A New Tradition

My friend Nichole recently told me of her family tradition of decorating homemade gingerbread house and each year inviting a family over to decorate the houses with them. I decided this would be a great tradition to start in my family, but I needed to at least try it before I decided to do this each year. So, Nichole gave me her recipe, invited me over one afternoon and showed me how to bake and cut out the houses, and then great instruction on how to assemble. The results were great. Thanks Nicole!



We invited Troy, Becky, Austin, Tyler, and Audrey (Evan's brother's family) over along with one of my really good friend's family, the Humphrey's (Clint, Jana, Josh, Kayla, and Lindsay). I think we spent at least an hour and a half just decorating. It was so much fun. Even all the dads were involved! Each family had a house to decorate. All members of each family jumped in and worked on the decorating. It was a great family activity. I definitely think we will have to add this to one of our Christmas Family traditions.


Troy, Tyler, Audrey, and Austin working on their house
















Audrey, Becky, and Tyler

Austin adding candy to his house


















Clint, Josh, Jana, Kayla, and Lindsay Humpherys


















Evan, Danielle, and Taneal

Evan, Danielle, Taneal, and Camie

The Humpherys' final result!

My family's gingerbread house
Troy, Becky, Austin, Tyler, and Audrey's end result!

All the houses turned out so good. I'm glad we weren't in competition because I wouldn't have been able to choose. Everyone was so creative!

Spencer graduated to nursery!

Before church this morning I was just looking at my children and thinking how adorable they looked. Today was also a landmark. Spencer is now 18 months and able to go to nursery. He still isn't talking very much, so I don't think of him as being very grown up, usually, until days like today. I am in the primary presidency in my ward, so I had to basically just drop Spencer off and run. Evan teaches Sunday School so her couldn't hang out with Spencer either. Danielle is still in nursery, but because of the large number of children in our primary (about 125 in the entire primary) we have 3 nursery classes. She is in with the children ready to go to Sunbeams. About 25 minutes after I dropped Spencer off he was brought back to me. He couldn't stop crying. So, I sat in the class with Spencer until Evan was done teaching and then we traded off. So much for graduating. I think with Spencer it will probably be a while before he gets used to going to nursery. What can I say? He just loves his family.

I am the Greatest

I made this video last Spring, when Taneal and Camie's baseball consumed our evenings and Saturdays. The kiddos are almost a year older, but I hope you will enjoy.

IF WOMEN CONTROLLED THE WORLD

My friend sent me this email. Now that Evan and I have a home that we can actually decorate, we are realizing just how different we are. I want to paint colors, Evan wants white. I love flowers and such, Evan likes plain jane stuff. For Evan it is all about practicality, me it is some of that but mixed with feel. I like to put my things away, he likes to keep his things (like keys) out for the next time her needs them. We are different. I guess that is why I like this email so much.

Thanksgiving

I somehow managed to make it to Elk Ranch with my camera but no memory stick in my camera, thus making my camera obsolete! So, I traveled into town to buy a memory stick and was told my camera was too old and I could no longer buy a memory stick. So, I don't really have too many pictures to share with you, which is why I have not put anything on my blog about our great Thanksgiving spent with Bryce and Katie and their boys, Joshua, Conner, and Skyler, and with Troy and Becky and their children Austin, Tyler, and Audrey. I did manage to get a little video footage.


Now if you are wondering where the rest of the song went, you'll have to go elsewhere it find it. It is a really catchy tune, and the lyrics are funny, but . . . If you hear the song you'll understand.

Thanksgiving was great. Bryce and Katie brought their family from out-of-state and stayed with Troy and Becky until we left for Elk Ranch. We had a great time out at the ranch. The Thanksgiving feast was one of the best tasting turkey dinners I've had in years. Great job, Becky. I am still doing the no sugar until the end of the year, so I tried to make some pies that were sugar free, and . . . I can't wait until the year is over so I can have a yummy pumpkin pie. The great dinner made up for the sugar-free pies.

Katie taught me the fun art of beading. I have wanted to learn how to do this and was excited when Katie pulled out her supplies. I made me a beautiful necklace and had fun making it. All my girls got into it. They each made their own necklace.

Of course the kiddos had fun outside getting dirty. The lake was finally finished and filled so we were able to take the canoe out. Taneal especially loved this. Camie loved going around on the 4-wheeler. Taneal even got to drive the 4-wheeler herself this time. Evan took Spencer and Danielle around on the 4-wheeler. They had to rotate turns. Every time Danielle had to get off to let Spencer have a turn, she sobbed. It wasn't the tantrum cry, but the genuine sad cry. She could have spent hours on that 4-wheeler.

After we came back home and i got my memory stick, I did take some pictures of Bryce and Katie and their family. We sure enjoyed having them visit.

Katie and Skyler

Bryce and Conner

Joshua

Spencer loved baby Skyler. He was so gentle with Skyler. This is a picture of Spencer kissing Skyler, although my camera has lag time that makes it hard to capture quick moments like this. I guess it is getting time for a new camera.

Can I have this dance?

Christmas is upon us and so is the music. I turned the music on as we were getting out Christmas decorations. Danielle decided she wanted to dance . . .

uh, huh!

I have this terrible little game that started about a year ago with Danielle. She would say "yes" and I would say "no" and we would go on and on for a few minutes back and forth. Then it got to one of us saying "uh, huh" and the other "uh, uh" back and forth with quite some conviction. It is all a game. When Spencer was about eleven months, he picked up on the game and started joining in. Well, Spencer has taken that game to a whole new level. Of course kids rarely perform in front of the camera, so I captured this game as best as I could.

Camie's Birthday

Camie birthday started with yummy cinnamon rolls that I made the night before and then got up early to put them into the oven. It started her special day off great. She headed off to school and I met her for lunch and brought her McDonald's. Quite a big change from peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I then came to her class at the close of the day to read stories. Camie looked wonderful with her crown announcing to the world that it was her birthday and then the huge grin on her face. That night we had Becky and her kiddos over for supper and cake.

Did you notice the two layer cake in the video? Yah! Camie wanted one of those Barbie cakes, which take 1 1/2 cake mixes. Just as I had dumped the second cake mix into the bowl, Camie changed her mind and wanted just a circle cake. Round cakes are much easier to decorate, so I oped for that choice, but had too much batter, so she got a layered cake. Camie was pretty pleased, but disappointed that she only got a one-layer cake for her friend party.

Saturday we had a friend birthday party. We don't have one every year, so friend parties are pretty special. We decided we would have a "tea party" for the occasion. Camie invited friends from church, the neighborhood, and school. We had twelve girls show up! I was expecting around eight, but happy that I planned for twelve.

We started the party out by decorating straw hats. We then colored tea pots on "shrinky-dink" and made necklaces. We decorated goblets with gems and then had a tea party. No, we didn't serve tea, but had a great time eating brownie bites, mini muffins, cheese, crackers, grapes, pineapple, pb&j cut-out sandwiches, and sipping on kool-aide.

All the kiddos seemed to have a great time and Camie especially enjoyed the party. Many of the moms stayed and helped out so I got to know some of the moms from Camie's class. Planning and having children's parties are so much fun!

The newest addition the the Black Family

Congratulations to Brett and Michelle. Brett Kael Black was born last week. He weighed 9 lbs. 4 oz. and was 21 inches long. He and Spencer will probably get along great. They both will know what it is like to have three big sister and no brothers!

I have pictures, I just can't figure out how to get a pdf file to a jpeg. As soon as I figure that out you'll be able to see this cute baby.

Onward Christian Soldiers

We have been trying to learn the hymns and teach them to our children. Taneal picked one of the hymns that she wanted to learn, "Onward Christian Soldiers." We TRY to pick one hymn a month and sing it over and over and over until all the kids have it memorized. Danielle can sing most of all the verses, but consistently sings the first verse all on her own. Check out how cute she sings the first verse . . .

All I Want For Christmas . . .

We've been asking the kiddos what they want for Christmas. None of them are coming up with anything except for whatever it is that they see in a magazine, which is basically every trinket and toy on every page. Taneal. She's been different. She says she doesn't really want anything except. . . 1) her two front teeth and 2) a trip to see Santa's workshop. She doesn't want anything else. She has plenty of toys, books, games, etc. So let me explain some of the reasoning behind the two things she wants. Taneal has been missing her two front teeth since spring break which was back in March. Last month she pulled a third tooth along the top making it a three-tooth gap! I asked her how Santa was going to bring her her two front teeth. She said he just could. Santa can do things like that. He knows how to get a hold of the tooth fairy and they will be able to get her the front teeth. As for the second item, she has seen Polar Express and knows this can be done. Audrey, her cousin, told her that she had a friend that was able to visit Santa's workshop. So for Christmas, this is all she wants. And that's where we are at.

Camie's school picture

Camie is doing great in the kindergarten. She loves to go to school. Monday I had to pick her up from school in the middle of the day and take her to a Doctor appointment. Before she even left the front office of the school, she had to make sure she was indeed coming back to school. I told her it was the decision of the doctor. She reluctantly went with me. She loves how busy the school keeps her all day long. I'm not really sure that she is learning much academically, but she loves being busy. I thought all day kindergarten would be hard on her. Quite the opposite.

Danielle sleeping

Last night Danielle and Camie spent an hour or so up their room building a fort. It was time to have family prayer and I couldn't find Danielle. Camie knew where she was. She had climbed into the fort which led into her closet where the dress-up box was. She had climbed into the basket with her pillow and blanket and fallen asleep.

Great Grandpa Bell

My grandpa came to visit my family and since we were already coming for Landon's baptism, Grandpa's visit was an added bonus. Friday I was able to spend several hours visiting with him. My grandpa is such an amazing man. He is 85 years old and has so much wisdom. He had so much patience with my children. He held them, talked to them, watched them play, and you could see the love he had for them in his eyes. We have never really lived close to Grandpa, so he didn't know my children at all. I was so happy when I heard he was coming to visit. i want my children to know him and remember him.

My grandpa was a member of the church as a young child. He later became inactive and married my grandma. They had two sons, one of which was my dad. My grandma was not a member of the church, but insisted that my dad and uncle were baptized at age 8. When my grandparents were living in Ft. Worth, TX, they had a faithful home teacher. That home teacher eventually brought my grandpa back into the church and my grandma was baptized. My dad and my uncle both served missions and married in the temple. I am so grateful to my grandparents for the son they raised who became my dad.

It was pretty awesome to watch Landon baptized and have my grandpa there who started it all. He introduced my family to the gospel. I am so excited Grandpa came to visit and that my children got to meet him.

Landon's baptism

My nephew, Landon, was baptized on Saturday. We drove to my hometown on Friday and stayed the weekend. There is something about baptisms that is really special. The spirit is so abundant. There is an added feeling when someone from your family or someone you are close to is baptized. I loved how all the children gathered around the baptismal font and witnessed the baptism. There were so many children there, all family. After the baptism we went over to Rob and Beth's beautiful home out in the country and visited and had a great time. I am so fortunate to live closer to my family and be able to experience special occasions like this with them. Congratulations, Landon. Thank you for sharing this special time with me and my family.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I love Halloween. I think the spooky holiday is one of my favorite. I love making the costumes and seeing my kiddos enjoy wearing the costumes. This year Taneal carefully planned the costumes. She drew sketches and picked the colors. Just in case you can't tell from the pictures, Taneal, Camie, and Audrey are the three faries from Sleeping Beauty. Notice the detail of the from the wings to the wands and capes. I not kidding when I say Taneal very carefully planned the costumes.

Danielle was a beautiful blonde Snow White. The black hair color was too hard to wash out so I decided to leave her blonde. Spencer was a lion. No, I did not make that costume. My mom bought that costume for Taneal when she was Spencer's age. It has been a great costume worn by all my children.

I did not get much video footage, but hopefully enough to share some of out holiday experience with you. We love living so close to family. I am about a 10 minute drive. We trick-or-treated in Audrey's neighborhood and kiddos got way too much candy. SPencer was so cute. He would say "trick-or-treat" while we were walking from house to house but not when we got up to the door. He insisted on walking and carrying his candy bucket which was way too heavy. He had a great time but eventually gave in and let me carry him. Danielle did the same but only wanted Aunt Beckyto carry her. Danielle loves her aunt, and I'm pretty sure Becky feels the same towards Danielle.

God Blessed Texas

In June, the Blacks had a family reunion. I captured some vidoe and put it to music. My kiddos love to watch the video over and over and over.

Got Frogs?

Tyler loves frogs. Tyler is my nephew that lives close-by. He goes to the soccer games and plays in the "forest" catching frogs and seeing other "wild" animals. During one of the games he brought one of his frogs over to show Spencer. The first time Spencer held the frog, it startled him so bad he squeezed his hand instead of letting go and nearly squished the frog to death. The next time I had my video camera out and you can watch the video and see Spencer's reaction.

Danielle's black hair

I have some requests to see Danielle's hair that was colored black for the ward Halloween party. I don not think I will be coloring it again-- it was very hard to wash out and also to clean the tub afterwards. She went around with grey hair for a few days until the color FINALLY came out.

A Preview to Halloween

Saturday night was our ward Halloween party. We had it a little early because there are four wards that share our building. Taneal and Camie's costumes aren't complete because their cousin, Audrey, wasn't there completing the three fairies from Sleeping Beauty. We plan to go trick-or-treating with them so you will see more of the costumes. Danielle was pretty pleased with being Snow White (and wearing Camie's costume from a few years back thus saving me a lot of sewing time). The only problem with her being Snow White is she looked a little different with her blond hair. I got some of that black hair spray, which I will never use again, and colored her hair. I had one heck of a time getting it washed out! She went to church today with blond and grey hair. I also colored Camie's hair, but the black wasn't quite so drastic.

Spencer was a lion, as you cannot see in the picture above. He did not like the costume at all!!!! I managed to get a picture of him before we left for the party. This picture shows just how unhappy he was about wearing the lion costume. Evan took Spencer outside while he was getting ready for the "trunk-or-treat". That is why Evan and Spencer are not in this picture. Spencer really enjoyed putting candy in every one's bags. He even learned how to mumble "trick-or-treat!"

I look forward to Halloween so much every year. I think it is probably my favorite holiday. I love making the costumes and seeing how excited the girls are in planning what they are going to be and then having them watch me through the process of making the costumes. I think I've taught them to love the dressing-up as much as I do.

Is this a BOY thing?

. . . because my girls never did this!

Horse Walker

Who would have thought that of all the activities we did at Oil Ranch that my children's favorite activity was the horse walker. I think the Ranch called it an Indian Sky something or rather . . . We used to play on one of these down the street at the Cunningham's house. It was a lot of fun, I never thought of it as being something special. Of course a lot of the things at Oil Ranch were things that were all around me growing up in Texas.

I Finally Get to Ride a Horse!!!!

Taneal and Camie have been talking for years about riding a horse. I was so glad I pulled them out of school to go to this ranch because they finally got their chance. Danielle wasn't too happy about riding the horse and did not want to ride one again. Camie and Taneal kept hopping back into line to ride the horse over and over and over.