Fairy Tale Town

We took almost all the cousins (minus little Maysie) down to Fairy Tale town this morning and we had a great time!
And a just in case you didn't know - if you click on the picture above you can see it bigger. I have been doing the collages so I don't have to upload each picture individually (especially when there is 20 of them!)

Bite Night

My cousin Andera, Aunt Marie, sister (in law) Tanya, MY MOM, sisters Nessa and Bethany, cousin Miriam and I all got together to watch "Twilight". Everyone brought a "Twilight" inspired snack. So we had apples (of course), vampire cupcakes, kisses, popcorn drizzled over with white chocolate (we were going to dye it red to look like blood but ran out of time. This is my new favorite addiction), and some Capri Suns (to suck them dry!). We had such a good time! We even got my brother to watch it with us. His favorite part was Bella's truck, "a '66 Chevy, with a very nice patina". He would know as he is our resident expert on all things old and Chevy!

Blue Skies

What I love most about spring is the blossoms, so soft and beautiful. If I were to have a girl and give her a hippy name it would be Blossom.

After snow in Placerville on Sunday, the weather has turned beautiful! With the number of kids here at my mom's this is a very good thing because the kids can be outside being as loud, getting as dirty and playing as hard as their little hearts desire!
After visiting with my Grandma, and being quiet, good children for at least an hour and a half we took the kids out to a park for lunch. Austin, Myah and Lyndie played choo choo train almost the whole time, running and sliding while attached at the hip! That's sweet little Gracie in the upper right corner. I love her pig tails! She and Danny alternate between loving each other and being each other's best rivals.
Yesterday Bethany and I took a blanket out into the front yard, laid it in the sunshine and attempted to read while watching the kids play. We weren't able to get much reading done but having a chance to just relax, talk and soak up the sun was delicious. Steven helped Austin to climb up his first big tree. Austin was so proud! I bribed Myah, with a graham cracker to get her to pause for a picture. By the end of the afternoon, Gracie (once again with a cute pigtail) was ready for a nap in the sun too!

The view from the blanket - endless blue skies

Bethany has been busy preparing for Lyndie's princess party. I have jumped at the opportunity to help out and get to work on girly projects; glitter and flowers galore!

Austin's First T-Ball Game!

Austin had his first game yesterday! It was so cute watching all those little guys running around in their uniforms. The game lasted about 40 minutes and then we got rained out. So far his experience has been really good and he is enjoying it. Of course I think he is the star player!

Pretty Packages

I love pretty packages and I love to wrap pretty presents! Here are 2 presents I wrapped up tonight (Bethany and Lyndie don't look!)

The boys and I are headed up to my mom's for a week. I am looking forward to a week of pure chaos! We will have 7+ cousins together at any given time! I am so blessed to have such great siblings, and that my kids such great cousins. I grew up with my cousins as my best friends so I want it to be the same way for my kids.

Here are some of my latest paper crafts, all inspired by the Sizzix Top Note die. It has become my favorite crafting necessity!

I Caught a Lerperachaun!

May the sun shine, all day long,
everything go right, and nothing wrong.
May those you love bring love back to you,
and may all the wishes you wish come true!

Banana Slug and Salamanders

Yesterday we worked outside moving our log pile and cutting up wood. During this process we uncovered several salamanders and banana slugs. We decided to show some to Danny to see what he thought of them. At first he was okay but then they moved and he freaked out! The poor guy was seriously upset by them.
Later that night I was sitting in bed (eating ice cream and watching a movie - yummy!) with the cats laying by my legs. I looked down and there was a banana slug on my bed! I was so grossed out and yet laughing hysterically at the same time! I don't mind them outside but in my bed, on the sheets I had just washed yesterday was not okay! Turns out it hitched a ride into the house on Pippa's tail, which was slime covered and gross and had to be cleaned too. Ugh!

Another Sunny Day

Today was another stunningly beautiful day. After school we ran around town trying to find a 3/4 sleeve, orange. baseball undershirt, black belt and black socks for Austin's T-ball uniform. The only shirt I could find has long sleeves but, oh well, that's close enough. If needs be, I'll shorten them. The black socks they gave me come all the way up to Austin's mid thigh! Since I won't have time in the morning to return them Austin will be wearing a pair of his sunday socks. He is not too happy about that, but once again, oh well! So after all of that I decided to take the boys to the beach. We went to Seacliff, our favorite. Austin is fascinated with the cement ship at the end of the pier. Having two very mobile boys at the beach was very stressful for me! At first, we went down to play in the waves and they kept trying to take off in different directions. I literally could have used a pair of eyes in the back of my head! After awhile I got them to play and explore in the sand around our blanket. I was able to lie down while watching them and relax a little and really enjoy the beauty of the day. Being so close to the beach is my absolute favorite part about living down here.

Time for a Nap?

I guess he was kind of tired!

Sunny Day

We spent all afternoon outside and I was really happy to realize that the boys were playing outside just like boys should; digging, running, screaming, whistling "Davy Crockett" at top volume. All things we couldn't really do while living at the apartments. I am so grateful we were able to get a house that has the land and space for the boys to be able to just be boys! The kitties are also loving being outside, it is so fun to watch them. Danny had a rough day and ended up with several bumps, scrapes and cuts but still managed to run after Austin all the way down to the mailbox and back. What a trooper!Austin grabbed a shovel and started digging a gold mine. He is going to dig for a hundred years and then we will be rich and he can make me lots of gold necklaces!

Recipe for Whole Wheat Bread

True to my promise here is the recipe for the Whole Wheat Bread. . I pulled it from a cookbook my mom's ward put together. She gave me a copy for Christmas and I love it!

In true Sarah Fashion (I can't leave anything un-embellished) I put it onto one of the recipe cards I made up. I am slowly putting all my favorite recipes on to these cards and printing them out to put in my recipe box.I did change the recipe slightly from the original based on my preferences. I changed vegetable oil to olive oil and margarine to butter.

Another side note. The book that the ward put together is really cool. They did it all online at Morris Cookbooks. Everyone was able to go online to put in their recipes directly. It has an index sorted by recipe names and by contributors as well as all sorts of helpful hints. You can pick out the type of binding and the cover art. It would be great for putting together a family recipe book too (which the Jukes family is contemplating!)
Here are some pics of my book so you can get a feel for a finished project.

The Things that Make up my Days

Yesterday, I caught Danny watching out the window when he was supposed to be taking a nap. Can you blame a boy for wanting to be outside with his daddy, big brother and a chainsaw rather than stuck inside?

"Shades" of things to come?
Danny is sick and so am I - yuck! But on the upside he slept in til almost 10am! He is normally up between 6 and 7 am. It would be lovely if he would repeat this tomorrow as it is saturday morn and I don't have to take Austin to the bus.
I picked up our kitties from the vet this morning, they both went in to get snipped. Well, Poor Miss Pip kept licking her incision and now has to wear a "Buster Collar". She is miserable and hates it! I thought she almost looked like a little girl in a bonnet.
The daffodil Austin planted at school as a valentines/spring gift to me has blossomed. It is a little bit of sunshine in my kitchen window!
I made homemade wheat bread this afternoon and it turned out so good! It was fairly easy to make thanks to my KitchenAid mixer. I will post the recipe tomorrow. Right now I have to go referee my boys . . .

More Random Stuff

-Just some random thoughts and stuff to share tonight-

We got to use our gorgeous new outdoor gas grill tonight. It was house warming/Christmas gift from Bryce's Dad. To say thank you we had him over for dinner and grilled up some steaks. I love cooking on a grill because then I do not have so many dishes to clean up! It will also get a lot of use this summer when I want to cook but don't want to heat up the kitchen. I made my smashed potatoes to go along with the steaks and salad (Danny ate spinach tonight and liked it too, whoohoo!).
My dad taught me how to make mashed potatoes and it is the only thing I can make without having to have a recipe. I use red potatoes, with the skins on and cook them until they are soft. Then I mash and whip them up with butter, a least 4 cloves of garlic, milk, salt and sugar (that is my Grandma's secret - she adds a little sugar to everything!). I also make a version with sour cream and chives. So yummy!

Bryce got all the beadboard up on the hallway walls (no more mirrored tiles!) and carpet down on the floor. It looks amazing, like a totally different house. It seems bigger and brighter. I just sat in the hallway for awhile last night and enjoyed it. I will post some pics once we get all the trim and corners done.

I have to lead a book discussion on "Twilight" next week. Anyone out there have any ideas on some good questions/topics for that?

I found these dresses at Lobster and Swan and I love them! I asked Bryce if he liked them and he responded with pure sarcasm, "Why? Would you wear them on vintage dress day?". I think everyday should be vintage dress day!

I found another great site called Peonies and Polaroids (love the name). The blossoms and bowls are her photography, so simple and pure. The bunny is a sweet little bunny that she fell in love with and so did I, and I'm not even a huge bunny fan! The butterfly is cut paper - by hand! Amazing! It is so intricate. The middle picture is words but it is so delicate looks like lace to me.

Family Fun Night

Tonight was family fun night!

We started out with dinner at the Summit Roadhouse. While waiting for dinner Danny started rolling his eyes at Bryce! It was hilarious! He almost looked like he is in pain or maybe having a seizure!

After dinner we were going to go bowling. Due to the rain the bowling alley was packed. So instead we went to Neptune's Kingdom at the Boardwalk to play some miniature golf. It was total chaos. Danny kept stealing the balls and throwing them. We finally let him have a club and he had a blast.

We ended the night at the arcade and then a cup of caramel cocoa at home.

Random Ramblings

Today at church Austin was pulling my hair and I asked him to stop. He replied "But then how will the kinks get out?"
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I have joined my first book club with some of the ladies in the ward here. It is a small group so far, only 6 of us. I am very excited about it! It seems to be a good mix of personalities and interests. We are starting off reading "Twilight", as most of us have already read it and we don't have much time til the next meeting. Our next book is going to be "The Guernsey Literary & Potatoe Peel Pie Society", by Mary Ann Shaffer. I am really excited to start it. I also got to see and play with a kindle and I am in love with it! A whole portable library, my heart thrills to it!
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Austin's school has an Art Masterpiece program that I do every other month with another mom from his class. We teach them about one of the masters and then do a project based on the masters work. This month was Diego Rivera. He was famous for doing murals and pictures of people doing their everyday work. As a child he would draw all over his room so his parents decided to put paper up all over his walls. We took inspiration from that and put up a long strip of paper on an outside wall and had the kids draw a mural of something they do everyday at school. The kids loved it and did some beautiful artwork! Austin's is of the pirate lego's he loves tp play with during choice time.

T-Ball Practice

Austin started T-Ball practice this week! His team is the Giants. In these pictures he is wearing an old baseball shirt of Bryce's from when Bryce was in little league. He is doing pretty good and seems to be enjoying it. Bryce is helping to coach the team. It cracks me up to see Austin mimicking Bryce's actions without even realizing it. Danny and I have fun playing at the park while Austin practices. He won't play on the little slides, he has to go on the big slides like the big kids!