What To Do

What to do . . . what to do . . .

The 3 little kids are napping . . .

The dishes are washed . . .

The laundry is done . . .

The house is mostly clean . . .

What to do . . . what to do . . .

Sewing and Knitting! Fun! Fun!

I made this cute hat for Heavenly for when we go outside in this freezing cold weather. I'll take a picture tomorrow with it on her because I'm sure it will be much cuter then.

And I knitted this chunky blue and chocolate scarf to keep my neck warm when I go out in the freezing cold weather.


It's a good thing I had supplies on hand for this "emergency" because there is no way I would drive anywhere on those crazy slick roads today!

And . . . yes . . . we did end up having a snow day yesterday after all. We should of had one today also. The roads were so icy and there were winds up to 30 miles per hour. Some places had snow drifts clear across the road and we could hardly get past. The airport was closed. Even truckers were pulling off the roads. But we still went to school.

Dress for Sweethearts

Kim and I spent the evening working on her dress for Sweethearts. She is doing most of the work and all of the sewing. I'm just helping with a little pinning and ironing. It is the most beautiful color of blue. Hopefully we will have a picture to post soon.

I am anxious to start a new sewing project myself. I would have made a run to Walmart or Joanne's for fabric today if the roads had not been so slick.

Again

Oh yes . . . the stomach flu has traveled to our home once more. After so many years with barely a bug, we have been hit again. Out of the 12 people living in this home, 3 remained well. It has been quite an eventful weekend. But to avoid a comment such as, "too much information," I will leave the details out of this blog entry.

Snow Day

We are continually hitting the refresh button on the screen that lists the school closures for tomorrow. Every school district around us slowly appears on the list including the district that begins 1/2 block from our home. But still no . . .

Chili and Cheese on Rice / Chili and Cheese on Face

I wasn't there for the event. I had run Kim to Young Women's while the rest of the family finished dinner. Todd, Thomas, and Grandpa were ready to leave for stake priesthood meeting as soon as I returned home. As I walked in the door Todd says to me, "I took pictures! The girl is still there for you to see."

I walk into the kitchen bewilder at what in the world he was talking about . . . until I saw Marie.

Smocks

I wanted the girls to have something to wear while helping me in the kitchen. I sewed these smocks for them last night. I finished about 11:00pm and was so excited that I wanted to go wake the girls up to try them on. Todd and I decided against that idea. I guess there is one small downfall to sewing after the kids go to bed.

The girls tried them on first thing this morning and haven't taken them off all day.

Climbing the Walls

Justin's Creativity

And then everyone wants to get into the picture!

Not too long after there was a "rope" from the top of the mantle to the coffee table below where the army guys slid to the rescue.

Brag Page

Kim had this fun idea to make crazy patchwork pajama pants. They turned out so cute! She is becoming quite a seamstress.

Not A Day Too Soon

We just lowered the crib bottom yesterday. Today I went to get Heavenly up from her nap and this is what I found . . . she was standing up in the crib!

Breakfast

Erica and I made breakfast this morning.

Bacon

And Pumpkin Muffins . . .

one of our family's favorite recipes.

They are so yummy, hot from the oven on a cold morning. The recipe make 3 dozen which is great for our big family.


Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Muffins

3 cups dark brown sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs, beaten
1 (16 oz.) can pumpkin
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
3 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream Sugar and oil. Add eggs and pumpkin; mix well. Add baking soda, salt, baking powder, and spices. Add 2 cups of the flour. Mix. Add the water and mix again. Add remaining 1 and 1/2 cups flour. Bake for 20-22 minutes.

The original recipe said to bake for 10-15 minutes. It wasn't even close to being done. I have found that it takes 20-22 minutes in our oven. Check for doneness with a toothpick.

Chocolate and Blue

I've mentioned before that I love the colors chocolate and blue together. Check out this chocolate baby wearing blue.

Family Picture

I was trying to be so organized by taking a family picture in the beginning of October for our Christmas card. By the time Christmas rolled around our family had changed so much that the October picture was out of date. Niko had left (although I would love to have him in our picture still), Leo had come and gone, Nicholas and Heavenly joined us, and then Jamis was added to the pot.

We attempted quite a few pictures. But trying to get all 11 people looking and smiling at the camera at the same time is quite a task. Instead of hours of photo shop putting a picture together we decided we all liked the silly picture we took at the end.

Happy New Year cards will be on their way soon.

Four?!

I was dropping the 4 elementary kids off at school this morning. After walking them to the edge of the parking lot I gave each of them a hug and a kiss and told them I loved them. As I turned around to walk back to my car a lady said to me, "Wow, you have four kids! That must be hard."

I just smiled big back at her and continued walking.

Once in my car . . . I laughed all the way home!

Legos

My father has always been a big fan of duct tape. I grew up with many things being repaired and covered in the silver/gray tape from garden tools to my entire violin case.

In recent years he has discovered a new fix it tool -- Gorilla Glue.

So are you thinking in your head . . . what in the world does this have to do with Legos?

Our three year old Nick was having trouble keeping the Lego guy inside the the tractor Lego piece so he kept going to Grandpa for help. I guess Grandpa got tired of putting it together because he pulled out the Gorilla Glue and permanently attached a red Lego to the yellow tractor piece and then glued the Lego guy to the red Lego

Icicle

We have chains hanging down from our gutters to lead the water to the ground. An icicle formed all the way down the chain. The kids were screaming with delight. They all wanted a copy of the picture to show their friends and teachers.

No dull moments here!

Snow Globe

On the way home from school today Erica said," It's like we're in a snow globe!"

Dental Distraction

I took Jamis to the dentist this afternoon. I also brought Heavenly along. As we sat down in the waiting room all the dental assistants, hygienists, and office workers slowly filed in to get a glance at this beautiful little girl. Eventually the dentist came in to see where all the women disappeared to.

The pictures are cute but you just have to experience her in person . . . milk chocolate skin, blue eyes, and soft brown curls on top of her head . . . and her joyful contented personality.

Ugly Pants

My daughter went to an Ugly Pants Party Friday night. The pants she chose were a pair of red plaid stirrups from the 80's.

How did the pants I grew up with move their way into the ugly pants category?!

Merry Christmas to Me

We went out shopping for a new chair to put in our family room to replace the old, rundown chair. We came home with . . .
not the girl! We already had her. We came home with a new couch and love seat instead of a chair. Merry Christmas to me!