10 on Tuesday

1. A few of you have emailed me and asked about how to make the proclamation art from last week... I'll give you a run down tomorrow.

2. Caught this shot of Regan and Lucy singing songs together after church and dinner last Sunday.


3. Some days I think my best mothering skill is making my children cry.

4. Took all my kids to the eye doctor and Lucy might need glasses some time soon. For now we are "Watching" it.


5. Look who's sitting in a high chair now.


6. I found this song lately thanks to a friend who linked it on another's friend's facebook page. I downloaded it and listen to it over and over....


7. We had kids over every day for a week and this is what the basement looked like. Really it's been a lot worse than this. Sometimes I just leave it for a few days until it drives me batty then I make them clean it up. Although every Saturday it gets a good clean. But really, this shot shows that fun was had here!


8. This kid stayed up reading over 90 pages of Harry Potter sunday night. Yep he was tired Monday for school!


9. Eli has learned to spell his name. I am still working with him to get to write the letters. Really his name should be EASY! He did this and then added a random j too....



10. If you are use instagram on your iphone, I have a photographer husband you can follow here.....

PS did you see my latest family session over here

On the Bookshelf

I've been on a reading binge lately...

Read these in the past week:

My favorite was probably book 2. But as a whole I loved them all! Great story (still a weird idea). After I while I was annoyed with Katniss and her silliness. But at the same time that made her more realistic and human. Funny thing while I was reading it I kept thinking of how there were "team"s of women fans for Jacob or Edward (I never thought that way but I know lots of girls and women did), so are there people in two camps about the main male characters in this series?

Have you read this series??

Spiritual Sunday

“We do not go to Sabbath meetings to be entertained or even solely to be instructed. We go to worship the Lord. It is an individual responsibility, and regardless of what is said from the pulpit, if one wishes to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, he may do so by attending his meetings, partaking of the sacrament, and contemplating the beauties of the gospel. If the service is a failure to you, you have failed. No one can worship for you; you must do your own waiting upon the Lord."

- Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign – Jan 1978

Foto Fridays: Our Year in Photos

Month 3 Week 2: Siblings.

For the second week of each month we'll focus on relationships.

To know more about this project you can read my first post here.

I convinced the kids to come outside for just a few minutes to take some shots of all of them. They actually agreed despite last night all of them except Alden were up multiple times. As in 5 times with Eli, 3 with Lucy and 2 with Oliver. Sheer madness.
Good thing I LOVE THEM.



I always thought I'd have all my kids crammed together. But that wasn't meant to be. And now that I have this many kids I am glad they aren't all crammed in a short amount of time. In Mormonville 3 years seems to be a big space. But out of the church everyone comments on how nice a 3 year gap is. I've realized it's perfect for us. 3 years pretty much between every kid. 9,6,3,5 months. Perfect.

And I have to add one more of them all....


You can see all my other entries for this project here

Go check out Brooke's over here!

Please tell me if you have a link somewhere for playing along and I'll add the links.

Listography: List 62

list 62: things I haven’t finished

Oh my, this list could be LONG

1. organizing the basement

2. my jean quilt

3. a dress (I started sewing oh..... many years and three kids ago)

4. grouting my LR fireplace :)

5. the MSBH challenge.... only 4 recipes left!

6. editing our own family photos

7. burning dvds for family photo shoots (like for sage or Oscar...)

8. this list ;)

10 on Tuesday

1. I hosted a craft night at my house and we made these. I love love love mine. I got the idea from my friend Chelsea and adjusted it fit my house. Everyone made different colors and such.



2. Last week it was Dr. Seuss' birthday. Well the night before Lucy had a little friend named Hadley over and together they decided that I should make a birthday cake for the class. So I called and offered to make one. I made this. I doesn't really look like it but it's supposed to be the Cat in the hat hat. But my red (which I used an entire bottle of gel red food coloring) only went pinkish red. Lucy also tried to convince me to make her a Dr Seuss dress the night before as well. I think her words were "now you just have to whip me up a dr Seuss dress and it'll be perfect." I didn't agree to that part. When she got home from school her first words coming into the door were "mom, you did it wrong! Red is supposed to be on the top."


3. The weather says it's gonna be 15 above this week! CRAZY. As in crazy AWESOME.

4. I need to take some pictures this week and I am needing some models and inspiration... I kind of want someone to dress up in a wedding dress for me! Or a really old couple. But here's one from my last assignment. Taken at 1 am in the middle of the street in raymond.



5. I registered Eli in preschool for the fall. Tuesday and Thursday Afternoons. Best part is he gets to rid the bus home in the afternoon..... :)

6. I finally jumped on board and read the hunger games. As in read in one day read. :) Yep liked it.

7. Did a fun family shoot for my friend Julie last week.... here's two to see... (isn't her house the CUTEST!)



8. Sleep has been really really bad this past week. I've been feeling quite zomby-ish.

9. I need to post an update on my project life pages.

10. Still haven't made those brownies from a week or so ago... although a neighbor sent over two boxes of candy canes.... seems I HAVE To do it now ;)

Overheard

I've been writing down things Eli says for a while. Just cause he says so many funny things. It's partly the age and partly him I think.


Some of my favorites:

"SURRENDER" - always yelled at the top of his lungs (which is annoying)

"tailnippers" - nail clippers

"well that's exactly what I'm going to do"

"Oliberry" - Oliver

"i think he needs mommy milk"

"i'm totally dressed now"

"i want to watch piderman but not the bad one, only the good one" (he never says the s for spiderman)

"pppppa-please"

"ife" - knife

motorbicyle - motorcycle

"commudered" - computer

"yea I fixed it" (how) "with the button on top"

"can I have a mixtery" (all my kids say that instead of mixture but only when talking about cereal)

Whenever we try to get him to say the letter sound properly in a word he always says it just fine but then goes on saying the word all funny.

And this conversation goes on pretty much EVERY DAY about 5 times a day (or more) and frankly drives me bonkers.

"can i watch a movie on the computer" (no)
" can i watch on the tv?" (no)
"dad's iphone?" (no)
"can I go to James' house?" (not right now)
"can I play with Talan?" (not right now)
"can I play with Roman?" (not right now)
"can I play with Mason?" (not right now)
"well then can i watch a movie on the computer"
and on and on....

He keeps us on our toes in many many ways. Good thing he's so cute!

Spiritual Sundays

"President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, said of discipleship: “By patiently walking in the path of discipleship, we demonstrate to ourselves the measure of our faith and our willingness to accept God’s will rather than ours.”2

Let us remember we are daughters of God and strive to live as His disciples. As we do so, we will help build God’s kingdom here on earth and become worthy to return to His presence."

Foto Fridays: Our Year in Photos

Month 2 Week 1: the Office.

For the first week of each month we'll focus on a room in the house.

To know more about this project you can read my first post here.

Our office isn't anything to look at. In fact right now it's Oliver's room and the office/ craft room. It's got a lot going on in there and it's not pretty :) But thinking about the "office", piles of paper came to mind. I often feel like I am drowning in papers.

Papers from school and mail and Regan's papers and magazines and all my papers and bills and and the kids art and on and on and on.... sometimes I feel like this about all the papers!



You can see all my other entries for this project here

Go check out Brooke's over here!

Please tell me if you have a link somewhere for playing along and I'll add the links.

In the Kitchen: Banana Bread

My current favorite banana bread recipe.



Jen Wilde's Grandma's Banana Bread
3 TBSP butter softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg beaten
1/2 cup milk + 1 TBSP vinegar
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3-4 mashed bananas
1 TBSP lemon juice

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and milk/vinegar mixture. mix dry ingredients and add alternately with bananas to sugar/ egg mix. Add lemon juice. Bake in floured loaf pan in 350 oven for 50-55 minutes.

I always add in a half cup of oatmeal and one half cup of coconut.

10 on Tuesday

1. Did you know I hate competition? I think it only applies in sports (and not at any crazy level there - HATE that) and games (and even then only a very small level of it). I think it is such a waste of time and energy and good will to constantly compare and compete. Competition in our lives in other areas robs us of self worth and can consume us and create unkind feelings and actions to others. Life is just too short for all that nonsense.

2. I love love love love LOVE my dinner club. (Did I mention I love it?)

3. Is this not the cutest sound?


4. Alden has been asking me for quite some time if he could read Harry Potter and finally I told him he could read the first book if he wanted. He started that instant.


5. Last week while school was out Alden wanted (and got) to play the wii TOO much. So on one day I wrote a list of random things and then put them all into a container and he picked them out and had to build them out of lego. This is his temple. It had an angel Moroni but someone took it off.


6. Grandma came over to visit. And Oliver likes to follow his mom wherever she goes. And apparently Eli likes to eat his toes.


7. This kid was in DIRE need of a hair cut. My friend Rebecca came over and did it.... and Eli wasn't such a fan (as usual)


8. It SNOWED and looks all pretty now.

9. Our new van is AWESOME!! It's a 2012 Honda Odessey. Did I already tell you that? Can't remember. I need to take a picture of it! Tomorrow (maybe)

10. I baked a LOT of stuff over the past week. And sadly now I want brownies. These ones to be exact. I made them at Christmas and I *might* still be dreaming of them. I wonder if I can still find some candy canes.....

Grandma knows best

This is me and my Grandma Stasiuk.

(Thanks to my brother Sean for taking this shot of us at my mom & dad's.)
She is my mom's mom.
She was a caterer for over 10 years.
She still loves to bake and cook.
She just turned 89.
She lives with my parents.
She had a bakery in her kitchen for about 40 years.
She has five kids, twenty one grandkids, forty five great grandkids and four great great grandkids.
She is very kind and sweet.
She loves with food and hugs.
Every time I find some recipe I think is cool to try, I call Grandma and she says "yep, i've done that before too"
A year ago I started a project that she had dreamed of for years.
And now it's all done and printed.

It's a bunch of recipes she loves.
Lots she's made up.
I've used lots of them even before the book when I phone grandma and say I am doing this for this and I was kind of thinking of something that has these ingredients, does that exist and how to I make it and she always has the answers.
I love having her close and seeing her way more often!
And yes, I think my love of cooking came straight down the generations and hit me square in the face.
I had no chance :)

Spiritual Sundays

“All the other cardinal virtues—love, patience, humility, mercy, purity, submissiveness, justice—they all require endurance for their full development.”
- Neal A. Maxwell, GC Apr 1990

Foto Friday: Our Year in Photos

Month 2 Week 4: Family Time.

For the fourth week of each month we'll focus on details.

To know more about this project you can read my first post here.

I picked to focus on ping pong. As that is something that our family loves to play lately (since Christmas when we GOT the table). It is something the kids are learning to play (well only Alden and Lucy) and I am still learning too.




And Lucy trying to play....



You can see all my other entries for this project here

Go check out Brooke's over here!

Please tell me if you have a link somewhere for playing along and I'll add the links.

10 on Tuesday

1. A few pictures from the baby blessing last weekend.





2. And I set up a little "studio" in my basement for a newborn shoot and thought I needed someone else to try it on, so Whit was nice enough to bring Oscar over. And it worked out good since it was his 1 year old birthday this past week.


3. We tried moving Eli downstairs with Alden just for the night to give it a try. It did NOT work out.


4. These are so seriously loved boots. They started out with puppy tails (both ripped off). He wears them EVERYday. Seriously. All the time. We have to hide them so he won't wear them to church on Sundays. They are cracked and full of holes now. I need to find something worthy to replace them.


5. Oliver is SUCH a happy baby.

6. I had a fun b-day party for my SIL whit at my house a couple nights ago. I love throwing parties.

7. I love this girl. I miss living close to her SO BADLY. Glad we still can talk on the phone sometimes and text.



8. All the Steed Grandkids at the blessing. And Eli and Gavin aren't even crying in it :)


9. Last night Regan was on call (well Sat and Sun) and sometimes the hospital calling me wakes me up totally and sometimes I sleep right through it.

10. That's about all I have to say.

Pinterest Finds

I love pining things. And I am assuming you do too! Some things lately that I've pinned and made or have plans to do shortly.


Super rich, moist banana bread

Smitten Christmas Paper (I used some of this on my new blog header!)

Escape the Volcano Game

Key Lime Cupcakes

Pork Tenderloin

Valentine's Ginger Crinkles

How about you? Done anything off pinterest lately??

Spiritual Sundays

Look who tried solid foods this week....







"Female roles did not begin on earth, and they do not end here. A woman who treasures motherhood on earth will treasure motherhood in the world to come, and “where [her] treasure is, there will [her] heart be also” (Matt. 6:21). By developing a mother heart, each girl and woman prepares for her divine, eternal mission of motherhood. “Whatever principle of intelligence [she] attain[s] unto in this life, it will rise with [her] in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through [her] diligence and obedience than another, [she] will have so much the advantage in the world to come” (D&C 130:18–19)." - Julie B. Beck