cook. clean. sew. (repeat.)

Cook

2012-01-12T21:07:00.003-05:00

Pinterest Cake

If you are on Pinterest (and if you aren't, why not?), you have probably seen this beautiful Lemon-Blueberry Yogurt Loaf.

It jumped off the page and spoke to me, so I made it today.

Mine isn't quite as beautiful, and it doesn't have quite the lemon kick throughout that I was hoping for, but it was still really good.

view full image

The cake has a tender and delicate crumb. Even though I accidentally overcooked it, the cake still stayed very moist, probably due to the yogurt in the batter. The blueberries are not a huge flavor in the mix. I may try it next time with raspberries we bought and froze in the summer.

The main disappointment to me in this cake was the lemon flavor. The directions have you bake the cake without any lemon juice, just lemon zest, then you make a simple lemon syrup that you brush on the top and sides of the cake. It is supposed to soak into the cake, but it stayed near the outer edges. Usually the zest adds lots of flavor, but I didn't really taste it except on the edges. Next time I will try adding some lemon juice to the actual cake and see if it helps.

Overall, it was a good cake, and since we have a tree full of lemons, I will be trying it with modifications again soon!

(Original recipe is here.)

What is your favorite lemon recipe?

Here's to a better 2012!

2012-01-02T23:16:00.000-05:00

Tonight we carried on a family tradition of making predictions for the coming year. This was a tradition in my family growing up, and has been fun for Elliott, the kids, and me, as well.

The first thing we do is read the predictions from the previous year. Last year, we had just returned from a trip to Sundance where everyone was extremely sick (strep throat, ear infections, broken ankles, bum knees...) when we made our predictions. Sadly, several of us picked up a bug while we were in UT again this year. Here is Sophie holding a bowl that has seen lots of use today while Elliott read out her prediction from 2011:

"I won't be sick."

Halloween

2011-11-21T23:53:00.001-05:00

Sophie was Barbie as a Rock Star, Ethan was Ralphie from A Christmas Story as the Easter Bunny (you will definitely want to click on that link), Andrew was a zombie, and Emma was Aphrodite. Ethan's costume was kind of a combination of two different patterns (one was pajama pants and the other was a blouse. I just combined them into a jumpsuit.), and Emma's costume was me experimenting until we got it looking like the cover of a book she wanted. I think they both turned out pretty cute. Elliott is the genius behind Andrew's makeup.
Henry's costume was another story. I wasn't really sure what he should be, but one day I was contemplating his cute belly, chubby fingers, and thick legs, and realized this would be the best time for him to be the Stay Puft Marshmallow man (you are going to want to watch that too, but it does have a swear word, sorry!)
I had a hard time finding tight white clothes for him, but at the last minute got what I needed. The morning of Halloween, I decided to look online to see what the marshmallow man's hat looked like, so I could get it made, and realized that the costume has a collar too! Luckily, Henry was napping, and I managed to find all the supplies I needed in my sewing stash. The collar would have been better if it had been shorter, but Henry was sleeping while I was sewing, so I wasn't able to measure it.
Anyway, here are a few pictures for the grandparents.

California

2011-11-14T23:24:00.001-05:00

This weekend we took a short trip to California to say goodbye to my sister Elizabeth before she leaves on her mission (she is going to the Maryland Baltimore area.)
On Sunday, as I was sitting in our worship service, listening to three of my brothers and my dad sing a hymn, it occurred to me that as hard as the move has been for our family, (and it has been difficult,) the fact that we were able to share this weekend with my family, and that I could have Elliott and my kids there with me too, has made the move worth it. It is so nice to be close enough to family that we can spend the weekend with them!
A few pictures from Sunday:

The original crew.

What we have grown to be.

A Classic! Haha. The kids with Grandma and Grandpa.

Sisters.

Andrew turns 12!

2011-11-09T08:40:00.000-05:00

When I posted the pictures about Sophie's birthday party, Elliott reminded me that I never posted any pictures to celebrate Andrew's birthday. Oops, sorry Andrew!

At our church, age 12 is pretty exciting for kids. That is because they get to leave the land of little kids (Primary), and move up to the Young Men or Young Women organizations. Additionally, boys who are worthy can receive the priesthood. It is a big responsibility, but Andrew is up to the task.

We invited the grandparents for the weekend, and had a great time celebrating. Andrew is a great kid and awesome big brother. He is always up for a board or card game with his dear mother, and mostly never flinches when I kiss him! He has made several friends at his new school, and hopefully will soon be introducing them to the fun that is Killer Bunnies, his current favorite game.

With the grandparents after Andrew's ordination.

(This was Andrew with Elliott, my dad, and my brother Hugh.

We went to Ernie's Taco House in SoCal before Andrew's first General Priesthood Meeting.

The back of the building doesn't look like much, but it is so good!)

Edited to add: We just found out that Andrew was awarded Student of the Month at his junior high. Congratulations Andrew!

Sophie turns 5

2011-11-02T18:03:00.000-04:00

Sophie is a social butterfly, so it was no surprise to me or Elliott that she chose the "Birthday Bash" option to celebrate turning five.

A few highlights from the event:

decorating foam pumpkins while waiting for all the guests to arrive

cousin Stella, dressed as a fairy princess rockstar.

treasure hunt melee

the treasure: Elliott finally had to break the thing open himself!

mummy cupcakes (inspiration via here)

the whole gang

Peek-A-Boo

2011-10-28T00:26:00.000-04:00

Peek-A-Boo from Ginger on Vimeo.

Conversation

2011-10-11T14:57:00.001-04:00

Two nights ago our home teacher came over. We hadn't met him yet, so he was asking us some "get to know you" type questions. One question he asked the kids was, "What do you like?"
The kids all had fairly predictable answers (animals, video games, etc...), but then our home teacher asked the kids what Elliott's favorite thing is. "Surfing!" they all said pretty much in unison. Finally, it was time to reveal what my favorite thing is. The kids all hesitated for a moment pondering what my favorite thing could possible be, and then Sophie blurted out, "Kissing Daddy!"

California

2011-10-06T23:32:00.001-04:00

One of the main reasons we wanted to move out West was so we would be able to see family more often. So a couple of weeks ago I suggested to Elliott that we take a somewhat impromptu trip to California so Henry could finally meet the rest of his aunts, uncles, and cousins on my side of the family. Plus, we wanted to meet Hugh's wife, Emily (they got married the weekend I was due with Henry, and he is 13 months now!)
It was lots of fun, Henry was a big hit, and we totally approve of Emily. Great choice Hugh! :-)

playing with the chickens

Can you tell I took the two pictures above? I have no idea what I am doing with Elliott's camera. White balance? What's that???

chicken feather

Did you know Emma got glasses? Her dream has finally come true!

grandma working it with the hula-hoop

teaching Sophie. notice her sandals?

Henry was a big hit!

Such a fun weekend. I am SO grateful we live near family now!

Weekend Catch-up

2011-09-26T10:35:00.000-04:00

This was a busy but fun weekend for us!
Friday found Andrew and Elliott camping in at Bear Canyon Lake, in the mountains of AZ about two hours away from here.

It was a beautiful site, and they had a lot of fun.

Meanwhile, my sister-in-law Stephanie was husband-less also, so we took the opportunity to can tomatoes.

Meanwhile, Henry learned some new tricks. He has learned to do pull-ups on the fireplace in Elliott's office.

He also took his first half-step on Sunday morning.

Saturday night I was able to attend the broadcast of the General Relief Society meeting of our church. It was just what I needed! Elder Uchtdorf reminded me that there is strength in knowing that I am a daughter of God, and how great his love is for me, and for all women. If you missed the meeting, you can find highlights here. I'm guessing the transcript and full video will be available next week.

Lately, the mornings have been nice enough for us to open the windows and let cool air in. It isn't that crisp Fall air we got in Indiana, but it is amazing how cool 83 degrees feels when the highs have been topping 99!

Overheard

2011-09-24T11:18:00.004-04:00

Emma: I have sensitive skin.
Me: You do?
(I sat for a good 30 seconds waiting for her to explain, while she sits there pondering...)
Emma: Yeah, my back is sensing something, but I'm not sure what.

But we still want you to come and visit...

2011-09-21T01:36:00.000-04:00

I don't want to spend too much time talking about scorpions, because they are pretty gross, but there were lots of comments and questions on my FB page when the previous post (about Henry getting stung) went up, and I thought I would quickly answer them here.

Before we moved out here to Arizona, I was concerned about scorpions, but my sister-in-law, who has lived here for 6 years, assured me she had only seen scorpions twice in her house that whole time. That didn't seem too bad!

When we got the RESPA disclosure documents from the seller of our house, she noted that she had seen scorpions, but the way it was worded on the document made it seem like it was a rare occurrence. So you can imagine my dismay when our very first afternoon at the house we found a LIVE scorpion in the carpet in the living room. We went on to find several more the next day, and all together we found about 20 scorpions IN THE HOUSE that first week. Elliott and the kids also had great fun using the black light we borrowed from my cousin to go scorpion hunting around the outside of the house at night. They killed 11 the first night, and 6-7 each of the remaining nights of that first week.

Needless to say, we called an exterminator right away. He sprayed the inside and the outside of the house, but I'm not sure it made much of a dent in the scorpion numbers. When spraying for insects, scorpions aren't super affected because of their hard exo-skeleton. The spraying does however get rid of their prey, and after that first spray, we were privileged to find lots of dead roaches outside the perimeter of the house! Lovely.

It doesn't seem to me like the spraying did too much. We do see less scorpions now, last week we were killing about 2 a day inside the house, and this week we have seen slightly less than that, but as we move into Fall and Winter, the scorpions will start to go dormant on their own.

When we talk to the many Mesa residents we have met here so far, they are always shocked at the number of scorpions we have found in our house. Even for a home that is in a former orange grove, which tend to have more scorpions than the average neighborhood, we have larger than normal numbers.

We have spoken with two of our neighbors who have lived in the neighborhood since it was first built, about 25 years ago. They both said, separately, that they never saw scorpions around their houses until a couple of years ago.

The scorpion that stung Henry was an Arizona Bark Scorpion. I found a blog post written on the Orange Dragonfly blog from September 2010 that mentioned these scorpions. Here is what she said:

About 40-60 species occur in Arizona, the Bark Scorpion (Centruroides exilicauda) is the only species in Arizona of medical importance. In the USA the bark scorpion is found in southeastern California, Arizona, Nevada, southern Utah, and southwestern New Mexico. It is most commonly found under rocks, logs, tree bark, and other surface objects. The bark scorpion (1-3 inches in length) is the most commonly encountered house scorpion. They are common throughout many habitats but almost always in rocky areas. This is the one we most often see hanging out unwanted on our living room floor.

Most scorpion species are solitary in nature. The exception to this is bark scorpions, which may over-winter in colonies of 20-30 adults. Each adult can have up to 20 young! The bark scorpion is also one of relatively few species that are able climbers ~ and they love palm trees.

The venom of the bark scorpion may produce severe pain (but rarely swelling) at the site of the sting, numbness, frothing at the mouth, difficulties in breathing (including respiratory paralysis), muscle twitching, and convulsions can occur.

After Henry was stung, I called Poison Control to see what they recommended. Belinda, in the call center, gave me the symptoms to look for (all those ones listed above), and said she would call back in 15 minutes to see how he was doing. She called back several times, and I was happy that I was able to report he seemed fine. We do think he had a tingling numbness in his leg for a little bit, like you get when one of your limbs falls asleep, but we gave him some ibuprofen to help, and he seemed fine after that. The final time I spoke with Belinda, she mentioned that he could have gotten what they call a "dry sting", where no venom is released. I think that may be what happened.

We have found scorpions in almost every room of our house, but the place we find them most often is in the living room, and especially under the piano. It makes me nervous every time I sit down to play! I am wondering if there was a female that had a litter of babies that took up residence under the carpet. We may end up putting hardwood in much sooner than we originally planned!

Yay!

Our first sting.

2011-09-19T17:00:00.001-04:00

This is my sweet baby.

This is the scorpion that stung him (it's fairly small, about the size of a half dollar.)

This is the spot of the battle (the outside of his right leg, between calf and shin.)

Luckily, he is doing fine. He seems to not be having any of the serious, or even not too serious, reactions that can occur from a scorpion sting.

Have I mentioned that I hate scorpions?

Clean.

2011-09-01T00:28:00.000-04:00

Sometimes Henry is my "helper".

Usually what happens is I am busy folding laundry, cleaning the kids' bedrooms, or doing dishes, and Henry is busy messing up piles, pulling books out of bookcases, or his new favorite, taking the dirty silverware out of the dishwasher.

Case in point:

At least he's having fun!

Cook.

2011-08-29T19:58:00.000-04:00

Today is another birthday in our house. Andrew turns 12! I can hardly believe it.

I'm sure Elliott will post pictures of the small family celebration later, but in the meantime, I thought I would post my favorite chocolate frosting recipe.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
(adapted from Better Homes and Gardens)

1/2 c. butter, room temperature
1/2 c. dutch processed cocoa powder
1/4 c. heavy cream, plus more
1 tsp. vanilla
4 c. powdered sugar

Begin by creaming the butter on its own in a large bowl. Add the cocoa, and cream until combined. Use a spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, and then add the cream and vanilla, beating well.
Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, creaming the ingredients well and scraping the side and bottom of the bowl. After the 3rd and 4th cups of sugar, you may want to add a little bit more cream. I usually add about 1 Tbs. more cream, but it depends on the humidity where you are. Here in AZ, I needed to add a little bit more than that.

Once the frosting is completely creamed, it will frost middle, top, and sides of an 8" 2-layer cake, or 24 cupcakes.

(Once upon a time, when Andrew was an only child.)

(now.)

One Year Old!

2011-08-26T00:20:00.000-04:00

My baby is one! Wah!

We celebrated by inviting grandparents and cousins to a little dinner celebration. Lately, I don't have a creative bone in my body, so the kids came up with their own decoration for Henry's cake:

I can't tell you how many scorpions we have found in our house. But that is a story for a whole other post. We let Henry have at his cake, but he didn't really want to dig in until we gave him a spoon.

A wet paper towel didn't quite cut it for this mess.

We are so blessed to have Henry in our home. He has an infectious laugh that is heard quite often. I really can't imagine our life without him. Happy birthday, Henry!

On the sweetness of motherhood

2011-07-28T10:28:00.000-04:00

Sometimes there are things mothers do to their children that the children really enjoy, although they pretend otherwise.

Kissing my boys may just be one of those things. Why else would the boys agree to this, just to be able to play their Nintendo DS's for one three-hour car ride?

Andrew forgot to write that his contract lasts until his mission too, but I'm holding him to it. :-D

Conversation

2011-07-24T14:50:00.000-04:00

Me: Emma, do you want to help me make the cookies?
Emma: Mmmm... no.
Me: You don't really like cooking, huh?
Emma: No, not really. I hope when I'm married my husband does all the cooking, because I don't really like cooking.

Overheard

2011-07-19T07:01:00.002-04:00

Just moments ago...

SOPHIE: Mom, does Henry have a brain yet?

Just because I think he's so darn cute!

2011-07-17T22:45:00.000-04:00

Chicago, we will miss you!

2011-07-16T09:57:00.000-04:00

Our family has lots of fun memories in Chicago. The city is an easy three hour drive, and we visited it once or twice a year while we lived in Indiana.
Yesterday, we drove up to see Cirque Du Soleil's Ovo. It was a great show, all the kids loved it, even Henry.

He was mesmerized, and clapped right along with the audience. It was super cute, and he was a big hit with all the audience members sitting around us.
When the Chicago skyline came into view, Sophie said it looked just like "Yew Nork", and then she wondered, "How do you say hello in Chicago?"

I love these kids!

Chair: Finally Finished!

2011-07-08T08:47:00.000-04:00

Well I definitely didn't stick to my plan of blogging after each of my upholstery classes. What can I say, I'm a busy mom, and blogging is definitely not a priority. In fact, for the past couple of weeks, there has been an intense new priority, but more on that later.

So, yes, I finally finished the chair I was re-upholstering! Here is what it looked like when I came to class Wednesday night:

It still needed the cording on the bottom, the back, and the covering on the bottom.
Below you can see a cute little floral that will be found next time this chair is opened up. This fabric was just the beginning layer that then had batting added to it, before the final layer of upholstery fabric was added. I also stuck a little note in there with my name, my amazing teacher's name, and the date the year. Just a fun little item to be found by the next re-upholsterer.

Here is a close up of the front with the cording and band around the seat. I really love this fabric!

And finally, the chair, completed:

(click to enlarge)

I still haven't decided if this chair will go in the living room, or the guest bedroom.

Speaking of the living room and guest bedroom... I mentioned that there has been a new intense priority at our house... we are moving!

Maybe not news to most of you, as we have been thinking about this for about a year and a half now, but we put our house on the market at the beginning of March, and after several months, we had two offers at the same time! What are the chances?!? So a tiny bidding war ensued (although not much of one, since there are so many houses on the market here), and we picked a winner. Then Elliott jetted off to Arizona to find a new house for us, which he successfully did, and we are spending all our time packing, and selling things on Craigslist.

Anyway, I don't think I'll be around much for the next few weeks, but really, that won't be anything new. I hope you are having a great summer!

Lizard? or Human?

2011-06-26T22:24:00.000-04:00

Tonight, Henry was sitting on Elliott's lap and playing with the kids. He is going through a biting phase (maybe he's teething again?) and decided to try to bite Andrew's fingers.
Elliott said, jokingly in Henry's voice, "Come on, Andrew, let me bite your fingers. They will grow back." And Ethan, a bit puzzled said, "Wait, fingers grow back?"

Old School

2011-06-12T20:49:00.000-04:00

Today Ethan, Henry and I came home from church early because Ethan is suffering from a sinus infection. Elliott was going to bring the other 3 kids home after church, but he had a few responsibilities that took longer than expected, so one of our good friends gave them a ride home instead.
I popped out the front door to tell him "thank you" while Andrew was climbing out of the car, and our friend, Ed, said, "Your kids really had fun driving in my car."
I wasn't sure exactly what he meant, until all of a sudden Andrew yelled, "That car is AWESOME! It was made before they had buttons to make the window go down!"
As soon as he got in the house, Andrew repeated this amazing fact to Ethan. Ethan was a bit puzzled, "You just keep the windows open the whole time you are driving?"
"No," Andrew explained, "there is a bar you have to turn to make the window roll down."

Slow Progress

2011-06-11T18:14:00.000-04:00

This is what my chair looked like at the end of class a week ago:

And this is what it looked like at the end of class a couple of days ago:

Not too different! I took out some staples and fixed the way the fabric was laying in spots. Then I made loads of cording. We are supposed to just have one more class, but I don't think I will get it finished in that amount of time, so I maybe stopping by the studio one afternoon next week (which I am REALLY looking forward to. I love this class!)
To see how everyone else's projects are shaping up, click here.

lazy summer days

2011-06-10T08:38:00.000-04:00

My favorite part of summer is being able to sit and relax, knowing there are no looming homework deadlines. I think the boys would agree!

Of course, what is summer without the requisite lemonade stand?

Elliott loves me.

2011-06-06T08:29:00.000-04:00

He made this for me yesterday:

Blueberry and white chocolate tart from David Lebovitz's book

Room for Dessert.

We have several of his recipe books, and love them all. This particular tart is, well, perfect. It reminds me of a tart you would find in Paris, very flavorful without being too sweet. The white chocolate is very mellow, and brings out the natural flavor of the blueberries.

Overheard

2011-06-05T22:46:00.000-04:00

Elliott: Tomorrow is Fast Sunday
Sophie: But we don't have to fast, because we are girls!

Upholstery class update

2011-05-28T08:40:00.001-04:00

I'm sorry I haven't kept up with updates. I forgot my camera for the last class! A couple of weeks ago I brought the chair home and spray primed and painted the frame.

My chair had great foam on it, so I didn't take that off before painting. The paint doesn't affect the foam though, so that is not a problem. Also, I had ONE day of good weather for painting (you'll notice the after picture is in the garage, because it was raining again!). Normally you would sand, prime, sand, paint, sand, and paint again. But since rain was in the forecast for most of the week, I sanded before priming, and then painted two coats. So hopefully my finish will stick. Lucky, this isn't really a chair that gets used, so I think it will be okay.
Since I didn't have my camera in the last class, I am directing you to Lesley's blog post about the last class. You can see some great action shots! :-)
Also, I am really loving Beth's antique settee she is recovering (it was her grandma's, and this is her 3rd upholstery session working on it, but she is finally getting the fabric on!), and Laura's yellow chair. She has a great blue and white ikat fabric that I am coveting (even though it wouldn't go anywhere in our house. Time for a redo??)

A little celebration

2011-05-26T18:41:00.000-04:00

In our family, whenever one of the kids has some type of fun achievement at school, we like to celebrate as a family by taking them to do something fun. Usually the reward is a family trip to the ice cream store, or the movie theater. Nothing too fancy.
Emma was the winner of her class spelling bee, and today she competed in the first grade spelling bee. She got 5th place in her grade, and along with her AMAZING report card, we thought she deserved a celebration.
After dinner tonight, Elliott asked her what she would like to do to celebrate. After a little bit of back and forth between everyone, Emma finally came up with a suggestion:
"A cruise?"

inchworm

2011-05-22T19:08:00.003-04:00

Bike Rally

2011-05-19T12:31:00.000-04:00

Sophie had a bike rally at her school on Tuesday. Her old bike was too small, so we checked out bikes online, and found one we liked for $80. Then, my friend Lisa saw that her neighbor was going to be selling the same bike for $10 at a garage sale the next day. Score!

This bike is much easier for Sophie to ride, in fact, I think we may take the training wheels off this weekend, if we can get a clear day.

The cooking and cleaning are done...

2011-05-10T22:14:00.000-04:00

...which means I can get on to the sewing. In this case, I'm counting the upholstery class I'm currently taking.

Not too much happened at the last class, other than getting started on the un-upholstering. I spent the whole 2.5 hours taking staples out of my chair, and I'm still not done. It was painful, as there are a lot of staples in this chair! Here are a few progress pics:

The first thing to come off was the underside of the chair. My in-laws had the set of these chairs for many years before I go this one. They have even been recovered once. But the springs and padding are still in great shape. I don't think I will need to replace any of it.

When I peeled back the fabric on the outer back of the chair, we found burlap underneath. I think this helps strengthen the back, so I assume I will be replacing it. If you enlarge the photo, you can see lots of staples on the little table. There are tons more on the floor.

The back is completely off!

For more info on taking a reupholstery class with our amazing teacher Shelley Lear, click here.

And to see more pictures from our first class, visit my classmate Lesley's awesome blog.

Giddy!

2011-05-03T21:45:00.000-04:00

You can just go ahead and award me "geek of the year" right now, because I am overflowing with excitement. Last week I signed up for an upholstery class that starts tomorrow night and I am so excited I can hardly stop thinking about it.
I have been wanting to take this upholstery class for over a year now, but with my pregnancy sickness, then being hugely pregnant, then having a baby too young to leave (who wouldn't and still doesn't take a bottle, silly boy!), and lately Elliott's crazy schedule, it just hasn't been in the cards. However, the start of the class coincided with a little lull (we hope) for Elliott, so I quickly paid my fee and got myself signed up.
This is the chair I will be recovering:

It was passed on to me by my in-laws when they sold their condo here. After I do the fabric tear-down, I plan to bring it home to paint the wood a different color.
This is the fabric I am hoping to use:

It is from the Joel Dewberry "Ginseng" collection, which is no longer being made. I actually bought it last year, on sale for $3 a yard!! It is home dec weight, but not necessarily upholstery weight (that is generally a little heavier), so hopefully my instructor will give it the a-okay.
I hope this is the start of a fun new hobby. Check back this weekend for a report on the first class.

Little Ballerina

2011-04-29T08:01:00.000-04:00

Emma was in a ballet recital a couple of years ago that made a big impression on Sophie. This semester was finally the right time for us to enroll her in her own recital class. For the past several months, much of what Sophie has talked about was her big stage debut, and last night was finally the night!

What to do on a rainy Saturday morning

2011-04-16T18:38:00.000-04:00

This morning we had 3 showings, and had to be out of the house from 9:30 until 1:30. There isn't much open at 9:30 in the morning, so our choices were limited. We chose to go to a bowling alley a couple of towns away from ours, which gave us a good half hour in the car, so we got there just after it opened at 10am.
First up we decided to take advantage of the glow-in-the-dark mini golf at the place.

The first time you tapped your ball with the club, the ball would light up florescent orange, pink, or red. So fun! A round of mini golf included 8 tokens in the arcade, where Emma promptly schooled her siblings in how to get tickets, which she then used to buy really important things like candy and a little rubber alien.

After the arcade, we still had lots of time left, so we decided to do some bowling. After the first round, it looked like I would be the big winner, but then Andrew managed to pull out the big win.

The best part was watching Sophie, who could barely hold the 6 pound ball. She would drop it at the start of the lane, and it would take a couple of minutes to meander its way down to the pins.
Emma had great form too. She would scurry up to the line as if she was going to let go of the ball when she got there, but then she would kind of stop before letting the ball go. It was great.
In the end, Andrew beat Elliott by one point. Way to go, dude!

Playing in the grass

2011-04-10T22:19:00.002-04:00

Elliott, take note:

2011-04-08T13:02:00.000-04:00

Lunchtime conversation:

Ethan: Andrew, where are you going to live when you grow up?
Andrew: I don't know, I don't like to plan ahead.
Ethan: I'm going to live in a beachfront mansion in L.A.
Me: What are you going to do for work?
Ethan: Nothing
Me: How are you going to afford that?
Ethan: I'm going to inherit it from Dad.

Maybe this one?

Hello

2011-03-31T08:56:00.001-04:00

It's a good thing I revamped my blog, since I'm posting here so much now. Oh, wait... It's been 4 weeks exactly since my last post. And frankly, there isn't any sewing or blog-worthy cooking going on around here. Mostly just cleaning while we try to sell our house.

My mom was here to help pack things up this past week, which was fun, except there wasn't a lot to pack up since we need to have things out still while the house is on the market. Elliott and I do have a large Goodwill pile set aside. It is amazing how much one accumulates in 6 years! I have realized I need to be a better steward of our money, and buy less stuff.

Speaking of stuff, Sophie and I recently stocked up on spinning dresses for her (thank you, Costco!) They all spin up very high, and are almost the only things she will wear.

Henry has become (way) too big for his bath seat, but he is also at that awkward stage where he slips easily if seated in the tubby. Plus, he is so heavy it hurts my back to bend over the side of the big tub and hold him, so we have started bathing him in the kitchen sink. It's a perfectly sized solution.

He has also started a phase where he folds himself in half while sitting to eat his toes. Of course when I try to get a picture, he stops, and just wants me to pick him up, cute boy!

Finally, today is beach day at our school. This means that even though it snowed a bit yesterday, and is still quite cold out today, Emma got to wear flip flops, and Ethan wore shorts and a surf sweatshirt. You will notice how bundled all the other kids are. sigh...

Hopefully this weekend will be full of sunshine and showings for us. What's on your agenda?

nothing better

2011-03-02T18:44:00.000-05:00

than this guy sleeping away the afternoon on my lap.

Stripes

2011-02-20T20:41:00.000-05:00

The current theme of my life is packing and reorganizing. These are my good helpers. Plus Ethan, who hid from the camera. Henry helped by letting us work while he ate the newspaper we were using to wrap pictures frames with. Afterwards his fingers were pretty black. Good times.

This is what we think of rice cereal

2011-02-11T17:25:00.000-05:00

unless it has bananas in it. Then we love it. We also don't like peas or carrots, but mom isn't giving up. Especially since she steamed and pureed mounds of veggies and stocked the freezer. Next to try: sweet potatoes.

Dear Elliot:

2011-01-31T07:07:00.000-05:00

I'm really excited to meet you today. See you at your crib soon!

Blank Spaces

2011-01-22T10:31:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday night, at about 9:30pm, Emma threw up all over her bedroom floor. It was awful... let's just say the corn she had at lunch had still not digested all the way!

Elliott was at bishopric meeting when it happened, but luckily he got home about 30 minutes later, because he is the master carpet cleaner. Still, his skills were no match for the mess, so the next day he rented a (stop reading now, Mike) RugDoctor to finish the job.

As long as we had it, we decided we may as well clean a few other rooms too, and one of the lucky ones was the family room. It was kind of fun to see the room with no furniture again.

We moved everything back in a day and a half later, but I feel overcrowded. I liked have a large clear space. Lately I have been on a major decluttering/purging/reorganizing kick. It has been a lot of fun, although today I stuck my head in my sewing room and almost started having a panic attack. There is a lot of stuff in there I will probably never use, but it is still hard for me to let go of it. It's one of those "what if" type situations. But I will do it. I am sure I won't even miss any of it when it is gone. Ebay and Goodwill are my new best friends!

Henry is still loving his bouncer, and he now has the hang of the bouncing part. He goes crazy. It is so cute!

5 Months

2011-01-19T19:55:00.002-05:00

Henry reaches the 5 month mark tomorrow (today if you are reading this on the 20th.) He is so much fun, and so easy going. We can't remember what life was like without him, but I think it must have been pretty boring!

Elliott set up our Johnny Jumper for him yesterday, and he had lots of fun just hanging out. Today he discovered how to actually jump in it, and he is having so much fun!

And yes, it is hanging in the door of my pantry... it lets him see me while I cook or clean the kitchen, plus I think he likes all the colors and shapes in the pantry.

More Sophie

2011-01-13T13:52:00.001-05:00

This morning I was leafing through the new Down East Basics catalog, and asked Elliott if someone had bought them out, because it didn't seem like some of their styles were as modest as I was expecting. Sophie asked, "What's modesty?" I said, "It's when you direct your efforts to make people concentrate on what's in your brain, not on what you wear." Then Sophie asked, "What's in my brain?" I answered, "Lots of stuff, because you are very smart!", and while I was answering, I bent over to fix her clips. She said, "Oh, I thought you were going to look to see what is in my brain!"

Mexican Pinato

2011-01-11T19:00:00.000-05:00

While playing 20 questions tonight at the dinner table, Ethan asked Sophie if the thing we were guessing was a "pinato". Huh? The following conversation ensued:

Daddy: What's a pinato?
Sophie: It's a Mexican beard from the 14-80-90's.
Daddy: Like on your face?
Sophie: Yeah!
Daddy: Where did you see this pinato?
Sophie: In Mexican.
Daddy: What does a pinato look like?
Sophie: It's pink and purple with princesses on it.
Daddy: So it's a big beard.
Sophie: Yes
Daddy: Well, how do you eat with a pinato?
Sophie: With a spoon!
Daddy: How does a mister walk with a pinato?
Sophie: Like this:

Sledding in UT

2011-01-06T09:55:00.000-05:00

Emma wipes out:

The most fun she had in a long time!

Sophie's successful run:

Ethan says: Geronimoooooooo!

Maybe not.

Andrew's snow cave:

New in 2011

2011-01-05T08:55:00.000-05:00

After I had Henry, I was ready for a change. Do you get that way? New baby, new... I talked to my hairdresser about maybe getting bangs. Luckily I didn't follow through with that. Instead, I decided to switch things up here at the blog. What do you think? Like the new name? The new look? I'll probably be playing with it a little still... it's hard to get everything done all at once.

(Henry's first Christmas, such as it was)

In our family, instead of making goals for the new year, we make predictions. It's a little more stress-free. Last year, most of the predictions had to do with the new baby that would be joining us (anyone who guessed a boy was right, but Emma's two pound birth weight was slightly off!)

I can't wait to see how this year's predictions pan out. Among other things, Ethan predicts he will be able to eat a "Big Ugly" for his birthday, Emma predicts something will be invented, and Elliott predicts we will go on a road trip this year. I'm not going to give you my predictions... I don't want to jinx them.

Instead, I'll leave you with a stack of quilts that need to be bound. Here's hoping it gets done soon!

More of the same, in 2011

2011-01-01T19:14:00.000-05:00

I had big plans to ring in the new year on this blog. Unfortunately, after a vacation that was kind of a complete disaster thanks to all kinds of sickness, I'm barely getting the unpacking done. Maybe next week.

Tonight I thought it might be special to have a festive meal to ring in the new year, so I made World's Best Lasagna.

(image via allrecipes.com)

It takes a lot of work, but is totally worth it. Not that my kids would agree. The only part of the meal they didn't complain about was the homemade french bread. In fact, while attempting to eat the mixed-greens salad I made, Ethan said, "Do they make vegetable tongue covers?"

Sigh.

Happy New Year!

This is how we roll.

2010-12-14T20:59:00.000-05:00

Remind me why we aren't going to a warmer clime for Winter break?

First Haircut

2010-12-12T21:30:00.000-05:00

Henry was experiencing some premature balding.

He had kind of a monk's tonsure going on.

He didn't like the razor, but at least he didn't scream bloody murder or cry like his brothers STILL DO!

We love the new look. Now to stock up on hats to keep our little dude warm for the winter.

Peppermint stick ice cream

2010-12-08T09:54:00.000-05:00

Elliott happens to be a master ice cream maker. He has developed a couple of different flavors, including sweet corn ice cream, an homage to our current place of dwelling.

A couple of winters ago, before he started making ice cream, we bought a pint of peppermint stick ice cream at a local ice cream shop, and I became addicted to a scoop in my hot chocolate. This year, Elliott came up with his own recipe for the ice cream, and it is so perfect, I had to share.

Because this ice cream has just a hint of peppermint, and is great on its own; or melting in a steaming cup of super dark cocoa hot chocolate (the one pictured below is from Cost Plus last year.)

Elliott's Peppermint Stick Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk (you must use whole)
160 grams (approx. 3/4 c.) sugar
pinch of salt
6 large egg yolks.
1 tsp. peppermint extract
12 small candy canes, crushed

Combine 1 cup of cream with the milk in a medium saucepan. Add the sugar and pinch of salt. Warm while occasionally stirring until the sugar melts. Meanwhile, pour the egg yolks into a bowl and whisk. When the milk/cream is warm, pour some into the bowl of yolks, and whisk it together. Add the cream/yolk mixture to the saucepan with the rest of the milk and cream. Cook over medium heat, while stirring, until the mixture reaches 175 degrees. Remove from heat. Pour the remaining cup of cream into a bowl. Put a fine sieve over the bowl, and pour the contents of the saucepan through the sieve into the bowl. Stir the contents of the bowl together and add the peppermint extract. Chill over an ice bath, then put into the refrigerator for several hours. Once it is completely chilled, churn it in your ice cream maker according to the machine's instructions. Add the crushed candy canes at the very end of the churning process. Put into the freezer to set.

Mint chocolate covered marshmallows

2010-12-06T19:47:00.001-05:00

I'm not making any promises, but this week my plan is to post several recipes that say "chocolate" and "winter" all in the same bite!

First up is mint chocolate covered marshmallows. This recipe is so simple you can probably make it with your eyes closed, and so yummy you won't be able to stop eating them.

The ingredients are 10 regular sized marshmallows, and about 1 cup of the seasonal Nestle dark chocolate and mint chips. I saw these at Target last week and had to buy a couple of bags to try them out. I made cookies with them last week which turned out amazing, and couldn't wait to make something more.

Melt the chocolate and mint chips in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until they are melted and smooth. It took me about one and a half minutes total.

Line a cookie sheet with a sheet of wax paper. Using toothpicks, dip the marshmallows into the melted chocolate, covering as much of the marshmallow as possible, but leave room at the top to be able to slide the marshmallow off the toothpick without getting your fingers dirty. Slide the marshmallow onto the wax paper.

Once the marshmallows are all on the wax paper, use a spoon to cover the top portion of the marshmallow with the chocolate. You may have a little bit of chocolate left over, and you can simply spoon this onto the wax paper and make little mint chocolate disks. (See them in the picture below.) Place the cookie sheet into the fridge, and let the candies harden for at least 10 minutes.

You now have two choices. You can eat them as is (yum!) Or you can add them to a cup of steaming cocoa (double yum!!) I went for the cocoa option.

The other thing you can do, if you really like minty hot chocolate, is take one of those little disks you made with the leftover chocolate, and let it sink into the bottom of your hot cocoa. It will start to melt, as you see below, and makes for the most delicious, rich cocoa you can imagine.

We had a bit of sugar overload tonight for our family night. We had a lesson about Christmas, and then enjoyed the cocoa and marshmallows, along with some gingerbread men that Elliott made for us.

Emma and Sophie's:

Andrew's:

He had to save some of it for tomorrow. :-)

Tis the Season

2010-11-30T16:05:00.000-05:00

It's once again time to send and receive Christmas cards. Most years, the hardest part for us is getting everyone to look at the camera and smile at the same time!

This year my good friend Lisa took some great pictures of the kids for me as a surprise for Elliott's birthday. I think we'll be using one for our card. So now my dilemma is: What card to use??

Luckily, Shutterfly, is running a great promotion for bloggers: if you share their card collection on your blog, you can get 50 free holiday cards. Get more information about the promotion by clicking here.

We have actually ordered from Shutterfly in the past, and I have always been pleased with their card selection and quality. Once again, I find myself loving so many cards they offer. I've been perusing their holiday cards for several weeks now, and have finally narrowed down my favorites.

One of my favorite from their stationery Christmas card line:

Another cute card:

Shutterfly also offers holiday photo cards. How fun is this card?

Every year I look forward to receiving Christmas cards from friends who are far from us. The last several years I have kept the cards we have received, and each year when we decorate our home, the kids and I spend some time looking at the cards. I love to see how everyone's families are growing, and remember the fun times we have had with our friends!

Have you decided what cards to send yet? Be sure to visit Shutterfly to see what they offer. And if you have a blog, don't forget to find out how you can receive 50 free cards!

This post was sponsored by www.shutterfly.com

Picture of the Day

2010-11-26T21:22:00.000-05:00

Overheard

2010-11-21T19:15:00.000-05:00

Me (to the kids): Next year for Halloween you guys should be Peter, Edward, Susan, and Lucy (from the Chronicles of Narnia,) and Henry can be Aslan.

Sophie: Or Henry can be hors d'oeuvre.

Me and Elliott: An hors d'oeuvre???

Sophie: No! A dwarf!

Sunday afternoon photoshoot

2010-11-19T22:13:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting to update the picture in my blog header for a few weeks now. I thought it was time we added Henry to the mix. Elliott and the kids indulged me last Sunday afternoon. Here's how it went down:

Before we even added Sophie or Henry, the dogpile on Andrew had the kids cracking up.

Once we added Sophie and Henry, the giggles were non stop. Except for Henry.

He wondered what all the fuss was about.

Who are these crazy people?

We thought we would try a different position. Look carefully at Emma.

She is about to pee her pants she is laughing so hard.

Want to know what happened moments before?

Oops! Sorry big brother.

We sure love this happy little guy.

We kind of think he matches his pajamas.

2010-11-18T10:23:00.000-05:00

I don't have a design blog

2010-11-15T08:43:00.000-05:00

but if I did, I would totally showcase this purse:

pictures of Henry coming later today!

oops

2010-11-06T09:57:00.000-04:00

Ethan's blog is actually powerrangers2001.blogspot.com

Sorry!

Overheard

2010-11-04T20:47:00.000-04:00

Sophie, looking into her bowl of super yummy corn chowder Elliott made for dinner tonight:
"Are we having throw-up for dinner?"

For the grandparents and cousins

2010-11-04T19:14:00.000-04:00

Along with having his own email address, Andrew now has his own independent blog: mylifeasanentomologist.blogspot.com. Some good posts up, you should check it out!

Also, Ethan has started updating his blog. Since he doesn't have his own email address, it's attached to my blogger account, but it's really him posting: powerrangers.blogspot.com
(PS - he wants me to let you know that the power rangers address is from when he was little... He's not a fan anymore!) :-)

The effects of sugar on our children

2010-11-01T08:32:00.001-04:00

Wow! Whose children are those? Seriously, I can't believe how crazy they got. I've never seen this before!

For some actual Halloween goodness, including costumes and pumpkins, see Elliott's blog.

Overheard

2010-10-27T13:27:00.000-04:00

Random comment from Sophie: Mom, I love my ancestors.

Growing up (wah!)

2010-10-20T14:41:00.027-04:00

We had two birthdays in our house this week. First, Sophie turned 4 on Tuesday! She is such a joy to have in our home. She is full of excitement about life, and has a great sense of humor.

She came home from school sporting this spectacular birthday crown. Her class had a fun celebration, including yummy chocolate cupcakes she brought to share.

Her party was last Saturday. She decided to host a tea party for a few of her adorable little friends, and we decided to dust off the china for the occasion. Note to self: next time skip the cute tea sandwiches, and stick with PB&J cut into fun shapes.

For the second birthday, this little guy turned 2 months on Wednesday. I really shouldn't say little though. He weighed in at 14lbs, 8.5oz, which puts him in the 97th percentile!

We are so blessed to have five wonderful children! We are having a fun time being entertained by Grandma and Grandpa, with Bamma and Pa coming to join us tomorrow.
Have a great weekend!

Cheeks

2010-10-13T11:25:00.001-04:00

I'm not sure they could be any chubbier.

A quilt of her own

2010-10-09T19:01:00.000-04:00

When Emma was four, she started begging me to let her sew. I thought that by telling her she could start sewing when she was six, she would forget about it, but she would pester me every few weeks, especially if I was spending a good amount of time on the sewing machine.

So you may remember that for her 6th birthday, she got my old sewing machine, and a small fabric stack of charm squares. She got right to work sewing, and with a surprisingly little amount of help from me, recently finished this quilt.

I think it turned out so cute!

Of course, as soon as she finished the top, she was ready to start a new quilt, but I wanted to ~~break her of my bad habits~~ help her learn to finish before she starts a new one, so I had her help me layer and baste the quilt together, and then I helped her guide it through the machine for the quilting. I did the binding, but with Henry's arrival it took me a while to finish hand stitching it down.

As soon as Henry is a wee bit older, I told her we can start a new quilt; one that will be lap sized for her. Hopefully we will get it done a little faster this time!

Henry asks:

2010-10-07T09:19:00.000-04:00

Hey guys, do these stripes make me look fat?

Photos for the birthday Babe

2010-10-02T20:21:00.001-04:00

Today is Elliott's birthday. He didn't want a gift, but it is hard for me to not give him anything, so I secretly enlisted the help of my friend Lisa to get some photos of all the kids together, as we didn't have any group shots yet.

The kids and I framed a couple of shots, made Elliott's favorite dinner, and made one of his favorite pies for dessert.
Happy birthday, Babe!

Overheard

2010-09-29T13:55:00.000-04:00

Sophie: Mom. The thing about Henry is... He needs a new thing to stop crying. A stopper.

What Sunday afternoons are made for:

2010-09-26T19:29:00.000-04:00

Cuddling with Henry

Getting every last drop of the creme Anglaise that Elliott made to go with his flour-less chocolate cake

Trying to get Henry to smile

Success!

Enjoying his chubby thighs

He is so much fun!

Babywearing

2010-09-14T16:51:00.000-04:00

I'm a firm believer in holding my babies as much as possible. But with five children and a busy household, I need my hands available to get work done, so I'm really grateful for the abundance of babywearing options on the market today.
Henry seems to like being worn too... He usually falls asleep pretty quickly after being put on, in fact, sometimes, if he is having trouble falling asleep, I put him in the sling and he is out within five minutes.

I really love my Sakura Bloom ring sling. I've used pouch type slings before, but they never really fit very well. I love my ring sling because it is adjustable, so it fits perfectly!

Babywearing with the proper sling or wrap really does allow you to accomplish a lot while still being able to hold your baby. I do laundry, make dinner, bake, sweep, vacuum, and many other household tasks.

(the sling in action at the park recently)

I also really love my Lovey Dud. This is a stretchy wrap, so it will only work while Henry is still pretty little. But it keeps him secure and snug right next to me. It will be especially nice in the winter, when I want to wear him under my coat with me.

Of course,it's always great when the kids can hold Henry for me too. Sophie and Emma especially like to hold him while he's sleeping. They settle onto the couch with a favorite book or two, and can read and hold him for an hour or more. This is so helpful for me!

(Unhappy he isn't being held!)

We love our little dude!

It's no fun being sick

2010-09-08T08:04:00.000-04:00

This week we started a new rule in our house. If you don't eat all of your dinner (especially those green things on the plate), you don't get to buy lunch at school the next day. We're harsh, I know. But I want to assure my kids are actually getting the nutrition available to them.
Last night we had chicken kabobs for dinner, which Elliott grills with tomatoes, green bell pepper, and onion. Totally yummy! Unless you are under the age of 30, in which case it seems they are totally not yummy.
Ethan looked at the lunch menu for today, and saw that the school was serving cheeseburgers, one of his favorite foods, so he knew he had to tackle the veggies.
He almost didn't make it, as he was gagging on the tomatoes (what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger, right?), but he persevered and finished his whole meal.
Unfortunately, he woke up this morning with a severe sore throat and barking cough. No school for him, which means, as he told me, he ate his veggies for nothing.

He's two weeks old today.

2010-09-03T18:41:00.000-04:00

We are in love

2010-08-31T06:38:00.001-04:00

The first thing the kids want to do when they get home from school is hold him.

Grandpa and Henry sharing a nap.

Modeling one of the adorable onsies made for him by his aunt Jennie.

Daddy's favorite way to take a work break.

In case you haven't heard...

2010-08-24T11:28:00.000-04:00

Henry has arrived. We've posted on FB, but there might be a few of you who read my blog that aren't on FB, and still wondering.
Henry came Friday night at 10:35pm. A whopping 9 lbs. 13oz, and 22 inches long.
We are in love!
I'm not sure when I'll be updating with pics, so if you would like to see some photos and a cute video, you can visit Elliott's blog: chuckylarms.blogspot.com

40 weeks, and counting...

2010-08-15T20:26:00.000-04:00

Whoa big momma. I'm not sure it was a good idea to want to document my growth online. There it is though... my belly at 40 weeks, 1 day. I've gained 43.5 lbs, and don't have any maternity clothes that fit anymore. I'm so big that even my size large shirts don't fit anymore. Still, I shouldn't complain. I'm in great health, and Henry seems to be healthy too. At my appointment on Friday I was almost 4 centimeters dilated, and 80% effaced, so it can't be too far off. Luckily, my doctor won't induce until I hit 42 weeks, and I'm betting Henry will come before then.

Tonight we had a little bit of fun with the kids, guessing the day we think Henry will be born, and how much he will weigh:

Sophie - Saturday, Aug.21 - 45lbs. (yikes!)
Emma - Friday, Aug. 20 - 6 lbs.
Ethan - tomorrow, Aug. 16 - 8 lbs. 2 oz.
Andrew - tomorrow, Aug. 16 - 9 lbs. 8 oz.
Elliott - Tuesday, Aug. 17 - 8 lbs. 8 oz.
Me - tomorrow, Aug. 16 - 9 lbs. 7 oz.

38 weeks

2010-08-01T19:38:00.001-04:00

Andrew really wants Henry to be born on his birthday, but that would mean I still have about 4 weeks to go. Here's hoping he comes a little earlier than that.

How many times have we posted this picture?

2010-07-30T17:32:00.000-04:00

I can't help it... I just love it!
(Sophie, about 5 months old.)

37 weeks

2010-07-23T14:28:00.000-04:00

Look out, big belly coming through!

(37 weeks, in all my swayback glory)

I'm officially 37 weeks tomorrow, but what does that really mean? I've had one induction (2 days before I was due), 2 late babies, and one early. So theoretically, I could still be pregnant 5 weeks from now. And frankly, I'm thinking that might be the case. Although I hope not. Because that will mean my parents will be on their way home when Henry decides to show himself. :-{
For some reason though, I do think he is going to be late. And BIG. I hope I'm wrong. But what else can I think when my waist is measuring 44 inches and I still have several weeks to grow?

I had my Group B Strep test today. My OB asked me if I wanted her to check and see if anything is happening. I declined. No need to get my hopes up. I just read Ethan's birth story a couple of days ago (he loved it!), and had forgotten that I walked around dilated to at least a 4 with him for 2 weeks before going into labor. And I was at a 4 for at least 5 days before I was induced with Andrew, so I know that whatever work my body is doing at the moment means nothing as far as when I will go into labor. (I didn't bother getting check with the girls either.)

This morning Sophie was getting dressed, but she was more interested in dancing around in her underwear than putting on her shirt and skirt. I told her she needed to quite putting on a show in her birthday suit, and she said, "It's not my birthday!"
"I know," I replied. "It's called your birthday suit when you don't have any clothes on because that is how you look when you are born... on the day of your birth."
"But Henry has a diaper on in your tummy." she said.
"Nope, he's naked. We'll put a diaper on him when he comes out."

She didn't believe me.

35 weeks

2010-07-11T10:32:00.000-04:00

Elliott and I went on a date last night. It feels like we haven't done that in forever. We have an awesome Indian restaurant near our house which we went to for dinner, and then afterwards we went to the IMAX theater and saw Tahiti Big Wave in 3D. It was a really cool movie. Poor Elliott. He misses living near the beach and being able to surf.

Anyway, we had a little while before the movie began, and I was saying (as I say about once a week) that I am getting so big I don't think I can possibly get any bigger. There was no one around, so we took a picture.

Compare that to this picture of me pregnant with Sophie. We just happened to snap a few pics the night before she was born.

Hmmm, looks like yes, I do still have some growth ahead of me. And Sophie even came 6 days early!

I have to say that my kids are being great about helping around the house, as there is just a lot I can't do. The boys especially do a lot for me, including now even emptying out the dishwasher. We are having such a great summer. I'm bummed school will be starting in just one month. It is too early.

We are planning to spend the next few weeks mostly just hanging out. We won't put together Henry's nursery until after my parents and Elliott's parents come to visit him, so there isn't much to do except frequent the pool, eat all the yummy ice cream Elliott has been making, and wait for our first tomatoes to ripen (soon!)

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T07:44:00.000-04:00

I'd like to recognize 3 amazing men this beautiful Sunday morning:

My dad, who has always been supportive of me, and a great example to me. I have many fond memories of fun adventures we took together when I was a child, and I love hanging out with him now just as much!

My husband, who I am so lucky to have as the father of my children (but that's a story for another blog post.)

And my father-in-law, who is also a wonderful man and father.

I am constantly thanking the Lord that I am blessed to have such wonderful men in my life.

Love you all!

Once upon a time...

2010-06-20T07:33:00.000-04:00

there was this really cute boy who was attending university. He caught the eye of a girl who lived across the hall from him, and so she flirted a bit until he noticed her too. They went out a few times, and the girl was madly in love, but for some reason she didn't do a great job of showing it, so the boy stopped asking her out. Luckily one of the girl's roomates decided to go junior high on both of them, and told the boy's roomate that the girl was really sad he wasn't asking her out anymore. That remedied the situation, and after dating for a little while longer, they were married.

(super cute boy)

After they had been married for a little while, they decided that although life was pretty exciting, they could make it more exciting by having a baby.

They were right. Life with one more was more exciting. And if life with one more was exciting, how would a second one be?

That's right... even better!

Of course, the boy needed a little girl to wrap him around her finger, so they had one of those down the road.

But one wasn't quite enough... the boy, who had become quite the daddy, needed another little girl. After a couple of years, she made her appearance:

The daddy had all kinds of skills. He taught his children to surf and snowboard, he made lots of super yummy meals and desserts for them, he taught them how to read, and played sleeping monster and other fun games with them. It turns out he even had amazing make-up skills, ensuring every Halloween they would have awesome costumes!

But something was missing... After all, if it was this fun to try and get 6 people to smile at the camera,

how much more fun would it be to get 7 people to look at the camera???

So the boy and the girl decided to have another little one join their family.
This was no small decision, as the girl got very sick the first few month of her pregnancies. Luckily, the boy loved his family so much he became daddy AND mommy for a while, while the girl moaned about smells from the floor of the bathroom.

Pretty soon the girl started feeling better, and the family eagerly awaited the birth of their next little guy. This story isn't over yet, but the girl is so grateful that the boy decided to take a chance on her. She wouldn't want a life any other way. She wouldn't have believed it was possible, but she is more madly in love with that boy than the day they were married. She is so happy he is the father of her children, and her eternal companion.

To be continued...

31 Weeks

2010-06-13T19:28:00.002-04:00

9 weeks until Henry is due to join us. I'm not holding my breath that he will come early, or even on time, but in the mean time we are enjoying a leisurely summer.
Here I am in all my 3rd trimester glory:

I've had a bit of weight gain and swelling recently...

But probably nothing to worry about.

The great thing is, the family has been having sympathy weight gain and swelling too:

(Click to enlarge)

It's so nice to know I have their support and love while being pregnant.

(cross posted on paisleyandpolkadots.com and facebook)

conversation

2010-06-06T19:39:00.000-04:00

Andrew: Mom, have you ever seen a cockroach in our house, besides the one we had as a pet?

Me: No, we don't have cockroaches in our house.

Andrew: Yes we do!

Me: No, we don't!

Andrew: Mom, cockroaches are everywhere, we have them.

Me: Andrew, you aren't telling people we have cockroaches in our house are you?

Andrew (after a moment of hesitation): No.

Me: Because you usually get them when your house is a health hazard, and I don't want people thinking our house is a health hazard.

Andrew: But mom, cockroaches are everywhere.

Me: sigh...

Bouffant!

2010-05-30T08:32:00.000-04:00

While searching my blog and Elliott's to see if I had written Sophie's birth story (I hadn't), I found lots of pictures of Sophie as a newborn. It was fun to show them all to Sophie.
I remember that Sophie had lots of hair, and I never really knew how to style it.
For some reason, this hairdo wasn't a keeper:

Emma was 8 days late and weighed 7lbs 5 oz. Sophie was 6 days early and weighed 8lbs. 5 oz. Andrew was 2 days early and weighed 8lbs 3 oz, and Ethan was 9 lbs 2 oz at 4 days late.

My brother Hugh is getting married (yay Hugh and Emily!) on August 14, which is my official OB chart due date, and the Open House my parents are hosting is on August 21. So I'm kind of hoping to deliver a little late, but then again, I'm probably going to be huge and swollen, so I will be praying to deliver early when August is upon us. (excuse the bad grammar... I'm tired.)

I'm taking guesstimates: When do you think Henry will be born, and how much will he weigh???

(crossposted at paisleyandpolkadots.blogspot.com and facebook)

28 weeks

2010-05-23T21:55:00.000-04:00

Can someone please explain why I always make such dorky faces in these photos???

We are all getting very excited for the little man to make his debut. I admit that I am not normally one of those people who get all gaga for babies, but the fact that we have a few little cuties at our church definitely makes me more excited for our own to come.

I got two comments at church today about how I must be due soon. Sigh... nope. I just get really huge during my pregnancies. Still 3 months to go! I've started getting a little swollen on my feet and ankles at the end of the day. I am definitely not looking forward to a hot and muggy summer. The kids have 3.5 days left of school, so tomorrow we are going to start planning our summer activities. I think we'll spend a great majority of our time at the pool!

As you saw in a previous post, we are almost 100% certain we will be naming this little guy Henry. Elliott and I really wanted to be able to choose names from our family history of people who had strong testimonies of Jesus Christ, and were faithful in the gospel. We are going with Henry for his first name, which is my paternal great-grandpa's name, and Clayton for his middle name, which is Elliott's maternal great-grandpa's name. Two very amazing men who will be great examples to him throughout his life.

Hope you all have a great week!

Email from the kids' school

2010-05-19T13:05:00.000-04:00

Dear Parents,

We have a wonderful opportunity on Monday for Field Day. People from the Indianapolis Colts organization will be coming out, as you have heard in communication from Mr. S******. We are hearing rumors that students think it would be funny and are planning to wear New Orleans Saints gear. Your child certainly does not have to wear Colts gear, but we believe wearing Saints gear would be in poor taste and would ask that you discourage your child from doing so. Each child is representing ******* Elementary School and we would like the Colts players to leave here feeling positive about their experience. Wearing Saints gear does not seem like a positive way to build a relationship with the Colts organization who has graciously agreed to donate their time to our school.

Sincerely-

******* *****, Vice Principal

Laundry

2010-05-13T21:57:00.001-04:00

Before and After

2010-05-04T19:03:00.001-04:00

Overheard

2010-04-29T14:54:00.000-04:00

This past Monday, for Family Home Evening, we decided to work on Andrew's Webelos Cub Scout badge and have a discussion about budgeting and family finances.

Me (after an explanation of what a mortgage is): Who knows how much we pay every month for our mortgage?
Emma: $50
Andrew: $20-$60
Ethan: $300
Andrew: Yeah, oh, I think it's $300 to $600
Sophie: 8 minutes

Me: How much do you think we spend on groceries every month?
Andrew: $30 to $100
Emma: $20
Ethan: $5000
Sophie: 6 minutes

Yeah.

We had a good (eye-popping and jaw-dropping, at least on the kids' part) discussion about finances.

Cleo's Big Surprise

2010-04-24T13:14:00.000-04:00

Here's the background: Last Fall, my mother was telling me how she really wanted to make my youngest sister Cleo a quilt for college, but with the holidays coming up, and as busy as she was with her long arm quilting business, she wasn't going to be able to find the time. The wonderful, sweet, loving daughter and sister that I am, I agreed to make it... as long as the pattern was super easy. After all, I knew that I, too, had the holidays coming up, and I was hoping for a little meatball to be in the oven before long, when I knew I would get super sick, so I knew it had to be something I could get done quickly!

Mother was extremely grateful, agreed the pattern could be of my choosing, and asked what pattern I thought I wanted to make. I had her find out from Cleo what fabrics Cleo wanted first (she chose Mary Engelbreit's Attitude Girls line) , and then I designed a 4-patch with sashing that I thought would show off the fabrics well.

The fabrics Cleo wanted were pre-order... they were due to come out in October. That was fine, I thought. I'll have plenty of time to get the quilt made, and we could take it with us when we went out West for the holidays. Well, October came and went, and the fabric still hadn't been released. Then November, for sure it would come out in November. Nope... November came and went, and still no fabric. I was starting to get nervous because I had lots to do before we left for California, and was rather dismayed when the fabric arrived 4 days before we were supposed to leave. I could have finished the quilt, but then I couldn't have done any of the other things that needed doing, and I value my sanity too much, so I decided to wait until we got back from our trip.

Of course, then I found out I was pregnant, and by the time we got back, I was sick, so the quilt fabrics sat in the corner (literally) gathering dust.

Finally, about 2 weeks ago, I saw the fabrics again, and decided it was now or never, as I was finally feeling pretty good. I finished Cleo's quilt top on Tuesday, and I am happy with how it turned out.

Unfortunately, these are the best pictures you are going to get, because on Tuesday, I started getting sick again. Not nauseous, but I have been having weird stomach pains and the throw-ups, and pretty much haven't been good for much, including taking stunning shots of the quilt. Oh, the joys of pregnancy.

So Cleo: Surprise! Here's your quilt top! Hopefully the quilt will make it safely to California (never know with the USPS), and once it is quilted and bound, I will have more and better pictures to show!

Have a great weekend!

(cross-posted on facebook and at paisleyandpolkadots.blogspot.com)

Tragedy strikes!

2010-04-20T16:36:00.001-04:00

That title got your attention, didn't it?!? Trust me though, if we were dealing with a real tragedy here, I wouldn't introduce it that way.
Anyway.
If you are an avid reader of Elliott's blog (which you should be!), you would have seen this post a few days ago. You'll notice at the end of the post that Elliott put the rabbits back in the grass so momma bunny could come rescue them. Unfortunately, the little bunnies and their momma didn't get that message. And then, our dear children, along with half the neighborhood, decided to hold the bunnies hostage in a glass cage that formerly was empty and residing in our garage.
Elliott and I didn't realize what they had done because the cage was hidden behind the garage which you have to go past the deck to see, and we haven't done that for a couple of days.
Also, I think it is important to note here that at least one of the bunnies has mites in it's ears. So we have been telling our kids (and the gazillion neighbor kids who can't leave the poor bunnies alone) to stay away from the rabbits. And yet every day I see the rabbits being held.
So this morning, we send the boys out to the bus stop, and next thing I know Ethan is beating on the back sliding glass door that leads to the kitchen. I open the door and he says (almost about to cry), "There's a big hole in the cage!"
That's when I realized the reason the bunnies weren't leaving is that the kids had put them in the old abandoned cage. I was so irritated that I told him to get to the bus stop and leave the rabbits alone.
It occurred to me a few moments later that something must have gotten into the cage, although I expected to see a hole in the screen at the top.
When I went out to investigate, this is what I saw:

The glass is going inwards, which means something busted the glass from the outside. It's a complete mystery to us. Anyhow, one rabbit was missing, and the other was extremely scared and cowering in the corner when I took the lid off. I let the other rabbit go and am hoping it eventually will make it's way outside our fence boundary, although I just as I am typing this a neighbor girl walked into the kitchen holding it... I can't wait for the lawsuit when one of these rabbits bites a neighbor child!

This was Emma's reaction when she found out what had happened:

I think I may have to take some action and put the rabbit in the yard of the under construction house behind us. Let them deal with it!

Anyway, speaking of rabbits, I haven't posted a picture of my not-really-expanding-at-the-moment belly. This is me at my current gestation of 24.5 weeks. (Excuse the dorky look, but Elliott told me I had to smile.) I think I'm expanding upwards at the moment, rather than out. Whatever works, right? :-)

(cross-posted at facebook and paisleyandpolkadots.blogspot.com)

Hiding

2010-04-19T17:08:00.000-04:00

Today we had a repairman from GE come to fix (again!!) our dishwasher. Sophie decided she didn't want him to see her, so she hid behind this chair in our family room. She stayed there for about 25 minutes, and then had to use the bathroom, so she came and found me to tell me. I said she could go ahead and use it, but she gave me a look like there was no way she was going to use the bathroom on the main level of the house(right near us) when the repairman was around. I suggested she goes use a bathroom upstairs which she happily bounded away to do.
When she came back down, I asked her why she didn't want the repairman to see her. She said she was "shy of him." She never did let him see her, silly girl.

I was hoping to be able to show you pictures of the big project I've been working on the past week, but didn't make any progress over the weekend because we spent the weekend at Purdue's Bug Bowl. If you haven't seen our pictures from Elliott's blog, you will definitely want to click here.

A parting word: Never buy GE appliances.

(cross-posted at facebook and paisleyandpolkadots.blogspot.com)

The Year of the Boy

2010-04-16T18:31:00.001-04:00

This summer 3 baby boys will be added to the ever growing list of grandchildren my wonderful in-laws have. Not only that, but my father in law has two little grand-nephews being born this year also. Maybe it's caused by global warming. :-)

My two new little nephews were the perfect opportunity to get back into making baby stuff!

My brother-in-law Lincoln and his wife Mimi are getting ready to welcome their first child into their home, about the same time I'm due in August. Lincoln is a maniac when it comes to baseball, so what better way to say congratulations than with baseball gear for their little guy. I made a little whole cloth baseball quilt for baby David, and found him a little matching outfit he should fit into just in time for next year's baseball season.

My sister-in-law Stephanie and her husband Mike are expecting their 4th baby (2nd son) in the next few weeks. I figure Stephanie probably has plenty of quilts by now, but little Elliot definitely needed his own initialed baby gear. The pants are made from a pattern in Amy Butler's Little Stitches book. Super easy, and I think adorable. The picture doesn't really do them justice.

Baby Elliot also is getting a new burp cloth that doesn't match at all, but I am super in love with the Michael Miller 2D Zoo line, so I bought enough for a few baby items.

These will all start wending their way out west very soon! In the meantime, I'm almost finished with a super secret project that I can't wait to show you.
Have a great weekend!

(Cross-posted on paisleyandpolkadots.blogspot.com and facebook.)

To Do List

2010-04-14T19:21:00.000-04:00

image via ibreakplates.com

Baby is due in 4 months, and I have a list of 7 things I MUST get sewn before then:

1 - car seat canopy

2 - changing pad and diaper/wipes clutch

3 - pioneer dresses and aprons for the girls

4 - quilt top I agreed to sew for mom (more on that coming soon, I hope!)

5 - quilt for our little swedish meatball

6 - pants and shirt set for above mentioned dude

7 - hospital gown (I hate the ones they give you to use!)

I had two more items; one is all the way crossed off, the other is mostly crossed off but requires a trip to Joann. Those are both top secret... I'll have reports on them soon though! Originally I also had a diaper bag on the list, but I found one on Etsy I love. By the time I added up my time and materials costs, I realized it was going to be easier to just buy the one I found.

What are YOU working on at the moment?

Easter Morning

2010-04-13T11:18:00.000-04:00

Easter morning dawned not too cold... perfect for an outdoor egg hunt. Believe it or not, this is the best picture Elliott could get of all the kids. Someone (or two) always has to make a silly face. :-)

Emma and Sophie were the victorious winners of the "who can get the most eggs game". Luckily they were willing to split the loot evenly with their brothers.

This is what a big chocolate bunny looks like once it's been eaten!

We were lucky to have Elliott's parents here to share the day with us. Since it was General Conference, we got to stay home and watch very uplifting addresses on the Savior and a few other topics over the TV. It was a great day.

PS - For those interested... the girls' Easter dresses were made from this pattern at youcanmakethis.com It is a super easy pattern. Next time I think I might leave the bottom ruffle off. And in real life, the collars don't look quite to clownish!

(cross-posted at facebook and paisleyandpolkadots.blogspot.com)

Conversations

2010-04-05T19:24:00.000-04:00

Sophie and Emma were discussing who Sophie could marry. After Sophie ran through a litany of ideas, (including a hippopotamus,) Emma finally decided to make it clear:

Emma: It has to be a boy, but you have to kiss him when you are getting married.

Sophie: Yuck!

I know... revolting to have to kiss a boy. Haha. Can we keep them this age forever please!

And the tie breaker goes to...

2010-03-26T14:06:00.001-04:00

Our doctor appointment went great today.
I was momentarily nervous when the ultrasound technician pointed to the skin on the baby's neck and said, "This is the baby's neck skin. This is a marker for Down's Syndrom."
"What??" I thought.
"We like to see a number under 5, and it's well under 5."
Wow, I think she needs to reverse how she tells someone their child doesn't have a strong marker for Down's. But all is good. She was very nice, and had fun showing all the body parts to Sophie.

The baby has all it's facial features (although it does look a bit ghoulish in this shot!)

Look at that cute profile!

The baby has all ten toes...

And all ten fingers.

When I called my mom to tell her what we are expecting gender wise, I held the phone out to the girls.

"Tell Grandma what we're having," I encouraged.
In chorus they both yelled, "Cottage cheese and chips!!"

Uhm, not for lunch girls. :-)

So ten fingers, ten toes, and a little something else too:

(cross posted on Facebook and at paisleyandpolkadots.blogspot.com)