Christmas Morning

We had a wonderful Christmas morning at grandma and grandpa's. Santa brought lots of fun to toys. I think the favorites were the pillow pets and the shovels. We had fun playing games and just hanging out. We love vacation.

Kit Kat loves playing in the snow. We sure got a lot of it over about a week and she sure had a great time. She loves to just put her tongue in it and eat it. I think it is disgusting, but oh well.

Quote of the day

Not that I usually have a quote each day, but it sounded like a title.

I just read a talk by Elder Bednar titled, "In the strength of the Lord." It was given 2001, if you have not read it I would highly recommend it. If you don't get to it today here is a little gem from it to get you by until you take the time to read it.

"Thus the enabling power of the Atonement strengthens us to do and be good and serve beyond our own individual desire and natural capacity."

I think at some point each of us talks ourselves out of things and tells ourselves that we can't do something just because it is hard for us. As I think of the Atonement of Jesus Christ I do remember that is is a redeeming power, but not often enough do I remember it as an enabling power.

Shoveling time

I love this kind of slave labor, when your children think it is still fun to help you out with chores. The shovel is a bit big must say, maybe Santa could bring kid size shovels so it is a bit more fun.

Good wintery times

Kit Kat was helping to make hot cocoa. The girls love to have it after they come in from playing outside. I think they even ask for it when we just look outside.

Sinclaire had a gingerbread house making party at school and pops got to go and help her. They made a great house and she was so excited about it. Morgen is hiding there in the back ground, hi Morgen I bet you didn't want to be in the picture did you?

Field trip

Sinclaire went to Connor Prairie with her preschool and they had a wonderful time walking outside in the freezing cold for that gigantic gingerbread man. I am so glad we finally found him, because I was freezing. I am glad I got to go and see them all having fun and see the gingerbread contest.

Umm....gross

What do you do when your three year old looks at you and says, "I don't want to wear panties!!"

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This is what I listened to all of Thanksgiving break. Sinclaire learned a new trick and had to practice. A lot. Now she can go a bit higher, but I don't have to listen to it everyday.

We had a great time decorating our Christmas tree. All three loved to help put on the decorations. And I think we know what the favorite one one. I made the red jingle bell wreath, but it just is an awkward size, so it never really made it up anywhere.

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving. We played, watched a movie, ate, and ate some more. Then I picked up my friends from the airport. Just pretty low key. But if we go back to the beginning I forgot that I ran a 5k. I have not run for about 3 months, but they had a run for a lady at church who has cancer. So I figured, why not? I didn't really know a bunch of people very well so I asked my friend who the slow people were and she said she would run with me. So I thought why not. We start out and and she never let up. We were almost the first people done. My legs killed for three days. It was awful. Next time I will have to find a different "slow person."

Scrapes

Usually it is Kit that falls and gets the scrapes, but this time it was Sinclaire. Playing outside has lots of possibilities, some good and some bad. Lets just hope by the end of the day there are more good than bad

Orange Chocolate cookies

My computer is broken which is why I haven't posted much in awhile. But I made these http://blisstree.com/2007/05/22/orange-dark-chocolate-chip-cookies/ cookies yesterday and they were super yummy. We put chocolate ice cream in the middle and they were even better.

Fairy Princesses

We had to use the dresses from the wedding, so the girls went as fairy princesses. They were so cute and had a great time at the trunk or treat.

Taking a break

We had a house full and needed a break. All the little people sat very nicely for Alice in Wonderland and Juli and I had a very nice chat. The little boy on the end we watched for a few days while his foster mom went out of town.

Pitas

I made pita breads yesterday and they were very tasty. I made 16 and I only have one left. So I am making them again. I love pitas, you can stuff them with anything and they are way less time consuming to make than tortillas. You should try your hand at them. I used the recipe here http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pitabread and I used white wheat flour. Today I am using half white and half red wheat flour. They puff up like pillows in the oven and the kids loved them.

What a little monster. I am pretty sure he is not the only one of my children to make this kind of mess, but his looked the worst on this dark floor.
what la

Very funny

Sinclaire came down on Sunday like this and said look at me I am a walkin' closet. I thought it was pretty clever.

Sleeping Beauty II

I think she just doesn't get enough sleep, ever. She is always falling asleep in the funnest places. In the second picture she just curled up after her bath and feel asleep among the clothes that needed folded.

Sunday Pictures

I just love these little people.

Rainy day fun

This is what my kids like to do when it rains.

From the garden

I love this meal. Green beans and potatoes. Only in this case we have green, purple and wax beans. Purple, yellow and red potatoes. My kids love it and I thought it was very colorful.

Do you ever have a broccoli stalk like this? I thought it was a bit over size for the norm. Not to mention this...

giant purple bean. I loved these beans, and they were so big. They turn green when you cook them, but I really loved the flavor.


Just as a disclaimer the broccoli and potatoes
did not come from my garden,
I wish they had, but they did not.

Too cute

He is just so irresistible, and he loves popcorn.

Tiny had to have his new favorite toy to nap with. I think he lost interest and has moved on to other things already. Too bad for the hard metal pan.

Grandma's Cupboard

This was in my house growing up and now it is in my house. I love it. It was my grandma's. It really is called a library and I love how much room it has to stick thing in. It is great for the mail because it has slots and small drawers for the stamps, checkbook, and letters. Now the sides are filled with dishes, but my girls thought getting inside was great.

Curb appeal

They are reading by the road waiting for me to
return from my run.
I just love this, I hope they always love to read.

Oh the mind of a 5 year old. Sinclaire made a "bus" out of her peanut butter sandwich and thought it was hilarious. She is so creative and has tons of fun with it.

Happy Birthday! I have a 5 year old

Sinclaire wanted a rainbow cake so this is what we came up with. It was actually the easiest cake to make and hardly any extra time at all. She loved it. And loved helping me make it.

She had been asking to go to the Children's Museum for two weeks so we decided to go on her birthday. We went with a few friends and had a great time. I love that place. Tiny is a bit challenging to corral, but we had a fun time and discovered some new things that we did not know were there before.

Oh just can not believe I have a five year old. I can believe that she has been here for five years, I just can't believe I have survived it. I would like to say that in those five years I learned patience, but I am not sure that I am there yet. As I try to look at the world through the eyes of a five year old, I am presented with challenges and new set of things to conquer, and not all of them are fun. But I love playing games with her and hearing her giggle at the silly things. She loves to read, paint, and play puppy with her sister. And she loves to carry Tiny around.

Running Running Tripping Falling

Well, I have twisted my ankle twice in the last week so I told myself that I couldn't run anymore if I couldn't pay attention enough to hurt myself. So now I am taking a break from it to do other activities. We will see what happens with that later.

Running Running Running

I ran 6.5 miles today and I didn't feel to bad. It is the farthest I have run, ever. I am shooting for 13.1 miles by November 6 so we will see if I can do it. I am really not a huge fan of running, but it is a great way to exercise with a goal at the end. Plus i have a bit of motivation from a friend (go Jenny). Wish me luck.

Tiny in a box

I just couldn't resist him. He is so cute. He loved just sitting in this little box and playing. How easily amused they are at this age.