This camera is going to overload my hard drive!

One of my twins' favorite things to do when I'm doing laundry is to play in the lower cupboards together.  They take turns climbing in and shutting the doors on the other one.  Often they climb in together, and like to pop out suddenly and "surprise" mom.

Waverly has learned at a young age that when she sees a camera (or anything that resembles a camera!) to pose and say "cheese".  I think it's adorable.

She also thinks all animals are "doggies".  She loves this stuffed bear Savannah got from a cancer Christmas party last year.

I just love this picture of Keaton.  I think he has cute teeth.

I often call him Linus, as he is always in the company of this blue blanket he received at birth, and sucks his thumb.  I've never had a thumb sucker before.  I thought it was so cute when he was tiny, but now we are trying to break the habit before he becomes Benny Bucktooth.

BFF's

Spring has finally sprung!

My favorite flowers are spring bulbs.  I buy bulbs from Thanksgiving Point every year when they clearance them from the Tulip Festival in June, and it's so fun to see them come up in random shades of pinks and reds every spring.  I never know what I'm planting, which may drive some women nuts, but I like the randomness of the colors and flowers.

Of course, with the spring flowers blooming, I have to take more pics of my cute kids.

Spring photos

I wanted to get some nice family pics.  My kids had other ideas, so this is the best I could do on a windy cold day with a yummy Sunday dinner and grandma and cousins waiting inside.

I just LOVE this picture of Brighton.  I commandeered Scott's fancy DSLR camera, and have had so much fun with it!

Brighton was feeling dejected when his cousin Kaitlin wanted to play with Irelynd instead.  What a sad face!  What a big lower lip!  I call that the Henry Lip because it's a family trait from their dad's side.

My 3 favorite guys.  Doesn't it make you wonder what they're all thinking about?

                                                                      "dirt?  What dirt?"

Easter skirts

I got ambitious and made the older girls matching Easter skirts this year, instead of buying ready made dresses.  Part of the motivation was finding this adorable fabric on half price at Joanne's.  I bought it before St. Patrick's day, but, true to Jill style, waited until the middle of April to even start them.  Then, I got Savannah's done, finally, and waited until Saturday night to start Irelynds.  I stayed up until 3 am finishing it, only to get up 4 hours later to make it to a baby blessing.  I cursed my stupidity until Irelynd tackle-hugged me the next morning with a fervent "thank you Mommy!"  That made it all worth it. 

I was really happy with how they turned out.  I used a pattern, but had to lengthen it when I realized it was cut for 5 inches above the knee.  Not modest.  I also added a lining and the polka-dot ruffle and netting layer.  The girls were happy with them, so I was happy with them.  This isn't the best picture, but you get the idea.

And here it is in action on Irelynd.  It was windy and cold this day so the girls wouldn't cooperate with a group photo.  That'll be later.

I wanna be like you-hoo-hoo!

The power of example starts at such a young age, doesn't it? 

Panna Cotta with Chocolate Sauce

I stumbled across this recipe a few weeks ago while reorganizing my recipe cupboard and wanted to try it.  I thought it was quite good, though my children weren't as enthused about it.  I liked it as something different.  Here's the recipe:

2 T cold water (place in a small bowl)

1 3/4 tsp uflavored powdered gelatin (sprinkle on water and set aside)

In a saucepan combine:

1 1/2 c heavy cream

1/2 c milk

3 Tb sugar

pinch of salt.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and boil for 1 minute stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and whisk in 1 tsp vanilla, gelatin mixture, and 1 Tb more sugar.

Chill over ice bath in fridge until it begins to slightly thicken.  Transfer to 6 ramekins or bowls.  Chill until firm.  Serve with your favorite fudge sauce on top.

A silent plea

On Friday I gathered some stuff up around the house I was wanting to garage sell, and pulled this old chalkboard out of the craft room to sell.  The next morning I came down to find the following note:

Funny how an old neglected item takes on new meaning when it's about to disappear!

Growing like a weed

Kind of gives new meaning to the term, doesn't it?

What we did for Spring Break

Since the entire state of Utah was on Spring Break at the same time, and half the week we had snow and freezing temps, we had to get creative with our time spent.  On Monday the kids just played with neighbors.  On Tuesday we had a Henry family spring cleaning day.  I took inspiration from Mymixofsix and paid the kids in tickets for each chore completed.  I made a list of chores needing done, and they chose which ones they wanted to complete, by initialing next to them.  I told them ahead of time what was "on sale" and for how many tickets, so they could choose how much they were willing to work for.  To their credit, they completed enough to buy everything.  Even Irelynd was able to stick with it until she was done, which is a HUGE accomplishment for her, with her ADHD.  I was so proud of my girls; we cleaned for hours and they stuck right with me, with very little reminding.  I will definitely make this a yearly, or maybe a bi-yearly, tradition in our house.  It worked beautifully!  And it was fun!  (Well, the movie night, maybe not the cleaning!)  Some of the chores I listed included wiping baseboards, cleaning windows, and wiping down walls and doors; pretty much the stuff I HATE doing, because of all the bending over.  Now I have clean baseboards, windows, and blinds!

This is the "store".  Target sold all out of their popcorn holders just days before we went to get some, so Scott got creative and bought mini-planters.  The tickets we found at Walmart for $3, and the candy was leftover Easter candy.

Even Brighton got involved and was able to earn some tickets.  He held on almost until the end of the movie, but crashed before it was over.

Wednesday and Thursday were more play days.  Friday we went to Goblin Valley in central Utah.  It was a 2 1/2 hour drive each direction, but the kids watched a movie both directions and it went quickly.

This is called the Three Sisters and greets visitors on the way in.

We started with a picnic lunch in the parking lot.  Even here in the middle of the desert was crammed full of people.  Luckily, the park is large and it didn't feel crowded.  It was such a nice change from the cold, snowy weather we left behind!

We discovered letterboxing last summer and have fallen in love with it.  We looked up a few clues for the area and found the hidden boxes.  The first one was stashed in this cave, below, where the people are climbing in.  We felt like Indiana Jones.

I had to laugh as I was taking this picture of Savannah.  We finally, after over a year, changed the batteries in her camera before we left, and she kept stopping her siblings to pose for a picture for her.  Like mother, like daughter!

After a few hours of climbing over, under, and through the formations, Brighton could go no farther, and lay down in the dirt to rest.

After leaving Goblin Valley, we went to Little Wild Horse Canyon to hike the slots.  We found our second letterbox clue here as well.  As we had to get back to pick up our twins from Scott's parents, we only spent a short time here.  I would have liked to hike the entire 8-mile round trip, but it'll have to wait for our return trip next spring.