Sunday, January 08, 2012
Trek to Salt Lake
Last year's train ride was such a hit that we decided to try it again. It was rough with two, but we managed. We ended up going to a sing-along in the Energy...um... the place where the Jazz play. Anyway, photos speak louder than words. Here it is.
Sorry they are so small. My computer was being funny. This one is on our way there.
On our way.
After the show.
:)
This is Liz's favorite fountain.
Sam liked the ride home.
Liz didn't. She ate too much junk food.
Sorry they are so small. My computer was being funny. This one is on our way there.
On our way.
After the show.
:)
This is Liz's favorite fountain.
Sam liked the ride home.
Liz didn't. She ate too much junk food.
How to Make a Gingerbread House
1. Get an idea.
2. Draw rough sketch.
3. Make a cardboard model of the gingerbread house. With all of the gingerbread pieces.
4. Make the dough. There are many good recipes online. (Hint: Use margarine instead of butter because it's cheaper an nobody will use it anyway. Hint 2: Honey does work instead of molasses, but it doesn't smell as good and is slightly lighter.)
5. Roll out pretty thin, but not too thin on the backs of cookie sheets (Just place in the oven when done cutting out). Using your cardboard model as a guide, cut out the shapes of the house, including windows.
6. Once house is cool, you can melt butterscotch candies for windows. (oven 350 until melted, check often. ~5 min.)
7. Let pieces go stale.
8. Melt sugar in frying pan. (Put sugar in pan on medium heat, let sit until caramel color, burns fast.) Dip pieces in caramel and stick together. Continue to hold walls up for about a day until it sets.
Picture 1: Wall being held up by whatever is in the kitchen. Green sugar crystals in the background will be used for shrubbery.
Picture 2: Butterscotch windows, Royal Frosting base and stairs, pretzel shutters, cookie shingles, candy wreath and topiary, twizzler raingutters.
Picture 3: Little CSI men made of Gum Paste. (Hint: Gum paste feels like chewed gum, keep it soft with vegetable oil.) Note the yellow "do not cross" line in the background made of fruit roll ups. This Gum paste man is climbing a pretzel ladder.
Picture 4: More CSI men. One with a gum paste camera, and one with a gum paste phone. The basket was not kept in the final shot due to obvious size issues. The walkway was cereal glued to card stock, glued to the board. (Hint: When making gum paste men, make a toothpick frame to build them around first.)
Picture 5: The owners of the home, devastated at the loss. They match the picture found inside the house. The people are stuck to the board with frosting. The white stuff is sugar crystals. The trees are pipe cleaners that had more sugar crystals/rock candy grown on it. (Hint: For rock candy, boil one cup of water with as much sugar in it as you can get (about 4 cups), put in container you don't really care about. Place string tied to the middle of a pencil suspended in the solution. If crystals form on edges of the container, then pour solution into a clean container.)
Picture 6: Landscaping done.
Picture 7: This is why the gingerbread house has a big hole in it. Note the Twizzler pull and peel rug, gum paste piano, and hard candy couch. Details missing include a Christmas tree and present, door, curtains, mantel piece with candles decorating it, and a framed picture of the family outside. All made of candy. For the final showing, there was a lamp made of a mag. light, which probably was never turned on. In fact, the whole inside of the house could not be seen because they had the house displayed on a high shelf. :(
2. Draw rough sketch.
3. Make a cardboard model of the gingerbread house. With all of the gingerbread pieces.
4. Make the dough. There are many good recipes online. (Hint: Use margarine instead of butter because it's cheaper an nobody will use it anyway. Hint 2: Honey does work instead of molasses, but it doesn't smell as good and is slightly lighter.)
5. Roll out pretty thin, but not too thin on the backs of cookie sheets (Just place in the oven when done cutting out). Using your cardboard model as a guide, cut out the shapes of the house, including windows.
6. Once house is cool, you can melt butterscotch candies for windows. (oven 350 until melted, check often. ~5 min.)
7. Let pieces go stale.
8. Melt sugar in frying pan. (Put sugar in pan on medium heat, let sit until caramel color, burns fast.) Dip pieces in caramel and stick together. Continue to hold walls up for about a day until it sets.
Picture 1: Wall being held up by whatever is in the kitchen. Green sugar crystals in the background will be used for shrubbery.9. Once house is assembled, decorate.
Picture 2: Butterscotch windows, Royal Frosting base and stairs, pretzel shutters, cookie shingles, candy wreath and topiary, twizzler raingutters.
Picture 3: Little CSI men made of Gum Paste. (Hint: Gum paste feels like chewed gum, keep it soft with vegetable oil.) Note the yellow "do not cross" line in the background made of fruit roll ups. This Gum paste man is climbing a pretzel ladder.
Picture 4: More CSI men. One with a gum paste camera, and one with a gum paste phone. The basket was not kept in the final shot due to obvious size issues. The walkway was cereal glued to card stock, glued to the board. (Hint: When making gum paste men, make a toothpick frame to build them around first.)
Picture 5: The owners of the home, devastated at the loss. They match the picture found inside the house. The people are stuck to the board with frosting. The white stuff is sugar crystals. The trees are pipe cleaners that had more sugar crystals/rock candy grown on it. (Hint: For rock candy, boil one cup of water with as much sugar in it as you can get (about 4 cups), put in container you don't really care about. Place string tied to the middle of a pencil suspended in the solution. If crystals form on edges of the container, then pour solution into a clean container.)
Picture 6: Landscaping done. 
Picture 7: This is why the gingerbread house has a big hole in it. Note the Twizzler pull and peel rug, gum paste piano, and hard candy couch. Details missing include a Christmas tree and present, door, curtains, mantel piece with candles decorating it, and a framed picture of the family outside. All made of candy. For the final showing, there was a lamp made of a mag. light, which probably was never turned on. In fact, the whole inside of the house could not be seen because they had the house displayed on a high shelf. :(
Monday, October 31, 2011
Fall Farm Fun
When are we going to go do something?
This is more like it!
I'm just happy no matter what.
I found Pumpkin Bob!
Fall Farm Fun Part 2
Pumpkin Bob is going home.
Donkey petting
Cow train
This was the biggest hit with my kids. Instead of a sandbox, they had a cornbox.
Sam liked it too.
Cardboard Box Robot Costume
Step 1: Take a milk jug and cut out the back part. Add eye holes.
Step 2: Hot glue two milk lids (with the backs cut out) to the eye holes for depth. Add plastic circles with hole punched circles. Cut out mouth.
Step 3: Glue some plastic from the jugs to form the details of the face. I used another jug to make the head taller. I also pinched the plastic to make a nose.
Step 4: Paint gold and then forget to document the rest of the process. Let's just say there's boxes, crepe paper, paper plates, bubble wrap, and straps involved. Can you tell what robot he's supposed to be?
Sunday, October 23, 2011
6 Month Sam
"Don't mind me, I'm just helping dad fix the faucet."
"ZZZZZ... downward dog....zzzzzz."
"The bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain! To see his Mommy!"
Liz's party
We decided to have a friend party this year for Liz. We invited kids from sunbeams and preschool. Liz wanted a rainbow cake we had seen on Pinterest, so I went with rainbows. This is how it turned out.
I've been on this blog many many times, yet I always forget that the order I upload the photos is the opposite of what it will post it as. Anyway, these are the balloon decorations we did. It was really fun and looked awesome from the top of our stairs. The balloons looked like they were floating in midair. However, tape was not enough to hold the strands and they kept coming down, so now all of the balloons are hanging out in Liz's room. I don't have a picture of it, but I think the best part of the party was when we gave the kids their own balloons and they just ran around with them.
We made some mini pizzas with toasted hamburger buns. The kids loved making their own pizzas.
The kids loved these rainbow kabobs.
My first real birthday cake. It turned out good. We normally don't really eat cake, and this was gone in a week!
We did some crafts and played some games. We had lots of games, and just had a blast. Liz loves being 4.
I've been on this blog many many times, yet I always forget that the order I upload the photos is the opposite of what it will post it as. Anyway, these are the balloon decorations we did. It was really fun and looked awesome from the top of our stairs. The balloons looked like they were floating in midair. However, tape was not enough to hold the strands and they kept coming down, so now all of the balloons are hanging out in Liz's room. I don't have a picture of it, but I think the best part of the party was when we gave the kids their own balloons and they just ran around with them.
We made some mini pizzas with toasted hamburger buns. The kids loved making their own pizzas.
The kids loved these rainbow kabobs.
My first real birthday cake. It turned out good. We normally don't really eat cake, and this was gone in a week!
We did some crafts and played some games. We had lots of games, and just had a blast. Liz loves being 4.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
To the tune of What a Wonderful World
I see geese at the pond...
Ripe strawberries too... I put them in a bowl... for me and me.
And I think to myself... what a wonderful world.
I see daddies snuggle... on the couch.
It's Father's Day... lucky guy. (grouch rhymes but he's not a grouch.)
And I think to myself... what a wonderful world.
The noodles on the counter... whole wheat yes indeed.
Are also made with cookie cutters to help my Liz Liz feed.
I see days at the park...with rain boots on...
I forgot the camera... and our phone was gone.
...And you thought I was done talking about Sam and Liz
Sad (also note the crutch in the background. Tiny tim is gone to work.)
"Ho ho ho... green giant."
Sam had his 2 month appointment.
Weight 90th percentile.
Height 90th percentile. (It was easy to remember.)
Head 42nd percentile. (He takes after his dad. :)
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Sam
I didn't post my second child's birth info or anything like that. Mostly because it all got posted on Facebook. Sometimes when you have to prioritize, you have to make decisions about what gets your attention and what doesn't.
Samuel Victor Hirschi
Born April 13, 2011 Mckay Dee Hospital
8 lbs 11 oz
20.5 in.
What can I say about his labor and delivery. It was pretty good actually. The only pain that I felt was when I was changing positions and wasn't relaxed. He came out en caul, that is to say he had the sac still on him, when he was born. I talked with my doctor about it, and she says that it is extremely rare for a larger baby to be born this way. They try to get smaller babies out like that because it's a cushion for them, but with the big babies, the pressure from pushing usually pops the sac and sprays the dr and nurses. :) It isn't pushing per se in Hypnobirthing, but more of a breathing technique, so it didn't pop.
Sam's been a good baby. He loves to be touched and held.
Samuel Victor Hirschi
Born April 13, 2011 Mckay Dee Hospital
8 lbs 11 oz
20.5 in.
What can I say about his labor and delivery. It was pretty good actually. The only pain that I felt was when I was changing positions and wasn't relaxed. He came out en caul, that is to say he had the sac still on him, when he was born. I talked with my doctor about it, and she says that it is extremely rare for a larger baby to be born this way. They try to get smaller babies out like that because it's a cushion for them, but with the big babies, the pressure from pushing usually pops the sac and sprays the dr and nurses. :) It isn't pushing per se in Hypnobirthing, but more of a breathing technique, so it didn't pop.
Sam's been a good baby. He loves to be touched and held.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wintertime's Fun! Follow Me!
Our magic hat this year was provided by Geneva Rock.
He's worried because he knows his fate. (Yes, he melted that day.)
We took the train one weekend to SLC. We had lots of fun together seeing the lights and listening to choirs singing.
Liz loved the train rides.
This is shot that was the least blurry from Benson's baby blessing. This little one kept going back for more and more cookies. Before we left, she had started to feel what it was like to eat too many cookies. Poor mom and dad.
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