I love my Tank!

Lately I have been seriously wishing for the time when we can finish paying off our van and get a smaller vehicle just for running errands and such. The gas mileage would be so much better and parking and getting around would just be easier than in my extremely large and lumbering vehicle that henceforth will be known as "the Tank".
I am now more grateful than ever for this beast. Plastic and fiberglass parts were not used much in it's construction so it is made of good old fashioned steel and on a commercial truck frame so it sits higher off the ground than most vehicles around it. Tonight I was turning left out of a shopping center across a 4 lane road and managed to get in a nice little fender bender. (Oh, and the kids were NOT with me, just in case you were concerned.) I will come right out and admit that it was my fault. I looked left and there wasn't a car on the road. I paused for a car coming on the right and as soon as I pulled out I hit a small truck barreling in from my left. I'm not sure if he had pulled out of one of the driveways a little further up from where I was or if he had turned the corner onto that street after I had looked that way. In the end it doesn't matter I know you look left then right then left again and I didn't. I hit his passenger side back quarter panel which messed up his rim and busted his tire along with some good dents to the body. Luckily it was an older truck and was made of pretty heavy metal for a little truck so it's not as bad as it could have been.
The impact with the speed he was going and the busted tire caused him to do a 180 in the middle of the road though. It looked pretty bad with him spinning around and it sounded awful between the metal crashing and the tire exploding. I called 911 as soon as I got out of the traffic lane and went to check on the other driver whose truck was now behind the van, I was glad because I was afraid to look at the damage to the front knowing it had to be considerable. It didn't register right away that there was no debris or anything. Anyway neither of us were hurt and when I finally went to look at the damaged I was shocked. I dented my front bumper, it's metal so there's no cracking or breaking apart and looking funky it's just dented. Granted it's a really big dent, or series of dents actually, but still no broken headlights, busted grill, airbag deployment or anything more serious.
I am very grateful to my Heavenly Father for his protection. With greater appreciation I can now say I love my Tank!!!!!!
Shiloh

My Little Ninjas

Ok so they are not all little and by the time the picture was taken they were already getting messed up but these were our ninjas and Cole who decided to go as the "annnoying teenager", his words, not mine. I wouldn't let him take his paintball gun around the neighborhood, but he wanted it for pictures.

I have a very bad headache so I will let Emily write the commentary on Halloween later, but I knew if I didn't put up pictures now, it probably wouldn't happen.

Eight is Great!!!

The last few weeks have been very exciting! Our first big eight is Adrianna! We had a birthday at the end of July and Odie Podie turned eight! She had been talking about turning eight and being baptized since she turned seven. It was a great day, we all went out for the first annual Ella Memorial 5k and had a great time. Then just spent the rest of the day with Grandma Cindy having fun! We had a birthday party that night.
We had her baptism on Sunday evening and all the aunts, uncles, cousins, and Nana and Poppa from North Carolina all got to come down for it. We are so proud of her and the decision she made to be baptized!

Another big eight is we've added an eighth child to our household. His name is Cole he's a young man that we knew through church and he'll be with us indefinitely... well until he leaves on his mission in two years. He's great with the kids and everyone seems to be adapting to the household changes really well.



And of course we can't forget baby number eight . Yes I know everyone has been waiting for months for this announcement so it should come as no big surprise to anyone that I am pregnant. Baby number eight, from here on referred to as Aswell or Aslan, will be due about March 26, 2012. And yes I remembered that is Grandpa Bill's birthday, and our niece Caitlin's. What can I say we have great timing (not like the baby will be born on the due date anyway).

So on that note, I hope everyone has a happy Sabbath, and a great week ahead!

At least he apologized...

So this morning I overheard this conversation between my 9 year old outdoorsman-power-ranger-wanna-be son and my 5 year old strawberry-shortcake-barbie-princess and her 10 year old protector:

Jonas: Lydia, I owe you an apology. What I told you before wasn't really true.

Lydia: Really?

Jonas: Yeah, I just made it up. Do you forgive me?

Lydia: Oh...well...okay.

Emily: What did you tell her?

Jonas: That I liked lizards...

Emily: So?

Jonas: ...And that lizards see everything in black and white except for the color pink and they will attack anything with pink especially people wearing it.

Emily: What!?

Jonas: I apologized!

Bikes and Butt Cramps (written by Emily)

Mom and Dad went on a bike ride with a few friends that went from our house in Columbia at 3:00 AM to Charleston at about 8:30 PM. Aunt Heather drove our van, & Billy, Brian, Matt, Andy, Mom, & Dad biked. Dad got butt cramps (or at least it hurt so bad he finally admitted it). Mom got huge bruises on her knees. I don't know about the rest of the crew. We kids stayed at home. Madison and Mackenzie Hendrix baby-sat us for hours and hours. But(t) that's all I really know. Call my mom for any further details!

And the Beadhead Award Goes To...

Lydia's wild hair in the morning always makes me smile! We forgot to take out her ponytail last night so she woke up with Cindy-Lou Who hair. I love it!

Look what I did!!!!!

Ok so I kind of have a minor issue with starting little projects and they turn out bigger and grander than I plan on. The latest is no exception. I needed to paint the girls' bedroom. Now I've had the paint for a few months I just was having trouble actually getting it done. I finally decided this was the week. The original idea was lavender walls, white trim and one accent wall with pale pink harlequin style diamonds. Pretty, classy and fairly simple. My pink turned out to be a little brighter than I had intended so I was trying to figure out how to still use it yet tone it down. I still wanted to do something fun, yet original. Long story short I decided to create a plaid wall. I couldn't find a pattern so I just made one up as I was taping and hoped for the best. It turned out way cuter than even I anticipated. When the girls saw it this morning they declared it to be the coolest wall ever. Once I get the room put back together I'll post pictures of everything. Including the new window seat and finished bookshelves. But here is the wall with Emily, Adrianna and Adam this morning.I even managed to go around the door. Oops looks like I need to put the smoke detector back up.

Tennis

Today we had our first tennis practice of the year. Mom was coaching Jonas, Odie, & Preston's team. Ethan & Noah DelPreorie were on the same courts, but their dad was their coach. My coach was Coach Law Powers. He was really nice, & let those who would miss the serve, get another chance. My classmate, Britt said he was going to tennis practice after school,also. Britt & I are(I think) on the same team. I was exited to see someone I've known longer than the other team mates. Tennis was really fun!!!!!!!!! I will tell more about today later.

Goose Egg

Adam got a MASSIVE goose egg on Sunday, March 6, 2011. We were leaving for church, and Preston wasn't buckled up. We backed out of the drive way and drove two houses down and Preston still wouldn't sit down and buckle up. Mom hit the breaks, Preston held on to the passenger seat so he wouldn't fall. Adam, on the other hand, wasn't buckled. Adam flew out of his seat, and hit the seat in front of him, giving him what seemed to be a COLOSSAL goose egg. So here is our moral of this story:MAKE SURE YOU & YOUR KIDS ARE BUCKLED BEFORE YOU DRIVE!!!!!!! (Even if it's only two houses away) :)

Smooching In Church?!!

Today after church, mom & dad had a pack comity meeting. we were the last ones to leave, so I guess mom & dad decided they would smooch in front of us. It wasn't just the "5 second quick kiss," type. It was whole romantic scene. Dad picked up mom, "dipped" her, and smooched for about 30 seconds (mom says it wasn't that long). Grrrroooooossssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nobody dared to look! Nobody wanted to look. So here I sit, to protest kissing in front of children, 16 years or younger. Although movies don't count. So, here I sit, in my green long sleeved T-shirt and Hannah Montana pajama pants, in my mom's black chair,saying, GOOD NIGHT!

Hi! It's Me, Emily!!!

Hey! It's me, Emily. My mom has said that I am the now official "blog updater." Mom is occasionally going to update the blog, but for now, It is my turn to have some fun.

cookies

I love cookies. They are one of my favorite treats. You can have one if you want something sweet but are not in the mood for a lot of sugar or half a dozen if you want a sugar rush. You can serve them with milk or hot chocolate or they are just as good with with water or kool-aid when you're on a picnic. They are hand held and already portioned as a single serving food for little ones. And they come in more varieties than any other food I know.

All that being said, I have a new favorite cookie. Now chocolate chip is the standard. I make those at least once a week or so. I love them and will always love them and nothing will replace them, but when I want to make something different, well....I make things up. I actually just find recipes I think sound good then I tweak them a little to what I like. My chocolate covered cherry cookies used to be my favorite (a basic koolaid cookie recipe using cherry flavor then dipping them in melted chocolate after baking and cooling). However I found a recipe that I modified so I will share with you my version along with a few variations I've tried.

Coconut Almond Cookies

1 cup butter softened
3/4 cup superfine ( I use regular granulated) sugar
1 egg yolk slightly beaten
1 tsp Almond extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 cup coconut
chopped, slivered or sliced almonds are optional, I usually don't have them so I do with out, they do make a nice touch when you've got them though.

Put butter and sugar in a bowl and mix well. Beat in egg yolk and almond extract. Add flour and salt, add coconut and mix until thoroughly combined.

Scoop up tablespoons of the mixture and roll into balls, flatten somewhat and bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes.

These are not a super sweet cookie and my favorite thing about these is what you can do with them.

Make a hollow with your thumb and put a small dollop of your favorite jam in before baking or I added lemon curd (basically lemon pie filling) then after baking when they had cooled I drizzled some with melted white chocolate and dusted others with powdered sugar. ( Those I called "Sunrise in Paradise".

Or take half the dough and add 1 tablespoon of unsweetened baking cocoa and mix well take a small scoop of each of the regular and chocolate doughs, make balls then put them together and flatten Jonas calls them "Yin Yang" cookies because that's just about what they look like. I just call them "chocolate almond coconut cookies" although Jonas' name is shorter.

You can also just brush a powder sugar glaze (3/4 cup powdered sugar, 2 tbs melted butter, 1 tbs milk) over the top of the plain cookie. This makes them a little sweeter and adds a nice shine.

Anyway there you go. Remember there is a cookie for any occasion, call me, I'll help you find it or make it up.

I posted something

I finally added something to my blog, but since I uploaded the pictures a few months ago the date on the post is then and not yesterday so on the little tracker things it doesn't show that I posted recently hence the reason for this post.

christmas

Ok so here's Christmas




The kids waiting for Dad to read the Christmas story from the scriptures. Notice the stockings have already been unloaded then put back.
A picture of the tree. The longer it was up the fewer the ornaments that actually stayed on the tree.


Dad getting ready to start reading.
The kids began to get a little impatient. But filled in the blanks in Luke 2.
"What? It's in the Book of Mormon too?" Baby Santa Maggie just gave up and decided the ceiling fan was interesting.
Daddy gets to play Santa.


Adam with his new Bike.Maggie trying to open a present. She got bored pretty fast and decided breakfast sounded better.I didn't get any pictures of the other kids opening presents because it got crazy really fast. However, it was a wonderful Christmas! We drove up and saw the Guffey Clan later on. It started snowing and the roads were bad so we didn't get to go see Grandma Peggy. But we talked on the phone and it was still a Merry Christmas.