{capturing everyday}

Miss Katey

June 28, 2015 2 Comments

This creative chica keeps me smiling.

Here she is showing off her new hair accessory from my cousin and good friend Veralyn. 🙂

She decided that her outfit was simply not fancy enough to go with it – so she added a skirt she made out of a napkin. 😉

Later that day she decided it was time to freshen up her belt wardrobe…

with material cut from an old shirt and a fresh rose growing by the clothesline in our backyard.

Yep, that’s how this chica rolls… and I dig it. 🙂

Filed Under: {capturing everyday}, {photography captures}, {tickles and smiles}

Paisley Roots and Butterfly Wings

May 23, 2015 3 Comments

We are the happy owners of our *first* Paisley Roots creation!! 😀 We’re a little enamored.

Meri and I both *adore* it! <3 I was definitely not the only excited one:

Those colors – I swoon. Meri says the shirt is “windproof” too! 😉

I love the fabric – print and stretchy feel. It’s delightful and those tags – eek!

Karly’s details are impeccable as always! So excited for my dear friend and that she is sharing her talents with us. Her first craft fair was today and she rocked it!

Machine washable, my fav…

Monarch butterfly wings compliment nicely – and Meri, she knows how to fly. 😉

Filed Under: {capturing everyday}, {happy times}, {photography captures}, {Ta-Da! accomplishments}, {tickles and smiles}

“Waiting can be hard. Children know it, and so do adults. We live in a world offering fast food, instant messaging, on-demand movies, and immediate answers to the most trivial or profound questions. We don’t like to wait.”

We’ve been learning about patience in our family – like studying it. We read those words from President Dieter F Uchtdorf and in the same talk learned about an experiment where 4-year-olds were given a marshmallow and if they could wait 15 minutes they could have two. Only 30% could do it.

I decided to try it with my kiddos. I didn’t have marshmallows, but I had peanuts and raisins. Same experiment. Wait 15 minutes and you get double.

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I set a timer on the oven and I did see eyes wander that way often. We continued on with our school lesson though – about The Comedy of Errors and patience. How the twin brothers did not discover they were in the same town until the end of the play and the purpose Shakespeare had with writing it that way. The kiddos were still sitting at our school table. The peanuts and raisins were right in front of them, but only some chose to stare at them.

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At one point Caleb wandered away into a different room and stuffed his mouth full of granola. I wondered what was up and he said he was using it to distract his mind from the raisins. Ha! Different techniques for different folks. 😉

The Stanford professor that did the original experiment went on to observe the same children over time. He learned “…those who waited tended to be more positive and better motivated, have higher grades and incomes, and have healthier relationships. What started as a simple experiment with children and marshmallows became a landmark study suggesting that the ability to wait—to be patient—was a key character trait that might predict later success in life.”

My proud mommy moment… ALL of my children did it. Even Ms. Three Year Old made it 15 minutes!!

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0.2 seconds later. 😉

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Not sure whether to be more proud that my children were patient or that they consider peanuts/raisins to be treats. 😉

{ President Uchtdorf’s talk: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/04/continue-in-patience }

Filed Under: {capturing everyday}, {reflections and deep thoughts}, {worthwhile}

Perfection

May 2, 2015 Leave a Comment

Yesterday was a porch-swing, juice-box, sticker-book kind of day! <3

Filed Under: {bonne buche}, {capturing everyday}, {happy times}

Why, Hi There.

April 26, 2015 2 Comments

Hyrum discovered a new friend this morning!

It started on the bed with a peek:

He then scootched over the edge – ever so carefully…

to get a closer look.

One of the best friends you can have in this life buddy!

Filed Under: {capturing everyday}, {happy times}, {photography captures}, {tickles and smiles}

Spotlight: { Mommy }

January 20, 2014 1 Comment

Daddy: Meri what is something you love about your mommy?

Meri: Rainbow ice cream! (whispered intensely)

Daddy: Mommy feeds you rainbow ice cream?

Meri: Yeah!!! (not whispered)

Caleb: Orange slices. I mean I love she feeds me oranges.

*Jacob raising hand*

Daddy: Jacob we’re going youngest to oldest.

Jacob: But everyone takes mine.

Katey: I love that mommy gives us hugs and kisses and makes stuff for us. Well, not sewing stuff. But she makes the food!

Drewby: I love mom because her smile. It’s really big!

Autumn: Yes? I like mom because she’s awesome. I can’t think of all the ways. …Yoga! And she’s a really good cook.

Josh: I love mom because she gives the kids an education before they go to public school. I also love mom for her Chicago deep dish pizza. And I also say whatever Jacob is going to say.

Jacob: I hereby forbid you from annexing my comment. But there is someone that is older than Josh and younger than me that needs to comment.

Duke: I love it when she gives me bacon fat.

Jacob: My turn…

Autumn: ooh, I’m excited to hear Jacob’s.

Jacob: I love mom because she’s always willing to lend me a hand. Whether it’s math homework or doing my chore or whatever. And I don’t mean whatever disrespectfully. It means she’s always there.

Daddy: I love mommy because she is willing to do the hard things that a mommy needs to do sometime to take care of her family. And she will always, well, almost always – give the last special treat away to someone. She also rarely thinks about herself before someone else – she’s selfless and I love that about her.

Caleb: And one more thing I like mom for… she let me stir the pancake batter today!

Becky is an amazing cook (that hasn’t been mentioned yet…), a lover of all things that are sparkly, loves everyday moments & capturing them and finds Ocean Spray CranGrape SodaStream refreshing & irresistible. Her favorite activity is enjoying a quiet afternoon in the sunshine with a good book.

Filed Under: {*spotlights*}, {capturing everyday}, {tickles and smiles}

Spotlight: { Daddy }

December 9, 2013 Leave a Comment

Caleb: I love you Daddy. I love your tickles!

Drewby: I like Dad because… um… um…

Daddy: Is it so hard to think of something?

Jacob: He’s trying to think from the eternity of possibilities.

Drewby: I like Dad because he smiles a lot!

Autumn: He is not a scowly dad! Josh is the only one brave enough to tickle him though.

Daddy: He has a death wish. I think I am ticklish because I got it from Grandma Pipes. She’s ticklish! Grandpa Pipes was not though. At all. It was so frustrating.

Autumn: I love Dad because of his cuddles and his whiskers!

Jacob: I love Dad because even though he is always busy with a bunch of work he always finds time for each of us and he gives us as much as he can.

Daddy: I try. Sometimes I don’t find enough time, but I try.

Katelyn: I like Dad because of his smiles and his hugs.

Daddy: Katey is so sweet. She always gives me a kiss on my cheek and a hug as she’s getting out of the car at school.

Josh: I love Dad because after searching the universe of endless possibilities I found out he is very reasonable and persuasive.

Mommy: Not sure how to add to those…

Josh: Wait! There’s something else I want to add on to Jacob’s. Dad spends his fraction of his time for me tickling me.

Daddy: Only when you’re asking for it!

Mommy: Daddy does have a great amount of love for each of us! He’s patient and kind and patient some more. Highly devoted! And he’s a huge tease that likes a good time. *Right now Meri is getting the tickling & her toes are being devoured.* He’s also one for a good deep discussion and a late night snacker. An amazing and willing masseuse and gets a sparkle in his eye when experimenting with photography. We love our mister!

Josh: What are we supposed to do while Mom thinks and types out hers?

Daddy: You can just reflect on how awesome I am.

Jacob: Okay… …that’s probably enough time.

Daddy: * laughing*

{Thankfully Daddy can take the teasing too.}

Filed Under: {*spotlights*}, {capturing everyday}, {tickles and smiles}

Pie!

December 2, 2013 1 Comment

Thanksgiving morning our older kiddos went to grandma’s home to play with cousins. Meri stuck around to help me bake pies. She was such a sweet little helper. She loved putting her hands right in the pie crust and said it was “boingy”. Like a little trampoline she bounced a few of those crusts a few times. 😉 Meri also loved rolling out her own little crusts and would pull small pieces off and say “Teeny!” It was so much fun to have her around making this delicious task even more yummy.

Started out by making lemon meringue. Jim Bob’s dad’s favorite. It also reminds me of Thanksgiving growing up when we traveled to Grandpa and Grandma Smith’s home. Aunt Lillian always made lemon meringue. Sometimes I would spend the afternoon playing with my cousin Emily at her place after the big meal was done. When I did – we always had leftover pie for dinner. That’s it – just lots of lemon pie. Good memories! The secret to the way Grandpa Pipes’ loved them is the graham cracker crust and putting in 1/2 cup of lemon juice instead of water in the first part of the pudding recipe. Gives it a tang that is irresistible.

The pumpkin recipe is the one straight out of the Better Homes & Garden cookbook. We made our own pumpkin puree though – from pumpkins grown in our garden this year. Yum! And because I always forget – 15 oz. of puree is 1 3/4 cups. 😉 This year I also tried the Carmel Pecan Pumpkin recipe the next page over. So glad we did – delicious!

And a few photos of the apple in the process. I was afraid the light would be completely gone by the time we finished those. Two regular and two dutch apple. Just a little side note. While finishing the dutch apple pies I realized I forgot the 2 T. flour per pie in the two that were already baking at Mom’s. I figured not a big deal – what difference would 2 T. of flour make? Just so you know – a big one. Those 2 pies tasted good – but were so soupy and made a mess when trying to dish up and eat. After they were drained it worked much better. Another reminder that little things make a big impact.

And the final product. So much goodness. The leftovers were divine too.

Filed Under: {capturing everyday}, {holidays and celebrations}, {one little word}, {scrumptious schenanigans}, {tickles and smiles}

The Yum

November 22, 2013 Leave a Comment

Sometimes I get a little conceited about the lunches I pack…

I think the note worked – Drewby came home today and said it was his best lunch ever!!

Filed Under: {bonne buche}, {capturing everyday}, {one little word}, {scrumptious schenanigans}, {Ta-Da! accomplishments}, {tickles and smiles}

Armpit Fudge

November 20, 2013 Leave a Comment

The recipe from Scout Round Table last week:

I knew as soon as I saw it that not only would my 8 & 9-year-old scouts love this, but my little ones too.

I was sooo right. Fun, easy, yummy and a little bit gross. Enjoy!

p.s. You can totally just squish it up with your hands if you want! 😉 Or double bag the ingredients and make a throwing, running, squishing game out of it.

p.p.s. The recipe is from cubscoutideas.com. My only adjustment – snip the corner of the bag and squeeze out – much less messy than a spoon. 🙂 There is also a Cub Scout requirement list included on the paper & site.

Filed Under: {capturing everyday}, {scrumptious schenanigans}, {tickles and smiles}

Miss Katey

Paisley Roots and Butterfly Wings

Have patience, sir