The Climber

From what I had heard from other parents, boys were the ones to give their moms heart attacks and gray hair. Not so in my case. Alexis is causing me to age before my time. None of my three boys climbed on things but she does. She doesn't seem to care that I about die each time I see her hanging percariously on the chair or table or couch or anything else that is off the floor. And hang she does because she has not mastered the art of climbing back down. Here she is up on the table and ticked that she is stuck.

Lost feet???

I wasn't going to post today but after seeing Evan's feet this morning I just had to. Seems he found a permanant marker yesterday and decided he wanted his feet labled. In case you can't read the writing very well he wrote his name (Evan) on both feet.

I guess he'll never misplace them. :)

Up close shot. Can you make out the letters?

Church

Just to warn my readers - I'm going to vent/complain. I love attending church, especially conference, when I can listen. However, that hasn't happened for 8 1/2 years now. To me it is almost not worth going. Today was Stake Conference and while what I heard was good I just wish I could have heard it all without the chatter of my children asking for candy or when it was going to be over. Someone needs to invent earphones that totally block out unnecessary noise and the church should invest in them. This way I could have heard all the talks and still been able to discipline my children without hearing the squabbling or crying. Okay I'm done. I just want to know one thing: Is it just me or are other mothers feeling the same way?

Dessert

Somebody liked dessert. Fruit Pizza...Yum!

Speaking of dessert here is a pic of our Easter dessert. Christopher insisted on a bunny cake and tradition in my family is carrot cake for Easter. So...I made a bunny out of a carrot cake. This is the most awesome carrot cake ever. Recipe follows the picture and comes from my Grandma.

Carrot Cake

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 cups carrots, grated
20 ounces crushed pineapple in juice, 1 large can
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups oil
1 1/2 cups nuts, optional
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups coconut

Mix all dry ingredients. Add egg, oil, pineapple, and vanilla. Stir until moist. Add rest of ingredients. Bake in a 9x13" greased and floured pan at 350* for 1 hour. Cool. Frost with cream cheese frosting. I add coconut to the frosting as well for this.

Working or Not Working? That is the question

There is so much work to still do on our land. We have lived here for over four years now and it seems as if there is just as much to do now as when we moved in. When we moved here the land was one huge garbage heap and field of knapweed. Slowly we are reclaiming the land for human use. This past weekend was open burning for our area and nice weather at least on Friday. I tried to burn and clean up the back yard while Doug was trying to finish the fence that will keep the deer out of our gardens. The children were all suppose to help. I'll let you decide on their level of help or if it was more play.

First we have Alexis and Evan. Seems his work is to keep the rain off.

Here is Christopher. Looks suspiciously like play to me.

And finally we have Benjamin.

Looks can be decieving since this look only lasted a few minutes if that.

Our Easter

This past weekend was full of Easter fun. On Saturday we went to the communtiy Easter egg hunt. Of course is was pouring rain, but that was part of the fun. The boys found lots of eggs and Ben even found one with a special prize hence the basket he is showing off. That night we colored our own eggs, though not so many since the boys found so much. Alexis was able to color too and loved it. Of couse she was more into touching the color than coloring the eggs. Then Sunday morning we had our own egg hunt from the Easter Bunny. Alexis was a pro finding 5 off the bat and then she was into opening them to find out what was inside. The boys had fun hunting and there were some tough ones. Some were camoflauged. Can you see it? After that it was basket time. Contrary to Evan's face we all had a great Easter all in all. Over on the side you can see their Easter picture.

Feeling Domestic

So much has been happening this last week it is hard to know where to begin. However, I feel I must start at the begining and this includes me being "domestic". I decided to make Alexis an Easter dress this year. So, I picked out a pattern and material and started sewing. This is the finished product. I am so pleased with it.

I must have been on a high from sitting at the sewing table for so long that my brain melted. I say this because while sewing the dress I decided a week before my sister-in-law's baby shower to make her a gift. I went all out too: Diaper bag, blanket, and bib.