What A Weekend

This week was a little crazy for me. About 6 weeks ago I got called into the primary presidency and was told I would be in charge of writing the primary program. Writing a program for kids from the age of 4-11 is quite an interesting task. We have about 115 kids that are active. Trying to get each one of them a part and keep the program under 40 minutes was quite a task when the songs they sang took up about 20 minutes. Well... the program was Sunday and it went perfectly!! I am so grateful for all the people that helped manage chaos and especially the music leaders who did such an amazing job with those kids.
So if the primary program wasn't enough... I had a huge cake week. I had entered into a wedding cake competition for the Utah Chocolate Show. It was a really fun experience, but a lot of extra stress for such a busy weekend. The winner got $500 and guess what?????? drum roll please..... I didn't win.

I felt my cake was pretty darn creative and I was happy how it turned out, but the judges hated it. Yup.. they actually told me there was nothing about my cake they liked. They hated the concept of a chocolate fountain... they thought it was a terrible idea and I would have been judged a higher score without the fountain. (and they said this all to my face) So... I guess my chocolate fountain was not that great of idea. Oh well.... you win some - you lose some. Luckily... one of the judges did say she thought my cake tasted fabulous so at least that was something going for me. I'd hate to own a cake business and have crappy tasting cakes. (I guess I just have crappy looking cakes) -- ha, ha. Even though the judges didn't love my cake, I was still happy with it. I thought it was a fun idea.

My next couple cakes were not for competition.. but for clients. Luckily, I didn't get the same response from these two cakes. They were actually the opposite effect. Nothing makes creating a cake more rewarding than when you can see the excitement and emotion in people's faces. These two cakes had that effect. One cake was for a little girls birthday. I didn't get to deliver this one, but Brian said she kept wanting to hold it and she couldn't stop staring. I love it when that happens!!

My next cake was probably one of the funnest deliveries I have ever had. The party was for a ladies 75 birthday party that her kids threw for her. Her cake was decorated with figurines of all her grandkids doing things they were interested in and the birthday girl on top. It was so much fun to see all the family members come up and crowd me as I was putting all the figurines on the cake. They would say... "Oh look, it's you Sarah" "Hey, there are the twins", "Oh look at Hannah" etc, etc. Then all of a sudden I look behind me and I have about 6 people taking pictures of the cake and the birthday girl showing her guests her cake with her grandkids on it. Oh my gosh.. it was really fun. It's rewarding to do a cake when it's so customized to the client and they appreciate your work. It was a pleasant change from the judges of the cake competition.

(click on picture to see a larger image)

So... needless to say... this past week was insane and there were several sleepless nights. I was so grateful that all I had to do today was blog and hang out with my kids.

Is It Bad Parenting to be Entertained by Traumatizing your Children?

So here's a quick run down... then you can enjoy the visual!
Our Children..... Kaden especially are about the WORST eaters ever! Avery is usually pretty good, but today was an exception. We have tried many tricks to coerse our kiddos to eat.. some work.. others don't work so well. We've done the timer method. Which usually ends up with Kaden being so worried about the timer going off that he stops eating all together. We've done the "give me 5 bites" method... which works off and on.. but usually ends up having us feed our 5 year old (not cool). Sometimes it's pure frustration and we just give up all together and figure he's not going to starve if he doesn't eat his dinner. Then there are the other times..... times like this.... you know.... the times when you've had it with the typical threats and you have a little sense of humor in you so you bring out the big guns. Or in this case.... THE BLOW TORCH and a couple FAVORITE TOYS. As I'm writing this, it just dawned on me that we've just become our parents. Not that they ever threatened to burn our favorite things... but I know they would "encourage" us to get things done in slightly traumatizing ways. It's quite entertaining really. So entertaining that as my children were about to have a nervous breakdown with Brian's threat, all I could do was grab the camera and say... "This is so blog worthy!". So there you have it... Who's the worst parent here? Brian for almost burning our kids toys for not eating their dinner... or me.... taking pictures of them in their time of distress?
But... all you parents out there with any bit of sense of humor or sense of frustration that comes from child rearing... I think you'll enjoy this little series of events you are about to see. If you don't... please forget you ever saw this post and try not to call child services on us :)



AFTER SEVERAL ATTEMPTS TO GET THE KIDS TO EAT..... DAD BRINGS OUT THE BLOW TORCH AND TWO INNOCENT LITTLE TOYS.










THE LOOK OF PANIC IS IN THEIR EYES.... BUT WILL THEY EAT?





IT LOOKS LIKE THE BLOW TORCH DID THE TRICK!!!! THEY WERE SHOVING FOOD IN THEIR MOUTHS!


AHHHH... BABY DOLL IS SAFE WITH HER MOMMY. (AVERY TOLD BRIAN... "DADDY, THIS ISN'T YOUR BABY.. THIS IS MY BABY" AND SHE WOULD NOT PUT IT DOWN FOR THE REST OF THE EVENING)

PARENTING RULES!!! IT'S MOMENTS LIKE THIS THAT KEEP IT ENTERTAINING. YOU GOTTA LOVE KIDS!

Our Own Little Sledding Hill

We found the "Hot Spot" for this winters activities. Every great neighborhood has the places where the kids all get together and hang out. Ours happens to be a hill across the street from our house where the kids spent hours sledding and throwing snowballs with all their friends.
It was quite nostalgic as I remember the long winter days of doing the same thing with my own neighbor friends growing up. I remember pulling our sleds to the hill and coming home with red hands and hot chocolate waiting for us. Oh the memories..

Sorry... I gotta brag (it's my blog - I can do what I want)
MY KIDS ARE SO DARN CUTE!!! I CAN'T STAND IT!

Thank You Snow Gods

We know the drill. Labor Day weekend the beard starts growing and won't come off till that first ski day of true powder.
It's a Brian Thing......

So I am pleased to announce that kissing my husband is much more pleasant again! The beard came off and my sink looked as if a large rat had exploded... (ya... it was pretty bad). I love this guy and his crazy rituals.

After years of "fake" mumbling... I must confess

I am a summer girl. Always have been.. Always will. I would prefer my days hanging out on a boat in my bathing suit soaking up the rays and getting a tan while the sun is bleaching my brown hair. For years I have made quite a scene over the first snowfall of the year. I grumble and complain, make disgusted faces and moan. This means summer is over and the LONG Utah winters have begun.
As a child my dad would come in to wake me up and say, "Turia... I have a suprise for you. Look outside!" As I would look out my window in the darkness, all I see is soft billowy clouds not in the sky but on my front lawn. It's all quiet and the lack of sound that snow seems to bring is a peaceful one. Me.... the summer girl would groan and roll back over in bed and say to my dad.. "I can't believe it's snowing already. I'm going back to bed."
Year after year.. I would wake up to a fresh cloud of snow and the quiet peace that accompanies it. I complain.. I grumble.. I "act" as if it's the worst thing that could happen.
BUT.... it is now time to confess. Even in those early years when I acted as if the snow was a gift from the devil himself... I always felt the magic in that first snowfall. Heaven forbid I actually admit that me.. the summer girl could actually enjoy snow as well. That was too difficult. I always play that day a little melodramatic. But not today. Today I woke up and I couldn't deny that magical excitement that I've felt year after year. I looked outside and joy filled my heart. Not because the long utah winters are about to begin (still hate that part).. but because of what the snow represents. It represents blankets, hot chocolate, soups, more time at home just hanging out, the holidays, playing in the snow and my husbands mood instantly turning to good to ecstatic. This is his "summer"... his "time on the lake". My excitement for this season is mostly in part by watching him... and now.. watching my kids. Today as the snow was falling, Kaden was staring out the window in his jammies and his ski helmet. He hadn't been awake more than 30 seconds before he was running in our room saying.... "Guess what? There's snow on the ground!". That magic is in him just as it's in us.

I don't know why I've fought this season for so many years... just because I prefer long summer days, great tans and flip flops doesn't change the truth that there really is magic in this first snowfall of the year.
Whew!!! It feels good after years of self denial to actually admit that (at times)... snow is pretty cool!

Halloween 2008

We had a wonderful Halloween. The kids were so cute trick or treating. Avery wanted to go to every house. Even when she was so tired and practically asleep in my arms, she would say... "lets go dat house". They went for a good couple hours straight and when their bags were full and their little legs too tired to walk anymore, we headed home.
The highlights of the evening were Avery saying "Arrrrrrr" when you asked her what a pirate says and Kaden running up and down the street too excited to stick to any organized route for trick or treating. On the way home, Kaden said, "Oh.. I just LOVE Halloween!". They were so darn cute! I love celebrating the holidays through their eyes. It brings back all the excitement of being a kid again.... but in a much more fulfilling way!

Grandma Becky's Halloween Party

My mom always does fun little holiday parties for the grandkids. She always does such a great job. This year was no exception. The kids all came over in their costumes and after a photo shoot from all the moms, they started with the festivities! Stories, games, monster mash, scavenger hunt to find the spooky ghost with all the treats, crafts, and of course lots of yummy, spooky food!
Thanks mom for all your hard work. The party was a hit!

Cousin Late Over

The highlight of my kids (and their cousins) week is "Cousin Late Over". Me, Jana & Jenni each take a Friday night where we watch all 9 grandkids so the other two couples can go on a date. It has been so much fun to have two free weekends of babysitting each month. But more importantly, the kids get to be together. The LOVE spending time with one another and look forward to the weekend. Kaden is usually counting down the days on Monday!
This past cousin late over was at my house. Kaden told me, "Mom.. I've been waiting 100 years for my cousins to come over". Since it was the weekend before Halloween we drew spooky pictures made spider cupcakes and decorated my basement with spider webs and ghosts for an upcoming family party.
I am so grateful for my sister in laws and their friendship. I feel so blessed to have them in my life. I could call on them for anything and I usually do! It's so important for me to have my kids close to their cousins. I think little night outs like the ones we're doing are helping out with that.