December Pics

This picture didn't work out for a Christmas picture, but I thought it was cute anyway.

Just a few pics from around the house.

He really is handy with power tools.

He is practicing his screwdriver skills.

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Cheerio heaven! Can you tell he's excited?

The Boy Who Refuses His Jacket

This is my boy who refuses his jacket. I'm not sure why. It will be cold and he still does not want it. I let him not wear it thinking that someday he will learn. We have yet to reach that day. Note in this picture he is dripping. We just walked my boy who wears 2 jackets at the same time to school. Hmmm... Well, at least we had fun "Singing in the Rain."

Permissions

Ok, so just in case you were wondering why I hadn't invited you to my blog... don't worry, I didn't invite anyone.

I got some weird comments from someone I do not know with some links that I didn't like so I set everything to private. I'm not sure if I want to go that route permanently so I'm opening it up again. I'll let you know if that changes again.

Lego Engineers

My boys love legos. They can spend hours every day building and creating. The things they come up with all on their own still amaze me. Today we have a submarine and an airplane.

Thanksgiving Games

So we've been doing lots of practice with Thanksgiving games. We tossed around a bean bag and said things we were thankful for. We ate candy corn and had to say something we were thankful for. Then tonight, we were eating trail mix and had to say things we were thankful for. My oldest child turned to me and said, "Sharing." Then he handed me an M&M. Now that is something to be thankful for. Makes being a mom worth it.

What are you thankful for?

Halloween

Happy Halloween!

I have a bit more blogging to catch up on, but as for today, it is Halloween and I thought I would share. Since it is on Sunday, we didn't do anything today. Friday afternoon we went to Will's work for their annual trick or treating event. Here are the kids all dressed up.

Pirate and Elmer Fudd

Friday night we went to my parents house so the kiddos could join with their cousins to go to my Dad's ward party. Then they went back to Grammy and Papa's for a movie and sleepover. They had a blast. Yesterday we had a "spooky dinner." Candlelight dinner with hot dog mummies, deviled eyeballs, and breadstick bones. The kids loved it! The batteries on the camera died, so no pics of what we did, but here are the ideas I used.


It was a fun time and I think our spooky dinner will be a new tradition.

It all happened last week...

Last week was eventful. Frank got his first tooth. I tried to take a picture of it, but it didn't work out. He also started solids. So far he likes the rice, but the oats he just sits there with it in his mouth and isn't sure what to do with it.

Roger learned to do flips in the tub or at least he did one. He was trying to get his hair wet when... whoop ... and he was flipped. It was funny!

Allen found a new use for the bumbo chair. We borrowed it for Frank, who promptly wiggled out of it, so this was what Allen did with it. The picture doesn't quite do justice to the racecar driving motions and sound effects.




Frank also learned to get up on all fours. He is already scooting and rolling, so now that he can get on his knees, crawling should be soon to follow. Not to mention he can sit up mostly without support.

And here is a picture of the boys having fun together.

How do you like your bread?

I love homemade bread, but I'm kind of finicky with texture. Light and fluffy sounds just about right. I'm still working up to meeting prior years bread quota, what with a baby and all ... I'm doing my best. So last night I made some bread, because it was much needed. Will pulled the loaves out of the oven for me(I think I was falling asleep in the chair), and I thought they looked a little blonde, but still nice looking. I was about to get ready for bed when Will decided he wanted some warm bread. Who can refuse? So I joined him. He handed me a slice of bread and butter, and I almost gagged. Doughy bread!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't stand doughy bread. I gag at almost every bite. I couldn't even finish it, but Will loved it! This morning I baked my toast in the oven just to dry it out as much as possible. The kids didn't even want their bread toasted hardly, and thoroughly enjoyed the soft gooey texture of doughy bread. To each his own I guess, but for me, I like my bread well done, not medium rare.

The Most Important Meal of the Day

This morning my boys woke me up to tell me they were all ready for the day and the table was set for breakfast. When summer started I decided to try to make a schedule of sorts. Each day they have a list of things to do to get ready in the morning to cross off. When it's done, they are ready for the day. Usually I help them through it a bit, but today they did it all. They told me we were having cereal for breakfast too. I took a picture of them and their handiwork.

It was a great start to the day!

To Deal or Not to Deal

Free items purchased with coupons.

Picture this:

Young parents walk into a grocery store on a Saturday evening dressed nicely from a church function to get the early edition of the Sunday paper, baby in tow. The mom gets the papers(she's a couponer) and is making sure the coupon inserts are inside(some crazies steal them and I don't want to buy a paper if they aren't there). The dad asks the mom what she's doing, and so does the cashier. The mom responds politely, then proceeds to buy the papers. The young mother attempts to explain why she does this to the cashier who responds with something like:

"I guess if you buy that kind of stuff."(cashier)
"What do you mean?"(mom)
"Well, we don't really eat all those prepared foods."(cashier)
"Well, we didn't used to."(says the shocked mother who really doesn't know what to say)

This was the jist of my conversation with the very presumptuous cashier the other night. I was totally flabergasted. I almost laughed out loud with the picture she must have of me at home making a frozen dinner with a side of canned soup for me and my husband while my baby watched on from a bouncer. Little does she know...

• My baby wears cloth diapers.
• I have chickens in my backyard that feed us their eggs.
• I have 2 other healthy, veggie eating children at home.
• I grind my own wheat.
• I make my own bread.
• I grow a garden and can every summer.
• We had whole wheat, chicken & veggie stuffed pizza pockets for dinner made from scratch.

And then I thought about how I used to think that was what couponing was about. Some things I have found out though, are there is more to coupons than prepared food and cereal(although my kids love eating the free cereal I get). I now can buy Gold Medal flour and C&H sugar for cheaper than the off brands. I can get Campbell's cream soups for cheaper than the off brands. I can get nicer dish soap and laundry soap and deodorant and toilet paper for way cheaper now. I got lightbulbs and pads and cleaning wipes and air fresheners for free. I even got a gallon of organic milk one time for around $1.29. I was very skeptical about couponing for a long time, but now I know that it really does work and it's not just about getting free Bagel Bites(which I now know don't even taste that good anyway).

For more info on couponing, here are the sites I use.

• www.frugallivingnw.com - matches coupons with sales for good deals
• www.hotcouponworld.com/forums/coupon.php - look up coupons for things you are planning on buying anyways
• http://athriftymom.com/ - another site to match coupons with sales

Allen's Birthday

Allen just turned 4. Only 4? and 4 already? He's a spunky kid. I hope he always keeps his zest for life and I hope I can keep up with him as he grows. We kept it low key for his birthday. He wanted to ride the carousel at the mall for his birthday, so we invited a friend to come along. They had a train too, so they got to ride that as well. Then we had some cookies and he got to play. After dinner we went to the park as a family and we had a blast. Then we went to the store so he could pick out his main present, a backpack. He wanted a motorcycle and a shotgun for his birthday, but he settled for the backpack, a balloon, and a toy sword. He had a happy day!


He's loving it!

Smile for the camera. (sorry for the blur)

Blowing out the candles.

Do you see the hands reaching for his presents?

Still having fun with them the next morning.

They Grow So Fast

I love having a baby around. Frank is a great baby. He only cries when he needs something. He smiles and laughs a lot. His brothers adore him. It's hard to believe it has been almost 4 months, and yet its hard to imagine life without him. Here are a few pics of our growing baby.

1 month

6 weeks

3 months

3 1/2 months

Happy Mothers Day

Ode to My Boys

I've been trying to figure out a balance in raising my boys. The loudness, the constant movement(running, bouncing, etc.), and then there's the dirt. I've been trying to let go and just let them be boys. Yesterday they were playing outside and I could hear them laughing so I just let them play, not knowing what they were doing. At one point it hailed and they didn't come in, but I thought I would just let them keep playing uninterrupted by my own paranoia. When I was going to make lunch I thought I would check to see what they were doing. When I opened the patio door I saw Roger elbows deep in mud. I didn't get angry(I remember the fun I had with mud as a kid) and now I know that I need to designate a mud area in the backyard so they don't play in my pea bed.

Allen's artwork.

The bathtub during cleanup.

Sometimes I get so exasperated with the never ending busyness of my boys. But boys will be boys and I love them and their energy and exuberance for life that I'm sure will fade all too soon.

Skateboarding

I came across this picture recently and thought I would share. This is a picture from one of Will & I's most expensive dates while we were dating. Why was it expensive? Because it was a skateboard date. Why is a skateboard date expensive? Well, I didn't have one, and so Will bought me one... a longboard. Note that in this picture I am not riding the longboard.

Will & I like to skateboard. The longboard he bought me has seen much use, most of which has not been by me even though I have used it on occasion(other, less expensive skateboard dates). :) I'm not very good, I can go straight and turn and that's about it. Once I ollied, but I ruined a favorite pair of pants in the process.


The kids like to skateboard also. Here they are taking a reading break.


The longboard also works as a dolly. This is a boxsprings he walked over to the church to put in the DI pod.

So I guess in addition to biking, our family likes skateboarding as well. :)

Easter

Origami Easter Basket

Yesterday we had a wonderful Easter. We started off watching General Conference. It was so nice to hear the apostles and Prophet speak on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter, as well as other great gospel topics. I feel inspired to be a better mom.

Afterward, we had Will's sister's family over for a turkey dinner. I always pick up an extra turkey or two at Thanksgiving time because they are so cheap and they are great for a nice dinner get together. Then the kids took turns hiding empty plastic eggs(I only have 1 dozen, so it seemed silly to fill them when the fun is in the hiding and finding). The boys took turn hiding for the girls, and vice versa. They had a blast! It reminded me of when I was a kid and we did that, only we used real eggs. After the hunt we had a lovely spice "mountain" cake that was super delicious and then the kids each got a little origami Easter basket with candy. I even showed the kids how to use robin eggs as lipstick, passing on a family tradition from my side of the family. It was a great Easter!

Robin Egg lipstick tradition

Unfortunately the pics were taken this morning as my memory card from yesterday is suddenly acting up. Hopefully I can get the pics off of it later.

Free Gum

So a few months ago a friend introduced me to the world of couponing. It's fun and interesting. I love getting a good deal. A couple of my sisters and I now send pictures of our spoils of war to each other also. It has allowed our kids the enjoyment of cereal again. It also gives me a little more room in our grocery budget for other items, like bananas. I haven't been as diligent on scoring as many deals lately since I had the baby, but today I decided to hit the stores. I still feel like such a novice couponer though.

So while I was at Safeway today standing in line, there was a couponer at the front of the line taking her sweet time to give the cashier a lesson in how to properly enter in her bazillion coupons so that she could buy all sorts of random items. I'm waiting there looking at my deals in the cart(waiting for a long time, mind you) thinking that this woman is the reasomn why I had always been turned off by couponers in the past. I'm almost embarrassed to think that I will be handing over my coupons after the customer in between us has her turn with the poor checker. My boys were being amazingly patient during our long wait. My eyes then glance over the gum selections and I think I might have a coupon for some. Sure enough I do! $.75 off gum that is on sale for $1, but this is Safeway and I can get $.50 of it doubled.

So I should be thanking the crazy coupon woman for the opportunity I had to get free gum and earn a quarter while standing in line.

Baby Frank

Awake and alert to a brand new world.

We had our baby! Franklin Arthur Bluemel was born on the 4th after a short but productive 2 hour labor. He was a big boy, just shy of 10lbs. He has been a great baby so far. He sleeps a lot, especially during the day. We are still adjusting to the schedule. It is so great to have a baby in the house again. His brothers love to hold him and help him. Mom and baby are healthy and happy, as is the whole rest of the family.

This may be one of the best pics I have of my boys. Genuine smiles and eyes open. :)

Proud Parents

41 Weeks and... Waiting

Every day I wonder if this is the day we get to have our baby. My patience is wearing thin and sometimes I wonder if I will be pregnant forever. But that's pretty much impossible. All in all, its been a good pregnancy and I've really felt pretty good.

The kids are excited. Roger likes to feel baby moving in my tummy. One day we were cuddling and baby started kicking Roger and we just laughed and laughed. Allen would enjoy it too if he could only hold still long enough to actually see or feel it. One day I was trying to get Allen to feel the baby and he said, "Is he coming out right now?" It was cute. Will insisted on taking a picture of me with my big belly for documentation purposes.


So one of these days we will have our baby. He has been long awaited, and we're so excited.

Digital Scrapbooking

A friend of mine clued me in to digital scrapbooking a long time ago, and I never really pursued it. I'm getting kind of bored waiting for our baby to come, so I thought I'd give it a try. I already had a program (Gimp) that I've used for photo editing in the past, so I just found a quick tutorial video and came up with something. I've never been much of a scrapbooker, too much time and money and mess, but this could be something for me.