Tightening the purse strings

Here are some top signs that money is tight:

Red box is too expensive
Kraft Macaroni and Cheese is a luxury of the past
You are eating the end slices from the loaf of bread
Today's plate scrapings become tomorrow's baby food
You leave the baby's diaper on until it is completely saturated
The kids have more in their piggy banks than you do (that 5 dollar bill is soooo tempting...)
Your daily Dew fix has been replaced by a healthy dose of Excedrin
You take the whole family to Sam's club when the free samples are aplenty and call it lunch
You turn away the canned food-seeking Cub Scouts empty handed
You start buying fattier milk because it costs the same but has more calories
Cracker sandwiches, endless possibilities. Who knew?
You start eyeballing your furniture wondering what it would fetch on Craigslist
You plan on doing your Christmas shopping at the Dollar Store

See and believe

In case you needed proof that my six-month old is crawling.

How did she get to be six months already?

And as Audrey is about to get her first tooth, Leah is about to lose her first tooth!

This week at our house

Halloween in a nutshell

Here is our unruly bunch. Leah was the most proud and the most practiced Rapunzel since Mandy Moore. And Samuel was a cute little pirate named Jake. All we are missing is the cowlick. Audrey was my little Dalmation this year, as was Samuel when he was that age. I am pretty impressed with myself for sewing Leah's and Samuel's costumes, the Jake vest I made without a pattern. I did Jake for $0 and Rapunzel for about $15 (except for the hair...that was pricey). I also did a couple comissioned costumes this year--pictures coming soon, but that is why I didn't have time to make a costume for myself. Oh, well, it was fun, and we have 365 days to get ready for next year....



At our house we have the law of candy consecration, which means that all Halloween loot goes into one candy bucket from which all can pick their one peice after dinner. This serves a couple purposes: it helps us monitor the candy, it eliminates posessiveness and "fairness" of who got more tootsie rolls or pixie sticks, and most importantly it give the grown ups equal access to the candy.

How to make bread

Would you believe that she has never seen Rachael Ray?

Her stage presence has improved quite a bit in the year and a half since her first cooking video here.

(*There is a gem at 3 minutes, 10 seconds...*)

Audrey frowns on command

Inchworm

I blinked, and now my not-yet-five-month-old baby is trying to crawl. I am not prepared for this development. See for yourself: she has the legs figured out, so its only a matter of time until she pushes off with her arms and then never stops. She wants to go places, thats for sure. Is it normal for babies to crawl before they can even sit up by themselves?

Some close-ups of those irresistible baby cheeks and afro-hair. She is generous with her smiles! Coming soon--teeth! And solid foods! Won't that be fun!? (Does it seem to anyone else that this baby is growing up too fast...?)

Perhaps only the Grandmas will truly appreciate all four minutes of the baby-trying-to-crawl video.

Poduncadick 2011

We survived Poduncadick! August 11-13, 2011 (Perseid Meteor Shower), Strawberry Reservoir, Utah.

5 Popes

7 Duncans

5 Fosdicks

2 Days

3 Tents

6 Adults

11 Children

Lots and lots of dirt

We had a blast on our camp out where the children truly relished in the dirt. We pitched our tent at probably a 30 degree angle, amidst trees and stumps, but managed to sleep pretty well owing to our 2 inches of memory foam. Fun, not as relaxing as I had hoped, but I did manage to finish a book. Audrey was the easiest--she slept all night twice, and managed to stay quite cheerful and comfortable in the 80 degree days and 40 degree nights. It helped to have so many willing baby holders. We had only minor injuries and one potty accident. The kids tried all day to catch a pot gut, but in vain. We enjoyed the campfires and board games, french toast and fajitas, shooting stars and full moon, surprisingly decent flush toilets and most of all the company of fun friends. It was really nice to leave my iPod behind for two days and never look in a mirror once or brush my hair. I was the only one to get a lobster red sunburn, lucky me. It took a full week to clean up all the gear and I lost track of laundry loads at about 7. It was a great experience and I'm already looking forward to next year's camp out.

Some photo highlights:

New Blog Design and Header

So...do you like the new blog design? I got a super cute Supermom Mother's Day card this year from my mom and was inspired to use the cute designs (and "S" logo!) on it to make a new blog header and background, and here it is finally! It probably would have been much faster if I actually had the real photoshop, and not just Elements, and if I actually knew what I was doing in it. It has been fun, but I have now stayed up super late and will regret it tomorrow...Anyway, what do you think?

"Eventually" has come--Audrey at three months

Daily checklist:

1. Sleep
2. Cry
3. Eat
4. Poop
5. Spit up
6. Smile!

7. Repeat.

Audrey is such a sweetheart. She is getting better at sleeping most of the night. She can hold up her head for a little while, loves tummy time, and she can accidentally roll from her front to her back. Chris is an expert at tickling her and getting her to laugh. "A smile behind every binkie" is what he says, and it is true! We get the greatest comments on her awesome hair--if I had a nickle... She can wiggle 360 degrees around and get herself stuck in the bassinette-time to move to the crib!

I finally bit the bullet and moved Leah and Samuel to the basement and put up the crib in the upstairs bedroom, which is now the baby's room! (She has previously resided in the living room her whole life!) It was a big project to rearrange all the bedrooms--the basement has actually been a work in progress for several months, involving moving the weight room and reallocating all the rooms and closets in the basement. But now that everything is in its place, it is so nice to have a nursery with crib, rocking chair and changing table all in one place.

Leah and Samuel are having a blast with their baby sister. She recognizes their faces and instantly grins. Thery are very protective. They always tell random people (cashiers, waitresses, people at the front door...) all about their baby sister-her name, how old she is, that she spits up a lot, etc. It is quite entertaining. We are so glad she is part of our family!

And a video!

1 jumbo marshmallow=28 birthday candles

Yesterday we had an awesome birthday bash. I like to do something different every year on my birthday, and this year I wanted to have a campfire (if you know me at all, you know that I am somewhat of a pyromaniac). The torrential rain ceased just in time to set up my new firepit on the patio and roast marshmallows with friends. We had a blast! I had friends come from all walks of life, friends from home, from college, from work, neighbors in the ward...It is so nice to be loved by so many people! Thank you all for making my birthday so wonderful and memorable!


We all know that marshmallows + chocolate + graham crackers= yummy deliciousness. Let the record show that s'mores made with dark chocolate is pure heaven!

Audrey's Baby Blessing

Audrey was given a priesthood blessing by her dad in church on Sunday, July 3. One of my favorite parts of the blessing was when Chris blessed her to be "physically and spiritually triumphant." It was a special day for all of us! We were very blessed to have family and friends join us for the occasion: Grandpa and Grandma, the Stansfields, the Coombs, Aunt Sue and Uncle Jess, Aunt Janet and Uncle Grant. Audrey was so beautiful in the little green dress that I wore for my baby blessing nearly 28 years ago. (Can you tell who is who?)

Celebrations, Part 1

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. We are so glad to have Grandma and Grandpa visiting to celebrate with us. After iPod Scrabble wars, we started off the weekend celebrations by attending the Best Neighborhood Party ever, with tons of food and sweets, fireworks, volleyball, movie, and good friends. The kids loved the sparklers and glow sticks, and even Audrey was mesmerized by the fireworks.

On Monday, we enjoyed watching the kids as they enjoyed the parade, (while I not so discreetly wished I could have been selling otter pops at $.46 profit each.)

Then we did sparklers at home and had root beer floats. That's American tradition at its best!