Robertsons & Daughters

Valentine's Day and More

2012-02-15T21:21:00.001-05:00

We had a fun Valentine's Day and hope you all did too. I know some people think Valentine's Day is silly--that everyday should be a special day with that special someone. True, true. But I love Valentine's Day! It gives me a reason to yet again, to do something special with loved ones. Also, family traditions don't start and end with the holidays. I think there are many fun traditions families can and should have throughout the year. Anyway...

Before I get to Valentine stuff, here are a few pictures. I braided the girls' hair a few weeks ago for church. In the morning I un-braided it. So cute!

Clark took some pictures of his Lego creations, so I thought I would share.

I love how Clark has depicted movement with these Lego figures. Very impressed!

Clark's Christmas present. It wasn't what he asked for, but we got a great deal on it and he loves it!

And yes, Haley is still taking pictures!

So the weekend before Valentine's Day we went up to Lois' and had a babysitting-swap weekend. Or should I say Lois babysat our kids a TON while we watched her's a little bit. Remember back in September when Lee and I (yes, even I forgot too!) forgot our anniversary? Lee happened to win a gift card that exact same day for Ruby Tuesdays. There happened to be one right around the corner from Lois. The food was awesome!

The next morning we left yet again and went to the temple. Afterwards we drove into DC to visit my first room-roommate from Ricks College. (Six of us shared an apartment, and Kim and I were in the same bedroom.) We've chatted about getting together since we live pretty close to each other, but now that Lee works Saturdays I didn't see that happening any time soon. So we stopped by her work and had a fun, but quick visit. It was so great seeing you Kim! We hadn't seen each other for 12 years!

Oh and while we were at Lois' we watched Dining with the Dean on their Roku and Jeff made these amazing brownies with chocolate mousse, with homemade vanilla ice cream on the side. Oh so good! And the show was pretty fun too! Jeff is quite the mousse maker!

Growing up my dad gave us kids Valentines. Sometime in the evening the door bell would ring and at the doorstep were Valentines--a nice card with a treat for each of us. The handwriting in the card gave my dad away, but I loved that tradition just the same. At Easter time we don't give our kids Easter baskets from the Easter Bunny. And really, I bet they have no clue who the Easter Bunny is! I thought it would be fun to have the kids find their Valentines--just as most people have to find their Easter basket. Lee made them Valentine cards and I pulled out the red-wrapped Halloween candy that's been in my freezer for a few months. (Thanks for the idea Lena!) He hid them along with a Valentine from my parents. My mom and dad send all of us individual Valentines each year and I LOVE that too!

Here are the kids searching around....Elden is somewhere....

Monday night for FHE treat I made heart-shaped sugar cookies. After the kids were in bed I rolled and baked off the rest of them to give to the ladies at work and two other families. I kept the cookies in the oven because I didn't want the kids picking at them. I thought a couple of times about the unwise choice of using the oven because I have stored non-oven items in the oven before and forgot and turned the oven on. But after I thought this I reminded myself that I wouldn't be using the oven and all would be well. I took the cookies to ladies at Lee's work in the morning. I had two bags left to deliver. Well of course, last night I made homemade french fries and turned the oven on to 450. It wasn't till the oven was fully heated that I realized I left the cookies in there and of course on top of a NON-oven cookie tray! The cookies were already in bags. Thankfully, only two cookies didn't make the cut (I ate them--I know, how noble of me!). I repackaged the other ones. I just hope they didn't think the cookie amount was too odd. I was going to give two per person, but one person at each household now would only have one.

Yesterday morning I took Lee's office key and after dropping off Clark and Cal at school, Elden and I walked to his office and I dropped off some goodies there. He was surprised to find them on his desk! Lee surprised me with a Lego box, complete with a riddle/puzzle to announce a date he planned for me last night.

I babysat for some friends last night (can you believe, she was my next door neighbor at Ricks and she has twins and now they live by me and we're in the same ward! So crazy!). Okay, so I really didn't babysit. I just sat in house while the kids slept! When I got home Lee and I had lava cakes and played Skip-Bo!

Clark made this for me all on his own. So cute! Cal made me a heart too out of Legos, but Elden dissembled it right before its photo shoot.

I know there is more to post than this, but with no pictures as a memory jogger, I'll post whatever it is later. I did finish the Hunger Games; I might write more about this later too. I have some family coming in this weekend and I am SO excited! I also have a Relief Society Activity on Saturday. All should go well, but I am sure there will be a sigh of relief on my part when it's done--and I am not even doing that much! Maybe it's the fact that I am somewhat/sort of in charge of it. Well, there will be lots of pictures that I will be posting from this coming weekend! Stay tuned!

Budget

2012-02-01T11:15:00.000-05:00

Image from http://www.familyhandyman.com

I ended with $0.03 left in the January budget. Whew! I love how the pennies, along with other currency/coins, have the inscription, "In God We Trust". I am glad it's February--and it's a GORGEOUS day out too! (64 degrees at present.) I bought several food items in January with the intent to use them in February. My kids would see the food in my room (that is where our food storage shelves are) and would ask if they could have something or other, like applesauce. I would say no, it's for February. Thankfully they were accepting of the fact that they would have to wait. Well February is now here. Guess we'll break out the applesauce in celebration!

I was very pleased about staying within my food budget last month (okay I did add $0.66 to it)...AND I was able to do food storage too! Having Sharp Shopper here has been such a blessing. It's nice to know that I can keep the food expenses low, and continue to do one or two food storage purchases a month. For February I stocked up on sugar and black beans. In January I bought 50 pounds of wheat and 50 pounds of flour.

Lee and I are feeling incredibly blessed right now. It's such a blessing to pay tithing and fast offerings. We also are grateful for the power of prayer; its power truly is real.

Pinewood Derby

2012-01-26T21:09:00.000-05:00

We all went to our very first Pinewood Derby last night. Lee and Clark had been working on Clark's car for a couple of weeks. Clark was very excited for the derby. And being the sweet boy that he is, he was excited that we would all be there too. I haven't taken the whole family to Pack meetings, but last night was a good exception.

Clark let Lee design the shape of the car, and Clark designed the artistic touches. Clark placed 5th out of 13 kids. Clark was a good sport about getting 5th place; and with 13 kids 5th isn't bad. Well, 13th wouldn't be bad either for that matter!

The kids really enjoyed watching the races...52 of them actually. Okay, so my kids didn't watch ALL of heats, but they enjoyed many of them.

Shanna loved getting Clark's car after its race.

Clark and Lee. Dad's first pinewood derby with his oldest son, with many more to come!

Some of the Cub Scouts. They all look so young! And of course they are. Sometimes I forget that an 8 year-old is still a young kid. Definitely a photo for the photo album (when I finally print one).

Lee brought one of his boyhood pinewood derby cars and raced it against Clark's. Lee won.

Babysitting Weekend

2012-01-23T15:02:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago Lois told me about an upcoming trip her family was going to take to Philadelphia. I brought up the amazing suggestion (if I say so myself!) that she and Jeff go by themselves and I'll watch her kids. Well, she loved the idea and they had a fun get-away last weekend. Clark asked if they went on a honeymoon; too funny.

Shanna got a hold of the camera one morning...

Baby Blake slept so well for us! Grover was pretty good too. I didn't know he was so shy.

Cal doing a "storytime" with Reed and Shanna.

Blake!

I love that Elden and Blake like to play with each other!

Funny enough, with two extra kids for the weekend, we had a great time! Blake and Reed enjoyed themselves. Sacrament meeting wasn't too bad either. There was some extra squiggling, but it was Elden that was making the most noise! Lois and Jeff met up with us last Sunday evening for dinner. Lois spoiled me by staying an extra day when they came to pick them up (they left Monday night). We had a fun trip on Monday to Sharp Shopper and watched Rachael Ray...exciting, I know!

When Lois left on Monday she took Haley with her. I was sad that she was gone, but Haley seemed to have a wonderful time at Lois'. It was weird not having Haley here for a few days...and Elden and Shanna were bouncing all over the place! I guess Haley has a calming factor?

Elden has been building little Lego creations of his own lately...and they're so cute!

Since the boys didn't have school on Friday we went to DC, picked up Haley and swapped going to the temple with Lois and Jeff. Lee and I also went to the commissary and Aldi for some February groceries. If all goes as planned we'll stay in budget for groceries in January! Well we better...the money is all spent!

We met up with Lois at a shopping center. There was a little music/play group thing going on in the mall atrium. After we stopped at McDonald's and Lois and her friend treated all of the kids to a snack. Thanks! My kids loved it!

The night before we went to DC the PTA showed Cars 2 at the school. It was a fun night. The PTA gave away 50 door prizes! Clark and Elden won some fun Cars 2 paper/pens/paint things. My friend Laura's kids each won something! We actually didn't stay the entire time because the speakers weren't broadcasting the sound very well and it was pretty noisy. Lois had rented Cars 2 so we watched it Friday night while she and Jeff were at the temple. Well, I watched a little. I took a nap so I could drive home.

When we left DC I drove through a little snow storm on the way home. Thankfully we arrived home just fine. It took over three hours to get home though, when it normally would only take two. I am glad people in DC are very cautious though when it comes to icky freeways! I couldn't believe a movie my brother shared about the snow storm in Utah this weekend! Keep it muted to by-pass the swearing. And all this happened in front of some guy's house! CRAZY!
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I have been enjoying my primary class. I team-teach with another lady and I thought that would be weird, but it's great. We teach the sunbeams and we need two people in there--mainly because there are quite a few of them. They are sweet kids. I taught the lesson a week ago and really enjoyed the spirit that was in the room. It was great telling each of the children one by one that they lived in Heaven before they were born and that each of them is a special daughter/son of God. I still love Relief Society, but I also am loving Primary too! Plus, there are so many primary songs I need to learn!

Besides everyday life, not much else is going on. I hope our last tax form comes soon as I would like the taxes submitted soon. Also, I want it to snow and to have a snow day! We FINALLY bought sleds. Three of them actually. We've never bought them before because they were always so expensive. Our previous neighbors were nice and let us use theirs...or we would use some pool floaties I bought for a really cheap price. But of course now that we have sleds, there is no snow! The little amounts of snow that have come down this winter melted quite quickly. At least it's only January.

My Friend April

2012-01-18T19:32:00.000-05:00

First off, some random pictures.

My friend April from my old ward in Missouri visited me last week. They visit the local resort here every year or so, which happens to be about seven miles from my house! It was so fun seeing her and her family.

They came again a couple days later for another visit. Thanks for stopping by April! We loved seeing you!!!

Bread

2012-01-17T19:31:00.002-05:00

Though my sister Lena has been encouraging me to do this for several years, I just started making my own wheat bread. I bought 50 pounds of wheat, pulled out my wheat grinder a few weeks ago and I'm still baking bread! It's been fun using the wheat flour in other things took like brownies and pumpkin muffins.

When Lee's parents were here last fall they bought me some cans for bread "pans". I didn't think I had any, turns out I did! But I like baking the bread in these cans. It's fun to have round bread! I still buy bread for the boys' lunches. Maybe this fall when 4/5ths of my kids are in school they'll be using homemade bread for sandwiches.

My mom would sometimes make scones when she made homemade bread. I made some too. I didn't have a block of cheese, just shredded. So I stuffed the scones with shredded cheese. They were yummy. I like putting the cheese on the scones AFTER they're made, but this was a good alternative.

Here's to years of bread making!

New Year's Eve

2012-01-16T13:57:00.000-05:00

The day after by birthday is New Year's Eve. We had another fun day with Lois and co. We took another trip to the park. It was still nice out! Here was the fashion that Shanna and Haley were sporting that day--with no special coordination. Pretty funny!

New Year's Eve is a fun evening I look forward to every year. It's the final big party of the holidays. I mentioned previously how between my Dad's Christmas Eve birthday, Christmas Day, my brother Darrell's birthday on the 29th, mine on the 30th and New Year's Eve the 31st, it's quite the celebration time! We don't eat a lot of "appetizer" type foods or junk food, growing up or now. But New Year's Eve growing up we would always have chips and veggies with dip, sausage balls, little smokies, cheese ball with crackers, sometimes breaded cheese sticks, root beer floats, maybe some candy, bean dip and pizza. We always looked forward to the yummy food. We also play Monopoly and watch the ball drop in NYC. Usually there is a Star Wars marathon, but I don't have Stars Wars. I tried to get a copy of it, but didn't get one...nor did I try super hard either.

This year Lee and I made homemade pizza for dinner. Then we had cheese balls, crackers and root beer floats. We didn't go all out as my family usually does, but it was still yummy!

We played Monopoly! Basically Lee, Lois and I played. Monopoly can get pretty heated, so that is why we pretty much stick to playing it just once a year. Time was ticking on and Lois and I wanted to watch the last episode of He Knew He was Right before midnight. Lee had the most of everything, so we just let Lee win. I think I had lost by that point too. Lee and Lois could have battled it out for hours I am sure, but it was nice ending BEFORE midnight. Steph and my dad kept playing Monopoly till 3am! Steph won....GO STEPH! Anyway, we finished the movie and watched the ball drop and went to bed. (I was dosing off at the end...not having a nap that day contributed to that! Lois was sweet and offered to let me have one, but I knew I would sleep for hours, so I skipped out)

Some kids didn't make it till midnight.

Midnight! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

For awhile on New's Day my mom has made Scottish eggs. They are so good! Usually I am with my Mom on New Year's Day (for the past several years actually!) and she always makes them. I tried my hand at them this year. They were pretty good. Though next time I would switch out the cracker crumbs for cornflake crumbs--just like how you make them Mom.

So, make hard boiled eggs, let them cool (if you wish), peel of shell. Wrap in sausage and coat in egg wash. Roll in crumbs...like I said I prefer crushed cornflakes. I am sure there is something else you do do too. Wheat bread crumbs? The baking I can't say for sure....maybe 375 for 35 minutes? I just took my chances with the oven till they were done.

Something else we did growing up was smashing our gingerbread houses New Year's at midnight. By that time they've sat out all month, been picked over for all the good candy, and just need to be thrown away. Why not smash them?! We FINALLY had the kids break their houses...several days after New Year Day.

Breaking time!

The night of house-breaking we watched a movie. Some of the kids were pretty tired. The movie was pretty weird anyway.

So far the New Year has been good. Another family tradition is writing new goals, and looking over last year's goals. Recently a few of my friends have pointed out that they don't like New Year "resolutions" because they feel it's always important to have goals, and constantly be improving. I had never really thought about that before--it's a great concept. Also, my Mom sent a quote about how everyday is a new day...no need to wait for the new year to change! I have appreciated these opinions and I need to incorporate goals into my everyday life. And maybe because I am just used to it, I do enjoy reflecting on the past year and thinking about the new one ahead.

I have some goals that I am still working on and hopefully will accomplish this year. With a new year it brings us closer to buying a house someday too. Though we can't really plan for it now, maybe the end of next year of the beginning of 2014 we'll purchase something! I haven't been too interested in building a house in the past, but now I am. I am curious about how construction loans work and such, so I need to do some research about that. And towards the end of the year, or hopefully sooner, we'll start up again with some long-term financial goals. And with kids, I am going to potty-train Elden in just a few months! The end of March to be exact. AHH!!! I do not like potty-training. But, if he is like my other boys, we'll have a week of miserable pain and then it will be all over. I am REALLY hoping Elden will be like his brothers! But it's even more exciting because Elden is the youngest...no more potty-training for me! It is fun looking forward to the coming events of a new year. And hopefully I'll be sending out Christmas cards this year! I was sad that I couldn't do it last year.

Last year was quite the crazy, fun year. Moving was definitely hard...or should I say leaving my Missouri friends was hard. We went on lots of trips, saw family and some good friends which was fun. We hosted my family reunion which was a blast. Clark was baptized, Elden started walking, and Cal, Shanna and Haley learned to ride bikes. Lee opened his own business and he is loving it! We had a good 2011. Heavenly Father is ever mindful of us, for which we are grateful.

HAPPY 2012 to all of YOU!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2012-01-15T19:00:00.000-05:00

Over the Christmas break Mom R sent me some boxes of scrapbooking things. All of us had a fun time looking through them. One day we pulled out some stamps. We'll have to do this more often!

The day of my birthday Lois and co met us at our church. We had just finished a breakfast where the kids could come and meet their new primary teacher. We went to Sharp Shopper for the first time together. It was very fun. LOVE that store!

After lunch we went to the park. I loved the nice weather over Christmas break. If it's not going to snow it might as well be warm!

The kids like to wrestle...always on the couch. Maybe because it's soft?

Yep, four kids in that pile. Looks like Cal is not the king of the hill this go around.

While Lois and I were out shopping Lee and the kids decorated this sign. So cute! We went to The Valley Pantry for the first time (LOVE that store too!) and also EAUS--the local thrift store. I got a cute purse there. Someday I promise I will post a picture! I love shopping with my sisters/sisters-in-law! It's one of my favorite activities!

My cute Baby Blake nephew!

My sweetie pies!

Yep, there are 32 candles on there. For my family I like to have the exact number of candles. If I am there for my parents' birthdays (mainly my dad's) I like to put the exact number on their cakes too. Lois volunteered Jeff to makes this Oh So Lovely Cake. YUM!!!

Lots of smoke! I just need to remind myself that I am young! Before I know it I'll be 40....

This cake was so good. Chocolate Mousse Cake with chocolate ganache. YUM! THANKS JEFF!

Blake thoroughly enjoyed the cake!

Lee gave me Jenga and Skipbo; some games we've been wanting. Thanks Lee! He also gave me some cold-weather Army socks that he had never opened. They're the best "slipper socks"!

Lois gave me a HUGE bag of Ghiradelli chocolate chips (along with a subscription to Everyday Food--I love their emails). Elden was so excited when he saw it!

I had a few phone calls, some cards and LOTS of facebook messages on my birthday. It was a fun day. To end it Lois and I stayed up insanely late watching He Knew He Was Right. I would recommend it! There is a little swearing though. We went to bed a little after 3am and still had one segment to go. My little library here is part of the Massanutten Regional Library. What I love about it is that I can go online and request books, DVDs, and audio books to be put on hold and they are delivered right here in town! I don't need to worry about going to the main library, or a different branch. I do have to make sure to allow a week or more to receive the specific item. And He Knew He Was Right arrived right in time to watch it with Lois!

Thanks everyone for a fun birthday!

The Fire Re-lit

2012-01-14T23:26:00.000-05:00

Has your "fire" burned out on something you love to do and maybe even thrive on? Mine did...but thankfully only temporarily.

When we made the decision for Lee to open his own practice we stopped putting money towards retirement, kids' college fund, and a down payment for a house. Instead, we set aside the money for upcoming expenses that would inevitably be associated with starting a small business/optometry practice.

Once the practice was up and running my main focus was to "survive". At some point our saved money would be gone and the DITY move money would run out. A few times I had to remind myself, today we are fine. We have food to eat and there is extra food on our storage shelves. We can pay our rent. It's okay. And of course I would remember the confirmation from the Holy Ghost that Lee and I were/are doing the right thing in coming here. I needed to be faithful. A few times I thought of a story that my mom told to us kids growing up. Recently, I asked my mom more specifics on it. She wrote back stating that one of my ancestors "...was promised by Brigham Young that if he served faithfully in the Mormon Battalion neither he nor his descendents would ever beg for bread". That gave me great comfort too! (What we do does affect other people!)

I go a little crazy on my budgets and sometimes have them fairly planned out months in advance. And while thinking about all the money going out and with no money coming in, I knew that our money wasn't going to last till February or March. The practice was pulling its own weight, but that was it. No money was coming home. Lee started looking for an extra job--just a few hours a week--and found a few! Even some full-time jobs, funny enough. (It's nice to know optometry doctors are needed in the area!) He took a job working 12 hours a week for a fellow who has the lease to a Walmart optical. That job has been such a blessing and I am ever grateful for it. Heavenly Father once again blessed us so Lee could continue to cover our necessities.

I have tried to be ever mindful of the many blessings we've received. But recently I was "saddened" by the fact that we can't save as much money as we used to. I can't save for a house. We've stopped retirement. And of course there is no way we are contributing to any college fund at present. In the Army we were paid twice a month. We were saving one paycheck a month and then a little, about $2400 every month. I loved saving so much money and putting it towards future goals. My budget had become somewhat of a game/hobby to me and I loved setting aside money for the future. My fire was burning bright and I thrived off saving money and keeping the budget tight. I realized I missed that. Present financial goals had to be put on hold.

But only temporarily.

Just a few days ago while I was thinking about how we aren't doing any investing or saving for a house, I took a look at the good 'ol budget. We recently entered into a contract to purchase the optometric equipment from the retired eye doctor. We have a few years to buy the equipment, but of course knowing Lee and I, we want to finish buying all of it as soon as possible. As I was looking at some money numbers that would lead to possible pay-off dates, I added up how much money we were able to set aside from the Walmart job to put towards the equipment. The number slightly surprised me as it was higher than I had thought. In that moment I knew that Heavenly Father hadn't just blessed us with necessities. He had blessed us with more than enough--and continues to do so. Sure, retirement and a house down-payment will have to take a back seat, but we are still able to save some money, which will make a nice dent in buying that equipment. We have a very aggressive goal for buying it all in just a few months, instead of three years. And so far it's looking pretty good!

My fire has been re-lit. The money focus has been switched to the business, but only temporarily. Someday we will be able to buy a house and start-up retirement again. Funny enough my friend told me the other day that home ownership isn't all that it's cracked up to be. I bet that's true in many ways! I am content to rent for now, and in the future I am sure I'll be privy to the downsides of home ownership, ha ha.

Sharp Shopper

2012-01-13T00:54:00.001-05:00

There is a grocery store outlet nearby that I recently started shopping at. I had heard about Sharp Shopper, but never went there. While I was at my friend's house on Christmas we started talking about Sharp Shopper. I started asking her about prices and that got me hooked. I had to check this place out. And of course, I LOVE IT.

Lee went shopping there this evening. These are a few of the regular deals we see.

$0.99

$0.50 each

$0.50 each

And these yummy little babies.....$0.25 each

The trick for me will be to NOT buy things I don't need. I almost told Lee not to get the little Berry Granola Crunch's. Yeah, it's only $0.50, but I really want to stay in budget for food this month. He stayed under budget for the shopping trip. So far so good!

What I like about this place is that you don't need coupons...and I actually don't think you could use them even if you had them. There is no scanner associated with the check-out. Every price is punched in by hand. But who knows, maybe you can use coupons?! I'll have to ask! And something else that I love, they are closed on Sundays! I appreciate stores that close their doors on the Sabbath to let their employees worship and spend time with family. And since I've found Sharp Shopper, I am not sad about my commissary privileges ending in a couple of years. Among other things I also bought cereal there for $.99 a box, along with canned black beans, 3 for $.99.

There is another store I recently discovered in my new "hometown". It's called The Valley Pantry. I'll have to get a picture of it! My sister and I went there on my birthday to peruse. SO FUN and another favorite! There is a deli there (with some great looking meat and cheese I might add) along with lots of spices, a variety of different flavorings, flours, baking ingredients, homemade jams, salsas, jumbo mushroom popcorn kernels...etc! A Mennonite family owns the store and they too are closed on Sunday. YAY! And like all the other stores here, it's close. Though I necessarily wouldn't walk there, though I certainly could, it's an easy bike ride away.

Hopefully soon I will post about my birthday, New Year's, a fun find at my local thrift store and a visit from my friend April! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Snowman Craft

2012-01-12T23:17:00.000-05:00

Here is another double take from my sister blog. It was a fun craft! This would be fun to do for other holidays too...like making a giant Easter egg, or a Jack-o-Lantern.

Once a week I check up with the 1st grade teachers at Clark and Cal's elementary school to see if there are any craft projects they would like me to help out with ( I mainly cut out stuff for them). A few weeks ago one teacher had me prep some construction paper for snowmen by drawing a snowman outline on each one. She then told me that she was going to make a concoction by mixing shaving cream and glue--this would be the "snow". While the mixture is still wet, one can add buttons, eyes, nose, etc. And because the glue is in the mixture it will harden and dry. I thought this sounded fun and wanted to try it with my girls.

We did just that today. My nephew was in town and I thought he would enjoy it too. To make the "snow" mix two parts shaving cream and one part glue.

Gather items to decorate your snowman. At school Cal used buttons and pompoms. I used what we had at home.

I did make a special purchase...some foam brushes. There was only one brush at home and I think it was destroyed in its last use. It was a gorgeous day today (high 50s) so the kids and I took a walk to the local ACE Hardware (okay, I pushed them in the stroller...I love that I can fit three kids in a double stroller, ha ha). It's wonderful that I can walk to so many businesses here in my small town!

I made too much mixture for four kids. I added about 3/4 a bottle of Elmer's glue in it. I am sure my ratio of 2 to 1 was off, but I think it still worked. Well, the shaving cream hasn't disappeared yet. Lee touched the "snow" a little bit ago and said it felt like dry, soft foam.

As I mixed the glue and shaving cream together it became somewhat elastic.

Now to create!

Showing off the finished product...

The White Dove

2012-01-03T11:51:00.001-05:00

CLN Bookscope invited my mom to share the creation process of her book The White Dove. Check it out!

I'm proud of you mom and can't wait for the sequel!

www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org/magazine/bookscope

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-26T01:18:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you had a wonderful day. We had a great day here and I enjoyed the combined meeting for church this morning.

I posted a Christmas letter for your enjoyment if you this desire. www.robertsonchristmasletter.blogspot.com.

Like many of you, we have many little traditions during Christmas-time. One of them being eating pumpkin pie before seeing what Santa brought. I made individual pumpkin pies last year, and did it again this year. I now want to buy 5 more mini pie tins before next Christmas! Having only two makes for a late night waiting on pies to bake. We had some egg-nog too. Yum!

Oh and Clark woke up at a good time for a kid, 5:30. I told him to go back to sleep and of course he said he couldn't because he was too excited. Thankfully he DID fall back to sleep and we starting waking up around 6:45.

Next the kids go in one by one, oldest to youngest or youngest to oldest. I have no idea what we did last year, (every year growing up there was always a passionate discussion about what happened the year prior) and we just let Elden go in first. The first thing he saw--candy! He's been asking about candy and telling me about Clark's candy for days now. I kept telling him to wait till Christmas. Well, the little guy was happy. He walked around eating a lot of candy today.

Kids looking at stockings....

Every year the stockings get stuffed with a mini box of cereal, a can of olives, candy and an orange. The olive thing started a few years ago. It somehow evolved from giving them to Clark just for fun, to a mandatory stocking stuffer!

I love this picture of Lee. I think it sums up how many of us parents feel Christmas morning with our little ones!

I love the let's-all-huddle-around-to-see-what-she-got.

Shanna looks pained here as if the wrapping paper was burning her fingers. But I assure you she was her sweet, happy self.

Elden looks pretty concerned too. I think he was wondering why a silly box was in the way of his hands and a new toy.

Getting ready for our annual Santa Hat picture.

Whew, we did it!

The girls!

Okay, you pick which one you like the best. We were almost ready to walk out the door to attend church...just needed a couple of pictures first. I wanted to be early to church so I could sit in the chapel this morning and not the overflow. (And we did get a pew!)

The choir sounded nice today and it was amazing when the entire congregation sang! It sounded wonderful! Lee joined in singing with them. It was nice having Christmas on Sunday. The kids did pretty well without Lee sitting with me (why does Elden not like me during sacrament meeting?!) and Leah came and sat by me when Lee was up in the choir. We had a lovely meeting and it was fun wishing people a Merry Christmas.

After church we hung out and I made some food for dinner. A family in the ward invited us to have Christmas dinner with them. We had a great evening with lots of yummy food. I shouldn't have snacked so much this afternoon!

Cal prepping a kit Clark got him. Crystals as supposed to form onto two granite stones. We'll see what happens! It seems to being "growing" slow.

Merry Christmas! Today one of my girls asked when Christmas would come around again. Have a great time brining in the New Year. We are so thankful for our Savior and this time to celebrate his birth.

Robertson Christmas Letter 2011

2011-12-25T22:11:00.002-05:00

Here is our Christmas letter! Merry Christmas!

www.robertsonchristmasletter.blogspot.com

Christmas Eve and a little catch-up

2011-12-25T00:51:00.000-05:00

The stockings are filled, the presents are under the tree, pies are made, and I should go to bed! We had a fun Christmas Eve today...well, I guess now yesterday. I thought I would slip in a quick post before all the fun things that will happen in a few hours. Before I get to Christmas Eve I have a few photos from Christmas break thus far.

One afternoon I noticed that quite a few of the kids' toothbrushes were gone. For some reason I looked up and guess what I found?!

One afternoon we pulled out some paper and paints. I need to do this more often with the kids. They love it!

I don't mind adding new traditions and I think we did just that this year. The eve of Christmas Eve the kids got to sleep "under" the Christmas Tree. We all were going to watch It's a Wonderful Life together, but between waking up at an insane hour (I think Haley woke up at 5:30!) and having a fun evening at a wedding open house I think they were wiped out...okay, not Shanna and Elden. We even let Elden go to sleep on the floor. But when he woke up towards the end of the movie, we eventually put him in his crib. I love that he is still in a crib!

That brings us to Christmas Eve! We had a busy morning prepping for today. The kids did their jobs and I worked on cooking, baking and laundry. Shanna and Haley came in too every now and then to assist. I love that they like being in the kitchen with me.

This afternoon we went to our friend's house for a Christmas Eve party/get-together. It was really fun being with other ward members and enjoying yummy food!

After the "party" we went caroling to an assisted living/nursing home (sorry if the lingo is wrong!). We joined the sister missionaries and two other families in our ward. I really wanted to go caroling this year, but not by ourselves. Lee and I would basically be the only ones singing if that happened. We enjoyed going with the Lykins and other ward members the past couple of years that I wanted to carol again this year. I really enjoyed it!

Arriving home brought baths, snacks and the Nativity story. We do this every Christmas eve. Growing up I always looked forward to this. It was especially fun raiding my mom's stuff and using her fun jewelry boxes to hold the gold, frankincense, or myrrh, along with the jewelry for that matter. We read from The Book of Mormon and then Luke 2. In between reading Lee and I and occasionally the kids would sing hymns and primary songs that went along with the storyline.

Clark was Samuel the Lamanite prophesying about Christ's birth in the America's.

Haley was the angel that appeared to Mary.

Mary and Joseph

Cal the Sheppard with his small flock

Mary and the baby. Haley was still a "sheep" and right after I took this picture she told me that it was really hard to stay a sheep. It was pretty funny that she kept playing that part long after Cal took off.

Someone, we assume Shanna, put this bear in the tree. A cozy place for a toy to be on Christmas Eve.

We finished up with stockings, putting presents out and getting things ready for tomorrow. And funny enough (well, I am sure some of you aren't surprised!) it didn't take very long. What I have been waiting on this evening are pies. I have two mini pie tins, but I wanted to make each child an individual pumpkin pie for Christmas morning. I did it last year for my kids and Daniel's kids as they were visiting us for Christmas in 2010. I am definitely buying three more mini pie tins this coming year! I am excited for the magic that awaits...only a few more hours. Better hit the sack. Merry Christmas everyone! Don't let the frogs whistle!

Gifts

2011-12-21T14:07:00.002-05:00

'Tis the season of giving! This year (and last) we had a special family home evening about the gifts Jesus gave us. The various gifts were written on a piece of paper, or an object was used. Then each was wrapped in a present. The kids picked a present to unwrapped and we talked about the different gifts Christ has given us. We also watched the following videos. (Last year we just watched one of them.) They both touch my heart!

Thankfully my kids haven't seemed too enthralled in the gifts they will be receiving. We have always gone "light" on Christmas presents. I figure if my kids don't get a lot of presents year to year, (hopefully) they won't expect a lot. It's worked for our family. This year it has been especially handy because we didn't have much to spend on Christmas for the kids. I've commented a few times about the "one" present they'll be getting--little do they know that I am teasing...but not much! The other night Shanna said she was so excited for Christmas. I asked her why. She responded: "I am excited to get one gift and a can of olives!" My kids get a can of olives in their stocking every year. They love them. It was funny because then she said, "Can I get lots of presents for my birthday?" We've been reading Little House in the Big Woods and Laura and Mary got some gloves for Christmas and a stick of candy (Laura also received her first real doll). We talked about that a little. Those girls were so happy with those gifts, and grateful for what they received.

When Lee and I were preparing and teaching a financial class at church I came across this story:

In 1918 Joseph F. Smith wrote a letter to his son in which he recalled Christmas experiences from his own youth when he was “always penniless.” He said about his early married life: “I owed no man through all those days, and I had to work—I could not be idle.” He said that he and his family labored “tugging away with all our mights to keep soul and body together.” It was under these conditions that he went out just before Christmas with the intent of doing something special for his children. He said, “I wanted something to please them, and to mark the Christmas day from all other days—but not a cent to do it with! I walked up and down Main Street, looking into the shop windows … and then slunk out of sight of humanity and sat down and wept like a child, until my poured-out grief relieved my aching heart; and after awhile returned home, as empty as when I left, and played with my children, grateful and happy only for them. …

“After these trials, my pathway became more smooth. I began to pick up; by hard work, rigid economy, self-denial, and the love of God, I prospered.”
Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith, (1998), 163

This story is powerful. Early in married life even this former prophet of God, President of the Church had struggles. From the story I assume that no "secret Santa" came and brought presents. He went home and spent time with who mattered most, with gratitude in his heart. I truly believe the line in hymn Praise to the Man: Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven. I think of that line every now and then and I try to be grateful for what I do have.

I am also thankful that my kids have been enjoyed the traditions of the season too. I love Leigh Anne Wilke's website, yourhomebasedmom.com. She wrote a wonderful post titled The Power of Tradition. I loved it!

Well back to the gifts part, I have been surprised with some fun gifts this season. The 1st grade teachers at the school gave me a yummy scented and a cute dish towel that reads "Count your blessings". One evening our neighbors came over and surprised us with this great basket full of goodies! By the time I took the picture a lot of the fruit had been taken out, along with the other lollipops for the kids.

On Sunday my friend Tara gave me a bag and said Happy Birthday! I was so surprised! How did she know my birthday was coming up? She gave me a really cute shoulder bag that she made. I guess she has her own business making personalized handbags. I went up to her later and thanked her and started tearing up. She is so thoughtful! Moving here has been good, but it's been challenging too. Her thoughtfullness has really touched me.

Lee was sure what to get for the office ladies for Christmas and he decided we would all go out to dinner together. We really enjoyed it. I loved being able to visit with them and get to know the ladies better. We're so grateful for great employees. Or should I say, team members!

For one of Sheldon's gifts I made him a stocking. Last year I made ones for my parents, Stephanie and Andy.

Sheldon just finished basic training, so I wanted to put some sort of military thing on there. I love the bling on the kevlar helmet.

I did somewhat of a tutorial on these stockings on my sister blog. Check it out! www.fivesistersfivefamilies.blogspot.com.

Enjoy this season of giving! Our Savior gave us so many gifts, it's wonderful in our small, simple ways we can impart gifts to others.

Gingerbread Houses and stuff

2011-12-20T23:08:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you are having a joyous season. I can't believe Christmas is on SUNDAY and I am so excited! And actually mentioning joy, the past few Sundays (I guess all month) the theme for the talks in Sacrament meeting was "joy". Very fitting. I heard some wonderful talks.

I have been enjoying a relaxed holiday season. This will be the very first Christmas that it will be just Lee and I and the kids. I have always been around LOTS of family during the holidays so the thought of Lee, the kids and I being the only ones together on Christmas seemed sad. That probably seems weird to many of you! My dad's birthday is Christmas Eve, the next day is obviously Christmas, my oldest brother Darrell's birthday is the 29th, mine is the 30th and then we always have a BIG party on the 31st. So between the 24th and the 31st there are lots of celebrations (five actually), visiting, games, and yummy food. It's a great time of year for many of us, if not all, to be together. I mean, who wouldn't want to be together for three birthday and two holidays?! But, I am at the point this year that I am looking forward to our little family being together on Christmas. I am excited about going to church that afternoon too. (In our church we go to church on Christmas only if it falls on a Sunday.) But we aren't cutting the strings completely....we are getting together with my sister and her family for New Year's Eve and hopefully my birthday (hint hint).

We've been enjoying some Christmas traditions too. I wrapped several Christmas/winter books and stories and each night (well, we've done it a few times) a kid picks out a story to un-wrap, then I read. We recently finished our yearly tradition of listening to A Christmas Carol. I think I want to read it next year instead of just listening to it. We will soon watch two versions: A Muppet Christmas Carol, and A Christmas Carol with Patrick Stewart--personally my favorite version. I hope to squeeze in some more Christmas movies, like It's a Wonderful Life.

Another tradition is making gingerbread houses. I grew up making gingerbread houses and I've enjoyed sharing this with my kids. What are some of your traditions? Last night we invited our friends the Dollers over for potato soup, homemade rolls and gingerbread-house-making! We had a great time and they brought some awesome candy. Thanks for coming!

Elden enjoyed eating the candy! He decorated his house and then soon thereafter took the candy off and ate it.

These guys had a great time together. Clark is the life of the party!

Lee made a fun house to give to Dr. Downey.

Here are the creations!

My dad has Parkinson's and tomorrow is his surgery to get his battery replaced (I can't remember exactly, but the battery sends out electrical impulses to the brain which somehow stop the tremors. And yes he had to get wired from the battery pack located by one the upper area of one of his shoulders all the way up to some rods placed in the brain area...correct me if I am wrong Mom or Dad). It is a simple surgery (the battery re-placement one), and I hope it stays that way. It is exciting though the amazing technology available in the medical field. My dad had deep brain stimulation surgery over a year ago at the Mayo Clinic, and it's been a success. Going from many tremors to basically none is incredible.

Elkton Eyecare seems to be doing well this month. We've heard December is really slow, so we were pretty nervous. But of course the blessings keep coming in. Just yesterday Lee had a surprise patient, which is always great!

We've enjoyed having a break from school. It will be sad when school starts up again! The kids have enjoyed playing, watching movies, going to the library, eating popsicles, and waking up early to watch cartoons. The weather is still pretty mild and I'm hoping to go to the park tomorrow if it's not raining--it's supposed to be 61! Though I do hope there will be snow on Christmas!!!

Enjoy your last preparations for Christmas. Lee and I still have gifts to wrap and a few people to see. Thus far it has been a fun and joyous holiday.

Christmas Purses

2011-12-16T23:42:00.000-05:00

I just posted this on my sister blog, but wanted it on here too. Enjoy!

Last Christmastime in 2010 I made these skirts for the girls. I mistakenly made them too big, but thankfully they yet again fit them (perfectly) this Christmas!

Haley and Shanna Christmas of 2010

I bought this purse for the girls' (they each got one) birthday in May. We got them a mini Book of Mormon to put in the purse, thus becoming their little Sunday bag. Well, blue doesn't really go with their Christmas skirts.If you are interested in a purse tutorial, here you go!

Bear with me, I am not a good writer...but I think the pictures will tell the tale. The purses were only $1 at Target so I actually bought four of them. I figured if my girls lost one then I could have a back-up. Amazingly they haven't lost their purses. So I took one of them and ripped it apart with my seam ripper. I figured I could use it as a pattern. When it comes to fabric I am more of a pattern person. That isn't necessarily true with cooking, but it sure is with fabric.

If you don't have a purse to rip apart, here is the basic pattern that you want...a rectangle with a square, rectangle thingy cut out of the middle edge. I used fabric that I had on hand. This fabric is from my high school choralier skirt. I cut of these shapes out of the black fabric. Cut two. I had a lot of interfacing (I bought too much one time) and ironed some interfacing on one of the black pieces (outer shell) of the purse.Really, you could cut this shape out free hand, any size. Just cut two of the same size and you have the basic structure for a hand-held purse!

Fold the piece of fabric in half, with right-sides together and stitch up the sides--don't stitch the little hole that is created. The corner will look like a right angle....or a resemblance of one as my picture tells. Right here I have just sewn my lining. Oh and as you can tell the seam isn't very wide. I am not sure how wide it is, but it is narrow. You can make it wider if you want. Just sew the same seam width on all pieces.

Next, where the hole in the fabric is, make it into a triangle...or a volcano where the hole is at the top and the seam is in the center of it. Lay it flat. Sorry my picture is kind of crooked of the top of my "volcano". Then stitch up the hole. The stitching of the hole should be perpendicular to the stitching of the seam sewn previously. Yet again, a picture of the lining. Sorry...does this make sense? I think once you do it you'll see what I mean.

And voila! You get a nice stitch for the bottom of the bag. This is actually a picture of the outer shell, not the lining. But you do the same stitching on both pieces.

Before you sew the outer shell and the lining together stitch on any other things you want on the outside of the purse, like a fabric flower.

So now you have the outer shell and the lining. Time to sew them together!

Make sure the outer shell is turned right-side out and that the lining is wrong-side out.

Now you need a break. Here are some random pictures that Shanna took. She managed some good lighting!

Okay, so I forgot to tell you about the handles. I had a fake satin belt for one of my formals that I never wear any more and I used the belt for the handles. I used the blue handle to determine the length of the handle for the purse. The belt was about 1 1/2 inches wide. I folded it in half and did stitching down both sides--so basically it was a piece of fabric folded in half, and then folded in half again.

Pin the lining and the outer shell together, folding the edges into the center....see below.

You're ready to sew!

I found while sewing that it's better to pin the handle likes this instead of perpendicular.

And you're done! Okay, maybe a few hours later.... I am excited to make some other purses for the girls, now that I know how to make them!

Now they have purses to match their Sunday Christmas outfits!

Relief Society Ornament Exchange

2011-12-14T23:35:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was the annual Relief Society white elephant ornament & cookie exchange at my church. There was a good turnout with lots of yummy cookies!

Shanna wanted me to take this picture of her yesterday.

The cookies at the activity!

Some of the ladies

So this is a funny story. At this white elephant exchange, gifts are passed around but not opened till the game is over. The sister in the green holding the baby (see below) brought the snowman ornament and funny enough the lady next to her in the red sweatshirt ended up with it. Okay, hold on and see if you can read this without being thoroughly confused. The lady with the baby asked her husband which ornament from their tree to bring to the white elephant exchange. The husband said to bring the snowman because it was ugly. She brought it. At the end the ladies were looking at the ornament and what not, and another lady looked closer at the snowman. This other lady had worked at a jeweler's before and said that the snowman's hat opened. The lady with the baby has been married for two years and the said ornament was a wedding present. Well, the lady with the baby had no idea that the snowman's top hat could open. And guess what she found when she opened it?! $10! So funny! Just think how many years that snowman might have gone with $10 in its cap. We ladies all had a good laugh. Then another lady said "I gave you that ornament for your wedding present!" There was an initial shock, and then the lady said she was just joking. It was pretty funny. Good thing it was the husband that said the snowman ornament was ugly so the $10 treasure could be found!

After looking over the pictures I realized I didn't take any with me in them, but I am sure you will all survive! Overall it was a fun, un-stressful evening. I mention it being un-stressful because I was the one in charge of it. Oh, and I came home with a glass pickle ornament (actually there were three ornaments total in my box!)! I am excited to read the accompanying story to my kids and then hang it on the tree.

After the activity I went to a grocery store, then Old Navy. I also talked with my friend Kathryn who is moving to the area next summer. I am SO EXCITED! She might only be here for a couple of years, but anything sounds amazing! She was my good friend and visiting teaching companion in Missouri. And what a wonderful visiting teaching companion she was. I can't wait!

Oh, and I think I wrote that we went to a town get-together--they lit up a big Christmas tree, had refreshments and Santa came? Anyway, before the event started an opening prayer was given. I love that between the town gathering and the PTA meetings they start off their events with a prayer to God. So wonderful!

What have you all been up to this holiday season? I hope it's been a great one thus far!

The Holidays

2011-12-13T12:14:00.000-05:00

I love the holiday season. It's a wonderful time to be with family and friends. I think that is one of the main reasons why I like it so much--being together with those I love. Lately we have been focusing on Christ and the meaning of Christmas during Family Home Evening and that has been wonderful.

Something else I love about the holidays is that it lasts so long. Even though it is not Christmas this exact day, it is still Christmas-time. I can enjoy the holiday and the season for many, many days. It's not a one-day event.

Since Thanksgiving, here are a few things we've been doing.

Someone took this random picture...I am guessing it was Haley.

The Monday after Thanksgiving we decorated for Christmas. Lee and I are somewhat of a Scrooge with this...we don't decorate till our kids are asleep. We decided when our kids turn 7 they can stay up and help. This is Clark's second year helping. A couple Christmases ago I bought A LOT of plastic Christmas cups and plates for my visiting family. It's fun to have some festive dishes, even if they are plastic!

Funny enough, Clark did the exact same thing last year with the cups!

I've recently discovered that Elden can touch his tongue to his nose. But of course, I can't get a picture of it!

Someone (let's say it's Haley) taking pictures of Elden...

And another mysterious picture of some of the stockings. Maybe Lee took it?

Last Tuesday we pulled the kids out of school (amazingly their first whole day that they've missed all year!) and went to Washington D.C. Lee and I swapped turns going to the temple, and then did a lot of shopping. Well, Lee sat in the van with the kids while I went to the commissary, and then he watched the kids while Lois, Blake, the girls and I went to Aldi. My sister-in-law commented that it was funny that we did our grocery shopping in the DC area. And it is a funny thought! I bought a month's worth of milk at the commissary, and it sure was nice to get a decent price on milk!

Lois fed us a yummy curry chicken dinner with wild rice (or brown rice...or?). After dinner we had a delicious treat-chocolate peppermint cupcakes! YUM! Thanks Lois!

Elden seemed so interested with this toy.

That night we went with Lois' family to the Gaithersburg Winter Lights Festival. It was fun driving through the state park and seeing all of the lights. This is our 3rd year in a row driving through a light display. The past two years were actually free (our 1st one we were the 100th vehicle or something like that and got in free!) and this one we got at a reduced price, $8.

On our way home we went back to the temple and drove around looking at the temple lights. Though I enjoyed the park, I wish we would have just spent all our time here. It was gorgeous! I think we will just do the temple lights next year and actually go inside, hear a performance and look at the nativities.

The Washington DC Temple Visitors' Center. Brings back memories because when I was a missionary I served in the Los Angeles Temple Visitors' Center! You can't tell very well, but inside the big glass windows is the Christus statue, one of my favorite displays at a visitors' center.

I love this temple. I am already hoping my girls get married in this temple!

A little closer up of the Christus and the outside lights.

We also enjoyed the First Presidency Christmas Devotional on the 4th. The prophet, Thomas S. Monson and his counselors Henry B. Eyring and Dieter F. Uchtdorf spoke about Christ, Christmas, and the Christmas Season. It's always a great devotional to start off the season! You can watch it here.

Christmas Mice

2011-12-12T10:52:00.001-05:00

A few days ago we made Christmas mice for our "preschool". My sister Lena gave a great tutorial about them on our fivesistersfivefamilies blog. Check it out: Christmas Mice. It's a simple, fun craft.

That night Clark and Cal stayed up and made a bunch with me. They gave them to their teachers at school and I gave some to the ladies in the office at the school. For our recipients, we slipped each mouse into a Christmas card. I had grander ideas of a "gift" for the ladies at the school, but this was up my ally of simple and inexpensive.

Thanksgiving

2011-12-03T16:54:00.000-05:00

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. We sure did. Before Thanksgiving we had a few activities. First we made a thankful tree. We each wrote on a leaf something(s) we were thankful for. My niece did a really cute one on her blog: check it out. I am not much into crafts, and to some the end result of my creation won't surprise you!

Oh, and a couple of random pictures from the kids.

The night we did the tree. Sunday nights we listen to a General Conference talk and have a treat. I made cupcakes that night.

I took pictures of everyone else, I had to snap one of Lee.

The following night we went to an activity at the school: Long Ago Night. There was dinner, crafts, games, story-telling, wagon rides, displays, Native American dancing...it was a fun night! I was especially glad because I got to see some ladies from the community and meet some parents!

Wagon ride...

The next day our visitors arrived! Daniel, Amy, Lois and Jeff and their families came for Thanksgiving. The day before Thanksgiving I finished off the pumpkin pies. I made 10 this year. I had already done the crusts, just had to make the filling and bake them. Shanna loved helping me and we made a big mess. I had a lot of fun baking and prepping stuff for Thanksgiving day. I was quite surprised myself!

Lois and Jeff took their turn in the kitchen too. Lois made an oh so good cranberry pie. I am going to make it for Christmas..that's how much I liked it! Here is the recipe from the Virtual Goodie Plate.

We had a fun time with the turkey. We had to defrost it and I should have started on it sooner, oh well. There is always next year! Lee and Lois got the turkey thawed out and Lee cooked it. It turned out great, though we ate a little later than planned. I should never set a time for eating on Thanksgiving! Thanks Lois and Jeff for buying the turkey!

Here are the kids (minus two) before the dinner. I thought it was funny how they were all gathered round.

For as long as I can remember, before we eat our Thanksgiving meal we have a blessing on the food and we each say three things we are thankful for. Ila gave each person three kernels of corn on their plate to represent the three things they're thankful for.

After dinner and cleaned up, we went to the park for the annual race. Another tradition I grew up with is having a race before eating pie. Then the winner gets their own pie. This year we let the winner pick the first piece of pie. The track/walk-way that we are on is 1/4 mile. Most of the kids ran the whole thing, which was fun. I jogged around with Elden. We need Sheldon around to do a real race with the adults.

Lizzy won the race!

Pie!!! Along with the pumpkin and cranberry Lois also made a chocolate pie and a key lime pie. The key lime pie we ate later with just the adults.

Later that evening Lee and I went out shopping to Walmart. We bought a vacuum for his practice. The van was parked at 9:58 and when we looked at the clock again, at 10:18 we were already on our way home about a 1/2 mile from Walmart. Pretty fast! I have always had good experiences with Walmart and Black Friday shopping. Once we got home and I slept for about 45 minutes, Lois, Ila and I went out shopping again. We had a great time. We first stopped at Kohl's, arriving a little after 1am. Lois and I picked out what we wanted, then I left. Ila and Lois stayed behind to stand in the long, slow line while I sat outside in front of Belk's. Belk's gave away gift cards to the first 250 customers. The $ amounts ranged from $5 - $1000 at each store. Is it worth going out so early sitting in the cold waiting for $5 gift card? Probably not, but it was sure fun. I chatted on the phone with my sister, ate a little snack and had fun talking to the lady next to me. I was bundled up and quite warm. Lois and I each received a $5 gift card and Ila got a $25 gift card!!! It was SO COOL! Definitely the highlight of the morning. It was even more fun because Ila gave it to her mom for her birthday. But Amy thought it would only be for $5. So, so fun. I brought my double stroller with us, and boy was that a great idea! It was wonderful putting all of our stuff on/in it-especially the super cute boots Lois bought. We went to several stores, 11 in total. We got home about 8:30 in the morning. We slept a lot that day and relaxed. I can't wait till next year!

That night Lois, Jeff, Lee and I went on a double date. Thanks for babysitting the sleeping kids! First we went on a walk to the Miller-Kite house that is supposedly haunted. We stopped by the office first and showed Lois and Jeff in person how it looks. Then on to the house.

Though we didn't see Stonewall Jackson's ghost, I did see a cat which scared me and then right as we were going home a cop pulled over a car. Kind of creepy! After we went home, we left again and went to Food Lion to buy some stuff. It was a fun night, ending up with eating the key lime pie and talking till after 1am.

Saturday we went to a park. We had great weather over Thanksgiving!

Everyone stayed through Saturday night. Amy's birthday was on Sunday so we had a little surprise party for her. I made homemade brownies.

Happy Birthday Amy!

I thought it was so cute that Elden was snuggling with Jeff.

After everyone left and we were cleaning up I was sad that everyone was gone. What I kept thinking of that I was most thankful for this Thanksgiving was family. For Thanksgiving dinner we had someone from our ward/church over that hasn't had a great family life. After our little race we had a neighbor over who is living alone as his wife passed away a few years ago. He does have a sister nearby which is nice. But thinking about it, I am so thankful for my big wonderful family. I love that we get together often throughout the year and I love that most of us (whoever can) get on google+ video chat every Sunday night. It's so fun to stay connected and have loving relationships with each other. What a lonely journey life would be without loving family and friends.

While I am blogging, I'll just update everything else because I don't have pictures. A couple of nights ago the town had a tree lighting activity and a visit from Santa. We saw them light the tree and had cookies and hot chocolate, but it was pretty cold and I took three kids home. Haley didn't want to see Santa, Cal just wanted to go home, and Elden had to come home by default. Clark was going to see Santa--which didn't end up happening, but Shanna did. I am boring and have told my kids about Santa so I really didn't care if anyone saw him. I'll tell the details if anyone cares. Anyway, Shanna did go and see him (wouldn't sit on his lap) and brought home a fun "gift" bag. I am almost positive that my kids are going to want to go see him next year...

Work is going well for Lee. It was great because he accepts Daniel's insurance and did eye exams on everyone while they were here. I am glad Daniel and Amy used Lee as their eye doctor! Things are going well at Walmart too. I feel very blessed that Lee has that extra job!

We are at the tail end of our Christmas shopping. There wasn't/isn't much to do this year, which makes it simple. There are still a few odds and ends to take care of, but not much. Sadly this year we won't be sending out Christmas cards. I love sending out cards, but with just starting the process of buying a business it won't happen this Christmas. I will be updating my yearly Christmas blog though. As time has passed in our marriage it seems that our "standard" of living keeps regressing--mostly by choice to jump start other financial goals. I am thankful that Lee goes along with my crazy ideas...and that we have shared goals for the future. It has been a great time though to reflect on my many blessings. I also appreciate the time to teach our children that sometimes the whole family has to sacrifice and that they as children have many things to be grateful for.

Monday night we decorated for Christmas and have been constantly listening to Christmas songs. Last night for family movie night we watched a Christmas movie and I am excited to watch more! I hope all of you are enjoying your holiday season! It's been great receiving holiday cards in the mail. Also, I am so excited for the First Presidency Christmas Devotional tomorrow night! go to www.lds.org to watch it live at 6pm mountain time. Oh, and one last thing, we stole this idea from Lois...we are opening a book each night to read as a family. Some of the Christmas/Winter books we've already read before, but it will be fun to do. Not sure we'll make it all the way to Christmas because I don't think I have that many books.

Happy Holidays!

Visiting and Traveling

2011-11-14T19:14:00.001-05:00

We are having a nice Fall here. Overall the weather has been great and we are still enjoying some nice Fall days.

Cal brings home books from school that he has to read almost every night. It's really cute because many times he'll say to the girls "Who wants to hear a story?" and then he'll go over to the couch with the girls following.

Had to get pictures of the rest of the kids...

Elden didn't want his picture taken.

A little over a week ago Lois and her family came for their monthly visit. Lucky for me Lois babysat so I could go on a field trip with Clark! We went to a life science museum.

They had a cool room with rocks that glowed when an ultra-violet light shined on them.

That night we had a fire outside.

I didn't think we had regular sized marshmallows (we actually did) so we used some mini-marshmallows. They worked out okay, though I would never try to use them in the future.

Saturday night was the adult session of Stake Conference. Lois yet again babysat (you're awesome Lois!) and Lee and I were able to go to the meeting together. It was great! Afterwards we went with a few couples to Cracker Barrel and got dessert. I ordered the blackberry cobbler. The blackberry part was great! When I got to the crust...that was another story. I have never had lard in a pastry crust before, but now I have. What other ingredient would make a crust taste like bacon? Yuck. I didn't like it. Good thing there wasn't much crust. And now I know to never buy lard to make pie crust! Just the thought alone is gross!

Lois and family had Stake Conference the same weekend as us, so that worked out great. We all went to Stake Conference together on Sunday. I wanted to sit in the chapel for Stake Conference and was hoping to get to the building at 9:00am (the meeting started at 10am). We got off a little late and arrived at about 9:15-9:20. The chapel was already full. Oh well. We went ahead and sat in an overflow room. Better luck next time! Afterwards we drove around Charlottesville. It's a pretty town!

Thanks Lois and Jeff for coming and visiting! Oh, and don't think we left Jeff out of the fun. Aside from helping Lois with babysitting, Jeff helped Lee move to a new office location! Yep, we are now in a different office. Here is a picture from Google maps..and it's the back of the building (though it is officially the front).

The new sign...though another sign will be in the works in the near future.

Here is the front entrance of the office (technically the back of the house). AGR Insurance and a realty office are upstairs. We'll have more pictures soon of the office. It's almost all put together. I admit, when Lee told me about wanting to move locations I was very weary of the idea. But the "new" place is great. And it has ramp which is a huge bonus. Lee's lost a few patients after they saw the flight of 21 stairs up to the office in the old place.

A few days after Lois left we headed up to DC. Unfortunately she was sick so we didn't see her. Lee and I just swapped kids at the temple. There is a park close by so I took the kids there, fed them sandwiches and then we walked around the temple. Lee took them to the DC Visitors' Center. Right before we left Jeff and Reed met up with us and gave us some yummy cookies and a toddler bed. (Can you believe that Elden will be in a toddler bed in a few months? I will start potty-training him the middle of March. My last one.....)

We should just use this for our yearly family photo. Kids, why can't you do this when we take family photos?

Even though Lee and I didn't get to go to the temple together this time, it actually was great having the kids visit the temple and enjoy it for themselves. We'll take them again in December to look at the lights.

We've started "buying" the business now, so that is exciting--especially since Lee is working at Walmart as a greeter. Ha ha, just kidding. He is working as an eye doctor twice a week, six hours at a time. We haven't "paid" ourselves yet and this money will ensure that we can pay for our expenses at home (food, utilities, rent, etc.) without draining our emergency fund. I feel blessed for this extra job. In the process of looking for extra work, Lee actually was offered a full-time job and even a part-time job (20 hours per week). It's nice knowing that optometry doctors are needed! We just need more patients to show up at Lee's practice....

We have a busy week ahead of us and I can't believe that Thanksgiving is next week! How fun! I am so excited that some of my family will be here so we can celebrate together.

Snow and Sugar

2011-11-01T22:01:00.001-04:00

Click on Older Posts for more pictures on

Fall adventures, Lee's parents visiting & Luray Caverns!

Last Friday night it started snowing and kept going till Saturday afternoon. I always love the first snow of the season, even if it was a little early. I didn't mind the snow one bit because it didn't last long (I didn't think it would) and we had a gorgeous sunny Fall day today. I don't mind if snow starts sticking around on December 25th.

The pink/gray glove and Clark's helmet are remnants of Clark's snowman.

Lee and Cal's snowman.

Cal went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch a few weeks ago and it was the lone pumpkin for Halloween. Cal designed, Lee carved.

For a few years we've baked and decorated sugar cookies for Halloween. It's about the only time of year I make them. I used the same recipe as I did last year, but boy were they good this year! Yum! Too bad there weren't more of them... We did the cookies on Sunday.

I love it how they all squish together for things like this!

We decorated them while listening to a General Conference talk. *Listen Here*

This photo is for you Auntie Steph!

We had a really fun Halloween weekend. With the ward Halloween party--see post below--cookies on Sunday and Trick-or-Treating Halloween night, it was very fun. I was kind of disappointed about going trick-or-treating by myself as Lee was going to hand out candy at his practice, but it turned out really well! Here they hold what they call a Hoo-Doo and block of the streets for the downtown businesses. Then participating businesses hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters. I loved it! A church close to downtown...okay...everything is close to downtown...had a maze for the kids along with cookies and hot cider. Thankfully they had water too. I was thirsty from pushing the stroller!

I left the camera with Lee while we were out getting candy.

You might not be able to tell, but Lee dilated his right eye, and shaved his face and cut his hair on the left side.

Here is the candy he handed out. We bought it from Oriental Trading Co. We both wish we would have checked the local Family Dollar first...they had gummy eyes also for sale...at a cheaper price too!

Good thing he got a lot. He handed out about 670 pieces!!!

Lee bought two squash and carved out eyes. He couldn't get a good picture, but I think you get the idea. Very cool!

We're excited to participate again next year! After filling up the bags with candy downtown, we visited a few homes right by our house. After that we did about 10 or so more houses. It was funny because Haley wanted to keep going. The other kids were done. It was a nice night weather-wise to go out. A little cool, but not bad. A nice Fall evening. After the kids were in bed, finally, I did the much-looked-forward-to sorting of the candy! So fun! I don't know why I like doing it so much. I saved out a BUNCH of candy for Christmas, a little for Valentine's Day, plus the kids picked some out for their gingerbread houses. The only candy I plan on buying for Christmas will be candy canes. I might make some homemade candy, like chocolate covered coconut balls...mmm! Hopefully I can stick to the plan! The kids still have a good stash in their bags and they haven't even noticed that A LOT is gone. Hopefully that will last a few more years! Growing up I looked forward to holidays mainly because of the candy. And that hasn't changed.

2011-10-31T21:28:00.000-04:00

An interesting article....

Especially since our van was one of them. Funny enough, we didn't even know that they had thrown eggs on it till a police man was at our house one night explaining it to us (that gave me a sinking feeling fast!).