Recipies

Edible Peanut Butter Play Dough

1 cup peanut butter (creamy)
1 cup light corn syrup
1 1/4 cup powdered milk
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar

Mix it up and play! (If you want to store it in the fridge it will turn hard, but if you microwave it on low for a bit it will soften right up and work fine.) It is yummy enough that if you chocolate cover it then it makes an awesome candy. Just do that part before you let the kids play with it.

Ging-O-Lanterns?

Okay, so we were watching Super Why this morning, and it had the story of the Gingerread Man. I was feeling like doing a fun thing with the kids so I decided what the heck! I whipped out the Mrs. Fields Cookie book and found a recipe for Gingerbread Men. Then I started thinking...Isn't gingerbread men a Christmas thing? So I decided to make gingerbread pumpkins to go along with the men. I had a couple of friend come hang out while I made them and they brought there kids too. I didn't wan a bunch of kids getting into the dough so I made some edible peanut butter pay dough for them. They had a blast using the cookie cutters and eating the dough and it made my job much easier as well. Well the baking took longer then I expected so by the time they were ready to be decorated my friends had gone home so it was just me and the kids. They helped me do the first two while I was still trying to get the frosting to the right consistency, then they were distracted by eating. A lot of them got eaten before I even started to make the frosting. I got a picture of the ones that the kids helped with, but they had already started to eat them before I could get the camera. It was a lot of fun and I just had to show everyone that we still had family home evening. Even if it was during the day and Daddy was at school.

Lipstick!

I keep some lipstick in my purse that happens to be the all day, won't rub off, won't wash off, on you for life type of stuff.  Well Manessa is very into makeup like most little girls are.  I am pretty sure you guys get the point.  I just hope that it has worn off before church on Sunday.

Lame Post

Well, september was a rather crappy month so I just didn't post much.  Now we are in to October and I am feeling optimistic.  However, I am trying to find the USB thing to put a picture on here and Manessa is naked and crying that she hates panties.  So who knows.  Mike is as busy as ever with School and work.  He is taking more credits this semester and it is really wearing him out.  Ammon is loving preschool and playing with friends.  Manessa is potty trained, but a very emotional two year old.  Leland is the best baby ever.  He just smiles and plays with himself or anyone who will give him attention.  I must say that I definitely got lucky to have his sweet little spirit come to my home.  I am just trying to survive daily life without messing up my children too badly.  Sorry that this is a rather whiney post, but I figured if I didn't post soon everyone might think that we were all dead. 

Joker...Crazy? Or just likes KoolAide?

So...After Manessa went to town on her red punch, I noticed a striking resemblance to a certain Batman villain. This raised the question in my mind, maybe the joker isn't totally psycho. Perhaps he just really likes KoolAide! Ok, I know that I am just being lame, but I couldn't resist showing off my little villain.

Family Pics

By popular request I have decided to put a few more of the family pictures up here for everyone to see.  These have not been touched up yet so forgive the pimples and other offenses. ;o)

Manessa is going to be a supermodel!  She had a blast posing for the camera. Daddy had better watch out.

Leland is just my little Handsome!  I don't know how I got lucky enough to get such a happy baby.  There are so many pictures of the kids that turned out well I am going to have a hard time choosing what ones to develop.  None of my kids learned their photo taking skills from their Daddy.  (Anyone who knows him from his teen years will understand what I mean.)

Leland in Koosharem

Over the Labor Day weekend I went down to Koosharem for my Great-Aunt Lenea's funeral.  Mike was feeling extra generous and volunteered to keep the two older kids at home so that I could have a more pleasant experience down there.  The funeral was very spiritual and uplifting.  That is not to say that I didn't cry my eyes out though.  Grandma DeLange, who has been in the care center for a long time, has just been brought home to be on hospice care.  She seems to be so much happier now that she is back in her own home.  I am very grateful that she was there so that we were able to see her and spend some time with her while she was awake.  Leland loved to see her, but he wouldn't hold still enough for her to hold him.  The picture above shows Lincoln (Laura's baby) on her lap, and Leland standing above her in Vanya's arms.  I just can't express how grateful I am to have had the chance to spend some time with her while she was alert enough to remember who I was and know what we were saying.  I will sure miss her when she is gone, but I know that she deserves to go HOME and see Grandpa.

Here is a close up of Leland and Lincoln comparing foot sizes.  Leland is two and a half months older then Lincoln but is quite a bit smaller.  We had similar pictures of Manessa and Tia.