Quick update

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We did. Here are just a few photos of the big day.

The Christmas Spirit

The Christmas Spirit

Our family would like to wish everyone a very Joyous Christmas and Happy New New Year. We hope you enjoy a wonderful holiday with friends and family remembering our Savior and the true meaning of Christmas.

=) Happy Day!

It's all official, I am now the proud Mama of an Eagle Scout! Tonight, G-man had his board of review and passed!! I'm so happy! The next step is to plan his Court of Honor. Hopefully in the next couple months. I'll have pictures for you then because, of course, I didn't think of bringing the camera. Obviously, I'm not a Scout.

Please...

Hey, Friends!

I want to tell you all about a show on Monday call the Sing-Off. It's on NBC at 8pm PST(check your local listings) It's an a cappella singing competition. The group to watch are the BYU Noteworthy Ladies. They are amazing! Two of the girls, who are sisters, are my friends daughters and are in our Stake.

Make sure you watch! Go Noteworthy!!!

Really???? Stitches and a broken finger in less than 2 weeks??

Poor guy! Little A was trying to get into big brothers room where he wasn't wanted and unfortunately this was the result. Fingers in the door jam - not good! He broke the tip of his middle finger. He said he heard crack when it happened. Yikes!
Ironically, we just had this discussion a few weeks ago, where I shared an experience I had as a child getting my fingers slammed in a door. Also discussed no slamming doors (or closing them for that matter, keep them open) numerous times. Ok, I'm teaching but no ones listening.!!! They say bad luck comes in three's, Not anxious to find out what's coming.

Family Night

Here are pictures from our fun family night. The kids made their own "ginger bread" houses. We did this a couple years ago at a friends house and our kids had so much fun I wanted to do it again. It was a fun way to see the kids get creative.

The finished projects.

Everyone was all done and Gman was still working on his! I was surprised at how much time he took building it. He made his to look like our shed that hubby built a couple years ago.

The hard part now is finding a place to put them all.

Snow!

Don't laugh.

Well, it may only be a light dusting, but still we're talking about California here and in the 11 years that I've lived here I have never seen snow in the valley. I did have to drive a few minutes to get to it, but it was worth it.

Thanksgiving

I can't believe that it's a week after Thanksgiving but even more unbelievable is that it's December 3rd! Wow! Even though it's a week overdue, here are some photos to recap our holiday. Sorry there aren't many. I just am not good about taking pictures. I let my cousin take most of them, I was usually too busy cooking, so I'll have to get her photos.

As you may recall, I mentioned that Gman had a birthday gift coming from us but it would be delayed. Well, here it is!!! This is actually a combo gift. It's a birthday/Eagle Scout project gift. We waited for a really great sale on last years gear. So that made us both happy! He is so excited and even had the opportunity to try out both his snowboard and his golf clubs with his cousin S. while he was here. Very fun!
My sister kept all the cousins entertained playing fun games while waiting to eat! (which we always seem to be doing)

Hubby has officially renicknamed Little A. It's now Crash! On Saturday, my sister took all the little ones to the park, and they were playing tag. Little A was running and tripped coming off the spongey ground from the play area to the concrete and fell chin first on the cement. Ouch!
Two hours in the ER and 5 nifty blue stitches later and all is well again. Oh, which by the way, are his first, if you can believe it.
Family photo.
A last minute thought before everyone left Sunday morning, hence the pj's and pale complexions.

Now we get to move on to bigger and better things. Christmas is right around the corner. I've been out only a bit and find it funny that it seems like the stores are now always crowded no matter what time of day it is. I don't understand, does nobody work the month of December? I used to at least find some hours of the day when it wasn't too crowded. Not anymore. Oh well, 'tis the season.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Let the craziness begin! Tomorrow my guests arrive. I'll have 13 extra people staying at my house for the Thanksgiving holiday. My sister and her family and my cousin and her children. I am so excited to see everyone and my kids are anxious to see their cousins! It should be fun!

Wishing everyone a very happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Gobble, Gobble.

Annie

The play was this last weekend and Liv spent 3 days doing 4 shows. It was fabulous. All the kids did such a wonderful job. They all worked really hard and it showed. It's so fun to watch these kids perform. Enjoy the song, hopefully you won't have it stuck in your head for 3 months like I've had!

"Molly" and "Annie"

"It's a Hard Knock Life"

"Maybe" Our Annie was so fabulous!

Head shot

Finally...

Wow, took me long enough but here are some pictures from G-man's birthday.G-man wanted pie instead of cake.

It may be a little hard to tell but that black rectangle on G-man's lap is a laptop. Yes, he got a laptop from his Grandparents for his birthday. I never thought my 16 year old would get a laptop before me!
A new chess set.
Our present to him in the form a card. It's in the works, more on that when he actually gets it.
Heart Attacked by his friends.
First Date. Yes, his first date was with me. I wasn't going to let some one else claim that privilege.

Yesterday, he also had a really fun party with his buddy CC who also turned 16. I'm waiting until I get more pictures from the party before I post that.

Sorry, I forfeited my Mother-of-the-year award when I didn't take any pictures of my kids for Halloween. See, we had people over for a pre Halloween dinner complete with homemade soups and bread and it was a little chaotic by the time the kids were ready to go that I forgot, But, I can tell you what they were, or tried to be. G-man threw on his old fur vest and hat from when he was 3, grabbed a belt from a robe and said he was Indiana Jones. Liv was a pirate. Ethan was ummm, not sure what he thought he was, but he wore the same thing he had worn all day, in other words, his normal clothes. Sweet Pea was Dorothy from Wizard of Oz. Little A was also a pirate but without his eye patch and sword because, of course, we couldn't find those the night we needed them. All in all, a fun night.

Up coming events...

Liv is in the play Annie this next weekend. She plays the part of Molly, Annie's good friend. I'm excited to see it. It's always fun to watch. The kids do a really great job. Well, I think that's about it. I've caught you all up. Until next time.....

Have a great week. =)

Off-line...

Sorry, I've been having computer issues so I won't be able to post again until probably next week. I'll catch you all up then. Hope everyone is doing well.

Thanks for your patience! (not that you have a choice)

Bye!

Let the celebration begin...

Tomorrow my first born turns 16! To say that time passes much too quickly would be an understatement. I really wanted to post some pictures of G-man when he was a baby but they didn't have digital cameras back then. Oh well, one of these days I'll get a scanner. G-man started his weekend with a fun-filled trip with friends to Six Flags. On Saturday, he bought himself a birthday present. He has just started getting into playing golf and really wanted his own set of clubs. He's been working hard every Saturday doing lawn care and saved himself enough money to buy his own set of clubs. He's very excited!

More to come later......

Difficult Decision

Our elementary school is on a year-round school calendar. We have 4 "tracks" A,B,C and D. Each track will be in school for 3 months and then "track off" for approximately 4-6 weeks. THis is to accommodate the large number of students we have in the schools. (Although, I hear it's declining and with all the budgets cuts we've had we may be back on a traditional calendar soon)We're "D" track so we have off the months of February, June, October. So we've been off-track since Oct. 2. There are pros and con's to both traditional and year-round, I'm indifferent to either. As you may recall, when the school year started, I was extremely excited because, finally all my children would be in school, even if it was for only 3 1/2 hours a day. It still was a much anticipated time for me. Well, after only 3 months, it's over and not just because we're off-track. Because after much thought and prayer Hubby and I have decided to home school two of our kids.
Mr. E and Liv will now be doing school at home. (Now, I'm going to babble) The idea started about a year ago when we were in the midst of Prop 8 and we thought ok, if this doesn't pass we might have to home school our kids. Well, it passed and time moves on, and I stopped thinking about it until this school year. Now let me tell you a little about Mr. E. He is such a wonderful little boy. He is the one I can count on to always be happy. He's timid and doesn't like a lot of attention but he's sweet and kind. He loves to tinker with things, build things, he's a very kinesthetic learner. He loves nature and being outside. He loves to climb, run, jump and play, all the typical things boys like to do. But when he was kindergarten-age we decided to keep him back because he just was not ready, something I wish I had done with my older son but didn't. I think it was helpful but he still just seemed to be behind. Fast forward to 4th grade, it's not getting any better. He still struggles and they are moving too quickly for him to keep up. He's a smart boy but it takes him a little longer to process information. I was just getting frustrated with the school system. He was falling through the cracks because he didn't qualify for the extra help he needed. (now I'm ranting) and there is so much wasted time at school. I can't tell you how many times my children have come home from school and told me they watched movies in class, and I'm not talking educational movies but like Disney movies. And it's seems like there is so much nonsense work anymore. So it just came down to taking responsibility for my child's education and doing what's best for him. This way I just feel that I have more control over what and how he's learning. So his last day of school was the day he tracked off.
Now, Liv, is a different story, she wants to be home schooled because of the flexibility it has and the ability of working ahead. So we'll see how it goes. It's extremely overwhelming but after 2 weeks, so far so good and I'm working with a charter school so I'm not completely on my own. I do think it will be better once Sweet pea and Little A are back in school. They can be a little distracting for Mr. E.
I always thought that I wanted to go back to school when all my kids were in school, I just didn't think it would be this way. =)

Really?

Just got this from my hubby and thought it was funny. He says his life is now complete. Who knew that's all it would take. I wish I'd know that sooner.

All things Pumpkin

Happy Fall! I love this time year! We went down to Grandpa's house and picked pumpkins on Monday. No, the above picture are not the ones we picked, sorry. The kids had a blast picking out their pumpkins and I was grateful we didn't have to pay for them. (I can't believe how expensive some pumpkins can be!) The temperatures are starting to drop, a little. Most significantly is in the morning. My 6:30am run is now done wearing pants instead of shorts. It's just harder to run that early when it's dark and cold. Yuck! The one downside to this time of year. But anyway, the last few months in my kitchen has been all about zucchini. Zucchini is very versatile, you can put it in anything and I think have. Breads, cakes, brownies, soups. casseroles. But I'm done with zucchini. It's October and that means it's pumpkin time. I love pumpkin in desserts.(except in pie, strange I know. I think it's the consistency) So of course, I wanted to post one of my favorite pumpkin recipes. This time it's for muffins. Last year it was for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, go here if you want that recipe. It's so yummy. I wish I could post one of those pretty pictures to go with the recipe but I haven't actually made them yet this year, besides, my pictures never look as good as they do on real cooking blogs anyway. So here it goes, hope you like them.

Pumpkin Muffins

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup oil (I replace half of that with applesauce)
1 cup canned pumpkin

Mix together then add:

1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Mix together until just blended then add

2 eggs (beaten)

Mix again, and then add 1 cup chocolate chips

Fill muffin pan 3/4 way up. Top with brown sugar and bake at 375 for 15-20 min. Enjoy!
I usually double this recipe.

*disclaimer: My recipes are not my own, they are just tried and true recipes I've acquired over the years that I know my family and friends enjoy. With that said I must thank my friend S.B. for this recipe =)

Random photos

Sorry for the mass influx of photos. But I keep putting this off saying I'll do it tomorrow and tomorrow comes and goes and it dosen't get done. So finally, I'm staying up late to get these darn pictures posted! Sisters.

Little A's first field trip. He was so excited that he got to ride on a real school bus! They went to a pumpkin patch.

If it didn't have my son's name on it I wouldn't have believed it! I think this is what you call an oxymoron. During his parent-teacher conference, his teacher did say he was very focused and was a good listener. I guess that's the important thing, he knows when and where to behave. That also explains why he's so hyper at home. He has to hold it in all morning!

Should I be concerned?

Off track fun with Papa. This time a trip to Fairytale Town.

Ironic because this is what our family was talking about being for Halloween this year.

Liv, just because, she likes having her picture taken.

A Child's Prayer

Last night as I was getting the kids ready for bed, I reminded Little A to say his prayers. I came back in his room to see him kneeling by his bed saying Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.....

I don't think that counts.

Tahoe (check)

Well, hubby can check one more goal off his "to do" list. On Monday, he successfully biked to Lake Tahoe. He started out a little after 7am and 12 hours later he was crossing the state line. The distance was 121 miles. Which is only 4 more miles than what he did biking to the Golden Gate Bridge, however, Tahoe is much higher in elevation. Imagine the calories he burned! It's like free eating for the next couple days! (I gotta get me a bike!)
All in all everything went well with no problems. Mr. E and Little A went with me to pick him up. Waiting.....

Waiting....

While waiting, Mr. E wanted to take a picture of these cool clouds we saw, instead he got a lot grass.

Almost there.

Whew! Made it! Amazing.