The Magnificent Seven

Summer Fun

2011-08-24T21:56:00.008-06:00

Summer is over, but here are a few of our good memories:

Emma and Jake at the Zoo - our older kids have no desire to go to the zoo, but Emma and Jacob still love it! Yay!

Rigby Lake - this year we bought an inflatable raft. Our kids loved it!

We put new windows in our house - huge pain, but worth it in the end. I think.

Doug and I went to England! Run-of-the-mill business trip for Doug, trip of a lifetime for me! I loved every second and can't wait to go back!

Bye-Bye summer! See you next year...

Wrapped around my finger...

2011-08-15T07:42:00.002-06:00

So this morning I couldn't find my cell phone. I asked the most likely suspect, Jacob, if he'd seen it. He sheepishly said, "Well...I took it, but.." So I told him to get it. I followed him out to the car and into the back under the seat. He had it hidden in a little "Cars" shoe box. I was really surprised, because he usually hides things in his room. I said, "you took my phone and hid it in a box under the back seat of the car???" "Yeah", he said, "but it wasn't my idea!" "Well, whose idea was it?" I said, thinking it was probably Emma..."Scooby's", he said. 'Scooby' is his imaginary friend. I can't even be mad at him...he's so cute I can't stand it! I wish he could be 4 years old forever. :)

Doug's Birthday!

2011-07-09T11:14:00.003-06:00

I know this post is out of order, but I had to add it! In June Doug turned 41. Doug is a great dad and husband, and I hope someday to be even half as awesome as he is. Yay Doug!

Independence Day

2011-07-05T19:56:00.004-06:00

This year for the 4th we were all a little tired. Our weeks of travelling are starting to catch up with us. Jacob woke up feeling sick, so we mostly had a quiet day at home. Doug and I did some shopping, and then we had a barbecue in the evening with the kids. We played Nancy Drew together while we waited for it to get dark. Finally, we were able to do our fireworks. We all agreed that this year's family fireworks were the best we've had. When we were done with ours, we watched ouir neighbors set off some of their fireworks. It was a great night!

Weber Reunion 2011

2011-07-03T17:14:00.008-06:00

We have just returned from the Weber reunion. We stayed at a vacation home in Donnelly, Idaho. It was a beautiful area! We played in Donnelly for a few days, and then we stayed at a hotel in Boise for one night so that we could attend Doug's parents 50th anniversary party in Parma. Sunday morning we drove home. With our England trip last week, and the reunion trip this week, we are all ready to stay home for awhile! Or at least a few days, before our kids have cousins camp and we are off on adventures again. Crazy summer.

Brotherly Love

2011-07-03T17:10:00.003-06:00

I love that my kids generally get along well with each other. Jacob really looks up to Ryan, as you can see by this photo. Jake is lucky to have such a fun brother that will take the time to play with him. :)

Monster? No, just mom

2011-05-19T09:00:00.002-06:00

I was sitting at my computer minding my own business. I needed to blow my nose, so I did. I suddenly heard Jacob yell from the other room "Mom, is there a monster in our house?" Nope, just me. And he happily went back to playing with his toys. :)

Hi, and a happy banana.

2011-05-15T21:19:00.002-06:00

As you can see, I've been MIA from this blog for quite some time. There are only so many hours in the day, and I've been making other choices. But, I've decided to give it a go again.

One morning this week the older kids were making lunches to take to school, and we came upon this:
How could this not be an omen for a great day?? Thanks happy banana! :)

New Discoveries...

2010-09-13T06:26:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we were sitting in church. Doug was sitting on the bench, and Jacob was standing by him looking up at him. Jacob was looking closely at Doug and suddenly he said very seriously, "Dad.....why do you have holes in your nose?"

You learn something new every day. :)

From the Pastor's Desk

2010-08-15T17:50:00.002-06:00

This week Doug and I took an amazing trip to San Francisco. We had the BEST time! We saw China Town, the Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz, the beach, and more shopping on one block than we have in our whole town. It was awesome. One of the places we visited was Old Saint Mary's Cathedral. This is a really neat building that was built in 1854. While we were there I picked up one of their fliers, and it had a message from the Pastor. I loved it, so I thought I'd share. It's good Sunday reading:

~Dear Parishoners and Visitors:

I recently received an email entitled "Why go to Church?" I found it thought provoking so I thought I would pass it along to you.

Why Go To Church?

"A church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. 'I've gone for 30 years now,' he wrote, 'and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all.'

This started a real controversy in the 'Letters to the Editor' column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:

'I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this: they all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!'

When you are DOWN to nothing...God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishement!

All right, now that you've done reading, send it on! I think everyone should read this! When Satan is knocking at your door, simply say, 'Jesus, could you get that for me?'" (Author unknown)

Have a nice week,

Fr. Daniel ~

Right on, Father Daniel! :)

Reed's Dairy Day!

2010-08-09T13:45:00.007-06:00

This weekend it was time for the annual Reed's Dairy Day. We love to go to this event at our local dairy every year. Sometimes it's snowing, sometimes it's hot, this year it was beautiful weather! It was a little hot in the sun, but there was some glorious shade that we rested in between activities. First we took a wagon ride:

Then the kids had horse rides:

Then we had lunch:

Then it was time to pet the baby animals:

Then after more horse rides, the milkman obstacle course, and ice cream, it was time to come home. We had a great time!

Prize Winning Raspberry Bars

2010-08-07T15:45:00.002-06:00

Here is my award winning raspberry bar recipe in case you'd like to try making them. Warning: these are reeeeeeeallllyyy not healthy and highly addictive. I never make them unless I know I'm taking most of them somewhere else. They are too too good! Enjoy!

Raspberry Bars

Combine:

3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup butter, chilled
1 egg, slightly beaten

Mixture should resemble coarse crumbs. Reserve 2 cups flour mixture. Press remaining mixture into ungreased 9x13 pan. Bake 8 minutes at 350.

While the crust is baking, combine:

1 - 12oz. pkg. frozen raspberries
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
3 T. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Heat in saucepan until thickened (sort of like making jam). I let them come to a boil and slow boil them for about 1 minute. Spread over crust, and sprinkle remaining flour mixture over top. Bake 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool slightly, and top with glaze.

Glaze:

Mix about 1 cup of powdered sugar with some lemon juice until you get a good drizzling consistency. Drizzle over top. (The original recipe also calls for 1 Tbsp. of melted butter in the glaze - I usually do not add this, but I did for the fair). Cool completely, and cut into bars. Then quickly take them to a party before the urge to eat the whole pan completely overtakes you! :)

Fairly Successful!

2010-08-06T11:21:00.003-06:00

This year we entered some events at the Bonneville County Fair. I entered my Raspberry Bars in the bar cookie contest, and the kids and I entered Snickerdoodles in the Adult/Child cookie contest. My Raspberry Bars took first place, and the Snickerdoodles took third place! I won 75.00 for my event, and we won 25.00 for the adult/kids event. Woo hoo! Doug and I are taking a trip to San Francisco next week, so now I have some spending money! Here is a cheesy picture of me taken by Ryan with our awards and prize money. Fun!

Candy bars, gold bars, same difference.

2010-06-27T18:57:00.003-06:00

This week I got a call from some nice lady in Salmon, Idaho, telling me that she had met some people who had flagged her down on the road. They told her that they had left their water on at home, and asked if she was going back to town and could she please call my phone number and ask if I could go turn their water off. My mom and Doug (Hadley) had taken their jet boat on the Salmon river, and had left their hose running in their yard, so I took my kids up there and turned it off. After raiding grandma's pantry and leaving them a note, we closed the door to leave. Here was the conversation I heard:

Ryan: "I can't believe they don't lock their doors when they leave!"

Hannah: "Ryan, do you REALLY think someone would come up here and steal from Grandma's house?"

Ryan: "Uh, YEAH - they have a whole bag of candy bars in there!"

Doug.....40......ahhhhh!

2010-06-09T14:56:00.005-06:00

Yes, that's right. Doug Weber is 40 years old. I actually like saying that now, because it makes me feel a whole lot younger. :) For his birthday he got a new tennis racquet, and some fabulous BYU football wall art for his office. We had a party at his office during lunch time, and then in the evening we had a barbecue and cake and ice cream at home. The day started out on a crazy note: I was attempting to make monkey rolls for his birthday breakfast, and they had risen a little higher than I thought they would during the night. When I started to bake them, some of the filling spilled out into the oven and started a fire! Oops! Then, in all the confusion I forgot to turn the oven back on, so when the timer went off for them to be finished, they hadn't even baked yet! The rolls actually ended up turning out pretty good once they finally finished baking so after all that the birthday breakfast was saved. Hooray!

Memorial Day Adventure

2010-06-09T14:51:00.003-06:00

It seems like every Memorial Day we have our first geocaching trip of the season. You never know what you'll get around here for weather on Memorial Day, usually a mix of sun and rain, and that's what we had this year. This year we are also thinking of trying something new - starting our own geocache! I'll keep you posted if it ever comes to pass...

It's all about the candy

2010-05-27T12:41:00.004-06:00

Today as I was re-bandaging the burn on Emma's arm, Hannah was watching me and she said, "wow Mom, you could be a doctor!" To which Emma replied, "Nuh-uh, because she doesn't have any suckers." Apparently, that's all you need. Who knew!?

We're here to PUMP you up.

2010-05-27T09:54:00.005-06:00

Summer has officially started at our house. Yesterday I found these fliers posted around our house:Apparently the younger group in our house is in need of some physical conditioning. I was told that today was the "fitness test", and Emma actually did 5 push-ups! Way to go, girl! I was also told that I could not join, because I am over 15....darn. My oldness was also in evidence this morning by this comment from Justin: our kids were playing our "Payday" game, and as Justin was putting it away he commented on how amazing it is that the 'ancient, super super old' game was still in good condition. I proceeded to tell him that I got that game for Christmas when I was 9. Oops, sorry mom.

Ryan is Perfect!

2010-05-26T13:59:00.002-06:00

Ok, maybe not. But he did have perfect attendance at school this year. Way to go Ryan! He got a lovely certificate and a fancy pin, which I'm sure he'll wear on his clothes every day. :)

Preschool Graduation

2010-05-20T12:09:00.004-06:00

Today was a great day in the life of a certain 5 year old girl. Preschool graduation. What is the point, you ask? I'm actually wondering the same thing, especially after I had to sit through an hour worth of preschool songs and poems. Patience, anyone?? Our morning didn't start out too well either. I was trying to get everyone ready so that I could drop my older kids off at school, and then drive across town to the program. I had the curling iron on in the bathroom, and Emma was in there trying to find something to put in her hair. As she opened the drawer, the curling iron caught on it, flinged across the counter, and landed right on her arm. This was 5 minutes before we needed to leave. Of course the gauze I needed to wrap her arm was nowhere to be found...we finally found it in Ryan's scout first-aid kit in his bedroom. This is how we operate around here people. Always two steps behind. Anyway, we wrapped her arm, which is now all blistery, and made it to the program. She loved it, and all is well. (Except for the 2nd degree burned arm - but I'll deal with that after everyone, including me, has had a good nap!) :)

Changes

2010-05-19T09:26:00.004-06:00

Ok, I have been a slacker in the family blog department. I've just been SOOOO busy with all of the vastly important things going on in my life (did you SEE last night's episode of Lost??)! Anyway, I'm going to try to do better. Not that our family is really that interesting to anyone but us, but it's good to keep track of what's going on. Life goes by pretty fast.

This week we had a neat thing happen. Doug was made a High Priest and got called to serve on the High Council in our stake. Good for him! His parents came all the way from Parma Sunday morning so that Doug's dad could ordain him. It was really neat. Then they turned around and went home that same day! Crazy, but it was a good day. Here's a photo:

And, in case anyone is interested, here are some photos of our finished kitchen:

Spring Cleaning, the Martha Stewart way

2010-03-23T09:08:00.003-06:00

Our kitchen was a little dirty, so.....

Our remodel is coming along. The new cabinets are being installed today! Yay! But then we have to wait 2 weeks before we have countertops and a kitchen sink. Tonight I am grilling chicken on our BBQ outside. Of course, it snowed last night. I thought spring started a few days ago...

Very cool, part 2

2010-03-22T10:02:00.003-06:00

I'm editing this post because I found out more info. This bridge is actually in Salt Lake City. It's a footbridge that goes over the Trax line. It was the Trax that they had to shut down, not the railroad. And it's still awesome. :) If you're ever in Salt Lake and happen to walk over this bridge, you can think fondly of Doug.

Just for Melissa

2010-03-12T16:25:00.007-07:00

Doug's sister Melissa left a comment on my other blog that she thought I had deleted this blog. No, it's still here, it just hasn't been updated in awhile. So, in honor of Melissa, here is a photo diary of what's going on in my house right now:

There you go, officially updated. ;)

Channel 100,000,000 News

2010-01-24T19:50:00.004-07:00

Ryan has made another installment in our family newspaper, the Channel 100,000,000 News. I thought I would share it, so here it is:

Top Story: Guess it doesn't run in the family Justin got an Eiffel Tower for Christmas and it has about 4,000,000 pieces and it always seems to be falling apart. I guess Engineering doesn't run in the family. :)

Justin also is assigned to make an airplane for Science Olympiad and let me tell you it's not going too well I think he's gone through about 100 papers.

Sports

Doug and Ryan are going to do a push-up contest and have two weeks to prepare and it's probably going to be pretty close but I think Ryan is going to win mainly because Doug has to do them the hard way.

Announcements

There is going to be a writing contest for people the ages 9-"29". It must be more than 1 computer page long and can not have your name on it also it must be typed you will be graded on creativity, originality, and most entertaining.

----------
So there you have it. I guess I better get working on the writing contest, because I barely qualify, being "29" and all. I have such goofy kids, I can't imagine where they got it from....

Welcome to Idaho

2010-01-13T13:09:00.007-07:00

I took these photos the other day of the pasture by our house. I thought I would share them in honor of Doug's nephew, Trent, who was here one day last week. He is currently attending BYU Idaho in Rexburg - "bur" being the key letters of the name of that town. Anyway, Trent declared this the worst place on earth and vowed never to return as soon as he could rightfully leave with his degree. Yes, winters in eastern Idaho can be brutal, but while the above was going on outside, this is what was happening inside:

You can insert your own analogy - all I can say is that life around here is not bad at all! :)

Male bonding...

2010-01-10T19:11:00.003-07:00

I was sitting at my computer last night minding my own business, and I looked over to the TV, and this is what I saw:How cute is that? I am so grateful that my boys have a dad that they can copy doing yoga instead of copying him playing World of Warcraft or some such thing. Great job guys! :)

Visiting Santa

2009-12-22T12:40:00.003-07:00

Today I took my kids to see Santa. I really try to avoid the mall as much as humanly possible during the Christmas season - the crowds, the commercialism, the stress, it's about as anti-Christmas as you can get in my opinion. But for some reason, I feel compelled each year to make the trek so that my kids can see Santa! Maybe it's because I remember going to see Santa when I was little, and I want them to have that memory too...I don't know, but they love it and I love it too. The 'Santa' this year was all kinds of awesome, and he even had a real beard. Thanks Santa! (Hannah made the hat that Emma is wearing as a Christmas present for her and now she wants to wear it wherever she goes.)

Doug's meeting with 'The King'

2009-12-17T05:36:00.007-07:00

Doug's trip across the country has been going well. Yesterday he was in Memphis, and when they were done with their meetings they realized they had about three hours to kill before their flight left, so they took a trip to Graceland! He said it was quite an experience. The above photo is one he took in Memphis. While talking to him about "the South", I realized what I miss most about living away from the Idaho/Utah area is the diversity! Everyone here in Mormondom is so much the same...from our beaded watches to our vinyl lettering....people in the South (and in other places) have character! I love that. We live in such a great country.

Last night we attended Emma's preschool program. Her preschool teacher is definitely a person with character, and I can't say enough good things about her. She had all of her former students in the audience come up before the performance, and there was actually a 24 year old guy who went to her preschool when he was little. It was awesome! Emma was the 'mother' in the program, and she did so great! I was really proud of her. Emma is also a person with character! I got a cute video of her performing "I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus" which I won't bore you with, but here is a photo - which is not great because people kept moving their heads into the picture - but you get the idea.

Doug is in Maryland today, and then he is flying home tonight. I'm crossing my fingers that the weather will cooperate so that he can get home on time! :D

Ode to Doug

2009-12-14T10:27:00.002-07:00

I love Doug. He is my sweetie. He is gone this week until Friday, and our 17th anniversary is Saturday. We were contemplating last night how that seems like such a long time and that we've had so many experiences - but then we thought of our Grandmas who have children with children with children - some of our Grandma's children have been married 50 years! So I guess what I was thinking about today is that life can be reeeeeeeeealllly long, so it's a good idea to choose to be happy as much as you can. The End. :)

Thanksgiving

2009-11-30T13:46:00.004-07:00

Hi! It's been awhile! I thought I would share our new family photo (yes, I know, it's impressive) and give you an update of our goings on. We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. We ate dinner at my mom's house with my sister's family and my brother's wife and kids. My brother is working in Wyoming (or Colorado?) and wasn't home for Thanksgiving this year.

On Friday, Justin and Ryan went with Grandpa Doug on a boat ride over by Bliss. It was the boys first experience with white water boating, and they thought it was fun. Friday Doug also played in a tennis tournament, and lost. He wasn't too happy with the way he played, but I think it's great that he gets out there and goes for it. He's pretty great - and I'm not biased at all. :) Friday night we had a family party at our house with the same people who were at Thanksgiving. We celebrated Festivus, complete with a hula-hoop competition and thumb wars.

Hannah recently got braces on her top teeth. She has some unruly teeth in the front that need to get straightened out before she can have "real" braces after all of her permanent teeth come in.

I have started selling Scentsy candles. Why, you ask? Well, my endless cycle of cooking, cleaning, and driving was wearing me out and I thought it might be fun to do something different. So, I did! We'll see how it goes. You can check out the website here: http://www.scentsy.com/scentsyworks.

Emma is going to preschool and loving it. She gets to be the "mother" in their Christmas program, and she's looking forward to that.

Jacob is still a sweet boy and talking more all the time.

That's our update! We hope you are all having a great holiday season!!

Halloween!

2009-10-31T16:16:00.007-06:00

Today is Halloween, but we celebrated it yesterday. Our kids had parties at school, and we did our trick-or-treating, which was provided by Doug's office. He has some great secretaries and fun people at work who dressed up, handed out candy, and made a sort-of spook alley. Then we went to the school carnival which our kids enjoyed. Before and after that we ate pizza and watched a movie. (that seems to be a theme with us lately...) Tonight we are going over to my Grandma's house and our next door neighbors to trick-or-treat. Doug dressed up this year, and I was SO proud of him! He told me it took a lot of courage. The only problem was, his hair looked better than mine. hahaha!!! Here are some photos:

Doug is the one on the left: (I crack myself up!)

Drowsy Denim

2009-10-29T14:15:00.002-06:00

Today when Jacob got up from his nap, he told me that I had to be quiet because his pants were still sleeping. ha!! My kids make me laugh.

The Mighty Blue

2009-10-26T11:25:00.005-06:00

Q: How can you tell when your husbands obsession with BYU football might require professional help?

A: When you start sorting your laundry according to lights, darks, and BYU shirts!! :)

The week of Ryan!

2009-10-23T16:10:00.001-06:00

Ryan has had a big week. He received his yellow belt in Jiu-jitsu, and he turned 11 years old! He was so excited to get his new belt and we were really proud of him. Jiu-jitsu is different from karate in that you don't progress through the belts very fast. His instructor - who has some awesome skills and owns two studios - is still a brown belt. In other words, getting a new belt is a big deal. He also completed his Weeblo and Arrow of Light. For his birthday he got a set of yo-yos, we ate pizza and watched a movie. Ryan is a great kid and we love him.

P.S. I want this blog to be a family journal of sorts, but I also like posting recipes of things I cook and things I like, so I have started another blog to do that. You can find it at http://www.pickynomore.blogspot.com/. My only problem is that with my duties as head chauffer and chief domestic engineer, I'm not sure I'll have time to keep them both up! Still trying to decide what to do there, but you can check out the other blog if you're interested. :)

Fluffy pillows of YUM

2009-10-06T12:20:00.005-06:00

Today I made donuts. I have never made donuts before, and don't have much experience frying things so I was a little nervous about how these would turn out, but they are GOOD! Jacob and Emma were my taste testers, and they each had 2 plus a donut hole with their lunch, so they must have passed the test. I'm pretty sure that during fall, there should be a new food group called "donuts". Maybe Obama could appoint a donut czar....yep, I think I've had too much sugar. :)

Happy Fall!

2009-10-05T14:48:00.004-06:00

Well, it snowed here last night. I guess it's official (and has been for awhile, I've just been in denial) - summer is definitely over! This weekend we went to Provo. It was great! Some of us went to the BYU game, and some of us went shopping. We got to see Doug's mom and dad, and sister Julie and husband Tom, and sister Melissa and her little guy Boston. Then on Saturday we went to the zoo. I forgot my camera and have NO pictures! But, here is a picture that I took this week in our backyard while we were enjoying one of the last great evenings around our firepit:Goodbye Summer!

Down with people!

2009-09-22T14:57:00.005-06:00

Justin had to write a research paper on a career that he might be interested in. He chose a librarian. Here is the last paragraph of his paper:

"After researching a librarian, I have decided, for the time being, that I do not want to be a librarian. My most dominant reason is because I do not like helping people. Another is that it was not like I envisioned, where you got to sit around and read all day. One thing I do like is that you have to know some computer skills. Those are my reasons for liking and not liking to be a librarian."

HA!! He is such a character. Oh well, at least he's honest! :)

Great day

2009-09-12T16:16:00.008-06:00

Yesterday was my birthday. And yes, I'm old, so don't ask. Ryan made me a PowerPoint presentation, which was great, and Hannah made me a book of poems. Everyone else made me pictures and a card. Doug and I went to the fair last night, and we saw so many people we knew - many that we hadn't seen for years. It was really fun and so great to spend time with my sweetie! Ok, enough mushy stuff. Here are more pictures from my fun day.

(I think Hannah ran out of poem ideas after awhile...) ;)

Nifty Number Nine!

2009-09-09T09:09:00.002-06:00

Hey! It is 9:09 on 9-9-09! That's all I had to say....ok, back to my life...

Eastern Idaho State Fair

2009-09-07T14:01:00.004-06:00

For our Labor Day activity today we went to the fair. We got there right as it opened so for awhile there weren't huge crowds and it was great! We ate some yummy food, saw some smelly livestock, and gave each of our kids $5.00 to spend. We found a nice vendor guy who was selling kids 'grab bags' for $1.00, and our kids thought that was pretty sweet. On the way home Ryan said, "they shouldn't call it the fair, they should call it 'Awesome-Land'! I think everyone had a good time. :)

They actually WON!

2009-09-05T20:53:00.010-06:00

Yes, it's that time of year again. Cougar football has begun. They played #3 Oklahoma in their season opener, and in a HUGE upset, they won by one point. Even Doug didn't think they would win, so you know what a big deal it was! Of course, we had our traditional BYU party complete with food, decorations, and cheerleaders. Here are some of the highlights:

Doug freaking out:

The thrill of victory:

Here is a recipe for a great game-time treat. I'm calling this one Cougar Crunch, although it's actually a recipe I got from my wonderful Aunt Joyce, who always has a good treat to share.

Cougar Crunch
Mix into a large bowl (I used a kitchen scale to measure the amounts):

9oz. Golden Grahams cereal

9oz. Rice Chex cereal

6-7 oz. slivered almonds

7 oz. coconut

Stirring constantly, boil 3-4 minutes to soft ball stage the following:

1 cup sugar

1 cup white corn syrup

1 cube butter

Pour over the cereal mix and stir really good. Stir it a few times as it's cooling. Although not at all healthy, this is a great treat!

Park City and Preschool

2009-08-24T13:32:00.006-06:00

Lots has been happening at our house lately. Last week we attended three picnics, our kids started school, and then on Saturday we drove down to Park City for the weekend. We stayed in a hotel, played in the pool, played soccer and volleyball on the lawn outside, and shopped at the outlet mall. It was a quick trip, but we had a really good time. Then this morning, Emma started preschool! I got all my crying about that done yesterday, so we were good to go this morning. She was really excited and I think she had a good time. When she got home she was completely exhausted, so now she is taking a nap! I had to take Jacob with me when I dropped her off, and when he saw all of the fun things they were going to do, he didn't want to leave. I can't believe I'm back to only one child at home most of the time. Where does the time go?? Here is a picture of my beautiful preschool girl:

First day of school

2009-08-20T15:43:00.005-06:00

Every year my kids do something that really annoys me. They get older! I keep telling them to stop it, but they just roll their eyes at me and keep right on growing. This year I have a 4th, 5th, and 7th grader, and Emma starts preschool. Luckily, I still have Jacob to be my best buddy at home. Here is a picture that we took this morning. Just think of it as the 'Broadway' version of the first day of school! :)

Emma and Jake, enjoying the relatively quiet day at home.

So good you might cry

2009-08-19T16:09:00.006-06:00

Ok people, if you are trying to lose weight or eat healthy in any way, just stop reading now. I mean it! :) ...... If you are still reading - and have no concern for your health - then stop what you are doing and try this recipe! I have only made this recipe a few times, and tonight we are having a neighborhood picnic so it gave me an excuse to make it again. You really have to make these when you are taking them somewhere, so that you can have a taste but give most of them away. Since it's raspberry season I thought it was appropriate!

Raspberry Bars

Combine:

3 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 cup butter, chilled

1 egg, slightly beaten

Mixture should resemble coarse crumbs. Reserve 2 cups flour mixture. Press remaining mixture into ungreased 9x13 pan. Bake 8 minutes at 350.

While the crust is baking, combine:

1 - 12oz. pkg. frozen raspberries

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

3 T. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Heat in saucepan until thickened (sort of like making jam). Spread over crust, and sprinkle remaining flour mixture over top. Bake 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool slightly, and top with glaze.

Glaze:

Mix about 1 cup of powdered sugar with some lemon juice until you get a good drizzling consistency. Drizzle over top. Cool completely, and cut into bars. Then quickly take them to a party before the urge to eat the whole pan completely overtakes you! :)

The need for skool...

2009-08-11T08:56:00.007-06:00

Ok, this made me laugh so hard I had to share it. Yesterday Hannah decided to be the "Weber Family Maid". She made herself a sign, put on an apron, and went around helping me all day. It was great! Here she is:

Then, Emma decided that she wanted to get in on the fun, so Hannah made her a sign too. Here it is:

She walked around all day with this on before I noticed what it said. (Otherwise I would have taken a picture of it MUCH sooner! :) I am SO going to miss my kids when they go back to skool!!

Reed's Dairy Day!

2009-08-08T13:10:00.010-06:00

Today we went to a local dairy that delivers our milk for their annual Family Day. It's kind of a tradition for us - the first year we went Hannah was a new baby. Some years it's been really hot, and some years it's been snowing...typical Idaho weather. Today it was cold and a little rainy, but we had a great time. We rode a horse-drawn trolley and took a tour of the dairy, we had some lunch and a 50 cent ice cream cone, we petted some animals, and Justin and Ryan competed in the "milk man obstacle course". Yay Reed's Dairy!

Fish Story

2009-08-03T14:27:00.007-06:00

Last week Justin, Ryan, and Doug were invited to go fishing on Henry's Lake with Milt, who works with Doug. Milt is a super-fisherman, and he showed everyone the tricks to catching some big fish! Here are some photos to prove it:

Nice job guys!! I think this little bird was trying to get some free dinner:

Summer fun!

2009-07-22T16:08:00.012-06:00

Since we finally got all of the kids activities out of the way, and our bathroom finally done, we have had some time for some random summer fun. We took a picnic to Palisades reservoir, we went to a family reunion in Soda Springs and stayed in a neat house there, and Justin continued to work on his fishing merit badge while fishing with Grandpa Doug on his new boat. Here are some photos:

Fun at the reunion:

The caption says it all:

The kids made "cars" and then watched the movie "Cars" outside!

Cool house in Soda Springs:

Palisades picnic: The winds and mosquitos tried to force us out, but we were undeterred! :)

Fun on the 4th

2009-07-05T12:55:00.007-06:00

We really didn't do anything too exciting for the 4th this year. Justin, Ryan, and Doug had gotten home from scout camp on Friday night, so I think they were just ready to stay home. We did go to the Titanic exhibit at the museum here, and that was really interesting. I also found it extremely sad. Then that night we watched a movie and did some fireworks. Since this was Jacob's first experience with fireworks, I was worried that he would be scared, but after the first one went off, all he wanted to do was to stand right by Doug as he was lighting them and watch them go off. It was pretty funny. We also managed to take a family picture, and I took some photos of some roses in our yard. Here they are for your viewing pleasure:

Before and After

2009-07-02T16:43:00.003-06:00

Before:

After:I know he's mine, so obviously I'm not biased at all, but that is one cute little boy! :)

Progress

2009-07-01T18:22:00.005-06:00

Well, we made it to July! Emma had her first round of swimming lessons, which were a success. She had a great teacher who really helped her. The first day Emma was afraid to even get in the pool, and by the end of the lessons she was jumping off the side of the pool into the water. I was really proud of her! Justin and Ryan finished tennis lessons, which they loved. Hannah has started with a new piano teacher for the summer, and her lessons seem to be going well. Right now Justin, Ryan, and Doug are at our ward scout camp. Ryan isn't quite old enough to go, but since Doug will be there the whole time they let him tag along. He was so excited when he found out he could go he about jumped through the ceiling. Yesterday they had a 6 mile hike, and they called last night and it sounds like they are having fun. Our bathroom is almost finished! We are just waiting on the shower door and a couple of fixtures. Summer is definitely in full swing!

What was I thinking??

2009-06-10T07:17:00.003-06:00

Welcome to June at our house. We have tennis camp, computer camp, day camp and scout camp. There's piano lessons, swimming lessons, tennis lessons, and jiu-jitsu. Just for good measure there is Doug's birthday and Father's Day. AND in the middle of all of that, we are remodeling our bathroom. Which should be done by the end of...JUNE. So far this summer I feel like every day is a race to the finish line. July and August aren't much better, but at least then I won't be dealing with sheet rock dust in the middle of the chaos! :)

Memorable Memorial

2009-05-26T15:03:00.004-06:00

For Memorial Day this year we attempted to go geocaching. "Attempted" because we only found one out of the seven geocaches we tried, and mostly it was a hunt for new batteries for our GPS. Not too many convenience stores up there in the hills. Then we attempted to get a hamburger for lunch, but the place we went way out of the way to get to was closed. Mostly it was a ride around the beautiful country we are blessed to live in. Later that day we had taken our kids shopping, and on the way home Justin asked if we were going to have family night. Doug and I looked at each other (exhausted, at this point). Doug said, "well, I think we've kind of had 'family day and night'. Justin said, "ok, well what was our lesson on?" Doug said "PATIENCE. It was an object lesson." Our kids didn't get that joke, but Doug and I laughed and laughed all the way home.

Yay Spring, Part II

2009-05-24T20:52:00.002-06:00

So the baby birds finally hatched, got big, and flew out of their nest yesterday. On Friday it was my kids last day of school, and I was sitting on my couch making a grocery list and watching the birds, enjoying my last day of relative peace and quiet thinking that the birds would probably be flying out before the weekend was over. They had gotten so big that it was hard for them to all fit in the nest. As I was watching, the mamma bird flew down and sat right on top of all of the birds. She'd been doing that since they were hatched, but it was just kind of funny to see her try to sit on all those birds who were now old enough to fly away. I had the thought that maybe she knew they'd be flying out soon, and wanted to get one last sit with them before they left. Well thinking about that made me cry, so Doug said that I could line up all of our kids and sit on them if it would make me feel better. Maybe I'll just do that. :)

Mmmm...chocolate!

2009-05-14T10:44:00.005-06:00

Ok, this is just for fun because it's windy and cold outside and I don't feel like doing anything else! Here is a fun recipe for 5 minute chocolate cake. I tried this recipe because I was curious if it would work or not, and it does! And it is YUMMY! And yes, we ate chocolate cake at 10:30 in the morning, and yes, we loved it. So here it is, and keeping the chocolate theme I'm adding an activity that you can do to amaze yourself while eating your chocolate cake out of the microwave. Don't you just love America?! :)

5 Minute Chocolate Cake
4 T. flour
4 T. sugar
2 T. cocoa
1 egg
3 T. milk
3 T. oil
small splash of vanilla
1 large cocoa mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg, milk, and oil and mix thoroughly. Add the splash of vanilla and mix again. Cook in the microwave for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. (My microwave is 1100 watts, so I put it on 90% power and it worked great.) The cake will rise above the top of the mug, but this is ok. Allow it to cool (or not), and tip it out onto a plate.

Now, grab a calculator and do this while you are eating it:

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to have chocolate (more than once but fewer than 10)

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)

3. Add 5

4. Multiply it by 50

5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1759 ...If you haven't, a dd 1758.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.You should have a three digit number The first digit of this was your original number(i.e., how many times you want to have chocolate each week).The next two numbers are YOUR AGE! (Oh YES, it is!!!!!)

Have a great day!!

Yay Spring!

2009-05-01T16:43:00.007-06:00

Here is a picture of something exciting outside our back door!

The mama bird made a nest in a hanging basket that is hanging on our patio. It's not a very good picture, because I was trying hard not to disturb the nest and it's up pretty high, but hopefully I can get more pictures when they hatch. Emma was fascinated by the picture, and kept asking me all afternoon "are the baby birds out yet??" Hopefully for her (and me) it won't be too much longer! :)

Special blessings for MOM

2009-04-27T20:05:00.005-06:00

Tonight as Justin said our family prayer, he said "please bless Mom that people will stop annoying her." I'm sure the Lord was just shaking his head at me, and hopefully he won't send me an "attitude adjustment" experience, even though I probably need one. :)

Fun day with family

2009-04-25T19:55:00.001-06:00

Today my mom, my brother Chad, and I went to Bountiful to see my cousin Andrea get married. It was a great day with lots of laughs. One example: my mom likes to tell stories, and sometimes they are looooooong. So she said as we were driving "let me tell you my story about tithing." Chad said, "Ok, but we only want to hear 10 percent of it!" He cracks me up. Here are some pictures of the great day:

Big fun at our house

2009-04-22T16:11:00.003-06:00

Here we have the Princess of Love, the Princess of Fashion, and their ugly stepsister, Jakerella. hahaha! Poor Jake, maybe I should have had more boys...

Funny for the day

2009-04-18T20:37:00.002-06:00

Tonight Doug and Justin went to EFY with the youth groups in our ward. Before they left, they all went out to eat at a restaurant. Emma was telling someone about it and she said, "Daddy and Justin went to eat at Chuck-A-Grandma." :) We all got a good laugh out of that one.

Emma turns FOUR!

2009-04-13T09:46:00.001-06:00

Finally the birthday week at our house is over! On Saturday, Emma had her 4th birthday. She got a new bike, which she was really excited about. That day we also went to my mom's house for a party where we had an easter egg hunt with lots of cousins and some yummy food. It was a great time! Then that night we watched a Barbie movie (yea.) and had root beer floats. It was quite a day! Doug and Ryan also planted 20 raspberry plants in our garden. You are all invited over for some raspberry jam next fall! :)

Jacob turns...

2009-04-07T19:46:00.001-06:00

Yes, my little Jaker man is two years old. I'm sad and happy about it at the same time. Mostly, I'm just glad that his birthday is over! Two year old birthdays are stressful! The little kid doesn't have a clue what's going on, or why people keep singing "Happy Birthday" to them, or why everyone else is so excited about a present that supposedly is for them. Anyway, I think he had a good day. We got him a Little Tykes basketball hoop. I was wondering if he would know what to do with it, but he pretty much hasn't stopped playing "b-ball" since he got it. Today I laid him down for his nap, with his "b-ball" of course, and 5 minutes later he was yelling "Mommy!" I went in his room to see what he wanted, and he stood up in his crib, held up the ball, and said "b-ball". I told him no, he could play when his nap was over. We went through this 3 times before he finally went to sleep. He's the sweetest little sweet boy I know.

Working hard and hardly working

2009-03-25T10:59:00.001-06:00

Today I made bread, which is one of my favorite things to do. I love it because it's something I can do with my kids, and for my family, and even though you have to put the ingredients in exactly the same way every time, it always seems to turn out slightly different. It's just fun. And it's yummy!!! Emma and Jake love to help me when I make bread. They get their own piece of dough and they roll it and pound it and generally have a good time while I do the rest. I usually make 6 loaves at a time, but since I knew we'd be out of town next week, I decided to make 4 loaves, and some cinnamon rolls. Good idea, right? Well, I had just rolled up the cinnamon roll dough, and turned around to get something, and I heard a thud. I turned back around, and Jacob had spilled the bottle of canola oil! No problem, I deal with messes all day every day, so I started to clean it up. No sooner had I turned my back to put the paper towels in the garbage, and I heard another thud. I turned back around, and Jacob had taken the remaining cinnamon roll dough and put it in one of the left over bread pans! He's so helpful, isn't he? :) In the end, all was well. We have 4 great loaves of bread and some fantastic cinnamon rolls, happy kids and a tired mom. That sounds just about right! :) P.S. I took these pictures a few weeks ago - that's why there are the usual 6 loaves instead of 4!

Tellin' it like it is...

2009-03-19T09:53:00.001-06:00

Today Emma came up to me as I was minding my own business and said, "Mom, you're weird." I actually took that as a compliment!

... when you have eliminated the impossible, that which remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

-Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Two cute kids

2009-03-18T13:22:00.009-06:00

Today I took some pictures of Emma and Jake. I was going to get them done at the school, because today was picture day, but I was dreading that so I decided to do it myself. Here are a few of the finished products:

Now you can see why I was dreading taking them somewhere! :)

Disney on Ice

2009-03-15T13:17:00.005-06:00

Yesterday we had "big girls day", as Emma called it. Hannah, Emma, my mom and I took a day trip down to Salt Lake to see Disney on Ice. We left in the morning, stopped for lunch, went to the ice show, had some dinner, and then went home. It was a long day but lots of fun! It was 60 degrees in Salt Lake yesterday and the tulips were a few inches out of the ground. I dreaded coming back to my house with the 2 feet of snow in the front yard! :) It was a great day!

Science Olympiad! (dun dun da dundundundun)

2009-03-07T19:14:00.005-07:00

This morning Justin, Ryan, and I boarded the big yellow bus at the break of dawn to attend the Science Olympiad in Pocatello. Justin was competing in the Robo-Cross event, and Ryan and I were there for moral support. We went with the other "Olympians" from White Pine Charter School. There were several schools competing, and we spent the day watching events like elevated bridge to see whose bridge could hold the most weight, and "scrambler" to see whose vehicle could come closest to a wall without breaking the egg perched on top of it. Justin's competition consisted of a course where you had to use some sort of robot to move objects into different containers. He has spent the last few weeks trying to get his robot to work. Here is the finished product:

When it was time for Justin's turn, they said "go" and...nothing happened! Oh no! His battery was dead! Luckily, they let him plug it in for a few minutes and start again. Then, when he finally did get going, he got high-centered on some legos, stuck to a C battery, and at the last second he knocked out one of his items that would have given him a 3rd place finish. SO, he came in 4th. I was really proud of him and relieved when it was over!!!!

And finally, here is a picture of two of the coolest boys I know:

Doug's Awesomeness

2009-02-24T06:48:00.002-07:00

This post is mainly for the benefit of Doug's ginormous family, but I thought you'd be interested to know that this month Doug's company celebrated their 10 year anniversary! We can't believe it's been 10 years. Also, Doug was asked to be on the Civil Engineering advisory board at BYU to help set the curriculum for the department. He was as excited about that as a kid on Christmas - although he'd never tell anyone that. Yay Doug!

Channel 1,000,000,000 news

2009-02-22T19:34:00.004-07:00

Wow, I haven't been very good about updating this blog. Life around here is just crazy busy. Ryan has started making a family newspaper for our enjoyment, so I thought I'd reprint his latest edition. He calls it Channel 1,000,000,000 news:

Breaking News
At 4:30 on President's Day Jacob Weber went skydiving off a counter. He could have suffered a concussion, but luckily he did not but we will be watching.
Fashion
Emma W. has gone crazy about it saying she wants every single thing in the lipstick section for her birthday, and she won't be getting any of it at all. She'll be disappointed.
Sports
Doug Weber was voted the best tennis player of the years 2004-2008 and is trying to win the cup for 2009.
Ryan W. has only one stripe to go before he is white-advanced (jiu-jitsu) and his mother has missed all his promotions. We hope she will make it to this one.
Cleaning
Heather W. is an expert on cleaning. Go to her and you can receive 1 billion ways to clean your room. Never do this or you will get all those jobs. Trust me, I've tried it. P.S. It was not fun at all.

So there you go. He even makes comics for his Sunday edition! :)

What's for breakfast!

2009-01-28T17:53:00.002-07:00

I am always trying to come up with different things to make for breakfast, because I try to limit our cold cereal intake. Here is a great recipe that I've made a few times over the past few weeks. It's a good way to eat oatmeal that's different than the regular mushy stuff.

Baked Oatmeal
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Mix it all up and put it in a 9x13 pan. The original recipe also calls for 3/4 cup dried cranberries. I also made it once with diced apples and once with a handful of chopped walnuts. They are all really good, but we voted the one with walnuts the best. Bake it at 350 (325 if you have a convection oven) for about 20-30 minutes or until it's set. 22 minutes is perfect in my oven. You can cut this into squares and pour milk on it, or put yogurt or applesauce over it. YUMMM!!

Am I really THAT old???

2009-01-20T21:32:00.003-07:00

Today I found this cool old aluminum pitcher at D.I. for 1.00 so I bought it to use as a decoration in my kitchen. I was showing it to my kids and they started talking about antiques. Justin mentioned record players, and Ryan said "what's a record?" Justin said "you know, those large black discs that they used to play music?" I stood there with my mouth hanging open and then proceeded to tell them that I got a record player for Christmas when I was FOURTEEN! Then I took my cane and hobbled out of the room....

Aachoo!

2009-01-13T11:41:00.002-07:00

Today I took Jacob and Emma to the store. Before I left I was talking to Emma about things we needed to buy as I made a list. As we were shopping, she kept telling me to remember to buy shoes...and I had no idea what she was talking about, because I didn't need to buy shoes. As we left the store and got into the van, she said, "Mom! You said you were going to buy shoes, and you didn't buy any!" I had been ignoring her plea for shoes in the store, so I finally said, "Emma, I don't even know what you're talking about, we didn't need to buy shoes today." and she said, "remember on your list, you said you needed tee-shoes?" Tee-shoes.....then it dawned on me....TISSUES! We laughed about that all the way home. :)

Are you gonna eat those tots?

2009-01-10T20:33:00.001-07:00

We have had a pretty good week at our house. Justin has finally recovered from his wisdom teeth experience, and everyone seems to have settled back into their respective routines. Last night Doug and I watched Napoleon Dynamite. Now, I realize you have to be in the right mood to watch that movie, and I guess we were last night because we laughed so hard we cried. The funniest parts to me were the FFA scenes, because Doug still has his FFA jacket from High School, and it is exactly like the ones they wear in the movie. For some reason thinking about Doug walking around Parma High School wearing his FFA jacket is hilarious to me. He was vice-president, too, in case you didn't know. He has skills. That's why I married him. He also bought me roses yesterday, so here is a picture of one:

Wisdom teeth explanation...

2008-12-31T09:47:00.002-07:00

Since a few people have asked about Justin's wisdom teeth, here's the deal: he has all of his permanent teeth in except his 12 year molars, and the top wisdom teeth were wrapped around them so they couldn't come in. The oral surgeon said the wisdom teeth were shaped in a u-shape around the molars. So they needed to come out, if not now, then later, and now seemed like as good a time as any because we're all home this week. In January he starts orthodontic treatment. His top jaw is forward over his bottom jaw and his teeth angle inward - which means that if he didn't have something done before he's done growing he would eventually lose his bottom teeth, because the top teeth are constantly pushing in on them. Right now when he closes his mouth his top teeth completely cover the bottom ones - not normal. SO, that's the story. Yeah, he's on the younger side, but I think he'll be glad later that he just got it over with.

The week of TEETH!

2008-12-30T11:41:00.002-07:00

We have had a lot going on at our house this past week. After Christmas on Thursday, we had Justin's 12th birthday on Saturday, which meant that on Sunday he received the Priesthood. That was an awesome experience that really put the rest of the whole materialistic side of Christmas and birthdays in perspective. Then on Monday, he had his wisdom teeth out. I won't post a picture of him, because he still looks a little (ok, a lot) disturbing! Then today, Tuesday, Hannah had 4 teeth pulled to reduce the crowding in her mouth. I have taken on the job of medicine dispenser, and cold-food producer. It's been a pretty emotionally draining week with a lot of highs and lows and in-betweens. Last night Jake was doing his "tornado" impersonation in the family room, and smacked his nose on our sub woofer, so now he has a swollen nose and a few nasty scrapes. I was just thinking that I ought to take another family picture of all of us - we are a sight to see right now! :)

Holiday fun!

2008-12-26T19:54:00.003-07:00

Here is a picture of Jacob enjoying his Christmas eve cocoa. That was one happy kid! On Christmas eve we had a party at our house, and then on Christmas day our kids woke up at 4 a.m., but we made them wait until 6:30! We opened presents, had a great breakfast, and then we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Doug's house in the afternoon. We played and ate and played and ate...and then did that all again. It's been a fun vacation!

Visiting Santa!

2008-12-16T11:32:00.005-07:00

Today Emma visited Santa. This is the first year that she actually knows what's going on at Christmas, and WOW is she excited. I also have to say that I was really impressed with the little item that they give you when you visit santa. This year it is a little book called "What Can I Give?", and it gives suggestions for kids about what kinds of presents they can give, like drawing a picture for someone, telling someone you love them, playing with a pet, etc. I thought it was really nice! Thanks Santa!

MORE Christmas Festivities..

2008-12-15T20:29:00.003-07:00

Here are a few pictures from the open house that we attended tonight. They are mostly close-ups because I was trying not to be obnoxious. ;)

Christmas festivities

2008-12-14T08:44:00.005-07:00

Yesterday Justin and Hannah participated in their Christmas piano recital. They both did great! Justin played "Deck the Halls", and Hannah played "Jolly Old St. Nicholas". The interesting part of this story though, is their piano teacher. Her name is Judy, and she LOVES Christmas! She starts decorating in October, and she puts up no less than 125 1/2 trees in her house each year, and her house is about 1/2 the size of mine. She got the 1/2 tree from her mother-in-law, who had passed away, and when they went to clean out her home, they found 1/2 of an artificial tree, so they have put it up every year since. She has a different theme for each tree, and they are gorgeous! She is having an open house on Monday night, and I think we will go for family night, so I'll try to take some pictures. Here are pictures of the recital:

Newsworthy

2008-12-11T15:47:00.003-07:00

Hey! One of the pictures I took of the sunrise on Halloween morning was printed in our local paper yesterday. I was really surprised, and it was fun to see it. :) (I've already posted this picture, but if you don't want to scroll down to see it here it is again.)

Emma's haircut!

2008-12-05T15:52:00.007-07:00

You're probably thinking from the title, and knowing my kids, that she probably cut her hair herself - but no! She actually got a real haircut, which I know is not a big deal to most people, but she's 3 1/2 and this is the first "real" haircut she's ever had! For some reason she's had some hair growth issues since she was born, and it has just taken FOREVER to grow, and so today I finally figured it was long enough that she could have some kind of style. Yea! It was a big day at our house. :)

Jake's list of things to do today:

2008-12-02T20:44:00.002-07:00

1 - Climb on counter and eat muffins that mom made for breakfast - check.

2 - Put toothbrush in toilet and brush my teeth - check.

3 - Take off diaper and wet all over the floor - check.

4 - Take ornaments off tree and rip them up - check.

5 - Take all the wipes out of the container and throw them around the room - check.

6 - Play with the syrup - check.

7 - Spill popcorn all over the floor - check.

8 - Write on my head with a pink marker - check.

9 - Wave good-bye to mom as the people in white coats come to take her away - still waiting for that one, but it's expected to happen at any moment.

Thanksgiving Update

2008-12-01T13:46:00.003-07:00

We had a great Thanksgiving week! Our kids were out of school all week. We took the older 3 to see the movie Bolt - it's really good if you're looking for a movie to see over the holidays. We had Thanksgiving at my mom's house, which was fun, and other than that we played way too many games and ate waaaaaayyyyy too much food. It was a nice week and our kids were not looking forward to going back to school this morning. My house is decorated, the presents are bought, and the parties are scheduled, so hopefully we can enjoy the rest of the month without too much stress! (I always hope for that but it never seems to work out that way.....)

And now for something completely different...

2008-11-23T14:01:00.002-07:00

All right, moving on from last night's disappointment, here is something to make us laugh - really hard. I don't know how many of you have seen this, but it's pretty funny. Enjoy!

Oh my.

2008-11-22T20:19:00.001-07:00

Well, we just watched our beloved BYU Cougars play the U--U-- u know who we mean. Anyway, that is too painful a subject right now, so I'll tell you about the fun party we had! Here are some pictures:

Program director:

Cheerleading committee:

Food services committee:

Decorating committee:

The End.

How to Give

2008-11-20T09:39:00.003-07:00

Thanksgiving is one week away. There's a saying that I like this time of year - "Orange and Black, Red and Green, don't forget what's in-between!" It seems like this time of year we think a lot about what to "get" either for ourselves, or for someone else. I read this article by President Henry B. Eyring out of the Friend magazine this morning, and it really made me think, so I thought I'd share it:

It was a summer day. My mother died in the early afternoon. My father, my brother, and I had gone from the hospital to our family home, just the three of us. We fixed ourselves a snack; then we talked with visitors. It grew late, dusk fell, and I remember we still had not turned on the lights.

Dad answered the doorbell. It was Aunt Catherine and Uncle Bill. I could see that Uncle Bill was holding a bottle of cherries. I can still see the deep red, almost purple, cherries and the shiny gold cap on the jar. He said, “You might enjoy these. You probably haven’t had dessert.”

We hadn’t. The three of us sat around the kitchen table, put some cherries in bowls, and ate them as Uncle Bill and Aunt Catherine cleared some dishes.

As nearly as I can tell, the giving and receiving of a great gift always has three parts. Here they are, illustrated by that gift of cherries.

First, I knew that Uncle Bill and Aunt Catherine had felt what I was feeling. They must have felt we’d be too tired to fix much food. They must have felt that a bowl of home-canned cherries would make us feel, for a moment, like a family again. I can’t remember the taste of the cherries, but I remember that someone knew my heart and cared.

Second, I felt that the gift was free. I knew that Uncle Bill and Aunt Catherine had chosen freely to bring a gift. The gift seemed to provide them joy in the giving.

And third, there was sacrifice. I knew that Aunt Catherine had canned those cherries for her family. They must have liked cherries. But she took that possible pleasure from them and gave it to me. That’s sacrifice. But I have realized since then this marvelous fact: it must have seemed to Uncle Bill and Aunt Catherine that they would have more pleasure if I had the cherries than if they did.

Great gift giving involves three things: you feel what the other feels, you give freely, and you count the sacrifice a bargain.

God the Father gave His Son, and Jesus Christ gave us the Atonement—gifts of unfathomable depth and value for us. Jesus gave His gift freely, willingly to us all. One of the sure signs of a person who has accepted the gift of the Savior’s Atonement is a willingness to give.

-Have a great day!

What's up, Chuck?

2008-11-11T13:56:00.002-07:00

So yesterday started out pretty normally – I took my kids to school, started the laundry, ran some errands, cleaned up 1,000 messes…no big deal. Then, a little after 3pm I went to get Jacob out of his bed so that we could pick up the other kids from school, and his digestive system had gone in reverse all over his crib. Again, no big deal, I took him and Emma to get the kids and figured I’d clean up the mess when we got home. When we got to the school, Ryan got in the car and said he wasn’t feeling well. To make a long and gross story short, by 7pm between the two of them they had thrown up 13 times! I called Doug to bring home dinner for whoever could eat, because I was now in my sweats with my hair pulled back in full emergency mode, and by this time our washer and dryer had been going for 12 hours straight! Luckily this morning they both seemed to be doing better, just tired and pale – which also describes me, and I wasn’t even sick! Being a mom definitely has its perks, but this is not one of them. :)

Rise and Shout!

2008-11-09T15:12:00.016-07:00

This weekend we took another trip to fabulous Provo for the last BYU home game. We had a great time on Saturday morning walking around campus, visiting the Sports Memorabilia museum, the bookstore, and the Life Science museum. Jacob loved the science museum - every animal he saw he pointed to and yelled "doggy!" Then on Saturday night, we went to Doug's sister Melissa's house on the tippy-top of a mountain to have a party with some of Doug's family that was there. Sunday morning we got up and came home. It was so much fun! Thanks Melissa for letting us use your house for the party - it was great even though driving up and down is scary! :) Here is a slideshow of some of our pictures:

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T20:44:00.001-06:00

This Halloween is one of the best we've had as a family. Today our kids went to school and did the ususal parties, and then after school we went trick-or-treating at Doug's office. The receiptionist had decorated the office and people had trick or treat stations set up at their desks. The kids got some candy, but not enough to drive me crazy. Then we came home and had a fun dinner, and watched a Scooby-Doo movie. That was it, and it was great! Here are some photos:

Beautiful earth

2008-10-31T08:02:00.002-06:00

Here are some pictures I took of the incredible sunrise this morning:

Happy Halloween!!

No way!

2008-10-30T17:06:00.001-06:00

Look what I saw out my living room window this afternoon:

There are 2 bald eagles (this is just one of them) in a huge tree in the pasture next to our backyard. (Edit: for those who have already read this post, I re-cropped the photo and now you can see it better) I am HOPING that they decide to build a nest in the tree! We grabbed the binoculars and took turns watching them. How cool is that! Here is a picture of the trees:

Reality

2008-10-28T19:22:00.003-06:00

I laugh every time I see this - probably because it sums up my life sooooooo well!!

Happy Birthday RYAN!!

2008-10-22T09:16:00.001-06:00

Wow! I can't believe Ryan is 10 years old! Here is a picture of him opening his present this morning: and yes, that is a Red Ryder BB gun. Am I crazy? Maybe, but Ryan was excited, and I think Doug was even MORE excited. (Hopefully he won't shoot his eye out.) ;) On the rest of the birthday agenda, I am taking donuts to Ryan's class this morning, and then Doug and I are taking Ryan out to lunch, and then tonight we are going to a restaruant/play place that our kids like to go to for their birthdays. THEN, if we haven't each gained 700 pounds by tonight, we might have room for some ice cream cake. I'm getting tired just thinking about it! :)

In case you were wondering...

2008-10-14T11:35:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I was helping Emma put away her laundry. I was sitting on her bed while she was putting the clothes in the drawer, and she said, "Let's talk about Jesus." I said, "Ok, what should we say?" She said, "Jesus lives in Pocatello." I learn something new every day around here.

Obamanation.

2008-10-12T09:01:00.006-06:00

Yesterday Emma proudly announced "I know about Barack Obama!" It was then I realized that maybe I listen to a little too much talk radio...maybe I should let her call into Glenn Beck and tell him what she knows. I also realized just how much time I spend in the car, where most of my talk raido listening takes place. :)

We have another 'Obama' family story to share. Doug had been working on a project in Morocco, and it was giving him some stress. One night at dinner I asked him how work went and he said "I don't know about this Morocco thing." Ryan said, "why, dad, don't you like Morocco Bama?" hahahahhahaaa

In other news, Ryan received his first yellow stripe on his jiu-jitsu belt. I guess after 4 stripes he can test for his next belt. Ryan, who tends to be a little dramatic, told me that when the teacher called his name to come up he thought, "no, it can't be TRUE!" He was just a little excited. :)

Oh, and in case anyone was interested, Justin did not win the school treasurer election. I guess there were 15 people who ran, and they were all 6th graders except for one 7th grader, and the 7th grader won. The whole 6th grade was sure there was a conspiracy of some sort.

Doug was in Provo this week (LUCKY!!!!!!!) attending a seminar at BYU. On Thursday he took his nieces, nephews, their spouses and his sister out to dinner at Brick Oven (ah, the memories). He said they had a great time, and I was just a little jealous. But he did bring me back a cool BYU shirt, so it was all good. :) Doug is my hero, and not just because he brought me a shirt.

Lastly, here is a picture of our backyard this morning:

And it's still snowing...

Happy Fall

2008-09-27T10:57:00.008-06:00

Wow, I haven't posted for a couple of weeks! Since school started life has gotten a little crazy around here - more than it already was. Last week Doug went to Mexico (lucky). Ryan has started taking Jiu Jitsu, which he loves. He told me it's the 'funnest' sport he's ever tried. Justin is running for school treasurer. He gets to campaign Monday and Tuesday, and they are voting on Wednesday. Hannah and Justin are both taking piano and practicing for their Halloween recital (I hear those Halloween songs in my head at night!). Emma got to go to a princess birthday party yesterday, and I thought she might explode from the excitement of it all. Jacob's new thing is to see what he can flush down the toilet. CD's, papers, toothbrushes, pretty much anything he can find. He has 2 more weeks before he becomes an official member of the nursery!!! Doug and I can feel our freedom slowly coming back, and it's a wonderful thing!!!!!! Overall, life is good, and we are grateful.

Goodnight, Moon!

2008-09-15T21:18:00.001-06:00

This evening we were outside enjoying our backyard, and I took this neat picture of the moon:

Hooray for Idaho!

Kids+church=good times!!

2008-09-14T18:03:00.003-06:00

Today we went to church. In Sacrament meeting we usually sit in one of the first three rows, because we've found that it's easier for kids to pay attention when they can see and hear what's going on. So today we were on the 3rd row. Our church is at 1pm, and Jacob didn't get a nap before we went, so he was unhappy and part way through the meeting Doug took him out to sit on the couch in the foyer. I was left sitting with the other 4. Everything was fine, and then Emma started getting fidgety. Suddenly, she stood right up on the bench (she's 31/2, and not short for her age) and announced "my panties are falling down!", and proceeded to lift up her dress to fix the problem. Standing right up on the bench. In the 3rd row. I grabbed her and yanked her down while she yelled, "no mommy! my panties are falling down!" Then I took her out to the bathroom. No wonder I wake up on Sunday mornings with a sense of dread.... :)

Things that make me smile...

2008-09-09T13:47:00.005-06:00

Sometimes being a mom is hard. It can be tiring, stressful, and a lot of WORK! But every so often you get a sweet note, a picture drawn just for you, or an "I wuv you mommy!" along with a big hug that makes it all worth it. Today as I was working on my endless list of things to do, I opened the dishwasher to unload it and this is what I found:

I immediately thought "Jacob!" And then I thought of his sweet face and all the funny things he does to keep me laughing. If a toothbrush in the dishwasher is the worst thing that happens today, my life is pretty good. :)