Busy or Not?...that is the question!

Gratitude 3

2009-11-07T14:14:00.001-08:00

Today I was driving home from a church activity. I was able to drive Jeremy's car (that is me trying to count that as a blessing?!). One cool thing about it is the sun roof. The car was a little stuffy from sitting in the parking lot, so I opened the sunroof. As I was driving down the road I noticed a weird crinkling sound and amazingly enough it happened every time I passed a tree. It was the sound of the wind through the dried leaves. So today I am thankful for the leaves and the wind. What a fresh sound and feeling not to mention the color variation. Here in sunny California we have two seasons and colors, hot and brown and mildly cold and brown with a month of green. This is the rare time of year where we get some muted reds and oranges mixed in with the brown. Nature is fabulous. And I am thankful that Jeremy's car has a sunroof so I got to experience that blessing today!

Gratitude 2

2009-11-06T15:28:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for coupons! I was able to go to the store and save over 50% on my purchases. I got some really great deals. Some I would have bought anyway and some I get to pack away. These deals are going to allow our kids to have a cool Christmas even with a tighter budget.

I know it is a superficial blessing but sometimes those are great to and not to be overlooked. A good friend not only introduced me to coupon clipping, she made me want to do it, as well as my local friends who are willing to coupon swap with me! So just sharing my gratitude about coupons I am also grateful for wonderful women who have blessed my life...and not just for coupons!

Gratitude

2009-11-05T10:28:00.001-08:00

Psalm 100:1-5
1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with
singing.
3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we
ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise:
be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to
all generations.

In our home this year we decided to do a gratitude jar. Each day we pick a paper and it says "I am thankful for...something" then it shares a way to show our gratitude. For example, "I am thankful for my legs. Go for a walk as a family and enjoy the outdoors." It has been fun so far, even though we started a day or two late.

I came across a blog and she had a great idea of posting something she is grateful for everyday. I am going to do the same.

I am grateful to a loving Father in heaven who has blessed my life in countless ways. The biggest thing that I am thankful for at this moment is being able to be a stay at home mom. Being a mom in general is tough, but having to be a mom and a full time employee must be difficult. To divide your time, attention and energy between those you love unconditionally and the job that you enjoy or need must be difficult. I am thankful that I do not need to add that challenge to my list. I get to focus on being a mom (supposed to be housekeeper, chef, chauffeur, entertainer, teacher...good example) I get to try everyday to be better, and more focused on my kids. It is not always a piece of cake, like today when I made Miranda cry because her hair wouldn't stay how she wanted it. I re-did it a new way, which she didn't like then was upset. At these moments I am grateful that I know her well enough to see her frustrations or give her a hug when it is needed over the things that don't really matter on the grand scale, but rock the world of a little 8 year old girl.

Pictures

2009-11-02T21:00:00.001-08:00

We typically have taken "photo shoot" type pictures of the kids periodically, but it has been a while. For some reason they keep growing even when I don't have the camera in hand. Here are a few pictures of my clan.

Everyday after school Logan runs home and climbs this tree. (Mom please don't have a heart attack, ha-ha!)

Then of course after 15 tries I got this mediocre group shot. Not bad for no help.

Then I let the kids do a goofy one...

Followed by giving kisses. The only one that it wasn't gross to kiss was Jackson, and apparently he had no idea what was going on!

Speechless

2009-11-02T20:25:00.000-08:00

It is birthday week, so that means the surprises never cease! We celebrated with family tonight, Jeremy cooked, since he had to work all day he actually stopped and got mexican food on the way home, and it was GREAT! As always I was spoiled and got everything on my list, mostly books and cake decorating stuff. I also got to go spend a little birthday money today. At dinner Jeremy and his mom were whispering about "has she seen it yet?" Jeremy said dessert was taken care of. I assumed that they had gotten a Dairy Queen ice cream cake, which I do love. I would never have imagined what was for dessert.

In case you are a little confused I am minorly obsessed with the Twilight series. There is the apple from the cover of Twilight, the white flower with red from New Moon, the red ribbon from Eclipse and the chess pieces from Breaking Dawn. Jeremy's co-worker made this cake for me. Can you believe she works at a credit union by day and is like super-hero cake lady by night? She does this for fun!

Truly all my gifts were my favorite but this takes the cake as making it one of the most memorable birthday moments. I feel so lucky to be surrounded by people who think I am worth it, from Jeremy making the celebration of me special, to phone calls, cards and $$$ to spend from those who can't celebrate here with me, to some one willing to watch 6 kids on top of her own so I can go on a date with Jer, being treated to ice cream and girl gab. The gifts and stuff is nice but I am extremely and abundantly grateful for all the fabulous people who surround me. Thank you, each and everyone of you who made this birthday special! And thank you Cindy for making this, I am truly speechless.

What a sweet day!

2009-10-31T21:29:00.001-07:00

We started the day off in a typical lazy Saturday fashion. Jeremy, along with many others, went to help a lady in our ward (church family) first thing this morning. He brought Logan along, it was the first time that Logan was able to go and be able to be helpful more than a challenge. Both had a good time.

By the after noon we were ready to start earning our Halloween goodies. We headed off to the pumpkin patch to take those oh so loved pumpkin pictures. Our first destination was to see how the kids measure up this year.

We roamed around the pumpkin patch taking pictures in all the wood cut outs. Then we took a few pictures with my pumpkins surrounded by real pumpkins.

Our next stop was to Papa Murphy's were we got Jack O'Lantern Pizzas and the kids got free cookie dough because they were in costume. Our last stop was at Toys R Us where the kids got a small goody bag for showing up in costume. We finally headed home where Aunt Tamra, Uncle James and Hunter, as well as Grandma Bev and Uncle Chris, were meeting us for dinner and trick-or-treating later that night. Hunter looked adorable in his cute Luigi outfit.
Then we hit the pavement with our buckets in hand. Lauren enjoyed leading the pack. She quickly caught on that this night was about her favorite food CANDY! She was such a trooper and walked almost the whole way carrying her bucket. Towards the end she allowed us to carry it. When she reached complete exhaustion she would no longer listen to reason. She wouldn't let us carry her bucket anymore. I think she feared she would not longer see it again if she fell asleep without holding on to her bucket.

After the kids got home, we let them pick out 5 favorite candies that were especially theirs then the rest went into the community pot. This is what was left. Not to mention the four huge bags of candy we didn't hand out. We only had a hand full of trick or treaters once we got home, each got a huge handful of candy, but it wasn't enough to put a dent in what I purchased.
We finished the night by watching The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. It was a great day and I was exhausted. Of course not too exhausted to collect my candy tax! YUMM!

Apple Hill

2009-10-28T09:16:00.001-07:00

We have a good friend who had the tradition of going to Apple Hill in the fall. It is a huge area where there are a bunch of smaller apple farms. Besides apples they grow Christmas trees, pumpkins, berries and many other things. We decided it was a great tradition and we now go as well. We like to visit High Hill Ranch. It has plenty of vendors as well as a pond. Our favorite thing there is Fudge Factory Farm. In case you were unaware our family has a major sweet tooth! We also visited Kids, Inc. While this one seems like it would be super kid friendly, it is actually named because the kids run it. It does have some perks like a few animals and a real corn maze, but it's not like a big amusement park or anything. All in all it was a great day. We had lots of fun and we left with our bellies full of Apple Cider milkshakes, which sound a little weird but are delicious, especially the Caramel Apple Cider Shake. Logan couldn't wait to dig into his caramel apple. For the first time we actually bought some apples so I can venture out and try making my own caramel apples. Last but not least we bought a Caramel Apple Crunch Pie (Are you sensing a theme? We love caramel and apples together!).

Here are a couple of my favorite photos of the day.

While this isn't a particularly good picture we also enjoyed a picnic lunch overlooking the fishing pond. I think people enjoyed staring at us since there were 9 children, and four adults.

Some of us were exhausetd by the end of the day, only to head home for Trunk or Treating!

A new blog...

2009-10-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

I started a second blog...well I have multiple ones that I haven't done anything with...it is a blog to post the crafts I have done. I am by no means an expert or even mediocre, but I am enjoying it and haveing a great time!

So if you are interested check it out!

http://alwaysmakingstuff.blogspot.com/

Things to remember

2009-10-16T08:35:00.000-07:00

As you are growing up you always remember certain things. A few of the things I will always remember is watching The Sound of Music. When that movie was on tv annually it seems like we would always watch it as a family that consisted of my mom and two sisters. Another is when my mom would wake us up in the morning she would always say "Girlie Whirlies, it's time to get up" in a sing-songy kind of way.

Today I had one of those moments I hope will survive the plethera of memories of childhood. Whenever I open the blinds I always sing, mighty poorly I might add, "There is Sunshine in my Soul Today." Although I always sing "let the sunshine in my soul today..." It always reminds me that I need to have the light of Christ shine through me. From a previous post you can tell sometimes I need more reminders through out the day. It is so fitting because of the sun shining into our home. It gets kind of dark and gloomy, but as soon as the blinds are opened the house seems brighter and full of energy, I love it.

Today I was pouring cereal and asked if Hannah could open the blinds for me and she asks with all the innocence four years of experience can allow "so we can let the sunshine in our souls today?" I loved it, I never thought the girls heard me when I would sing it, but I know they do. I hope as they grow up they will remember this and even sing it to themselves as a reminder.

P.S. Jeremy: I am sure you have know this for years, but I now realize tha I totally butcher this song with my rendition, luckily the message is the same! ; )

It's no secret.

2009-10-14T21:51:00.000-07:00

I not only am loving this new crafting world that I have been introduced to but my long time passion is for the internet. Watching outlook sync as it downloads my emails, checking Google Reader, Facebook and plain old blog stalking. I love it all and check it all regularly. If money were no object we would be receiving packages daily from great places like Amazon or Gymboree, and probably Pottery Barn.

When we bought our Wii a while ago we did it with the one condition that the kids all get game time. We allow 15 minutes per day, it isn't much per kid but it is an hour of game time total so 15 minutes of playing and 45 minutes of watching...I always see birds so we set the timer. It is now good enough that the kids know how to set the timer and will monitor it for me. Today as I was on the computer, I hear the timer going off, followed by little feet running to turn it off. I ask what the timer is for and Hannah proceeds to tell me that my game time is up, it is time for me to get off the computer. I was in the middle of the previous blog post so I told her just a minute. She was generous and allotted me two more minutes. The timer went off again, and again she informed me that my time on the computer was up.

I have mixed feelings, one it is sad that she realizes I spend a lot of time on the computer, but proud that she figured out a logical way to tell me that she notices. Gotta love it huh!

I'm in love...

2009-10-14T08:33:00.001-07:00

...with sewing, I am so sorry honey, I can't help it. Since creation in the womb is closed I have to create in other ways and this is so much fun, AND I get to sleep through the night, don't gain abnormal amounts of weight, as well as all the other pleasant things of pregnancy!

So I tried my hand at Re-Purposing. Basically it is taking some thing you don't or won't wear and turning it into something new. Sounds like fun huh? It all started because ALL of the kids have holes in their jeans. So we decided we are going to try patching them, and still making them cute, not ragga-muffin-esque. I came to an awesome-cute pair of jeans but the hole went from seam to seam, I think little twin fingers helped that. No amount of creative patching was going to fix it. In all my un-productive blog surfing I came across this website Make it and Love it. She did this cute jean skirt. So I decided to try it out. Of course when it came down to it I couldn't find that particular post so I winged it!

When each of my kids were born my mom made them all quilts. In the picture below you can barely see Logan's quilt with the satin red binding. I searched for a better picture but couldn't find one, and it is currently being fixed by the artist herself in Ohio. My mom gave me a bunch of the remnants from it and that is what this skirt is made from.

So here is my finished product:

But isn't it much cuter on a sweet little body?
Hannah tried it on first. I love the front. The back needs a little tiny bit of help, but I can't locate the seam ripper at the moment. Besides only I know. The ruffle is a little off where it meets. Now that I point it out you will notice!

Just to be fair Haylie also wanted to try it on. She looks equally cute in it!
I am by no means a talented seamstress but I am having a blast trying new things. Last week I made some baby gifts which I fell in love with and may even make it my staple baby shower gift.

Finally just so she didn't feel left out, here is a random photo of Lauren today. Don't you love the feathered hair. With that and her FREE SPIRIT I think she was supposed to be born in the seventies!

Sometimes you feel like a nut...

2009-10-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

...because you are, I mean I AM. I am not sure if it is hormonal, having 6 kids or what but today was one of those days that patience, kindness and love were qualities I did not readily posses! I was trying to get things done, but as you can see from frequent Facebook comments I spent a ~~whole lotta time~~ little time on the computer. Then it gets to crunch time and I loose all those desirable qualities that a good mother must have! Some of the things I have dealt with today, the twins decided to have a bonding moment by using their carseats to go potty! Granted I was talking and they were strapped in their carseats screaming at me, but how was I supposed to know that they actually were trying to tell me something? While cleaning that up, which for those of you that don't have little ones that means taking apart the carseats, and getting our hand held carpet cleaner, Hayley decided to give Jackson a toy to play with. The toy of choice was the portable powdered formula container. As a proud mother I can tell you that Jackson be nimble, Jackson be quick, He can open it, what a trick! So the creative little genius made formula paste before I realized what was going on. Then for the third time today, yes it is noon, I told the girls to clean their room. Then we had lunch, then we had to get the older two form school. Then came the fourth, then the fifth time I asked them to clean their room. I gave them fifteen minutes to clean up their mess. about 45 minutes later I told them I forgot to set the timer so they will get 15 more minutes. In the meantime, Lauren has figured out the the baby locks are only 85% effective. Her little arms can reach in the gap. One of her favorite things to do is get Daddy's deodorant. She likes to either draw in it or lick it (not sure who I feel more sorry for?!). Today she chose to squirt it with a squirt bottle, then proceed to squirt the toilet, which I found out at the most inopportune time. After that she went about beating up her big brother by hitting him and biting him. So she got sent to her room as well. Meanwhile back in the bedroom: I would have caved had I seen a little bit of progress but there was nothing progressing towards my goal of a clean room. At this point in writing this I realize our goals were on the opposite sides of the spectrum. A communication error must have occurred. For some reason they thought I said make it a BIGGER mess. After the last group of fifteen minutes I told them to get their pajamas on and get in bed. (It's 5 O'clock) We were planning to have grandma Jacobs over for dinner and Family Home Evening. I told the girls they will miss it. Then continuing on with my tirade I slammed the door, after giving them one more chance. I went and did the dishes and finished some prep work, 15 minutes later I came back and one was lying on the floor, another cooking at the play kitchen and the third, playing Barbie. That was it! They went to bed, no more. I told them I would finish the dishes and then they would finish cleaning the room, but still miss out on the evening. As I was sulking, fuming, frustrated, sad, but more mad then sad, I was walking down the hall and what would appear...my temper tantrum knocked a picture of Jesus askew. I righted the picture and a thought came to me "How can I expect the Savior to dwell in our home, how will this home be a refuge for my children, how will my children know I love them just like the Savior loves me?" Then the thought vanishes as I told the girls I would clean up their room for them involving 2 large black trash bags. There were several things on the floor that I picked up with a mocking tone of cheerfulness, such as the blanket Hannah sleeps with, or the shoes that they will need tomorrow as we walk to school in the morning (and it is supposed to be a good storm tonight!) Let me remind you I have a pretty thick skull and nothing short of a sledge hammer can get through it at times. I will proudly admit I cleaned up their room in about 5 minutes, and in about 35 seconds our garage became a disaster!

I continued the evening as planned still pouting and fuming as stated above. We ate a good dinner. Shame was starting to seep over me but at the same time it is too frustrating that they will not just clean up, especially when I KNOW they can do it when the "reward" is good enough. For Family Home Evening we decided to practice some songs that the kids will be singing for our Primary Program at church. We decided to sing "My Eternal Family" the words are:

"I am a builder working each day to build my family
and I will do the best I can to serve them lovingly
I am a builder growing so tall and leaning everyday
To SPEAK with KINDNESS in MY HOME To help at work and play
Chorus
My Heavenly Father sent me here and he knows I can be
Strong and Righteous as I build my eternal family.
I am a builder building a home, I seek the Lord in prayer
And as I try to live God's word I feel the Spirit there.
I am a builder serving the Lord and Following his plan,
To help my family come back home and live with Him again.
Chorus"

The funny or better yet more interesting part was that none of us could remember the line I put in bold above. We were all looking at each other for help and guidance. So I pulled out the lyrics and sure enough it was the sledge hammer I mentioned above. Maybe the first time if I had spoke with kindness, aka been more Christ like in my delivery, it would have only taken one time. I know I could have handled this ~~a little~~ a lot better. As much as I would love to say it was all their fault if only they did clean up their room, if only they didn't make a mess, it boils down to the way I handled it. It is my fault. I could have shown these three precious little imperfect girls that I love them and I failed miserable. I did not speak with kindness, I didn't do a single
thing to build my eternal family, in fact I was tearing it down. Tomorrow I need to apologize and make it right with them, apologize that I yelled and made them feel bad, not that I made them clean their room. I love them, I love their laugh, they way they play pretend, the way they hold hands on the way to and from school, or the hugs they insist on giving each other. Amongst my destructive behavior, they are great kids. It is so true that I have more to learn from them then they have to learn from me.

I am grateful for the sledge hammer I received tonight as well as a very loving Heavenly Father, who despite my weaknesses, which are abundant, he loves me and never looses his patience with me. He is always willing to teach me, and most of the time I am willing to listen!

Meal Plan Monday

2009-10-12T13:43:00.000-07:00

I do my shopping on Fridays everyother week so my meal plans are for two weeks and go from Friday through the second Thursday.

Friday=Tortellini Alfredo with Chicken and Brocolli
Saturday=Clan-erole
Sunday=Ham and Potato Casserole, Dream Sickle Salad
Monday=Pork Chops and Au Gratin Potatoes
Tuesday=Mexican Hot Pockets
Wednesday=Chicken Poppy Casserole
Thursday=Easy Lasagna (based loosely on this recipe)
Friday=Cordon Bleu Chicken Rolls
Saturday=BBQ Burgers and Hot Dogs
Sunday=Mom J. cooks!
Monday=Jumbalaya with Chicken and Sausage
Tuesday=Creamy Sausage Casserole with Biscuits
Wednesday=5 can casserole
Thursday=Macaroni and Cheese you know like from a box!!!

Everyone needs one of these!

2009-10-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

A day off! We kept Logan and Miranda home from school today, since everyone is feeling pretty awful. The rules were:

They are to rest, all day long!
No milk, this was especially hard for Lauren.
They must take a nap.

I loved looking out as I was cooking breakfast and seeing this! Doesn't it make you want to be sick so you can join in? Well maybe join in without being sick. Hopefully with a great day of rest they will return to school and normal life tomorrow so we can all enjoy a great weekend. Jeremy and I have a fun something planned. I will enlighten you later!

Craft-tastic!

2009-10-08T16:09:00.001-07:00

I got a new sewing machine and I have been searching he web and trying new things. I came across some simple burp clothes, and as luck would have it, I was invited to a baby shower. SO I begged and pleaded with Jeremy so I could visit my friend JoAnn's and get some fabric. OK so really I just said "Hey, what do you think of this idea?" and he said "Uh-huh!' So off I went with 6 kids in tow and picked out this fancy fabric bundle.
A few days later, as well as a MESSY house, I produced 4 burp clothes. A onesie, yes I am moving up from the stamped ones, although I am not giving up on those yet. And a Diaper wipe clutch.

The burp clothes have this super soft and fuzzy fabric on the back. A friend said instead of a burp cloth they could be little loveys!

When the father opened the gift he held up the one item without a "B" on it and showed it to his wife. He said "Look honey, she ran out of B's" I thought it was hilarious, especially since I had one more at home, I just didn't think it would look right.

It was a lot of fun, and I look forward to experimenting with many other craft projects.

Lauren's a Big Helper

2009-10-08T16:01:00.000-07:00

Jeremy decided he would quickly make some peanut butter cookies before he had to go off to a meeting. Lauren who refuses to eat her vegetables did not get dessert. As I was sitting in the other room, I heard the scrape of her plastic chair. When I looked around the corner I saw this:

She pulled her chair right next to him to observe the process. It was too cute. I had to go around the other side to take some better pictures. I think this girl might choose to make cookies as her first home made treat!

She already knows how to work her audience. She knows how to bat her lashes, pout, ACT apologetic. In this instance she is trying to all the cuteness one can muster because she knows how absolutely fabulous Daddy's home made peanut butter cookies are!

Can you believe it?

2009-10-08T15:43:00.000-07:00

My baby is nine months old today! This little tyke has stolen my heart. He is such a happy baby. He is independent, in a nice entertain myself kind of a way. He says "Mamamamama" and the rest is gibber jabber. That just melts my heart, even if "Mamamamama" actually translates to "Feed me now MOM!" It still means ME! He is crawling all over the place, up and down steps. He is pulling himself up on to the furniture. He has also already learned that during dinner time it is perfectly acceptable to either a) sit by my feet and cry while I am cooking dinner or b) pull himself up on my leg and stand between me and the counter so I can not move with out knocking him over. He is taking steps along the couch or other various furniture. He is a smart one! He is eating everything, no matter the location or staleness of food. That means he will eat anything on the floor, eeewwwww! He is also eating eggos, gold fish, cheese-its, cheerios, cheese sticks (cut up of course!). As well as the baby food staples, he is my first one to love rice cereal.

We were at a friends house where there is a baby Jackson's age. It was adorable to watch the two of them crawl towards each other and at the last minute put their heads down like to deer trying to lock horns. They would bump then back up and do it again. I loved to watch him interact with his destined-to-be best friend.

I just scheduled his next appointment so his "Stats" will be posted at a later date. Hopefully they won't label him skinny again, but I do know he eats like a champ so it just may be his destiny. He has been a perfect addition to our family. All the kids adore him. Especially Lauren! She will talk to him and they will giggle at each other, I will have to get it on video it is priceless.

Come What May and LOVE IT!

2009-09-21T15:32:00.000-07:00

As I just finished "lecturing" the children with a "loud voice," I needed a moment to regroup and this talk came to mind, well more the saying, then the talk. It is one of those talks that really hit home, kind of like this talk on being offended. These talks among many stick with me whether it is because so many of us can benefit from these messages or they came at a perfect time for me. Both were given at General Conferences.

This month has been a hard adjustment for me. I can't seem to get a grip on routine, and all of the kids need something all the time at the same time, yes all 6 needing something, from homework, to snack, to just a listening ear. It seems by Friday we get a good grip on routine but Monday is terrible. I am sure this is still the adjustment period but my kids are going to absolutely hate me if I don't figure this out soon, besides the fact I am sweating like a pig since my two year old who wanted to walk, fell asleep in my arms and I had to carry her all the way home. Then while begging my 8 year old to push the umbrella stroller, she gives me the excuse "I can't I have to carry my Monday envelope." Are you kidding me? We make it home and Lauren barely stays in my arm between my sweat and hers creating a nice slippery film between our skin. Luckily for the first in forever she transferred from my arms to her bed perfectly. That was great. Then I sat down, relieving the slight pinch in my back and go through the MONDAY ENVELOPES. Jackson is pleasantly crawling around on the floor picking up miscellaneous smarties that Lauren has hidden through out the house. It's like hide and seek with choking hazards! Then I hear loud laughter and rough play then the nice 'tink' of a plastic cup the hits the just mopped (I am not kidding this does not happen often, and this would be the day...) kitchen floor. I ask what happened. Logan responds innocently "nothing." Hannah says Haylie's cup spilt. I go in and Logan has already wet three towels through with milk. The kids are at this point are lined up on the couch looking at me with mock innocent expressions. I proceed to clean up the mess, I am bewildered how such a "small spill" could cover the whole floor. Then I realize it is on the counter on the opposite side of the kitchen from the floor spill. AAAAHHHHHHHH! How do people do it and manage to get dinner on the table by 5:00pm? How can you get this whole process to run smoothly, without getting frustrated with young children who try as they may to be responsible are none the less still children? What are reasonable expectations? Not just for the kids but me as well?

I know that this particular talk is telling me:

"...that every life has peaks and shadows and times when it seems that the birds
don’t sing and bells don’t ring. Yet in spite of discouragement and adversity,
those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times,
becoming stronger, wiser, and happier as a result."

I do realize that the peaks and valleys I am complaining about are changing by 15 minute increments but none the less it feels terrible. Luckily as my friend who just happened to call while I was writing this pointed out, kids will love you shortly after such outbursts.

Logan already loves me after I pointed out his faults...talk about the pot calling the kettle black huh?

I am truly grateful for these precious children who 9 times out of 10 make me laugh, smile and beam with pride. I do really love this stage of life when my kiddos still think I am fairly cool and like to show me off to their friends.

So I guess, I truly believe "Come What May and Love it!"

Conference Activities

2009-09-13T10:02:00.000-07:00

It is getting close to that time when I am looking for activities for my kids to do during General Conference. Every 6 months (the first week of April and October) the leaders of our church, called General Authorities (click on Additional Information, it explains what that means), give guidance and counsel. It is filmed in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City then broadcasted live through radio, cable, satellite and internet all over the world. This is for people in all stages of life. It is a way to receive guidance from our Heavenly Father through prophets and apostles addressed to His children as a whole. I find it truly amazing the messages that are prepared for all can specifically apply to me and what I need to hear at the moment, whether it is comfort, encouragement or a gentle nudge to serve more. It is a time when I am reminded how much my Heavenly Father loves me and will never leave me in times of trial or times of bliss.

I find if the kids have something to do I am more likely to hear the messages that have been so lovingly and thoughtfully prepared. I came across this activity that is perfect for those who can read. Here is another link for activities to do with your family to make it memorable. Here is a free packet done by Desseret Book. IT contains some cutting and pasting activities as well as coloring. This one may end up in your inbox. It is long but has a variety of activities for various ages, from needing to be able to read/write to simply coloring some pages.

Edited to add one more link. This one is from the Church Curriculum Department. It is a great ne for the older kids. It is basically a small notebook with a section from each of the Presidency and 12 Apostles. So the kids can see who they are and take notes from their talk. I think it is also a great way to show who has soken and who has yet to speak.

What a bunch of Characatures!

2009-08-29T23:34:00.001-07:00

Miranda Age:8

Entering third grade. She loves to sing, dance, talk and read. She is a great big sister and loves to help me cook. She also is testing the waters of teenage hood. She loves the Jonas Brothers although I am not entirely sure it doesn't have something to do with "everyone else doing it" type of thing. I keep handing her a towel to dry off her feet and stay a little girl for a little while longer. At least she is still proud to hold my hand in public, well most of the time.

Logan: age 6

He is entering 1st grade. He loves his baby brother and can be found sneaking in and carting Jackson back to his room to play. He and Haylie can often be found playing together. He loves to ride the scooter and climb trees like a spider monkey. He is starting to read very well. He likes to taste test what ever I make.
Haylie: Age 4
Haylie is the older of "the twins" by five minutes. She tends to be a tad more confident, but is a follower. You rarely find her playing alone. She loves to color and is getting to be quite a regular at www.barbie.com. She was able to get a library card this summer since she can write her name. She can also spell most of our family members first names.

Hannah: Age 4

Hannah likes to be near me, my little shadow. She is more independant, but is more like the bossy mother hen. She tries to help me out by keeping all else in line! She is easier to understand when she talks, and she does like to talk. Both Haylie and Hannah enjoy helping me in the kitchen by dumping ingredients into the mixer...but only to be rewarded by yummy treats later.

Lauren: Age 2

Lauren is the prime example of terrible twos. She doesn't seem to mind them but they are killing me. She is all spunk, spice, and everything nice. She loves to be outside and her favorite word is NO repeated at least a thousand and a half times per day. She can usually be found sipping her milk and huggin her blanket and Minnie Mouse, a stuffed animal we bought and it actually gets used! Jackson: Age 6 months

When they are this young thisngs change so fast. When this was done, he was barely eating solid foods, not sleeping through the night...again. He was however doing push ups on his toes, he did have great form. Now less tha six weeks later I can tell you he loves cereal but is not a fan of green beans, peas and prunes. As of today he is crawling. He even babbles "mamammmm" and "da da da"

And this last picture is what our little family caboose looks like!

All characatures are done by Zach Trenholm.

I Love being crafty

2009-08-27T22:11:00.000-07:00

After a year or so of telling Jeremy I would like to sew but NEED a new sewing machine, he finally splurged and got me one. Before you judge him please know that I have a very short attention span so investing any sum of money is always a risk. Just look at the dust on my scrapbooking stuff, I am well supplied in case of an emergency! This makes the purchase of a sewing machine an even bigger deal!

I have mentioned before that I have been blog stalking. I came across a blog, Chocolate on my Cranium. It had a tutorial for a crayon roll. So I convinced a friend that we should make this since we only hang out when we have a project. We went a few weeks ago to pick out fabric. She also decided that for her little guy she wanted to use twistables. I am a great follower and decided to do the same. So here is the finished project.

Since we went with twistables we had to make some modifications. The pack comes in 24, but I was only able to fit 19 of them in my roll. Instead of 13 x 5" pieces of material we did 20 x 6, although I would recommend more like 26". I also decided to put a piece of thin plastic over the back so the crayons won't mark it up when they are taken in and out, because of the plastic lining and the plastic on the crayons, the slits need to be a little further apart. The plastics kind of stick to each other in the super snug pockets. I did 1" instead of the recommended 3/4" which would probably work fine if you didn't use the plastic lining. Also I did 28" on the ribbon.

n the picture you can't see where I can not, for the life of me, sew a straight line, or when "pressing the fabric" I melted the plastic, of course after it is too late to do anything about it...there are imperfections but I really am pleased. These will be Christmas presents for the five kids who can color. Yeah for trying something new. I think I am going to have to think of more sewing projects!!!!

In Love...

2009-08-22T08:09:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to a friend's house to be murdered in a chocolate spa, it was a game of course. As always when I came home at midnight I went to the computer. My nightly routine goes something like this: Check e-mail, check google reader, check facebook, brush teeth, say prayers, go to bed. So when I walked to the computer and saw a sticky note that said, "watch the video" I chuckled that Jeremy knew me so well.

The video is on Jeremy's "secret" blog. you can see it here. What can I say I am one lucky girl!

Blog Stalking

2009-08-19T14:19:00.000-07:00

I should do this for a living I am so good at it. I recently got a new sewing machine so I have been more interested in crafts lately. I came across a few that I really want to remember like this pillow case for a bridal shower...of a good friend...

Bridal Shower Pillowcase

Sihlouette Pillocase Wouldn't that be cute with a temple on it, or even a brach or something?
While this necklace would be harder to make I love the idea. I have a feeling mine would need two rings! I am also not sure this is a DIY project, but if you want to buy it check out this Etsy shop.

These word blocks would pretty cool using modge podge for the letters instead of the vinyl. You can find them here. They make 16 words using only 7 blocks. Pretty cool huh? Off to search some more!

Sneaky Sneakerson!!!

2009-08-18T08:14:00.000-07:00

That is code name for Lauren. We had some left over candy from our trip to Ohio. We thought the counter was out of reach but little Miss Sneakerson was up to the challenge and managed to get her hands on them for breakfast. When ever she gets caught this is the face she gives me (the chocolate is not always present):

I am not sure about this face but it is still cute.

This is then trying to smooth over a tense situation, can you see the glint behind her eyes as she realizes mom grabbed the camera instead of scolding her...

Now she is bored with this, it's kind of an "is she still there? Maybe if I ignore her she will go away so I can return to my sneaky yet rewarding behavior!"

No more paparazzi mama! Go away! ~ Lauren

This girl is such a light in my life, that is why I call her a firecracker. I love her to pieces and know I am not helping the situation by letting her know how adorable she really is. If you met her you would be drawn to her it is just her way.

They're GROWING!!!!

2009-08-18T07:44:00.000-07:00

I went to the doctor yesterday for Jackson's 6 month check up...I know he is 7 months, but a girl has to fit it in whenever she can. So here's his stats:

Height: 28.3 " long which puts him in the 84th percentile

Weight: 16.3 lbs which makes him in the 9th percentile

His weight for height percentile was off the charts so we have another tall skinny kid! He is doing great in all other aspects though. He got his shots and took them like a champ. He is now babbling "Mmaamaamaa." I love it.

While there we asked about the process for Asthma for Miranda and allergies. Our doctor is so awesome she asked some questions and prescribed her two inhalers right on the spot. It was fabulous. Then as the kids were getting a tad restless I said we would be doing it all tomorrow and so she said that she would just see Lauren today. So Lauren had her 2 year check up. Here stats are as follows:

Height: 2' 3.25" tall which puts her in the 94th percentile.

Weight: 26lbs 9 ounces which puts her in the 36 percentile for her weight for age

Here's the kicker, her weight for height she is in the 2.3 percentile.

Both kids are instructed to be on high fat diets!