Gluten Free...

I do not eat gluten.  Lots of people have been asking my why and how I decided to make this choice.  If you would like to hear the story of my search for answers continue reading.  If you don't want to know that much about me...feel free to skip this post.

Lilly's First Birthday!!

I can not believe that it has been a year since sweet Lilly joined our family.  (I think I say that every time they turn 1 but I really do mean it!)
 

Here is a bit about Lilly:

She loves to play with her siblings.

She walks a little bit sideways, and she's not that great at walking still probably because there are enough people to carry her around when she wants...and when she doesn't want to also.

She is still very cautious on the stairs, I don't mind, however she can go up and down them on her own now.  

She has two teeth on the bottom and two coming soon on the top.
She says Momma, Dadda, Bye-Bye and she shakes her head yes and no and I think she knows what they mean.
She loves, loves, loves baby dolls.  She sleeps with one, carries one around, kisses them, hugs them...you get the idea.
The only thing she likes as much as dolls is balls and cell phones and if they are pink then she loves them even more!  :) 

 

New Family Pictures

I am still a few posts behind but I can't help but do this post now!! We just had family pictures done by the fabulous Bethany, see more of her wonderful work here.  I am so happy with how they turned out that I can't wait to print them out and send them to all the Grandparents!!  (So if that is you, don't worry there will be some coming your way before too long.)

I was going to post only a few but I can't decide which are my favorite so I am posting ALL OF THEM!!  Enjoy!

Our Last Summer Vacation of 2011

The week before school started we went on a quick vacation up to Alamo to visit Grandma and Grandpa Biggs.  We all had a great time, like usual.

We rode horses.

Fall Festival

Kitchen Chairs

I was getting tired of non kid friendly fabric on our kitchen chairs so after much searching I found new fabric that both Robert and I agreed on and recovered them.

An up date...

So I know I didn't update anything over the summer.

Four kids = SUPER BUSY!!

So this is how we spent our summer:

The boys had hockey.  It was so fun to watch them improve each week.  Michael was pretty good at the end of the series of classes.  I really enjoyed watching them and enjoyed the ICEY COLD AC!

Here's the team photo:  Michael is in black on the left end.  James is in the front row third from the right in black.  They did so awesome!!

Lilly

Lilly is 10 months old, oh how time flies!
She is crawling and climbing all over.  She walks around the furniture and holds hands while walking, I'm sure she will take off and run any day now.  She has one tooth on the bottom.  Her hair is just barely long enough to put a little ponytail right on top; it's cute.  She is happy and likes to smile at everyone.  She says momma, dadda and bye-bye.  She loves it when her siblings play with her, especially Michael, she gets VERY excited to see him and play with him.  She's chubby and so cute.  We love her so much!

Here are some more pictures.

Hair Cuts

The boys had their hair cut in preparation of school starting.

Katie felt left out...so she gave herself a hair cut...

And then a few days later Michael decided to try his hand at cutting her hair...

I'm sure glad she has curly hair it isn't very noticeable because it's gonna be awhile before it grows out. 

Summer Fun Updates

We have had lots of fun in the past few weeks.

Robert and I got new phones...we, for the first time ever, have smart phones, texting, data, everything!!
I'll let you guess who's phone is who's.

This is the first summer the kids have had swim lessons and they are doing so well.  I can see huge improvements in such a short amount of time with all of them, including Lilly.  (Lilly LOVES the water!)

We have had some monsoon storms to enjoy.
(Taken by me out our bathroom window.)

Guest Room Transformation

Now that we have four kids we no longer have a guest room and it was time for a makeover on James and Katie's Room.  I forgot to take the before picture.  But it was a...humm...perhaps you could call it a mint greenish pastel  (it was a great oops paint find)  But I found another oops paint, a nice grey color.  Then on the wall it looked purple.  So after some mixing of other random colors we came to have this color:  (more of a bluish grey)

72 Hour Kit

Arizona, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Hawaii, Louisiana, Georgia, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee.  Did you know that all of these states (and probably many more) have had evacuations due to some disaster or another THIS YEAR.  After donating needed items to our stake humanitarian specialist  for disaster relief in Arizona I decided it was time again to reassess our 72 hour kit. 

Shopping!!

Saturday I found my $10 off a $20 Kohls purchase coupon and promptly packed up the kids...all FOUR kids!  As a general rule I try to avoid taking all the kids shopping because it never ends well for me or them.  I'm happy to say this time was different!

We had pure bliss because of this:

Fathers & Sons

Our hike just north of Pioneer Pass

Cooking dinner, making S'mores, or just playing with fire?

Go Fish!

Bridgestone Tricycles

http://www.bridgestonetire.com/Brand/Ecopia#

Tricycles built with car tires to show the improved rolling resistance that improves gas mileage.

A Wedding

This weekend we were able to enjoy a lovely wedding in the Mesa Arizona Temple.  Here is the happy couple:

And I'm happy to announce that the cake is finished!!

I'm very relieved to be done with the cake. I have been working on it for about a week and a half and I'm glad it's done so we can get back to normal life.   I'm also looking forward to cleaning all the powdered sugar and cornstarch off of all horizontal surfaces.

Lately...

As some may know we have an up coming wedding we have been preparing for.  I have been asked to make the cake.  Here's a sneak peak:

Family

My family came for a visit this last week.  It was great to see them and spend time with them.  We decided our last extended family pictures were pretty out dated (we've had two kids since they were taken) so we needed some new ones.  Here they are:

So there you have it.  They turned out pretty good. 

Some Pictures From April

 It's been awhile so here are some pictures of us.


Katie chose to sleep in a bucket, silly girl.

 Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Biggs came for a visit,  The kids don't look excited in the picture but really they were thrilled they came!  It worked out to go to breakfast with them the next morning too, we had a great time!

Katie's hair is long enough to do french braids! She now requests braids all the time.

Lilly is VERY affectionate to everyone.  On this day she had a strong hold on James' ears so she could get a good slobbery kiss in. 

 That's all for now. 

His Sacred Name - An Easter Declaration

Pumpkins...FINALLY!

So yes, we really did carve pumpkins in March!  Here's the proof, a bit late but finally here.

It Has Begun

Swimming season has officially begun!

Couponing How-To

So many people always ask how I save so much money on groceries, so I'm going to tell you ALL my secrets!  (okay they aren't really secrets just things that some people don't know)

The Goal:  

Spend as little as possible on food and other household items.  My personal goal is to save 80%  OR MORE on each transaction.

Example:
 
This trip I bought:
3 bags of Gorton's Fish
4 Packages of Oscar Myers Lunch Meat
3 6 Packs Danoninos Drinkable Yogurt
3 Phillidelphia Cooking Cream
1 Greek Yoplait yogurt
3 Dole Fruit Crisp
4 24 Pack of Nestle Pure Life Bottled Water
3 boxes of Ritz crackers
1 Beechnut Rice Cereal
6 Cans Pedigre Dog Food
2 Dial Foaming Had Soap
1 Kroger Toilet Cleaner
3 Zone Bar
20 Boxes of Ronzoni Pasta
3 Sunny Delight
3 Boxes Lucky Charms Cereal
2 Butterfinger Snackers
2 Starburst
2 Powerade
2 Beechnut Baby Food
1 Kroger Cotton Squares

76 Items Total

I spent:

Out of Pocket:   $27.86
I received a $5 Catalina to use on my next transaction (more about that later)
I saved $172.30   86%

You should know there are several things on this list that we wouldn't normally buy: Butterfingers, Sunny D, canned dog food, Zone bars etc.  However they were free, so we buy them and then we put them in our pantry and instead of having a sweet tooth and going to the store, paying $0.50-$1.00 at the store, we go to our pantry and pick something that was free.

This is how you do it:

New Year's Goal

Happy New year!!

(Yes, I'm aware I'm a bit late just bear with me and read on)

A quick update...

Michael just had his first ever Track and Field Day at school.  Robert was able to go and help with it.  Michael had tons of fun!  He's had a few rough days with school but overall he really enjoys it.  He is reading now and I enjoy listening to him read new books everyday.  It's amazing how much he is learning in school!

The Battle with Eczema

We have had a tough battle with eczema with James, a little with Katelyn and a lot with Lilly.  If you have ever had to deal with this you know how frustrating it can be.  With James we took the traditional route of going to our Dr, getting a prescription for a steroid cream and months of applying the stuff and hoping for it to go away.  Eventually I stopped using the cream with him because of my concerns over using a steroid on such a little baby and we continued to battle it with OTC lotions and creams.  Eventually it went away.

A New Adventure

So I had this (crazy) idea that we should switch to cloth diapers! So I did some research and let me say this, these are not your mother's cloth diapers!

No pins! No plastics! No folding!

Our Latest Project

This project is one that has been planned since we moved in 6 years ago!
We FINALLY ripped out the original built in entertainment center and replaced it with a much more modern one.

Goodwill anyone?

Anyone else LOVE Goodwill!?!?  I DO!!  Today on 50% off Saturday I got all this for $15!

Happy Birthday James Bond

He was so excited about his preschool friends coming over to for a birthday party/preschool class. We all played Duck Duck Goose, painted with water colors, read 2 books, played Red Light Green Light, sang happy birthday (okay really I just sang and the kids stared at the cupcakes) and then we ate the cupcakes. It was a lot of fun.

My Favorite Child...

Life got a bit crazy near the end of January and this post slipped through the cracks...so better late than never, right?

How to pick your favorite child...

It's kind of tricky you don't want anyone to feel left out.  But I have one you know... Can you guess which one it is?  Here are some pictures to give you a clue:

Something's Different...

Notice Anything?

He surprised us all one day when he asked, "Daddy, why does my tooth move?"  Sure enough he had his first loose tooth!  About 1 1/2 weeks later it fell out while we were chowing down on chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant.  All of a sudden he said, "My tooth fell out, it fell under the table!"  So we all crawled under the table and searched through all the tortilla chip crumbs trying to find a bitty baby tooth!  After much searching and much questioning, "Are you sure you didn't swallow it, maybe it was a chip that fell?"  10 minutes later and a lot of strange looks from others around us we located the little thing.

He was so excited!  He requested that the "Toothfairy" NOT take his tooth, so they didn't.  So it's somewhere safe in his room.  :)

Lilly's Blessing

Well, it is official, Lilly Marie Bond is her name.

For months we, okay mostly me. have been trying to figure out if that was really her name or it was supposed to be the originally planned Lilly Ann.  And finally Robert said what ever he said during the blessing was what it was and I said okay.  In the beautiful blessing he gave her, Lilly Marie was made official.

Thank you to all of you who could come and share the special day with us.  It was a great day!

How well do you know me?

A bunch of things you may or may not know about me:

1.  I don't know where to begin
2.  I was born in Washington
3.  I grew up in Lehi Utah...sort of...
4.  My family moved a lot
5.  I lived in Alaska,
6.  Arkansas,
7.  New York,
8.  Nigeria, Africa,
9.  Mumbles, Wales, Great Britain
10.  and now Arizona
11.  When I lived in Lehi, Utah it was a small farming community
12.  Now I think it is HUGE with too many people living too close together...Like Mesa...
13.  I used to ride horses
14.  I used to be a therapeutic horseback riding instructor, AKA Hippotherapy
15.  I love working with children who have special needs
16.  I especially loved/specialized in autistic children
17.  Someday in the far future I would love to open a Hippotherapy center
18.  I originally wanted to be an Occupational therapist
19.  Then I changed to Human Development
20.  Then I decided on Early Childhood Education
21.  But then I wanted to double major in Special Needs Early Childhood Education and Human Development
22.  But then I got married...and moved to Arizona
23.  Now I just want any degree
24.  I love going to school and learning
25   Originally I went to the University of Utah...GO UTES!
26.  I was accepted to BYU and decided it wasn't for me
27.  I did a study abroad while at the U
28.  I studied for 1 semester at the University of Wales in Swansea so I could live at home with my family
29.  I am now about 24 credits away from a bachelors degree...just waiting for life to calm down a bit so I can finish
30.  For now I fulfill my need for knowledge through library books and the internet
31.  I love finding craft and sewing tutorials online to try out
32.  My eyes change color with my mood
33.  If you had asked me 10 years ago if I would ever have a home birth I would have said, "Heck NO and are you CRAZY"
34.  Last November I had a home birth, it was FANTASTIC!
35.  I really love being a mother
36.  Sometimes I get really frustrated with my children...I still love them...a lot
37.  I am very surprised that we have not had any ER or Urgent Care visits with my kids
38.  I think I was a bit accident prone in my youth...I have broken more than Robert likes to hear about
39.  I was in a bad car accident when I was young, my youngest sister died at 13 months old.
40.  That experience changed me:
41.  I get a little crazy driving in the rain especially in August,
42.  I am obsessive about carseat safety...ask my husband I drive him crazy,
43.  and when my babies get to 12 1/2 months old I start to freak out about them dieing.
44.  I thank my Heavenly Father fore healthy, happy children who have all lived past 13 months old
45.  I have not been in any accidents since that one.  I thank my Heavenly Father for that too.
46.  I rode in an ambulance with the older gentlemen who hit us.
47.  He was a nice old man, turned out to be a friend of my family.
48.  His wife was very sweet too and for years after that brought us homemade chocolates every year at Christmas time.
49.  I'm not mad at him.  It was just an accident.
  Let's change the subject.
50.  When I was young and would tell my Grandma Biggs "I can't"  her response was, "Can't is a slugger too lazy to try," apparently I took it to heart.
51.  My theory for life is "How do you know you can't do something if you haven't tried."
52.  I also figure that if someone else can make it and sell it in a store, perhaps I could make it at home, that goes for cooking, sewing, and crafting.

53.   I recently tried crocheting again and was more successful than the last time, I made flowers for a headband for Katelyn.
54.  I like to sew
56.  I don't think I am a fantastic sewer
57.  I often rush through a project so excited to finish that I miss steps and it doesn't turn out as perfect as I would like.
58.  I don't like to use patterns
59.  If I do use a pattern I rarely follow all the instructions
60.  I have found I love machine quilting
61.  I don't think hand quilting is for me.  I'll leave that to the Amish and my wonderful Mother in law.
62.  My first job was sewing for my Grandma Biggs, she was a professional seamstress.
63.  My last job was working for SHARP, it is an alternative school for kids who get kicked out of their regular school.  I really enjoyed working there.
64.  I like to cook.
65.  I tend to not use recipes...I seem to have an overall issue with instructions...
66.  I like to try new things when cooking and see how much can be homemade
67.  The weirdest thing I have made from scratch is wanton wrappers...it began as a need for dinner and a lack of desire or money to go to the store and buy them.  They are pretty easy and VERY cheap to make.
68.  I really, really, really wish my home were spotless all the time
69.  But I really don't like cleaning all the time...so it's not spotless all the time
70.  I'm still trying to find a balance between having a clean home and not cleaning all the time
71.  I love my family
72.  I am enjoying watching my children grow and develop into awesome little people
73.  I look forward to the future with my family with joy and anticipation,
74.  I'm sure it will be full of trials but overall it will be wonderful.
75.  I think that is more than enough about me!

And that wraps up the month of me!  Now back to the family and our happenings!

Favorite Bread Recipe

I have been making bread for a very long time.  However I didn't start searching for really great whole wheat recipes until after I got married and have needed to do something with all that wheat we were storing up like the Prophet counseled...I mean no point in having it if you don't even know what to do with right? Right.   Anyway in my searching I have found a very good recipe for whole wheat bread.

Perfect Homemade Bread

www.everydayfoodstorage.net

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. Yeast	1 ¼ C. Warm Water
¼ C. Sugar	1 tsp. Salt
3 Tbs. Wheat Gluten	2 Tbs. Nonfat Non Instant Dry Milk
1 Tbs. Oil	1 Tbs. Vinegar
¼ C. Potato Flakes	2 ¾ C. Wheat Flour

 

Instructions:

If using a mixer: Add all the ingredients in the order listed.  Using a dough hook turn on mixer and let it knead dough for 12 to 15 minutes.

If making bread by hand: Add  everything except only add 1 cup of flour to yeast mixture and whisk together for 1-2 minutes until it looks a little stretchy and stringy.  Switch to a spoon and mix in the remaining flour adding a little at a time until you cannot add any more flour.  Turn out onto floured or oiled counter and knead for 5 to 10 minutes. 

If you are in a hurry shape into loaves, let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. Or if you have time let dough rise until doubled, then shape into loaves, let rise again until doubled.

Bake at 375˚ for 25 to 35 minutes.

Favorite Goodies

Well, if you know me at all you know I love anything full of sugar.  I'll admit that sugar is my weakness.  But really I don't love everything full of sugar I just love homemade goodies full of sugar!  Here are a few of my favorite recipes that happen to be full of sugar.   (I really wish I had this many favorite vegetable recipes!)

Favorite Cookie Recipe- I can't pick which one I like better so you get both!

 Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Brandy Bond

These are my favorite cookies ever!  The recipe is based on Grandma Biggs’ Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.

Ingredients:

1 C. Butter	1 C. Sugar
½ C. Brown Sugar	2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla	1 tsp. Baking Soda
¼ tsp. Salt	2 C. Oatmeal
3 C. Flour	1 ½ C. Chocolate Chips

Instructions:

Place the oven rack near the top of the oven.  Preheat oven to 375˚ to 400˚.

Cream butter, sugar, brown sugar and eggs. 

Add vanilla mix.  Add baking soda, salt and oatmeal, mix.  Add flour and then chocolate chips. 

Drop cookies on to cookie sheet. 

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until golden on peaks and edges.  Let cool for 30 seconds before transferring them to a cooling rack. 

Cornflake Cookies

Thomas Family: Ketchikan, Alaska

I first fell in love with this cookie when my family stayed at a fishing lodge in Ketchikan, Alaska in 1995.  The family that owned the lodge was kind enough to give us the recipe and I have been making them ever since. 

Ingredients:

1 C. Butter	¼ tsp. Salt
1 C. Sugar	1 C. Coconut-Optional
1 C. Brown Sugar	2 C. Rolled Oats
2 Eggs	2 ½ C. Flour
1 tsp. Vanilla	2 C. Cornflakes
¼ tsp. Baking Soda

 

Instructions:

Place the oven rack near the top of the oven.  Preheat oven to 375˚ to 400˚.

Cream butter, sugar, brown sugar and eggs. 

Add vanilla mix.  Add baking soda, salt, coconut and oatmeal, mix.  Add flour mix; and then add cornflakes. 

Drop cookies on to cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-11 minutes until golden on peaks and edges.  Let cool for 30 seconds before transferring them to a cooling rack. 

Favorite Pie Recipe-

Cream Pie  

Knighten Family

This is a recipe that has been handed down for many generations in the Knighten family. It is not your regular fluffy and light cream pie it is very dense and rich tasting.  Grandpa Knighten has told us the story of when he was a boy he would see his grandmother making this pie in a huge pie pan that one could barely wrap their arms around.  And when she dotted it with butter she used about a pound of butter!

Ingredients:

1 ¼ C. Sugar	1 tsp. Vanilla
1 C. Flour	1 ½ Pints Half and Half
Dash of Salt	1 tsp. Nutmeg
1 unbaked pie crust	Butter

 

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together except butter and nutmeg.  (No mixer required just a spoon or a whisk.)  Pour into an uncooked pie crust. 

Sprinkle 1 tsp. Nutmeg over pie and dot with about 2 Tbs. Butter cut into small pieces.

Bake in a 375˚ oven for 1 hour or until a knife inserted near the middle comes out clean. Serve hot or cold.

Favorite Brownie Recipe-

Frosted Marshmallow Brownies

http://bakingblonde.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/frosted-marshmallow-brownies/

Ingredients:

¾ C. Butter	1 ½ C. Sugar
3 Eggs	1 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/3 C. Flour	½ tsp. Baking Powder
½ tsp. Salt
3 Tbs. Unsweetened Cocoa
3-4 C. Mini Marshmallows

Instructions:

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla beat until fluffy.In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa. Stir to combine. Add the flour mixture to creamed mixture. spread in greased 9×13 pan.Bake at 350 for 17-20 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with marshmallows, return to oven 2-3 mintues, or just until marshmallows are soft.
Remove from oven. Using a knife dipped in water spread the metled marshmallows evenly over bars.

Frosting:

6 Tbs. Butter	6 Tbs. Milk
1 ¼ C. Sugar
½ C. Mini Marshmallows or 5 Large
½ C. Chocolate Chips

Combine butter, milk and Sugar in medium saucepan and melt over med-low heat. Stir constantly until combined. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Add marshmallows and chocolate chips. Stir until marshmallows and chips are melted.  Remove from heat. Allow to cool and thicken slightly. Pour and spread over marshmallows on bars.
Allow to cool before cutting and serving.

My Favorite Craft Blogs

I feel like I have already posted about this.  If I have, sorry skip this and move on to the next post.
Here are my two favorite craft blogs.  I tried to pick a favorite but I can't.  I love that they are both moms and they enjoy making things for themselves and their kids.

I love:
baby tights pattern and tutorial  (I have made quite a few leggings and shorts for Katelyn from this pattern, they were essential to her "anti-diaper-removal-outfits" )
cute Buttercup bag pattern, haven't made it yet, but plan to
fold up and snap bib pattern, again haven't made it yet, but plan to

I love:
That she shows you how to make new clothes for you children out of your old clothes, what a great idea when you're trying to save money!
Lots of tutorials
Make your own patterns tutorial.  I have learned a lot from it.
The Shirt Dress tutorial, I have made it a couple times and it turns out SO CUTE every time!!
She talks about making your own swimsuits!!  I love my homemade swimsuit!!
Freezer paper stenciling, I didn't even know such a thing existed until she told me.  :)  Now I have a huge roll of the stuff...PLEASE come get some if you want to try it, I have what looks to be a lifetime supply.  :)
Tutorial on crib sheets...Have you seen how expensive crib sheets are, this is a way better option!  Note to self: you still haven't bought fabric for the crib sheets you need to make. 



I love how both women just go with it and don't always have a pattern.  (that's my style)  I also love that they make everyday clothes for their kids to wear.  Sometimes I forget that I don't have to just sew fancy church clothes for my kids: I can also sew them jeans and t-shirts too.  I love that they inspire me to just do it!

Do you have any great craft blogs?   If you do let me know, I'm always looking to expand upon my craftiness.

My most favorite person ever!

That would be my best friend, partner in crime, eternal companion, father of my children and all around awesome husband Robert! Today we are celebrating our 7 years of wonderful marriage!
 

WOW 7 YEARS!!

This is the first anniversary that we aren't together.  He's in Chicago for some work training and I miss him more than words can describe.  He is truly my best friend.  He is the only one I want to be with 24/7.   I tell him everything.  And wish he didn't have to work so we could do everything together.

Things I admire about him:
He is a hard worker
He is kind and loving
Once he puts his mind to doing something he gets it done no matter what
He is very good about doing my "Honey Do" list
He is willing to help everyone
He manages money extremely well
He is always willing to help me with my projects--building cabinets, putting up shelves refinishing cabinets, hanging pictures, even canning peaches! 

I can't believe we have been best friends for 11 years and we have been married for 7 great years.  I look forward to the years to come.  I know they will be great.

If you wanted to know how we started out check out Our Love Story.

Anyone need a reminder of what 28 candles look like?

Well, it's a lot of fire, that's for sure!

Don't you love how Michael strategically placed 4 candles in a row?  It makes the flames even more impressive don't you think?  It has been awhile since I have had more than two or three candles on my cake so to have all 28 was actually kind of fun!

The cake wasn't as pretty as Martha Stewart's cake but it sure tasted delicious and that is what matters.

On my birthday I was surprised and excited to get an Edible Arrangement delivered to my door!

We all enjoyed it for the next three days.  :)  I never thought of dipping apple slices in semi sweet chocolate but it was surprisingly good.  So thank you, thank you, thank you Dad, Mom, Josh Nikki and Joe for the delicious fruit arrangement.  We ALL LOVED it!

My week of birthday celebrations was fun and unfortunately will be ending soon.  Thanks to everyone for the cards, money, gifts, phone calls and visits it helped make my week wonderful.