Oliver's 2nd Birthday

Today we celebrated my nephew Oliver's 2nd birthday. What a cute little guy he is, and always smiling! He's full of energy and makes everyone feel happy!

He spent half the time, climbing through this bar.

Look at Jonah's face (in the green), I love it! It's priceless! He's trying to hurry and get down before Kerby catches him.

 Levi and Cameron playing teeter-totter!

 Collette and I take a turn trying to see who can keep the other one up with help from all the kids.

 Skylar, loving the swings!

 What a beautiful little girl!

 Skylar and Kendyl trying to hold hands.

 Landon on the teeter-totter now. Love that smile!

 Oh they finally did it!

 Kadin, Jonah, Levi and Fisher climbing around.

 Cameron and Oliver going down the slide.

 Oliver's fun cake! He wants to just dig in!

 After touching the top he stared at his fingers for several seconds, then touched the frosting with his other finger and studied it some more. He was very curious about it.

 We had a lot of fun playing frisbee.

 Just like this picture!

 Watching some frisbee.

Again!

Today Kadin chipped his tooth off again!! Remember this post Everything Kristi!: Chipped Tooth? Well, now it's worse. I don't know if the dentist will be able to save his tooth this time. Poor kid! They were walking home from school and Kadin was throwing the soccer ball up and catching it.  Fisher thought it would be fun to throw a rock at the soccer ball and try to knock it out of Kadin's hands. Well, the rock hit Kadin's mouth, not the ball. His tooth just shattered and his lip was bleeding pretty bad. We'll have to see what the dentist says Monday. Last time the tooth wasn't hurting, unless he ate with it. This time the air hitting it hurts it some so we'll see if we even make it till Monday.

When I got home from work today Nate and Angela, (who's 5 days past her due date) my brother and sister in-law had made dinner. They cooked some pike Nate and his boys caught and some really yummy pasta. I don't know for sure what's in it but I'll be asking her because it was so good! Thanks Angela! 

Jennie-O Turkey Bacon

Today I was shopping at Macey's and needed some bacon for BLT's. I decided to try the Jennie O turkey bacon because it was 2.50 less than any other bacon they had. It was pretty good, I was wishing I had some regular bacon for the blt's but it still was good. Also it had way less fat than regular bacon, which means more meat and healthy. I'll be buying more of it.

Apple Wedges in Cinnamon Red Hot Syrup

Today Tina and I made these and I can't wait to open up a jar and eat some after they've sat in the syrup for a few days! They were so good after putting the apples in the syrup. I can imagine how good they'll be after they soak up more flavor! Very, very tasty! I got the recipe from this Canning with Kids blog (yes my kids even helped some) my mother in-law told me about.  At first it looked a little complicated (I see a semi long list of ingredients and automatically think it's hard) and be expensive to make but it really was really easy, sticky, but easy. She says to use a 4 inch cinnamon stick in each jar but I broke them in half and put only have a stick in each jar then in the syrup I added a little ground cinnamon to compensate for the smaller cinnamon sticks.  Also she peeled and sliced the apples into wedges, so that's what we did at first but then I decided it would work just as well to use the apple peeler, corer and slicer thingy that does it all at once with thin slices. It seems to have worked just fine, so I'll continue to do that. Yum, my mouth is watering just thinking about tasting them! This woman, or whoever first created this was a genius! I want to make more but need to go to bed. I think when I make more in a couple days I will try adding some pineapple too. YUM!!!

Thanks Nita for the apples!!!
Oh I almost forgot to show you what Skylar did tonight while I was finishing up a batch. She got into my mascara!!! I love how she put some on her eyebrow, so funny since she's never seen me put makeup on my brows. She did an excellent job on her lashes though, until she got it all over the rest of her face.  How can I be mad about this, it's pretty funny and she just wanted to be like me. So, I decided to take some pictures and show them to her and tell her she looked pretty (she thought she looked funny) but to ask me before she used my makeup.

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Taco Bowls

 I saw this on one of my friends Facebook walls but now I can't find it or remember who's I saw it on. Anyways, I made them tonight and it was so simple and they tasted really, really good. The whole family and two other families I made them for enjoyed them too! They were a big hit! Chef Levi convinced me to try some different versions of it which turned out good too. We had a fun time making them. Thanks to whoever put them on your Facebook timeline. :)

You just put mini flour or wheat tortillas on top of the bottom of a muffin tin like this. I sprayed my pan, but I don't think you'd need to. Next time I'll try it without spraying it. Then I cooked them for 10 min. on 375º. Fill with desired taco fillings. To me these are the best taco shells ever! I love the flavor!

Levi and I experimented on different ways we could fit more onto the pan so we could cook more at the same time. This was the best solution we came up with.

This was Levi and Kadin's favorite solution.

 Here they are cooked. I should have taken a picture of them out of the pan. They tipped over instead of sitting flat so a lot of the stuff fell out of them. The kids still liked them that way though. It reminded them all of ice cream!

Amanda's Birthday!

Today we had a birthday bash at work for Amanda! It was a fun day with lots of treats and yummy Kneaders sandwiches and salad. I forgot to take a picture before Amanda left of the awesome decorations the Julie did. So, Amanda isn't in the picture and I tried to crop her in but couldn't figure it out. :) That's ok, she probably wouldn't have been happy about the picture being of her in a frumpy nightgown she got from her bridal shower. haha!!! That would have been hilarious!

Dodge ball, Wedding & The Piano Guys

Today was a really fun today. This morning the kids and I went and played dodge ball for an hour with our ward against another ward in our stake. We won so we went back 2 hours later and played for another hour, this time with Kerby because he was back from his scout campout. Well, we won that ward too so went back an hour later for the final game and our ward won that one too. It was a lot of fun and now tons of muscles in my body are pretty sore. It was actually a pretty good workout. 

Then we went to Spanish Fork's Harvest Moon Hurrah and the kids played games and had a lot of fun. I forgot to bring my camera but Tina took hers and we got some pictures with it so I took her memory card home with me so I could download them to my computer but the memory card doesn't fit into my monitor. So, no pics of that.

Then Kerby and the kids stayed at the park to get ready to listen to John Schmidt play the piano while I went to a really beautiful wedding. My good friend Caryl's daughter JoAnna got married today and seeing her married and her younger sisters as bridesmaids really made me feel old. JoAnna was a beehive when I was at the end of the 2 years I was young women's secretary for our ward so that really was crazy. She was such a beautiful bride and they look like a really happy couple. 

After that I went back to the Harvest moon hurrah and we got to see The Piano Guys play their awesome music. John Schmidt has so much talent and he was so funny!  I took a picture with my phone and this was the best I could get, so really you can't see anything. All my kids except for Kadin ended up leaving and going home with Tina while we stayed. Kadin thought John Schmidt was pretty cool, but we sat so far back and couldn't hear very well because so many teens were talking around us that I don't know if being able to watch John Schmidt motivated him much to want to practice playing piano more. We'll see though, he did really enjoy it. I'll have to show him some videos of him. It was a really long, fun day.

Captain America: The First Avenger

Tonight I finally figured out how to get Netflix on the Wii, so the boys and I watched this movie. Everyone except Kadin fell asleep so I didn't get to see the whole ending. What I did see was really good. I loved The Avengers so I knew I'd like this and I wasn't disappointed. I like seeing the story of how Captain America was created, looked a little too simple though. I'm glad I can get these on Netflix because I was tempted to buy them but now I don't have to. :) Watch it if you haven't had a chance to. I was sad that he lost his girl because of being frozen for 70 years.

Simplifying

 Today I finally took my friend Julie's advice and simplified my life in a small way that could end up having a huge impact! A couple months ago she got rid of all her plates, bowls and cups except for one for each family member. So, I did it! I actually did it! I've been thinking about doing it since she told me she did. It feels good to have done it because I really think it will help my kitchen be much cleaner. I'm so tired of having to do so many dishes. Especially when I work, the next day there's almost always enough dishes for more than one load.  Way too many cups, bowls and plates are being used every single day.  I let each person choose 1 cup, 1 small bowl, 1 big bowl, 1 small plate and 1 big plate for each family member.  I wrote their names on the bottom of each dish. When they're done eating they'll have to put their dishes in the dishwasher, at night I'll start the dishwasher then unload it in the morning. If they don't put their dishes in the dishwasher they'll have to hand wash them the next day to be able to eat. Of course I'll help Skylar with this at first, but I think even she'll do just fine. I'm so excited! I may not do it forever, maybe till their in the habit of doing it, we'll see.

Breath Kristi, Breath

We had planned to go and roast hotdogs and marshmallows tonight. But today while I was at scouts (8 rowdy but fun boys) Kerby called and said he stopped in Springville on his way home from work and couldn't get the car to start again. So I said I'd come get him after scouts if he needed me too and that scouts would probably be done early. We didn't end early, although we would have been a lot longer than planned had Jessica not helped us deliver some of the invites we were delivering. Thanks Jessica for your help, you're a lifesaver! After scouts we went to the gas station he was at and he had taken out what he thought was the starter for the car. We drove to Auto Zone so they could test it to see if that was the problem. Kerby came out of there saying he has the wrong part, that it wasn't the starter he removed. So, we drove back and he removed the starter while we ate in Subway that was attached to the gas station. Then we drove back to Auto Zone with the correct part and guess what? It worked! Their little thing they test it with showed that it wasn't the problem. So, back to the gas station to try to figure out the next move. Now, the car has had trouble starting the past month or so but we didn't know why. Kerby reinstalled the starter while I googled on my kindle about what the problem could be. We think that it may be the ignition or something else (I can't remember what he said). So, after struggling with a hidden bolt for quite a while he got it back in. Went and turned the key and it STARTED!!!!!!!!! That was very good news for us because that meant I didn't have to tow back the car. Now we still have problems with it but at least we got it home and know it will start after a while. I had the kids finish their homework and read but to be honest half the time the kids were driving me crazy being shut up in the Tahoe waiting. Teasing, screaming, jumping up and down, teasing, trying to climb out the windows, crying, upset that our plans were ruined, teasing, whining, opening and closing doors (luckily it was evening time so it wasn't hot) and teasing! Gotta admit, it wasn't my favorite night! I also admit I love my kids like crazy! Glad we made it home and settled down the kids. Kids +small spaces=madness (sometimes). Good night everyone. Oh ya and I'm so grateful that Kerby knows how to fix a vehicle, or at least that he can call his dad if he's not sure of the problem himself, or sometimes Jason!

Arby's Curly Fries...Frozen

 So, I had didn't know you could buy these in the store! I saw them at Walmart the other day and decided to try them. They are good but not as good as when you buy them from Arby's. They were in lots of pieces, there weren't very many long, curly pieces. In fact I think out of the whole bag there were only 2. They did make me want to get some Arby's, especially an Arby's cheddar melt. Those are the best! Haven't eaten there for a really long time. Anyways, they still tasted good and I'd probably get them again for busy nights like this when Kerby is at scouts and I need to get 3 kids to soccer games in different cities, 1 to pictures and 1 to scouts after his game.

The Rise of Nine

Well being sick most the weekend I read a lot, so today I finished the 3rd book of The Lorien Legacies, The Rise of Nine. I really enjoy these books and don't like putting them down (that's how I am with most books though). This book has more swearing in it than the second, but not as much as the first. My favorite one so far is the second and not just because there was less swearing, it really is a better book than the other two. In this third book we meet every Loric accept for #5. All of them except for 5 end up fighting the main Mogodorian, Setrákus Ra they're doing pretty good but about to give up and get out to train more but Setrákus Ra beats them to it and vanishes first.  They were at least able to rescue Sam, Six and Sarah though. The book ended with a pretty good cliff hanger and I really don't like that I have to wait till next August to be able to read the next one. Meanwhile, I hope the second movie comes out but I don't see anything about a second movie.

  

Bridal Shower and Spider Man

I went to my sweet cousin Celeste's bridal shower today. Celeste, I can't believe you're old enough to get married! You're my tiny, little cousin and I still think of you as a pre-teen! Either all us cousins haven't hung out enough or I'm in denial about my own age. Your hair was so pretty today and it was great to see you and all the other cousins and aunts. I wish I had remembered my camera.

I went with Tina's family and saw this movie. I have to admit I was disappointed that a new Spider-man with different characters was coming out. Not now though. It was a great movie and I just may go see it again since my family didn't see it.  They were having too much fun fishing, catching fish 4 or 5 inches long and didn't want to leave.  As soon as I got home and told them how good it was the boy wanted to go. I really enjoyed this movie, it was nice too not to have to worry about any kids at all. This movie was really well done!

Winning!

 Nothing like arrive at work then 20 minutes later winning $130 from a radio station at 10:00 in the morning to make your day great! Especially with someone else dialing away for me because they'd already won!! Thanks Julie and Amanda for helping me win some cash and making my day awesome!

Johnny Appleseed Day

Today I got to go help in Fisher's class for Johnny Appleseed Day. They got to try all different kinds of apples and also slice, peel and core apples to make applesauce. Who knew applesauce was so easy?? I sure didn't, but now I do and just might try it! The kids had a lot of fun with the different things they got to do. I love when I'm able to go see my kids in their classroom.

 I sure love that smile!

 Later the kids found this kitten in our yard. It was so cute I really wanted to keep it if we couldn't find the owners. It loved the kids and our dog Mia. She was so pretty and fun!

 Luckily (I guess) we did find the owner and took her over to them. Skylar did not want to let it go. She loved it and didn't want to share it when other kids wanted a turn holding her. A bittersweet moment.

Maren & Josh's Wedding

Today I made this slide show for my sister Maren and her now husband Josh, their wedding was on Sunday on the Carnival Splendor cruise ship. I think this is pretty good for my first slide show. It was tons of fun too, now I know why Kerby likes to make them so much! Sorry for any blurry pics, I recorded the whole thing so took snapshots of the video. All the real pics are on Maren's camera on the cruise ship, but this works! I think it turned out great! The first minute or two is of them and their daughter Kiani before the wedding and of the flight to California to get on the cruise ship. Lucky them, they're on a 7 day cruise!
Here I'll post some pics too in case you can't get the video to work!
Kiani, the beautiful flower girl!

Dad and Maren, walking down the isle.

First kiss as husband and wife!

 

Maren, you are gorgeous!!!

Cute family!

 With mom and dad.

With Josh's parents, Diane and Tim.

 Maren's friend Tammy, her son Gage and Tammy's mom (sorry Tammy's mom, I don't remember your name now).

 Aunt Annette, our cousin Crystal and Uncle Shawn.

 Matt, Kylee and Brooke.

 Me.

 Father and daughter.

 The yummy food! Lots of seafood!

 First dance.

Time to cut the cake!