Beginning of summer fun!

A lady at Matt's work brought this Bonzi slide to him to borrow for a little while. Most of the kids were feeling better today, so Matt set it up. Angelique is the only one still sick. She sat on the porch swing so pitiful saying that she wished she weren't sick. The kids had a lot of fun on it.

Memorial Day weekend.

We went to the ranch for Memorial Day weekend. We left Saturday early afternoon. It always seems to take us way too long to get out of the house. Talon was sick with fever the day before, but the fever seemed to have passed and so off we went. It wasn't raining when we got there and unloaded, but it rained the rest of the day. The kids still had fun though. Their favorite thing to do in the basement is to play with all the dress up clothes. Talon was still pretty sick and slept most of the day. Sunday morning I had Jileigh help me get the kids bathed and then we went to sacrament meeting at the local town. The day was sunny so the kids got to go down the zipline several times each. They even had Beau go down it. They told me afterwards. I would have loved to have taken a picture of it. Monday was a beautiful day too. Matt and his cousin Dave worked on building a new ladder to get up to the zipline over the pond. I helped clean up as much as I could in the basement and main floor living room. I couldn't even begin to go in the kitchen. The other ladies had all sorts of cleaners being sprayed to clean the oven and the cupboards. Talon was able get up some and play with the kids, but still didn't have much of an appetite. We drove home that evening and made hamburgers for dinner. Then we all crashed in bed. Sorry I was lame and didn't take any pictures.

Tuesday morning Jileigh, Talon, Angelique, and Jaren were all sick running fevers. They watched TV and slept a lot that day. Tuesday the fevers were mild, but they were still down with no appetite. By Wednesday, Talon, Jileigh and Jaren feeling better, but still coughing. Angelique is still down with a fever. I basically have to make her drink and eat a little bit of food. Amazingly, Safia and Beau haven't shown any signs of sickness. Usually the littlest ones are the most susceptible.

Last day of school!

Hooray! Today was the last day of school!!! I get to sleep in!!!!! Actually, Talon woke up with a fever and had to stay home today. They weren't doing anything anyway. I just went down there to get his report card. Jaren had a water party and Angelique's class just played games. Jileigh goes to the intermediate school and they only had a half day so that they could sign yearbooks. Today were are getting ready to go to the ranch tomorrow. We are really hoping Talon feels better then.

Meal masterpiece #2 - Chicken enchiladas

Yes, that is TWO 9 x 13 casserole dishes to feed my crew. One has the green enchilada sauce on it and the other does not so my little kids will actually eat it. We ate about 3/4th of it and had enough for lunch leftovers. Matt loves to be able to take leftovers to work. Several of the workers like to come around him and check out what he brought that day for lunch. Matt recently had a work party, and I received several compliments on what Matt brings to work for lunch.

36 week check up

Today I had my 36 week check up. I measured 36cm on my belly, I was 30% effaced, dilated to 1 cm, and the baby is head down in position. Progress is good!

Girls night!

Friday night, Matt took off with all three boys to the Fathers and sons overnight camp out. Marni, my sister, with her three youngest girls came to stay overnight with us on her way down to see my parents. We had a nice visit and the kids played well together. The boys made it home Saturday morning in time to see them before they left. (You can see our little guinea pig in the picture in front of Beau's shoe.)

Chicken broccoli noodle casserole

This post is for me. I just had to take a picture of my masterpiece. Some people can draw, paint, scrapbook. I create large, masterpiece, tasty meals for my big eaters. That is my little talent. I also love to share my recipes; so if you are interested in this one, just email me.

Jileigh's band concert

On Wednesday, May 13th was Jileigh's Spring band concert. She has really enjoyed learning how to play the flute. We rented a flute this year from the school with its little problems, but it worked out ok. I have been keeping tabs on craigslist hoping to buy her one someday.

Happy 2nd Birthday Beauchene!

Since Beau's birthday was on a Monday, we had a Family Home Evening with Ben and Nate's families and Matt's mom. I gave the lesson on testimony based on Elder Oaks talk in April 2008 conference. It went over really well. Then we had the party. I forgot to practice with Beauchene on how to blow out a candle. After relighting them 3 times from other kids blowing them out, we finally just let all the kids blow them out together. Beauchene never could understand what he was suppose to do. He kept trying to touch the flames instead. I can't believe my baby is 2 years old. That little guy is the love of my life. He is such a joy to have in our family.

34 Weeks - Only 6 weeks left!

One Hot Momma! I have happily gained 50 pounds since getting pregnant! Fortunately, my dear husband tells me that I am beautiful in all my different stages, shapes, and sizes. People in public say to me, 'Looks like you are due any day now.' NOT quite yet!

Jaren's Kindergarten program

Jaren had his End-of-the-year kindergarten program on Wednesday. They sang several patriotic songs. They got to design their own t-shirt for it. He had a good time.

Projects completed!

Yeah!!! Jileigh's room is finished and so is the loft. The first picture is of the entrance into her room. The second is of the closet without the closet doors on. Matt put up the doors after I took the picture. The third is if the stairs completed. Jileigh is so excited to move in her stuff!

Then we have the loft. From different view. The small section with the light above it is the area above the closet. The kids love to play up there. We have three rules so far: No food, No drinks, and no dirty shoes. I am sure we will come up with more.

Then we have the front room completed. Hopefully tomorrow we can move the book shelves and furniture where we want them.

The pantry is done except for the flooring and the baseboards.

The entertainment center is done enough to put all the components in it. Matt is still going to build in a section on the side with pull out shelves for the DVDs. We have worked day after day this week until 11pm or 12pm and even 1am Friday night getting this done to this point.

Angelique's accomplishment

Angelique won 2nd place of the second graders in the science fair. She put an egg in lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and in water to see what liquid would dissolve an eggshell. It was all her idea.

Progress Report on Construction project

We are just so close to finishing. For the pantry, Matt hung the doors and installed the shelves. They just need to be painted with a little touch up on the door frames. For the ET center, Matt put in shelves and so now he basically just needs to put everything in and coordinate the wires. For Jileigh's room, Matt is putting the shelves and bar in her closet and then he will carpet the loft and it will be done. I will post a picture of her room when it is all done. Yesterday we got a great deal on a slightly used stackable washer/gas dryer on craigslist.

A new member of the family

We have a new member of the family. His/Her name is Bugsy. (We call it "he" but we don't really know.) Jileigh has been begging for at least a month now for a guinea pig. Now that she has some birthday money, that is what she wanted to buy. Petco has them for $30, but I found one on craigslist for $10. So now we have another pet. The kids adore him and promise that they will do all the work to take care of him. We shall see how long that lasts.

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.