New additions to the family

First, some background.  I served a mission in Guatemala, in a very primitive area.  Think National Geographic.  No electricity, indoor plumbing, or air conditioning.  In one house, the walls didn't even meet the roof.  So...we had our share of critter adventures.  We had tarantulas, scorpions, bugs of every kind, including fleas.  And, we had .... RATS.  They were big, ugly, mutant rats.  In one of our houses, the rats tunneled through the concrete cinder blocks to build nests in the walls.  In another house, a mama rat had her babies in my companion's suitcase, chewing through all of her expensive sweaters.  Don't ask me why she had sweaters in Guate but they were pretty before mama used them to cushion the nest.  The stories behind these critter adventures bear telling at a later date along with a frog and cockroach stories from Puerto Rico.

Fast forward to a viewing of the movie G-Force in which Jordan gets the idea that having gerbils would be the greatest thing since the invention of disposable diapers (my comparison of course). Which, by the way sits at the top of my list of accomplishments.  Man on the moon?  pshaw, that's nothing compared to industrial poop catchers.  Anyway, I am sure he pictured his gerbils running around all over the house in the gerbil exercise balls.

So... I am trying to get used to the idea of small rodents in the house, trying to picture them as SMALL, furry, cuddly, little things when my sister Laurie tells me a horrific story about one of their gerbils chewing the face off the other gerbil.  Now I am picturing my sweet, tender-hearted 8 year old making that discovery and the nightmares that would follow!  That would be MY nightmares I am referring to.

Then my loving, helpful, sister proceeds to inform us that the best pets they have ever had were...RATS!!!  She told us how friendly and intelligent they are and that they would sit on her son, Trenton's shoulder and snuggle up to his neck.  This picture in my head, sent such shivers up my spine, my head just about spun around like the unfortunate girl in the Exorcist!  Given my history with mutant, scary, disease ridden rats, I am sure you have an idea of the extent of my reaction.

  Since Jordan was able to talk, he has been asking for 

a pet that he could play with.  He used to pray daily for a dog, but Paul and I are allergic to both dogs and cats and frankly, I don't want a dog.  As any parent can tell you, if you buy a pet for your child... you personally have a new pet.  Over the following couple of days, I became more used to the idea of rats.  Well, Santa must have taken that as an agreement and brought "Shadow" and "Sparkle" for Jordan.  



Shadow is dark brown and Sparkle is white and brown





It's amazing, but the idea of having rats in the house on purpose is more shiver inducing that actually seeing them and trying to interact with them and train them.  I have to admit, they have very distinct personalities and are soft.  Jordan loves them and can't wait until they are trained enough to play with him. 

Now, if only Shadow would stop biting me every time I get anywhere near her!  My fingers are full of holes and bandaids!

Favorite Holiday Recipes

I have so many recipes that I love during the holidays.  I wanted to record and share some of my favorites:

Nothing says Christmas like the smell of gingerbread! I am not a fan of rolling, cutting and decorating cookies, so as much as I like the IDEA of gingerbread boys, it just causes, stress, frustration and a big mess. It's not going to happen. This is my alternative so that I can still get my ginger fix, both taste and smell.  I sent these home with cub scouts this year and within 20 min a mom called me for the recipe.  Yep, they are that good!

Yummy Ginger Snaps

6 TB margarine

½ c white sugar

½ c brown sugar

2 egg whites

¼ c molasses

2 c flour

½ tsp salt

2 tsp soda

½ tsp cloves

½ tsp ginger

½ tsp cinnamon

Cream sugars and margarine.  Beat in egg wites and add molasses.  Stir in dry ingredients, mixing well.  Spoon by tsp full onto cookie sheet.  Bake for 8-10 min @ 375º.

The holidays are not complete, and I am not exaggerating, without homemade Wassail.  This will bring visions of old fashioned Christmases on waves of delicious aromas.

Wassail

5 c sugar

4 quarts water

2 TB whole cloves

4 fresh lemons or 2c lemon juice

12 cinnamon sticks

4 quarts orange juice (prepared)

1 gallon apple cider

Boil sugar and water.  Add cinnamon sticks and cloves.  Boil 10 min, cool and then add juices.  Let stand 1 hour.  Strain.  Serve hot.  Keep leftovers refridgerated.  WARNING:  This recipe makes 3 gallons of wassail!

I could eat a whole pan of Christmas Jell-o Salad all by myself I love it that much.   My mother usually makes this at Christmas time, unfortunately, she did not make it this year and I really missed it!  Paul is not crazy about it and so if I make it, I would end up eating the whole thing myself!

Christmas Salad

1 sm pkg lime Jell-o

½ lb. marshmallows

½ pt whip cream

2- 3oz pkg cream cheese

½ pt mayo (or a little less)

1 med. can crushed pineapple

1c pineapple juice

1 pkg cherry Jell-o

Dissolve lime Jell-o in 1c boiling water.  Add and melt marshmallows.  Add 1c pineapple juice.  Cool.  Mix cream cheese and mayo together, then add to mixture along with whip cream adn pineapple.  Set until firm.  Make cherry Jell-o according to directions.  When cooled, spoon carefully on top of green layer and set.  Cut into squares to serve.  Pretty and tasty!

Last year, we began our own tradition of decorating graham cracker houses.  Although I glue the houses together ahead of time, (We don't need the kind of frustration that comes with trying to build them with real gingerbread and frosting, at least not until the kids are quite a bit older!) we still need some good old Royal frosting to stick the pounds and pounds of candy, and marshmallow santas and snowmen onto and around the houses.

Royal Frosting

3 egg whites (room temperature)

4c powdered sugar

½ tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp vanilla

Beat all ingredients at high speed for 5-10 min.  Use immediately.  Can be stored for short time covered with a damp cloth.  Re-beating will not restore texture.  Yield 2½ cups.

So many of our holiday memories are tied to yummy traditional tastes and smells.  I love anything that brings both into my home and helps to recreate memories for me and my family as well as making new memories.

One of my favorite perspectives on Christmas

A few years ago, we received our stake newsletter which had this article on the front page.  It is written by a church leader who is one of the most powerful speakers I have heard.  I like to read it each Christmas season.  I wanted to get it down in more than one place just in case it gets misplaced like so many things do.

(Click article to enlarge)
Merry Christmas!

Lights!

We love the lights at Temple Square, but for little ones there is an even more exciting show, and a definitely shorter for short little legs and cold toes, further north.  Layton City Park has a fun light show with tons of fun characters, and animated scenes.  It takes us about 20 min to leisurely walk the path and be able to see everything!  Then we get back in the car and drive slowly through the light tunnel and around the grounds one last time to make sure we didn't miss anything. 




Jordan wanted to look like he was taking everyone for a train ride.



"Look Mom, Santa and his reindeer flying overhead."



Christian and Emma trying to look like the octopus.

Abc's of Gratitude (in progress)

A - Apple dumplings, my favorite autumn treat

B - Beaches that I miss; Babies who are fun to snuggle and smell so good

C - Christian who loves a good joke and not only still gives me kisses and hugs, but insists on them because they make us both happy; Chocolate; Christmas

D -Dad, my example, strength, comfort 

E - Emma, our princess; Eternity that I have to be with my family

F - Family who can always be counted on to love and support, Friends to laugh and cry with

G - Grandparents;

H - Hair products (good ones), Happy endings

I - Insipration; Ingenuity, there is a reason for the phrase "necessity is the mother of Invention"

J - Jordan and Jenna my smilers, Jokes, even the dumb ones

K- kids who bring laughter, love, smiles, wonder, and joy; Kisses, especially the slobbery ones

L - love: the love of my life, love as a mother,

M -my Mother who gave me creativity, silver linings, confidence; being a Mommy

N -

O - opportunities to succeed given us by our parents

P - Paul, of course, and all he is to me and our family.  More than I have space or time to write; Parents; Priesthood; Patience;

Q - Quiet, moments so rare

R -

S - Singing, Emma is a very creative song writer; Snuggles from cute kids

T - Truth

U - Understanding

V - Vote, the right and privilege we have to participate

W - Water, clean water to drink bathe etc.  We are fortunate.; Watching my children play

X - X-rays that detected pneumonia twice this month

Y - Yawns, which mean the kids are ready to sleep

Z - 

Halloween 2010

I can't believe I forgot to take pictures of the kids in their costumes!  How dumb is that?!  I did remember to take pictures of our annual Halloween dinner.  We have a fun, kid friendly dinner before going out to trick-or-treat.



Mummy dogs



Flies in Jell-o
(the kids insist on this every year)



Monster smiles



 

We've decided to name him Nick

When I suggested we name this doll Nick, Christian, our Harry Potter fan looked confused for a second and then laughed really hard saying "Oh Mom..."

A Wise Woman Told Me

The other day, Emma asked me why I put on make-up.  I was taken back to a conversation I had with my mother as a young teenager.  I asked her a similar question.  I wanted to know why she would go to all the trouble of fixing her hair and make-up when she knew she wouldn't even be leaving the house that day.  Her answer has stuck with me all these years.  She said that in part, she did it for when my dad comes home, but more importantly she did it for herself.  She told me that she always felt more ready to tackle her day, and therefore accomplished more.  She also felt more confident and better about herself.
I have found this to be true for me too.  If I hang out in my pajamas all day I accomplish very little.  Now don't get me wrong, this in no way means that I am bright and shiny by 7 am.  Today for example, I threw on some clothes and a hat over my "Pippi braids" as Paul calls them so I could drive carpool and then come home to till the garden and shovel MORE dirt.  Then later I will be digging up raspberries to transplant for my huge raspberry patch that I have been dreaming of for years.  But, at some point today, I will shower and do my hair (if only a pony tail), and put on some make-up because it makes me feel better!  Some days it is 5pm before I get to this point but I still do it because getting there eventually is better than not getting there at all!
I am not a spa day kind of girl.  I've never had a pedicure or manicure, unless you count that one fake nail I got to match the others when my nail broke 3 days before my wedding.  I buy my make-up at Target or the grocery store,wherever I happen to be when I remember.  I get my hair cut, etc once every 4 or 5 months.  You get the idea.  However, I hope to never stop making myself feel ready to tackle my world!  Besides, it gives Paul an unspoken message about the kind of day I've had.  If he comes home to a make-upless face, he knows he better be on his game because it's been one of those days. :)

Conversations from the car

We decided with sick kiddos, cold nights, and plenty to do around here, that we would forgo our planned camping trip in favor of a stay-cation.  Our itinerary included the following:

Thur.  Paul worked half day, then we went to Boondocks for some miniature golf and to Pepperbelly's in Kaysville for dinner.  We then went home to watch "Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue" from Redbox.

Fri.  We drove into Gateway went to Jason's Deli for lunch and the planetarium for the dome movie "Attack of the Space Pirates".  Then we walked over to Discovery Gateway to play for 3½ hours.  Amazing how tiring sitting all day can be, but we had a blast.  We went home and grilled steaks for dinner. 

Sat.  After fighting over getting jobs done (lest you think our days are all rose colored), we drove to Snowbird enjoying fall in all it's glory (my favorite part of the whole weekend) (and yes, I like to use parenthesis every chance I get).  We then had a picnic on the patio. Snowbird was having a food drive and so for six cans of food we all rode the tram to the top and looked over the surrounding valleys while the kids built walls from rocks.  We then walked along a fun little trail to the playground.  It is a great playground with the most amazing view.  We played, tagged, and the kids added their own improvements to a fort/den someone had built just off the path in the trees.  We ended our day at Joe's Crab Shack (Paul's favorite part of the weekend).  Whoever came up with the idea to put a playground area in a REAL restaurant was a genius!  We ate good food (crab takes a while to eat) while the children played!  It's a bonus that the kids like seafood too.

On the way home today, these were some of the things heard from the back seat.  Keep in mind that these are overlapping conversations.  No one actually takes turns talking.

Jenna: "Watch out Mom, the brave squirrel is coming!"

Mom: "What will the brave squirrel do?  Why do I have to 'watch out'?"

Jenna:  "He will kill us" (I attribute this to having older brothers??!!)

Mom:  "Why would he do that?"

Jenna: "Ummm"

Then Emma pipes up:  "Mom, my top lip is spicy."

Uncontrolled laughter from Paul.

In the meantime, from the back seat, Christian chanting:  Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, antidisestablishmentarianism, qugzuang..... (he is fascinated by long words)

Jenna: "It's okay Mom, the nice squirrel is coming."

Mom: "Oh good, what is the nice squirrel going to do?"

Jenna: "He's going to kill us."

Mom:  "That's not very nice."

This does not include the "Oww", "Ooch", and "Ahh"s coming from the back seat in a never ending game of how many subtle (and not so subtle) ways can I torture my brother, which resulted in our "hands up" consequence which we find very effective!  If they work their way through "keep your hands to yourself" warnings, we then say, "hands up!"  Which means they must hold their hands up above their heads until they are told they can lower them, or we reach our destination.

Paul just informed me of some riddles I missed while dozing (I tend to do that in the car) on the way up the mountain.  Christian was telling riddles to which Jordan would answer something to do with farting.  Every. Single. One. (That's fluffing for some of you, we used to try... some days I still do)  For example,
Christian: "...so, how did he get the handcuffs off?" 
Jordan: "uhh, he farted?"
This was then accompanied by raucous laughter.  I'm glad I wasn't coherent for that part.  But hey, they are 8 and 10 year old boys, and no matter what their mother says, anything to do with bodily functions is hilarious.  I just hope with coaching and some maturity, they will eventually grow out of this genre of humor...  Or maybe not.

Anyway, it has been a wonderful weekend with many quality memories made.  Sometimes it is nice to have low stress days when we can come back to home base and sleep in our own beds.  Although, I think I need a few more trips to the mountains to get my fill of Fall before it's gone!

Jenna's latest milestone

This is how we have been spending the last couple of weeks!

Jenna is doing so well!  We are almost there!  She only has 1 or two accidents a day and is so exited to put flowers on her chart and get potty treats (m&ms or skittles) each time she goes.  I am so proud of her.

It's a bit sad for me.  Not that I will miss all the diapers, but this is a BIG milestone that screams my baby isn't a baby anymore.

Short Family Campout

We have a goal to try to get out in our trailer more often. We love to camp and the kids do too. And, after all, how many more years do we have that we will all love to camp together? When the beat all family activity is to sit around a little table all squashed together trying so hard (okay, not SO hard) not to look at each others cards or Rummikub tray.

Our kids are great hikers too! Both of the boys hiked Angel's Landing in Zion with Paul this year and Emma has hiked up to 3 miles without complaint at least 2 or 3 times this year. Jenna naps, sings, and talks up a storm in her pack in between insisting on walking by herself.

We took the kids out of school for the couple of days after labor day, after the crowds, and went to Spruces Campground up Big Cottonwood Canyon. Unfortunately, Christian is still doing makeup work for school, but he always agrees camping is worth it.

Teachers and Student

Last night Paul and I stayed up late to finish my homework assignment that I forgot was due yesterday. I signed up for Jordan's "star of the week" week at back to school night the first week of school. Unfortunately, I forgot to write it on the calendar. My little boy tried to tell me when he got home from school but I was busy cleaning up my 8th potty training incident of the day. He tried to remind me as I frantically tried to throw dinner together because the aforementioned incident set me back a precious 20 minutes. He tried to tell us as we sang a primary song to which we couldn't remember the words as we fought the frustration of having 10 minutes before bedtime to pull off Family Home Evening. When we finally got to the family business portion of Family Night, he took his time to inform us that he was supposed to have a "cool" poster with tons of pictures and a treat. He should have had it yesterday but "that's okay, I can take it tomorrow". I was a humbled mother. He was forgiving, flexible, understanding, and positive. If that wasn't enough, he was trusting and showed confidence that I would mother up* to the task and not let him down. This was his chance to shine in front of his classmates and enjoy the spotlight. He had confidence that even though I had not lived up to my responsibilities, I would make everything right.

*Mother up: derived from the saying "man up" but referring to the expectations and responsibilities a mother must live up to. Though I've never been a man or been expected to "man up" I believe to "mother up" is more difficult with more lasting consequences. Think about it.

This morning, when Jordan saw the Rice Krispie treats Paul had made and the poster I made compete with stars I luckily happened to have on hand and poor quality photos printed on my printer at 10:30 pm, he exclaimed “This is so cool, thanks Mom!” My heart leaped with gratitude for my pack rat tendencies which vomit supplies at urgent moments.

And then my heart softened again with humility. As the kids all ran off to school, I flashed back to yesterday afternoon, when I ranted at my other child who had forgotten to turn in the homework that he had finally completed a week late. This was after countless (not so patient) reminders, and being grounded for 3 days. I mentally replayed the last strand of my patience slipping through my fingertips. As I reflected on all of the positive attributes Jordan had displayed with all of his 8 years of earthly experience, I found myself in awe of the spirit of Christ evident in my little boy. I was ashamed. As a mother I should be the example. I should be the one showing Christ-like love, mercy, patience, forgiveness. How can my child’s feeling of self worth and knowledge of his mother’s love, trust, and confidence compare with missing math worksheets? I am reminded of a better way to motivate. Unfortunately, in the frustration, exasperation, and anger of a moment I forget what I know.

The longer I have been a mother, the more I realize I have to learn and apply. There is so much my children can teach me. I hope I can be a good student in the short time I have them as teachers.

Surprise! I have pneumonia!

Went to the doctor on Thurs. with some pretty random symptoms, had xrays and they didn't know what was wrong. Doc called today and said he took another look at those xrays and found I did have a "little sign" of pneumonia. Glad it's not all in my head officially proving me a hypochondriac! I am also grateful that I can get a z-pack to get rid of this!I just wish he had called BEFORE I had to finish mowing the lawn. I could have used the excuse! :)

My latest projects

I've done a bit of sewing lately and gotten some fun results. These are super fun skirts that don't even need a pattern and I made them for about $3 each.
Aren't they the cutest models even with their after church hair?
The patchwork took more time and I don't know if I would do one again but it turned out cute.
I also made some accessories with ideas from these links: Rosette tutorial and snaps

The girls really like their new clothes and it was fun to make them but I think I'm done for a little while. As much as I like the things I made, I don't love sewing!

I am linking this to Made by You Monday, All Thingz Related, Tatertots and Jello, and Works for me Wednesday.

Our Handsome Jordan

Here are some recent pictures of Jordan. I love how photogenic he is! Doesn't he just have the most contagious smile?! And those sun-kissed freckles, I just have to kiss them too!

Our beautiful Jenna

I have been very negligent in getting Jenna's pictures taken so we went this morning. I still wish we had managed to capture that big amazing smile that I love.

Rainy Days

I can't believe it! I had 11 kids in the basement this morning and it was actually quiet! After one kid got smacked in the head with a foam croquet mallet, I told them they were welcome to play if they found something quiet and calm. They all found a game or something else that kept them occupied for an hour or so until lunch. I really enjoyed watching them play together and I am very grateful for a neighborhood with nice kids so close for my kids to play with. We are very blessed today. Now if you ask me tomorrow about having those same 11 kids in the basement, it may be an entirely different story.

Jordan's Baptism

Here is our handsome Jordan. He was baptized on Saturday. What a wonderful day! We had so much support from family and friends. The service was so nice with Grandpa B giving a talk, the other kids singing "I am a Child of God" and everyone singing "Nephi's Courage" which is one of Jordan's favorite songs.

We are so blessed to have the priesthood in our family and Jordan was excited to have his dad baptize and confirm him. I got teary eyed of course seeing them walk down into the font and hear that beautiful prayer.

Afterwards, we had a whole house full of love, and joyful noise. Thanks to everyone who came and supported Jordan on his big day!

Jordan is such an amazing boy with so much love and enthusiasm for life. He keeps us smiling with his laughter and love. I call him my freckle faced boy and despite my efforts to count his freckles I am always distracted by his cute smile and laughing eyes. I have yet to find out how many freckles he has. Jordan is very smart with so much potential! He gets very good grades and enjoys school. He has real natural talent for sports and loves to shoot hoops and play catch. He also loves to wrestle with his dad whenever he gets the chance!

We love Jordan so much and he is such an important part of our family. We wouldn't be the same without him!

Jordan's Birthday

We had a fun birthday party for Jordan. He wanted a Star Wars party and thought it would be fun to play with water too! We had the Princess Leia relay where they had to carry a dripping cup over their heads to fill a bucket. In another relay they had to run to a specified spot, sit on a water balloon and then run back. We created the Jedi Trainer in which they had to go through a spraying obstacle course made out of PVC pipes. We turned a happy smiley faced piñata into the Death Star for them to destroy, and then had an epic Light saber fight with Light saber mades from pool noodles.
Although the weather did not cooperate, we still had a lot of fun. It was the one windy, rainy day in 2 weeks! Jordan later told me, with a huge grin on his face, that the weather didn't matter, it was still a REALLY fun party anyway. That's the part that I liked the best!

Summer Fun!

We have wonderful neighbors and good friends next door who have a pool. They invited us over for a swim and shaved ice. We really had a lot of fun. Emma and Jenna were all over the pool with their pool noodles. Jordan is also really getting the hang of using a snorkle and loving it! I am so grateful that they are getting the opportunity to feel comfortable and confident in the water without Mom having to don a suit in front of the whole town! Not only that, but it is so easy to just tell the older three kids when it's time to head next door for swimming lessons!

Crystals!

A few days ago, we decided to do some experimenting with growing crystals. Working outside on the deck, we tried 7 different methods, with a variety of ingredients. Some recipes called for epsom salts, others used bluing, and still others called for Borax. We have seen success with 5 of the 7 so far.

The green lumps are crystal growing on small pebbles and sea shells.

The white snowflake-like crystals are created by evaporation on a black piece of construction paper.

The rainbow crystals are growing on small sponges. The jar with yellow liquid has crystals growing on a pipe cleaner Christian shaped.

We also had fun painting on black construction paper with our solution and then when it dried it was sparkly.

We couldn't get one of the experiments to work, although we tried it twice. The other jar with green liquid will be rock candy but takes at least 7 days.

Christian, our resident scientist wannna-be gathered and prepared all of the supplies and was very scientific and careful about conducting the experiments. And.... bonus! We passed off a requirement for Cub Scouts in the process. It was a successful couple of hours of keeping the summer crazies away. Check out other fun ideas for kids on my side bar.

I am sharing this on Get your craft on Tuesday (even though some may argue it doesn't qualify as a craft) and Works for me Wednesday.