Moxley

Wedding Helper

2012-01-28T00:30:00.000-07:00

Nicole is getting married!
YAY for her and Carter.
She so nicely put me in charge of a few things!

Guest Page

Nicole and Carter Subway Art for a gift

It was stressful cause I wanted it to be perfect, but it was fun too!

In fact I had to make one for Justin and I…

I kinda got carried away and made another one…

Pre K Packs

2012-01-27T00:30:00.000-07:00

"Mommy can we do a craft or something today?" K

I hear this everyday.

Its cute, bless her heart.

Good thing the craft world and I like Pintrest, Google and Blogs.

Lately the girls are all about Pre K packs.

A likes the matching, numbers and size sequencing and K likes the practice cutting and writing.

I wish they liked the Alphabet sheets more….

Beware Iphone Photos

The girls don't always want to focus for long. So I do what I can to keep them going…

instead of using glue 24/7 we sometime switch to tape. The girls LOVE tape.

Pens or markers instead of always crayons.

When A completes a puzzle or match she would take a photo with my Iphone.

Stickers, when they are done a page, Mommy puts a fancy dorky sticker on top.

And the Best one, the girls save their pictures and work to show Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa and ect….

*See Brother standing beside A? He pulls himself to stand at their table and tries to "help?" At least thats what I tell A he is doing. He goes for those papers and his sisters squeal in protest… oh its gonna be fun watching him grow up with 2 sisters!!

Love you

2012-01-26T06:30:00.000-07:00

Its hard being apart.
Somedays harder then others.
We must have been on the same page last weekend.
Justin came home 4 hours early and surprised me with FLOWERS!

Iphone Photo

At the same time I was at home making him a photo collage with the help of Duck Tape (his fav).

Totally on the same page eh? lame ;) but true
Anyway- I loved the flowers and the thought that went into them.
The girls loved them too.
Brother loved them even more- in fact Sunday night he loved them so much he grabbed em, spilled em (on grandpa), and ate em.
He killed them.
So Monday morning the girls did a craft with Mommy's dead flowers from Daddy.

K asked if we could rip more flowers apart.
Opps.
Guess I need to be more clear about flowers and their REAL purpose.
Thank you again Justin for my flowers.
I loved them both ways.
well…. maybe I loved them more the first way.

Blog to Book 1

2012-01-25T09:56:00.004-07:00

I got my 2010 Family Blog Book Yesterday!!!
YAY! WOOT WOOT.

I am so excited!! I choose Blog to Print for this Book. I chose them mostly because of price, convince of having them do it and I couldn't get Blurb to work.
Here are my pros and cons….

Pros:
We have a hard copy journal of 2010 for the girls to look at.
Blog to Print did all the work for me. I just entered my blog address.
Blog to Print did all the work for me. I just entered my blog address.
Blog to Print did all the work for me. I just entered my blog address….. get how great that was?*
If Google ever loses my blog, or more likely it gets accidentally erased I have a copy.
They let me do 248 pages for $135

*Have you looked around at software where you do your own layout and photo size, page arrangement ….ect…. its hard! At least personally I found it extremely time consuming and stressful- mind you I just wanted to get it done.
*FYI our 2010 book is a 1 inch thick! :)

Cons:
Photos are all same size. I would have liked them way bigger. Granted this would have drove the price up, but I would rather pay more for bigger photos.
When a Blog Post only took up 2/3 of a page they started another post….even if the title just fit. I would rather have the titles at the top of the page.
AND- this is my own fault- I should have named it Moxley 2010. Oops.

Anyone who has done this before have any advice… what company did you use to do this??

Anyways. I still LOVE it and the girls LOVE it even more. I am sure my love for this book will grow through the years!!

Snapshots

2012-01-24T10:48:00.001-07:00

Aunt Laura doing Nails

Playing Princess and Ballerina

Mommy giving loves

Brother learned to go pull himself to standing. He also LOVES the stairs, he can go halfway up then get stuck or fall. Fun times.

Julius Drinks…. Yum!

Went and saw Great Grandma Chipman last weekend. A took like 15 pictures of her with the Iphone. I love Grandma Chipman, and the fact that her house smells like Tide and Sunday Dinner Roast.

Netflix…. was it a good idea??

Puzzles with Auntie.

Routine =Learning

2012-01-23T09:42:00.001-07:00

We have a bedtime routine. Snack, usually rice crispy's or a raw hot dog and a cheese string, then pajamas scripture reading, prayers, tuck them in and then drinks and lights out.

Most of the time we struggle to get the girls to listen to a column of scripture, so to get their attention we sing songs before and after reading. A likes to sing the ABC's and K likes to sing Jesus wants me for a sunbeam, but we are also learning The Books of the Book of Mormon.

These videos are the girls showing Daddy how much they are learning. And Yes, A's face is got ketchup all over it, cause she was eating hot dogs, try and see past it… its distracting I know...BUT the funny part of these videos is how much of the girls personality come out.

Here is K. Dancing around as she sings. Very typical of her…. best part she totally wipes out also very typical.

Then heres A singing. I tried to video her twice. The fist time she made me stop because she wanted to do it herself,the second time she starts off by herself THEN she lets me help. Not only that, she also freaks out when K sings with her… typical.

They crack me up.

12 on 12th …. or 12 on 17th

2012-01-20T09:50:00.001-07:00

Baby Whisperer

2012-01-19T13:11:00.000-07:00

I am the Baby Whisperer

Actually... I am the exhausted, bags-under-the-eyes, gonna pass out, Baby Whisperer

With both our girls we did Sleep Training, well actually Daddy did the sleep training. With K Mommy would burst into tears and with A Mommy was too busy trying to deal with K. Daddy isn't here to help me sleep train so I kept putting it off. Now waking up every 2 hours is getting to me and Brother is getting worse and worse, so it was time to do some sleep training. I kept putting it off, cause once you start you have to be very consistant. NOT STOPPING until they are trained. It can be very exhausting.

Anyways back to the Baby Whisperer.
Best time to train your Baby in the proper Sleep Patterns is 4-8 months. Brother is going to be 8 months old in a few weeks, so its now or never.

4years ago our good friends Ryan and JuYoung gave us this book.

We had just found out we were expecting our 2 child, our first child was 5 months old. We were chuckling about it, but in reality I was bawling inside. You see at this point we were still rocking K to sleep and the news that another was on his/her way made us realize K would eventually have to sleep on her own.

So I took a deep breath, and this week I started.
Here's how we sleep train.

1. Make sure he is calm

2. Make sure he is feed and not hungry

3. Use a short routine to let him know it is nap time/bedtime. With brother I carry him into the dark room, check his bum, and sing to him for a min.

4. Put him in his crib while he is sleepy but awake.

Justin sleeping on K's floor.. she took FOREVER
to train!!

5. For the first couple days I stay in the room. I sit right beside the crib, so he can see, staying very quiet. When starting to fuss (fuss not cry) I will go "shhh shh shh" in a soft mommy voice, sometimes I will reach in and touch him so he knew I am near. If he starts to cry I pick him up and sooth him, then once he is calm I lay him back down. Now the first couple of times this is the longest step ever. Only work on this step for a hour. If they don't go to sleep, pick them up and do not let them nap until the next nap time. Then do it all over again.

Now in the book they suggest doing this until they go to sleep successfully for a week. Those of you with 3 kids or more, know that is slightly difficult, with other children needing you. So for Brother I did it for 2 days until he knew I wasn't going to rock him to sleep, he learned quick, something to do with being a third Im sure. With K (our first) this step took over a month before she was calm enough for us to leave the room. IT was brutal.

6. After they have mastered step 5 you lay them down and leave the room. Go back in every 3 mins when they are fussing, calm them with a touch or word, then leave. If he CRIES I pick him up and sooth him. This step is repeated until they are able to sleep on their own.

Obviously the Book goes into way more detail. And by no means am I saying let your child cry it out, we do not agree with that. But yes when they are learning to sleep on their own, fussing will happen. If you are a parent you know the difference between fussing and cry/screaming.

Once Brother sleeps on his own and can sooth himself to sleep then we are hoping he will sleep at longer intervals through the night! Today I laid him down for his morning nap and I only had to go in once and go "sh sh sh" - next thing I know he is out like a light!! And last night he woke up the same number of times, but he was WAY easier to put back to sleep and I didn't have to nurse him as long to put him back to sleep!
YAY now maybe I can get some sleep!!

K Update

2012-01-18T16:46:00.003-07:00

Someones playing a trick on me. Time is being stolen right in front of me!!!

Above: August 2011

Below: January 2012

I cant believe I have a FOUR YEAR OLD!

she is no longer my baby, she is reminding me everyday she's the oldest
she can pour milk without spilling
goes to preschool 3 afternoons a week, and is excited to go
she is such a big help with her brother
she loves brother and plays with him most of the day. Moving him from where he is playing so that he can play right beside her.
she can sing songs I didn't know she knew
she loves candy and sugar. She will say, "Mom I think I need sugar" WHAT? Thats her Daddy form coming out
she is a horrible eater. She is always the last one done, and even then Mommy usually helps her finish
she is such a sweetheart. Always protecting her siblings
she is also a leader, errrr she like to be in charge of play time. Oh anytime really.
she is SOOO picky about her clothes. She picks her clothing everyday, except when we are doing something and Mommy needs to pick. Then its usually a fight
she wants her hair down all the time. If Mommy puts something in it, she RIPS it out
she gives the best hugs, and she will let me hold her for "Mommy face time"
she loves her sister and plays with her 24/7. They do everything together.
she can buckle up and answer the phone.
she loves girlie things, pink and getting her finger nail painted
her favorite question to ask "Mommy can we do a craft today"
she thinks we need to be busy all the time. When we go to long without seeing additional friends she complains her cousins are missing her
BTW she still calls everyone her cousins
she likes to play dress up- either in a swimsuit or ballet costume
she is so emotional. Overly excited and happy one min and sobbing the next min
at 4:30 she becomes hyper… the crazy hyper
once she sets her mind to something, there is no changing it. All we get usually get is a massive fit when we try.
sometimes she just needs hugs, so she crawls on my lap and curls into me… I try and hold her as long as I can. Im gonna miss this
she likes princess her favorite is "all of them"
when she gets too tired she tell me.

This is way harder the older they get! In all K has grown to be a great big Sister and a Beautiful Daughter inside and out.

Doing these updates every once in a while is so fun. I love reading back and seeing how they were a year or so ago.

I wish I could do more…. like bottle my feelings, thoughts and time, and then when I want to remember I can just breath in and transport back to this special time of their lives.

I love my kids so much it hurts, and it hurts to know that everyday that passes they are getting older and I am never getting that day back.

Thats why I blog. Its my Journal with photos and its our daily family record that Daddy can see and be there with us. This is important to me. To us.

Love to Laugh

2012-01-17T13:49:00.000-07:00

I love to Laugh
It come naturally. Handed down through the generations.

Grandma is the best laugher.
AFV is her show.

Growing up I remember watching it as a family every Sunday night.
Justin and I do it with our girls now.

Now that we are with Grandma and Grandpa for a while,
AFV Sunday nights are even funnier.

A Update

2012-01-16T11:16:00.003-07:00

A has grown a ton in the last 6 months!

Above: August 2011

Below: January 2012

she is using sentences. Using the words with, the, it, when, why, what and if.
she can go to the bathroom without help
she gets dressed by herself
can play on the computer
she still naps, but occasionally will be miss and not be too miserable
gets her coat and boats on by herself
loves to help mom with cooking and baking
loves to snuggle, but only when she is upset about something
we are learning the books of The Book of Mormon and she LOVES singing the song
she likes Max and Ruby, Rugrats, but mostly Dora the Explorer
Honey and Mom is her favorite game
she loves helping Grandma get ready in the morning
she says I love you without provocation
she comes up with the funniest things like "My tummy needs more food!"
she runs everywhere, with her little arms swinging along
her fake laugh is hilarious
she thinks baby talk is when you stick your tongue out and yell- she does this often with Brother
she misses K terribly when K is at school
she cannot be left alone with Brother
TaTa is how she says K
she could play the ipad/iphone FOREVER
annoying her sister on purpose is one of her life callings
she naps like a dream, laying down so good and sleeping for 1.5-2.5 hours
her favorite foods are granola bars, raw hot dogs, oranges and Mommy's 7 grain bread with butter
she is scared of everything: Heights, animals, loud noises, etc...
every answer is no, this accompanied by the head shake
she is a great eater, there is nothing she wont eat
she will eat all of Daddy's onions for him, raw or cooked makes no difference
she wants to do everything without help, she will yell "Me do, Me self"
one of Grandpa's favorite A saying is "Yes me do too"
bath time is her favorite time of day
she loves babies anybody's baby
Blue is her favorite color. If its not blue, its not happening
Pajamas are her everyday wardrobe. When she HAS to get dressed, it has to be blue.
she is so happy 90% of the time
she says her prayers with and with out help- depending on her mood

Change of Plans

2012-01-15T15:38:00.001-07:00

We have been been ready, waiting and wanting to go to the temple.

Brother will now be ok for a couple hours with grandma while Justin and I do a temple session. So we have been planning our trip to the temple for Saturday the 14th for a while now. Saturday comes, we are up, everyone ready for the 2 hour drive, grandpa ready to watch the girls in Raymond, grandma coming to Cardston to watch Brother during the session, its 8:00 a.m, I am running around doing the last minute things... Then Grandma goes, you know what- I think the temple may be closed until Monday. Grandpa ran down to check on line and….. low and behold the temple is closed till Monday.
NOOOO….
Dang it.

So, 8:00 everyone up and ready for the day, with nothing to do.
After a quick impromptu to planing session,
we head out the door to go see the Calgary Alberta Temple under construction, shop at Cross Iron Mills and see Beauty and the Beast in 3D.

Favorite words of the day "Jesus like nice words, not mean ones" A yells this at Mommy and Daddy as they are play arguing in the front seat.

I also enjoy our talk about the temple. K wants to get married in the Cardston Temple, like Mommy and Daddy. A wants to get married ALL MYSELF in the Calgary Temple. She will do anything to be different.

It was not a warm morning to stand around… -13 was rather chilly. A was the only child who lasted longer then 2 mins outside.

The mall was fun like always. I had some Lebanese food at the food court, it was amazing!! We even saw a sled dog at the mall, promoting Canada winters and pkgs for you to buy to ride with a sled team. Honestly it looked really fun!

Funny little note about Beauty and the Beast. It started at 2:50 so we headed over at 2:30 to get our tickets and popcorn and stuffs…. we get everything head into the theature and the movie was almost over! What?!?!
Turns out my watch was wrong and it was only 1:50! Whoops.
We hung out for a hour and then headed to see the show. Luckly the kids were ok with Mommy's mistake, but Daddy was super annoyed.
Ok so my bad!

B Update

2012-01-13T13:12:00.000-07:00

Update on B

I can't believe he's 7 months old already!! Holy Smokes!

he crawls
he still nurses almost exclusively but
he drinks milk from a cup. only a cup. Don't even think about putting a bottle close to him
he will take a soother to sleep
he LOVES his table
he is in 9 month sleepers and almost out grown them
he is teething but no teeth yet
he eats every 2 hours, without fail
he naps in his swing. Once in the morning, once after lunch and once at about 5 till about 5:45
bedtime is 730-8 for him
he will NOT eat baby food. Only food off my plate.
he is a Mommies boy through and through
he will play beside his sisters, K is really soft, A is…. well she treats him like a doll
in the morning K come in my room and asks to play with him
he is a happy baby, unless he's hungry

Brother Story of Note:
This morning, after brother had woken up from his morning, K was downstairs playing with him while I finished making bread.After a bit K comes up whining and crying saying "Mommy my hands stink"

"Go wash them"

So she gets up to the Kitchen sink and washes them. When she's done I said, "Go and get Brother, bring him to me."

Off she goes- 2 mins I hear her pick him up and start to bawl, while she carries him. She's just sobbing, and saying "Now my hands stink again!!!"
So like a great mom I yell "K what is your problem now?" I walk around the corner and K is carrying Brother who has had a poop explosion. The poop is all over K's hands, knees and stomach, and all over Brothers back, butt and neck.

I laughed. Brother laughed. K cried louder.
Oh what a glorious mess to clean up.

Orange Julius Copycat

2012-01-12T12:28:00.001-07:00

We needed a fun afternoon snack.
I had pinned this, and I kid you not.

Shut the front door. Shut the back door.
Shut the windows.

We may have already drank more of this then is humanly healthy.
I may have given Brother a brain freeze, I sure gave myself one.
K drank more then I did…. well maybe not, but she drank tons.

Orange Julius Copycat

6 ounces orange juice concentrate (just scoop it right out of the freezer can, then put the rest back in the fridge for later)
4 cups milk (my kids love whole milk in this recipe the best)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups ice

Place all ingredients in your blender. Blend until frothy. Serve immediately and enjoy!

I did have leftovers, so I pour the leftovers into 4 cups (aka 4 small servings for K later) and froze it. Then in the morning I took 2 out and stuck them in the fridge. By later afternoon it was ready to eat!

PS. Wondering were A is during all this?

She was standing on a chair beside me, helping me make it. Once all ingredients were in the blender and I turned it on, it scared her, she screamed and grabbed on to me for dear life.

She won't even taste it now.

She's hilarious.

Love.

2012-01-11T13:13:00.001-07:00

I love life.

I love how A and B noses match.
I love how K has extremely expressive eyebrows.
I love Daddy's grin when he's trying not to grin.
I love how soft and kind K is with B.
I love how A is her own self.
I love B and his appetite.
I love lots more things.

I love life.

Ureters, Kidneys, Bladders, Infections and UV.

2012-01-09T13:48:00.001-07:00

My list is super long this Monday Morning.

Christmas and the Holidays have been busy like always- and life is getting back to normal.

Well instead of doing my list I ended up taking the girls to the Hospital, both have been not feeling good for a week or so and I called to get them into the Dr and was told.. middle of next week. Ya right.

Come to find out K has a yeast infection and A has a bladder infection- 3rd in 3 months.

What does that mean?

A trip back to the specialist to get checked.

That being said, I was reading some of the posts I wrote about A back when we were going through her tests, infections, surgery and healing and it was not very informative. So I thought I would just to a quick post on what exactly A had for those who google this stuff with the same questions I had 2 1/2 years ago.

When I was pregnant with A, I had a routine ultra sound and it showed that her right kidney was not operating the way it should. We watched her kidneys during her development and prepared for the worst. Luckily she was born with no other complications and we were able to hold on treatment until they did more tests.

We had 6 months of tests ahead of us. We found out 3 things.

1. She had a Extra Ureter, however it did not run into her Bladder like the above photo, it just ended. A ureter from her Right Kidney leading to no-where, it was like a balloon, starting from the kidney. It was full of stale urine and this kept giving her infections- over 15 in her first 6 months.

2. The top 1/3 of her Right Kidney was dead. She was born this way, think of it as a hunk of gunk hanging on the healthy part of her kidney. Her Right Kidney operates at 48%

Dead Kidney Tissue- Just imagine the whole top half of her Kidney looking like this.

3. She also had UV relfux. Meaning Urine would travel down and up her Ureter.

So when A was 6 months old she had surgery at the Calgary Children Hospital. Dr Antony Cook removed the dead part of her kidney, and he removed the extra ureter and stale urine. We also determined at that point that her UV reflex was grade 2 and did not need to be operated on at this point. She had the surgery, got a infection but got over it after 2 weeks and she healed rather well. It did take about 3 -4 months before she was her normal happy self again but all things considered she has been fine since… well until now. Hopefully this is just a few infections and things are still doing fine.

Reading back over my post, it looks very straight forward and simple. It wasn't. There were tests upon tests upon test. Hours and Hours driving to Calgary and in waiting rooms. Hours with a sick crying baby, knowing that you couldn't do anything until the DR's did more tests and until she met the infection criteria. Hours away from my other child who was 14 months old when A was born.

So if you are in this boat- with your kid. Trust the tests. The millions of tests.

Brother and Brother

2012-01-07T13:34:00.001-07:00

I was on the phone, a uncle Mark holding brother.

Next thing I know, Brother is in the sink taking a bath.... Not Mark, Baby Brother.

Mark plopped him in the sink, with his diaper ON, then he cleans the dishes out from around him. Then he turns the water on and just lets it run. I suggest putting the plug in, oh right he says.

After a while Mark decides maybe the diaper is getting to big, so he takes it off.

The water, still filing the sink, is not deep enough yet, and Uncle Mark gets peed on..Yup up and out of the sink right on Mark! Pa hahaha.

The sink get filled up, Uncle hands him toys, and says to me. "Ok Heather, gotta go. See you later." and walks out to go play some BBall with firends.

Umm....Thanks Mark!?!?

Hanging in Slave Lake

2012-01-06T09:31:00.001-07:00

Justin really encouraged me not come. He was stressed about us being bored, bothering the other workers, and the kids crying at night. I finally convinced him everything would be fine, and I came besides his protests.

It has been soo relaxing! And I think the other workers saw my kids once in 3 days.

The men get up and leave at 7:00 am to work. The kids and I are still in bed at that point, then we have the whole day to ourselves. We have been busy playing barbies, play dough, honey and mom, freeze dance, jungle gym, old maid, finger paint knowledge (that's what K calls nail polish), matching, helping Aunt Eugina cook, reading stories and even going on a cold winter walk. It's been great, the are almost no toys so everything is simple play. There is nothing for me to worry about or do so I get to just play and be with my babies.

By the time men start filtering in between 5-7 we are finishing up super, then Thursday night we went swimming...well we got wet. We got changed, into the pool and seven minutes in they cleared the pool because of Colorine levels. So we got out again, and solved some tears by getting ice cream! And Friday night we are leaving to drive home at 5!

Slave Lake

2012-01-05T08:17:00.001-07:00

We made it!!!

Yesterday the kids and I drove up to Slave Lake to spend some more time with Daddy! Err, and to bring him home- his truck broke down again over Christmas and so he towed it down with Dales truck, to get fixed (getting it fixed in Slave Lake is way more expensive) and then Dale drove our little car down.. Well we fixed the Truck and he took it back to work, but now he had no way to come home Friday. So thats one of the reasons we came up.

We left High River at 10 am and got here at 6 pm. Yup it took us all day, we stopped and played in Red Deer and Edmonton for a hour each. The drive went very smooth, Brother slept for most of it, and the girls watched movies, played with their new Christmas Disney Barbies, ate snacks and napped.

The only time we had any issues was about a hour out of Slave Lake. Brother was soo done with his car seat and cried for the last 40 mins. It was dark by then, on a single lane Highway and there were no pull offs! Poor little tyke!

Once we got here the girls were wired! We let them get their wiggles out and then finally got them to sleep at 9:30!!

So we are all sleeping in Daddy's room here in Slave Lake, and Brother still wakes up every two hours and at his last feeding at 5:15 he woke the girls up!! ARG!

So here I am blogging at 7:30 am from Slave Lake.

Rough House

2012-01-03T09:48:00.004-07:00

Daddy likes to Rough House… well actually K likes to wrestle, A will sometime will join in and Brother will look on with horrified interest.

Its a regular part of our life, Rough House, along with hearing Mommy saying "Please don;t jump on me, I am not Daddy!" or K yelling at the top of her lungs "Leeeeetts do this thing!"

3:30 -6:00 is when the girls get hyper crazy, and thats their favorite time to go at it. Thats also the time Mommy is wearing thin on her patients.

Thats when I take a deep breath and…… take some FUN PHOTOS!

Favorite way to Watch TV

2012-01-02T19:01:00.001-07:00

A New Year

2012-01-02T12:23:00.001-07:00

Happy 2012!

The first hours of our first 2012 day were rough.
Rough.
Justin and I were asked to speak in Church, which is great. No problem we were prepaired and ready to go- the we woke up and had 2 kids bawl all morning.

Can you tell which two?

It took us twice as long to get ready for church, K sobbed for a multitude of reasons, Brother was super grumpy and cried along with her, we wanted to snap a photo- this is the first time they paused in their tears and we arrived to church in a flurry.

So K went into CTR 4 and A started SUNBEAMS!
My girls are getting so big!

A new sunbeam- your so funny A!

Our new CTR 4-she couldn't stop crying, she was trying, but her tears were a flowing.

What a odd morning for us…. we did learn a few things though-
K knows when she is over tired- at about 9:05 as I am struggling to change Brother into church clothes, K flops down beside Brother, and she sobs to me "Mommy I think I am just tired. I need to nap, and stay home."
Oh… This child has never ever said that!!

Our day did get better.
Church was great, once we got there and settled in.
The girls napped for 2.5 hours each.

Hopefully the first morning of 2012 is not a forecast of the new year!

Week After

2011-12-31T21:24:00.001-07:00

Is it just this family?

The week after Christmas is always silly busy for us.

We hit family after family after family after family…..
we missed photos of a few events ( swimming, and shopping) but for the most part we got some shots of everything

Tuesday we headed into Calgary to go swimming with Karla and her kids.. it was a low key event. The girls love playing with their cousins and Brother swam the WHOLE time. He loved it and was really great with the water!
After swimming the girls played at Karla's while Justin and I did some quick shopping. We headed out looking for a Ipad Cover but the shelfs were bear everywhere. Instead we stopped and I bought a new pair of jeans!

Wednesday we spent the day playing at home, later that night Justin and I headed into see Sherlock Holmes without Brother for the first time.. the movie was great- We really liked it. Brother did not so good, spending most of the time crying and Grandpa having to resort to driving around… oops sorry grandma. Guess he wasn't quite ready to be left..

Thursday day we headed down to Raymond to see Kim, Grandma Selman, Krista, Mom Moxley and new baby Tysyn!

Brother and Grandma Selman. Brother was named after Grandma's late husband.

Sister A holding new baby Tysyn. She LOVED holding him.. she would softly sing him ABC's it was so endearing!

Sister K has decided she wants another Baby. And has asked no fewer then 15 times if we can have another baby now, but this time she wants a girl and she wants to name her Baby Sally.

Brother and Tysyn are 7 months apart.

And Jackie was there with her kids, and her baby Ryan is 4 months old- he looks so big!!! Maybe Brother isnt as big as I thought?!?!

Thursday night we hung out with the Chipmans. This is all of Grandma's Posterity plus 2 Missionaries out serving.
Funny little note. K would always get Grandma Iris Chipman (my Grandma)mixed up with Grandma Shiela Chipman (my Mom)…so she used to call MY Grandma Chipman, Old Grandma Chipman and my Mom Grandma Chipman High River… hehe it was kinda cute. But we talked about it again and decided to call Iris- Great Grandma Chipman instead.. I tried that tactic before but she wouldn't do it.. now that she's older it seems to be perfectly reasonable.

Anyways we had dinner, snacks, played games and visited. I wish we could have spent more time… but it was good anyways.

Friday we traveled to Carstairs for Lloyd Moxley family get together. It was large and fun. I had yet to meet most of these cousins so it was nice to put names to faces! Uncle Howard's house is massive and kids had a great time running through it- screaming and chasing for a solid 4 hours.

We had a Deep Fryed Turkey… so yummy… BTW I am not sure why the photos are blurry… i will try another upload later..

Moxley Brothers.
Mervin, Bob and Howard.

Saturday was the Martin shin dig in Raymond. Our white elephant exchange is always a blast. This was the year of sweet hats, toffee/movie tickets and DP.

LOVE the straw glasses!

I made another shirt for the exchange!

Then later the Great grandkids, Jen, Nicole and I made CHAPSTICK.

As always we played many a games, drank too much pop and laughed at silly stunts like fake yoga, sitting under the table, air drums, and even "I have a football and a sitck superglued to my forehead and please tell me what to do about my GRANDMOTHER" (Playing the game Quelf!)
Good times.

Good bye 2011 Its been great.

Homemade

2011-12-31T20:27:00.001-07:00

Every year I try and MAKE as many gifts as I can.
And every year I make a plan, tell Justin, start on the said plan… then the PLAN goes out the STINKING window.

Gifts still get Homemade- usually not as many as I would like… but ya know.

Win some, ya lose some.

Oh and yes- I should have posted these BEOFRE Christmas- but better late then never.

First off- STIX

In November when we headed to Black Friday we hung out with friends in the off shop time. They had this super fun game called STIX. A game their friends made up- its like Phase 10 but different…. we (mom helped) made 10 for Christmas presents.

For Justin, Mark, Dad and Brother we (mom and I crafted all month together!) made Die Hard Shirts. The men in this family LOVE like UBER love Die hard. So they each got a Die Hard Shirt. Mark and Brothers say Die Hard (#1&2), Justin's says Live Free Die Hard(#4) and Dads says "A Good Day to Die Hard (#5 coming out Feb 15 2013)

I bought Black Tshirts from Marks and used Bleach spray…

Third
A Chess set out of nuts and Bolts for Uncle Dale…

Fourth and Fifth
A Table with a tablecloth on top… $9 table from Ikea, fabric and staples really simple… effective.
Then to match we made matching Diaper Bags for the girls… no photo sorry… but they match… its so fun watching them play!1

Christmas

2011-12-30T13:25:00.001-07:00

Days 22-24

2011-12-26T15:32:00.000-07:00

ARG!! I got to far behind!!
Day 22

The Lights of Christmas.

We actually had the Missionaries over on the 22 and Laura brought her boyfriend out to ask them some Questions. So we read the book earlier that day, and Daddy took the girls out on a drive to look at Christmas lights while the rest of us visited with the Missionaries. As always A pointed out all the BLUE lights and K would say "Oh that beautiful, oh thats just adorable" over and over again.

Day 23
Christmas Story Jigsaw Book

Another switch in activity. The plan was to go see the Live Nativity that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints put on in Calgary with Justin's family. But plans changed and we did that Christmas Eve instead. So on the 23 we wrapped presents with the girls.

We did little family gifts for Justin's Sisters and my siblings so K and A helped put it together and wrapped it.
Simple, easy and the girls thought it was great.

Day 24
CHRISTMAS EVE

We spent Christmas Eve with Justin's Family. Skating in the afternoon- our first time ever as a family.
The girls have never skated and we were slightly nervous, thinking that it was just going to be a bawl fest. BUT it turned out really fun. Karla and Cyril had enough skates for the 4 of us, and we warned over and over again to K that it was going to be fun but hard. And just laugh when you fall cause you will get better it just takes practice!!

A was actually not bad at all. She skated for a while by herself, but she prefered to have Daddy help her. Aunt Krista and Grandma were super great in holding Brother, who was right fussy. K had a good time, but struggled with Mommy telling her to try and get up by herself.

All in all we borrowed the skates from Aunt Karla cause we found a fun family activity for the winter.

After we went skating we headed back to Grandma's for a Turkey Dinner!!

Uncle Jason came over and brought Mamba his dog.

Brother LOVED her.

By the end of the night K and A were even petting her and having a grand ol time.
We headed off to the Pagent around 7- it has gotten so busy these last couple years we had to wait in line for 40 mins to see it!!

Picture from Aunt Karla Insert

It is so great watching your kids learn. K kept yelling "going to see the Jesus Play" and when Mary walked out with Baby Jesus all A could do was scream "Baby JE JE MOMMY Baby JE JE"
They were so excited and watching it with your family is a great way to go into Christmas Morning full of the right spirit.

On the drive home Justin had to crawl in the back to keep the kids awake. They were so tired! We got home and talked about opening our new jammies, and Santa and bed… they smiled for about 4 more minutes after they opened and put on the adorable new jammies. Then it all went down hill…. it was such a good, long, fun day… it was 9:30 2 hours past bedtime.. they fell asleep in minutes.

Day 21- Stage West

2011-12-22T09:54:00.001-07:00

Day 21

A Mickey Christmas Carol

Oh how I have been looking forward to this family activity.
If you read my blog you may remember my post on Stage West.
Well apparently other people read it it too- I got a comment for Joel- the Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Stage West.

He said

Joel Conley said...: Hello Moxley,

I am the Director of Marketing & Public Relations at Stage West. I happened upon your blog when searching for reviews of the show and thought I should take the time to respond.

Ashley and Mandy have explained exactly why this rule is in place. We do not allow children under the age of 4 to the adult events simply because no matter how considerate one might be, no one can control the fussiness of a young child and even the short walk to the lobby with an upset baby is disruptive both to the other patrons as well as the cast-members on stage.

I do, however, feel badly that it sounds like you were given misinformation or that the rule was not stated clearly to you. For that I would be happy to offer you a complimentary table for your family to our Stage West for Kids' lunch and production "Twas the Night Before Christmas" on Dec 21 or 22 (the only dates with tickets still available. You may contact me at jconley@stagewestcalgary.com to set this up.; November 14, 2011 2:11 PM; How nice of Stage West. He disagreed with my point of babies but felt bad for me being misinformed!!; So Yesterday we took the kids to "Twas the Night Before Christmas" at Stage West.; The girls LOVED it.The food was kid friendly featuring mini corndogs, pizza, jello, curly fries, chicken nuggets, tons of fruit, buns and the best a ICE CREAM bar. It was children heaven!; As we were eating members of the cast were mingling with the guests so the girls got to talk to Jingles the Elf, Mary Christmas and Ellen? (the little girl of the show); The show was adorable. Cute, kid friendly and interactive, sweet message and the perfect length. At then end of the show Santa walks in- up from the back of audience and the kids went nuts. Children were running down to give him a hug, some screaming SANTA, our little girls almost cried.. pure joy..; Thanks Stage West for the table, it was fantastic.

Day 20

2011-12-22T09:17:00.002-07:00

Day 20
My Christmas Stocking

Oh what a crazy day.
Got TONS done on my Christmas List.
TONS.
Can't wait to share all the things we made this year for Christmas!

Grandma and Grandpa did the book and activity today-they delivered our Christmas Chocolate Sauce to friends.

Day 19

2011-12-20T13:30:00.002-07:00

Day 19

A Classic- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. A good read- or in our case, a good song cause we sang as we flipped through the book. Nine Times.

We brought back a couple (feet and wrapping paper) of our favorite activities and added a spin.

We made reindeer wrapping paper for Daddies Presents!!

The girls made Reindeer heads out of feet and hand prints… then we filled in the wrapping paper with words to our favorite Christmas songs!

Well A's paper is her favorite Christmas songs, Dora songs, the A,B,C's and random phrases of I love Daddy and Dora.

For K's she said "Mommy write down exactly what I say."

Its still cute!

Day 18

2011-12-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

Day 18

Sunday's are a little hard with this countdown.
That being said we read

Who'll Pull Santa's Sleigh Tonight?

In fact.. This is the play K's Preschool put on last week! If I would have known we could have "matched" a little better… Oh well.

The book, like the play, was cute. The reindeer were sick and Santa made them better with Hot Cocoa! The plan had been to write/draw Christmas pictures for our Missionary Cousins but when the girls found the recipe for the Magical Hot Cocoa in the back of the book, over excited squealing won.

Magical Hot Cocoa

3tbs Cocoa 2 tbs Sugar

1/4 cup Hot Water 1 1/2 cups Milk

Candy Canes (optional)

Mini Marshmallows (optional)

Mine Eyes Have Seen

2011-12-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

Thats the back of my eyeball.
Yup - it is so slimming. … snort…

I have a thing.. against getting my eyes checked.
Well kinda.. ok hold on.
Listen to my side of the story.

In 2009 there was this amazing Contacts sale- a year for 116$.
I jumped on that band wagon!
I was suppose to get my eyes checked in order to get that sale but I managed to talk my self out of it…
I figured it was no biggie.

Rewind to December 2011- I lost my last contact.
Dang nabit.

I make a quick phone call to Costco- hoping to weasel my way into more Contacts without a check up.
Nope. Didn't happen.

My appointment was on Friday.
I got a verbal spanking from the Optometrist.

Apparently the reason I cant see with my contacts:

my corneas are flat and distorted.
Why?
Wearing Contacts night and day for months with out changing.
Contacts that were expired.
Wearing Contacts while having a eye infection.

I couldn't read 3/4 lines he showed me. No matter what strength.
Dang nabit.

I go back on Wensday- heres hoping a week of glasses is helping.

The slap down I received included a warning to buy glasses and where them at least 1 a week for a while.
What? I HATE glasses.
They make my face balloon!!

Well FINE.
If I have to wear glasses I am going to have some fun!

What do you think of these…..

Day 16 and Day 17

2011-12-18T11:36:00.003-07:00

Day 16
Mimi's Christmas.

The illustrations in the book were great.

Grandma and Mommy spent the day tag teaming. Mommy took brother to the Hospital and Grandma watched the girls… then Mommy rushed off to a eye appointment and Grandma held Brother and watched the girls.

After all the rushing around we did Christmas Baking after Grandpa got home from work- he held brother while the Grandma, K, A and I made Sugar Cookies for our activity!!
Well- A kinda helped- she more so ate as much dough as she could, and K- well she kinda helped too- but she was rather busy posing for photo ops.

Then Grandpa put the girls to bed and we just kept baking… finishing the cookies, dipping Chocolate and making Turtles!

Can I just say- do you know how much easier it is to care for a sick baby when you have 3 adults… AND you can still do Christmas baking with a sick baby!

Day 17
The Nutcracker.
A classic. Not a fan of the book I found… but I will find a better one for next year!
The girls know this story- because of The Barbie Movie the Nutcracker… yup. Barbie is teaching my girls about this beautiful ballet… oh well…

Saturday!- The plan was to do a Family Activity but we changed plans and instead of Justin coming home this weekend he stayed and will come home Tuesday and be home for…. A WEEK AND A HALF! YES!

To pass our full day without Daddy we:

took the bottles back with grandpa
and the girls got a SLURPPIE.
Mommy and Grandma went hunting for Bolts.
Aunt Laura and her "boy" friend came out to play
and we icd the sugar cookies!!

Day 15

2011-12-18T11:04:00.001-07:00

I guess I got a head of myself.

Day 15 was the worst sick day for Brother. Mommy spent the whole day holding him.
Brother laid on me, and I snuggled him… and we napped.

That was our day 15.

We did have a couple cute remarks by K though…
K was wearing A's Dora panties and A was having a total fit.
So I was telling K to go change her underwear and K yells at me
"But MOM everyone in the world shares PANTIES!!"

(I had to turn my head away and snicker at that point)

I did read the girls the story. The butterfly children Ice and Lullabies- I was soo not a fan of this book.

The activity was suppose to be making Snowflakes, and LOTS of the books we picked fit that craft- but they also fit other crafts… any-who long story short- this book is coming OFF the countdown for next year.

Day 14

2011-12-17T10:34:00.001-07:00

Day 14

Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas.

All right… so before the girls favorite was Christmas Magic, but I knew as soon as we read Fancy Nancy it would change. It did. The girls thought this book was fabulous- in fact I am thinking we are going to have to see if we can find other Nancy books.

For our activity we filled Fancy Ordainments with things that represent the girl in 2011.

The girls put in

beads for bracelets
part of a necklace for Honey and Mom
a squinky princess
A's has Dora stickers, K's has Princess stickers
K put in a her present to Jesus

The plan is too write a little note about the girls in 2011 and slip it in. How fun will that be to read in a couple years!

SICK SICK SICK

2011-12-17T10:06:00.001-07:00

Brother got sick on Tuesday- like really really sick.

The kind of sick where he will only lay on you and whimper. The kind of sick that breaks your heart.

He is still sick, the Doctor is thinking Baby Measles maybe.

So forgive my lack of posts and overall enthusiasm. Cause Baby is sick and NOT sleeping at all aka Mommy is not sleep either.

Then you go and TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF

2011-12-15T15:17:00.001-07:00

I have a few little things that I want to remember for always…

you know those cute things your kids do that melt your heart

Lately I have been giving brother pieces of raw carrot to gum on- he will gum on them forever it seems like. My favorite part of it…. when A thinks Brother is done with the carrot (or celery) she takes it from him and eats it. Yup. She eats it…. with all his slobber goodness. Note: I couldn't find his carrot yesterday and I asked A where it went… she goes "me it eat it" and points to her belly "me eat brother carrot yummy!" Oh you sweet little dear.

K goes to preschool on Mon, Wed, and Thursdays. I pack her snack on school days- 1 fruit or veggie, a juice box and something like fruit snacks or granola bar or muffin. And everyday she brings 1 thing home- she gets in the van opens her lunch kit and says "A I saved my carrots to share with you" (or whatever she saved) then the girls eat the snack on the way home. It seriously melts my heart.

Brother is so patient. He gets picked up and drug around by 2 little girls who love to play Honey and Mom. He- by default- is alway the baby. He just smiles as the girls get right in his face- he tolerates them WAY longer then I would.. and just lets out a little cry letting me know when he's had enough.

For Christmas the Bishop asked each child in the Primary to think of something they wanted to give Jesus, K has taken it very seriously. She is going to "keep smiling and believe in yourself."

Pa ha ha ha…cough.. oh she is so sweet.

Day 13

2011-12-14T14:02:00.002-07:00

Day 13
The Dog who Saved Christmas

Whoops, Mommy should have read this story closer before she bought it. Our A, once again, was almost in tears for all of it.

Ya Whoops.

Our activity was off the hook.

We went and watched K's Preschool Concert.

It was so cute.

Best part about the Concert it was JUST the preschool. We left the house at 6:25 and home at 7:10. It was perfect.

K was a ballerina and a pretty dang cute one at that.

Um. Now they both posse. Yup its….. cute? Silly? Weird?

This is the best photo I got…. she just won't hold STILL!! She is too busy POSING.

Can you find K?

A watched the whole thing with this face on.

Auntie Laura even brought her a rose. She loves it.

K with her teacher, Mrs. Herr.

Day 11 and Day 12

2011-12-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

Day 11
Sunday.. we had planned on being with cousin Matthew at his Homecoming in Barnwell but the roads were horrible- so we stayed home.

We read our story- 12 days of Christmas
Adorable book with a different take on the traditional song. K make the funniest comment…
I was singing/reading the book, K stops me and says
"Mom stop speaking and just read!"

Instead of hanging with family and watching a Christmas Movie in the van with popcorn- as our activity we played Roll a Snowman.

I think the girls enjoyed this activity more then the 4 hour plus drive but I am pretty sure it was the dice that swung the vote.

I got the link and idea from from Somewhat Simple.

The dice was all over the kitchen and it was great for helping the girls count. By the end the girls could recognize what the dice said without counting each time.

My favorite was watching the girls draw their Snowman. K did it all on her own and A did most of hers- till she got confused and Grandpa helped.

I seriously LOVE this photo of K.

The winner!!

Day 12

Little Owl in the Snow.

The girls wanted to do Popcorn so just recycled our activity we missed the day before. And considering the form the girls were in- it was a good thing. All day Monday this house was in a great mood- then Dinner hit and the girls took off through the roof.

They were hyper and crazy, mean and happy and loud and destructive. We did the story and popped the corn….. and the movie lasted for 1/2 a hour.

Then Mommy put the girls in bed.

Sometimes bedtime is the best answer.

Strike 2 aka A's Birthday Cake.

2011-12-13T09:03:00.000-07:00

It took me 5 years to build my small reserve of Kitchen Pride.

Good Meal followed by a Great meal, everyday building up my strength.

And in the space of 3 days….. it took hit (Potato Soup) after hit (this)

It needs some serious loving.

What happened 2 days later you ask?

I tried to do a Dora Birthday cake for A from scratch.

Not the cake part itself… but the icing.

Epic fail.

Epic.

I took this idea from Pintrest and tried to do Dora… well Dora's head anyway.

So Grandma and I worked all afternoon Friday, making the icing, drawing Dora's head on wax paper, coloring the icing with Black food coloring from 1989 and we got her faced iced, it only took us 5 hours or so.

So we put her face in the freezer and the plan was to make the cake and ice it Friday. Then to finish it off we would transfer Dora's head on top.

Well we did the cake late Friday night, I iced the whole thing blue like A asked- and as I went to carefully place Dora's head on the cake… it slid off the plate into a ugly pile all over the cake.

It was a disaster.

It was worse then my attempt at K's second Birthday Cake.

So hear I am- 10:30 p.m. a cake made and iced… no black icing left and no Store open to get some.

After stressing about it for 1/2 a hour we head to bed, deciding to fix it tomorrow.

Tomorrow came, and no Christmas Magic over night. The plan was to head into Grandma Moxley's to make chocolates and celebrate A's birthday with all her cousons. So we head in, and we decide to send Justin to Walmart to find a little Dora set to put on the cake. You know to save the day.

Um ya.

This is when you remember its the Christmas Season and the toy section is being picked over daily. There is NOTHING small in size…. then finally he finds ONE thing that is small enough to go on a cake.

A tin.. filled with LipGlposs is on her cake. A tin. Yup.

Um Hello Pathetic Cake.

I had big plans to have a picture perfect Dora Cake.

Guess not.

See Why my Kitchen Pride took a Massive hit?

Yup….

Awkward

Happy 3rd Birthday A! (Day 10)

2011-12-12T13:02:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to you!!

We spent Saturday celebrating A turning 3!

It was a busy, loud, and exciting day!

Uncle James had a line of little people attack him the moment he walked in the door!

Luckily he was full of energy for the little ones, and spent a good 45 mins with them rough housing and taking the edge off their energy levels!

This little stud muffin spent his day strutting his stuff for all of his aunts and girl cousins.. he's quite the little man!

We watched A open her presents- her face was so cute- all she could do was squeal and laugh!!

We got her a Dora Blanket… she had had it in her grasp since. It so nice when they are this young and the simplest things make them so ecstatic.

Here is the cutest thing…. she is showing Aunt Krista how old she is..

Oh here are my fingers….

Now I need to get these ones….

Push these fingers here...

Hold those 2 down and pop these 3 up….. oh wait…...

AHH!!
Here we go… I'm 3!!!

Here is A using her lipgloss off her cake… wanna see her cake.. stay tuned for the next post.

Friday I helped roll the fondant. Saturday I learned how to Moxley dip the chocolates….

I was really bad. Like bad.
But luckily the dipping does NOT affect the taste.

After a fun day at Grandma Moxley's we headed to South Center to meet the Chipman family for dinner and lite shopping!
We ran into The Nutcracker and a Princess Ballerina, pose for a quick girlie photo.

Had a great Dinner at Chilies and after a few more fantastic gifts for A and a Ikea stop (for Justin's Christmas gift) we headed home for night.

Daddy read our countdown story late that night, to the girls… they were rather pooped by that point.

The girls slept hard that night.
So did Mommy for that matter.

Day 9

2011-12-10T21:46:00.001-07:00

Day 9

Friday Morning.

Plan was to read the Story first thing and then spend the rest of the day baking Sugar Cookies with the girls.

Then a stroke of luck- actually I had kinda planned this but forgot…. Sherliyn and Grandma were doing Chocolates and I wanted to learn- so we had planned on heading to Grandma's Saturday to learn… then they figured it would take 2 days (thats the part I forgot) so Sherliyn texted and asked when we were coming Friday morning at 9:30.

So I gave the girls a choice… and Chocolates and cousins won. Of course.

We spent a great day playing and learning! I watched Mom make Fondant and did some Fondant rolling while Sherliyn took over dipping.

Then we rushed home for High River Ward Christmas Party and Daddy came down early to surprise the girls!!

Day 8

2011-12-10T20:15:00.001-07:00

Day 8

Oh Christmas Magic. This book taught the girls how to curtsey, and that mice can make pies. Emily-the little girl in this book- likes to make snowman's. So the last couple days when as they are playing "Honey and Mom" the main character is Emily who likes to build snowman. Its rather funny.

Our activity for the afternoon was making snowmen…. with MARSHMALLOWS!
I know kinda weenie-but the girls loved it

On a side note: this is also on the day I attempted to do A's Birthday cake for Saturday… but more on that strike 2 later.

Day 7

2011-12-08T13:02:00.001-07:00

Day 6
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Here is the first book we didn't read twice. It may be because I used a scary voice for the grinch and almost made A cry.

As it was she had her hands in her mouth being worried and sad the whole time.
Man oh man what a wimp :)

I was totally looking forward to this activity.
POPCORN BALLS!
YUM!

We waited and did this right before bed, although looking back maybe not a great idea to feed them cups of sugar right before I expect them to sleep…. or was it :)

Mmmm… Yummy!

Gooey PopcornBalls
Microwave 1 cup of Corn syrup and 2 cups of Brown Sugar
bring to boil and boil for 1 min
add 1/2 cup butter
boil 1 min
add 1 can of eagle brand milk
stir and pour over lots popcorn
form into balls.

BS Potato Soup

2011-12-07T18:52:00.001-07:00

A Potato Soup craving came upon this household.

Ohhh… how I wanted it.

The recipe I use for Potato Soup uses crock pot- so I had

Potatoes, Carrots, Celery, and Onion along with the beautiful broth- cooking all afternoon.

It smelled heavenly… seriously heavenly.

Its 5:00- I go up- get the cream and cornstarch out ready to thicken the soup. I mix it all up and pour it into the crock pot so it can thicken for 30 mins.

Source
What I felt like doing.

All of a sudden my soup is fizzing.

WHAT?!?

My soup is FIZZING?? Its expanding and overflowing the crock pot!?!?!
It looks like my soup just turned into pop!

"Mom why IS MY SoUp FIZzING?!?!"

"well Why did you put Baking Soda it in?"

"I didn't, I put Cornstarch in!"

"No you didn't you dumped in a 1/4 cup of Baking Soda"

No word of a lie.

Here I am franticly scooping out the FOAM and trying to salvage my soup.
I get the fuzz out- I am still hopping its salvageable.
So I taste it.

I just threw up in my mouth a little.

Soup was sooo not salvageable.

WAAAAAA

Instead I take out the veggies… rinse them off… and stand there for 10 mins while I figure out what to do next.

It was such a sad disaster.
I really wanted Potato Soup.
Sad sad dinner hour.

Here's my Potato Soup recipe…. without Baking Soda

6 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 small chopped onion
2 carrots, thinly sliced
2 ribs of celery
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup cornstarch or flour
1 1/4 cup cream or half and half

Combine potatoes, onion, carrots, celery, chicken broth, basil, parsley, salt and pepper in slow cooker.
Cover and cook on high for 3 hours.

Stir together flour and cream then stir into soup.
Cover and cook for 30 mins longer or until hot.
Enjoy

I serve this meal with bacon to crumble in your soup and corn bread.

Day 6

2011-12-07T11:33:00.001-07:00

Day 6.
Amelia Bedelia- I LOVE you.
I think I enjoyed the reading of this book more then the girls did. Actually yes- I did enjoy this book more then the girls did.
So after the flop of Day 5- I decided it would still be fun to do our Messy Project - and where better to do it then……
RAYMOND!

The kids and I drove down to hang out in Raymond with family for the day and we took our activity with us! The girls had a great time with their cousins painting with puff paint (shaving cream and white glue)!

The older girls quite enjoyed playing with their hands…. A on the other hand…..

It took her a while- in fact it took her the WHOLE time to finally dip her fingers in…

Day 5

2011-12-07T10:04:00.001-07:00

Day 5
I had fun plans for this day.
A messy craft project and fun treat.
Alas children took over this day.
Brother was up all night the night before being grumpy and sick.

Then he decided to not nap, or be happy unless Mommy held him. Which was going fine, we seemed to still be managing. We managed to read the book- with a few Brother interruptions but when it came time for the funner stuff- K was complaining her tummy hurt.

Bah! Oh well- so Mommy switched her thought process and decided to sing songs and helped Grandma set up the rest of her nativities.

Door Locks

2011-12-05T13:57:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I do things…

This one time… this weekend.
Justin and I were talking- well I was talking and he was listening. Sort of. Then he got tired of listening, walked into the bathroom and locked the door.

Oh no he didn't!

So me being…. well me. Followed him.
First I grabbed a penny off the dresser and used it to turn the lock on the doorknob. Walked in, closed the door and processed to clarify my point for him.

Then the locked door opened and there were my two little ~~stinkers~~ girls were smiling up at me. Those little sweethearts saw what I did, and now they have a new favorite game.

The game includes but is not limited to: turning off the lights while I shower, then shinning a flashlight in the shower yelling "Don't worry mommy I got a light!", doing their own hair with half a bottle of hairspray, coming in every single time I am showering and flushing the toilet 2 or 3 times… and the best, going in while Daddy or Mommy is going to the bathroom and fake gagging.

Stupid LOCK!!

They will get tired of this game right?!? RIGHT?!?!

On a bright note- my little 6 month old loves the Christmas tree.. specifically this one spot where he can reach the lights and a bell..

Day 4

2011-12-04T15:51:00.001-07:00

Day 4
The Tiny Star
You're never too small to be part of God's big plan. I loved this book! Hopefully it will be come one of our Christmas favorites! Our Sunday activity was attending the First Presidency Christmas Devotional Broadcast. We even wore our new Christmas Dresses and Brother his new Sweater!

As always the first Presidencies message was inspired of God.

We were reminded to "focus not on the imperfections that come with the holiday, but by focusing on Christ." President Uchtdorf said if we will open our hearts, the Spirit will touch us and we will see that Christmas is much more than the minor things of life we use to adorn it. “We realize in these precious moments what we feel and know in our heart — that Christmas is about the Christ,” he said.

President Eyring spoke on remembering the gifts God has given us and as best you can, offer them to others as he would. President Eyring also mentioned that we could find The Life of Jesus Christ Bible Videos on lds.org.

And President Monson said something that I loved he said “The spirit of Christmas is the spirit of love and of generosity and of goodness. It illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world’s busy life and become more interested in people than in things.” Then later he said
“As we strive to become more like him, we will have joy and happiness in our lives and peace each day of the year, It is his example which, if followed, stirs within us more kindness and love, more respect and concern for others. … May his precious spirit be with us, and may he ever be the center of our celebrations and indeed of our very lives.”

Day 3

2011-12-04T15:03:00.001-07:00

Day 3

Christmas Morning. This was a cute book, written like Green Eggs and Ham by Dr Seuss. The girls wanted Daddy to read it, and Mom had a great time listening and watching my babies faces. We read, then Mommy made Pizza for Dinner- a real treat at our house- then we wrote to Santa!

Justin and I even wrote to Santa- more so for ideas for each other.. although I already know what I am getting Justin ( a kick butt present) and I hope I know what he is getting me… (cough cough ipad er… cough).

The girls got right into it, they drew out what they wanted and Mommy wrote the words after.

A asked for Dora everything- Dora jammies, Dora backpack.. … Dora Dora Dora.

K's varied slightly- Princess chapstick, Princess jammies, and a purple guitar- I have no idea where the guitar idea came from…. but so not happening.

Daddy wrote brothers list- it was very original- cars, trucks, hugs and kisses and Tool belt.

Day 2

2011-12-03T16:25:00.001-07:00

Day Two
We opened My First Story of the First Christmas - let me tell you my favorite quote of the day.
"Oh thats why we do Christmas!"
K, age 4.

Ouch. Come on! I do teach you! I have told you this story before… and about Jesus. COME ON.

Oh well. You win some, you lose some.

High River Ward does a Nativity display every year-people from the ward and town donate their nativities to be put on display for the public. The ward decorates the gym and has a open house for 3 days. It is a really neat way to start your Christmas season right!

This is the first time we have taken the girls- cause nothing scares me more then toddlers in a room full of breakable, expensive, and precious thing- and a Mommy not willing to repeat "Don't touch" a million times. Plus at the ages of 2 and 3 I don't think they would have soaked much in. Well anyway- this year we were able to arrange 1 on 1 ratio for this little outing and the girls really did enjoy themselves.

Grandma, Auntie Laura and I sang at the festival at 5:30 and we looked around for half a hour.
They loved all the baby Jesus's and Mommy felt like they were getting "Oh thats why we do Christmas!"

So- we did the nativity, spent most of the time looking at the rubber ducky set, and they we headed over to the Santa Clause Parade.

I really have nothing very nice to say about he parade- it was cold, late, long and with 500 feet gaps between every 4 floats it was rather disappointing. We actually tricked the girls- said it was over after being out for a hour and a half- it was only half done- we jumped in the van and came home for Hot Chocolate, warm jammies and bed.

It was a good evening.

Christmas Book Countdown has STARTED! Day 1

2011-12-01T12:39:00.001-07:00

So I finally told my girls about the Christmas Book Countdown and they were thrilled. Honestly it melts my heart when I see those happy smiling faces and when they say "I love you Mommy" or "this is going to be soo fun" and my favorite "Oh my heck!"

We kicked things off yesterday with Stories of Santa.
I think we sang the book a few dozen times- K pretty much knows the song already.

For our activity/craft we did Santa's Face- aka construction paper and cotton balls and glue. OHHH how preschoolers love glue.

The girls cut their own hat and face out of paper- well little A cut "at" her hat and Mommy just helped her finish.

See the snips that A made? the hat is now in 3 pieces??

AND in my defence. I do get that child dressed. She changes like 3 or 4 times a day- but into 3 or 4 pairs of pajamas!! Oh well. She will grow out of it… someday?!? Hopefully?!?!

See- we love us some glue.

Ok- the next photo's are 2 of 15.
I took the first one of her finished project and K says to me
"Mommy take another, I didn't pose enough!"

Oh see is such a girlie girl!

I uber love her nose wrinkle.

Ya for Day 1 of 2011 Christmas Countdown!

a stick woman

2011-12-01T10:33:00.001-07:00

Grandma goes to work.
Sometimes she gets fun emails from her coworkers…
she sends the fun ones to us.

Have you visited
http://www.drawastickman.com/

We played with it for about a hour.
Why?
Well because we did a Repunzel, K, A, Mommy, Cinderella, Daddy, Brother, and even Grandma. Along with stick women with short hair, long hair, and even curly hair.

Crowns

2011-11-30T13:31:00.001-07:00

The girls are so into Princesses, Babies and Ballerinas right now. Every single game they play revolves around one of these things.

In fact last week, they were watching Barbies movies, and if you are a Mom of Barbie fans, you have heard or seen that every barbie movie involves the bad guy wanting to marry Barbie.
If you ask me- I think that is a great plot!

So the girls wanted to play "getting married" but K comes running over to me and says "Mommy I want to get married, but I need a crown!"

Really?!?!?

I would LOVE to make you a crown!!

First we choose the fabric-

Then we sewed up those cute crowns. Thank you The Long Thread, I totally used your pattern so I didn't have to make my own!

I put velcro on K, but on A's I just sewed it up. Her head is still pretty small for the pattern I found.

I had to convince A to pick blue and red…. she wanted both sides blue.
Oh and the best part- A will only wear her crown backwards! Ha ha ha ha.

While the Parents are away….

2011-11-29T09:27:00.001-07:00

A Huge Thank you out to Aunt Karla and Uncle Cyril for watching the girls while we shopped.

The girls had a great time and had lots of happy things to say.

BLACK FRIDAY

2011-11-28T13:14:00.001-07:00

We pretty much rocked Black Friday's Socks off.
We came. We Shopped. We Concurred.

Highlights of our trip include:

Walmart toy specials and TV sales
2 hour lines to check out at Walmart
Laughing
Target mad dash ending with a women being pushed into Barricade and it toppling over
the run from the front door of Target to the electronics and Barbie Aisle
Bath and Body Works Bag of Goodies!
Laughing
JCPenny and their 24.99 boot sale :)
IHop at 3:30 in the morning
Laughing
Ross and their wonderful dresses and purses
Joann and the line for fabric cuts- only took 3 hours.
the sweet older man (like late 70's) that stood in line behind me for his wife for the whole 3 hours
my sweet husband who also stood in line with me at Joanns
Fabric. Sweet glorious fabric
Baby Carhartts for Brother
Sleep after being up for 30 hours
Missing a hitting a Deer by a miniosecond
Dinner at Famous Daves
Laughing
More shopping
Kids Christmas Shopping finished!
Laughing
Beautiful views from the house
A Homemade Card Game
Arguments
Tea and Tam…..
Laughing

Great Great Great weekend.

BTW I have now stayed up ALL night 3 times in my whole life.
I was not built for this.
I am still trying to recover.

3 Little Things

2011-11-22T12:43:00.001-07:00

Little entry today.

1. My new favorite lunch- 1 red pepper, 2 slices of old cheddar or Laughing Cow cheese with (of course) a Dr Pepper.
2. When I miss my Justin I wear his sweaters. Then they lose his smell… I need him to wear them all at once so they are back to Justin sweaters.
3. I made popcorn last night, made enough for the girls to have it for a snack today. It is now ALL over the basement…. oh well they spent all morning playing Honey and Mom with popcorn. It was sweet.

4. Went through my fabric stash today- going to Black Friday this weekend. Going to hit Joann's hard…. hard I tell you. Getting excited for all the new sewing projects gonna happen here!
5. Almost done wrapping the Christmas Countdown Books!
6. Once Thursday hits, I am stupid busy for the next 2 weeks. Its gonna be slightly crazy around here.

Ok… not 3 things.5 things.

Family Search Indexing!

2011-11-21T14:21:00.001-07:00

We had a great enrichment night this week.
We were taught how to do Indexing!!!

Alright call me a dork- I am now slightly addicted.
Slightly.

My favorite part is reading the names of people living a 100 years ago or more, reading their occupation and wondering what their life must have been like.
I do this out loud by the way…. with a variety of accents… (all the accents I can do sound Native/Scottish… sometimes I sound a little Jamaican too).
I make up stories, scenarios and pretend arguments with spouses/children.
I amuse my self for hours….

bcharmed

2011-11-18T13:56:00.001-07:00

I am a bcharmed stylist.
Seriously…
calling all Calgary, High River, Okotoks and ALL friends.

You will fall in-love with this product.
Think affordable, fashionable, design your own look- jewelry.

Those of you who know me- are now thinking…. Heather?!?! Heather selling Jewelry? Thats….. odd.
I know.
But seriously its great. stuff.

Click the photo in this post. Or my button on the side bar.

Got my hair done

2011-11-17T15:03:00.001-07:00

Got my hair done during nap time

Someone refused to sleep today.

Instead she decided "Mommy I comb your hair."

I was trying to return emails, facebook, scripture reading and organization.

Instead I got a hair do and a headache

Then it was my turn.

But Mommy didnt get to decide.

I was under strict instruction. How many bows, ponies and how many times I could comb it.

We sure are pretty!

SS 2011

2011-11-16T13:13:00.001-07:00

I was lucky enough to attend 2 Super Saturdays this year!

If you ask me we should do Craft days Quarterly- not Yearly.
Cause I love me some craft days with Daddy watching the kids and Mommy doing some visiting, painting, laughing- and just having a grand ol time!

Here are a few things we did this year. I didn't get to do ALL of the projects- but I sure tried :)

source

Not sure where the idea came from for Frosty and Joy

Source

Other side

Source

All of the projects, except the last 2, are the ones I did. Unfortunately I signed up for too many crafts- like always- and have yet to finish the last too.

A quick shout out to people who blog and share projects on the internet. That is how we found all these fun ideas- so I thought to blog what we did for others out there who- someday- will be looking for SS projects too!

Have Fun Crafting!

To Die For- Oh you Sweet-sweet-pull apart Bread

2011-11-15T13:38:00.001-07:00

I woke up hungry today.

On my Mmm.. try this Pintrest Board

That always inspires me to bake.
Ohhhh… and bake I did.

I have been wanting to try this Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread since I saw it.

I pinned it…. I looked at it at least once a week….. it was hounding me… hounding me I tell you!!!

So this morning was The Morning.
It was a great smelling morning and a excellent tasting one.

Thank you to Joy the Baker.

You Bake away and I will Bake in your footsteps.

Here's the recipe.. if your lazy and won't click on the link. But you should cause she did step by step photos… pretty photos.

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

Makes: one 9x5x3-inch loaf

Recipe adapted from HungryGirlPorVida

For the Dough:

2 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 ounces unsalted butter

1/3 cup whole milk

1/4 cup water

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Filling:

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

2 ounces unsalted butter, melted until browned

In a large mixing bowl (I used just the bowl of my stand mixer) whisk together 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Set aside.

Whisk together eggs and set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt together milk and butter until butter has just melted. Remove from the heat and add water and vanilla extract. Let mixture stand for a minute or two, or until the mixture registers 115 to 125 degrees F.

Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula. Add the eggs and stir the mixture until the eggs are incorporated into the batter. The eggs will feel soupy and it’ll seem like the dough and the eggs are never going to come together. Keep stirring. Add the remaining 3/4 cup of flour and stir with the spatula for about 2 minutes. The mixture will be sticky. That’s just right.

Place the dough is a large, greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel. Place in a warm space and allow to rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour. *The dough can be risen until doubled in size, then refrigerated overnight for use in the morning. If you’re using this method, just let the dough rest on the counter for 30 minutes before following the roll-out directions below.

While the dough rises, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg for the filling. Set aside. Melt 2 ounces of butter until browned. Set aside. Grease and flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan. Set that aside too.

Deflate the risen dough and knead about 2 tablespoons of flour into the dough. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 5 minutes. On a lightly floured work surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out. The dough should be 12-inches tall and about 20-inches long. If you can’t get the dough to 20-inches long… that’s okay. Just roll it as large as the dough will go. Use a pastry brush to spread melted butter across all of the dough. Sprinkle with all of the sugar and cinnamon mixture. It might seem like a lot of sugar. Seriously? Just go for it.

Slice the dough vertically, into six equal-sized strips. Stack the strips on top of one another and slice the stack into six equal slices once again. You’ll have six stacks of six squares. Layer the dough squares in the loaf pan like a flip-book. Place a kitchen towel over the loaf pan and allow in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes or until almost doubled in size.

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Place loaf in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is very golden brown. The top may be lightly browned, but the center may still be raw. A nice, dark, golden brown will ensure that the center is cooked as well.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the bread and invert onto a clean board. Place a cake stand or cake plate on top of the upside down loaf, and carefully invert so it’s right side up.

Christmas Blues

2011-11-14T15:48:00.001-07:00

Ya know.
I love my kids. I love to spoil my children sometimes. So does Dad and grandma and grandpa and aunts and uncles.

Now its time for Christmas Lists and we are stumped.

Our girls like to play 3 games
*Question* is that normal? The girls are 2 and 4- should they be playing a more variety of games?

1. Honey and Mom
2. Kitchen with Honey and Mom
3. Barbies and/or Little People

Problem….
They have TONS of kitchen stuff- a kitchen, food, aprons, hats, and dishes.
Honey and Mom requires babies, baby equipment, high heels, purses, baby blankets, hats and necklaces.
Barbies and Little people- we have the fisher price doll house and barn, a huge bin full of little people, and a handful of Barbies.

So we have come up with a couple ideas.

A Barbie Doll House- Justin will build it- that one to be exact.

Some Barbie Furniture

A Disney Princess Barbie Pack (we are going to black friday so really whatever Barbie Pack that is well priced)

Mommy is going to make them each a purse and maybe a cape

A few DVD's maybe (Black Friday)

They also need a new dress

Barker is getting batteries put in our MANY baby toys.

Do you have any other ideas for me? Better ideas maybe?

Its Movember… again

2011-11-12T11:45:00.001-07:00

This Mustache is adorable.

In response- Justin did this. (and because of Movember)

He and the boys call it The Perv Stash.

Creepy eh?

I really Mustache you a question,

but I will SHAVE it for later!!!

Stage West

2011-11-09T15:28:00.001-07:00

How do I argue with something I kinda agree with?

I wish I was a better writer like- Sam Seabourn or something but I'm not- so you just just get to read this and hope you understand my points. Back in September I was that Joseph was coming to Stage West in Calgary and of course I was stoked. Its one of my favorite Musicals. So I called up and booked 4 tickets, and checked on a few things like Dress Code and infants. So we show up Tuesday night- I was soo excited. We walk in the door and we are waiting in line to pick up our tickets when a manager comes over and asks to speak to me. I was pulled aside and politely informed that infants were not welcome at Stage West. I was stunned- for a minute- he then goes on and asks where we live and if he could book us another night with out the baby. That's when I said- I'm sorry but I a nursing Mother and when I called to book these tickets I specially clarified with the booking agent if this was OK. The man on the phone said that was fine. So the manager asked who I spoke to- I had no idea but I told him I spoke to a man.

Apparently there are only 2 men that answer the phone- him and one other.

Anyways I am politely protesting and at the same time trying not to cry.

I know, a little silly right?

I was so excited for this stupid show I was about to get turned away with my baby.

So the Manger says- Look I a really sorry that you were misinformed, but if you promise to take your baby out if he make any noise you can stay. However if ANY ONE person complains I am going to have to ask you to leave.

Ok….

We got to stay. For the whole thing.

Brother Bear was a absolute angle for the whole show and didn't make a peep.

The show was fab, it was a great night- even though I felt like a leper and a outcast because I had brought the baby.

Heres my argument.

I understand that sometimes it is inappropriate to bring a baby to things.

But if the mother is aware of others- and realizes that others will NOT appreciate a screaming baby during a show-and takes the child out if there is a disturbance- why are they still not welcome?

Couple months ago I took Brother to Wicked the Musical and yes he was fussy- I spent all of the last half of the first act in the quite room.

So what.

I still got to see the show- even with a baby.

Why are there Mothers out there who think its CUTE if their child is making a disturbance of some sort- and ruins it for the rest of us?

Last night I felt like a complete and total outcast.

It was not a nice feeling.

I love my children and do not consider myself a second rate citizen because I am a mother.

I do have respect for others and I will take steps to insure my children are not a problem in public.

P.S Joseph really was amazing. I will be singing along with it for the next couple days so feel free to stop by and sing along with me. If you would prefer we sing along to Wicked or Les Mis or Phantom… whatever.

Christmas Book Countdown Book List

2011-11-09T14:46:00.000-07:00

Everyday in December last year we did a Christmas Countdown Activity.

The girls had a great time doing, and to be honest it made our days pass so quickly and gave us something to look forward too.

So of course we must to it again- with a slight change.

We love books at our house so we are going to open a story and do a craft/activity with it.

I got the wonderful idea from Jocelyn.

First let me say- yes her book list is amazing.

I have been collecting books all year- mostly from Thrift Stores and some from Costco.

Hopefully this book experiment with go really really really well and it will be come a tradition. And IF it goes well THEN I will look into getting NICER Christmas books. But for now we will go with the books I found- cause to be honest- my kids are a little hard on books and they don't care if I paid $24.99 or $0.99.

You know what I mean??

I am still working on our craft list… I have a few rounded up.. but still looking for most.
I am keeping track of the craft ideas on Pintrest (on my Christmas board). Any suggestions would be appreciated.

So here you are friends who have been asking. Hope this helps- hit up your neighborhood thrift store.

Anyone else doing this??

On another note.

I often get people asking me how on earth do I blog? It takes them sooo long.
To which I reply- keep doing it. Once you get good a post will just flow out- and you will get faster at it. Today my blog post took FOREVER. Because I held this little man up to the computer like that while I typed- he stared at himself at Photo Booth while I blogged. He has been rather grumpy today and this kept him laughing or contemplating for like 25 mins.
Thats all.

Mister Sir

2011-11-09T12:41:00.000-07:00

Hello Mister.
Mister. Sir.
My Mister. Sir.
My Mister. Sir. Sir.

Mister Sir is 5 months old.
Almost sitting.
Rolling all over the floor, from front to back and back to front.
Got his first shots yesterday
I though he weighed 16 lb..
No
He weighs 15 lb. 3oz
he is in the 50% for weight and hight and head.

Mister is a super smiler.
He LOVES his Mamma.
Most days only his Mamma.
He likes Grandma too
Men are not his preference
He likes the Ladies.

He likes to sleep in the swing and in Mamma's bed.
Beside his Mamma.
Swore I would never do that.
But he is waging a war.
A war in which Mamma gets no sleep
Some times Mamma wins
Most times he wins

He likes to nurse
and thats it
will not take additional supplementing
Which would be fine
but he still eats every 2 hours
without. fail.

He likes to clasp his hands together
it is sooo endearing
he likes his teething ring and
lg foam puzzle pieces

He to watch his sisters play
as long as they play right in front of him
he is soo patient when sister carries him
and dropps him. twice.

Evaluating

2011-11-08T13:49:00.001-07:00

Doing some evaluating this week.
Simplifying this week too.

And Thank you to the Relief Society Presidency for giving us the book Daughters of My Kingdom and for asking us to actually read it.

Also- I would really like to hang this quote by my desk- can anyone do a better job of making this quote pretty please?

Little kisses.

2011-11-07T10:27:00.003-07:00

First off. This is a totally staged shot.
But not really. I do get kisses on the stairs… but the only way to catch it is to stage it!

I want to remember the little special things about my kids at this age.
And one of my favorite time of the day is kisses!!

I love to get kisses as thank you's- kisses as please and kisses cause they love me.
In our house we like to say "Kiss my face"
I want to remember her kisses at four years old.

Friday.

2011-11-04T14:54:00.002-06:00

IN CASE YOUR WONDERING….
ITS FRIDAY!

Why do we love fridays?

DADDY COMES HOME. YES!!

Driving

2011-11-03T14:30:00.001-06:00

Wish I had a fab post of the rest of the week. But we have all been super sick, so sorry no grand post.

Just one of us- doing a regular thing- driving. We do this often.

Happy Halloween

2011-11-02T08:47:00.000-06:00

Happy Halloween

Yes we have 2 leopards- one with orange eyes and a pink face. Still cute.

A adorable cow- with a blue eye… oh and her hat was not put on once… but yes she is a cow.

I am a little unsure of the color choices- but it makes them happy

One kid lasted 1 block, the other lasted 3 blocks, the last one went for a couple hours and came home declaring she was a professional trick or treater.
Oh Halloween you are so………. fun?!

Improvise

2011-11-01T09:03:00.000-06:00

When your little fingers are not strong enough… improvise.

Never watch Extreme Couponing

2011-10-31T13:39:00.002-06:00

I introduced my Mom to the show Extreme Couponing.

We were out of toilet paper. Extra foods had a really good sale… like .33cents a roll- well we bought some….

Angry Pumpkins

2011-10-28T08:43:00.002-06:00

We did our pumpkins finally.

Mommy is not the best person with a knife and craving. So we painted instead….. yes I know kinda silly but maybe we will carve one with Daddy this weekend.
So knowing what the pumpkins would look like if I just … anywho I had a game plan.

We did ANGRY BIRD PUMPKINS

K painted hers red and A did hers blue- obviously. K was happy about doing the red "mad bird" and A only does the color blue right now. Blue cups, plates, socks, crayons, bows, shirts oh and her favorite thing to do- tease her sister that her eyes are blue like Brothers and uncle Marks… and K's aren't. Oh it makes K SOO mad..

We were waiting for the paint to dry.. so we painted our fingernails- the best K calls it finger-noolish. Anyway so we painted away, and the girls decided they wanted a stamp on their fingers… well Mommy doesn't own a finger-noolish stamper. So we decided they would write to Santa, closer to Christmas, and ask for one.

K had a better idea, she suggested "Mommy lets build a kite, do a really really really long rope and maybe Santa will pick it up." Oh- where does she get these things?!?

Thanks Pintrest for the idea- when you become a Pintrest Addict… you HAVE to actually do some of the pins- otherwise you really are wasting your time. (wink wink)

Being REPORTED

2011-10-27T09:01:00.004-06:00

Ok.

Now that you see what happened..

I stopped at the police station yesterday to CLARIFY if it is illegal or just frowned upon.

The Constable said

"In High River there is no by-law stating we cannot leave a child unattended in a vehicle, SOME towns do have a by-law prohibiting leaving your children in the vehicle.

HOWEVER if you are reported- the police do have to follow up…. regardless of the circumstances.

They also have to file each complaint in a Database and the follow up call with the suspect.

To which I said/ almost yelled…. So if I get reported again then what? Because I find it safer to leave my children in the vehicle to pick up my other child from pre-school- rather then crossing 2 roads with a car seat and 2 children…And I know for a FACT I am not the only mother who leaves her children in the car for a few mins here and there!!

Then he goes…

Oh of course not… I do it too.

Pause- at this point I felt like screaming "THEN WHY AM I IN THE STUPID DATA BASE FOR DOING IT"

He continues..

If you do get reported again, you will get another phone call and entered in the database a second time. If the police feel you are endangering your children they will call Social Services and you will get a visit. But once again it depends of the instance and what-not.

I say.

pretty much use your sound judgement and as good parent concerning these matters.

Constable…

Well if you do get reported numerous times, and the police feel that you are constantly and consistently - for long periods of time- leaving children unattended you might have a problem.

So..

From what I understand.

Go ahead people leave your children in the car… it is not illegal,

but hope to hell and back that some NOSEY, INTERFERING, CRANKY, HORRIBLE, MOTHER-OF-THE-YEAR-WANNABE person

doesn't report you.

Ok People now what?

Do I leave my children in the van while I run in to pick up K?

Do I ask the school if they have a policy against it?

Or do I bow to some interfering persons opinions and NEVER leave them alone again??

BTW: When I went into the Police Station I left my kids in the car.

-Added later-

Newspapers

2011-10-26T13:27:00.000-06:00

How do you bake cookies, do apples, clean the kitchen and make dinner with 3 little children?

You let them play with newspapers. Lots of Newspapers.
First they carefully spread them all over the living room floor.

Then they smooshed them all into a pile, hide in the pile, then jump out and yell peek-a-boo at Brother Bear

These are those days

2011-10-25T13:18:00.001-06:00

There's a calendar hanging in the kitchen,
Today I'm taking it down I'm tired of living
Like tomorrow can't get here fast enough
Took a while but I'm finally learning
To make the most of each moment I'm given
Instead of waiting on better days to come
No more wishing my life away

Chorus
These are those days,
This is my life,
The time is now to get things right
I won't look ahead,
I won't look back
I'm gonna live,
I'm gonna laugh
Well I won't let another second waste,
These are those days

Awesome song by Aaron Lines!

Making the most of Todays Moments…

This morning we sang Book of Mormon Stories over 36 times while drying another batch of apple slices. K's Primary Presentation is coming up on Sunday and she is LOVING the actions in that song. In fact she keeps telling me she wants to get it right, especially the end part "in this land if we live right-eouc-ly."
Putting Laundry away today, A was helping. Yes it took me twice as long to get it done, and she almost fell on brother twice, but she enjoyed "helping" every minute.
Read stories while putting brother to sleeps works best if K holds the Book and turns the pages
For Lunch A runs into the kitchen and pulls out the mustard and then to the cupboard for the toaster. She had toast with mustard and butter for lunch. Then spent a s-l-o-w 20 mins eating it…. enjoying every single bit
The Brave Little Toaster was enjoyable for both girls
Little Brother is learning to sit, he will sit for a few seconds with a toy.

Did you save your Carcass??

2011-10-24T10:39:00.001-06:00

I figure it is time for another "In my Kitchen" post.

So I got that gluten free Cookbook a couple weeks ago and I am finally getting around to making something from the new cookbook!!

Meet the yummyness of Turkey and Wild Rice Soup.

Start by making your Turkey broth. Take your Turkey Carcass- ok I have to stop… can I say every time I think this word, write it or say it, my 9 year self, deep inside me, giggles uncontrollably. ok… back to the Turkey Carcass (pa ha ha ha). Chop up the Carcass, stick it in the crock pot and add whole onion, carrots, celery (I added a apple as well) and cover with 8 cups of water.
Turn your slow cooker on low for 8 hours and let sit.

*We actually but the carcass in the freezer after our Thanksgiving Dinner. We were so sick of Turkey that we waited a couple weeks before our next bird dinner.

After you have make your broth pour through a strainer (catching the broth!!), pick out the veggies and bones…. chuck um away. Keep the meat and broth and add them back into the crock pot.

Insert Heather moment.. I totally tossed everything but the broth in the garbage can.. for a split second I got distracted by my Dr Pepper can on the counter, and the meat went bye bye. Shoot. Dang it. Bummer. CRAP. Luckily I had some chopped up cooked Chicken in the fridge so I just added that..

Ok now to the actual soup part. Add into the meat broth: chopped carrots, onion, celery and 2/3 cup wild rice ( I used regular rice). Then 1tsp sage and 2 TBS Balsamic Vinegar and then the best part…. 2 big handfuls of Baby Spinach . Oh ya… its alot. But it will cook down to yummy-ness.

So Thank you to Stephanie for trying 365 meals in a crock pot!

TURKEY Meat would have been nice… but you win some you lose some..

We really really really liked this meal, in fact we made a note- every time we cook a Turkey- this soup will be following..

Bow storage.

2011-10-21T09:32:00.001-06:00

SO we got to the Bow Overload point.

The 11x13 frame was packed and even more were scattered through the bathroom/house!

So we rooted around the house looking for a alternate solution and wala!

And then on top off having copious amounts of bows.. I made more!!

Today I don't feel like doing anything

2011-10-20T07:43:00.000-06:00

Theme Song of the day:

Today I don't feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed
Dont feel like picking up my phone, So leave a message at the tone
'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything.

Pretty much sums it up.
Why do I feel that way…. cause I have been going nonstop regardless of what I feel!
Thats ok it keeps me chipper!
here's just a few-

Cinnamon Pancakes...

2011-10-19T08:01:00.000-06:00

Holy Smokes…

Stop making your regular pancakes right now.

No joke.

Why would you make regular when you can make- these?

Recipe Girl

I made them the other day for Dinner. We had the Missionaries over for dinner and did the whole Big Breakfast thing.

These were a huge huge hit.

* Although… hmmm funny little note… My mom and I were both making them and I started making the icing- melting the cream cheese and butter together- and Little Brother woke up and needed to feed, so Mom took over making the sauce. She thought I was done and I thought she was adding the icing sugar… well turns out the icing sugar never did get added to the icing.

But the Pancakes were sooo tasty (the icing just wasn't very sweet *it just tasted a little odd*)
But other then that… :)

Ohhh-mmmmm come to me and my plate of perfect Breakfastness.

BTW I did not use her pancake recipe- I just used the Costco Pancake mix and then used her general measurements for the Cinnamon Sugar mix and the Cream Cheese Icing sauce.

Kayben

2011-10-18T14:33:00.002-06:00

Its Fall!

Our weekends are pretty much packed. Justin comes home Friday night late and we GO GO GO on Saturday. So when I was planning last weekend- I knew I wanted to do a corn maze or something of the like. 2009 we did the Corn Maze in South Calgary and it was good, just not very toddler/preschool friendly.

This year we did Kayben Farms and it was fabulous! It's north-east of Okotoks and has lots of things for the younger kids.

It was pretty busy, we parked in overflow parking… which means we got to ride the hay ride to the site!! It was a good thing too- one less line-up to wait in!

BTW- I am not the only one to every done it… but it is SOO frustrating charging your camera batteries then leaving them at home!! So we get to remember our day with iphotos!

They had this huge air trampoline thing, it was like a tarp stretched and blown up with air. The girls loved it, it was a little too bouncy for the girls to stand for long with out help…

A huge orange tent with balls inside to play with.

The pumpkin patch were we had a slight minor meltdown… the girls wanted to paint the pumpkins but Mom and Dad tried to convince them we wanted to carve um'.

Peddle carts were great…. Daddy was super kind and pushed the girls up the hill then ran down the hill- leaning over in the awkward position trying to help steer without running into the bushes and making the girls feel like they were doing it themselves.. fun times.

The super large ship/jungle gum thing… of witch A wouldn't go without help. Thats ok, the day will come when she doesn't want to be carried or held or hold my hand cause she's scared. It can be frustrating at times but she is sooo cute.

As always little A was terrified of the animals… shocker eh?

Good day with the kids… although sometimes they make Justin and I feel like this.

Point of View

2011-10-17T10:08:00.001-06:00

True Story- told by Mario the Security Officer.

Hi, I'm Mario. I am a simple guy, all about the ladies, fast cars and action. I like to chat up the Ladies, lift things up and put them down and drink Budweiser with my buddies watching a ruff and tuff sports game.
In my spare time I work as a Security Officer paroling South Center Commons in Calgary. I'm always on the look out for a little suspense and action, although what happened last night around 11:30 p.m. wasn't exactly what I had in mind.

There I was, doing my normal rounds, I had just checked on Ikea and was rounding the corner to check on The Gap outlet store and Michaels, and thats where I saw the car.

A white car, black tinted windows left running with its lights on… but no one in sight.

Hmmm… I quickly flipped my lights on and spun into a stall beside it. Flicked on my flashlight and looked in the passenger front window. Nothing.

I am reaching for my radio as I notice a figure crawling over the drivers seat from the back. The figure is struggling with their shirt.

I tense.

The passenger door opens and my ears are assaulted with the sound of a screaming infant, and out stumbles, almost falls and younger woman, looking frazzled and exhausted.

"Um, Hi.. Sorry. I am just nursing my baby, and the child locks are on the back door - so I couldn't get out…. sorry.. But I'm almost done." She turns around and gets quickly back into the car.

Oh…… awkward silence.

"Ok then Miss. Good night" I can feel my checks grow warm as I realize how silly I looked flashing my light in her car and flipping around like a lunatic into the stall next to her.
On top of it all she said "nursing"-how embarrassing.

I drive slowly away to continue my rounds.

Cast

Security Officer Mario…….. Security Officer name unknown

White Car…….. Grandpa Drew's Car

Screaming Infant……. Little Brother

Younger Woman……… Me, Heather

Yup true story.

I've been driving to pick up Justin from Edmonton abut 3 or 4 times now… and this incident takes the cake.

Are you Asleep?

2011-10-15T08:31:00.001-06:00

Am I the only parent that teases their kids for enjoyment??

On other note:
Sometimes you just have to F.I.N.D. the humor in situations.
A is potty trained- for the most part. She is still have accidents sometimes, but she is wearing panties during nap time. Today she pooped in her panties during her nap… Mommy was a little annoyed but- while I was bathing her… I gave her a little bar of soap to clean with while I did the clothing… Next thing I hear her screaming- I go in(from the washing machine) and she is SCREAMING in frustration: she cant catch the little bar of soap in the water… it was too small and kept getting away from her tiny hands.
Oh that brought a smile to my face...