me your new pajamas!

Aw, please smile for me?

Okay, those were funny faces. Now, will you smile for me?

That isn't a smile! Jaren Thomas!! Please smile nice for the camera!!

I GIVE UP!! :)

Nephi Hills

2010-04-26T12:29:00.000-07:00

My oldest Brother was doing his Eagle Scout project many years ago. We planted 500 trees in a forest burn area in Nephi, Utah. It was a grueling day. 500 holes is a lot to dig, no matter how excited you are when you start.
As we got home, Mom threw together a dish made of leftovers. (Something she can do like a queen. My mom can come to my house and look in the fridge. I will only have half a jar of pickles, some ketchup, and a dish of leftover noodles. She will whip around the kitchen and serve us a gourmet meal. I don't know how she does it!)

Anyway, she whipped up a dish with biscuits on top. They were covered with melted cheese and poppy seeds. It was so good. We didn't know what to call it. I said, "Mom, it looks like the Nephi Hills we were on all day today." Thus it was dubbed "Nephi Hills". I haven't had it in decades. I tried to recreate it the other night. My kids went wild. They ate more than I did. Yum.

So, Mom.....this one's for you. :) My recipe:

Nephi Hills

One pound of roasted chicken- (I used the leftover dark meat after having chicken the night before. It had so much flavor!! Those rotisserie chickens at the grocery store work great.)
Two pounds mixed veggies cooked in a cup of water on the stove. (This makes them moist. Cooking in the microwave doesn't do frozen veggies any good.)
Two cans Cream of Chicken Soup-undiluted.

Mix all together (including the water from the veggies. That makes the gravy) and pour into the bottom of a 9X13 pan.

Make your favorite biscuits. (We have used the best recipe from The Joy of Cooking and even lowly Bisquick mix biscuits and they both worked equally well.)

Put 12-15 biscuits across the top of the casserole.
Shred a cup of cheese over the top.
Sprinkle with poppy seeds.

Bake in a hot oven--450* for 15 minutes or till the biscuits are golden and puffy.

Enjoy. It goes really well with a dish of fruit.

Kid-isms revisited

2010-04-19T15:54:00.000-07:00

****Jaren: Oh, man! Why does my neck always stop!
(He had his chin turned all the way over to his right shoulder)
I wish it could go 'round. I never get to see my back!

****Holly: I know what "Passed away" means now.
Ariana: It means to pull up the anchor and push your boat away.
Holly: blank stare..........

(I then proceeded to clear the confusion between "cast-away" and "passed away")

****We homeschool and so I teach the kids handwriting lessons. We were talking about sloppy handwriting and how the computer has introduced an even lazier generation as far as penmanship is concerned. After the lesson I tried to reiterate the message by asking the kids,

Mom: "So, what is one of the biggest problems in our generation?"
Ryan: "Barack Obama" (Bu-dum---ching! :)

****And this one is old but good. My mom was visiting and we surprised the kids with a trip to feed the ducks and then McDonald's afterward. Ryan was four or five and liked to read labels, but didn't always get them right.........

Ryan: Yay, yay, yay.......can I get Hick in my happy meal?
Me: What is Hick?
Ryan: It's the red stuff.
Mom: What red stuff?
Ryan: The Hick!
Me: Do you mean ketchup?
Ryan: No, I mean HICK. (getting a little frustrated that I don't understand.)
Me: I still don't know what Hick means. You'll have to help me choose it when we get there.

We pull up to McDonald's and Grandma saves the day. She spots the Hi-C fountain drink.
We laughed till we cried. We still call Hi-C "Hick" to this day.

Kids keep life fun and interesting.

Funny Bone!

2010-03-14T15:44:00.000-07:00

We had chicken one night for dinner. The kids love the drumsticks. And as you can see, they like them for more than just dinner. The following ensued:

Good guess....but no. We didn't get a new puppy.

Nice leash, eh?

So, Doggone cute!

The Lord knows

2010-02-28T17:25:00.000-08:00

(Elder Henry B. Eyring)

(Don't you just love this picture of him? What a wonderful man!)

Have you ever had the feeling the Lord sent a message straight from heaven to the lips of another person, just for you? That is how I felt this Friday night.

Every year we get to have an "Evening With a General Authority" as part of Timothy's seminary calling. The seminary faculty and their spouses have a nice sit down dinner and then they meet and watch a conference given by a general authority.

I always enjoy this. One-because it is so well done. They truly spoil us and put so much work into the evening. And two-(the obvious) I get to spend an evening with my sweetheart chatting with those he works with on a daily basis in the cause of seminary. It is so much fun to hear them chat about this teaching strategy or that game. Or how to keep so-and-so awake. For those of you unfamiliar with LDS seminary, they are a group of high-school students that meet every morning at 6:00AM to learn and discuss the gospel.

Anyway, this year was no exception. It was beautiful and the dinner was fabulous. I enjoyed the stories around the table and laughed with them. I had been feeling rather sick that night, so I wasn't sure if I would make it. I was gone for all but about 1 1/2 hours out of the whole day, so it was on my mind to stay home and let Timothy go-it-alone. But my efforts to dress myself in my Sunday best and down a few Tylenol paid off.

Elder Henry B. Eyring spoke that night about the worth of each student that is learning the gospel.

He spoke of how much the Lord loves them, even if they are the ones that come and turn their backs to you most of the time.

He spoke of praying for our students by name and speaking earnestly to the Lord about our concerns for these students.

There were so many inspired things he spoke about. I know I don't need to list them all here, but I just felt like I needed to hear those things. The first reason being, I was just called to be in the Young Woman's organization at church and I will be teaching the gospel to some very precious young ladies. And the second reason being my ongoing job as a teacher to my own children. They are learning the gospel from me. The Lord loves them unconditionally and wants them to know and to live eternal truths.

I felt God's love for me and his personal witness in my heart that these things are true. I need to pray for my children by name and also those I teach the gospel to. It was as if a message was sent from the Lord straight to my heart. All the next day, I was gone running and doing. My mind was constantly turning his words over in my mind. I was even having a hard time focusing on the things I really needed to do that day. It has certainly had a profound effect on me.

These are the little things that come into my life that help me to KNOW that God lives and that he knows me and he loves me. I hope that all of you know that too. God lives. He does. He loves you. He knows your name. He wants you to feel his love. I know it is true!

Silly Dr. Doolittle!

2010-02-21T08:52:00.000-08:00

Last night we were watching the old 1967 edition of "Dr. Doolittle" and Jaren was excitedly watching all the fun animals. We came to the barn scene before he joins the circus and Jaren saw the little skunks come running out of the barn. Not remembering what they are called, Jaren yelled to the other kids,

"Hey look!! The stink-rats are running out!!"

Silly Jaren, we love you!

And here are a few pictures of the stink-rat himself.........

Halloween 2007

You Know You Live in Seattle When..........

2010-02-02T15:07:00.000-08:00

.........it is the first sunny day you can remember and your kids still don their raincoats and golashes to go outside and play a little football.

Case in point: See all that sunshine! What a treat.
Watch out, Brother!! Looks like someone wants the ball more than you.

Bikes are out and ready for spring to come.

Jaren finally learned how to ride down the hill on his tricycle. Move over Calvin and Hobbes. Your 'wagon-riding-down-the-steep-hill' stunts just might be outdone by this boy. What a daredevil!

And I can't forget to tell you-- I saw my first bulbs in the front yard peeking their heads up out of the soil a few inches. And on the way to the eye dr. last week, I saw the first Rhodedendrons blossomed out all pink and pretty.

I CAN'T WAIT FOR SPRING!!!!
(Oh, and how appropriate....I just remembered it is Groundhog day. Or in Holly's ever-famous-toddler-venacular, "HAPPY HOGCHUNK DAY!!" to you all!)

Apples, Schmapples...

2009-11-24T13:14:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick family night treat. My friend Melissa taught me how to make caramel-apple-pie apples. They are so yummy! Melt the caramels in a bowl with high sides. A wide one will take too much caramel to fill up high.

Dip them and let them set up a bit.

Hold your apple up high. Shake a little and the calories will fall right off. Okay...not.

Jaren was still finishing some dinner. But he needed a picture too!

I could've eaten them just like this.....but waiting made them even better.

We let everyone make their own creation. But to make the Apple Pie flavor:

Melt some white chocolate with a teaspoon of shortening to make it smooth.
Roll your already carameled apple into the white chocolate for the second layer.
Then sprinkle with Cinnamon-and-Sugar.

Sounds different....but wait till you try it. Yumm-O!!
Thanks, Melissa!

Turkey Time!

2009-11-22T22:03:00.000-08:00

Wanna learn how to make these cuties?

We made these turkeys one year with Grandma and Grandpa S. for Thanksgiving. Now it is Tradition! Every year we make new ones to decorate the house. This year they were one of our homeschool art projects. Fun, fun!

Ariana is displaying her mini-pumpkin. We get these right around Halloween/Thanksgiving each year at the grocery store. They are only about 35-40 cents. Get one for each of your little turkeys!! :) Pun intended.

Then grab a stem of the fake-fall-leaves that Holly is holding. You can find them at your local fake-fall-leaves store. (I think ours was ....you guessed it......JoAnn's. But you can get them at Walmart too. ) Don'tcha just love Jaren's face in this picture?!?! He was quite put-out that Holly got to hold the leaves and not him. So, later I got one of him painting. You'll see....it has lots of extra "Cheeeeeeeeese" in it. This boy LOVES the camera!

For each Turkey pull off three leaves from your stem of "fake-fall-leaves" and hot glue them together to fan out for the turkey tail. Here is Ryan demonstrating so thoroughly for us. Think he has enough glue??

Now hot glue the tail to the back side of your mini-punkin! (No, that isn't a typo, we prefer to call them punkins.) Ariana is demonstrating how to hold the leaves on tight while the glue dries. Make sure to get the glue to the very edges. It will stay on better. Just don't burn your fingers.

And here's what it will look like. (Nice shot of my kitchen sink, eh? Phew....at least it was shiny!)

Ryan is here reminding us that it is quite stylish to make the middle leaf/feather stick up a bit higher than the others. Looks good, Buddy B!

This is what his head will look like. A wooden craft ball, some brown paint, two googly eyes, and some chenille sticks. (I still call 'em pipe cleaners!) Notice the red pipe cleaner wraps around to the top of the beak just like a real turkey.

These are just round, wooden craft balls. You can get them anywhere that has a wooden section to the craft store. Sometimes by the dowels.

They should be flat on the bottom with a little hole drilled in the middle. I think most of them come this way to be attached to things. This is important for the little guy's face.

Next, paint your head......no I meant paint the TURKEY's Head. (Don't make that mistake and think kids will know what you really meant!) Notice Jaren's "Cheeeeeeeeeese" face? It looks like he knows that he is now the center of attention.

I had to add this one in because Ariana was having so much fun squeezing the paint. She asked and asked before we started. "Can I squeeze the paint? Can I squeeze the paint?!" I guess there is just something in the way is splurts out that she adores. Look at that face she is pulling! :)

When sister is done squirting......grab your brush with those chunky little fingers and paint away! Ignore the mess. Memories matter!

When they dry (ours took about 10 minutes because we got impatient and used the blowdryer) go ahead and glue on the eyes, beak, and waddle. (Is that what it's really called?) This picture shows you a closer view of how to twist the pipe cleaners and then stuff them into the hole in the wood. Fold the beak over double to make it thicker and then twist the red one till it looks wobbly like a turkey wobbler. Wrap it up and around the beak to hold the two layers together. Then add a dob of hot glue to the hole just before you push them in. Make sure the two pointy parts to the beak are going IN the hole. Not out --like you might think for an open beak. It really is better to not have pokey wires on these, as they WILL get played with.

Now add gobs and gobs of glue to the bottom of the head. It will need a lot to ooze down into the punkin dimples and hold the head on tight. The more glue the better.

Then press it onto the punkin on the opposite side of the tail. (Obvious, I know.) But I need to say this and show you that it is good to let the head rest back a bit on the little stem of the punkin. That way it glues to two surfaces. Really-- it is hard to get that head to stay on. Ours always fall off after a few days if they don't get anchored on the right way. This really helps if it is glued between the two points. 1- lots of glue to seep down into the dimples (curves....whatever) and 2-also some glue on that stem.
Again with the "cheeeeeeeeese"! Jaren is all done!

All finished, Momma!! Holly got a pink waddle.

Now take lots of pictures with your cute turkeys and name them.

My turkeys are named Ryan, Ariana, Holly, and Jaren. You'll have to ask them what they named THEIR turkeys. Hee hee!

Then let the kids decide their favorite spot to display them. We have them all over the house and are enjoying them alot.
P.S. We keep them around for a couple weeks. When we are ready to toss them---here's a tip: Pull off the head and the feathers/tail. Put them in your holidays box and store them for next year. Then you can just buy the punkins and glue them together again. No more mess. The older ones love to re-use their heads/tails from last year. Or give them away and make new ones again. Either way the accessories are quite salvageable for more uses!

♪♫..Shining, Shimmering, Spendid...♪♫

2009-11-20T09:54:00.000-08:00

This year a little birdie told her grandma that she has wanted to be "Jasmine" for a very long time. Have you ever looked for a pattern or a costume for Jasmin? The immodesty is a turn-off for this momma! So, this little birdie has never been Jasmine. Well, Grandma cooked up an idea that solved all of Holly's wos. I had a Genie costume as a child that she made for me. It is a pajama pattern that she converted to be a little bit more fancy. She took that same pattern and made a costume for Holly. Take a look at the adorable results!!

As you can see from Holly's smile....she was in seventh heaven. She had her daddy in snapsville with the camera.

The legs are oh-so-cute. The elastic in the bottom makes them poof out just right.

Holly did get to pick out the headband and we put it together the week before Halloween. She chose the gold and jeweled button on the front. I didn't think it would work, but as you can tell....I let the kids do the choosing. They have so much fun, how can you resist letting them use their imaginations.

We got some wide sequined band and put the turquoise sequins in the middle that Grandma sent with the costume. It was a perfect match. Thanks, Mom!

I rolled Holly's hair upward on the sides and then around the headband to hold it in place. It made her hair lay around her face just like Jasmine's hair.

I love her little feet sticking up in this picture above. She was absolutely giddy. She wore the costume everyday for two weeks before Halloween. I started to wonder if she would wear it out before the big day came.

She saw the "fancy eyes" on her sister in the school play. She said that she wanted that too. So, she got to wear eyeliner. (Every little girls dream. Well, this little girl.)

The costume is one piece with pink material sewn into the mid-section. It turned out so cute and it was modest!

One more pose and lots more smiles!! Thanks Mom/Grandma for making Holly's day. She is still wearing it!

♪♫..I am the Pirate King....Hurrah for the Pirate King..♪♫

2009-11-19T08:21:00.000-08:00

This year, Ryan knew EXACTLY what he wanted to be for months before Halloween. He designed his costume and even stayed up late (very late) one night to help me make it. We had good times together, just the two of us.

Have you seen the game "Wizard 101"? This costume is the character "Skeletal Pirate" from the game. Ryan plays it with some of his friends. I must admit, he did a good job replicating the little guy. He even got the accessories just right. Here is a picture of the little pirate:

Here is Ryan's attempt at looking like a mean pirate.......

.......but we all know he is just a goofy-lover-of-all-things-sparkly!!

The loot!!! (He made this wooden chest at Scout Camp last year.)

Being a pirate DOES have its drawbacks! Words of Warning: Don't try to scratch your nose when you're not used-to your new hook!

The Pirate Mug-shot

I had to add this one so you can see the full length. We took a black workout suit and painted the bones on. My Mom did this for my baby brother years and years ago for him to be a skeleton for a school Halloween party.

We used acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium. (again with JoAnn's--we love that store. I should buy stock!) Ryan stayed up late-late to help painting the bones. He even helped me look up pictures to get it to look right. Then we woke up the next morning very early and painted the back side of the suit so it could start drying before little fingers got up to touch or smear it. It looked so real! I didn't want him to wear the ragged shorts that would cover it up............but he had to be exactly like the picture!! Okay, okay!

And finally, I MADE him smile for this one. Afterall, he is my little boy and not just a scary pirate. I told him, "You have to have ONE with a smile. This one will be for your Grandmas." That got him to smile. So, there you have it! A smile for you, Grandma!

Medieval Princess

2009-11-18T13:16:00.000-08:00

Ariana went to JoAnn's with me one day in October and found a pattern for a Medieval Princess. All it took was seeing that she would get to make a hoop skirt and she was SOLD. (Actually, Daddy got to make the hoop skirt. But that is another story.)

You can see all the material in this shot. It took 12 yards of fabric for this dress. Phew....glad it is done.

What would a princess be if not a little "snobbish". Here Ana gave Daddy her best snooty face.

Here is a good shot of the sleeves. Those babies took me all night and 5 3/4 yards of fabric to make. They hang all the way to the ground and ruffle around her skirts.

Pretty Princess!

Goodness, they grow up fast. She looks so much older when she is all dolled up.

For credit where it is due: Timothy made a skirt from flexible PVC pipe to go under the dress. I bought 15 yards of boning at JoAnn's, but that stuff couldn't hold up much more than tissue paper. I stopped at the hardware store on the way home hoping to buy some vinyl covered cable to make the skirt. While I was there the PVC piping caught my eye. It worked perfect!! Thanks, Daddy......you saved the day!

Squishy Little Elephant

2009-11-16T15:31:00.000-08:00

I looooooooooove this costume. I made it for Ryan when Ariana was a brand new baby. He was the elephant and she was a tiny mouse. (I borrowed her mouse costume.)

I decided the-day-of that I would make this outfit for a "trunk-or-treat" we were having at church. I ran to Walmart and grabbed some grey $1 per yard fabric and blasted this costume out in a few grueling hours. Needless to say, every one of our kids have worn it. (And each one looks so cute in wrinkles and a long nose!)

The trunk even squirts........REALLY!! (okay, not really)

Elephants remember everthing!! (And mom said she'd give me chocolate if I smiled!)

Wow....I'd love a peanut! (This face is so Jaren!)

PEEK-A.............

............BOO!

My favorite part is the feet. I love those chunky elephant toes.

I love this little face below. I can remember how each of the kids looked in this costume. Oh, how I wish I could go back in time and snatch them all in it and line them up for a picture. (Or even line them up for hugs. I think my heart would melt if I had four three year olds hugging me all at the same time.) Boy.....I am nostalgic today. Excuse my gushing. :)

Please can I go now?!?!?! Look how sad I am! (puppy dog eyes.....errrr....Elephant eyes.)

I'll get around to posting each of the kids costumes this week. Just started with the youngest because his pictures came first. Hope ya'll had a fun Halloween. We are already well into November, but just had to post these cute pictures.

Kid-isms

2009-10-26T06:59:00.000-07:00

My kids said some pretty funny things this weekend. Here are a few:

Ariana: Mom, I wish I could live on the ceiling.

Me: Why?

Ariana: Because the ceiling is always empty. I never have to pick it up. I could run and skate on it. Why doesn't the floor stay like that?

Hmm........why doesn't the floor stay like that? Kids, maybe?

Sitting with Jaren on my lap:

Me: *Kissed his little face one too many times*

Jaren: Momma, stop kissing me. Why do you need so much-of kisses?

Me: Sorry, you are so cute that I guess I forget how many I gave you.

In the meantime, Jaren is sitting on my lap and chewing on the microphone to his leappad.

Me: Jaren, don't put your mouth on that. If it gets wet inside, it will break.

Jaren: Okay, mom.

Me: Thanks- *kiss*

Jaren: (Sarcastically) Mommmmmmmm.......if you put your mouth on me, I will get wet and I might break!

Ye scurvy "dogs".........

2009-10-20T04:01:00.000-07:00

What to do when there are more buns than hotdogs-
Take your hotdog bun of choice.Add tuna fish- mixed up anyway you like it.

Add the "not" dog. (translation= pickle.)

Ta-da! Now what to call this fishy-dish? Here are the brainstorm ideas the kids came up with:

Ye scurvy dogs-(pirate insult-and they did take pickles on board their ships to ward off scurvy! This one was Ryan's idea and I thought it was particularly clever.)
Salty dogs-(name they call old sailors, but in this case the hotdogs are rather "salty" and "fishy".)
Notdogs-('cause their not....hot.....dogs. :)

Enjoy!!

(Uh....you better get on the ball, brother, or little sis is gonna beat you to it!)

Lost and Found....

2009-10-14T13:41:00.000-07:00

......are these pictures of Holly. I didn't remember I had these till I was going through pictures today. She loves to help. I think it is the Mommy-time that she loves. I think she sawed on that celery for 20 minutes till it was all in the salad. Then she went on to bell peppers. Sometimes, I just want to put a rock on their heads to stop their growing. I love them being little!

That's all folks. I'm gonna go find those little cheeks of hers and kiss them!

Helpin' Daddy..........

2009-10-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

Jaren couldn't help but get in on the fun. They were covering up the water main after the plumber was here early this morning. He loved the big truck, too!

a little Saturday project

2009-10-10T14:09:00.001-07:00

Wow, do I have kids old enough to sew? I guess I do. Here is Ariana intently working on the hem of her pillow case.
They each got to pick out their own choice of fabric. They made cool choices!

Ariana got the hang of it really fast. She loves to do anything creative.

The moment of truth.......turning in right-side-out for the first time.

Inspecting her stitches. Perfect!

The girls both chose Strawberry Shortcake. Ahh, girls after my own heart!!!

Sister Snuggles

Now it is brother's turn!

Ryan was all business! Zoom, Zoom ->->->->->and he was done. I tell ya, I didn't know boys could be so good at sewing. I guess a sewing machine is still a machine!
And this boy IS good with machines.

" See, Mom! I told ya I would be good at this. Now can I got back to the computer?"

Not before mom gets some pictures of her boys.

Brother Bundles!

And of course........what would it be without a little pillow-fight!

Jaren will be bigger than you someday, Ryan!! Look at those smiles!I think he has you now! And Mom calls a time out. Let's go have some muffins............anyone? That'll get their attention.

So, that is one way we like to spend our Saturdays. What do you do for fun?

Riparian awakening

2009-09-19T12:04:00.000-07:00

Today I was awakened to some unusually clanking in the kitchen. Then it was followed by this cute thing.........

Apparently, my children have incredible memories. They have waited all year for today-Sept. 19th-because it is "Interational talk like a Pirate Day". I had no idea. They say they read about it on a game they play. Aaaarrrgh! Beats me. I woke up to this surprise...

They were up early and clanking around. I thought, "Hmm..maybe they will do a breakfast-in-bed surprise." Those are know to happen occasionally.

Ariana was the brains behind the scheme. She had paper plates cut out and taped to the windows and doors by 6:30AM. They were the "portholes" of our ship. "She were a beautiful ship, she were!"
Here be my main little waif--she be showin' ye the sailboat toast that the kids crafted. They said they used a cookie cutter. So, cute.

Here they be in detail, Mateys.

I guess we need a few eye patches and some Pirate grub for dinner. Got any good pirate fodder ideas?

best friends

2009-09-01T09:49:00.000-07:00

Jaren: Mom, can I watch Caillou on the big TV?

Me: No, Jaren, we have other things to do right now.

Jaren: Oh.

Later..........

Jaren: Mom, Caillou is my BEST friend.

Me: That is nice. He would like that.

Jaren: But Mom, he is not IN my house.

Me: Nope, he is on the TV.

Jaren: Can you get him to come to my house?

Me: No, he isn't real. He is just on the tv.

Jaren: Yeah, so can you turn him on so I can see him?

Kids start to outsmart you when the are so very young. :)

Sample the Silly-ness......

2009-08-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

So, Ryan asked me a while ago if he could start a blog. I said, "Sure!"...knowing it would be too hard and daunting for him to really follow through with it.

I am here today to admit I was wrong.

And I might add that he had me in stitches when I read it. Here ya go............

Ryan's Radical Ramblings. http://www.justascout.blogspot.com/

*Disclaimer* All of this site is Ryan......I did not have ANYTHING to do with it. Kids are amazing, eh?

If you don't have time to peruse all of it, might I suggest these few:

Here (where does he come up with these?) Here, and Here.

2009-08-28T11:03:00.001-07:00

Life is short. Read fast.
(Seriously, this is what both sides of our bed look like. Timothy and I have way more on our "to-read" piles than what we have time for. How do you find more time to read?)

All White

2009-08-16T17:24:00.000-07:00

Ariana is getting baptized!

She is so excited and talks about it everyday. Like yesterday-- we were outside clearing out the blackberries that had taken over one of my rose bushes. Normally this rosebush produces big yellow roses tipped with pink.

All of the buds were pretty done and gone. I was deadheading the blossoms when I notice a bud squished and trying to grow right between two branches. I clipped one branch and pulled the rose out from between them. Ariana was so excited, "It is ALL WHITE!" Just in time for her baptism week--a beautiful white rose--and completely unexpected one a yellow/pink bush. Sometimes it's the little things that mean the most. We are so glad you are choosing to be baptized, Ariana!

You are all welcome to come to her baptismal service.

It will be next Sunday.

August 23rd at 6:00PM.

It will be in the Primary Room at the stake center.

Ketchup!

2009-08-11T11:20:00.000-07:00

We have been going like crazy this summer. So, the bloggy-blog has taken back seat. Here is a tasty little bit to tide you over till I Ketchup!

Free Fill Dirt?!

2009-07-10T15:24:00.001-07:00

Everyday this past week I have been sending Ryan away to Cub Scout camp. And everyday he comes home with piles of dirt. Shirt, shoes, fingernails, hat, hair, toenails, not to mention his shoes......which stay outside.

Dirt=one happy boy

And did I mention the BB guns, bow and arrows, hammer and nails, crafts, cooking on the fire, science, field games, and awards galore?

Ryan is soaring someplace between heaven and earth. Tomorrow is Saturday....I wonder when he'll come down. I'll post pictures soon.

Chanin and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!

2009-06-29T07:34:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, a couple friends and I were talking about the blogging world. It seems like you only get to read the blissfully bloggable bits about our families. Blogging certainly has a way of sugar-coating life. It made me laugh to think about it. I certainly don't blog about the tired or cranky days. So, in good humors to our conversation, I offer the following horrible post:

Have you ever read this darling book?

If not, I strongly suggest you check it out and read it. (Or hear it..here.) You will know exactly the kind of day that Alexander is talking about. Well, I had one of those days last week.

In an effort to make this a speedy post, (which this day WASN'T), I will post the events in list form:

1-Woke up with a serious headache. It must have been an omen.
2- Jaren soaked through his diaper and I had to change his bed. Boy howdy! A headache makes everything seem worse.
3-Holly was so excited for Ballet camp that she got ready BEFORE breakfast and spilled on her uniform.
4-Ryan was getting ready for his 11:00 bike ride with the scouts and found that his helmet was falling apart. (Literally!)
5-Fixed helmet, sorta, and rushed out to the van to get him to the trail on time.
6-Got all the kids in car seats, turned the key, no start. WHAT?
7-Holly, in her excitement for ballet, went to the van after breakfast to wait. (Four hours early) She turned head lights, cabin lights, and automatic door on.
8-Car dead
9-Sweet friend came to the rescue and helped me jump start the van.
10-Knowing that this day is terrible, you must know that the van WOULDN'T Jump start.
11-Above said Sweet Friend took Ryan and his bike(and broken helmet....I know I am a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad mother) to the drop off point but found there were no scouts. She kindly drove him to the half-way point where the others were having lunch and he at least got to ride the second leg back with them.
12-In the meantime, I was at home. I called hubby home and he helped get the van going. Phew. That was one dead battery! (speaking of dead.....keep reading...)
13-I rushed Holly to ballet. She was late and I forgot to bring Jaren's lunch. (We usually eat lunch on the grass while we wait for Holly's class to be done.)
14-Jaren was not a happy camper, so I wound-up buying junk from a snack machine to tide over his grumbling tummy.
15-We got home and spent the afternoon unwinding. Do you blame me?
16-Timothy got home and asked, "So, did you get the "you-know-what" for Ariana's birthday tomorrow?"
17-RATS! I knew there was something else I should have been doing instead of unwinding. I forgot that tomorrow was Ariana's birthday. I thought I had ONE MORE DAY.
18-I rushed through a horribly forgettable meal. (Sorry, Fam!) Then headed to a town-very-far-south-of-us (FW) to get the "you-know-what" for Ariana's birthday.
19-Bought the bike (I mean the "You-know-what") and started for the car.
20-Found that they had charged me the wrong price. Why didn't I check first?
21 Aargh! Can this day get worse?
22-Oh, YES!!!!
23-Went back to ask for a refund on the overcharge.
24-It was now after 10PM and consequently there was no one at customer service.
25-I would have to come back another day. (What? Clear to FW?)
26-Found someone quite reluctant to help me anyway. Yay, got the refund! (small glimmer of hope)
27-Headed home and had one of those weird feelings that I should not take the windy, curvy road that leads up to our house. Especially since it was 11PM and the windy road gets kind of scary.
28-I then opted for the busy road that passes by our house. This should be the sign of smooth sailing, right? I mean I followed a prompting, right?
29-And here is the kicker..............................
30-An owl swooped down out of the blackness and smashed head on into my roof-rack. (Startling, frightening, scary, ewwww, yuck!)

So, there you have it. That wasn't sugar coated. Although, it wasn't usual either. I am glad THAT day is over. Timothy was kind enough to remove the carnage that was stuck on my van and I am incredibly grateful to my helpful friend. Thanks, B!

So, tell us about your Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

So happy I'll BURST!

2009-06-19T16:14:00.000-07:00

Look, balloons!!

Happy 11th Anniversary, to us!!

I decided to give Timothy eleven balloons in a bouquet this year. One balloon for each year. But up on top of each balloon is a list of memories from each of the 11 years. (He should be on his way home from work, so this won't spoil the surprise.)

Here are a few samples of "balloon years" together.

Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart!

Brace Face--ERASE!

2009-06-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

Check out this cute smile.......This is my little Ryan with his curly head of red hair and NO TEETH! Our Ryan has had teeth related stress for most of his little life. Let me explain:

He was almost a year old before he got his first tooth to come in.

Then sadly, he was in his third year of school before he lost his first tooth. Don't kids usually start loosing them in kindergarten? Boy, was he bummed when his little sister and best friend were losing teeth before him.

One fateful night the first loss finally occured. He was so thrilled! I thought we'd never get him to sleep. He lost the 2nd tooth the very next day during lunch at school. They were making up for lost time!So many losses and then so FEW teeth coming back in their place. Aaargh. The dentist ordered Ryan to serve the first of several "orthodontic sentences" at the ORTHODONTIST. What poorly behaved teeth were these new, BIG, and unruly teeth! The bottom two permanent teeth actually came in on the side where his canine should be. It didn't take out his canine, but rather pushed it to the front of his mouth. Poor kid and his teeth!
You can see in the above picture that his front two teeth came in and took out FOUR teeth in their wake. Then he had NO teeth come in on their sides. This was two years ago and he still doesn't have those other two teeth.

The picture below is Ryan with a fixed smile!! Yay, for braces. His front two teeth have been through obedience school and are now getting along together nicely! In fact they are doing so well, the Doc said it is time for his first "orthodontic sentence" to be complete. Braces are coming off today!

"Mom, take one more look. 'Cause that is the last you'll see of these babies!"Here is the staff at our orthodontist's office singing in celebration. Yay, Ryan! We are glad that you have few teeth troubles now.

Cute smile, huh? Now his next assignment from the Doc is to grow some teeth to fill in the sides. He's working on it!

Kids eat Salad!

2009-05-24T09:59:00.000-07:00

Awesome thing......my kids love salad. Especially the kind that you dress before it comes to the table. I learned that the "dish-it-up-and-squirt-on-some-kind-of-bottled-dressing" kind of salad doesn't disappear as quickly as a fresh tossed salad that is pre-dressed.

Lately they have snarfed down the following salads:

Strawberry Spinach Salad

one bunch of spinach

your favorite head of crunchy lettuce

Lots of strawberries sliced up

half a red onion- sliced thin in rings

dress with:

1/2 cup Mayo (NOT miracle whip)

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup milk

2 tbsp white vinegar (I have used raspberry vinegar with excellent reviews. If you have it....)

1 tsp. poppy seeds

1/4-1/2 tsp salt to taste

Whisk together the dressing and pour over greens. Your kids will lick their plates clean.

Olive Garden Salad--(or as close as we've ever done)

two heads romaine or other crunchy lettuce

1 cup red cabbage sliced thin

1/4 cup Red onion sliced thin

Sliced Yellow banana peppers (you'll find them by the pickles)

a few medium firm tomatoes-quartered into wedges

a handful of your favorite croutons

Black Olives

Dress with:

1/2 cup Mayonnaise (again NOT miracle whip)-we love miracle whip, but you gotta use mayo

1/3 cup white vinegar

1Tbsp vegetable oil

3-4 Tbsp corn syrup

2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

2Tbsp Ramono Cheese

(Note...you can use 4 tbsp Kraft parmesan cheese instead of the two cheeses, it will just be a bit less smooth)

1/2 tsp garlic salt-(or one clove garlic and a little salt)

1/2 tsp italian seasoning

1/2 tsp parsley flakes

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Put in the blender and let it blend like crazy. Pour over our salad and top with some fresh grated parmesan cheese-- just like they do at the Olive Garden. Yum.

This next salad is one I grew up with and all my brothers still make it for their families too. Hey Mom, thanks for all the yummy salads growing up. You made liking vegetables a fun thing.

Mom's Spinach Salad

Two bunches small leaf spinach

two heads of romaine

8 oz. grated monterey jack or swiss cheese

1/2 lb crumbled cooked bacon

Dress with:

3/4 tsp dry mustard

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup white vinegar (cidar is fine too)

1/2 Tbsp minced onion

1 1/2 tsp salt

Blend together till combined and then stir in gently:

1 tsp poppy seeds

This is awesome when you make the dressing the night before and then make up the salad the next day. But it is still wonderful if made all the same day.

When I eat this salad I am transported back to Mom's table with Dad and all my brothers anxiously waiting for Mom to pour on the dressing. Long live spinach salad!

Here's a big "I LOVE YOU" to all of you whom I've shared a bowl with.

Cinco De Mayo

2009-05-18T11:49:00.001-07:00

The weather has been a bit drab until now and I was feeling stir crazy. So, I decided we would have a Cinco De Mayo family party. Ryan asked me why we celebrate Cinco De Mayo in the U.S. and I couldn't come up with a good answer. I just needed something fun to look forward to and a little bit of spice around here!So we took these two mixes-Masa and pork- and made tamales! Ole'!
Here's the crazy Tamale maker....... ......and his super cute twin. AKA-Daddy

Add in a few silly hats.

and some fun little drink umbrellas

lime slices, party decorations, and a poncho

cute smiles and some yummy food

with a few "Mock Margaritas"

and it makes for a very fun evening. Does anyone else celebrate just to celebrate? Tell us what you do to keep the cabin fever down!

Random things I find on my camera

2009-05-18T09:51:00.000-07:00

The kids are allowed to use my camera (not dad's $$) and I find some pretty interesting things on it:

Like Holly's double decker shredded wheat? A miniature Harry Potter in my living room.
Girls with pants on their heads.

More with the pants.............

Ryan and his "big breakfast" before WASL testing. By the way.....he thought he did GREAT!

Some sort of a "Kitchen Creation" curtesy of Holly.

These little lego guys are having a bit of trouble in the mashed potatoes. This is Ryan's attempt at "a lego a day". A lego a day is a fun site our family has been watching. The blog's owner made a goal to post one lego picture every day for a year. He does a smashing job with his photography and of course, we love the lego aspect. Have you seen the real website? Check it out.

What do you find on your camera?

Books, Baby!

2009-05-18T08:52:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know us, you have probably been to our house and seen the pile o' books. We homeschool our children and so we use many, many (can I say many again?) books to teach and learn from. So, we have a regular library day that we attend every week. That makes the books all due on the same day we will be there again the next week. Convenient, eh?

I check out curricula for homeschool;

the little kids check out story books;

the older kids check out chapter books;

I check out fun reads for personal time;

Timothy checks out wood design books and good-reads for his lunch break and books about wooden boats and boatbuilding;

we check out books to read outloud to the kids at bedtime;

we check out books to read outloud as a family;

and altogether, that makes for A LOT of books.

(about 150 on any given day.)

So, Timothy got busy making a way to get rid of "The pile".

The kids each got to design a bookshelf for the wall in their room. Above is Ryan's shelf. One side has their initial and the other side has a picture they chose. Ryan chose a rocket.

I loved how the "R" turned out. It looks like calligraphy.

Nice job, Daddy!

Jaren chose a car. Doesn't Timothy do pretty well with a saw? Wait till you see the girls shelves.

Holly need something princess-y and chose a crown. Her shelf wasn't in box form yet, so here are the two sides.

I need to flip this image, but it is a cursive "A" for Ariana. She just finished learning cursive. Everything must be in cursive for her now. :) The other side (below) is a flower.

Timothy used a drill bit and placed each hole around the center circle to make the flower. Then I think he used a jig saw to cut the stem and leaves. When it comes to wood, I think he is superb! (Don't tell him I'm bragging or he'll blush.)

Isn't it pretty?

We spent a windy day outside with the kids priming them white.

Windy=messy!

Don't ask why I don't have pictures of them with the paint. I was a little bit busy trying to salvage their clothes and the driveway. Phew.....I think I had a meltdown.

Word of advice:

Don't give four little kids paintbrushes while the neighbors are over in their nice school clothes. Things will rapidly deteriorate and some stern parenting will ensue. That leads to a not-so-fun family activity.

And finally, here are the colors they chose to paint the shelves. Hot pepper (green) for the boys and Coral flower (peachy salmon) for the girls. I can't wait to paint them. (Well, maybe I can. :)

Timothy has been doing a lot in the shop lately. Stay tuned for more pictures:

~Handmade wooden spatulas and spoons for mother's day. They are beautiful.

~My piano bench....it's almost done!

~Did I post the shelving he did at Christmas time? I'll have to check.

~I've put in an order for a new chest of drawers and night stands for our room next.

~And he has the plans for the standing bookshelves in the living room. Those will be a while, but aren't I lucky?!

Spaghetti squash

2009-05-18T08:44:00.000-07:00

What can you make with this stringy squash?

You can make...................................healthy spaghetti and happy kids! Take a look-see.

And of course, we have to have a double meatball face! What fun would spaghetti and meatballs be if you couldn't make chipmunk cheeks?

Popcorn

2009-04-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

The sun was shining so nice and bright the other day. It was just a little bit too nippy to go to the park. So instead, we took a drive.

We went looking for these:

It was so much fun to look at the pink and purple popcorn trees that we decided

to celebrate spring with our own form of Pink Popcorn (click me).

Doesn't it look just like the tree?

Holly loves sticky!

Even daddy (who doesn't like sticky) and prefers this type of popcorn, snitched a few bites.

The picture below was not staged. But it is hilarious. They are all mid-bite and gorging themselves. Both the girls are in heaven and Ryan looks like the deer in the headlights.

Happy kids and Happy Spring!!

2009-04-20T10:28:00.000-07:00

Heaven for Chanin:

Long line at the grocery store with four kids......
Long wait at the doc's office with four kids.......
Long day on my feet......

.............And someone suddenly breaks out into "The Sound of Music" and everyone joins in with perfect voices and choreographed moves:

By the way, if there was one person on earth I could meet, it would probably be Julie Andrews. There would be a few catches though:

1-she must to be dressed in her cast-off dress from the other new "sister" at the abbey and the ridiculous hat.

2-she would have to sing everything to me instead of talk.

3-she would have to wrap ME up in a cuddly nightgown and sing of thunderstorms.

4-I would call her only "Maria" and ask if I could play with the puppet stage.

5-she would bring her guitar!

P.S. If I had been in Central Station that day....I would have danced right along. Wouldn't you?

Happy St. Patty's Day!

2009-03-17T10:16:00.000-07:00

We had an awesome "green" Family Home Evening last night. For our activity we made a super cool Leprechaun trap. You can see the fool's gold we put on the top to lure the little guy in. The top is made of tissue paper and not attached. That way he'll fall inside when he steps onto the top to get the gold. Hee hee hee!!! We know that Leprechaun's love to be mischievous and break rules. So, we were banking on that when we made our signs, "Do NOT climb the ladder!" and "Leprechauns beware!!"

Ariana was our ladder maker. She did an awesome job.

We made the trap look like an Irish top hat. We figured it would inflate their egos a bit. See the clovers all over it and the gold on the brim?

Almost done!

Jaren even got in on the action. (Between you and me, I think he just wanted the Boston Cream Pie that Ryan made for Family Night treats.)

GOOD NIGHT LITTLE LEPRECHAUNS. WE WARNED YOU!!

Intermission

Well, we woke up this morning to some startling evidence that our experiment worked! Read on, gentle reader!

We woke up to teeny-tiny footprints on the table and hand prints on the sides of the trap! Could there be a Leprechaun inside?

There was definitely a visitor here last night. He left evidence on the ladder and went all the way to the top. See the tiny hand prints on the top of the trap? He must have decided to go for the gold! Let's look inside!
RATS! He must have gotten away somehow. There is the fool's gold in the bottom and no more evidence of the little intruder.

We decided to do a little measuring and deducing. The footprints are about 3/4" long. They have the cutest little toes.

Judging from the position of the hand prints on the walls of the trap, the little guy/gal must be almost three inches tall.

He must have had a grand time playing around in our kitchen. There are footprints all over. Do you notice the pot of gold? There is a sign in it! Let's read..........Translation: "I stopped by for a chance to find a wee bit 'o gold. I weren't a 'knowing ye are the tricksy kinda folk. Ya done set that trap and caught me good! Lucky me! I had my disappearing dust with me this year. Darn and Phooey! You made me use up the last of it to get outta here. That means you get my Pot O' Gold this time. Be warned: I know you're trickies now! You won't get me twice!

Love,

Branigan O' Riain"

We loved the note and the wonderful Pot O'Gold. But we were in the hopes of a leprechaun and not just his gold. Watch out, Branigan. Our minds are already working for next year!

A few more little prints.

The happy little imps.......I mean kiddo's and their treasure.

Happy St. Patrick's day to ye!

Ear Candy!

2009-03-13T10:57:00.001-07:00

Have you ever had a Pearson's Mint Pattie?

Have I got a trick for you!!

Get a bag of them for yourself (No guilt needed. Click on the Pearson's name above for proof. Only 30 calories apiece!)

Now put one up to your ear (really close) and crack it in half. It makes the neatest sound ever. Ryan discoverd it and we have all been having more fun listening to them than eating them!

Now that's ear candy!

Book Look

2009-03-12T09:05:00.000-07:00

I am once again attempting to read "Mein Kampf" by Adolf Hitler. I have started this tome many times(three or more) and never can get through the first volume. I have decided that I need to know more about the man and less about the plan.

And so I come to you. Help me find a biography of Hitler that will help me understand the man. (I know......who can understand him?) But I think I need to have more of the history of his life under my belt in order to make some sense of his diatribe in "Mein Kampf".

So, leave me a comment if you have read one of his biographies and recommend it. There are so many out there. Help!

6-6-6 Isn't that the mark of the beast?

2009-03-03T07:56:00.000-08:00

I have been tagged. Here's the deal. Go to your sixth folder of photos. Choose the sixth photo and blog about it. Then tag six people. Here goes........

So, this photo takes a bit of explaining. It was Christmas eve and this is what we found the kids had put out for Santa. Upon asking who did it--Ryan explained, "Well, by the time Santa gets all the way to our house he will have eaten millions of cookies. So, I thought he'd appreciate the Tums more than anything."

I laughed a good long time.

PS. These muffins are the best thing you will ever put in your mouth. They have nutmeg inside and then the outside is rolled in butter and cinnamon and sugar. They are a special treat at our house. I was surprised the kids would give them away.

Your tag will be coming via comment on your blog. Watch out!

In the Jungle......

2009-02-21T14:53:00.000-08:00

In Seattle, groovy Seattle

"The Lion King's" tonight!

In Seattle, noisy Seattle,

"The Lion King's" tonight.

Ahweeeeeee......eee.....eee....eeee...eee...eeee......dum.......duum........daway! As most of you already know, Timothy and I have the same birthday. So, this year I decided to have a whiz-bang celebration for our big day. I bought tickets to see Disney's Broadway production of "The Lion King" last Fall and squirreled them away until Christmas. Then I let them be unwrapped so we could await the big day in February. It was a rip "roaring" show! We actually went the night before our birthday to save the cake and ice cream for the real day. Holly was beside herself with anticipation. She wanted to see the animals, watch the dancers, and hear the orchestra. Somehow, my kids have never seen the animated movie Disney made and I looked for it beforehand....but wouldn't you know it-it's in the vault!So, we read the book and listened to the music so the kids knew the story and wouldn't be surprised by any of the sad scenes or scary, hideous hyenas. We arrived at the beautiful Paramount Theater all dressed and ready for a wonderful evening. The theater was gorgeous. There were signs up noting that cameras were unlawful in the theater. I wasn't sure if it meant during the play or in the theater altogether. So I only took a few quick shots inside feeling rather guilty. In my haste, I didn't realize how poor the pictures turned out. Sorry, you'll just have to imagine the theater's grandeur.We took the oldest three to the show with us. We figured that would be plenty of wiggles between them. I think age five and up is perfect. So, Holly was double-y excited that she just turned five!

And here's a huge THANK YOU! to Anne for babysitting so we could go. Anne-you're the best!

Here are a few of our favorite scenes and characters. (These are NOT my pictures. I followed the no camera rule. These are professional photos of the show. What?!?!? You can't tell the difference? :)

Rafiki- the old Mandril speaks in three languages during the show: Swahili, Zulu, and Xhosa (sounds like Klosa with a click of the tongue on the first syllable.)

I got a kick out of hearing her rant-and-rave in Xhosa. Those clicks and clacks could keep me entertained for hours. I actually came home and looked up videos on youtube to hear people speak in Xhosa just to get an extra dose of the fun!

The opening number was "The Circle of Life". The animals walked down the aisles and onto the stage. I knew this would happen when I purchased our tickets and I made sure I got the very end seats. Ariana happened to be on the very,very end. When the big elephant, puppeted by four! people, came down the aisle by her, it caught her dress and she was WIDE-EYED for sure. I should have warned her before hand. She was all smiles though. I personally loved the giraffes. Can you see the humans inside?

King Mufasa, Rafiki, baby Simba, Sarabi

Baby Simba is presented as the new prince.

The puppets were amazing! I loved the leaping gazelles and rhinos.

The kids loved the zebra's galloping.

Then entered the "pride" of lions and the Oh-so-evil Scar.

Scar sees to the demise of King Mufasa and young Simba runs away.

Simba grows up while he is away in the Jungle.
He meets Timon and Pumbaa. They were the hit of the show. Holly told me, "Mom, my favorite was that bull-hog!" She meant the warthog, I'm sure. :) Hakuna Matata!

Nala finds Simba and encourages him to come home and defeat his uncle, Scar.

The true Lion King returns and the circle of life begins anew with the birth of Simba and Nala's new lion cub. The play ends just as it began-- on Pride Rock with Rafiki presenting the new cub to the animals.

A few smiles I caught after the show on the way to the car. (We had to park far, far away. Nice night to don my "cute- little- red- heels".

The kids came home exhausted. Here they are getting ready for scriptures and family prayer. It was almost midnight but Ariana was still thrilled and wide awake.

Ryan was fading quickly and wanted mom to put the camera away.

And last of all, here is an awesome video that has a collection of scenes from the play. You can see the huge elephant that "caught" Ariana's attention. It is about 30 seconds into it. Enjoy!

Our funny Jaren/dinner funnies!

2009-02-17T15:41:00.000-08:00

Jaren had a bad day today. He has bouts of asthma that bring on the seal cough. But he is a trooper. We pull out the "puffer machine" (aka nebulizer) and he is a pro at medicating himself. Don't even try to help him. "I can DO IT, MOM!" Silly Jaren. I love you!

A recent conversation at the dinner table:

Mom: "Jaren, why are you spreading peas on the table?"
Jaren: "Umm.......I don't know?"
Mom: "Well, maybe you should eat them. Okay?"
Jaren: "Okay."
Mom:" So then, where are you going to put them now?"
Jaren: "In my hole."

Tee hee. And it was just that simple. You funny boy!

Heart Day Extravaganza

2009-02-17T09:40:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day. I love to celebrate heart-day. Here is our little family breakfast. The boys are arranging the mini-muffins into a heart for display. Nice job boys! We love the mini heart muffin pan. Too bad it only comes out once a year.Next comes the heart-shaped fried eggs. Sunny side-up or over-easy? Anyone?And then the BIG, heart muffins to top it all off. Yay for the heart shaped muffin pan we got for our wedding. This one is a beast to clean, so yes.....it only comes out once a year.And there you have our traditional family Valentine's Day breakfast. In my excitement I might have been up a little early. Even the Kidd-o's look a little sleepy still.Happy-heart, Holly!Add in a little Sweet-n-Sour Jaren. (He wanted the "I Heart U" ketchup on his muffins and NOT ON HIS EGG. Yes, we gave in. Afterall, he is the one eating it.

And top it off with a little love from Ryan.

Hope your day was a SWEET as ours. Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy, Happy Birthday!

2009-02-16T11:03:00.000-08:00

In Holly's own words, "I'm a whole handful!" By this she doesn't mean she is a hard child or a "handful" for her mother. (And she is most certainly NOT.) She means she is finally 5-a whole handful of fingers!The "birthday snake". It is doughnuts halved and laid out in a snaky pattern with strawberry scales. Holly made sure he had blue eyes just like she has. Check out the size of the strawberry we used for the snake's head. YUM! This was Holly's breakfast choice. Mmmm. A little birthday glee on Holly's face. Time for presents!
A little fanfare....do, do, do

THE CAKE!

Holly had to have a princess castle cake. It turned out way better than I thought it would. Looking at the picture in the instructions gave me hysterics. But in the end it was lots of fun.

Are you done singing? Can I blow them out now?

And a wink from the birthday girl herself-just for luck.

It's raining, it's pouring.............

2009-01-15T09:10:00.001-08:00

................and my blog is snoring!

I know, I know............I haven't written in a long time. Here's my excuse. (big sigh....keep reading.)

I have had the flu. Yup....the full blown flu. It has been almost a week. I feel like I was hit by a truck and I only have enough strength to get up for 15 minutes or so and then I'm bushed! But amongst all the flu-ishness, I had an adventure. Let me tell ya'll 'bout it.

I went to the post office two nights ago. During the day I stayed in bed or on the couch. The kids were very kind to me and let me relax some. So, I thought I could drive a few blocks to the post office. I made it fine and dropped off my mail and headed back to the car.

(This is where the adventure starts..................)

I was minding my own business, heading for my car, when the pavement all-of-a-sudden-like reach up and grabbed me. Really---just grabbed me. One moment I was walking and the next moment I was flat on the asphault. I jumped up with the first recollection being, "Oh, no what if people see me laying here in the road.......they'll think I am drunk and haul me away." If I had taken a moment to realize my condition, I might have stayed down and taken a moment to collect myself.

I got in the van and inspected myself for a moment. I must have hit on my right side. My ribs were pounding, my knee had funny pangs bellowing at me, and my hands were all gravelly and bleeding with a nice case of road rash. I thought, "Wait a minute! I have spent all week feeling sick. I am supposed to be getting better! This doesn't indicate getting better!"

So, today I sit here typing. I really do feel like I was hit by a truck. My ribs feel bruised and sore, my right shoulder and knee are stiff, and my hands are healing nicely. (Thanks to Timothy, his tweezers, and numerous bandaids.)

I will post more when I feel better. But for now, I am taking it easy and not going to the post office any more. The prices are so high.........your liable to PASS OUT!

Kid's Pics

2009-01-08T15:25:00.000-08:00

All my beautiful babies!

Look, Grandma! I finally got my braces on.

Pretty Ariana

Hollywood Holly

Jaren......with a gleam of defiance in his eyes.

Brothers are SaaWeeeeet!

Gotta love that face. I don't think Holly got the "no funny faces" memo. It makes me smile every time I look at this picture.

Seperate is better........no more giggles.

Ariana is always our little "poser". Remember this post? She decided she needed this pose as well. I thought it turned out pretty cute.

Silly Faces

2008-12-25T12:09:00.000-08:00

Ariana was noting the fact that her cheeks hold a lot of food one night. We happened to be having meatballs and spaghetti. She went under the table and came up looking like this.........Ariana: "Mom, do my two big front teeth stick out like a chipmunk?"

Me: Giggling...."Yeah, I like the silly eyes, too? What is in your cheeks?"

Ariana: "I have a whole meatball in each side. Do I look like a chipmunk?"

Um.......Yeah!!

Crazy Kidz

2008-12-25T11:59:00.000-08:00

The week before Christmas vacation is always fun at the kid's school. This time they had a series of "fun" days. These pics come from "crazy hair day". Even Ryan supported the school spirit with a head full of piggies. I wish I had gotten a picture of him when they all came out. FRIZZ!! Ariana wanted to be "upside down". This was the best I could come up with. Notice the french braid starts at the bottom and goes up. And yes......I made her stand on her head to do her 'do'.

Holly went as "Pippy Longstocking". Mom made my hair this way one year for Halloween. So, I followed in her footsteps with Holly's beautiful locks. Everyone at school called her "Cindy-Lou-Who". She was more than happy about it. You can tell by the grin. FYI-She is holding up the handmade ink-stamp she carved in class that day. It says: "YLLOH" when you stamp it. So cute.

Lunch room fun.

Kids with their friend Jamie (the monster). How did she see all day?

The DRIVEWAY!!

2008-12-19T14:28:00.000-08:00

This last week I have been oscillating between loving and hating my driveway. If I could vote to keep or lose it...I don't know what I'd pick. Right now it is a thick layer of ice frosted with snow.

When I need to get out.......I hate it. Timothy spent four hours on Monday trying to get a car out with little luck. He had sore muscles from shoveling/sanding and bleeding fingers from the van's chains when he came in. He wound up riding the bus to work this week.

But then the kids get all bundled up and head up the hill and all my disdain washes away. The kids are in "no-school" heaven.

What's your vote?

The big CUT!

2008-12-14T16:21:00.001-08:00

We finally cut Ariana's hair to give to Locks of Love. She did this two years ago, just before school started. So we were a little later this year, but someone will get three beautiful ponytails of long blonde hair. Here she is before..................................

Cute smile with a few missing teeth.

In the cutting chair!

She gave 14" of hair. The ruler is 12" long.

Last time we did this, I brought it back into only one ponytail. That wasted a good two inches in the front that could have been donated. We did three ponytails this time to make the length more even all around.

Snip, Snip, Snip.........................

...................actually with her insanely thick hair-it was more like saw, saw, saw.
Look how happy she is to have short hair. She has been waiting for this day for a long time.
My beautiful girl!

Use your HEAD!!

2008-12-11T11:26:00.000-08:00

Prepare to be Amazed!

My Dad sent this video to me in an email and I could not believe my eyes! This is a man in Bangladesh who is a brick hauler. Nope........he doesn't use a wheelbarrow. Make sure your sound is on so you can hear how heavy these bricks are. Check it out!

Happy Family Birthday!

2008-12-10T08:52:00.000-08:00

I have this wonderful friend who has an anniversary today and they celebrate it as a "family birthday". How neat is that! So here is a celebration shout for you, Anne and Brad! You are two of the neatest people I know. Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday to your beautiful family!

I survived! (my worst day ever!)

2008-11-11T20:45:00.000-08:00

It's Veteran's Day and I have dubbed myself a veteran. "A veteran of what?" you may ask. A veteran of TODAY. I survived THIS DAY! Let me explain:

This week I have 4 sick kids. Not to mention I don't feel so hot myself. The kids are grouchy and irritable and to put it politely......they are sick in both "ends".

So, here is my list of things I have survived this week. (Note: it is only Tuesday!)

1-Jaren has thrown up or .......... on all of his bedding in the last 24 hours. And this kid has a lot of bedding!

2-I have done 14 loads of laundry since yesterday. (No, 14 is NOT an exaggeration. I am still counting and two more should be done tonight. I was thinking all day, "Wow, that washer and dryer have run non-stop for two days. I hope the dryer doesn't go out.")

3-At the dinner table tonight:

Timothy: "Does that sound like water on the floor in the laundry room?"

Me: "No!"

Timothy: "It sounds pretty loud to be just the washer."

Me: "No, no, no, no" as I am running behind him.

Yep, you guessed it. The washer flooded. We walked into the bathroom/laundry room and there was at least 1/2 inch of water covering the floor and more spilling over as we stood there and running into the family room.

So, I'll continue my list:

4-I continue my washing now that the problem is fixed..........we used EVERY towel in the house to dry up the floor. So, those got thrown in to start washing some more. Meanwhile, Timothy got out the shopvac to suck up more water.

5-We moved the washer and dryer to clean the water up from underneath. (Does your dryer get lint under it? Mine does.....we usually clean all the lint out of the inside and move it to clean under it every six months. We do this at conference time. It just helps us remember. Do you think that we remembered to clean under the dryer this conference?)

6-Have you ever seen wet lint?

7-All the kids are finally in bed.

8-What's next?

Bravado!

2008-11-07T08:42:00.000-08:00

My friend Anne's little boy was over to play with Jaren today. I heard them giggling and screaming in the kitchen. I had to get a video. They had taken the lid off the tank of goldfish. One of them would dip the very end of their finger into the bowl and then yank it out. The other would scream and clap for them. It was hilarious. They were so brave to touch the scary fishies!
Watch the video.......it's too cute.

Bummer!

2008-11-07T08:26:00.000-08:00

Ryan intended to be a private investigator for Halloween. As you can see, he altered the costume a bit. His fedora is a little battered for all the play and wear, so he painted on a beard, smeared cocoa powder on his clothes to look dirty, made a satchel for his shoulder and (Voila!) he transformed into a Hobo. (or a bum, rather!) I guess boys will be boys. Of course, a rootbeer bottle found its way into his costume. I didn't allow it to go out with us, but it seems to be in all the pictures. Aaargh!

"Mom, do you think bums shop at Target? Or should I get a Walmart bag?"

We had a fun year. We even went to the pumpkin patch all dress up. I'll leave that for another post. Hope you coming holidays "treat" you well!

Eek! Those beady little eyes!

2008-11-07T07:36:00.000-08:00

Momma..........my mousie! (Jaren's words for "I'm a mouse!") CHEESE!! (Pun intended :)

Ooohhhhhh! Look Mom......my tail flopped at the end.

I made this costume years ago for Ariana and it has been passed down ever since. So, I guess the tradition continues. That would put him the right size next year for the elephant!

His favorite part was the tail. He carried it around like this all night. Cute little guy!

Sleepy Doll

2008-11-07T07:18:00.000-08:00

Our little Aurora. She's been telling us that she would be Aurora for Halloween ever since we put her to bed last Halloween night. And just by coincidence........this was the only costume left when we found one for her and just in the right size, too. It must be fate. Isn't she dazzling! This is my crown for the Miss (Hometown) pageant I was in. It was fun to see her wear it.
I learned how to curl hair with a flat iron (of all things) and look at the fun results. We'll be using that one more often!

Witchy-Poo!

2008-11-07T06:40:00.000-08:00

I loved the looks Ariana gave her daddy when he was getting a few pictures of her in costume.

First Flying lessons!Nice attitude!
She purposedly didn't brush her hair all day and even tried to tangle it so it would look rough. But somehow in the pictures, it just doesn't pick up how bad it really looked!

"Monk"ing Around!

2008-10-30T16:06:00.000-07:00

Today I was bathing Holly and Jaren. It had been a messy day (read- Jaren and chocolate in the shopping cart) and he needed a good scrub. When I got the two clean this is what I found in the living room:

Windows blacked-out with couch cushions and diapers stuffed in the holes to make sure it is extra dark....................

And the two older kids doing their schoolwork by the candles in the fireplace.

Upon asking them what they were doing, their reply was this:

"Mom, the monks and scribes wrote everything by candlelight and they did really good work."

We are learning about medieval times in history this year and they just learned about Canterbury and the monks. However, they are NOT doing history........it was spelling. So, they must be learning something. *happy mom moment*

True Hero

2008-10-29T06:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning I finished This book:

Three Cups of Tea makes my list of all time favorite books. This man is a hero:

Then in the evening, I attended a "Meet the Author" event hosted by King County Library System to listen to an update of Greg Mortenson's work and to watch a slide show. It was amazing. I even had the patience to wait in the line to have my book signed. I'm almost there!
If you read nothing else this year...........READ THIS BOOK!

Funnies and giggles

2008-10-07T16:35:00.001-07:00

Timer on the oven: "Beep, beep, beep"

Mom: "Who set the timer?"

Ariana: (in the distance) "Me!"

Mom: "Why? Do you want me to leave it on or turn it off?"

Ariana: "You can turn it off.....I am in the bathroom soaking my Manicles."

Mom: "Your what?"

Ariana: "My Manicles. It takes five minutes in hot water before I can push them back. Then will you paint my nails?"

I guess she squeezed MANicure and cutICLES together and made up her own word. I was in stitches.

IQ Test Anyone?

2008-10-07T16:14:00.000-07:00

I got the IQ link below from my uber-smart sister-in-law and it looked very intimidating. Then I got curious and took the quiz anyway. Jaren was screaming and turning the monitor on,off,on,off,on,off, ON and that's enough! Ryan was poking my shoulder and asking me to find his bike in the neighbors yard. The girls wanted me to play a game or call the neighbors since they were now home from school. (big sigh....) Despite the distractions, I did rather well. I may be a mom, but I can still be clever some of the time. *wink*

Free-IQTest.net - IQ Test

There are still a few that haven't seen my face!

2008-10-07T16:10:00.001-07:00

visited 37 states (74%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or determine the next president

Kids say the darndest things!

2008-09-28T17:10:00.000-07:00

Holly: "Momma, will you please pass the college cheese?"

Ryan: "I can't wait until I am a newlywed."

Mom: "What? Why do you want to be a newlywed anyway?"

Ryan: "Cause I think it would be really fun to smash a glass on purpose."

I guess he must have watched Fiddler on the Roof one too many times. *Hee Hee*

Baby Beautiful

2008-09-26T16:09:00.000-07:00

Timothy has been playing around with his SLR again and I find the most surprising pictures. This one caught my attention today. Here is little Holly in the back yard. It was her first day of "school" and she needed to show daddy the teepee she made. (not noticeable in her hand) But of course, Daddy found the beauty in the moment and the teepee was not-so-mistakenly left out. What a beautiful baby we have!

First attempt

2008-09-26T15:47:00.000-07:00

You may wonder why I entitled this entry "first attempt". I'll explain.

I found this bike trailer years ago at a used shop and I couldn't leave without it. Really,we were on our way out to leave and Timothy almost left without me, but I could not leave without this beauty coming with me. So, here is it. Two years and another baby later and we get to go on our first outing. (I bought the thing and used it once when I was pregnant with Jaren. ) Note to self: Riding a bike hurts much LESS when not pregnant!

I digress......We decided to take the kids on a family outing to go bike riding. We found the perfect paved trail. Starting and ending at a park. It was six miles in length and everything seemed perfect. We hitched the trailer to my bike for the first leg (Timothy was going to take the second leg) and headed out of the parking lot. You couldn't have wiped the smile of my face. I felt like my heart was going to burst. I have longed for this moment of riding with all my kids for years now. Then I hear a pppppppppbbbbbbffffffffffssssssssssssssssssssssssssss. What was that. My heart had not burst, but something did!

It was the tire on the trailer. We weren't even out of the parking lot and this happens. We had a patch kit, but of course the kids had managed to demolish the little bike pump this very morning. So, while a patch kit is handy, it is not of any value WITHOUT a portable pump.
We spent the rest of the morning playing at the little park there at the trailhead. The kids saw live bunnies in the trees behind the park.

Holly experienced some "hair-raising" playground equipment.

And Jaren fell in love with the "mo-cycles". What a day! We'll try again next week!

Tagged!

2008-09-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

I'm it..............................I have been tagged by Anne , so watch out.

Rules:

Link the person who tagged you (like Anne above)

Mention the rules on your blog

Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours

Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them

Leave a comment on each of the tagged bloggers blogs

letting them know they have been tagged.

Quirk #1-I have to wake up in the morning when the alarm clock makes sense. For example:

5:49- Five + four =Nine
7:25- Seven -two = Five

I don't know why I do this. It has been a habit since I was in grade school. Weird......yeah.

Quirk #2- I love to do laundry. I know that this is most people's nemesis. For some reason I love to smell the dryer going. I like the sound and the warm clothes when they come out. Mom has pictures of me as a tiny thing sitting in the laundry basket when the warm clothes would come out. I have a thing for laundry. Hmmmmmm.......
Quirk #3- I don't watch TV or listen to the radio. I think people are under the impression t that I think the TV is evil. This is not the case. For some reason we turned the TV off when we moved from South Carolina to our home here. And when we got here, we stopped watching it. We had lived cramped in an apartment for so long, that there were thousands of things a home opened up. We do those things now instead of watching the tv. It is that simple. I feel kind of left out when people start talking about their favorite show or new songs on the radio. I am so behind. I haven't turned on the TV except for a netflix movie in about 3 years. As far as the radio goes, my family had a reunion at the beach and my Sister-in-law brought that fun "Rock Band" game to play with the kids. We all took turns as adults and I was seriously embarassed when the only song I knew on the whole game was from the 1970's.

Here's my defense.........in the car I listen to books on tape. There are so many books in the world I need to read and so little time. So, I bypass the radio in the car. If I do switch on the radio now, I don't recognize anything, so in goes a Cd or talk radio. Am I an oldy-moldy or what!!?!?!?

Quirk #4-I hate to wear shoes. Most women I know like shoes. They like to buy them, wear them, shop for them, and I am just the opposite. I wear shoes only when I have to. That usually means a trip to the store or church.

If you stop by my house, I will be barefoot. I only buy shoes when I have worn the last pair out and since I don't wear them unless I have to.......that only happens every other year or so. I blame this on the fact that my great grandmother was a Native American. I have indian blood and my feet are callused and aching to be free. :)

Quirk #5-I sing to myself. Alot. Today Jaren actually said, "no, Momma! No singin'." I wasn't even aware of it He let me know he'd had enough!

Quirk #6-I hide chocolate from myself. I buy it and then feel guilty. So, I hide it away. Every now and then I'll come upon a stashed bar or mint patty. It's like a gift from myself. (I learned this trait from my squirrel-of-a-husband. (He actually and truly stashes nuts. One of these days I think he'll grow a tail.)

Four Beautiful Eyes!

2008-08-25T21:26:00.000-07:00

So, Ariana had us scared for a while. She got hit in the head with a baseball bat in a neighborhood game of "whiffle ball". So, the ball is soft.....but well......the bat isn't. She had an MRI done because she was suffering some pretty severe headaches and seeing purple lines occasionally.
The doc rans some tests and everything turned out fine. So, they sent her for a full pediatric workup on her eyes. And wouldn't you know it. Our little girl who taught herself to read at age 3 can't see very well! I have heard that early readers generally pay for it later, but I didn't know it would be this bad. She got her glasses about three weeks ago and hasn't had a headache since. Wow, you would think I would have thought of that first. But she turns out to be far-sighted, so she doesn't squint. That would have given us a hint.

Can you say "RITA SKEETER"? In these purple frames, you need your"quick-quotes-quill" girlie!

Too old lookin', eh?

Hellllllllllllllllllllllloooooooooooooo Ramona Quimby.Needless to say, she didn't pick any of these. I'll post a cute picture of her new glasses later. It seems I only got a picture of the ones we got a laugh out of. I love you, you beautiful four-eyed babe!!

Cubscout Day Camp!

2008-08-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

Ryan had a blast a cubscout day camp this year. His first time and what a time it was! Four exhausting days of little boys and lots of fun. Ryan made friends, projects, bulls-eyes, and one very dirty load of laundry by the end of each day at camp. These are all the beads and "dingle-dangles" he earned. The most anticipated moment!!! The archery range. He spent most of the summer looking forward to camp just for the archery and bb guns. He did really well. Look out Robin Hood- here comes Ryan Hood.
Today he shot two bull's-eyes! He seemed to come home better each day. Timothy has been running figures by me about prices for gear. Hmmmmmm...can you say backyard archery and little boy in the same sentence? Sounds illegal to me. :)

Next on the fun meter were the wood projects he built. He loved the birdhouse and treasure box projects. Right now we have one "large" treasure box that is quite empty. What will we find within? I bet lots of treasures will be showing up soon. (think Dennis the Menace...........Frogs, dried beetles, dirty socks.............hmmm............. maybe the treasure box wasn't such a good idea after all.) Maybe I'll suggest his scout books belong in there?

Visitor to our house

2008-08-20T08:51:00.000-07:00

Timothy captured a picture of this little bandit at our house last night. It is hard to see because the camera focused on the weed instead of the raccoon, but isn't he cute?

Ariana's 7th Birthday Luau!

2008-08-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

We were still in Utah to celebrate Ariana's 7th birthday. We got to celebrate here last year. She is beginning to think we should do it every year. We celebrated at a little diner near Fish Lake on her actual birthday, but once we got back to Grandma and Papa's house we had a birthday Luau complete with pineapple upside down cake, lei's and a grass skirt.

We Limbo-ed and Papa favored us with some awesome Ukelele music. But then the inevitable happened......................

Right after we blew the candles out............Jaren fell off the back porch and had to be rushed to get stitches. He sure was good about it though.
He just layed on the table and stared at the doctor. Not even a whimper. What a brave boy!

Handsome Clan

2008-08-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

My Brothers and I were all together for the evening last month, so we all got a group shot. It has been 9 years since we had a family photo. We have grown by six new members. Can you spot them all? (Minako, Yoshiki, Zackery, Ariana, Holly, Jaren) Grandma and Papa hold the littlest ones!

A trip down Memory Lane

2008-08-11T15:18:00.001-07:00

My Grandma Schaugaard decided to throw a great big party! All seven of her children (my aunts and uncles) grew up going as a family to Fish Lake. Then we started going as families when we were kids. And now me and my siblings take our children.

Well, Grandma decided to do it again. Despite thousands of miles between them all-each of the seven brothers and sisters(my Dad) decided to come and bring their children (me) and their grandchildren (my kids). As you can see, we were quite a crew. We stayed in the cabins as is tradition and had lots of fun together. I got to see all my cousins again and their beautiful children. What a time!

This first picture was cut funny when I posted it, sorry Aunt Sharon and Aunt Annette. But it is of Grandma and her seven children. They have a picture just like this (but with grandpa) when they were all children. Look at 'em now! The picture on the right is the whole clan and my wonderful Grandma is in the center! We love you Grandma! Dad in the middle "gabbing" with his brothers. :) The first night this pretty rainbow showed up. We named it Grandma's Rainbow. Dad's Magic show for the kids and the funny horned chandeleir!

The four shots below are the swimming hole that we have been going to for decades. Chanin and Jaren didn't go all in. They were just the waders. Ariana posed on the pretty rock for a photo before a dip in the nice water. Isn't Utah beautiful!?!!

We caught a few perch while we were on the Pontoon. The kids were thrilled. Holly was fine until her fish was caught and then she was thoroughly disgusted. It was quite funny. But all Jaren wanted to do was drive with Papa!

While we were out there was a flock of pelicans that kept flying over and then landing only feet away from us. Apparently we were in the best fishing spot. They would come just long enough to catch a few and then look at us and take off again. WHO THOUGHT PELICANS LIVE IN UTAH???
We also drove out to see the Anasazi Indian ruins. It was a long drive, but well worth it in the end. It was amazing to look around at the desert and imagine that people actually lived here in the sweltering heat!

Mauery's love the theater!

2008-08-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

I (Chanin)grew up loving the theater. I remember going to the Pardo Theater at Brigham Young University to see "Arsenic and Old Lace" with Mom when I was barely more than a toddler. Mom and Dad always had season tickets and this time Dad had another engagement. So, I got to take his place as Mom's date. I laughed and laughed at Uncle Teddy. As I grew older I often asked to go along with Mom and Dad. Soon, they started buying another set of season tickets just for me. Thanks, Dad and Mom! I love the theater.

Here are my own little thespians! Ryan's first play. Here he is front and center announcing the arrival of King Minos. He plays one of the Super-cool (sunglasses included) King's messengers.

Ariana is seen here in green. She designed her own toga and it turned out smashing! She is seen here singing about leaving her "weaving behind" to help Theseus defeat the Minotaur. I wish I knew how to make my camera's video capture actually load to the computer. Her song was so cute.
Red-carpet, Anyone?
Ryan has no fear backstage. Just give him some watermelon and all is grand!
A shot in our front yard with costumes. What a fun time of year. The end of the school year always culminates with the theater class putting on the play they have worked on all year. This year's musical was called "Theseus and the Minotaur".

Twisty Rope Hair

2008-08-01T15:10:00.001-07:00

Ariana is anxiously awaiting her before-school-haircut. Two years ago she cut off 12" of her hair and gave it to Locks of Love. Considering the fact that hair grows about 6" in a year, she decided if she waited two years to cut her hair, then she could give another 12" by this year. Here she is sporting a fun hairdo. We call it a "rope." She decided when she was only 2 yrs. old that she wanted to do this. She saw girls donating their hair to help other children on a TV show and it was all decided. She waited a three years after that show to cut it the first time. Now we are nearing the second cut. We have been living the "growing-out-my-hair" scene for five years now. Some lucky little girl will get another beautiful wig. We love you for being a good example, Ariana!!
The Cut!

Two Years Ago

Ariana had just turned 5.

What a cute new do. Afterward I would lose her at the park because I didn't recognize her with all her hair gone.

Preschool Graduation

2008-08-01T15:01:00.001-07:00

Our Sweet little Holly has graduated from preschool! Here are a few pictures of the ceremony and our budding student. Holly is all smiles. The graduate in her cap and gown.
Michael, Holly, Taylor, Cameron, Julie, MIA-Lucy
Welcome the Preschool graduating class of 2008! (And someday they will be the graduating highschool class of 2022!)
Certificate of completion
Kindergarten here I come!!

The things I find on the table!

2008-07-24T17:26:00.000-07:00

Today I found this funny little picture on the table. Not every 8 year-old has this funny kind of talent. Notice the expressions on the faces of these musicians. I love the fun effect of their various hair heights. Also, I might guess their music is not the flowing type. Thanks, Ryan, for the laugh today. (As a side note-Ryan's favorite music is orchestral, so this picture was quite fun to find.)

Wildlife along the way

2008-07-15T16:12:00.000-07:00

Here are a few picture of the wildlife we saw on our trip to Glacier. Timothy was pretty fast to get the picture of this little guy coming out of his hole. He was cute!

These horses run wild in the park. Actually, I took this picture while we were in Blackfeet territory. They were eating and I thought the kids would like the picture of the baby with his mother.
There is no animal in this picture? No, but you can see the sign of the beaver in the right hand corner. If you click on the picture you can see his teethmarks where he gnawed the tree down. Not too far from this spot we saw his den. I was sad I didn't take a picture of it.
A moose had come through on our hike to Running Eagle falls. Here is his evidence! Did I just put that on my blog?!?!?! How can something as big as a moose, make something so small? Just a thought.We saw a bunch of mountain goats on the cliffs behind the chalet in Two Medicine Valley. This is a close up view. I didn't get a picture of them on the rocky cliffs, but they sure can climb.As we were leaving Many Glacier Hotel there were a bunch of people on the side of the road. We pulled over and asked if they had seen a bear. (We were hoping the whole time to see a grizzly. Just not up close.) Alas, it was not a grizzly, but a herd of big horn sheep. They were just sitting there beside the road. Not afraid at all. They certainly are pretty.

And on the train we saw a bald eagle on the ground drinking from a stream.

Honeymoon at age 10!

2008-07-15T13:46:00.000-07:00

So, I realized after a few comments that there are some of you who didn't know why we were taking this trip as a Honeymoon. When we were married ten years ago, it was in a whirlwind. Timothy and I met and decided to get married right away. He was graduating from BYU and leaving to get a Master's Degree from The George Washington University in Washington DC. He would be attending their satelite campus in Virginia a few miles south. This was located at the NASA Langley Research center. So, we got married and *BOOM* moved to Virginia in our tiny car. We pulled what little we had in the below pictured, tiny, 3X4 trailer. We were off to find a place to live in VA. This meant (sad face)......... no honeymoon. So, now our marriage is ten years mature and we finally got to take a trip to celebrate. So, there you have it. Check out the silly picture of us below (ten years younger)........ and on with the story!

Below: Here we are ready to embark on the train to Glacier Park, ten years later. I took this picture of a very handsome young man waiting to get on the train. I caught him looking my way and snapped a quick pic!
We left at dinnertime and arrive at Glacier the next morning right after we had finished breakfast. It was nice timing. Next is a picture of the station at Glacier park. It was quaint and the lodge had driver's waiting to pick you up in their vintage red 1936 "White's".

But we chose to take the walk from the station to the lodge. You can see it is beautiful. We wanted to take a few pictures of the walk up to the resort. And besides, we got to ride in the neat old cars a little bit later.

The poppies were just blooming and their blooms paved the way from the station all the way over to Glacier Park lodge. It was windy and I think people watching thought we were crazy for walking when somebody was there waiting to chaffeur us to our rooms. But what else did we have to do until check in? As we came up the walk a man stepped out the doors and raised the flag and sang the national anthem. His huge voice echoed all over the mountains and gave me goosebumps. It was well worth the walk.

Here is a picture when you walk into the Hotel. It was made in 1913 and constructed from Douglas Fir trees with their bark still intact. They amazed me. I wish this picture did them justice. Just imagine that these trees are four stories tall. These pictures were taken from the second story, so you can imagine how it is to stand on the ground level and look up-clear to the tippy top!

I asked Timothy to take this next picture. Look at the way they made the trees look like Roman Columns at the top. I loved this place!

We checked in to our suite. I don't think I have ever stayed any place nicer. We actually had a living room, a HUGE bath, and a bedroom full of windows with gorgeous views. Here is the view from a couple of the windows..

The next morning we started our site-seeing. We took one of those vintage 1936 "White's" for a tour of the park. The company that used to make them was called White. But the vehicles have always been bright red to match the color of the wildflowers called "fireweed" that grow there. The tour in said car was one of the highlights of our trip. Here is a picture of us in it. It is actually made of wood and it creaks and cracks when you drive around. It was so much fun. Too bad they don't make 'em like this anymore.

This area below was our first stop. This mountain behind us is called Sinopah. It is named after an indian woman who belonged to the Blackfeet tribe. We got to hear all sorts of stories and legends of the Blackfeet. (Yes, I typed that right. They are Blackfeet, not Blackfoot indians.) This place is called Two Medicine Valley. Here is another picture of it. You really must click on it to get its full effect. It is so beautiful!

I felt like this was heaven on earth. I didn't want to leave. It was so pretty here. The lake was like glass. There were two indian tribes that use to come here for their religious ceremonies. Thus, it was named "Two Medicine" because each tribe has their own medicine man. Our guide told us that this place draws people in and they don't want to leave. He said many people think it is because of its spiritual nature. He shared with us a poem about nature's beauty being the voice of God. I wish I knew that poem.

Next, we went up to this mountain. Pictured below is Looking Glass mountain. What a view! The lake is Two Medicine lake from a different angle. We are planning to take the kids back and go to Two Medicine Valley. We can take a boat through the back side of this lake into those mountains. Behind them is another lake to explore called "Upper Two medicine". I can't wait till we can go again and explore some more. Down in this valley there is one of the original Chalets that were built in the early 1900's to draw tourists to "America's Alps". This Chalet pictured is one that Franklin D. Roosevelt stayed at to give one of his Fireside Chats. We got to go inside and see the huge fireplace where he gave his address. It certainly looks like the Alps when you are there looking up at these mountains.

Right before this stop we took a hike up to Running Eagle falls. I must comment on the rocks and pebbles that we saw. Here is a picture of the falls and the river.

Notice what color the rocks are.

I know it is kind of hard to tell, but all the rocks and pebbles are red and green. I asked a guide if they brought all the pretty rocks in to pave the trails we were walking on. (In my defense, I hadn't seen the riverbed yet.) He smiled and explained to me that it is called Argulite and that is what the mountains are made of. In the water above you can see the pretty red and mint green of the stones. As I looked around I realized the river bed, the mountains, the trails, the roadsides, and everywhere were made of these stones. Boy, I felt SHEEPISH!The next stop for us was Many Glacier Hotel. This is the place we fell in love with and we want to bring the kids back to stay there. The Hotel looks across Many Glacier lake to about 5 of the largest mountains and glaciers in the park. The resort is beautiful and you can imagine the view at sunrise in the morning. Timothy took this picture looking away from said mountains, so unfortunately you can't see them and the glaciers that I am speaking of. You'll just have to visit Many Glacier to see for yourself! But you can see how wonderful the Hotel is. Gorgeous! Looks like it belongs in the Alps. I couldn't get it to zoom the picture. Click on it to see the beautiful architecture.Last but not least was a trip to see Wild Goose Island. This is the most photographed part of the National Park. Most people think of this picture when you mention Glacier Park.

And here we are with the island behind us. It is legend that it got its name because an indian maiden fell in love with an young indian of another tribe. They met one night when she saw him on this island and swam out to meet him. They were reprimanded for going out to see each other because the water is so deep and cold. They were from different tribes and they were told never to see each other again. The young maiden decided she would go one more time to see her love. They met at the island and were never heard of again. As their families searched for them the next morning, they saw two wild geese fly into the sky from the island. Sweet story to hear on a honeymoon. :)

The most beautiful part of the park was not for us to see. I had anticipated the "Going-to-the -sun-road" for a long time before we got there. It is actually a road carved right into the mountain. The water that comes off the mountain cascades down the side of the cliffs and across the road. They call it the "Weeping Wall". But when we got there, this is what we saw.........................Road closed. The snow and avalanche watch had not yet been lifted. Can you believe this is JUNE!

ROAD CLOSED

I guess we will really have to go back again with the kids so we can see the Going-to-the-Sun-road and the weeping wall and go across Logan's Pass. I guess I should get busy planning, huh!

All in all we had a lot of fun. It was gorgeous and we had lots of time for fun and happy memories. Thank you, Timothy, I look forward to many more celebrations of our life together!! I loved this trip mostly because I was there with you. Wasn't it so much fun!