it's spring break-

all the kids all the time things are a little crazy around here!

I had an idea

and this was sort of it.

a photoshoot with Maggie, and a blanket and the snow.

where we went to take the pictures was at a field across a sort of country road, just a tiny bit out of town. I love the location of that house- and the field- love.

I was telling Maggie we should build a house in the field, and she agreed,

and said that we could take pictures every day.

love that girl!

it's good to try new things

last night a friend of mine called me up, and wanted to go see the movie red riding hood.

now, I had seen a preview, and it wasn't really a movie on my must see list,

but I went along anyways,

and wowsers.

I really, really liked it.

it was so suspenceful,

it had romance,

I laughed,

I cried,

who could it be- who was the wolf?

it was...

kidding.

I won't tell.

go see the movie, and find out!

today-

lucky charms?
check.
green milk?
check.
chocolate coins found under the pillows?
check. have a great day- and don't get pinched!

the big 6

wow. I can hardly believe my baby is 6 now.
she is such a fun kid.
here are 6 great things about her-

1. she still grabs her blanky and likes to cuddle with me on the couch when she wakes up in the morning.

2. she has her older siblings wrapped around her finger. they do almost everything at her bidding.

3. she loves to watch movies and eat popcorn. loves it.

4. many mornings when I go to wake the girls up I find her snuggled in Sadie's bed, where she has moved sometime in the night.

5. she loves going to school, playing with friends and learning new things.

6. she is so stinking cute.

big party to come on Saturday. good times. she can hardly wait!

the c monster

so- here it is. not even close to the cuteness of the one I boogled,
but hey- let's not judge. we're all friends here! and yes, he is eating a digestive cookie-
because that is what I had in my house.
and his eyes are just icing blobs with chocolate chips,
and yes, it was delicious.
and isn't that what really matters?
we will see what the kids in the kindergarten class thought of it when Maggie gets home.
hopefully no one will say- I don't care for this.
that would be a tragedy.

jump on the band wagon

so this morning Jack's junior high band played in the music festival.
they needed someone to take all the large instruments to the festival.
Jack vollunteered me.
so we went to the school and were packing in the instruments,
and one of the kids said-
put it in the band wagon.

pretty funny kids.

(maggie and the instruments in the band wagon)

they did pretty well.

the van- well, it made it.

everytime I had to stop and get going again something in the back would creak.

I was just glad it wasn't the door and that it didn't fly open and instruments didn't fall all over the road.

that would have been bad.

boogle it

so, it's Maggie's birthday on Sunday.

she gets to take treats to kindergarten on Friday for her birthday.

I asked her what she wanted to take,

and she said cookie monster cupcakes.

I told her I wasn't sure how to make those,

I would have to look it up on the computer

and she said- you can boogle it!

(love it!)

so I did- and found this-

adorable.

now, to see what I can come up with.

I don't think it will look this good.

sadly,

but I shall try!

troy and gabriella

after a day of the girls and a friend playing barbies in the toy room,

I went down to run on the treadmill- to find this-

our troy and gabriella barbies hanging out- a bit close,

by the edge of the toy shelf.

I thought it was so funny.

I wonder if it was my girls who put them like this-

or if it was the friend.

the latest

I am reading this book-it was recommended to me by my friend who is a librarian at our high school.

it is really good.

I think it is a book that Kami and Kayli would enjoy.

just saying.

watching-
on season 4. sometimes inappropriate. most times funny.

Cory came home early yesterday afternoon and I was watching it, and he came down, stood for a moment then walked away saying 'I can't even listen to this show.' hmm.

but he doesn't like a lot of tv shows, so we won't go by his word.

not sure I would recommend it to anyone, but now I this far in, I need to find out how he did meet their mother.

knitting- I bought the yarn for this project last year. I finally got a pattern for it a couple of months ago- I am starting them today! they are called thrummed mittens- you knit them up and every once in a while you add in some wool tufts, so the inside is super warm and fuzzy.- like this-
mine will be about that color for the outside, but my fuzzies are white and pink and blue. they will be so fun.

- because I have been wearing the mittens ben sewed in his sewing class last year out of polar fleece. and while they are warm and stylish, I think it is time for some new ones.

and the way the weather has been, I think I can finish them and still wear them for a few months.

nice.

my girls

aren't they radiant? (haha)

I was trying to get that cool sun flare effect that I have seen around, but not sure I did it right.

they are great girls- mostly get along with each other. I love that they play barbies and polly pockets together. so fun.

now, if only I could get them to keep their room clean.

(but I seem to recall my mom getting on me to clean up my room a lot as a kid. I guess what goes around comes around!)

happy family day

that's what day it is here in Alberta today.
yay.
but cory has to work, so it's just me and the kids.
and I have some boxes and garbage bags, and we are going through the house getting rid of stuff.
That's the goal anyways.
so far I have a bit of stuff on my kitchen floor.
good times.

a question for you

so- say I am thinking about taking my family on a trip down to Utah in the summer time.

(I have thought of this before, but I think this year is the year.)

what do we have to do,

what should we see,

where should we go?

on my for sure list is touring temple square,

and climbing mount timpanogos.

I know there is so much more- what is the most fantastic stuff?

please, let me know what you think!

thanks.

some one loves me

at the grocery store that I shop at most often

they were giving away bunches of roses yesterday.

(I guess they ordered a few too many for valentines day.)

-but lets just say they love to have me shop there,

and wanted to show their appreciation!

yeah, lets go with that!

dotty

yesterday after I sent Maggie to get dressed for school, this is the outfit she came out with.

I said- wow- that is a lot of polka dots.

she said- I know, it's because I love them.

I guess so!

(I love them too!)

she did end up switching the leotards out for jeans, but kept the skirt and the shirt.

some things aren't worth the battle.

and some things you can get away with when you are 5. (almost 6!)

happy valentines day!

the day of love
(and candy)
I crocheted some hearts, and glued them to some hair clips for the girls to wear to school!


I bought a variety of heart candy, and filled up my candy jars- these will be pulled out at Family home evening- along with the cake balls I made. they aren't pretty, but they sure taste good.
( I had to make sure they were okay, right?)

the heart shaped pretzels covered with chocolate are from walmart- so very cute,

and the heart shaped jelly tots were from superstore. so cute (and really yummy too!)

I got this sweet valentine from a girl in my primary class. it says you are the bomb.

and it's like a bomb!(made up with 3 packs of rolos) so creative- and it involves chocolate. love it!

- super exciting news- this morning I put on a pair of my jeans, and they were way too big, I could pull them off without unbuttoning them. I was so excited.

-sad news- after today, I think those jeans might just fit me again. yikes!

substitution

(or how much is too much.)


so, you know how sometimes you really want to eat some homemade baked stuff, but you really don't want all the sugar and fat and calories?

well- that is how I was feeling this morning-
so I attempted to make some banana muffins- but a lot healthier.

I substituted whole wheat flour for all the white flour,
honey for all the sugar,
applesauce for the oil-
and added a bit of flax seed-
now sometimes I know when I try to make things healthy they just don't taste very good


but I have to say, I think these were pretty yummy.
but that might be because I put in chocolate chips-
no substitutions for those!
so- am I justified in eating a whole lot, since they are really healthy?
no- I didn't think so.
darn it.

time

high time to update the blog!

not too much exciting going on here.

-just trying not to freeze- but hear it is supposed to get warmer again this weekend.

-angry that my favorite radio station all of a sudden switched to number 1 hits. if I wanted to listen to those I would be listening to the other 3 or 4 radio stations in this city that play the top hits. sheesh.

-hanging out with Ben at the hospital this morning- his finger got jammed when he was playing soccer in gym class yesterday, so we had to make sure it wasn't broken. nope, just sprained.

- getting a hair cut and color-

way too long over due. my roots were awful.- but now-

not so bad. and of course my hair dresser straightened it.

and of course it will never look this way again.

- and last week I tried to cut Maggie's hair.

bad idea.

then I realized how uneven the sides were and tried to even them up.

that was not a good idea either.

then my sister called me- another sister had signed her kids up for a birthday club thing at the mall, and got a bunch of coupons for her daughter-

that they won't be using because they are now far far away-

and one was for a haircut at a real salon- so I jumped on that one- and Maggie got a cute 'do. (and it is even. yay!)

-then I left the computer to make some supper-

and this is what I found.

silly little girl!

while surfing the net the other day...

I came across this picture!

- to read the story, check out my etsy blog- bluejeanmamaetsy.

such a fun surprise!

a moment

this weekend the kids pulled out the monopoly game.
they played it on Saturday, Sunday and Monday (we had no school on Monday)

on Sunday night Cory played a game with some of the kids.
they were on the livingroom floor.
Ben was on the couch listening to his ipod
the girls were playing with some of their toys around the room
I was knitting on the chair.
we were all in the same room just hanging out.
that never happens!
I was sitting there thinking I should pull out my camera and put it on the table and set the timer.
I wanted to capture that moment forever.
but I didn't.
then the game was over, and the kids moved on.


next time I am going to try to remember this,
and actually grab the camera.
because my memory is not so good- I and I will probably forget this moment ever happened.
and it was a great moment.