Shaun, Nicholle & Family

Amanda's soccer team

2012-01-19T14:03:00.000-08:00

By the middle of November all three kiddos rec soccer season had ended. I really enjoy my kids playing sports and soccer is probably my fav, but three games every Saturday for a few months gets to be a lot. This is Amanda's team at their last game of the season. She had a really great year and even tried out for the High school soccer team and made it!

Teenage girls being goofy.

Charger Game

2012-01-19T12:23:00.001-08:00

Shaun's parents were supposed to come and visit us in November but were not able to. We didn't know they weren't going to be able to come until Shaun had already gotten tickets to a Charger game for Dell to take the kids to. (I don't do Charger games)When we found out they weren't coming the kids were disappointed to not be able to go so I relented and decided to take them. However, I didn't agree to go until my brother Logan agreed to go with us. I did not feel comfortable taking my kids to what I consider a big rowdy drunken party, especially because it was against the Raiders and they are notoriously rowdy. It ended up being a pretty good time. With Shaun's premium parking pass we avoided the crazy tailgaters and the seats were pretty great, very close to the field. The kids loved seeing their dad down on the sidelines and a really nice Raider fan fed me and my kids. I know these are terrible pics, but they are the only ones I snapped that night and I wanted my kids to have proof that I did take them to a Charger game...once.

This made my day

2012-01-14T18:42:00.000-08:00

One of the things I LOVE about our new house is how I feel like we are out in the country, even though we are just about 2 minutes from the center of Poway. I love that all of our neighbors have farm animals. We are surrounded by horses chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, peacocks, emus and more. Our next door neighbors have a lot of ducks and some mornings I can see them out my bedroom window waddling up the hill between our houses. I love it!! I told Shaun, just after we moved in that it would totally make my day to come home one day and find ducks swimming in our pool. One day in October Shaun started yelling for me from outside and I went running since he sounded so frantic. This is why he was yelling for me:

I was not disappointed and it totally made my day! Probably even my week. I don't think Shaun was nearly as excited as I was seeing as how they were non-stop, and I mean non-stop pooping in our pool. (He's our pool guy and he knew he would have to be cleaning up after the ducks!) But he humored me a for a few minutes until he went and got our neighbors to come get their ducks.

On a side note one of our neighbors turkeys got in our yard the other day and I was ecstatic! I can't wait to get our own chickens, and don't tell Shaun but I'm now thinking about getting some ducks too!

Halloween at school

2012-01-14T18:34:00.000-08:00

On Halloween day Connor's school has a costume parade. The kids have to wear their clothes under their costume so he decided to wear his army guy one instead of skeleton. i think he looks handsome!

As I mentioned in an earlier post our school had a big Halloween Carnival, but it was held the Friday before Halloween. So, on Halloween the kids did not wear their costumes to school, but that was OK with Madison. She loves Hello Kitty so she was excited to wear her Halloween Hello Kitty shirt on Halloween.

Fun Halloween Treats

2012-01-14T18:28:00.001-08:00

Last year was such a crazy year with everything going on with the house that I did not get to do hardly any crafting or baking and I missed it so much. neither of these treats are very original or exciting, I just wanted to post them because it felt so good to be back doing something that I love to do. These are caramel apples dipped in white (colored orange) chocolate and rolled in crushed Oreo. I didn't try one but I had so much fun making them and then wrapping them up for a few friends.

I made these eyeball cookie pops for Pack meeting and again for my teacher friends at school. Again, so much fun!

Carving Pumpkins

2012-01-14T12:29:00.001-08:00

A couple of nights before Halloween we carved our pumpkins. it has been so fun to celebrate the holiday season in our new house, especially because we didn't get to celebrate much last year at this time because we were in the middle of home buying chaos.

Amanda's masterpiece. We were just glad to have her participate. She has gotten old enough to not find pumpkin carving, gingerbread house making or egg dying with the family as much fun as she used to.

I bet you can guess which one of my kids made this one. I'll give you a hint...it was the boy.

On the front porch ready for Halloween!

PS-I planted new flowers in my planters not long after this picture was taken.

Fun Fest 2011

2012-01-14T10:01:00.001-08:00

At the school I work at and that Madison attends they have a Halloween Fun Fest each year. The kids all come in costume and the parents stay and we have a little Costume Parade and then us teachers run a small little carnival. It's very fun! The only problem was that Shaun couldn't get the day off and I had to help at the carnival so that left Madison unaccompanied. Fortunately she has a great bis sister, Samantha, that volunteered to miss school and come with her.

Mads enjoying her cupcake from the cake walk.

Mads playing on the swings

Ward Halloween Party

2012-01-13T19:05:00.001-08:00

This year the primary was in charge of the Ward Halloween party. All my kids dressed up and we had a great time!

Evening of Excellence 2011

2012-01-13T17:28:00.000-08:00

This October the girls had their annual Young Women's Evening of Excellence. It is a night to recognize all the girls and their goals that they have accomplished through out the year.

The girls all had a display of a project they have worked on throughout the year. Amanda put together a cook book of healthy recipes.

Sam's project was doing service hours at the library this summer. She worked over 20 hours at the Public Library shelving books and helping with the summer reading program.

Sam talking about her project.

Amanda getting ready to talk about her project.

At the end of the evening Amanda received her Young Woman Recognition. This is quite an accomplishment. It is the Young Woman's equivalent to and Eagle Scout Award and most girls do not receive it until their Sr. year, just before they graduate. Amanda has worked very diligently to get it done before High School.

Happy Birthday to me

2012-01-09T16:33:00.000-08:00

I had a very fun birthday this year. My mom was here and my little kiddos at school spoiled me with gifts and flowers!

Connor ready to blow out the candles on my oh so delicious red velvet Nothing Bunt cake.

In my mom's family it was a tradition to have root beer floats on your birthday so, of course, we had them. That naturally led to Logan wanting to set the root beer bottles up to shoot with Nerf guns.

Ready to shoot 'em down.

Random happenings in September

2012-01-08T16:05:00.001-08:00

The biggest happenings in the Young house in September was the purchase of a new van! 10 years to the day that we got our old Toyota we purchased a new one. i snapped this picture of the kids with the old van just before we went to pick up the new one. It was a faithful car, and got us to and from Utah safely MANY times. I'm just sorry Madison is standing in front of it's dent. It had a lot of personality!

I got to spend an afternoon with a friend that I just don't get to see often enough. Our girls are two little peas in a pod and have so much fun together. We bought them matching shirts with a little bling on them to match their sparkly personalities!

My mom came to visit for my birthday. She cleaned my house, did all the laundry and all the cooking for the entirety of her stay. She also helped me out with preschool prep, babysitting kids and rejuvenated my spirit but just being here. For all her hard work and effort Madison treated her to a make-over. What a lucky lady!

Poway Days Parade-2011

2012-01-08T15:40:00.001-08:00

I LOVE parades. I don't know that anyone else in my family shares my passion so we don't always make it to the annual Poway Days parade. This year Connor's scout troop was invited to walk in it and I was thrilled! The main reason we don't make it is because it is right in the middle of soccer season and with all three big kids playing it's hard to get there. This year it was between games and Connor's troop was near the end so we got there a little late, but made it in time for Connor to hold one of the flags.

Connor leading the way!

We had rushed there from one of Connor's soccer games and weren't planning on walking in the parade but last minute decided to. The girls were THRILLED!

Madison was tired of walking by the end and hitched a ride on someones stroller for the last little bit.

First day of school

2012-01-07T18:13:00.001-08:00

Madison and I started school few days before everyone else. She now goes to the preschool I teach at. She isn't in my class, but right across from me so I get to see her all the time. Our first day was just a short,"Get to know you" day. Here she is in her new bumble bee clothes ready for school.

Madison's first real full day at school. She loves preschool and especially loves being in the Zebra class. She is now obsessed with zebra's. So much that we are considering changing the decor of her bedroom to zebra stripes!

Here she is with her teachers, Mrs. Janine and Mrs. Kristin.

Connor ready to start 2nd grade. And yes, he is as cool as he thinks he looks in this picture.

Sam and her BFF. 8th grade and right in the middle of middle school. She is on ASB this year so she didn't get to wear new clothes the first day. Bummer.

Last but not least...my high school girl. Hard to believe I have one on high school and early morning seminary! Four kids, four schools is making for a busy year!

Preschool

2012-01-07T14:43:00.001-08:00

We had big changes in our family this last August which is the main reason I stopped blogging for awhile. I decided to go back to work, outside of the home, for the first time in 15 years. I had always know that when I went back to work it would be teaching or working with young children in some respect. An opportunity was given to me to do that in August and with much thought and prayer we decided it was the right thing for our family at this time. I became a preschool teacher and I LOVE it! One of the other teachers, at the school, is a dear friend of mine and she helped make my transition into the world of preschool teachers as pain free as possible. I was felt overwhelmed and completely inadequate and incompetent for the first couple of months. Now we, (me and my family) have settled into our new routine and it's great. I have a small class, just nine little kiddos and a small little classroom, and I think it's great. I have yet to have a bad day at work. One thing I really love about my job is that it is a Christian preschool so I work with wonderful Christian women and we can talk about Jesus at school. Here are a few pictures of my cute little classroom from the beginning of the year, before school started. Each class has an animal name and we are the Penguins, that's why there are penguins everywhere you look!

Bird feeders

2012-01-04T17:29:00.000-08:00

One day this summer Sam had her friend Maddy over. These two girls are mini crafters. All they ever want to do is crafty stuff. On top of that Maddy is an animal lover, so this was the perfect excuse to make these bird feeders I had found on a blog. They are basically birdseed and unflavored gelatin. They were a lot of fun to make and fun to see hanging all over our yard! If you want to make them too you can find them here

In the cookie cutters and drying.

The finished product hung and ready to be eaten. When i told my friend about these she was very skeptical. She thought they would be too hard so the birds would not be able to get the birdseed. All I know is we hung dozens all around our property and none of them are still there. In fact, neither are the strings. It's going to make my day, if come spring, I see a birds nest with some of my bakers twine in it!

Rain Gutter Regatta

2012-01-03T23:08:00.001-08:00

Other than getting baptized the other thing Connor was most excited for when he turned 8 was becoming a cub scout. We returned home from Utah just in time for his first Pack meeting, the Rain Gutter Regatta. Here he is testing out his little boat.

Participating in his first flag ceremony.

The MC for the night, Brother Finch, our cubmaster. The guys is crazy! Apparently he is a professional entertainer at Knott's Berry Farm and he comes in a crazy get-up every pack meeting, and he certainly never fails to entertain!

The race is on!

Connor's little boat ended up doing really well and he took second place.

Utah trip

2012-01-02T11:53:00.001-08:00

We took or annual Utah summer trip right in the middle of July this year. We went down to take Amanda to her first EFY. The day we got there we went to an Orem Owlz game with my aunt and uncle who were visiting from Wyoming. I'm not a big baseball fan, but the game was very enjoyable.

I spent most of the game taking pictures of Madison with the Orem Owl mascot.

We went to Lagoon with my parents, two of my brothers and my sister in law. It was so much fun. We rode lots of rides...

...Mads got her face painted and won a prize at one of the carnival games...

...and we got one of these cool old fashioned pictures taken. It was a blast!

While in Utah we hit Taco Amigo...a lot. This time with some of our Young cousins.

Seriously, how cute are these little cousins?!

While in Utah we became addicted to Menchies Frozen Yogurt. I liked the yogurt, Mads liked collecting the stickers and the yogurt. We didn't stay in Utah long enough to fill her card so we had to find a Menchies back home. Unfortunately the closest one was about an hour round trip. We made the trip twice and Mads finally filled her card!

Connor becomes accountable

2012-01-02T10:34:00.000-08:00

Connor finally returned back to our family at the end of June and he brought a lot of our Young family with him. Grandpa, Grandma, and Connor picked up the Brooksby's in Arkansas and then the Quin Young family came down from Fresno. On July 1 we celebrated Grandpa Dell's and Connor's birthday. We spent a lot of time in the pool and then capped the night off with a s'more roast in the fire pit.

On July 2nd the day Connor had been anxiously awaiting arrived. His baptism day. He was so excited! He was baptized and confimed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by his dad. A proud day for us all!

The whole gang after the baptism.

For the Fourth of July we all went to Old Poway Park, rode the train and got "robbed". A pretty fun day.

So ...where was I?

2012-01-01T15:56:00.000-08:00

So I've taken a bit of a break from blogging. Life just got busy and priorities shifted. But being the new year and New Year's Resolutions and all that stuff, I've decided to start where I left off. I don't know how many people in the blogging world read or enjoy my blog, but it is a great way for me and my family to keep a small little timeline of what goes on in our life and I feel like that is important, so here goes.

We only made it to the beach ONE TIME this summer. We were very busy! Connor spent a big chunk of the summer driving across the country with his Young grandparents and cousins to watch baseball games. Sounded like one of my nightmares come to life, but apparently some people like traveling and watching baseball. Connor loved it and would do it again tomorrow if given the chance. Here's a couple of pics of us at the beach. Sam isn't in any of them since she refused to get in the water so she became the official photographer. As we were starting to pack up to go Sam decided to test out the water and wouldn't you know it, stepped on a piece of glass and cut her foot open! Rotten luck!

Mads had a blast playing with Audrey, my friend's daughter.

Girls Camp 2011

2011-07-25T14:14:00.001-07:00

My two oldest girls got to both attend Girls Camp this year with our ward. Sam turned 12 just days before they left and was so excited for her first girls camp! Amanda is an old pro now, it was her third year going. They got to go up to Camp Buckhorn and they both had a great time!

Amanda repelling.

Camp skit.

This is the girls just hours after they returned home. Not quite as enthusiastic or energetic as they were when they left!

Father's Day 2011

2011-07-25T14:10:00.001-07:00

This year for Father's Day Shaun happened to be substituting in Madison's Primary class. I went in to help them make a Father's Day gift for their dads. I was excited to do this since I had seen this idea last year just after I was released from Nursery so I didn't get to do it. I think they turned out so cute! I hope the daddies liked them!

Promotion

2011-06-20T13:53:00.001-07:00

Amanda graduated from 8th grade this year and is moving on to High School. I can't believe I will have a High schooler! In fact this year I will have one child in High school, one in Middle school, one in Elementary school and one in Pre-school. Anyway...Amanda's promotion day was very fun! My parents got to be here for it which was very fun. They had gotten in to town the night before just in time to addend the Middle school awards ceremony and then got to come to Promotion the next day. Amanda's friend Rachel came over at 6:30 in the morning to do Amanda's hair for her and it turned out very cute! The ceremony was little long...over 400 names to call. 406 to be exact and Amanda was number 405! After they called her name my mom and I sprinted out of there to go over to Mads end of the year party at her preschool. So, unfortunately I didn't get any pictures from the day. Luckily one of her friends mom got this picture of Amanda with three of her good friends after the ceremony.
After the ceremony we hosted a post-promotion party for about 15 of Amanda's friends. It was really fun. There was a lot of swimming, a lot of Beatles Rock Band played and A LOT of cupcakes eaten! (Those girls ate 5 dozen cupcakes in a matter of three hours!)

Olympics

2011-06-20T13:40:00.001-07:00

I have so many of the school year "things" I want to blog about. Unfortunately my camera broke/got lost. So I'm doing my best to find pictures that other people have taken. One of the biggest events for 6th graders at our school is the 6th grade Olympics. It is a two day event. I wasn't able to go because I had a field trip with Madison, but Shaun was able to get the day off to go cheer Sam on!
Sam was on the Netherlands. She competed in the mini-marathon, the long jump, the 200 meter and the 4X400 relay. She took 5th place in the mini-marathon, and her relay team took 3rd.
Sam and her friend Marissa.

Goalie!

2011-05-21T20:35:00.001-07:00

Madison played on her first soccer team this month. She was so excited to do it...until it was game time. She all of a sudden got super shy and wouldn't even go on the field some weeks. With just a couple of weeks left in the season her coach finally found what she loved, being goalie. She would go in the game only if she could play goalie.

Mads with her trophy and her treats!
The whole team.

ASB

2011-05-21T20:27:00.000-07:00

This last week Sam decided to run for ASB (Student Council). She spent a lot of time getting applications filled out, writing her speech and making this cute poster. It all paid off because she won! I am so proud of her and I am excited for her to be involved in it next year!

Cup cake cookies

2011-05-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago my mom sent us a cute cupcake cookie cutter and we couldn't wait to use it. We also got out our new princess crown cookie cutter from Grandma Vicki. We had so much fun making them. According to Amanda I was having too much fun!

Field Trip

2011-05-21T20:17:00.000-07:00

Shaun took a couple of days off of work last week to go on field trips with Connor and Sam. He didn't have a camera on his trip to the Wild Animal Park with Connor but Sam brought hers on her Field trip to SDSU. I think they both had a great time with their dad.

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-21T20:10:00.001-07:00

Every year I love making treats for some of my mommy friends. This is what I made this year. You can find the idea here.
This is what Sam made me for Mother's day at Girl Scouts. The bigger jar was red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. In the smaller jars were two bath salts, a lemon one and a strawberry one. I loved it! I also got a new vacuum and I LOVE it! Sad, but true!

Teacher appreciation

2011-05-21T20:01:00.000-07:00

Teacher appreciation week seems to sneak up on me every year. On Monday, the first day of teacher appreciation week our school always has you bring a flower to your teachers. I struggle with that because you can't buy them too far ahead or they wilt and we don't shop on Sunday so I always end up at the grocery store early Monday morning. This year I decided to try and avoid that and instead see what I had around the house. This is what I came up with. All I can say is , "Man I have a lot of STUFF hanging around this house!"

Crazy boy/ crazy hair

2011-05-21T19:56:00.000-07:00

During Sam's softball tournament this year her coach told the girls that if they won they could spray paint his hair any color that they wanted. They won, but I didn't get a picture of the coach, just a picture of Connor who wanted in on the fun. Since Shaun helped coach, Connor spent a lot of the time in the dugout with him and he kind of became the team mascot. He knew all the softball cheers as well as the girls! He had a blast getting his hair spray painted too!

Easter

2011-05-21T19:50:00.001-07:00

I was excited for Easter this year because for the first time in about 10 years the Easter bunny had new places to hide the eggs! The only sad part was that I finally have a child that is not excited to dye eggs with her family. Can you pick her out in the picture?
Any guesses on whose eggs these are?!

We still miss you

2011-05-21T19:47:00.001-07:00

Just so you know Holman family, we still miss you!
And Connor's chalkboard wall still looks like this.

Point Loma with the Holmans

2011-04-07T16:45:00.000-07:00

One of our first outings with the Holman's was to Point Loma. Unfortunately no low tide so we didn't get to explore the tide pools, but it was still pretty fun!

Uncle Matt

2011-04-05T10:23:00.000-07:00

With the Holman's still trying to get ahead of the jet lag we spent another day just laying low and relaxing. Uncle Matt was the first adult to brave the chilly waters of the pool, and we caught it all on camera!

Best conference weekend ever

2011-04-04T16:23:00.000-07:00

It worked out perfectly for it to be General conference the weekend Matt and fam arrived so that we didn't have to get up and rush off to church. We could just lay around and watch it on the couch. The kids all had conference packets and that kept them entertained for the first hour or so.
This is how the adults watched the afternoon session, on Matt's, I mean Jenny's, new iPad. I'm pretty sure this is how conference is meant to be watched, poolside and with a Coke.
This is how the kids spent the afternoon session. Since this is our first time having a pool we haven't really established our Sunday pool rules, and since cousins are here we just kind of let it slide. All I know is the kids had a blast!

And we're done!

2011-04-04T16:17:00.000-07:00

We finally got the appliances installed in the kitchen and we have a fully functional kitchen! Just in the nick of time, the night before Matt and family arrived. I love how the new kitchen turned out but never want to remodel anything again. It wasn't nearly as fun as I thought it would be. We still have a lot we want to do around the house, but no more big projects for a LONG time!

Cousins are here!

2011-04-04T16:14:00.001-07:00

The much anticipated arrival of the Holman cousins is here! Matt and family flew 14 hours to come and visit us and we couldn't be more excited! They were pretty tired when they got here, but not too tired to take a little dip in the pool!

Spring Break

2011-04-04T14:57:00.000-07:00

Friday after school Spring Break officially started for the kiddos. It was also one of the first really warm days so the kids decided to go for their first real swim in the pool. All the other times they have gone in has been more like a polar bear plunge! I think we're going to love our new pool!

Sink

2011-04-01T09:34:00.000-07:00

Last night we finally got the faucet and disposal and all that stuff installed. I never thought I'd be so excited to hand wash dishes. So much better to do in a standing position looking out my window at palm trees and the pool rather than kneeling on a tile floor over a bathtub doing it!

Bees

2011-03-29T11:52:00.001-07:00

This appeared in our backyard a couple of days ago. I don't like. It sort of freaks me out and I'm really not sure what to do about it. First gophers, now bees. Maybe having a little more land isn't all it's cracked up to be. Then again if I get my chickens that I want it will all be worth it!

Kitchen progress

2011-03-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

We're making progress! We've been at kind of a stand still since the granite was put in waiting for the tile for the back splash. First not enough was ordered, then when they did get it in they had ordered a few of the wrong pieces so it had to be reordered. Yesterday afternoon they came to finally put it in. He'll be back this afternoon to grout around it. I'm so excited! I love how it looks. After he's done the plumber will be back to hook up the sink faucet and the rest of the appliances. In a couple of days I could have a fully functioning kitchen. No more washing dishes in the bathtub!

A four year old princess

2011-03-21T11:04:00.001-07:00

Mads on her fourth birthday and just home from church. She insisted on wearing her new sparkly shoes that Grandpa Dell and Grandma Vicki got her!I'm really trying to avoid the whole "birthday party with friends" for as long as I can and just keep it to simple family birthdays. Just like last year Mads wanted a Princess party and with the craziness around here I didn't have enough time to do that, but Grandma Linda came through and sent her "Princess Party in a box", so she got her princess party after all.
Excited to open all her pink presents.

Blowing out the candles.

One of the gifts she got was this little table and chairs. She and Connor are excited that they are the only ones that can eat at it because it's for ages 3-8!

She's 14

2011-03-21T10:16:00.001-07:00

That's right, my oldest is 14. Hard for me to believe. She had kind of a crazy birthday because things are a little crazy around here right now. A couple of her good friends kidnapped her before school and took her out to breakfast. I knew it was happening and the thought had crossed my mind that I should prep her on what to order for breakfast at a restaurant. We are frequent "eat outters" but not for breakfast. But, I didn't want to ruin the surprise by talking to her about it. I should have. Her leftovers were dropped off to me by the mom that took them and I now have a container of red velvet pancakes in my refrigerator. I guess she figured that if that was her favorite kind of cake that it would be great for breakfast too!I then picked her and a friend up after school and took them to taco shop and dropped them off. Apparently when you are 14 you can now be dropped off to eat somewhere all by your self. And I had no worries that she would know what to order at the Taco shop. In fact the person at the counter could have probably correcter her if she had gotten it wrong since we frequent that establishment so often! We then had dinner (in the living room since that is where our kitchen table is right now!) opened gifts and had cake, Red Velvet, Nothing Bundt Cakes, provided by Grandma Linda and Grandpa Tom. Since I don't have an oven right now it was perfect! We then all played a few rounds of GLEE karaoke, the new Wii game she got and then it was off to bed. Not too exciting, but I think she had a great b-day!

Preschool Birthday

2011-03-21T09:51:00.001-07:00

On Thursday Mads got to celebrate her birthday at school. Here she is getting her special Happy Birthday sticker.Counting out how old she is.

Happy Birthday Madison!

My kids think it's summer

2011-03-19T12:08:00.001-07:00

The weather has been beautiful here the last couple of weeks. Not warm enough to go swimming, but that hasn't stopped my kiddos. They are very excited to have a pool in their own backyard that they don't care if the water is freezing. By the looks of that white boy jumping in, he needs to be out in the sun more!Mads runs on a different thermostat than the rest of us. She is always hot. The girl NEVER and I mean never has pants on or shoes and socks because they are too hot. If I make her put them on for school or to go somewhere she takes them off immediately when we get back in the car. So the cold water just doesn't seem to phase her. I think Amanda's legs were numb by the time they were done playing in the pool though!

More remodel

2011-03-16T09:25:00.001-07:00

Chris has gone and now we just waiting for the rest of the kitchen to be done. We are waiting on the granite to be fabricated and installed then the back splash to be tiled and lastly the rest of the appliances to be installed. Can't wait to have our kitchen back, new and improved. We are just putting some finishing touches in. Shaun got the mirrors hung in the bathrooms. Circular ones in the big bathroom...

...and a cute rectangular one in the small bathroom. Since Shaun and I hung them, we hung them to where we could see in them. Unfortunately that makes them too high for the two youngest kids to see in them. Can't decide if we should lower them, or just hope our kids grow fast!

Before Chris left he got the closet doors hung on our big closet in the family room. He had to lower the wall to make them fit. This picture was taken before he got the trim put around them and before Shaun got the hardware on. Now it's just up to me to putty, caulk and paint!

He also got the pantry doors on...

...and the shelves built. Yeah!

The last thing he did before he left was hang a couple of ceiling fans in the family room. I think they'll be nice on those warm summer days.

Kitchen Remodel-Day 4

2011-03-13T13:50:00.000-07:00

Every day Chris does something that becomes my new favorite thing he's done. Today it was the pendant lights over the island. I love how they look through the window. This picture does not do them justice.He also got all the crown on the tops of the cabinets today and the hardware mostly on. We had a little issue with the appliance delivery but we did get the microwave so that he could get that hung before he left.

This is the hardware for the cabinet doors. They are called football knobs. Appropriate for this family!

Chris had to spend half a day putting plywood on top of the cabinets. Apparently we do granite differently here in California then they do in Utah. In Utah they use a thicker granite. Here they use a thinner granite and lay it on plywood to give the impression of a thicker granite.

I love those pendant lights!

It's all coming together!

We also threw in a partial bathroom remodel for Chris while he was here. This was the bathroom before. The previous owner was going to tile the vanity top, but never got around to it so we've had a plywood top since we moved in. We also ripped out the glass doors on the shower because I hate glass doors on showers. They are miserable to clean and really hard to bath small children around.

Chris ripped the old vanity out and we had the plumber here until 10:00 PM fixing the plumbing. It was a big enough area to make double sinks, so that's what we're doing.

Chris installed the new vanity with the double sinks today and I love it!

Kitchen remodel Day 3

2011-03-11T21:15:00.000-08:00

Today we got the kitchen flooring in. Yeah! It is the same flooring that is in my living room and hallway so I knew I liked it, but I LOVE it in the kitchen!
With Chris's help we got the funny little step fixed and looking good!
I forgot to include a picture of the pantry, but we got the wood flooring put in there also.

Chris spent a good part of the morning while the flooring guys were in the kitchen reframing a closet in our family room for us so that the doors would fit.

The kitchen cabinets are now all hung and the doors and drawers put into place! I love my white kitchen and can't wait to see the hardware on it...maybe tomorrow!

Shaun was able to get the day off and spent the morning out in the yard. But then this afternoon, while he had Chris's tools and expertise, he started putting all the casings around the windows. He got the dinning room done, both bathrooms, my bedroom and one window in Amanda's room and one in Connors. Who knew the guy was so handy?!

Kitchen Remodel-Day 2

2011-03-11T08:04:00.000-08:00

Day 2 of the remodel went well. We had uncle Logan here to help with the heavy lifting, and he actually had time for little tree trimming too. The first thing Chris had to do that wasn't in the original plan was shifting this doorway that leads into the family room about three inches. It's amazing to me how quickly someone who knows what he's doing can whip something out like that.The first cabinets to go in.

The island!

To the left is the new spot for the refrigerator and to the left is the new BIG cabinet that I love!

This could possible be my favorite thing Chris has done so far. A little slide out spice rack. The guy making the cabinets didn't think it was going to fit in and work, but Chris knew how much I wanted one and he made it work!

Kitchen remodel-Day 1

2011-03-10T06:59:00.001-08:00

When we bought this house we knew that the kitchen would have to be gutted and redone as soon as we moved in. Because we ended up doing so much other remodeling before we moved in the kitchen got bumped a couple of months. Not only is it ugly it is not functional at all. The cabinets were falling apart, most the outlets quit working, and the dishwasher broke. We convinced Chris, our favorite contractor to come down from Utah and help us put our new kitchen in. Here are some of the before pictures.

This is a picture of the new pantry that Chris is building right off of the kitchen. Also in the picture is all the kids lunch stuff that I moved out of the kitchen but left accessible so that they could pack lunches. It has also become an all you can eat buffet for Mads when she is playing in the family room or watching T.V. I may have to move it.

This is what our office looks like right now. You can't even walk in!

Our temporary kitchen.

Men at work.

The end of day 1. A big mess, but a lot of progress was made!

Our backyard

2011-02-13T17:41:00.001-08:00

I've been wanting to post pictures of our new house since we moved but things have been kind of crazy around here! We have kept our old home and we are renting it out to some good friends of ours. They were very anxious to move in since about October when we thought we would be moving! Thankfully they were very patient and waited for us to finalize everything and didn't back out. But when we signed those final papers they were ready to go! The problem was we really wanted to get a lot done at the new house before we moved in. So we moved out of our home and into a hotel for a week. Sounded fun, like an adventure! No cooking, no cleaning! That lasted for about one day. A family of six is not meant to live in one room for an extended period of time. Thanks on part to my father-in-law and a wonderful contractor who came all the way from Utah to help us out we were able to get A LOT done in one week. There is still a lot to do so I thought I'd just post some pictures of our backyard. The yard is the real reason we bought this home. We LOVE it! It is almost an acre and a half and full of possibilities!This is the view of the back yard from the french doors in the living room. The backyard is split into two main areas. The front part has a fence around it and has a pool, a big grassy area, a lot of trees and a bird aviary!
This is the view from my bedroom window. I love looking out to that every morning, especially when our neighbors ducks are wandering up the little hill between our yards!

There is a fire pit next to the pool that we have already used quite a few times. We're pretty much all addicted to s'mores now!

This is the bird aviary that we just use for storage.

This is a view of part of the grassy area in the back. We are on septic where we live and apparently that makes for great grass. But the previous owner had to dig up a lot of the lawn to fix the septic system so we're (and by that I mean Shaun) going to have to nurse it back to health!

This is the fence that leads to the back part of the property.

At one point they must have had quite a little farm back here. There are a couple of chicken coops and other animal dwellings. I think I really would like to get them cleaned up, patched up and get some chickens!

This is a shot of main part of the back property. I know Shaun has visions of batting cages and baseball diamonds in his head!

Yep, that's a pig pen. Brings back many good memories!

We have an abundance of fruit trees in the back. Some of these are apple trees, pomegranate, and maybe some cherry, but we're not sure yet. I guess we'll find out when they bloom and fruit!

We also have lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit and tangerine trees. We moved in just as they were fruiting and it has been so much fun to have fresh citrus right in our own backyard!

Christmas...finally

2011-02-13T16:44:00.001-08:00

I've been absent from the blogging world for quite a while now. For those of you who don't know we have been in the process of moving. We made an offer on a home clear back in June and we were supposed to close on it in September. What we didn't realize when we made the offer on the home was that the owner of it had a lot of issues that kept delaying the process. We finally closed on January 7th of this year. For months we didn't know when we would be moving so we lived in a state of being semi packed, constantly thinking, "It could be next week!" The holiday season was rough. I love baking and crafting and decorating for the holidays and I did none of that this year. When Christmas time rolled around I was determined not to unpack another already packed box and I refused to buy a tree not knowing if we were going to just have to move one. My "Scroogieness" (is that a word?!) finally got to my kids and I relented and bought a tree. The picture above is it. It was about 2 feet tall, but surprisingly not that much cheaper than a normal sized tree! My kids were appalled! They called it our Charlie Brown tree. I had a good reason for buying it. Since it was a live tree we could plant it at our new home and remember this crazy Christmas. We ended up having a really great Christmas and it was fun celebrating it one last time in our little house!

The Final Soccer party

2010-12-15T08:02:00.000-08:00

We finally had Amanda's end of season soccer party. Unfortunately it conflicted with Sam's indoor soccer game so Shaun, Connor and Sam weren't at the party, just me and Mads. It was held at a great little restaurant called Pat and Oscars.We enjoyed good food and good friends!Instead of trophies this year the girls got t-shirts. Amanda looks excited to get hers. I think the thing she was excited about was her mother yelling from two tables over "Amanda, look over here and show me her shirt so I can take a picture!"

Amanda with her friend Corissa showing off their new t-shirts!

Wrestlemania

2010-12-08T08:40:00.000-08:00

Connor just stared a new sport...wrestling. I never thought this is a sport that anyone in our family would participate in. Apparently Poway has a really great wrestling program.People move here from all over the state to be involved in it. Quite a few of the high school boys from church are in the program and many have been to our house to have Shaun check them out, before and after matches. I think this is where Connor's knowledge of the sport even came to be.I have to admit I really like the boys that have been to our house and their families which is why I even considered letting Connor wrestle.

This weekend was his first tournament. Two of his buddies from church are also in the program and they have a blast together!

Connor getting ready for his first match. THat's his weight class on his arm.

Being a good sport!

Here he is in all of his singlet glory with his medal from the tournament.

As a mother who has had many children play many sports this is definitely the toughest. It's much harder to send your son out to battle one on one with someone than sending him out with a whole team behind him. We'll see how much longer he does this, but so far he loves it!

Black Friday

2010-12-07T09:58:00.000-08:00

On Black Friday we decided to avoid anything that had to do with retail so we headed out to Poway Lake. I love that we have this Lake basically just down the street from us and decided we need to take advantage of it more often. We started off by feeding the ducks all of our leftover Thanksgiving rolls.Those ducks sure love Lion House rolls!

This was our favorite duck. He was very stylish with his Mohawk and curled tail feathers.

After feeding the ducks we went for a hike around the lake.

Connor ran ahead of everyone the whole way!

After a hike we rented paddle boats and peddled around the lake for awhile. This is how one boat stared out.

Mads didn't sit still for long and soon their boat looked like this.

Then this.

And then this.

When Amanda could no longer hold on to her we had to pull along side of them and put Mads in our boat. She is really fun to take tooling around a large, deep, cold body of water. That girl has no fear!

Thanksgiving Turkeys

2010-12-06T13:21:00.000-08:00

We did not take many pictures on Thanksgiving this year. It was pretty low key. I'm beginning to sound like a broken record but we were supposed to be moving this weekend so we hadn't really made any big plans. My younger brother Logan came into town and that was definitely the highlight. We sent him home with our family's favorite party favor, a cold! It seems like every time one of my brothers come to visit we get them sick, they need to build up their immunities a little!We did want to make the cute turkeys we made last year but I searched high and low and could not find candy corns anywhere to make the feathers, so we had to make do with a little red frosting.

Soccer parties

2010-12-05T16:22:00.001-08:00

The Rec soccer league ended just before Thanksgiving for the three older kids. For Connor's team party we went to Roundtable Pizza and Connor got his cool trophy!For Sam's party we went to a restaurant called Kaminsky's and it was very yummy! It was at the end of a very muddy rainy cold day full of soccer games. You can see Sam still has wet hair because she only had time to jump in a shower and get out quick and head to the party!

Sam getting her trophy. Sam's team did great this year. They took first place, were undefeated and in fact they did not give up a single goal the whole season!

Signing the banner to give to the coach.

Flowers

2010-11-16T10:15:00.001-08:00

I've been seeing these cute rolled fabric flowers everywhere and had wanted to learn how to make them. Luckily Amanda went to a birthday party this last weekend where they made some, so she came home and taught Sam and I how to do it.We went to Walmart and got some fabric and started cutting, rolling and gluing. They are very easy, inexpensive and a great way to keep my girls busy!
These are some of our first attempts .

As you can see we just kept going. We have attached most of them to headbands, bobby pins, and alligator clips, so the girls can wear them in their hair. I'd love to make a ring or necklace with some!

Soccer Girl

2010-11-14T19:50:00.000-08:00

Madison started soccer this week. She has done a couple of sessions of "Mommy and Me" soccer but this is her first time doing it on her own. It's pretty much the same as mommy and me, except I just watch instead of participate.They don't play competitive games, they just play fun games with a soccer ball. A lot of red light, green light and stuff like that.
She has been anticipating this for quite awhile. I think she just wants to be like her big brother and sisters and go to soccer!

Her first class happened to be on Friday and the kiddos didn't have school so they all got to come. I think she thought that was pretty great, everyone watching HER play soccer. She has certainly sat ( I use the term "sat" loosely) through her share of their games!

This post is rated PG

2010-11-12T15:28:00.001-08:00

This week we had Thursday and Friday off for Veteran's day. On Thursday Sam had the opportunity, with her Girl Scout troop to go to the Gemological Institute of America. It's a research facility and a campus dedicated to the study of gems. I guess it's pretty cool. The only one like it in the world. It was pretty high security to even get in. They wouldn't allow many chaperone's so I stole these pictures off the girl scout leaders Facebook page!
Sam said they had a pretty good time learning about and seeing all kinds of gems.

All the girl scouts I talked to said this was the highlight of the tour. This picture is also the reason for the PG rating of this post. The Victoria Secrets jeweled bra. Apparently this institute is in charge of constructing it every year for the Victoria Secrets fashion show.

Star Helper

2010-11-06T16:27:00.000-07:00

This last week Madison was chosen as Star Helper in her preschool class. She was SOOOO excited! The night before you would have thought it was Christmas Eve, she could hardly sleep!There are many perks to being the Star Helper. You get to ring the clean up bell...

...you get to share about your family (Madison has the biggest family in her preschool!)...

...you get to sit in the teacher chair...

...and then you get to draw the name out of the bag of the next Star Helper.

You also get to pick how high you count before the good-bye song. Mads counted to two because that is her favorite number!

Part of the reason I posted the little video is because at the very end her teacher thanks her for being the Star Helper and for using her "loud voice." So funny because apparently at school she doesn't talk and if she does it's a mumble or a whisper. At home we are CONSTANTLY telling her to use a quiet voice because she is so loud!

Trick-or-Treat

2010-11-05T19:31:00.001-07:00

On Halloween day this year we went to a pumpkin patch that was more like a mini carnival. The kids had a blast going down the big slides!

After the carnival we headed to our church for a Halloween party and trunk-or-treating. Since we didn't trick-or-treat on Halloween night the kids were very excited to hand out candy! They never get to since we're usually out and about. I thought that would make for a relaxing Halloween night. I was wrong. Connor and Mads were both sooo excited to hand out candy that they spent the evening arguing over who got to hold the bowl and whose turn it was to put candy in the kids bags.

Connor's enthusiasm for handing out candy petered out before Mads did. She sat on that stool WAITING for Trick or treaters. At times she would just head down the sidewalk yelling for them to come. She loved it! We all had a blast sneaking out the back door and around to the front of the house posing as trick or treaters!

And the Oscar goes to...

2010-11-04T10:07:00.000-07:00

Last week Amanda had her Evening of Excellence in Young Women's at church. It is an evening set aside to recognize all the goals they girls achieved throughout the year. Our Young Women leaders are exceptional. They make this night so incredible for the girls. This years theme was"The Academy Awards". I wish I had taken pictures of all the decorations and everything they did. Here's a picture of Amanda and her cute friend Rachel with their Oscars!

FHE

2010-11-03T09:30:00.001-07:00

This is how Family Home Evening tends to go around this house.

Pumpkin carving

2010-11-01T08:11:00.001-07:00

Saturday afternoon we got around to doing our pumpkin carving. I didn't get a picture of Amanda's final product, but here she is hard at work!Sam accidentally cut the top wrong on hers so she made it into a flower to match her.

Connor opted out of the carving and just wanted to draw on his.

Mads was too small to carve so she had someone draw a princess on hers.

This was Mads other pumpkin that she loved!

Trick-or-treaters

2010-10-31T18:05:00.000-07:00

All the kiddos dressed up this year even Amanda. I thought maybe she had given up dressing up for Halloween since she didn't last year. Here's the gang.

Sam the hippie

Connor the Air Force pilot
Amanda the ref.

The gang, with out Mads (she wouldn't walk over the wet grass.)

Inside with the Princess. She had just woken up, but LUCKILY she slept in her princess dress
so I didn't even have to get her dressed up.

Halloween Party

2010-10-31T17:55:00.000-07:00

Mads had her class Halloween party this week and she had a blast! Here she is with her friend Roxy AKA Cinderella.They got to go trick-or-treating to the office. Here's the principal handing out goodies!
The school nurse handing out treats too!

Obviously Mads was excited for her special Halloween snack.

The whole class of cuties!

Boo-Hoo

2010-10-30T15:07:00.001-07:00

We were supposed to be moving this weekend, today to be exact. Actually, we were supposed to move back in September. Now it doesn't look like we'll be moving until the end of November, first of December. This is what I have to say about that: Boo-Hoo is more like it. We made the offer on the house clear back in June, but things just haven't gone very smoothly. Even more frustrating is that it's not our fault, it's the seller that is holding things up.

I love Halloween, and have a special place in my heart for all things "Boo" related. Boo was a nickname my mom gave me when I was little girl, so now I collect Halloween "Boo" decorations.

After we found out we wouldn't be moving in September I decided to get my Halloween stuff out and decorate, even if it was just for a couple of weeks. I took all this down a couple of weeks ago in preparation for the move.

Now I haven't been able to enjoy all my "Boo" stuff and really haven't enjoyed the beginning of the Holiday season that I usually enjoy so much. No, fun Halloween crafts or meals. Too much else going on with this house and moving thing.
Now planning on moving right between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Boo-Hoo again.

I'm still very excited to move, I just want to get it over with now, so we can get back to normal life!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-29T10:29:00.001-07:00

Madison got to go on her first field trip a couple of weeks ago to the Pumpkin Patch. Shaun was able to take the day off and go with us. The weather couldn't have been nicer. It seems like most pumpkin patch field trips I've been on it's been about 100 degrees!

We started off the fun at the Pumpkin patch with a hayride.

Shaun and Mads trying to find their way out of the corn maze!

Madison, with a little help from dad, on a quest to find the perfect pumpkin!

I think she's found it!

Her final selection. A baby pumpkin!

There were a lot of scarecrows at the Pumpkin patch and Madison was insisting that she only pose by one with pink and purple clothes. Unfortunately we couldn't find one, nor one that was dressed like a princess, (her other request) so we had to settle on taking her picture with this one.

My little pumpkin poser.

Mads and her classmates posing on the pumpkins!

Shaun and Mads being silly. Mads made Shaun stick his head through every single one of the cutouts they had!

One last climb on the hay bales before we left!

Surfer Girl

2010-10-07T19:59:00.001-07:00

Last Wednesday our school district had a teacher comp day and with our unseasonably hot weather we headed to the beach. Sam had the opportunity, with her Girl Scout troop, to take surfing lessons. Learning how to surf is something I've wanted to do since we moved here to southern California. Since I've pretty much been pregnant or had small children since we've lived here, I've never had the chance. But, here was an opportunity for me to live through one of my children. Lined up and ready to go!

Before the girls could jump into the water they had to listen to the instructors for awhile.

Then they had to watch the instructor.

Suiting up!

Practicing on the sand first.

Heading out to the water!

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of her in the water actually surfing because just as they were headed into the water this little "sassy pants" got stung in the foot by a bee! So I had to administer first aid while Sam surfed. I did glance up a couple of times and I did see her standing up riding some waves!

The whole gang. They all lived to tell about it! According to the instructors the waves were some of the "gnarliest" we get here in San Diego, but Sam wants to go again and next time I'm going with her!

Sacher torte

2010-09-22T15:48:00.001-07:00

I got this in the mail this week. I was so excited! I wasn't expecting it, but knew right away what it was when I opened the package! It was a famous Sacher Torte made exclusively at the Sacher Hotel in Vienna, Austria. My parents are living in Vienna right now and sent me one for my upcoming birthday. It looked so cute in it's little wooden box I hated to take it our and eat it. That lasted about a minute and a half. I was dying to try it.

My first piece and it did not disappoint! It was very delicious! Worth every penny (and I know it was A LOT of them!) that my dad and mom spent on it!

Bangs

2010-09-21T12:15:00.000-07:00

When my big girls were little I always cut bangs in their hair because I think little girls look so cute with bangs. But then eventually you have to grow them out. So with Mads I just decided to skip the bangs and keep her hair all one length. On Saturday she decided to cut her own her and give herself bangs. At first I didn't even notice. Then when I walked into the bathroom and saw hair all over the floor I discovered her new bangs. I'm not complaining. It could have been worse. Amanda at her age cut her own hair and sported a nice mullet for a few months until it all grew out. If all of our pictures were not packed away in boxes waiting to be moved I get one out of her and her awesome haircut so you all could see!

On Sunday I went to pick Connor up from his Primary class and he had convinced his teacher to let him glue his paper to his head and put yarn hair on it, so now he has bangs too! He told Sam as we walked through the halls, "Sam I did this so I could embarrass you." Sam's reply, "You're only embarrassing yourself dude." BTW, he kept this stuck to his head for the next 6 hours, and no, it didn't leave a mark.

Everybody loves a parade!

2010-09-20T07:45:00.000-07:00

At least I do. I LOVE parades. This week was the annual Poway Days parade. We only go sporadically because we are always in the midst of soccer season, but this year two of the kids games were in the afternoon, so a couple of us did get to go. Amanda had a game and so Shaun and Connor went to that and represented. Mads and Sam and I got to go to the parade. I love Poway and I love living in such a great community, but the parade is just not really that good. They don't throw candy (lame), or hand out lots of annoying flyers (good) except for because of this there is not much interaction between parade walkers and parade watchers. We all just kind of sit there and watch classic car, after classic car, after classic car, with a scout troop or two thrown in for good measure, go by. The highlight for me was the little dog decked out in sunglasses and a leather vest riding a remote control motorcycle. Really Cute! I don't really care how lame it is I will continue to go every year that I can, because I really do love a parade!

Soccer has begun!

2010-09-14T20:02:00.001-07:00

I don't know if saying "soccer has begun "is technically correct around this house, since it never really ends! A couple of the kids play in an indoor league which can go year round, but the outdoor rec games started this week. This may be Amanda's last year playing, and I hate to see it end. I really enjoy watching their soccer games, so much faster paced than softball. Here's Amanda playing some tough defense!

This kid loves playing soccer. He's been playing year round now for almost two years and can't get enough. He spends every waking moment with a soccer ball at his feet, kicking it up and down our hallway (to his credit he's only broken one lamp and I think that was with a football!) and sleeps with his ball at night.

My camera has not been working well lately and the only picture I snapped of Sam that turned out was after her game when she was relaxing on the couch! She deserved it! It was a hot afternoon game and she played hard!

Picture day

2010-09-13T15:41:00.001-07:00

Last week was picture day at the elementary school. This is what Connor wore, his new favorite shirt. I REALLY hope this is not the face he made for pictures. I wonder when picture make-up day is? I better find out.

Grilling with my girl

2010-09-12T16:25:00.001-07:00

Madison loves to help me cook. And the big kids love when she helps me because it gets her out of their hair, so she helps with dinner quite a but so that they can get their homework done. I also attempted to grill all by myself...well with Madison's help. Usually Shaun is the griller around here. I have attempted, once or twice before with not very good results. Remember our rare sliders Logan from our mini meal?! But as we are preparing to move into a home that we will be gutting the kitchen I'm concerned I will have to go with out some of my appliances for awhile and I'm trying to prepare my self. Going with out a stove or oven may force me out on the grill. This spicy honey chicken was a first attempt. I only burned a couple of pieces!

Here's the recipe for the chicken can be found here. It was delicious...at least the non-burned pieces were!

Shopping

2010-09-11T17:59:00.001-07:00

I had the chance last week to meet my friend Denise and her adorable daughter at the mall for a little shopping. It was one of our first rips to the mall strollerless and I was a little concerned with how Madison would act. Her and Sophia did just fine entertaining each other while the mommies shopped!

The girls also entertained themselves, and I'm sure a few shoppers passing by, by playing around in the display window!

Those silly girls!

Volleyball

2010-09-10T08:24:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday Amanda got to play in her Young Women's Stake volleyball tournament. She has never played volleyball before, so this was a whole new experience for her, but she really enjoyed it.

Getting a little coaching. Go #24!

It was a double elimination tournament and the girls won their first game. Technically, the other team forfeited because they only had two girls show up, but a win is a win and we got to advance! Unfortunately they lost their next two games, but they had a great time and got Popsicles for all their hard work!

The Help

2010-09-03T14:26:00.001-07:00

Just finished reading this book. Best book I've read in a long time.

More firsts and lasts

2010-09-01T09:14:00.001-07:00

Mads first preschool work. They worked on cutting and gluing. Did I mention it's also the last time one of my kids will bring home their first preschool work? Maybe I'm dwelling too much on so many lasts in my life right now. This is the LAST time I'll mention it...probably.

It's been hot

2010-08-31T13:44:00.001-07:00

It's been hot here in southern California for the last week or so. We've had a very mild summer compared to the rest of the country, and even compared to the last few summers, but that doesn't seem to make it any more bearable. With the temperatures soaring I've had to give up one of my favorite pastimes, baking. But finally this week, as the temperatures dropped into the 80's and even the 70's I braved turning the oven on again! I was dying, not to cook, (I have enjoyed having an excuse to eat out way more than we should!) but to bake something. This is what I made. A classic from my childhood, Chocolate Crinkles. My mom used to make these all the time when I was a kid, and who could blame her? They're like a brownie, but in cookie form. Delish! I got the recipe from this cookbook. Just looking at the cover bring back flashbacks from my childhood. My mom made cookies out of it all the time. I love that you can still buy it and that it still has the same cover. Very retro now. My favorite recipes that my mom used to make out of it were the Snickerdoodles and the Chocolate Crinkles. They both happen to be on the same page and my cookbook now opens right to it! This book also contains the worlds best sugar cookie recipe, Ethel's Sugar cookies.
If you don't own this book, you should it's a classic. But just in case you don't here's the Chocolate Crinkle recipe:

Chocolate Crinkles

1/2 C. vegetable oil

4 sq. unsweetened chocolate (4 oz.), melted

2 C. granulated sugar

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

2 C. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 C. confectioners sugar

Mix oil, chocolate, and granulated sugar. Blend in one egg at a time until well mixed. Add vanilla. Measure flour by dipping method or by sifting. Stir flour, baking powder, and salt into oil mixture. Chill several hours or overnight.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Drop teaspoonfuls of dough into confectioners sugar. Roll in sugar;shape into balls. Place about 2 inches apart on greased baking sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes. Do not over bake! Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

Sunday Best

2010-08-30T08:17:00.001-07:00

My two oldest girls have always enjoyed getting ready and going to church. Not my boy. Since he was old enough to notice he has hated getting ready for church. This translates into him saying he hates church. Once he is there he always enjoys it but he HATES Sunday clothes. It is a struggle every week to get him ready. I usually settle for him putting on pants, anything not jeans and not shorts, and a button down shirt with a collar. Forget a tie, a belt, or any form of tucking in. This Sunday I had him almost dressed when he decided he wanted to change the pants and that he wanted to wear a tie (I always keep a few on hand just in case!). He had to change his shirt if he wanted a tie and then he wanted it tucked in, with *gasp* a belt! I gave my entire family the look of "If you say anything to him about how he's dressed you will spend the entire rest of the day regretting it" look. Sam told him he looked like a little business man and that made his day. He wore this all day, until jammie time. I think he looks very handsome and I hope more Sundays are like this one!

Palm trees and Cheeburger

2010-08-29T20:48:00.001-07:00

This Saturday day we had our annual palm tree trimming. We have this very cute couple Gaspar and his wife that have been trimming our palm trees and our olive tree for years. I love watching them do it and marvel how Gaspar seems so at ease clear up in a swaying palm tree with a chain saw!

These babies make quite a noise when they fall from so far up, and by the end our back yard was covered with them!

This is where Connor watched all that was going on. When the palm fronds started to fall he took cover. I know it's a toilet box, but give me a break, we're moving soon and we'll take any good box we can find!

After the palm trees were trimmed by Gaspar, the yard work done by Shaun and the house cleaned by me, we all went out to Cheeburger, Cheeburger. It's a fun little 50's style diner by us that we love, and yes, we got an order of Frings!

Connor and Mads and Betty Boop modeling their kids meals. The kids meals come in these cool little paper cars that the kids loved playing with as much as eating them.

Preschool, here she comes!

2010-08-28T19:51:00.001-07:00

My baby is off to school! As I walked her up to school I realized this is the last time I will walk one of my kids to their first day of school. There is nothing like the excitement and anticipation a child feels and shows for their first day of school ever. It was a little bitter sweet for a mom.

Mads and her two favorite boys headed to school!

When we got to school her favorite thing to do was play in the pretend kitchen. Like mother, like daughter!

Ring around the Rosie!

Circle time!

Mads loved preschool, but all of a sudden got shy when it was dancing time. At least she had the freeze part down!

1st, 6th, 8th, and a cryer

2010-08-25T09:27:00.000-07:00

My first grade boy! He was so excited to wear his new shirt, (he picked it out not me!) but is a little concerned about getting it dirty when he slides into home playing kickball. I assured him I could wash it if that happens! He has the same teacher he had for kindergarten and a lot of the same friends from his class last year are in his class this year, so needless to say he is very excited for the first day of school!

6th grade, here she comes! I must say, as a mother, having your second child start middle school is not nearly as stressful as when your oldest does! Sam is sooooo excited, she's ready for middle school and will do great, I can just tell. I included a back view of her new hair cut because I think it is just so darn cute, and today at least she is smiling in the pics, so she must be starting to like it too!

My 8th grader, ready to rule the middle school! Can't believe she's the oldest in the school. It's seems like she just started middle school. She is a WEB leader at our middle school. It's a group of eighth graders chosen to help out the new sixth graders, and that is why she is wearing that t-shirt. No worries, a new school shirt is worn strategically under the WEB shirt because that would be E-M-B-A-R-A-S-S-I-N-G to wear a WEB shirt all day!

The whole gang ready to go. Everyone was excited to atart school today and just popped out of bed. I'm not getting my hopes up. I know that they got up so willingly today because they are excited. Tomorrow or the next day the dragging out of bed will begin. For Madison it started today. She doesn't quite get first day of school excitement. I did have to drag her out of bed kicking and screaming!

Last day of summer vacation

2010-08-24T21:04:00.001-07:00

Today was our last day of summer break. We decided to hit Birch aquarium. They had a great time. There is just so much to see and do there.

Checking out the fish in the big aquarium!

The aquarium is located right on the coast and has amazing views. Also out on the deck are some cool tide pools with creatures you can touch if you're brave enough!

While the big kids played a game Mads played in the fake coral beds with the puppets and stuffed sea life!

Outside the aquarium at the cool fountain!

New Haircut

2010-08-24T20:59:00.001-07:00

Today we went and got a new short haircut for Sam. She has spent a lot of time at the beach and the pool this summer and her long hair gotten pretty damaged.

As you can see from the look on Sam's face she LOVES her new haircut! It ended up being shorter than she wanted but I think it's adorable!

This summer we...

2010-08-22T19:04:00.001-07:00

...bought a new house. We haven't moved yet but we are very excited to in a couple of months. This is Sam's countdown to the close of escrow chain!

made yummy treats with friends.

Summer flip flop cookies

S'mores on a stick

...went to swimming lessons. Mads was the only one who took lessons this year and she LOVED it the first week, but cried the entire time the second week. Mr. Zac was very patient with her!

...ran a 5K. Well, Amanda and I did. Oh yeah, and we really didn't run that much of it. The photographer just happened to catch us sprinting up to the finish line. A friend of mine organized a 5K here in Poway to raise money and awareness for The Campaign to end fistula .

Mormon Battalion

2010-07-24T09:30:00.001-07:00

Since today is Pioneer Day I thought I'd post the pictures from our recent trip to the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center in Old Town San Diego. I hadn't been there for over a year and they have totally redone the whole place. It is very cool. We had a lot of fun there.

After our tour, which was really fun, by the way, we could look up ancestors that were in the Mormon Battalion. My mom knew of one of her relatives that was and we found his name and learned a little more about him. Very cool.

A family picture.

Is she ever not doing laundry?

We got to pan for gold. We happened to run into someone who actually pans for gold as a hobby and taught us how to do it correctly. None of us could really get the hang of it, but it was sure fun trying.

Sam's big find, maybe she can buy lunch!

More fun things to do there!

After a fun time at the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center we wanted some Mexican Food from Old Town. Unfortunately everywhere was packed, so instead we headed back to Mission Valley and went to Tio Leo's. It was mine and Shaun's favorite Mexican restaurant when we lived down there. It was very good, worth every penny that mom paid for it!

Fourth of July

2010-07-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Fourth of July this year. After church we headed over to Old Poway Park to listen to some band concerts, walk through an antique quilt show and other fun things.

Logan helped Connor with some of the free crafts they had for the kids.

A train ride at the park that included a robbery and a gun fight. Talk about excitement!

Connor would have been happy going up and down the embankment at Old Poway Park looking for tadpoles.

Fireworks! We bundled up and watched the fireworks form the back of Shaun's truck!

Point Loma

2010-07-22T13:37:00.001-07:00

My mom came back to California with us to spend a little time with us, and so Logan came down to visit too. Mom spent a lot of time painting and cleaning my house (I love when she comes to visit me!)so I thought we should get out and do something fun one day. I wanted to take them down to Point Loma, because it is just so beautiful down there. My big kids were not up to the adventure so just Logan my mom, Mads and I headed down. It was a lot of fun, the kids missed out on a good time!

A picture of my mom taking a picture of her wet ankles and feet. If you know my mom very well you know why this moment was documented. My mom doesn't swim, has never swam and is deathly afraid of water, so for her to go ankle deep into the ocean is kind of a big deal! I think she was taking a picture of her wet feet to take home to prove to everyone that she did, because she knew no one would believe her!

Connor's 7th birthday

2010-07-22T13:29:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Connor's birthday this year with a little family party. Sam was in charge of wrapping the gifts and I think she did a pretty good job of disguising what his one was!!

Connor figured it out pretty quick!

Blowing out the candles on his cupcakes with a little help from his sister.

Greek Goddess

2010-07-22T13:26:00.000-07:00

Sam got invited to Percy Jackson themed birthday and was supposed to dress as a Greek god or goddess. We didn't pick a specific goddess just draped her in a white sheet and added gold accents. I think she looked just divine and she had a great time at the party!

Rollup pancakes

2010-07-22T13:18:00.000-07:00

My kids really missed their dad while we were in Utah, but the thing I think they missed the most about him were his rollup pancakes. Shaun makes them EVERY Saturday and Sunday morning. My kids are not great breakfast eaters, but everyone loves his pancakes. Mads likes making them almost as much as she likes eating them. I think she can almost make them without Shaun's help now! Rollup pancakes are a Young family thing. Shaun ate them growing up all the time. They're basically a crepe and they're so yummy. Here's Shaun's recipe:

Mix together:

3 eggs
1 C. flour
1 C. milk.

Pour about 1/4 cup onto a hot, buttered, griddle and then lift and tilt the griddle to spread the batter thin. Flip when you notice that it's starting to cook through. Fill with jam, fresh fruit or sprinkle with sugar and then roll it up! Delicious!

A visit from cousins

2010-07-22T12:55:00.001-07:00

The day we got home from Utah we got to have some fun visitors. Aubrey and kiddos were in town visiting her sister and before they left they came by to see us. The kids have so much fun with their cousins. I honestly can't ever get pictures of Connor and Trey because they are just going the whole time!

Baby Teag and his cute mommy. I love this little guy and just wanted to hold him and squish him, but he wasn't so sure about me, he just wanted his mommy! I guess they need to come visit more often so that I'm not stranger danger to him!

Mads had so much fun with her cousins that she didn't want them to leave. She told bay Teagan that he could sleep over in Sammy's bed!

New patio furniture

2010-07-20T13:29:00.001-07:00

Recently my parents bought new patio furniture that was easier for my grandma to get in and out of. I'm not sure who had more fun with it, my mom sitting in it...(seriously hard to snap a picture of this woman sitting. Before I could even get a picture she was up and going again. I think she had decided to repaint the porch to match the furniture!)

...Connor playing in the box it came in...

...or Josh putting it together!

Dinosaur Park

2010-07-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

One of our fun adventures in Utah was going up to the dinosaur park in Ogden with our Young family. We'd never been there before, but heard it was really fun. It was a long drive, but a lot of fun once we got there!

Before we got up to the park Maidson kept saying she wanted to find a pink and a purple dinosaur. I told her we probably wouldn't see any because dinosaurs were usually brown or grey or green. Who knew they would actually have a pink and a purple dinosaur! Mads was very excited!

Being archaeologists and digging up bones!

Lagoon/Lagoon-a-Beach

2010-07-09T08:30:00.001-07:00

One day while we were in Utah my dad decided to treat us to a day at Lagoon.I hadn't been there in years. The last time I went was when Shaun and I were dating and it was kind of trashy then. I was very pleasantly surprised at how nice the place was! It was a blast!

Midride, I'm not quite sure the little ones are as excited about this ride as they were before it started!

After just doing one ride we headed over to Lagoon-a-Beach. I haven't been to lagoon since this opened and it was so much fun! They had quite a few big slides and a really fun little kids area. I was definitely glad we hit it early in the day because later in the afternoon it was packed.

The skyride.

Riding the train.

Kiddie land, Connor and Mads had a blast there!

Everyone, except mom and Connor went on. Mads was scared before we got on the ride but ended up loving it! And don't let the signs fool you, you WILL get soaked, it's unavoidable!

The one thing I didn't like about Lagoon is that there were too many carnival games and that is all Connor wanted to do! He begged and pleaded all day until finally mom caved and played one with him while the rest of us were on a ride. But, in typical Connor style, he wasn't satisfied and just wanted to keep playing to get an even bigger prize.

Mom in the bumper cars, probably driving backwards!

Mads favorite ride, the kiddie bumper cars. She and Connor went on it at least 4 times in a row!

Everyone had such a great time at Lagoon that day! Thanks dad!

Dad nursing his sunburned feet, and the kids relaxing after a fun filled day at Lagoon!

Mr. T

2010-07-08T13:55:00.001-07:00

Connor loves his head shaved, and when we got to Utah he was complaining of it being too long. I get tired of paying $20 every few weeks to have someone shave it so I convinced my brother to show me how to do it with my new hair clippers! Here's Connor BEFORE:

Josh working his magic.

Josh convinced him to do "The Mr. T" look.

Side view. It took a bribe of one gold dollar coin to convince Connor to let Josh shave off the Mr. T. It was funny for a few minutes, but I didn't want my son walking around out in public like that!

Head shaved and ready for summer!

Kitchen Time

2010-07-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

My mom's going to love this picture! I couldn't document my trip to Utah without including it. The two weeks we were there my mom spent countless hours in the kitchen cooking meals for my grandma and my family. I tried to help, but my mom is so efficient I just seemed to get in the way rather than help. Part of my parent's responsibilities when they moved in with my grandparents was to do all the cooking. My mom cooks three meals a day for my grandma and that's not easy considering my grandma's diet. She has Celiac disease and diabetes. My mom is quite a trooper!

While my mom was in the upstairs kitchen cooking for my grandma and us, Mads spent a lot of time in the downstairs kitchen making "recipes" with her play dough. One day, while mom and I were shopping, her and grandpa Tom spent all afternoon making her "recipes", which included making play dough cakes, putting them in the oven and then "eating" them! What a good Grandpa!