That's a Wrap

It's over. The beautiful and mild summer we had is over. I loved it. We didn't do much, but I loved it. I loved the easy going days and the late nights. There were a lot of pictures that I wanted to post, but never did. So I decided I would just post a bunch now. Call it a Wrap Party.

p.s. - click on the picture to enlarge... it'll work this time. I promise.

I'm so glad I'm blogging now. A year ago, heck, six months ago I didn't see a need, and had no desire to do it. Now I'm documenting my life and the lives of my children like I never would have before. If you're thinking about doing it, just do it. It's awesome!

And so it Begins...

And they're off!

Uniforms this year - and I have to say he looks handsome!

The verdict? They love it. They are having so much fun! Aaron LOVES 7th grade, lockers, multiple teachers, and the whole bit. I must tell all you young mommies out there this:

You think sending them off to Kindergarten is bad? Think again!
I felt as if I was throwing him to the wolves when I sent him out the door Monday morning. The few memories one has of Kindergarten are good, happy times. But who has a fond memory of their first day of Junior High? OK, who has a fond memory of any day of Junior High? I don't!! So he left, and I cried. Yup, I cried. I've never cried when sending my kidelts off to kindergarten. I must be a mean mother. I look forward to them going to Kindergarten. But not this. I was more worried than he was. He wasn't worried at all. He was just plain excited. All morning I worried and I prayed. And as soon as I heard that front door open, I nearly knocked him over as I ran to him to hear the details (he's never quite had such a welcome!). I couldn't wait to hear every little detail. And he shared them with me! He loved it, and is excited about all of his classes and teachers. I felt so much better after hearing about his day. My prayer now is that the "Junior High" attitude doesn't break his spirit and ruin his enthusiasm for learning and for school. He's always loved school and learning... and I hope he can keep that fire alive!

Menu Plan Monday - August 25th

OK, so I almost didn't make it last week - sticking to my menu plan I mean. I had a weak moment on Wednesday. When 6 pm hit, I was pooped. It was one of those days that you leave first thing in the morning before all of the morning stuff gets done. Then, after being gone for hours, you come home to a messy house. I don't care for those days. So I tried to catch Roman on his way home to have him pick up some Panda. But he was almost home. He asked what I had planned for the evening (German Pancakes - or "Pop up Pancakes" as I had them listed). In order to stick with our plan of cutting back on the eating out, he offered to make dinner! I got to sit back on the couch with my feet propped up and give him the directions as he worked in his ugly green polyester apron (I'll have to get a picture of him in it one day)! I thought it was sure sweet of him!

Here are the verdicts on this past week's meals...

• Anything from Picky Palate is delish!
• Didn't love the Honey Glazed Chicken :(
• Instead of the Pop Up Pancakes (cuz I didn't want to scrub muffin tins), we did Hootenannies (aka: German Pancakes)... I really liked this recipe and we need to do a double batch easily. It was soooo dang good!
• The Micro meatloaf was just my moms meatloaf recipe, put in a 9x9 glass dish with an empty circle in the middle, cooked uncovered in the microwave for 12 minutes. I also make a sauce to go on top that consists of brown sugar, ketchup, a little mustard, and some nutmeg. Mmm so good - Roman doesn't love meatloaf, but everyone else does and there are never leftovers!
• Saturday I didn't do homemade pizza... too tired to do the dough. We just ate frozen pizza instead.
• Today I didn't feel like doing the Pork Chops, so I decided to do THIS. It was yummy and earned Romans seal of approval (I think he is picky myself). It was nice to take 5 minutes before church and throw it all in the crock pot, and come home to a yummy smell (better than a poopy diaper smell)! We ate it with rice and corn on the cob (thanks dad!).

The plan for this week -

Monday - another Picky Palate creation! Flaky Garlic Toasted Spaghetti Cups

Tuesday - I will really Grill some Pork Chops! I will possibly try THIS marinade

Wednesday - Beef Enchiladas (which is just flour tortillas stuffed with ground beef mixed with refried beans and a little enchilada sauce, cheese on top, rolled up, the rest of the enchilada sauce over rolled up tortillas, sprinkle more cheese - bake for 15-20 and garnish with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and avocado. YUM!)

Thursday - Grill some chicken (or crock pot, depending on how hot the day will be), use Bullseye for the sauce.

Friday - Roman is refereeing a football game (and so it begins), so I'll be at home with the kiddies... will probably just do frozen pizza or mac n cheese or cereal! I just don't do well cooking on Friday nights!

Saturday - Grill Burgers (have you ever put avocado on your cheeseburger? It is sooo good! My sister taught me that one!) and French Fry's!

Sunday - I'll do a crock pot Roast (my dad raises a cow or two every year, so we have a lot of beef in the freezer). Maybe for dessert I will make this little diddy: Sour Cream Lemon Pie! I love SCLP! In my youth, I was a waitress at a restaurant that specialized in pies, and this was one of my favorites!

My big brother and his wife and their three kidlets are coming in town on Friday and I can hardly wait to see them!!! Maybe we'll have Sunday dinner at my moms (hint hint) and I won't have to cook! Although, I may still do that pie!

Have a super fantastic week and good luck with all the cookin! (Talking to myself there)

The Book of Mormon Challenge - COMPLETED!

I just wanted to report that I finished reading The Book of Mormon on Thursday, August 21, 2008. I started reading it on Sunday, July 13, 2008. So it did take me a little longer than 31 days. But I'm so grateful that I DID IT!

What a blessing The Book of Mormon can be to any who choose to partake. I love it. I love the joy and peace that I receive when I read it. I know it is a true book. It is another testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It testifies of him. It teaches us how to return to him. It teaches of the beautiful atonement and His love for us. It's words fill me with comfort and peace. I am so grateful for the promptings of The Holy Ghost, which led me to begin this challenge.

I am truly blessed to belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I know that it is the true gospel on the earth today. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to young Joseph Smith after he prayed for direction as to which church he should join. This is what led to the restoration of Christ's church. I am grateful for the knowledge of The Plan of Salvation, and that I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father, and He loves me, He knows me and my greatest strengths and weaknesses. I know that being a wife and mother is a divine calling, and it is a calling that I treasure with all my heart. I know that families can be together for eternity. And although I am so very far from perfect, I know that through Jesus Christ and the atonement, and my own actions in striving to do my best and endure to the end, I can return to live with Him. This gospel brings me joy in it's purest form. And I am so blessed to have it in my life. I say these things in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Simple Mom Giveaway

Go check out simplemom.net - she is having a gift basket giveaway of seven different items! My favorites are the candles, personalized super hero cape (my boys would love this!), and the lifetime subscription to Pear Budget. Check it out and enter to win! simple mom is one of my most favorite blogs to read and she's getting me in the mindset of living frugally, which is not a strong point of mine!

Hubby Tag!!

I saw this a long time ago on a blog somewhere, and decided to do it as well! It's pretty fun...

What is his name? Roman Aaron Yoder III

How long have you been married? 13 ½ years

How long did you date? 7 months

How old is he? 37 in two months

Who eats more sweets? Depends...he loves his chocolate chips an milk EVERY night. I'll eat nearly anything that's lying around... so I guess that would be me.

Who said I love you first? He did - I was at waitressing at Plush Pippin and I was talking to him on the phone, making plans or something. As we said goodbye, he "let it slip" right before I hung up the phone. It was natural for him to say it - I guess he really felt it!

Who is taller? "Romaine"

Who can sing better? Ha - this is funny. A little inside joke we have. I can sing... he can't. He's tone deaf!

Who is smarter? He is smarter at some things, and I'm smarter with other things... we've got a good balance.

Who does the laundry? ummm, hello - ME!

Who pays the bills? Me again Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Again, me.

Who mows the lawn? HE DOES! And he does it so beautifully!

Who cooks dinner? Me... when I actually do it (I'm starting to!).

Who drives? Usually me if it's the two of us... although he does some times.

Who is more stubborn? HE IS!!

Who kissed who first? He did - although he probably doesn't even remember it. We were watching The Fox and The Hound.

Who asked who out first? I asked him to dance... and the rest is history!

Who proposed? He did.

Who has more siblings? He does - 7 siblings, I have 5

Who wears the pants? As he always says, he wears the pants - I just tell him which ones to wear!

The Yoder Bakery - Rhubarb Pie

Each Sunday, members of our ward bring extra produce to share with anyone who would like it. I saw some rhubarb sitting out on the table and snagged a few stalks. Sunday night, after I made dinner (yes, I really did it!), I decided to make some Rhubarb Pie. So I went to trusty allrecipes.com, did a search and pulled up the recipe with the most reviews and highest rating. THIS is what I found. For the crust, I made my moms trusty Never Fail Pie Crust. Here is the recipe!

Never Fail Pie Crust (3 crusts)

• 4c. Flour 1 ¾ c. shortening
  
• 1 Tbs. Sugar
  
• 2 tsp. Salt

Mix together and add the following ingredients all at once:

• 1 Tbs. Vinegar
  
• 1 egg
  
• ½ c. water
  

Stir with a fork until all the ingredients are moistened. Then with your hands, mold dough into three balls. Chill at least 15 minutes before rolling into the desired shape (oops, I forgot to do this!). Bake at 425 degrees for an empty pie shell or pie crust cookies (pie crust rolled out with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled over it and cut into squares before baking).

I didn't have any shortening, so I made it with butter. I softened the butter, which I shouldn't have done, because the pastry was soft and warm, like cookie dough. This made rolling and putting it in the pan difficult - I ended up just pressing it into the pie pan. For the other ball of dough, I put it in plastic and stuck it in the freezer while put the rhubarb and stuff in the pie (I now see that I didn't follow the directions completely!). Now with the pastry a little colder, it was easier to work with and I was able to get it on top with out it tearing apart. This pie was delicious, and the crust wasn't soggy! I highly recommend (I didn't add the chunks of butter on top of the sugar mixture, since my pie crust was made from a stink load of butter)!

As the recipe states, it made enough for 3 pie crusts, so I had some extra pastry dough, or whatever you want to call it. In come 4 of my kidlets. Once again, I'll let the pictures do the talking!

LITTLE WORKING HANDS

SETH

ZACK

MEG

HALEY

Of course, what is together time with out a fight
between at least two siblings?!?!

Oh yes - here is MY creation!!

Menu Plan Monday

So I'm joining in on the "Menu Plan Monday" over at I'm an Organizing Junkie. The whole idea is that every Monday I will post my dinners for the whole week. We'll see if I can stick to it! It has NEVER been a strength of mine!

Monday: Garlic Toasted Open Face Lasagna
Tuesday: Honey Glazed Chicken Stir Fry
Wednesday: Pop-up Pancakes
Thursday: Microwave Meatloaf with potatoes and corn on the cob
Friday: umm DATE NIGHT!! I'm not cookin! (frozen pizza or mac & cheese)
Saturday: Homemade Pizza
Sunday: Pork Chops - marinade and grill

We'll see if I can stick to it! Too many nights getting Panda Express or pizza or boogers burgers!

Are You Ready For School???

As far as "stuff" goes, I'm pretty much ready. I think we've got most of Aaron's uniform shopping done, and the girls and I have found a few cute outfits for them to wear this fall (Roman and I took them out last Friday night on a date. After eating out, we did their back to school shopping). Zack is still waiting for me to take him out :( .

As far as "emotionally ready" - I'm not... I'm not ready for the added chaos of schedules and early mornings, and homework, and sports, and going from here to there... ahhh - don't get me started.

Back to getting the KIDS ready... last Sunday I sat down with them and we calculated how many hours they were sleeping each night. When they weren't on a schedule and just woke up when their bodies were ready to wake. Then we figured out what time they'd need to wake up when school starts so they can catch the bus. From this, we calculated what time they'd need to get to bed, and what time they'd need to start getting ready for bed.

The *plan* was to get to bed about 15 minutes earlier each night, so by the time we got to this week, they'd be at their normal bedtime and be in a routine by the time school started. Of course, that didn't happen, so now I've really got to be diligent this week!

I came across this great article called, 10 Ways to Transition from Summer Vacation to a New School Year. Check it out - it's got some great tips!

So, how are you doing? Are you ready for school to start? Are your kids ready?

Beadboard in progress! {mini-kitchen remodel series}

So after my dad helped me cut and prime the bead board, I sanded it. Then, last Saturday my BIL (bro-in-law), Jake, came over and sprayed the bead board with this beautiful (and eek - expensive) enamel oil based black paint.

We had it all placed so beautifully outside, dont cha think?

Here it is at it dries. Lovely.

He came and did a second coat Saturday evening. Then it needed a good 24 hours to cure. Tuesday my daddy-o came and put the boards up. We are now waiting for his neighbor (and fixer upper extraordinaire) to come and do the chair rail and base boards. When that is done, I'll show you the final product. It is lookin good so far and I am already lovin it!

As for the cabinets... that is a whole different story {{grrr}} for a different day...

The Book of Mormon Challenge - Revisited

So here we are - DAY 31!!

How did you do? Were you able to do it? Did you give up completely? I did get a few days behind. To date I'm on 3 Nephi 23. So according to the "plan" I have 4 days to go still. But you know what? I'm not beating myself up over not getting it done in an exact month! SOMETHING is better than NOTHING!!

It has been such a wonderful experience to "fall in love" with the Book of Mormon again. This aggressive reading schedule not only helped it all "make sense and flow together", but it lit a fire in me that I love! I'm excited to read each day to "see what happens next". I'm also looking forward to starting it again and study it in a more intense way at a slower pace. And now
I'm in the habit of DSR (daily scripture reading).

SO... I didn't do it perfectly, but I didn't give up! And I'm a better person because of it!

How did you do? Or, how are you doing?

Guessing Game Answers!

OK - so only THREE of you were brave enough to try to guess who is who out of my kids. The rest of ya are wimps - my SISTERS (except Melanie) INCLUDED!!! I should come up with a prize or something for you...

Here are the answers:

Newborn Babies -
#1 - Haley (see the tongue sticking out? She ALWAYS had her tongue sticking out!)
#2 - Seth
#3 - Zack (born with the biggest head, although THIS picture doesn't quite do it justice)
#4 - Logan
#5 - Aaron
#6 - Megan

Pretty good Aubri - you got 2 out of 6 right!

2 Month Old Babies -
#1 - Haley
#2 - ZACK (poor guy - big head, plus 4th child syndrome! Mommy overfed him because he cried a lot, because he was #4 and didn't get much attention, so mommy overfed, he'd spit up, mommy would feed him more, thinking he was hungry... this is why he weighed *18* pounds at 2 months - eek!!)
#3 - Aaron
#4 - Logan (taken the day I wrote the post)
#5 - Megan (of course - who could mistake those big eyes?!)
#6 - Seth

Tara - you almost got it! Just got Logan and Aaron mixed up!

Melanie - you did get Megan right on the newborns, and *ding ding ding ding* you got all the two month old pictures right! Way to go Aunt Melanie!

Thanks for joining in on the fun!!

...speaking of the Bull and the Horns

This is one proud papa you did not want to mess with. remember that time TRI-R came over real late and tried to sneak you out. I'm just kidding, I dont remember that either. We may have been crazy, but we weren't stupid.

Waxing Nostalgic

I'll keep this short cuz i wanted to post a picture of a friend of mine, that i stumbled across while showing my kids pictures from my mission journal. It's actually a picture journal of different segments of my life. Long story short. i came across this picture and couldn't resist. especially after reading about Jodi's trip down memory lane with Tiffany (Rice) and Amy (Widdman).
enjoy!!

Haley Has Her Own

Well I think i should of wrote this a long time ago .because, I have my own blog which you might not even know what I am talking about. Well I am saying that I have my own blog it is called A High School Musical Place. That is my blog. I had it since July and I can write on The Yoder Family Blog to. How lucky am I. Well that's it.

! GOOD DAY !

The Yoder Baby Guessing Game!

Many times, when asked which sibling Logan looks the most like, I say - "You've seen one, you've seen them all." My kids just seem to look the same at the newborn stage. I decided to round up some pictures to see how they really do compare - side by side. I tried to find ones of the kids from the hospital, and another one of them at 2 months old. See if you can guess who is who!

First off though, you have to see a couple of pictures
from the past of Roman and me...

Pretty silly. I'm 1 in the top left picture, and 2 1/2 in the bottom left. I'm not sure how old Roman is in these pictures. I'm guessing 5 or 6 in the top right, and about 1 or 1 1/2 in the bottom right.

OK, back to business. In your comment, make your guess of who is who. In my header, my children are pictured in order starting with the top left, working down, and then back up on the right, working downwards. The order is: Aaron, Haley, Megan, Zack, Seth and Logan. Try to guess before you open the comment and see other people's comments! I'm pretty sure you can click on the picture and it will open in a new window in a larger format.

Here are my babies:

Now, here are the pictures of my babies around 2 months of age.
They are in a different order than the newborn picture collage.
Give it your best guess! I'm sure this is much easier!

I will reveal the correct answers next week... have fun! (It sure was fun for me!)

Testing!! Testing!!

Hello? Is this thing working. Just seeing if I can make a post. I do have to leave my two cents worth. Proper blogettiquet (misspell) is for the birds. i use caps all day at work because of the software program we run. so sometimes i forget to take them off and people think i'm yelling. and i'm not crazy about having to remember proper writing rules. this blogging thing is kind of fun. i'm more of a, how do you say, "blog jogger". so my disclaimer is dont get all bent out of shape if i dont capitalize my sentences, or use apostrophes. i'm kind of hoping cathy can erase this. i just wanted to get that off my chest.

The 6 Keys to a Disorganized, Unproductive Day at Home

I'm taking a break today from my project. Catching up on all the rest of my little world that is starting to fall apart due to neglect! Anyway, perfect timing for me, is this blog series from Simple Mom titled "The 6 Keys to a Disorganized, Unproductive Day at Home". This is a 6 part series. The first key was posted just yesterday. It is titled: How to be Disorganized & Unproductive, # 6: Neglect Yourself. Gee, I think I've got that one down pat. EVERY mom should read this stuff!

Be sure to read the link she has about gradually changing habits. It is a great concept that I think I'll need to use for exercising!

So I'm going to hurry and finish making my bed, and get ready for the day (11:13 am, still in my PJ's, BUT the house is nearly tidied up!)...

Wizard Weekly - by Aaron

Well welcome to week 2 of Wizard Weekly. This past week I've been thinking about a blog and so today I made one and its called A Harry Potter Fan Zone. I will have to invite you to my blog. Now these next few weeks I'm going to be having some fun. This Wednesday I get to go to a Boise Hawks game. Then this Saturday I'm going to do baptisms for the dead (my first time). Then a week later I'm going to the Twin Falls Temple open house with the youth from my ward, yeah! I get to go again. I'm so excited. So that's what is going to happen. Good bye.

The Bee in My Bonnett {mini Kitchen Remodel Series}

My mother told me I've got a bee in my bonnet.

You've probably forgotten about my the inspiring kitchens I got excited about. But I haven't. It's been brewing in my head for a while now. Finally last weekend I decided it was time to get going on this before school starts (when life becomes total chaos).

I took some "before" pictures - although I took them a little too late because I took most of the stuff off my walls to sell at the yard sale we had 2 weeks ago. When we bought the house 3 1/2 years ago, the kitchen was a light sage green color. I liked it fine, but had ALWAYS dreamed of a red kitchen (my favorite color is red). I've truly enjoyed it, but I was ready for something different. So here is my BEFORE:

I had just begun to decide on which color to paint, and then I remembered to take a "before" picture. That is why you see a blob of paint on the red wall.

This week my Daddy Dearest and I have worked on painting the walls. I painted the table wall "Charro", and did the other 3 walls two shades lighter. It was then I realized that the lighter shade was too light for me. So I repainted the door/window wall the darker shade. I'm glad I did. And I may still just paint everything that color. I'm going to wait until I get the cabinets painted black though. So here is where we are now. My kitchen is a wreck right now, and I was too pooped to clean them for a stinkin picture. So here it is... although most of the mess is paint mess (understandably so, of course).

You can see that my cabinets need a lot of work (a lot of scratched off paint!). I took one of the cabinet doors off and took it to Kwals, my favorite paint store. The paint guy gave me directions to get job done right, and assured me I would have a lot of sanding to do! Clean. Sand, prime. Sand, prime. And sand again! Paint, paint, paint. Sounds fun and exciting, doesn't it!?

So instead of our Friday Night Date, we stayed home and I cleaned the cabinets with ammonia and water. I've NEVER cleaned with ammonia before and am amazed at what a great cleaner it is! As I was painting, I noticed how dirty the ceiling above my stove was - well, the ammonia cleaned that up lickity split! I like ammonia. It's amazing.

Also, today my Dad and I went to Lowes and got the wainscoting (bead board) for my kitchen (remember I'm painting it black I'm so excited!!!). I want to get it done ASAP because I think it'll keep me motivated to get the cabinets done quickly!

So this is what I've been working on this week... little by little. Slower than I prefer, but what can a girl do with a newborn and 5 other kidlets?! (Actually, they've been so busy playing "Frog Snorts" outside all week with cousins, they've stayed out of the way).

AND - I'm happy to report that I'm only one day behind on my Book of Mormon reading! It has been so neat reading it this way... the stories flow together so nicely and things make more sense to me! I love it and I love the Book of Mormon! It has truly been a blessing to me... which makes it a blessing to my family as well, because I know I am a better mom because of it! Alma and Ammon, and Aaron and their "brethren" ROCK!

Off to bed with ya now...