Keith, You are Awesome!

Keith has been working hard for the last four years and it is finally paying off. He was awarded Sterling Scholar in Trade and Technology for Cedar High School AND this weekend, spur of the moment, we also went up to Ogden to watch him compete at the Science Olympiad. He won gold in the Elevated Bridge competition and Fourth in the Mousetrap Vehicle. You rock Keith!

Can you believe this teeny little bridge held more than 30 lbs! It weighed barely 20 g!

Abigail is officially a big girl!

My baby girl is officially potty-trained. She was by far my easiest to potty-train. We have been talking about it for a while and I told her that on her birthday she was going to finally be a big girl and go potty in the big-kid potty. On her birthday she got new underware from grandma and we made a big deal about it. The next day, she woke up and we put her new underware on. She went the first couple of times in the potty but then had an accident. Then another one. Then a "big" one. I said "ok, I am done...for now." We waited a couple of more days and she woke up and said she wanted to wear her underware again. She hasn't had an accident since, even at night!! I am so proud of her.

I took this picture of her when we were up in Ogden. She was terrified of using the public restrooms and wanted me to take her home so that she could use the one at home. They were too loud and it scared her when they would flush by themselves. But we finally got her to go and she didn't have any accidents!

St Patrick's Day: A Perfect Day

There are not too many days out of the year that you can say are honestly PERFECT weather days. It is either too cold, too hot or too windy. Yesterday, just happened to be one of those "perfect" weather days. Maybe it was so nice because it was the first day in about 5 months that the kids were able to go outside and play WITHOUT a jacket of any kind. The girls played outside for about 2 1/2 hours and both got sunburned...I guess nothing is perfect.

Time for grass!!

RAINBOW CUPCAKES

At 9pm the night before St. Patrick's Day, I finally got around to making this cupcake I have really been wanting to make. It is a very festive, happy cupcake that I thought my kids would love, especially around this time of year. I have seen a few different recipes so I combined a couple of things and tweaked it again. And by about midnight, I finally went to bed with them cooling on the stove (no, not frosted, just cooked).

The funny thing about it, is my kids always tend to over-look the hard work I put into some things and really enjoy the most simple of things. So why, then, do I keep torturing myself? Hopefully, one day they will look back and say, "Hey, remember when mom made this and it was so cool?!" A mom can dream.

The colors turned out so vibrant! I love it! Use 1/4 tsp of Wilton's concentrated gel coloring.

See those hands? Have I ever mentioned how amazing my husband is? Well, once again I have to mention that he stayed up late with me to help me finish my craziness even though he has to get up at 5:30am.

Gold at the end of the Rainbow

Bountiful Baskets

I just had to share this great new bargain I recently found. Some of you may have heard about it already but for those of you have haven't, you have to check it out! It is a produce co-op called Bountiful Baskets. You pay $15 and get a huge basket worth of produce: fruits and veggies. Here is a picture of the last time we got some. If you were to buy this in the store you would spend a minimum of $25...probably more than that. I did a price comparison just to see how much I would spend if I had bought this same basket at the store with a few of my last store receipts and here is what I found.

Store prices
Container of Strawberries: $2.50 (that was on sale)
Blueberries: $2.00 (on sale)
Acorn Squash: $1.20 (didn't have an exact price so this is a pretty good guess, probably on the low end)
Escarole (type of lettuce): .89 (didn't have an exact price so used Green leaf lettuce price)
Cucumbers at $.59/each: $3.54
Celery at 1.29/bundle: $3.87
Asparagus at 1.69/lb: $3.85 (on sale)
Braeburn Apples at 1.37/lb: $4.11
Bananas at .49/lb: $.98
Kiwi X4: $2.00 (didn't have an exact price but this is a pretty good guess, on the low end)
Radishes at .69/lb: $.69
Cabbage at .$.49/lb: $1.06


TOTAL: $26.69 (using some sale prices)
SAVINGS: $11.69/per week (over $600/year if you bought all of this weekly, which we do! I don't know about you, but I think I could find a lot of things to do with an extra $600 :) ).

My last two receipts we averaged $25 in fruits and veggies each time.


Everything we have gotten so far has been very fresh and has tasted great...I couldn't be more satisfied if I picked it myself. If you are into organic they even have organic is some areas.

The only downfall to this is if you don't like a lot of different fruits and veggies. You never know what you are going to get - which I think is exciting because it forces you to try lots of different things. And worse comes to worse, you saved enough money that you could actually give some away and still be saving money, or at least breaking even. This program currently runs in Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and Washington. Oh!, and you can add on different food packs like breads, tortillas, a Mexican veggie pack, etc. I haven't done that yet, but I plan to with my next order. You pick it up at a designated pick-up location at a designated time, usually Saturday mornings. You aren't committed to anything. You can order as many or as few times as you like. You order online at BOUNTIFULBASKETS.ORG . There is a limited window to order for the next Saturday so you have to decide quickly. And the website isn't the easiest to navigate but what do you expect for free labor. :) Hopefully, you find this as helpful as we do!

Asher at 7 months

YAY! I finally got my camera and realized now that I have a good camera that I am not as good at taking pictures as I thought. :) Luckily, the camera does a lot of the work for me so that is OK. We finally got some shots of Asher. He is moving all over the place now. He is so happy. All he has to do is see someone look at him and he lights up. He already loves attention. He loves playing with his toys and his brothers and sisters.

Happy Happy Birthday, Abbie Dear!

It seems like just last week I was posting about Abigail's birthday and hear I am posting about it again. Time just seems to constantly speed up.

She is turning three now. This past year she has attended preschool one day a week with Allison and she loves it. Even though it is only one day a week she has learned so much. She knows her ABC's and numbers. She loves to count. She tries to read just like Allison.

Although she can throw a tantrum like no other, she is loving and helpful and bright. She adds another amazing dimension to our family and I am so glad she is ours.

The cake was supposed to look like a cup cake. I obviously messed it up but Abigail came into the kitchen when I was just finishing it up and she looked at it and said, "I luuuv it!." That made me feel better.

Abigail and Kaley

2 year old

About 18 months old

About 6 months old

Abigail's Birthday

Odd Talent

I don't have any of the typical talents. I can't sing. I don't play an instrument. I am not crafty. I am too old (and fat) to dance anymore (although I still try :)) I definitely don't have an eye for decorating. But what I can do, is grow hair. I know that sounds strange but since it is what God gave me, I'll take it. I have been growing and cutting my hair for the last 12 years and have now donated 60 inches of hair to Lock's of Love! But since I am done having kids and my hair always grows super fast during my pregnancies, I don't know if I can continue the trend. I guess we will see. Here is the new do.

Smoosh-mallows

"I'm helping carry pink smoosh-mallows."

Lost camera!

So, I haven't posted in a while because I lost my camera. And although I am sure some of you would love to here me ramble on about whatever I like, the majority of you just want to see pictures of my sweet kiddos. I have spent the last couple of weeks hoping to find it but I think it was lost at PF Chang's in Las Vegas and I guess no one turned it in. :( If someone took it, they will be saddened that it is really NOT a great camera. I considered myself to be a great photographer because I got at least a few good pics out of it every once in a while. :) I have wanted a new one for a while but I am of the opinion "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," (or in my case, lost). And even though the camera did border on the line of broke, it really wasn't so I have just been patiently waiting for my kids to drop it a few more times and then planned on getting a new one. But as life goes, changes happen when you least expect them. So alas, I have been researching the last several days on which new camera to get. I have been really wanting a DSLR but now that it is time to actually get one they just don't seem practical for what I want to use it for. Since I take my camera pretty much where ever I go, I want to be able to fit it in my pocket and take video too. And I don't really have time to learn how to use a DSLR. If I could afford both, that would be ideal! :) The saddest thing about the whole thing is that I had some really cute pictures of Asher when he first learned to sit and now I feel like I have missed out on pictures of him for the last month, which in adult time is more like a year. But after reading about a thousand reviews online I have narrowed it down to two cameras I like. Hopefully, I can decide quickly. My kids aren't getting any younger!

Bakery Field Trip

Last month, Allison's preschool theme was based around the 5 senses, so we decided to take them on a field trip to the bakery where they could put all five senses to the test at once.

Here they are in awe of the "flour" room.

The bakery knew the kids were learning about their five senses so they had all kinds of things for them to smell and touch...dough, white and wheat flour, sugar, honey (which the mom's all agreed they should pass on)!

All the bread cooling on racks!

And of course, their favorite sense....taste!

Asher and Detox

Asher is 5 and half months now. He is moving around a lot more now. He rolls all over the place. He loves playing with his toys. We tried rice cereal for the first time this month and found out that he is very allergic to it. He throws up every time we give it to him. We tried it several times because we thought he couldn't possibly be allergic to rice cereal but the last time he threw up for about 45 minutes straight and was so lethargic afterwards he couldn't even lift his head anymore. It was horrible! So no more rice cereal!!! AND we also realized that I can't eat beans or CHOCOLATE while I am nursing!!! What am I going to do? You don't realize how much you have (or need) something until you can't have it anymore. Maybe it is just because I can't have it right now but I want it everyday. I really think I am addicted. I never would have thought I was because, hey, a little chocolate everyday is good for you, right? Well, I can't stop thinking about it. I want it in Chocolate milk, chocolate pop-tarts, oreos, brownies that I have to make for a bake-sale, the mini chocolate chips that I put in my kids pancakes. Do I really eat chocolate that much? And it has only been a week and a half! Only 6 and a half months left of nursing...can I do it? I am hoping after the initial weeks of my body "detoxing" that it will get easier. I guess the one up-side is that maybe I will actually start losing a couple more pounds.

Here we are feeding Asher food for the first time. He didn't know what to do with it once we put it in his mouth. He just kept it there. Little did we know that he would eventually puke this all back out. :(

Asher also got a little cold. We gave him a couple of breathing treatments to help break up the gunk in his chest a little. He thought it was so cool. He kept wanting to eat the "smoke."

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

OK, a little late but 4 kids is keeping me super busy. Between feeding the little one, trying to entertain the two year old, teaching preschool to the 5 year old and helping the 8 year old with homework and all the stuff that falls in between (like eating, bathing, sleeping, exercising, cleaning) blogging is definitely taking a backseat. But alas, here is Christmas. :)


CHRISTMAS EVE


Asher with his newest cousin, Kaley. Just a second before this picture he was holding her hand...it was so cute!

Allison and Kaley

Making cookies for Santa Christmas eve...none of the pictures of the kids turned out. They were being too spastic so they were all blurry. :)

Asher was totally diggin' the Nintendo DS!


Aunt Gail finished frosting them after we put the little one's to bed. Thank you so much Aunt Gail...since I hate frosting cookies (at least more than I am going to eat.:) )

CHRISTMAS MORNING

(bright and early)

The kids stockings!


The family got Mario Kart to play together on the new Wii!

AND DAD LOVES HIS WII GAME....especially since he gets to play it on his new...
TV! This is actually the first Christmas he has gotten something in our twelve years of marriage. We just never exchanged gifts after we got married. I know that sounds sad but neither one of us really felt bad about it. We always just decided we didn't need to. We are also REALLY frugal. Which is usually a good thing but we decided it was time to splurge on something that wasn't practical...and since we were in the mood we decided to go all out and get everything at once...big screen, surround sound, blue-ray and Wii!




Since we needed a place to put the new TV we also finished some more of the basement. We just finished the painting and the base. We didn't carpet...yet! We put the old TV downstairs along with all the toys. Every time I clean it I forget to take a picture of it...but since it doesn't stay clean anyway you might as well capture the true memory, right?

Allison and Abigail love the little Zhu Zhu pets they got from their Aunt Stacy!
Asher looks really excited for Christmas doesn't he?

Decorating the Christmas Tree and Visiting Teen-Santa

Here are some pictures of the kids decorating our Christmas tree. We actually did this the Monday before Thanksgiving since I knew December would be a busy month. I love our Christmas tree! Not because it is anything fancy but because I can tell you a story behind every ornament. I especially love the beaded bells and angels and the hand-stitched ornaments that both my grandma and Chris' grandma made for us. I love pulling them out every Christmas and reminiscing about them.



This year we thought we would try visiting the Santa in Cedar City. We have always gone to Las Vegas or St. George in the past but thought we would stay close to home this time. I think we are going back to the city....

We were standing in line for a while before Austin finally got his first glimpse of Santa; he turned to me and said "Is Santa a teenager?" I looked at the Santa and thought, "Now that has got to be the worst Santa ever." Luckily, we have already discussed with our children that the Santa's that we see are only Santa's helpers because the real Santa is busy getting ready to bring toys to all the little children and he couldn't possibly be at all the malls AND still get ready for Christmas. But REALLY, wasn't there any "helper" over the age of 25 in ALL of Cedar City that could have played Santa!

The Geek Squad!

Before I had children I wanted all boys so that I would have a little construction crew. Fortunately, you don't always get what you want. I got something better.... The Geek Squad!

Austin dressed up Allison as a nerd and thought it was so hilarious. He begged me to take a picture of her.

They are still pretty cute...even dressed as nerds!