Turtle Doves and Biscuits

A Poem

2012-02-13T09:48:00.001-08:00

Early Spring By Tennyson

Once more the Heavenly Power

Makes all things new,

And domes the red-plowed hills

With loving blue;

The blackbirds have their wills,

The throstles too.

Opens a door in Heaven;

From skies of glass

A Jacob's ladder falls

On greening grass,

And o'er the mountain-walls

Young angels pass.

Before them fleets the shower,

And burst the buds,

And shine the level lands,

And flash the floods;

The stars are from their hands

Flung through the woods,

The woods with living airs

How softly fanned,

Light airs from where the deep,

All down the sand,

Is breathing in his sleep,

Heard by the land.

O, follow, leaping blood,

The season's lure!

O heart, look down and up,

Serene, secure,

Warm as the crocus cup,

Like snow-drops, pure!

Past, Future glimpse and fade

Through some slight spell,

A gleam from yonder vale,

Some far blue fell;

And sympathies, how frail,

In sound and smell!

Till at thy chuckled note,

Thou twinkling bird,

The fairy fancies range,

And, lightly stirred,

Ring little bells of change

From word to word.

For now the Heavenly Power

Makes all things new,

And thaws the cold, and fills

The flower with dew;

The blackbirds have their wills,

The poets too.

Charlie Barley

2012-02-12T18:51:00.000-08:00

Uncle JJ hooked these boys up this Christmas.

I got these neato dragon pencil crayons for Charlie. They made me want to color with color names such as "Pickled Beet" and "Boot Leather Brown" and "Marshmallow" and "Apple Pie" and "Rubber Ducky Yellow" and "Kettle Black". I found this drawing dragons book to go with them. The book is perfect for his age. All of Ralph Masiello's books are great. The drawings are super easy and really cool. Jacob got his drawing bugs book and it's just as good.

Charlie is like me. He had all his presents made and organized and wrapped long before it crossed anyone else's mind in this house. He worked really hard and put a lot of thought into each one.

I took Charlie on a little date to this quaint little tea shop called the Jasmine Room. He tried a strawberry bubble tea for the first time there.

Charlie cut himself with his new pocket knife in January. He ended up with three stitches in his pinky.

I found this set up on Charlie's dresser? His binoculars on top of his lotion, just at the right level for his piggy bank pig to look through. Why would he think of that??

Lapbooks

2012-02-12T17:36:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the boring post but I want to keep a record of these things.

Charlie decided to study planets for his lapbook this time. He put together a solar system in Scarlet's room that glows in the dark. He used glow in the dark stars inside his folder to show constellations. It was really cool.

Jane wanted to do hers on butterflies. I hesitated because she already knows everything about them but then I thought it would be good for her show me what she knows. I love how she made a tree covered in Monarchs to show migration to Mexico.

Jacob wanted to study frogs.

Jacob actually had his frog one done so fast that he did another before the others were done their's. He did his next on on the platypus.

Jeremy Jones - A Changing Passion

2012-02-11T20:08:00.000-08:00

I Seriously Want More Already...

2012-01-29T20:06:00.000-08:00

Turns out Ezra was the New Years baby in Cardston, even though he was born on Jan. 6th.

He's famous!

So I turned 31 years old this weekend. Turning 30 was misery but I'm ok with 31 for some reason. My goal was to be done having kids by the time I was 30 so I just barely made it with 3 week to spare. Unless I have a few more that is...

What better birthday gift than this little guy!

Breakfast Just Gets Better and Better...

2012-01-27T17:39:00.000-08:00

We made this for breakfast today. Thank you Jenny for sending me the recipe. I LOVE when people send me recipes. We used strawberries instead of blackberries and brown sugar instead of maple syrup. The baked banana in it is so good.

Healthy Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup toasted and chopped walnut pieces
1/3 cup natural cane sugar or maple syrup (and more syrup for serving)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups milk
1 egg
3 Tablespoons butter melted and cooled slightly
2 teaspoon vanilla
2 bananas
1 1/2 cups blackberries (blueberries, raspberries, or a mixture)

Instructions

Mix together the oats, half of the walnuts, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
In another bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, butter, and vanilla.
Generously butter the bottom of an 8-inch pan and add sliced bananas and half of the blackberries.
Add the oat mixture to the top of the fruit.
Pour the milk mixture over the oats. Use a spoon to make sure the milk mixture is incorporated throughout the oats.
Add the remaining walnuts and blackberries.
Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven with the rack in the top third of the oven for 35 to 45 minutes. The top should be golden and the oatmeal should be set.
Let the oatmeal cool for a few minutes and serve with maple syrup and if you are really feeling wild, more melted butter

We Had this for Breakfast Today

2012-01-26T14:16:00.000-08:00

Vanilla Avocado Banana “Ice Cream” (Vegan, Dairy-Free, Soy Free, Gluten Free)

1 ripe avocado

1 medium banana (previously frozen in chunks is optimal)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 c milk (nut milk, vanilla flavored nut milk, milk, cream, vanilla Coffeemate, or water)

1/2 c sugar (add/reduce/omit as desired, or use stevia or vanilla NuNaturals stevia drops, to taste, or agave)

1 cup ice cubes (optional)

Blend everything in Vita-Mix or blender until smooth.

Vita-Mix Tips: If you are using a Vita and the mixture is extremely thick, add more milk/agave/splash of water until blending is easier and blend on High. Don’t be afraid of High. Better to do this on High for shorter duration than lower speed/longer duration.

Store in container in the freezer. Mixture will freeze solid in the freezer and if so, let thaw for 5 minutes on countertop until you can scoop it out.

Tried it, LOVED it.

2012-01-26T05:40:00.000-08:00

We gobbled these up. They are fantastic.

I'm planning on stocking the freezer with them for Timmy to grab before work for breakfast.

Homemade Granola Bars

Basic Ratio for TRIO Bars:

1 cup toasted or raw nuts (e.g., cashews, almonds, pistachios, walnuts), coarsely chopped

1/2 cup seeds (e.g., green pumpkin seeds (pepitas, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds)

1/3 cup chopped dried fruit (any variety/combination to create different tastes; this also includes unsweetened coconut)

1/8 tsp fine sea salt

1/4 cup brown rice syrup, barley malt syrup, or light cane syrup (e.g., Lyle's Golden syrup)

(note: honey will not work--bars will be sticky, not crispy)

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line an 8-inch square pan (9-inch is too big* see note below) with foil and lightly spray with (do not skip these steps!).

2. In a medium bowl, combine the chopped nuts, seeds, and dried fruit.

3. Add the salt and syrup and stir to coat.

4. Scrape/dump mixture into prepared pan. Now, to press it out evenly: Tear off a good size piece of foil (around the size of the pan or slightly smaller). Lightly spray it with nonstick spray. Use the sprayed side of foil to press and spread evenly into pan. Works like a charm!

5. Bake for 18 minutes (the bars will not be hard at this point). Place pan on cooling rack and let cool for 15 to 20 minutes (give or take) until partially set up (it will depend on how hot or cold the kitchen—just don’t cool completely). Use the sides of foil to lift the bars from the pan. Do not try to remove from foil—they will stick like crazy. Cut into 8 bars.

6. Go and do something else until bars are completely cooled. Once cooled, the bars will lift right off of the foil. Wrap in parchment or wax paper and store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Naturalness

2012-01-26T05:35:00.000-08:00

Made this yesterday. It's super inexpensive and it works awesome.

Homemade Natural Mouthwash

Total Time: 5 min.

Ingredients

1 cup filtered or distilled water

1 tsp baking soda

8 drops peppermint oil

4 drops tea tree oil

(optional) vegetable glycerine to taste

Sterilize the container you want to put your mouthwash in by placing the glass vessel in boiling water for a couple of minutes and letting it dry on a clean towel. Place funnel in top of bottle and add baking soda, oils then the water. Replace bottle cap and shake well. It’ll be a little cloudy at first but will clear up in a couple of minutes when the baking soda fully dissolves. If you want a sweeter mouthwash to mask the slight saltiness of the baking soda, add a few drops of vegetable glycerine, shake to mix and taste, adding a few more drops as necessary until you reach your desired sweetness. Then, swish away!

That is ALL you have to do. Crazy easy, right? It works really well, better than conventional, pain-inducing mouthwash in my opinion.

Inspire

2012-01-24T23:05:00.000-08:00

I finished my book "Daughters in My Kingdom- The History and Work of Relief Society". I especially enjoyed chapter nine, "Guardians of the Hearth". I wanted to share some of my favorite parts.

President Hinckley said this of women, "You are the guardians of the hearth... you are the bearers of the children. You are they who nurture them and establish within them the habits of their lives. No other work reaches so close to divinity as does the nurturing of the sons and daughters of God."

The word motherhood defines women's eternal roles; it describes their nature as nurturers.
Nurture is a rich word. It means to train, to teach, to educate, to faster development, to promote growth, and to nourish or feed.

Sister Beck taught about the role of nurturing; "To nurture means to cultivate, care for, and make grow. Therefore, mothers should create a climate for spiritual and temporal growth in their homes. Nurturing mothers are knowledgeable, but all the education women attain will avail them nothing if they do not have the skill to make a home that creates a climate for spiritual growth... Nurturing requires organization, patience, love, and work."

"Hold your heads high, you wives, mothers, homemakers. You engender life and enrich it. Don't trade that pervasive force for fleeting, surface trinkets. Cherish it, enlarge it, magnify it. You hold a mighty office."

Sis. Beck again: “The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life. … It requires a conscious effort to diminish distractions, but having the spirit of revelation makes it possible to prevail over opposition and persist in faith through difficult days and essential routine tasks. … When we have done our very best, we may still experience disappointments, but we will not be disappointed in ourselves. We can feel certain that the Lord is pleased when we feel the Spirit working through us.”

“Mothers in Zion, your God-given roles are so vital to your own exaltation and to the salvation and exaltation of your family. A child needs a mother more than all the things money can buy. Spending time with your children is the greatest gift of all.”

Ezra Taft Benson

The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson (1988), 515

“Heaven is a place,” President Kimball taught, “but also a condition; it is home and family. It is understanding and kindness. It is interdependence and selfless activity. It is quiet, sane living; personal sacrifice, genuine hospitality, wholesome concern for others. It is living the commandments of God without ostentation or hypocrisy. It is selflessness. It is all about us. We need only to be able to recognize it as we find it and enjoy it.

"Other institutions in society may falter and even fail, but the righteous woman can help to save the home, which may be the last and only sanctuary some mortals know in the midst of storm and strife.”

President Spencer W. Kimball

Books Everywhere

2012-01-22T21:45:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling the need to share some of the books we've enjoyed over the winter so far. Sometimes I get into a book slump and don't have any soul searching books on the go and then other times I have stacks of them. Right now my stack is out of control.

It just so happened that Jane and I were on our fifth Little House book "The Long Winter" just in time to read for December. The coolest part was finishing it on Christmas Eve.

Jacob got this one for his birthday. It's written by Elsa Beskow whom I learned about from my friend Luisa. We now have a little collection of her books.

"Elsa Beskow (1874-1953) is the Beatrix Potter of Scandinavia, and for over one hundred years Swedish children have grown up with her books. With a focus on nature, the changing seasons and the adventures you can only have as a child, her books transcend nationality and time and are true classics. For children aged 3-7 years old."

This butterfly book is by Sibylle von Olfers (1881-1916). Her books are equally darling if you ask me.

"She uses a blend of natural observation and simple design that critics

have compared to the works Elsa Beskow."

"Snowflake Bentley" is actually a true story. It's a neat story about finding your passion in life and living it out. I was inspired. I also liked how his parents believed in him.

This past summer, our friend Ellice was reading "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" at the swimming hole and she told us a bit about it. It motivated Jane and I to read it and finally did. We both really enjoyed it.

"The Hiding Place" is such a moving book. I don't know why I haven't read it until now but I'm glad I waited because I got to read it with Jane. Listening to me read is sort of Jane's thing. She will do it for hours and at any time she's ready. She just really loves it, so I capitalize on it and it's so rewarding to have all these books we love in common. This one had three small parts I skipped over because they weren't age appropriate but other than that it was lovely.

I have to admit I felt pretty heartless taking this picture since Jane was in the depths of despair but I just thought it was so cute that she felt so wounded by the story. She was sitting at the table with a box of tissues and that's when I snapped the photo.

The sign of a true book lover.

“When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.”

-Corrie Ten Boom

Valley Alley

2012-01-19T19:09:00.000-08:00

This was Scarlet's first time bowling and she was a natural! She waited so nicely for her turn and then she learned perfect Granny bowling skills. The only problem was the 15 minutes it took for her ball to get to the pins.

Charlie won for the second year in a row and I was happy he did because he was so certain that he would and no one else cared.

New Baby Vacation

2012-01-19T18:59:00.000-08:00

A week after Ezra was born we took a week family vacation to just enjoy this new baby and some uninterrupted family time.

I packed some Minute to Win It games for the down time and some of them made us laugh pretty hard.The cookie on the face game was the funniest. You look like a weirdo with

a cookie on your face :0)

This was a fun game too- they each got a Kleenex box and they raced to

empty it but only using on hand.

This game we played a few times. Charlie especially liked it. Rolling quarters towards forks.

Getting a bouncy ball from the foot of pantyhose without using your other arm to help, turned into pantyhose on the head and loud growling for Scarlet...

Balancing dice on a popsicle stick in your mouth.

Movie night.

Math is Awesome

2012-01-19T18:48:00.000-08:00

To: Mommy
I am sorry I was being grumpy about my math. I guess I wasn't in the mood. And was not cooperating with you. I am sorry. Do you forgive me? Math is Awesome!
Love: Jane

This note made my day. How cute! The best part is the spelling of cooperating "qwoprating".
Jane easily gives up on a tough math question so that morning I had tried to give her some math confidence. I made her stand on her chair and yell math phrases like, "Math is Awesome!" and "I am the boss of math!" She was embarrassed at first but after the other kids got in on it she did too.

Castle All Day Long

2012-01-19T18:42:00.000-08:00

We've been collecting Schleich animals since Charlie was a baby. He loved them and then, luckily Jacob loves them just as much. Jane likes them too but she doesn't want to play as long as she used to. Tim and I love listening to the animal dialogues they make up while in imagination land. Often I hear them making the animals talk to each other about the gospel. It's so funny. I also hear the animals talk about going to the gym and being pregnant with a sore back. Yikes, nothing gets past these kids.

Best Voice Ever

2012-01-19T11:06:00.001-08:00

MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON from Dean Fleischer-Camp on Vimeo.

Birthday Month

2012-01-19T10:43:00.000-08:00

We have 3 out of 5 kids born in January and I'm a January birthday too. So 4 of us, and right after Christmas too. I don't know how this happened.

Jane woke up to this birthday door on the morning we celebrated her birthday.

I got a little fancy this year with the cupcakes- it's so not like me to do this kind of stuff. But don't

worry, they were actually whole wheat, carrot spice muffins :0)

Uncle Jared got Jane an ipod! She was elated.

Jane turned 8 this year so we are having her baptism on Feb 4th. She worked really hard in her Baptism Prep class to get ready. She did lots of reading and studying and she even memorized some scriptures on her own.

Jacob loves insects so this is his caterpillar cake. It was actually bran muffins- nobody even noticed :0)

Uncle Jared hooked him up with a remote control car and it was even red!

Squissy

2012-01-18T20:50:00.000-08:00

Scarlet says "squissy" instead of "squishy" and she dies for black olives.

Quote TIme

2012-01-14T19:35:00.000-08:00

Tim talking with the kids:
"Baby Ezra has one job in this family, do you guys know what it is?
Get chubby!!"

Jane asked me if babies grow in your stomach. I told her they grow in this thing called a uterus. She joyously proclaimed how lucky girls are because, "Girls get to have a uterus and hips!"

Jacob had so many questions about babies when Ezra came home. He walked into our bedroom and saw the pack'n play and said, "Cool, is that his new cage?"
Then he asked, "Mom, did he come out wearing that one (onesie) or did you put that on him?" I answered, "He came out naked, all babies do." Then all four of them died laughing. Apparently that's the funniest thing ever.
Lastly, Jacob said, "I like him mom, he's just like Baba."
"Why?" I asked.
He replied, "Because he's so sleepy."

Each day Jacob asks if I want to know his new favorite part about the baby. First it was his ears, then his fingers, then his tummy... The picture below shows him measuring his body parts against the tiny baby's. "Mom! My ear is this big and Ezra's is only this big!"

Now for my personal favorite, which happens to be on video. The minute we got home from the hospital we told Scarlet how the baby came out. Instantly she looked at my tummy and says in an excited squealy voice, "There's more?" Happens every time. I proceed to tell her no, there isn't any more but she keeps pressing the issue saying, "He wants his friend mom. He wants his friend." over and over.

In the car on the way to our vacation I started laughing at something and Jane told me that my laugh was weird. I think I don't laugh enough because it sounded strange to her for me to laugh really hard. Then Charlie agrees and says, "Ya, it's not contagious at all! But my laugh is contagious. One time I was laughing and Jane didn't even know why and she started laughing."

The Joy of Books

2012-01-10T09:17:00.000-08:00

Deliciousness

2012-01-07T20:57:00.000-08:00

Ezra Manochehr Eaton

Born January 6, 2012

8 pounds 6 ounces

Ezra is healthy and quiet and sleepy and perfect. Last night was our first night taking care of him and I think Tim and I both fell in instant love with this little guy. We can’t figure out who he looks like yet. He’s sort of his own guy. He has some brown hair but it doesn’t seem like he’ll have brown eyes. We had the hardest time naming him. We waited until the very last second to choose one. We were sure about the Persian middle name after my dad but we were struggling with these 5 names: Jude, Clyde, Ezra, Otis, Emerson. We seriously couldn’t pick one.

I can’t believe how delightful having a newborn is. I love everything about it. They smell amazing, the cute noises, the chicklit sized diapers, the froggy legs, the soft skin, they are the snuggliest, and the teeny-tiny-ness…everything! I get so excited to wake up and feed him in the night and be alone together. It’s my favorite part. Tim and I were just remarking on the reverent feeling it is to have a new baby in your home. We are feeling so thankful for a healthy little boy and for all the friends and family to share the specialness with.

Babies

2011-12-30T19:34:00.000-08:00

My mom got the new (unborn) baby one of those night light things that project constellations onto the ceiling. We got it out yesterday afternoon and the kids took it into Scarlet's room (closet) and I might have thought they were looking at the Grand Canyon in there. They were oooh and ahhhh-ing like crazy. So of course when bedtime came around they pleaded to all sleep in Jane's (queen size) bed so they could sleep under the stars together. I forget why I am explaining all this?? Oh, so the result of the sleepover was me hearing them laughing and talking this morning at 4 am (I only heard them because I'm up the whole night these days since I am so uncomfortable). I was hoping they'd go back to sleep but I fell asleep so who knows what happened after that. Needless to say, today was an emotional day. All four of them cried about nothing periodically and the meltdowns were constant. We learned our lesson about the sleepover thing but we do love that they love to play together so much. Tonight was an early bedtime to catch up for last night, but Jacob stayed up with me a little longer because he had been waiting to show me the game he made up. Tim put the kids to bed downstairs and he and I had some alone time in my room and I watched him play with his animals and he talked my head off. We said a prayer and then I sent him off to bed too and before he left he gave me a darling hug (he's the least huggy of the kids so his hugs are a real treat) and said, "Mom, I can't wait for the baby, but I wish it didn't hurt you." I asked him why he was excited and he said, "Because we need more people to play with at our house." It was the sweetest moment. I wanted to keep him up with me all night after that. Then he went on about how the baby will only like milk and applesauce but that he'll teach him how to play animals so he'll like that too. Then somehow that led into why he loves Grammy and Baba's house because of Grammy's cozy bed, the hot tub, the tractor rides, waffles, Persian food, Treehouse... Seriously LOVE that kid. He's such a quiet, mature and sensitive guy for an almost 5 year old. Tim and I always muse about how we wish we could just freeze time right now in this stage of life- we're not into this growing up stuff.

Scoopy Has A Pony

2011-12-29T20:55:00.000-08:00

A little quirk about Scarlet is how she is obsessed with mustaches. I don't know why. No matter what she is eating or drinking, she'll somehow give herself a mustache and come show me. Like she'll be eating an apple and tell me she has an "apple mustache" or a "yogurt mustache" or a "water mustache". She's a strange girlie.

Charlie was telling the others that they were allowed to watch Charlie Brown and Scarlet strongly protested, " I want Scarlet Brown."

This is Scarlet's most recent knock knock joke:

Knock knock

Who is there?

Mary

Mary who?

Merry Christmas!

We like her most when she's sleeping...

Holy grumpy pants.

The is the Christmas afternoon nap. Look how Timmy and Jane have the same arm position.

Grammy and Baba got Scarlet a horsey. She sat on it for like an hour and a half. It was awesome.

Jared got Scarlet her first doll. She ADORES it. What is wrong with me, I've always just got her babies and never even thought to get her a doll yet. Good thing she has an Uncle Jared for these things.

Winter Love

2011-12-26T19:23:00.000-08:00

Winter Butterflies

By Marilyn Helmer

Lacy snowflakes
fill the skies
With dainty winter
butterflies.
They flit and flutter
gently down
On crystal wings
to frozen ground.

Christmas Creations

2011-12-26T19:19:00.000-08:00

Mariah, did we seriously both add a little lacy cheer to our brown bag wrapping. What are the chances!

I made these bath salts with my activity day girls. They are fun to make and so easy. We used sugar instead of Epsom salts and added a ton of glitter of course.

Christmas village made out of easy craft clay:

Here's what you'll need...

• 1 box baking soda (about 2 cups)
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cups water
• Sauce pan
• Bowl
• Spoon
• Plastic wrap

Here's how you make it...

1. Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring consistently, until it is too thick to stir with a spoon.

2. Cool for 15 minutes, or until the dough is cool enough to touch. Knead it for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. Keep dough wrapped in plastic.

Once you have molded it, it will take 1-2 days for the clay to dry. This clay can be painted with either Tempera or acrylic craft paints.

Jane spent a year on this embroidery project for Grammy. She just figured it out on her own without any guidance from me so I was really impressed with how well it turned out.

Charlie wrote this letter to Baba to give to him with the felted bee he made. He read it for all of us on Christmas day- it was really cute.

Charlie found this real peacock feather at a pumpkin farm and he gave it to Grammy. It made for some fancy wrapping.

I put together a kit for Tim so he can teach the boys some manly stuff this next semester- like knot tying, compass stuff, starting fires, etc. Kind of a scouts/survival class. I gathered some supplies and printed tutorials for a few activities just to give him a head start on it. One of the activities I thought would be fun for the boys to make are these survival bracelets. They actually ended up making them on Christmas day and got pretty in to it. The best part is the fancy heart knot I tied around the gift as part of the wrapping. It's so satisfying to tie a knot right, sort of like getting the right answer at the end of a long math equation. Feel free to ask me to show you, it's super fun to do.

The kids cut out these felt ornaments and decorated the mini school room tree. It brought some cheer to our studies in December.

Jacob spent close to a year working on this project. He loves to tell us about his "imaginations" and when he gets started you better plan on at least an hour of listening. Finally, I started typing them out while he was talking so we can read them when he's older. I had them made into a booklet and he drew illustrations to go with each story. He worked so hard so it was rewarding for him to give his book to family (and Summer) for Christmas.

Jacob and Summer exchanging gifts. Don't you love the look of admiration in Summer's eyes. I want to pinch Kash's cheeks in the background...

This is what I got from Jane for Christmas. It doesn't get any better than this.