Nativity Puppets

At Enrichment a couple of months ago we learned how to make these Nativity hand puppets. I had only gotten one wise man half sewn, so I brought them with me to my parent's house this week. My mom helped me finish them. She is a great seamstress, so she did most of the sewing and I did the other stuff. Who knows if I'd have ever finished them at home on my own. It was nice to have the kids occupied and a big space to make my mess where I could leave it until I finished the project. Here is the finished product:

Kate with the angel and shepherd.

Emmalee with Joseph on the left and a wise man on her right.

Cheesy Kate with the innkeeper.

The other two wisemen and Mary.

Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's

The kids and I spent a few days at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was really fun. Kate has been in heaven playing with all of Emmalee's princesses and Barbies. And, Jack figured out Emmalee's remote control Barbie car. And of course they love playing with Grandma and Grandpa and Emmalee.

This afternoon we took a walk down the road to see Grandpa's horses. I fed them some carrots and Jack was a little freaked out when I tried to rub their noses. He kept screaming and yelling, "My momma. My momma." I don't know if he was worried about me or worried about himself. My kids are a little afraid of all animals, even cats. When it was time to walk back home Jack didn't want to leave the horses. I guess he and Kate like to look, but not touch.

The kids and I with Pooch (I think that is the horse's name. My dad has changed it three or four times -- I can't keep it straight).

Jack and I feeding the horse (Jasmine, I think) a carrot. Jack was freaking out about then.

Kate wanted to do her "homework" while Emmalee was doing her homework this afternoon. And of course Jack had to do some too.

A little paranoid?

So, Dave and I decided that we should make my blog private. I know it's a little annoying, since you have to log in. But Dave showed me how easily it is to find our address on the internet. Since there are so many crazy people out there I decided that it's better to be overly cautious when it comes to my family's safety. Anyway...My blog should still be the same, but I just changed the address and now you get to sign in! Oh well.

My Kitchen Helpers

Uh oh! Jack and Kate were helping me make some pumpkin muffins yesterday (Meagan's recipe -- really good!). Jack's job was to stir the flour and baking powder together. Oops! He was trying to smile, but wasn't quite sure what to think of the 1 1/2 cups of flour on his jeans.

Every time I make dinner or cook anything Kate and Jack pull up their little chairs to help. Jack usually just tries to stick a spoon or something in for a taste. Yesterday I caught him trying to eat a piece of raw chicken that I was putting in the oven. I'm glad I caught him before he ate it. Yuck! Kate's a good helper though. She always pulls up her chair and says, "Mom, so what can I do for you?" I love hearing that!

Tagged Again!

Maggie tagged me a week or so ago, so here goes (my kids are finally in bed so I have a little time to blog). I'm just doing the last half of her "tag" since I did a tag from Michal a month or so ago. So, here's a little more about me:


4 Things People Don't Know About Me:

1. I love to bake. Probably because I love to eat what I have just baked especially when it comes right out of the oven. I love to make bread, rolls, cookies, pies, etc. And I think I enjoy it because things usually turn out like they are supposed to. Sometimes other things that I cook (for dinner mostly) don't turn out so well. I consider myself a "non-practicing foodie" like Melinda as she called herself on her blog. I love learning about cooking and food, but I don't make many new exotic dishes.

2. I can't decide if I like being a small town country girl or a big city girl. Since in the last few years I've lived in a big city and a really small town, I can't decide which I like better. It will be interesting to see where we end up living when Dave is done with school.

3. I'm pretty talented when it comes to being clumsy and uncoordinated. Luckily for my kids sake Dave is pretty coordinated, so hopefully they turn out okay. Things are always just falling out of my hands. A week or so ago within 24 hours I broke Dave's external hard drive (a very bad thing to break!) and cut the cord on his brand-new razor right after he opened the package and of course I snipped it (accidentally of course) in a place where he couldn't splice it to fix it.

4. I would love to be a great home decorator (you can't tell that from my house now). I guess I'm saving up all of my decorating knowledge (gained from watching HGTV) for when we have a home of our own and are out of school.

Caviar Anyone?

I had my first, and maybe, last taste of caviar yesterday at our Quarterly Enrichment. In the holiday cooking mini-class that I went to a sister made "Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Creme Fraiche and Caviar." I was daring and had a sample, since who knows when I'll have a chance to have caviar. Probably not ever again if we end up living in New Mexico or even Utah.

Anyway...It wasn't too bad. A little salty, but it was okay, until a stray piece of caviar slipped off of my potato and I got a little taste of it plain. Not the best texture -- pretty much like a fish egg should feel like. It was a little fingerling potato baked with olive oil and rosemary, with a little creme fraiche (which I've heard about from watching a little too much Food Network, but have never tried it) and caviar on top.

I wanted to share the recipe because it is interesting and just rosemary potatoes without the creme fraiche and caviar would make a yummy side dish. So, here's the link to the recipe.: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/108940

We Made It!

We made it through all of sacrament meeting today without taking any kids out into the hall. That hasn't happened for a long, long time! Hooray! It was great. Who knows when it will happen again. Probably not for a while, but at least we got to enjoy today's meeting.

Quick Exercising Note

Does anyone have any great at-home workouts that they like to do? My goal is to get up early every day and exercise, but we only go running on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Doing Taebo isn't really motivating me to get up early. I tried yesterday and I made it two minutes into it before Kate woke up and I had to stop. And, who knows if we are going to go running in the winter? I can just see myself slipping on the ice while trying to run since I'm not very coordinated. We'll see what happens when it starts snowing.

Crafty kids!

The kids and I have done a few crafts this week. I usually am not creative enough to think of something fun for the kids to make, but I've had a little help with ideas. I just remembered that Kate and I made the paper-sack turkey that was in the Nov. issue of the Friend. Here are some picutres of our latest creations.

Yesterday we made our names out of leaves, herbs, and flowers from our yard. We have some rosemary growing in our front flower bed, so we used a little of that. I love the smell! It reminds me of Macaroni Grill (their bread that they make). We got the idea out of the Family Fun magazine (thanks Melinda!).

Jack loves to pose just like Kate. He's a little wet from helping me do the dishes.

This morning Kate and I made her lovely beaded tiara.

Am I A Runner?

Running. Not usually my favorite thing to do. I like it when the run is over, but not so much while I'm running. However, the last two mornings I've gone running with my friend at 6:30 am and I've really enjoyed it for several reasons:

• I get exercising over with early in the day, so I don't feel guilty all day for not exercising. (Which helps me be a less ornery mom.)
• I get a little social interaction with a friend early in in the day.
• Since my running friend is a little more athletic than I am it helps me not be a wuss and walk. We went 2 1/2 miles, but she wants to try the harder 3 1/2 mile run next week. We'll see how that goes.
• It's a great form of exercise, then I don't feel so guilty for having ice cream for dessert (and maybe a few more bites later because it tasted so good).
• The kids and I get out of the house a lot earlier than if I don't exercise and get ready earlier.
• And -- I get to see the sun rise!

Will I ever be a great runner? I doubt it, but it sure is nicer to do with a friend!