Donuts

So... here is a confession.

Raised donuts are a favorite.

And I have never been brave enough to try to make them!

This week that all changed!

Thanks to this recipe here I braved it! 

Even some donut holes!

My kids were thrilled!! The perfect Family Home Evening Treat for a cool October evening..

YUM!

Note to self:

Allow glaze to melt on stove long enough for the powdered sugar to melt - otherwise the glaze is "crispy" and also a little less vanilla is required than called for.

Otherwise... these compete with Krispie Kreme!!

Delish!

Duct Tape Day

Spirit Day - Duct Tape Day!!

The kids had a BLAST making duct tape decor on their clothing!

Caleb decorated his jeans and wore a duct tape bracelet 

Cam made his own T-shirt designs of duct tape 

Cody didn't want to ruin any of his clothing, so he made jewlery! 

Emma made decor pants, a bracelet and a headband 

Purple pockets, "Peace" on one leg, "Emma" on the other! 

She is so creative! :D

It made for a very sticky and full of fun Family Home Evening!

Fish Tank for Jes' Birthday

Jestin saw some fish at Walmart and he LOVED them!

We have not had our fish tank up and running for most of the year... I have been trying to sell it to make money. His excitement sparked the desire to nix that money making plan!

LOL

My sweet sister came down and we tackled the task of cleaning the tank all up. Jes was surprised!

Then for Family Home Evening we all went to pick out his fish.

 The kids wanted some cute fish too so we got these two little kissing fish. They named them Cosmo and Wanda.

And here is the fish that Jes wanted:

 Looks like an eel...

 Until it moves it's fins! Eeek!

 It's a "Dragon Fish"

LOL

It's a creepy little blind fish... but he sure keeps the kids interested! 

Monday & Family Home Evening

Monday my kids all went to school, well except Cameron - he didn't want to miss any time with his cousins! LOL

The Stoddard kids all worked on their school work in the morning. I really enjoyed having them home learning at my kitchen table etc... it made me MISS homeschooling something fierce!

We took the kids to the Dollar store, and we gathered some crafting stuff and a few birthday items for later in the week. Then we picked my kids up from school. It was still drizzling on and off rain most of the day.



Brent spent the week working in my office, sattelite, for his job. He has such a great job! Once he was done for the day and Jes got home, we loaded up and headed to the Carl Bloch exhibit at BYU for Family Home Evening. 

Photo Credit KSL.com

It was a very special visit. 

Photo credit KLS.com

 The kids each paired up with a buddy and looked at the marvelous paintings at their own pace. The little ones stayed with mom's while dad's rented the Ipads offered and shared on and off with the other kids. It was fun to explain the stories of Jesus one on one with little Caleb. I have never enjoyed a museum more... and Nicole mentioned similar feelings with Kate. The thought process that they were too little to enjoy it was way far off. NowI think if we each had 3 little ones at once? yea... that would not have been fun! LOL But one on one with our "babies"? Wow! Tugged at our heart strings. They WANT to know about Jesus... and they ask the most profound questions. Awesome!

Photo credit KSL.com

This is my most favorite painting. I just stand there and let the tears flow as the significance of this painting fills my soul. You will have to go see the painting yourself, as it is only half of the painting shown above, and you dont want to miss it! It is of Jarius' daughter and his wife. Off where you can't see Him, the Savior is entering the home, but He stops and comforts another in His path. It speaks to me on so many levels... mostly that everything in this life is on His time table, and also that no matter what happens, He can heal anything in this life, even death if it is part of His plan. I also realize from the mother's face I feel that sometimes we are left in our grief for a little while before the miracles come.

Any wonder it is one of my most favorites?

The spirit is so strong at that museum exhibit!

After we were through, the kids didn't want to leave the museum yet and wanted to see more. We wandered downstairs to see their American War History exhibit. It was an amazing life lesson for the kids: as they walked through this exhibit, after spending over an hour in the one with the Savior as the centerpiece, they quickly all decided they wanted to leave. They didn't like how they felt in this other exhibit. It took the light they had felt full of just moments before away... and they all expressed it. It was interesting... and almost sacred.

Better than ANY lesson we could have tried to come up with on our own!

If you haven't been down to see it... GO!! You sign up for tickets so they don't have too many people in there at once, but it's completly free to the public to wander the exhibit! You would not be sorry! 

http://carlbloch.byu.edu/index.php

It's that time of year again! We did our Family Gratitude Tree for Family Home Evening. The kids LOVE it!

 Some of my personal favorites are toilets, TP and garbage cans. LOL

The one that makes me cry is "Dad's Eyes"... 

Even in these tough times, we really are SO blessed. It is wonderful to take a moment and list a few and have our tree to look at the rest of the year to remind us of just how blessed we really are! :)

If you would like to read a great talk about gratitude... click HERE.

Happy Gratitude Month!!

Decorating Ornaments

We made ornaments for someone special in our lives for a Family Home Evening this month. Caleb did his own... and then...!

He gave it to his best friend Jesse's family... but this is the first time he has EVER written his name!! He copied it! Jesse's mom got teary eyed and promised to keep it always! (She is just like his second mom and knows how exciting it is to have this milestone in "my baby"s life! LOL)

Cody gave his to Grandma Annie

And Emma gave hers to a friend she has lost touch with somewhat.

I was proud of each of them for the people they picked. They are all getting so grown up!

Cameron did do one... but he had to go to bed and make it the next morning because he was making wrong choices and being mean. He fell right to sleep so we think he just was a tired boy! LOL I just forgot to take a photo of his... but he gave it to his new friend here in the neighborhood. :)

Our Family Gratitude Tree

For a Family Home Evening (I think the one before Thanksgiving), we made our own "Gratitude Tree" to remind ourselves of what we are thankful for!

We wrote something on each leaf and colored them and then cut them out.

Cam helped to glue them on

There were a few duplicates, but all in all we have much to be thankful for!

My all time favorite is "underwear"! LOL

It is still hanging up though Christams decor has taken over... it really brings me much joy to know my kids realize all they truly have! :)

Holy Smokes! My new favorite blog!!

http://preparedldsfamily.blogspot.com/

Scripture Cookies

Many requested this recipe... so here it is! Have fun!

“Kitchen Krafts: Scripture Cookies,” Friend, Aug 1989, 22

To find each ingredient, look up scripture reference and fill in blank. Some clues are subtle, so check list of ingredients on bottom of page before making cookies.

3/4 cup “The words of his mouth were smoother than ____” (Ps. 55:21)
1/3 cup “Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy ____ and honey” (2 Ne. 26:25)
1 1/2 cups “To what purpose cometh there to me … the ____ ____ from a far country?” (Jer. 6:20)
2 ___ “As one gathereth ____ that are left, have I gathered all the earth” (Isa. 10:14)
2 cups “And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine ____” (1 Kgs. 4:22)
1 teaspoon “Take thou also unto thee principal spices, … and of sweet ____ half so much” (Ex. 30:23)
1 teaspoon “Ye are the ____ of the earth” (Matt. 5:13)
1/2 teaspoon “The kingdom of heaven is like unto ____ (Matt. 13:33)
3 cups “Nevertheless, … ____ for the horse” (D&C 89:17)
1 cup “And they gave him … two clusters of ____” (1 Sam. 30:12)

1. Beat first four ingredients together.
2. Mix in remaining ingredients.
3. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet.
4. Bake at 350° F (175° C) for 15 minutes.


Notes

3/4 cup butter, 1/3 cup milk, 1 1/2 cups sugar (sweet cane), 2 eggs, 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (leaven), 3 cups oats, 1 cup raisins.