Our Nicholas Whanau

I'm Baaaaaack!

2012-02-04T16:33:00.000-07:00

I haven't written in this little gem for ages.
How does time pass by so quickly?

I've decided that I probably can't catch up, largely due to the fact that I probably can't remember it all. I think I'll start with Cuauhtli's birthday that was just a week or so ago, and start anew.

Sound good? Really, I can't hear you disagree anyway, so Ha! :)

annies home: Double Layer Pumpkin Pie

2011-10-14T16:02:00.000-06:00

annies home: Double Layer Pumpkin Pie

Camp Pendleton! And finally, almost, San Degeigo!

2011-09-05T21:19:00.002-06:00

This is the sign that you see as you drive into the gates of Camp Pendleton.I had decided that it was important to go there as soon as we chose to make San Diego our vacation destination this year. Two years ago, my Dad and I were talking about taking a trip to San Diego. He was itching to go back. He was stationed at Camp Pendleton while he served in the Marines. He fell in love with it there. He moved back to Arkansas when he was finished with the Marines, but San Diego and Camp Pendleton always held a special place in his heart. He would tell me stories of being in boot camp, the clean ones, and going to the beach, going to the crab shacks, just everything. I loved watching his face and his eyes when he talked about it. He was transported back to that happy time, albeit one of the most physically demanding and brutal times, in his life. We made plans to go. We talked about going to so many places that he remembered, taking the harbor cruise, deep sea fishing.
We had Plans.
But, Heavenly Father had different plans. Still really need some clarity on the "why's" of that.
It was important for me to go.
I had to go.
I was going.
As you pull up to the base, it funnels you into the different groups.
We were in the visitor group and stopped to speak with the on-duty Marine that was in charge of our lane. That pretty much did it.
I was starting on my emotional roller coaster.
Seeing this man in his fatigues, with his buzz cut, and his proper manners, sent my mind's eye to the photo I have of my dad while he was in the Marines.
He was thin, best shape of his life, and sporting his High and Tight. Handsome. I see my eyes when I see that photo. He always said it was like looking in a mirror when he looked at me. Hopefully he wasn't hinting that I, too, had a 5 o'clock shadow.
We drove through the gates and started driving through their little Camp Pendleton town. It was amazing. I was seeing things that my dad saw. I could almost feel him with us as we drove. The kids were stone silent. They were watching the Marines, their families, and everything else all around them, but they never asked a question and they never said a word. For whatever reason, the veil felt very thin to me there in the van as we drove. I spoke to my dad in my mind and it helped.
We drove around a bit more and then popped out at Oceanside. My dad hung out there on the beach a lot. We drove down and that was the first time the kids saw the ocean. It was almost magical. They were elated. The long drive had finally paid off!
We. Were. Here!
There weren't very many people on the beach that day, despite the perfect day. The kids ran into the ocean, dove into the sand, and chased the seagulls.
This was my time to sit, watch the ocean, reflect, remember, and speak to my Dad, and my Father in Heaven. What a blessing I had been given! We stayed in Oceanside for the rest of that day exploring, playing, and watching.
I was in awe.


This is the sign you see as you leave. I totally missed the beautiful sign that they had at the entrance because				of my fixation on the Marine.

Not much Laboring on Labor Day

2011-09-05T20:56:00.000-06:00

What a day we've had today! I absolutely love it when Cary is off work and can spend the day with us. It's my favorite thing. I woke up this morning too early for sane people and could not go back to sleep. I was terribly bummed because it was the one day that I could actually sleep in. And, what happens? Ridiculousness, that's what. I was stuffy and achy and knew that I had the beginnings of what should be classified as class 4 pneumonia, if there were such a thing. I sucked it up and decided that I was not going to let it ruin our fun family day. I know, I know, a selfless trooper, right? Pffft. I just didn't want to be couped up in the bedroom while everyone else was out having fun. :)

We decided to have a family vote as to where we would go. Pretty much everyone wanted to go to a different place, and it was slow pickins at first. Cary and I really wanted to go to 7peaks, alas none of the kidlets really wanted to go. We decided to go to Lehi Trafalga first. I had some super good deals that I scored a while back and decided to use them today. Free Food! Sweet!
I completely spaced the camera, so no photos. Boo! We ate, laser tagged, carouseled, airplaned, video-gamed, and rode our hearts silly.
Then we decided to hit the outdoor pool here in Lehi. It was cloudy, windy, and about 78 degrees, but it was perfect. There were about 3 families there (including ours), so we had the run of the place.
Perfection!
We closed the place down and I was honestly sad to leave. We have had a lot of fun there this summer and I'm always sad when things change. I am not a lover of change. at all.
We came home and got all showered and changed, but my darling of darlings decided to make us a little canyon cook-out in our back yard. (I was itching to go to the canyon today, but no one else really wanted to go)
He put out the grill,. got out our cooking sticks (really, what are those things called?) and got everything ready. We all went out and cooked our hot dogs and roasted our marshmallows.
It. Was. Perfect.
I love that man.
The kids had a blast and we had a lovely family home evening under the stars, surrounded by giggles, sticky faces, and cuddles.
Best Labor Day Ever.

San Degeigo, Part Deux

2011-09-01T11:38:00.001-06:00

So we stayed in Primm for two nights. Seriously, what was I thinking? Oh, that's right! I was thinking a $29 room with a $20 food credit on each room, each night! It ended up that we paid $40 for both rooms for two nights and received $80 in food credits. *insert raise the roof dance here*
I should state for the record that I am incredibly frugal. That's what allows this family of 7 to be able to go to San Diego for a week with minimal worries. I think the boys are finally getting it. Budgets are good, people! Before the trip I made each of us a "goody bag" filled with a myriad of treats. There were no rules about how or when you could eat what your bag contained, but once it was gone---it was gone. I was pretty proud of the kids, not one of them snarfed it all down before we hit Orem! Progress! All the rubbish went inside said paper bag, so when we stopped and their bag was empty they simply chucked it in the rubbish bin! I had also filled the coolers with capri suns, waters, drinks for Cary, and milk. I bought cereal when it was super cheap at Smith's, and that is what the kids had for breakfast! Cary and I aren't so much the breakfast eaters. The kids thought it was fabulous because I had the super sugary, chocolate-y, unhealthy cereal that they don't usually get at home. Again, Success!
While in Vegas/Primm we were able to visit with Sarah and do a little sight-seeing. The strip is not a place I wanted to take my kids (day or night), so we stayed away for the most part. Our hotel had roller coasters, games for kids, and other small rides. The next day we were there it was all FREE! An added bonus that I hadn't anticipated! Cary rode with all the big kids, while Bugga and I sat and watched them. I'm not so much a heights person and was perfectly content to watch the others scream like girls as the roller coaster did the loop de' loops. The kids loved it, so they said, after the fact. :)

We left Primm and headed out on the short, comparably, trip to San Diego. We stopped in Baker, California because they have this Alien store, complete with a space shuttle AND Alien Jerky. Yep, we bought some. They have quite the selection of jerky. We bought garlic rosemary and something else. So Yum. We also bought Habanero Pistachios. So flipping hot, but yum! This is where all of these photos come from.....


This is a thermometer. The largest in the world, so the sign says. It was like 114 that day. Yuck!

I know, I know...What about the San Diego part of the trip?! It's coming up! Promise! :)

Fambly Vacation! Part Un

2011-08-27T22:28:00.000-06:00

All of us were looking forward to our family vacation. Holy cow, were we excited. I was more excited than a kid on Christmas Eve, waiting for Santa Claus to bring the holy grail of presents.
Bug was equally excited and since she can't quite say "San Diego", it was dubbed "The SanDegeigo Trip!"
I was also pretty concerned on how we'd make it all 12 hours to San Diego with all five children, especially since we have a hard time traveling 15 minutes on the interstate to visit the grandparents.
Good Grief.
We wanted to visit my family in Arkansas, but Cary didn't have the vacation hours to travel all that way. We would have made the 3 day trip to only stay for 2, which seemed a bit ridiculous. So, we decided to go to Arkansas another time and visit my other home, San Diego, California this time.
Oh, how I love it there. Cary and I went about seven years ago, and I fell in love with it. The people, the temperature, the weather, the beaches, the ocean, not so much the traffic, but everything else.

Cary was even more worried about the drive than I was, so we decided to take a very leisurely trip. We stopped a couple of different places and stayed in Primm, Nevada (about 30 minutes south of Veags) for a night going down to California and coming back to Utah. We were able to score a super sweet deal, but I man do I hav regrets about not going straight to California! The kids were exceptionally well behaved for the majority of the trip, can you believe it? We bought dual DVD players for the van and each person was able to choose a movie to bring. A seriously brilliant moment for us. The kids did not know what to do with all the smoking, drinking, tats, language, etc. going on all around us. It was interesting watching them process everything. Cuauhtli did come away from it saying that he knew he would never smoke or drink. I truly hope that sticks with him.

These photos were taken in Vegas. It was disgustingly hot and I wouldn't live there, even if I was given a free home. Although, I would totally take the home, sell it, and move to San Diego. :)

A little Lag in BlogLand.

2011-08-27T21:49:00.000-06:00

Cary and I were perusing the internet together the other day. No, we don't usually do this, but we were uploading videos and photos we had taken in San Diego. He let me know that I had not done any blogging in "quite some time!" I assured him that it had only been a short while, but he did not believe me. He pulled up my blog and sure enough...I was wrong. How could it be? 3 whole months? Oh, yes! Summer happened! Who has time to sit down and blog when you have five adorable, yet quite demanding, kiddos hovering over you? Not this old gal, anyway. I have missed it, though, I must confess.

So much has happened since that last day of school. It has been a summer full of fun, fits, melt-downs, sunburns, ice cream cones, family picnics, and beaches. The real beach even, complete with rip tides in the Pacific ocean and life-guards that make you want to pull out your parka while sunning yourself on the beautifully warm sand. We met three life guards and spoke with them at length about the tides, the surfers, and the amazing waves that crashed around us. I've never really watched BayWatch, but I assume they could easily hang with the likes of Pamela Anderson and all of those other sun-kissed people who run in slow motion down the beach.

I will be posting some of the cutest videos and photos of my kids that you have ever seen, very soon.
Very. Soon.

Our summer went by far too quickly for the kids, but they are settling back into routines pretty well. We have passes to the Lehi outdoor pool and the pass of all passes, so we were never hurting for activities. We were also lucky enough to go to Cowabunga Bay. You know, the place with all the brightly colored slides and the cars spouting water that you can plainly see from I-15? Bugga had only asked me to go about 14593 times, and she was elated when we drove up to the gates.

Tonathiu went to his very first Boy Scout Camp this summer, and he thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Cuauhtli, Yoalli, and Gabby went to a week long camp as well and they were all thoroughly missed by those they left behind. It was completely bizarre only having two stinkles hanging around instead of five.

Cary and I didn't go to camp, but I kind of wish there was a Parent Camp. It might be kind of fun to hang out in the mountains together. Oh, the stories we could share!

I know I'm leaving things out of our summer, but at the moment I am a complete space cadet.

Tonathiu started 7th! grade on Monday. He is not enjoying Jr. High, but I have a feeling that it will start getting better as he gets used to it.
Cuauhtli is in 6th grade and is loving it. He has decided to be on the Science Demo Team and is playing soccer, really really well. He is an amazing player and I absolutely love watching him play.

Yoalli is in 5th grade and, as usual, loves it. She's also playing soccer and thinks that it is the best sport ever! She has quick feet and if she's able to follow the ball she'll be an amazing player as well.
Gabby started 3rd grade! Unbelievable! She really loves school this year and already has a field trip coming up!
Keeleigh is now in first grade and thinks that school lunch is the best invention in the history of the world. Personally I think she just likes not eating her veggies.
That makes for one quiet house during the day. I'm able to do whatever I want! Sweet Freedom! This past week, I simply caught up on all of the chores that I've neglected.
This next week I think I'll start tackling some bigger jobs. I want to finish our laundry room, and I think I just might see how good I am at applying drywall mud. It sounds exciting.
Does that make me weird?

My birthday is coming up. Far too quickly for my taste. I will be 33 whopping years old. Holy. Crap.
I'm having a hard time with that number. It's far too high and I feel like I should be 26.
26 is a good number.
Old enough to get car insurance discounts, young enough to not be 30.

Betcha didn't think this post was going to be so completely full of randomness, did you?

How was your summer? How was your first days of school? How is your sanity?
I've missed you, my blogland friends.
I'm back!

Dance Festival!

2011-05-25T11:23:00.000-06:00

Our school had a dance festival today and it was fabulous. I had a child in each grade, except for two. Oy. The kids did a great job and I was able to snap some great photos of them. I was able to catch Yoalli in action doing her dance. Kung Fu Fighting....loved it!


Keeleigh did the Chicken Dance!


Gabs did the Jungle Book!


Yoalli danced to Kung Fu Fighting!


Cuauhtli Square Danced!


Tonathiu did the "I'm too cool for 6th grade dance festivals".

It was fun to watch them and do you notice??? It was actually SUNNY! Huzzah!

Easy Yummyness.

2011-05-13T14:12:00.000-06:00

I am part of the Bountiful Baskets Food CoOp. I love it. If you haven't heard of it, seriously go check it out. For $15 you get 6 different types of vegetables and 6 different types of fruits, and not just one or two of each. They also offer breads, tortillas, herbs, DIY decorative cookies, and cakes. Those are available for a bit more money. We've been doing it for about a month now, and I don't know that I'll buy fruits and veggies in the markets anymore. I also bought the bread and tortillas. Love Love Love them. My kids really love seeing what we'll get each week too.
You might be wondering at this point why I named this post Easy Yummyness.

Well, last week we got blueberries.

My kids or cary and I will not eat just blueberries. I was excited though, because this meant that I was going to be able to make something with them. Today I finally had the time to do just that! I have been searching for a quick, easy, and Delicious recipe for a cake/muffin/bread for blueberries. This morning I struck Gold! Gold, I tell you! I found this little gem on Yummly. Cute name, aye?
Easy Blueberry Cream Cheese Cake- (kinda more like a bread though)

212 cup

bisquick (baking mix)

eggs

12 cup

sugar

1 tsp

vanilla

12 cup

milk

1 cup

blueberries (frozen, thawed and drained)

2 tbsp

oil

6 oz

cream cheese (softened)

2 tbsp

milk

14 cup

sugar

Method

1	Preheat oven to 350.
2	In a small bowl mix cream cheese 2 TBSP milk and 1/4 cup suagr until smooth. Set aside.
3	In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar milk, oil, and vanilla until smooth.
4	Mix in Bisuick mix then stir in blueberries.
5	Pour half of cake batter into a 9 in loaf pan.
6	Pour half cream cheese mixute straight down middle of pan (do not mix in YET).
7	Pour rest of cake batter over top, then top with remaining cream cheese mixture.
8	Take a knife and gently stir make swirl effect.
9	Bake for 45 minute or until done.

I just realized that I forgot to do the swirling. Dang it! No matter though, it's still good and I dont think my crew will complain that there are no swirlies. Especially if they don't know! :)

I've tried it.
I got the end piece, which is crustier than the rest and that isn't my favorite part. But, I love the taste of the fresh blueberries and the cream cheese kicks it over the top. I'm sure it would even be better if you swirl. :)

How Close?

2011-05-08T20:28:00.001-06:00

I miss my Dad. I still think about him every day.
I was having a conversation with a dear friend the other day, whom has also lost her father, about how close our loved ones really are. It was so helpful to talk about it with her so candidly and share our thoughts and feelings. I shared with her a story that I've been hesitant to share with anyone else. But, for fear of forgetting it, I shall write it down so that I can save it and read it later, when I need to feel closer to my Dad.

I was all by myself one afternoon and me being alone does not happen very often. I don't think I had even been thinking of my dad more than usual, but I was missing him heaps.
I walked out to our van and sat down in the driver's seat. Instantly, I smelled cigarette smoke. No one else was around and no one near us really smoke either. But, there it was, as strong as if it had just been snuffed out in the ashtray. It smelled just like my Dad had just put out a cigarette after I had yelled at him that he wasn't going to smoke in the van. I was always after him to not smoke and/or to just quit altogether. It made me smile, faintly, and think of my dad.
Then, I turned on the van and the radio was on. Which, isn't all that out of the ordinary, however, it was turned up louder than I normally have it, and the song.....La Grange by ZZ Top. My Dad's song. The song that played every time his phone rang. I could see his phone, see him holding it, and see him answering the phone, all in my mind's eye.

Coincidence? Perhaps.

I don't think so.

I think it was my Dad saying "Hello. I love you. I'm here"

Miss you Daddy.

I made this little bouquet for him from flowers from my flower bed and wrapped it with Easter Ribbon I had.

I think he loved it. :)

GOOOOOoaaaaaaaaallllllllll!

2011-05-08T20:15:00.000-06:00

Cuauhtli started playing soccer this year. Holy cow, is it fun! For him too, I'm sure. No, seriously, he loves, I mean, LOVES the game. He's pretty stinking good at it too. His first game was a couple of weeks ago, and they rawked it. The team works pretty well together and it's so much fun cheering them on to victory!

I was only able to catch a couple of photos because I was a nervous wreck the first time watching him play! I didn't want him to get hurt, but man! I wanted him to get in there and GET that Ball! :)

Cuauhtli is fearless and not afraid to look silly. I love that about him. He gives everything 100%, be it soccer or driving me crazy.
The other day this was part of our conversation:
C: "Mom, am I grounded?"
Me: "What do you think, Cuauhtli?"
C: "Well, I think in your head you are saying yes, for three years, but in your heart you are saying No Son! i love you!"
Me: laughing too hard to speak.

Love that kid.

Easter!

2011-05-08T20:08:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I've posted, man I need to catch up! I hate it when I don't blog for a while. Writing is therapeutic for me, even if it is just the silly, fun stuff. I'll try to remember the past couple of weeks....

We invited our friends and siblings over for some egg coloring fun. I really enjoy seeing the creativity of each of the kids.

Sadly, Tonathiu had a scout camp out and didn't join us for the fun. Bummer.

I was sneaky and put this out for the kids to wake up to:

We don't do the "Easter Bunny", I guess it's more the "Easter Mumma"! :) I like it better that way and the kids don't miss a thing. please excuse the bananas in the background :)

Saturday morning we woke up and got to watch Cuauhtli in his first ever soccer game. more on that in the next post.
Then, we came home and it was time to munch and hunt eggs and have some fun! Woo! :)
We asked Itztli and Atlahi to come over and hunt eggs with us.

Clearly, you can tell how excited they were. Just look at those precious faces!

on a mission!


I have no idea what was so funny!


Where da eggs at?


Cheese!

The kids really enjoyed the day. That night we did our Easter Story Cookies. I can proudly say that's a Nicholas Whanau Tradition now. :) I love those words. I love the feeling you get when you speak of the traditions that you do with your family. Family. I love it.

This is what our cookies looked like

Yum to the O.

I wish I could show you photos of us eating them, but they went too quickly.
Deeelishush.

How was your Easter?

Bugz Easter Video :D

2011-04-22T07:23:00.000-06:00

Curse or Blessing?

2011-04-17T16:50:00.002-06:00

Those who know us, know that we've struggled with the big "I". Yep, Infertility. I don't talk about it much and I really haven't blogged about it, but I am feeling like I need to do so. This is all from my perspective, as a woman who has struggled with conceiving biological children.

The reason for this post? Maybe I just need to vent. Maybe if I write it down, I can let it go. Maybe it will be therapeutic. Maybe.

We have five beautiful children. Each of whom brings something completely unique to our family and each of whom are choice spirits. I know they are my children. I know that each of them are supposed to be part of our family. I had a conversation with a friend and we talked about that very statement. We both know that our kids are our kids. But, to say they were always meant to be with us is a hard thing to think about. For them to be with us, they had to endure so much pain and face their own trials as their biological parents made the choices that they did. We did not adopt them from birth, they came to us through the foster care system.

They were abused children, both physically and mentally. Why would a loving Heavenly Father have them endure all of that to end up with us, their forever parents? I wish I had an adequate answer for that. I don't know. Sometimes I question it. Why not just send them to US to begin with?! Why not skip all of that pain?

For now, only our Father in Heaven knows that. I know that Cary and I were prepared for them, somewhat. I know Heavenly Father put us in place so that they could come to us. They have helped to make us, a family.

Lately, for some reason, women have felt the need to remind me of the fact that I've never had to change dirty diapers, I've never had to get up at 1am for feedings, I've never had to worry about spit up on my favorite blouse. And, not only is the reminder that I've never experienced these things, but that I should be thankful that I haven't.

I smile my half smile, nod my head in agreement, and give a chuckle

The thing that they don't realize is that I want to experience 1 am feedings. I want to have a shirt ruined by spit-up. I want Cary to experience the dirty diapers. hehe :)

I haven't experienced those things yet, but I hope to.

I love my kids. They are sealed to me. For All Eternity.
And, ~~most days~~ I'm grateful for that. :)

Buuuuut, I don't believe that my family is complete yet.
I think that we have another little spirit or two out there who is meant to be part of us. I know, most of you think that is a ridiculous statement considering we have 5 already.

But, that's what I feel.

I hope I'm right.

I hope that we get to experience everything.

If not, we'll be okay. We have each other. We have five of the most adorable children on the face of the planet. and we have the knowledge that we are a forever family.

But, please, don't remind me of how lucky I am. :)

Easter Cookies!

2011-04-16T21:08:00.000-06:00

I found this neat idea last year on Sugardoodle, and we loved it. It is important to us that our kids know that there is a reason for celebrating Christmas and Easter. We don't want them thinking it's all Santas dropping toys down chimneys and Easter Bunnies pooping chocolate and jelly beans.

Last year as I was trying to develop some family traditions for our family for the different holidays, I ran across the following idea for Easter cookies. I loved it. The kids loved it. I also don't think it hurt too much that we got to all eat cookies for breakfast. Who doesn't love that? I'm including the recipe and the scriptures that Amy posted on the Sugardoodle blog.

What are some of your traditions?

To be made the evening before Easter.

You need:

1 cup whole pecans
1 tsp. vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch salt
1 cup sugar

zipper baggie
heavy wooden spoon
tape
A Bible

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. This is important! Don’t wait until you’re half done with the recipe!

Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.

Read John 19:1-3.

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink.

Read John 19:28-30.

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us eternal life.

Read John 10:10-11.

Sprinkle a little salt into each child’s hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers, and the bitterness of our own sin.

Read Luke 23:27.

So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him.

Read Ps. 34:8 and John 3:16.

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God’s eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.

Read Isa. 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid.

Read Matt. 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus’ tomb was sealed.

Read Matt. 27:65-66.

NOW GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.

Read John 16:20 and 22.

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter, Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.

Read Matt. 28:1-9

Pass of all passes!

2011-04-15T20:06:00.000-06:00

We have Seven Peaks/ Trafalga Pass of ALL Passes. I love it. The kids love it even more than I do. We bought ours on CityDeals and got them for $34.95 and THEN got a 15% discount on top of that good price! shout out to Jennie for totally helping us out!
So. Stoked.
This week has been Spring Break for the kidlets. What a week! I enjoy having the kids home, even though it's a bit of a mad-house. It messes up our regular routine and it's not quite our summer routine. We had fun, at any rate.
On Thursday we went to Trafalga in Lehi. The boys brought along their friend Justin, and they went off to play laser tag and act like 11 & 12 yr old boys while the girls and I hung out, mostly at the airplanes.

We had heaps of fun, even though it wasn't even 50 degrees. Thankfully the sun was shining despite the blustery wind. It did not deter us one bit.
It did, however, slow the girls down after the water boats. :)

And, this is what you do when you don't want to get wet on the boats

The girls were super brave and climbed the rock wall. I was surprised by how far they made it up the wall. I always knew they were part monkey. :)

We ended the day with the obligatory mom photo. :)

Bananas!

2011-04-14T14:28:00.000-06:00

So, yesterday I was feeling extremely Martha Stewart-y. I don't know what's going on, but I'm all nesting and weird. Sadly, no, I don't have any announcements. Yet!

Anyway, after scripture reading every night we have a dessert. I like to make something yummy for all of us, and not rely on store bought stuffs. I found a recipe on AllRecipes.com . Ever been there? I usually find some pretty easy and yummy recipes on that site.
I've had 3 overly ripe bananas for a couple of days and have been wanting to make bread or cake or something. I was excited to find this muffin recipe. I tweaked the original recipe, and I think it made them even more Deeelishus. that's like a million times better than the normal deliciousness.

Banana Crumb Muffins:
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons All purpose flour
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup walnuts

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups or line with muffin papers.
In a large bowl mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, soda, powder, and salt. In another bowl beat together bananas, sugar, egg, vanilla, walnuts, and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in the 1 tablespoon of butter until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

I need a better camera, and perhaps learn how to take better photos. But, wowzers. These were yummy.
We had them for dessert last night and breakfast this morning. :)

All in White

2011-04-14T14:13:00.000-06:00

This past weekend was pretty eventful. Not only did Bug turn the big 6, but Gabby's Baptism day was Saturday!

She has been anxiously awaiting this day since last summer when she watched her older siblings get baptized. Gabs was the only one being baptized from our ward, so the entire program was up to us. I let Gabby choose whom she wanted to give the talks and prayers. Cuauhtli gave the opening prayer, Yoalli gave the talk on Baptism, Tonathiu gave the talk on the Holy Ghost, Papa confirmed her and gave her the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Mama gave the Benediction. The Spirit was strong and I was proud of my kids. All of them.
I decided to share the talks that the kids gave that day. We did not help them with them at all, well except for Yoalli who got her first talk nixed because it was about 18 pages and had nothing to do with baptism. :)

Yoalli's talk on Baptism:
"Hi! I'm Yoalli Nicholas, Gabby's big sister. Gabby asked me if I could do a talk for her baptism and now here I am! When I was baptized I made an oath to our Heavenly Father. I promised that I would follow his commandments and only eat what is good for my body, that I would be sealed to my family, and choose the right. I made other promises too.
Things like being sealed and keeping God's commandments are known as faithful footsteps back to Jesus Christ! Being baptized is one of those faithful footsteps! When you are baptized, all of your sins will be forgiven. And, that is Gabby's next big step today. All of her sins will be forgiven and she will be making the same oaths that I did to Heavenly Father.
Heavenly Father also makes oaths to us that if we will keep his commandments, he will richly bless us. If we live the Gospel we will also live a life of happiness!
I would like to bare my testimony by saying that Baptism is a wonderful blessing and I promise that if you take these faithful footsteps you will live a happy and good life. I know this Church is true. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Tonathiu's Talk on the Holy Ghost:
" Hello, my talk today is going to be on the Holy Ghost. Well, some people think of the Holy Ghost as their common sense. I like to think of him as God's heavenly nudge. Whenever I am about to make a mistake, He is there saying, "No, don't do that."
The Holy Ghost helps us through hard times, he helps guide us along the straight and narrow path, and he testifies of Christ. The Holy Ghost can also warn us of danger, spiritual or temporal.
It is important to remain pure and soft hearted so that the promptings of the Spirit can be heard more clearly.
The Spirit is there on Sunday mornings saying, "Go To Church!". When you are up late at night and your body demands rest, the Spirit says, "You forgot to read your scriptures."
It is when you stop listening to the Spirit and you stop doing these things that he withdraws.
The Spirit can give you guidance at any time, but only as long as you are willing to listen. So, I guess what I am saying is , The Holy Ghost is important and we should all listen to him more."
He then bore his testimony to all of us.

It was such a special experience and made even more so because of the struggles that he and I have been facing the past little while.

Here are some photos of Gab's day:


I so love this picture. This is part of our whanau. I love them all. dearly.


My favorite.

Happy Birthday BuggaBoo!

2011-04-14T13:52:00.000-06:00

I can't believe this little beauty is six!

She brings our family so much happiness. and so much frustration. :)

I love being your Mumma and I hope you will always know how much we all love you. Forever.

Here's some little snippets of Bug's Partay. She was digging Dora mucho this year, so we had to go with it. :)


probably not the best photo, but I LOVE her expression!


She also Loooooves Kai Lan.


We also played a little "Pin the Flower bracelet on Dora". Yes, the hat and scarf were mandatory. The boys were THRILLED. :)

Lunch time.

2011-03-29T11:53:00.001-06:00

What do you do when it's still too chilly to have a picnic lunch at the park, but you and your daughter have a bad case of Spring Fever??

Have a picnic on the floor in your living room with your favorite fatso kitty, of course!

Please excuse the cables and cords. They make for a lovely picture, aye?

Love that little Brown Truck!

2011-03-28T16:21:00.001-06:00

Do you get as excited as I do when you see the UPS guy coming down your road? I love it when he bring me packages. It's like an early Christmas present just for me! Yay!
I won a $35 gift certificate for CSN stores from Brenda at Another Small Adventure.
I was ecstatic! I have been pining for a new crockpot for ages and this was perfect! I knew immediately what I wanted to get with my gift certificate. although I was drooling over so many things!

Today we heard a *KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*
I look out the window and there it is. That beautiful brown truck!

My girls and I were dancing. Yep, they get that excited over packages too! We crack it open and find.....

Wooooooooot! Look how shiny! Look how new! Look how pretty!

Yes, that little girlie is pretty and shiny too :)

And, wouldn't you know it? I don't have a crockpot meal planned until Friday. Bummer.

So, I guess I'm just going to be forced to make this

tomorrow for dessert. Oooooh yeah.

Diet? What diet? we don't need no stinkin' diet!

Okay, maybe we do, but we'll have just a bit of a cheat to enjoy this.

What's for Dinner?

2011-03-28T10:53:00.000-06:00

I am really enjoying cooking lately. I love planning the menu, organizing my pantry, finding out how much I saved for the record, on Saturday I spent $23 at Smith's and SAVED $24, I have enough pasta that i got for FREE! to last about 6 months. man! i love those deals!...and cooking the meals, of course! I love not worrying about what I'm going to make or if I have the ingredients to make it. I am finding myself having an affinity for cooking blogs especially slow-cooker blogs. I found Our Best Bites a while ago and have blog stalked them since. They have various recipes- from quick and easy, to put on your apron, you're going to be here a while.

Tonight we are having this

Is it wrong to be excited for dinner?

As I was checking out their blog today, I found some super fun April Fool's food for the whan.
We've all seen these before, right?

I'm thinking seriously about making these on Friday.

And, how stinking cute are these?

Or these? I seriously want one. Now.

What is the meatball you ask? A Ferrer Rocher candy. Yum.O.

Do you have fun traditions for April Fool's with the kids? I need some ideas! :)

Guess who lost another tooth?

2011-03-27T16:59:00.000-06:00

Random Silliness

2011-03-27T16:57:00.000-06:00

Does anyone else let the kids use their camera? At first I was supremely paranoid to let the kids take it and snap their shots, but I've tried to become a bit more mellow. I admit that I sometimes still get the shakes, but I love seeing things through their eyes. I probably have about 213897057349 pictures of the cats and pictures of eyes, mouths, and nasal passages, but I still love it.

First UP:

This cat makes us laugh. All the time. Here is Tonathiu with Harold right after scripture time.

Second photo on the Camera:

Bug with her bunny. I really love her expression. So innocent. So Sweet.

Third Photo:

Tonathiu ironing his shirt. I'm sure there was mocking involved.

Fourth Photo:

This is Bug's version of taking a nap. Oy. There's so not any sleeping happening.

Fifth Photo:

Our other fat cat, Marty. She's a blob and we love her. :)

Sixth Photo:

She's even beautiful making this face. :)

Can you tell who usually has the camera?

11 Years Ago Today....

2011-03-25T11:55:00.001-06:00

Today's weather is perfect... Eleven years ago today Cary and I took the plunge. Best day of his life as ~~I like to remind him~~ he says. It was a rainy and cold morning, which is strange for Arkansas in March. Arkansas is usually hitting the 70s by March! And, guess who was supposed to have an outdoors wedding? No, not them. US! We had it all planned out with absolute no back up plan. Oh, to be so young and foolish again...

Now, remember, I was not a member of the Church at this time in my life and Cary was less active. I prefer to think that had nothing to do with me. I was panicking. That week before we had been hit from all sides. I remember thinking that our wedding just might not happen at all.
Some members of my family had decided that since I was going to marry a hell-bound Mormon, they could not support said Mormon and me. I was devastated. I had been extremely close to this family member, almost like siblings. The daughters were supposed to be in my wedding also, already had their dresses made for them. It was crushing. Then, the pastor that I thought I had wanted to marry us decided that he too could not join the unholy to the righteous. I figured out at that point that the people I had trusted and thought I knew, weren't whatI had once thought. I won't speak badly of them now, I have since moved on and forgiven for all that happened. It was an eye opening experience for me, albeit a very hurtful one as well.
So back to the story...
Cary had contacted his Bishop and he said he would be delighted to marry us. He knew of the turmoil and bad feelings, and dealt with all of it with dignity and love. I was surprised, and very relieved.
So it was set.
It was to be a smaller wedding now, but it was going forward! Phew!

So, the day arrives. Rain. Rain. And More Rain.

My mother and dear friend ran around like mad women trying to find a place for us to hold the event. I won't even share some of the places that my mom called and suggested. They still give me the shivers. I called Cary and he was his calm pillar of strength self. He called the Bishop and he told us we could be married in the Relief Society Room of the chapel in Hot Springs. I was nervous and unsure, but my mom and friend had worked so hard to make it the best place possible.
I was so nervous as my Dad and I stood out in the hallway. It was so quiet. I think I had been holding my breath all day. I was finally able to breathe again as he told me how much he loved me and how proud he was of Cary and I. He was crying and I was crying....I haven't thought of that moment in quite some time. It makes me teary, but what a wonderful memory.
The music began and that was our cue. I put my arm through his and he squeezed it tightly. We walked down the short aisle to a nervous Cary. I remember looking into his eyes and knowing. Just Knowing everything was just as it should be.
Bishop Shwerin started the ceremony and he spoke of forever love and eternal marriages and how one day he hoped that we could have that as well. It wasn't preachy or sermon-y, just wise words from a dear, sweet man. He spoke of President Hinckley, whom I had no idea who he was, but the words was perfect. We exchanged rings and a smooch, and it was done. I do remember Cary taking off his glasses and handing them to his best man for the kiss. What a riot! He makes me laugh.

And now, here we are eleven years later. Sealed together for time and eternity. Five children, whom all came to us in a very different way than we had expected, but came to us as Heavenly Father prepared us for them. although, i'm pretty convinced that i'm still not fully prepared All of us sealed as together for time and all eternity.
Amazing.

Happy Anniversary, Cary Jos.
Here's to Forever.

***also, thank you to everyone for the love and prayers that have been sent my way. I appreciate them and love you dearly.***

Things come in threes, right?

2011-03-23T19:45:00.002-06:00

Growing up in Arkansas, I come from a very superstitious group of folks. You know the ones, don't you dare walk under a ladder, open an umbrella in the house, or let a black cat cross your path. Living around my beloved crazies for the first 20 years of my life made it impossible for me to ever forget these superstitions or old wives tales, what have you. Well, with that is that death and bad things happen to you in threes. Has anyone else ever herd of that? Is it just us Southern folk?
Well, we are working on numero 5.
I'm frustrated.
I'm sad.
I'm exasperated.
With.
Everything.

#1)Last week we found out through some crazy methods that the birth mother of our three oldest children is doing some very questionable things. Those of you who know, know---those of you who don't, can ask us. :)

#2) Biological sibling drama. And, when I say Drama. I mean....Drama.

#3) IRS problemos. President Obama made some pretty nifty changes to the adoption credit/refund laws and our refund is awesome. Really. awesome. However, today I found out that it has been sent to review/examination and we're going to have to provide documentation coming out of our wazoos to prove that we are, in fact, eligible for said credits/refunds.

#4) I had to go deliver some very sad personal news to a friend today. How do you do that tactfully and without hurt feelings? I don't think it's possible.

#5) Things are still rough between my oldest and myself. I'm learning to not take things so personally, but that is one flipping hard lesson to learn. I know preteen and teenage boys/girls are different animals and things will be challenging. I get that. But, really, all this displaced anger is wearing me down.

I have a dear friend in whom I confide, even my most disturbing thoughts and worries. I'm blessed to be able to tell her everything, without fear of judgement, and know that she understands. I so get how lucky I am to have a friend like that.

OK, so that's five. Come on!

Friday is our anniversary. 11 whole years of happily wedded bliss. Ha! ;) The kids will be at the grandparents and it will just be me and my beloved. All alone. For a WHOLE night.
What ever will we do?
You guessed it.
Sleep. Sleep. And more sleep.
;)

Pesto, Anyone?

2011-03-22T12:07:00.001-06:00

I'm new to Pesto. Honestly, I used to never try anything new. or green.
Then, I went here and had this sandwich. So. Good. And, since I'm totally plugging Zupa's today, I might as well share my favorite soup. Chicken Enchilada Chili. Happiness in a bowl. I've almost perfected my re-creation of this soup at home in my, you guessed it, crockpot! I love it. My kids love it. Cary loves it. Success!

So, I've become a fan of the pesto sauce. Yesterday while doing a little bit of grocery shopping, I found this

Yummmmm. They also have sun dried tomato and basil pesto sauce, which I may be giving a whirl next time.

Today for lunch we're having toasted turkey and swiss cheese sandwiches with pesto.
Is it weird to be excited for lunch?

Do you have a favorite recipe that uses pesto? I'd love it, if you do!

Also, if you head over to the Classico website, you can click on Coupon at the top and print a $1.00 coupon on a 44oz jar of any Classico Pasta Sauce. Tasty and savings? Yes, please!

Happy, Happy Birthday, Gabby Dear!

2011-03-19T11:23:00.000-06:00

Gabby turned 8 on Friday! I seriously can't believe she's already 8 years old.

She came to us when she was 5. Three years have really flown by us.


This is Gabby and Bug on their first night with us. They look so small!


Gab on her big 8 day!

We had a few friends over and per Gab's request we did a treasure hunt to find all of her presents. It's getting harder to come up with hiding spots and clues for said spots, but it is a lot of fun. The kids love going on their adventures.


I love her expression in this one! She had just opened up the present that contained all of her treasure hunt clues. :)

On The Hunt....

Itztli and Bugga try to figure out their clue

Yoalli found her clue!

Deep in thought while deciphering the puzzle for their next set of clues.

Jackpot!

Gabby even let me use one of her new gadgets

We had a good time and I'm so grateful I get to call that stinky little spirit my daughter.

Happy Birthday My Little Gabbalella

old maid, anyone?

2011-03-19T10:47:00.000-06:00

A couple of days ago Yoalli wanted someone to play the game Old Maid with her. Cary was at work and I was making dinner, and the other kids were milling around doing their thing. All of my kids love to play games, but old maid isn't exciting to any of them except for Yoalli. She tends to be a bit bossy. shocker!

So, I walked into the living room and this is what I find

and this is a close up of Marty's excitement.

Love that girl!

St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-19T10:40:00.000-06:00

This post is a few days late, but I had to share our St. Patty's Day Fun. We kept it pretty low key, but I had to throw in some crazy fun. We don't do the whole leprechaun thing, mainly because Yoalli thought they were real and was SCARED. TO. DEATH.

So we had simple, happy fun with this

*we had to add Green beans and Green Salad too! :)*

And these

We made some yummy green cupcakes and delivered to some friends and neighbors that we love. After some soccer and some scripture reading, that was our evening.

I'm game for some more ideas, so if you have, send them! :)

Sunday Afternoons......

2011-03-13T14:32:00.000-06:00

This is how we roll on Sunday afternoons.

Thanks Harold Cat for being our model. :)

Disney...On Ice!

2011-03-12T20:57:00.001-07:00

I was lucky enough to win 4 tickets to Disney On Ice in Salt Lake City this week, thanks to A Review and A Giveaway! (thanks again!!)

Gabby had seen it on television and has asked to go several times. I have been trying to win tickets for ages and I finally did it! :) Go me!

Gab's birthday is on Friday, so we made this a special early birthday extravaganza! I decided that we needed to have a special girl only day. I kept it a secret until today and they were so surprised!

We had to pose for a quick photo before the trip.

They were so happy that they squished the Bug! :)

The weather was cooperating with us and it was an easy drive up to Salt Lake. I only got ~~lost~~ turned around once! Woot!

We arrived and got our tickets. They were EXCELLENT seats! thanks again A Review and a Giveaway! We were in the 8th row in the 1st section. The girls could see everything perfectly and we were so close!

Hey Mickey!


I. adore. their. faces.

The truly enjoyed the whole show, but their favorite parts were when these gals came out

All of the princesses! A little girl's dream!

And...

Toy Story!

I thought the pig was hilarious. Gabby was mesmerized by that little troll.

I think I have about 10 pictures of the troll.

I'm grateful I get to do little fun things like these with my girls.

It makes my heart happy when I see this

xoxo

Teeth? We don't need no stinkin' Teeth!

2011-03-12T10:19:00.000-07:00

Bug has had a "wiggly toof" for a while now. This week she has actually been wiggling it, and today was the day. It.is.finally.ready.

She came in our bedroom early this morning and asked her Daddy to pull it out. She wasn't scared at all, she was ready!

See, we're still in bed and Cary doesn't have his glasses!
Cary is very cute. He always tells the girls that he's "very sorry if it hurts" and he "loves them so so much". After that and a smooch on the forehead, he is ready.

It only took *one* yank, and it was out! There were no tears, no whines, just a patient and excited little BugBug.

The Tooth! She was very curious what it looked like and felt like.

A Happy BugBug!

Now, all we hear about is her "dollar" from the tooth fairy! She's super stoked. She's already put her little tooth on her window sill so that the tooth fairy can pick it up on her rounds tonight. :)

Cary asked her, "What if the tooth fairy is poor and doesn't have a dollar?"

Her reply? "Oh, Daddy, she got lotsa dollars!"

Happy Saturday Y'all!

A CookBook! A Giveaway! My favorites!

2011-03-09T10:24:00.001-07:00

Imagine my surprise when I learned that Our Best Bites is sponsoring a giveaway over at Be Different Act Normal! And, I just posted about their ultra cool Balloon Wreath! :)

I told you that they had amazing recipes, right?

Well, here's some proof...

The Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie. Ooooh yeah. I'm thinking this is what I want for my birthday dessert this year.

And maybe this for my birthday dinner

Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad. I'm a sucker for all things Chipotle. Loooove that stuff! You can buy bottled chipotle sauce at Macey's!

Who wouldn't want to win a cookbook full of delicious recipes like these? I for sure want to add it to my collection!

Go HERE and enter the giveaway. And, if you win, you have to let me borrow it! :)

Where have you been all my life?

2011-03-09T09:01:00.001-07:00

OK, this post is neither deep nor heart-felt. Unless, of course, you're feeling especially emotional about desserts. Which, this morning, I am feeling the love for these desserts. I started reading Is This Really My Life? months ago, and I have not been disappointed. Today, especially, I was not disappointed. :) I'm always looking for new and yummy recipes. If they are for the crockpot, it's like I've found a Holy Grail. ;)
Sadly, none of these are for the crock, but they look yummy nevertheless.

The Brown Sugar Pecan cookies are calling my name. We love those little babies, and this recipe is very similar to the Emma Smith's Brown Sugar Cookie recipe that I posted about in February. And, you add a frosting to them? Yes, please! I'll take two! or eight.

Also, during my morning blog reading I found this amazing balloon wreath! on Our Best Bites. Uh-may-zing recipes!

I spotted one of these a couple of weeks ago in some photos a friend sent of her son's 1st birthday party. She made it to hang on the door for each birthday. And, it's a decoration that you can use over and over, year after year!

It's a tradition for me to decorate the house fully while the birthday boy OR girl is at school. I try to make it as fun as possible. The kids always know that they will walk into a birthday extravaganza. I love doing it for them and I love to see how happy they are. Anyway, I've wanted a tutorial on how to make a fun balloon wreath and I was excited sadly, yes, that's all it takes, when I saw this one this morning.

And on a different note....Thank you for your comments and all the emails. It lifts my heart to feel so encouraged and loved.

Through the good times AND the bad....right?

2011-03-07T14:18:00.000-07:00

It has been one heck of a two weeks. And by that I mean it has not been all sunshine and roses.

Cary and I have a strong bond, incredibly so actually. But, these past two weeks have been
strained. For all those who really know us, you know that we love each other deeply and that we are pretty much polar opposites.

Cary is a laid-back, peace-making, calm fella who avoids confrontation at all costs. Me? Yeah, not so much.

Having been married to him 11 years (this month!) has helped me learn more patience and more laid-back-ness. yeah, i make up words here and there I get my "hackles up" and am ready to go. I'm not proud of it, but that's the way I am. I guess I have a short fuse and my buttons get pushed quicker and more easily than Cary. Let me tell you, that's so not a great thing when you have a child (or children) who have attachment issues and transfer their frustration and anger to you. The completely logical side of my brain, I know, I'm surprised mine still works too, realizes that I should not take things personally. I hear it from Cary, the Therapist, friends, and family. But, when you are in the "heat of battle", it's hard to realize that it isn't completely personal.

These weeks have been hard. I've struggled. A lot. with kids, with Cary, with knowing if I can take it, with doubting my strength as a Mom, with everything, especially my oldest son.

My oldest boy has had a hard, difficult life. He had to grow up really quickly and was abused by older sisters. He's angry, really angry, still, at his birth mother. He has "women" issues. Every woman he knew in his former life treated him badly, ignored him, let him down, and abused him. All of these things I know. I realize that these are the roots of the problem. Why can't I remember this when he's taking out his anger and frustration....because it's on me.
I was reading the book, "Beyond Consequences, Logic, and Control" and this jumped out at me. Smacked me in the face, really. It's headed with the quote, " Revenge is a confession of pain".
..."Parents dealing with extreme behaviors from their children often find themselves empty, depleted, and hopeless. check, check, and check. They begin to regret their decision to parent, they begin to feel completely incompetent, and they begin to hate their role as a parent. Ultimately, they may even reach the point of "it's either him or me that has to go". After years of living with a child who is unable to reciprocate respect, affection, and love parents go from being a lavish rain forest of love to an arid dry desert- hostile, angry, depleted." ..." "Parenting children with severe behaviors is not a simple job, yet it is a responsibility charged to us by God. It is a call to directly face our own worries, fears, and frustrations."

It's not easy to admit it to myself, or any of you for that matter but that paragraph sums up the past two weeks for me. As he pushes and pushes, I retreat...from him...from Cary...from all of it. It's hard. But, I'm here. I'm still here.
We have an amazing therapist and she is working with both of us through this difficult time.
And, through all of the bad, Cary has been there for me. My very own cheerleader. My very own rock.

My. very. own.

Heavenly Father did prepare us to take these children as our own. Personally, I'm not sure that he fully prepared me. But, I'm learning.
We fasted yesterday. I fasted for me. for my son. for both of our hearts to be healed. Heavenly Father answers our prayers. I know this. I know He loves us, we are both His children.

I'm ready for some good. Actually, I'm ready for some GREAT!

The Frames - Star Star **

2011-03-04T14:05:00.000-07:00

I love this band and Glen's voice. I'm in a "mood" today and this fits it.

Desserts. Oh. Yeahhhhh

2011-02-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

Remember when I posted about this pie? Well, today I am trying it again, this time with a different kind of apple AND I"m adding rolled oats to the mix. I basically just wanted to start chowing down before I even transferred it into the crock. It smells divine...cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice....Yum-o!

On the post with the chocolate cake recipe from Dawna Mae, I got a lovely comment from Ginger @ The Crock Pot Recipe Exchange.
How excited do you think I was....another whole big site all about crock pots?! Woo to the Hoo.
While I was over visiting I found a recipe that sounded divine! Slow Cooker Strawberry and Dumplings!!
Seriously? Can you imagine? Add some whipping cream and maybe even a chocolate shaving or two or eight.

Mock me if you must, but I do so love the crock pot!

Tonight, however, I'm making "Enchilalas" in the *gasp* Oven! The apple pie is cooking away in the crock pot, though, don't you worry.

What's for dinner at your house?

What do You do on a Saturday?

2011-02-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

Oh this lovely, gloomy, rainy day. How I love thee! I seriously do love rainy cold days. I think I could live quite nicely in the upper Washington area. Saturdays are low key for us, usually. I try to keep it that way because the week days kick us in the rumps. However, once Spring hits and the kids start their various soccer, soccer, softball, lacrosse, gymnastics routine, I have a feeling that our low key Saturdays will be a thing of the past! Ah well. I can't say that I won't be enjoying myself out there rooting for my kids on the fields. I love that :)

A couple of weeks back, my friend and I went to the Relief Society birthday party. We had such a good time, even though I like to stick with the Primary and not mess with the adults very much. :) The speakers were Michael and Darcy Kennedy. Michael is a direct descendant of Joseph Smith, the first to be baptized since his death, I believe. He really had fun stories to share and his testimony was strong. It was cute to see he and his wife interact and her be totally, "no honey, you forgot this part." The sisters had put together an ancestry theme and some women brought things from their past. It was really quite interesting and fun to look at all the history in the room. It kind of didn't hurt that my friend and I were in the back causing mischief either. :)

The reason for that story? It brings us to what the Nicholas whan is doing today. I decided to make yummy cookies that we got from said event. This recipe came from Emma Smith. We were lucky enough to get a goodie bag full of these cookies which we promptly hid from our husbands and our children. I was hooked. They were so yummy and the recipe looked relatively easy to make. Since I'm being all domestic and nurturing which is rare!ha! I thought I would share the recipe with all of you. And, don't worry to all my friends and family who do not share my faith, you won't grow horns if you make/eat them. not the first time anyway!

Emma's Brown Sugar Cookies
1 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, well beaten
2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups oats
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Cream butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Sift flour with baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Stir into butter mixture. Add vanilla, oats, and nuts and stir until well blended.
Drop by tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet . Flatten to 4 inch diameter. Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Cookies should be slightly soft when removed from the oven.
Makes 22 large cookies.

**Note--this made about 4 dozen cookies for me. I only cooked them for 9-10 minutes. I don't know if my oven runs hotter than normal, but keep an eye on the cookies. **

Enjoy! :)

Choc Cake in the....

2011-02-18T15:33:00.000-07:00

You guessed it! Crock Pot!! :)
I wanted to share this recipe that I got from my dear friend DawnaMae. No, her name isn't really "DawnaMae", but I do so enjoy calling her that. She and I go way back to the good old HR days. She and I got into mischief, much mischief together. It was so stinking fun. I still can't look at Cadbury eggs and Peeps without giggling wildly to myself. How I miss those days!
Anyway.
She emailed me this recipe yesterday and instantly my mouth was watering. I'm going to make this for Sunday for the whan. I. can't. wait.

Chocolate Pudding Cake
1 chocolate cake mix
1 pckg (3.9 oz) instant chocolate pudding mix
2 C (16 oz) sour cream
4 eggs
1 C water
3/4 C vegetable oil
1 C semisweet chocolate chips
Whipped cream or ice cream, optional

In a mixing bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into a 5 qt slow cooker that has been coated with nonstick cooking spray. C over and cook on low for 6-7 hours or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs. Serve in bowls with whipped cream or ice cream if desired. Yield: 10-12 servings.

Serve with whipped cream? Heck to the yeah.

I told Cary about my dream of owning the triple crockpot. He scoffed. So. Rude.

Crock.Pot.

2011-02-16T14:23:00.001-07:00

I may have a teensy bit of an obsession with my crock-pot. I have been cooking everything in it lately, and I.am.loving.it.

Do you cook in your Crock? Anything besides roast or stew? I have to admit, at first, that's all I really cooked in mine. And, I usually just pulled the beast out on Sundays. Then, I found A Year Of Slow Cooking , the blog is amazing. I also need to buy her cookbooks very, very soon.

I should back track a bit. I haven't always loved cooking. Some days I even loathe it. But, when you have to feed a family of 7, eating out is not always the most financially responsible choice to make. I found that we were "grabbing something quick" far too often and those debits from my account were adding up. Quickly.

I decided that we needed to be better at sticking to our budget and I could help that immensely, simply by cooking every day.

Planning, preparing, budgeting. It became a bit of a game to me. I loooooove to see how much I'm saving. I also love to make Cary guess. He doesn't love that game as much I do, however.

I digress.

So, I started following another blog, Bargain Divas. They have amazing freebies that they list on their blog and facebook pages daily. They offer coupon classes as well. Personally, I have never been to one. I want to attend though. I think it would be cool. Every Wednesday when the grocery sale ads come out, they do a matching thing that allows you to see what each store has on sale and if you couple it with coupons, how much more you could save. The first time that I really did it, I went to Smith's. I was armed with my shopping list, coupons, and pen. That day I spent $50 and I saved $55. Angels were singing! I had so much food to show for it and I was elated! I tried to get Cary to share in my enthusiasm, but he just doesn't get too excited over such things. Boo! It's alright though because I think I had more than enough for him too. :)

I was hooked.

Now I sit down on Wednesdays and plan our meals for the two weeks. I create excel documents and everything. brekkie, lunch, dinner, and desserts ---they all go on the list. From there, I look at the ads and see who has what and for how much. I organize my coupons, print them from the internet, and create the shopping lists. I. love. it.

How dorky does that make me?

Wait, I don't want to know.

In my meal planning I always list a couple of my kids' favorites . If anyone wants to give me a suggestion, I will put it on the list. I figure if they ask for it, they will eat it. That is important when you have two little girls who sometimes take about an hour to eat a meal. But, that's another rant for another day. Oy! :)

I search the blogs, mainly this one, and I find our meals. I also love Food Network's recipes. I heart Paula Deen and her delicious accent.

I love using the CrockPot. I love using mine, especially, it was my grandmother's. She gave it to me when Cary and I moved from Arkansas to Utah. It's old, kind of ugly, and well worn, but it brings back happy memories for me.

I do have my eye on one of these fancy red, digital numbers though.

OR one of these triple crockpot babies that I found at Kohl's.

I really must buy that. Three?! Yes, three. Think of it! You could do a dip, an entree, and a dessert!

bom chicka wow wow.

As I said, Obsession.

Today I'm trying a dessert in mine for the first time. I decided to make a pie. This. Pie. Sort of. Instead of peaches I am using Caramel Apple Pie filling. I am also doubling the recipe. I have 7 piglets to feed. :)

It smells divine. I'll let you know how it turns out :)

So, do you have any heavenly crock pot recipes for me?

Please, share! :)

**Post Edit: Totally made this last night and it turned out pretty well DESPITE the fact that I forgot to add the brown sugar. Ew, right? Actually, it was ok anyway. I'm most definitely trying it again and I think this time I will add rolled oats for a little more texture**

Happy Fake Holiday

2011-02-14T17:18:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's what we celebrate here in this Nicholas Whanau. :)

Cary is very anti-Valentine's day, and oddly enough, that's okay by me. He'd rather jab a kabob in his eye than have me say it, but he writes me beautiful poems for no apparent reason on any given day. I'll take that over a stale box of chocs any day.

What struck me as hilariously funny this afternoon as I walking upstairs was this little note from Cuauhtli.

Cracked.Me.Up.
In case you can't read it, it says: "Happy Fake Holiday"
I love that he taped it to the wall. with a treat. THAT's my boy. :)

Cary's teaching them many things apparently, some I hadn't even realized.
:)

So, to all of you who actually do celebrate this cupid and heart infested day, Happy Day to You!
And, to those of you who don't, I'm with ya!

1 Corinthians 10:13

2011-02-12T21:11:00.005-07:00

There hath no temptation ^ataken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be ^btempted above that ye are able; but will with the ^ctemptation also make a way to ^descape, that ye may be able to ^ebear it.

As I was re-reading my lesson for my class tomorrow, I read this scripture again.  It kind of jumped out at me.

"That ye may be able to bear it" !!

Am I the only one who feels like I may not be able to bear this or that and especially that?

Some days are hard.

Really Hard.

I know we are all given our trials and our agency to decide how to handle those trials. I don't think I make the best choices every single day. Do any of us? 
Oh, I'm sure that there are those who really want us to think they do, or perhaps that they don't even have trials. What?! What would that look like?

 Some days I forget that He is there to help me and will not "suffer me to be tempted above that yea are able".  Ok, I might forget it a lot. 

I think I am going to make this a FHE lesson for my kids. They have all been through more than their fair share of trials, and I want them to always remember this scripture. 

I love that I get to learn with my kids and have my testimony strengthened because of my calling....in life and  even more specifically in the Church.

How lucky am I to be able to teach my little class of 10 year old kidlets?

Reading. Machine.

2011-02-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

Our little BugBug is a reading machine! She's doing so well. It is SO cool to hear her sounding out words and figuring out what they are. She is a very smart little girl and we are proud of her.
Each day her teacher sends home books and a journal. After she reads the books, she writes what they were about in the journal. I let her sound out the words and write them as she hears them. I will correct her, if needed, when she is finished.
I love watching her grow.
I love watching all of our kids grow.
LOVE.IT.!!

Here is our newest video. :)

BUNCO! I did it!

2011-02-10T11:18:00.002-07:00

I finally succumbed to Bunco. I had never, ever played it until last night. And, I played. I was Sooooo not good, but I did it.

Before the Bunco madness began, I had to leave my littles. Last night Bug was having a particularly hard time with me leaving and this was our conversation:
Bug: But, where are you going Mumma?
Me: I'm going with Heidi to play a game at a friend's house.
Bug: But, I want to go wif yew.
Me: Sorry, Bugga, this is just a mommy game, but I'll be home in a couple of hours.
Bug: But!But! You can't leave your baybeee alone. *smirk*
Me: Bwahahahaha

Please note that I did not leave her ALONE at all. She was with her Daddy and all of her siblings.
That one, oooooh that one.

I picked up Heidi and after a depressing run to Hart's, NO Fountain DRINKS! Come on Mike! That's insane! and a close call with a red light you're supposed to stop at those?, we finally made it!
The only person we knew was Jennie at this shindig, and I was a bit nervous it wouldn't be the cat's meow, as it were. I asked Heidi, "What if it isn't fun?!" Heidi replies, "We'll make our OWN fun!"
And we did. We DO.

I didn't win. I was a pretty lousy player, actually. Heidi was the lowest score-er and I was the next! Bwahahaha
But, it was fun!
I hope the other gals can put up with us and will allow us to keep coming.
Thanks Jennie!!
It's good to get a Mommy night out once in a while.
What do you do for Mommy Night's Out?

Hungry, Hungry Kiddos!!

2011-02-07T10:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was fast Sunday. We leave it up to our kids to decide if they want to fast, but the littles generally choose not to fast. Which, is okay, because they are only 5 and 7. We are of the opinion that if it's forced, then it is no longer a sacrifice. And, in the end, the kids will just resent it and not learn anything from it.

Yesterday was a little bit different. On Saturday, I received several emails and "facebooks" that there would be a ward fast for a dear sweet lady who is in ICU and isn't doing so well. Each of our kids know her and love her dearly, as do we. She and I were visiting teaching companions for a couple of years and she's our neighbor, too. Gabby and Bug love to play at her house with her grandkiddies. She is dear to me and is very motherly to both Cary and I.

At any rate there were complications from a surgery that she had recently and things took a turn for the worse.

On Saturday night, right before our Scripture reading, we told the kids what was going on and encouraged them to start their fast with us for our dear friend. They were on board, even Gabs and Bugs.

We usually have something delicious after our scriptures, but this night we didn't and we might have heard a couple of murmurs about it. Cary gently reminded them of the reason and they quieted.

And so began our fast. I should preface this by saying our church time is 11am-2pm now. Everything was going as smoothly as it can go for a family of 7, all getting ready at the same time.

I hear a knock on the door about 10:15am, and it's Bug.

"Mumma, I don't want to fast anymore. I want breakfast!" I call her into our room to have a cuddle and I ask her if she knows why we are having a special fast for our friend. She replies that she doesn't know.

As I begin telling her why this fast is so special, I am overcome with the Spirit. I realized more clearly why we were fasting and what it meant. It was such a special moment, one that I do not want to forget. As I finished, I asked her if she wanted to continue to fast or if she wanted to eat some breakfast. She decided that she wanted to continue with her fast.

I.was.so.proud.of.her.

and let me tell you, primary classes for little ones is like a candy extravaganza sometimes. She saved all of her treats for after dinner, as did all of the kids.

6pm!

Dinner is ready!

We made it!

We celebrated by having a huge yummy dinner and more treats than we should have. We were able to talk about our little sacrifice and how important it is. I hope that it will help strengthen our kids' testimonies.

I also hope that special family feels our love and prayers for them each day. We love you guys.

Happy, Happy Birthday Cuauhtli Dear!

2011-01-26T19:11:00.000-07:00

I can't believe he's already 11 years old. Time has gone so quickly! When I first met him, he had just turned 8 years old and had long, shaggy hair. He was a sweetheart then, and now. Albeit a frustrating sweetheart at times. :)

Today we celebrated his 11th birthday. What a day!

One of my favorite things to do is to decorate the house while the birthday person is at school. So far I've been lucky enough that all of them are in school on their actual birth day.

We had presents,

plastic bubbles,

and poppers. Ooooh how we love the poppers here at the Nicholas house.

We had Cheesecake! I let the kids choose their birthday dinner and dessert. Cuauhtli didn't want a cake this year, so he chose homemade cheesecake and pecan pie. He wanted them together, but Cary promptly convinced him that would be quite disgusting. Cary wrote the "Happy Birthday" and the ":)" and Cuauhtli wrote his name. Fabulousness!

This year I wanted to do something a little different, so we led them on a treasure hunt. Cary and I wrote clues out and put them around the house, yard, and cars. Each of the kids were responsible for a clue and piece to the puzzle. They had to work together to figure out the puzzles and to find their loot.

Cuauhtli got the rest of his pressies and the rest of the kidlets got some yummies. They had *so* much fun. All the girls were begging to do "Treasures" for their birthdays! I'm glad that it was a hit! Cuauhtli came up to me after it had settled down a bit and gave me big lovies. He thanked me for making his birthday so fun. That so made all the headaches worthwhile.

I'm grateful for a fun, happy night and some amazing little people.

Happy Birthday Cuauhtli. I love you much much, my son.

sadly, this is the least goofy pic of us that I could find. :)

A little of this, a lot of that

2011-01-05T12:51:00.000-07:00

I was introduced to a new (to me) little blog this week.
The Dating Divas are all about strengthening marriages through one date at a time. They have such fun ideas on how to make your night out (or in) sparkle with your hubs. I love their crafts, so fun and even *I* can do them. :)

This week they are hosting a WEEK, yes I said a WEEK, of Giveaways. All things that can help us out in the creativity department.

With 5 kidlets, it's sometimes hard to find a night out for just me and Cary. I'm committed to having some sort of date night with him though, I think marriages need that. I love being around him and he can always make me laugh. Although sometimes it is out of sheer exasperation. ;) And, I can use all the help I can get spicing it up.

Head over and check out the giveaways at The Dating Divas, and see what you might find to tickle your fancy. Or his.

:)

Christmas Eve

2011-01-03T14:27:00.000-07:00

Christmas Eve we have a few traditions. I love Christmas Eve, perhaps as much as Christmas Day itself!

We always try to go sledding, if there is any snow around. This year there wasn't, so we hung out and played games together all day. Cary was on vacation and we had no worries. It was fantastic!

We have homemade frito chili pies for dinner, we open one pressie (pajamabamas), and we watch a Christmas movie. We have added a little bit to that in the past couple of years.

Now we have the kids' siblings over for Arroz con Leche and do a fun present exchange with them. We draw names in October or November and they try to keep it secret as to whom they have. key word, try. :)

I seriously have some of the most beautiful kids. Ever.

Photos of our Christmas Pajamabamas!

I just love all the special time we are able to have with our whanau. That's what makes it all so special.

IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!

2011-01-03T14:14:00.000-07:00

It was truly one of the best Christmas Days Ever. Hubs surprised me with his thoughtfulness, not only for me but for the kidlets as well. I usually handle all the gift buying and wrapping, but this year he snuck some surprises in on me. I didn't even know about them until Christmas morning. Our kids had a great time, even if I did make them wait to open presents until 9am.
For some reason, brainfart, I didn't charge my camera the night before. I KNOW! ridiculous. So, my camera died about 10 minutes into the whole unwrapping extravaganza. So. Bummed.

I think everyone got what they wanted. My poor 12 year old was dying for an xbox game, which I thought I bought. When he opened it, however, it was for the PLAYSTATION. I was determined to right this horrific wrong insert eye roll here.video games are not my fave and order the right game. I hopped online right then and bought the game from Amazon. It arrived on the 28th. He was thrilled. He opened it.
I BOUGHT THE WRONG ONE AGAIN.
Yes, apparently, I have about 2 brain cells left. So, we are taking him to Game Stop and letting him choose two games this week.

After a morning of playing and eating and playing and eating, we went to Mummindad's for more eating and more playing. It was a bit different this year, but I am so grateful for my whanau. I love them dearly and each of them hold a special place in my heart and the heart of my children.

However. We play "lucky dip". This year Mum decided to throw in some boobie prizes. Guess who got them? That's right. My Bug and Cuauhtli. Look at these beauties.


Bug's gnome. She nuzzles him daily. She thinks he is magnificent.

Cuauhtli's Piggie

So, we will be finding new homes for these loverlies. I'm hoping to be able to incorporate the pig with the Gnome. I think it will be beautiful, no?

I hope you all were blessed with your heart desires.
We were.
Merry Christmas :)

Some Sibling Love and Some Snowmen

2010-12-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

Last night we had our older kids' siblings over for a little while. Our family daily activity was to make snowmen oreos

I obviously did something wrong with the snowmen, because they did not turn out the same way that I saw here.at the Idea Room. I so wanted them to turn out like that though.

Alas, ours turned out beautifully, albeit in a special way. It was good to have the kiddos all together and having some fun. There's been some tough times lately and it made my heart happy to see the tension easing and the love shining.

Tonathiu giving us his best chuck norris face. :)

Wow, Sap-tastic!

Monkeys? We gots 'em!

2010-12-24T13:27:00.001-07:00

Barrel Of Monkeys!

This was in another bag for our daily countdown bag.
Holy Cow is this a fun little game. We were able to find this cute little game at Target for $5! It was a perfect addition to our family fun game time. It's easy for *all* of the kids, and all of them enjoy playing it. Something that is kind of hard to accomplish when you have a 5 yr old and a 12 yr old. Usually they don't enjoy the same things. :)

And, I totally kicked everyone's tookus on the very first game. Then, CaryJos figured out my strategies and he spanked me the second time around. If you're looking for a fun, easy, and quick game, go out and gets yourself a barrel or two.
:)

Yoalli's Singing Career part Dos

2010-12-24T13:22:00.000-07:00

On Monday night we went to Temple Square to listen to Yoalli in part two of her concert series. She performed at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and it was spectacular. Seriously took my breath away. I hadn't been in the building before, yes apparently I live under a rock, and it was beautiful. There were other choirs performing as well and it was lovely to sit and listen to them while we waited for Yoalli's turn. This performance wasn't as much "Fun" as the concert in AF, but it was still wonderful. I'm so proud of my little boballi and all that she accomplishes. She told me that she was a bit nervous, but she prayed to Heavenly Father and he helped her to feel better. I'm grateful that she turns to Him when she's feeling uneasy or scared. After the concert, we toured the visitor's centers,

the Tabernacle,

all of the lovely light displays

and we ended at the Christus statue.

It was amazing sharing that experience with my children. As we walked up the ramp, Bug saw the statue and said, "Ooooh Mumma look at Jesus!"
I'm so grateful for all the time we were able to spend together as a family these past couple of weeks. We have definitely found some new traditions this year.

mOOObie

2010-12-24T13:06:00.000-07:00

I'm playing catch up here, but I still want to document what we did :)

We watched this movie

and it was super good.
There were parts of it that scared the little girls, but everyone wants to watch it again and it has quickly become a family favorite.

Cookie Time! :)

2010-12-19T16:22:00.000-07:00

Today was a day to give a little service and do something for others. We've been having a blast with our activities, and I figured we needed to share with our friends.

We made cookies and turtle brownies(holy crap are they good!)today and we will be delivering them after Tonathiu's court of honour to our friends.

Happy Sunday :)

This is what happens when Daddy tells the Bug she can lick the bowl.

She, literally, licked the bowl. :)

Love her! :)

Saaaaturday!

2010-12-19T14:39:00.000-07:00

I just love the weekends. I most especially love productive weekends! This Saturday our dear friend watched our kidlets for us while we went and finished shopping, wrapping, etc. It was kind of fabulous. I love her dearly.

After we finished with all of our stuffs, we came home and opened the 7th bag! Fantastic! Saturday's activity was making salt dough ornaments and painting them. Each of my kids are super creative and love making things, Love it!, so this was a perfect activity for our family.

We had never made salt dough ornaments before, but it was sooooo super easy and the kids loved it. Gabby said we most definitely had to do it again. :) I love my little ~~bossy boots~~ angel.

We had to let them cook in the oven for an hour and cool. By that time, it was bedtime and we have early church, so we opted to finish the ornaments on Sunday. I think it's a pretty good Sabbath activity, no?

This is Cuauhtli. That kid amazes me with his creativity. He built an igloo and snow fort with a penguin. We have a thing for penguins in our house. :) It turned out really great!

We had such a good time together. These activities have really made good family fun time possible, it gets so crazy around here. I am loving all this time special whanau time! :)

Movie Night!

2010-12-17T23:34:00.000-07:00

So, tonight's awesome family activity was Movie Night! At the theater even! We actually split up tonight to do the family activity. The boys one way. The girls another way. It was really good to have some girl time with my little loverlies.
I think it's good that we split up sometimes and do separate things. Bug sure doesn't like doing the things that Tonathiu enjoys, and vice-versa.

So, tonight I took the Boballi, Gabbers, and the Bug to Thanksgiving Point Megaplex to watch

It was a super cute movie and my girls loved it. I absolutely loved the chameleon and the horse. Disney did a great job with this Rapunzel tale, and it has probably taken its place as one of my favorite Disney flicks.

Cary and the boys went to Orem and saw

in 3D, no less.
Cary is a huge fan of the original and was a bit disappointed with this movie. He said for the first 30 minutes it was in 2D. Remind me why we paid all the extra cashola for the 3D tix please.
Also, he said that there was a bunch of blahblahblahblahblahblah. The man is not a fan of talking in movies. His favorite movies ever are Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers. He will skip through all the talking and go straight for the "blowemups". I think He's watched those, in their entirety, once. Perhaps! Twice, But doubtful.
The boys had a blast at any rate and was talking non stop about it. I feigned interest for a little while. Then, bedtime saves the day again! oh yeah!

All in all each of us had a really good evening. And, Cary and I were able to spend time with our kids, which made it all worth it.
Talking And All.

*photos courtesy of Imdb.**

A Giveaway?! To Thanksgiving Point?!

2010-12-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

I'm in!
I found this today and want to win it so badly, I could smack Cary.
Ok, I could smack him anyway, but I really want to win this.

I just started reading Jill's blog and she's pretty dang funny. She calls her kids ~~jerks~~ angels. I could be friends with a gal like that! ;)

She's funny, smart, a good writer, AND she's hosting a giveaway. What more can one ask for?
Head over to her blog and check it out. You could enter the giveaway too, but really why bother since I'm going to win it?
:)

Oh Christmas Lights!

2010-12-17T10:02:00.000-07:00

A quick family photo before heading out to see da lights!

Last Night our activity was "going to see the Christmas Lights".

**photos were taken with Cary's Iphone, but I think they turned out pretty good!**

I remember as a little girl my Dad would drive me and my mom around to look at Christmas lights. We would oooh and ahhhh while looking and I think my Dad would get ideas on what more he could do to our house. I remember driving in downtown Hot Springs. Every year this huge historic hotel would have santa and his reindeer on the top of their hotel. For whatever reason, that made it Christmastime for me. I still remember that old hotel and those reindeer "flying" on top of the hotel. I wonder if they still do that.

I still enjoy looking at lights and want our kidlets to enjoy it as well. Last night we all piled into the van and drove to Thanksgiving Point to look at the lights. $8 a car is a little pricey, but our kids really enjoyed it this year. It might have helped that I preplanned a little better this year. I made everyone their very own treat bag. I filled it with pretzels, marshmallows, and peanut M&M's. We also stuck a little Yoo-Hoo drink in the bag. The kids were surprised and so stoked.

Treats, Lights, Christmas Music, Family Time. It was a good night, indeed.

Eureka!

2010-12-17T09:40:00.000-07:00

Continuing on with our 12 day/night of Christmas, we got the game "Pictureka"!
I had found a coupon for $5 off the game online at Bargain Divas and knew it had to be included in our activities. Our family loves playing games!
*bonus! I found it at Target for $5.04! Sweeet!*

I totally spaced getting photos of us while we were playing the game, but all of us had a lot of fun. It's a little card game that everyone could play, including the Bug. It has 4 variations you can play, and Daddy made up our very own version so that it would be easier for the littles to play.
One version is that you start with a letter of the alphabet, let's choose D, and you lay out four cards in 2 second intervals and everyone tries to find a word in one of the pictures that begins with the chosen letter. It allows for a lot of creativity and a lot of, "Ha! Yeah, right!" :)

We had a good time and played it for about an hour without anyone getting bored!

Mission. Accomplished.

Yoalli is hitting the Big Time!

2010-12-15T09:35:00.000-07:00

I enrolled Yoalli in concert choir this year. The little girls didn't want to "sing those songs in front of people!", so they didn't. Oh, how a little attention changes things! :)
Yoalli has been practicing very hard each day at home and each week at choir practice. Last night was her first big show at the Tabernacle. She was a smashing success! The entire choir was really quite amazing and we all enjoyed it very much.

Yoalli was part of a trio that sang

Hanerot Hallalu, in Hebrew. It was really quite cool to hear them sing it so well.

She also had a solo speaking part and did super well! She had practiced and practiced and memorized everything perfectly!

We really enjoyed the performance and can't wait until the next one! :)

Love you, Boballi! Good Job! :)

This Morning...

2010-12-15T09:27:00.000-07:00

Yep, She's snooping alright. She is reading every name on every tag on every pressie under the tree. She's shaking it and guessing what each thing is...hers...cuauhtli's....tonathiu's...Gab's....Yoalli's.....Daddy's....
I asked her, "What does that one sound like Bug?"
She replied, "Oooooh Mumma, that sounds like treasure!!"

Merry Christmas!

A Gingy Play-Land!

2010-12-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

We're doing the 12 days of Christmas for our kidlets. I'm actually having as much fun as they are with it. I brought the bags out on Saturday night and they've been itching to open them and find out what's inside since that second!
Last night our activity was making our Gingerbread house, people, and tree. Each person got to be in charge of something and make it just the way they like it. I'm a little bit of a control freak so these activities are always a good lesson for me. Actually, last night I just let it go and let them at it. It turned out beautifully. We ended the night with hot cocoa with marshmallows of course! and peanut butter cookies. I love seeing their little marshmallow mustaches!
Too bad I didn't snap a picture of that for posterity!
Shoot!

A Giveaway at Our Thrifty Ideas

2010-12-13T11:35:00.000-07:00

As I was perusing my google reader this morning, I stumbled on a post on the Robert's blog by Vanessa @ Our Thrifty Ideas. She had the cutest idea for a magnet board, and it's by far the easiest one I've seen to make. Head over to the Robert's blog and have a look. You will agree!

She's also hosting a massive giveaway, which I entered, and you should too! She calls it the "Bah Humbug Giveaway" and it's loaded with tons of cute prizes. I have my eye on this stocking to win! Also, can I just tell you that the way she has it set up to enter the giveaway is genius. It's so simple and private. Love.

Anyway, head on over, you won't be sorry! :)

love notes

2010-12-09T15:12:00.001-07:00

Cary and I email a lot. I like that we can send love notes back and forth. Well, let's be serious, most of the time they aren't love notes. Usually they are more like, "Yeah, thanks for unloading that dishwasher for me, buttface."
or "Thanks for washing my wallet for the 2982357th time." my reply? "no problem, learn to take it out of your pants and it would stay dry!"
Yeah, very deep, emotional stuff goes on.

Today, however, was different and I had to blog it so that I could save it.

Cary wrote (to me, I might add!):
I need you for my heart to be happy
cannot be any other way

*melt*
It's words like those that keeps me from locking him out of the bedroom at night.
He's safe for another week or three.
:)
*post edit*
I wrote him back with :*) perfect words
and he wrote back with
Also, I farted.

Ahhhh. True. Love.

My Marriage

2010-12-06T08:03:00.000-07:00

This was my "conversation" last night with my darling beloved. This was after he was charming me, naturally.

Me: Nicholas, I'm going to punch your lights out!
**Pow**
Him: Ahhhhhh! My Lights! They're Ouuutttt!

That's right ladies, he's taken.
Oy.

The Bugz Christmas Poem

2010-12-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

I so love that she is such a ham! *note the end of the video!*

This is the poem that she had to remember and recite for her class this month. She wanted me to "video" her in front of our tree. :)

The Last Day!

2010-11-30T21:24:00.000-07:00

This has actually been a pretty fun month for me and my bloggyness. (yes, i'm totally making up words. I can do that.)

I wasn't sure if I would actually be able to keep up and write a post each day about something for which I am thankful. It really wasn't a hard thing to do and it helped me to realize all that I do have and all that I should be thanking Heavenly Father for each day. OK, maybe I shouldn't be thanking Him for Reese's cups each day, but you catch my drift.

I have days where I am having the biggest pity party for myself in the history of all pity parties! It's true! And, I've come to realize what a dolt I am for that. Not that I think we're not allowed to have down days, but I'm realizing that I should have far fewer of them.

This past year has been a year full of change. A year full of firsts for me, some firsts that I never wanted to face. But, I'm thankful for them. I'm thankful for the changes within myself. I'm thankful for our growing family. My kids bring me much joy. They also bring me much frustration and grief, but I know life without them wouldn't, couldn't be the same. Totally in a good way. :)
This month has helped me to see more of the positive...in just about everything. I didn't think I was such a "glass half empty" kind of gal, but I think I got into a funk and stewed in it.

I have much for which I am thankful. And I am, indeed, Thankful.

Day 29....

2010-11-29T19:33:00.006-07:00

Kindness.
so much kindness has been shown to us. Sometimes by people we know, and sometimes by people we don't.

I am so grateful that it has shown my kids that there are, indeed, kind and loving people in this world who do care about them...even if they don't know them directly.
They have lived lives up until they came to us, that all too often showed the darker side of humanity. They were exposed to things that I wish they hadn't, so much I wish for that. I hope and pray that it will help them as they grow to show kindness to others, to not assume the worst in all people, to have faith, to love, and to care. I wish so much for our children, but showing kindness to others is tops on my list.
Even if the ~~scumbag~~ individual doesn't deserve it.
Especially If.

Heatuhs

2010-11-28T19:33:00.000-07:00

So thankful for warm homes, warm cars, and most especially warm beds!
I'm thankful to have a heater that works faithfully and has never left us frozen as little ice cubelets.

Medz, I needs 'em

2010-11-27T19:28:00.003-07:00

I'm thankful for modern medicines. If I didn't have them, I would be one sneezey, red-eyed, coughing, heart-burn having girl. No fun!
Seriously, modern medicine is helping Cary and I in many ways.
I'll report more later.
Over and out.

:)

A child's eyes

2010-11-26T21:12:00.000-07:00

Yoalli gave this to me tonight at bedtime.

"My Testimony
I believe in Jesus and Heavenly father. I know that they live. I know that Thomas s. monson is our prophet, and I trust in the bible as long as it translated the right way. I believe in this church and know if I choose the right I can live with Heavenly Father again. I love my family and friends, and I'd like to bury(sic) my testimony in saying that I know my Savior lives and that as long as I stay faithfully strong, repent, partake of the sacrament, and follow my important steps, like baptism, sealing and all sorts of steps I can return to my Savior and Heavenly Father and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

"I love you Mom! Love, Yoalli"

I am indeed thankful for this.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T21:06:00.000-07:00

This whole month has been about what I'm thankful for, so in keeping with that I may repeat myself today.

I'm supremely thankful for my amazing husband and stink kidlets. I'm thankful that we are able to have a lovely dinner and eats lots of yummy food with our whanau.

I hope you all were able to do the same!

Gobble Gobble Mr. Turkey! :)

Turn the page of change....

2010-11-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

I probably won't ever say these words again, but I am thankful for change. It helps me to grow, learn, and realize things can even sometimes get better because of change.

Change is difficult for me. Very. Difficult.
But I realize I need to try to embrace it more.

play time!

2010-11-23T11:47:00.000-07:00

I'm thankful for the time that Bug and I get to spend each day before she goes to school.
Most mornings are fantastic and we play games, read, write, and get a few chores out of the way.
My most favorite times are when we have dance parties downstairs. She likes to "shake her boomboom" and it never fails to crack me.right.up.
:)

Aye Ya Ya

2010-11-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

I'm having a rough time with this post today for some reason. Maybe it's the sleep deprivation. Maybe it's the fact that I keep getting distracted by the words "Blizzard" "Huge Snow Storms on their way!!!" on the TV in the background.

I'm thankful for my extended whanau. Cary's parents have been so kind and loving to me since the day I met them.
Here I was, this weird Southern girl who had no idea what being "Mormon" was really all about, married to their son, and standing in the living room. So scary.
I remember as we were on our way to Utah, I think we were in New Mexico, and I decided that I wanted to go back home to Arkansas. I didn't want to live in a place where I knew *no one*! Cary, not so kindly I might add, told me I was out of luck! Punk. I was extremely nervous. I didn't know what to expect, and I hate that.
I remember pulling up to Tam's (cary's sister) house. She came bouncing out of the door and gave me a big hug. Justin followed and was just as kind. We came inside and I saw my beautiful niece in a cute little lump on the floor. Love that girl! After a quick visit, it was time to meet Mum. Oh crap! We went over and she was lovely. It was as scary as I though it was going to be, however. :)
We had a reception that evening and I was able to meet everyone. All in all it turned out extremely well. I love the parents and am glad to say our bond has grown strong. I know what it's like now to have brothers and sisters and I love them dearly.
They've stood by our sides during the happiest and saddest times of our lives thus far and have made us stronger because of it.

Good Friends

2010-11-21T20:01:00.000-07:00

I'm thankful for good friends and the influences they are on my kids.
We are supremely blessed to be surrounded by the most wonderful, most humble, most sincere, and dearest friends where we live. I'm thankful for our friends and their children. I'm thankful for the good influence they all are on me, Cary, and our children.
We are blessed, indeed.

Mommy Dates!

2010-11-20T22:06:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was able to go on a date with my Gabbers.
Each week Cary and I take one of our kids on a special date; it being just Mom and ______ or
Dad and _______.
Since we have five kidlets, it's important to us to make sure that each of them get special one-on-one time and that they have a time to feel like they are the most important child in the world.
Our older kids, especially, were not able to be spoiled or have that special time with their birth parents. None of our kids, however, had birth fathers that were active in their roles as such. It makes us sad that they weren't able to have these experiences since their birth, but we're grateful that we get to share these experiences with them now.
They need this special time with us.
We need it with them, too.
I love the quiet time that I get to share with my child. Each time we go I am able to learn something about them that I did not know before we went on the date.
Today I'm so very grateful for my Mommy Dates with my Tonathiu, Cuauhtli, Yoalli, Gabby, and Bug.

Toooo sweets.

2010-11-19T15:06:00.000-07:00

This post is neither insightful or reminiscent.

I'm thankful for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I just ate two of those peanut buttery and chocolate discs of goodness.
nom.nom.

Bedtime Loves

2010-11-18T21:26:00.000-07:00

Ooh, Bedtime, you are my most favorite time of the day. Events of the day have finally settled down and all of my dear whanau are nuzzled around me. I love the quiet stillness of the house that comes when all of my stinkies have meandered to their beds. Most especially I love all the cuddles, loves, hugs, and kisses I get as they teeter off to their rooms. I love being a mom. I love being their mom.

I'm thankful to be loved by these wonderful children and feel their love, especially at bedtime.
:)

Ability to Laugh...

2010-11-17T09:15:00.000-07:00

I have been known to be dramatic, believe it or not. Sometimes things with me snowball faster than I realize.
If I get mad about something, everything the teensiest bit bad or wrong becomes a
VERY BIG PROBLEM and someone will surely get beheaded or lose a limb. I hate that. My dear sweet, patient, pain-in-the-neck, loving, cheesy, stubborn, wonderful husband can make me laugh in spite of myself.
Tonight was one of those nights for me. I was frustrated and tired and cranky and thought for sure the world would end if my children didn't "sit quietly and obey". Seriously, when do they *ever* do that? Anyway, Cary and his uncanny ability to immediately lift the frustration from me worked his magic. And, not in the fun way. HA!

I'm so thankful that my husband helps me see the humor in things, even myself. We all need a little dose of that once in a while, don't we?

Love you, CaryJos! Forevuh!
And, please remember that sometimes he *is* the source of my frustration and probably nudges that snowball toward the edge of the hill. :)

I Stand All Amazed

2010-11-16T12:20:00.000-07:00

I'm thankful for the Atonement. I found this video and it pretty much sums it up for me.

Testmonies

2010-11-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

I have a testimony of the Gospel. I've shared it on my blog before. I'm thankful for my testimony. It has sustained me through some very difficult times the past couple of years. Sunday morning, however, I was able to hear my oldest son's testimony. Tonathiu was asked to give a talk in Sacrament meeting and he accepted.

(He was also called to be the first counselor in the Deacon Quorum, and he accepted the calling without hesitation.)

As I sat in our meeting, I was so nervous for him. I know how frightened I am when I have to give a talk, and I assumed that he would be feeling the same anxiety.
Wrong again.
He stood up bravely, walked to the podium, and suddenly a peace came over me. The same peace that had already enveloped him.
His talk was about being "converted and living the Gospel of Jesus Christ". He spoke of his own conversion story and even how he didn't want to really be baptized in the beginning. He spoke of the missionaries coming to our home and teaching him and the change that came over him. He spoke of being baptized by his Dad and receiving the Aaronic Priesthod. It was beautiful.
I'm so thankful for his growing testimony. I'm grateful for his heart, as hard as it was and as soft as it is.
I'm grateful that he is my son.

I Love To See The Temple.....

2010-11-14T12:05:00.000-07:00


Mt. Timpanogos Temple

I'm thankful for this place. I should go more often than I do. I love the feeling that I have when I'm there.
Wonderful things have happened in this temple. I was sealed to my CaryJos, our girls were sealed to us, and our older kids were sealed to us here. Wonderful things are still to happen there. I can't wait.

My DaddyO

2010-11-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

I have written so many posts about my Dad. I'm going to keep this one short and simple. I love my Dad. I miss him everyday. I'm so thankful that I had him as long as I did have him. I'm thankful that he was Poppie to my girls. I'm thankful for all the things he taught me. I'm thankful he is My Daddy.

Wow. I miss his smile. And his hugs.

Mis Madre

2010-11-12T09:20:00.000-07:00

My mom and I had some rough times as I became a teenager. She and my dad got divorced and it was a hard time. Unfortunately, we had some rough patches. It took us a while to get through those. As I've grown older, I have been able to become somewhat wiser.(I hope)
I learned to value our relationship more and to value her more. When we were blessed with the girls, we became even closer. It has been a lot of fun watching her be "Nana" to our girls and our boys. I love my mom and I'm thankful for her, her love, her compassion, and her friendship.

Love you Mother.

(ok, so this picture makes me laugh so hard. I was in the middle of a laugh attack and so was she. We were perched atop a rock and there were jokes. Lots.Of.Jokes. :) )

Sons

2010-11-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

My Boys. I am so proud of these fellas. I love watching them grow. They are very special little spirits and I'm grateful to be their Mom. For Eternity. :)

Daughters

2010-11-10T21:17:00.000-07:00

Today I'm thankful for these beauties. I love my girls. They are some of the most dramatic children I have ever seen in my life, but I love them with all of my heart. :)

Yoalli and I


The Bug and Her Mumma

Numero Nineo

2010-11-09T09:33:00.000-07:00

Snow. Hate it or love it, it's coming.
I, for one, Love it.
Growing up in Arkansas, we didn't see much of the fluffy white stuff. Ice. That's what we got. Ice storms galore in the winter. I had some scary adventures in some of those ice storms. Beautiful as they may be, nothing can compare to waking up to a world of white. It brings back all of my childhood wishes and dreams. Seeing everything blanketed in the glistening white flakes makes it, to me at least, seem as though everything is clean and pure. Everything is perfect and everyone is child-like.
I'm thankful the snow is coming. I'm thankful for those feelings of happiness and reminiscence.

Now, if only a horse and buggy could take me everywhere I needed to go while there is snow on the ground.....

little girl laughs

2010-11-08T19:34:00.000-07:00

Bug and I have this ritual, if you will, every night at bedtime. We read books together snuggled on the couch or my bed. We have family prayer and then it is time for her to go to bed. The big kids get to stay up a bit later than she. She pads off into her room where she awaits the "tuckels innels" from her Daddy and I. Cary usually goes first while I finish reading with Gabbers. When Cary is finished, I "sneak" into her room where she is hiding under her covers and pretending to sleep. She starts giggling as soon as I enter her doorway.
I. love. it.
I creep up to her bed, where she is huddled under her princess blankies on the top bunk. More giggles.
I put my hands under the blankies, and the tickle monster comes alive! More giggles.
more loving it.
We talk for a bit about whatever her little heart desires, usually what we have planned for the next day. Give kisses. More kisses. and even more kisses, then it's time for closed eyes and stinky bums to sleep.

I love hearing that little girl laugh. It truly makes my heart happy and reminds me how blessed I am to have her.

Today, I'm thankful for little girl laughs. Very Thankful.

7th day....Home

2010-11-07T21:58:00.000-07:00

When Cary and I were house hunting a couple of years ago, it was torture! We'd find a house here or there that we might like, but then it was in an area that we didn't necessarily love. We finally found a house that I loved, but it wasn't in the area that we wanted. We wanted to stay in the ward boundaries, but were sure that we wouldn't be able to find a house here. Then, we found it. A house right in the middle of great people, but the house needed work. We jumped on it. We bought it. Our house still needs work. A lot of it. But, it's home and we're happy.

I'm thankful for our home and all the memories that we have made thus far. I'm excited to think of all the happy events that are to come.....in our home.

and on the sixth day...

2010-11-06T21:46:00.000-06:00

Sundays are my other favorite day! I love my calling and I love the kids that we teach. I don't necessarily love getting up at 7am, but I love the lazy Sunday afternoons that follow such an early morning.
I'm thankful to be part of a ward that is full of so many amazing, loving, and humble people. I have been so blessed by so many friends that I would have never known had we not been part of this congregation.

Hopefully we can work on that whole 7am thing in January.

:)

Five-O

2010-11-05T21:39:00.000-06:00

Saturdays are one of my favorite days. All of my kidlets are usually home and Cary is here to help! Huzzah!
Seriously, I love having him home and I love it when we are able to do things as a family.

I'm so thankful that we are such a close little family. We have our fights, our grumbles, our bad days, but through it all my kids know that we love them, forever. We are sealed for eternity as a family. I love to think back on that moment in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple sealing room when all of us stood in front of those gorgeous golden framed mirrors and we could see into the eternities. Together.
It's a moment that I will treasure forever. I hope that Tonathiu, Cuauhtli, Yoalli, Gabriella, and Bug will always remember that and hold it dear as well.

Quatre

2010-11-04T21:12:00.000-06:00

I love to travel. I love road trips and staying in fun, exciting places.
However, there is nothing quite like the warmth and familiarity of ones own bed.
I'm thankful for my beautiful king size fluffy pillow topped bed.
It's divine.
Positively.
Even if I have to share it with my stinkyface.

Thirdly....

2010-11-03T15:35:00.000-06:00

I like to have my mommy-only time. Who doesn't? I love to hang with my gals, but sometimes I like to sit in the quiet deliciousness of my room and watch my mommy shows.
That's right, I'm thankful today for my mommy shows!
Grey's Anatomy, House, and Castle---oh how you make me swoon! Granted, they might not be the most reverent of shows. But, to that I say, get the stick out! Ha!
I love these shows. Love. Them. Grey's is kind of hacking me off this season, but oh that Hugh Laurie and that yummynummy fella from Castle is making up for their lack of a good story line.
Cary even watched Castle with me this week. I did not feel the need to tell him that I started watching it because of the main guy. The mocking would have been too much.
What's your guilty pleasure? What's your mommy-only time consist of?
And, if any of you say that your guilty pleasure is reading an extra hour of scriptures, there will be mockage.
:)

Gratitude

2010-11-02T20:34:00.000-06:00

So, I've decided that I'm going to use this month as a daily reminder
of all the things for which I am thankful.
I am so blessed in so many ways, but I often
get too wrapped up in the problems and disheartening moments.

There will be some giggles, some serious, and some that may make you want to delete me. Hopefully you will make it through with e to the end.

*disclaimer: these are in *no* particular order*

I will make the first one the mushy one and get that nonsense right out of the way!

My husband, CaryJos. That man puts up with you through my ugliest moments and cheers me on when I'm frustrated or down. He makes me laugh when I'm about to blow my top, so that I don't blow my top! He loves me unconditionally and Forever. I know it. He is my best friend and my eternal companion.
Love you dahhhhling!

Numero Dos

2010-11-02T20:32:00.000-06:00

Second thing for which I am thankful...

Indoor toilets. Oh, flushing toilet, how I love thee!
Now, yes, I have been without my beloved. It was torture. I've been camping and it is fun, well it can be.
I remember camping with my Dad in the fall/winter during deer season. No toilets. You had to find your tree and be quite sure that no one else could find your tree, or at least see your bum behind the tree.

I look back fondly on those days, but know that it could have been so much better had there only been a flushing toilet involved.

:)

Pumpkin Fun!

2010-10-30T11:18:00.000-06:00

We finally bit the bullet and carved our pumpkins on Thursday night. I hate to carve them early because seeing their little faces smoosh in grosses me out. How unsightly! Cary despises pumpkin guts. He's kind of a big girl when it comes to his hands being dirty or mucky.
Yet, he can clean up vomit like nobody's business.
(Thank GOODness! I'm not a cleaner-upper of anything vomit, snot, or poo related. Now, back to the story...)
So, in order to maintain Cary's good graces, I decided to gut all the pumpkins while he was at work so he could carve them up for the kids and have minimal guts on his hands. It started out innocently enough. I was cutting the tops off and giving the kids their pumpkins and a bag to sit in the grass and de-gut the pumpkins. Yoalli had a great idea and said, "Momma, wouldn't it be so funny if I took these guts and put them all over Tonathiu's face?!"
"Oh, Yoalli, no, let's not do that!", I said.
But, as I sat there and thought about it while I was pulling guts and seeds out of my pumpkin, I got the giggles.
It would be funny to smear it on Tonathiu's face! He was sitting beside me and I couldn't help myself. I picked up a big gooey wad and rubbed it all over the side of his face and in his mouth! hahaha! I don't know which was more hilarious, the look of sheer amazement and shock on his face, or his face full of pumpkin guts. It must have been that it was the best combination ever.
And, thus the Great Pumpkin War 2010 ensued. Tonathiu did not let me get away with that, mind you. He beaned me pretty good a couple of times. The little girls had to get in on the action as well. I laughed so hard that I could not breathe! The kids were squealing with delight as they got mouthfuls of pumpkin guts. Hilariousness. The Pièce de résistance was when I lovingly shoved pumpkin guts and seeds down Tonathiu's pants.Yes, they found their way in his undies. Crying, with laughter we were. Even Tonathiu. It was seriously so much fun. Afterward we had to maneuver showers so no one would have to sit around eating dinner with pumpkin guts all over them. By then, CaryJos was home and we sat down for dinner. As they finished, each of our munchkins drew on a paper what they wanted their pumpkin to look like. Once they liked what they had created on paper, they drew it on the pumpkin. Our kids are so creative, it amazes me sometimes. I Love It. I love them. every last smelly one of them. :)

Keeleigh and Her Amazing Pumpkin!

Gabbers and her Very Surprised Pumpkin!

Yoalli and her Super Fantastic Pumpkin!

Cuauhtliztac and his Happy Angry Pumpkin!

Me and my this is how I look after.....pumpkin!

The whole gang with their pumpkins. I didn't get a photo with Tonathiu or Cary holding their pumpkins. Tonathiu is sitting by his and Cary's is on the top step on the right. I love Cary's pumpkin, it is too funny.

Now we get ready for Trick AND Treating!

Happy Halloween from The Nicholas Whanau!

One Year...

2010-10-24T17:00:00.000-06:00

Today has been both good and bad, hard and easy, sad and happy.
One year ago today ( actually the 25th of October, but it was on Sunday) my world was turned upside down and inside out. I remember that day vividly. Each detail is as plain today as it was that day last year. Painful memories that keep flooding back and washing over me, enveloping me in a sadness that few know.
My dad passed away so suddenly, so unexpectedly, that I get angry sometimes. More times than not I am angry with myself for not doing things differently. So many things would I change, had I the chance to do so.
I don't think I have been angry with Heavenly Father once throughout this time, but I have questioned Him. Repeatedly. I think I catch a glimmer of how He feels with me when my kids repeatedly ask me a question to which they do not like the answer that has been given them. I have accepted that I won't know the answer to my questions in this life, on this side of the veil. But, holy cow, I will be asking on that side of the veil!
Today is a gloomy, rainy, cold day---which I love. It's very fitting of my feelings today as well.
As I ~~cry~~ talk to Cary, I realize that I don't want to remember the hurt and the pain as much as I do the amazing Daddy-Daughter moments that my Dad and I shared throughout my life. Although I miss him with every inch of my being, I am grateful that he is no longer in any pain. He's no longer lonely or battling his issues in this earthly realm. He is with his family that he loves.He is loving me from that side of the veil, and although I can not see him---I will try with all that I have to feel that love every.single.day. I will make sure that my kids know that love and remember him. We will honor him and love him and we will see him again.
My darling, wonderful husband has been getting everything in order, without me knowing, to have my Dad's ordinances done. He has known how important that is to me, and he has put it together for me.
My husband is amazing.
He is my rock.
So, in the spirit of remembering the good times, I'm compiling a list of the awesome memories that I have of my Dad. I will write it as though I'm speaking to my Dad. I think he can hear me.

Fishing on the banks of Lake Hamilton. Me talking incessantly while you patiently remind me that the fish don't nibble if we are noisy. Cutting my line OUT of the tree for the18th time while I try to FREE the worms!
Working on cars with you in the garage. Love, Love, Love helping you fix those cars. I didn't have a clue what I was doing, but you taught me which tools were which and how to use them.
Reading books together on my bed at bedtime when I was little. I loved listening to you make the different voices. One of my favorite pictures of us is when you were reading the angel book to me in my raggedy anne sheets and blanket.
Listening to you tell stories. I love the animation and twinkle in your eye when you are telling someone a story, even if it was for the 193284th time.
Sitting on our back deck at night in the Summer time. I can still hear those bullfrogs talking and the ducks talking.
Hunting during Thanksgiving Break. Probably some of the coldest times I can remember. All the while we were cuddled around a fire in the middle of the woods.
4th of July. Amazing times. I remember the bottle rocket and roman candle wars. It's all fun until someone gets their eyelashes burned off!!
Your Cooking. Sometimes you made some crazy dishes, but I love your cooking and watching you grill. I love sitting on the back deck, talking with you, while "we" grilled together.
Watching you with my girls. I love how much they love you. I love how much you love them. Playing in the snow or squirting you with the hose. They love their Poppie. I love My Dad.

These are but a few of the memories that I carry with me each day. They help, albeit a little,ease the pain and sadness.
Abide with me; ’tis eventide,
And lone will be the night
If I cannot commune with thee
Nor find in thee my light.

Dad, I love you dearly. I miss you.
More than their are words.

My Bug is Reading!

2010-09-29T16:47:00.000-06:00

Okay, so maybe 50% of it is memorization. Okay, maybe more....but she's reading! She's trying her little guts out and is doing a fantastic job! I'm so proud of her! This morning we were having snuggles on the couch while we read books together. I do so love our quiet little times together. And, I do stress the "quiet times". :)

Enjoy this little snippet of her reading her new favorite book, You and Me!

:)