Are You Ready for MAJOR Cuteness???

My Sister-In-Law is an amazing photographer. When we went to California just recently (pics to come soon) she asked if she could take some pictures of the girls. I was so excited to have her take their pictures because she is my kind of photographer. I like the pictures that are not the standard portrait, she takes fun pics.

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The day of the photo session I babysat my nephew and she took the girls for an hour. I had no idea where they went or what kinds of pictures were taken until I got the pics on my email. I have to say that they are absolutely adorable and so far above what I expected! Thank you so much Pam, you are amazing. I seriously can not pick a favorite!

Pam said that the wall that the girls are in front of is a store mural. I absolutely LOVE these pictures and how they turned out. See what a little photoshop can do to the following two pictures.

I love the tone of the picture below, it is so subtle. A little bit of Black and White

I knew that one of the pictures were a surprise and this one is it.

What is your favorite picture?

Fast Recipes

I love easy and fast recipes. I just found this one and it was excellent! My kids devoured it and I wish that I made more so we could have leftovers.

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If anyone has any easy recipes please send them my way. We are on a spending freeze so our dream of owning a home will become a reality. So, no more eating out and I will have to figure out this cooking thing on a budget.

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Chicken Salad Sandwiches
3 cooked chicken breasts, chopped
1 or stalks celery, chopped- about 3/4 cup
2 green onions, chopped (did not have a green onion so I added a yellow onion and it was great)
1/2 cup seedless grapes, halved
3/4 cup dried cranberries (I did not add this and it was still wonderful)
3/4 cup salad dressing, such as Miracle Whip brand
2 Tablespoons coleslaw dressing
1 teaspoon each- paprika and seasoning salt
Coarsely ground black pepper, to taste

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Simply mix everything together well. Chill for at least one hour before serving. It tastes much better if allowed to chill overnight.

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Serve on toasted bread, croissants, or lettuce leaves. This easy chicken salad recipe also tastes great in pita pockets or hollowed tomato cups.

Halloween Festivities 2009

We have had a very busy Halloween season this year and to always start it off we had to go to a pumpkin patch. We chose Roloff Farms again this year and it never disappoints! It was fun seeing our friend Peggy there with her Granddaughter Molly who is on the show "Little People Big World" with her family.

(Janessa, Peggy, Molly, Ron, Ashley, Lindsay and Hailey)

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On Wednesday Hailey had a party at her preschool. She was such a cute Tinkerbell!

Ashley's class party was a lot of fun. They had snacks and played BINGO where the kids had about 40 prizes to choose from. Ashley won and chose the donuts. She was a beautiful Princess.

Lindsay also had a fun time at her class party. She was a vampire and loved showing off her fangs. On Halloween I put fun spiders in her hair and she looked so cool with fake blood on her mouth. Lindsay with her 5/6th grade class.

On Friday night Mitchell and I were invited to a fun Halloween party. The camera did not work very well at the party since it was in a forested area and it was really dark so no pics at the party. I went to my sister's trunk or treat and we saw a guy wearing a Balloon Boy costume and decided that Mitchell had to wear Balloon Boy. If you do not know who he is, check the news and you will see Balloon Boy's story.

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I wanted to somewhat match his costume so I was a milk carton that had missing information on it, as you see in the picture. On the back of my costume is Mitchell's missing information. It was fun to dress up, but a very uncomfortable costume.

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The party was a blast. You meander through the woods to get to the barn and along the way you run into people scaring you through the walk. It was really fun but scary since you never know who or what would be around the corner. Mitchell made me walk first since I had on armor, as he called it.

Mitchell and I. This pic was taken the next day since the pics did not work at the party so the box was kinda falling apart by the time this was taken and it had been rained on the day before. You get the picture though.

Mitchell decided to let his balloons from his costume go. He taped a note to the bottom of the balloons to see if anyone would tell him where they found the balloons. No replies as of yet, but we will see if we ever get one.

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Once we let the balloons go we realized that it looked like a spaceship and we worried that someone would think it was a UFO. It most definitely did not look like a cluster of balloons. We checked the news that night and nothing was on it so we were relieved. :)

Halloween day we went to the Tualatin Pumpkin Regatta that we go to every year. It is fun to see the people get into the huge pumpkins and race around the lake.

I love the costumes that the riders put on. There was a bottle of ketchup, a scuba diver, an angel and Charlie Brown.

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I had Heather's girls since they babysit the night before so we could go to the party and Jared and his kids came to join us at the lake.

Someone carved out a pumpkin for the kids to sit in and take pictures.

Halloween night I took Lindsay and Hailey to Lake Oswego to to with Heather and her kids. The girls got a ton of candy and they were so nice to share with me.

(Elizabeth was a vampire, Josh was Wayne from Wayne's World, Rachel was a witch, Lindsay and Hailey.)

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Ashley went trick or treating with her friend Hannah so I did not get a picture of her that night. We had such a fun Halloween. This morning before church Ashley told me that the next Halloween is 364 days from now. I think I will think about Thanksgiving and Christmas before I think about Halloween again.

Picture Session

I absolutely love everything about photography. When I was younger I took a 4-H photography class and my pictures when to the county fair and I received 1st place on one of my pictures. It is my passion in life! I would love one day to have a fantastic camera to take pictures like the pros.

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I took some pics of my girls at our friends barn and I was not too pleased with them. They just did not have the look that I wanted so I decided to see if my Sister in law could do anything with them. This is the pic that I sent her of Hailey.

When I received this picture back I was shocked.

If you have the right know how of how to change the pictures and if you have the right software even so so pictures can turn out to be beautiful. Thanks Pam! I love them.

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I am working on a new header with the other pics of the girls that I took so I will put it up once I am able to figure out what I want to do.

Ward Harvest Festival

Mitchell is pretty much a home body and loves to stay home in which I usually am the one to take the girls places since he just wants to relax after a long week at work. I knew that our Ward Harvest Festival was coming up so I knew I had to get him to go, somehow.

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After finding out what we would be doing at the Festival I realized we were going to have a Pumpkin Carving Contest where you bring your own pumpkins and decorate them there for about an hour. Well, this did the trick and Mitchell was so excited. He is a competitor and wanted to have the best pumpkin there.

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When we lived in Utah they had a pumpkin decorating contest and he won the competition. He made these pumpkins of Spongebob and Patrick. They were adorable!!!

We searched online and he found some different ideas on what he wanted to do and then made his plan of attack.

Mitchell has his game face on.
There were a lot of fun pumpkins there but the embarrassing part is he was pretty much up against a boy that stuck half of a pumpkin on his head for a pumpkin hat (it was Mitchell's pumpkin) and he almost won because you cheered for the one that you liked the most and since there were a lot of youth there, they wanted their friend to win. He was also against our Bishop that did a great job on his cat pumpkin.
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This is what he came up with. It is a scary pumpkin eating smaller pumpkins and the he has his boiling soup bowl with other small pumpkins inside (somehow they did not end up in the bowl but on the table, but they were suppose to be in the bowl). It was really cute and no one else thought of dry ice, who would. :)

So, Mitchell won and loves his cool trophy that we are to bring back next year. It is seriously sitting on my kitchen table, not sure if he will let me take it down.

THE INTERVENTION

Now we have a problem, he won't put the trophy down, as you can see...

25 Random Things

Ok, lets see if I can think of 25 different random things about me and if you try it also please let me know so I can check them out.

1. I have always had a stash of chips or candy laying around since I was young. If my brothers or sisters wanted a treat, most likely I had one hidden under the bed.

2. I absolutely hate it when people eat and speak with their mouth open. HUGE pet peeve of mine. When I was young I would not eat at the dinner table because of the select "chompers" as I used to call them.

3. I am very afraid of mice. They are disgusting and I want nothing to do with them. We once had a mouse in our house and while I was on the couch screaming my daughters ran to the neighbors and he was able to get it out of the house. Thank heaven for good neighbors.

4. I love things nice and tidy but my house is never nice and tidy. I am a pack rat and my house, and car, show it.

5. I sleep on my side every night.

6. I failed my driving test once, another time my car's lights were burned out so third time was the charm.

7. I have always wished that I kept with my piano playing as a child. Every now and then you will find me at the piano singing my heart out and playing away and my neighbors can attest to this one.

8. I get along really well with each of my brothers and sisters. It is fun to have such a great relationship with them.

9. I was on the soccer team while in High School and our team NEVER made a single goal until the last game of my Sophmore year.

10. I love amusement parks but as I get older the roller coasters give me headaches. I do love seeing my children love the roller coasters now though.

11. I have never dyed my hair and I have no plan in doing it either.

12. I am VERY afraid of flying! My husband is a pilot and you won't even find me on a plane with him. It terrifies me!

13. I hate folding laundry. I have piles of clean clothes all around my house.

14. I never make my bed and my thinking is why when I will be in it tonight anyways.

15. My parents are the best parents a girl could ask for.

16. I had to pursue Mitchell during High School. After our first date I did not hear from him for about two months, until I emailed him...the rest is history.

17. Mitchell was my High School Senior Prom date!!! I still have the corsage that he got for me. (I actually bought it and he never payed me back, but oh well, we are married now so who cares.)

18. I absolutely love carnations!

19. I dislike cold weather and snow!

20. I have never had a cavity and I do not wear glasses, the same goes for Mitchell. Hopefully our children will not need either also.

21. Every couple of minutes I call Hailey's name to make sure she is okay. If I don't I get sick and can't physically get myself to not see where she is. I have done this with each of my children and even my youngest brother.

22. Each of my children were C-Section due to different reasons. The DR has told me I can only have one more child, due to scarring, so I am waiting for the right time and hope that when the time comes that Heavenly Father feels like it is time also.

23. For our 3rd wedding anniversary Mitchell and I went on a cruise and we hated it. Not sure if we will ever go on a cruise again.

24. I love the smell of pine sol, coconut and rain.

25. I love blogging and will one day make a blog for each of my children so I can print it up for them when they are grown. One day...

Cute Halloween Bags!!!

My friend just made these cute Trick-or-Treat bags and put them on her Esty Shop if you would like to check it out and buy one or two or three or more :) from her. They are absolutely adorable and very durable. Check it out!!! http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=8132754

As A Mom

It is 2:30 AM and I can not sleep. I have so many things going through my head. My three beautiful daughters lay sound asleep on the couch and I am so thankful for them and their sweet spirits. They are the number one concern in my Mommy Brain. I want the best for them, I want them to be taken care of, I want them to have the wonderful life that I had when I was a child and growing up.

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The times are changing and the world is a pretty scary place. My children come home with stories about what other children talk about and it is pretty sad. When my children play on the playground they have to wear earplugs so that they do not have to listen to the garbage that some kids let out of their mouths.

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Being a PROUD Conservative Mother of Three one of my top concerns is their education right now. I can sit down and just let the girls do their homework day in and day out but I learned that I need to do more then that. I need to also be their Teacher at home and teach them how to cook, how to budget, how to be physically fit, how to eat well, how to speak nicely to other, how to do all of those things that Mommies need to do. Being a Christian Mother also brings to play that I need to teach my children about prayer and that they are not alone.

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As I flipped through the channels I found Glenn Beck. I am not an avid watcher of Glenn but his show intrigued me tonight. He had three Moms on there that were talking about getting out of their shell and making a difference in the world. Glenn Beck said his number one Pet Peeve is when Moms say, "I am just a Mom." I find myself saying this all of the time, but we are so much more then just a Mom. We have a lot to offer and so much power and influence.

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On his show he had a lady that started a group on her website www.asamom.org. I had to check it out. It is such a wonderful support group for Mom's out there that just want to know what is the best thing to do for your children. She has twelve values and they are:

1-Honesty

2-Reverence

3-Hope

4-Thrift

5-Humility

6-Charity

7-Sincerity

8-Moderation

9-Hard Work

10-Courage

11-Personal Responsibility

12-Gratitude

They also have nine principles that are:

1. America is good.

2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.

3. I must always try to be a more honest person than I was yesterday.

4. The family is sacred. My spouse and I are the ultimate authority, not the government.

5. If you break the law you pay the penalty. Justice is blind and no one is above it.

6. I have a right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, but there is no guarantee of equal results.

7. I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable.

8. It is not un-American for me to disagree with authority or to share my personal opinion.

9. The government works for me. I do not answer to them, they answer to me

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I love the second Principle that states, "I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life," and number seven that states, "I work hard for what I have and I will share it with who I want to. Government cannot force me to be charitable." On facebook the other day my brother made a comment that stated, "I see way higher taxes in our future." A girl that I grew up with made the following comment, "Do you make more than 250000 a year? If not, your taxes will not go up. If so, I believe that giving and sharing with those less fortunate is a keystone of the Christian faith, is it not?" This comment floored me and upset me. She was putting down our beliefs and was putting our beliefs on the spot. I showed the comment to my husband and he, being the very Conservative Christian told me what to write back. "Being Christian means not being forced to give like the Government will make us. Charity is when you do it on your own free will like Christ taught. Everyone in America, rich or poor, will pay higher taxes. Congress passed the CAP and Trade Bill which will cause everyone's utility bills to almost double. They are also trying to pass taxes on sodas, foods, and your own health care which everyone pays. The government doesn't spend my "charity taxes" the way that I want them to. If you had to every payday write the government a check for your taxes instead of the government taking it out, you would have a different opinion of taxes. I work too hard for Nancy Pelosi and for Obama to foolishly spend my money as they see fit." Yes, he is a genius, I know. Ha. I felt good being able to stand up for what I believed in. I belong to the group now and I am very excited to read the other comments by Mother's just like me who struggle with the day to do questions of my children's future.

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If you want to join the group go to www.asamom.org (remember that it is 2:30 in the morning so hopefully this makes sense.)

WHEW!!!

I can not believe how long it takes to post that many posts but I am finally caught up for the year. Now I just have to keep my hands off of the camera so I do not take any more pictures and have to blog some more. Ha, yeah right.

Hailey's Preschool

Here in Oregon if you are five before September 1st you can go to Kindergarten. Mitchell and I debated over sending Hailey since she turned five August 24th. I really struggled over it and finally came to the conclusion, with a lot of prayer, that she is just not ready yet and neither am I. I did not ever want to regret putting her in school and since there was that possibility, I did not want to take it. Ashley is a late birthday and since she was the oldest in her class I have loved that. So our decision was made.

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I did not want her sitting around the house all day, and I could tell myself a million times that I was going to do preschool myself with her but then I would not get around to it. I decided to look into some preschools. I found an amazing preschool at St. Frances Catholic School. It is called Mini Hearts Preschool. Her first day she was nervous but excited at the same time. Mrs. Patti and Mrs. Jen are her teachers and they are so sweet. Since school had already started three weeks before everyone else knew each other so it was fun for her to be the new girl.

She is growing up way too fast. It is sad not having a baby around the house anymore. We had a plumber come here the other day and he asked her why she was not in school and her reply was, "My Mom says I am her baby and so I can not go to school." I have learned to watch what I say, but she will always be my baby.
(By her cubby)

(By her name tag on the wall)

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So, what do I do while she is at school for four hours M, W and F? I get to clean up things like this.

SO RIDICULOUS! The worst part is it was worse when i got to it. I cleaned Ashley and Hailey's room and took three bags to Goodwill and all of the toys to storage. It is so clean and has been two weeks since I cleaned it!! YAHOO for me!

Standards Night Cake

Mitchell has the privelege of being our Priest Quorum Advisor in our ward and he was able to participate in the yearly Standards Night. This is a special night where the Youth of the Church are able to talk about Standards. Our Bishop answered some of the questions that the Youth had.

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Mitchell decided Saturday night that he wanted to make a special cake for the special day. It is always fun to see how they turn out.

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We decided to use the book pan that our Grandma Couch gave us. Mitchell wanted them to represent the scriptures. We finally settled on writing the Theme for the Year for the Youth which is found in 1 Timothy 4:12 and it reads, "Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity."

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The girls have fun helping us. Ashley was rolling out my fondant balls that went around the bottom of the cake.

These flowers were fun to make since I had never made them so small. I wish that they did not have to eat them because they actually worked out better then I had hoped and wanted to keep them.

We decided to use the Temple that we had on our Wedding cake. I thought it made a special touch to the cake.

Next time we will use our own cake recipe. It looked good, but Mitchell said it was pretty dry so sorry to whomever ate it. :)

Randomness

My girls look forward to Friday nights. We usually watch a movie and the girls get to sleep in the living room. Ashley had a great idea to sleep in our tent, in the living room. They had a lot of fun and so did Teddy.

I walked into the living room one day and Teddy was laying just like this on my telephone. I thought it was so funny. Right after I snapped this pic he moved so I am glad that I was able to get the picture.

When Hailey was four she wanted to have her own yard sale. When I would tell her no she would say to me, "When I am five can I?" I told her yes, you can when you are five. Well, she is five now and look at what she did.
She was determined and sat out on her little Home Depot bucket for about an hour. No one came to her little sale, but she still had fun. About a week later she decided to try something else to get money so she set up an obstacle course that she called a FUN FUN. She had a hopscotch drawn on the driveway, had balls, had jump ropes out in hope that someone would pay to play with her toys. I ran into the house and got some change and gave it to the kids and to some of the neighbors so she could have some customers. I guess that was a bad idea since she wanted to do it all night since she made some money. What a determined child.
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Some funny things that Hailey has said lately that I posted on facebook but I have to post it here so I remember it. She was spitting in the air and I wanted to know what she was doing and she said, "Running through the sprinklers." I also asked her if she could do some kind of chore, can't remember what, and she was wearing princess costume and she told me she could not do it since princesses don't work.