Gingerbread houses

We finally got around to making a Gingerbread house this year. The kids love putting them together and as they get older it is fun to see how much more they can do. I have always bought a kit. Next year I want to make my own gingerbread and let the kids each make their own house.

Abigail surprised me by being so detail-oriented as you can tell by the pictures. She was very careful putting each candy on.












Dad was in charge of the frosting. I tried a couple of times in past years but get impatient and so he would take over. Now I don't even bother. Austin enjoyed helping with the frosting this year.















This was the beginning of an avalanche. But the kids didn't mind, they just ate what fell off.














The finished product. I like the little green trees that came in the kit. Hopefully I can buy them separately.

Santa Baby and other stuff

We have had a busy month. The last several Decembers have gotten busier and busier. This one has gone by mostly in a blur. I think that is why I love pictures so much. They help me to reflect on what we've done, where we have been, and what we have accomplished. That is what I felt today as I looked at these pictures: gratitude for cameras and a way to capture cherished moments that otherwise may quickly be forgotten.

SANTA BABY
I love this first one of Asher because he did it himself and kept it on for quite some time. He LOVES wearing the Santa hat. He always puts it on himself and is so proud of himself. And I think he knows everyone thinks he is cute for it.

TUACHAN
This year we went to St. George to see the live Nativity they put on, the lights and Santa Claus (since I refuse to go to a Santa in Cedar City again...if you want to know why, read this post)

The live Nativity was great and helped my kids and myself refocus on what the true meaning of Christmas is despite all the hustle and bustle and commercialization of it. I didn't even think to get out my camera until the ending scene right when the lights went out. But it is kind of a peaceful picture so I thought I would add it.

My cheesy little kids and with some cousins.

This is the Santa pic but it is not a great one. The kids were antsy, the lighting was bad, the seating arrangement was bad and the Santa is only so-so but at least he is over 50. :) I have realized that I am really picky about Santas...but I got spoiled for several years because the Santas at the malls in Las Vegas are amazing!


INTUNE PARADE
The kids were in the Christmas parade at the beginning of the month. They love to ride in the parades!

The Blessings of the Harvest...

I have always loved fall. Who doesn't? A break from the long hot days of summer. The beautiful changing colors of the trees. Halloween. Thanksgiving. Even school starting is a good thing for some. But I am loving fall more and more each year as I learn more and more about canning and preserving food. Fresh foods are always best but home-canned or frozen goods come in a close second. I don't grow all my own food but I usually get fresh food from farmers markets or family and friends. I can't say I am an expert at preserving yet (I tried making fruit leather and failed miserably) but I am getting better. In previous years I have made apricot and apricot-pineapple jam. I have canned and frozen corn. I have canned peaches. And this year, I dug into some apples.

This year, with the help of my amazing husband, we canned 14 quarts of of peaches, froze 12 quarts of corn, canned 14 quarts of apple pie filling and picked 100+ lbs. of red potatoes.

This was our most productive year yet.

Besides canning, I also wanted to make some snacks for the kids to have for after-school. I have a "snack cupboard" that the kids usually raid the minute they get home but with the snacks containing all kinds of ingredients I can't even read and being as pricey as they are, I needed to find an alternative. I have tried making fresh snacks but who has time to bake up a fresh batch of cookies or muffins everyday. They like to eat veggies and fruit but once in a while it is nice to have something special. I wanted to make some home-made snacks that they can throw in the microwave instead. They are healthier, cheaper and faster. I made apple-pumpkin streusel muffins, apple bread, chocolate-caramel apple turnovers, apple strudel, apple pies (which aren't really for a snack), chocolate-chip cookies (froze the dough), zucchini muffins, banana muffins and banana chocolate chip muffins.

These are apple-turnovers. I adapted them from several different recipes I saw. I put cut up rolos in them too but I think I might prefer to make them just plain apple next time. I also used Rhodes rolls and pre-made pastry dough. The pastry dough ones definitely came out better but the Rhodes rolls worked pretty good too. They actually freeze great. When microwaving them, the pastry isn't quite as flaky but still good.

This was the first apple pie I made from scratch. I looked and looked for apple pie recipes and narrowed it down to two. So I made both. They both were excellent. This first one was from America's Test Kitchen. The filling was sooo good.

This next one was from All Recipes...you can get it here. The crust came out fantastic on this one. So the next time I make one I am going to use the filling of the one recipe with the lattice crust method of the other. Then I think I will have a "perfect apple pie." recipe.

These are Apple Streusel bars from ourbestbites.com. Chris LOVED these but maybe that was because it was our first dessert in over a month. :) They were pretty good. I used half the almond extract the recipe called for and it was plenty. But, then again, I am not a huge almond extract fan.

These muffins are pumpkin-apple streusel muffins (recipe found here). Great muffin, moist and not too sweet, perfect for freezing and having for an after school snack. I haven't tasted the apple-bread yet because I just put it in my freezer.

1 year!

I have enjoyed different forms of exercise my entire life. I know for some of you, that statement may want to make you throw something at me, but it is true. I love how exercise makes you feel strong, flexible, and even more coordinated. And contrary to what some might believe, exercising does give you more energy. Exercising also helps fight off depression, stress and sickness.

Finding the time, the place, babysitters, and energy, however, is a different story all together. I have worked out for brief periods here and there in the last 10 years but life gets in the way and I stop for awhile. I think the longest period was about 6-8 months. I even got a treadmill about 5 years ago that helped for awhile. We lost it in the basement flood. :( Plus I was getting bored with it.

A year ago, Chris and I decided that we had to do something about our health. We were both over weight. We were out of shape. My family has a bad health history with most of my grandparents dying in their 60s. I was done having kids, which has been one of my many excuses for not doing something sooner. So we pulled on our sneakers and finally joined the gym. I know you don't have to join a gym to exercise or lose weight but we both figured the money aspect of it would keep us motivated to keep going. It worked. We have been going to the gym now for one full year. Sometimes we were only able to go once a week and sometimes we would miss a whole week at once but we didn't let that discourage us. We would just start again.

In the last year, Chris has lost over 55 lbs and I have lost over 40 lbs. Now, I can't let you believe that we didn't cheat a little. I call it cheating. Others may not. Chris and I did the HCG diet once in March and once in September. Chris lost all his weight from doing the diet but I only lost 30 lbs from the diet and the other 10 just from working out. But even though we "cheated," we have to work at keeping it off and I AM determined to keep it off! I would like to lose 10-15 more lbs but Chris doesn't want me to lose any more...he wants me to keep my girly figure. Gotta love him for that, right! Our gym membership lasts another two years so until then, I plan on continuing to work my butt off! Literally. :)

But today maybe I will celebrate with a piece of cake. :)

Everything Halloween!

Don't worry, Allie is OK. It is just makeup. :) A week before Halloween, their theater group showed them how to put on scary make-up. They loved it. I didn't get a picture of Austin's before he washed it off but he had a screw through this hand and a cut on his face. They actually showed them how to do it so Austin was trying to tell me but it all went over my head. :)

Asher was a puppy for Halloween.

Abigail was a lady bug... this is her without her wings.

Allison was a cabbage patch doll. This costume was made for me when I was 5 years old by my mom. She used to make all our costumes...she did awesome! (See pic below) Allison would only agree to wear the costume if she didn't have to wear the wig so I said she didn't have to. The new cabbage patch dolls don't have yarn hair like they used to anyway.

This is me with my two younger brothers in 1986.

I knew the day would come when I would have to actually learn to sew and this Halloween was it. Austin wanted to be Link from the Nintendo video game Zelda. The cheapest costume we could find for Link was $50 and it was a "not very good" home-made one. For $50 I figured we could make something cheaper. By the time we were done we did spend around $50 but it turned out better plus I learned to sew (with the help of my mom of course...she did the hardest parts) Chris worked on making his shield which is really what made the costume. He did an awesome job on it!

Don't you think it looks like him?!

We went to the school carnival where the kids danced the night away. They had a DJ that threw out big candy bags to all those who were dancing. My kids danced for a good 2 hours and all ended up walking away with at least two bags of candy plus some rulers.

Some of our family put on a "Haunted Halloween Train" and so we went and let the kids do that which of course they loved.

As it gets dark, the Haunted Train ride gets scarier for the older kids. But since my kids knew everyone in it, they loved it anyway and kept going on it over and over and over again.

John, Keith, Anne and Tyler all helped to "scare" during the Haunted Train ride.

Garage transformation...

Well, kinda. We have had a half garage transformation.

Chris and I call ourselves, purgers. (No, not that kind of purging!) The purging where you get rid of your stuff constantly because you don't like clutter and if you haven't looked at it in over a year then it is making your life harder not easier. We have always been like that. Constantly moving has helped. More kids has not. Since getting rid of our kids isn't an option (I worked too hard to get 'em here and they've grown on me) then we have to figure out more storage options. Our house is getting more and more crowded with "stuff." I really don't like "stuff." But some "stuff" makes life funner (I know that isn't a word for all you picky English people out there, but I don't care) and some "stuff" makes life easier. There is "winter stuff" and "camping stuff" and "garden stuff" and "baby stuff" (which I could probably start getting rid of but am still a little emotional about some of it) and don't forget the "massive-load of Holiday stuff." But what do you do with it all? Put it in a bin and place a nice label on it and stick it in some room or closet. That is what we have been doing lately and will probably keep doing.


Our garage was getting way over-loaded with "stuff." We couldn't go out there without tripping over something. And trying to find that "something" that was hidden in "that box" was getting to be a half hour ordeal. I don't know about you, but we don't really have time to look for something for a half hour or usually longer. So my handy husband got out the tools again and built me some shelves. They weren't the shelves I originally wanted (those were around $700 more) but they turned out amazing and we still have the other half of our garage we can do something with. Plus he built me a little sitting/shoe bench and we are going to put some hooks above it to hang more "stuff."

These are the before...scary....

This is the after. I love the feeling of a little organization and hard work and "wahlah," look what you can accomplish. It feels so good!

Elasta-girl

Have you ever wished you were elasta-girl? Not just a costume you put on at Halloween. I mean the authentic arms stretching to eternity elasta-girl. You could grab a baby tumbling down the stairs, or catch a glass falling before it shatters or, even, scoop up a baby and hold him high above your head for about 20 minutes so that you could catch your breath. (You know he would love it.)

Asher has definitely made me think that being elasta-girl would be awesome. He is so busy all day long. Sometimes it almost seems like he is looking for the next thing to get into. We take him from one thing/place and he immediately goes to the next naughty thing/place. The whole family has now learned to keep all doors closed, all cupboards locked, and books off the ground. Even with that, he still keeps me on my toes...like just 30 seconds ago, he learned how to open the dishwasher and broke a glass. Luckily, he wasn't hurt.

I know it is just because he so dang smart. He is very observant. He loves to watch you do things and repeat them. He loves to figure things out. I sometimes can't believe he is only 13 months old. I remember people telling me that they thought Austin was ADHD when he was little because he was like Asher is. He just turned out to be a smart kid and he is NOT ADHD. I am really hoping Asher turns out the same way. In the meantime, I am going to need to learn super-human powers so I can make sure he doesn't get hurt or hurt anything/one else.

Oh yeah, did I mention he climbs too! Now you may be thinking..."Geez, Jennifer, you have had 3 other children, you should be used to all this by now." I know, I thought the same thing. But he REALLY is harder. The people at the gym daycare even had to rearrange their furniture because he kept climbing on everything and they didn't want him hurting himself. So it's not just me. :) But look how cute he is. He is so proud of himself for helping clean up the mess he made.

One day, the girls were yelling for me to come and get Asher because he was stuck. I ran to see what was the matter and this is what I found. He really was stuck. I thought I was going to have to call Chris, or worse, the fire department. I finally, and carefully, got him out but ever since he has discovered the vents, they have become his new best friend. Let's just say that if we are ever missing something, the vents are the first place to look.

My Sweet Allison

Allison turns 6 today. She is growing up to be an amazing little person. She is always helpful when I ask her to do things around the house. She is always optimistic and always points out the special little details in life that make life so amazing. She always gives compliments to people like, "You are the best cook mom," or "I like your shirt today Emma," or "You look handsome Austin." It is so sweet. (She gets that from her Dad).

Today, I stopped by her class at school just to ask her teacher how she was doing. Her teacher said she was great and could have 20 more like her. What a compliment!!! Just what every mom wants to hear.

She wasn't always easy, and I'm sure that one day it might change again but for now we are enjoying everything about her!

This is her at 3 months

This is her first birthday...she loved her little horsey from G&G Carter.

Isn't this face so Tinkerbell!

No one else would go near this spider (even the boys) until after Allison did it.

Once again, a Halloween picture I love...she makes such a beautiful Cinderella.

This is her with her football makeup on...her lovely brother put it on.

I love this picture my sister-in-law took of her. She wasn't meaning to show her shoulder...she is actually very modest and doesn't like to show her shoulders. She would probably be upset about this picture. But I love it!