It's a Zoo Out There!

Today we went to the zoo with my husband, and Michele and her two younger ones. Plus my three younger ones. We had a good time watching some shows, feeding carrots to the elephants, and petting the goats. Especially the baby ones! My favorite part was digging for worms in the dirt pit. It was great! You can see in one of the pics, Michele holding my baby girl in the Baby Bjorn. So cute!

Kittens Doing Well!

Oh, the kittens are just doing so well! They are a couple of weeks old and are starting to really move around. Every now and then I try to sneak one away from their mommy but she just comes to scoop them right back up and take them back where they belong. They are just so sweet. When the time comes, I only have to find a home for two of them.

Homemade Pumpkin Cheesecake pie

This is just so yummy. After we carved pumpkins the other night, I took the spare pumpkin and cute it up to make my own pumpkin pie. Well, when I looked at the recipe, I saw that right next to it there was another recipe that was a favorite called "pumpkin cheesecake pie". It's just a layer of cheesecake under the pumpkin. I opted for that one instead since I happen to have the ingredients. I loved cutting up the pumpkin and baking it to make my own from scratch. It made the house smell very nice. I learned the trick for not burning the ends that I sometimes see with homemade pies. This took a long time to prepare and make but that's just because I didn't cut up enough pumpkin the first time around. Actually, this recipe calls for you to put pecans and sprinkle a mixture of flour, brown sugar, and butter with it on top. Since I didn't have the pecans, I just left that off. Very yummy! It tasted much fresher than the canned pumpkin.

Pumpkin-Cream Cheese Pie 
adapted from The New Baking Book 
1 single pie crust 
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened 
1/4 cup sugar 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla 
1 slightly beaten egg 
1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin 
1 cup evaporated milk 
2 beaten eggs 
1/4 cup sugar 
1/4 cup packed brown sugar 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
1 cup chopped pecans 
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons cold butter 

Prepare and roll out pie crust. Line a 9-inch pie plate with the pastry. Trim and crimp edge as desired; set aside. 

In small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, the vanilla, and 1 beaten egg with electric mixer on low to medium speed until smooth. Chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes. Spoon into pastry-lined pie plate. 

Preheat oven to 350F. 

In a medium mixing bowl, combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, the 2 eggs, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Carefully pour over cream-cheese mixture. 

To prevent overbrowning, cover edge of the pie with foil. Bake in a 350F oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil. Bake for 25 minutes more. 

Meanwhile, combine the flour, brown sugar and butter. Cut with a pastry cutter until crumbly. Stir in pecans. Sprinkle over the pie. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes more, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 1 to 2 hours. Refrigerate within 2 hours.

October Flashback

I always love to look back a year to see how much has changed. Back then I was living in an apartment watching my house get built! Ivy was just so little and I hadn't conceived Ashley yet. There is a fantastic video at the very top of how they do makeover's in Holleywood on girls for magazines and billboards. You would be shocked how they can change just about anyone! Anyhow, here is October flashback. Click here to view all my posts in October 2006!

The Pill

I found a great article about having children and what this means personally to my life. To each of us we hold our own beliefs in this regard. Over the years I have found myself changing with my views about birth control. It's not that I don't believe in a form of birth control, I just don't believe in "The Pill", or any type of it put in my body for that matter. I'm not the type that has a kid once a year, but I admire those who do. Those who let God control how many children they have just like the bible times. Those who have a quiver full. That's amazing. Anyhow, if this has been something on your mind, you might find this article very encouraging. I know I did. Thank you Kristin for the article.

Why Some Evangelicals are Throwing Out Birth Control

(And my self-centeredness along with it.)

More Decorating

Here is some more decorating I've been meaning to get to. I bought this set at IKEA, the shelf and mirror right before I had the baby. I just got so busy I never put it up. Charles and I finally got around to it yesterday. I really like it a lot and it just looks nice and neat. I really hate clutter and now that I've freed my life from it, I look for things that are just big and simple. You can click on it to view bigger picture.

Mom's 50th Birthday

Here are lots of pics of my mom's birthday at my house yesterday. We ate, had cake, carved pumpkins. My mom's mother and sis flew from out of state. My aunt Alyson had fun holding my little Ashley. We had a great time and I was happy to throw the party for my mom. I really need to do that more often for people. Sheesh. Anyhow, when my mom sends me the pics, I want to show you the pictures of the kids pumpkin carving with my friend Charlyn that I invited. My mom is the one in the black shirt and my mother-in-law is in the red shirt. I love them both to death! My dad is the man in the red shirt. He planned the little get together with me. :o)

Another Toy Recalled!!!

One of My Favorite Songs

This is one of my favorites. She in a land of Giants and has to do what they say because of a spell put on her. I looove the singing. This is so cute.

Pumpkin Carving

After we laid the boys down, Charles and I had fun of our own with games and pumpkin Carving. We played Clue together first and then each carved a pumpkin. It was fun! Can you believe I haven't done one in years? That's why my little one doesn't have a top on it. I did that part wrong so I could put he "lid" back on. I put my little pumpkin of top of my piano. Charles did the bigger one. We're not big fans of Halloween so we didn't do scary faces. However, I'm not about to take out the fun of it by not participating. Our church puts on a party for the kids and they wear costumes but not scary ones. They play games all night and win candy while the rest of us head out to the streets that draw halloween crowds. We all witness and share the news of Jesus with everyone. It's awesome! We will carve pumpkins with the kids right before Halloween.

Square Dancing

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

Rowdy Boys?

Okay, is it just me or are my boys more hyper than other boys? Every now and then I will see a family of boys and they'll be happy with just walking around the house, talking to their mom, reading a book, playing on the floor with their Legos. Not mine! They must think we are deaf because they don't just talk, they almost yell when they talk! Where do they get those vocal chords? It's not that they are trying to yell, they just think their brothers are deaf. LOL! I think I could go deaf if they keep this up.

My boys have visited the ER many times since they've turned one, know the ER staff from frequent ouchies and stitches or losing teeth. They are allowed to run in the house but the rule is once you cross over into the living room, all yelling and rowdiness must cease. Charles and I call it the "Peace Room". Notice this is much different from the Peace Pipe. Everyone thinks they have to talk louder than the other one to be heard.

When I see these calm kids in some families, I rack my brains wondering whether it's genetics, whether they are drugged, or if the kids is so terrified of their parents they are scared into silence. Just kidding on the latter. The only consolation I have is in a book I read by James Dobson. He said it is very much genetics. If you and your husband were both very hyper children, what makes you think you'll have calm children? Ooooh man. It's set in the stars for us. As children, Charles and I bounced off the walls. Trust me. I remember. I hope there are other moms with boys like mine. At least I wouldn't feel alone! Don't fret though. I am very much working on mellowing out these boys before they get married. (Uh, yeah).

Easy to Make Tortellini Soup

This time Kyle helped me with making Tortellini soup the other night. He had lots of fun and just begged me to take a picture. What a cute little chef. My sister Jodee was the one who got me into this soup. It is so incredibly delicious, unbelievably easy, and a great way to get your child to eat spinach.

*Family Size bag of 3 cheese Tortellini
*One box of frozen chopped spinach (Drained of juices once thawed)
*5 cans of chicken broth.

Once you bring the broth and spinach to a boil, just add the Tortellini for 7-9 minutes and you have the easiest soup to make in the world! My kids love this stuff and always beg me to make it.

Ashley 1 Month Old

At 9 lbs and one month old, Ashley is doing good! I just love holding my little bundle of joy and she is the sweetest thing. I love her blue eyes. She doesn't look at all like my other daughter Ivy when she was a baby. The boys just love Ashley. Here is a picture of Chaz giving her a kiss. So sweet!

Day at The Lakes

Today was a really fun day at The Lakes. Poor Chaz has the flu so he had to stay with Charles and I on our date. First we walked around the corner to the Lake by my parents house. We let Hank, my dad's dog, fetch things in the water. My kids kept finding olives and other things to throw in and Hank just kept jumping in. Then Charles, Chaz, and I went to the restaurant and had fish and chips there. We headed back to get the rest of the kids so we could have them throw food to the ducks till the sun went down. So relaxing! Then we played at the playground and watched some fireworks and pushed the kids in swings. It was an all around great day!!!

Ban on 'Mom' and 'Dad' sparks call for exodus

"The so-called 'public schools' are no longer a safe emotional environment for children. Under the new law, schoolchildren as young as kindergarten will be sexually indoctrinated and introduced to homosexuality, bisexuality, and transsexuality, over the protests of parents, teachers and even school districts," he said.

He posted on his website examples of situations he expects to see developing in California schools, under the new requirements:

"Please turn to Chapter 10, entitled Famous Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people. History tells us that great Americans such as Walt Whitman and Abraham Lincoln were gay and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was lesbian. It's likely that even prominent biblical personas were gay, such as King David of Israel and the Apostle Paul. Until this year, the sexual identities of these and other historical figures have been denied by discriminatory textbooks that reflected adversely on LGBT people by ignoring their existence."

"Children, our new picture book has arrived. This is a fantastic story called Daddy's Wedding. It teaches us that no relationship is bad. See the two men dressed in tuxedos, like they're at a wedding? Daddy's Wedding tells us that two men can love each other and even get married…"

"Class, for our contemporary social studies' new No-Discriminatory-Bias component, we have a special speaker this afternoon. He will share his amazing story of growing up as a male trapped in a female's body."

"Here in our boys' sex education assembly, you need to know that puberty means growing facial hair, a deeper voice and a growth spurt when you're in junior high. If you're comfortable with those changes, great. But we're required by law to tell you some of you may have a different future. Some of you may feel more comfortable with girls and feel like a girl inside…"

If this comes to my State, I am pulling my kids out of the public school system and homeschooling them. This is utterly disgusting. Read more of the article here.....

Duggar Slideshow

This has got to be the coolest house I have ever seen.

Check out the Duggar house and their amazing organizations skills. You definitely have to have that with a large family. Click here to view slide show. Oh, such a cool house. It's amazing that Jim and his kids built it and they owe no money on it. They are completely debt free.

Chaz the Chef

The boys take turns with the chefs hat to make meals. It's just so cute. Chaz is so incredibly proud that he made his own macoroni and cheese today with only my help of boiling the noodles. He's just so proud right now. LOL. He even went around to hear thank you from all the kids. It's a load of fun when you get the kids involved. :o)

Lunch Downtown with my Sister

My family and I had lunch downtown yesterday with just my two little girls. Boy, was Ivy a handful. Sheesh. She was just all over the place and didn't want to sit in any highchair. She is just so independent that it's hard to do anything for her. That's normally okay, when they're older, not at two. A two year old needs to be guided, her hand held. Not running around wrecking stores. Anyway, my sister's store is downtown. She manages the New York and Co. store. So, my mom, dad, me, and the kids all went in to meet her and then ate at one of the restaurants. I had so much fun visiting with everyone, except for the fact that Ivy was everywhere. I had to swat her a few times. Ashley just slept the whole time. Here is a pic of my sister holding Ashley and another of my dad and I at the table.

Jasmine Gives Birth Once More

Chaz's little Jasmine gave birth to one more kitten today and of course it didn't make it. We saw that she was cleaning her but the kitten wasn't alive. Most likely was dead in her stomach. She was real cute though and we all looked at her a little while before Charles took her out of the box. Here is a pic of just Jasmine and her three that are healthy. I did notice yesterday that Jasmine's stomach was still contracting and I felt a bump in her tummy. I wasn't sure what was going on but I had a suspicion she still had a kitten in there.

Jasmine Had Her Kittens!

Our little Jasmine had her kittens today just before church! We noticed she was meowing all day long. We didn't know why she meowing all day and was trying to go into a closet constantly. We didn't want her to have her kittens in there so we kept trying to show her to the box we put out for her in the hallway closet. It has a towel in it we will just throw away. We shut all the bedroom doors so she couldn't get in them. Just as we were about to leave for church, we saw her crouching on the floor. We were like "oh my gosh! She's gonna have them on the tile!". So I ran to get the bin I made and Charles gently laid her in it. We all sat around with the kids and watched her have her first kitten. We had to get in the van to make it to church on time so while we were gone, she had two more. One all black and two mostly black, just white on tummy and some on face. They are just so precious!! We are enjoying watching the little kittens with their mommy so much. The kids are excited they got to experience it. So cute!!!

Fun at the Fair!

My Kids at School Choir

Today I woke up realizing that I missed the kid's ride to school. then I woke up later realizing that I was about to miss my kid's singing at their school. I jumped out of bed, got ready as fast as possible, meaning I looked like crud. Charles and I headed to the school huffing and puffing to not miss it. As we ran into the school and sat down, we realized we forgot to change our 4 year old's clothes before we left. Since he still pees his bed, he smelt like it. It was so embarrassing! Then Ashley needed to nurse but I forgot her blanket to cover up so I had to make her wait to eat. Well, instead of having the little kids sing first, the school had all the big kids go first. We sat there for an hour and half before our boy's went up! We saw later that these kids weren't singing choir songs, they were all dancing! I couldn't believe the dances the girls were doing, even little girls. We were like, "no way are our kids gonna dance like that". Well, there was this boy that danced really great and Chaz was mentally writing down notes on how to do it. It was okay though because it was mostly feet work type stuff. We didn't realize how much Chaz was mentally copying it though. When Chaz and Ryan went up, they just did little cute dancing. But not Chaz! Oh no. He was doing the moves and twisting around. He looked good! We couldn't believe it. I knew right then and there he didn't get that from my blood. I can't dance. Aerobics is about it. After having to endure some of the high school girls singing solos and watching lots of dancing, we finally got to hear our boy's class. The little girl that is standing next to Ryan in picture is his friend Alexandra who also goes to our church. Finally after 2 hours of this and me cheering and yelling "you rock!" to the kids, embarrassing and making Charles turn red, smelling yucky clothes from our son, Ashley fussing from being hungry, and Ivy trying to escape her stroller, we were finally free! LOL!

Fun Facts on The Duggars

Click Here to view the coolest slideshow of the Duggar Family!

Michelle’s been pregnant for 135 months of her life.

Average number of months between Duggar births is 18.

Estimated number of Duggar diapers to date is 90,000.

The Duggars do approximately 200 loads of laundry each month.

The Duggars feed their entire brood for less than $2,000 per month.

The only person in the Duggar family whose name doesn’t start with "J" is Mom — Michelle.

Every Duggar child learns to play both violin and piano.

The family organizes their household chores by assigning "jurisdictions," so everyone knows exactly what their daily responsibilities are.

The Duggars estimate all the family members combined have worked approximately 39,000 total hours building their new house.

The Duggars are debt free.

Pregnant Jasmine

This is so cute. This is Ashley's toy but Charles and I had a good giggle when we saw how our very pregnant cat Jasmine was passed out in it. She's been so tired lately. She is such a small cat so it's so funny seeing her walk funny with a big belly. From the back you can see her bulging tummy. It's so cute.