Star Wars Invasion

This is what I found today when I came home from biking the kids to school. Jordan had added all sorts of Star Wars figures to my village set. He was so excited to show me and tell me what each Star Wars character was doing in the village, such as keeping away the bad guys, standing guard, etc. If you look at the first picture on the far right side there is a character laying on the roof. When I asked Jordan what he was doing he replied, "Oh, just looking at clouds." So it's Christmas with a Star Wars twist at our house!

Check out my Slide Show!

Here are some pictures from our camping trip to Disney's Ft. Wilderness campground. We went last Tuesday since the kids had all week off of school. We had a great time swimming, canoeing, Chip and Dale campfire sing-along, roasting marshmallows, playing baseball, eating food, etc. We brought the kid's scooters and they had a ball scootering around the campground loop. It was a little wierd to see the kids swimming at the end of November, but the weather was beautiful and the pool wasn't too cold!

luvnmy5

Here's what the back of our van looks like. Don't mind the dent in it - that's not what I'm showing you. I did that backing into a cart return in the Target parking lot, darn it. Anyway, the other day I was in line at preschool pickup and I was talking to the girl behind me. I said something about having 5 kids and she said, "Oh, are you that "loving my 5" van with all the kids lined up in the back window?" Yep, that's me.

Thanksgiving

Sorry I couldn't get everyone's heads in!

We had Aunt Kelly over for Thanksgiving this year. She came on Wednesday afternoon and stayed until Friday morning. We had a great time with her here! She got here about dinnertime on Wednesday so we ate some yummy tortellini soup and just visited after that. Thursday morning was spent making turkey, potatoes, rolls, stuffing, corn, fruit salad, and sweet potatoe casserole (I did make my pumpkin dessert on Wednesday...whew!). We ate around 2:30 - everything but the turkey. We had a turkey disaster this year and the turkey wasn't done but with everyone at the table, heads bowed practically, we just decided to eat. We put the turkey back in the oven and had it later with rolls for leftovers! After dinner we went to the movie. We saw, "Enchanted" and really liked it.

Friday morning was an event for Meghann's journal as it was her first time shopping at 5:00 a.m. with mom! We decided the girls could go at age 12 so this was her first year going with me. She was very excited. Kelly decided to come to so the three of us headed off before dawn and got home around 9:00 a.m. We had a lot of fun and got everything we were after (and then some...of course). Kelly left for home around 11:00 a.m. We sure enjoyed having company here for Thanksgiving!

Another Puzzle

We finished another one!

Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Stayin' Alive, Stayin' Alive!

Courtney saved her money and bought a dance mat that hooks into the TV. It tells you which direction to step (up, back, right, left) and you have to follow it for three minutes. At the end you get a grade. Here's Brady's attempt at it - I can't print his grade though. He claims it's because his feet are so big. Meghann actually has the highest grade with a "B." I only got a "C!" It's harder than you would think!

Young Women Recognition Night

Meghann had her first recognition night last Wednesday. She worked feverishly on her 10 hour project and finished at the 11th hour! She typed the hand-written journal that Brady and I have kept for her since 1997. She got to about the year 2001 so she might even get another 10-hour project out of typing the rest of it. Anyway, the evening was an "Oscar Night" for the girls and it was really cute.

And here is Jordan eating his refreshments - a blue cupcake!

A Recipe...and some free advice

Here's a yummy recipe we tried on Sunday.

Pumpkin Soup

8 slices bacon

3 T. olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, chopeed

2 celery stalks, chopped

8 c. water

2 T. chicken bouillon granules

1 can (32 oz.) packed pumpkin

1 T. sugar

1 t. thyme

1 c. milk

1/8 t. nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

grated cheddar cheese for garnish

parmesan cheese for garnish

1. Cook the bacon in a heavy pot. Remove from heat, crumble, and set aside. In the same pot, mix the oil, onion, carrots, and celery. Saute for 15 minutes. Stir in water, bouillon, pumpkin, sugar, thyme, and crumbled bacon. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender.

2. Pour the soup in batches into a blender and puree. Return to the pot. Mix in the milk, nutmet, and curry powder. Season with salt and pepper. Serve hot with cheddar cheese and parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. Serves 6-8.

Okay, there's the recipe. Now for the free advice. It has to do with step number 2. Before you pour the soup into the blender, make sure you have drop cloths covering everything and make sure the operator of the blender has a protective face mask on. Or at least make sure you use the LID that came with the BLENDER! Brady had been craving pumpkin soup ever since we ate some on our cruise last January so we finally found a recipe that sounded good and decided to try it. He was the primary chef, I was just the soux (?sp) chef. Our blender lid had a small crack in it and the first time he tried puree-ing the soup it spashed out a little on his hand. I left the room and heard him say, "I think I'm going to try a bowl for a lid." Before I could really register what he was saying, I heard a scream come from the kitchen and I went running in to see the walls, cupboards, tile floor, carpeted floor in the front room, and my husband covered in orange pumpkin soup puree. Brady was leaning over the sink trying to wash it off of his face, where it was burning him it was so hot. I was trying not to cry and really didn't know what to do. While Brady took care of his face I started with the carpet because I knew that would be the most work. The girls quickly came in and grabbed rags and started wiping everything down. We had everything cleaned up in less than an hour and actually sat down and ate the soup after that! Brady and I loved it, the kids hated it. Isn't that how it usually goes? He has taken a little bit of teasing for his blender blunder (that was pretty good!) but GRATEFULLY his face is okay! He had his glasses on which was a blessing to his eyes...his precious eyes that are going to be operated on tomorrow! He is getting LASIK eye surgery in the morning! I can hardly believe it. I am hopefully going to have it done after him...unless I chicken out. We'll see. Anyway, I'm posting a picture of Brady's burn marks, plus one of him in glasses for the last time.

1,000 Pieces

I thought this puzzle would take us a while, but we finished it in 6 days. I guess 1,000 pieces isn't too many for these kids. Now they are addicted to puzzles. It's a good thing though - they don't watch TV as often, don't ask to play the computer as often, they head right to the coffee table in the morning and start working on it.

To Post or Not to Post?

Hmm...clean three bathrooms or post a picture? Posting wins! But it will have to be a quick one because I don't think the bathroom fairy is coming to my house today so it's me or nothing! Here's the project I did for the boy's bedroom. I love it. I can change out the pictures as I want to. The colors look so good in their room and it just makes that wall look so nice.

Happy Birthday

Sunday was my birthday. It was a good day. Brady went out of his way to make it nice. We went out to dinner on Friday night with the primary presidency and their husbands. It was fun to bring our hubby's along as usually it's just us girls celebrating each other's birthdays. We went to a Mexican place that we haven't eaten at before and it was good. Saturday my main goal was to paint one wall in the boy's room so that I could hang a project that I have been working on. I got the wall painted, but the project still isn't hung. Tomorrow! I can't wait to post a picture of it. It turned out so cute. You'll see...

So for my birthday, we went to church. Brady fixed his traditional rice and beans fast Sunday dinner so it was nice that I didn't have to cook. We also made two pans of pumpkin cake dessert for him to take to a fireside that evening. He made me a raspberry/blackberry shortcake - yummy! We invited Kent and Nate Shephed over since Kent's wife and daughter were out of town for the weekend so they ate with us. Brady gave me two new puzzles since we were out of puzzles to work on! One was a 500 piece and the other was a 1,000. I wasn't too sure about the big one, but the kids say they're on board so we've started it. I also got a new iron and the new Carrie Underwood CD. Thanks to all my family who made phone calls. I really appreciate it. And thanks for the cards and well wishes from everyone else!

Towel Order

Here's some pictures of an order I am about half done with for a lady. I finished the 10 hooded towels and 2 monogrammed towels. I have 9 dishtowels and 5 golf towels to go. I loved the hooded towels. I digitized hair on the soccer player because she wanted a boy and a girl and I only had a boy, so I thought the girl one turned out cute.

Trick or Treat

Here are some pictures of trick-or-treating. Don't Meghann and her friend look cute? Our friend's son was the Tin Man so he fit right in with Dorothy and the Scarecrow. We had a lot of fun and got WAY too much candy!