The Return of Finish It Friday!

A bow holder. I think it needs little black dots around the perimeter and a bow to finish it off. What do you think?

These are bows from some adorable ribbon that my sister sent me to make bows for her new twin girls. I had soooo much fun doing these!

These are some receiving blankets also from gorgeous flannels that my sister sent me for the aforementioned sweet new twins.

One of my favorite Christmas memories from my childhood is being invited over to my grandparents house in early December. My grandma invited each of her older granddaughters over individually to help them make a Christmas gift for their mother. There was something wonderful about creating a gift for someone you loved, with someone you love. She was a very talented seamstress and often sewed something beautiful for us. Since that time I have always loved making gifts, although I'm not nearly the seamstress that she is, I still find satisfaction in creating something to give to others. Now for the "keepin' it real" portion of the post: even though I enjoy making gifts, the majority of the gifts I give are purchased! However, I have made a couple of things lately that were so fun to do and I wanted to share them since I'm finally FINISHED!

The Birthday Boy

The birthday boy with his birthday "goatee" after he licked the beaters I used to make the frosting.


He was very pleased with all the sprinkles.

Parker had his fourth birthday this past week and we celebrated with the usual trimmings. His favorite gift was a set of Lincoln Logs. Today he got out the Little People farm to go with his new homestead.

One of my favorite things about Parker is how much he likes to sing. He hums a lot when he's thinking or playing (or using the commode!) but I love it most when he sings songs in his sweet little boy soprano at the top of his lungs.

Parker was very excited to turn four and today I realized one reason that he was. He asked me what we were going to do tomorrow. When I told him, he had a thoroughly unimpressed look on his face and said, "but Madelyn said when I was four I could go to preschool, so I want to go tomorrow!" I hated to burst that bubble, but I told him that preschool starts in the fall and that we could do preschool things at home until the fall. Lucky for me, that appeased him.

This weekend we also enjoyed a visit from our friends, the Fords. They were passing through the area and stayed the night with us. On Saturday we took the kids to the local children's museum and they had a great time. We love having such great friends!

Thanksgiving in Review . . .

We thoroughly enjoyed the day. I made rolls and pie the night before (and of course, made a sampling of each!) The morning of, we got up and ready, and straightened the house up so we could make the traditional Thanksgiving mess.

Once the food preparation was sort of under control, we all sat down to do a puzzle. We thought this might be a good alternative to the games we sometimes play with the kids. The problem with games is that typically there can be only one winner, and with two kids playing, in the end we all lose because someone is usually crying (and it's usually not Parker)! With a puzzle, however, there is no winner, just a finished product. We narrowly escaped a showdown over who got to place the last piece by letting everyone put that piece in together.

After dinner, and to celebrate the deliciously low gas prices, we went on a drive, which is one of our favorite things to do. When we came home, we capped off the day with pumpkin pie and hot chocolate. All in all, a pretty fat feast and a fun day spent together!

A few turkey feather highlights: At the beginning of each November we put up a turkey and add a few new feathers each day where we write one of our blessings. Some of my favorites from Madelyn included being thankful "for the earth," and "the pilgrems." Parker was thankful for "lits (lights)," and his "bode (body)."

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're all smiles!

Today was Meredith's first day of nursery at church. I stayed in there for a minute to see how it would all go down. She made a bee line for the box of baby dolls and promptly mauled one. She even managed to swipe a ball from a little boy twice her size--I guess being the youngest in the family has its advantages!
Adam and Parker have been in Arizona this past week so we decided to make it Girl's Week here. That included going out for ice cream, doing a little service project, a few serious rounds of Chutes and Ladders, and watching the "Felicity" movie from the American Girls series. We had a fun time,and are really looking forward to the return of the boys so we can get to some Thanksgiving fun.
We wish you all the best this Thanksgiving season!

Wacky Cake, among other things!

I'll explain this picture at the bottom--I couldn't figure out how to get it there!

We've had a great weekend, and not just because it has ended with this wonderful chocolate cake!

Yesterday I had an all day class to get my CPR and first aid certification. I was glad to learn these new skills, and at the rate that Parker inhales his food, I probably should have done this quite a while ago! Adam did a great job with the kids. They had the whole place cleaned top to bottom, thanks to Adam's excellent guidance, by the time I got home. The thought definitely crossed my mind that I should leave them all together more often--My closets would certainly thank me!

We had stake conference this weekend too. Adam went to the leadership training session and then I was going to go to the adult session by myself (twice on my own in one day!). However, our friend called about an hour before the session was to start and said that he would be watching his kids (who are the same ages as our kids) and he wanted to know if we'd like to bring our kids over too so we could go together. We took him up on that a.s.a.p. and thoroughly enjoyed the meeting.

Onto the chocolate. This cake recipe is one of my all-time favorites. I always have everything on hand to make it, and since it doesn't contain any eggs or butter to up the fat content, I feel justified in making it more often. The Hershey's frosting I put on top of it adds only a smidgy bit to the guilt factor, but it's not anything over which I lose sleep--Enjoy!

Wacky Cake
(America’s Test Kitchen—the Lost Recipes Series)
1 ½ c. all-purpose flour
¾ c. sugar
¼ c. cocoa powder
¾ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
5T. vegetable oil
1 T. white vinegar
1 t. vanilla extract
1 c. water


Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 in. square baking pan or a 9 x 17 in. pan
Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl (or in the pan in which it will be baked. Make three craters (1 large, and 2 small). Add oil to the large crater and vinegar and vanilla to the small ones. Pour water over all and mix together.
IMMEDIATELY put the mix into pan (if it’s not there) and place in the oven (the baking soda and vinegar start working immediately to help the cake rise).
Bake until toothpick inserted comes out clean, 20-30 minutes. Cool in pan, then dust with confectioner’s sugar or prepare Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Frosting


Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” Chocolate Frosting

1/4 c. (½ stick) butter
1/3 c. cocoa powder
1 ½ c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. milk ( you may or may not need all this amount, depending on the desired consistency)
1t.vanilla
1 ½ t. cinnamon (optional—adds a Mexican hot chocolate flare!)

Melt the butter a bowl in the microwave. Add cocoa powder and sugar and briefly blend.
Add milk to get the desired consistency.
Add in vanilla and/or cinnamon.
The ratios in this recipe make enough frosting for a 9 x 17 in. cake. Double the ingredients to make enough frosting for a sheet cake or a layer cake.

Okay, one final tidbit for the day. My friend Elise told me about one of the greatest websites. It's called picnik.com and you can upload pictures from your computer, edit them on the site and then save them directly back in to your files. There are borders, fonts, color changes, and a host of other fun tools. I saw on a blog not too long ago an idea where the author took a picture of her house and used an editing program to makea black and white pencil sketch out of it. She had created a small, framed collection of the homes where she and her family had lived over the years. I thought that was such a fun idea that I tried it on the picnik site with a picture of our Omaha house ( the only picture I have of our current house is with the "for sale" sign and a garbage can in front--not exactly the nostalgia I was hoping to create). Anyway, go check out the site and see what fun you can have!

Happy Sunday!

I had some great pictures of raking fall leaves that we took this week. However, they seem to have disappeared into thin air and I can't find them anywhere on my computer! So you'll just have to trust me, the fall colors are beautiful and we had fun raking long enough to make piles that the kids could jump into with a running leap.
Yesterday Adam took his annual orthopaedic exam. He has studied hard for a couple of months now and we are so happy for him that it is over. Following the test all the residents and their families got together for a pizza party hosted by one of the program directors. Adam is working at the "quiet" hospital right now which means that he has really normal hours and rarely goes in over night when he's on call. We love having him around so much more! (Note: He wants me to clarify that he's not "sitting around on his duff" and that even though he has better hours now, he is still working!)
I was editing pictures the other day and, in the process, looked through our 7 years of marriage. Seeing all of those pictures made me realize how blessed we are. I have not been a scrapbooker, primarily because the process seems overwhelming, but I realized that family pictures provide more than just memories, they provide much-needed perspective. The jobs I do each day are repeated day after day, year after year. It's sometimes easy to forget that I am doing something much larger that just preparing meals, cleaning house, teaching children, washing clothes, etc. I am raising a family. And, although each of my daily jobs may not be done perfectly or in a timely manner (that would be the laundry!), I am still accomplishing the ultimate goal of raising a family. We are not a perfect family, but we area happy one. So, although I still won't be a scrapbooker, I think I will get more of these pictures into tangible books so that I can have that perspective and reality check more frequently, especially on days when I just really don't want to sweep the floor one more time!

Trick or Treat!

Here we have Angelina Ballerina and the Good Doctor. Madelyn mixed up the ballerina routine this year by adding a mouse to the mix. I'm hoping that next year will be the year we break free from the ballerina/princess/fairy theme and try something a little different. But she was excited about her costume this year, except when she informed me that Angelina's ears are supposed to be white, not brown!


Meredith wasn't into carrying the bag at first, until she understood that candy kept going in; then we couldn't get her to loosen her grip!






Here they are checking out the loot.










On Thursday night we decorated pumpkins with foam faces. Maybe next year we'll try carving, but I'm still a little nervous about knives and slippery pumpkin guts with the six and under crowd (who insist, of course, that they can do it by themselves)!


Happy Halloween, and I guess now we're onto Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy the rest of your weekend and let us in on your Halloween fun!