The 1st Snowfall of 2009

Cliff had warned me last night that it was either supposed to rain really hard or snow. Well, it decided to snow....A LOT! I would say at least 4 inches. It was funny because I have told Kalena that Christmas will come when it snows. So, if you hadn't guessed it, she came upstairs from down in the basement and was SO ECSTATIC! She just ran up to me and said, "Mom, look it is snowing that means it is Christmas time." I wish I could have gone outside with them once again, but the little one had just woken up and needed to be fed.



So here are a few pictures. It is crazy...Kalena will go outside by herself when it is snowy, but not during the summer. It is like pulling teeth to get her to go outside during the summer. But, as soon as it snows she begs to go outside and tells me to hurry before it melts. Like is will melt, it is too cold out there right now.





Of course, the good little mommy that I am, I couldn't leave them cold. So, I made them some hot cocoa and popcorn and let them watch a movie. They didn't really touch the popcorn, but they sure did drink their cocoa.



Where are the other two in all of this. Well, I didn't get one of Tula'i because he was sleeping soundly in his bed. Lavea'i was playing around.

Halloween 2009!

Every Year for the FHE right before Halloween we carve/paint pumpkins. This year we did it on the Saturday before Halloween because Cliff is usually gone on Monday nights doing school work with a tutor. Plus, the kids were sooo excited to paint this year. They went with me to get the pumpkins and picked their own. Kalena wanted a BIG one this year, but ended up not painting the big one.


I carved the face on her pumpkin because she wanted me to do it. Then she painted.


Maika just wanted to paint. Simple and easy!


Tula'i wanted us to hollow it out, but then just painted. I wasn't going to let the hollowing out go to waste so I painted a spider's web and then carved the spider after the paint dried.


The End results! I think it was a success!!!

Family Home Prayer

It is amazing what little kids pick up! Maika wanted to conduct and this is the second night he did it. I wasn't home, but Cliff got all of it on video. It just reassures that they do learn from a parents example.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY!

It is a little late on the post, but I needed to get it done. I was going to take pictures throughout the day, but forgot the camera for the 1st half. I had him take the day off of work to spend the day just relaxing and enjoying the time.

We started the day off with me waking up and going to the temple. It was a lovely morning at that.

By the time I got home, he had the kids fed. Then he went to his eye exam. While he was there, the kids and I went to get a couple of cards and his favorite candy bar, kitkat. After the store, we met Cliff at the bowling alley and let the kids bowl on one lane while we bowled on the other. It was fun to see the kids bowl and horrible to see myself bowl after being out of practice. Cliff scored 107 and I scored 100 even. Pretty sad day of bowling! Tula'i was the winner with a score of 117. Maika was the one that really enjoyed the bowling. Every night when we say family prayer, Cliff will ask him what he is thankful for...it never fails that his reply is "Umm, I'm thankful for bowling."

After bowling we went out for a late lunch at Wingers. I LOVE their sauce they put on the wings and Cliff loves their wings. He got a free dessert that he shared with all of us. Here is where I gave Cliff his gift from me that he had been hounding me about, but thought he wasn't going to be able to get it until Christmas. When he saw the email with the receipt showing I had bought the new "Call of Duty" game that comes out on Nov. 10, his face had a big smile acrossed it.

Afterwards, all the kids were ready for a nap and so were we. So, that was on our agenda next. Kalena had a fit though because she thought it was time for them to go to the babysitters and on the way home Cliff drove by without dropping them off. So, she freaked and told him that they were going to the babysitters. Cliff didn't know we were going to drop them off, but Kalena told him. This isn't the first secret I have told her to keep from him, but it ends up she tells him cause she is excited about it.

The nap was good and needed for all. When we woke up, we took the kids to the babysitters and then I gave him the option of what he wanted to do...lazer tag or a movie. He surprised me and chose the movie. We hadn't been out on a date for a long time, so I have to thank the lady who watched them so we could go. She is such a good lady who is in Nursery with Maika and just is great with the kids.

After the movie, we came home and sang Happy Birthday and had some real good chocolate cake and vanilla icecream.

Just a Little Bit of Baking

Happy Halloween!

Cake mixes were on sale at a grocery store here for $.79 a piece. I ended up buying 12 for our family or maybe even a little more. But, while I was getting some mixes a lady was waiting for an employee to come and get some spice cake mixes down for pumpkin cookies. Tonite, I finally tried them. They are delicious!

2 spice cake mixes
2/3 cup oil
6 eggs
1/2 cup water
1 big can of Libby's pumpkin
2 bags of milk chocolate chips

mix all ingredients together and bake at 375 F for 10 minutes.


DON'T EAT TOO MANY!!!

My sister, Cajsa, follows a blog titled Conversations with a Cupcake. In it there are lots of recipes posted. Well, Cajsa told me to try the soft pretzels because they were so yummy and easy. I finally did one night when I made stew for dinner. They WERE really YUMMY! and oooooh, so easy to make! I have made them twice in the last week because of it. So, here is the recipe and some pictures or just head to the blog and you will have access too for the many different recipes that you would like.

Soft Pretzels:
1 1/2 cups very warm water
1 Tbsp yeast
1/4 cup sugar
3-4 cups flour
10 cups water
4 Tbsp baking soda
1 egg white
1/4 cup Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 475 F. Mix water, yeast, and sugar and let stand for 2-3 minutes. Add three cups of flour and knead. A little at a time, add up to one more cup of flour until dough is soft, but NOT sticky. Then, take pieces of dough and roll into about 12" pieces or longer and shape into a pretzel. Set aside on lightly floured counter top until all the dough has been shaped. In a big pot, mix 10 cups water and baking soda and bring to a rolling boil. Boil each pretzel for 10 seconds on both sides. Remove and put on greased cookie sheet. Brush egg white on top of pretzels and sprinkle salt on top. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Clothing Fads...

What goes around comes around. I need to do a bit of jean shopping for Kalena and Maika. I told Cliff this and he said "I am sure there is something downstairs." Because we have been blessed in receiving hand-me-downs from my sisters, We haven't had to spend a ton of money on clothes. I told Cliff that I know there aren't anymore clothes downstairs to fit the two of them. But, I went down yesterday and checked just to make sure. Needless to say, Cliff was correct. I found 1 pair of jeans that would fit Kalena. Thanks to my mom, who kept numerous clothes that we had worn when we were younger and gave them to us, I was able to put Kalena in those jeans today. I am surprised they actually fit her. I can't believe 30 years ago, I was wearing these pants and that they have come back in style. I just remember looking at the clothes my mom had put on me and thinking "I will never put my kids in those clothes." Styles go and then always come back. Just like the pegged jeans from early teen years, skinny jeans resemble that style. Although having pegged jeans were never that tight.