The Haacke's

First Day

2010-08-25T08:34:00.001-06:00

I have a First Grader! How weird is that?? Ethan has been so excited to start school again, and was happy to see many of his friends in his class again this year. His teacher is Mr. Robles, and we are sure he is the best, most fun, and coolest teacher ever! (At least Ethan thinks so, which is all that matters!)

Aubrey was absolutely sure that she was going to school with her brother this morning as well. Her little tears broke my heart as Ethan walked into the school, leaving his little best friend behind. It sucks to be little sometimes! Aubrey and I plan to spend our days as "us girls" doing fun stuff like going to the park, library and reading our own books at home.

Congratulations Ethan, you are going to have a great year!

Oh. My. Cherry Pie

2010-07-29T17:34:00.000-06:00

We are devouring cherries by the pound around here, and I thought I would share our latest divine indulgence - which happens to be an unbelievably delicious, Vegan and RAW cherry cobbler/pie.

Let me just say that finding desserts in our home can be a bit tricky, though with the blessings of internet and an amazing food blogging community, it has become great fun to plan meals. Cherry season has never excited me much - too many memories of canned, overly-sweetened "cherries" (more like blobs of mush) that tasted like death had turned me off cherries for most of my child and adult life. No more. So, do yourself and your family this amazing favor: make this dessert, don't pretend it isn't divine, and try not to lick the bowl (as I did).

I don't have pics of this dessert at the moment, as we devoured all of it within minutes. Even my meat & cheese-loving husband gave this a two thumbs waaay up! So, we will be making it again very soon.

RAW Vegan Cherry Cobbler courtesy of VeganCoach.com
A delectable raw food vegan dessert that is good for you! Enjoy to your heart's content. Compliments of my good ol' pal from Chicago, vegan chef Vanessa Sherwood.

*CRUMBLE TOPPING* •
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups walnuts/pecans
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup pitted dates (medjool)

*FILLING*
3 cups cherries, frozen, thawed and drained
1/2 cup pitted dates
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Make the crumble topping: Process all ingredients in a food processor except the dates. Add dates one at a time to form coarse crumbs.
2. Make the filling: In a Vitamix or blender, combine 1 cup cherries with dates, lemon juice and cinnamon. Then toss in a bowl with the remaining 2 cups cherries.
3. Put cherry mixture in a square glass baking dish. Top with crumble topping. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Alternatively, you can put the cherry mixture directly into serving dishes and top with crumble topping.
Serves 3

Ethan & Aubrey's Christmas Project!

2010-07-27T10:56:00.000-06:00

We have a lot of play food around here. A. lot. And, crime of crimes - no play kitchen. (gasp!) I have been wanting to make/buy a play kitchen for E and little A ever since she was born - especially now that her play food collection (my first designs are always hers) has grown to overflowing her little tote. She needs a kitchen.

I absolutely detest the plastic crap that is sold in toy stores, and have long wanted a beautiful, handmade play kitchen made from natural wood. I have scoured Etsy.com and other beautiful models from other online sellers, but sadly cannot justify the $300-$500 price tags on the ones that I would put in my home.

My sweet husband is really skilled with wood working, but sadly full-time school, work, church callings and family life in general haven't permitted him the time to make a play kitchen from scratch. SO, while reading some excellent blogs, I found some amazing DIY projects! This pink & white one is made from a simple Ikea shelf, instructions here on ikea hacker.

Here is a great one made from an old nightstand from oh write! This is her version, and I am SO excited to use some of her amazing ideas to make our own play kitchen for the kids for Christmas this year!

Last Christmas we decided to make Maren a little kitchen of her own. I had seen a few ideas here and there (I'm sure you have, too!), so I can't take complete credit for what we came up with.

We found this little footed nightstand on Craigslist for $15. Here's the best before picture I have. We had already sanded the top, but you can see how the piece looked in it's original form.

And, the completed kitchen:
We used wood craft circles and a square dowel for the burners. We painted wood nobs found in the craft store for the black nobs. The sink is a square cake pan and the faucet came from a salvage yard. Brett cut shelves to fit where the drawers had been, and cut and routered the back splash from a piece of shelving we had on hand. Hinges and handle for the oven came from Lowe's.

The inside of the oven is spray-painted shiny silver, and we have since added chains to both sides of the oven door to make it more sturdy. I made the little curtain rod with leftover fabric from M's nursery, and it's hanging on a small tension rod.

We estimate having spent close to $60 total, but definitely could have done the project for cheaper. Since this was a gift for our only child, we did splurge on a few things. (Namely the faucet...it cost $20, but we loved the size and the 'realness' it brought to the project! We also splurged on the handle for the oven door, and again, just loved the size and look of the one we chose.)
I found some great pics of other DIY play kitchens, and am so excited to get going on E and A's!!

The Long Absence

2010-07-25T20:52:00.001-06:00

Sorry for the delay in posting, I have had several fun posts about summer projects, trips and the like rattling around but have not been able to sit down & blog them. I have been sick for 10 days with a terrible sore throat & am finally headed to the doctor tomorrow. I am suspecting Tonsilitis or Strep Throat. I haven't touched my desk or sewing for days, and am feeling the itch to get back to work, and am definitely ready to be feeling back to normal again.

Super Heroes and the Capes they Wear

2010-06-02T10:26:00.001-06:00

I have a Son who has a shadow. A two year old shadow, always following at his heels, copying his movements, words and every silliness that can be had. Since his greatest ambition in life is to grow up to be Batman, he practically lives in his cape - zooming around the yard fighting bad guys, and all other injustice (the world needs more of these heroic men, doesn't it?). Along with all of this crime-fighting comes his little Sister - shadowing his every move like an apprentice in training.

So what a shame, I thought, that this little super heroine doesn't have a super cape of her own. A crime worthy of the baddest of bad guys! I have redeemed myself today, and hope to pass along this fun design to you, so that you may not face the wrath that I did. ;)

You will need:
- 2 Pieces 22"x 24" fabric (I used fabric remnants from the fabric store. 1 cotton print, 1 satin liner)
- 1 Piece Hook Velcro
- 1 Piece Loop Velcro (I prefer these over snaps, as they are safer and easier to break in event of
choking)
- Scissors
- Sewing Machine

**Note: this cape is to fit a 2 year old, so you can adjust the length to fit your Little Hero (or big one!).

1. Decide on the top & bottom of the fabrics, line them up with right (printed) sides together on the inside.

2. Cut the bottom corners to be rounded, and cut a semi-circle from the top for the neck. I also tapered the sides so they angle up from the bottom of the cape to the top.

3. Line up the fabrics and start sewing with a 1/4" seam allowance. Sew all the way around the edge of the fabric, stopping about 4-5" from your starting point. You will need this opening to flip the fabrics right side out.

4. Open the hole, reach inside and pull the fabric through, flipping the whole thing right side out.

5. Straighten the seams, making sure to push out the corners on the neck pieces, so they are nice and square, or rounded, if you prefer.

6. Place the fabric in your sewing machine, starting just above the open hole that the fabric was pulled through. Roll the rough edges inside and carefully stitch (slowly to maintain control) the seam closed.
Continue sewing a 1/4" seam all the way around the fabric.

7. Now that you have the nice seam around the whole cape, we will add the velcro tabs. Place the Loop (soft) velcro on top of the right neck piece on the outside fabric of the cape. Sew securely.

8. Next, sew the Hook side on the left neck piece on the inside fabric.

9. They should lay on top of each other like this when finished.

10. Last, carefully apply whole cape to the neck of your favorite Super Hero and watch them fly!!

Ants on a Log

2010-05-28T11:47:00.001-06:00

Celebrate Summer!! I picked my son up from his last day of Kindergarten today, so we came home and celebrated with his favorite snack - Ants on a Log! We make ours a little non-traditionally, dairy & peanut free. I used Almond Butter, Non-Dairy Cream Cheese (thank heavens for you, Tofutti!), organic raisins, and flax seeds for some additional little nutritional "buggies" on top. They were a hit!

In tribute to his graduation, I thought it would be fun to make a felt version of his treat! Quite a fun little project for the morning. Happy Summer!

A Drowning Foodie: A meat and dairy-free life

2010-05-02T18:11:00.001-06:00

I am food challenged. It sucks. I admit it. Please note that I am not a card-carrying vegan with an environmental cause, but feel like I have had my dietary challenges forced upon me by some cosmic force that is poking me in the gut and laughing sadistically. I have been taking a serious look at my dietary history, and the issues it has caused me, so that I can finally eat and feel well.

Now, I was a "normal" kid dietetically speaking, eating most foods I wanted and not caring what went into my mouth, though most of it was cereal - my favorite food at the time. And with that sugary crunchiness came GALLONS of milk. Seriously. But my unintended consequences were obvious, even if not to me. Battling weight and self-esteem issues, (because of all the fatty-growth hormone-infused milk I drank, and sugary crap I ate), adding serious insult to injury - constant colds. I kid you not, I packed a full roll of toilet paper in my backpack to school and blew through it (bad pun) in about 3 days. Coming home and emptying a full backpack of used tissues should have raised some red flags that there was something wrong with my body, but I was a kid and; never considered such a prospect that I could actually feel anything but sick and miserable about myself. I have seen family photos of me holding my trusty roll. How sad is that?

Now, I must give credit where credit is due - my Mom is wonderful and was very conscious of my health, and did make great healthy food - no white bread (to my horror at the time, can you imagine eating brown bread at the lunch table while all your friends have that deceptively beautiful white bread framing their PB and J?) So no Twinkies, chips, candy or other such refined fodder in our house. My Mom made homemade vegetable and meat dinners- made with all the love that a mother can give. But a kid still gets the crap at school, right?

At the tender age of 14 while staying with my über-fit, mountaineering brother, I finally discovered that I was dairy-intolerant. A week of drinking rice milk and almost constant exercise, I felt better than I ever had. Who knew that there was life outside of constant colds, hay-fever, and cases of Kleenex? So, with a week of drinking Rice Milk, and feeling "snot-free" for the first time in my memory, I ecstatically told Mom and Dad that I was allergic to milk, and ran to the store to buy my first box of Soy Milk.

So my life in the world of alternative foods began. I got my second job at Wild Oats when I was 16, and an entire universe of dietary choices opened up to me. I never knew about meatless diets, vegans, raw-foodies or natural living and healing with food. I was never vegetarian or vegan, but began to make great changes in my diet and felt wonderful!

Which brings me to round 2 of my food challenges, that has just been revealing itself in the last few years.

I guess it has been a long time coming, but since I turned 30 four months ago, my body has completely shut down on any dairy or meat. Crap. I used to be able to eat small amounts, like butter on my toast, or ranch dressing on my salad, and an occasional serving of grilled chicken at a family party, but no more. I have spent more sleepless nights in these last few months, curled fetal-position on the floor of the bathroom, my stomach twisted in spasms of excruciating, kick-in-the-gut pain, wishing to throw up (which doesn't help, by the way), than I have ever experienced with my worst bouts of stomach flu.

So, on that lovely, personal note - we move on. ;)

As I live with the new developments of my dietary challenges, I figure I can take a glass-half-full or half-empty attitude about it. I have found delicious substitutions for most normal foods - have you ever tried Coconut Ice Cream??! I'll never feel jealous at an ice cream party again. I have discovered some amazing blogs out there that have the most amazing food I have ever tasted, or dreamed of tasted. My favorite is a blog called Yasmeen-HealthNut - in which I have spent hours reading and drooling. Our new family favorite is Yasmeen's Cardamom Mango Panna Cotta with Honey Peach Sauce.

I also love the Non-Dairy Queen's Blog for her fun and delicious alternatives to dairy and gluten-free cooking.

I must note that this post has been written mostly for me, as an honest self-analysis, and you lovely people just happen to be the bystanders in my dietary therapy session. Hopefully, my sad childhood food experiences can shed some light on unknown issues with others' health issues and maybe help a little.

Easter Weekend

2010-04-05T12:17:00.000-06:00

Our family SO needed some sunshine this weekend - with a massive snowstorm headed to Orem for Easter weekend, we packed up the kids and headed for the desert. This has been the first family trip that my WHOLE family was able to make it down South at the same time.

I learned last year how much trouble it can be traveling with two wound-up kids for 4 hours, so we left at 4am - hoping that the kids would sleep right through the drive. It was perfect - except that Ethan was too excited to sleep! So he & I started our day really early. The drive was so great! There was no traffic, the moon was out, and I got to listen to a book while the family (sans Ethan) slept. I was wide awake - having gone to bed at 8pm the night before, and there were the most amazing cloud formations that were lit by the 3/4 moon. It was incredible.

We arrived in St. Geo at 8am & went to breakfast at Denny's - even though we weren't actually served for an 2 1/2 hours, we still had so much fun chatting with my sisters, nieces, nephews and parents.

With the whole day ahead, we went to the dinosaur tracks - I haven't been there since I was 12! Braving an empty gas tank and really sandy roads, we arrived and had a great time playing in the sand and tracing our fingers in the tracks. Ethan loved the little baby dinosaur tracks the best, as his hands were the perfect size! Aubrey loved the big 3-toed tracks (about 12" square), and showing them to Grandpa Dino - who was also amazed.

Ethan's favorite part of the weekend was playing with his cousin Eli - pictured here running along the 6 large dino tracks together - can't you just hear them roar?

Aubrey's new favorite person is Auntie Jen - who voluntarily became Aubrey's Sherpa for the hike - lucky girls! I'm not sure Aubrey was sold on Jen's favorite desert herb - Brigham Tea, but they had fun sliding down the rock slide anyway.

Our next stop was to Red Rocks, where we watched our little monkeys scamper up the slickrock.

Aubrey loved the mini Arch!

Jen took us through a great squeeze that was really fun, and we were so proud of Ethan - he was really nervous about going inside, but he DID IT! We also somehow convinced Mom and Dad to come through as well (nice job Mom & Dad!!)

That night - after some much needed downtime, we met at Granny Morton's house for dinner with our whole family. Mom made really great-smelling BBQ pork - though I didn't taste it, as I was busy explaining to everyone the merits and pitfalls of my being a vegetarian. It was so great to chat with everyone - especially my nephew Steve who just got home from his mission in Texas.

Ethan got to sleep over at his cousin's house that night - going to bed at 11pm I am told - which tally's his day at 19 hours of being awake. Poor kid.

On Saturday, we had a picnic up in the Cedars near Jen and Eric's house, where somehow, the Easter Bunny left eggs for the kids! They had fun with their cousins searching for the remarkably well-hidden eggs. How does a bunny get 6 feet up in a cedar tree? Hmmm.

There was great sand at our campsite, and the kids played with their cars and of course, Ethan's Legos for hours.

The drive home was amusing to see our little ones literally passed out from exhaustion (this pic was of course taken at a long stoplight).

On the way home we even managed to get the guys some fishing time in at a local pond on top of the bluff - the kids loved feeding the ducks and reeling in Grandpa's fish. (Notice my brother's feet - sleeping in the background!!)

On a side note, remember to tell Aubrey that St George mud is STICKY!

It was an amazing weekend all together!

My Budding Artist of Mayhem

2010-02-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

I swear, having a 2 year old is having an eternal cyclone spinning out of control throughout the house. Can't leave them alone for a second, or mass-destruction levels the neighborhood.

Aubrey is definitely a budding artist. She loves to draw on everything from paper, to tables to walls - and most recently, her face. Brilliant. Maybe she is planning to move to New Zealand & join the Maori?

Then, last night, I was in the kitchen when that eerie silence that equals disaster drove me to find my little monkey.

Bathroom. Church shoes. Aftershave.

A normal, logical mind wouldn't immediately place these items together, but oh the lovely mind of a 2 year old is beyond such mundane order. Aubrey was delightedly dumping all of Austin's aftershave into each of her black church shoes. There are moments in parenthood where words fail. This was one of those for me. Only those sweet little repentant eyes kept me from losing my cool as we scooped the lotion back in the bottle, rinsed out the shoes and cleaned up the counter, floor & walls...

Cloth Lunch Bag Tutorial

2010-02-25T10:57:00.002-07:00

As many of you know, I lived in Hawaii for 2 years while going to school at BYU Hawaii, and there made some of the most amazing friends and memories I will ever have. I miss my island home almost constantly and still await the day when I can visit my island Ohana again. A few years ago, a best friend sent me 2 stacks of 4" hawaiian fabric blocks for a Hawaiian quilt I was planning. Well, that quilt still has not been made and I have hundreds of these little squares sitting in my fabric bin. I pulled them out yesterday and decided to make some cloth lunch bags for E's school lunch. I had so much fun, I thought I would share them with you.

These bags fit sandwiches & snacks perfectly, and are completely machine washable. No more wasted money on garbage ziplocs! Plus, how fun to have these in your bag lunch! This pattern is a spin off from a great book called Cut Loose Quilts by Jan Mullen - my FAVORITE quilting book ever!

Materials Needed:
(8) 4x4" squares of Cotton fabric
(2) 8" squares of Nylon fabric
1/2"x 4" Strip of Hook & Loop Velcro
Sewing Machine
Ruler
Rotary Cutter/Scissors

Lets Begin!

Step 1. Choose your fabric squares - I used 4 fabrics with 2 squares of each print. STACK all fabrics together into 1 stack.

Step 2. Place ruler over fabric at any angle and cut all layers of fabric at once.

Step 3. Move ruler to another random angle and cut again. This is what your stack should look like (your angles will obviously be a bit different).

Step 4. Now separate the 3 cuts and lay them out, mixing up the fabric pieces with other colors so you get fun random blocks. Since you cut them all at the same time, they will all intermix perfectly. (The pic shown here only shows half of my blocks). These 4 blocks will make 1 side of the bag.

Step 5. This part is a bit tricky, but you can do it! Take middle piece (A) and fold it over on top of (B), making sure to line up the edges along the dotted line. It doesn't matter that the rest of the edges are not aligned. Sew along the matched edges marked with the dotted line.

Step 6. Next, do the same thing with the remaining piece - lining up the red-dotted side and sew together.

Your finished piece will look similar to this. The edges will be uneven, but we trim them into a square next.
Step 7. Square up the block by using the ruler to get an even square block.

Step 8. Repeat steps 4-7 with the remaining 7 blocks.
Step 9. Sew 4 of the blocks together to make a square. This is the front of your bag. Repeat for the back of the bag.

Step 10. Next, take 1 piece of the Nylon. place it against the right side of the fabric & sew along 1 side. Flip right side out.

Step 11. Place 1 strip (either hook or loop side) of Velcro on the nylon side (notice the seam at the top of the bag). This will be the inside top of the bag. Sew on, making sure the cotton & nylon stay lined up as much as possible. Repeat with other side. You will now have 2 halves of your bag.

Step 12. Line up the 2 pieces, with right sides together. Sew along the 2 sides & bottom - I reinforced the top sides near the velcro, as this is a high stress area. Turn right side out - you are done!!

Here are a few more bags to give you ideas of what you can do! I would love to see pics of your bags - have fun!

Tea, Toast and Toe Socks

2010-02-12T08:35:00.000-07:00

We have been having a little rough patch the last month with lots of sniffles and sneezes around here. It seems like when your kid is in school, he brings home every little communal bug and lovingly (or not so much) shares it with the family. We have had at least one of us sick for the last month. Right now, it is a double whammy with Ethan & I. Austin had it 2 weeks ago and Aubrey 3 weeks ago.

I can't decide if it is a cold or a flu - headache, nasty cough and super fatigued, though Ethan is sporting a lovely fever. So, as we camp out on our living room couch, watching endless episodes of the "Pink Panther" - (yes, the vintage 1960s classic) we are snuggled up in our warmest blankies, jammies and of course my zany toe-socks (which were lovingly given to me by Dad for my birthday, thanks Dad!), sipping our mint tea and toast and wishing this misery would end so we can get back to life. The worst part is that Ethan is missing his first school Valentine's party today. No worries little guy, we are making our own party!

Becca's FAVORITE treat

2010-01-14T19:19:00.003-07:00

Ok, those of you who know me well know that I am a bit of a health freak. Granola. Crunchy. Whole-foodie. Whatever. Anyway, it is hard for me to find snacks and treats that taste good and that are acceptably good for me. I present to you my favorite.

This is a modified recipe I found in "Five Star Recipes" from Jeffrey L. Anderson. His version calls for 2/3 cup of sugar which makes them too sweet for me. I replaced the sugar with Stevia and let the natural apple, carrot, raisins and Stevia sweeten the cake much better than the sugar does.

Apple Carrot Cake - serves 9, or 12 muffins
2 Stevia packets
1/3 C. Canola Oil
2 Eggs or 1/2 C. Egg substitute (if Vegan, add 2 Tb. Flax meal & a little water)
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/3 C. Soymilk (or Buttermilk/Milk)
1 C. Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 C. Carrots - Finely grated
1 C. Apple - grated
1/3 C. Nuts (Almonds, Pecans etc)
1 C. Oats, Museli or 6 Grain Mix
1/4 C. Raisins

Grease an 8x8" pan OR 12 muffin tin, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix Stevia, oil, eggs, salt, cinnamon and milk until thoroughly blended. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into greased pan and bake for about 20-25 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Associated Press Interview

2009-12-28T17:41:00.001-07:00

A few months ago, I was contacted by a reporter from the Associated Press, who had found my shop via Etsy and Twitter, and was interested in interviewing me about my felt play food. By chance, I found that the article came out today!

I am so excited to share it with you as well! I found it on a few media websites, like sun-sentinel.com abcnews.go.com, and newstimes.com. I love that they mentioned several other Moms like me who are tired of worrying about the quality of items their children are playing with. It is wonderful to see the creativity of caring mothers, and the beautiful felt food they are making.

I can't wait to hear what you think!

Balance...

2009-12-18T08:36:00.003-07:00

I am having flashbacks of crazy college end-of-semester days - where deadlines loomed, art projects and final papers scrambled together, and last minute studying done in attempt to get every last bit of information stuffed into every spare memory brain cell? Then... the blissful moment when the last exam is done, all art projects turned in, and the feeling of numbing bliss washes over, and then utter relief. I am reliving those feverish days.

The prospect of a full day with no sewing before me is so unfamiliar. I see my empty, clean desk - no towering, toppling cutout felt stacks, spools of unraveling thread, random bits of scrap and fluff littering my space making my OCD brain crazy. For the last 4 months, I have been a whirlwind of planning, sewing, processing orders, trips to the post office, reams of paper, boxes and boxes of printer ink, and so many yards of felt - I don't even know the count. Now, finally, the quiet... My desk is clear - who knew it was white underneath? My sewing machine sits idly in the corner, cooling down for the first time in way too long. I still giggle at the weekly cleaning of my trusty machine - pulling out enough fluffy felt fibers to stuff an apple.

So, with the utter relief of all Christmas orders shipped out and no customer cue cards papering my computer monitor, I have days of freedom before me. I really do not know when my shop will reopen for business, but I promise myself that it will not be until I have had a great long rest, am restocked (I will NEVER sell items I don't have in stock again - playing catch-up sucks!) and am excited to sit down and sew again. I greatly look forward to my days of knitting, baking, making homemade marshmallows and being a lazy bum playing games and blocks on the floor with my two kids. I have been the Elephant balancing on the ball, and am ready for a more steady foundation.

Halloween Tricks

2009-11-02T07:54:00.002-07:00

Blood. Gore. Hearts racing in panic. Frantic 911 call. A race to the hospital. No, I am not describing the latest teen-horror movie, this was our Halloween night - only for real.

We started out with a great weekend- going to Ethan's Kindergarten class party and Halloween parade (so cute!), carving our Jack-O-Lanterns, planning our Halloween night party and Trick or Treating route. The kids were almost as excited as we were - especially with both sets of Grandparents visiting that day.

As we were getting ready to leave with my Mom and Dad for trick-or-treating (literally walking out the door), Austin comes running in the house holding his hand, which is dripping blood. We both rush to the bathroom in shock as his hand is literally gushing blood all over the sink. I have never seen anyone bleed so much! Of course, we weren't sure how bad the cut was, as we had hand towels covering it and didn't want to remove the pressure, but when Austin soaked through 2 hand towels in about as many minutes and passed out cold on the floor - I grabbed my phone and called 911. Thank goodness we live 2 blocks from the Police station! We had a Police Officer, an Ambulance and a Fire Truck there within 4 minutes. By that time, Austin was awake and being attended to by our "Heroes" as Ethan calls them. Needless to say, I was nearly hysterical!

We were so grateful that he wasn't serious enough to require an ambulance ride, so I rushed him to the ER. While we waited in triage, Austin was white as a sheet and passed out 2 more times - which made the Doctor rush us back to a bed where Austin could lay down and get an oxygen mask. So there began our 4 hour wait in the ER. Austin felt much better & joked & laughed like he always does, which helped the time pass and ease my extreme anxiety.

When he got cleaned up and we finally saw the doctor, we found out that he had a deep, 2 inch laceration on his thumb. So, 7 stitches and a Tetanus shot later, we finally left and drove home to a quiet house, though both of our hearts were broken at the memory of Ethan and Aubrey's sobs as we left. I will never forget the scared look in Ethan's eyes and the disappointment he felt that we were not going Trick-or-Treating with him (for the first time in our own neighborhood!) Most eternal thanks to my Mom and Dad for being there, taking the kids Trick-or-Treating, and making their night lots of fun and just a little more normal.

Thank goodness we took photos of the kids' costumes (or partial, in Aubrey's case) a few days before, or we wouldn't have any! Emergencies don't leave much time for snapping pics.

So, I have had my fill of Halloween terror and gore for the rest of my life, and greatly look forward to a normal, blood-free and HAPPY Halloween next year!!

Scarecrow Festival

2009-10-26T09:00:00.005-06:00

With the lovely chill of Autumn in the air, there is a rush to get all the things done that make the most of this fleeting, gorgeous season. So, with kids in tow, we headed to Thanksgiving Point to the Scarecrow Festival. Needless to say, there were ample scarecrows, games, a train ride & even a racetrack for the kids to ride little race cars. We were so lucky to have a gorgeous, warm, sunny day & we loved the chance to be outside with the kids.

Ethan especially loved the bounce-houses & tunnels. Even though we lost sight of Ethan several times, it wasn't hard to locate his screaming, squeal of delight as he tumbled through the tunnels & slides. Aubrey even found her own baby-sized bounce house, in which we could hardly get her out of - Ethan and Aubrey must be related...

One of the funniest parts of the day was when Ethan's friend the Pirate shot candy out of a cannon - which flew 20 feet into the air and down onto the kids below. When the cannon BOOMED, Aubrey was quite startled and emphatically said: "No NO Pirate!!" It was awesome.

So, we had a wonderful day - we loved the pumpkin patch with the GIANT pumpkin! We look forward to next year.

My Chef

2009-10-22T17:19:00.000-06:00

I have married the most amazing chef in the world! I don't know what it is about self-made fine food, from Sushi, Creme Brulee, and basically anything else culinary that he can get his hands on Austin gravitates to it and masters it all! I give him A+++ for taste, presentation & the best category - talent!!

For Austin, I guess cooking is like fishing - any excuse is good enough. So, roll up your sleeves, Austin because I offer a standing invitation for everyone to come to dinner!

Palumba Days

2009-10-12T07:53:00.002-06:00

I finally confess visually why I have been a reclusive office-hermit. After weeks of planning, ordering and supply waiting, there came the wonderfully-dreaded month of non-stop, full-production sewing to finish a rather large order I was blessed to receive this summer. Being mostly a small, one-at-a-time maker of felt play food, this avalanche order of felt toys was a make-or-break offer for me.

The pictures are terrible, I confess, but standing on tip-toe on our highest chair, trying to frame this in was a challenge, so please forgive the photography. It also doesn't look as impressive when viewed with half of the items bagged up - I was under a shipping deadline & refused to unpack the 11 piece Breakfast set, the 18 piece Turkey set, & the 28 piece Pizzas, just to get a mere photo, but believe me - it was awesome!

So, with deadline looming and never having tackled an order this large, I was sweating bullets to get this 1300 individual-piece order done in the month that I had. I won't even mention that I still had my family, house, Church activities and an increasingly-busy Etsy shop to run all at the same time. So, to my friends and family - this is the reason you saw so little of me this last month and a half!

It was a wonderful experience, a great lesson in time management, and precision planning. Most special thank you's to the endless patience and support from my wonderful husband and children (I "neglect" you no longer, my luvs!)

So, after 18 yards of wool felt, 25 spools of thread, 2 scissor sharpenings, and more hours at my desk than I would like to confess - and even less sleep, I am finally finished - earning a well deserved break from felt food... oh, wait - strike that - the Holiday season is approaching... NO BREAKS! Work, work, work Becca!

The Great Crash of 2009

2009-10-04T13:22:00.001-06:00

It finally happened. After months of limping along with my faithful iMac G4 - which is considerably old, the great crash came & took with it all my vital info, documents, & meticulous records (thank goodness for paper backups). Needless to say, I was devastated & more than a bit miffed that my computer had the audacity to crash completely without notifying me of its intentions in time to back up my hard drive. Oh well, I guess that is the way things go. So after 2 days of shopping, I am back online with a Ferarri of a Mac, humming quietly away as I lovingly tap the keys... Funny how you don't know what you are missing until you try something new - in this case, it was like my old iMac was a 1950s jalopy & I have just been given the aforementioned sports car. Aaah, the wind in my hair!

Becca's Surprise

2009-09-06T16:17:00.006-06:00

I have the most wonderful husband. Not much more to expound on that, except that it might leave those of you who don't know Austin as well as I do, a bit confused. Austin loves fishing as everyone knows, he would go every day if he could but sadly it has been a rare event for him with work, school, Elders Quorum & a family to take care of. So, when Austin passes up an opportunity to go fishing at Strawberry to take me biking, it is an enormous sacrifice for him.

Last Friday, I was all set to kiss my sweetie goodbye as I thought he was leaving for fishing with my Dad, he was out loading the car & I was - I confess, miserably planning my morning of work while Ethan was at school & Aubrey napped. I go outside to tell him goodbye & see that the bikes are mounted on the car & he is waiting to surprise me with a morning of biking! So, once my jaw was hinged back in place from the shock, we got dressed, grabbed Aubrey & headed up to the mouth of Provo Canyon to bike the trail.

We had driven past this trail thousands of times on our commutes up & down the canyon, but had never stopped to enjoy it. Seeing Flag Rock up close was really neat!

It was such a gorgeous day, & the paved bike trail was so nice! We had the best time together, laughing, talking & enjoying our babbling daughter chatting nonstop to herself & to us from the trailer as we rode. We stopped at one of the parks along the way to watch the fish in the river & play on the playground. I'm not sure who had the bigger smile on the slide, Aubrey or her Daddy. I was so surprised at the amount of bike & runner traffic, we had to really watch ourselves! But we had a great time together & I think next time we go we will bring a few flyrods so we can each be in our own little heaven.

So, a special thanks to my sweetheart for giving me the incredible surprise of more time with him.

Kindergarten

2009-08-27T14:00:00.004-06:00

The most exciting day is here - Ethan's first day of Kindergarten. I have never seen a more excited boy! We were woken up at 6:15 this morning to a cheerful little boy standing by our bed, smiling & carrying his new school clothes, asking "Is it time to go to school?" Ethan was all smiles the whole walk to school this morning, backpack slung on his back, ready to go.

His teacher is Mrs. Marler & Ethan really loves her. He had a great day & came home wearing his "crown" that said "Hero" on it. He really was a hero today, there was a little boy that was really sad & scared & Ethan helped him feel better by giving him a hug & telling him it was ok. Such a sweet guy. He has been excited for months to get to go to school & is so happy the day is finally here. It was a day of learning, crayons, playdough, racing, slides, sitting "criss-cross-applesauce" & singing. All in all, Ethan had an incredible day!

I expected to have a bit of a hard day (based on what all the other mom's were telling me) but I have been so excited & proud, now I just have to figure out what to do with myself & Aubrey while he is gone. Maybe I'll learn to knit... We are so proud of our Big Boy.

Ethans BIG 5

2009-07-21T19:52:00.015-06:00

Happy Birthday to my Little Man! Ethan's 5th birthday came so soon, I keep questioning if 5 years has really flown this fast. We had a great day - Ethan woke up to a balloon attack in his room & a big pancake breakfast complete with candles.

Since Ethan has been a bit Indiana Jones crazy the last few weeks (after receiving the Wii Lego Indiana Jones game as a bribe at Tyler's wedding) we decided to throw him a big Indiana Jones & the Temple of Balloons bash. With 16 kids & 14 adults invited, it was destined to be a mad free-for-all & we were a bit nervous about how it would turn out, but thankfully the guests that made it were our very favorites & we had a great time. I give thanks & credit to sippycupsareforchardonnay.blogspot.com for the fantastic ideas for the party & to thecakestandblog.blogspot.com for the cake.

I think when I learn to split myself in two, I am going into the cake decorating business... I had SO much fun making Ethan's cake, it took about 3 hours & I loved every minute. I would have loved to use fondant, but the stuff tastes like nasty candy corn & who wants a cake that tastes like leftover melted Halloween candy? So frosting was the ingredient of choice for me on this one. The vines & leaves were sculpted from marzipan (yum!), rocks out of M&Ms & of course the Lego cameos -thanks Ethan for letting me "borrow" your Indiana Jones & bad guys for the decor, it was a wrench getting them out of his hands for a few hours, but I think he liked how they made his cake special.

The party was Indiana Jones & the Temple of Balloons, so we thought a true IJ treasure hunt was in order. Pretending the kids were after the evil "Belloq" & his soldiers who stole the treasure, we had the kids follow clues to get to the next part of the adventure. So first, the kids had to wrap each other up as mummies to find the next clue. Ethan especially loved breaking out of his wraps at the end!

Next the kids had to crawl through the "Tunnel of Terror" which was filled with spiders, crawly bugs & vines to find the clue at the other end of the tunnel. Lots of squeals & screams of course!

After that, they followed the bad guys to the "desert" where the next clue was buried in the sand with lots of gold & silver coins & bouncy balls - which the kids got to keep as they figured out the next clue. The little girls - Aubrey & Dorothy especially loved digging in the sand.

Following the bad guys across the rickety bridge was treacherous, as they were chased by a giant "boulder" (thank you yoga ball!) that almost knocked them off. Then on to the Snake Pit, where they had to swing across the giant boa & the little rattlesnakes that were hiding in the grass. Good thing no one was bitten....

A sneaky monkey stole the next clue, so the little Indianas had to shoot it with darts (straws & Q-tips) to get it to drop the clue. They were all surprisingly good shots, & I apologize in advance for all the parents who have to endure being darted by q-tip shooting kids in the next few weeks!

Next was the Gross-Out Banquet (from the 2nd movie). They had to reach into beetles (nuts), monkey brains (jello) & squiggly worms (spaghetti) to find the sticky clue inside, which told the last directions for finding the treasure.

As you can see, the real adventure was making their way through our wonderfully overgrown backyard to find the treasure box. Then of course, the free-for-all for the melting chocolate gold inside!

So all-in-all, a complete & wonderful success for our little family - hosting our first big party was great fun. We loved sharing Ethan's special day with our best friends & family. Thanks to all who came to watch the delightfully fun madness! Happy birthday to my most special Little Star, I love you & can't wait to see what year #5 brings for you!

Glacier Lilies & Rainbows

2009-07-10T15:41:00.007-06:00

Island Park, Idaho has always been the best vacation spot for me. I have been going up to our family's house there since I was a tiny kid & I was so happy to get to go this spring finally, after 3 years of being gone - the longest I have ever gone without going up there. It was so beautiful, with the snow melted & the Glacier Lilies blooming away, we couldn't have asked for better weather or a more fun trip.

Our first day there, we biked to Big Springs to see the giant rainbow trout under the bridge. Ethan loved feeding the fish & Aubrey was fascinated by the seagulls that swooped in, stealing the fish's bread that we threw. There was a little spot by the dock that Ethan liked to sit & watch the minnows & the Caddis larvae crawling in the water, dragging their little shells of rock over the sand.

We stopped on the way home & fished in a gorgeous stream, catching & releasing several Rainbows with some new flies that Austin had tied. Ethan liked wading in the river - getting his feet & pants wet, & spotting the fish for Daddy on the bridge above. We loved every day there, going fishing, biking & shopping in West Yellowstone (which is only 20 minutes from the house).

It was so nice to spend the weekend with Mom, Dad & Granny Morton - whom we don't get to see very much anymore. We are very much looking forward to going back this Fall for huckleberries!!

Unintentional Environmentalism

2009-06-05T14:15:00.003-06:00

I am not an environmentalist. I repeat, I am not an environmentalist... but am I? Now, please don't misunderstand, I LOVE the earth & strongly believe in taking care of Her, cleaning up trash, recycling, using less packaging etc... I just don't want to be labeled as a radical, card-carrying, save-the-planet, stop-global-warming-neo-nazi Al Gore fan - because I am NOT. What I am, however, is a very earth-conscious, pro natural-living mother who is trying each day to do my part to lessen the impact of garbage & pollution. Leaving the planet a better place for my beautiful children.

Example #1: I use 100% Recycled Eco Felt in all my BugBites Toys. I believe that we shouldn't be afraid of toxins, lead & other nasty garbage in our children's toys. I am an advocate for soft, tactile play food that teaches good eating habits & care for the earth through play. What better way than to play with recycled post-consumer plastic bottles? http://bugbitesplayfood.etsy.com

Example #2: I use Cloth Diapers on my baby. This actually started out of desperation at the rising cost of diapers - $70 a month, money I thought could better be used elsewhere (flyfishing trips or buying orchids). Doing my homework on how to cloth diaper also enlightened me on how much damage conventional diapers really do. It is estimated that a child will go through 9,100 diapers in 2 1/2 years of diaper wearing. see Verybaby.com for more: http://verybaby.com/faq . Imagine the landfill space that one child's diapers takes up - by the way, conventional diapers DON'T biodegrate, especially when wrapped tightly & then placed in individually twisted sausage-sections of plastic bag. If only the Diaper Genie® magially made diapers decompose as well... PLUS disposables never look this cute! I found these darling diapers from monkeysnugglesdiaper at her shop on etsy: http://monkeysnugglesdiaper.etsy.com

Example #3: I use handmade Cloth Wipes on my baby. Figure the cost of cloth diapers plus the cost of wipes that just go in the trash - you might as well wipe your child's bum with a dollar bill each time & toss it in the trash... Reusable, cute & much sturdier than the thin, don't-wipe-too-hard-or-you'll-be scrubbing-ick-out of your-fingernails, store-bought wipes... need I say more? I found these adorable wipes from Bundled on http://bundled.etsy.com

Example #4: I use Cloth Lunch & Sandwich Bags. Again the cost of lousy ziplocs that just end up in the trash made me rethink the logic of ziploc. I make my sandwich bags with a nylon inner fabric & cute cotton prints on the outside. They work so much better, are easily washable, & take about 5 minutes to sew myself. These are from Britgaldesigns at http://britgaldesigns.etsy.com

Example #5: I use Cloth Feminine Pads. Okay, I am the biggest hippocrite in the world on this one. Growing up, I had never heard of such a thing & thought "eeeeew gross!" at first, wondering why anyone would ever try cloth menstrual pads. However, after finding out the hard way for years I never knew that I was actually allergic to plastic maxi pads, suffering each month from uneccesary infections & discomfort. Natural cotton is a million times better next to your skin than cancer-causing SODIUM POLYACRYLATE, DIOXINS, & TRIBUTYL TIN (TBT). Besides, if lovely, soft, natural cloth is good enough for my daughter's bum, why not mine? These cute pads are from an etsy seller named Pleat - see her shop here: http://www.pleat.etsy.com

Taking stock of some of my habits over the last year, I have come to the conclusion that I am inadvertently a serious advocate of "Green" living. We all would do better to improve our lives, pocketbooks & of course Mother Earth by switching from harmful, cancer-causing, chemical-laden plastics & synthetics to natural renewable fibers like cotton & bamboo. Go Green!

Tyler & Misty's Wedding

2009-06-04T16:01:00.005-06:00

Congratulations to Tyler & Misty! We hope you have a wonderful life together - and thanks for giving us the opportunity to get all dressed up! We had such a great time at the wedding, which happened to be 2 days after our 7th anniversary (which was another great reason to dress up & have a party). Austin looked SO great in his tux, Aubrey of course was a little princess as always - and I even survived wearing my HEELS! No accidents, trips or even stumbles for me, which is a miracle, as I have never worn heels before (even at my own wedding)!

Our very favorite was seeing Ethan in his tuxedo! He was the ring-bearer, & in anticipation for this we have spent months getting him ready for this big day. Usually Ethan is shy & gets embarrassed easily when too many people are watching him - to the point of rage, actually - so, needless to say we had been worried how he would do walking down the aisle with all eyes on him. It is funny what you stoop to as parents to get your children to do really important events - bribery, extortion, even blackmail has no limits in situations like these. We convinced Ethan that he was a "Super Spy" & that his "mission" was to get the ring on the pillow safely to Uncle Ty. Knowing that he would be self-conscious of the audience, we convinced him (forgive me the little white lie) that his cufflink was an "invisibility button" that turned him invisible to all. We had great fun practicing this before the big moment, & I am so happy to say that Ethan did magnificently! He did such a great job that he earned a Wii game from Grandpa Charlie & Grandma Dona - Ethan must have known he did a stellar job, because the first thing he said after the ceremony was "where's my game?" He didn't let go of it the whole night & delighted in smacking uncle Tyler in the butt with it during wedding photos - thats why we were smiling so much!

Needless to say, Tyler was handsome & of course Misty was gorgeous - she should definitely consider a career as a wedding planner if her dreams of a doctor fall through - everything was so beautiful. Congrats guys!

New Digs

2009-05-08T17:26:00.005-06:00

Breaking news: We MOVED! For those of you who have heard me gush about our new house, I apologize that this may get repetetive... WE LOVE IT!!!

We are so surprisingly happy here in Orem, us Country Mice from da hills is loving dis big city life - well, the suburban life anyway. Funny how life alters your decisions when circumstances change - Austin & I swore we'd never move to the valley again if we could help it, convinced that life in Wallsburg was everything we wanted for our family... wow, things have changed. No more driving 30 minutes to get to the store, being stranded with no where to go (as I didn't have a car), no more hearing Ethan cry "Mommy, I need a friend!" (he has SEVEN friends now!), no more dark-basement living (though we will miss Mom & Dad). So although we will terribly miss our wide open beautiful little valley - which we will always call home, we are really loving it here.

Our house is a really cute (big 1200 sq ft) upper level 3 Bedroom, 1 bath, split level home. We have so much space, we don't know what to do with ourselves! Who knew that you could actually have empty cupboards in your kitchen because there wasn't stuff to put in it? We actually have a bathtub for the kids & room enough to play fun games & our Wii without injuring each other. I love the office where I can escape when things get too crazy.

We live in the perfect location, as we are a block away from a huge park, library & shopping. Ethan will go to school just a few blocks away & Austin's work is only 3 miles down the road, so he has been riding his bike to work most days (chalk up 12 miles of bike riding for Austin each day!) I swear our car is going to petrify from non-use. We are walking everywhere now & loving it.

As you can tell, we are just giddy with our happiness. Moving has been the best thing for our family. Did I mention WE LOVE IT!!! So, here is your standing invitation: Come PLAY with us!!

Fantastic Excitement!

2009-04-05T17:39:00.005-06:00

We have excellent news!! After MONTHS (dare I say years?) of waiting, Austin has finally got a great full-time position at his job... sooooo, with the tremendous prospects of a stable-high paying-benefit-including position - we are MOVING!!!! I can't tell you how long we have waited for this news! Well, actually I can - but "nickel & diming" it down to the exact day & hour would be a bit obsessive, so lets just call it over 18 months of waiting! I am so excited, I might just wet myself... Can you tell I am obscenely giddy with happiness??

We have been apartment shopping & think we have found a great apartment to rent - it is a cute HUGE upstairs level of a house in Orem that is next to a park, church, shopping & KIDS for Ethan to play with - happy me! We will know if we can move in sometime this week, so I'm sure you will see another gushing blog post about it soon!

Shameful Neglect...

2009-03-28T12:09:00.006-06:00

Wow, it has been 2 months! Life has been in the way & I'm not sure why I haven't taken the time to post. So, here's what's going on with our fun little family..
Since January, Austin has started his Master's Program at Argosy University in Draper, & is loving it! He works really hard & has great professors whom he loves. We love Argosy because they specialize in Psychology & have an incredible Marriage & Family Therapy program with the best licensure in the state - plus Austin's classes are once every 3 weeks, so we get to see him tons more than before, so good things all around!

I have been really busy with our family, kids & my little business. Things have been really busy with my etsy shop & I have been selling lots of play food. I have been getting several stores wanting to buy my play food, including a Children's Museum in Saratoga Springs, NY, a cute little shop in Ohio & an online Baby Boutique called minimebabygear.com.

We have been having a lot of fun & going on a lot of family outings to the Zoo, Discovery Gateway & the Living Planet Aquarium. Ethan especially loves the stingray exhibit where he got to touch the rays! He was a little timid at first, but loved it as soon as Daddy showed him how. He likes how they feel like slippery, Jell-O. We are also loving our daily walks down the road in our new Jogging stroller, which the kids like & I LOVE!!! We are all doing well & so excited for Spring!

Happy Birthday Baby!

2009-02-01T14:35:00.007-07:00

Happy Birthday little Aubrey!
I can't believe how fast this year has gone - I'm working on inventing a time-freezing machine that can be used to slow down childhood, so we as parents can enjoy the stages of our little ones a bit longer. Trouble is, I can't decide which stage I have enjoyed the most - we have had so much fun with each moment of Ethan & Aubrey's lives.
We had a fun day - Aubrey loved the attention from Big Brother, Mom & Dad, Uncle Ty & Auntie Misty, Grandparents & Great Grandparents. She is such a delight - our little actress. So outgoing & absolutely loves to perform for anyone watching. Her favorite is waving "hi" to everyone.

I had a lot of fun making her cake. It was very "girly" - just like her, with butterflies & flowers. I should open up a bakery someday. Cake is just like clay, but so much tastier! Aubrey's favorite part of the day (& ours) was putting hats on her head - whether bows or birthday cake, she doesn't care. I wish it was socially acceptable to smash cake on my head too... It's been a wonderful year & we look forward to more adorable "firsts" with our little Pink Princess.

25 Random things about Becca

2009-01-31T20:30:00.002-07:00

I was tagged in Facebook & had so much fun, I wanted to share the post with everyone. So, I tag YOU! Once you've been tagged you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag me back please, because I want to know more about you.

25 random things about me:

1. My oldest sister & Austin's parents are the same age - does that make Austin weird, or me?
2. I love to paint with watercolors & would do it every day if I had the time.
3. I regularly get my butt handed to me in chess by my husband, but am able to beat him if I fight dirty.
4. I love Futurama - it is the funniest show I have ever seen.
5. If I had super powers, I would want to fly & be able to read people's minds.
6. I love to watch people. I don't naturally interact well with others, but am fascinated by watching them.
7. I am terrified of centipedes - even small ones. Working on a Hawaiian papaya farm with "finger-thick" centipedes will do that to you
8. I cant drink milk, eat Chinese food, red meat or pork - they make me barfy.
9. I would swim every day if I could. I plan on having my own pool someday.
10. I have a bizarre love of toe socks.
11. I love ferrets & will have a dozen some day.
12. I regularly stumble over & twist my words. I absolutely can't say words like "buck futter" (from Saturday Night Live) or "have a pheasant-plucking day" - I get into big trouble!
13. I am absolutely head-over-heels, completely, irrevocably, & utterly in love with my hot sexy husband!
14. If I could invent anything, I would invent a time-freezing machine so I could enjoy stages of my kids a little longer - they grow way to fast for me.
15. I want to be a painter when I grow up.
16. I was a pitcher in softball for 9 years when I was younger.
17. I grew up with boys & am a huge tomboy - though my girlfriends now that I am older are definitely the best!
18. I never eat junk food, soda or candy - except really good gourmet dark chocolate.
19. I gave birth to my two children at home with no drugs, I had a fabulous midwife & Austin delivered both of our children - he's good at catching!
20. Orchids are my favorite flower, but I can't have them in my current house because our salty water kills them - as I've proven at least 14 times so far. I have to endure the silk ones for now.
21. If I could go back to college, I would study Dietetics & become a Nutritionist.
22. I would love to live in Montana
23. I suffer from severe "buyer's remorse" & regularly put items back before checking out or return them - even if I need them, because I can't handle the sticker shock.
24. I love being outdoors - biking is my therapy.
25. I am extremely shy & hate walking into a room full of people.

I can't wait to hear from you!

Ten Thousand Dollar Toys

2009-01-22T23:39:00.005-07:00

There is a video game called "De Blob" - Ethan loves it, the premise of the game is that this imaginary world gets invaded by the evil "Inkies" who come down & steal all the colors. They suck up each color up in little "ink-bots" & the city is drab & gray. Until the hero of the game, the Blob - who conveniently enough is a blob of PAINT, comes to reclaim & repaint the city. He smashes the ink-bots, absorbs their color & off he goes to re-color the city & its inhabitants. Now, I am not here to promote this delightful game, but as I watched my son play this, I was horribly reminded of the Consumer Product Safety Commission - they are the INKIES!!! They have descended upon us/me with the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act to suck out all the colorful, fun & handmade toys from our world.

I want to introduce you all to my new "Spring Line" of play food that will debut on Feb 10th if the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act is unchanged. This is a CPSIA-compliant set of fruit - made of course with UN-dyed, UN-treated organic cotton. Doesn't it look like FUN? Kids can just imagine the beautiful colors while they play Chef, Tea Party & Dress up. Order yours today!
Another seller on etsy.com, thetangledwoods fabulous item "ball of wool" is one of my new favorites!
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19984444 .
These two toys are examples of the future of handmade toys available on etsy & at your nearest boutique.

Or if your blood is a little richer, you can purchase my Ham Sandwich Lunch set which has been unchanged, but due to exorbitant testing fees to make toys CPSIA-compliant, costs a mere $10,080. Yes you read it right that IS the cost for this Lunch Set. The new CPSIA law that will go into effect Feb. 10, 2009 will require that each store selling products for children under the age of 12 test each product in our shops for lead.

Each component will cost $70 and this Lunch Set has 24 components - 14 colors of felt, 8 colors of thread, poly fill stuffing & foam - each needing to be tested making the charge $1680. Add in the additional $350 per component for phthalates testing and that adds another $8400 making this Lunch Set that originally cost $35 to the grand total of $10080.00!!! Maybe Bill Gates can afford this toy?

So, my question is, where is our "Blob?" Who is going to come & color our world back to the beautiful fun place it used to be? If something is not done soon, if our voices are not heard this will be the future of our children's playtime as brilliantly illustrated by MiniMonster: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_list_1&listing_id=20057955

Forgive me for waxing political for a moment, but I hope for all our sakes that this law can be changed. The effects of this law will be more far-reaching in each of our lives than we realize.

Help Save Handmade Toys in the USA from the CPSIA (from http://sites.google.com/site/handmadetoyalliance/)

2008-12-19T07:08:00.002-07:00

Please help! This will put me out of business!!!

The issue:
In 2007, large toy manufacturers who outsource their production to China and other developing countries violated the public’s trust. They were selling toys with dangerously high lead content, toys with unsafe small part, toys with improperly secured and easily swallowed small magnets, and toys made from chemicals that made kids sick. Almost every problem toy in 2007 was made in China.

The United States Congress rightly recognized that the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) lacked the authority and staffing to prevent dangerous toys from being imported into the US. So, they passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in August, 2008. Among other things, the CPSIA bans lead and phthalates in toys, mandates third-party testing and certification for all toys and requires toy makers to permanently label each toy with a date and batch number.

All of these changes will be fairly easy for large, multinational toy manufacturers to comply with. Large manufacturers who make thousands of units of each toy have very little incremental cost to pay for testing and update their molds to include batch labels.

For small American, Canadian, and European toymakers, however, the costs of mandatroy testing will likely drive them out of business.

A toymaker, for example, who makes wooden cars in his garage in Maine to supplement his income cannot afford the $4,000 fee per toy that testing labs are charging to assure compliance with the CPSIA.
A work at home mom in Minnesota who makes dolls to sell at craft fairs must choose either to violate the law or cease operations.
A small toy retailer in Vermont who imports wooden toys from Europe, which has long had stringent toy safety standards, must now pay for testing on every toy they import.
And even the handful of larger toy makers who still employ workers in the United States face increased costs to comply with the CPSIA, even though American-made toys had nothing to do with the toy safety problems of 2007.

The CPSIA simply forgot to exclude the class of toys that have earned and kept the public’s trust: Toys made in the US, Canada, and Europe. The result, unless the law is modified, is that handmade toys will no longer be legal in the US.

If this law had been applied to the food industry, every farmers market in the country would be forced to close while Kraft and Dole prospered.

How You can Help:
Please write to your United States Congress Person and Senator to request changes in the CPSIA to save handmade toys. Use our sample letter or write your own. You can find your Congress Person here and Senator here.

Butter Sandwich

2008-12-14T13:11:00.003-07:00

Some days you feel like a nut, other days you need a butter sandwich... At least that was Austin's idea. Indulgence? No, I don't think so. Gluttony? Try again. Maybe just a chance to be silly in front of the camera? Yes! Austin can't resist acting the clown for Ethan's, Aubrey's & My benefit. Thank goodness for goofballs - I'd go nuts!

As we wind down the semester, we are getting excited for the Christmas season. All the cooking, decorating & general jolly-ness that comes with it, makes me remember Christmas when I was a kid & want to re-create those amazing memories for Ethan & Aubrey. So far, we plan to make candy canes, go sledding (it snowed today!) & my favorite, visit Temple Square, not to mention the gaggle of family & friends parties planned. Aubrey is already such a big helper in the kitchen, she rearranges my drawers for me - who needs folded towels & ordered kitchen drawers? Thanks little Aub... ;)

Art & Aikido

2008-11-18T11:10:00.004-07:00

...the two things we love most in this family & I am happy to report that Ethan has a love of both. We now know the perfect way to blow of his 4 year old energy! We took Ethan to Austin's Aikido dojo & spent 2 hours roughhousing, rolling, wrestling, chasing & laughing! As you can see, Daddy is the perfect wrestling partner for our little man. Ethan loves to be "Iron Man" "Spider Man" & any other kind of "Man" there is, & loves to unleash his super powers upon unsuspecting Daddy. Thankfully, this time it was a padded block.
Ethan also lovest to draw his family - you can see our lovely representation in the pic at right... Daddy, Mommy, Ethan & Aubrey. He's good isn't he? Going to be a great artist one day. He is very proud of his art, as i am - & much of it hangs in his bedroom for all to see.

Halloween Hijinx

2008-11-03T13:43:00.007-07:00

Well, the best night of the year has come & gone... another year to wait before costumes, candy & trick-or-treating. It was a great night for the Haackes!

We started our rounds by surprising Grandma Dona at work, & then on to Grandpa & Grandma Fluckiger. It was fun to visit for a few minutes & of course get pictures taken by our famous photographer, Grandpa Arnold. We then were headed to a Halloween party at Jim & Trese's, but got lost & couldn't find their house & no phone!! So we ended up going to Grammies to trick or treat & eventually spend the night. We all had a great time! Aubster the Lobster stayed really toasty in her costume, even in the slight drizzle that was falling. She was cute enough to eat! Of course, us being Chef's that would have been entirely possible - she was already in the pot! Ethan - 'scuse me, IRON MAN, loved ringing the doorbell ("just once Ethan") & saying "Trick-or-Treat" to all my old neighbors. He didn't like the scary houses much, but he kept us safe, the sackful of candy made him feel much better about it. He loved watching Charlie Brown's Halloween & now says: "I got a rock."

Halloween Carnival!

2008-10-30T19:15:00.006-06:00

Halloween time is here! The best holiday of the year has come & with it, the crazy fun-ness of costumes, parties & trick-or-treating! Ethan - or should I say "Iron Man" as he demands to be called, had a great time at the UVSC kids Halloween carnival. He loved "fishing" for the toys & the bean-bag toss the best. Aubrey was just in awe of all the colorful costumes & happy kids everywhere. Her costume was the cutest - little Lobster girl! The best part about her costume is that Austin & I (Chef's) are going to carry her in a big pot on Halloween night... no, we're not really going to eat her, but she's cute enough to! We met Superman at the carnival too, but he's got nothing on MY super guys! Happy Halloween everyone! Candy, candy, candy, candy...

Autumn Eye Candy

2008-10-15T10:16:00.005-06:00

I love Autumn... It is my feast for the eyes before the season of white & grey - & good thing too, as I am such a visual person. I would starve without the Autumn colors.

I love the days we spend up at Strawberry Reservoir fishing for rainbows & basking in God's aspen palette. Thanks Mom & Dad for "Strawberry Days." Ethan loves to go with his Daddy & Grandpa Deano, even the rain didn't stop him - & it stopped just in time for the double rainbow to arc the sky. Sadly, Ethan dropped his fishing rod into the lake, so we are buying a new one before our next trip. Aubrey loves to come on the boat, & is going to be a great fisherman like her Mommy, Daddy & brother. I guess it runs in the family - imagine that?

Austin is loving his new job as a Unit Counselor at Heritage School. He has a good group of kids & is really doing well. It is so fun to have him come home excited about his day. We are so grateful for this job.

As for me, my business is really taking off - I am learning the mechanics of marketing & running a business from home. I am getting lots of special orders, selling items in my shop & having a great time working at home. I am gearing up for the Holiday season & am looking forward to lots of sales!

Our Miracles...

2008-10-01T21:29:00.007-06:00

It has been a lean season for the Haacke family, the circumstances of which I am happy to announce, is coming to an end. I by no means project that our troubles are over, but lots of stress has been relieved today. After a month of tense waiting, applying & waiting again, Austin has a new job! He is the new Team Leader for a group of at-risk youth at Heritage School in Provo, UT. We couldn't be more excited! Basically, he babysits teens that have mild learning & mental disorders. We are happy about the pay, hours, benefits, job experience... pretty much the whole package. It has been such a time of stress for us, this is such a huge relief. To bolster our already soaring spirits, we also found out today that Austin's Financial Aid came through when we were sure we would have to pay for another semester. Miracles, miracles.

It Just proves that faith, prayer, fasting & more faith really does work! (And of course tithing). Ethan gives a raspberry-stained Hi-5 in congrats, & Aubrey thinks Daddy's new job is great too - of course that smile may just be for the nummy whipped cream she's snackin' on...

Berry Days

2008-09-21T19:40:00.005-06:00

We have been busy these last few weeks, with food storage on our minds & berry season at hand (literally) - we have been berry picking! Raspberries & my new favorite - Blackberries! My great friend Rebecca found a nice farm in Payson where we can pick our own. Austin is our master berry picker - the fastest I have ever seen! He is also the designated jam-maker & our freezer is beginning to overflow. Ethan is the best picking buddy we have - granted, he eats 90% of what he picks, but has a great time anyway. His favorite part is jumping out of the bushes, scaring the "monsters" away from the berries he is about to eat. Aubrey is there to help too, hanging out in my sling, doing berry "quality control" every few minutes. She likes raspberries the best. The best part of berry season is the waffles - which makes me happy, & Aubrey has discovered whipped cream! We are excited for apple season next!
We are excited to see the change of seasons here. Our valley, as well as Provo canyon is already beginning to turn brilliant
colors - Becca's eye candy before the gray season. We are enjoying each warm day we have left - & spending as many that we can in the berry fields & together.

2008-09-07T08:38:00.003-06:00

Well, with Summer over we are back to the grind & embracing Fall at the Haacke home. But its a GOOD grind, so that's ok.

Austin started Fall Semester at UVU & has some really interesting classes right now. He's getting into the practical stuff - so he gets to interview & do some counseling this semester. We are so excited to be finishing up Bachelor's stuff & to be MOVING soon! We're pretty sure its going to be Orem or Provo for us. Austin is excited for the Fall spawn fishing at Deer Creek inlet, & of course fishing at Strawberry with Mom & Dad - our favorite of the year!

I am busy as always, being a wife, mom & working hard on my play food creations. My store at bugbitesplayfood.etsy.com is doing great! It's been one week & I've had 3 sales already! I am happy to be contributing to the handmade movement & creating toys that get kids imagining again. (Turn off your TV's & play!) A good mantra for us all. I plan to sell toy food at Swiss Christmas this December, so I'm busy stocking up. I hope it goes well.

Ethan is very excited for Halloween! He changes from wanting to be Spiderman (again) to Batman, to Wolverine, to Wall-E (don't know how we're going to pull that one off) about once a day. Oh, & the other day he said he wanted to be Optimus Prime - yeah, & I thought a Wall-E costume would be hard! Austin thinks we should slit plastic cups down one side & put them around his arms & legs. We'll see. We are thinking that Aubrey will be a ladybug. ;) Ethan is my best little helper with her. Every diaper change, I have my little buddy right next to me, handing me toys to entertain her & keep her from wriggling off the table! We are enjoying family reading time a lot - we just finished Charlie & the Chocolate Factory & have started James & the Giant Peach. We highly reccommend them both! Austin is our "reader" & he makes the BEST voices for all the characters. We giggle constantly!

Aubrey is doing great - a little too great some days. She is in a big hurry to catch up to her big brother. She started pulling up to standing in her crib a few weeks ago, & now pulls up on everything within reach! Legs, chairs, open dishwashers, garbage cans (yuck when they tip), you name it! She doesn't know she's only 7months old & can't do that stuff yet! NO walking till 1 year old Little Aubs! Oh, update on her cloth diapers - they are great! After 4 months (?) we are hooked on them & will never go back to disposables, not to mention that they save us $40 a month! Aubrey is an absolute delight. Her smile melts us all. She has this look that she likes to give us as she is crawling toward something she's not supposed to have - a look that says "Yeah, look at me, I'm gonna crawl away & get into trouble & I'm so cute you can't stop me!" She definitely knows what she likes.

Farewell Summer!

2008-08-30T16:26:00.003-06:00

As I write this, I am sad to say that I am looking at my farewell marker to summer - sunflowers... I am glad that we get one last colorful hurrah to summer before the cold, grey winter sets in. In short, I am not ready for summer to end. We went to Swiss Days yesterday (another farewell marker to Summer) & had a great time looking at the crafts. We go each year hoping to see our pottery friend Terry - who always has great pots, but no luck again this year. Ethan was happy to get a rubber band gun, which he hasn't let go of, except to sleep. We are still amazed at the kinds of stuff people walk out of Swiss days carrying. I swear next year we are going to go in the woods, get some branches & make brooms out of them & make a killing - they apparently were the hit thing again this year. We are seriously thinking about selling my play food next year. We'll see. So I guess its time for me to embrace the all-too-soon seasonal change & enjoy the autumn leaves, the Fall harvest, fishing at Strawberry Reservoir, shooshing feet through fallen leaves, picking pumpkins & my change of wardrobe.

Austin's Big News...

2008-08-09T22:39:00.002-06:00

Congrats to Austin! We just found out this week that Austin will be graduating with his Bachelor's degree of Behavioral Science in December - hurray for us!! For the longest time we have felt stagnant in his schooling - though he has been learning tons, it just felt like there was no end in sight. Now after all this time, Austin is getting two degrees in one year! He got his associates last April, & now another graduation in December. Another neat thing - Austin has the last Associates degree from UVSC, & will have the first from the new UVU (same school, just new accreditation!) So its on to bigger & better things for the Haacke family - at last! We enter the world of GED exams, Masters Applications, & MOVING!!!! We are hoping to get into either BYU, University Of Utah or Utah State University & may go out of state to Gonzaga in Washington state if we have the opportunity. So wish us luck, as we have some HUGE decisions on the way...

BugBites Blog Site - Ha! That rhymes!

2008-08-05T08:16:00.003-06:00

For all interested, I've created a blog with photos of my play food. There are prices & other info listed as well. Go to: bugbitesplayfood.blogspot.com You can also click on the link to the right on the sidebar. Please leave comments, I love feedback!

Going Into Business...

2008-07-22T21:32:00.003-06:00

Well, I've taken the plunge... After weeks of hard work at my sewing machine, I have decided to sell felt play food online & at the Farmer's Market in Heber. I am so excited! I hope that the word spreads & this can be a successful endeavor. My marketing group (Ethan, Aubrey & Jack) so far have shown remarkable interest in the play food I have made - which is very encouraging (Though, Aubrey just gums it all). So, pass the word, & hopefully all the time & brain cells used in the design & fabrication will have paid off.

Teethy-Time!

2008-07-21T10:38:00.002-06:00

Huwaaay! Congrats little Aubrey- you've got your first tooth! She's been a bit "drooley" & wanting to bite everything the last few weeks, & we've just been waiting & waiting for her first tooth & yesterday it finally popped out! Ethan is proud of his baby sister, & likes to help feed her. So far, Aub is a big fan of solid foods - I think peaches are her favorite. Ethan likes to play with the camera - as you can see, he has a lovely self-portrait here, (among about a dozen others). He's loving summer time, & even got to ride on Uncle James' motorcycle at the lake a few weeks ago. Summer is the best! We look forward to camping, the treehouse, & the Demolition Derby this weekend!

BIRTHDAY BOY!!

2008-07-11T19:13:00.011-06:00

Happy Birthday little Ethan! It's been a great 4 years little pal! We had a great day together. Ethan woke up to a balloon explosion - looked like a clown vomited balloons all over the room. He was so surprised. After his presents & a few photos, it was on to a breakfast of pancakes complete with frosting & candles. We went down to Provo to meet Grammie Patti & Grandpa Deano & saw Wall E - which was so funny! Ethan loved "Eve" & how she scared Wall E with her. Cute fun movie (I liked the fat people). Ethan then got to choose our lunch destination & (surprise, surprise) we went to Chuck-A-Rama with Uncle Ty & Misty. (Honestly, I think Ethan just goes for the jello) After a few errands & passing out in a quick nap, we headed to the Farmer's Market in Heber - also where Ethan wanted to go most of all, which is great with us, as its our favorite Thursday night hangout as well. Great park, music & lots of people. We had cake & ice cream with Ethan's new best friends Ryan, Summer, McKenna (spelling?) & Mason. They had SO much fun playing on the slide, drawing with sidewalk chalk & most of all "dog-piling " Daddy! All in all, a great day!

Food Is Tasty!

2008-07-04T08:17:00.003-06:00

YAAY Aubrey! Congratulations little one - you've taken your first real culinary steps... granted, Rice cereal is a bit on the bland side of the palette spectrum, but you've gotta start somewhere. Aub took her first bites on July 2nd & so far is loving to eat big girl food - she also likes to eat the spoon, which makes for a fun wrestling match.

We went to Lagoon last Monday - which was so much fun! (Thanks Charlie & Uncle Mike) Ethan loved the rides - his favorite one was the TIDAL WAVE - yeah, not the kiddie one that spins in circles, but the HUGE one that scares me sometimes. He went with Daddy, Grandpa, Uncle Ty & Misty & loved every second! He even held his hands up! Crazy kid... He went on the train, swings, dinosaur drop (fun!) & almost every kid-friendly ride they have.He loved the log flume (sorry for the sideways video) & the splash at the end especially. I think Rattlesnake Rapids was his favorite water ride - we all got SOAKED, except for Ethan - thanks to Grandpa Charlie who leaned over him as we went under the waterfall. Grandma Dona was so kind to hold Aubrey while Austin & I went on "Wicked" rollercoaster. It was AWESOME! Laughing too hard to be scared, even when going straight up & down! Fun Fun. We love summer!

Summer Days

2008-06-25T10:41:00.008-06:00

Summer is here! We say welcome to warm weather, playing outside, swimming at the lake, endless sunscreen, water squirts, swim suits, star-gazing, farmer's markets, playgrounds, garden peas, allergies, hummingbirds, demolition derby, rodeos, carnivals, flyfishing (except for Austin, who's in the river in JANUARY), boating with Moms & Dads, camping, summer hiking & SUNSHINE!

Needless to say, we are so excited for summer. We went to the lake twice this week, and are going again on Saturday with the whole family. Austin is teaching Ethan to swim & are having grand water fights that usually end up with me getting soaked as well! We made completos the other night (its a Chilean "uber" hot dog with lots of veggies & stuff) which were SO good. Greg knows what I'm talking about... Can you get any more in your mouth Aust?

We went to Rainbow Bay with Charlie & Dona last time & had fun kayaking & swimming. Austin caught s carp & was SO proud of Aubrey who reached for it just as the photo was snapped! That's our girl... She turned 5mo old today - time is going way too fast.

Ethan has discovered the joy of the Farmer's Market... mostly because he got a shaved ice & a cotton candy - you can see the before & after evidence! It only we could describe the sugar rush afterward!
Good thing its at the park where there's lots of energy burning stuff to do! Ethan discovered the monkey bar dome & now knows he can't hang on with one hand anymore... blisters & the lovely scrape on his forehead. (sigh) Boys...

Father's Day

2008-06-16T12:18:00.004-06:00

We had a great week! Ethan got to go up to 6 Lakes with Grandma Dona & Grandpa Charlie for the Haacke family reunion for 4 days & had a blast! He loved playing on the dock with his water squirt, catching crawdads fishing & kayaking. Did I mention that he liked the dock & his water squirt? Grandma said he didn't want to leave! I wouldn't either, its so fun up there. I wish we had photos of him. Oh well... Austin, Aubrey & I spent time at home (lonely) in our too-quiet house working, playing Wii Fit, sewing diapers & digging in the garden. We were happy to have Ethan home again - it's too boring without him.

We went to Grammi's for Father's Day dinner - dutch oven is the best! Mom, you can be my dutch oven chef anytime! The pineapple chicken wings were the BEST! But the D.O. Apple cake was pretty amazing too. It was nice to see our family, play in the sandbox with Ethan & watch Daddy & Aubrey have a well-deserved nap... Aubrey says: "Daddy is the best pillow!" I agree. Dad's are just the greatest!

St George Water Park Photos

2008-06-02T12:28:00.006-06:00

We just got these photos from Mom's camera... In St George, they built a new "water park" by the new library that is so much fun! There is a big water fountain that the two E's (Ethan & cousin Eli) loved playing in - as you can see, it was almost impossible to get them to each look at the camera at the same time. Ethan's favorite part was running in the little stream that goes the length of the park. The boys had fun splashing each other & playing chase. Ethan liked the big fountain the most, until he got a surprise squirt in the face - but who wouldn't be mad at that? I also took Aubrey for her first dip in the water - I think it was a bit cold on little toes. Oh well, maybe next year -though if she's anything like her mommy, daddy & big brother we won't be able to get her out of the water! She liked it much better sitting in the shade with Granny Morton & Grammie. Thanks for the great discovery Jen, we can't wait to go again this Fall!

I Swear I'm NOT an Environmentalist...

2008-05-30T17:36:00.002-06:00

Well, we've taken the plunge... The Haacke's have decided to enter the fun-filled world of cloth diapering! Call us crazy (we are), but after doing lots of research & MATH, heres what I have learned...

Just a moment while I step onto my soapbox...
FIRST - Disposables are TOXIC! • Dioxins - Most toxic of ALL carcinogens, banned in most countries except the U.S.. • Sodium Polyacrylate - (You know, the little "beady thingys" that absorb the peeps) Reported to cause severe skin irritations, oozing blood from perineum and scrotal tissues, fever, vomiting and staph infections in babies - not to mention that it was banned from tampons in 1985 because of its link to TSS, & it has killed children after ingesting as little as 5 grams of it - YIKES!! • TBT - Highly toxic enviro pollutant that causes sterility... Also factor in the offgassing of the plastics, perfumes & dyes - No Thanks!

SECOND - Cloth is CHEAPER! Figure this:
• Disposable diaper costs an average of $0.24 per change. • $0.24 per change X 70 changes per week = $16.80 per week • $16.80 per week X 130 weeks per diapering period (2 1/2 years) = Total Cost of Disposable Diapers $2,184.00
Cloth Diapers cost a little more to begin with (about $300-$400), BUT they at least can be used through more than one child. Now, I dont know about you, but I can't afford to spend over $2,000 a year on non-biodegradable landfill nuggets, which leads me to my last point: (Yes you enviromnentalist nutties out there, this is for you) GARBAGE! On average, each baby/toddler uses 9100 diapers in a 2 1/2 year period! Times that by however many millions of kids wearing disposables... Imagine what that does to our groundwater...

If you want to try a little experiment, go buy a package of Depends & wear them 24 hrs a day for one week (I did postpartum)... I now have complete empathy for little Aubrey's "diaper-rashed, sweaty-sticky, crinkle-when you move, perma-plastic-imprinted" little tushie that Aubrey & millions of other kids suffer through every day.

So anyway... though cloth diapering is a little more effort & a little more laundry, its worth it for us. I'm stepping down off my little soapbox now...

Happy Anniversary!

2008-05-21T17:07:00.004-06:00

Yaay! Austin & Becca have been married for 6 years! Time flies when you are with your best friend! We went to Zurmatt resort in Midway last night & had a really nice dinner at Schneider's - we highly recommend it. Austin had incredible scallops & I had a veggie dish that was so good. It was fun to be spoiled for a day - valet parking is cool! We woke up this morning & went to the pool with Aubrey. Her first swimming trip! She liked it a lot - they have a neat pool & hot tub. Ethan got to have a sleepover with Grandma Dona & then went to Auntie Barb's in the morning. We went to a neat bakery in Midway & got nummy "cigars" (a raspberry-cream filled praline cookie) & an eclair for a pre-breakfast treat... SO GOOD! If I ever get a specialty cake made, thats the place to go.

St George Trip

2008-05-21T16:20:00.004-06:00

We have had a really busy week - hence the lack of posts for a few days. Austin went to Miton for a week to help his dad work, so to keep us busy, the kids & I went to St George with Mom & Granny Morton for five days to visit my sister Jen & her cute family. We had a great trip down - great company & the kids were so good.
It was nice to be in the warm desert again! The only bad thing about the whole trip was that I woke up sick with a bad infection on the first morning! I was SO mad! High fever in the heat of St George is not fun. Thankfully we were able to get some antibiotics & though I spent two days in bed, I had a great time visiting with Granny. Ethan was so lucky, he got to have a sleepover at Auntie Jen's house. Ethan has discovered the joy of cousins - He & Eli played for hours finding snails, lizard hunting & playing in the red sand.
On Saturday, we all went for a hike in Snow Canyon - my favorite place, to the white sand dunes. It was a long walk for little legs, but Ethan, Eli, Cassidy, Jonah & Seth all did great! Aubrey sat in the sling & was such a trooper! Thanks for the hat Jen! Later that afternoon, Mom, Jen & the little kids & I went to Enterprise to a circa 1900's Mercantile store that is going out of business. The 2 E's (Ethan & Eli) decided to spend their dollar on bubbles (I don't think Grammie has ever gotten such value out of one dollar!) Ethan played for hours making "rainbows." Jen & I spent a while picking out fabric (boring moms), but we are so excited to see what each other makes... I found some really cute ladybug fabric that is going to be a quilt.
We had a long drive home on Sunday... it was a 10 hour day in the car. We left St Geo at noon - stopping lots for Aubrey to eat & made it to Provo to meet Austin at 5pm. We started up Provo Canyon & were stopped by a really bad accident that killed two kids & closed the whole canyon. We went to a fun park so the kids could stretch, had dinner & got home at 10pm! Long, long, long day!

Food Storage

2008-05-12T20:52:00.002-06:00

Hey - just a thought... since all the doom & gloom about the economy has the whole world freaked, i found this GREAT website about building food storage bit by bit & actually using it in daily life... not just 200 cases of 10 year old wheat in the basement (which is food hoarding by the way). Check out simplylivingsmart.com Or click on the link to your right... It's got tons of video on how to use & start acquiring more food storage. Granted, the lady in the videos is UBER CHEESY - saying words like "delicious" & "creamy" about 10 times per 3 minute segment, there is some really good info there. They have schedules & calculators to help you figure out how many pounds of each type of food for your individual family - i didnt know that we need 1300 lbs of grain food for us for a year! Yikes! Good to know so we can get started. They also have lots of emergency preparedness info & videos. We aren't making a run for the food store, but this website has given us a way to have a schedule for getting our years worth of food storage.
Good luck!

Mothers Day Madness

2008-05-12T20:25:00.002-06:00

Its been a few days since we've posted anything new, but we've been so busy this week. I was asked to speak in my Mom's Sacrament meeting on Mother's day as a surprise spotlight for her. It went really well I thought - Mom couldn't figure out why we had to be to church 10 minutes early! Good surprise. Love you mom. It was a crazy weekend with family parties 'n all, but we had fun.

Austin is gone all this week working with his dad, so it's pretty quiet around here. I cant get used to that thought. I don't know how Dona does it each week. We woke up to SNOW this morning! Thats just not fair to tease me that way! Ethan gets mad every day that he's cooped up inside... which is getting old for me too - the garden is getting neglected on days like this.

Waiting for sun...

For all the parents out there...

2008-05-01T21:49:00.005-06:00

Okay, ever been sitting around watching tv at night, surfin' through the channels & come upon one of your kid's tv shows? How many of you start watching it? Austin & I have been guilty of this phenomenon on several occasions lately... The worst part is when there is something good on, & we switch to kiddo cartoons anyway! Ever seen Max & Ruby? For those searching for a genuine jewel of a show without the violence & gore of comics; ridiculous stuffed purple monstrosities singing about taking out the trash, or the over-the-top musical antics of the blue-faced "doodle-whatevers" that parents are subjected to day after day, Max & Ruby is a welcome escape from the usual 6am fodder that our kids absorb. We highly recommend you check it out! Who knew that a brother & sister bunny team could be so entertaining for college-educated, moderately intelligent people? Especially since Max only says one word throughout each episode & still outwits his older & more proper sister Ruby. Nick Jr. - Mon, Wed & Fri 1:30 & 9:30pm. Check it out!

Austins MONSTER

2008-04-29T12:54:00.002-06:00

Thought you all should see Austin's monster carp he caught last week... 30"! Austin & Ryan went fishing on deer creek & had an awesome night! They each caught about 20! So glad we don't have to eat them! ICK!

First Giggle

2008-04-29T12:40:00.004-06:00

Hello everyone! Wanted to share Aubrey's first giggle with you all. Almost seems like she's going to explode! Finally gets a great giggle at the end of the clip! Austin & I spent much of the day yesterday out in the sunshine working in the garden. Ethan is our official seed planter - as he & daddy like to say, he "pead" in the garden! He is excited for his strawberries & carrots. He is also in charge of feeding his 5 baby chickens that Grandpa Charlie & Grandma Dona got for Easter. Ethan especially loves to give them caterpillars from the garden. Our chicks are really cool! They are actually a Chilean breed - which makes Austin happy, and they are really beautiful! Ethan has named his favorite white one "Chicken Joe," who is the biggest & greediest.
Having fun outside!

Simon's Cat 'Cat Man Do'

2008-04-28T23:49:00.001-06:00

HILARIOUS!!!
This is absolutely our kitty Suki! Ask Austin, he'll tell you!

Fishin' Buddies

2008-04-28T23:20:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone, here's a cute foto of Ethan & his hero, Daddy! This one was taken last fall on Strawberry on Dad's boat. I think Ethan is destined to be a great fisherman like Austin! We are excited to get back out on the water! Austin promises to take Ethan kneeboarding this summer... aaah! Hope I dont have a heart attack first, better teach the little guy to swim soon...

Welcome To Our Blog!

2008-04-28T21:23:00.001-06:00

Hello! We thought this would be a great way to let y'all know how our little family is doing... much more convenient than typing 20 emails every month!

As you all know, our little family was increased in goofiness by our newest addition, Aubrey Lynne Haacke on January 25th. She weighed 8lb. 6oz., & was 20 1/4" long, a very healthy kiddo! She is such a happy, easy baby... we just got our first giggle! She is our little angel of peace.

Ethan is loving his baby sister Aubrey, & can always get a smile out of her! Ethan will be turning 4 this July 10! WOW! Time flies when you're chasing kids! He loves playing outside in the warm weather - catching bugs & playing in the sandbox, & especially loves his special kitty Suki, who is patient enough to be his "dryer buddy." He's a happy smiley kid who can't wait to go fishing with daddy this summer!

Austin & I are pretty busy adjusting to the craziness of two kiddos - amazing how a simple trip to the store now takes some serious planning! Austin just finished a very busy semester at UVSC, he is studying hard to become a Marriage Counselor - so LOTS of psychology stuff... He is excited to be guiding flyfishing trips again this summer on the Provo River. He is becoming quite the fishing expert - last week he landed a 30" carp on Deer Creek Reservoir!

I am currently working at home doing graphic design for a phone book company, which is great fun. I have a terrible case of "spring fever" & can't wait to get outside in the garden! I also plan to keep busy watercolor painting this summer.

Well, thats it for now... gotta go! :)