Tuesday, December 22, 2009
christmas cheer
I love this cute music/video clip. Music by the MoTab. I'm going to have the kids in primary act out the nativity during our music time on Sunday.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
'tis the season
You know it's Christmas around here because D and I were up late last night sticking labels and stamps on our Christmas cards. At least everyone will get them before Christmas this year!
You know it's Christmas around here because a few days ago my neighbors could spy me chasing the girls around the front yard trying to get pics worthy of a Christmas card. I liked this one but D gave me a veto.
You know it's Christmas around here because Little S is singing her school Christmas program songs to herself in the backseat as we drive around town. The program is tomorrow and in the evening we have her music class Christmas program. It's going to be a big day for her.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Thanksgiving in DC
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We hit most of the major sites, but I didn't get to see much of the art I was hoping to enjoy - next time... The books did not lie when they wrote that DC is the most kid-friendly city in the States. One could spend weeks entertaining the little ones with fantastic activities, many of them free! It really is a beautiful city and we hope to go back soon.
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Sunday, November 15, 2009
The Birthday Party
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The party was Saturday night. The cooking-themed activities were in honor of Little S's obsession with mixing any substance she can get her hands on in the kitchen (I often find her in there with various vessels full of "soups" - bowls filled with milk, juices, dressing, condiments, curry sauce, shredded cheese, spices from the spice rack, etc.)
The kids each got to decorate a chef's hat, wear oilcloth aprons, and make bagel faces and their own pizzas (I also had sugar cookies to decorate, but we didn't have time). We played food games: 1. a tricycle-marshmallow relay where each kid rode a tricycle while carrying a measuring cup full of marshmallows to his team's cup-o-mallows, dumped the mallows in, and rode the trike back to the next kid on his team; 2. pumpkin bowling with real bowling pins; 3. tortilla toss - D drew a funny big-mouthed face on poster board and the kids tossed tortillas into the mouth frisbee-style. Then there was the usual running around the yard like a little gang of hooligans with Little S often acting as the ring-leader. We had lasagna, salad and breadsticks for the adults. A friend recommended the lasagna recipe on the back of the Barilla no-boil lasagna package and it is quite tasty!
Finally, the cake. We borrowed the giant cupcake cake pan from a friend - I guess there's an infomercial for this item, but you can also get it at Target/Walmart. I made the chocolate cake and vanilla butter cream frosting from scratch - total scratch on the cake, meaning no Kitchen-Aid, meaning I melted bittersweet chocolate over the stove and whisked the ingredients together in various bowls. And it was great! The bottom of the cupcake fell out of the pan in 4 large pieces, couldn't be used for the party, and D was stoked that we had to eat it (I baked 2 small rounds for the bottom, instead). When all was said and done I ended up doubling the cake recipe twice and doubling the frosting recipe twice. About two hours before the party I was wondering why I was doing all of this craziness, but once the party started and we were all having a great time, I didn't give it a second thought.
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Aunt L was the first guest to arrive
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Her Daddy made this giant card for her actual bday earlier in the week - yes, he drew it himself
Bagel face creations
She ran inside when she thought we were going to sing to her - so we sang without her there
One of the only shots I have with the cousins in it
Tortilla toss
When it got too cold outside, the kids broke inside. So I asked Cousin M to try a puppet show for the young ones - it lasted a few minutes until they all grabbed puppets and tried it themselves.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
4 years old
With only 2 adults to push strollers, we had to make a single stroller into a double.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Halloween 2009
Little S was Madeline - presently her FAVORITE character. We read one of the books at least once a day and she runs around the house quoting lines from the movie (the one she earned her $5 for a few weeks ago). I bought the costume online and we were very happy with it!
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Baby J was the peacock that Little S was 3 years ago. I even kept the tights and socks D and I dyed orange one late night when Little S was not even 1. The costume is great, but it is tricky carrying around a peacock with all its feathers. D bought me this wig for Halloween. I've never had hair that long - neither has D.
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We had friends and family over to our house to enjoy the evening. Cousin Samantha and her parents were there, D's cousin and her husband came as well. We also had friends from church over to help pass out candy.
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The main street at the end of our block with grand Victorian homes lining it is blocked off by the city because there are so many trick-or-treaters. I overheard one of the homeowners saying he gets 3000 kids at his door and this year he spent $650 on candy! We estimated that we got about 1200 kids at our door.
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Tuesday, October 27, 2009
let the haunting begin!!
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Festivities are under way at our house this week. D carved the pumpkins tonight. He had Little S draw the faces onto the pumpkins and then he carved out her designs. She stayed up and watched the carving of the middle one and he carved the other two after she went to bed. What a great dad - so supportive of her creativity!
Next, Baby J enjoying a carrot. She's got so many teeth coming in that she can gnaw away almost an entire baby carrot (under close supervision).
Lastly, this is what happens when mom is busy preparing for the primary program dress rehearsal. The markers I was using to write out the words of the songs were stolen from me and used as face paint - with no mirror! She did it in a matter of seconds while watching TV. My response: shock then laughter and then I ran and got the camera.
Monday, October 26, 2009
busy weekend
A jam packed schedule with the primary program dress rehersal and pizza party (which, apparently, Little S was talking about all day at school Friday), the Anaheim boutique and two birthday parties on Saturday, and the actual primary program Sunday.
D had a great time being Mr. Mom on Saturday and got the troops to the birthday parties and Baby J down for her naps with no problem. He even found time to enjoy the College Game Day broadcast from BYU.
The boutique was a lot of fun but I'm happy it's over. Now I can enjoy holiday planning - Little S's birthday party, Thanksgiving in Washington DC and some Christmas celebrations.
(this is the 10 yard banner I made for the boutique table - it will be used again in a few weeks for Little S's cooking birthday party)
D had a great time being Mr. Mom on Saturday and got the troops to the birthday parties and Baby J down for her naps with no problem. He even found time to enjoy the College Game Day broadcast from BYU.
The boutique was a lot of fun but I'm happy it's over. Now I can enjoy holiday planning - Little S's birthday party, Thanksgiving in Washington DC and some Christmas celebrations.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
projects projects projects
The house is cluttered with piles of my projects everywhere. I sewed an oilcloth banner last night with strawberry print oilcloth and red jumbo ricrac - 10 yards long. It turned out really cute, if I do say so myself. Will post a pic of it this weekend when it serves as the decoration at my oilcloth booth at the California Utah Women's boutique at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim. My friend Lauree and I have been sewing all-things-oilcloth for the sale.
via Sew Mama Sew
I'm also working on primary program items for the big performance on Sunday- I wrote our ward's program and am working with the presidency on final tweeks, program inserts, and posters with words of the songs on them so the kids really sing it!
Finally, check out this cute project over at the Sew Mama Sew blog - their theme this month is scrapbusters. New projects every day to use up the boxes of fabric scraps you might have...
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Monday, October 12, 2009
Happy Birthday (tomorrow)
to the man in our house!! He's 34 this year. We love that he takes such good care of all of us girls at home. He's great at playing dolls, school, house, making craft projects and cooking with his daughters. I often say he would be a better househusband than I am housewife - our house would be cleaner, better organized and the meals would be fancier (our food budget would likely be much higher, too, as he likes expensive ingredients).
He's a fantastic husband - putting up with all of my projects and distractions and supporting me in whatever makes me and the fam happy. He is great at his job, fearless with people, and willing to help anyone in need. Yesterday, after being at church for meetings from 10-3:30 he stopped at home to change his clothes and then went right over to help cleanup the remaining possessions of a family in our ward whose house burned down during sacrament meeting. He got home at 8:30 pm. And yes, we are all counting our blessings today.
My friend from high school, Sara, told me a year or two after we were married, "You really lucked out, cause you couldn't have known he would be such a great husband when you got married 11 months after you met him - and you were 18 when you made that crazy decision. So, you are lucky he's awesome and not a loser." I am lucky and I know it.
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He's a fantastic husband - putting up with all of my projects and distractions and supporting me in whatever makes me and the fam happy. He is great at his job, fearless with people, and willing to help anyone in need. Yesterday, after being at church for meetings from 10-3:30 he stopped at home to change his clothes and then went right over to help cleanup the remaining possessions of a family in our ward whose house burned down during sacrament meeting. He got home at 8:30 pm. And yes, we are all counting our blessings today.
My friend from high school, Sara, told me a year or two after we were married, "You really lucked out, cause you couldn't have known he would be such a great husband when you got married 11 months after you met him - and you were 18 when you made that crazy decision. So, you are lucky he's awesome and not a loser." I am lucky and I know it.
BYU's Bean Museum, Provo
Angels Game - 3rd row seats, but Little S couldn't handle the noise
Family Days at the Getty Museum
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Domestic Divas
I know a few of them - the ladies who do it all and make it look easy (my grandmother is one of them) - gardening, canning, immaculate housekeeping.... I'm not one of them but I enjoy the crafting/creative side of domesticity. I've been thinking lately about that creative drive in so many women - especially young mothers. Why do we get involved in so many projects when there is already so much to do just to keep the house running?
I found an interesting answer in my current favorite book: The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule. (check out her great blog: SouleMama)
She asserts that our creative spirits are awakened when we are around young children and the purity of their rich creative energy. This idea resonated with me and I have been devouring her book and ideas for fostering in our children creativity and interest in the natural world.
When I pulled out the boxes of baby toys before Baby J was born I remember how disappointed I was as I looked inside. I thought to myself, no wonder babies get bored with this stuff, it all looks the same. In the end, it is all just brightly colored plastic - blah. (we do have a few things for Baby J to play with other than plastic :)
The book is great and I've been trying a few of her ideas - today we went on a walk looking for things representing the autumn season (a bit tricky in SoCal). We brought home some leaves, berries, and flower petals. FYI- The Crafty Crow is another great site for kid craft projects.
As for my projects, I am involved in a Virtual Quilting Bee organized by a friend of a friend. Twelve of us (I personally know only 4 of the ladies) swap 1 12 inch quilt block each month. The design and fabric is picked by the leader for that month. Sept was the first go at it. Here are pics of the finished products - everyone got the same fabric but could make up their own design (mine is the bottom right of the last picture):
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I found an interesting answer in my current favorite book: The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule. (check out her great blog: SouleMama)
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When I pulled out the boxes of baby toys before Baby J was born I remember how disappointed I was as I looked inside. I thought to myself, no wonder babies get bored with this stuff, it all looks the same. In the end, it is all just brightly colored plastic - blah. (we do have a few things for Baby J to play with other than plastic :)
The book is great and I've been trying a few of her ideas - today we went on a walk looking for things representing the autumn season (a bit tricky in SoCal). We brought home some leaves, berries, and flower petals. FYI- The Crafty Crow is another great site for kid craft projects.
As for my projects, I am involved in a Virtual Quilting Bee organized by a friend of a friend. Twelve of us (I personally know only 4 of the ladies) swap 1 12 inch quilt block each month. The design and fabric is picked by the leader for that month. Sept was the first go at it. Here are pics of the finished products - everyone got the same fabric but could make up their own design (mine is the bottom right of the last picture):
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