YES I did

So you remember my post about my kids and veggies right? And remember the green smoothie I made? Well no one wants to eat raw veggies around here and the cooked ones don't really get many smiles either. So for dinner tonight I decided to use the blender and blend a couple of things and add it to dinner. I am sooooooooooo sneaky. It worked too. I made homemade sloppy joes for dinner. My kids LOVE it. So I put some chick peas and cucumbers in with a little water and blended it and then added it to the sloppy joe stuff. I was a bit nervous to see how they would react. Caleb and Zach started eating and had a little funny look on their faces. UH OH I was thinking. But all they said was that it tasted a bit different. Zach ended up eating two and Caleb had one and a half. SCORE. The others didn't even say a thing. YEAH...some extra protein and some veggies too. We served it with applesauce and a mixture of cauliflower and brocolli. I LOVE the new bags of veggies that you just pop in the microwave. I wasn't sure about buying them but they are AWESOME. You put the whole bag in and just turn the microwave on and in a few minutes they are done. And they are good too. And then I made a few celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins.....ants on a log. The girls and I love those. I was very pleased with dinner tonight. I am going to start putting the veggies in the blender and adding them to our dinner. There are sooooooooo many things I could do with it. I am super excited. If you have any ideas let me know. It scares me a bit to do it. I want to feed them healthy food but don't want it to be gross. I know spaghetti is an easy thing to sneak stuff into but what else? Soup would be good but there are only a couple of soups they will eat. This will take some planning on my part but I am hoping I can stick with it and find some fun and creative ways to make healthy food for us all.

I think spring has sprung

Yesterday was so gorgeous outside. The weather was sunny and amazingly not windy here. So we had to take advantage of it. The kids spent most of the day outside. Here they are jumping on the tampoline. Ethan had just gotten 5 shots on Friday so he was a bit hesitant to join in. His legs were pretty sore.

Don loves being outside in the garden. We are expanding our garden this year. So Don used the rototiller to till the ground and make it a larger space. I think Ethan looks so cute helping Don.

The boys hard at work. Ethan didn't stick around long. It was kind of funny to see how shaky it made him. There are quite a few rocks in that dirt.
Kids on the trampoline STILL. They did pick up rocks though. Didn't get a picture of that since I was also helping. We made the kids a deal. If they worked really hard and helped pick up rocks (friday night) we would take them to icecream. That worked wonders.

Don and the kids are planting some seeds. We have a few others planted inside (peppers, tomatoes, cilantro) and they are planting pumpkins, squash, watermellon and canteloupe).

We went fishing last night. Here is a smiley face that Rachel put together using rocks and sticks and weeds. It was cute.

Rachel and Mayah balancing on the log as the boys fished.





Here they are right when we got to the lake. They were checking out the water. They saw a few tadpoles and many fish jumping but they didn't get a single fish or even a bite.

The lake. It was nice. WE got there a little later than expected. WE had to stop and get Don's fishing license first. The kids only got to fish for about an hour but that was perfect considering it was our first time out this year.

The boys getting ready to fish. Don was fixing up the poles for Caleb and Zach. I would have helped the girls but I do not have my license yet and the law here is that you can't even touch a pole (even to help a child) unless you have a license. Back home you could help a child under the age of 15 even if you didn't have a license. I like that law better.

Here is Zach fishing. Do you see how dark it is starting to get?









It was soooooooooo cute. Mayah went up and stood next to Don and then she held his leg. I couldn't resist a picture of that. If you look in the water you can see the reflection of the pink clouds from the sky. It was very pretty.

Caleb waiting for Don to fix his pole.

This pole was being difficult for a while but finally they got it and Caleb was able to fish.












AHHHH this picture is awesome. Check out the pink clouds in the water.

We had a lot of fun yesterday but now we have sick kids. Caleb has been throwing up this morning. He is now asleep. Zach and Rachel have a sore throat and cough. Zach is losing his voice. I am hoping it stops there and everyone will be fine for school tomorrow.

St. Patty's Day

So I had this great idea. But I woke up later than I wanted and had to hurry and rush it. My kids (well....the boys) are not really into veggies. They all eat most fruits and love them but when it comes to eating vegetables FORGET IT. I try. We serve one or two almost every night. And I can usually get them to eat a couple of bites but no one is smiling. SO this morning I made a Shamrock smoothie. Well that is what I will call it. It was green. I made it up. I put in vanilla yogurt, some fat free milk, almond milk, banana, a combination of frozen pinapple, strawberries, peaches and mango. Then I added some frozen collard greens and then I added a bit of powdered sugar. I didn't think you would be able to see the little leaf looking things. And I had to hurry because I heard the kids coming down the stairs. And if they saw me put THAT in it there would be NO way they would even come close to it. I didn't know what to add to hide the green 'stuff'. I don't like using food coloring much.

So as I drank mine I really made a BIG deal out of them. OH YUM. This is so good. I think this is one of the best smoothies I have ever tasted. I almost laughed when I saw the kids looking into their cups. They started asking what the green stuff was. All I said was "just taste it". Then one of the kids kept asking....Is it celery? Is it zucchini? Is it sqash? NO NO and NO. Just drink it.

Rachel loved it. Mayah ate most of hers. Ethan drank his. But Zach.....he was the one I was hoping would drink it. He eats the least amount of veggies and fruit of all. Caleb didn't really like his but he drank a few drinks. I am pretty sure if they could have gotten past the green leaves they would have been fine. I liked it and there was no taste from the green 'stuff'. It tasted like our normal smoothies.

I am trying to teach the kids that we need to eat 5 fruits and veggies a day. I thought the smoothie would have provided a few for the day but I guess it doesn't count if they don't drink it. :)

OH well. Next time I will be more prepared and have some other color. But since it is St. Patricks day we went for the collard greens. Next time maybe it will be beet juice. YUM. I love beets. Or should we try asparagus. I love that too.

Happy B-day Rachel

For Rachel's birthday her and I started off with a craft. I had seen this done on one of those super crafty blogs and I loved it so we attempted it too and it turned out great. It is made out of those composition notebooks and made into a purse. She is so excited to take it to church. Here she is with her finished notebook purse. She got to choose the color of scrapbook paper and then we had a few accessories and I loved the purple with the yellow.

Decked out with her initial and everything.

A closer up picture. Not so sure we did the handles right but they work. We even have it shut with velcro. Rachel mostly did the glue gun and the positioning of where to put everything.

So this was super cute. Caleb found a shirt that Rachel doens't wear too often and he ironed on her name and then put Happy Birthday on it. He worked on this for quite awhile. Rachel loved it.


Rachel has been roller blading alot lately. WE have some but they are like 5 times too big for her. But she is really good and can get going pretty fast. So I decided to get her some that actually fit her. She was HAPPY. They will fit her for a long time since they can adjust from size 1-4.

Getting ready to blow out the candles.





WOW....not that looks like she might just blow the whole house down.

Caleb had the kids play Bingo. Rachel won this hoola hoop after getting a Bingo. She is very good at it too but Caleb totally rocked this. He could make the hoola hoop ride up his waist and back and then swing it on his hips. Don and I were laughing so hard. It was pretty funny to watch.

Rachel is very intent on watching the kids take turns trying to hit the balloons with a coin.

Here is Rachel taking her turn. They had to stand at the carpet and throw a coin to see if they could hit a balloon. Mayah won this one.

OK so here is Don's idea. OFCOURSE it was crazy and that is why the kids LOVED it. His idea was to pin that tail on Don. He colored this tail and cut it out. Then he blind folded each kid and had them pin this on his tush. Now if that isn't weird. LOL. I thought it was funny. His rule was that no one was allowed to reach their hand out and try to feel their way around. They just had to go up to where they thought it was and pin it up. Ethan pinned it on me. And only Rachel and I think Caleb were able to pin it on Don...but it landed more on his waist.

This idea came from Don and Zach. They had a small dish in the center of the table with red crepe paper around it. They had 4 quarters. Each person got a turn to attempt getting the quarters into the dish. For each quarter in the dish you got an M&M. I was surprised with how many of them were able to do it. I WASN'T. sniff sniff. You had to hold the quarter and bounce it outside the red line and make it jump into the bowl. It was hard. But fun.

I cannot believe Rachel is now 7. Time goes so fast. At dinner we went around the room and everyone had a chance to say one thing they loved about her. And then I told her birth story.

Some things about Rachel:

1. She is very caring. She doesn't like it when her sister is crying. She always tries to figure out a way to comfort her....unless ofcourse, she is the one to make her cry....but that is rare.


2. She is also thoughtful. We went to the store to pick her out some plates/table cloth/streamers. She picked out red and said it was because it was Mayah's favorite color. She is super sweet.

3. Rachel is creative. She enjoys coloring and drawing and can come up with some very cute pictures.

4. I love how Rachel loves to read. She can be found reading quite often. She always ends up getting up before everyone else and she will grab a stack of books and just sit and read them. I am pretty sure that is why this 1st grader reads at a 4th grade level. That's my girl. :)

5. Rachel loves anything girly. This is all so new to me. I don't ever remember being girly and I don't remember being full of drama. But that is OK. WE love girly things now. It is fun to see how she is growing up. She now will do her hair all by herself. She will pull it into a half pony tail. She enjoys picking out her own clothes. She is into everything princess....purple....pink....

6. Rachel is a great helper. I will sometimes find her wanting to dust or wash windows. Now what mom wouldn't love that. When she gets into a cleaning mood she will go around the house and organize. She was so happy last weekend when we both organized some of our food storage. That closet was kind of messy but we made it look awesome and she was so proud of herself. She kept talking about what a great job she did.

7. I love that Rachel loves to go to church. She said the first thing she wanted to write in her notebook purse was about church and the temple. She even wanted me to decorate her cake like a temple. But I don't have that much talent. I didn't see how I would be able to do that so we stuck with something easy. My prayer is that she will remain this way and continue to love to go to church and to the temple.

Rachel we love you and are happy to have you in our family. Happy B-day girl.

The finished skirt on the special model

Today is Rachel's 7th birthday. Here is the finished skirt. I also used some of the material to wrap around one of her headbands. I had to hot glue it. It is a bit bumpy but still super cute. She is obsessed with these boots and wears them all the time. It really doesn't matter what skirt/dress she wears she loves to wear these.

A close up of her headband and it looks super cute with her skirt.

She loves to pose. I really love this girl. She brings a lot of fun and laughter to our family. I will post more about her special day later.

A new love

I started doing some of these hooded baby towels for shower gifts. It was truly my first time sewing but they are not a hard project (otherwise I wouldn't be able to do it). This pink and brown towel was for my new niece, Jaeley. It wasn't done perfectly but it was done with ALOT of love. When you look at my sewing just don't look too close. From a distance it looks GREAT. I decided to next try a skirt for Rachel. I loved the print on this fabric. It took me quite a while to start this. I am such a chicken and I am afraid of failing. It is stupid. You think I would get past that now that I am almost 35. WHAT? 35? LOL. There wasn't a pattern for this but I followed a tutorial online. I couldn't find the elastic size it called for so I had to get a bigger one but it works. The hem is unfinished. Not sure if I am going to add some ribbon like it called for or if I will just hem it. HMMMM what do you think? I would like to go with the green in the photo but had a hard time matching it.

Here is the waist.

To show you just how much of a novice I am.......while I was using my cutter I accidently cut the tape measure. That just made me laugh. I am just starting off....just got a sewing machine about a year ago. Just got a rotary cutter and mat and some other small sewing things. And just started a couple of months ago to see if I can figure this out. I LOVE it so we will see if I can do it.

I think it looks pretty darn cute. Rachel tried it on yesterday but I am not sure if I like how it fits her. I think maybe it is too wide at the sides....????? I will be using some of the extra material for a hair piece. Any sewing advice would be great. Or how about a sewing party.

Follow the Prophet

For FHE last night Caleb was in charge of the lesson. He decided to use the idea that they did on Sunday and dress up like a prophet and then give clues to see if we could guess who they were. We sang Follow the Prophet.

Zach was Samuel the Lamanite. He used his staff as a bow an arrow to show that the people were shooting arrows at him while he was trying to tell them about Christ. It amazes me that any time someone is asked to repent or change their ways they get angry and fight back against those that are righteous. But it amazes me even more the protection that Heavenly Father gives us when we do remain faithful and righteous and when we strive to try our best. I am not saying that we won't get hurt and that there won't be any trials or hard times. Besides we would never learn and grow if things were easy. But we are watched over. Samuel was not hit by a single arrow or rock.

Can you guess who Caleb is? He is Enos. Enos prayed all day and all night. I think he makes a great Enos.

Here is Noah. And again....the Prophet Noah told the people to repent or the earth would be destroyed. The people laughed and made fun of him. Noah built an arc and took with him 2 of each kind of animals. He also took his family and any of those that decided to get on. I am not sure if there were others besides his family. But the flood came and destroyed the earth and all the people that thought Noah was pretty crazy.

And now look at our cute Prophet....Pres. Monson. Looks just like him....dont' you think? Pres. Monson is our living prophet today. He is amazing. I know he is a true prophet of God that leads and guides us. If there were prophets of old why wouldn't there be modern day prophets as well? Although I really really miss Pres. Hinckley....I know that Pres. Monson was called of God and I know that he is our prophet for a reason. We are given a modern day prophet to help warn us and to help us understand what God wants us to know. I find it very comforting. I feel very blessed to be a part of this gospel. He has such a love for serving others and I am grateful that he teaches us to do so as well.

It was a fun Family Home Evening and the kids were able to guess them all. We did a few more than what is pictured here. Don got up and did Ezra Taft Benson. He was a prophet that was very patriotic.

Imagine my surprise

I found this resting on our garbage cans in the garage when I came back from the bus stop. I am pretty sure it was Caleb. It took me by surprise. He is at the age where I am soooooooooo not cool. In fact I am pretty embarrassing. I have to pull teeth for hugs....kick and scream for a verbal 'I LOVE YOU'. If you cannot read it the first board says I (then a heart) u. The other board says mom. Can't wait for him to get home from school so I can pull some more teeth and kick and scream for a hug and an actual I love you that I can hear. You think I will get it? What a sweet message to find after a couple of hard parenting days.

Our day today

I had the priviledge of watching this cute little guy. This is the baby that our friends adopted 2 months ago. He is still super tiny. He doesn't look small in this picture but he is little. I love it. This is how I get my baby fix. He was with us for 5 hours today. Mayah and Ethan enjoyed holding him too. They sat on my lap and I put him on them for a bit and they thought it was the greatest thing. Mayah did keep asking me if I could hold her so I think she was a little jealous but she still loved on him.

This is what we made today. Ethan was so cute.....he told me where to put the pieces and how many doors to cut. In case you can't tell what it is.....it is a barn of some sort. It is for all the animals, cars, babies and whatever else they wanted to put on there. Notice the poor little babies hanging out of them circles. That was Ethan's idea, ofcourse. And if you look closely at the top circle there is a small dinosauer hanging from its tail. How cute is that?

Just a closer picture. I had a lot of fun with the kids. I especially thought it was funny that Ethan was directing me on where to put everything. Then he kind of got mad when I put a piece on by myself. OOPS.

Rachel's talk

Rachel gave a talk yesterday. She did such an amazing job. Our primary is so small here. I think our kids almost double the ward. So we are VERY lucky that we get to do lots of talks, prayers and scriptures. Seems like almost every Sunday one of the kids has an assingment. But that is cool. We don't mind one bit. Here is one of the airplanes used for Rachel's talk. Caleb made it for her. After you see both decide for youself which plane you would rather ride on.

Here is the other one. YES it really is an airplane but hopefully not one you would want to ride on. Rachel and I made this one.

Here is her talk: I have 2 different airplanes. Which would you like to ride on? Imagine a plane taking off. The plane is in perfect condition and the crew is trained and they have a flight plan. If you get on this plane you're sure to get to your destination. Now imagine another plane taking off. It doesn't really have a place to go. It's not in good shape. Its crew is a bunch of highschool kids who have just graduated and have not been properly trained yet. If you get on this plane your almost sure to not reach your destination. The first plane is God's plan of happiness. Just like in this plane the church has leaders who are called of God. Just like the flight plan, God's plan of happiness is clearly written out in the scriptures. If we get on this plane, then we will be happy and reach our destination of living with God again. The second plane in the world or Satan's way. It has no destination, no plan, no consistent direction or standards. The passengers on this plane don't know where they are going so they never know if they get there. If I were a passenger with a certain destination, I would pick the one with trained pilots and a flight plan. I would feel safter and know it was God's plan of happiness.


I should have taken a picture of her Sunday morning in her dress. She got up early (on her own) and got her dress on and sat at the table and practiced and practiced her talk while I made breakfast. I am so thankful for Rachel and her hard work and commitment.