December in one post

Grandpa Balls and Tyler played train 

Dad and Tyler participated in the Harston family talent show- Tyler loves to play the paino
All the Dennis and Nola Harston grandkids- (we did just finish the nativity- they dont usually dress this way!)
Tyler loved being a shephard- but he had to substitute the sheep for a white stuffed bear- which he was just fine with- and Jenny and Eric were Joseph and Mary with their new baby Grace
This is for Neti- Your right a picture says a 1,000 words- MY SON ROCKS!!! (he does have marti gra beads on too)

All in a days work!

I would like to dedicate this post to all those who have tried to teach me to make bread.  

Bread is of the most delicious things in the whole world-  I survived off of bread and cheese for three weeks with Safra in Europe.  Darren did tell me in Australia and South America that he needed to eat more than bread and cheese, so we ate dulce de leche also....(that is carmel yummy stuff in spanish- you spread it on bread!  EVEN BETTER!)  

So to Kathren C., Tiffany E., and Pam N. who inspired me, but more importantly to Renee my little sister who taught me to put the mix in my bread maker, turn it on, pull the dough out an hour and half later then put it in a tin and bake for 25 minutes-- all told the time it took me to make this delicious looking loaf of bread - no more than 5 minutes and that is with distracts!!!

Now I just have to not eat it all when it comes out of the oven hot and yummy!

29 years and 1 day...

So I had a great birthday yesterday- And when I was doing my hair yesterday- on my birthday- I randomly thought (most of my thoughts are pretty random) but I thought- This is nice I am 29 and don't have any gray hair- I wonder how old I will get before I get gray hair and then I thought- wow- I really don't want to have to start dying my hair ...

Today- December 11, the day after I thought this, I looked in the mirror to brush my hair out and noticed a shiny blond, no not blond, GRAY hair on top of my head- (refer to picture below) So the answer to my question is - You have to be 29 and one day old to start getting gray hair- All I have to say is my husband did it to me, well wait- Tyler helped a whole bunch too!

Earthquake

My State Farm Agent forwarded me this article, per my request-  I have attached my favorite quote in the article- but mostly I hope I will be prepared so my family will not go hungry or cold.  

Stever had warned earlier, "I think people in our valley have expected to call 911 and have help there in three minutes. But in the event of a catastrophic event, it's not going to happen. People are going to be on their own. It will give new meaning to individual and family preparation."

IT'S 2008 -- AND 'THE BIG ONE' SLAMS UTAH It is 2 p.m. on Feb. 1, 2008,
a freezing, snowy Friday. Most people are still at work or school --
which, unfortunately, is the worst-case scenario for what is about to
happen.
FULL STORY:
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/1%2C1249%2C635199749%2C00.html

November Ends

We hung Christmas lights on our new patio out back- Tyler was a great help on the ladder

We spent some of Thanksgiving break in Logan with old friends- this is Riverside trail- The kids started off running...

Then the slowed and rested...

Then crashed.  Tyler was so tired by the end, as where the Dogs and the kids
Ella is a beautiful baby who does the army crawl - but give her a week she will be on her knees moving everywhere.

Thanksgiving was great- Darren cooked the Turkey and did a great job- We had the whole Balls family together- Except for Baby jonah who doesn't want to be born yet-

Ranell played the piano and Tyler loves to listen to the loud vibrations on the paino- No we dont make him stand in the corner

Part II

This was not staged, planned, set up, nothing... this is just a three year old learning to get into the fridge himself.  Darren was hanging Christmas lights and I was trying to help him in between helping the kids, but I didn't get to Tyler's plea for "I'm Hungry" fast enough.  When I finally made it in the house a few minutes later, this is what I found...

I said, what are you eating, he said, whipping cream with a big spoon.  So this is the sequel of how to get your kids fat... just give them whipping cream with  a big spoon. 
On a side note- If anyone wants some bamboo plants, I really want to get rid of them, I am quite tired of them- 

Also, If anyone is dying to go to IKEA in the next month- Please let me know- we want to get tyler more train tracks and I DONT want to go out there for a very VERY long time

How to make your kids fat...

First thing you need is Peer Pressure- In our family the daddy is the best- if he is eating something, Tyler wants it- If he sits down to eat- Tyler will too

Next you need to make Mac and Cheese- Set out all the ingredients then turn your back and do something else - If you leave the butter- Dont use margarine- it isn't fatty enough... but if you leave the Butter with a fork in it and put the butter close to the edge- your chances will improve of getting the skinny 3 year old to eat some- 
Then act like you want him to stop and he will get a good two Tbs before he realizes ... Yes... I really do want to stop- Butter is yucky!


This is Ella trying some Mac and Cheese- she didn't know what to do with the bowl sitting in front of her



After I took some photos I did use a fork and help her eat some- you can see her only two teeth  on the bottom - along with some mac and cheese:)

Happy Days

Things that make me happy
1. Getting flu shots and tyler being such a big boy- he didn't cry, he looked like he would for a second but then I reminded him he was going to be big and show Ella how to do it- She didn't really cry either!

2. Going to Costco- finding delicious bread, buying it and then having Tyler eat lots of it- That kid will eat any fruit you put in front of him, but not so many carbs!!! This morning for breakfast he wouldn't eat Waffle Crisp cereal, he wanted an apple! Not my kid thats all I know! But the bread- I am delighted he ate it all

3. More food- Tyler ate today! He has gone about a week and a half of surviving on nothing- If I push him to eat, he just throws it up ( Uncle Jason did this too I heard!) But today, he ate crackers, ice cream, cornbread, artisan bread, an apple, 3 glasses of milk, one glass of water, and a cookie- This is a record.

4. Oh, Ella isn't that great- I weighted her at the doctor office today- only 13 pounds 13 ounces- She has had a cold or just a runny nose and hasn't eaten well for days- and I really had hoped her weight was higher- But today- Today she has eaten great- A blessing

5. I love days without long lists of things to do- I love that I can work hard for a couple day and then breath and relax because I know I dont have a hundred things to do- No... I cant just relax when I have things to do, I have to finish them!

6. I love my new bike- I have ridden several times on it and wish the cold weather would stay away-

7. I appreciate my hard working husband- Do you any of you have a husband that comes home from work, plays with the kids, helps with dinner then goes out and rakes the pine needles and the leaves up so fast so that I wont have to hurt my back doing it- it was cold, and dark, even slightly raining- but now our yard is ready for this storm that is coming!??!??!!

Now I have to prepare my Gospel Doctrine Lesson for Church- wish me luck!

FINALLY some pictures of Ella

Here are some pictures of Ella- First her two front teeth- She got them both in her 6 month
This is Tyler playing patty cake with Ella- She loves to singing this song- she starts clapping all the time and wants you to sing it with her- Also, she is getting pretty good at jumping- 
Photo shoot: Fall leaves
The photo shoot was going great until Ella stuck the stem in her eye- then we were done
Tyler helped me rake up the leaves

Fireman costume - He had a great time- 
Ella did not want to be in this photo shoot- She was a monkey- and was screaming as this picture was taken