check out my goods

Yesterday Mike and I gathered up the vegetables from the garden. We were pleasantly surprised at how much we got. We gathered over 9 cups of green beans. I know this because we gathered them in my measuring bowl and it was completely full. Actually, it was overly full. :} We also got quite a few Clementines as well as a couple of small bell peppers. We are really excited about our haul. :} We have had to make the kids not eat all the green beans at once. If given the opportunity, they would eat them all at one sitting. :}

Happy Halloween!

Last night we went to Main Street for some trick or treating. The boys stayed home. Apparently they are too old to go do that anymore. Elaina and Emma had a good time. We did have some unfortunate run-ins. The Gecko Gecko was there (a big puppet costume) and at Sonic they had a big shake costume. Elaina didn’t react too well with the big puppets. I think Emma got a bit upset that we had to detour so far around the puppets. haha

Today in celebration of Halloween, I made some gross food for lunch.

First we had Octopus on seaweed. Josh said it looked more like squid. I really don’t know. I’m no sea creature expert. I just know it looked really gross. In case you care, it was hot dogs cut halfway down into eighths. Then boiled as normal. I didn't put "faces" on them because the kids were hovering waiting to eat. The seaweed is just ramen noodles with food coloring in the water as it boils.

We also had Mummy toes. They didn’t wrap too easily, so I only did a couple of tortillas worth. They are Little Smokies wrapped in tortilla strips.

Next we had bones with blood dip. I made up some pizza dough and shaped it into bones. Then I sprinkled them with parmesan cheese. The blood dip is just pizza sauce.

Finally we had some yummy fingers. They are just a cookie with almonds on the tips. I wasn’t too impressed with this recipe. They flattened out too much. I’ll use a different recipe if I do this again. :}

The kids enjoyed the gross food.  Maybe we will have to do it again next year.  :}

What a fast week!

This week has gone by so quickly. As is custom, we had a big storm come in Sunday night.  For some reason, Mike cannot leave without our having a big storm or something breaking on the house.   Actually, I take that back.  There have been a few times when he left and nothing major happened.  More often than not, something major happens, though.  As luck would have it, we have had tornado warnings most of last night as well as thru tonight.  Lucky us!  haha

Monday we had trunk or treat.  That was fun.

Tuesday was Emma's show choir.  They practice in Carrollton, which is about 20 mins (with no traffic).  Some other mothers wanted to carpool, so we start thursday.  YEAH!

Wednesday was Young mens. Jake didn't have anything planned and Josh was having a party.  Apparently they were having an ice cream party for everyone who has been writing in their journals.  I was so tired of driving.  I have been taking Jake to and from seminary every morning (basically twice because I have to come home and wake up kids while he is in class then go pick him up and return home again).  I've also been up to school helping out during the day almost every day.  I am fortunate to have been sleeping a litle better this time while Mike is gone.  I have been able to be in bed by 11:30 PM every night, but I am still wiped out by the evening.  :}   Anyway, I let Josh stay home Wednesday and I took a night off from driving.

Tonight is show choir again.  I am the carpool lady tonight.  The good thing is that I won't have to drive Saturday OR Tuesday.  Yeah!  Hopefully the bad weather will stay away long enough to get to and from practice safely.  :}

Tomorrow is the annual Halloween festivities downtown on Main street.  It's really neat.  All the businesses hand out candy to the kids.  The fire station and jail/police station are on Main street, so they are included in the festivities. Local churches also get into the act.  Usually they have free popcorn, cotton candy, hot dogs and drinks.  The jail is usually made into a haunted house.  The boys go in, but the girls haven't worked up the courage yet.  Maybe this year.  :}

I also found out Mike will be coming home tomorrow.  YEAH!  :}  We all look forward to having him back home.  Hopefully he will be able to stay for a while.  :}

Trunk or Treat

Last night was the ward trunk or treat. I was busy all day trying to find different items for the boys’ costumes; a coconut of some sort was #1 on the list. Jacob and his friend wanted to dress up like characters from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. His Friend was the king and Jake was the guy who follows him around clapping coconut shells together to sound like a horse. In case you are interested, October is NOT the time to look for a coconut. I couldn’t find a real one in any grocery store. I checked 6 different stores for plastic one and couldn’t find one anywhere. After praying (quite hard I might add) I decided to go to Michaels and see if by some miracle they had anything I could use. I came across a clear plastic ornament and clanged it together to see if it made a good sound. It is not meant to be a coconut, but that is what happened to it. I painted some black “holes” in it, and then spray painted the insides brown. YEAH! A coconut in October. By the way, Jake and his friend won the costume contest for the “most original” costume. :}

Josh had me hunt for a mustache for him while I was looking for a coconut. He decided to be a Mexican for the occasion since she had everything, but he wanted a mustache to complete the ensemble. I came across a mustache while at Party City. Josh loved it. He kept rubbing his shrubbery all night. Ha!

Emma was supposed to be a gothic princess. She ended up looking more like a zombie. I almost picked up some non-piercing rings for her nose and ears while at Party City. When I told her, she about freaked on me. I guess that would have been a bit too much. Haha

Elaina was a princess. She didn’t get much candy which really shocked me. She was too busy in the bounce house.

I even dressed up a bit. I found some spider web eyelashes and wore them with a witch’s hat. Elaina was very jealous of my eyelashes. I happened to have some sparkly fake lashes in my stash and I put one on her. She was NOT impressed. She decided fake lashes weren’t for her. Haha

What a fun night.  We really missed Mike.  Hopefully he will be home with us soon.  :} 

Elaina's big day

Today was a big day. We had Elaina’s party. Actually, it was more like “Elaina’s full day”. Once Mother, Abbie and Austin made it here, I let them stay up for a little while because everyone was so excited to see each other. We let the girls sleep in the living room on the air mattress. They were excited to “camp out” in the living room. When I finally got everyone to sleep last night, Elaina was sure to ask that I we sing “happy birthday” and let her have a birthday like Emma. I gave her a kiss and said, “Sure, sure. Now go to sleep”. For Emma, we had the kitchen decorated and gifts out when we went and woke her singing “happy birthday.” I woke up around 7 AM because I figured out what Elaina actually meant. I had dropped the ball. Elaina wanted the big hubabalu that Emma got and I had nothing like that planned. Mother and I quickly drove to Kroger and got some flowers and donuts. When we got home Austin, Josh and Emma helped us decorate the kitchen.

Elaina actually slept late. That was a treat. She did wake up before we finished, but we just made her stay under her pillow with her eyes closed. Once everything was finished, we sang to her. She was really excited.

Then she got to open one present. She has wanted this doll ever since Emma got her doll on her birthday. It is like the American Girl dolls.  Mother found it on sale and I’ve been holding on to it for a couple of months. We let her open the one gift in the morning so she could share the rest of the day with her special friend.

Then mother and I started assembling the cake. It wasn’t too bad. Mother was a great help to me. It was nice to have two sets of hands. :} Once the icing was on, I started getting the towers together and rolling the sugar cones in sugar crystals. Mother started decorating the cake. Emma and Abbie wanted to help, and we welcomed the extra hands helping. Elaina had gotten her feelings hurt earlier (Emma wanted to read the book that came with the doll before Elaina could) and was hiding out in her closet. By the time the girls were decorating the cake, Elaina made her way in and decided to help also. I think the girls decorating the cake worked out perfectly. They really liked getting to decorate the cake. I think it helped make it even more special. ~ Sorry about the pictures.  My camera is doing some weird stuff and the pictures are not coming out as good as they used to for some reason.~

Here is what the cake turned out looking like.  I know.  I was going to make the cones look a bit better, but by the time it was done, I figured it was good enough for today.  After two straight days of baking and decorating cakes/cupcakes, I was tired of icing and cake!  Elaina was excited about it.  Actually, all the girls were excited about it.  Their excitement was all it took for me to decide it was good enough.  :}

We then got ready for the tea party. We had lots of great food.

Everyone (except Grandma, of course) had their babies sit beside them. I was the waitress. I was called 'servant' a few times, but I quickly let them know that I was their waitress, not servant. :}

They were really patient and let Mother and me clean the dishes before we had our manicures. I didn’t get any pictures because I was busy applying polish, and gems to their nails. I also had seen on a blog about how to make a flower with polish. I attempted that on the girls and Mother. They were happy. That’s all that can be said about that. :}

After the manicure, Mike and Jake returned from the Air show they attended to avoid the tea party get out of our hair. Elaina opened her gifts from everyone. She got lots of great things. She was really happy with all her gifts.

We then sang “happy birthday” and she blew out her candles on her cake. The only problem was that we were all so full from our tea party that we didn’t even want to think about eating the cake yet.

We let the cake sit for a while and the kids went off and played.

Around 5 PM it was time for Grandma to get Abbie and Austin back home. ~I know you are dying to know, and the answer is "yes".  We forced ourselves to eat some cake and ice cream before they left. Way to much is still left over, though. :} We were all sad to see them go. We are grateful they were able to come and share in the fun with us.

Yeah, it's Friday!

Today is an exciting day.  It's Friday.  Yes, the day before Elaina's birthday.  She decided that I would bring cupcakes to school.  Don't worry, half chocolate and half vanilla.  She was gracious enough to start telling her class this last week.  Last night (after show choir practice) I was blessed enough to make vanilla cupcakes.  Then this morning, I made the chocolate cupcakes.  I figured a dozen of each would be enough.  We shall see though.

It worked out alright because I was able to use some of the extra batter to make layers for her castle cake tomorrow.  Oh, did I not mention the castle cake?  Well yes, she is going to have a castle cake for her tea party tomorrow.  Oh how do I let myself get talked into these things?  Hopefully it will look like a castle and not some haunted house.  :)   

Any ideas?

Today hasn’t been exciting or anything. I wish I was being sarcastic, but I’m not. :) I have done laundry most of the day. While not doing laundry, I have been cleaning the kitchen and living room. The best part is that by the time Mike gets home from work, he will not be able to tell I did a thing today. Wait, take that back. He will know I did laundry because the boys STILL haven’t put away their laundry and I don’t expect that to change before he gets home. :)


I have been trying to get the girls to clean their room in preparation for this weekend. Grandma, Uncle Alan, Abbie and Austin are coming for Elaina’s birthday. I have been trying to think of something fun for the girls to do. I have yet to think of anything. After talking to Elaina, she decided she wants a princess tea party. I’m not sure what that will entail, but I know it will be fun. Any ideas would be most helpful. I have suggested shopping or going to a movie. She isn’t too keen on either of these ideas. Let me know what you think. She’s turning 7, loves most anything girly and is extremely excited about this weekend. :)

Happy Birthday Mike

Today Mike is old. He is officially as old as me now. Yes, I know I just admitted that I’m old. I feel every bit as old as I am!

He had a good day, I think. Josh has a presidency meeting every Sunday an hour before church. Usually Mike (if he’s in town) will take him early and then the rest of us will follow later. This morning we all went together early since the girls and I had to be early as well. The kids did really well in their program for Mike. ;) After church we made a quick lunch. The kids didn’t fight or anything. Them being in their rooms while we were cooking had something to do with that I think. :) Then Mike was able to take a quick nap~ his one request of the day. He opened gifts after his nap. He got lots of great stuff…

Homemade magazine rack from Emma…

Homemade crossbow from Josh…

Car tools…

Pans to bake bread on so he doesn’t ruin my pans again…

More care tools…

And finally a back massager for when he gets home late and his back hurts…

After all his impressive gifts, he attempted to blow out the candles on his cake. His cake was not as cool as it’s been in the past. He wanted half German Chocolate (his favorite), and half chocolate (something the kids would eat). Elaina helped me count the candles. I was proud of her for counting so high. :)

It only took two tries to blow out all of the candles. :) 

It was really nice to have Mike in town for his birthday. I’m glad his trip was cancelled/postponed. I know that means Halloween will all be on me, but that’s alright. I’ll take him being home for birthdays anytime!

Our fun Saturday

Last night Josh and Mike went camping. Then Jake went to his friends’ house. Emma, Elaina and I were able to spend a quiet night at home alone most of the night. It was really nice. The girls talked me into bringing the table into the living room and draping blankets on it for a tent. The girls wanted to sleep in their “tent”, so I let them stay up watching TV until Jake got home. I figured we could sleep in this morning (well until 8 anyway). Jake got home @ 11:15. Emma decided she wanted to sleep in her bed, thus leaving Elaina alone in the living room. Elaina freaked out and started bawling. I went ahead and let her sleep with me. I normally don’t let her sleep in my bed when Mike is gone but she ends up there anyway. She is up at least a couple of times a night. When she sleeps in my bed, she stays down all night.


When I finally got them all to bed, Jake reminded me that he needed to be to Albertsons at 7 this morning. YEAH! I love teenagers.

We made it just fine this morning. I even got the girls to the primary program practice on time. Tomorrow should be interesting. Half the primary kids and teachers weren’t there. I’m not sure that only 1 practice was such a good idea.

Tonight we went with Mike to a Chinese restaurant for his birthday. It is a tradition that for birthdays we go out to eat at the birthday person’s place of choice. Mike always picks Chinese. Emma wasn’t too excited about Chinese, but she didn’t pitch a fit. That was nice. We all walked (more like waddled) out having eaten way more than necessary. Even Elaina had her fill.

The kids are really excited for Mike's birthday tomorrow. We don’t have big plans since it is Sunday. I do think it was really nice of the primary to put on this special program for his birthday, though (at least that’s what we keep telling him). Hopefully he will have a good day. We all have worked hard to try to make it a good day for him.

Up for another Campout?

Today Mike took half a day off from work. Josh had a campout for scouts. It seems like one boy or another is always camping, doesn’t it? Anyways, Mike took off so he could go with Josh. Luckily for me, I married a handyman. My shower started leaking and Mike had to fix it before he left. It was a bit harder than expected, but Mike was able to get it taken care of and still get to the campout on time.
Here is a pic of one of the new handles. There are two of them, but I only took a picture of one.  Alright, I took pictures of both of them, but Mike wanted me to clean the wall before taking the picture, which I of course was too lazy to do, so you get to see the one instead of two. :)  They are nice and shiny for now...

It also seems that tomorrow isn’t going to be a drama filled as I thought it would be. Apparently Emma doesn’t have show choir practice. That’s helpful. I was wondering how to be at two different places at once since Mike is camping with Josh. Now both girls will get to have their ice cream and practice for the program. Why is it the Primary Presidency feels the need to fill them up with sugar then make them sit still for 2 hours? I’m dreading having to try to corral those kids tomorrow. I know it isn’t very nice of me, but I’m just thankful I’m not sitting with the class I have been teaching for the last couple of weeks. I still am not sure why I am in primary. I’m sure Heavenly Father knows what he is doing, but hopefully no one is injured in the process.

Big news in our house

Today I got a call from the girls’ school. Apparently Emma has been chosen to be in an all-district show choir. She is very excited. I think she is really going to enjoy herself. She has been singing most of the afternoon. Now if we can just get Elaina to be a bit more cooperative with Emma singing, that would be helpful. Emma is a bit torn, though. The primary is having their program this Sunday. The kids have been practicing with the goal of an ice cream party this Saturday. Of course, this Saturday is the only day that the primary is practicing their program. It’s also the first practice for the show choir. Mike told her that we could take her for a sundae after her show choir practice. I’m sure she will do fine Sunday. Her part isn’t large and she already has it memorized. I have to be there (yep, I’ve been asked to sit in for a teacher) so I can see where she needs to go and then help her Sunday.

Mike also had big news today. He isn’t going out of town next week. His trip got cancelled and postponed. He’s going to be able to be here for his and Elaina’s birthdays after all. He was supposed to leave Sunday (his birthday) and be gone till the following Monday (Elaina’s birthday is Saturday ~ the24th). We are all really excited about getting to have him around a bit more. Now if his job can keep him in town for a few days in a row that would be great.

Here's what's happening in my world. Jealous?

Not much to write about. Life is hectic as usual. Mike made it home, but hasn’t been here too much. He is gone again (just for the day, I think). The girls are still getting out early from school which makes my day feel cut in half.


Jake is continuing with his “I need to transfer” bit. I finally told him that if he writes me a paper with legitimate reasons, I will consider it. All I ever get from him is “I don’t have any friends”. That won’t cut it for me. Yes, I’m probably cruel, but I honestly don’t think moving to a bigger, new school is going to help him make friends. I'm pretty sure actually talking to kids is the answer to that problem.  Oh well, I’m sure things will work out. Somehow.

Josh is doing good. He, thankfully, has said he doesn’t wish to transfer. I am extremely grateful for that.

Emma is dying. At least she thinks she is. She has allergies. I’m sure they are unpleasant. I’ve been dealing with them myself, but I’m also sure she isn’t going to kill over in the next day or two like she’s acting. She had me write a note for her to get out of gym and was much better that afternoon. It was a true miracle. Unfortunately, she had gym again today, so yes. She is on her deathbed again.

Elaina is up to her usual good natured self. Yes, that was sarcasm. She hasn’t been bad, but she has been getting more and more active lately and less able to handle things. If we could bottle up her energy and share it with the world, we would run out of things needing to be accomplished. Oh well. I’ll just have to keep re-directing her and getting on to the other kids who sing… or hum… or whistle… or snap… or etc. You get the idea.

My weird morning

Today is one of the weird days where the boys have the day off school and the girls have school. It's nice and bad all at the same time. Today was a bit different than it has been in the past. Usually the boys start bugging me to entertain them while the girls whine because they aren't staying home as well. Today the girls went to school with no problems. I'm sure it helps that they are getting out of school at 1 PM all week due to parent teacher conferences. Then when I got back from taking the girls, Jake let me take a shower and take a nap. He didn’t even mention that I was to entertain him today as is his style on days like today. I woke up to him on the phone discussing his plans for the day with a friend. He didn't wake me like he usually does. He let me sleep. I was shocked and extremely appreciative. I think if he had asked me to drive him to the moon I would have tried to do it. I of course didn't let him know that... but I did let him know how much I appreciated the uninterrupted nap. When Mike is out of town, I don't sleep well. I wish I did. Thankfully he comes home today after being gone for a week. I don't know how many more nights of getting 3 to 4 hours of sleep my old body can take. Usually napping during the day keeps me up at night.  I figured since Mike is coming home tonight I should be OK. Plus, I was about to pass out. Haha

My princesses

I have been asking Elaina for a couple of weeks what she wants to be for Halloween. She always answers ‘a princess’. I wanted to make sure she wasn’t going to change her mind (as is common). Yesterday I remembered a dress that Mother had adjusted for Emma a few years back. I thought it might work for Elaina. She tried it on and the bodice was too tight. As fate would have it, that is the part of the dress that Mother had adjusted for Emma earlier. I got a wild hair today and pulled out the sewing machine. I don’t often trust myself with that thing. I really enjoy it for simple straight lines, but I am NO seamstress! Mother is the one with the sewing talent. Even Mike has better sewing skills than I do. Anyway, I figured “what do I have to lose” and used a seam ripper and undid one side of the fabric Mother had sewed into the bodice. Thankfully she had used a bigger piece of fabric than necessary and I just undid one side and sewed it back up using the outer edge of the extra piece. I had Elaina try the dress on this afternoon, and it fits just right. She is in love.

Emma tried on her dress from last year and has decided to re-use it as well. Last year she was a witch, this year she wants to be a gothic princess. They are really excited.

I’m just glad that I was brave enough to try fixing it on my own and that it worked! Not bad for a couple of thrift shop dresses!

Pizza pockets

Tonight for dinner I made pizza pockets.  I got a bit of sticker shock while looking to buy the girls some 'Hot Pockets' for school lunches. These taste great and are basically free since I already have everything on hand.  :)

I haven’t made these in a long time. I made up some wheat pizza dough. Then I made up some pockets. I made them like mini pizzas then folded them in half, sealed the edges and cooked them.  We had pepperoni, broccoli chicken, and bbq chicken. My personal favorite was the bbq chicken. Just bbq sauce with cooked chicken and cheese all rolled up to burnt perfection. Actually, I didn’t burn any this time. Maybe next time. haha

Am I dreaming?

Taking Jake to seminary has been enjoyable. I can’t believe I just said that. I must be delirious from the lack of sleep.
As is habit, Elaina went with me yesterday to pick up Jake from seminary. It’s the best way to get her up and moving. On the way, she turned on the light and read to me. It was wonderful. She has really taken to reading. This morning, she woke up early to go with me to take him. I was shocked, but alright with it. She read me a book before we left. Jake got a bit annoyed, but I thought it was great. He likes to be a little early to seminary, and we weren’t as early this morning, but we were still on time. Then after we got home and had Emma and Josh awake, Elaina started making her lunch. To say I was shocked is an understatement. She was so excited. She told me “I want to make my lunch every morning”. I let her know that would be great with me. I still can’t believe it. I am not foolish enough to think this will happen two days in a row, but man how I enjoyed this morning!

How was your morning?

This morning is one of the mornings in which I look longingly toward the time I am in a nursing home or better still… the psychiatric ward. I look forward to the time when all I have to do is be taken care of. I don’t see it happening, but it’s a nice dream.


I was lucky enough to listen to the 1st session of conference yesterday with the girls yelling, crying, and hitting each other. You can’t imagine what an uplifting meeting that was. Then for the 2nd session, Elaina was still at it, only this time she was doing it all with Josh. Needless to say I didn’t hear much of conference. I will have to read it when we get the Ensign. 

Then this morning, I was lucky enough to get a sore throat from the screaming I got to do. I am truly blessed to have kids who love hearing my voice strained beyond capacity. My first opportunity came when Elaina didn’t want to wake up. I tried the gentle coaxing, lights on, singing (to annoy her), and all kinds of other things.  She wouldn't budge. 

Then came the morning showers. My how I hate shower time in the morning! Apparently I am the only one who thinks 30 minutes is way too long for a morning shower, especially when you only have an hour to shower, eat, make lunches, get dressed, brush your hair and style it, and when Mike is gone, go pick up Jake from seminary (which takes 15 minutes each way).  Then get to school on time.

I have also been trying to get Elaina better at helping with her lunches in the morning. She is determined to let me continue to make her lunches while she sits and whines about what I put in her lunch bag. I figure it isn’t that hard to help with a lunch, but I am apparently mistaken. It is truly difficult. The effort it requires is too much for my darling 1st grader. Never mind that most of the lunch items are pre-packaged or easily obtained. Oh what a foolish thing for me to ask of her!

This was just a typical morning. Yeah!

Let me apologize in advance for the many posts you might be receiving from me. Mike left this morning and since he isn’t good at e-mail or phone calls while in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, I will be writing more on the blog. He is supposed to try to email more, but I doubt it happens. He gets very busy and doesn’t often have a good internet connection. He did mention, as we dropped him off at the airport this morning, that he would be reading the blog to keep up with us here. So, sorry if you get blog overload from me. I can’t guarantee that I will make lots of posts, but in case I do, you have been warned.


Today I tried a new recipe. I wasn’t impressed and Jake was the only other one to eat any. It had good qualities, but it was just too sweet for my taste. It also had too much parmesan cheese for my liking. I am going to play with the recipe and see if I can get it more to my liking. Here is the recipe if you want it as it is. You might be able to play with it and get it to your liking. It has great potential.

This is what it looked like. Not too pretty, but it has potential like I said.  I put the leftovers in a freezer bag so Mike can try it when he gets back.

This is what Josh, Emma and Elaina ate.  Noodles with parmesan cheese.  They were happy with it. They had to have "fancy" plates as well.   haha