Boys vs. Girls

The girls waiting for their frosting to harden.

The boys working on their train!

The Boys Train

The Girls House

The kids all had a great time working on their gingerbread creations. Usually every year we make a gingerbread house and take it to a family that we think would enjoy it. This was the first year that we actually kept the gingerbread house/train and let the kids enjoy all their hard work!

Once There Was A Snowman.....

Well, having this much snow dumped on us does make it easier to build a giganto snowman!!!! They worked so hard rolling that thing around the yard, then Uncle Scott went out to help assemble the big guy! Needless to say he's now in a heap because it turns out that it's more fun to knock him down than it was to build him.......

Christmas Eve

The girls in their Christmas p.j.'s. They are back row, from left to right: Sabrina, Vanessa, Samantha, Sierra (Shawn's daughter), Jessica (Kari's daughter) Front row: Jasmine, Talisha and Savannah

Boys in Christmas p.j.'s! They are back row, left to right: Tanner, Slade (Shawn's son), Thomas, Levi, Daniel (kari's son). Front row: Benjamin (Kari's son), Joseph (Kari's son) and Isaiah!

All 16 kiddos!!!!! So cute in their Christmas p.j.'s!!!

I have just decided to post pictures from Christmas on here randomly since it may be awhile before I become organized again....:) These were all from Christmas Eve.

Making Cookies!

Wa-Hoo, I'm making cookies!!!

"Hand me some dough!!!"

When you are this cute, you can sit on the table! Isaiah wanted to be part of the action so bad. Next thing we knew, he was in the middle of the table, grabbing for dough!!!

Merry Christmas!!

Well, we have a full house with 16 children and 5 adults here for 2 weeks! It will be a little crazy here so posting may not happen for awhile.

We wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year!!!!

Pat On My Back!

Every so often my job as a mother goes as planned! Amazing, I know! Here's the deal:

Last night Levi made some choices at bedtime that earned him a consequence. His Dad told him he would be grounded the next day until noon (we had no school due to the ice). Normally that's more of a punishment for me because I have to hear him complain about not being able to play the entire time he's grounded. Today was different! When he woke up, I explained to him that he would be my personal assistant until noon. Whatever I needed done, he would help me do! He really wasn't sure what to think of that. He helped me change sheets on a sibling's bed, he vacuumed up crumbs left on the floor by his baby brother, he fed Jasmine AND burped her! Of course I had to hear, "Mom, have some pity on a brother! I have my new shirt on and I don't want her to puke on me!!" That's what the burp cloth is for darling.

I honestly could not believe how fast the time flew by! I know he was counting down the time but for me, it just whizzed by! I kept telling him how much fun it was to have him home, helping me. I got a kick out of his comments. He's got a mouth that is constantly running. He's dang funny and I love to just listen to him talk to his little brother or sisters. The kid is a riot!

After making him a grilled cheese sandwich, cut in triangles (that move got me a serious eye roll and a "Oh my gosh Mom, I'm not a baby!" remark), he was grabbing the phone to see who was available to hang out!

I told him how much fun I had hanging with him all morning and that I was super excited for the next time he got himself grounded. This personal assistant thing worked out very well!!!!

Classic Christmas shows

"Girls, what are you doing?"

"We're watching Rudolf!"

"Why are you plugging your ears?"

"It's SCARY!!"

You have to love those old classic Christmas movies. The animation is the best!!! I remember them being a little scary for me as a child too. But if you plug your ears (so you can't hear the scary music), it's not so bad and you can continue to watch the movie!!! Good news for all!!!

TurboSonic!!!!!

Jessica Alba on a TurboSonic!!! No, that's not what I wear when use mine.....my dress is usually red! Hee hee.

My TurboSonic

Side shot of the TurboSonic!

This amazing machine is by far the most incredible way to work out!!

"TurboSonic® patented technology accelerates the body's natural healing response, increases cellular oxygen circulation, enhances cellular nutrient uptake, stimulates cellular fluid movement and facilitates cellular waste removal." Wow!

It also will improve:

Circulation
Strength and performance
Energy and endurance
Balance and coordination
Flexibility and agility
Health and well being

It will Reduce:

Pain
Stress
Fatigue
Cortisol
Fat and cellulite

"The Turbosonic takes ten minutes of your time and can improve your health, strength, endurance, muscle tone, stability, flexibility, and mental outlook without the constraints of conventional exercise."

I first used a TurboSonic machine when Bonnie and I went on our Spa vacation last March. It was the strangest thing I have done in a long time. I thought I was going to wet my pants the entire time I was on that crazy thing! 10 minutes!!! That's all you do! We did it for the 3 days we were there and each day I could feel the skin on my face tightening and my bladder muscles getting stronger! I kid you not!! By the third day I could get on without feeling like I was going to need to run to the potty! Coming from someone who had to cross her legs every time she sneezed, laughed, jumped on the trampoline, etc. that was VERY exciting!!!! The ol' pelvic floor muscles just weren't what they used to be. But after using this machine, I was hooked!!!!

I told Scott about it while I was still there and asked him to check them out online. Being the kind of guy that likes scientific proof, he really got into the technology behind these machines.

When I got home from my trip, Scott was surprised to actually see a difference in my skin. He told me he thought my face looked younger! Always a good thing to hear!!

You can check it out at turbosonicusa.com. They have a very informative website that explains what it does exactly. Sorry, I'm in such a rush (as usual) that I'm not taking the time to put the link in here....but it's easy to find.

Anyway, there you have it! My favorite ways to exercise!!!! The only ways that I actually see results! What are your favorite ways to exercise? Anybody out there have something unique that works for you???? I would love to read about it!!!

Milkshakes!!

Enjoying our shakes!!! She looks super cute, I look like I was wrestling with 4 little kids all morning......oh wait, I was!

Years ago in high school, my best friend Bonnie and I would wait in anticipation for this wonderful time of year.......when Egg Nog milkshakes finally returned to McDonald's!!!!

Many shakes were consumed by the two of us. That was back in the days when we didn't care what food was made of and we ate for pure enjoyment!

We have both moved on to much healthier lifestyles when it comes to food choices...thank goodness! So to celebrate her birthday (yesterday) and reminisce some good times, she came over today for a vegan "nog" milkshake! Mmmmm, it was good and we had some good laughs.

Happy Birthday Sister!!

3rd Shirt today!!

So amazing, the life of a Mother.....

I was holding Isaiah a little bit ago and suddenly felt a warm sensation on my side. So we went upstairs and changed his pants (his diaper was still dry. Boys are sneaky that way, they can shoot out the side!!) and changed my shirt.

A few minutes ago I was holding Jasmine. I was burping her after she finished eating. I heard a burp and nano seconds later felt a warm ooze going down the inside of my shirt on my skin. I jumped up and ran back upstairs to change my shirt.

Now I'm actually wearing a shirt I really like....what are the odds I will have to change it???? I have a feeling pretty high!!!

Workout!!!

My TreadClimber

This is an amazing machine that gives an intense workout! If you have seen the commercials, it's all true!!! I use mine for 20 minutes a day and can literally see the results. So much more of a workout than a regular treadmill.

Love it!!

I will post the last thing I do later. It's the best by far!

Christmas at our house!

I have received many emails this year, asking about our Christmas traditions and what we do as a large family to keep Christmas stress free. Instead of answering each email, I decided to post what we do on our family blog.

As of last weekend, I had everything bought and wrapped. Like everything in my life, I have to have structure and routine. I tend to be a little obsessive/compulsive about certain aspects in my life.....ok, maybe all of it but only because with a large family I can't just wing it!

Years ago when we were first married, we didn't have much of anything. Times were tight and we bought what we could without going into debt. After Scott graduated, he got a great job and life was good. It was hard for me at the holidays because I would see things that I knew one of the children would love and so I would buy it for them. It started to get out of control. They didn't need all the things we bought for them, in fact they weren't even asking for that much stuff.

We decided to really evaluate the way we were doing things and in the process, came up with some new traditions that have stuck with us for years.

On Christmas Eve, our children get new p.j.'s. We also give each one of them an ornament. I put a lot of thought into each one that I buy. It represents that individual in a unique way. On Christmas day, they each receive 3 gifts (just as the wise men brought baby Jesus 3 gifts). It's the same every year. They receive a book, a toy and a board game.

Now before you think, "Ok that's super boring!", let me just say how nice it is not to have 10 children with the "gimmies"!!!! Our children know that there is no reason to tell me what they want for Christmas because Christmas is about giving and we give from the heart. Therefore, Scott and I really think about each child and choose gifts appropriate for that child. They know that I put a lot of thought into their gift and it wasn't just picked at random. It may not be what they would have asked for but they usually love it just the same.

Our thought is this: When they leave home to start their own families, they will have 36+ special ornaments (Nana gives them one each year as well) to hang on their tree, they will have a great book collection to share with their children and even plenty of games to keep busy when they are too poor to do anything else! I still have games that I played as a child and our kids love to play them now as well. They get a kick out of my ornaments from my childhood and our huge library started with the books I brought with me when we got married.

We decided we didn't want to give gifts that would be forgotten a month later. The types of gifts we give will hopefully follow them when they start families of their own.

Now about Santa. He's a great guy but come on, I think he gets a little too much credit for amazing gifts. At our house, Santa fills their stockings with fruit, nuts and traditional Christmas candy! That's it!

As far as our children giving gifts to each other? We set aside a night that they can make coupons or write a note of appreciation for each other and they slip those in each other's stockings.

Well, there you have it. That's the basics. We have so many other traditions like: making/ decorating and delivering a gingerbread house to a different family every year, making approx. 500 cookies to decorate and take to neighbors, etc., homemade chex mix, zoo lights, etc. that we are thankful we have the time to spend together instead of worrying about shopping!

It's HOT in here!!!

My Sauna!

Yep, this is one of my most favorite ways to exercise!! In my bedroom I have a far-infrared dry heat sauna! Dry Heat Saunas work with radiant energy, just like what you feel when you step into the sunlight on a cold day. There's no need to heat the air, in fact the front window opens for ventilation!

The far-infrared heat penetrates deep: up to two inches below the skin for stimulation you can really feel, and offers amazing health benefits.

Studies have shown that the increased circulation promoted by these saunas ...

• helps ease joint pain and stiffness
• reduces the painful buildup of lactic acid in the muscles after a long workout
• provides cardiovascular conditioning
• burns off calories
• speeds cellulite loss
• helps you detoxify
• helps you sweat out cholesterol, fat, soluble toxins and heavy metals
• stimulates the body's natural immune system
• improves skin tone, elasticity, and color
• and feels great!

It takes about 5-10 mins. and then it's ready to use. You don't have to wait for it to reach a certain temp. because the far infared heat is on the second you turn it on! But I tell you what, when it hits 140 in there, it reminds me of when we lived in Arizona and we would decide to clean the garage on a summer day.......HOT!!! Crazy Oregonians.......

It feels so good to sit in there and be dripping with sweat. It stimulates your lymphatic system so toxins are able to be eliminated more easily. There are only a few ways to release toxins from your body: you have to pee/poop them out or sweat them out! Since your skin is the largest organ in your body, it makes sense that you can release so much garbage when you are sweating.

I know some of you don't like to sweat. It's gross. But that is our body's way of eliminating toxins from our system. Doing anything that causes you to sweat....a lot, is sooooooo good for you!

Due to the fact that I have a handful of kiddos wanting breakfast, I'm going to wrap this up. But do yourself a favor: Google far infared heat saunas and read for yourself what the experts say.

Let's Get Moving!

Rebounder

My thought about exercise is this: I don't have a lot of time, what can I do that will benefit me the most in the shortest amount of time?

Exercise is important for many reasons but for so many years I found every reason why I didn't have time. When I first started out, my only form of exercise was my Rebounder.

Rebounding is an effective exercise that: Reduces your body fat **Firms your arms, legs, thighs, abdomen and hips **Increases your agility **Strengthens your muscles overall **Provides an aerobic effect for your cardiopulmonary systems **Rejuvenates your body when tired **Puts you in a state of mental and physical wellness **

People who rebound find that they are able to work longer, sleep better, and feel less tense and nervous. The effect is not just psychological, because the action of bouncing up and down against gravity effectively stimulates the lymphatic system without trauma to the musculoskeletal system. This unique discovery is central to the reasons Rebounding has become one of the most beneficial forms of exercise ever developed.

Fascinating ways the body responds to regular rebounding:

1.Rebounding provides an increased G-force (gravitation load), which strengthens the musculoskeletal systems. 2.Rebounding protects the joints from chronic fatigue and impact delivered by exercising on hard surfaces. 3.Rebounding helps manage body composition and improves muscle-to-fat ratio. 4.Rebounding aids lymphatic circulation by improving the millions of one-way valves in the lymphatic system. 5.Rebounding circulates more oxygen to the tissues. 6.Rebounding establishes a better equilibrium between the oxygen required by the tissues and the oxygen made available. 7.Rebounding increases capacity for respiration. 8.Rebounding tends to reduce the height to which the arterial pressures rise during exertion. 9.Rebounding lessens the time during which blood pressures rise during exertion. 10.Rebounding assists in the rehabilitation of a heart problem. 11.Rebounding increases the functional activity of the red bone marrow in the production of red blood cells. 12.Rebounding improves resting metabolic rate so that more calories are burned for hours after exercise. 13.Rebounding causes the muscles to perform work in moving fluids through the body to lighten the heart's load. 14.Rebounding decreases the volume of blood pooling in the veins of the cardiovascular system preventing chronic oedema. 15.Rebounding encourages collateral circulation by increasing the capillary count in the muscles and decreasing the distance between capillaries and the target cells.

Ok, I'm pretty sure you can see the benefit of this amazing little piece of equipment! One very important note: Not all mini tramps are created equal! It must have springs!!! No bands. You can't go out and buy a $45 mini tramp and expect it to feel good on your joints!

There is so much I could say about this great exercise but I don't want to get too crazy. If you have never tried it, I would highly recommend it! Just 10 minutes a day gives you an amazing workout!!!

If anyone wants more info, let me know. Otherwise, we'll move on to my next favorite type of exercise!!

"Sun is too bright!!"

Talisha and Savannah

"Girls, what on earth are you doing?"


Jasmine enjoying the sunshine!

The girls were sitting down, having a little snack. I left the room for just a minute and when I came back they were both sitting there with sunglasses on!

"What are you doing", I asked.

"Sun is too bright, Mama. We have to wear sunglasses!"

Poor Oregonian children.....just not sure what to do when they see the sun this time of year!

That was a look!

The Magazine my story ran in.

The dreaded "Before" picture!

The "After" picture!

I'm guessing there are only a couple of you that have any idea of what my life used to be like, oh say, 13-14 years ago! I gave birth to Sabrina in April of 1994. By that next winter, I was a mess. I had gained a lot of weight being pregnant and still had about 30 extra pounds on me. Being someone that never struggled with my weight growing up, not only was I a mess physically but emotionally as well. I was having panic attacks, depression and an over-all feeling of being sick and tired.

I was raised in a home where my parents (mostly my mother) tried to feed us healthy food. She never bought chips of any kind, the only cold cereal we ever got was rice krispies, corn flakes or grape nuts! She made her own tofu (I can still remember the smell of warm soybean curds being strained through the cheese cloth!) Anyway, you get the idea. I didn't eat the best as a teenager (who does??) and my dad would constantly remind that some day it would all catch up to me! "Yeah, whatever dad. I'm so much smarter than you right now........"

He was right! It was when I hit my lowest point that I called my parents in Utah and flew with my two little girls to their home. They had met someone at a Health Fair that they thought could help me. I went and had a Live Blood Analysis with Dr. Robert Young. He was a microbiologist. He showed me my blood, said a lot of stuff I couldn't understand, showed me some natural products to take and sent me on my way. It was that day that I knew if I didn't do what he said, I was going to die much sooner than I had planned.

Now I'm leaving out many details to this whole story for the sake of time. The meds the doctors tried to give me, the diagnosis they pronounced on me, the times my very best friend would come sit at my home with my girls when I couldn't get out of bed because of my panic attacks/depression, etc.....oh yeah, I was a mess!

Anyway, I went back to my parents home after the blood analysis and for the next 10 days, I did exactly what Dr. Young had told me to do. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. There were a couple of days that I thought I was dying, my dad thought I was dying and I could hear him in the other room talking to my mom. He couldn't stand to see me suffering and thought I should stop what I was doing.

What was I doing? I was doing a full body cleanse. I was nourishing my body with only green, pureed veggies and taking different herbs to cleanse different organs in my body.

After 10 days, the light returned to my eyes, I had lost 30+ lbs.!!!! I felt like the old me, but way better. Scott flew in to see the girls and I. He could not believe what had happened in just over a week! To be honest, I looked a little like a Holocaust victim (I do not mean that in any way disrespectful, just about the only visual that matches how I looked!) I went from 145lbs. down to 115lbs.! Dr. Young had told me that my body would regulate my weight after the toxins were eliminated and so I would probably gain a few pounds. He was right. I did. I went back to 120-124 and stayed there for the next 4 years. I got pregnant with Tanner then but because of the way I was eating, I was back at my pre-pregnancy weight within months after giving birth. I maintained that weight for another 5 years when I got pregnant with Savannah!

Now, to explain the pictures with this post.....In 2003, First Magazine For Women contacted Dr. Young (who by this time had a thriving business with amazing nutritional products) and wanted to do a story on him. They asked for a couple of "before and after" people that could provide testimonials for his theory. He remembered me and the next thing I knew, New York was calling, setting up the interview and scheduling the photo shoot.

The sad part of this story is that I was out running errands the day they called and said they needed the before picture emailed to them. I asked Scott to go through our pics and find one to send them. Not surprisingly, he couldn't find any of me from that time in my life. He then asked his mother (who lived with us). She found one and they sent it off. When I got home and saw the one they found, I thought I was going to die! That was the most humiliating picture I had ever seen! What was with the braids? And those clothes? They were Scott's. I didn't have any that fit me......

Now if any of you are actually still reading this, thank you. I didn't mean for it to go on and on.....I should have broke it up over a few days.

I'm sure a few of you will be shocked to know all of this about me. It's not a part of my life that I enjoyed but the knowledge I learned through this whole experience has left me a better person. I would not have traded it for anything. I'm one of those people who you pretty much need to hit over the head to get me to make changes. You can't just tell me, I need to see it, experience it for myself. I learn way better that way.

In the next post I will show you what I do for exercise. I think that will be a much shorter post but very interesting.......Stay tuned!

Life is a gift

Sweet Jasmine

I have so much to do today but I'm having a hard time moving away from my computer. I'm looking up medical words and terms that I know nothing about. Last night I noticed something strange that we (including the hospital staff where she was born) have never seen on Jasmine's little tailbone!

I was changing a particularly messy diaper and needed to wipe areas that don't usually need wiped (ok, it was a blowout if that helps your visual)....Anyway, I came across a small slit-like
hole along her spine, down by her tailbone! A hole in her skin that I could not see the bottom of! How very odd I thought. I sent Scott a note at work that I had just found a hole in a place where there should not be a hole. He called. What on earth was I talking about, he wanted to know?

Sure enough when he got home, he saw it for himself and decided that was very odd indeed. Then the thought hit me: Spina Bifida! That's the only time I have ever heard of anyone having a hole along their spine.

I took her in to the Doctor today and sure enough, she couldn't see the end of the hole and declared we needed to know where that hole leads. It will require an MRI to determine if it's going to be a cute dimple for the rest of her life or if it truly is indeed something more serious. She will have to be sedated for the MRI, which is never how a Mama wants to see her baby but it will give us the answers that we need.

I need to get busy. So much to do and so very little time to do it! We're in a holding pattern (as my frequent flyer husband stated) until the doctor gets the ok from the insurance company to have the procedure done. Hopefully in the next week we should know something.

Life is a gift and I'm being reminded of that each and every day.

Wake up call!

Fresh smoothie made with spinach, cucumber, avocado and fresh lemon!

Two slices of yeast free sprouted whole grain spelt bread with flax,

pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds!

Talisha drinking her smoothie! She loved it and kept asking for more!

Kids are smart!!

Yesterday I went to the doctor about my knee. He was concerned it was a blood clot issue and asked me to go have it checked using a Doppler test (like an ultrasound). I had to go to their medical imaging office for the procedure.

As I was waited in the waiting area, I was aware of a cute little older gentleman (aren't all old people cute?) who was waiting for his wife. He seemed very anxious, wondering how much longer she was going to be. Finally they wheeled her out in a wheel chair. Her head was wrapped in a scarf (I'm guessing she had lost her hair) and she was hunched over, looking very tired. Her husband spoke to the technician and asked some questions. They were told to wait for the doctor to read the results and that he would call them on their cell phones (again, so cute when old people have cell phones).

Pretty soon their phone rang. The husband spoke for a few minutes and then thanked the doctor and hung up. I could tell by just hearing the husbands one side of the conversation that it wasn't good news.

When he hung up his phone, he sat down in front of his wife and gently explained the results to her. I could see her body start to tremble as tears started to flow. He got up to embrace her and quietly whispered over and over in her ear, "It's going to be ok. I know this isn't good news but it's going to be ok".

I felt very out of place as I sat and witnessed this very personal moment, a moment that was changing their lives for the worse. I had to put my magazine a little higher so they wouldn't notice the tears that fell from my eyes. The way he treated his wife, the compassion with which he spoke was all too touching.

I went in for my procedure and felt a wave of relief when the tech reported that their were no signs of a blood clot. In my heart I knew there wouldn't be. I'm not a high risk person for those but the doctor seemed so insistent. But because I have never had any major medical issues until this bum knee thing, I knew I needed to make changes in my lifestyle to continue enjoying good health as I get (groan) older.

This is going to be an ongoing post because the story doesn't end here. There is much more to tell. But for now, I will tell you that I'm going back to eating the way I know I should be eating. And that is the reason for showing you my beautiful breakfast this morning!!! I wish you could have seen the brilliant shade of green in my smoothie.....Mmmm. It was good!

It's December already??

Wow. What else is there to say? This is such a busy time of year.

I have so many projects that I'm working on that have nothing to do with the upcoming holidays, not to mention all the necessary preparations for Christmas that it's just a little mind boggling!

I'm headed to the doctor this afternoon to see what's going on with my knee. Over the past week it has swollen to twice the normal size and I'm not able to actually straighten it or bend it. It's not painful but extremely annoying. Makes going up and down stairs and bending down to pick things up, very difficult! Looks like it could be a torn meniscus. Not good since surgery is not in my schedule of things to do before Christmas!!!!!!

My parents, sister and her 4 children will be joining us again for Christmas this year. They came last year and it was so much fun having family here for the holidays!!! I think they are staying for a week (maybe longer????), so there should be lots of time for cousins to play!

Wishing you all the best as you begin your holiday preparations!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I just had to post this picture of Jasmine at dinner today. Is that cute or what? She looks like she's ready to chow down some turkey!!!

It was quite a day. Scott took the three older boys with him to basketball at the church this morning at 6:20. By the time they got home, Sam and Sabrina had homemade cinnamon rolls in the oven. Scott started in on the turkey (totally his department! I have never in our 18 years of marriage cooked a turkey! Shhh, don't let that get out to too many people). He makes his own stuffing and by 9, the whole house was starting to have that wonderful Thanksgiving smell.

After breakfast, Vanessa and I plopped down on the couch for an all day "taking braids out" event. Not my favorite thing to do nor is it her favorite thing to have done but it HAD to happen. We watched the Macy's parade and then the dog show (whose idea was it to put the dog show on after the parade every year???) The chex mix was out by this time and the little ones were leaving trails of it throughout the kitchen/family room.

Scott had dinner ready by 2:30 but we held out until almost 3 to sit down. We went around the table and had everyone say one thing they were grateful for. After once around we had heard some pretty strange/odd/ and a few sweet things and decided once around was plenty and that it was time to eat.

I love it when the almost 3 year old and the 3 1/2 year old only want cranberries and a roll on their plate. That's it, that's their whole Thanksgiving dinner! It seems like all the kids went through that stage: give me cranberries and a roll and some pie for dessert!

We watched Kitt Kitridge, An American Girl after dinner. Cute movie. We ate our yummy homemade pies (courtesy of Sabrina this year! Way to go Sabrina!!) and it was time to start the bedtime routine!

Whew!!! What a day. We are so thankful for all we have been blessed with. So thankful to have food on our table, a roof over our heads, a good job and a beautiful family.

We hope you all had a wonderful day, no matter how you celebrated!

Mmmmmm.....

On Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, it is a tradition at our house to make chex mix. We have done it for years and years. We love it! We always try making it with different ingredients and it's never the same twice.

I just finished making 6 batches. I used to do it the speedy quick way in the microwave and always used real butter. This year I did it in the oven and used olive oil!!! It tastes amazing! It cooks at a very low temp. (250 degrees) for an hour. I made 3 batches with sliced almonds and 3 without. We have one person who doesn't care for any type of nuts.

Just the smell of homemade chex mix stirs up wonderful memories of holidays past. I wish someone would hurry up and invent a room freshener that smelled like chex mix!

This past summer we were headed to the beach for the day and I whipped up a couple of batches to take with us. You should have seen the kids. They were so excited to have our holiday treat in the middle of summer!

I was real sneaky today. I finished making it and have everything bagged and put away, so there will be no evidence of any tasty treat......just that darn pesky beautiful aroma. That's the one problem with making chex mix at our house: it gets eaten too quickly! I had to hide it to make sure we will actually still have it on Thanksgiving. We don't have lunch that day since we eat our big meal early afternoon so the chex mix makes a wonderful snack throughout the morning.

Well, tomorrow's baking is pumpkin pie and triple berry pie. YUM!

Did she really just say that????

I called the high school a few minutes ago. I needed to excuse Samantha and Sabrina for an appointment this afternoon. I asked if there was any way they could please let the girls know what time they needed to leave since this morning when they left for school, I was still unsure. Without skipping a beat she said, "Well, do they have cell phones?" Um, well yes...."Could you please just send them a text and then hopefully at lunch they will see it". Oh, OK. I guess I could do that.

Isn't that funny that it never occurred to me to do that because that wasn't what my mom would have done years ago. I was just thinking they would send the student office aide to their class and give them a little piece of paper with the information on it. Silly me, welcome to the 21st century!!!

"I'm Adopted?????"

Well, just when you think you have it all under control, something happens that knocks you down a notch or two.....

Scott and I thought we were doing so well. We talk about adoption all the time with our children. We talk about birth parents and the role they played in our lives. We talk about how families are all different, how some families are created, etc. You know, all the stuff we are "supposed" to talk about with our children.

Last night Vanessa was telling us something she learned at school (?). She was talking about how "adopted means that a different mom and dad had you and then another mom and dad adopted you". We were all hanging out in the kitchen and I said, "That's right Vanessa, just like we adopted you!"

She stops, looks at me with a "what are you talking about" look on her face, and says, "I was adopted?" Scott and I looked at each other, not sure how she missed this point and nodded our heads yes.

She shakes her head back and forth slowly, while saying under her breath, "Ok, that is just weird".

We had to pinch ourselves to keep from busting out laughing. She was so cute. I was pretty sure she understood all of that but it looks like we will need to pull her baby book out after school today and go through her story again. I love doing that. I love going back to the day we first met and remember the feelings I felt as I met our newest addition.

Adoption gives me such a rush. I don't know how else to explain it. There are so many emotions that swirl around me those first few days. I'm always in such awe that a complete stranger is entrusting her child with us. That we become related to someone we have never met in that instant we hold our sweet baby.

Adoption is so much a part of our everyday life. It's who we are as a family. We are not normal. We are not average. We never will be. I love the fact that our children will grow up thinking that this is what a family is, lives brought together by a miracle.

"The Cheaper By The Dozen House"

Sam had lunch on Saturday with a friend from school. They went to a super cute little restaurant in town. For those of you locals, it was the Venetian (formally the old theater, now restored to an adorable restaurant/theater). She had a great time. We were talking about how it went after she got home. She said he was asking her about her family. He knew she came from a large family but apparently had some questions (he comes from a family with 2 children). He wanted to know if she had to make her own lunch for school. She said of course, has been since 7th grade. He wanted to know if she had to make her own dinner as well. She said of course not, that her mother does that. He looked surprised at that point and said, "Wow. How does she know how to cook for 12 people?????" She just had to laugh. She said he calls our house the "cheaper by the dozen house".......

I guess maybe there might be someone to watch our reality show after all!!!

Totally kidding about that last sentence. We are not doing a reality show!!!!

YUM!

Vanessa's pizza

Tanner's calzone

Talisha's pizzas.....er, um muffins?

She was pretty proud of those "muffins"!!

My best friend Bonnie gave me a recipe for pizza dough that doesn't use yeast. We use it all the time for just about everything. I make cinnamon rolls, bread sticks, pizza crust, etc.!!! We love it! It's super fast and easy. Sabrina is a whiz at mixing up the dough and makes yummy pizzas and calzones for herself and her siblings. Saturday afternoon she had a little help. Talisha had a great time rolling her dough into balls.

Anyway, the real pizzas turned out great and the kids loved them!!!

Pretty cute

Scott and Tanner playing some hoops. Vanessa firing up the blower!

Vanessa working hard. Scott and Tanner playing hard!

Looked out the window and saw two boys playing and one girl working....and working....and working! That Vanessa is a worker! She loves to help around the house and even sweeping the leaves on the basketball court is fun to her!

I never know what to expect!

This morning I had gone upstairs to put the laundry in the dryer. I could hear Isaiah downstairs in the office, seemingly having a great time with something.



This is what I saw as I came downstairs:






He had that swing really moving! Too bad you can't see his face, had the biggest ol' smile on it you have ever seen! I'm pretty sure he had been waiting for me to go upstairs all morning so that he could try out the swing. It's Jasmine's, so he has never got to go for a ride. I'm pretty sure he's been thinking, "I could make that thing really go if they would let me!"

Well, he finally got his turn. I slowed it down so I could take another pic of him but it didn't last long, he had that thing zinging before he could say, "Cheese"!!

I Have A Dream

Sam was working on a project for a class and asked me to proof it (that's my job, Scott gets the math homework!) for her when she was done. I don't know why she asks me to do that for her. I always cry. What she writes comes straight from her heart and always gets me. Anyway, this assignment came on the heels of the Civil Rights Movement they have been studying. She was asked to write a "I Have A Dream" speech about anything. Here's hers:

“I Have a Dream”

I have a dream that all children will be loved and have a home and a family to call their own. No longer will they live in cold, cruel orphanages. No longer will they be forced to search for moldy and rotten food among the dumps and the streets in order to survive. No longer will they shiver as they sleep on cardboard with newspaper as a shelter.

I have a dream.

I have a dream that these precious, future holders of our world will be able to find warmth and love whenever they need it. These children have amazing potential and, unless they are cared for, will never reach it because of the terrible conditions they are forced to endure, squandering any potential trying to show through.

I have a dream.

I have a dream that people all around they world will join hands to lift up these children from the sinking sands of despair. Peace would follow as brother looked up to see brother, all reaching for a common goal: to save a child.

I have a dream.

I have a dream that pride would be swallowed, walls of hate broken down, fires of anger extinguished as wars came to a close and “Peace on Earth” became a true statement.

I have a dream.

Keep dreaming Sam! And I will too!

When you dream, dream big; as big as the ocean blue

Cause when you dream it might come true; When you dream, dream big.

Ryan Shupe and The Rubber Band

What???

My oldest was typing a report for school and needed some advice on the layout. I was in the kitchen, working on dinner and she was around the corner in the office. I called a couple of ideas to her and then also said, "Put a carriage return after the title!" It was quiet for a few seconds and then I heard, "Um Mom, what's a carriage return?"

Did I say that????? Wow. I had to stop what I was doing and go explain typewriters and the sounds and features of those wonderful machines. I haven't typed on one for years so I'm not sure why that came out of my mouth but it did give me the opportunity to tell her about something that I used to love: the clickety-clack of the keys and the ding at the end of the row.......

Ahhhh, those were the days.

Isaiah!

Could this boy be any cuter??????? He is such a doll! The sweetest little bug ever! I took him to have his pictures done today and he really wanted nothing to do with it. He did however think the young girl taking the pictures was nice and kept crawling over to her to give her a high five. She was smitten by his sweet personality and really did a great job getting what pictures we could. It wasn't about getting him to smile. He doesn't do that on command. It was letting him do what he does and getting as much as we could on film. He would sit there, looking around the studio and see something that was interesting and say,"Whoa", or "Woooow"! It was so funny. I laughed my head off most of the time and the other part of the time I was working up a sweat chasing him around to keep him in his spot.

We are going back in on the 15th for our family pictures and the 3 little girls pictures....whew, and then we will be done with pictures for another year!!!!!

Fall Family Festival!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Talisha with a cute ghostie on her cheek.

Savannah!!!! She was so excited to have her face painted. She's usually not really into that kind of thing. Oh and yes, she is missing her pants. She was on strike that day. The pair she wanted wasn't clean and so she settled for the diaper look. Love that independent girl!!!

Thomas!!

Rolling out the sugar cookies.

Sam and Tanner working together.

The girls doing the "cinnamon roll walk"!

Savannah fishing!!

Sabrina fishing! Look at that excited face!

Everyone had a turn to fish....even the almost 17 year old!!

Decorating the sugar cookies.

Isaiah waiting for his cookie!

There she is! Hello Miss Jasmine Belle!!

Can you believe how big she's getting????

Yum!

Enjoying her cookie!

Yep, that means I (well, I should say Scott) found my camera. WHEW! I was really starting to get nervous. As you can see from our pictures, we had a lot of fun this year. The only thing missing was.......Levi! He is the ball boy for the Varsity football team at the high school and they were playing their last game of the season on Halloween. Poor kid.

We had tons of fun going around to our different stations and from big to small, they all had a good time. You would think that they would really want to go trick or treating but they don't even ask. The only thing they wanted to know was, "When can we start our festival???"

Ok, now I can move on to November......sigh of relief.