St. Patrick's Day!

The kids woke up to green pancakes yesterday, in celebration of St. Patricks Day.

Maddie wasn't too thrilled with the color green but Hunter and Emily didn't seem to care. Last year I turned the milk green and that was a little too much for everyone so I didn't do that again.

Hunter's been seeing commercials for Sorry on tv lately. We were given the game several years ago and have never opened it. So I pulled it out and we played several times througout the day.

For dinner I had the kids help me make green shamrock bread to go with dinner.

Hunter made Mr. St. Patrick himself to go along with the shamrocks.

And for dinner we had leperchaun's treasure (green jello with pineapple and mandarin oranges), chicken, broccoli and rice casserole, shamrock bread and a green leperchaun's drink (green sherbert with sprite). After dinner the kids decorated green cupcakes with green frosting and sprinkles. By bed time they were asking if we could do this again tommorrow! I'm glad they had an enjoyable day.

Girl's new doo's..

I've been taking pictures of the girls hair over the past few days. For some reason I wasn't using the flash so the picts turned out really yellow and grainy and you couln't see very well. This morning I realized what I've been doing all week so all I can give is how we did there hair today. Maddie was so excited for this morning. We did our 2 normal pigtails and then I braided them. I then crossed the braids over her head and tucked the end into the elastics holding the pony tail. Ta Da... She even let me put bows in to hide the elastics. When I picked her up today after preschool the first thing she said was how all girls liked her hair. I'm glad she's having as much fun with this as I am.

Emily is most definetely not photogenic. She likesgetting her hair done and is asking me to do it. She just doesn't like it when I pull the camera out for proof!!

I took Emily with me to Costco this morning and we got so so so many compliments on her hair. I love going to www.shedoeshair.blogspot.com for more ideas. It's still hard to see the back of Emily's hair. I do the little ponytails just to help keep her hair stay in place all day and out of her face. Her hair isn't quite long enough to last all day in pigtails without a little help.

Chicken's...

As most of you are aware several weeks ago we ordered baby chicks from a Hatchery out of California. Three other families and us ordered a total of 85 chicks. They hatched last wed and were immediately shipped to us. We were able to pick them up last friday evening from the post office. My kids are quick to tell you what these little guys will look like when they grow up. The black chicks are called Barred Rock and will be black and white striped and will lay white eggs. The brown chicks are Rhode Island Red's. They will grow up to be red and lay big brown eggs, so we've been told. The yellow chicks are White Leghorns. They will be white and lay white eggs. The White Leghorns were Kory's grandma's favorite so we thought we try them. We wanted to try a few varieties to see which kind lays the most eggs and for the longest.

The chicks will start laying eggs when they are 4-6 months old. So hopefully by August we will start having some fresh eggs.

When we arrived home with all 85 chicks they were quite loud with all the chirping. We immediately gave them warm sugar water and a little chick food while Kory ran to Home Depot to grab a heating lamp for them. Waiting for his return it was quite obvious that the chicks were still cold. They were huddling together pushing each other right up against the warm bottle of water. So I pulled out the blow dryer and Hunter and Emily took turns blowing warm air on them while we waited for daddy.

Maddie was at a birthday party so she missed out on some of the fun. She is however the only one of my children who will hold a chick. She loves them. Hunter is quite scared of the little guys and screams like a girl when they start approaching him. We've got to get him to over come this fear so he'll help collect the eggs when the chicks aren't chicks anymore and can really peck him good. We've gotten Emily to hold one a few times but then she lets go claiming they are tickling her hand. Hince no picture.

Come this May we should also be receiving 15 baby Mascovia Ducks. Besides the eggs they will be laying they will also eat bugs out of a garden without damaging the crop. They also eat MOSQUITO'S. This past fall we had a major infestation of these nasty little flying bugs. Getting the mail would get me another 3-4 bites. We stopped letting the kids go in the garden and play outside becuase they would be covered in bites within just a few minutes. A really good friend was trying to buy a house across the street from us. There were a few problems that needed to be fixed before they could close on the home. When the problems were fixed the Inspector REFUSED to come out and check everything off because of the Mosquito's. Scaredy Cat!!!
So I'm hoping this year having 15 ducks running around the house will help with this upcoming problem we may have a little later on.

www.shedoeshair.blogspot.com.

Generally speaking my girls hair are always done. They usually have their hair pulled back into somesort of pigtail with bows. Maddie my 4 soon to be 5 year old is growing up. She's starting to fight me on wearing bows. She would much perfer one big pony tail or a head band. To keep the peace I haven't fought her on this too much. However her hair is driving me CRAZY! It's seems like it's always in her face, dipping into her food and just out of control. I've come across this blog a few times now called www.shedoeshair.blogspot.com. It's a mom of 3 girls who does some amazing thing with her girls hair. Tonight I had Maddie come look at the pictures she has taken of her girls hair. To my delight Maddie has chosen a few styles she would like to try. Today she chose this style. She was so excited about her new doo. I've been thinking about cutting her hair again lately. But I had so much fun playing with her hair and she had fun too, so I think we'll hold off on the cutting. It helps that this mom's blog has several pictures of Princesses hair do's like, Jasmine, Cinderella, Tinkerbell, etc. Maddie loved her hair so much she didn't let me take it out before bed tonight. We'll see what style she chooses for tommorrow. I got what I wanted tonight by having her hair done, out of her face, and looking nice. Maddie got what she wanted by not having a bow in her hair. I love it we both win!!

Emily watched me do her sisters hair and then she wanted a turn. I was suprised she sat long enough for me to do it. She even let me use the curling iron on her.

Little Miss is 2. It's hard enough to take a picture of her face. It was almost impossible to take a picture of the back of her head when she new I was trying to take a picture of her. For once she was trying to cooperate by letting me get her precious face in the pict.

I love the curls. Daddy thought she looked like a chicken with her hair up and all over. I thought it turned out pretty. I love the curls. Unlike her big sister she loves bows. She insists on having a bow everyday. So we had to throw in a bow on her doo. I'm glad she's only 2 and can't take the chicken comment to heart. If she did it may be a fight for me to do her hair ever again, knowing mom might make her look like a chicken.

For those of you with girls you've got to check this website out. For many of the styles she gives step by step instructions. She has styles for long, medium and short hair. Her baby girl isn't a year old yet and she's got a few styles for that baby fine, very short, not a lot of hair everywhere. Anyways you should try it and hopefully you'll have as much fun trying something new as my girls and I did today. Goodluck!

Around The World In 80 Minutes

Tonight Hunter had his very first school performance. It was called Around The World In 80 Minutes. He's been practicing at school almost every day for a week now. I thought I was being prepared with my crummy camera. I put new batteries in right before we left and turned the camera on to make sure it would work before walking out the door. During his 1st performance I tried taking his pict but he was always standing behind someone a little taller then him. And then of course my camera started beeping and claimed the batteries were dead. So unfortunately I don't have a single picture of him performing tonight. His class sang 7 songs, 1 in Spanish and 1 in French. He did a great job. It's been fun to watch his excitement of being able to perform in front of everyone over the past couple of days. Good job Hunter!!

Strawberry Shortcake Nightgowns

This strawberry shortcake fabric was given to me when Maddie was a baby. I've wanted to make something out of it but just wasn't sure what. Last summer we were going to try to have one of my neices who is the same age of Maddie come stay with us for a few days. I thought it would be fun to make them matching nightgowns. The summer got busy and it just never worked out to get the girls together. So yesterday I saw the fabric and pulled it out. I had forgotten I had even cut the fabric and had it pinned together ready to sew. Being the fabric was cut almost a year ago I had to add a longer ruffle to Maddies so it will fit her for more then just a few weeks. I shortened the other cut fabric hoping it would fit Emily.

I think they turned out pretty well. The girls are very happy with their new springy nightgowns. Maddie has 2 other nightgowns and Emily is always trying to wear them. After about 30min of tripping over it she usually ends up changing into p.j's of her own. She is so excited to have her very own nightgown.

Brayden's 3D Ultrasound

This morning I had my 3D ultrasound. It's still a boy. Yeah!! I love this pict of his mouth open.The bubbles around his mouth going between his head and arm is the umbilical cord.

Seeing him in 3D makes him seem more real. Not that all the kicking, pushing and squirming isn't enough proof that something real is inside.

I'm getting more excited the closer we get. I am in my 29 week or just starting my 7th month. Brayden is too squashed to be able to tell how long he is but he weighs about 3 lbs.

1st Fondant Cake

I love making cakes. 2 of my really good friends had their little boys celebrate their 3rd birthday this past weekend. They knowing my love for making cakes asked me if I wanted to make their cakes. Of course I said yes! Since both little boys love Mickey Mouse I went with this theme.

I used a cream cheese frosting for the sheet cake. I then made my 1st batch of fondant ever. The fondant covers the red playhouse, yellow shoe, white balloon hand, slide and fence. For my 1st fondant cake I think it turned out pretty well. Hunter's birthday is in April. I'm getting excited to have anther chance to make a cake. I'll definetly be using fondant again.

Valentines Pre-School

Last week I taught pre school again. We didn't end up having school that tuesday becuase it turned into a snow day. So thursday the kids did some projects I had planned for that tuesday and their valentine party. Everyone was given a bag to decorate with stickers and crayons. They used this bag to put all their Valentine goods into.

This week we were talking about shapes. So using different shapes they were able to make their own picture.

We also talked about patterns. Using conversation hearts and frosting the kids made patterns. This was Maddies favorite part. I'm so glad she's having fun in preschool this year and she loves it when we have it at our house.

Today Is A Snow Day!

Yesterday morning I had an O.B appointment in Prescott. It snowed during my drive there, my 2 hours I spent waiting for my turn in the office and then all the way home. It continued to snow off and on for the rest of the day. Even though it felt like it was snowing all day it seems the snow didn't start sticking until late afternoon. At 10:00 last night it was still snowing. This is what we woke up to.I took a ruler outside and tried to measure how much snow we got. For the most part I got several 2 1/2 inches, other spots were a little higher and a little lower. This is the perfect amount for me. The snow may or may not last a few days and then it will be gone.

The teeter-toter. I know I didn't spell that right but for the life of me nothing looks right.

The girls had a blast this morning. I didn't get my camera out quick enough to catch Madie making several snow angels.

Emily wasn't interested in making snow angels but she did enjoy brushing the snow off the outside toys and of course eating it.

Hunter did join in the fun for a few minutes until his feet got cold and then he chickened out and went back inside. He's thrilled today turned into a snow day and he doesn't have to go to school. This week is becoming very short for him. Since I had my O.B appt. yesterday daddy stayed home to watch the kids and get Hunter to school. Somehow daddy "forgot" and Hunter was still home by the time I got home. So as long as we don't have another snow day this week Hunter will only go for wed, thur and then fri. is a half day so he's gone for about 1 1/2hrs. He's quite excited about how short this school week in turning out to be for him.

Unfinished Projects...

Now that I can see what I actually have in my closet I have stumbled across a few unfinished projects. So over the past few days I have been trying to complete some of these things. We currently have 11 sisters in our ward that are pregnant, all due between now and Sept. One of my friends gave birth 2 weeks ago and another had her baby the end of Dec. It's crazy to think we still have 11 more to go. So having been to a few baby showers already and several more to come I finished some hand made burp cloths. I was also able to finish this blanket with matching burp cloth. I love this blanket. If I were having a girl I think I'd keep it for myself.

Hunter's magnet board is another project that needed to be completed. Since I wasn't thinking and put the picts up backwards you get to see the finished project first. This isn't my favorite magnet board I've done but it's also my 1st board that had to include my 5yr. little boys opinion. He likes it so thats what counts.

Hunter can say he helped make it too. He was a great help with the modge podge, the painting and the hot glueing.

I let Hunter paint his dinosaurs all by himself. He did a pretty good job.

It's a great feeling to know a few projects have finally been completed. I still need to make a few nursing covers and one more blanket. I am trying to come up with some homemade gifts I can make using supplies I already have for some of the upcoming baby showers. It seems as though there will be quite a few baby girls joining us so yesterday I started making some hair bows. I've done about 10 and now I just need to glue them to a clip. Hopefully tommorrow those will be finished and I can take a pict of those. Theres a few that turned out soo cute. I'm ready to be finished with these projects so I can put everything away and get my house back together. It's such a hassle to put everything away just to pull it out again the next morning so everything gets put into a corner at dinner time.

We are still here...

It's been a few weeks since we've blogged but we are here and we are alive. My camera doesn't hold a charge anymore so I'm struggling taking picts. We just got back from Utah visiting Kory's family. Every year at this time the family and extended family gets together and cuts up meat. This was our first year attending this great event. It turned out to be a really awsome experience. In three days working from 8-5 with an 1 1/2 lunch break each day we cut up 18 steers/old cows. We cut up every type of beef meat you can think of hamburger, ribs, sirloin steak, rib steak, roast, etc. We were able to bring back several boxes of meat to fill our deep freeze. The days we weren't cutting up meat the kids were having a blast sledding down the hill in Aunt Harmony's back yard. After last years mishap I didn't dare try but the kids even Emily had a good time.

Before our 5 day journey to Utah we were finishing some projects around the house. Kory finished trimming the tree in our front yard and took all the trimmings to the dump. The tree looks great and our garden this year should do much better as it won't be in so much shade. We've been told the tree has never been trimmed before. There were branches so low that Hunter and Maddie could reach the lower branches. We had major mesquito issues this past year. I'm hoping that the ground will be able to dry quicker this year and the mesquito's won't stick around as long as they were able to this past year.

We also finished the inside of the shed. We hung shelves on 3 of the walls and put up hooks to hold shovels, rakes, hoses, etc. It looks good. Not having a garage the shed has been put to good use. My closest almost looks bare now that all the boxes of holiday decorations and baby paraphenelia are out of there. When it gets a little warmer we will stucko the outside and then the shed will be done. YEAH!!!

The kids now have a sand box. We found a place that gave us FREE sand we just had to haul it from Chino Valley to home. Kory built the box to hold all the sand and then 2 loads of sand filled it to the top. The kids have had so much fun having a sand box again. It turned out bigger then I thought 10x10. It's almost as big as the kids rooms. They have spent many hours out there the past few weeks enjoying there new space to play. Our backyard stays in the shade almost all day during the winter so all we have is a big mud puddle. I'm anxious for it to finally dry up and let the kids really have a great time out there. Next week I'm teaching preschool it'll be interesting to see all 7 kids out there.

Till next time...

Christmas Morning

Emily woke up at 4:15am Christmas Morning needing to use the bathroom. Being we shut the girls bedroom door she woke Maddie up so she could get out. Both girls walked right by the family room were Santa had delivered his gifts, got drinks and then came into our bedroom to tell us Emily needed the bathroom. Daddy helped Emily do her thing and then everyone crawled back into our bed. Emily started talking, not about anything impatitular but she just wouldn't be quiet. The girls didn't mention Santa at all. In the past Emily has done this before. We call it her early morning chatter. She usually talks and giggles for 30-45min. and then she'll fall asleep again. After about 15 minutes of this Kory and I decided we might as well get up. It was obvious Emily wasn't going to quit anytime soon. We were thinking that she probably wouldn't fall asleep until after 5a.m and then Hunter would probably wake up at 6 which is when he usually wakes up. We didn't want to be awake listening to chatter for 45min. to fall asleep for 45min just to be woken up again. So at 4:45 we were all in the front room discovering what Santa had brought. Emily was quite excited about her "2" babies. She wasn't to thrilled with having to wait on Daddy to unstrap the many ties so that she could hold them. Santa brought Maddie the Mariposa Barbie with beautiflul wings along with a jumbo size coloring book.

Santa brought Hunter a jumbo size coloring book along with a big dinoaur. The dinosaur roars and turns his head when a button is pushed. Hunter wasn't to excited with what Santa brought last year so I was glad to hear him say, "that's what I've always wanted" when he saw the dinosaur.

As most of you know we love playing games. So this year I bought a game for each of the kids. My brother had our name this year and sent us an additonal 5 games. Needles to say we have been quite busy these past few days playing new games.

Emily with all of her goodies.

Maddie with her goodies.

Hunter with his goods.

We had a wonderful Christmas morning with the kids. Everything was opened by 6 and some of us were then able to take a nap. Or maybe it's just called going back to bed. The past 2 years it seems someone has been sick by Christmas morning, thankfully this year we are all still healthy. We tried to keep the gifts very simple this year. We feel like we succeded, which is such a good feeling. We gave each of the kids 3 gifts, a puzzle, a movie and 1 toy. Santa brought a toy and then a jumbo coloring book for each of the kids. On top of that they each received gifts from Aunts and Uncles and of course Grandma's and Grandpa's. In the end they had plenty to open and play with. This year didn't end with the feeling we spent way too much money or that we over did it with the gifts. I hope next year will out similar to this year.