Very Belated Halloween Post

In looking through my pictures, I realized that I took a ton at Halloween time, meaning to blog about our Halloween stuff, but I never did. Here is my "mostly pictures" Halloween blog.

Here are some of the pictures of our Halloween decorations.

And here are the pictures of this years costumes. I originally wanted to make all of the costumes, but once I finished Allen's and Michael's, I needed to get back to life. Makenzie and Morgan had to make due with what we have. Allen and Michael will get to be Jedi for the rest of their lives. Their costumes were huge, but I really love how they turned out.

And finally our pumpkins. Our pumpkins are a huge tradition. (See http://kitchentablescience.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-creative-husband.html) This year, I thought we did a great job of planning ahead. We had a week long pumpkin carving session. When the pumpkins were finished, we displayed them on top of our piano, and we lit them every night for our family to enjoy. It always breaks my heart when we spend so much time on them, and then light them for one night and then throw them away. We REALLY enjoyed them this year. Again, hubby did most of these. My contributions were the Cinderella pumpkin, and the bat pumpkin in the background on the autobot pumpkin. We got so many compliments on them this year. Big thanks to my sister-in-law and niece and nephews for supplying us with the pumpkins.

Homemade Christmas

Most years, my family would get many homemade gifts for Christmas. We have many stories about my mom trying to hide the gifts she was making. Often, they would be found, or she would slip and tell someone, and then come up with some white lie to not blow Christmas. Many of the homemade gifts are still around my mom's house as grandkid toys. Every year, my parents give us money for Christmas, instead of buying gifts. They ask us to let the kids know which gifts are bought with the money, so the kids will know that their Grandma and Grandpa love them, and did think about them. Many years, we haven't planned ahead, and the money just ends up getting sucked up into paying off the Christmas bills. This year, I wanted to make sure my kids had some great presents from their Grandparents, and I wanted to make sure the money stretched as far as possible.

I decided to follow my mom's example, and make some of the homemade toys for my kids, that I enjoyed while growing up. My mom still has a tee-pee that she made when I was young, and I thought that my boys would love one to play in. I love the fact that it folds up to practically nothing.

On Christmas morning, my boys got up to find their tee-pee, taking up most of the front room. It had a large note pinned to it saying "To: Allen, Michael, and Morgan. From: Grandma". Makenzie curled up on the couch, and started to cry, heartbroken that she wasn't included in the present. Under the tree was a letter for her. I gave it to her, and after reading it, she brightened right up.

We sent her on a treasure hunt to find her part of the present from Grandma. She kept announcing to the whole house, "I'm going on a treasure hunt for MY present."

When she came to the last clue, it told her to look in her closet. She spent about a minute, looking all over the floor of her closet, trying to find the envelope for her next clue. When she finally saw the note, she was delighted to find a closet full of dress-ups.

It took my mom and I several weeks to sew the dresses. There were a couple that weren't quite what we were looking for, and we got some great advice from my baby sister, who is an amazing seamstress, on how to alter the dresses.

Here is Makenzie, modeling her Cinderella work dress. (She is actually upstairs in it right now, cleaning her room. Hey, whatever works!)

And in Cinderella's ball gown.

Snow White, of course.

Tinkerbell- I would say that this is one of my favorites, but I think they are all my favorites.

Sleeping Beauty

Ariel

And, a generic princess.

Each of these dresses is made with sheets. The material is so sturdy, and they are completely washable. I love that!! Makenzie has had many dress-ups, but they fall apart so quickly, and most of them are not washable. They look like they have been through the war after just a couple of months. I love that these dresses will last forever, and that they are big enough on her that they will be able to fit her for a very long time.

When Michael found out I was blogging about Christmas presents, he asked if I would put him on with his favorite present, so here are Michael and Allen with their favorites.

In our family, for Christmas, each of the kids gets something to wear, something to read, and something to play with. It is amazing how much flexibility this gives us. When we have extra money, the toys and outfits are more elaborate, and when funds are tight, we are able to buy things that fit within our budget. The first year, I was worried that my kids would be disappointed that our Christmases are so small, but they have loved it. I love having a stopping point for my shopping, and I love having my kids not go "hog wild" with their wish lists. We had a very nice Christmas!

Links:

Tinkerbell Pattern

Snow White and Cinderella- This pattern looks different from the ones we used (and my mom is not available to get the pattern number right now) but the dresses look like the ones we made. The pattern we used had Snow White, Cinderella and Ariel. We also used this pattern to make the Cinderella work dress and the generic princess dress.

The Sleeping Beauty pattern is no longer available.

Allen's Arm

A little over a month ago, Allen was invited to a birthday party. His best friend's little brother was having a birthday party at a local bounce house, and Allen was invited to keep his friend company. Allen and his best friend have both been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome (a high functioning form of Autism.) One of the symptoms of Asperger's is impulsivity. Most of the time, we see this symptom as simply not thinking before you act. On this particular day this particular symptom came back to get both these boys. Badly!!

Less than an hour into the two hour party we got a call from the mom of the birthday boy. Before the party we had arranged for her to take the boys to the party, and then bring Allen back when the party was done. When she called us she asked us if we wanted to come pick Allen up, or if we wanted her to bring him home. I was very confused. Hubby talked to her, and then relayed the message to me. The last thing she said before hanging up was, "It is really bad!" We started imagining all the different ways Allen could have acted up to get thrown out of the party that early. When she got to our house the first thing she said was, "Let's get him into your car, so we can get him to the hospital." It took several minutes for it all to sink in. Allen had dislocated his wrist, and it was now sitting on top of his forearm. Hubby took him to the hospital where they took some X-rays, and put him on an IV. He ended up having surgery, and had a couple of pins put into his wrist.

We actually were lucky enough to find this picture in some of my sister-in-law's pictures, and it helped us to visualize exactly what happened for this particular accident. Allen's friend came up with the bright idea to slide down the bumpers on the side of the slide, and then roll off halfway down, and land on the red supportive things on the side of the slide. Allen said that they both performed this stunt several times successfully. Then one time, Allen was not able to actually roll onto the red support, and instead rolled down the bumper to the blue things at the bottom of the slide where he landed on his wrist. His friend was terrified that we would never let them play together again. His mom actually had us stick our head into their van before we could leave for the hospital to let her son know that they would be able to play together in the future.

Here is a very drugged up Allen. (He has always had the best bed head!!) The first skill he learned was playing DS with only one hand. At first he propped it on his lap, and was able to play all the buttons (which normally takes two hands) with his one good hand. He then learned how to hook his pinkie under the DS to carry it around the house while playing it.

Another view of his impressive playing skills. He is pushing the buttons with his ring finger and controlling the stylus with his other fingers while holding the whole thing with his pinkie. It took him a week to be able to button his pants, but playing video games was mastered the first day.

Here is Allen with his cast. We get it off on Monday. I am amazed at how little it has slowed him down. This is the first broken bone in our family, and I was expecting it to be much more traumatic.

And of course, the signatures!

Makenzie's Baptism

My little girl was baptized the beginning of this month on her birthday. I can't believe how grown up she is getting. Several months ago, I was going through a box of stuff my mom had given me, and I found the dress I was baptized in. I asked Makenzie if she wanted to wear my old dress, and she loved the idea. When I found it in the box, I thought it looked so old fashioned, but when she put it on, I was amazed at how beautiful both the dress, and my daughter looked.

I love how their little minds and spirits change as they get closer to getting baptized. It seems like each of my kids have become a little more thoughtful and introspective that year before they get baptized. I am so excited for Makenzie to continue developing her testimony with the help of the Holy Ghost. I am also so incredibly grateful to have a worthy priesthood holder for a husband. He is an amazing man!

I am so grateful to have the gospel in my life. One of my favorite doctrines taught in the gospel is the doctrine of eternal families. I couldn't imagine what life would be like, or how painful death would be, if I didn't have the comfort of knowing I will have these guys with me forever. They are everything to me.Allen has been grounded from all electronics, and every once in a while he gets to earn them back. On Friday, he worked hard to earn some time with his DS. We made the mistake of letting him take it to his room at bedtime. We found out at the baptism that he had stayed up THE WHOLE NIGHT playing it!! His youngest aunt was sweet enough to be his pillow, and I think he slept on her shoulder through the entire baptism. What a stinker!!

Yogurt

I love saving money, and then I married one of the biggest misers ever, and together we love finding ways to save money. Most of the time, it is a necessity, but it is great finding ways to do things yourself, and not have to pay someone else. I learned many money saving tips from my mom, and one of the things we used to do when we were growing up was make our own yogurt. My kids are really particular about their foods, but they all love yogurt. When I find something that they all will eat, I have to jump on it. We decided to try making our own, and one of my sisters recommended this website.

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/yogurt.htm

We love their yogurt recipe, and it is so simple. I heard from one of my sisters that my mom was getting rid of my grandma's ancient yogurt maker, so I called and claimed it.

It is supposed to hold 4 individual cups of yogurt, but one of the glass containers was missing when I got it. I was also afraid to let my kids have any of the glass cups. They are notoriously clumsy, and I am notoriously paranoid. I tried many of the cups I have to try to find one that would fit into the yogurt maker. I found some of my kids cups with lids fit perfectly. We soon realized that 4 cups of yogurt was not enough for the 6 of us. I tried to find some more cups with lids that would fit into the yogurt maker, but I could not find the kind I wanted anywhere. My sister went through her cupboards, and found a bunch for us. My kids love the little cups, and they love the yogurt.

Our favorite way to make the yogurt is in the oven. (We love the yogurt maker, but when I make yogurt, I make it in bulk. 4 cups just doesn't cut it.) We preheat the oven to get it to the right temperature, and then we have to get the yogurt into the oven quickly and close the door to keep the oven at the right temperature. We have found the best way to maintain the right temperature is to load all the yogurt onto a cookie sheet, and wrap all the containers in several towels. Then we can just slide the whole mess of yogurt into the oven at once. The yogurt also sets very well in mason jars, but we love the novelty of having the individual cups. We leave the yogurt in the oven overnight, and it is ready when we wake up. (We usually refrigerate it, and then eat it the next day. Warm yogurt is a little too nasty!) My kids favorite flavor is vanilla. They put a little sugar and a few drops of vanilla in it. We also love it with strawberry freezer jam.

One thing we did find is that the yogurt really doesn't set well in the square containers. I think it is because you can't stir the yogurt into the scalded milk nearly as well. We have also had a few failed attempts when we left the oven door opened too long while arranging all our little cups (this is where we got the cookie sheet idea) and the yogurt didn't set. It was still tasty, and my kids just drank it, but it is so much better when the yogurt sets.

We have also made yogurt cheese, and we love it. It is very similar to cream cheese, and you can substitute it in recipes. You just line a colander with cheese cloth, and put the yogurt in the lined colander. Cover with plastic wrap, and allow the colander to drain over a bowl in the fridge overnight. So tasty!!

Sewing Project

In one of Allen's classes in school, they explore different career options. For the first little while, they had to pick a career, and play a kind of game where they had that career. They had to research it, and find out what kinds of skills and education they would need. They had to create a budget, and plan for rent, food, and other expenses, and see how their budget stretched. Allen chose to be a mechanic. He ended the unit by sitting down with us, and going through our budget. I am not too sure how much he got out of it, but I really enjoyed talking through things with him.


The class has now moved into trying out different skills. They have done a little cooking, and this week they had their first sewing project. I took Allen to the store, and let him pick out some fleece for his first sewing experience. After debating for a very long time, he finally chose an Air Force pattern. The material had a large fighter jet on it. I tried to explain that he would most likely be cutting up the fabric and nothing would be recognizable. He still wanted that particular fabric.


I got to go into the school to help out with the sewing. It was a lot of fun, and I am very glad I went because we ended up sewing Allen's project at home. It was very helpful to have gone through the instructions with several of the students.





Allen is really quite good at sewing. He hates the unpicking part, but seriously who doesn't. Here he is hard at work.



And here he is modeling the finished product. Tonight we had a Christmas Concert at school, and Michael's class was supposed to wear winter hats and scarves for their costume. Allen let Michael wear his new hat and scarf.

One Exciting Morning

Yesterday, as we were getting ready for our day, our smoke alarm went off. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon occurrence in our house. I was upstairs, and I ran down the stairs to see who had burned something. No one was anywhere near the kitchen. We ran through the house looking and smelling for smoke or fire, and we couldn't find anything. I went outside to see if I noticed anything from the outside of the house. There was one spot on the roof without snow, but there was really nothing to see. The fire alarm would take a break about every 5 minutes. It would stop for less than 30 seconds and then start right up again. It was more than my little family could take. Max took refuge under the table, hoping that would make it stop. Allen grabbed our biggest pair of headphones and put them on his head. Makenzie tried to outscream our fire alarm. I tried to figure what to do, and still get my kids ready for school on time.

I called my husband, and he said that it is probably too cold in our house, and the batteries couldn't handle it. I told him that was stupid (keep in mind I had been listening to a screeching fire alarm for at least 15 minutes.) He calmly tried to scientifically explain to me why it wasn't stupid, which I really wasn't in the mood for. I wanted him to make it stop! I huffily got off the phone with him, and I called my mom. She recommended calling the fire department to see if they had any suggestions. That sounded more pro-active than waiting for our batteries to feel warm, so I called them. They asked about the last time we replaced the batteries. I felt pretty good about myself when I told them we changed the batteries at the end of daylight savings time and they complimented me. Score one for the emergency preparedness scouting program, and for my parents who picked up our 9 volt batteries in bulk!! After asking several questions, they suggested we have some firemen come out and check everything out.

I had the kids watch for them, because I knew we would never hear the knock, or the doorbell over the high pitched smoke alarm. They came in their bright red fire truck. The kids were very excited. They followed the firemen around like little puppy dogs as they checked out our house. Allen said "Real live firemen! . . . In our house!!" They found the smoke alarm that was causing the problems (all of our smoke detectors are connected, so when one goes off, they all go off) and they determined that it was dusty. They recommended we vacuum out our smoke detectors when we replace the batteries. So, a little dust made our already hectic morning downright crazy. But, in spite of everything, I almost got the kids to school on time (we were 2 minutes late!).

Fried Messed-up rolls with baking powder

This little baby was supposed to make my life a lot easier tonight, and provide us with some yummy rolls.

On Monday, I made some rolls to take to a party. I had several issues getting them done, but in the end, it all worked out. For Thanksgiving, my job was to bring the rolls. I made several batches, and most of them had some major flaws. With the breadmaker, rolls are supposed to be so easy, and the recipe that came with our first breadmaker is fantastic but I haven't had much luck lately! I rushed home today to get some rolls in so they could be done in time for dinner. Just as I started putting the ingredients in, Allen let me know he had left his Spanish book at school and we had to rush back and get it. I threw the last of the ingredients in, made sure the dough actually started mixing (a major flaw last time) and we took off.

We made it home while the dough was rising, and when I looked into the breadmaker, it didn't look right. The dough never really rose well. Hubby made it home just as the dough cycle finished, and I asked him to shape the rolls. I ran and did some chores, and came back and looked at the shaped rolls. They were so pathetic. I went through putting in the ingredients, and I realized that I had never put in the yeast. We talked about just cooking them as biscuits, but then we realized that there was absolutely nothing in them to make them rise. Hubby kneaded in some baking powder, and divided them. He then decided he was going to fry them instead of bake them.

I really love being married to a man who knows how to cook, and the fact that he is so stinking good looking doesn't hurt anything either.

My very tough job was to sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar on them when they were done. We went to a charity event last week, and one of the highlights for us is the cinnamon and sugar scones. Our little cooking project was every bit as good.

Here is Morgan, enjoying our "oh so healthy" dinner. He had 3 and was still begging for more.

And Makenzie with hers.

It definitely wasn't the meal I had originally planned, but it was a lot of fun to have my mistake turn into a fun and tasty family project. The kids asked what we were eating. I told them we were having messed-up rolls with baking powder, fried in oil. Hubby just called it frybread.