La Brea Tar Pits and Museaum

Deric is out of town for the next couple of days, and we decided to take the kids to the tar pits the day before we left. We had a great time. It is amazing how this place sits in the middle of Hollywood. The museum is full of hand on things. Here the girls are experiencing how hard it would be to pull their leg out of tar. (I look thrilled don't I!)
Outside you can walk the grounds and see many different tar pits. Here is one that just started bubbling out of the ground. It is amazing to see all of the skeletons of prehistoric animals that were found right here! We were able to watch at a glass window as they were cleaning a new set of bones... a complete woolly mammoth!!

Inside the museum is an atrium. There is a pond full of coy fish and lots of turtles. The kids really enjoyed watching them.

The hills outside the museum are really fun and the kids loved running down them... Nelson wanted in on the action too... but he's not so good at running yet!!


On the way home we stopped at the grocery store for ice cream. It was a little crazy, but a thrill for the kids!

Homemade Pop Tarts

My friend Liz and I were discussing different things we'd like to make while surfing different yummy sites the other day. She said she'd like to make homemade pop tarts. I found this recipe and tried it http://asweetfantasy.blogspot.com/2008/01/pop-tarts.html. I added a Tbs. of sugar to the dough to make it a little sweeter. These are blueberry, made with homemade jam I had left from NH. They were really easy, super cute (only 2x3), and very yummy. They were gone very quickly!! I might make a few bigger ones next time since the older kids could easily eat two, and my husband who could probably eat six wasn't here. The recipe made 12 small ones.

Sports day at school

Last Wednesday the kids had sports day at school. Sam was a dancer, Jess a soccer player.

Patches

All of the girls jeans seem to be getting holes. My Friend told me about a Family Fun idea to buy jean material and iron-on baking, then cut and make your own patches. I added some cute hearts to the material as well. The girls really liked them. I've fixed a pair of Sarah's and Jessica's. Only... a lot more to go!!

Baking bread

Here are a few of the breads that we have made lately. This first loaf is oatmeal bread, I think it is our favorite. It has a sweet hint to it that we all love. I got this recipe from http://www.cookingbread.com , I didn't have molasses so I substituted brown sugar melted with a little water. The cream cheese applesauce bread is from this website also. Sorry there is no picture of the Applesauce bread but here is Jessica making it! (With just a little instruction from mom).

This is our first attempt at my friends french bread recipe. It was really yummy and we have made it many times now.

Happy Valentines Day!

I just want to wish everyone a Happy Day today. I hope all of you know that you are loved... not only by our family, but by Him.

Here is the Valentines treat that I gave to my kids this morning. PINK everything....strawberry milk, strawberries, and heart shaped pancakes that were even pink (not that you can tell by the picture!)

Cooking up some FUN!

Nelson LOVES to play with metal bowls and pots. He loves the sound of things clanging it them. Here he is making Maggie (our dog) some lego dog food. He carried the dis around all day. He also loves using Carries new pots and pans for her kitchen.

Meme's Visit

Meme (my mom) came to visit... we has such a wonderful time. Here are a few of the highlights.... Hi Meme... thanks for the lolly pop!

SKIRBALL MUSEUM

We went to the Skirball for the Noah's Ark Exhibit. It was only a few rooms but we were there for two hours and could have stayed longer, it was fabulous! Everything was hands on, Nelson ran around touching everything. The girls loved it too.

Almost all of the animals were made out of recycled materials. You could use levers and knobs etc... to make them move.

Here are the girls sending the animals onto the ark two by two.

Lunch on the Ark!

This is the view looking out of the ark. Some of the kids and I are in the other room making a craft.

Outside after going through the rainbow mister.

BEACH

We went back to Malibu for some beach time. It was a little cooler but the kids still played in the sand and surf. We also saw dolphins swimming by.

We Love Our Meme

The girls were excited to have meme at their variety show.

Here are Carrie and Sarah in their Meme dresses. Sarah's is from her birthday last year, and Carrie in hers from this year.

Nelson having fun with Meme.

Meme having fun with Nelson.

Hail!? That's right Meme brought NH weather with her.

Brrr... that is cold!

Bye Bye Meme.... we love you and we can't wait until you come back!

The "other" birthdays

I guess with all the birthdays I can forget to mention ours...

We both had very nice birthdays. Deric and the kids made me a cake, and we made him a banana cream pie. (Thirty and Thirty Three in case you were wondering!!)

Hair Fun for Valentines Day

I was looking up info on the Internet and accidentally found a blog... http://hair4myprincess.blogspot.com There were so many cute ideas I couldn't wait to try them out. The girls had Valentines parties at school today so it was the perfect opportunity. Here is how they turned out....

Carrie in pig tail hearts.

Sorry it's a little blurry. But here is how the hearts look close up.



Beautiful Sarah

Her hair is short but this heart rubber band braid worked great for her.

Jess and Sam had matching dos. Here they are posing with the valentines that they made (Sarah too) for their teachers. We found them in Family Fun, they say "You deserve a hand" and the hands are taped on hand lotion.

Here are the heart braids on a pony tail. Cute and easy and fun. Happy Valentines Day everyone!!

Now She's Seven

Samantha's birthday was yesterday. Is it possible that she is seven already!? We had a party for her and Carrie on Saturday with the Everitt family (and Meme!) It was a lot of fun, they played games, ate cake, and got some really nice gifts.
Sammy wanted a sunflower cake, and she even had a sunflower party with her friends from school today.

Carrie of course, wanted a duckie cake... her stuffed duck was the model for the duck on the cake.

Girls Variety Show

The girls just had a variety show at school. Both Jess and Sam were in their class acts. Here is Sammy in hers. Jessica wore the exact same outfit for hers. They were both great! Here Jess is with her friends doing a dance to "One World," they had so much fun.

Meme was glad to be here to see the performance!

Guinea Pigs

For Christmas Santa brought Jessica a guinea pig. Not to go into huge detail but we have had guinea pig issues, I have been to the pet store a few times to get a new pig. Hopefully this time the pig is here to stay. The one on the left is her new pig. Her name is Butterscotch. When I purchased her the store owner told me they had another pig who needed a companion. You see she is mentally handicapped or "slow", and she needed to go to a good home. So now Jessica has two guinea pigs! The pig on the rights name is Spare, because she has bowling ball like eyes and she is just a few pins short of a strike!!

Jessica loves her new guinea pigs!!

Guess who's THREE!

Carrie Joyce was born January 31st and weighed 11 pounds!! Yesterday we celebrated her birthday with frosted cookies. Next Saturday she will have a party with the Everitt family.

Jessica made these cookie cakes. They are two oreos stacked and frosted. They were a huge hit.

And here she is with her princess accessories (she is still wearing them) and her new duckie. The dress she is wearing is the birthday dress that both Sam and Sarah have worn twice... it is very popular.

Carrie is so beautiful, and smart, and strong willed. We are so grateful to have her. Happy Birthday to our little princess!