A 6 year old!!

Austin is now 6 years old. It is so fun to have a birthday when you are 6. Austin was awake before me and dressed and ready to start his day. It is our family tradition to have breakfast in bed for your birthday. So Austin waited there. Here is a picture of Austin and his breakfast. We usually add a special touch. His was a smiley face waffle with was lips courtesy of a Valentines gift from Mema.

That night we had a party for Austin at our house for him and some friends. We set up some sport stations for the kids.....kicking a soccer goal, throwing a football in a hole, we had a tire run using the hose are made into circle, and they had to bounce on a hoppity hop ball around the trees. Then we pinned the soccer ball on the goal. The kids liked that one and all did it twice. A little pizza, cake and ice cream and we had a fun party. Happy Birthday Austin!

2 year olds speaking. Gotta love it!

I am truly enjoying listening to Robert and Steven talk. Whether it is to me or to each other it is really sweet to listen to. Lately Robert loves to say "Woo Hoo" when he is excited about something. It is soo cute and makes me smile every time. And both boys call elevators "alligators". Steven does not like to be called names. I call him sweet boy or cutie and he says "No, I Steven." And I just love the way Steven says "yes" with a little lisp at the end.

And the other things they like to do is sing songs....but they only remember some of the words. So Robert would sing "Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way" over and over again because that is the line he knows. Steven will sing ABCD because he knows that part.

They know their colors and we are working on counting. They go "1,2,4,6" or "1,3,5". They cannot make it to 5 yet but we will get there. Their vocabulary is great and I love each time they have something new to say.

Wanted to share this with other moms

I came across this on a forum I belong to and had to share. I have had days like this. For any mom who stays home I think you can relate. It really is the hardest job.

"What Do You Do All Day?
A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pyjamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard.

The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened.He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.

As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pyjamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.He looked at her bewildered and asked, 'What happened here today?'She again smiled and answered, 'You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me sarcastically what in the world I do all day?''Yes,' was his incredulous reply.

She answered, 'Well, today, I didn't do it.' "

Our work is seen most when we don't do it!!

Pinewood Derby

Last night we attended our first Pinewood Derby. Sure Toby did some when he was younger and I probably went to my brothers......But this was our first as a family. Toby has always commented each time we have another boy something to the effect of "that is more years of pinewood derbies!" Yes, we love our boys and I think we can have fun at all of the pinewood derbies in our future!

Tanner is our first cub scout and he did a great job on his car.....I mean truck! Toby did the big cutting things....including drilling holes for weights but Tanner sanded and painted it. The sanding was not Tanner's favorite part. But he did enjoy the painting....I mean spray paint is cool!!

Tanner did great. He won second place but it was really close. We are so proud of him. One derby down.....How many to go?

Fishing and Friends

This picture shows a great father and son. Every year Burroughs park near our home gets stocked with trout. It is a Tx parks and wildlife program where they bring fishing to the neighborhoods. So every year we watch for the dates and we go fishing sometime in that week. The odds are in our favor that we will go home with fish.

Toby is a big fisherman. He went all the time with his grandpa growing up and he continues to share his love of fishing with his kids. Carissa got a fishing pole for her first birthday and the boys have all gotten them early in life as well. Carissa is really good at fishing, baiting her own hooks already. The older boys are starting to do that as well. But dad still unhooks the fish! My main job is crowd control. I keep little ones safe and happy with lots of snacks . We don't want wet kids or kids hooked on poles, etc.

On this trip all our boys caught fish, even I reeled one in. Carissa did not but that is because she was having too much fun with her friends. She is my social butterfly. Whenever we go anywhere....park, church, playdate, camping....she always wants to know who is coming too. This time she and I invited two families we are friends with at church. These families both have 5 kids with ages similar to ours so we had lots of playmates. A few of them caught some fish too.

It was a great day weatherwise, we enjoyed a picnic lunch and we were there 4 hours. We had fish and shrimp for dinner that night and Toby cooked! Gotta love that!!

Yesterday and Today

I had a day off yesterday, Monday. I did no laundry. I did not clean both typical MOnday activities. In fact I did not pick up toys, backpacks, shoes, or anything else. I did not cook food or even do the dishes (actually I did turn the dishwasher on that I had loaded Sunday night but forgot to run it. )

You may think I was lucky. No I was just so sick I could do nothing. I was up all night. Austin had his turn visiting the bathroom just about once and hour starting at midnight, then at 4 am he finished and I started! Throwing up is the worst kind of sick!!!

Well, Toby stepped in and took care of things in the morning but he left for work at 1 pm. The twins were napping and Austin played video games while I rested. All I had to do today was drive to the school to pick up 2 kids. When I got home I was on the couch for 1/2 an hour. I had no energy and was achy and sore. Carissa and Tanner were both great helpers with the twins.

I am grateful for the service auction we had in Relief Society in Dec. I had won a dinner and I called to collect. Thank you Cristina for being willing to add that to your already busy day.

What a difference a day make. I feel so much better. I am grateful it was only 24 hours of misery! Today most of the laundry got done and everything did get picked up. I would have vacuumed but Toby was sleeping (he got home from work after 5 am) and then the twins were sleeping. Then life just got busy after school.

One other thing that happened today. I had a flat tire. I took the twins to storytime at the library and when we walked back to the van they rear tire was flat. I know how to change a tire. Once in high school when I had a flat tire and I called my brother (a car mechanic) to help me fix it. He showed up and said I will talk you through it and made me do it myself. I never forgot that lesson. Well I had good intentions of doing it myself. I got the spare down from under the van and got the van jacked up. When I started to unscrew the lugnuts they would not budge. I tried and tried but did not have the strength. I called Toby and woke him up. It was 11 am. He drove over to help me which was really needed because when we got the spare on. IT was flat so Toby ended up driving to get the tire fixed while I read our library books in the van to the twins.

I was amazed at how many people drove or walked by and did not offer to help. You could see me obviously with tire problems. I did have 2 people offer. One showed up and offered right before Toby pulled into the parking lot. Another stopped and asked while I was waiting for Toby to return with the fixed tire. May these young men receive blessings just for offering!!

Well so far the week is off to a great start.

Tortillas

I am LOVING my Christmas present. It is a flour tortilla press. Our family loves fresh homemade tortillas. It started a few years ago when Sams sold the bake them yourself tortillas. They stopped selling them but later Walmart started carrying them in the refrigerator section next to the cream cheese. Of course they are more expensive than the already cooked ones. We can quickly go through that package of 20.

So over a year ago I started making homemade tortillas...it is super simple. Flour, salt, shortening or Oil, and warm water. I always have that stuff on hand. I have also tried whole wheat tortillas and we make some corn as well. The mixing is easy but then I had to roll them out....one by one. It takes a while and is work!! But I did it because we do love them.

BUT NOW....my press is so awesome! I get perfect circles and all I have to do is take a ball of dough, place it in the press and close it for 3 seconds. SO EASY. SO much better than rolling them out. This tortilla press is special because it has a heating element that par bakes them. Once they are par baked and cooled, I can store them in the fridge or freezer and they will not stick together. I just have to take out how many I need and bake them in the frying pan.

I got another tortilla press last year but it never got them thin enough....my rolling pin did a better job. The heating element was the key. Toby searched all over Houston but did not find any so he ended up ordering it on the internet. I am so happy he did. I love it and will make tortillas much more frequently now which makes the whole family happy!!