We tried doing family pictures for a cute letter this year. Actually, we just need a picture of our family that has all of our children in it! The last one we took was when T was the baby. We've added two . . . it's time for an update no doubt!

Getting 9 people ready and willing for a picture is quite the undertaking and finding a day that Matt is willing to go is hard too. But the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we decided to give it a go. Someone had a sleepover the night before, so trying to get her going was tough. (Sleepovers are highly overrated!)

I tried to "threaten" that we'd take the pictures with her in her undies, but in the end, she just wasn't in them. *sigh* We'll just have to try again.

Megan's Wedding. . . just a peek

I've been working on this album since the end of August and I finally got all the bugs worked out of my computer so I can send it to Megan. You're beautiful cousin! Hope you have a happy life together! :)

A Vote for Polygamy

T made a random comment today: "I wish boys could marry boys."

What do you do with a comment like that - it was really random and I'm still not sure why it came up. I just said, "really? Why?" His response was REALLY cute.

"Well, if we had two dads and one mom then one of the dads could go to work, the mom could do Mary Kay and the other dad could stay home and take care of the kids."

He's got it all figured out! He wants somebody really fun to be at home to play with him while Mom cleans, cooks and does Mary Kay! :) Are there male maids available? Maybe that would satisfy him.

Matt came in on the giggling a little bit later and we shared our humorous moment with him. He suggested it might work out better with two moms. . . not two dads. What's up with that?

Actually, I think I wouldn't mind polygamy . . . as long as I got to pick the second wife. I know there would be some issues to deal with and obviously there would be "women moments" when we wouldn't get along, but thinking about how much work we would get done makes me smile. :) We could even take turns - my day to clean, your day to play. It could work. I can think of a dozen of my friends that I would like to spend more time with. (I just wonder if they would still be my friends if they knew who they were and that I might be conspiring polygamy for them!)

I aspire to take photographs that are this beautiful!

E had her pictures taken by Hazen Photography for dance this year. Well, last year too, but this year she is on the competition team and they require more pictures. It was really fun for her . . . but could there be a conspiracy between the photographer and the dance studio? J thinks she looks 12, but I just wonder if that could be because the last portrait we had on the wall was 4 years ago. Wow has she changed! So I stare at them and wonder if I will ever be able to take photographs that are so fantastic and beautiful. I guess I can take heart with the fact that I helped to create the subject!!

"Get your notes Mom!"

C had another day that she didn't want to go to school. I'm not sure the real reason. She said she didn't feel good, her clothes were itchy, she didn't have good socks, she doesn't like school . . . the list went on and on. I'm sure she was just tired, but my job is to get her to school, so I told her she would have to stay in her room all day if she stayed home. She was full of attitude and I wasn't very happy with her decision to stay home . . . so the feelings in our home were far from pleasant. I shut the door to shut out the very angry words she was shouting. Very soon I started to see notes being pushed under her door. They were not nice. I just took them and put them in the garbage. Then I saw a note that said "Get your notes Mom". And she read it out LOUD.

"get your knowts mom"


I told her that I was trying to be happy so I wouldn't participate in "nastiness", so a little later I got another note.

I am sory abowt all of thos hate knowts I rily Do not hate you
Love C
MWA (That's a kiss)

"That's tight!"

T uses this word a lot. It's really cute and I thought that he was just picking up on the things the big kids say. That happens when you are one of the "younger" kids. So the other day I asked him what "tight" meant. I acted like I didn't know so he would explain it really well. So he said, "it's like saying something is really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really cool. But I say tight so I don't have to say all those reallys". What a deep thought!

E is quite the dancer! My cheeks hurt when she's done dancing from smiling so hard. . . I might have a little bit of mother bias, but if you look for the best dancer in the group . . . you'll find my girl! :) It's a little hard to tell, so I'll help you. In the beginning she is on the far left and you can't really see her, but when they change formation she is right in the middle of the second row - there's a triangle at the front and she is right in the middle behind that. If you still can't find her . . . she does a back handspring - front row, on the right (your right). Have fun! I obviously can't scream loud enough! She keeps telling me I need her to teach me how to dance! :) I don't mind - she could teach me a lot. This team has won 1st place 8 times in a row. The whole team is REALLY good. I wish I could show you their competition, but you would just have to come watch!

More pictures of Blake's Blessing day

And his name is . . . Blake!

The blessing was beautiful. I wish I could write really fast, or that I had learned shorthand to write down the blessing word for word. I have some friends and relatives that are good at that, but they were either holding my other baby or too far away to attend. I thought about trying out the cell phone, but I didn't want the building to burn down due to a lightening strike. So, I listened attentively - despite little tappings on my legs to distract me - and I'll write down my impressions.

Blake, Heavenly Father wants you to know that your family loves you. I don't know if you can tell when Tyler says he wants to bite your cheek because you are so cute, or when I won't stop kissing your pudgy neck, but we do love you. Your family will be a strength to you as you grow and learn the will of the Father in your life. We will be there for you when you make covenants and prepare to serve a mission. And we will be with you for support when you find a special girl to take to the temple to start a family of your own. Families are the most important part of Heavenly Father's plan and we want to be a strong one. You will help us as you grow. You are an important part of our family.



Great Grandma Elder is full of talents to share! She made the blanket keeping you warm in this picture. We had to wait until Grandma Connie came to put you in your blessing outfit. Our little tradition is for Grandma Connie to buy a new outfit for each baby. Hopefully you can use it for memories of how much we love you!



Another tradition is to "skip" the rest of the meetings and come home early and eat! Get togethers are great with food. I made sloppy joes with chicken gumbo soup. (So cheap and SOOO yummy!) Aunt Jenna brought yummy juice and the buns! Grandma and Grandpa brought the paper products (so I don't have to do dishes - YA!) and the most delicious fruit salad. They are famous for their fruit salad. The flavors blended in an amazing tongue tickler - even better left over the next day. Great Grandma brought veggies and BEETS from her garden. Daddy and Mommy and Nate were in heaven for a week after finishing off the 2nd bottle she left with us. We are SO planting beets in our garden.

Daddy and Nate. We COULD NOT be late for church! We need to get to church early to save a bench big enough for our family. I think the front bench is empty every week, but Daddy doesn't want to be that noticeable! It used to be Mommy stressed about leaving on time. I'm really trying to chill out! It's okay if we get there for the Sacrament prayer and sit in folding chairs!!

Grandma and Grandpa Squires. I'm sure we'll have more pictures to post soon. Grandpa is GREAT at taking lots of pictures at events like this. I get a little to overwhelmed taking care of people and I forget to take pictures!

We had some visitors last Saturday night. It's always fun to meet the friends my children bring home.


This is Tylesha. She is in Cassi's class at school. She has short hair because she had cancer. She's NOT Tyler. Tyler is in the backyard with his imaginary friend, throwing snowballs. (It's after 9pm and the middle of the winter! What parents let their children outside, by themselves, after dark in the middle of winter. Oh yeah, he has a friend - I forgot.)



Tylesha fits right in around here. She is quite sassy and has a cute voice. She was a little shy at first, but then Cassi complimented her voice and she became quite vocal. She explained how she lost her hair and that she might be Emma's twin.





It wasn't long before Tylesha's little sister came to visit. Her name is Nathena. She is not shy. I guess she really likes to wear dresses and show them off. She gave us quite the little show!







Later that night we had Jake visit too. Maybe he was the imaginary friend that used to be in the backyard throwing snowballs with Tyler!



It was a great party! Here's the whole gang - all dressed up!

We're cleaning the house today because tomorrow we're inviting people over. I'm reminded of the saying my mom has at her house. . . "if you want to see me, come anytime. If you want to see my house make an appointment" . . . or something like that. I kind of feel like tomorrow is an appointment, so I should have a clean house. I try to maintain cleanliness, but I tend to neglect my children when the house is really clean. When I look back at cute pictures of the kids, they usually have a really messy house in the background. I try to find balance between adoring my children every minute . . . and thus noticing when they are doing adorable things, and cleaning the house so the pictures don't make me feel guilty. The cleanest time in my house is usually before 3:30pm. After the kids get home from school there is chaos. They are so excited to see me . . . they forget that they need to NOT drop their stuff on the floor.

We're blessing Blake tomorrow. I'm hoping his name will still be Blake after the blessing. Matt has threatened that he'll change it. I don't think he has another name in mind, but maybe he'll get inspired. I usually like to bless my babies the first Fast Sunday after they are born. I was there on that Sunday, but maybe subconsciously I was waiting to let Matt get used the Blake.

Socks Off!

Tyler and Nate play so cute together. I think Nate will really miss Ty when he goes to Kindergarten in the Fall. Whenever we get home from being gone . . . go figure . . .Tyler takes off Nate's socks. It's a little game they play. Tyler says, "Socks off? Socks off?" and Nate replies "uh huh!" (which is about all he can say at this point.) Then Tyler waits and waits and then surprises him by pulling off the socks. You know that laugh you can watch? That is what happens when the socks come off. This time the socks came off and went on the hands! I'm not sure what brought more joy to the rest of the kids. . . the giggle when they came off or the laughter when he got them on his hands. I'm glad my kids love each other!

Hope it gives you laughs!

Sometimes it's not that easy to get the kids to bed at night. Not because they won't go, but because they are so dang cute!! Matt took this video of Nate last night and we were so busy laughing that we forgot it was way past bedtime.

Little bits of my Heaven

I can't believe how wonderful the Internet is! I have found so many friends that I thought were lost. It's almost like heaven. I really thought I wouldn't hear from those friends until we all made it to heaven. I just wish I could think about them and then, "poof", be near them too!

Last night I made Baked Potato Soup. That is heavenly also. It brings so much happiness to the table. Full bellies and no complaining!! And it is one of those recipes that are cheap to make. When it is warm again and I can garden it will be even cheaper. The only thing is I need a pig. . . so I can grow my own bacon.

Gardening has been filling my brain with interesting questions lately. I know, it's freezing outside, but don't fresh tomatoes and peas from the garden sound heavenly? I was thinking of doing a little garden. Then I looked through a seed catalog and there are so many seeds!!! I want beans, carrots, broccoli, beets, potatoes, corn. . . that's not a little garden. If it's warm . . . look for me in my garden! Did you know you can leave the carrots in the ground all winter and just pull them out when you want to eat one? I told you I have been asking interesting questions. I'm lucky to have two grandmas and a fabulous father that have lots of gardening experience. I'm tired of paying someone else to grow my food!! I'm taking it on (don't we hope my family doesn't starve!)

So here's the recipe if you want to taste a little bit of heaven. Make some extra potatoes while you're baking them. They are great fried in butter for breakfast! (Mine this morning was really fattening - it's great for waking you up a bit.)

Baked Potato Soup
2 medium potatoes, baked and cooled
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) chicken broth
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon crumbled cooked bacon or bacon bits
1 green onion, sliced

Peel potatoes and cut into 1/2-in. cubes; place half in a blender. Add
broth; cover and process until smooth. Pour into a saucepan. Stir in
sour cream, pepper and remaining potatoes. Cook over low heat until
heated through (do not boil). Garnish with cheese, bacon and onion.
Yield: 2 servings.

Like, "Do I like this?"

I really love to cook. Lately I haven't been doing a lot of cooking. I know why. I like to cook different things all the time. I get bored easily with cooking the same thing. Usually the "same things" are pretty cheap and that's why they get cooked a lot. Either that or I know I won't hear "Ewww" or "Do I like this?" I really like to cook for people who like what I cook. ;) My skin is growing thicker though. I'm getting excited about adding peppers and mushrooms to food to hear everyone say "Ewww" but I'm going to say "Yum!"

Tonight we are going to Mom's house for Rob's birthday party. I really love good food when I DON'T have to cook it!! The menu is made and I don't have to bring anything, but I'm making some corn muffins for fun. These are the best corn muffins ever!! I'm sure it's because they are NOT fat free. But they aren't cookies, so you can't just eat and eat and eat them. Here's the recipe:

Dot’s Corn Muffins (TOH)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

In a bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, beat egg and sour cream; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fill greased muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 400° for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

Yield: 8 muffins.

Mothering Cassidy

She's really going to donate all the beautiful long hair!

Today was an interesting day with Cassidy. She has a talent for making a majority of my days interesting. Lately she hasn't been interested in getting to school on time. This is unique to just Cassi so far. Jace and Emma would rather die first than be late to school. Well, mostly Emma - Jace isn't that dramatic. Cassi doesn't really care. She doesn't really care what people think in general. I'm ecstatic about it, really. I hope that she maintains her independent thinking forever because she will forever know who she is and not be swayed off the path by anyone. That's a great attribute to have. That is - if we can teach her (or convince her) to get on the path following the Savior.

So, with Grandma Connie's help, we figured out Cassi would like to wake up herself and be in charge of when to get ready in the morning. So, Sunday night we set up the alarm clock and figured out how long it would take her to get ready. Then she decided when to get up the next morning. At 7:45 am the next morning, the alarm went off and she jumped out of bed and ran to the kitchen to get breakfast. She was determined to get everything done faster than planned so she could "do anything she wants" before it was time to leave for school. Needless to say I was very excited! One less stress in the morning, right?! Well, today didn't go too well.

She came into our bed in the night because she was dreaming about "bloody Mary". Some kind child in school told Cassidy that Bloody Mary waits for kids in the bathroom to kill them. She was convinced and there was nothing I could say to convince her he was fibbing her. (I told you we need to get her on the right path early.) So, for two or three days she would wait forever to go to the bathroom because she was afraid of Bloody Mary. That is not a great idea for a small girl. One day she just decided to it would be more convenient to believe me - I guess - because Bloody Mary disappeared. When she finally woke up this morning, she said "Bloody Mary does really kill you." and I thought "Oh great! Here we go again." But then she said, "it's because she's a joke - you know - you 'kill' me. Get it Mom?" But the dream was still scary enough to bring her into our bed. There should be a rule somewhere for teachers: Don't let your students talk about Bloody Mary.

So, because she was in our bed and didn't "hear" the alarm (though Jace can hear it and he sleeps downstairs), she didn't wake up. When she finally did wake up, she wasn't moving very fast. In the past, I've tried to bug her all morning to get ready. I've tried yelling (unfortunately I'm pretty good at that one). I've tried being a super-happy-cheerleader type mom, talking about all the great things that will happen that day at school. This much I do know - threats don't really work with her. Or, maybe I just don't know which buttons are good ones for her. Threats usually make her more determined to do what was already in her head.

Today, I tried what worked yesterday. I just told her how much time she had and what she needed to do before she left for school. And she told me she wasn't going to school. Remember, threats don't work. So, you could say "oh yes, you are going to school", but you can guess how well that would work. She really is a thinker and likes to have philosophical discussions. I sat down on the floor with her in her room. (I'm not sure I found any floor. I mostly tried to avoid sitting on sharp things.) We talked about why Daddy has to go to work even though he'd rather stay at home and play with his kids. She decided that he loves us very much and doesn't want us to live on the street. (Actually, she said we could move in with Judy Hooper, so I had to tell her the street part - it sounds a little scarier, I guess.) So why does a child need to go to school everyday? If anyone has a really good, not pretty words to convince a small child, answer to that question - it might help Cassidy decide to go everyday. One great thing came out of all this - the girls' room is really clean!

So far tonight, she's going to school tomorrow. I'm really trying not to take this all so seriously. She'll grow out of it - at least a little bit - and we'll talk about this over dinner at work Christmas parties and laugh because everyone has at least one child like this.

Try it! It's Free

I've heard so many things about "blogging" that I thought I'd give it a try! Thanks to Michelle for the inspiration! We'll see how much time I have to devote to recording the events in our crazy life. I'm willing to try just about everything if it's free! ;)

Drama today: Emma has dance today (tomorrow and Wednesday too) at 5:00 and Jace's first basketball game is also at 5:00. The locations are 15 minutes apart and Matt doesn't get off work until 5:30!! Why do I do this to myself? Hopefully, Emma will let me take her 30 minutes early so I can get to Jace's game. She likes to be early, rather than late (like her mother), so perhaps it won't be difficult to convince her it's a good idea.

I love having 3 boys at home with me everyday. Today Nathan was tickling me and giving me wet willies. He was giggling so hard that I started laughing. So, then he thought he was really tickling me and tried harder! Of course Tyler thought it looked like great fun, so he joined in and then we were all laughing! Blake sleeps through it all. Someday - too soon - he'll join in the fun.

Last night at my parents house (birthday party for Dad - he's 55), Todd, Rob, and Matt started a discussion about bad words. In Mexico, I guess you can make just about any word a bad one. So, they started talking about the "bad" words in the English language. We all know them - the "h word", the "d word". Cassi tells me all the time that she knows what they are. But the discussion turned to the fact that they can be places or things that aren't really "bad". What DID the fish say when he hit the wall? Mom mentioned that Todd was known as the "no bad words kids" in Middle school and he was leading the discussion about how many bad words you can say without saying a bad word. I love my family!