Our Family Project

I've been deliberating for quite some time and finally decided to do it. I've separated all my recipes from our family blog. I want to make it easier for you to find any recipes you're looking for, and also make it easier for me to get everything printed. I'll leave all the recipes on here that have been already been posted here, but I won't be adding any more. I'll only post them on Table Time Tuesday . So, head on over there for all my recipes!

A long time ago I happened upon a tutorial for a crayon roll . I've been wanting to make one since then, and finally decided to do it. It took me probably two hours to make this one, but I think it really doesn't take quite as long. I spent quite a bit of time looking through my stash of leftover fabrics deciding on which fabrics to use. Anyway, as you can see, this one is made with a green outside cover ... so can you guess who's crayon roll this is??? Yep, it's Adam's. (In case you wonder, each of my children has been designated a specific color. Eliza: Pink, Kate: Purple, Andrew: Blue, Adam: Green, Maryanne: yet to be decided.) And, these are the fabrics he picked out for his apron. I altered the pattern slightly to add the band of color on the pocket, and I didn't have any ribbon, so I just made some ties. Next time, however, I think I'll make a 1-inch band that wraps around the roll and velcros to itself; the ties are just too hard for Adam.

One Monday for Family Night we played "Simon Says." I just had to pull out the camera to document what everyone was like. Adam was adorably crazy, Eliza and Kate were calculating, Andrew was frustrated when everyone didn't do what he wanted, and Jon ... well, see for yourself:

The other day Adam started collecting a bunch of blankets in the playroom. He made a big pile and then buried his legs in it. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "This is my two three-thousand." A while later he was doing something else and I was cleaning, so I picked up some of the blankets and folded them. He ran over and started moaning, "My two three-thousand, my two three-thousand!" I have no idea where he got the title for his blanket pile from. But, he was so cute about it.

The day of Andrew's birthday also happened to be the day that Jon blessed Maryanne at church. It was very surreal. Thankfully, I had my mom here to help get everyone ready for church so we could get there early enough for me to feed Maryanne before the meeting started. I was so pleased that she wasn't crying during her blessing. Ironically, I'd forgotten to bring tights for her (because I dressed her at the church right before I fed her), so she was wrapped up in her blanket for most of the meeting. Which meant that she didn't need the little flannel jacket I made for her. But, oh well, she can wear that another time. Oh, and remember I said we were hoping she wouldnt' grow in the week before her blessing? Well, yeah, I had to undo the top button on her dress because she did grow too much and her dress was almost choking her. ☺ It was such a sweet blessing and I could tell that Jon really felt humbled to give her this blessing. Later, in my primary class we we...

The picture I took of this didn't turn out very well. So, maybe next time I make these I'll update this with a picture. At any rate, these are really yummy ... but seriously full of sugar. The recipe makes several dozen (depending on size), so I would suggest only making these when you will be able to get rid or give away most of them so you don't end up eating them all! What you need: 2 cups light corn syrup 2 cups sugar 1/2 tsp. salt 1 jar marshmallow creme 2 cups peanut butter 1 (12 oz.) bag chocolate chips 1 large box cereal (Cheerios, Special K, Kix [my fav], Rice Krispies, etc.) How to do it: Bring sugar, syrup and salt to a rolling boil. Stir for one minutes and remove from heat. Add marshmallow creme, peanut butter, and chocolate chips. Stir until smooth. Add cereal and carefully mix. Shape into cookies or bars. Tip: Be sure to mix it really well and pour it on the cereal while it is still somewhat warm. (I let it cool a little bit and the handle on my wooden spo...

Eliza & Kate had to peform one of the songs from Kate's program. I thought it was too funny not to share.

My friend, Erin , tagged me. So, here's my fourth picture in the fourth folder: I really lucked out! This is such an adorable picture, I'm glad I get to share it. I didn't want to post too many of the pictures I took of Eliza and her Nana when her quilt was finished because I figured you'd all get bored of scrolling through them. But, this picture is priceless; so yay! My four friends I tag are: Jessica, Sarah, Alisha, and Ashley ... I'll leave a comment on your blog to make sure you know it's you.

Today was a beautiful day! It was so nice outside ... I think we got to the mid-fourties! I know, there are some of you who are thinking, "What? That is freezing!" Believe me, it's fabulous! And, because of daylight savings, it was still sunny at 7 p.m. So, my older girls begged me to let them go outside. I decided we couldn't let this gorgeous day go to waste, so I let them go out and they were having so much fun I had to get pictures of them. Watching them play together really made me realize that they aren't little anymore. And, they really are good friend, even when they fight over little things, like who used all the hangers for their shirts. I love that they are close in age and can play with the same friends, and each other. It really gave me so much joy watching them together.

Last Sunday was Andrew's fifth birthday. He loves to go bowling, so we thought we'd take him the Saturday before. At the last minute, we turned it into a seudo-birthday party for him. And, when I say last minute, I really mean last minute. I called his friend's moms on Tuesday or Wednesday before and invited them. I wasn't planning on doing a real party, I was just planning on Andrew's friends coming bowling with us, but it turned into a party anyway. The boys had a blast and they were really well behaved. I didn't want to do a birthday cake, so instead of party favors and cake and ice cream I made some bowling pin and bowling ball cookies. Then, I put three pin cookies and a ball cookie in birthday party favor bags and tied them up. Each of Andrew's friends got to take the cookies home. And, it was really funny because one of the boys took a bite of one of his cookies, then gave them back and said that he can't have them because they'll put a hole i...

Kate was asked to sing a solo in her music program at school. We got there later than I had wanted to, so we had to sit in the back. I was in the aisle chair and thought that was perfect because the microphone was set up right in front of the aisle. So, right before her song I got my camera all zoomed in on the microphone and ready for her. Then, all of a sudden, I heard her singing from somewhere else. There was another microphone set up opposite the first microphone. And, since my little Kate is so litte, I couldn't see her at all! And, all the adults were leaning their heads around each other, so I didn't get her on the camera. But, I still wanted to record her singing, so I focussed on the Sun another girl was holding up. I was so sad not to get her on camera ... she showed me her little movements to go with the song and everything. At least I did get part of her song though. (Oh, and ironically, we were up to 40° that day! Can you believe it?)

I saw this on my friend's blog and thought I'd pass it along since I know many LDS parents that would fit the criteria for the research project. My friend, Steve, is doing the research project, so I'm kind of excited to see what he does with it. Anyway, here's the info in case any of you would like to participate: An increasingly prominent group of religious individuals both inside and outside the U.S. are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church is currently the fourth largest in the U.S. (Lindner et al., 2007), and its worldwide membership of over 13 million has been projected to reach as high as 250 million by the year 2080 (Stark, 1996). Despite this exponential growth, scant research exists on the relationship between religiosity and parenting within the Latter-day Saint (LDS) faith. The need for additional research on the parenting component of Latter-day Saint families seems especially strong given the faith’s emphasis on specific pa...