Tim's Creations

I thought since I put stuff about them in the Christmas Letter I should put them on the blog!  Tim's is very creative and loves to work with his hands.  It started with a fun soccer cake for one of my birthday's a few years ago and has grown from there.

My birthday cake: 2006

Pach's 1 yr cake. It is his beloved Dino.

Pach's 2nd yr cake. Tim carved the cake, used fondant and everything!

Pach's 3rd yr cake. All the kids at his party screamed and swarmed the table over this one! 
He used fondant, melted chocolate and got out exacto knives for the blocks!

Pach's 4 yr. cake. He LOVED this one. He'd just seen CARS 2, so this was awesome!

Pickle's 1 yr. cake. He loves balls and dug right into this one.

Pickle's 2 yr cake. All the trucks are cake.

Tim's sister's cake.

The wedding cake! He took a cake decorating class in preparation for it.

 His next big adventure is making his brother's wedding cake in March.

Thanksgiving Holiday

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! This year for Thanksgiving we had Aunt Sarah and Uncle Fred (a.k.a. SarahFred) over for Thanksgiving.  It was a busy day cooking wise since I didn't make anything the day before.  I made the apple pie in the morning and everything else pretty much at the same time.  It got a little crazy in the kitchen as Fred was making stuffing, Sarah was making corn pudding and candied yams and I was making mashed potatoes and rolls, all at the same time.  The turkey was cooking through most of that but the gravy was being made too.  It all turned out and shortly after 1:30 pm we sat down to eat.  It was so yummy!!  I am so thankful for all the food we had and all the leftovers we have!  Aside from the above mentioned goodies we also had cranberry walnut pudding, cranberry sauce, olives, regular corn, pumpkin pie and ice cream!  Bacon even got in on the Thanksgiving spirit with his sweet potatoes and oatmeal mixture. 

I took a long nap after clean-up while the others watched a movie, well only Zach, the others all napped too.

Later in the evening we had pie and ice cream while we visited and cleaned more of the kitchen.  I think we ran the dishwasher 3 times maybe 4 that day.  Tim decided to pull all the Christmas decorations down and bring them inside. The result: 2 little boys were up WAY later than normal and the tree and quite a few decorations were up a day early.

BLACK FRIDAY: Yep, I braved black Friday but not alone.  Sarah, Fred and Bacon joined me in the festivities.  We stopped by Joann's, Performance Bike, Sports Authority, Sears Appliance Outlet, K-Mart, Fred Meyer Jewelers, Bath and Body Works (perhaps my favorite store ever), lunch at the mall, Sears, Ornament Kiosk (to purchase our annual family ornament), Chicago Music Company, Home Depot and finally Office Max. 

It wasn't too bad as Joann's wasn't horrendously busy and I used the express cut line.  In and out in 1 hour. Actually with the exception of K-Mart, all the lines were quite quick.  Bacon did a fabulous job.  It helped he slept a great portion of the time and had 3 people to hold him.

While we were gone Tim, Pach and Pickle decked the house out in decorations.  I was in trouble for not bringing home candy to put in the Advent Calendar pouches. Who knew I could get spankings for that??  We upgraded to new LED outside lights since it was cheaper than buying old replacement bulbs, especially since we couldn't find any to match the lights we had.  The house isn't done but all the Christmas shopping is (ok, 1 present to go). The boys are loving it and enjoyed helping me put the candy I got today in the Advent Calendar pouches.  I anticipate the candy in the bottom row will be gone by Tuesday of this week as both Pach and Pickle can reach those pouches.

Below are some pictures of Thanksgiving lunner (lunch/dinner) and Christmas tree decorating.  This year Tim decided he was going to leave the ornaments where the boys put them on the tree.  That means it's a little odd looking since some branches have 3 to 4 ornaments on them or there are clusters of ornaments but it's also fun to see how the boys decorate.

The Oreo Turkey Pach made at school.

 

L to R: Pach, Tim, Sarah, Fred, Pickle, Bacon's head.

Bacon and the turkey.  He swatted it a few times and then coughed on it.  Extra yummy for us!

Pach and Pickle decorating the tree. We didn't move the ornaments this year.

The Star Wars M&M ornaments all ended up right next to each other again this year.

Baby Food and Laundry

While the boys were outside planting flowers and playing in the dirt, I was inside watching Bacon with the sole goal of folding all the laundry! We have had a massive pile of rotating laundry on our bedroom floor since September!!!  I was bound and determined to get it all folded today.

My first step was to clear the table off to fold all said laundry and new laundry onto.  It took awhile to accomplish.  I decided I would make some baby food while I was doing stuff in the kitchen.  I made sweet potatoes and peas.

It did take me ALL DAY but the table got cleared off and most of the laundry got folded.  There is still a bit hanging out in our room and I am doing more laundry today.  Someday I'll be able to keep up on it but for right now my motto is "As long as we have clean clothes to wear, we're alright!"

I really like the bright green from homemade peas rather than the dull green from the store!

I found 10 dryer sheets to throw away, however, I know I've thrown away more than that already!

HALLOWEEN!!!

Halloween was pretty fun this year.  Both Pach and Pickle understand it now and LOVE it!  But really what is there not to love: get dressed up as a super hero and get LOTS AND LOTS of free CANDY!!  Bacon had no clue but I'm sure next year will be running around excited just like his older brothers! 

Pach and Pickle were Buzz Lightyear again this year.  I did have to undo the hems I made last year on the costumes, which proves they have indeed grown taller!  Bacon went as a scarecrow and I'm not sure liked the hat all that much.

First thing we did: Trunk-or-Treat at church.  A friend handed out our candy as went went around as a family for a few minutes.  It was fun to watch the boys get excited. Pickle would go right up and say "Trick-or-Treat". Pach was a bit more reserved.  I went back to the car after a few minutes to help pass out candy while Tim went around with all 3 boys.  Upon completion of one circuit, the boys jumped into the trunk, dumped their candy out and had at it.  They can eat an amazing amount of candy in a very short period.

Trunk-or-Treat at the church.

The next day, Sunday the 30th, we decided to finally carve our pumpkin. I picked it up Saturday, so this really was the only day to do it.  Neither Pach nor Pickle really like getting any pumpkin innards on them, so Tim and I did most of the work. Pach and Pick did provide us with the blueprint for the face of our family jack 'o lantern.

Pach's idea

Pickle's input

Then they described how the face should be.  The result was this:

Pach had gotten a small pumpkin at Joy School, so Tim being the awesome dad that he is, carved the little sucker up the way Pach wanted it.  So sweet of him to do!

Such a happy little chap!

The last event of Halloween was trick-or-treating around the neighborhood on Halloween night.  I went out with all 3 boys for awhile, then dumped Bacon off to help dad pass out candy.  The boys all had fun and Pach and Pickle got lots and lots of tricks and lots of treats!

Getting him to look at the camera proved EXTREMELY difficult.

Surprised about what was in the paper bag!

He's still figuring out how to put the teeth in, though I think they are a bit large for his mouth!

And just for fun, some other pictures of the eventful Halloween experience:

They all had matching pumpkin socks, which Pach and Pickle wore for 3 days straight!

 

Scooping out the innards without getting messy.

Tim showed them how to do it right.

Me carving the pumpkin under the very watchful eye of two boys.

The finished Jack 'O Lanterns

Flowers

When we moved in, the backyard was just rocks, one of the things we don't like too much about living someplace so hot.  We discussed ideas for the backyard and I basically told Tim he could do whatever he wanted.  He has some great ideas and over the past 3 years has been implementing them.

GETTING READY:
First, he got rid of a bunch of the rock that is our landscaping in the backyard.  Next, he bought stones to use as borders for what he wants to be a plants area, garden areas and a sandbox spot for the boys.  After that came, what I think is the hardest part: separating the rocks from the dirt.  The dirt in AZ is very rocky and hard.  Tim spent numerous weekends sifting out the dirt from the rocks! He had a wheelbarrow, pick ax, shovel and a homemade sifter.  The result was amazing!  The next step was to fill the sifted out areas with top soil (which the boys LOVED playing in despite the manure in it).  After that, to "keep" the boys out (and their friends), Tim made a small fence to put up.  Finally, it was time to plant.

ORANGE TREE AND MOTHER'S DAY FLOWERS:
The first plant we got was a miniature Orange tree.  We had it for a few months before we actually planted it.  We kept moving it inside because of the cold weather.  Tim finally decided it just needed to be planted and did the deed.  Excited and encouraged by the tree (and the fact it survived the freeze), for Mother's Day I received 2 potted flowers to put in the "plants" area of the backyard.  Tim planted those too, with "help" from Pach and Pick.

WATER SYSTEM:
Tim spent hours planning a watering system for the backyard, designing, drawing, etc. but it never came to fruition.  Something always came up and the money went to that instead of the backyard.  However, he was able to find a starter kit online for cheap and that was all we needed to finally do something more with our plants area and make it look better.

FLOWERS, FLOWERS AND MORE FLOWERS. OH AND LETTUCE TOO:
Friday we went out as a family to run errands.  We ended up buying 5 more potted flowers to plant in the backyard.  Tim got the rest of the supplies for the drip system (water) for the little areas.  Saturday, Tim and Pach got Tulip and Daisy bulbs to plant, as well as some other flower seeds and lettuce seeds.  He and the boys (minus Bacon), spent the day outside planting all the plants and seeds and putting the watering system in.  The result is amazing!!  The "big" area looks soooooo much nicer with more plants in them! 

DIGGING NOT ALLOWED:
The boys helped plant the stuff so they know there's stuff in the ground.  We've told them they are not allowed to dig in the plants and garden area anymore so hopefully they won't!  Only time will tell if they will remember or not.

Planting some bulbs.

Tim pointing to where to put the bulbs.

Tim still pointing to where to put the bulbs. 

Finally the bulbs are all in the right spot and ready to be covered.

Covering the bulbs with dirt.  It was so fun for the boys: playing in dirt all day long!

Pach planting his flower seeds. They are some type of white flower.

Here you can see all the flowers and the orange tree.

What's really important?

What's really important in life?  I've been thinking about this a lot lately for the 5 weeks, maybe a little longer. 

On September 27, tragedy struck a family we know.  A little boy, Morgan, only 3 years old, fell into a swimming pool.  The pool is surrounded by a fence with a self-locking gate.  No one know how this precious child got passed the gate and fell into the pool.  I am unclear on who found him but his father performed CPR, was able to get a pulse and Morgan was life flighted to a local hospital.  As anyone with children can imagine, this has been extremely difficult for this family. 

At times Morgan showed signs of hope for a recovery: opening his eyes, following his father around the room with his eyes, crying, breathing on his own, etc., but he is still struggling.  He is having sympathetic storms, which most people with brain trauma experience.  Things are not looking good at this point, which has caused me to pause and reflect on life.

We get so busy do things that are "important" and "necessary" but are they really?  My goal yesterday was to fold the clothes, all of them.  I did 4 loads of laundry, some big and some small, and have laundry sitting in our bedroom from a month ago.  The piles are divided up, Bacon in one basket, Pickle and Pach in another, sheets and towels in another, etc. I did manage to fold some towels the other day.  However, as much as I WANT to get the clothes all folded and put away, it just doesn't seem to happen.  Bacon wants to be held and played with, the older boys want to go outside, dinner needs to be made and if someone is coming over, I try to tidy the kitchen.  Sometimes I need to balance the checkbook, pay the bills, clean the bathrooms, go grocery shopping, etc. 

So what is really important?  My house isn't nearly as clean as I'd like it and most of the time is drives me crazy but we have a house.  I really don't like the massive pile of laundry taking up  half our bedroom but at least we all have clean clothes to wear.  They may be unfolded, sorted into piles of who's is who's but we have them.  Pach and Pickle's room may be a mess, as is the family room, their other play area, but they are happy and healthy.  We are trying to teach our boys understand love, compassion and sharing.  To demonstrate those Christlike qualities.  We are trying to teach them the importance of being honest and doing what's right.  We are trying to teach them Heavenly Father loves us and will help us if we ask Him in faith. 

Are we succeeding?  I don't always know.  Sometimes I think I am failing miserably with all the fighting and the hitting that goes on.  Then they run around like crazy hooligans, screaming and laughing together like best friends.  And just last night, when Zach couldn't find his dear baby dinosaur, he said he wanted to say a prayer to find.  He did and we found it.  So maybe the house is a mess, the boys aren't learning to clean up after themselves and our laundry is in a pile in our room.  But Zach loves his Book of Mormon, he is understanding how faith and prayer works.  The know we love them and we know they love us and that is what is really important.

Visitors

A few weeks ago Tim was gone for 10 days!!  Part of that time we knew he was going to be gone so I invited my mom and/or dad to come hang with us.  My dad came and he was here for 9 days.  During that time we all got sick (except for him thankfully) and had a nice visit.  He built roads for the boys to play cars on, they built lego stuff, read stories and sang songs.  Then Tim's parents came a couple weeks later and the boys had fun then too.  Since no one got sick we went to the zoo.



Grandpa reading to the boys



Here they are singing "Popcorn Popping"



"The Itsy Bitsy Spider"



Grandpa and his grandsons

At the zoo.



Grandpa and Grandma helping them see the animals



Feeding the ducks



Hanging out with Dad



Looking at the Macaw