9.28.2008

Finger Painting...



What could be better than finger painting when it's raining cats and dogs outside? Daddio suggested getting out our new roll of IKEA paper and having some fun while mother nature unleashed her glory over our hot desert. I oversaw this whole activity from my neutral place in the kitchen while making dinner. I could tell from daddy's body language that he had to really bite his tongue when Tani instantly mixed every single color to make a brown murky blob. They each inspected each other's art afterwards. Tani asked, "Daddy, what did you paint?" Daddy said, "what do you think it is?" Tani replied, "feathers pooping?" Need I say more?

9.25.2008

Family photos ready to view!

Our family photos are ready! To view click here. Click on "Babies and Children," then click on "Client Proofing," and type, "hinckley1". We're having a hard time picking our favorites. Which ones do you like?

9.23.2008

I'm not a baker!



When I worked at BYU-Hawaii's Human Resources Dept. a woman by the name of Kanani had a homebased baking business and would come around once a week and sell 1/2 dozen fresh baked choco chip cookies for $2.00. She would package them in a glassine bag with a silver twistie tie. Not only were they to die for but the cookies in the bag were so darn cute. Thick, chunky, warm cookies stacked one top of each other ready for devouring.


One of my visiting teaching gals dresses her whole family like they just stepped out of a GAP commercial. Always sylin'. So naturally I went straight to her to borrow some shirts for our family pictures. Naughty me...I took forever to return them so it was only proper that I brought along a peace offering. Her favorite cookies are Mother's brand called "Taffy." Thank goodness because I'm not a baker. (Thanks again Harmony for lending us your shirts...hope you got them. You weren't home so I left them on your front door in a bag.)

9.21.2008

Our morning Cup of Joe...




This is our morning fruit smoothie that we drink 6 days a week. (On Sunday we cook bacon, eggs and waffles smothered in maple syrup). It's delicious! Here the recipe:

1. 1 scoop of protein powder.

2. Handful of fresh baby spinach (Sounds gross, I know, but you can't even taste it and it's great way to get in a serving of veggies. Not even Matani knows that I secretly stuff spinach in his shake either and he can detect vegies a mile away).

3. Half a banana. Fill the cup up to the brim with frozen berries of your choice.

4. Fill half way up with Pomegranate Juice (or juice of your choice) and the other half with soy milk (or milk of your choice).

Blend and enjoy! I use my Magic Bullet Blender. The container holds approx. 2 cups.

P.S. I accomplished nothing on my list except eating Ben & Jerry's. I came down with the sniffles so I'll try that list again next weekend. Sorry, no fun hair-do to reveal.

9.19.2008

Weekend plans (and blogging out loud).

1. Hit the 8am Strength Training class on Saturday.
Note to self: "Remember to arrive 15 min early because it's always packed on Sat mornings. As soon as the 7am class lets out run like heck to get a spot. Shove and push if you have to just make it to the front! You must work off the Ben & Jerry's that you're planning on rewarding yourself with on Friday night."

2. Indulge in a L-I-T-T-L-E Ben & Jerry's for "Friday Family Movie Night".

3. Get a haircut!
Note to self: "Just go for it and don't look back! It's time to chop those lovely locks. Try not to cry when they make the first cut. Yeah, your man loves your long hair but he doesn't have to comb through it for 15 min when it's wet. Come on, you only style it on Sunday, the rest of the time it's in a ponytail. Maybe something like..."




4. Take the fam to play in the stream at Catalina Nat'l Park. Note to self: "Go buy some Pepper Spray just in case a bear comes charging out of the bushes. Where would I even go to buy Pepper Spray?"

5. Plan Tani's BELATED 4 year old birthday party.

Note to self: "Get it done before he turns 5."


Have a nice weekend!

9.17.2008

First steps.

After 12 months and 25 days Naish has decided that it's time to walk!

Looking for your input!

Calling all comments! Does anyone have a college savings plan that they are satisfied with? The one I have for Matani is OK but I'm always looking for something better. Someone once told me about a plan where the money could be used for college and/or mission down the road but I haven't been able to locate it. I'd love some input whether good or bad. Much thanks!

9.16.2008

A day to remember.

"Childhood is the most beautiful of all life's seasons." ~Author Unknown

Catalina National Park 9/14/08.

9.14.2008

No wrapping paper? No problem!



I ran out of wrapping paper for a baby shower gift so I hunted around and found:
1. A pastry box.
2. Scrapbook cardstock.
3. Scrapbook chipboard letters.
4. Raffia.
Viola!

9.12.2008

New little helper.

Naish is refusing to eat. I'm totally frustrated. He turns his head everytime I put the spoon to his mouth. I'm not terribly worried about it seeing as how he is a tank and has enough reserve to last him a good while. Yesterday he refused me again so I got up and walked to the kitchen to find something else he might like and I turned around to this. Tani took the spoon and was feeding his brother and his brother was ACTUALLY EATING! WHAT? He'll eat for big brother but not for mom or dad? So now Tani feeds Naish at mealtime. Sweet!


Labor Day.





This post is a bit late but here is what our Labor Day looked like. We woke up early and headed to Phoenix. We made a quick stop to IKEA (always a must if we're going to Pheonix) then on to an indoor amusement park. The boys had a blast and I had motion sickness. The first thing we did when we got there is ride the spaceships that go around and around and around and around and around and around...I didn't think it would ever stop. Rides, junk food, photo booth pictures, games, a pile of game tickets later we were pooped and ready to go back home. Jake made fun of me for sleeping in the front seat with my mouth wide open the whole trip home. (I refuse to post those pictures). Fun memories.

Happy Birthday Matani!

Matani is officially 4! He is so proud of himself for turning 4 too. He brags to people about it as if he just won the Pulitzer Prize. These are half of the kiddos from his playgroup at our friends house. All of us mommies met when we first had our babies. They all have the birthdays within one month of each other so we do a joint playgroup birthday party each year.
This was his favorite present of all. He puts this on daily. He is so attached to it he insists on wearing it when we go to the grocery store. Oh, the looks we get. Other mom's are very understanding...they'll wink and say, "I had a Batman during my parenting days."
Happy Birthday Matani!

9.09.2008

Blog of the week...

I'm pretty new to this whole blogging thing. In fact, just 6 months ago I had no idea what a blog even was. I have already spent countless hours linking from one blog to the next. 10 blogs later I'm reading about some stranger's children's first day of school and have no idea how I got there. I'm hooked and bordering obssesive. I would rather sit at my computer and "blog-stalk" then go take a shower after going to the gym. Gross! Anyway, I've got a good list of blogs saved in my favorites and started to feel guilty that I'm way too addicted to blogging and wasting way too much time. So as you know I've been terribly concerned about NieNie and family. I've been searching for any news that things are looking good for them. Well, I was led me to a bit of comic relief which has been much needed by her brother's blog called www.thejollyporter.blogspot.com. I fell off my chair laughing! He is super funny and a blog that I will definetely be checking back on. Stop on over there and check him out.

9.08.2008

Pray for NieNie and family...


Several of my favorite blogs have been talking about Stephanie Nielson and her husband Christian who were in a private plane crash on August 16, 2008 in Arizona. The two of them were accompanied by flight instructor Doug Kinneard who later died. They are still in critical condition. Christian suffered burns over 30% of his body and Nie over 80% of her body. They have not seen their children or each other as they are in the burn unit in an Arizona hospital. They are in for months of recovery.
Nienie (as she is called) is 27 year old mother of 4 (ranging from 6 yrs to 23 months), a yoga instructor, and wife who is my equivalent of the LDS modern day Martha Stewart. Her blog, http://www.nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/, highlighted motherhood as the highest of all callings and everything about her is beautiful. She has inspired me to look at the lovliness in my own life and appreciate everything and everyone. I can't stop thinking about her. I wake up at night thinking about her and her children. Her sister's blog is the place to get up to the date information about their family: http://www.blog.cjanerun.com/. I've heard a report that medical bills are expected to be in the millions. If you would like to donate please click on http://www.nierecovery.com/.

9.07.2008

Family photo session ~SNEAK PEAK~

We've have a tradition of taking family photos on the boys' birthdays. We've been working with Michelle and Dave of Rasmussen-Harvey Photo for the past 4 years and they are excellent! Since they both have their birthdays within weeks of each other it made it easy. Click on the this link to check out a sneak peak of a few photos from our session. http://www.rhphoto.typepad.com/

9.04.2008

I'M IN A MAGAZINE!

I've blogged about James Saavedara author of www.decorfellow.blogspot.com before. Well, he debuted his new online magazine which is fantastic! Eat your heart out all you design junkies...you're going to love it. Anyway, he came upon my blog and saw my entry way hall pictures and thought they were super fab. We exchanged emails and he has featured my little project in his "Fellow Friends" section (a section dedicated to inspiring projects by regular, do-it-yourself, wanna-be designers, such as myself). I am so flattered and have been on cloud 9 all day long. Click on the link to view my project: http://issuu.com/jamessaavedra/docs/fellowmagazineseptemberissue2008/16?zoomed=true&zoomPercent=125&zoomX=0.8132183908045977&zoomY=0.15939349112426035&noteText=&noteX=&noteY=