Sweet Moments

I had a dilemma after making this cake, my new mixer has two beaters, but they don't come apart! Fortunately, Cady and Claire get along well enough that this was not a problem. I thought it was a cute moment and ran to get the camera before they finished.




Bryce was playing the piano and the girls climbed up behind him and soon this pose just evolved. Claire's the one who said, "Mom, you should take a picture of us." :) That's my girl, I've trained her well!



I know I've already posted several pictures of these girls hogging my bed, but it never ceases to amuse me (despite the inconvenience of being squeaked out of my spot). I love how perfectly happy they are when sleeping in my bed. All is right with their world.



These are the first real stick figures that Claire and Cady have drawn. I thought they were just precious. The girls were pretty proud of themselves too. :)

Quarry Hill Nature Center

I love going out in the community and doing things. This is one of my favorite places, the Nature center. We went with a few of the mom's and kids in my ward and had a wonderful time. They have a hodgepodge of things to look at and do, aquariums, reptiles, stuffed animals, a bird observatory room, empty turtle shells and horns and things to touch, a real beehive that is encased in glass and connects to the outside of the building, miles of walking trails, and a little lake to walk around. One of my favorite parts of the trip, the kids all got under an old wooden bridge and played the 3 billy goats gruff. :) I love spontaneous play.

Happy Birthday Bryce!!

Bryce turned 29 on August 29th. This was his golden birthday. We celebrated by going out with our friends Dave & Dawn. We somehow ended up going out to eat at my favorite restaurant, don't know how that happened ;). It was a Japanese steakhouse, yummy. We then went home and had Rhonda's carrot cake with the girls. Bryce has had this cake every year for his birthday, and it is delicious! If you make it, I recommend making it the day before so the flavor really sets in. Happy birthday Bryce!




Carrot Cake-Rhonda Leavitt

2 c flour
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 c nuts
2 tsp baking soda
3/4 c raisins
3 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 c grated carrots
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 c oil
2 c sugar
4 eggs


Frosting:
1/2 c butter
1 8 oz cream cheese
1 box powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla

1. Stir dry ingredients except sugar. Combine oil and sugar, add eggs one at a time.
2. Add dry ingredients to egg mix. Add vanilla, carrots, raisins, nuts. Combine and
pour into bundt pan.
3. Bake at 350 for 50-60 min. Remove and cool completely.
4. Beat butter and cream cheese together until light and fluffy, gradually add
powdered sugar and vanilla.
5. Frost cake and refrigerate.

The Gutter Man

Bryce got creative with cleaning our gutters back in August. It was a bit of a challenge to figure out how to get on top of our 2 story house with no ladder. I thought the part about how he actually made it to the top of the roof was especially creative. A bit dangerous and foolhardy, but creative. The girls certainly got a kick out of seeing him up there. I called it quits with the camera and hustled them inside once they started trying to climb up our make-shift ladder and join him.

Holy cow!

So, we've got our full computer back---sound, printer, and camera uploads!!! Life is good again. Well, almost good. I was a bit taken aback to find that I have over 500 pictures saved on my camera. Are you ready for a TON of blogging entries? :) Here goes nothing! I think I'll do many many small entries to keep them organized by topic. Happy reading.

Recent Happenings

Hi guys! I've decided that I've been silent long enough. Despite the fact that I am still unable to upload pictures onto my computer, I wanted to say hi and share what we've been up to lately.

First and foremost, it snowed last week!!! I woke up on Thursday to a beautiful white yard. (I thought of saying wonderland, but the snow didn't stick on the roads or side walk). The girls and I unpacked our snowsuits, snow boots, hats, scarves, and mittens and tromped outside to relish in it. The first thing we did was to build a little snow man in our front yard.
Believe it or not, we never did build one last year. We tried but it was just too cold---the snow wouldn't pack. As far as snow men go, it was pretty unimpressive, leaves and brown snow showing through in places, but it was fun to make. I couldn't figure out how to make the raisins stay in place, I poked holes in the snow with my fingers and tried to jam them in, but they would just slide out. Anyone know what the trick is?
I'm sad to say that the snow melted by the afternoon, and we haven't had any since. I'm really hoping we'll get more soon, I'm looking forward to it now. We're supposed to get snow this weekend, so we'll see. Part of the reason I'm so excited about snow this year is because Bryce is home more! I have visions of us going sledding together and playing outside more. Last year it just got too cold too quickly. I remember that by the time I finally had Cady and Claire all bundled and we got outside, Cady would just stand there and wail because she was so cold. (We're talking negatives here). It was in the 20's Monday and Tuesday of this week.
We'll see if my excitement for the snow lasts, I'm sure I'll change my tune once I have to start shoveling my never ending driveway twice a day. :)

Other news...Claire and Cady are growing fast and sweet as ever. I love these girls! They are so bright and eager, quick to learn, and just plain adorable. Our favorite thing to do together is read. We've just started reading the book "Matilda" together, on Melanie's recommendation. I do enjoy Roald Dahl, he was one of my favorite authors when I was younger. I edit as I go though, I omit some of the more unpleasant adjectives he uses to describe some of the characters with. :) Got to shelter them while they are young!

I've started the love hate battle with Santa Claus already. I was running errands with the girls today and we were happily listening to a Disney Hits CD (yes, I said we---that's my favorite music!) and Claire randomly piped up from the back seat and said, "I love Santa more than Jesus." !!!! I take full responsibility for her saying that, obviously I've hyped up Santa too much. Although in my defense, I haven't done much hyping other than say, "Santa will bring you a present if you are a good listener (so stay in bed and don't leave your room again!!!)" and asked her what she wants this year. Well, after her announcement we immediately launched into a conversation about how Jesus' atonement is much better than any old present Santa could bring, and that in fact, Christmas is all about celebrating Christ's birth and Santa brings us presents just like the wise men brought Jesus some when he was a baby. I think she was a bit alarmed by my reaction to what she had said. She unwittingly set herself up to bear the full brunt of a mommy lecture. Oh dear. I'm really going to try to downplay Santa and truly spotlight the real reason for the season this year. :) Wish me luck!

Well, blogging time is up. My bed is calling my name. Hopefully, I'll be able to start posting pictures soon. Until then, I hope you all are doing well.

6 Quirky Things...

I've been tagged by my friend Amy (sorry, I don't know how to link your name Amy!). I'm supposed to write down 6 quirky things about myself and then tag 3 more friends.

1. I am a little quirky in my bedtime routine. I have done this as long as I can remember (it all dates back to the first time I saw Jaws when I was 9). I turn out the lights and get into bed as quickly as possible, the goal is to have my feet not touching the dark floor more than necessary. I say my prayers in my bed to avoid kneeling on the floor. My closet doors need to be shut before I can fully relax in bed.

2. I HAVE to sleep on my side of the bed each night. Bryce thinks it's funny to lay down on my side of the bed (the right side) and tell me he really wants to switch sides just for the night. He's tried that funny line about 5 times and never yet gotten to sleep on my side of the bed. I'm not sure exactly why this is, but I feel very uncomfortable and exposed and just can't sleep if I'm not on my side of the bed.

3. I always read the last page of a book before deciding if I'll read it or not. I read for fun, I prefer my books to have a good plot and then end happily. I don't want to invest myself and my emotions in something that will leave me feeling sad. (I don't watch sad movies either for that reason).

4. I enjoy cleaning and organizing. The dirtier it is, the more I enjoy it. I can remember back to when Sara and I were sharing a room (I must've been 5-7) and we would re-arrange our furniture about every other week (those dressers took quite a bit of teamwork to move!). I have been told that this is a rather unique and quirky tendency.

5. I think I should've been born in the 50's-60's. Okay, so honestly I'm happy with my life now, but I love that whole time period, the music, the housewife stereotype, the family roles, even the clothes. My idea of a perfect moment would be me vacuuming my spotless house along to Doris Day's music while wearing a pretty skirt with pearls on and my casserole baking in the oven. :D

6. I have a difficult time not smiling when I talk. It all started back in 5th grade when I kept getting repeatedly asked what was the matter. I felt fine inside, but people kept thinking I looked sad. I remember making a conscious effort to try to smile more and show the happiness I felt inside. So, skip about 12 years into the future and there I am in the hospital in labor with my first baby Claire. I was induced and it was taking forever for me to progress, they wouldn't start my epidural until I was dilated to a certain point, and it was agony. I was really hurting and my nurse came in to check on me. I remember through this fog of pain her telling me, "It's okay, you don't have to smile." It was then that I realized I might have a problem with this. :D No joke. Well, the only thing I want to say about this is that if I'm smiling at you, it is because I want to. I am a naturally happy person and I really do love talking and visiting with others. So don't think for a moment that my smile is not real!


The funny thing about this 6 quirky things assignment was that at first I couldn't think of anything! I actually wrote the first two and thought, "that's it. I'm just not a quirky person." :D Guess I was wrong. Out of a desire to protect my personal dignity, I'm going to stop blabbing on myself and choose three lucky friends to do this same thing. Actually, if you all want to you can, it's fun to have a reason to sit and think about yourself and personal tendencies. I'd specifically like for: Sarah Quilter, Stacy Mcallister, and Sara Powell to do this!

Hello there, just wanted to give you an update on what's going on.

1. Claire informed me on Sunday that she and her friend Saffi both want to marry Caleb (a cute little guy in their Sunbeam church class). It's okay though because they have worked out a good solution, "whomever grows up the fastest gets to marry him." Claire was pretty pleased with this stipulation, I think she thinks she'll win the growing race since she's taller.

2. I've started doing a little home pre-school group with two other moms up here for Claire and her friends. We're just searching for free internet sites and ideas to match up themes for each week. I'm doing next week with the letters E and F. Any good ideas or internet sites I should check out?

3. Our computer crashed. Seriously!!! I always seem to have a good excuse for why my blog isn't up to date, but it's valid. Sadly, I hadn't backed up my pictures for the last 5 months. Just another reason why I should stay on top of this blog and regularly upload pictures to it!

4. We bought a bike trailer to hitch up to Bryce's bike and cart the girls around in. We've only used it a handful of times, but it's been wonderful! Rochester has miles and miles of paved bike paths that wind all over the city. I am not very good on my bike, turns still make me nervous and I'm about 76% of the time on the right side of the path, but I really enjoy it. I have visions of turning pro on my bike and using it hard core in the summer. I'd also really like to go on a biking/camping trip some time.

Hmm, when I started this post I really thought I'd have more news to give. :) I guess I'll just wrap things up by saying that life is good and I feel blessed every day. I'm writing this while waiting for the girls to settle down for the night. They think it's funny to keep leaving their room. Claire just barely came sneaking down the stairs and when Bryce asked her why she was here, she said, "Cady told me to!" Bryce then asked her if Cady is her boss. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Mom? Well, wish us luck! Hope you all are having a great day.

A slice of our life

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Here is Cady doing almost what she does best. Normally she is sitting up reading to herself while creating chaos with our bookshelf. She loves books and reads them whenever she has the opportunity to do so. :) Don't know where she gets that from.


Claire's big kick now is building farms out of blocks and then arranging all of our counting animals in it. This has been a multiple-time-a day activity for us lately. Good thing I enjoy it too.



Sunday sing-a-longs. We've started inviting friends over to our house just about every Sunday to sing songs while Bryce plays. We recently bought the complete Disney Songbook, which has proved to be a great investment! Now no one can claim they don't know the song in order to escape singing. :)

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This is my masterful creation that I took to Enrichment. If you are thinking that you'd be embarrassed to bring this out in public, you are absolutely right!!! Lets just say that I improvised and made a 2 layer 8 inch round cake into a 4 layer stacked cake, which happened to be assembled lopsided, and then had glumpy thick whipped cream frosting so you couldn't even tell it was cute different sized layers, and to top the whole disaster off, I didn't even get the cherries on top centered correctly!! :D Yes, it was an embarrassing entrance that I made with my cake in front of our wards entire Relief Society. Jean the amazing cook strikes again!


Me and my Beehives group. These girls are adorable! I'm so impressed with them, they are a joy to work with.


This is a new picture that I've added to our home. I love it! I get a little thrill every time I see it, probably because I bought it half off at a thrift store. It's an original oil painting and it reminds me of beautiful North Carolina. I put it in my bathroom over the toilet. Unfortunate place to put such a pretty piece, but it fit perfectly there and it makes me smile every time I go in there now. What a bargain!

We're alive!!!

Okay, once again, sorry about the delay in postings. Brace yourself for a whole bunch of random pictures, I'll try to do better at regularly updating from now on. :)