Cub Scout Boys

These cute boys love to dress up, and today...well, they were scouts.  They were so cute, and the mamma just had to take pictures and write about it long enough to keep the memory!

What a handsome little face...it hides the most mischievious little pranks!

I love my little scouter-men!

Homemade Maple Bars ~ Yummy!

Today, was one of those "You're the BEST Mom EVER!" Days, as the kids would say.  Those don't happen for me very often, because Matt makes more delightfully-edible food than I do...so it was a happy day for me!  I tried a new recipe from one of my great Visiting Teachers, Karen Ustach.  She is the forth-coming Martha Stewart, I do believe!  Anyway, I tried her Maple Bar Recipe with a little twist...and used fresh ground whole wheat in place of the white flour.  I must say, they were quite tasty and didn't last much past the next day!  (Of course, they were fried in oil, but we won't tell!)

Here is the recipe for those of you who "dare" to try!

Maple Bars by Karen Ustach

2 cups Warm Water
1 ½ Tbsp. Yeast

Dissolve yeast in water.

Then add:

¼ cup Sugar
3 Tbsp. Oil
2 Eggs
1 ½ tsp. Salt

Mix well and pour over 5 cups flour. (Alice used fresh ground whole wheat flour)

Mix well. The dough is very sticky. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or it can stay in the fridge for up to one week. Do not punch down until ready to use.

Heat oil (2 inches deep) in heavy saucepan. Spoon a golf ball size piece of dough onto floured surface and roll in flour to coat. Flatten with your fingers to about ¼ inch thick. Place in hot oil and fry until brown on both sides. If the oil is hot enough this should only take 20 -30 seconds. Remove from oil to paper towels (or cooling rack with paper under it). Frost when slightly warm.

For frosting mix powdered sugar, a bit of very soft or melted butter, maple flavor to taste and enough milk or cream to make spreading consistency.

Enjoy!!!

The Pooper-Scoopers

Today was "Let's Start Prepping the Ground so that Some-Day we can have a Garden and a Grass-Yard" Day.  We found a place where we can get free manuer, and since our ground is mainly sand, it is hard to plant anything.  We have heard that things grow best when you add manuer to the ground first.  Since we have a roto-tiller and can get free manuer, all we are out is a little sweat and sore muscles.  So, another great day to teach the kids how to work...and stink! 

They all got on their boots, and started scooping-poop! 

(The smell even brought the neighbors out to see

what we were up to!)

After the poop was dumped and stirred into the sand, Mason wanted to see how soft it was...

...and I believe he thinks he is driving something and going somewhere...

What an adventurously hard-working day!  After all, what are a nice pair of boots good for if they don't have a little manuer on them?

Josie's Elvis Curl

After having a bath one evening, Josie's hair dried with this beautiful little Elvis Curl

right in the middle of her forehead.  It was definately picture worthy!  Gotta love the curls!

The Hiding Place

I have recently read the book The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. 

One of my very favorite quotes was in the beginning which quotes,

"Childhood scenes rushed back at me out of the night, strangely close and urgent.  Today I know that such memories are the key not to the past, but to the future.  I know that the experiences of our lives, when we let God use them, become the mysterious and perfect preparation for the work He will give us to do."

If you haven't read this book, it is a MUST read and please, do it quick!  :)

Jesus said...

Last Sunday our conversation on the way to church went something like this...

Josie, "Jesus is going to be at church today."

Mason, "No he's not.  He's still sleeping."

--------------------

I was changing Josie's poopy diaper the other day and she looks up at me and says,
"Jesus said, Don't Eat Poop!" 

--------------------

Today Josie woke up early from her nap and discovered that Mason was sleeping.  She persistently asked if she could look at him.  I finally agreed that she could peek in to see him sleeping, but she better not wake him up.  She came back after looking at him and said,
"Jesus said (and then says and signs with her hand) SLEEP." 

--------------------

I am not sure how she knows all of these profound statements from Jesus...but I sure can't wait to hear to what he has to say next! 

Spring Break

Good Morning Spring Break!

This is what we woke up to this beautiful spring morning of March! SNOW! 

How grateful we are to live in New Mexico, where it melts by noon and this time, didn't come back the rest of the week...although it was quite cold on and off.  Here are some of the fun adventures the kids and I had while celebrating their spring vacation!

It took a couple days for us to get in the swing of things.  The kids didn't want to help with the household responsibilities because they were "on vacation."  I agreed that yes, they were "on vacation," but I wasn't...my chores continued and actually multiplied with all of them home during the day.  We finally came up with a solution after a couple miserable days.  We all agreed to work together to get the household chores done and in doing so, we would have the afternoons to play and have fun.  It worked out beautifully once we all got the hang of it.  Our first adventure, was a bike ride to the park with a picnic lunch.

The next day was a roller blading adventure after lunch...which we somehow didn't get pictures of...?

Then on Friday, daddy suprised us and took the day off.  We went to the zoo for a wild adventure.  We took a picnic lunch and our jackets...well everybody but mamma...somehow she forgot hers!  It happened to be the coldest day of the week and after shivering all through our wind-blown lunch, we ran to seek cover amongst the rainforest...but it stunk sooooo bad that Chloe was on the verge of throwing up...and we couldn't take her whining anymore!  So, we sought refuge amongst the snakes, which was the same idea half the other zoo-attenders had as well.  The Snake exhibit wasn't nearly long enough for Carter, but plenty long enough for the rest of us.  Since we have a soon-to-expire zoo pass, we decided to go to the Aquarium which is all indoors.  At least the flamingos were beautiful at the zoo!

Here is Mason looking at the snakes.  Fuzzy picture...

but I kinda like it!

Here we are running into the Aquarium to escape the rain.

Mamma is slyly using Josie's baby blanket to keep herself warm...yes, I was going to shiver to death!  I was NOT enjoying myself because I was so cold!  I can't believe I forgot my jacket!  Matt could not stop laughing at me, while he wore his shorts!  It is supposed to be Spring!  That's why they call it "Spring Break!"

The Albuquerque Aquarium really is neat.  It is on the smaller side, but very nice.  We spent a great deal of time watching the sharks and the scuba divers clean out the inside of the large shark tanks.  No, there were not any attacks that we saw that day!

Just a few young sailers....

Checking out the Stingrays.  They are really huge!

I believe Mason is playing his "Air" Guitar...he is really good at it!

What a fun Spring Break.  We all enjoyed our time as a family and look forward to Summer Break!

Frugal???

Here in Rio Rancho, we live a little bit out in the "boonies."  The nearest grocery store is about 12 minutes away.  (I know, there are worse situations in the world!)  This can be a bit of a burden when you run out of the little things and need to take a quick trip to the store. 

Just last week, the doors to a new Walgreen's opened, and it is only about 8 minutes away.  Hooray!  Well on our way home tonight we stopped in to grab some popcorn for "movie night" and I ran in really quick.  As I checked out a young man asked me if I would like a free newspaper and I declined.  He said, "Well you look like a frugal lady, don't you want the Sunday paper for the coupons?"  I smiled, took the paper and  declined a subscription to the newspaper.

As I walked out the Walgreen's door, I asked myself, "Should I take that as a compliment or an insult?"  I have been called "homely" before but I believe I was having one of my nicer looking days.  I mean, I was wearing mascara, clean clothes and I even fixed my hair this morning.  I don't believe I looked grungy, or like I needed to gather up the stray pennies off the ground...So....I have one question...

What does a "frugal lady" look like?  

...and there weren't any coupons in the FREE paper he gave me!....

Planting Raspberry Bushes & Sitting Around the Campfire

This year, we were blessed with a bunch of Raspberry Plants.  A good friend in our Ward gave us some from his bushes that were in over-abundance.  He said ours should take root and give us a great supply of raspberries in a few years.  We got right to work preparing the ground and planting the bushes...or sticks rather, according to how they look!

The ground before.....

Mason and Chloe doing a little "much-needed" weeding!

Matt, bringing out one of his many favorite Man-Tools!

Josie, putting on her fancy work shoes.

Each of the kids taking their turn tilling the ground.

Josie still getting fancy!

Carter is putting the plants in the ground.  This is a great Cub Scout Project for him...and he really loves playing in the dirt...like his mamma and daddy!

A proud little-man, admiring his work.

After a hard-days work, we decided to have a little campfire out in the back yard.  We barbequed some

hot dogs and hamburgers and then gathered around the campfire for some s'mores and singing.  We sang several songs, but our favorites were: 

There Once Was a Man Named Michael Finnigan

&

The Wheels on the Bus

We tried to sing a little bit quieter because we didn't want to attract too much attention from all of our backyard neighbors, but it was a really great time!  We also had to sing some of the kids favorite

Primary Songs like:

I Love to See the Temple

&

I Am a Child of God

By the way, empty paint buckets work great for campfire stools!

What a great day and evening with the kids.  I think this is one of the days I would consider a "perfect day" because we were decent parents and enjoyed watching our kids be kids.

Hard Work + Lots of Fun = Success