2010 First day of 2nd grade and preschool

It was a rainy morning. Nicholas got up at 3:45 am and said it is time!  We tried to get him to go back to sleep...no luck. He wore a new pair of jeans from grandma Kristi and his favorite Toni Hawk green shirt from Grandma Alcie.  He was styling and even wore his new hiking boots. He ate a great breakfast and Paisley woke up at 6:30 am.  She walked Nicholas out to his bus in her jammies, barefoot in the pouring rain, hugged him and said have a good day brother.  I cried....he has the best bus driver and aide. Marge is a godsend and really loves him.  He is liking the special needs bus much better than his old bus.  It was too loud and way too crazy per Nicholas.  He had a good day per his teacher. He did not have much to say, just wanted to line up his Lego's when he came in off the bus. His teacher Mrs Huntsman is great and she said" Hello, for the most part I feel that Nick had a good day.  As the day wore on and he began to tire he was resistant to working.  However, when I sat with him he started to work.  He did not cause any problems in class, he was well behaved and seemed to make a friend.  He did very well in the assembly even with all the noise."  He ate a snack and it was time to go play for 45 minutes with is dear friend Hallie. She asked if he could play and he was out the door like a rocket!  His special ed teacher even called to see how his day was. She made sure he got off his bus and to his class. She put him back on the bus to come home and said he did really well.  What a hard day for a boy who is so sensitive to change, noise, routine, sleep, meals etc.  He forgot his lunch bag and said I did not know where to put it mom.  It is the same school but everything is different, different time, lunch table, room, etc.  Just think how you would feel if that were all different and it all bothered you.  I am so proud of you Nicholas for holding it all together. You are amazing and I learn from you each day! 

Paisley went back to BEIC and has Ms Cindy and Mrs Loa Jenkins. They are amazing and I cant believe Pais will be in kindergarten next fall. She is so mature, shy and intuitive. She loved getting ready. She wanted her hair in two piggies and wore the outfit her Grandma Kristi made for her.  The rain had stopped so she wanted a few pictures outside.  She was so excited to see her friends. I helped on the first day and was glad, she was timid. I was glad I was there for her.  Today is her second day and gave me a high five when I left.  

My babies are growing up quickly. I cherish each moment and try to always be attentive to their every need.  Each day brings something new, it is fun to see how I choose to handle it. I want to be the best mom ever. My mom always did an amazing job making us feel #1. I can't remember a day I did not feel her love. I want it to be that way for my kids. 

FUDGE!

Fudge by Grandma Alcie

5 cups sugar
1 cup butter or margarine
1 can 12 oz evaporated milk
Bring to rolling boil and mark the timer for 5 minutes exactly.  Stirring constantly for the five minutes, then take off heat. Stir in 12 oz any chocolate chip, and 1, 7 oz marshmallow cream .
Mix well with large strong spoon and pour into large pan 9x13 or larger. Cool and cut, will freeze nicely too. I like to make it night before and refrigerate. You can add nuts if like. I have used mint chips, butterscotch, dark choc, peanut butter, white chips etc. Have fun and enjoy!

Gluten Free

Gluten Free

This is a great link to a great blog. The recipes, ideas, and inspiration is wonderful. Have fun searching, my friend Julie told me about it and I have loved looking!

Blue Angels 2010 Idaho Falls Idaho

The day is beautiful, sunny warm and not too windy. At 200pm we went as a family to the Blue Angel's practice open to Make a wish children. Nicholas was invited and we thoroughly enjoyed the show. Nicholas took a jet his Aunt and Uncle had given him and the night before he painted it to look like a blue angel. He had it signed by the F/A 18 Pilot 4 Maj USMC Chris Collins and pilot 5 LCDR Frank Wisser. The C130 Fat Albert was there to show off along with the 6 jets.

There first formation of four...wait till the other two show up!

This experience was incredible for us and Nicholas. The time he had with the pilots and the special attention to be up close...front row seats for two and a half hours!  The music was very loud, but he managed pretty well. He was definitley ready to go home, but will never forget the experience, nor will we!  He felt very special and had no idea how cool it was to be there. We could have never made it through the day, the event was perfect!

This is way fun, thanks Daddy for bringing us!

We got to see Greg Poe and his stunt plane, he started the show. Very great acrobats!  We also got to see 3 MIGs in formation. Absolutely the most cool sound to hear them hum over you. We also saw a F16 falcon and a F15.

This was on takeoff and the deck crew is in the background.

After the show Jeff was able to go to the tarmac with Nicholas to get his signatures and pictures taken with the pilots.  This was a wonderful and very special experience and we are very grateful! 

Nicholas happy and glad he stuck it out for those signatures on his plane!

Paisley enjoyed the planes and she thought the noise was amazing!  It was AWESOME and The PLANES ARE COOL and That IS ALL!

 The make a wish kids with some of the pilots at the end of the show. Lots of mommy's were crying by this point.  Things like this where these pilots take time to show these kids how special they are is truly incredible! Thank you BLUE ANGELS!

I Heart Faces • Play

I love this photo of Paisley playing tea party! She has the glasses and heals and is ready to be a mama! She loves to get out her tea set from Mema and play.  We do this almost daily and the stuff she will say is so cute.  She loves to act real grown up and loves to dream  I love this about her and we have some good tea visits.  Balto is even invited every once in a while. Be sure to check out the other photos at http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com

Have a wonderful day and may God bless you abundantly!  Love Paisley and April

Birch Creek and our Maiden voyage in our new tent trailer!

This is our new used pop up trailer. A Coleman toas. We told a friend we were interested in getting one and a few months later she phoned and said she found one.  It is perfect, 8 feet long to tow and really spacious. We set up the shower and changing room outside and the table can be in or out.  It was super fast to set up. We went Birch creek, about 1 hour and 15 minutes from our house.  The kids loved the short trip and we loved trying out the trailer. Jeff bought a generator so when we are at a site where there are no hookups, we still have power.  It was so great to have heat and lights.  We had a family movie each night and kept warm as the temps dropped in the evenings.  This is a picture of our first supper. We had watermelon, cauliflower and broccoli, penne noodles with wine marinara sauce and dinner sausage.  The stove can be used in our out, so we cooked outside and sat under the awning.  It is a moment I will always remember.

Boy with autism races in swim competition | KIDK CBS 3 - News, Weather and Sports - Idaho Falls - Pocatello - Blackfoot, ID - Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Blackfoot - Idaho | Local & Regional

Boy with autism races in swim competition | KIDK CBS 3 - News, Weather and Sports - Idaho Falls - Pocatello - Blackfoot, ID - Idaho Falls, Pocatello, Blackfoot - Idaho | Local & Regional

Homemade Yogurt

I love this recipe. I have had a lot of requests for it.  If you are a yoplait fan you can save $600.00 a year making your own and adding your own sweetener. The kids love honey and fruit on it.  It is not tart but has a distinct flavor. The texture is smooth and very creamy.  I love the idea there is no added sugar.  I like to use Reed's whole milk. Their cows are hormone free.

So here is the recipe, enjoy!

Ingredients
1 gallon of milk. I use Reed's whole.
1 cup yogurt starter(you can use a small cup of plain mountain high or nancy's yogurt, or you can use a cup from your previous batch.)


1. Place four quart glass canning jars, four lids, and four screw-tops in a large pot. Fill with an inch of water; cover with lid and heat to boiling. Boil for ten minutes. Leave the lid on the pot and move it off the heat until you are ready to use the jars.
2. Pour one gallon of milk into a large, heavy bottomed stockpot or Dutch oven. Heat the milk to 185-195 degrees Farenheit(90-90 Celcius). I like to add two vanilla beans at this point.
3. Place the pot in a sink filled with cold water and let the milk cool to 120-130 degrees farenheit(50-55 degrees celcius)
4. Stir one cup of yogurt starter into the cooled milk, using a whisk. Stir well to ensure that the starter is thoroughly incorporated into the milk. Take out the vanilla beans.
5. Pour the milk into jars, and put the lids and bands on. Place them into a cooler.
6. Heat one gallon of water to 120-130 degrees F(50-55 degrees C) and pour into cooler.
7. Shut cooler lid and leave in a warm place for three hours. When the three hours are up, place the yogurt in the refrigerator.
To make a delicious vanilla version of this yogurt, add 1/2 to 1 cup of sugar to the four quarts of milk when it’s cooling in the sink. Then stir in 1-2 tablespoons of vanilla, depending on your preference, and proceed as usual with the recipe.  I have also used stevia, vanilla cream is my favorite. 15-20 drops is good for us for 4 quarts.

--
Have a great day!
Love April

Sand, Sun and FUN

Sunday is beautiful, the day was perfect! Nicholas loves the sand and the neighbors enjoyed playing with both kids.  They buried them and loved it. I took some pictures to capture the day and he will remember the fun for days.  Paisley even wanted to try out being buried. Nicholas loved playing with all the kids and sand is such a sensory calming thing. I am so thankful to have a sand box right out the kitchen window! 

Angie loves to play in the sand with Nicholas and  they had a blast today.  They had a tang break over in her yard and decided to get out the sand toys. Jeff worked in the garage and yard with his dad all day.  Spring is here and the first few batches of daffodils are opening,

White Chicken Chili

This recipe is great, it is a must make and keep! Enjoy, I was given the recipe by a dear neighbor friend and we serve it alot to company and guests.

To  make it GF just use rice flour in place of regular flour.

I Heart Faces Photo contest

I Heart Desserts!

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces is "Desserts"! And I absolutely LOVE desserts!  This cake was made by my mom for my daughters 4th birthday. She loves pirates and we tried to make it as girly as possible.  I have another post of her party if you want to check out the ship my son and husband made for her! The cake was wonderful and everyone loved it!

Palm Springs Day 2

Swimming, Food, Airplanes, Grapefruits, and Cheesecake = a really fun day and tired kids.

  We loved the pool and tried a Gluten Free popcorn microwave that we all loved.  We will be going back to get more to bring home.  After lunch and a shower we all headed to the Palm Springs Airport to view the museum and honor the anniversary of flight. 

Planes always make me think of Grandpa Wayne.  Nicholas loves flight and the planes.  The noise of some of the ones taking off today got to him, he just covered his ears.  He sat in several and Paisley liked them too.  There were numerous planes and very interesting retired military men to visit with.  Nicholas was able to paint on a plane and he thought that was really cool.

we got to see this plane take off!

On the way home we stopped to get dessert at the Cheescake Factory.  Oh boy, Nicholas got to try the new gluten free key lime and Jeff got the gluten free Godiva Chocolate.  Paisley picked the brownie cheesecake and it had 1258 calories, she took two bites and it is in the fridge.  I picked a vanilla bean, looks wonderful, I will try it after I am done blogging. 

now that is a grapefruit, Nicholas hand for size comparrison

Cheese!

While I was cooking shrimp stir fry for dinner, Jeff took the kids on a walk and they came home with a bag of grapefruits and a lime.  They are beautiful and a very sweet.  They are white grapefruit and Nicholas loved juicing a few.  We watched Life on tv as a family and Paisley fell asleep, real asleep.  We are  off the Sea World tomorrow and I am so excited and blessed to be able to go as a family on such a special trip!

Spring Break 2010

This is sunrise in the desert, after trying to sleep for a few hours in the Denali

We are on a vacation to southern California, Palm Dessert. We have a nice time share with three pools and great area, very quiet.  We checked in this AM after driving 12 hours.  We had lots of snow and scary roads in Utah last night.  We took turns driving and pulled off to sleep for 2 hours early this AM.  The kids could not stand another minute in the car seats.  They were both crying and miserable.  We thought it would be better to drive at night but after experiencing it, maybe day would have been easier on Nicholas.  It is always so hard to know.  Today we checked in and went to the pool.
We put on sunscreen and spent the afternoon playing and relaxing.  The kids loved the pool and showing daddy all their new swim moves!  

We had a great time and I even got a nap.   The weather is beautiful and warm! We took the kids to Trader Joes to shop Gluten free and then took the car to a wash.  It was a mess.... We had a great pasta dinner and Nicholas set the table and even put a centerpiece...a beautiful pineapple! I could not find the camera, it was so sweet.  He did really well and fell asleep before we were done with books.  He has still not moved and neither has Rich, he has been pretty attached to him this trip.  We are loving seeing Paisley swim and her growing vocabulary. 

This is a grapefruit tree right off our deck.  They are large and we wish we could reach them!
Jeff and I are watching the Gonzaga girls play in the sweet sixteen.  They are doing well and vacation is such a wonderful thing, The wine is good too and just having time together is special. The flowers are beautiful and the palms are so awesome.  The kids are loving the change of scenery and activity. It was time for spring vacation!

Nicholas has been doing really well with eye contact lately.  The pictures are proof.  He loves vacation and I love to see him free and enjoying the day. He has been confused on the time of day but he will get settled in and then it will be time to head home and the moon will be full!