My Little Mermaid

So Maya not only looks like me, but I think we are made quite alike. This girl loves to talk, and she LOVES to sing! Her favorite show is "The Little Mermaid." Yesterday I caught her in her room and she was just singing some of the songs from her favorite show. Today she was watching it on my bed. I was busy cleaning the bathroom and was watching her. She was standing up and playing each role as the movie was playing.

My favorite part she played during my sneak peak (all in her cute 2-year-old style)

Ursela: "What I want from you is your VOICE!"

Ariel: "But without my voice, how can I....."

Ursela: "You'll have your looks, your pretty face, and don't underestimate the importance of body language! HAH!"

She saw me in certain parts and said, "Mommy!! Ariel needs to save Prince Eric! OH NO!"

Anyways, I think she is quite entertaining and love to sing along with her. Ryan was giving her a bath last week and Maya was laying back in the tub for her hairwash and she said, "Look daddy! I'm a mernaid (that's how she says it)! Ahhhh, ahhhh, ahhhh, ahhhh." (To the tune of Ariel, of course.) RYan really got a kick out of it.

Connor and Evan are doing great. Here are some funny happenings with them lately.

Evan: "Mom, do you know why the birds in the song are called Three French Hens?"

Mom: "No, Evan. How do you know?"

Evan: "Duh, mom!! They are hens and they speak french!" (All said as a-matter-of-factly!)

Connor does not enjoy Maya and I's talent of singing so much. He got in trouble this week in school for not singing the Christmas song his class has been learning.

Mom: "Why don't you like to sing? You are such a good singer!"

Connor: "Mom......it's so embarrassing! I don't like everyone staring at me!"

All night we kept teasing him and I kept singing his song he is supposed to be practicing- "Rockin' around the Christmas Tree." Hopefully I don't give him a complex.

Thanksgiving Roll Recipe

So here is a recipe that if might want to try for Thanksgiving.....but give yourself some time. As my life has slown down I have tried to become more domestic. This recipe came from my mother-in-laws Blue Lake Ward Cookbook.

2 c. milk
1c. butter (plus)
2 TBSP Yeast
1 c. plus 2 TB sugar

6 eggs
1 1/2 tsp dalt
8 c. flour

Scald milk, then add 1 cup butter. Cool to lukewarm. Add yeast to 1/2 cup lukewarm water plus 2 tablespoons sugar. Set aside. Beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add 1 cup sugar and salt. Add milk and butter mixture and yeast. Add flour and mix well. Dough will be sticky. COVER AND LET RISE 3 TO 4 HOURS! Turn out on WELL FLOURED board and divide into parts. Roll in circle as for pie-rather thin. Spread with butter. Cut in pie shape pieces; roll from large to small end. Put on a greased pan; don't crowd. Let stand till double. Bake 10-12 minutes at 375. Don't overbake.

These rolls are sooooo good, but they do take a long time. I did an experiment this evening. I froze the rolls before letting them rise. (Like Rhoades dough) I took them out this afternoon and they seem to be looking good- starting to puff up nice. We'll see how they taste for dinner, but so far so good!

Halloween Fun!

Okay.....I am sorry for all of you who have been waiting 5 weeks for me to update. SO here are the pic from Halloween. Connor is Batman. Evan is Robin, and Miss Maya is Barney. There is a funny story behind the Barney costume. Connor and Evan decided back in August that Maya had to be Barney for Halloween. Near the end of September we went to Savers in hunt of our costumes. We were digging through the racks and Evan exclaimed ,"Mom!! It's perfect!! I found just the thing for Maya!" He pulled the Barney costume from the hanger and Maya was elated! I loved it because it was only $2.99.

It was a wonderful night trick-or-treating! The weather was very mild and the kids didn't need to wear coats. I stayed at home and handed out candy....not a very fun job if you ask me. There are kids that are polite, and then there are the ones that take a fistfull of candy. Then there are the adults that bring a bag for themselves!!! Who does that? I really got annoyed when it was 5 minutes to 10:00pm and all our lights were off and the doorbell rang. I made Ryan answer the door and he told them we were out of candy and that they needed to head home! Needless to say we weren't happy. Anyways...the kids had 3 days to eat all there candy. Mom and Dad and Uncle Mike helped out a little bit too! :)

Ryan's Obsession at the Zoo

Okay- so we found out that they were feeding the snakes at the zoo. Ryan was dying to see the rattler take down the dead rabbit. No luck today.

Visit from the Switzers

Connor and Ellie at the zoo! (Notice the look on Connor's face.....smooth!)


Dad and Maya!

We had a wonderful visit from our friends the Switzers! They are childhood friends of Ryan....way back from elementary school. We went swimming at the fitness center, played at the zoo on a freezing cold day, and then had a late night dance party to wrap up the fun! Here are some pics from our events.

My Little Helper

Two posts in one day! Wow....this is a record. After dinner I was trying to think of something to pass the time before I could put the kids to bed. Ryan would be working late, so I thought "let's go play in the front yard." The yard is made of rocks and some flower beds that desperately need to be hacked down. Connor and Evan helped for awhile, but their enthusiasm was short lived. Maya stayed out there with me for about an hour or more. She would encourage me with, "Thanks momma, this looks so great!" or "Good job mom, you're such a good helper!" I thought is was a perfect moment for a picture and a blog post. So we got one flower bed done, and I gave Ryan the assignment for tomorrow to work on the front yard some more. Good luck!

Evan's back in school

Connor went off track this week, but Evan started his new year of preschool. I guess I don't get a break of being a Taxi driver, but it comes with the job, right?

Just an update for those of you who ocassionally check out our blog. I was released 3 weeks ago as the Young Womens President in our ward. With no delay they called me into the primary. I am now teaching the Sunbeams. I wish I could have gone to Releif Society for at least 1 week, but I do love the Primary!

Our other big news is that we are expecting another baby in April. Yep- #4 is on it's way. I have actually thrown up a handful of times and have been very tired. We are excited for our last little addition to the Lowder family.

Okay...so that is about it. I'll do better at posting more regularly!