The boy turns five!

I don't know where the time is going but our little Snausage (who currently weighs in at exactly 50 pounds...not so little) turned five two weeks ago. He had a two day celebration that started with cupcakes during snack time at preschool.

He requested chocolate cupcakes with TONS of sprinkles and that is what he got. Luckily, Ms. Nicole took the big mess in stride. (I did stay after to sweep it up.)

Of course, I forgot my camera so the pics taken with my phone did not turn out great. But, you can see that Snausage loves his preschool friends and even his sister, "Cupcake" (formerly known on this blog as "Fatty") got in on her favorite treat.

Later that night he got to go shopping for his present with Grandma T. Getting to roam the aisles of Toys 'r Us and pick exactly what he wanted was a real treat. I think the whole process was quite entertaining for Grandma.

The next day was his official birthday. In lieu of a huge party like he had last year, he invited his best buddy Evan for a trip to Build-a-Bear workshop.

Snausage made a monkey and named it "Nick." Evan made a dog and named it "Kevin." They didn't hesitate a moment when we were sitting at the computers naming their animals. I thought it was kind of strange that they didn't need help with the names. It wasn't until we were in the car on the way home that I overheard them talking in the back seat. Snausage said to Evan, "Isn't it cool that we named our Build-a-Bears after the Jonas Brothers?" Evan thought it was the coolest thing. Apparently, they had planned this out ahead of time. Some day I am know they are going to totally deny that they did this, but this blog post is going to be my proof!!

I know this is a post about Snausage but I had to throw this one in. I haven't posted pics of this little girl for awhile. Notice I said "little girl" because she is definitely not a baby anymore. She loves her new kitten which she appropriately named "Kittie."

The birthday boy and "Nick."

The celebration ended at home where we were joined by Grandma and Grandpa H. We grilled hot dogs and ate race track cake (just like Hog's).

Happy Fifth Birthday,

Super Snausage!!

You've got a good fuzzy head and we love you!!

Cool Things Courtesy of a Recession

Cool Thing # 1
I learned to make and use my own laundry soap. It costs me $.50 (yes, that is cents) a month to wash our clothes and they are cleaner than before. Tim's only complaint is there is no fresh laundry smell. I need to add some essential oil to my next batch. Click here to see the recipe I use.

Cool Thing #2
I got to crawl around in my attic. We got rid of Dish Network. I thought this was going to be hard but it is amazing how we haven't missed it at all. Anway, we had to put a big antenna in our attic and I got to crawl around up there to run the cable down the side of our house. It was a hilarious experience and Tim and I have not laughed this hard about something for a long time. You had to be there.
Cool Thing #3

I got a job. I am so lucky that I found a part-time job working from home for a company I believe in. I am doing data entry and teaching and coordinating on-line workshops for Coupon Sense. I have been a subscriber to Coupon Sense for nine years and I am so grateful that I learned how to save big at the grocery store long ago and I love getting to teach people all over the country how to do the same thing. Coupon Sense is the coolest thing ever.

Cool Thing #4

I get a free date with Tim twice a month. I haven't paid for a babysitter in six months thanks to a great babysitting co-op with two of my friends in the neighborhood. It has worked out perfectly. Once a month we have a 10 year old, a nine year old, an eight year old, two seven year olds, a six year old, two five year olds, a three year old, and THREE one year olds (that adds up to 12 kids) at our house on a Friday night. We have so much fun and the kids love it. In return, Tim and I get to drop our kids off on two other nights. We do anything we can find that won't cost us money. Our last date consisted of FREE burritos from Chipolte (with coupons from the Sunday paper. Thanks to Coupon Sense I have SIX of them!) and a trip to the office to post "stuff" for sale on Ebay. It sounds crazy but we had so much fun! The coolest thing about being in a babysitting co-op is that we can also just come home and hang out. It's fun to be home together with no children around. I love having alone time with Tim and I could care less what we do as long as we are together.

Cool Thing #5

I haven't had to give up the gym. My Ebay sales pay for my gym membership. I go Tuesday-Friday at 4:50 a.m. It's time just for me that doesn't interfere with all the things I have to do as a mom and wife. I love being with my friends and when I come home I am energized and ready for the day. I am totally addicted to the Body Pump class. It's a huge stress release. You've gotta try it.

Cool Thing #6

I am more grateful for what I have. The other morning I came home from the gym early in the morning and as I walked in the door I had overwhelming feelings of gratitude come over me. I have a home and even though the yard is currently a mess and the walls upstairs are still half painted and the front door leaks and I need new shade screens, I am so grateful to live where I do and to have what I have. I am much more aware of all of my blessings.

Cool Thing #7

I have a cool mini van with 186,000 miles and I love it. It's got a lot of miles and looks a little dated but I have built in GPS and I wouldn't trade my automatic sliding doors (even the one side that sticks) for anything. It's a Honda and I am quite optimistic that it is going to get me well into the 200,000 mile range. That is why I wash and vacuum it religiously every week and don't let the kids eat in it (most of the time).

Cool Thing #8

I feel peace and optimism most of the time. There are a few things that make this possible. 1) I don't listen to the news very often, 2) I look to the prophet and 3) I am married to the eternal optimist who never gets down and always helps me look for that silver lining.

Create

Six months ago, I wrote a post about the impact Elder Uchtdorf's talk at the LDS General Relief Society Meeting had on me. I LOVED his remarks about creating because they fit me so well. Take one minute and 40 seconds and watch this beautiful video which expresses so well the feelings I had the first time I heard President Uchtdorf's words. Enjoy!!!

Give me my muffins or give me death

There was some weeping and wailing going on at our house this morning. I made the breakfast muffins we eat three or four times a week, but in my constant multi-tasking state I messed up big time. I thought the batter looked weird when I put them in the muffin pans, but slid them in the oven anyway. One minute before the timer went off it finally hit me..."I forgot to put the sugar in." For a moment I thought they might be salvageable. After all, these are healthy muffins made with applesauce and whole wheat...who needs sugar? I was wrong. They were horrible. Everyone was in the kitchen waiting for their favorite morning eats when I calmly announced that the muffins were not edible and we would be having cold cereal instead. Their collective reaction might have made you think I had just asked them to fork over all their Webkins or sleep without their blankie or wear pants or forgo their birthday or something. GEEZ. I don't usually give in to tantrums but their response to "no muffins for breakfast" made me laugh and I promptly whipped up another batch and the universe was realigned.

I have been making these muffins for years. The recipe comes from a good ol' ward cookbook that I love. It's rare that there is something that all six members of our family all like at the same time. Maybe we are onto something here. I don't know but if you're curious, here's the recipe so you can see for yourself.

APPLESAUCE MUFFINS

2 C. whole wheat flour

3/4 C. sugar (Don't leave this one out!)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 C. oil

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs, beaten

1 C. applesauce

Combine wet ingredients. Add dry ingredients. Mix until just flour is moist. Pour into muffin tins sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

It's official...the thirties are half over!!

Happy Birthday to the biggest kid in our family!!!

You are lookin' alive at only 35.

We love you!!!!!!!

Our Kids Rock

On Saturday, Albert and Hog ran in the PF Chang's Kid's Rock one mile race. They have been running two mornings a week at school to accumulate a total of 26 miles in order to qualify for the race. It was a fun morning with perfect 75 degree weather! They even got interviewed by Fox 10 before the race started but sadly, their interview ended up on the cutting room floor.

Getting ready for the starting line.

Here's Albert crossing the finish line. I love how she took off when she saw us cheering. (Please ignore my hoarse voice. I was unsuccessfully trying to ward off a sore throat this weekend.)

Hog was one of the youngest runners from his school and he told us he walked most of the way but he did finish in style with his purple headband!!!

Nice medal.

One of the things I love about my kids' school is the awesome staff. Because the school is so small, they really get to know their PE teacher, music teacher, librarian, etc. They are all phenomenal. Here is a post race pic with their PE teacher who totally rocks, too!!!

ROCK ON!!!

Merry Homemade Christmas

Tomorrow the holiday season is officially over it is back to the daily grind. It's really not a grind but I have loved this past week (after Christmas was over) of sleeping in, hanging out and having nothing official to do. It has been majorly relaxing and I really needed the "majorly relaxing" part.

The week before Christmas was about the polar opposite of what I just described. I decided back in September to make a lot of Christmas gifts. I thought I was starting early enough to accomplish everything I wanted to do and not be stressed out (like I always am) that last week before Christmas. Well, my intentions were good, as they are every year, but I was still burning the candle at both ends trying to get everything done and I literally didn't slow down until a few hours before the kids awoke on Christmas morning. Everything did get done, though. I am a born multi-tasker anyway and Christmas just seems to bring this trait out in me even more.

I have hopes that I can do better next year and wish I hadn't been so worn out by the time the big day came. No, I am not perfect, but, fortunately, there were moments during Christmas where Tim and I were able to see the true meaning of Christmas shining through in things we observed and heard and read from our children. I am grateful that despite my lack of focus sometimes, they still got it, a huge blessing to their mother.

Our endeavor to help our kids give homemade gifts to each other proved to be the highlight of the celebration this year. They all put a lot of thought into what they wanted to give and I was pleasantly surprised at the efforts they put forth in behalf of each other.

Snausage decided to use his talents and love of doing art projects for his gift to Fats by drawing her a picture and painting a frame to put it in.

Albert made a cool tool box for Hog (with a little help from Dad). I love what she chose to paint on the sides of the box. It was the most excited Hog was about any gift he got.

Fats (with a little help from me) made this lovely initial plaque for Albert to hang in her room.

Hog was having a hard time deciding what he could give to Snasuage. On Christmas Eve he decided to make him a pet rock. On Christmas morning, Snausage opened the gift and excitedly named his new pet "Rocky."

Even Tim got on the homemade bandwagon and surprised me with two shelves made out of molding . . . exactly what I wanted. I made purses, I spy bags, tutus and a few other things for some of the cousins and I totally enjoyed it. We all know that I am not a crafty person and there was some sleep sacrificed but I loved making things for people I love. As I was making each gift, I was thinking of the person I was making it for. I tried not to stress about the mistakes I made and just enjoyed doing it.

I am glad we chose to focus on homemade gifts this year because, as I am learning, its the small and simple things that really matter.

Hogamatic 7000!!

Posts on this blog have been few and far between lately. Of course, December was a busy month and finding time to sit down and post was just not happening. My lack of organization around here has not helped either. Christmas decorations are down, toys are put away and I am getting back on track but I will spare you from going back and documenting every moment of the month.

We are moving forward now, but I do have to devout one post to Hog who turned seven at the beginning of December.

The nickname "Hog" is actually a nickname of a nickname. For some reason, several years ago, Tim started calling him Hogamatic 5000. The 5000 part was because he was five at the time. The name evolved to "Hog" (and has nothing to do with the fact that we used to call Snausage, "Porky." That's another story.) On the morning of his birthday, Hog woke up and promptly told us his new name was now Hogamatic 7000 because of his 7th birthday. You can't keep up with the evolution of nicknames in this family.

One of the best parts about turning seven for this boy is that he is one year closer to being a Cub Scout and getting baptized. He cannot wait!


Earlier this year, Grandma T gave Hog an old Cub Scout hat that belonged to one of Tim's brothers. He wore it constantly for weeks. I love this picture Tim snapped at McDonald's.

He requested pancakes for his birthday dinner. Dad was working late that night so he was stuck with me trying to spell his name in batter.

We threw a "Hotwheels" birthday party for ten friends in the backyard. It was simple and fun with a homemade cake , a bounce house (thanks B and R!) and a Hot Wheels version of the game "Don't Eat Pete."

If you have a little boy you have probably made this cake. I actually made this same cake for Hog when he was three. He has loved cars and trucks his whole life I guess. He is definitely his father's son.

There wasn't a whole lot of formal game playing. It was more of a free for all. I am sure the neighbors were glad when it was all over.

I love this cute little boy!!! Happy 7th birthday, Hogamatic 7000!!! We love you.

The Thanksgiving Feast

Thanksgiving is sometimes known as the forgotten holiday. In my previous post about traditions, I forgot to post about our new Thanksgiving tradition. It came about because my kids are obesessed with making sure we do not miss any of the Charlie Brown holiday specials. We actually missed the Halloween one so we were determined to watch the Thanksgiving special, which is one of my favorites.

We taped the special and decided to watch it on the night before Thanksgiving. We were lucky enough to have Drew and Isaac, our cousins from Utah, join us, too. I decided to surprise them with a special Thanksgiving feast before we watched the show. They were really curious to know what we were eating. The picky one was asking if it was going to be gross and the other two wondered if we were going to have turkey two days in a row. They were all wrong.

This is what our dinner consisted of: jelly beans, toast, popcorn and pretzels, just like what the Peanuts gang ate.

When I set their plates in front of them they didn't believe that I was really going to let them eat the Charlie Brown version of a Thanksgiving feast, but I did and they loved it. We laughed all through dinner. Snausage, who is so picky that he rarely eats dinner, cleaned his plate. They thought it was totally funny when I told them they better eat all of their jelly beans or they were going straight to bed.

We watched the movie right after dinner and the kids noticed that Charlie Brown and his friends also had ice cream so we will be adding that to the menu next year.

This new tradition is definitely a keeper according to my kids and I agree. Maybe someday, our grandchildren will be having the Charlie Brown feast on the day before Turkey day, too.

Tradition

I have thought a lot lately about tradition in our family. I guess that is what the holiday season brings out in me. Tim and I have had lots of discussions about our Christmas traditions. This year we are keeping a lot of the favorites and throwing in some new ones as well. As Tim and I have talked about our own childhood memories of the holidays, we have both concluded that we don't remember things or presents. What we remember are the people in our lives and the memories we created with them. We are making extra efforts this Christams season to bring this spirit into our home.

Here are a few of the new and old traditions we are doing this year.

First, a new one, is our countdown to Christmas by reading a Christmas themed book every night. I got this idea several months ago somewhere in the blogging world. I went through all of our books and pulled out all the Christmas ones and have been picking up additional Christmas books here and there over the past two months. I ended up with 24 of them and wrapped them all up individually and put them in a basket. Every night one of the kids get to open a book. They all have tags that correspond with how many more days there are until Christmas. Last night, it was Hog's turn to open the book (since it was his birthday!) and he wanted to read it to all of us. I marvelled at how well he reads and loved spending those few moments cuddled up with my kids.

Last year, I got the idea from Flylady to make a gingerbread house out of Halloween candy. So, for the second year in a row, we made a gingerbread house three days after Halloween and got rid of all the Halloween candy. My husband now thinks I am a genius because I got our kids to cheerfully give up all their Halloween candy. We had a blast sorting all of the candy and then decorating for the first FHE of November. We even played Christmas music to get us in the mood. The greatest part is that I made the house out of cardboard and duct tape ahead of time so there was no worries of it falling apart. The "glue" frosting worked awesome for putting candy on. We even made a snowman out of donuts left over from a soccer game, but, sadly, the snowman disappeared. I can't figure out what happened to it, but I think Snausage knows.

One year when I was about eight, I got an idea from the Children's Friend (remember when it was called that) to make a teddy bear out of scraps of material. My brother Dusty, was three and I decided to make the bear for him as a Christmas gift. I can still remember rummaging through my mom's fabric on the day after Thanksgiving to find pieces for my bear. I sewed it all by hand, stuffed it with more fabric and completed the project with a button face. I don't remember very many of the gifts I gave when I was a kid but I have never forgotten this one. Some how, I ended up with the bear and I still have it. Dusty was just here for Thanksgiving and we reminisced about this gift. The body and face are made out of red, white and blue fabric with elephants. We both remembered having pants made by my mom out of this fabric. The back of the bear was made from left overs of an orange polyester suit my mom made for herself. Several years later when Dusty was about eight, he made me a homemade gift. He cut off the bottom of a pair of sweats, got out the sewing machine and made me a hair scrunchy. It was very crudely put together and was not very pretty but, even though I was a picky teenager, I treasured this hair scrunchy and wore it for years because my brother's time, effort and thought meant so much to me. I can even remember wearing the scrunchy on my mission while doing a service project. I am not sure what happened to it, but the memory of this gift is one I treasure.

So, thinking about the significance of these homemade gifts in my childhood prompted me to help my kids have this same experience. A few weeks ago they drew names for Christmas and each of them is going to give a handmade gift to their sibling. They have all told me their ideas and I am really amazed at what they have come up with. (After Christmas, I will share how it all came out.)

Here's to a Christmas season filled with traditions that bring out the true meaning of this holiday.

Splash, Mash, Dash 2008

Who would have thought seven months ago when I, a non-swimmer, who started a triathlon quest by going for a jog in the middle of a very hot day with two cranky kids in the bike cart would ever became an official triathlete? I competed in the Desert Grande triathlon on Saturday and not only did I survive but I loved almost every minute of it. I say almost because the first leg, a 400 meter swim, did not come easy for me. The bike and run portions went very smoothly and fortunately, none of my nightmares of flat tires or wipe outs came true. I actually had so much fun that I would have turned around and done it again the next day.

I am completely overwhelmed by all of the love and support I felt from all of my friends and family. I was in shock at how many of you called me before the race to wish me luck and how many called me or e-mailed me afterward to see how I did. Wow!! I am truly blessed to be surrounded by people who believe in me, who love me and who care about me. That is one of the greatest things I will take away from this experience. Thank you, thank you , thank you!!!

Here is a little pre-race pic with two of my training partners, Mary Jane and Amy. Mary Jane loaned me her extra road bike three months ago and I am sooooooo grateful. Unfortunately, she had to sit this one out due to an injury. Amy and I were so sad she didn't get to compete. I can guarantee she would have moped up. She is an amazing competitor.

Mary Jane snapped this one of me in the pool. Hearing her cheering for me when I thought I was going to die in the pool, really kept me going!!!

Here I am coming into the T2 transition after the bike leg. Yes, that is me in a pink helmet and teal tri suit My suit wasn't very attractive (okay, maybe a little ugly) but it was really cheap on ebay and I was glad I didn't have to do any clothes changing during the race. What can I say?!

Getting ready for the final leg...the run. Notice that I have shed the pink helmet and am in the process of replacing it with my purple running shoes. And, oh, the teal suit is still there. Okay, maybe I should have put on my running shorts. Oh, well. Next time.

My awesome husband was trying to coral my four person cheering squad as I crossed the finish line and the pic didn't turn out. But, here I am, number 915, with two of my biggest fans. They even held up homemade signs that said, "My mom is the best" and "My mom's number 1 not number 2" as I finished.

Me, Amy (my dedicated, six day a week, training partner) and Rachel (my inspiration for doing this)

It feels great to have set out to do something that was not easy and to accomplish it. I hope my experience has in some small and simple way taught my kids about having goals and working towards them. And, I am already plotting my next triathlon. Who thinks my next one could be an open water swim...raise your hand?! (That is such a "Tim" thing to say, isn't it?) I've got A LOT of work to do but my hand is raised.

Halloween Week

Between a family party, ward trunk or treat, school celebrations and trick or treating, our Halloween celebration lasted all week. All the kids had a great time, got tons of candy and looked so cute in their costumes.

Albert went as a vanilla ice cream cone this year. Her costume consisted of vinyl, white pantyhose, batting, straws and TONS of glue from the glue gun. It was really fun to make and she loved wearing it. I always encourage my kids to pick a costume that is original and Albert definitely did that this year.

The boys went as Mario and Luigi. They loved being their favorite Wii characters. The conversation they had to figure out who would be Mario and who would be Luigi was a total crack up!!

Cupcake was a bunny, minus the ears. All of my kids have hated costumes at this age and Cupcake is no exception. She refused to wear the cute ears, even for a picture. It was fun to pull this costume out of the costume box since I made it for Albert. This pic also shows her new fascination with drinking from a cup. She even tried to eat this cup!

Last but not least, are the pumpkins we decorated. I bought these Mr. Potato Head kits at Target a few years ago and we haven't carved a pumpkin since. I am sure we will do real carved Jack-o-lanterns at some point, but for now, we all love doing these pumpkins every year. (By the way, Cupcake is the angel, Snausage is the pirate, Hog is the ninja and Albert is the Diva)