The 8 Year Old Party

Another party...I am kind of tired. But Elise was happy! It was actually a much easier party than Gavin's but not quite as fun. I should have done something here but I wan't up to it. So we went to Jump On It - a huge trampoline place. The girls seemed happy. I am grateful that Elise has such wonderful friends. She is very lucky.

Next weekend - another party. Sort of.

More Good Eats

Life is crazy. And it doesn't seem to be settling down anytime soon. I am thinking maybe by mid-March? But I did manage to have a fun bread making day with my sisters.

We made whole wheat (pictured here), mulitgrain, and good old white bread (which I used to make the best french toast we have ever had - well except the french toast I had at the Marriott Camelback Resort. Oh that was good.)

And last night I mad these yummy Bakerella Cake Pops for a girl who is turning EIGHT tomorrow. Good times to come. They are bite size perfection. Really really good.

You Asked For It

Don't be mad at me when you make these - and then want to eat 10 - and then have to kill yourself at the gym for a month to make up for it.

Raised Doughnuts or Donuts (from my mom who I think got it from a family in our ward a bajillion years ago).

1 pkg yeast
1/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 cup shortening
3 1/2 cups to 3 3/4 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in milk, 1/4 cup sugar, salt, egg, shortening and 2 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to make the dough easy to handle. Place in a greased bowl and turn to coat dough. Cover and let rise in warm place until double (1 1/2 hours). Punch down dough. Let rise again another 30+ minutes. Roll dough 1/2 inch think on lightly floured surface. Let rise uncovered until doubled 30-45 minutes. Heat oil to 375. Cook and turn donuts until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Coat in powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, powdered sugar glaze, or chocolate. You pick. :)

Calories

Teague says that I am obsessed with counting calories. And lately, I have been. Thanks to this blog and this website that I use on my phone.

But I wasn't thinking about calories on Sunday. Cause we made these....

And OH MY GOSH! That is a treat. Never buy store made again. Forget Krispy Kreme. That is heaven.

2010 Reading List

I have been in a bookclub with my London friends for about 6 years now. Actually longer because we had a little bookclub when we lived in London.

We meet each month and eat really yummy stuff and we even discuss the book. And then there is lots of other catching up to do.

Last year - I did not do such a great job at reading the books.

This year - We decide to make our selections at the beginning of the year. And I think it is great. I think we made some great choices. So read along if you wish... (I update my goodreads with my ratings and reviews so you can follow along there too).

January - The Traveler's Gift by Andy Andrews
February - Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall'
March - Angel of Repose by Wallace Stegner
April - The Anatomy of Peace by the Arbinger Institute
May - The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba
June - Raising up a Family to the Lord by Gene R. Cook
August - What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell
September - Lousia May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen
October - The Help by Katherine Stockett
November - Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

The Much Anticipated Lego Party

I completely copied all my ideas for this Lego Party. You can see what Stephmodo did here. Unfortunately, my other friend has a private blog. But she really deserves all the credit. She hooked me up with ideas and the coolest lego version of "Don't Eat Pete." That is a favorite game of Gavin's thanks to one of his great Primary teachers. I think it might have been a favorite of the day because it includes eating M&Ms as fast you possibly can.

The highlight of the party was probably building their own cars and racing them down the track that Kenyon built. They probably could have done that the whole time.
Gavin is lucky to have so many great friends.
I am grateful that I only do parties every other year.

Go Utes!

Riding Trax to the Huntsman Center. The Utah Women's Gymnastics team is amazing. It was really fun to watch. Elise now has a renewed interest in gymnastics.

It might be the only time we say it at our house :)

Look Who's SIX Today!

Doesn't this picture of Quinn crack you up? She doesn't miss a thing. But this isn't about her.

So Gavin is SIX today. I can't believe it. He couldn't be happier to have a birthday and attention. His dinner of choice: Crepes. It is a favorite around here. Whip cream, nuttella, berries, syrup, powdered sugar. A total calorie FEST. So no cake today. We put the candles right into the crepe.

Gavin is definitely one of a kind. You all know that. But here are SIX Things that I LOVE about Gavin:

1) He is the family clown. He makes us all laugh.

2) He likes to be in charge. That isn't always great but it is part of him. He told us one night that he wants to be President of the World (forget the US). He also would like to be Bishop because he wants to pick everyone's jobs.

3) He is a homebody. He loves to be around family. He loves his friends too but he will usually not stay away too long before he comes back to check on us. He likes to know what is going on (part of being in charge).

4) He is really helpful (when he wants to be). He loves a good project. For Christmas, he got his own set of tools and he is always willing to get them for any task. He has also been very helpful on the details of the upcoming birthday party.

5) He is not shy. He will talk to anyone and tell them stories. Don't believe everything you hear. Yesterday he told the guy at Target, "My mom has a lot of money." Yep, I do.

6) He is the best buddy. I will be sad when he is at school all day. He talks my ear off and keeps my company. He has good ideas and loves to help.

Happy Birthday Gavin Crew!

No Phone Zone

I didn't catch all of Oprah on Monday but the show was talking about the DANGERS of distracted driving. They seemed to focus on cell phone use - talking, texting, etc. The stories that I saw - awful!

I really don't have a problem with texting while I drive. But I love to talk while I drive. I get more done.

I am totally guilty of saying - "I can do both things."

Apparently, distracted driving is equivilant to driving after 4 alcoholic drinks.

I have no patience for drunk drivers. I hate that some people think they can handle a few drinks and still drive. It is so irreresponsible. But I hadn't really thought about how distracted driving is really the same thing.

Without a phone and just kids in the car, I am a distracted driver. Then you add my life, stress, mind, and then a phone. Geesh.

So I made the pledge to make my car a "No Phone Zone." And today was hard. I kept wanting to grab my phone. I have to tuck it away. And I still want to pull it out. I LOVE my phone. It is probably a little ridiculous and I know some of you can't relate. But it is bad!

I was waiting for Kenyon to get home tonight and I wanted to call him. But I couldn't. I didn't want him to answer the phone while he was driving. Torture.

The Unibrow

Check this out....pretty cool eyebrows.

She loves to be in control. She wants her own bowl, her own spoon, and her own frozen yogurt. That is true with everything else in her life. She is NOT interested in sharing.

My pediatrician said we will create a monster (Quinzilla) if we continue giving in. And we pretty much have. But how do you say no to that face? And if you do say no - she has mastered the tantrum. I think we are in trouble.

By the way - Elise asked me the other day, "Mom, what do I have to do to be the next big thing"

Good question!

Scampy

I like this concept of picking a word for your year. Like this blog or this blog or this blog.   Here is a list to get you thinking. I really like the idea. And I have been thinking about it A LOT. I just haven't committed to one word yet. I am close. But then I read someone's word and I change my mind.  Maybe I need to the word COMMIT. We'll see. I'll let you know what word I pick.

Good news though - I have a word for Quinn. SCAMPY. It is a word my Grandma Cannon would use. And it fits Quinn perfectly. Grandma Cannon would have loved to watch Quinn in action at our Cannon Cousin party tonight.

Obviously these pictures are not from the party. :) They are just an example of her "scampiness." Kenyon calls her Quinnzilla. She is just busy looking for trouble. All the time.

So happy together

It's a pretty crazy story how of how Santa was able to deliver the jeep to Gavin. And Gavin was SO happy and totally surprised. But Quinn might be even happier. She loves riding in the jeep with Gavin. It is just awful to pull her away. She is mastering the temper tantrum. She is perfectly happy to let Gavin take her anywhere. And Gavin talks to her and occassionally leans over and kisses her on the cheek. Kills me. Too bad the weather isn't better or I just might let him do it all day.

POTD 1.03.10

Church started at 9AM today. Eek. Kind of a shock to our system. But once you get there (if you can do that with any patience and no yelling - good luck), it is great. And I actually liked the rest of today better than I thought I would. It was a little more peaceful.
We wrote Thank You notes. A little over do but it will have to do.

Coolest Mom Award

Everbody already knows that "Grandma Hottie" is pretty much the coolest mom/grandma ever.

This picture (thanks to jane?) was taken in Snow Canyon on Christmas Eve. It is our favorite spot to go. My mom made the COOLEST nativity costumes for each of the kids.
And she wrote a wonderful script. We love watching the kids act out the story of the Nativity out on the red rocks. We even get fellow hikers stopping by to watch the scene.

Quinn did not behave - she really just wanted her own part - so I ended up in the car with her.

My mom always knows how to make family gatherings great. She is a wealth of ideas and knowledge. She is a great problem solver. And she has an amazing testimony.
Plus, is the best cook and a really, really hard worker.

For He's A Jolly Good Fellow

My Dad is the best! I wish I had more picture evidence but I will try and tell you.

Most recently, we came home from a trip to St. George and the pipe to our master bath toilet had frozen. He fixed it. It was FREEZING outside and he had to go lie on the ground to reach that pipe. Everytime my parents come to visit, they find projects to complete and ways to serve each of their kids.

He is also really patient. He will do projects with Gavin for HOURS. I don't know how he does it. He helped him build this plane and earlier in the year they worked on this bird house.

He has developed an interest in wood projects and built each of our families a bird house for our family reunion this summer. The theme was "Birds of A Feather." (my favorite event of the year)

He also built Gavin the coolest ferry boat after our Seattle visit.

There are lots of other reasons (commitment, generous, sense of humor, righteous, patient) why he is great. But this week - I am thankful for these.

Picture of the Day

I am really interested in this "Picture of the Day" concept. It is the idea that you take a picture every day for a year and journal. It seems like such a great way to document our life. I keep thinking I will buy Becky Higgins product - Project Life. But I haven't decided if I can commit to that yet.

But here is our POTD. This is how the day started and pretty much how it ended. Apparently time outs and writing it numerous times is not working. And it wasn't only this child. Maybe we need to go back to school on Monday.