Sierra got Bapitzed

We were so lucky to be a part of Sierra's baptism. We are so excited for her, and the choice she made to be baptized. Sierra, Killian, and I sang, "I am a Child of God" and David got a talk about the importance of baptism. Congrats Sierra!!!

Happy Valentine's Day

We hope your Valentine's was as great as ours!!!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie!!! Happy Valentine's Day Honey!

This year I wanted to make something for my Husband that he would love!!! My friend Andrea has the BEST cookie recipe, and thought it would be perfect for my husband since he LOVES her cookies so much!!! I found this idea about a month ago on BLOOM, and thought what a PERFECT treat! If you have ever been to the Dodo Restaurant in Salt Lake City, Utah they make a cookie pie kinda like a poozkie from BJ's. All this consists of is a pie crust and whatever cookie recipe you love, and then you pop it in the oven for 30 mins @ 375 degrees.

I hope your Valentine's will be as sweet as mine!

Parker's 5th Birthday Party and QUAKE cake

I can't believe Parker is 5! Time sure flies, and he is such a great brother and cousin. Lizzie loves her Parker, and can't get enough of him. She loves to wrestle him, and show him how strong she is.

Happy Birthday Buddy!!!

Shauna made Parker's QUAKE Cake. The cake wouldn't come out of the cake pans, and then it couldn't be frosted, so she melted the frosting and poured it on to hook it all back together. Then she used blue gel pens to write on the cake and all that equals... BLUE TONGUED PARKER'S!

BUSY LIZZIE # 413

So the past couple weeks I have been potty training Lizzie, and let's just say there are days that I think to myself, "Why am I doing this?", "Maybe she is too small?", "Am I CRAZY?" But overall it has gone well. During the week of rain we didn't leave the house once, and I was about to go insane, but I thought this is the perfect time to work on it since we really couldn't leave anyways. I tried to see if Lizzie was ready to try a couple months ago, and there were no successes then... one night I was online doing what I do best, and I found a FREE Dora Potty Training package (a Dora pull-up, Dora sticker chart, Dora stickers, coloring page, a Dora trophy, and some helpful hints to use) The rain came in, and the Dora package came out. There were multiple accidents, and only a handful of successes... I consulted friends to see what worked for their kids... and nothing worked for Lizzie. I was about to throw in the towel so I went online to see if I could find any help there, and the 2 tips that worked for Lizzie was....

Tip #1: Fill child up with tons of liquids, push liquids HARD!

Tip #2: Take the potty in front of the TV, and let the child sit and watch their favorite show.

These 2 tips saved me! Lizzie was hitting the potty regularly, and we had very little accidents. I'm not saying she is a 100% now. We have our occasional accident, but usually she makes it, and is super proud of herself. I still haven't figured out how to get her out of a diaper at night, but you need to take on one challenge at a time. Also she is using the BIG potty now , and loves to sit there and read all her books. Last Sunday I pulled her out of Nursery, and she went 3 times on the BIG potty at Church... HOORAY!!! I'm still nervous to put her in BIG GIRLS PANTIES when friends are around since she hates to stop playing when her friends are over.. but that is another challenge in itself.

* FUNNY STORY: Yesterday Lizzie told me she had to go potty so she rushed into the bathroom, and proceeded to go number 2 while I was feeding the baby. She told me she wiped, and I looked no poop. She flushed... end of story... WRONG!!! In the middle of her going potty she stuffed an entire roll of toilet paper down the toilet, and the toilet almost overflowed. I called David to see what I should do, and his answer... reach in the toilet, and pull it all out. I'm not one for fishing in the toilet when brown logs are floating around, but I did what I had to do, and now the toilet is back and ready to use.

Santa is coming to town... oh wait... he is early!

I have a picture of Lizzie in the Santa suit when she was the same age as Krislynn, but I couldn't remember where I had placed it during Christmas time... so here she is!!! I know it is totally late, but who cares... she is adorable!

Lizzie loves to smile for the camera too!

These boots were made for walking...

I found these boots at a consignment sale in Riverside, and Lizzie loves them. Parker wears his cowboy boots everywhere, and Lizzie wants to be just like Parker! She even tries to wear them to bed.

and of course a cute picture of Krislynn doing what she does best... crawl! She loves to pull herself up and hold on... she has had some major wipe outs!

Krislynn and 1st foods

Krislynn is loving baby food as you can tell! She wants a Double Double from In n Out, but we are holding out till she gets some teeth!!!

Donuts... get your donuts here!

Prep time: 25 mins plus rising

Cook: 2-3 mins/ batch

Yield: 20 donuts

Ingredients:

2 pkgs. (1/4 oz. each) active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 cup warm 2% milk

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs

1 tsp. salt

4 1/2 - 5 cups all purpose flour

oil for deep frying

Toppings:

3 cups confectioners sugar

6 to 10 Tbsp. milk

colored sprinkles

assorted breakfast cereals

In a large bowl dissolve, yeast in warm water. Add the milk, sugar, shortening, eggs, salt, and 2 cups flour: beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn into floured surface: knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 mins.

Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Turn onto a floured surface; roll out to 1/2 inch thickness.

Cut with floured donut cutter.

Place on a greased cookie sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, about an hour.

In an electric skillet or deep fryer, heat oil to 375 degrees. Fry donuts, a few at a time until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels. In a shallow bowl, combine confectioner's sugar and milk until smooth. Dip warm donuts in glaze; decorate as desired and enjoy!

This one goes to you Holly Rafidi

MUTE THE MUSIC ON MY BLOG!!!! YOU HAVE TO HEAR LIZZIE!!!

My daughter LOVES Dora... I think they whoever created Dora saw in the future what Lizzie would look like, and then made a clone of her. We had a Dora Birthday Party for Lizzie, and Holly was nice enough to let us borrow all her decorations (I still need to get those back to you) Well Lizzie loved every second of her party... Well Holly's daughter had this amazing Dora house, swimming pool, mini van, and all the accessories for it, and gave it to Lizzie for her Birthday. Well I kept it till Christmas and that was her BIG Christmas Gift. If you can't tell by the video Lizzie LOVES IT!!! Holly I owe you big... you made Lizzie's year!!! I just love Lizzie's dance every time the Mini-van comes out this is exactly what she does... Classic Lizzie!

The Girls

I thought you needed some updated pictures of us girls... We are doing great as ever. Krislynn gave us quite a scare on Saturday with 2 seizures. Thanks to everyone who has keep us in their thoughts and prayers and have brought meals in. We have the GREATEST family and friends anyone could ask for! Krislynn is doing fine... We are just keeping a close eye on her.

Cute Gifts-Kitchen Towel & Soap

Before Christmas I was doing what I do best... blog surf and I came across this super cute and inexpensive idea for gifts from Homemade by Jill... let's not get me started on my sewing machine, and how it happened to break right before Christmas, and how all my sewing projects got thrown out the window. Well thanks to a great friend named Charlotte who let me borrow her machine. My projects are starting to come to life. If you want the tutorial check out my link!

Mutual Theme 2010 Blocks

For New Beginnings this year. We wanted to make something for the girls to be able to take home, and help them focus on the theme for the year. I think they turned out pretty cute!Thanks Angie and Andrea for saving the day and helping me finish ALL the blocks. You are the greatest!!!

Nativity 2009

I know you have been waiting each day for me to post this... Sorry!!! I realized after I finished it I put it away in my Christmas box with all my other decorations. I first saw this on SugarDoodle, and feel in love, but I knew David didn't have the right tools to make it for me. Well I went back a couple weeks later, and the lady who posted it on Sugar Doodle said she would cut and ship the wood to you for dirt cheap. So here is another fun projects I have been busily doing to keep myself sane...

Krislynn is Crawling

Krislynn is amazing.. she would rather crawl than sit up by herself... She love her Big Sister and can't wait till she can keep up with her!