Gingerbread (Graham Cracker) Houses and Fudge

On Wednesday we Shaelyn had some friends over and we decorated Graham Cracker houses. They all pretty much ended up a pile of candy on top, but the kids enjoyed it! These are Shaelyn's friends, and we are so glad they could join us!

Shaelyn and her house. Nice mop :)

Winston with his house. He did a great job with his roof and walkway.

William with his house, okay mommy's house, but he did help eat the candy when I was trying to put it on. What a big helper.

This is Walters house on skis and a massive chimney. I am glad I got this picture because the chimney got a little bigger and then the roof collapsed :( Oh well.

Then on to Walter's annual Fudge making challenge. Every year he is determined to make fudge from scratch and not with the marshmallow creme (the kind I like to make, because it works every time). He likes a challenge, I just like it to taste good. I just have to say that this year it was a big success, very creamy and smooth. Good Job Babe!

Christmas Goodies

Shaelyn and I have been busy making some cookies for the holidays. We thought we would try some new recipes this year. Both recipes have turned out pretty good. We took the recipes from the Taste of Home Magazine, Love it! The first recipe we tried was Candy Cane Cookies. We had a lot of fun with these ones.

William wanted to see what was going on.

Candy Cane Cookies

1 C Butter, softened

1 C Confectioners' Sugar

1 egg

1-1/2 tsp. Almond extract (I didn't have this so I substituted 1 tsp. butter extract, turned out great!)

2-1/2 C all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

Red Food Coloring

1/2 C crushed peppermint candy canes (I didn't have these but I did have the pinwheel mints)

1/2 C Sugar

Cream butter and confectioners' sugar til light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and extract. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.

Divide dough in half; add 6-7 drops of coloring to one half. Shape tablespoonfuls of each color of dough into 4-in, ropes. Place each side by side and lightly pinch ends together and twist. Place on ungreased baking sheet: curve to form canes.

Bake 375 for 9-12 min or till lightly browned. Combined crushed candy canes and sugar; immediately sprinkle over warm cookies. Cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool.

These are a lot of fun for kids to make and they turn out pretty cute.

The second recipe we tried was:

Pecan Meltaways

1 C Butter; Softened

1/2 C Confectioners' Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

2-1/4 C all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp Salt

3/4 C chopped pecans

Additional Confectioners' sugar

Cream butter, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla till light and fluffy. Combine flour and salt: gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in pecans. Refrigerate until chilled.

Roll into 1-in balls and place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 350 for 10-12 min or till set. Roll warm cookies in confectioners' sugar;cool completely on wire racks. Foll cooled cookies again in confectioners' sugar.

Yumm!

I guess it is time for another update . . . with some big announcements!

Sorry for the lack of posts, life has been a whirl wind lately. Anyway, these pictures are from Thanksgiving. We took lots of pictures with the whole family too, I am just waiting for the rest to come in the mail, these ones were sent to me via email. The kids seemed to be quite agreeable this time around. We couldn't get William to crack a smile but at least he was happy.

So just recently we Walter has been having a lot of contact and interviews with the company Clorox, located in Pleasanton CA, and they have offered him a Post Doc position, and we are Seriously considering taking the job, I think it is a 99.99% chance that we will accept, unless something else happens. Who knows. We are REALLY excited to be closer to family!

Also while we went back to CA for Thanksgiving we had a big announcement for the family. Yes we are expecting baby #4. We had been keeping this a secret for quite some time. So surprise! I am about 20 weeks along, yep halfway there! Oh yeah, and we are having a little girl!

So funny story about the gender. The day I was to find out what we were having I was talking to Shaelyn and I asked her what she wanted me to have.

"I want a little sister" she says

"But what if it is a boy?" I say

"But mom, I already have 2 brothers"

I tried not to bust up laughing because she was so serious.

When I picked up Shaelyn from school I decided to play a little trick on her.

"Shaelyn, I know what the baby is going to be"

"What is it mom?"

"We are having another boy!" I say excitedly.

Tears well up in her eyes and she says "But I wanted a little sister"

I couldn't stand the tears "I am just kidding we are having a girl"

"Oh I knew you were joking mom" turning to me with the biggest smile on her face!

I can't believe that we will be a family of 6 around the beginning of May. So fun!

Pumpkin Seed Recipe

I was searching around for a good pumpkin seed recipe and kind of came up with my own. The kids LOVE them! I kind of think they are pretty tasty myself. I wouldn't be posting the recipe if I thought it was bad. Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
2 C Pumpkin Seeds
1 1/2 T Olive Oil
1/4 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Granulated Garlic (powder, or minced if you want to go fresh just add a bit more)
1/2 T Worcestershire Sauce

Remove seeds from pumpkin and wash (some recipes say not to wash, I have found that it doesn't make much of a difference except that it is a quicker way to get them clean). Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Spread a thin layer over a baking pan. Bake at 250 deg for about 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours. Stirring about every 15 minutes till you get to your desired crunchiness. Let cool and Enjoy!

The following pictures are ones that were taken at dinner. Everyone was in a silly mood. I didn't catch the picture I wanted of William, he was sticking his 4 bottom teeth out a lot further, it was pretty funny.
Winston was doing a silly happy face.

And I don't know what is up with Shaelyn's hair but I think she took a nap before this photo.

Trunk-or-Treat and Pumpkins!

Thursday we had our ward Trunk-or-Treat. We all dressed up. William had his nose on for about 5 minutes then it was smeared all over his face. I guess he had an itch, I am sorry I didn't get a picture of it. From Left to Right we have Mickey Mouse, Belle, and Woody. I went as Snow White. I had forgotten I had this in my closet. I was having fun with the kids and speaking in a Snow White voice, Shaelyn said I was faking really well. Look at this awesome Pumpkin that I found! One of my previous Laurels made this Snow White Pumpkin, you Rock Jasmine! We also found another fellow Disney Princess, and we had to get a picture together! This picture is actually from Lisa (Cinderella). Aren't we all just so cute!

Now I would like to present Shaelyn's Pumpkin. She came up with the design and everything. She cut out all the pieces by herself. I did cut open the top. She did all the scooping and fun stuff! I thought it turned out pretty good for her first pumpkin. What do you think? Then there is my pumpkin. The little boys were going to help but they didn't like the pumpkin slime. I was very surprised that they didn't want to dig in. Anyway, it ended up just being me who did the dirty work. I thought I would go with the Disney theme and create their iconic character, who other than Mickey Mouse. Also Walter wasn't there to protest. He was at work.

Here they are together. I didn't take a picture of them when it was dark enough so you can't see all the detail, but you get the idea.

Shaelyn and her great artistry!

She got her pumpkin on a class field trip to a local patch. She was so proud of her little pumpkin.

Family Birthday Party for Winston

I asked Winston if he wanted a cake or cupcakes, and he chose cupcakes as you can see. He also wanted to help decorate them with gummy bears. These are chocolate on chocolate with gummy bears on top, yumm . . . for kids. Walter and I just picked off the bears. Here are the kids placing all the gummy bears.

Shaelyn wanted me to take a picture to show off all her hard work :)

Winston was concentrating very hard, and did a great job!

Winston turned 4 so he got to pick out 4 cupcakes and put the candles on himself. Enjoy the birthday song.

Winston was so happy to get the Land Before Time video, he really has been into dinosaurs lately. I just hope we don't end up with all 30 of the sequels. The movie was from Grandma-ma and Family.Here he is tearing into another present from Grandma-ma.

He got some kid friendly golf clubs! Yeah! No more playing with Daddy's clubs because he has the right size just for him :)

He also was willing to share with brother and sister, this set came with 3 clubs. Talk about perfect!

William enjoyed his cupcake. Most of the frosting ended up on his face. I guess if it doesn't get all over the place it doesn't belong in your face. Oh man that is bad but oh well!

And last but not least, Shaelyn and Winston will leave you with their dance!

Biggest Loser Results

I had a moment this morning so I decided to sit down and actually post some kind of an update. Anyway, lately I have been asked about the biggest loser results from this summer. I just thought I would remind you where I started and how I ended officially. This was my big starting number. I hope I never see it on the scale again! And here is my official final weigh in weight.

I was able to lose just over 40 pounds! Can you believe it! I was so amazed with the results, I don't have any excuses anymore. I was not the winner of the challenge but I did win a happier healthier me :) My sister actually won the challenge, she did a great job! We actually lost about the same amount of weight, she just started smaller. It was a great challenge and great competition! Thank you all for your support!

4th of July

Yes I know, this is from like 2 and 1/2 months ago. So I really have some updating to do. At least it is still from this same year. After our trip to Hawaii, at the end of June and the beginning of July, we went up to Crescent City, CA to visit my Aunt and Uncle for the 4th of July. That morning we went to a parade and were practically a part of it at one point. I didn't get any pictures of us there. All these pictures are from that night when we were doing fireworks.

Winston and super cute Auntie Mickey!

From Left to Right: Austin (Kenzie is hidden behind him), Rachel, Aaron and AJ, Walter, and Shaelyn

Winston is still not sure about the sparklers. That changed by the end of the night.

The kids are so happy to be staying up past their bed time.

I don't know what is going on in this picture but I thought it was funny.

Precious Moments

I am sorry for the lack in blogging, I just haven't found the time with all the new things that have been happening lately. Anyway, this is still from our trip back in May when we went to Kansas. My Mom and Grandma took Shaelyn to the Precious Moments Capitol, about 1 hour away from my aunt and uncles house. Here Shaelyn and her Great Grandma with a frog that is outside before you go into the main building. Last time I went with the kids it was rainy and miserable so we didn't pose with any of these fun sculptures.

In the pictures the frogs look like the same size but this is actually the smaller one right next to the other frog. I'm sure you could figure that out, I am just saying.

Sea Horse and Shaelyn, what else is there to say?

Riding the Whale.

Again, the last time we went it was rainy and the fountain was not on. This is located right in front of the Main Building.

This is along the walkway to the Precious Moments Chapel.

More fountain fun.

Not really sure what she is doing in this picture but I am sure she probably wanted a snow globe. I am glad they didn't come home with one because I am pretty sure it wouldn't have lasted long because the kids would want to see it all the time.

Wishin' and Hopin' and Thinkin' and Prayin' . . . You have to wait another 20 years! Ack! I don't even want to think it could be sooner.