12-21-2011

Here is our Merry Christmas Card link:  http://hickmanchristmas.blogspot.com/

You've already seen most of the pictures - but we want you to know that we love and think about all of you at this time of year. 

12-17-2011 (first lost tooth)

After many tears, Isaac lost his first tooth tonight.  It's only been "wiggly" for a couple of days.  So, we were as surprised as he was. 

12-17-2011

Today I made gifts for our next-door neighbors.  Giving paper plates wasn't my idea.  My sister received one, and then I discovered that the original was published in the LDS-Living Magazine.  Their verse was just so-so, so I wrote a new poem which amazingly made a fun Christmas tree. 

I love practical no-fuss gifts!  A gift like this could genuinely make my holiday week a bit better.  I hope it helps our neighbors a bit.

12-15-2011 (more concerts)

Isaac @ The Christmas Sing

Clips of Isaac singing:

Jonah's Orchestra Concert:



12-13-2011

Noah - Christmas Concert

He's second in on the second-from-top row.

12-04-2011 to 12-12-2011

These are the pictures found on my itouch during this week.  I think Jonah takes more pictures than I do.  :o)

12-07-2011 (North Pole Express)

Tonight was our annual (since Issac discovered The Polar Express) trek to Heber.  This year we got a good deal on a block of 4 tickets and invited Isaac's friend Josh to come with us.  The train ride was fun but I think the favorite moment was visiting Dairy Keen for dinner and seeing the Christmas train making the rounds along the ceiling.

12-03-2011 (decorating the tree)

Isaac has been as excited about Christmas as he was about Halloween.  He definitely has a vision for what he thinks needs to happen.  He literally follows me around the house asking when I'm going to put the lights up.  Or when are we going to get the tree?  He doesn't even wait for me to finish my current project before he has already started giving me assignments for the next.  After much harassment, we have finally decorated the house for Christmas.  We drove to Baums in Provo to pick up our live tree.  It was a pretty quick pick this year, with only Noah pushing for a different tree.  Thankfully, the tree survived the ride home on the freeway - but we made sure to have a prayer to get us home safely.  His biggest concern now?  Why haven't I used every single Christmas decoration in the boxes? 

12-02-2011

This was such a long day!  We built a train for Isaac's tree and then I spent the afternoon hanging Christmas lights.  It was the first time ever - and I made several mistakes and had to redo the first hour's work.  Then I finished the day playing The Messiah with the Pleasant Grove Orchestra.  Tired and sore!

11-25-2011

Isaac's newly cleaned room.  We removed 4 bins of toys to the office and another to go to D.I.  He has way too many toys!

11-24-2011 (Thanksgiving)

Noah and Trent carving the turkey.

The Menu:
Garlic-Herb Turkey (roasted from a completely frozen state - even though it had been in the fridge for a week).  It also caused our dinner time to be moved from 12:30 to 3:30.
Charline's Sweet Potatoes - Mashed sweet potatoes with a pecan crust on top.
Rainbow Jello - Thanks to Grandma Tams!
Rolls - Again, thanks to Grandma.  Thanksgiving wouldn't be the same without them.
Cranberry Chutney - A gift from Sister Gilroy from our ward.
Mashed Potatoes - Jonah's favorite part of the meal (that he got to eat as much as he wanted)
Stuffing - Mrs. Cubbison's box mix was just blah.
Corn, Cranberry Sauce, Bubbly, Fruit Salad
French Silk Pie, Apple Pie and Pumpkin Chiffon Pie - All masterpieces made by Wendy.  :o)

Yum!  We spent the day with my parents. And despite the hitch with the turkey, and the blah-stuffing, everything tasted great.  Recipes will be added to Tams-Kitchen and Hickman-Kitchen (links on the right) in the next while.

11-23-2011

 

New Couches! It was like Christmas morning for me.
Finally, after 19+ years of marriage we have NEW furniture.

And - I still have a little money for some tables/lamps/art/ottomans.

11-15 to 11-22-2011

Just some random shots from this week:

Isaac - November 15

Jonah - November 19 

Isaac/Trent - November 20 (getting ready for tithing settlement) 

Jonah's badly damaged toe from tripping on the concrete front steps. 

 Jonah must not be in too much pain - as he and Isaac play around with my camera.

November 21 - Family Home Evening.  Movies and snowcones, I think.



11-14-2011

I don't have a picture for this post, but wanted to tell this story anyway. 

Yesterday, Noah took his test and got his learner's permit.  I'm just giving you warning.  :o)

He wanted to drive home on the freeway.  I said, "NO!"  He insisted that his friends said it was so easy.  I said night driving, parking lots and freeways are definitely advanced driving skills.

Instead, we headed to the church parking lot.  His first lesson was using only one foot (none of this simultaneously pressing the brake AND the gas!).  His second lesson - you brake with your foot, not with the parking brake, brake and gear shift.  His third lesson - coming to a complete stop before shifting into reverse.  It only took five minutes for him to admit that he didn't know anything about driving and was now ready to listen.  For a long time, he just backed in and out of parking stalls.  Then we drove through the parking lot, trying to avoid the invisible cars.  Finally he got to turn out of the parking lot and into the street and then right back into the parking lot.  He advanced to driving on back streets by the time we were done. 

Throughout the hour-long driving lesson, Isaac threw in a bit of "I think Mom should drive," or "I'm scared" or various driving instructions repeated exactly as Mom had given them.

The only really scary moment was when he approached a four-way stop after an hour of driving and I said, "stop sign!"  Hello?  Nothing.  No sign of slowing, so I repeated it and then repeated it again.  After about 7 times, each with increasing volume and intensity, I was holding onto the roof of the car bracing for the sudden brakes or the impact as we hit our neighbors who were approaching the intersection.  Then it finally hit him that there was a stop sign there.  He didn't hit the neighbors (who saw us and I'm sure wouldn't have dared enter the intersection), but he did slam on the brakes.

At the end, I asked him if he remembered wanting to drive home on the freeway.  His response, "we would all be dead!"  Good boy.

11-11-11

I loved seeing the flags line the streets of our neighborhood this morning.

And I'm grateful for all those who've given their lives & service to keep us free.

Especially -

Grandpa Hickman (Air Force - World War II),

Grandpa Romm (Navy - World War II), 

Dad Hickman (National Guard),

and my Dad (Air Force).

11-09-2011

Isaac is so inspired by the world around him.  On Friday and Saturday I helped set up a wedding in the church gym.  It was magically transformed into a beautiful place to have a reception.   Isaac stopped by for just a minute, but was amazed at what had happened.  The next thing I know, he was turning our hallway into a wedding, complete with draped tablecloths. 

The same thing happened this morning.  Miss Marianne, our neighbor across the street, held a dress sale in her driveway.  Isaac knew something was different the moment that cars began parking in front of our house.  He kept opening all of the windows just to keep track of what was happening.  So, this picture shows what I discovered in our family room this afternoon.  Isaac's very own clothes sale - set up just like the one across the street.

11-06-2011

Remember Isaac as Monopoly Man?  Well, this is Isaac as Snow Man.  His idea and his creation.  I only added the scarf.  The "twig fingers" were Trent's suggestion.

10-31-2011

Here's my cute fire-fighting boy.  Everywhere we went, people wanted to know, "where is your hose?"  Isaac loves EVERYTHING Halloween!  He pulled Trent and I along through the neighborhood where he decided which houses to approach based on their Halloween decorations.  We all converged back at our house where Jonah was handing out treats and then had pizza while watching Nightmare Before Christmas.

10/30/2011

Pumpkins all ready for Halloween!

Trent's is bottom left; Noah's bottom right.

Isaac's is the two-faced at the top and Jonah's is the cyclops lantern.

10/29/2011 (September Pictures)

10/28/2011

Beautiful view from my computer.

10-27-2011

Jonah's Orchestra Fall Concert

(The previous concert entry for him was for the auditorium open house)

You can see just the top of his head at the very back under the second sound reflector.

10-25-2011

It's supposed to freeze tonight. 

So, I picked most of my remaining veggies yesterday and today I made Green-Tomato Raspberry Jam.

Here is the recipe (just don't tell my kids that it's full of tomatoes!):

Green-Tomato Raspberry Jam

(Cheryl Cook)

8 cups pureed green tomatoes (clean and trimmed)
2 cups of raspberries
5 cups of sugar (calls for 10)

Mix and cook at a low boil for 25 to 30 minutes.

Add:
1 t. of lemon juice
1 package pectin (or 6 T)
2 3 oz. packages of raspberry jello

Bring back to a boil and cook for 10 minutes.  Ladle into pint jars that have been sterilized.  Water bath for 15 minutes.  Set on counter overnight.  Recipe says it makes 8 pints.  (I got 6 from the recipe).

This is not an approved recipe.  Proceed with caution because it primarily contains tomatoes which are a low-acid food.

10-22-2011

For our second day of vacation we slept in then traveled down the canyon to Park City for some shopping at the outlets. We did a quick dash to Salt Lake City where Trent and the boys saw The Tempest at Pioneer Theater Company and Isaac and I went to Cars 2 and to the Church History Museum. We finished our trip with dinner at Buca di Beppo. It was a nice break, but way too short.



Jonah and Isaac at the Park City outlets.



 Jonah, Isaac and Wendy waiting for Noah and Trent.

 Isaac fishing at the Church History Museum.

Buca di Beppo