Pollywogs and Hoppers

When my parents were here last weekend my dad took the two youngest kids on a walk. They ended up at the pond. The kids were excited to see that the pond was full of pollywogs and baby frogs.

Monday after school the kids talked me into going to the pond. Okay maybe they didn't have to do too much talking, I'm a sucker for frogs! This is what we came home with.

6 little jumpers and 4 pollywogs. We fixed them up with a nice big jar with water and a rock and branches to climb. We made sure to put pond water in the jar so they would feel right at home.

The kids spent hours watching the frogs hop around their jar. I wish we could have keep them permanently as they provided so much entertainment! After 24 hrs I told the kids we needed to take them back home to the pond. I explained that Heavenly Father would not be happy if we killed his frogs. So back to the pond we went to release our friends.

The next day Little Man wanted to know if we could ask Heavenly Father if we could go and catch some of his frogs again. I think another visit to the pond is in order.

Hike

Grandma and Grandpa were in town this weekend so we decided to take advantage of the great weather and do one of our favorite family activities...hike. It was a beautiful day for a hike, sunny, breezy, perfect!

The happy hikers!

It was a nice easy hike, mostly shaded and everyone made it with out difficulty, including the little ones. The kids enjoyed seeing the horses that were out for some exercise.

Here's what the falls looked like when we arrived at our destination. The kids were concerned about a little baby duckling that got caught in the current and swept down the falls. He made it down safe but was being carried downstream despite his frantic paddling. Poor little guy!

The water was cold but that didn't stop the kids from getting their feet in it. After a nice stop to soak some little feet everyone was ready to head back. Especially when they were promised Foster's Freeze milkshakes as a treat after we finished. The perfect end to a perfect afternoon.

Sweet Sixteen

Seems hard to imagine but JJ turned 16 this past month. I have to say that I love this kid! Despite the teenage attitude that sometimes rears it's ugly head he is a just a good, kind, person with a good heart.

He is always truly appreciative of the effort I put into cooking for the family. He even washes the dishes every night with a minimal amount of grumping and grouching!

He is helpful and willing when I need something done. He is always sensitive to me and ready with a hug if I am having a bad day. JJ is patient and loving to a four year old brother who loves to mess up his stuff. I think he's awfully cute too!

Happy birthday JJ! We love you!

Goats and Sheep

One of the things we love about where we live is all of the wide open spaces. There are wetlands and creeks through out our community.

Because all the brush and grass causes a fire danger during the dry summer months it is important to find an effective way to clear it during the spring. The past few springs the city has brought in herds of goats and sheep to keep the brush under control. And they do a great job! It is amazing how much they can eat in a few days time.

The herd is comprised of 300 goats and 1800 sheep. In a few days time they will have eaten all the brush and grass down. Then they just close the road and move the herd to the next section of fenced off land and let them get to work. They are currently about a mile from our house. We hear they are coming to our neighborhood soon. The fence in the picture below is the back fence to someones yard.

The kids love to see goats and sheep and of course the baby lambs. They are always on the look out for the sheep dogs that stay with the heard to protect them from coyotes. Yes, we have those here along with wild turkeys and deer. It is great fun for the kids and "walking to see the sheep" is quickly becoming a spring ritual that the kids really look forward too!

Happy 13th Miss L

Miss L had a milestone birthday recently as she became an official teenager by turning 13. I think her birthday was about as perfect a birthday as a 13 year old could ask for. We had talked about what she wanted for her birthday in advance and and decided that we were going to do away with presents bought in advance and wrapped in pretty boxes with bows. Instead we were going to have a girls shopping spree for her birthday and pick out and purchase her gifts together.

We started the day off with an appointment to get her hair cut. She had about 10-11 inches cut of and got this cute cut. It's hard to tell from the picture but the back is lightly layered to make it flip a little at the ends.

Next was lunch at Noodles. The perfect place to take my picky eater. Then we hit the mall and several other stores in the vicinity. We got some really fun things. One of my favorites was this polka dot blouse. I had tried to buy it for myself a few weeks prior but the store didn't have my size. So I had to laugh when we went in to the same store and she picked it out for herself. Miss L's favorite thing by far was the fun swimsuit that she picked out. It's hard to find something fun that doesn't leave a girl mostly naked!

One of the sweet widow ladies from church has become one of Miss L's special friends. She sent Lauren a birthday card with a gift card in it. Lauren was so excited to be remembered by this sweet older lady. She got these cute polka dotted shoes which match her top! It's hard to tell but they have a ruffle at the top.

That night after her favorite dinner of Raviolis (more Pasta) she was kidnapped by the girls from her church group. The girls and their leader took her out for ice cream.

The next night was Friday and her BFF came over to make pizza and watch the fifth Harry Potter movie with her. We have a family rule that you have to be 13 to see PG13 movies. (Even then they have to be parent approved) She had been counting down the days until she was old enough to watch this movie.

She also waited until that night to have her cake and ice cream. It was such a fun couple of days and Miss L felt so special and loved!

Monopoly

I spent most of yesterday after church playing a prolonged game of Monopoly. After our busy

week Miss E had requested that I play a game with her and Monopoly was her game of choice.

She proceeded to dominate almost from the first roll of the dice. She had a knack for landing on

Free Parking while I seemed to always land in Jail. I even had help in my losing. Miss L took

over while I made dinner and traded away my ace in the hole, Park Place. She traded it for

Water Works. I suspect she was really working for the other team. Later in the evening Miss E

was still going strong when I left for a church meeting, so J.J. took over for me. I was still losing

when I returned. Lucky for me Little Man decided to do the humane thing and put me out of my

misery by grabbing every one's money and throwing it around the room. I love that kid!

The best kids

The last two weeks have been crazy busy! I've had an unusually heavy school load. Two multi-chapter test, two quizzes, one term paper, and 10 homework assignments. Yikes!

It wouldn't have been as bad but the kids have had the week off from school and I've had to spend most of my time doing this.....

It's left me feeling like a lousy mom, which is not a good feeling, that's for sure!

So it made my day when the boys came up stairs and told me to look out my window. This is what I saw.......

I've got the best kids!

Love Day

(I don't know why every thing I type is underlined and I can't figure out how to stop it from happening.)

My Valentine was gone most of Love Day. He is in the Bishopric at church and is busy much of the day with church duties.

With the kids and I having some extra time on our hands we decide to give Dad an extra surprise. We heart attacked his car. Although I think the surprise was on us as he walked out to the parking lot in the middle of our decorating. The funny thing is he didn't even see us until the kids called out to him. Pretend my kids are all looking at the camera and smiling joyfully at the thought of getting their picture taken.

Hope your love day was full of surprises!

(now it's not underlined...weird!)

Question of the day

Today my 4 year old asked me,

"Momma, when I sniff do the boogers go into my brain?"

Too Funny!

Our Super Star Kids

During the last six weeks we have had two of our children featured in their class as "Star of the Week". It is so fun for them to create a poster that tells all about their likes and dreams. They love to be able to share something about themselves with their friends at school and they LOVE the extra attention.

This is how Miss E answered the questions on her Star of the Week poster.

I am 8 years old. My favorite color is orange. My favorite animals are Cats and Dogs. My favorite food is sesame chicken.

If I had one wish it would be for a little sister. (Not going to happen!)

This is Miss E and her BIG sister.

The beach and camping at the lake are my favorite places to go.

My favorite thing to do is play outside.

When I grow up I want to be a vet.

This is what I look like now.

We love Miss E and her happy smiling face. She loves to help and sing. She is a great part of our family!

Our Super Star

Little Man was Star of the Week in December. He also had a birthday in December so he had a great month. Here is how he answered the questions on his Star of the Week poster.

All about Little Man. I am 4 years old. My favorite color is blue. My favorite animal is a Zebra. My favorite food is Pizza.

If I had one wish it would be for a dog. (This puppy took over my beach blanket at the lake last summer. Little man thought it was great fun!)

Camping at the lake is my favorite place to go.

When I grow up I want to be a Pilot.

My favorite thing to do is ride my bike.

This is what I look like now.

This is what I looked like when I was a baby.

We love this little guy and are glad he is a part of our family!

Milky Way

Having a fifteen year old man-child around the house is hard on a mothers self esteem. Especially if you are a mother who buys ingredients and cooks real food instead of prepackaged junk. Because fifteen year old boys want food, and they want it now! Which means they want prepackaged junk!

It is not uncommon to find the man-child of the family standing in front of a fully stocked fridge or pantry exclaiming "There is nothing to eat!!!!" Translated that means the pantry is fully of ingredients and there is nothing in here that is going to give me the instant gratification my stomach and taste buds want. The man child is not appeased by offers of fruit or other healthy alternatives. He is left to grumble and graze the cupboards unsuccessfully until moving on to homework.

Earlier this week while shopping I grabbed a few candy bars while in a PMS induced funk. Snickers and Milky Ways. Calorie and fat laden little bars of diet wrecking instant gratification. The guilt set in almost as soon as I got home and started unpacking. Almost soon enough to save me from myself. (Almost... I ate one in the car on the way home.) As I stood there unpacking I wondered what had possessed me to by not one but 4 candy bars. And what was I going to do with them now that the guilt had set in?

Tuesday the man-child went off to school with an extra little bit of love in his lunch. Just enough to satisfy his taste buds need for instant gratification. Just enough to make him forget that the rest of his lunch was full of healthy goodness.

I got a text message from the man-child shortly after lunch that read, "You're the best mom!!!" I guess the old saying that the way to a man-child's heart is through his stomach is true! I'm expecting another text today.

Give Thanks

I found this wonderful post that I want to share. So click on the link and read what Laura at A Piece of Cake had to share about her encounter with Roger. I think it is particularly appropriate to this time of year. It reminds us to Give Thanks for all the things we have been so richly blessed with, and give richly to those in need of blessings in their lives. It made me think of the words to one of my favorite hymns....

Because I Have Been Given Much

Because I have been given much I to must give,

because of Thy great bounty Lord each day I live .

I will divide my gifts from Thee with every brothers that I see,

who has the need of help from me.

Because I have been sheltered, fed by Thy good care,

I cannot see anothers lack and I not share.

My glowing fire, my loaf of bread,

My roofs safe shelter overhead,

That he too may be comforted.

Because I have been blessed by Thy great love dear Lord,

I'll share Thy love again according to Thy word.

I shall give love to those in need;

I 'll show that love by word and deed:

Thus shall my thanks be thanks indeed.

Matt and Megan sitting in a tree.....

This is my cute brother Matt and my soon to be sister-in-law Megan. I am so happy for them! Don't they make a sweet couple?

Applesauce Raisin Muffins - It's what's for breakfast

Applesauce Raisin Muffins

From Jordan’s family cookbook

½ cup softened butter

2/3 cup dark brown sugar

2 eggs

1 cup thick applesauce

Rasins

2 cups flour

1 tsp. soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. nutmeg

Cream together margarine and brown sugar. Add eggs. Add the applesauce and raisins. Sift together flour, soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add wet to dry and mix. Pour into muffin papers. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 min.

Sam - A Dogs Tale

The Saga of Sam

Sam is a dog...a German Shepherd puppy to be exact. A big puppy...probably a half grown puppy. And yes, this is a picture of Sam in my backyard! Shocking I know! This is the saga of how Sam came to be in my backyard.

On Monday morning I was headed out to an appointment in the middle of a downpour. It was one wet and windy day. As I was coming to a stop at the stop sign at the corner of our street I noticed a very wet puppy in a big red collar run up to the porch of the house at the end of the street. "I don't think they have a dog" I thought to myself. "I wonder if that little guy is lost?" I briefly thought of calling animal services but then realized that my phone was home charging on the counter. Off I went without a second thought.

Hours later, after the rain had cleared, I went to retrieve my daughter and her friends from school. It was my week to drive carpool. As I was coming up the street I saw a young college boy and the puppy from earlier that day. I slowed to a stop in front of the house the boy and his friends are renting and rolled down my window to ask if this was his puppy his. To which he replied that this puppy had just attached itself to him as he was getting his mail. He wasn't inclined to do any more than let his cute guy wander of to an unknown fate so I decided to intervene. I called to the puppy out my rolled down window... to which he perked up his cute puppy ears and responded by lolloping alongside the car as I drove slowly down the street.

Once home I checked his big red collar for a tag. Nope! No tag! In to the back yard he went while I went inside to get him some water and a bowl of cat food. After getting him his snack I proceeded to pick up every shoe, toy and item in the back yard that may be seen as chewable by a puppy that still had his baby teeth. He had already shredded the cover off of a baseball!

At this point the kids had discovered there was a new addition to the back yard. They squealed and yelped as he licked their face and pranced around his new friends. They engaged in a rowdy game of fetch with the disfigured baseball while I went out to talk to the neighbors and see if they knew of anyone missing a puppy. No luck!

I returned to find the kids and the dog sprawled in a puppy pile on the back lawn. "We named him Sam, Mom" they said. "Are we going to keep him?" I explained the this cute, well kept, puppy had a family somewhere that was probably missing him something fierce right now and would be worried about him having gotten lost during the earlier rain. "Can we keep him if they don't want him?" came the reply. I told them we would talk about it if his family couldn't find him. I was confident that someone would claim this cute, little guy. German Shepherd puppies don't come cheap! Then I went inside to call Animal Services to come pick up Sam and help him find his way home. About an hour later three sad little faces watched Sam drive away with the nice Animal Control Lady.

The next morning the neighborhood was covered with posters advertising a lost German Shepherd puppy named Max who was sporting a red collar and had gotten loose the previous day. I called to let his family know where to find him. After school I delivered the news and the kids were understandably sad at the loss of their new friend. Then Miss E piped up. "When I think about how sad I was when Sam left yesterday, it makes me think about how really sad his family must have been to lose him. I think we did the right thing Mom." Deep thoughts coming from an eight year old. I'm glad she understands.

As for me..... I can't help but feel like I just dodged a 50 lb bullet covered in fur!

My family

My parents, brothers and their families went to Disneyland this summer and sadly we weren't able to join them. I thought I'd share some pictures my dad sent me of their trip, just because it was so nice to have pictures of my brothers and their families.

These are my three brothers. Yes, I grew up the only girl in a family of three boys. (This is why I am so grateful to have daughters! Finally I have some girls in my life.) The baby of the family is on the left and the oldest of "the boys" is on the right.

This is R and his family. He and his wife live in Atlanta with their 7 yr old twin girls. We really wish they were closer!

D is the middle of my three brothers. He and his wife have two boys and a long awaited baby girl.

This is my baby brother M. He is engaged to this sweet girl and planning to be married in February. (M has always been my favorite because he was never old enough to beat on me or terrorize me when my boyfriends came over.)

I think they all grew up pretty good...don't you?

Soccer - Action shots

Miss L is playing her first year of soccer this year and loving it! Here are a few shots of her in action!

Pre school field trip

Little man and I went to our favorite Pumpkin patch yesterday with his pre school for a class field trip. He was so excited that he had his lunch packed and was ready to get in the car and go at 7:30 am when all the big kids in the house left for school. I had to explain that the farmer and all his animal were still asleep and there would be know one to give him a hayride out to the pumpkin fields at that time of the morning.

This is Little Man and his favorite school friend Jacob. They sat in the front of the hay wagon and watched with big eyes as the tractor pulled us out to the pumpkin fields.

He had great time and came home exhausted from his search for the perfect pumpkin!