It's no joke that it snowed today....

Beautiful snow on April Fool's Day.

Silly sock day at school.

Undies

Claire loves underwear! She is always putting on Malissa's underwear that she finds in the pile of laundry. We're just hoping its clean!

Winter Clearance

My sister Emilee is having a winter clearance on her hats. They are $10.00 each. She also knits stockings and makes lots of clips and bows. Here is her website.

www.emileeschristmasjoy.blogspot.com

To my mother....

When I came home from aerobics on Friday, my girls made me special notes. It was a very nice surprise and very unexpected. Emma had cleaned the whole kitchen and Malissa cleaned my bedroom. Here is what it said in their notes.

Emma wrote- To a Mother who works all day. I think time for her to ger her pay. Some cookies and the cleanest kitchen in the world. A mother who looks beautiful with her hair all curled. To my mother not my brother.

Malissa wrote-To a very special mom- To a very nice mother who has three girls and a brother. I cleaned the room with a broom....When I was born in your tummy, Emma's cookies looked yummy. To a very special mother!

Family Night

Last night for Family Night we did something a little different. First we started out at home with a little lesson on temples. Then we had the kids sit in the back of the van together for the rest of the lesson. They each took turns rolling the die that told us where to go. If they rolled a 1 or 2 we went left. 3 or 4 straight and 5 or 6 right. We ended up at a dead end which gave Josh the opportunity to talk to them about preparing to go to the temple and how you shouldn't relay on a die to get there but that you need to prepare yourself. Josh then had Malissa tell him where to go by telling him left, right or straight. He told her that she could get help from her siblings but she was determined to get there herself. (since we were only a few minutes away) The night ended with a beautiful view of the temple and icecream for dessert.

Last weeks lesson was fun because the kids worked really hard together. If you can't guess the story by the small picture, it is the"Tree of Life." I love object lessons and I especially love when the kids are not fighting when they are doing something together.

Photography 102

Last Saturday I took a Photography class. It was a class about lighting which I was really interested in. Most of the class was spent in the classroom and the last two hours were hands on. Because it was snowing outside we took pictures indoors. A few of the girls in the class brought their kids to be models for us and then we each took turns modeling for each other. All of these pictures that I took are not edited and I did not use a flash The pictures are taken by a window or in the doorway. Natural lighting is so great and I learned so much from this class! I can't wait to take more! By the way the reflector that you see in the first picture has many uses! You can use the gold side for a tan look, the black side for newborn shots and the silver for a natural look. It can also be used as a diffuser.

Cake in a Mug

I found this great recipe that only takes 5 minutes from start to finish. Emma came home and made two cakes to share with her siblings. Here's the recipe...

A large microwavable mug

4 Tablespoons flour
9 Tablespoons of hot choclate mix (3 packets)
1 pinch of salt
1 egg
3 Tablespoons water
3 Tablespoons of oil
Cooking spray

1. Spray the mug with cooking spray
2. Mix all the ingredients in the mug
3. Make sure it is mixed well
4. Microwave for 3 minutes
5. The handle of the mug is hot, so use a potholder to remove it from the microwave
6. Tip your cake out of the mug onto a dish.
7. Enjoy your treat!

Variation
Chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, or whipping cream on the top