{Happy ♥ Day}

{Here We Are to Trick or Treat}

And one of my littlest witch...

{Happy Easter}

{A Lovely Day}

Yes, I'm a little late in posting about our Valentine's Day, but anyway . . . We had lots of  yummy treats. I'm not sure which I enjoyed more, the chocolate covered strawberries or the fudge (you'll find the super easy recipe below). The kids came home with lots of cute Valentine's from their friends and more treats : ) My sweet husband got me roses and a lovely decorative heart letter opener. I got him a new wallet with a picture of his lovely wife tucked inside. I made coupon books for the kids so they could get out of doing a few of their jobs and do a few fun activities with mom. We enjoyed heart waffles with strawberry freezer jam for our candle light dinner. We played a few Valentine games, my personal favorite being our new bingo game. I got the idea and template from  eighteen25 then went to work finding all kinds of pictures showing the love in our family. I changed things up a bit by moving the images into different positions so all our cards were a little different. We used Valentine M&M's for our game pieces. It was a lovely day!

 

Fudge

Put in large bowl:

3 packages chocolate chips (or any other flavor)

1 pint or small jar (7½ oz.) Kraft marshmallow cream

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 sticks of butter (not margarine)

In separate pan:

4½ cups sugar

1 large can evaporated milk

Boil briskly for 7 minutes (do not count until mixture reaches a full rolling boil). Stir constantly or it will scorch. Pour over 
mixture in the bowl, beat thoroughly. Pour into greased pan and chill in refrigerator. Before it is too firm, cut into pieces.

When making chocolate fudge, I use one bag of semi-sweet and two bags of milk chocolate chips. 
Also, I've tried non-Kraft marshmallow cream and it makes a difference.

{Happy ♥ Day}

LOVE TO YOU ALL!

{Merry Christmas}

{HaLLoWeeN 2010}

{Halloween Decor}

I'm not necessarily a big fan of Halloween, but the kids get so excited when I start getting out a few decorations and
it is fun to have something different to enjoy on the mantle. Anyway . . . The "Happy Halloween" banner is new this year.
I designed it digitally using papers from Creatively by Crystal's Spooky Paper Collection. I printed on card stock
then used quarter inch grosgrain ribbon and attached the triangles using good ole Elmer's Glue. I'll send a digital copy
of the project to the first 5 people to leave a comment (include your email if I don't have it).

{4th of July}

We celebrated the 4th a lot on the 3rd and a little on the 4th. Saturday evening we went to an amusement park with some good friends of ours. We got in a few rides, but mostly went for the fireworks show. The kids had such a good time and really enjoyed the fireworks. Emma was so funny, she's got her ears covered in all the pictures : )

Sunday we all took naps after church, played a few games, watched a few slideshows, had a yummy fried chicken dinner and enjoyed brownies for dessert. That night we invited our friends again, we pooled our fireworks from the local stand, and had our own little show. The weather was perfect, the company was wonderful, the fireworks were beautiful.

My littlest "fire cracker." A quick couple of photos taken while the big kids were on a ride.

Ever since I was a little girl, I've loved singing the patriotic hymns at church around the 4th of July. My personal favorite . . . My Country 'Tis of Thee. I'm so very grateful for the beautiful country I live in and for the many freedoms I enjoy every day. I'm thankful for those early patriots who were inspired by God to establish this nation.

My country, 'tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing;

Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrims' pride,

From every mountainside, Let freedom ring!

My native country, thee, Land of the noble free, Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills, Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills, Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze, And ring from all the trees sweet freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake; Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break, The sound prolong.

Our fathers' God to Thee, Author of liberty, To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright, With freedom's holy light,
Protect us by Thy might, Great God our King.

Samuel Francis Smith

{Happy 4th!}

{Father's Day}

We had a fabulous day with the father in our family. Jake is a wonderful husband and father and we couldn't be more blessed. The kids made him some really sweet cards and we got him a lantern, a few fishing lures and a fun outdoor game called ladder ball.

Hannah wrote the following poem in her card . . .
Fathers are important, especially you,
Because they play games with children
And always yell BOO!
Fathers work for our family
And customers,
Because fathers are boys
They don't have good manners.
But a dad is a dad,
And I'm sure glad.

Ben wrote the following in his "fill in the blank" card
My dad's name is Jake. He is 34 years old. He is 60 feet tall and weighs 79 pounds.
My dad has brown hair and blue eyes. He likes to golf and play basketball. He
doesn't like to go shopping. He is so strong he can lift a table. He loves me when
I play soccer. He likes to eat ribs. I love my dad because he's my buddy.

And just for fun . . . one of my dad with his little girl. I love you daddy!

{Happy Easter}

Hope you all enjoyed your Easter weekend. We had beautiful weather and spent a nice amount of time outside. The Easter Bunny made his traditional Saturday morning visit and left behind buckets of berries, garden gloves, spades and pansies for the kids to plant in their club in the woods behind our home. We had a great time planting together later that morning. Later we watched General Conference, colored our Easter eggs and watched more Conference. That evening we grilled chicken and ate outside.

Sunday we had an egg hunt with the eggs we colored along with our Easter story eggs. I think we have used these eggs since Hannah was 2 or 3 and it's been a great activity to help us focus Savior and His Resurrection. We watched more Conference and in between sessions we started a new tradition, an Easter Walk. We finished off the evening with grilled shrimp, fresh pineapple and yummy caramel brownies.

{valentine fun}

1- Hannah with heart pancakes smothered in strawberry jam
2- Delicious treats including heart cheese, heart pb&j, chocolate hearts,
and my personal favorite, chocolate covered strawberries : )
3- Emma assembling her bits of love
4- Ben with his pink pancake
5- Ben and Jake brought home red roses for me
6- Hannah putting the final touches on her Valentine's
7- Yummy breakfast
8- Marshmellow roses for the girls, love dad & Ben
9- Heart dog craft
10- Heart lights garland in the background
11- Love pillow- we started a new tradition this year
12- Emma's Valentine's included heart crayons
13- Putting together the Valentine's
14- Ben putting a kiss on his cute, umm, that would be cool Valentine's
15- Valentine Bingo

{love to you all}

New Year's Hopes

Yesterday I received an email from Time Out for Women with the following idea. I loved it and thought I would share.
.....................................................................................

We're putting away the notion of New Year's Resolutions this year.

Instead, we're bringing out HOPE.
Or, rather, New Year's Hopes.

Some of us have hope for a mended broken heart.
Some of us have hope for more capacity in the one we have.
Some of us have hope for the life growing inside us to be born healthy.
Some of us hope for the chance to mother in any way possible.
Some of us hope for the man of our dreams to come along.
Some of us hope for the strength to support the man of our dreams.
Some of us hope for the will to finally get our bodies in shape.
Some of us hope for one more year with our bodies.
Whatever we hope FOR, those hopes are only possible because of what we hope IN.

As women of God, we hope IN
• the power of the Savior's atonement to change our hearts
• the sanctity of eternal families
• the strength of our covenants
• the reality of eternal life

So, this year, we invite you to write down your HOPES...what you hope FOR. Then write how that hope can be a reality because of what you hope IN.
.....................................................................................

I'm grateful for a fresh new year of hopes.

This was Christmas

It was filled with lots of Sarah snuggles. There's something magical about getting cozy on the couch, enjoying the Christmas tree, feeling the warmth from the fireplace all while holding a sweet new baby.

It was filled with lots of snow. Friday night, after school let out for the Christmas break,l a big storm came through. We literally couldn't go anywhere until Monday. The kids enjoyed the snow for days!! Who ever ordered the white Christmas got their wish : )

It was filled with two days of slippin' and sliddin' and swimmin' at the Great Wolf Lodge. We met up with good friends from Richmond for some 85 degree indoor water park fun.

It was filled with Christmas morning delight, although I don't think Sarah looks to delighted : )

It was filled with lots of fun teasing from the "uncs" and only a little bit of crying produced by the "uncs." My brothers Joe & Jeff came out for the week after Christmas and stayed through New Year's day. Thanks to their help, on a couple of very cold days, the trampoline the kids received was ready to enjoy.

It was filled with the Spirit of the Season as we enjoyed traditions, made memories, and felt the love of the Savior in our home.

Merry Christmas

Happy Halloween

Okay, so I realize I'm a week late getting these posted, but better late than never ; ) This is the first year we've actually done our trick or treating in our own neighborhood. In the past we've lived in areas where there weren't very many kids. So, I stayed home with Sarah to pass out candy and Jake took the kids. We were lucky enough to have Jake's mom and brother here for the weekend so they got to go along. The kids of course had a great time, and here we are a week later and we still have about 20 pieces of candy left. I'm looking forward to it being gone : )

Halloween Decor

Just a peek at a few fun things around our house this time of year. We even found a bit of natural decor around our front porch. I guess after Halloween someone needs to do some cobweb removal : ) The last picture is a mushroom in our front yard.

Fall Treat

I made these the other night for our Family Home Evening treat. Jake wasn't so sure about the pumpkin ice cream, but it's actually pretty good. Especially when it's sandwiched between soft ginger snap cookies : ) You can find the recipe for the cookies here.