Little helper

Isabelle fell asleep at 5pm tonight and slept for about an hour. So when it was time for bed, surprise surprise, she wasn't tired. So I let her help me make the molten cake. She was such a good help and didn't make a mess, like I would have done at her age. She did help herself to a taste test while stirring.

Amazing Peanut Butter-Chocolate Molten Cake

I found this new recipe in a Kraft magazine. I made it tonight and decided I had to share it. 4 squares Baker’s Semi- Sweet Baking Chocolate
½ cup butter
1 cup powder sugar
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
6 Tbsp. flour
4 oz cream cheese, softened
3 Tbsp. peanut butter
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
¼ tsp. vanilla
½ cup thawed cool whip topping.

Preheat oven to 425 F. Grease 1-qt soufflé or baking dish; set aside. Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwavable bowl on High 1 to 1 ½ min. or until chocolate is almost melted. Stir with wire whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in powdered sugar. Blend in whole eggs and egg yolks. Stir in flour, set aside. Mix cream cheese, peanut butter, brown sugar, and vanilla until well blended.
Pour half of the chocolate batter into prepared dish; cover with peanut butter mixture. Top with remaining chocolate batter.
Bake 20 min. or until edge is set but center is still slightly soft. Cool slightly. Top each serving with whipped topping. Store any leftover dessert in refrigerator.
Make 10 servings.

*I tried it with the whip cream on top and wished I would have put Ice cream
*I used 4 oz semi sweet chocolate chips instead of squares.

Easter Dress

I know this is really late but I really wanted to share a picture of Isabelle's Easter dress I made her. I haven't done any clothes sewing since Isabelles blessing dress. I was very please by the way it turned out. Isabelle calls it her "Princess Dress". The first time she put it on she danced around singing "pretty princess dress. I'm dancing in my pretty
princess dress." I had to hold her down to take it off her so I could finish it.

First Sprinkler of the Summer

We had my nephew Roman staying with us for most of the week since my sister and her husband went to Hawaii. We were so excited for a nice day to pull out the sprinkler.

Preschool graduation.

Joseph and Michael preschool graduation was very cute. All the student sang a cute song about graduating. Then they had each kid come forward and get their diploma. I was nervous for Joseph because he couldn't see where he was going, he teachers aid was very helpful to him. Michael did a little tip toe dance as he walked up to get his. It was pretty funny. He got the crowd laughing. We enjoyed their teachers and aids a lot this year. They were very kind and patient with them and me.

Michael and Isabelle with his teacher Kay (in middle) and two aids
Joseph and his teacher Rachel (in middle) and two aids.

We are excited that they will get to go to summer school with the same teachers.

Another Eye Doctor Visit

Jeremiah brought Joseph down to Salt Lake for another Eye exam. He informed us (which we already knew) that Joseph is now legally blind.
He can still see some things. I have noticed that he prefers things that are bright and I think he can see outlines of people. He often calls me "Dad" and Jeremiah "Mom" until he hears us speak and realizes his mistake. We have taken to holding onto him pretty tight when we are anywhere that his is unfamiliar with. He amazes us though at home. He still runs around and is off discovering things all the time. We have also noticed he is relying on his other senses more. The other day I was in the kitchen and he was right by me. He all of a sudden told me Michael was crying. I couldn't hear anything. So I decided to go investigate. Sure enough Michael was in the garage crying. Amazing I say. Sometimes Joseph will come into the kitchen and start sniffing. He usually says "Mom I smell something". It always makes me laugh.
So the good news out of this is he will be having Cataract surgery June 10. Dr. Vatalli was nervous to put new lenses in. Children Joseph's age sometimes reject new lenses and that can cause damage to the retina, which can cause permanent damage. So we took him to a lens specialist who will be in on the surgery. He is confident that Joseph will do fine with the lenses but won't decide for sure until they are in the operating room. So please keep Joseph in your prayers.

Track and Field Day

William had track and field Day and loved it. He as so fun to watch. I was so proud of him that he always tried his best and never gave up when he wasn't winning. He did really well with "shot put" (they threw a soft ball over hand). I was really sad I missed out on the last 4 events(I had to pick up my Dad from therapy). I really wanted to see him run the races. They didn't really compete with one another. Everyone just did their best. And they were later sent home with a certificate.

Micheal made his own little buddy while we were there.

Gardening time.

I was finally able to get the main garden turned over to plant all our plants Mom bought. I had a lot of helpers. William helped out for about an hour and earned a whole dollar. Isabelle came and helped herself get very muddy. I will say I have missed having a garden to work on. Plus I sure love harvest time.

Boys and Girls night out

Jeremiah got to take the boys for the

Father-son outing for the first time. They loved it. Micheal had so much fun he even had his own little camp out on the porch while Jeremiah was cleaning everything up.

Isabelle and I enjoyed a girls night out with some friends from the ward. We went to IHOP and then came home and watch a movie together.

Happy Happy 3rd Birthday Isabelle

The Birthday GirlThe Birthday Cake

( I didn't make this one)Examining the cake and Ice creamBig present from Dad and Mom
Isabelle in all her birthday glory.

Isabelle birth story was exciting like all of my kids. Two days before my due date, I talked the doctor into inducing me two days late and since my Mom was coming down to help the next day to help out. He was a little reluctant but said we could try. I got called to go in at 6:30. We made a stop at McDonald's for some breakfast since I never know how long before I get to eat again. When we got to the hospital there was three other women waiting to be brought back for induction. We soon found out that, though they weren't busy when they called, they had a lot of women come into the hospital in full labor. I didn't end up getting induced until 9am. I was in labor for about 4 hours when I realized she was posterior. I decided at that moment that I needed an epidural(thank goodness). Around 2pm I was ready to push. They brought in a respiratory team in because she had a bowel movement by the time they broke my water. So yeah for me 4 more complete strangers to watch me give birth (I had at least 10 watch me with the twins). As I was pushing the doctor tried turning her the right way. As he was turning her, her shoulder got stuck on my pelvic bone. The next thing I knew was the nurse was over me pushing as hard as she could to try to unstick it. They doctor had me continue to push while he pulled. I was so scared and hurt so bad. I just cried as I pushed as hard as I could.
At 2:25pm. Isabelle Melissa was born.
They rushed her over to make sure her breathing was OK. The doctor shouted over to have them check her shoulder because he thought he might have broken it. But of course Isabelle was just fine and perfect. I made Jeremiah go over and make sure she was a girl, even though they already told she was, I wanted Jeremiah to confirm it.
She was 9lbs 6oz and 20 inches long.
And perfect.
She had the chunkiest face and fat rolls on the back of her head.
I have been so blessed to have such a beautiful and fun loving girl in my life. She has blessed us in many ways. Her brothers loved her the minute they met her. And she has always loved them. She has always been Daddy's "baby girl" and knows how to use that to her advantage. She has always kept me busy and amazed me on smart she is. She started walking at 9 months. She was using sentence around 2 and potty trained (mostly by herself) before she was two.
I love you Isabelle and always will.

Happy Mothers Day

I woke up this morning to the smell of homemade Danishes. Jeremiah is amazing. He made sure this morning was a very pleasant one for me. Unfortunately he had to work at 2pm. But he made an delicious crock pot meal so my Mom and I wouldn't have to cook. I got these very cute Willow Tree figurines that the kids picked out. Jeremiah helped them each find one that best represented themselves. I think they did a perfect job.



Joseph-Kindness

Michael-Imaginative Child

William-Inquisitive Child

Isabelle-Kindness

I was also so excited to get a gift certificate for a quilting class. And this is no ordinary quilting class it is one that will teach me how to use the great big quilting machine. So then I can go in a rent it to quilt down my Quilts and it is much more fancy then what I can do on my sewing machine.
I am so thankful for mothers day and the reminder of how thankful I am for such joys in my life. I know my children have changed my life for the better.

It was fun to be able to spend Mothers day with my Mom this year. We got her some yard ornaments that she was very excited about.

My brothers John and Daniel were very kind to make us some yummy strawberry shortcake. It was a wonderful day and I am thankful for the love that surrounds me.

New Do and Dress

I just figured out a new way to do Isabelle's hair. She also got a very pretty hand me down dress from her cousin Taylor. Now we just have to hope she will leave her hair in for more then 10 min and she won't ruin her dress in one wear.

The Amazing Hair

Isabelle's hair is amazing. It holds styles like no other. I can do her hair with no sprays or gels and it will hold it for days until I wash it again.

My New Love

I have rediscovered NUTELLA. I tried it once years ago and hated (who knows why). About 2 weeks ago a found a cute little recipe that called for it so I thought "why not try it again". Now I can't get enough of it. My favorite snack banana with Nutella spread over it.

Perfect Evening Out.

We had a perfect evening for flying kites the other day. Unfortunately it was a bit chilly so the kids came in with pretty cold little fingers. But we still had a lot of fun.

William's Birthday

I know this post is over a month late but here are photos from William's Birthday party

William and the Cake

Grandma got the perfect gift for all to enjoy

The new bike since his got ruined on the move up here.