Hannah's Magical Bag (or is it?)

My dear sister Hannah gave me a fabulous and completely unique present for Christmas this year. I would like to post some pictures, and you decide what it really is used for.
Here is one side of this fabulous bag. Note the brilliant colors and nice sparkly mirrors.

And here is the other side. Different colors, patterns, and otherwise fabulous designs...

Use #1: A rock star guitar carrying case. Unfortunately, I don't have a guitar, but if I did, I would be the coolest rock star around.

Use #2: The prettiest princess backpack around for dear Ella-marie to carry around.

Use #3: A stylish, yet funky hat, but not functional...apparently I need a bigger head so that it doesn't swallow me up.

Use #4: The piece de resistance...a baby carrier of the most stylish kind. Who would have thought that Levi would fit in it and even have room to spare. He wasn't exactly the happiest camper on the block, but he sure was the cutest.

Christmas Eve Extravaganza

This year's Nativity play may be counted as one of the most theatrical thus far in our family's history. The nice thing is that we are finally getting enough children to do a good job covering all of the parts...hahaha...but Spencer was the man of the hour by playing 3 different parts. The ever important donkey, the angel singing to the shepherds, and a wise man to help guide his co-wiseman Hunter. Hunter needed a lot of guiding. Spencer really saved our play.

Ella-marie was Mary, and in the picture above, is scared to death of riding on the donkey. I think Spencer has handprints in his sides from her holding on. Corbin tried very hard as Joseph, to help her to not fall off. We're just happy they made it to Bethlehem.

Levi was a very cooperative Jesus. I don't think we've ever had a Jesus that didn't cry. But Levi did great and even let Joseph hold him. Mary didn't get to hold him because he's almost as big as she is.

Miles was our shepherd, and a very cute shepherd if I do say so myself. He even had some help from his sheepdog Scout. They did just what they were supposed to do. I'm not sure why the shepherd is holding on Scout's tail, but there must have been a good reason.

The angel (Spencer) certainly made the shepherd "sore afraid" but then he did a lively rendition of "Joy to the World".






Here is Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus and the shepherd. So far, so good.

Then the wisemen come. And wise they are. Hunter was feeling quite uncooperative, but luckily he had the big wiseman to help him along.


















Ta-dah! And here is the finished product. Merry Christmas!

Happy Anniversary!

Lucky seven years! I can't believe that Spencer and I have been married for 7 years already! Spencer was so cute this morning...he brought me out to the kitchen, and all on the floor, in each little square there was a chocolate kiss. And half were white chocolate kisses (which means I can eat them!) He said that if he could, he'd kiss the ground that I walk on because he loves me so much! Oh, so cute! I am thankful for Spencer and for all that he puts up with. Sure we've had our bad times, but there have been way more good times and laughs to make up for the hard times.

Here are some pictures of the kisses.

The children's reactions were just plain funny. Ella-marie just started exclaiming "Mommy, mommy, come look, look, look! Look at the floor! Oh wow!" And Hunter tried really hard to walk without stepping on them, but that didn't work very well.

Recipe of the week 12/21

Butterscotch Apple Cake
3 eggs
1 1/4 c. oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. flour
2 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 med. apples, peeled & chopped
1 c. chopped pecans
1 cup butterscotch chips

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, oil & vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and add to egg mixture and mix well. Stir in apples and pecans.
Pour into ungreased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with butterscotch chips. Bake at 325 degrees for 40-45 min. or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool before serving. 12-15 servings

Christmas Decorations

Here are some pictures of our Christmas tree. Levi was nice enough to model next to the tree for me. Thank goodness he's still too small to wreck havoc on it. I like to call the theme of our Christmas tree..."Decorated with Love by little children!" I tried really hard to not re-distribute the ornaments after the kids put them on, but I am guilty of moving a few so that they're not all in the same spot.

And also, Spencer took the snipped off branches of the tree and made a wreath for me. He did an amazing job considering he's never done anything like that before. Very impressive.

Christmas time is here!

Well, despite all of the illness and pain and agony of the season, we finally got our Christmas tree up and decorated this weekend. The children sure thought it was a lot of fun. Our dear Hunter is quite a monster though and not only tries to push the tree over, but also takes ornaments off and rips/bends/smashes them. He has spent a lot of time in time-out in the last few days. We also opened our early present from my parents and it was a beautiful olivewood nativity set from Israel. It is so pretty and I'm so excited to have it up. I'll post some pictures of our Christmas once I get around to it. Hopefully that will be sooner, rather than later.

The Cookie Crumb Mystery

So, yesterday morning when I walked into the kitchen after my shower, I found a mysterious trail of chocolate crumbs that went from the garbage can into the hallway. Very mysterious! And I asked two of my children, who shall remain nameless, whether they had gotten out of bed and eaten food while I was in the shower. After a little hemming and hawing, they finally admitted to have moved a chair, climbed up on the top of the fridge, and eaten two moonpies each. And all this before 7am! I was ready to strangle both of these nameless children with my bare hands. Needless to say, I was not happy with either of them. Their consequences started off with not having any sugary food at breakfast...no raisins, banana, yogurt, or granola on their cheerios. Just plain cheerios and milk. You would have thought I was torturing them big time. And also, they didn't get any dessert after dinner. Which was extra sad because the missionaries were over for dinner and so I had made a new recipe for butterscotch apple cake. They were devestated! I don't know what else to do. I no longer have any moonpies on my fridge (sorry Spencer) because I tossed them in the garbage, and my pantry is pretty much cleaned out of candy/treats because they have had this problem before. The butterscotch apple cake was so delicious! I am going to put the recipe up at the end of the week. I loved it.

Sick, sick, sick

I had been doing really well writing more than once a millenia or so, and then Hunter and I got sick. We both had strep throat and I think that being sick is way worse as an adult than as a kid. And yesterday I got a call from the school nurse. I really have started dreading hearing from Mrs. Glover, because it's never good news. School nurses have a thankless job, and I'm glad that I'm not one. Miles threw-up all over! It's always a good time when there's throw-up involved. And I'm sorry to say that I was thankful that he threw-up at school instead of at home because I didn't have to clean it up. Shame on me, I know. Luckily for me, Tierra was willing to come watch my sleeping kids while I went to pick him up from school. Another thing I am thankful for is that Miles is big enough to aim into the barf bucket! It's so much easier to have sick kids when they can aim. Today I am thankful for little things like that.

Since all of the kids are home from school today, we "played" Scrabble. Corbin did a great job sounding out and spelling words on the board. Words like "quit" "rabbit" "egg" "exit" "octopus". I was very impressed. And Miles worked on his letter recognition while putting the tiles in the longest line ever. He is doing great learning his letters. Ella-marie practiced her fine motor skills by trying to put the tiles on her holder without knocking others down, and also she's learning some letters too. Silly Hunter just wanted to sit there holding the box of letters in his lap while running his hand through the tiles. And Levi nursed. It's pretty cool to see their different levels of learning. And the fact that they were able to do it without fighting is a major bonus in my book. Hopefully no one else will catch Miles' bug today so that I can send the boys back to school tomorrow.

Recipe of the Week-Turkey Tetrazzini

Turkey Tetrazzini

8 oz spagetti or linguini
3 Tbs butter
1 small onion
1/4 cup flour
2 2/3 cups milk
1- 2 1/2 oz jar sliced mushrooms, opt
1 chicken boullion cube
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup parmesean cheese
4 slices bread
3 Tbsp butter
2 cups cubed cooked turkey

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Cook Spagetti as label directs; drain. Return to saucepan and keep warm.

While spagetti is cooking, over medium heat, melt 3 Tbsp butter and add onion. Cook onion until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in flour. Gradually whisk in milk, mushrooms with their liquid, bouillon, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until slightly thickened. Remove pan from heat and stir in cheese.

Tear bread into small pieces to make two cups coarse bread crumbs. Melt 3 Tbsp butter and stir in bread crumbs; set aside.

To spagetti in saucepan, add sauce mixture and turkey; gently toss to mix well. Spoon mixture into 8x12 baking dish and top with bread crumbs. Bake about 20 minutes or until heated through.

Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 20 min
Servings 6

My babies are growing up!

We've had quite an exciting Thanksgiving break. It was a lovely, low-key, just our little family Thanksgiving this year. It was so nice! I tried a new jello/fruit salad and it recieved 5 stars from Spencer and me, 100 stars from Miles, and 200 stars from Corbin. Hunter snarfed it down too, but he doesn't talk. But if he could, I'm sure he would have given it one million stars. Spencer says that I should post the recipe next week. It would be a great recipe for Christmas too!

Hunter has officially been kicked out of the crib. I was a little worried about putting him in a big bed already, because he's still a baby (a big one, but still a baby!). But so far, he really loves it and hasn't had a problem at all. Well, I guess he fell out of bed one time last night, but that's all. He is even doing a great job with napping in his big bed too.

"Wherever the bankie is, there I will be also"-Hunter

Now Levi is in the crib. It will be nice to not have him right next to my ear in the bassinett in our room. He looked so big in the bassinett, and now he looks tiny in the big crib. Ella-marie is excited to have a new roommate, but we'll see how that really goes tonight when he wakes up crying. He loves his new crib. And I love that he's in the crib.

"Mom! I love my new crib! I'm so happy!"

Turkey-lurkeys

Today we made our world famous Thanksgiving Turkey-lurkeys. I would like to thank my mom for making our childhood special by making these with us every year. I am just passing along the memories to my kids too.
Ella-marie really appreciated putting the candy corn on. She has one turkey, the one on the right, that has a beak and a mullet. It's all good!

Levi, on the other hand, is thinking..."Please Mom, don't eat the chocolate..."

Hunter loved the frosting. He didn't understand the concept that the frosting was supposed to go on the turkey, not in his mouth. Luckily, Spencer was there to guide him.

Miles had a lot of fun making his turkeys. He was very meticulous. Isn't that interesting? Even though, as soon as he made them, he was ready to eat!

Corbin was so excited to FINALLY get to make his turkeys! He asked me everyday for a week whether we could make them yet, and everyday he was devestated when I told him that it wasn't time. Today, he was ready and willing. He even made some for his teachers at school.

Ella-marie's First Haircut

Ella-marie had her very first haircut today! We went to get my haircut and as my stylist was cutting my hair she said that we really needed to cut Ella's. And so, I gave in and let her cut Ella-marie's hair. I was so worried about cutting all of her curls off, but as she cut, Ella-marie's hair popped up even curlier than it was before. (Maybe curlier is not a real word;) It looks very cute now and Ella-marie thinks she's a beauty queen. You should see her posing and primping in front of the mirror. And she was more than willing to let me take some pictures to share with everyone. I'm amazed at how different girls and boys are.

Recipe from 11/16/08

Portuguese Sweet Bread

1 cup milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons margarine
1/3 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups bread flour
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

If using a bread machine, layer in machine in order given and use the sweet bread setting, 1 1/2 pound loaf.

If making the old fashioned way... Warm the milk in microwave until warm. Add egg and margarine and mix until smooth. In seperate bowl, combine sugar, salt, flour and yeast. Add to liquids and knead for 8-10 minutes. Grease, cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled. Pound down and shape into loaf. Let rise in bread pan until doubled. Bake at 375 F until golden brown. About 30-45 minutes. Or 15-1hr 25 minutes depending on your stupid oven. Give or take.

November 22, 2008

We fixed the curtains today. It wasn't on Ambers list of things to do. But we did it anyway. Lowes has a wide selection of screw anchors. We chose two types...I don't know why it had to be two different types. We used the ones shaped like a V on Amber's nice curtains in the living room. We used these plastic toggle things-that sort of bend back on themselves when screwed in-on the bedroom curtains. Now when the children decide to play tarzan and swing from vine to vine, or simply just want a good hiding place for hide-n-seek but can't seem to stay still once behind the curtain...well the anchors should hold the curtains in place...that or cause the entire wall to cave in on top of my little monsters.

This week we visited "Winter Wonder Land". The boat place by the race track is putting on a wonderful light show. They use LED lights and then synchronize everything with music that is broadcast over the radio. You get to drive around the place surrounded by these blinding lights. The kids giggle and even sing along. And the proceeds benifit local food ministries. The show is awesome. I highly reccomend it. If you go, tell me and I get you a flyer to take with you. It has my band's logo and we get $1 for every car that presents that flyer upon entry. Oh, I think the place charges $10/car.

The snow yesterday was great. I considered going in to work, but I have a few extra vacation days...so I took one. It was fun to be a stay at home dad for the day. Amber took the morning for herself. Hunter and Ella-marie treated me fairly well, even when I made lunch differently than Mom.

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. The only problem I forsee is that I already eat too much. Amber's just too good of a cook. Eh, we all have to die from something. Let my demise be food.

-Spencer

Thumb-sucking Saga Part 3

Well, I have given up on the anti-thumb fingernail polish. Everytime I went in to check on Ella-marie and Hunter, they both had their thumbs in their mouths. Apparently, it doesn't matter what it tastes like. I was thinking about taking pictures of their sad, sad thumbs for everyone to enjoy, but Michelle and Mom put the kabash on that. Something about it being too gross to look at, you know. I am out of ideas as to what to do. I certainly can't cut off their thumbs, and the bandaids got sucked as well, and the polish obviously tasted just fine. Any ideas?

I sucked my thumb when I was little and I remember my mom trying all sorts of different things for me too. What finally worked though was that she took my blankie away and hid it in her closet. My poor, sad, lonely blankie, all by itself in that cold, drafty closet. I am still dealing with the emotional issues apparently, but I did stop sucking my thumb. Probably because of the trauma. Mom finally gave me my blankie back in the year 2004 when Spencer and I bought our first house and moved all of my stuff out of my parents house. I was 22.

Miracle of Miracles

Guess who slept through the night last night?

It was Levi!!

I am so excited that he slept from 7:45pm to 4:30am. When I woke up at 4:30 I couldn't believe my eyes and I had to double check the time. I thought at first that I had nursed him and not realized it earlier, but trust me, I didn't feed him. Hopefully Levi will remember tonight that he needs to sleep through the night. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed.

Thumb-sucking Saga part 2

Well, I thought that the fingernail polish would work. I put it on Ella-marie's thumbs and put her down for a nap. When she woke up I asked her if she had sucked her thumb.

Ella-marie:"Oh no, Mommy, I kept my thumb under the blanket."

Me: "How did it taste?"

Ella: "Yucky, it taste yucky!"

Me: "How do you know that it tastes yucky if you didn't suck on it?"

Ella: "Oh, I suck on it."

Me: "Why did you suck on it if it tastes yucky?"

Ella: "Cause I like to"

I put more on her thumbs before bedtime as well. And since I was at it, I put some on Hunter's thumb too. That was funny. Immediately as I laid him down in his crib he put his thumb in his mouth. I was standing there watching him and I started making yucky sounds and sticking out my tongue. I guess he didn't notice the cayenne pepper until I mentioned it. So he pulled his thumb out and started wiping his tongue with his blanket. It was really funny to watch. And then he stuck his thumb right smack dab back into his mouth. And we repeated the tongue wiping as well. I just couldn't stop laughing.

We are going to try again today. What else could possibly happen?

Monday of chaos

So, I didn't realize that my life was so exciting. This morning we went to Wal-mart to go grocery shopping and that seemed to be working okay. But when we got home, Levi exploded out of his diaper and while I was changing his whole outfit, Ella-marie dumped the whole container of granola on the floor of the pantry. Which means that I had to remove all of the food containers and sweep while trying to get the granola in the garbage before Hunter ate it with the dustbunnies in it. And then because I'm so lucky, as I brought the groceries in, Hunter decided to poop in his pants. It was a good time. And poor Levi was crying because no one was paying attention to him. I did a really good job staying calm and not yelling through all of this.

And as a side note, I am starting the anti-thumbsucking campaign with Ella-marie. I will keep you posted and let you know how it goes. So far, the bandaids did not work, so today we are starting the yucky fingernail polish.

Marching Band

Well, it seems that the marching band season just finished, and in fact it did, but now it's time for Spencer to start thinking about next year. You may wonder why in the world it takes so long...and frankly...I wonder that too. Spencer would like more opinions than just mine. I guess I'm stuck in the same rut every year and am still trying to get him to do the one I want. But I won't tell you which it is, because I don't want to influence you. I suspect that some may be able to deduct which is my favorite anyway.

If you'd like to see the band's website, go to...
http://www.patriotregiment.com

Here is our picture from Halloween. As you can see we have a dragon (Corbin), a Pirate (Miles), a unicorn (Ella-marie), a giraffe (Hunter), a little pumpkin (Levi) and a tired Mom (Amber).

And as an added bonus, those who haven't had a chance to see our new stairs and porch...Voila!!!

We've finally given in!

So, after much debate, and heart-searching chaos, Spencer and I have decided that we will be joining the rest of the bandwagon and start a blog. I hope that you are excited to read about poop, throw-up, and temper-tantrums. Because that is my life. <Our life - Spencer>

This morning Ella-marie peed on the floor while Levi was exploding out of his diaper. It was a case of which was more urgent to clean up. I decided to clean up the puddle first because Hunter thinks it's funny to walk or splash through anything that is new on the floor. Poor Levi was not happy to wait, but he took it like a man.

See, I told you it would be all about pee and poop. And you thought I was just kidding!!