Halloween 2008

To all of our dear friends....

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Love ~ Kaitlyn, Cason, Jake and Ty

52 Blessing Project Week 43 ~ SLEEP

I slept in today!

I took a nap after church today!

It's 9:20 and the entire house is asleep which means I'm on my way to bed before 10:00!

Ahhhh....it's been a good day.

I love to SLEEP. And like most moms, I don't get enough of it. Don't get me wrong, my kids are awesome sleepers and even Ty sleeps through the night. The problem is that my only productive hours are when the kids are sleeping - which means most nights I stay up way too late just to get the "necessities" done and most mornings I wake around 5:30 a.m. so that I can get my exercising in before the rest of the house arises. As a result, I think I'm sleep deprived most days. So today was a wonderful treat to catch up on my beloved SLEEP.

Look at me Mom!

Jake is such a character! He's always good for a chuckle or smile. Turns out he doesn't want to be outdone in that role....

So our Ty-Ty is now pretty darn mobile. He can now roll across a room and he uses his legs to scoot where he wants to go, or maybe even not where he wants to go....

Yesterday he scooted himself into this predicament at the couch.

As soon as I grabbed my camera to capture Ty's position, Jake came over and rescued Ty with an adorable "hello baby!"

I then went to put the camera back only to have Jake call out "Momma" and when I looked, this is what he had done. I think this is an "I can do it too, take my picture" - what do you think?

Could you use....?

This is pretty random, but let's give it a shot.

I am not a "stuff" person. I don't need a lot. I don't want a lot. And I don't save a lot. It's just who I am and I think my husband likes it that way.

So here are some things that I have, that I don't need and I'm putting them up for grab. Claim anything you'd like through comments or call/email me. Rich will be in Oregon soon and we'll be in Utah as a family at the end of the month, so I will even deliver to those states :)

• WestBend Bread/Dough maker - It only makes one loaf at a time, so it's good for a small family. It's like new, but we've simply outgrown it.
• Kitchenaid Stand Mixer - I killed it making 6 loaves of bread one day. But if you are in need of any of the attachments (dough hook, regular paddle, whisk, bowl, or bowl guard) just let me know. Or if you believe you could perform resuscitation on this mixer that is only 2 years old, claim away.
• Patterns - I have brand new (as in I never used them) patterns for baby sleeping buntings and pj's, baby blessing outfits, baby girl dresses, baby outdoor bunting, kids hooded animal towels, girl (size 5-8) spring dresses.
• Patterns - I have used (once) patterns for cheerleader outfits, baby animal (monkey, lion, frog) costumes, baby potbelly costumes (bumblebee, strawberry, pumpkin and duck), raggedy ann & andy costumes, wizard of oz costumes, poodleskirt, peter pan costumes, ballet leotards and skirts.
• Lawn Mower - okay, this one isn't a total give away, but I am looking for a new home for this mulching mower and would be willing to cut you a fair deal but you'd probably have to be local to claim this one.
• Baby Swing - available in about one more month. Can you imagine that Ty has nearly outgrown it? He is growing up I tell you.
• VCR - does anyone use VCR's anymore? If so I have one that works perfectly but has been replaced with a DVD/VCR combo.

And on a bit of a different note - anyone that may be in Vegas between now and December 21st and would like to see MAMMA MIA, I have access to 2-for-1 tickets. It is SO GOOD - you can't help but sing along! Every once in a while we get "local specials" and there is one going on now. Mamma Mia is being replaced by THE LION KING in May 2009, so if you've been wanting to see it, now would be the time before it's gone from Vegas.

52 Blessing Project Week 42 ~ BABYSITTER

I envy people who live close to all kinds of family and never have to hire a babysitter.

I can't relate.

I've wished on many occasions to have a perfect babysitter move in next door - somebody responsible, who likes kids, who cleans up after the kids and who lacks a social life so she is always available at a moments notice. Someone like I was when I was 14 :)

My wish hasn't come true - but the second best thing has. We've found a BABYSITTER who loves kids and who my kids adore and it has revived date nights with my husband. Kyleigh may not live next door and she may have a social life requiring some advanced notice on my part, but I'll take it just to have her sweet smile in our home.

With the beginning of my preschool Kyleigh comes over every Tuesday and Thursday to be with Jake while I teach. It has been such a blessing for me to know that Jake is with her. It's been a blessing to Jake to have someone else in his life that he loves and trusts. The minute we tell him Kyleigh is coming, he gets so excited and anxiously waits until she arrives.

Thanks Kyleigh for being our favorite BABYSITTER!

the countdown to Twilight begins

Exactly one month from today....

Happy "BLOGAVERSARY" & Chocolate Cake

It's been one year since my first post!

This is my 267th post!

Not bad considering I've never been able to keep a journal going for longer than about a month. I guess I've found my means for keeping a family history and it doesn't hurt that it keeps me in touch with friends and family as well.

So in celebration (of me! - ha ha) I think you all ought to bake a cake. Not just any cake....this cake:

CHOCOLATE-COVERED CHERRY CAKE

1 chocolate cake mix (any will do, I like triple fudge)

1 21-ounce can cherry pie filling

2 large eggs

1 tsp. almond extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 13x9 baking pan by spraying with non-stick spray. Place the cake mix, pie filling, eggs and almond extract in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes more. The batter will be thick, but should be well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the cake springs back when lightly touched and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan - 20 to 35 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place on a wire rack while you prepare the glaze.

Chocolate Glaze

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup whole milk

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Place the sugar, butter and milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the chocolate chips. When the chips have melted completely and the glaze is smooth, pour over the warm cake so that it covers the entire surface. The glaze will be thin, but will firm up as it cools.

Cool the cake for at least 20 minutes before cutting and serving.

This cake is from the book "The Cake Mix Doctor" and it is delicious! The cherries are not overwhelming (don't be scared - even Rich loves this recipe) but add to the moisture to make one of the moistest cakes you've ever eaten. I made this once for our old home teacher and was left making it for him over and over again and very few visits from him didn't end with him commenting on this cake. His wife even admitted to sneaking out of bed once to have some of this cake in the middle of the night, only to find her husband already hovering over it, fork in hand! So for what that is worth....

Enjoy!

Here's to another year of blogging entries and another chocolate cake recipe 267 entries from now!

52 Blessing Project Week 41 ~ $3 GAS

Okay, maybe it doesn't actually qualify as a blessing...

But that doesn't mean that I'm not grateful for this....

That's right. A gallon of gas for $2.96. Which means I filled up my van today for less than $60.

Wahoo!

Do you remember when you used to fill up for $20?
How badly does that age me?

Some Political Ranting

I've received this link now from two different friends, and the message is so important that I chose to post it on my blog. I'll be honest, this entire election has frustrated me - I'm tired of the negative campaigning, I'm tired of the half-truths and I'm frustrated that in the end, the POTUS really has very little power to do the things they promise. Election day will come and I'll wish there was a third option.

With that said, I feel that this election could potentially be one of the most important elections that we have faced as a nation. And though I have concerns about issues on both sides, I truly believe that we need to be voting on a moral platform this year. The economy is dire, the health care is a concern, the war needs to end, but the moral issues that are before us speak of an eternal importance and I believe that if our country fails in the moral issues, we will ultimately lose in all the other areas because the very founding values of our country will be lost.

I don't think it is a coincidence that October's Ensign has an article on abortion, that another article talks of the importance of protecting our family and that the VT message is on gender roles. The apostles are speaking, serving as a mouthpiece to our Lord, are we listening?

Please watch this video clip. It is so powerful. It is not just for Catholics, but for Christians everywhere. We share so many values. Let's not let our voices be silenced by others, and more importantly, don't silence your own voice by not taking a stand.



You can find this video, and more information that supports it at www.catholicvote.com.

Also, just because you don't live in California doesn't mean you don't have responsibility in regard to Proposition 8. Go here to find out more information and to donate to the cause. You can't sit back and wait for it to be your state, or it will be too late.



P.S. Thanks for the conversation this afternoon Christina. What do you think of my stick?

SMILE

"Smile for the camera Jake!"

"No, keep your eyes open and SMILE Jake!"

Somehow this seems very familiar....

Oh, yea... "Smile Cason!"

"Keep your eyes open and SMILE Cason!"

Could it by genetic?

(Or maybe it's the shirt)

BOOtiful Costumes #3

Last hint: I went here to buy the main part of Cason's costume and the theme of our costumes all center around Tyler, who is dressed as one of the only three words that Jake knows...

Hmmmmm....

Photos are in

I LOVE it when the photos come in at the portrait studio!

Last month when Ty turned 3 months I took him to Target for a little photo shoot. We picked them up today and this one is my favorite...

Along with photos of Ty, I had photos taken of each of the kids individually with Ty as well as a few group shots of all the kids together. Here are just a couple....

Apple Bobbing

Cason is always so full of ideas....he is the most creative child I know and most of the time I'm not sure where he came up with his ideas.

Yesterday his idea was bobbing for apples -literally out of nowhere he asked if he could bob for apples. I couldn't think of any reason why not, so I filled the pot with water, stuck two apples in it and let him at it.

It didn't take too long before Jake decided that he wanted in on the action too.

Cason finally realized the trick to apple bobbing - bite the stem! Success!

What fun boys I have!

BOOtiful Costumes #2

Not a single guess? Really?

Okay, so here's another hint. I had to go here to get the tutorial to make this....

and I made two of these...

Thumbs Up

Are you doing what I think you are doing?

You sure are!

Fourth child.

First thumbsucker.

You have to admit that it is oh, so cute!

BOOtiful Costumes

I'm not sure that I really like Halloween. I love autumn and I love the corn mazes and carameled apples, etc. But Halloween itself goes against my nature of being cheap.

Even if I can get good deal on a costume, let's say $20, multiply that by four kids and I'm at $80. Add in the $20 spent on candy and I'm at $100. ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS! All so my kids can get a bucket of candy that we throw away 48 hours later (yes, I'm one of those anti-sugar moms). Thus my problem with Halloween!

The saving grace for Halloween, and the only reason that I look forward to Halloween, is dressing my kids in theme costumes. I may still spend way too much on the costumes, but at least I get a stinking cute photo out of the whole deal.

This morning I have been creating the themed costumes for 2008. I have a smile on my face because I have created all 4 costumes for less than $30 (all together) and I didn't have to sew four costumes.

Here's a sneak peek.

Hint: in making these costumes I used my sewing machine, a needle and thread, my scrapbook cutter, my cricut, and lots of glue.

Any guesses on what the Dougall children are going to be this year?

How do we order a copy for our congressmen?

52 Blessing Project Week 40 ~ GENERAL CONFERENCE

This may not be very original, but I'm grateful for GENERAL CONFERENCE this weekend. Isn't it amazing? The speakers...the topics...the reconfirmation that we live in the fullness of time when the Gospel is restored, there is a living prophet upon the earth and that our Heavenly Father speaks to us all through him.

I will admit here that I only saw a portion of conference (see previous post of Soccer Saturday) but what I saw was uplifting and wonderful. What's even better is that I will be enjoying conference for the next month thanks to my sweet husband downloading it onto my ipod. This past spring I listened to all the sessions again on my morning walks, some a couple of times. I found that I got so much more out of the messages when I listened during my morning time to myself. I'm really looking forward to doing the same with this session.

I also will admit that I love GENERAL CONFERENCE because it gives us a much needed break. Rich didn't have to go to any 6:30 a.m. meetings, so we slept in (a little) and had a wonderful lazy morning with beignets (a surprise from my husband) for breakfast with the kids. Then Rich took Cason to the Stake Center for the Sunday a.m. session and took Kaitlyn to the Stake Center for the Sunday p.m. session. I think that both of the kids enjoyed their "special" time with their dad, not to mention they probably got a bit more out of it - I know I did since I wasn't having to play referee between the two of them.

Saturday Soccer

Soccer is back in session. This was actually week 3 of play, but the first week I've had my handy dandy camera with me.

Kaitlyn has returned with her SHARKS team for their 3rd season together. They currently are undefeated 2-0 (week one was preseason and doesn't count) and it feels good to win a few finally. They seem to be playing a bit better, despite their team being bumped up into the older age bracket with older opponents. Kaitlyn even scored one of the six goals for her team today. Yea KK!

Cason returned to play with his same coach and the LITTLE GALAXIES, his team from this past spring. His team also seems to have improved by picking up some new players. Cason loves to be in the game and he is still one of the tallest players on the field, despite his team also being bumped into an older bracket. Cason spent part of the game as goalie today; which he likes and he is good at. I'm just not sure this mom has the stomach to have her child as goalie - so much pressure! Go Cason!

So I guess it's back to the life of Saturday at the Soccer fields for us, at least for the next couple of months.