Birthday Cakes!

Mitchell's 1st Birthday

Elijah's 6th Birthday

Greg's 10th Birthday

Jacob's 15th Birthday

Diane's 17th Birthday

Stuart's Birthday

Chad's 13th Birthday

Adin's 4th Birthday

With 7 kids, there are a lot of  birthdays at my house.  To make birthday's extra special, I try to make a really fun and unique cake for each of my children.  These are the cakes that I made for them on their most recent birthday.  Diane requested the Barbie cake even though she is 17, I guess she was feeling nostalgic.  Elijah found the space shuttle cake in one of my books and begged for it.  The rest of this years cakes were surprises for the kids.  I had made the dragon cake for one of Gregory's past birthday's, but all the rest were new for me.  I really enjoyed making Stuart's Fire truck cake, sort of a joke about putting out the fire from that many candles!  I'll have to make it again when he turns 50!  Elijah's next birthday is coming around in 2 weeks and he is already requesting an army tank cake.  I usually take requests, and I have made this one before, so it shouldn't be too hard to do again. And what about my birthday?  I refuse to make my own birthday cake, so Stuart usually buys me one.  He got me an ice cream cake this year.  Maybe someday, he dabble in the baking department and get inspired, but I doubt it.  Until then, I hope all our birthdays (and yours too) are happy and sweet. 

Summer Time is Here

The kids have been out of school now for a few weeks.  We have such a busy summer this year. Right after school got out, Jacob completed his Eagle Scout Project.  He needs to finish the paperwork next.  He is also taking an online math class through BYU.  Jacob and Stuart already went on the Scout High Adventure. Diane and Jacob are enrolled in summer school history classes which are 3 weeks long .  Chad and Stuart left this morning for scout camp. Stuart will return on Tuesday night and Chad will come back next Saturday.  On Monday, Greg and Eli will go to summer intersession at school, which lasts for 3 weeks and Chad will go to it when he returns from camp.  Diane is looking for a job and has applied to volunteer at the hospital.  She is also applying for college scholarships online.  She is teaching piano to 2 students for the rest of this month, then takes July off.  All the kids are taking a break from piano and Aikido lessons for the summer. We have swam in the neighbor's pool several times already.  We also went to Gilbert to visit Stuart's sister, Laurie's, family.  We brought her daughter, Lexi, back with us for a few days and Laurie picked her up last Monday.  Stuart and I have plans to go to the temple in Mesa next Friday afternoon.  Chad hoped to get to work on his eagle scout leadership project (putting a gate into a fence for a public school). Then, on July 8, we will leave for our family vacation to Utah.  It will take us 2 days to get to Stuart's parents' home.  Then we'll pick up our former exchange student, Carina, from the airport on Sunday, July 10.  On July 11, we'll take Diane, Jacob and Diane's best friend, Megan, to BYU for Especially for Youth activity, they will stay there for a week, while the rest of us will visit family and attractions in the Utah Valley area.  We'll head to Moab the next Monday and spend 2 nights there visiting the parks and canyons, then drive to Bryce and Zion's National parks, after that we will go to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and spend 2 nights there.  My in-laws, Megan and Carina will be with us for that part of the trip, then we'll part ways with the Roberts and Drop Megan off with her family in Flagstaff as we head home to Tucson on July 24.  Carina will spend another 2 weeks or so visiting with us.  We all have dentist appointments for cleaning and we'll  do our back-to-school shopping. I also have some gift certificates for horseback riding and I hope to go to Breaker's Water Park before school starts. The K-8 kids are going to attend a new charter school called Legacy Traditional school which starts on August 8.  The high school kids will go to CDO on August 10.  That will be the end of our busy and wonderful summer!

So many goals, so little time!

It's time to report on my goals, I'm not doing great so far, but I will do better now that my home business has shut down.  I have more time on my hands for things like scrapbooking and cross stitching and reading.

• Add $399 to each of my children's bank accounts We added $500 to each account at the end of 2010.
• Archive old film and prints on memory stick I need to buy a film scanner
• Attend 3 cultural events Not yet
• Compile a Family Favorites Recipe Book Haven't worked on this yet
• Complete a free on-line class signed up for the class, but haven't worked on it much
• Do my visiting teaching monthly Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, March, April all good, hope to go this week for May
• Do not yell in anger ever again I'm working on this, still :)
• Fast correctly 1 time a month I'll start fresh in June, it's hard since Mitchell isn't weaned yet.
• Finish cross-stitch for Mitchell I have worked on this some, but it will take a while.
• Finish scrapbooks for Adin and Mitchell Finished Adin's and I am now working on Mitchell's
• Get a manicure at least 9 times 2x
• Get my hair cut every 3 months 2x
• Get my weight to 139 lbs I'm down to 146! Haven't made any progress here yet.
• Go on 3 camping trips with my family 1x to Catalina State Park
• Go on a date with Stuart 2 times a month This has been hard with his Boy Scout calling, but we'll work on it more.
• Go to the temple 9 times 2x
• Have a professional family portrait taken Took a non-pro one, and need to set an appointment for a pro
• Help Greg earn his Arrow of Light Finished his Webelo award, still working toward AOL
• Help Jake earn his Eagle Scout Award Project set to work on May 28!, Chad should get his this summer too!
• Keep a blog of my 39 goals :) Here it is!
• Make 39 humanitarian kits 12 completed
• Only spend $275/week on groceries Put together a budget and will be keeping close tabs on it now.
• Organize a "Friends in the Park" Day A friend beat me to this one, and I have attended once.
• Read 39 books Finished 6, but am reading 2 more right now.
• Read the Book of Mormon I'm in Alma.
• Read the New Testament
• Read to my children every day Will be more consistent over the summer, I promise
• Sew/Make 3 projects or crafts Made Easter Bunnies from water bottles (see post below)
• Spend 30 hours doing community service  Will volunteer at the school in the fall, I think.
• Take cookies/brownies to 9 people We took 10 plates of Christmas cookies to people.
• Take each of my children on a 1 on 1 "date" Jacob and Diane are done.  Chad wants to go rock climbing
• Take my children to the zoo 9 times 3x (to 3 zoo's !)
• Take my family to 9 local attractions.  1
  
• Try 1 new recipe each month Been trying the free sample recipes from EMealz.com, love them.
  
• Write 1 letter a month to a family member or friend I have written my parents and in-laws,
• Write in a journal weekly (my own or one of my children's)I I have written in all the younger children's journal's at least once, more with Mitchell's.  I need to write in my own though.

Another Happy Mother's Day Morning

Mitchell, Mommy and Elijah

My  Heaven 7

What does Mother's Day look like at your house?  For  me, it's waking up early to change the baby, then handing him over to my wonderful husband. He takes the baby and wakes the other kids, while I try to go back to sleep.  Actually, I'm secretly listening to the noises and conversation in the kitchen as they work together to make a "surprise" breakfast in bed for me.  I love to hear them talk and whisper and tell each other to sign the card and how to cut the strawberries just so.  Then, they quietly stampede up the stairs, burst into my room singing "Mother, I Love You" and wake me up.  How I love it when the children all climb into bed with me to watch me open my cards and smell my flowers.  After a while, they all go downstairs to get their own breakfast, while I eat mine.  Today, Elijah cuddled in bed with me as I ate.  He reread all the cards.  Now that he can read, it is so interesting to watch him choose things to read and ask me questions about what he is learning.  I thing the beginning reader is one of the best "stages" of childhood, as their curiosity is peeked over and over again. Jacob was just sent up to bring down the breakfast tray and the baby was brought up to play with toys in my room.  Some of the boys are outside playing on the trampoline and Stuart and the others are cleaning up breakfast, while I finally am blessed with a few moments to myself, to record how full my heart feels when I look into the eyes of my children and see their love and affection for me.  I'm not sure what I've done to deserve that love, but I'm grateful for it and grateful that God has sent each one of these precious children to my home for me to love and learn from and be a mommy to.

Easter Crafts

Easter Centerpiece

Bunnies!

 

 

 

I saw these 2 spring time crafts on another blog that I like to read and decided that they were easy enough for me to do too.  I put together the centerpiece from in about an 1/2 hour after my shopping trip.  the materials to make it cost about $18, the big vase being the most expensive part of it.  To make the Bunnies, I used small water bottles and cupcake liners for the hats. I printed the ears and hands from happy clippings where I got the idea They probably cost me $5 to make, the candy being the most expensive part.  My kids helped me hot glue them all together after dinner. With their "help" it took about 1 1/2 hours.  I really liked how they turned out.  I gave 5 of the bunnies away to the children in our Joy School group and gave the other 4 away to my "sisters" that I visit teach.  I'm tempted to make a few more, just for decoration around our home.  These sweet crafts are just a simple way to make our Easter a bit more fun this year. 

Books Read

My goal to read 39 books this year is 2 down!
I have finished Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know by Hamilton Wright Mabie
and Maze Runner by James Dashner
I really enjoyed Maze Runner and hope to get it's sequel soon. In the meantime, I am starting The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and hope to finish the series in a few weeks. 

Those 39 Goals!

Here's the Countdown for my Goals so far:

39 Goals for my 39th year

• Add $399 to each of my children's bank accounts We added $500 to each account at the end of the year from our business.  I still hope to save from grocery money and add to each account that way.
• Archive old film and prints on memory stick I need to buy a film scanner
• Attend 3 cultural events Not yet
• Compile a Family Favorites Recipe Book Haven't worked on this yet
• Complete a free on-line class signed up for the class, but haven't worked on it much
• Do my visiting teaching monthly I visited in Nov. and Dec. and need to make Jan appointments soon
• Do not yell in anger ever again I'm working on this :)
• Fast correctly 1 time a month Did well in December, but only a breakfast fast in Jan.
• Finish cross-stitch for Mitchell I have worked on this some, but it will take a while.
• Finish scrapbooks for Adin and Mitchell I need to get started on this
• Get a manicure at least 9 times I have had 1 manicure in Nov.
• Get my hair cut every 3 months I got my hair cut in Nov.
• Get my weight to 139 lbs I'm down to 146!
• Go on 3 camping trips with my family waiting for the summer
• Go on a date with Stuart 2 times a month We did this in Nov and Dec.  Hope to go out this weekend
• Go to the temple 9 times Have visited 1 time
• Have a professional family portrait taken Took a non-pro one, and need to set an appointment for a pro
• Help Greg earn his Arrow of Light We have worked on Family and Athlete
• Help Jake earn his Eagle Scout Award Encouraging him
• Keep a blog of my 39 goals :) Here it is!
• Make 39 humanitarian kits 12 completed
• Only spend $275/week on groceries I haven't been keeping track, but will start soon
• Organize a "Friends in the Park" Day
• Read 39 books Almost finished with "Classic Fairytales Every Child Should Know"
• Read the Book of Mormon Almost through 2nd Nephi
• Read the New Testament
• Read to my children every day Doing good on this, only have missed a few days
• Sew/Make 3 projects or crafts Haven't started
• Spend 30 hours doing community service  Haven't started
• Take cookies/brownies to 9 people We took 10 plates of Christmas cookies to people.
• Take each of my children on a 1 on 1 "date" Jacob's turn this month
• Take my children to the zoo 9 times Have visited 1x
• Take my family to 9 local attractions Took them to 1 (Amazing Jake's)
• Try 1 new recipe each month Made Fried Chicken in December, Made a Roast Chicken in Jan.
• Write 1 letter a month to a family member or friend I'm going to write one this month!
• Write in a journal weekly (my own or one of my children's) Have written 2x in Mitchell's journal, but need to get going with the others.
• Goals are fun!  I having lots of fun doing other things too, like baking bread and training our new puppy.  Life is good!

Happy New Year 2011!

Hygiene kits for the Humanitarian Center

A new year has begun!  My "resolution" this year is to complete the 39 goals I made last month for my birthday.  As a family, we made progress toward my goal of creating 39 kits for the humanitarian center.  We put together 12 kits and sent them in on the day after Christmas.  It was fun making them on the dining room table as a family.  We also took a trip to the zoo with my nephews and nieces the week before Christmas.  Only 8 more trips to go!  I love the zoo and watching the children react to all the animals.  We had a wonderful holiday and hope that you and your family do too.  May you be blessed in the coming year.

Cody, Kylee, Adin, Diane and Lexi look for animals at the zoo.

Eli, JC, Kylee, Cody, Adin, Diane, Mitchell, Lexi and Greg love Reid Park Zoo.

Going to the zoo with cousins makes it even more special.

JC and Adin ride the elephant

Keeping up on my Goals!

Adin and Mitchell visit with Santa at the Mall.  Adin was  a bit too shy to get much closer than this:)

This is probably the most difficult time of year to keep any goals at all.  Thankfully, most of my goals fit in with the season.  I've been reading my scriptures nearly every day.  I'm already in the middle of 2 Nephi.  This has really helped me stayed spiritually at peace during what is pretty much a stressful time for me.  I have been using my new Droid phone to read the scriptures and track my progress.  It's a great little tool. I am also using it to read a book on Kindle.  I'm reading the classic fairy tales which are fun to read and easy to fit in here and there.  On my bedside table I have A Patriot's History of the United States.  It's amazing, unfortunately it's also very long and will be due back at the library next week.  I'm going to have to give in and buy this one, but it's worthy of my bookshelf.

 

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Me and Elijah on the Roller Coaster at Amazing Jake's!

Stuart and I were able to attend the temple in Mesa last week.  We brought all the kids up with us and they stayed at their Aunt Laurie's house.  We did sealings in the temple, bringing some of my ancestors together forever through the wonderful priesthood power.  What a wonderful feeling that was.  After our temple visit, we took the kids to a fun place called Amazing Jake's.  It is an indoor wonderland. It has lazer tag, rock wall climbing, mini golf, bumper cars, a mini coaster and lots of video games and other stuff.  It also has an all you can eat buffet.  I think that counts as  one of the "local attractions", even though it is in Gilbert.

Chad and Greg's team

Elijah and his teammates with Flat Stanley-who visited for a few weeks.

Flag Football for the boys is going to be over today!  They have their tournament games and then we get to rest until next year.  They have all done well and had fun playing.  On Wednesday they had night games.  Chad and Greg had 2 games to play, but I only let them play 1/2 of the second game as it was bedtime for Elijah.

Mitchell in front of our tree.

Almond Butter Bars, Yummy.

Last night we attended a live children's Nativity that a local family puts on each year in front of their barn, complete with a donkey, alpaca (for the camel) and sheep.  It was beautiful.  I love Christmas time. We also did our first baking yesterday. The famous (or infamous if you are a waistline) Almond butter bars!  We are taking them to a cookie party tonight with Stuart's work associates.  Sunday is Stuart's 41st birthday and his sister is coming with her family to help us celebrate. We are then keeping their 4 kids with us for a few days.  It's going to be a fun week!  I can't wait until Christmas.

Another Busy Week

My days are so busy lately.  Yes, it's December and there's lots to do to prepare for Christmas, but also our home business has been taking up a lot of my time.  I'm still working on my goals though!  I've been using my birthday gift (a Droid cell phone) to read the Book of Mormon each day and I use the Kindle application to read books.  My 1st book for the 39 is "Fairy Tales everyone should read".  I'm also reading "The Patriot's American History", but it is a huge book and will take me a while to read.  I signed up for a free on-line course through BYU's distance learning program.  It's called The American's guide to government.  I've completed the 1st lesson.  I've been really good about reading every day to Adin and sometimes Eli before bed.  I also stayed within my grocery budget last week.  Stuart and I went out to dinner on Friday night with some friends, so that counts for my goal to go on a date with him 2x/month.  I'm working real hard, though not perfectly, at keeping my voice down even when I'm upset.  This is probably my most difficult goal as it requires a change of my character, a change from the way I was raised, a change from how my family has become accustomed to me, but a change that is essential to my happiness and to the improvement of my family.
We set up and decorated our Christmas tree tonight.  It's a wonderful holiday with so many traditions that bind our family, even if it is a bit stressful at times. May it be a blessed holiday for all of us.