Good things

A busy January

2012-01-29T22:20:00.000-08:00

Eddy's First Lost Tooth! It's a milestone in our family-our last first tooth. Cam kicked Eddy in the mouth while they were in the bath. Cam was yelling..."Eddy's bleeding...alot!" I guess it wasn't QUITE ready to come out on it's own yet.

Johanna's all business at her ward YW volleyball game

Camden and friend, Abe watch their sisters after having their last basketball game.

We spent 2 weekends plus painting Johanna's room this delightful green color. We painted one wall with these snappy diamonds. I'll post a finished room picture later. I also decided that I definately don't want to paint the whole house.

What a mess!

We had 10 kids at our house last weekend for play, dinner and lateovers. I spent all afternoon making homemade spaghetti and meatballs, garlic french bread, fudge sauce and brownies for everyone. It was super noisy, which was okay until the girls wanted to watch "Love Comes Softly"downstairs and the boys wanted to play Wii Rockband upstairs-Romance and "Eye of the Tiger " didn't go well together and the boys and the girls were all yelling at each other. Everyone must have had fun, because the girls and some of the boys came back again last Friday.

The girls thought it would be fun to take off their shoes and

run around in the rain......whatever

Eddy and Jillian gettin' ripped in 30

Camden and his "sick" day at home. He just didn't feel up to going to school that morning, so I let him stay home. He layed on the couch and read books and then we made mini doughnuts...thanks, Hansen's! He was feeling much better after lunch, so I sent him back to school with a plate of doughnuts for his teacher. It was fun to spend a morning at home with him = )

Tofu key lime cheesecake

It's good....really!

2012-01-11T11:05:00.000-08:00

I opened the door to get a picture of the boys coming home from school and Ed did this "ta da" kind of thing....funny

Eddy picked the David and Golieth FHE lesson last Monday-they had a great time shooting marshmallows at Golieth

What you CAN"T see is all the needles on the ground

Our gargantuan, 14 foot tall tree makes it's exit from our house. I grew to love it, but was not sad to see it leave.

Johanna busied herself with this lovely painting on the last day of Christmas break. She's planning on adding a phrase or saying to the left side of it-I'll post that later.

Some Salem Scenes

2012-01-01T15:30:00.000-08:00

Spruce Goose. We had a great time at the air museum-what a beautiful building! We declined to pay extra to sit in the cockpit because I was so excited about getting in for FREE, I didn't want to ruin it!

I thought this turned out cute, even if it is cliche-I"m just noticing grandpa in the background.....

The SR-71 blackbird-Blake and Logan think it's pretty much their favorite airplane ever.

Gingerbread and Grandma's house-a holiday tradition! The kids had so much fun!!!!

Okay, I did too-it's been years since I had "my own" house to decorate...I have to say, it was beautiful.

Finally, the Kroc Center! We've tried to go before and been foiled, but this time we enjoyed it's chlorine waters, until some kid vomited in the kiddy pool....

So, we climbed on the rock wall instead

OMSI was also---FREE! Thank you museum membership! In this picture a current is passing through the Hoth/Thurman family while we laugh at the strange feeling.

Also finally-everyone (for some reason I didn't go) visited the submarine at OMSI-I think the kids enjoyed themselves, and Grandpa too. We've gone to OMSI before and it was booked up.

This is a fun one..I woke up to damp sheets one morning and a dripping sound above my head...never good. Grandpa's roof has finally caught up with him and it was leaking. Luckily we were there so that Grandpa didn't have to climb on the very slippery roof. With rope safely tied to front yard tree to hand on to, Blake nailed plastic over the back side of the roof and we slept dryly that night.

Ahhhh...the obligatory Carousel visit. This was our only time with Kevin, and he had a great time. Kevin acted like he'd never before seen me in his whole life, but of course, he LOVED Blake and kept pointing at him and making everyone else point at him too. My theory is that they were best buds in former life.

I thought this was a cute photo of everyone.

We had a great time at Mom and Dad's house-the days went by quickly, which they tend to do when you stay up late and sleep in!

A very merry Thurman Christmas

2011-12-25T22:29:00.000-08:00

Cookies for Santa. I was so tired and I'd been in the kitchen for awhile already, but I just couldn't skip Santa cookies-glad I didn't, the kids had a great time decorating them.

We enjoyed a tour of our neighborhood Christmas lights Christmas Eve

One of the two pictures of me taken for posterity's sake

Ed was hilarious as "Baby Jesus". He was way too big for the manger, but played his role nicely. Cam had wiseman, shepard and innkeeper costumes on simultaneously. All the kids got into dressing up for the nativity reading. More so then when they were younger, I think! Do you think baby Jesus would have liked footsie pajamas?

We read President Monson's "A Christmas Dress for Ellen"

11:30 p.m. All is calm, all is bright, all is under the tree

Inky had a wonderful time with all the wrapping and ribbon. She was intrigued by all the new smells and arrangements. Cam quickly shooed her off his gift.

Eddy with his gift from Santa, and a dragon he got in his stocking.

Johanna rockin' out with one of our new rockband instruments. She had fun playing rock star all afternoon, until the drums and one guitar stopped working (that's what you get with used electronics!) I'm hopeful in at least one case, new batteries are the fix.

The aftermath....

Breakfast-huckleberry french toast....mmmmm

Picture of Andrea no. 2 Post church. Notice my corsage. Our ward music chair got them for everyone participating in the program today-I accompanied a vocalist on "o holy night". Also, this adorable velet jacket (Katy's castoff) looks much better in person-this picture just does not to it, or me, justice!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Christmas-lots of work for Mom, lots of fun for kids

2011-12-23T22:39:00.000-08:00

Camden, Logan, Blake and I worked hard for an hour making 34 reindeer bags for Cam's class party. I almost tried to do them all by myself....1 hour times 4 people = 4 hours!!! glad I didn't

My first batch of holiday treats for our new ward friends. Pizelles, JoAnn's chocolates, white chocolate dipped gingerbread stars, fleur de sel caramels....oh my!

Earlier this week all of my kids, plus a number of kids from our ward sang and played instruments at the local VA facility. I think they all had fun. They all got jingle bells, which Ed loved

We have a Super 8 hotel close to our neighborhood. They have a water slide with open swim hours. We tried it out on Wednesday. The kids had so much fun in the water, and I happened to meet two friends there, so I got to chat while the kids swam.

The pool pictures all turned out steamy. Cam thought this was quite funny in the hot tub.

Ed loves to give the thumbs up sign. He had a fun time in the pool too, and managed to keep his hair dry until the last 30 minutes.

Johanna and friend Sophie have been hanging out all week. Good thing we like Sophie!

Cam performing "Go tell it on the Mountain" flawlessly

Holiday Happenings

2011-12-09T04:51:00.001-08:00

This little gnome popped out of a birthday card for Blake singing a very annoying song-Blake is checking for hidden gnomes in this picture. Also pictured is Blake's Jello cake-his oft requested birthday treat. Happy 40th Blake!

Grandpa brought some wooden turkeys he'd made for the kids to paint. They had a great time doing it and they turned out beautifully!

This picture is for Jennifer-who makes fun of my Turkey Frame Soup. It was delicious-why waste a thing of taste and beauty (okay, not so beautiful..but tasty!)

Cam and Logan drinking our fave holiday drink-grapejuice (grandpas) and 7-up.

Our 5 buck Christmas tree (plus a little gas). Really, why buy one? The kids had a great time looking for this, though Johanna had to stay with Ed because somehow he got in the car with no shoes. It was great to drive up out of the fog too-we all brought snow clothes, hot cocoa, etc. because it was cold and frosty in the valley, but as we drove higher-all was sunny and bright!

Can you see that the tree goes well above my second story bannister??? If you look closely, you can see the string Blake tied from tree to bannister because it started falling on me when I was putting lights on. I actually like it now that it's decorated-it's very pretty, though I don't think we'll get one this big again...14 feet!!!

Logan and Johanna had a concert last night. Johanna played with the concert band and they both played guitar. It was a very interesting, and actually entertaining concert. Blake had the camera and couldn't get a picture of both of them. Too bad-I had come later and was in a perfect spot, but alas, no camera...oh well.

turkey trot

2011-12-06T19:50:00.000-08:00

We had a great time running the Turkey Trot Thanksgiving morning. Johanna and Logan ran the 2 miler and Blake and I did 8 together. What a great way to prepare for feasting!

Hoofin' and Halloweenin'

2011-11-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

Blake and I had an early celebration of his birthday last weekend in Calistoga, CA. Blake wanted to run a 1/2 marathon and I decided to do it with him. After 10 weeks of training (my first race!), I was "ready". The race was fun-a beautiful trail in the Napa-Bothe park-babbling brooks, shady trees......steep inclines, jagged rocks and limbs, bee stings oh my! My legs are just now recovering. Blake and I had a fun time together and it was so beautiful in the Napa Valley...just gorgeous, and perfect weather!!!

Eddy had a fun Halloween day at kindergarten. I manned the caramel apple table all morning and helped the kids dip and sprinkle their treats. It was fun talking to them and seeing 1)how much they could eat and 2)how much caramel they could get on their costumes, wigs, real hair and every other part of their bodies.

the booty.....the boys were all happy with their treats. I don't think they ate too much last night! They had a terrific time going to all the houses and their were a million kids in our neighborhood. No wonder Halloween is kids fave holiday.

My little trick-or-treaters are getting so big!!

Fall activities and.....MORE FOOD!

2011-10-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday all the boys (plus one) were eating peanuts on the front porch-I thought it was so cute! However, they left peanut shells all over the driveway and were even floating them down the stream-probably not good for the pump.

Grandpa's pumpkins have been so beautifully gracing my front porch. They are still, but now with scary faces to boot! The kids had fun carving pumpkins. We had to literally force Logan to stick his hand in the pumpkin and get the guts out. He doesn't like to get dirty or touch slimy stuff. Blake reminded him that the scouts will not be kind to a fellow scout who will not bait or gut his own fish, so he'd better get used to it!

Isn't this just the perfect Fall photo? Ed, and the pumkin patch, on a tractor, in front of a barn, with his pumpkin! I had to lug this thing back to the bus. I loved sharing a beautiful Fall morning with Eddy and his kindergarten class.

Sir Edward approves of the tasty caramel apple.

My annual Halloween piano recital/party. Participants were skimpy this year-only 6 pianists (and myself-I played Bach's Tocatta in d-), but everyone had a fun time, I think.

I didn't get to eat one, but they were fun to make, and they LOOK good.

I did get to eat plenty of these and they were very tasty. Do you like my Inky kitty cookies-they just need green eyes

Strawberry pie in October...really??? Medford is awesome!

These berries were soooooo good! They were perfectly sweet and delicious...I wish I could have more right now. They didn't last long around here!

Hodge Podge

2011-10-09T21:44:00.000-07:00

The next picture of our front yard will hopefully be green! We just had sprinklers put in and Blake planted grass seed-they just started poking up yesterday! The left side of the house was just ugly gravel, so I can't wait to have it be lovely grass and a nice planting bed. We'll just leave it to Blake's yard-magic.

Camden comes around for a lap at the Jewett Jaguar's Jog-a-thon

Eddy's first jog-a-thon. The kindergarteners got to run on a smaller track. It was hilarious to watch them go all over the place and get tired after one lap (not Eddy!)

Johanna's response to "hard labor" that Blake put her through. Blake had the kids (and me too) shoveling gravel from one side of our house in preparation for sprinklers/grass.

Our beloved Alameda Home! Johanna lived here from ages 1-3 and Logan spent his first 4 months here. We were able to visit Alameda and our friends the Pixtons, Teuchers and Harlows, and have a fun time in San Franscisco for a few days.

Food Glorious Food! My homemade salsa with homegrown tomatoes......so good and pretty to look at!

The last blackberries-it was slim pickins, but oh that pie was good!

If pie weren't enough, we also had this giant chocolate cake-I should have weighed it-it was heavy! Camden always enjoys his desserts, so it's appropriate that Cam hold the cake for this picture.

Back to School for Eddy

2011-09-19T13:13:00.000-07:00

I made these cute apple cupcakes to give to friends and the kids. It's our yearly tradition for the first week of school.

Johanna had some friends over for her 14th birthday. We BBQd and they watched movies

Kindergarten Eddy! He was pretty excited for the first day of school. It was just last Monday since Kindergarten starts a week after everyone else here. It's been a little hard for him to get up in the morning, but I think he's been enjoying it. He's in a conjoined classroom-two classrooms headed by one teacher with a conjoining door. Eddy's group is "the blue dolphins".

Eddy's new school, new backpack, and new shoes. With 2 older brothers, Eddy hardly ever gets new clothes, so this outfit is a handmedown. Not that he cares!

Tons of Fun=tons of pictures!

2011-09-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

Johanna and Logan ready for their first day at Scenic Middle

Cam at his desk at Jewett Elementary

Eddy earned this "super singer" badge at primary last Sunday-he was Super proud of it and wore it all day

Our church has a huge pear farm here and we have all been asked to work in it to bring in the prolific pear harvest. Blake, Johanna, Logan and I all went last Friday. Hot, dusty work!

Logan with his pear basket. He is so thrilled! He came back with us on Labo day for 3 hours!!

an Andrea in a pear tree

After our planned swimming trip to the Kroc center didn't pan out (it was closed), the kids had a fun afternoon jumping over the sprinklers under Grandma and Grandpa's trampoline.

Logan!

Camden!

Johanna!

We had a great time at the Oregon State Fair. We ended our trip with cotton candy in the shuttle to our car.

Boys in the bumper cars. Poor Cam couldn't figure out how to get his car moving, so was pinned in the corner the whole time.

Johanna and Logan enjoyed the swings. This used to be a favorite ride of mine. Now, being old, it just makes me sick...

The last Blackberry Pie......oh so good!!!

I wish I could say our whole summer went like this-siblings having fun together, doing something creative and constructive....At least I captured this one moment of doing that!

Summer's not over yet!

2011-08-23T16:40:00.000-07:00

WE went camping at Jedediah Smith State Park last weekend with a bunch of people from our ward. It was so fun! It was in the redwoods of CA, so very beautiful. We hiked and swam and went to the beach, which isn't far away.
bad pic, but that's Logan on top

Camden and friend Tate playing Monopoly Deal before dinner Friday night.

We went camping with about 100 people from church. We had a potluck dinner, followed by a talent show. The kids and I ressurected our famous "Wishy Washy Washerwoman" song, to much applause.

Plum kutchen baked in my NEW pan from Katy

Saturday was spent at the southern Oregon beach. It was cool, but the kids had a great time, of course!

A grove of Redwood trees was right across from our campsite-it was awesome-the kids were climbing all over the downed trees

What's better then a camping breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon? Especially for Blake who ran 10-12 miles on the boyscout trail that morning.

You can't tell,but Johanna's holding a tiny frog! We had a great time on Friday playing in this river. The boys collected tadpoles, and Johanna and I swam in the perfectly clear and deep water!

2011-08-23T16:39:00.000-07:00

Stuff we've done

2011-08-17T08:42:00.000-07:00

Here's a lizard we found coming down from hiking-Johanna dubbed it "Gilbert"

After a rocky start (complaining galore), we all had fun hiking to one of two "tablerock" hikes in Medford. It wasn't too far, but it was pretty steep, and hot! So with Eddy, we were kinda slow (plus, Johanna didn't feel great). A pretty view from the top though.

Johanna barely made it! Isn't this tree cool-I don't know what it is, but there were a lot of them with this peeling bark revealing bright green underneath

My birthday bootie-always fun....

The fam in front of the Medford Temple after Cam's baptism. It's right next door to our chapel.

Blake and Cam before the baptism. Poor Blake-the suit was a little too short for him...not too comfortable. We had to baptize Camden twice-his foot was sticking out.

Cabin and Cousins

2011-08-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

Johanna and cousin Lindsay are best of friends and had a great two weeks together (Aunt Brooke made them all pretty)

Boys. Water. Mud. Rocks

The Cousin Catch-they all had so much fun fishing with Grandpa, Uncle Blake, Uncle Shane and Uncle Chris

Another hike, sorta. Our first and second choice hikes were washed out, so we followed a little spring until we found a decent spot for our hot dog roast. The kids had fun playing in the spring and picking wildflowers. We enjoyed hot dogs and smores.

Logan's trout was the biggest-he wouldn't touch it, so that's Cam holding it. We enjoyed Log's catch at a fishfry the next day-delicious!

Cam was very proud of his catch. All the cousins caught one!

Go Go Go!!! Here is a team of Thurman's during the "puzzle challenge" We had a game day with lots of fun games prepared by Blake's brother, Shane-with excellent prizes (not)

Cam and cousin Aspen with their prize-a plastic Alien

Grandma and Grandpa's "talent" was sharing stories from Great Grandma Della and Great Grandpa Melvin's lives. That jacket is one Della made for Melvin-it's very well made, and so stylish!

Relaxing on the deck after family pictures

Blake and Eddy workin' hard to keep their egg on that spoon

I was enjoying the afternoon reading on the deck-the surroundings were so beautiful, it was warm and peaceful. I wish I could really capture it.

Johanna and cousin's Sierra andLindsay performed part of Napoleon Dynamite's dance-they looked awesome!

We hiked with the fam up to "Intermittent Springs". It is an easy hike with a beautiful end. The kids could have stayed and played all day in the rocks and water.

Life was a beach

2011-07-13T16:05:00.000-07:00

Some of our family met at Lincoln City on the Oregon Coast for a quasi-reunion-we were missing Danielle's family and Johanna. We had such a great time! The weather was fantastic-sunny, warm and no wind! Only rain one day. We played on the beach mostly, but the "boys" had their golf day, the "girls" went shopping (great stuff this time!) and horseback riding, Mo's OF COURSE!, we explored a tide pool, the kids climbed a lighthouse, we played games and ate good food. We had so much fun, we decided to stay another day. It was sad to say goodbye when the time came, but we just hope that next year is just as great and that everyone can be there!
Eddy and all the other kids had a fabuloust time playing in the surf-they did if for hours!

Katy and Jen with their quintuple stuffed Oreo.Mmmmmmm....I wanna piece of that!

Classic Dad-he found a piece of moss during our hike and retrofitted it as a mustache.

I love this picture-one last time on the beach before we had to leave. We missed you Johanna!

Me, riding a horse, on a beach. It really was pretty fun!

There was a cool tide pool close to our house-it was so fun going there and seeing a ton of sea stars, anemones, hermit crabs and other sea life
The ocean was so beautiful-and the weather was unbelievably great...for Oregon.
Mom among the seagrass and driftwood-we were glad she made it down to the beach. It was a gorgeous day.
Jennifer! Always cloing her eyes...You can't see mine either, I guess. Anyway, the hike to the waterfall and over the suspension bridge was awesome! The trip up was very windy and poor Camden tossed his cookies (again-he got carsick on the trip to the coast from Salem too).
Dinner for 16 was lively every night! Thank you Costco!

Pictures from our crazy month of June

2011-06-17T19:49:00.000-07:00

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More fun Pictures!

2011-05-27T20:48:00.000-07:00

This is me with my friend/realtor Michelle. Where's the face powder when you need it?

Ed, Victorious

Two Jedi's join in a glorious battle

My funny gift basket to above mentioned Michelle. She's always low on silver ware in her family of 7, there's also a craft punch (she keeps trying to get me to join her card group) and snicker pops...yum!

Johanna Thurman and Julianna Thurgood (Michelle's daughter and J's friend and fellow hip hopper). These two always get mixed up at school. It happened just today! I was dropping off cream puffs for Johanna's band party and the secretary said she needed a note for Johanna's tardy yesterday-but she really was talking about Julianna. This picture is after their hip hop performance to "Safety Dance", an 80's hit.

A Musical Day followed by a sweet ending

2011-05-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

All the kids had music concerts this week-in fact on the same day! I went to a concerts at 10:30, 2:30 and 7:00. They all did a great job and I enjoyed each performance. Camden and Logan sang patriotic songs with their grades at school and Johanna had an oboe solo in a Harry Potter medley in her school band.

Logan loves to sing, but you wouldn't have guessed by watching him. This was his expression the entire concert-except when he was yawning. Yeah! His shirt is still white! He enjoyed a pizza lunch at his Challenge class earlier, so I made him put this shirt on just before singing.

This is as far at my camera would zoom! Johanna and her oboe in action...

Here's the sweet ending-of the week. I just finished this adorable (if I do say so myself) Pikachu pinata tonight. We put him together on Monday night and tonight did all the finish work-it was a lot of cutting and pasting (not as easy without a computer!). We'll enjoy the pictures now before it gets smashed at Camden's birthday party next week.

Johanna and I were covered in flour paste Monday night-so here's the pre-pikachu. Camden and Eddy helped a little-but Logan wouldn't touch the paste-he hates to get dirty!

On Sunday Simon Said....

2011-05-15T20:47:00.000-07:00

I had to throw this one in here. Johanna and her BFF's Chantel and Hannah went to see Wicked Saturday. They had a glorious time lunching at Miss Tami's Tea Cottage and attending the show-which they said was awesome! The girls made matching shirts -they were so cute!

Johanna, Eddy, Camden and I played Simon Says Sunday afternoon-Cam's choice. It was fun! We all took turns telling others to make funny faces, jump on one leg, act like a money, etc.

Strike a Pose!

Johanna looks like she's picking her noise.

A mother's favorite day

2011-05-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

A day to appreciate your lovely and accomplished children-they are so good at making horrible faces ( she must have inherited that from her aunts = )

the best gifts ever! From Logan I received lovely toilet paper roll flowers, from Camden a clay self portrait magnet, a card and flower from Eddy, and huckleberry pancakes from Johanna (the boys helped too). It was so funny listening to Johanna boss around her brothers as they got breakfast ready (I had to stay in bed). They called me downstairs, and it was a beautiful sight-all my children beaming at me around the already set table-flowers and all, with a chorus of "Happy Mother's Day!" I don't think Mother's day is ever as fun as when you still have young children.

Easter Reunion

2011-04-29T16:40:00.000-07:00

I thought this was a great picture of Mom at Wheeler Farm in Salt Lake

the kids loved climbing all over this tractor and especially playing in a tree house at the farm.

Me and My Cami. The hayride through the back part of the farm was beautiful, and hard to believe that it was so close to the city.

logan perusing the "prize wagon". He eventually went with the rubber snake, if you want to know.

Most of my family enjoyed Easter weekend together at my sister Katy's house in Utah. I thought this was so cute of grandpa and some of the grandkids.

Ed picked the chocolate bunny out of the "prize wagon" after our egg hunt. He looked everything over and said "Mmmm, I'll just take this" all casual like.

This egg was just for Johanna-no one else could reach.

All the kiddies. They had a great time hunting for eggs-there was a ton of candy! Sorry about all the cameras in the picture!

I love this photo of Grandma and Logan talking-Grandma and Logan have a special relationship because Grandma always takes the time to listen to and talk to Logan about what he's interested in.

2011-04-29T16:31:00.000-07:00

This is how we REALLY look
We had such a good time together, but staying up too late made us a little crazy (see below). Unfortunately, I do not have an ugly picture of myself to include (you can check out my sister's blog to see that-and in fact, I won the uglyface contest).

Ugly Stepsister Jennifer

Ugly stepsister Danielle-check out those brows!

Arrrrggg Matey...Ugly stepsister Katy

The Kitty Queen

2011-04-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

Inky can turn anything into her royal bedchamber. She snuggled right down in these clothes I was folding. So cozy!

The true queen of our home-at least in her own mind. This paper towel roll crown fit perfectly! When I told Blake about this picture, he said I had too much time on my hands (not true!), but I had a perfectly good excuse-it was just a lefover from preschool preparations last night.

101 ways with a boiled egg....

2011-04-18T20:26:00.000-07:00

We had plenty of eggs to dye last Saturday. Aunt Brooke brought several dozen, and I had boiled 18 as well! The kids were in boiled egg heaven. Dye going here and there, dye going everywhere! It was fun having Brooke and Shane and their two kids back with us after a three year hiatus in Kentucky.

Blake was here for a very quick weekend-he got in at Midnight Friday and left Sunday after sacrement meeting. The kids (and me too) loved having him home and Eddy didn't want to spend a minute away from him.

That kid in his underpants is my nephew Jett. I told Brooke that now that she's moved from Kentucky, she could no longer let her kids run around like that! = )

My beautiful flower cupcakes. Each cake had a ton of candy on it, making them super kid pleasers. Okay, I liked them too.

Crepes......and more crepes. I gave a cooking class on crepes last week, so my kids got as many crepes as they wanted. I made at least 7 batches and tried new recipes with them. This one here is Chocolate Souffle Crepes with strawberry sauce and cream.

Our Annual Spring Break in OR.

2011-04-06T13:48:00.000-07:00

Here is Blake's bachelor pad/loft. It's very small-but what does Blake need space for??? I brought Johanna and Logan down to Medford to visit Blake. Johanna slept on the loveseat, Logan on the floor, and luckily, Blake had a full size bed for me to share with him = ) We drove all over Medford looking at houses-always fun to do!

Yes, here is photographic evidence that Blake can cook-oh wait-I made this meal....Anyway, this is the very cooktop that Blake has been using to concoct gourmet Hamburger Helper.

the capitol was gorgeous as ever. (dandelion courtesy of Ed)

B B B BUS

Flower Power and the Thurman kids

A Night at the Races

2011-03-08T21:19:00.000-08:00

It's Pinewood Derby Night! This is always a very exciting time for a young boy scout (and their not so young fathers too). Thankfully, Blake was on top of things and had Logan's car all ready to go a month ago before he started his new job. Logan had a great time (he came in 19th over all), and I was just glad his car wasn't last. Logan is waiting at the finish line, anxiously awaiting the Big Cheese's top time.

Logan carefully putting his car on the track-a couple kids lost a wheel along the way!

Logan received a special award for the "cheesiest" car. This is because for some reason he had Johanna paint "The Big Cheese" with an accompanying wedge of swiss on the top of his car. All the boys got awards for their cars and Logan was pretty happy with his award. We all had a great time watching the exciting Pinewood Derby races. Some of those cars get pretty fancy-but we like to stick with the basics!

Dad is in the house!

2011-02-23T16:33:00.000-08:00

Eddy is feeling downcast after yet another gutter ball. We all had a fun time bowling Saturday afternoon.
Blake was able to come visit us last weekend-after three weeks of being at his new job in Medford. The kids were all so happy to see him-especially Eddy, who became Blake's shadow for the three days he was here. We had a good time together and kept busy doing fun things or just enjoying time at home.

Not a real flattering picture, but this is what romance looks like after 15 years of marriage.

President's Day was unexpectedly nice, so we had a rousing game of Ultimate Frisbee at the park. Ed refused to play, so after making him watch us for awhile, I took him to the play equipment.

Blake and Logan getting his pinewood derby car ready to go, since Blake won't be here for the derby. It's been dubbed "The Big Cheese". Johanna painted a lovely wedge of chedder on the top. I'm sure it will win top honors for style, but we'll have to see how fast it is.

Fun at home with mom

2011-02-18T10:43:00.000-08:00

There are perks to being the only one home. We play games, and have popsicles at 10 a.m.

We got a couple inches of snow yesterday morning, so Ed an I hurried out to make a snowman. Just 2 hours later, our poor man had already met his demise. I also gave Eddy a ride around the backyard on our sled. We made it around our "track" twice before we were down to the grass and had to stop-still, it was fun-we may not get snow again this Winter.

Weekend Happenings

2011-02-13T19:54:00.000-08:00

Eddy started off our weekend with a Preschool Sleepover at our house. We played "Bug in the Rug", danced, drank hot cocoa and watched a scary movie with popcorn, of course! Johanna had about 5 girls over that evening and Logan had a friend too-together, they polished off a huge pizza, breadsticks, and an entire pan of Rice Krispy treats (but somehow, the salad survived un-touched). Exhausting, but fun.

Sunday afternoon was spent making Valentines. Eddy has been so excited about "Valentimes Day" I hope it meets his expectations tomorrow. Everyone had fun putting togehter their creations. However, with class sizes so big these days-it's quite an ordeal! We made about 60 cards all together.

Doesn't my mantel look festive, but not overly so? Blake sent the beautiful tulips yesterday. I made the cute (and super simple) heart garland with a friend last week, Cam brought the nail and string heart art home from school, and I canabalized an old art project from one of the kids (no name on it, so I felt free to) and put the latest pic of Blake and I in it. The kids were wondering why it was just a picture of us, and not them too!

There's no fun like snow fun!

2011-01-27T11:01:00.000-08:00

We had a great time at the cabin last weekend. There was a ton of snow-so great sledding! We relaxed, played and ate. Blake's parents were there with us, as well as Johanna's friend, Brittany. It was a long drive to get there (we arrived at 12 a.m. and it was freezing!), but well worth it.

The kids looked so cute in front of the pond with the beautiful snowy background

Cam throws a snowball at the girls-there were snowball fights aplenty

Grandpa loves to chop wood and start fires-he made one to burn up the old Christmas tree, so the kids took the opportunity to roast marshmellows-it was weird smelling like smoke in the winter.

Johanna launches her Spring clothing line (sorry-only in size doll)

2011-01-10T20:49:00.001-08:00

This was cute and I had to put it in-Ed's preschool was saying the pledge of allegiance-they all know it really well. One of the mom's has even taught them the Star Spangled Banner! So patriotic

Here's Inky modeling the latest in hair fashions, Made by Jen. Also in the picture...my foot.

Johanna has spent hours sewing doll clothes lately. She just finished these "skinny" jeans and tank top. They are so cute!

Johanna's inspiration...Aunt Jen. Jen sewed these absolutely gorgeous dresses...amazing! Better then the real thing.

Christmas in Oregon

2010-12-30T17:36:00.000-08:00

Customize a slideshow design

Hi Everyone-I'm so excited that this slideshow worked-It took me an hour! Anyway, I just wanted to share some of our pictures. We had such a fun time with Mom and Dad-except it went way too fast! The beach was fantastic-great weather, good food, a perfect beach house (except for Mom's sleeping accomodations...sorry, Mom!). Lots of good memories.

family pictures

2010-12-08T19:23:00.001-08:00

Do I look old, or what-and that's AFTER photoshoping!
Well, it was a beautiful Fall afternoon, and I guess we can't keep those great pictures from five years ago when there were less wrinkles around, since the kids were 8, 5, 2 and not in existance. Oh well, with age comes wisdome, right?

Cabin time!

2010-11-19T15:58:00.000-08:00

Ed with Grandma and Grandpa Thurman carrying their little trees. Eddy was a trooper. The hike wasn't too long, but it was a little steep and slippery-he did great, though he did roll down a small embankment and almost into a creek!

I just made this for Johanna today! Isn't it cute? She and Logan are performing in Monster Concert tomorrow, so I may make her a black one to wear to that-it was so easy!

Johanna in front of the old barns at the cabin-it was snowing "powdered sugar" the whole time we were there and there-it was so beautiful!

On our way to hike up and get our Christmas tree. Johanna brought her friend Hannah with us

Blake and Logan with our tree selection. Blake brought his tape measure so that we didn't get one too big for our livingroom. I think it's going to be fabulous!!

We had a wonderful time at the cabin last weekend. I can't say much for the drive-it's so long!!! However, once we arrived, that's all forgotten. We were only there one day, but we enjoyed sleeping in, a lovely hike, good food, games and movies. After church Sunday, it was time to clean up and head out already! We had to stop on the way home because after a well placed smack in the nose (I won't name the guilty brother), Eddy had a major bloody nose that just wouldn't stop! I have to admit-kind of scary-thank goodness for baby wipes-I still keep them in my car-so handy!

Halloween

2010-11-02T20:05:00.000-07:00

Halloween on Sunday could have been a bummer, but it turned out to be pretty fun...only with less candy (probably a good thing, however, I miss all the Reeses PB cups that I usually get to snag from the kid's pumpkins-I call it...the mom tax).

Our ward had a trunk or treat and chili feed on Saturday night. We all had a great time at that, and the kids got a good amount of treats. Johanna's friends all arrived early at our house so that they could come with us. Johanna was one of the three musketeers with two other friends and another friend was Luna Lovegood.

Sunday we had a "party" at our house after dinner. We played lots of Halloween themed games and had grape juice/lime sherbet/7-up floats. We gave out the rest of our candy to the neighbors-most of it (about 350 pieces~!) went to the trunk or treaters on Saturday.

The kids all looked cute in their costumes. I had bought viking hats for Logan and Camden, but they were plastic, uncomfortable and kept falling off, so I just made some out of fleece-perfect! They stayed on and were fuzzy to boot!

Katy's recipe requests

2010-10-27T15:39:00.000-07:00

Steak and Mushroom Stew

6 oz. diced bacon
3-4 lb. chuck roast-cut into 1 inch cubes
salt and pepper
2 small onions, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbl. tomato paste
3/4 lb brown mushrooms
3 Tb. dijon mustard
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1/4 cup chopped parsley

Season roast chunks with salt and pepper. Brown roast, bacon and onion together for a few minutes and then add diced veggies, mushrooms and garlic and saute a few minutes more. Stir in tomato paste, broth and mustard. Transfer to a slow cooker and cook on high 3-4 hours-you can add more broth or water if you want it more soupy. Stir in parsley. Serve over sour cream mashed potatoes (or plain).

Soft Pretzles

1 1/2 cup warm water
1 1/2 tsp. dry yeast
2 Tb. brown sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 cups flour-part wheat if desired

Sprinkle yeast over warm water in bowl of mixer. Let stand until dissolved or foamy. Add shortening and sugar and salt. Mix in flour for about 5 minutes, until smooth and streachy. Let rise in bowl of mixer (covered) for 1/2 to 1 hour. Form into pretzle shapes. Dip into baking soda bath and place on greased pans. Cover and let rise again for 1/2 to 1 hour, until puffy.
Bake in 450 oven for 6-10 minutes (watch it). Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with kosher or other coarse salt

Baking soda bath-2 cups warm water and 2 Tb. baking soda-mix well

Another recipe we liked:

Chicken Not Pie (healthy..from Blake's running mag)

1/4 c. olive oil
2 leeks-washed and chopped (I use the white and some of the green)
1 can (2 cups) chicken broth
1/2 tsp. thyme or tarragon
2 boneless chicken breast
3 large red potatoes, chopped into cubes
2 carrots, cut into coins
1/2 lb. snow peas, trimmed
1/2 lb. asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces (I used zuchinni instead)
2 Tb. fresh squeezed lemon juice

Saute leeks, salt and pepper to taste for five minutes in the oil. Add broth, thyme and boil one minute. Add chicken, potatoes and carrots and simmer, covered, for five minutes or until chicken is almost done. Add peas and asparagus or zuchinni and cook for 3 minutes. Remove chicken and chop-return to pan. Add lemon and serve over brown rice...delicious!

Fall activitties we are glad to be done with

2010-10-27T15:12:00.000-07:00

Logan's soccer team after their game last Saturday

These are the cupcakes I made for my piano recital. The chocolate spiders looked really cute on them and they were gone in a minute-I didn't even get one!

Logan's soccer cake for his last game turned out really cute. I got this idea online and the kids loved it-they all crowded around us after the game exclaiming "where am I?!" It's two cake mixes, so everyone could have white or chocolate-I put one flavor on each side. So easy!

Johanna with the 10 baby gowns she sewed for her first 10 hour young women's project.

I love Fall!!!

2010-10-10T20:31:00.001-07:00

I think that October is my favorite month. I love that the holidays are just around the corner. I love harvest time-especially since we live in an agricultural area where produce abounds. It always amazes me that food is so plentiful here-there's no excuse for anyone to go hungry. I love pumpkins and the color orange. I love crisp Fall days and cooler temperatures. I love Fall food!!!
My kids had a great time visiting a local small farm on Friday (no school). We ostensibly went there to pick grapes. The grapes were'nt great, but the hayride, baby goats (cookies and cream), trampoline and big rope swing were! I did get 11 quarts of juice.

Flirty witch? No, it's only Johanna, posing in a picture Grandma H had asked for...cute, huh?

Gluttons for Grapes!! So, eleven quarts of delicious, antitoxidant rich grape juice just wasn't enough, so we drove to Payette (an hour away) to pick some more. Grape heaven-you could smell them and they were literally dripping off the vines. We went there last year and just like then, we all had a fabulous time reveling in the wonderful grape bounty. We probably picked too much, and I will probably regret it as I get more and more tired of steaming grapes this week. It was great though.

sharing a late Summer day with Mia

2010-09-24T12:41:00.000-07:00

Mia had a wonderful time on the trampoline with the boys-even when they got a little crazy

Our apple-tester. She tried every one to make sure there were no worms

If you can't tell, that's a lady bug just taking flight-it was sitting on Katy's finger a moment earlier.

It was a beautiful afternoon in Rexburg. Katy dropped me off at my in-laws after we had enjoyed a terrific evening stuffing ourselves at Melting Pot and watching the beautiful dancing and inventive scenery of Lion King. She and Mia ended up staying for the day. We spent a lot of time outside enjoying the apple "orchard" and trampoline.

Just recipes

2010-09-21T19:16:00.001-07:00

Well, I was reading some recipes on blogs today and I thought....hey-what a great idea, because I love food! So here's a recipe I tried today that I got online...delicious! It can be vegan, if you like.

Split Pea Soup

1 Tb. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
3 cloves garlic-pressed or chopped
2 cups dried split peas...I used yellow
1/2 cup barley (you don't have to use..I did though)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
7 1/2 cups water/broth
3 carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 potatoes, diced
1/2 c. chopped parsley
1/2 tsp dried basil...or use more of fresh
1/2 tsp dried thyme...or more fresh
1/2 tsp. ground pepper

Saute onions and garlic in oil. Add peas, barley, salt and water. Boil and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 2 hours, then add veggies and herbs. You may have to add more water or broth. I pureed it with my neighbor's immersion blender (I gotta get one of those!).

Peanut dipping sauce (for lettuce wraps-or combine with Stir fry sauce recipe for my new fave stir fry sauce)

1/2 cup pb
1/3 cup water
2 Tb. vinegar
1/2 tsp. minced ginger
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. chili oil
1 Tb. brown sugar

Combine and microwave until smooth

Stir Fry Sauce
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. cornstarch
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
2 tsp. sesame seed
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. chili oil
1/2 tsp. minced ginger

Combine in saucepan and heat until thickened

Happy Birthday Johanna!

2010-09-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

Johanna and dollys dressed in their new outfits-fantastic job, Jen!

Johanna and friends Hannah and Chantelle breakfasting at the Tea House.

13 candles on a oreo mint cheesecake...a lovely sight!
Johanna once again enjoyed her birthday. I can't believe she's 13!! We had a late night party after soccer practice Thursday. She loved the package from Aunt Jennifer with all her clever sewn doll things. She loved her gifts from grandparents and Aunt Katy too-thank you to all!

Saturday we had her "party". I took Johanna and her friends to the breakfast buffet at "Miss Tami's Tea Cottage". I have to say, it was delicious and a good thing I'd gone for a run that morning-Monte Cristo sandwich anyone? The girls all looked adorably dressed up for the occasion and enjoyed themselves immensely. They returned home to play dolls and try on the gifts Johanna received from them-lots of silly bandz and shirts-Hannah felt bad that Johanna didn't have any brand names-so she remedied that. I can't believe that I used to care so much about brand names. I couldn't give a fig now! As long as it's cute, I'll wear it. Anyway, Johanna was sad when her special day was over.

Last breathings of summer

2010-09-05T20:51:00.000-07:00

Logan actually licking the dregs of our LAST raspberry pie........sigh.....and it was delicious.

All Ed watched was the "colorful man" who was selling the cotton candy-he was wearing tie dye wig and shirt.

Amazing! Spirit of Boise Balloon festival

We attempted to finish of the "bucket list" of things we wanted to do this summer. Friday

night we enjoyed ice-cream at "Delsa's", a cute little retro ice-cream parlour. Actually, that was plan B. We originally set off to watch a baseball game, but after arriving, found it was sold out! We exchanged our tickets for Saturday's game and went to ice-cream instead.

Saturday morning we rose at 6:00 a.m. to make it to Boise by 7 for the balloon festival. It was so worth it! It was a perfect morning-beautiful and clear-not too cold. There were 28 hot air balloons in rainbow hues and we arrived just before they were inflated. It was so inspiring to see them grow huge before our eyes and then drift up into the blue sky. An orchestral soundtrack completed the magic of it. The kids loved it...I loved it! Afterwards we took the kids to IHOP, which was VERY crowded, but we all enjoyed our "tutti-frutti-fresh and fruity" pancakes.

Blake worked the remainder of the day, and I had my usual struggle getting the kids to do their puny Saturday chores, but we enjoyed another gorgeous summer evening at the ball park. It was fun and brought to mind pictures of what summers of yesteryear were like. A funny thing-Blake spent 3.25 on special ball park peanuts which were exactly like the Hoody's I brought back from the reunion and that we still have at home!

Sisters...sisters....Oh, and lots of kids too

2010-08-17T20:09:00.000-07:00

Kiss the pony! My wild and wacky birthday party was a hit! It all started with the (extremely flattering) ensemble that I had to wear-lovely lei, crown and tacky plastic hula skirt. It just got more fun from there, complete with pinata, loads of gifts for all the sisters, chocolate cake and ice-cream...yum! I'll admit, I did act a bit crazy, but if there's one thing good about getting older-you just start not to care what anyone thinks! You get a bit more comfy with yourself...is this a good thing?

oh, I don't know!!!! Just good stuff!

2010-07-30T20:46:00.000-07:00

Logan's new bike..finally! He and Cam have been looking kind of funny on their old-too small bikes. Blake took Logan out last weekend and got him a new one. Logan didn't know they were going to do that-so he was quite excited. I just had to snap a pic in front of our beautiful flowers-the hummingbirds love them!

Johanna and cousin Lindsay. She's been here the last week and will stay another week. They've been having a wonderful time together and I've been acting as "cruise activity director" keeping everyone busy.

Johanna looked funny mowing our lawn last night with her tall socks, ipod, swimsuit and my shoes. She just LOVES this job.

This week

2010-07-11T21:24:00.000-07:00

Johanna had an art class every day this week from 9-12, so we would bring a picnic lunch and go on small outings after we picked her up. We fed ducks, played in the city hall fountain, visited a chocolate shop, went to the library... it was fun!

We dressed in the spirit of the day on the 4th of July for church. We enjoyed friends for dinner and the kids had a great time watching the huge fireworks going on around our neighborhood.

My pisachio/raspberry meringue torte we had tonight-layers of airy meringue, fresh raspberries from Blake's garden, rich whipped cream , rasberry puree and delicious pasty cream. Heavenly!

Happy 10th birthday Logan!

2010-07-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

Logan turned 10 last week. He had a great birthday party with four friends (a big improvement over last time-only 1 came!). We did a survivor party that included an obstacle course, puzzle challenge, disgusting food challenge and scavenger hunt. I made a very cute volcano cake with hard sugar candy "lava" and whip cream foam. Logan loved all the gifts and cards he got from everyone. Mostly He loved the attention. Blake and I gave him a watch and he's been timing everything ever since.

What, you don't want to try watermelon and hot sauce oatmeal?

Johanna's tiki's...they were very cute. We would have saved them, but the wind tore them up the next day-oh well, at least we have photographic evedence.

A happy birthday boy with his lava cake.

kid sports and cupcakes

2010-06-03T20:34:00.001-07:00

These are the shark and minnow cupcakes I tried last week for my piano recital. They were pretty cute, but what a pain! I think I spent two hours putting 6 cupcakes together, and then they were top heavy. If I did it again, I'd cut the twinkies down more, and maybe they would'nt fall over. Anyway, they were a hit with the kids.

Logan enjoying his post-game picnic with his team, the Diamond Backs. He enjoyed the camraderie of the team, but says that he will never do baseball again. It's hard to enjoy something where everyone is better then you!

Johanna at the bat. Yes, under that huge helmet is Johanna. She also enjoyed playing with her team, and I think it was generally a good experience, but ditto Logan's position. She looks professional though, doesn't she?

A beautiful Spring day of soccer....

Actually, it was freezing! It was a miserable last game for Camden. I don't think he minded much. He had a great time with his team. I'd have to say that altogether, I was glad I was able to coach, but I'm sure glad it's over!

DIsneyland

2010-05-20T13:55:00.001-07:00

Eddy finally getting to ride the teacups-he talked about "the teapot ride" the whole week before we left. I was just excited that I didn't get too dizzy on them-it was kinda fun! Ed and I had a wonderful time together going on the rides in Fantasy Land-they were just right for his age.

We had so much fun in Disneyland! It was our first time, so everything was especially exciting and new. We loved the detail that was put into everything, the fun main street and Tinkerbell flying over Sleeping Beauties castle. The lines were almost never too long, so we got to enjoy the rides without waiting all day. It wasn't too hot or crowded. As for our favorite rides-I think most of us liked California Screamin', Space Mountain, Soarin' over California, Indiana Jones, the Matterhorn...
Having Jen, Karl, Joren, Kyle and Jonathan with us was a blast! We didn't hang out all day, but we enjoyed meeting them for lunch (PB and J, everyday!) and having dinners together in our hotel.
All in all, it was a magical Diney vacation, just like it was suppossed to be. We only wished we could have stayed a little longer.

Here are Johanna and I screamin' on California Screamin'-you can see how much fun we're having.

Johanna took a liking to Minnie Mouse while we were there and got her Minnie mouse ears. We were lucky to see Minnie standing almost alone, so Johanna and I sprinted over to her to get a picture....classic !

Jennifer and I joined our two tables to make one long table for us all-we are enjoying Jen's delicious stir fry, rice and egg rolls-definately beats a hot dog at Disneyland!

How many families have this exact picture in their scrapbook??? Gotta love it though.

It's been awhile...we were on Spring Break!

2010-04-16T21:36:00.000-07:00

Despite a week of sickness all around and buckets of rain, we managed to have a great Spring Break in Oregon. Our trip was delayed a day after I got sick the night before we were suppossed to leave. We arrived Sunday, Eddy had diarrhea in bed with me Sunday night, Dad got sick Tuesday night, Johanna got sick Wednesday, Mom and Logan got sick Thursday, and Katy was sick Thursday night and Friday...amazing! However, we did lots of fun things. Katy, Johanna and I had a great time shopping the Salem botiques in the rain on Monday. On Tuesday the kids had a fantastic time playing on an indoor jungle gym. It was all the way up in Sherwood (not too far from Portland) about 45 minutes away, and I grumbled a bit on the way up, but it turned out to be fun. Bonus, I got to visit my old neighbor/friend in West Linn on the way home. Wednesday I had a marathon on girlfriend visits. Katie Keppinger just happened to be visiting her parents that week, and I had a wonderful time with her for a few hours. Later that night, I met Britta and Kari-Ann in Woodburn. I returned home around 11:30 p.m. to find mom cleaning up Logan's puke that was distributed throughout the bathroom. Thursday we took advantage of the one nice day and went to the beach. It was a beautiful sunny day, if a bit on the chilly side. We ate at Mo's, of course, where Katy was christened "the Butter Pig" (I can't remember why now) and we polished off tons of bread, fish n' chips and chowda....yummy!!!! We loved watching the waves crash over the road at Depot Bay. Another fun day! Friday was when I was initially planning to go home, but bad weather in the mountains gave me another day of vacation..yeah! The kids wanted to go to the children's museum.....they love that place! They had a fabulous time there-which is good, because I think it costs a fortune! The money was well spent that day-the kids did everything-shopped in the grocery store, played with bubbles, pretend to be digested, dress up and do a play, a pretend chinese tea ceremony, be ship captains, make cool star wars ships out of toilet paper tubes. Katy was feeling a bit better our last night, so she did puzzles with the kids and we talked until late.
It really was a great week. I love visiting Oregon! I didn't even mention how beautiful it was!

We miss you Logan!

Here's my answer to your "Big chair picture" Jen!

What's so funny?

Fun in February

2010-02-28T20:55:00.000-08:00

Cam the postman
His class set up a post office in their room and learned all about the mail. If you can't tell, Cam is wearing an official US post office sweater=he looks like Mr. Rogers! His class sent all of their Valentines through this post office.

Ed and his hat. I signed Ed up for art classes at the library-he'd only go to one, but it was a good one-he made this cool hat!

My "box of chocolates" cupcakes for my valentine's recital Yummy! The "chocolates" are really marshmellos-cut and dipped in frosting-everyone thought they were real, and were a bit dissapointed.

Johanna and friend, Hanna making cookies to give out as prizes for a school raffle raising money for Haiti.

Snowtwins, Elvis, and weeWii

2010-02-03T13:08:00.000-08:00

I don't know why I took a picture of this-I just did-their names are Eddy and Aiden (Ed's buddy)

Logan as Elvis-I'm still hoping he'll wear this for Halloween. He just needs to learn some Elvis tunes and the air guitar.

This was the one time Ed actually went on the potty, only because he was playing Star Wars Wii, I don't think he knew he was going, and was rather surprised to find all that pee in the pot when he stood up.

The ice was nice!

2010-02-03T12:56:00.000-08:00

Our family had a great time ice skating the first Saturday in January. Camden, Logan and Eddy had never tried it before and after a tenuous start-they kind of got the hang of it! Even Eddy was starting to skate on his own at the end.

Johanna in the midst of a twirl-she's a little more confident then the rest of her siblings (oh, and Dad).

This picture pretty much describes the state of the boys and ice skating-barely hanging on!

more Christmas

2010-01-03T18:19:00.001-08:00

Here's Johanna's dolly that she wanted. She seems to be happy with it and wants to make it lots of clothes.

Katy took this picture of me skiing at Harriman park

The sky was very clear and we could see the Tetons-the little skiiers are Johanna, Logan, and my Bro in law Trevin and daugter, Lindsay.

Katy, Jake and Mia came to visit in Rexburg on Christmas eve. It was so fun to see them! Katy also joined us for skiing the day after Christmas.

the most wonderful time of the year

2010-01-03T17:55:00.001-08:00

We had a great Christmas break. We spent most of Christmas week at the Wyoming cabin-playing in the snow, hiking, cooking, eating, playing Wii and relaxing. I cooked more then I should have, but we ate well! I made and put together five gingerbread cabins. They turned out really cute and I think eveyone had fun decorating them-we had a ton of candy!

Johanna and cousins Lindsay and Gunnar with their new Snuggies-courtesy of Blake.

It's Halloween Fun!

2009-11-01T20:23:00.001-08:00

Better late then never! I made a Halloween dinner of Ghostly cheese sandwiches, chicken noodle soup and orange smoothies, then we carved pumpkins before going trick-or-treating. Blake did most of the work, as I was desparately searching for the hat to Ed's costume ( I found it!). They all had a great time though. We even toasted the seeds-yummy! Garlic salt was our favorite topping by the way.

Here they are-the pokemon, dinosaur, cavegirl, gypsy and ninja. The cavegirl is Johanna's friend and our neighbor-Hannah

Is this not disturbing? This is the loot the kids ended up with-a VERY LARGE bowl of candy! Blake decided it was time to quit after overhearing comments to Logan and Camden like "Wow-you've got a lot of candy there!" Ed petered out after one block, and then he ate pretty much everything he got while the others were out. So, this is only 3 kids worth of candy! SCARY!

Cozy and Colorful Fall Pix

2009-10-27T21:05:00.000-07:00

Ahhh...family togetherness... Yes-that's Ed wearing Johanna's glasses. He's facinated with them-though they're not like Mia's-they are breakable, and he's doing his best to help Johanna into contacts

Quintisential fall-leaves, trucks and boys-don't you just want to join in?

Our VERY LAST berry pie-just picked on October 24! Ed "helped" by arranging the berries-I think he was just trying to hide the fact that he'd eaten most of them. Can't you see that guilty look on his face?

The owl cupcakes I made for my Halloween recital-aren't they cute?

Fall happenings

2009-10-09T15:46:00.000-07:00

Is this really 2009? At our house you wouldn't know it-in fact, for portions of General Conference-Camden had to hold up our lovely-right out of Star Trek antenna so we could get proper reception!

The poor little kitten! Ed visited a farm with his preschool and there were a whole passel of kittens for the kids to hold. It was very cute and didn't mind Ed holding it too much.

We had a fun time picking grapes last friday. We didn't get there until almost dark, so we had to pick fast. The kids all had fun running around the vineyard in the light of the moon. We picked an 18 gallon container full, plus three buckets. I got 35 quarts of grape juice out if them and I'm going to try and make a batch of grape jelly. They smelled so good!!!! The vineyard really was lovely-you could smell the grapes as you walked around. Ahhh...nature.

Cotton Candy Cuties

2009-09-11T21:33:00.001-07:00

I really love this picture of Mom for some reason.

My kids have never had so much cotton candy as they did at the Hoth reunion in Logan, UT. I got lots of great pictures with their treats-to cute! I can look at them, but not have to wipe cotton candy off myself afterwards.

School Again

2009-09-10T21:08:00.000-07:00

Eddy started his preschool this week. It was at my house first. On Tuesday we made tye dye shirts for them to wear on fieldtrips. Today they were ready, so I had everyone put them on and we took a picture-so cute!! I think it will be lots of fun for Ed. He gets lonely without his brothers and sister all day.

Every year those kids keep getting bigger! I feel like these first day of school photos come around all the time, but the kids in them keep changing-bittersweet.....Johanna looked so grown-up going off to middle school with her friends. Check out Johanna's friend's 80's outfit-skinny jeans are coming to get us, ladies!

Johanna seems to really like middle school though-I hope she has a wonderful year and keeps on becoming the girl she should be.

Just the two boys at Hunter Elementary this year. I think they are both liking school. Logan is enjoying his one day a week challenge program. Camden says his teacher is both mean and fun....? Let's hope the fun side wins him over-especially since he's in a "loop" and will have her for 1st and 2nd grades!

Wyoming

2009-08-09T20:45:00.000-07:00

Our family (sans Ed) about halfway up Twin Peaks in a field of beautiful wildflowers. Logan, Cam and I turned around shortly after this point, but Blake and Johanna went the whole way up and back-9 hours of hiking!!!!

The whole gang in the back of grandpa's pick-up right before the hike.

This is how big Ed said his fish was

Eddy and the fish he helped catch at the cabin pond

Johanna coming down the zip line over Blake's uncle's pond in Rexburg-so fun!! We celebrated Grandma Call's 80th birthday with a dinner, family pix, and lots of swimming, boating, canoeing, and playing in the pond. The kids had such a great time. We didn't leave until after 8, which got us back to the cabin after 10 with a load of tired kids.

All the boys canoeing in the pond

Blake and I after a session at the Rexburg temple-beautiful!

We had lots of fun in Star Valley, Wyoming recently! Katy and Mia came to visit us at the cabin-which we loved! We enjoyed a short ride in a motorboat over Jenny lake. After disembarking, we hiked to Hidden Falls (pictured here). Katy and I had to "walk" with Mia a good part of the way...whew-what a workout! Aside from the mosquitos, it was fun though.

summer stuff

2009-06-29T15:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a few pictures of what we've been doing. Cam's birthday was fun-after caming in a yurt overnight with Grandma and Grandpa Thurman, we came home to presents and this cute cupcake alligator cake. Johanna and I had a fun time making it. We've had tons of cherries over the last few weeks. It's been wonderful! They were so beautiful and delicious! We gave a lot away, but ate as many as we wanted-love it!

Last weekend, we all (except Johanna, who was camping) ran a fun run. Logan came in 2nd and would have won a prize, only he was wearing my number-oops! Cam and Ed kinda cheated-they couldn't make it the whole way, so we lobbed off a bit of the course.

What's not to love about summer?

2009-06-09T20:31:00.000-07:00

I just love summer. I love not having a schedule, I love not having to make cold lunch each morning (pb and J everyday...boring!!), I love just hanging around the house with the kids playing, I love reading books while lounging in the sun, and the last minute trips to get ice-cream. We took the kids to the ice-cream shop that Logan made a model of tonight. Everyone had fun and only two of us didn't get ice-cream on their shirt (I was NOT one of them). We read books from the library-library reading program time! Anyway, just had to share why I love summer.

Party!!!!

2009-06-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

We had a last day of school party yesterday. It was mostly for Johanna, but I let Logan and Cam each invite a friend as well. I think a good time was had by all. I'm not sure how many kids were there-at least 16. Anyway, my house was full! I made the cute graduation cap cupcakes- an idea I've saved from 2000 or something like that. We also had Johanna's requests-Bugels, Capri Suns and Starburst, plus cookies and fruit/veggies with dip. There were two slip n' slides, waterguns, pool, waterballoons, bubble machine, and a craft. I swept up about 2 cups of debris off the sopping wet floor afterwards-I had a pond in my downstairs bath, mangled carpet, and scratched wood floors from the sand they brought in, but it was fun! Maybe I'll do it again!

The happy kids who are now out of school

2009-06-04T20:39:00.000-07:00

Johanna in the wet t-shirt contest at school (JK) she had fun at all the field day stations. I was there face painting. I forgot about babysitting for Cam and Ed, so they came with me. Poor little guys-I was so busy-they had to entertain themselves in the hot sun for three hours! They did great, though I'm not sure how many otterpops Ed helped himself to.

Logan pre-field day-ready for the fun to begin.

Cam wearing his graduation cap. The kindergartners had a cute little graduation ceremony in his classroom. They sang some adorable songs (which I did not have my camcorder for -GARGGGG!!), and recieved their "diplomas". Cam is now ready for first grade..sniff..my baby!

Gotta have h

2009-05-27T21:37:00.000-07:00

Is it all about the kids? Yes, at our house

2009-05-27T21:08:00.000-07:00

Logan's end of the year project-mostly done by himself. It's a local ice-cream parlour that operated for 30 years and then closed. New owners bought it and have learned to make all the old recipes.

Johanna backstage before her dance recital.

Ed and Log enjoying ice-cream at school. Logan got one item for every times table he learned-he passed off all 12, so it was three scoops of ice-cream, sprinkles, choclate and caramel syrup, gummy bears and whip cream (he didn't want a cherry). I helped scoop, so Ed of course had to have some.

So cute! Cam and I found this cute gosling at the zoo during his field trip there. There were a whole bunch of them being gaurded by their menacing parents.

Sorry about the fuzzy photo, but it's a shot of Logan celebrating the victory of his Log-mobile at the pinewood derby tonight. His car won the "most original paint job" award and came in 7th overall out of 27. I spent the night trying to get ONE good picture (never happened) and cleaning up vomit off of myself and Ed after Camden pulled Ed's shirt from the back and made him choke...all in all, a very exciting evening for everyone.

Recent pix

2009-05-05T21:14:00.000-07:00

Here's Dad playing on the floor with Inky and Cocoa. It was really funny how our cat was interested in Cocoa. She watched him all night long and came right up to him lots of times-I think they could be friends!

Here are just some of our pretty flowers this Spring-the whole yard was gorgeous this year-the best we've had! I know it doesn't really show in pictures.

We went to the kids school carnival last Friday. Ed was really excited to get his face painted, though you can't tell by this picture-he loved the spider he got on his cheek. This cute girl is in our ward.

I think this picture is hillarious! We just wanted one...ONE good picture of the kids on Easter-is that too much to ask?

Easter

2009-05-05T20:56:00.000-07:00

We had fun dyeing eggs. Ed just loved it, though was throwing the eggs in the yellow dye as fast as he could-I cooked 20 eggs, and about 8 of them were yellow. I let the other kids re-dye them, so they ended up the most interesting shades of puce!

Here's Ed shlepping eggs as fast as he can!

My Easter cookies-beautiful to look at and delicious to eat. However-not a good choice for people needing carpal tunnel surgery-that cookie dough is hard to squeeze!

Here's the Easter haul that Cam and Ed got from the Easter Egg hunt we went to. It was really cute watching Ed, who's never done one, pick up the eggs-he was going as fast as he could, which he didn't need to-their were a million eggs! So much candy! Luckily, I guess, Ed just broke the candy jar, which was full of leftover Easter and other candy.

Spring Break in Oregon

2009-04-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

Johanna was a good babysitter for Mia and Ed during the week.

Ed loved his Diego cake! He loves birthdays!

Grandpa's thinking about joining in the sand castle making....he does.

Ed and his Mo's birthday sundae.

Look how cute Mia is coloring at Mo's. She also enjoyed finishing off Ed's hotdog.

Mom and the gang playing operation Shrek.

Here are some Spring Break pix. We had a great time visiting Grandma and Grandpa Hoth in Oregon. The kids and I had a good trip there-we even picked up Katy and Mia at the airport on the way. I was so glad Katy came. It was fun to see Mia and it's always nice to have a sister to hang out with at home...thanks for coming, Katy! I got to see my friends from home-Kari, Britta and Jennifer. I went on several walks with Dad in the mornings. The weather wasn't too bad-even a few nice days! Katy, Johanna and I had a fun time shopping in Portland. We all went to the beach one day and enjoyed a beautiful day there. It was Ed's birthday that day too. We ate at Mo's, of course-they even brought Ed a sundae with a candel on it and sang to him-he loved it!

We played on the beach for awhile before heading home. Grandma made another wonderful cake for Eddy-Diego this time. We visited the carousel and had Kevin over the last day there. All in all, it was a wonderful visit, and I can't wait to go back! I love Oregon!

New Pictures

2009-03-15T19:38:00.000-07:00

Here's some recent pictures taken with my new camera! I'm so glad we don't have to use Johanna's anymore! It would run out of batteries every 10 pictures or so. Inky in the dishwasher

For some reason, Inky climbed right into the middle of this sagebrush and just hung out there for awhile. Looks prickly to me!

Me and my food storage buckets-I'm ironing the mylar bags shut that we put the grains into. It feels good to at least get started!

I wish I could keep this in food storage! It would be nice to open it up when I wanted to and it would be nice and fresh and keep in just this condition for 30 years!

Johanna and Logan at piano festival. Johanna was so nervous, that she cried after it was over. They both worked hard and received highest ratings (Superior) for their efforts.

Skiing at Harriman

2009-02-22T21:09:00.000-08:00

We had such a great time skiing on Valentine's Day. We took the whole crew-and I'm glad we did-everyone loved it. It was perfect weather-not too cold-just beautiful. I always love Harriman with it's beautiful pine trees, snow drifts, frozen lake, and about a thousand swans (too many-I guess they are becoming pests!). We skiied to the warming hut (see photo of Ed sipping hot cocoa), had lunch, and skiied back by way of the lake so we could get a good view of the swans. A fun activitiy for everyone.

Valentine Fun

2009-02-22T20:51:00.000-08:00

Who wants those papery images of pokemon or High School Musical when you could have a candy airplane, i-pod or grow and instant mustache or Angelina Jolie lips??? We had so much fun making these valentines-it's our tradition! Who cares if we stayed up late one night making i-pods-who cares if we spent over 20 bucks doing it...it was fun, and the kids had the best valentines in the whole class ( at least they thought so).

January

2009-01-27T10:33:00.000-08:00

Camden has been putting on this one glove and his shades and wearing them around the house. We've been calling him "The gloved One", which he doesn't like. It's so funny though!

We took the kids to a local huge jungle gym (think McDonald's on steroids). Johanna was dissapointed that her friend couldn't come, but she played with Ed and had fun in these balls. Logan had the best time, and was not very happy when it was time to leave!

I don't know what possessed me, but I just had the notion to stuff Inky in a bag one day. Surprisingly enough, she liked it, and after sticking her head out one end, was very content to just have me carry her around the house...silly cat!

Christmas Time

2008-12-29T14:10:00.000-08:00

Well, we made the most of our unplanned Christmas as home. We had lots of snow, so we sledded and had snowball fights. We decorated gingerbread houses. The kids all got new pj's and lots of other fun stuff ( a lot of which is broaken or lost already!) Does everyone like my conehead?

Johanna's dance recital

2008-12-21T20:13:00.000-08:00

This isn't a good picture but it's all I got! Johanna did great at her recital. Her group danced to "Go Speedracer" and I have to say, I thought Johanna was the best! She looked pretty with all her stage makeup on. She's always very precise in her movements and knows all her steps well. Her friend (pictured) is quitting, but Johanna loves it. Unfortunately for me...no more carpool! Here is another picture I took of Johanna today. She looked pretty in her nice dress.

I'll be home for Chrismas......not!

2008-12-21T20:01:00.000-08:00

My plans have been changed this week, and I'm trying to keep a good attitude about it!
Snow, snow everywhere! All the roads to Oregon are closed, so we'll probably be staying here this week. Some things sound good, like skipping the long drive, not worrying about bad road conditions, enjoying the snow here, relaxing with my family, having Blake off work but at home-that never happens! However, I feel sad for Mom and Dad, who will be alone now. I will miss the "home" feelings you get when you visit for a holiday-the flood of memories that come back on Christmas morning-sharing the excited atmostphere our children bring to the holiday. Also, we had a program for Grandma and Grandpa. Johanna and Logan were going to sing "The Friendly Beasts" while Camden held up pictures I made depicting the savior's birth and the animals that were there. I bought "the Best Christmas Pageant Ever" to show on Christmas eve. I've been making mom freezer meals all week for her gift and have a box of canning ready to go for Dad. I also saved Dad some of the chocolates and caramels I made. I was looking forward to visiting with friends too.
Enough ranting...this blog is about good things! The good things are that we won't die, so Jennifer won't inherit another three boys and that we all have the opportunity to make this our very own Best Christmas Ever!
I knew I should have had Jen send her package here!!

Stampede!

2008-12-14T16:28:00.000-08:00

We were driving home from the cabin when all these cows appeared on the road. We thought they were stray or something until we saw two cowboys on horses-they had cowboy hats, chaps and everything! They were actually driving the cows down the road for some miles. That's what I call hoofin' it!

2008-12-14T16:20:00.000-08:00

I had no idea my last blog entry was so long ago! well, here's our huge tree. I think it's going to survive until we go to Oregon. I wasn't so sure, since we chopped it down over a month ago! It's pretty though and we get lots of complements. Logan just finished counting their gifts. He says that he and Cam have 13 and Johanna only has 2.

It snowed today! The kids loved playing in it, though it was no good for snowmen. I'm just glad it's mostly melted off the roads already. I don't like snow that much. It's going to be a busy week!

Halloween

2008-11-03T13:20:00.000-08:00

Here are the kids in their costumes Halloween night. They all looked pretty cute and had a great time. Cam shredded the bottom of his tail and lost the "fire" on the end of it, but he loved that a few people recognized him as "Charmander" (he's not wearing the hat in the pic). Johanna went off with her friends. Her costume was cute, but it was a little big for her and it's not the same effect with the shirt under it (it was sleeveless). My favorite part of her costume was Fabio (what she named the snake on her headpiece). He was pretty cute with his gleaming red sequin eyes. Ed took the prize for cuteness though, as have all my kids when they've worn this costume. He had so much fun running from house to house. He would say thank you and then wave and say bye-bye. It was hilarious after awhile when he got tired-he could barely carry his pumpkin full of candy, but he trudged on and didn't want to quit. Finally I had to carry him and then he was ready to go home. Here's a picture too of the kids trading candy-remember doing that?

2008-10-26T21:27:00.000-07:00

I had to post this one....This is how Cam was sleeping one night! Does this look comfortable to you?

Fall memories

2008-10-26T21:22:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a glorious Fall day last Saturday. We spent the afternoon at a large park in Boise. The place was packed with families in costume going to the zoo. We played for free in the leaves! All four kids had so much fun, though we were pretty much covered in goose droppings by the time we were done (it's mostly grass). Ed had a great time "catching" the falling leaves when the wind would blow. What Fall afternoons are supposed to be.

Marathon Man

2008-09-23T15:12:00.000-07:00

Blake ran an awesome race this past weekend-the "Top of Utah" race in Logan, Utah. He came in 100 out of around 1000, and beat his time by about two minutes. He was feeling a bit queasy for awhile afterwards, and enjoyed a shower and nap before we drove home, but he said that he felt pretty good, altogether. Here's a picture of him near the finish line and just after he finished.

Nothin' much goin' on

2008-09-18T20:44:00.000-07:00

I'm going to make this entry a fun color because I don't really have anything interesting to say. This is the first week in several months that I haven't had much going on. I'd like to say that I accomplished a lot. My hopes were high on Monday. I was going to organize my linen closet and the boys's toy shelf and update Ed's scrapbook up to one year. Well, tomorrow's Friday and here's what I've done....um....NOTHING! Okay, not nothing, but not much either. Oh well, I'm just not used to no deadlines. I guess I should enjoy it-it never lasts!

FYI.....Saturday is Blake's marathon-I hope he does well!

Gladys

2008-09-05T21:13:00.000-07:00

Many of you have heard me talk of my neighbor, Gladys. I always have lots of funny stories to tell about her-like how she calls me to go "work out" and shows up in flip flops. She is from Peru, and though she's been in the states for a long time now, I still have a hard time understanding her sometimes. She's very generous though. We get lots of powerbars from her (her husband works there) and the day before Ed was born, she brought us an unexpected dinner. She brought food over to another neighbor and friend of ours after the neighbor's husband died, even though Gladys didn't know her. She likes Camden for some reason and invites him over to cook with her occasionally. Here's a picture of Gladys and Camden, husking corn the other day.

2008-09-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

20 quarts of peaches, 3 pies and 3 bananna breads later....I'm ready for bed! I'm happy that the peaches I bought are almost taken care of though-whew! I'll just freeze the rest and make one batch of jam. Here's a pic of my lovely quarts!

Johanna got her early birthday gift tonight-a girl's night out to the mall to get her ears pierced. It was pretty cute. She picked out her birthstone and sat in the chair. BANG! Ouch, tears, suffering. Nothing that a trip to See's candy can't fix though. We also shared cheescake at the CC Factory. She loves her new look and the new earrings I let her pick out, though I don't remember when ear piercing became so expensive!

Softball and Peaches....Late summer fun

2008-09-04T21:04:00.000-07:00

I got 4 RBI's tonight at our co-ed softball game. WhooHOO! However, I never did make it to home tonight...oh well, it was a beautiful sunset.
I picked lots of peaches at an orchard yesterday. It was fun climbing up into the tree and picking peach after gorgeous peach. I did get pokey peach fuzz all over me however. I think there's nothing better then seeing nature's bounty first hand and harvesting it yourself. I plan on canning the peaches tomorrow, then making a pie and some peach melba jam...peach heaven!

Silly Squash

2008-09-02T18:28:00.000-07:00

I cut into my "pattypan" squash today (it looks like a pie whole) and the shape it made reminded me of a cat-it's so cute! It tastes good too. I cooked it up with broccoli, onion, mushrooms and baby corn in a delicious stir fry. I just had to share this picture with you.

Jet ski

2008-08-31T21:18:00.000-07:00

We had a fun, unplanned weekend! We were invited last minute by some friends in our ward to spend the weekend in Donnely (a lake in the mountains about 2 hours away) at their cabin. We happily accepted and had a great time at the lake. It was a beautiful day-warm, pretty lake, pine trees, sandy beach. I got to ride a jet ski for the first time. Love it! I was on a pretty fast machine and felt a little out of control at times, but it was great fun zipping along in the water at high speeds. Johanna loved it and even little Ed went out and had a good time. Unfortunately, our host hurt himself his first time out doing some fancy tricks. I hope he's okay, they were going to stop in at the ER today on the way home to see what was wrong. I'll put in some pix of our weekend tomorrow.

Wyoming

2008-07-27T20:37:00.000-07:00

We just had our Thurman reunion in Wyoming at the cabin. It was fun! Everyone was there. Brooke and Shane from Kentucky, Trevin from Boston (he's now moving to Seattle), Bart and Gunnar from Colorado, Kim and Chris from Utah, and Lindsay from North Carolina. My favorite activity was river rafting, of course. I had rafted the same route as a teen, so it was fun to go again to the "lunch counter" and "Big Kahuna". The only thing I lamented was my scary white legs out there on the river with all those tans! I brought two crafts to make and that would explain the dreamcatcher hanging from my car mirror (normally, I'm not the dreamcatcher type). We made these cute fish with empty water bottles, paint, sequins and tissue paper.
We ate a lot of good food, naturally. I was actually looking forward to eating just plain old cereal for breakfast by the time we got home! Mmmmm....that turkey! We had a "Thanksgiving" like meal one night-so good!
My niece is here with us now, so we are trying to do some fun things. We hit the drive in last night for Kung Fu Panda-it was pretty good!

2008-07-27T20:30:00.000-07:00

I'm using red because that was the color I had dripped all over my carpet last week.
It was a crazy morning-we were going on vacation that night and Blake wanted me to pick and can the raspberries...hah! I was packing up the kid's suitcases and heard crying. Usually I just ignore that unless someone sounds really hurt. It was Ed, and he sounded pretty sad. As I got up to go downstairs, I heard him coming up. I rounded the corner so see Ed with his finger dripping blood and a grisley red trail behind him-yes, there was blood on every stair! I hauled him in the bathroom-you know how fingers bleed! There was blood all over the toliet, all over Ed's clothes, and my white bathroom rug too. I finally got the bleeding stopped and a bandaid applied. I made Logan help me clean up all the blood since it was he who caused the bleeding (scissors). Not fun. I think there's still some on my carpet. Needless to say, the raspberries did not get canned that day. However, we took them with us on our vacation and I made 3 raspberry pies...delicious!

NOT cheerios for dinner

2008-07-15T16:02:00.000-07:00

We didn't do much today and it's been so nice-just swimming lessons. I finished making my Hogwarts puppets-including my personal favorite-Voldemort with a tray of cookies..(I'll have to post a picture later).
I'm making Jen's flatbread for dinner-yum! She's making my breakfast casserole-dinner trade!
I was watching a little girl in Cam's swim class swim under the water like a fish today-only, she can't really swim. So, minutes later...everyone out of the pool! She vomited. Out comes the mesh net and garbage can-it looks like she ate cheerios for lunch. Anyway, after that, Cam's class spends the rest of the time having "safety instruction" with lifevests....out of the pool.

2008-07-14T20:01:00.001-07:00

We went to Eagle Island with my friend, Michelle, and her kids today. We couldn't stay very long because Cam and Log still have swim lessons this week. Too Bad! We were having such a good time. It's a great place because it's close, has swimming, a beautiful setting, a playground and a beach-all five minutes away from home! We went there last week and Logan was actually complaining that we had to go again so soon-how spoiled!
Tonight we all practiced our skit for the family reunions. I think it will be fun, but Cam is a little too young...he couldn't quite get the timing of it all...Well, I'm off to make puppets!

2008-07-09T15:37:00.000-07:00

Hmmmm...nothing interesting, just being the mom taxi today. Johanna and Logan had a fun time at their respective camps today. Logan looked so funny at swim lessons doing the crawl stroke...he was moving his arms like one of those goose lawn ornaments that blows in the wind and his feet weren't up at all-almost at the bottom of the pool. Consequently, he wasn't moving at all. I just had to laugh. Camden managed to keep most of his hair dry during his lesson-not a good thing-he's still pretty afraid. Hopefully by the end of next week, he'll be more comfortable.
We're going downtown tonight-the kids and I and our funny neighbor, Gladys. Hopefully it's fun. She's from Peru and sometimes I don't really understand what she's saying-I just nod or say "really?"

Busy summer

2008-07-08T20:11:00.000-07:00

Where has this summer gone already? I was hoping for more down times, but since this blog is entitled "good things", I will be positive = ).
Today I went swimming in the Bridge tower pool with the kids. I was invited by a friend. Lots of my other friends were there too, which is always fun. Eddy got stuck under the water for awhile, but after I pulled him out and he choked for a while, he was fine and went right back to playing.
Johanna's and my guitar arrived courtesy ebay yesterday. Now we just have to learn to play the darn thing. I'm excited to get the hang of it though, and I hope Johanna will really like it. She's been asking to play for ever!