The Wyatt Spot

2011 Crystal Gardens Young Women's New Beginnings

2011-02-20T14:02:00.000-07:00

This year our theme was "The Biggest Gainer"...super cute!

Sister Young did such an amazing job on the balloons, scripting, and overall decor!

She also made these cute favors for all the new girls:)

I was in charge of the treats...so I went with foods in the YW value colors

FAITH (White) - Stands for purity

DIVINE NATURE (Blue) - Reminds us of the sky, heaven and where we came
from. We are of divine parents.

INDIVIDUAL WORTH (Red) - Reminds us of the blood of Christ. The Savior
believed that there wasn't any price too high to pay for us. He loved us so much that He
willingly paid for us with His blood and His own life. He bled from every pore for us.
He paid the infinite price. We are of great worth to the Lord and we should be to
ourselves as well.

KNOWLEDGE (Green) - Reminds us of spring time when things are starting to grow.
We too, should keep growing and learning.

CHOICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY(Orange) - The caution on a stoplight. We too,
have choices to make and we need to pray to make the correct choices. We need to use
caution in making choices.
GOOD WORKS (Yellow) - Sunshine. When we give service it makes us feel warm all
over just as the sun makes us feel warm. We are always blessed by the service we give.

INTEGRITY (Purple) - Royal color. The dye was very hard to come by in past ages
and was costly to produce so only people of royal birth (Kings and Queens) could afford
to wear the cloth of this color. It came to represent royalty. We are of royal birth...
daughters of Heavenly Father. Someday, if we live worthily, we will be princesses and
Queens. We must have integrity to do that. If we have integrity we have all the other
values as well.

Virtue (Gold)-Virtue is remaining morally clean and sexually pure. Being virtuous will help young women prepare to go to the temple and fulfill future roles as wives and mothers.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

I woke up early to make sure they all had Valentine's awaiting them...and heart pancakes to make sure their tummy's were full before school!

Boston was pretty excited:)

Pink pancake batter

Love these heart shaped thingy-bobs!

Madison caught sneakin' candy before breakfast;)

Brooklyn...so excited:)

Paris having an AWESOME V-Day so far!

Seattle and Berlin are my two that sleep in...so we'll have to snap a pic a little later!

Palm Springs Getaway...

2011-02-12T12:44:00.002-07:00

My friend Cassea was getting married in Palm Springs the weekend right before Valentine's Day, so we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to make it a little vacay!

Phil, being the perfect hubby he is thought ahead and had this beautiful bracelet ready and waiting for me:)

The room was super cute...I've never stayed in the Homewood Suites before, but I would totally recommend the one in Palm Springs...

It had a cute little kitchenette and everything.

This is a horrible quality picture of Cassea and I...she looked absolutely breath-taking in her dress!

Congrats Cassea and Henry!

Berlin got stitches:(

2011-02-09T12:26:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure if it's because I have mostly girls...the fact that my kids play "nicely", or the fact that we've just been lucky, but leave it to our last baby to make sure we get the "wonderful" experience of going to the emergency room for stitches!

Berlin's split lip

The cause: Rain boots that were atleast 4 sizes to big worn on the wrong feet. She was a walking time bomb...literally. Unfortunately when she went down...it happened to be right next to Boston's bed:(

Just wouldn't stay closed

Waiting in the ER...

Not happy...I think it hurt me more than her:(

2 stitches

In a much better mood:)

Haven's Princess Party

2011-02-01T11:58:00.000-07:00

My niece Haven turned 4 and Shavonne hosted the most amazing little princess house warming party! I failed to take a picture of he adoreable and very LEGIT play house! It is so cute:) The desserts were absolutely amazing!

Yummmm...

The details were soo cute!

Berlin hanging out with random friends...

Poor Madison's Allergies were Kickin'

Boston...being Boston:)

2011-01-15T11:47:00.005-07:00

I have to laugh at the little moments...I found these pictures on my camera:) HAHA, this must have been good stuff it was camera worthy...it does look a lot like his tongue:p I'm guessing Paris is the photographer...mainly because Brooklyn knows my camera is off limits and Madison's picture would probably be pretty blurry;) The angle is leading me to believe she was sitting on the island...hmmm

I love my boy...

Brooklyn's Eleven!

2011-01-07T11:03:00.006-07:00

Happy Birthday Brooklyn!

I can't believe she's eleven! It seems like it was just a few years ago, my "little" 11lb 4 oz package arrived:)

Brooklyn is in 5th grade this year and is THE best oldest daughter and student anyone could ever ask for! She's absolutely nothing like her mother when it comes to behavior! I love it!!! I'm sure some of her sisters are seriously going to give me us our fair share, but Brooklyn spoils us.

Brooklyn's new Citrus

She's also super smart and has learned that if you help mom and dad, you get perks;) Phil and I do a pretty good job of rewarding our kids for good behavior and Brooklyn pretty much always knows the perfect thing to say or do at just the right time! Boston and Paris hate it, but we LOVE it...I'll be honest, brown nosing is totally allowed here;)

Since it's a school day, we decided she could open 1 gift before school...then we'd take her to a movie(Gulliver's Travels), dinner (Islands), and dessert (Coldstone) with a friend! Her own GNO:)

Brooklyn and Paige

Christmas 2010

2010-12-25T09:07:00.000-07:00

The WORST stocking of all time!! I had to showcase it:)

Boston received Coal for Christmas...

2010-12-25T08:30:00.001-07:00

Well this Christmas was a little different this year...our kids are getting older, and some a little wiser...

This year has been a rough year for Boston...I guess I can chalk it up to the fact that he's the only boy...but really I think he's just testing our patience as parents:) Usually when this kind of stuff happens...especially around Christmas we pull the 'ol "You better be good, or Santa won't bring you any presents" routine...and it works pretty good. (It's usually pretty amazing) However this year, Boston decided it would be fun to test how good he really would need to be, in order for Santa to come.

So 2 days before Christmas this year, I overheard him talking to Brooklyn and Paris. They were pleading with him to be good so he could get presents...his response, "Oh it will be okay, I was bad 85% of the whole last year and Santa still got me presents, so I think he'll come anyway."....PUNK! So later, I ask him to clean up his room and he responds, "No, I don't feel like it." After we had a short and very direct conversation about the room situation, I decided to have a little chat about this whole Santa situation:)

Me: So Boston, how come you're being so rotten right before Santa comes?
Boston: Oh, because I think Santa's a fake and dad and you get me the presents.
Me: Oh, okay...so why would we still want to get you presents if you're being so disrespectful to us?
Boston: Because that's what parents have to do no matter what, get their kids presents for Christmas.
(I'm thinking...have I taught you NOTHING!!!!) I guess all my Christmas stories, donating toys, and our FHE's devoted to the real meaning of Christmas, simply went in one ear and out the other...

So it was ON! I called Phil and immediately told him about our conversation...HE IS SO GETTING COAL...NO MATTER WHAT! We both agreed, but since it was so close to Christmas we weren't sure how we were going to gain access to this coal. Luckily, Hobby Lobby had some great rocks that resembled coal...and our plan was in motion....

My mom and dad were here in November and left their presents for the kids, his was large enough that it had already received lots of attention, and he knew that he had that present coming to him, so we left that one untouched. My mom called Boston on Christmas Eve and asked him to be good, but Boston refused and told her the same thing...he was still going to get presents. So my mom helped us by setting the stage, she said that usually she gives a special call to Santa asking for him to still deliver presents to him, but this year she's been to busy to call.

The next morning he wakes us up at 7:30am (which is pretty late for our kids) and you can tell he's been crying. He said with his lower lip quivering, "Mom, Santa came...he gave everyone else presents, but he actually just got me coal." I know this sounds mean, but I was trying to hold back laughter! It was just too good! It was completely worth his bad attitudes and "rudiness" over the past 2 days:)

We had thought of everything...after we allowed the girls to open a few presents in front of him, we referred him to a note in the tree. After he opened it, he learned that "Santa" received a call from his Nana after he had already left and he just had enough time to leave his presents in the back room:)

I'm thinking he learned a great lesson...it doesn't matter where the presents come from...but to get them, you still have to be good:)

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T21:28:00.010-07:00

Berlin had so much fun this Halloween! She basically walked around looking adorable and when someone dropped a piece of candy...it was fair game! Shavonne and Greg came over and we made it a PARTY!

She is Paris' twin...she's so expressive!

The kids couldn't resist when she came around begging for candy!

Of course when she was denied she'd get a frowny face

Boston and Madison

2010-10-21T08:29:00.003-07:00

I thought this was so funny! Boston is an awesome big brother, one of the things he loves to do is play games with his younger sisters. Most of the time it does involve a huge mess, but it ALWAYS ends up in them having so much fun!

So today I was sitting down checking my email when I hear Boston yell, "Okay come try and find me!" (Which I ignore...sad!) A few seconds later I see Madison sneaking up to his doorway. I forgot all about the "find me" comment and am completely dwelling on the fact that she's "sneaking". So my "mom radar" goes off and I spin around super fast to see what she's trying to smuggle into Boston's room. (Typically items smuggled into rooms involves some type of food, drink, or scissors...Which of course are ALL off limits!)

Madison...holding her "Gun"

I had to go in for a closer look...it was a "gun", created out of his Geo Trax train pieces and hair ties holding a flashlight on top of it! Hahahaha! Only a boy, living in a house full of girls, would think to use hair ties when we had no rubber bands! I thought it was cute...

Sim's Company Picnic

2010-10-16T11:34:00.002-07:00

This year, Sim's Company picnic was held at the Phoenix Zoo. Our kids were super excited that it meant another trip to the ZOO:) After our fun party the night before, Phil and I were just looking forward to a relaxing lunch. They raffled off a BUNCH of prizes, when I mean a bunch, I mean a bunch! There were over 300 people there and when they drew your name to win a prize, you would still be eligible to be in the GRAND PRIZE drawing for a 42" Plasma TV. Phil knew what the prize would be, so he wanted to stick around until the end. Our little ones had kind of had it, and I was just hoping they'd hurry up and call the winner so we could go check out the animals! Long story short...Phil was called to win the TV!

Totally exciting! We never win anything...

After we cooled off...we went and checked out the monkeys. The highlight of the kids day:)

This guy is HUGE! Although the monkey's were AWESOME, Phil couldn't take it anymore...so had to jam home so he could find our new TV a permanent residing place.

Our Halloween Party 2010

2010-10-15T19:00:00.067-07:00

I absolutely LOVE halloween and hosting an annual party is one of the highlights I actually look forward to every year! This year was a bit more challenging though...I've never had to plan it, while working before:( I made it work though, the guys at work got to see my "Martha Stewart" crafts come to life! Ha Ha, I kind of multi-task...a LOT;)

Right before the guests arrived, I tried to take a few shots to set the stage...

Thanks to my girls and their friends, these garbage bags turned out awesome!

Chocolate fountain...

"Choose Your Poison" Italian Soda Bar...

These coffin favors are one of my favorite things to make! They actually hold the perfect amount of candy and they are super festive looking:) I found them a couple of years ago while watching a Martha Stewart episode. If you'd like the pattern, you can click here.

This year's theme was Witches & Vampires...I had fun with the invitations...inviting guests to a party where the guys all "sucked" and the girls were total "witches", how often can you say that with out getting in trouble?! Ha Ha...LOVED IT! Of course I had to add a little vinyl to the background, they were supposed to be thought bubbles. Hopefully you get the idea!

The Palmers

The Clarks

The O'Neill's

The Norths

The White's

Good Times...

My gorgeous sis!

Greg rockin his gothic style

Two witchy sisters;)

The whole group...almost the Clarks were taking the pics in this one:(

Melanie made her costume...completely awesome and yes, she won for the best witch:)
We didn't get a photo of the winner of the best vampire...but it was Rob aka "The Count!"

One of our favorite games to play is the "Oddlywed" game, we come up with different questions each year to see who knows who the best! It always sparks the BEST conversations! Ha Ha, this year it was Greg and Shavonne who won the Clarks by 1 point! So they were awarded 2 movie tickets where they could take a night off from chatting...apparently they already knew eachother pretty well;)

Whenever there's a winner there has to be a loser:( Ha Ha, so close, but unfortunately the Palmer's came in last, so we sentenced them to a date where they would be working closely together and could work on some of their conversation skills:) Ha Ha!

Vacation to Utah...Day 2

2010-08-27T10:32:00.001-07:00

We hadn't gotten a chance to see Chad and Sara's amazing new house yet in Eagle Mountain, so we took a trip there so we could see their amazing 4000+sq house! The kids LOVED it...I have to say a basement like theirs would be a dream come true! The kids actually had a sweet game of "Red Rover" going on!

Phil and Brielle weren't really friends, so this picture is proof that she did let him hold her once...as you can see, she's super excited about it:)

So nice...and there's still 3 bedrooms upstairs! Crazy nice!

Then it was off to Thanksgiving Point...to see the beautiful gardens! This golf cart was awesome...especially since I got to drive it most of the time...pretending to be a flower guide for the kids:)

Some history about this photo...we told the kids to race up to the top and see how far it goes...right after the kids began running back, we see the other half of our group looking down at us from the top too. The kids were kind of bummed...I guess the path eventually takes you there:)

This plant name was funny...it was all very contradictory. The name was Summer Snow, then the thing was all over the place and it said it was an "obedient plant"...are they just making stuff up? So who comes up with plant names anyway?

Before it started pouring down rain on us all...the kids decided to roll, run, and biff it down the hill. There were a bunch of people setting up some sort of concert or wedding...I'm sure they didn't mind the entertainment we briefly provided!

TO Be Continued...Day 2, Half way through!

Happy Birthday to Boston at Brick Oven Pizza!

2010-08-26T21:24:00.000-07:00

After an action packed day at Cowabunga Bay everyone was invited to celebrate Boston's and Benjamin's birthdays at Brick Oven Pizza in a party room that was bound to be PACKED! Boston turned 9 and Benjamin turned 10 so we decided to celebrate in style with ALL the family!

On our way down University Avenue all the college memories flooded back! I can't believe how many things have changed, yet still seem the same. On our way, we passed the Glenwood Apartments...(sigh) that's where Phil and I both lived and met...(cheesy smile)..

Pulling up to Brick Oven was completely nostalgic too...it was my first job in Utah while I was going to college:) That seems like FOREVER ago...yet another reminder that time is flying!

Sky and Blake met us too, which was SWEET because we needed Uncle B's lap as an extra seat, because their "Party Room" couldn't handle our Party;) Ha Ha!

Our trip to Utah...day 1

2010-08-26T15:27:00.003-07:00

So after an exhausting week of packing for 8, keeping the house clean, and the laundry under control...Wednesday finally arrived! I have always hated driving in cars since I was a kid...I won't blame it on any one thing...more a combination of a bunch of things that involve 6 kids, sandwiched in the back of a suburban! Ha ha...my parents call it memories, I call it a recipe for a migraine!
Phil and I try to "keep it real" when we travel...I hate the whole messy traveling car look, it already seems like we attract so much attention as it is, having such a huge family piling in and out of our car...so I like what little attention we can control, to be somewhat not junky! Ha ha! I know, I'm so wierd! So instead of bringing along snacks that would just end up being smashed into the back seats, we started our trip off with McDonalds:) Nothing like bacon, egg, and cheese in the morning! The first 4 hours were good...we ate, no one had to go potty...everything was sweet, until we hit "Freedonia"! Wow! We made the mistake of telling our kids that when we stopped to get gas, we would also stop and get out to get something to eat. What we didn't know, was that the only visible restaurant around was another McDonalds! Okay, so I'm all for McDonalds...but twice in one day? No. So we tried telling the kids that in the next town, we promised to get something to eat...we started asking them what they felt like to get them excited...oooh big mistake.
Anyone with kids knows...that when they flip, they flip fast, especially when they're either hungry or tired...and my kids were both! Ugh...the next town was Panguitch...talk about a town! I'm not worried about offending anyone because I'm pretty sure they haven't heard of the internet yet...they only had 2 "name brand" restaurants...Subway in a gas station and Arby's...in a gas station...how lovely! Yeah so to make a sweet trip sweeter we all got out at the local gas station to go inside and eat at Arby's! How do you know you're in Utah? Maybe when suburban that parks next to you has 8 kids showcased on their back window! Ha ha! Loved it!!!

After a meal that left me seriously re-"thinking" Arby's...we were on our way again...! We arrived a mere 5 hours later to Lehi, UT!

Now the real fun begins...

Thursday morning we woke up and went over to Gramma Debbie's and Papas house for scones with the cousins! Tony, Jessica, and their 5 kids were staying at their house. Phil, Me, and our 6, were staying with Shauna and her 3 kids around the corner:)

It was so much fun to see the cousins all hanging out together! Now get ready for a million photos...

Silly side note about the below picture...My father in law is a complete stud! He owns a few homes close to his and then of course has his daughter super close too, so as we're pulling up to the house he's loading his riding lawn mower up onto a trailor so he could go take care of the lawns that needed to be mowed, if you knew my father in law this wouldn't come as a surprise:)

Before breakfast was finished he was already back and armed with 2 cans of Wasp spray, so he could spray a nest that was like super high. I think I was the only one completely curious about how he was going to do this...wearing shorts and a short sleeve shirt, on a ladder no less!

I wish I had gotten a video! Phil has some awesome stories of being on the phone with his dad while he was taking down wasps on the other end of the line...and when asked if he was getting stung, he said yeah, but finished the conversation without a hitch! Now I can honestly say I totally believe that story! A few swats and a lot of yelling "Get out of here!" to the wasps...he took their little nest down! I have to say...it was pretty awesome! (Don't let the picture fool you, there were wasps flying all over the place!)

After breakfast it was off to Cowabunga Bay!

Finally Phil pays attention...but Berlin is so over this scene!

Cowabunga Bay was seriously fun...the day continued with dinner at Brick Oven Pizza

To Be Continued...

Book Of Mormon family challenge...

2010-05-29T14:42:00.002-07:00

This summer has been great so far with the kids out of school, we've been swimming, swimming, and did I mention swimming? I'm all about easy activities with the kids, so swimming fits of course:) Lately however, I've been trying to think of a long term goal we could complete as a family, especially since they're home right now, and maybe get a sweet reward to look forward to also!

I came up with the idea of reading the Book Of Mormon...I know, I know, not an original idea, but it's a new one to our family as a WHOLE. So, since the kids are very visual...and, come on, I am too...I found an idea for a Book Of Mormon chart online...the only problem was that it was too small to get the details...so I stumbled and sketched until I created my own chart of sorts:)

Oh isn't it lovely? Ha Ha! I'm no artist, but it serves it's purpose...we get the idea of where we are.

Since Brooklyn, Boston, and Paris are all old enough to read, it's been great having them take turns reading and then telling everyone there impressions of what's going on! The younger three have no clue what's going on, but it's still been such a sweet experience to learn as they do and see things with such innocence! We have a long way to go, but are happy to report that we are now on 2Nephi! Whoo hoo!

The funny part was coming up with a reward as a family. We asked each of the kids to come up with what the reward should be for completing the entire Book Of Mormon...the answers were hilarious!

Brooklyn: 1. Skittles

2.Go to Nana's House

Boston: 1.Play the computer

2.Visit the Great Wall of China!

Paris: 1. Candy

2. Go to Nana's or Gramma Debbie's House

3. Just go to Peter Piper Pizza with Shavonne

Madison: 1. I want to go to the beach and see sharks!

LOVE IT! Kids are the BEST!!!!

Triple Fudge Crunch Cake

2010-05-27T14:15:00.001-07:00

So it's no secret that I LOVE chocolate and any excuse to bake something really:) I decided since it was Sunday and we were all in the mood to snack that I'd try out a new cake recipe. When Phil saw the ingredients he cringed and said, "I'm out"...so I warned him not to judge a recipe by the ingredients:)

I think it's safe to say...he ate his words...literally! The cake is super yummy and is definitely a crowd pleaser!

Here's what you need...

1/3 Cup Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 bag Milk Chocolate Chips

1 package Fudge or Milk Chocolate Cake Mix, I use Betty Crocker

1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil

1 Cup Applesauce

2 Eggs

1 Cup Chopped Pecans

To Start: Heat your oven to 350. Grease the bottom only of a 13X9 pan.

Next, Microwave the condensed milk and half a cup of the chocolate chips in a small microwaveable bowl uncovered on Medium (50%) in 30 second intervals until the chocolate is softened; stir until smooth and set aside.

Now for the cake part: Beat cake mix and oil together with a mixer or your kitchenaide, just until it turns crumbly; scoop out 1 cup of that mixture and set it aside...Now add the applesauce and eggs into the remaining cake mixture, the mixture will seem thick and grainy, just continue to beat for about 2 minutes or so then spread it into your pan.

Drop melted chocolate mixture in tablespoons onto the cake batter.

Grab that cup full of crumbly cake bits and add it to another 1/2 cups of chocolate chips and the pecans. Just mix with your hands until it's "topping" worthy:) Crumble the mixture all over the cake batter, then bake it for 45-50 minutes or until the center is set.

Cool completely or serve hot with ice cream...it's super yummy!

Sorry my photos aren't better...I only had my phone camera handy:)

Las Vegas With the Ladies!!

2010-05-21T17:31:00.004-07:00

My good friend Sandy moved to Colorado last year and we've missed hanging out:( We finally found a weekend that worked for everyone and decided to meet in Las Vegas!

My trip kicked off around 4:30pm on Saturday when Phil dropped me off at good ol Sky Harbor...only to find out 30 minutes later that I'd be grounded an extra hour and a half due to missing flight attendants?!?!?! I was the last one to arrive, so we kicked off dinner at P.F. Changs...YUMMMM! It's been years since I've eaten there and I'm always leery of trying new restaurants...you know me and my vegetarian + bacon lifestyle;) I have to say the Tofu Rice meal was EXCELLENT...and I'm not even a fan of Tofu!

As you can tell...we had lots of fun taking pictures!

After dinner we headed to Planet Hollywood to catch a hypnotist. While we were waiting I caught sight of these GARGANTUAN hand prints and had to take a pic:)

While we were waiting for the earlier show to get out, we were stuck in the bar area and I noticed these "sweet" little rooms! Ha Ha! I had to take a pic and show Phil...of course you'll all be very glad to know there was no dancing on my trip:)

After a very eventful night...literally a fight broke out next door in the middle of the night and we thought the people fighting were going to crash through our door any minute...somehow we all did manage to fall asleep, and then we awoke to this beautiful view! Breakfast at IHOP...

Shopping at H&M...I must have missed the memo about NOT smiling...;)

Kim, Sandy, and I.

Trying on horrible shades...

I'm actually thinking when you guys are like 60...you guys could totally rock these!!!!

We had soo much fun and adventures to match!

Sandy was a doll and taught us all how to play Roulette! I am now a huge fan, it was incredibly fun! Oh the weekend literally flew by! I flew home on Monday afternoon to a happy husband and 6 kids! I can't wait to go out on a Ladies Getaway again! Maybe we can go someplace tropical next!!!!

Mother's Day...always a treat:)

2010-05-09T11:27:00.001-07:00

I love the idea of Mother's Day...I think it's a wonderful idea. However, this year I've decided that I'm trading Mother's Day for Father's Day with Phil. I awoke at 3:30 am to the sound of Seattle becoming the first member of the "pukey and poopy" club...aww sweet sounds you love to wake up to! Luckily, I have the best husband in the world he cleaned that one up:) Then about 5:30am Berlin joined the "pukey and poopy" club...bliss, complete bliss...this one needed a two man clean up crew to tackle it:(

After the clean up and lots of help from Phil...I was able to lay back down and enjoy my pillow for about an hour before Phil had to leave for our 8am sacrament:) Of course, I'm the lucky one to stay home...after all it is Mother's Day!!!

On a good note...during the hour I was out COLD...and rolled over to see these cute little gifts sitting on my night stand:)

The snowflake thingy is from Paris...and the cute card is from Brooklyn:)

--Side Story about the candy and flowers and why I'm actually excited about them...

SO last year on Mother's Day Sunday, at church I started noticing women wearing these corsages pinned to their dresses. Sweet...not my style, but sweet, nonetheless. After seeing like 20 different ladies with them, I HAD to ask someone what kind "exclusive club" they all belonged to. The answer was, in Elder's Quorum they sent around a little sign up sheet that the husbands could all sign up and pay to have these flowers delivered to their wives today. Awww sweet...so where's mine?
Naturally, having Seattle just out of nursery's reach, and me sitting up front in Relief Society, I found my answer...as I saw Phil hanging out in the foyer with about 3 other dad's and their kids, who's wives also coincidentally, didn't have the sweet corsages either:) I thought it was funny, but I did like harassing him about it.

Needless to say, Phil was in Elder's Quorum this year when the sign up sheets went around...and I wasn't left out this year:) It was completely worth it!

P.S. Thanks Melanie for being the greatest and sending home the Mother's Day Treat from sacrament with Phil! You're the BEST!

Girls Night Out!

2010-05-01T20:04:00.003-07:00

It's been a while since the "ladies" have all gotten together:( We had like 5 out of the 7 of us having a birthday within the month, so we decided it was an EXCELLENT excuse to get together again! We've missed Maylene living close and are glad when new friends get to join in on the fun too. Sorry to all the others that couldn't make it, we will definitely plan another!

We went to the "fan favorite" of the group...Oreganos! It was a little warm, and we only had to wait about an hour for a table...and it flew by! Note: Always go to a packed restaruant when you're meeting up with friends you haven't seen in a while! It's sooo good to catch up without shoving food in your mouths at the same time, which we also do, but it's still nice to get some convo in first;)

We always tend to get a little silly and have THE BEST conversations, definitely a well needed break!

My flash on my phone for some reason flashes twice...so it tricks you! You see the first flash...assume it's done, and go back to your usual pose when BAM it catches you for real this time! I haven't been on the receiving end of it yet...(notice no self portraits as my FB profile) so that will explain some of these really hottt shots! Ha Ha! The first couple were so funny, we decided we were going to keep taking crazy shots.

Cynthia

Maylene

Amy

Melanie

Shavonne

Charilla

Thanks Ladies it was sooooo much fun!!!!!!! Can't you tell by my scary expression????? Bet you all would be scared to run into me after watching Eclipse, I give a whole new meaning to "pale face"...hahaha!

Sweeping with Seattle

2010-04-27T08:17:00.001-07:00

So I woke up in a hurry, as I do everyday...it's 8:00 and the kids have to be to school by 8:30...and I haven't had ANYONE come get their hair done, nor any of the babies come wake me up...strange.

I look over at the nightstand and I notice Boston is still mad at me for telling him he couldn't play the Wii yesterday...he left me a sweet note, see?

It's never good news when the house is quiet. When I get downstairs I see that there is a total cereal mess on the floor, but the kids are all ready for school, yay! Then I hear the garage door open and close, but don't really pay attention to who opened it...because I'm in too obsessed with getting everyone's backpacks and shoes on!

A second later, Seattle passes me with a broom...on a total mission! She ATTEMPTS to clean up the spilled cheerios on the floor...then proceeds back to the garage to put the broom away...amazing. I'm completely speechless! Now if only my 10, 8, and 6 year olds would do the same thing...

I've got teeth...and a little personality!

2010-04-20T11:53:00.000-07:00

Berlin has finally gotten her two front teeth in, they look a little goofy but I LOVE the style they add to her little grins! She's started waving and she gets so excited when she's doing it...so I had to take a picture:)

This picture is from Paris to Nana. One of the things Paris LOVES to do everyday is read books and draw pictures to her Nana, (mom you're a lifesaver!) it's a nightly routine they have and usually the pictures are sent via text message, but this time it's going on the blog! I'm so thankful for modern technology!!!!!!

Madison turns 4...almost:)

2010-04-11T18:52:00.001-07:00

We decided to celebrate Madison's birthday a little early (April 13th) since my dad was in town!

By request, we had pink "princess ice cream cupcakes"...well it was my version anyway. There wasn't any ice cream involved...but they looked like ice cream, so I think that counts!

She LOVED her gifts! So did Haven and Seattle:)

She had to put her "twinkle toes" on immediately and ran into the bathroom with the other kids to turn off the lights and watch them light up! Oooh I remember when that would have been the highlight of my night too;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADISON:)

--For some reason, Madison never liked saying she was 3. Seriously, whenever I would ask her age she would say she was 8. No matter how often we would practice her name, birthday, and age...she would always get her age purposely wrong. SO I tried again after her birthday and she smiled a HUGE smile and said 4! Yay! I don't think I'll ever know why she didn't like being 3...but I'm glad she likes being 4!

Playing with Papa!

2010-04-08T15:31:00.001-07:00

My mom is in South Carolina with Sarah, who is having baby boy # 3! Yay! Since she'll be there awhile we wanted to surprise my dad and have him come out and play with his Arizona grandkids! Shavonne had a "free" flight earned, so it was PERFECT. Greg and her purchased the flight and then we got to call him on conference (my family's favorite) and tell him what time he had to be to the airport...because he was coming out for a visit!!!

It was awesome, he was pretty excited! Shavonne and Greg are the best! It's still perfect weather, low to mid 80's during the day, so definitely warm enough to hop in some water...but not quite swimming pool status, yet. Shavonne and my dad took a little trip and picked up one of these beauties...it actually held all seven of them! Crazy!

Behind the scenes...what you wouldn't know from looking at this picture is, my dad hooked the hose to fill this pool up, directly to the water heater! He made sure all the kids were out and far away first, then he filled it up half way with hot water, then the rest with some buckets of cold from the tap! Why didn't we think of that???? The kids LOVED it! Of course while pouring in the buckets of cold water...it wouldn't be my dad unless he poured it on everyone!

Easter Morning...

2010-04-04T11:57:00.001-07:00

Easter with the Wyatts

Easter at our house is all about the Egg Hunt in the morning:) Our Easter Bunny leaves grass everywhere that he's been upstairs to get the kids excited about the "Hunt!" The kids had to wait this year until Dad and Mom had the video and regular cam's ready! Phil and I had EXTRA fun this year hiding Brooklyn and Boston's eggs! Ha ha, every year they get harder and harder. It's was hard keeping every one's eggs straight for the hunt, so the last couple of years we've had everyone have their own "themed" eggs...and then of course the rest are a free for all:) It totally helps!

Some highlights...Paris got underwear from the Easter Bunny in her basket:) I think they were put there as a joke, but were left to see her reaction. When we saw her go over to the basket and pick them up, her face was pretty expressionless...so we had to ask! "Paris, did the Easter bunny seriously bring you underwear, what a weirdo!?" -Me "No, it was actually pretty nice, because Madison always steals mine and I need some more."-Paris
Ha Ha Ha! Never would have thought that would some how come off as normal at all! I guess it's a good thing she got underwear then...

Madison and Seattle took forever to find their eggs, because the minute they would find one...they were literally shaking with excitement while opening them to see what kind of candy was inside...(either the kind they could poor directly into their mouths or the kind they would need to unwrap first) They were total addicts!

Berlin was a cutie, she was exited about the 1 egg that was in the world's smallest Easter basket! She also had fun emptying everyone else's baskets too...

We finished off the morning with my special "Carmel Baked French Toast" and watched General Conference. What a perfect morning!

Grandma Norma comes to visit!

2010-03-24T10:25:00.001-07:00

My beautiful Grandmother and her sweet husband Fred were visiting some family out here in Arizona and on their way home got to stop by and visit with us for a while. It was so nice to get to see them again. My older 3 kids were so sad they didn't get to see her, (they were still in school) but hopefully we'll get to go to California soon and visit with them again!

Just the girls...(Drake was sleeping)

This was as good as it ever got! Someone was either covering their faces, crying, or not looking in EVERY single picture! And just think...this was only with half of the kids here!

I have no idea what's going on in this picture...that's why I included it! Grandma and Fred are leaving...Haven is wearing her HOTT wig and heading in the opposite direction while Seattle appears to be sending them some "Huggie" love while sporting Cinderella shoes! I wish I could see what was going on in their little heads!

Seattle and Berlin posing:)

I love how you can see Shavonne and I both going for the photo in the reflection! HA Ha! We are such dorks, but you can't really blame us! Grandma you look beautiful and it was so nice to see you and Fred again! Come back and visit any time!

Spring Training 2010

2010-03-22T12:44:00.016-07:00

Uncle Mike is in town for Spring Training!

Uncle Mike and his neighbor, Bruce come out every year to enjoy back to back spring training games... for like a week! Not my idea of fun, but we do enjoy visiting with him...and of course Phil would never turn down an opportunity to catch a CUBS spring training game!!

I loved that he even has A's shoes! He's a super duper A's fan!
p.s. Everyone that knows Seattle and her obsession with undressing...can appreciate the nice gray tank I've created for her:)

We took him to Smashburger...of course...then the boys all went out and watched Alice In Wonderland (3D)...because the girls and I saw it the weekend before:)

The kids all had so much fun! MISS YOU UNCLE MIKE!

Happy Birthday Seattle!

2010-03-10T11:54:00.001-07:00

Seattle is 2!

I can't believe how fast time flies! It's crazy to think that Seattle is 2 already! Between Shavonne and I (my youngest 3)we have girls at 4, 3, 2, and nearly 1! That's just crazy! It's hard now, but it will be so much fun when they can really understand and appreciate how cool it will be to have built in friends close to your age!

P.S. The baby that Seattle is holding up top...cries really loudly and she's clearly concerned! Ha Ha!

Shavonne, Greg, Haven, and Drake came over and helped celebrate! My mom and aunt Joanie both got to visit within weeks of her "big day" too, so she got to open even more presents! YAY! As you can see...her favorite gift probably cost all of $.50! When will we learn to chuck the toys and just invest in candy?! I'm sure our dentist and my wallet would object...but it would make for a bunch of happy kids!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEATTLE!!!

Berlin is 8 mos!

2010-02-17T11:18:00.001-07:00

BERLIN is 8 MONTHS OLD!

Wow that went really, really fast:(

I know I totally went picture CRAZY, but she has this CUTE outfit from pinkbowtique.com/ with a bunch of cute headbands! I couldn't decide on only 1! I get so many compliments on her bows/headbands/flowers...so check out there website if you get a chance!

She just got her first tooth on the bottom...it's so "snaggly" and cute! Do those two words even make sense in the same sentence? Ha ha!

She's sitting, crawling, and pulling herself up EVERYWHERE!

Her cute little personality coming out:)

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this outfit! The ruffles on the bum are adoreable!!!

The socks are too cute too! So I had to include her chubby little footsies!

Awwww, I'm Loved...

2010-02-15T11:08:00.001-07:00

I woke up this morning...went downstairs to make sure the kids were eating breakfast and all ready for school...when I came back I found this little note on top of my neatly made bed:) It was sweet...and yes, I paid it forward!

Happy Valentines Day!

2010-02-14T10:17:00.000-07:00

I decided to make some yummy "lovey" treats today, giving me an excuse to use my new mini cake stand!

I made these using...
1 cube of butter melted
1 pkg mini marshmallows
6-7C Rice Crispy cereal

After the ingredients were combined and taken off the stove, I added the festive little pink heart marshmallows in too! They looked so pretty and pink...but I couldn't stop there...

SO I dipped each one in melted Ghiradelli chocolate and sprinkled each with M&M's and sprinkles:)

A Royal Party!

2010-02-06T13:56:00.039-07:00

Haven turned 3 on the 1st, and everyone got a "Royal Invitation!" It was so cute and everyone was supposed to come dressed up as royalty...the kids were super excited!

My mom was in town, so we all got to have a "royally sweet" time;)

Happy Birthday Haven!

Seattle was sooo excited!!

Drake...really digging the pizza!

The cupcakes were so yummy and looked awesome!!!

VT Handout for February!

2010-02-04T08:32:00.001-07:00

I've been super busy with my new job and am still trying to find the right balance for everything and person in my life! I do have some blogging to catch up on, so I will take care of that sometime soon! For now, my super awesome mom's in town, and I'm taking full advantage of all the perks that go along with that!!

One of the things I've been TRYING not to slack off on is my VT, and it helps even more when I can "copy" off other people's hard work...especially when they are such cute ideas!!! So with that said, if you are like most of us, and haven't gotten around to your VT for February yet, check out my friend Teresa's blog! She's super talented and this month she had a talented "guest author", Pam, share her super cute VT handout idea:)
She has links to all the patterns (keys, wallet, purse, purse instructions, and quotes) that you can just print, right from your computer. Thank you Teresa!!!

Chocolate Lava Cups

2010-01-23T14:11:00.000-07:00

I was really in the mood for some "Lava Cups"...atleast that's what I call them. I couldn't find a recipe off at hand, so I decided to start with my favorite 3 ingredients...Chocolate Cake Mix, Chocolate Jello, and Chocolate! How can you go wrong, right?

I mixed the pudding in with the cake mix and baked the cake like the directions called for...then I made up the "ganache" type filling for the middle. I melted 1 box of the Baker's Semi Sweet squares over medium heat with 1/4-1/2 cup heavy whipping cream until it all melted together and became creamy. Then I poured it into a bowl and stuck it into the fridge for a half hour or so.

When the chocolate was hard enough, I scooped it out with a tablespoon and dropped it in the middle of my little cupcakes...(I used a mini cheesecake tin).

I baked them at 350 for the lenght it said on the box...which I think was about 20-22 minutes. Then I took them out of the pans to cool for just a few minutes, while I heated up the remaining chocolate in the microwave. (Make sure you heat it slowly...otherwise it will scorch) After it was all melted, I placed a Lavacup and a scoop of ice cream on everyone's plate...then topped with melted chocolate! I see I was overly excited to eat it...so I guess I left out the shot of the ice cream. I guess if you want to see what it looks like, you'll have to try it out for yourself! What a bummer;)

So if you're in the mood for something chocolatey...this definitely does the trick!

The day AFTER Phoenix's big Tornado Warning...(Back Blogged)

2010-01-22T10:58:00.020-07:00

Normally, it's during the "Monsoon" that we get to go play in our parks, er, lakes! Last night's storm was pretty crazy around here! In fact, I'm not sure what was crazier...the Tornado Warning, or the fact that EVERY SINGLE one of my shows was interrupted every 5 minutes or so, letting us know how much rain had fallen...still think it was under 3" btw:) So I thought before the sun dries up the park, I would let the girls try out their "rain boots" that I got for a few dollars at Target! They were so EXCITED! It's such a beautiful day!!!

As you can see, Seattle lost a shoe...but believe it or not she came home dry!

Just another reason that...I LOVE PHOENIX!

A Lovely Day at the Phoenix Zoo...

2010-01-16T15:39:00.001-07:00

My friend Charilla and her daughter, Madison invited us out to the zoo today! So I took my oldest 3 girls. It was PERFECT weather and we had so much fun:)

These stingrays were like little puppies! I couldn't believe how "friendly" they were! Madison got to touch two different ones! I've never seen any stingrays that were so willing to come to the sides to be pet!

The girls came home and told Boston they got to sit on real elephants...I'm not sure what finally gave it away that it was only rock? Ha ha! It did have him going for a minute or two though...

I had to take a picture of the goats...in Patterson, CA where we used to live, there would always be a wood sign at the end of Las Palmas saying, "Chivos for Sale". After months of passing it, Phil asked what "Chivos" were, I just assumed EVERYONE knew what "chivos" were! It was so funny to me for some reason! SO now whenever we see goats...we call them "chivos"!

I think this is what would happen if you crossed a Brahma bull and a chivo!

Brooklyn thought this was pretty sweet..."but a little gross too"

Niki and Madison...with Our Madison and Paris

She was so excited to see the farm animals! It was cute!

Charilla found a brave little squirrel that apparently liked Cheeze It's!

I guess he had a REALLY hard day...he definitely didn't have time for a bath!

"Jacob" smelled my Chex Mix and came to check us out!

This bird was some type of Condor...all I have to say is scary! Hopefully they hunt ALL 11 species of Rattlesnakes that apparently reside around here!!

Whenever I see the Girraffes...I always think of Melvin from Madagascar!

I think I should see about purchasing one of these guys to bring to my parents house! (Ant Eater)

Madison-"Mommy, why does that monkey have a red bum bum?"
Me-"Because he didn't listen to his mommy and she smacked his booty with the wooden spoon."

Madison's Reaction- Eyes wide open, jaw about hitting the floor...PRICELESS! I didn't even set her straight! That should make for some interesting conversation on a field trip some day!

Creamy Dreamy Blueberry Muffins

2010-01-14T19:25:00.002-07:00

I've recently been getting some requests to post this recipe...so here you go!

Okay, so everyone that knows me, knows I'm a sucker for "Starbucks Tuesday"...declared by Phil a few years ago, when he started bringing me home a Grande Hot Chocolate and Blueberry muffin EVERY Tuesday morning from Starbucks, before leaving for work! It's one of a few "cheesy" things we do around here to let eachother know we still "like" eachother:) ANYHOO...It's the best...or WAS until our Starbucks started skimping on the quality of their muffins! Seriously! They changed their recipe and now I'm just a fan of their cocoa:( So I decided to make my own Blueberry Muffins!

Phil is used to these random "cooking missions" I seem to embark upon, even if dinner was placed on the "back burner"...so we could enjoy some great blueberry muffins for dessert! It makes about a dozen regular sized muffins and FYI...only about 6 of the king sized ones:) **WARNING** These muffins are EXTREMELY ADDICTIVE, and NOT a compliment to ANY diet...unless it's the "SEE FOOD" diet:)

1 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1 stick softened butter
8 oz softened cream cheese
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
2 Teaspoons Vanilla
1 3/4 Cups all purpose flour
1 Teaspoon baking powder
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1/2 Teaspoon salt
1 Package Instant Vanilla Pudding (small)
2 Tablespoons Sugar
12-16 oz Fresh Blueberries
2 Cups Heavy Cream
1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar

CRUMB TOPPING:

1/3 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
3/4 c. flour

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Then place your berries in a bowl and coat with the 2 tablespoons of sugar. Stir to make sure that the berries are coated in sugar. Set aside.

2. In a stand or electric mixer cream the butter, cream cheese, vanilla, salt and sugar, until well combined. Then slowly add the remaining ingredients (baking powder, baking soda, salt, eggs, flour, and ending with the pudding mix. After everything is combined, the mixture will seem dry.

3. Slowly begin adding approximately 1/3-1/2 cups Heavy Cream to the batter, until it is the consistancy of thick pancake batter.**Depending on how you like your berries, you can either choose to mix them in now or wait and press them into the tops of the muffins next...

4. Fill 6 King Sized muffin tins or 24 regular size tins with muffin batter, about ¾ full, that has been greased or sprayed with cooking spray. If you haven't already added them, press 5-6 berries into tops of each unbaked muffin.
Bake for 23-28 minutes or until golden brown on top and cooked through. Remove and let cool.

5. Using the same bowl that the berries were in, place the powdered sugar and a few tablespoons of heavy whipping cream. Hand whisk the cream and sugar until the consistency of syrup, if too dry add more whipping cream, if too "liquidy" add more sugar. Whisk until smooth and RUNNY consistency; Pour over the top of muffins, while they are still warm.

6. Using another bowl...combine the butter, sugar, and flour for the CRUMB topping using an electric mixer, until ingredients look uniformly like crumbs! Sprinkle this mixture on top of the whipped cream drizzle! Simply delicious!!!!

Brooklyn's "Spa Party"

2010-01-09T17:21:00.000-07:00

For Brooklyn's BIG 10 we decided to have a "Spa" themed party! She always begs me to let her help make candles and other things that nice mommy's would let her do! Soooo, I decided that she's at the PERFECT age right now for this type of stuff!
So we planned it all out...so first while we waited for all the guests to arrive, the girls played a little 1 on 1 action. (I know...my living room looks ghetto now...but OH well...it's TONS of FUN!)

Then it was on to Pizza making! Each of the girls could choose to either make a pizza or a calzone with my nifty new calzone maker! Yay! I made sure they all did it themselves...that way if it didn't taste so swell...it was their own fault;) Ha Ha!

Next was candles, since they take the longest to set up:) The girls had lots of GREAT fragrances to choose from and mix. I warned them all about mixing...but you know girls at that age...MORE IS BETTER for some reason! I guess it takes a while before the "less is more" lesson really sinks in:) It was super cute to see them have complete executive control over their projects!

After candles, we made lip balm and bath fizzies in that order. The girls got to choose the colors and the flavors and of course had fun creating things that they can actually use! The time literally flew by and it was soo nice to have a party where you didn't have to worry about anyone!

My sweet cupcake cake was for dessert...and although it kind of looks sad...it actually tasted super yummy!
Brooklyn had a super fun time and I hope all the girls did too!

No use crying over spilled...Lucky Charms!

2010-01-08T08:41:00.001-07:00

While mommy's away...the baby's will play! Okay, so I stepped into my bedroom for a new shirt...(my shirts seem to be targets for all kinds of interesting things lately:) And then I noticed it got REALLY quiet...Go, Diego Go! was on and then I made that "rookie" mistake...we all know the one. The thought..."OOh it's quiet...maybe while they're being good I'll..." in my case it was brush my teeth. My toothbrush is a Sonicare, so it's timed...I was gone a WHOLE 1 minute and 30 seconds EXTRA and this is what I got to spend the next 20 minutes cleaning up! The pictures don't really do this beauty justice either...the trail leads through the loft!
Isn't that the "crappiest" deal ever? We get a few minutes to ourselves...in peace...but the price is sometimes hours of "make up" work! Luckily, this was nothing compared to some of their previous results of "being quiet"...so I just snapped a picture and happily, no, scratch that, just cleaned up their mess...with CLEAN TEETH! It was so worth it:) Not to mention I had help...Berlin seemed to LOVE them!

We have a 10 year old!!!

2010-01-07T21:27:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago today...

I was 1 week over due and measuring the size of twins around! I remember being soo nervous I couldn't even sleep...little did I know she would be the first of 6! Crazy! This was right before I was going into the hospital to be induced...

I was induced all day on Jan. 6th, but my body never responded to being induced:( So it was a NICE 24 hours of bliss in that hospital;) As you can tell...I look a little tired.

I remember there were a set of twins delivered next door, that each weighed 5 lbs...and then there was my little tank that weighed more than them both! Everyone was checking her out in the nursery!

These were the announcements that we sent out...this picture and the card above:) So sweet!

My brother Tyler would come over to our house every day before school and see her, it was cute! He would always try to have her walking...starting when she was just a few weeks old! I think that's why she walked at 7 months! We all loved riding on the lake...she was too freaking cute! She even got a free T-shirt once by the "Lake Sherriff" for actually wearing her life jacket! Good 'ol Fiesta! Then...Now!

I cannot believe my little "boop boop" is 10 already! Time flies too fast! My little 11lb 4oz angel, has grown up to be such a BIG and Sweet sister! She really is such an awesome kid to have around:) I personally HATED being the oldest in my family...so we try hard to make sure she get's lots of perks to go along with all the help she gives us!

I know soon enough she'll be a teen ager and wayy too cool for her mom, but for now, she and I are great friends and we have a lot of fun together ganging up on dad! I love her sense of humor, it's a lot like her dad's, pretty dry, not like me at all, btw...but you can already see her little "tween" personality coming out! Sometimes she has "tude", but there's only enough room for one Drama Queen in this house...and that's ME! Ha Ha Ha! I'm sure there are going to be a few of my girls that might make me work for this title...but my Brooklyn is NOT one of them...atleast not yet:)
This is a dark picture...but it was so cute. I forgot to lift up my flash:(
I LOVE this picture, because Seattle is drinking Brooklyn's "Birthday shake from Chili's" while checking out Brooklyn's new gift...and NOBODY notices...until after presents are over and it's all gone! I was totally cracking up!

I think she had a SUPER SWEET birthday! Yeah the Hostess with the mostest...was just the start! I ended up dropping off cupcakes to school for her class, then for dinner we treated the fam to some Chili's so she could get an "official" birthday dessert:) She is having a "Spa Party" for her friends on Saturday, so I'll whip up something special then!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROOKLYN!!!

It's starting already...

2010-01-04T21:42:00.003-07:00

So "some place" must be frozen over, because Phil and I were both watching some random college football game that involved Boise State and some other team...and Phil was in the middle of explaining all about Boise State and some jazz about a fake punt?! I was actually listening AND kind of interested in watching the "instant replay"...when Madison walks out of Brooklyn's room all casually wearing a "Kick Me" sign! Ha ha! Phil and I just look at each other and start busting up! WTF? So then the obvious question is asked...Madison why do you have a paper taped to your back? "Oh, it's a bootiful peencess Gooklyn color for me." Ha Ha! Nice! It's starting already! Ha ha! I had to give Brooklyn props for trying, but told her next time to make it a little more challenging. Like taping it on someone who can actually read! Poor Madison:)

I love how Seattle doesn't know or care about what's going on...because she's got candy! Life is good!

Home for the Holidays...Racing

2009-12-28T11:00:00.004-07:00

The guys were going to go "racing"...but when my dad started calling us girls, "hazards"...we couldn't just allow that to happen! (I'm sure he did it on purpose!) Sarah of course couldn't go being pregnant, but the rest of us decided to go and show our stuff!

We first decided that the winner of the girls race could then race against the guys...which we all thought would be a cinch, BTW!

Here's us in our "cute" get up! Ha! We first try to look tough...then decide that we don't really look that tough...so we'll look sweet instead:)

Helmets are so clastrophic! Ugh! Don't we look hotttt?! Ha!

As soon as the race starts, my "high performance kart" dies...classic! So the guy starts it up, but it starts to jam by itself and being the considerate girl I am...I stop so the guy doesn't think I'm being a jerk! Well the kart dies again, and then I get told you can't ever take your foot off the gas or it will die again:( Rudy!!! They did this whole speech about how you can't press the gas and brake at the same time...so I decided I just wouldn't use the brake and Shavonne apparently decided to use the statement as a suggestion and ignore it all together! I think she got called into the "Sin Bin" first...which is like a time out for the drivers so they can tell you what you did wrong. Then I get pulled in and the guy is like super mad at me, telling me if I hit the side one more time I'll get ejected:( I decided it wasn't very fun anymore...because it's like impossible to get around turns without people bumping into you! (Later I find out that I evidently ignored the first "flag" into the "sin bin" so the guy was EXTRA happy to see me when I came around again:) Ooops! Anyhoo, I was 2nd on the board and Shavonne was 1st before we got called in...then I dropped to second to last because I afraid to touch anything. Sky played it smart! She kept it nice and slow the entire time and somehow Adrienne (even with a million spin outs) pulled off being the fastest! Oh well...I say "Pass" from now on! Shavonne and I are just going to say, we were SOOO good, they didn't want to be shown up...so they put us on time out:P

The guys had fun, Phil still beat my time by like 2 seconds...maybe we'll have a rematch some day:) Tyler and my dad practice like all the time...so they of course had the fastest time...whoo hoo!

The other kids had fun "pretending to race"!

Steele, Sarah's son, is obsessed with "Cars" and Lightning McQueen right now, so it was super cute to see his reaction. Shavonne has a picture of him sitting in one of the cars! Super Cute!

Home for the Holidays...Games

2009-12-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

This is Sarah's oldest son, Cooper (5)and my little Madison (3)...doesn't she look thrilled to be posing for a picture!?

Tyler getting some air on the left during their first "jumpshot"...
Every year around Christmas, Turlock Stake has an annual basketball tournament. It's usually over a couple of nights, but this year it took place all on a Saturday:) Elena was in Patterson visiting her family too, so she came along to enjoy some of the "classicness" we had going on! "Our guys" have all gained a few pounds since their youth, but they still had it on the court! It was Tyler, Blake, Justin (Sarah's husband), Phil, Greg (Shavonne's husband), and my dad:)They won their first 2 games, but lost on the third:( I think they were pretty proud of their performance and I think they all vowed to be atleast 20 pounds lighter for the next tournament! I miss my "Nena" so it was super fun to hang out with her again:) We've been great friends since 7th grade...ugh that makes me feel OLD!

Later, we went home and played some Nertz! It's a classic card game that is tradition at the Pittson household! I think Greg won...but we ALL had a blast:)

Greg, Dad, and Tyler
Phil, Elena, Greg, Dad, and Tyler

Adrienne (Tyler's Wife), Shavonne, Me, and Sky
The whole table...my brother Blake is at the top:)

Sarah, Justin, and my mom are NOT game people...so we eventually joined them to watch Dumb and Dumber to finish off the night:) It reminds me of a "New Year's Eve" night when I was little. It was so much fun!

Home for the Holidays...Christmas Morning!

2009-12-25T07:44:00.000-07:00

Since we weren't able to be home and the kids already opened all of their gifts from us, they only had their stockings, gifts from Santa and gifts from Nana and Papa to open. We hoped they wouldn't be too sad compared to everyone else's pile of gifts:)

We had Blake being the "Bouncer" and making sure all the kids stayed put until ALL the parents were down and ready for them!

They were so cute all coming down!

Madison and Seattle had fun opening their gifts...but quickly jammed to check out everyone else's gifts! Brooklyn and Boston I think were pretty stoked. Santa brought Brooklyn a Zune and Boston the Lego Star Wars saga complete with some "light sabers"...they both ran to go play with their own toys. I wish I had a picture of how excited Boston AND Cooper (Sarah's oldest) were about their Wii gifts! SO cute:)

Of course Berlin loved her gift from Nana...but again was really loving the wrapping paper! Seattle was EXTRA excited about her stocking...she just kept repeating, "Nandy mommy, Nandy"

She would even find other people's "Nandy" and persuade them to share with her:)

Drake loved Seattle's present...btw, while his presents were probably being used by every other child under the age of 3! Poor guy!

All in all, I think it was a pretty great christmas...especially with 12 kids opening gifts all at THE SAME TIME!

Home for the Holidays...Part 2

2009-12-24T22:47:00.000-07:00

Christmas Eve Slideshow...if you want to change the scrolling speed, click on the + and - signs on the bottome left hand corner of the "show":)
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It's been a while since we've been home at my mom's house for Christmas Eve. It's so crazy how big our family has grown! My memories as a child were always of my mom decorating the tables with her Christmas China, and silverware while making home made rolls, and ALL the fixings for her Creamy Potato soup! Yummmm! As we've all gotten older, it used to be just my kids we had to keep track of while decorating the tables, but now...there were 12 kids there under the age of 10! Soooo, since we were NOT sacrificing quality this year either, it was the guys jobs to keep the kids entertained, while we helped get things set in the kitchen:)

It was so much fun to be home again with EVERYONE! That's pretty rare. Usually at least 1 of us isn't there and there is almost always a husband missing! This year, ALL of us came home for Christmas!! Believe it or not we all make up a mere 24people...in April it will be 25! (Sarah's preggers with baby boy #3, Reed)

On Christmas Eve, my Aunts and Uncles on my mothers side also come over for dinner and we let the kids open their presents after dinner. We played BINGO this year, which was a first! It was a blast, and my mom even had sweet prizes for the winners! We all were pretty into it...I was using 3 cards and it still took me 5 games to win! Ha Ha!

Just like every other year, there are always pranks being pulled...this year it was with this Martinelli's bottle and with Tyler! I seriously can't even write about it without chuckling to my self! Shavonne grabs Tyler's Martinelli's bottle while he leaves the table for a sec. She then proceeds to pour a hand full of SALT into it! Ha Ha! Well, we didn't know that Tyler had a headache and went in search of some Tylenol, so when he comes back, he takes a drink straight out of the bottle to wash his pill down! Ugh! We are in the other room and Shavonne is watching his reaction and trying to relay it to all of us! Then because it tastes NASTY, he then pours some into a cup and tries it AGAIN! (We later find out it was because he thought there was something wrong with the Tylenol!) Talk about disgusting!!! Anyhoo, then after he leaves Shavonne writes his name on that bottle, so he will continue to drink from that one! What we didn't know is my Aunt Joanie dumped out the salty bottle, washed it out, then refilled it with good Martinelli's. So you can imagine our surprise when Tyler comes out of the kitchen "swigging" this stuff straight from the bottle! So Tyler still never knew what was going on, until we ALL were laughing so incredibly hard...no one could miss that "something" was going on! Later, everyone started filling in the blanks! Oh...I love the fact that we still all act like we're 10 sometimes! I seriously haven't laughed that hard...EVER!

Home for the Holidays...Part 1

2009-12-23T16:57:00.002-07:00

We drove down to Victorville, CA and joined Mom and Dad Wyatt along with Sara and Chad at Grandma and Grandpa Wyatt's house to celebrate Grandpa Wyatt's birthday. Several of Phil's Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins were there too to join in on the celebration!

Grandma Wyatt wasn't feeling very well, so she was unable to come downstairs and visit, but several loved ones did get to go up and see her, which was a great thing!

The kids enjoyed playing with their extended cousins and the little break in traveling, before we continued up to northern California to visit my family.

I enjoyed looking at old pictures, joking around with Sara and Chad, and of course listening to the VERY talented Wyatt family sing and play guitar! Wow!) I'm glad we made the trip this year, especially because Grandma Wyatt ended up passing away, just a few days later. She was very loved and will be missed by many:)

Our Christmas, before Christmas!

2009-12-21T22:22:00.002-07:00

Since we are going to California this year for Christmas, we quickly figured out that there was NO way were going to A. want to transport the gifts there and B. lug them back! So we decided that we would let the kids open all their gifts from us on Tuesday and then they would just have "Santa's" gifts to open at Nana's. We gave the kids the option of staying home and opening them all on Christmas...but of course they chose the soonest day possible to rip into the gifts, without a thought!

Phil's parents were driving down to Orange County to celebrate his grandfather's birthday on the 23rd, and since we were also going that way, it worked out PERFECTLY that they could come and hang out with us for a few days and then we could drive down together to Southern California and spend a few hours with the Wyatt family, before driving up north to visit the Pittson family!

The kids were SOOOOO excited that Gramma and Papa wanted to go to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner...which, as you all know, is a BUFFET! Yay! For some reason kids think that buffets are the GREATEST! Phil and I enjoy a good buffet every few years or so...so for the kids...this was like the greatest night ever! We told them that after dinner, we would come home and let them open gifts...which was pure HEAVEN for them:)
If only life were that simple...seriously!

So here are a few pics from dinner...do I need to mention there was "frozen yogurt"...which to a kid, is the SAME thing as Ice Cream!!! Ha Ha! You can see it plastered all over the girls faces...

On our way home, I was sooo excited to see that our street has seriously come a long way in the "light" department! We have like 6 houses in a ROW that are all lit up! I thought it was so pretty, that I had to take a picture:) I'm so proud! Maybe next year, we'll even have MORE neighbors move in and decorate too!

After we got home...the present "storm" began! We had ribbons and wrapping paper being thrown and flung everywhere! Seriously...all those hours of wrapping gone in like 60 seconds! It's crazy! Madison was asleep at first...so here she is on the couch.

Berlin, was completely content sucking on her own gift wrap...which Seattle actually thought must taste good after watching Berlin do it, so she herself took a little lick and made a totally grossed out face! Ha Ha! That was pretty funny:)
Don't worry, we unwrapped them for her and let her actually suck on something safe:)Madison finally woke up and joined the "pawrty"...

While Seattle enjoyed wearing her sweet boots on the wrong feet, unwrapping her gifts, and playing with her "Little People"!

Brooklyn, Boston, and Paris all made out with sweet stuff and of course they all got to open up Gramma Debbie's and Papa's gifts too, which made for an EVEN "funner" night!

I'm kind of sad that it's over, but I'm looking forward to a fun trip to California to see our family!

Merry Christmas From Our Home to Yours!

2009-12-20T15:07:00.000-07:00

Here's our 2009 Christmas Letter...in case you weren't "LUCKY" enough to receive it in the mail...HA! I'm getting lazy...and I've honestly lost A LOT of addresses:( I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and an AWESOME New Year!!!
(FYI...It's just a "run down" of the past year, for those who don't follow the blog...I'm boring like that:)

"I hope all of you are having as much fun as we are this year putting up our Christmas decorations and lights! We enjoyed Thanksgiving this year, spending it with just our 8! Phil and I love the idea that one day our "little 6" will explode like both of our families have! I LOVE the thought of cooking for ALL of them someday!

We've had many fun and exciting things happen over the past year! In January. Brooklyn, our oldest turned 9, Phil was called as Sunday School President, and I was called to serve as the Relief Society Secretary. I absolutely love creating the newsletters each month...I like to think, that I'm keeping things "young"!

In February, Brooklyn got her braces off, but gained glasses! Poor thing! Then my 3 sisters and I, surprised my mom for an early 50th birthday, and spent 3 days in Las Vegas together! We had so much fun!
In March, Seattle turned 1, and we took all the kids for their "Spring Vacation" to Disney Land and met up with my parents too! That, of course, was a blast! My dad and Phil took the older 3 on the "fun" rides...while my mom and I took one for the team and frequented the very cheerful "It's a Small World" with the younger 2! It really was fun hanging out and finding ways to entertain the little ones!
In April, Madison turned 3 on the 13th, then later in the week Phil threw me the surprise party of a decade! Seriously...I turned 30 and spent it in style! Not only did I have SO much fun enjoying it with a bunch of my close friends, I also learned that Phil can throw a sweet party!
In May, my dad drove out and took my oldest 3 camping in Sedona! They had been begging to go, and since Phil is NOT a camper...they knew that their best bet was to convince Grandpa to take them! They had so much fun and can't wait to go camping with him again! Then for Memorial Day we went with our good friends, The Becks, to Las Vegas and took all of the kids! We got to stay in a suite at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay! Sky and Blake drove down and met us there too! WE experienced a lot of firsts there too...1st time our kids have gotten to see Las Vegas, 1st time our entire family has stayed in a "Suite", and the first time I've ever ridden on a "scooter" because I needed to (9 months prego and all!)
June was huge for us! On the 1st, we celebrated Phil's 32nd birthday. On the 17th, Berlin Daley was added to our family! She was a small 10lb 2 oz baby that reminded me why I'm done being pregnant...FOREVER! On the 18th, we celebrated Paris' 6th birthday. Then on the 20th, Phil and I celebrated our 11th anniversary! Wow, time flies when you're having kids...literally! Ha Ha!
In July, my sister Shavonne and her family moved to Arizona, which has been so much fun! It's so nice for my kids to have an aunt and uncle close and cousins that can come to play! We've been taking serious advantage of being so close! We see each other at least 5 times a week, and it's been fun to see my kids get to know their cousins better! Now, to somehow convince the other 4 to move here...
In August, Brooklyn started 4th grade, Boston, started 3rd grade, and Paris started 1st grade! Then on the 23rd, Boston turned 8!
In September, we celebrated Labor Day weekend with many of our family and friends! Mom and Dad Wyatt even planned a GREAT surprise, flying Tony out to visit too! The kids had so much fun playing with Uncle Tony! It's been a few years since we've gotten to see him! We had a packed weekend with first, Boston's Baptism on Saturday, then on Sunday, Berlin was blessed and Phil was called to serve as the Ward Finance Clerk! WE know it was a crazy and packed weekend at the house, but it was SO much fun!
In October, Phil graduated from Grand Canyon University, with a Master of Business Administration Finance, which was HUGE for us! Phil really loves working at Sims Metal Management, as a Regional Controller, and is really excited about the new growth opportunities that he's received! I'm still loving the fact that he's only 6 miles away from home! It makes it nice when I have babies sleeping and a school emergency to take care of...at the same time! Now, dad can go!
In November, Phil joined a softball league closer to home and we all enjoy going to watch him play on Tuesday nights. I have to admit, I don't really get to see many plays...but I do go with the intention of seeing some! That counts, right? The kids love running around and I enjoy visiting with the ladies! I've even picked up on some softball lingo..."heads up" isn't for the players on the field...it's for us on the sidelines! FYI...for those of you, like myself,...who might be a bit challenged in the "sporting" department!
In December, we are looking forward to a visit from Mom and Dad Wyatt who are driving down from Utah, and then driving down to Southern California with us to attend a Wyatt Family party with all Phil's extended family. After that, we are driving up to my parent's house, to spend Christmas with all of my siblings! It's going to be hard not celebrating Christmas at our own house this year, but since it's "Quarter End" Phil has to be back for work on the 30th, so I'm sure my kids won't mind spending the extra time with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and COUSINS!
Whew! See that year just seriously flew by! For pictures and play by play details from the past year, you'll have to visit the blog! (http://www.wyattspot.blogspot.com) We somehow manage to stay busy (ha!) and still enjoy living in warm, sunny Arizona. We do miss all of our family and friends that don't live close anymore, but I'm so glad that most of us still get to keep in touch via Phone, texting, E-mail, Facebook, and Blogs! Isn't modern technology great?!?!!! I hope all of you have a GREAT Christmas season and that the New Year brings many great and wonderful things your way!

Berlin is 6 months!

2009-12-17T13:04:00.001-07:00

We got to celebrate this WONDERFUL day, by taking her to see Dr. Cwik for her 6 month "well check"! It was a sweet, then very sour day for my little one:( Can I just say, I'm not sure who had it worse...I mean seriously. A few shots...or the option of lugging 3 kids to the pediatrician's office?!? All in all, I think it was a relatively mild trip...compared to ones past. She's 15lbs 6 oz and 27 inches long...which makes her in the 50%! It's always fun to see how different each of my kids has been! I've had Brooklyn and Boston that remained over the 100% mark for months for weight and height...then I've had Paris and Madison that hovered in the 40% for a while...so it's sweet that she's right in the middle.

We've gotten a few videos of her recently crawling...I use that term loosely, because she's really just kind of "scooting", but she gets around! She's growing up too fast! She LOVES "tummy time" and has recently started eating baby food and rice cereal. So far she tolerates, Banana's, Sweet Potatoes, baby Carrots, and Butternut Squash...but Pears, Peas, and Green Beans are OUT!

Peppermint goodies...TO GO!

2009-12-07T17:49:00.000-07:00

This week has been a week of baking and creating for everyone! My kids LOVE to drop off "goodies" at people's houses! It's the highlight of December every year for them, which is great, because they motivate me to stay busy in the kitchen. How can you ignore..."Mommy, can we take these to other people's houses to share? Can I take it to their door?" So this year I found a few recipes that I really wanted to try out and I couldn't decide which ones I liked best...so we just put them ALL on a plate!

First I made the "Peppermint Bark"...which was probably my favorite to make! It was SUPER simple and took me only about 10 minutes from start to finish! I melted white chocolate chips in the microwave, while that was being melted, I crushed 5 candy canes in a baggy. After the chips were melted, I poured them onto a strip of foil and then sprinkled them with the candy cane pieces! Doesn't it look so festive!?! After a few minute it hardens enough that you can transport it to your freezer. Let it cool for about 3 minutes in the freezer, then remove it from the foil and begin the fun part! Breaking it all apart! It makes a ton and is a super yummy simple gift! You can even try different flavors of candy cane, if you're not a huge "mint" fan!

Then I created my own version of a mint brownie. I couldn't find the Candy Cane Kisses this year:( So instead of those, I used the "Andes Mint" Hershey candies, and instead of making them bite sized...I made them cup cake sized! It probably would have been delicious the other way too...but this is what I did.

I prepared 2 packets of the Costco brownie mix, then filled each cup only about 1/2 way full. Then I added 1 Hershey piece to each cup, and pressed it down just a bit. I then placed them in my preheated oven at 350 degrees for approximately 25-30 minutes. I let them cool competely, then you could just make your own ganache using chocolate chips and cream...but I opted for the super simple, Baker's dipping Milk Chocolate tub. I just popped it in the microvave at 30 second intervals until it became smooth and creamy. Then I just grabbed each brownie/cupcake and dipped it into the chocolate and then sprinkled them with the left over crushed candy canes!

Christmas Goodies...

2009-12-02T19:43:00.000-07:00

My mom learned how to crochet pot holders a few days before she flew in last month for Madison's hospital stay...so she showed me how too! I have to admit, it's kind of addicting! So, since I now have a bunch of red and white pot holders...I decided I would give some out as gifts:) Watch out! Some of you might just win the pot holder lottery! Lucky you! Ha Ha! I wanted something else to go with the potholders too...I know, I know, what can be better than a pot holder, right?
Well, I got this idea off of "bakerella's blog" a couple of months ago and decided to turn them into
"Christmas Cowboy Cookies" in a jar.

I got these cute label free jars at Hobby Lobby. Then I layered the ingredients in like this:

Flour (1 1/3 Cup)
Baking Soda (1 Tsp)
Baking Powder (1 Tsp)
Salt (1/4 Tsp)
Cooking Oats (1 Cup)
M&M's (3/4 Cup)
Chocolate Chips (3/4 Cup)
Brown Sugar (1/2 Cup)
White Sugar (1/2 Cup)
Chopped Pecans (1/3-1/2 Cup)

I had to really pack it down, but it fit perfectly! If you're not a "nut" fan, use extra M&M's or Chocolate Chips!

If you want to see how CUTE hers turned out then click here!

I'll attach a card or label that tells them to "Mix with 1 slightly beaten egg, 1/2 cup slightly melted butter, and 1 Tsp Vanilla"!

Phil's comment: "It's not that great of a gift, because you're making them do all the work." Classic! That's my guy:)

Mesa Temple Lights

2009-11-28T18:44:00.000-07:00

We have a tradition of going to Organ Stop Pizza for dinner and then to the Mesa Temple to see all the beautiful lights! Phil and I were laughing, because we always seem to go the day after we put up our own lights...and man ours look like a little sad in comparison! Well what can we honestly expect?! Hours of work and hundreds of people working on them vs. Phil taking charge outside by himself for a few hours! Ha Ha! But it does inspire us...we ALWAYS find some little thing to say, "Next Year" we'll do that at our house! This year it was the flowers made of lights! I even took a picture so that I could see how they were made. Phil could see the wheels turning in my head as I was taking this picture...then he just started cracking up! I guess I'm a little predictable!
Busted! Caught pulling a "Helen Keller" off my salad plate! It is pretty dark in the pizza joint, because there's this huge light and music show going on all around you. So I pretty much just blinded her with this shot! Ouch:)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...even Berlin!

2009-11-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving's over...time for Christmas! I'm sorry, but I am one of those that just LOVES to keep her decorations up all month long! It seems to take so long to put everything up, that it needs to stay around for a while! So we ALWAYS start taking down our fall decorations on Thanksgiving night, so by the next day...we're ready for Christmas!

We put up 3 trees again this year. I have to "feel" Christmas everywhere in my house! So we put one up in my front room, one in my family room, and the kids is up in the loft! I give them COMPLETE creative control on their tree, (so they won't touch mine!) They even put the tree together this year! Can you tell? It's not leaning THAT much! Ha Ha! We got this tree like 3 years ago on sale. If you would have seen the picture on the box of this tree, or the price they originally wanted for it...it would probably win an award for "Most deceptive picture of a tree"...seriously! The picture looked so full and pretty...oh well, it really is the perfect tree for our loft! SO I'm very glad we got it...

I've been done with gifts for almost a month now! This year, Phil gave me our budget and I planned, shopped, and wrapped pretty much everything by Nov. 15th! I just HATE waiting until the last minute! I ALWAYS end up forgetting something on my list, so this year, when that happens...I won't have a bunch of other things to get too! I have to wrap my gifts when I get them or my older ones will find them! They are getting so smart! Plus, if I take them all over to Shavonne's house to be hidden, I'll just have way too many presents to wrap all at once! Ugh. The wrapping is seriously my least favorite part...unless I'm only doing 1 or 2 at a time...then I actually enjoy making them look pretty! My mom always put bows on our presents, so I've continued the tradition. I'm not nearly as talented in the bow department as she is, but I get an "E" for effort!

I'll even show off Berlin's new Christmas outfits she's been wearing, that her Nana sent her from Pinkbowtique! Aren't they so cute!?! Phil took this shot, so her headband was missing and he didn't notice:( The ruffles on the shirt and socks are just too cute!

She wanted to be held a lot today, so when I put her down...her world pretty much ended. I wish she was happier in this one! She looks so adoreable in her outfits! I LOVED the little leggings! She has the cutest candy cane legs ever!I'll need to get one of her shirt too, but her little bib was too cute! And EVERYONE that knows Berlin, knows she NEEDS the bib protection!!! Thanks Nana!

Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T20:45:00.000-07:00

This year Thanksgiving brought a lot of "firsts" with it! It was the 1st time that we only had our family eating with us, it was the 1st time we didn't serve a turkey, and it was the 1st time Berlin joined us at the table (in her high chair of course:)
We have always had family over for Thanksgiving every year, but this year my parents were going to help bring Sky and Blake some "Thanksgiving love" in Utah, since they couldn't break away. I remember those days away from family...it stunk!

Since Phil isn't a fan of turkey, and I obviously don't eat any of it, we decided to ditch the Turkey and stuffing for Prime Rib this year. I wanted it to be just as nice as if we were having company over...well almost as nice. I skimped on a few things like glass serving dishes...but I'll save those for when they are a little older and can appreciate it!
Ever since I could remember, my Aunt Joanie, always made sure EVERYONE had their very own bottle of Martinelli's. That was awesome as a kid! We could drink right out of the bottle at the kids table! Since, in actuality, Phil and I were joining the kids at "their" table, We made them drink from their glasses...atleast until dinner was over!
I also made the classic, cloverleaf rolls that my mom ALWAYS made for Thanksgiving dinner!
For dessert, we ALWAYS have pies from Village Inn, but this year, I asked the kids what kind of pies I should make and they said, "Apple and Chocolate". So I made an apple pie...and my own version of "French Silk"! I didn't know how it would compare to the original, but it so easy to make...and it turned out SUPER yummy! It's not quite as "rich" as the original, which makes it even better in my book:)

For Family Home Evening this week, we made a "Thank You" box, (the kids had full decorative control)and then we each wrote 7 notes. (1 for every person in the family, telling them why you are thankful for them) We thought it would be fun to read them on Thanksgiving...and it was! Okay, a few of them weren't so nice...but what do you expect from siblings?! Phil and I were cracking up most of the time! After a couple of "rude" notes, Phil asked me if it was turning out like I thought it originally would. Ha! Okay, a little more sarcastic than I thought it would be, but still sooo good to add their little personalities into it!

I think my favorite note of all was from Paris.

We had so much fun! I won't say we preferred it to having family over, because of course we LOVE to have family around, but I will say, it still felt like Thanksgiving, which is HUGE! I hope everyone had a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

What's going on around here?

2009-11-23T10:32:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast time goes by sometimes. Berlin is already 5 1/2 mos! Sometimes I find myself so busy with just the day to day stuff, I forget to just enjoy the "small" things in life!

Berlin is really a great baby MOST of the time. She loves to lay on her tummy or roll around on the floor and just play! I think she's a lot like Boston was! She sucks on her pointer finger knuckle instead of a pacifier! Go figure?! Geez...Phil went into the WRONG profession! We need an orthodontist in the family STAT! Overall we've had 3 Pacifier babies, 2 "hand" babies, and one that didn't take anything! So, I say forget what the books and pediatricians say...kids just figure out what they want by themselves! Since my house is NEVER quiet, she rarely get's bored! There's always someone or something close by to keep her entertained! You can tell she hates the flash...but she was playing so sweetly, I had to come and capture a picture!
My kids have this 6th sense about them...they have a way of knowing when mom's pre-occupied with something and pretty much jump on the chance to get into stuff! Why is that? They were watching Scooby Doo in the girls room, or so I thought...
Instead, these little "homeless kids" were down in the kitchen, attacking the pantry! Nice! You can see Madison was the mastermind behind this one...she's already trying to think of a way to blame it on Seattle...who, by the way, has no clue they did anything wrong! They looked so hilarious, I had to take a picture! Since I couldn't keep a straight face, Madison decided it was okay to crack a smile too. I'm not sure which one is worse?!!!? Ahh, just another day in the life of a kid....

Pumpkin Spice Roll...

2009-11-22T21:06:00.004-07:00

I was in the mood to bake something yummy...but didn't want to go the store to get stuff. I'm sure you're all aware of that feeling, right? Or...maybe I'm just lazy! Anyway I decided to make the pumpkin cookies I made a while back, into a roll! The frosting was super yummy, and the cookies were really cake like already, so I decided to try it out!

I used the exact same recipe...didn't change a thing except, instead of dropping it by rounds on to a cookie sheet, I spread it out onto a lined jelly roll pan! I baked it for around 20 minutes (when a toothpick came out clean) and then immediately flipped it onto a towel dusted with powdered sugar and rolled it up!

I placed it on my wire rack to cool...but it was taking FOREVER to cool off! I know you're supposed to wait for it to be COMPLETELY cool before unrolling it...but I couldn't wait AND Phil was really getting impatient too. Soooo, I unrolled it early. You can see how it has a few cracks in it...but to be honest, our stomachs didn't care! It was delicious! So if you happened to try those cookies, it tasted like those only in a rolled up frosted way! So now I know that recipe works for both...Mission Accomplished.

New Moon with the Girls!

2009-11-20T23:23:00.002-07:00

So chances are, unless of course you've been living under a rock for the last year or so...you've heard of the "Twilight Series" by Stephenie Meyer. Of course, being a girl, I'm totally into it! Phil bought me the first book in the series about 2 years ago. I finished the first 3 books in about a month...then had to wait with what seemed like the rest of the world for the 4th and final book to be released...Breaking Dawn! It seems like forever ago now! Geez!

So now that the second book of the series, New Moon has been released in theaters, of course I had to go and see it! I personally am not one of those that bought tickets weeks in advance. Nor did I spend hours waiting in line to see the midnight showing Friday morning, or spend gobs of money to meet the Twilight and New Moon casts. I haven't been dreaming about it. (I'm not knocking the people who did...because I know and love several people who have done all of the above!) It's just not my style, but I did make plans a couple of days ago to see it on opening night! Yes, that's an improvement from last years, "Day after the Premier... Afternoon showing"!

Brooklyn, Paris, and I went with a friend of mine, Amy and her daughter, Madison. We thought it would be fun for us all to have a little girl time with the saga! (Not to burst Phil's bubble...I'm still dragging him to the theater, I'm just going to wait a week or two...until the hype dies down!)

It was fun, we decided to go to the 6:15pm showing so we could grab a little grub while standing or sitting in line. We got there around 4:45pm and were about 40th in line or so. Not too bad. We called and ordered Islands to go and Amy was sweet enough to go and grab it while we held our places in line. Unfortunately, we only had about 10 minutes to scarf down our food! It was soooo yummy though! We snuck the fries and ranch in...via my huge diaper bag and continued to snack once we got into the theater...we're such rebels! Ha!

We actually got perfect seats all together, 2nd row from the back! So we were very pleased:) Aside from the childish acts of shushing during the beginning of the film...girls SCREAMING every time Jacob took his shirt off, (which is a ton, btw) and all those screams were usually followed by some guy yelling..."He's gay!" Oh there's always a Jealous Loser around! Seriously! I have to admit...I felt like I was in a 9th grade auditorium watching a high school play sometimes!

Anyway, without giving too much away...I totally liked the film! I thought it stuck pretty closely to the book, and I have to admit...Jacob is pretty hot in the film! Hee Hee! SO I don't care what "Rotten Tomatoes" says!

We had a great time! Thanks Amy and Madison for sharing the laughs!!!

Nana's Here!

2009-11-13T22:55:00.000-07:00

Since my mom was here for only a few days, and Madison was doing much better, we decided to have a Girls Night Out...we even invited Brooklyn to tag along! She was so excited to hang out with the "Big Girls" while Phil and Greg scored pizza and the rest of the gang at home!

We found this store, new to us, called "Home Goods" over off of Estrella Pkwy. It's attached to TJ Maxx, but it had lots of super cute things! After we found a few sweet things for ourselves at the "Home Section" we crossed over into the regular TJ Maxx. I'm terrrrrible to shop with! Seriously, especially at stores where you have to "dig around" to find a good deal! I always end up finding the most horrible outfits and items in the whole store! Which ends up in me making jokes, having people around us feeling dumb because they thought it was cute, which in turn makes me move to a new area, where I find more "awesome" things...it's a vicious cycle! Here's our fun at the Sunglass Hut area...oh, these beauties were all "Name Brand", way over priced, (free would have been a stretch), and they all had these HUGE tags that were supposed to deter people from stealing them...as if the styles alone weren't bad enough? WoW!

After shopping, we stopped off at Olive Garden to feel like family...and it worked! Ha! Our poor waiter...who needs kids when you got all of us there? Shavonne knocked over a glass of water in like minutes, which fell all over my mom! Luckily, she was quick and started scooping the water and ice off of her and onto the floor before becoming too soaked! We couldn't stop laughing! Oh I love hanging out with my mom! Sky and Sarah you freaking missed out! Move closer already!! It will be fun to hang out with you both around Christmas again!!! Oh the fun we'll have!! Shavonne got this Pumpkin Dessert...YUM!!! I don't think I would have ordered it...but now that I've tried it, heck yes! It's good!
They have the best Lemon Creme cake ever! I even brought one home for Phil...since he wasn't having quite as much fun as me...I'm sure!

Madison goes to the hospital...

2009-11-11T21:17:00.011-07:00

Wow, the past two days have been such a whirl wind...yes, even more than the usual speed things seem to pass through my life! On Tuesday morning, I was doing my usual laundry/cleaning routine when I found that Seattle and Madison had been quietly been eating Paris' ENTIRE bag of Halloween candy! Luckily there wasn't much chocolate...but man, there were wrappers EVERYWHERE! Ugh...so I cleaned up the "evidence" and went in search of the two thieves. To my surprise, I found them both plopped down in front of the t.v. in the loft...which almost NEVER happens! What I should have thought was...wow they must be sick...instead, I thought...this day might just start turning around! HA!

An hour or so went by and I noticed that Seattle had perked up and was ready for lunch, but Madison didn't want to eat or drink anything. I thought she was still feeling sick from earlier, she didn't have a fever and wasn't complaining of anything! She was just acting super tired and ended up falling asleep on the floor (which isn't like her anymore)! After her nap, I noticed that she didn't look quite right. You know the look. She still didn't have a fever, but I started to notice a small cough and she seemed to be having a little labored breathing, where she seemed to be breathing with her entire body. I could see that she just didn't have any energy, so I started our humidifier and set her up on the couch in front of the t.v. so she could watch her favorite cartoon, Scooby Doo. Which normally would be golden...but she just couldn't seem to stay awake. After she woke up from this long string of "cat naps" I noticed immediately that she couldn't walk very well and that she wasn't able to take in very deep breaths. After I carried her downstairs, so I could make dinner, she immediately got sick. Even though, I had been telling Phil about her strange behavior during the day...I guess it didn't hit home until that moment! He then started noticing the labored breathing and decided he was going to take her to "Good Night Pediatrics" immediately! Wow...what a flip!?!

Anyway, I know I should have went...but seeing that I had 5 other children who needed me at home, I let them go alone. Here's the problem with that. One minute he's texting me that she's doing breathing treatments and seems to be doing okay and will call me when they're on their way home and the next minute (literally!) this is our conversation:
Phil-"Okay, so she can't keep her oxygen levels up, so they're going to be transporting her to St. Jo's Hospital."
Summer- What? When you mean transport, you mean by ambulance?! Phil that seems really bad!"
Phil-"Yeah, it pretty much is. They checked her X-Rays and said she might have a possible pneumonia, so they've already called ahead and they're waiting for her to arrive there now."
Summer-"Okay, so I need to get there, like NOW!"
Phil-"Yeah, so just call Shavonne and tell her to come over, so you can meet us at the hospital."

No joke! He was so freaking calm! It's probably a good thing I had a half an hour to deal with it before seeing him. Shavonne and Greg came right over and Greg was sweet enough to come to the Hospital with me so Phil and he could give Madison a blessing.

When we arrived, Madison had a cute little doll (straight from a box) that the hospital gave her sitting right next to her! Her name was "Hope", but Madison named her Paris...because she had blonde hair! So cute! She had oxygen tubes coming from her nose and a heart/oxygen monitor on her pointer finger, and didn't even smile when she saw me! My heart was broken:(

After Phil and Greg gave her a blessing, they both left. Yeah, as luck would have it...the next day, was the one day of the month that Phil's quarter and month end "financials" were due to corporate and he couldn't miss!

After a LOONNG night of sleeping next to Madison in her bed, having her oxygen level alarm go off every 10 minutes, or so it seemed, and doctors coming in and telling me that it would be a minimum 3-5 day hospital stay and respitory therapists telling me what a sick little girl she was...I was mentally and physically drained the next morning. She kept telling me, "I want to get out of dis pwace!" "Let's go home to Madison's house, Mommy!" She didn't want to keep the oxygen on, and I didn't want her to have to, but everytime she took it out, her oxygen levels would drop below 90 and an alarm would go off! She was fighting her respiratory treatments...I was at road block, seriously!

Luckily, my mom caught the first plane in on Wednesday morning, and arrived at the hospital by 10am. She was a breath of fresh air! She was determined that physical interaction and her mental spirits were the key to her getting better. She scooped Madison up in her arms and started playing with her and bouncing her and soon Madison started to laugh again! It was amazing! She went from barely being able to sustain her O2 levels above 90 to having her oxygen turned off in a matter of hours! The doctors were amazed! She started being able to talk again, which when she started to get rude, made me miss the silent treatment! They kept telling us that kids are so resillient, it's just a miracle she's done a complete 180. I was just so glad that all the prayers and blessings were answered!

MY post is already incredibly too long, and I apologize for that, but hopefully I will NEVER have another experience like this again, and I can one day, look back at this experience and actually want to remember my feelings?!?

Status Update:

Madison was sent home with a nebulizer for breathing treatments to be taken every 4 hours and a steroid prescription to reduce inflamation in her lungs. After 2 days of being home her pediatrician has taken her completely off the nebulizer (unless she needs it) and we never even had to give her the steroid prescription! They still don't know why she couldn't breathe and the hospital listed her reason for being hospitalized as "Asthma related", even though she shows no further signs of Asthma. We're as confused as all of you are, I'm sure! So once she kicks this runny nose...life should be great again!

The rest are some shots of Madison on her first night back home!

It started with the kids just wanting to give "Madison a Kiss"...Then more people wanted to get on the bed..."to give Madison a Kiss"Notice Haven's "bracelet!" She's so sweet! Her and Madison are like 2 peas in a pod lately, so Haven talked Madison into giving her, the "hospital bracelet." I think Madison was glad to be rid of the thing!Then things just started to get wierd! What is up with this picture? I'm not even sure what goes through boys heads! Of course this is why they ALL wanted on the bed! The pictures were just their invitation to get on the bed...once they were on it was only a matter of minutes before this was happening. SO before I clipped this scene, I snapped a picture...ONLY because it was cute watching Madison try to be normal. After this shot...it was bed time for all!

This was Madison on Thursday morning...using her "Smoker"! My mom's camera has all the shots from the hospital...so I'll post them when I get them...

It's Halloween!!

2009-10-31T21:19:00.000-07:00

I'm so in for a treat...I can see it slowly evolving each year as 1 more girl gets older, more hair, and an opinion for their Halloween Costume! Wow...we started at 3 o'clock with hair and makeup! Seriously...I would call out "Next!" Like the "Soup Nazi" episode of Seinfeld! Phil had it rough too...I think he was playing Guitar Hero and he would echo my call of "Next" if he was in between songs. Must be rough being the father of 5 girls! Ha! (This is also very similar to how Sunday mornings run at our house!)

This year Brooklyn decided that she wanted to be "Glenda the good witch". I haven't seen too many of those costumes in stores, so we decided to ask "Gramma Debbie" if she could use some of her "Awesome Sewing Talent" on a costume! She did such a great job! It was so pretty! And she did it with Phil giving her all the measurements over the phone...that's a huge task by itself! SO a huge thanks to Mom Wyatt for making Brooklyn happy this year. She LOVED her costume!

Paris decided that she wanted to be a "50's Girl" and wear a poodle skirt and jacket. You just never know with Paris! My mom actually bought her this costume to wear last year, but she decided last minute she didn't want to! Go figure?! This year she told me she wanted to wear it, so I held my breath and crossed my fingers...it must have worked because she DIDN'T CHANGE HER MIND!!! She actually only wore 1 costume this year! Crazy! She's VERY picky about her shoes, and hair...and yes, since we were using Makeup today...that too! Ugh...everything had to have her "approval" before we could move on! Oh, please tell me it just gets easier when they're teens! Ha Ha! That's a joke...I know.

Madison is still at the age where you can find a cute costume and tell her that's what she wants to be...and it WORKS! WE went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast about a month ago and we saw this cute Witch Costume and fell in love with it! We decided that Madison would make a very cute witch, and she seemed to think the same! Luckily, her hair and makeup were a breeze too!

Seattle, still has little to no hair, so she was a dream in the hair department and as for her costume...easy as pie! You already saw our cute little photo shoot a couple of days ago! She was just excited to leave! The only shots we have are of her...making sure she wouldn't be left behind!

Berlin was our Snow White this year. She had no idea what she was wearing and am pretty sure, she cared even less!

Now for my boy...Boston! This year he wanted to be a "Vampire"...I don't think it has anything to do with Twilight...even though his sisters all seem to LOVE the movie, he doesn't seem to share their passion. I guess that's a good thing? Anyway, I tried talking him into being a really handsome vampire...you know like Edward? But he wanted NOTHING to do with that...he wanted "scary with lots of blood". SO I gave him what he wanted...lots of white gooey makeup with waxy blood oozing out of his mouth. At least he was happy about it! Boys...

I took all the kids out first, we just went around our block...very slowly. Seattle actually walked the entire way! Madison was our big "Scaredy Cat" last year, but this year she would walk up to every door, lift up her hat, and say, "Hello Friends can I have some of you candy"! Even though we drilled "TRICK OR TREAT" into her...it just didn't stick! I have to admit, it was ADORABLE! There was even one guy wearing a skeleton costume with red glowing eyes, with loud metal music blaring and Madison just kept waving at him with a huge smile! After he gave her some candy, she came running back to me saying, "Mommy, that's my scary friend that likes to listen to scary music! I like him!" (Remind me to give her the stranger danger speech...especially when they offer candy!)

This is exactly what Seattle would do...venture up to peoples doors via the "long route" and by that time the kids had already grabbed candy and were on their way back, so she would then just turn around and start running back too! If it wasn't for Brooklyn peddling candy for her...she really wouldn't have any! Which is A-OK in my book!
Halloween was great fun! When we got home, Phil traded the baby for the older 3 kids and took them out further to score some more candy! I guess he got a little to into it too, because word has it...he had to use his GPS to see where he was! What a dork! Now to get rid of all this candy!!!

Seattle's got a Tutu!

2009-10-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

My mom recently started sewing for this company, PinkBowTique.com. She calls me to look at their website everytime they get something new (which is often!) They have everything from Hair Bows and Hats to Tutu's and Socks! They have the cutest things EVER!

I LOVE tutu's and when I saw this one online I knew Seattle had to have it! Why Seattle? Well because I think she's sandwiched between my "talker" Madison and "the baby" Berlin and it's gotta be a hard place to be sometimes:) I just wanted her to feel X-TRA special, beyond all the hugs and kisses I throw her way!

So, I ordered the cute little Tutu and the matching Headband (you can't have 1 without the other!) I thought she could use it as her Halloween Costume this year!
It came in the mail today...So time for a photo shoot!!
Isn't it adorable on her?! I got these cute little ballerina shoes to match! I can't get over how adorable it is! I just realized that I didn't get a shot of the back:( It has the cutest little details! I'll take more pictures on Saturday, for Halloween. The rest of the pictures are just Seattle being Seattle...cute and adorable:)

We had so much fun and she LOVES it! If you haven't had a chance to check out PinkBowTique.com make sure you check them out!

Halloween at the Hirschi's House...

2009-10-24T20:29:00.000-07:00

It was so sweet to see Bettijo and Heath's new place...especially since now that they are ALL the way in Glendale! I have to admit...traveling 25 minutes was a huge change from walking past 2 houses on a sidewalk:( It was so worth the drive though!

They always go ALL out on the food and decor! The table looked amazing! We had a 4 course meal, with the first course actally being vegetarian for Mike Clark and I! (Thanks Bettijo! The soup was super yummy!) I just wish I had a better picture of it! This was from my seat down...to the end. It was so dark, so I'm sure my flash threw a few people off! (Sorry about that:) I saw Bettijo taking pictures with her NICE camera...so there should be better ones to come, I'm sure!

We all sat across from our spouses, so instead of getting Jeff and Deborah...I was only able to get Deborah and Phil...sorry Jeff:)
Cynthia and I were seated next to each other this year! Our end of the table had soo much fun! We always seem to have such "colorful" conversations when we are all together;) We missed the Becks! Next year they'll have to win the lotto and come down for the entire month of October:)

Thanks Bettijo and Heath for the awesome time and the super cute Lip Salves!

Chicken Cordon Bleu...Mini Pies

2009-10-23T21:05:00.008-07:00

So on my way out the door to pick up the kids yesterday, I saw a 30 second commercial for Rachel Ray, advertising a unique variation of a meat pie she would be making later on her show. I thought it sounded kind of good, but totally forgot to tune in for the recipe! Ha Ha! That's totally my life for you!

Anyway, I found myself thinking that there really are a bunch of things you can stuff within a pie crust and have it taste good! So after thinking of several different combinations...all I'm sure could be yummy with the right twist, I settled on Chicken Cordon Bleu...or a version of it anyway!

This recipe makes more than enough for 8! You could also cut the "pies" to be smaller if you wanted!

Ingredients:

4 Cups Rice-(I used Minute Rice and I cooked it using chicken broth instead of water)
Broccoli (washed and chopped)
Chicken Breasts-(I boiled 4 chicken breasts boneless/skinless, then shredded them)
Swiss Cheese (I shredded an 8 oz block)
"Sauce"
1 cube butter
3 cubes chicken bouillon
(Melt these together over medium heat. Then add about 1/4 cup flour, or just enough to make the mixture thick. Slowly add either cream or whole milk...I use half of each. I think I probably used anywhere from 4-6 cups total. (You may have to add more or less depending on how much flour you added earlier.) Make sure you are stirring constantly and allow it to simmer for a minute or two to thicken up. It should NOT be "runny", a thick liquid without any chunks! Feel free to add salt and pepper or other seasonings as you see fit:)

Pie Crust- You Can make your own...or just go to the store and pick up a few of these.

Each box contains 2 pie crusts, (which will make 4 good sized "pies".) Roll them out, 1 at a time to make basically a thinner bigger circle than provided. Once it's been rolled out, cut it in half. (I used a pizza wheel)

Now that you have all your ingredients ready and waiting to be layered...place the two halves on a covered baking sheet.

I made the "executive" decision to place the rice on the bottom, followed by broccoli next.

Then I added the chicken...

Followed by the sauce...

Then topped with cheese!I'm such a visual person...so sorry for the "play by play"...so to speak!

Now just fold it over and seal it with a fork. Make sure there isn't any food near the edges or it won't seal properly.

Then give them a little brush with egg mixture (2 egg whites and a tablespoon of water) You don't need a fancy brush either...use your fingers if you need to!

Make sure to cut a few small slits in their tops, to allow them to vent:)

Place them in a 400 degree pre-heated oven for approximately 20 minutes or until they're brown and bubbly looking!

They lift off easily with a spatula and literally take up an entire plate! Serve and enjoy!

I think I'll be trying different variations of these things over the next couple weeks! Let me know if anyone tries another combination! I would love some ideas!

Retired Super Heroes!

2009-10-17T22:11:00.002-07:00

Sorry for the "Re-Post" but I HAD to make a few changes...

So the theme we came up with this year for our Halloween "shin-dig", was Retired Super Heroes! We had lots of great suggestions...so we decided to put a few together:) Everyone who knows me...knows how excited I get, to start planning this thing! I usually start in August getting everything in the works. This year wasn't quite as time consuming as last year's Murder Mystery Dinner, but still just as fun to plan!

I made 2 different invitations this year, one for the couples that were close and one that could be mailed a little easier. In all actuality, Phil and I couldn't agree on which ones we liked better, so it worked out great to have 2!

This one we did like an old school telegram. It has "stop" after every sentence and has some classic little details from an original telegram. This is the one we mailed...

The message in both reads...We used to be such heroes, but now seem more like zeros. Nevertheless, come party in style, with your "yester-year" gear on, you'll hold back a smile. Dress with care & don't get smudged. You won't be on trial but you will be judged!Unfortunately, 4 couples couldn't make it this year...so this was the smallest turn out yet! We still had so much fun, but I think we'll be recruiting some new couples next year! Maybe we better start getting to know people better....I'm such a home body! We've been trying to add 1 new couple a year, but now that we've figured out the whole dinner challenge...we could pack this house! Ha Ha!

Phil found his costume by accident...his old graduation gown, a sweet "comb over wig", and some coke bottle glasses! After checking him out in his gear...I just knew he had to be an old Harry Potter! I know...totally stretching it as a "super hero"! Seattle would actually cry every time he put his new glasses on! Sad! So we had her try on some of it and she warmed up to the idea!

My costume was a bit harder to find...but eventually I settled with Super Girl! Yeah...I know...So ME!?! HA!!!

We decided that since my mom couldn't fly in, we would make it a whole lot easier on yours truly by just having it catered by Macayos! We ended up LOVING their food after Phil ordered platters for my 30th...It made it sooo much easier! I was able to focus on the desserts...instead of desserts AND cooking!

I must have put my camera away after we barely starting putting out the food...because these are the only pictures I got! You get the idea...LOTS of FOOD!I was actually able to "chill" most of Saturday...which was AMAZING! So what did I do with all my extra time? I made signs...silly, silly, signs! Don't critique my terrible artistic abilities!
We have 2 rules at our parties...1) You HAVE to dress up...2)You HAVE to come HUNGRY we in turn promise...To entice people to dress up and play along in the fun things we have planned...we give out prizes...how good really depends on the couples, I guess!

We ALL voted for the Best Costume, Runner Up, and the Worst...or "Nice Effort"to put it softly! For the costumes you got from the Biggest to Littlest light up pumpkins with a ribbon saying what place you won! Unfortunately, I totally FORGOT to take pictures!!! SO instead I'll just show you couples pictures... 1st Place Costume Prize went to ...

The O'Neill's!

Runner Up went to....

The White's!

Finally, Last and Certainly "Nice Effort" went to...

The Poulsens! (They know they still rocked it...but didn't quite make the "old"cut!)

For the "Oddly Wed" game that we played...The winning couple won a pair of movie tickets...(because they know each other enough to take a time out from talking to one another.) The Runner Up...got some baking supplies...so they can brush up on some facts while having fun together in the kitchen! Finally, the last place couple got the book "Arguing with Idiots" by Glen Beck...(we couldn't find any good "couple counseling" books! So we thought this title was good:) The Hirschi's won!

Cynthia's costume was HILARIOUS! She had a pillow out back and two sagging grape fruits in the front! This was a great picture of them both...but it's not the Mike we all know and love! So sorry Cynthia...but this one made it to the Blog too!
Thanks to EVERYONE that came! We had soo much fun! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Pumpkin-Pecan Cookies...with Brown Butter Frosting

2009-10-16T13:29:00.004-07:00

I saw this YUMMY recipe posted in the Cooking Club magazine this month...I thought to myself, "hmmm...I LOVE pumpkin bread...I LOVE cookies...and I LOVE butter...who cares if it's brown!" After a quick run through of the ingredients I found that I had everything I needed...plus a little extra so I could put my own little twist on it!

Here's what you need:

2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 C sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 C Canned pure pumpkin**(I used the pumpkin pie mix instead of canned pumpkin, if you do that you won't need the cinnamon below...)
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 C Vegetable Oil
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 C Chopped pecans, toasted**(Place them on a baking sheet, and bake them at 325 until they turn slightly darker.)
**I then decided to add 1/2 package of Jello Instant Pudding mix "Pumpkin Spice" to the mixture!

Frosting
1/2 C Butter
2 1/2 C Powdered sugar
1/4 C Cream Cheese**(I added this...it just tastes soo good!)
1/2 Tsp Vanilla
1 C Heavy Whipping Cream (I added this to my frosting...you can use less if you want...it makes it so much fluffier)
1/4 pkg of remaining Jello Instant Pudding Mix..."Pumpkin Spice"**(I STRONGLY suggest you use this, it makes the frosting taste perfect!)
1/4 cup chopped, toasted, pecans

Okay, just make the cookies as you normally would...dry ingredients then wet ingredients mixed in...they will turn out a bit "gooey" more than regular cookies, just grab a tablespoon and scoop them onto a baking sheet, lined with Parchment paper, for an easy clean up afterward!

Bake them at 325, for 18-20 minutes...or until a toothpick comes out clean. (so it could be faster...just check!)

They come out really puffy looking...like this.

To me they taste like bite sized pumpkin breads...in the shape of a cookie! Very moist and delicious! But you're not done! Don't forget the frosting!

For the frosting, beat the cream cheese and butter together until they're smooth. Then add the powdered sugar and vanilla. Then slowly add the heavy whipping cream until it's the perfect consistency. Be careful NOT to overmix...or your cream will seperate!

After you're done, spread a generous amount onto each cookie and sprinkle them with chopped, toasted pecans!

If you don't want to eat them all...give them away as gifts! They're so perfect for this time of year! YUMMY!!!!! (I know I say that about everything...but seriously, they are!)

Paris' lost a tooth...literally!

2009-10-13T19:25:00.000-07:00

Paris "FINALLY got a loose tooth", the kids' words, not mine! I always HATE it when they go from the cute little teeth phase...to the big awkward looking teeth! I am always amazed at just how big the new teeth are and how they seem to fit into their little mouths! Ah...in any event, it became loose last Thursday and after A LOT of wiggling...it fell out today at school!

She was beaming ear to ear when she got in the car to tell me it had fallen out:)

We decided that we had better go home and celebrate...Phil took it as an invitation to go out to dinner,(it really doesn't take much) which meant Shavonne and Greg were dialed too! We went out to Arribas!

While I was taking Paris' picture I had a little one saying, "I do" "mommy" "cheese"...

Of course I couldn't resist...and then I would just be mean if I didn't take this one's little picture:) The rest of the kids were "throwing wishes" (pennies) into the pond outside!

After dinner we went home and Paris was making her PB&J sandwich for lunch tomorrow and I guess when she was throwing away her crusts...she accidentally threw it away too! Unfortunately she didn't notice until much later when it was time for bed:(
After a loooong talk about how I couldn't go digging through the garbage...(sorry a tooth just isn't worth it!) I suggested she write a letter to the tooth fairy and tell her what happened. This is 1 of the 2 notes the tooth fairy received...I will stay on the look out for the other letter...it's so cute!

Transaltion: "Paris told me to write this note. Paris wants to know how many children do you have. What are there names are they boys or girls. What age are they? Write back please! Xo XO ♥' Brooklyn"

Paris must still be holding on to the note that the "Tooth fairy" replied to! I'll just have to find her "special" hiding place?!

Little Ghosts...and Truffles!

2009-10-12T18:52:00.000-07:00

I was in the mood to make something...so while I was in the kitchen "attempting" to make "cake pops" from Bakerella's blog...which, if you really want to see what they're supposed to look like...look there! Way flipping cute!
I dipped my white ones into almond bark...
And my chocolate ones into some dark chocolate ganache I whipped up...they were good, but way too rich/sweet if you ask me! So I tried rolling them into balls half the size...and that was better! I was getting them ready for a quick freeze, so they would stand up!
While I was in the kitchen...these little monsters were running around the house with my "chair"ghosts (they were on the back of my chairs) and saying ooooh! I was bugged that they took them off..but still had to laugh because it was pretty cute!

I talked them into getting a photo...don't you just love the little guitar Haven's strumming?

I swear there's NEVER a dull moment here!