Starting Hockey

Jesse started playing ice hockey this year.

His first few practices were pretty early on Saturday mornings. I thought the early mornings might be a little tough, based on how long it takes me to get him out of bed for school every day.

I soon found out how mistaken I was.

Yeah, the early mornings are a non-issue when he's getting up for hockey instead of to catch the school bus.

He literally jumps out of bed, throws his clothes on, inhales a quick bowl of cereal, and is waiting by the front door with his bag and stick and plenty of time to spare.

I'm happy for him to have a good outlet for some of his excess energy and he's enjoying it so much.

Cross Country Girl

Samantha really enjoyed running Cross Country for the first time this year (1.5 km).

Here she is at her first meet. She was very nervous, but she did great and had so much fun.

She narrowly missed qualifying for the City Finals, and is looking forward to next year already.

Meaghan Smith: The Cricket's Orchestra

My dear friend Meaghan just released her CD, The Cricket's Orchestra.

I'm so excited and happy for her!

It's on sale at Barnes & Noble, and available on itunes.

Here's a link to Meaghan's Website. Go check it out!

Grandparents

It was wonderful staying at my Grandparents' house this summer.

Back when I was growing up, they lived on a farm. I always enjoyed helping my Grandpa with the farm chores, like changing sprinkler pipe and feeding the chickens. We spent endless hours playing in the coulees with the cows grazing in the pastures nearby.

Then there was Grandma's baking. My favourite treats were her famous Butterhorns. The best way I can describe these are big soft rolls with this really thin layer of icing. Sometimes they had nuts on top. To die for.

I remember Grandma loved to watch Murder She Wrote, and Matlock. She was always baking, cleaning, quilting, sewing, doing word puzzles, or something else while watching TV. I used to think it was so cool that she had a television in her kitchen and she would let us watch Wheel of Fortune while we helped set the table and get dinner ready.

It makes me so happy to see my children spending time with their great-grandparents and making memories of their own.

Update: Conference Weekend

Scott has gone to Salt Lake City with three friends for General Conference this weekend. They went to a BYU football game on Friday night too, which Scott said was a lot of fun.

It's been cold and rainy, so the kids and I have been enjoying the indoors this with friends, movies, popcorn, blankets, and books. I even let the kids pull out the DS's that they have barely touched since our Alberta trip.

Today we are heading over to a friends' to watch the rest of Conference. Should be another great day.

It's hard to believe October is here already. All of a sudden when the weather got colder this week, I started thinking about needing to pack up the shorts and sandals and get out the vests and jackets...

And gourds, apples, pumpkins, & cinnamon. After all, next weekend is Thanksgiving! One of my favourite holidays. I LOVE fall.

More on the Rainbow Party

So I mentioned that we did a little rainbow theme for Clara's first birthday.

It all started when my sister recommended a rainbow cake, as she had recently made one for my niece.

We made the cake, strung some rainbow coloured balloons up around the house, made rainbow Jell-O and popcorn and invited some family and friends over. So easy and fun!

The older kids LOVED helping with the rainbow food. Especially Samantha - she was in kitchen heaven.

Here are the recipes. Notice you will need a lot of Jell-O. And a good helper.



Recipe: Rainbow Popcorn

For each colour of popcorn, you will need:

10-12 cups popped popcorn
1 package any flavour Jell-O
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 tsp baking soda

First, microwave the Jell-O, sugar, butter, and corn syrup on high for 1-2 minutes. Stir and microwave 1-2 minutes more, until it is starting to bubble.

Stir in the baking soda until it is incorporated and foamy.

In a large paper bag, layer the popcorn and Jell-O mixture. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Shake. Microwave for 30 seconds, and shake again until popcorn is evenly coated.

Spread on parchment paper or cookie sheets until cool. (Store in an airtight container)





Recipe: Rainbow Jell-O Salad

6 packages Jell-O (rainbow colours of course!)
water
vanilla yogurt

Mix 1 cup boiling water with 1 package of Jell-O and stir until it is dissolved. Then divide it evenly into 2 bowls.

To the first bowl, add 3 Tbsp cold water, and pour into a 9 X 13 clear glass pan. Chill in the fridge for 25-30 minutes (or until set).

When the layer is ready, add 1/3 cup yogurt to the remaining Jell-O and stir until smooth.

Pour into pan and chill for 25-30 minutes.

Repeat the process for each colour. You will end up with 12 layers.

Enjoy!



Recipe: Rainbow Cake

1 box white cake mix
food colouring
lots of white icing


Mix cake according to directions on box. Divide batter into 6 equal portions and add food colouring to each one (rainbow colours of course!).


Bake each colour separately in a 8 or 9 inch round pan (you will need to adjust the baking time, as the layers will be thinner than usual). Cool.


Layer cake colours onto serving tray with white icing between each colour. Frost the whole cake in white. It doesn't look that pretty in this picture, but when you ice the whole thing and then cut it into slices, it looks really cool.


I was so busy getting a video of Clara eating her cake that I didn't get the best pictures of the actual cake once it's served, but these will give you an idea. Enjoy!

Clara: One Year Old

It was so hard for me to see Clara turn one year old. I cannot believe that it's been a whole year since she was a newborn swaddled in my arms, so tiny and precious.

We had fun giving her a Rainbow Birthday celebration that was really more for the older kids benefit than Clara's, although she did enjoy chasing the balloons around.

Here are some things she is doing at 12 months:

She can go up and down stairs by herself.

She can wave hello and goodbye.

She is starting to talk, and here are some of her first words:

Mama (Her first word)

Dad

Hi

Bye

Yeah (This is her answer to most questions)

Me (When you ask anything starting with WHO, such as, "Who wants ice cream?")

She's starting to comprehend some words and phrases. Whenever she here's us ask, "What's Clara eating?" she knows she has to make a run for it or we're going to come over and yank the marble (or other choke-able item) out of her mouth.

She's starting to really enjoy books.

She can stand up unsupported, but hasn't taken any first steps yet.

She loves Music and will dance when she hears some.

She loves to play with her siblings and hates it when she's left alone in a room.

She has 11 teeth now, and has had a bit of a rough go with the last few that have come in. When she is cutting new teeth she gets really bad diaper rash, fever, runny nose, and loss of appetite. Despite all of that she is rarely grumpy. She usually just likes to be held and cuddled more.

I have never seen a baby loved more by her older siblings. Our kids still argue over who is going to sit beside her in church, and who is going to get her out of her crib when she wakes up.

The only exception to this is Nathan. Now that Clara is a threat to him, he is starting to feel the need to remind her of his position in the family as the older child. Whenever she starts to make a grab for his goldfish, sippy cup, or toys, he will quickly push her away yelling, "NO, Clara!" (We're working on changing this one time out at a time. I think we're making some progress.)

One thing about Clara that really makes me laugh is the way she gets herself into trouble. She crawls into spaces that she can't get out of, gets tangled in cords, stands up beside unstable objects, and gets her fingers stuck in all kinds of crevices (VCR slots, cupboards, etc.). Pretty much at least once or twice a day she will get into a predicament where she needs to be rescued.

In the words of Brett, "What would we ever do without Clara?"