Noodles & Mommy Sainthood

Not only have I departed the road to hell, I believe I may have just embarked on the path to Mommy Sainthood. Anyone out there ever made homemade turkey noodle soup with the help of three children, ages 1 to 7, without strangling or maiming even one of them? Okay, "help" may be an overstatement. Tonight, I did. It was truly a miracle...one of the qualifications of Mommy Sainthood, I'm sure. There were a few tense moments...but we all came away from the experience unscathed. If any of you would like to verify this miracle, please feel free to come on over, try some soup, and examine the children.
P.S. Don't let the nice photos fool you...between the seven-year-old cutting the turkey with a butcher knife, the three-year-old stirring the boiling pot while perched on a high chair and the one-year-old hanging on my legs screaming for some attention whilst I cracked eggs and added flour...I know there is a miracle in there somewhere!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lovely Table Setting: $25

Fabulous Kitchen Help: $6.75/hourSucculent Turkey: $20

One Happy, Thankful Family: Priceless

Thank you, Aunt Arva, for a scrum-diddly-umptious Thanksgiving meal! We are thankful for YOU!

Miss Fancy Bag

Mrs. Fowler, Jeron and Jadee's preschool teacher, gives the kids a plain bag with white handles at the beginning of each year, along with the charge to decorate it any way they'd like. Jeron was easy...he drew trains in permanent marker. After checking out the other kids' bags, we were proud that he'd done all of his decorating all by himself. There were many cute bags...done mostly by parents. Jadee started out pretty easy, too. We had foam princess stickers left over from her half-birthday and she decided that they would make wonderful decorations for her bag. And they did...until they all fell off, or were taken off and chewed up by her little brother. So, she has been the plain purple bag girl for over two months now.

I am a mother of many good intentions (you know what they say about the road to hell...I could well be on my way, but for spectacular efforts like those I am about to chronicle...). Jeremiah provided me the great opportunity last Saturday of going to Wal-Mart all by MYSELF! Anyone who regularly has to take more than one child anywhere really understands what a gift this is. Of course, "stuff for Jadee's bag" has been on the list for quite some time. Actually, not only is it on MY list...it's also been on hers. "Mom, when are we going to decorate my bag?" has been an all-too-common question over the last two months. So, with list in hand and plenty of time to peruse, the time was perfect for bag decoration shopping.

Jadee LOVES pink, a perfect compliment to her purple bag. So, I bought pink ribbon for handles, pink paint to stamp, rainbow rick-rack for embellishment and beautiful flower buttons to finish it off. Now, it may look like I did all the work...NOT SO! Jadee cut the ribbon, stamped her name and polka-dots, carefully pressed the rick-rack into place (I had to run the hot glue gun), and chose and placed the buttons. It was a true team effort, a fun project to do with Mom, and to top it all off, "Mrs. Fowler LOVED it!"
Jadee is no longer the plain purple bag girl...we'll just call her Miss Fancy Bag! And, what's more, Mom has successfully taken a detour from the road to hell.

Who says you can't have COOKIES for BREAKFAST?!

I received some cookies in a jar from a leadership meeting (that I didn't even attend...thank you, kind counselors!). I have been promising Jadee all week that we would make them...we finally got around to it this morning. It's amazing what fun one can have when the big brother is at school and the little brother is napping! These were the coolest cookies for a three-year-old...all the mixing was by hand! Jadee is a very good and careful mixer (Mom likes to keep all of the dough in the bowl, please).

All of the shaping was by hand!She did a wonderful job of shaping beautiful, uniform balls to bake.

Waiting patiently for the cookies to be done.

All of the eating was...by mouth! Snitching dough...Mom's favorite part...Dad's sure we'll get salmonella one day. A risk I'm willing to take!

Miss Sassy Baker. Jadee's preschool teacher got each of the kids an apron and a baker's hat when they were talking about community helpers. Cute, huh?

MMMMMM...tasty!

btw...Jadee had cereal for breakfast...Mom had cookies. Of course, she did eat her cupcake before lunch yesterday. I guess I'm just a "Life is uncertain, eat dessert first" kind of gal!

Halloween 2008...post script

Halloween 2008

On Halloween...
Davis: "uh, uh..." He DID wave "bye, bye" with a sweet smile to all who gave him candy!
Jadee: "I want to do more trick-or-treating, Mom! Are we going to another house? Trick-or-treating is the best day ever!"
Jeron: "Here, Davis, this has peanut butter. You can have it."
A few other cute things...Jadee and Jeron started at the beginning of the month asking when trick-or-treat day would be. When Jadee woke up from her nap on Halloween day, she started in..."Is it time yet?" I finally had to set the timer and tell her not to ask again until it went off. They wore their costumes all day long...even Davis. By the end of the night they were already asking when it would be Halloween again! We had a fun night!

Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's House

All I can say is that our Grandma and Grandpa ROCK!! Grandma let Jadee paint her toes...this is the first time Jadee has ever had this experience...oh, yeah, and she's 3, did I mention that? Most three-year-olds can't color in the lines on a large sheet of paper, much less paint the little toenails on Grandma's feet! She did a pretty good job. I taught her how to remove the paint from the skin with a q-tip...she wasn't quite as in to that!

Grandpa let us roast marshmallows on the grill. We put them on Le Petit cookies...YUMMO!

Jadee mostly ate the chocolate covered graham crackers...as you can see!
Grandpa played frisbee with the kids, took them to the park, and bought them a new soccer ball. Holly played games of Candy Land and Sorry! Well-loved...

Thanks for a fun day, Grandma, Grandpa and Holly!

What Color Crayon Are You?

I hope to see this on many of my favorite blogs...be sure to tell us what color you are in my comments. I found this quite interesting!

You Are a Purple Crayon

Your world is colored in dreamy, divine, and classy colors. You hold yourself to a sky high standard, and you are always graceful. People envy, idolize, and copy you without realizing it. You are an icon for those who know you. And while it is hard to be a perfectionist, rest assured it's paying off! Your color wheel opposite is yellow. While yellow people may be wise, they lack the manners and class needed to impress you.

What Color Crayon Are You?

FIRSTS, Part 3

First, from Part 2...Maggie has red licorice, oreos and sand on her face! Since Auntie Heather was the only one to respond and she did guess one thing correctly, I guess that makes her the winner! Good job, Auntie Heather!


And now...the 3rd, and final, installment of Higley Firsts from the Summer of 2008:

August 5, 2008...Jeron's first RIVERCATS GAME...and mom and dad's first, too!

Jeron had to have a little follow up with his doctor in Sacramento on August 6. We decided to make it a fun trip. We left the day before, went to yummy dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, went to the game, stayed at a hotel, swam the next day and went to the California State Railroad Museum 2 hours before the appointment! Jeron had so much fun at the game...he ate way too much cotton candy and bounced on way too many bouncy toys...he ended up throwing up the next morning at 4 a.m. Gratefully, he wasn't really sick and was still able to keep his appointment with Dr. Kurzrock. The best part of the trip...all is well with Jeron and we don't have to go back for ten more years!!

August 6, 2008...Our first trip to the CALIFORNIA STATE RAILROAD MUSEUM
WOW! What a great museum! My favorite part was walking on the old passenger cars. They have them set up to move like the train is really moving. It brought back great memories of riding the Trans-Siberian Railway in Siberia. I would recommend this musem to all!

August 16, 2008...Davis's first experience with the HOSE!

Davis has enjoyed all previous experiences with water...and this was no different! He loved trying to drink and it didn't bother him at all to get wet or to have water all over his face. The one thing that DID bother him was having to share the hose with Jeron and Jadee!

Well, I suppose that's about it for our Summer Firsts. I will now try to keep up with all the happenings as they happen! Thanks for catching up with us!

FIRSTS, Part 2

Installment #2:

June 20, 2008...Jeremiah & Heidi's first TRIP to NASCAR

What an experience! Gratefully, we went for UPS, so we got to hang out in the UPS Suite. It was VERY HOT outside at Infineon Raceway in Napa Valley, as you can imagine. We had fun going around to all of the booths and purchasing cars for the kids. It was interesting to people-watch, too. UPS sure has provided us with opportunities we would never dream of otherwise!June 22, 2008...Jadee gives her first ever SCRIPTURE in Primary

We practiced a lot, and it all paid off. Jadee stood right up and said exactly what I whispered to her! Jeron gave a talk, too. He's a great reader...reads with much expression...so he did a great job, too!

Here is Jeron's talk, which he helped write:
I will be reverent, dress modestly, and speak kindly to be worthy to enter the temple.
I can show reverence by not yelling in the church and by walking in the church.
I can dress modestly by wearing sleeves.
I can speak kindly by saying please and thank you.
When I do these things I am preparing to enter the temple.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

And Jadee's scripture:

Doctrine & Covenants
Section 124
Verse 40
And verily I say unto you
let this house be built unto my name
that I may reveal
mine ordinances therein
unto my people.

June 2008...Jeron's first TENNIS LESSONS

Jeron LOVED tennis...much happiness, as shown in his face in the second picture! I am really hoping that he chooses tennis or golf. I'm not much of a t-ball mom!

July 2008...Jadee's first SWIMMING LESSONS

Jadee LOVED swimming lessons...as you can see! She the bravest of my children so far, and certainly not shy. I'm not sure how much she learned this year...the teachers weren't that great...but she did have a great time!

August 25, 2008...Davis's first EXCURSION to LAKE TAHOE

His favorite part was picking up rocks and other items found on the beach and throwing them...can you see the thrown rock in the picture? He loved putting his feet in the water, too. We were so glad to have Dana, Dylan and Maggie with us. Cousins definitely increase the fun factor exponentially! I'll close with Jeremiah and the kids...

...and my favorite little face-maker! The survey of the day is...what is on Maggie's face?! The answer in Part 3!

FIRSTS, Part 1

We have had many FIRSTS during my 3 month hiatus! Here is Installment #1:


Jadee's first BIRTHDAY PARTY with FRIENDS...June 25, 2008
It was a Princess Tea Party, complete with crowns, jewels, pink milk and kiss cookies. Their favorite part was putting Strawberry Quik in their little tea cups and stirring to turn the milk pink. During this stirring frenzy, Hazel exclaimed, "This is the BEST birthday party ever!" Gee, she really knows how to make a mom feel great! Who knew that pink milk was the main ingredient for the BEST birthday party ever?!


Jeron's FIRST day of 1st grade...July 7, 2008
Jeron was more than ready to start 1st grade! If Grandpa Mellor were here, Jeron could confidently report that he IS "the smartest kid" in his class!



Davis's first SOLO DIAPER REMOVAL...August 13, 2008
Davis did not want to go down for a nap. He fought me through his diaper change and I didn't want to fight to put his pants on, so I put him down with just a diaper and his shirt. He screamed in defiance as I left the room and continued for quite some time. All of a sudden, the screaming stopped. I thought, "Oh, good. He's gone to sleep." No luck, he cried some more, but then finally quieted. A bit later, I peeked in, only to find him half naked! Little smarty-no-pants figured out how to take off his diaper!


Jadee's first MAKE-UP...August 22, 2008...Thanks, Auntie Heather!
I'm not sure how she did it, but Jadee convinced Auntie Heather, on the very first day of her trip, to "play make-up," as she calls it. She looks really pretty, but I'm not sure how I feel about my 3 year-old looking really pretty!


Jadee's FIRST day of Pre-school...September 2, 2008
Mrs. Fowler had a last minute cancellation in her pre-school class and Jadee, or maybe Mom, was the lucky recipient of that slot! She LOVES school and asks nearly every day if she can go. She is actually going a year early, but she and I both need it.