Can you say, "Delicious"?

I LOVE to bake...love, love, love it! I may, or may not, have purchased half a dozen cooking magazines during the holidays because there were SO many yummy looking treats to make. These little babies were one of my favorites...Yum! They're a twist on Baklava. [Side note: It took me nearly 13 years to get up the nerve to make Baklava and I'm still mad I waited so long. It's definitely time consuming, but SO worth the time]. These use the same Phyllo dough, but are filled with Granny Smith apples that have been sauted with walnuts and dried cherries. Once they've baked you pour a DELICIOUS cinnamon infused honey glaze over them that is divine. I just can't say enough yummy things about them. So good. I can't remember which magazine I got the recipe from, but I will be sure and post it if I remember to find it in the morning (I just checked the clock and it is telling me I stayed up WAY too late). Off to bed I go!

Snow...

I think we've had almost three feet of snow since Thursday. School was cancelled today and my back really hurts from shoveling. The piles of snow are now taller than me and I had to start pushing snow across the street to the other sidewalk because I couldn't lift the snow onto my huge piles. Crazy. I also got a coldsore that I believe is attempting a hostil take over of my face. I had a bad sinus infection and all of those Kleenex's dried my poor nose so much it didn't stand a chance. I think I need to go to bed and get some sleep...I think I'm going to be doing a lot of shoveling in the morning, the snow still hasn't let up. Nighty Night.

We're Back!

I can't believe I have neglected this poor blog for almost an entire year...ouch. In stead of boring you (if there is anyone out there who is still checking in, that is) with a full year of updates, I figure I'll just start up as though I never neglected my blog in the first place.

I found this SUPER cute pattern for a Christmas Tree Skirt on Pinterest and decided that I HAD to make it. I love the 'rustic' look that the burlap gives it. For those 'non-sewers' it is perfect because the original was done with hot glue - no sewing. I am in a rather serious love/hate relationship with hot glue and decided it was in my best interest to sew mine, but it is unnecessary and very simple either way (although it is time consuming). I sewed mine up in about 4-5 hrs. I just worked on it after the kids went to bed for a few hrs each night and it took me two nights...not bad. I'm super excited for the holidays. I have been baking up a storm and making as many new holiday treat recipes as I can find time for (or make time for). I will definitely try and post some of those soon! Happy Holiday Crafting!

Poor Thing...

I've never been much of a cat lover (being allergic does that to you), but I have to admit I felt very sorry for this poor cat. Max wasn't being mean to him, but Max's version of love isn't always gentle, soft or wanted! He is so darn happy with that cat!!! I couldn't stop laughing as he hauled this cat around. He would lose his grip and drop it, then pick it back up, for about fifteen minutes they did this...poor thing.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Clay the Lacrosse Player, Quin the Skeleton, Ali the Snow White Princess, Jack the Batman Superhero, Max the Bat and Heidi the Cow...momentarily not a mad cow.

Hope yours was as good as ours!!

Every Year...

It seems like the beginning of each new school year always brings along some outbreak or pandemic of illness.

Seriously, you have perfectly healthy kids all summer long and as soon as you send them off to hang out for 7+ hours of the day in close quarters with hundreds of other children, they all of a sudden get sick...it never fails!

And this year is no exception. Clay woke up around 4am Saturday morning barfing his brains out all over our family room. He is usually pretty good about making it to the toilet, but there wasn't enough time, it hit him fast and hard. He spent a good half hour in the shower throwing up and crying - long enough for Joe and I to clean everything up and throw in a load of dirty laundry.

Clay was feeling poorly most of Saturday, but seemed to have recovered fully by Sunday morning. We sort of hoped he had just eaten something bad and that was the end of it...not so.

Max woke up and got in bed with me Monday at 12:30am. I had just washed all of my bedding and was worried he might get a bloody nose, so I brought him back to his own crib. A few minutes later he started to cry and yell for daddy. I went in his room and he had vomited all over in his bed. Yum. I had Joe bring him in and shower him off while I cleaned up his bed and threw in a load of laundry. I made him a little bed on our floor and we all went back to bed...until 1:30am, 3am and again at 4:30am. He threw up four times that night, I did four loads of laundry that night and no one got a whole lot of sleep.

Max seemed just fine today, although he had another bloody nose last night and, of course, he came and got into my bed around 4am...Joe and I stripped the bed and I did ANOTHER load of laundry. I am telling you, I have done WAY too much laundry over the past three days. Unacceptable.

The worst part though, Joe and I are both feeling very queezy and have terrible headaches...ya! It looks like the school year has most definitely begun!

This One's For You Mom...

Let's see...

Our baby was safely delivered on June 13th. She is a dream and we are so happy to have her here. We had some issues coming up with a name we could agree on and for the first three months she was known as Zoe. The day of her baby blessing we changed it to Heidi. We are both happy with the new name, although the kids seem to be having a hard time remembering it's been changed...oops.

We spent some time in Bear Lake with my dad's family, which was a lot of fun. The kids loved the beach and sunshine, I enjoyed it a lot as well! We had a lot going on in August: Joe's parents returned home from their mission and were able to spend several weeks out here in Utah.

Joe's little sister Liz got married in the Salt Lake Temple, which was great fun and we are very happy for her and her new husband. He is a great guy and we wish them both the best.

Joe's older sister was sealed in the Temple which was a wonderful event and it was great to be there with them for that.

We had our baby Heidi's blessing which was great fun and our annual Worcester Ward Party here at our home which was a great time as well!

It is always nice to have reasons to get together with our family and friends. We have enjoyed having them in our home and being able to spend time with everyone.

The kids started school and are happy to be back in a good routine. Clay has started 5th grade, Quin is in 3rd, Ali is in 1st and Jack is attending preschool four days a week. Although I am sure Max misses all of his older siblings doting on his every need, I sure love the couple of hours each day when we get to take a nap and enjoy the peace and quiet...so blissful!

This is Max after eating a small handful of cherries...imagine what he could do with a whole bowl...the possibilities are endless!!!

Max has a need for speed!

Max had his adenoids out the end of August. The Dr decided not to take his tonsils out yet, they are big, but not too big. We will wait and watch them, most likely he will have to get them out at some point in the future. Does it seem odd to anyone else that of my six kids, ALL FOUR boys have now had their adenoids out? Ali never had a problem, we will see if Heidi has problems, but so far all the boys have shown distinct problems by age two. Clay had his adenoids and tonsils out at age 4. Quin, Jack and Max were 2. I suppose it must be a hereditary thing...we have massive adenoids and tonsils. Who knew?! Max has recovered well though and is starting to sound less raspy. His airway was 85% blocked by his adenoids, so I am hoping that the massive increase in oxygen will help him hit a growth spurt (if nothing else, however, I just hope he is feeling better)!

Is that chubby kid trying to ride that little purple Barbie bike????

Poor bike...

Clay and his friends decided to put their firecrackers to good use this July...Joe may, or may not, have helped them blow up Arial Barbie...

Clay is doing Lacrosse again this fall and he has really been improving. He loves the game and it has been fun to watch him play. His team won their first game this season 7 to 3 and we are looking forward to seeing how they do tomorrow.

Joe's company finally moved out of the old house (we are renting that out to a great family now) and he has purchased a building that is providing them with a great deal more space, which they sorely needed. He has had a lot on his plate lately, which has kept him very busy...we miss him when he is away, but are happy to see him growing.

Max turned 2 this summer...he looks positively lethal with that bat. It was fun watching him try and hit his pinata and he was SUPER happy about all the candy it contained! Joe had a birthday (not sure he wants me to announce his age...I will be discrete) and I had my 31st birthday this week. I am so grateful for good friends who took me out for some much needed 'girl time', and I am even more grateful for a wonderful husband who was willing to watch six kids so I could get out. I am one lucky girl.

Max is wearing Ali's church shoe, watching cartoons on the lap top and has his arm around his little sister. Man I love that kid. He is too funny! It's almost as though you can see him thinking 'this is the life...suckers'. I'm a little jealous...

Have you ever had one of those moments when you see your life and just feel so at peace and so grateful for where you are? I had one of those moments the other day. Heidi and I were dancing in the bedroom and I just had this overwhelming feeling of gratitude and love for all that I have been blessed with. My life is very good and I couldn't be happier about that.