Gingerbread Mansions

My kids love my cousins' tradition of making gingerbread houses every year the day after Thanksgiving. That day is only for the adults, though. My kids get really excited to see what I create. I didn't get any pictures of my gingerbread house this year. Sorry to disappoint you all. If you want to see a fantabulous house, though, here is my cousin's house she did. She has quite the talent. We were sitting at the same table this year, but her talent did not cross the table to my area, so just imagine that mine turned out this good (even though it really didn't).

Anyhow, my kids have been asking me EVERY day when they were going to make theirs. Last year we started our own family tradition. After I make mine I help the kids make little Graham Cracker Houses. Last night we finally got around to it. It was a blast, and a mess. Dalen was worried that the kids were getting the icing on the table. I told him it will come off fairly easy, I just have to get it wet. He looked at me like, "There is no way!" But what he really said made me laugh. "If it is so easy to get off of the table why is it like cement on the house, making it nearly impossible to steal candy off of it?" Now I know who the homewrecker is. It isn't just my kids, but my hubby has shown them what to do- steal my candy and ruin my gingerbread house.

Malia with her house. She had more fun eating all of the candy.

Kylie was really proud of her creation!

Snake with his house. At one point his roof was falling down and he tried really hard to fix it himself- this included just stacking all of the graham crackers on top of each other and calling it good.

Now this is just funny- Britin was done with making her house, so she went into the bathroom. Unbeknownst to us, she was playing with daddy's razor. Mind you, this in not the first time she has done this. Nor is it the second time. This is actually the third time my daughter has tried to shave her face. (I can hear all of the cries of pain- we have all been there, maybe more in the leg area of the body, but a razor cut none the less). This is the reason for the tears. It wasn't nearly as bad as the previous 2 times, but really, 3 times. Is it really that hard of a lesson to learn?

Passing it on

When I was young my Grandma taught me how to make rolls, bread and cookies. Yes, folks, my world famous cookies were from the mind of my grandma. Of course, I have perfected them over the last 100 years (since I am oh, so old), but they started with a Grandma spending some quality time with her granddaughter. Good memories.

But, Cookies are not the point of my story. My point is ROLLS. Each year we have Thanksgiving with Dalen's family I am required to make the rolls. I do as my Grandma did. This year was extra special because my Kylie wanted to get in on the action. I had her help me with measuring, mixing, rolling, buttering and baking. She was a natural. Just like her mom, though, she doesn't like to be dirty/messy, so as soon as it became too much for her little hands to mix the dough she ran into the bathroom to clean off all of the sticky dough, leaving me to finish adding enough flour to unstickify it. (hey, that's a Julie word, don't be looking it up in Webster's dictionary). I was so proud of that little/big girl, who wants so hard to be like me, although that is quite a scary thought. Enjoy the few moments Dalen captured for me to always remember my first moment of passing down the rolls to another generation.



Theme song- From the classic movie Jungle Book from Disney- "I Wanna Be Like You."

Another really great giveaway found through blog stalking

I have already joined BSA (not the Boy Scouts of America- Blog Stalkers Anonymous). Really it isn't a group to help overcome blog stalking as it is a group to encourage and give ideas to find more fun blogs to stalk. A little backwards? Probably, but I am not ready to give up on my addiction.

Today, whilest checking out my favs on my sidebar, My trusty friend, the author of Miss Delacourt Speaks Her Mind is now having a groovy giveaway. Check it out. As always, if you win and you got her link from me I am like the government, I take half of your winnings. Really, it is only fair, right?

My Children did NOT get this from me

I was sitting today thinking about all the seriously funny things my kids do and realized that none of this comes from me. They get it all from their Dad's DNA. I'll add as many pictures as I can to illustrate my point since I know y'all love pics. But, as you will read, some of these are not appropriate for viewing, hence there are no pictures to view.

1. Britin is a girlie girl. She loves skirts and dresses. If she is MADE to wear pants she rolls them up so they don't touch her ankle, thus defeating the purpose of keeping her legs warm in cold weather. I, on the other hand, wear skirts and dresses only when necessary.
2. All of my kids love to look at themselves in the mirror, especially Jacob. He would stay there all day if there was a computer next to the mirror. Playing games and checking himself out are his 2 favorite things. Here's one for the "no pictures" items. He gets undressed before he gets in the shower and jiggles himself all down while watching. Strange child.
3. Malia loves to be naked. When she gets ready for naptime it is a requirement that shoes, socks and pants MUST come off. She has finally learned to keep the shirt on since she is a wiggler in her sleep and the blankets need a little help keeping her warm. I hope no one turns me in for the following totally inappropriate picture. It's just too funny not to share.
4. Britin loves to make up her own songs. I have already posted a number of songs Britin sings, but in case you have missed any previously here is one of my favorite performances.

These few things them brought me to my next thought of the things my kids did get from me. Hmmmmmm- Well, Kylie looks like me. Britin loves to laugh (I love to laugh). Jacob is a lover (I consider myself a lover). Malia- I couldn't come up with one so I asked Dal- he said, "good looks." Either he really wants to score some brownie points with me or he forgot to take the trash out like I asked and he is just buttering me up. I love him either way.

Theme song for tonight- My Little Girl by Tim McGraw. Always reminds me of my daughters and hoping that they might want to dance to this song at their weddings... in the VERY far off future.

End Of November- We are so very thankful

I got this idea from my friend. We had Family Home Evening last week and for the activity (and really the lesson, too, because keeping young kids attentive for more than 5 minutes is nearly impossible) we came up with a Thankful Alphabet. In parenthesis is the person who came up with the thankful word. Some are really funny, some are just great!

Apples- because it is one of my kids' favorite snacks (Mom)
Babies- we love our babies (Dad)
Candy- do we really need an explanation??? (Kylie)
Dad- simply precious (Jacob)
Eggs- a great lunch for the kids (Britin)
Food- need I say more???(Mom)
God (Dad)
Heaven (Kylie)
Ice Cream- a man after my own heart (Jacob)
Jesus- there was no hinting on this one, she came up with it all on her own!!(Britin)
Kylie- he loves his sister (Jacob went out of turn, but he really wanted to say his sister)
Life (Mom)
Mommy- very good answer!!! (Dad)
Neighbors- they brought cookies over to us the night before, they really are great! (Kylie)
Owen- a friend from church (Jacob)
Plugs/pacifiers (Malia)
Quilts- she needed a little bit of help on this one (Britin)
Rabbits- they miss our bunny (Malia)
Sundays- I get to go to church with my family (Mom)
Tickles- daddy's favorite thing to do! (Dad)
Utah- a wonderful place to live (Kylie)
Vote- a blessing to do so in our country (Jacob)
Water (Britin)
Xoxoxoxo- kisses and hugs (Malia)
Youngbloods- a really special family (Mom)
Zippers- not a fan of button flies (Dad)

Side note- when we got to "u" it was Kylie's turn. She blurted out (no prompting, I swear) "I am NOT going to say Utes." In case you are not from around these parts, the University of Utah Utes are MAJOR rivals with the BYU Cougars (especially in football). Our family bleeds blue and Kylie has been present for many discussions on the highlights of my BYU glory days. Go Cougars! In honor of my Alma Mater the Cougar fight song is tonight's theme song. If you feel so inclined- here are the words. Sing Loud and Proud!!!

Rise, all loyal Cougars and hurl your challenge to the foe.
You will fight, day or night, rain or snow.
Loyal, strong, and true
Wear the White and Blue.
While we sing, get set to spring.
Come on Cougars, it's up to you!

CHORUS:
So Rise and Shout, the Cougars are out
Along the the trail to fame and glory.
Rise and shout, our cheers will ring out,
As you unfold your vict'ry story.
On you go to vanquish the foe
For Alma Mater's sons and daughters.
As we join in song, in praise of you, our faith is strong.
We'll raise our colors high in the blue,
And cheer our Cougars of BYU.

Ingenious

So, yesterday I caught my son doing this on the computer. Don't be afraid, he wasn't surfing the dangerous web or playing any seriously violent games. He was playing a fun Star Wars game his friend let him borrow. Call my overprotective... no seriously, you can call me overprotective, I know I am. I have to know what kind of games they are playing. I have to get them on to the internet and once on they have to stay on the page I put them on or they get grounded from the computer for the rest of the day or week, depending how severe the offense is. So, I was just checking in on Snake when I saw this. Look at the picture first, then watch the video. I don't know why, but I just had to giggle at my son's ingenuity.


So, I was looking up words that describe his inventiveness. Here is what the thesaurus say about Snake. astute, brainy, bright, clever, genius, gifted, ingenious, intellectual, inventive, knowing, knowledgeable, profound, quick, quick-witted, sharp, smart, talented, whiz kid.

And I am sure that if you looked up any of these words in the dictionary you would see a picture of this guy...



Theme song- Private Eyes by Hall and Oates, because I got the first picture by sneaking up on him!

And the Oscar goes to...

Kylie, for her supporting role in the "Story of Thanksgiving."

Her class had a presentation yesterday. Kylie did great. She was so fun to watch. I sat down first, but then this other lady decided to put a chair in front of me- rude, huh? She was courteous enough to ask if I could still see. DUH! Why do you ask, why don't you just move out of my way??? Seriously, some people. Well, then Kylie's teacher moved the class over a bit, which put the lady's big head right in my way, so I had to lean this way and that to get pictures of my daughter. I should have been just as rude and told her she was totally in my way and to move her hiney, but my mom didn't raise me like that. SO, these are the best pics I could get. Sorry if they are blurry. This time I am totally blaming it on the lady with the big head and rude personality!

Kylie sitting Indian-style, getting ready for one of the songs.

Kylie's cousin, Wyatt. He is in her class.

More of Kylie's friends. Andrew is in the middle (green shirt). He goes to church with us.

Kylie's boyfriend, Aidan. So, I know she still has 9 years until she can date, but she totally is Jonesing for Aidan.