Snow? - In the middle of April???

Yes indeed! It is April 15th and it is snowing outside!

Today was a big day for Jileigh. I picked her up after school and took her to the temple to do Baptisms for the dead for the first time. Matt met us there and he performed the baptisms and confirmations. I made one mistake. I forgot to bring extra underwear for her. So she did the baptisms panties and bra less. It wasn't a big deal because the jumper is thick enough of a fabric that you couldn't tell at all. It just felt funny to her. I just need to remember them next time.

Painting - Finally!!!

For two long weeks, Matt has been mudding and mudding and mudding and sanding. Finally yesterday the walls were ready for the spray texure and today he is painting the primer coat. The kids, especially Beau want to help so badly. He does have a 4 inch roller that the older kids have been taking turns using to paint.

Easter Weekend Fun!

Our weekend started with Friday morning. I walked out of the kitchen for a second and Talon went to the frig to get out the milk. I heard a crashing of glass and Talon crying out. There was a heavy glass container next to it and he accidentally knocked it over and it landed on his second toe which is longer than his first. It made his toe swollen and purple. Unfortunately, it was the day of the 4th and 5th grade track meet which Talon had been practicing for diligently and was very excited about. We were so sad and disappointed that he wouldn't be able to compete that he just stayed home. They weren't doing anything else that day anyway.

Saturday morning we cleaned the house. Then at 1:30, we went over to Candy and Nate's house for our cousin Easter egg hunt in their backyard. (Last fall they put sod in.) When that was over, we all came over to our house for a BBQ and a combined birthday party for Jileigh and Reesor, Ben's son. (In the picture, Jaren wasn't suppose to be helping blow out the candles.) Grandma H. brought a lemon meringue pie. She gave Jileigh a beautiful dress and sandals. As pretty as this dress is, Jileigh didn't feel comfortable with it being above her knees. Grandma H. got it for her when she was in Mesa this past week, so it wasn't like she could take it back. So my brain started clicking. I went to Walmart and bought some similar light weight sheer white fabric. I came home and called my friend Shari at 8:30pm and asked her to help me make this dress work for Jileigh. In 1 hour, she had added a couple of lightly ruffled layers on the bottom of the dress to make it look like is was made to be there. Now it covers her knees and she loves it and she feels much more comfortable in it. She also wore a white tee-shirt underneath the top so she could have the option of taking of the jacket. She just likes to feel modest.

Ok, so every year we say that we are going to have their Easter baskets ready Saturday morning , but it never happens. So Sunday morning they got to play hide-and-go-seek for their baskets. (Beau was still asleep.)

After church, while dinner was still cooking, the kids finally got to dye eggs while Beauchene took his nap. They made quite the mess but had fun doing it.

Happy 12th Birthday Jileigh!

Today is my oldest baby's 12th birthday. She is officially a pre-teen and gets to go into Young Women's! I couldn't survive without my Jileigh. She is my #1 helper and babysitter. She can get the other kids to comply to doing chores better than I can. She is the leader of the pack. She comes up with activities for the other kids to do when I need to take a nap. She gets straight A's at school, and all her teachers call her a model student. She's an all around great kid!

For dinner we had Philadelphia cheese steak sandwiches with Au Jus sauce and then Strawberry shortcake for dessert. The third picture of her is with her presents. Yes, the Easy cheese and Cheez-its are included. She loves cheese.

My "I am so stupid" moment

Yesterday was our weekly Picnic-at-the-park potluck lunch. I had 45 minutes and nothing to take, so I decided to make German Oven pancakes and custard sauce. I quickly made up the oven pancakes and started on the custard. Well, it started foaming and boiling over. I was standing there totally baffled as to why this was acting so different. It even tasted salty instead of sweet. I looked in the cupboard at my ingredients, sugar, cornstarch, salt, when I realized that the cornstarch had a red lid and I screwed on a green lid. I then realized that I put in 1/3 C of baking powder instead of 1/3 C cornstarch. What a waste of a quart of milk, sugar and baking powder. Down the drain it went and I started over, doing it correctly this time. It turned out yummy as usual and the kids had a great time at the park.

Happy birthday to me!

We celebrated my birthday with a yummy dinner. We had carne guisada chimichangas, tostadas and Spanish rice. Then topped it off with strawberry shortcake. I wanted something to go with fresh strawberries.

Jaren - Cowboy of the week

This past week at school, Jaren was the "Cowboy of the Week." They try do this around the kids' birthday and Jaren's was just before spring break. This is the poster we put together.

Progress, progress, progress

Matt has finished off all the drywall in the pantry and entertainment center and all the bullnose and corner bead. Saturday he spent the day doing the first coat of the mudding. I spent a few hours with the kids doing 14 batches of strawberry freezer jam, my year supply.

Sunday afternoon nap

Precious moments like Beauchene taking an afternoon nap with his dad can't go by without a picture being taken.

Glucose Tolerence Test at 28 weeks

This Monday morning was my glucose tolerance test. I took Angelique with me and and 2 drawers full of scrapbooking supplies. (I had to fast for 12 hours before drinking the glucose drink. They took my blood first to test what my sugar count was before I took the drink, I consumed the drink and then they tested my blood every hour for 3 hours after that.) From 8am to 12 noon, Angelique and I put together 30 pages of pictures. I was feeling OK for most of it and started getting a little hungry and shaky by the end. I took Angelique to JB's afterward to hand in her coupon for a free kids meal. I devoured a hamburger, but I was still feeling pretty shaky and funny-strange. My body is so not use to that much sugar(100g) in one sitting nor going that long without any food. Jileigh babysat the other kids. She made them scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast and then put on a movie for them. She did a great job of taking care of them while I was gone.

Unfortunate Event

"Pregnant women shouldn't play with sledge hammers" - Dr. David Grygla

OK. So, since Matt is so busy with the construction in our home, it has been up to 6-months-pregnant-me to put in the garden. The kids have been great to get down in the dirt to put in the seeds and plants. So After we put in 4 rows, I decided I wanted to put in a make-shift fence around it so that the dog couldn't get in there and dig up my plants. I put in 2 posts and just as I was finishing the 3 and final post, Jileigh tried to help by straighten up the post in the middle of me pounding on it. My finger got caught in the middle of the post and the handle of the sledge hammer. I came in the house and yelled at Matt for not taking care of the garden himself and then the emotions spilled over into tears. I iced my finger, ate some food, took some Tylenol, and rested for the next two hours. I was pretty much wiped out for the rest of the day. It is amazing the effect a traumatic event can do on the whole body, from nausea to fatigue.

Construction progress report

By Friday night, Matt put in the insulation and finished all of the drywall outside and inside of jileigh's room, closet, and the loft. Today he is hoping to finish the rest of the drywall on the pantry, laundry room, and the entertainment center. Last night he taught me how to put in screws in the drywall. He would cut the piece, stabilize it in the wall, and then I would put in the rest of the screws in that piece while he cut the next piece. That was our Friday night date!

Jileigh's haircut

Jileigh wanted me to cut her hair this week and take before and after pictures and post them on my blog. Puberty is starting to hit a little and it is gradually making her hair curlier, which I think is cute.

Safia - Too cute to not take a picture of her

Tonight after dinner, Safia was yelling, "Mommy, come here! I am taking a bath!" She went into the dog kennel and filled up a couple of holes that the dog had dug by the fence with water and was taking a mud bath. What a funny little turkey!

Construction progress report

Friday, Matt got the electrical done and Saturday, he and his father hung the high pieces of the sheet rock to enclose the loft. I feel much better about my kids being up there with it enclosed.

Then on Monday, Matt built the stairs to get up into the loft. Next he will build the railing for the stairs and put in the insulation so he can finish the drywall.

Jaren's 6th birthday

March 14th was Jaren's 6th birthday. We had his party at a nearby park with his cousins.

Jileigh made dinner

Last night I had a RS dinner to go to. Jileigh has been bugging me for a while to let her make dinner, so last night I let her. The is a recipe that she got from her friend who made this dish for her family. It turned out really good. They saved me a serving to have for lunch today. This is actually the first time she has made a dinner all by herself from start to finish. Now that I know that she is capable of the task, I have to let her do it more often!

Talon's pinewood derby

Tonight was Talon's pinewood derby race. He lost the first one, won the next two, then lost again and was eliminated. His car did pretty good.

Progress report on our construction

Well, Matt is about done with the framing and is ready to start on the electrical, that's the easy part for him. He also opened up the laundry room. I have finally convinced him that I would like for him to plumb for a second washer and dryer and also for a utility sink. There will still be plenty of room for shelves and a counter.

Friday afternoon fun!

This afternoon, I ran a small errand and stopped by Candy's house for just a minute. Sariah asked me if she could come to my house. All her brothers we leaving to play with friends, so I brought her home with me to play with the kids for about an hour. Jileigh and Angelique set up a "table" with play food in the canoe and they all had a tea party in there. It was cute, so I took a picture of it. Sariah ended up wetting her pants so I put her in the tub to clean up. Beau wanted to get in too, so they had their first cousin bath together. Sorry, I don't take bath pictures anymore. Matt is gone now to a scout overnight campout. Jileigh is making corn dogs for dinner and I just enjoyed a large spinach salad.