Big Cinderella

When Olivia was three she was in love with all things Cinderella, so when some friends offered us this child-sized doll we took them up on it. "Big Cinderella" joined our family on Christmas morning, about three weeks before Alexander came along.


She's been a pretty fun toy, especially because her clothes are made to fit children, so Liv could swap outfits with her.


Sometimes though, she's a little creepy. I’ll feel like someone’s watching me and see her out of the corner of my eye, not realizing for a second it’s just Big Cinderella. Or I’ll walk into an empty room after the kids are in bed and she’ll catch me off guard. Like this:


A few days ago the kids were playing Cinderella Ball, and I told Xander to dance with her so I could take their picture.

He is so not going to Prom. Ever.

Snowpocalypse 2010

Here are some pictures taken during and after the huge snowstorm we had this weekend.

Sugar on Snow

A couple of excerpts from "Little House in the Big Woods," by Laura Ingalls Wilder:

"Grandma stood by the brass kettle and with the big wooden spoon she poured hot syrup on each plate of snow. It cooled into soft candy, and as fast as it cooled, they ate it. They could eat all they wanted, for maple sugar never hurt anybody."


"One morning [Ma] boiled molasses and sugar together until they made a thick syrup, and Pa brought in two pans of clean, white snow from outdoors. Laura and Mary each had a pan, and Pa and Ma showed them how to pour the dark syrup in little streams onto the snow. They made circles, and curlicues, and squiggledy things, and these hardened at once and were candy."


I've always wanted to make maple sugar candy, and today while Alexander was napping Olivia and I gave it a try. It was pretty tasty, and especially fun thinking about pioneer children who might not have had any treats other than this.

We boiled 3/4 cup of pure maple syrup and 1/2 T of butter in a pan with a candy thermometer until it was about 240F. Then I poured it on a pan of clean snow. Once on the snow it cooled immediately and we were able to try it. It was a lot of fun to eat, even though it made our teeth stick together.

It's a fun way to spend an afternoon with your kids when you're snowed in by 2' of snow!

Silly Girl

I've been writing down some of the funny things Olivia has said over the past couple of years, and decided to post them here. I'm also including a few of the more interesting outfits she's come up with. I'm not sure which is more amusing!

We asked Olivia what it takes to be a big sister and she told us, "Strong muscles."

Tonight I made spaghetti with sausage for dinner. I asked Liv what her favorite part was and she said, "The sau-shits."

After telling Olivia the reason we have Easter she asked, "Why do we find eggs for Jesus?"


Liv: "I'm putting my tongue-lick in the baby's hair."

When I asked her why she was pulling out her hair:
Liv: "I'm picking flowers for you Mama."
Me: "Um, that is really gross, Please. Stop."
Liv: "Here, smell my hair flowers."

She wanted to know where crocodiles live so I told her in Florida. She looked at me and said, "like Florida, Fauna and Merriweather?"

After she watched a gang drive by on their Harleys, Liv said, "When I get bigger I want to be a motorcycle girl."

Liv (in tears): "If I go to college, who will be my mama?"

Our lesson at church this Sunday was about temples and I asked the kids what they think about when they see the temple. Liv said, "I think about the temple with flowers and a unicorn flying in the sky."

Liv: Do I look like a ballerina sheep?

Liv: When I get bigger I'm going to swing on vines in the jungle.

The other day I took the kids to Target and was trying to explain to my daughter what an air freshener was, since we haven't really had one before. She cut me off and said, "You mean like Air Wick?"
Who says kids don't learn anything from television?

Today I had the kids out shopping with me and had this conversation:
Liv: Mama?
Me: Yes?
Liv: I think someone is at our house right now stealing our jam.
Fortunately when we got home, our jam was safe and sound. You know what kind of shenanigans those jam thieves can get up to.

Liv: Why did God make Barbies?

My daughter has been fretting lately about death (and college). Primarily because she is worried about not living here with me any more. So a few days ago she said: “Mama, when I die I want you to drive me to heaven.”
I told her I would.

The other day Liv made a birthday card for her dad and when she finished I asked her to tell me about it. She told me it was a llama belly and a stripper. (And no, she doesn't know what a stripper is, she made up a word for a bunch of stripes.)

Liv: Mama, who will I marry?
Me: I don’t know sweetie. A nice boy.
Liv: Like Dad is a nice boy?
Me: Yes.
Liv: I need someone to be like a twin to Dad so I can marry him.

Olivia has a strawberry shortcake friend doll called Ginger Snap.
I just noticed that she calls her "Ginger Snatch."

When asked what we could do to think about Jesus more this Christmas Olivia said:
"Daddy could wear white and dress up like him."

Liv: The only way I can rest my eyes is by watching a show when I’m laying down.

Liv: We shouldn't cut things off our body, right?

Liv: "When I drink water it goes into my brain, but chocolate milk goes into my tummy."
(trying to convince me to give her chocolate milk instead of water)

I’ve been trying to explain to Olivia that I work so I can earn money.
The other day she came over to where I was doing some work on my laptop and said, “Can you show me where the money comes out?”

Liv: "When I eat the last bite that means it’s all gone."

I overheard Olivia tell her little brother, "Parents are kind of like servants. They bring you stuff and sometimes do a show for you."

Liv (during breakfast) – What if we were hand eaters?
Me: You mean what if we ate with our hands?
Liv: No, what if we were haaaaaand eaters?
Me: I am not sure what you are talking about.
Liv (sounding exasperated): What if we ATE HANDS?
Me: Well, I think that would hurt.
Liv: Not OUR hands.
Me: Whose hands would we eat?
Liv: Bad guys’ hands. Then they couldn’t hold their guns.

What (Not) to Wear

#1 - We are going to Europe in just over 2 weeks!

#2 - We are taking the kids! :)

We are so fortunate to have family in Belgium and London that have offered to host us for a few days. I can't believe how fast our trip is coming up. I still haven't figured out what to pack, but I do know I'm not letting Olivia choose.

Here are some of the outfits she's put together lately:




She walked out one morning wearing that last outfit and asked me what shoes she should wear. I figured it couldn't get much worse, so I told her she could wear any of her shoes she wanted.

Silly me.


Yes, those are Cinderella's glass slippers.

Are my eyes playing tricks on me?

Xander's birthday photo yesterday reminded me of something:
his sister when she was 1.

Is this crazy or what?


I'm going to have to keep my photos organized, because in 20 years I don't think I'm going to remember who was who!

Making Christmas treats with young children

Olivia LOVED making "Muddy Buddies."
They're chocolate and peanut butter covered Chex cereal coated with powdered sugar.

Liv's favorite parts?
Stirring the chocolate and Chex together.
Tossing them in powdered sugar.
No cooking waiting.
Calling them "Lil Buddies."

The real Lil Buddy!
What does his shirt say?

Don't tell his sister!!

Another favorite treat is making Christmas cookies with Dad.
The best parts? Using the (ancient) cookie shooter.
Touching every cookie as it came out.

A Potential new favorite: Ice cream cone Christmas trees.

We haven't tried these yet, but you just get some sugar ice cream cones and flip them upside down. Then let the kids frost them with green frosting and decorate with little candies. I don't know how this could fail to be a hit.

Click here for the Muddy Buddies recipe.
Click here to head back to "Works for me Wednesday" for more great ideas.

Thanksgiving Top 20/Bottom 10

It would take me weeks to cover our whole Thanksgiving extravaganza, so I’ve got a Top 20/Bottom 10 list for you instead. These are in no particular order:

TOP 20
Spending Thanksgiving with family
Pioneer Woman’s Lasagna
Mom’s shrimp dip
Pilgrim hats for dinner

The relationship between my mom and her grandkids
Black Friday in a small town
Free doughnuts
Home-made pumpkin pie

Kirkland’s
Christmas shopping mostly done
Thoughtful helping around the house
Paper plates and plastic cups

Puerto Rico board game
Turkey dinner left-overs
Xander learning to clap and crawl
Matching cousin dresses

Nothing really bad happened, and we were all safe (see bottom 10)
Playing in crunchy piles of leaves
Tired children sleeping in
Spending Thanksgiving with family (deserves to be said twice)

BOTTOM 10
Missing family that wasn’t with us
Undercooked turkey
FIRE in oven during dinner and a broken heat element

Emergency brake repair on Black Friday
Olivia’s infected sty
Having to force-feed medicine to kids
Getting thrown up on
Needing new brakes, a new oven and a new computer all at once
Overtired child wetting the guest bed

Wordless Wednesday

Pizza Night

Friday I picked up some whole wheat flour and fresh mozzarella cheese to get ready for our first time making pizza from scratch.

Here's Olivia mixing the dry ingredients and Alexander licking the salt shaker while threatening to fall off the counter.

What concentration!

I'm not a big salad fan, but I love this one. I made it while the pizza was cooking and then bribed Olivia to eat it by offering her a cheesy poof for each bite of salad she ate. Strawberries, feta cheese, candied nuts and dressing, yum! Thanks to the Oak family for introducing me to this treat.

I don't think pizza baking should be so smoky!

Here's a picture of the finished product. It is pesto, mozzarella and tomato. We also had buffalo-style and regular cheese with black olives. This one turned out the best.

Fun in Bed

Not that kind of fun!

This was what my bed looked like when I got up this morning.

(Notice that no one is sleeping on my pillow?)

Not a lot of room left over for the official bed occupants!

I also found out today how to do color and different sizes in my posts, yay!