just the cutest shoes EVER

disclaimer: not sure why the picture isn't showing up and I have to run. (figuratively, not literally) I will try to get a picture done tonight. You will have to trust me. Just imagine grey pumps with adorable ruffles.

Are these not the most beautiful shoes on earth? (Forgive the picture, but I am lazy and Amazon is helpful.) Can you believe those ruffles? Last night, after an inspiring YW broadcast with my new little young woman, we decided to do a little shopping a la the only store open, Fred Meyers. We ran across nice and....gasp....MODEST dresses for both of us. On a quick run through the clearance section, I fell in love with these ruffly scrumptious shoes but they didn't have my size! So I batted my eyelashes and the very helpful freddy's employee called nearby stores on a search for my dream shoe. Nobody had it. I was a big girl about it and didn't cry for too long. We ended up having to run to a different store to get the right size dress for my girly, getting there a few minutes before closing. While she grabbed her dress, I (being an eternal optimist and doubter of employees) double checked their clearance shoe section. I couldn't find any of these shoes, much less one in my size! Right as I was about to give up, I checked one last spot and there they were. One pair in 8.5. My size. Sweet. And I will now confess to a little bit of jumping up and down and giggling. Just a little, but can you believe my luck? They didn't completely match my new dress, but I had to give them a spin today.

Now, for a little laugh: When I tried on the dress I got, I asked what Rachie thought of it. The best she came up with? "What look are you going for?" Thanks, Rachel. And today at church, two women told me that they almost bought the same dress last night. It is a pretty bold dress, so I am glad the three of us didn't show up sporting it. (Yet they are super cute ladies, so I feel a little better about my purchase, considering the scathing review given by my daughter!)

a little mother help out there?

Not that our house is ever dirty or anything (winky, winky), but do you motherly folk out there have any suggestions for getting your kids to clean their rooms? I would love to hear the tricks that have worked over the years so I don't resort to anything drastic. My next step right now? Packing up all of their belongings. Back in the good ole' days when our house was on the market, keeping rooms clean was easy because just about everything was packed up. And since I would feel pretty mean doing that again, I would love some input here. Thanks, ladies.

ramblings of a crazy and slightly tricky mom

today? Its been a pretty crazy day. I think it was a combination of a cranky mom, kids that decided to ignore said cranky mom and a general feeling that I have no control or say in anything that happens in our government. Anywho....I started working on Elise and Lilly's birthday parties. Do you know what that means? I am planning the last party of our birthday season. Isn't that great? And this party is going to be quite the happening to do because the whole family is involved. We're all in charge of different booths at this mini carnival that will be made complete by the cotton candy alone. Doesn't that sounds great?

And now I will brag about some motherly trickery. Yep. Motherly trickery that worked! (It doesn't always happen that way so I need to brag it up when it does!) As a book addict, there are many books that I buy simply because I hope that having it close on hand will make one of the girls read it one day when they are feeling like reading something a little different. And it doesn't always work. So here is where the trickery comes in. Thanks to a suggestion from my wise older sister, I was putting some miscellaneous books on the nook right next to the girls' toilet. When choosing which books would win the coveted spot, I chose books that I have been dying for a certain daughter to read. (a certain daughter that isn't ambitious in her book choices and....a certain daughter that loves to read in the bathroom) Emma. Tom Sawyer. Vintage books about famous composers and authors. And the next morning Autumn was reading Emma. (and liking it, to boot.) What did I have to say about it? Mwahahaha......My evil plan was successful! I guess a real tricky mom wouldn't reveal her plan as soon as she saw that it worked. Oops.

bonnet love

And the bonnet(s) go to Bethie Poo. Beth is my awesome and wonderful sister in law who just purchased a very cool falcon wagon. I would only be more jealous if it was an early 50's truck. (Yes, that is my dream truck. Chris laughs it off, but the girls point out every "cute car" that we pass by. Someday.....) Beth, I will get your bonnets in the mail asap. And since you are my sister in law, you know what asap means in my dictionary.

Elise-isms

Elise, you smart little cookie. How does a three year old get what she wants?

Elise: Dad, put your hand up. Ok. Now say "I will make Elise popcorn and I will watch Dog Whisperer with her." Say it, dad.

Pretty smart, right? I was impressed even if she was a little disappointed that her little master plan failed so miserably.

Extra! Extra!

I don't know what it is (possibly the fact that I just love my blogging friends) but I have just been in the mood for a giveaway! Run on over to my website and enter yourself (or a friend) for a free photo shoot. Yep. Gratis. $Free.99. Share the love, right?

And yes, you Seattlites. This is for you, too. (I'm up there enough that we can figure out something!)

a little bonnet lovin'

Because we have a few extra bonnets lying around the Kang abode now and because I think every little girl should have a bonnet to put on when the mood hits (like when head off to visit lambs and my 3 year old deems that a very pioneer/bonnet friendly activity), I thought I would giveaway two of my extra bonnets from Autumn's party. Leave a comment and I will pick someone ever so randomly on Sunday, March 21st.

And now I am off to find a way to make our food nice and greeny today. Did I ever tell you that green is my favorite color? Yep. Our last two houses have had at least two green rooms. I am still working on getting a green room here, but have temporary settled for painting everything that gets in my way green. (insert even laugh here)

little pioneer children

Autumn's little pioneer party? A complete success. From the weather (it waited to rain until we were pulling our car away from the Barn) to the chickens (who *happened* to lay enough eggs for everyone to find an egg), it went just exactly how we had envisioned. The party ended up going 4 hours as we had a lot of fun to pack in. There was candle dipping, potato sack races, feeding the goats and chickens, felting eggs and making the biscuits and butter. Whew. It makes me tired just listing it. I didn't think we would have time to do it all, but it came together quite well. The best part of the whole thing? Seeing a bunch of girls in bonnets and aprons. It was just so stinking adorable!! And Autumn has pronounced it to be her best birthday party yet. (I suggested we aim to make this a climax, but she didn't buy it.)

The key to this whole shebang? Our wonderful friends, the Woodwards. They have become our 2nd family since moving out to Forest Grove and I must say that this party would have been quite dull in our little neighborhood. Move it to a barn that is complete with a creek, goats and chickens? Yeah, it makes it about a gazillion times cooler.

my little reader: it's about time!

I swear by Teaching Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and have used it with all of my girls so far. Hannah is 6 and finished it when she was 4, but unlike the rest of her sisters....she just didn't get into reading. I have felt like she was staying at the same level, but I did know from our scripture reading and reading aloud here and there that she was progressing, even if it was ever so slightly. She just didn't feel drawn to books yet. (Until yesterday, that is.) She has her little passport from Magic Tree House and read a good 7 books yesterday. Yes, I realize that if she can read them in 20-30 minutes, they are probably a little too easy for her, but it feels so good to call her and realize that she is in the corner reading. I am just overly happy right now that she is being a book worm. I figure she should be done with all of the Magic Tree House books on our shelves in a few days and then I will get her into Charlotte's Web. And in quizzing her (because I was just positive that she wasn't really reading the book in 30 minutes or less) she is remembering every little detail of the book as she zooms through. Whoot! Whoot! for Hannah!

mom tip #3672

Since there isn't a whole lot that I have to blog about right now, I will blog about what has been taking up my day. An ear infection. Luckily, it was with a daughter that is old enough to deal with it in reasonable fashion, but it has been very painful for her. Her "scale of pain" is a little off as she describes her pain at a 10 when I am pretty sure it is a 3 or 4. How do the Kangs deal with an ear infection? It is stinky, but it is on the cheap and works with amazing speed. We have a nice little bottle of garlic tablets that we've had around for eons. We poke a hole in it, squeeze the super stinky (this is coming from someone who has been known to love garlic) garlic oil in the ear and have them lay on their side while it drips into the ear. With past ear infections, it has only taken one treatment to clean it all up. We've done it three times today, but she is much better. No doctor visits. No antibiotics. Just a little odor. Rachel was on antibiotics all the time when she was a baby. Elise has been on them once for a tooth issue. 6 kids and one time on antibiotics in 10 years. I swear by garlic. If I see gunky noses, I up the garlic in our food and the noses clear up. So there you have it. Mom tip #3672.

a rundown of the week

Humor me. I am mainly doing this for myself to get my week in order. Next Saturday is Autumn's pioneer birthday and I am a wee bit behind for a party that requires this much sewing. (What a time for me to start going to bed early!!) I have 14 aprons and bonnets to sew. Invited still need a ruffle sewn on before delivering *today*. I probably should try the candle dipping ahead of time so I don't look like a shmuck in front of a bunch of 10 year olds. I need to practice felting eggs for the same reason as listed above. I have no idea what we will be eating, but I am thinking of us making biscuits with jam and of course having some very simple cupcakes. And then I plan on throwing some flowers in mason jars and maybe picking up some hay or something for the barn. Luckily, if all of the above goes to pot, we'll be at the Woodwards'. This means there will be chickens and goats to entertain if things get sticky. Oh. And their lovely land to romp about. Wow. I don't think that helped at all as I now realize that there is even more for me to worry about. Great.

At the same time that we are in the final stages of Autumn's party, we are planning Elise's party to happen right after we return for Utah. I am thinking carnival with popcorn and cotton candy and lots of games. I am going to assign the older girls to each come up with and man a game for the kiddoes and I bought a whole stack of beautiful matchy paper to make all of the decorations with. On Elise's list of important details? Balloons, blue cupcakes, water, games and for me to drive 4 hours north to pick up her cousins and bring them in for the fun. Easy enough, right? Oh...and pony rides. We'll have to thank our neighbor for letting her know that people can have ponies at their parties. I told her no way, but I am thinking she is still planning on it. I have a month to get it through her head, right? And I am rethinking having everyone's birthday party years on an even number. It would work better if I hadn't had all of the girls 2 years apart. Why be slammed one year and have the other year completely off? It just doesn't make sense!

Oh. And we've been letting Lilly run around free and nakie for day to top it off. How many accidents has she had? Two. One on my lap, due to a sister asking her if she needed to pee while sitting on my lap.

birthday crafties.

On the morning of a birthday party for Autumn's friend, my thought process went a little like this: I can spend an hour getting a present for the party or an hour making a present. One would be junkier and cost me a good $15-$20. The other would be free (or at least using supplies I already have bought) and would be 10 times cooler. So we crafted away and didn't have to get out of our jammies.

The result: An apron with a matching journal.

every party needs a pooper

I finally got around to hanging up some prints that I splurged on last Thanksgiving. I had to find the perfect frames (a la Goodwill, of course.) and then you have to factor in a 3 month turn around on spray painting when sunny days are hard to come by. Then top that off with general slackerness and a lack of ability to focus (SQUIRREL!) and it brings us into March. After hanging these up, I couldn't keep my eyes off of them. They just make me happy. The green frames, the fabulous artwork....they really brighten up our family room/kitchen. And then there is Chris. I wasn't home when he met them, but rumor has it (from a very reliable source) that his reaction included a long moment of silence, followed by several complaints. We grew up singing the party pooper song to my dad and I am happy to say that I can pass that tradition on to my daughters. I did humor him and adjusted them to center them on the wall better this morning, but the majority of his complaining involved the frames and the cohesiveness with our existing home decor. I, on the other hand, think it is a perfect fit. Like I said, pure happiness every time I waltz past them.

Latter Day Homeschooling

I was just turned on to what I anticipate being a great homeschooling resource for me. This is coming at a time when I am feeling like I sure do need a little teacher pick me up! When I started homeschooling a good 8 years ago, I had a small list of reasons why I wanted to homeschool and to be quite honest, I can't really recall what those reasons were now. My list has grown substantially and I still am in love with homeschooling. With that being said, I also am feeling the need to change things up a bit. I am rethinking a few subjects and am hoping this LDS Homeschooling site will be just what I need in the form of some good ole' inspiration. Thank you, whoever you are that thought this up!

the 3 wee bears

Rachel apparently knows me well enough to know that when she is babysitting, I would like to come home to a cleaner house or to come home knowing that the girls were doing something so fabulous with their time that cleaning would seem altogether trivial.

While we were at the temple, we got two phone calls from home. The first one was asking permission to use my makeup. (at first, they got a resounding "No way!". After a little explaining that they were needing stage make up for bear noses, I couldn't resist.) The second one was requesting that I bring primroses home with me. After a little investigating, I found that they were looking for cut flowers in general and once again, I couldn't resist, coming home with a few bundles of daffodils.

Chris and I came home to tickets to the girls' production of The Three Little Bears, complete with stage (don't you love backdrops), curtain, set changes and 3 of the cutest bears of all time. I can't decide if my favorite part was Autumn's tie and glasses perched on her nose, Hannah's freckles or Elise's fake crying for her part as baby bear. Let's just say that it was the hit of the season and that it was so good that I was ok with the pigsty that we came home to. It reminded me of the plays that the March's attic must have seen. Oh, my sweet little women!