Pumpkin Patches in January

Yes, I’m still behind. I’m always behind. We went the pumpkin patch for Averi’s preschool. It had been several years since we’d been to the pumpkin patch in Moriarty, so I was very glad to be able to go this year, even if we couldn’t go with all the kids. Here is Averi the last time she was at McCall’s: And here she is in 2012: Such a cutie! (I realized my white balance was off after I had taken all these pictures. Guess I should have looked. They all have a slight purple tinge to them. I could easily correct them, but then I’d never get them posted. So here they are in all their violet glory.) Miss Bridget got to come along too. She LOVED the hayride and all the animals in the petting zoo. The only problem is that she thinks every single animal is a dog, and that it barks. It’s pretty funny to hear her “woof woof”-ing at a cow.   Choosing the perfect pumpkin. Averi’s hair is always in her face. And she will rarely let me pull it back or clip it, so it’s always a tangled, sticky mess. The kids were told they had to find a pumpkin that they could carry. It looks like Averi just reached the threshold. Bridget being thrilled. She loves being in her stroller. Whenever she sees it in the garage, she pats it and asks, “Peas? Peas?” Poor thing. I don’t take her on walks nearly enough. The kids were fascinated by this chair. They couldn’t believe anything could be so huge. Annual tradition of the photo at the pumpkin patch growth chart. Petting the goats (Mom’s favorites!). We had to pose at every single cutout we came across. Beautiful New Mexico autumn skies. It’s hard to find that bluest of blues anywhere else. At the top of the tower in the middle of the corn maze. We always called it the Rameumptom when I was at BYU. Yes, we were and still are total dorks. I love this girl. Isn’t she so incredibly beautiful. If Averi weren’t so shy, I think she’d be an awesome model. Love this girl too. She makes my world go round these days! We loved our little trip to the pumpkin patch. I will be so sad when the kids grow out of it. But they still haven’t lost interest, so we’ll be coming for many more years.

Why I love Allrecipes

I was looking for a breakfast casserole recipe for Christmas morning, and I stumbled across one that sounded pretty good. I read through some reviews to see what people thought of it, and this one cracked me up: “My whole family really loved this dish. I made it on the spur of the moment, and changed a few things to use what I had on hand. First, after reading the reviews here I decided to use a 9X13 inch baking dish. It turned out to be the perfect size. Since I only had 4 eggs, I just used those. I added about 4 ounces of ricotta cheese to the eggs as well, and used a bit less milk than the recipe called for. Also, I didn't have any sausage but did have a lot of leftover ham as well as a few slices of cooked bacon. I sauteed the onions first, added some minced garlic, and finally tossed in the chopped ham and crumbled bacon to heat it through. I then assembled the casserole as directed. I only baked it for about 50 minutes total, and it was perfect. A dollop of sour cream on top of each serving, and we loved it! The leftovers heated up nicely for lunch the next day.” What part of the recipe, exactly, did she follow? And since it seemed she just made up her own recipe, how did she feel she could rate the original recipe? It reminded me of this “recipe.” Be sure to read the reviews. I was dying from laughter.

Paul’s Interview for his 6th Birthday

My favorite food is: fish, especially salmon My favorite movie is: Star Wars The coolest person on Earth is: My favorite thing to learn about is: reading The thing I’m great at is: building stuff If I could go anywhere, it would be: Hinkle Family Fun Center My favorite color is: blue My favorite superhero is: Superman When I grow up, I’m going to be a(n): author My favorite song is: the Star Wars songs A book I love is: my Lego comics When I was little, I used to: make a mess My favorite time of year is: Christmas The snack I like best is: mini cheese balls One food that I really don’t like is: eggs My best friend is: Jacob (someone in his class that I’ve never heard him mention before) If I had one wish, it would be: to fly My favorite phrase is: dun dun dun dun da dun dun da dun (the Star Wars theme) My favorite treat is: black forest cake My favorite toy is: Star Wars action figures Paul is an excellent student and doing really well in school. His school tries to let the students learn at their own pace, and this has been great for Paul. He's actually been moved up to the 2nd/3rd grade class (technically he's still in Kingergarten) because he was just flying through the material. "My boy Paul is wicked smaht." This is good in many respects, but I do feel that he's picking up some negative behaviors from the older boys, so we're really having to keep an eye on that. I do think that part of it is just the going-to-school transition. Katie went through the same belligerent phase when she started Kindergarten. Of course, we did pull her out of school and homeschooled, so we're not sure how long this will last since we've never let it run its course. When he's not being a stinker, he's a very loving boy. He dotes on his baby Bridget, and he and Katie are still inseparable.  He and Averi tend to bring out the worst in each other, but I'd like to think that they're getting better. He loves his gymnastics class and likes to practice at home a lot. New bike that actually fits him! And yes, neither our six- nor our seven-year-old know how to ride a bike without training wheels. We’re terrible parents.

Saturday Morning Cartoon Party

We threw Paul’s party just two weeks after Averi’s party. I had the idea for this party a long time ago, and it was super simple to execute. I already had the ruffled crepe paper saved from another party, and the only food prep was popping Pop-Tarts in the toaster after a trip to Wal-Mart. So easy, but so fun. The breakfast spread. The kids went crazy about being able to pick out whatever sugared cereals they wanted. This is a very rare event in our house. We also had muffins, doughnut holes, Pop-Tarts, bananas, milk and orange juice. After the first round of TV watching (Phineas and Ferb, I think), we went outside for a rousing pillowcase race. I love Albuquerque September mornings! Our somewhat ghetto setup. Six-year-olds don’t mind at all.   Present opening. This boy got some NICE presents. I definitely have an inferiority complex about my birthday gifts now. Rice Krispie Treat “birthday cake.” Easiest cake ever! Happy birthday, six-year-old! We love you, Paul!

Averi’s Interview for her 4th Birthday

My favorite food is: apples My favorite movie is: Swiss Family Robinson (We just watched it last night, so obviously it’s fresh in her mind.) The coolest person on Earth is: the prophet Daniel (???) My favorite thing to learn about is: numbers The thing I’m great at is: puzzles If I could go anywhere, it would be: Utah My favorite color is: fuchsia My favorite superhero or princess is: Storm When I grow up, I’m going to be a: mom My favorite song is: Praise to the Man A book I love is: Llama Llama Misses Mama When I was little, I used to: play with baby toys My favorite time of year is: Christmas The snack I like best is: fruit leather One food that I really don’t like is: raw meat (‘cause we eat a lot of that around here…) My best friend is: Carly If I had one wish, it would be: to be a princess My favorite phrase is: (We couldn’t think of any phrases that Averi uses frequently.) My favorite treat is: Oreos My favorite toy is: my ponies Averi is a very independent child. She'll go into her room and play by herself forever, which is both good and bad. It can get very lonely around the house when she doesn't want to play with me! She is my girl that LOVES to cook. The moment she hears anyone in the kitchen she runs and gets the stools to see if she can help. She's very NOT helpful when it comes to most other chores, though. She always seems to pawn most of the work off onto her brother or sister. She does like to unload the dishwasher. She really likes her preschool class, although she has bouts of severe shyness. She's my only child that's ever been shy, so I'm not sure how to deal with it very well. Shy I am not. That trait did not come from my side of the family. She will usually warm up after a while, and when she does she is very charming. She still has the most adorable little voice, which part of why she's quite spoiled. We love our Averi-girl!

Minnie Mouse Birthday Party

It’s difficult cramming in birthday parties for everyone, since we have five birthdays so close together. Bridget turned one on August 19th, and I meant to throw a Minnie Mouse birthday party for her. But between the starting of school, Katie’s birthday, and life in general, her first birthday came and went without any fanfare. Cue “Mother of the Year” anthem here. My mom and sister came for a visit in mid-September, and since it was getting close to Averi’s birthday by that time, we decided to bite the bullet and throw the Minnie Mouse party for both of them. Of course, we decided this on a Wednesday and threw the party on Saturday, which didn’t leave much time for inviting guests and all the other party preparations. Somehow we managed to throw it all together, and it turned out fabulously, I must say. Everyone had a great time, and the girls were thrilled.      Birthday girl Averi wearing her Minnie Mouse dress I made. Minnie and Mickey Mouse hats all lined up and ready for the guests. Our menu: Hot Diggity Dogs, Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets from Costco, a pizza shaped like Minnie Mouse, red punch, relish tray, “Oh Toodles” Noodles (pasta salad), Minnie Mouse cupcakes, and a red velvet cake. Bridget wearing the Minnie Mouse dress I made for her that day. Bridget with our friend Elma. She LOVES Elma and was thrilled to be with her most of the night. The Boyles and the Worthens were also able to join us. It was a gorgeous night for eating outside and enjoying the view. Pin the bow on Minnie Mouse Aaron did all the lettering with an exacto knife. In a rush to get things done at the last minute, I asked Kiera to glue everything onto the poster board. I didn’t realize that Aaron wasn’t finished and hadn’t cut the centers out of the letters like P and O. It drove him crazy for the rest of the night. Minnie Mouse cupcakes. These were probably my favorite since they were so adorable. The ears are mini Oreos and the bows are made from Fruit Rollups.   Bridget with her birthday cupcake. Now you can turn one, baby! We’ll just pretend I wasn’t a month late. The obligatory cake face photo.   Minnie Mouse pinata that Aaron and I made. If I were to do it again, I would spraypaint the base before I glued the tissue on. There were parts of the cereal box showing and it was driving me nuts. Also, cereal box pinatas are hard to break. But that meant that everyone got lots of turns! Katie having her turn. That girl is growing so fast. Those jeans fit her perfectly in September. She’s already outgrown them!   This laugh-smile is so my mom. 90% of photos taken of her look like this. It’s because she’s so happy all the time! And there’s Bridget’s cheesy grin again!