Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Usually...

The first picture was how Eric's cousin Amanda styled it. Love her!

This is how it usually ends up on a daily basis...


First Trim


I got a haircut back in September and took pictures on my phone....only to end up doing a master reset and losing the pictures (but not my texts?!). I am loving this haircut and just got a trim today. (And I love Esther's apple-filled mouth in this picture.)



Tuesday, October 26, 2010

I love my crockpot.


We got a small one as a wedding gift. It was great. Until it wasn't. I think we donated it to Deseret Industries to bless some other newly-wed couple who only needed to feed two people at a time.

Right around that time, Anna got married. Such perfect timing. :) She was given two crockpots as wedding gifts and gifted us with one of them. Anna, did you know I think of you every time I use it?

When we get busy (and I'm thinking ahead) it's such a lifesaver. Here are some of my favorite crockpot recipes:

Shredded Sweet Pork Salad (aka Cafe Rio Salad!)
Potluck Beans (Pork & Beans -- this is my favorite pork & beans recipe now. It says it cooks tons, but for our family of six we only end up with leftovers for two lunches the next day. I suppose if you're really taking it to a potluck and it's a side dish, it makes a lot. But we usually eat it as a main dish with cornbread casserole and fruit. This calls for a pound of beef, but I'm going to be making it with 1/2 a pound. Not because it needs less, just because I can and it'll still taste awesome.)
Yogurt (I've substituted the regular milk here for powdered milk several times! I usually use 1/2 C - 1 C more powdered milk than it calls for, to get it thicker.)
Chicken and White Bean Stew (This is not originally a crockpot recipe - just cook the bacon and onions first and then add to the other ingredients in the crockpot. I leave out the spinach.)

Non-crockpot recipes that work great in the crockpot:
stroganoff
bbq chicken/pork sandwiches
spaghetti sauce
french dip sandwiches (just the meat of course...)
Hawaiian Haystacks
Lil' Smokies with a ketchup/worchestershire sauce/brown sugar mix (perfect for New Year's)

It's also really handy to cook frozen chicken in the crockpot so that it's ready to use in recipes when you're ready to make dinner.

Yesterday I saw a post on Pioneer Woman about a new book called Fix-It and Forget-It Kids' Cookbook. There are several versions of the Fix-It and Forget-It books. I've checked out the basic one from the library and liked several recipes. Our library doesn't have the kid's version yet (it just came out this month). As soon as it does though, we're going to check it out. It looks awesome. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and desserts that kids can throw in the crockpot and make? I think the girls are going to be doing a lot of our cooking in the near future. I'm looking forward to the break!

What crockpot recipes do you have that you love?

You know that saying, "That's a bunch of crock!"?
Kind of weird that we call it a crockpot...


Monday, October 25, 2010

Twelve

This semester, Thursdays are my busiest days. We do school, drive to two music lessons, drive home just in time to eat dinner (I'm loving the crockpot on days like this), and then hurry to Heidi's soccer practice.


This Thursday was even worse. It seems hard to imagine that it could be. But I sat down to plan it out the day before and it looked like this:

- Mail very important package
- Go to Autumn's dental appointment
- Come home for lunch
- Go to Esther's violin lesson
- Go to Heidi's guitar lesson
- Eat dinner (crockpot)
- Heidi's soccer practice
- Do a musical number for our Stake Relief Society Leadership Meeting
- Bedtime!

Phew.

Then the night before all of this, we realized that Eric couldn't drive his loaner car to school. There was NOWHERE for him to park without his staff sticker. Student parking wasn't even an option because the loaner had no plates (a dealer plate...).

At first I had a mini melt-down. I had figured out how to make my insanely busy day work and suddenly a very big wrench had been thrown in it. I didn't want to change my plan...it took awhile to figure it out! And I didn't want to not go through with anything either.

After I calmed down, it turned out that needing to drive Eric to school simplified some things and then as the day progressed, other things became simpler too.

Tender mercies.

1. We stopped at the UPS Store on the way to Eric's work. I went inside and mailed the package - by myself.
2. We made it to Autumn's dentist appointment only 5 minutes late when traffic had me thinking it'd be 15.
3. Her dental appointment only took 30 minutes instead of the expected ninety.
4. We were able to do some of our schoolwork at home instead of in the car.
5. Becca got to have a nap.
6. Traffic was beautiful driving to Esther's lesson.
7. Traffic was beautiful driving to Heidi's lesson. We arrived with 20 minutes to spare.
8. Traffic, again, was beautiful driving to pick up Eric from work. Particularly huge considering just last week, that same day of the week, roughly the same time, and the same freeway, it took me 40 minutes to drive 3 miles. And also huge because we had rain most of the day, but no rain on that drive.
9. Received a phone call from our friend who requested the musical number. She had made dinner for us and wanted to bring it over.
10. Heidi's soccer practice was cancelled -- the fields were too muddied from the rain.
11. Eric's singing made the ladies cry.
12. Our sitter got Becca into her jammies and put her in bed. She fell asleep within seconds. This was a big deal not only because she's not always the best at that with others, but because we hadn't even given bedtime instructions. We ran late and he just decided to give it a go! We love Bob. The girls do too. He's like a grandpa to them.

I feel like that saying "when it rains, it pours" really fit on that day. But with a positive slant. We were so incredibly blessed. I am still amazed when I think about it.

Thanks for the comments on how you keep your kids' room's clean! It sounds like we do things pretty similarly. We've had a new system in place this past week and I'm watching and reevaluating to make sure it works and wondered what works for you...


Right now the big girls need to have their room clean by bedtime. If it isn't, I walk through with a garbage bag and put everything from the floor into the bag. Well, not entirely everything. Of the things they've missed, they have to put the clothes in the hamper and library books on the shelf. Everything else goes in the bag. After that, they have to get their room clean by bedtime three days in a row before they can have anything back from the bags. And they have to request things specifically. So, no just digging through the bag looking for something interesting and no getting the entire bag back.

The first day I took out FOUR trash bags. I admit that half of each trash bag WAS trash. Paper trash. We go through a lot of paper in this house. But still, two bags worth of toys overall. They earned it back in the first three days. But we were busy and I didn't bother to make time for them to get things from the bags. They reminded me a few times, but it was always in the middle of something. And the interesting thing was that they never reminded me asking for something specific. They just talked about "the bags". I am beginning to feel like they really don't need most of what they have.

Oh, and I also implemented a rule that if one of them wasn't cleaning and the other was, I would take a particularly special toy from the non-cleaner and keep it for a day. This proved to be very effective. I never had to use it, but I expect at some point I will have to.

In the meantime, I think my only adjustment to what we're doing will be to do a "deep analysis" on their current toys and take away the ones they're not using. We'll probably be left with a stuffed animal per kid, books, paper and crayons, and recent birthday gifts. It's hard to believe that they will be okay with that. But at the same time, that's all I ever see them play with! Well, that and the bins for their toys. No wonder they can't keep things clean. They always want to use the storage stuff for parts of their games... They'll also still have the option to play with games and gamesets that stay locked in the closet but are available on request.

*crossing my fingers that this solves much of their messes*

Friday, October 22, 2010

I'm trying to write while singing bedtime songs to the girls. I wonder if I'll mix things up and type song lyrics here and sing what I'm trying to blog. I wonder if the girls would even notice.


We've had a great first two months of school and are learning how to juggle a new schedule. Sometimes I think I manage it with great finesse. Other times, I fall flat on my face. Last year we had school and Activity Days twice a month. This semester we have three girls in music lessons, two in soccer, and Activity Days twice a month. And I volunteered to be on the Parent Council for our charter school (which we homeschool through). And I volunteered to be Team Mom on Autumn's soccer team. I keep laughing at myself for volunteering. The Parent Council seemed like it would be different than it is, but it's fine. Very low-key. Soccer, AYSO, is completely volunteer-based and when we signed up I read through the booklet they sent us home with and was so stressed about how we could do "our part". Then noone else volunteered when the coach asked for a Team Mom so I offered. Now that we've been doing soccer practice for a couple of months, I realize that if I'd not said anything, eventually (at later practices...), someone would have volunteered. And that I was kind of silly to stress over how I would pitch in. It's not as intense as it seemed like it would be. At times I feel painfully new to the team sports scene. Definitely not something I grew up with, but definitely something I'm grateful to be involving my girls in.

Oh, actually, if I were to ask Eric maybe he'd say it is a little intense. He referees almost every week and lots of times it's at 8am. EIGHT A.M. on a Saturday morning. We will both be glad to have our Saturdays back when the season is over.

On the flip-side, Autumn and Heidi are really enjoying soccer. And they're picking it up really quickly. Autumn is the smallest girl on her team but has been dubbed "The Terminator" by one the team parents because she isn't afraid of anything. Go Autumn! She was one-on-one a few weeks ago with a girl more than a head taller than her and much bigger over-all. She's also a little Energizer Bunny out there. Everyone else starts lagging and she just goes, goes, goes. It's fun to watch. I find that I'm not surprised really because that's the way she approaches most things! That's my Autumn.

I think Heidi is enjoying the social aspect of soccer more than the playing. She enjoys talking to her teammates at the back of lines when they're waiting to do things with the ball. And sometimes misses her turn because of it. She makes me laugh. During games we shout lots of encouragement to her to keep her watching the ball. When we don't she looks like she's bird-watching. It's hilarious. And ever with the two fingers in her mouth. Even as she plays soccer. I don't want to talk about that though. It will come. That's what I have to keep telling myself. We'll get there.

(and now I think I'll be able to blog without worrying about singing. 3 down, 1 almost there)

Here are some of the things we've been up to:

- Autumn started cello lessons. We love her teacher and have a Germany connection. She even lived in Heidelberg, playing for the Heidelberg Stadtisches Opera Orchestra.

- Heidi started guitar lessons. Her cousin Jaxon is jealous and will be so excited to see her guitar next month when he comes for Thanksgiving.

- Esther has been preparing for a big Halloween concert. No solos, but lots of fun Halloween-y pieces and a skit that goes along with the order of songs.

- We've been back to Disneyland four times since the summer blackout dates ended.

- The girls had dental appointments and had NO cavities. Two of Autumn's front teeth are behind the other two. She just got an appliance yesterday that will widen her arch and move the teeth forward. It's a spacer but it's removable. She had a hard time falling asleep last night but no problems tonight so it seems like she's adjusting quickly. If we had held off on this, she would definitely have needed braces to correct it (not to mention being self conscious about her smile). We'll still have to wait and see if she needs them for other reasons, but I'm hopeful she'll dodge that bullet.

- Heidi turned SEVEN. She loves Hello Kitty right now so we had a Hello Kitty birthday, complete with a Hello Kitty cake (which, she informed me, didn't look as good as the one I made for Autumn a few years ago...but she still liked it).

- Autumn turned NINE. She lives in her own Harry Potter world right now, so of course she requested a Harry Potter theme for her birthday. I think she's been on a Harry Potter kick for years now. She almost wanted to be Hermione for Halloween again this year. I think she's reverted back to her original choice now. Princess Leia.

Oh, and I turned....twenty-nine. Again.

Okay, I admit. I'm done with my twenties. I am THIRTY. It still seems kind of strange. It was fitting that for a big birthday like this, I got the best birthday presents I have ever gotten. A MacBook Pro and an iTouch (now if only I could remember where I hid the iTouch two days ago! the girls love it as much as I do...). We no longer have PC's. And I love Macs. I still can't quite believe how awesome they are.

Someday I will find my mini SD card to move pictures from my phone to my computer. Many a blog post awaits. They just wouldn't make sense though without the accompanying pictures...

In the meantime, a question for anyone who's still out there...

How do you keep your kids rooms clean? Because honestly, I'm beginning to think the toys just get in the way of play. I'm not convinced they need them anymore...




Monday, August 30, 2010

Autumn & Heidi have been begging to take out their instruments and do a "concert" since Autumn brought home her cello Saturday (and they did play for a little that day). Tonight when we had finally completed all the other "necessaries", I told them they could play with Esther when she played Pop Goes the Weasel. She hadn't practiced yet today and I wanted to get in at least a few minutes!


So Esther plays Pop Goes the Weasel with a clip her teacher emailed us. Something like two or three violins. Anyway, it starts and suddenly I realize that Autumn can pluck along with the lower part, just plucking her middle two strings, alternating. And that Heidi can play on the first of those two notes. And so we did a trio of Pop Goes the Weasel. On violin, cello, and guitar! But the violin playing the actual melody was recorded, because Esther just plays "pop" and I realized....I could play it on my flute. Talk about a strange quartet. Violin, cello, guitar, and flute. And they loved it! And of course I loved it! We only lasted about 10 minutes trying to do it a few times and have everyone ready at the same time, but it sure was fun. :)

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

I just got interrupted by Autumn who informed me that the bathroom door is locked and smells like nail polish remover. And here I thought even the younger two were happily (and safely) occupied before I sat down to write a letter .

I walked into the bathroom and found Esther with minimal amounts of nail polish on her skin and clothes. Becca, on the other hand,



was standing stark naked in the tub. Covered in pink nail polish. Cheeks, forehead, shoulders, chest, bellybutton, turn around, butt cheeks, and yes, even a little between the legs.

I did not keep my cool.

And the aftermath?

It's too much to ask of a 17 month old to sit still for the kind of scrubbing it takes to get that stuff off. And from the few spots we did work on, I'm thinking it would also take over 5 bottles to clean it up. And the 4-year old? Well, she doesn't have much on her anyway, and I'm inclined to just leave her alone because I still can't speak civilly to her. I find myself wishing she'd be embarrassed to be seen in public, as some sort of punishment, but who am I kidding? She's four. She doesn't care! All the same, I'm in no rush to clean her up. And it's not hurting her, so the girls will be walking around looking "pretty in pink" until it decides to peel off.

And we're taking Autumn to soccer tonight. Lovely.

And this next bit will sound like a tangent, but it's not. Heidi has moved into a new stage this last month. She is as feisty as ever, but more helpful and obedient.

Are you laughing?

I would be too if I weren't too busy having a pity party for one.

Guess it would be just too good to be true for all of the kids to be in manageable stages at the same time.

Excuse me while I go shower...yep, haven't done that yet today either!
And oh, I left out the best part...Esther cut her hair on Monday.

First day with the scissors out for an extended period of time. Somehow she Houdini's a pair. And that oh, so cute haircut Amanda gave her last week, yes, the last of the corrections, and the beginnings of hey, this looks like an actual style! are now gone. And it's the bangs. Again. Those bangs that make it so impossible to hide the fact that yes, my child has cut her own hair.

Please know, that if you ask me why don't you keep the scissors somewhere she can't get them or how did she get those away from you and you didn't notice or why did you leave her alone long enough for that to happen, be forewarned -- if you were right in front of me, I would LAUGH in your face. And then I would refer you to one of my many friends with many kids who is in a better mood than I am at the moment.

Come back tomorrow though.

I promise I'll have positive things to say.

Just not about this.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

DISNEYLAND

For our tenth anniversary this year, we spent a whole day at Disneyland without the kids. (We have awesome friends who love to watch our girls!)

And we finally bought yearly passes! We've wanted to do that since we moved here in August. In the past month and a half, we've already been to Disneyland FOUR times.

A sign on the way to Disneyland. Can anyone enlighten me? What are wet burritos?


Here's the new antenna topper we chose for our van. Someone or something took our pink princess Mickey. It's probably better that way since it was a Disney World one. We might have gotten into trouble bringing one of those into Disneyland. :)


A display we found in a store window of Disney's Main Street.


Toy Story "army men"!! Poor guys. Those costumes looked so hot.


Now Disneyland WITH the kids...

That face says it all!
(Autumn's, not the roly-poly...)


Inside the new Nemo submarine ride.

So we paid to take our kids to Disneyland, and what do they want to ride? The oldest ride in the book -- the carousel.

I completely understand.

There is something timeless and magical about carousels. They make me feel like a kid all over again.

We only rode double once. Oops!
They're sure loved sitting together though...





My goofy, happy, big kids.
(And their toothy...toothless?...grins!)

Yep, this was a good decision. We are going to love learning all the ins and outs of Disneyland. Autumn already spotted our first Hidden Mickey.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

...I'm going to give you a peek into my cupboards.


There's just something so satisfying about arranging and organizing things so that life works a little smoother.


There just is.


And if you don't think so, you're missing out.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

A few years ago we checked out the DVD of CATS from the library.

And then we checked it out again. And again. And again.

Over at least a year's time period, we watched that movie so many times!

We even checked out Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot.

And then finally, we bought it as a gift for Heidi (although Autumn loved it equally, she received something else that year...).

Last week we were headed up to Utah for our family reunion. Rae called me a few days before and said something like, "Phill can get tickets to CATS at the Tuacahn...want to take the kids?"

So we got the babes in bed for the night, left them with the hubbies, and took our big kids to the show. They were ecstatic about staying up past their bedtime, being with their cousins, and getting to see the show.

(Jaxon's trying so hard not to fall...the step was a little low for him!)

It was so much fun. I haven't been to a live musical since my freshman year of college...Phantom of the Opera at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake.


It was priceless watching Autumn, Heidi, Reed, and Jaxon as they watched the show. As the show began, I looked over and saw Heidi sitting on the edge of her seat in anticipation, wearing a gigantic smile on her face. Every time I looked at Autumn she was focused on the stage, even when whispering excitedly to Reed.


At one point, a cat did an aerobatic stunt, and Reed said in a hushed and excited whisper, "Awesome! I can do that!"

The show ended with fireworks, a perk of outdoor theatre! And true to any boy's nature, when we asked Jaxon what he liked about it, he said, "the fireworks". And on the car-ride home I overheard he kept talking about the fireworks and how he could "blow up the whole universe!" Yep, that'd be my nephew.

And then to top it all off, we ran into one of the actresses during intermission and she posed for a picture!

Friday, July 2, 2010

Sometime during the last month, we finally took Esther to Eric's cousin to even out Esther's "hair job". It's so great to know and trust people who can do the things I can't. And it's even better when they're in the family. We all get great haircuts from Amanda and love knowing we can trust her with our hair. :)



Look at that cheeser!


And last, a more recent shot and pre-brushing. Messy, but spunky and still workable. We'll take it any day over the shaggy mane she's been walking around with for the last long while.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

We've made a lot of changes in our diet lately. Between reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, watching FOOD, Inc., reading Anti Cancer, Righteous Porkchop, and wanting to lose extra weight and be more healthy -- wow! If you're interested and want to know more about these books or have already read them and want to share tips/tricks/or stories, email me!

One of the bigger changes has been to make as much as we can on our own. To that end, granola bars are such a great snack to have on hand and I'm loving being the one in control of what goes into them. They're also really easy to make.

I've tried 3 different recipes now (Kitchen Stewardship, Sisters Cafe, and my wonderful friend Heidi's).

This morning I decided to compare all three and see if I couldn't figure out the "science" behind what is required to make a granola bar. Here's what I came up with. Armed with these things, I think I'll be able to make any number of granola bar recipes, changing it up however I feel.

GRANOLA BAR SCIENCE
(for a regular size batch)

- 2 cups of oats. Maybe a 1/2 cup more in a doubled batch. Quick vs. rolled is really a matter of preference. I have yet to decide my preference...
- 1 C flour, whole wheat or all-purpose. No flour? Use an extra 1/2 C oats and 1/2 C rice krispies. Not as healthy, but really yummy. Using all-purpose but still wanting to be healthy? Add 1/2 C wheat germ. My double batch recipe calls for 1 cup flour, but another regular batch recipe I have ALSO calls for 1 cup flour...today I'm doing a regular batch and will use 1/2 cup flour unless it looks like it needs more.
- 1/2 tsp baking soda. Two of the recipes actually leave this out, but I think it helps the bars stay together better and be softer and chewier. Scientifically, I know that cream of tartar makes cookies softer and chewier and is an ingredient in baking powder. So maybe this is similar? As for why it helps them stay together better? Maybe something to do with the poofing/rising while they bake and then when they cool and fall they stick together better? Ideas anyone?
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 - 1/2 C Butter or oil, interchangeable in this recipe. That's not always the case with baking.
- 3/4 to 1 C sweetener, to taste.
1/2 C brown sugar + 1/4 - 1/2 C honey
1/2 C honey (as a general rule, if you want to use all honey and no sugar in a recipe that calls for only sugar, use half the amount called for. So 1 Cup sugar = 1/2 C honey)
- 1/2 tsp of extract of choice, or even a mixture of two. If you like almonds, try 1/4 tsp almond extract and 1/4 tsp vanilla. You can add up to 2 tsp extract in a batch if you feel like the flavor's not strong enough.
- Add an egg or two if it seems too dry. You're only likely to need this if you use all oil instead of butter.
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon is a really yummy addition.
- You can add 1/4 - 1/3 C powdered milk for added calcium.

ADD-IN's:
- add by the 1/2 C
- if using peanut butter, cut the oil/butter to 1/4 - 1/3 C
- There are so many possibilities for add-ins. Try any of these: coconut, mini chocolate chips, dried cranberries (practically any dried fruit), nuts, or sunflower seeds.
- You can adjust the add-ins to taste if you really like a particular flavor, but be careful you don't add so much that it interferes with the oats and the "chewiness" factor.

Use your hands and jam it all into the pan. This keeps your bars from falling apart.

Use a lightly greased 9 x 13" pan. If you double the recipe, you can use the same size pan. Just two tips with a doubled batch:
- adjust your baking time, more on the 20 minute side
- cut them thinner and the top (looking into the pan) becomes the side of each granola bar. Make sense?

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, checking at 12 minutes. You want it to be a little golden.

Cool at least 10 minutes before cutting.
Cool COMPLETELY in pan before removing and storing or serving.

They freeze well if wrapped individually.

Today I'm going to try two batches:
- peanut butter chocolate chip (an old favorite)
- and almond coconut with 1/4 tsp almond extract and 1/4 tsp vanilla (I think almond extract is pretty strong and add a little at a time tasting as I go. You may prefer to go all the way up to the 2 tsps with almond and vanilla. Last time I did that, I tasted a "tinglyness" in the bars directly from the almond extract. Weird huh?)

I'm also going to use oil instead of butter. Much cheaper. I've tried both and can't really tell a difference.

So today my recipes will look like this:

2 cups rolled oats
1/2 - 1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C honey
1/3 - 1/2 C oil
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 C coconut
1/2 C sliced almonds

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, wet in another. Combine. Spread in greased pan. Bake at 350 for 12-20 minutes. Cut. Cool completely. Remove from pan and store.

And then in the 2nd batch I'll do all vanilla extract, 1/2 C peanut butter (adjusting the oil as needed), and 1/2 C mini chocolate chips.

If you find a combination you love, let me know!

...here's 13,000.












Monday, June 28, 2010


People talk about how wonderful it is to have a girl first because they're like second mommas, so helpful with the other kids. Well, having never had a boy first...obviously...and having never had a boy PERIOD...I can only go by what I see in other families and from my childhood. It's very true. I'm sure it's not always true, but it's probably more often true than not.

Autumn is such a good helper with her sisters and around the house. And she loves them to pieces. She is tender hearted. Quick to feel the smallest slight from her sisters (whom she loves dearly), but also so quick to forgive with a smile and a hug.

She loves life. She is excited about everything that comes her way. She loves to dance. She loves to tell people how much she's looking forward to playing the cello this fall.

She loves school and lately, she loves to write stories! This has been a joy for me to watch. Earlier in the school year we worked on creative writing for a time, but it was a bust. She just wasn't ready for it at the time. And I learned after the fact, just how important it is to FILL a kid's mind with stories and information and give them TIME before expecting them to be ready to CREATE their own stories. So...we left the creative writing alone. And she went back to it on her own, when she was ready!

Right now she's working on a story called "The Enchanted Garden". She has informed me that it will be fourteen chapters long, just like Harry Potter. Every page has green ivy drawn around it too. Oh how I love this girl.

I promise she wanted her picture taken here and that she's even happy. Her mouth is just full.



Autumn and Heidi made a store in the playroom. You can probably read the prices if you click on the picture to expand it. But each price tag has a price (imagine that) and a description of the item!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Heidi lost another tooth! That brings the count up to FOUR. And it's one of the top ones, which really surprised me. Autumn didn't lose those till just this year. If I didn't know better, I'd say Heidi was trying to catch up with her. :)

Heidi's reading and writing skills (and interest in them!) just TOOK OFF during the last month of school. Since then, I find sheets of her writing everywhere and am enjoying her enthusiasm over these newest skills. And once again, I'm reminded of just what a funny language English is. Kids are so smart and realize just how they say things as they're in the early writing stages. And when I read my kindergartner's handwriting, I have to laugh at just how right they are. She currently spells "tree" as "chree". Try to say tree without thinking about it and you'll see what I mean. Or listen to someone else say it without any prompting. Like I said, English is a funny language.

A page of her birthday list:

Translated, that says, "Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure".


Watching The Little Mermaid together. Becca loves her sisters and I love to watch them playing with her. Heidi is especially patient with Becca and loves sitting with her and playing with her.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

I'm not sure if I should be embarrassed to admit this, but I'm not -- and I just have to say...

Today was my first time driving the LA freeways since we moved here in August!

And I'm alive still and so is everyone else that went with me. And I drove in the day, and the night. And it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. But I should probably get a massage to loosen up some knots. And I should do this more often to avoid the knots.

It's so weird too that I managed to live 20 miles from LA for 10 months and not need to go on the freeway as the driver. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a "nervous Nellie" but going from 3, possibly 4-lane freeway driving to SEVEN lane freeways...I wasn't feeling antsy to go anywhere via freeway right away. I'm a go-getter and when I move to a new place I'm all over figuring out the best ways to get around and what's where. So...this is really outside of the norm for me. But GO ME! I'm still happy about it and looking forward to becoming more familiar with the freeways around here. (Just not during rush hour...anything but that...please?!)

Sunday, June 13, 2010

After a few LOST conversations with friends I decided maybe I'd pass on the whole LOST post by Eric. It seems like there are five different versions of what happened and each group is happy with their own version. So...on to other things...

Tonight I'm on a baking craze. Granola and banana bread in the oven. A whole chicken boiling on the stove. Granola bars waiting on the counter. Parts of an icebox cheesecake chilling in the fridge. Wow! It seems like it's been forever since I've wanted to do that much all at once. It's fun that it sounds like so much, typed out. But in reality, I'm watching TV and getting up every once in awhile to stir the granola. That's it. So cool!

And that's it for tonight.

Gradually I'll get back into a blogging groove.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Let's not

Last night I dreamed that I had triplet girls. Hahaha!

Triplets.

Girls.

And pregnant?

That's just funny.

It was such a funny dream though, looking back on it. I didn't know I was having triplets and here they came, one - two - three. And then I put them in a stroller - SITTING UP. And it was perfectly normal, as tends to happen in dreams. They were still newborns, but somehow this worked. And then I looked at them and thought, "I don't think I'm going to have enough milk for 3 babies! Certainly not enough ARMS!" and realized they were definitely going to need formula supplements.

And I also thought to myself, "Well, I guess Heavenly Father knew I was only willing to be pregnant one more time (where did that come from??). Guess he had to find a way to get the rest of our family to us..."

Yeah...

WEIRD.

This morning I laughed as I thought about the dream because I remembered a time, a LONG time ago when my sisters and I were making cookies in the kitchen and Rae started into this goofy story about how I was going to have triplet girls...

Again...

WEIRD.

I think that should be a sign that I should NEVER get pregnant again. :D

Friday, May 28, 2010

No new posts yet...but SOON.

Stay tuned though. Eric is going to guest post and explain LOST. I was still confused after the season finale until he connected the dots for me. And I keep seeing people on Facebook a little unsure of what it all meant. So...if you watch LOST, you won't want to miss this. Seriously.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

These kitties have found their place in our family very quickly.
We love them oodles and they are SO good to our girls.
Look how patient they are!

Cuddling in Becca's chair.


No, they didn't get in there themselves.
But as you can see, they didn't try to leave either...


Izzy found this perch on her own.
I guess she needed a hiding spot and figured this was a good one.


Esther put Izzy in the dolly stroller.
It looks like she might be really mad but she isn't.
She's YAWNING.


This always makes me laugh.
Sometimes Izzy slips under a blanket on her own
and then Autumn arranges a pillow for her.
Other times Autumn puts her there.
She just loves to be comfy.


It has begun!
Any girl who grew up with kitties knows
that you have to dress them
in doll clothes at least once or twice.
Autumn claims that Izzy likes it. :)


A new "do" for Heidi to keep her growing bangs out of her face.
Not only does it keep her bangs out of her face,
but when she's tempted to play with her hair
she plays with the ponytail
instead of twirling the top of her hair into KNOTS.
Works for me!


Ummm...yeah. She's done it again. And this time she only did half and then asked Autumn to help her. So did Autumn say, "No Esther. Let's go show Mom. You know you're not supposed to do that."? Of course not! That's right. Being the loving sister she is, she tried to FIX Esther's hair because it looked funny.

I'm so glad hair grows back.


She fell asleep at the table!


A cutie in Sunday dress. I mourn the latest hair loss looking at this picture.


I love this baby of mine. And I can't get enough of her in this outfit!