Green with envy

A quick update on a couple of cakes I did this last month. Oddly enough both centered around the color green.

This one was a spring green cake with white satin ribbon, white scrollwork, and white draperies, with coordinating flowers. (fresh of course)

This one was a porcelein white base with green satin ribbon, and cream scrollwork, handpainted with gold luster dust for an aged look.

I really liked how they both turned out.

Well, back to life. I am shopping and doing food for the baptism tomorrow, and of course raspberries went on sale the day I had a ton to do, so the yearly stockpile of Jam is being put up today.

For anyone who is interested, the springville Reams has cases of raspberries for $10. WOW!!!

Please Come!

Another month has flown by, and I have been enjoying my relatively "unplugged" status. Posts on my blog have been relatively few and far between as we have attended
orchestra concerts, piano recitals, dance festivals, carnival, and all the other exciting and busy events that herald the end of the school year.

And so here we are again. The school year is over. Desks have been cleaned out, and their contents strewn about my just-cleaned laundry room, backpacks thrown into the corner with a heavy sigh of relief, and we are all feeling a sense of exhilaration.
No more lunches to make every morning, no more tearful evenings agonizing over 4th grade homework and missing assignments. Our days can settle into a lazier succession of trips to the pool, late night movies, library trips, evenings spent outside, and warm weather picnics.

Oh, and did I forget to mention whining, Otter pop wrappers, "I'm bored", Otter Pop wrappers, chores, and oh yes, Otter Pop wrappers.

It's going to be grand.

So come on over, pull up a chair, and enjoy the relaxing sounds of summer.

Take your pick,

Crickets or Crying.

And by the way, please come to Ryders Baptism on Saturday if you can.

Can you believe he's gotten so big?

Schizophrenic Seasons

If Spring were a person, it would be the mentally unstable member of the family. You know-the crazy Aunt everyone loves to have to dinner.

We woke this morning to a thin blanket of snow,

by noon it was gale force winds and rain,

and by five o clock it was sunny with blue sky!

The mercurial nature of spring is such that the golden glow of early blooming forsythia is often peeping out of snow and ice, like a cheerful sign- Hold on just a little bit longer. Warmth, green and blooming things are just around the corner!

I've often wondered if this dichotomy of spring has contributed itself to my personality. Being born in March has it's ups and downs. Minute by minute.

And like March I am constantly swayed, first one way and then another. A whole hearted devotion to the project of the moment.

Until the next.

A jack of all trades and master of none.

A bright hint of sunny yellow peering out of a blanket of gray.

Spring.

Crazy Days

The last 10 days or so has been crazy at our house.

And not just ordinary, pull your hair out getting the kids to school in the morning crazy. But fill every spare minute of the day crazy.

Nothing evidenced (is that even a word?) this as well as our family home evening last week.

At Walmart.

Buying yogurt.

This of course made perfect sense at the time.

Dinner was over. Homework was done. And some items were desperately needed.

When my husband announced his intention of running out to "pick up a few things" a chorus of me too's sounded throughout our house. So there we were. 4 kids, 2 adults and a wobbly cart. And thousands of items to beg for.

(hint: never take more than 2 kids to the store at a time-or you WILL spend the whole trip replacing their "necessities on the shelves.)

It was an uplifting experience.

FHE this week was better. We learned about planting a garden. This involved much dirt spilled on the kitchen floor while the kids planted seeds in tiny egg cartons.

We also learned about animals.

Namely these.

Aren't they cute? (the chickens too!)

Just call us Farmer Joe and wife. Organic farmers extrodinaire. Self sufficiency personified.

Channing looks a little worried. (Unlike her younger sister she is very worried about the poop factor.)

So R is deep in another project- a chicken coop to house our new egg producing machines.

And meanwhile they live in the kitchen. Cheeping. Scratching. Driving the dog insane.

A true indication of the state of our lives.

Just the crazy chicken people down the street.

Create!

This is for my sisters, and all the other lovely and talented women I know. You truly are amazing!

Elder Uchtdorf touched hearts at the last Womens Conference, speaking of what we as women try to do in our lives. Create homes, create relationships, create beauty!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

How to beat the Winter Blaahhs!

January is an interesting month. I love the cold, and the white winter scenes. But when white descends into grey, I always get what I like to call the Blaaahs. A state that defies explanation, although I know you all have experienced it too.

At these times a change becomes imperitive.

A new dress.

A change of scene.

Or. . .

The relationship a girl has with her hair is complex. Love it, hate it, it becomes an integral part of your identity, defining the way you choose to percieve yourself.

And it was time for a change.

(And yes, I let my husband do this. In truth I don't know if I would have dared with anyone else.)

Serious. Chic. Dare I say a little bit daring?

Thanks Lindsay, for giving me the courage to be BRAVE!

Holding the Moon and dancing in the Kitchen

The moon in the Palm of his hand.

a few weeks ago we got this neat email with pictures of people and the moon. Ever since Ryder and sutton have been wanting a picture of themselves "playing with the moon".

Every time the "big" (full) moon has come up they have dragged me to their bedroom window to see it, and take their pictures.

What we found is that you have about 10 minutes to line up a shot before it is too dark. So we will keep trying.





Isn't this one great?



When the winter weather howls at the door, and the snow piles up we get a little stir crazy. So this was the scene after dinner this week.


Waltzing through life. ( I love that evie dipped ryder)

And I give Ryder 2 years before he refuses to dance with his sisters.

We made bird seed bagels and pinecones for family night. It was Ryder's turn to plan it. We got the Idea off this website, Here.

She has great ideas for things to do with your kids.

Another place I get ideas is from this blog.

She inspires me to slow down and enjoy my kids.

Here is a picture of the wedding cake I did this weekend. It was for the new rentors in our basement, and she wanted something simple and elegant, so we went with a wide red ribbon, and swiss dots, traditionally stacked, with a white grosgrain accent ribbon.



It was beautiful.

I hope you enjoyed this snapshot of the last week in our lives.

Hope you all are doing well.

Snow, Snow, Snow

21 Inches of Snow.

That is how much snow we have gotten since the 1st of January.

Imagine my surprise when I found these oddly shaped tracks when I went outside to shovel.


And these cute little tootsies, padding through the snow.
5 year olds.
What can I say.


Snow Angels.

And beautiful snow laden trees.

A New Year has begun, and with it a deep and dark confession.

I took not one picture of my kids over the holidays after this charming one of them sneaking down the stairs christmas morning.

Bad, Bad Mom!!!

So as the peaceful, gentle snowfalls of December fade into the frigid, icy winds of January, I though I would share some of the highlights of our year.

But first-the few pictures I did take.

Evie's Bad Elf attitude at the christmas sing

Ryder. Actually singing. Way to go!!!!

The kids at their piano recital. We Love the Sacketts!!!

Cupcakes for everyone!!!

Recycled wool christmas gifts. WooHoo!

And now, some highlights of 2008;

Evie got glasses!

Channing discovered clam chowder on fisherman's wharf,

Ryder started piano lessons,

Sutton got to ride a pony!- and is learning his alphabet!

Ryder played with spencer-a lot.

Evie read, and read, and read.....................

Channing got a guitar,

Sutton spent a LOT of time with mom,

I learned to Ice Skate,

and was terrified by a release from primary and a calling to Young Women's.

Ron got to tour Battle Mountain Nevada,

And was an incredible husband and father!

Happy New Year, and I hope everyone has as good a year in the month's to come as our family has this last year!

Gotta love SF!

Sing a song of Christmas

One of my favorite things about the Christmas season is being constantly surrounded by unapologetically religious music, music that testifies of Christ, and his birth. Music that uplifts the soul with beautiful melodies, and carols of the season. Today was our choir program at church and we sang some beautiful arrangements of songs by John Rutter. For the first time the girls sang in the choir with me, as did Ron. It was a lovely way to kick off the week of christmas.

Some of the other music we have been enjoying is :

Gloria, by Michael W. Smith. (Channing is going to wear this one out!)

The new christmas album by Celtic Women,

Josh Groban-Noel,

Anything by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir,

Enya,

Sarah Brightman- A Winter Symphony

And I have enjoyed the new Casting Crowns rendition of I heard the bells on Christmas Day.

Somehow I invariably end up staying up late through the Christmas Season putting the finishing touches on handmade gifts, and I love to be able to catch all the great musical specials of the season. Tonight was one of my favorites. Promise you won't tell?

I love the Nutcracker. I know. Ballet.

It was stunning. So as I tried to finish knitting a pair of gloves I did it to the timing of the sugarplum fairies, and the Nutcracker prince.

Knit one, Purl Two, Leap and spin.

What are your favorite Christmas Songs?

Snow Days

After a balmy fall, and downright warm early december winter has finally fallen. Just in time for the arrival of you know who.

We are eagerly awaiting Christmas day, (or frantically trying to finish everything, as the case may be)

And the snow does something magical to me around the christmas season.

It makes me want to put a log on the fire, bundle up and stay home.

It makes me want my children all around-however loud they are in the evening, and however many nerf bullets get aimed at the ceiling fan.

It makes me love knitting and sewing, and simple cooking like chicken soup and white beans and ham.

(Pause while I put on the beans for tonights dinner!)

I look outside and see the white blanket carpeting everything in sight-even the weeds I didn't make time to pull this fall.

I get weepy at the sight of my tall oldest daughter singing with the fifth graders, because next year she will sing with the sixth graders, and then she will be in junior high.

I want to freeze everyone and wrap them up like a picture postcard, giftwrapped with a bow on top.

So Merry Christmas everybody.
Hope to see you over the holidays, but if not you can find me snuggled on the couch with a lapfull of wiggly kids all trying to get the most lap space.

P.S.- our basement apartment is available, so if you know someone who might be interested check out the pictures here.

Ouch!

Merry December Everyone!

I know we are all feeling the holiday push, gifts to buy, projects to finish, concerts and school events to attend, so I wanted to lighten things up with a quick update.

Things are busy at the Spotts house. We decorated for christmas this last weekend, and now I am officially in the Holiday mood. Despite the casualties of the weekend. (#1 being the fact that I broke my nose trying to get the christmas tree down instead of waiting patiently for my husband, who was on the roof putting up christmas lights.) No one has ever accused me of being terribly graceful!

I have gotten into recycling wool sweaters for some of my projects this year. The above picture is of Evie styling a pair of slipper socks/boot liners.

And we found this great site that the kids have loved playing with.

Ever wanted to walk on the moon?

Be on a billboard?

Grace the pages of vogue?

Just go to Photofunia.com.

One of the kids favorite things this time of year is a felt advent calendar, with toys and elves, and santa, where you put the toys in santas bag for christmas eve. Every year they fight over who is going to put the last toy in, which is one of Santa. It is funny to see the mathmatical manipulation that occurs as they figure out who has to start the calendar to achieve the desired end result.

What are some of your favorite family things this time of year?
Have a great day!

Ahoy!!

Last tuesday was our Young WOmen In Excellence evening. It was great, themed as talents to treasure, with a pirate theme. The evening went great, and I made this cute cake for dessert.

Pirate ships complete with torn sails and cannonballs.

And swedish fish swimming in the icing ocean. (suttons idea.)

Just don't ask how long it took. I have made 7 layer wedding cakes in less time.