Cathcing Up...Post 2: Field Day and the Last Day of School

We are rewinding time a little. Only a month. To the last week of school.


The kids have field day during the last week of school. I always go and watch. Field day for the older kids includes picking 7 or 8 events from about 20-25. Every year Austin LOVES the obstacle course; in, out and around the playground. For the last two years he has gotten first but this year he had a little competition and placed only 2nd. He was a little sad at first but got over it quickly.

For field day, the Kindergartners rotate between their rooms and outside. I don't' know if Allison has ever played Twister before but she was quite good at it.

Abigail waited patiently for Allison, coloring with sidewalk chalk.

Another station was just playing in bubbles. Oh what joy comes from cheap fun!

Hopscotch!

My beautiful Allison!

Catching Up...post 1

We continue to have lots of changes and challenges in our lives. Chris was recently called to the bishopric as the second counselor. As if being the scout master and me being in the Relief Society presidency wasn't enough for our busy little family to handle! :) Sunday's used to be my favorite day of the week. We had a great routine down and Chris and I worked really well together like a well oiled machine to get the kids ready, to church on time, getting them through sacrament and home to enjoy the rest of the day "resting." Not anymore! :) Not only do I have to get them all ready by myself which is a feat in and of itself but trying to keep them reverent is almost impossible and Chris has so many meetings that the day is definitely not restful anymore. During sacrament, Asher throws hymn books, Abigail fights about who she gets to sit next to, and Austin has what we call "church narcolepsy." Last week, Asher knocked the water tray out of Austin's hands and spilt the mostly full tray out on all of us. I don't think any of us came out of sacrament dry that day. I told Chris that I might go inactive. He just looked at me, smiled and said, "No you won't." I don't think he thinks I am serious but taking 4 extremely active children to church by yourself is NOT fun. On the up side, I have actually had lots of people offer to help me with the kids. If I have to take Asher out, a lot of times I will come back in and see one of the Young Woman sitting with the other three helping to keep them reverent. I guess I just have to learn to be more humble and be willing to except more help. I know this will be a great learning experience for both Chris and I (if I survive it). I also know that our family is blessed when we serve. I have seen it in our other callings and I know it will be the same in this calling.

Sour cream anyone?

I don't think this post needs any commentary.

20 mos. old + sour cream left lonely on a counter = happy baby

"Oh look, mom's busted out the camera...better say cheese."

"Mom has nothing better to do than to clean up all my beautiful masterpieces, right?!" :)

Allison Graduates Kindergarten

I can't believe Allie is going to be in school full time next year. I am really sad about it because I have really enjoyed her in the mornings and she has been a big help to me with her younger siblings.

She was such a sweet little lady at the graduation program. Of course, I think she was the prettiest one there but I hope all the moms thought that of their own kindergartners. She has a strand of "play pearls" that she usually wears with her pretty dresses but they broke so I let her wear my strand of pearls and she was so excited and she took very good care of them.

What's Summer?

This morning when we were in the car, Allison asked, "Mom, is it ever going to be summer again?"

After this picture was taken, at least 2 more inches fell. I just didn't feel like taking another picture. :)

Random Pics of the Kids

I haven't been taking a lot of pictures lately. I could give you a slew of reasons why but I won't bore you with the details. I was cleaning up my desk and found a minute to go through the pictures that I have taken and found some cutes ones of the kids that I thought I would share.

Allison came home from school one day with these glasses on. Of course, they broke almost immediately once she got home and Asher got a hold of them.

Allison and three of her cousins sang a song in the school talent show. Austin and his cousin played a guitar duet. We got the girls these hats for their performance and I had to get one for Abigail as well. They are a little big but they look so cute!

This is Asher being goofy at dinner one night. The pictures didn't come out great but I thought they were cute enough to post!

Asher likes to climb counters and get into anything that is on them. For the most part we have learned to keep them empty because he will get into anything that is left on them. We have cleaned up ENOUGH spilled cups...the ones with soda are the worst! Well, we thought we had Asher-proofed the kitchen well enough but he out-smarted us once again and got into the flour. Look at that "cheesy-I am so proud of myself" grin. I guess you could say there is never a dull moment.

Chocolate Butterflies

When Chris and I first got married, I didn't know how to cook or even like to cook. It was something that I had to do to survive but it was usually full of fast and processed foods. Over the last couple of years though, I have made myself learn to cook and now I love it. It has become a real obsession for me and yes, you could even say that I am a "foodie." I rarely cook the same meal twice especially when it comes to desserts. I LOVE finding new desserts to cook. And I have gotten better at making them look pretty too. I saw these butterfly cupcakes awhile ago and just had to make them. AND since I am also in charge of the Relief Society activities at church, I decided I would make them for the ladies. It ONLY took me 4 days but I made about 70 of them and I actually surprised myself at how good they turned out. Now, I just need to work on my photography skills because the pictures really don't do them justice.

If you want to learn how to make them then you can either buy the book "Hello,Cupcake" or visit this website.

These would be great to do for a little girls birthday party or a spring get-together. However, I found that the adults appreciated my efforts way more then my children ever do. :)









For the chocolate cupcakes I used this recipe:
chocolate cake mix
box of chocolate pudding
mini chocolate chips

For the yellow cupcakes I used this recipe:
Yellow cake mix
box of Vanilla pudding
Filled with white chocolate pudding

And this is the recipe for the world's BEST and EASIEST frosting:
Combine with a mixer 1 pkg. cream cheese (not low fat...sorry girls, this is not a figure friendly recipe
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar

After well mixed, mix in 2 cups of heavy whipping cream (scrapping bowl a few times) and then putting mixer on high for about 5 min. until frosting is thick. Although this frosting tastes great, it is hard to use with the butterflies because it is not extremely sturdy. I used it, but with great difficulty. :) If you want to make the butterflies then you might want to use a nice and sturdy buttercream. If you use this recipe, then you have to keep it refrigerated between each step so the butterflies don't slide right off. Don't ask how many of mine did that?

The Biggest Loser

So, I am finally getting around to posting about our "Biggest Loser" 5K run. We had so much fun -- even Chris, who we had to talk into doing it!

The 5k was in beautiful St. George. Chris's brother and his wife were also running with us. We had to pick up our packets on Friday and the race was bright and early Saturday morning so we decided to make it an "over-night date." We got our packets on Friday afternoon and went to the temple and out to eat. We stayed up late in the hotel talking with our family (totally free of interruptions from our wonderful children) giggling like little kids ourselves again. It was nice to get some adult time but we always miss our kids when we are away from them.

We started the morning early and loved enjoying the crisp St. George air and beautiful red-rock scenery. My parent's brought the kids to come watch us and cheer us on during the race. We were so glad they were there. Seeing their bright smiling faces throughout the race really helped to keep us both going. Plus Austin has always disliked running and anything P.E. related but seeing us do this has helped motivate him in that area. So I am especially glad that he was there. In fact, he just ran his first mile in 8 min. 4 sec. Pretty good for his first time.

Here we are waiting at the starting line. There is a lot of excitement and energy in the air and our adrenaline seems to already be pumping.

There were over 600 participants in the race. Because it was a race sponsored by the Biggest Loser, they had a couple of past contestants from the show there that ran with us. If you have watched the show then you may remember them...Koli, Sam and Daris from Season 9. Anna and I finished with Koli.

The kids looking for us.

Still smiling after about a half mile into the race.

We saw the kids about 3 times through out the race, and they high-fived us as we went by. This is about 2.5 miles in the race and after we had just come us a big hill. It was good to see the kids here to keep us going.

Considering Chris hasn't been able to work out since about Christmas time because he has been swamped at work...AND since I got kicked out of the gym (haha) and wasn't able to work out for a month before we ran, I was very happy with our time. Chris finished in about 35 minutes and I finished in 36 minutes. That is actually faster than I had ever ran it on the treadmill so I was very pleased. We were very sore afterwards, of course, but I actually love being sore so I was OK with it. I would like to do it again soon. Hopefully we will be a little more prepared the next time.

Happy Brithday to Abigail!

This post is a little late. Her birthday was a couple of weeks ago. She is getting to be such a big girl. She started finally dressing herself. I think it took so long because, of course, why would she want to dress herself when she can get mom to do it. She likes to pick out her own clothes and I will let her sometimes. She is not a little tom-boy like Allison. She likes all things girly. She doesn't like getting dirty or playing in the mud or even playing outside a lot. She will but she is also content to stay inside as well. She still loves to play with her cousins the most. She is terrified of everything: sliding down slides, being in front of someone, praying, stepping onto an elevator (for fear she may fall down the crack in between the floor and the elevator...funny thing, I used to be too.) She is the most like me...mood swings, dirty looks, scaredy-cat and all.



My sister has a cake cricut so Abigail found a cake she liked on one of her cake cartridges and we attempted to try it. After 8 attempts, this is what we ended up with. It is still cute but nothing like the picture. Oh well, we learned a few things in the process and hopefully the next time we try something, it will go smoother. I made my own fondant from marshmallows and it was quite tasty. Unlike regular fondant, this fondant was totally edible. Abigail loved it and I guess that is all that matters!

Here she is with a few of her cousins.

New Table (For Keith)

This post is mainly for Keith. He ate at our house a lot on a little folding chair that we pulled up to our old table. We have had 6 people in our family for over 18 months now and a table that only seats 4. We have been saving and researching what table to buy for a while and finally, a week after Keith leaves, got a new one...one that he could even sit at without having to find another chair. I figured he would appreciate seeing it.

We had heard good and bad about a counter height table and so I was really hesitant to get one but with the shape of our dining area it was really the best choice. We bought 10 chairs too! We entertain a lot so having the extra seating space is SUPER nice! We also bought a buffet to match, although I know according to most interior designers that is a design faux pas.

Three days after we got the table, my sweet, but very clutzy, Allison tipped a chair over and broke one of the legs. Luckily they replaced it for us, no charge.

Allison Lost Her First Tooth and Has "The Gift"

You may be wondering what exactly "the gift" is. To fully explain, I have to go back to the early years of Chris's life. When Chris was younger, starting probably in his early teens he had a gift or a talent or maybe some people might say he was persuasive, and if you are a pessimist, you might even call it manipulating. But I call it, "a gift." People loved Chris! And why not, he was (and still is) charming, sincere, kind, genuine, hard-working, romantic, and honest. He says hi to people, always using their name even in restaurants or with cashiers. If they have a name tag on he would look at it and always call them by their name. It usually throws people off a little at first but then they are usually a little nicer, a little happier or a little more confident. When I first met Chris we would go out and we would get free desserts, free movies, movie-rental late fees removed, free pop refills at gas stations, etc. People just liked him because he was a sincerely nice guy and he made people feel like they mattered. We still have gifts that people have given him (mostly girls) like blankets, a watch, a CTR ring. You may wonder why I let him keep them. He actually wanted to get rid of any gifts that he was given by other girls but I know his heart belongs totally to me and so why would I let him get rid of a completely perfect blanket?

Well, I thought this was "a gift" that really belonged to Chris because I have never seen any one get as many things from people as he did. UNTIL, my sweet Allison! Since school started in September, Allison would bring home little "gifts" from school. A toy cell phone, lip gloss, stickers, stuffed animals, a cute little purse. The first time it happened, I took the toy and gave it back to the teacher and said to please give this back to the other child. The next couple of times, I had Austin make sure she gave it back to the other people and tell them that I said she couldn't keep it. I figured that she was asking for these things from them and possibly even stealing or bullying them into giving them to her. Austin said the last time he went with her to give something back, the other child insisted she keep it. Then, on Monday, she came home with a pair of purple dress-up gloves and a pink flowered head band that she said a little boy bought for her. WHAT?!! So, I met with the teacher on Tuesday to ask her to ask the little boy if he really did indeed buy the "gifts" for her. So the teacher talked to him and he DID in fact buy them for her. He said his older brother gave him some money and his mom took him to the store to buy it. So it looks like Allison has inherited the gift from her father. It could be because she inherited his friendliness and sincerity as well. :)

Allison also lost her first tooth this week. She is such a funny girl. A couple of years ago when Austin was losing a lot of his teeth, she was terrified of losing her teeth and would cry every time she thought about it. She actually has what Chris calls a "shark tooth". Her adult tooth was coming in behind the baby tooth.

Good Luck Keith!

Keith is Chris's youngest brother. Chris and Keith are 15 years apart. Keith was about 7 years old when Chris and I got married. He was 10 when we moved away. Although we saw him when we came to visit, it wasn't until we moved back "home" a couple of years ago that we have really gotten to know Keith better. In the last couple of years, Keith helped us build our home, put in our yard, paint our basement, and helped with all kinds of other little projects. We've helped him with homework, watched him in football and track, supported him in "geek" tournaments, gave him advice on girls, money, his future AND fed him A LOT! Sometimes it seemed like we had adopted a teenage son. But that was OK to us...we enjoyed having him around. Keith is one of the favorite uncles too. He is always nice and patient with the kids.


Keith enters the Mission Training Center in Provo, Utah on Wednesday. Since it seems like we adopted a son, it almost seems like we are sending one away. It is a little taste of what it will be like when Austin and Asher go. We are so excited for him and the adventure he is about to begin. It will be weird not to have an extra mouth to feed...or at least one that will almost certainly eat any leftovers. I guess my grocery bill will be a little lower now.

Keith is hereby called to serve in the Donetsk, Ukraine Mission in the Russian language. I love that my kids have someone they are close to, to set such a good example for them. They are all so excited to see him go on a mission but he will be missed a lot.

As soon as Keith found out he would be serving in Ukraine, we went and looked at the area on google Earth. He has started studying Russian online and reading all about the culture. What did we ever do without the Internet?!?!

These are the four DeMille boys. They are very close even though they range in age by 15 years. Keith has the biggest "pecks" of all of the boys, although you couldn't tell with his shirt on. He is very modest about it and the older brothers are all jealous. :)

Good Luck Keith, you will be a great missionary!

Asher turns 18 months!

This is a momentous occasion for several reasons. One, Asher is our last 18 month old. Kinda sad, I know. It is also time for him to enter nursery at church. Hallelujah! We haven't actually attended Sunday school in about a year due to Asher's inability to sit still and stay out of other people's bags. Yes, we could take turns attending but we didn't want the other to be lonely so we usually just sat out together. :) Asher is going to love nursery. All of my kids have. I feel for all the mom's whose kids cry incessantly during this time. My kids have always been pretty independent that way.

Asher is still keeping us all busy. He has learned now to push chairs to where he wants to go. He likes to turn on and off lights. He likes to climb up on tables and counters. He still gets into any drawer or door that has been accidentally left open/unlocked. We have learned he is quite the comedian too. Most of our kids have been cute and funny at this age but I think he is by far the most naturally funny. He likes to do things just to see your reaction to him. He LOVES to dance. Anytime music is turned on, he shakes his head and his booty, and stomps his foot. When we went to the doctor the other day, the doctor asked if he could say at least 10 works...heavens, yes, he can say at least 10 words. It seems like he is talking fast then our other kids but maybe that is because he is surrounded by lots of talking. He says, up, and baba, and momma, and dadda, and Keet (Keith), Abbie, mine (a parent's favorite, although I am grateful he hasn't learned "no" yet), go, bye-bye, love you too (my favorite). He waves and blows kisses and folds his arms during prayer (which is still one of my favorite things to see as a parent).

Asher got his first haircut, recently (OK, I think it was like 3 months ago but that is recent enough). This is his shaggy hair before...

He actually did really well during the haircut. Chris just buzzed it all off with shavers and he loved the vibrating that it made.

And this is him, still smiling and now without shaggy hair.

He loves to steal hats off people, especially this colorful red one from Uncle Keith. It's his favorite! "Keith" was also the first name he said too!

He thoroughly enjoys wearing mommy's makeup and if there is silence in the house for more than a few minutes, I can almost always guess that my bedroom door has been left open and he is in my makeup. :)

Let's eat....some for me, and

some for you!

This is a great picture because it shows his goofy side.