UPDATE

So Earth Hour went well here. We had a lot of fun playing hide and go seek. We had a candle in every room (except upstairs, we put the baby to bed so we didn't play up there). The kids asked if we could do it every night. Andrew seemed to get the most kick out of it, he keeps saying "can we do that thing when you get the candles and we turn off the lights" So I guess it's tradition now, but we might have to do it more than once a year! Well I just wanted to share this picture. Danika was so excited to show me her barbies, they are dancing to Fabulous from High School Musical. I thought it was funny because she has their arms up like they do in the show. In case your wondering, the girl sitting under the towel is playing the piano for them. I'm always amazed at how creative children can be!

Earth Hour

Everything has been good this morning....well except waking up to snow and Andrew telling me Luke spit in Jacobs hair while I was in the shower. I got to sleep in and no one woke me up through the night so that was nice. Have you heard about earth hour? I'm excited to observe it tonight. If you don't know what it is you can check this outI think it will be fun to light candles throughout the house and play hide and go seek by candlelight.

FOOD FRENZY FRIDAY

Cinnamon Cream Syrup

This syrup is super easy and my kids enjoy it. We always have some left over to refrigerate for the next time. It's a nice change from plain maple syrup.

Combine 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup corn syrup and 1/4 cup water in a pan. Bring to a boil and stir for two minutes. Remove from heat and add a (5oz) can of Evaporated milk (I buy a larger can so it's a little more than 1/2 cup). Also add 1 tsp. vanilla and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, whisk to mix.

Since that was just syrup and not a meal I thought I would post another recipe.

Beefy Biscuit Cups

These are also really easy to make! I think I found the recipe in a Taste of Home quick cooking magazine.

1 lb. ground beef cooked and drained (I just use 1/2 lb.)
1 (14 oz) jar spaghetti sauce
2 tubes (8oz each) Lg refrigerated biscuits
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Stir spaghetti sauce into beef and cook for 5-10 minutes. Press biscuits into bottom and up sides of greased muffin cups. Spoon 2 Tbs of meat mixture into the center of each cup. Bake at 375 for 15-17 minutes or until golden. Sprinkle with cheese and bake three minutes longer.

Once again if you use them let me know what you think! Have a great weekend!

The Husband Quiz

What is his name? Kevin Bruce Westwood
How long did you date? 4 months and then around 4 months engaged
Who eats more sweets? ummm. I would say me but we both have a sweet tooth come 9:00
Who is taller? Well thats a no brainer.
Who is the better singer? I'd have to say me if you want to know how he sings ask Brother Hedin he he
Who does the laundry? I do
Who pays the bills? I do
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He Does.
Who mows the lawn? I do
Who cooks dinner? I do
Who drives when you're together? He does
Who is more stubborn? Umm... I think I'd have to say me.
Who kissed who first? He kissed me
Who asked who out? We hung out together a lot but he probably made the first official date.
Who proposed? He did, we were looking at the lights at Temple Square when he got down on one knee. After that we went to a Jazz game....ahhhhhh the memories
Who is more sensitive? Ohhhh ya thats me too! Especially when I'm prego
Who has more siblings? I do, there are seven kids in my family he has four
Who wears the pants? I'm going to say me again.....I get pretty bossy. I like things done my way, but he puts up with me. Thanks sweetie

I wonder how it gets in there?

The morning started off okay, but then things started to go downhill when Jacob took the lid off his sippy cup while I was in the shower and spread milk all over the kitchen floor. I guess I should look on the brighter side, at least it wasn't my carpet. To cool down I decided to post....great therapy eh? So your probably wondering why I took a picture of my utensil drawer? I was wondering how a utensil drawer could get so dirty when all your putting in it is clean utensils! It's like the fridge (unless something spills) your just putting closed items in there yet it gets so dirty. Please let me know I'm not alone on this. You too must have dirty utensil drawers right? If you don't, well keep it to yourself or share why yours is clean and why mines not! Better yet....come and clean mine ha ha.
PS I don't know if you can tell it or not in the picture, but there are little pieces of uncooked noodles in there HOW IN THE WORLD DID IT GET IN THERE?

Whew!

YAAAAAA.....It's a beautiful day outside! The kids and I went outside to play some ball and I had to take my jacket off because it was so warm! I could get used to this! Speaking of nicer weather Tina and I have started walking again, it was beautiful this morning. Still a little chilly but very nice. Your welcome to walk with us in the mornings, just call one of us and we can let you know our schedule. Well I said that I would post some pictures of Danika's Party. The cake one is well (sigh) is kinda sad to see for me. All the work that was put into it and it's gobbled up in no time! I feel that way a lot of times with dinner. There are some recipes that take almost 1 1/2 hours to create and its gone in 15 minutes. Ya know what I mean?

Easter Sunday

I usually don't post on Sunday but I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude this day and wanted to share it. I was listening to the sounds for Sunday this morning (I usually don't turn on the radio but for some reason today I did) I think it stems back from my Mom playing it loudly to get us out of bed on Sunday. I listened and felt the spirit as I heard songs about the Savior and his love for us. How often I take things for granted. Like my children's smiles, or just the fact that I have the Gospel in my life. This is the story that Andrew is giving in Primary for his talk today.
Jesus, he was like no other.
Jesus is my Elder Brother.
He was born a baby small.
He was the Savior of us all.
And as he grew into a boy.
He brought much happiness and joy.
And soon he grew to be a man.
He did his best to spread God's plan.
Many listened to his words so dear.
But there were those who would not hear.
Jesus prayed to our Father up above.
That he may stay and share his love.
But Jesus died upon the cross.
And many cried for our great loss.
It was in three days that he did rise.
For some it was a great surprise.
Jesus lives today with our Father above.
We still remember his goodness and love.
Jesus, He was like no other.
Jesus, is my Elder Brother.

I know our Savior lives and that he will come again. I feel his love daily in my life. He loves me and loves each and everyone of us! HAVE A HAPPY EASTER!

Danikas Bone Cake

Danika's Birthday Party is today, I just wanted to post a picture of the bone cake that took toooooooooooo long to decorate! She themed her party a "Doggy party." I should have just frosted it white but nooooo I had to take a cake tip and star the whole stinkin thing. I hope you can see how big it turned out to be. I will post some pictures of her party next week.

Growing up too fast!

On Wednesday I took Andrew to his Kindergarten screening. I'm going to have two children in school!!!!!! It seems like he too was just a baby!

My Baby Boy and Me
It's three a.m., they're all asleep, and no one's here to see
As we rock slowly back and forth, my baby boy and me.
His little hand is feather light, tucked up against my chin.
I hold his tiny hand in mine and stroke his baby skin.
The house about us creaks and groans, the clock hands creep around.
He snuggles closer to me still, and makes his baby sounds.
I love these quiet hours so much and cherish every one.
Store memories up inside my heart for lonely nights to come.
All too soon he'll be grown up, his need for mama gone.
But until then I still have time for kisses and for song.
Time for quiet hours like this with him cuddled in my arms,
Where I wish he's always stay, protected, safe and warm.
And yet I know the day will come when his tiny little hand,
Will be bigger than my own, he'll grow to be a man.
But until then he's mine to love with no one here to see,
As we rock slowly back and forth, my baby boy and me.
-anonymous

Okay it's official, I'm baby hungry! Everytime I read that poem it makes me cry thinking about holding my babies. My cousin gave this poem to me when I had Andrew. He's not yet a man and leaving us but he's growing so fast! I used to cuddle him but now all he wants to do is sword fight.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANIKA!

Wow Our angel turns seven years old today. I can't believe how time flies! It seems like she was just a baby, but then I can't remember her being little (does that make sense?) She is such a cutie trying to make everyone smile. She is always so happy and a great helper for mom. She just beamed today when I went to her class to pass out treats and show them some baby pictures of her. What a blessing she is in our lives. Happy Birthday Beautiful, we love you!

A shout out to mothers of twins!

I watch little Olivia on Tuesdays. It's only for four hours and for an hour to two hours of that time she is taking a nap so it's really not that stressful. It's been fun to see her and Jacob interact. Olivia is three weeks older than Jacob. The tough part is when I'm feeding one lunch and the other wants to eat also. Ya getting down to their level and trying to tell them that you can only feed one at a time doesn't work. One year olds don't understand that parenting skill yet (not that I've tried that but I'm sure it wouldn't work). They are learning to feed themselves so it's getting easier. Anyway, here is my shout out to mothers with twins. Thanks to my own Mom for dealing with my sister and I, I love ya.

Luke's 3rd Birthday Pictures

So I know I know I'm a horrible Mom. I finally got Lukes third birthday pictures taken. Give me credit though, It's still the month of March. He did really well! Now we need to get our family pictures taken....you would think getting four kids to just look at the camera and smile would be easy! Nope, one is always tired, another is hungry, someone is making a funny face or bunny ears to someone else. Food has somehow stained a new shirt and someone is always needing to go to the bathroom. I somehow think that glueing some super strong magnets to their behinds might aid in getting them to sit still, but knowing my kids that wouldn't even work.

Our Rats are Clean!

Tonight after FHE we were playing Hide 'n' go seek with the kids. As we were in the office searching for Danika I was looking at the rats and thought it would be fun to give them a bath. I wish I would have taken a picture. The poor things were so tramatized. Just for your information rats can jump out of a 1 1/2 foot high bathtub!

To watch or not to watch

Jacob has never sat in front of the TV and watched a show before. I thought it was cute! Speaking about watching TV we were just talking about things we let our kids watch. We had gone to a Youth Fireside a few years ago and the group Voice Male was speaking. I don't remember which member is was but they mentioned that they don't let there kids watch any PG13movies and they themselves don't watch them. We thought that was a good idea. One day I was watching House (this use to be one of my fav. shows) Danika came down and said "Mom what's wrong with that girl?" I turned to find a girl having a seizure and blood coming out of her eyes. I quickly turned it off knowing this would scare her. Since then as I watched shows I noticed things that I wouldn't want my kids to see. I stopped watching some of my favorite shows because "If my kids shouldn't be watching it....why should I?" A little child shall lead them! This has gone on to PG13 movies. We have set that rule in our house and had to toss those DVD's away. Sure it was hard but we felt like we needed to draw the line. We can't say...well it's okay to watch this one because there's just a little violence in it, but not this one because it has sex and bad language in it. Do you see our point? Sure we have seen PG13 movies before but just because someone has smoked before doesn't mean he shouldn't try to quit? I know that sounds extreme but thats how I see it. We are not perfect in anyway, we just want to do the best thing for our family. As they get older they have their agency and can choose for themselves but while they are young we are responsible for them. Thanks for letting me get on another soap box. I hope your all having a HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

States or cities mentioned in Songs

Kevin and I were talking last night about how many songs have states or cities mentioned in them. I wanted to make a list of the ones we knew, so if you can add to the list please do.

California- California knows how to party but I don't know who sings it)
Colorado- Rocky Mtn. High....Colorado (Jon Denver)
Nevada- Elvis- Viva Las Vegas
Alabama- Sweet home Alabama (Lynyrd Skinyrd)
Oklahoma- Uhhh.. Oklahoma.:)
New York- New York New York (Frank Synatra)
Florida- Will Smith sings that Miami song
Tennessee- Tennessee Waltz
Georgia- Georgia on my mind (Ray Charles)
Ohio- Cleavland Rocks (Presidents of the USA)
Arkansas- Little rock
Hawaii- Honolulu lulu
Mississippi- Louisiana Woman Mississippi Man
Louisiana- See above
Missouri- Meet me in St. Louis
Utah- Salt Lake City (Beach Boys)
Arizona- There is no Arizona (a country song)
Montana- Meet me in Montana (Marie Osmond and Dan Something)
Michigan- Detroit rocks city (Kiss)

I called my sisters and there were a few I hadn't heard before like the SLC one, but man what a list (19 States). Let me know if you can think of more! You would think I had nothing else better to do with my time.

FOOD FRENZY FRIDAY

My friend sent me this link in an email and it picked me up for the day, especially since I've been a little cranky this morning. www.thedashmovie.com , check it out if you have some time. Here is my recipe this Friday it's an easy one!

Mexican Chicken

1 Bag tortilla chips
How much you want of shredded chicken
Cheddar cheese
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can cream of chicken soup

Combine the cream of chicken soup and tomatoes till mixed well. Put a layer of tortilla chips in a greased casserole dish. Next 1/2 of the shredded chicken, then 1/2 of the soup mixture, then 1/2 the cheese. Repeat layers. Cook at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted. Happy eating! (Let me know if you try this recipe)

Tagged

5 Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago
1. Umm... I was 17 so probably school
2. I remember working at the Assessors office
3. I'm sure I was goo goo over guys. I remember liking Jonathan Brandis (do any of you remember who he is?)
4. Dancing
5. And....sleeping

5 Things On My To-Do List
1. Finish the book I'm reading
2. Paint Danika's room....who knows when that will get done
3. Read the next lesson for Sunday School and Relief Society
4. Study for my Spanish Class
5. GET MORE SLEEP!

5 Snacks I Enjoy
1. Anything with chocolate
2. Peppridge farm cookies
3. Rolos
4. Dove Chocolate ummmm......
5. Brownies with Ice cream

5 Places I've Lived
1. Duchesne, UT
2. Price, UT
3. Logan, UT
4. I have only lived in three!
5. Refer to #4

What I Would Do if I Became a Billionaire
Paying off debts sounds great. Helping others.

5 Bad Habits
1. Blog hopping
2. Eating too much sugar :) (I'd have to agree with that one)
3. Staying up too late (mmm.. that one too)
4. Not getting up early enough (why? refer to #3)
5. Buying things I don't need

5 Jobs I've Had
1. Duchesne County Assessors Sec.
2. Carbon County School District (I can't remember what my job was called)
3. Sales clerk (Hallmark)
4. Full Time mom
5. Umm... Mom again and again and again

People don't know about me ...
Ahh...wouldn't you like to know he he he.... Really I can't think of anything. Some people don't know that I have a twin sister. I shave my legs everyday....why? I don't know but it's become habit. I also never wear eye shadow because I don't know how to put it on right.

I NOW TAG Shauntae, Emily and Raelynn

Why?

Why do we as women (sorry I shouldn't generalize it) why do I have a hard time seeing others succeed. I'm sure it's a "Natural Man" thing but I feel I haven't had a hard time with it before. I went to visit a friend who just got into a new house. It's beautiful and has so many fun features about it. Plus it is located in a nice area around other nice houses. She said she loves living in a stable ward. As I left I couldn't help but be jealous of her new situation. I was happy for her but sad at the same time. It may be that Kevin and I are in limbo as we both have decided that moving back east feels like the right thing to do. Then the guilt kicks in as to how blessed I have been and shouldn't complain. Do you guys have these times? Please let me know I'm not alone on this. I'm also wondering if it's also that she only has one child who is in school and all this time to herself. I feel selfish talking about "me time" but I know we are to have more kids so I won't get time to myself for another 10 years (thats a little sarcastic but who knows how long it will be).

How many of you can do this?

Ahh to be this flexible again. There was one point in my life that I could do the splits. I'm sure if I tried to now I would have to be hospitalized.

WHO HAS MY NAME?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 4 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Just so you know there are 4 other people with the name Kevin Westwood, 0 people with the name Danika Westwood, 3 with Andrew Westwood, 0 with Luke Westwood and 1 other person with the name Jacob Westwood. Kinda interesting. I'm sure you all feel better knowing this information!

MOO MOO

I had Danika take this picture of me yesterday, I think she did a good job. I got this Moo Moo (I think it's written as Muu Muu but as I feel like a cow in it I will call it MOO MOO) from my Mom for my birthday a few years ago. I remember thinking gee mom thanks, I always wanted to look like I could give birth to a calf. So to be honest I wasn't excited with it but I am now. I remember my mom always wearing one on Sunday, so I had always looked upon it as an "Old Lady" dress. I hid it in my closet for awhile and since we started church at 1:00 it's been put to use. It's nice to get ready in the morning and put this on over my dress so that I won't have milk splattered or PB&J smeared all over. So yep I'm an official old lady, but a clean one :)

AM I NEVER FINISHED?

It's days like these that I get overwhelmed. Excuse me while I vent..... I have a RS lesson to prepare (I told her I would teach last night) I'm also teaching in Primary for an older class during Sunday School time. Today we saw the RS Pres. and agreed to visit another girl, that makes five. Today I came home from VT with Tina and we found Luke and Bridget in the bathroom putting soap in their hair, Kevin conviently had to leave for a baptism. The positive thing is that his hair smells like honey. I forgot that Luke wet in our bed this morning so the sheets are in the dryer needing to be put on the bed. While this is going on Jacob has felt the need to smash green beans all over and Luke thought the popcorn from last nights movie would look nice on the floor. It's 12:25 I've made the bed, Jacob is cleaning up the popcorn by eating it off the floor and I still need to eat so I can leave at 1:00. I'm not prepared to teach the lesson tomorrow and so on and so on. Ahhh I feel better, thanks for letting me vent. So it's now 12:33, I still have so much to do and I'm still blogging! WHAT AM I DOING?

Tantrums and Naps

I thought I was moody! Today I was making lunch and Luke threw a fit that I was making PB&J instead of Mac and Cheese. This tantrum lasted about five minutes and then a minute later he is happy about his sandwich....I don't get it! After lunch I tried to get him to take a nap but he threw another fit. So I put his blankets up, well come 3:00 he says he wants a nap. By then it's too late. Here comes another tantrum.....as you can see he fell asleep on the kitchen floor probably exhausted from all the whinning. He didn't even wake up when Jacob sat on him. The hardest part was trying to get into my pantry without wacking him in the head. Andrew has fallen asleep on the stairs before but this is the first for the kitchen. Where is the strangest place your child has fallen asleep?

GO JAZZ!

Last night Danika and I went to the Jazz game. GO JAZZ! They blew the Timberwolves away! We decided that since we had tickets close to the kids birthdays we would take them for some one on one time. Daddy has taken Andrew to one and Luke to a USU game. The picture of her is after the game, I had her change into her pajamas before we headed home. It was nice to spend one on one time with her and thought I would share a conversation we had on the way down.
This started after we saw a canal on the side of the road
Danika: What if a car drove into that?
Me: Well it would crash
Danika: What if a car drove into the ocean?
Me: It would sink
Danika: Would the people die?
Me: Ya if they didn't get out
Danika: Would a whale swallow them?
Me: Uhhh... I guess it could?
Danika: A blue whale is bigger than a regular whale huh?
Me: Uhhh.......

This is the part when I feel dumb and say stuff that sounds good so mommy seems like she knows what she's talking about.

As my kids get older it seems like they ask a lot of questions that I'm not sure of the answer. Like "what does a crab eat?" Those questions require thinking. Anyway at the game we got some popcorn and later got ice cream. Right when the game started Danika got out her notebook. I took a picture of it but if you can't read it this is what it says

WOO! the white team shoot a slam dunk good team alright
boo! the black team shoot can you say boo? Say boo with me now boooo! (I think she's been watching too much Dora)

What an imagination she has. We had a great time and I learned some great things last night:
1. We need to take more Mommy/Daughter dates
2. Its Hilarious to see men who look 75-80 years old dancing on the jumbo tron
3. Playing EYE SPY in the dark is no fun!
4. Having a child belt out "EWWW, that guy is smoking" at a crowded crosswalk is very embarrasing!

Whats on your platter?

The other day the kids had fun pushing Jacob on this white platter. It seems like the kids will push him on whatever they find. The funny part is Kevin joined in to push him around. Doesn't he look like he's had fun? Looks to me like he could hurl any minute.

FHE

We love FHE! It gets funner and funner as the kids get older and can help or do the lessons themselves. Andrew had the lesson yesterday and wanted to do it on Daniel and the Lions Den. This is one thats picked frequently. I have a bunch of FHE files so we pulled it out and saw a game for it we had never played before. It was paws that you cut out and placed on the floor, we started at the door and headed into the kitchen towards the treat! There was a huge dice we put together which showed how many paws to move ahead. On the paws it says things like "lions got ya, go back 2" or "The kings men are jealous of your honesty...move ahead 3"
Luke was the only one who had a hard time staying on the paws. Danika could read them and do it well which was fun. I wish every night could be FHE!

I feel like crap

Why do we say that? Really do we know how it feels? Why is that a common saying? Anyway, I went to the doc and got some meds oohhhh how I love antibiotics. I have a sinus infection and I swear (well I don't actully but you know what I mean) I get one every year. I have been popping sudafed and DayQuil for almost a week now. Why is it that we wait so long to go to the doc? I guess I was raised that way, you don't go unless your in so much pain or blood is gushing from all parts of your body. I guess it also has to do with not wanting a bill to come afterwards. Is it just me or do you wait to see the doctor too? I am woman hear me roar....well right now I'm whimpering. Tomorrow after the antibiotics have kicked in I'll hopefully be up and roaring.

I Will Survive - Aliensong

Some days I feel like this

The many moods of Jacob

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUKIE OOKIE!

Today is Lukes third birthday. Here are some photos of the birthday boy. He wanted a Basketball cake. Thanks to everyone for their gifts to him..he LOVES them.