Merry Christmas!!!

Reuben's new 'do

Oh, my baby!

Still cute.

Reunions

Family reunions and gatherings are on my mind. This makes sense as my husband has just come home from his deployment to Iraq. This reunion also helps us remember the promise of a sweet reunion with our baby David. It has been 10 years since we welcomed him into our family. I don't know how long it will be before we hold him again, but I do know we will if we are faithful and righteous.

President Monson gave a beautiful talk entitled "I know that my Redeemer lives." Please read it, since I cannot express my thoughts as eloquently as he did.

For the complete talk, click here:

http://lds.org/general-conference/2007/04/i-know-that-my-redeemer-lives-?lang=eng

And here is just a portion:

My brothers and sisters, we laugh, we cry, we work, we play, we love, we live. And then we die. Death is our universal heritage. All must pass its portals. Death claims the aged, the weary and worn. It visits the youth in the bloom of hope and the glory of expectation. Nor are little children kept beyond its grasp. In the words of the Apostle Paul, “It is appointed unto men once to die.”¹²

And dead we would remain but for one Man and His mission, even Jesus of Nazareth. Born in a stable, cradled in a manger, His birth fulfilled the inspired pronouncements of many prophets. He was taught from on high. He provided the life, the light, and the way. Multitudes followed Him. Children adored Him. The haughty rejected Him. He spoke in parables. He taught by example. He lived a perfect life.

Though the King of kings and Lord of lords had come, He was accorded by some the greeting given to an enemy, a traitor. There followed a mockery which some called a trial. Cries of “crucify him, crucify him”¹³filled the air. Then commenced the climb to Calvary’s hill.

He was ridiculed, reviled, mocked, jeered, and nailed to a cross amidst shouts of “Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.”¹⁴ “He saved others; himself he cannot save.”¹⁵His response: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”¹⁶“Into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.”¹⁷ His body was placed by loving hands in a sepulchre hewn of stone.

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, along with others, came to the sepulchre. To their astonishment, the body of their Lord was gone. Luke records that two men in shining garments stood by them and said: “Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.”¹⁸

Next week the Christian world will celebrate the most significant event in recorded history. The simple pronouncement, “He is not here, but is risen,” was the first confirmation of the literal Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The empty tomb that first Easter morning brought comforting assurance, an affirmative answer to Job’s question, “If a man die, shall he live again?”¹⁹

To all who have lost loved ones, we would turn Job’s question to an answer: If a man die, he shall live again. We know, for we have the light of revealed truth. “I am the resurrection, and the life,” spoke the Master. “He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”²⁰

Through tears and trials, through fears and sorrows, through the heartache and loneliness of losing loved ones, there is assurance that life is everlasting. Our Lord and Savior is the living witness that such is so.

With all my heart and the fervency of my soul, I lift up my voice in testimony as a special witness and declare that God does live. Jesus is His Son, the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh. He is our Redeemer; He is our Mediator with the Father. He it was who died on the cross to atone for our sins. He became the firstfruits of the Resurrection. Because He died, all shall live again. “Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives: ‘I know that my Redeemer lives!’”²¹ May the whole world know it and live by that knowledge, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior, amen.

Surprise! He's Home!

I'm dreamin' tonight of a place I love
Even more then I usually do
And although I know it's a long road back
I promise you

I'll be home for Christmas
You can count on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
And presents under the tree
Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love light beams
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams

Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love light beams
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams
If only in my dreams

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Cultural Weekend

It has been a busy weekend, filled with great performances!

My mom took the girls to the Nutcracker. They loved it. Leslie loved the athletic moves, flips, and cool Russian dancers. Evelyn couldn't help but dance and flit along while watching the beautiful ballet moves. Afterwards they were able to go stand on stage and offer a few moves...

Saturday we all went to the Polar Express Symphony. The kids loved jingling their bells, and watching Santa conduct!

Sunday we went to Music and the Spoken Word. Fantastic. What an awesome choir!

Ginger Bread stories

Last year Bob, Reuben, and I went to Dallas Texas for a few days. We saw huge gingerbread people and houses. Here are a few pictures...

This year, the kids wrote stories, poems, and descriptions of awesome gingerbread houses. Yum!

The Gingerbread House

By Jonas

I was walking down the road on a wintery day. Snow fell softly. I loved going on walks because then I could look at all the different houses and floor plans. Then, I froze. I had seen an actual Gingerbread HOUSE! My mouth was wide open, and my eyes were as big as saucers. The walls of the house were made of gingerbread bricks, and each brick was held in place by vanilla frosting. The fence was made of licorice, and the walkway leading up to the house was made of Oreos lined by gumdrops. The front door was made of a huge stick of gum, and the windowsills were made of Smarties. The shingles on the roof were made of Hershey's chocolate bars, and the chimney was made of Starbursts. The snow that fell in the yard turned to sugar the moment it touched the ground. I stood staring at the house for 15 minutes. Then, I saw the For Sale sign.

Two weeks later, I was living in that amazing Gingerbread House. It was everything I could have dreamed of. I was warm all winter because of the Cotton Candy insulation. The stairs inside were made of Crunch chocolate bars. The kitchen was spacious, there was an attic and a basement. Best of all, whenever I wanted a snack, all I had to do was take a bite of the fence in the front yard or the "snow" covering everything.

GINGERBREAD HOUSE

by Leslie

Gumdrops

Icing

Nerds

Gum-balls

Eggnog

Reese's cups

Butterfingers

Reese's pieces

Everlasting gobstopper

Apple pie

Dum dum lollipops

Hershey's

Oreos

Upside down cake

Skittles

Eat!

The ginger bread house

By Troy

We were making a ginger bread house. The roof was made of brownies, the fence was made of lollipops, the door was made out of a giant Hershey’s bar, of course the walls were made of ginger bread, the door knobs were made of Smarties, the grass was out of green frosted coconut, and the snow was made of Fun dip. I wish I could live in that house.

THE END

A wish list for Christmas...

Dear Santa,

"I don't want to get any headless Barbies..."

Love,

Evelyn

14 Wonderful Years!

A lot can happen in 14 years. I am so thankful for each minute, and I am looking forward to the eternities...

I love you Bob!

Lost and Found

I had 5 minutes of terror on Saturday. I was at a play with my children, and Reuben didn't want to sit still any more. I took him to the back and played peek-a-boo with him through doors and curtains, while still periodically watching the play. The little booger is fast, and at one point, I must have watched the scene a bit too long. When I turned around to "boo" him, he was gone. I raced one way around the circular theater, and didn't find him. I sprinted the other direction, and couldn't find him. I scanned the theater seats and didn't see him. My heart plummeted into despair and I enlisted my mom's and Jonas' help in splitting up and finding my baby!

When I found him in the foyer he was perfectly happy walking around, but he could have pushed his way outside, climbed the stairs to the balcony, gotten lost in a bathroom, or snagged by someone. I clung to him like never before and sobbed. I had found him. Thank Goodness.

Over the past couple of days I have reviewed this situation and realized how much our Heavenly Father and our Brother Jesus Christ love us and ache when we go our own ways. All They want is for us to come to Them and be safe and loved. They miss us so much and desire to hug and hold us. 3 Nephi 10:4-6 even reminds us that our Savior has gathered us in the past, would gather us now, and will gather us in the future as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings.

I was not only reminded to be a better mother and pay more attention to my children. I also remembered that it is not enough to "play peek-a-boo" with our Father in Heaven. We need more complete interaction and communication through scriptures and prayers. We need to diligently search for Them and try to become like Them. We need to not wander (however innocently) and get lost! Sometimes our wanderings are circular and not much harm will happen since we'll end up in the same spot we left. We'll just have delayed any spiritual growth. However, sometimes our detours are much more dangerous and we could end up a very distant and disastrous scene.

I know our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ love each one of us and desire to hold us and love us now and forever. They do not want to lose us. However, they love us enough to let us choose...

I choose Them. I choose my family. I choose to not get lost, but to stay on the beautiful, safe, and joyous path so that I can return to live with those I love... forever.

Without further ado, my cute baby:

(I should probably watch him at home too... he is a climbing fool!)

Hogwarts End of Term Party

Today was our last official day of school this year. Oh, we'll incorporate some Christmas math and writing, but we are done. We need a break! We had a blast with some photo shoots of the kids in their "House" pairs, making dragon scale cookies again (with Halloween candy, of course), broom limbo, and more! House points were awarded (based on completed assignments, random Mrs. Weasley cleaning points, and reading Harry Potter books):

Hufflepuff (Leslie and Micah): 1368 points for a Boondocks Adventure

Gryffindor (Owen and Troy): 1054 points for a movie with Mom

Ravenclaw (Jonas and Evelyn): 1005 points for a trip to the Dollar Store

(I love her wand...)

And now for some fun broom limbo pictures...

Time for relaxing!!!

We have a teenager among us

13!!!

13!!!

What a cool kid. Teenager. Young Adult. Whatever.

I not only love him, I like him!

He had a cool party with cousins. We had a master archer teach us how to shoot!

Candy Experiment Part 3

Severus Snape would have us use up all our Halloween candy for experiments... Today's experiment was especially hard as we used Skittles and M&Ms!

Check out the edible ink Ss all over the bowl!

And you can see the M&M ink floating up on top too!

Letters to the Magical World of Harry Potter

(A Howler from Mrs. Weasley)

Fred and George!

How could you! How could you have tried to enter the TriWizard Tournament! You could have been killed! Not to mention the fact that you thought you were smarter than Dumbledore! Ah, Dumbledore! Smart man! Thank goodness he had enough sense to put an age line around the goblet. You are setting a horrible example for Ron and Ginny!

If you put one hair out of line, if you so much as even think of one mischievous think, your father and I will bring you straight home and you will miss the Tournament! I would watch my actions if I were you!!!

Dear Voldemort,

If you were over here, we would kill you. I wish you were a ghost. I do not like you. I bet if you and Harry got in a fight Harry would win.

Thank you,

Owen

Dear Fred and George,

You are awesome! Owen and I are twins too! Do you want to come over? If you come over, we could play a board game, play with toys, do a puzzle, and play in the snow. It would be tons of fun. I love it when people come over. I hope you can come.

Thank you,

Troy

Dear Hagrid,

What kind of animals are you taking care of now? Do you still teach at Hogwarts? I am a student with Hogwarts Correspondence School and I am wondering why you stopped teaching. Are you visiting Harry? How is he? How are you? I hope you are well. I’m fine. I hope I can stay in school until I can use a broom. That will be fun! Write back soon!

Sincerely,

Leslie Bush

Planetarium

We're studying some astronomy (mostly just constellations), so we headed to the Planetarium. It is free! (If you don't go to the movies, which, of course we didn't since Reuben doesn't sit still unless he is in a high chair...)

Moon walking

Mars walking?

Troy checks out the satellite

Evelyn looks through the telescope

Reuben (in his high chair) playing the piano

Daylight Savings Tradition *UPDATED*

(Original Post in black font, Updated Post in Red)...

I think we've got a new Daylight Savings Tradition. HA!

I hate the time change thing. NO KIDDING!

I also don't like sleepovers. "SEPTUPLE" UGH!

So I combined them. Naturally!!! The kids slept in the basement last night (and will again tonight) so that they can get all out of whack with sleep, and then we'll put them back in beds and "normal" bedtimes tomorrow. NORMAL? WHAT IS NORMAL?

Plus also, I am trying to help Reuben sleep through the night, so I needed the upstairs free from kids. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Wow. 3 things I don't like! COMBINED! AND I THOUGHT THIS WAS A GREAT IDEA!?!?!

But here is a cute picture. Still a cute picture.

*** NEVERMIND!!! (52 minutes later)***

Candy Experiments Part 2

GASP!!! We used up some chocolate on this one! Avert your eyes, all chocolate lovers...

(By the way, these experiments are found on www.candyexperiments.com)

We melted 4 kinds of chocolate on a plate in the microwave: Almond Joy, Reeses, and Baby Ruth, and 100 Grand.

We cooled it in the fridge.

We did this for 3 days.

We noticed that they melted. The coconut in the Almond Joy pushed itself out and separated. The Reeses didn't do anything probably because the peanut butter clump refused to melt. The Baby Ruth just melted around the peanuts. The 100 Grand fat bubbles exploded out from the inside. The heat from the chocolate bubbling broke the plate.

*What you are supposed to see through the heating and cooling process is the melted fat pushing past the solid chocolate. It will form white crystals. It also should streak and leave white spots, which is called "chocolate bloom". This will also happen as chocolate ages (goes through slower heating and cooling processes over time).

Yummy!!!

Candy Experiments Part 1

We are using up some candy from our Halloween Haul. We also have done candy math and graphs. We had 301 pieces of candy. 207 were chocolate. 94 were non-chocolate. (Chocolate is the deciding classification, obviously.) That is a large amount of candy, and we are planning on creative ways to use it up! Jonas thinks that chocolate makes up 65% of the candy kingdom (based on our mathematical reasoning...)

Acid Test

1/2 cup water

Sour candy

Baking soda

Put the water in a container. Add the pulverized sour candy. Add baking soda. Watch the fizzy bubbles!

Jonas: If the candy is sour or acidic, then the water, baking soda, and candy will all bubble. Fun Dip is bad for your body. That was the most acidic. It smoked.

Leslie: The sour candy gets mad at the baking soda. They fight and that makes bubbles. The air is carbon dioxide.

Owen: I liked the smoke that the acidic candy and the baking soda made.

Troy: I learned that Fun Dip bubbles up when you put baking soda and water together it turns into acid.

Micah: I used Skittles. They did not bubble. They are not acid.

Evelyn: I used Sweet Tarts. I used water. It is sour so it bubbles and then the baking soda helped it bubble. You stir it and it helps it bubble too.

Lion Drawings

I like that these drawings show their different personalities.

Leslie's drawing and poem

Owen's Lion

Jonas' Lion

Micah's Lion

Troy's Lion

The Monday of a New Month *UPDATED*

Why does it always seem that I am drawn to goal-making, charts, and check-off lists?!?! I have so much I want to improve in and change. When a new month begins on a Monday, it seems so perfect and crisp and clean...

Instead of tackling 20,000 things at a time (which is my usual method of attempted success and consequent complete failure), I have whittled it down. A bit.

Physical Goal: Increase running mileage each week

Spiritual Goal: Study the hymn "More Holiness Give Me" #131 in detail

Emotional Goal: Only nibble on veggies (yes, this seems like a physical goal, but nibbling really affects my emotions and my emotions really affect my nibbles).

Social Goal: Huh? What's that? Uh... really. I'll plan a special "me" time with friends & family.

Here's to a great month!

*UPDATED*

Doing well, for the most part. The nibbling is the hardest... go figure. I've been trying to tackle this for years now, and I am getting better, but really, I need to master this. I have other food goals, as well as weight goals, and this is killing me to try to be perfect in this area. 2 more weeks. I'll do it.

Really.

The Army Can't Be Beat, Trick or Treat!

We had a very warm 5K yesterday in our costumes.

Tonight it was raining and freezing for trick or treating.

We had lots of fun though!

Smoky Vegetable Soup

Soup Season! I love soups. This one is realllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy yummy.

Smoky Vegetable soup

My mom and I made this and were in absolute heaven over the smells, and then ... we ate it all up. This is really really really really really really really yummy soup!

We served this with my sabotage bread and apple blackberry cobbler for dessert. Yum, yum.

To make this simpler than the william sonoma catalog says, just chop up the veggies, cook in olive oil, add broth, simmer, and blend. Yum!

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large yellow onion, diced

4 red bell peppers and 2 yellow bell peppers, cored, seeded and cut into 1 1/2-by-3/8-inch slices

8 plum tomatoes, quartered

4 zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thick on the bias

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 russet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice

3 cups chicken stock

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 cup packed fresh basil leaves

(You can also add kielbasa polish sausage... it is really good)

Directions:

In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, warm 2 Tbs. of the olive oil. Add the onion and bell peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. In the same pot over medium heat, warm 1 Tbs. of the olive oil. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the onion mixture.

In the same pot over medium-high heat, warm the remaining 1 Tbs. olive oil. Add the zucchini and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir the onion mixture into the pot. Transfer 2 cups of the vegetables to a bowl and set aside.

Add the potato and stock to the pot and simmer until the potato is tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add a few drops of liquid smoke in to the soup in the covered pot for 5 minutes.

Working in batches, puree the soup in the blender on high for 20 seconds per batch. Return the soup to the pot and stir in the reserved vegetables. Serves 6 to 8.

(Williams-Sonoma Kitchen)