Grandma's Christmas Tree

We spent Christmas Eve at my parent's house this year. Tori was quite fascinated with Grandma's tree. Grandma has life-sized birdies with real feathers in the tree, and I think Tori thought they were real (at least Clive the dog thinks they are! Grandma says he snatches them out of the tree and then runs)!

Today I'll be taking our tree down, which seems wrong since we woke up to about 3 inches of fresh, beautiful snow, but I'm ready to be done with the fallen needles, Tori breaking ornaments and begging for candy canes off of it, and the dog sleeping underneath it thinking my velvet tree skirt is his new dog bed. Our little tree has seen some abuse over the past few weeks. I can't help but sing the song, "I Cry The Day That I Take The Tree Down," the whole time I'm de-decorating!

From Christmas 2010

From Christmas 2010

Tyler Gets Glasses

A few months ago, Keith said to me, "Tyler has crazy eyes!" I was like, "What are you talking about?!" Then I started paying more attention to his eyes and sure enough his right eye would wander out towards the side of his head occasionally (but not A LOT). Then of course I was feeling guilty that I, as his mother, was not paying enough attention to even notice this. So, hoping that it was not that big of a deal, I thought, we'll just watch it, and I also knew he had an eye screening coming up at school. He had the screening, and nothing was sent home saying that he had any issues. I even told his teacher I had some concerns about his eyesight and asked her if she was sure there wasn't anything unusual or concerning that came up at their eye exam. She said no. So, about a month later, he had his 5-year well child visit at the pediatrician, and Tyler did the eye chart just fine with his left eye, but when we tested his right eye he clammed up and wouldn't answer what any of the letters on the chart were. The doctor said let's get him checked out by an opthamologist just to be sure. The day of his appointment was the day of our big snow storm, so we had to cancel and reschedule. Finally, we got to the doctor a couple of weeks later, and to my surprise, the doctor said his eyesight in his right eye is VERY poor. I was kind of shocked actually. The doctor asked if he did a lot of squinting, and I was like, "Yeah! He does!" In fact, one of his nicknames is Ty Ty the stink eye, because he always looks like he's giving you the stink eye. So, now he has glasses and he also has to wear an eye patch on his left eye, which even though the eyesight is still much better on that side, still not perfect. Basically the patch will retrain the brain to look through the bad eye and hopefully strengthen it. Poor guy. I'm glad we caught it now so that when he starts to learn how to read soon, he'll be able to see. He looks pretty cute in them as you can see, and he's been very good about wearing them. When he put them on for the first time, his face lit up and he got a big grin on his face. I asked him, "Can you see now?!" and he said, "Yes!!"

A Quick Funny

Being that we live in the shadow of a 14,000 ft. volcano, the town we live in has sirens that will go off when and if there is a threat of a lahar (a large mudslide that is created when a volcano erupts). About once every few months they test these sirens, and the kids have a drill they practice at school. There is 20 minutes to evacuate the valley floor once the sirens go off. Our house actually is located on one of the evacuation routes on the hill above the valley, but the school is down in town. This is what I overheard Anne Elyse saying the other day when she was pretend playing school: "Boys and girls, mountain Reindeer has blowed up."

13 Months

I've made it a point to take a picture on the first of each month when Tori turns one month older. Here she is at 13 months. I swear she's already showing signs of heading to the "dark side." We have even had a few mini temper tantrums already. Oh, boy, I don't think I'm ready for this!

Snow!

Thanksgiving week we had a lot of snow - very unusual for this time of year. We had about 8 inches at our house. The kids ended up getting the WHOLE week off school instead of just Thursday and Friday. I actually didn't mind too much, since my sister was in town, and we didn't have to worry about the school schedule. Keith was also home Tuesday and Wednesday, because we couldn't get off our hill, so it was a nice treat having him home ALL week, even though I'm paying for it on this week's paycheck. One thing I DID mind though, was that our power went out for about 30 hours starting Tuesday around 5 p.m. (just as I was starting to make dinner) and didn't come back on until Wednesday night around 9:30 p.m. Even though we have our fabulous fireplace to help keep things warm, obviously the blower doesn't work when the power is out, and when it's 15 degrees outside, the house can only keep so warm. Also, since we're on a well system for our water, if there's no power, there's also no water. It was pretty much a no-brainer to take the kids Wednesday morning and head up to my parent's house. Keith stayed home to get the thing-a-ma-jig hooked up to the house so we could run the generator. Of course, by the time he got it all wired into the house, he said he had the generator running for about an hour and then the power came back on. At least it's all ready to go the next time. We've already had two power outages here this Fall, so I'm sure there will be more to come before the winter's over.

It was Tori (and Ruger's) first time in the snow!

Tori loved looking out the window at all the "white stuff." You could tell she was thinking, "What IS this?"

We enjoyed our Thanksgiving feast at my brother's house this year. It was great to be with all my siblings and my parents. We decided that was the first we'd ALL been together for Thanksgiving since 2002!!

Baby girl partaking of her first feast:

Just had to post these cute Turkey's made by Austin and Anne Elyse:

If there was one thing this snowstorm did, it was put me in the MOOD for Christmas. I've already got my mantle decorated, and we're going to get our tree tomorrow after Keith gets home from work. I love this time of the year!

Lion House Rolls

I'll be making these this week! I thought I had previously posted this recipe to my blog, but apparently not! If you're wanting to make homemade rolls for Thanksgiving, this is the Lion House recipe that I got from my friend Hope last year, and they are delicious!

Ingredients:

2 c. warm water (110-115 degrees)

2/3 c. non-fat dry milk

2 tbsp. dry yeast

1/4 c. sugar

2 tsp. salt

1/3 c. butter

1 egg

5-6 c. all purpose flour or bread flour

In a large mixing bowl, combine water and yeast until yeast dissolves. Add non-fat dry milk, sugar, salt, butter, egg, and 2 cups of flour. Mix on low speed until ingredients are wet, then mix 2 min. at medium speed, the dough will be smooth. Mix by hand another 1-2 c. of flour; dough will be getting stiff and remaining flour may need to be mixed 1/2 c. at a time after the first 3-4 c. of flour. Dough should be soft, not overly sticky, and not stiff. It's not necessary to use the entire amount of flour. The dough will be smooth and elastic. Knead for 5 minutes, adding a little bit of flour if needed.

Place the dough in a well greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and then a warm, wet towel. Place the bowl someplace warm until double in size (about an hour). Push down dough and knead it for 1 min. with a little bit of flour. Divide dough into 3 sections. Roll out dough into a circle. With a pizza cutter (or sharp knife), cut out 12 triangles. Starting with the wide end of the triangle, roll up dough into a crescent, tucking the small end underneath the roll (so it won't unravel when it rises). Repeat process and place onto a greased cookie sheet and allow to rise and double in size (about 30 min. or so).

Bake at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes, or until light or golden brown. Brush with melted butter right after they come out of the oven. Makes 3 dozen or 1 1/2 dozen if you wan them to be bigger.

*Hope's Notes:

Yeast: I use SAF Perfect Rise Yeast, you can buy it at Williams-Sonoma. It's not that expensive. It comes in a little box. It's the best I've ever used, and I haven't looked back.

FIRST Birthday

Sweet baby girl turned one on the first day of November! We had the fam down for a party: lasagna dinner, cake & ice cream, and presents. I've actually been quite sad about the fact that she is one now, because I know she's my last baby, and I don't like how fast this past year has gone by. Everyday I cherish her sweetness, soft squishy cheeks and her cuddles, and even though it's exciting to see her grow and learn, I'm really not looking forward to the terrible two's that are lurking just around the corner.

Speaking of growing and learning, here's what she's doing right now:

She can wave and say, "Hi," and "Bye," or when she answers the pretend phone. She says Mom clear as day and also Ruger. Other words she can say: da (Dad), hot, eye. She says, "Aaaa" for Austin. I've also been surprised at how much she understands. She will answer most questions with either a nod of the head: yes or no. She can clap, play hide and go seek, and is very cute when she tries to copy what you're doing. She took her first steps at her birthday party. It was so fun! As of just the last couple of days she's figuring out that she can really get around by walking, although it's still a mix of walking and crawling. She LOVES her food. She yells, "Ooooooh!" when she sees food she wants, and she can down a whole piece of pizza herself. She loves music. I will often look in the rear view mirror of the car and see her boppin' to the music. It's just about the cutest thing you've ever seen. She also loves baby dolls. Anne Elyse didn't really pay much attention to them until she was 2 or so, but Tori will pick up the dolls and love them and give them a pat on the back.

She weighs just about 20 lbs. I can't remember her length, but she was 50th percentile for both height and weight at the Dr. the other week. She is definitely longer than Anne Elyse was and will probably be quite a bit taller than her sister when they are grown.

Her hair is also quite a bit lighter than Anne Elyse's was. She has some curls in the back, and it's finally long enough to do two little pig tails, but still not enough on top to do a hair clip.

She has one lone tooth on the top - her one front tooth...no other teeth.

She brings me so much joy everyday. I'm not the only one that spoils her either. :) Since there is such an age gap between the oldest 3 and her, I can definitely see she has become the "baby" of the family, and it will probably be that way the rest of her life. Nothing wrong with that, right?

Tyler is FIVE

We celebrated Tyler's birthday the day before Halloween this year and headed up to the MLT pool for swimming with the family. Afterwards, we had cake and ice cream at Papa and Grandma's house. Tyler requested a "Yo Gabba Gabba" cake, so I came up with this Brobee cake, a character from the show. The rainbow cake looked really awesome, but it tasted pretty disgusting!

Tyler's nickname used to be Ty Ty the nice guy; however, this past year, I must say he's come to the "dark side," as I call it, asserting his independence and will over his parents. He's just been a little late in joining forces with his brother and sister. Even still, he does have a sweet, sensitive spirit and can be found doing a kind deed for his family members. He started preschool this year, and his teacher tells me she has quite a few rowdy boys in her class but that Tyler is a "very good and polite little boy." I still cannot get enough of those big, brown eyes and blond hair. He is just such a cute little guy.

Some of his favorite things to do:

read books

go to the movie theatre

do video games on the computer

wrestle with his dog Ruger

run around outside (without shoes or a coat on - it's impossible to keep shoes on him, especially in the summer)!

make Tori laugh (or cry, depending upon his mood)

Things we may laugh about when he's 16:

He has an imaginary friend named Randy. :)

If you're not a member of our immediate family, and you try to discipline him, he will say you are "being wude (rude)," but if you are mom or dad, he will say with a scowly look on his face, "Why you don't wuv (love) me?" and "I'm not gonna wuv you anymore."

Like I said, he can be sensitive, and here's a cute little story his teacher told me: She said Tyler had pushed one of the other little boys on the playground, and so she approached him and told him that we don't push at school, etc. She said she wasn't stern with him at all, but he did apologize to the boy and then sulked away and sat by himself on the see-saw. She said a few minutes later, she looked again, and he was sobbing his eyes out on the see-saw. Poor little guy. I said, "Well, that explains to me why he said this morning, "Ms. Piggy (it's Ms. Peggy but he sounds like he's saying otherwise) is WUDE!

Fall Cooking

If you're like me, Fall makes you feel all cozy and brings on yearnings to spend more time in the kitchen creating yummy things to eat. I make a lot of soups in the Fall, and here's a new recipe that I've actually had for awhile but had been reluctant to try because it has fish sauce in it...BUT the fact that it has lots of lime and cilantro (two of my favorite combos), I wanted to finally try it, and I LIKE IT!

Thai Chicken and Coconut Soup with Noodles


Ingredients:

1 1/2 T cooking oil
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 qt chicken broth
2 c. coconut milk
5 tsp fish sauce
strips of lime zest
1/2 lb. fettuccine
2 T lime juice
3 T chopped cilantro
approx. 2 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into 1/4 in. slices

In a large pot, heat oil over mod low heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally until translucent, about 5 min. Add garlic, coriander, ginger, black pepper, and cayenne; cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.

Add broth, coconut milk, fish sauce, and lime zest. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, simmer, partially covered for 10 minutes. Cook fettuccine in salted water until just done, about 12 min. Drain. Add the chicken tot he soup and simmer about 2 min. Remove from heat and stir in fettuccine, lime juice, and top with cilantro.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Blend:

1 c. butter (softened)

2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. sugar

Add to sugars:

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

Then add:

2 c. canned pumpkin

4 c. flour

4 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. ginger

Then add 1 pkg. chocolate chips. Bake 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

School Year 2010-2011

The kids on their first day of school...we were a little rushed in taking pictures this year, and I don't think I got a very good one of Austin...

Austin - Second Grader

Anne Elyse - First Grader

Tyler - Preschooler (and mischief-maker)!

Ms. Tori - 10 months

Oh, and let me just mention, I am at a very good place in life right now! Austin and AE are gone all day, Tyler is in preschool 4 afternoons a week, which is usually Tori's nap time, and I get 3 hours every afternoon ALL TO MYSELF. IT IS WONDERFUL!

Austin's Baptism

Austin was baptized over Labor Day weekend in September. It turned out to be a great day with family and friends, and Austin did a great job. He seemed very happy that day. I admit I was a bit nervous how things were going to go, because he's the type of kid that can sometimes freak out about stuff, especially when it comes to clothes not fitting just right, so we had several talks about the white jumpsuit he was going to wear and that it's "O.K. if it's a little itchy or it doesn't come down to your ankles." :)

We ended up doing his baptism with our stake, and there were about 6 little boys scheduled to be baptized that day, but only 2 showed up, including us. Bizarre, huh? It was great for us though, because it made it a little more intimate.

I didn't get a picture of everybody who was there, but it was Papa & Grandma, Auntie Eleasa & Uncle Donavon, Uncle Ryan & Auntie Stevie, Grandma Henderson, Uncle Kyle & Auntie Lindsey, Uncle Patrick & Auntie Sara, my good friend Stephanie and her family (who drove up from Vancouver - bless their hearts)!, Brother Malloy, and Sister Pugmire.

We had a pizza party (Austin's request) at the house afterwards.

Daddy baptized and confirmed him.

Our family...love this picture, except we're all a little squinty, because it was so bright out.

Just the other day when Ouma was here visiting, she gave Austin a special baptism book. Can't wait to fill it out, so we can remember this special day!

Seriously??

In my last post, I had mentioned we've had some "interesting" trials lately, and well, when I think it couldn't get much worse, it does. If you continue, you might think of this as an "airing your dirty laundry" or "Negative Nancy" post, so beware.

It all began with the wheels...back in July we cracked two wheels on the truck on our trip from Seattle, to Salt Lake, to Great Falls and back. Two wheels, which were only a year old and which had brand new tires on them. Now mind you, wheels and tires on a Ford F-350 are not cheap. Cost was around $2,000. We had two very stressful breakdowns (one in the middle of nowhere Montana with no cell service). However, BOTH times we were very fortunate to have two very nice people help us. We ended up gimping home on two spare tires and officially had the road trip from Hell. The wheels were under warranty, but the manufacturer was trying to tell us it was because our camper we were carrying was too heavy and there was nothing they were going to do for us. After a drawn out ordeal (almost 2-month long ordeal), they finally agree to give us a credit for 4 new wheels, but we are now out two tires, because when the wheels cracked, it blew out the tires. AND you'd think we'd just be able to purchase the two exact same tires, but nope, because they are now discontinued, so we have to buy 4 new tires...AGAIN. This is all following the fact that Keith had very reduced hours for 3 weeks in July, because there was a lull between projects at work.

Now upon returning home from this trip, we find a letter in the mail from our neighbor's lawyer stating that we do not have legal easement down the road we are currently using to access our house, and we have until August 10 to "cease and desist use of this road at which point it will be blocked by a locked, cabled barrier," or pay him $20,000 to purchase the easement. Apparently the developed road that leads to our house is not our legal easement. We do have a legal easement, but this neighbor's house is SITTING ON IT. What an idiot. So, after consulting with a couple of lawyers, we are within every right to sue him, the people we bought the house from (because they knew about it), and possibly the county and title company, but guess how much it costs to sue? Upwards of $20,000. Let me just wip that out of my back pocket. So, as of yesterday, we are going to try to negotiate something with this guy, but it's costing us an initial retainer of $2,500 and will be more depending on how far this goes. So much for good relations with the neighbors. In the meantime, I am driving across his front lawn to get in and out of my house. Convenient, huh?

ALSO, on our last camping trip, we had to take the Durango with a trailer to haul our stuff, since the truck didn't have the new wheels/tires yet and wasn't safe to take. About 30 minutes into the trip as we were coming up over a (small) mountain pass, the engine dies. We pull over, it starts up again, but now has a HORRIBLE knocking sound. We turn around, go home, kids are bawling, because they're so disappointed, I'm bawling because I just spent my whole week getting ready for the trip and packing and also because I can't believe we are having this much bad luck. After talking to my dad (who was already at the campground in E. Washington), we decide to get up early the next morning and just take the truck, bald, spare tires and all. Now, this all happens literally a few days before we decided to sell the Durango, because Keith is losing his work van and we have to buy a commuter car. Since the Durango is paid for, we thought we'd just sell it for around $9,000 and pay cash for a commuter. Guess how much it's worth now? The dealership told me they'd give me $2,500 trade-in for it, because according to their mechanics it needs a whole new engine to the tune of $5,000 (mind you the car is 8 years old, but it only had 80,000 miles on it). Lovely.

Now, just when you think it can't get worse, it does. On this same camping trip, Keith blew out his knee while wakeboarding. He's been doing this for 15 years and has never had an injury. He can't walk, can't put weight on it, so we take him to the E.R. in Grand Coulee (so glad we went there instead of Spokane. We were quick in and out - it was tiny hospital...quickest E.R. visit I've ever had). Thanks to my brother-in-law Donavon who is a medic in the army who drove the "ambulance" there. :) The good news was, the doctor didn't think anything was torn, that it was probably just a bad sprain. However, he is going to need a Dr.'s release to go back to work (down side of not having a "desk job"). Luckily, he only ended up missing 1 day of work, and the doctor at home said the same thing - bad sprain, but gave him a release to go back to work. He was in a huge amount of pain, and had we not just had the above-mention happen, he probably could've stayed home for a week to convalesce (no sick leave in the union, just a lump sum of money they give you to do whatever you want with). It is still a bit swollen and painful for him, but he seems to be on the mend.

These days are over. He'd better just stick to fishing. He's officially an old man.

So, by now you're thinking that's got to be it. Nope. No, just kidding, that's it...I think. Just the fact that the Durango still isn't fixed and I'm way stressed about this road thing, but the good thing is MacMiller is letting him keep his van until the end of the year, so that buys us a little time. In the meantime, I'm driving around the big beastly truck.

Ahhh...so, I've had my moments, but I'm really trying to have faith that everything will work out and Heavenly Father will watch out for us. I keep thinking, well, it could always be worse. What doesn't kill you, just makes you stronger, right? I also tell myself, it's all just money. I have visions of me being the 80 year old lady working the checkout at Walmart. Heaven help me. I hope at least one of my kids will strike it rich and they can take care of me! LOL!! Trying to have a sense of humor here. So, if you're wanting to send a few extra prayers this way, it would be appreciated! Promise the next post will be more fun - like Austin's baptism, cute pictures of kiddos on their first day of school, and a couple of yummy new recipes I've been wanting to share.

A Day In The Life of The Mang Family....

Life is pretty intense around here with 4 little ones age 8 and under, and I think if Keith and I didn't have a sense of humor sometimes we'd both be admitted to the mental hospital. Life hardly ever goes as planned, and I like my Aunt Gloria's saying: "Blessed are the flexible for they shall never be bent out of shape." When I find myself getting worked up and stressed, I just have to take a deep breath and then sometimes all I can do is say a prayer, do my best, be forgiving of myself, and go with the flow. In the last 6 weeks or so, we've had a few interesting trials, nevertheless we feel blessed and know the Lord looks out for us.

The summer is winding down, and the kids will be back to school in just 9 days now. I can't believe how fast it's gone by (as compared to last summer when I was pregnant with Tori, it seemed to drag on and on). I admit I'm sad to see it end. I've really enjoyed these carefree days of camping and boat rides, going to the beach, the zoo, the park, watching the kids run through the sprinkler, playdates, and warm summer nights sittin' on the front porch watching the moon rise.

Speaking of going back to school, this Fall, it will be just me and Tori at home for 1/2 the day. In another 7 years I will have all 4 kids in school all day, and I have a feeling when that day comes, I might, in some twisted way, miss these days when they were little and life seemed C-R-A-Z-Y. So, here is a typical "day in the life," for memories sake!

I wake up at 4 a.m. to Tori cooing in her crib, which means, "Mom come get me. I'm ready to be up for the day!" Then Keith's alarm goes off at 4:30 a.m. We snuggle with Tori in bed for a bit (she snuggled with Daddy...it was very cute). I decide to go ahead and get up with her to get some laundry started and to feed my grumbling stomach. Since I'm still nursing, I often wake up ready to devour anything in the refrigerator (I've been known to break out the leftover spaghetti for breakfast, since a bowl of cereal is just not gonna do it for me). Around 5:15 a.m. Keith discovers he can't find his keys to his van, which also have all the important "Pike Place Market" keys that he needs to get into work. We scour the house, I'm out in driveway in my white, sexy (yeah, right) terrycloth bath robe helping him search for them. Couldn't find them, so he uses his spare key to drive the van, but knows when he gets to work, his boss is not going to be happy that he can't find the keys. I continue to work on the laundry, feed Tori, make my bed. Around 6 a.m. she's tired and ready to go back to bed. I put her back down, read my scriptures, say my prayers, and then fall back asleep (in the bed I had already made)! :) Tori wakes up at 8 a.m. I'm way groggy but know I've got to get up and call the doctors office to get her in to have her cyst or swollen lymph node or whatever it is checked again. After getting all the kids fed, dressed, etc. we leave the house at 10:30 a.m. to be to the Dr. office by 11 a.m., and of course, this is not all without at least one temper tantrum by somebody (this time the 8 year old...he is getting way too old for THAT). Now I'm feeling guilty that it's not even noon and already the neighbors have heard me raise my voice with the kids. I remind the kids on the ride there that last time we were at the doctors office it didn't go so well and they got their TV privileges taken away for a week, so "you'd better have good behavior or you know what will happen." We get Tori to the doctor who thinks she has an infected lymph node (not a cyst like the doctor at the urgent care had told me on Saturday). We get her antibiotics and are on our way. We decide to stop at Costco since we're in town and need milk, etc. As I'm pumping my gas there, the nice young man who is the "gas station attendant" says as he's looking in my windows at all the kids, "Oh, I remember you. That was a bad day you were having last time you were here." Uh, yeah. The last time I was here was the "bad day at the doctors where everybody got their TV taken away for a week." Yeah, I think I had mascara smeared all over my cheeks last time I talked to him. Pretty sure he knew that's why I was having a bad day! He commends me for having 4 kids and tells me he has one 10 month old and knows he could never deal with 4. At least there are some people in the world who appreciate the work of a mother of 4.

We get our goods, wait in line for 10 minutes to get our pizza lunch (that we pay for in all quarters) and have a little "missionary moment" with the ladies sitting next to us. They overheard me talking to Austin about his "baptism party" and she started asking Austin about getting baptized and asked what church we went to, etc. On the way out, the guy checking our receipt at the door is an Asian dwarf, and of course the kids are staring and Anne Elyse asks before we are even out the door (and I'm pretty sure he probably heard her), "Mom, why is that man so small?" Six-year olds have such tact sometimes.

By the time we get home it's about 2:30 p.m. and Keith is already off work for the day, headed home. We come home to Ruger having, yet again, bolted across his wireless fence so that he can go swimming at the neighbor's pond with their dogs. I'm also informed by the neighbor's cousin who has a young female chocolate lab with him that my dog has been committing fornication all afternoon with his dog. NICE. I have to have Anne Elyse watch the baby while I go over there with the leash and literally drag the dog home. He knows he's going to get shocked again when he enters back into our yard, so he puts on the brakes hard and I pull with all my might. Stupid dog. By this point, I'm exhausted, and I figure I'd better try to take a "rest" before Keith gets home, because you know if he comes home and sees me "napping," he'll think, "What have you been doing all day?" I read my book for a half hour or so, but I get caught anyway. :) Keith comes into the bedroom showing me a page that has been torn out from one of my childbirth books and it's titled, "Preparing to Breastfeed with Inverted Nipples," complete with a sketched picture of a breast. He says, "What is this doing in the fax machine?" I reply that I think Tyler was "reading" this book earlier. Well, I guess Keith was trying to send a fax to work and it kept getting jammed, and the "breastfeeding page" was jamming up the machine. We both had a chuckle and hoped that it didn't go through or somebody at MacMiller got a little surprise fax this afternoon.

The rest of the evening was pretty typical: eat dinner, let the kids play outside, watch a little TV, and now I've just written this blog post and I'm pooped! But before I sign off, I just have to give myself props that I even managed to make a pot roast dinner and get those dishes done that had been sitting in the sink for 2days. Even if the the mound of laundry didn't get folded, there's always tomorrow! Oh, and in case you're wondering about the keys, after a few prayers, we found them - in a haystack. They must have fallen out of Keith's pocket when he went to grab some hay for the horses...literally finding a needle in the haystack. See, I told you Heavenly Father watches out for us. Good night!

It's Great To Be EIGHT!

We celebrated Austin's birthday last week while camping at Lake Roosevelt. It was the perfect party for him - low key and at one of his favorite places. A few weeks ago, I mentioned to Austin and Anne Elyse that Austin's birthday was coming up, and Anne Elyse got so excited and said to Austin, "Who are you going to invite to your party?!!" Austin just looked at her like, "Whatever." He's not a party guy and I asked him what he wanted for cake, and he basically said, "I don't care." Anne Elyse on the other hand is quite the birthday snob. Kinda funny how they are totally different when it comes to birthdays. The only thing he wanted was a BB gun and his very own case of rootbeer. :) He got both, and he LOVES the gun.

Now that he's 8, he gets to be a cub scout, and he's been looking forward to this for a long time. He got to attend scout camp a couple weeks ago, and he was in his glory shooting BB guns and bows and arrows, and they even had the search and rescue helicopter fly in and land for the boys.

A few things we'd like to remember about Austin at this age:

Favorite food: anything that doesn't have meat. He proclaims to be a "vegetarian." If I make anything that has meat in it, he'll say, "Mom, you know I'm a vegetarian."

Favorite TV show: Still the Military Channel. He is obsessed with it. When we were in Utah, Unlce Donavon (who is in the army), took Austin to his office, and he got all kinds of army paraphernalia - bracelet, pen, pencil, brochures. It was the highlight of the trip for him.

decked out in his "digi-camo" - the real-deal that they wear in Iraq.

Favorite sport: Motocross. He is getting pretty good on his dirtbike!

Austin has a "super-sniffer." We have a front loading washing machine, and if you have one, you know the certain smell they can sometimes get, and he says to me just this morning, "Mom, why does the washing machine smell like rotten salad?"

Austin has an adventurous spirit. Last week, Keith and I were going to bed around 11 p.m., and as Keith is going around locking all the doors, he looks outside and sees this person standing in our backyard. He said it startled him and then he looked closer and it was a "little person." Well, that little person turned out to be Austin with his fleece pajamas on underneath his army get-up (the camo along with the bike helmet, goggles, "bullet-proof vest" which is an old life jacket, and armed with his nerf gun). Keith yells at him, "What are you doing?!" He says, "Well, I'm going to sleep outside with the horses." Yowsers. I'm glad we caught him. He then tried to sneak out AGAIN, and we had to get stern with him about why it wasn't safe, etc. He bawled himself to sleep about us not letting him sleep out under the stars.

Austin is still not an "easy" child, and can argue with you until the cows come home, but he is very wise for his age and extremely "street smart" as I guess you could call it. We hope he'll put this wisdom to good use this year as he'll be baptized over Labor Day weekend!

Mes Petits Artistes!

We celebrated a proud moment last weekend with Austin and Anne Elyse. They won ribbons in our multi-stake youth art competition, All Things Beautiful. Austin won 2nd place in his age group and Anne Elyse won 1st and 3rd.

Austin's work was titled: "Momma Lion"

Anne Elyse with Vincent VanGough's "Starry Night" and "Ant on an Apple."

Papa and Grandma came down for the occasion and also brought Great Grandma Henderson with them so she could see our house for the first time as well. It was a gorgeous day (and we've had very few of those around here lately). We BBQ'd and hung out at the house then headed down to the church building to see the artwork. The mountain was out in all it's glory! There's an amazing view of it on our drive into church. I also love our new building. It's brand spankin' new (not even a year old). It's the same building as the stake center in Palmyra, New York, but not quite as fancy on the inside.

The girls with the Grandmas. :)

Anne Elyse Turns SIX

Anne Elyse was 6 on May 25. She loves a good party and was a little disappointed that she didn't get a "friend" party this year, but we really didn't know anybody in our new town yet, and it would've been too far for her old friends to come to our new house. We did celebrate by going see the new Shrek movie at the theatre and she got to bring the little neighbor girl who she's become good friends with. We also had a family party for her (and me) at my parent's house.

Here are a few things we'd like to remember about Anne Elyse at age 6:

Favorite food: Campbell's Double Noodle soup or Top Ramen
Favorite show: Wow Wow Wubzy, Sponge Bob or any Disney movie that has princesses in it.
You are good at: Art! and dance. You took your first ballet classes this year and you were by far the most coordinated and graceful one in the class. Several of the moms commented to me that you were a "pleasure to watch."
You love to: play dress up or with your Polly Pockets and you love to play outside too (even when it's cold or raining).

You also love school, and Mom and dad are proud that you are a very obedient student and you work hard there. You are usually pretty willing to do your chores at home (if there is an incentive to work towards), but sometimes there is also a lot of drama and whining involved. :)

You love being a big sister to Tori. You're a great helper to mommy with her. You have an intense sibling rivalry with your brother Tyler. You guys are about the same height, but he weighs more than you even though he's younger. He makes you crazy some days, because he thinks it's so fun to tease and watch you scream and yell at him. Fun, I know.

She got a new Barbie bike that she wanted and a lot of Polly Pockets, which is not so great for our new little crawler who likes to put everything in her mouth.


Dad was our party entertainment. What a nut! Warning: children, do not try this at home.

The birthday GIRLS!

7 Months...and CRAWLING

Tori started crawling one day before turning 7 months. This is early for my kids. The others didn't crawl until around 8 1/2 - 9 months. She is all over the place now, and it looks pretty funny to see this little thing crawling around on the ground. She is already pulling herself up onto things as well. Holy moly. I think she is going to be an early walker. She also says "Mom, mom, mom" plain as day. She is definitely a mommy monster, and prefers me to anybody else. As far as sleep goes, Keith asked me the other day, "Now, why is her bed still in our room?" Because she's still waking up at night to nurse, and I don't want to hike upstairs at night to get her (our master bedroom is on the main floor). She usually sleeps about 7 hours straight and then wants to nurse every 3 hours after that (and be in bed with us). Since Keith was working the night shift for so long, we kind of got in a bad habit of her sleeping with me, and now that Keith is back on day shift she looks at him like, "Who are you in my bed?" She is also quite fascinated with her tongue, as you can see...