The Matthews Family

Oreo

2012-01-24T10:13:00.000-08:00

We finally broke down and consented to let the kids have a cat. I thought it would be a nuisance, but we all have loved our new family member! She is a grey and white cat, which makes it funny to me that they decided to name her Oreo (oreos are BLACK and white). But at least they all finally agreed on something!
She likes to look out the windows. Poor thing spends half of the day meowing, begging me to let her go outside!
I swear she thinks Hadley is her kitten. Whenever Haddie lays on her bed this is where Oreo goes. She licks her head and runs her paws through her hair like she's grooming Haddie. It's the craziest thing! And Haddie just lies there and loves every minute of it!
This was cat watching over her "kitten" when Haddie had her recent bout with a stomach bug. Oreo did the same thing for Julia--laid above her head on the bed the whole time Julia was sick. Sweet cat!

SANTA!

2012-01-24T10:09:00.000-08:00

Santa brought the boys an xbox 360.
He brought Haddie bunk beds for her new baby dolls.
He brought the girls a volleyball net and each a new volleyball.
Of course, mommy and daddy didn't get as much cool stuff. I guess we weren't as good as the kids were this year. We'll have to work harder in 2012!

Christmas morning

2012-01-24T10:07:00.000-08:00

I created a new decoration for our banister this year. I think it's super cute! Julia added the little blue bow around the knob. It didn't really match, but I always love her help!
It's amazing to have a Christmas tree stay intact for the entire season. A definite sign that our kiddos are growing up!
Here's the crew waiting in anticipation to come down the stairs and see what Santa brought!

One of Hadley's Christmas presents

2012-01-24T10:05:00.000-08:00

I just have to post this because I LOVE the way it turned out. I found a youtube video on how to make a barbie bed out of a cereal box, pencils and some decorated duct tape! It was one of her favorite presents!

Thanksgiving and Ryan's #12!!!

2012-01-24T10:03:00.000-08:00

Grandma and Grandpa Matthews flew all the way from Los Angeles to spend Thanksgiving with us and be here when Ryan was ordained to the Aaronic Preisthood. Kind of cool because Ryan's birthday was on Sunday. He got to be ordained on his actual birthday! Uncle Todd, Aunt La-La and cousins spent a lot of time with us too! We LOVED every minute of it!!
Ryan turned 12! I can't believe it! We have a son in Young Men, passing the sacrament and doing awesome things in school, church and at home! We are so proud of you and the choices you are making and the young man you are becoming!

Group birthday present

2012-01-24T10:01:00.000-08:00

Uncle Todd and Auntie La-La bought all of my kids the game of Life for their group birthday present! We LOVE it SO much. We've already ruined the box because we play it all the time and it gets hauled all around the house! Thanks!

#4 for Hadley

2012-01-24T09:58:00.000-08:00

After Ben, we get to celebrate Haddie's birthday! She turned four years old. We had an awesome party for families. We invited four families over and had brownies, ice cream and lots of fun!
Happy 4th birthday to our DUDE! I know she's a girl, but she is definitely a dude. She knows what she wants and has a way of getting it. She has a little attitude that cannot be overlooked. You certainly make everyday an adventure girl-y!

#7 for Ben

2012-01-24T09:56:00.000-08:00

Ben turned 7 years old and we had a few friends over to celebrate! It was a lot of fun.
He loved his chocolate angry birds cupcakes. He got a lot of fun presents too and some money from both sets of grandparents! Happy birthday to my beautiful "son"shine! You really do make every day a better day!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T18:12:00.000-07:00

Here they are: ninja, pirate, greek goddess, cleopatra and mermaid!
Hadley and her "best friend" Lucy both ended up as mermaids this year and spent the entire trunk or treat together. The little skeleton in the background is one of my "babies" from nursery!
This is Ben and one of his good friends from our ward. Couldn't even wait 30 seconds to get some of the delicious candy into their mouths. And that folks, is all she wrote!

Back to school 2011

2011-08-23T09:39:00.000-07:00

The fabulous four ready for their first day of school! I was awaiting this day all summer long, and then I was taken by suprise. I got a little teary eyed thinking of how big they all are, how much I love them, and how much I'll miss them while they are gone! I love all of you!
My big 5th and 6th grader off to the intermediate school!
My 3rd and 1st grader ready to hit the halls of the elementary school once again!
The little one left home all alone with only mom for company. She's already bored out of her mind and we're on day #2. Preschool cannot start soon enough! I just have to add here the name of this baby doll...Great Big Baby. The originality kills me every time I think of her name!

Emily's baptism

2011-06-29T09:15:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful day! Emily was baptized and looked beautiful in the dress that I made for her (well, Grandma Oliver helped me get all of the ruffles just right! Thanks Grandma!)
A quick picture of the fam!

Visitors

2011-06-29T09:12:00.000-07:00

We had visitors in June for Emily's baptism. Grandma and Grandpa Oliver came, but so did Uncle Derek, Aunt Cristina and our two wonderful cousins! We had SO much fun together! We were sad to see everyone go. Thanks for making the trip out!
Jude and Haddie looking at the gorillas at the Ft. Worth Zoo.

End of the year teacher gifts

2011-06-29T09:08:00.000-07:00

I wanted to do something special for my kids teachers since they all did such an awesome job! I finally stumbled upon the idea of making them luch bags. I think they turned out super cute and they are currently my absolute favorite project to make. I love all the different color combinations and how useful they are!
They have a drink pouch on the back for a water bottle...
and a pocket inside for a ice pack. I am in love! I only wish I had an excuse to make myself one, but seeing as how I most often eat my lunch at home, I can't justify it :(

Congratulations Brent and fam!

2011-06-29T09:04:00.000-07:00

Scott's brother Brent graduated from law school in May. What a fantastic achievement. We wanted to support him on his big day, so Scott and I flew out to San Diego to be in attendance. After a frustrating day of flying trying to get around massive walls of storms, Scott and I finally made it and were very glad that we did. Congratulations Brent! We are very proud of you! And we know your family was also a big part in your great achievement!

Falcon Voices Competition at NRH2O

2011-06-29T09:02:00.000-07:00

Julia's 4th grade honor choir "Falcon Voices" had the opportunity to compete at a competition at the local water park NRH2O. They received a superior rating, and had tons of fun playing in the water for the rest of the day! Great job guys :)

The bunny cake

2011-04-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

I made this bunny cake. I saw it done on good morning Texas and decided I'd try it. While it's as cute as a button, it didn't taste the greatest. The recipe said to poke holes in the cooled cake, mix a can of sweetened condensed milk with a can of cream of coconut and pour it over the top. I didn't like how it tasted. Oh, well, I guess you can always try something once.

Easter bunny goodies

2011-04-25T11:31:00.000-07:00

The Easter Bunny wanted to have a religious theme for the kids presents. Our Stake Presidency and the General Authorities have been telling us for awhile that every child should have a picture of Christ and a picture of the temple in their bedroom. So, the Easter bunny thought he'd help out.

Here's a close-up of Julia's. I plan to tack the pictures on the bottom with decorative tacks before I hang them up.
Scott and I got temple recommend holders, a picture of the quorum of the twelve, and a picture of the latter-day prophets in the temple.

A fabulous visit

2011-04-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

My Grandma and Grandpa Kohler came down on a trip with friends and stopped to spend several days with us over conference weekend. We loved every minute of it!!!
All of us together.
Me, Haddie and the bunny I knitted for her :)

More birthday gifts

2011-04-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

The Dragon for my sisters new stepson.

The Llama for Robby.
The Baby Pterosaur for Drew.

Lyvia's pony

2011-02-28T13:08:00.000-08:00

I made this pretty pony for my niece Lyvia's birthday. I hope she loves it and I hope she has a very happy birthday!

Recent craftiness

2011-02-26T12:42:00.000-08:00

I don't know what possessed me, but I decided around my birthday that I wanted to make a gift for everyone in my and Scott's immediate families. Siblings, spouses, parents, grandparents and nieces and nephews. I love all of them so much and want them to have something special that they can look at and remember how much I love them. I made a calendar and put everyone's birthday in order. 51 presents total! Yikes! I knew that June was a busy month--13 birthdays, but I had no idea that March was so crazy--11 birthdays. So, I have been turning out projects like a crazy person. I made this tie for my sister's husband Ryan.
This tie for my nephew Oliver.
This church bag for my sister-in-law Natalie.
And this outfit for my cute little Haddles. It wasn't her birthday, I had just already purchased the pattern and all the material and wanted to get it done before the winter was completely over and she was too much bigger. The picture doesn't do it justice either, she looks simply delicious in her little outfit!

Hadley's revenge

2011-02-26T12:38:00.000-08:00

For some reason, Hadley was just really fiesty. Ben and Ryan walked in on her alone playing time and she decided that she didn't like that. She totally started taking them down! She was pushing them all around and pretty much kicking their butts in a wrestling match. They weren't really trying very hard to win, because they thought it was hillarious!

Moving day

2011-02-26T12:36:00.000-08:00

Sadly, in January, Hadley's best friend Halle and her family moved away. Hadley doesn't look sad at all in the pictures because she thought we were just going over to visit Halle. No matter how many times I told her that this was probably the last time she'd see Halle, she just couldn't fathom the idea. She still can't. She'll say to me, "I want to go to Halle's." And all the explaining in the world can't convince her that we can't go to Halle's anymore :(

Big messes

2011-02-26T12:33:00.000-08:00

I came into the music room after Hadley and Ben had been suspiciously quiet for quite some time. When I walked in this is what I saw and Haddie immediately, and happily announced, "Look momma! I made a lot!"

Christmas fun

2011-01-12T18:18:00.000-08:00

Julia is always good for raising the excitement level. She enjoys things so thoroughly and in such a big way. It's fun to be around her when your celebrating because her enthusiasm is contagious!
Checking out the goods!
The 3 year old gingerbread kit that I finally broke out and let them decorate! It turned out pretty cute this year, or I guess technically it was last year :)

Christmas PJ's

2011-01-12T18:16:00.000-08:00

Don't we all look fabulous in our Christmas PJ's. It's a long-standing Christmas tradition at our house.

Here are the four oldest waiting to be allowed downstairs to see what Santa brought.
Haddie wasn't quite done sleeping. We let her continue to sleep while the other kids discovered their goodies from Santa.

A baby cocoon

2011-01-12T18:14:00.000-08:00

I crocheted this baby cocoon and I thought it turned out pretty cute. I actually came up with the pattern all on my own! One of the sweet sisters in our ward let me use her beautiful little girl as a model. I was trying to figure out the pattern for my brother Derek and his wife Cristina's new little girl. So, Cristina, do you want one and a hat to go and get Alice's pictures taken in? If so, do you want the same color, or one with different shades of light purple? Please let me know :)

Falcon Voices Christmas Concert

2011-01-12T18:11:00.000-08:00

Julia auditioned this year for the 4th grade honor choir and made it! This was their Christmas concert.
Here's Jules with Libby and Garrett, they call theirselves the three musketeers.

Ben's afghan

2011-01-01T06:00:00.000-08:00

Knowing that we have three kids with birthdays in November, I wanted to get a jump on their afghans. I started Ben's in August. And right away I could tell that this afghan was going to be a doozie! I set it aside for a couple months because I was SO frustrated with how slowly it was working up. AAAHHHH!! You have to change colors almost every row. And it has a row of popcorn stitches and then a row of single crochet. Each of those two rows took me 18 minutes to complete. There ended up being 24 blocks of red-blue with 11 rows in each block.
Anyway, I finally finished it yesterday and did some calculations. This afghan took me 72 hours of actual crochet time to complete. It cost me $52 dollars for the 15 skeins of yarn that I used. And I ended up using almost 4,000 yards of yarn. But it is a thick and snuggly afghan and Ben loves it! I also made it extra long because my guess is that Ben will end up around 6'5" and I wanted him to be able to use it for years and years to come!

Afghans

2011-01-01T05:53:00.000-08:00

Here is the afghan I made for Julia for her birthday.
I made this one for Emma for her birthday. She specified the colors and...
wanted it to have arms so that it was like a snuggly that are so popular right now.

Modest Barbie Quest

2010-12-07T06:16:00.000-08:00

I finished a few more outfits for my modest barbie quest. I thought they turned out alright. I especially liked the jeans I made and the blue sweater I knitted. I'm considering adding a long ribbed collar to the sweater. Part of me thinks that would be SO cute and part of me thinks that's entirely too much work to waste on Barbie. What do y'all think?

Christmas Stockings revisited

2010-12-07T06:13:00.000-08:00

Well last year, I had this great idea to make everyone stockings because I haven't been able to find ones that I really like, or that I think fit the personalities of the people in our family. I only got three done. Yesterday I finished three more. Now we're just waiting for Scott's LA Lakers fabric to arrive so I can make the last one!

My first Barbie outfit

2010-12-02T09:56:00.000-08:00

I found this fabulous website that has free knitting patterns for barbie clothes. This is the first one I have completed, and I thought it turned out rather well.
Hadley has discovered the glories of playing with Barbies. Especially changing their outfits. The clothes that Barbie's come with are so shabbily made (they fall apart quickly) and so immodest that I am on a quest to stock our girls up with sturdy, modest choices for adorning their Barbies.

Ryan's Birthday

2010-12-02T09:53:00.000-08:00

On Saturday it was Ryan's birthday. So, we had a little party for him and some cake at my mom and dad's house with my brothers and sisters, and their spouses and kids. Now that I think about it, my sister Marie and her family needed a break and were swimming at their hotel.
I don't know how, with 23 people celebrating I only managed to get four in the picture. Too silly!
Ryan ended up with five girlfriends, I always knew he'd be popular with the ladies, LOL!

After dinner

2010-12-02T09:50:00.000-08:00

The Hurst's took a post-Thanksgiving dinner nap.
Scott and Angie's husband Brian got into a deep, hour long discussion about life in general.
Some of the Brad Kohler's talking to my brother Jeff.
My mom and two of her sisters, Cathie and Amy, snuck away from everyone to have their conversation. Whatever could they be talking about so seriously?

Thanksgiving dinner

2010-12-02T09:46:00.000-08:00

We actually ate our Thanksgiving dinner on Friday instead of Thursday. It was my mom's entire extended family (with the exception of three of my cousins who spent the holiday with other parents). That made 68 people in all! It was a lot of people, a lot of food and a lot of fun. My brother Jeff spent a few hours on the phone listening to a class he is taking to pass a financial test.
Julia, once again the cousin with all the "good ideas" got everybody involved in an extensive leaf game that evolved through the hour. At first it was gathering armfuls and throwing them up. Then it turned into building a mound of leaves. Last, cousins all took turns being buried in the leaves.
A lot of cousins came inside from these fabulous games with runny noses and itchy rashes. But at least they had fun :)
More arrivals at the club house in my Grandma and Grandpa's HOA.

More Thanksgiving fun!

2010-12-02T09:42:00.000-08:00

Emma did such a good job taking care of her new cousin Alice. Whenever I could manage to get her away from whoever was holding her, Emma would beg for a turn to hold her sweet cousin!
Julia, always the cousin with the "good ideas" started this rousing indoor ball game. At least no one got hurt, right?
Dad, Mom, my brother Derek and my sister's little boy Kael fill this small kitchen up to the brim!
My parents have attached three swings (securely of course) to the banister upstairs that overlooks the living room. We finally gave into the pleas and got them down. Let the madness begin! We only had one casualty. Little Dexter walked right in front of a swing and got mowed over. But he was okay, just a little stunned.

Thanksgiving fun!

2010-12-02T09:38:00.000-08:00

My brother's little boy Jude decided he really liked Ryan...
and then he decided he really liked Julia...
and then it was back to Grandma who he knows and loves. Notice that Grandma is also holding his new sister Alice!
Cousins were taking a break watching Backyardigans for some down-time!

Happy Birthday Ben!

2010-11-10T06:14:00.000-08:00

A delicious waffle and bacon birthday dinner!

Blowing out the candles. He did have one left. Every boy needs at least one girlfriend, right?

Opening presents

2010-11-10T06:12:00.000-08:00

soccer cake

2010-11-10T06:11:00.000-08:00

Here's the cake I made for Ben's birthday. Once again, it looked much, much better in my mind! I ran out of time, and black icing. I wasn't sure if my piano students were coming, and then they did, leaving me like 15 minutes to decorate. Oh, well, Ben liked it and that's all that matters, right?

A mound of presents.
A specially decorated table.

Candy Shops

2010-11-01T09:29:00.000-07:00

This is what cracks me up about my kids and Halloween. So, they've been trunk-or-treating and most years we take them trick-or-treating too (we didn't this year because everyone around here were trick-or-treating on Sunday and we figured they had enough candy from the trunk-or-treat Saturday night). They have a bag full of candy and what do they do? They each maticulously set up a "candy shop". They organize everything carefully. They have regular priced candy and then the "expensive pile". You can trade a regular for a regular of course, but if you want something from the expensive pile you better be prepared to trade three of your regular for one expensive, or, of course, you can trade an expensive for an expensive. They crack me up. "When is someone going to come to my store?" "I have the best candy shop in town." "Skittles, going once, going twice, sold!" What a group of silly billies. I guess they can't help it, I am their mother after all! Hadley lost interest in Trunk-or-Treating half way through and started in on her candy. She would suck on a sucker for fifteen seconds and then hand it to me and say, "I'm doned," and start in on the next sucker. By the time we got home she was done with candy and had not watched a Barbie movie for two whole hours. She went straight to the computer to get her Barbie fix. Her little face is sunburned from three hours of soccer games in the middle of the day and a mom who was too sick to think about sunscreen. Ooops!

Halloween 2010 cont.

2010-11-01T09:24:00.000-07:00

Hadley was so excited about the whole prospect of Trunk-or-Treating that I couldn't get her to be still for her picture. Oh, well, she looks cute anyway!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-01T09:22:00.000-07:00

Here they are, our little trunk or treaters. Julia devised her own costume, a secret service agent. Emma decided to be the pioneer girl I had made for Julia last year. Hadley was enamored with the idea of being a "kitty", even though it's a jaguar costume my mom made for my brother Derek years ago. It has been worn and loved by many a child! Ben also dawned another of my mother's creations, the skeleton costume. I impressed myself with my face painting skills. Ryan finally decided that if he had to dress up to get candy he'd settle for G.I. Joe snake eyes costume at Wal-mart. Right after the group photo Ryan took off to be with his friends, so I didn't get an individual picture of him :(

Ben and soccer

2010-11-01T09:18:00.000-07:00

We put the oldest four kids in soccer this fall, and they all loved it and have enjoyed playing. No one more than Ben though. He seems to have inherited the Matthews' soccer genes. He know what to do when he gets on the field and he does a great job!

One Shining moment

2010-11-01T09:17:00.000-07:00

For a brief beautiful moment I was sure that our little Hadley was an artistic genius. I had left her with a blank coloring page and when I came back, this is what I saw. I was duly impressed until I noticed the red scribbling all over Tender Heart's face which is undoubtedly her contribution to a picture that had been colored by someone else. Oh, well, I guess we'll still keep her (LOL!).

12 years and done

2010-11-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

It's pathetic, I know, but I actually started this afghan for my brother Jeff before he left on his mission over 12 years ago...I just finished it a few weeks ago. An odd combination of perseverance and procrastination. I know you said you don't really want it Jeff, but if you change your mind I'll send it your way!

Momma's necklace

2010-10-09T06:08:00.000-07:00

I made a necklace like this for my mom awhile ago. Sadly, it got destroyed by adoring grandbabies. So here is her replacement! I just made one for my friend with dark grey, dark purple and cream. I wish I would have snapped a photo, because I love the colors she chose. Maybe I'll convince her to let me take a picture and post it later!

Mom's purse

2010-10-09T06:06:00.000-07:00

I took an existing pattern and altered it to get a design I think my momma would like the most. It was kind of frustrating. The whole time I was thinking to myself, "This is not working!" I have to admit that I am totally thrilled with how it turned out! I think it's amazing. I even devised a lining of fabric with three pockets to go inside. And I decided to attatch the lining with snaps so that the entire lining could be taken out and washed when it gets dirty (like all of us ladies know is inevitable)! I want my momma to know how much I love her, and that I know this is a hard time in her life. I hope that every time she looks at her purse she remembers how much she is loved!

Cousin Darwin

2010-10-09T06:02:00.000-07:00

Due to the gianormous amount of cousins my husband and I both have, I knew it was only a matter of time before someone did something really cool. Now, I must pause here to tell all my cousins that I think they are ALL really cool! Scott's cousin Darwin Barney was just called up the the majors! He plays shortstop for the Chicago Cubs. Since the Texas Rangers and the Cubs are in different leagues, they don't play each other. So, we drove down to Houston to see the Cubs play the Astros! It was awesome to watch Darwin do his thing, he really is a great baseball player, and he was so sweet to my kiddos. He got and signed for them each a game ball! Thanks Darwin, we wish you all the luck in the world next season!

Sisters

2010-10-09T05:59:00.000-07:00

I was just caught by how much Haddie and Emma look alike. So I decided to snap some photos. They were actually hugging like this and that's what made me stop and think that they looked so much alike. Of course, I had to go get the camera, so the actual photos are staged. Then Julia had to get into the action.

Sleepyhead

2010-10-09T05:57:00.000-07:00

I can't believe the positions little kids fall asleep in sometimes. She must have been absolutely worn out!

The first day of school 2010!

2010-09-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

Here are my kiddos ready for the start of school 2010! I can't believe how time flies. Julia started 4th grade, Emily 2nd and Benjamin Kindergarten (which is all day in our school district). Hadley of course, had to get in the picture with them. She spent the first week of school saying to me, "Julie's at school...Ryan's at school...Emmy's at school...Ben Ben's at school...Daddy's at work." I guess she was bored at home with just me. The little baby I watch didn't come the first week of school because her grandma was up to take care of her. So, it was really weird just having Haddie and I at home all day every day.

Ryan started 5th grade this year, which in our district is at a new school. The 5th and 6th graders go to an intermediate school where they have three teachers instead of just 1 and a locker. I think it's their way of easing them into the transition between Elementary school and Junior high. It has been a great thing for Ryan. I hardly recognize him. He comes straight home from school and does his homework. He does his chores and piano practice without being asked. Somewhere between 4th and 5th grade he has found his responsibility button!

Take 4

2010-09-07T14:27:00.000-07:00

We spent the last few days up in Simi Valley and Moorpark with Scott's brothers Nathan and Brian and their families. The girls had a blast with their girl cousins and the boys had fun playing video games with their boy cousins. Sometimes the best part of vacations is just hanging out with family! We had a great time and are already excited to trek back out to California next summer for some more quality family time and to meet our new cousin who will be born in March 2011! Congratulations Brian and Jenni!

Take 3

2010-09-07T14:19:00.000-07:00

From San Diego it was on to Oxnard, where Scottie grew up. We spent some time at his parent's house. Our favorite time was probably at the beach. We ended up there for almost 5 hours and we all came home with spectacular sunburns, with the exception of Haddie who was so tired from the trip that she fell asleep and stayed asleep under towels almost the whole time we were there.

Ryan and Julia couldn't get enough of the waves. With their Uncle Adam, they would wait for the waves to come and then try to jump over them. Who needs a surf board when you can just use your body like one?

On our drive up to Oxnard, we stopped in Orange county to see our friends the White Family and spent a very fun and relaxing couple of hours at their house. It was so great to see them again! Thanks White's for letting us stop and giving us delicious cake and ice cream!!!!

Take 2

2010-09-07T14:14:00.000-07:00

From Las Cruces it was on to San Diego, California to attend the wedding of Scott's cousin Maggie. The whole wedding was just beautifully done. Hadley, Julie and I got several compliments on our dancing at the reception. The next day they had an open house at the beach, which was also so much fun.

It's always so amazing to spend time with family! Our only complaint was that the water was frightfully COLD!! But that didn't stop the kids from jumping right into the waves.

The massive summer trip--take 1

2010-09-07T14:05:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, we drove from our home in Texas to Southern California right before school started to see Scott's family. It was quite the trip. The first leg of our journey was from our house to my aunt and uncle's house in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The were such fabulous hosts. They took us out to this really cool national park called White Sands. Julia was instantly enamored with it, and all my kids loved it.

It was also so much fun to spend some time with family. We love you and miss you already!

Surprise package

2010-09-07T14:02:00.000-07:00

I got a box in the mail quite a few weeks ago from my mother-in-law. She must have been going through her things when she found these and thought to herself that with my amazing crafting abilities I could do something with them. Hmmmm. . . . .

Two girls and a hamper

2010-09-07T13:59:00.000-07:00

Julia and Haddie were having the time of their life playing with the hamper that usually stays in Haddie's room. We were doing laundry and the hamper got left at the foot of the stairs. It baffles me how kids prefer to play with everyday objects (which you need to keep in working condition to perform the necessary tasks) over their toys which you spend tons of money on and spend tons of time debating over which toy to buy. I guess the best things in life are free.

A girl and her hat

2010-09-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

I made this cute little hat for the Hads (A.K.A Hadley). She kept it on really nice so I could take a couple of pictures, and then she wouldn't leave it on her head. So like most of the things I make, it got re-gifted to someone who would really appreciate it. But she did look awfully cute in her pink hat :)

At the zoo!

2010-09-07T13:53:00.000-07:00

My sister and her cutie-pie family lived in the DFW area for a couple of months this summer. We LOVED having them close. Right before they left to go back to Utah we all spent a day at the zoo. What spectacular fun! My favorite was a chimpanzee with her new baby monkey, but no matter how many pictures I took, none of them turned out (discouraged snapping here). So you'll just have to look at pictures of us humans.

Curly Jules!

2010-09-07T13:48:00.000-07:00

Julia had been begging and begging my for curls. Here's the result. What a b-e-a-utiful girl!

Head shots

2010-06-29T19:20:00.000-07:00

We recently got family pictures taken and these are the headshots of the kids.

Family pictures

2010-06-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

Family Pictures 2

2010-06-29T19:18:00.000-07:00

Some more of our fabulous pictures. Thanks again Jaime they turned out super cute!

Tired daddy

2010-06-29T19:13:00.000-07:00

I often stumble upon Scott in this position near the end of the day. He works hard, and the scriptures are so comforting and peaceful, they often lull us to sleep. In fact, I always say (and I know I should try harder to do better) that the two and a half hours a month I spend at the temple are the best hours of sleep I get all month!

Julia's Birthday

2010-06-29T19:06:00.000-07:00

We had a fun friend party on Julia's actual birthday (that's the one nice thing about having your birthday in the summer). She had an ice cream cake--delish!
She got to invite four friends over and we played the infamous dime in the flour game.
Presents--always a plus!
Julia penned this sign herself. Instructions, if you will, for her guests. Happy birthday little love! I'm glad you came to our family all those years ago!

Pug

2010-04-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

I had to re-post the pictures and they showed up in the exact opposite order of how I originally posted them.

This is my newest knitting project. It has been so different than anything else I've ever done knitting, that it has been a lot of fun to do. You work them up in pieces. I took this after I had sewn the head to the body.
Here he is all assembled and looking cutiness!
His cute curly little pug tail--awwww!
The last thing I did was make a little jacket with a hood for the darling little Pug. Now he is ready to go out and enjoy some spring weather in the hands of some lucky little child. Heads up some little child I love very much. Pug is coming your way!

Hard work

2010-04-30T08:57:00.000-07:00

We started a new chore system and it is working fabulously! Here is the result...lots of hard work. I keep having the phrase "anxiously engaged in a good cause" pass through my mind. And I think it really is what our job is as parents. We should be working to keep our children anxiously engaged in good causes. Piano practice.
Pulling weeds.
Look how proud :)
Watching your younger sibling, so that everyone else can get some work done. Thanks kiddos for being so open-minded, responsible and running with this new system. Our house has definitely taken a major step towards becoming "a house of order"!

WHAT THE?

2010-04-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

A fun afternoon chore of washing the van turned into Dangerville! I had them sit up there for a minute so I could snap a photo before I made them get down. Crazy kiddos! I was struggling mightily with hose issues...Last winter I accidentally broke off the handle to the faucet closest to the driveway. I was trying to get two hoses hooked together and pulled over our fence on the opposite side of the house. I came back to find this...I also came back with disgusting mud on my sandaled feet that smelled disgusting and make my feet sting. What is up with that?

the rest of Easter

2010-04-22T10:40:00.000-07:00

The easter bunny brought Ben a crocodile...
And Haldey a kitty.
He also thought it would be fun for us to make cupcakes as a family (which we actually did and they were yummy. I decided to put soda instead of water and they were very tasty!)

A Webkinz easter

2010-04-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

This year the easter bunny thought everyone would enjoy another webkinz. Here's Ryan's Key Lime Dino...
Julia's Bluefadoodle?...
Emily's Pink Camo Dino...and the rest will have to be on another post.

A big girl now

2010-04-22T10:36:00.000-07:00

Haddie sure has grown. More than anything lately she's just acting bigger. She's talking more, she has more of an idea what she wants to happen and how she thinks it should be done. My big almost 2 1/2 year old. She is kind of spoiled though. I'm working hard to start treating her like a big girl instead of a baby, and she objects. I think we all wish that we could be king (or queen) of the castle and get our own way. Poor Haddels--unfortunately, we all have to start growing up :(

Random photos

2010-04-22T10:34:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is how my kitchen usually looks. In fact, this is one of the cleaner days.
Haddels and Emmies getting in some snuggle time.
I don't know who took this picture of Ben. Actually now that I'm looking at it, it looks like he's laying on me, so I must have taken it. He is such a sweet boy. He helps his mommy remember on a daily basis that life is exciting and wonderful. That is the lens through which he views the world and it is infectious.

Emily's Birthday

2010-04-22T10:31:00.000-07:00

Emily's birthday was in March--yes, I know I am behind, thanks for the clarification (LOL!) She had four friends come over for dinner, games and cake. It was a fun party. Most of all though, we feel grateful to have Emma in our family!

Happy Birthday to a very sweet 7 year old!

A girl and her bear

2010-04-22T10:28:00.000-07:00

Ever since she was tiny Haddie has loved dolls and stuffed toys. She loves to take care of them. It just makes my heart happy to watch her be so sweet and gently to something, even if it isn't alive. She will definitely be a good mommy some day. She bounces them, talks softly to them and totes them all over.

I love hats!

2010-04-22T10:26:00.000-07:00

I've started making lots of hats. They are quick and cute and fun! Here's cousin Lyvia in the hat I made for her birthday. Happy Birthday cuz-cuz! We are glad we get to be a part of your life and we love you!
Here are Julia and Lyvia in their hats. Julia's hat is actually my attempt at making one like Lyvia's. It didn't quite turn out how I wanted it, so I finally broke down and bought the pattern.

Vaccuming girl

2010-04-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

Here' Hadley on her first vacuuming attempt. It was pretty cute. I decided after the first few pictures that I would take a video too. She's so silly!

Hadley and Halle

2010-04-22T10:22:00.000-07:00

For about two months I watched a little girl in our ward for her mom and dad while they were both having to work. Her name is Halle and she is almost exactly a month older than Hadley. They, for the most part, play super nice together. In fact, Hadley still asks for her on a daily basis. One morning they played so hard that I put a movie on for them after lunch. When I went back upstairs, because it was entirely too quiet up there, this is what I found. Both of the zonked out on the couch.

New haircut

2010-04-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

I finally, after months of feeling uber-ugly, went to the salon and got my hair done. Poor lady, I basically just told her to fix it, and she did a great job.
This is my favorite hat that I knitted for myself. I think it's actually the first thing I made that I've kept for mysel.

Yes, we are still alive...

2010-02-15T14:39:00.000-08:00

I'm just extremely lazy about blogging these days. It feels like so much of my life are the same things over and over. Thanks to wonderful friends and family, I had a wonderful 32nd birthday on the 6th! Thanks for your love and well-wishes. I still have 19 piano students, but we moved them all to Wednesday and Saturday and it has calmed things down considerably at our house. No more wild and crazy banchee children! I still watch the baby who is now almost six months old. She and I have hit our stride and it's fabulous to have her here everyday. She's a sweet little girl.
We had one crazy thing happen yesterday. Which I feel awful about! The kids were downstairs rough-housing a little bit. I asked them to play something else several times, but to no avail. Around 2pm I heard Benjamin scream in pain, but he always screams in pain. I just figured they all needed some direction so I pulled out the hide-away bed and made them all lay on it and watch Adventures from the Book of Virtues (a Sunday staple at our house). At four we drove down to Arlington to see cousins. We ate dinner and after we were finished my sister-in-law asked if Ben had ketchup on his head. I knew that was not a possibility, because of his autistic tendencies he doesn't come anywhere near ketchup. I looked and it was blood. I wiped the blood away to reveal what looked to me to be a pretty substantial puncture wound. So Scott and I took him to the emergency room. Turns out that it's a relatively minor flesh wound that will heal on its own in a couple of weeks. On one hand, I'm glad we went so that I won't continue to worry. But on the other hand, we paid like $200 for them to sanitize and put neosporin on his cut. Something that I could have totally done myself.
I haven't taken many pictures lately either. I tried to download the cutest video of Hadley singing her made up songs looking at my flute music on the music stand. But it was taking a million years, so I abandoned the attempt.
These are the only new pictures I have. The hats I crocheted for my sister marie and her four boys. I know there are only three little boy hats, but the oldest two wanted the exact same colors, so I figured why be repetitive. The bottom picture is a picture Julie took of the pillows she has started lovingly crafting for her friends. A chip of the old crafty block I'd say!
Well, hopefully I'll repent of my neglectful ways and do better posting soon. We love and miss you all!

My favorite picture of our trip

2010-01-03T19:19:00.000-08:00

I think this is my favorite picture of the whole trip. It accurately portrays how most of us felt most of the time. At one point Haddie just got so sick of everything that she put her blankie over her head and fell asleep. Too funny!

More Christmas

2010-01-03T19:12:00.000-08:00

Grandma bought each of the boy cousins a light saber. They were a hit.
Hadley giving a not so sure cousin Oliver some lovin'.
Ollie and Haddie and Grandpa got a turn to play.
Look at these three cute boy cousins. Oliver, Jude and Dexter. I sure was happy to get some holding time in. I had never even seen Jude, he's so wonderfully adorable. Auntie Heather misses all of you already!

Christmas in Utah

2010-01-03T19:08:00.000-08:00

We drove 23 hours to spend Christmas in Utah with most of my family. Good times--with the exception of the endless hours in the car. Helping kids pee into the tupperware so we didn't have to stop every half an hour, Haddie getting pneumonia and a double ear infection and then waking up every night either at 3am or 5am making me stressed as to how I was going to keep her quiet and happy so as not to wake up the other many people in the house, and then during the day she was such a cranky pants. Ahhhhh! I'm glad to be back home, but we also really did enjoy our Christmas. My kids had SO much fun playing with cousins they hadn't seen for a year and a half. We also took a morning to drive down to BYU and walk around campus. I love that place! I hope at least a few of our kids decide to go there so that I can go back over the years. Thanks Marie and Ryan for letting us come and play at your new house!

The Golden Gate Basketball Hoop

2009-12-07T10:39:00.000-08:00

This is the "Adjust and Jam" Litte Tikes Basketball Set we bought for Benjamin's 5th Birthday. I would not suggest buying it. It has been a nothing but a major pain in my side. First the net would not stay in place. I finally got twisty ties that come with garbage bags and rigged them into each and every slot to keep the net in place. PAIN! Then the rim would not stay up, it kept falling down. Finally I noticed a hole in the middle of the plastic rim closest to the backboard and I figured out a way to jimmy rig the thing up and over the backboard with some yarn. The yarn that I used was made out of cotton, so it kept ripping. So then, I decided to reinforce the yarn with masking tape. AAAHHHHHHHHHH!! Is anyone else sick of this basketball hoop yet?
Yesterday the yarn that had not been reinforced with masking tape ripped. So I took all of that yarn off and decided that an acrylic yarn would probably work better. So, that is what I spent this morning doing. Hopefully, it will last longer than 1 day. I think my next stop is wire if the acrylic yarn doesn't work. Anyway, we have taken to calling it the Golden Gate Basketball hoop since the rigging resembles the wiring on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. And remember dear friends, if the plastic of the rim does not directly insert into the plastic of the backboard, DO NOT BUY THE DANG THING!

blankets

2009-11-27T14:45:00.000-08:00

The three little kids made a bed of blankets in the hallway and were playing babies. They are cutie kiddos.

Ryan's birthday

2009-11-27T14:35:00.000-08:00

A giant chocolate chip cookie cake and a Nintendo DS. What more can a guy want for his 10th birthday? We love you Ryan! and we're SO glad you're are the big brother in our family!

Recent craftiness

2009-11-27T14:33:00.000-08:00

A poncho for one of Emily's friends.
A newsboy cap for the 3 year old sister of the little baby I watch during the day.
Here is the newsboy cap with the Elf hat I made for the baby.
I did this one today in a little under two hours for one of my mom's friends who underwent Chemo to treat her cancer. She is now in partial remission!

No longer a Bear

2009-11-27T14:31:00.000-08:00

Ryan earned his Bear rank in Cub Scouts, and now that he is officially 10, he is no longer a Bear, but advanced to a Webelos! We are proud of all he has accomplished in Scouts and in school. His last progress report said one B and the rest A's! Way to go Ryan!

Hadley's Birthday

2009-11-27T14:29:00.000-08:00

Haddie had sort of a lame birthday. We had had a lot of Halloween candy and figured our kids didn't really need any more sweets, and that Haddie didn't particularly care, so we skipped the cake and went straight to presents. Don't worry, we did sing Happy Birthday!
We hit the jackpot with the present. I found a set at Costco for $34 that had a baby, a bassinet, a high chair and a stroller. Haddie was in heaven for many days, and even thought the novelty has somewhat worn off, she still LOVES her present!

Off to School

2009-11-27T14:26:00.000-08:00

It was about 6 o'clock in the evening and Haddie decided that it was time to go to school. She put on her brother's jacket, her sister's backpack, one shoe and headed to the door. She kept saying, "I go?" Hoping that someone would let her out the door to find her way to school. Poor Haddie, she had no such luck.

Kipper the dog

2009-11-08T17:32:00.000-08:00

My two oldest would never own up to it, so don't ask them, but my kids all LOVE Kipper the dog. It makes me happy that deep down in their hearts they are sastisfied with the simple things of life. To me Kipper represents someone who is happy with who he is and what he has. Someone who tries to make the best of every day. Someone who loves to learn and laugh. He is a devoted friend, a caring dog, and always tries to do what is right. It makes me SO happy that all my children connect with this and enjoy watching. I hope that much of what Kipper teaches sinks deep down into their hearts. I hope they are never afraid to admit that they love good and truth and God.
I also thought I'd post an update about Scott. His scars look better every day, and he gets back more energy everyday. He is carefully weaning himself off of his pain meds. He has a follow up appointment with the Oncologist on Thursday, and we'll see what he says. For those of you who follow this blog and didn't receive and email or text, we have great news! The doctor's office called us to say that they biopsy of the lymph nod was clean, and it looked like the doctor got all of the cancer! We are so grateful to God and to all of you who have added your strength and your prayers to our trial. If we could, we'd like to request your continued prayers that he will heal quickly and well and that the cancer will not return. We love you all!

Battle Scar--this next post is not for the squeamish!

2009-11-03T18:05:00.000-08:00

Here is my poor Scottie's face, marred by surgery. The cancer was a lot bigger than I thought, much bigger than the mole on the outside of his face. Poor baby! When they let me back to see him, he was pale white and his cheek was still pulsating from the trauma. His blood was all rushing to fix the problem. I almost fainted three times looking at him. Poor baby! The doctor is confident that he got out all of the cancer. Now all that remains is to biopsy the lymph nod they removed (that is the lower straight line on his neck) and hopefully that will come back negative for cancer and all will be well! We appreciate all your kind thoughts, fasting and prayers. We love you all and have felt your strength and love through this!

Happy (early) Birthday Ben!

2009-11-01T18:01:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Ben's birthday today because Scott is going into an outpatient surgery on Tuesday to have a cancerous mole removed from his cheek. We appreciate all prayers in his behalf on Tuesday. As a result, we decided to celebrate Ben's birthday a couple of days early. He requested a "giant cookie cake". So I made a pan full of blondies, which were delish! I've never tried them before but I have now fallen in love. They are basically giant caramel squares with chocolate chips in them. How could you go wrong? Delightful. Anyway, back to the birthday fun~
He got a present from his sister Julia which was an interesting assortment of all the odds and ends she could find in her room that she didn't want anymore. Included items were: a blue lego, a cheap notebook, a new pencil, an old pencil, several pieces of her Halloween candy that she didn't want, a plastic horse toy, a used eraser...You get the picture. I guess it's the thought that counts?
Here's his new flannel blankie.
And taking a page out of the wisdom of the book of my parents we purchased Ben his very own basketball hoop like they did for Ryan when Julia was born. That was the best $20 dollars they ever spent on anything, Ryan got so much use out of it and loved it SO much, and we're already on that path for Ben. We spent a little more than $20, but he loves it and has spent all evening shooting hoops. Even the older kids spent a good hour playing hoops with him. The legacy lives on!

Halloween costumes

2009-11-01T17:53:00.000-08:00

Ryan, as Harry Potter. Probably the coolest part of his costume was the lighting shaped scar I drew on with some of my eyeshadow. In every other way he was shafted. He wore his Sunday pants and shirt, we safety pinned a yard of black fabric around him for a cloak, sadly his glasses were already taped because he lost a screw, he already had the appropriate hair, and I handed him a chopstick for a wand. Poor guy, but he got plenty of candy and didn't seem to feel bothered by the inadequateness of his costume.
I sewed this pioneer, dress, bonnet and apron for Julie. She loved it and also came home with a lot of candy.
I sewed this poodle skirt for Emmy.
Ben decided that he wanted to be the well-loved and falling apart Jaguar costume that my mom sewed for my brother Derek MANY moons ago. He looked super cute in it, but as you can see it barely fit him. He is a rather large boy. My dad always says to Ben when he's here visiting, "How do you get so big eating food of this kind?" It is a valid question, he doesn't eat very well at all and yet he is gianormous!

Halloween costumes take 2

2009-11-01T17:49:00.000-08:00

Hadley as Marie Antoinette. I tried to teach her to say, "Let them eat cake." But it didn't happen. When she is misbehaving I have taken to calling her Hadley Jean Marie Antoinette Chrysanthemum ...adding appropriate names for as long as I can go on. It helps me calm down a bit before I take care of business. She is a lot like that infamous queen of France. She's quite sure that her way is the only acceptable solution to every problem.
All the kids together.

Random cuteness

2009-11-01T17:44:00.000-08:00

Hadley has taken quite a fancy to the new disney movie "Bolt". She wants to watch it all day long. I caught her looking extra cute while watching her new favorite.
I also snagged a photo of the four youngest playing together like super cuties in the hallway.
Hadley and Ben wrestling on the couch.
I caught Haddie and Emma reading together on the stairs. Super duper cuteness!

The weirdest bug I have ever seen

2009-11-01T17:42:00.000-08:00

Funniness

2009-10-27T18:33:00.000-07:00

Things are pretty busy at our house, like I'm sure they are at all of your houses too. It's that time of year, busy, busy, busy. I now have 21 piano students and am caring for a 2 month old baby from 8 to 3. We are trying desperately not to get sick (especially with that tiny baby around I would feel SO guilty if she got sick), to keep on top of homework for three full-time elementary students, to keep our house at least somewhat clean and to try to have some enjoyable time as a family. There seems to be time for very little else. And if any of you know how to get that disgusting urine smell out of mattresses please fill me in, I'm dying over here!

Day 9

2009-10-17T20:43:00.000-07:00

This is probably the last gratitude post that I will put up on my blog. I plan to write it in Word Perfect from now on, but I really appreciate the comments. It's great to have friends that love me.
Today I am grateful for our ability to choose what our attitude will be.
I'm still trying to convince my kids that if you think you're going to have a bad day, you will. And if you think you're going to have a good day, you will. They still aren't buying it. Even though I fully accept the logic behind that, and know it to be true, I have good and bad days at deciding to be positive, cheerful and upbeat.
It's so uplifting to be around someone who sees the world and everything in it as basically good. And it's so hard to be around someone who is pessimistic all the time. I tend to lean toward the latter, and so I have been striving this week to correct that. It's amazing how powerful our minds and our thoughts are. It may sound a bit like brainwashing myself, but I've been getting up and telling myself, "Today is going to be a great day. I'm happy to be alive. I am truly blessed. My kids are the most amazing people I know and I'm lucky to be their mother." It sounds a little bit silly, but my days are better days, and I am happier, calmer and more at peace.
So, today I am grateful for a positive attitude.