Mac & Cheese

Today I hosted the mac & cheese club, and as usual it was a most amusing event. I decided that since it is only a few days until Ellie's birthday I would call today's gathering a "birthday party" & forgo the receipt of any gifts (which is my least favorite part of a birthday party).
It was a very last minute decision, so I just had a "We love Ellie" party and did a Valentine's Day theme.
I made heart shaped quesadillas, red jell-o, strawberries, and of course, mac & cheese. And for dessert I made heart shaped cupcakes that I let the girls frost/decorate.
Well, one of the girls brought a lunch because she said, "I hate macaroni and cheese." I asked her if she liked quesadillas, and she said, "No, but I'll just eat my own lunch. Another girl said that she hated quesadillas, and also claimed not to want any jell-o (or frosting).
Knowing my own girls' propensities, I decided to put a little bit of everything on each of their plates and told them all that they could eat whatever they wanted and leave whatever they didn't want.
Here is the rundown of what they ate:
The one who brought her own lunch ate about 2 bites of her sandwich, 3 helpings of macaroni & cheese and 2 heart quesadillas, a scoop of jell-o and her strawberries.
The girl who claimed to hate everything I offered (other than the mac & cheese) ate 2 scoops of macaroni, 4 quesadilla hearts, a little jell-o and plenty of frosting.

It really made my day to hear the other girls claiming not to like the food I made then eat it up because Sarah has been acting the same way. She will claim to hate something, tell me she won't eat even one bite, then, when coerced to taste it, declares (shocked) that it is delicious and eats the whole thing.

What is it with kiddos and their fear of food? Oh, well! the un-birthday party was fun & now Ellie feels like she got a real birthday party :)

Dream, Dream, Dream

This morning Becca had a spelling test and I had a dream that I was helping her review for the test last night. In my dream, Becca's spelling words were "bath" words. Some of the words included: soap, wash, shampoo, bubble, water, tub, and of course the famous shampoo ingredients: cocamidopropyl betaine and ammonium xylenesulfonate.
Perhaps not shockingly, in my dream, when I saw those words, I just told her to do her best and to not worry about misspelling them.
When I woke up I started laughing at how funny that I would think that Becca would have such words. Then I worried that I was spending WAY too much time reading ingredients on my shampoo bottle.

Heil Hitler!

Tonight I was talking with Greg's sister, Shannon, about the possibility of us surprising our kiddos with a trip to a certain amusement park in southern California. I then gave the hint "Not Sea World." Brigham laughed and said "Nazi World!?"
What do you think? Should we take our children to Nazi World? I think it will make them really appreciate how good they have it :)

Foaming Hand Soap

I love figuring out ways to save money & have a new-found favorite way. For Christmas I received a couple bottles of foaming hand soap, and they are always my favorite, and my kids love them, too. I have learned that they feel like they are getting a lot more "soap" with the foaming soap than they do with regular hand soap, and even though they use it ALL THE TIME (not just after using the potty) it lasts a lot longer than its non-foaming counterpart.
Well, today I found one of the bottles empty, but rather than throwing it away, I looked online and found out that you can use any liquid soap or shampoo in the bottle if you thin it down to 1 part soap 5 parts water. Oh, yeah! I tried it and it works GREAT!
Now, I have a nearly unlimited supply of soap for my girls without having to spend a fortune to keep soap in the bathrooms. How cool is that?!

You Choose

This morning Ellie wanted to wear Becca's black dress coat to school because she was wearing her fancy velvet pants and needed a coat to match (who cares that she spilled oatmeal on her sweater before school even started and refused to change). I told her that she could wear it, but that she needed to be very careful with it because the last time she wore it to school she forgot about it and it was "lost" for almost a month.
Then, when her carpool came, I reminded her that she REALLY needed to turn in her homework and her field trip permission slip or she would not be allowed to go to the museum (I guess I could have waited a little longer on that organize your dinner into categories page).
As she was walking out the door she turned to me and said, "Well, which is it? Do you want me to not lose the coat or turn in my homework? You can only choose one."
I told her that both were important, but that if she didn't want to go to the field trip I guess she didn't need to turn in her permission slip.

Amazingly, she came home with her coat and had turned in her homework!

Top of the Morning!

Wow! It's 8:30 and I feel like I'm about done for the day, but after yesterday's Stake Conference where President Eyring told us of President Monson's positive attitude, I am trying to stay happy even when things get a little chaotic.
Last night at 9:00 (two hours after her bedtime) Becca told me that this week was her special week and that she needed a poster this morning all about her. So, I spent the evening throwing together something that would work (we didn't have any poster board so she got four pieces of construction paper taped together). I asked her what she wanted on the board and then put it together, and it turned out really cute, I must say.
Then, this morning she said. "It looks really good, mom, but you forgot the ballet slippers"...perhaps that is because Becca doesn't take ballet, but she still wanted them. So I cut some out of pink card stock, while she got dressed. When she was dressed I told her to pack her homework, and discovered that she hadn't done it. So, I told her to get started. Of course, this week of all weeks she just couldn't figure out how to do it and needed my help.
This was when Sarah came into the kitchen ornery as a jay bird requesting breakfast immediately. I don't like to give in to my children's demands; however, I also know that if Sarah doesn't have a pleasant morning she (and therefore I) will not have a pleasant day.
Then, as I was putting Ellie's homework back in her backpack (she was supposed to turn it in on Friday, but she forgot) I realized that it was actually probably better that she didn't turn it in because she, too, had forgotten a page from her homework.
It was very humorous, I'm sure, to see me telling Sarah that we didn't have any brown sugar for her oatmeal upstairs, and asking her if she would like white sugar and cinnamon instead, counting by 3's for Becca, and telling Ellie to categorize her dinner from the other night into circles and not circles reminding her that the peas, carrots, rolls (and as she reminded me--the plate) were all circles, and that the manicotti, sauce, and broccoli (we didn't actually have broccoli, but she wanted to include it) were "not circles."
Really it is my fault...when the alarm went off this morning I was having the greatest dream and refused to get out of bed on time, so by the time I realized how much I needed to get done, it was way too late to do it all.
Somehow, however, I even managed to get the girls' hair done, pull their coats out of the car (where they left them last night) and get them bundled up before they left. On the other hand, Becca will definitely be having school lunch today.

Rachel Rises to Become Terror Toddler!

Oh, yes...I predicted this day. After getting the girls off to school I put Rachel and Sarah on my bed and turned on the TV so that I could get a quick shower. I am well aware that Rachel's attention span for television does not exceed ten minutes, so I hustled. Sadly, I was not quick enough. By the time I got out, Rachel was COVERED in lipstick that she had pulled from my purse, which she had pulled from my dresser. She looked lovely, and laughed herself silly when she saw her reflection in the mirror on the way to the tub. (She cleverly hid most of the lipstick that is on her pajamas by covering it up with her right arm)


Well, I thought that I had cleaned everything up (except for myself--I needed another shower, but refused to take the risk & just wiped myself off with toilet paper) and didn't think much of it until I picked up Ellie. She received a coupon for a free mini pizza at school and asked if we could redeem it today. I told her that would be fine & headed off to get some cheap lunch. Well, I went to pay for the rest of the pizza and was asked for ID--alas, my Driver's License was missing. I searched through my cards (all stuck together with the remains of my lipstick) but to no avail. I am now on my bed (Rachel has gone down for a nap) and I can't find my license anywhere. Grrrr. Hmmm, hopefully it will turn up (perhaps it is just stuck to one of the other cards & I just couldn't see it).

It is a good thing little kiddos are so cute, because otherwise I don't think my offspring would make it some days. Fortunately, all I have to do is peek in at my little napper to make me forget the rest of the morning!

Happy New Year...

If my last post seemed a little disjointed and incomplete that is because it was. I tried to embed some videos of the girls on Christmas morning and my computer wasn't cooperating (it kept timing out before the upload was complete). So, I decided that I would just post what I had already written and come back later. So the short version of what I was going to say in the last post is:
The girls had a great Christmas. If you enlarge the picture of Becca you will see that she is holding a toy dog collar. That was a last minute creation by the elves because on Christmas Eve Becca was walking up the stairs and asked me "Mom, do you think I have been a good girl this year?"
I told her that she had been great--especially recently because she had been so nice to her sisters and had helped me around the house without being asked.
She asked "Do you think I've been good enough that I might get something extra in my stocking?"
Again I said that she probably would..
"Oh, Good! I really hope that I get something for my stuffed dog because I LOVE my puppy!"

So, one of Santa's elves decided to create a dog collar from ribbon, twist ties, paper and hot glue. All in all it turned out pretty well & a well-behaved little girl was pleasantly surprised Christmas morning.

The other "last minute elf project" was REALLY last minute. Ellie requested a makeup cell phone and a pretend cell phone that works. She also requested the phone be "Hello Kitty" in nature.
Well, I found Hello Kitty walkie-talkies and a cheapo lip gloss phone and thought I was taken care of, but Christmas morning Ellie seemed a little bummed and when I asked why she told me that she wanted her MAKEUP phone to be Hello Kitty. . . oops, Santa!
So, I took the makeup phone to the local elf who printed a Hello Kitty sticker from the Internet, cut it out & glued it on the back of the phone (fortunately the front of the phone was transparent other than the silver buttons), and amazingly, when Ellie picked up the makeup phone she turned it over and lo and behold, it WAS a Hello Kitty phone!

It's nice to be able to have such easy fixes!

Well, on to the new year. For New Year's Eve we went to Greg's parent's house to welcome the new year in with COUSINS! However, the girls got burned out by about 9:30 so we decided to take them home. We got home just before 10:00 and thought the girls would like to watch the ball drop live in New York, so we piled them on our bed to watch the East Coast welcome in 2009. After the ball dropped I told the girls it was time for bed, and they looked at me like I was nuts--"Dad said we could watch the ball show!"
I told them that all those people out on the street hugging was the ball show and it was over. This was a bad idea--I have never seen my kids look so dejected. That was it?!
Sarah went to bed bawling that it was the shortest/worst movie ever and my other girls just looked at me like I was nuts to get so excited about something so simple as that.
Once the girls were down, Greg put on a movie to keep us awake until midnight, but it didn't work too well. I fell asleep, and woke up at 12:15 to go to the bathroom. When I looked at the clock my response was, "Oh..Happy New Year" before climbing back into bed.
Yep, we really are PARTY ANIMALS!

Happy Holidays!

Since I took a brief hiatus during the holidays, I thought I would go back and fill in some fun Christmas memories.
First, I have to tell a story about Becca. I bought some really cute wrapping paper for Christmas. It was red paper with the words "NO PEEKING!" in various fonts and sizes. Well, Becca found the paper and called me over laughing her head off.
"Mom, look! This says 'king' right?" (pointing to the end of peeking)
"Yep."
"Look at the whole thing, Mom--it says NO PEE--KING!"

She was very confused as to why I would buy paper that said pee-king everywhere.

When Fables Fail

This post has nothing to do with a jolly old elf who will be stopping by our house tonight. No, it's about another fairy who frequents our home.
Maurice the Midnight Hairdresser has become a regular at our house. He is the elf who is responsible for bedhead hair, and it is he who, if you leave gum in your mouth while you're sleeping, will ensure that it ends up in your hair.
We have regularly warned our children against sleeping with gum using Maurice as the reason why you shouldn't. In fact, after stepping in gum a while back, I officially banned gum from our house.
Well, one of Ellie's friends just brought a little gift for Ellie, and attached to the gift was a package of gum.
I very nearly took the gum off the present before anyone saw it, but decided that it was Christmas, and that I should go easy on the kiddos. I diligently warned them that if I saw the gum outside of their mouths I would confiscate it, but apparently my warning went unheeded.
I just discovered Sarah with a HUGE wad of gum stuck--nay, SMASHED on top of her head.
I asked her what on earth she was thinking and she replied "I was just trying to figure out what Clarice (aka Maurice) does when she (he) put gum in your hair at night."
All I can say is thank heaven for peanut butter. It is not the first time it has prevented a most unseemly haircut (and we get plenty of those around here without me wielding the scissors). Today's adventure took about two tablespoons of Jif creamy peanut butter, and although I wouldn't say it was taken care of in a "Jiff," I will say the end result was much better than pulling out the scissors.
So, for anyone who tells tales to their children in hopes of teaching a moral, I would like to remind you that there is always a chance that it will backfire, so be sure to have your peanut butter on hand!

Our "Christmas Card"

Here is my blog equivalent of a Christmas Letter including the highlights of our lives:
Greg-just found all of his Gameboy DS games--they were in the pocket of his fleece sweatshirt. YEAH Greg!
Heather-is very proud of herself for actually doing any kind of "Christmas Card" since there hasn't been one sent out since Becca's first Christmas.
Becca-has a loose tooth.
Ellie-loves tromping through the snow (unless she is wearing a skirt, in which case she has figured out that if she gets a "reminder" at school she doesn't have to go outside for recess...We have had a talk about that).
Sarah-is growing by leaps and bounds...I'm pretty sure she outweighs Becca and Ellie now.
Rachel-is very naughty (but SO CUTE). Not only does she continue to disobey my orders to "stay little" she has officially entered the "troublesome toddler" stage...Look forward to "Ellie-esque" blog posts about this little angel in the near future.

So there you have it--the shortest Christmas letter ever (but since this blog has more info. about our daily lives than anyone would care to read I'm pretty sure it's enough!)

Happy Holidays!

My Potty Mouth

Today we celebrated Grandma Lavern's birthday. In keeping with tradition, we all went to her house for cake and goodies and to spend some quality time with the cousins. It was great until it came time to clean up the basement, which was a bit of a disaster by the time we got around to cleaning up. Fortunately the room was full of parents helping to clean the room, because my girls were tired and not being very cooperative with the cleaning efforts. Sarah grabbed a truck & dominoes Deanne was trying to clean up, and would NOT let go, then Becca refused to clean up another set of dominoes she was using to build a chain.
I told Becca it was time to clean up and she replied "Just a sec."
My response to her: "No, Becca. No Secs." Somehow it didn't sound the same way spoken aloud as it did in my head, and as you may recall the room was full of parents who were helping to clean. I now know why you should think before you speak.

Christmas Tea Party

Today we had a Christmas Tea Party for the Macaroni and Cheese club. The kids were so funny. I had set the table with fancy Christmas dishes and made cheese and crackers, apple slices, dino-nuggets, and green punch, but the girls all insisted that we have macaroni and cheese, too because they were after all the macaroni and cheese club. I couldn't refuse, so they got their wish. I have to say that today's party was the funniest tea party I have ever attended. The girls sat around the fancy table complete with lighted candles, and they would try to act like princesses. They would put their pinkies out as they drank their "holiday tea" and dab their faces with the napkins one minute, then they would have dinosaur wars with their chicken nuggets and scream "Ahh! My dinosaur lost its head!"" the next. Then they would be right back to acting like little angels. It was quite entertaining.
Following the luncheon, we made gingerbread houses out of graham crackers. I put icing in a bag for each of the girls, but they all just wanted the entire house covered with frosting in order to facilitate decorating. Let me tell you, I wish I had taken pictures because there were some great houses.
We also made ornaments, read Christmas stories, played "Pin the nose on the reindeer" and watched a little bit of the Nutcracker movie. I think the girls had a good time, but I'm sure I had more fun watching them than they did participating in the events.

Santa?!

Saturday was our ward Christmas party. Santa and Mrs. Claus came and the girls all sat on his lap. Rachel was a little nervous, but held out for the candy cane and picture.
When we got home, I asked the girls if they liked sitting on Santa's lap. Ellie responded, "Sure, I guess, but it wasn't the real Santa."
Becca on the other hand was convinced that he was "the real thing."
When the other girls had left, I asked Ellie why she thought that the Santa at the party wasn't real. "Well, he didn't know everyone's name, his beard wasn't real, and he just put on those clothes."
I asked her if she had ever met the real Santa and she said, "no."
I asked her about the Santa at the grocery store last year who had a real beard and knew her name.
"Nope, he wasn't real either."
I asked her why.
"I could just tell."
So, how much longer is she going to believe? I have a feeling she will find out before Becca (who heard some kids on the bus discussing the fact that Santa was fake & she said that she hoped Santa would still give them presents even though they didn't believe in him).

When Christmas Comes Early

Today could have been December 25th and my kids couldn't have been happier. Monday we finally had a decent snow storm and so I went outside with the girls to build a snowman and go sledding down the hill in our yard (a very small hill for Sarah's sake). Then, today, Grandpa W. took all of the girls to Dollar Tree and let them each choose about 10 items for their Christmas present...not only that, but he let them keep/open them all today. Oh, yes, it was like the big day came early.
We got home from our shopping trip a little before 5:00, and I literally couldn't get dinner started until after 7:00 because the girls were so excited about their new gifts (and I felt the need to supervise most of the activities).
So, what did the girls get, you might ask...well, here is a list of the highlights:

• Bubbles
• Puzzles
• Magic Tricks
• Paintable Sun-Catchers
• Candy (chocolate Santas, Pixie Stix Candy Canes, ornaments filled with chocolates, Bobble Head Santa & Reindeer attached to jars of bubble gum, Pez dispensers & candy etc.)
• Silly Putty
• Stress Relief Dogs that looked like they had swallowed bones--yep, that was a highlight
• Stamp Pads and Stamps that looked like makeup
• Lip Gloss and other Makeup
• Dress up accessories (shoes, earrings, tiaras, etc.)

And, had they not been vetoed and discretely put back on the shelf . . . an inscribed shot glass and pink whistle attached to a hot pink necklace saying "Bachelorette loose" and a red velour heart-shaped pillow with some serious fringe around the edges.
Oh man did my girls ever have some fun today!

Happy Sinterklaas Day

I have no (or very little) Dutch blood; however, I like to claim a Dutch heritage. My great-great grandpa served missions in Holland, and my great grandma lived there as a little girl because of it. Every year growing up I received a chocolate "H" from my great grandma, Mimi, and I loved it. So now that Mimi is gone I have decided it is a tradition that I don't want to let go.
For the past few years I have set out a pair of wooden shoes my uncle, Richard, brought back from his mission to Holland for me on Sinterklass Day (December 5th). I let the girls put hay and carrots in the shoes and then replace them with homemade chocolate letters as a gift from St. Nicholas.
Then, I read a story I received from another set of great grandparents about "me" when I was younger and got to visit all the people who help Santa (St. Nicholas, Father Christmas, Babouscka etc.).
I was reading the story and telling the girls about Sinterklaas, who is also known as St. Nicholas, when Sarah looked at the picture and said, "That can't be St. Necklace. Look he isn't even wearing a Necklace!"
I now know what is missing from Santa's costume!

Stop and Smell the Roses

Oh, if I only could. If anyone remembers my post, even before I was writing things I was thankful for, about being grateful for the ability to smell, I have now been without that ability for two weeks. I am also tasting very little and I must say it has been a very odd sensation. I decided to test my inability by chomping on a green onion and a piece of cilantro. The cilantro could have been lettuce as far as I could tell, and the green onion was very odd to eat because I could feel the slight burning that comes from onions, but I could neither smell nor taste anything "oniony."
Taking care of Rachel's dirty diapers has been an interesting experience as well. She has learned a new word "poopy" which is good, because otherwise I wouldn't ever think to changer her--I really can't smell ANYTHING! I even put the Vick's right up to my nose and couldn't smell a thing.
Bizarre!
It has made the actual changing of the pants a lot easier though! I just have to apologize in advance if I get sidetracked and don't take out a dirty diaper, or don't flush the toilet after my sometimes forgetful children, because I have always relied on my nose to remind me to do said jobs.
So for everyone with a working schnoz out there, remember to enjoy the smells...and tastes...around you!

Squish Squash

My kids have an unnatural love of gourds. It doesn't matter what kind I get, they love to eat squash. When they see squash in the grocery store they beg me to buy it. The other day, Ellie saw some spaghetti squash, and thinking it was "Yoshi fruit" (anyone who has played Mario will understand) begged me to buy it.
Now, how can a mother say no to a child begging her to buy squash? So, I bought it and just pulled it out of the oven. I put a little butter, salt and pepper on it, and went in the other room for a minute. When I came back, all four of my girls had their hand in the cookie jar...or should I say squash bowl. Rachel was eating the stuff two-fisted, Ellie had filled up a plastic cup with squash and was eating it like popcorn in front of the TV, and Becca and Sarah were chasing each other around the kitchen taking "squash breaks" to nibble a little from the bowl each time around.
Greg on the other hand is not much of a squash fan, so I don't buy it much, and we usually only eat it when he is out of town or as an after school snack.
Call me crazy, but it cracks me up that one of my kids' favorite after school snacks is squash (winter squash and spaghetti are their favorites though).

Surprise!

Welcome December! I am unbelievably excited for the Christmas season. I love it! We have had such a wonderful fall that I can't be anything but happy to look forward to a new season....as long as winter doesn't bring a terrible inversion come January, anyway.
I am not one to leave buying Christmas presents to the last minute, so I am always wondering what to get Greg--he is a little bit like his father that if he wants something he will get it, and I often have to put anything released around Thanksgiving off-limits until after Christmas. But, even if I do come up with something, it is even harder to surprise him because I have to tell him-don't get that game or you will have two come Christmas.
Anyway, this year I came up with the perfect gift. We have a projector in our basement, and Greg eventually wants to move it over to our unfinished section, turning it into a full theater. However, even in the meantime, Greg has often looked longingly at the movie-theater style popcorn poppers, and has said many times that he would like one.
Well, I found one at Costco that fits on the counter top, and thought it would make a great Christmas present.
I ordered it online, the bill came to my email address, and I knew I had come up with a surprise that was sure to delight and would not be discovered.
However, in that I was mistaken.
The other day, the UPS man came to the door when Greg happened to be home, and the girls answered the door. I could hear them shouting from up in my bedroom "A POPCORN MAKER! A POPCORN MAKER!"
Yes, the popcorn popper was not only delivered when Greg was here, it also has a HUGE sticker on the outside of the plain brown box depicting its contents.
Well, as Greg put it, he was certainly surprised . . . just not on the day I was hoping he would be!

Google & My Girls

I had planned on only writing about my girls today, on this day of thanks, but upon entering Google, I knew that I had to write about my favorite search engine, too.
I love all of the artwork they put on Google--my favorite probably being the Olympic Rings that they had during the summer games. But as I saw today's festive Thanksgiving day decor, it brought a smile to my face.

OK, now on to the real post...Today I am thankful for my girls. Last night, Rachel proved that she was truly my daughter. She brought me a blanket and begged me to "bundle" "bundle" her up. Then, she found a book and begged me to read it. Yep, bundled up in a blankie with a good book...um they might all look like Greg, but that is MY girl!

Then, this morning, Sarah asked me to help her get dressed. I told her that I would as soon as I put in my contacts. She said, "Mom, you can see me without your contacts, right?"
I told her I could, and she said, "But you can see me even better with them in?"
Again I said yes.
"Wow, Mom...You are AMAZING!"

Yes, I love to be told I'm amazing, and if I can be amazing just from putting in my contacts, maybe I'll wait a few more years before I get my eyes fixed!