8 Months!!

Jace is 8 months old! He is just so stinkin cute I can hardly stand it! He is a wild man, but I love him anyway. Tonight when I gave him a bath I let him play a little. Usually I just put him in, scrub him off, and get him out. He loved playing in the water. I could only keep an inch or two in the bath because he tries to drown himself if there is more. He was flipping and flopping all over the tub, pulling himself up to look over the edge, and sticking his head completely under the running water. I feel so blessed to have him in our family!

Pretty Toes

Jon and the kids got me a gift certificate to a nail salon for Valentine's Day. So I decided I would go get a pedicure before we went to Kentucky this week. My feet are horrible! Even when I don't pick my toenails they don't grow. My feet are a dry, cracked mess! I felt really sorry for the guy that had to work on them, because I haven't had a pedicure since before Jace was born. He scrubbed and scrubbed all that dry, nasty skin off and painted my short little toenails and presto-now I have pretty toes.

Doughnuts!!

I LOVE doughnuts! I love them all, any kind. They are my absolute favorite and I could eat them everyday! When we go to WalMart in the morning after we take the boys to school, I can't help myself. I have to buy doughnuts. This is when they are fresh and the most yummy! And I can't just choose one or two, because they all look so delicious. Addison has inherited my passion for doughnuts. She also loves them and wants to eat and eat and eat them until they are all gone. Every time I try on the cute jeans I used to wear before I had Jace, and I can't pull them up over my big rear end, I promise myself-NO MORE Doughnuts! But then I go to the store, I see them, and all my self-control flies out the window and I convince myself that I would rather be fat, than do without doughnuts.

Last night we were getting ready to have dinner. Bradan was in the bath and forgot to take his towel in the bathroom. So he was yelling at the top of his lungs for someone to bring him a towel. I asked Tate to get his towel for him. By the time he got it to the bathroom, Bradan was upset because it had taken so long and did not except the service he had be given with appreciation. So then Tate got upset and decided he would hold the towel just out of reach and tell Bradan about it. I tried to explain to Tate that sometimes even when you are doing something nice for someone, they might not always appreciate it. But you still have to give your service with a happy heart and Heavenly Father will still bless you. The other person will be responsible for their actions.

Now the good part, so everyone got calmed down and came down for dinner. We were sitting down to eat and Tate said, "thanks for dinner mom, you must have a room full of blessings." I was speechless. Now I could take a huge dose of my own advice. My heart could be happier in the service that I give, but it is nice to know that every now and then my kids actually do appreciate me. It was a sweet, rare moment.

Blue and Gold Banquet

Tate and I made this cake for his Scout Blue and Gold Banquet. It was yummy! Tate also did a magic trick at the banquet. He picked up an ice cube out of a glass of water without using his fingers. Tate and Nathan have excellent scout leaders and have been working hard at earning their Webelo badge, Arrow of Light, and Gospel Knot. They are on track to have them all before they turn 11.

What a Big Boy!

Sunday, I was making dinner and I looked over and there sat this big kid, all by himself! Jace decided he was tired of laying around and sat up on his very own. Not only is he sitting up, but he is dragging himself all over the house. He hasn't quite figured out how to crawl on his knees, but he can manuver all over the house pulling himself with his arms. He looks like he is swimming. Nothing is safe, he especially loves to try and get the cords under the computer desk.

WooHoo!!!

We have been watching, kind of impatiently, for the garden to sprout. Jon has been kind of worried that he might have planted the seeds too deep, but yesterday when I took the garbage out I saw it, the first little sprout! I was really excited and called Jon to give him the good news. Just since yesterday we have lots of new little sprouts. Yeah Jon!! Looks like his garden will be a success.

Our Garden

This is our newly planted garden. I have to confess and say I have done NONE of the work. Jon has done everything from clearing the rock, to tilling the ground, to planting all the seeds. He finished it all up on Saturday before and between conference sessions. We are excited to see if all his hard work pays off and our garden grows.

Happy Birthday Jared!

Yesterday was my OLDER brother, Jared's B-day. Jared is six years older than me and spent lots of time torturing me when we were younger. Looking back, I really feel kind of sorry for him, I was a total brat. Some of my most vivid memories were locking each other out of the house on Covington and Preston and Jared holding me down and telling me they would never let me up. For some reason this terrified me, I really believed I might be held there for eternity. I borrowed his clothes when I was in Jr. High and High School and he would harass my friends and embarrass me. When I was twelve he had a big bunch of balloons delivered to me during my slumber party. I always thought that was really cool. I was really proud of him when he went on his mission and when my friend, Amy told me she would marry him when he got back, I didn't believe her. I was wrong, the first time ever. They got married and let me come and stay with them for a week when I was sixteen and was mad at my parents. Even though we live far apart, I know I could call him and he would help me any way he could. I love him and respect him a lot. Happy Birthday!

April Fools!

I made this cake for an April Fools joke, to play on the boys. Tate and Bradan were fighting in the car, so they missed out. When we got home from picking Nathan up from school I told him I needed him to help me with something. I told him that some elderly couple in our ward brought this over for us to clean out for them(we don't have a cat). I asked him to get a Wal-Mart bag and come in the laundry room, where I had put it in the floor for full effect. He totally fell for it. He was major bummed because he thought he was going to have to clean up cat poop. I laughed and laughed. April Fools!!

1 spice or German chocolate cake mix 1 white cake mix 2 large pkg vanilla instant pudding mix, prepared 1 large pkg vanilla sandwich cookies, green food coloring, 12 small Tootsie Rolls®, 1 new kitty litter pan, 1 new pooper scooper


Prepare cake mixes and bake according to directions (any size pans).
Prepare pudding mix and chill until ready to assemble.
Crumble white sandwich cookies in small batches in food processor, scraping often. Set aside all but about 1/4 cup. To the 1/4 cup cookie crumbs, add a few drops green food coloring and mix until completely colored.
When cakes are cooled to room temperature, crumble into a large bowl. Toss with half the remaining white cookie crumbs and the chilled pudding. Important: mix in just enough of the pudding to moisten it. You don't want it too soggy. Combine gently.
Line a new, clean kitty litter box. Put the cake/pudding/cookie mixture into the litter box.
Put three unwrapped Tootsie rolls in a microwave safe dish and heat until soft and pliable. Shape ends so they are no longer blunt, curving slightly. Repeat with 3 more Tootsie rolls bury them in the mixture. Sprinkle the other half of cookie crumbs over top. Scatter the green cookie crumbs lightly on top of everything -- this is supposed to look like the chlorophyll in kitty litter.
Heat 3 Tootsie Rolls in the microwave until almost melted. Scrape them on top of the cake; sprinkle with cookie crumbs. Spread remaining Tootsie Rolls over the top; take one and heat until pliable, hang it over the side of the kitty litter box, sprinkling it lightly with cookie crumbs. Place the box on a newspaper and sprinkle a few of the cookie crumbs around for a truly disgusting effect!

ROCKSTAR

We, like the rest of the country, got Guitar Hero III for Christmas. All of the boys like to play it, but Nathan developed a minor obsession for the game. Because of his hours of practice, he is actually really good. He can beat Slash on hard??? And his fingers fly over the buttons. It is pretty cool to watch, for about 30 seconds. Jon tells him all the time if he would just put half the time he plays this game, into practicing playing a real guitar, he might be a real rockstar one day. And then he could buy us a big house on the beach. I will keep my fingers crossed.

Last Friday Jon loaded all the kids up to take them swimming at the YMCA by our house. When they got there the pool was closed, bummer. So, the big boys went over to a friends and we filled up the baby pool for Addison and Jace. The water was straight out of the hose and freezing. Jace sat there and shivered until I felt sorry for him and took him out. Addison was a little wary at first, but then she was loving it. Oh how I wish the weather would stay this glorious all year.