An 8 year old's Christmas List

I'm including a photo, just to prove I did not make this up!  This is her list, although I have edited the spelling.

• ten dollars
• make-up
• laptop
• phone (as in cell phone)
• candy canes
• conditioner
• shampoo
• soap
• mints
• Kinect
• bunk bed
• art kit
• sister
• hair dyed red
• face paint kit
• monkey bars
• maid
• I want to meet Ke$ha

The list garnered plenty of snickers and smirks from her dad and I.  From the simple, to the impossible, the girl knows what she wants!

Life Goes On

We've been staying busy, busy!

Kaia has looked forward to having the opportunity to work in the school kitchen since the start of the school year.  You have to be in 3rd grade before you can do the work and she really wanted to do it.  She's now on her 2nd week of kitchen duty and loving it.  I'm loving it too!  She gets free school lunch when she works.  School lunches cost me $2.25, and the average home lunch I pack her is probably about $1.00.  Either way, I'm saving time and money, and she's learning how to be responsible!

The Bobos turned 2 this weekend.  And when they do something, they like to go all out.  So to celebrate turning 2, they started off their birthday by breaking our tv.  Our tv that was $900 plus tax and a warranty.  And as it always works, the warranty doesn't cover 2 year old twins throwing stuff at the screen.  They had an enjoyable party and are having a great time playing with all their new cars.

I'm busy trying to get Morgan's curriculum ordered so that we can get him on track with kindergarten.  Of course, what should be easy seems like a daunting task to me.  Once we have the curriculum though, I know it will all go well, he's such a smart kid.

It's definitely Fall here, and the days seem to just fly by in their busyness.

My Christmas List

I know, I know.  It's not even October, and here I am discussing Christmas.  But right now is when I'm doing Christmas shopping.  I keep an eye out for clearance items, so I can buy gifts that are out of our price range, but become in our price range when it's 75-90% off.  I already have my nieces' gifts, one nephew's gift, and two of Kaia's gifts.

So I got to thinking about what I would really like, and then laughed at how simple it all is.  What I really would like for Christmas:

1. A House Keeper.  Seriously!  I've realized that I cannot keep up.  My schedule keeps getting crazier, and the kids seem to get messier.  I went on Care.Com and found that there are several in my area that work for $10-15 an  hour.  And I really would just need someone for 2 hours a week. Even if someone just paid for a few months, it would be so nice to have some help!
2. A steam cleaner.  This was a Christmas gift a few years ago from my parents.  I loved it.  It made cleaning our textured vinyl floors simple and they came so clean!  Then it died.  It died after I told Kaia to quit messing around with it or she would break it.  Not sure if the two things are related, but my floors haven't been clean since.  I've cleaned them, but it's not the same.
3. Food.  Yes, it sounds so crazy.  But I love when we get a Thanksgiving or Christmas box from the church.  Being able to fill up the pantry, and not have to worry about groceries is a luxury.  Last year we received a gift certificate for meat from a local butcher, and that was so nice.  And the added bonus is, when we don't have to buy a bunch of groceries each week, it frees up some money to buy things that we like to eat, but are more expensive.  
4. Electrolosis.  I will fill you in on something.  I'm hairy.  Really hairy.  Worse though, is my hair grows insanely fast.  It's a blessing for the top of my head, but a curse everywhere else.  I'd love to have electrolosis on my underarms.  Not only would it save me the daily shaving and ingrown hairs, but it helps cut down on sweating.  And that would be fantastic!

So there is my list.  Practical as always.   Have you started any holiday preparations?

To My Favorite Daughter!

A big Happy 8th Birthday to my favorite daughter!

Easter anda Birthday

This post has been delayed while I try to retrieve photos.  I've sent them to my pc twice, and still don't have them!  So photos will come soon.
 
We did it!  We pulled off an Easter Sunday, Easter celebrations and Birthday Party all in one very crazy day!
First a photo of the actual Birthday.  He loved his gift, as he no longer has to use sissy's pink DS to play games.

Easter Sunday started like they always do.  Me tearing through the church parking lot because we are 5 minutes late to Sunrise Service that starts at 7:15 a.m. under the picnic shelter.  After the beautiful service (with nice weather for once) we had a yummy breakfast served by the Elders and Deacons, and I gathered the kids for a photo.

We all met up after church at our home.  We had a wonderful ham dinner, with lots of fruit salad, green salad, and of course deviled eggs.  The birthday party included an egg hunt.  Anna is just the right age to understand this concept, Brendon was following her lead, but still only picked up a few eggs.  Bry couldn't understand why we picked them up at all.


There were lots of gifts.

And a monster truck cake.  I watched Katie Brown Workshop late one night, and saw her bundt cake idea, and converted it to a chocolate mountain.  Her frosting tip was to add flour to store bought frosting, then microwave 45 seconds.  I actually microwaved longer to produce a chocolate coating.  I don't care for cake or chocolate, but I admit this was pretty good.

After the party we had a blast throwing the Boing Putty all over the place.  It really was a great day!

Birthday Gift #1

You've Come A Long Way!

Happy 7th Birthday to our beautiful, talented Princess!  We love you!

Dirt Cake

I got the idea for a dirt cake while browsing Food for Thought on Like Merchant Ships. Someone put a chocolate cake in the back of a dump truck.  The perfect cake for Mo, was my thought.

Mo informed me just before his party that he didn't want a dump truck cake.  He wanted a monster truck cake.  Rather than scratch the whole idea, I decided to continue with my chocolate dirt cake idea, only make it into a mound of dirt for a monster truck to drive on.

It may not look professional, but I think it's cute, and it tasted good.  There are no secrets to making it.  I made 2 9inch round cakes.  I cut one of the rounds into a half moon, using the bottom of the pan as a template, so that it would fit up against the round.  I frosted the round fitted with the half moon.  Then I took part of what remained and stacked it on top of the round, and frosted that.  Finally I crushed chocolate sandwich cookies up, and sprinkled them on top.  To finish I took the remaining cake and crumbled it over the cake.  It was a yummy mess of chocolate!

Photos from the Weekend

The first three photos are courtesy of my dad.  More photos by Dana will be posted later.

Bryce

Brendon

And the star of our show, Mo!

It was a great party, with lots of friends and family.  It was so much fun that someone was completely pooped on Sunday during worship.

I took this photo while he slept on my lap the entire service.  It's tough being 4!

Big Boy

He is a connoisseur of monster trucks, has every Hot Wheels commercial memorized, and is the local expert on Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends.  He also turns 4 today!

Happy Birthday to our Big Boy, Mo!

Tonight we have pizza for dinner to celebrate (Mo's choice) and Saturday he has a birthday party complete with a dirt cake.

Steak Strip Marinade

Here it is the yummiest marinade ever.  I had my choice of any restaurant I wanted for my birthday dinner, yet I wanted to eat these!  You can use most any cut of meat.  Even tough meat will be tender after this treatment.  I am going to savor every bite for my dinner tomorrow! Thanks to my mom for calling me with the recipe, since I keep losing it.

Steak Strip Marinade
1/2 c chili sauce
1/2 c tomato juice (or ketchup with water)
1/3 c oil
1/4 c vinegar
4 T brown sugar
1 T mustard
2 t instant coffee (or just add about 1/4 cup of leftover coffee)
1/2 t salt
1/2 small onion chopped

Mix together and marinade meat for at least 8 hours.  Enjoy!

Sandwich Party Wrap Up

Saturday was my first ever House Party, and it was so much fun.  I asked all of my guests to bring their favorite sandwich toppings, and I used the coupons sent to me to purchase 3 packages of Sandwich Thins.  We all agreed that they are fantastic!  We tried the whole wheat, honey wheat and multi-grain.  I have personally eaten all of them, and think the whole wheat is my favorite.  At only 100 calories per Sandwich Thins, and plenty of fiber, they make a healthy base for your sandwich.  Cheap bland white bread is 70 calories a slice, making them 140 calories a sandwich and no fiber (or next to none).  Whole wheat and other breads have more fiber but are also higher in calories.  The Sandwich Thins also offer portion control, due to a slightly smaller size.

My biggest surprise was how much the kids and Dana liked them!  I'm usually the lone wheat bread eater in my house, but not anymore.  We all had sandwiches for lunch and dinner Saturday.  Kaia and I ate the bread with cream cheese the next morning for breakfast.  Mo grabbed one for a snack after church.  Kaia and Dana had sandwiches on them for lunch Monday.  I bought a new bag Monday night, and we are already out again!  That's a record for any bread product in our house.

Here is one of the healthy sandwich toppings from Saturday.  This is my mom's recipe and I didn't get all the measurements, but you can just add to taste.  She was nice and substituted the icky cashews for almonds, so that I could eat it.

Chicken Salad
shredded chicken breast or 1 can of chicken
slivered or chopped almonds
dried cranberries
lite mayo
Mix together and enjoy!  I am not usually a big fan of dried cranberries, but they were really good in this.  It was especially good topped with red onion, sprouts and lettuce.

Motivation

As the years pass and the kids have come, I have learned that I can no longer eat everything I want and maintain my weight.  While my weight gain with the boys was about the same as my first 2 pregnancies, it is not just falling off.  I used SparkPeople.com to lose the weight after Mo, and am doing the same this time.  I also used a gift card to buy The Spark, which is the website in book form with some great extras.  I haven't re-started the 28 day program yet, but will be doing so very soon.  I will also completely follow it this time, by making a Vision Collage.  I have a goal.  I am going to Fort Worth, Texas in April, and I refuse to pack maternity clothes.  I am about 15 pounds away from wearing most of my real clothes, and I have about a month and a half to go.

The reason I've never made a Vision Collage before is I have always struggled with the answer to one question: What do I want?  I spend most of my time wrapped up in what my family needs, our health, our finances, that I don't stop and think about desires.  When I went to the Lou Tice Investment in Excellence seminar 2 years ago, we worked on this.  I started to get there, but it didn't go far.  I had some ideas, but never followed through with fully envisioning what I wanted in my mind.  It is so bad that I usually cannot tell friends or family what I would like for my birthday or Christmas.  So one little step in the right direction is taking place right now.  Here is a list of things I would like for my birthday.  I don't expect any gifts, and do not need them, but I usually get asked, and for once here is an answer.

• iTunes gift card so I can load my favorite songs on my new-to-me ipod Shuffle (a Valentine's Day gift from Dana)
• Ummelina gift certificates  (my spa day was amazing  and I'd love to repeat it)
• spending money for my trip to Fort Worth
• a pair of red high heels size 7
• a pair of Nike Shox size 7

Ok it's not much, but it's a start.  One last thing I've found that is key to keeping me motivated: looking my best.  It's the little things, but if I leave the house and feel like I look good for the day, then I'm more confident throughout the day.  I also find that I will stick better to my plan and feel good about my choices.  It's just the extra few minutes to style my hair, or put on some quick drying nail polish, and recently wearing contacts instead of my glasses (I love my glasses, but I think they are easy to hide behind), all make a huge difference in how I feel about my day.

What are you doing to stay motivated in your life or on  your goals?

Menu Plan Wednesday?

How about that menu plan?  Honestly I have been working from one, just haven't posted it yet.  You may have noticed my absence in blog land recently.  It's not that I don't enjoy reading your blog, I just have been busy and haven't made it by.  I'll be by soon, don't give up on me.

Something else that's happening, I was selected to host a Sandwich Thins House Party!  If you haven't heard of House Party , I suggest you click and visit. So I'm excited to host, and it means I have to get my house clean!

Tonight Kaia and I are headed to watch Annie.  She cannot wait, I'm happy she's excited.  I saw a local production of Annie when I was a child and loved it.  I think it's great we can give her the same experience (with a little help, thanks).

And now for that menu:
Monday: pork sirloin with cajun seasoning, squash, and broccoli with cheese
Tuesday: easy huevos rancheros
Wednesday: navy bean soup (from a mix, since time is limited)
Thursday: spaghetti with meat sauce, fresh veggies and ranch
Friday: chicken nuggets and baked fries (I'll be having a boneless skinless chicken thigh with hot wing sauce on it, instead of the  nuggets)
Saturday: up in the air
Sunday: up in the air
I'll figure out the other two meals, but weekends are usually easy for me since I"m home.

Hope you are enjoying your week!  Off to fix Kaia's hair.  She wore rollers so it would be curly.  She also requested that I dye it red before tonight, that isn't going to happen.

Menu Plan Monday and some goals

I don't make New Year's Resolutions, but I'm always setting goals and attempting make our lives better.  So why not rededicate myself to a few tasks with the new year?  This is especially helpful after the hectic Fall and Winter we have had.

2009 was all about just keeping everyone alive and healthy, but not necessarily in shape.  In 2010, both Dana and I are trying to get more exercise.  He needs it for hunting and for his knees, I need it to get back in to my pants!

Growing up my best friend's mom always had the menu plan posted on the fridge.  I loved seeing that Tuesday was pot roast, Thursday spaghetti and knowing that it was Swedish Meatball night on Friday when I was spending the night.  Most of her meals were on a budget and cooked in the crock pot too.  I know that my week goes so much better when I'm following a menu plan, but I struggle to create one.  In theory it's not hard.  You look at what you have on hand, write down what you want to eat for the week, and make a list of what you need to pick up.  I some how look at that menu planning sheet (I have a nice magnetic pad from Betty Crocker) and break out into a cold sweat.  What should we eat?  I might get 2 days filled in, and never get further.  But I'm going to make the effort to plan a lot more.

And on that note, with my lack of planning, dinner is often a rushed $5 pepperoni pizza.  That's it, no veggies although I'd like to add some, the boys are crying to be fed and Kaia and Mo are vying for my attention, and I'm exhausted.  So with my planning there will be more fruit and veggies on our menu.  Even if it's just carrot and celery sticks, I'm going to try to have veggies with every dinner, and pack them into lunches.

I hope all of these efforts will make for a happier, less stressed Kihn home.  Do you have any plans for the new year?

So now for this week's menu:
Monday:
Beef and Veggie Stir Fry, Rice, Egg roll

Tuesday:
Sloppy joes, Broccoli with cheese

Wednesday:
Beef Enchiladas with green sauce, fresh veggies with ranch for dipping

Thursday:
Sausage smothered in red cabbage and mashed potatoes

Friday:
Homemade Lasagna (sauce will cook in crock pot all day) and salad

Saturday:
Up in the air.  My sister in law's Birthday is on Thursday, so we may have dinner some time this weekend.

Sunday:
Easy Huevos Rancheros

2009 In Review

Wow, 2009 is coming to an end.  If ever a year in my life has had a theme, 2009 is it.  I did a Facebook Status compilation, and Danielle pointed out her favorite, "Because God has a sense of humor."  That, my friends, sums up 2009 for the Kihn household.  If on December 30, 2008 you had told me that Dana would need several eye surgeries and change jobs, I'd have believed it.  Had you then gone on to say that we would also find out that I was pregnant and having twins no less, and that I would have surgery to save their lives, well I would have thought you were insane, and yet here we are.

One moment in 2009 really stands out for me. I haven't blogged about it, and really didn't know anyone else had seen it, until my mom mentioned it to me.  On Sunday, June 14th, the day before the surgery for TTTS, we sang the hymn It Is Well With My Soul.  On that day, I sang that song, and I meant every last word.  I knew that no matter what the outcome of the surgery, God was handling it, and I had peace in that.  And that has been the biggest lesson for me in 2009.  God is in control.  While we don't understand it, our whole family is thankful for the blessings of this past year, and I'm praying for easier times in 2010.

Now, let's take a look back at some phrases and photos from 2009.  The photos do not necessarily correspond with the phrases.

January: This just secures my non-placement in the Mom of the Year Award.


February: He has an excellent pedigree, excellent colors, and great temperament. What she didn't count on... he's gay.


March: So if my tubal ligation could interfere with God's plan, how did I see this on March 1st?



April: I just got back from my doctor's appointment. Kaia came with me, and she was thrilled when I pointed out the baby, and then the doctor pointed out the other.




May: It wasn't long before she was able to turn everything into a life or death situation. For instance, sitting on metal turtles.


June: I'm feeling good that the boys will come through the surgery, and I'm praying that they continue to thrive after their blood vessels are separated. I have peace that we are doing what is best for both boys, and the rest is up to God.


July: No, I don't mean sexy. Unless you consider hippos sexy, then maybe...


August: Then she began to rub her belly and say that I should avoid vitamins and that powdered milk from China. Because you know China, it's really sperm. And that sperm if you put it outside in the sunlight it will just shoot in all directions.



September: I agreed, and I told him, "Next time you are 32 weeks pregnant with twins, I promise you can be as cranky as you want to be." He laughed saying he never wanted to be pregnant with twins, and quickly corrected that to never wanting to be pregnant at all.



October: They are so cute that they had to be part of a matched set.



November: SOS isn't dinner. SOS is letters, you can't eat letters.



December: And as of last night, they showed me one of their super twin powers: synchronized farting.

Wow, was my belly really that big?  Amazing how fast we forget.  Thanks for revisiting 2009 with me.  I wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Smile!

Christmas Eve Party Planning

It's our turn to host again.  Actually, we volunteered to host since it's easier to not drag the "twinkies" around town.  I LOVE to plan parties and have get togethers, something I wish I did more often.  I think my lack of housekeeping skills is the main reason we don't do more.

This year I'm all about keeping it simple. The menu is dungeness crab, cold cuts, cheeses, meatballs, and possibly ceviche.  There will be plenty of sweets.  Including Christmas Cookies and orange cake.  I'm also planning to put my adorable cups to use with this spiced cider and cranberry juice recipe.  Those cups were free the day after the church yard sale.  There was a box of 20 something, and I thought they would be perfect for my retro kitchen someday.

What big plans do you have?

Fun Reading

If you have ever wondered what life is like here in Central Washington, I recommend you visit Yakima Magazine and take a look.  I just discovered this today, and it is a great magazine.  I also had fun seeing people I know in the social pages (some photos from our Pillars Event were included).  Today though, it is all about snow.  We finally got snow just in time for Kaia's Christmas concert and hopefully it sticks around for Christmas.

Thanksgiving

I am in shock that Thanksgiving is already here! It is my favorite holiday of the year, and yet I haven't done a thing to give the house a nice autumn feel. I have in the last few days managed to spend time remembering what I'm thankful for in 2009.

There is so much for me to be thankful for this year. If you had told me last November that we would have a surprise twin pregnancy, Dana's eye surgeries, and my surgery on the boys I would have thought you were as crazy as the Chinese Sperm Lady.

And yet, here we are, a family of 6. I'm so thankful for all 4 of our kids. Although our plan had been for 2, God's plan is definitely better as Brendon and Bryce are just so sweet.

I'm thankful that Dana and I have grown in our marriage, and the troubles of last year seem so far behind us. The surprises of the year could have torn us apart or made us stronger, and we grew closer because of them. I know that in the moments after my c-section, with the boys safely delivered, and Dana standing by my side in scrubs, I decided that there was no one more handsome to me than my hubby.

I'm thankful that Dana's eye surgery went well. While the surgery entailed far more than we had hoped, I'm thankful that his eyes are doing good, and even the small worry we had recently quickly resolved itself.

I'm thankful for family, friends, and all of my blog friends. The prayers, gifts, food and financial support we have received have been a huge blessing. I have been shown love in the most unexpected places, and I'm truly grateful.

I wish you all a wonderful time with family this Thanksgiving!