Sarah's first party!

Sarah was invited to her first birthday party last week. Eliza turned 2 and had a fairy princess party. It was fun to help Sarah dress up. Because I was running late that morning I grabbed a quick gift for her to take.


They ate star-shaped pb&j, with mickey mouse cheese, and grapes. This is what Ben created with his - a smiley face!


We helped the girls make fairy wands (so cute!) and put stickers on crowns. They watched Eliza open her presents - some of the girls had a hard time with that. Sarah did really well. No tears!

They enjoyed their individual cupcakes and then we went home. It was a good time.

I just wanted to share what this little girl has been up to. Her personality is so developing. She is the best pouter. It makes me laugh. She hates to be teased, but loves teasing. So, I'm often hearing screaming from one of my children. Almost every morning she comes and gets in bed with me. Sometimes it's early enough that we go back to sleep. Other times she brings me a story to read. I often hear her in the living room turning pages to books. She is not as good a sleeper as Benjamin was/is. Once we got him on a schedule I could always expect him to take a 2-4 hour nap each afternoon and sleep through the night. Sarah, on the other hand, fights naps and if she does go to sleep, is only down for about an hour. At night Benjamin falls right to sleep. Sometimes, it's an hour later before Sarah is asleep. Sometimes she keeps coming out, other times she just plays in her room. One morning she woke up with her Sunday shoes on. She told me she slept in them.

She isn't shy - talks to strangers and everything! Loves going to nursery and is finally staying in the chapel for the whole sacrament meeting! I just started her in underpants yesterday. Everytime we'd go potty somewhere, she'd go to. (ex. Walmart) And for a few days, when I'd try to change her, she'd be dry and go on the toilet. Plus, her diapers were rubbing on the sides of her back, making a sore, red, dry spot. So, we put them on yesterday and she did pretty good. She had two accidents. One so far today. I think it will take awhile to get the pooping part down. That's where we have our problems. She loves a book I got at Saver's about Hannah and the potty. So, we say "just like Hannah," quite often.

She sometimes talks in a high-pitched voice. Janet calls her a munchkin. Especially when she's playing. She also likes to talk like a baby - saying "goo-goo gaa-gaa". And every once in awhile, when she's frustrated she says, "argh." Just like that. She got it from me.

Here are some other fun things she's said lately:

"I want to go to High School."

"Try again, mom, try again."

"One-a-time, tsk, a little mouse, tsk, ran away. The end."

"Close the phone." when I was talking to someone and she wanted me.

"I need toilet wiper." aka toilet paper!

"This is the Prophet, Mama!" when Music and the Spoken Word was on.

whiny voice "My bed's all curly!" It was messy and she wanted the blankets straightened.

holding her Book of Mormon "Alma ran away with the kids. The end." (what's with all the running away?)

"I'm not Velma, I'm a princess!" to Benjamin when he said "come on, Velma" - I guess they were playing with 2 different ideas in mind!

Oh how I love my little munchkin who is a tween at heart!

Kannon's Thirty!!

My beloved husband turned 30 just over a week ago. About a month before he started to mention it, maybe a little apprehensive about being 30. He's the oldest in his family, so I think it was a big deal to him. We decided to make it a big deal, too. We started off with giving him 20 things to celebrate his 20's. We did that by starting 20 days before his birthday and giving him things that we thought he'd like. This is what I can remember: chocolate milk, powdered mini donuts, pack of gum, bath with bubbles and a pillow, pictures the kids drew, a candy bar, our hands traced with a quote from President Monson about hands, sang "Daddy's Homecoming", (if I remember any more I'll add them.) I think he enjoyed that.

Then I decided to throw him a surprise birthday party. It was hard to keep it a surprise. He kept planning things for that weekend, and then changing his mind. Luckily the day stayed open and I didn't have to spill the beans. I sent and delivered invites to some of our friends. I planned the snacks - things I thought he'd like, plus some things I just wanted to try. I made the pumpkin coconut bread 2 days before and hid them on the porch. I made the 7-layer dip and cheesecake cookie cups the day before and stored them at some of the invitees, then they brought them to the party. Thank you! I hid the soda under a pile of clothes in my room and the chips on the back porch by the piano and sewing machine (a place I felt was pretty safe from his eyes!) I was even able to go to the florist while Kannon was at the soccer games, to get balloons. I hid those in the kids closet. A couple of days before the party I finally came up with the right plan of attack. I called his home teaching companion and asked him to have Kannon go home teaching at 6pm that night. While they were gone I put everything out and our guests arrived. We even had a plan for his companion, K, to come to the door with him. Kannon noticed a few cars parked around but still didn't figure it out until he got to the door. Then he wondered why the lights were off. That's where we goofed, I guess.

Eating and playing Apples to Apples. Kannon has wanted that game for a long time, so we bought it for him as his only birthday present. Our wonderful friends had the same thought and brought him that game, too. We all played (except for a couple, including Kannon, who chose to visit). And guess who won! Me!

I thought it went really well. It was fun, not too crowded, though in our house it was close. I was soooo tired by the end of the night, mentally as well as physically. (Ya know I had to clean house really good, too, those last couple of days!)

This is the actual surprise part of the party!

Granola Recipe

We love granola - I always have - But, who can afford to buy it!? When we were first married my mother-in-law gave us a great recipe. I don't make it very often, but we go through it pretty quick when I do. And most of the ingredients can be found in your food storage.

13 cups Rolled Oats - we prefer the quick, I think you can use either.

The big round containers have just a smidge more than you need.

1 pkg. shredded coconut - I probably use 1/2

1 cup dry milk powder

3 cups chopped nuts (any kind)

1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 cup honey

1 1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

3 tsp. vanilla

Mix together first 4 ingredients in very big bowl. Cook rest of ingredients in a saucepan over medium/high heat until sugar is dissolved. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix well. Spread on 2 large cookie sheets. Cook in 350* oven for 20-30 minutes, stirring once or twice. I usually cook for 10 minutes, stir and switch shelves (move the bottom to the top, etc.). Then another 10 minutes, stir and use my judgement on more time or not. They should be turning golden brown.
I guess more than stirring, it's kind of flipping it over, hence the spatula in this picture. There's just not enough room on the sheet to stir without spilling.

Then we just keep it in a large tupperware container and enjoy! I like mine with milk. Kannon takes his in a cup and eats it on his way to work. He likes the big chunks and so I have to make sure I don't crumble them all when I'm stirring.

Hope you all enjoy this as much as we do! Do you have a great recipe that would save us money? Share it as a comment or on your blog.

Thanksgiving Activities from Sugardoodle!

I know I'm behind on a few posts, but I wanted to get this up before it's too late. On the side of my blog I have a list of blogs I like to visit. I found this Thanksgiving activity list on Sugar Doodle. I really want to do this with my kids. Wish I hadn't missed the first few days!

We are thankful for our teeth.
Give mom and dad some of our Halloween candy in exchange for a gift.

We are thankful for our legs.
Go outside and run and jump!

We are thankful for our cousins.
Call or write a letter to one of our cousins.

We are thankful for our kitchen.
Cook or bake something fun together in the kitchen.

We are thankful for good food.
Go to the grocery store and pick out a food that you haven’t tried yet.

We are thankful for Turkeys!
Art Project: Make paper turkeys.

We are kind to others.
Think of something fun to give someone in the neighborhood.

We are thankful for Daddy.
Do something nice for daddy and be extra nice to him all day!

We are thankful for Mommy.
Do something nice for mommy and be extra nice to her all day!

We are thankful for the seasons. Go out and rake leaves together.

We are thankful for our brother.
Do something nice for (name) and be extra nice to him all day!

We are thankful for sister.
Do something nice for (name) and be extra nice to her all day!

We are thankful for our house.
Play a cleaning game.

We are thankful for each other.
Play a game together.

We are thankful for our hands.
Art Project: Finger painting.

We are thankful for our eyes.
Watch a special Thanksgiving show together.

We are thankful for our ears.
Play some fun music.

We are thankful for books.
Go to the library and pick out some Thanksgiving books.

We are thankful for pies.
Go to Marie Calendars (or some other place) and get some pies to deliver to people.

We are thankful for our grandparents.
Call grandma and grandpa and tell them "I love you"!

We are thankful for Heavenly Father.
Go on a nature walk and notice all of Heavenly Father’s creations.

We are thankful for our friends.
Make a special visit to some friends.

We are thankful for the computer.
Send an email to someone we love. Send them some pictures of us.

We are thankful for all of our toys.
Take some of the toys we haven’t been playing with to Goodwill to give to other kids.

We are thankful for our car.
Go on a special outing to the Children’s Museum, or other destination.

Last week

I thought her hair was so cute this day - of course it didn't last very long - she's quick to make it messy and then to pull it out. That's why you'll often see it messy in her pictures.
We had a family home evening lesson on temples and the "My Gospel Standards". When it was over Benjamin said, "that's it?" So I told him to make a temple with the blocks. We also made a really huge one with all the blocks. Sarah was bathing so we didn't have to worry about them being knocked over.

Yesterday was Ben's last soccer game(s - we played a double header). We took the flag apart and gave everyone their alien rattler face. This is Ben's.

Sarah loves the new bath pillow. We bought it for Daddy, but everyone (except me) has enjoyed it. I guess I should take a bath sometime.

Last Sunday Kannon took Ben home teaching. While they were gone Sarah and I tried out the new pink pudding - strawberry cancer awareness ones. They were okay. I still like chocolate and vanilla better. Sarah put these spoons in them and had them all ready to eat. Too bad she fell asleep before the boys got home. In fact, her pudding is STILL in the fridge!

We cleaned up the yard one last time before winter. Kannon was mowing and Sarah really wanted to help. Ben took a turn pushing, also. We pulled out all the tomato plants and herbs and raked the yard clean. It actually looks pretty nice out there. Filling up with leaves though.

This is Ben's soccer team and coaches, getting ready to high five the other team. I asked him yesterday who is favorite team mate was. "Probably Parker and Asa. Maybe Austin, too. Oh yeah, and Vance." That's everyone on the team. So I'm glad he liked them all. He had a birthday invitation for today (Sunday). He was very excited to show me the invitation. When I said it was on sunday he said, "I can't go." I asked him why and he said, "because we don't go to parties on Sunday. I was pleased that he'd learned that at such a young age. And did really well to not be upset. We got Vance a gift anyway and Ben was excited to give it to him.

Ben defending his goal. He was pretty good at that. He'd stand at the goal, like a goalie, and wait for the ball to come. At this age they don't have goalies so he sometimes got in trouble for doing that. I guess if he ever plays at an older age he will be a great goalie or defender! As for me, I'm glad it's over for the year. We'll see about next year.